When we left the Temple, Vilkas and I both headed straight for the gates. As we passed the market stands, all the townsfolk present stopped and bowed their heads. Fralia Gray-Mane, wife of our smith, Eorlund, offered some words of sympathy.

"Surely, all our hearts grieve with yours, Companions," she said, clasping her hands in front of her.

"Thank you, Fralia," Vilkas said. His voice may have been calm, but I knew he was barely hiding his hatred and thirst for vengeance. I had to hope that the need for blood wouldn't overpower him and turn him into something he wasn't.

"Vilkas..." I said after we'd been standing still for too long.

He nodded. "I know." He gave Fraila one last look, then we kept going.

"I've known Fralia most of my life," he said once we were out of the city. "She would come visit her husband some days when my brother and I were taking lessons from him. She's such a kind woman. Even after all she's been through."

"You mean how the Battle-Borns harass her day in and day out? Over her son?"

"Yes. They don't go near Eorlund. They know he'll teach them a lesson. But they don't mind taking their stupid feud out on his poor wife."

"Well, next time I see any of those Battle-Borns, I'll have to have a little... chat with them."

"It's all because of this war. This... pointless conflict. It's got families turning on one another. Brothers killing each other. And for what? So we could have one more self-centered, arrogant High King?"

"Vilkas, Ulfric is the better alternative."

"So you're a Stormcloak sympathizer?"

"Well, more so than an Imperial one. But that's because the Stormcloaks didn't almost take my head off for trying to cross the border. And I can't stand the Thalmor. Curse those elves to Oblivion."

"Why do you hate them so much? This can't all be coming from their attempts to take Talos away from us."

"It is more than that, Vilkas." I heaved a deep sigh. "My parents were killed by the Thalmor. My parents were devout followers of Talos. We had a shrine next to the fireplace. We all wore amulets. And we were happy. My parents would never hurt anyone. My mother was so gentle, and my father was the strongest and kindest man I had ever known. But then the elves took that away. They came in the night. Without warning. They tore down our shrine to Talos, then dragged my parents to the middle of our house. They strangled them with their own amulets before they killed them brutally. I escaped only because they put up a fight." A tear slipped out of the corner of my eye. I didn't bother wiping it away. My hood covered it up, keeping Vilkas from seeing it. "I shouldn't be alive. I was there, with my parents. I wore my own amulet. I devoted myself to worship. But here I am. Orphaned and alive."

"What did you do?"

"I ran. I didn't stop running for hours. When I finally did stop, I fell to the ground and wept. Hard. I didn't go back until sunrise. I had to go back to the house after the Thalmor had gone so I could give my parents their last rites and get some things. After I did those things, I piled all the kindling and fuel together and burned my home to the ground. With my parents' bodies still inside. It seemed like the best way to send them to Sovngarde. I couldn't bury them, and I would never be able to return to their graves again.

"After that, I found odd jobs all around. I never stayed in a city too long. But work was getting hard to find, so I decided to try my luck in Cyrodiil. Then I got caught in between a fight between the Stormcloaks and Imperials. They arrested me and dragged me to the block. The rest you know."

"How many years were you roaming?"

"I had just seen my sixteenth winter when my parents were killed. I spent almost six years making my own way in the world. Then I found out I was Dragonborn and everything changed."

"For the best, I'm sure."

I nodded and grinned at him. "Of course. I met you, didn't I?"

He returned my smile, then let his arm fall to my shoulders. "I'm sorry about your parents."

My grin faded. "Don't. Just don't do this."

"Ylva, I really am sorry. I may not be able to relate, but I'm sorry."

"Didn't you know your parents?"

"No. If they were ever around, neither of us can remember. Although Farkas will tell you that the man who brought us to Jorrvaskr was our father. In truth, no one knows if Jergen was our father or not. All we know about him is that he brought us to the Companions, raised us there for a time, then one day, he took a job from Kodlak. He never came back."

That hit me like a stampeding mammoth. "Oh. I'm sorry. I didn't know."

"It's all right, Ylva. Like I said, he wasn't my father. It's hard to miss someone you hardly knew, anyway." He reached up and pulled my hood away from my face. "But you knew your parents. I can't imagine how that must've been for you."

"I lost everything to the Dominion. I have been defying them for so long now. Being Dragonborn just gives me something else to use against them. Talos is my patron Divine. He was Dragonborn, too. I can't wait to take the fight directly to those cursed elves. To make them pay for what they did to me."

"Then why didn't you join the Stormcloaks? It would've been easier to take the fight to the Thalmor."

"I don't want to support some pompous windbag like Ulfric, but I can't force myself to fight alongside the people who would've killed me. This war is pointless. Ulfric is only using it to his advantage. While I think he's right to fight for our religion, I think he's playing most of his soldiers for chumps. So why support something I only halfway believe in? I have different convictions than Ulfric. I wouldn't mind if the Stormcloaks won this war, but I don't care to help them. That's all."

"You are a complicated woman, Ylva. Has anyone ever told you that?"

"They've never called me 'woman' before, but yes. I've been told that I'm complicated."

Vilkas chuckled, then pulled me closer to his side. "I mean that with the highest respect, you know."

I grinned. Talking about my past kept me from smiling or laughing with him. I didn't feel like doing anything more than that small grin. So I just pulled away from Vilkas and raised my hood again. "Come on, Vilkas. We still have a long way to go, and talking isn't making our destination any closer."

"You're right. We should be preparing ourselves. We're going to be in for a serious fight."

"But we're doing this for more than ourselves. This is for the Companions' honor. This is for Jorrvaskr." I held my hand open to him. "This is for Kodlak."

He took my hand in his, giving my fingers a gentle squeeze. "For Kodlak."