“Tara!”
Tara leapt out of bed and grabbed her axes. She took two steps towards her bedroom door. It burst open. Rigmor stood there.
“My Queen! Are you are okay? Is it Kintyra?” Tara asked. She kept her grip on her axes.
Rigmor looked Tara over, then burst out laughing.
Tara looked down. She was wearing her night clothes, which consisted of a tattered gray merchant’s shirt, with the strings to keep the collar closed undone, revealing her cleavage. The other item of clothing she wore was her undergarments. The tail of the shirt ended just above them, showing off too much of her. She felt her face go red.
Tara set her axes down and wrapped the bed cover around her.
“My apologies, my Queen. You shouldn’t see me this way.” She bowed her head.
Rigmor’s face had gone serious. “No,” she said. “I’m sorry. I should have known yelling your name would put you on alert. You’re very protective of Kintyra and me.”
“It’s my job, my lady…”
“Rigmor, Tara,” Rigmor interrupted. “Call me Rigmor when it’s just us in private.”
Tara nodded. “What do you need?”
“I want to go for a walk.” Rigmor said. “Around the city.”
“I’ll get dressed and escort you. Are we taking Kintyra with us?”
“No. Cerys is with her.”
Tara nodded. Cerys would guard Kintyra with her life. Marius was patrolling the palace, too. Plus palace guards were around. Kintyra would be safe.
Tara washed her face in the water basin. What time was it? Her room had no windows. She looked over at her oil lamp. She kept the flame low, so it didn’t disturb her sleep.
She didn’t want her windowless room completely dark, in case there was an emergency. The oil lamp helped Tara adjust to any changes in light faster. She could be ready for anything in an instant.
It had to be early. Tara slept for a few hours most nights. The premonitions woke her up. Not the one of Rigmor. The other one, of Geonette. Of her ancestor in a forest, approaching her, with everything around them on fire.
She’d been sound asleep, hadn’t dreamed of Rigmor yet. Hers always played first before Geonette ruined her night.
Tara put on her armor and grabbed her axes. She stepped out of her bedroom, which was on the far side of the royal suite from Rigmor and the Dragonborn’s room. Tara had timed herself sprinting between her bedroom and theirs. She needed to be able to get to them quickly to protect them. She averaged three seconds.
Not that it mattered tonight. Rigmor had come to her. The Dragonborn was away in Anvil.
They left the palace and stood briefly outside, at the top of the steps. The night was bright, with both Masser and Secuna high above them, hiding half the stars with their light. No clouds disturbed them.
Tara looked down the palace stone steps to the flower gardens along the edge of the district. This area was known as Green Emperor Way. The center, or spoke, of the wheel shaped city was this small district.
Tara looked to her left. “Which way, my Queen?”
Rigmor looked to her left, too. “Rigmor, Tara, when it’s just the two of us.” She pointed. “I’d like to walk the Arboretum district.”
Tara nodded. She took the lead and walked towards the great doors that opened into the district.
Moonlight bounced off the leaves of the bushes and flowers, giving a silver hue to the air around them.
A chill colored the night. Rigmor wore fine clothes, looking more like a wealthy citizen of the city than the queen. They were on the thicker side, keeping Rigmor warm. Tara’s armor felt good. The air was keeping her cool.
Tara opened the right door to the Arboretum, looked out to check for danger, saw the two guards standing on the top step, protecting entry into the palace’s district. Every entry to Green Emperor’s Way was guarded. Most citizens could travel freely through all the districts, but the guards kept out drunks, unruly citizens, and anyone known to be banned from the palace.
Tara held the door as Rigmor stepped through. Both guards bowed.
“My Queen,” they both said in unison.
“Thank you, both,” Rigmor answered. “How’s your mother, Ertius?”
“She’s much better, my lady. Thank you for asking.” The guard on the left answered.
“Good,” Rigmor said.
Lavender tickled Tara’s nose as they walked along the winding path surrounding the district. Flower beds abounded, filled with blooming lavender, various mountain flowers, fennel, alkanet, flax, bergamot, foxglove, and milk thistle.
