The Dragonborn and the Princess of Thieves
Chapter 3- The Mission
Akita ran swiftly through the open fields, her steps completely silent. She needed to get to Astrid soon to tell her that she had completed her contract with the Dark Brotherhood. The only problem was that now she had this Argonian following her everywhere. She could not get to the Sanctuary and back to Riverwood by morning. It might be feasible if she had a horse, but she didn't have one. Certainly the Argonian would become frightened if she did not show up at the bridge in the morning. She needed to steal one. She could not risk taking the Argonian to the Sanctuary, risk an outsider knowing where it was located. Both of them would be killed. If Akita knew one thing about Blaarfengar, it was that she wanted him alive. She was not entirely sure why, but she wanted the man with her. It wasn't love, she had learned to suppress such emotions as they were sure to prevent her from killing efficiently. It was more along the lines of friendship. She had tired to avoid having friends outside of the Brotherhood, but this one was different. The moment she saw the Argonian on the carriage, she sensed something about him, like he didn't belong there. Sure, the fact that he was an Argonian among Nords certainly did not help matters, but even ignoring that fact, he did not belong there. He lacked the battle- hardened body of the Nords surrounding him, she did not see any scars on his body. He was dressed in a simple tunic, not the Stormcloak armor of the Nords, but so was that one man who tried to run away.
Blaarfengar finished eating and was now lying down on his bed. Not as soft as the one he had in the Black Marsh, but still comfortable. However, with the sounds of drinking and music, he couldn't fall asleep. He cautiously walked back out into the main lobby, where several Nords were drinking mead around the fire. One of them turned around to meet Blaarfengar's eyes.
"Come, Argonian. Get some mead and warm yourself by the fire, friend. Stay a while." The Nord said.
Blaarfengar was never able to hold his alcohol well, and even now he was feeling a bit drunk from that one bottle of mead, but he did not want to deny the Nord's invitation. It wouldn't be polite. He felt around for coins in his armor, finding enough for two bottles. He bought the mead, figuring he could give one to one of the Nords or keep it for Akita if he felt too drunk after one more bottle.
"So, Argonian. You new here? A traveler, perhaps?" The Nord uncorked another bottle, taking a long sip from it.
"Well, I came here just to maybe get into the maritime industries, maybe farm a little bit. Then I was captured by the Imperial Legion, and they tried to execute me. I escaped, and here I am." Blaarfengar said, taking a small sip of the mead. From the taste, the Argonian could easily tell that there was more alcohol in this bottle than the last one.
"So you're a criminal?" The Nord stood up, his hand moving to a sword sheathed at his hip.
"I- I don't know. I could be. I'm not familiar with the laws of Skyrim." Blaarfengar trembled. "I just crossed the border from Cyrodil into Skyrim when I was captured. Is that illegal here?"
The Nord calmed down. "No, but I'd keep quiet about that. People will hear that you were captured by the Imperials, and maybe they won't be as hesitant to kill you as I was. For all they know, there could be a rather large bounty on your head. But since you did nothing illegal, they might be more lenient. But, how exactly did you escape? There's usually some damn good archers at the execution sites."
"There was a dragon that attacked. Just as the headsman was lifting his axe to cut off my head." The Argonian said, sipping more of the mead.
"A dragon? Where did it attack?" The Nord asked, his voice suddenly frantic.
"Helgen, I believe? Wasn't too far away from here." Blaarfengar said.
"Okay. What you need to is go tell the Jarl. But stay for the night. Probably not the best idea to wake the Jarl up to tell him. He's in Whiterun. It's north of here. Just remain calm. Tell him exactly what happened."
Blaarfengar continued nursing the bottle, the alcohol clearly getting to his head. He talked with the Nord for a while before heading to bed, where he fell asleep easily.
