It was out of tune, but she was determined to fix it. It was Sundas, late afternoon and Lacey intended to pass time as she pleased.
She sat with her legs folded on her bed in the cistern. Her hands fidgeted and fiddled with the pegs on a lute she had found in a cave on the way back to Riften.
Recorded om the neck was 'Finn's Lute' in scratchy old carvings. "Hmmppff" she muffled to herself as she saw this and continued pulling at the lute was old, its surprising it hasn't shattered to pieces already.
Lacey plucked the first cord with her thumb, and with it she heard a grunt from across the cistern. Lifting her head she saw Mercer peering over at her from his desk.
Their faces locked instantly and she realised she had broken his concentration. A smirk lingered across her face once she realised his annoyance.
With him still looking at her, she placed her thumb over the second cord and strummed it once only. It sounded terrible considering how old this lute was.
Mercer continued to stare at her with disgust as she danced her fingers across the last six strings, causing the 'boing' of each cord to roll off the walls of the cistern.
"Don't you have better things to do than disturb me?" He scolded
Lacey throated a deep chuckle in response and shifted one leg to hang over the edge of the bed. Annoying people was never this funny. She thumbed an irregular tune and noticed Brynjolf had been standing nearby for possibly the whole scene.
"I'd watch yourself, lass" he said with one hand on his hip, the other to his chin whilst facing the direction of the guild master.
"I'm not scared of Mercer" she declared in an attempt to impress her mentor.
Suddenly one of the eight strings flung upwards stopping Lacey from persuing further..
"Well, color me impressed lass" he said with amusement in his voice.
Lacey stared into the void, cheeks slowly turning red from embarrassment. Her deep brown eyes moved to Brynjolf who chuckled, then moved towards Mercer's desk, which he, had clearly lost interest and had his head fixed back in that big ol' book that's ways sitting there.
"Maybe I'll grab a drink from the Bee and Barb to pass the evening" she tossed the lute aside and walked past Brynjolf.
"Fancy a drink?" She stopped and looked up at him
"I've got important things to do, we'll have a drink another time"
