Contrary to what Delvin had told Brynjolf, Dardeh was not necessarily “hot and bothered” to get to Dawnstar. Both of them were looking forward to learning the truth, to be sure, enough so that Roggi had suggested they leave that night rather than wait. Dragons, if there were any others on this side of the Rift, were unlikely to be out at night; bears and wolves barely qualified as a threat any longer; and the small groups of prowling bandits they might reasonably cross would be easily dealt with. Dardeh hadn’t been concerned, in any event.
No, it was Roggi who had been the most anxious to get to Dawnstar. He’d pressed the issue.
“Yeah, we could stay in Honeyside again, but we could also stay in Kynesgrove on the way north. I like to take a look at the house when I pass through, anyway. It’s the only thing left of our clan and I don’t want to see it fall into disrepair.”
“Ok, Roggi, we’ll move now. Besides,” Dardeh had said, looking around at the interior of Honeyside, “I think I feel a little strange about staying here right now, knowing who Andante might really be.”
They left not long after the meeting with Delvin, stopping only long enough to get a quick bite to eat at the Bee and Barb. Roggi had kept his ears wide open while they ate, silently, at one of the more out-of-the-way tables, and was disturbed by what he’d heard.
“Did you notice it?” he asked Dardeh as they rounded the curve on the approach to Fort Greenwall. “Everyone was really on edge.”
“Yeah, I did. It’s worse than when the dragons first appeared. I can understand it, too. A dragon is in one spot. You kill it, and it’s gone. The sun is kind of there all the time.”
Roggi nodded. “I don’t know how we deal with this, Dar. Andante never so much as showed himself to be a vampire, to me, except that one night and that was by mistake. But if he’s able to move around as freely as he can, day and night? That must mean that he’s…”
“…a lot stronger than anyone thought,” Dardeh finished. “Add to that the fact that he’s this guy everyone knows about and he’s dangerous to start out with.”
Roggi chuckled. “He was dangerous to start out with just because he’s in the Dark Brotherhood, Dar. But you’re right. Perdeti is known for a reason; even if he hasn’t remembered who he is, or ever even had amnesia in the first place he’s still dangerous. I don’t know whether I have anything in me that could possibly take him down.”
Dardeh smiled at him. “You keep forgetting that you’re one of the people who has fought Alduin and lived to tell about it. And all the other dragons. And dragon priests. Don’t sell yourself short, Roggi.”
“Yeah, and a guy wearing robes and a cultist mask almost killed me. It only takes one mistake. But point taken, Dar,” Roggi nodded.
“He’s just a man. Or, rather, a vampire. We’ve killed plenty of them, even strong ones. I have several things that could slow him down. One of them is fire.”
Roggi stopped, holding out an arm to stop Dardeh. “Listen, up ahead at the fort.”
The sounds of battle floated toward them on the slight breeze.
“Damn,” Dardeh growled. “At night? A battle, not just an ambush? What is it that these people don’t understand about truce?”
“I don’t know, but I think we should avoid the fort,” Roggi said, dropping off the road to the right and beginning the long circle around to the northeast.
They hadn’t gone far when Dardeh grunted. He’d been struck from behind by an arrow, but all it had done was surprise him as it bounced off his ebony armor. Both men turned to find a small pod of Imperial soldiers bearing down on them.
“Give Ulfric my regards!” one of them shouted, raising a sword to strike Roggi.
“FUS- RO DAH!” Dardeh’s Shout echoed across the countryside and bounced off the fort, returning to them over and over.
The man flew backwards head over feet and landed many lengths away, writhing as he struggled to draw air back into his lungs. Roggi didn’t spend time watching him, though; he turned to draw his sword on the second of the soldiers attacking Dardeh. Dardeh was having no major issues blocking with his huge double-edged sword, but the blows were coming too quickly to give him time to press his own attack. Roggi ran forward and skewered one of the soldiers, then tossed him aside, the man’s own weight serving to slide his body from the greatsword, cleaning it as it went.
That break in the action had given Dardeh enough of an opening to use his own sword offensively, a back-and-forth slicing attack that had the soldier down, in ribbons, before the first man made it back to them. Roggi tsk’d, blocked the man, and then slipped his greatsword behind the soldier’s head, pulling it forward several times in quick succession until the sickening sound of neck bones shattering told them he’d ended the fight.
