Chapter Text
The man stomped the snow off his boots when he came into the house, greeted with wonderful aromas. A smile played on his lips, mouth salivating with the thoughts of delicious food for dinner, chuckling at his rumbling stomach indicating his hunger. Soren snuck into the kitchen area watching his wife busy herself with their meal for the evening, distracted, not hearing him come in. Her honey blonde hair falling out of her braided bun hard at work as she absently pushed them out of her eyes and wiped the sweat off her brow with the back of a hand. He loved to watch his wife work, cooking, always making sure he was properly fed. The years of wholesome cooking had added on the pounds to his stomach, expanding his girth, and hers as well, but it didn’t change how he felt about her or how beautiful she was, even after eleven years of marriage.
Making sure she had no sharp objects in her hands while she was distracted, Soren snuck up on her and tickled her, her laughter a combination of humor and fright. It was deep and throaty, so unlike her resonant voice.
“Damn you, Soren! Your antics are going to give me a heart attack one day!” Jodis scolded, but still giggling. She turned around to face her husband, grabbed his face with two hands and pulled him in for a small but tender kiss.
Soren wrapped his arms around his wife’s plump waist, kissing her again. “You need to pay more attention, my dear.”
“I’m too busy cooking for you,” she said, shooing him out of her kitchen. “Now go before you end up with a cold dinner.” Jodis turned to resume her stirring of the stew, laughing again as her husband nibbled on her neck.
“Out!” she yelled, chuckling, not really minding his teases and affections. It was what kept their relationship strong.
“I’m going..I’m going.”
Soren removed his boots, poured himself a glass of wine and sat down at the dinner table to wait on dinner, listening to his wife hum a tune as she finished cooking. Life was good, he thought. He had known Jodis all his life as they grew up in the same village, never dreaming she would ever be his wife when they were younger. After they married, they started a farm that had become quite profitable, living a comfortable life. It helped that they both still loved each other. It was unusual in such a harsh environment like Skyrim where marriage was done out of necessity rather than love, and for that he would be forever grateful.
The only drawback of their happy marriage was the fact that Jordis had been unable to conceive children. Soren didn’t know if it was because he was barren or she was. They had tried to see healers, prayed to Mara and Arkay, took alchemical recipes, but it just wasn’t meant to be. Recently, they had been talking about adoption, seriously considering taking care of an unwanted child, but they hadn’t yet reached a decision.
Soren poured his wife some wine as she came in with two steaming bowls of stew with freshly baked bread. “I have some snowberry crostatas baking and will be ready after dinner,” she informed him.
“You’re too good to me, wife.”
Jodis kissed her husband on the forehead and sat down to eat dinner, “And you are good to me.”
“Have you thought more about the adoption thing we had been talking about?” he asked when they started eating.
The lack of children was a sore spot for them both, but especially for Jodis, who was made for motherhood. It took her some time to decide, feeling like she was giving up on her body. “Yes, I have...quite a bit actually,” she replied, nodding.
“And?”
“Let’s do it, Soren. Let’s go get us a child who needs a home. I would rather have a baby of our own, but it seems the Gods have decided it was not meant to be for us. Let’s give a little one a home and some happiness.”
“Excellent! I will arrange a trip in the next month for us to go to Riften and take a look at the children at Honorhall. We need to make sure the fields are ready for the growing season before we head out.”
Jodis grabbed her husband's hand, smiling, suddenly excited about the prospect, that their discussions were finally going to be a reality.
Jodis had made love to her husband that evening, feeling their bond renew with the idea of finally completing their family. She dozed off with imaginings of what life would be like with a little girl or boy, a child she could teach things to and love. Soren was snuggled in behind her, a heavy arm draped over her body, snoring lightly on her neck. His smells and sounds, bringing a comfort like a warm, soft blanket as she fell asleep.
She came in the night seeking warmth from the Winter chill, to make a new home. She chose a dark corner near the floor and spun her web to ensnare tasty treats before she laid her eggs. The little spider spun her intricate design in her usual geometric pattern forming a kaleidoscope of shapes and lines. Each touch of her web would alert her towards her next meal, the slight vibrations would feel like an earthquake to the little creature as she rushed out and encased the insect in a fine thread of silk to be sucked and savored later.
When the little spider completed her sticky new home, she sat motionless with infinite patience, waiting, her bejeweled eyes surveyed her new home, finally enjoying the warmth after her hard labor of web spinning. Little did the spider know that a new creature would invade her tiny little mind, use her like an eight-legged puppet to observe the two humans.
