"That's... fair." But she's pouting a little bit.

"...you're excited to get to the College and start learning."

"Of course I'm excited! I've wanted this all my life!"

"If you've waited that long you can handle a few more days."

...grumble grumble pout.

Poor impatient teenager.

Anywho, they ride.

The ride to Dawnstar is mostly uneventful. They're attacked by Ice Wraiths at one point but a Flame Atronach and some more fire are enough to dispatch those. Ruby's tent isn't actually large enough for two to be comfortable but they don't need to be comfortable, they just need to sleep. Ruby has Adara help collect wood for their campfires, and though she whines throughout she doesn't refuse. To try to appease her, he explains to her how to create a flame to help with that, and afterwards she becomes the most excited about campfires, mostly so she can magic them to life, which is very cute. He also starts teaching her the basic Alarm spell to set around camp so they're woken up in case anything crosses it (which does happen a lot—if nothing else sometimes snow hares do it, but it is sometimes the case that they have to dispatch a wolf or three), but that one requires a lot of control and she doesn't get the gist of it by the time they get to their destination.

Dawnstar is what a proper hold capital in northern Skyrim should be like: large, with fortified highly-insulated buildings and a proper port. And most importantly, it is not in ruins, so it really beats Winterhold. When they walk into the inn, however, it seems there's a small commotion happening around a dark elf in priestly robes.

"...has to be! How long has it been?" says a Nord woman.

"Irgnir, get a hold of yourself," says another. "They're just dreams. Please tell her, Erandur."

"Listen to Fruki, Irgnir," says the elf, trying to be appeasing. "You will not be harmed by dreams."

"Maybe not the dreams, but I can't sleep. And it's not just me, and you know it. The whole town, everyone is having these constant nightmares."

"I do know it, but there is nothing to be done about them. I have beseeched Mara for aid; put your trust in her, and continue to pray."

"Pray, is what you say, pray... I, I know you're right, but..."

"Irgnir, hold on to your faith," says the innkeep. "It's hard, it's hard for all of us, but these nightmares won't last forever."

"But she does have a point, it's been weeks and it's affecting everyone," says the second woman. "We're so tired, and it frays everyone's nerves, our work gets sloppier—Voltham nearly fell down the mine shaft two days ago—"

"I'm looking into it," says the one named Erandur. "I promise I will find a solution."

...Myrvana would give him a look, and Ruby is really starting to see her point. Maybe the issue is just that he's an inveterate meddler.

Once the crowd has dispersed he walks up to the elf. "Excuse me."

"Yes, my son?"

"I overheard the conversation just now..."

"You are not from Dawnstar? I would urge you to move on as soon as you can; Dawnstar is not a good place to be, right now."

"Because everyone is having nightmares, yeah?"

"Indeed. If you can, you should deal with whatever business you have in Dawnstar quickly."

...Erandur knows more about this than he's letting on.

"And I don't suppose whatever problem is happening here is one that would benefit from the help of a mage from Winterhold?" he says, lowering his voice.

Not enough that Adara doesn't hear it, though, and she perks right up and huddles closer.

"...perhaps," says Erandur, also lowering his voice. "If you would come with me?"