Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/
works/5113673.
  Rating:
      Explicit
  Archive Warning:
      Graphic_Depictions_Of_Violence, Underage
  Category:
      F/M
  Fandom:
      Elder_Scrolls_V:_Skyrim
  Relationship:
      Female_Dovahkiin/Beagan, Female_Dragonborn/Beagan, Dana_Dovahkiin/Beagan
  Character:
      Dana_Dovahkiin, Beagan, Galvin, Vefasiz, Galvin_Mojik, Alvy_Haren,
      Vefasiz_Xerssius, Dana_Mojik_Haren, Malroy_Haren
  Additional Tags:
      The_Dark_Brotherhood_-_Freeform, mature_-_Freeform, sex_scene, explicit_-
      Freeform, Graphic_depictions_of_violence_-_Freeform, The_Elder_Scrolls_V
      Skyrim, Skyrim_-_Freeform, High_Rock, Tehanna, Beagan's_Inn, Lady_Dana_of
      Beagan's_Inn
  Stats:
      Published: 2015-10-31 Updated: 2015-11-05 Chapters: 5/? Words: 8999
****** Dana Mojik Haren: The woman that would become their Dovahkiin ******
by Cassandra_Pentaghast
Summary
     Dana was born without a name to no one in particular. Or so she
     thought because that is what she was told. This is the story of
     Dana's years before she traveled to Skyrim and learned she was
     Dovahkiin and what comes after. Found a song that is perfect for
     Dana. It fits her character like a glove. 'She Used to be Mine' by
     Sara Bareilles.
     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53GIADHxVzM
Notes
     **Smut is in chapter 2.
***** Cloud Spring Orphanage *****
Chapter Summary
     Growing up an orphan is never easy and it certainly wasn't any
     different for Dana.
Dana was born without a name to no one in particular. Her father was unknown to
her. Her mother died in childbirth. Having grown up in an orphanage, she
learned quickly to survive and to fight for anything she needed or wanted. Meal
times were terrible. The little children had to fight the bigger children for
enough food to eat. There wasn’t a lot and everyone was hungry. Dana learned a
quick sleight of hand at the meal table as young as five years old. This aided
her in the market where she learned she could grab a piece of fruit if she was
quick enough.
“Stop her! That urchin just took a fresh pear from my stall without paying!”
Dana ran as fast as her seven-year-old legs would allow. But alas, one of the
town guards tripped her to stop her.
“Wretched piece of filth. I don’t think Moss should let you urchins out of his
sight.”
The guard dragged Dana back to Moss by her ponytail. She didn’t scream or try
to fight him. She just fought back the tears and hated herself for getting
caught.
“Thank you, guardsman. I apologize for any inconvenience this has caused and
here’s the coin for the pear.”
When the door closed behind the guardsman, Dana knew what came next. Moss took
her to his office and shut the door. Dana got 25 hits with Moss’s heavy wooden
paddle. She couldn’t sit comfortably for days. Further punishment were the
dirty jobs around the orphanage. All work and no play was terrible for Dana.
 
“Okay, which one is she?”
“That one over there with the dark hair and the fire in her eyes.”
“Thank you for keeping an eye on her while I travel.”
“Of course.”
“She looks a little thin, though don’t you think? Should a 10-year-old girl be
so thin? Maybe we should donate some more money to this place.”
“She’s fine. I’ve done as you instructed and Moss does as I instruct, quit
worrying about her.”
“Alright. Thank you. I’ve got to go. Vafasiz will contact you if I have any
further instructions.”
 
In Dana's teen years, she couldn't seem to stay put or follow the rules of the
orphanage. Dana disobeyed Moss, the head of the orphanage in Cloud Spring of
High Rock. He wasn’t worth her loyalty or her obedience. He was a tyrant. If
there were people in Cloud Spring who ever cared for these children, they
wouldn’t have left them under the care of this man.
“Where have you been? It is the midnight hour Dana!”
“I’m sure your imagination can take you there, old man.”
Dana’s insolence infuriated Moss. He slapped her across the face with the back
of his hand. Dana fought back tears. Red faced and humiliated she went to the
room she shared with the older girls of the orphanage.
She never understood his assumptions of her and she was so offended by them,
she refused to defend herself with the truth. Dana had spent the evening at the
lake. She loved having peace and quiet and a place to enjoy solitude. It’s not
that she didn’t like people, she just needed a place to recharge.
The year came that Dana turned seventeen. Only one more year and she could
leave this place. But where would she go? She didn’t care. Anywhere was better
than under Moss’ so called care.
In the late evening of Dana’s seventeenth birthday, she was cleaning Moss’
office as he instructed. He used her to clean just about everything. He treated
her like a slave. It was pathetic and cruel.
“Did you have a good day today Dana?” he walked up behind her where she was
dusting his bookshelves.
Dana tensed. There was something in the tone of his voice. It was different.
Like he was attempting to be kind. It felt very wrong and made her
uncomfortable. Then she felt his hand on her shoulder.
“You’ve grown into a fine girl, Dana.” She could feel his hot breath on her
neck.
His hand slowly slid down onto her breast and squeezed.
“Mmm. Yes. A fine girl, indeed. Why don’t you give me some of that attention
you go out and give when you stay out late?”
Moss grabbed her shoulders and turned her around to face him.
“No. You don’t understand. I don’t see anyone when I go out. I sit by the lake,
that is all.”
Moss backhanded Dana across the face. “Liar! Take off your dress. I’m going to
make you good for at least one thing around here.”
Fear enveloped Dana like a snake swallowing its prey. Then there was a knock at
the door.
