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<\/p>\n\u201cWell, here I am, back at work. You\u2019ve done what you were supposed to do, and you\u2019ve gotten what you always wanted. I\u2019m Guildmaster. Now you can go retrieve your son.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
He was leaning up against the corner of a wall in the Cistern, in a spot she remembered having seen him so many times before, his arms crossed close about his chest, back in his black Guildmaster leathers, the Amulet of Articulation\u2019s chain just visible around his neck. His face was \u2013 expressionless; hard, unrevealing, and as solid a wall as she could remember ever feeling between the two of them.\u00a0 Not even when they\u2019d first met had she felt as though he wanted her to just go away. Now she did. \u00a0She sighed quietly, and her heart ached.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s your son, too, Brynjolf. I\u2019m really sorry. About everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
There had been a brief moment on the beach in Dawnstar, when Brynjolf had first realized that yes, she was Dagnell, that he had pulled her to him and held her so tightly she could barely breathe.\u00a0 Even now she felt the strength of that embrace; her skin remembered exactly where his arms had touched her and her body felt his warmth as he had enveloped her. For just that moment she had felt as though no time had intervened, that they were together again, that their love had endured through all that had happened to them. But it had lasted just moments, and then everything had changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t call me that,\u201d he had told her, with ice in his eyes, when she\u2019d addressed him as Red without thinking. \u201cYou haven\u2019t the right.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her eyes stung remembering it.\u00a0 Of course I don\u2019t have the right.\u00a0 I don\u2019t even have the right to have Roggi treat me like a friend in spite of everything but somehow he still does.<\/em><\/p>\n It had been a confusing and tumultuous few hours while they all grieved, and talked, and tried to decide what would happen next, and how they would deal with their new reality. Brynjolf had followed her home and had spent a few hours talking quietly to the son he hadn\u2019t known about until just a short time earlier, and had smiled when he tucked the boy into his bed at the end of the day; but he\u2019d said very little to her and she hadn\u2019t wanted to intrude into his very obvious grief.\u00a0 It had been uncomfortable at best.<\/p>\n She\u2019d slipped down the stairs once that night, thinking she might somehow be able to comfort him; but the sounds of quiet weeping in the dark had shocked her and she\u2019d gone back to bed. She\u2019d gotten very little sleep. Her memories of Andante kept running through her mind, and she kept trying to reconcile them with what she knew of the killer from Cyrodiil. It didn\u2019t seem possible that the talented, funny, sometimes frustrating but always respectful man she had been familiar with could have been the creature of pure evil she knew by reputation. It didn\u2019t seem possible that he was gone. It didn\u2019t seem possible that Brynjolf had been in love with the man, either, but the quiet tears from her extra room told her that it was true, all of it; and she knew that somehow all of it was her fault.<\/p>\n The next morning, Roggi had come knocking at the door early.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can\u2019t leave him alone.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cRoggi, it doesn\u2019t make any sense for me to go with him.\u201d\u00a0 Sayma\u2019s arms were crossed, her voice as low as she could make it and still have him hear her. \u201cYou should have seen him last night. He can barely tolerate being in the same room with me.\u201d<\/p>\n Roggi frowned at her. \u201cHe stayed, didn\u2019t he?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhere else was he going to go?\u00a0 Oh all right, I suppose he could have gone to the inn with you two but\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n She looked down the length of the basement, toward the small bedroom in which both Brynjolfs sat, the younger on his father\u2019s lap.