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<\/p>\nJust outside the gates of Riften was a stable with a matched set of dappled gray horses, a rugged gray-haired Nord grooming them, and a carriage manned by another short-sleeved blonde man, ready for hire.\u00a0 \u201cHello there,\u201d called the driver.<\/p>\n
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She walked over to him. \u201cGood day to you. What can you tell me about Riften? It\u2019s probably obvious, but I\u2019m new here.\u201d\u00a0 Carriage drivers went everywhere and remembered more gossip from their last trip than most people heard in a lifetime.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf it\u2019s a room you\u2019re needing, head to the Bee and Barb. But watch your coin purse. It\u2019s no secret that the Thieves Guild makes its home here.\u201d He dropped his voice lower. \u201cAnd if you should run into Maven Black-Briar, try to keep on her good side.\u00a0 This is her city, and nobody else\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAlright, thanks for the tip,\u201d Dagnell said, waving. That sounds good, she thought; the Bee and Barb it is. Before she had gone much more than ten more steps toward the gate, though, one of its two guards stopped her.<\/p>\n
\u201cHold there. Before you can enter the city, you have to pay the visitor\u2019s tax,\u201d he said, holding out his hand.<\/p>\n
She was sure her mouth must have fallen open just a bit. \u201cVisitor\u2019s tax?\u00a0 What\u2019s the visitor\u2019s tax for?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the privilege of entering the city,\u201d he replied, in a tone that implied she\u2019d just asked the stupidest question he\u2019d heard in a long time. \u201cWhat does it matter?\u201d For the briefest of astonished moments she started to reach for her coin purse.\u00a0 Then she stopped.<\/p>\n
She had absolutely never encountered a visitor\u2019s tax at any place she\u2019d ever been, and at this point she\u2019d been a lot of places. Even as a theory it made no sense. If every traveler had to pay a tax simply to enter the city they would simply go someone else and Riften would have no commerce to speak of.\u00a0 She could understand an entry fee for shipments, maybe; but not for visitors.<\/p>\n
She looked them both up and down and snorted.\u00a0 \u201cNo, sorry, I don\u2019t buy it. This is nothing more than a shakedown. Obviously.\u201d<\/p>\n
The guard looked startled, and then flustered. \u201cAlright, alright, keep your voice down,\u201d he said in a hushed tone. \u201cYou want everyone to hear you? I\u2019ll let you in. Just let me unlock the gate.\u201d She\u2019d been right; this was an under-the-table deal and he didn\u2019t want to get caught doing it. He walked under the archway to the gate and worked a great key into it.\u00a0 \u201cGate\u2019s unlocked. You can enter whenever you\u2019re ready.\u201d She shook her head at both of them as she passed, wondering how they ever expected to get away with such a ridiculous thing. Maybe most people were just more gullible than she was, or more willing to simply do as they were told.\u00a0 Not Dag. And particularly not Dag without money.<\/p>\n
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Dagnell stepped inside the gate to take stock of Riften. It was an interesting place at first glance: built mostly of wood, old and worn, some buildings with sagging rooflines, but still a lot more appealing to her than Windhelm had been in spite of its slight air of neglect. Maybe it was just that she was used to living near water, not snow, and she smelled water.<\/p>\n
To her left were several larger homes, their yards surrounded by stone and wrought iron fences and filled with flowers. An old canal bisected the town, a full story below street level.\u00a0 Boardwalks ran along both sides of it, at street level and below at water level, and several footbridges led across it. From her vantage point she could just see the circular marketplace in the center of town; it sounded full of activity.\u00a0 To her right were a number of older buildings and homes, as well as a large building with an inn sign hanging at its entry. She couldn\u2019t see a fishery, but she knew it was there; it was hard to disguise that familiar and distinctive odor.<\/p>\n