“Not now! Come back later!” he barked, assuming it was one of the children.
“Moss, I’ve traveled for weeks. Just open the door and let me give you the
yearly Septims amount.”
“Oh. It’s you. Of course. Ahh, just a moment.”
He turned to Dana and whispered harshly, “Say anything and I will kill you in
your sleep.”
Moss opened the door. Dana shoved past him and the man on the other side like a
squirrel running from a predator and kept going right out the front door of the
orphanage never to return.
“Moss! What the hell? Why was Dana in your office at this hour when all the
children are asleep? And why did she run frightened, you son of bitch?”
“This is all just a huge misunderstanding. I’m sure we can work things out if
we just have a seat and discuss…”
The man interrupted Moss with a solid right hook to the jaw and followed with
several kicks to the ribs when Moss fell to the floor of his office. He spit on
Moss. “You, filthy piece of crap. She will be mine. Never yours. Only mine.”
The man stormed out and called out Dana’s name in the immediate area of the
orphanage inside Cloud Spring. He looked for her over the next few weeks, but
could not find her. He decided to send people out to Inns between Cloud Spring
and Jehanna to start rumors of work there. He hoped she would come.
Dana ventured out on her own with nothing. She found odd jobs along the way to
put some bread and stew in her belly. It was hard for her though. She was
constantly solicited by patrons of the local Inns where she travelled. They
assumed she was there to sell her body. She couldn't afford a room. She slept
outside. She scraped by to purchase food and drink. Eating was an opportunity
to sit inside for just a little while each day to get warm if only for an hour
or two. She was tempted to sleep with some of the strangers that solicited her.
She wanted warmth. Even a stranger’s warmth sounded good. Dana was cold and
lonely and tired. Dana knew that if she ever wanted to have a name, to be
married and have children someday, she had to say no or she would be spoiled.
No honest farmer marries a girl who’s been spoiled by another man.
One evening in Dunlain Falls Dana overheard men talking loudly about how there
was plenty of work in the bigger city of Jehanna and anyone looking for work
should head there. It wasn’t the first time she’d heard it either. Seemed she
heard it in all the villages between Cloud Spring and Dunlain Falls.
Dana thought to herself there must be something to the rumors. She had nowhere
to go. She could start over in a bigger city. Dana purchased an additional loaf
of bread and headed to Jehanna.
Once there she found odd jobs with the local farmers. Sometimes the shop
keepers let her sweep for enough to pay for a meal, but no one had any solid
consistent work that would give a living wage.
“Go ahead and sweep the entire inventory room, front and back porches, and the
front of the store. Then I will give you enough coin to get a bowl of stew at
Beagan’s Inn. What do you say?”
“Yes sir. I’ll sweep it good sir.” Dana was starving.
She was glad it was Spring and almost Summer when she had to leave Cloud Spring
or she would have frozen to death by now. Summertime in Jehanna was warm but it
definitely wasn’t hot.
Dana went on like that for the entire Summer. Sometimes she would find work
early in the morning and sometimes it took her all day to find work so she
could earn enough for a bowl of stew at the Inn.
Beagan greeted Dana every day when she walked through the front doors. “Hello,
Dana! Bowl of stew coming right up.”
He flirted ruthlessly all Summer long. And every time Dana thwarted his
advances. “No. Beagan.”
She took it as a compliment that he thought she was pretty enough to work as a
whore at his Inn when he proposed it, but she always told him no, it wasn’t for
her.
She was grateful for the warmth and Beagan’s kindness. So much so that she
began sleeping out back. If she had to sleep outside. Sleeping there just felt
familiar.
The ladies in Beagan’s Inn were the kind she was told were bad women. “If any
girl wants a husband someday, she won’t associate or become a spoiled woman.”
Moss used to instruct her. These women though, they seemed happy enough. They
always smiled at Dana and whenever they exchanged words, Dana found them to be
kind.
“Sugar, some of the rowdier men are coming through tonight, my advice, finish
your stew and be gone sooner than usual.”
That was Chloe. She took a liking to Dana and looked out for her.
Dana looked up at Chloe and nodded an affirmation that she had indeed heard
her, but felt disappointment that she couldn’t spend her usual few hours inside
by the fire.
Then Chloe did her middle knuckle knock twice on the bar as she always did and
walked off.
As Dana slowly walked out of the Inn that evening, not wanting to leave. Beagan
watched her. She’d grown into a finer young woman than he could ever have
hoped. His original plans would work out just fine, damn them all. She was
curvy in all the right places and her hair hung on breasts in such a way that
his cock strained against his pants whenever she was around.
It was a windy Summer evening that night. Dana was so cold from the wind that
blew in off Farrun Harbor. It was close to Autumn. She had to start thinking
about when the cold came in. She’d been sleeping outside since Spring. Since
she left Cloud Spring.
Beagan was the only one who had offered her the kind of work that would put a
roof over her head. He was the only one who greeted her with a smile each day.
Beside all that he was sexy as hell. Looking at the muscle on that man made her
skin prickle. And she respected him even though he ran a whorehouse inside of
an Inn. She didn’t care what Moss said or what he taught her. The bastard was
going to have his way with her that night and spoil her anyway. If it wasn’t
for that man who knocked on the door, whoever he was, she never saw him, she
ran too fast – Dana didn’t want to think about if that man wasn’t there at just
the right moment.
Seventeen-year-old Dana developed a bit of a crush on Beagan. Torn though
between wanting to do right for herself and her future and giving in to him was
her daily inner struggle.
Two weeks into Autumn and the gracious long Summer had officially ended. Dana
made it to the Inn for dinner and it was a cheery evening among all the
patrons. The harvest was good and extended that year.
