“Lydia, you’re not my slave.”
Lydia jumped, staring at the newly-minted thane of Whiterun. “My apologies. I was...distracted.”
Evangeline arched an eyebrow. “You’ve been in a bit of a mood since we left Dragonreach. If you don’t want to be my...what was it...”
“Housecarl,” Lydia supplied.
“Yes. If you want me to release you, then that’s fine. It’s not like I have much of a house at the moment to-” Evangeline stopped, nodding. “Ah. You wanted Breezehome.”
“As thane, your claim-”
“By the Eight or Nine or whatever,” Evangeline sighed. “Before this I was bent over a stump about to have my head chopped off.” She shook her head. “You’d think I’d worked my way up to a simple hanging by now. But I don’t have nearly enough to buy the place, much less decorate it. Nor do you, I imagine.”
“No. My family owned a farm near Riverwood, but I wasn’t really cut out for farming. I joined the guard, and managed to work my way up the ranks. Another few months and...what?”
“I’ve managed to pick up a few things I can sell for some extra coin. Between that and those dragon scales I sold to Farengar, maybe we could go in together?”
Lydia smirked. “I think he was ready to faint when you made the offer. If you’re sure about this, thane.”
“Please, Evangeline will be fine. Or ‘Lady Del Rio’, if you must be formal.”
It was Lydia’s turn to arch an eyebrow. “And how often has that happened,” she asked, deadpan.
“Someday, it will. Come on, let’s talk to Proventus.” The two turned to head back to Dragonsreach.
“How about Evie?” Evangeline shook her head. “Apologies, tha...Evangeline. Someone you’re close to?”
“No. Well, not yet. But if you’re interested.” Evangeline stopped as Lydia’s face flushed. “My turn to apologise. I am sorry, Lydia.”
“Don’t be. I’m not...well, I’ve never been that interested in that...sort of thing.”
“Understood. I’ll watch myself. Friends?”
Lydia smiled. “Always. Unless you betray Jarl Balgruff.”
“Good to know where I stand.”
“We both serve him.”
==
Two hours later, Evangeline and Lydia walked out of Dragonsreach, the key to Breezehome in their possession. “Well, that cost a bit more than expected.” Lydia huffed. “And I thought I knew the man.”
“It was tricky,” Evangeline smiled. “Reminded me of watching my mom negotiate with the local fishery guild. I think they would have gotten on famously.”
“You’re sure about this?” Lydia glanced in the direction of the large mountain to the south.
“Well, I expect that this is going to wind up with me chasing over at least a third of Skyrim. It would be nice to have a permanent place to rest my head. And this has to be an upgrade over the barracks.”
Lydia nodded. “We’re better off than the guards in Falkreath, that’s for sure. Between the Imperial forces and Siddegir...well, letting his steward run the place, this is stable by comparison. Dragons notwithstanding.” Lydia glanced at the tree outside the temple of Kynareth. “Damn shame. You should have seen it-” She stopped, then ran over to one of the benches. Curious, Evangeline followed her.
“Lucia!” Lydia knelt before a young girl in a worn green dress. “Lucia, what happened?” Evangeline got close enough to see eyes that were red from crying, as well as what was looking like the beginnings of a nasty bruise on one cheek. Lydia’s voice went quiet. “Who did this to you?”
“Belethor,” Lucia sniffled. “He accused me of stealing an apple from Carlotta’s stand. And when I told him Mila gave it to me he called me a liar and tried to take the apple out of my hand.”
“That horrible man from the general store?” Evangeline asked, voice going cold. She started towards Belethor's store, but Lydia's hand grabbed her sword arm.
“Don’t. Believe me, I’m tempted as well.” Lydia stood up. “Damn it. Normally I’d give you a few septims for a room at the Bannered Mare, but...” the housecarl stopped. “Lady Del Rio...think there’s room for one more at Breezehome?”
Evangeline’s anger vanished. “Now that I’ve actually heard it, I think I like ‘Evie’.” She knelt down. “Lucia, right?” The girl nodded. “Well, Jarl Balgruf named me a thane of Whiterun, and Lydia and I just bought Breezehome. It’ll take some work, but...would you like to live with us?”
Lucia blinked, disbelieving. “You...you mean it?”
Lydia nodded. “Yes. While...Evie...” Lydia’s mouth twitched, prompting a giggle from Lucia...”ahem, Lady Del Rio will be out a lot, but I would be happy to take care of you. As my daughter.”
“You can do that?”
“Property ownership has its advantages,” Evangeline replied. Lucia squealed in delight and threw her arms around Lydia. “Come on. Let’s see what Breezehome looks like.”
==
“Always bloody spiders. Without fail.” Evangeline brushed the sleeve of her tunic, the unfamiliar weight of her sword (or ‘a bloody hunk of iron’ as she called it) chafing slightly on her hip. They’d managed to clear out enough of the detritus inside the home to set up a few cots to sleep on, and got the firepit in the centre of the floor cleared out enough to cook a basic but filling breakfast. And prompted everyone to open every door and window in the house to let the smoke out. Followed by the two adults debating how many draugr crypts would have to be raided in order to get the septims for a proper oven built into the side of the house. Lydia had a cousin trying to sell something he’d invented called an ‘aga’, but he also was a follower of Sheogorath, so that idea was quickly dismissed.
“So, you gave that little street urchin a home?” Evangeline turned around to see Belethor had stepped out of his store. “As a fellow Bretonian, just let me say that-”
“What on earth is that?” Belethor involuntarily looked in the direction Evangeline indicated, and was laid out a second later by a right hook. There was a sudden smattering of applause from the people in the marketplace.
“How dare you-” Belethor staggered to his feet, rubbing his jaw.
“Lucia is staying with me now, and is the adopted daughter of my housecarl Lydia. Give her any more trouble and we’ll see what this whole Dragonborn business is really all about. Understand?” Belethor nodded, still glaring. He made his way back to his store, then slammed the door shut.
“Welcome to Whiterun,” Evangeline sighed.