Lydia glanced across the fire at the Argonian she had ended up serving. It was nearly impossible to tell what the Argonian, Gorn, was looking at, as his milky green eyes lacked pupils. She had first met him several weeks ago in the great hall of Dragonsreach. She had been informed that the Jarl was giving her the honor of becoming he Housecarl for the newly discovered Dragonborn. When she had reached Dragonsreach however she had found only the Jarl, his inner circle, and an Argonian staring vacantly into space.
"You sent for me my Jarl?" She had asked.
"I did, Captain." The Jarl, Balgruuf the Greater, had said. He motioned to the Argonian. "This is Gorn. The newest Thane of Whiterun, and just-now discovered to be the Dragonborn."
Lydia, a former captain of the Whiterun Guard, and now Housecarl to Thane Gorn, stared at the Argonian with disbelieving eyes. Argonians were criminals, perhaps a step or two above Khajiit, but criminals none the less. Ever since the war with the Thalmor Dominion, the Argonians had been flooding into Skyrim nearly as quickly as the Dark Elves. Some of them were lucky enough to land jobs as sailors and dockhands at the port cities, as Argonians were naturals at sailing and at all things involving the sea and other waterways, but they definitely were not Dragonborn, and they definitely did not become Thanes.
"The Argonian?" Lydia remembered she had asked, and the Jarl had nodded, an odd smirk playing across his face. "There must be a mistake!" She exclaimed.
"There is no mistake." Balgruuf answered. "Irileth, as well a dozen other of my soldiers witnessed him slay a dragon only moments ago, and then absorb its soul and shout in the language of the dragons! You should feel honored to serve him as his housecarl!"
The Argonian, Gorn, had said nothing about her disbelieving remarks or attitude as they left Dragonsreach, in fact, he said nothing at all until they were moving down the steps and into Whiterun's Cloud District.
"So… I am Thane?" He asking in his scratching, hissing voice.
"Yes," She had answered, "I would have that was obvious."
Again, Gorn ignored her tone. "What exactly does that mean?"
She found herself stunned once more. Did this Argonian really not even know what a Thane was? "It means that you are a person of great importance in the city, in fact, in this entire region! It means that you have the Jarl's trust, and he will take your advisements under careful consideration. And that should you ever be accused of a crime, the guards will know to look the other way." Lydia wondered how many crimes the Argonian had already committed.
"I see." Gorn said. Although from the tone of his voice she could tell that he didn't. "Where could I go to earn some coin?" He asked.
Lydia found herself stunned by the question. Thanes didn't work! In fact they did little aside from complain about how they deserved more, or how the Jarl should be listening to them. "What… kind of work do you mean?" She had asked.
"Anything that involves a blade." Gorn answered. "I lived most of my life in Cyrodiil. And I have lived all of my life as a mercenary. It's why I was coming to Skyrim in fact… I thought with the civil war and all it would be good place to earn a living. I didn't even know I had crossed over the border until the soldiers surrounded me and order that I surrender."
So he was a criminal, Lydia wasn't surprised. She had suggested a few good leads to Gorn for him to earn some quick coin, and he had followed them. Everything from clearing out bandits, to hunting down and killing rogue giants, and even menial tasks such as chopping firewood, tanning leather, and smelting metal ore. Lydia had followed him the entire time as she really had nothing better to do, especially considering that she was no longer a captain, and Gorn had no house or other property for her go watch over. He had kept all of his meager belongings in the pack that he carried. Lydia had of course offered to carry it for him, but Gorn had turned down the offer with a single word. 'No'.
Over the next few weeks, Gorn and Lydia carried out so many mercenary contracts and other odd jobs that Lydia lost count of them all. Gorn purchased a house in Whiterun, and slowly earned the respect of Whiterun's populace, and the Jarl's court. Then one day, he simply announced that he was leaving Whiterun for a time in search of more work. Lydia had accompanied him as he was the Thane, and even though he now owned property in Whiterun, there was so little in the house that Lydia felt like an absolute fool staying there to guard almost nothing.
Gorn had traveled northwest to the swampy city of Morthal, and again taken up the role of a mercenary out to make some quick coin. Yet Gorn had surprised her again when he took a contract to clear out a coven of vampires working to destroy Morthal, then ordered the mob of angry townsfolk, come to help, to wait outside the cave as he did not want them to die needlessly. Gorn had also asked her to wait with the others, but she had of course insisted that she accompany him into the vampire's lair as it was a housecarl's duty to protect their lord. After killing the entire vampire coven and their human thralls, Gorn had returned to Morthal to receive the bounty promised him by Jarl Idgrod Ravencrone, and when the Jarl had offered him the position of Thane in her hold, he hadn't objected.
She had thought that after becoming Thane in two of Skyrim's regions, that Gorn would be happy and finally give up the near peasant life of a mercenary. But after a few days rest in Morthal, Gorn announced that he intended to travel to Solitude in search of more work, and once more, Lydia found she was obliged to accompany him.
Once in Solitude, Gorn again began taking up small-time mercenary contracts. Small time contracts eventually gave way to large scale contracts, until Gorn was accepting jobs directly from Jarl Elisif the Fair, the former wife of the late High King Torygg. It seemed that the Argonian still was not finished surprising her. Once Gorn had heard the story of how Ulfric Stormcloak had murdered Torygg and declared himself the king of Skyrim, Gorn swore that Ulfric would die by his hand, and promptly joined the Imperial Legion… the same Imperial Legion that only a few months previously had tried to relieve him of his head.
Now Gorn, with Lydia in tow, was making his way back to Whiterun, as the Legion had received word that Ulfric was planning an attack on the city, and had ordered all available troops to defend Whiterun.
"You don't like me much do you?" Gorn asked. Lydia found it hard to tell if her Thane was angry or not. Argonians always sounded like they were growling.
"I don't see how that's important." She answered. "You are the Thane and I am your Housecarl. I will follow you wherever you go and protect you with my life."
Gorn shrugged and bit off another piece of raw salmon. Lydia flinched at the sight of it. "I never felt like a Thane. All I ever wanted was to be my own master, and make my living as I saw fit… All this Thane and Dragonborn business just kind of got in the way."
"Then why don't you just leave?" Lydia asked. "Go back to Blackmarsh or Cyrodiil where no one knows your name or what you are?"
The Argonian shrugged again. "I've already been to both of those places." He answered. "And my name is known in both places. My head is wanted in Cyrodiil, and in Blackmarsh, they will probably throw me in the darkest driest cell they have and then throw away the key."
Lydia nodded, managing not to say anything about his criminal background.
"As a mercenary, you are forced to fight on one side or the other. Whoever you fight for doesn't like you because you are charging for services that they feel you should offer for free out of patriotic duty. The other side likes you even less because you are fighting against them, and fighting for profit rather than out your belief in a noble cause."
"So if you're a mercenary… then why did you swear that Ulfric would die by your hand, and why did you join the Legion?"
Gorn shrugged again, he shrugged a lot. "I do not know." He answered. "It just seemed like the right thing for me to do. Perhaps I have found my noble cause. Or perhaps what Ulfric did to the old king offends me on some level. Or perhaps I am tired of being a mercenary."
"Well, whatever your reason is, I am happy that you have chosen to defend Whiterun. I would hate to see my home overrun by anyone. But especially by that murdering, treacherous, bastard Ulfric Stormcloak!"
The Argonian grunted and took the last bite of his raw fish. "It is also the closest I have ever had to having a home. I've never owned anything aside from the weapons I carry and the armor on my back. Try taking one of those from me and see how hard I fight!"