\u00a0 They could hear the elder Brynjolf\u2019s deep rumble interspersed with high-pitched giggles; and every time she heard it, Sayma had all she could do to keep from choking up.<\/p>\n \u201cSayma.\u00a0 Dag. Look at me,\u201d Roggi murmured.<\/p>\n She turned and gazed into his eyes, blue as she had remembered and on this day dark with sadness.\u00a0 It had shocked her to find that Roggi was married, and to another man.\u00a0 It had shocked her more to learn that his husband was her brother.\u00a0 But it had surprised her most of all to see the genuine affection he so obviously held for Brynjolf.<\/p>\n He\u2019s so protective.\u00a0 He keeps calling Bryn \u201cbrother\u201d and it\u2019s clear that he truly feels that way about him.\u00a0 How did we get here from the place where Roggi stormed out on me for having anything to do with the Thieves Guild?<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cWhy are you so worried, Roggi?\u201d<\/p>\n Roggi sighed, and took her hands in his. \u201cWhen you left Riften, Bryn fell apart. He\u2026 was trying to end it, slowly.\u201d He shook his head. \u201cI cared for him, with my own hands. I\u2019ve\u2026 spent more time with him in the past couple of years than you have. He\u2019s had so many losses. It just makes it all the more important that we keep an eye on him until he\u2019s back home and Delvin can watch him, keep him occupied. I think he\u2019ll be alright if he can get back and focus on the Guild because that\u2019s so important to him. He needs something that needs him.\u201d<\/p>\n Sayma started to object but Roggi shook his head and squeezed her hands tighter.\u00a0 \u201cListen, I know it\u2019s all been a shock. All of it.\u201d He frowned.<\/p>\n \u201cYes it has.\u201d Sayma said. She looked down the house at Brynjolf, again, and saw that while he was doing his best to interact with their son his face, his eyes, looked defeated, sad, a million miles away.<\/p>\n \u201cNobody expected any of this. But this is how it is. And he is in a very delicate place right now. He\u2019s just lost someone else he loved. I think\u2026\u201d\u00a0 Roggi trailed off, and glanced down the length of the house himself.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI think I couldn\u2019t take it if something happened to him, that\u2019s what I think.\u201d\u00a0 He looked back at her and smiled a lopsided smile. \u201cI don\u2019t know why that\u2019s the case, but it is. But here\u2019s the thing. I have to go home. Lydia \u2013 Dar\u2019s Housecarl \u2013 she needs some time for herself. We have two children to look after. I\u2019m a little worried about Dar, too, with some of the things he\u2019s been saying lately about the war. I need<\/em> to go home with him. But someone has got to be with Bryn right now and you\u2019re all we have until he gets back to Riften. Please. We\u2019ll take little Bryn to Falkreath, if you want, so he can meet his cousins and have some time in a place that isn\u2019t full of death. It\u2019s a beautiful house. You can pick him up on the way back after Brynjolf\u2019s settled.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAll right.\u00a0 But I can guarantee you he isn\u2019t going to like the idea.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLet me talk to him.\u201d<\/p>\n She watched Roggi approach Brynjolf, and heard him speak even though she couldn\u2019t make out the words.\u00a0 Brynjolf looked up at him and then glanced at her, met her gaze.\u00a0 He frowned, and then looked back at Roggi and shook his head.<\/p>\n She turned away so as not to see anything more.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know what else I should have expected.\u00a0 He must hate me. <\/em><\/p>\n The voices from the other end of the building rose for a moment, though she couldn\u2019t make out what they were saying.\u00a0 Then she heard one word, clearly.<\/p>\n \u201cBryn.\u201d\u00a0 Roggi\u2019s voice was sharp, commanding, a tone she\u2019d never heard from him. It raised the hair on her neck.<\/p>\n \u201cAll right! All right,\u201d she heard Brynjolf answer a little too loudly.<\/p>\n She heard footsteps behind her and turned to see Roggi, with young Brynjolf on his hip.\u00a0 He smiled at her and then at the child. \u201cThis young man would like to go see Lake Ilinalta. Is that right, Bryn?\u201d<\/p>\n The boy grinned and nodded vigorously. \u201cYeah. Ok, Mama?