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<\/p>\nBrynjolf showed Dagnell a quicker way to get out of the Guild, a ladder that led out of the Cistern to an exit in the Riften cemetery.\u00a0 When he pulled the chain next to the wall, a heavy stone false sarcophagus slid back over a staircase, opening into a shelter behind the Temple of Mara.\u00a0 Then he walked back to the Flagon with her and resumed the same spot at the bar, sliding a few more coins across for Vekel.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
After a few moments of silence, she spoke up. \u201cSo. All this coin you\u2019ve told me about. How do I get my cut?\u201d\u00a0 She needed it. She wanted out as soon as humanly possible.<\/p>\n
\u201cSimple. Do as you\u2019re told and keep your blade clean.\u00a0 This isn\u2019t the Dark Brotherhood. We can\u2019t make a profit by killing. It\u2019s expensive to dispose of bodies and get rid of evidence.\u201d Dag tried not to think about the background behind that statement, and failed.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlright.\u00a0 That seems reasonable.\u00a0 Tell me about Goldenglow.\u201d<\/p>\n
Goldenglow Estate, he told her, was a bee farm, on an island in the middle of Lake Honrich.\u00a0 It was the one she had seen the previous day; the only way in was over the bridge. There had been men guarding it. They hadn\u2019t looked friendly.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey raise the wretched little things for the honey. It\u2019s owned by some smart-mouthed wood elf named Aringoth.\u00a0 It used to be a substantial source of our income, but suddenly he\u2019s replaced our city guards with mercenaries, and cut us out. We need you to teach him a lesson by burning down three of the estate\u2019s hives and clearing out the safe in the main house. Nothing will tell the people of Riften we mean business better than a huge column of smoke.\u201d\u00a0 He paused to take a drink. \u201cThe catch is that you can\u2019t burn the whole place to the ground.\u00a0 That important client Mercer mentioned would be furious if you did, and the last thing we want to be doing is crossing our clients.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dag nodded.\u00a0 \u201cMakes sense.\u00a0 But\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do I do about Aringoth, assuming I can get in past the guards?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMaven prefers that Aringoth remains alive, but if he gives you any trouble,\u201d and he stopped for another swallow of mead, \u201ckill him.\u201d His voice had an edge to it that ran a shudder up her back. She didn\u2019t want to get on the wrong side of that. But whether purposefully or not, he\u2019d also just told her that Maven Black-Briar was the \u201cimportant client.\u201d\u00a0 Things got more complicated by the moment.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Guild has a lot riding on this,\u201d Brynjolf said.\u00a0 \u201cDon\u2019t make me look foolish by mucking it up.\u201d<\/p>\n
She snorted. It\u2019s all about you, isn\u2019t it, Red?\u00a0<\/em> \u201cDon\u2019t worry, I won\u2019t.\u00a0 Haven\u2019t mucked anything else up for you so far, have I?\u201d<\/p>\n He frowned at her. \u201cNo you haven\u2019t. Keep it that way. Oh, and talk to Vex and Delvin Mallory.\u00a0 They know their way around. Vex can give you some pointers about Goldenglow.\u201d<\/p>\n She pondered for a moment.\u00a0 He\u2019d been sitting here drinking for ages; maybe he was feeling a little mellow, and she was dying to ask him something. \u201cI know it isn\u2019t really my place, but as you\u2019ve no doubt noticed I\u2019m not above sticking my foot in it. Can I ask you a question?\u201d<\/p>\n His eyebrow rose. \u201cShoot.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell, ok.\u00a0 Almost everyone in here is pretty much unremarkable-looking, could blend right in with any crowd. Including me, if you\u2019re counting me as part of the Guild. I\u2019m tiny and nondescript.\u201d<\/p>\n He raised an eyebrow.\u00a0 \u201cI do,\u201d he said. \u201cThat was the general idea.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt makes sense,\u201d she continued. \u201cBlending in strikes me as one of the best qualities for this work. Well, you\u2019re \u2013 not either.\u00a0 Tiny, or nondescript. How on earth does someone with your build and voice and bright red hair manage to, well, be a thief? And a good one, too, given your standing here. You\u2019re not exactly inconspicuous.