[center][h3]Dawn's Light[/h3][/center]
[hr]

[i]14th Sun's Height, early morning, a tent in the Reach[/i]

Sirine’s eyes shot open, staring up in the dark, breathing heavily as she tried to compose herself. Though she remained still in her laying position, she could feel herself shivering, hear her heart pounding in her ears. The sweat on her face was cooling off in the morning air that pushed its way past the closed tent flap, but it was inside that she felt the coldest. There was no need to close her eyes to see the three dead bodies on the stone floor. Bakih, Sevari... Zaveed. Each staring lifelessly at nothing as she stared down into their glazed eyes, their souls trapped in dark gems, proudly displayed in the hands of- 

[i]Stop.[/i] Her words were silent, but they were enough for her to break the line of thought she had been headed in. It was quite unfortunate that her pleasant sleep had been marred by an unpleasant dream, but that dream wasn’t fact. [i]This[/i] was. Bakih was alive and well… as well as he could be, safe with the Alik'r where his body and spirit would hopefully recover to their fullest. Sevari was well and alive and it seemed the camp was no longer looking at him with narrowed eyes.

As for Zaveed... She looked away from the shadows lurking in the tent, turning the slightest bit so that her eyes fell on the khajiit sleeping next to her. Her fingers wrapped lightly around the coin ever present around her neck, and with her free hand she reached out, the back of her fingers lightly stroking the side of his face. A smile came to her lips, yet her eyes stung and she couldn't help but feel a tightness in her chest as her mind flaunted thoughts she would rather not think of at all.

She didn't want to think of him resigned to spending an eternity in the Dark Behind the World. 

The idea that the person who had taken the time to free her from shackles of her own making would end up in an afterlife of darkness hurt her. No matter what he said, and no matter how he made sense, it still filled her with a sadness that she couldn't quite erase. Her hand moved away from his face; she hesitated only the slightest bit before letting her arm settle around his waist, fingers resting lightly against his back.

What of herself? Sirine's eyes closed, taking a deep breath and slowly letting it go. Was she a fool to worry so much about someone else when she was probably going to end up somewhere just as terrible because of her own deeds? Zaveed had been right, no matter how unfair it seemed to her. Early years marred by injustice could not justify all the terrible that was done later from one's own volition. She had been betrayed, she had been taken advantage of in the most disgusting ways... yet what she did after had been her own choice. Mercilessly killing men on their own ship, taking their goods as her own, sailing off on her own conquests.

Was it fair of her to blame higher beings for her sins?

It was strange, the thoughts that a sleepy, stressed mind could conjure, and the former pirate couldn't help but wonder if life would have been different if she had never met that boy in Anvil, the one she had thought she loved. It had all changed then, hadn't it? 

What if she had never lost the child? Would she have been in Gilane now, or perhaps Anvil, with a grown child ready to leave home for adventures of their own?

[i]No.[/i] She didn't think so. That sort of life had never been hers. From the beginning she was of salt and sea, caring nothing for the masses of land save for a sojourn. This was the longest she had ever been away from the water, and every inch of her body was waiting for the day when she would return to its embrace. No, she didn't believe she'd ever be the lady of a house, and she didn't quite think she would be a good mother.

Perhaps the divines hadn't forsaken her... perhaps they had been helping her all along?

[i]Helping towards what?[/i] an indignant voice in the forefront of her mind demanded. [i]To being betrayed? To being raped? To losing the family you made? To being a whore?[/i]

Her eyes scrunched tightly against the stinging, and her hand tightened around the coin. It was hard not to make any sound as a sob threatened to leave her. [i]I grew stronger,[/i] she reminded herself, forcing her breaths to slow down despite the ache in her chest. [i]I learned to live by my own strength. I dispensed justice to those who wronged me. I...[/i] Her breath wavered as she exhaled. Opening her eyes, she couldn't stop the trickle of stray salty tears that made their way down her nose to fall to her neck, droplets cooling by the early morning air. Her eyes once more fell upon the khajiit beside her. 

Unable to stop herself, she tightened her arm around him and pressed her face against his chest, inhaling deeply before letting the air go. [i]I met someone who understands me, someone I can trust. Someone I wish to return to the sea with.[/i] All the pain, all the twists and turns in her life, all of them had been necessary for this moment to be. 

She remained that way for a long while before finally opening her eyes. It seemed the shadows were lessening- dawn's light was approaching and soon the sun would rise.

For now she would stay as she was. The coldness that had filled her was slowly ebbing away with his presence, leaving her with a small warmth that continued to grow within.

Sirine would not deny him the same.