Please note that I am not a native speaker. I try to give my best, though. Don't be too harsh.~

Characters in this story created by Bethesda. Kesh is a character created by me. No copyright infringement intended.

Prologue

'Kesh. Ma'ra Kesh's the name.' Annoyed by all the questions, she avoided to look the guard in his eyes, if he wanted to find a reason to arrest her, he would. They always did. It wouldn't matter to the guards whether she had actually done something in order to go to jail, or not. The Khajiit showed her pointy fangs and hissed.
The air was as cold as ice. A sharp wind blew through her fur and she shivered. They had her wait in front of the gate for at least ten minutes by now, asking her many unpleasant things, only to tell her she couldn't get in. She was quite sure of that.
The two guards positioned themselves in front of the large wooden gate, both had a hand at the hilt of their weapon. 'Fools. I'm unarmed and completely vulnerable,' she grimaced as she looked down at herself.
Shortly after she had crossed the border to Skyrim, she had been unlucky enough to encounter a group of drunk imperial soldiers. They had harassed her, pushed her around and then she had taken a blow by one of them. Then another one. She couldn't remember what happened afterwards, but she woke up later to find herself bare. They had taken away everything she had, leaving her bruised, probably with a broken rib or two.
An elder woman had found her there on the road. She had tended her wounds, had given her food. It was what the gods expected her to do, whether she trusted her race or not, the elder woman had told her harshly. She had at least provided the young Khajiit with some simple linen clothes before she had to leave.
'Can't recall a name like that, can you?' The taller one of the guards turned his head, questioning his companion. He had a rasping voice and it was a pain to the Khajiit's sensitive ears. He whirled the big key of the city gate around his index-finger, showing it off. 'Of course,' she thought angrily.
'Nah,' the other one replied, scratching his big belly. 'Those cats all got weird names, but never heard of that one.' He examined the feline woman and noticed the long claws at her fingertips. Khajiit had no 'normal' fingernails, nor did the Argonians. It made him feel threatened somehow.
Claws could easily rip apart human flesh, he mused worriedly, but so could his sword. He tightened his grip around the hilt, just in case. Not that a cat with such a famished appearance could be a real threat, but one never knew.
'The Jarl prohibits all Khajiit to enter the city. No exceptions to make.' The tall guard recited in an official manner and smirked. They were all just negligible animals to him. He didn't really understand what they wanted in Skyrim, anyway.
'Which I can only support. These cats convey drugs into our city. Any halfway-decent person is aware of that.' A noble Redguard who had overheard their conversation passed the Khajiit, smiling arrogantly at her. He nodded to the guards and was let through immediately.
The young woman sighed. 'What if I had important news for the Jarl?'
'Like what?' the tall guard mocked her. He looked down at the Khajiit, clearly amused. 'Higher skooma prices this year?'
'No. News about a dragon. It destroyed Helgen and might be coming this way soon. There is no time.' By the memory of it, her heat started beating faster and she felt a lump in her throat.
The guard snorted in response, but his companion noticed the panic in the her eyes and pulled his friend aside. 'Listen... I'll take her to Dragonsreach.' He hesitated.
'She might be telling the truth!' He felt quite uneasy at that thought.
'Psh, how would you know. Besides, since when do we trust a Khajiit just like that? Might as well let in the filthy caravan camping down the road.' The tall Nord eyed the fellow guard suspiciously. To him, the entire story was ridiculous: no one had seen a dragon since Tiber Septim. 'Suddenly feeling generous, eh? No exceptions!' he frowned upon him and ground his teeth loudly.
'By Talos, would you just stop now?' The bulky shaped guard rolled his eyes, turned around and grabbed the Khajiit's arm, oblivious of the fact that it hurt her. She flinched at his grip and he quickly opened the gate without letting her go.
'Fine, have it your way,' the other guard grumbled, returning to his post.
'You stay close to me,' the obese Nord huffed, not paying attention to his colleague. 'I'll take you to the Jarl. Try to steal anything and I'll cut your dirty paws off.'