\u201cWelcome to Riften, home of the Thieves Guild, or so they\u2019d have you believe things,\u201d a passing guard told her sarcastically. \u201cIt\u2019s all lies. They\u2019re just thugs. Vermin creeping around in the Ratway.\u201d\u00a0 Interesting, Dag thought.\u00a0 There it is again, Thieves Guild.\u00a0 She would definitely keep her eyes open and her head down in this place. Meanwhile, she needed to trade some of her looted gear for coin. She headed toward the marketplace.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know you,\u201d announced a deep, gravelly, threatening voice to her left.<\/p>\n
An impressively large, dark-haired man with biceps the size of tree trunks was leaning against a building\u2019s support pillar, frowning at her. \u201cYou in Riften looking for trouble?\u201d he growled.<\/p>\n
Dag considered several smart responses she might make as she tried to take the measure of him. She didn\u2019t like being threatened, but he was a big, mean-looking man with an attitude and he clearly wouldn\u2019t take well to being challenged. No fistfight with him was going to end well for her.\u00a0 What she settled on was \u201cI\u2019m just passing through.\u201d\u00a0 That was true enough and he\u2019d just made it truer.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah? Well I got news for you.\u00a0 There\u2019s nothing to see here.\u00a0 Last thing the Black-Briars need is some stranger stickin\u2019 their nose where it doesn\u2019t belong.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ah, Black-Briar, she thought.\u00a0 As in the meadery Roggi had raved about, and the Maven she\u2019d just heard mentioned.\u00a0 \u201cThe Black-Briars?\u201d she asked to be certain.<\/p>\n
He sneered.\u00a0 \u201cThe Black-Briars have Riften in their pocket and the Thieves Guild watchin\u2019 their back, so keep your nose out of their business. Me? I\u2019m Maul.\u00a0 I watch the streets for \u2018em.\u201d<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t know that I personally would have shared that with a complete stranger just through the gates, she thought, but maybe people are different in Riften.\u00a0 She had no intention of doing anything at all with the Black-Briars\u2019 business, though, except maybe buying a mead, so it wouldn\u2019t be a problem.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you need dirt on anything, I\u2019m your guy \u2013 but it\u2019ll cost you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Oh please, she thought.\u00a0 Another shakedown? There was definitely something fishy in Riften, and it wasn\u2019t just the fragrance of the place.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, I don\u2019t need anything, but thanks.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you change your mind, I\u2019ll be down at the docks.\u00a0 Try anything, and I\u2019ll gut you like a fish.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dag had gutted what felt like a lifetime of fish back in Port Hunding on Stros M\u2019Kai, and knew exactly what he meant. She decided not to indulge the words that were begging to come out of her mouth. \u201cThanks,\u201d she said instead, and continued past him.<\/p>\n
There was a lot of foot traffic in the marketplace, enough that Dagnell stepped back out of the way to look around for the smithy she could hear over the hum of business. Like everything else she had seen in Skyrim, the place was weather-beaten and gray, but Riften at least felt alive.\u00a0 Shopkeepers called out their wares.\u00a0 A woman somewhere, Dunmer from her accent, cried \u201cAll meat guaranteed clean and free from rockjoint!\u201d\u00a0 Dag smiled. One would hope.\u00a0<\/em> A man called \u201cBeautiful baubles and gleaming gemstones here!\u201d in the distinctive tones only the Argonian lizard people could make. And then there was: \u201cGenuine Falmerblood Elixir! Make love like a saber cat or crush your enemies to dust like a giant! Only twenty septims a bottle,\u201d in a lilting brogue that reminded her of a sailor she\u2019d met once when his ship arrived from the far-northern island of Falskaar.\u00a0 Right, she thought, amused.\u00a0 What a deal.<\/p>\n The smithy was on the other side of the marketplace, under a sign that named it the Scorched Hammer.\u00a0 The smith, a great strawberry-blonde bear of a man with a blacksmith\u2019s huge arms and a dirty face, looked up to greet her.<\/p>\n \u201cCome to see Balimund work wonders with steel?\u201d\u00a0 She couldn\u2019t help but smile.<\/p>\n \u201cNo, I\u2019ve come to do some trading, if that\u2019s ok.\u00a0 Let me figure out what I have that you might want.\u201d\u00a0 He nodded and went back to hammering out what looked like a war axe head.<\/p>\n As she sorted through the looted gear, the distinctive brogue again lifted out over the marketplace.