Adrianne and Proventus examined the damage to Arcadia’s Cauldron, while a rather distraught Arcadia screamed as she saw the shop. The door was torn off the hinges and thrown across the market place and the door frame itself was destroyed, totally beyond repair. Adrianne shook her head as she examined the shop front.
“He’s certainly done it this time. The whole frame needs replacing, but I’ll have it fixed in a few hours. Where’s Eorlund? He can give me a hand. Proventus, can you spare a few guards and some torches? We’ll need light”.
Arcadia stepped inside but quickly wished she didn’t. The shelves were ransacked, and half her ingredients were missing or scattered across the floor.
“I’ll bloody kill him”. She yelled as she shook her fist.
She went to her side room then stormed outside the shop and headed towards the inn with a broom in her hand. She burst inside the inn, nearly screaming at the top of her voice.
“Where’s that no good, slimy excuse for a lizard? What bloody rock is that reptile hiding under?”
She looked across the hall then gulped as every Argonian, no less than eight of them in all, stopped what they were doing, turned and silently stared straight at her.
“I ermm, I’m looking for ermm a...”
Sotek knew he was in trouble. Having nowhere to hide and given the fact that she knew where to find him, he held his hand up and weakly called out to her.
“A slimy excuse for a lizard? That would be me”.
She immediately regained her anger then rapidly passed the other Argonians, who just watched her as she made her way through the group. Sotek’s eyes opened wide as he saw the broom swipe down at him. He blocked it with his arm as he backed away, but he found himself in a corner, slowly getting battered by Arcadia and the broom.
“Get her off”.
She stopped then stepped back allowing Sotek some space to get up. As he never moved, she grabbed hold of a bone spike and wrenched him up to his feet.
“My bloody shop's wrecked! Why? What act of lunacy drove you to destroy my home! I ought to… Talk, you infernal lizard!”
Sotek managed to free himself and shook his head to loosen up his collar muscles. As he rubbed the back of his neck he mumbled back at her.
“It was a medical emergency”.
She poked him in the chest with her finger, totally oblivious as to her surroundings.
“Oh yes? A likely story. And who was the medical emergency? Your brain falling out your ear? Well? Who?”
“Him!” Sotek pointed straight at the corpse of Shadow Walker. She turned around then looked at the body. Her eyes glazed over as she became transfixed on the crushed head and immediately threw up. Sotek shrugged his shoulders then he held her sides, giving her support so she didn’t collapse. “I told you it was a medical emergency”.
She ran out of the inn holding her hand over her mouth, mumbling some sort of threat which no one could understand. Sotek slowly walked over to the corpse then tapped it in the side with his foot.
“I suppose she has a point. Aela, Farkas, Vilkas, we’ll need furs, again”.
Aela sighed as she walked over to him.
“We gonna burn him?”
“Nope, I’m not sure what to do this time. It’s kind of difficult trying to convince people that we never killed him, when the rooms full of Shadowscales”.
Aela looked across in alarm then tugged on his arm.
“What? Wait a minute, what we?”
Her looked at her in surprise to see a serious face glaring back at him. With a sigh, he shrugged.
“Fine, me then. Here, go chew on an apple”.
Aela thumped him in the chest which made him squeal.
“That’s not funny”.
By that time, Farkas and Vilkas came back with some furs. Sotek, deciding that they needed an extra set of hands, called over to the Collector.
“You can help as well”.
“Oh? And who put you in charge?” She asked him as she raised an inquisitive eyebrow.
“Ermm… He did”. Sotek said while pointing to the corpse. As they began their task of removing the body, Sotek once again called out to Twilight. “What is your name by the way?”
“Actually, I like Twilight”.
“Ok, but it’s not a very Argonian sounding name though, is it?”
“Don’t look at me, you picked it”. Just to enforce her sarcastic tone, she stuck her tongue out at him.
Sotek narrowed his eyes at her then sent her off to aid his counterpart so he wouldn’t have to deal with either of them.
“Twilight, you can give Aela a hand”.
The Collector helped Aela with the legs while Farkas and Vilkas lifted the arms. Sotek slid three furs under Shadow Walker’s body then wrapped him up in them. Farkas bellowed loudly as Sotek tied some rope around the furs.
“Hey, this could be a new business plan. Corpse disposal”.
Kodlak smacked the back of his head, hard.
“That’s not funny. What are we going to do with it?”
Huinzi signalled to three of his Shadowscales.
“We’ll take him back with us. We’ve a few bodies to deal with. Thanks to you Sotek.”
Sotek nodded but started lifting it up himself.
“It’s not my fault! Why does everyone blame me? We’ll put it by the stables, I just hope the stable lad doesn’t get curious. If so, he’s in for one hell of a shock. Twilight grab the other end”.
Twilight picked up the feet then led Sotek outside and along the street towards the main gate. Once they got to the stables, they placed the furs at the back of the furthest horse pen. Now the body had been dealt with, Sotek glanced at Twilight as he pondered on her skills.
“He’ll have to stay there until you leave. Can I ask you something?”
Twilight walked past the stables then sat on a stone wall. She beckoned Sotek to follow which he did. He then sat beside her. She gazed across the plains then pointed to the ruined tower in the distance.
“That the tower the dragon damaged?”
“One of them, yes. There’s now three damaged towers, but we’re winning, I hope”. “Wining?” Sotek thought. “It’s hard to say we’re wining when we’ve no idea on enemy numbers. For all I know we’ve hardly started”.
She sat silent deep in thought for a few minutes before carrying on with the conversation.
“Ok Sotek. What’s your question?”
“How are you so good with weapons? You shot an arrow out of the air”.
She closed her eyes then leaned back, balancing on the wall as she weighed up something in her mind. Finally, after several moments of silence, she nodded and turned to him.
