I shook my head. "I'm sorry, but did you call us your big brothers?"

The woman nodded. "Please, come in. There's a lot I have to tell you."

Together, Farkas and I stepped into the cabin. To the right was a roaring fireplace surrounded by comfortable couches and chairs. Through a wide doorway on the back wall of the living room appeared to be the kitchen area. The smell of fresh-baked bread filled the space. Deeper in the house, in front of the door, were the stairs leading into what I assumed to be the lofted sleeping area. On the left was a large dining area filled with a table, six chairs, and shelves laden with odds and ends.

And sitting at the table was a dark-haired woman about the same age as the woman who let us inside and four teenagers. All of them were staring at us.

"Dani," said the woman as she got to her feet, "Who are these men?"

"Rosie, these are my brothers." The redheaded woman, Dani, motioned for us to step forward. "The ones I've told you about."

I pressed a hand to my chest and gave a slight bow. "Vilkas Moonborn, at your service, ma'am."

Next to me, Farkas copied my gesture. "Farkas Moonborn."

"Vilkas, Farkas," continued Dani, "this is my wife, Roserana, and our children."

The only girl at the table got out of her seat and curtsied. "I'm Runa. I'm glad to meet you!"

The blond boy to her left got out of his seat next. "I'm Francois."

Then, the boy with dirty blond hair got up and brushed his bangs out of his face. "My name is Samuel. I can't believe I have more uncles."

The last boy got up and shrugged. "The name's Hroar."

This hadn't been what I expected, but I couldn't say that I was upset. We came looking for one family member, and just like that, we had six more.

What other surprises were in store for us?

Roserana motioned for us to come forward and sit at the table. "Samuel, you and Hroar go get two more chairs. We'll make room at the table. Runa, fetch some more plates and forks."

"Please don't go through all this trouble for us." I said, shaking my head. "We didn't come here to intrude."

"I take it you came looking for Mother," said Dani as she pushed us into the chairs that Samuel and Hroar had abandoned. "She always believed that you'd come looking for her."

"Where is she?" I dreaded the answer, but I had to ask.

"She moved away, but she is well. She still writes to me every week or so."

I heaved a sigh of relief, glancing at Farkas for a moment. We weren't too late.

"I'll explain everything," continued Dani, "but first, eat. You look weary."

Farkas nodded. "We traveled here from a lighthouse near the Sea of Ghosts."

"But we're used to being on the road," I added. "We're Companions, after all."

Runa came back first with a pair of wooden bowls, pewter mugs, and spoons. With the help of Francois, she moved the other boys' bowls to the other side of the table. She set the dishes in front of us, then leaned across the table to retrieve a cast iron pot full of thick, hot potato soup. She ladled out a heaping portion into each of our bowls, then returned to her own seat beside Roserana.

The dark-haired woman sitting at one end of the table passed a plate of toasted bread to us, and we each took a piece. This was turning out to be quite the feast.

"What's your poison?" asked Dani as she gestured to the bottle of wine on the table. "We also have a keg of mead in our larder."

"Mead would be fine," I said, watching as Hroar and Samuel returned to sit at the table. They slid the chairs into the two empty spots, then took their places with us again.

Dani gave us a nod, then grabbed our mugs to fill. With a swish of her blue skirts, she was gone.

Roserana waved her thin hand in our direction, a gentle smile breaking on her olive-tinted face. "Please, eat. It's Danilaith's specialty."

We didn't need a second invitation. We happily tucked into our food, savoring the first bite of creamy deliciousness. I hated to admit it, but this soup rivaled Tilma's cooking.

"I think our mother made something similar," said Farkas after swallowing another bite. "I remember eating potato soup sometimes."

"She taught me how to make it," said Danilaith as she returned with the mead in her hands. She gave us each a mug, then sat back down at the head of the table. "It was a favorite of ours growing up."

I raised an eyebrow. "'Ours'? Who else lived here?"

"There were three of us children." She held up three fingers. "I'm the eldest, then there's Andne, our brother. Our baby sister's name is Brisi, and she only moved away a few years ago."

I blinked. We had more siblings? This hardly seemed real. For a moment, I wondered if I had been bitten by a chaurus back at the lighthouse, and this was all just a fever dream induced by the venom.

"I imagine this is quite a shock," chuckled Dani as she took a sip from her own mug.

"That's putting it mildly," I muttered.

Though my head was still spinning with questions, I decided to save them for later. My belly was too empty to think about anything other than eating my fill before we got to the bottom of all this. While I had plenty of things I wanted to ask Dani, I also understood that Farkas and I had barged in on their dinner, interrupted their meal, and they were likely as hungry as we were. We could at least eat peacefully before we got to the deeper questions.

