The morning was growing warmer. Manis had shed his armor before drinking his potion, and Vala did not see any reason to endure the added weight and discomfort of wearing her own armor in so well protected a city as Whiterun. So it was that Danica Purespring's modest bed was almost invisible under a disordered stack of armor. Vala wore a light blue embroidered tunic that fell almost to her knees over a pair of soft cloth breeches which were tucked into the top of her tan leather boots. It was exactly what she would be wearing were she at home in that instant.
"You look quite comfortable," Danica said as Vala stood up from the small desk in the small office located in the small alcove.
"Since you are a High Priestess I feel safe in sharing my confession that I find wearing armor in summer to be almost unbearable. I would cast it off on the first day of Sun's Height and not put it on again until the Ides of Hearthfire. But my life is not one that allows me such freedom."
"I will carry your secret with me into Sovngarde, and beyond, Centurion. Do not fear."
"Call me Vala, your Grace. I find the burden of ranks and titles almost as bad as that burden I just mentioned."
"If you will call me Danica, I will call you Vala," Danica said with a smile, "it is only fair, is it not?"
"We will act in concert then, and please those Divines that adore balance," Vala answered.
"We will make a Priestess of you before you depart our city, friend. Come, let us deliver your letter."
A laugh escaped Vala's mouth as they were exiting the temple before she could intercept it. "I am not the stuff from which Priestess are made. My interest in remaining on the windy side of the Gods good graces is pure self interest. I wish to minimize my punishment in my next life."
"In that you also please those Gods that adore common sense."
"Which of the Divines do you have in mind."
The High Priestess of Kynareth was silent for a time.
"I am sure, given sufficient time, that I could give you a name, but look now, here is the home of Thane Aric. It is to him, or his family since he is away, that you will deliver your letter of thanks."
Danica knocked on the door but did not wait for an answer before opening it.
"What is that smell?" Vala asked as the door opened wider.
"At the risk of being mistaken, I will guess that it is fresh paint you smell."
She was at no risk whatsoever of being mistaken, as Vala could clearly see for herself. The interior of the home was in complete disarray as anything and everything that normally stood against a wall had been pulled to the center of the room. A tall woman with golden hair pulled back and covered with a large white cloth stood a short distance away. She was dressed in loose dark clothes that, by their appearance, were meant for rough work. She had paused, the brush in her right hand still wet with paint, as Danica and Vala stood in the open doorway.
And even at that distance Vala could clearly see a white hand print on her right buttocks, the color an exact match for the wet brush and walls.
"I am sorry to interrupt your efforts, Lucia, I did not know that your home was turned upside down.
"I thought it a perfect time to complete a much needed chore. Every surface made from wood had grown quite bare. With Mother, Father and Runa away no one is under foot to complain about the upheaval."
"This is Vala. Her companion is in the temple as we speak, sleeping off one of your Father's potions. She wished to thank him in person, but since he is away she has written him a note. May we leave it with you?"
"Certainly. Please come in, as much as you are able. Madam, is there something on your mind? You look at me in an unusual way."
"Forgive me, madam, I did not mean to stare. It is just...did you know that you have a rather large hand print on..."
Vala looked down at her own body part and motioned with her hand, which caused Lucia to look down in kind.
"VILKAS!" she screamed over her shoulder.
"What is it?" A tall, handsome, dark haired Nord, who seemed to have used a good deal of the paint from the pail he was holding on himself as well as the woodwork, asked as he climbed the stairs that led below.
This is one of the Inner Circle? Vala thought as she looked at the fine specimen of a man, ordinary in every way, he does not seem any sort of monster.
"What is this, tell me that?" she asked as she turned and displayed the painted part of her breeches.
"Why do you ask me? I do not know," he replied innocently with a shrug of his shoulders.
"I ask you, because you did it, that is why."
"How is it that I am the principal suspect in this crime? Where is your evidence?"
"My evidence is that there is no one else here besides you and me, and it matches your hand exactly. Gods! Will you truly stand there and continue to deny it?" she said as her words became mingled with her laughter.
Vala did not know either of them but she knew the look on the face of the attractive Companion. It was a look of adoration for the woman he sparred with now.
"You made an accusation, and I asked that you prove it. It is the right of anyone so accused. Should I not have full protection of the law, just like anyone else?"
"Merciful Divines, I will certainly run mad if I continue speaking to him. Danica, you talk to him. I will empty my bucket of paint on his head if you do not intervene."
"He seems to have done an excellent job of covering himself with paint, dear, so your threat carries little force," the high priestess answered with her own smile, "as you may recall, I have brought you a visitor."
"I did not mean to interrupt," Vala said, "I only meant to deliver my thanks."
"This oversized child is Vilkas. He is a very old, and on occasion a very dear, friend. Vilkas, this is Vala. Her companion is recovering in the Temple. What is it that ails him?"
"He was wounded in a vampire attack some weeks ago. His wounds do not heal properly. Danica gave us some balm and a potion, both of which your Father made. She also gave me a supply to take with us."
"Was he bitten?" Vilkas asked, the humor gone from his face and voice.
"He swears that he was not. But for some reason his wounds do not heal. Another that was in his party is also afflicted in this manner."
"Are you Vigilantes from the Hall in The Pale?" Lucia asked, "we heard the report that it was attacked by vampires and everyone was killed."
"We are not Vigilantes, but we know of them, and are friendly with them. And not everyone was killed. Several survived. No, our group was employed by a village that was being attacked by beasts almost nightly. It was one such night that they were attacked."