\u201d<\/p>\n Sayma smiled, and reached out to ruffle his curly red hair.\u00a0 \u201cYes, sweetheart.\u00a0 You can go with Uncle Roggi and Uncle Dar. Maybe they\u2019ll help you catch some fish.\u201d\u00a0 She laughed. \u201c\u2019Uncle Roggi.\u2019 Doesn\u2019t that just sound perfectly strange?\u201d<\/p>\n He smiled at her, the warm smile she remembered that filled his eyes and her heart. \u201cIt is strange. But wait till you hear two little girls call me Papa Roggi.\u00a0 It\u2019ll just melt a person.\u201d<\/p>\n Upstairs, the door opened and heavy footsteps announced Dardeh\u2019s arrival.<\/p>\n \u201cRoggi? Are we ready? I want to get going before the weather changes on us.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBe right there, Dar,\u201d Roggi called.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019re bringing young Bryn with us and he\u2019ll need some clothes.\u201d<\/p>\n Sayma heard a deep chuckle.<\/p>\n \u201cWhy am I not surprised,\u201d Dardeh said. \u201cYou\u2019re a mother hen, Roggi, as well as a nag.\u201d<\/p>\n Roggi grinned at Sayma. \u201cHe\u2019s right, you know. Now why don\u2019t you get a few pieces of clothes together for this young thing. I\u2019ll take him upstairs.\u201d<\/p>\n She nodded. \u201cBe right there.\u201d<\/p>\n She moved to the back of the house, where young Brynjolf\u2019s things were, and where the elder Brynjolf sat with his face frozen into an unhappy expression.\u00a0 She bustled about, pulling together the boy\u2019s clothes into a small pack, trying not to get too close or look him directly in the eyes.<\/p>\n \u201cListen, Brynjolf,\u201d she said over her shoulder. \u201cI know this doesn\u2019t make you happy but something tells me your body is probably not behaving the way you\u2019re used to. It\u2019ll be good for you to have an extra pair of hands nearby.\u201d<\/p>\n An extra pair of hands. He\u2019ll recognize that phrase.<\/em><\/p>\n She heard a heavy sigh behind her.<\/p>\n \u201cAye. I feel like I have weights on my ankles and gods help me but I\u2019m afraid I\u2019ll lunge for someone\u2019s neck first battle I find.\u201d<\/p>\n Sayma couldn\u2019t help it then, she looked at him full in the face.<\/p>\n \u201cI have to say it.\u00a0 I can\u2019t picture you doing that.\u201d<\/p>\n One corner of his mouth rose. \u201cI\u2019m sure. I was\u2026 very good at it. It\u2019s a powerful feeling, being able to\u2026\u201d Then he shook his head, bringing himself up short. \u201cI\u2019m sorry. You don\u2019t need to hear about that. It would be pretty funny, actually, going for a throat now, without my fangs.\u201d<\/p>\n She watched him flick his tongue across his teeth and frown.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, I\u2019ll make sure you at least don\u2019t use your mouth if you\u2019re after someone\u2019s throat. I think my swords would be a better choice.\u201d<\/p>\n She reached into the cupboard for a last small shirt, but then realized that Brynjolf was staring at her.<\/p>\n \u201cHe told me about going after his marks, and it was always a blade across the neck.\u201d<\/p>\n Yes, of course it was. That\u2019s how I do it, too. Is that what you\u2019re wondering, Red?<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s silent. That\u2019s why. I never saw him work but Nazir did, and Nazir was impressed. I know you don\u2019t know Nazir but trust me, if he was impressed it was worth being impressed over.\u201d She tucked the last shirt in a bag and turned to him. \u201cWell, that\u2019s it then.\u00a0 Shall we go? We can walk with them at least to the crossroads.\u201d<\/p>\n Brynjolf rose and nodded.<\/p>\n When they reached the crossroads, Sayma hugged her son, and Roggi. She hesitated a moment standing in front of Dardeh, but he smiled at her.<\/p>\n \u201cCome here. I know it hasn\u2019t been very long to know each other, and lousy circumstances besides, but \u2026\u201d He pulled her close into a hug. \u201cTake care of yourself, Sis.\u201d<\/p>\n Sayma grinned. \u201cSis! I\u2019m going to\u00a0 have to get used to that. Thanks, Dardeh. I will. And thank you for taking little Bryn with you. It will do him good to be away.\u201d She watched as Roggi swung the boy up onto his shoulders and heard him giggling as the three of them trotted away to the south.