Yay! I knew he would come back for Zerina! :celebration:
I so enjoy your writing, story and characters!



Some edit type notes for your consideration -

'I wanted more than having Zerina at my side with {for? during?} the ceremony. My heart was beating in my throat when I finally arrived at the Vabdas house nearly one and a half day {days?} later.'

'You came back,' she exasperated {doesn't make sense to me in this context - I would not try to use this a a speech tag because it should have a following object if used as a verb}. For several minutes words were obsolete to express the feelings we had for eachother {each other}.'

'I was extatic {ecstatic} as we walked back to the house to ask her mother for permission.'

I have one more before the weekend. Since they were rather short, this one covers 2 days in a row. Have a nice weekend everyone :celebration:


Day 109

We arrived in Balmora in the early evening. The sun had just began to set, bathing the town in a orange and yellow haze. Rather than head straight for the manor, we stopped at the Eight Plates and had a drink outside watching the sun go down, below the mountainridges on the horizon. After we finished our refreshments we proceeded to the manor to drop off Zerina's belongings. I had promised her to show her around town afterwards.
Sometimes, an expression can say more than words. The expression on Zerina's face when we arrived at the manor made my heart jump in my chest. She couldn't believe how pretty the manor was and that I had been able to afford to rent a big house like that.

Her belongings were far less than the cupboards I had installed by a skilled carpenter could ever fill.
After having put her belongings away in a cupboard, we ventured outside so I could show her around. Some young men sent glimpses I recognised for jealousy, the beauty by my side didn't notice but I gloated in the attention she drew.
Several stops were made at various shops. After three hours, we arrived back at the manor holding more than when we first arrived. The cupboards would be full in no time at this rate.

For the second time that day Zerina made my heart leap after she had changed into an absolutely stunning dress we had bought for her. The colour of it complimented her fiery red hair that was held up by sticks. She didn't wear it for very long, that night we celebrated life and drank its pleasurable aspects with great thirst.

Day 110

The morning after, I awoke unexpectedly early with Zerina's delicate body entangled with mine. In the back of my mind I knew there were duties I should attend to but I just couldn't bring myself getting out of bed and dress. The images of the night before made a mess of my determination, I was uttely intoxicated by the woman lying next to me. Duties would have to wait until another day. Distraction was a deadly flaw in my line of work, I needed to have a clear head first.
For hours I simply watched her mumbling in her sleep. The words were not understable but they soothed me until I too drifted back to sleep.

Clear-headedness was not something I was going to be granted. When I awoke for the second time that day, Zerina was yawning and leisurely stretching herself next to the bed.
I think she noticed I was admiring the cat-like nimbleness of her naked, slender body. She turned to me and smiled in a way that made my heart race and my ears glow.
Aroused, I grabbed her around the waist playfully. Giggling girlishly, she allowed herself to be dragged back into bed and the game started anew.

Afterwards, we were starving. We got dressed, headed downstairs and asked Uryne to make us something up. The amused look in her eyes and faint smile told me she might have heard us during the night but she was discrete enough not to mention it. When I was giving Uryne the rest of the day off after our lunch, Zerine poked me in my side with her elbow. Our servant ended up getting the rest of the week off and plenty of gold to spend so we had the house entirely to ourselves.

Awesome Write! You caught all the romance perfectly!! Awesome!!

Pfeew... to be honest I was worried I was cutting it too close with carnality.

No, you didn't cross any lines at all, I have a script coming up that has already been approved by the Mods, and it goes a bit heavier into it than yours. This was perfect!

What can I say, I guess I'm a hopeless romantic deep down..

@Acadian: You're right, as always. Thanks!

More Rales! You handle discussion of the lovemaking in a delicate but very 'Rales' style - well done! :wub: Very sweet. Nicely done again my friend! :foodndrink:


See if you agree here -

'Some young men send {sent} glimpses I recognised for jealousy,?'

'In the back of my mind I knew there were duties I should attend to but I just couldn't bring myself getting out of bed and to get dressed.' {Perhaps: '?couldn't bring myself to get out of bed and dress.'?}

Day 111

Zerina wanted to go swimming. Ever since I had taught her it had become one of her favourite pass-times. Besides that, we both could do with a bath. She smelled wonderful as always ? in my opinion anyway ? but I certainly didn't.
With something to eat and drink stowed away in a basket I found in the house, we took the path south out of Balmora, passed the Stiltstrider port and followed the river to the Odai plateau.

