My Random Skyrim Stories

"In Love With a Legend"

Anette sighed tiredly. The mead hall had finally cleared out, leaving her to her thoughts at last. She'd thought she had life pretty well figured out by now...

Kodlak had named her his successor as Harbinger of the Companions, Alduin was dead, and Skyrim was at peace. She had thought she was content to simply live out the rest of her days advising the warriors of Jorrvaskr and hunting rouge dragons...

Life at Jorrvaskr was good. They had recruited several new members since the end of the war, Athis had been raised to the Circle, Torvar had eased up on his drinking, Njada was a little less rude, and Vilkas had finally figured out why Ria was still trying to let him teach her to use a great sword...

Anette had been a little surprised that Vilkas and Ria had stayed with the Companions after their wedding, but she certainly didn't mind not losing her Master-at-Arms. Ria was shaping into a wonderful warrior as well, even if she couldn't swing a great sword like Vilkas could— hardly anyone could actually complete with Vilkas anyway.

Aela was seeming a little less lonely now that Athis had chosen to take the beast blood, and she had someone to hunt with again. And Farkas was still the same, big, lovable oaf who preferred to deal with the problems he could solve with his fists and leave the arguing to everyone else.

Anette was content with the idea that Jorrvaskr was where she'd live out the rest of her days, whether that meant getting old like Kodlak had or dying in battle. That was one advantage to having actually seen Sovengarde; not much scared her now. Every battle was either going to be a glorious victory, or it was going to send her back to Sovengarde. She literally laughed in the face of dragons.

That had been all she had planned... fight until she either died in battle or got old and died. She had no plans— no expectations that her life could possibly entail anything else... especially no romantic interests... she'd been content to be happy for Vilkas and Ria... and for her older sister who was now living safely out in Kynesgrove with her husband and their children.

Anette had given up hope of ever having that kind of a relationship herself after her first dragon encounter... when Alduin had burned Helgen... when the headsman's axe had narrowly missed her neck, leaving a dark scar down her left cheek as she'd rolled off the block at the last second... and then the rest of her body had been peppered with burn scars.

Before she'd become a dragon-fighting warrior, Anette had had rather smooth, fair skin, long, auburn hair, and bright blue eyes. She still had the blue eyes, and her hair had pretty well grown back, but by the time she defeated Alduin, she'd accumulated scars on top of scars—she had more burns and claw and bite marks than anyone should have lived to tell about. The dragon priest mask she'd picked up early on in her travels had spared her face the worst of it, but she still practically looked like she had freckles from where the sparks and flying embers had hit her when Helgen burned.

She had always had a sturdy build, unlike her older sister who was much thinner and daintier. Her father had always tried to reassure her that she would grow into a proper, strong, Nord beauty... and perhaps she would have if it hadn't been for the dragons. Anette was well aware she was no beauty now, even if she did have the build of what some considered a "good, strong, Nord woman."

But that didn't bother her. She had been content with the idea she would live and die as a legend for the history books— the Dragonborn who'd saved the world. She'd even mentioned that when it came up in conversation back when Vilkas and Ria had gotten married... someone had asked if she ever thought about getting married and she'd said, "I'm a legend, the world loves me— that's enough for me."

She knew she didn't need to ask any more of the gods by begging for a husband who wouldn't be repulsed by the scarred up mess that was her body. She'd come to terms with that years ago and hadn't given it a second thought...