There had been one day, one terrible day, when Dagnell had thought it would all fall apart.<\/p>\n
Dag overheard Delvin talking to Vekel.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m getting together a shipment from Morrowind,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cAnything you need?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell,\u201d Vekel answered, \u201cif you happen across any moon sugar\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
Dag stopped in her tracks, stunned, her heart suddenly threatening to beat its way out of her chest.\u00a0 It couldn\u2019t possibly be.\u00a0 She walked around the corner to one of the few remaining empty alcoves and sat down to calm herself.\u00a0 No, she decided, it was ok.\u00a0 Moon sugar wasn\u2019t a terrible problem, right?\u00a0 It made sense that Delvin\u2019s shipments would include, how had Enthir put it? Items of questionable interest.\u00a0 Just so long as it was only moon sugar.<\/p>\n
She said nothing, either to them or to Brynjolf, but kept her ears open around the Flagon.\u00a0 It ate at her.\u00a0 How could the Guild, her<\/em> Guild, be involved in that<\/em>?\u00a0 She was out of sorts and on-edge for days afterward, to the point at which she found herself snapping at people, even Delvin. \u00a0And she never snapped at Delvin.<\/p>\n \u201cEverything all right, boss?\u201d he asked, obviously taken aback by her irritability.<\/p>\n \u201cYes, yes, everything\u2019s all right,\u201d she replied.\u00a0 Then she sighed.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m sorry, Delvin, I just have something on my mind that\u2019s bothering me.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnything I can help with?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo, I\u2019m afraid not.\u201d\u00a0 Delvin was the last person she wanted to talk to about this issue.<\/p>\n Not more than a few hours later, she overheard Veckel and Tonilia whispering about whether or not Dag and Brynjolf had a bun in the oven.\u00a0 It startled her, and she almost walked over to disabuse them of that notion, but then snickered and decided to leave it alone.\u00a0 A pregnancy certainly would be a good cover for a foul mood, and they\u2019d realize soon enough that they were wrong. She had to laugh, though.\u00a0 It was<\/em> something of a wonder that there hadn\u2019t been a Brynjolf the Younger in the works already. Goodness knows he\u2019d taken every possible opportunity to try, and a few opportunities that had seemed next to impossible at the time, as well.<\/p>\n A few days later, Dag was in Mistveil Keep in her capacity as Thane, attending Jarl Laila at court.\u00a0 As she approached the throne she heard Laila speaking to her steward Anuriel.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have heard rumors that the poison known as skooma is once more in our city,\u201d she said. \u201cWhat do you know of this?\u201d<\/p>\n Anuriel looked uncomfortable, but spoke in a soothing voice.<\/p>\n \u201cI believe these to be rumors spread by the Empire, milady, meant to weaken the citizen\u2019s faith in your leadership and to disturb the peace.\u201d<\/p>\n Laila let it go at that. She trusted Anuriel implicitly. Dag stared at Anuriel, but couldn\u2019t glean anything further from her expression. Dag\u2019s peace was disturbed, all right, but she said nothing. Skooma. Again. Roggi and I took care of the problem more than a year ago, didn\u2019t we?<\/em><\/p>\n Dag returned to the Flagon, agitated, deep in thought, bought a flagon of mead from Vekel and sat down at one of the tables to drink it.\u00a0 Her mind started racing, thinking of Coyle, and Roggi, and Cragslane, and Wujeeta, and then back to Coyle.\u00a0 Gods, I thought I was past this.\u00a0 I thought it was done, and I never had to think about it again.<\/em><\/p>\n Calm down. You\u2019re overreacting.<\/em><\/p>\n Shut up.<\/em><\/p>\n Dirge\u2019s voice was the type that would fill any space it could fill, even if he was trying to speak quietly.\u00a0 When he approached Vekel, Dag couldn\u2019t help but hear what he said.<\/p>\n \u201cJob\u2019s done, boss. Gave the package to her just like you said.