Myrna had just decided Dragonbridge was her best bet to find Ilia, or at least news of her, when four Solitude guards came hurrying down the hill past her, turning toward the docks. "May as well see what that's all about," she said to herself, following them at a slight distance. They headed for a small crowd that was gathered toward the far end of the dock. Myrna stopped on the staircase that descended toward the water; from her elevated vantage point she could see a body lying lifeless on the wooden planks. Several guardsmen were gathered around, as well as what she assumed were a contingent of sailors from the ship.
"A ship," she suddenly thought. "Of course." She hurried down the rest of the stairs and approached the group.
"I've already told this gentleman here what happened," Myrna overheard. The voice was Kalissah's.
"And I've already told you, I'm the captain of the guard on duty, and you'll tell me," said one of the guards.
"Two of my crew had too much mead and got quarrelsome with each other. The Argonian put an axe in Grund here. I told him to put it down and he said something threatening. Fearing for my safety, I put an arrow into him, and he fell into the water and sank. Send someone down there, I'm sure you can find him."
Myrna could hear the tone of the conversation remain something less than friendly, but she stopped listening to the words themselves. With everyone focused on the Redguard woman and the captain of the guard, Myrna silently flung herself through the air, grasping on the gunwale with both hands. She quickly pulled herself up onto the deck. A few sailors stood watching the conversation below. Myrna crept behind them into the cabin, and quickly dropped down a short staircase, careful to avoid hitting her head. She peaked quickly into a handful of doors, then heard a quiet sob. Moving toward where she thought the noise had come from, she pushed the door open without a sound. Ilia was curled up on the bed, unaware that the woman she longed to see was right there in front of her. Myrna took three silent steps across the room and softly whispered, "Ilia," at the same time as she gently ran her hand over the Nord's soft hair.
Ilia looked up, and in her heart she was overjoyed to see her lover before her. But she did not let it show on her face, giving instead a look of contempt. "Why don't you just leave me alone, you bitch?" she almost spat, the conflicting emotions that welled inside of her giving rise to heavier tears.
"I deserve that," Myrna said. "But I won't leave you alone. Come on. We'll get it all worked out. Let's get off this thing."
"I'm not going anywhere with you," Ilia said through her tears. "Isn't that trampy little wife of yours enough for you?"
"That trampy little wife of mine is probably the most capable warrior in Skyrim, myself excepted. Besides, she's not the trampy one. I am. That's not the point. Please, Ilia. Let's just get off the ship and I'll explain everything."
Ilia knew she would go with the raven-locked Imperial. She wasn't sure what she'd been thinking trying to leave her behind in the first place. But her anger wouldn't allow her to give in so easily. "I know exactly how dangerous you are, Dragonborn," she said, issuing the title as an insult. "But Gods help me, if you don't turn around and walk away from me this instant, I'm going to unleash every ounce of destructive power I can muster at you. You might wind up killing me but by the Nine I'm going to make you hurt!"
"I'm right here," said Myrna, without a hint of malice or fear in her voice. "If that's what you want to do, I won't stop you." Ilia closed her eyes. She knew she was defeated.
"Fine. Let me put my clothes on," Ilia said, throwing the sheets off and making a point of her nakedness. That this was clearly someone else's room was not lost on the Dragonborn, but she said nothing, and merely watched the lithe figure of the beautiful Nord girl dress.
In part from her distraction, and in part from the silence with which the Redguard moved, Myrna had no idea Bergin had crept up behind her until his knife was at her throat.
"What are you doing on this ship, stranger?" he said, confident enough in his advantage to feel that any warnings about not moving were entirely superfluous. Ilia was the first to speak.
"Bergin, put the knife down," she said quietly.
"Because you know her?" he asked.
"Because she'll kill you." Bergin had a hard time believing that, the situation being what it was, but something in Ilia's tone told him she knew something that he didn't about the slatternly-dressed woman whose throat he knew—or thought he knew--he could slash from ear to ear in a split-second. He removed his knife and took a step back.
"Well," he said with playful admiration, trying to defuse the situation but also not entirely joking, "She's got a hell of a fine figure, anyway. We had a fine time last night with the Nord. Be a sight finer still with a fourth."
Myrna shot him a withering glance. "I might kill you yet," she said, without bothering to put any menace into her voice. "Come on, Ilia." She brushed roughly past Bergin into the passageway. As Ilia followed, Bergin gently put his hand on her arm. She shook her head at him and said softly, "Don't."
On deck, the gangway was just being pulled aboard. Kalissah saw her new crewmember closely following what looked like a common tavern wench, apart from the fierce-looking ebony axe that dangled from her hip. She stepped over quickly to see what was going on.
"Ilia?" she asked.
"I'm sure you're trying to make what's left of the tide," Myrna said. "I don't mean to cause you any delay, but if you could kindly lower the gangway again, we won't trouble you anymore."
Ilia was always surprised at the amount of persuasiveness Myrna could lace into her words. Kalissah motioned to another crew member, and a few seconds later the wooden plank was in place again.
"I take it this is who you were running away from," Kalissah said to Ilia. "You don't have to go."
"I want to," Ilia said. "It's ok. Thank you for everything."
Kalissah bowed slightly as if to say it had been her pleasure. It certainly had been, after all. "We dock here pretty often. You might find us in Dawnstar or Windhelm as well. I'll have a place for you if you want it."
Ilia smiled a little smile at her and then followed her true love down onto the dock.
"Sounds like you had an interesting evening," Myrna said playfully as they climbed the stairs up toward the road.
"Didn't you?" Ilia shot back, unamused.
"I did," Myrna admitted somewhat ruefully. They turned toward Dragonbridge and walked on in silence for nearly an hour. "How about we stop and eat something," Myrna finally said.
"Fine," Ilia said sharply, tossing her pack to the ground. Myrna took some food from her bag and handed an apple and a sweet roll to the Nord woman. The ate in silence.
"How long are we going to do this?" Myrna asked.
"Until I'm not furious at you anymore," Ilia nearly yelled.
"Ilia," Myrna said, moving closer and putting a hand on the Nord's knee. She waited until Ilia looked up and met her gaze. "I'm very sorry for what happened last night. Aela and I...we have." She paused. "I don't know how to say it. A very deep connection."
"Really? Yes, that's one way to describe marriage."
