My Dearests,
It seems as if an eternity has past since I last felt your skin against mine. I feel at times as if my longing for both of you will drive me mad. But then I remember that each day we are parted allows our love to ripen on its vine one day more, making the fruit of our eventual reunion that much more sweet.
My Beloveds, beware of a plot to sow dissension in Jorrvaskr. Krev (of whom you have heard me speak) will send his spy to Whiterun to spread a rumor that both of you conspire with Soran and Hellina to murder Kodlak Whitemane and put another in his place. I do not know any specific details, except that it will be Krev's pet spy and assassin Hylf who will carry the false rumor. He will deliver it by word of mouth, and it takes no skill at divination to guess which Companion he will choose to receive it.
Mara brought us together so that we might love each other, but also so that you might protect me in my time of dire need. I owe you my life. My heart you already possessed, each of you in full measure; my life is also now yours, for as long as I draw breath in this world, and in Sovngarde for eternity afterwards. Mara will continue to watch over us and protect us. That I cannot be with you to protect you is more painful for me than any physical wound I have ever endured. You must protect each other. Tell Kodlak all, leave nothing out. Do not give his imagination any room to fill in even the smallest detail. Answer any question that Kodlak, or your brothers and sisters, may ask. Speak my name. Profess our love. They will hear the truth, and Mara will open their hearts, and minds, to it. All will be as Mara wills it.
What you do with Hylf afterwards is a matter for Kodlak, and The Companions, to decide. If he returns to us I will surely kill him.
Forgive me, my darlings. My anger guided my hand, and the pen it holds. Forget my harsh words. Remember that I love you. Protect yourselves.
D.
"Will it serve?" Dralof asked Hellina's silent form after she had finished reading his letter. He had blotted and dusted the ink and parchment, and the writing was clear, though in some places still damp. The reason that Hellina delayed in answering had nothing to do with the ink, or the parchment that she held gently in her hands as she fought against the tears in her eyes, and the ache in her chest. Dralof's reputation was no secret, nor was his association with the two women. Hellina had been surprised when she observed the three of them together how deep their shared affection ran, but she had accepted it quickly as a simple fact of life. But seeing that affection - that love, expressed so beautifully in words by Dralof, a man who Hellina was forced to admit that she did not know well, she had not been prepared for how intensely those words would affect her.
I will ask him today, she thought, as her mind attached Dralof's beautiful words to Soran's beautiful face, I will step into his office, close the door, drop to my knees, and ask him to marry me.
Hellina continued to hold the letter as if it were made from fragile porcelain, as she looked at the man sitting at the table, in the chair next to hers, and nodded.
"It will serve quite well," she answered after clearing her throat.
"I do not exaggerate when I say that I pinched myself more than once to make sure I was not dreaming," Dyus said as he stood in Soran's office with the Harbinger of the Silver Hand and Hellina. He had not come straight from the mine; Dyus had not dared risk being observed by Krev or one of his men. And he had allowed Frik a head start when leaving the mine, stopping to talk briefly to some of the other men who had also applied pickaxes and shovels, and considerable physical effort, collecting ore; walking out with them before stopping at the well for a drink of water. But he was still filthy and sweat stained when he stepped into the small room to tell his tale.
"How came he by this information?" Soran asked.
"He hates Hylf or, more specifically, he hates how close Hylf and Krev have become. It was Hylf he was spying on when he heard their conversation."
"He is jealous," Hellina said.
"Yes," Dyus said, "He knows that the further away he stands from Krev the more danger he faces from the rest of their men, and the lesser part his share of any plunder."
"He went to great lengths to ensure privacy before telling you of this," Soran said, "a full shift in the mine is no small matter."
Dyus' smile alerted both of them that something was afoot.
"He departed the mine with a fair quantity of silver ore hidden in his clothing."
Hellina's smile answered the Subaltern's as she replied.
"It was ore well spent. For whatever reason, Frik has done us a service. The question now is what do we do about it?"
"We could deal with Hylf ourselves, but Krev would know that he was betrayed, and in any case he would never forgive us," Soran said.
"I do not ask for Krev's forgiveness. I say we deal with both of them together and be done with it," Hellina said with steel in her voice.
Soran thought for several seconds before he answered. "I confess that your solution appeals to me more and more. But I do not believe it would end there. And what of Frik afterwards?"
"Is that not Frik's problem?" Hellina asked.
"I will not abandon him to his fate if we move against Krev," Dyus said, "I do not say I like him, or that we owe him much, but he did us a service, for whatever reason, and it would not be honorable to simply cast him aside to be killed by Krev's bandits."
"I agree," Soran said, his eyes locked with Hellina's, "you may be right. The simplest solution is usually the correct one. But in this case I believe a more orthogonal approach will serve just as well, if not better."
