{"id":435,"date":"2021-01-19T21:54:54","date_gmt":"2021-01-20T04:54:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/baakay.com\/Snow\/?page_id=435"},"modified":"2022-08-29T11:04:05","modified_gmt":"2022-08-29T17:04:05","slug":"chapter-16","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/baakay.com\/Snow\/volume-1\/part-1-moonlight\/chapter-16\/","title":{"rendered":"Chapter 16 – Interlude"},"content":{"rendered":"
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 <\/p>\n

4E 196<\/strong><\/p>\n

Callae Hanus frowned over the stewpot and turned back to her table. It needed more carrots, that was all there was to it, and she knew that was the case; but the last thing she wanted to think about, touch, smell or \u2013 gods help her \u2013 eat, was a carrot.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

She sighed.\u00a0 She was going to have to put more carrots in, like it or not, because that was how he liked his stew. He liked the sweetness that vegetables added. Anything sweet.<\/p>\n

She smiled, even as she reached into the vegetable basket to pull out a pair of them. They were just on the verge of becoming rubbery, but there was no help for it.\u00a0 It was nearing the end of growing season; harvest hadn\u2019t been what she\u2019d hoped this year, and she needed to make those vegetables she had grown last just as long as she could.\u00a0 In a stew, it wouldn\u2019t matter if the carrots weren\u2019t crisp.\u00a0 They would taste just as good in the venison broth as if they\u2019d been newly pulled from the garden.<\/p>\n

Callae hadn\u2019t expected to be feeding both herself and a man at this time of the year. Or any time of the year, to be honest. Nor had she expected to be sharing her modest little cabin with one for months on end. But that trip to Bruma, well\u2026<\/p>\n

It was all rather clich\u00e9, but they\u2019d met in the tavern. He\u2019d caught her eye. To be truthful, he\u2019d caught everyone\u2019s eye. He was the Imperial with the infectious laugh.\u00a0 He\u2019d been flirting with everyone there. Absolutely everyone, as far as she could tell, men and women alike; and he managed to make everyone laugh, including himself.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Including her.<\/p>\n

She remembered it vividly.\u00a0 She\u2019d been sitting quietly at a table in the corner, nursing the lone tankard of ale she\u2019d decided to splurge for, and had been enjoying watching the antics going on near the fire and at the bar. The dark-haired man dressed in blue had said something she didn\u2019t hear, something that had created a loud burst of laughter following which the bard picked up his lute and began singing. She\u2019d looked down at the tabletop, smiling to herself. It was good to hear people laugh once in awhile. Life was so often tense and dour these days, as if the entire world knew that the Great War wasn\u2019t really over in spite of having ended years ago, during her infancy. Their entire lives \u2013 hers and that of the man in blue, judging his age from the looks of him \u2013 had been spent watching people trying to rebuild, trying to create something new, a new normal, all while looking over their shoulders for what the elders had said was the inevitable return of hostilities.\u00a0 It was a hard, gray existence for almost everyone in Cyrodiil, and rumor had it that it was just as hard in all of the other provinces of the Empire.<\/p>\n

The laughter had been like a breath of fresh air. She\u2019d basked in it, even though she wasn\u2019t a part of it, and smiled down into her tankard.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd why is such a lovely lady drinking alone on such a fine evening? Surely you must be awaiting the arrival of a beau, yes?\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

She\u2019d looked up at the sound of the voice that had been making everyone laugh and found herself smiling into a pair of flashing, intense blue eyes from which she couldn\u2019t look away. He was still a fairly young man, but old enough to have the lines of experience beginning to show on his face. He wore a mischievous grin, medium-length black hair partially held by a bandana, and short beard. This one is trouble, she thought. It\u2019s written all over him. It\u2019s why he could make everyone laugh: he\u2019s trouble, they know it, and he knows that they know it. If I were as smart as my mother and father always said I was, I\u2019d just send him on his way.<\/p>\n

And yet somehow she\u2019d gone right ahead flirting with him, even knowing he was trouble. More than anything, she had wanted to bask in the warmth of that laughter a bit longer.<\/p>\n