<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t worry about him,\u201d Brynjolf murmured. \u201cThere\u2019s not much that can get by those two.\u201d He reached up and rubbed the back of his head and winced. \u201cDardeh\u2019s really something else and, well, Roggi can kill a dragon these days.\u201d<\/p>\n Sayma stared at him and then looked back at the ever-smaller shapes retreating down the road to the south.\u00a0 Roggi killing a dragon. And to think I put him on his knees the first time I met him.<\/em><\/p>\n And I can assassinate an emperor. Nobody would have expected that, either.<\/em><\/p>\n It was uncomfortable at best as Sayma walked beside Brynjolf, toward the east.\u00a0 She wanted desperately to ask him more about what he\u2019d told them. Dynjyl, for example. She slipped a glance at Brynjolf and tried to picture him as a young man, tried to picture him with<\/em> a young man, and she just couldn\u2019t do it.\u00a0 Especially not now, with his brow furrowed, his face set in lines of sorrow and frustration.<\/p>\n Once the sun was high in the sky he glanced up at it and winced.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019d have been shooting at it by now,\u201d he muttered.<\/p>\n \u201cThat was terrifying,\u201d Sayma answered.<\/p>\n Brynjolf shot her a glance that was just short of a sneer. \u201cIt was supposed to be.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBryn.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell what did you expect me to say? We were both Vampire Lo\u2026\u201d Brynjolf cried out as a blob of frostbite spider venom hit him full in the face.<\/p>\n There were two of them, very large ones, of the light-colored variety that lived in Skyrim\u2019s northern climes.\u00a0 Sayma drew her swords and went after one of them, as she so often had. It wasn\u2019t a difficult beast to put down, not in the least; but as she slid her sword out of its body she heard another distressed cry from behind her.\u00a0 She turned in time to see Brynjolf stab down into the second spider, killing it, and then begin casting a healing spell on himself.<\/p>\n \u201cAre you ok?\u201d she asked him. \u201cI\u2019m surprised. I didn\u2019t know you knew spells.\u201d<\/p>\n Brynjolf sighed.\u00a0 His shoulders slumped, and he stared at the spider\u2019s corpse as he healed himself.<\/p>\n \u201cI knew a lot more of them before yesterday. I was trying to use one on this spider and\u2026 I can\u2019t, anymore. That\u2019s why it was able to get to me. I really don\u2019t understand it but it\u2019s like everything I knew is just gone.\u201d\u00a0 He shook his head. \u201cHe told me that he thought turning three separate times had done something to his mind.\u00a0 I think I know what he means now.\u00a0 I feel useless.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re not useless. If you were, they wouldn\u2019t be so anxious for you to get back to the Guild.\u201d<\/p>\n They began walking again, and Brynjolf gave Sayma another sour look. \u201cHow much do you know about vampires?\u201d<\/p>\n How much do I\u2026 what an odd thing to ask. <\/em><\/p>\n \u201cWell, a fair amount. I do work with Babette, after all.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDo you know what a Nightlord vampire is?\u201d<\/p>\n Sayma nodded. \u201cYes, they\u2019re the strongest. I never asked him but I\u2019d be willing to bet that\u2019s what Andante was.\u201d<\/p>\n Brynjolf grimaced, staring straight ahead.\u00a0 \u201cYes.\u00a0 And so was I.\u201d<\/p>\n Sayma stopped dead in her tracks.<\/p>\n I can\u2019t. I just can\u2019t believe it. How can this be?<\/em><\/p>\n Brynjolf had kept walking, but turned when he realized she wasn\u2019t keeping up with him.<\/p>\n \u201cAre you coming?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes, I\u2019m\u2026 Yes.\u201d\u00a0 She scurried to catch up with him.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m just having a little trouble processing all of this.\u201d<\/p>\n He nodded.\u00a0 \u201cI understand. It wasn\u2019t long, mind you. I had just barely become a Nightlord. \u00a0Even Andante was surprised about it but I started out stronger than most because he\u2019s the one who turned me in the first place. I don\u2019t believe I\u2019d have ever bested him. Still. That\u2019s a lot to have lost in a few minutes\u2019 time. I feel crippled.