She was speaking with Beagan at the bar while she ate her stew.
"Just do it little lady. I know you have nothing and no one. I have been
watching you do odd jobs for the farmers in the area and come into town for
food daily. I know you sleep out back behind the Inn where the firewood is
kept. Where you think no one can see you. Where you think no one knows." Dana's
eyes widened. She hadn’t expected Beagan to wear her down, but the rain came
that afternoon and she didn’t want to spend the night out in it. "If I did
sleep with you tonight. Could I stay the whole night in the warm bed?" "Yes
little lady. And in the morning we can talk about how you can work and sleep in
that bed every night. You would never have to sleep outside again." Dana looked
up from the table where she was moving her spoon around in the empty bowl of
stew she inhaled ten minutes earlier. "Okay Beagan. I'll do it, but I want
double pay tonight." Beagan raised an eyebrow at Dana. "Why?" "I had hoped to
be married someday. Since I'll be no good to any man for marriage, and since
you'll be taking my innocence- well, that's why." Beagan looked at Dana with an
intensified hunger. He seemed to be hungrier for her now than he had been all
Summer long when he had been failing to convince her to work for him. "Yes,
Dana. Double pay and double pleasure. I am going to train you to be the finest
whore in Jehanna of High Rock. Now come. No time like the present to begin your
training." Dana looked Beagan in the eyes as he helped her up and took her
hand. "Septims first." Dana said softly, but seriously enough that Beagan knew
she meant it. "Damn you are quick for a girl. Good on you. I won't have to
train you on that point anyway." Beagan handed Dana her double portion of
septims.
***** Innocence Lost *****
Chapter Summary
     Explicit sex scene between Beagan and Dana.
Inside Beagan's room, Dana felt very nervous. He shut the door and came toward
her. He caressed her face with his right hand and pulled her closer with his
left on her rear. He began kissing her forehead, her cheeks, her lips.
“You don’t have to be afraid Dana. I’m not going to hurt you. I’m going to take
care of you.”
“I’m not afraid Beagan. It’s just that it’s my first time and I don’t know what
to do.”
Beagan slowly moved his hands over Dana’s breasts. “You don’t have to do
anything. Not tonight at least. Just relax and let yourself feel everything.”
Beagan slowly unbuttoned Dana’s blouse while looking at her with hunger in his
eyes. Dana was only seventeen and he was twelve years her senior, but he didn’t
care. There were farmers in the area who took wives as young as thirteen so
long as they flowered for bearing children.
Dana’s nipples were supple and hardened under Beagan’s touch. He longed for
her, for this moment. All the wanting and waiting to get Dana here in front of
him.
Beagan let one of his hands wander back up to Dana’s face. He could barely
resist her soft skin. She was so beautiful. If she only knew who she was, but
she would never know, because he wasn’t going to tell her.
Dana turned into his hand and took his thumb in her mouth. It was all coming
naturally to her. Like he’d picked the perfect girl for his Inn. For him. She
sucked hard. Again he felt himself tighten. His cock strained against the
material of his pants. He grunted as he pushed in against her, rubbing his body
up on her made him feel powerful. How many times had she told him “no,
Beagan.”?
Dana began unbuttoning Beagan’s shirt. When the buttons were unfastened all the
way down to the top of his belt, she caressed his chest with her soft hands and
the mutual hunger was felt between the both of them when she looked into
Beagan’s eyes. He grabbed his shirt and pulled it from where it was tucked into
his pants, letting it fall to the floor as soon as he released himself from it.
Beagan grabbed Dana and lifted her. He took her to the bed and put her down,
then unbuckled his belt and removed it along with his pants. Dana followed his
lead and removed her skirt and remaining underclothes.
Beagan climbed on top of Dana and rubbed his body against hers. He felt her
soft skin against his and her warmth. She arched up into him and let out a
moan. Beagan kissed Dana on the lips and slid his tongue into her mouth. Again
she moaned. Beagan’s cock jerked against the lips of her vagina and her inner
thigh.
He teased the nipple of her breast with his tongue. Dana’s skin prickled. The
more Beagan touched her, the warmer she felt. Her cheeks flushed. She inhaled
sharply.
Breathing heavily, grunting above her, Beagan let his fingers glide softly and
slowly over Dana’s other nipple while licking and sucking the other with his
tongue.
Dana couldn’t help it. Her hips began to rock in motion against Beagan. In a
needy way she grabbed his shoulders and squeezed. “Beagan!” She breathlessly
blurted. He let out a wicked titter as he put his fingers on the lips of her
vagina and opened the full wetness of her.
Slowly he worked her wetness up onto her clit as he kept the pads of his
fingers to the side of it, teasing, but not touching it yet.
Dana kissed Beagan on the mouth hard giving him her tongue and in pleasure she
moaned and rocked against him while continuing to squeeze his shoulders. More
wicked titters and grunts came from Beagan as he kissed Dana back hard rubbing
his solid cock between her thigh and the lip of her vagina while bringing her
close to ecstasy with his fingers.
Dana felt anxious for him to touch her fully. She put her hand on his trying to
move it to just the right spot. She could not move him. She felt the solid
strength of his hand and his arm and it sent her further into a frenzy.
“Not yet, little lady.”
Dana pleaded and nipped at his shoulder with her teeth. That sent Beagan out of
control. He let his fingers take her clit like the first time prize that it
was. Dana cried out and arched higher into him than she had before.
“Please don’t stop Beagan.”
“Yes. Feel it Dana.” He whispered as he breathed heavily into her ear.
“Oh yes, Dana.”
