Raelynn shifted slightly, wincing when the guard poked her in the back with his sword as a warning to hold still. She sighed and slumped into the chair she was chained to, eyes watching the activity in the Keep with passing interest. She privately hoped the High Elf mage would show back up to talk her ear off about Dwemer artifacts, but she hadn't seen him at all since the first day she got there and he noticed the dwarven arrows she carried. After helping himself to a few he had left her at the mercy of the Jarl and his evil guards.

"Do I even want to know?" Farkas' amused voice drew her attention from where she had been watching several ants trek across the floor and she looked up at him with a sheepish grin.

"It's not my fault," she insisted and he laughed.

"It never is Rae," he said with a sigh and then looked at the guards. "Well, let her up," he barked. The guard bent down and removed her shackles, allowing her to rise from the chair.

"Watch yourself next time, Dragonborn," the Jarl commented as they walked by and she gave him a tight smile in response. Farkas led her out of the Keep and then leaned against one of the stone pillars, an expectant look on his face.

Raelynn sighed and rocked up on her toes and then back onto her heels. "So, you remember how I was going to come to Markarth and take care of that contract to knock some sense into the Orc over at the mine?"

"Yes Rae, I gave you that contract," he stated.

"Right, okay. Well I got here and took care of the Orc but then I remembered I've never been to Markarth before." She paused and then bit her lip. "Except for that one time with the Temple of Dibella, but I didn't take any time to explore so I thought, why not do it now right?" she explained. He didn't say anything and she grinned weakly. "Right. I checked out the inn and the Treasure House and then came up here to meet the Jarl." She sighed and shrugged her shoulders. "And he asked me to go and retrieve his father's shield for him from some farm that was overrun with Forsworn."

"Rae, are you getting to the point?" Farkas interrupted.

She blushed. "Sorry, yeah. So I go and get the shield, but my robes get caught on a loose board and end up with this huge rip in them. I couldn't exactly run around wearing those so I took some of the Forsworn armor and put it on, just until I could repair my robes. Well, apparently the Jarl didn't care that he had sent me out to get the shield, all he saw was a Breton mage in Forsworn armor and-"

"And he thought you were Forsworn," Farkas finished. She nodded meekly. "So why were you here and not in the Mine?"

"I would have been, but I um, well, I was trying to escape and I may have Shouted at the entrance and caused some rubble to fall and block the door," she admitted. "So the Jarl had me brought into the Keep and told me if I swore to behave he would send for somebody to come get me. And then I had to promise to stay out of Markarth once I left," she added.

Farkas pushed away from the pillar with a shake of the head. "I swear to Akatosh, Rae, pretty soon you're not going to be able to take contracts because the cities won't let you into their holds." He strode through the streets and she darted after him with a frown.

"It's only the two cities Farkas," she responded. "And it's not my fault that Maven runs Riften instead of the Jarl or that the Jarl of Markarth is a stubborn moron." She flinched when a couple of nearby citizens looked at her with arched eyebrows.

Farkas started walking faster and glared at her. "Be quiet before you end up arrested again," he snapped. She glared at him but kept her mouth shut until they were outside of the gates and situated in the back of the carriage on their way to Whiterun.

"Well it isn't my fault," Raelynn said. "Even you can admit that."

Farkas shook his head with a rueful grin. "Rae, I'm not sure if you're that oblivious or just incredibly unlucky. I swear, how did you manage to survive before you got to Skyrim?" he asked.

Her brow furrowed as she thought and then she shrugged. "I never got into any problems like this before I came here. Lucky for me I met you," she tacked on with a grin.

He hummed. "Yes. Lucky for you. Maybe not so lucky for me." She made a noise of protest and he laughed. "I'm kidding Raelynn," he told her. "I, for one, am glad to have met you. You definitely keep things from getting boring."

She crossed her arms and gave him a haughty look. "I am going to take that as a compliment," she declared.

"Go right ahead," he replied. "You should also look into finding something else to wear," he added with a meaningful glance at her chest. The Forsworn armor she wore was a size too big and had a bad habit of revealing a little too much. She blushed bright red and grabbed her pack, digging through it and finding a large tunic. She pulled it over her head, dragging it down and making sure she was covered adequately. "Rae," Farkas asked and she glanced at him from the corner of her eyes. "Is that my tunic?" he questioned. Her mouth flapped open and closed a few times but words escaped her.

"Sorry?" she squeaked finally.

He snorted and shook his head. "What am I going to do with you woman?" he asked.

"Keep me alive so I can defeat the dragons?" she offered with a small grin.

He chuckled. "I swear to the Divines Rae, you're lucky you're cute," he muttered. She blushed again, mind wondering what he meant by that but not daring to ask. They rode in silence the rest of the way to Whiterun and when they climbed out of the carriage he studied her. "And what did we learn this time?" he asked.

"That when visiting a Jarl it's a good idea to not dress up like his mortal enemies," she responded. "I'll be more careful."

They ambled up towards the city gates and Farkas chuckled. "Rae, you say that every time and yet…" he trailed off and gave her a meaningful look.

"I do try to be careful Farkas. It just doesn't always work out that way," she pointed out.

He laughed again and nudged her towards Jorrvaskr. "Come on," he said. "Let's go see about getting your robes fixed. You look ridiculous right now."