Inheritance - Chapter 8 - The Deus Ex Machina

  • Alarne sat staring into the depths of his mug; he was seated at one of the tables that ringed the main room of The Bee and Barb. The ride back from the clearing had been slow and he was sure it had been almost unbearable for Sofie. They had rushed to the temple of Mara and the priests had taken her in and sent them away so that they could work in peace.

    Since then he and Runa had returned to the clearing to go over what had happened and to try and see if they had missed anything in the chaos.

    They had found nothing.

    Ever since the ambush in the clearing it was as though the fog that bordered his mind had thought it would be the perfect time to try and break through the barrier that was protecting him. His mood had only been worsened by this and had led Runa and Blaise to give him a wide berth while they were in Riften.

    Now he sat and waited for the priests to deem Sofie ready for travel; even then it would be unlikely that she would be capable of fighting for a while. The priests were only able to increase the rate of healing and not actually reform the bone that had been broken.

    As he sat mulling over what his hope had become a shadow slipped past him and sat in the chair across from him. Looking up he saw what appeared to be a female Dunmer slipping from the shadows; yet there was something strange about her. As he stared at her he noticed that her eyes were almost human; she met his stare and said nothing as though wanting him to take in as much as he could.

    Her eyes were a light green that appeared to be streaked through with a blue the same colour as the sky; they were striking and almost seemed to be studying him. He started to shift in his seat under the gaze and was about to ask who she was when she finally spoke.

    “You look like him.” Her lips curled into a smile as he fully grasped what she had said.

    “I look like who?”

    “Your father; he was a powerful man, but more importantly he was a good man.” Her words sounded completely sincere yet there was something about how she had said it that was unsettling.

    A flood of questions rushed through his mind at her statement, who was she, how did she know his father, how did she know who he was, and many just like them but he only managed one.

    “Who are you?”

    There was a hint of a smile at his question and from the look on her face she seemed to be thinking of the best way to answer it. They sat in silence while she thought; Alarne gave a glance around the room to see that no one else had noticed his company appearing out of the shadows. As he watched he saw one of the patrons drop his mug and cry out as the beer spilled across the floor, but something was wrong, he hadn’t heard the mug hit the ground or the man’s cry. 

    Looking back at the dark elf the smile that had only been the slightest hint moments before had bloomed into a wide grin as she watched him notice the lack of sound. He pushed it to the side as something she had done in order to prevent interruptions and made a mental note to ask Blaise if he knew how she had done it.

    “Some call me Black Rose, and for this I think that will do. Oh and I knew your father because we… worked… together for a while before he discovered he was the Dragonborn. And I recognised you because there aren’t many, even among nords; that even come close to resembling that man. Does that answer your questions?”

    She had answered his questions including those he had not asked, this left him uncertain of what to do next “Umm yes… all of them actually. How did you know what I would ask?”

    “In my line of work it’s best to be able to predict what your target will do next and I happen to have seen the same look on many a face. Each time it was followed by similar questions and it was easy enough to narrow done the ones you would ask.”

    She paused to let him take in what she had said and all the while her grin continued to grow; he could see the joy in her eyes and realised that she was enjoying the fact that she was able to predict what he would do next. He suddenly realised that she had said target; he couldn’t decide what she had meant by it; it caused a chill to run down his spin.

    “What did you mean by target?

    Her grin faltered for the merest second as though she was only just realizing what she had said “Oh that, nothing you need to worry about; just a slip of the tongue. How is Sofie?”

    The question was so sudden that he answered before he fully registered it “She should be alright; the priests told us they would do what they could, but even then it could still be a while before she’s able to use her arm properly again.”

    She nodded as though he had just confirmed what she already knew and then reached across the table and eased his hands from the mug before grasping them firmly in her own. He tried to tug his hands free from her grip but was unable to so much as move them; looking up he found that she was staring at him with a look of sympathy.

    “In your youth you’ve rushed into a quest that may not even have an ending; you wish to answer a question that many before you have failed to myself included. Yet because of who you are and those around you, I am able to believe that you may just be able to find the answer that you are looking for.”

    *****

    It had taken two days before the priests had deemed her capable of travel and released her from their care. She had found Runa talking to the smith as he worked his forge and had waited for her sister to notice her before going over.

    The bear hug that she received had jolted her wrist and at the sound of her gasp Runa had released her and stepped away with a concerned look on her face. She had done her best to convince Runa that she really was alright and then asked about the boys.

    Apparently Blaise had gone to see the court mage to see if she could teach him any more about magic in the hopes that he could learn enough to be able to use it reliably. Alarne on the other hand, she had been told was in a foul mood and had been spending his time in local tavern.

    And so her she was, the tavern was full of the usual kinds of people that can be found in any tavern across Skyrim. Sitting over by the far wall was her brother, yet he was not alone; sitting across from him was a female Dunmer. They appeared to be talking to each other but there was no sound emanating from that part of the room.

    Walking over to the bar she managed to get the attention of the Argonian that was busy serving the patrons. “Sorry to bother you, but would you be able to tell me who the Dark Elf talking to that man over there is?” As she spoke she pointed in the direction of Alarne and gave a small smile.

    “Hmm, if I didn’t know any better I would say that is the Thane, but she hardly ever comes in here these days. Why do you ask?”

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Comments

4 Comments
  • Golden Fool
    Golden Fool   ·  June 22, 2015
    I'm fairly certain that this isn't the last we'll be hearing of Sofie's broken wrist 
  • Sotek
    Sotek   ·  June 22, 2015
    Exactly. Ch14 my story someone gets badly hurt and they take 5 days to get back on their feet. Even then they aren't 100%.
  • Golden Fool
    Golden Fool   ·  June 22, 2015
    Thanks Sotek, I look at the healing spells as though they would be able to heal a flesh wound fairly quickly, but anything more serious and their going to have to rest for a while.
  • Sotek
    Sotek   ·  June 22, 2015
    I like the fact that healing won't automatically heal the whole wound so the injured party member has to rest while the healing completes itself. I've taken that approach as well. Someone breaks their leg and they have to rest up for a few days despite th...  more