Dagnell walked into Honeyside with a heavy heart.\u00a0 This was going to be one of the hardest nights of her life.\u00a0 She knew that she would get through it, but she dreaded everything that was about to happen. She took a huge breath.\u00a0 Put it out of your mind, Dag, she told herself.\u00a0 Enough time to deal with it later.<\/p>\n
————-<\/p>\n
The familiar sound of hammer on metal caught her attention and she smiled, walking down the stairs and peering into the smithing area.\u00a0 He was dressed in roughspun pants and a tunic with a smith\u2019s apron over it, pounding away at what looked like it might eventually become a dagger.\u00a0 It was looking better than some of his earliest attempts, which had ended up as misshapen lumps of steel, ripe for the re-smelting. \u201cSome day,\u201d he had told her, \u201cI\u2019m going to carry a dagger I made myself, not just one I sharpened up.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHi Red,\u201d she said, grinning.\u00a0 \u201cThat\u2019s looking good. You may make that apprentice-level smith some day after all.\u201d<\/p>\n
He plunged it into the water, stood, and wiped his sleeve across his brow, making a face at her.\u00a0 \u201cI got a few pointers from Balimund.\u00a0 Had to pay him for the privilege, but it looks like it\u2019s helping.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course you had to pay him,\u201d she said.\u00a0 \u201cHe\u2019s no fool and he knows we have it to spare.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCome here, wench,\u201d he said, laying his hammer down and gathering her in to his chest.\u00a0 It never ceased to amaze Dag how his kisses managed to stir her to her core, even after so many of them.\u00a0 \u201cI missed you,\u201d he said, once they peeled themselves apart.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was only just over at the Cistern,\u201d she told him with a smile.\u00a0 \u201cMy goodness but you\u2019re insatiable.\u201d<\/p>\n
He smiled his best wicked smile.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m still making up for lost time, lass.\u201d<\/p>\n
She squirmed out of his grasp and tugged on his apron. \u201cThe rabble seem to be behaving themselves.\u00a0 Delvin said he was running out of people to handle all the fishing jobs, though.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll talk to him in the morning, then,\u201d Brynjolf said, reaching up to untie the apron and then folding it and stowing it in the nearby chest.\u00a0 \u201cI may have just the person.\u201d \u00a0He peeled himself out of the tunic and tossed it on the floor.\u00a0 Dag fought to contain a grin.\u00a0 Bryn bare-chested was a sight she never tired of seeing.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh yeah?\u201d She started unbuckling her leathers.\u00a0 Time for something lighter and cooler.\u00a0 Plus it was fun to tease him by taking them off in front of him.\u00a0 The spark that always lit in his eyes \u2013 well, that was something she would treasure for the rest of her days.<\/p>\n
\u201cMmm.\u00a0 He\u2019s interesting.\u00a0 Met him a few weeks ago, and I\u2019ve been keeping an eye on him. Imperial boy, I can\u2019t tell how old.\u00a0 He\u2019s got some nimble fingers on him, that one; I saw him lifting a jewel right out of Madesi\u2019s pocket and Madesi never so much as twitched. \u00a0And then he turned around and sold it to Madesi, cheeky as can be, just like he\u2019d had it in his own pocket for years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dag smiled.\u00a0 \u201cHe\u2019s better than most of us, then.\u00a0 You should bring him in.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ll enjoy looking at him, too,\u201d Brynjolf chuckled.\u00a0 \u201cHe\u2019s a handsome thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOh?\u201d Dag poked at Brynjolf\u2019s chest, but smiling.\u00a0 \u201cAs nice as Thrynn?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cQuiet, wife,\u201d he said, leaning over to give her another kiss that had her weak-kneed. \u201cNow come with me,\u201d he said, taking her by the hand and pulling toward the door.\u00a0 \u201cI need to get clean and you need to get out of that hot leather.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dag pretended to resist.\u00a0 It was such a good game, and it never got old.<\/p>\n
Brynjolf grinned, swooped her up in his arms and strode toward the tub.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re a bad girl, Dag,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cYou deserve a spanking.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOooh.\u00a0 Promise?\u201d<\/p>\n
—————–<\/p>\n
In the time since Mercer Frey had met his cold end in Bronze Water Cave, Dagnell and Brynjolf had become very wealthy indeed. Honeyside was even better-appointed than it had been when Dag had moved in; the strongbox and the safe in their bedroom were stuffed with jewelry and gemstones, and more cash than they knew what to do with.\u00a0 The chests in the Guild\u2019s vault were bulging again, Delvin and Vex had the day-to-day business well in hand, and Karliah came in to visit every so often \u2013 and to turn over bags brimming with septims.\u00a0 When she wafted into the room in her Nightingale armor the newer members would stare in awe; Dag always smiled, imagining what they would think of Brynjolf in his, or if they knew their two Guildmasters were the other two Nightingales.<\/p>\n
Vekel could barely keep up with the business in the Flagon and was still begging Tonilia to marry him. He had his head together with Delvin more days than not, planning shipments of gods knew what from Morrowind and Cyrodiil, half the time resulting in chewings-out from Vex over some miscommunication or other. \u00a0Vipir was still trying to convince everyone that he\u2019d once bedded four women in one night, and then turning around to flirt with Sapphire and getting angry when she turned him down.\u00a0 That always made Dag laugh.\u00a0 He truly had no clue about women. Niruin was busy trying to avoid his \u201cidiot brother,\u201d who apparently was a courier of some stripe; Dag could never get the whole story out of him other than to gather that the brother was in Skyrim and Niruin wasn\u2019t happy about it. Brynjolf, as usual, had been sweet-talking new recruits and keeping Maven and everyone else happy, a job at which he excelled. And Thrynn- well, Thrynn hovered.<\/p>\n