“What’s going on, Roggi?” Dardeh growled. “I don’t get it. We’re not Stormcloaks. Unless you went back to Windhelm to rejoin on one of your trips and I just don’t know about it.”
Roggi snorted. “Don’t be ridiculous.” He looked around, checking for threats, and started moving north through the grasses once more. “Besides, you’re the one who said he’d join that side.”
“Roggi.”
“I know, I know. All I can think of is they’re edgy because of everything else going on. It makes me edgy, too. Probably everything that moves out here looks like a Stormcloak to them. It doesn’t help that I really, really look like a Nord.”
“Yeah. That’s true enough. Well let’s get going. I’d like to get a couple of hours sleep in Kynesgrove before we continue.”
They were walking, tiredly, up to the door of Roggi’s house before either of them spoke again.
“You know it’s just a matter of time,” Roggi mumbled, unlocking the door and pushing it open.
“Ulfric? Yeah. He’s never going to give up trying to get that throne of his. And the Empire’s never going to give up trying to stop him. All I did was postpone the inevitable.”
“Well, one problem at a time, my love,” Roggi sighed. “Let’s get some sleep before we finish dealing with this one.”
The next morning was as beautiful a day as they’d seen in a long while. The sun was up, brilliant in Skyrim’s icy blue skies. Roggi and Dardeh went to the inn for food, and to say hello to Iddra, and catch up on the news.
“You never told me you had even more Redguard friends, Roggi,” Iddra said as she rustled around behind the counter.
Roggi swapped a glance with Dardeh, confused. Dardeh shrugged.
“What?”
“Oh, some girl. She didn’t even know you’d gotten married, can you imagine that? Thought I was talking about Briinda when I told her you moved west after the wedding. You should have seen the look on her face.” She stopped and clapped her hand over her mouth, staring at Dardeh with her eyes wide. “I’m sorry, Dar,” she said after a moment.
Dardeh laughed. “It’s ok. I know Roggi was married before, no need to be concerned.”
“Oh, phew,” she said, her shoulders relaxing downward. “Sometimes I don’t know when to keep my big mouth shut.”
“Redguard girl, Iddra?” Roggi prodded.
“Yeah. She said she was an old friend. Pretty thing, but kind of scary-looking at the same time. Those eyes.”
Roggi’s own eyes narrowed. “What about them?”
“They were this pale, pale green color. And she was just scary. That girl’s seen things. Anyway, she was looking for you. Didn’t leave a name.”
Roggi nodded. “I think I know who you might mean. And yeah, I haven’t seen her for a long time.” He looked at Dardeh and nodded. “Anyway, it’s good to talk to you. Give my best to Kjeld. Both of them.”
They left the inn to the sound of Iddra’s laughter.
“What do you think, Dar?” Roggi asked quietly as they started down the hill.
“Well it sounded like her description, alright. Would she have come all the way here looking for you?”
Roggi nodded. Oh yes, Dar. She came here looking for me every time she was nearby and I was not strong enough to say no to her. I’m so glad those days are behind us.
“Yeah, I think so. If she was in Windhelm for some reason, she might well have done that. Or if she was on the way to Riften….” He stopped, stock still, remembering the night he’d last talked to Delvin by himself.
Dardeh was looking at him, curiously.
“What is it? Did you remember…”
BOOM.
Startled, both of them looked up at the sky, saw the disc of the sun turn black.
BOOM.
The malevolent red explosion spread, then collapsed back into the sun as the waves of blackness raced across the sky. The chickens that wandered about outside Roggi’s and Dravynea’s houses ran for cover in their coops, and people outside cried out in fear.
“Again?” Roggi said. “We can’t even have sunshine? Dar, things are going to start dying if they don’t have sun!”
Dardeh looked up and growled. “Yeah. And people will starve. And then he won’t have anyone left to take blood from. Is he not thinking straight?”
“So you think it’s him?”
“Who else would it be, Roggi? Everything lines up too well. Everything we’ve learned, including the fact that they came to borrow the Elder Scroll. They were looking for a bow from prophecy and they needed a scroll from prophecy. I think it has to be Andante.”
“Vitus.”
“Yes, yes. Whatever his name is.”