Beagan slowly slid his cock in between her lips rubbing up on her clit.
He basked in her pleasure and loved feeling her soft hot wetness on his cock.
He went on like that until Dana begged.
“Beagan. Please.”
He slid his cock all the way inside her hard and began rocking her the way he’d
wanted to for months.
Dana moaned and cried out and lost all sense of where she was. All she knew or
cared about was the pleasure she was feeling. Beagan moaned and grunted in
pleasure. She was better than he imagined.
“YES! OH! BEAGAN!” Hearing her yell his name almost sent him over the edge. He
controlled it. Sweat dripped from his face to her breast.
While rocketing her body against him Dana tensed, feeling dizzy. She began to
feel her first shattering.
Beagan pumped harder and faster. Dana cried out louder and louder. He covered
her mouth with his hand. The sound of her muffled screaming against his hand
while she jerked against him in pleasure made him cry out and burst full inside
of her. Beagan continued rocking her but slower like a winding down. She fell
limp under him completely relaxed. He stopped rocking her and hugged her close.
Beagan whispered. “You were worth the wait.”
“I’m a woman now. Aren’t I Beagan?”
“Dana, you are all woman.”
***** The Night The Men Came *****
Chapter Summary
     Dana learns how to be a good whore among other skills.
Next day Beagan explained things to Dana the way an employer instructs their
employees.
“You liked how that felt last night didn’t you?”
“Oh yes. Beagan can we do it again tonight?”
Beagan chuckled at Dana’s youthful eagerness.
“I want you to think about how I made you feel and then I want you to think
about making other men feel that way. It’s a tricky business though, not every
man is going to be the same.”
Dana raised an eyebrow at Beagan across the breakfast table.
“I’m going to protect you though. You are going to be head lady of this place
and no one is going to touch you without my say so.”
Beagan was true to his word. In the years that passed after that day, no one
did touch Dana without Beagan’s say so. And they feared trying, knowing Beagan
would slowly remove any finger that touched Dana without his sole permission.
“Okay. Well, let’s start with you telling me how it will be different with some
men. I need to know what to expect.”
“There’s going to be men that come in here and all they’re going to want is a
quick popping off. Those men will be handled by the other girls. They’ll rub
them with their hands and a special oil concoction I created or they will lick
and suck deep until the gent’s pop. For extra coin, they’ll do a little of
both.”
“And I’ll be reserved for?”
“You, Dana are special. Men are going to pay a lot of septims for you. No man
is going to touch you without first bathing and that alone is going to cost
them some coin. They will have to buy a room for the night. It will be
required. You will have ladies that prepare the men you see by bathing them and
rubbing them down with oil. And then there will be the ladies that prepare you.
You will be bathed and oiled. The oil I’ve created smells good, tastes good and
enhances all sensations felt during the pleasuring process.”
Dana’s eyes bugged out. “Oh my, Beagan.”
“That’s not all. I’m setting two men outside the door wherever you’re working.
If they hear anything sideways, they’re coming in to help you. There will also
be a peep hole so they can check that all is going well and monitor you at all
times. I will leave nothing to chance where you are concerned.”
“If you care so much, why not marry me and we can live proper?”
Beagan looked Dana in the eyes. He slowly lowered his tankard to the table. His
expression serious.
“If you wanted to be a wife so much, why did you agree to be a whore?”
His words stung. Dana was surprised by the sudden hate that came from him. It
riled her.
Red faced, Dana stood up quickly and brushed everything on the table in front
of her onto the floor in a fit of solid anger.
She turned and began to storm out of their room. Behind her she heard Beagan
attempting to have the last word.
“You can walk out of here angry Dana, but you will come back. You’re mine now.
And you need a warm bed and good pay.”
Dana had the last word.
“I get it. It’s not that you care. It’s the septims.”
And the door slammed behind her.
Dana didn’t know it yet, but the tea she had drunk with breakfast was a recipe
of Beagan’s. He made it for his whores. She would drink it every morning as it
prevented child bearing. It had a horrible side effect though. It made you lose
your breakfast. She learned quickly after that day to skip breakfast and just
drink the tea.
Dana became a prized whore in the city for travelers coming from the sea by way
of Farrun or those travelling from Evermor. Sometimes there were even strangers
coming from as far away as Skyrim. Dana danced and played and seduced a
thousand men over the next five years.
Beagan and Dana shared a passionate and convoluted relationship, but a
relationship it was. After some time, a bond of loyalty formed between them as
Dana became the head lady of Beagan’s Inn. The kind of loyalty between people
who do business. Sex was just an enjoyable benefit between the two of them. It
wasn’t pretty or proper, but she made more money at Beagan’s Inn than she had
any prospects for elsewhere.
Still though, sometimes she day dreamed of what a normal life could be
elsewhere with different people. Married with babies maybe? And love? What
would life be like with love in it?
After Dana had been working for Beagan for half a year, he went to her about
further protecting herself if anything was to go wrong. She laughed it off. She
had him who guarded her like a hawk and she had the guards he assigned to her.
What did she need to learn the art of fighting for?
“There’s a way to move gracefully and sneak up on someone so that they don’t
even know it’s coming.”
While she was laughing, Beagan came up and twisted her around pulling one arm
behind her. She cried out in pain. He brought the dagger to her throat.
“You’re not laughing now are you?”
Dana felt a shiver.
“I didn’t know you could do that. I didn’t think you…I thought you were foolin,
that this was a joke, a prank or something.”
“That’s your problem Dana. You don’t think. It’s time for you to grow up. You
need to learn how to do this.”
“Okay, Beagan. Teach me. I actually would like to be able to do that. To do
what you just did.”