\u201d<\/p>\n It was too much. She blurted out the thought she should have kept to herself.<\/p>\n \u201cI still can\u2019t believe he did that to you.\u201d<\/p>\n Brynjolf stopped dead in his tracks and seized her by the arms.<\/p>\n She panicked, remembering another moment when Brynjolf had taken hold of her arms and had flung her backward into the wall.\u00a0 She knew how powerful he was when he was angry, and she didn\u2019t know how strong he might be now even having lost his vampire status.\u00a0 His eyes flashed, and he stared at her intently.<\/p>\n \u201cLet\u2019s get something straight right now, Sayma<\/em>,\u201d he said, his voice quiet but with an undertone of threat. \u201cI told you all yesterday but apparently you didn\u2019t hear it clearly enough. He didn\u2019t do anything to me that I didn\u2019t invite him to do. Understand? I<\/em> was the one who made the first move. I wanted<\/em> him to turn me. I wanted\u2026 him. And I won\u2019t have you speaking ill of him, at least not because of that.\u00a0 Do you have that clear in your mind now?\u201d<\/p>\n Gods, Sayma thought. Yes, I hear your words. Yes, I understand what they mean. No, I don\u2019t understand how that can be. Not in the least.<\/p>\n But she nodded, silently, and he let go of her.\u00a0 He turned to continue up the road.<\/p>\n \u201cSorry I grabbed you. I hope I didn\u2019t hurt your arms.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo,\u201d she said. \u201cBryn, I\u2019m sorry.\u00a0 It\u2019s just hard for me to understand that you were\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n He sighed, loudly, a sound of exasperation. \u201cYes. I know.\u201d\u00a0 His voice rose as he continued. \u201cYou and everyone else had a great deal of fun at my expense wondering if I\u2019d slept with all the men in the Guild. Well, I hadn\u2019t. But there were<\/em> two of them, more than twenty years apart. Two of the three people I\u2019ve ever loved were men, because that\u2019s just how it happened. I\u2019m sorry that\u2019s hard to understand. But they\u2019re both gone now and I won\u2019t have you speaking ill of them.\u201d<\/p>\n He turned to face her then, and any hopes she might have had that he would follow up his statement with some tender recognition that she was the third one he\u2019d loved were soundly dashed.\u00a0 He looked angry, and harsh, and distant, and when he spoke his tone was icy cold.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not the one who took off my ring and walked away.\u201d<\/p>\n He turned back to the east.<\/p>\n Sayma\u2019s gaze dropped to his left hand and saw that yes, in fact he was wearing two rings on it. One was a gold band with a brilliant, fiery ruby. She didn\u2019t recognize the ring at all.<\/p>\n But the other was the Bond of Matrimony he\u2019d first worn standing at the altar of Mara in Riften, the day he\u2019d married her.\u00a0 She looked down at her own hand, bare save for a ring with a small stamina enchantment, and her heart ached.<\/p>\n He\u2019s still wearing his wedding band. And mine is\u2026 gone.<\/em><\/p>\n —<\/p>\n They had continued on their way, first to Whiterun and then via carriage to Riften. Brynjolf had been silent as he opened Honeyside and let her in, and then had stood silent for a moment and sighed.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been a long time,\u201d Sayma murmured. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t look much different.\u201d<\/p>\n Brynjolf shook his head and looked around.\u00a0 \u201cNo. He didn\u2019t change anything, really. I don\u2019t think he ever thought of it as his place. He had a house in Solitude. This was my home, as far as he was concerned, even though I only stayed here part of the time.\u201d<\/p>\n He looked down at himself and shook his head.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, I guess it\u2019s time.\u00a0 Give me a moment.\u201d<\/p>\n Sayma looked around the first floor for a moment but then couldn\u2019t help herself. She slipped down the stairs and looked into the enchanting room, the smithy, and pushed the banners aside to smile at the steaming bath that had been her favorite thing about this home when she had purchased it.\u00a0 Finally she stepped into the bedroom.<\/p>\n Brynjolf had removed the red vampire armor he\u2019d been wearing and had gotten back into his black Thieves Guild armor. He was just stowing the red armor in the wardrobe when he heard her come up behind him, and turned to glance at her as he shut the door.