Fighting Fate

22-Feast

I finally arrived to Whiterrun to find that the guards were waiting for me.

"Dragonborn! You did it! You defeated the World Eater!" One exclaimed.

"All hail the Dragonborn." The other one spoke. They opened the gate and I noticed there was a whole group of people waiting for me. It was Irileth, who looked as annoyed as ever, the Jarl himself, the Aveniccis, and the other random citizens I had met.

"Hail the Dragonborn, the slayer of Alduin!" They cheered at me. I had never felt prouder of myself then.

"My dear Dragonborn." Proventus walked up to me. "I have found what you were looking for." The citizens moved aside. If my jaw was as loose as a draugr's, it would have dropped to the ground.

"Severine!" My mother exclaims. I ran to her, instantly bursting into tears. All my fears, all my worst nightmares of never seeing them again are gone. My family has survived. The boys and my stepfather Cassian join in.

"My sweet girl, look at you." My stepfather says. "You're a warrior now."

I couldn't help but to laugh a little.

"I don't think any of us saw this coming." I responded, pulling away.

"You're so cool, Sevy!" Adrian looked at me in delight.

"Your armor is so cool, I want some like that!" Julius was clinging to my armor.

"When you're older, maybe." I responded, smiling. I wasn't the best smith but I knew a few people at this point.

"I'm so glad to see that you're okay." My mother smiled, wiping tears from her eyes.

"I'm so glad you made it." I noticed a few of the citizens cleared out but the Jarl and his people were still around. "How did you make it into Skyrim?"

"We were found by a Khajit caravan. They brought us to Riverwood and we met a blacksmith that had seen you recently. We stayed at an inn and sent a courier to fetch your father. Proventus had already told him that you were in Whiterun and told him what happened. We met up here and we found out you were the Dragonborn."

"I couldn't believe it when I heard it. Our daughter, the girl who was afraid of spiders and dogs,was a Dragonborn." My stepfather had his hand on his hip. "We heard of how you defeated that dragon in Whiterun and how you aided the jarls in other holds."

"We're so proud of you, Severine." My mother hugged me again. I smiled at her and held her. I was happy to have my family again, by my side.

"Severine, I do not mean to interrupt this happy reunion but we have people waiting. We have prepared a giant feast for you in celebration of your defeat of Alduin. We also have rooms and baths available for you." Proventus smiled.

We headed off to the palace. I was almost skipping by the time we got there. I was thrilled to have a bath set for me. I washed up and changed into a surprisingly soft emerald green dress. I entered the hall where people cheered for me. The dinner we had was delicious. There were endless soups, stews, roasts, various kinds of fish, and sweets. I was halfway through gorging myself with sweet rolls when I heard someone clear their throat above me.

"My, you do clean up into a beautiful woman." Hadvar was smiling at me.

"Hadvar!" I exclaimed, almost jumping from my seat. My stepfather looked at him. "It's so nice to see you again."

My cheeks were turning warm. "The feeling is mutual." I responded, slightly swaying with my hands behind my back.

"Well, Dragonborn, I suppose you wouldn't mind if I stole a dance or two from you?" Hadvar raised his brow.

"Of course not. That's one of the few dances you can steal from me." I smiled at him. We join Lydia and a few others at the great hall. I noticed Lydia's father was a few drinks in and laughing with Proventus. My little brothers were chasing around Lucia and Mila. We were dancing to the music the bards were playing. I had gotten a lot better at dancing. Probably from all the running around and fighting I've been doing.

We're enjoying ourselves too much. My mother looked delighted and my stepfather just looked at us. We ended up out of breath and sitting back down in our prospective seats.

"Who was that?" My stepfather asked, leaning towards me.

"That was my friend, Hadvar. He and I escaped Helgen together." I told him. I would tell them everything eventually but not now. "He's with the Legion."

"A Legionnaire?" My mother looked thrilled.

"Well, he's a Captain now." I responded, smiling.

"Well, it would be nice." My mother responded to me, looking at him speaking to General Tullius. Yeah, it would be.