A World Beyond Winterhold: A Skyrim Romance

[Makitsu_Trinity]

(Closed for Othermoose)

The snow battered at Breeanna's robes, whipping them back and forth, threatening to rip them from her. She clung tightly to the little sack of meager belongings she had taken with her from the college and pushed on. In the distance, she thought she saw a cave. Steeling herself, she charged forward, breaking through a bank that had created a barrier around the entrance. Stumbling to the stone floor of the shallow cave, she looked around, her eyes adjusting to the dark.

Towards the back, she saw a dark pile of ash. This had apparently been a camp for some other adventurer, and thankfully, they had left enough fire wood to make another camp. Using her fireball spell at its weakest setting, she lit herself a cozy little flame and settled in for the night. Out of her pack, she pulled some venison jerky and an apple and proceeded to enjoy her supper, unaware of the danger that was rapidly approaching.

As her full stomach called her into sleep, she laid her pack against the back wall and nestled into it, closing her eyes with a huge yawn. She could not wait to reach Solitude, and hoped that it would not take long to get there. She had never left Winterhold, and was thrilled to be seeking her fortune and identity away from the cold, confining walls of the college. As she dozed off, she thought of her journey. It should take her maybe two days to reach Dawnstar, and from there, maybe another four to reach Solitude. Her face broke into a smile as she thought about it and sleep finally clasped her in its cold embrace.

She did not hear the footsteps of the three men who entered the cave, nor did she notice when they re-lit her dying fire. However, when one of the men brusquely grabbed her arm and pulled her roughly into a sitting position, she was awake, her fireball spell at the ready, her eyes darting about the dimly lit cavern from one brutish face to the next. She shot a half baked fireball in a random direction and tried to make a dash for the entrance, but was grabbed roughly by the collar and yanked back, falling to the ground. The wind was knocked from her lungs and she lay there, gasping for air.

"What do we have here?" a rough voice growled. She felt two large hands begin groping her body. "A college member, no doubt. What are you doing away from the library, Breton?" Another hand joined the first two, unclasping her cloak and pushing it off of her shoulders.

Bree squirmed hard, trying to kick free, but it was no use. She was firmly pinned. She heard the third bandit rifling through her pack, no doubt looking for treasures or gold pieces. The Archmage had wisely suggested she leave anything of import in their safekeeping and thank the divines she had agreed. In her pack they would only find food rations, water, and a couple of spell tomes she was still learning from.

"Ain't nothing here, boss," the man called gruffly. The man who was now straddling me looked into Bree's eyes with a look that seemed all to pleased to have to search further. "Guess we will just have to look harder, won't we, boys?"

With that, his massive hand had a hold on the front of her robe, pulling at the coarse material, splitting it open at the sides. Breeanna screamed and batted feebly with her hands. She had no strength with which to fight, and no weapons with which to defend herself. Her mind was to muddled to focus on casting a spell, so she lashed out with her fists.

With a laugh, the second man grabbed her arms and pinned them painfully hard against the stone floor. The presumed leader pushed away the tattered robe shreds, leaving Bree in nothing but her breast wrap. She squirmed hard to be free, trying to kick as his rough hands wandered over her flawless skin.

She screamed one more time, hoping, praying to the divines, that some passerby might hear her and come to her aid...

 

[Othermoose]

"...And that's why a mace is the better weapon." Kharjo said with a smirk, swinging his own steel mace through the air for emphasis. "You're a fool cat. You're swinging a stick around. Any warrior worth a damn uses a sword in a fight." Asgarne replied, playfully punching his companion in the arm. "So odd, you nords. You show affection through violence. We're friends are we not?" Kharjo asked, returning his mace to his belt. "We are. Don't be a milk drinker. Besides you're wearing steel plate. A giant could kick you and not put a dent in it." Asgarne said, punching his companion harder. "This is true. So this one must ask why you wear leather armor instead of steel." Kharjo said. "Because if I giant tries to kick me, I'll be able to move out of the way. And I can't afford anything better. Your boss better pay me once we get to Dawnstar. I'm tired of saving your tails and not getting any gold for my trouble." Asgarne said. "We didn't make enough in Riften to pay you. We will do better in Dawnstar. They need us more." Kharjo said with a shrug. "Yea, the port town needs your junk." Asgarne said sarcastically. "Hush now. We must walk faster, or we'll lose the caravan." Kharjo said, quickening his pace.

