Bound-One

Why did this happen to us?

Why have the gods forsaken us?

Frenzied thoughts raced around the Nord's mind as she sat in the back of an unfamiliar carriage, hands bound together rather tightly. There was one other female captive, a petite dark elf with blood-red eyes and hair as black as a starless night sky. Besides the two Altmer guards that were sitting at the very back of the carriage, eyeing them with contempt, there was one other man among them, a young Imperial. He must have been saying more than the elves cared to hear because he'd been gagged as well as bound, hands wrenched behind his back instead of in front like the other two.

I can't believe this is really happening! How could we let this happen?

She thought of her family, her ma and pa and little brother who took more after her than anybody else; they were all her very heart and soul, and she burst out crying after finally processing and accepting the fact that they all now lay dead back in their ran-sacked village. Unfortunately, she gained everyone's attention, her cries were so loud. The look of pain on the Nord woman's face broke the Imperial's heart. Neither of the two guards said anything to her, which she was very grateful for even though she still now hated all of them with a burning passion for what they had done.

"Everything will be okay, Sera," the Dunmer told her, her soft voice still sounding hopeful despite their dire situation.

The Nord turned towards her friend, tears rolling freely down her cheeks as she choked out: "How..canyou..say that?"

"Because we mustn't give up hope, Annalisse," the elf told her. "Things are terrible right now, but still we mustn't give up hope, not when it's all that we may have left in this moment."

"Listen to your wise friend and do not fret, little human," the guard with long white hair and narrow, deceptive eyes finally spoke up. "No harm shall befall you or your friends, so long as you do as you're told."

Annalisse stared at him for a number of seconds, searching his face. He was very calm and collected for someone who'd just participated in the mass murder of innocent people. Her people. Fresh tears began streaming down her cheeks and she quickly looked away from the murderer. He did not deserve to see her suffering.

After about another hour or so the came to a huge building surrounded by a tall, sturdy fence. Thankfully the snow had let up some, but it was still freezing outside and all three captives were pretty much in their sleepwear. Like cowards, the damned Thalmor had come and attacked during the night.

"Come along," the other guard said to them. All of them followed the two mer, albeit a bit unsteadily, off of the carriage and through the gates of what they were promptly informed was the Thalmor Embassy. The guards walked behind them through the snow, hands poised with magic and ready to strike should any of them try to run. The Imperial was in front, followed by the dark elf and then the Nord. The guard with long, white hair noticed that she seemed to be the most timid of the three. And rather beautiful, for a human, and especially a Nord at that.

As they neared the entrance, two other guards posted there opened the doors for them. Annalisse didn't even look at them. She was still slightly in shock over the loss of her people, and her thoughts were back with their cold, cold bodies right now.

They hadn't even allowed them to bury their dead.

Her watery blue eyes stayed trained on her bound hands until they had all passed the threshold and the doors were closed behind them, sealing off the freezing wind.

"Welcome," came a grating and condescending voice from above them. They looked up to see a stern-looking Altmer female with blond hair, yellow eyes and golden skin walking gracefully down a staircase towards them. Her hair was slicked back from her face and she was dressed in Justiciar robes. Her tone held no warmth, only indifference, and her gaze was as cold as the storm outside.

She stopped several feet in front of them and addressed one of her lackies: "Status report, Larendil?"

The guard with the shorter hair stepped forward. "We wiped out the targeted village with relative ease, Madame. It wasn't there, unfortunately, but we did manage to secure these three as captives. The male was rather riled up and shall be sent to the interrogation chambers. However, the females seem docile enough for servitude here on the grounds."

Alandrin, the Imperial, immediately began shouting at them through his gag and was quickly hit in the back with a Paralyze spell by the long-haired guard. He seized up and hit the floor with a loud thud.

"Thank you, Arendol," the female Altmer said. "Now listen closely because I shall only say this to you all once: You three are now the property of the Thalmor. My name is Elenwen, but you may call me Madame High Justiciar. You shall henceforth serve the Thalmor in any way that I see fit, and if you try to resist or escape, you will be very painfully put to death."

Neither woman dared say anything. They were both shocked, repulsed, but also frozen in fear.

Alandrin began to stir on the floor, moaning in pain, and was again hit with another Paralyze spell, this one cast by Elenwen herself, as if to prove her might.

"Larendil, take him away," she commanded. "Let's see just what our new friend knows."

