Back in the dining room at the Manor, and it's been a quiet but busy day.

  And we didn't kill anyone!

  The morning was easygoing. We woke up at the Winking Skeever, had breakfast, then went to see Sayma to do some trading. After that, we went to the Blue Palace to talk to Elisif.

  She was glad that we delivered Torygg's horn to its proper place, and said that I was now allowed to purchase property in the city. She had me talk to Firebeard, and he said there was a house available for 25,000 septims!

  Obviously I don't have that much gold, but he said I should give it a look, and that it was called Proudspire Manor.

  I told the others after we left, and while Lydia and Valdimar balked a bit at the hefty price tag, Erandur cringed and sunk deeper into his hood.

  It didn't take long to see why he reacted like that!

  I asked a guard where it was, and she pointed me to a huge, lavish home RIGHT NEXT TO THE BARD'S COLLEGE.

  The stone courtyard is literally attached to the house!

  From what I can tell, the house is lovely, and I do want it, but Erandur is less than thrilled about the idea. I had him help out in the garden earlier so we could talk, and while he agrees with my big plan, he's not excited about the idea of running into Viarmo any time soon.

  Anyway, we left Solitude and got back here without any trouble from anything. I even managed to grab some salmon for dinner!

  I told the others I planned on staying here for a day or two, and that I had some decisions to make. They were all for some rest days, and it wasn't long before we'd shed our armor. I sorted the books we picked up in Fellglow Keep (so many books!) and took some time to think.

  I agree with Lydia that this place isn't the best for kids. I don't know how many times I've nearly sunk to my knees in the swamp, not to mention all the lovely critters out there. So, I'm going to put an alchemy tower on the far end, and add a greenhouse to grow ingredients on the other side.

  Solitude would be a great place for Alesan and Sofie, I think. The weather is nice, there's lots of other kids around, and we've gotten to know a lot of the people there. Getting the funds for Proudspire Manor's going to be a bit of a challenge, but I think we can do it!

  I finished with the books - Well, as much as I felt like, anyway - and told the others my idea over a late lunch. They all agreed that Solitude seems like a great choice for the children. Breezehome is nice, but it might be a little cramped with two children and a dog running around in it!

  "But who will take care of them?" Valdimar asked.

  I admit I panicked a bit at this. I hadn't thought that far ahead! I said I guess I'd have to find someone to marry who wouldn't mind taking care of the kids.

  I think I was a bit too casual about the idea of marriage for their tastes, because all of them instantly sat up and demanded to know who I was thinking of, and that it was awfully sudden!

  I told them to calm down. I didn't know anyone! I hadn't even entertained the idea, really. I explained how a lot of people in the Capital married for business or political reasons, but that was the advantage of someone like me, I guess. If you don't have any property or money, you can marry for love if you want.

  Erandur looked pained at this. He said he knew the practices were different there but he had no idea how much!

  I told him not to worry, because it's not like I had any of the paperwork I needed, much less a seal, and they all looked at me like I just suggested we take a walk on the moons.

  Lydia asked why I would need paperwork to get married, and then it was my turn to be confused! I said there's always paperwork! Piles of it, even if you didn't have anything! As a Thane, I said I expected a marriage to take at least two months of preparation just getting all the legal things squared away, not to mention getting the notices posted.

  They traded glances for a moment, then Valdimar burst out laughing and the other two joined in.

  He managed to say, "Bronwen, this is Skyrim! We don't do that here!"

  When Erandur finally caught his breath, he explained that all you had to do was have a ceremony. Most people went to the Temple of Mara in Riften, but if you couldn't or didn't want to travel, any priest of Mara at any shrine of Mara would do. Back in Dawnstar, he'd just carry his shrine to wherever they wanted it done!

  I'll admit it took me a minute to think about this. It was that easy? Even for nobility?

  Lydia scoffed. It wasn't that easy for nobility. They usually did marry to make alliances of some kind or another, but luckily things usually weren't arranged. Most managed to find a love match, or at least someone they could get along with. Property and inheritances would be looked at, but that was taken care of after the fact.

  I was even more surprised when they explained how getting engaged worked. If you're interested in getting married all you need to do is wear an Amulet of Mara! And then people who like you might just… Ask?