The duo caught up with the rest of the caravan, a small group of mostly khajiit merchants and guards. Asgarne was the only nord in the group, which was made up of roughly thirty people. The caravan moved for another ten miles or so, before the leader of the band, Ahkari, called a halt. "Think we can find anything to eat out here?" Asgarne asked Kharjo. "There is only one way to find out." The khajiit replied, tossing his friend a bow and quiver of arrows.

Asgarne and Kharjo left the camp in search of game to hunt. The had little luck, only killing two rabbits and a pheasant. "I don't know why I left Riften. I'm freezing, starving, and I haven't even been payed for it!" Asgarne growled as his arrow flew past a rabbit, that quickly disappeared into its snowy burrow. "Because you are loyal. You know Ahkari will pay you for your troubles. Just be patient and..." Kharjo froze, his body rigid and his ears twitching. "I heard it too." Asgarne whispered drawing his iron sword and dagger. The pair had heard a woman's cry of peril, but they couldn't identify where it had come from, in the seeminly barren snow covered hills. "There!" Kharjo said after a moment, his mace pointing to the mouth of a small cave.

The two warriors quickly crept forward, moving nearly silently through the snow. The entered the cave and could hear the laughing voices of several man, and the pleas of mercy from their victim. Asgarne's knuckles whitened on his blade as he heard the men laughing at her sobs. He hated bandits. He peaked around the corner to see three men, all hovering around a sobbing, naked woman. A bandit was between her legs, his knife cutting away her smallclothes. She hadn't been raped yet! Asgarne moved without thinking. He threw his dagger at the one on the left while running forward and putting his sword through the middle bandit's throat. The girl was splattered with blood, but unharmed. Asgarne had made it in time. But his victory was short lived, as the bandit on the right swung a battle axe at Asgarne's head. The nord quickly rolled out of the way, turning around nearly instantly and blocking the bandit's follow up swing. Asgarne pressed his attack, but the bandit's weapon gave him better reach.

Thankfully the fight didn't last long. The bandit was so distracted by Asgarne, he didn't even notice as Kharjo snuck up behind him and planted a dagger in his throat. "You took your damn time." Asgarne panted, wiping his sword off on a disgarded tunic before sheathing it. He slowly approached the sobbing girl, kneeling a few feet away from here. Even ravaged and splattered with blood, she was absolutely gorgeous. "It's ok now lass. They're delt with." Asgarne said, offering her his cloak. "What's your name? I'm Asgarne. The walking rug is Kharjo." He said. "Are you alright?"

https://www.google.com/search?q=red...AUICCgB&biw=320&bih=356#imgrc=C67MDCROMZvTdM:

 

[Makitsu_Trinity]

Breeanna was stunned by the sudden flurry of action surrounding her. She saw the flash of blades and hunkered down, trying to scoot back against the wall. As the commotion died down, she found herself face to face with a young Nord. She was taken aback by the night and day shift from his fighting to inquiring after her well being. She could only nod in response, trying to cover herself, while also trying to ignore the fact that she was covered in blood. She felt fresh tears prick her eyes, but she blinked them away quickly and stood.

"Thank you for coming," she offered, her voice quickly giving away her fear and less-than-optimal state of mind. She looked about and sighed heavily as she saw her enchanted robes in shreds on the cave floor. It had taken her months to properly weave that fabric with the enchantment to increase her conjuring spells effectiveness, and now they were ruined beyond repair. Not even salvageable as cover to her now naked form. She felt a heat of shame cover her, head to toe. Luckily, her cloak was in fine enough condition to wrap around her body and bring some form of decency back to her.

