English is my first language. Chapters get longer a bit later, but I end them when they're still good. I have a tendency to beat a topic to death if I spend too much time on it.
Chapter 3: A New Friend
Ra Jeen was discussing his friend's condition with the guard just outside the cell. Or screaming at the guard to get help. In all fairness, he had started by asking politely.
"He will die!"
"That's really not my concern. One less criminal to watch."
The conversation had gone from pleasant to screaming pretty quickly. The guard wouldn't budge, though. "He got himself here. If he dies, so be it. And if he lives, he won't be causing trouble for a few days. Both serve the same purpose to me."
"…Ra… Ra Jeen…" the Dark Elf sputtered out weakly.
The Khajiit was fast to be at his friend's side. "Yes, Saleg, what is it?"
"Tell the guard… tell him… to slit his own throat… on his next break."
With that, Saleg passed out. And when he woke up next, he arose in the infirmary, to the site of a pretty Khajiit woman nursing his wounds, and telling the infirmary guard that he was ready to be transferred to Morrowind.
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"…looks like he might be alright. How long has she been taking care of him?"
"Long enough. I think she feels guilty. Says Dralas threatened her first. Only reason he didn't attack her, I figure is the guard in the tradehouse."
"Did anyone see this coming?"
"No. It's odd. He's always been an upright citizen. Never so much as an argument out of him. He was always so quiet. I guess it's true… Look, I think he's waking up."
The first thing Saleg saw as he opened his eyes was the bright glare off of the eyes of a beautiful Khajiit woman.
He was confused. "Am… am I in Morrowind?" he asked, wondering whether it was all a dream and he was still in the Imperial city's prison infirmary, or if he really had just happened to wake up again to yet another gorgeous cat-woman who made his heart skip a beat.
"Ahnassi welcomes you back to the world of the living, Dunmer. May Ahnassi ask his name?"
"Saleg."
"Well than, Saleg," the healer said, "As Ahnassi said, welcome back. We almost lost you. I'm Ygfa. You were smart not to pull out the dagger."
"Wasn't my idea… Passed out after the second hit."
Suddenly the guard captain who was speaking with Ygfa came over. "The one through your lung?"
"Yeah."
"He was gonna finish you off with one in the throat until one of our guards charged him. We got him in the cells downstairs. You're lucky Ahnassi saw you and called someone."
"He said something to me. Something about Dagoth Ur and sleepers awake?" Saleg tried hard to think back to the conversation, but it was mostly blurry from the loss of blood, and the fact that at the time, the speaker had been trying to gut him like a slaughterfish.
"Words of a madman, really. Dagoth Ur was the enemy of the Tribunal, but he was killed right before their ascension," Ygfa said, putting more questions into the mind of Saleg than answers.
"What?" Saleg demanded.
"It is not really important," Ahnassi said. For a while now she had been silent, only staring at Saleg. She never broke the concentration. "Ahnassi will stay with new friend, Saleg, until he heals. You should get some sleep."
"You're right Ahnassi. But you really must get off of his lap for him to sleep," Ygfa said with a smile. "Though he sure seems to enjoy it."