"Yeah, thank you."

So they lead him to the inn, which is toasty and cosy and has a fun bard and warm food and warm drinks and a warm bed.

He sleeps in, because he hasn't been sleeping well at all in the wilderness, and when he wakes up the snowstorm has been reduced to a snow shower.

Figures.

When he steps out of the inn he finds a much more lively village than the one he found last night. There's still enough snowfall that no one's staying out and about but people are going from building to building and into the mine and hanging out in porches talking to each other.

A Nord woman answers the door when Ruby knocks and says, "May I help you?"

"Good morning, ma'am. I'm Ruby, from the College of Winterhold; I have an enchanted sword I've been told to deliver to you?"

"...from the College? Oh, Adara." She sighs. "I'm really sorry, you wasted your trip, I didn't order that. And I'll need to have words with my daughter."

...did he just. Spend a week. In the snow. On a child's prank.

"I understand, ma'am," he says, trying to stay neutral and not let his annoyance show. That punk. "I'll get off your hair, then. Have a good day."

"You, too. Once again, I'm sorry for my daughter, I'll make sure she doesn't do this again."

Sigh.

Well. He now has a trip back which at least won't be in a snowstorm and then he'll have to tell Sergius about it.

Off he goes.

Before he's past the limits of the village, though, a child—no, not a child, a teenager—suddenly appears in front of him. "Is it you? The wizard from Winterhold? Did you come here to deliver the sword?"

"...you must be Adara."

"Yes! Please, you have to take me with you!"

"—what?"

"Mother doesn't understand, no one does, but I must be a wizard!"

...ah. The pieces fall into place.

"Is there a reason you need someone from the College? Could you not just... go?"

"Mother wouldn't let me, and no one else in the village would, either. I would have to walk to Morthal on my own, or to Dawnstar, which is even farther away, with no money to my name—Mother said if I wanted to go I would have to figure it out myself, so—" She straightens up and looks him in the eye. "So I'm figuring it out."

"...I see.

"I... I cannot really take you in the dead of night or anything like that, the villagers would rightly suspect I'd kidnapped you."

"...well, what would you have me do?"

"Why does your mother not want you to go to the College?"

She looks at him like he's stupid. "Because she's a Nord. You know how Nords are about magic. And she tries to keep the fact that I can do magic under wraps and pretends that it'll go away but it won't go away..."

"—you can already do magic?"

She nods. "Don't ask me how, I just... it just happens. If I get mad or, any strong emotion, really, it kinda..."

"...that's dangerous. If you can do magic accidentally that is incredibly dangerous. You need training to control it."

"Well, try telling my mother that."

"Yeah, I in fact will."