Zerina was still in the river, washing her hair while I was already ashore reading a book I had meant to study for weeks but never got around to it when a bone-chilling scream tore me out of my concentration. I tossed the book carelessly to the side, drew a dagger I had taken along as a safety measure from the basket and ran to the river as fast as I could.
Zerina was jumping hysterically on a boulder. I would've burst out in laughter hadn't it been for the grave expression on my love's face that turned my blood to ice. When I asked her what was wrong
she answered with a little voice there had been something below that had brushed her feet.
I cast a waterbreathing and a shield spell on myself and submerged, dagger in hand.

A creature, I quickly recognised as a Dreugh, was lingering several feet below the surface. I smirked as it attacked and wished I had brought my long-sword in stead. Dreughs are slow but have a thick, hard to penetrate, insectlike, exoskeleton. Experience had taught me they were exceptionally vunerable beneath their arms, slightly below the armpit. I dove deeper and came up below the Dreugh for a surprise attack. Before it knew what happened, I stabbed my dagger several times in the spot where its armour was the thinnest. Wailing, it sank deeper while its lifeblood briefly stained the river red.

The rescued lady was keen on thanking her "brave hero" for rescuing her from the awful predicament. Of course I was most reluctant holding the shaking Zerina and comforting her. While I was whispering re-assuring words into her ear everything was alright, I made a decision to teach her to defend herself. What if I hadn't been there to slay the Dreugh?
I didn't leave her out of my sight for a second after the attack.

An hour later, the business with the Dreugh practically forgotten, we were back in the river, carelessly playing like children and chasing each other through the warm, wet sand.
'Look what I found,' I said when I emerged after a long dive.
'What?'
I showed her the pearl. 'Maybe I can have it made into a necklace for you. Want to see if we can find anymore?'
Her eyes sparkled with the anticipation. She pressed her wet frame to mine, whispered a thank you and gave me a quick kiss. The thankyou-kiss in the river soon became a series of kisses, then a passionate embrace, our wet, naked bodies entwined almost inseparately. Gently, I lifter her of her feet and carried her to a soft patch in the grass as we lost ourselves in eachother. Time held no significance, no substance what-so-ever. For hours we remained on that same spot, in turn snoozing and making love, far into the late afternoon, the pearl-diving entirely forgotten.

That was beautiful! Awesome!!!

Oooh! I'm all warm and fuzzy inside! :wub:

I continue to love how you tell us about Rales' days. I find your 'touch' with the romance stuff to be delicately just right!

I hope Rales indeed does take a break from Zerina's charms long enough to teach her some survival combat skills. She's a 'keeper' and he wouldn't want to lose her!

I find myself wondering if he will be leaving her at home while he adventures, or training her to fight by his side, or - oh my goodness I hope not... if tragedy awaits their happiness. I shall leave my hopes in your capable hands!

As far as your writing goes, whatever you're doing it is simply wonderful to read... don't stop!

I'd freak the hell out if I was swimming with a dreugh. I don't swim if there's snapping turtles around, Rales is balls-out rockin' to jump in there with that crazy critter.

@mALX1: Thank you.
@Acadian: You will get an answer about that soon.
@Shades: Thank you for reading and commenting. It is highly appreciated! You may have noticed I took your advice to heart. I distantiated him from the quests so the narrative is more prevelant. I hope you like what I have done. Btw, what did you mean with "ballooned"?

Ballooned as in grew quickly. You posted quite a few updates when I wasn't looking, so it was like your story grew large within a short time. :icecream:

Ah right. Makes sense if I think about it :facepalm:

Day 116

Zerina and I were as one the remainder of that week. There was no end to the pleasures we indulged ourselves into. One night, lying exhausted next to one another, basking in the after-glow of our passion, I broke the silence saying the next morning I could no longer ignore the duties I had to attend to. People were counting on me, I explained. Zerina turned to me and nodded and said she understood.

I left early in the morning without waking up Zerina but did whisper in her ear I'd be back by the end of the day and gave her a light kiss on her lips. A faint smile formed on her sleeping face as I left the bedroom and got downstairs, donned my armour and strapped my sword to my waist. I wondered what Caius' mission had in store for me this time.