One day, not long after they\u2019d been married, they\u2019d been looking over some documents, standing behind the Guildmaster\u2019s desk. Brynjolf had simply grabbed her and kissed her, completely by surprise and much to her delight, the kind of kiss that could easily lead a couple to get carried away.<\/p>\n
She heard a disgusted sound from over her shoulder.<\/p>\n
\u201cFind a room, you two,\u201d Thrynn snorted, walking away.\u00a0 \u201cYou make it hard for a guy to focus.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brynjolf laughed. \u201cYou looked good enough to eat, lass,\u201d he whispered in Dag\u2019s ear. \u201cI couldn\u2019t help myself.\u201d\u00a0 Then he nodded toward Thrynn. \u201cI told you. There was a reason I thought it was him and not me.\u201d<\/p>\n
He called out.\u00a0 \u201cWhy not focus on making us some coin then, lad?\u00a0 It\u2019s out there, not down here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dag giggled.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re terrible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brynjolf gave her a big evil smile.\u00a0 \u201cYes I most surely am.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI swear to you I had no idea, Red.\u00a0 You shouldn\u2019t tease him like that,\u201d she told him, grinning.<\/p>\n
It had been like that, in the Cistern, since they were married.\u00a0 It felt to Dag like the family that Brynjolf had always said it was, and even though the first few weeks had been filled with tension and uncertainty as they recovered from Mercer Frey, they had all pulled together and gotten the Guild back on its feet.<\/p>\n
Dag had spent a long while doing jobs for Delvin and Vex that took her all over Skyrim and put her in contact with sources of influence in all the major cities. Delvin could disappear better than anyone she\u2019d ever known, and she\u2019d trained with him in the arts of stealth until she was almost that good herself. She had been a little surprised at first, but not terribly so, to learn that everyone, everywhere \u2013 or so it seemed to her – knew Delvin and deferred to his wishes almost without thought. He should have been the natural choice to lead the Guild, since Brynjolf didn\u2019t want it; in fact, he should have been the choice over Mercer, as well. Many of the orders Bryn handed out were things Delvin had subtly planted in his mind.\u00a0 She wasn\u2019t sure Brynjolf had noticed; he hadn\u2019t noticed Mercer\u2019s manipulations, either.\u00a0 Guild members were his blind spot.\u00a0 Maybe he knew that about himself; if so, that meant he was even wiser than he seemed, to have declined its leadership. He was a con man of the highest order, and that was what he wanted to do.<\/p>\n
But it hadn\u2019t been Delvin who had been chosen, it had been Dag. Bryn had insisted, and so had Karliah, and the others had agreed. In spite of how good he was at it \u2013 and he was a natural-born leader in spite of his determination that he wasn\u2019t — he had wanted out of his job as soon as possible and he wanted Dag to take it. It hadn\u2019t taken too long before he\u2019d held a little ceremony to hand over the Amulet of Articulation and send her to Tonilia for a beautiful set of black leather armor that surpassed anything she\u2019d ever worn into battle before.\u00a0 She took over as Guildmaster, with Brynjolf as her Second, and quietly leaned on Delvin and Vex for extra guidance.<\/p>\n
In truth, it wasn\u2019t hard for her. Her position as Thane in Riften gave her access to the Jarl, and to Maven Black-Briar, and to inside information that helped them keep ahead of the authorities and everyone else. She made very few decisions completely on her own and preferred it that way. Privately, she would have loved to remove Maven from the mix, but she hadn\u2019t figured out how that could happen.\u00a0 She didn\u2019t like being connected to a side in the civil war; and Maven was a staunch Imperial supporter, probably because they were good for business.<\/p>\n
Dag had made them clean up the Guild a little. She and Brynjolf lived at Honeyside, in comfort, enjoying their ever-increasing wealth; there was no reason the rest of the Guild had to live in squalor just because Brynjolf was paranoid about spending its money. It would never be anything but damp and dark but at least it didn\u2019t have to be filthy. There were new banners, sporting the old Guild crest, and she had insisted that the bedding in the Cistern be laundered if it was in decent shape or replaced if it wasn\u2019t. Karliah had backed her up on this, changing out some of the old cots for real beds, setting up a nice screen at the end of Dag\u2019s bed there so that it had some privacy. \u00a0Dag almost never slept there, but she had to admit that it was a nice touch.\u00a0 Karliah had also installed a small shrine to Nocturnal in a quiet corner; Dag noticed more than a few members stopping there from time to time to pay their respects.<\/p>\n
There were shops in the alcoves outside the Flagon, opened by industrious and slightly shady merchants who could feel the change in the air. Dag was beginning to believe Delvin\u2019s tales of the Guild once having been as busy as the Imperial City.<\/p>\n
Hadn\u2019t they all griped about the clean-up.\u00a0 But they were proud of their home now, even if they would never admit it to her face. It was a work in progress, but it was home. They were family, some of them actual family, now, but all of them chosen family.<\/p>\n
She had no doubts that the Guild was on its feet, solid, and would maintain its standing no matter what happened.<\/p>\n
It should have been perfect.<\/p>\n
Most of the time it seemed nearly perfect, even when vague reports of dragon attacks filtered in via the city guards.\u00a0 The reports usually included stories of a Redguard man who could kill the beasts with his voice. She laughed at those, and wished she and Roggi had had a chance to watch Dardeh kill one of those dragons.<\/p>\n
It should have been perfect.<\/p>\n
But it wasn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
Dagnell walked into Honeyside with a heavy heart.\u00a0 This was going to be one of the hardest nights of her life.\u00a0 She knew that she would get through it, but she dreaded everything that was about to happen. She took a huge breath.\u00a0 Put it out of your mind, Dag, she told herself.\u00a0 Enough time … <\/p>\n