Chapter 18: Delphine
I stared down at Varn's lifeless face for a long moment.
The kid's blood had dried into a crusted river along the floor, still seeping slowly toward the shadows. His eyes, once too eager and green for an adventure, stared at nothing.
I placed my palm on his face, closing his eyes shut.
Not out of respect. Just didn't want them looking at me. It made me feel guilty for something I wasn't guilty of.
"Dammit," I muttered, standing up.
This was going to be a pain.
Varn was a good kid, I know. I shouldn't have brought him with me, SIgh! He was naive. But he didn't deserve this. Not here. Not this young. Not like this.
Still, what was done was done. I didn't feel guilty. I felt annoyed.
Now I had to explain this to his friends, and the captain of the guards, and probably to the Jarl as well. And if he had a family, then I'd probably get a slap or two on my face.
Behind me, Camilla knelt over the other body—the bandit I'd left alive. His scars weren't clean; they were jagged, as if he had seen her and resisted.
Camilla didn't speak, but her shoulders were tense; seeing so much death was wearing her down, and she had yet to walk outside.
"This has nothing to do with you, deaths of the people that surround you are of their own doing, they should've stayed where they were safe," I said flatly. Not for her benefit. Just to keep her from doing something stupid.
She didn't respond.
"Who was that woman?" She asked, her voice low.
I shrugged my shoulders, "I've got no clue." I turned around and began to walk toward the exit.
"You're not going to bury him?"
I sighed. "He's dead, what's there to bury?"
She recoiled a bit at the coldness in my tone, but didn't argue. I didn't explain.
The air outside was harsh after the stale breath of the ruin. The sun was nowhere to be seen, but only its light pierced the clouds.
Camilla followed behind me, her steps slower now, as her eyes witnessed naked frozen corpses laid outside the barrow.
The climb down the mountain was uneventful, save for the cold biting at our faces and Camilla's heavy breath behind me.
I slowed a moment until she was next to me and wrapped my arm around her. She didn't have the advantage of a Nord in the cold like me or Varn.
She flinched for a moment but gave in, feeling the warmth wrap around her in damp fog.
Eventually, we got out of the cold mist and reached the watchtower nestled along the path.
"Wait here," I muttered, stepping past the small bridge and inside the watchtower to find a pool of blood and stairs with a bloody trail leading up. I didn't do this. I quickly climbed up, boots thudding against creaking wood, and stopped as I reached the top.
And found a familiar face.
Lys.
Dead?
She was slumped against the wall beside the treasure chest I was initially here for. Her leather armor was soaked dark with blood around the abdomen. A stab wound, not fresh but not old either. Her breathing was shallow, her head tilted back, a half-used healing potion still clutched in one hand like a lifeline she hadn't been able to cross.
I crouched beside, with a frown on my forehead, and touched her cheek with the back of my hand. Her skin was pale, but she was still warm.
"Let her die," A sudden voice from behind pulled me from my thoughts. Camilla, whom I had just told to stay at the base of the tower, now stood behind me, arms crossed.
"You're alive because of her," I said, shutting Camilla, and placed my palm on her stomach, activating the [Healing] spell. Golden light seeped into the wound, coaxing the flesh close. She twitched, a low groan escaping her lips.
Her eyelids fluttered.
When her gaze found mine, it was filled with terror for a fraction of a second—then recognition set in. Her body relaxed just a little.
"You…" she whispered, voice like dry parchment. "You saved me again…"
"Yeah," I said. "Still not sure why." I chuckled.
Lys tried to sit up, winced, and failed.
"What happened after I left?" I asked.
Her brows furrowed, remembering the hooded woman, "I stayed in the tower for a bit longer, longer than I should've. Then that woman showed up." Her body shuddered, "She asked where the girl was, and just as the words escaped my mouth, I found a dagger in my stomach."
I held her hand. What a day for her, huh?
"I crawled upstairs only to lose consciousness."
Camilla made a disgusted noise. "That bitch."
Lys looked past me, her gaze settling on Camilla. "She yours?"
"Huh?" Camilla grunted.
"Not yet," I added, grinning tiredly, only for Camilla to punch my helmet lightly.
I stood up and stepped back. "Can you walk?"
Lys nodded slowly. "If you help me up."
I extended a hand and pulled her to her feet. She leaned against the wall, catching her breath.
Camilla uncrossed her arms and placed them at her hips. "Are you going to take her with us?"
I looked at Lys and nodded. I turned to Camilla, "Yeah, she doesn't look that bad."
Both of them stared at me for an uncomfortable second and shook their heads.
"We are going down to Riverwood, but she can't follow us there; she'll be arrested." I said, and opened the chest, placing everything in my inventory.
"Follow us if you want to, but you can't enter Riverwood unless you want to get arrested," I said to her.
Lys smiled weakly. "At least with you, I'll be alive." I tilted my head, a smirk on my face. Is she flirting?
We stepped out of the tower into the snow. The wind howled through the trees like wolves.
The descent to Riverwood was quiet, more out of necessity than comfort. The snow thinned as we left the shadow of the mountain behind, and Lys, though pale and exhausted, managed to keep pace, with the help of my shoulder. Camilla trudged slightly ahead, arms crossed, mind somewhere far behind her expression.
We stopped just before the treeline overlooking Riverwood.
I turned to Lys. "This is where we part ways."
She raised an eyebrow. "Thanks… for everything."
I tossed her a small coin purse I found in the barrow, "Stay nearby. Don't get seen. I'll find you later. Or don't—up to you."
Lys stared at the purse. "Why are you helping me?" she asked.
"I have the same question," Camilla said from the side.
I looked at Camilla with a smirk on my face. "I'm trying to sleep with her, can't you tell?"
Lys gave a quiet, exhausted laugh, then leaned against a tree and nodded as we left.
We walked inside the town's gate, and Riverwood felt heavy. The lingering eyes and the whispers, I ignored them all.
I found Kavir, the captain of the guards, a weathered Nord with a tired scowl and a scar running across his jawline, standing and speaking with Alvor and Sigrid.
He turned to me as I approached Alvor's house.
"Where's the boy?" Kavir immediately asked, Sigrid ran to Camilla's side, taking her inside the house, so she wouldn't wander to her own, and witness the horror.
I shook my head to Kavir's question. "He's dead."
Kavir's lips thinned. "What happened?"
"There were too many bandits up there, more than we could guess," I said, carefully mixing the truth in a lie, and keeping Delphine out of the story.
Kavir studied me, nodding once, slowly. "We'll retrieve the body if we can. Thanks for telling me."
Suddenly, from behind, two familiar voices called my name. I turned around to see Derven and Grofi walking towards me.
"Varn's gone," I kept it short and simple, as the color from their faces drained.
***
Inside the house, Sigrid sat beside Camilla, whose eyes won't stop flowing, as though a dam had cracked inside her. She exhaled shakily and murmured, "H-h-how could he,"
***
I stood outside Gerdur's house, after having spoken with Grofi and Derven.
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