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Fourth Thread Tied

"Uh, Keljarn, either I'm too drunk to see straight, or you did something very spectacular while you were away."

Keljarn had to chuckle, the baby in his arms probably causing all sorts of wild speculations. "It's nothing like that. I uh, adopted this little lass when I was chasing after the assassin."

Farkas frowned. "Tell us all. Let's start with the assassin."

With a sigh, Kejarn said, "I let her get away."

Vilkas' face darkened, as did all the others. "That's a shame. She'll come back for us, and now the deaths of our Companions remain unavenged."

"She won't. Come after us, I mean," Keljarn assured them. "When I say I let her go, I mean I let her go. I spared her life. It was that or leave this little life to die."

Aela immediately asked, "Can I hold her?"

Keljarn was glad to get the weight off his arm for a bit. He explained them everything, about his chase, the catastrophe at the Thieves' Guild, even his personal crisis, and the final chase from Markarth to the small village in the plains. The dragon attack, the choice he'd had to make.

Then he allowed them all a moment of silence.

Finally, Aela rose, put her hand on his shoulder and said, "I think you've made the right choice. An innocent life is the highest good to protect. Higher than vengeance. Even higher than justice."

Farkas, Vilkas and Athis were less convinced, but they would understand in time. Along with Aela, Keljarn took the child to the graves of the three slain Companions and explained. They were graves, they said nothing back, but Keljarn knew they all would have approved. None of them would have wanted him to sacrifice an innocent child to avenge them.

Rijada Fireborn would grow up a strong child, with fiery red hair reminiscent of her ordeal as an infant, and a personality to match. The Companions were honest with her from the start, telling her that her real parents had died trying to protect her, and that they would probably never know who her real family was. The girl didn't seem to care.

The Dragonborn of all people came to visit a few times, always after dark, teaching the child her own style of fighting, surprised at her fast learning speed. And every time she left, she would smile and say to Keljarn, "I'm a bad person, not worth the legend surrounding me, but this… this is a real legend in the making."