"Asgarne, you said? Pleased to meet you." She may have just barely survived a horrific ordeal, but she was high blood born and would not forget her manners. "I am afraid I do not have much to offer by way of payment for your service, but I do have a few meager food rations, if you will take them."

She made a move for her pack, contents scattered across the ground at the back of the cave.

 

[Othermoose]

"I'm not heartless love, I'm not going to ask for payment." Asgarne said, grabbing one of the discarded tunics and tossing it to the blood covered woman. "Use that to clean yourself off as best you can. Then you can wear this one as a sort of dress. I doubt any of their pants will fit you." Asgarne said, respectfully looking away as she wiped the blood off of her breasts and stomach. "These appear to be yours too." Kharjo said, sliding a small pair of boots across the floor to her. "I'll be outside scouting for more of them. Bandits rarely travel in such small groups." He said, slipping out of the cave.

Asgarne busied himself with looking through the supplies the bandits had been carrying. He found a few gold pieces and a bottle of wine. Nothing else of much use. "Here lass. Take a sip or two of this. It'll probably taste like bear spit, but it'll calm your nerves." Asgarne said, handing the bottle of wine to the now clothed woman. He couldn't help but notice her long pale legs that were barley covered by the tunic she wore. Gods it would be hard to stay polite around her.

"So what were you doing out here? It's dangerous for a girl like you to travel alone. Especially alone an unarmed. And you still haven't said your name." He said, recovering and cleaning his dagger.

 

[Makitsu_Trinity]

Breeanna's cheeks burned again, this time with indignation, as she tried to come up with a proper excuse. "I am Breeanna, former student at the mages' college of Winterhold. I decided there was nothing really left there for me, and I wanted to see the country before I was too old to appreciate it. I am armed, just did not have enough time to prepare."

As if an attitude of "I-told-you-so," she conjured a fireball in her palm and bounced it a couple of times before letting it sputter out. She accepted the bottle of wine and took a confident swig. He was right. It tasted nothing like the high quality, sweet wines she was accustomed to, but hopefully she would find something suitable in Dawnstar when she arrived.

"What are you doing out here?" she countered, not wanting to be the only one to disclose personal information.

 

[Othermoose]

"A mage huh?" Asgarne asked, inspecting her more closely. "Not a very good one. If you can't ready your weapon in time, then it's not a weapon." He said, going over to one of the bandits. He grabbed a dagger from the dead man's belt, before offering it to Breeanna. "It's not fancy magic, but it'll get the job done. And it works every time." Asgarne said. "And I'm a sellsword with a caravan. That's why I'm with the cat." Asgarne said with a nonchalant shrug. "They picked me up in Riften, and I've been with them for a month this run. I've done protection for them before. Not so bad if you can get past their food. And fur." He said. "You can come with us if you want. You'll have to earn your keep, but you'll be safer with us than alone. Plus I'm sure you can buy some clothes. Even magic robes if you have the coin." he said. "If not, good luck." He said, walking out of the cave.

Asgarne found Kharjo standing outside of the cave, his bright eyes searching the tree line for more bandits. "See anything?" Asgarne asked, picking his dropped bow up from the snowy ground. "Not yet, but I don't like this. We need to get back to the others." The kahjiit said. "Agreed." Asgarne replied, nocking an arrow and moving forward. "What about the girl?" Kharjo asked. "Dunno. I said she could follow if she wanted to. We don't have time to wait around for her to make up her mind though." Asgarne said, not stopping as he moved through the snow. "As you say." Kharjo replied, looking back to see if the mage was following them.

 

[Makitsu_Trinity]

Bree stood for a moment, looking down at the weapon in her hand. It felt strange, foreign even. She did not like it, but she was going to need more than a weak fireball if she was supposed to survive. She wrapped her shredded cloak as tight around her frail figure as she could and slipped her boots on quickly. She ran out into the cold, calling out to the men walking away from her.

"What will be expected of me?" she asked as she caught up to them. "I am able to heal quite well and am working hard on my conjuration. I know that is not much use, and you've seen my ability, or lack there of, with a weapon, but if it means making it to a city in one piece, I will do whatever it takes."