“No, it’s important, Dar. I think that before he lost his memories, he was Vitus Perdeti, and he was as bad as everything we knew and have heard in rumors. Since he’s been with the Guild, since he’s been Andante, he’s been… well, like anyone else in the Guild.”
“So, bad is what you’re saying,” Dardeh said with a sarcastic grin.
“Yes but not dangerous. Not ‘kill the world’ bad, Dar. I think that’s what he is, under it all, and I think it’s come back.”
“We’d better make the acquaintance of Sayma, then. Maybe she can do something to keep him contained long enough for us to get to him somehow.”
“Yeah,” Roggi said, frowning and scurrying along the road. He shuddered, looking up at the sky. “By Ysmir this is ugly.”
“It is. I’m glad I’m with you. And I’m glad Lydia and the girls are in Whiterun.”
Roggi looked at him and stopped cold. “I sure hope they are, Dardeh. I hope they didn’t start home early. Who knows what kinds of things come out under this sky.”
They found out, shortly.
They made their way past the stables at Windhelm, and then west. They crossed the river, and climbed the steep hill beyond it, past the lumber mill, and along the riverside. Roggi looked behind them at one point and saw that the shadow of the darkened sun made the mists atop a nearby mountain seem like an inky black smoke roiling down from its summit. He shuddered.
It’s unnatural.
He didn’t have time to ponder it further, though, because the familiar snorts and howls of a troll burst from the hillside just in front of them.
“Frost troll,” Dardeh called to him. “Watch out.”
“I’m on it,” he said, pulling his sword around to the front. He was about to rush to attack when he stopped, stunned by the sight of no fewer than three Death hounds attacking the troll. It roared, and howled, and swiped one of the hounds to the side, killing it. Then it looked up, saw Dardeh, and started toward him in spite of the two hounds nipping at its legs.
“FUS- RO DAH!”
The force of Dardeh’s Shout caught the troll and threw it backward. Roggi and Dardeh rushed forward, each of them targeting one of the remaining Hounds. Roggi found it a challenge, fighting this creature; it was short enough that his blocks were mostly too high, and quick enough that his sword strikes were too slow. He kept circling, though, sliding backward down the hill, dancing out of the reach of the hound’s deadly-looking teeth. Eventually he found that he was standing just enough beneath the elevation the creature was on that he was able to use the full-force vertical strike he’d practiced for years. The dog dropped, and Roggi whipped around to see Dardeh polish off the other.
Then the troll, which had finally regained its footing, came at them. Roggi scrambled to make it back up the slope to Dardeh, but the path was icy, and his feet trampling the snow cover and slipping down the hill had made it icier. He stopped, watching in awe as Dardeh showed why his Shouts weren’t the only reason he’d succeeded in removing Miraak and defeating Alduin. He had crossed his swords before his body, but turned slightly, so that his left shoulder was facing the troll. He brought the massive, double-edged ebony blade in his right hand up over his head and brought it down in an overhand stab, a deep-throated roaring that had nothing to do with being Dragonborn erupting from him as he drove the blade through the troll’s chest.
Roggi quietly sheathed his greatsword and waited for Dardeh to pull his sword free.
“That was really something,” he said when Dardeh returned to his side.
“Yeah, well,” Dardeh replied. “I’m mad, I guess. Death hounds out on the road. What if it had been somebody’s family passing by and not the two of us?”
Roggi smiled at him.
And this is just another reason why I love you, Dardeh at-Dadarh. Worried about our girls. Lydia knows how to protect them. I wouldn’t care for anyone’s chances who got in her way, especially if they threatened the kids.
“They’ll be alright, Dar. I just know it.”
Dardeh’s face looked like a storm cloud. “They’ll be alright if we get rid of the problem, Roggi, and I don’t much like the idea of that.”
Roggi nodded.
“Neither do I. No matter what we do, someone is going to get hurt.”
They set out toward Dawnstar once more, watching the eerie red sun begin to slide down behind the horizon.
“You know,” Roggi said, “I wouldn’t want to place bets on anyone who might get on the wrong side of you, Dar. For a guy who keeps saying he doesn’t like killing and won’t take sides, you wield a mean sword.”
Dardeh chuckled. “Well, it’s like this. Searching for my sister has had me running across all manner of bad sorts. And then there was the small business of Miraak and friends.”
He grinned at Roggi, and then surprised him by lunging at him.
