I slowly wake up, my head pounding. What happened? The last thing I remember is escaping with Madanach and his Forsworn agents. I was stepping outside, saw the confrontation happening, and after that I don't remember a thing. I haven't opened my eyes, but move to rub them. That's when I feel the chains around my wrist, and in an instant I sit up and snap my eyes open. I'm back in the holding cell in Cidhna Mine, and there's a familiar someone asleep in the corner. Urzoga gra-Shugurz is sitting in a chair, her arms crossed and her eyes closed. Her soft snoring tells me she's out cold, and I quickly decide it's time to rid the world of one more Orc.
I go to get up, and feel thick chains around my ankles stopping me. I look down and see two silver cuffs around my white legs, my silky fur ruffled by the metal. I look at my hands and find the same thing, my ivory claws clipped down to a pathetic length. Looks like I won't be scratching anyone to death. I look in the metal cuff on my wrist, my ultramarine eyes gazing back at me from above my pink nose. Not a single scar mares my face, my thick snowy mane almost hiding my ears. I go back to examining my body, my white pelt occasionally ruined by smears of dirt. I ruffle my nose at the sight, then go back to looking for a way to get up and kill Urzoga. The woman must have read my thoughts because she begins to stir, slowly blinking awake.
Her face splits into a grin when she sees me, the Orc triumphantly standing up and looming over me. She takes three steps, yanks me to my feet, and throws me against the bars that lead to freedom. I hiss and glower at her, revealing my fangs. The mercenary chuckles and tells me, "Looks like the kitten got caught. That's right, your little escape plan didn't go over so well. Those damned Forsworn nearly slaughtered half the citizens, but we took them all down in the end.". Her smile fades a little as she explains, "The Jarl remembers what you did for him during the war, and allowed you to live.".
"Consider yourself lucky, I had the executioner's ax all sharpened just for you. Now, let's start over, shall we?". She clears her throat and begins, "All right, prisoner. Eyes front. You're in Cidhna Mine, again. And we expect you to earn your keep, it doesn't matter if you're the only damned prisoner. There's no resting your hide in a cell in this prison. Here, you work. You'll mine ore until you start throwing up silver bars. You got it?". I consider hissing once again, but decide to go ahead and ask a legitimate question, "When do I get out of here?". The Orc's smile returns in full force as she happily exclaims, "You won't. The Jarl has ordered a life sentence for you. Get comfortable in the dark, 'cause you'll never see the sun again." My heart sinks at the news, but I refuse to allow the Orc to see that.
I might not show it, but the Orc must see it if her growing smirk is anything to judge by. I nod in acceptance and tell her, "Fine, move.". Anger flares in the woman's eyes and she says, "Oh, no no no. As of this moment onward, I'm putting strict rules regarding new prisoners into place.". I glare at her and hiss, "I'm not a new prisoner.". The Orc simply chuckles and counters, "You are to me. Now, spread 'em". I find the entire thing ridiculous, but I stand with my legs and arms as far apart as I can. The woman quickly pats me down for weapons, removing my knife, mace, and sword.
She throws the weapons outside the cell so I can't reach them, then unlocks my shackles. I want so badly to solidly punch the woman across the face, but I restrain myself as the Orc eyes me. I expect to be let , me lose into the mine, but instead the woman says, "Strip.". I glare at the mercenary and snarl, "What?". The Orc only seems to grow happier as she says, "Strip-search and body cavity search.". I'm about to blabber on about invasion of privacy, but then I realize the Orc couldn't care less. So, I quickly take off my shoes, belt, shirt, trousers, and underwear. The Orc motions for me to turn around and commands, "Bend over.". I sigh and do as I'm told, resting the palms of my hands on the tops of my feet. However, the Orc taps my back and tells me, "Spread it.".
I grumble about how humiliating the procedure is, but the mercenary kicking my leg quickly gets me to comply. The 'guard' roughly shoves a single finger up my ass, rotating the digit before yanking it out. She repeats the process with my cunt, then smacks the back of my thigh and snarls, "Up.". I sigh and stand, nearly falling when the woman roughly shoves me away from her. I hold in my snarl as I turn around, the Orc throwing prison clothes at me. While I get dressed in the required gear, Urzoga throws my clothes out of the cell. Now the place is empty beside a filthy bed, a rickety chair, and the Orc woman.
Urzoga eyes me and snarls, "Why in oblivion are you dressed?! Strip! Strip!". In an instant I'm desperately peeling off my clothes, Urzoga sticking her head out of the cell and yelling. Six guards quickly rush to follow her commands. They bring her five gigantic buckets of water, soap, a rag, three scraps of cloth, and some shears. When they're all gone the Orc woman locks the door, then turns to me. Her grin tells me that she's about to do something I won't like. The mercenary motions for me to come near her, the shears in her hand. I swallow, but have no choice but to do as she says. The second she can reach me, the woman grabs my shoulder and flips me around. I hear the shear clicking together, and see my white locks of mane falling to the ground like snow.
