"Hey Vekel, could you get me some mead?" I shouted over to the bartender.

"Coming right up, Vex!"

I'd been in the tavern all day, yet I hadn't drank a single drop of alcohol. It was crazy. I'd just been arguing with Tonilia about which hold Rorikstead was in. She said it belonged to the Reach, but I knew that it was clearly in Whiterun.

"I'm telling you Vex, Whiterun's borders don't stretch that far!" I rolled my eyes.

"Tonilia," I told her. "I've been doing jobs in Rorikstead for a long time, and I'm pretty sure it's in Whiterun. Gods, Tonilia. Go and ask Rorik himself!"

Just then, Niruin walked in from the cistern.

"Vex?" He asked.

"Yeah?" I said back, turning away from a very annoyed Tonilia.

"Mercer wants to talk to you. Says he's got a job for you."

"Alright, I'll be there in a sec."

I got up and walked away into the cistern.

"Reach!" Tonilia shouted after me.

I sighed. "Whiterun." I said, opening the door to the cistern and slamming it behind me.

I walked through the cistern, crossing the bridge in the middle.

Sure enough, Mercer Frey was sitting at his desk, clearly he had been waiting for me.

"Ah, Vex. Just the girl I was looking for."

"Niruin said you had a job for me?"

"Yes... The job... I have it here somewhere..." He started rummaging around his desk, looking for something.

"Ah, here it is!" He finally exclaimed. He held up a piece of paper.

"Here are all the details. Just a simple burglary job in Solitude."

I took the paper from him and looked at it. The target was Addvar in Solitude. Apparently he was in possession of a few flawless sapphires that he really just didn't need.

"Why didn't you send Brynjolf?" I asked. "He's a master at these type of things."

"Yeah. But the thing is," He replied. "Brynjolf's got a bounty in Solitude. A little mishap involving Taarie and her Silver Pendant... Well, you're the next best, so I'm sending you."

"How much will it pay?"

"Five hundred septims. So long as it goes off without a hitch."

"Okay. I'll do it. I should be back in five days, if everything goes well."

I exited the cistern and went back to the flagon. Tonilia was waiting.

"Well," She said. "Where are you going?"

"Solitude." I said.

"Oh. I was hoping it would be in Rorikstead, which, according to Delvin, is in the Reach."

"Delvin's a drunk idiot."

I sat down at the bar, ordering a bottle of Mead.

I drank for a while, argued continuously with Tonilia, and finally lied down in my bed in the cistern. I had changed out of my guild armor into a nightgown that I had... borrowed from Haelga.

The next day I would ride for Solitude. That was on the other side of Skyrim, if you didn't know. It would take me at least a day to get there. How many miles was that? Forty-one minus twelve, plus eleven...zzzzzzzzzz