Kul-et rolled her eyes and groaned. Now the septim had finally dropped, at least for her. She looked over to Aela and smiled at her.
“Sotek’s right, you wouldn’t touch the bandits… Red would. She’d tear them apart”.
Upon hearing this, Ebony cried out in anguish. She stopped and just stared at Sotek.
“You bloody bastard. Aela, what colour eye’s does Red have?”
Aela stared over towards Sotek as well. She screwed her face up at him as the answer dawned on her. Now she finally understood the riddle, she stuttered out the answer to Ebony’s question.
“Yell... Yellow”.
Ebony groaned as she sat down.
“Blood and Shadow? Oh for crying out loud. Red and Scarface! Red’s blood, blood red, and she has yellow eyes. Scarface has green eyes and he’s like a shadow, black. They’re the lovers. It’s them chasing the two bandits across the plains at night. Aela, what would Red say if she saw the girl fall and break her ankle?”
“Red doesn’t talk… She howls…” Aela stated dejectedly. They wasted hours on something that was so close to her that it bordered on the ridiculous, but she just couldn’t see it. Her fists tightened in frustration at both Sotek and herself. “I should have known…”
Ebony stood up then groaned.
“Sotek I have your answer; yellow eyes would say nothing. She would howl… Awwwooo! That’s your answer, awwwooo”.
Sotek got up then nodded but not before chuckling at the Harbinger’s face which was full of disdain.
“Yes, well done. And it only took you nearly four hours. But now you’ll pay attention when someone gives you a message or a piece of information. Well done Ebony, you’ve passed your lessen in listening… Barely passed, but passed nether the less”.
Kul-et looked over to Sotek and shook her head.
“All that for a lesson in listening? Fair enough, but now I have a question for you… Smart ass. How many septims can you put in an empty chest?”
A sly smile formed and Sotek’s eyes narrowed as he faced off his opponent. Before he could reply though, Ebony joined the conversation.
“How big is the chest? What type is it?”
Kul-et turned towards her friend and shrugged her shoulders.
“She never says what type of chest, or how big it is. All you are told is… How many septims can you put in an empty chest?”
Ebony looked confused and her head moved side to side as she looked at both Sotek and Kul-et.
“Who is ‘she’? Are you doing what Sotek does when he’s upset or flustered? Are you referring to yourself? I didn’t think you did that?”
A loud smirk drew her back to Sotek, but his eyes stayed fixed upon the Argonian girl, Kul-et.
“There’s an old tale of an old sage, a female Argonian mystic who travelled from village to village. She would gather up the young females and ask them that very question. If one answered correctly, she would take that child away and teach her the ways of the mystic. Old, forgotten ways and magic, almost lost to this world. What do you know about her?”
“I’ve heard that the tales are true, although she hasn’t been seen for twenty a year or more”. As Kul-et spoke, an air of curiosity formed around her. “How, may I ask, do you know of her? You’ve stated in the past that you grew up in Vvardenfell, Morrowind. How do you know of her?”
Sotek’s voice became heavy and threatening.
“That is between me and greater forces than what you can muster, Kul-et Bright Tail”. He sat back and closed his eyes for a few moments as he regained his emotions. He slowly allowed himself a slight smile as if recalling an event in his past. “But your curiosity is understandable… As to the matter of the chest… Hang on…” A wily smile formed on his face, one of cunning and mischief. “What do you think the answer is? How many septims can you put in an empty chest?”
Kul-et’s gaze fell blank along with her mind. She tried to envision a chest and count the gold coins as they filled it, but the number seemed endless. Ebony gave her a fleeting glance then stuck her hand up, gaining Sotek’s attention.
“There’s loads of different chests… How do we know what one?”
“You don’t. That is the point”. Came the reply, causing her to scratch her head.
“Well”. She said. “At a guess… I would say twenty thousand. That’s how much would fit in the Harbingers chest… I think”.
Sotek chuckled and shook his head.
“Nope. Anyone else?”
“I’m up for this”. Vilkas declared. “I can’t put any in. I haven’t got any septims”. He grinned back at Sotek who chuckled back at him.
“Nice answer and a nice try… Nope! Farkas?” Sotek asked as he raised a spiky eyebrow at the Companion. “Any ideas?”
“Erm… None because it’s already full?” Farkas gladly replied, happy to say something just to get out of the spotlight.
Sotek tutted back at him and shook his head.
“It’s empty Farkas. The chest is empty. Kul-et you started it, what’s your answer?”
Kul-et leaned back on her chair and dejectedly looked around the hall at everyone. They were all watching her as they waited for an answer. She jumped in her seat as she felt a hand rest on her knee. Feeling startled, she turned to see Veezara’s warm smile as he waited.
“Ermm. As many as you want? Nothing has been said about taking the coins out again”.
“Nice try Kul-et… But no”. Sotek said, dismissing her attempt at answering the riddle.
“I’ve an answer!” Aela declared with a grin. “None, because it’s locked!”
“Hahaha”. Sotek couldn’t help but laugh at his mate. He gave her a slight slap on her leg but once again he shook his head.
Aela frowned then cast a look at her belt. She drew her dagger and prodded Sotek in the chest with it.
