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SPOILER INFO
This fanfic novel is largely based on the events that occurred in an actual game of Skyrim I played. Therefore, it's inevitably a spoiler.
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previous day
4-202-02-21 07:26
Alva's House, Morthal, Hjaalmarch, Skyrim
After this first proper sleep in two nights, a wash in the beautiful Morthal Bathhouse is all we need to make the world perfect for ourselves. I think I told you that even though this bathhouse doubles as a (small but classy) brothel, you can absolutely use it for bathing. They have a steam room and everything, and the hostess Aija is most welcoming and decorous.
The clear winter morning seems like a warm summer day in our current joyful mood. We walk around a little. I buy some ingots from the blacksmith and learn from the alchemist Lami that she misses reading a certain alchemy manual her past teacher used to have. It's called "Song of the Alchemists". I promise to get her a copy, should I come across one. (I suppose I'd better ask my friend Seline, the bookseller in Morpork.)
I find a moment to ask Lydia privately about her wrestling with Jordis last night. Was she really stronger (which I find hard to believe) or did Jordis let her win?
"I think she let me win. She is a little like that."
Yes, I kind of guessed as much.
Now it's time for us to break up for Labyrinthian.
This time, there are neither trolls nor bandits between here and Hviterun. We see, however, a mammoth when we run past a camp of giants.
The weather is nice and Hviterun looks incedibly beautiful next to the foggy mountains in the distance.
I realize I should really do a round of crafting while we're in the city. The world will not go under if we spend one more night, but having our armor and weapons improved by a hundredpoint or two can save our lives in Hammerfell, especially now that we're going to have a less experienced team member in Jenassa's place.
Having entered through the main gate, we walk to the marketplace where I tell Lucia I have to go to the palace right now, but later she can watch me do my smithing and enchanting.
My dear Ysolda is also there.
I tell her I'd like to discuss some business with her if she'd care to come to my house a little after 9 in the evening. Then I walk up the stairs with Lydia and Jordis, say hello to the priest Heimskr and proceed to Dragonsreach where we find a private place to have a serious talk with Valdimar. I've been extremely unsure if I ought to talk to him alone or with the girls. We've come to the conclusion to do it together, the three of us (without Jenassa).
I tell Valdimar that we need him as a temporary replacement for Jenassa. I explain him we'll be going to Hammerfell to (very likely) participate in a war that can be very terrible. Or not. We may be spending months there or we may be back in a couple of days. In short, we know absolutely nothing about the situation. The only thing that's more or less certain is that we are going to be able to return whenever we want to.
The point is, we're going to need him both as a fighter and a man. A man for all three of us. Admittedly, we may end up coming back in a week and looking very silly. Yet, we have to make things clear before we go.
The thing we need to make clear is that it's only on the battlefield that I give orders. In the bedroom, he has to be the one to tell us what to do. Women can't stand a partner who expects them to make decisions. In order for it to be clear who is the boss at one or another moment, I will be the one who says if we're in war mode or home mode . When I say we're in home mode, the three of us become a quasi-harem for Valdimar. Should he neglect one of us or do it in the wrong holes all the time, we'll be disappointed. But it'll be his decisions all the same. We may beg him, we may compete for his attention, and we may even try to say no, but he will always be the one to decide whom he fucks and where.
Lydia cuts in: "This doesn't mean you'll have to fuck each one of us every day or anything like that. You fuck when you feel like it and you choose your partner."
"From among us," says Jordis.
"Yes. That's the only restriction."
"Um," I interrupt, "in fact, there's one more thing. Occasionally, one or two of us may decide to have sex with someone else, and then you'll have to make do with the remaining two or one, and you won't complain or look offended. Some of us have boyfriends somewhere, you know, or we may find someone we really fancy – which, I admit, will be unlikely in Hammerfell, but you never know. At any rate, there mustn't be any jealousy nonsense. Other than that, we'll be yours to use the way you please. All we demand is that you know what you want all the time, tell us clearly what you want from us, and make us do it. That has to be."
Valdimar doesn't show any emotions at this point. I continue: "I understand it is highly unusual for women to tell men such things, but we don't have the time for hinting subtly and letting you figure things out. Therefore, I want you to spend the next... a little less than 7 hours alone and think about what I just told you. At 9 o'clock in the evening, I want an honest answer from you if you can do it or not. This double role – unconditional obedience in war mode, master of three women in home mode. Now, do you have any questions?"
Valdimar shakes his head. "No. I'll give you your answer at 21:00 today." He's sensible enough to realize this is not the chatting time and he's never been a man of many words to start with. That's exactly the kind of guy I'd like to have with me on this mission.
Now I go and sit with the three Ingmansdotter sisters who have apparently been informed of my arrival by the women's messaging network, as it were, and are eagerly waiting for me at one of the long dining tables. I ask them what is their opinion of Valdimar and have they possibly slept with him. The vehemently deny it, insisting they have good boyfriends. But the word among women is that while Valdimar is way below the level of Mikael or even Erik as far as honeyed words are concerned, he would never turn down a woman who's had her scruples lowered by a drink or two at the inn. Speaking of Erik, he approaches me when I leave the girls to have a word or two with Farengar. Erik says he'd like to go on another adventure with us someday, but I rather doubt he means it, and even if he does, I couldn't risk getting him killed and leaving an unknown number of Hviterun women grieving for him – nor, mind you, deprive that joker Mikael of such a cool rival.
I then take a little stroll in the eastern suburb. The thing is, I kind of feel I ought to be with my new boyfriend Harek, but on the other hand I'd rather like to spend time talking to Lucia. I can't make up my mind, so I just walk casually all the way to Lerguk's smithy. If I should encounter Harek on the street, I'll let him grab the initiative.
