(AN: I have depression. The time skips are making my brain evaporate.)

10th of Suns’ Height, Fredas, 197 4E

“Come on! Summon the fire!”

I stand sweating in front of a tree, Mother at my side. She’s been trying to teach me fire magic, despite the fact that we are currently in a large, dense forest.

Many other Bosmer have already sent rather vicious glares in our direction, with even Mother looking uneasy, and flinching whenever I let out a small spark.

“Are you sure about this? I don’t really want to burn down all of Valenwood . . .” I ask her, trying to mask my mental exhaustion.

Magicka isn’t free, and I’ve been using way more than I actually have.

I’ve become pretty good at frost spells already, I’m really bad at fire spells, and I haven’t learned anything about shock spells yet. By now I’m already regretting not learning something else.

I’m also wishing for some spell tomes, which immediately master your knowledge of a certain spell.

I’ve only ever seen a few, and they were in the Summerset Isles. They really like magic over there, but the Bosmer mainly prefer the bow.

“Come on, a simple flame spell should be easy, at least burn the tree,” Mother says, looking exasperated. I could tell why though, because I’m sure most people learn magic a lot faster than I am.

Then again, most people who learn magic have spell tomes.

I grumble, and strain my hands to send a jet of flame at the tree.

A few sparks fly out of my hands, but nothing else happens.

Frustration overcomes all exhaustion, annoyance, and despair. I imagine the tree as a pile of ash, and send out a small fireball.

Mother looks surprised as I leave a smoking crater in the tree.

I feel the exact same way, staring in shock at my hands.

But before I can get proper praise for nearly pulverizing a treasured stick, Frey comes out to meet us.

He gapes at the fairly large indentation in the tree, and looks disgruntled for several more minutes.

“Well, Frey, what’s up?” Mother asks him, looking a bit confused.

He shrugs, and goes to sit on a log a few feet away.

I try to ignore him for the rest of the training session, but find it almost impossible. Having a confusing twin that’s sitting right behind you is distracting. I lost all the scraps of focus I had left because of him.

Mother eventually left after giving me a potion, and I sat next to Frey to regain my energy.

“Frey, there must have been some sort of reason you came out here, there’s plenty more to do than to watch me fail miserably at magic.”

“I had a reason for coming out here, but now I don’t know what it was. I’m literally just sitting here trying to remember.”

I shrug, but then his head perks up.

“Oh, sis, how good do you think you are at archery yet? Are you liking it?”

I shrug again, but feel a small sense of satisfaction, due to immense improvement from when I started.

“Why?” I ask, feeling very confused.

“You know that merchant we met? He got arrested for conspiring against the Thalmor, and now his little brother is running the merchandise. He set lower prices.”

I think about what Frey is implying for a couple of minutes. It’s obvious he wants to buy something, but I still don’t understand all the appeal of archery, no matter how satisfying it is.

“I mean . . . you can go buy something if you want, but I’m not sure what there is for you to get at the moment.”

He shrugged, and left, probably going to go explore the markets. I sit around and wonder why Frey is suddenly so interested in archery. It’s fun, and useful, but there’s not much to it.

I eventually go back to the inn to look for Mother. I haven’t seen her in a while.

Back in the room, I find nothing, but quickly lose interest in tracking down my remaining parent.

–

(Yrsa pov)

“So what do you want?”

I shout this at the blond breton in front of me, not even trying to conceal my annoyance.

“We need you to do something about the Thalmor building a few miles off! It’s getting out of hand, and if we ever want true freedom again, they need to die!”

I grumble, and worriedly think about my children. I probably wouldn’t survive the attack, even if Delphine is smart enough to send reinforcements. They aren’t stupid, but they do care about me.

I do want revenge. But risking my family is not worth it.

“Delphine, why can’t you make someone else do it? I have a family, I can’t just go on a suicide mission without ruining their lives.”

“You’re the best of us, isn't that reason enough!?”

Sparks fly from my fingers, nearly making the table catch fire. I try to calm down, but eventually give up.

“Fine, I’ll do it. But don’t expect anything else from me ever again.”

I say this firmly, still faintly trying to convince her to either turn back on the plan, or make someone else do it.

Delphine looks annoyed as I leave the room, and seriously consider burning the building down.

A few hours later, back at the inn, I found Freyja obsessing over me.

“Mother,” I hear her say, looking worried. “What’s going on? You’re never really this quiet.”

I sigh.

“I don’t know Freyja, I’m just worried about you and your brother.”

I cringe at myself for lying, but tell myself it’s for the best.

‘Let’s just hope this goes well . . .’