  Valdimar shrugged. "This is Skyrim," he said, "Life can be short. Too short." He took a long drink of his mead and stayed quiet after that.

  I think that Winterhold thing was bothering him again.

  Erandur explained that people here tend to get married early, and usually don't spend much time on courtship. When they find a chance at happiness, they jump and don't look back.

  This explains so much.

  I told them that six months was the shortest time I'd heard of in the Capital, and that was between people like me. Lydia laughed. She had friends in the Whiterun guard's barracks who'd just met and gotten married after three!

  That sounds as smart as swimming with slaughterfish, if you ask me.

  I asked Erandur if that was strange, and he said it wasn't. Well, the just meeting and then getting married after three months was, but a courtship of three months? That was on the longer end, as far as he could tell. I asked if what I'd heard about Elven courtship was true, and he laughed. He honestly wouldn't know. He'd been raised in Skyrim! But he'd heard plenty, and it sounded true, from the mer he'd met.

  Valdimar got up a bit suddenly and said he'd start cleaning up the plates if we were finished. He wanted to go check the fish, but didn't want to leave a mess.

  I thanked him for taking care of the table, and asked Erandur if he'd help me in the garden for a bit.

  We spoke more about my plan out there, and while he was nervous about being so close to the college, he was eager to see the children get to have a real home. He was excited at the idea of having a greenhouse and a space to practice alchemy attached to the Manor, too.

  I wanted to get started before I lost the light, so I asked Lydia to help me work on the tower. We managed to get the base and some supports up before sunset, and decided to call it for the day. We can do the walls and a door tomorrow, and maybe get started on the next floor!

  Valdimar said he'd cook up the salmon he'd grabbed, and I walked around looking for small things to build. I don't know when I turned into someone who needed to keep their hands busy like this. Maybe its because I'm doing a lot more thinking than I used to. Before, I just had to think about how to get enough gold to pay my tab and get a bed for the night.

  Sweet Mara, that was… Not even three months ago!

  I am NOT the same person I was when the Legion caught me.

  Anyway, I was in the cellar and I realized that I had what I needed to make something nice for Erandur. He's had a rough time lately, and I wanted to surprise him.

  Didn't work, but oh, well.

  I managed to get everything finished before we ate, and after dinner, I said that I had something to show him. Lydia knew I was planning something. She said I had a smug look on my face the whole time.

  First, he had to promise to close his eyes, and come with me. There was a lot of nervous laughter from him, and he asked what was going on. The others swore they didn't know. Luckily he's a good sport, and he stood up and closed his eyes.

  All right. I would be committing a grave error, a CRIME, if I didn't describe what Valdimar did next. This deserves to be remembered and thought about and you bet your ass Lydia and I are going to study every second of this for at least the next month. He didn't HAVE to do it the way he did, and I'll do my best to describe it, but…

  Either he's absolutely smitten, or he just really, really likes to make Erandur squirm.

  I HATE that we can't tell which!

  Anyway, Valdimar got behind him and a bit to the side, put one hand over Erandur's eyes and the other on Erandur's WAIST. Of course, Erandur got flustered immediately, and asked what he was doing. Valdimar said he was just making sure he didn't cheat!

  Now, Lydia can't keep a straight face to save her life sometimes, and while I'm very good at it, I admit, I cracked. We looked at each other, then at those two, and can you believe Valdimar had the nerve to WINK at us and LAUGH? Meanwhile Erandur's just muttering about how unnecessary this is and trying to figure out what to do with his hands.

  Once I got over what I just saw, I led everyone to the back room, and to the trapdoor to the cellar. I told Valdimar I had bad news; he'd have to let go of Erandur so he could go down the ladder.

  When he heard the word "ladder," the scowl on Erandur's face was replaced with a smile, and he pulled Valdimar's hand away from his face.

  He laughed and said, "You built a shrine to Mara!"

  Now it was my turn to start sputtering, and I asked him how he knew. He pointed out that the altarspace for shrines had been there for weeks, and that I had just gotten my "paws" on an Amulet of Mara the other day.

  He's too smart for his own good sometimes.

  Valdimar reluctantly let Erandur go so he could give me a hug and thank me. I told him it was the least I could do for him.

