Note: this is my first fanfic for anyone but me to read, and it's my first Oblivion fanfic. Be gentle :D

Ever since she was a little girl, Lily wanted to become a mage. It wasn't just that it was nearly obligation—after all, she was a Breton, and her people were incredibly skilled with Magicka of all varieties. It truly fascinated her, the realm of mages and wizards. And it had to be respectable; after all, there was an entire guild dedicated to it.

Had she been born in High Rock, she would have received the proper training to become a mage, and at an early age. Even having been born in Cyrodiil, she could have entered a life of magic when she became old enough. Unfortunately, she lived alone with her father and sister on a small farm in between Anvil and Kvatch, which was completely isolated from either city, though both boasted a Mages Guild hall.

Marie scoffed at her younger sister's dreams. Louis wanted desperately to support her, but they hadn't the money to send her to Anvil or Kvatch, or even Skingrad further to the east. Their little farm brought in enough money to keep the Laroque family alive, and not much more.

By the time she was ten, all hopes of becoming a mage were slipping from Lily's mind, and more tangible things like caring for the farm took the newly vacated space. Marie approved of this. Louis appreciated the help Lily gave, but she knew it broke his heart to see his young daughter giving up her dreams.

Oftentimes during the year, travellers weary from the hike between cities or Legionnaires taking a break from their patrols stopped at the farm for supplies, rest, or even simply someone to talk to. Lily and Marie grew up around strangers coming in and out of the house at all hours of the day. Some stayed for minutes; other remained for days. Louis was more than happy to welcome them in and offer them what they needed when they chose to depart.

So it wasn't a surprise when Marie came into the house one afternoon to say that she saw a young Imperial man heading up the path from the Gold Road.

Lily, seventeen by this time, had long since abandoned all wish to become a mage and had accepted a life of farming. Marie, at twenty, was preoccupied with heading for a city to find a suitor, get married and settle down. It came as no surprise to Lily or Louis when Marie was bubbling over with excitement when she spotted the Imperial.

"He's young, Papa," she exclaimed in a hushed voice. "He can't be more than twenty-five. And he's looks well-off from what I could see. Granted, he was still by the Gold Road when I saw him, but he didn't look as thin and starved as some of the men who show up here, and—"

"Marie," Louis interjected, chuckling. From her spot at the table, kneading dough, Lily saw an embarrassed smile crawl onto her sister's face. "I know you want to leave, and you rightly should at twenty. But just because one Imperial fellow showed up at our house doesn't mean he's going to be the one to marry you."

Lily giggled when a hot blush blossomed on Marie's cheeks. Her sister's sharp grey gaze shot over to Lily. "Shut your mouth, Lily. At least I've got realistic expectations. I don't want to be a robed fool who frolics around a university playing with spells."

Lily clamped her mouth shut and glowered at her sister when she looked away. Louis sighed heavily and put down the ears of corn he had been holding. "Don't speak to your sister that way, Marie. That was completely uncalled for. Now go welcome this Imperial to our home and finish up outside. I want the rest of those potatoes in the cellar today, young lady."

After Marie did as she was told and left the house, Lily let out a heavy sigh and buried her hands into the thick, sticky dough. "Thanks, Papa."

"Of course, Lily." Louis made himself comfortable on the wooden chair by the hearth and continued counting the corn from the harvest.

Only a few minutes later, the door opened again. Marie shuffled inside, head bowed so her dark auburn hair spilled over her face, and behind her came the Imperial she had been so excited to meet.

He looked like any other to Lily. She couldn't see what was so remarkable about him. Wavy brown hair, olive skin, warm brown eyes, tall; he was no wealthy lord dancing in to sweep anyone off their feet, though there was a rugged handsomeness about him, probably because of his lightly dusted clothes and the dark stubble on his face.

"Welcome, sir," Louis said cheerfully. He abandoned his parchment, quill and corn to stand and shake the Imperial's hand. Marie slunk back outside the moment the newcomer was distracted, and Lily watched covertly as she continued to knead the dough. "Where are you coming from, where are you headed? Come, sit."

The Imperial let Louis lead him to the table where Lily stood. "I left Chorrol last night and I'd like to be in Anvil soon, but I thought I'd take a break. Your farm is very well known in Kvatch, Mr Laroque. It came highly recommended by more than a few people as a place to rest."

