Just a minor clap! One never knows what to expect with Gwyn. However it's most likely she was fixing a tea to enjoy in bed.





Chapter XVII – Chasing Memories

After twenty-nine harsh years of life that no one should ever deserve, Gwyndala Louvain finally discovered true bliss in the arms of an honest and uncommonly kind Redguard. She relaxed in his arms by a fireside at their home, completely content with her life in a way she’d once only dreamed of. Well… mostly content. Weary from the day, Cain had dozed off before she could broach a touchy subject and his loud snores were bordering on obnoxious.

Their visit to Falkreath went very well and Gwyn surprised even herself with how much she enjoyed the jaunt south by his side, and she even got to have a little fun teasing him with the improvised fiancé bit in the Jarl’s Longhouse. Now she found herself truly pondering over his reaction. Was he already thinking about that sort of thing? They’d only been together for about a month at this point – did he see the two of them being wed? It didn’t surprise Gwyn in the least, considering they’d been a part of each other’s lives for much longer than a month.

I suppose it’s just a formality at this point, thought Gwyn. And I did tell him to put a baby in me…

She craned her neck up and studied his sleeping face. Things had come so far between the two of them since that day in the mountains above Evermor. Further than she’d ever thought possible. But there still remained a singular subject Gwyn found herself nervous to bring up: Serana’s advice on how to ease the burden of her dark past.

In the time since they’d spoken, she’d thought about it constantly, and now, weeks later, Gwyn finally felt that she was ready to take that next step with Cain. The unanswered question was whether or not he could bring himself to do such a thing after how it ended last time. Gwyn was there at his worst… she knew exactly how much the loss of that connection with Anska broke him. Dare he take that risk again?

She pulled herself away from his torso and sat up, running a gentle finger along his cheek to gently rouse the sleeping man. Cain’s eyelids fluttered and then opened groggily. He rubbed at them with his palms and smiled at Gwyn.

“Everything okay?”

“Mhmm,” said Gwyn. “I just, uh, wanted to talk to you about something. But if you’re tired, we can wait until the morning.”
“I’m never too tired for you.”

“And that’s why I love you. This is something serious, though. I need you to be aware of that.”

Cain sat up and looked at her with concern, his fatigue suddenly forgotten. “What is it, Gwyn? What’s got you so hesitant?”

Her stomach began to churn uncomfortably. Gwyn had been rehearsing this conversation in her head for a couple of days now, but it didn’t actually help now that the moment had arrived. There was a certain level of uncertainty bordering on fearfulness as to what she would do if he said no. It was a lot to ask of Cain – much more than he’d taken on with Anska. Gwyn knew without a doubt that he wanted to help her deal with the past in any way that he could but sharing that trauma in their minds meant that her beloved would experience the darkness the same way that Gwyn did every minute of every day.

She swallowed hard and made the leap. The hell with it. This is who I am, and I know what I want.

“I want… No, not want. I need you to do something for us. I – “

“You want me to link our minds.”

She nodded while her body filled with the dreaded weight of overpowering nervousness.

“Gwyn, you know that I would do anything in my power to help you…”

Oh, [censored]. No no no no no! Don’t do this to me!

“…but are you certain you want to be in here?” finished Cain while pointing at the side of his head. “I know what I’m getting into with you when we become that intimate, even if I don’t understand it yet. But it’s not just me that you will be dealing with.”

“I don’t… what do you mean?” asked Gwyn. Her heart rate began to settle, but she was still on edge.

“Sharing a mind leaves impressions, for lack of a better word. And despite my making peace with it, there are still echoes of Anska in there. Her thoughts, her memories, her desires - all of who she was left a mark that I don’t think can ever be erased, and you will be privy to it. Her consciousness may be absent, but on some level, I still carry her with me.”

Gwyn realized in this moment just how much that meant. It explained a lot about why Cain was in such pain for so long a time following Anska’s death – why he had so much trouble letting go. And why it took the direct intervention of the Divines to finally allow him a measure of closure.
“I never, um… I never would have considered that. Why haven’t you said anything about it before?”

“Because it wouldn’t have changed anything,” said Cain. “I love you completely and that’s why I need to make sure you understand what you’d be getting into. If you’re worried about some sort of conflict between the two of you, then cast it aside. I know what we are and what we have. You will find nothing other than the devotion that I carry for you.”

Gwyn saw the truth in his eyes, and she felt no doubt in his words, but they had still caught her flat-footed. The echoes of his late fiancé were not a thing she would ever have guessed were something to be contended with when they became joined in that manner. More importantly, however, Gwyn did not feel intimidated by that in the least. Her feelings for Cain were clear.