“Come here, husband,” he said, grabbing Roggi by the waist and pulling him close for a quick kiss. “There. That’s what you get for teasing me about my fighting style.”
Roggi laughed. “I’ll be sure to think up some more things to say, in that case.”
“Well, wait until we get to Dawnstar and can find the inn. It’s cold out here. If my fingers get any colder I won’t be able to hold a weapon. And you sure don’t want them holding you.”
Roggi shuddered dramatically and snickered. “Certainly not. But it doesn’t matter. We need to get this over with.”
—
The sun had fully set by the time they reached the house just off the road out of Dawnstar. Roggi looked up at the sky and shook his head.
“It’s lighter out now than it was before the sun set. We really have to do something about that.”
“Yep.”
They had gone to the inn and rented a room, as Dardeh had asked. Roggi paid for the room, making certain that the amount of coin he was sliding across the counter was a great deal more than the price of the accommodations. The red-haired Nord on the receiving end of the payment had been in the middle of a rambling statement about food, drink, and nightmares, but stopped short, looked at the amount of coin before him, and looked back up at Roggi with narrowed eyes.
“You’ve given me too much, here, sir. I appreciate a tip, but…”
“Well I was hoping you could point me in the direction of an old friend, and I wouldn’t expect you to do such a thing without some sort of compensation. Not even Ulfric Stormcloak would have asked such a thing of me, so I wouldn’t ask it of you.”
The Nord leaned forward, and his voice dropped to a whisper.
“You know Ulfric Stormcloak?”
Better than most. I could tell tales…
“Aye, indeed I do. I used to work for him, some years back. If not for the battle wound I might still be there.” Roggi shifted his shoulders and made an exaggerated wince. And I’m carrying a greatsword. I wonder whether this man is stupid enough to fall for it. Not that I haven’t been wounded often enough, but unless you call the edge of Ulfric’s table a battle wound…
“Well, now. That’s quite something. Who is it that you’re looking for?”
Roggi smiled. “Her name is Sayma. Sayma Sendu. We go way back but I lost track of her, and then just recently heard she might be here. My husband and I were passing through and I hoped I might be able to stop and catch up.”
The innkeeper glanced at Dardeh, who was seated at one of the long tables, munching on a bit of bread. “That’s your husband? Relative of Sayma’s, maybe? They look alike.”
Roggi smiled. Right. They look alike because they both have brown skin, you ignorant Nord? “Yes, and yes. So do you know where she lives now?”
“I do. I wouldn’t tell this to just anybody but…” he looked down again at the pile of coin, and then swept it off the counter into his hand. “If you came in from the south you passed it. A little farmhouse, just up around the corner from here. At least it used to be a farm. The former owners let the farm go, but it makes a nice place for the girl. She bought it not long ago. I don’t know what she does during the day but she does seem to make plenty of money, and spends enough of it in town that people like her.”
Roggi laughed internally. Money does make a person likeable. I wonder if Andante spreads his around here when he’s in town.
“Well I thank you. We’ll come back to use that room we rented after we’ve caught up. Thanks for the hospitality.”
The innkeeper nodded. “If you come back late, well, uh… try to keep it down. People have been having a hard time gettin’ a decent night’s sleep around here.”
“Will do.”
Roggi nodded to Dardeh, and led him outside. “Back the way we came, but not too far.”
“Roggi, I’m really kind of nervous.”
“You’ve met her before, Dar.”
“Yes but I didn’t know she was my sister back then. Only hoped that she was.”
Roggi had smiled at Dardeh, and put one arm around him for a quick squeeze. “It’ll be alright, my love. Picture how awkward this is going to be for me.”
“Good point.”
They’d made the rest of the short walk in silence.
“Well,” he said, “I guess this is it.” He removed his leather helmet, then raised his hand and knocked at the door. Once, twice.
Nothing happened for a few moments. The two men looked at each other; Dardeh opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by the door swinging open.
“Can I help…” Sayma stopped short as she saw Roggi’s face.
Time seemed to slow to a crawl as Roggi and Sayma shared the culmination of something that had been many months in the making. He saw her shock, saw her register the fact that they’d looked at each other not long before, in Riften, and that there was no way to deny that. He saw the moment in which she pondered fleeing, or slamming the door in his face, or pulling a knife; and it made him sad to see that in her eyes, no matter how briefly. But there was no question who this was. He’d looked into these eyes before, even as pale as they now were.
