It felt warmer than usual in Whiterun with only a slight, soft breeze. The leaves of the tree in the park were slowly turning from dark green to hues of red, orange, and yellow, then detaching and showering the ground around it. At this time of the evening, the birds stopped chirping to let the crickets start. The water rushed throughout the city in narrow man made streams. Most of the people were at the taverns to celebrate Emperor's Day, and few in their houses. Because of this, Ellaria saw it as the perfect time to steal from the most important family in the city, the Battle-Borns.
"This is one of the hardest tasks that can be assigned," Vex had told her. "But Brynjolf says you're a master, so I trust you won't mess this up."
I won't mess up, she promised herself. Even when she was young, her deft hands could take gold coins straight from someone's pocket without them noticing. That was how she survived being the youngest in a very large family. Sometimes her parents forgot they had her, and her 10 older siblings purposely ignored her. Even after escaping Summerset Isles, she pickpocketed and swiped a few necessities to make her last the journey.
Then, in Skyrim, Brynjolf came along and admired her skills, eventually taking her into the Guild. The newbies laughed at the skinny, short elf, and the professionals thought she wouldn't last a week in the family. Then only a few days later, their eyes would gleam at her, like a miner that had spotting gold. She had been given the task to collect debts from three different people, and she successfully carried it out on the first try. When one of the thieves asked her how it was, she simply replied, "Easy."
Sure, people like Mjoll and Elenwen had successfully thwarted her plans in the past, whether it was catching her in the middle of her job or taking a stolen item back. The important part was that she always managed to escape with her head still on her shoulders.
The only difference was that now, she was accepted by Nocturnal herself. Karliah, Brynjolf, and she began to wear the black robes of a Nightingale. She didn't like the blade though. Instead, she preferred her ebony katana that would set itself on fire when she squeezed hard enough. Otherwise, to avoid causing a fire, she could just use it as a regular blade. She stroked the hilt.
Tip tap tip tap, her perceptive Elven ears caught the sound of steel boots marching behind her. Her walking stopped, eyes widened, and her face lost it's color for a split second. Almost immediately, she gripped the handle, pulled the sword from it's sheath, and twirled around with beautiful agility. The blade was not aflame, yet the tip was sharply pointed to her opponents chest.
Her opponent's hands went up next to herself, and her face was drained from all it's color, though it didn't have very much. Ellaria took the time to ponder the woman's appearance before making a strike. She had shoulder-length dark hair, with a small braid on the left side. Her eyes looked brown, but when the light of the brazier caught them, they were truly hazel.
Recognizing the features, she took her sword back and sheathed it. Then she turned back to scold the woman. "Lydia!" she spat, careful not to be too loud. "I told you to stay at Breezehome! Why were you following me?"
"I could tell you were going on some adventure," she said with obvious guilt in her voice. "I just wanted to make sure you would be fine."
Ellaria facepalmed. She did think of her housecarl as one of her greatest friends. When she was in the tundras of Skyrim for less than a week, she had already been proclaimed Dragonborn. Having no knowledge of the country at all, a billion questions were spinning in her head all at once. Lydia, thankfully, came into her life to answer those questions. Not only that, but everyone depended on her, and expected her to save the world. It was a heavy load of stress on her shoulders, and she barely had enough strength to carry it. Luckily, Lydia came and carried half of it for her. It made her able to stand up straight and slay Alduin.
Even though these two shared a bond so strong they could walk in Oblivion together, at some points they were irritated in each other's presence. Ellaria was finished with her greatest quest ever, and sometimes wanted to handle simple missions alone. She slayed the worst, most menacing dragon ever. Why can't she deliver a petty letter from one person to another without help? Lydia, on the other hand, knew Skyrim was dangerous. Traveling alone always had a chance of death, and she had promised the Jarl to put her life before her Thane's. If Ellaria died, but she was still alive, she would fail. In her foolhardy mind, failure was worse than death.
"Lydia," Ellaria looked back at her. "I know you would die before me, but I can take care of myself. Plus this is a simple job here in Whiterun, so there's probably no danger."
"There's danger in everything," Lydia said flippantly. "What if a murderer jumps out of an ally and backstabs you? What it they shoot an arrow at you and you die before you knew what hit you?"
Ellaria shook her head, then took in a sigh as she thought about what to say next. Before she spoke, she came up and put a hand on the Nord's shoulder. "From my experiences, Whiterun is by far the safest hold Skyrim has. Something like that is more likely to happen in Riften or Falkreath."
"Okay," she replied, nodding her head. "But how come I never get to go with you on adventures anymore?"
The second she said that, the elf felt like shrieking and pulling every strand of hair from her scalp. Did she have to bring that up!? Her mind boomed. Was it really necessary?! She wasn't going to debate. She had to give up. This conversation was burning precious time; time she would need to carry out the task.
"Fine," she mumbled. Lydia bounced with excitement, knowing the words that were coming next. "You can come with me."
Quickly, before she was about to throw her arms up and shout, "YAY!", she shushed her. "This is one of my thieving jobs, so you have to be silent and watch where you step. Let me take care of the business."
"Got it," she nodded simply. Lydia knew that she was a thief, and was perfectly fine with it. She was sworn to respect her after all.
The two women were already in the middle of the Plains District, right next to The Drunken Huntsman. That was good. They didn't have very long to walk, probably less than a block. Ellaria had already wasted enough time arguing with Lydia, but was glad she was here. They both continued to walk.
By now, the sky was dark blue, and billions of twinkling stars were fully visible. The long, lime green auroras streaked the sky like a paint stroke on a canvas. As much as she wanted to sit on a bench and just watch the sky, she had work to do. Even though Summerset Isles was forever warm with beautiful golden beaches, the night sky was just dark. No stars or lights, just simple darkness. Because of this, they often distracted her.
She couldn't be distracted now. The large house was just in front of her. She took a few seconds to study the architecture. It was the size of a small mansion, and made of wood. The walls were not painted. The roof was golden and scaled, unlike most of the thatched ones in the rest of the city. That was all the details she needed.
From her pocket, she took a single, thin iron pick. Without a second of hesitation, she latched it inside the lock. It was hard, the lock was pure steel and oddly shaped. However, her fingers couldn't fail her. She put her ear closer and listened to the crack of the lock rotating. Soon enough, the door was unlocked.
"How did you do that?" Lydia asked behind her, awestruck at how fast she was.
Ellaria turned back to smirk at her housecarl. "Practice," she answered simply. Then her expression went a bit more serious. "You can't come in though. You'd get in my way, no offense."
"I understand," she blurted. Ellaria was a bit annoyed at the interruption, but she continued.
"Vex said this was a challenge, so I have to do it alone. However, I thought of a simple task for you. Just stay out here and make sure nobody comes in. Got it, Lydia?"
She nodded right as she finished talking. It made Ellaria think she had barely listened, but she brushed it off.
"Okay," was all she said before entering the house.
The interior was as large as she thought it would be. The walls were decorated with the heads of goats, bears, and deer. The entrance room was adorned with a rug with chairs around it. A fireplace was in front of it all. On each side was a flight of stairs, leading up to a visible balcony.
The place was truly beautiful, but now wasn't the time for distractions.