Homesteading XIII

"I don't mind if I do." Gerdur obliges happily after tying up her horse.

Joining us for dinner, we have a few venison folhans and I top them with lettuce and tomato much to everyone's shock, but they quickly imitate me and discover the deliciousness of the food… Though, I really miss mustard and mayonnaise.

As I weep internally at the loss of such essential condiments, Gerdur speaks up.

"Everything here seems to be coming along well, and you even seem to be getting some color back in ya." Gerdur comments.

"Thank you, I've been doing better. I feel I should be back to my normal self in a few more days, but speaking of doing good, you seem to be well off." I say, commenting on her new clothes and horse.

"That's cause I am!" Gerdur laughs before continuing to explain, "With the income of a second mill, I've been able to save quite a tidy little sum by filling local orders. I decided to splurge a little and get some clothes from Lucien and a new horse from up in Whiterun."

"I'm glad that mill is working out for you. Though I hope you're ready for more work." I ask.

"Of course! Can you ever have enough money?" Gerdur says with a hearty laugh.

"Not in my opinion, but we can do that business tomorrow. For now, I'm going to bed. I wish you a restful night." I tell her as I head off to my tent since I hadn't finished a bed for my room yet.

"And you too." Gerdur says with a wave of her hand as I walk away.

I enter my tent to see Sofia laying down covered in blankets, while fast asleep.

"Huh, they seem to be going to bed early lately." I muse to myself before joining Sofia under the covers.

"Silvy… Don't be so gentle, you know how I like it… Flatten that venison steak…" Sofia says with a slight trickle of drool falling from her mouth.

"Lord, this woman even makes innuendos in her sleep." I say rolling my eyes before kissing her cheek.

I have another dreamless sleep, deciding to forgo leveling up again.

I wake up with the birds chirping once again.

This time it seems that Sofia woke up before me and has left to go and get some food.

I leave my tent to see Sofia and M'rissi sharing, honey-covered chicken? What is up with them? Though… I could go for some fried chicken… And fries… And now I'm hungry.

I use some lard, melting it down over a cauldron, before slicing up some potatoes that had been bought from local farmers, then placing them in the boiling oil. After a few minutes, I pull them out and sprinkle them with a pinch of salt. To top it all off, I quickly fry an egg before placing over the fries, popping the yolk before digging.

"Mmmm, that smells delicious my friend, next time cook some for all of us!" Inigo says with a smile.

"Yeah, maybe we should make you the camp cook, Boss." Lokir chimes in with a smirk.

"Don't tempt me, I might just retire and open an inn." I joke back.

"You might earn more money that way." Lokir quips back and breakfast continues like that for about half an hour.

After everyone is done, Lokir hands out their construction orders and him, Inigo, Gerdur, and I gather together. The other three mounted on their horses while I'm securing my bag on my back.

"Are you not riding a horse?" Gerdur asks with a peculiar look.

"Don't worry about me, just try and keep up." I tell her with a smirk, securing my boots.

"Fine, have fun staring at my horse's rear end! See you when you get to Helgen!" Gerdur laughs, snapping her reigns and driving her steed forward.

"I guess, that means we're going?" Lokir says following behind Gerdur.

"Do not be too late, my friend!" Inigo laughs as he drives his horse after the racing duo.

I chuckle to myself before letting them get out of sight, checking my map, I angle myself for a straight run to Helgen and then take off.

Launching myself forward with my shockwave before sprinting and using the longstride spell. While my stamina and its regeneration are still curtailed by that curse, when I really push myself only stopping to drink stamina and magika potions before rushing on to the town.

It takes about an hour and a half, rushing at full speed. I'm greeted with a closed gate and not a horse in sight, so I finally breathe a sigh of relief pushing open the gate and taking a moment to catch my breath and to regenerate my magika.

I pull out a mead and channel a little frost magic into my hand to chill it to a comfortable temperature before taking a drink as the guards notice my arrival.

We nod to each other before they continue their patrol.

I lean on the open gate leisurely awaiting their arrival.

It takes a whole hour before I see Gerdur's horse cresting the bend in the road, with Inigo and Lokir close behind, only slowing down when they notice me relaxing against the open gate.

"Oh? Did you guys finally make it? I was just about to take a nap." I tell them with an exaggerated yawn.

"How did you beat us here?" Gedur asks in disbelief.

"A master never reveals their secrets." I tell her much to her, much to her chagrin..

"Hmpf, fine. Well, let's go meet this new partner of ours." Gerdur says with dissatisfaction as she dismounts and ties up her horse with Inigo and Lokir doing the same before the three follow me to the keep.

We go down into the basement to find Marcus sitting alone at a table and Valerius.

"Finally made it back. I got everyone ready for the meeting, are you guys ready?" I tell him.

"Ah, yes! We've been waiting for you. Now that you're here we have a matter of grave importance to discuss with you." Marcus says standing up and turning towards Valerius.

"Jannus, it has to work, we have no choice. Now then…" Valerius says as two of his men run up from deeper within the keep dressed in imperial armor.