Dovahkin’s Flight
by AJ Marks
Part 5
Zoe stood in front of the Jarl of Whiterun once more, a position she never dreamed of only a short time ago. She had been a nobody only a short time ago and now after defeating a dragon whispers of Dragonborn were directed at her. A title she never heard of before, of course she had never seen a dragon either, or so she thought until recently.
It had been strange, she should have been fearful upon first seeing the creature attacking the outpost. Yet, something inside her jumped at the chance to take down a dragon. When it died she had gone for a closer look, only to have something strange. She absorbed the dragon’s power. She could shout, something she only heard in tales, and even then it was rare or took a lot of training. Being able to do it like she had was unusual.
Now her third time in front of the Jarl, the first was to warn him of the dragon attack on Helgan. He had asked her to help his court wizard. The second they received word of the dragon attack and now, she was here once more being appointed a Thane of Whiterun by him.
“Thank you my lord,” she said to him.
“Be sure to greet your Housecarl on the way out, she is waiting by the door for you,” the Jarl said.
“Of course,” she said. She would head over, see the Housecarl and then think about beginning her journey to the Greybeards, the mysterious group living on the Throat of the World. They had summoned her to their place, but for what she didn’t know. How did it connect with her being this Dragonborn?
With a bow she made her way towards the door seeing a dark-haired woman dressed in steel armor waiting for her. She must be her Housecarl which the Jarl had mentioned considering she had never seen her before.
“Greetings my Thane, I’m Lydia, your Housecarl,” she said, as Zoe got a better look at her face seeing she was pretty. “How can I serve you?”
Zoe had to push her immediate thoughts aside which were defiantly inappropriate and mostly consisting of doing something in bed.
“Well, I’m still a bit new around here, I don’t know my way around that well,” Zoe replied, only having met a few the locals in the market as she came and went. She knew a few more in Riverwood than Whiterun.
“Then it’ll be my pleasure to help my Thane,” Lydia replied.
“You can call me Zoe,” she replied back giving some thought of what the woman looked like under that armor. She discovered her attraction to women early on and even had a few romances while in the Imperial City but nothing serious.
“Have you bought a house in Whiterun?” Lydia asked.
“Yeah, even bought some furnishings last time I was here,” Zoe replied realizing she should check it out. The last time she looked in it the furnishings were terrible. And she had the money now from her dungeon hunting to afford something nice. Renald wasn’t kidding when he said dungeon hunting was profitable.
”I shall be pleased to see your place. I normally stay at the palace,” Lydia said.
Zoe thought about it as they started down the steps towards the main part of the city. She looked over seeing the Companion’s longhouse.
“What do you know of the Companions?” Zoe asked.
“The Companions, well, don’t talk to many folks, seem a bit strange, but still they have a good reputation for getting jobs done,” Lydia replied.
“I met a few when I first got here, talked to one, Aela, and she said to join up,” Zoe said. “Was thinking about it?”
“Joining them might bring in some extra income, and increase your name,” Lydia stated.
Zoe realized joining them might help her increase her skills as well. Something she understood she needed to do to survive in Skyrim. Things were moving along very fast and she wondered what Renold would think of her hunting in dungeons after listening to his stories.
Reaching the market the smells of the food drifted over to her causing her stomach to rumble a bit. She realized she hadn’t eaten in a while and made her way over.
“You want anything?” Zoe asked Lydia.
“I’m fine my Thane,” she replied.
Zoe gave her a raised eyebrow as she smiled back before turning back to the vendor and bought two apples. Giving the pretty vendor a wink she continued on down the road towards her house seeing several people around it.
“Ah, you’re here,” one guy said looking like the head person of the group. “We’re just finishing up.”
“That was fast,” Zoe replied.
“When you’ve got the help, its easy,” he replied back.
Zoe thanked him before heading inside looking around. The interior had a nice fire pit for cooking, and much nicer table and chairs than she had in her previous cabin. Of course that one had been a tale, chair and bed all in one room. This had an upstairs and additional rooms. She noticed an alchemy room before heading upstairs.
There was a small loft area, and her bedroom with a nice double bed. She also noticed a slammer room off to the side which had another bed. It would be easy to have Lydia here to look after her property while she was out.
Putting her stuff away she pulled out a letter, one she had completely forgotten about after everything which happened to her, and was surprised it hadn’t been taken away when she was captured. She climbed down the stairs and looked at Lydia who was sitting at the table.
“There is a place upstairs for you if you wish,” Zoe stated. “I’ll be nice to know someone is here when I’m gone.”
“Thank you my Thane, I’ll be sure to guard your possessions,” Lydia stated as Zoe sat down and handing her an apple which she took.
“Are you familiar with the Bathing Beauties Luxury Suite?” Zoe asked.
“Yes, its just outside the city,” Lydia said.
“It is?”
“Yes, by the river, the large longhouse over there,” Lydia replied. “It used to be the best bathing house in Skyrim years ago, its not quite what it was.”
“I see,” Zoe said, having one question answered realizing there was such a thing as the Bathing Beauties Luxury Suite but was there a guy named OMB? If so, why then did he send her a message?
“It’s still a nice place,” Lydia said.
“I think I’ll try it out,” Zoe said, making a decision. “A nice bath before heading out in the morning, sounds like a plan.”