Conversation came easy as we drank more. The boys wanted to know what it was like to be Companions. Runa asked how many different places we had seen on our travels. Typical inquiries that I had long grown accustomed to when meeting new people outside of Whiterun.

Once the meal had been finished, Farkas and I helped clean up the dishes while the boys took the extra chairs back to where they belonged. Runa wiped the table off while Roserana swept up the crumbs.

"Would one of you mind collecting some more firewood?" asked Dani as the three of us stepped into the kitchen.

"I've got it," said Farkas as he deposited the dishes he'd been carrying on the counter near the wash bucket. He turned on his heel and headed out the door.

I peeled my gauntlets and gloves off, setting them aside, and started washing dishes so Dani could dry them.

"What's her name?" I asked, voice low so the others wouldn't hear me. It seemed like such a stupid question.

"Ronaine," said Danilaith in an equally soft voice. "My father is named Bjorn."

"What is he like?"

She laughed. "Nothing like you if that's what you're asking. Small, blond, and gentle as the day is long. He is wiry, but still short in stature. He's no warrior."

Though I remembered very little about my past before being taken by those necromancers, I had the sense that there had been no father figure in our lives. It had seemed that we were alone with our mother.

"When the children go to bed," she continued, "the four of us will sit around the fire, and I'll explain what I know."

I nodded, then silently returned to my task.

When we had finished washing dishes, I grabbed my things and followed Dani to the living room where the others had gathered. Farkas stood in the middle of the room, grinning like a proud father as Hroar hoisted my brother's sword over his head.

"Be careful with that, Hroar," warned Danilaith as she slipped her hands into the pocket of her apron.

Farkas took the sword back, then plopped down in an armchair closest to the fire. I took my place beside him, then Dani and Rosie sat down on the small couch across from us. The children arranged themselves on the floor, Runa lying on her stomach with a pillow under her while the boys stretched out with their feet toward the fire.

"Tell me," began Roserana, "do you have families back home?"

I held up my left hand to show the ring on my finger. "Been married for eight years now, going on nine."

Farkas nodded. "Same here, though it's been a little less time for me."

"Do you have any children?" asked Runa as she kicked her legs behind her.

"Three kids," said Farkas. "A daughter and two sons."

"And I have twins, a son and daughter," I added, "and one on the way."

"I bet you didn't want to leave your wife at a time like this," said Roserana while Dani draped an arm over her shoulders. "It couldn't have been easy."

"It wasn't, but I promised Ylva that we'd return—"

I couldn't finish my thought past the collective gasp that came from everyone except Farkas.

"Are you saying—" began Samuel.

"Is that the same Ylva as—" interrupted Francois.

"The Dragonborn!" shouted Hroar.

If anyone else had given me a similar reaction, I would've stalked away in irritation. But these people were family, and they had a right to be shocked. This had been a night of surprises, so what was one more?

"It all makes sense now," said Dani, shaking her head. "We had heard the name of the Dragonborn's husband, but I didn't put it together before."

"Our aunt is the Dragonborn!" said Runa.

"Guess that means that Aunt Tavie has been replaced as the favorite," laughed Samuel.

"It would be wonderful to see your families," added Rosie, "but we'll wait until after the baby arrives. I'm not sure now would be the time to meet all of us."

"We'll keep in touch," said Farkas. "My wife, Tyra, and our children would love to meet you, too."

"What about you?" I asked, crossing one leg over the other. "What about this family?"

"I went traveling with my father on one of his mining ventures," said Dani, giving Rosie's shoulder a squeeze. "He had been working in Fenn's Gulch Mine in the Reach, but he was going back to supervise the shipment on its way into Solitude. Because I was the only one old enough to go, he brought me along so I could see the city. I was so excited."

"I love this story..." said Runa with a dreamy look in her eye.

"I was out exploring the streets while my father handled business," continued Dani. "I ended up in the marketplace, where I saw the rich selection of wine. I wanted to buy a bottle to try so badly, but my father hadn't given me enough septims to purchase it, and he wouldn't be back in time before the shops closed down for the night."

"That's where I came in," chuckled Roserana. "My parents worked for the East Empire Trading Company, and they were working with the bookkeepers to balance the ledgers while I was left on my own. I, too, had wandered into the marketplace, and that was when I saw this beautiful, freckled redhead haggling for a bottle of Firebrand Wine, something that no one should ever even attempt to haggle over. I wanted to step in to keep this girl from making a fool of herself, but I ended up being persuaded into forking over my septims to pay for a bottle to split."

Danilaith grinned. "My father mined silver, and I had a tongue gilded in it."

Roserana kissed her wife on the cheek, flicking a finger against her nose. "Not silvery enough to make that merchant drop the price on Firebrand Wine."

