A young woman woke with a start, drenched in sweat. She looked around and realized that she had only been dreaming. She put a hand to her head and wiped the sweat from her eyes.
A knock came from the front door of her home and she groaned as she got out of bed. She threw on a robe and went to answer the door. "Yes?" she asked the Windhelm soldier.
"Jarl Ulfric asked for your presence, Thane Valinna." The soldier said. "He wishes for you to attend the dinner he is having in the hall."
"Must it be now?" she asked, hoping she could go back to bed.
"Yes, my Thane. He expects you as soon as possible."
"Very well. Tell the jarl I will get ready and be there within the hour." She said, begrudgingly.
The soldier nodded and bowed to her before leaving Hjerim. As the Thane of Windhelm closed the door to her home, the soldier went to report back to the jarl.
Jarl Ulfric Stormcloak looked up when the soldier entered the room.
"My jarl, Thane Valinna will be here within the hour." He reported.
"I need her here sooner than that." Ulfric told the soldier, standing up straight.
"Forgive me, my jarl, but it appeared as if she had just awoken and not from a peaceful slumber. She needs time to get ready." The soldier replied. "She will be here as soon as she is ready."
The jarl nodded and dismissed the soldier. As the soldier bowed and left the room, Ulfric went back to his guests- most of them being his men and the nobles- and as they talked of the war, he wondered if Valinna was starting to have the nightmares again. For months, she had been having nightmares of the day Helgen fell, how she almost lost her life not only to the Imperials but to the dragon that attacked the village. She had been coming home to Skyrim from Cyrodiil, alone after the death of her father and having to bury him on foreign soil when she wasn't allowed to bring his body back to bury him within the family crypt. She had crossed the border from Cyrodiil into Skyrim just as the Imperials ambushed Ulfric and his men, capturing her along with them and a man from Rorikstead who was stealing a horse.
He looked up when the main door to the Palace of Kings opened and saw Valinna Windrime entering, wearing a dark blue dress with a slit going up one leg to her mid-thigh and boots that reached mid-calf. She had on a fur lined cloak as well, pinned with a brooch that he recognized from when they were children; it was the one her mother had left her before she died. Valinna's soft silver hair bounced in natural curls and waves as she came into the room, joining him.
"Good evening, my jarl." She said in greeting.
"Good evening to you as well, Valinna."
"You wished me to join this dinner gathering?" she asked.
Ulfric nodded and asked her to take a seat. "We were discussing the war." He said, taking yet another swig from his tankard full of ale. "What do you think of the war and how we are faring?"
Valinna thanked the servant who placed a plate of food in front of her and looked at the jarl, who was clearly drunk. "Well, sire, I think that we are faring very well. We have liberated much of Skyrim from the Imperials and the war is progressing in our favor. It seems Talos is on our side more than ever before. I do wonder, though, if this war is really worth it."
The room grew silent. Ulfric looked at her. "What do you mean?"
"I know that the Imperials are our enemies, and do not get me wrong, sire, I hate them as much as any other Stormcloak does. They killed my father and refused to let me bring him home to be buried with my mother here in Skyrim, then try to execute me for simply crossing the border as they ambushed you and your men. They do not belong here and they shouldn't be trying to force us to forsake our gods and forget everything that makes us true sons and daughters of Skyrim. Having said that, we must also realize that we hurt many people to accomplish the liberation of our beloved country, many of them on neither side who simply want to live in peace. Some people are happy and cheer for us as we pass by, some people hate us for destroying their way of life. While we are helping our country preserve its culture and its heritage and beliefs, are we truly doing right by our people? Are we truly liberating them or are we simply replacing the Imperials with ourselves? They did help us defeat the elves when they came to conquer the Nords. I have seen what they leave behind when they conquer a settlement, having been within Saarthal. They were ruthless, yet it was the Imperials who came to our aid and helped the Nords push the elves back. I guess I can see more than just our side of the war, having been through many of the towns and villages we have already liberated and seen and heard all of the stories."
The jarl, the nobles, and the men all looked at her. Some of them realized that she was right, but others were shocked to hear her explain it to them, much of it sounding as though she was siding with the Imperials.
To break the awkward silence, one of the men mentioned they were out a few items of food. Valinna stood, offering to help the servant bring some more food out and she excused herself to go to the kitchen. After a while, Valinna and the servant brought a few trays from the kitchen, laden with food and the men and nobles cheered. Valinna offered to bring another barrel of ale up from the kitchen cellar and shortly after she left, the jarl excused himself to his bedroom, exclaiming that he had been drinking too much and needed to rest.
Valinna was just turning down the hall as the jarl came into the hall. He followed her towards the kitchen cellar and before she reached the door to go down into the cellar, he grabbed her and pulled her into a room.
"Sire? Are you feeling alright?" Valinna asked.
The jarl ignored her and grabbed her roughly, pulling her in and kissing her. Valinna pushed herself away, wiping her mouth. "Sire, what is the meaning of this?"
"Shut it, you little whore." Ulfric said, a sudden venom to his normal gruff and wise voice. "You think I don't know what you're playing at?"
Valinna looked at him, shocked. "Ulfric, what has gotten into you? Have you had too much to drink?"
