» Fri May 27, 2011 6:15 am
Chapter 0
Leaving
Silvie had grown up in Anvil. She had never left the city before, never even set foot outside the gates. But now she did. The years of her father's abuse and Alice's encouragement had finally given her the courage to leave.
Her pack was small, and she had only a simple iron dagger at her side for protection, but she felt powerful for the first time in her life. It was the first time she had done anything by her own choice, and it felt good. She was finally the one in charge. Alice was singing her praises as she stepped into the world outside Anvil's walls, and she couldn't help but smile ecstatically as she boldly moved forward along the Gold Road.
She had heard of people travelling all the way to Skingrad, or maybe even the Imperial city, in only a day, but she only made it too the Brina Cross Inn by the time the sky was getting dark. She got a room with what few Septims she had, not having realized how little she had taken. She didn't use her full name when the innkeeper asked either. She was sure her father would send people looking for her, and they would likely look here. She told them her name was "Silvie," what Alice had always called her. It wouldn't be hard to adjust to people calling her that.
The next morning she set off again, luckily avoiding any trouble from her father's search parties. Apparently they had taken the innkeeper's word that nobody with her name was staying there. Whether they had continued forward on the road or gone back, she never knew. There were several horses grazing outside the inn, already all saddled up to go, but she didn't take one. She had never ridden a horse, and didn't want to learn now. She also wasn't so keen to steal. While she knew she would eventually have to, she wanted to postpone it for as long as possible.
She only made it to the Gottshaw Inn by sunset, using the last of her money to get another room and once again giving the name "Silvie." The next morning she committed her first crime, she stole enough Septims for a few nights at a good hotel from behind the counter. She found sneaking around easy enough, and she had gotten up early enough that almost everybody was still asleep. She took the Septims and ran, getting as far as she could just in case. She passed Kvatch fairly early on, when the sun was still low, and was halfway to Skingrad as the day wore on. After some travelling in the dark, she got to Skingrad a few hours after sunset, luckily without incident. She spent her stolen money at the West Weald Inn.
She stayed there for a few nights, occaisionally managing to steal from a guest and sell it at the local general store. Of course, with her skill level, it wasn't long before she got caught. She skipped town as fast as she could, letting Alice handle it. While she was by no means a master mage, she knew enough Magicka to distract the guards and get out without getting caught. She made for the Imperial City, though she had to stay in the woods for a night. The next day she made it to Weye, and then crossed the bridge to the Imperial City.
She stayed in the Waterfront, along with the rest of the destitute. She learned a lot there, and made a lot of friends. She felt like she could start a new life there.
Unfortunately, it had to end. Three months after she arrived at the capital city of the Empire, she was caught trying to break into a house in the Temple District. She was thrown in jail, where she was harrassed by a rather cruel Dunmer, and the guards treated her almost as bad as her father had. The whole time, she was scared to death that they would take advantage of her. When she was released only two days later she ran out of town without a word to the people in the waterfront.
She decided she would go south, to Bravil. Maybe even to Leyawiin. She was wondering how long it would take before she ran to Cheydinhal, Bruma, and Chorrol. Her mind was racing as she stopped at the inn in Pell's Gate with what was, once again, the last of her money.
It was a very cold night, and she couldn't sleep. She left the inn and wandered the sleeping town, looking for an unlocked door. She found one at an average house, nothing out of the ordinary. There was a man sleeping inside, but she was a good enough sneak that she could move around without waking him. She didn't find any gold out and around, so she moved to drawers and such. The top drawer of the dresser next to the bed was locked, so she drew her knife and tried to pry it open. After working on it a while she succeeded, but it was very loud. The man woke up with a start, and Silvie froze.
"Who's there?" he got out of bed. The large Nord man lumbered towards her. "Whaddya' want?"
Silvie turned towards him, unable to breathe. "Get out of here!" Irroke yelled at her. "Get out of my house!"
She was terrified. She couldn't handle people yelling at her. Whenever her father had yelled at her, it hadn't ended well. She was petrified, the knife clutched tightly in her hand. He grabbed her by the shoulders to force her out, and her terror finally forced itself out. She closed her eyes and screamed, her hand thrusting forward.
After a wet thud she heard the man gasp, and she opened her eyes to find her knife embedded in the man's chest.