Liette sat, rubbing her tired feet near the fire. Only two days out of Bruma and she was beginning to think that leaving had been a terrible idea. The small group of Nords she had left with had pushed on relentlessly, undaunted by the long road. The pace had been too much for Liette, whose shorter legs made keeping up with the tall Nords extremely difficult. She was a Breton, her build was small but sturdy and if there was ever a time she wished to be more in tune with her Breton heritage, it was now. Most Bretons were born with an affinity for magic, but she had never had the patience for the lessons her Mother had given on the arcane. She had much preferred the silent hunts with her Father in the Jerall mountains, the twang of her bowstring, the crunch of the snow under her boots as she stalked her prey. But all of that was gone now. Her Father, died six winters ago of brain fever and her Mother, murdered by bandits while she harvested crops. She sighed and crawled into her bedroll, hoping that Skyrim would bring her better fortune.

She was absolutely certain her whole life had gone to Oblivion. Having been jostled awake in a cart, Liette was immediately aware of the dull ache in her head. Reaching up she felt that her hair was matted with blood and her hands were bound. Looking around, she saw no signs of the Nords she had been travelling with.

Ralof noticed that the Breton girl across from him seemed to be awake. He stared at her curiously while she gazed around, clearly confused about where she was. He could see her blinking slowly, seemingly trying to puzzle out what was happening.

"Oy, Breton! You're finally awake. You were trying to cross the border with that group of mercenaries. You walked straight into that Imperial ambush, same as us."

She stared at him with a frown.

"They weren't mercenaries" she said softly. "They were just a clan from Bruma, seeking religious freedom here in their homeland."

"Ah, I'm sorry. It's a damn shame, they all died fighting the Imperials during the ambush" he paused and then said solemnly, "I'm afraid we'll be joining them in Sovngarde soon." He looked at her sadly, then fell silent. For the rest of the cart ride, Liette tried to reign in the chaos she was feeling. Her parents were dead, the only people she had known in this godsforsaken country were dead, and she was likely on her way to the executioners block. Now she was sure. Coming to Skyrim had been a mistake.

An hour or so later, the crumbling walls of a town came in to view. Ralof piped up again, saying something about a woman making mead. Liette wasn't really listening, she was trying to focus on not panicking. She squeezed her eyes shut and was trying to remember the faces of her parents. When the carts stopped they were herded out like cattle and made to stand in lines. A young soldier with a kind face started reading names off a list and directing prisoners over to the headsman's block. Liette stepped forward wen her turn came and he looked down at the list, puzzled.

"Who are you, Breton?"

She stumbled forward a bit more. "Liette Greenhart is my name."

The kind faced soldier scanned the list again, shaking his head. "What should we do captain? She's not on the list."

"Forget the list, she goes to the block with the rest of them" replied the gruff female captain.

"I'm sorry" he said. "We'll make sure your remains are returned to High Rock."

Liette shook her head slowly. "I'm from Bruma in Cyrodiil."

"Cyrodiil then. Now follow the captain prisoner." He watched her go with an expression full of pity.

As she neared the block, she saw saw an Imperial officer addressing a gagged Nord. He started a long-winded speech about usurpers and starting a war, but she tuned him out. Instead she closed her eyes and prayed to Stendarr for mercy. She was finally distracted from her desperate prayers by the sickening thud of the headsman's axe. When she opened her eyes the captain was looking straight at her. In that moment, Liette's prayers evaporated into pure, unadulterated fear.

"Next, the Breton" called the captain. And as she stepped toward her death, all hell broke loose. An inhuman scream cut through the air and a monstrous black dragon landed on the guard tower. Liette could hardly believe what she was seeing. "You have got to be fucking kidding me" she thought. Then she proceeded to run for her life.