He taught her that and much more. Beagan taught Dana how to throw daggers with
perfect precision.
It became part of her daily routine to spend some time throwing daggers at the
targets Beagan had built for her. It relieved a lot of stress from working
there and from living the life he created for her.
Beagan also taught Dana about poisons and all sorts of alchemy. It was a
pleasant diversion from being a whore.
Whenever it was time to hunt for meat to supply the Inn, Beagan took Dana with
him and taught her to track the animals. He taught her more sneak skills out in
the wild without actually telling her what she was learning. For all she knew,
she was becoming a good hunter. He had what he called a special hunting outfit
made for her. She wore her leathers with pride.
Years passed. It was the year Dana turned twenty-two.
During all the loud hustle and bustle of traveler’s, whores, patrons, farmers
and the like, a group of men walked into the front doors of Beagan’s Inn. Dana
felt a cold shiver as their presence commanded the room and they glanced her
way, but past her. Their attention stopped at Beagan. The tension was so thick;
you could slice it with the same blade you slice a goat cheese wheel.
Beagan quickly greeted the men, attempting to quell any curiosity of the
patrons and prevent an incident that would be bad for business. He ushered them
into the parlor and the doors were shut behind them.
The parlor was normally used to showcase girls for patrons to pick and choose
like items on a shelf in a store. Tonight shouts and sounds like flesh beating
upon flesh could be heard from the other side of those doors. Those men were
angry and Dana knew Beagan wasn’t coming out of there without injury. She
pressed her ear to the door. The rest of the Inn was carrying on as if none of
this was happening. The music was still playing; the bard was still singing.
The farmers and travelers were carrying on as they normally do and the girls
were dancing and soliciting coin.
Dana strained to hear what was being said on the other side of the doors. “I
just want to know one thing Beagan. Why?”
Beagan answered through bloody lips. “That is for me to know and for you to
never find out, Galvin.”
A few more hits to Beagan while the men held him down. “Looks like you have a
good thing going here Beagan. Now that we’ve found you, we can cut in on this.
The girls will be free to us and so will the Inn’s food, drink and beds.” Said
one of the men that was with Galvin.
Dana heard footsteps coming toward the doors. She quickly moved away and out of
suspicious sight. The men came out and blended into the goings on of the Inn as
if nothing happened. They got food, drink, women and beds, just as they said
they would. All five of them. Galvin was clearly their ringleader if you could
call it that. He seemed to be looking around for something or someone.
Dana slipped into the parlor and shut the doors behind her. Beagan was laying
beaten and bleeding on the floor. She quickly got cloth and water to clean him
up.
“I’m sorry Dana. You shouldn’t have to see this.” He groaned in pain struggling
to breathe through cracked ribs.”
“Beagan, who are those men?” Dana asked with fear in her eyes.
“Dana, go to our room. Crawl under the bed. Feel for a soft spot on the wood.
There’s a latch there. Pull the latch. Get the box inside. Take it and go to
Skyrim.”
Dana interrupted “Beagan, no!”
“Don’t look back Dana. Go and don’t look back.”
***** Answers *****
Chapter Summary
     Nothing would ever be the same for Dana, but she would get answers.
Beagan coughed up more blood. The dagger wounds he sustained were fatal. Dana
knew there was nothing she could do and she feared saying anything to anyone
because those men were out there and she didn’t want to know how they would
respond as soon as they found out she was Lady Dana of Beagan’s Inn. She was
good with a blade now, but not that good. Not against five large men. And there
were patrons of the Inn to look out for. They would just be caught in the
middle.
This was an ugly business and it just crossed over into something big.
Something beyond her knowledge of Beagan. She knew he didn’t tell her
everything, but this? Even this surprised her. Dana held Beagan’s head in her
lap for the two minutes it took for him to bleed out.
Dana carefully set Beagan’s head down and softly closed his eyelids with her
fingertips while tears dripped off her face onto his.
Covered in blood, shedding tears. Dana realized her life was in her hands now.
Their room could be accessed through a secret door and passageway through the
Inn from the Parlor. She and Beagan were the only two who knew of it.
Dana got up and locked the parlor doors. She hurried to their room and got out
of her bloodied dress. As she put on the leathers Beagan had made for her, she
remembered the day he told her she would learn to fight.
Dana had laughed at him that day. She hadn’t yet decided to take all the dagger
fighting seriously. Beagan taught Dana to sneak up on a target and surprise
them. Her guards hated that period as they were used as the targets and didn’t
know it was coming. She was good. They would spit their ale, slam their
tankards down and say “gods Dana! Blast you!” as they were forced to eat their
own pride with a dagger to their throat and Dana giggling behind them.
It became a running joke among the guards and the whores. Lady Dana can fuck
you, but if you’re not nice she can kill you too. She’s a pure-blood Assassin,
so don’t piss her off.
A smile curled on Dana’s mouth as she remembered those days.
So many memories she’s going to take with her from this place. Her fingers
found the latch and she retrieved the box.
What a strange box. She expected wood with another latch that requires a key,
but this wasn’t wood and there definitely wasn’t an obvious way to get inside.
No matter which way she pulled and prodded at the box, it would not open.
She couldn’t afford the time to mess with this now. She snuck out of Beagan’s
Inn and quickly shrunk out of the city. She was confident no one was following
or watching her. Beagan trained her well she thought.
Dana traveled southeast up the nearby mountain. Soaked from the heavy rain
pouring on her she stopped and turned around to look back. Looking down upon
the lit city from the mountain, she decided she would one day go back and
avenge the death of her…
Wait. What was he to her anyway? Her lover? No. There was no love shared
between them. A carnal lust maybe, but not love. Was he her whoremonger? Her
employer? Her friend? Her savior when she was near starving? Her teacher,
mentor? Why did she care so much? He didn’t care. It was about the septims.
