Cyréne sat down beside Brand with her legs curled underneath her and took a deep breath. "

Okay, what the Dragonborn said to me was that, for the first time in months, and the first time since he stumbled across the border into the nightmare of being the Dragonborn, he felt like he knew what he was fighting for. He said that I had given him something to hold onto and that I am calm in the storm he's facing. I take away the chaos. When he's with me, the world makes sense again and he doesn't want to be without me."

"Okay, so where is he then?"

"He's meeting with the Greybeards."

"And when are you supposed to see him again?"

"I have no idea."

Brand raised an eyebrow, "How long have you known this guy?"

Cyréne looked down at the mattress and tried not to feel like a fool. "I met him a few days before I met you."

"Uh-huh. And have you slept with him?"

Tears came unbidden and Cyréne could only nod.

"Well, then that's not what he's after," Brand said. He looked up to see hot tears rolling down Cyréne's cheeks and her hands clenched in her lap. Brand sat up quickly and put an arm around her. "Honey, honey, calm down – I was just making an observation. What's all this about?"

She sobbed against him. "I just . . . I don't do things like that. I don't. But something awful had happened and I got drunk, and then it just sort of happened . . . I don't even remember half of it. And then something else horrible happened, so I went back to him, because I was hurting and I needed someone and then . . . then I hit on you and . . . oh gods, Vilkas is right. I am a whore."

Brand sighed and let her cry it out for a few minutes. "Cyréne, honey, come on now – turning to someone for that kind of comfort when you're hurting hardly makes you a whore. And as for hitting on me, that's completely understandable."

She sniffed. "It is?"

"Of course it is," he grinned. "You saw me half naked and you slept on top of me all night. My charm and good looks are damn near impossible to resist on a regular basis. You never had a chance."

He felt her smile against him, so he gave her shoulders a squeeze and reclined on the pillows again. "So, that was quite a speech from the Dragonborn, but he didn't really tell you what he needed, other than to be with you, so what do you think he meant."

"I . . ." Cyréne's face colored and she shook her head, "don't know…"

Brand tugged her hair. "Yeah," he said mater-of-factly, "ya do. Or you wouldn't be looking at the mattress instead of me right now."

Cyréne gazed up at him.

"You can trust me. This stays between us, I promise."

"Well," she said finally, "I think that he needs me to hold him and tell him everything is going to be alright. He needs someone to represent what he's fighting for, so that he doesn't lose his way – a lover to protect, a voice to guide him through decisions that no one should have to make. He needs a partner to fight by his side and one person who can truly understand what he's facing and not be afraid to face it with him."

Brand swallowed. "Every man in the world needs that Cyréne, most of them just don't know it. Is that something you can give him?"

She nodded. "Being that for him would be the easy part," she said in a small voice. "It's what comes after that will be so difficult."

"And, what comes after?"

Cyréne looked up at him for a moment before she could find the words. "He's going to need me to understand when he leaves me."

Brand closed his eyes and nodded once. "When it's all over, he's going to want to put it all behind him, and that will include you."

Cyréne stretched out close to Brand and nodded against his chest. "Yes."

He flinched a little at the contact, but wrapped an arm around her and rubbed her back, anyway. Then something occurred to him. "But he won't just leave, will he?"

"No, he won't. He'll probably still want me in his life, because how could you not if you go through so much with someone. I'll probably be his best and closest friend," she said unhappily. "I care about him already, and I could easily love him. And for a while he'll probably think he's in love with me. I want to love him, but I know the pain is coming, Brand. I know it is. When the dust settles he won't need me anymore – not the way he thinks he does. I'll just end up being the girl he loved that helped him save the world that one time. His future wife will probably hate me," she added.

"Oh, she'll despise you," Brand agreed. "We're assuming an awful lot here, but I don't think you're far off the mark. I'm sorry to say that, but it's nothing you don't already know."

"Aren't you going to ask me why I would put myself through all of that?"

He rested his cheek against the top of her head. "No, I know why you would do it. It's not often someone needs you like that, especially someone who is facing so much. Out of all of the women he could have chosen, he chose you. It means something when the hero chooses you. Even I can understand that."