It was silent for just a moment.
Roggi smiled, a tiny, half-hearted smile. Caught. Just like a rat in a trap.
“Finally. You’ve kept us all very busy for the last while trying to find you.”
She stared at him for another long moment, clearly wrestling with what to say.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Her voice was husky, as Galathil had said it would be.
“Oh come now. You know I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t know who you are. At least I hope you know that. You don’t know everything there is to know about me, that’s true; but enough to know I’m not a fool. Just as we know enough about you to track you down. I feel really bad about having used Nilheim to find you, by the way, but I see that I was right to do it.”
He watched her determination to pretend confusion dissolve. I have you, and you know it, Dag. She frowned, then nodded.
“So that was nothing more than a setup.”
Her eyes flashed anger, and even from inside a different face Roggi knew their look. A part of him wanted to smile. Dag. I’ve missed you.
“I see I’ve been cornered. You’d better come inside, both of you. And keep your voices down. There’s, uh, someone sleeping downstairs and I don’t want to wake him up.”
Him. For just the tiniest moment Roggi felt a twinge of something unpleasant. Anger, perhaps; jealousy, perhaps. He nodded at Sayma. As she turned back into the house, he felt a squeeze on his arm, and turned to see Dardeh looking at him, his expression filled with nothing but concern.
“Are you alright?” he whispered.
Roggi smiled. What am I even thinking. Look at this man. How am I so fortunate?
“I am now, Dar. Thanks.”
Sayma was waiting for them inside, pacing nervously back and forth in front of the fireplace. The room was full of the scents of the herbs both sweet and pungent hanging to dry here and there, as well as the almost spicy aroma of whatever wood supplied the fire. There was another scent here, too, that he couldn’t identify; human, the smell of skin, but a lighter, cleaner smell than he recognized. There were a few bits and bobs decorating the mantle, and tucked into the corners of a bookcase near the door, but it wasn’t the accumulation of time. She hasn’t lived here that long. A few months at most.
Roggi looked at her, taking it in, aware of Dardeh watching him. Sayma’s face was more regular than Dagnell’s had been, more angular, less rounded. Her lips were fuller than Dagnell’s, her nose slightly shorter, and her eyes were that startling, pale, yellowish-green rather than the hue of a field of new grass on a sunny day. Most startling, there was no scar marring her face. Her skin was smooth, unmarked, and beautiful. She looked sad, hardened. What is it that Iddra said? She’s seen things.
She’s stunning. She’s so different. But it’s her.
He slowly released a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. Along with it, Roggi released a fear he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. There was always a chance, he thought, that I would see her and be taken again, the same way that there was a chance I’d be taken by Ulfric again, too. A chance that I might have thought of pursing her yet again. I know myself well enough to realize that it was a possibility. I might have been weak, I might have fallen again, and I could never have forgiven myself if I had done such a thing to Dar.
But all I feel is sadness, and annoyance that she betrayed Brynjolf, and gratitude that I found the person I truly love. It’s finally completely over.
“You sound different,” Roggi said quietly. “And you look different, of course, but Galathil told me you would.”
Sayma put her hands on her hips and glared at him. “She told you?”
“Well, yes. It’s not as though we didn’t have the thought ourselves, but she told us. Don’t hold it against her. I have ways of getting people to tell me things,” Roggi said.
Sayma’s eyes narrowed. “What, Roggi? What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about the fact that all of us have a great deal of information to share with each other. And I think you should be the one to start.” Roggi sighed. He could tell that his tone had been getting harsh, and he didn’t want that at all. “I’m sorry. All I want to know is why?” he said, softly. “Why did you do this?”
Sayma shook her head. It was clear that she was about to argue with him when they were interrupted by the sound of Dardeh clearing his throat. He’d been standing to the side, patiently, taking it all in but obviously waiting his turn anxiously.
This is even a bigger thing for him than it is for me.
“I hate to butt in, but I have a question for you that I’ve been waiting to ask.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to ignore you,” she said quietly. “What is it?”