“You can take some more time to think about if you’d like,” said Cain. “I’d give anything you have you in there with me and – “

“Hush,” interrupted Gwyn, putting a finger to his lips. “Just [censored] do it.”

“As you wish,” said Cain. He scooped Gwyn’s tiny frame up in his arms and carried her to the bedroom. “We’ll need to be somewhere soft for this. I don’t know what will happen with you being awake for it.”

-----

Panic followed by a flash of fear surged into Cain’s mind before he heard the scream and shattering of dishware from the kitchen. By the time he made it out of his bedroom with a dagger in hand, Gwyn was already giving Linneá and Serana a loud dressing down for recalling unannounced into their home. His sisters covered their eyes in the face of Gwyn’s immodesty until she fired a silent request to Cain.

Don’t just stand there gawking, go get me something to wear!

Yes, ma’am.

Once Gwyn adorned some clothes and settled down, she bustled around the kitchen again with Serana while Linneá joined her brother at the dining room table. They made small talk for a few minutes until they were joined by the other two bearing a platter of freshly brewed tea and coffee. Cain wasted no time in pouring a cup of the caffeinated liquid and he sipped it gratefully.

“Long night?” asked Serana. “Elle and I have had a morning, too.”

“Yeah, we were both up late,” said Cain. “I think it was worth it though.” His brown eyes twinkled while Gwyn rolled hers and snorted loudly. “Yes, dear?” he asked her.

“Quit being coy,” said Gwyn. She turned to his sisters and pointed at the side of her head. “He’s in here now. And vice versa. It was… an experience. For the both of us.”

There passed a brief moment of silence until Linneá fished a Septim out from her belt satchel and handed it to her wife. “I don’t get how you know these things, Ana, I really don’t.”

“Uh, what just happened?” said Cain. “Did you have a bet on us?”

“Yep,” grinned Linneá. “It was only a matter of time before you two made the link, but I figured there’d be some stuff to work through first. However, my better half excels at reading people, and she noticed the adoring way in which you often stare at our brother, Gwyn, and felt you’d want him as close as possible.”

Gwyn’s eyebrows furrowed. “I feel like past me would have been really [censored] annoyed at the both of you right now, but I’m actually not surprised at all. Mind telling us why you’re here?”

“Got a map?”
Cain nodded and went to grab it from their traveling supplies. He unfurled it over the center of the table and set their mugs on the corners to keep it spread. Serana pulled a piece of charcoal out from her satchel this time and marked a spot near the southern foot of the Druadach mountains with an ‘X’.

“Dad needs you stop here on your way to Markarth. It’s a decent sized series of caves called Gloomreach and there ought to be Falmer living there.”
“Ought to be?” said Cain. “Guess the hunt doesn’t go well?”

“Something’s [censored],” said Linneá. “And I don’t like it. I am glad you and Gwyn didn’t wait around to make your connection, though. Serana and I were discussing next steps if the scouts have similar reports, and a long trip to somewhere hidden will likely be in order. The kind of trip that we can’t both go on. If it comes to that, I want you to come with me, Gwyn.”

“Me? What about our travels? I can’t leave Cain to deal with those fops all on his own.”

Her reaction came off as genuine to his sisters, but Cain felt the anxiety creeping up in her mind and knew that Gwyn really did not want to leave his side. The idea was borderline frightening to her and would take some time to get used to.

“He’ll have to manage on his own,” admitted Linneá. “Or with some guards.”

“Linn, this is bullshit!” protested Gwyn. “I don’t want to be anywhere else, and I certainly don’t want to be dragged off to some mysterious place for weeks on end! Why the hell do you need me so badly?”

“Because it will be dangerous, and I trust you to help keep me safe. For Ana and Salihn.”

-----

Later that same evening found Cain and Gwyn sitting around a fire just off the road. In the distance, lights glowed dimly in the windows of Fort Greymoor seated on a small rise that overlooked the tundra on every side. They could have stayed inside the safety of the fort’s walls, but Gwyn didn’t want to sleep in the barracks with a bunch of self-important soldiers.

The news brought by their morning guests had caused a point of consternation they’d been talking about it off and on throughout the day. But, at this moment, Gwyn rested her head on his shoulder while staring aimlessly into the dancing flames and tried not to think any about it anymore with poor results.

“I’d just as soon say all three of us should go,” she said. “If Linn thinks this place is so important and necessary to find, then we should ditch this silly quest to meet the Jarls until a better time.”

“That’d be up to my father. And this is something I was supposed to have done last year.” Cain took her hand and held it to his lips for a kiss. “Let’s not dwell on it anymore. We still have our trip to Markarth together.”

