JoS/Henriette/24th Journal - My Master and a Stranger

Morning Star, 24th, 4E 203

I could tell that something was wrong when I returned to Falkreath, but I had no idea how bad things were truly going to get. The most frustrating part about this is that I haven't really done anything wrong! Well, not anything you could prove anyway.

I entered the inn, but couldn't find my friends anywhere. The place was suspiciously quiet too. I was knocked unconscious from behind, and when I woke up my mouth was gagged and my arms and feet were tied up tightly with a rope. I was laying naked inside cargo of a carriage running through a rough, rocky path. I was in pitch-black darkness, I couldn't make anything of what was going on outside, and I didn't know where I was going, or who had done this. I hadn't truly been this scared in a long while. It was like that for about an hour, until my captors finally pulled away the thick leather blanket that was preventing light from coming inside and stared me down.

"That's her alright", they said as they took me and dragged me by a leash to Castle Dour. They had brought me to Solitude, and they threw me in prison here. Waiting for me inside the cell as I laid naked on his feet was my Imperial master, who was holding the piece of crystalline metal in his hand, the very piece I had found in Mzulft.

He didn't greet me, he didn't seem happy nor angry, but he seemed very serious. He just pulled the gag from my face and asked me, "where did you find this?"

I saw no reason to lie to him, so I told him exactly where I found this treasure. He also asked what my business in that place was, to which I also answered honestly by saying it was business with the College of Winterhold. I thought it would be in my best interest to do so.

His thin-eyed expression scared me. It was like he was staring a hole through me. He said that he's not going to ask me about it, or what in the world had gone down in that place, but he also said that he was not happy, the Imperial mages aren't happy and most of all, the Thalmor aren't happy. I had caused a lot of unnecessary trouble and made a lot of unnecessary enemies. "Not only that, but you just had to get yourself in trouble in Falkreath too."

I said I have no idea what he's talking about, that I've done nothing, but it seems that it doesn't matter what I said. Jarl Siddgeir of Falkreath had placed a grand bounty on my head for aiding in an escape of a dangerous criminal, calling for my immediate imprisonment. There was no concrete evidence that I had done it, but a guard had said they saw me leave the prison when they were about to enter the place themselves for checks, only to find Sinding's cell empty. Coincidentally, my Master's men had been also looking for me since the day they heard news from Markarth. What news? Well, those guards I had to deal with were on my master's payroll. He has men in the Reach too, he seems to have a lot of influence in all holds under Imperial influence…

His men were just hoping to bring me to him, maybe even peacefully, because let's be real, I would've answered to his summons gladly, but since I had already been taken to the Falkreath prison, they had to resort to a plan B. Luckily for my Master, him and Siddgeir are friends, and have a little deal going on. Siddgeir, according to him, is a kind of Jarl who doesn't really care that much about duties of a Jarl, but enjoys the benefits that come with it: meat, wine, women, wealth… Of course he pretends and acts as just as he can, but if he can strike a good deal in a Moon Sugar smoke-filled backroom, he will. My master's men handed Jarl a check saying that they'd pay my bounty of twenty thousand Septims to have me "freed". Yeah, that's how deep in shit I was.

That freed is in quotation marks because in truth, I haven't been really freed. I've just been turned from a prisoner serving a multi-year sentence to a slave. I guess that's a better deal for me, as Siddgeir just might've had me tortured in exchange for information about Sinding, or maybe even have me executed.

What's more, my friends have been imprisoned too. He couldn't tell me where they are and what he plans to do with them, but he has stressed that it's in my best interest to do exactly as I'm told and don't even think about causing any more trouble than I already have.

Either way, at this point I'm pretty sure I'm royally fucked for the foreseeable future. I mean, my Master paid that twenty thousand Septims. What in Oblivion can I even do to pay that back to him? It also raises the question of, why is he so willing to pay that much to have me freed? Maybe he thinks I can make that money back to him? Well, if he intends to keep me as his slave for good, that might as well be the case… A girl like me can probably make him a lot of money over years… I don't want to think about that as a possibility, but it's simply the truth.

