Chapter I

2nd of Sun's Dusk 4E202

Kaiya awoke with a start. Sitting up straight and breathing hard, she looked around, trying to familiarize herself with her surroundings enough to anchor her racing thoughts to reality.

It was a dream, she thought. Just a dream. Breathe. I'm in an inn. I'm in bed. I'm alo.." before she could finish her rumination, the furs moved next to her with a groan. She jumped out of bed and took up a fighting stance, an instinct bred from years of living recklessly.

I'm not alone. I'm… naked. OK. Breathe Kai. Think. She slammed her eyes shut in concentration, trying to replay the previous night's events in her mind. She remembered arriving in Riften. She remembered walking into the Bee and Barb and ordering a bottle of mead. So she was in the Bee and Barb, good. She remembered having a few conversations with her fellow patrons. As her memories of the night continued on, they became more and more hazy. She vaguely remembered having a conversation with one man in particular, although the identity of the man escaped her. There was a dubious recollection of running up the stairs and closing the door behind her with the faceless stranger. Her eyes opened wide.

"Oh gods…" she whispered to the quiet room, her head slowly turning to focus on the bulk under the covers of her bed. She leaned over, bending at the waist to try to see over the shoulder of her unidentified companion, his face obscured by the furs. With one hand, she slowly pulled the obstruction away, revealing long, dark brown hair tied with a strap of leather. She jumped back with a gasp.

Who is that?

She leaned over again, this time adamant to solve the mystery before her. As she stared, brows furrowed in concentration, the man began to move, rolling onto his back. She startled, backing off a bit before taking in the features of the unknown bedmate. Dark eyebrows, a stupid patch of hair just below his bottom lip, a pronounced, Imperial nose. Her hand covered her mouth at the realization.

Marcurio!? She backed away, her hand sliding down her face and hanging limp by her side.

As her cheeks reddened with embarrassment at the realization, she began to move frantically, grabbing her black mage robe from the stone floor and throwing it over her in clumsy haste to cover her bare form. Not again. Come on Kaiya. Get your shit together. Her mind raced with the inevitable self-loathing that usually followed one of her drunken nights like this. Under her breath, she rattled off prayers to Dibella, Mara, whatever deity would listen to her desperate pleas to remain unnoticed. These prayers were routine to her at this point, promising this wouldn't happen again. She would stop with the nights that resulted in black outs and bad decisions. She would be better, this time she was serious. On and on she rattled off mindless pleas to deities who had long stopped listening while she scrambled around the room for her things. Her sword belt was on the table. She found one boot in the corner, pulling it on before spotting its counterpart under the bed.

However, In her aim to leave before the mage was awake, she failed to notice his position had changed. There he laid, propped up on one elbow as he watched her reaching under the bed for her missing boot.

"Well good morning, sunshine."

Kaiya froze, her foot halfway into the recently retrieved boot as she sat on the floor. While her thoughts screamed obscenities at the situation she found herself in, outwardly she gathered her composure, falling back on her signature nonchalance.

"Morning Marcurio."

The process of dressing now complete, she pushed herself to her feet while wiping off dust from the floor that had attached to her robes. She adjusted her blades and absentmindedly checked her neck for the familiar feeling of the chain she always wore, complete with the silver ring that dangled off of it. She could feel his stare boring into her but she could not bring herself to look up and face him, imagining the smug look he must have plastered across his face.

"I told you Kaiya, you can run away all you want but you always find your way back to my bed" he bragged, bringing both hands behind his head as he stretched out on his back. Kaiya cringed at the pompous tone of his statement, opting to stay silent as to not prolong this encounter any further. Interpreting her lack of response as speechlessness, he grinned as he looked towards her.

"No need to be shy. We both know you're no untouched maiden."

Her head snapped up at his taunt, anger flaring in her expression. "Don't mistake my regret for fucking you with shame of my long lost virtue, Marcurio" she spat at him, venom in her words. His grin did not waver, which caused her to groan and roll her eyes as she stomped towards the exit.

"Leaving so soon, my lusty Breton mage?" he cooed, reveling in her rising temper. "Fuck off, Marc" was all she said as she stormed out the room, slamming the door behind her and leaving the Imperial to grin by himself.