Louis chuckled and waved their guest to a chair opposite Lily. "Well, I can't turn away anyone who shows up at my door. Please excuse the mess. I take it Marie made proper introductions? This is my younger daughter, Lily."

There was something almost uncomfortably friendly in the way he looked at her, as if his gaze could keep her trapped. "I'm Jacob Bercarius."

"Pleased to meet you, Mr Bercarius," Lily said politely, nodding somewhat and smiling. He seemed like a likeable fellow, but there was something off about him.

"Would you like anything to drink?" Louis called from the kitchen behind Lily. "We have mead, wine, ale… the only thing we seem to be out of at the moment is brandy."

"Actually, do you have water?" the Imperial asked loud enough for Louis to hear. He was leaning one elbow on the table, watching Lily knead as if hypnotized. She wasn't sure if she was comfortable with it or not. He seemed like such a strange man, and yet she had only known him for such a short time. "It's a hot day out there, and wolves scared off my horse before I made it to Kvatch, so I've been walking a while."

Louis popped out of the kitchen behind Lily and lightly rested a hand on her shoulder. "Oh, of course, whatever you like. Lily, dear, entertain a bit while I go to the well." With that, he scooted around the table and vanished out the front door.

They remained in silence for a short while after Louis left. Lily quickly finished up the kneading and rolled the dough into a ball before wiping her hands off on the apron around her waist, protecting her simple blue and green dress. "Why are you headed for Anvil, Mr Bercarius?" she asked as she plopped the dough onto a plate beside her.

"Oh, you know, a change of scenery," he replied cheerfully, waving a hand absently. "I was bored of looking at that same old tree in Chorrol every day of my life. Anvil's got a bit more character."

"I've only been a few times," Lily admitted, sweeping her hand across the table to collect the loose flour. "I'm afraid I haven't even been further east than Skingrad."

Thick dark brown brows arched. "Really? You need to see the Imperial City. You'll lose yourself there, I guarantee it."

Lily piled more sticky dough on the flour in front of her and prepared to knead it into something that might become decent bread soon. "I had plans to go when I was younger, but it didn't work out."

He was lightly drumming his fingers on the wooden tabletop; it was a pleasant background sound to their conversation. "Yeah? Why didn't you go?"

She sighed softly and used her wrist to tuck a loose lock of wavy copper hair behind her ear. "I wanted to become a mage, but we didn't have the money to send me to a guild hall, or the Arcane University."

"I've been to the university. It's a great place, and I'm not overly fond of magic so that's saying a lot. If you don't have enough to join the guild, why don't you just go to Kvatch and become a priest, or priestess or whatever?" he suggested simply. "It's closer than Anvil at least, and you wouldn't have to spend much. They learn restorative magic, don't they? That's almost as good as being a mage, and probably as close as you'll get."

Lily felt a grin make itself known on her lips. "You know, I've never even considered that before. You're right; they practice Restoration… that would be a wonderful alternative."

"What's a wonderful alternative?" Louis' voice came from the front door as he returned from the well. There was a jug of water in his arms and this he set on the table between Lily and Jacob.

"Oh, Mr Bercarius said that I should go to a chapel and become a priestess since we can't afford to send me to the Mages Guild or the Arcane University," Lily explained, stopping her kneading for a moment. A sudden warmth bloomed inside her at the thought of finally becoming a mage, even if it was through the body of a priest. She hadn't felt this determined to study Magicka since she was young. "What do you think, Papa?"

Louis returned from the kitchen with three clay goblets. He set one in front of Jacob and Lily, and sat down with the last in his hands. "A priestess? That would be interesting. If you really truly want to, Lily, give it more thought. You can't just jump to conclusions. Priests live hard lives. And you aren't very devout," he pointed out as he lifted the jug and poured water for each of them.

Lily plunked into the chair behind her and dusted off her hands on her apron before grabbing her goblet. "I know, but I can be. There's the Chapel of Akatosh in Kvatch and the Chapel of Dibella in Anvil, right?"

"Yep," said Jacob as he lifted his cup.

Lily waved at him with her free hand. "See, I could just learn to be devout. I'm only not now because I don't know anything about the Nine Divine."

Louis smiled and shook his head, though not in refusal. "Ah, look what you started," he chuckled, rolling his eyes at Jacob. "Now she's going to be stuck on this for ten years unless she actually goes to a chapel."

Jacob merely raised his brows and said, "I do what I can."

"Well, that's helpful of you. How long would you like to stay, Mr Bercarius?"

