Ilia had sat at the bar, watching her lover talking with the fierce-looking redhead. Her wife. The word still stung her heart. She felt like the biggest fool in Skyrim. While the married couple's meeting didn't seem to be proceeding particularly happily, Ilia found herself not caring about the particulars of their relationship. The fact that Myrna hadn't mentioned her marriage at all was enough to fill the young conjurer with a mixture of sadness and anger. As Myrna and Aela seemed to fall into deeper conversation, as the minutes dragged by without even a sidelong glance from Myrna toward the bar, Ilia decided that, as she had feared so often already in the short time they'd been lovers, that indeed it had been too good to be true, that the Dragonborn cared nothing for her, that she was merely being used toward some greater end of which she had no understanding. She finished her wine and stepped out into the cool night air of Solitude.
When Myrna awoke the next morning, her body sore from the transition she had undergone as well as from the endless series of orgasms her werewolf lover had given her, she wondered for a moment where she was, until the shock of red hair that lay across her breasts brought back the memory of the previous night. Aela, she thought, feeling equal parts tenderness and remorse. Well, whatever her misgivings, whatever her feelings for the woman beside, Myrna had already made up her mind. A night of lust and passion wasn't going to undo that. As stealthily as she could, and few in Tamriel were stealthier, she slipped her shoulder from beneath Aela's head and rolled silently out of bed. She could feel flickers of pleasure from her still-swollen clit as she moved. Looking at the beautiful form prone before her, she pinched her labia together briefly, until, her resolve finally solidified, she began to dress in the tavern clothes she'd come to favor in recent days. The Nightengale armor she usually wore, she'd realized, was not necessary for everyday living. Her skills had been honed such that she was confident in her ability to quickly kill anyone who threatened her with harm before any damage could be inflicted upon her.
She'd just about packed everything when she heard Aela's voice behind her.
"Running out on me again?"
Myrna stiffened and cursed softly to herself under her breath. She turned to see Aela sitting naked on the foot of the bed.
"Aela, I love you, and I respect you, and I care about you, and I have learned so much from you. But I cannot be with you. I cannot stay with you at Jorrvaskr, and I cannot ask you to abandon the Companions for me. I know you would willingly do so, but I also know, as do you, that it is with them that you belong. I have nothing else to say on the matter."
Aela hung her head, not because of the sense of loss she felt but because she knew her wife spoke the truth.
"You are right, my love. They are my shield-brothers and sisters, and my oath to them goes beyond whatever vows we took before Mara. I wish that you would stay with us, but your choices are not beholden to my desires."
"They're closer to doing so than you know," said Myrna, well aware from the tingling that still coursed through her groin that the sexual bliss she experienced with the gorgeous redhead was beyond anything she'd felt before. But sex was not her only passion. And then there was Ilia. Ilia needed her. Aela needed only the honor of battle, the thrill of the hunt. She was complete. Ilia, wounded, fragile, alone, was a battered soul. Myrna had almost marveled at the ways the former witch had healed and grown in their short time together, her confidence and capabilities increasing almost by the day.
Myrna walked to the edge of the bed and reached out for Aela's hand. The Huntress took it and rose. The two lovers locked eyes, exchanging feelings beyond words. Myrna leaned in and kissed the redhead tenderly, then turned, hoisted her large pack and bow onto her back, and was gone.
The morning air, still shrouded in shadow from Solitude's tall walls and towers, had lost little of its chill. Myrna hurried to Proudspire Manor, her house in the city, in hopes that Ilia would have returned there. Her housecarl, whose name escaped Myrna, opened the door.
"My thane," said the young blonde, whose girlish appearance belied her skill with a sword.
"Jordan, is it?"
"Jordis, my thane."
"Sorry. I haven't spent as much time here as I would like to. I hope your duties haven't been too...uneventful."
"It's been my pleasure. To not have to endure the barracks? This is more than a treat, even if I haven't been able to really serve you."
"Yet. Your time may come. My friend, Ilia. Did she return last night?"
"I did not see or hear her if she did. And I would have."
"That's what I was afraid of. Well, in that case, I must be off."
"Can I help you find her?" Jordis asked eagerly.
"No. Thank you, but no. Please continue to enjoy the run of the manor. I hope you're using the big bed upstairs, not the cot in the basement."
"I did not think it was my place to do so, thane."
"Well, it is now. I hope we can get to know each other better when next I'm in Solitude. Until then."
"Until then, my thane."
What a sweet little thing, thought Myrna as she headed for the city gates. Gods, I'm a slut. She smiled, chagrined at how easily a pretty face triggered that sparkly feeling in her nether regions. Well, she would have to wait until she found Ilia to satisfy her.
The guards hadn't seen anyone fitting Ilia's description leave the city since they'd come on duty at dawn, which meant she'd left in the night, and so had something like an eight-hour advantage on Myrna. The Dragonborn tried to put herself in Ilia's place, no doubt angry, confused, and heartbroken. Not particularly social even when she was in a good state of mind, Ilia did not strike Myrna as one who would head toward another city or town. But nor, Myrna thought, would she seek refuge in a cave, for, despite her ability to handle herself, her confidence at the moment was probably shattered. Myrna paused at the crossroads, one path heading downhill toward the docks, the other west, to Dragonbridge and, further on, Markarth. Dragonbridge had a little inn that Ilia could have reached with just a couple hours' quick march. But she would never head to Markarth. Myrna wished she had Aela with her; the Huntress could track almost anyone. Not that Myrna's skills lacked much in that area, but they were of no use here. It was a rare moment of indecision for the intrepid Imperial maiden. She cursed herself for the way she'd handled Aela's unexpected appearance the night before.
Unbeknownst to the Dragonborn, Ilia had not gone far. She'd paused in the night at the very spot where Myrna stood, wondering where to go. The plaintive toll of a bell from the docks below had given her the answer: as far away as possible, as quickly as possible. Though late, the busiest docks in Skyrim still showed some signs of life. Three ships were berthed; four more sat at anchorage further out. The first ship Ilia approached seemed deserted. At the next, a surly Nord guarding the gangway accosted her.
"Shouldn't be down here alone at night, missy," he grunted, the ample quantities of mead he'd consumed weighing heavy on his tongue.
"Because of drunken idiots like you?"
"What's going on down there, Grund?" called another voice from the deck.
"A sharp-tongued wench is what," the Nord replied. A sinister-looking Argonian, more sinister than most even, peered over the rail.
"We could use a wench," the Argonian hissed.
"That's what I was thinking," Grund said, moving toward Ilia at the same moment the Argonian swung over the rail and landed gracefully on the dock behind her. Before she could react, the cool-skinned reptilian had pinned her arms behind her. Grund walked up to her and pulled her hood back, exposing her face to the moonlight. He smiled none too pleasantly.
"Aye, she'll do us nicely for a spell," he said. They were the last words his lips would utter. A bolt of electricity leapt from Ilia's hand, blasting the Argonian behind her into the air. Grund, in his drunken state, fumbled for his sword. He'd had just enough time to get a good grip on its hilt when the blade of Ilia's axe sliced into the side of his neck. The Nord would have died in a minute from blood loss; as it was, his nearly-severed spinal column ended his suffering even more quickly. He was dead before he landed on the planks of the dock with a thud, almost at the moment the Argonian splashed into the water. The whole thing had taken perhaps two seconds.