"And he does treat me well, and I feel better when I'm around him – like I'm someone else. It's an escape from everything else."

"Like, Vilkas?"

"Yes, like Vilkas. How are you doing this?"

Brand chuckled, "The same way you do it. I pay attention. What happened with Vilkas?"

Cyréne's voice went cold. "I let my guard down, and he hurt me. Then instead of bringing my guard back up, I left it down and he hurt me some more."

"There are a lot of hours before daybreak, Cyréne. Don't summarize."

She looked up at him again. "Am I making a mistake to trust you with this?"

"No, you aren't. I think we were meant to find each other, Cyréne. I feel like we're going to be in each other's lives for a long, long time. We're almost the same person, in some respects. I haven't had a friend to talk to in a long time either. There wasn't a point to it, because no one could truly relate to my life or to me. They tried, but nothing ever clicked just right, you know?"

"Yes, I do know. It's one of those little compromises that you make. And I hope you're right. I'd forgotten what this feels like, honestly – to have a friend that's just mine. That's outside of everything else. Of course, you're going to be a Companion soon."

"Let's agree to not let that change anything, okay? You challenged a leader of your pack for me today, Cyréne – don't think I didn't catch the significance of that. And you were serious about it too, it wasn't an empty threat. You told me that once you consider someone a friend you'll stand by them through anything, and you proved that to me today. My loyalty will always be to you first. I give you my word on that."

"I wouldn't ask you to go against what will soon be your family, Brand."

"And I didn't ask you to, but you did. I've been around enough to know that that's rare, Cyréne. I won't give it up."

They sat in silence for a few minutes before Cyréne spoke again. "This is strange, Brand. It really is. Are you sure you're not a woman?"

Brand shrugged. "I'd be glad to prove it to you."

"Uh . . . no," Cyrene said quickly. "But it is strange, right?"

He grinned. "What? You mean realizing that you've been missing someone that you hadn't met yet?"

"That and the part where you're thinking the same thing I am."

"What about the part where I get to give you a taste of your own medicine?"

She flushed and smacked him on the shoulder as wave of tingles shot through her. His grin widened."Don't be mean to me, Brand! And, for gods' sake don't mention that to Vilkas."

He chuckled and shifted uncomfortably. "Don't worry, it backfired on me. Tell me what the issue is with Vilkas, other than you stabbing him. Cause, I gotta say, I don't know the guy – but that would've pissed me off."

"I'm not sure what happened. Things were going fine, and then, as soon as I let him in a little bit, he basically ripped my heart out and threw it at me. He just comes from such a dark place – you'll see when you meet him. I wanted to bring him out of it. I could just feel something inside of him calling me. I thought he was mine; that I'd managed to mean something to him, that I was special. But, I was wrong. One mistake and he threw me away like the trash he thinks I am. And that wasn't enough for him, he had to hurt me as much as he could. I think he enjoyed it."

"How long were the two of you together?"

"We . . . weren't exactly. He was my shield-brother, my sponsor so-to-speak. Kodlak put us together because I seemed to have a calming effect on Vilkas, and because I was willing to stand up to him – not that he realized it half the time. He's ashamed of the blood. He struggles with it, a lot. Sometimes I'm the only one who can calm him down – at least I was. He hates me now."

"But you loved him?"

"Very much, all I wanted was to make him happy and whole and bring him peace. And I think I did for a while."

"Will you tell me exactly what happened? I feel like I can't get a good perspective on this."

She nodded and launched into her story . . .

"Okay, now wait," Brand said. "You caught him with her, and then you saw him later, while you were drunk out of your mind, and he let you leave with the Dragonborn – oh what's his damn name already, I'm sick of referring to him like that."

"His name is Kalv."

"Kalv," Brand said, trying it out. "Okay so, Vilkas sees you completely loaded, just begging for this guy to take advantage of you, and he let you go?"

"Yes."

"Did he even try to intervene?"

"Not that I remember."