Mephala had been searching for prey to play with, increasingly dissatisfied with those she found recently. She cast her toys aside like a petulant child seeking new fun. The Daedric Prince had been searching far and wide for the perfect woman, a vessel for her latest game, a plaything to manipulate for her own enjoyment and humor. The blonde Nord woman and her dark-haired mate were perfect, she thought as she invaded the little spider that managed to sneak into their home. Mephala observed their happiness, laughter, kisses, and love-making. The couple was nearly perfect, their marriage a happy one, and one that she was eager to destroy for her own amusement. But her schemes were grander than just ruining the lives of two people. The Daedric Prince curled up on her web and bided her time, waiting for the perfect opportunity.
Soren gave his wife a long kiss goodbye. He had to leave for Windhelm for several days to sell their produce to the vendors of the area and make some arrangements with the nobles of the area. Their crops, grown in fertile soil, had the people eager in two Holds of Eastmarch and Riften for their crops. The previous Spring and Summer had been bountiful, and a new growing season was soon approaching as they were running out of food, the Winter long.
Loading up their horse and wagon, he gave the mare a light whip to get her moving, waving goodbye to his wife, hauling his load to the great Nord city. It was a trip he had made countless times, neither worried with familiarity.
Jodis waved goodbye to her husband, blew him a kiss when he looked back and she sat on their porch watching him until she could see him no longer. He was a mere speck in the Wintery landscape as he crested the hill and then there was no sight of him. Sighing with a chill coursing through her, she wrapped herself in her shawl and headed back into the warm house to clean. There was a book she hadn’t had a chance to read yet and with Soren gone, it would give her some time to delve into it, looking forward to propping up her feet by the fire, sipping some wine as she read.
Despite having some free time to herself, she hated when Soren left. She always worried about him being killed by bandits or other creatures out there, despite him traveling countless times. He was a capable man, but she still fretted for him. Jodis also missed him terribly. He was such a good man and treated her well, knowing how lucky she was. Not all women who married fared as well as she did.
As she was sweeping the wooden floors of dust and dirt, she thought about the adoption. She couldn’t decide if she wanted a boy or a girl. She supposed it would depend on the child and she hoped she would know when she got to know the children, that feeling she knew was the one for them. Jodis knew the most difficult part would be choosing only one child. It would be horrible to leave the other children behind, but in the end, she and Soren were just too busy for more than one child. Perhaps as they hired more farmhands, they would have more time for more children.
The excitement of starting a family soared in her heart as she started to sing and dance around while cleaning, her heart brimming with happiness.
The little spider had laid her eggs, had food bundled, waiting for her hatchlings to feed on. Now that she was done, Mephala took over the little mother once more, climbing down from her sticky home. If anything, the Daedric Prince took care of her spiderlings. The change that took over mama spider would have shocked anyone who witnessed it as she grew in size. The spider didn’t just change in size, but shape-shifted into what appeared to be a male figure. Four limbs receded into pale flesh as the rest morphed into two arms and two legs. Fine hairs that once covered the creature soon turned to smooth human flesh.
Now standing upright, the once hairy, multiple-eye face slowly changed revealing a handsome male one of youthful appearance, a dusting of masculine whiskers on the chin, eyes, and hair black as a moonless night. The Daedric Prince was not one who chose sex or gender. Many referred to Mephala as a female, but the Prince chose what she wanted to be as Mepaha had completed into the desired shape, which was now a man.
Standing naked at the foot of the bed, Mephala stared at the sleeping Nord woman, lost in happy dreams. His penis erect, dripping, trembling in anticipation of what was to come. A wicked smile played on the man’s face as he crawled into bed with Jodis, hovering over the prone form. As he grazed his hands along her sleeping body, he cast a spell on her to keep her sedated yet slightly aware. It wouldn’t be fun if the woman wasn’t a little bit responsive, at least. When she was fully alert, she wouldn't remember what had happened, as if awaking from a dream, grasping at the cloudy vision.
Slipping a hand under her shift, trailing fingers along her smooth thighs to her stomach, casting the spell, he whispered in her ear. “Shhh, my love. Be still but awaken for me, let your body respond.”
