I sat facing the two year old tombstone of my mother, taking in its now slightly eroded words and edges. She had passed away from Astaxia two winters ago and had been buried in this crummy excuse for a graveyard. It was the only place we could afford to bury her, so we settled here, even though she deserved to be buried somewhere warm in a patch of lavender on a hill.
I slowly picked up the bundle of lavender that I had set on her tombstone weeks ago, watching as it's parched, dried up petals crumbled between my sun-kissed slender fingers.
My mother had always loved lavender for as long as I can remember. In the summer months she always had a vase filled with it on our kitchen window pane, the slight breeze from the window cloaking the air with it's comforting perfume while a pot of rabbit stew settled on the fire and she was at the table sewing a gown or any other keepsakes she chose to make. Telling me stories of my father. She told me my father died when I was 2. He went to join the war and never came back.
"He was an imperial, strong, handsome, and every bit as kind. His skin was rough, course, and kissed by the sun." He was tough too, never did I have a problem with the townspeople." She told me through her stitching.
So I usually made the effort to gather the lavender growing outside of solitude and bring it here. Looks like the time for a new bundle was sorely pass due.
The growling of my stomach interrupted my thoughts. I hadn't eaten much in the last three days and I was paying dearly for it. Not that it was my fault, I could only eat what I managed to steal from the market stands while their tenders had their backs turned and recently the tenders hadn't ventured far from the stands. It was probably because of me, I had been caught once, attempting to steal a fresh piece of salmon and had a run in with the guards as the lady ran her mouth. Luckily, I managed to save my ass. I knew this city well. Many times I had hidden in the nooks and crannys inside the wall and between the closely built together houses, just out of eyesight of the guards.
Just a couple of days ago I had eavesdropped on a conversation between a couple of guards on watch duty and gained knowledge of the Jarl of Whiterun and his family making its way into solitude in a couple of days. I never really concerned myself with the things I heard from the townspeople, unless of course it was useful. All the people had to go on about it seems were their families, upcoming social events or the war. Nothing extremely important.
I lifted myself from the cold, dried out dirt and dusted myself off really quick. I kissed two of my numb now red fingers and then tapped them to the top of the gray, marble tombstone ending the daily visit to the grave. "Goodbye, Mom, I'll see you tomorrow." I said as I ascended the stairs out of the dormant graveyard. Everything was so dull and colorless at this time of the year. It honestly lowered my mood even more. I cut right as soon as I was atop the stairs shivering a bit. I wrapped my rugged cloak around me just a bit tighter. Cutting right was the long way to the entrance of Skyrim. Taking a left would have been easier but, in all honesty my depression needed a good trek right now. I followed the road until again I had to make a turn left. I trekked up the slight hill that would take me into the training yard for the guards. Everyone in solitude had some kind of hobby, whether it was archery, swordplay, or enchantments. I enjoyed spell casting however. I didn't really have any need for it actually, it wasn't like I would be going on a worldwide adventure anytime soon I just found it helpful in times of need. I was particularly good at illusion spells even though my skills weren't the best. Illusion spells aided thievery in many ways. It had made my life a little easier I'll admit but, lack of skill made it harder to cast those spells. I ducked as an arrow flew past my head, barely missing my long strings of brown hair. "Hey! Watch where you're walking, kid!" I heard one of the iron clad guards yell at me in his thick nordic accent. All the guards knew my name, in fact everyone in the city did. No one called me by it however, except maybe the kids in this city. The adults mainly just regarded me as kid, girl or thief. I ignored his angry grunts and kept on moving across the training grounds into the little cavern to the main entrance of Solitude where hopefully, I could manage to get something to eat. The familiar stone ramp came into view. I began making my descent quietly putting one bony leg in front of the other trying not to bring too much attention to myself. At the bottom of the ramp I heard my name called in a shriek.
"Hello, Fassia!" I was greeted by a very excited child I knew to be Lina. She and the other children in solitude liked to run wild through the city. I played hide and go seek and tag with them sometimes making me especially popular with the kids.
"Hi, Lina. How are you today?" I asked the beaming child.
"I'm really bored! Aaron and Milah can't play today so I'be been playing with myself." Aaron and Milah were twins that always joined Lina in her adventures. I smiled half heartedly at the girl, her long brown hair was disheveled and in her fair skinned face. I remember playing when I was little but, unlike Lina I often played by myself. The other children my age always excluded me from any games they played. I wasn't well liked. I once struck a girl in the face for calling me a name during a game of tag. She screamed and complained to her mother, which dragged my mother to the scramble. It was well deserved though on her part though.
