Romance Amongst Chaos (A Skyrim Book)

11: Rosalind x Marcurio (Falling in Love)

It was an accident, she swore.

Somehow, while Rosalind was rescuing Marcurio from a draugr deathlord, she'd fallen hard for him.

It had just... it happened so fast...

They had entered another ruin Janny had found and sent word to them about; it almost seemed too easy, with just lesser draugr and a few skeletons roaming about.

It was all too good to be true.

"I don't trust this. But Janny wouldn't steer us the wrong way." Rosalind said, readying her battleaxe. "There's bound to be a deathlord in here."

"Just keep calm, let me get in front of it, and you can take it from behind." Marcurio countered, readying his magic.

The battle had proved to be fierce; Rosalind had a difficult time getting around the deathlord, while Marcurio kept lighting it up with his firebolts.

With one shout of "Fus... Ro Dah!" Rosalind was flying across the chamber, dazed but still alive, while Marcurio was trying to get to her.

"No, leave me!" Rosalind warned, but it was too late.

The deathlord rounded on Marcurio and knocked him out with an ebony sword, and with fear Rosalind realized it was about to kill him.

She couldn't lose him...

"NO!!!" Struggling to get up, Rosalind raced towards Marcurio, standing before him protectively with her axe still raised.

"Leave him alone!!" She yelled, now attacking the undead creep with hit after hit.

After what felt like hours, Rosalind finally defeated the undead creature.

Gasping, Rosalind looked over at Marcurio and her heart sank.

She had to get him back to camp.

Lifting him up and half carrying/half dragging him, Rosalind made it out of the ruin and back to their camp.

It was in the moments when Marcurio had gone down and was knocked out that Rosalind realized she'd fallen in love with him.

Even now, as she watched him in the moonlight, she couldn't shake the feelings.

No wonder she hated him so much when they first met...

"Damn you." She whispered, tears running down her cheeks as she removed her helmet at last. "Please just... wake up already."

Sighing, she realized she should let him heal, for now.

Changing out of her armor and into her tunic, Rosalind then curled up beside Marcurio, wanting to be as close to him as possible.

Just in case...

—

"Well, this is a sight..."

Rosalind jumped awake, now seeing that Marcurio was awake beside her.

His wounds were healed too, thankfully.

"Don't ever scare me like that again!" She yelled, taking Marcurio by surprise.

"I was making sure you were safe." Marcurio countered, while Rosalind just groaned.

"Dammit, you don't know what you put me through! I thought... I thought I'd lost you..."

Rosalind felt her anger subside as she sat up, feeling angry tears threatening to come out.

"You... you care? You actually care?" Marcurio asked, sitting up with her.

"More than that." Rosalind responded honestly, now looking at the ground as she hugged her legs. "I love you."

Saying the words out loud felt strange, but it was true. Rosalind did come to love Marcurio, so much so that she'd pocketed an amulet of Mara she found in a chest on her way out of the ruin.

When she heard chuckling, she looked up at Marcurio with a strange look on her face.

"I won't lie, I was both intimidated by you and attracted to you when you first walked into the Bee n Barb that day." Marcurio admitted, sighing. "Which is why I hated it when you snapped at me, saying you didn't like my boasting."

"And now?" Rosalind asked carefully.

She let out a squeak as Marcurio was suddenly on top of her, pinning her to the ground.

For a mage, he sure was strong... Rosalind whimpered when she felt certain urges coursing through her mind and soul.

"I'm happy you finally admitted how you really feel about me." Marcurio said, before he leaned down and kissed Rosalind.

Heart fluttering, Rosalind kissed him back, wrapping both of her arms around Marcurio's shoulders and bringing him in closer.

Too soon they parted, and Rosalind's mind was clouded with lustful thoughts.

"Marry me?" She whispered, now revealing her new amulet of Mara.

Marcurio's eyes widened, before he had smirked and lifted Rosalind into his arms (she was suddenly very thankful she wasn't wearing her clunky armor).

"I'll gladly marry you. But first I want to spend all of today with you and you only. No ruins, no caves, just us."

Rosalind blushed, before she not-so-subtly unbuttoned the top buttons of her tunic, causing Marcurio's eyes to widen.

"Well, what are you waiting for then? Just us, then."