Stin

Elope

*I do not care for the marriage ceremony in Skyrim. It feels so modern and doesn't feel like Skyrim, so I made my own. I took inspiration from Game of Thrones for the dialogue. Enjoy!

"Under Mara and the rest of the Divines, I take this man as my husband," Xaliyah vows with a smile, staring up at Brynjolf. The two have decided to elope after realizing that they play a bigger part in the war than they originally thought. Even though they haven't been romantically involved for long, they figured that they would rather die as husband and wife, "I am his and he is mine, from this day, until the end of my days,"

"Under Mara and the rest of the Divines, I take this woman as my wife," Brynjolf vows in unison with Xaliyah, also smiling down at her, "I am hers and she is mine, from this day, until the end of my days,"

The couple doesn't even bother looking over at the priest of Mara who is officiating their wedding. Instead, they smile up at each other as the priest raises his hands, "With Mara's blessing, I now declare you husband and wife," he announces loudly and the two beam up at one another as Brynjolf raises his hand and places his finger under Xaliyah's chin, raising her head slightly as he takes a step closer towards her, bending his head down and connecting their lips in a kiss, sealing their marriage.

~

Taliyah leans back in her chair, reaching forward and grabbing her tankard, swirling its contents while she listens to the conversations around her. She pays no mind to the actual words exchanged, just to the laughter and voices. It was really loud in the room. Granted it is dinner time and every soldier is rushing down here to get their free meals, but the noise is getting to her.

"When is Ayla supposed to be back?" She asks, setting her tankard back on the table, glancing around at her friends, "it's pretty obvious that we're running out of food," she adds, poking at the small steak on her plate with her knife.

"Mammoths are a tough beast to take down," Asteria explains after she takes a drink of her ale, "not to mention that they're giant's pets. It will take some time until she returns," Tal sets her tankard aside and continues her work on sharpening one of her blades.

"I would have liked to have gone," Athena mutters into her tankard before taking a drink from it, "to take down a beast as big as a mammoth is a difficult task but a good fight nonetheless. Shame she didn't ask me to go along,"

Asteria shakes her head, "she didn't ask anyone to go," she explains, glancing over at the Harbinger, "the soldiers she did take with her returned saying that it was only her and Stormcloak going to hunt down a mammoth,"

"Ayla has been spending a lot of time with Stormcloak," Tal observes, running her fork along the rim of her tankard, looking at the others through her eyebrows and her free arm lying across her chest as she is leaning back in her chair, "I wonder why," she adds with a softer tone of voice.

"Are you suggesting that Ayla and Ulfric might be...involved?" Athena questions the assassin with raised eyebrows. Tal meets her gaze and shrugs.

"It just seems that they have been spending a lot of time together,"

"They're allies in the middle of a war," Asteria reminds the two, her voice calm and neutral, "of course they'd spend a lot of time together," Tal rolls her eyes at the elf's comment and takes a deep breath.

"Even if they aren't involved now, it could happen," she explains in a slow tone, hoping the other two are listening, "the amount of time they spend together, feelings could blossom as well as sexual tension, and before we know it, Ayla is the High Queen,"

"She doesn't want to be High Queen," Athena reminds Tal, who makes an annoyed sound.

"She could change her mind, you know," Tal explains in an annoyed tone, "she could become the most powerful woman in Skyrim if she did,"

Asteria shakes her head, a few white curls escaping her bun, "you know Ayla just as well as we do," she points out, meeting the assassin's gaze head-on, "Ayla is not a woman to sit on a throne and let others fight her battles. She also loathes politics, so why would she sacrifice her freedom for a life of duty and expectations?"

"I don't know, Asteria," Tal snaps, "I was just observing the fact that our dear Dragonborn has been hanging around Stormcloak and there might be feelings between the two. I never said that they will get married," she ignores the table's stares, none of them shocked at her outburst. Asteria sighs and goes back to her food, deciding to be the bigger person and stopping the discussion then and there.

"Has anyone seen Xaliyah?" Athena asks after a few moments of silence, lifting her head to look around the cafeteria in hopes of seeing the brunette thief. The rest of the table join in the search except for Tal, who pushes a carrot around on her plate.

"She said she will be eating in her room tonight," Tal declares after letting the group get worried about their missing friend, "she isn't feeling good and also that we shouldn't worry about her," she looks up to see everyone staring at her in silence, obviously trying to figure out if what she said was the truth, "it's the truth, honestly," she adds and the others shrug before settling back down in their seats, a comfortable silence enveloping the group.

~

"I need your honest opinion, Bryn," Xaliyah says as they walk through the forest, hand in hand, "do you think getting married was a rash decision? Should we have waited?" an owl hoots from a nearby tree, momentarily drowning out the crickets, as a gentle breeze blows through the trees. Brynjolf stops walking and turns towards his wife, who stops and looks up at him, brows furrowed in confusion.

"Lass, hear me out," he explains slowly, nothing but love in his gaze, "even though we didn't confess till a few weeks ago, I have been in love with you since you joined the Guild. I knew there was something different about you when I saw you in Riften so long ago," he pauses, glancing to his right for a few seconds as he takes a breath before meeting her gaze, "I remember how you handled every challenge we threw at you with confidence and a skill I haven't seen all my life. I remember when Mercer returned with the news of your death, how I ran through Riften and even rode off towards Windhelm to find you. I remember..."

He stops there, stepping forward and placing his hand against her cheek, "I remember the fear that coursed through me that I really lost you and I regret the fact that I didn't reveal my true feelings towards you sooner," Xaliyah stares up at him in stunned silence heart racing in her chest.

"Bryn, I'm here and I'm okay, I promise," she reassures him in a soft voice, placing her hand over his, "I'm not going anywhere anytime soon," she pauses for a few seconds before sending him a warm smile, "you're stuck with me," she adds, her smile turning into a smirk.

Brynjolf sighs, looking away while shaking his head before walking off, "by the Nine," he mutters under his breath while Xaliyah smiles at his back, "and here I thought that by marrying you, it would finally get you off of my back," he adds, stopping ten feet away and turning to look at his beautiful wife, who is shaking her head with a smile on her face.

Xaliyah walks over towards him and wraps her arms around his waist, "you thought wrong, Bryn," she reminds him with a triumphant voice, "now, we only have a few days celebrating our marriage, how do you wanna start?"

Bryn only smiles down at her, the breeze blowing a few strands of his hair, "I have a few ideas in mind, lass," he explains, grabbing her hands and leading her forward, "I guess we'll be spending them here," he stops and steps out of the way, revealing a large cabin in front of them. It isn't the grandest of cabins, but for her it was everything.

"Bryn, as much as I love this," she says, looking over at her, "we need to go break it in," she adds with a wink aimed at him. The redhead shakes his head while smiling before walking over to her and picking her up bridal style.

"Aye, then we best get started, lass," he says in a low voice and Xaliyah bites her lips to keep a moan from escaping. This was going to be a fun and interesting night.