Hi everyone! I'm sorry for the long delay in getting back to this story. Thank you so much for your reviews since the last chapter. It was very much appreciated!

These past few months work and school has been kicking my butt. I hope to have more regular updates now that we are in the Summer.

Kodlak sat at his desk, frowning over an old text about the Glenmoril Witches Coven, when he heard a rap at his door.

"Come in!" He answered, setting the book aside.

Lily peeked around the door, holding a tray with a potion bottle.

"Harbinger, Tilma sent me down here with your medicine."

"My thanks Lily. Put it there on my table. How go the celebrations?"

Lily set the tray on the table and said, "The celebration is winding down. Everyone's gone to their beds, except for Torvar. He uh, chose to sleep at the table."

Kodlak sighed. "That lad has an unholy appreciation for strong ale and mead."

"Harbinger, I… need to speak with you about something."

Kodlak nodded. "Aye. I understand you've been allowed to know some secrets before your time. Well girl, bring that chair over and have a seat by me."

Lily took a seat across from the Harbinger and continued, "So, I guess Vilkas told you what happened during my testing?"

Kodlak looked at her with his kind old eyes and said, "I know that Vilkas transformed during your mission to Dustman's Cairn. In truth, I was expecting you to come here seeking answers. What would you ask of me?"

"Are all the Companions werewolves?"

"Not all," Kodlak confirmed. "Only members of the Circle share the blood of the beast."

Lily made a mental note of the information. It meant that Kodlak himself was a werewolf, along with Vilkas, Farkas, Aela and Skjor.

Lily looked puzzled as she continued, "I've been reading the "Songs of the Return" that you lent to me. I'm up to volume 42 now, but I don't recall anything about this in your history. Have the Companions always been so aligned with Hircine?"

"NO!" Kodlak's reply was a strong denial, and his hands formed into fists. Lily was surprised by the vehemence of his response.

Kodlak sighed and slowly unclenched his fists. He responded more gently, "As a group, we are not aligned with Hircine, though some have taken more strongly to the blood than others. It was a short sighted decision by one of our Harbingers of old, Terrfyg. He thought it would make us stronger. Instead, it has weakened us and barred our souls forever from the Hall of Valor. The souls of all werewolves belong to Hircine. Some may see Hircine's hunting ground as a paradise, but my soul yearns for Sovngarde."

Lily cast her gaze at the various books, tomes and scrolls scattered in Kodlak's office. The titles of several books claimed information on lycanthropy, Hircine, magical curses and the like.

"You've been searching for a cure, haven't you," Lily said.

Kodlak nodded. "Aye. And I am very close to an answer. But enough of this, Lily. I do not wish to trouble you with these burdens, when you are so newly joined." He smiled sadly. "This is the time when you should be enjoying your first days as a Companion. Leave these troubles to me for now. One day, we may speak of it again."

Lily was still asleep in her narrow bed in the whelp's quarters, when she was rudely awakened by the clang of metal on metal. The sound seemed to bounce off the inside of her skull.

"What in Oblivion…" She cracked open an eyelid and saw Athis standing by her bed, holding an iron practice sword in each hand.

"I'm hungover and sleeping it off!" Lily complained. But as she burrowed further into the bed and closed her eyes again, Athis clanged the blades together more insistently.

Lily groaned and tried to pull the fur blanket over her head, but the Mer would not go away.

"Wake up Lily, the early guar takes the kwama! It's practice time!" He announced with a grin.

The next few days passed in a blur of blades for Lily. Athis kept to his word and woke her at the crack of dawn each morning for training in dual wielded blades.

During one of these sessions, Farkas watched their training while leaning against the back wall of the practice yard. He shook his head and smiled.

"Find something amusing, my big friend?" Athis asked.

Farkas grinned. "Don't let me interrupt. You guys look like you're having fun with those little knives."

"Ha! These are shortswords my massive Shield Brother. Sharp and quick like a razorfish against a whale." Athis executed some elegant moves at top speed. Lily grunted and grit her teeth as she struggled to fend off this demonstration with her clumsy counter moves.

"Yeah, but I thought whales eat razorfish," Farkas replied.

"They do…but they always come to regret it," Athis answered confidently.

Lily yelped as Athis hit her shins with the blunt of his blades, sending her sprawling inelegantly to the ground. Shit. How did I not see that one coming?