\u201cPerhaps he\u2019s just arrived,\u201d she found herself saying in her most playful tones, feeling her mouth curl up into a grin.\u00a0 His eyes had twinkled back at her in a way that told her he\u2019d performed this dance a thousand times before and yet was eager to do it once again.<\/p>\n

\u201cPerhaps he has, indeed,\u201d he chuckled.\u00a0 He put a hand on the back of the empty chair across from her and said, \u201cMay I?\u201d even as he pulled it out and slipped into the seat, not waiting for her reply.\u00a0 He\u2019d waved the barmaid over and ordered them each a brandy, and a sweet roll to share. \u201cI\u2019ve a bit of a sweet tooth,\u201d he\u2019d told her, grinning. \u201cBrandy and sweet rolls. It\u2019s a shame a body requires more than that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, you\u2019re in luck then,\u201d she\u2019d said. \u201cI know how to make the best stew, using ingredients that are good for you but taste sweet as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIs that so?\u201d he said, one eyebrow raised. \u201cTell me about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

And then they\u2019d begun to talk. In spite of the fact that she knew he was simply trying to seduce her \u2013 because he certainly made no real attempt to disguise that fact \u2013 Callae found herself warming up to him.\u00a0 And even more astonishing, to her mind, was the way he seemed to respond to her. They liked<\/em> each other. That was obvious within moments. And she had yearned for just such companionship, for a long and lonely time.<\/p>\n

They jousted verbally for a bit. She\u2019d teased him about flirting with the barkeep; he\u2019d admitted that he had an eye for a well-built gentleman, probably just as she had.\u00a0 She\u2019d laughed and agreed that they seemed to share the same taste in such matters.<\/p>\n

But as the evening had worn on, and the one brandy had turned into two, he hadn\u2019t gotten up from his chair and hadn\u2019t returned to flirting with the barkeep. He\u2019d leaned across the table a bit more closely as the minutes wore on, as the words had accumulated, and as the conversation had become more and more personal. She\u2019d learned that he was originally from Bravil, and happily away from there even though it had been his home and always would be, in his heart.\u00a0 She\u2019d somehow managed to tell him that she was from Chorrol, and like him was now alone in the world, her parents gone.\u00a0 She and her mother had lived in the tiny cabin at the southern edge of County Bruma, overlooking the Imperial City in the valley below, after her father had passed six years earlier. It hadn\u2019t been terribly long since her mother had passed. Now she lived there by herself.<\/p>\n

\u201cI never knew my father,\u201d he\u2019d told her with a shrug. \u201cI heard it said that he was just an awful man. Thankfully he wasn\u2019t around long enough to be a bad influence on me.\u201d He\u2019d taken a sip of his brandy, then, the snifter barely covering a grin and completely failing to disguise the mischief dancing in his eyes. \u201cMy mother died when I was too young to remember. Thus, I can appreciate the challenges of being on your own.\u00a0 You\u2019re here in Bruma on\u2026 business?\u201d<\/p>\n

That was deftly done, she thought, nodding. He doesn\u2019t really want to reveal much and yet he clearly longs to talk about himself a bit. Now that he\u2019s done so, he\u2019s flipped the topic again.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cYes. Well, my little cabin is in need of repairs that I haven\u2019t the skill or the \u2026 bulk\u2026 to accomplish on my own.\u00a0 So I\u2019m here looking into making arrangements and buying materials.\u201d<\/p>\n

Callae smiled to herself as she used her knife to slide the carrots off the cutting board and into the stewpot. That had been the moment. She\u2019d watched his face and seen an entire debate happening in the space of a few heartbeats. He\u2019d taken another sip of brandy, lowered his snifter carefully to the table and given her a heartbreakingly beautiful smile. Oh, he knew how to use that smile and had doubtless used it on hundreds of people before her; but it was still beautiful and utterly irresistible.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m no master carpenter, Miss Callae. In fact, I\u2019m more of a smith and a jeweler than anything else. But as you can see I\u2019m fairly robust; and I do know my way around most basic tools.\u00a0 I\u2019d be quite willing to see what I could do to help. I\u2019m in between jobs at the moment; I work under contract and never really know when the next assignment will be coming.\u00a0 I\u2019d happily exchange a bit of labor for a bedroll in the corner, if you\u2019re at all amenable to such an arrangement.\u201d<\/p>\n

