Chapter 7: Greatness Waits

As he walked through the streets of Whiterun, the sounds of various merchants yelling at passersby's and the smell of cooking meat brought a nostalgic feeling in Ahmes. He could remember all the times him and his parents went out to buy things from merchants that would travel by their village and the children spending their allowances on wooden weapons to play with. It was times like these when he missed his old home, but he knew times like this were rare and he didn't know if he would ever have this kind of free time again.

A sudden shout of frustration filled the air and a voice called out, "Absurd! How is it you don't sell sweetrolls?" The voice yelled in a demanding voice. Ahmes turned towards the voice and instantly recognized it as Dagny's. "I'm sorry my lady, but we only sell vegetables and fruits. We don't have any sweetrolls," she said in a frightened yet apologetic tone. Dagny's lips twisted into a snarl as she knocked over all the food that was on the girl's bench. The girl made a whimpering sound as she knelt down and tried to pick up the food from the floor. The girl appeared to be around Dagny's age and she had pale skin and dark brown hair that went down to her waist. She wore ragged clothes with an old belt at her waist. The top of her outfit was a dark blue and appeared to be a little small for her. The bottom half of her outfit was a somewhat long white skirt that had turned darker from the dirt near the bottom of the skirt and went down to her shins. "Tch…Can't get any good sweetrolls, in this skeeverhole of a city," she said in disgust. As the girl tried to put the fruit back on the stand, Dagny simply tossed them back down again and stepped on her hand with her green heel when she tried to reach for more. Ahmes couldn't look anymore as he walked up to Dagny with fury in her eyes. "Hey! Leave her alone!" Ahmes yelled as Dagny turned to him and narrowed her eyes. "Who are you? One of the new servants? Remember that I like my meat rare," she said smugly as she continued to crush the poor girl's hand. Ahmes had become red with rage, not only had she disrespected him, but she wouldn't stop hurting the girl because she didn't sell sweetrolls, which in itself was ridiculous behavior. He grabbed her arm forcefully and turned her to him, "now you listen here, you spoiled brat! I have half the mind-," Ahmes was interrupted as a blade of a nearby guard placed his blade under Ahmes' chin. Dagny released the girl's hand and placed all her attention on Ahmes. "Half the mind to do what, peasant?" she asked. Ahmes looked around and noticed that all the merchants and passerby's put all their attention on him. He wanted to do something, anything, but with a blade next to his neck, he knew that any move will end up with an open throat. He sighed and let go of her arm. As soon as his grip loosened, the nearby guard sheathed his sword and punched Ahmes straight in the gut with enough force to make him breathless. He keeled over from the hit and fell down to his knees, heaving for air. Dagny began to laugh as she spat on Ahmes, "Maybe next time you watch your tongue around a lady," she said in a snarky tone as she walked away with her guards following her. Ahmes couldn't stand people like her, those who believed they were better than everyone else just because they had a higher social standing. It reminded him of his childhood, where most kids his age were like that because of their noble families. They would often bully him and send him home with bruises all over his body to a worried mother. This time, just like every other time, he kept his anger in check, to not let this bring him down, just like always.

A few moments later, Ahmes felt the pain in his chest go away and the girl he helped assisted him to get on his feet. "Are you okay? That looked like it hurt," she asked. Her voice was very soft, Ahmes noticed, probably one of the softest sounding voices he had ever heard. "I'm sorry about that; I shouldn't have let you get involved in a stranger's quarrel. My name is Mila. Mila Valentia," she said as she shook Ahmes' hand. Ahmes smiled as he released his hand and scratched the back of his head, "No it's ok, it's not your fault," he said. "Mila! Mila!," a voice behind her yelled as a boy that looked to be the same age as Mila ran up to her. "Are you alright? I was going to help you, but there were too many people in the way," the boy said as he tried to catch his breathes. Ahmes looked behind the boy and noticed that there was no crowd in the direction the boy came from. He's lying, but why? He asked himself before realizing the answer to his own question. He was too afraid to do anything, he realized. "It's alright Lars, I am alright," she said with a soft smile. Lars sighed in relief as he turned to Ahmes. "Thank you for helping Mila, Dagny has always treated everyone who wasn't related to the Jarl like dirt. No one ever wanted to be around Dagny, she's almost as bad as Braith," he said. Ahmes turned to Lars, "No problem, I don't like it when people treat others like dirt just because they think they are better than them," he said as he looked back at Dagny's retreating form in the distance. "Man, she is one really spoiled brat," Ahmes stated while placing his hands on his hips. "I know she can be mean, but she can be very nice sometimes, you just have to be patient with her," Mila said. Lars looked at Mila and smiled warmly, "Leave it to you to see the good in people Mila," Lars said while ruffling her hair a little bit then awkwardly pulled his hand away in embarrassment.

"Lars! Where did you go you big baby?" a voice called out from where Lars came from. Lars groaned as a red guard woman appeared from the same path Lars ran out from. The young woman had dark skin and hair with similar clothes to Mila, but this girl wore a frown on her face instead of Mila's soft smile and the top of her ragged clothing was red opposed to Mila's blue. "What have I told you idiot! You shouldn't just go on your own for no reason. And just who the hell are you?," Braith asked while pointing an accusing finger at Ahmes. Ahmes' smile twitched as he realized what Lars had meant. "My name is Ahmes and I-," he was again interrupted as Braith raised her finger and shook her head. "Y'know what, I don't care," she said as she turned to Lars. "C'mon Lars, Vilkas was looking for us," she said as she grabbed the back of Lars' collar and dragging him away from Mila and Ahmes. "Where is she taking him?" Ahmes asked. Mila looked outward to the direction of Jorrvaskr, "To the Companions, Braith and Lars joined them a few months back. I can tell Lars doesn't want anything to do with the Companions, he hates fighting, but everyone won't treat him like a man until he makes a name for himself there. They have been calling him a milk drinker ever since he was a little kid. They think if he joined the Companions, he will toughen up and become a man," Mila said with a hint of sadness. "And Braith joined the Companions with him; she said it was because she wanted to get tougher, but I think it's because Braith loves Lars," she continued with a small chuckle. "Lars is always too oblivious to the fact that Braith bullies him because she likes him. Thankfully, she doesn't bully him that much anymore," she said as she turned to Ahmes. "Do you really think that is why she treats him like that? Looked to me that she saw Lars as a burden," Ahmes replied. Mila shook her head and watched the two figures disappear into Jorrvaskr. "And do you think Lars likes her back? I mean, he didn't seem happy when she called for him,"

"He'll come around, he likes her. He just doesn't know it yet." "You sure about that?," Ahmes asked with laughter in his voice. She shrugged as she walked back behind her fruit stand. Ahmes walked into front of the stand, "Well, I guess I'll buy some apples for the road then," he said pulling out some coin from his pocket. "Why thank you sir," she said while pulling out two scarlet red apples, "Finest, on the house. Least I can do for your help," she said with a hint of laughter in her voice as Ahmes placed the Septims on the stand anyway. "No need for that miss, I would gladly give you the coin. You definitely deserve it after what Dagny to your hand," he said as he held up her slightly bruised hand and gave it a close look. Mila pulled her hand away with a soft blush and handed the two apples to Ahmes, "Thank you Ahmes, I really appreciate it," she said as she collected her coin. Ahmes smiled widely as he turned towards Jorrvaskr and started a slow jog after looking back and waving good bye to Mila. She waved him good bye and watched his figure disappear behind Jorrvaskr before placing a hand on her chest and sighing, "Ahmes, what a nice name."

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