My Random Skyrim Stories

Sword and Shield (Argis) 2

Getting back into Vlindrel Hall was a little surreal for Argis. The place had been empty for two years, and all of his uncle's things had all been cleaned up long ago, but Argis still knew the layout of the home well. It was comforting actually... nostalgic but a fresh start at the same time.

He hoped he'd like his new Thane... or at least be able to get along with him. No one had bothered telling him anything about the new Thane, but Argis could assume, if the Jarl of Markarth had named him a Thane, he'd probably killed a lot of Foresworn... and probably done the Jarl a few personal favors...

Argis let himself hope he might get to go out on adventures again, raiding Foresworn camps, protecting the hold from bandits... maybe even see one of the supposed dragons the guards had been gossiping about lately...

*

Argis had only just begun cleaning Vlindrel Hall, sweeping the entryway while daydreaming about epic battles, when he heard the click of a key in the lock and the front doors opened. His hopes of epic battles faded as he saw, who he could only assume was his new Thane...

The person, who'd just struggled to heft one of the large doors open, was a petite Breton woman.

Argis did his best to school his expression as he quickly looked her up and down... she was only tall enough to come up to his collarbone, and had no weapons to be seen. She was wearing what looked like a well-worn set of leather armor, boots, and arm bracers, but instead of a helmet she wore something akin to the hood from typical mages' robes. Under the bracer, her whole right arm was covered with a long, glove of leather wrappings... similar leather wrappings also covered her legs where her boots didn't. What little skin she actually had showing was fair with what appeared to be a light dusting of freckles.

She lowered her hood to reveal dark, auburn-brown hair, pulled back in rather Nordic looking braids, and smiled up at him with bright, dark blue eyes.

"Argis the Bulwark?" She asked hopefully.

Ysmir's beard, Argis thought, he had no business being sworn to the service of such a beauty... this had to be some kind of mistake... or a joke from Dibella...

Wait, he blinked, oh gods, she'd asked a question...

"That's me," he nodded gruffly.

"Oh, good," she sighed, "I found the right place this time."

"You're my new Thane I take it?" Argis clarified with a raised eyebrow.

"So I'm told," she nodded with an uncertain smile.

"Then you found the right place," he confirmed with another nod as he set his broom down. "It is an honor to serve you my Thane," he added, bringing a fist to his chest and bowing his head politely. He hoped she didn't expect him to kneel— he'd never really had to be formal with his uncle, but he knew how all the other housecarls were excepted to speak and act...

"Oh... uh... thank you," she said nervously, "I... uh... I'm Lyste Bjariksdotter, it's a pleasure to meet you." She reached out to shake his hand.

That made Argis pause... he did his best to keep his expression neutral as he accepted her gloved hand, but he was suddenly very curious.
'Bjarik' sounded like a very Nordic name for the father of a woman who appeared to be a Breton... and, he thought in confusion, 'Lyste' sounded odd, but at least vaguely Nordic as well.

"Likewise," he nodded, "welcome to Vlindrel Hall."

"Thank you," she said with another smile as she let go of his hand, "would you believe I stumbled into the house next door first?" She laughed.

That made Argis smirk in amusement.

"Imagine my surprise when I was shooed back out the door by the grumpy maid!"

Argis chuckled. "Never really met the neighbors," he shook his head, feeling relieved at her casual tone.

"Well," Lyste shook her head, "I'm not surprised, they didn't seem to want to be met."

She took a deep breath and looked around the entryway then.

"That's alright though," she mumbled almost to herself, "at least this place looks good and defensible," she nodded, looking relieved.

"Defensible and well defended," Argis nodded confidently.

"That is good," she said with another nod. "Do you mind if I... um... I'd like to have my familiar look around with me," she said hesitantly.

"It's your house," Argis shrugged, again having to remember to keep his expression neutral.

So she was a mage... he could deal with that... he just hoped she didn't practice black magic.

"Right," she said uncertainly, "I just didn't want to alarm you when I summon her."

Argis just nodded again, feeling grateful for the warning.
He watched a little tensely as her gloved right hand lit with a dark purple glow and then with a flick of her wrist, a large orb of swirling blue and purple light flashed in front of her, and then quickly dissipated to reveal a glowing spectral wolf.

It shook its head and appeared to sniff the air, then it turned quickly to give Argis an appraising stare-down.

"Check out our new home girl," Lyste told it in a friendly voice as she rested her hand on the back of the spectral animal's neck. Despite the wolf being see-through, Argis noticed it looked like Lyste could touch and interact with it as if it were solid. The familiar turned its head back to Lyste and wagged its tail amicably before turning and proceeding down the hall to explore. Lyste followed it, looking eager to see the place as well.

Argis took a deep breath and let it out slowly once they were both out of earshot. This was definitely going to be interesting...