Dagnell woke the next morning to find Brynjolf spooned behind her, one arm over her and holding her close. She rolled as carefully as she could toward him, wanting to see his face. He was awake and looking at her, his eyes full of something she couldn’t read.
“You’re awake. Good,” he said. “I wanted to talk to you about something.”
Her heart froze.
“You’ve changed your mind.”
Brynjolf smiled. “No, lass, it’s not that. Not at all. But I think we need to wait for a couple of days before we talk to Maramal about a wedding.”
“You have changed your mind.” He didn’t really want me, Dag thought. He just wanted a roll in the bedsheets, and I don’t mind that we’ve had that, but… he doesn’t really want me after all. One night and he’s ready to discard me. I knew it would happen like this, it always happens like this.
Give the boy a chance, already. Roggi only left because you were in the Guild.
Dag sighed. It truly was tiresome to argue with herself all the time.
“No, I really haven’t, lass. There’s just something that’s in the works at the moment that has to get finished before we can get married. I don’t like the idea that I have to keep things from you but this one thing is an exception. Can you wait just a few more days?”
Dag was thoroughly confused. “Yes, I can wait, but … you’re not leaving me?”
“No lass,” he said, kissing her forehead. “I’ll be here. I want to enjoy every moment that we have.”
Dag felt ice running through her veins at that. We’re supposed to have all the moments now, Brynjolf. All of them, from here on out. She couldn’t imagine what was going on, but it didn’t feel right. Something was amiss.
So make him tell you. You’re the new Guildmaster after all.
No, I’m not. He is, at least for the foreseeable future, and what kind of way would that be to start a life together? No, I will wait. It’ll be killing me from the inside out, but I’ll wait.
For most of the rest of the day, though, Dagnell and Brynjolf spent their hours getting to know each other and Honeyside better. They chattered about what they might put in the planters lining the porch, and whether or not to add an apiary to the garden, so that the bees could help pollinate things. He said no. He hated bees. They had lunch on the deck, overlooking Lake Honrich; he leaned against the railing, looking out at the lake, and she thought he looked contented for the first time since she’d met him.
The hot tub turned out to be just as much a pleasure for him as he’d thought. She joined him in it and they talked about everything and nothing. She realized that it was going to take years before she knew Brynjolf as well as she would like.
“Maybe we should go to Falskaar,” she said.
“What?”
“Well you haven’t been there for years, you said. I’ve never been there. Wouldn’t that be a fun trip to make?”
“It would. I don’t remember it that well, but I do remember it being a very beautiful place. If you think of what the lake and the trees around Riften look like on a sunny clear day, you get a picture of it.” He took a sip of ale and stretched. “I remember…” He trailed off, his brow furrowing. “A little town. A fire. I think that’s why we left.” He was quiet for a moment, then shook his head. “Of course I could be mixing things up in my mind. If you hear things long enough or imagine them long enough, they start to sound like the truth.”
Dag nodded. “I told you. That’s what happened to Mercer. I’m certain of it.”
Brynjolf grabbed her hand and squeezed it.
“Please promise me something. Let’s not ever talk about Mercer Frey again, not unless it’s absolutely necessary.”
Dag nodded. “Sold. But let’s consider going there sometime. I would really love to see it.”
Brynjolf laughed. “Persistent, eh? Alright, lass. But we have to get the Guild back on sound footing first.”
“True. But keep it in mind.” Then she laughed. “Can you imagine what it is going to be like with you and Delvin and Vex in charge of the Guild? We are all going to be so rich we won’t know what to do with it.”
He was quiet for a moment.
“You, lass. You’re going to be in charge of it. Not me.”
“You’re an idiot, Bryn.”
“I know. But I’m a stubborn idiot.”
“Well you’re in charge right now, and you have a lot to teach me.”
He grinned. “Promise?”
She splashed him. “Foolish man.”
The next day, Dag was late to awaken. Brynjolf was already gone, and she felt a sense of dread creeping over her again. She rose and dressed, then went to the kitchen to make some food. There was a note on the table.
Oh gods, she thought. What’s happened? Dag sat down at the table and opened the note, dreading what she might see.
I’ll be gone for a day or so but I’ll come find you soon. Don’t worry. Red
What? Well, “don’t worry” was a good sign, at least, and the fact that he had signed it “Red” made her laugh. Still, she couldn’t help but worry. Not worrying was beyond her at the moment.
Dag put together a stew to simmer, and drew herself a bowl of it once it was hot. Just as she was setting it on the table, there was a knock at the door. She walked over and opened it.
And the world stopped.
“Hello, love. It’s good to see you again.”
He stood in the doorway, smiling the same bright smile she remembered from their first meeting.
Dag gasped and threw her arms around his chest, hugging him as tightly as she possibly could, rocking back and forth, not wanting to believe it.
“I thought I was never going to see you again.” The words were catching in her throat as she tried to get them out.
“Well, I’m here.”
Then she looked up at him, and the tears came. “Oh Roggi. I can’t believe it. This is just… I’m so happy to see you.”
He pushed her back just far enough to look her in the face. His smile was so genuine, so welcoming. “Why are you crying, then? Come now. Aren’t you going to invite me in to see the Thane’s house?”
She looked up at him and nodded, laughing even with tears rolling down her face, leading him into the kitchen. “Of course I am. Sit down. I was just about to eat. I’ll get some for you,” she said through the sniffles. She put a second bowl of hot stew on the table and then smiled and handed him a bottle of Black-Briar mead to wash things down. “I can’t get over how much crying I’ve done in the past few months. It’s not like me.”
Roggi looked around. “This is a beautiful place,” he said, smiling. “I can picture you here. Ooooh! This is nice,” he exclaimed, spotting the alchemy table and walking over to it. “Pretty much everything you need.”