As it turned out, The Orchish informant, he wanted me to look up, had me retrieve a skull from an ancestral tomb. She wanted to give me an enchanted sword to help me with my task. Unsheathing night-black Wretched, she was quickly convinced I wouldn't be needing it. The task had been an easy one; all that got in my way were some Bonies and other undead that were hardly a match for Wretched, the name I had given to the ebony long-sword. What in Oblivion an alchemist needs with a dead guy's skull, I'll never know, even if it was a skull from an infamous necromancer. Maybe she wanted it as a decoration, I didn't really care. What mattered to me was that I got the information about the Neraverine cult, Caius wanted and that I got home safe.

'Ah, the notes about the Neraverine Cult, good work Rales! Although a bit tardy but I've heard rumours of you parading around with a young woman. Don't let it distract from your mission though,' Caius commented.
I had hoped to be done with this "informant-business" but my hope was in vain. Next, he wanted me to find three more informants.
'At least they were all conveniently located in Vivec,' wear Caius' words of encouragement.
Some encouragement; he "conveniently" forgot to mention I had never been there before and from what I've been told, Vivec was big. Very big.

He wanted me to find Huleeya; an Argonian in the foreign quarter, Addhirannir; a Khajiit in St. Olm's Canton and finally Mehra Milo; a Dunmer priestess in the Halls of Wisdom. After having briefed me, Caius asked to give his regards to Zerina.
'How d-?. Ah, never mind.' How did the old coot know all these things? Caius chuckled, he knew exactly what question I had left unasked.

My mission was clearly going to be a multi-day mission. Walking back home I was considering asking Zerina along. Looking up some informants in a city didn't sound dangerous at all. If things would turn hairy, I could always give her an Intervention scroll. I was carrying at least one with me at all times. I was almost at home when I remembered a ring I had found on my last mission in the Andrano tomb. It was of no use to me but it looked really nice, something I was sure a woman would appreciate.

Once I stepped through the door of the mansion I had to make sure I had stepped into the right house.
Apparantly, Zerina had been shopping in my abscence. The manor was re-decorated with lush carpets covering the dreary wooden floor, the walls were covered with colourful banners and paintings, beautifully crafted furniture had replaced the common wooden furniture from before and silver cutlary, cups and pitchers complimented the entire picture. All around I could see Zerina's hand in little and big changes made to the house. She had done a far better job than Uryne and I had.

The bedroom had been changed too. The simple two-person bed was replaced by something what appeared to be made in heaven. It was far bigger than the old bed, the matrass and pillows were softer than clouds and the covers were made from the finest silk. A slight breeze rippled the covers like water. The bed was surrounded by a veil, thinner than spider webs.
I unbuckled my sword and took off my armour. With a relieved sigh I drew open the veil around the bed, let myself drop and was asleep in a matter of seconds.

Whether it had been several minutes or several hours, I don't know but I was briefly awoken by Zerina when she got into bed as well. She ushered me to get undressed; in my fatigue I hadn't bothered undressing and had fallen asleep still with my clothes on.
Sleepily I undressed and crawled underneath the divine bedsheets where I met Zerina's warm body wriggling herself into my embrace. Too tired for any sort of conversation ? physical or verbal - the quietness of the night beckoned me into a welcome rest.

Wow, it took me awhile to catch up. Rales is quite a character, alternating between refreshingly irreverent to downright poetic in the same scene. A few lines that caught my attention:

From Day 109 - " . . . that night we celebrated life and its pleasurable aspects with great thirst." - This is just great. Rales at his most poetic.

From Day 110 - "Giggling girlishly, she allowed herself to be dragged back into bed and the game started anew.

Afterwards, we were starving." - This is pure Rales to me!

From Day 116 - "Too tired for any sort of conversation - physical or verbal - the quietness of the night beckoned me into a welcome rest." - A nice way to close the chapter. Now I'm ready for Rales' description of my favorite early Morrowind quest, Vivec Informants.

I knew this story line was going to be great when you did the first post when she was living with her mother - you are ROCKING it !!! Awesome job RemkoNL !!!

Congratulations Remko! You have managed to make Zerina every bit as endearing and lovable as Rales! Given the title of your thread, I figure Rales is safe, but I sure hope Zerina stays around.

This was simply delicious! Well done my friend. :goodjob:

I must confess, I am probably not getting the full picture on the quests Rales is doing (no Morrowind here), but I am having a blast reading about your characters.

