Skyrim: Reign

Chapter 2: Family

The cold was bitter. Reign had always lived in Rorikstead, and had ventured beyond the lowlands only a few times, but the cold always got him, despite his Nord blood. His mother used to say that the blood of Nords was so thick with dragon-fire that they couldn't feel the cold, but that fire must have been weak within Reign, for he was always numb. The moons were high in the sky, their forms blotting out the stars, and the lights that littered the sky were few. It was a clear night, but the cold was still strong, even this far south.

Reign pulled the hood of his cloak up over his head as he made for the shack at the edge of the village where his father could usually be found doing his work. Despite owning a farm, his father was a clever man; he was a near expert in Dwemer mechanics, and always sought their metals and ruminations whenever he could. He had built mechanical spiders, and once collected all the parts for a centurion, but had the foresight not to let it loose on the lowlands. As Reign pushed in the door, memories of his childhood came flooding back to him. The smell of hot iron, the many long hours spent with his father fitting together cogs and gears. The glitter of the moonlight on the golden metal of Dwemer struts. The thoughts gave Reign a dull ache in his chest as he approached the frail old man who was once his strong father struggling to close and lock the door. He ran over and grabbed the keys from the older man, who's grey hair was barely visible beneath his own hood, and winked at him. "Seems you're getting older than ever, father, can't even lock the bloody doors anymore!" Reign boomed.He always tried to make his father smile, just as his father had made him smile. The old man laughed and feigned a swing for Reign's arm with a clenched fist as he slotted the key into the shack door. "Still young enough to take you down, boy. How was the farm? did you get the seeds planted properly like I showed you?" his father asked, with a beady eye half closed against the wind. The pair made back for the house as Reign explained how he had planted the seeds, in tedious detail, so that his father would rest easy. "That's my boy," he said with admiration, "at least i know once I'm gone that someone will be able to care for my family". Reign felt his cheeks grow hot as his face reddened, but his father only laughed. "Come, we best be back soon, or by Shor your mother will tan both our hides!" The pair laughed and walked against the backdrop of cold and moonlight back to the home they shared. 

Once they arrived, and Reign's mother scolded the old man for being out so long, the whole time with a smile on her face, the family retired for the night into their respective rooms; The parents had a huge room at the east of the building, with a double bed and a fire-pit for themselves, and the youngster's had a room that mirrored this in the west. Reign had sacrificed his large room for the young twins when they had arrived, and he now slept in the main room of the building. Rather than infuriate him as he thought it would when the decision was made, the room now felt like his own; more importantly it held the warmth of the entire family, enough to keep him warm for the night. He bolted the front door, listened to his siblings say their prayers to the gods, and curled up in his bedroll by the fire. Just before he fell asleep, basking in the heat, Reign thought he heard the horses stirring at the Inn, but he ignored it and sleep overtook him. 

It all happened so fast. Reign's father was over him, shaking him and shouting for him to wake up. The twins were yelling and crying, and before Reign knew what was happening he was sitting up in his bedroll with his father throwing his cloak at him. "Reign! Get up! the Legion are here and you need to get up! Now!" Reign nodded and shoved the coat over his head and left the hood up. The Legion? he thought to himself, Why are the Legion here in the middle of the night? What's happening? 

It wasn't until later that Reign realised he hadn't said goodnight to his mother.