My Thane

by Nyra Makani

Shezerade isn't the happiest girl when she's named Thane of Markarth. Not that she hasn't yearned for that title, but with a new huscarl assigned to her, her life is about to become much more difficult than when she was alone. Argis the Bulwark had always wanted a Thane, that was his destiny. But when he is assigned a woman, a Khajiit, his dreams shatter.

1. Zero

0

Her steps were soundless upon the wooden stairs, her armor did not breathe a sigh as she crept towards the sky. She bore no weapons, just the claws native to her kind. The wood beneath her feet was ancient, carrying her weight against every law of physics towards the stars. But she did not waste a thought to the planks beneath her feet, as long as it held her weight, she didn't care.

The scratching of tired boots on wood tore through the silence of the night and she froze, waited, until the cloak of silence had settled over her once more. She waited and waited another 30 heartbeats, the she took the next step. Finally the winds of the night waved around her nose and she soundlessly took an lungful of air.

The eyes of a Khajiit see well at night, and she was no exception. She saw as if it were bright day. She saw every splinter waiting to burry itself into her soft paws, every crack in the woods that would betray her. And she saw the Thalmor guard, half alseep on his post. This one guarded the gate, calling as soon as it moved. She would worry about the others, but this one could see the whole fortress, this one had to go. She could move without a sound and trace, but she could not control the reflection of the moonlight on her armor. He had to go. She held her breath. No sound. In one fluid movement she pressed her hand over the mouth of the guard to muffle his screams as her teeth tore open the arteries in his neck. Hungily she lapped up the blood. She could taste her own poison that would hunt his heartbeat into a wild chase and prevent his blood from clotting. She could feel how the hungerbeast within her calmed, but the body was empty long before it was sated. Angrily she wanted to shove the useless piece of meat from her, but she immediately regained control over herself. No traces. She dragged the body back down the tower and shove it into a chest filled with furrs and clothes. She had no time to feed. Not now. She had to be gone before the sun vapourized her greatest advantage into a burning ball of light.