A/N: I did post this on WattPad, but decided to improve and continue it on here, if you so happened to come across it on WattPad. I feel like our favourite Watch Captain Hieronymus Lex has very few fics on here, so I thought I'd contribute to that :3 If you have any ideas or corrections do let me know. This fic won't be updated on a regular basis, but I promise I'll update whenever I can. I'm pretty sure I will complete this fic one day so don't think when I disappear for a few months that means this fic has been abandoned.
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It was midnight.
The guard were on duty 24/7, but some could be a little more 'lenient' throughout the night due to their sleep deprivation.
A mysterious shadow darted swiftly from rooftop to rooftop.
It was the thief Bosmer, Ebony.
She wasn't really well-known, as was considered a 'lesser citizen' throughout Cyrodiil, especially the Imperial City. Her hair was reasonably dark for a Bosmer (as her name suggests), being near enough black. She was fair-skinned, maybe not as pale as a Nord, but still quite pale. You could almost consider her appearance as being like that of a human, besides her eyes and ears. Her eyes were orange/golden, typical of many Bosmer, and her ears were as pointy as any other elf. She always wore something that was similar to that of the Dark Brotherhood's shrouded armour, but she'd never actually associated with assassins. No one really noticed, or cared, because very few knew what the members of the Dark Brotherhood actually wore.
Her general self was that of a fun-loving person with considerable strength. She hadn't a care in the world, doing whatever she pleased. Herself and the local Thieves Guild members always had a laugh and a good time, and she especially got along with Methredhel, a Bosmer like herself. They lived in the Waterfront, amongst other Thieves Guild members and beggars. Of course, the residents all got along reasonably well, due to being of the same class, and the fact that the thieves supported the beggars and they returned that favour by being almost spies for the guild.
Anyway, she was shifted along the shop buildings in the Market District, trying to pick out a good shop to raid. She, unlike her thieving peers, was a great acrobat. She jumped and climbed atop buildings with ease, giving her a great vantage point. When Armand needed information about something within the Imperial City, he usually asked her to do the job due to the fact that she was the best acrobat out of most he'd seen in the city.
She spotted the First Edition.
She had asked the beggars about decent shops to raid in the city, and many had mentioned the fact that the First Edition was ramping up their game, and so had ordered a massive stock of valuable books, and even a few spell scrolls, that had just arrived earlier that day.
There was one problem with this.
Armand had given her a few guard schedules, most notably the one of Hieronymus Lex, the guard captain. Usually, whenever a store had brought in valuable stock, he patrolled the zone around that store at night, aware that thieves could easily break in and steal everything.
Lex really took on his job, arresting people whenever he could. But out of pretty much every type of criminal, he despised thieves the most, as was always out to catch the Thieves Guild leader, the Grey Fox.
Many didn't believe the man, thought he was crazy. With a little sneaky eavesdropping to see if she could catch some important information regarding the guild, much of what she'd previously heard from the guards showed that many thought he was off his head.
Of course, Ebony had to disagree. How he'd found out about the Grey Fox's existence was something she should keep an ear out for, though.
Speaking of the insufferable man, there he was, walking in his typical proud stance. He always looked serious, and was clearly easily irritated. This was something you didn't have to be a thief to instantly recognise. He was but metres from the bookstore, patrolling in an area that he could keep an eye on it.
Ebony contemplated ideas on how she would get inside the bookstore unnoticed.
"Ah ha!" she exclaimed in her thoughts.
Besides her typical stealthy skills, she also had some ability in magic, most notably illusion, but she knew that an illusion spell directly on Lex would attract unwanted attention. She was also a decent conjurer, often using her favoured Flame Atronach spell and conjuring the Daedra a good distance away from drive attention away from her.
She balled her hand into a tight fist, and sent the summoning spell in the general area of the more sheltered stores. Lex was instantly distracted, and she used this opportunity to jump down and sneak into the store.
She checked to see that Lex was swinging his steel claymore at the Daedra, and he'd hardly got a single slice in the creature. She hopped down from the roof, landing crouched on the ground.
She searched into her small satchel, pulling out a lockpick. She admitted to herself that she wasn't great at lockpicking, and struggled to fumble the lock open. She usually did waste a fair few picks on moderate locks, no matter how much Methredhel or Armand tried to teach her.
Finally the lock came loose after breaking just two lockpicks. She entered the store and closed the door completely, knowing that if it was left open it would be a massive giveaway.
"Woah," she exclaimed in her thoughts. Glistening, brand new books lined the shelves everywhere, practically begging to be stolen. Being quite the nerd before she started thievery, she often read many books, and had a decent knowledge on what books would deem more valuable than others.
She noticed a collection of The Real Barenziah series, and even a copy of The Lusty Argonian Maid stashed amongst the shelves. Of course, she wouldn't bother with these books, as they provided little coin and only weighed her down, making jumping and sneaking much more difficult.
She then saw the chest in the corner.
Pulling out another lockpick, she managed to just about unlock it, with a mere five lockpicks to spare. Inside the chest, lay five different spell scrolls. Unfortunately, she didn't know which were valuable and which weren't since she had never really used scrolls (the only ones she had used being ones that helped her break through locks). She collected them all anyway, knowing that scrolls generally had a decent value and the fact they were light, so carrying them wouldn't be that much of a problem.
She threw them in the small rucksack that sat on her back. She scanned the room, checking for any other possible valuables. Besides a few books that may gain her about ten Septims, she knew that staying here for much longer would be risky and a waste of time.
And she was right.