To her own astonishment, Callae had found herself agreeing that they should return to her cabin together, the next morning.\u00a0 She was taking a huge risk, and she knew that. For all she knew he could slit her throat in the middle of the night, just to take her property; but she wanted to learn more about him.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn one condition, sir,\u201d she\u2019d said.<\/p>\n

He\u2019d raised one eyebrow. \u201cAnd what would that be?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is your name? I would need to know that,\u201d she\u2019d asked him, her heart dancing in double-time, her mind wondering what possessed her to be doing these things. She felt certain this was not a man who was used to giving out his name lightly.<\/p>\n

He\u2019d laughed. His eyes, though, had revealed that she\u2019d been right about him; there was a moment of surprise and wariness in them that he quickly suppressed.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course. How foolish of me. I\u2019m Vitus. Vitus Perdeti, originally of Bravil, at your service.\u201d\u00a0 He laughed again and shook his head. \u201cI can\u2019t quite imagine why I hadn\u2019t told you that earlier. I suppose I was having too good a time for it to even cross my mind. I\u2019ve enjoyed this evening more than I\u2019ve enjoyed one for a very long while.\u201d<\/p>\n

She\u2019d smiled at him, and held her hand out to shake his. \u201cIt\u2019s a pleasure to meet you, Mister Perdeti,\u201d she had told him.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

He\u2019d taken her hand; but rather than shaking it he had raised it to his mouth and kissed her fingers while staring at her with those incredible blue eyes.\u00a0 And then, as she had somehow known would be the case and had secretly hoped would be, after another hour or two had passed he\u2019d led her by that very hand to the room he had rented there in the inn and had kissed her mouth as well.\u00a0 He had a soft, sensual mouth and hands that betrayed their experience almost immediately.\u00a0 She hadn\u2019t minded, not a single bit; and she\u2019d happily allowed herself to sink into what had been one of the most exquisite experiences of her life.<\/p>\n

It had been quite some time later when she\u2019d turned to him with a satisfied smile and laughed.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd just what is it that you find so amusing, Miss Callae?\u201d he\u2019d asked her, pulling her a bit closer onto his chest, one warm arm around her shoulders.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just that I don\u2019t really have room for an extra bedroll in my cabin, Mister Perdeti. I\u2019m afraid you\u2019ll have to share my bed for a time, if you come to help me do repairs. It is poor hospitality on my part, but I hope you won\u2019t mind too much.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019d smiled up at the ceiling, a genuine, warm smile.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo. I won\u2019t mind.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know how long I\u2019ll stay, but I will be very happy with the arrangements while I\u2019m there, so long as you also don\u2019t mind. I don\u2019t like to impose my presence on people unless they are willing. That\u2019s a lesson that I was taught by everyone near me from the time I was a tot. It seems that my sire was not very good about such politenesses.\u201d<\/p>\n

And thus it had begun with that partially-unspoken understanding, and the months had gone by while they built a quiet little existence together there in the cabin that had once seemed so empty. They\u2019d long since finished the repairs that had been her excuse for being in Bruma, and he\u2019d stayed on anyway. He\u2019d never told her what he did during those times when he\u2019d received a commission, and his demeanor said both that she would never know, and that perhaps she did not really want to know. She\u2019d pushed the questions out of her mind.\u00a0 It almost didn\u2019t matter.\u00a0 He would be gone for some length of time. She was never sure how long it would be.\u00a0 But she\u2019d known that eventually there would be a quiet knock on the door, and the man with the mesmerizing blue eyes would slip back into her house and her life.<\/p>\n

She gave the pot a stir, and then frowned. The stew itself was coming along nicely.\u00a0 It looked perfect. But there was something about the smell of the meat that had her stomach dancing, and not in a good way.\u00a0 She was fairly certain that she knew what it meant. She\u2019d been fairly certain of it for awhile now. And she was simultaneously appalled, terrified, and overjoyed.<\/p>\n

How long has it been?\u00a0 Can this really be happening?\u00a0 We\u2019ve been so careful\u2026 At least we\u2019ve tried to be careful. Most of the time.<\/em><\/p>\n

