97 Family Time IV

I wait a few minutes before leaving the dungeon and encountering a guard in the barracks who I stop and shout at, "Guard!"

"Yes, Thane Malborne." He answers back with a respectful nod.

"That prisoner! He turned into a werewolf and escaped! You must organize a search at once!" I order him knowing full well that Sinding is long gone.

"By Talos! I'll gather the rest of the guards and begin a hunt for that beast! Thank you for your help, Thane!" The guard exclaims before running off to gather more men as I head towards the inn with a smile.

I enter the inn and see M'rissi stuffing her face with what looks to be seared salmon dipped in honey? Yuck...

Lucia and Sofie are enjoying honeynut treats and Aventus is trying to chew through some taffy.

All while Sofia tries and falls to sing the song "The Dragonborn Comes." I noticed Kasia off at a table against the wall with a plate of food for me and a bowl of tomato soup with some bread for her.

"I hope I didn't keep you long. I see the kids are enjoying their treats." I say as I sit down next to her.

"Not at all, and they're quite content. Unfortunately there wasn't enough honeynut treats for all of them but there was a piece of taffy and the kids decided to play a game on who would get it and Aventus won." Kasia explains while eating her soup.

"That's good they're able to get along so well." I say with a smile as I slice the bread and make a sandwich which catches the attention of a few patrons and the innkeeper Valga.

"Oi, Thane. What're you doing with that bread and meat? Is it an orc thing?" Valga asks with interest.

"I guess you could say that, my clan was nomadic and had to travel constantly, so one thing we did to save time was to eat our meals on the go. We'd slice bread like this in half before putting on meats, cheeses, and vegetables. It's delicious and great for travel." I say between bites wishing that I had mustard.

"Interesting, what do you call this meal?" Valga asks as I see her writing something down.

"A folhan, (pronounced Full Hand) it's nice, simple, and it helps spread out the ingredients between a lot of people." I say making up a new name since I basically just started a new food tradition... Hold on... Could I legit steal the Gourmand's life after the Thieves Guild quest?

"Who'd've thought of something so inventive?" Valga ponders aloud before returning back to the counter as the patrons start ordering their own folhans as her talking brings my attention back to the inn.

After everyone eats their fill we decide to walk around the town and check out some stalls when I happen upon a couple of interesting spell tomes.

[Longstride- Concentration allows the caster to move rapidly.]

[Drop Zone- Negates fall damage within a targeted area.]

[Raise Wall- Concentrate to raise a wall of earth.]

[Pale Shadow- Creates an illusion of an enemy with 1 HP.]

[Circle of Strength- Transfers stamina from enemies to the caster.]

Of all the tomes, these ones caught my eye the most for their capabilities and their price, it hurt to lose the 1,089 septims, but I'm going to need to start buffing my magic capabilities to compensate for my current weaknesses.

I take my spells and absorb the knowledge in them before sweeping up Lucia and placing her on my shoulders like I had promised as I turn to the rest of the group.

"Alright everyone, I hope you had fun. But we've got to head back home now. Come on." I tell them as we begin to shuffle on home to the site of Lakeview Manor.

The walk was peaceful, but I'm left slightly winded from the journey. When we returned to the camp I notice one of the support timbers had fallen out of place and Lokir was shouting at the members of the company that were helping with construction.

"You daft, idiots! It's going to take hours to get that back in place!" Lokir shouts in exasperation.

"Hey, Lokir! What happened?" I ask setting Lucia down and letting the children go off to play.

"I don't know, boss. We broke for lunch and we were just eatin' then out of nowhere a lot of loud thumps over by the construction site and then wham! The beam came tumbling down." Lokir exclaims as I see an out-of-breath Inigo emerge from the unfinished basement.

"Inigo! Did you see anything down there!?" I shout as I notice Inigo is walking funny over to us.

"Oh! My friend! You have returned? Um… What happened was… A giant? Yes, a giant ran past and its footsteps shook the foundations knocking over the loosely secured beam and then it ran off… That way!" Inigo shouts pointing into the forest.

"Alright, lads! Let's go get that giant!" Lokir shouts rallying some of the troops and leading them off into the forest as Inigo begins whistling inconspicuously as he slinks back to the unfinished basement.

I decide to follow him and discover a shocking albeit not completely unexpected sight.

I see a naked Lydia pinning a flustered Inigo against the wall nibbling on his ear and whispering inaudibly into it.

Nope… I see nothing…

I walk back up the stairs sneakily before a loud thumping resonates throughout the camp and I hear a pleasurable(?) cat screech…

With only M'rissi recognizing the noise before looking at me with a flushed face and scowling as she remembers she was still a little mad at me.

I smile before going to the lake to try and fish with the kids before Lokir returns untriumphantly having not found the giant who ruined his hard work.

I console him with my new food inspiration, the folhan. And we have another relaxing night of food and games before I retire to my tent.