"Anyway," continued Dani, "we strolled out of the city to look at the bay while we split the bottle. I already thought this stranger who had bought me a bottle of fancy wine was pretty, but seeing her as she drank, with the wind blowing her hair...."

"Love at first sight," gagged Samuel.

"And if we hadn't fallen in love, you wouldn't have been adopted by your two amazing mothers," laughed Roserana.

Danilaith cleared her throat. "It was hard to keep in contact once we both left Solitude, but we managed. I wrote to her every week, and it didn't take long before I started sending little trinkets with my letters."

"We confessed our love for one another through those letters," laughed Roserana. "It wasn't very conventional, but we had no idea when we would see each other again."

"At first, my parents didn't think Rosie was anything more than a friend, but Mother discovered a journal entry I had written where I had sealed a pressed flower that Rosie had sent me to the page with wax. I may have gone into quite a bit of detail about the way that she made me feel, so Mother and Father asked me about it."

"Did they accept it?" I asked. Love in Skyrim took all shapes. From two people of different races to couples of the same sex. Unfortunately, I had met plenty of people who disagreed with these kinds of unions. Some thought them unnatural, while others despised them because of prejudice or a notion that any relationship between two people who could not naturally reproduce was wrong.

Thankfully, Jergen didn't raise us that way. We were taught to judge people based on the strength of their character. As long as those people upheld morality, I only wanted happiness for them.

And of course, I would only want happiness for the women in front of me. They were my family, after all.

"They came around," admitted Danilaith finally. "At first, I think it bothered them because they hadn't been around anyone like us, and Mother had always wanted me to bear children, but when she learned just how much we loved each other, she supported us fully."

"My parents threw me out," murmured Roserana.

"Bastards," grumbled Farkas. "What gave them the right?"

She flicked her dark hair over one shoulder. "It worked out, though. Because they sent me away, I caught a carriage into Skyrim and came to live with Dani. I showed up on their doorstep and was welcomed with open arms. Mrs. Ronaine, Mr. Bjorn, Andne, and Brisi made me feel so welcome. Like I had always belonged in their family."

"Getting to tell Rosie that I loved her in person felt so good," added Dani with a smile. "We got married pretty soon after. We were eighteen after all. Already grownups in our own right."

"And already living under the same roof, so what difference did it make?"

"And a few years later," said Francois, "after Uncle Andne moved out, Mother and Ma adopted the four of us!"

Rosie smiled. "Yes, that's right. Now, I think it's past your bedtime. Just because we have guests doesn't mean you get out of chores tomorrow, so be sure to get plenty of rest."

With some mild grumbling from the children and gentle cajoling from their mothers, the four teenagers got to their feet and headed upstairs.

"Must've been a full house," I commented after I heard two doors close upstairs. "Your parents, siblings, and children all under one roof."

"Brisi isn't much older than the teens," said Dani as she got to her feet and walked over to stoke the fire. "She and Runa shared a room when they first arrived, and we turned the old storage room by the kitchen into a room for Rosie and me. This place is actually pretty spacious."

"I seem to remember feeling like it was too big for just the three of us," said Farkas. "But I guess it was the best place for our mother."

I furrowed my brow. "It's strange, being in this house. I feel as though I've never been here before, but at the same time, like it's always been home for me."

"Thirty years is a long time to be away." Dani took something off the mantle before returning to her seat. She leaned forward and handed it to me. "Mother left this for you, in case you ever came looking for her. She told me, 'Give this to your older brothers if they ever come calling. They will be called Vilkas and Farkas, and they'll be men in their mid-thirties with dark hair and clear blue eyes. I only hope that they will remember me and return home.'"

"And we did," I said as I broke the seal that held the letter Danilaith had handed me shut. I cleared my throat before beginning to read aloud.

"My dearest boys, I hope that this letter finds you one day. There is so much that I have to tell you, but I hope to reveal it all in person. Just know that I have thought of you two every single day. For thirty years, you have been on my mind. I hope that I can see you in person soon, where I can admire the men that you have become. I waited in your childhood home for as long as I could, praying that you would find your way back to me, but still, I hope that we will be reunited soon.

"If you are able, please find me in Solstheim. My husband and I will be staying here for six months following our departure from this house.

"My daughter and your sister, Danilaith, will be able to fill in some of the gaps for now. Should you receive this letter that I have instructed her to give you, ask her what she knows, then, if and when you are able, come see me.

"I pray that I shall see you soon. Until then, know that I never stopped loving you.

"Always thinking of you, your mother, Ronaine."

"She's in Solstheim?" I asked as I folded the letter back up.

Dani nodded. "Father said that they had some sort of excavation opportunity there, and that it would prove to be very lucrative. If they traveled to Solstheim for this job, then they would be able to return and retire as soon as they came back."