\u201d<\/p>\n He rolled his eyes and sighed. \u201cSeriously, lass? Have you ever heard of a hood?\u201d He pulled his up over his hair.\u00a0 It was startling; he completely disappeared into its darkness. He might just as well have had a black beard, for all that she could see. Standing in a dark corner he would have been almost invisible, big or not.<\/p>\n \u201cI see what you mean.\u00a0 Sorry to be an idiot. Told you I\u2019m not a thief. Or at least I wasn\u2019t.\u201d\u00a0 Ha<\/em>, her inner voice told her.\u00a0 Keep telling yourself that<\/em>. She stood to leave, but Brynjolf grabbed her arm and gave her an intense look that she couldn\u2019t quite decipher.<\/p>\n \u201cYou watch yourself on that island.\u00a0 Those mercenaries don\u2019t take prisoners.\u201d<\/p>\n She paused a moment, surprised. \u201cOk, thanks.\u201d\u00a0 Was he actually concerned about her, or just about how he would look if she failed? She guessed the latter. Annoying man.<\/em><\/p>\n Vex was stunningly beautiful, to the point where Dag wondered how she survived in this mostly male outfit. She also, as it turned out, had an enormous attitude. She was the best infiltrator in the place, she said, and if Dag intended to replace her she should think again.<\/p>\n \u201cBack off, I know the drill.\u201d\u00a0 Dag hadn\u2019t been surviving on her own so long by trying to usurp people\u2019s places.\u00a0 She had seen what happened to people who did.<\/p>\n Vex nodded. \u201cGood. Now you, I like. I think we\u2019re going to get along just fine.\u201d<\/p>\n According to Vex, the reason she hadn\u2019t succeeded at Goldenglow was that there were a lot more mercenaries than there had been city guards. There were eight of them at minimum, and they were nasty.\u00a0 However, there was also an old sewer grate near the estate that dropped down into passages leading right to the house; that was the safest way to get inside. Then she looked at Dag, serious.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not going to lie to you. The Guild is in a bad way down here. Old Delvin says we\u2019re cursed. I just think it\u2019s just bad luck.\u00a0 Either way, we need this job. Don\u2019t muck it up.\u201d<\/p>\n Delvin Mallory was the older Breton man she\u2019d first seen when coming into the Ragged Flagon for the first time. He looked to be older than Mercer Frey, but it was hard to tell without hair color to give a hint.<\/p>\n \u201cBrynjolf,\u201d he said. His voice was strongly accented but soft and really rather pleasant. \u201cLet me guess, he picked you off the street and dropped you into the thick of things without telling you which end is up.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMore or less,\u201d she nodded, smirking. \u201cI could definitely use some advice.\u201d Obviously he\u2019d known Brynjolf for a long time.\u00a0 Delvin told her he or Vex could get her extra work any time; all she had to do was ask, and they all certainly could use the coin.<\/p>\n \u201cOk, I\u2019ll do that,\u201d she agreed.\u00a0 Assuming I survive this next errand.<\/em><\/p>\n Then he sighed. \u201cLook at this place. The Guild, the Flagon, it\u2019s all falling apart.\u00a0 A decade or two ago it used to be as busy as the Imperial City down here. Our luck is running dry. Something out there is piss-drunk mad at us.\u00a0 I think we\u2019ve been cursed. But we\u2019re going to spit in that curse\u2019s eye and put things back the way they used to be.\u201d\u00a0 Dag stared at him. He did sound crazy.\u00a0 Mercer and Brynjolf seemed to trust him, though, so it probably didn\u2019t matter if he was. Besides, there was something about him that appealed to her, maybe the humor she\u2019d seen hints of.<\/p>\n \u201cBy the way, be careful with Goldenglow.\u00a0 Those mercenaries are trained killers,\u201d Delvin offered, in an intense tone that raised the hair on the back of her neck.\u00a0 She hadn\u2019t asked him about Goldenglow, but Delvin knew. She nodded and left him, wondering what his story really was.<\/p>\n A surly blonde man with huge mutton chops spoke to her as she passed his table.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t care if you\u2019re best buddies with the guild master, pull anything and you\u2019ll hear from me.\u00a0 Name\u2019s Dirge.\u201d\u00a0 She recognized his voice; he\u2019d been in the Flagon when she came in.<\/p>\n \u201cOh? Why do they call you Dirge?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause I\u2019m the last thing you hear before they put you in the ground.