"I said shut it. You go around Skyrim, throwing yourself around at other men and when you come back here, you wear this gown, showing off skin, and expect no one to try anything. I think you need to be punished."
Valinna felt a sinking feeling in her stomach and she looked at the jarl, her dear friend. "Ulfric, what are you doing?"
Ulfric ignored her and spun her around, pinning her to the bed, holding her down by pulling an arm behind her. Valinna yelped, Ulfric pulling her arm back too quickly.
"Ulfric, please, stop this! You're hurting me!" she begged.
"Good, little whores need to be punished." Ulfric said, then pulled her dress up and moved aside her underclothes before he slid his manhood inside of her.
Valinna tried to bite back a scream, but it was no use. She had never given herself to a man before and she felt excruciating pain as she felt Ulfric take her virginity from her. She tried to beg him to stop, but he pinned her down harder and she felt as if her arm would break. Ulfric rammed himself harder and harder into her, and finally after what seemed like an eternity to Valinna, the jarl reached his climax and released his seed within her. Valinna felt tears welling her eyes, not just because she was in pain, but because her dearest friend, someone she had known her whole life, had raped her and taken something she was not ready to give away. Ulfric pulled out and flipped her over, having not had his fill of her yet, but before he could force himself back in, Valinna kicked him in the gut, then punched his square in the jaw. He reeled back in pain and Valinna took her chance and ran back to the hall.
Trying to hide her tears and pain, she quickly grabbed her cloak and threw it on before she rushed towards the door, ignoring the people trying to ask her if she was alright or where she was going. Ralof, who had helped her escape from Helgen and had been there by her side since that day, was also present and went after her.
As Valinna ran home, she faintly heard Ralof calling to her over the raging wind. She reached her house, hurried inside and ran straight to her room. She packed enough of her things to last her the trip to Riften and she put out the fire, locked the windows and doors, and left Hjerim. She headed off towards the outside of Windhelm, to the stables where she had left her horse, Frost. Ralof came around the corner just as she turned towards the stables and he hurried after her. He caught a glimpse of her packs and knew she was going to leave.
When he finally managed to catch up to her, he grabbed her arm and pulled her back before she could mount into the saddle. "Valinna, what happened? Where are you going?"
Valinna looked at him, tears still falling. "Away, Ralof. I can't stay here…"
"Valinna, tell me what happened." Ralof said.
Valinna burst into sobs and Ralof pulled her into his arms. "He raped me, Ralof…." She said through muffled sobs.
Ralof looked at her. "Who raped you, Valinna?"
Valinna looked up at him and the look she had in her eyes told him right away.
"He didn't….." Ralof said, feeling a sudden rage growing inside of him.
"I can't stay here with him, Ralof. Thane or not, I will not be in the jarl's company ever again. I trusted him, grew up with him, and this is what I get for everything that I have ever done." She told him, pushing away. "He called me a little whore and nearly broke my arm. Don't you let him take another drink of that swill again; he can't be allowed the chance to do this to someone else."
Ralof nodded. "Where will you go?"
"I have a place to stay, as well as a few jobs I can take for money to get by. I will be fine, but don't tell the jarl anything. Please…"
Ralof nodded and hugged her. "Be careful, Valinna. Safe travels and may Talos guide you."
Valinna mounted into the saddle Frost bore and looked down at her comrade. "May Stendarr have mercy on Ulfric Stormcloak and Talos preserve him for what he has done." She said, then urged Frost forward and disappeared into the snow storm.
Ralof turned back towards the Palace of Kings and stormed back inside. When the others asked if she was alright, he told them she had gotten terrible news about a friend and needed to go be with their family. He told them he didn't know when she would be back, but that she would keep in touch. He made his way to the jarl's quarters and found him staggering to the bed.
"Ulfric." He said, standing in front of the jarl.
Ulfric looked up and grunted as Ralof punched him. That was the second time someone had punched him square in the jaw.
"How could you do that to her?!" Ralof demanded. "Drunk or not, you should not have touched her! She trusted you! She fought for you, stood by you, advised you and gave you second opinions on matters! And this is how you repay her? By the Nine, Ulfric, you grew up with the girl! And now she's gone and may never return because of what you did!"
Ulfric rubbed his jaw and looked up at Ralof. "What are you talking about?" he asked.
"Don't be stupid! You know what I am talking about! Have you really drank so much that you cannot remember raping your Thane?"
Ulfric had forgotten for a moment and when he realized what he had done, thankfully having sobered up a bit after he was kicked and punched, he looked up at Ralof. "Where is she? I have to fix this!"
"It's too late, Ulfric. You did something that you can never take back and now you have lost her." Ralof said. "I cannot believe you would even consider that acceptable to do. If it had been someone else and not you, you would have had them imprisoned and punished for their crime, but you are jarl and this will never see the light of day. You should be ashamed of yourself!"
Ralof turned to leave the jarl's room.
"Ralof, I'm sorry!" Ulfric said.
Ralof looked at him in disgust. "You should not be apologizing to me for what you have done. And you may never get the chance to tell her yourself now. She won't be coming back." With that, he left the jarl to wallow in his mistake and suffer for his crime by his own punishment.