"Seems like a fair trade," said Farkas with a shrug. "I guess we'll be going back to Solstheim."

I ground my teeth. "Godsdamn it."

Being reunited with my mother far outweighed my hatred for Solstheim, but I had very little desire to return to the land that almost took everything from me.

"I take it that you've been?" asked Rosie with a quirked brow.

I nodded, still grinding my teeth. "Ylva had Dragonborn business there. It almost cost her everything. I never wanted to go back, but..."

"We've come this far," finished Farkas. "When did Mother leave?"

"About five months ago," said Danilaith. "You'd be able to catch them at the tail end of their stay. Perhaps you could even return with them."

"What did she mean in the letter? What do you know about us?"

"Not a lot, really. Just what she told me about ten years ago." Dani crossed her legs, smoothing her skirts over her knees. "It wasn't long after Rosie and I had been married. I heard Mother crying one night, and I got out of bed to listen. She was weeping to my father, talking about how much she missed 'her boys.' She said something about it being twenty years since she'd held them, and she couldn't stop wishing that they were still here with her."

I swallowed a lump that had built up in my throat, and when I blinked, tears streaked down my cheeks. I quickly reached up to wipe them away.

"I asked her about it the next day. I couldn't make sense of it, because as far as I knew, she only had one son, and he was still in the house at the time. She took me aside and explained it to me. She told me about the two sons she had before she met my father, about how they had been taken a little over a year before I was born, and how she had stayed in this house so long because she hoped that her sons were still out there, looking for her."

"Did she say why she never came looking for us?" asked Farkas. He crossed his arms over his chest as though to appear hardened, but I could see the water in his eyes glistening in the firelight.

"I think it was because she had tried for several weeks, but she had exhausted her coin and herself. She returned to her house, worried about how she was going to survive with no money or means, and then my father came along. He was a miner who needed a hot meal and warm bed, and she gave him shelter. He told me once that Mother had prepared a meal for herself, but she gave it to him instead. She also slept on the floor in front of the fire while she let him stay in her bed, because she had no other place to offer him to sleep.

"That night changed her life, because my father swore to take care of her from that point on. She had shown him such kindness when she had suffered great sorrow. In a way, I think she drew closer to him because she was emotionally raw and vulnerable, but she came to love him. Their relationship began as one of convenience, but it became much more.

"It didn't take them long before they got pregnant with me. After that... she was busy raising her other children, and she couldn't really expect to cast us aside in order to go looking for you. She said that she had a vision one night, showing that you two were safe somewhere. She trusted that vision, and so she hoped that you'd be strong enough to come find her one day."

Rosie ducked out from under Dani's arm, pulling her dress straight before extending her hand toward her wife to help her up. "We have no beds for you to sleep in, but you are more than welcome to rest in front of the fireplace for the night."

"We have bedrolls," said Farkas as we got out of our seats to set up for the night.

"Let me fetch you some more blankets," said Dani as she took Roserana's hand and stood from her seat.

As they walked away, Farkas and I untied our bedrolls from our packs to spread them in front of the fire.

"Our family has tripled," joked my brother as he sat down to begin taking off his armor. "We went in search of our mother and found so much more."

"I feel like it's all too good to be true," I mumbled, following his lead. I started with my boots, then worked my way up from there. I had to make sure that I kept my pieces separate from his, though. While we may have been identical in some ways, my brother—damn him—was still bigger than me. How he had managed that, I had no idea. Maybe it was because he chose to work exclusively with two-handed weapons, while I kept myself more well-rounded. We had the same diet growing up, so it couldn't have been that.

Farkas scoffed. "Dani looks just like the woman in my dreams. I know you agree."

I shrugged. "True. And we normally have a good sense for trouble. I don't think we'd miss anything."

"If magic was involved, we'd know."

Then, Danilaith returned with an armload of woven blankets, some of which had been made with different patterns and colors. "Rosie's parents were in the tapestry business," she said as she laid them down between us. "In the morning, I can take you through the house for a full tour. See if anything brings up any memories."

"Thank you for your kindness, Danilaith," I said while taking one of the blankets from the stack. "While we're here, we'll do what we can to repay you."

She waved her hand. "Oh, please. You're my family. I wouldn't dream of turning you out, not when I've waited so long to meet you." Wiping her palms down the front of her apron, she gave us one last smile before turning to leave. "Rest well. I hope you don't mind rising early. The children have their schooling and chores right after breakfast."

"We're just happy to have a warm place to sleep," said Farkas. "Goodnight, Dani."

Once she left, I slipped under the covers and closed my eyes, visions of our home—once lost, but now found—swirling in the back of my mind. I drifted to sleep with an image of our mother holding Farkas and me on her lap, reading a bedtime story to us, dancing behind my eyelids.