My lungs burned and my legs were incredibly sore, slowly becoming numb as I ran. "Dammit!" I said to myself. The Riften Guard was on my tail, and I couldn't find any way to hide myself. I dashed down a flight of stairs. If I could just make it to the Ratway... "Stop! Thief!" One of the guards, a female Nord shouted. I kept running. Just a few more paces... Almost there... My fingers wrapped around the handle and ripped the door to the Ratway open. The air was drafty and damp, kinda smelling like stale blood and mold. I loved it. I walked down a few paths, kicking skeever bones aside and hopping over puddles by the dim torchlight until I made my way into the Flagon, where Vex was waiting for me. "Steal something worth talking about?" She said snidely. I caught my breath and showed her a shiny gold vase that I had stolen from Mjoll the Lioness. "Ah, good job." She said, eyeing it over. "Here's your share of the coin. Now get out of here." 300 gold was tossed into my hand. "Only three hundred?" I grumbled crossly, turning the coin over in my hands. "This isn't what we agreed on, Vexie." Vex sneered. "Times are tough. I don't have any more coin right now. I'll get you back in two days." I muttered obscene words under my breath and made my way to the Cistern. I walked over to the Alchemy Table, but Vipir the Fleet was telling a story to another guild member. All of us had heard all of his made-up stories. "Out of the way Vipir," I hissed, shoving him into the other guild mate. "Ey! What's your problem?!" He shouted. "Nothing!" I growled. "You're just in my way!" "Ey lass, what's all the commotion?" I heard a soft, tender voice ask as a hand was placed on my shoulder. My whole body relaxed. Brynjolf had that effect on me- just the immediate calm. "Tell your protege to keep her cool!" Vipir muttered, dusting himself off an stalking away. I grumbled more under my breath. "What's wrong lass? You can tell me anything." I rubbed my knuckles against my eyes. "I've just... Been... So... Stressed." He nodded in understanding. "I heard you got pulled into that Dark Brotherhood stuff." "I didn't have a choice!" I sobbed, crumbling to the floor as horrible, horrible memories came back. Killing three innocent people when Astrid was the real contract, that stupid Jester Cicero, watching the sanctuary burn and my family murdered by the empire, sharing a coffin with that desecrated corpse called Night Mother, listening to Astrid ask me to kill her, and then I had to kill the emperor... Let me tell you that he didn't make it easy on me either. He was nice to me. I took much pleasure in killing the man who started the whole chain of event. But that was the only murder I enjoyed. "I know," he cooed, stroking my black hair. "But you're home now. You don't have to worry about any of them any more." I could feel my body start to shake in small tremors. Within minutes, I would be crying. "Brynjolf, I'm going to head home for today." I said disappointedly. He smiled. "That's fine, lass. You deserve the rest." I hurried out of the Cistern through the secret exit. The guards paid no mind to me, having forgotten. I wasn't even in the mood to pickpocket random strangers as I departed the city and hurried to the stables. My daughters were at home in Whiterun, waiting for me. I missed them horribly. "Hey! Wait!" I heard someone call, so I turned. A guard was rushing towards me frantically. Nervous sweat broke over my brow. "I know you!" I buried my face in my hood. "No... You're making a mistake..." "There's no mistaking it. You're a wanted woman, and it's time... You pay..." I snapped my fingers. "Hey. You okay?" "I, erm, yeah." "Anyway," I huffed. "I am the Jarl's thane. I demand you to release me at once." "Oh!" He yelped. "I'm sorry Thane. I didn't recognize you." I pulled down my hood to see which guard I was talking to, but I couldn't see his face through his helmet. "Remove your helmet, guard." I ordered. Without question, he did as I asked. The guard was a Nord, as most of them are, with fine black hair like mine but eyes with irises so clear that they reminded me of the snow on the Throat of the World. "Thank you." I said. "Is there anything you need, my Thane?" "Um, no, thank you..." I awkwardly scratched the back of my head. Most of the guard would've just bid me farewell and gone back to their duties. "Then I suppose I'll be off." He turned on his heel. I paid the cart driver the correct amount of Septims and we took off. When I looked back, I could see the guard was still looking at me. I wondered what he was thinking about. ~~~