“Here, I have a present for you”.
“I don’t want the dagger, but I would like to know where you got the enchant from”.
“One day I might actually tell you, but no, not today”. She took her gauntlets off then handed them to him.
Sotek was puzzled by the gesture but the moment he held them, he could see a slight glistening from the gauntlets.
“They’re enchanted, with what?”
She gave him a slight smile then slid off the wall. As she headed back inside Whiterun, she half turned then called out to him.
“Why don’t you go find out?” Sotek sat there and watched her open the gate then headed inside. As she walked along the street she saw Aela leave the Bannered Mare inn.
Aela noticed her immediately and walked over to her.
“Where’s Sotek?”
She tuned back and pointed to the gate.
“He’s still out there”. Then she carried on making her way to the Bannered Mare.
Aela headed off to the main gate but every so often she’d half look over her shoulder, as if to try to see if Twilight was watching her. A few minutes later, she was approaching the stables and true enough there was Sotek still sitting on the wall holding the gauntlets.
“What’s that?”
“Twilights gauntlets. They’re enchanted. She gave them to me, so I can learn the enchant”.
As she walked over to him, she glanced at the gauntlets, her curiosity was clearly evident.
“What enchant is it?”
“I have no idea. How are they getting on with the door?”
“Oh, they nearly finished but I’d stay away from Arcadia for a few days if I was you. That’s not a good start, you know. The first bloody night we can run around as Red and Scarface and you have to tear a bloody door off. Nice timing”. As she spoke she gave him a slight playful shove.
Sotek smiled as he swayed sideways.
“Yes, sorry about that. I can’t wait for the bill”. He gave out a big yawn then pulled Aela close and rested his head in her chest. As he held her with both arms, he whispered to her. “Just tell me it’s over”.
“It’s over, you did it. I don’t know how, but you did”.
“Why do you keep saying that? We did it, me, you, Sasha, Kul-et. It took the four of us”. He stated. Inside he knew it was true. For all their bickering and arguments, it took everyone working together to bring them home.
She leant over him and kissed him on the top of his head then tugged his arm gently.
“Because you’re the one that held us together. You’re the one that made it possible. Shift it, you’re tired. Go home and get some sleep, I’ll see you in the morning. We’ll go to Dragonsreach and check out the enchant tomorrow. Come on you layabout, move”.
They walked past the shops, arm in arm until they started walking through the market. Arcadia stood there glaring at him.
“Look at it! You just wait! I haven’t finished with you yet, mister”.
Sotek sighed then sped up until Aela gently broke away from him then headed towards the inn.
“I’ll tell the Harbinger you’re going to bed. I’ll see you in the morning”. Sotek just nodded, he was too tired to do anything else.
As Sotek headed into Jorrvaskr an Argonian jumped down from the ramparts. Twilight looked around then once she was happy that she wasn’t spotted, she headed inside Jorrvaskr as well. Within ten minutes Sotek was asleep. Aela and the others returned half hour later, but before Aela headed to her room, she checked on Sotek. She opened his door to find him laying on his back, still wearing his armour and boots. After a few minutes of struggling, she managed to get his chest piece off and his boots then she threw a fur over him and kissed him gently on the lips. Once she was satisfied that she had done all that she could for her mate, she then set off to her own room where she simply collapsed on her bed.
A few hours before dawn, Twilight slipped out from her hiding space in the main hall of Jorrvaskr then silently crept down the stairway. She had previously checked the rooms beforehand, so she knew exactly what room to head for.
Aela woke up suddenly with a start. Her wrists were pinned under Twilight’s shins as she sat on top of Aela’s stomach. Twilight grabbed her hair and at the same time held a dagger along Aela’s mouth. Twilight tugged on Aela’s hair, making her head tip backwards. This in turn forced Aela’s mouth to open, but the moment it did, Twilight pushed the blade gently in her mouth.
“We’re going to have a little chat. Just me and you. But, when I say chat, I mean I talk, and you listen. Are you going to listen?”
Aela slightly nodded, she considered changing forms, but she knew the moment she started transforming, Twilight would strike. She had no choice but to play along and wait for her opportunity. Twilight guessed Aela was waiting for the right moment, so she held the dagger tighter against her mouth. The keen, razor sharp edge, threatened to slice her mouth open if she moved but just a fraction.
“It’s about Sotek. You know I like him. I don’t know if it’s because he’s a Dragonborn or what, but there it is. Now, I can threaten you and tell you to leave him or I can kill you and take him. But he wants you. So, that puts me in a dilemma. This is what I decided to do. You will look after him and love him. You take care of him, he’s precious to me. I would prefer to take him with me, but I’m going to leave him in your care”. Twilight then slipped off and headed to the door, she turned to face Aela and passed her the wooden box which Twilight showed Aela before. “This is for his heart! His heart belongs to you, so now does the box. Think of it as a reminder to your duty. Look after him, or I’ll look after you”.
A second later she slipped outside. Aela threw her door open but Twilight was gone. She entered Sotek’s room to find him fast asleep. Aela made her way back to her room but then as she laid on her bed she found she had trouble sleeping. She held the box in her arms as she laid there for a good half hour before getting up once more. Once the box was secured under her bed, Aela headed back to Sotek’s room. She pulled a fur off him then snuggled up against him. He stirred slightly, as Aela grabbed one of his arms and wrapped herself up in it. A moment later he reacted to her presence by tuning on his side, facing her and then he held her with both arms tightly. Aela stayed there in his arms for a few minutes until she felt more secure. Then her eyes closed, and she too, fell asleep.
Comments
And awwww. The collector is one big softie with a heart of gold.
called over to the [Collector].
Arcadia acted just as I expected her to... actually I expected her to pull a knife for half a second, but close enough.
Also, if... more
called over to the [Collector].
... more