\u201d<\/p>\n Vekel\u2019s voice was quieter, so she had to strain to hear what he said.\u00a0 Yes, she told herself, I\u2019m eavesdropping.<\/p>\n \u201cGood. Did she say anything?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYep. She said that the Jarl was planning a surprise raid on us, but she talked her out of it. Said she saved us a lot of trouble.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat she did. Very good. I\u2019ll tell Brynjolf.\u201d<\/p>\n Dag saw red for a moment.\u00a0 Or me, she thought. You could tell me.\u00a0 I\u2019m the Guildmaster, after all, not that anyone seems to notice it some days.<\/p>\n \u201cShe.\u201d\u00a0 Who was \u201cshe?\u201d\u00a0 It could be Maven, but if Maven had been the one to talk Laila out of a raid, there would be no need to tell Brynjolf.\u00a0 The two of them were practically joined at the hip when it came to business. Dag sometimes wondered what other services he might have been called upon to render for Maven before she met him; he was nothing if not obedient where she was concerned.\u00a0 Plus, Maven had gone to great lengths to convince the Jarl of her own success in pursuing the Guild, and that it would only be a matter of time before it was snuffed out.\u00a0 No, Maven wasn\u2019t the person Dirge and Vekel were talking about.<\/p>\n It had to be Anuriel. The Jarl\u2019s steward.<\/p>\n So that was where Sarthis Idren had gotten the key to the warehouse. Anuriel. She would have had easy access to the key that supposedly only the Jarl held; because of course the Jarl didn\u2019t personally handle all of the keep\u2019s keys.<\/p>\n And that meant that Vekel and Dirge and the Flagon were connected to Anuriel, and that the moon sugar shipments might well once have included Sarthis\u2019 skooma trade. There certainly had been moon sugar there in Sarthis\u2019 secret closet in the warehouse.<\/p>\n And they were going to report it to Brynjolf.<\/p>\n Dag stood and stomped through the tavern toward the Cistern.\u00a0 Vekel and Dirge exchanged startled looks.\u00a0 They may not have been intimidated by her size, but they knew enough to duck if she was in a bad mood.<\/p>\n Brynjolf was behind the Guildmaster\u2019s desk \u2013 her<\/em> desk \u2013 looking over papers, when she snarled at him, as quietly as she could manage.<\/p>\n \u201cTell me what is going on, Brynjolf.\u201d<\/p>\n He looked startled.\u00a0 She rarely called him by his full name any more. He\u2019d gotten used to being Red.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI mean this: is the Guild involved in the skooma trade?\u201d<\/p>\n Brynjolf straightened up and crossed his arms, a shadow passing over his face.\u00a0 \u201cAnd why are you asking me this?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnswer the question.\u201d<\/p>\n Brynjolf frowned. Then his face relaxed and his voice turned gentle. \u201cYou know that part of our wealth comes from shipping and distribution.\u00a0 If there happens to be something that\u2019s not exactly legal in the shipments, well, we are the Thieves Guild, after all, lass.\u201d It was such an obvious attempt to exercise his particular skills on her that she wanted to slap him.<\/p>\n \u201cDo not try to \u2018lass\u2019 me, Brynjolf,\u201d she spat. \u201cYou know better than that by now.\u00a0 Don\u2019t insult my intelligence.\u201d\u00a0 In spite of herself, her voice had risen.\u00a0 \u201cWhy have I not been told of this before now?\u201d<\/p>\n He had been getting angry, too.\u00a0 She should have seen it, but she didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n \u201cI thought you were smarter than this. I didn\u2019t know that I had to hold your hand at this stage,\u201d he growled, very quietly. \u201cDon\u2019t be stupid. Think about who we are.\u00a0 We make money by doing things that aren\u2019t necessarily above-board. And, as it happens, Maven prefers it if we don\u2019t talk about some things so that nothing leaks out.\u201d<\/p>\n Dag couldn\u2019t help it; her temper ran away from her.\u00a0 \u201cAnd who, exactly, is the Guildmaster here? Do you<\/em> remember that, Brynjolf?