Tales of Skyrim: Grohiik the Wanderer

Chapter 10: Learning History

Lydia slowly woke up, the tempting solitude and bliss of sleep fighting to withhold her. The first sensation that came to her mind was how soft the blankets of fur were. Lydia immediately snapped fully awake at the realization that she wasn't wearing armor. Upon lifting the coverings on her, she saw that she was almost completely naked, save a bra and undergarments. Thankfully, bandages covered a majority of her body, though she wondered how they got there, and more importantly, who put them on.

Grohiik wandered into the room, two steaming bowls in hand. Lydia instinctively threw the covers back over herself and drew them close to her neck, covering every part of her body. Grohiik only raised an eyebrow in response.

"Don't look at me that way! I don't feel comfortable with you looking at me while I'm indecent." Lydia groaned.

"Funny, you weren't this sensitive when I bandaged you." Grohiik said in an all too amused tone.

"Wait! You undressed me and saw me- saw me bare?!"

"No, I bandaged you through your clothes then took them off afterwards."

Lydia was caught between embarrassment and fury. Grohiik had unwittingly found one of her nerves, then trampled all over it. Lydia was terrified of the mere thought of him seeing her naked, question of doubt and self-consciousness flew through her mind like the wind. But ultimately, his blatant disregard for her personal matters tipped the scale towards anger,

"So you just undressed me without my consent?! Do you have no care for my personal opinion, or do you undress every sleeping woman you find without a care?!" Lydia wanted to reword what she said, but it was already too late.

"Lydia, you were unconscious and gravely injured! Did you want me to let you die just to avoid seeing you indecent?"

"I want you not to undress me all the way, had you left my unmentionables on, I might have been okay with it!"

"You had bruises, cuts and burns all over!"

"Then why not just heal me with magic?!"

"Because I'm not that good with healing spells!"

"Well you should be!" Lydia inwardly winced at her harsh criticism of the man she was supposed to protect with her life.

Grohiik let out a deep breath, looking away at her. "This is more than me just undressing you isn't it."

"No. Absolutely not." Lydia tried to convince herself with confident words.

He looked back to her, then walked over and kneeled next to her. He lifted his hand and ran it through her hair.

"Stop it." Her voice was just a whisper, but her mind screamed for him to keep going.

"Why." Their eyes locked, and Lydia felt a warm fluttery feeling in her stomach.

"Because."

He sighed. "Lydia if we argue like this every time I patch you up, and you never tell me what's wrong, how can I stop?"

She quickly looked in the other direction before he saw her face turn into a tomato. "Just don't do that."

Another sigh. "Do what Lydia?" His voice was on the edge of irritation.

"I don't want you to see me in the nude."

"And why not?"

Too many questions, he's asking too many questions. Her mind was in mutiny over what to do, but she couldn't stop herself from talking, and talking, and talking.

"I just don't…" want you to be disappointed.

"What's there to be disappointed about?"

Lydia eyes snapped open and she looked at her Thane, terrified that he had heard her thought.

"You said 'I just don't want you to be disappointed' what is that supposed to mean?"

"I don't think you heard me right." Lydia looked away from Grohiik, staring at the weathered stone wall.

"I think I did and you need to confront this like a Nord, not a milk-drinker."

Lydia, infuriated by the insult, looked back at Grohiik and snapped at him. "I am not a milk-drinker!"

"Then stop facing the problem like one."

Lydia sighed in defeat, and assured herself that if she could've, she would have beat him into a pulp.

"It's something I don't like remembering."

"I understand the feeling."

She looked at Grohiik in a curious manner.

"Maybe after you spill." He replied.

"I was about sixteen, just beginning the final stretch of training. Personally, I had few male friends; most of my friends were fellow future housecarls and guards. I was late in the game of courting, or what we considered courting. There was a rich young man, a year or two older than me, who captivated me.

"The richer kids always thought themselves superior, but that didn't stop them from bedding anyone that showed an interest. So, I was attracted to this noble and I went about it like a milk-drinker, but he eventually noticed.

"He approached me while I was alone one day, and he sweet talked me. I crumbled under the attention; I would have done anything for him at that moment, sensible or not. He flew through my clothes faster than I could notice."

Lydia chocked at the pain and sorrow of the memory. Grohiik slid one hand behind her head and grasped hers with the other.