“Fine,” grumbled Gwyn.

She stared into the fire some more and thought instead of the night prior to this one. The actual process Cain used to link their minds had been fascinating to experience initially as an observer, and the actual depths of power in his dragon blood that she peered into were unfathomable to her. Then Gwyn soon realized that the feelings of peace and serenity Serana described to her when she first suggested it were severely understated in the best possible way. The warmth and encompassing love of Cain comforting the darkness within her mind brought an inner peace she hasn’t known since she was a child.

But the image of her beloved’s face when he finally, truly understood what she carried with her seared itself into Gwyn’s memories – the abject horror of her past and the tears for her that followed drowned out everything else on her mind – including the echoes of Anska.

The hours after were difficult for the both of them, but by the time that sleep blissfully descended upon them, Gwyn felt a happiness and affection for life that was increasingly new to her.

-----

“That’s [censored] disgusting.” A grossly obnoxious squishing sound escaped from under Gwyn’s leather boots while they hiked up a rocky path towards the outline of a small cave entrance. She paused to rub the heel of her boot on the nearest rock, grimacing at the smell of animal scat. “How much further do we have to climb?”

“Another hundred yards or so,” said Cain. “Want me to carry you?”

“I’m seriously considering it. And I can only imagine what I’m gonna step in while spelunking through a goddamn Falmer hive.”

“It’ll probably just be mud, if Linn’s gut is anything to go by.”

“Here’s hoping. I preferred the road we left behind.”

Cain’s (and Linneá’s) estimation would soon prove true. The evidence began mounting just outside of the cave mouth where a few broken Falmer totems were laying, and there were a series of tracks frozen into the cold earth that led further up into the mountains. He unslung their traveling gear from his shoulders and set it behind a shrub while Gwyn readied herself with a flesh spell.

“Ready?”

“Ready.”

They entered the caves of Gloomreach and the first words Cain spoke were those of the Aura Whisper Thu’um. It revealed no signs of life, other than rats, spiders, and a few bats clinging to the craggy ceiling. Further into the empty hive they crept until it descended deep down under the mountains and still there was nothing. The desolate caves eventually ended and after another whisper from his Voice revealed no hidden Falmer, they headed back for the entrance.

Just as she had with Linneá and Serana, Kyne sat perched in wait outside the cave under the mid-morning sun, eager to hear if Cain and Gwyn had learned anything new.

“Another empty one?” frowned the goddess. “Very well. I’ll let the others know.” She fell silent for a moment while relaying the news to her champion and then morphed into her familiar human form. “The roads were empty while I circled on high. Mind if I walk with you for a bit?”

Gwyn shrugged. “Makes no difference to me. Just watch your step on this trail. My boot still smells like [censored].”

“I appreciate the advice, dear,” smiled Kyne. “But I do not actually touch the ground while in this body.” She hiked up the hem of her shimmering sky-blue robes to show reveal her feet floating an inch or two above the dirt.

“Must be nice,” muttered Gwyn, still trying to scrape the dung off on a rock.

Yikes, a wake-up thunderclap and a naked kitchen surprise?! This family needs to learn how to knock!

The mystery of the missing Falmer continues. I wonder if they’ve been called somewhere. A massive Falmer army would be concerning, but I guess they’d want to stay where it’s dark.

Excellent news that Cain and Gywn have taken the leap and linked their minds.

Wow, baby meld and now mind meld – Gwyn is certainly all in on Cain. That’s nice!

I like how you back-filled that momentous event – it quite complements the last episode’s ‘naked Gwyn in the kitchen’ scene.

It seems the mind meld will take some getting used to – for both Gwyn and Cain but I think Serana was right – a good call.

And events are already conspiring to send the prince and his. . . fiance in different directions. Well, maybe after Gloomreach and Markarth.

No surprise that the lair they checked was devoid of falmer. A nice surprise, however, that Kyne’s feet don’t touch the ground when she walks! As Gywn said, “Must be nice!”

Grits: knocking would definitely have helped, haha. Gwyn doesn't really have an inhibitions. And linking their minds didn't feel fair to out off any longer. They adore each other and at this point have actually been a part of each other's lives for longer than Cain was with Anska.

Acadian: back-filling events like that is a lot of fun, especially when it's for levity. They'll fall into step with their new arrangement before too long! Would that we call could float above the ground...
Chapter XVIII – Division

“I’m at a loss.”

