Eyes Opened

Honeymoon

Things were good. No. That was an understatement. Phenomenal doesn't even begin to describe it either. The sun beat down upon you, sweat forming on your brow. The two-handed ebony sword was heavier than you had remembered, having not picked up one in a month. Married life suited you, and well. Companion life suited you even better. You took to advising the others rather well, Farkas often had worries now about his brother leaving him behind. You made an effort to include him more, spending time with both of them, be it quiet with a book, watching them spar or having hearty drinks. Aela quite often joined you, you noticing that she took some sort of interest in gathering now. You spoke with her about it, she actually opened up to you about being a little lonely. It was as if the inner circle was a family once more. You swung the sword at the dummy, huffing as you were in full armor. The sword fell into the ground with a thud, pushing some of the grass and dirt as it stuck out of the Earth. You looked down, before pulling it out with a yank.

Thinking about everything seemed to give you the will to go on. You widened your stance a little, then continued to strike at the dummy. It was not just the inner circle this last month. Ria was stepping up herself, as well as Njada. Under your counsel, she seemed to mellow out a bit. At least you thought it was you. It was just a few days ago that she came to you seeking a conversation. The woman actually apologized to you for everything that happened. She admitted she had what she thought were feelings for Vilkas. You got to the root, Njada talking about her distrust of men. Her father was abusive in a bigger way than your own was. Talking through them with you however made her realize a few things. Kindness shown by him was not love. It took a great deal of biting your own inner cheek to listen to a woman confess feelings for your husband, but you managed to keep up your composed demeanor, filled with compassion for her. It made sense why she hated you.

You swung the sword a little too hard thinking about Njada back then. The metal hit the dummy hard, vibrating up your arm. You let go quickly, the heavy sword dropping to the ground, a pain in your thumb throbbing. You jammed it up slightly with the hilt. Looking at your hand you saw a bead of sweat fall onto it, your other hand cradling it. You noticed a soft fabric dabbing on your forehead. Looking up you blushed a little, seeing Vilkas with a smile on his face, the handkerchief, still working to soak up your sweat. "Take it easy. You're going to hurt yourself."

"Too late." You voice was a little sing-song as he shook his head. "I jammed my finger."

He sighed, taking a look at your hand. His fingers rubbed your thumb gently, soothing the pain. "You've been working hard for a week, trying to get back into form for when Delphine calls you back. I'm just a little worried."

You smirked looking into his eyes. "Worried? You've been sparring with Farkas this whole time."

"Yeah, I've not been trying to adjust to a new role. You're the Harbinger now. it takes work to guide people." He smiled softly.

"And you... why haven't you come to see me in the study?" You raised a brow to him. "Don't trust my counsel yet?"

"My life isn't stressful." He chuckled before wrapping his arms around you, pulling you into a tight embrace. "Anymore." He added while he was smiling brightly. "I was having trouble right as you joined us. I had spoken to Kodlak quite a bit. Giving up transforming was hard, it seemed to make me irritable. I was comforted a lot by just talking to you, believe it or not. So in truth, you helped me before you were even a companion let alone the Harbinger." He smirked a little. "But- I have to take care of my whelp..."

You sighed, rolling your eyes. "Aren't we done with that talk by now?" Leaning in you felt your lips graze his. He chuckled a little. "I'm your wife now."

"I'd not have it another way." He whispered, before leaning in giving you a deep kiss. After a few moments he looked into your eyes, licking his lips. "We've gotten this place back on track. The others are stepping up and taking on more work. It's been peaceful." He paused. "Aside from the Stormcloaks having the guts to attack Whiterun. But, I think our thane wouldn't let anything bad happen." He winked, you merely blushed.

"Oh, but you guys helped as well. They should have came with more people. Honestly, I'm not sure how my father hasn't overtaken them yet, if the man is still here even. I've not heard of patrols looking for his long lost daughter in about a year." Vilkas nodded before Farkas walked out the door.

"Hey! Sis..." You looked to him, smiling a little. Farkas was now your real brother. While you might of had a tiny crush on him when you first met for a split second, since then you just felt bonded to him as a friend. You simply liked him calling you sister and meaning it now. "A courier came with a note for you. I gave him some coin and sent him on his way." He held the note out. You took it, looking at the scroll.

"Hmm..." Your words were soft. "Delphine knows where he is now. In the sewers of Riften. Sorry love..." You looked to Vilkas. "Seems our honeymoon is over."

He shook his head. "It's never over, we're still together and this time I'm not letting you go alone. I've had far too much time away from you as is. The biggest mistake of my life was telling you to leave me alone, I'm not repeating it." You gave a smile before looking to Farkas.

"So.... that means you will have to wrap up the bit of work we have left." The man nodded.

"No problem. Aela has been more involved lately. She's even taken me out on some of her hunts. We'll be fine."