Jodis stirred awake, vision blurry, stretching limbs as Mephala magically removed the woman’s shift and smalls, leaving her completely naked before him. The man smiled down at her as he slipped fingers between her legs, pleased she quickly got wet for him, her body ready per his demands. Watching her sleepy and dazed eyes, he pressed his lips to her nipple, suckling it, his eyes never wavering from her face. The woman stirred beneath him in her pleasure, a soft moan escaping her lips. “Yes, you like that. I knew you would,” he continued to whisper, his voice like a distant sound in the thick fog of her mind.
Satisfied the woman was ready for him, he wasted no time plunging into her, his large size was nearly painful for her as she whimpered, but he calmed her, strengthening his spell. The nefarious Daedric Prince thrust in the woman hard, aggressively, sighing in pleasure at her tightness around him. Another spell was cast that turned her barren uterus into a fruitful one, determined to impregnate her with his seed, his newest spiderling.
The look on Mephala’s face was baleful and had Jodis been aware to see it, she would have been horrified, not to mention that the creature was raping her. Though he had the woman under a spell, she would stir periodically, knowing deep down to her core something was wrong, but he kept her under until she calmed once more, allowing him to continue his tight and forceful thrusts.
A wicked smile played his lips when he heard in the distance the sound of hoof-beats, the husband arriving home from his travels, whistling a happy tune. Soon, his world would be turned upside down when he entered his bed chambers. The whole thought aroused Mephala further as he thrust faster in the woman, soon exploding inside her, spreading his seed thrust after thrust after thrust, rolling his hips as fast and hard as his human form would allow. The rapist knew he was hurting her as she moaned out in pain, but her mind remained murky, unable to react.
Mephala pulled out of the woman, spread her legs wide, and bent down to run a tongue along her wet folds. There was a tinge of blood in his mouth from hurting her as he moaned with pleasure to the taste. It wasn’t his intention to pleasure her, but to add to the shock of the husband about to walk in. Jodis moaned in pleasure, her sex thrust in the man’s mouth on instinct, spreading her legs farther apart, not quite realizing what she was doing. Soon her body set free in a wave of pleasure, pulsating in the man’s mouth.
Soren stopped his whistling when he came in the door to his home, not wanting to wake his wife as it wasn’t yet dawn. Sitting in a chair, he removed his boots, a smile on his face, happy to be home and pleased his sales went well. He couldn’t wait to tell Jodis about his success in Windhelm. He was in the process of removing his other boot when he heard it, like a strangled moan coming from his bedroom. Sensing something was wrong with Jodis, he limped towards the bedroom, dagger drawn and busted in the room to see a large man, his face between his wife’s legs, licking her sex. Jodis’ arms were sprawled, moaning to his pleasures, body open to the man before her. Soren knew she was in the throes of an orgasm, seeing it many times before.
The last thing Soren expected was to catch his wife in the throes of lovemaking with another man when he came home. His brain was trying to register what he was seeing, but not accepting what really was. Not once did he ever assume his wife was a cheater, then he wondered how long she had been having an affair. Did she do this every time he left town? The feeling of betrayal was pervasive as anger coursed through him.
“Why?” Soren was all he could manage to choke out, his voice hoarse in the drowning of his own emotions.
The man who had been sucking on his wife sat up, wiped his face of her wetness, and grinned at the shocked man before him who was too emotional to react violently yet. It wasn’t a smile of embarrassment at being caught. No, it was full of smugness, eyes a blanket of indifference.
“Why? She is lovely, is she not? Quite delicious, she is. Perhaps you should ask her that,” the naked man chuckled, sucking the remaining wetness of the woman off his fingers as if they had naughtily been in a dessert.
The man’s words nearly startled Soren out of his stupor and attacked him with his dagger. The man side-stepped out of the way, laughing, running out of the house naked into the snow and chill of the early morning. Soren chased after him, wishing only death on the man who not only took his wife but laughed in his face. With anger boiling over, he ran, but as soon as he reached outside, the light of Mundus casting an eerie light in the early morning fog, the man was nowhere to be seen as if he vanished completely.
Soren was hit with a new emotion, a sense of helplessness at the disaster that he came home to. He wept on his front porch for his loss. His wife may not have been dead, but she may as well have been. Jodis was not the same woman he left not only a few days before. Anger soon took over once more as he stormed into the house, his mind as turbulent as a cyclone. He opened the wardrobe they shared and threw all her clothes out into the snow, weeping angry tears.
