Chapter 21: Heirs
Cidius and I went our separate ways when we finished descending the Throat of the World and I gladly travelled back home.
Home? It seemed I'd called many places home in a short period.
Home.
Winterhold was my home now. The new College, my children; all resided in Winterhold. The only thing it truly lacked was sun, fanatics yelling about Auriel’s greatness for his aid during the war, and my family. I’d have to see about contacting them. Gods know what the Thalmor have told them about me. Probably that I was a wanted murderer and heretic.
I left the road to avoid a few Stormcloak checkpoints. It was easier to avoid them than pay their tolls, plus random fees for whatever the felt they could fine one for.
After a few day’s travel, I did arrive; this time for a long period of time. I looked upon our new College, more of a compound of arcane knowledge than a single building, built with the same bricks as the old one and with the slight influences of an Altmeri style; vaguely sun-like shapes adorning the walls, an eagle here or there. The only place to build it was slightly to the west of the city proper, giving us a small mountain to hide behind and Winterhold a small mountain to forget about us.
I had commissioned with what was left of the College’s funds a separate building for myself, family, and guests; a multi-story building with lecture halls, a library, and the general meeting hall; and lastly the third and final building as the dormitories. All this was surrounded by a wall, and a heavy enchanted gate guarded it all.
I walked wearily into our tower and trudged up the stairs. Days without a proper rest after days of being marched to your death will do that to you.
As I sat in my favorite chair I heard the pattering of four feet down the hall, accompanied by giggling and yells from Faralda.
Almenar was the first to peek inside the room, smiling wide and then saying;
“Da!”
He unsteadily ran up to me, quickly followed by the second smiling face; you.
We talked for while as to why I was gone and I promised not to leave for so long again, then turned back to my desk. Unopened letters had piled up and I needed to respond, a task that filled me with dread. I let the two of you play behind me as I painstakingly responded to letters from all manner of mages requesting to borrow materials, other organizations, the construction workers I had hired, and the Jarl of Riften, asking us to please stop buying so much wood.
As the night drew near, I sent the two of you off to bed. I studied Almenar’s face as he slept, his peaceful features dream to his heart’s content.
I closed the door and crossed to the private rooms. Five floors up, I knocked on a door and waited for the response to open.
Tolfdir was reading a leather-bound book, annotating it for a lesson the next day.
“Caranthir! It's been quite a long time, friend.”
“Yes, I'm afraid so. Mind if I sit?”
“Not at all.”
I sat down across from him and thought hard before I spoke.
“I need your advice.”
Tolfdir raised his eyebrows and waited for me to continue.
“Someday I'll have to select an heir. Tradition dictates that it be soon. For most Mer this is easy; the first-born son. But I have two. I believe Almenar will be my choice as, well, he isn't like Tandano. Tandano hardly speaks at all, and is always staring hard at things for longer than I think normal. My fear is he’s ‘touched by the Gods’ as they say. Almenar, though… he speaks and seems normal, but cannot sit in one place. Always moving, running off, desiring of adventure; but at least he is clearly sane. But what if I'm wrong? What if Tandano is perfectly normal, and Almenar only ends up being a problem? It'll be too late to change heirs!”
I paused, suddenly realizing I was now standing and practically jogging around his room as I spoke in a volume that was far higher than acceptable.
“I apologize. I must be boring you to no end. If only I had had only one child. Or if one was a girl. But then I'd have to raise a girl, and this is no province for a girl. And I’d have to explain the origin of children to both sexes. Gods, what a mess that would be! I'm not well-versed in the daily occurrences of the female…”
I again remembered that I was speaking to someone.
“Yes, only the one child would have been far better. If only she was here still…”
Tolfdir was visibly uncomfortable with my discomfort, and probably my words, but tilted his head as if expecting me to continue my tirade, then righting it when I didn't.
“Well. Can't they both be your heirs? Give one the title and the other the money?”
I looked at him in confusion, then realized that he was used to the Nordic heredity system, in which that was the precedent.
“It doesn't work like that in our system. One gets it all, the second child gets sent off to become a damned priest or that ilk, and the rare third child is just sent off to the military.”
Tolfdir told me to wait in his room as he left. He was gone for about twenty minutes, then came back with a book. I read the title- Oddities Commonly Found in Altmer Children; A Resource For Concerned Altmer Parents by Calindil the Enchanter.
“Why on Nirn do we have this in our library?”
Tolfdir shrugged and began flipping through it until he found the proper section.
“Ahem. ‘It is not uncommon for a child to refrain from speaking often or at all, or to gaze intently at various objects. This is a sign of curiosity and, subsequently, intelligence. Likewise, an over-active young Altmer is likely just curious as to the inner workings of the surrounding world, and will likely calm down in the future’. It would seem both your children are perfectly healthy. Now for your choice.”
I squinted at my feet as I dug in my pouch for a Septim.
“Pick a name and a side.”
“Tandano, heads.”
That left me with Almenar, and the dragon side. We flipped the coin, and Tolfdir lost. Almenar was to be the heir.
I understand if you are angered by this entry, my son. Not many would be happy with knowing that their future was determined by a coin toss by their father and an old man. Or that their father believed them to be challenged. Or that I listened that thrice-damned book by Calindil!
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Caught a typo:
Tolfdir was read [reading] a leather-bound book, annotating it for a lesson... more