\u00a0 You had your opportunity to be Guildmaster and you turned it down<\/em>. You wanted me to do the job. Maven is not in charge here. \u00a0I <\/em>am.\u00a0 I think we need to talk about your unhealthy relationship with her.\u201d<\/p>\n He looked about ready to explode, the way he had once before, in that very spot.\u00a0 But Brynjolf was, first and foremost, a member of the Guild. He was Guild Second, and he had been there much longer than she had, decades longer. He knew the rules, and so did all the others. You did not attack another member of the Guild. Even Delvin would be beside her to administer a swift punishment if he broke them, just as they had gone with Karliah to administer it to Mercer. He\u2019d told her as much, that other time. So he stood, shaking just slightly, his hands clenching and unclenching.<\/p>\n \u201cHow could you possibly do this to me, after everything I went through?\u201d Dag hissed, trying to keep her voice down and not quite succeeding.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat in Oblivion are you talking about?\u201d he growled.<\/p>\n \u201cCoyle,\u201d Dag said through clenched teeth.\u00a0 \u201cCoyle and Daron.\u00a0 And Wujeeta. I told you.\u201d<\/p>\n Brynjolf had clearly been angry, his brow furrowed.\u00a0 For a moment he also looked surprised, before his eyes narrowed.\u00a0 What came out of his mouth was venomous, dripping with sarcasm, pitched low like an animal\u2019s warning growl.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t have a clue what you\u2019re on about, lass. You never told me anything of the sort. You must have told your\u2026 your friend<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n Dag had felt as though she was about to drop through the floor, stunned as though the bandit with the warhammer back at Cragslane had actually hit her a second time.<\/p>\n He was right.\u00a0 She had never told him about this, the thing that had put her on the road that had led her here, the most important thing in her life before she\u2019d met him.<\/p>\n She had told Roggi.<\/p>\n Her \u201cfriend.\u201d That\u2019s what he\u2019d called Roggi, the \u201cfriend\u201d she\u2019d taken with her to Honningbrew all those months ago.<\/p>\n She had always known Brynjolf had the capacity to be cruel, even though he\u2019d never directed it at her. Most of the time he managed to limit himself to sarcasm, but she knew it ran deeper in him than that; it was part and parcel of what Mercer had been able to tap with the Skeleton Key, to make him attack Karliah. But he had never before said something deliberately cruel to her. Not to her. Even when he had accused her and Karliah of not killing Mercer at Snow Veil Sanctum, he hadn\u2019t been deliberately cruel, just angry and anguished.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to talk, Brynjolf.\u00a0 But not here.\u00a0 I am going home.\u00a0 You will follow me and we will discuss this.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo. We will not.\u00a0 I have actual work to do.\u201d<\/p>\n She saw red. \u201cGo to Honeyside. Now.\u00a0 Do I make myself clear?<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n She hadn\u2019t realized that she was shouting. Somehow she had managed to pitch her voice just right that it made the stone arches of the Cistern ring.\u00a0 There was dead silence in its wake for a moment, until the plop of a single drop of condensation into the pool broke the spell.<\/p>\n \u201cDo what the boss says, Bryn,\u201d came Delvin\u2019s quiet voice from off to her left somewhere.<\/p>\n Brynjolf turned on his heel and stomped out of the Cistern without a word.\u00a0 Delvin waited until he was gone, then turned to Dag.\u00a0 \u201cBeginning to sound a bit like Mercer, pet.\u00a0 Be careful.\u201d\u00a0 And then he had left, while Dag stood quaking like an aspen.\u00a0 He was right.\u00a0 That had been one of Mercer\u2019s first questions to her. Do I make myself clear.<\/p>\n By all the gods, she was losing her mind.<\/p>\n She ran to Honeyside.<\/p>\n It had been a very long night, then, as they shouted and growled at each other and paced the floors, and hashed out the various and sundry truths and half-truths that needed sorting.