She bit her lip as she fell into silent step behind the men.

 

[Othermoose]

"Whatever it takes!" Kharjo asked excitedly. "No." Asgarne growled, not looking back. "Why not? She said it herself." Kharjo replied. "She doesn't know that's an option." Asgarne growled back. "But we should at least tell her. What if she agrees?" Kharjo insisted. "She won't." Asgarne said firmly. "I'll ask anyways." Kharjo said, stopping until Breeanna was walking next to him. "A few of the women in the caravan, the most popular, loved, fed, protected, and most importantly the ones who are paid the most, offer their... services to the others. They make much more gold than the rest. And they quite enjoy it." Kharjo said excitedly. "He wants you to be a camp whore." Asgarne said. "I suggest you keep to cooking and cleaning. Healing too if it's needed. But if you want to make gold on your back that's between you and the gods." Asgarne said, moving forward at a faster pace. "This one only asks that you think about it." Kharjo said, speeding up to catch up with his companion.

The three made it the the caravan camp without incident. Kharjo reported to the leader as soon as they arrived at the camp, while Asgarne stood with Breeanna. "So, am I showing you to the cooks tent... Or to Kharjo's?" The nord asked.

 

[Makitsu_Trinity]

Bree's face was a deep shade of crimson as she was given her options. She had never offered her body in the way they were asking. She had always thought it would be wrong to do so, but at the same time, some warmth deep inside her was awakened; her inner, most carnal being. She looked down and shuffled her feet in the snow.

"I don't know if I have much choice, do I? I am no good at cooking, there was a mess hall at the college for that, and cleaning, well, it doesn't seem like there is much to be done around here cleaning wise." She chewed her bottom lip a little more. "However, I... um... I don't have any experience in regard to what you mentioned... I have never... had the opportunity...?"

She waited, flinching a little at her own confession.

 

[Othermoose]

"Don't do it lass. I won't let you starve if nothing else. They'll find something to do with you if you're no good in the kitchen. But as soon as you sell yourself... That's it. You can't go back. You'll never be the same. In your eyes and in the eyes of the Gods. I'm not a religious man, but I still respect the divines. Only a fool turns his back on the nine." Asgarne said firmly. "Now come on." He said taking her by the hand and leading her forward. "I'll take you to Sarji. She'll have something for you to wear. Maybe some work too. Can you... Magic things? I don't know how it's done, but I've seen the glowing swords before. If you can do that once you'll make more than a whore ever will." Asgarne explained, leading Breeanna through the maze of fires and tents.

They finally stopped at a small tent with a young khajiit woman sitting outside of it, sewing a pair of ripped pants. "Look through her wares. I'll pay for your things until you can repay me." Asgarne said. "I have many fine wares. Much cheaper than the others, but just as good." Sarji said, unlocking a small chest filled with mostly clothes, but a few other odds and ends as well. "Please take a look." The small khajiit said with a smile.

 

[Makitsu_Trinity]

Bree sighed as she thought about what he said. Enchanting weapons took time and patience, and most of all, equipment, all things she did not have. She thought about what the Khajiit had said, and while it was not something that instantly appealed to her, she could not disregard it as an option. Especially since she hated being in debt to this Nord.

As she fumbled through the items, moving them around as carefully as she could manage so as not to disturb their order, she luckily found a belted tunic. A size or two too small, so her ample chest offered a little too much of a view, and her boots would be the only cover over her delicate ankles, but it was better than showing leg up to her mid thigh. She dug through her pack, looking for anything of value she might have to trade. She found a few tiny vials. Healing potions, stamina potions, and a precious few magicka potions she was unwilling to part with. Nothing of great significance.

"Can I offer you two healing potions for the tunic?" she asked meekly.

 

[Othermoose]

"Oh yes! Absolutely!" Sarji said, quickly snatching the potions from Breeanna's hands. "Sarji..." Asgarne said sternly. "You damn nords and your honor." Sarji sighed, returning one of the bottles and a small coin purse. "If you ever need anything else, you find this one." Sarji said, watching Asgarne and Breeanna leave the tent.