“Whisper me the answer or I’ll cut out your tongue!”
Sotek gulped then gently pushed the blade away from himself. At that moment, Kodlak silently rose out of his chair and made his way to a desk which sat in the far corner of the hall, near the Infirmary. He opened a draw and produced a piece of parchment which he tore into four pieces. After dipping a quill into a bottle of ink, he then proceeded to write down a number. Once he put the quill away, he held the parchment up and studied his answer. With a satisfying grunt he blew on the ink until it was dry then he delicately folded the parchment.
Kodlak then approached Sotek who found himself to be the recipient of the note and as he held it, he gave a curious glance to the Harbinger. He opened the letter, doing his best to prevent Aela from glancing over his shoulder at it. With a satisfactory nod of his head, Sotek spoke, once Kodlak was once again sitting down.
“Wise and cunning is the grey wolf who stalks this hall”.
“Did he get it right?” Aela asked as she gave Kodlak a cold hard stare.
“Yes, he did. Grey Wolf is right!” Sotek said, causing a look of disgust from his mate.
“Bastard!” Aela said as she grumbled bitterly to herself. “Tell me the answer… Now damn you, you reptilian slug!”
“Yes, that will convince me to tell you the answer”.
“Maybe not… But my claws will. Tell me!” Aela was getting wound up now. The tone in her voice easily betrayed her.
“The answer is… 1”. Sotek declared to the entire hall. Ebony and Kul-et looked at each other while Aela’s jaw dropped to the floor.
“What sort of answer is that? You can easily fit more than a single septim in a chest”. Ebony said, receiving a nod of agreement from the She-wolf who was contemplating upon either stabbing her mate or kicking him.
“While that is true…” Kodlak said, drawing Aela’s gaze away from her target. “You can only place a single coin in an empty chest because…”
“After that, it’s no longer an empty chest”. Sotek stated in a fit of hysterics.
Aela growled at them both then launched herself at her mate who she promptly started trying to beat up.
“You fucking bastard! Bleed damn you!”
While Sotek fought off his mate’s onslaught, Kodlak gave a chuckle and pointed across to Farkas.
“Tell Kul-et why we call you peaches”.
Farkas chortled as he recalled the event with the poacher.
“Well there was this guy, a farmer. Well, we thought he was a farmer. He had two dead chickens who were named Peaches and Peppercorn”.
“What?” Ebony said in a state of confusion. “Who in all of Skyrim would name two dead chickens?”
“They weren’t dead when they were named, you silly girl!” Kodlak said as he groaned.
Over the course of the morning, more tales were told, adding to the uproar of the hall. During this time, Kul-et approached Sotek, then held him gently by the arm.
“I caused you some upset, for that I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to”.
Sotek gave her a slight squeeze then released her.
“Don’t worry about it. You weren’t to know”.
“Weren’t to know what?”
Sotek gave her a sneaky wink then walked back to Aela. He glanced back at Kul-et and grinned in his sly, nefarious way.
“You weren’t to know what it is you don’t know”.
As Kul-et walked over to the table though, Aela jumped up then approached her.
“Can I ask you something?”
“Sure, what?”
“That mystic thing, how did you know you upset him?”
“Oh Aela, you need to watch his tail more. It was twitching, so he was agitated.”
Aela cursed herself.
“Damn I know that one, but what the hell does it mean when his tail tips curved, just the tip?”
Kul-et quietly laughed.
“That’s easy, he’s thinking of you on your back”.
Aela looked at her oddly then at Sotek.
“Me, on my back?”
“Oh, you’re stupid at times. It means he’s aroused? You know? He wants you on your back so he can you know what!” Kul-et stated with a grin.
Aela smirked back at her mate and watched his tail for a few seconds.
“Oh right... Ohhhh! That explains why it curves when we cuddle, oops”.
She sat back next to him and cuddled into him again. Soon after she kissed him a few times and tucked herself right up against him, she noticed his tail tip start to curve. She discreetly lowered her hand to his groin then softly held him there for a few seconds.
“Oh Hircine! It does mean that”.
Sotek cast her a curious look as her hand shot away from him.
“What does?”
“Never you bloody mind, you dirty bloody reptile”. She felt her face redden as she started getting the very same animalistic urges. “Damn it, really?” She broke away from him and tried to control her own emotions. Strengthening her own will, she stood up and straightened her armour. “Right we’ll be leaving an about ten minutes. Farkas, Vilkas, your packs are by the doors. Don’t forget them. Sotek… Oh damn it! We’ll leave in about an hour. Sotek, come with me”. With that she headed downstairs to her room.
It was mid-afternoon by the time the four Companions, Farkas, Vilkas, Aela and Sotek were on the carriage heading towards Riften. Even before Whiterun was out of sight, Aela turned to her pack and laid down the rules.
“Just so everyone’s aware, I’m the alpha. What I say goes. Sotek, that means you as well. Ok?”
Sotek eyed her suspiciously then nodded. He leaned across to her then whispered quietly so the others wouldn’t hear.
“Yess… Hiss. I love it when you’re demanding, especially like you were earlier”.
Aela felt her face redden as she bashfully hid it in Sotek’s chest.
“Shut up!”
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