Sry about the mix up in order between parts 3 and 4, but they're both up on the site now. Enjoy!
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By: The Orange Mask
Travelling was still one of the most boring things I could think of. At least now I had some notes to concentrate on. It was damned hard to concentrate on anything when your body was crying out in pain, though. After five days with Wuunferth, we’d managed to enchant five more weapons with that incredible enchantment. My magicka was drained, to say the least, and my body needed rest. I felt like I’d been hit full-force by a frost troll. I’d figured that I could just rest in Whiterun, but at this rate it seemed like I’d never get there. I left Windhelm at around 6:00 a.m. (a brilliant idea on my part), and it wasn’t until about 10:00 a.m. that I crested a hill to find a camp of bandits in an old fort that crossed a river.
“That’s just great…” I grumbled as I dragged myself past the camp, hoping they wouldn’t notice me.
“Hey, you!”
Crap.
“This here’s a toll road! Either pay up or head back the way you came!” The bandit sounded very young, perhaps fifteen, and seemed rather excited, as if this was his first scam. I hoped it was, for my sake.
“All right, what’s the toll?” I said, eager to try this trick on him.
“It’s twenty septims!” He smiled after he said that, almost making me crack a smile, as well. I suddenly shoved my entire coin pouch into his hand while he sat there, eyes closed, smiling wide. He felt the heavy weight of the purse and cracked his eyes open, only to have them go wide at the sight of so much coin.
“There’s two hundred. Now leave me alone!” I shouted, trying to sound crabby. I started to drag myself away, making myself look sorry. The bandit just stood there for a few seconds, incredulous.
“Hey, wait! I said the toll was twenty!” I ignored the kid’s cries. Then I heard footsteps.
“Oh, what is it now?” I shouted, turning around.
“I said the toll was twenty. You didn’t need to give me this!”
“So? I figured I’m just going to spend it all on drink in Whiterun, so why not save myself the trouble and give it to a hardworking boy like you, instead?”
“No, I couldn’t take this. Here, you can pass,” he said, handing me my bag of coin back.”No charge!”
“Why, thank you.” I said, smiling at the knowledge that he was going to get beaten later, despite the kindness of the gesture. I walked away, smiling the entire time. A few minutes later, I could’ve sworn I heard yelps of pain from the fort.
Around Midday I stumbled my way into Whiterun, exhausted. I asked a guard where the nearest inn was, and was, of course, pointed to the other side of the city. I tried not to make a scene as I dragged my feet through the city, although I did see a few faces cast a sideways glance at me. I guess that’s to be expected if someone walks into town looking like they’d gotten beat over the head by a cave bear.
I walked into the inn, a quaint place called the Bannered Mare. Perhaps not the cleanest place I’d ever laid eyes on, but I ignored that once I caught the smell of fresh deer roasting over the fire. What a mouth-watering aroma! For a moment, I forgot how tired I was for a moment, even. Then I tried to move.
I pulled myself up to the counter and asked for a room, slamming some coin on the counter. The innkeeper (her name eludes me; I never was very good with names) took one look at me and immediately stopped what she was doing and led me up to my room.
“If there’s anything you need, you know where I am. Just ask.” The only response the innkeeper got was a muffled grunt as I slammed my face into the straw bed. I unpacked my things and made my way to the door to shut it. Without even taking off my armor, I plopped myself into bed and fell asleep.
When I finally awoke, I felt a lot better. I woke to the sound of the door opening into Whiterun, and someone shouting. I groggily got out of bed and walked downstairs slowly. I still felt like a troll hit me, but with a pillow rather than a rock. I sat down at a bench next to a rather tough looking Nord in full iron armor.
“You looking to join the guard here in Whiterun?” he said, turning his head to get a better look at me through his helmet.
“No, I’m just passing through,” I said, faking a smile. “besides, I’m more of a scholar.”
“Well, you sure don’t look the part!” the man said, chuckling a bit. I’ll admit, I’m definitely not the most likely scholar out there. It was a comment I’d gotten quite often, even at the college. I even cracked a real smile for a moment, remembering what one of my colleagues at the college had said.
“It’s a shame, though,” the Nord said. I perked up a bit. “the security in Whiterun’s terrible. Shameful, that’s what it is.” Not wanting to get into a conversation about the inner workings of a city I won’t be staying in for more than a week, I merely grunted and pretended I was listening as I scanned the room looking for something more interesting to focus on. Like a rock. Or a rat. Or-
Sitting at the bar in front of me sat a thin Imperial woman in black leather armor. At her hips was a belt with several compartments and sheathes for daggers. Her boots were also leather, with metal bands around the seam to keep the boots upright. She had brunette hair, grown a bit past shoulder length and let completely loose. Her outfit left almost nothing to the imagination, hugging her body like it was trying to constrict her. I couldn’t take my eyes off of her, and eventually gave up on trying to keep up with the conversation I was having with my bench-mate.
“… if Balgruff would just hire some mercenaries, maybe we’d- are you even listening?” My friend seemed rather upset at my ignorance, until he saw what I was looking at.
“Ah, you’ve found yourself someone, have you? Well, what are you waiting for? Go talk to her!”
“What? No, I couldn’t-“ I was at a loss for words. Slightly embarrassed, I walked up to the counter to the cheers of my newfound friend. I sat down at the stool next to the woman, and tried to gather the confidence to speak to her. Gods, I was nervous. And over what? Not a dragon, or a troll; a woman. I began to beat myself up over my reaction and ordered an ale.
“Make that two!” I heard. Turning to see where the voice had come from, I froze. I figured out the voice had come from the woman sitting next to me, but not before I could stop myself from making eye contact with her. We locked eyes. I just couldn’t pull myself away.
“Hi, there.” She said, almost in a teasing voice.
“H- Hello.” I stammered back, my mouth not wanting to cooperate with my brain (not that it was functioning much better. I took a second to look at her whole face before continuing our conversation. She had rounded features, a somewhat short nose, and full, pink lips. She didn’t seem to be wearing much makeup, although it’s not like she needed to. She seemed to have a natural blush. Her eyelashes were thick and full. But they only accentuated the jewels of eyes that were there. They were a deep brown, the kind of eyes you can get lost in…
I heard a small giggle come from her, which jolted me back to reality. I shook my head.
“Sorry about that. I didn’t mean to stare.”
“Oh, it’s fine. It happens a lot, actually.” She giggled again, then messed with her hair a bit. “I’m Claudia, by the way.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m-“ I was cut off by the searing pain of hot deer meat landing on my hand. I kept my mouth shut so as to avoid insulting Claudia, and took the meat off my hand.
“Oh, my gosh! Are you all right?” Claudia extended a hand to touch it, which I very gently pushed away.
“I’m fine, I’m fine. Just give me a second…” I cast a healing spell on myself, startling the innkeeper, who had come over to pick up the meat. The burn healed up rather nicely.
“Oh, you’re a mage? That’s so cool!” Claudia said, just as our drinks arrived.
“Thanks,” I said, lifting my drink to my mouth just as she did the same. Wow, this ale was good. Did I taste honey in it?
“So, can you do anything else? Can you make something float? How about shooting lightning?” Claudia seemed really excited about magic. So the hours went, me explaining the intricacies of magic, she hanging on my every word, even after those words were slurred by a few too many beers. Then my thoughts turned to more carnal things. I slowly changed the conversation, trying to make sure she was still interested. Maybe I wouldn’t have to go to bed alone, after all…
To be continued…
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