Dammit Beagan! Why did you die before we could have this conversation? Would we
have had the conversation though? If all of this never happened?
Lost in thought she heard there were Orcs nearby on this mountain. A traveler
told her about them. He said a dragonborn would be granted entry into their
stronghold if they had been deemed worthy “blood kin”. Dana just had to find a
dragonborn. Who was she kidding? Yeah she’ll go to the locals of the next town
and say “I need one dragonborn please. I’ll pay 100 septims.” She’s an arse she
thought to herself. A bloody stupid arse who doesn’t know what the fuck to do.
Dana built herself a makeshift shelter from the rain and fell asleep on the
bedroll she brought with her. Sleep came easy. After everything that happened,
the new burden on her shoulders and having to be on the run, sleep was a nice
escape.
A few weeks later she had been traveling further east when she learned she made
it to Skyrim.
She sat minding her own business in the local Inn eating some stew and sipping
wine. She loved her wine.
“Assassin. Pretty one too.” Hissed an Argonian as he sat down uninvited at her
table.
She slowly raised her head up from her bowl and looked into his eyes while
keeping one hand wrapped around her throwing blade.
“I’m Vefasiz. Pleased to see a fellow assassin dine here.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. And I didn’t invite you to sit down.”
Vefasiz left a rolled up note on the table got up and walked out of the Inn.
Dana hastily grabbed it, unrolling it and read:
Been tracking you the past three days.
Your movements are that of the Brotherhood.
Admit it or no, you move like one of us.
We need to talk.
Tomorrow night, come to the cave up east of the town.
You won’t miss it.
Not if your Brotherhood.
Dana quickly rerolled it and went to her rented room. So many thoughts began
swimming in her head mixed with the wine. Dana paced the room back and forth.
What did Beagan teach her? What was she now? Was Beagan part of this
Brotherhood? The men that came for him, were they also part of this
Brotherhood? Red and black. Vafasiz was wearing red and black. Those men at the
Inn were wearing red and black.
Dana touched her arm rubbing her hand on the soft leathers Beagan had made for
her. She realized, Beagan had made her a red and black leather hunting outfit
for when they searched for game to put on the Inn’s menu. It must have meant
something. These weren’t just colors he picked because he liked them. She’d
always thought the hand symbol was a joke, a prank about him having his hand on
her making her shatter for the first time when she was a kid. Dana began to
question everything. It was like a reckoning.
She would go meet this Vefasiz and find out what the hell was going on.
Next evening in the cave…
“You made it. Good.”
“You said you had been tracking me. Why?”
“You were handed off to me so to speak.”
“Handed off to you? Are you kidding me?”
“This is not a joke Dana.”
Vafasiz knew her name. What was this? She didn’t give her real name at the Inn
when she checked in. And she sure as hell didn’t give this Argonian her name
last night at the table. Her eyes widened. Her eyebrows raised. Her body tensed
into a braced and ready to kill position. Danas fingers wrapped around her
blade.
“Please, Dana. Calm down. I did not lure you here to kill you. There are a
hundred other easier ways I could have done that no? I could have laced your
wine and you would not even have made it here tonight at all.”
Dana relaxed a little. Just a little.
“Alright. Why did you ask me to come here?”
“The box of course. In the event it must be opened. Only one of us, members of
The Dark Brotherhood knows the puzzle.”
Dana felt a sudden panic. How did he know about the box?
Hand on her blade resting at her hip, “Who are you, lizard face?”
“You don’t know me, but you can trust me.”
“Oh? And how am I supposed to know I can trust you?”
“Because you’re still breathing.”
Dana pulled out the box but hesitated at letting Vafasiz touch it.
“You are a stubborn human.”
Dana grunted in disgust.
Vafasiz gestured for permission to show her he could open it.
“Try anything and I’ll gut you before you can finish the thought, lizard face.”
Vafasiz opened the box in five puzzle clicks and handed it back to her opened.
“The key.” Overcome with emotion she’d held in check since the night Beagan
died, Dana choked through fresh tears as she sunk to her knees. Beagan always
wore a key on a chain around his neck. The key lay on top of a folded note.
Dana slowly retrieved the key and put it around her neck.
Tears dripping onto the folded note, she picked it up and unfolded it. The note
wasn’t a note. It was a map. She looked up at Vafasiz with red tear stained
eyes. “Thank you, but what is this?”
He crouched to speak with her at eye level. He felt a sense of parental love
for this child who had grown into a woman. He wished he could wipe away all
reasons for her shed tears.
“I am to be your companion on this journey.”
“I appreciate what you’ve done here, but I travel alone.”
“Oh, I wasn’t asking Dana. I am following orders. If you don’t want my company,
I will track you. Either way, we are Brotherhood and you will never be alone.”
They stood up speaking face to face.
“How do you know my name? You said I was handed off to you? What were you
talking about?”
“Your father of course.”
“My what?”
“Galvin, your father.”
The Argonian was ready for anything. He was sure this news was more than enough
to provoke Dana.
Before he sent Vefasiz on this journey, Galvin told his best friend what
happened at the Inn the night Beagan died. He wasn’t sure what Dana thought or
knew because Beagan had been lying to Galvin for years. He would be more than
likely lying to Dana as well. Galvin had loved Beagan like his own flesh and
blood and trusted him with Dana’s care while he traveled for the brotherhood.