  I don't know why I almost teared up right then, but it was probably because I could practically feel the gratitude radiating off of him.

  Seriously. How long has it been since anyone's really taken care of him?

  I told him to get down there to see if I set it up right, and we all followed him down.

  I swear he has a smile that's just for Mara, and when he turns it on you, you can feel the warmth. It's like a blessing all on its own. He smiled at all of us, and said it was perfect, then asked if he could have some time to alone for a few quick prayers.

  Of course we said yes, and quickly got back up here to the dining room.

  Lydia said she noticed the other shines I'd built; ones to Dibella, Stendarr and Julianos. I found amulets for them and had what I needed, so I figured why not?

  But I made the Shrine of Mara, first.

  They asked me about Talos, and I plan on making one for him once I get my hands on an amulet. I have plenty of dragon bones and scales to make it!

  Erandur rejoined us just then, and he looked more relaxed than we've seen him in a while. He said the shrine worked perfectly, and hummed to himself while he poured a glass of wine. I asked them if they would be willing to spend tomorrow helping me build a bit more of the tower before we decided on a route and got the gear ready.

  They said they'd be glad to help, and now we're just relaxing and chatting again. Lydia and Valdimar are taking turns telling Erandur more stories of what we did before we met him. Septim is resting by the fire.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  I know I have a lot to do, but I could get used to this.

  I'm so tired!

  My arms feel like they're going to fall off, but at least the alchemy tower itself is finished, and we've got a base for the greenhouse built.

  We set to work on the tower after breakfast, and built steadily until lunchtime. We got the bottom half finished, along with supports for the next floor before we stopped.

  The weather was great this afternoon! It was still a bit chilly, but the sun was out and it was nice enough Erandur and I didn't even have to wear our cloaks!

  Putting up the walls and ceiling for the second floor went fine, but when we got to the very top floor to put on the canopy, Valdimar started to look nervous.

  He and Erandur are the only ones tall enough to put up the struts and the roof itself. He managed on the library tower, and he assured me that he could do it again, but I made sure to let him know that he could stop anytime he needed to.

  Erandur was confused, and while Valdimar was saying it was nothing, Lydia piped up that he's afraid of heights.

  Valdimar gave her a look that could wither nightshade.

  Erandur looked at the roof and hummed thoughtfully for a second before he said he had an idea. If Valdimar could help him get the circular base up on the supports, he could do the rest.

  Valdimar asked how, and Erandur volunteered to climb up on top and do the rest from there if Valdimar would hand him the pieces he needed. It might take a while, but he could do it. Lydia said we could build what parts we could on the platform while Erandur secured them to speed things up, and I said that was a good plan.

  The only one who didn't seem to think so was Valdimar. He kept saying that it wasn't safe, and what if Erandur fell? He just wouldn't stop worrying about it!

  Erandur crossed his arms and glowered while Valdimar and I argued, then he loudly proclaimed, "All right, it's my turn to be Stupid!"

  I don't know if Stupid is the right word. I'd go with Insane.

  He jumped from the platform to the main roof of the house, then walked up the slope to the peak. He walked back to us along the ridgepole in such a casual manner you'd think he was on flat ground.

  One of the logs that (now) holds up the roof canopy is flush with the wall, but sticks out a bit higher than the ridgepole so the canopy has room to clear the roof. Since we hadn't gotten to the canopy yet, it was just sticking up like an oversized fence post.

  Erandur stepped up onto it, towering over Valdimar and the rest of us. He put his hands on his hips and looked incredibly smug as he said, "Heights don't bother me."

  "I see that!" Valdimar said, but then asked what would happen if he fell?

  Erandur smirked and said he wouldn't, because if he did, Valdimar would never stop saying "I told you so," and he didn't want to give him the satisfaction.

  I couldn't see Valdimar's face as he looked up at the mer, but I did hear that mischievous chuckle of his. "Satisfaction?" he asked.

  Erandur groaned and rolled his eyes. He knew what was coming!

  Valdimar only laughed harder, and said, "You know there's lots of ways to do that, right?"

  Lydia and I started to crack up. That's what he gets for leaving himself wide open! You'd think he'd know better by now.