"Remember what happened the last time one of our number walked in one direction while looking in another," Hellina said, her skepticism on full display as she recalled a soaking wet Sigyrr, and a host of laughter.
Soran smiled as his mind became filled with the same image. "Do not worry, my eyes are fixed on the path I have in mind."
"Each of you has a contact in Whiterun," Soran said to Vala and Manis as the pair stood before the Harbinger, "one of you must see this letter delivered. It must be placed into the hands of Ria or Njada, either by one of you, or by a contact that you would trust with your life."
Vala remained silent as her mind raced in several directions, and so Manis was first to speak. "I know Vignar only slightly, but he is a Companion. He has seen half a dozen Harbingers come and go. Saadia...I would not give this task to her. The high priestess of Kynareth is a possibility; She and the Companions are neighbors, and well acquainted."
Both of the men looked at Vala and waited for her to speak. When she did so her voice seemed to act on its own.
"I likewise know Vilkas only slightly. I know Farkas and Lucia better. I fought alongside both of them when the night walkers attacked Whiterun."
"You have been inside Jorrvaskr itself," Hellina said to Vala, "and your face is familiar to four of the Companions now. You could deliver the letter directly."
"It would be less complicated if I asked Lucia to do it," Vala said to Hellina.
"I do not understand," Soran said, "less complicated how?"
Hellina knew full well why Vala was reluctant to enter Jorrvaskr. Manis could only see that she was clearly reluctant to do so, but not her reason. But that ignorance did not stop him from coming to her rescue, barely a second before Hellina did.
"She cannot risk being seen walking into, or out of, Jorrvaskr. Someone else must carry the letter the final distance," Manis said.
Soran was outnumbered three to one on this point, and he knew it, though he did not know why; and since he did not wish to press the point his only recourse was an orderly retreat.
"That is a risk, certainly," Soran said.
"But I could remain in the Thane's house in Whiterun, and Lucia could either deliver the letter, or bring one of the women to her home where I could hand it to them in person," Vala suggested.
"That would serve quite well, but you must be disguised again in any case," Hellina said, "Ria and Njada know you well, but no one else in Whiterun knows your true colors; and you must hide yourself from Hylf as well."
"But you need not go alone," Manis said, "we will travel there together. We will protect each other."
"You are harder to conceal that Vala is," Soran said, "and Hylf has sharp eyes."
"I will take great pains to disguise myself. And at the first sign that he recognizes me I will cut off his head," Manis said with a smile.
"You really wish to see Saadia again, don't you?" Vala asked as she smiled back at her partner, who did not hesitate to reply.
"Truer words have never been spoken."
"I am glad I found you here, friend," Hylf said as he stopped at the small table in the back of The Bannered Mare, "I enjoyed our last conversation very much, and wished to repay your hospitality."
Tolfdir had been staring at his mug when the tall man in black approached, turning his face up finally when Hylf spoke.
"As I recall, it was your gold that paid for everything when we met last," Tolfdir replied, "it should be me thanking you."
"I meant your willingness to educate an ignorant foreigner on the history of Whiterun. I have recently acquired information that you will find most interesting. Interesting, and alarming. I wish to offer it in compensation."
Uthgerd, who had been keeping watch over Tolfdir, on and off, for three days running, had spotted the man immediately upon his entering the Inn, as had Tolfdir. They were not the first two residents of Whiterun to do so. Kodlak himself had devised the method that they had used to watch for the man's approach, and to signal everyone involved even before he had entered the main gate. Only then would Tolfdir and Uthgerd begin to act their parts in earnest. And so while they were not the first to observe the tall man in black as he passed through Whiterun, they would be the last. Hylf's ability to be inconspicuous, and easily forgotten, which usually worked in his favor, would soon work against him if anyone came looking for him afterwards.
"You had better sit down, then," Tolfdir said before he looked at the bottom of his empty mug and then back at the face of the man who was still lowering into the chair opposite him.
Hylf raised his hand and looked over his shoulder towards Hulda.
"Two more of whatever my friend is having."
Lucia had measured the time it would take for an average pair of leisurely legs that started walking at her front door to arrive at The Bannered Mare. She allotted time for the tall leather clan figure to enter the Inn and locate his target before she descended from the cupola that marked the highest point of her home and walked the well known path to Jorrvaskr.
"He has arrived," she said simply to the assembled men and women in the courtyard where, years earlier, she and Runa had faced off against many of these same faces.
They had discussed how long a time to wait, and how best to measure that time. It had been Uthgerd that had suggested the solution that they landed upon finally. She still bore no love for the residents of Jorrvaskr. But she loved spies, and assassins, even less.
"Pour," Vilkas said to his brother, who quickly filled a mug with ale. When Vilkas had drunk two such mugs, enjoyed at a leisurely pace, it would be time for Farkas to depart.
"Pour me a mug as well," Lucia said as she sat next to Vilkas and smiled at him, "we cannot have you drinking alone, can we?"
