Fate's Games
(A/N: Fourth up today. The guardsmen are so overlooked, but you can do quite a lot with them.)
Wishes and Fantasy
He'd never thought much on her. She was just another palace servant, a maid. A maid who danced and hummed beautifully as she cleaned the palace and carried out all duties tasked to her. Even on hands and knees scrubbing the floors she hummed happily. He wondered very much the reason for it as he watched her.
He remembered when it started. That day she had been busily scrubbing the floor when a Thane approached and shot, "Wench, bring these dishes to the kitchen, and don't drop them!" Still smiling, she'd risen and swept gracefully up to the man, taking the platter that contained the dishes. He shook his head in amusement as he watched the Thane's shocked look before the noble left.
She'd strode towards the kitchen looking lost in her own world. All at once she'd tripped, losing her balance and gasping. Quickly he'd moved, steadying her and ensuring none of the dishes fell. "Watch your step, maidservant," he murmured to her.
"Oh, thank you," she replied, looking at him in surprise. Often she'd passed this guard. He always stood before the garden between the two staircases, hardly ever moving unless he was on duty in the streets.
"Tell me, Erdi, what preoccupies your mind?" he'd wondered.
"Many wonderful things," she'd answered, grinning at him and walking away with a skip in her step, singing.
ES
"I made a wish in the town well that a golden knight came to take me to his castle. Oh, does it spoil the wish if I tell?" she absently asked. He turned to her, wondering if she knew she was speaking to him. She was lost in her own little dream world as she stood next to him resting and combing her hair. She loved the garden so…
He was silent a long moment, and he knew that if he never spoke she wouldn't even mind. She was distracted in her own daydreams, and he pondered. What would it be like, to live in a dream world? After a moment, though, he replied, "If you wish with all your might, and all your heart, I see no reason why telling should spoil it all. Divines bless your heart's desire, milady."
She looked up at him, slightly startled. She blinked as if just realizing he was there then looked intrigued. "Yes. Maybe you're right," she replied, rising. Her expression filled with light and mirth, so much so that he swore the room brightened with her grin. Giggling she raced off to tend to her duties, and he couldn't take his eyes from off of her.
ES
"Are you my gallant hero? Have you come to whisk me away to a life of adventure and romance?" she questioned the newcomer, the Dragonborn, and he listened, curious as to what the man's reply would be. The Dragonborn looked intrigued and slightly predatory for a moment. The guard didn't approve.
"Perhaps we will see," this Dragonborn answered. She started then grinned widely and blushed, turning away. The guard watched coldly. The Dragonborn approached him and remarked, "A fine little thing. Maybe I will test her worth."
The guard looked icily at him, glad the helmet hid his expression. "You cause trouble in Solitude, you deal with me," he simply warned the man. The Dragonborn looked at him and for a moment he sensed distaste, but without a word more the man left.
Erdi approached him then, saying, "Can you imagine it? A handsome stranger rides into town and sweeps the maiden off her feet." She spun as she spoke, emphasizing it and falling backwards dramatically, trusting fully in him to catch her, and he did so, holding the innocent and delicate dove in his arms. He shivered subtly as she giggled and stood again. She faced him and took his arms, saying, "Perhaps my wish is coming true at last. His armor is golden and bright, his horse is white as snow, if the whispers are to be believed. At last my knight will take me from this place, this life, and I will be his queen, his muse, his goddess!"
"His plaything," the guard bitterly remarked.
She started, pretty and bright smile falling. "Hmm? His plaything?" she asked.
"Go nowhere with him alone," he warned her. She frowned, obviously unhappy with him for spoiling her little fantasy, then harrumphed and walked away, head held high. Oh naïve young girl, do not let your guard down for a fairy-tale. Do not despise me. My only goal now is to keep you safe, my every prayer is for you to be protected, my entire mind is consumed by you.
ES
She would never know what this Dragonborn had planned to do to her. He would be sure of that. He had seen the man slip into the room where the servants slept, where she now slept alone, and he had followed. He had seen the 'hero' lingering over her, looking consumed with lust. He saw the Dragonborn wake her and he saw the delight in her expression when she saw the hero. He was speaking to her, and she was unaware. She couldn't catch the innuendos in every word he spoke. She hadn't been aware when the Dragonborn climbed upon her bed, taking her arms tightly, and began to subtly push her back upon her bed, his every word honeyed and disguising his true meanings. She had, however, been aware when he'd stepped in.
"Dragonborn! The Jarl has a task for you!" he'd sharply called, and the Dragonborn, almost on top of the star struck young girl, had looked up, perturbed, and quickly crawled off of the bed and left.
She looked dismayed, looked at him with a gaze that was so betrayed… Erdi, if only you could know what you have just narrowly escaped, but who am I to ruin your fantasy? She rose and went to him sadly, asking, "Why do you intervene?"
"That man is not your golden knight," he simply answered. "That man is not the angelic hero you believe him to be." Before he could see her become angry, he'd turned and gone back to his post, leaving her to puzzle over the words. He never saw it, but her eyes brightened in realization, and then hurt and fear.
ES
"I made another wish, today. I wished that my golden knight would come to me soon, and that I would not be deceived by him," she remarked as she sat by the garden, stroking the petals of the flowers growing there.
He glanced at her, pausing in his watching protectively over the maiden. "Has it come true?" he questioned.
"That depends," she answered. After a moment she looked up at him and asked teasingly, "Are you my gallant hero? Have you come to whisk me away to a life of adventure and romance?"
"Lady Erdi, I am no golden knight," he answered. "I cannot whisk you away to a castle, for I have none. I cannot vow to you that I will make you my queen. I cannot say that you will be waited and doted upon at every turn, or that your foot will never again touch the ground if you so wish it, or that it will be unspeakable that you ever have to bend upon hands and knees again.
She smiled sadly and looked back at the garden, sorrow upon her features. "I suppose not," she murmured.
He cringed at her sadness and watched her a long moment. Finally he said, "But if you will settle for a lowly guardsman, I will carry you away to my family's home, and though we be poor, you will be my goddess and my muse and my queen and my bride. I will protect you with everything I have and everything I am. All I own, all I love, will be yours, and nevermore will you be called wench and slave. Never more will you bend and scrub until you cannot move. I will not promise you strawberries and cream, nor will I promise you that you will never work again, but I will do everything I can to give you some semblance of the life you have dreamt so long about."
She stopped, softly breathing in, whispering something under her breath. Swiftly she turned to look up at him, eyes wide. He glanced away, focusing once more on watching for any threat. She rose quite suddenly and breathed, "I will be more blessed with you than if the Emperor himself desired me." He turned quickly to her, surprised. Then she was removing his helmet, then her lips were upon his, soft and gentle, then he was softly caressing her. Yes, he could make her wishes and dreams come true.