\u00a0 \u201cLearn a library\u2019s worth of knowledge in a moment, or grow back that missing limb with my genuine Falmerblood Elixir!\u201d<\/p>\n She laughed out loud in spite of herself. Falmerblood Elixir indeed.\u00a0 Even if you could get close enough to a Falmer without being killed, from what little she knew of the creatures descended from Snow Elves, the chances of getting its blood back to an alchemist would be slim.\u00a0 She simply had to get a look at whoever was selling \u2026 whatever it was he was selling.<\/p>\n Dag didn\u2019t have a good vantage point from her place next to the smithy, but she scanned the market. Though she could only see his back, the spiel seemed to be coming from a tall man with shoulder-length red hair and green robes, standing in front of a stall full of large red apothecary bottles. A con man, she decided. Through and through, and a good one judging by the number of people gathered around his stall. Amused, she looked at his prospective customers and saw more than a few fluttering eyelashes over flushed cheeks, both men\u2019s and women\u2019s, paying him rapt attention.\u00a0 Now there, she thought, is a charmer, a real pro.\u00a0 She grinned again and shook her head.\u00a0 Falmerblood Elixir.\u00a0 Smooth, Red.<\/em><\/p>\n Balimund was happy to take all of the spare equipment off her hands.\u00a0 His prices were fair, he was pleasant, he was genuinely proud of his forge and his work, and she liked him. With some of the proceeds, she bought from him some lockpicks and a bit of steel with which to improve her bow.\u00a0 A few minutes\u2019 work at his benches gave her a weapon that felt solid in her hands. She could just hear the satisfying splat it would make out of the next spider she encountered.<\/p>\n It had been good haul, and as she settled her coin purse into her pocket she considered the purchases she needed to make with it.\u00a0 Heal potions were a must as well as at least one cure disease potion — gods-damned wolves and their rockjoint \u2013 and most definitely a good meal and a night at the inn in a clean bed.<\/p>\n A quiet, deep voice, like the purr of a great beast, spoke disturbingly close to her ear.<\/p>\n \u201cNever done an honest day\u2019s work in your life for all that coin ye carry, eh lass.\u201d It wasn\u2019t a question; it was a statement.<\/p>\n It was a lovely voice, rich, intensely persuasive, guaranteed to turn heads, and Dagnell was furious that Red had been able to get close enough to her, unheard, to use it on her. She turned to glare at him, to size him up, to get a good look at him up close.<\/p>\n Up close, Red was big. Very big. Imposing, even. He was tall, his eyes half a head above her. It was hard to guess his age, but he wasn\u2019t a young man. He had a well-creased brow and there were lines at the corners of his eyes and his full lips, but he hadn\u2019t a hint of grey. His long, aquiline nose had been broken at least once in his life, giving him the look of a bird of prey.\u00a0 His hair wasn\u2019t the strawberry blonde common among the Nords she\u2019d met, but a rich auburn that turned bright red where the sun struck it. An even more unfortunate, jagged scar than hers, on his left cheek, interrupted a short, neat beard. But the most impressive thing about him was his eyes. They were an intense, brilliant green, almost mesmerizing, and they carried the look of deep intelligence.<\/p>\n The man had definitely been around Tamriel a few times. He was not exactly handsome, certainly not ugly, but definitely, exceptionally striking; between that and his charming voice, no wonder he\u2019d had hearts beating in the marketplace. Right now, though, his eyes were calculating, maybe a bit too sure of himself. No, she decided; definitely too sure of himself.<\/p>\n And the green robes looked good on him, they were a terrific choice with his coloring, but they didn\u2019t seem to go<\/em> with him somehow. They might easily have been concealing a belly gone soft and round in another man of his vintage but she had no illusions about this one; he was bulky but not soft, with great broad shoulders and an aura of real strength.\u00a0 He was not just a slick tradesman hawking his wares, not in the slightest.<\/p>\n She would not be brawling with him, either.<\/p>\n Dagnell was well and truly annoyed, though.\u00a0 Never worked a day in my life, indeed, she fumed. Sure, she\u2019d slipped that odd coin into her pocket here and there, and had no major qualms about taking the gear from a dead man, but when you were alone and hungry you did what needed doing.