Songs of the Crooked

1: The Arrival

None of it was fair. In her heart and mind, Eliza knew that there was many other options she could have chosen, but she still chose to give up being a bard to take care of her now parentless nephew. To her, it was the right thing to do to. No child should be dragged from town to town so that his aunt could make just enough septims for a place to sleep and small scraps of food to eat. No, a child deserves a warm home with a loving and caring guardian to take care of them. They deserve to have a space of their own where they can play and be themselves. 

That's why she is moving to Riften. She had to remind herself of this as she took her nephew's hand and climbed onto the carriage. It was all for her sister's son, Bo.   

It was sickness that took her sister and Bo's mother away from them. She had caught a terrible case of rockjoint and she could only hold on for two months afterwards. It wasn't until her last few weeks of life did she send Eliza a letter explaining the situation and begging her to take care of Bo. Since Bo's father was no longer in the picture and they had no other living relative, Eliza agreed.   

"Why do we have to go to Riften?" Bo asked after being in the carriage for a bit. "Why couldn't we have stayed at my house?"

Eliza sighed and pulled Bo closer to her. "Your old house costs too much gold to keep and I have a friend in Riften who is allowing us to stay in her bunkhouse for free."

Bo grumbled and tucked his head into his hands. Eliza did feel sorry for him. He did just lose his mother after all, but Eliza knew what she was doing was right. Her sister wouldn't want him staying in the crappy shack that they called a house, she would want him to live in a city where he could play with other kids his age and stay safe within the city's walls. 

"I know change is hard, Bo. But you gotta trust me on this one. You'll love Riften."

~

As soon as Eliza stepped off the carriage, she knew she made a mistake choosing to live in Riften. The wall was cracked with moss danging all over it, there was an uneasy fog that hanged all over the city, not to mention she was quickly stopped by a guard at the gate that demeaned that she paid some visitor's tax.  Thankfully however, he gave up after she stood her ground. 

Eliza stepped through the gate with Bo's hand clasped in her's and took a look around. This city was a rat hole. Now she understood why all her friends back at the bards college warned her to never go there. "It's full of beggers and thieves!" her friend, llldi warned her once before. Eliza wanted to give it the benefit of doubt, but it seemed like llldi knew what she was talking about. 

She threw a curious glance over her shoulder towards the carriage. It wasn't too late to turn back. Eliza shook the thought out of her head and took a deep breath as she squeezed Bo's hand reassuringly. 

"Like I said, kid," Eliza spoke, "We're gonna love this place."