"I was lying on the ground, staring up at him as he gave me a unsatisfied look. I asked what was wrong, and he said that I had the least attractive body he had ever seen, and he had even taken an Argonian once. Then he shrugged and said that pussy was pussy.

"He grabbed my hips and set his tip at my entrance, but he never got any farther. I punched him in the stomach. He was weaker than a skeever, he went down immediately. I stood over him, and he screamed at me, called me so many names I can't remember them all. Then he asked if I was stupid. He screamed that I had to be a complete idiot to not want to open my legs to any man who would give me the time of day."

Lydia's eyes were blurry with tears, could barely make out Grohiik's face. She was desperate for sympathy and encouragement.

"I told him I wasn't just a whore, then I took all my anger out on him. He was unconscious almost instantly, but that didn't stop me. He left in worse shape than most giant attack victims. Then I got dressed, and I ran-and cried-until I was far away from the city, and I let myself cry until I was too weak to stay awake."

Lydia could no longer withhold the river of tears; all the sorrow and insecurity she had kept bottled inside of her flowed out through her eyes. She had never considered herself weak, until the moment when Grohiik wrapped his arms around her and she instantly felt better. Lydia had known that the young noble had hurt her, but she had always denied the full effects. Now though, she was put on a path that would demand strength and punish weakness with death.

Why Grohiik had been able to get through to her so easily was a mystery to her, but Lydia was fine with that.

… …

Grohiik cradled Lydia in his arms, and her face had snuggled against his neck so closely that he could feel her tears run down his neck. He was all too glad that Draco and Pheo were not here to comment.

Anger, sorrow and compassion were the most dominant emotions he felt as he held her in his arms. Anger for the "noble" whom had scarred Lydia; sorrow, simply because she felt the same so strongly; and compassion, which had no reason for its presence other than the fact that Grohiik felt attached and attracted to Lydia. Why this attraction to Lydia had formed almost instantly, Grohiik was at a loss.

Grohiik soothingly stroked her back as he held her tightly, though not enough so to cause pain. Lydia clung back tightly, or attempted to do so, but the previous day had taken its toll on her body. Grohiik laid Lydia back down on the bed, ensuring that he was gentle with her.

"I-I'm sorry…" Lydia muttered as she wiped tears from her eyes.

"Don't be. After all, there's nothing to be sorry about."

"Yes there is, I was chosen to be your housecarl, to protect your life and property with my own. But all I've done so far is act like a milk-drinker, I couldn't stop that highwayman yesterday, and today I'm lying useless in bed and crying about stupid emotional insecurities. I'm worthless; I already know I'll only be a hindrance on your journey."

"Lydia…" Grohiik gently hooked her chin and pulled her up to face him. "You are wrong. For one, I should have noticed the highwayman and if you had fought, no matter how valiantly, he would have slit your throat instantly. Then yesterday you took on nearly half a camp of bandits head on, and won, that is most definitely not worthless."

"But you had to save me in both cases."

Grohiik frowned at her, "Lydia you can't let that idiot affect you like this."

Lydia tried to look away, but Grohiik made sure to keep eye contact with her. "Lydia that guy must have been half-blind because you are easily the most beautiful woman I have ever seen."

"You're just saying that."

"No, I'm not. I genuinely mean what I say."

"That noble wasn't the only one to insult my looks you know, almost every one of them knew I was hideous."

"Lydia. Listen to me. Nobles are all hollow, greedy and remarkably stupid, and if they thought you were hideous, they must have had skeevers for brains."

"Try telling them I'm beautiful, we'll see who's right."

"I wouldn't dream of it."

Grohiik saw her look up in confusion, and his grin only widened.

"W-what do you mean?"

Grohiik cradled one side of her face with his hand, forcing her to once again remain in eye contact.

"I mean, now that I have the most beautiful being to grace existence, you think I'm going to tell a bunch of sleazy nobles about her? No, I don't need that kind of completion."Grohiik decided to satiate a desire that had been brewing inside of him for nearly a day now.

Grohiik leaned down and kissed Lydia, gently but with a hunger behind it. Lydia froze for a few agonizing moments, but –slowly- she returned the intimate embrace with a passion that initially surprised Grohiik, but nonetheless encouraged him.

After what seemed both longer than eternity and shorter than the blink of an eye, Grohiik pulled back, releasing Lydia's lips from the hunger of his own. Lydia opened her eyes as if she were afraid of what she might see, but she had a look of absolute shock sprawled across her face.

