Chapter Seven

A few days had passed since Alinja and Erik returned to Rorikstead. They unfortunately got back into their old farming routine: getting up early to harvest the wheat so they could grind it into flour before the heat of the sun became too unbearable; tending, watering and weeding the other crops in the morning to afternoon; and finally milking and looking after the animals in the late afternoon.

It was dusk when Alinja went back to Erik's house. He was over at the inn helping his father with the work there. Meeko raised his head and ran to greet her.

"Hey, boy!" She called, messing up the fur on his head. "You hungry?"

Meeko barked with anticipation and wagged his tail. Alinja opened the small pantry next to the cooking pot and searched for any meat to feed him. Her eyebrows twitched with slight confusion as she found it almost empty.

"Hm…" she hummed, "I'll go over to the inn and see if Mralki has any food for you…and me as well." She patted Meeko on the head and gestured for him to follow her, before swinging the door open and trudging across the road to the inn. She began to open the door when she heard a temper-less conversation coming from within.

"You have no idea what either of us is capable of!" It was Erik. Alinja didn't enter the inn; she stayed at the doorway and watched as he argued with his father.

"I told you countless times that I am not having this conversation again!" Mralki was having trouble keeping his voice down as not to disturb the customers.

"No!" Erik shouted. "We are having this conversation now!"

Mralki suddenly turned a shade of light red, his eyes blazed. "Who you think you are, talking to your father like that! How dare you!" He placed his hands on his hips. "I should have spent more time disciplining you as a child, but I was busy looking after your sick mother."

"At least she would have let me go!" Erik was practically screaming.

The inn fell silent. All eyes were on the two nords standing off. Mralki's expression suddenly darkened. Alinja had never seen this look before. Mralki had always been a calm and kind person, but it actually looked like he was about to kill Erik.

"You shut your mouth." Mralki whispered in a cold angered tone.

But Erik kept pushing. "She would have let me go exploring, she would have let Alinja go too! She actually had the decency to—"

"I SAID SHUT YOUR MOUTH!" Alinja almost shrieked as Mralki crashed his fist into his son's face as hard as he could. Never had she witnessed such an event. Mralki had never raised a hand to Erik before, even as children. Erik fell to the floor hard, knocking the side of his forehead on the stone floor. Mralki exhaled. "Don't talk like you knew her."

Erik's breath was heavy and Alinja could see the muscles on his biceps tensing as if he were straining himself not to retaliate against his father. He cradled the side of his face, blood trickled down from his nose and the side of his head. His eyes were squeezed shut, holding in any water that may escape. Then he slowly stood and glared his father in the eyes and turned his gaze to the doorway, catching Alinja's eye. His cheeks flushed dark pink and he stormed past her and Meeko and hurried back to his house. Her heart was beating hard as she turned to look at Mralki. She was unsure of what to say to him.

"D-do you have any food?" Was all she stammered out.

Mralki rubbed his brow and sighed. "Yes," he walked to the counter and placed a few food items in a sack and handed it to her, "here."

Alinja gripped the sack and was about to leave when she remembered something. Turning around slowly she asked, "Mralki, did…" she was afraid of the answer, "did anyone named Lokir used to live here?"

"Lokir?" It was Lemkil. He was sitting at a bench. "Haven't seen him in years. Lazy bastard left Rorikstead. Said something about meeting some woman in Hammerfell."

Alinja nodded and scurried out of the tension filled air of the inn. This couldn't be a coincidence. Meeko trotted by her side as she returned to the house. She was about to open the door when she heard crashing and smashing from inside followed by the angered shout of Erik. She took a breath in, never having to deal with his anger before. Creaking open the door when the noise fell silent she entered the house and closed the door behind her after Meeko. The room was a mess. Bottles were smashed on the ground, books were thrown to the floor and there were a few holes in the wall. As if he sensed he was upset, Meeko walked cautiously up to Erik who was sitting on the bed with his back facing the door. His head was in his hands.

"Meeko," Alinja called, "come here." He turned his attention to her as she pulled out a few raw pieces of poultry and placed it in a wooden bowl on the floor where he ate hungrily.

She didn't say anything and she placed a few chunks of raw beef on the counter near the cooking pot and began preparing them for a stew. She watched her hands as they stirred the pot, little cut up pieces of slowly browning beef bobbing around the surface. As the meat turned a fresh shade of brown, she scooped up some of the broth into two bowls and placed a piece of cut bread on the side along with a wooden spoon. Alinja walked over to where Erik was sitting and sat beside him, handing him a bowl of beef stew. He didn't move. He didn't even look at her.