"Maybe overnight, if it's no trouble to you. I'm in no big rush to get to Anvil, and I'm tired. Walking from Kvatch is exhausting work."

Louis clapped his hands together. "No trouble, of course! I'll go upstairs to get the nice spare room ready. Lily, finish with the dough; I want bread again one of these days."

—

"Are the rest of the potatoes in the cellar?"

"Yes, Papa," Marie murmured tiredly. She swayed somewhat as she stood by the stairs leading to the second storey of the farmhouse. Lily wondered how she was managing to stay awake at all, as she had been outside collecting potatoes all day.

"Go to bed, sweet," Louis suggested kindly. As Marie staggered up the stairs to comply, their father turned to Lily, who was lounging on a couch in front of the hearth near the Imperial Legion soldier who had showed up around dinnertime. "And the bread is baking?"

"You saw me put it in, Papa. Do you know where Purloined Shadows is?" she asked, staring into the hearth. The crackling red tongues flicked at the stone blocks surrounding them, and tiny orange sparks danced up until fading into the fires of Oblivion. Lily blinked languidly and shivered when the comfortable heat of the fire filled her completely. "I think I lost it."

Louis sighed softly and sat down at the foot of the couch beside his daughter. "I don't even know what that is, Lily."

"A book. I wanted to read it."

"Isn't it about Nocturnal?" Jacob Bercarius asked from his place nearer to the fire. The warm orange light caught golden strands in his hair and made his brown eyes glow.

The soldier, whose name was Marius Rotarius, spoke up as well. "The Daedric Prince?"

Lily smiled a little embarrassedly, but nobody could see her blush in the light of the fire. "Yes, the Daedric Prince."

Her father grunted and leaned back. "You know more about Daedra than the Nine Divine?"

"No. I haven't found any interesting books about the Nine Divine yet. The Daedric Princes, though, always have interesting books."

Louis chuckled, and even Jacob and Marius uttered soft laughs. "And you who want to become a priest in a chapel. You silly girl," the middle-aged redhead remarked. "I moved a few old books to a chest in the corner of the room. Whatever you're looking for might be there."

Lily climbed to her feet and trudged behind the couch to reach the chest her father had mentioned. She paid vague attention to the idle conversation Louis, Marius and Jacob shared—they were discussing politics, she thought; the health of Emperor Uriel Septim and his family. Heaving the lid of the chest open, Lily stared inside until she spotted the book she wanted hiding underneath an old copy of A Less Rude Song. She snatched it up and strode across the dimly lit room. Pausing by the stairs, she glanced briefly out the window. The moonlight was wan as it shone down on Cyrodiil; thick black shadows formed beneath trees and bushes, and night time creatures scampered through long grasses across the Gold Road.

"Are you going to head upstairs then, Lily?" Louis briefly stopped his conversation—which had quickly went from the Emperor to the Arena stadium in the Imperial City.

"Yes, I think I'll read a bit and go to bed."

"Oh, before you do, Lily," he said, "Mr Rotarius is headed for Kvatch tomorrow morning. If you really want to see the chapel and decide if you want to join, he could escort you."

Lily resisted the urge to grin, though she wanted desperately to. "That would be wonderful. Thank you, Mr Rotarius."

The soldier nodded and leaned over from his chair to flick a curious bug off his armour, which he had removed and was piled neatly beside him. Sitting up straight, he smiled warmly at the girl. "You're very welcome, Miss Laroque. I wouldn't wish a young lady to have to travel the road alone."

"That's very generous of you. Goodnight, Papa, Mr Bercarius, Mr Rotarius." Lily waved quickly before padding silently up the stone steps to the second floor of the house. In the room closest to the stairs, she could hear Marie's soft sighs; she was already asleep, the poor thing. The next door was Lily's, and the one beside it was a spare, currently Jacob Bercarius'. Across the narrow hallway was three more: two spares, one for Marius Rotarius, and Louis'.

Torches were out and candles were sparse, so Lily reached out and dragged her hand along the wall until she found the second door on the right side. She shuffled inside and blindly lit a few candles on the dresser in the corner. Once sufficient light flickered from the candles, Lily tossed the book onto her small, creaky bed and opened the curtains to her window. Past the farm, all she could see were the high tips of the trees of the Gold Coast. In her mind's eye, she could see the towers and spires of Kvatch to the east, and a little sigh escaped her.

Tomorrow, the east would be hers.