She thought about it, though, and realized that there had been several occasions when careful was not what they\u2019d been, for one reason or another.\u00a0 Vitus was nothing if not an enthusiastic lover. He also had a bit of a taste for skooma as well as for sweets, she\u2019d discovered; and he wasn\u2019t always entirely clear-headed and careful if he\u2019d been indulging.\u00a0 She\u2019d never minded, though.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s what you do if you\u2019re in love with someone. Or maybe it\u2019s just me, who thinks this way.<\/em><\/p>\n

She sighed.\u00a0 It was the truth. She was head-over-heels in love with the man, and had been since midway through that first evening in Bruma.\u00a0 She was also under no illusions about his feelings on the matter.<\/p>\n

He liked<\/em> her; that much was clear. He liked her a great deal. He enjoyed her company, potentially more than he enjoyed most other people\u2019s \u2013 he would long since have left her behind if that were not the case. After so long together they were comfortable with each other. They were on an equal footing in terms of having quick minds and quick wits, sometimes talking for hours on end and other times just sitting together quietly. And there was no question about how well-matched they were physically.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

But he did not love <\/em>her. She wasn\u2019t convinced that he was even capable of the emotion. There was something odd about him: a darkness to the man that he hid very well, but not completely. She saw it emerging every time he needed to leave, and lingering around him for a while every time he returned. Whatever it was that occupied his time did not involve love or even caring, for other people. In fact, she was afraid it was exactly the opposite of that. She had no evidence for this fear, nothing other than a gut feeling; but she\u2019d learned to trust her gut over the years. She was certain that darkness enveloped him to the degree that he could only experience superficial relationships with others.<\/p>\n

The more time passed, the more discouraged she\u2019d become about any hopes for a future with him. Every time she\u2019d tried to open up a bit about her ever-deepening feelings for him, he\u2019d shied away like a nervous colt. The length of his business trips had grown a bit longer each time he\u2019d left. She was completely convinced that she was not the only bedfellow he enjoyed; and she was fairly certain that some, if not most, of the others were men.\u00a0 And yet she found it impossible to be concerned about that when he was near. The moments when Vitus was present in her world were like glorious splashes of brilliant color on a canvas that was otherwise drab and muted.<\/p>\n

I can\u2019t let him know I\u2019m concerned about this. I don\u2019t know what he would do if he discovered that I was with child; and as much as I hate to admit it, I\u2019m afraid to find out.<\/em><\/p>\n

She heard the sound of his footsteps mounting the stairs and crossing the porch, and she dabbed at the moisture that had spilled over onto her eyelashes.\u00a0 It wouldn\u2019t do for him to see that she\u2019d been upset.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe wood\u2019s in, my dear,\u201d he said as he stepped through the door and leaned against the wall to kick off his boots. \u201cIt should be enough to keep you warm for a number of months, I would imagine.\u201d\u00a0 He glanced up at her and smiled.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Callae Hanus smiled back at Vitus Perdeti, even as her heart sank inside her with a leaden heaviness. He was leaving.\u00a0 She could see it in his face. The politeness of his smile wasn\u2019t the beautiful flash of warmth that meant he cared. His eyes were different, as well.\u00a0 Oh, they crinkled at the corners, as usual; but their depths were closed off to her and betrayed a coldness that she\u2019d thankfully only witnessed a few times.\u00a0 He was making sure that she had enough wood for the coldest months, because he knew he wouldn\u2019t be here to help.<\/p>\n

\u2018You,\u2019 not \u2018us.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n

You\u2019re breaking my heart, Vitus. But I understand. I can\u2019t hold you. I wonder if anyone ever will. At least I\u2019ll have some small part of you to keep close after you\u2019re gone.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cDinner\u2019s almost ready, love,\u201d she said, smiling again, and watching the flinch in his gaze that he probably didn\u2019t even realize he was doing.\u00a0 There it was, again; she\u2019d called him \u201clove,\u201d and he couldn\u2019t bear it. He didn\u2019t reciprocate her feelings, except to the extent that he knew it would hurt her if he admitted it. He was cold, but he wasn\u2019t cruel. And thus, he flinched.<\/p>\n