Roggi couldn’t help it. He’d been trying to fight down anger for a long time now: anger about being fooled when she’d joined the Thieves Guild, anger and disappointment at himself for having walked away from her, anger over having not been able to stay away from her, and anger about having been the one who needed to keep Brynjolf alive. He couldn’t stop the sarcastic dig that came out of his mouth.
“Oh yes, by the way,” he said, “this is Dardeh. My husband.”
Sayma looked at him, and he immediately regretted having said it the way he had. The eyes weren’t the deep, vibrant green that he remembered but they were most definitely Dagnell’s eyes, and they told him that she was hurting. She nodded and looked back to Dardeh.
“Yes,” she said softly. “Hello. I heard that you’d gotten married.”
Dardeh waved his hand in front of his face impatiently.
“Yes. Fought dragons, saved the world, got married to Roggi. Adopted children. We have two daughters. But none of that is important right now. I have a question for you.” He studied her for a long moment. “May as well just spit it out. Are you really Dagnell?”
“Dardeh,” she started.
“The discussion you’ve been having with Roggi says yes, but I want to hear it from you. Tell me. Are you Dagnell?”
Dardeh had the Voice. He had grown up with a cavernous, resonant voice that had always commanded attention and that carried that same hint of power in it that Ulfric’s had. That’s why he rarely commanded, he’d told Roggi so many times. But this was clearly different.
“Sayma. Tell me.”
Her eyes widened at the tone of it, but she accepted it. She nodded.
“Yes.”
“My gods.”
She nodded again.
Dardeh turned to Roggi. “I… I can’t…”
Roggi nodded and slipped an arm around Dardeh. “It’s ok, Dar.”
Roggi turned to Sayma. “Listen. You know we’ve all been looking for you for such a long time. I have, Bryn has, Delvin, even Andante.” Her eyebrows rose. “Yes, even him. Obviously he was part of our little scheme to find you. He had no idea who you were, as far as I know, until just recently. But how we found you, that’s really not that important right this second. It’s… Dar has something he needs to tell you.”
Dardeh took a deep breath and stepped close to Sayma, then reached up toward her cheek. She flinched, but didn’t move away.
“Wow. This is just… wow. Sayma. There’s something major. If you’re really Dag.”
“Yes. I am. Or at least I was,” she said quietly.
Dardeh ran a thumb down the side of her cheek.
“I met Dag, in Whiterun, the same day I met the man I love.” He swapped a quick glance with Roggi and smiled. “I told her that I was looking for someone. For my sister. I was… looking for a woman with a scar and green eyes and I met a woman with a scar and green eyes. She never gave me her name. If she had I could have told her then, that the sister I was looking for was named Dagnell.”
Sayma’s face froze. She walked to the corner of the room, then turned back to stare at Dardeh.
“You … what?”
Dardeh murmured the words he’d said thousands of times, across half of Tamriel, looking for her.
“My sister. Half-sister. We have the same father, but my mother was Nord. My father was married to a Redguard woman. They lived on Stros M’Kai and they had a little girl named Dagnell. They were killed…”
“In a bandit raid,” Sayma said, faintly.
He nodded. “And the little girl grew up in Port Hunding and had a scuffle that left her with a scar on her face.”
Sayma stared at him in wonder.
“And your father’s name is..”
“Dadarh at-Jine. He looked just like me, only darker – darker skin, dark hair.”
Sayma’s hand went to her mouth for a moment, and her eyes brimmed with moisture. She stared at Dardeh. “That was my father. Dadarh. Yes. Yes, I can see it. It’s been a long time since he died but yes. I thought there was something familiar about you when we first met, but I couldn’t place it. You’re… my brother. You really are…my brother. It wasn’t just wishful thinking.”
He nodded.
“I’ve been looking for you ever since my mother died. She’s the one who told me you exist. You’re… my only living relative. If it was wishful thinking for you, that I was your brother, well that makes me very happy.”
He smiled, the big happy smile that Roggi loved so much.
“I went all the way to Stros M’Kai looking for you. And all the way up High Rock. I don’t know if you remember the young mother with the twins, but she remembered you. They were fat and squirmy when I met them. They’re probably running around terrorizing their neighbors by now.”
“Oh my gods,” Sayma said, her voice cracking. “I need to sit down.”
“Good choice,” Roggi murmured. “We have a great deal to talk about. Starting,” he said with a chuckle, “with the rather uncomfortable fact that I am now your brother-in-law, Dag.”
