Alcarien's Accounts | Chapter 9

  • At first, I did not recognize the name that Hoster used to regard this strange horseman. I was focused on our mission- to report the danger to Jarl Balgruuf of Whiterun- and frankly quite irritated by the distraction. Did Bilandis and Hoster not understand the urgency of the situation? It was hardly the time to stop and chat with travelers on the road.

    Had I been less intent on continuing a rather bitter and irritated inner monologue, I might have noticed the sunken expressions on my companions' faces. Bilandis's little blue eyes seemed to grow and glisten as they looked up at this Henrik fellow, though the glances he favored the horseman with hardly lasted more than an instant each. So straight forward was he usually, that this refusal to make eye contact might have worried me. It appeared to worry Henrik. Hoster, too, was ill at ease. The tall, proud Nord looked nervously at the Imperial. His firm jaw was set and each time he moved to speak, he seemed to reconsider the words.

    Finally, Henrik spoke. "Gerdur told me you'd passed through," he informed Hoster. 

    "Aye. Aye, we did."

    "Told me, too, that I should ride you down. Said you had news."

    "Aye."

    Henrik sat tall in his saddle. Despite being dressed in plain leathers, everything about the Imperial spoke of soldiery, of discipline, perhaps even nobility. His brown eyes were hard to read, slightly obscuring the workings of the mind just behind, but there was a certain energy in them. Worry. Panic, I realized. And with that, I recognized the name. Henrik. Henrik the Hunter. Elsiv's Henrik. 

    A nausea seized hold of me, and I felt quite sick on my feet.

    The Imperial took no notice of me. He looked only at Hoster. "Well?" 

    Hoster told it all, and with as much tact as one could expect from such a brutish fellow. His words were not chosen with care, and at the time I thought him cruel for how explicitly he told the tale. Now, though, I do not think it was due to a lack of sensitivity. I believe it was the freshness of his own grief. I hardly knew him at that time, but I can now say without any misgivings that, despite appearance and manner, Hoster War-Horse was not an insensitive, callous man, no matter what he would have had us think. That is not to say that he was a 'big softy,' as Bilandis would put it, or that his hard demeanor was an act. No, that would be quite an overdramatization. I only mean to say that there was a certain warmth, a certain tenderness that could be found in his green eyes, those eyes like moss-covered stones, if one looked for them there in time of need.

    Oh! Look how distracted, how romantic my old mind gets!

    Like I said, I knew none of that at the time and could see only the harsh honesty of the Nord, and when Henrik came to quite ugly tears, I blamed the majority of the outburst on Hoster's words. 

    Henrik's cool manner melted quickly beneath the unmitigated, blazing heat of Hoster's recounting of the fires of Helgen. He spoke not a word, nor did he try to, as he let the story wash over him like a tidal wave, washing him out to sea. I moved beside his horse, fearing that he might fall, the way he was shaking. The others simply remained where they stood, Bilandis with his eyes downcast and Hoster with his jaw set, though if I had looked, I might have seen a quiver there, and a gathering of tears in his eyes. However, I did not look for those things there. The notion that they might exist in such a man was foreign to me. How cold I was back then!

    "Perhaps you should dismount," I offered, a hand coming to rest on Henrik's back. I remember being surprised at the lack of emotion in my voice. Elsiv's face came before me again, as it is wont to do even now, and I grieved for her. How beautiful, how kind, how good she had been! Hers had been an ugly death. So much less than she deserved. Yet it had been hers. Even as such thoughts seized me in their cold, cruel talons, my voice came out even, if not a bit soft. 

    Henrik surprisingly accepted my offer and I helped him to come down from atop his horse. Without my needing to direct him, Bilandis came forward and took the horse's reins. We moved off the road, Bilandis tying the horse to a small tree, and I leading Henrik to a stone. There, by the riverside we sat for some time. Hoster stood restlessly by, never once meeting my pointed, accusing gaze. 

    I do not know how long we sat there, but the sun was high in the sky before Hoster spoke again.

    "I must go on to Whiterun," he announced, looking at the river that ran behind us. "The Jarl must know what has happened." Several moments passed in silence, but at length, Bilandis rose.

    Seeing this, Hoster continued. "You needn't join me. It only takes one to carry a message. I shall bear it on to Jarl Balgruuf, and you all, well, you may go on about whatever business you were on before this began."

    Henrik looked up at him, and it surprised me to see that the hate that had festered in his eyes before had not grown. It had vanished. Perhaps mutual loss alleviated whatever tension there had been between the Imperial and the Nord.

    "I would join you," he said, his voice coming back to the power it had held earlier. "It is not as though I can return home." There was a chuckle in his throat, but it did not reach his eyes. A poor man, I thought, a fate-abused man, but not a pitiable one. He would have no pity.

    Our Nordic companion did not seem entirely pleased by the offer, but he could not deny it. 

    "I've business in Whiterun," Bilandis added, and his tone seemed to say that he could not care less what Hoster had to say. And then the half-elf turned his gaze on me and I knew I had to join them. I had nowhere else to go. I simply nodded and rose. 

    Hoster looked between us, his eyes traveling over each of his companions in turn, though they certainly did not linger on mine. 

    "If we hurry, we'll be sleeping in warm beds at the Bannered Mare tonight."

Comments

3 Comments
  • Chronicler
    Chronicler   ·  July 15, 2014
    I've been quite busy, but honestly, I've also just been neglecting this. Perhaps knowing someone wishes to continue reading it, I will write more, but we shall see. Thank you for your interest!!!
  • Zonnonn
    Zonnonn   ·  July 15, 2014
    Is this going to be continued? I only just found this and I'm really enjoying it :)
  • william Gavin Shell
    william Gavin Shell   ·  March 18, 2014
    good job once again :) keep up the good work my friend