I don't imagine Solitude prison being a place you can just escape from either, at least not through Castle Dour. The prison is connected to the caverns and the East Empire Company's warehouse, but I don't see how escaping through that place would be any easier. There are just too many guards and soldiers here. I'm fucked, unless of course, there's something else he can use me for. You see, he was not holding that piece of blue crystalline metal in his hands for nothing.

He has been looking for pieces like the one I had for a long time now, and had one in his possession already. He thinks he knows the locations of one more, has a strong suspicion about where the third could be, and that this one I found is the fourth piece, the one he didn't have any idea where to find. They're something called Aetherium, something that Dwemer used to construct something back in the day. Apparently, this element is quite powerful, and my master here is looking to collect the pieces together because he wants to forge something terribly powerful out of them… For what purpose, he didn't specify, I don't need to know according to him. He said that he's happy to take the shard out from my hands. Did I get a reward? Kind of. The bounty on my head was not impossibly high, and he already paid it off in my stead, but I still owe it back to him. One piece of Aetherium isn't going to cut it. He expects more labor from me and "my followers" until our bounties can be paid off completely.

Alright, they're my friends, my equals, not my followers… But I digress.

He says that he expects total and complete obedience from me. No tricks, no nothing. If he even as far as suspects I might be planning escape, there will be a harsh punishment. He hasn't really even said anything about what my work entails, but I don't really need a strong imagination for that. It's probably the same old, me serving bandits down in the warehouses for a full working day, or maybe even guards in the Castle Dour itself, or maybe even in a public pillory like that one time.

Now, he has me chained inside a jailcell. They haven't provided me any extra restraints, so I can talk and use my hands freely, but the cuffs and collars on my ankles, legs, wrists and my neck slow me down considerably, and have some anti-magic enhancements placed on them as well to make sure I don't have any tricks up my sleeve. I can still access my fangs and my voice, but I wouldn't dare to use them. I need to keep up a good act. This is probably the best deal I'm ever going to get given the circumstances and I should be thankful that things aren't even worse. I won't protest, I can't afford to protest. He still owns me.

Morning Star, 26th, 4E 203

Few days have passed since I was imprisoned in Solitude. I had no strength to write yesterday, not after what the thugs down in the underbellies put me through. This morning my master came to speak to me, bringing me some very welcome news.

He began by asking simple questions like how have I been, am I worried, even scared? To some extent, I am scared, but honestly, worried is the best word to describe my current feelings. Then, he asked me something that I have thought about in the past, something that has puzzled me greatly. "Do you know why I've let you roam free, why I haven't just kept you here as a prisoner here?"

I couldn't answer his question, but I have two theories. One, in reality he's not as powerful as he claims to be and that he doesn't actually have any concrete evidence against me or my crimes, or two, he has some other use of me than to have me as his slave. Both theories are possible, but neither is without a flaw though.

To criticize my first theory, he wouldn't necessarily need evidence to keep me as his slave, as he could just enslave me and keep me underground without having to go through law enforcement. That probably isn't without a risk for him though, but if there was one man in this place who could get away with it, it's probably him. He has already proven to be a very influential figure. He has friends in high places, and eyes across Skyrim and beyond… So yeah, who knows?

As for my second guess, if he has some use for me, he could still be able to have me as my slave and only use me when he really needs me. Honestly, my situation now is actually the latter, as he may want to keep me under his thumb for good considering the stuff I've been doing recently. It's like, I've made too many enemies, I've caused too much trouble according to him, the world's becoming more unsafe for me every day I walk outside a free woman… I can see his perspective, but I can take care of myself regardless of what he may think of me, just like I have been able to in the past. He's being strangely protective of me, almost as if he wants, or even needs me to be alive.

Of course, all of that is just pure speculation and I don't know what his true motives are.

