CHAPTER THREE: CRESTFALLEN

"There were things words could do but there were many things words could not."

"Unbind me, I demand you! Release me from these degrading chains at once!"

The words were shouted with such ferocity it made the crows fly from their perch in spite of the voice's beholder being beneath two layers of stone. The man of dark hair had thought that if he shouted until his lungs had burst his captors would obey and with this mindset firmly in place he had continued his little rant. Unfortunately Ivarstead's guard quarters were only so big and in consequence had only one small, little cell for both prisoners to share. There was a certain damp coldness to the air and a smell strikingly identical to moss that had made the man shudder and growl an exasperated sigh in between shouts.

However the most infuriating thing about this all had been for the fact they had ignored him just as Akatosh had and though unwillingly to admit anything of the sort, it made a small string of fear set his blood aflame.

"Would you shut up in there?" the only guard in the room had said with a deeply set annoyance causing Alduin to only move toward the bars closer while responding in a peculiar sound of sharp, ugly words that the woman had presumed was Dovah. A harsh scowl then formed the Dragonborn's soft features into a sour frown the more she watched the two interact. Oh how she wished she hadn't returned from Sovngarde that night, oh how she wished she never came back to Skyrim in the first place.

"Arrogant mortal," Alduin answered with a dark anger then after his momentary act of stupidity. "do you think your words will quiet me? I will find a way out of these binds, end your pathetic attempt at tyranny myself and humb-"

"Yeah, yeah, you will "humble my pride". Like I hadn't heard that one before. Now would you shut up? You're giving me a headache."

The cell's bars had been the only thing keeping the once-dragon from flying over to the sitting man and fully throttling him. From her perch upon the lone cold bed the Dragonborn could see Alduin's face turn from utter annoyance to such hatred that the red of his flushed face practically glowed. If the woman hadn't found herself in the same situation and hated it as much as the man of sharp ebony had, she would have found a little amusement out of this.

But of course, there was only so much amusement to be had when there was so little of it.

In time the room had fallen silent and though grateful for a moment to herself the woman found her thoughts trailing away then. There was a vague realization that though it would soon be the fifth anniversary since leaving High Rock it had hardly felt like much of a journey. Certainly her travels had taken her all over Tamriel and back again but in truth there had been things missing from it that the old stories hadn't spoken of. What it had been had been lost to the creature of silver, much to her disappointment.

Vaguely her thoughts trailed to her grandfather then and his stories of old. Stories of what pre-war Skyrim had been like and the rest of Tamriel. As a girl his stories would simply amaze her and she vowed that one day she too would travel to their homeland and though doing just that it seemed as if it didn't quite live up to all the magical things that he had spoken of. Whether or not this feeling was just magic used to entice children or the fact something really was missing was lost to her. But what had been known was that though there should have been a fulfilling feeling it only made her heart heavy. Heavier than it should have been since this was all that she had ever wanted in life; to travel and be free.

Something that this moment had been quite the opposite of in fact.

The quietness made the day long and ever so slowly things passed by. For most of the session both the Dragonborn and Alduin kept to their respective stations with the bright-eyed woman being on the bed and her male companion standing in the nude at the cell door causing most guards that had entered the building to either sneer or gawk. Fortunately Alduin had been ignorant to the concept of clothing otherwise the guard on duty would never had found a moment of silence. However ex-dragon or not he would need clothes one day and one day probably soon. In direct consequence of these new thoughts the Dragonborn prayed to the Divines that it wouldn't be too much of a struggle to get him dressed. But for some reason the pretty thing couldn't help but to relinquish her prayers for the moment as they were the ones who had put her in this predicament in the first place.

But then it hit her: why was she here?

The woman's brows had knotted together with a sudden realization and wonder as to why she had also been in jail. It's not like she had been the one who had been running around in the nude breaking down doors, right? And even prior to that what had been her crimes? Nothing, not even bad mouthing a guard behind his back. So in all truth and reality her also being behind bars had hardly made any sense. Perhaps her only crime had been not realizing the danger of what getting herself into trouble had caused.

