Edovan was sure he had died and gone to paradise. Not Sovngarde, that old school Nord concept of the afterlife for brave and valiant warriors, who feast forever in a giant mead hall with the heroes of olde. No, this was his own PERSONAL paradise, and he knew it was, because he was in Yagaritte's bed, and she was was with him. Well, more like wrapped around him. They were naked and lying on their sides, facing each other, completely entwined, not in an active, aggressive sexual manner, but in a blissful, lazy, post-coital, afterglow kind of manner. Technically Edovan had never even had actual sex yet... but it was clear to him that in this paradise, they had.
His leg was again trapped between her thighs, her slick, warm sex pressed against his skin. Her right leg was wrapped around his pulling him to her. Her arms were squeezing him tight and his face was nestled in that perfect mid space of maximum deepness in the valley between her breasts as her left arm cradled him from behind supporting him so he would not slip from between them. Her right arm was wrapped around his shoulder and she was gently stroking his hair as she clutched him to herself tenderly. It was a perfect moment... in a perfect place, and he never ever ever wanted it to end.
So, of course, it did.
Not all at once... first she rolled over on top of him, not crushing him, but gently burying him underneath her much larger frame. But then her pressure on him began to decrease... he felt less and less of her weight, until he realized that she was herself weightless, and rapidly drifting upward and away from him. He tried to hold on to her, but her arms were stiff and unresponsive, and she kept rising till she was out of his reach. And he wanted to sit up but he couldn't for some reason and he cried out to her, "Why... why are you leaving me?!" and she kept rising and he could see an open doorway of pitch blackness behind her and she kept rising toward it and then she said, "Because I am not here." and vanished into the blackness. Suddenly the window to her room burst open and a howling cold wind blew in and chilled him to the bone, and yet he still could not move. He just lay there, shivering.
And then someone started poking him in the face.
* * * * *
That part, at least, was real. Someone was poking him in the face... with a stick. He opened his bleary eyes, and then felt the freezing wind across his skin. Okay, apparently that part was real, too. He looked up, scrunching his eyes A very short and heavy Nord woman with white hair and a face like a shriveled potato (who had to be at least three times as old as Margara), was on the other end of the stick. She poked him again.
"I think that's enough sleep for you, golden boy. Up and at 'em," her voice sounded a lot like a guar... deep, gravelly, and more resonant than a woman that size should have, like she was bigger on the inside somehow than the outside. And possibly filled with rocks.
Edovan sat up and swung his feet over the edge of the bed. He wrapped himself with his arms, shivering.
"If you are so cold why did you open your window?" the woman inquired, and then made a little exasperated sigh. "Oh, here, let me go close it for you since you can't make up your mind..."
She walked... waddled really... over to the large double window and swung shut both of the heavy wooden shutters which were covered with thick horker skin on the outside, then fastened the latch. The room was still cold, but at least he wasn't contending with the northern winds any more.
"How you feelin?" She said as she turned back to him.
Edovan took a quick physical inventory, moved and stretched, tested his bones and muscles. Nothing hurt. He reached up to the side of his head to feel the gash but it, too, was gone.
"I feel pretty good actually. You must be a miracle worker!" he exclaimed.
The old woman waddled over to him and pushed his head to one side with her walking stick without any warning. Then she poked him where his broken rib should be. He winced in anticipation, but nothing hurt, other than the stick being jabbed in his ribs. Lastly she aimed her cane at his nose and Edovan deflected it quickly with an arm, pulling his head head back out of the stick's reach.
"My nose is fine... trust me. Doesn't hurt at all," he assured her.
The old woman peered at him as if he was trying to trick her, or at the very least deprive her of the fun of poking him in the nose with a stick.
"Yeah, yer damn right I am. A miracle worker every day around here. But not for you. They said you were pretty bad, but by the time I made my second round you had started to heal on your own." She continued, " I don't use magic... no gods or healing words. Just good old fashioned medicine, potions, salves, and poultices. Takes longer, mind you, but gets the job done. I just figgered you still had some mojo goin' from that three ring circus you called a fight, hah!" she shouted, rapping her stick on the floor for emphasis..
"How long have I been asleep?" Edovan queried.
"You? " The old woman answered as she moved about the room straightening things, righting a chair that had fallen over by the window, rehanging a painting that had fallen off the wall next to the window. "Since noon yesterday, when you got your beak bashed by that young zerk's snapper."
Edovan flushed bright red at the memory... which was now coming back to him... in extreme close up AND slow motion. To be honest he was more than a little grateful he had been knocked unconscious after that unforeseen turn of events. He didn't know how he would even face her now, or everyone else for that matter.
"I feel bad for her. She must really hate me now."
"Oh you think so, huh? From what I heard she LIKED you a little TOO much..." the old woman said, cackling to herself. "Speaking of... did you see her here in your room before I came up here?"
Edovan blinked twice at the outrageousness of the thought.
"No, I just woke up. And the fact I'm still alive makes me think she couldn't possibly have been in here, because she would definitely have smothered me with a p-"
He let that sentence die a merciful early death, but it was too late.
"Ohohohhohoho... ahahaa... ehehehe!" The old woman tried to stifle a cough, brought on by her cackling. "Oh she'll smother you alright... ahahahaha. You are funny one! I'll give you that! But I don't think she hates you. She's been asking about your condition every hour or so. The reason I asked you if you had seen her is because she saw me carrying your things up to you a half hour ago and offered to carry them up herself. And I KNOW she was here, because there are your things."
She pointed with her walking stick at a bundle of furs, clothing and boots wrapped with red cord that was laying on the floor at the foot of his bed. The old woman was right... Utha HAD been here. But where was she now?
