AN: Greetings and salutations! This story is a sort of prequel to my other story, The Dragonborn and the Companion, though both can be read as stand alone or in order either way.

I own nothing, save my Dragonborn, Elise, and my sneaky Shadow, Eshne.

Also - I didn't feel I could do Brynjolf's accent justice in type, so feel free to mentally edit his talking parts to his normal sexy self.

The sounds of water dripping far off in the cave slowly pulled the young Nord woman from sleep. She stretched and rolled over in the bed, arm flinging out and reaching only to find nothing. Her eyes darted open and she looked around the large cavern that made up the bedroom where she and her lover slept. She located him across the room at a small table turned desk concentrating on a document. "Come back to bed," she cooed, voice still rusty with sleep.

He glanced in her direction and smirked. "I would love to, but if we are to ever make a name for ourselves I must stay on top of this." He turned his attention back to the papers in his hands and she frowned.

She took a moment to stretch, arching her back and making sure the furs covering her slipped down just enough to be tantalizing, if he happened to look in her direction. He did not and she sighed. "Linwe," she called, "I am cold. Warm me up?"

If she had not been watching him from the side of her eyes she would have missed the way he rolled his in exasperation before turning to her fully. Her eyebrows drew together at his reaction but she held her tongue when he stood and walked over to her. She stretched luxuriously against the furs on his bed and grinned saucily as he neared her. Her bright red hair was spread across the pillow and her blue eyes blinked up at him. He winked and leaned down and she angled her head, lips slightly puckered to meet his. She was disappointed when he tugged the furs back up around her and turned and walked away.

"Linwe," she whined. The Altmer laughed and threw a look at her over his shoulder before resuming his seat.

He turned to face her and his eyes rolled over the shape of her body under the blankets. She shivered at his look and he licked his lips. "As much as I would love to climb back in that bed and stay with you the remainder of the day," he paused and winked again, "and several days thereafter, I am afraid I have a job for you."

She perked up and leaned on one elbow to look at him, unabashed when the furs fell down to reveal a good portion of her nude form. "A job?" she asked. She had been a member of the Shadows for nearly three months and had only received petty assignments so far. She hoped that this would be a good one. "A good job?" she asked, voicing her thoughts.

He nodded. "Very much. Not only a good job, but one that will be key with cementing our foothold here in Skyrim."

She grinned, if she had known it would only take sleeping with the leader to finally get a good job she would have rolled into bed with him a lot sooner. "So," she asked as she pushed herself out of bed and began gathering her clothes and armor from the floor. "What is this good job?"

He reached out as she neared him and pulled her down into his lap. She shifted a bit against the leather of his armor and raised an eyebrow at him. "You, my dear, are going to infiltrate the Thieves' Guild."

Both of her eyebrows rose to nearly her hairline and she eyed him. "Oh I am, am I? I suppose I shall just pop by the Palace on my way out and propose to Jarl Ulfric that I should lead his troops as well."

He smacked her on the rear and then leaned forward, nuzzling her neck and she bit back a moan. "Enough sass from you. You are going to infiltrate the Guild. I have faith that you will be able to gain entrance."

"And uh," she swallowed hard as his tongue danced across the skin of her neck, "What am I going to do while I am there?"

"Simple," he murmured against the shell of her ear. "You are going to insure that they continue to collapse."

"Is that all?" she asked, voice tinged with sarcasm.

"Do not worry; I will be sending you messages and information to help you along the way. Between your work inside and mine here we will have no issues securing a hold over Skyrim for the Summerset Shadows." His hand slid against the bare skin of her abdomen and she groaned.

"I thought you did not have time for this?" she murmured.

She felt him smirk against her skin. "I said I did not have time to climb back into bed," he corrected.

"Well in that case," she responded, dropping her clothes and turning to embrace him.

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Brynjolf watched from the shadows of The Bee and Barb waiting for the newcomer that Elise had tipped him off to earlier. According to the Bosmer, she had been sitting atop the wall to the city when a traveler had arrived seeking entrance. His plant in the guards had attempted to shake her down and very nearly lost his hand in the process. In addition the woman's fingers had slipped into more than one pocket while she made her way through town. Elise seemed convinced this person would be a great new addition. Brynjolf was not sure he could trust the dark haired Elf considering some of her other acquaintances, but he was willing to give the woman a look for the sake of their friendship.

He took another sip of his ale, glancing towards the door when it clicked open. A Nord woman slipped in, her flame red hair pulled back in a tight braid and her green eyes darting around the inn quickly, assessing everybody inside. She wore leather armor and had two daggers strapped to her hips. His eyebrow rose when he noticed the bulging coin purse on her hip and he glanced at Elise to confirm his suspicions. A nod from the Bosmer had him sidling through the crowd, grin sliding across his lips as he moved to lean against the counter next to the stool she had perched herself on.

"Never done an honest day's work in your life for all that coin you are carrying. Eh, lass?" He smirked when she jolted in surprise and glanced at him, giving him a once over before frowning.

She opened her mouth to respond but was cut off by Elise who had taken up residence on the newcomer's other side. "Ah come on now Bryn, I thought that line was special for me." She pouted at him and he rolled his eyes. The Nord woman glanced over at the Bosmer, her frown twisting into slight confusion.

Brynjolf grinned and shrugged. "Well, that is what you get for thinking," he quipped, drawing a laugh from Elise and a pair of raised eyebrows from the Nord.

