Leola's feet padded softly against the steps as she made her way to the upper level of Candlehearth Hall, where her friends were already up. Erith, Sond, and Bottar sat at their usual table, but today they were joined by a young man and woman Leola had never met. Aventus was nowhere to be seen.
"Leola!" said Erith with a grin, the first to notice the blonde as she came up the stairs. Leola grinned, moving quickly over to sit beside Erith. On her other side was the new girl she had yet to meet.
"Leola, these are Samuel and Runa," said Sond with a smile. As they were introduced, Leola took her chance to examine them. Runa was beautiful – her hair was a dark, dirty blonde colour and it was drawn into an intricate, elegant braid that started atop her head and ran down one side before running down her shoulder. She had a round face and her eyes were a dark shade of blue-green. Leola's eyes fell downwards as she realized that the other woman had her hand on her stomach, and she saw that Runa was massively pregnant, her round stomach bulging beneath her simple red dress.
"It's a pleasure to meet you," Runa said, a warm smile on her lips as she looked at Leola. Leola smiled back.
"You, too," she said rather shyly before taking a moment to look at Samuel. He had shaggy, short dark hair and a thick, burly beard that, while not long, was still impressive. He had dark eyes set in beneath his thick brows, and Leola's eyes met his the second she looked. She smiled kindly before quickly turning away, looking towards Erith.
"How was dinner at the castle?" asked Sond with a grin.
"It was lovely, which you'd know if you'd been there," she said, and Leola laughed. A glance over at Samuel and Runa had her certain that they weren't completely filled in yet.
"Erith came over to the castle to eat last night," she said to them in a gentle voice, "while Sond and Bottar stayed here trying to get girls."
"And I think they failed, considering how the only new girl here this morning is already pregnant," Erith added with a giggle.
Leola looked over again at the two newcomers, smiling. "Are you two…you know…?" she asked softly, unsure how to approach the matter.
"We're married," Samuel said with a nod. "This will be our first."
"That's wonderful!" Leola said with a bright grin. "I'm happy for you."
"We all are," Erith replied, smiling over at Leola.
"I grew up in the orphanage in Riften," Samuel said to Leola. "So did Runa, that's how we met. We knew Aventus – you know, before he ran off…"
"Yes, he went and did it again last night," Erith said, laughing slightly. "A courier came by and dropped off a letter and off he went."
"Important contract?" asked Runa, and Erith nodded.
"Probably," she replied.
"So how does the whole Dark Brotherhood situation work?" Leola asked suddenly, cocking her head to one side. "Ulfric – er, my father – doesn't know about it, but all of us do. Who gets to know?"
"Only those he trusts," replied Sond.
"Those he figures would be easy kills if they ever turned on him," Bottar added with a laugh.
"People who won't report him to the Jarls," added Samuel with a sly smile in Leola's direction.
"What would the Jarls do?" asked Leola.
"Certainly have him thrown in prison at the least, executed at the most," replied Samuel. "Murder is still a crime, regardless of the motive. Aventus has killed people, and if the Jarls found that out, he would have to answer for his crimes."
"I don't think my father would do that," Leola said in a soft voice. "He knows that Aventus is my friend."
"It doesn't work like that," Erith said with a shake of her head. "Now, on to a new topic, because I know that none of us are going to be turning Aventus in, what's the plan for today?"
"We have a map now," Sond said, reaching into his pocket. He pulled out a folded up piece of paper, setting it down on the table and unfolding it. "I was thinking that we could mark down the locations of shrines and plan accordingly."
"That's assuming we can locate them all," Leola replied softly. "I'd hate for someone to travel all the way to Markarth only for us to go back because there was another one, say, near Markarth. It would be such a waste of time."
"It would," Erith agreed. "Leola's right. We need to mark down every location we need to visit before we go out any more. That way we can organize ourselves."
"This information is going to be hard to find," said Samuel in a low voice. "Ask anyone and their first instinct will be to report you to the guards."
"Well, of course," Erith said with a nod. "That's why I asked you to join us. With your…connections…we might have an easier time with this."
"Connections?" asked Leola, looking curiously towards the bearded man. Erith shot him a look, as if to check with him that she was allowed to tell Leola, and he nodded.
"Samuel is with Riften's Thieves Guild," said the brunette. "From what little I've heard, they don't tend to question one another, so if he starts asking around about Daedric temples and shrines, he shouldn't have much trouble getting the information he needs."
"The only problem is that I won't be able to return to Riften until after the baby is born," Samuel continued where Erith left off. "We've decided to move here to be closer to our friends – I have a friend in town, the merchant Niranye, and we're both good friends with Sofie. The only friends we have back in Riften are the other members of the Guild, and I want Runa kept away from that aspect of my life while we raise our child."
"We're a fun group to move with," Leola said to him softly, smiling. "You'll always have a friend in me while you're here, because I can't see myself going anywhere else for quite some time. And Aventus has a house here in town, too."
"Yes, Aventus did get that horrid Grelod away from us," Samuel said with a laugh, and Leola quirked an eyebrow curiously.
"The lady who ran the orphanage?" she asked.
"Yes, Aventus performed the Black Sacrament and had a Dark Brotherhood assassin kill her," said Runa with a smile. "He was, what, ten?"
"Ten," Samuel confirmed. "I sometimes wonder if that assassin is still around. I'd love to have Aventus get us in touch with them to say thanks."
Leola nodded slightly, though she was conflicted by this information. It bothered her that Ulfric, if he believed the rumours, essentially knew exactly what Aventus had done, but it was also something of a relief to her to hear someone mention it. With him not having told her, she feared that it was meant to be a secret, but Samuel and Runa didn't seem to have any problems with bringing it up.
"Samuel, is Niranye with the Guild or not?" asked Erith, and Samuel nodded.
"She is," he said. "I'll send a courier back to Riften when we're all done here, and then I'll go and ask her if she knows anything."
"Let's hope she doesn't take the question to the guards," said Bottar.
"She won't," Samuel said with a smirk. "Like I said, she's with the Guild."
"So, Leola," said Runa in a voice that was soft and gentle, as though intended only for Leola. She turned to face the other blonde, and Leola turned to face the pregnant woman with a smile. The others went about their conversation, seemingly ignoring the two.
"Yes?" asked Leola softly.
"Is all of it true? That you're the Dragonborn's daughter…with Jarl Stormcloak?" she asked, and Leola smiled, nodding.
"It is," she said softly. "I didn't have any idea – I thought everything was normal, that my mother was just another person…and that my father was just another deadbeat. She sent me here, though, and then the other night Ulfric finally told me the truth…and honestly, as hard as it is to find out that my mother had a whole other life I didn't know about, I'm happy that I know now."
"I'd imagine you would be," Runa said softly. "I wish I had such a romantic and wonderful story. I never knew my parents."
"I'm sorry to hear that," Leola said softly.
"No, don't worry about it," Runa said with a smile. "I only wish now to make sure that my child never has to know the feeling of not knowing a parent – and that includes Samuel here not getting himself killed on a job any time soon."
Leola giggled a bit, smiling at Runa. She shifted her gaze momentarily towards Samuel, her smile fading only slightly as her eyes met his briefly. Runa was wonderful. Leola was pleased that she was finding so many wonderful friends during her time here – in fact, if moving to Windhelm didn't include having to hunt down Daedra and learn dark secrets about her mother, she'd be inclined to say that she'd never been happier.