But regardless the woman quickly got to her feet and forwarded herself to the bars causing a brief glance from Alduin to be thrown at her. The pale eyes grew cold as lips the color of apples had hardened into a firm line, her heart thumping within it's cage like a wild animal. "I'm curious," the Dragonborn began while wrapping her slender fingers around the cold steel. "what did I do to find myself in your "care"?"

Without a single beat missed the man at his desk had replied. "For committing crimes against Skyrim."

The woman's brows furrowed together even further causing the vermillion of her face paint to twist in such a way that it had appeared as if it were crudely drawn onto her by a child. "Yes, I had gathered that much from behind these bars but again, what did I do that has angered everyone?"

At this point the guard had become just as annoyed as she had been but for the lack of anything better he had indulged her. "There have been reports of the Dragonborn breaking and entering people's homes, stealing all of their fresh produce, specifically tomatoes, and then brutally murdering the tenants after the break and entry. I don't know what kind of sick person does that but it is my duty to prevent things like that from happening therefor it is my duty to put you in my "care" since you, after all, are Dragonborn."

There was a moment of pure disbelief that had caused the woman to completely lose herself. This couldn't have been true, not even in the slightest, as going into people's homes with or without permission had been on the bottom of her to-do list. That and she could barely take extra gold from the shop vendors when they had given her too much! This had to have been a mistake as there was no other possible way.

"And you only believe it to be the Dragonborn, or do you have proof?"

Suddenly the man had lifted to his feet and brought some paper to the prisoners to show them. There were many words written upon it, only some she could quickly catch a glimpse of, before he quickly turned it back around to read aloud.

"Caution: a sinister act of violence has been discovered near Markarth. Identical to three other acts of terror, a bloody discovery of a family who had been robbed of their lives is only but the least of Skyrim's worries. The murderer, Dragonborn, has left behind a note at all four crime scenes claiming that they had committed the crime and will continue to commit crimes if not subdued."

There was a momentary pause as the guard looked upward from his paper to the woman who had stared at him fiercely in spite of her increasingly paling complexion. "What kind of sick person does that to an innocent family let alone three more? And then take their hard-earned tomatoes? If it hadn't been for your friend over here yelling your name, we would have never had found you. You go to the chopping block within the week to pay for your crimes."

And then there it was, the countdown until her death.

Standing there, bewildered and wide-eyed, the lady of starlight found herself going weak at the knees. It had been rare for a creature of such steel to feel such a moment of intense hopelessness but here and now she had been utterly lost. Was this really how it was meant to end? To be beheaded like she had been meant to all those months ago? Just earlier that day thoughts of returning home had made her feel comfort and yet here and now they made her stomach twist. She would never get to see home again, the very thing she fought so hard to save, and never get to see her companion whose goodbye was cut so short. The slender fingers fell from the cold as the reality of this world sunk in hard.

After everything, this is how it would end.

"This woman is mine, you will not touch her." Alduin interjected then causing the guard to turn his attention to the man whose hands wrapped tightly around the cold steel. There was a brief moment of silence as the two had stared at one another. If this entire moment hadn't been so dire it would have been strangely funny to think that Alduin would have been present for both times but this time he had no power to stop it from happening.

"She's to pay for her crimes. You, on the other hand, may go free within the next day after you have paid for yours. But let me make myself clear: don't be breaking down people's doors, and get some clothes."

But before the once-dragon could find his rage once more a light hand had touched his bare shoulder only causing it to tense before it slid away. His eyes had burned into the back of the guard's helmet as he turned to find his seat leaving the two prisoners in silence once more. Regardless of whatever words he would have found within his soul they would have been rendered useless as any more speaking would only dig them a deeper grave. The silence hung with such a dismal feeling the smell of cold, damp moss made for a more comforting touch. Slowly the Dragonborn returned to her perch leaving Alduin alone at the bars. Outside the sound of crows calling to one another made for a bitter reminder of what freedom had not been theirs.

And, unfortunately, what journey to make Alduin a dragon once more seem impossible.