"Gods forbid," Farkas said as he filled another mug.
Frik was not the only one to notice that Krev's tall, thin walking shadow was nowhere to be found but, aside from Krev, Frik was the only one of Krev's men who knew the reason for the assassin's absence. Hylf's departure, as best as Frik could determine, was only a day after Dyus had stopped him on the path to the forge, a steel short sword in his hand.
"Did you forget this in the mine?" the Subaltern asked him in a somewhat over loud voice as he offered the weapon to Frik.
His voice dropped almost to a whisper as Frik looked at the weapon, the hardwood grip inlaid with silver, as was the pommel and the inlay on the matching scabbard.
"They are away," Dyus said, his voice barely noticeable.
Frik simply nodded his head before speaking in a normal tone of voice.
"No, that is not mine."
"No one else has claimed it. Keep it until we find its master."
Vala and Manis would arrive in Whiterun at least a day before Hylf, who would take a more serpentine route, which matched his character in Frik's opinion. It would be more than enough time to implement whatever plan the officers of The Silver Hand and The Companions devised, the details of which Frik neither knew nor cared to. Frik's part was now concluded, except to stay within arms reach, if not in direct view, of Krev for the foreseeable future. Krev could not be allowed to suspect that Frik was the reason that Hylf failed to return.
Frik continued to the forge as he drew his new sword from its scabbard and admired the beautiful blade that was embossed with silver runes, and that was as sharp as a razor.
Vala departed Breezehome at the same time as Lucia. They had said their goodbyes while still inside, out of view of prying eyes, before they stepped out onto the street, Lucia turning towards the Inn while Vala turned towards the gate and, ultimately, the stables. She would travel alone for this part of her journey. Manis would return later, though how much later was up to Manis. And Saadia. He would observe the final act of their play from his well hidden position inside the inn. Once Hylf had been hustled out the back door of the inn Manis could turn his attention to more pleasant endeavors.
At least this time he is fully healed, and she can throw caution to the winds and truly put him through his paces, Vala thought as she rode slowly away from Whiterun, her face braking into a smile as she painted a very erotic picture in her mind, though it was a picture that container Farkas in place of Manis, and herself in place of Saadia.
Uthgerd tipped her mug upside down to capture the last drops of autumn ale. It was the second time she had done so, the second mug that marked the time when things would finally become interesting. The two men nearby had been speaking in hushed tones for almost the entirety of those two mugs, their heads barely two inches apart as they leaned forward so that their words could not be heard. But Uthgerd did not need to hear those words, she knew the tail that the man with the rodent's face was telling. It was now time for her to play her own part, and she had no qualms about admitting how much she would enjoy doing so.
Tolfdir had taken the chair facing the door, forcing Hylf to take the chair opposite from him so that it was his back to the door. Uthgerd never sat with her back to a door, and she was sure that the spy would have chosen otherwise if it had been possible. So it was that she and he were facing each other while the two men talked, though he had hardly glanced at her, and she had not glanced at him at all, not directly at least. Everything was just as it should be when she stood finally and crossed the distance between her table and theirs in two strides.
"Why do you keep looking at me in that manner?" she asked the stunned face that looked up at her from his seat, "I do not know you, and I am certain that you do not know me."
"I was not looking at you in any manner," Hylf said in his regal, reasonable tones, "I was not looking at you at all."
"First you leer at me, and then you call me a liar?" she said, the volume of her voice, and its angry tone, increasing with every word before the light of understanding illuminated her face, "I know what it is; you wish desperately to see Sovngarde, and the only way for you to do so is to die in battle."
All faces were turned towards the powerful Nord warrior as she looked down at the man who had still not left his seat, including the face of the man who had just entered the Inn through the main door, and the man who observed everything through the crack between the doorjamb and the door of his rented bedroom.
Tolfdir sat still, his hands pressed flat on the table, his head turned up towards the woman standing next to him. He could see Farkas approach and stop a short distance behind Hylf, but he dared not turn his head.
"Will you die where you sit, or will you die on your feet?" Uthgerd said in ultimatum to the man who was now growing acutely concerned for his safety. Both of his knives were sheathed at the small of his back, and he could draw neither of them while sitting, and in any case they would achieve nothing against the woman's steel plate armor.
"There has been a terrible misunderstanding," Hylf said as he stood up, "please allow me to..."
His train of thought was broken at that point when Farkas stepped forward and placed a large sack over his head. It was only a moment after that when Uthgerd struck the man a strong blow on the left side of that head.
"I hope you didn't kill him," Farkas said, his eyes settling on the tall Nord woman as he picked the unconscious man up and threw him over his shoulder.
"No great loss if I did," Uthgerd said as her own eyes surveyed the unconscious figure that was now draped over Farkas shoulder before she returned to her table, picked up her empty mug, and waved it at Hulda.