Warriors and Thieves
Chapter Seven
A Good Death for Warriors and Thieves Alike
Farideh sobbed softly as the carriage slowly tumbled down the cobblestone road towards… well towards wherever they were going.
At that moment she hated herself almost as much as she hated the rough rope around her wrists. It had taken four imperial soldiers to bind her, and one of them had lost his ear in the process.
“Fucking bastards!” She hissed to herself in a low voice.
But with all taken into consideration she could have been much worse off; it only took a glanced at gromph to make her feel much better about her situation. At least she was still conscious.
how is he still alive, she thought as she studied the orcs broken body. He had been cut several times during the fight, the bleeding had stopped but his left leg was twisted into an awkward position and his whole body was slumped as a sack of potatoes, rattling around on the carriage floor.
Despite herself she felt sorry for him. Farideh had spent seven years of her life like that, beaten and bound, and she very rarely felt any remorse for anyone. At least I still have the gold... but what good is gold when my head will be rolling on the ground in the very near future.
Farideh sobbed again. Â
As if to answer her sobb Gromph woke from his state of half-dead sleep with a growling gasp.
Ulfric, whom was also bound (and gagged) had been staring into nothing for the last couple of hours, now looked up with a jolt. Another nord, this one younger than Ulfric, and more handsome in an honest, romantic sort of way stared at the orc intently.
“You!” He exclaimed, his voice thick with awe, “You’re finally awake”.
Gromph tried to sit up, but Farideh lay her hand on his shoulder and gently pushed him back down, “Don’t sit, your leg is broken, you need rest”, she whispered into his ear. Thankfully he obeyed.
“This one thinks it not a good idea to speak with the orc”, she pointed to his leg, “He needs time and rest”. Farideh might have laughed at her own words then, time and rest were the last things Gromph would be getting where they were going, she knew that for sure.
But the handsome nord didn’t seem to notice the irony, or care about it, he simply continued his conversation, this time he spoke to Farideh instead.
“You were trying to cross the border right, walked right into that imperial ambush, same as us?”.
Farideh nodded, “Actually, you ambushed us”, she hissed accusingly, in her mind The Stormcloaks were to blame for the rope around her wrists. She waved her head at the carriages with bound stormcloaks. Bound… bound… the accelerating panic returned to her, and only by sheer force of will did she manage to control it. Come on Farideh, keep it together.       Â
“Oh”, exclaimed the handsome nord, “Well we were supposed to get out of Skyrim unnoticed, that’s why Ulfric brought so few men. You couldn’t expect us to let you loose, you might have told the imperials about us”.
Farideh snorted at his naivety, “Well, maybe if Ulfric had brought a few more men, none of us would be stuck in this mess?”.
The handsome nord nodded slowly, Farideh’s mockery seemingly having no effect, “Yes maybe…”, he mumbled. Not a soldier this one, thought Farideh, too soft, too stupid.
“Shut up back there!”, shouted the imperial soldiers steering the carriage.       Â
The handsome nord suddenly rounded on him, “Watch your tongue!”, he shouted, “You’re speaking to Ulfric Stormcloak, The true High King!”. A khajiit was wrong about this one it would seem, he is a good soldier, loyal to the last… Farideh understood then that she would never understand these northerners, stubborn to the point of stupid, loyal beyond reason. If she had been the emperor she would never have bothered with trying to conquer such a people. It simply couldn’t be done.
“Where are they taking us?”, she asked him, not because she wanted to know, more because talking to the nord kept her thoughts away from the rope and the memories of her years as a slave.
“I don’t know”, he said, “But sovern gard awaits…”
“This one had guessed that much”, mumbled Farideh.
A silence fell over the carriage once more. This time it was more comfortable than the last.
After a while the handsome nord spoke again, “Hey, where are you from khajiit?”.
Farideh was surprised at the genuine honesty in his voice, he actually wanted to know.
“Why do you care?”, she asked him, not too softly.
“A nord's last thoughts should be of home…”
Farideh chuckled humorlessly, “A khajiit is no nord”.
The handsome nord looked at her with his honest blue eyes, “Anyone who dies in Skyrim after fighting with my brothers is a nord”, a faint smile appeared on his lips.   Â
Farideh sighed, “This one is from Daro’Darh, a small village by lake Axehead in Elsweyr, a beautiful place where the sands are always warm and the sun never stops shining. But Farideh was taken away from all that a very long time ago …”
Gromph surprised them both: “I am from Roggog Duruad, or Crystal-Spring as we used to call it. I still remember the wind in the mountains and the clear water erupting from a small hole in the cliff side… Malacath blessed my forefathers with the most beautiful land, and cursed them with the hardest life”.
Farideh thought she saw a single tear crawl down the orcs bleeding face. Then she laughed, surprising the handsome nord and the mortally wounded orc equally. “Do not be sad Gromph”, she said, “At least you have almost found what you seek - a good death”.
The orc, despite everything, broke into a smile, not a pretty one mind you but it brought out a certain beauty from within the beast.
“Yeeeees” He sighed, “A good death, for warriors and thieves alike”.
Finishing Note:
*And thus ended the tale of Gromph and Farideh, although their adventures are far from done (as some of you might have guessed). Who knows what might happen to them at Helgen? Will they be executed together with The Stormcloaks? Is one of the two dragonborn? Or does something completely unpredictable happen to save both of their lives?
Who knows what their futures might hold, I certainly don’t; maybe you can tell me what you think by leaving a comment with your suggestion.*    Â
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