The Tale of Cara, the Tenth Divine

Chapter 17

 Chapter 17

The next morning at the Roxey Inn

"Hold on, Bobby! I'll get us some more drinks!" Rigmor said with a grin before heading to the counter. She went and ordered two more bottles of ale for she and her fiance, not bothering to ask Sir Robere's guards if they wanted some after them refusing on the first round. The barkeeper eyed her somewhat as she stepped away with the bottles toward the table, mostly for her loud and boisterous nature inside the small tavern. Rigmor returned to the table to hand one bottle to Robere and then exchanged grins with him before sipping her own drink. It was mid day, and the pair had planned to meet at the Roxie for drinks before heading afterward toward Bruma, which was Robere's idea. He had said he wished to see her mother and get a better tour of the city, including Rigmor's apartment that she kept near the city, a half-cabin that she wanted when desiring to escape from her duties and ceremonies as Countess. While Robere thought this was foolish, he pretended to act as though it was fascinating to him and even hinted at the two of them being intimate once there. Something he wasn't opposed to, even though he had no feelings for the Countess of Bruma.

"It just amazes me that they leave you alone when you go there," Robere said, continuing the subject they had started before she went for their second round of drinks. Rigmor had yet to sit down again before she replied.

"It's just a way to keep my sanity. I get so tired of the whole, 'Milady this' and 'Milady that' thing and wanting to know what I'm doing every single minute of the day! I know they mean well, but... it's just too much sometimes!" she replied.

"I can imagine," Robere remarked, never having a desire to have the staff at Leyawiin pause their doting over him for any reason.

"I mean... don't you ever get sick of it?" she questioned.

Robere exchanged a glance with one of his personal guard, who nearly grinned at the expression on his face before he replied. He was about to speak on the matter when he looked toward the door of the tavern in response to the entry of a new patron. Robere's head did a double-take upon spotting someone very unusual step inside. He spotted a small woman with cat's ears and a tail, long white hair and very revealing armor, carrying a sword and mace on her sides. He couldn't help himself but look her up and down due to her very attractive body and beautiful face. Rigmor noticed he had stopped speaking and turned to see what he was gawking at.

"What is it? What's got you so-" she began to say as she turned and spotted Cara after she stepped into the tavern. Rigmor froze in place out of total shock, dropping her bottle of ale that clanked onto the floor and began to spill its contents. She stood with her mouth agape as she saw the face of the dragonborn she believed she would never see again.

Across the room, Cara spotted Rigmor immediately. She had no trouble recognizing her, even with the much longer hair she now sported. While Rigmor was beginning to allow her shaven hair to grow when they were together in Skyrim, it was still very close to her scalp. Now, Rigmor had long locks of dark brown that flowed past her shoulders. Cara believed she looked very beautiful, and it took a lot of effort on her part to not rush over to her and embrace her. Instead, she slowly stepped over to look up at Rigmor, who towered over her as she gazed back down at her.

"D-dragonborn...?" Rigmor asked in a near-whisper.

"Rigmor," Cara replied.

There was an uncomfortable silence between the two of them that Robere noticed. He waited a few seconds before interjecting himself into the odd interaction.

"Rigmor? Who is this?" he asked.

"Huh? Um... oh... this... this is the Dragonborn. She's the one I told you about," Rigmor said as her senses returned to her and she mentally stepped back out of the memories that flooded her mind.