Honor and Glory

Chapter Thirty

Aela left Tyra and me alone, shutting the door behind herself to give us some privacy.

For a few minutes, Tyra and I stood in silence. I used that time to examine her more thoroughly. She had soft, golden hair that caught the candlelight. Her eyes were the color of silver. Her skin was unblemished, and she was short for a Nord. And as far as I could tell, she had a timid and quiet personality.

Poor thing. Won't last two minutes with us warriors.

"Take a seat, Tyra," I said, motioning to the chair Aela had just abandoned. "Why have you come to us?"

Tyra took the seat I had offered, clasping her small hands in her lap. "I heard about the Companions from my father. He told me such good things about them, and I wanted to see them for myself. I'm good with a sword, honest!"

I glanced at the metal rod she called a "sword." Certainly wasn't Skyforge steel, but then again, what was, outside of the real thing? Maybe it was stronger than it looked.

"Tyra, I have to be honest. The Companions aren't for the weak-hearted. This life is hard, and most of the time, unforgiving. We've lost two of our best members recently, one of them being my predecessor, Kodlak Whitemane. While I would love to have as many new members as we can get, I don't want you to rush headlong into the warrior's way and get hurt, or worse."

"I can handle myself. Don't I get a chance to show you that?"

"Yes, you do. Our Master of Arms, Vilkas, will test your sword arm."

"Vilkas? Where would he be?"

"I'll take you to him. Just follow me."

"Wait, aren't you supposed to say something about my spirit or something?"

I chuckled. Tyra's eagerness reminded me of myself the day I wandered into Jorrvaskr for the first time. She certainly had a strong spirit of learning. I just had to hope it was enough.

"Well, your heart is eager for learning, which is good. Let's just see if your sword arm is just as eager to do battle." I motioned for the door. "Now follow me. I will take you to Vilkas."

Tyra jumped out of her seat, stumbling as she stood. I suppressed a smile as she trotted behind me. It appeared that her legs were shorter than mine, and thus she had a hard time keeping up with my strides. But I had a feeling about her. Maybe it was the dragon blood in me, allowing me to see beyond the exterior of a person. Or maybe it was some sort of Harbinger instinct, letting me look into a person's heart and see what made their spirits burn with passion. Whatever it was, it showed me that Tyra had a fire kindling in her heart. She just had to have the right fuel to set it ablaze.

We stepped outside into the training yard, where most of the Companions had gathered after breakfast. Ria and Athis were training in the yard, while Njada and Torvar were armwrestling at one of the tables. Vilkas sat at another table, a book in his hands.

Typical. When he isn't training, he's reading.

"Vilkas," I said as I tapped his shoulder. "I have someone for you to meet."

He looked up from his book, then glanced behind me to Tyra. A spark of recognition flashed in his eyes, and he raised his eyebrows a little. "You're the girl I saw in the marketplace yesterday. You were telling Olfrid Battle-Born to leave Fralia alone. Which I applaud you for."

Tyra blushed. "I was just trying to help an old woman out."

"By nearly shoving Olfrid down the well?"

I smiled. I was right about her. All Tyra needed was the right kind of spark to ignite her spirit.

"Yeah, well...." Tyra clasped her hands in front of her and glanced at her feet. She really was too modest. That was what I saw earlier: modesty and not meekness.

"Vilkas," I said, cutting in, "she is a new recruit, and I believe you need to test her arm."

"Of course. Come with me, girl. I'll go easy on you, don't worry."

As they were walking to the yard, I overheard Vilkas ask her, "What is your name? I don't think I ever caught it."

"Tyra."

"Pleased to meet you, Tyra. I'm Vilkas, but I guess you knew that."

I stepped to the edge of the pavilion, leaning against a support beam to watch Vilkas test Tyra's battle prowess.

Vilkas pulled his sword off his back. "Don't worry about hurting me. I can take it. But no magic. We don't need any of that stuff here."

"That's all right," Tyra said, drawing her sword. "I don't know any spells."

They paced in a circle for a few moments, then Vilkas shook his head. "I'm waiting for you, girl. Strike when you're ready."

Tyra lunged forward and tried to skewer Vilkas, but he used his sword's cross guard to block the stab. "Good," he said as she righted herself. "Again. But watch your feet. Your opponent can—"

She struck the flat of her blade to his unguarded side, the impact making Vilkas's armor ring. Her sword, which was as weak as it had looked, cracked on impact. The blade cleaved in two, the point falling to the cobbles.

"My sword..." she said in disbelief, staring at the broken blade. She almost sounded heartbroken. "How could this happen?"

"Here," Vilkas said as he picked up the severed point. "Take this up to the Skyforge up there." He pointed to the forge. "Maybe Eorlund can fix it for you, if you tell him you defended his wife in the marketplace yesterday. But while you're at it...." He handed her his sword, too, which seemed to weigh her down. "Take this to him, and tell him I want it sharpened."

"O...okay," she grunted, hefting the sword up. Then she staggered to the Skyforge.

Vilkas chuckled and walked up to me. "I can only pull that trick once on each whelp. They catch on after that first one."

I wrapped my arms around his waist and leaned against him, my head tilted upwards to face him. "Hmm, except that you never got to try it with me. I was too stubborn to listen to you."

He smiled and kissed my forehead. "Yes, I remember. I also remember wanting Kodlak to scold you for daring to defy me."

"Still wish you'd talked to Kodlak?"

"No. I think you turned out okay."

"Just okay, huh?"

"Maybe a little better than okay."

I shook my head and inclined my chin for a kiss. Vilkas met me halfway, his lips touching mine softly. I closed my eyes and tightened my hold around his waist, sighing against his lips. I forgot about anyone else being able to see us. I forgot that we weren't alone. I forgot about all my duties for a while. It suited me just fine.

Until two pairs of heavy boots coming towards us spoiled our moment.

"You there," said one oddly-accented voice.

I pulled away from Vilkas and glared at the owner of the voice.

Two people dressed in strange robes and even stranger masks stood there, arms crossed, an air of authority around them. They leaned from one foot to the next, as if waiting for something.

But then the first one spoke up. "Are you the one they call Dragonborn?"

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A/N: Well, look at me go! Two chapters in one night! Granted, neither chapter was just super-long or anything, and frankly, they're probably boring. But whatever. Maybe that's just me and my tired brain talking. 😂😂