Rise of House Sigeweald Book One (Skyrim Fanfiction)

Chapter 14: Then Our Skin Gets Thicker

"I missed you last night," she said. "The Jarl is in Dawnstar for several days. The only work I managed to find was to help the shop keep's brother Ranmir settle his debt with Dagur. I finished my book and now I'm bored."

Elspeth didn't ask how she helped Ranmir settle his debt. In such a small town, amassing good will by doing favors for the local residents was smart and they would make up the monetary loss later. "Well, you're in luck. I've got some work. The librarian said I could have full access to the archive, but I need to find some books for him. They're in Bleakcoast Cave," she explained as they walked across the courtyard.

Inside the Hall of Attainment they went to the dining hall where Elspeth prepared lunch while Lydia studied the map Urag had drawn. Shortly after they started eating, two apprentices, J'zargo and Brelyna Maryon, joined them but at the far end of the table. Elspeth had met them at breakfast. Brelyna appeared to be a very sweet—albeit somewhat insecure—Dunmer woman who specialized in Alteration magic. J'zargo, a Khajiit, was not quite as friendly, and struck Elspeth as overly competitive and somewhat arrogant. Both had complimented her on the spell that she performed, but where Brelyna was genuinely impressed, J'zargo had seemed threatened. Elspeth was disappointed that Onmund was not with them and was starting to wonder if maybe she had only dreamed about the Nord mage with the playful eyes and the strong jaw.

After several moments, they heard a loud, harsh whisper from the end of the table. "If you don't ask her, I will!" It came from Brelyna. Elspeth and Lydia stopped eating and looked sternly at the two mages. They were the only people in the dining room, so she was most likely referring to Elspeth. J'zargo let out a deep breath and, with Brelyna at his heels, walked over and sat down next to them.

"It is difficult to admit, but J'zargo could use some help," he said as he pulled out a pile of scrolls from his satchel. "I was wondering if you would mind testing these destruction scrolls." His words were drawn out, his accent that of a typical Khajiit and so she couldn't tell if he was being sly or friendly or just Elsweyrian.

"Sure," she said, hoping her enthusiasm would allay whatever anxiety he felt about asking her in the first place. At Arcane such favors were common and so she was baffled by his earlier hesitation.

Lydia looked at the pile of scrolls he'd laid out, her eyes wide with curiosity. "Can I try one?" she asked. She loved casting scrolls and before she'd alienated him with her criticism of his teaching abilities—or lack thereof—she used to purchase them from Farengar at a steep discount.

He smiled. "J'zargo likes the housecarl's enthusiasm! Yes! If Elspeth can also observe another person casting the scrolls, it would be most helpful to J'zargo." As they gathered the scrolls into their satchels, he explained that they were specifically geared toward the undead and would be useless against any living creature.

The cave was not far from Winterhold but they packed for a night of camping since it would be late by the time they arrived and cleared it. Back in town they bought provisions for the trip and made their way south-east along the coast. The snow had lightened up considerably and they arrived quickly—meeting only couple of slow moving horkers, which were easily avoided, along the way.

The cave was a large open area with several small alcoves. After clearing out a pack of snow wolves and a snow bear, they came upon the bodies of a dead necromancer and two large chests filled with loot. In addition to the books, they gathered soul gems of all sizes, several amulets, loose gems, and some rather obscure potions. Birna who ran the shop in town was going to be thrilled at the variety and the quality of the items and would pay well for them.

It was late by the time they made their way back through the cave and so they built a small fire just inside one of the alcoves and settled in for the night. They shared a bottle of mead and some bread—saving the more substantial meat and cheese they'd brought for the morning meal. Elspeth yawned and stretched out on her bedroll while Lydia poked at the fire and bounced on her heels. She was smiling and obviously very excited about something.