He did admit that he does have use for me though. He recognizes me as an adventurer and an assassin without equal in Skyrim, and to have my talents waste and rot away working for him as a sex-slave simply wouldn't do my talents justice. According to him, it took months for him to find even one piece of Aetherium after sending his goons to retrieve it and despite his best efforts, he has not been able to find another one in over a year. Yet, I was able to bring him one out of the blue, completely unannounced.

To cut to the chase, he wants me to join one of the expeditions. He has pinpointed one certain location to an old Dwemer city called Arkngthamz and he has a small group of Mercenaries ready to dispatch, a group that he wants me to be a part of. "Do this, and your bounty is cleared", he said. I'm meant to meet with the leader tomorrow, a leader that my master says I'm expected to obey fully and without any kind of question. "Don't forget, I have your followers with me", he reminded me.

This all comes with a steep disclaimer though: if over the coming weeks I can't prove myself useful to him, if my future journeys will be as fruitless as they have been for the mercenaries he's been hiring, he won't have any use for me on the field. If that's the case… I guess he'll force me to work for him in other ways. He didn't outright say I'll be a slave for the rest of my life if I fail, but that's what I believe is at stake here. I'm in a must-win situation. I can't afford fail, not for my own sake, not for all of my friends' sake.

I suppose I could just try to flee, but would that even work out for me? Would I even dare leave my friends behind? I'm not sure… Best not to worry too much about it. After all, if I succeed in my quest, I'll have nothing to worry about. Probably.

I won't be working today at all, since I'm actually needed at full strength. I'll try to sleep and rest as much as I can.

Morning Star, 27th, 4E 203

My master put me in a restrictive collar, being enchanted by a powerful shock spell to keep me in check "just in case". This chief of this party is a man called Julius, an accomplished Spellsword hailing from Cyrodiil, but he has made his fortune all over Tamriel. Julius himself prides himself being a specialist when it comes to Dwemer cities, and most of his portfolio of adventures comes from Hammerfell, where he's working for some dude who's been researching the history of Rourken Clan.

The group is not that organized though, and only three of the people in it are actually Julius's own men, with the rest being other contracts my Master has for himself. Honestly, they act more like a gang of bandits than mercenaries, indulging in drugs and other vices, with the big difference being that because of their success they can live relatively normal lives without relying in crime. I have a feeling this isn't going to be a well-oiled machine.

They allowed me to hold on to my own weapons, but gave me some skimpy leather to wear. All of my own armor, poisons and potions are in Solitude. We've set up a camp outside the ruin for the night, and Julius seems to have made it his mission to remind me that even though I'm a part of them on this mission, I'm still also his bitch. Him and his gang abused me sexually for quite a while, after which they got straight back to drinking and laughing. Clearly, they do not view me as their equal or even care about me being here. Julius himself said that he has no idea why a kid like myself was even allowed to come here to do the work of men and adults. Kind of silly for him to say that when you consider that I'm not even the only kid here.

The group consists of eight adult men, for your information. There's two Imperials besides Julius, a Dunmer, an Orc, a Redguard, a Bosmer and a Khajit. This Khajit was packing the most meat by the way. Gods, did his barbs hurt so good. There's also one girl, a young Altmer, probably a young teen, maybe a little older than me. She's also a slave like me, or maybe she's part of the group. I'm not actually so sure. She is wearing some nice armor and robes after all. The men aren't as forceful with her as they are with me, but she's also here to provide pleasure.

I'm barely thinking straight because of the shit they made me drink… I'm getting horny again. I have a feeling they're not done with me for the night. Honestly, I hope they go on with it soon… I want more of their dicks…

Morning Star, 28th, 4E 203

Wow, what an excavation that was. We've made some progress, but we're done for the day.

They're a decent fighting force, but some of these guys clearly aren't made for this. One of the Imperials died after slipping down from a cliff, while the Dunmer stepped into a trap while he was berating me for being useless, reminding me that I'm a slave and that he can't wait to screw his little n'wah later. Maybe if he tried to use his brains instead of thinking with his dick he would still be alive! What a moron.

