"Well. To be perfectly honest I was hoping that you would kind of keep me company." Taking an offered belt she wrapped it around her waist, quickly realising that it was several sizes too large to fit properly before tying the ends together into a knot. She wasn’t overly tiny and knew that she had curves that other women would kill for, but his build and height meant that between the belt and his shirt she was practically wearing a dress of sorts. "Look, I know it sounds weird, but it's no fun on my own."

  His lips curled in a half smile and he grunted something that sounded very close to agreement as he rolled his shoulders, getting a feel for the way the armour sat without any underlying clothing.

  “And what if I say no? What if I don’t want to keep you company, or keep you around?”

  Again, the strange sensation crawling up her spine and into the pit of her belly gave her a brief pause. A very brief one as those sorts of feelings and warnings were ones that if she ever acknowledged, it was waving to them fading into her past. He was thinking of turning down her offer? Her incredibly generous offer? This was unheard of and she couldn’t think of anyone who had ever turned down her company, whether it was for sharing drinks or more… energetic pursuits that usually resulted in sleeping in a warm bed. Those pursuits usually also resulted in her acquisition of various coins and other collectibles being ‘liberated’ from their owners as well. Maybe he really was an eunuch? With the amount of scars and injuries, she was guessing that the chances that he had received one in the parts that really matter was quite high until proved otherwise.

  "You can tell me to leave if you want, but surely you can at least give me a chance?"

  The sensation of his eyes roaming over her body, dressed and covered as it was now in his cast off pieces of clothing and wrapped in the smoke-smelling cloak sent another chill up her spine. He wasn’t looking at her appearance or attractiveness. He was looking at her arms, her legs and overall build and judging her by those standards. Very, very unusual on its own but his attention was more on her only remaining possession the most, her sword.

  “I can't see the harm in it." He said after what felt like several hours, and Sofia released a tiny breath she didn’t know she was holding as he stepped the closest he had ever been, and offered her his hand. “You do look like you can handle yourself.”

  Grinning, she wrapped the singed cloak around her shoulders and fastened it with the bone needle. She had no pants, but the shirt that he had provided her hung down to mid-thigh and billowed around her. He mightn't have been as large as some of the Nords, but strength and confidence seemed to ooze out of him like a sweat. It was almost as though he knew that if the injuries he had received hadn't killed him, then nothing could, and eagerly she grasped his hand in one of her own and let him help her up.

  Whatever estimates she had for his strength, and even taking into account their differences in size, his hand was as unyielding as a bear trap as he gripped her firmly, but gently and hauled her to her feet. In that single moment she felt as though High Hrothgar had reached down from the heights of the great mountain Snow-Throat, before lifting her up with a hand and forearm that felt as solid as granite.

  "I haven't introduced myself, have I?"

  Being close enough to reach out and touch left her looking up into his face, seeing the old, faded horizontal scar across his cheek under his right eye and the way he seemed amused at her words.

  “No.” He chuckled, brown eyes looking into hers with something resembling real amusement appearing within them. “You haven’t.”

  "My name is Sofia," His proximity was powerful, especially now that his arms were entirely bare with the exception of a pair of leather gloves and iron braces protecting his forearms. He looked like an archer, with powerful arms capable of drawing back the strongest of bows, but he obviously fought up close and personal like they currently were. "But you probably already knew that."

  “I’m Kaius.” An eyebrow raised at her words once more and taking a step back from her, he reached down, gathering his travelling bag and throwing it over his back. “I’m somewhat… new to Skyrim. Should I know you?”

  “Oh certainly. I'm quite well known, although sometimes I'm not sure it's for the right reasons."

  A darkness crossed over his face at her words for a moment but it wasn’t directed at her. The faroff look in his eyes caused by her words hovered for a moment, until he seemed to almost physically crush it aside, the shadow on his soul being replaced with a confident half smile. It was unsettling, but Sofia chose to ignore it as they both exited the stables, deciding that it surely must be related to the scars and injuries he had suffered in his life.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  Dawn had truly arrived, and with it the growing sights, sounds and smells of a city awakening for the day. Traders and merchants were putting the finishing touches on their stalls, bakeries were preparing and arranging their fresh produce, and guards were scattered about, watching the growing crowds as they began their days. It was definitely several hours before Sofia’s usual hour that she awoke, and the fresh, chilled air making its way up her impromptu shirt-dress was proving to be very good at removing the last vestiges of sleep from her mind. Kaius however appeared to ignore the way his arms were covered in a rolling wave of goosepimples from the breeze, striding along the road from the stables through Whiterun’s solitary gatehouse.