Kirin stood behind his desk and stared out of the window while he spoke. The first true snow of the season blew in early that morning, blanketing the land in a brilliant white that would likely not vanish until the spring thaw. It was early for such a blanketing snowfall, but not unheard of and it served to highlight the glum mood of the Windborne patriarch.

“As am I, dad,” agreed Linneá. Alftand, Raldbthar, Arkngthamz, Mzinchaleft, Mzulft… all places that should be absolutely teeming with Falmer. And that’s not even counting the other hives that we checked.”

Is it time? Serana asked her wife quietly from the accompanying chair. To mention the Forgotten Vale?

No way around it now. Wish me luck.

Linneá took a deep breath and began: “There is one other place we need to check, dad, but it’s not on any maps, nor does anyone alive besides myself and Serana know of its existence. I can make the journey there to meet an old friend, but I’ll need someone with me, and it can’t be Ana.”

With a sigh, Kirin turned from the window and sat down across from them. “I would say I’m surprised, but at this point I would only be lying to myself. Where is this place and who would you be meeting?”

“One sec.” Linneá locked the door to the study and cast her sound dampening spell over the area before returning to her seat. “Far to the west, in the mountains bordering High Rock, there is a large series of caves and canyons that’s home to a forgotten chapel of Auri-El; the Snow Elf aspect of Auriel and Akatosh. It’s where Ana and I found Auriel’s Bow.”

“I see. I know you would not hide this without good reason, so please tell me why this lost chapel is important to the matter at hand.”

“The Chantry is overrun with Falmer tribes,” said Serana. “And they are watched over by a Snow Elf named Gelebor, who very well could be the last living member of his race.”

“A living Snow Elf?” asked Kirin in surprise. “That certainly is a secret worth keeping. How far away is this place?”

“Far,” said Linneá. “A few weeks on foot; possibly a week on horseback. I’d like to take Gwyn with me.”

Kirin weighed her request without speaking. If his daughter wanted someone by her side, then it would obviously be a dangerous undertaking. And it was also much too long a journey for them to leave Salihn behind for. It made sense to him, though he wondered how his son would take it. Or how Cain’s fiery mate would feel about the matter.

“Do you think Gwyn would agree to that? Even Cain, for that matter?”

“They’ve had two weeks to consider it,” said Linneá. “Ana and I knew it might come to this, so we gave them a heads-up. Gwyn wasn’t thrilled, but I think she understands the urgency.”

“Are they home from Markarth yet?”

Linneá nodded. “Mum says they got in two nights ago. We should be able to catch them before they depart for Riften.”

“Do it,” said Kirin.” His daughters stood up to leave, and he moved around the desk to embrace them each in turn. “I know this won’t be easy for the two of you and I’m sorry it’s necessary. Serana, you know that Lydia and I will help you as much as we can while Linn is gone. Our doors will be open for anything.”

“I know, dad,” replied Serana, wiping away tears. “You probably won’t be able to get rid of me while Elle is away. Especially when Salihn is at school. I don’t know if I can handle the solitude – I had enough of that before Elle rescued me.”

-----

Lydia knocked timidly on the door to her daughter’s living quarters. She wasn’t sure if either of them were at home until she heard a faint rustling noise that precipitated the door being pulled open. Linneá beckoned her mom in while trying to avert her gaze, but Lydia had too much practice as a mother to miss Linneá’s puffy red eyes.

“It’s harder than you thought it would be, isn’t it, hon?” Lydia placed a comforting hand on her daughter’s shoulder. “I wish I could say it gets easier.”
“I hate it,” sniffled Linneá. “The idea of not seeing them or being able to hold them for weeks is unbearable.”

Lydia glanced around the otherwise empty room. “Is it just you here right now, Linn?”

“Yeah. They went down to lunch. I’m trying to sort out what I have to pack.”

“Packing can wait. Let’s go be with them.”

“Mom, I – “

“Not up for debate. We’re going.”

“Yes, mother,” Linneá rolled her eyes. “You’re awful bossy sometimes, you know.”

Linneá stopped puttering about the room for supplies and followed Lydia downstairs to eat lunch as a family. She took her seat next to Serana, gave her a quick kiss, and put the impending quest out of her mind while they ate. Her eyes met her mother’s watchful gaze more than once and she tried not to blush from the look of pride Lydia wore so openly. Thankful that she let herself be steered away from the self-inflicted doom and gloom, Linneá ended up joining her wife and daughter for a walk through the town too, after they finished eating.

By the time the three of them made it back to their living quarters, spirits were a lot higher all around. Serana and Salihn even made Linneá sit by idly while they picked the outfits she would pack for the trip, and they promised to see her off from the city gates bright and early the next morning.