\u00a0 Brynjolf nearly screamed at her for treating him like a child in front of his people.\u00a0 Dag stood, open-mouthed, not daring to say a word for fear she would say something she truly regretted.<\/p>\n He stopped, closed his mouth, and then sighed.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m sorry, Dag.\u00a0 Sometimes I forget that I\u2019m not the Guildmaster anymore.\u00a0 They\u2019re not my people.\u00a0 They\u2019re yours.\u201d<\/p>\n She couldn\u2019t help herself; she snapped at him.\u00a0 \u201cWell you\u2019re hardly alone.\u00a0 Some days it feels as though nobody else remembers that either.\u00a0 I told you from the beginning that this was a poor choice.\u201d<\/p>\n He glared at her.<\/p>\n She sighed.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m sorry, Bryn. It just gets to me.\u201d<\/p>\n Then Dag took a deep breath and told him about Coyle, and Daron, and Wujeeta, and Roggi helping her clear Cragslane; and the tears of frustration came again in spite of every effort to stop them, Dag angrily wiping her eyes with her sleeve, wondering aloud if she would ever get over it and wondering to herself if she was going to lose yet another love to this thing that had been haunting her for years.<\/p>\n Brynjolf\u2019s eyes were also moist as the claws of their individual pride tore at their connection to each other and threatened to sever it. He\u2019d told her so many times how surprised he was not to be alone any longer, how it felt so good to know he was loved.<\/p>\n \u201cIt hurts, lass,\u201d he said, standing with his arms wound up against himself like a shield.\u00a0 \u201cNot that you told Roggi about this.\u00a0 I\u2019d tell Roggi my problems, too, you know that. But it hurts that you didn\u2019t remember to tell me. I thought I meant more to you than that.\u201d<\/p>\n She got angry again. \u201cBrynjolf, I am your wife<\/em>,\u201d she shrieked.\u00a0 \u201cHow could you possibly mean more to me than you do?\u201d\u00a0 Then she took a deep breath and shook her head. \u201cI know,\u201d she whispered, staring at the floor. \u201cI know, and I\u2019m sorry. I really thought I had.\u00a0 I\u2019m so sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n He paced the floor for a few moments, then turned to her.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd I\u2019m sorry, too.\u00a0 I forget that there are some things you had no way of knowing, either, not unless I told you.\u00a0 I just didn\u2019t think this one was necessary.\u201d\u00a0 He took her hand.\u00a0 \u201cSit with me and I\u2019ll tell you whatever you want to know.\u201d<\/p>\n So they sat, and they talked.<\/p>\n Brynjolf quietly told her that yes, the Guild was part of the skooma smuggling operation in Skryim, although indirectly.\u00a0 They didn\u2019t sell it themselves, but they had a long-standing, discreet agreement that included Maven and Anuriel, and Maul, and his brother Dirge, and had once included Sarthis Idren.\u00a0 Delvin\u2019s contacts, Vekel\u2019s front end, and the Guild\u2019s muscle in exchange for Maven\u2019s money and the Jarl\u2019s carefully tended ignorance of the entirety.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t mention it specifically, Dag, because I assumed you knew.\u00a0 Remember when you first joined the Guild? I told you about the network of connections we had to keep together for things to run smoothly.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut Bryn,\u201d she said.\u00a0 \u201cSkooma.\u201d<\/p>\n He ran his hand over his face and heaved a huge sigh.\u00a0 \u201cYou ever tried it?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cGods no.\u00a0 It was bad enough watching Coyle\u2026 and Doran\u2026\u201d and her voice started to crack again.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd that\u2019s why it\u2019s illegal, because some people just get sucked in by it.\u00a0 For the rest of us, it\u2019s just a nice ride, like a good mead only a lot stronger. You have to be careful, but still.\u201d<\/p>\n It took a second to register what he was telling her.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLass, I\u2019ve told you how old I think I am.