\u00a0 His face was expressionless. But his eyes \u2013 his eyes made Sayma want to weep.<\/p>\n He looks so sad. He doesn\u2019t look angry, or vindictive, or anxious. He just looks so very sad. I wish there was something I could do.<\/em><\/p>\n She tried to make her tone light.<\/p>\n \u201cYou still look good in those leathers, Brynjolf.\u201d<\/p>\n He just looked at her for a long moment, like he wanted to say something but couldn\u2019t bring himself to do so.\u00a0 He nodded, and pushed silently past her to the strongbox, reaching into it and pulling out the Amulet of Articulation.\u00a0 He stared at it for a moment and then slipped it into a pocket.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve worn it off and on, but it\u2019s not really mine,\u201d he murmured.\u00a0 \u201cWe need to go talk to Delvin.\u00a0 It should be his.\u201d<\/p>\n He started for the door, but then stopped, turned back, and pushed past Sayma, walking to the left side of the bed.\u00a0 He opened the table and looked inside, made an astonished noise and leaned over, counting under his breath.<\/p>\n \u201cShor\u2019s bones. Sixty four. I\u2019d best get rid of that. It\u2019ll be too much of a temptation.\u201d<\/p>\n Sayma wasn\u2019t certain, as Brynjolf turned to leave, whether he\u2019d been talking to her or not; so she looked into the drawer herself.\u00a0 There they were, as he\u2019d said: sixty-four small bottles of the one thing in the world she couldn\u2019t abide.\u00a0 She turned to watch Brynjolf slowly trudging up the stairs.<\/p>\n A temptation? That, too? \u00a0<\/em>She ground her teeth, remembering Andante\u2019s quiet offer of a bottle of the skooma, an offer that had made her livid.\u00a0 I will never, ever\u2026 but Brynjolf?\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n She stood quietly for a moment, squeezing her eyes shut, clenching her fists.<\/p>\n It is not mine to pass judgment on him. Not anymore. <\/em><\/p>\n —<\/p>\n She hung around the Ragged Flagon for some time after they arrived there.\u00a0 Brynjolf got a number of hearty hellos and wide smiles until people realized that he was in a somber mood and not likely to respond with jokes and stories.\u00a0 He pulled Delvin and Vex aside and into one of the small side rooms where people slept in shifts.<\/p>\n Voices, but not words, were audible over the sounds of the bar.\u00a0 It began as a normal conversation. Then Sayma heard Delvin\u2019s distinctive tones rising, louder and higher, along with Vex\u2019s shrill objections to whatever it was Brynjolf was saying. She couldn\u2019t hear Brynjolf, but she knew what he had gone to speak to them about and felt bad that it was going poorly. After some time Vex came storming back out into the Flagon, followed by a sullen-looking Brynjolf.<\/p>\n \u201cDelvin wants to talk to you,\u201d he told Sayma, pointing toward the back. \u201cNow.\u201d<\/p>\n Sayma nodded; she rose to leave but felt that she was being stared at.\u00a0 She glanced around and found Vex glaring daggers at her.<\/p>\n How awkward. I should go over, say hello. I am her Guildmaster, after all. But something tells me that would be a very poor choice on my part. <\/em><\/p>\n She settled for a nod, and then scurried around Vekel\u2019s bar.\u00a0 Vekel gave her a mistrustful glare as well, as she walked by, and it just added to the hurts accumulating in her heart.<\/p>\n I should never have admitted it to Roggi and Dardeh.<\/em><\/p>\n Who am I kidding. I should never have left in the first place.<\/em><\/p>\n Delvin had always been good to her, when she was Dagnell. He\u2019d been tough to know, at first, but once she had proven herself he\u2019d had her back and she had trusted him implicitly.\u00a0 He was the real power behind the success of the Thieves Guild, and both of them knew it.\u00a0 So it hurt all the more to see the baleful look on his face when she stepped through the door and said, quietly, \u201cDelvin?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell, well,\u201d he began. \u201cSo it was you who was here that night when I was talking to Roggi. I thought you were showing a bit more interest in us than just some random bar hopper.