Very nice touch describing the new home decor.

Here are a couple tiny things that you may have perhaps missed in your editing:
--'There was no end to the pleasures we indulged ourselved into.' {ourselves}
--'I'd be back by ther end of the day and gave her a light kiss on her lips.' {the}
--'...even if it was a skull from a infamous necromancer.' {I would recommend an infamous}

@Destri: I am pleased you enjoy it.
@Acadian: To be frank, last night I was contemplating on what I could gain with killing her but decided I can't do it. It would destroy Rales. So, she's here to stay. I have a surprise up my sleeves though Thanks for the editorial insight.
@mALX1: Still not bored? Thank you for your kind words.

Day 117

At breakfast the next morning I gave her the ring.
'You didn't take it off some dead man, did you?' she asked while admiring the gold ring with a green gem embedded in what looked like a silver snake coiled up.
'No, I found it in a small jewelry box. It was in a tomb though,' I admitted.
'It's beautiful. Thank you,' she said while smiling happily and slid the ring around her finger. She was still wearing a white, thin, veil-like nightgown that was tight in the right spots and shining through just enough. She was like a ghost of unmatched beauty.
'Not as beautiful as you.'
She got up from her own seat across the table, walked over overly sensual, sat herself down on my lap and kissed me. Things were about to get out of hand when a knock disturbed us.
'Best get dressed, I'll open the door in the meanwhile,' I said while reluctantly lifting her from my lap and headed for the door cursing who would dare disturb us. I could just see Zerina's long, well-shapen legs scurry up the stairs to our bedroom. Suppressing a disappointed sigh, I opened the door.

'Has it already been a week?'
Uryne nodded. 'Yes Muthsera.'
Whatever I did, I couldn't get her to drop the "Muthsera", I had tried the week before but every time when I requested her to drop the "muthsera" she would reply with:'Yes Muthsera.' Uryne took some looks around - she too had noticed the re-decoration ? and nodded in approval. 'Far better,' she commented. 'Is Muthsera Zerina not in?'
'She's upstairs, changing.'
'Do you want me to clean up the table?' On the table our plates, cups and remainder of our breakfast were still standing.
'Yes please,' I responded and headed upstairs to tidy up the bedroom, my armour was still lying on the floor where I had dropped it the night before.
'Don't forget, this afternoon is the ceremony,' Uryne reminded me. It was good that she did, I'd have forgotten about it otherwise. The affairs in Vivec were postponed for a day.

I was slightly worried; ever since the severe blow to my head my memory sometimes failed me. I was sure I had forgotten something else too but just couldn't remember what it had been.
When I lifted up the cuirass from the bedroom-floor I noticed how far worn it already was. It had been patched countless times. Most of the mailrings were bent, I could only conclude it needed replacing soon. 'Maybe I should give that ebony monstrosity a try,' I mumbled but then I remembered the hardship the damn thing had given me and abandoned the thought. However, the thought of replacing the mail cuirass for the silver one General Darius had given me recently, lingered. However, I wasn't certain it would be strong enough to withstand a blow of an ebony sword, like the one I wielded.

From a built-in cupboard Zerina emerged, wearing a black dress I hadn't seen before. Unlike most of her dresses, this one had a high, close fitting neck. Even her back was covered, almost to the point of prudeness. Underneath her dress she was wearing high-heeled, black leather boots. Apparantly, Zerina hadn't forgotten about the ceremony today. She had a questioning look on her face, I didn't even have to ask why; I was still wearing what I usually wore underneath my armour, a simple pair of brown trousers, light shoes and a rather common green shirt.

Zerina had also not forgotten to buy me some new clothes for the special occasion. A black robe, similar to the one I had found months ago on Tarhiel's body, but even more exquisite and tasteful and even without bloodstains. I suspected it had been dyed, it still had a hint of its original colour that shone through when light hit it.
A pair of black, calf-high boots finished off my outfit. I never cared much for what I wore, whatever was clean suited me just fine but I couldn't deny we looked quite the couple dressed up like that.

Wonderful again! :goodjob:

You questioned the length of your story posts on one of the other threads. My recommendation is to not touch a thing. See, part of the magic of your stories is that they feel like opening Rales' diary and frequently reading a short excerpt from his days. The brevity keeps it very crisp and forces us to savor each word.