Athis offered Lily a hand and pulled her up from the ground. "Bigger lads like Farkas are well built for heavy weapons like greatswords and hammers. But as a smaller warrior, you need strategies suited to your build. Speed and agility are among the only advantages you'll have. Just one well placed hit from two-hander can end your days for good. Make sure you fight faster…and smarter."

Lily nodded her head as she brushed the dirt from her leather armor.

She thanked Athis and headed inside Jorrvaskr for a late lunch. She felt disappointed in her progress, but Athis assured her that she just needed to give it more time.

No one else was in the dining hall that afternoon except for Aela and Njada. Lily took an empty seat at the opposite end of the table and piled her plate with food. She had the nagging feeling that she was forgetting something. Then it hit her. It's Tirdas today. Shit! The dinner with Anoriath is tonight! Lily suddenly felt extremely nervous. Maybe I shouldn't go. I could eat this whole plate of sweetrolls and claim a stomach ache.

At the other end of the table, Aela and Njada were having a friendly conversation…

"So, I've been hearing rumors…about you and Skjor," Njada drawled, smirking across the table at Aela in the dining hall.

"What!" Aela's silver eyes widened in surprise, then narrowed in outrage at the gossipy warrior. "If you don't want to lose your ears, you'll keep those rumors to yourself!" Aela snapped.

True, Skjor was handsome, strong and kind. But Aela respected him far too well to ever cross that line. In the years since Aela's mother died, Skjor had been her mentor, friend and trusted brother of the hunt.

Aela shifted in her chair in an uncharacteristic show of nerves. "It's not like it's forbidden…but nothing is going on between me and Skjor," She reaffirmed. The color was beginning to rise in her cheeks.

"If you say so," Njada grinned, leaving to go outside and practice.

"Hircine's horns, some people have nerve," Aela muttered, glaring after her nosy shield-sister.

Aela quickly glanced around the dining hall, to see if any other busy-bodies had been listening in. Everyone had finished lunch and gone out, except for Lily. The newblood sat at the other end of the table, wearing a troubled expression while clutching a mug of mead in a death grip. Aela walked over and sat next to her.

"Lily? You alright?" Aela asked.

Lily looked up from her mug. "Oh, sure. I'm fine. Everything's fine," She answered in a rush.

It was then that Aela remembered. She smiled and broached the subject. "So, tonight's the night? Are you ready for your dinner with Anoriath?"

"I…guess so," Lily answered with unease.

"You should probably start getting ready. What will you wear?" Aela asked.

"Oh, I don't need to get ready. I'll just wear what I have on," Lily replied.

Aela's brow wrinkled as she took in the sight of Lily's tired, stained old leathers and messy brown hair tied back in a ponytail.

"Lily, I hope you won't mind me asking, but have you ever gone out with a man before? You seem nervous."

"Huh? Of course I have!" Lily protested. Her cheeks burned scarlet for a moment. Lily shifted her gaze around the hall to make sure there was no one else around to listen in. She continued in low tones, "Look, the truth is I'm not good at this stuff." She confided even more, "I thought I was in love once. It was great, till I caught the horker's-ass in bed with my rival. Anyhow, he was my friend for so many years the romance was almost an accident. He never took me to dinner or any of this courtship crap. I don't even know what I'm doing," Lily grumbled.

Aela nodded in sympathy. "I hear you, Shield Sister. Even the strongest woman can have their heart laid low by a cheating lover." The expression that burned for a moment in Aela's gaze made Lily wonder if the huntress spoke from some experience.

Aela placed an encouraging hand on Lily's shoulder and said, "Lily, what you need to do is forget about him, pick yourself up and get back into the hunt! Believe me, it will do you good to go out to dinner with Anoriath this night. I'll help you get ready. Meet me in my quarters after you've finished your lunch."

Aela strode outside, her eyes scanning the practice yard, until they fell on Ria. She was out on the yard training with Vilkas. The two circled each other, wielding heavy two-handed swords. Ria was used to one-handed weapons and shields. The weight of the enormous longsword was unfamiliar to her and she was having difficulty keeping the blade steady.

Vilkas cast a critical blue eye upon his wobbly trainee and shook his head. "You look ready to fall over before the battle has even begun. Are you intending to make your enemies laugh themselves to death? Move your left hand lower on the hilt. Make your back straighter and your feet farther apart. There, your balance is much better."

Before Ria had the chance to respond, Aela interrupted them.

"Ria, I need your aid. We've got a challenging mission on our hands. Bring every warpaint and hair potion you own and meet me in my quarters right away."

The two women hurried off, leaving Vilkas alone in the practice yard looking after them with a puzzled expression.