Chapter One- The Little Bosmer Prisoner and the Party

Sunlight suddenly warmed my face. I opened my eyes slowly, savouring the warmth on my face- a

sharp contrast to the cool, albeit slightly uncomfortable feeling in the rest of my body.

Where the hell am I? I was in a stone walled, cold room, lying on the floor in a bedroll. I

could see a small table to my left, and hay mixed with centuries of dirt on the concrete floor. I

slept here? I must've been desperate, very desperate, to consider laying a single foot in this

dive.

"I hope I didn't pay to sleep here" I grumbled to myself. I stood up too quickly, and felt a

sharp stinging pain in the back of my head. Reaching back to tentatively prod the sore spot, I

realised, with a stinging shock, exactly where I was and exactly why I had iron cuffs on my slim

wrists. The problem, however, wasn't that I had woken up in The Imperial Prison. The thing that

was truly getting under my skin was that I hadn't the slightest idea who I was. Or, I thought,

quickly spotting the cerulean man stood in the cell opposite me, what I was.

"Oh, goodie, the little Bosmer's awake," he crooned, stood at the bars of his cell, smiling

maliciously at me.

"What did you just call me?"

"Bosmer, Bosmer. Don't play coy with me, child, you were quite the little fighter when they brought you in here. The bastards had to throw you right against the wall to make you shut up and stop wriggling. Not heard a coherent word from you in days. Days. Just mumbles in your sleep, old Valen here was getting bored... Go on, then, entertain me, what did the pretty little Bosmer do to end up in pwison?"

"Believe me, if I-"

"You're a little far from the forest, aren't you? I bet a pretty little thing like you has done something terribly naughty. Cyrodiil isn't as liberal as Valenwood, you know. There are certain unspoken rules when it comes to," his eyes flickered up and down my petite frame, "selling your wares."

"You dirty bastard. I must be ages younger than you!" I screamed. He just laughed maniacally, seeming to enjoy the anger he had caused.

"Oh, dear, it looks like your days of frolicking in the woods are over. Can you hear the guards coming? They're on their way for you, my little Wood Elf. To go from the gladed realm of Valenwood to this rat-infested hole can't be easy. Don't worry though, you shouldn't be here much longer. You're going to die, Wood Elf!" And he laughed himself back to his bedroll, leaving me to seethe in my own anger.

I could hear guards coming. Oh shit. I'd spent the last few days of my life sleeping fitfully in a bedroll. How long had my life been? Looking at my slim, pale and smooth skin told me I couldn't be older than thirty, yet my ample bosom (despite my forthcoming demise, I couldn't help but smile at those bad boys- I must've had droves of men after me!) implied I was definitely no child. 20 seemed about right. 20 years, ended, and for what? A crime I couldn't remember committing.

I sat back down on the bedroll, cradled my knees in my arms, and cried. Would it be painful? What would happen after? Hot tears poured down my face and onto my sack pants. I stayed like that for a few minutes, listening to the approaching footsteps.

"My sons, they're dead, aren't they?" A voice, a very noble voice, spoke. He seemed quite close by, but I was content to stay where I was, for the time being.

"We don't know that sire-"

"No, they're dead. I know it." Despite his tragic loss, he didn't seem all that sad. He sounded a lot like a man who had resigned himself to the worst a long time ago. There was a pause.

"My job right now is to get you to safety."

"I know this place. We're in the prison, aren't we?"

"Yes, your Majesty, just beneath the Legion Compound. We're heading to a secret passage known only to the Blades. No one can follow us through here."

Majesty? Blades? This bloke was important. Now, if I could only remember who the Blades were...

"There isn't supposed to be anyone in here! There's guidelines about where the prisoners are to be put, and they aren't supposed to be put in here! What the hell are we going to do with her?"

They were very close now. To my sensitive ears, it sounded like they were right outside my door. I peered over my folded arms to get a glimpse of the party who, as it happened, were right outside the barred door to my cell.

By the nines! Perhaps a grisly public execution wasn't headed my way, at least not yet, anyway. I stood up slowly, and inched towards the door. It opened, and in a flash, there was a sword pointed right at my neck.

"Don't move a muscle, prisoner." I stared, wide-eyed, at the armoured man. The party continued to move through my cell, until they stopped before a wide stone arch that must've been bricked up centuries ago. They mustn't keep very good records around here I thought, although a small part of me felt quite sorry for the man dressed in purple and gold finery. Lost his sons, and, by the sound of things, soon to lose his own life.

The female guard started examining the bricks that made up the archway. There isn't a hope in hell that they're getting through there any time soon. The regal-looking man looked around my cell, perhaps in aid of finding somewhere to avert his eyes from the apparent failure of his guards.

"You!" he said, suddenly striding over to me, "I've seen you! Let me see your face... Let her go, Baurus-" he added to his guard, "You are the one from my dreams, and the stars were right... This is the day. Gods give me strength."

My eyes flitted around every member of this most unusual party. "Sorry, what's going on?"

The old man sighed heavily, "Assassins attacked my sons, and I am next. My Blades are leading me to safety through an old passageway. By chance, the entrance to that passageway leads through your cell."

"Do you know why I am in jail?"

He chuckled softly, and I genuinely felt that he wasn't mocking me, "Perhaps the Gods have placed you here so that we might meet. As for your crimes, they do not matter. They are not what you will be remembered for."

"Who are you?" Though I didn't know this man, I felt compelled to worship him. He stood with a straight back despite the weight of the world on his shoulders, and seemed to embody all the good in the world.

"I am your emperor, Uriel Septim. By the grace of the Gods, I serve Tamriel. You too shall serve Tamriel, in your own time, but for now, I must leave you." And he was gone. Through the stone archway, he followed his Blades into the gloom.

I was left with a choice. Looking into the dark archway, and back at Valen, I had almost made up my mind.

"Oh, pretty little Wood Elf, won't you let me out of my cell? We're pals, you and me, aren't we? Do an old pal a favour, and we can escape this hole together, eh?"

"Oh, Valen," I sighed, stepping towards his cell door. I got close enough so he could hear me whisper "I hope you rot."

I marched triumphantly back into my cell to the sounds of his spluttering indignation, took a last look around my dingy surroundings, and stepped into total darkness.

So, what do you think? All reviews are completely welcome, but please be nice! Haha, this is my first fanfic, so I hope you like it :)