She turned back to the stewpot and gave it a stir, then reached for a bowl from the pile atop the nearby shelves.\u00a0 She blinked back her tears, and swallowed hard against the knot in her throat that was part emotion and part the uncertainty of an early pregnancy.\u00a0 After taking a deep breath, she turned to place the bowl on the table and nod.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere you go, Mister Perdeti.\u00a0 I hope that\u2019ll warm you up after that cold work outside.\u201d<\/p>\n

He crossed the room and placed a light kiss on her cheek. \u201cThank you, Miss Callae. I\u2019m certain it will. You\u2019re not eating?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo,\u201d she said, shaking her head and being careful not to meet his gaze with her own. \u201cI\u2019ve not been feeling my best today.\u00a0 I think I\u2019ll just chew on a heel of bread and see how it goes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAlright,\u201d he said, starting in on his meal.\u00a0 Some time passed, quietly, with Callae standing quietly by the window, gazing out at the deepening fall colors, trying not to think about the fact that the color would soon go out of her world once more, and probably for good.<\/p>\n

\u201cCome sit with me,\u201d he said after awhile. \u201cI need to talk to you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

She nodded, and took the seat beside him at the small table.\u00a0 He started talking about needing to do a job, far away in High Rock, and how he didn\u2019t know how long it would take or when he might be back. The words washed over her like waves on the shore; and while she was aware of what he was telling her, her consciousness had retreated to a safer place, somewhere inside, a place where she could protect herself and the new life that was beginning to take shape in her body.<\/p>\n

Here it is. I knew it was going to happen, and the timing couldn\u2019t be worse. Well, Mister Perdeti, I shall give your child your name, even if you never know he or she exists. I\u2019ll do that because you\u2019ve brought joy back into my life, and because I love you. It will be alright.\u00a0 We shall survive. <\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cAre you alright?\u201d he asked her, finally.<\/p>\n

She gazed into his eyes \u2013 eyes that no longer danced with mischief but which did, she was happy to see, reveal true concern for her well-being. She knew that everything he\u2019d ever told her was factual; Vitus didn\u2019t lie to her.\u00a0 But none of it had ever been the entire truth, and she knew that as well.\u00a0 She would never know what he did for a living; she knew that.\u00a0 She would never know who else had been fortunate enough to share some of the sun and light that was Vitus at his best; she knew that, and she knew it was best that it was so.<\/p>\n

And so, my love, you will never know that you have a son or daughter. It is best that it\u2019s so. <\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI understand, Vitus,\u201d she told him quietly. \u201cAnd thank you for everything. You\u2019ve been a great joy to me.\u201d Her voice cracked in spite of her best intentions to have it be otherwise.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh,\u201d he said, pulling her up to him. \u201cDon\u2019t say it like that, Callae. I\u2019ll be back. I always come back.\u201d<\/p>\n

As he wrapped her in his arms and pulled her into another of the kisses that were unrivaled for their sweetness, Callae fought not to weep.\u00a0 Maybe he didn\u2019t intend it to be so, but he\u2019d just presented her with what she knew to be a lie \u2013 the first and only one he had ever told her. And she suspected that both of them knew it was the case, and each was aware that the other knew it.<\/p>\n

She stepped outside with him and stood at the foot of her porch steps, arms wound up tight to hold herself together, to keep her heart from flying after him.\u00a0 Vitus nodded to her and gave a small wave, then started trotting down the road that would take him out of her life.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

He didn\u2019t look back.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

4E 220<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dale stood frozen, his head cocked to one side so as to listen more closely. He\u2019d heard a man\u2019s voice from outside, a battle cry of sorts, and the thwap<\/em> of a bowstring. He focused his heightened hearing on the sounds and heard a young, male voice shout. Muffled though it was by distance and by the fact that he was underground in a long-forgotten cellar, he could still make out the words.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cGet out <\/em>of my face! I have things to do!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

There was another thwap, <\/em>followed by the distinctive sounds of bones falling apart.<\/p>\n

Ah. Another of the skeletons rose up, it seems.<\/em><\/p>\n

He heard another unmistakable sound: a rabbit, fleeing across the grassy mound beneath which his cellar lay. It thumped loudly as it took the two hops across the well-disguised but still wooden trapdoor, and then skittered away, no doubt toward the lake. That was followed by the loud thudding of human footsteps. Well, not loud, <\/em>not really; it sounded like someone used to hunting animals, a light touch over the land. Compared to his own muffled steps, though, everything seemed loud to him.<\/p>\n