The floral scent from all the plants put Tara at ease. This was peace.
She swept her eyes around the district, confirming they were alone. Her eyes took in the shrines placed around the district in a near circle. All nine divines were here. Akatosh, Arkay, Julianos, Kynareth, Mara, Stendarr, Zenithar, Talos, once banned here, and Dibella, Tara’s goddess.
Tara and Rigmor walked silently around the district. When they reached Akatosh’s shrine, Rigmor stopped and looked up at it. Her eyes took on a distant look, as if she was remembering something.
They walked on.
“Do you believe in fate?” Rigmor asked.
The huff escaped before Tara could stop it. “I do,” she said. “It’s…” Did she really want to confess this to Rigmor? What would Rigmor think?
Tara stopped and looked at Rigmor. “Fate, the gods, they’re why I’m your bodyguard.”
Rigmor’s amber eyes bored into Tara’s. “What? Tell me,” she said.
They walked on, passing Stendarr and Zenithar’s shrines.
“I had a premonition of you when I was nineteen,” Tara said. She kept her eyes on the shrines, and also scanning the area, to make sure they stayed alone.
“There weren’t many details in it. I saw your face, your scars, and knew your name was Rigmor,” Tara said. “I couldn’t tell why I was there, when it was. I dismissed it as a dream.”
Tara pulled in a breath. “It happened again, though. My girlfriend, Freta, knew what it was immediately. I didn’t want to believe her, but the dreams, premonition, kept happening.”
They were passing Kynareth and Mara’s shrines now. Tara kept her focus on the grounds, not looking at Rigmor.
“After Freta died…”
“I’m sorry,” Rigmor said.
“Thank you.” Tara gave Rigmor a quick nod.
“The premonition continued. I also gained a new one, not related to you,” Tara said. “Yours changed some. When I joined the Penitus Oculatus, the premonition changed, showing me in this armor. I knew I was on the right path.”
They’d reached Dibella’s shrine. Tara looked at Rigmor. “May I have a moment to pray?”
“Of course,” Rigmor said.
Tara knelt on both knees. She placed her hands on her thighs, and closed her eyes. She whispered a thanks to Dibella, thought of Freta, then Katla. Gods, she missed Katla. It’d been weeks since she’d seen her.
Tara stood up and nodded at Rigmor. “Thank you.” They walked.
“What else is in the premonition?” Rigmor asked.
Tara thought. What should she tell Rigmor? Freta showing up as a ghost to guide her? No, Freta visiting was for Tara alone. She’d not told Katla about any visits since that first time at High Hrothgar.
Should she tell her about the fighting in the dream? Kintyra being there?
Best to keep it simple.
“I know it’s sometime in the future and I am guarding you,” Tara said.
“Anything else?”
Tara shook her head. “Nothing that tells me where we are, what we’re doing.”
Rigmor looked at her. Studying her. Searching for more.
“Okay,” Rigmor nodded. Her voice held an edge.
She knows I’m holding back details, Tara thought.
“The Dragonborn is there, too,” she added.
Rigmor smiled. “What about Kintyra?”
Tara caught her breath. She couldn’t lie to Rigmor. Her queen wasn’t stupid.
She nodded. “She’s there. Older.”
Rigmor nodded again. She looked up at the shrine of Talos. They’d stopped in front of it as Tara finished describing the premonition.
Tara look up at the statue. She pulled out her Talos amulet, Freta’s amulet, and kissed it. A memory of Freta came up. A time they were camping in the woods near Skingrad. Freta was showing her steps and dodges to use when fighting with two axes. Somehow, they’d forgotten practice and ended up being intimate. Tara had never laughed so much back then. Not until Katla.
“Talos guide you,” she said, thinking of them both. She tucked the necklace back inside her shirt, hidden under her chainmail and chest plate. It briefly clicked against her Dibella amulet.
“You worship Talos, too?” Rigmor asked.
Tara shook her head. “This amulet was Freta’s. The only thing I have left of her. She was a Nord and worshipped Talos.”
“Ah,” Rigmor looked back up at Talos, then turned back to Tara. Her eyes were fierce.
“What else is in the premonition?”