Heading back up she took off her armor, placing it in the chest for storage. Making her way back down she noticed that Lydia had also changed, no longer in her steel armor and in regular clothes Zoe could see the more feminine curves.
Heading out they walked out of the city towards the river and before the bridge turned left, in a direction she had yet to go. It was easy to see how she missed it.
“What do you know of the place?” Zoe asked,
“Only been there a few times, the people are nice, it is a bit different though,” Lydia said in a tone which sent warning bells off in Zoe’s head.
“Oh, in what way?” Zoe asked, now hoping she hadn’t made a mistake.
“Well, its more of an adult establishment,” Lydia replied back. “Nudity isn’t uncommon inside, and the workers are some very lovely looking women.”
Zoe’s eyebrows shot up wondering if somehow she was entering heaven. An entire bath house full of beautiful woman who were half naked, her idea of heaven.
“It doesn’t appear that busy right now,” Lydia said. “Some say the atmosphere had changed, which is why it’s not going as well. Old timers say it had an almost magical presence that’s lacking now.”
“Well, as long as I can get a good soak in, it’ll be worth it,” Zoe replied.
She noticed the large deck in front and could see a deck behind. And a couple of girls out there.
“Is it always busy?” Zoe asked.
“Not recently,” Lydia said. “Its fallen on hard times.”
She noticed in the front a male with short brown hair wearing some impressive heavy armor. Zoe had only recently starting appreciating such things as her own skills increased.
“Hey Farquar,” Lydia said, giving him a wave.
“Lydia, haven’t seen you over here in a while,” the man replied back. It was obvious that Lydia knew the man.
“This is the new Thane of Whiterun, Zoe,” Lydia said introducing her.
“Then you’ve made it to a Housecarl?” he stated. “Congratulations then.”
“Thanks,” she said as Farquar looked at her.
“You look like you can hold your own in a fight,” he said to her. “I guess you won’t be giving us any trouble.”
“Still learning,” Zoe replied, but she had learned more since arriving in Skyrim than in any previous time. Doing into dungeons, fighting dragons, it all seemed unreal to her.
Walking into the building she noticed the smell of water right away, mixed with food. She noticed the spa right in the middle, dominating the lower space, off to one side some chairs and beds and the other a bar.
“Welcome to the Bathing Beauties Luxury Suite, or BBLS as we like to call it,” a woman said walking up to her. She had black hair, tied in a ponytail and very attractive. “Its 5 gold per person, drinks extra at the bar.”
“Sound reasonable,” Zoe replied, unsure what a reasonable price would be as she continued to take in at the beauty in front of her. She took out the coins and handed them over taking glance at the woman, wearing a short dress which barely came to her thighs giving an impressive look at her legs.
Defiantly not something you saw walking around Skyrim. Roaming around you needed armor, or someone with armor and a sword to protect yourself from bandits. She briefly wondered aside from the guard about the others in the building. Most people she met were fighters of some sort.
“If you need anything, towels, drinks, just let us know. We’re here to serve our guests,” the woman said to her. “I’m Leah, you are?”
“Zoe,” she managed to replied, not used to such attention as she made her way over to an area to undress to use the bath.
“Perhaps I could wash your back?” Leah suggested giving Zoe a look over and her mind produced images of much more.
“Well,” Zoe replied, giving Leah a look back, “I guess I can be persuaded.”
“Good,” Leah replied back as they stripped out of their clothes. It took a bit longer for Zoe as she had more on as Leah revealed nothing underneath her dress except a very nice figure.
“So, what brings a lovely woman like you here?” Leah asked as they got comfortable in the bath.
“Relaxing a bit before having to head out in the morning,” Zoe replied back, as Leah’s hands started to work their magic. It was obvious she had done this before.
“Really, where are you heading?”
“Ah, the Throat of the World, visiting the Greybeards,” Zoe replied back to her.
“Oh, I heard something about that,” Leah replied.
“Yeah, seems like I was summoned,” Zoe stated still unsure about it all despite her talk with the Jarl. “Feels like a lots happened since I came to Skyrim. Dungeon hunting, summons and dragons.”
“Dragons have really returned?” Leah asked, her hands having stopped at the question.
“Yeah, seen them twice now, though they were different dragons,” Zoe replied, giving it some thought.
“So, how long have you been in Skyrim?” Leah asked, her hands resuming their massage. To Zoe it felt more like seduction than bathing.
“Ah, not that long, got caught up in this rebellion which is going on. Came from Cyrodiil, the Imperial City,” Zoe replied, liking the attention.
“Oh, what’s that like?”
“Not that impressive, the Thalmor have taken over everything,” Zoe replied as the hands continued to work on her shoulders.
“I’m sure at one time it was impressive,” Leah said.
“Yeah, probably, but not anymore,” Zoe replied thinking back to some people and then why she came here and sat up and turned to face Leah. “There isn’t someone called OMB here is there?”
“OMB, you mean Old Man’s Beard?” Leah replied with a frown.
That got Zoe’s attention real fast as she ignored the fact she was in a bath with another gorgeous, nude, woman.
“So he’s a real person?” Zoe asked.
“Yeah, why?” Leah asked, cocking her head to the side and looking at Zoe.
“He sent me a letter,” Zoe replied.
“A letter?”
Zoe watched as Leah turned her gaze towards the bar where an older gentleman, dressed in brown and a long grey beard worked.
“Hey, OMB!”
End part 5