“I feel like everyone is staring at us.” Hammerleaf fidgeted with the collar of his shirt as he cast wary eyes around Whiterun’s marketplace.

 

Swordsinger straightened the bodice of her dress to hide her own nerves as she angled toward a fruit stand at the edge of the square. “They will be if you don’t stop acting so suspicious. Calm down. I thought you said you could act.”

 

“That was before I knew every damn Imperial in Skyrim would be here.”

 

There were far more than she had hoped, it was true. But she wasn’t telling him that. “What did you expect? They’re getting ready for a war.”

 

“I expected them to need time to gather forces.”

 

“Well, it has been two weeks. Just relax. Blend in, do what everyone else is doing. Don’t get bent out of shape.”

 

Hammerleaf snorted. “I’ll be as inconspicuous as a bit of lint.”

 

Swordsinger laughed as they passed the last stall. No alarms had rung out and no one appeared to be following them. Or have paid any attention to them at all. Somehow, that just made her more nervous.

 

 “I think that’s as much as we’ll be able to see on the inside. Now we just need to get a look at the walls from the outside.”

 

“Right. You still haven’t told me how we’re going to manage that. Surely they will be suspicious of people studying their walls.”

 

“I’m not sure yet. Maybe if someone stops us, we can tell them we’re looking for a lost sheep?”

 

“Oh, yes. We definitely look like shepherds.  Do you know anything about sheep?”

 

“Um…they’re furry and tasty?”

 

“Furry? That’s wool, not fur! How do you not even know that much?”

 

Swordsinger shrugged. “There weren’t any sheep where I grew up. I didn’t know they existed until I got here.”

 

“No sheep? Where did you grow up?”

 

“Hammerfell, of course. Where did you think?”

 

Hammerleaf frowned. “I…guess I hadn’t thought about it. There aren’t sheep in Hammerfell?”

 

“If there are, I never saw them. Of course, I was kept pretty cloistered.”

 

“Cloistered? Were you part of a temple?”

 

“No, not like that.”

 

Swordsinger pursed her lips as Hammerleaf’s question reframed some memories. A temple was a large building set aside for a specific purpose filled with people who had dedicated themselves to a singular goal that they practiced daily. She thought of the mansion on the hill, far above the city proper; of the dozens of warriors honing their craft every hour of every day; of the way the people of the city had brought them food and wine. Not unlike offerings.

 

“Although kinda similar, now that you mention it. I hadn’t thought of it that way before.” It was an uncomfortable thought and she hastened to put it out of her mind.

 

“What…”

 

“Quiet, we’re near the gates. Act normal.”

 

“It is normal for people to talk while they walk, you know.”

 

“Shh!” Swordsinger linked her arm with Hammerleaf’s as they passed through the front gate of the city. She told herself it was just part of their ruse – a normal couple doing normal things, nothing to see here, haha! – but beyond that, his solid presence helped bolster her more than she cared to admit to herself.

 

They passed through the inner gate and across the drawbridge, then followed the road in a broad curve to the outer gate. They walked in silence for a time before Swordsinger poked Hammerleaf.

 

“Did you see that setup?”

 

“Of course. Getting that drawbridge down will be the hardest part. Not sure how it can be done, honestly.”

 

“There is a way. The top of the wall bridges that gap.”

 

“Yes, but the only stairs to the top of the wall are on the other side of the drawbridge. Unless you want to bring a ladder to the battle.”

 

“We might not need to bring a ladder. Come on, let’s check the walls.”

 

She steered them off the road. The land around Whiterun consisted of undulating plains that stretched out in all directions. They followed the wall at a far enough distance that she hoped it would look like they were taking a nice stroll, not scoping out weak points. Although on this face, there didn’t appear to be any – the solid stone walls rose thirty feet above their heads.

 

Hammerleaf’s voice sounded grim. “Rather imposing from this angle.”

 

“Yes, but…”

 

“Hey!”

 

A voice from behind made her jump, although gratifyingly, she felt Hammerleaf jump as well. They turned as one.

 

Swordsinger forced what she hoped was an innocent smile as a small contingent of Whiterun guards approached. “Hm?”

 

The lead guard frowned. “What are you doing here?”

 

“Oh, um…” Swordsinger began, but the guard interrupted her.

 

“The ceremony is on the other side of the wall. Don’t you know east from west? Hurry up, it’s starting soon.”

 

“Ah! The ceremony! Yes, sorry!” Swordsinger leaned forward and whispered in a conspiratorial tone, “He insisted it was this way. I told him we should ask for directions, but…”

 

“Oh, sure, blame it on me!” Hammerleaf sounded just the right amount of aggravated. Perhaps he could act after all! “You’re just like your mother, you know that?”

 

The guards snorted laughs but Swordsinger’s glare as she unliked her arm from his and stepped back was very real.

 

“Oh, I am not! And you should thank all the Divines I am not. If you think I’m…”

 

The guard interrupted her rant just as she was starting to warm up by clearing his throat. “The ceremony will start any moment, so hurry along. And good luck, sir!” The guards laughed again as they headed back to the road.

 

Swordsinger bit her tongue to quell the rest of her protest but, though the words had been in jest, her rage would not subside so easily. She turned, grinding her teeth as she stalked the way they had come.

 

“By Talos, slow down. What’s gotten into you?”

 

“Nothing.” Everything.

 

Her mother, the prodigy who had manifested her y̌êz buud at the age of ten, who had nearly single-handedly won the last war. Who had succeeded at everything she set her mind to until she tried to mold her daughter into a weapon of even stronger potency.

 

“It’s just…I’m not my mother.” I’m my mother’s only failure.

 

“Swordsinger…” Hammerleaf began, but that ironic name bit all the more.

 

“It’s funny that Silk chose that as my new name. Swordsinger. It’s what my…what the people in the temple-like-thing where I grew up were called. My mother was the youngest Ansei in history.”

 

“It was meant as a joke, as part of the act. You know that. I’ve never even met your mother, so how could I mean it?”

 

“I know, I’m sorry, I just…” Swordsinger took a deep breath as they rounded the southwestern corner. “I wasn’t prepared for…oh, no.” She slowed to a stop. “It can't be...”

 

“Ah, you’re just in time!”

 

They turned as one to find a woman smiling at them. She wore a wreath of white flowers and nothing else, but there was no mistaking a priestess of Dibella, goddess of beauty and love. She motioned toward the grassy slope that was dotted with couples, all of them just as naked as she. “Find a spot and disrobe. The ceremony will begin very soon!”

 

A thousand curses stormed through Swordsinger's mind but she forced herself to smile. Of all the bloody luck.