Fate's Games
(A/N: Second up today. Provided you haven't killed Narfi for the Brotherhood yet, or gotten assigned to, he sparks a miscellaneous quest that is really quite sad. The inn keeper in that town plays a fair role in it. When you find Reyda's necklace and bring it to the inn keeper first, he gives a line of dialogue very close to Narfi's own words, yet he isn't insane. Wondering about that ended up sparking this. I elaborated on the conversation a little.)
He'd Tried…
He'd told himself he wanted for forget. For years he'd been telling himself he wanted to forget. He wanted to forget her name, forget he ever knew her, forget… forget everything. But did he really? Her voice rang through his memories at night, her laughter and smile in his dreams, but he'd forgotten, or tried. Until the Dragonborn came and questioned him about her. Where was she? What did he know? Why had he told her brother, Narfi, that she would be back?
When these questions were posed to him he felt the stinging in his eyes that he'd almost been rid of. He felt his throat knotting and his heart breaking like they had once so long ago. Why did he tell Narfi that Reyda would be coming back soon? To spare the beggar pain, that was why, and he admitted as much to the Dragonborn, and more. The man was persistent. "I tried to look for her, but after a year I just… I gave up," he'd explained to the hero.
Had it only been a year he'd searched, he wondered? Or had it been longer? Had he really given up on the hope that she would be back, or was part of him still longing to hear the door open and to listen to her say his name? "Wilhelm, I've come back. I'm sorry I was gone so long, but I lost track of time." That was what she used to say to him when she was gone for more than one day. He still hoped someday he would hear those words. The Dragonborn left to search for her, and he had hope for a moment, but quickly enough it faded because part of him knew… Part of him knew she would never return.
ES
He gazed at the necklace, holding it in his palm as if it were a priceless treasure, so cold, so beautiful, a necklace he'd gifted her once, the day he'd pledged to her his heart and told her he wanted to be with her forever. She'd accepted and he'd never seen her smile so widely before. Tears stung his eyes and he spoke words he had almost no control over, "Reyda, you found Reyda. Did you tell her Narfi cries? Did you tell her Narfi never got to say goodbye?" He almost laughed at himself. He was starting to sound like the beggar now.
But the necklace was wet, and even as he looked up at the Dragonborn, he knew the expression that would be in the man's eyes. The Dragonborn looked solemn, pitying, and answered, "Narfi is not the only one who mourns, I see."
Wilhelm's soft smile fell and he let the tears quietly slip down his cheeks. After a long moment he asked, "Where?"
"She wasn't far. Her… her remains were in the river, just beside the bridge, just where the water got deep. I'm sorry," the Dragonborn answered.
"I…I suppose it isn't… isn't a surprise," he said, and his voice hitched as he choked on a sob and covered his mouth quickly. After a moment he looked up and handed the necklace back. "Bring it to Narfi," he said. "You decide now, whether to tell him or not." The Dragonborn took it, and Wilhelm knew that handing that necklace back had to have been the most difficult thing he'd ever done. As the Dragonborn left, he put another in charge of the inn and went to the river.
ES
He gazed into the water. Now he saw the outline of a skeleton. The skeleton that had once been his beautiful fiancé, his lover. The skeleton that had once laughed so merrily and brewed potions in his inn to sell in order to support herself and her slowly fading brother. What happened to you, my love? Did you slip upon a stone and strike your head? Did you scream for help, or for me, and pray that I would come. I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. Oh my beloved one, if I had only heard your cries, if I had only felt for even a moment that something was wrong, I would have run to you, and you would still be here. I pray you did not suffer, that fear did not torment you until your dying breath. I hope to the divines that you never knew that you would never wake up again. I'm sorry, so, so, sorry…
He watched as they buried the remains, later that day. The Dragonborn was there watching solemnly, and Narfi was sobbing, and he… he was just standing there gazing into the grave and wishing with all his heart that he could join her, or that it were him being buried and not her. "You need not mourn alone, inn keeper," the Dragonborn suddenly said, and Wilhelm turned. "Let her brother in."
"Can one confide in a madman?" Wilhelm wondered.
"I have managed well with madmen in the past," the Dragonborn answered, smiling sadly. So be it. Reyda would have wanted nothing more than that her brother would be cared for.
He turned back to the grave as she was buried, and he knelt there in front of the town, in front of her brother who watched on in shock, for a moment lucid, and he kissed the ground beneath which she was buried. "I will not forsake you, or your brother," he vowed to it, so all heard, and all knew immediately what could have been. As she'd always wanted.