Days of travel had been lost, having to turn around and follow a different route to get to where ever it was we were going. I still had no clue, even after seeing him pull out a map and peer at it for several minutes before nodding his head to himself. I didn't know Skyrim nearly well enough to know what places could be further down the road past Helgen. Perhaps, if I couldn't figure out what I had done, what I might still be doing without even realizing it... Maybe I would never know.

With such depressing thoughts as these, it almost came as a relief when the wolves I had once worried over finally did attack, their low growls filling the too silent air. With a shout, the Jester Assassin jumped from the wagon and quickly drew his dagger, ready to defend his wagon and whatever it held.

One moment, I was watching in awe as he spun to face the two wolves that suddenly ran from the trees with a snarl as they lunged for him, and the next... the next moment I was spinning around myself at the sudden sound of claws on wood from behind me as a third wolf lept onto the large crate hidden beneath the now torn cloth.

"Mother!" I heard the panicked shout from behind me, a chill running down my back as I finally put a few more puzzle pieces together.

His mother had been with us all along, boxed up and being taken to his family, not to visit them but to be buried. She was dead. She was dead and a wolf was climbing across her coffin, not caring for the scratches it left as it snapped its teeth at me. With a silent shout, I grabbed the dagger that I had purchased at Riverwood for protection and lunged over the bench, praying that Amicus would guide me instead of staying a silent observer as he had been thus far today.

When I felt those warm hands grasp my own and guide my dagger to slash at the wolf's side, I gave a silent cry of relief. Hearing a yelp from behind me, quickly ended with an angered shout from the Jester Assassin, I barely managed to stop myself from turning in worry that he had gotten hurt somehow. No, no, he needed me to protect his mother until he was able to finish up with the other wolf he was fighting.

As my own opponent growled and lunged forward, I felt my right hand stab forward with the blade at the same time my left came up to try and block its teeth that were suddenly close enough I could smell its breath in my face. My right arm jolted from the shock as the dagger sank into the wolf's chest, while my left arm... Oh, but my left arm was on fire as teeth tore into the recently healed flesh, the jaw clenching tight for a moment before finally growing slack.

Feeling hands grab my shoulders and pull me away from the body, I turned my head in a daze to meet those honey-brown eyes I had come to look forward to seeing. It seemed he had finished his own battle and rushed over. It had all happened so quickly, just a few moments it felt like. I would doubt even half a minute had passed, although I hadn't really kept track. I rarely kept track of time anymore. Not like I used to.

Oh, but my mind was wandering and that was no good. Cicero was trying to get my attention, a strange look on his face. I should listen to whatever he was saying, his lips moving quickly as he grabbed my arm and began ripping what remained of my sleeve off to look in horror at the wounds left by those too sharp teeth.

"-need to stop the bleeding! Faith? Faith, don't worry! Cicero will take care of you! Cicero will find a-"

His voice faded in and out, warping as the edges of my vision gradually grew darker until finally everything faded away and I knew no more.

--------

The next time I woke up, as far as I could recall at least, I was laying down in a bed far softer than any I could remember being in since I'd left the Imperial City. That had been years and years ago and I knew I hadn't gone back there. Had I? No, no, I was traveling with Cicero and he had no reason to go back to Cyrodiil. He was trying to get to his family, to take his mother home.

His mother... The poor man, he hadn't wanted to tell me that she was dead, but looking back on it, it was obvious. He was protecting her because she couldn't protect herself, couldn't run from a fight or hide from beasts. She was as vulnerable as an infant, needing her devoted son to take care of her.

Oh, Cicero, please tell me she's still safe. Tell me I was able to help her in time.

But no answer came from the empty room I lay in, the Jester Assassin most likely tending to his mother and doing what he could to keep her safe. Hopefully, she was safe. Please let her be safe.

"Why wouldn't she be safe? You shoved your arm in that wolf's mouth, so it isn't like it was able to try and bite anything other than you, you idiot! Besides, how would it have gotten through the overly huge box that her body is in? For all we know, the man has her inside multiple boxes just to keep her safe from anything that might try and get to her," Ellery's exhausted voice came from nearby as I looked up and saw him leaning against a wall in the shadows of the room. "Do you realize how close we were to losing you? Do you even care?"

Of course I care, Ellery. It isn't like I want to die. I just... Don't you remember what I was like when I lost my mother? I couldn't just watch as he lost his own a second time. Family is a priceless treasure. No matter how much you argue with me and Amicus, I know you feel the same way. I just know you do...

I turned my head as I slowly scanned the rest of the room, noting the stone walls around us. A wooden door nearby separated the room from the rest of wherever this place was, making me wonder if it was locked and I was a prisoner somewhere. Had Cicero been so upset with me that he had turned me over, telling whoever lived here about Loreius? Had he abandoned me and left me behind, deciding that I was too much trouble to keep any longer?

Maybe I don't deserve to find treasure...

"Oh Faith, don't say that. Don't ever think that about yourself," came Amicus' soft whisper, fingers brushing gently through my hair as a hand pulled me against a warm chest, reminding me of another man who'd held me like this not too long ago. "Everyone deserves to find at least one treasure to call their own."

But I already have you and Ellery. What if you two are the only treasure I get to have? I used to think that would always be enough for me, that if I never found more it would be okay, but now... Now I'm not sure. And maybe that is why I don't deserve even that much anymore.