\u00a0 Most of her life, she\u2019d worked hard. Well, at least part of it, anyway.<\/p>\n \u201cExcuse me, what did you say?\u201d she snapped, trying but failing to conceal her annoyance.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m saying you\u2019ve got the coin but you didn\u2019t earn a septim of it honestly.\u00a0 I can tell.\u201d His eyes were narrowed, brows lowered, the corner of his mouth quirked in an expression that was either amusement or a sneer.<\/p>\n Dag was even more annoyed. \u201cThat\u2019s quite a hello,\u201d she said. \u201cWhat on earth would lead you to say such a thing?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s all about sizing up your mark, lass.\u00a0 The way they walk, what they\u2019re wearing.\u00a0 It\u2019s a dead giveaway.\u00a0 Look how you sniffed out my little scheme at the north gate. That\u2019s what I\u2019m talking about.\u201d<\/p>\n Oho, she thought. So I was right about you, speaking of sizing up a mark. And your little scheme was pretty obvious, Red, like it or no.<\/p>\n \u201cHmm.\u201d She looked him up and down, slowly, hoping she was making an observable point. \u201cYou<\/em> certainly seem to be well acquainted with wealth.\u201d<\/p>\n His mouth smiled just a bit, but his eyes did not.\u00a0 \u201cWealth is my business.\u00a0 Help me out and I can add to yours,\u201d he purred. \u201cWould you like a taste?\u201d<\/p>\n This was just too, too much. A taste, was it then? Really? Taste this, you skeever, she thought. I\u2019ve met your kind before. You think I\u2019m just going to melt at your charm and your suggestive language like a young maid about to have her first kiss. You think too highly of yourself. Well, I can play games too.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat did you have in mind?\u201d she asked, in as interested a tone as she could manage.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve got a bit of an errand to perform, but I need an extra pair of hands. And in my line of work, extra hands are well paid.\u201d<\/p>\n It was all she could do not to roll her eyes. Oh, the pretension. On the other hand, a coin was a coin and her desire to get re-established and out of Skyrim was growing stronger by the minute. It was going to take a tidy sum to replace her scimitars, if in fact she could find anything remotely like them. It wouldn\u2019t hurt to find out what he intended.<\/p>\n \u201cSo\u2026what do I have to do?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSimple. I\u2019m going to cause a distraction.\u201d\u00a0 She was to take a ring from a lockbox under one vendor\u2019s stand \u2013 Madesi, the Argonian jeweler — and put it into the pocket of another \u2013 Brand-Shei, the cranky-looking Dunmer she\u2019d heard selling \u201coddities from Morrowind.\u201d<\/p>\n I could probably do that without too much trouble, Dag thought; but there was a lot of risk involved and he didn\u2019t seem to be taking on any of it in this scheme of his. Red also spoke as though her participation in this \u201cerrand\u201d was already settled, which irked her even more. He needed to be taken down a peg.<\/p>\n She widened her eyes and tried to look shocked and innocent.<\/p>\n \u201cBut \u2026 isn\u2019t that illegal? You want me to break the law?\u201d<\/p>\n She had him.\u00a0 His eyebrows went up and his head twitched backward a tiny bit, as though he\u2019d been stung. Only for the slightest moment, though; then his smooth demeanor returned, with a frown trying hard to masquerade as a smile. \u201cHmm. Sorry. I usually have a nose for this kind of thing.\u00a0 If you change your mind, come and find me.\u201d\u00a0 He sauntered away toward his stand, but not without giving her another brief, curious glance and a frown over his shoulder. Red was definitely not accustomed to being denied.<\/p>\n She laughed as she left the marketplace to explore the rest of Riften. By the gods, it felt good to win.<\/p>\n Just outside the gates of Riften was a stable with a matched set of dappled gray horses, a rugged gray-haired Nord grooming them, and a carriage manned by another short-sleeved blonde man, ready for hire.\u00a0 \u201cHello there,\u201d called the driver. She walked over to him. \u201cGood day to you. What can you tell me about … <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/baakay.com\/FanFic\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/1-1-5-3.png\")
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<\/p>\nPart I: Survivors<\/a><\/div>\nPrevious<\/a> \/ Next<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"