It was not a lie, not completely. They had certainly been so employed. They had certainly been attacked at night. Those details that Vala chose to omit did not change the basic truth.
"It is a dangerous time to be in the villages at night," Vilkas said.
"It is not so safe to be in Whiterun at night either," Lucia said as she placed her brush into a bucket filled with a strong smelling spirit, "how many nights running have we been attacked?"
"Last night was the first quiet night in some time," Danica said as she thought back, "the four nights prior I treated those that were injured in the attacks."
"Four nights running, in Whiterun. How bad must it be in the towns and villages?" Vilkas asked.
Bad, Vala thought as she recalled the number of requests for protection that they had received.
"I am glad that you brought your friend here," Lucia said as she cleaned her brush before winding her way through the disorder to an alchemy workbench, "and that you have ample supply for your other comrade."
She returned with a small pouch. "There are a handful of pellets, each about the size of a walnut, in this pouch. Both your injured friends must bathe in hot water two days after the ointment and potion has had a chance to do its work. Place one of these pellets in the bath water when they enter. It will help them greatly."
"I have never heard of such a thing," Vala said.
"Lucia is prone to burning her family members when practicing fire magic," Vilkas said as his face widened into a smile, "it was out of necessity that Aric concocted those pellets."
"Are you not in enough trouble as it is?" Lucia asked.
"Trouble never visits me when it visits in your likeness."
"You will sing a different tune when our guests depart," she replied.
"I care not what the tune is, as long as we sing it together," he answered.
"I believe we have overstayed our welcome," Danica said as the two painters closed the distance between them, her right hand finding his left one, "we will leave you two alone, and return to the temple."
"Thank you for your gift, and the gift from your Father," Vala said as she walked back into the fresh air, the paint fumes still firmly attached to her nostrils.
"They have known each other since they were children," Danica said as she smiled, "they are quite fond of each other."
He almost killed four of his fellow Companions over her, Vala thought.
"Are they betrothed?"
"No, though there is no one in Whiterun who understands why not."
"Including them?"
"Possibly, though I believe that they have discussed it."
"They are a beautiful couple. And it is clear that they are much attached to each other."
"There is much in the past of each of them that is quite sad. Come, we will check on your friend and then we can gossip over lunch."
"Lead on, friend. I am entirely in your hands."
"How do you feel?"
"I feel quite rested," Manis answered, "free of pain. Hungry."
"Saadia made up a basket for you," Vala said as she sat next to Manis on his cot, "she offered to visit you later. If he needs tending to, were her exact words. I did not ask her what she meant. That is between the two of you."
"She is very thoughtful."
"Thoughtful was not the word that came to my mind at the time. If you had seen her face you would also have chosen a different word."
"Gods, you have had only one thing on your mind since we enter this city," Manis said, "what has gotten into you?"
"Me? You are the one who...I will not litigate this from a cot in a temple filled with strangers," she whispered, "and I have news to share, but I will delay for the amount of time it takes you to devour the contents of Saadia's bounty."
Manis' face broke into a smile.
"That is not what I meant," Vala replied while she rolled her eyes.
"If you had seen them together you would understand all," Vala said as they walked casually through the residential district of Whiterun, "that he is totally in love with her could be seen by a blind man. And while she did not seem quite so smitten as him, she does not lag behind him by any great distance. Anyone who did not know it would think they were already wed."
"It is not so strange, is it? He is a man, she is a woman. You state plainly that they are both very attractive, that they have know each other most of their lives."
"It goes against everything we have been taught of the Inner Circle," Vala explained, "that they are beasts, merely pretending to be men."
"I do not believe that is what we have been taught," Manis objected, "we have been taught that were beasts, and any other unnatural creature that prays on men, are to be eradicated. We are taught that Tyrrfg erred greatly when he accepted the curse of the Witches of Glenmoril Coven, which created the Circle. But speaking for myself, I was never taught to hate the Inner Circle; not, at least, while they walked about on the legs that the Gods gave them as they enter this world. We may be charged with killing them as they rampage the countryside in their beast state, but when we encounter them as men I feel no obligation to hate them, or to fear them."
"Neither do I feel that, I am just attempting to reconcile two immiscible ideas in my mind."
The day had progressed far enough into afternoon that there was no point departing Whiterun until the Sun had set on this day and risen on the next. They would not even be halfway to the nearest village before darkness overtook them, and neither of them wished to take their chances, given the number of vampire attacks that were plaguing Skyrim.
But while the sun still shone they both felt safe visiting Honningbrew Meadery and some of the local farms. A strong persistent breeze made the afternoon quite pleasant, and the absence of armor made it even more so, if only for a short time.
"They had a night of calm after several nights of attacks," Vala said, "Danica and I took our lunch at our usual table while you slept, and the consensus in the Inn is that last night's peace was meant to lull the city to sleep tonight and catch them off guard."
"If that was the plan, then it has failed it seems. They will be twice as vigilant tonight."
"I aim to aid them with their vigilance," Vala added, "I will stand watch tonight as well. I will present myself to the City Guard Captain and offer my services, for whatever watch requires it most."
"You did not think to offer my services as well?" Manis asked, "do you think me still incapacitated?"
"No, I thought you would be otherwise occupied," Vala answered with a smile.
"For the entire night? You give me too much credit, friend."
Several of the farm animals nearby looked up at the sound of their laughter.