Rona's Story: The Truth Beneath the Rose

Chapter 7 Into The Void

Rona slept restlessly through the night. Her dreams fell between a mix of that strange dark place with the glowing fauna and Bishop hopelessly chasing after her before he was consumed by Alduin.

She woke up feeling worse than she had the day before, especially with that short little letter from him weighing on her mind. He'd be at the Sleeping Giant for an entire week. She was debating with herself on whether or not to go.

She had a contract in Morthal and she absolutely had to get there in two days. The third day was when it was due to be completed. She'd really wanted to try her luck in Mzinchaleft, but the dive inside could take days and she'd miss her chance to see him.

She stepped out of the mausoleum mindlessly kicking the switch in the wall to close the entryway as she went. Her internal debate raged back and forth with all the pros and cons of seeing him. The pros... well it would be amazing to see him, to hold him in her arms again, to kiss and touch him, to just be with him. She desperately missed him. The cons though? If she saw him again she felt like she'd never be able to let him go and that would put his life in danger. She couldn't have that. Not when she was so damn close to finding the scroll. If she could just piece together the insane Dwemer puzzle that had been injected into her mind, then she could move on to the next part of her journey and... fight Alduin.

She shook her head trying not to think of that. She had to focus on her first task. She had to find that scroll and finish her training before she could do anything else.

Rona approached a carriage in front of the stables when a young man breathlessly caught up to her and shouted, "Ah wait!" He stopped in front of her, throwing his hands to his knees and caught his breath and asked, "Are you Jill?"

"Yes," she replied warily.

"Oh thank the gods. I've been looking all over Riften for you!" He pulled a letter out of his bag and handed it to her, "Got a delivery for you, your hands only."

She took the envelope, wondering if Bishop left her another letter and asked, "Who is it from?"

"Dunno," he said, "Tall creepy fella, dressed in a black cloak. Paid me a pretty sum to get that in your hands though."

Rona felt a shiver crawl up her spine and got a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. The courier took his leave and she paid the carriage driver to take her to Morthal. She took a seat in the back of the wagon and just stared at the envelope for a minute while the carriage moved steadily along the path.

She pressed her lips together and muttered, "Just fucking open it already..." She tore it open and pulled a note out. The second she unfolded it she dropped it like it was on fire and yelped so loud that the carriage driver looked back, asking, "Everything alright miss? Should I pull over?"

"Everything's fine," she forced herself to say while she stared at the black hand on the little note with the words, We Know, neatly scrawled underneath it. She felt sick to her stomach and her paranoia came back in full force from the day before. She looked all around her, searching for someone, anyone who might be following her. She couldn't take any chances and asked quickly, "Actually, could you stop for a minute? I'm not feeling so well."

The carriage driver pulled over and she hopped out and said, "I'll be right back..."

He gave her a concerned look but said, "Sure, take your time miss."

Rona ran off into the trees and pressed her back to one. She needed to get out of there faster than a carriage could take her so she looked to the skies and shouted, "OD AH VIING!" She anxiously waited, knowing the driver probably heard her shout. After a good fifteen minutes when Odahviing didn't make an appearance she relented and turned to head back towards the carriage. Thankfully the driver hadn't been spooked off by her shout, although he did stare hard at her and she gave him a sheepish glance before hopping back into the wagon. She snatched the note from the floor of the carriage and burned it up with a flames spell.