Chapter 1

Out of the frying pan

A faint roar in the distance. I awake slowly, bound and in pain, I'm in a carriage. As my head clears, I look groggily around trying to make out the blurry figures sitting next to me.

My head swimming, I look up struggling to remember. One tall burly Nord in armour sits in front of me, but he too is bound. As are his friends, a slim raven-haired imperial beggar wearing rags who looks rougher than I feel, and another Nord, a nobleman by the looks of him, wearing fine clothes but looking dejected and withdrawn. His mouth is gagged.

The man in armour starts speaking. My head turns so quickly I almost crick my neck.

"Hey you, you're finally awake, you were trying to cross the border, same as us and that thief over there."

I look at him and say, my speech slurred, "What's going on? Where are we, and why can't I remember how I got here?

The man in armour shrugs but before he can speak the thief cuts in and angrily snarls, "Damn you Stormcloaks, Skyrim was fine before you came along, the empire was nice and lazy. If they hadn't been looking for you I could have stolen that horse and been halfway to hammerfell."

His eyes rest on me and he says softly, "you and me, we shouldn't be here, it's these Stormcloaks the empire wants."

"We're all brothers in bounds now thief!" armour man says with a hint of malice in his tone.

"Shut up back there!" the carriage driver snaps.

"In answer to your question kinsman, I don't know what you did, where we are going. All I know is that they hit your head with a mace," says the armoured man. "Though they definitely didn't take kindly to you killing three of their men."

Now that he mentions it, my head is ringing and I am suddenly aware of the blood dripping from my eyelids, I may be sore but it seems I put up a hell of a fight.

"Does it look bad?" I ask fearing the worst.

"The left side of your face looks like a giant clubbed you," the armoured man laughs.

"What's wrong with him, huh?" asks the horse thief motioning towards the nobleman.

"Watch your tongue, you are speaking to Ulfric Stormcloak the true high king!" thunders the armoured man.

"Ulfric, the jarl of windhelm? You're the leader of the rebellion, but if they've captured you… Oh Gods, where are they taking us?" cries the thief in his first moment of fear.

"I don't know where we're going, but Sovngarde awaits," murmurs the armoured man grimly.

I look up ahead as I hear an imperial accent saying, "General Tullius, the headsman is waiting."

Another voice, probably this general Tullius says "good, let's get this over with."

The thief starts to pray to the nine divines, well eight as he doesn't say the name of almighty Talos. I tune out his cowardly pleas to spare his life. In truth I'm as terrified as he is, as soon as he named the gagged man as Ulfric Stormcloak, my blood turned to ice. I agree with Ulfric wholeheartedly but I'm not a stormcloak, I may agree but I wouldn't die for the racist bastard who while I agree on the point that talos should still be worshipped, I don't agree with the way he treats the other races.

The armoured man glares at him and growls, "Look at him, General Tullius the military governor, and it looks like the Thalmor are with him, damn elves, I bet they had something to do with this."

He then sighs and says wistfully, "This is Helgen, I used to be sweet on a girl from here. I wonder if Vilod is still making that mead with juniper berries mixed in. Ha, it's funny, imperial walls and towers used to make me feel so safe."

I see a boy and his parents watching us, I can feel the stares of everyone on me, making me tremble with anticipation of the inevitable end of my life. My Nordic heart tells me to stop being a milk drinker and to die with dignity, so I sit like a king and defiantly glare at anyone looking at us.

"Why are we stopping?" asks the thief meekly.

"Why do you think? End of the line." Answers the armoured man morosely.

"Get these prisoners out of the carts, come on move it!" barks an attractive imperial captain. Really Skordir? You're about to die and you're thinking about how attractive your co-executioner is?

"Come now, shouldn't keep the Gods waiting for us." Mutters the armoured man and just like that I stepped out of the frying pan…