"Do not mind him," Elise said, pulling the woman's attention back to her. "My name is Elise and this is Brynjolf. What is your name?" She propped one elbow on the counter and rested her chin on it, smiling widely at the other woman.

"Eshne," the Nord responded and then her eyes widened slightly and she bit her lip.

Interest piqued Brynjolf leaned slightly closer. "Little Fire, eh?" he asked, eyes rolling over her hair and then back to her face.

She frowned at him again and then her lip curled slightly in distaste. "Yes, what of it?" she snarled.

He shrugged and winked. "Not a thing," he assured her. His eyes darted up to Elise and she gave a barely there nod before he looked back to Eshne. "So, Little Fire," he commented, ignoring the angry look she gave him. "Interested in a business proposition?"

"Depends on the proposition," she shot back.

He grinned and tugged lightly on her braid. "Little Fire in more ways than one, eh?" he asked, eyes darting up to Elise. The Bosmer shrugged and turned away to speak with Keerava. He looked back to Eshne. "Meet me at my stall tomorrow when the market is open. I will give you all the details then," he instructed. She gave him a weird look and he pushed himself away from the bar.

"That is it?" she hissed, voice sounding a bit shrill. "Just 'meet me tomorrow'?" He winked at her again but said nothing more as he slipped into the shadows, far enough away for her to not notice him, but close enough to eavesdrop.

"You get used to him," Elise said, drawing Eshne's attention back to her. She took a long drink of her mead and then motioned for Eshne to do the same.

"I would rather get used to Molag Bal and Coldharbor," Eshne groused, earning a quiet chuckle from Elise. Brynjolf rolled his eyes at her comment, shifting slightly.

Elise raised her eyebrows and shrugged. "I have found there are only three reasons people come to Riften," she commented, earning a confused look from Eshne. "One, they are lost; two, to get married; or three, to join the Thieves' Guild. From the dressing down you gave the guard at the gate I would say you are not lost and I do not see an Amulet of Mara or a fiancée following you around, so my guess is you are here for option three," Elise answered.

Eshne frowned at her drink and did not respond.

"I could be reading the situation wrong though," Elise said, "But if I am not, then I highly recommend you meet Brynjolf tomorrow. He is the only way in." She finished her drink and dropped some coin on the counter then waved at Keerava and headed out the door. Brynjolf watched Eshne for several more minutes as she finished the last of her mead before paying Keerava for a room. Once the Nord has disappeared upstairs he slipped out of the inn.

Elise glanced up to find Brynjolf grinning at her as he walked into the Flagon later that night. "Well?" he asked as he neared the table where she sat with Delvin.

She waved to Vekel for a drink as he dropped into a chair. "Oh she will be by to see you tomorrow. Have no doubt about that," she told him, leaning back and taking a small sip of the mead Vekel had given her.

Brynjolf grinned and slapped Delvin on the back, causing the older man to nearly spit his drink across the table. "Two recruits in less than a month! How is that for your curse?" he asked.

"Not a good argument boy," Delvin retorted. "We used to have two recruits roll in a day."

"Ah, but how many stayed?" Brynjolf asked.

Delvin shrugged. "Enough," he said.

"I have a feeling about this one Del, just you wait. If she turns out even half as good as our little Elise here, then we struck gold!" The redhead grinned at Elise and she flushed, toying with her bottle. She knew most of the guild had a bit of respect for her now after completing the Goldenglow job, but some, namely Mercer and Vex, said she had gotten through it on pure dumb luck. She did not want to let anybody know just how close to the truth those two were.

"Brynjolf, there will be no more strays in this Guild," Mercer snarled from across the room. Elise jumped and glanced over at the hooded man where he sat in a secluded corner. Since she had joined the Thieves' Guild this was the only time she had seen him anywhere besides behind his desk.

"Come on, Mercer," Brynjolf retorted, "I did good with Elise."

Elise heard Mercer snort. "Look how long it too you to find her. And she is not that good," the man responded.

"Mercer you know we need more members. How else are we supposed to fill the coffers?" Brynjolf shot back.

Mercer threw up his hands and rose from the chair. "Fine," he said, stalking over to glare down at the Nord man "But she gets a real test, not one of those damn parlor tricks you usually have the recruits go through."

"Have any suggestions?" Brynjolf asked.

The frown on Mercer's face grew and then switched to a smirk and he glanced at Elise who did her best not to shrink into her chair. "Send her with this one," he said, jerking his head at her. "Maybe between the two of them they will be able to take care of Honningbrew for Maven. And have them do some work for Vex and Delvin."

Brynjolf nodded and Mercer turned, sweeping out of the room with a bang of the door to the Cistern. Elise let out her breath and practically melted into her chair. "Sithis that man scares me," she muttered.

Brynjolf and Delvin chuckled. "He's only so hard on ya Lass because he can see the potential. If you were not worth his time he would ignore you," Brynjolf explained.

Elise frowned and glanced in the direction where Mercer had disappeared. "Sometimes I think that might be better."

"Ah, do not worry your pretty head about it," Delvin said. "Have a drink and relax. You will not see him again before you leave tomorrow and you now have a traveling companion. Not bad."

"I suppose," Elise said, leaning against the table and propping her chin on her hand. "So Del," she asked, "Got any jobs around Whiterun?"