In his rush to get Leola home so he and Minot could work on their plan to kill Samuel, Aventus failed to calculate the time properly before he left to take her back. They returned to Dawnstar to gather the last of her things from Alesan's house, and then they headed off to Windhelm. By the time they arrived, it was almost pitch black, save for a few gleaming beams of white moonlight shining down on the snow.

They headed through the empty streets to the palace, a few sleepy guards nodding at them as they passed – or perhaps nodding off, Leola couldn't quite be sure. Inside, though, they found Erith and Bottar seated at the long table, casually eating as if it wasn't the middle of the night.

"Leola!" Erith exclaimed, jumping to her feet when she saw the blonde enter and rushing to hug her. The two collided and flung their arms around one another, holding one another close for a good minute or so before they finally broke apart.

"It's good to see you too," Leola said with a giggle, and Erith laughed.

"How'd it go? You have new pieces for us?" she asked, and Leola nodded.

"We do," she said, grinning. "There's another one on the way, kind of – Aventus needs to go and do something first, but then we'll have it."

Erith raised an eyebrow, turning her gaze to Aventus. "What do you still need to do?" she asked.

"Azura wants me to kill someone," he said with a cheeky grin. "You know that's what I do best."

"Why does she want you to kill someone? It's not someone innocent, is it? You can't kill an innocent person for this," Erith said, her eyes going wide.

"It's not someone innocent, trust me," Aventus said. "Minot and I are going to handle it, and I'll have the piece with me next time I come."

"Minot was with you?" Erith asked suddenly, and Aventus nodded.

"Yes," he replied.

Erith was quiet for a moment, looking towards Leola before turning her gaze back to Aventus. "I need to talk to you before you go," she said to him sharply.

"Then you'll have to talk to me now, I'm leaving immediately," he replied.

"Why didn't you tell me Minot was going to be with you?" Erith asked.

"Because I needed her, and I knew you'd say no if I told you," he said. "It wasn't just Minot. Nani and Cass were there too."

"That doesn't make it any better," Erith said, putting her hands on her hips. "And how come it's just you and Minot that are going to be handling killing whoever you need to kill now?"

"Because Nani went to Morthal after we visited Vaermina and Cassius is out on a contract," Aventus replied. "Erith, you might not like Minot, but she's good at what she does and she's a valuable ally."

Erith sighed softly, nodding. "Alright. Go kill whoever you're going to kill, just don't you dare bring Minot back to this palace with you."

"Wouldn't dream of it," Aventus replied. He leaned over and gently kissed the top of Leola's head. "Stay safe, princess," he said before turning and heading back out the door. Erith gently took Leola by the hand and began to lead her over to the table, where Bottar quietly waited.

"You don't like Minot?" Leola asked in a soft voice, looking curiously towards her lover.

"Not one bit," Erith replied. "And I especially don't like that she was around you. Do me a favour and try to avoid her, alright? For me?"

Leola was quiet for a moment as they sat down. She had very much liked Minot. The other woman had understood her in a way nobody really had quite yet. They'd hit it off and she didn't want to lose such a good friend, but she also didn't want to upset Erith.

"Will you tell me why you don't like her?" Leola asked softly.

"I don't like her because she's a predator and a thief," Erith replied. "I don't want her anywhere near you. You should eat something."

"Okay," Leola said softly.

"It's good to see you, Leola," said Bottar, finally speaking up from where he sat.

"It's good to see you too," she replied with a smile. "So you have some more pieces?"

"I do," she replied with a grin.

"Awesome," he replied. "Since you're back, we should head to Boethiah's shrine in the morning, and then we can sail over to Solstheim."

"Do we have one of the books?" Leola asked, her eyes widening.

"I was helping Ulfric sort through some things in Hjerim – I hope you don't mind," he said quickly. "He thought I ought to get my mind off things…and he needed some help finding something."

"What was it?" asked Leola, quirking an eyebrow.

"A staff – he said it would open the portal to Sovngarde once we had all the pieces," Bottar replied. "And we found a couple of books while we were in there – we think they're the books we need because when we tried to read them, we couldn't."

"You…couldn't read them?" asked Leola.

"The same thing happened to both of us – it was like our vision went blurry, and then we saw visions of Solstheim," Bottar said. "I think the books are what we need."

"That's excellent," Leola said, smiling. "I guess the only question left is why the two of you are up so late eating as if it wasn't the middle of the night?"

Erith laughed softly. "I couldn't sleep," she said. "I was worried about you."

"I couldn't sleep either," Bottar replied. "I was…sad."

Leola smiled sadly, wrapping an arm around her friend's shoulders gently. "I know how you feel, and I only knew him for a short time," she said softly. "I can't imagine how it must be for you."

"He was my best friend," Bottar said, leaning his head on Leola's shoulder. "We've always done everything together – we were like brothers. We were brothers."

"How did you meet?" Leola asked softly. She hoped that talking about Sond wouldn't upset him further – she would have liked to talk about him. To let his memory live on. Perhaps, now that she thought about it, it was important that she do the same for her mother's memory.

A smile came to Bottar's lips. "I…I barely even remember. We were just kids – we were both orphans, just trying to take care of ourselves…It was tough. We sold whatever we could find, and whenever we found interesting places, we would mark it on maps for travelers we met. That's how we met your mother, actually."

"You marked something on the map for her?" Leola asked, and Bottar nodded.

"Yes," he replied. "For a fee, of course."

"You mean you charged my mother gold to show her some cool place you'd found?" Leola asked, and he shot her a cheeky grin.

"I suppose we did," he replied. "Pretty awful, but we were just kids. You know how it is."

"I suppose so," Leola replied.

"Leola, you should eat something," said Erith, sitting down beside the blonde on the bench and wrapping her arms around her from behind, snuggling into Leola's back.

"I'm honestly not hungry," Leola said with a smile. "Aventus made sure we ate on the way here."

"Well if you're not going to eat, we should get to bed," Erith said, a sly smile dancing across her lips.

"We do have a big day tomorrow," said Bottar. "First Boethiah's shrine – again, unfortunately – and then we're sailing to Solstheim."

"What's Solstheim like?" asked Leola, looking between her two friends.

"Sandy and hot," Erith replied. She rose to her feet and offered Leola one hand. "Shall we go? To bed?"

Leola giggled softly, placing her hand in Erith's and standing up. "Alright," she said. "To bed."