Gray Heart: A Skyrim Tale of Family

Chapter two

Sareen woke up just in time to stoke to embers of the fire and put another log on. Kedev slept on peacefully. Sareen smiled and pulled the blanket back around her. She stretched out, and took the other half of the cabbage, and cut and put it in yesterdays pot of water, now greased over and cold. She had only bought enough for dinner on the way home last night, so she'd have to buy some more. Good thing she'd just gotten paid. She could even show off Kedev to her friends. She counted out her money while she waited for the water to boil, and for Kedev to wake up.

Twenty-two, twenty-three, twenty-four... Three hundred and twenty-five Septims! Not bad. She could get some more food and have enough to buy a few extra things for Kedev. It was still too dark out to go to the store. While Revyn would be waiting for the rest of the Dunmer to come and get the leftover items from last week, he was a man, and he was safe from "The Butcher". News of the murderous patterns had even reached Morrowind, and she was surprised she had lived last night. Maybe she wasn't pretty enough. She frowned.

She got up and went to her room, and unlocked her strongbox. In it was a rag that wasn't even fit for patching up a towel, bundled around something. She pulled the cloth from it, and reveled a beautiful ornate silver set of a brush and mirror, and a breathtaking hair comb, heavily laden with moonstone designs, gems, and the most gorgeous flower she had ever known, preserved in amber. It was an heirloom all of the women on her fathers side, and even when she was freezing on the floor wrapped in a thin shawl because she had no money, she couldn't bring herself to sell it.

She removed the mirror from the case, and gazed at herself in the shining surface. She wasn't sure how she looked. None of the men here in Windhelm (Well, none of the Dunmer men), had reached the age of desire in their path to sexual maturity. That would be another eight years for even the oldest male settling here. Elves lived much longer than man does. At age three-hundred and twenty-two, she was considered to be very young and naive by elf standards. So, naturally, they grew and matured slower, though even an infant of ninety was considered to have more sense than a human of forty.

Mates were also chosen not just by attraction and who could bear the most children, but by who could provide the best protection provision. Women reached the desire stage of sexual maturity faster than men in the elf culture. The age old rule of reproduction being the evolutionary goal applied to every species that could. Even though she didn't really feel attracted to anyone, she considered herself quite beautiful by elf ideas of beauty. Her features were creamy and light, and her skin was more like silver than plain grey. Her eyes were a flickering red, and her hair was black and smooth. She didn't know it, but she was a catch.

Still, she had secretly admired the beauty of Nords, how different their faces could range. Most Dunmer admitted that they looked similar, all with high protruding cheekbones, and almost vertical red eyes. But she'd seen so many different kinds of faces of man. Round faces, thin faces, beautiful, ugly, plain, and even some that look like an elf or a skeever! She looked over to Kedev, still sleeping peacefully, and envied her for her ability of diversity. She was a clear Nord, not a trace of Breton or Imperial blood, with a warm blue eyes and wavy yellow hair, and of course, the signature thick nose.

She wrapped the mirror back up, and put it back in the strongbox, and locked it. She went back and stirred the soup, and for once it smelled good. Perhaps Kedev simply put her in a better light of heart. She looked back out the window, and saw it was getting lighter out. While she couldn't see the sun from down in the Gray-Quarter, she knew that a beautiful sunrise was happening. That was one of the good things about Skyrim, how lovely the sunset and sunrise was. She poured the last of the soup in the bowls, and woke Kedev up.

It took some work to wake her. Kedev was a hard sleeper. Even after she managed to get her up and eat, she was still half asleep. The sun was up now, and Sareen decided to go to the store. She took the brush out of the wrapping and brushed Kedev's hair first, and then her own. She slid some small bags on her belt and tied it, and took half of the money she had to spend. She opened the door and took Kedev's hand. The blizzard from last night had cleared up completely, and the snow had been shoveled to huge drifts by the walls.

She'd have to get a few buckets of it, so she could have fresh water. That's what happened to most of the water here; the residents, Dunmer or Nord, brought it in by the tubfull. She and Kedev took the short walk to Sadri's Used Wares. "Oh, Good morni-", Revyn started to say. He stared at the little Nord child holding Sareen's hand. "Sareen... Who's that?", he asked pointing to Kedev in a shocked voice. Sareen looked down and smiled. "This is Kedev. At least, that's what I call her. I got home last night, and found her freezing in the graveyard, so I took her in, and I'm taking care of her until I find her parents.", Sareen replied.

"What if she doesn't have any?" "Then I'll raise her." Revyn looked at her with concern. "You know that our wonderful Jarl would never allow us "Grayskins" to raise a Nord child." Sareen tightened her grip on Kedev's hand and pulled her closer. "If he even tries, I'll take his life faster than he or his Housecarl could pull their blade." Revyn sighed. "I suppose I can't stop you." "Of course not. You're my friend. One of my best. It would be a great betrayal if you did anything to aid the Jarl in taking Kedev away." "Don't worry, I wouldn't give him the satisfaction of ripping a child from a Dunmer that loves and takes care of them."

"Besides, like you said, we're friends. Now, what do you need today?" "Let's see... some more vegtables and a pound of meat, a doll, a jug of milk, two blankets, a pillow, and I feel like going all out, so I'll need a few bottles of mead, a bottle of Alto Wine, some leeks, and a whole roll of that green wool fabric. For once, I have that much money." "That's about... one-hundred and eighty-nine Septims." "I'm a few Septims short. Let me run back to my house and get some more." "That's okay, Sar. I've got you covered.", Revyn said, handing her two bags and a huge roll of cloth. She lay the money on the counter, and left, intending to remedy that not a master seamstress problem right away.