How could she have done this? I had known her all my life. How could I not have seen this coming? It’s my fault, I should have been able to give her a proper child and she hated me for it. That has to be it. Regardless, she should have talked to me first. The doubts, excuses, self-loathing, anger swirled in his mind, unable to grasp one thing, one reason to give him ease and comfort of mind.
“Get up,” Soren shouted at his wife, the animosity towards his wife taking over his very soul, ruling over his broken heart.
Jodis stirred awake from all the noise her husband was making, yelling at her. Why is he yelling? As her vision and foggy mind cleared, she looked up to see her husband’s face nearly enraged, tears pouring out of his eyes. “Husband? What’s wrong? What has happened?” she asked, confused.
“What’s wrong? What’s wrong?” he yelled, his voice nearly shrill at her stupidity to ask such a question, having the audacity to play innocent. “Get out!”
“What? I...I don’t understand…” she stammered, not understanding why her husband was so angry with her. She felt a sudden chill and looked down to find herself completely naked, sitting in a pool of her own wetness. Hands went to breasts, feeling her flesh for clothes as if her eyes were playing tricks on her. “How am I naked?”
“How...By the Gods, woman! Stop playing stupid! You are a fucking cheating whore and I want you out! NOW!”
Clarity was starting to dawn on Jodis, visions of having sex with a man flashed through her groggy mind, believing them to be a dream, but was it? She couldn’t remember, her brain grasping for reality. “No...I...I...no, that, that was a dream. I wouldn’t...ever…”
But Soren wouldn’t let her finish, not allowing her to place doubts on what he saw with his own eyes. “You would and you did...get out!”
“Husband, please...please, believe me...I would never…”
“Stop your lies! Do you think me blind! I saw a man’s face between your legs as you moaned in pleasure! You were enjoying it! I SAW it!
Jodis wept as confusion deepened, not knowing what was real or not. She would never cheat on Soren, she loved him. Did someone break in and rape her? That must have been it and she had to make Soren believe her. “Please, listen! I would never cheat on you! The man must have raped me. I...he must have cast some sort of spell on me!” She had to make her husband understand.
“Do you think me a fool?! You were in the throes of pleasure, not the pain of rape!” Soren walked over to his wife, his face in hers. “Stop your lies and get out. I never want to see you again.”
Jodis cried and moaned in her pain as she struggled to get dressed. “Pl...please, S...Soren. I wouldn’t…”
But Soren became taciturn, refusing to speak to his wife now as he walked out to sit on the porch while she gathered her things and left the house.
Jodis sobbed aloud as she gathered what remained of her things that weren’t already in the snow. She shoved them into a bag, not understanding what had happened. One thing she knew for certain was she would never cheat on her husband and the man must have raped her. There seemed to be no convincing Soren of the truth, weeping over her loss, feeling out of control.
“Soren, please…” Jodis tried once more to the broken man sitting on the porch chair, his demeanor as cold as the morning air.
“Just leave…” he whispered, lip quivering.
Soren wept as he watched his wife go, sobbing, part of him wanted to call her back and hold her, forgive her, believe what she told him. He forced those thoughts out of his head, not wanting to let the lies take over the truth of what he saw. No more would he be filled with her delicious cooking, no chance would there be having children running around the house, no more would he make love to his wife, to remain alone. The whole idea nearly broke him, as he watched her crest over the hill never to see Jodis again.
Jodis stretched her painful back after sleeping on the hard ground of Beggar’s Row in Riften, her only home, feeling some sharp pains in her stomach. She rubbed her stomach as the baby kicked in her. The feeling was bittersweet. She never thought she would be able to have children, but she wanted a child with Soren, not some stranger who raped her. She missed her husband every day, wishing she could go back to him.
In the beginning, she had spent countless hours tormenting herself, debating to find a way to remove the child from her womb, a constant reminder of what had happened and her loss. In the end, Jodis decided the child was innocent. It wasn’t the baby’s fault what had happened to her. At least she wouldn’t be alone for long, having something new to love, deciding the child was meant, despite Jodis’ suffering.
Begging had become her new profession as no one would hire her while pregnant, no one caring if she lived or died, such was the way in Skyrim. People were self-serving in these harsh times. The only reason she was alive still was due to the kindness of a few people who would offer her a Septim here or there so she could eat, other times she would steal what she needed. At least Beggar’s Row was free. She had made herself a little corner of the area, tried to clean it as much as she could, and ignored the other two beggars who lived with her, Edda and Snilf, not trusting them.
