[center][h3]Income[/h3][/center] [hr] [b][i]Anvil, 22nd of Second Seed[/i][/b] [hr] Anifaire woke up in the middle of the day. She'd taken full advantage of the room Brynja had given her and slept well through the night and the following day, dozing in and out of sleep, finally fully relaxed. She took the time to fully wash up, even washing and hanging her clothes to dry. She scrubbed everything she owned, leaving herself to wait, nude, until they dried, but it was worth it. She finally felt as though she didn't smell like a horse. By the time she left her room, it was dinner time. She didn't have a cent of money for food and wasn't about to go asking for anyone's generosity, so she sat with a mug of water - she wasn't sure if she was supposed to pay for it or not, and she was afraid to find out. The idea of remaining in Cyrodiil didn't seem as daunting as it had the previous day. A portion of her fascination with the Dwemer invasion had returned, but fear still overwhelmed her. Would they continue to expand, or were they after something else? She wondered if she should've remained in Skingrad. The Dominion was there, taking care of the people. There would be Justicars. Those people, she could trust to know her name and see her home. Still, she'd left. The group she was with was... kind. People here had been generous to her, and every time she'd left the group's company, strangers had harassed her. She felt safer around them. She touched the cloak she wore; she still thought of it as Alim's. It was kindness. She had never expected it. She felt as though she hadn't been thinking clearly since the Imperial City attack, but waking up this morning was as though the shock had finally worn off. She felt like she was waking up from a dream, snapping out of a stupor. She wondered where Durantel had gone off to. Would he help her return home? He was from Auridon, she thought. Return home to Auridon. Where she would sleep in her room, at her parent's home. Each day, she would practice magic, which she isn't good at. She wondered if she would ever improve. She gazed into the bottom of her mug, and tears stung her eyes, sliding silently down her cheeks. She stood up quickly, retreating back to her room so that no one would notice her sadness. The emotions she'd always been told to avoid were beyond being hidden. Once her tears finally dried, she felt no less lost. She watched people do business from the room's window, wishing she had such simple concerns. She corrected herself. Did she truly want a boring life? She'd lived one, and she left it. Would she really return so quickly? [i]Yes,[/i] she thought. She was a coward. [hr] [b][i]Anvil, 23nd of Second Seed, Dawn[/i][/b] [hr] Anifaire woke at the break of dawn feeling restless. She left before breakfast, the in still quiet, and made her way for the port. Fortunately, Anvil was a bit easier to navigate than the enormity of the Imperial City. Ships were already loading up their supplies and trade goods. Sailors had early mornings. The closer she came to the docks, the more people she saw. There were fewer ships than she'd expected, but nonetheless she began searching around for someone in charge. The Altmer pulled back her hood, this time wanting to be noticed for what she was. Altmer had a reputation for being good with magic, after all. She doubted she could live up to it. "Excuse me," she started, too quietly, and to no one in particular. She stood at the center of a crowd, uncertain of who to speak with. "Excuse me," she said louder. "Are there any ships heading towards Auridon?" A gruff looking man bumped into her, knocking her backwards farther into the crowd. The bustling people jolted her in every direction. "I need to get to Auridon. Is anyone going that way?" she tried. "I can make your cargo lighter to carry, so you can load your ship faster," she called louder. No one responded to her. She got bumped back and forth until she found herself at the edge of the crowd, trying to get somebody's attention as she went. When she finally found herself on the edge, she sighed in defeat. She had no idea how to find the right people to talk to. She'd never even hired a carriage driver on her own, let along found board on a ship. A tap on her shoulder surprised her. She spun around to find a gruff looking Breton woman, with a tall, feathered hat. She almost jumped back, intimidated by the woman's appearance. "Can you really do that? Make cargo lighter?" she asked. "I... can," Anifaire replied. [i]Can I? What if I fail?[/i] "Look, sweetheart, if you can do that, I'll pay you gold for it." "Do you know if any-" Anifaire began, but the woman interrupted her. "Darling, you're not getting a ship to Auridon today. No one's trading that way. Everyone's unhappy about what happened in Skingrad." [i]Unhappy about Skingrad?[/i] Anifaire wondered, but the woman continued to talk before she could ask. "My ship's over this way. You want the gold or not?" Anifaire hesitated, but she hadn't eaten in a day, and she wasn't about to turn down such an offer. As soon as they arrived, Anifaire was put to work. She did spell after spell, featherweighting cargo boxes as the woman's sailors hurried to load their supplies on board. To her great surprise, the sailors, while rough-looking, were extremely grateful for her help. One of them even shook her hand, though she wasn't glad for it, since he seemed rather dirty. The ship left before any other in Anvil, ahead of the crowd, leaving Anifaire at the water's edge with a bag full of gold. She made her way back to the inn, feeling proud of herself. It was the first time in her life she'd done something for herself. She'd never been paid before, nor had she needed to be. Somehow, the plate of chicken and potatoes she ate upon her return to the inn tasted better than anything she'd eaten in her life.