It was very late indeed, the deepest part of the night. \u00a0Roggi was sitting on the deck of Honeyside, relaxing in the chilly air with his feet up on the railing, nursing the lone bottle of mead he\u2019d decided to allow himself, and smiling.\u00a0 He could smell wood smoke drifting up from the cooking fire in the fishing shack just down the lake from him.\u00a0 Only the lapping of Lake Honrich against the shore broke the stillness.<\/p>\n
A guy gets to celebrate a little bit on his wedding day, after all. If I were the kind of guy who smoked a pipe, I\u2019d be doing that, too.<\/em><\/p>\n Dardeh had fallen hard asleep, the sleep of a man who\u2019d been fighting dragons and running halfway across a province.\u00a0 And making love to his new husband, Roggi thought with a grin.\u00a0 I wore him out.\u00a0 Who\u2019d ever have expected such a thing.<\/p>\n He\u2019d been watching the candlelight flicker in the fishing shack.\u00a0 Two figures had entered, some time ago, and he was fairly sure he knew who they were.\u00a0 One figure was emerging, just now, and walking toward the stairs up to Honeyside; and as he got closer Roggi confirmed that he knew who it was. He brought his feet down from the rail and reached into the barrel beside him, pulling out a full bottle of mead and setting it on the table behind him, then moved his chair back to the table and sat down again.<\/p>\n I wonder what those two were up to so late.\u00a0 I was surprised to see them there at the wedding, but it felt good, like having a real family again.\u00a0 I guess I do have a real family again.\u00a0 It can\u2019t make up for everyone I lost but oh, does it feel good. <\/em><\/p>\n He smiled to himself, thinking of how Dardeh had been once they\u2019d gotten here from the Temple. There was a difference, when you knew you weren\u2019t going to be left behind, when you knew the one you were with was as much in love with you as you were with him, when you knew there was no reason to hold back anything of yourself. It had been ecstatic.<\/p>\n Ah, Ulfric.\u00a0 You can\u2019t even begin to hold a candle to Dardeh. You\u2019re a cold man, and you\u2019ve always been a cold man. You\u2019ll never have any power over me again.\u00a0 Not ever. I\u2019ve got the real thing now. Now and forever. You, and everything you ever did to my life, I can put behind me.\u00a0 I know it. Maybe I can begin to put the rest of it behind, too.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cUp late, lad?\u201d\u00a0 Brynjolf said quietly, climbing the steps and sliding onto the chair opposite Roggi.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019d have thought you\u2019d be otherwise occupied tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n Roggi grinned at him. \u201cI could ask you the same.\u00a0 I know you don\u2019t sleep much, Bryn, but this is late even for you.\u201d He nodded at the bottle resting between them on the table.\u00a0 \u201cTake it.\u00a0 And I was.\u00a0 Earlier.\u00a0 Occupied, that is.\u00a0 Dar\u2019s been, well\u2026\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 He took a sip of his own drink while Brynjolf nodded and opened his.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t think I could ever explain what it is that he\u2019s been doing in the past few weeks with the dragons and all, but if anyone ever earned an uninterrupted sleep it\u2019s that guy.\u00a0 So I\u2019ll get him to make it up to me later.\u201d<\/p>\n Brynjolf chuckled.<\/p>\n \u201cYou surprised me, Roggi.\u201d<\/p>\n Roggi looked at Brynjolf and smiled.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m sure I did. Ah, I don\u2019t know what to say.\u00a0 It\u2019s not really as surprising as you might otherwise think, truly, not that you\u2019d have had any reason to know that. Now you do.\u201d\u00a0 He looked out over the lake, breathed in the crisp night air, and searched for words. \u201cI wish I could tell you how this is, Bryn. I feel\u2026 complete.\u00a0 Content.\u00a0 And safe. \u00a0For the first time in a very long time.\u201d<\/p>\n Brynjolf was watching him, studying his face.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ll get no judgments from me, lad.\u00a0 But safe? \u00a0Safe from what?\u00a0 You\u2019ve always seemed like the sort of person who could fend for himself, to me.\u201d<\/p>\n Roggi nodded.\u00a0 \u201cOh I can fend for myself all right.\u201d\u00a0 You don\u2019t know the half of it, Bryn, and I don\u2019t want you to know.<\/em>\u00a0 \u201cBut sometimes a person needs to be saved from himself.\u00a0 I think you know that.\u201d<\/p>\n There was a brief silence.