Asgarne led Breeanna to the edge of the camp to a small pup tent, with leather flaps covering the enterances. "This is my tent. You'll be able to change in there without prying eyes." Asgarne said. "If you give me that gold, I'll let you sleep in there too. If you don't pay, then you're on your own. I doubt you have gold enough to get in another tent. You'll probably end up sleeping by a fire all night." Asgarne said, sitting down on a tree stump by his tent. He pulled out his sword, and began to run a whetstone over the edge. He watched Breeanna out of the corner of his eye, waiting to see what she'd do.

 

[Makitsu_Trinity]

Breeanna meekly entered the tent. Inside she saw only a bedroll and small pack in one corner. There was barely enough room for the Nord, let alone having a second person join him. She pulled the tunic over her head and tied the belt about her waist.

"How much would you want to share your quarters at least until Dawnstar?" She was not sure how she felt about coexisting with a man, but what other option did she have? She knew she did not want to sleep in the open and the only other tent open to her was that of the khajiit, and she did not want to think about what that might entail. She shuddered as she exited the tent, feigning a fake chill.

 

[Othermoose]

"Inns give out rooms for ten gold a night. So let's say six. Five if you take care of my food and clothes. I won't let you touch my armor or weapons, but anything else you can take care of, you can. Think of it as working off the price. It won't be glamourus like your fancy mage school, but it's better than sleeping in the snow. Or working on your back..." Asgarne said, continuing to sharpen his sword.

After a minute he stood up, sheathing his weapons. "My patrol is up. I'll be circling the camp for about two hours. Looking for wolves and the like. You can follow me, or stay here and get some sleep." Asgarne said, walking towards the parameter of the camp where a few other gaurds were waking.

 

[Makitsu_Trinity]

Breeanna looked around the tent and decided it would be rude to use the bedroll, so she fastened her cloak about herself and followed Asgarne out into the cold. She was still hyped up after her encounter, after all, and she could not calm the beating of her heart.

Strangely enough, there was another pulsing she could not seem to get under control. Something about fighting for her life, mixed with the comments made idly by Kharjo and Asgarne, left her feeling achingly alone. She found herself trying a little too hard to keep up with Asgarne.

 

[Othermoose]

Asgarne noticed Breeanna's attempts to stay near him. She was never more than a few feet away from him. He could hear her breathing, and often felt his hand brush against her when she moved in closer. Asgarne didn't understand why she felt the need to be so close to him. Maybe she was still shaken up from the incident earlier? It occurred to him that killing three men wasn't a weekly occurance for most. Or maybe it was something else. She did seem to be giving him long looks. Not that he minded. She was quite beautiful, it just seemed a little odd to the nord.

Asgarne continued walking deep in thought, but stopped suddenly. He felt Breeanna run into his back and fall into the snow, but he ignored her. He drew his sword and slowly crept towards the sound he heard. Almost like clicking...

"Go get the others." Asgarne whispered to Breeanna without looking back. He heard the mage moving, but knew his command was a mistake. He tackled Breeanna to the ground just as a ball of poison webbing flew through the air where she was just standing. "Spiders!" Asgarne shouted, lifting Breeanna by the waist and carrying her towards the center of the camp.

 

[Makitsu_Trinity]

Bree was stunned for a moment, but let herself curve naturally into the contours of his body. He was warm and smelled of the forest and sweat from his hard work. She closed her eyes and let him carry her back to one of the camp fires. When she looked up, he had already started running back for the edge of the camp to take on the foe, calling out to the others on patrol. They made quick work of it, and as the corpse lay in a spreading pool of dark green blood, Bree realized how close to death she had just come.

She wrapped her arms around herself as she rose to examine the body. Most of the others had begun walking away but left one behind to harvest the frostbite venom used by a few. There a scary amount of people willing to buy it for poisons and weapon enhancements. She heard movement behind her and turned, hoping she knew who was approaching her.