Day One...

Rian sat in a dingy straw bedded cell, her hands shackled above her head. She had never been caught before, never failed to complete the job before.

'Why did I hesitate...?'

Sometime in the evening, the Jarl came to see her and asked that the guard open the door to her cell. He stepped inside and looked down at her, those silvery purple eyes meeting his gaze with defiance still strong. He smirked when she said nothing. He stared at her for a moment. "You managed to sneak by every guard, unnoticed and without bloodshed, yet you hesitated when you had the chance to strike. Why?"

Again, Rian said nothing- only glared at him.

The Jarl, disappointed, sighed and left her to stew in her failure. "See to it that she is given food and water."

Rian watched as the man she failed to kill sauntered off, disappearing back up the stairs to the barracks. 'I will not fail again...'

Day Four...

The Jarl came to visit his prisoner, just as he had for four days now, and still this strange woman said nothing. He had been told that afternoon that she had been refusing the food and water offered to her and when he asked the guard if that had changed, he was concerned to find out that it hadn't.

"Why do you torment yourself like this?" he asked, kneeling down in front of this assassin. He reached forward to lift her chin up and get a good look at her, but just as he did she threw her head forward and smashed it into his face- breaking his nose.

The guards immediately rushed in, restraining her further, and the Jarl looked at her through the pain to see her smirking- a dangerously beautiful smirk at that. He found, as one of the guards helped him to his feet, that he was not angry or annoyed or vexed but rather amused and impressed by her defiance.

"My lord, let's get you to the healer."

He shooed off the hand of his second in command and chuckled- actually chuckled- as he reset his own nose and pressed a handkerchief to stem the bleeding. He glanced over as the guards exited the assassin's cell and was not as surprised as he should be to hear her laughing quietly to herself as she spat blood off to the side.

'Who are you, assassin?'

Day Nine...

Rian had been imprisoned for over a week now and she was nowhere near finding a way out.

'Why did I hesitate...?' she again wondered, but still no answer came.

Then that evening, just as he had on that first night, the Jarl came to see her and asked that the guard open the door to her cell. He stepped inside and looked down at her, those silvery purple eyes meeting his gaze with defiance still strong. He smirked when she said nothing.

"Defiant as ever, I see." the Jarl noted, his arms crossed. He stared at her for a moment. "I will ask you again, assassin. You managed to sneak by every guard, unnoticed and without bloodshed, yet you hesitated when you had the chance to strike. Why?"

When she still remained silent, he knelt down in front of her, more careful to keep his distance after she broke his nose more than a few days ago. "You are strange, assassin." He paused for a moment. "You know, it has been rather annoying to keep calling you 'assassin'. You must have a name." He waited a few moments- hoping for an answer- and just when he thought none would come, again she surprised him.

Rian looked away, feeling fidgety under his gaze. "It's Rian."

The Jarl was surprised at how delicate and gentle her voice was even as pugnacious as she was in that moment. "Rian? That's an old Atmoran name." The Jarl noted, his smirk returning. "So, Rian, what am I to do with you now?"

Rian sat there, keeping her gaze averted as she tried to find a way out of this situation. 'The door is open, but I have no way to pick the locks of these shackles.'

The Jarl simply sighed and stood, leaving her in the cell alone once more. "Unchain her, but keep her locked up for the time being. And get her something to clean herself with."

Rian looked up in surprise as he left the dungeon and headed back up the stairs into the barracks. 'What are you playing at, Ulfric Stormcloak?'

Day Ten...

The following evening, Rian waited for her chance to set her plan into motion and just as the guards' shifts changed, it was time. She was able to sneak a bit of bone from the meat she had been given as part of her meal and used it to pick the locks of her shackles before setting to work on the one for her cell door. Keeping a close eye on everything in front of her, Rian listened to the lock as she fiddled with it and let out a small sigh of relief when she managed to unlock it.

The night was a dreary, stormy one and the sky was dark and cloudy, so she was able to stick to the shadows as she made her way to the stairs. But just as she was about to reach it, a guard came down the stairs and spotted her. Rian quickly incapacitated the guard, stripping her of her armor and dressing her in her ragged clothes before dragging her into her cell and closing the door. Then, using the guard's armor as a disguise, Rian quickly made her way through the barracks and started searching for Ulfric.

'I still have a job to do...'

It wasn't long before she found him in his room, and when he turned to greet whom he thought was a guard, Rian removed the helmet and tossed it aside.

"Did you kill the guard you stole the gear from?" Ulfric asked, his brow furrowed.

"No, she's simply unconscious." Rian said, stepping closer to him.

Ulfric watched as she made her way closer, stopping when there was a window's width of space between them. "What are you waiting for, then?"

Rian wasn't sure why she hadn't made a move yet, but before she could even answer his question the storm outside burst the window open and a swoosh of icy northern air rushed into the chambers.

Rian and Ulfric both sensed something... odd... about the wind as it seemed to swirl around them for a few moments. Rian closed her eyes and let the wind work its "magik", feeling an ethereal energy surrounding her. When she opened her eyes and looked at Ulfric, she saw that he too had experienced something similar. It was as if some higher power was trying to tell them something and now, for some unknown reason, their fates were intertwined.

"You felt it, too." Ulfric noted, seeing her reaction as the wind died down and receded.

"It would seem that the Black Sacrament was not performed, thus rendering the contract on your life invalid, Jarl Ulfric Stormcloak." Rian said, eyeing him curiously.

Ulfric wondered how she could have possibly known that, but then he thought about his own experience with the wind. "As it would seem that our fates are now intertwined."

Outside in the hall, they could hear a clambering as the alarm was raised and word spread of Rian's escape.

"You should go, Rian." Ulfric said. "While you still have time."

Rian could hear footsteps growing closer and closer, so she replaced the helmet on her head and made sure to hide her unmistakable hair from the guards as they rushed into the room.

"My lord, the prisoner has escaped!"

"I am well aware, as I have already been informed." Ulfric said, gesturing to Rian as if she were a guard that had just come to bring him the news. "Be on your way and search the palace."

The guards nodded and hurried off, leaving Rian and Ulfric alone. Rian glanced at Ulfric as he went to a wardrobe and pulled out a pack, setting it on the bed.

"This has all of your things. Take it and leave the city before they discover you."

Rian looked at him, stunned. "Why are you doing this?"

Ulfric sighed. "Just as you had, something on the wind told me that I could trust you. Perhaps it was the Divines, who knows?" He handed her the pack and started ushering her to the door. "Somehow, I know that you are not my enemy, that you are by some divine chance my ally."

Rian wasn't sure what else to say or do in that moment, so she decided that- for now at least- it would be best to listen to the Jarl and flee. She was careful not to give herself away as she passed more and more guards, claiming that she was sent by the Jarl to search such and such area of the palace or city whenever she was stopped along the way.

When she finally made it out of the palace and out of the city entirely, she stopped just briefly to look back up at the palace towering in the growing distance and wondered what fate awaited her and Ulfric.