Agnis - Soup for the Soul

Inside of Fort Greymoor, Imperial soldiers settle down in the mess hall. An elven maid serves bowls of stew and glasses of wine. She leaves the hall and enters the servants room where an elderly woman sits at a round table.

"Thank you," the elderly woman speaks quietly. "You really didn't need to do that, I could have served the food." A slight look of relief rests on her face, tendrils of wispy grey hairs covering some of it.

"It's not a problem, Agnis." the elf woman smiles. "Soup for your soul?" She sets down two bowls of potato soup and a small plate of bread scraps.

The elf girl slides one of the bowls in front of Agnis, but not before placing some bread scraps on top. Agnis picks up a spoon and begins eating, as well as the other woman.

"How did you come to work here?" Agnis looks up from her bowl and faces the one questioning her. Her hair is tied back revealing a diamond face shape with eyes that are slightly less upturned than other elves and a sharp nose.

"I don't see it as work. This fort is practically my home, I'm just serving the guests that inhabit it for the time being." Agnis places another spoonful in her mouth. "I come with the fort. Come bandits, Stormcloaks or Imperials, no one will drive me off."

"You're stronger than you look, if you can fight off anyone that tries to remove you." The elf chuckles.

"What about you?" Agnis stares quizzically at her. "How did you come to work here?" She watches as the new cook fidgets with her dress.

"I.. showed up with a chef's hat on and they just let me in." She crinkles her dress in her hands before making eye contact with Agnis who chuckles.

"For soldiers, they don't do very well with security."

"You're telling me? They didn't even ask my name!"

The two chuckle before the elf continues eating and Agnis stares at the center of the table. A ceramic cup sits with water in it, holding a purple flower.

"What kind of flower is that?" The elf looks up from her bowl to see what Agnis is talking about.

"Oh. That's a Nightshade flower." she explains. "It's mostly used as a flower for graves and is often used to make poisons. While it is a dangerous flower, it's still nice to look at."

"I don't think it's that pretty, but whatever." Agnis whispers and continues to look at the flower. Silence surrounds them while they listen to the rowdy soldiers in the next room.

"Who do you think will win the war?" the elf speaks up.

"I don't really care, as long as they don't try to kick me out of my fort and learn to clean up after themselves." The last part is spoken louder than the rest, as Agnis wants them to hear her griping about them. "While they are cleaner than the bandits that used to inhabit the fort, they can do much better."

"Bandits used to live here?"

"Yes, then some Khajiit claiming to be Dragonborn showed up with a friend and killed them all. They helped with moving the bodies out but I was left to clean up all the blood! It took days to get it all gone..." she mutters angrily. The elf looks startled but calms down quickly.

The girl gets out of her seat and begins brushing herself off before going into the other room and cleaning up after the Imperial soldiers. Agnis stands from her seat to lend a hand and is stopped by the elf.

"Go ahead and finish eating. You've been cleaning up after others since forever, I'm new. Take a break and if I do something wrong, you can fix it later." She stops brushing herself off as Agnis sits back down to finish eating. She picks up a bottle of mead and takes a swig, the warmth of the alcohol running through her body shortly after causes her to feel dizzy.

Her head spins as her vision gets more and more blurry. She places a hand on the table to help herself stand but it only slams on the table with her head following shortly after. Looking over to the doorway, she can see the cook watching her. The elf removes her apron and drops it to the ground before leaving the fort. Agnis struggles to keep her eyes open before finally succumbing as her last breath escapes her.