  Erandur called him a menace, then shivered as a sudden gust of wind came through. He sat down on top of the pole, and asked us to start handing pieces up. He wanted to get it finished before he froze to death up there. He refused a cloak; it would throw him off balance.

  The roof went much faster this time! Lydia and I left them to finish it while we worked on laying the foundation for the greenhouse.

  We managed to finish our projects before dinner, and we were all starving!

  Lydia's fast with her knife, and made quick work of a pile of vegetables to put in with some venison for a stew. While it cooked, we sat around the table and looked over the map to plan our next move.

  According to the map, the Ring of Pure Mixtures was practically on the way to get Nettlebane from the hagravens, so we'd go there, first.

  Thing is, we'd have to go through Fort Dunstad. Past the Hall of the Vigilants.

  We looked to Erandur, and he said he'd be all right. It mostly just took him by surprise. Knowing what to expect helped, he said, and there was no need for us to go up to the Hall; sticking to the road should be fine.

  I reminded him that we were there for him, and Valdimar gave him a little jab with his elbow. He said he could cover his eyes for him again as we walked by!

  Erandur wrinkled his nose at him and gave him a playful shove back as he told him to shut up.

  Lydia and I looked at each other.

  Did the priest just flirt back?!

  We turned our attention back to the map and decided that a stop over to Windhelm would be good. We could sell anything we'd grabbed along the way and restock if we needed to.

  I pointed out the wreck of the Winter War on the map, the place Anneke from Darkwater Crossing told us about. Bandits usually have good loot, and they're not hard to clear out. It might take a day or -

  -/-/-/-/-/-

  BY THE NINE he just said "our children"!!!

  Talos, give me the strength to keep a straight face and not scream.

  He's going downstairs to pray at the Shrine, and he said that he'd pray for safe travels for us, and ask Mara to keep watch over "OUR CHILDREN"!

  I just smiled and nodded and said, "Sounds good" before I went back to this.

  I think he realized what he said because he stopped short and almost tripped over his own feet a second after he turned around to go down into the cellar.

  I know he meant "our children" as in all of us taking care of them, but the four of us always say "THE children," not "OUR children."

  I mean, I know I think of them as mine, even though they're not. They will be, though.

  Hopefully.

  -/-/-/-/-/-

  Anyway, back to our plan!

  Erandur said that Dravynea, a Dunmer mage who worked at the mine in Kynesgrove, had asked for some Frost Salts. We had some, so we could drop them off on our way south.

  I saw the place that poor woman we'd run into in the swamps had marked. Mistwatch Keep. I suggested we go there on our way to Ivarstead. Who knew how many more prisoners they were holding there? The others nodded grimly and agreed that we'd best clear the place out.

  Going to get Nettlebane at Orphan Rock through Ivarstead meant I could deliver the bear pelts to Temba and order some more wood for the house at the same time.

  Lydia said that once we had Nettlebane, we could see what the problem was in Falkreath, but…

  We'll have to go through Helgen.

  I suddenly became VERY aware of the crackling from the fire just to my right. I had to shake my head to make the screaming stop, and took a few deep breaths to calm my pounding heart.

  I don't know which of you Nine might be peeking over my shoulder, but I swear to you I can smell the smoke and hear the dragon's roar right now. Why are we made like this? Isn't it bad enough we can hurt every other way? Couldn't you have spared our souls?

  I know better than to say I'd give anything to heal a Spirit Wound; I know how those stories go.

  Still, I knew they were watching me, and I reluctantly agreed, but made no promises. If we end up having to go around the mountain after getting Nettlebane, then so be it.

  At least I won't be alone.

  By then dinner was done, so we dug in. We decided to take turns washing up before bed while we got our gear together. As usual, Erandur went down first.

  We were laughing about Erandur's little stunt on the roof earlier, and about how he was a lot happier lately. He was joking and smiling, and was just more relaxed. I had to bite my tongue when the others said it was probably because now we knew the whole story.

  They're mostly right.

  We sat down to look over our gear, and Valdimar commented about a strange habit of Erandur's that I hadn't noticed. He said that for all of the mer's "experience", he was oddly shy.

  I asked what he meant - Erandur didn't strike me as shy at all - and Valdimar said that he refused to do anything regarding his clothes or even grooming in front of him. It wasn't until recently that he would sleep without his hood on when they roomed together.