Falmer we were up against at least have been easy pickings for them, as were the occasional constructs we faced. Still, I really, really feel like they should listen to my advice for a bit. Julius won't take a word from me, even though I'm clearly smarter than this pathetic mortal… No, no, he's not taking orders from a mere slave, he keeps telling me… He says he'll gag me the next time I open my mouth and talk back. Does he even know who I am? Did my Master seriously not tell him?

We've set up another camp, and they have continued from where they left last night. They've still got a lot of drugs and alcohol, and they still have energy to revel in their sinful indulgence… They did me again for good part of two hours before getting bored once more. They haven't given me any drugs today, and I'm not sure how to feel about it.

You see, I don't think I've ever described how Skooma actually messes my body and head up. It's probably easy to just downplay its effects and say something like, "You get over it eventually, so what's the big deal?". In truth, its sweet taste is so good it makes you forget about everything and just think about happy thoughts. The moment you taste it on top of your tongue… Ah, it's a heaven. Nothing tastes like it. It's like sucking blood after being deprived of it for weeks. Wait, that's probably a bad comparison, because you might not know how good it feels to suck blood either… Whatever…

The point is, Skooma messes up your head in a big way, almost as if nothing even matters anymore and everything is just fine… It just makes you so, so very happy. It's one of the reasons why Bandits use Skooma so much on their victims. It makes victims complicit in the act, make them act like willing participants regardless of the situations.

The withdrawal symptoms are what make Skooma so damn terrible though, because no matter how good it makes you feel for that one high, it makes you feel equally terrible afterwards. Your entire body shakes and shivers just with the thought of tasting that sweet nectar again, you feel like doing anything just to get more of it, and I mean anything… Another reason why Bandits love using it on their victims.

There are also certain ingredients that can alter Skooma's effects on your mind and your body. Some give you an extra kick, some boost your abilities, some even fight to nullify the negative effects so it can be enjoyed like alcohol without horrible drawbacks. Because of this, even cheap and common ingredients have been known to soar in value thanks to it being so sought after by criminals, which in turn has also made them scarcer for your typical Alchemists to get their hands on them. I believe Jazbay Grape is one such ingredient. Some ingredients are commonly used as sexual stimulants too, like Chaurus Eggs. Those bugs are infamous for being able to poison their victims, and this poison is also a strong aphrodisiac. Eggs are an excellent source of it.

Yeah, as if the high isn't enough, it also gives you those same shaky, shivery sensations while making you impossibly horny, and the only way to make that terrible, itching need to go away is to be satisfied. That's why when I wrote I want more of their dicks yesterday, it was purely because of how much Skooma had messed up my head, not because I wanted it or anything.

Julius told me to keep guard by the way… There isn't even much to guard down here. That's why I'm writing so much in the first place, to pass time. They don't seem to care about me writing "some stupid diary" either, as according to Julius, it helps keep my mouth shut and from complaining. He's such a dick, I don't even complain too much…

Something strange also happened. I was approached by a friendly ghost, whispering something to me. She didn't want to be discovered by these bandits, so she told me to keep it quiet as well.

Her name is Katria. She's apparently the one who figured out that the Dwemer had discovered and ever fought over this Aetherium that my master now seeks. These shards are actually for a key which open the door to the only forge in Tamriel capable of smelting this precious material. She had figured out that one of the shards is located here, information which now is with my master.

He had "hired" this woman on paper, but after realizing that Katria isn't too interested in sharing her research, he resorted to more extreme methods, like blackmailing her, using some Dunmer to take credit for her work, and eventually enslaving her when nothing else worked. Katria had come here with a previous band of mercenaries because my Master thought she could guide the others to the goal. Basically, she and those guys were my predecessors, and she says that we will probably meet a similar fate because of the dangers that lurk deeper within the ruin. Well, I wish I could just flee right now, but sadly the situation is a little bit dodgy for me. I can't just run away.

