Aithne's story part 50 - A Proposal for a Graduate of the College of Winterhold
Entry posted by jfraser in Aithne's story
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“That was such a good speech! It made me want to go out and conquer the world! And the tribute for Savos was nice, even if I didn’t like him.”
Brelyna laughed. “You actually listened to it? I didn’t think anyone ever listened to graduation speeches!”
Onmund nodded as he stretched. “Yeah, I fell asleep.”
Aithne could not believe her ears. “Really? How could you fall asleep? This is so exciting!”
“For you, it is, J’zargo agrees,” agreed J’zargo. “You were one of the graduates, after all. But we three still have many years to go.”
“Oh. That’s true.”
Brelyna gave Aithne a quick hug. “We’re excited for you, of course. But it’s harder to stay awake during speeches than it is during lectures. At least you learn something from lectures!”
Onmund scoffed. “Sometimes. Remember that Ward lecture from Tolfdir? ‘Here is everything you already knew about Wards!’ I would rather sit through twelve commencement speeches back-to-back than hear another lecture like that.”
J’zargo ducked his head. “J’zargo must confess…he was not at the ceremony at all.”
“What? But I saw…”
“J’zargo made an illusion of himself. But it was for good reason!”
Aithne laughed. “Oh yes? And who was this good reason?”
Khajiits cannot blush, but J’zargo made a fine attempt. “J’zargo was with Kit.”
Aithne’s laughter redoubled. “Again? I thought you two were done!”
“So did J’zargo. Imagine his surprise!”
“I am doing just that!”
After the laughter had died down, Brelyna gave Aithne another squeeze. “Now that you’ve graduated – in record time! I’m so jealous! - do you have any plans? I heard some of the other graduates talking about job offers they’ve received. Did you get any?”
Plans? Aithne blinked. It had not occurred to her that anything might change after graduation. Her life would go on as it had, only she wouldn’t have to spend all that time in classes. Unimagined possibilities appeared from nowhere, pools of fortune spread out in front of her feet beckoning toward unknowable futures.
She shook her head. To her, they appeared less like pools of possibilities and more of black pits of uncertainty. She shied away from them, leaning instead into the comfort of what she knew.
“Um…no. I hadn’t really thought…I mean…”
“J’zargo can’t help but imagine what Archmage Aren would have said.” The Khajiit’s voice thinned and squeezed. “‘You are no longer a student! You must depart at once!’”
The other three burst out laughing and Onmund gave the cat a pound on the back. “I had no idea you did such a great impression of him!”
“J’zargo has many skills of which you are not aware.”
“Apparently!”
They arrived at the Arcaneum and Aithne paused and turned to her friends. “We’re still on for tomorrow night in town, right?”
Brelyna said, “Are you kidding? We wouldn’t miss it for the world!” at the same time Onmond nodded and said, “Of course.” and J’zargo bowed and said, “J’zargo looks forward to your party.”
Aithne laughed and hugged them all, then turned and skipped through the library toward home.
As she entered the suite, she called out, “Hi! I’m…” but then stopped.
The enticing smell of something delicious filled the air. Urag and Chtonji, dressed in their finest robes, were waiting in the bedroom as she entered. Her lover looked the same as he always did – imposing, serious, and sexy as hell – and, for once, Chtonji stood still, his three-and-a-half-year-old face doing its best to mimic his father’s.
Aithne blinked as uncertainty came over her. “What’s wrong? Why do you look so serious?” She looked around warily as old fears began to percolate on the edges of her mind. Perhaps something had happened and her graduation had been revoked? Maybe…
“Aithne.”
Urag’s rumbling voice shook her from her thoughts and she turned her full attention to him.
“Today is the twenty-second of Sun’s Dawn of the year 207.”
“Um…yes?” Aithne’s heart beat so hard she feared it might crash from her chest. She looked from one orc to the other, but apparently Chtonji had learned self-restraint in the hours between this morning and now because he gave not even a glimmer of a suggestion of a hint about what was going on.
“The day we met, the day you entered this college, was the twenty-second of Sun’s Dusk, five years ago.”
“I…” Had it been so long? Or so short? She remembered the moment Colette had teleported her to the college with visceral detail. It seemed only last year yet somehow also seemed like a hundred years ago.
“I know much has happened. Both before that time and since. Neither of us are the same people we were then.”
That was certainly true, but it was only because of him. If he hadn’t…
“But the past is the past. I would like to speak of the future. As you came to me on Sun’s Dusk, during the sun’s fading embers, so now I would speak of Sun’s Dawn, when all things are renewed.”
“Um…”
“I know it is not entirely possible to erase the past. We cannot help but carry those scars. But, just perhaps, we can make a future so bright that those scars seem dim and insignificant.”
“That sounds nice, but I don’t…”
Urag heaved toward her and Aithne took an inadvertent step back as a squeak slipped from her throat. But the movement was not what she expected. Instead of lunging at her, as she had somehow anticipated, he sank down.
A heartbeat later, he was on one knee. As her brain feverishly scrambled to make some sort of sense out of…well, everything, Chtonji stepped forward and held out a beautifully carved wooden box. Urag took it with something resembling reverence, stroked it for a moment, then turned it and held it up toward Aithne.
“Aithne Nuvisfi Shae, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?” He opened the box as he said it, revealing the Amulet of Mara within.
So many sensations ran through her all at once, her mind could not fathom them, let alone begin to untangle them. Comprehension left her and her senses followed; the air seemed to have been sucked out of the room, taking the light with it. Hours or days or minutes or seconds passed, all while time stood still.
Wife
Aithne Nuvisfi Shae
Honor
Becoming
Aithne Nuvisfi Shae
Wife
Honor
Wife
Becoming
She blinked and sucked in a breath she had not realized she had been holding, and light re-entered her world. Still, all she could see was the Amulet, its thumb-sized blue sapphire shining in its nest of silver filigree so bright, it seemed ablaze.
Aithne Nuvisfi Shae
Becoming
Wife
Without thinking – an exercise that was far beyond her mind’s current capability – she blurted out the first words that trickled to her tongue.
“How do you know my name?”
Urag laughed, though his arms holding the box never wavered. Beside him, Chtonji showed the first signs of fidgeting. Somehow that helped Aithne come back to the present more fully; the haze cleared like a snap and it was just her in a room with her family.
Urag raised his eyebrows. “I am an expert at research. And I have had a long time to research you.”
“I…you have?”
“Of course. Five years in plenty of time to research almost anything.”
“I…guess. But…”
“Your parents, I’m sure you would like to know, are fine. Your father bought a second ship with the money from the military after…well, you know….and now runs a small but growing fleet. I know you said you wanted them to stay at peace about you, but if you ever change your mind…”
“You’ve talked to them?!”
“No, just had some contacts look into them. I thought you would like to know.”
“I…thank you. But…”
“Is this you stalling because you don’t want to answer the question? Or…”
“No!” A panicked spark shot through her, though she knew he was teasing. “I mean Yes! Of course, yes! I’d love to marry you!”
His smile lit up her heart, which pounded anew as he stood, removed the amulet from the box, and stepped behind her. She held her hair with trembling fingers as he fastened the silver chain around her neck, then let go to reach down and touch the smooth stone as it lay against her chest.
Urag touched her cheek and, in a moment of release, she cried out and jumped into his arms. Tears sprang unbidden down her cheeks and she buried her head in the chest of her fiancé and sobbed as their son gave up on all this boring stuff and ran off to break something.
Never could she have imagined such overwhelming joy.
Edited by jfraser
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