  Lydia and I thought for a second, and realized he was right! I said I hadn't gotten a really good look at him until that night in Windhelm and the others said the same. His face had always been partially obscured by his hood. He didn't even like having help with his armor, and only put it on or took it off when we were busy with our own kit.

  Well, not me, but I was usually too busy sorting loot to pay much attention.

  We were about to talk more about it when he came back upstairs from the cellar, and Valdimar went down.

  Lydia and I have no problem bathing together. That's the best time to gossip! But I hadn't noticed until now that Erandur always does it alone.

  I poured him some wine and we all went back to checking over our gear and talking.

  Soon enough, Valdimar came back up and Lydia and I went down to bathe and gossip about the two of them. We can't decide if Valdimar's being serious about the flirting or not, and we think Erandur might be doing it back, but we're not sure.

  The boys were replacing some worn straps in Valdimar's armor when we came back up, and since I was done with my job - potions and recharging enchantments - I sat down to finish my wine and write.

  Lydia and Valdimar have gone to bed, now, and Erandur's still downstairs at the Shrine.

  I still can't believe he referred to the kids as "ours."

  Well, here's hoping we come back with a lot of loot! We need to buy Proudspire Manor, first!

  No idea how much a room for them will cost, but we'll hop that silt-strider when we come to it.

  We're at the Nightgate Inn, and it's been a fairly slow day for us.

  Still had to kill someone, though.

  We got up nice and early and set out for Dawnstar. We figured we could stop there to grab more supplies from the Inn, and I found a sword and dagger before we set out to sell to Rustleif.

  Aside from a pack of wolves and some angry mudcrabs I almost stepped on, the trip there was quick, and quiet. The weather was beautifully clear again, and I realized I could see Nightcaller Temple as soon as we got to the coast.

  I could also make out, far in the distance, the huge tower that I'd seen from the lighthouse.

  That's when I about stepped on those mudcrabs, and we kept going once they were taken care of.

  We reached Dawnstar, did a bit of trading, gathered more food, then left. We followed the road, and the way was anything but quiet. We encountered A LOT of wolves. As in, a surprising amount of them. Erandur said that wasn't unusual out here when it got this cold.

  Come to think of it, I only saw maybe two deer and a single rabbit the whole time.

  Soon enough, Valdimar called out a warning that he could see the Hall of the Vigilant. Without any words, we got in position, the same as before. Lydia got in front of us, and Valdimar fell in behind. I got next to Erandur, and Septim walked up to his other side.

  Erandur had looked down as soon as he heard Valdimar's warning, concentrating on the path ahead. I took his free hand, and he gripped it tightly as we made our way past. He had his other hand on his heart, and was whispering prayers.

  But he didn't falter, and soon enough we could hear the sounds of people in Fort Dunstad. The Stormcloaks have claimed it, and were busy cleaning things out and repairing things the bandits had let fall to ruin. No one paid us any attention as we went in to warm up at the Drunken Sabercat.

  We kept going, and stopped at the Weynon Stones so I could get a blessing from Talos. There were more ice wraiths, too, but they weren't too much trouble.

  Not far past that is the grove Frida directed us to. I hadn't realized it at the time, but it's the same place that captain had us go to for his Void Salts. At least we knew what to expect. The Spriggans and bears were back, but this time there were more of them. I found the ring in the chest I'd looted before, along with a few other things.

  We all wondered why the chest would have stuff in it again, and the best we can come up with is that maybe the Spriggans like to hoard things? Frida's husband came looking for it years ago, so maybe it was in the cave, and they found it and put it in the chest. Valdimar said bears liked to dig, and there were bears here. One might have dug it up since we were here last, and a Spriggan found it.

  Lydia said that maybe the Spriggans don't like man-made things. Our stuff might be trash to them, so they put anything they find in the chest. Well, whatever their reasons, that's probably what happened.

  We kept on our way, and somewhere right between the grove and Nightgate Inn, an assassin rushed out of the bushes at me!

  And here I was beginning to think they'd forgotten.

  Once she was taken care of, I asked the others if the Dark Brotherhood had to be paid for each attempt, or just got their gold and went until their target was dead?