The sound stopped, for a moment, directly overhead; and Dale reduced his breathing to near-nothing. The man tapped lightly on the trap door, clearly verifying that it was made of wood.<\/p>\n

But how did he know to stop here, unless he heard the rabbit\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

It was then that he smelled it: the faint but unmistakable tang of wet dog that meant only one thing.<\/p>\n

Werewolf. Human form, but definitely werewolf. And if I can smell a werewolf, he can smell a vampire. He\u2019s wondering whether or not to investigate.<\/em><\/p>\n

It was only a few moments that he and the werewolf spent, frozen on either side of a wooden trapdoor, but it felt like an entire lifetime to Dale. He wasn\u2019t one to be frightened, but the idea of an unknown quantity dropping down into his home didn\u2019t appeal to him at all.\u00a0 He waited, and waited; he heard another sniff, and then the quiet footsteps moved away, off toward the shoreline.<\/p>\n

Dale heaved a relieved sigh and took a seat in the lone chair here in his cellar.<\/p>\n

Well, Agryn, your timing couldn\u2019t have been better. It seems that I need to move right away or risk being found out.<\/em><\/p>\n

I seem to be moving a lot, recently.<\/em><\/p>\n

Agryn Gernic was his sire. He\u2019d sent a letter; the courier had tracked Dale down in Falkreath just the previous day.\u00a0 Agryn wanted to see him, and had summoned him to the home he shared with his partner Vyctyna, at the southernmost part of the Rift.\u00a0 It was time to meet the other parties to the business Agryn helped to run. And Agryn was the closest thing Dale had to family, now, so it seemed only right to answer the call. He closed his eyes for a moment, and his mind cast back to the day he\u2019d decided to leave Cyrodiil.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

He\u2019d been in Chorrol, his mother Callae\u2019s birthplace, taking care of the last legal requirements regarding her estate, when he\u2019d finally given in to Agryn\u2019s prodding that he be given The Gift, as he called it.\u00a0 There wasn\u2019t any reason for him to do otherwise, now that he was alone. What he hadn\u2019t expected was that he would feel so miserable afterward.<\/p>\n

He\u2019d made his way back to the tiny cabin he\u2019d shared with his mother, and had spent the first day sitting in front of the fireplace, wondering why he\u2019d done what he\u2019d done. It wasn\u2019t as though he had any other relatives, to the best of his knowledge. His mother\u2019s parents had died before he was born, only his grandfather\u2019s name \u2013 Ondale – connecting the two of them. His father he knew only through the things his mother had shared of him, including his surname.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt isn\u2019t really our family name, hon,\u201d she\u2019d told him. \u201cHe didn\u2019t know that you exist, but I gave you his name anyway. I don\u2019t know what happened to him after he left here. But I do know that he\u2019d be proud of you.\u201d She\u2019d so often smiled at him, ruffled his hair, and said \u201cyou look just like him. Sometimes it takes my breath away.\u201d And then she would sigh, and her eyes would fill. \u201cHe was the love of my life, Dale. But nothing was ever going to hold him in one place. At least I have you to remember him by.\u201d<\/p>\n

And now she was gone, and the cabin, although he loved it, was empty and far away from the rest of civilization.\u00a0 So he had gathered up what he wanted from it, leaving some supplies behind just in case, and had headed north.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Agryn\u2019s letters had guided him along from a distance, directing him to the well-appointed and well-hidden hideaway here on the shores of Lake Ilinalta. He\u2019d spent several months building his strength and learning his way around the province, waiting for just this moment. He didn\u2019t know what the future would hold for him, but he was ready to find out.<\/p>\n

Tonight. I\u2019ll wait until nightfall, and then I\u2019ll head out. <\/em><\/p>\n

To Riften.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

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Home Previous \/ Next   4E 196 Callae Hanus frowned over the stewpot and turned back to her table. It needed more carrots, that was all there was to it, and she knew that was the case; but the last thing she wanted to think about, touch, smell or \u2013 gods help her \u2013 eat, … <\/p>\n

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