"Here," she said finally and he raised his head briefly and accepted the bowl. They ate in silence, but Erik only ate half of it before he put it down. She placed her bowl down too and sighed. "Erik…"

"I'm fine." He replied hastily.

Alinja stood and walked to the other side of the room where a bucket was resting in the corner. She gripped it and exited the house, walking down to the well next to the farm. She returned to the house with a bucket half full of rain water from the well. She took her place next to Erik again and dipped a cloth into the water, wringing it out before moving to clean Erik's wounds.

He moved away abruptly, pushing her hand away gently. "Don't. I'm fine."

Breathing out with slight frustration at his stubborn pride she stood once more and plonked herself down on his lap, facing him, her legs on either side of his hips. He looked at her in surprise with her sudden boldness. She gripped his chin between her index finger and thumb and moved his face to the left, wiping the side where he had hit his head. He flinched and winced slightly but remained silent. Alinja dipped the cloth in the water again, squeezing out excess water and wiped away drying blood that ran from his nose. She followed the trail slowly down to his lips, extinguishing the bloody evidence. She tried not to look, but she knew that his eyes never left her. She watched her hand in a trance as it slid over his mouth and down his chin. She lifted her gaze to meet his. She lowered her hand and leaned forward and kissed the side of his mouth where she had just wiped. She left her lips there longer than she intended, closing her eyes and soothing the tension within Erik. When she pulled away, his face was slightly more relaxed as he gazed upon the woman sitting on him. No words needed to be exchanged. The soft stare between the two was enough to open their hearts.

She leaned forward again and captured his lips with hers, dropping the wet cloth onto the floor, she attached her hands to the sides on his face. He didn't move his hands as if he were afraid to touch her. She pulled slightly away for a breath and pressed her lips to his cheek, jaw and neck before wrapping her arms around his neck and buried her face in it. Slowly, gaining more confidence, he slid his hands around her waist, bringing her closer to him. They remained in the amorous embrace for a long while before Erik spoke.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly, "I'm sorry you had to see that."

"You scared me," Alinja whispered, not moving her head away from his neck.

"I'm sorry." He repeated, gently giving her a series of kisses on her head.

Another long silence between them extended, until Alinja moved her head so her cheek was resting on his shoulder, looking away from him. "Are you alright?"

He didn't answer straight away. "I will be."

She nodded and sat up, placing her forehead on his briefly before standing, taking the bowls to the basin. Calloused hands slipped around her waist from behind and Erik placed a soft kiss on her neck.

"I want us to go exploring again," he spoke softly into her ear, "but part of me can't help agreeing with my father. I never want to see you get hurt like that again."

Alinja left the bowls in the basin and turned to face the orange haired nord in his grip. She almost gasped at the familiar scene. The nightmare…She looked at Erik like this before he was stuck with the dragon's tail. She looked away quickly.

"What's wrong?" He asked, holding her chin to face him.

She flashed a smile to him. "No, nothing…just…I, uh, I can't help feeling that too," she searched her mind for excuses, "but never mind that for now. We should just get some rest and think about it more, tomorrow morning."

To her relief, he didn't push the issue and released her. They dressed in their night clothes and Alinja moved to her bed, situated on the other side of the room, but Erik caught her hand.

"Sleep with me." He said, but realized what he said when he saw Alinja flush red. "No!" He quickly stuttered. "I-I mean…I want you to sleep next to me. Here. In my bed." He pulled her towards him as if her were pulling a rope.

"Alright." She agreed.

Erik lay on his back and wrapped an arm around Alinja as she slid into the bed next to him; resting her head on his chest and placing her hand on his toned stomach. She tried to close her eyes, but a thought kept tossing around in her mind. She wanted to tell Erik about the nightmare she'd had when she was recovering from the necromancer's wound. But she didn't want to worry him or sound foolish by being afraid of a dream. However something stirred deep within her. That dragon…why would she have a dream about a dragon? She'd never been particularly interested in the beasts or the legends about them. She remembered the robed men with the long grey beards. They called her 'Dovahkiin'. What did that mean? It didn't sound like any language she knew—not that she knew many languages. Settling, she decided to not to tell him. But she had another plan…

It was around midnight when she woke up. Alinja stayed unstirred until she was sure, Erik was asleep, then she slowly slipped out of the bed and dressed in her iron armour, careful not to wake him. She packed a quick knapsack with a few healing potions, food, water and some gold coins and strapped her iron sword to her belt. Meeko raised his head and cocked it to one side. She smiled at him.