“What? Oh. Oh dear,” she said faintly.
“Yeah. I thought you might see it that way. We’re nothing if not an unconventional family, I guess.”
She looked at him and smiled, faintly. “I stopped by your house, a little while ago, on my way to Riften.”
“I know. Iddra told us all about the Redguard girl who didn’t know we’d gotten married.”
Sayma’s gaze dropped for a moment. “I was… surprised.”
“No more so than we were to find out you were the Listener. Dark Brotherhood, Dag. I don’t even know where to start with that.”
“Ah. So you figured that out as well. It must have been Andante.”
“Yes.” Roggi looked at Dardeh, who seemed ready to start talking about Andante; but he shook his head. Later, Dar. One thing at a time.
“So… why, Dag?”
Sayma looked up at Roggi, her eyes sad.
“Sayma. Dag’s gone now, Roggi.” She shook her head. “I would try to explain it, but I don’t know how. It’s so complicated. I… things started happening to me, just before I killed Mercer Frey. All the killing. You can’t have something as strange as this happen to you without being changed forever. I don’t know how to reconcile it with anything else.”
Roggi and Dardeh locked eyes. Yes, we both know this feeling, don’t we, Dar?
“Yes,” Dardeh murmured. “It must be just about as strange as finding out you can absorb the soul of a dragon.”
Her gaze snapped to his. “That’s right. I’d forgotten. You’re the Dragonborn.”
He smirked. “It’s a little hard to forget if you’re on this end of it.”
“We have a great many things to talk about, Sayma,” Roggi said slowly. “They’re all complicated, and some of them hurt. We’ll be talking about it for a long time. The three of us, and others as well.”
She looked up at him in alarm. “You can’t tell Brynjolf, Roggi. You just can’t.”
“I can’t. But you can. And you have to. You owe it to him.”
“He’ll kill me.”
Dardeh laughed. “Bryn, kill you? Don’t make me laugh. He’s been trying to find you ever since you left, to hear Roggi tell it.”
Roggi nodded. “It’s true. If even Andante is willing to help him with it…”
Sayma’s eyes narrowed yet again. “What do you mean by that?”
Roggi opened his mouth, but Dardeh answered for them. “It’s not for us to say, Sayma. But trust us. You know Andante, and you know he wouldn’t do anything if it wasn’t something he thought was important, right?”
She considered that for a moment, then nodded slowly.
“Anything else is for Brynjolf to tell you about.”
This is going to be hard, isn’t it. I am not looking forward to it.
“It’s late,” Roggi said. “We’ve been walking for a very long time.”
Then he reached out and took Sayma’s arm in a grip that he knew was probably too strong, probably a bit too threatening.
“Don’t run away again, Dag. Sayma. There are too many things to sort out and too many people who want to see you again. We’d find you if you did try to run, because this time we wouldn’t be caught by surprise. You can’t go back to Galathil. She knows better, and Delvin has his eyes on her. And besides. There’s no reason to run away. We’ll come see you again tomorrow. Yes?”
Sayma sighed. “Yes.” She rose from her chair and walked toward the door.
“Roggi?”
“Yeah?”
“How is Brynjolf? I didn’t see him the last time I was in Riften.”
“He’s… well. He wasn’t, after you left. But he is now.”
“He came to our wedding,” Dardeh added, chuckling. “You never saw a guy so surprised and cover it so well. He looks good, Sayma. In fact I think he looks younger, somehow.”
Roggi stared at Sayma, trying to make certain that she understood.
“Don’t worry, Roggi. I won’t leave. I can’t leave. There are things keeping me here now.”
Oh. The ‘he’ sleeping downstairs.
“Alright. We’ll talk tomorrow.”
Roggi and Dardeh left and began the cold walk back toward the inn.
“I can’t believe it, Roggi. We found her! I have a sister!”
“Yeah. And I have…” he trailed off.
Dardeh stopped them and turned Roggi to face him.
“You have what?”
Roggi smiled. “I have a husband who I love very much. And another thing that I can finally put behind me. Thank you, Dar.”
Dardeh pulled him close. They stood there, silent, for just a moment or two. Then they smiled at each other and melted into a kiss.
If they’d been paying attention, they might have seen Sayma watching them from her door, a sad expression on her face.