The Thief
Skyrim's night sky was beautiful, when it wasn't cloudy. It had different hues of green and blue and the scattered stars were illuminated like tiny flames. Even the moons could be seen and the silvery moonlight made Skyrim not so dark and sinister, and maybe even at peace.
However, the Mage walking into the Bannered Mare could not give a single damn about the night sky at this moment in time. He had been ambushed by a group of lowly bandits, almost caught Sanguinare Vampiris while defeating a rabble of vampires, a Dark Brotherhood assassin tried to kill him and to top it all off a dragon decided to make the mistake of also trying to kill him.
It had been a terribly long day and he was tired and did not care if he ended up drunk on an overconsumption of mead.
Uthgerd was never in the Bannered Mare anymore. She left about seven months ago to be the steward of some warrior who had recently been killed. But since the warrior had died, nobody knew where Uthgerd had gone. Maybe she stayed in the warrior's house? Nobody knew and to be perfectly honest, the Mage did not care and he took Uthgerd's place in the little corner of the inn.
Hulda saw the look on the Mage's face as he walked in. He was exhausted as he went and plopped himself onto Uthgerd's chair. She walked up to him and handed him a bottle of mead and told him he need not pay, since he looked like he needed it more than any of the other people.
Speaking about the people in the inn, the Mage scanned the room and recognised most of them. There was Mikael gently strumming his lute, Carlotta and her daughter talking about something which the Mage didn't really take notice of, Idolaf Battle-Born sitting on the bench in front of the fire and a few other residents of Whiterun either talking or drinking.
The Mage then felt at ease, until his eyes caught the person on the other side of the inn near the entrance. He hadn't noticed the person as he walked in. Their face was shadowed by their hood but what he could see was the person's mouth. The mouth slowly curled into a sly and sickening grin which made him tense and feel very uneasy.
From studying their figure, the strange person was a woman and then the Mage noticed the woman's armour... she was with the Thieves Guild. There was no hiding it. The Mage heard rumours and whispers of their return. How they were becoming bolder with each passing day. He didn't think the rumours were true and he wasn't scared. They weren't the Dark Brotherhood so they couldn't kill him; they were nothing more than petty thieves.
They were worthless.
The Mage took a swig of the mead from the bottle in his hand and in an instant; the Thief who was silently sitting on the other side of the inn was now sitting comfortably in front of him.
He almost choked on his mead with shock, but he quickly regained his composure. The Mage could see a few small strands of brown hair fall to the side of her face, and he could see that she was very pale. Not a sickly pale, but a beautiful ivory colour similar to the skin of the many Nord women he had met on his travels around Skyrim. From this observation he knew that the woman was a Nord. A pair of olive green eyes flashed from the shadows under her hood and stared at him intently.
"I know you're with the Thieves Guild. I have no business with you, vagabond. Leave me in peace." The Mage surprised himself that he sounded so stern seeing that he was so drained.
"You sound like one of the guards." said the Thief. Her voice was calm and melodic, but it was probably an act. A silver tongue and a persuasive voice were a major requirement for thieves. "Don't become so hostile just yet, my friend" She continued.
The Mage wanted to walk away. He could have done so easily, he didn't have time for this worthless thief. But there was this little voice inside telling him to stay and listen to this wretched woman.
"I would like your assistance." She said.
"No, I will not associate myself with-"
The Thief raised her hand gently to silence him. The Mage glared at her in contempt.
"I've got a bit of an errand to perform." She still spoke with serenity and sat back causally in her chair. "But I need an extra pair of hands. And in my line of work, extra hands are well-paid."
The Mage sighed in annoyance. Still, he gestured for her to continue.
"Seeing that you are a mage, I would assume that you've attended the College of Winterhold?"
"... Yes" The Mage replied slowly. He was very unsure of what she wanted. He had very close friends in the College and he worried for what she wanted him to do.
"Well that makes the situation slightly easier." The Thief said with the sinister grin like the one which was etched on her face earlier. "I cannot set foot inside the College anymore. They know me, and they know my business. They would know why I was there. You however... tiny, innocent little wizard... They won't suspect a thing."
The disliking the Mage had for this woman only increased. How she called him 'tiny and innocent'... How dare she think that he was inferior just for being a mage!
He sighed again.
"What is it you ask of me...?" He spoke with the same sternness as before.
"In the Arch-Mage's quarters, there is a jewel, a pink jewel in a golden box. I need you to go into the Arch-Mage's quarters and steal that jewel for me and then I'll pay you generously for it."
He couldn't. There was no possible way he could do that. The Arch-Mage respected and thought very highly of him. But then he had a thought.
"What happens if I am caught?"
"Then I've never heard of you." The thief said simply. "And you will not mention me either. If you are caught, you are on your own. I won't save you from prison."
He would not do this, to Oblivion with this woman.
"I am not going to destroy the relationship I have with the mages of the College just for a blasted jewel. Find someone else to carry out your pathetic deeds." He wouldn't be persuaded.
The Mage had wasted enough time on this vagabond. He knew he shouldn't have bothered to listen. He started to get up to leave.
"Wait." The melodiousness and serenity of her voice had vanished. She sounded desperate. "You have no idea how badly I need that jewel."
"You are with the Thieves Guild. You crave anything that sparkles, this jewel means nothi-"
"Sit down." The Thief cut him off and this was an order.
The Mage was not used to taking orders but the Thief had fixed him with an ice cold stare that dared him not to sit down.
He sat down.
"This jewel is called a Stone of Barenziah and one of the Guild Masters has given me the task of finding all twenty-four of these stones." Her voice was hushed and frustration began to be exposed in her eyes. "I have been to every corner of Skyrim and these stones are impossible to find. I am at my wit's end. It is so hard trying to track these damn things down. But I want to prove myself to the Guild. I know that you and many others think of us as lowly criminals, but some of us weren't always thieves. I... wasn't always a thief. But it is who I am now."
The Mage could not help her. He had already said. He could see that she was desperate but it was her own fault that she had this task on her hands.
"Look, I have already told you that I will not help you. I am no thief. I do not steal, so please find someone else to help you."
Once again, the Mage got up to leave and he was about to walk away again when he heard the sound of a coin purse landing on the table. He turned his head to look.
"Two-thousand septims." said the Thief. "And if you bring the stone back to me, I'll double that amount. Please, will you now help?"
She was being serious, and that was a lot of coin. The Mage debated on leaving but... two-thousand septims? And she said she would double that amount?
The Mage, hating himself for doing this however, took the coin purse.
"We shall see."
The Mage left without a sound, out through the doors of the Bannered Mare, and into the night once again.
He felt a sort of strange sympathy for the woman. Maybe he would take on her task, with a heavy burden of regret.