When the ground around my feet is covered in hair Urzoga stops, then turns me around. The smirk unnerves me, and I reach up to pat my head. My heart beats faster, a thousand emotions pumping through me. My magnificent mane has been snipped, reduced to a few dirty strands of hair laying on the floor. Before I can do anything, the Orc snarls, "In the corner.". I do as I'm told, still rubbing my bald scalp. When I'm in the corner I turn around, about to say something to the Orc. But before I can say a single thing, the woman throws one of the freezing buckets of water on me.
I scream and bring my arms up to defend myself, the mercenary already throwing the next bucket. I splutter and hiss, shaking my wet arms at her in anger. When the second to last bucket is thrown the woman struts up to me, the bar of soap in her hand. I hiss and fight as the woman begins scrubbing my hide like she's angry at it, but she's easily stronger than me and pins me to the wall. While she rubs my skin raw she snarls, "Hold still, damn it! I need to make sure the prison stays clean, and you're absolutely filthy!". Finally, the woman pulls back and throws the two remaining buckets of water on me. All I can do is stand there, surrounded by mud and hair. The Orc chuckles at the sight and throws the scraps of cloth at me, roughly growling, "Dry yourself and dress.".
It takes a while, but eventually my fur is dry. I carefully step over the puddle of mud, somehow keeping my feet dry. As I dress the mercenary tells me, "Consider yourself lucky you have a short pelt, or else I would have had to trim it.". All the woman gave me is a shirt, trousers, and shoes. No underpants or bra, but I know better than to complain. When I'm dressed the woman walks over to me, pulling a stick of charcoal out of her pocket. I prepare for a punch as she nears me, but don't resist as she pulls my shirt away from my body. She writes 008 on my shirt, then flips me around and I assume she does the same on the back.
She steps back and flips me around, smirking at her work. The Orc tells me, "From now on you're to be known as prisoner eight, and you will refer to yourself as such. Understand?". I want so badly to fight, but I feel so vulnerable that I simply nod. My compliance seems to please the woman because she says, "Good, now one last thing.". She pulls a thick chain from her pocket, gets on her knee, and yanks my foot to her. She ties the chain around my ankle, produces a lock from her pocket, and promptly locks the chain to my ankle. Finally, the mercenary stands up and says, "Good, you've been processed. Welcome back to Cidhna Mine, I hope you get comfortable. We're expecting some more criminals soon, but until then you're the only one.".
I expect that to be it, but the woman continues, "And I expect to meet a quota of silver equal to what we made before your interference. We got forty two ores of silver per day, that adds up to two hundred and ninety four bars a week. One thousand one hundred and seventy six bars a month. Fourteen thousand one hundred and twelve bars a year. Until you die. Got that?". I shouldn't ask what I'm about to ask, but I do anyway, "What if I get sick or injured?". Urzoga glares at me and snarls, "You make up to quota, or you better die. Now, any more questions?".
I shake my head and the woman nods her content, then tells me, "It's too late in the day to start work, but I'll wake you up early tomorrow to make up the time. I'm giving you your weekly meal tonight, so you have the energy to work hard tomorrow morning.". The woman struts over to the exit, screams through the bars, and takes a bowl from the man on the other side. She thanks him, turns to me, and chucks the food at me. I splutter as soup splashes my face, my hands barely able to catch the bowl. Urzoga laughs and tells me, "Clean yourself up before you turn in, I don't want my prisoners looking like street rats.". I hiss at her, earning myself a sharp cuff to the head. I blink away the stinging tears of pain in my eyes, focusing on the food that's in my hands.
Freezing cold potato stew, the chunks of potato yellow and bruised. I sniff the half empty bowl, the smell of rancid ingredients reaching my nose. I gag and hold the food away from my body, glaring at the Orc. Urzoga chuckles and says, "Eat up, it's also your breakfast.". She turns to leave, but turns around and sweetly says, "Don't bother going into the mine, we sealed off every single exit besides this one.". As if to prove her point she opens the cell door to the mine, then leaves as quickly as she can. When the door is shut she turns around, smiling at the sight of me slowly sitting down on the ground.
I want her to leave so I can eat, but she won't go. I give in and use my fingers to spoon some of the liquid into my mouth, choking and spitting the disgusting mixture out of my mouth. Urzoga smirks and trots away, obviously satisfied at seeing her only prisoner gagging on her dinner. When the woman leaves I put my food down, shoving it to the side. Time for a grand escape. I go over to the door, trying to find a way to unlock it. After a few minutes I realize it's useless, my claws can't open it. I'm about to pull my hands back, but two strong Orc hands wrap around my own. I scream as Urzoga tightens her grip, crushing my hands and popping the knuckles. The Orc's smiling face appears in front of mine, then the woman practically flings me further back into my cell. I hiss and crawl onto my naked bed, shivering. The woman laughs, strutting away. Well, so much for that idea. I cower and slowly lie down, trying to go to sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a long day.