The high elf did as he was told, dragging the smaller man to his feet and pretty much carrying him off through a doorway. A shard of fear sliced through Annalisse's heart. She'd known Alan since childhood and couldn't bare the thought of anything bad happening to him. He could be rowdy, but was a pure soul and also one of the only two people she had left. I cannot lose him, too!

"Please, don't hurt him," she cried out, immediately gaining Elenwen's attention.

"I'm sorry, did you say something?" the Altmer said, stepping toward her.

Annalisse stiffened in fear, but did not back down; it wasn't in her nature. "I said, please don't hurt him. He hasn't done anything to any of you!"

In a mere second the tall elf cleared the remaining distance between them and struck Annalisse across the face, very hard, and with her own features twisted in rage. The recoil was so strong, Arendol had to grab her shoulders to keep her from falling in the floor. She despised his tight grip on her, but was also admittedly grateful for it.

"Do not ever speak out of turn to me again!" Elenwen berated her. "If I want your petty opinions, I shall ask. Until then I advise that you keep your pretty little mouth shut. Understood?"

"Yes, ma'am," Annalisse responded, holding a hand against her throbbing cheek.

"Smart girl," Elenwen cooed before backing away. "Show these two to the servants' quarters and have Lanildria begin their training in the morning," she told Arendol before finally walking away.

Annalisse hadn't realized how close she was actually standing to her captor until now, so frozen in fear she'd been by his Madame High Justiciar. She quickly took a step away from him, and he allowed her to, letting go of her arms.

If their closeness had phased him any, he surely did not show it. Instead he eyed her for a few seconds, tilting his head slightly. She loathed herself for even thinking about it, but he was quite handsome. However, she began to feel like a fox being hunted by a hawk and had to break eye contact with him, feeling very uncomfortable with those harsh golden eyes of his peering into her soul.

"Follow me," he said to them. And they did, passing through a few doors and down some steps, into a depressing and dimly lit room with several single beds set up with only wooden partitions separating them.

"Your quarters," he announced, steeping aside to allow them through. "Have any bed you want. Another servant will be through shortly with some replenishments for you, so until then make yourselves at home. With that he finally left. They were alone in this new, awful and unfamiliar place.

Holding each other closely, they moved over and sank down on the nearest bed. Annalisse began weeping first, burying her face in her friend's warm chest. Sadena, the dunmer who usually wouldn't allow such contact, relented. And also cried, something else she'd normally never do, especially in front of someone else. It was simply a matter of pride.

But they had both lost so much, and in such a short amount of time. All they had now was each other. And the brave Alandrin, gods only knew what they were doing to him, and if he would survive alive and intact. Annalisse wept extra tears for him, because she was afraid that her earlier outburst may have already sealed his fate.

Talos be with him, and protect him with every ounce of your might.

Unbeknownst to them, the Altmer guard Arendol had crept back into the room using a simple Invisibility spell, and was now spying on the grieving women. And he did not precisely know what drove him to do so, either. Their suffering did not bring him any sort of satisfaction. On the contrary, seeing these women in such distress actually made him feel…bad. And that intrigued him. He could feel their sadness as if it were his own. It was such a foreign feeling for him. He could not recall feeling sad since he was a child; a long, long time past.

And feeling this sadness led to feeling regret, an emotion he did not care for in the least. Especially since the very cause of their grief was partly his responsibility. It was such a small village they'd attacked that killing everyone hadn't been completely necessary; he knew that those villagers had posed no real threat to the Thalmor. And they hadn't been specifically ordered to slaughter them, only to locate this Amulet of Fate that Elenwen was so keen on finding, capture the Imperial for interrogation in case they were unable to locate said amulet and, if possible, secure a few suitable captives to be brought back and reconditioned as servants for the Embassy.

Larendil and Arendol had murdered the village of Talos worshippers simply because that was what they had been conditioned to do since childhood. Bloodshed ran in their veins and so it did not phase them.

And that was why these new feelings were so confusing and unwelcome, and why he was here now. He didn't know if he would find an answer, but still it intrigued him. How-ever, the two women only continued to weep and hold each other. The Nord was still gorgeous, even while crying her eyes out, although he thought he preferred her quivering in anticipa-tion before him, attentive and responsive.

After awhile both of them fell asleep so he snuck back out and hurried along with his duties. Later that night in bed, he pondered the days happenings again and was actually surprised to find himself wishing that the outcome could have been different.