Farm. That meant food, water... rest.
That last word hung in Eva's mind and she urged the horse on towards the farm. Unfortunately, Eva didnt have the energy left to actually dismount and approach the door, instead falling out of the sadle onto the dusty ground.
A nordic woman, clearly aged, had looked up as Eva entered the farming grounds. She instinctively knew that something was wrong as soon as she arrived and hurried over. She was too late to prevent the woman from falling from the sadle, but that didn't stop her from attempting to help and calling out for her husband.
-----
Eva's mind stirred slowly and she then awoke with a start, sitting up and trying to adjust her eyes to the dim glow from the basement of the hovel she was in.
"Didn't think you'd be up with such a start" Came an elderly voice from behind. Eva looked around with a start to see the owner of the voice, an old nordic woman with grey hair, walking down the stairs with a pitcher in her hand.
"Thank you" Eva said, nodding her head"
"Your an imperial. I didn't think you'd butcher me after I was done fixing you up"
"And a grand job you've done looking after me" Eva said, smiling lightly and turning to sit on the edge of her bed.
"Now now, don't get up to quickly. Going to take a while to weed that poison out of your system"
"Poison?" Eva asked with alarm.
"A combination of honeycomb and Deathbell. Both substances are easy to come by so its easy to fix. Found it had entered through that arm wound of yours" The woman said, jabbing it with her finger. Eva winced in pain. So that explained why she became tired so quickly. An awkwardness held in the air for a few seconds.
"I'm Eva" Eva said, making a light informal curtsey to the woman.
"Ingvild" The elderly woman said, completely straightfaced and unmoving. "Thorvald should be upstairs finishing up with dinner. Come and share it with us"
-----
Dinner was far better than any legion rations Eva had been given. Chicken had been thrown into a pot with a wide assortment of vegetables and mixed together to form a rather tasteful stew. Although the liquid was slightly thick, it gave a delicious edge to it, locking in the flavour.
"So tell me, Eva" Thorvald said, finishing his portion and helping himself to more. "How does a legionaire like you end up unconscious on our doorstep?". Thorvald had an extremely thick nordic accent which for a moment made a few words difficult to understand.
"Former legionaire" Eva said quietly. Thorvald stared blankly at her.
"Why'd you leave?" He asked flatly.
"I was released from active service on account of fradulent behaviour" Eva said, clearly annoyed at the reason.
"Fradulent?" Thorvald said, his emotion unchanging.
"Apparently a deep hatred for the white gold concordat counts as fradulent behaviour... That and locking a senior member of the Thalmor in his room"
Thorvald rumbled a deep laugh in his belly. He reached down his shirt, pulled something out and tossed it to Eva. It was a dragon in the shape of a diamond, the symbol of the legion.
"They gave me that when I retired. But I'm still a legionaire. Deep down, so are you"
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door: "Thalmor Justiciars! Open up now!" Came a voice from outside.
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