But I'm a Black-Briar! (A Skyrim Fan Fiction)

Chapter 14: Bait

Chapter 14

I leapt to my feet, instantly turning a shade of red that could rival a snowberry. "I'm so sorry, I couldn't- I mean, I was- I didn't know it was-" I stopped, unsure of what title to use and not wanting to embarrass myself even further.

"Don't worry about it," Ufric said, amusement clear in his deep voice as he met my eyes with his blue ones.

My mouth opened and shut but my mind refused to put words in it. I had met Ulfric once about two years ago, which had made bumping into him like this fifteen times more embarrassing because I had immediately known who he was on sight. He had come to the lodge once to talk to Grandmother, and while I hadn't talked to him, I had shamelessly eavesdropped on the whole conversation. Ulfric's commanding tone and impressive appearance had left me in awe despite that I had barely been close enough to hear, although Grandmother hadn't been similarly impressed.

Heat flooded my cheeks as I realized that I had just been staring this whole time. I took one more moment to compose myself, then managed to blurt out in a slightly less high-pitched voice, "I-I'm sorry for bumping into you, High King." There. That didn't sound too disrespectful, or so I hoped.

"It's already forgotten." He paused and frowned, narrowing his eyes and really looking at me. "Have we met somewhere?"

My stomach flipped unpleasantly and coiled up into a knot at the bottom of my torso. It hadn't occurred to me for a second that Ulfric had seen me, and my legs tensed as if to take off running as I remembered that I was wanted for the murder of a Jarl.

His expression cleared as realization dawned on his face. "You're Maven's granddaughter, right?"

The slight smile on his face as he said the words assuaged my worry that he would know about Jarl Laila and my possible involvement in her death, but his recognition of me could still be a problem. "Yes, High King," I replied. "My name is Mira." It definitely would not help to give him a false name.

"That's right. What are you doing in Windhelm?"

I caught his eyes glancing around as if he expected to see Maven somewhere nearby. "I'm here to visit the docks," I lied quickly. Thankfully I was actually pretty good at lying after years of ditching Silron and fooling my grandmother, but lying to the High King made my heart race. "She wants me to visit a friend of hers here and learn about the shipping business."

"That sounds exactly like Maven. I would ask who you're here to see, but I'm sure we both know who it is."

I laughed along with him uncomfortably, praying to any Divine that might be listening that he didn't change his mind and ask. Maybe if I had paid more attention to my grandmother's guests I would know....

More regrets, I supposed.

"It was wonderful to see you again, High King, but I need to get down to the docks for that meeting," I excused myself as gracefully as I could, carefully avoiding mentioning the gender of the unknown person I was supposed to meet.

"Of course. Give my regards to your grandmother." He smiled again, then walked around me.

I stood and watched the gate thumped closed behind him, giving myself a moment to recover both from the awe seeing the High King of Skyrim had inspired in me and also the fright that had stabbed my heart when I had realized he might know I was suspected of murder.

When my heart had stopped pounding, I started off in the direction of the docks, snorting as I maneuvered my way through the passing people. Give his regards to Maven? Not likely.