Jodis went as far as to try to get in with the Thieves Guild, but they said it was no place for a pregnant woman or a child, turning her away. Once in a while, if she was lucky, she would get a job cleaning houses for extra coin. Now she was too far along to do much of anything other than lower herself to beg, but beg she did. It was either that or die. Jodis had to live for her child.
That night, a worn woolen blanket over her body, shivering, she woke with a start to sharp pains and a pool of wetness in her bedroll. At first, she didn’t know what was wrong, thinking something was happening to the baby, but as her contractions grew in regular intervals, Jodis soon realized she was about to become a mother. She didn’t want to scream, waking the other two beggars, but her body left her no choice with the onslaught of pain. The cold of the night soon forgotten as she sweated with an intensity she never dreamed of ever feeling, the pain nearly unbearable. She whimpered in relief when the contractions subsided only to be replaced with tightening cramps that spread through her entire body once more.
Jodis felt a hand grab hers, trying to pull away, but the person on the other end held fast. “Shhh, old Edda is here for you, honey. Your baby is coming.”
“I realize that…” Jodis managed to get out when the contraction passed.
“Edda can help, I can. Had babies, Edda has.”
“You had children?”
“Yes, Edda had three, all dead now.”
Jodis tried to get away from the woman, barely able to move in her pain, afraid Edda would kill her child. “No…”
“Stupid girl, Edda won’t kill your child. My kids died, older, war, disease. Edda didn’t kill them. All the kids are gone, dead, and makes Edda a bit crazy. I help...I help. ”
With no other choice, Jodis nodded, feeling bad for not getting to know the crazy old woman, afraid of her. “Thank you.”
“Snilf!” the old woman yelled. “Get water and start heating it!”
Unable to sleep through the screams anyway, the old man got up and did as he was told, grumbling to let old Edda know his discontent, and grabbed a bucket to fill it with lake water. He started a fire in the old sewers to heat the water in the pot covering his ears to the woman’s screams as they echoed through the chamber.
Several hours later with a lot of screaming and a lot of blood, Jodis held the small infant, kissing the girl’s damp head as the baby slept, feeding. The new mother wept that night at her loss and what she had gained, both emotions feeling like they were about to tear her apart in opposite directions.
“What’s her name?” Edda asked the sobbing woman.
“Marianne. It is Nord for ‘bitter grace,’” Jodis sniffed.
The old woman nodded her head in understanding. “The father not want the child?”
Jodis let the tears slip out of her eyes once more at the memories of her husband, still missing him terribly and shook her head. “My husband kicked me out, claiming I cheated on him. I...I don’t remember...I think I was raped, but I would never cheat on him. He didn’t believe me. I wasn’t supposed to have children, being barren, but here she is. So, she is my Bitter Grace...a blessing, but a reminder of all that I have lost...she is meant.”
“Sounds like some trickster got to ya.”
Jodis looked at the crazy woman strangely, feeling a new bond with her after that night thanks to her help in delivering Marianne. “What do you mean?”
“Them Daedric Princes love messin’ with us. They toy and ruin our lives for their fun...pieces of shit,” Edda spat.
“You really think so? Is that possible?”
The old woman shrugged, “Sure why not? I believe you when you say you didn’t cheat.”
“Thank you for saying that,” Jodis said. “I...I’m sorry I have been avoiding you and Snilf. I...I have just been afraid, never living alone without a home before.”
Edda waved a hand of indifference. “We are in this together.”
As Marianne grew and Jodis became closer with Edda and Snilf, she felt confident to leave her child with them with promises of bringing them gold and food as she worked as a wench on the streets of Riften. It was the only thing she knew how to do besides cook. It was sex, how hard could it be? She had knocked on all the doors of Riften hoping to get a job cleaning houses regularly, as a nanny or a cook, but no one wanted her or they had staff already. The only job left to her was sex.
“Are you sure you want to do this, girl? Edda never does sex for coin. Edda begs like Snilf,” the old woman lectured.
“What other choice do I have? I can’t raise a child and start a farm on my own, not having any money to even buy some property. I have tried to find work, but no one is hiring, especially a mother with no husband. I have to keep us fed...Mari fed. Begging isn’t going to be enough for her.” The whole idea disgusted her, but what other choice did she have? She did it to keep Marianne clothed and fed, hating the idea of raising a child in Beggar’s Row, but she promised herself she would shower the girl with love to make up for it.