Dag laughed. “I didn’t realize how interested you were in that until, well …” The last day, she thought. The day when everything went sideways. “I don’t understand,” she said. “You’re here. What…how…”
Roggi shook his head, smiling. “Well, it’s a bit of a story. Shall we sit down for it?”
She had to laugh. Of course it was a bit of a story. “Ok, tell me,” she said.
He leaned his greatsword up against the wall, took off his pack and loosened up his shoulders, then sat down at the table. He nibbled on a bite of stew, then waved his hand in front of his mouth and grabbed the mead, swigging some of it. “Hot,” he mumbled as he slurped more liquid. “Very hot. But very good. Thank you.”
Dag smiled. I just can’t get over this, she thought. Roggi Knot-Beard. My life gets stranger with every day that passes.
He took a deep breath and smiled at her.
“How have you been, Dag? I’ve missed you.”
Dag had a hard time keeping her voice even.
“It’s been – I don’t even know how to describe it, Roggi. Things have gone from bad to worse and then better again, and all of it has been very, very strange and sometimes dangerous. And I’ve missed you, too. Very much.” You couldn’t imagine how often you were on my mind, she thought.
“But you met someone special,” he said softly.
She looked down at the table and smiled. “Yes,” she said. “I met him before you and I went to Whiterun together, actually, but neither one of us seemed to very much like the other until, well… it’s a long story.”
He chuckled. “Long stories are my specialty. Do you want to hear one?”
Dag smiled and nodded at him. Roggi. I can’t believe he’s here, she thought.
Exactly. He’s here.
For once Dag wasn’t annoyed with her other voice.
“But…wait. How did you know that I…?”
He grinned. “I’ll tell you,” he said. “This is where the story comes in. You see, I had a lot of time to think after I left here. Too much time. I thought all the way back to Kynesgrove, I thought while I was digging, I thought while I was at home, and I thought while I was drinking. Dravynea and Iddra tried to keep my spirits up but, well. My tab at the inn could tell you how that went. Old habits.” He grimaced.
“I’m so sorry.”
He looked back down at the table. “It’s not your fault. I still can’t believe what I did to myself. I know better. I’m actually a little surprised I managed to work in the mine but I did. Or at least Kjeld tells me I did.” He smiled, a grim smile at best.
“Probably, oh a week, maybe a little more after you and I saw each other last this man showed up at the inn one night and said he was looking for me. He bought us both a few flagons of mead. More than a few, really.” He grinned, then sighed, twirling his bottle regretfully. “I was more than happy to talk to him. He told me a friend in Riften said good things about me and since he was there anyway, he’d looked me up. I wasn’t really in a state to wonder why, and I don’t even know what all I must have said, but after he said your name I probably talked for hours.”
Roggi looked down again. “I’m afraid I don’t remember much from the rest of that night, but the next day I started thinking about what you told me, how I was the best friend you’d had in a long time. And I thought, well it goes both ways. It goes both ways. Even with everything else that happened. And I missed you.”
He heaved a great sigh, then met her eyes and smiled. I’ve missed that smile so much, Dag thought.
“Delvin, is it?”
She nodded.
“Delvin came to see me a couple of days ago and told me that you were getting married to his boss. And his boss wanted me to come talk to you, or rather, he insisted that I come talk to you.” Roggi grinned. “I’m guessing he’s part of the Guild. I didn’t get the impression that I should say no, all things being equal. He doesn’t seem like the kind of man you say no to, this Delvin. I’m guessing he… knows people who can make things happen. Besides, I wanted to see you again anyway.”
Dag laughed. “He does know those people. I don’t even know what to say. It’s all so strange.”
“Well,” Roggi said, tipping up his mead to take a drink, “let’s have a day of it, shall we? Catch up and talk things over. That’s what his boss said we should do. I’m sure I don’t understand, either, but I wouldn’t pass up the opportunity.” He smiled at her.
“Really. The man is still a mystery to me in some ways, but I know better than to argue with him when he has his mind set on something. He left a note saying he’d be gone for a day or so. So let’s do that,” she said. “Let me go get dressed.”
She started to rise from the table, but Roggi reached out to grab her hand. “Wait a moment. I wanted to say something serious. I feel like I ruined everything by being too proud for my own good and not listening to you. And then what I said to you before I left. It just wasn’t right, and, well, I’m sorry.”
Dag sat back down and shook her head. I don’t even know how to begin to apologize to you, Roggi, she thought. There aren’t enough words in the world.
“You ruined it, Roggi? No, it wasn’t you. You weren’t the one who didn’t share the whole truth. I should have. Especially after you told me about your family, but… I just didn’t want you to leave me, and I figured that you would if you knew who I was. And it was stupid of me not to think that Nilheim might have seemed…”
He sighed. “Like a promise?”
She nodded again. Those three words were three of the saddest she’d ever heard.
“Well it was foolish of me to think it did. After all.”
Dag leaned across the table and took him by the hands. “Roggi, no.” She sighed. “It wasn’t foolish, it was what any normal person might have thought. The problem is that I… well, I’m just not normal. I’ve always just done what felt right at the time because I had to. That’s the only way I could stay alive. That night at Nilheim we wanted to be together, and we were, and it was lovely. More than lovely. But I never thought…well that’s just the thing. I never thought. ”
He smiled. “And I thought too much. No matter. There’s no point to holding that against each other forever.”
“You’re right,” she said. You wonderful, dear man. You are right and I do not deserve you. Not at all. “Let me go get decent and we’ll go see what’s going on in the town.”
She started heading for the stairs, but then turned back and gave Roggi a hug around the shoulders.
“I’m so glad you’re here,” she told him, smiling.
“I am, too,” he said, his blue eyes sparkling.