"You believe me now Lydia?" Grohiik could barely get his voice above a whisper, his throat was tight, his heart was beating like a bard was too into his act, and the air felt too thin.

"Yeah… I-I think so…" Lydia's voice was in much the same condition as Grohiik's and he took a slight satisfaction in the effect he had on her.

"Then I have more convincing to do?" Grohiik smirked, though in his head he really wanted an answer.

Lydia's cheeks tinted pink, and she smiled a fractional amount.

"No… well, not yet. I understand how you feel, and I thank you for boosting my self-confidence; but I spilled my big secret, now it's only fair if you open up as well." Lydia looked at Grohiik with an intensity that caught him off-guard.

"Well after I was orphaned, I couldn't think of anything to do but run. I ran through forests, across rivers, around Thalmor patrols and over mountains until I finally found something that I couldn't overcome by running."

… …

Grohiik paused, his eyes glazed over, and Lydia wondered what exactly he had seen. She shook his shoulder, though her current condition rendered her weaker than usual. He looked at her, into her eyes, then shook his head and continued his story.

"I had made my way to the desert wastelands of Elsweyr. Where everything was either out to kill you, eat you or rob you-or all three. I barely survived a single day of the searing heat, then the night set in. The sweltering heat quickly turned into a chilling cold, and I would have died were it not for a Khajiit caravan.

"I was lucky, I had unwittingly stumbled onto a route through the desert, and the head of the caravan, a Khajiit named Nal'Ryhar, decided to take me in. I was lucky, but just enough so to survive. I was a servant to Nal'Ryhar; I held trays of food and drink for him, when he wasn't indulging in women.

"When I finally started growing, at age 11, Nal'Ryhar decided that I would be more useful as a guard for the caravan. So I was trained in swordsmanship, and since my father had already taught me the basics, I learned quickly. I completed my training in less than two years, which impressed Nal'Ryhar and everyone else.

"In a few months, Nal'Ryhar made me his personal bodyguard, his old one having died a year before. Nal'Ryhar took a liking to me, and I suppose he saw me as a salvation of sorts. He had the misfortune of only having daughters, not a single son. He had nearly a hundred daughters, possibly more but I never could keep track."

Lydia only looked at her Thane in shock, how was it possible for anyone to have so many children? He saw her confused face and chuckled.

"Nal'Ryhar often had a different woman every night. When one got pregnant, he would take others, mainly in hope of getting a son to inherit his fortune. I suppose he saw me as a saving grace, one who could carry on his name and keep the fortune from any other Khajiit families. I never quite understood his reasoning for that, but he was always a bit strange, even for a Khajiit.

"Anyway, he adopted me as his son, saying that I would inherit his wealth if he didn't have a blood-son before he died. From then on, I was pampered, treated as a noble, and fought over. Some of the opposing families-all of which had sons who were being encouraged to woo as many of Nal'Ryhar's daughters as possible-claimed that I couldn't inherit anything because I was adopted. Other families had their daughters begin to try and woo me.

"I should mention that many of these families were a part of Nal'Ryhar group, trading under his banner and making more profits than independent family clans would make, though not as much as Nal'Ryhar. They wanted to take the top spot when Nal'Ryhar keeled over, and now I was either an obstacle or the means to an end.

"But it wasn't just these families that I suddenly got more attention from, any royal or even mildly important families now had their daughters come after me like I was an animal being hunted. Their 'affections' were stiff and meaningless though, and I despised the interactions with them. I was polite and mindful of how my every action might be evaluated, good or bad.

"I barely got any rest for months at a time, being harassed by the girls, some of which were closer to women, and I was only 15. I finally decided that the life of a privileged noble wasn't the life for me, and I went straight to Nal'Ryhar with my intention on leaving or just returning to guard work.

"That proved to be one of my less thought out plans, Nal'Ryhar was furious with me, we argued for several hours before I finally ran out and stole a horse. I haven't heard head or tail of the old cat since."

Lydia processed the information for a moment before concluding, "So you were raised by Khajiit, I can see how that would cause problems."

He smiled a tired smile, "Exactly."

"Well, I still think you're not telling me something, but I can wait for you to break."

"That's a relief, you had me worried."

"Just shut up… my Thane."

…

A/N: Dialogue, ouch. How did I do? Leave constructive criticism, it's always welcome.