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, it was me. I was looking for Andante, and I couldn\u2019t help but sit and watch you two. It\u2026 was good to see you.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell you\u2019ve got a lot of nerve, coming back in here now. A lot of nerve.\u201d\u00a0 He crossed his arms and frowned, tapped his foot and shook his head. \u201cI wanted to find you as much as anyone else, Dag,\u201d he said. \u201cBut now that I see you I\u2019m just damned mad. You left a mess behind. You almost managed to kill Bryn. Indirectly, of course.\u201d<\/p>\n Sayma winced.\u00a0 That\u2019s the second person who\u2019s said that. <\/em><\/p>\n \u201cIf you was anyone else,\u201d he said in a voice that held enough venom for five of the big spiders, \u201cI\u2019d have seen you dead in front of me five minutes ago. But it\u2019s you, and I can\u2019t forget everything you did for us.\u00a0 So there\u2019ll be none of that.\u00a0 But here\u2019s the deal. Brynjolf is the new Guildmaster.\u00a0 He\u2019s not happy about it, but that\u2019s the way it\u2019s going to be.\u00a0 Vex and I agree. And Karliah, well, she doesn\u2019t really have a vote but she\u2019s agreed with us for a long time now.\u201d<\/p>\n Sayma flinched. It hurt to have him unceremoniously rip her title away from her like that, but she understood.<\/p>\n \u201cYes. I always thought it should have been that way from the moment Mercer died. I don\u2019t blame you, and\u2026\u201d she looked back toward the door and thought of what Roggi had said. \u201cIt\u2019ll probably keep him going. He told you about Andante?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes.\u201d Delvin glared again. \u201cAnd that\u2019s another mess that you caused. The two of them never would have gotten involved if you\u2019d been here. At least<\/em>,\u201d he said, shifting his shoulders, \u201cat least he\u2019s not a vampire any more. That\u2019s the only good thing that can be said about it.\u00a0 So, Listener<\/em>. That\u2019s how it\u2019s going to be. Any objections?\u201d<\/p>\n Sayma stared at Delvin. First she was desperately sad. Then she was angry, for a moment, as she had so often been while trying to perform her duties as Guildmaster of the Thieves Guild in Skyrim, that her opinions had been ignored.\u00a0 And then she laughed.<\/p>\n \u201cNo, Delvin,\u201d she said, grinning. \u201cNo objections. I\u2019m glad you\u2019re still in charge.\u201d<\/p>\n He looked astonished for the smallest moment; then a tiny smirk rose on his mouth. \u201cAs long as we understand each other, we can all come out on top.\u201d<\/p>\n And now she stood, before Brynjolf, wondering whether there was anything she would ever be able to do to win his trust again. It was an outlandish wish. She had no right to even hope for such a thing to happen and yet she did.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can stay in Honeyside tonight,\u201d he told her. \u201cI have things to do here, anyway.\u00a0 I hope you\u2019re happy, by the way. Delvin and Vex were taking no arguments from me and I don\u2019t think they\u2019d have even let you speak.\u201d<\/p>\n Oh how I wish you were laughing with me about this, Brynjolf, but I can see that you\u2019re not. And I would do anything if I could only share a laugh with you one more time.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cYeah. I guess I\u2019ve been demoted. I\u2019m surprised you all haven\u2019t done it a long time ago.\u201d<\/p>\n He snorted.<\/p>\n Then he took a deep breath and held it, obviously considering his words.<\/p>\n \u201cWe weren\u2019t going to. We were waiting for you to come back.\u201d<\/p>\n He turned and walked toward the bar.<\/p>\n \u201cBut you didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell, here I am, back at work. You\u2019ve done what you were supposed to do, and you\u2019ve gotten what you always wanted. I\u2019m Guildmaster. Now you can go retrieve your son.\u201d He was leaning up against the corner of a wall in the Cistern, in a spot she remembered having seen him so many times … <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/baakay.com\/FanFic\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/4-1-1-2.png\")
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<\/p>\nPart I: Sayma Sendu<\/a><\/div>\nPrevious<\/a> \/ Next<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"