I love how you lavish time and attention on some of the things that could be considered mundane. House d?cor, his outfit, her outfit? All of this, again, contributes to the wonderfully unique and intimate feel that makes reading your stories such a joy.

You continue to bring forth the interaction between Rales and Zerina in an incredibly endearing manner. :dance:


See if you agree with a couple minor things I noticed:

-'You didn't take it of some dead man, did you?' {off, or perhaps off of?}

-'Most of the mailrings were bend' {bent}

@Acadian: Yeah, I meant "off of some dead man" and "bend". Thank you for your insight. What's the grammatical purpose of:"off of some dead man"? I don't doubt you but it looks weird.

I'm not smart enough of a grammarian to authoritatively tell you, so just some thoughts:

-'You didn't take it of some dead man, did you?' To me, this is clearly wrong.

-'You didn't take it off some dead man, did you?' This sounds best to me and I am confident it is correct.

-'You didn't take it off of some dead man, did you? Although I suspect this is correct, it does not sound as good to me. It seems to me that the word 'of' here is not really needed and therefore strikes me as inefficiently adding nothing. Again though, I am no expert.

Once again, let me emphasize your brilliantly entertaining talent more than any inconsequentially minor editing concerns.

I smell a mystery coming over the ring, or the memory losses - These last chapters with Zerina have got me hooked !!!

Yes, I think we're all (thankfully) stuck with Zerina! :celebration:



Grammatically speaking, the second example: 'You didn't take it off some dead man, did you?' is correct.

About an hour later, a messenger informed us we were expected at the Hlaalu manor across the street. From there, all the guests would travel together in a procession to Ralen's final resting place. Most of the guests had solemn faces when we entered although some faces, mostly from young men, changed from solemn to inquisitivily looking up and down the lady on my side. Some recognised me, I could hear them whispering things like:'Isn't he that Outlander?' and 'What's he doing here?' I ignored them, most of the guests were present only because they were of House Hlaalu, rather than to pay their respect to the deceased, Uryne had let me know beforehand. For a servant, she seemed to know an awful lot about the House Hlaalu politics. In my opinion they had a lot in common with vultures, hovering above a corpse to see what they could pick from it.
'At least they won't be getting the house,' I thought to myself rather amused.

The reception was short, however not short enough in my opinion. It ended with a speech from Nileno Dorvayn, thanking everyone for coming ? I think she even nodded in my direction ? and instructed us how the procession continued from there. The crowd would follow the four closest relatives of Ralen carrying the deceased. It was highly organised, the most important members of the house were directly behind the carriers. Zerina and I were placed, out of respect, quite far in front of the procession, directly behind the Hlaalu councilors.

The Hlaalo family hadn't an existing tomb yet since the family had only recently ascended into Hlaalu nobility, a fellow guest told me. That was also why it had taken so long for the ceremony to take place. A new tomb had been hastily constructed nearby the Odai plateau so I recognised most of the way.The tomb wasn't quite done yet but the dead would hardly object, I figured.
A pile of wood had been prepared for the deceased to be placed upon. Ralen Hlaalo's closest relatives each took one corner, representing the four winds. A priest chanted the rites of passages and afterwards nodded to four relatives on the corners to ignite the pile. Solemnly all four cast a powerful firespell simultaneously, shrouding the pile and Ralen's body from us by thick, grey smoke.
Within minutes, most of the the proud pile was reduced to ashes because of the supernatural heat the spells had generated.

An hour after ignition, the priest gathered the ashes and, while chanting, placed the ashes in an urn. With a bow he handed the urn to the oldest relative who was to take it into the tomb, along with the deceased's most treasured belongings carried by the other three. We left the area without the four, they would remain in the tomb to guide the deceased's spirit to The Eternal Fields of Aetherius by prayer and chants.

By nightfall we returned to Balmora and were invited for a drink. Zerina and I politely declined and went home. I could tell from the way she walked, Zerina's feet hurt and she wanted to get out her boots as soon as possible, yet she never complained. Why do women torture themselves by wringing their feet in uncomfortable shoes anyway? Then again, I think I know why; she had looked stunning, even in her somber black dress. There hadn't been single woman present who came even close to matching her elegance and beauty. The simple truth to this fact had been reflected on several faces that day. Jealousy on the women's faces, desire on the men's.