She had survived initially, but also injured herself badly after being hit by an earthquake caused by some powerful Dwemer machinery deeper below. Yeah, think about that for a minute. Dwemer had technology so advanced they can actually create earthquakes. I'm so glad they're gone from this world. She spoke something about tonal manipulation and some huge wall of tonal locks, but I can't even imagine what she meant by that. As she was unable to defend herself, the Falmer had taken her as a slave, but no matter how hard they tried to keep their slave alive, Rockjoint and other sicknesses eventually caused her to lose her life in captivity. She says she's happy to have been able to pass on from that horrible fate, but her soul won't rest until she finds the Aetherium forge.

She said that she will try to help me and pass some information on to me about how she thinks the treasure deep in these ruins can be reached. "I had a journal where I kept secret from him", she said. "It contains information about the rough locations of all four pieces as well as the forge. If you can, look out for my body and take the journal. It will without a doubt prove to be invaluable to you."

I also tried asking her, what she knows about my, or I guess, our master, but she simply replied, "not a damn thing". No information about his identity, his motives, nothing.

I can't just go and fetch her journal on my own, not with these men watching over me almost all the time, but she told me where to find it. It's a small miracle they didn't figure out I was talking to someone. No matter, tomorrow's going to be an interesting day. The treasure shouldn't be too far ahead of us. I wonder how many of these guys will survive… By Sithis, if this place really is as dangerous as Katria says, I hope, no… I pray I will survive to actually live to see the day after tomorrow.

Morning Star, 29th, 4E 203

A lot of things are suddenly starting to make sense after today, but I've still got some questions. The big takeaway in all of this is though that we found the Aetherium shard. After I hand it over to my Master, I will be freed from my debt to him and he'll be missing only one more.

However, a few more actors have entered the stage to complicate this whole situation even more. First was Veezara, and by proxy, the Dark Brotherhood. He had killed three of Julius' men, and quite masterfully so. He was able to do it all quietly and undiscovered. Bravo. Julius and two more remained alongside the Altmer girl who seemed to have disappeared somewhere. Probably invisibility, as she's quite adept in Illusion. Veezara actually came for my head instead of going for Julius, as I was his closest target.

I managed to intercept his blade before he was able to strike me down. I must say, I've really come better with daggers and swords, because no way I could've intercepted anyone's melee strike like that a year or two ago. Practice makes perfect as they say. I guess he didn't expect to meet me here any less than I expected to meet him. It led to a whole lot of confusion between the two of us, as he had essentially been ordered to kill every single bandit here by an anonymous contract and there I was, dressed in their leather. Julius, who at that point had realized what was going on was shouting at me to attack Veezara, but of course, I wasn't going to do that. I had found a convenient excuse to attack Julius, who had no ways of subduing both of us. We came out on top victorious after an easy battle against the three men, and now there was just one more left standing, the young Alhmer girl.

Her invisibility had worn off, and she stood in place, clapping slowly, smiling as she told us she's impressed. Veezara damn near attacked her as he recognized her as one of them, but the girl swore she is our ally. She wasn't approaching us to fight and asked us both to put the killing tools away.

She introduced herself as Aliya. Despite her being a High Elf, her skin is actually pale and lacks the yellow pigmentation, and she's a blonde too. I initially suspected that she could be a little bit older than me because of her height, but maybe that's just because Altmer are taller than other races on average. She could very well be my age. Then again, she's definitely more developed as a woman when compared to me. Her boobs are like two tiny jellies so nothing big, not even average, but it still kind of makes me jealous. I wouldn't mind being maybe a little more grown-up sometimes…

She started talking about some previous contracts for the Brotherhood naming both Alain, one of my own kills, as well as Maluril, a kill given to a young initiate shortly after the Brotherhood relocated into Dawnstar. It confused me a little because it was actually Muiri who gave us the contract to kill Alain, not this elf. How did she know? Well, she said that she knew Muiri since she's been living there for about two years, and she also knew where to find Muiri's ex. She had leaked the information to Muiri so she could make the contract instead of Aliya. She also said she contracted us the Brotherhood to kill Julius. As proof, she even had a bag of gold, which she told to keep as an extra payment for our troubles.