Well, I don't run into Harek, but I'm glad to see the Orc blackmith Lerguk is back at work. He's been away the last couple times I've been in Hviterun. I was getting worried about him. Maybe Borgakh has been keeping him busy? [Grin.] Got to remember to ask her.
Having visited Cyrelas's magic shop, I walk back towards the eastern gate, taking in the sights and moods:
On my way to the marketplace, I run into my friend Amren whom I had the pleasure of helping on the very first days I came to this city. I ask him if he and his wife (Saffir, remember?) have overcome their differences. He says they're fine, more or less. As we talk, he walks with me to the marketplace where I ask Carlotta to let Lucia know when she turns up that I'll be at Adrianne's smithy for the next couple of hours.
This is an earlier picture of the other smithy called the Skyforge where the late Eorlund Gray-Mane used to work.
Lucia joins me shortly and I thoroughly enjoy explaining her what I'm doing, but I can see she's not the greatest enthusiast of people banging away at metal things with hammers. But then we walk up the palace at a pace much slower than usual, and she tells me lots of interesting things about what's been going on in the city.
This is the view from Adrianne's. The main city gate is to your left, just outside the frame. Ulfberth's shop is on the right.
Straight ahead is the western guard barracks. The steps barely visible on the right lead to The Drunken Huntsman inn.
My house is up the stairs that are well visible right of the barracks, through the arch and the first house to the right
(not the one that can be seen through the arch; I think that's the House of Clan Battle-Born).
Straight ahead is the western guard barracks. The steps barely visible on the right lead to The Drunken Huntsman inn.
My house is up the stairs that are well visible right of the barracks, through the arch and the first house to the right
(not the one that can be seen through the arch; I think that's the House of Clan Battle-Born).
Lucia is most fascinated by enchanting. Too bad I haven't much to enchant, just an archery-enhancing ring somewhat stronger than my previous one, and a fire bow (meaning, one that sets an arrow on fire when shot, so you can use ordinary arrows as fire arrows). Fire damage is not very important by itself, but fire emits light, therefore it can be helpful for having your targets burn when fighting in darkness – you'll see where to shoot your next arrows.
Lucia asks if it's really necessary that people keep killing other people. It's a question I ask myself a lot. I explain her that there are foreigners who want to rule over Skyrim and make all of us their servants. We'll have to shoot some of them dead until the rest decides to leave us alone. That's the only way to do it.
It's getting dark outside by now. I tell Lucia to walk home with one of the guards who is headed that way, and to ask Carlotta to come over too. Ysolda will be there and Mila may come as well if she wants to. We'll have something to discuss, and after that the two of us can sit in front of the fireplace and talk until midnight or maybe even longer.
After Lucia has left, I go to meet up with Valdimar, Lydia and Jordis.
His answer is yes, he believes he can switch between being a soldier and a man.
"I'm glad to hear it," I tell him. "Now, Valdimar, what I'm going to tell you next might be a little surprising..."
"You don't have to beat around the bush, Laura," he interrupts me. "I know you – more closely than most people, I daresay. I mean, I know what kind of a rational and straightforward person you are when you're sober. So you don't have to be afraid of shocking me or anything."
When I'm sober?? I can't believe he just said that! The girls don't even try to hide their chuckling. Of course they remember well what I let Valdimar do to me that time when I wasn't sober. Dammit, I'll make him pay for this! (Maybe.)
I gather up all my remaining dignity and continue: "I'm going to put you to the test."
"The test?"
"You'll spend the night with Lydia and Jordis."
"Um, maybe I should explain a little," says Lydia. "This is not "How many times can you do it?" This is "Can you act like a man?" We're not going to tell you what it is you're going to have to do in order to pass the test – for the simple reason that we don't know. We want to find out if you can make us feel like women. Whether or not you have it in you."
"Any questions?" I ask Valdimar.
"When we're in home mode, can I punish you when you're bad?"
"Yes, but I can end the home mode at any moment, and if we feel abused, I can choose to remain in the war mode permanently. In simple words, that would mean you'll lose us as women."
"Got it."
"And you mustn't embarrass us in public," adds Jordis.
I nod. "Oh yes. That's vitally important. A sore butt is a much lesser evil than a lewd remark in front of people."
Valdimar smirks. "I have no more questions."
But I remember one thing at the last moment: "I don't exactly enjoy being embarrassed in front of the girls either. The way you did a little while ago."
He looks at me with a noncommittal expression. "Am I supposed to say I'm sorry?"
I think for a second and then make a subtle grimace. "No, you'd better not. It's not sexy. But please don't do it again. My life is hard enough with Ly... Well, whatever." I realize too late there's no point reminding Lydia of her obscene remark in that Thuringen dungeon yesterday.
"I already said I was sorry!" said Lydia. She sounds really hurt.
"It's all right, Lydia. I shouldn't have brought it up. I'm not angry with you, honestly, and you're still my best friend. But we're in the midst of something else right now."
"Yeah. Sorry for interrupting. Go on please."
I stand up. "I'll see you all at 8 in the morning in front of my house. With the exception of myself, home mode starts now. Good night."
I turn around and walk away.
I ask a guard on the street to send word to Jenassa to be in front of my house at 8 o'clock tomorrow morning. Then I walk home. About those business plans I'm going to make with Carlotta and Ysolda, I'll tell you tomorrow if you don't mind, because I'd rather dedicate all my attention to my stepdaughter on this last evening before I leave for war.
next awakening
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