Hjalmar's Wild Reunion

The sky was growing darker, and Hjalmar knew that meant only one thing: snow. He had no time for it.

He leaned forward over his horse's neck, urging the beast to move faster. It had been a year since he'd seen his wife Mauri, and a year ago, her father had ordered him to leave her alone. And now here he was, charging back into Markarth with a warband at his back.

The city stretched out before him as the sun began to set, then he was galloping through the gates, scarcely slowing down as he did so. He rode down the main street of the town, passing by barrels and crates on either side of the road before coming to the large wooden doors of Mauri's house.

"Wife!" His voice carried across the square as he dismounted from his horse, dragging it in front of Mauri's door. "Mauri!"

A moment later, the door opened and Mauri emerged. She looked older than before - her hair was lighter than his own and had grown noticeably longer, but there was still no denying that she was beautiful. She wore a simple dress of dark green which clung to her curves, and even in this age of chaos she managed to look elegant. Her eyes widened when she saw him, and she ran towards him just as quickly as she could manage in her heavy dress.

"Hjalmar!" The two embraced each other tightly before they ended their embrace with a kiss. "What are you doing here?"

"I've returned." He flashed her a smile, taking off his helmet to do so. The top of his head was covered in a mess of red hair that he kept long like most other Nord men did - it had been braided neatly for battle but now hung loose over his shoulders again. "Your father banished me from here last year."

"He did." Her expression hardened slightly at this realization. "But why have you returned? Are you going to try again?" She crossed her arms as she asked this - neither of them wanted to be away from each other for too long, but Mauri had gone through with her marriage regardless of Hjalmar's threats to return if she didn't wait for him until after he'd left for good.

"Yes." He said firmly. "I came back because I want nothing more in this world than you - but your father will never let us be together."

"He never will." She repeated herself softly before biting down on her lower lip hard enough to draw blood; Hjalmar reached out automatically, brushing away some blood that escaped her lips with one thumb and wiping it away with his handkerchief before dropping it back in his pocket. Then he pulled her close again and kissed her deeply enough that they both lost themselves in it for a while; they hadn't seen each other in too long not to savor every second they could together from now on out.