\u201d<\/p>\n Dag couldn\u2019t help it; her mouth twitched into a grin.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat, do you think that\u2019s funny?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh no, not at all,\u201d she said.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s a very scary name.\u201d<\/p>\n He grunted and muttered \u201cYeah. Whatever. Watch yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n She walked away laughing inside. Dirge was probably very good at something but humor did not appear to be that thing.<\/p>\n At the far end of the Flagon, near some of the bar\u2019s tables, was a Redguard woman with graying hair, wearing a light brown leather outfit. She caught Dag\u2019s eye and waved her over.\u00a0 \u201cWelcome to the cozy little family,\u201d she said, explaining that she was Tonilia, the Guild\u2019s fence, and would gladly buy anything Dag didn\u2019t exactly own. While Dag smiled at that wording, Tonilia looked her up and down, then reached into a crate near her and pulled out a set of leathers, built like the ones Brynjolf, Mercer, Vex and Delvin wore but in brown, darker than Tonilia\u2019s but lighter than Brynjolf\u2019s blacks.\u00a0 \u201cHere. They should fit.\u00a0 Put them to good use, all right?\u201d<\/p>\n Dag handled the armor and had a hard time not to drool.\u00a0 It was beautiful.\u00a0 This supple set of leathers was even better than the ones the bandits had stripped from her when they attacked J\u2019hall\u2019s cart, and immensely better than what she had toggled together in Windhelm. Better yet, they felt imbued with magic of some kind.\u00a0 She couldn\u2019t tell what type of magic and didn\u2019t care; ducking into one of the empty alcoves she hurried herself into them and sighed happily.\u00a0 Perfect.\u00a0 Comfortable. And there was a hood \u2013 a fact that made her snicker.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t as though she had bright red hair to hide, and as dark as she was already she was going to fade into nothingness in this armor; but the more cover the better if she was going to be sneaking into some estate.<\/p>\n Near the exit was a wood elf who introduced himself as Niruin, practicing archery; though why he needed practice was a mystery to her.\u00a0 Every arrow landed dead center in his target; he was clearly a master.\u00a0 Next to him were a couple of young men, both exceptionally attractive, one in war paint.\u00a0 They both had the air of people one did not mess with for any reason. All of them were wearing the same armor she now wore. She decided that the color must denote rank in the Guild, and that meant that Brynjolf had actually been pretty generous, given the amount of time he had taken with her. He could easily have just left her to fend for herself and walked away, as Delvin had assumed.<\/p>\n Dag watched them all for a moment.\u00a0 Family, huh?\u00a0<\/em> They did act like people who lived together, certainly; it was clear to see that there was the usual complement of annoyance with each other.\u00a0 She didn\u2019t see a lot of affection.\u00a0 On the other hand, family was not a term Dag associated with herself or had a lot of experience with. What she did see was a lot of tension.\u00a0 It was palpable.\u00a0 Whatever was going on with the Guild had all of them on edge.<\/p>\n As she was leaving the Cistern, Dag saw that Brynjolf had come into the room and was talking to some of his thieves.\u00a0 He caught her gaze as she passed by.\u00a0 \u201cAll eyes are on you, lass.\u00a0 Don\u2019t disappoint me.\u201d\u00a0 For someone so sure of himself and his ability to read other people he wasn\u2019t terribly good at hiding his own emotions, she thought.\u00a0 Either that, or she was just as good at reading people as he was. He was clearly more concerned about things at the Guild than he was letting on; and so were most of the others.\u00a0 A new recruit\u2019s success on one job should not be so important.<\/p>\n Brynjolf showed Dagnell a quicker way to get out of the Guild, a ladder that led out of the Cistern to an exit in the Riften cemetery.\u00a0 When he pulled the chain next to the wall, a heavy stone false sarcophagus slid back over a staircase, opening into a shelter behind the Temple of Mara.\u00a0 … <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/baakay.com\/FanFic\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/1-1-10-2.png\")
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<\/p>\nPart I: Survivors<\/a><\/div>\nPrevious<\/a> \/ Next<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"