He meant to find Dana and speak with her that night after he put the key in the
box with the map.
“Galvin is my father? That son of bitch murdered Beagan! Why? Beagan gave me a
job when I was starving. What has Galvin ever given me if he’s my father?”
“Dana, no. Please don’t think of it like that. Your father loves you.”
“No, lizard face, seems to me my ‘father’ left me for dead in the worst
orphanage he could find and then when I built a life for myself he came along
and destroyed it.”
“Dana. You are angry. I understand, but please listen to me.”
“Why the hell should I give you the time of day?”
“I promise you he did not know you were badly treated at the orphanage. He came
for you when you turned eighteen, but you were gone. He thought you were
getting a proper upbringing. He searched for you until he found you at the Inn.
Beagan had been lying to him.”
Dana gestured with her arms, “Wait. Stop. Just stop. I don’t want to hear any
more of this!”
A tear began to stream down Vefasiz’s face. He’d watched tragedy befall this
family for too many years. Now, seeing Dana like this was too much.
Moved by the Argonian’s sensitivity to her and the situation, she asked, “Was
he angry Beagan turned me into a whore?”
“Yes, your father was livid. He gave the slow death to Beagan that he
deserved.”
“And the key?”
“Galvin took the key from Beagan’s neck himself and placed it in the box while
you lay with the dying Beagan.”
So many thoughts swirled in Dana’s mind. Her father must have found the
bloodied dress in their room when he continued to search for her. They missed
each other several times that night. He looked right past her when they first
walked in the front doors. She hid when they left the parlor.
“The key opens what is at the end of this map.”
“Yes. I am in charge of keeping you safe and alive on the journey. I am to make
sure you get your inheritance.”
“Why are you here in place of my father. Why was Beagan in charge of my care
and not my father? If he loves me so much, why have I never met him?”
“It’s your father’s way, Dana. I promise he loves you. The death of your mother
destroyed who he once was.”
“Apparently, I did not know Beagan as well as I thought I did. Who was he?”
“Beagan was born into the Brotherhood. It wasn’t a choice for him. Even though
not flesh and blood, your father Galvin took him and raised him like his own.
Your mother was like a mother to Beagan. She watched out for him. And he stayed
with her when your father traveled. When your mother died it tore Beagan up. He
too was changed, like your father. He had to learn what you know about
fighting, sneaking and poisons at a young age whether he liked it or not. He
never wanted to.
They fought a lot over what Beagan should be and do with his life after your
mother died. Galvin trained him in all he knows. No one could have imagined he
became what Galvin found the night he killed him.”
“So, he raised Beagan who wasn’t even his own? But he left me?”
“You reminded him of Alvy, your mother. As strong of a man as he once was, he
wasn’t strong enough for that. I’m sorry Dana.”
“All I know of my mother is that she died giving birth to me. I never knew her
name. Alvy sounds so pretty.”
“Oh, she was. And kind. She would give all she had to help anyone who needed
it. She loved your father very much.”
“Was she brotherhood too?”
“No.” Vefasiz chuckled a little. “Galvin would die before allowing this life to
come near her.”
“And the inheritance this map leads to? Where did it come from?”
“Your mother inherited a fortune from her family. You are her blood. It is to
be passed on to you.”
A look of realization crossed Dana’s face. Beagan knew her before she arrived
to Jehanna. He was jealous. He wanted the gold. He must have blamed her when he
lost her mother. It made so much sense now. Every moment when he lost his
temper or the times when he surprised her with hateful vile words. And he was
so possessive, controlled her every move like she was his toy. No one could
hurt her but him. And he did hurt her. There were times he seemed to revel in
it. He would always apologize later and lure her back into his web, but only to
do it again.
“Beagan’s a shit for what he did to me.”
She ripped the chain from her neck and put the key in her bra while
simultaneously throwing the chain across the cave into the nearby stream. Her
face flushed in anger.
“Let’s go.”
As they walked out of the cave, the Argonian hissed “Jealousy and hate are ugly
foes that strike in the dark without warning.”
Dana spoke her thoughts aloud. “He was jealous of me. He was tasked with
protecting my fortune and watching out for me, but he hated me.”
Vefasiz turned his face to her as they walked. “Sweet mother, Sweet mother,
send your child unto me. For the sins of the unworthy must be baptized in blood
and fear.”
***** Part Blood Relation *****
Chapter Summary
     Dana learns more about where she came from.
Traveling together toward the destination on the map, Dana had more questions
for Vefasiz.
“Why is the family fortune buried? Where are the rest of the family if they
were so rich?”
“I’m sorry Dana, you are the last surviving of the Harens.”
“And Galvin, my father? Who does he come from?”
“There is so much to tell you Dana.”
“I’m listening.”
Vefasiz led Dana through the trees deftly with two Dark Brotherhood fellows
tracking them as backup just in case anything befell them.
“Are you sure you wouldn’t rather have this conversation with your father?”
“At this point, my life appears to be in your hands Vef, and in the past few
days I have learned to know you better than my own father.”
They made it to the base of a small mountain. Vefasiz would get them to the top
by evening to camp and rest for a while. Vefasiz had been trying to avoid
telling Dana everything. He wished for her to have this conversation with her
father. He had not anticipated her tenacity. With a heavy sigh of defeat
Vefasiz gave in to Dana.
While beginning the climb up the makeshift trail on the mountain, Vefasiz
began.
“Your father is Galvin of the Mojik clan. His blood, your blood is rich with
the history of the Atmora and the Ningheim. You are what they call special
full-blood because your mother also was a Nord.”
Vefasiz stopped walking for just a moment and turned around to face Dana. “That
is why you have the dark hair and the fire in your eyes, because of the
Ningheim and Atmora.”