\u00a0 Brynjolf tipped up his bottle and drank.\u00a0 Then he nodded.<\/p>\n \u201cAye.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSo now we\u2019re officially brothers. I\u2019m pretty pleased with that, personally.\u00a0 Never thought I\u2019d be saying that about someone from the Guild, but there it is.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cUnless the lass is dead, I suppose you\u2019re right.\u201d<\/p>\n I can see how you might think that would make her being gone easier to deal with, Bryn, but it doesn\u2019t.\u00a0 Missing leaves a window of hope.\u00a0 Dead is dead. <\/em><\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s not.\u00a0 I think we both know that, don\u2019t you?\u201d<\/p>\n There was another minute or two of silence, while the slight breeze rustled nearby tree branches and the lake lapped against its edges.<\/p>\n \u201cAye. I suppose I do.\u201d<\/p>\n They sat in companionable silence for a few moments, then Roggi spoke again.<\/p>\n \u201cDo you still want her back, Bryn? Because I\u2019ll keep helping you look as long as you need me.\u201d\u00a0 I owe you that. I\u2019d help anyway, but I do owe you that much regardless.<\/em><\/p>\n Brynjolf looked down at the decking and then chuckled, a brief moment of humor that was more about how well Roggi knew him than anything else. Roggi knew that chuckle.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think I need to tell you the answer to that, do I?\u201d<\/p>\n Roggi looked out over the water, and smiled again.<\/p>\n \u201cNo, not really. I was just checking.\u00a0 So let\u2019s put our heads together tomorrow and see if there\u2019s something else we can come up with.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know what Dar has in mind from here on out but for the short term I think it will be fine if I call the shots.\u00a0 Long-term? Well, I find myself married to the Dragonborn.\u00a0 If he wants me to do something I\u2019m going to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou mean today, don\u2019t you? That\u2019s what you get for getting married in the middle of the night.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re right. And yes, I suppose I should get a little bit of rest myself.\u201d\u00a0 He stood and stretched.\u00a0 \u201cWe didn\u2019t want to wait.\u00a0 Didn\u2019t want to give the world a chance to pull us apart again for some reason. Gods it feels good, Bryn.\u00a0 I wasn\u2019t sure, not completely, until a short while ago, but \u2026 do you know that he ran down the mountain and halfway across the province to come find me?\u00a0 I don\u2019t think I\u2019ve ever had anyone want me that much. Not even my wife.\u201d<\/p>\n Brynjolf laughed.\u00a0 \u201cSometimes I forget how much you\u2019ve gotten around, my friend.\u201d<\/p>\n Roggi chuckled.\u00a0 \u201cYeah, I guess I have.\u00a0 Well everyone has their weakness.\u00a0 I\u2019m not sure I\u2019ve figured out yours, Brynjolf, but I have no doubt you have one as well.\u201d<\/p>\n Brynjolf set his bottle back on the table and rose.\u00a0 \u201cI suppose I\u2019d best be going. I\u2019ll cut through the house if that\u2019s ok.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s your house.\u201d<\/p>\n Brynjolf nodded.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd you do know what my weakness is, lad.\u201d\u00a0 He smiled.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019ll talk about it in the morning.\u201d\u00a0 He opened the door to Honeyside and slipped inside.<\/p>\n Roggi stretched and yawned.<\/p>\n Yes, I do know what your weaknesses are, Bryn. I may not do that job any more but I do know how to observe people.\u00a0 One of your weaknesses is the Guild.\u00a0 You\u2019d do pretty much anything for it. <\/em><\/p>\n But there\u2019s another one, and I know what that is, too.\u00a0 I\u2019m married to her brother.<\/em><\/p>\n We\u2019ll find her.<\/em><\/p>\n —-<\/p>\n Brynjolf slipped quietly through Honeyside and out into the Riften marketplace, walking slowly toward the Temple of Mara and the graveyard just behind it.\u00a0 Even as experienced a thief as he was, he couldn\u2019t prevent his footsteps from making quiet crunching sounds as the dirt beneath them ground against the stones and the wooden planks of the city.\u00a0 At this time, the wee hours of the morning, it didn\u2019t matter much; there was nobody about save the two or three city guards.\u00a0 And they all knew him.\u00a0 He paid them to keep things running smoothly.<\/p>\n The guard on the far side of the marketplace nodded to him as he passed.\u00a0 He pondered stopping for an update, but then thought better of it.