  Whiterun was easily in Sofia’s top three favorite cities in all of Skyrim; wide open streets, colourful crowds, busy traders and a climate that allowed one to forget or lose their clothes on a semi-regular basis without worrying about dying of hypothermia. Literally located in the heart of Skyrim, it was also the trade capital and centre of the entire province, where traders from the eastern Stormcloak held territories could meet in relative neutrality with their Imperial aligned cousins from the west. Such a place had always ensured a fresh influx of those easily lured by her wiles or relieved of their coin. It was one of the few cities in all of Skyrim, with perhaps the exception of the lake-city Riften, where someone such as her could live a comfortable life of drinking, fighting, and fucking to her heart’s content.

  Despite her reputation, or indeed perhaps because of her new ‘companion’ by her side, they weren’t delayed or even considered by the city guards keeping a close eye on the city gates for smugglers and Khajiit caravan merchants. Whiterun was a city built and raised upon a lonely hill among the plains and tundras of central Skyrim, a proud fortress of warm hearths and unlike the rest of the province the Civil war had left the Hold untouched neutral ground. Beyond the occasional bandits the city was safe and welcoming, which suited her just fine.

  It didn’t take her long to take measure of Kaius, watching him out of the corner of the eye and attempting to gain some sort of purchase on who he was and how he thought for her advantage. As they made their way through the gatehouse she watched how he practically prowled as he moved, his feet soft on the ground as though ready to burst into sudden violence or activity at a moment’s notice. He also seemed to appear as though he was ignoring everything and everyone around them, but Sofia could tell that this was a ruse, or a mask. He watched. He listened. He took in the comings and goings, intently noting the way the crowds moved and grew in number as the morning dew was burned away from shingled roofs, but above all else he was quiet. Content on listening to everyone around them, but also focussing on Sofia as she filled the ‘silence’ between them with talk.

  "I kind of see myself as an adventurer, although it's no fun without anyone to witness those heroic deeds of mine such as…" Despite waking up several hours before its usual arrival, Sofia could feel the hangover approaching and the way it made her brain feel like it was coated in sand. "Well, I'm sure there's probably something. I like to get drunk, kill stuff and be a nuisance. There’s always bounties in Whiterun and the Jarl pays well for dealing with bandits, and bandits typically have booze, so that’s always a win-win for me. What about you?"

  “I guess you can consider me to be a mercenary or sellsword, but to be honest I’m more of a daytaller these days. Dirt or blood, it doesn’t matter what stains my hands.”

  Again there were traces of something deeper under the confidence, something lurking just beneath the cold exterior, before Sofia mentally shrugged it away.

  "I hope to be of some use to you.” She continued, skirting around a small collection of Redguards dressed in the traditional robes, and hooded skullcaps of their homeland of Hammerfell, talking to one of the city guards. “I am rather talented if I say so myself, so I'm sure there must be something I can do for you."

  "We will have to wait and see, I guess." Kaius’s smile was grim as he looked in the direction of the Bannered Mare tavern, as they entered the central market square. It was certainly the central hub of activity for the morning and both of them shared glances at the dozens of stalls selling various foods and meals. "Maybe later on you can show me just how well you can use that sword of yours, but I don’t know about you, but I’m starving. We might have to work for our breakfast before we can address other matters."

  “I wouldn’t turn down a bottle of mead or two. Can’t start the day without them, you know.”

  “And we can’t hunt bandits in our condition. I barely have enough septims to rub together, let alone anything else. Besides, before you will be of any use, to yourself or me you’ll need more in the way of clothes. His eyes turned to her, gave her another glance up and down with a look of mild curiosity as though mentally determining her size for armour, without even the slightest element of desire infecting it. “Especially armour.”

  "I definitely don't want anything to hurt my pretty face." She laughed, but felt a chill again as he looked about the city. For the first time in almost as long as she could remember, she felt confident in her short term future at least. But there was something niggling away in the back of her mind. Some deep seated fear that she could not shake.

  Shrugging it away, she followed Kaius as he moved in the direction of the bounty board where several dozen proclamations, letters and job sheets were tacked and nailed. Her instincts were once against serving her well, bringing her to a man that, given time, could be wrapped around her little finger just like the dozens of others in her life. Unlike all the others though there was something… more to Kaius. A true opportunity for longer term gains. An opportunity that she was determined not to miss.

  shilling bullshit stuff)

  Blood of Dragons Volume 2 - Hangovers and Hay