"And yet, I keep hearing about how smart he is," Brand said, shaking his head. "Are the rest of them all complete fools, and he's just smart by comparison?"

Cyréne shrugged. "I don't know. What I do know, is that I'll never get the image of him . . . giving himself to her, out of my head."

Brand set his mouth in a hard line and shook his head once. "I don't know kid, Kalv is starting to sound like the good guy."

"At least he wants me around. But, you know, I'm starting to think this is a really shitty choice I've got to make here."

"Trading one heartache in for another, huh?"

"So to speak, I mean it's not really a trade, it's a delay. I'll probably just end up with two heartaches at one time. I might as well, though. At least the second one has the possible benefit of keeping the world around a little longer."

"I don't like it," Brand stated. "I don't like this, at all. I wish you'd come running from Cyrodiil ten years ago straight into my arms."

"Well, me too, but what were you doing back then?"

"I was young and stupid, and busy proving it. But you, honey – you would've been right up my alley and I'm pretty sure I could have turned that pretty little head of yours. It would have been something to see."

"If there's one thing I've learned," she said bitterly, "it's that wishes don't come true. Unless you wish for something awful, and then eventually that will probably happen."

"Come on," he said, giving her a squeeze. "You're better than that."

"I know I'm being stupid. Honestly though, all I want to do is run. Just run – and not think about anything for a really long time."

"I know you do, and eventually you will. Right now though, you're in a tough spot. I'm having trouble wrapping my mind around Vilkas. I need to meet him before I can figure him out. The man seems like a complete fool to me. If he didn't want you, he wouldn't have lost his temper like that. As for the other one, Kalv, if he meant what he said, he'll show up again, and when he does you'll know what to do. If you feel like you should go down that road, then go, and don't worry about the heartbreak. You just bring your broken heart to me when it's over, and I'll put it back together for you."

"I'll remember that, but I have a feeling this could take a while. Shaye may have worn you down by the time I come running home trailing my little heart behind me."

Brand looked down at her and winked. "No, no . . . don't worry about that. I've got her right where I want her."

Cyréne wrapped both arms around him and held him tight. "Thank you. You've just done more for me in the last few hours than anyone has done for the last year."

"All I did was listen, honey."

"No, that's not all you did and you know it. You cared enough to ask a question to begin with and that's more than I can say for . . . most people."

"More than you can say for Vilkas?"

"Yes, sadly – except for that one time, where he took everything I told him and used it against me."

"Cyréne, you do realize that you haven't had time to really process what happened with Vilkas, right?"

"It's been weeks."

"Yes, but it's been weeks where you haven't spent a night alone. You've been handling one crisis after another and you've been overwhelmed with new people and problems."

"What are you saying, Brand?"

He let out a breath. "What I'm saying, honey, is that as soon as I leave tomorrow, it's going to hit you, and it's going to hit you hard. I want you to be ready for it."

"Oh gods," she wailed, "don't tell me that, Brand!"

"I am telling you. You're just going to have to face it and get it over with. Go ahead and tell your staff, or whatever you call them around here, to leave you alone for a few days, and don't back down from it. Put someone in charge and make them deal with things until you're back on your feet."

"And what am I supposed to do during these days of solitude?"

"A lot of thinking, and probably more crying; you'll probably do a lot of second-guessing yourself too, but try not to. While you're dealing with all of that, do something for me."

"Anything"

"Try to remember the last time that you really knew yourself, Cyréne. Do your best to figure out where that Cyréne went and why. I know you said it's been a long time, so you might have to dredge up some painful memories."

"What if I can't remember?"

"Then remember the last time you made a decision that was just for you and no one else, and start there."

"How much longer is it until daybreak?"

"Several hours"

"Will you hold me until then?"

"Sure."

"Brand?"

"Yeah?"

"I just . . ."

"Don't worry about it. If you need me, you know where to find me."

"Thanks."

"You're welcome, now go to sleep."

Cyréne was hit with a moment of déjà vu that she didn't want at all, but she pushed it away and closed her eyes. She dropped into sleep wishing that another dark-haired man was the one holding her and that daybreak would never come.