Sure enough, the innkeeper, Elda Early-Dawn, looked her up and down, dubiously. "And who are you, then?"
"You ask all travelers that? Do you want my coin, or not? If so, I'll take a room, and a meal. Otherwise I'll be on my way."
"Humph," said Elda. "Thirty septims. Room's down that way."
Alemis was too cold and tired to care about the innkeeper's rudeness, or the fact that she was obviously being overcharged. The boar Elda was serving for the night's meal was still roasting, so Alemis ordered a pail of hot water - which cost her another five septims, though it should have been included with the room - and went to her room to bathe.
She looked herself over in the reflection of a silver bowl on the mantelpiece in her room. After days on the road, she really needed to shave. She got out her dagger, cleaned it in the hot water, and used it with the foam from some crushed mountain flowers to clear the stubble from her cheeks and jawline.
Once she was shaved, washed and dried, and dressed in a clean but creased blue skirt and a pretty, lace-trimmed tunic, she felt more like herself. She smiled at her reflection in the silver bowl. Not bad, she thought, and headed back into the great hall to eat.
She took her meal upstairs with the rest of the evening's patrons, drawn by the sound of music and laughter. Hard lessons in life had made Alemis reserved, but she enjoyed the company of people. Some people, anyway.
She didn't enjoy the company of Rolff Stone-Fist, as she soon discovered.
"What do we have here?" the Nord demanded, wandering drunkenly over upon catching sight of Alemis minding her own business, seated at a table in a corner of the inn's great hall. "Are you confused?"
A few others nearby glanced over, looked at broad-shouldered, dark-haired Alemis in her pretty tunic and laughed, but most were too busy enjoying the music. A Dunmer bard was playing a lively tune on her lute, and the fair-haired Nord serving girl had joined in the dancing, whirling in a circle with an ecstatically happy old sea-captain on her arm.
"Not at all," Alemis replied calmly.
"You look confused," Rolff said. He reached out to tug on the lace trim of her tunic. Confused, or confusing? Alemis thought, sighing to herself. This was going to end in another fight, and once again, it'd all be her fault. "I don't like it," Rolff went on. "Too many strange folk around Windhelm these days."
"Really?" Alemis raised her eyebrows. "Funny how neither of us likes the way the other looks. Maybe we should leave each other alone." She was itching to slam her fist through this idiot's face, but she didn't fancy spending the night on the streets of Windhelm, or worse, in a jail cell.
The bard, perhaps in a fit of daring while the aggressive Rolff was distracted, had switched to playing an old Vvardenfell folk tune. One or two Nords grumbled at this and wandered off, but most either didn't notice, or didn't care, staying to dance with the cheerful serving girl. "As though that sort of thing ain't enough," Rolff went on, nodding his head unsteadily at the bard. He leaned in closer. "I'd like to know, what in Oblivion do you think you are?"
"I'd like to know why in Oblivion you think that's any of your business," Alemis said quietly, setting down her mug.
Let Me Explain [3/4]
"You ask all travelers that? Do you want my coin, or not? If so, I'll take a room, and a meal. Otherwise I'll be on my way."
"Humph," said Elda. "Thirty septims. Room's down that way."
Alemis was too cold and tired to care about the innkeeper's rudeness, or the fact that she was obviously being overcharged. The boar Elda was serving for the night's meal was still roasting, so Alemis ordered a pail of hot water - which cost her another five septims, though it should have been included with the room - and went to her room to bathe.
She looked herself over in the reflection of a silver bowl on the mantelpiece in her room. After days on the road, she really needed to shave. She got out her dagger, cleaned it in the hot water, and used it with the foam from some crushed mountain flowers to clear the stubble from her cheeks and jawline.
Once she was shaved, washed and dried, and dressed in a clean but creased blue skirt and a pretty, lace-trimmed tunic, she felt more like herself. She smiled at her reflection in the silver bowl. Not bad, she thought, and headed back into the great hall to eat.
She took her meal upstairs with the rest of the evening's patrons, drawn by the sound of music and laughter. Hard lessons in life had made Alemis reserved, but she enjoyed the company of people. Some people, anyway.
She didn't enjoy the company of Rolff Stone-Fist, as she soon discovered.
"What do we have here?" the Nord demanded, wandering drunkenly over upon catching sight of Alemis minding her own business, seated at a table in a corner of the inn's great hall. "Are you confused?"
A few others nearby glanced over, looked at broad-shouldered, dark-haired Alemis in her pretty tunic and laughed, but most were too busy enjoying the music. A Dunmer bard was playing a lively tune on her lute, and the fair-haired Nord serving girl had joined in the dancing, whirling in a circle with an ecstatically happy old sea-captain on her arm.
"Not at all," Alemis replied calmly.
"You look confused," Rolff said. He reached out to tug on the lace trim of her tunic. Confused, or confusing? Alemis thought, sighing to herself. This was going to end in another fight, and once again, it'd all be her fault. "I don't like it," Rolff went on. "Too many strange folk around Windhelm these days."
"Really?" Alemis raised her eyebrows. "Funny how neither of us likes the way the other looks. Maybe we should leave each other alone." She was itching to slam her fist through this idiot's face, but she didn't fancy spending the night on the streets of Windhelm, or worse, in a jail cell.
The bard, perhaps in a fit of daring while the aggressive Rolff was distracted, had switched to playing an old Vvardenfell folk tune. One or two Nords grumbled at this and wandered off, but most either didn't notice, or didn't care, staying to dance with the cheerful serving girl. "As though that sort of thing ain't enough," Rolff went on, nodding his head unsteadily at the bard. He leaned in closer. "I'd like to know, what in Oblivion do you think you are?"
"I'd like to know why in Oblivion you think that's any of your business," Alemis said quietly, setting down her mug.