Rapier and Archer left me to watch Shay. They both wanted to stay until he woke up but the Graybeard wanted them to go with him. Archer was ready to right away, but Rapier argued until Archer pointed out that she wasn't going to win. She'd followed with her tail whipping back and forth to show her disapproval.

I amused myself by throwing the chunks of ice from my hide boots into the fire. My entertainment didn't last long though. The ice melted quickly in the warmth that came from sitting in front of the fire and soon, I was left with nothing to do. It was much like when my caravan stopped for a rest and nothing bothered us. Those wonderful and yet annoyingly boring moments when we didn't need to worry about being killed.

I sighed and started finding the random things in my pockets that I didn't need anymore and throwing them into the fire, just to see what would happen. Most of those items were stones that weren't worth anything. There was, however, a bottle of mead. I studied it, debating if I wanted to drink it or not. I decided it wouldn't taste as good knowing what I could have done with it instead.

Unable to resist the temptation any longer I threw the bottle into the fireplace. It broke against the stones and the fire whooshed up in a large fireball. I yelped and scrambled backward. I hadn't expected that big of a reaction.

There was a quiet laugh from behind me that quickly changed to coughing. I jumped to my feet, only to see that it was Shay. I relaxed a bit knowing that I wasn't going to be killed from behind unexpectedly.

Shay's coughing subsided and he grinned at me. "Didn't feel like drinking it?"

I flicked my tail and purred in amusement. "It would not have tasted as good knowing Khajiit could have watched it explode."

Shay winced and pushed himself up and I pondered the wisdom in stopping him. "I probably would have done the same. Where is Archer and Rapier?"

I pinned my ears back and sat down in the chair by his bed. "Khajiit doesn't know. One of the Graybeards led them away some time ago."

"Oh," Shay groaned and dropped onto his back again. "I don't know why I did that," he muttered. "I forgot how painful the stuff was most likely."

I tipped my head at him. "The arrow or the poison?"

Shay smiled weakly. "Both. Mostly the poison though."

Neither of us said anything else.

There was a sound like a rock falling from the main hall, quickly followed by another. I glanced at Shay, but he looked just as confused as I was. After a minute there were two more sounds that were more like someone tipping a glass vase onto the floor.

I stood up and was just starting toward the door when Archer and Rapier walked in. Archer looked like he'd just done the most fun thing in the world, and Rapier looked like she was going to break something.

"How's Shay?" Archer asked when he saw me.

"I'm fine," Shay said before I could respond.

"I know for a fact that, that is a lie," Rapier's ears flattened against her head and she glared at Shay.

"It is no- AH!" Shay flinched as though he'd been punched. "Okay... maybe it is. Just a little."

Archer sighed. "Shay?"

"What?" Shay's face was taken over by a look that was probably meant to be innocent but looked more like wide eyed annoyance.

"Register the pain for once. It doesn't do any good to you to be moving before you should be."

"I do register the pain! Just not in the way that you want me to."

I flicked my tail. "Which is exactly why Archer is telling you to stop."

Shay sighed as I left the room. I wanted to do something more interesting than sitting in a room staring at the fire. I walked by three of the Graybeards, who watched me pass in silence. I shoved open the door and a blast of cold air hit me right in the face. I pulled up my hood and stepped out into the swirling snow.