  They didn't know. Erandur said he heard the Morag Tong, the assassins guild in Morrowind, considered it a matter of professional pride to finish every job. Valdimar added that a Writ of Execution was legal over there, but he'd heard they had a year to carry them out. You were safe if you could survive that long.

  Lydia nodded, and explained that the Morag Tong was actually an important part of politics in Morrowind. Without them, open war would break out between the Great Houses. Instead, they just paid the Morag Tong to kill their rivals.

  I asked how she knew all this, and she said that Irileth explained it to her. Any agents that need to come to Skyrim to execute a Writ have to speak with the jarl of the hold they're operating in, first. Some jarls refuse to let them carry out their orders no matter who the Writ is for, like Balgruuf, but others do. Also, they can't let the death be a mystery, because that's just murder. To prevent this, most Morag Tong agents leave a copy of the Writ on the body, signed with their name so the guild knows the order was properly carried out, and notify the guards.

  I gotta say, that's awfully efficient.

  Soon enough, we made our way to Nightgate Inn. The Orc was out by the pond again, I noticed. We went inside to warm up, but when we went back out, we realized it was freezing! A "Liar's Sun" is what Valdimar calls it. That's when it looks bright and sunny, but feels like the cold is trying to crawl into your bones. The wind picked up, too. A storm's coming, so we came back in and got ourselves rooms for the night, despite how early it was.

  We got ourselves an early dinner, and once we were done, Erandur brought one of his gauntlets out to our table. He'd been fussing with it since the fight at the grove, and now that he had time to look at it, found that one of the straps had been cut. We don't have any spare leather, but we have plenty of wolf skins. He and Valdimar went outside to the tanning rack to make some straps before the weather hit.

  Once they were gone, Lydia leaned in and asked if I had seen Erandur's nails. I'd never really looked at his hands before, and wanted to know why she asked.

  She was just watching him look over his gauntlet, and noticed that his fingernails were a mess! They're mostly short, but a few are longer, and almost all of them are chipped or split.

  I mean, we spend most of our time out in the wilds fighting. Our nails aren't that pretty, either!

  Lydia said I was right, but pointed out that we took care of them. We kept them trimmed, we filed them, that sort of thing. His are clean, but that's it.

  I was really confused at that point, and asked why it mattered.

  She explained that appearances are incredibly important to the Dunmer. She heard from Irileth that some Dunmer will just pretend you don't exist if you're not dressed well enough for them.

  I've met plenty of people like that of all races in the Capital, but that's beside the point.

  Lydia said that got her thinking, and she realized something that's been bothering her about Erandur, but she hadn't figured it out until now. She pointed out that Erandur never paints his face, doesn't style his hair or his beard (he does keep it short), and obviously doesn't take care of his nails. He doesn't seem to care about his clothes aside from making sure they're clean and don't have any holes in them. And have I ever known an elf who didn't wear earrings?

  On the other hand, Valdimar takes careful care of his mustache, regularly shaves his head, and almost always wears some kind of makeup. I think his dark eye shadow is mostly just to combat the glare from the snow, but he always makes sure it's neat. When we stay at the house, he'll take time to do Dwemer-looking patterns on his face. He even looks through the clothes that we find to see if there's anything he likes.

  Typical Nord!

  I admit, I was shocked when I realized this. She was right! Erandur doesn't seem to care about how he looks at all. I know it's not a priest thing, I've met plenty of those, so why is he like that? Does he just not care? Did having his appearance controlled for so long have something to do with it?

  It's really strange.

  Normally I notice things like that, but he keeps his face so hidden most of the time, I'm not surprised it took either of us this long. I think he gets away with it because he's good-looking, and Lydia agreed. He's handsome enough he can pull off being scruffy, despite his broken nose, and doesn't look unkempt unless you look really close.

  Anyway, they came back in then, and I got out my writing kit while Erandur repaired his gauntlet. The others decided to look over theirs as well, and I got to writing.

  At one point the Orc walked by and I saw him slow down to look at my book. He have me a polite nod when I looked up at him, then walked away.

  It's still a bit early, but we covered a lot of ground today. I'm going to turn in and get some extra sleep before we hit the road again. If we're lucky we can make it to the Winter War, then to Windhelm before nightfall.