Day Eighteen/Nineteen
We got off to a late start after I had trouble tracking down Lydia in the morning. She must have taken a bad spill in the dark while answering nature's call because she was walking a little funny.
"Are you sure you're up to walking back to Whiterun?" I asked her, "I could try my healing hands on you."
"Oh, no thanks," she said, stretching, "I'll be fine. Just a little sore."
Kjeld the Younger rounded a corner and bumped into me.
"Watch it, you clumsy oaf," I said.
He sized me up, "I could take you."
Lydia pushed him with her finger. "Didn't you take enough?"
Kjeld looked at her and smiled, "That I did. I believe I gave as well. Pleasant journey to you."
The young man walked away.
"What was that about?" I asked.
"Nothing," Lydia said, sighing deeply, "Nothing at all. Are we ready?"
I let it go and we headed back towards Whiterun. The morning walk held no dangers and we were there before noon. I stopped at Adrienne's to ask her if I could use her forge. With her permission and a little guidance I managed to use some silver ore I dug up along the way to fashion a silver ring with a ruby in the center. It seemed an easier way to keep track of the gems would be by putting them in jewelry. Afterwards we went to Breezehome and I added the gems and jewelry I recovered to the small pile I started before we left. I wondered how big I could make the pile without attracting unwanted attention? Just staring at it eased my mind.
I went to Belethor's to sell some odds and ends and passed a woman who commented that she was on her way to the temple of Kynareth to see the Gildergreen now that it has been restored. They said it had healing properties now. I checked out the tree for myself and I was astounded how healthy it looked. The branches were full with purple blossoms waving in the breeze. I felt a bit of pride knowing I helped bring that around. Lydia and I headed out towards Riverwood to meet up with Delphine.
At the Sleeping Giant inn, Delphine was waiting for us when we got there and took us down into the cellar again.
"Here's the plan," Delphine said, "There's a Thalmor named Elenwen who is throwing a party at the embassy. I've managed to get you invited, but you will have to pull off being a person of some influence and high breeding. Do you think you can manage that?"
"Does a vampire suck?" I asked.
Delphine was not impressed.
"We'll work on it on the way," Lydia said.
"Fine. You are to go to Solitude and meet with my contact there at the Winking Skeever. I assume you know of it? The elf's name is Malborn. He'll give you further instructions when you get there. We don't want to reveal everything in case, you know, you are intercepted or something like that by their justificators."
"What kind of party is this?" I asked, "I need to know what to wear."
"Do not worry about that. I will supply you with clothes."
"Whoa, wait a minute. If there's one thing I know it's how to dress. I've been collecting clothes from all over and it's about time I got to use some of them."
"Collecting clothes? From where?"
"Oh, I don't remember exactly. Dungeons, keeps, caves."
"Really?" Delphine said, "You must have quite a pile of dingy rags and musty undies to choose from. Like I said, I'll get you clothes that will let you blend in, not get you thrown out."
I could not take anymore of her disparaging of my clothes so I left Delphine in her cellar and decided to head straight to Solitude. I checked the map and started heading out of Riverwood.
"You're going that way?" Lydia asked.
"It's the quickest way," I said, "Look at the map."
Lydia glanced at it. "You look. After the river there's nothing but a long range of mountains with no pass or town shown. If we go back to Whiterun and then proceed, we can take the route we took last time. It's a little longer but at least we know we will be able to get through."
I gave up. Why is it all the women in my life dictated what I did?
We went back to Whiterun but on the way I spotted a vein of iron ore. Since we would not get far before it was dark again, I decided to check it out since I still had the pickaxe from Kynesgrove. Before I knew it, I had scoured the mountainside for ore deposits. I found iron, corundum, and even silver. From the ore, I found a ruby and two amethysts, one of them flawless in its facets.
"Here," Lydia told me, "You carry the torch. I'm going to Breezehome and to bed."
I looked up and just then realized it was nighttime. I debated with myself about getting rest or searching for more gems. I found one more deposit then dragged myself away. Despite wasting the last few hours in manual labor, I smiled every time I heard the gems rustling around in the sack.
Back at Breezehome, I collapsed in bed from exhaustion.
#
The next morning I woke late and I was ridiculously sore. My first thought was I needed some skooma. I remembered then that I was sore from actually working and not from my muscles cramping from need. I thought it odd that my mind would go to the one thing I was supposed to be cured of.
After a meal of chicken and cheese, I made sure three times that Breezehome was locked up tighter than a miser's purse then we set out for Solitude. The route I took however, brought us past Silent Moon Camp again and as we were passing, a bandit came out from inside a little hut in front and started shooting arrows at us. We just cleared out this rabble. You kill and kill and they just keep coming back. There must be more to this place than what I saw.
Since they started it, Lydia and I took the fight to them and just like last time, there were three outside and then three more came running out to fight. They turned out to be just as capaable as the last batch of lowlifes.
Afterwards, I looked in the chest by the forge and a bounty of loot was waiting for me. There was a scroll labeled Guardian Circle. A necklace that I rememberd seeing on Adrienne. I wondered if it helps with smithing? There was also a nasty looking mace that had a green glow to it. I had Lydia carry all of these and I decided to have a closer look around since the party was still a few days off.
On the way back down the stairs I found a door that I missed last time. Inside I heard people talking and I tried to sneak up on them. I misstepped though and kicked some rocks down a ramp towards them. Two bandits, one of them an orc, came running up after us. Lydia took on the first and I tangled with the orc who was swinging a steel warhammer like a willow branch. It whistled through the air, just missing me as a danced backwards. I switched up the grip on my sword just a little and I must have caught him by surprise. His ugly head flew from his neck like a bird leaving its nest for the first time. It spun in the air and then plopped onto the ground. Lydia was finishing off her foe when she nearly stepped on it.
"You cut his head clean off!" she said, "Nice work."
"I know," I said, wiping my blade off on his fur armor, "I think I've got the hang of this thing finally. I'm going to have to keep doing that. It's very effective at taking the fight out of someone. Look! It's still blinking!"
The camp yielded only a few more petty bandits and not much more loot. I was not able to decapitate anyone else and I was feeling pretty let down by that. I thought I had a handle on just the right angle. Oh, well.
When we got back outside it was actually getting close to dinner time. Solitude was too far a trek now. I decided we should just go back to Whiterun, sell what we could carry, then start again the next day. Lydia said I just wanted to check on my gem stash again. I denied it, but I could not believe she was right. In the back of my mind, it was all I was thinking about. I would feel more at ease tomorrow if nothing had happened today.