"I'll try not to be gone too long," she whispered to him, "look after Erik for me." And she left the house in silence. She went around to the back of the house to pick up a few fresh ingredients. She was about to harvest a potato plant when she stopped and sighed. "I thought you were asleep."

"So I guess I still can't sneak up on you." Alinja turned as Erik made his way to her. "Where are you going? Thinking about leaving for an adventure without me?"

"No, Erik it's not like that." Alinja stammered. "I…" she bit her lip. "I'm sorry…" she raised her hand to her mouth, holding back tears. She didn't want to talk about the nightmare she had, but she had no other excuse to tell Erik.

"Hey, hey," Erik whispered, "I'm not angry. You can go, really." He wrapped his arms around her.

She shook her head. "No, it's not that…" she took a breath in. "I have to tell you something."

"What is it?" He led her to sit down.

"When I was unconscious I had a dream," she started, "well not a dream…a nightmare. A terrible, terrible nightmare." She tried to calm her shaking voice. "I was on a carriage to Helgen. I was a prisoner along with a thief who used to live here in Rorikstead and Ulfric Stormcloak and one of his underlings."

"Ulfric?" Erik asked. "What a strange thing to dream about."

"Yeah, but what scared me more is that there actually used to be someone living here in Rorikstead named Lokir. Apparently he left to find some woman in Hammerfell. And in my dream he said he was going to steam a horse to get to Hammerfell."

"That's really strange." Erik said looking up, inquisitively. "How did you know he was from Rorikstead?"

"Later on, when we reached Helgen an Imperial Soldier was checking the names of the prisoners."

"They even called your name?"

"No," Alinja continued, "apparently I wasn't on the list, but when I tried to tell them my name I couldn't hear the voice."

"Well dreams can be confusing."

"Hm." Alinja breathed in, readying herself for the rest of the story. "Ulfric was going to be executed, but I went first. The executioner was about to cut my head off when…" She paused and breathed out. "When…"

"When what?" Erik shifted closer to her.

"A dragon…" was all she could whisper.

"A dragon?" Erik exclaimed. "Like from the lost legends?" When she nodded he wrapped his arm around her. "Don't worry, Alinja." He lifted her head and wiped away tears. "It was just a dream. Dragons aren't real. They're just myths. Probably a symbolic thing in the ancient legends."

As much as she wanted to believe him she shook her head. "I think this isn't a coincidence, Erik. Later on in the dream I was alone in the dark. There were four robed men with long grey beards. They said something about me being a 'Dovahkiin' and how I had to save people. I…I was going to go to Helgen to…"

"Alinja, it was just a dream." I don't think you'll find anything at Helgen. If a dragon had attacked it, we would've known by now. There would be news everywhere."

"I'm still going to go." She said, standing.

Erik followed her motion and gripped her by the shoulders, staring deep into her eyes. "Then I'm coming with you."

She was about to hug him and say yes, but then she remembered the last part of the dream. Erik's limp body hanging on the end of the dragon's arrow-shaped tail.

"No…" she said quietly, shifting her gaze to her left. "Not this time."

"What do you mean?"

"I…this is something I have to do alone."

There was a long pause between the two before Erik asked slowly, "Alinja, what else happened in this dream?"

Alinja's eyes widened. How did he know? She turned her head to look at him. "The dragon…killed you." She couldn't stop the tears from running freely down her face. Her hands raised up and covered her eyes and she sobbed quietly.

"Ali," Erik hugged her tightly, "I'm not going anywhere. We're in this together, remember?"

She gasped eyes wide with fear and pushed away from him, shaking her head violently. "That's exactly what you said in the dream before it killed you. Erik I can't…"

Erik stepped towards her suddenly, gripped the sides of her head roughly and kissed her. He parted her lips with his and threaded his tongue through into her mouth. Alinja was taken aback from the sheer passion of the kiss that all her fears and everything else seemed to melt away. She was aware of nothing else in the world except for the two of them at this moment. She whimpered softly and he pulled away slowly, gazing down at her.

"Erik…"

"Let's go check this out." He said in a smooth, calm voice that made Alinja want to kiss him more. "Together."

She couldn't resist. Giving in she nodded. "O-okay."

**Dedicated to my Uncle, Calvin. We know it wasn't you who put that bullet in your head. I hope they find the robbers who did this to you. May you rest in peace.**