\u00a0 There were plenty of other things on his mind.<\/p>\n Roggi, married to Dardeh.<\/em><\/p>\n What a surprise it had been, when Dardeh had come to see him in the marketplace, asking him to be at their wedding.\u00a0 They certainly hadn\u2019t gotten off on a good foot, he and Dardeh, but he\u2019d been impressed by the man when they\u2019d all met to discuss finding Dagnell.<\/p>\n It must have been hard to learn that a sister you\u2019ve never met was in this organization. He struck me as the kind of lad who would just as soon have turned us all in as anything else, all things being equal, but he didn\u2019t; he sized up the situation and played it accordingly instead of jumping ahead of himself. I\u2019d have relied on Andante to take care of the problem if it was a problem, but he seems to think Dar is a good risk.\u00a0 And now with Roggi married to him, I\u2019m confident that they\u2019re both right.<\/em><\/p>\n He pushed the stone button to activate the sliding doorway, and waited as the stone lid ground its way backward to reveal the stair down.\u00a0 He thought of all those days \u2013 how many days he couldn\u2019t recall \u2013 when he\u2019d been falling apart at the seams and Roggi had cared for him.<\/p>\n Never a hint.\u00a0 Never a word from him.\u00a0 Well. I suppose this means that I don\u2019t need to worry about Roggi anymore.\u00a0 If Dag ever comes back I\u2019ll have her to myself.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n He tugged the chain to close the entryway, then dropped down into the Cistern and scanned the area.\u00a0 It was quiet, as he would have expected at this hour.\u00a0 Only soft snoring and an occasional drip of condensation broke the quiet.\u00a0 He padded around the circular room to the bed behind the screen and lowered himself onto it, peeling his boots off and then stretching out atop the bed.<\/p>\n If she comes back.\u00a0 Roggi\u2019s right. She\u2019s not dead. We would know it, both of us, if she were.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n He knew that feeling, that sudden, icy-cold, cavernous dread that said an important person was gone, the bottom dropping out of the world.\u00a0 It had been decades, but he remembered it with the same sharp horror he\u2019d felt when it had happened to him all that time ago.\u00a0 He\u2019d not felt anything like that with respect to Dag.\u00a0 Pain, yes; rage, definitely.\u00a0 But that horrible, world-ending plummet into darkness that said the loved one was forever out of reach, that he had not felt.\u00a0\u00a0 She was out there.\u00a0 Whatever reason she\u2019d had for what she\u2019d done, she was still out there.<\/p>\n It had been hard, watching two people so obviously in love standing where he and Dag had exchanged their own vows not so very long before. \u00a0Andante had walked with him after the wedding, out the gates and around the city, sensing that he needed company and, surprisingly enough, giving it to him without speaking.\u00a0 They\u2019d fallen into the habit of spending time together, he and Andante, because in spite of Andante\u2019s constant teasing, constant pushing for the two of them to get involved, he\u2019d found that Andante could get things done.<\/p>\n He acts a fool.\u00a0 He acts a dandy.\u00a0 But he\u2019s got icewater for blood and he knows his business, and he\u2019s smarter than two or three of the next footpads put together. I can count on him. And he makes me laugh, even if I don\u2019t let him see it.<\/em><\/p>\n Andante had brought him into the fishing shack and shared a drink with him, teasing him with the offer of a bottle of skooma but otherwise remaining quiet.<\/p>\n The lad can act like a civilized human being on occasion.\u00a0 There\u2019s so much more to him than meets the eye.\u00a0 I just don\u2019t know what it is, yet.<\/em><\/p>\n I hope it lasts, Roggi and Dardeh.\u00a0 I think it will.\u00a0 I heard it in Roggi\u2019s voice.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know much about Dardeh, but I know that I will be happy if Roggi\u2019s content. <\/em><\/p>\n The drip \u2026 drip \u2026 drip of condensation had his eyes closing. \u00a0As he drifted away, he thought about the feisty Redguard woman he loved.\u00a0 He knew she wasn\u2019t dead.<\/p>\n No. She\u2019s alive.\u00a0 She\u2019s just not here.<\/em><\/p>\n It was very late indeed, the deepest part of the night. \u00a0Roggi was sitting on the deck of Honeyside, relaxing in the chilly air with his feet up on the railing, nursing the lone bottle of mead he\u2019d decided to allow himself, and smiling.\u00a0 He could smell wood smoke drifting up from the cooking fire … <\/p>\n