"I'll play with you, if you want." I offered to the lonely girl. After all, I had nothing truly interesting to do today anyway. My stomach was still growing angrily in pain.
Lina's face went ecstatic. "Really!?"
I nodded with a big smile on my face. I would play with her for now but, eventually I would need to get something to eat.
"Let's play hide and go seek!" She yelled excitedly.
"Hide and go seek? Again!?" I exclaimed. The children in Skyrim only seemed to know of two games.
Lina nodded vigorously. "I love hide and go seek!" She defended with puffed out cheeks.
I sighed defeated. "Fiiiiiine!" I said dragging it out in a groan.
The little girl smiled and jabbed a tiny finger in my direction. "You count first!" She demanded.
I had no choice but to give in. These children were relentless and as persistent as a wolf tracking down it's prey. "Alright. I'll count to fifteen. Are you ready?" I asked ready to just get this game over with.
Lina jerked her head this way and that as if to scout out an area to retreat to. "I'm ready!" She said taking off through the city leaving me alone to count.
I found a random place against the ivy covered stone ramp, feeling it's cold surface breach the warmth of my hands and face. It was already pretty cold out without the help of the stone. It was a good thing my fingers were already pretty numb. My counts were often interrupted by the yells of the marketers trying to sell their goods. The smell of raw fish and fresh fruit hung in the air like a sweet and sour perfume making my mouth water.
I finally managed to get to fifteen and separated myself from the wall to go hunt down the little girl. I had no idea what hiding place those little legs of hers carried her off too, there were many good nooks and crannys for her to hide in including the huge boulders behind the stone arch and several alley ways but, my best guess for now was the little slot of area in between the winking skeever and the wall by the big steel doors leading out of solitude. That was a favorite hiding place of hers and even though she had hidden there and been found several times, that was always her go to place. To make the game interesting however, I decided to head off into the other direction. If I found her too early the game would get boring and I wasn't even sure if she was in that direct spot anyway, I was just going off the direction she looked last. I made my way as stealthily as a sabercat through the city receiving a few judge-mental stares from the citizens.
Yeah, so what? a 19 year old likes to play stupid games with 8 year olds, I certainly didn't have anything else better to do. I tried getting a job once at the Winking Skeever however, one of the guards noticed me and shot down any chances of it happening, stating I was a no good thief and would only put the business in trouble.
That was now my title "Fassia the orphan thief." In defeat I gave up ever trying to appease the townspeople that night. People only remember the awful things you do instead of what kind of person you were. I was all alone in the world now.
I often thought of running away from solitude but, then all hopes of me surviving the journey to anywhere else faded as I remembered the stories of the horrid, vicious beasts my mother told me about. I didn't even know where I would go anyway.
After about 10 minutes I decided that the time frame was good and I could go look for Lina now without it getting boring. I snuck back to the entrance creeping up steadily on the little area.
"What are you doing now, girl?" the iron clad guard guarding the door asked me crossing his thick trained arms in suspicion.
"I'm just playing hide and go seek with one of the children here, this is her usual hiding place." I said softly to the guard.
He scoffed. "Aren't you a little old for games, girl?"
I rolled my eyes. There it was again! That horrible judgment I always seemed to receive. "I'm playing with her because her friends are gone, now if you will excuse me, I have to find her." I remarked sharply. Spitting my venom at him. I maneuvered around the guard sneaking into the little area.
"Oh! I can't find her anywhere! I wonder if she's behind here." I teased openly and loudly for her to hear me. I heard a little giggle from the far corner ever so lightly in the air. Concealing a small giggle of myself, I counted to three in my head and jumped around the small corner. "I found you!" I yelled at the little girl crouching in the corner.
She popped up with upmost excitement. "You took forever to find me!" She exclaimed. " I must be a good hider."
A small chuckle escaped my lips. " uh huh, the best hider I ever met." I lied.
"It's your turn to hide now! I'll count to fifteen and you go and hide." She told me.
I smirked. She thought she was a good hider, just wait until she gets behind her hunt. I sprinted away as the little girl began counting, the frigid wind ripping through my chocolate brown hair and stinging my face as I ran. I already knew where I was going to hide, I had it all planned out. However, my plans were halted as the huge steel entrance doors opened to reveal a fine wooden carriage filled with three persons and two riders on sleek black as night horses riding through them. "Visitors?"