-----

Having heeded her would be sister’s advice after the last recall incident, Linneá recalled outside of Elysium Estate a short while later to break the news to her brother and Gwyn. She lingered on the doorstep for a moment before knocking – a small part of her was just a teensy bit afraid of the diminutive Breton she’d be bearing bad news to in a couple of minutes. Collecting her thoughts in silence, she was about to finally knock when said Breton’s voice rang out from inside the home.

“Just open the [censored] door already, Linn.”

Linneá grinned and let herself in. “How’d you know I was there?”

Gwyn sat at the dining room table with a glass of red wine and a dusty old book. She marked her page before answering: “the big purple flash gives it away. If you plan on refining that spell any further, I would work on doing something about that.” She poured some of the wine into an empty glass and set it across from her. “Have a drink. I’m assuming you’re here because of what we talked about a couple of weeks ago. Your little adventure?”

“How’d you know?”

“Timing makes sense. And it’s just you, which means Serana is probably at home getting your gear ready.”

“Right on both counts. Dad wants us to leave in the morning.” Linneá took a sip of wine and peered around the house. “Where’s Cain?”

“Out back meditating,” said Gwyn, shortly. “He knows you’re here.” Gwyn took a pull from her own glass and regarded Linneá quietly. She could tell that even though the journey they were to undertake together was her idea, the Nord really wished it wasn’t necessary. Linneá just wasn’t herself, and that didn’t work for Gwyn. “Look, Linn… I know you don’t want to be doing this anymore than I do, but I need you committed to the task. You said this could be dangerous? Then I need you with me out there. All of you. Don’t leave half of yourself in Solitude.”

Linneá looked taken aback by this turn of events. She thought for sure that coming here would mean dealing with an explosive version of Gwyn who did not want to leave Cain’s side for any amount of time. Instead, she found herself on the back foot and being given a pep talk as if she needed to be reined in. They must have had some long nights discussing this, thought Linneá. She’s more ready than I am.

“Your wish is my command, O wise sage of my brethren!” cracked Linneá. “Seriously though, that was a great big sister talk. I promise you I will be ready tomorrow.”

“Good. And I’m not your big sister.” Gwyn paused for the briefest of seconds to smile cheekily at her. “Not yet anyway.”

-----

“So, are you two going on foot or by horseback?” asked Serana.

“Dunno yet,” said Linneá. “Gwyn was being coy about it. Said she doesn’t like horses, but that she isn’t against mounted travel.”

“A summon of some kind?”

“Probably. I get the feeling that Gwyn knows a lot more about magick than she lets on.”

The two of them lay in bed, arms locked around each other. Masser and Secunda had long since risen overhead and the night was getting late, yet neither Linneá nor Serana wanted to sleep, for that only meant they would be apart sooner. But it was a losing battle they waged, eyelids drooping lower and lower, and their eyes staying shut for increasingly long intervals after daring to blink.

“I think you two will be fine, Elle. And look on the bright side – you’ll get to know her a lot more closely. We’ll get to know her.”

“That is enticing,” admitted Linneá. “Especially since it’s only a matter of time before they announce an engagement.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Just something Gwyn said earlier.”

“I’m looking forward to that,” said Serana. “Our wedding is the only one I’ve ever been to.”

A lull in the conversation followed her last musing and that was all it took for the pair of them to drift off into sleep. Tomorrow morning offered to be a trying time for Kyne’s children as they set out on diverging paths towards new destinations.

It makes good sense that Linn should have some company for her adventure. Just as it makes sense that Serana really needs to stay home and mind the elf-child. Gwyn makes for a logical choice and I was pleased that she seems to accept the task.

I do find myself wondering what Cain’s role will be during this time. Since he is not going with Gwyn and Linn, is he planning on continuing his royal duty tour of the holds?

I’m looking forward to perhaps seeing some of Gwyn’s magic in action.

Acadian: Gwyn definitely only accepts because they are now linked. She'd have outright refused if they weren't.

I don't typically like to tease, but Cain's role and Gwyn in action are certainly on deck!

It’s fun to see Cain and Gwyn getting used to reading each other’s’ thoughts.

The note that Anilay showed Cain (and Gwyn) was less than helpful to the disappearing falmer mystery, except for showing that the Empire’s significant intelligence collection abilities were at his disposal.

Quite a disturbing warning from the Jarl / Seer Idgrod of Morthal!

I could stand to spend some time in that Imperial library.

Gywn invents sexting, Elder Scrolls style!

Grim words from Jarl Idgrod. It’s a shame she didn’t go into a trance and say, “The daffodils will be lovely this year” or something!