Aliya also works for my master and she's actually one step above me, as she's not really considered a slave of his, but rather an actual contracted mercenary. That's only on paper though, as she's actually trying to sabotage our master's work for some reason, and her method of doing this is leaking information about some of these "excavations" to the Dark Brotherhood.

She's obviously motivated by Aetherium too. However, she's more concerned about keeping the pieces away from our Master's hands than she is about collecting them for herself. She didn't specify why, but assured that it's not a secret and that she's not hiding anything from us. It's a long story, and the crux of her argument is that our Master is looking to use the shards for nefarious needs. She also said that her original plan actually was to just find the pieces herself before our Master could, but that turned out to be a task too difficult for one lone girl. Besides, that man already has half of the pieces he needs already.

"Well, at least I'll have one at the end of today", she then said happily.

And there, as you can probably tell, we were at odds and had a little bit of a problem. You see, I kind of need to get my hands on that piece too, and I kind of need to take it to my master if I have any hopes of saving myself or my friends from him.

I tried to explain that my situation to her, told her now I have a bounty on my head, about how I absolutely need to deliver this shard to him, about how he has my friends too, about how he knows of the fact that I actually killed the Emperor… Yeah, it was dumb of me to admit to it, but then again, she already knew it had to be one of us, and she's obviously an ally since she's been contracting us and throwing money our way…

Luckily she said that she understands the situation. She's willing to make one concession here and said, "if you promise to help me get the fourth piece, you can take this one to him." I couldn't make that promise because there's factors beyond my control, but I said I'd do what I can to help her. After all, I want to be freed from his shackles as well.

Katria's ghost was waiting by her own skeleton when we got there. In her journal we also found entries about the pieces and their locations. Sure enough, one of them is where I found mine, one is here in Arkngthamz, and the one he already had was from some ruin in the mountains by the border with High Rock. The fourth piece is a tricky one, as the estimate is a very rough one. According to Katria's notes, there isn't actually any Dwemer ruins in that exact spot that has been marked, but there are some nearby, namely Raldbthar and Mzinchaleft, both of which are locations that my Master has sent his men to scour. There's also a third ruin close-by to the north, Alftand. I've been to that place too… The mark is probably closest to Raldbthar I think, so it's our best bet.

My only worry is that the piece could be as deep as in Blackreach. That place is huge and I wouldn't be surprised if there were more than just one entrance, but I can't say whenever Raldbthar is one of them or not. Regardless, I really hope we don't have to look for the piece in that cavern.

We decided to push ahead and complete our task here as quickly as possible. There were no more Falmer ahead, only a huge wall of Dwemer machinery, something that Katria calls a Tonal Lock in her diary. Yeah, this is apparently the same mechanism that caused that earthquake. Luckily for us, we had data to work with and we knew the first three steps in which to strike the Tonal resonators. It was a coinflip after that point with the two remaining resonators, and we unfortunately drew tails, awakening an ancient centurion guarding this gate. I wouldn't have managed alone, but neither could've Veezara or Aliya for that matter… I think? She's good with stealth and blade, and from my short stints of watching her also excellent with magic. No clue how deep her expertise reaches. Those bandits probably would've beaten it with their combined forces. No matter, together, we scraped by. This time, we knew exactly how to open up the lock, and got our treasure, as I told earlier.

We haven't left this place yet, not that we'll be leaving in one group anyway. I need Veezara to deliver a message to Nazir, first of all… Some good news, you see…

We concluded our day by discussing where to go from here. One of the biggest reasons why Aliya hasn't been able to solve this issue by herself is that she doesn't have the strength to do it alone. She has some allies and friends, but by her own admission she's a bit of a lone wolf. "I've always liked traveling and working alone, and most of my existing allies can't help me on this one." Despite not having the manpower to overcome this obstacle, she does have a plan.