\u00a0 You don\u2019t suppose I never had any experiences before I met you, do you?\u00a0 It\u2019s not something I\u2019ve touched in a long while but \u2026 I\u2019m not telling you this from a place of ignorance either.\u00a0 Your friends were just some of the unlucky ones. \u00a0We make a lot of money from the ones who aren\u2019t. And if it wasn\u2019t us making the money, it would be the Empire, and we\u2019d just have to go through an extra step to pry the money loose from them. I didn\u2019t know this was an issue for you, and I would never have had you find out like this.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know what to say except that I\u2019m really sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n Well, that certainly made sense, Dag thought.\u00a0 It was hard, but it made sense.\u00a0 She nodded.<\/p>\n \u201cI killed Sarthis Idren,\u201d she blurted out.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m the one who killed Sarthis,\u201d she said, meeting his eyes.\u00a0 \u201cJust before you talked me into the shill job on Brand-Shei.\u00a0 Laila asked me to do it and I did. \u00a0It\u2019s why I ended up with this house. He almost killed me but \u2026 here I am.\u201d<\/p>\n He grimaced.\u00a0 \u201cMaul isn\u2019t worth half his pay some days.\u00a0 You\u2019d think he might have remembered seeing you go into the warehouse, or come out of it, especially when Sarthis turned up dead inside it. He never told us. Idiot.\u201d Then he grinned at her.\u00a0 \u201cBut well done, lass. He was a tough bastard.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe sure was,\u201d she said, a small grin playing at the corners of her mouth.<\/p>\n It felt like the ice was breaking.<\/p>\n Brynjolf acknowledged that Maven had too much power over the Guild.\u00a0 Dag knew their arrangement had once been absolutely necessary to the Guild\u2019s survival, but now that they had Nocturnal at their back they were doing well and needed to make some changes.\u00a0 He agreed. Neither of them knew exactly how to go about it but they agreed to do something about it, together. They couldn\u2019t and didn\u2019t want to sever ties with her, but the Guild needed to be its own organization.<\/p>\n Then Dag sighed.<\/p>\n \u201cBryn, I hope you know that I couldn\u2019t possibly do this job if not for you, and Delvin and Vex.\u00a0 I just couldn\u2019t.\u00a0 Someone has to make the decisions in the end, and you gave that to me.\u00a0 But I don\u2019t know anything without the rest of you.\u00a0 Just\u2026 keep me informed, ok?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes, lass. I\u2019ll make sure to talk to everyone about things.\u00a0 They forget, too.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd I\u2019m sorry for being an idiot. I guess I have this big blind spot because it just hurt so much to have the two of them \u2026not want me any more.\u201d<\/p>\n Brynjolf reached for her and cupped her face with his hand.\u00a0 \u201cMaybe it\u2019s time to try to let go of that a bit now, Dag,\u201d he said, quietly. \u201cYou did your best.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t your fault how things went with them and it wasn\u2019t your fault that he turned you away.\u201d<\/p>\n Dag nodded even as the tears threatened to roll down her face.<\/p>\n On that terrible night, Dag and Brynjolf had made peace in spectacular fashion.\u00a0 Because Dag loved Brynjolf, desperately so, and he made it abundantly clear every day that he returned that love, and their brief marriage had hung in the balance for that little bit of time.\u00a0 Things had returned to normal, uneasily at first but only uneasy for a brief time.<\/p>\n And the time had passed.<\/p>\n It should have been perfect.<\/p>\n There had been one day, one terrible day, when Dagnell had thought it would all fall apart. Dag overheard Delvin talking to Vekel.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m getting together a shipment from Morrowind,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cAnything you need?\u201d \u201cWell,\u201d Vekel answered, \u201cif you happen across any moon sugar\u2026\u201d Dag stopped in her tracks, stunned, her heart suddenly threatening … <\/p>\n