“If you are sure, I’m not one to judge. Just know it is dangerous work, girl.”
“I know. Again, lack of choices…”
“I have five Septim I have been saving that you can have,” Snilf offered.
Jodis nearly teared up at the offer. Most beggars were stingy with their coin and food because they had very little to share, but to offer this to her touched her deeply. She pecked him with a kiss on the head, not caring about his stench and filth as she was the same. “Thank you, Snilf. You keep it. I wish it were enough.”
The woman had lost quite a bit of weight and she tried to keep on some pounds so she wasn’t too boney, but it was hard with so little money and food. No man would want her stinking or filthy either, so she stole a nice dress from some nobles whose servants had hung clothes out to dry, taking good care of it so she could wear it over and over for work. She also stole some soap and bathed in the lake so she wasn’t too disgusting.
“Well, how do I look?” Jodis asked the two beggars.
“You look like a fine lady, indeed,” Snilf offered.
“She looks like a wench,” Edda retorted, being honest.
“Well, that is the goal, Edda. Alright, I’m off. I’m so nervous! I...I feel...well, it doesn’t matter what I feel. It is what I have to do.”
It was later in the evening as Jodis stood outside the Bee and Barb, waiting for a drunken man to make his way to her, hoping he was too drunk to get it up. She leaned on the railing over the canal, her dress undone at the top to expose her deep cleavage and waited like a bee to honey. As the men came out, some whistled and gave her a lustful once-over, but none took her to bed except for one who finally took notice and meandered her way.
“How much,” he slurred.
“50 Septim,” Jodis replied, trying to hide the shaking nerves suddenly coursing through her body.
“You’re expensive...you better be good,” he said, too drunk to barter, mostly sex on the brain.
The man took her to a dark corner behind some buildings, him not wanting to take her home and her not having a place of her own. He leaned against the wooden side of a store and pulled down his pants. “Suck it,” he demanded. “You better be good.”
Jodis suddenly felt sick to her stomach using her body for money, feeling like she was betraying her husband somehow, and herself, but her husband didn’t love her anymore. Tucking neatly away the pain and nerves, she gave him a winning smile and got on her knees, hoping she remembered how to do it, not having sucked a man since her husband.
“Oh yeah...that’s just what I needed,” the man said as she took his hardness in her mouth. After a few minutes, he stopped her. “Nice work, wench, but I’m not paying you 50 Septim for a suck. Lift up your skirts.”
Jodis did as he ordered, trying not to cry while ignoring the humiliation as he slipped a hand between her legs feeling her dryness.
“Rub yourself,” he ordered.
Again, Jodis did as she was told not wanting to watch the man stroke himself as he watched, but she did it with a smile on her face to ensure she was paid for all her efforts. “Do you like that?” she nearly gagged out.
“You bet I do, lady,” he replied, now excited. He was quickly on top of her, turning her around, pressing her body over the railing as he lifted her skirts, slipping inside of her from behind. The sex was rough and clumsy due to his drunken nature, or perhaps he was always that way, but Jodis was grateful it didn’t take him too long to finish.
When the evening was over, she managed to come back to her daughter with 100 Septim in her pocket. In the morning, she would get them all some fresh food for once and save the rest. Before she headed inside her crumbling ruin of a home, she threw up in a corner and wept against the stone walls, wept like she hadn’t in a long time, not since her husband kicked her out. Once she got it out of her system, she wiped her face of her tears and headed inside full of fake smiles to her child who was still awake.
“How did it go?” Edda asked, noticing the woman had been crying.
“How do you think it went? It was humiliating, but I made some decent money.”
“How much?” Snilf asked, his excitement palpable.
“100 Septim, two men.”
“That much?” Edda asked, her surprise evident.
“Yes, it’s a start. I will get us fed tomorrow, but right now I’m exhausted and going to sleep.”
Edda and Snilf were now part of her family, but in the end, they were still beggars. Jodis worried they would steal from her, so she procured a small safebox to store her incredibly hard-earned coin in. After giving them some coins for watching Mari, she stored the rest in the box for safekeeping. Jodis hoped as long as she kept them fed, they would keep out of her stash.
The woman climbed in her bedroll, holding her growing infant who was nearly one and kissed her blonde head. “It’s all for you, sweet Mari, my love, my child, my daughter,” she whispered before she fell asleep.