The best way to stop our Master from getting and using the pieces is by killing him. That way she'll have the Aetherium all for herself, I'll be free along with my friends, Katria will be able to finish her life's work, and the Dark Brotherhood will have a juicy contract on their hands. That's right, that's the plan; the Dark Brotherhood will help with bringing our Master and his empire down. No need for her to place individual contracts on lone targets anymore, as she'll have our full support.

I have a feeling she's a trustworthy person though and that my worries are for nothing, but it's also clear that she's hiding something, and that she's got a lot of secrets. Like, who in Oblivion is she anyway? WHAT is she? She acts older than she looks too, but she's clearly not a Vampire, and she can't be some kind of god or a Daedric prince or anything like that either…

Anyway, Katria said she'll go ahead to Raldbthar, while Aliya said she's following me. She doesn't intend on returning to "that man" though and since I'll be returning to him alone, I'm expected to come up with some excuse about how everyone else died. We don't know when we follow Katria to our next destination, or what exactly our plan will be after I bring this third piece to my master, but if everything goes as we hope they will, we can head to fetch the fourth piece soon too.

So, that's everything I guess… I'm looking forward to the day I betray my master and set myself free.

Morning Star, 30h, 4E 203

This will probably be our only stop on the journey, and it's at Old Hroldan Inn. Aliya was planning on telling me a little bit about herself, my master and other stuff too, but we're tired. Besides, this inn is probably not a good place for that discussion, so we'll have it while traveling through the wilds to Solitude. I was feeling a little shaky too because of not being able to get Skooma, and admittedly, a little bloodthirsty too. Can't really do anything about anything but tiredness… I'll bite someone sleeping patron's neck on their sleep when we're leaving.

Anyway, sometimes special Skooma's aphrodisiac effect comes in waves. The initial high is the best, obviously, but the horniness doesn't completely go away until the withdrawal effects are gone as well. I was feeling too damn horny and Aliya noticed that. As soon as we got to the bed, she placed herself on top of me, ate me out and fingered me too. I couldn't believe she was doing that out of nowhere, and when I questioned her about it, she just playfully told me to shut up, she knows I like it. Well, she's right about that. Both her tongue and her finger work felt so amazing, I came so hard and so quick all over her lips, and couldn't keep myself quiet enough. Luckily the inn was too loud for my moans to attract any attention from patrons, but there was a young boy spying on us.

Skuli was a young boy when I first stole his heart and his virginity. Well, he still is, but he has grown to actually be considerably taller than me, although he's still a kid without a question. He's also grown to be a little bit bolder, as he came to our room uninvited and told me that he's been waiting to do me ever since the last time I came here. The last time I believe was after I escaped Cidhna, was it? Have I been here since then? I think not. Obviously not being in a mood wasn't an excuse that was going to work, but I already had a partner.

Aliya showed himself to be even more perverted than I thought, as she was more than happy to engage in threesome. She let Skuli to come between my legs and bang me, while she herself decided to sit her pretty little hip on top of my face, so I could give her the same treatment she gave to me. Her and Skuli face to face also were able to give each other some love and entwined their lips and their tongues once in a while.

That was just one position though, because we had a lot of fun afterwards as well. He ended up banging Aliya as well while I kept stealing kisses from her, all while Skuli fingered me at the same time. We ended up finishing our little fun by pressing our cheeks and tongues together while waiting for Skuli to ejaculate straight towards our open mouths, and what a decent load it was. By the end of it, I was just feeling so much better and so damn satisfied… I feel kind of bad about having to leave so quietly, considering that Skuli is now fast asleep. Who knows how long he will have to wait for me to return again.

Me and Aliya though, we just woke up and are ready to head towards Solitude as soon as I finish writing. When I asked her about last night, she just laughed and suggested we'd do it again, saying that there's nothing wrong with what we did. She also warned me to not misunderstand what she did though, as she wants to strictly stay as friends. She's fine with sex, but not interested in any girl-on-girl romance. We'll, I'm glad we agree on that… Considering that I already have a plenty of female friends with benefits, I don't mind adding her to that list.

• 25th Journal - The Forge