“I always thought I was Breton, born to a servant girl or something.”
They continued climbing the mountain. Vefasiz remained silent for several
minutes. Not continuing with the story, but remembering and his heart felt
heavy.
“Tell me more. Please.”
“Later, Dana. Let us climb for now.”
They made it to the top of the small mountain and set up a makeshift camp which
was basically Dana falling asleep on soft earth while Vefasiz covered her with
the bear pelt he’d been carrying on his back. Vefasiz kept watch and he knew
their two fellows weren’t far behind.
He watched her sleep and saw the likeness of Alvy. He remembered the love
between Alvy and Galvin could never be broken. Not ever. He remembered, there
were those that tried. Vefasiz was their true friend. Their fellow brother. It
was the worst tragedy to watch helplessly when Alvy’s death destroyed the man
Galvin once was. Vefasiz leaned his head back against the tree. He vowed to
himself he would not let anything happen to Dana. And sleep overtook him.
The next morning Dana woke with a start. It was just a nightmare. Another one
of those damned nightmares that plagued her sleep. No matter. She had a way to
forget or at least try. She would grab the air in front of her as if capturing
the nightmare and make a fist so tight that in her mind she was crushing it.
Crushing all the fear and hurt into nothing. She believed as long as she did
that, they were gone. But nightly they returned faithfully and loyally as if
fear and hurt were her closest companions.
“Are you alright Dana?” Vef asked.
“Yeah, sure Vef.” She got up and looked around now that it was daylight.
“I assume we are descending the mountain this morning.”
She turned to face Vef as she spoke to him. It was easier to shorten his name
and she liked doing that with people. She used to give her regulars nicknames
all the time. It was easier if there was a bit of familiarity, maybe even a bit
of camaraderie because there definitely wasn’t any love.
“Yes. The map leads us deep into Skyrim.”
“Which only makes me have more questions, Vef. Can we talk while we walk this
morning?”
“Yes. I will answer more questions Dana.” He handed her some dried meat and
dried vegetable chips. “Here. You can eat, walk and talk can’t you?” He smiled
at her. “Don’t eat too fast, we need to make the little bit of food we have
last.”
Dana was so hungry. She tore into that breakfast and attempted to speak with
her mouth full. Vef laughed so hard it made Dana start to laugh with her mouth
full of food. That made Vef laugh even harder.
Vef shook his head at her while continuing to chuckle. “Stubborn human.” He
walked on.
Walking behind him, Dana spoke up. “Let’s start with how Alvy and Galvin met.
How did my mom and dad meet?”
“Okay, well, let me just say that your grandfather wasn’t the nicest of men and
his actions gave birth to many enemies. Your father, Galvin was hired by one of
those enemies to eliminate your grandfather.”
“Whoa. That’s deep Vef. Are you telling me my father killed my grandfather?”
“Yes Dana and that is when he met your mother.”
“Okay. I’ll shut-up. I’m listening.”
“He was the kind of man that brutalized everyone around him including your
mother. When Galvin and I arrived to take out Malroy Haren, we had been told he
would be alone, but he wasn’t. He was hurting your mother.”
“You were with him?”
“Yes. We’ve worked together for years. Not always. Not for every job, but we
definitely partnered for that one. Your grandfather’s wealth and reputation was
large and spanned many cities.”
“Did he take her innocence when he tortured her?”
Vef stopped. His head hung low. He turned and looked Dana in the eyes.
“Yes Dana. We believe that is why she wasn’t strong enough when the time came
to deliver you. Her body had been irreversibly damaged since she was a young
girl beyond our knowledge at the time. I’m so sorry.”
Tears began to well up in Dana’s eyes, but she fought them. She wanted to know
more and she didn’t want Vef to stop talking on account of her tears.
“We found him on top of her raping and beating her. We didn’t know it was his
daughter. We assumed it was a servant. We killed him and we took her with us.
Your father immediately fell in love with her beauty, her strength of will and
her kindness in the face of all she had suffered.”
“Wow Vef, I can hardly believe all of this. It’s really incredible.”
“The three of us became very close. Best of friends, and I watched their love
blossom into the most beautiful thing I had ever laid my eyes on until the day
you were born.”
“Oh come on Vef.”
“I speak truth young Dana. I have been very close to your family for a very
long time.”
“How did she get the inheritance? Were there any sons? Did she have brothers,
older siblings?”
“Yes, but they are all bastards from other women. Many believe that your
grandmother became barren after your mother was born because of how badly he
beat her and tortured her.”
“That’s terrible. The asshole.”
“When your mother received the gold, she insisted she didn’t want anything to
do with it. She demanded your father get it out of her sight. He buried it.
When you were born and tragedy befell your family yet again, your father
decided you would be raised proper in an orphanage until you came of age and he
would come and give you your inheritance.”
“But Beagan interfered.”
“Yes, when Beagan was old enough, your father put him in charge because he was
like family, like a son, but Beagan lied to us.”
“Yeah. He lied to me too Vef. There were many times I can remember he could
have told me.”
“There’s more Dana.” His voice went deep and horse as if he were going to choke
on the words that were coming next.
“Go ahead Vef. I’m listening.”
“Beagan was your mother’s half-brother, one of the bastard children of your
grandfather.”
Dana stopped dead in her tracks. The knowledge that he was part blood relation
was not what she was expecting Vefasiz to tell her.
She choked. “So it was more than just being angry that he turned me into a
whore.”
Vefasiz walked on. Dana followed. She quit asking questions for the rest of the
day and Vef gifted her with silence.
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