Tara held her breath.
“I will not have the woman I trust to protect my daughter treat me like everyone else here. Refusing to tell me anything. Thinking they’re protecting me. I won’t have it, Tara.”
Tara bowed. This was Rigmor as queen. This was a command. Tara thought back to what she’d seen when Rigmor and the Dragonborn spoke in the throne room on Tara’s first day. How Rigmor talked to the Dragonborn. How she’d wondered if others in the palace tried to coddle Rigmor.
Rigmor was right. No one should hold things back from her. Tara would rage at anyone keeping things back from her.
“We’re all fighting. I don’t know who, or where, but I’m protecting you. The Dragonborn is nearby. I can hear Kintyra. I think there’s an orc nearby, a woman.”
Tara gave another bow. “That’s all there is.”
Rigmor’s eyes cooled. “Thank you.”
“I won’t hold anything from you again. I’m sorry,” Tara said.
“Okay,” Rigmor said. “I want to go to the Talos Plaza.”
They made their way to the district. No citizens were about at this hour. Guards patrolled. All bowed when they recognized Rigmor.
As they walked, Rigmor stopped at two places in the district. First, she paused in front of The Foaming Flask tavern. The tavern sat off a side street, near one of the entrances to the district.
“Did you want to go in?” Tara asked.
“No,” Rigmor answered. She turned from the tavern and walked towards the main street. “They have a special drink there…” Rigmor shook her head with the briefest of movements. She gave Tara a quick smile. “I’m reminiscing.”
“If the special drink is anything like the one in Bruma at the Tap and Tack, well, my limit is drinking only one,” Tara said. She shot Rigmor a quick smile. “I don’t have the tolerance of Nords.”
The highlight of the district was the stone statue of a dragon, of Akatosh in his true form. It was stories tall, surrounded by a circle of columns.
History books said it’d been created during the Oblivion Crisis. When Martin Septim sacrificed himself, he’d become an avatar of Akatosh. He’d turned into a stone statue at the defeat of Mehrunes Dagon. That had been 200 years ago. Over time, benches had been set up around the base of the statue, giving citizens a place to rest.
They were almost to it.
“Did you live you in Bruma?” Rigmor asked.
“No. I’ve visited a few times. Wonderful city and people.” A memory surfaced. Of first arriving in Bruma, Freta’s body strapped to the makeshift sled Tara had built. Tara numb from the cold and her grief. She pushed the memory away. She was on duty. No distractions.
They stopped at the statue. Rigmor looked to her left. Tara followed her gaze.
The Tiper Septim Hotel stood to the left, its decadent sign impossible to miss. Had Tiber Septim slept there? Or had the hotel named itself after him, to seem grand? Tara made a mental note to find out the truth.
It looked grand with its sign and gleaming doors. The stone of the building was immaculate, matching the palace’s striking stone.
“You ever stay there?” Rigmor asked. Her face had a dreamy look, more memories, Tara thought.
“No. When I arrived in the city, I went straight to the palace.”
“Of course.” Rigmor said. “What a silly thing for me to ask.”
“Not at all…”
Rigmor turned away from the hotel and statue and gave Tara a firm look. “Please escort me back to the palace.”
The walk back was silent. Only bowing from the guards as they stepped into the palace’s district interrupted the stillness.
Back in the royal suite, Rigmor headed for her bedroom. Tara stood guard while she opened the door. Kintyra was fussing. Tara heard small whines. Cerys’ voice piped up. “Rigmor. I think she wants you to hold her.”
Rigmor turned again to Tara. Her face was still, thinking.
Tara nodded. “Good night.”
Rigmor closed the door. Tara looked around once more. The suite was quiet now.
In her own bedroom, Tara changed back into her night clothes and climbed into bed.
The premonitions started as soon as she closed her eyes. Rigmor, then Geonette.
The forest was on fire again. Geonette approaching her, telling her she could bring Freta back.
There was something new tonight. A scream. Someone behind Tara was screaming, either dying or watching someone else die.
Tara turned around to see who it was.
She woke up. The oil lamp was extinguished. It was morning.
Back to work.