Chapter One: A Welcome Return

Faric Merian was 26 years old and had been thieving for 23 of them. His earliest memories were of being taught how to make the right kind of distractions to ensure a successful robbery by a tall dark man who, with hindsight Faric realized was probably his father. These days he was a cat burglar in the Thieves Guild, making his living by relieving the wealthy of their excess possessions and selling them on to his network of fences. He had inherited dark hair and gray eyes from his father along with his light-fingered tendencies but his dark looks hid a ready smile and a friendly nature. In a city as rich as the Imperial, there was no shortage of employment for a thief of his ability and had been successful enough to move out of the traditional low-life haven, the Waterfront, recently and into a small house in one corner of the Temple District.

All thievery in the city was controlled by the Thieves Guild, headed by the mysterious Gray Fox who always hid his face under a cowl rumored to have been stolen from the God Nocturnal over 300 years ago. He was rarely seen in the city and sent orders through his lieutenants instead, usually Methredhel. Faric made it a point to pop into the guild's headquarters at Dareloth's House every so often to pick up the latest stories and gossip, see his fellow guild members and relax in the absence of any guards for a few minutes.

.oOo.

Faric was in Dareloth's house talking to Methredhel, listening to news about a good target whilst wondering distractedly if his endurance would be a match for her famed agility.

'He seems to be some kind of merchant' said Methredhel, 'although how somebody so stupid made the kind of money he has is beyond me.'

'Stupid?' asked Faric.

'If you'd bought a nice new house in the Elven Gardens would you then bring several large crates marked "Silver: Handle with Care" inside in broad daylight?'

'Ah. Stupid. Yes.'

'So since he's evidently too stupid to have made the money honestly, he must have made it dishonestly', said Methredhel. Faric was too much of an old hand to wonder at Thieves' Logic. It removed so many of the bothersome little questions from life it was as invaluable as a good set of lock-picks.

'Well obviously', he agreed. "So as the true representatives of dishonesty in the land...'

'Apart from the guild of Accountants!' interrupted Methredhel.

'Apart from them'. The pair smiled at the obligatory old joke. 'So as the true representatives of dishonesty it's our solemn duty to retrieve the silver.'

'Kid, you read my mind.'

'I'll pay him a visit tonight.'

'You're happy doing it on your own?'

'For one lousy merchant? I'll be fine and won't have to split my share of the loot, thanks!'

'Just as long as you pay the Guild its cut.'

'25%. It's easy to see how the Thieves Guild gets its name', he grumbled.

'See you later', smiled Methredhel and walked off. Faric watched her go.

'Fantasizing about the wood-elf again?' said a voice behind him. 'I've told you, she's over 100 years older than you and that's not the biggest of your worries.'

'So what is?'

'Somebody might take offense' came the reply as Faric felt the tip of a dagger pressed into the small of his back.

Spinning round, he knocked an arm aside, moved forward and grabbed the smiling girl who had been standing behind him in both arms. 'It wouldn't matter if that person was as slow as you, Risi', he said, kissing her.

.oOo.

Two years ago he'd bumped into an attractive Nord girl near the Temple and had been so busy staring after her that it had taken him several seconds to realize she'd managed to walk off with the 20 gold coins he'd been keeping in his inside pocket. Smiling suddenly, Faric had run after her.

'You're new to the city then?'

The girl looked up, shocked, and walked a little faster, frowning slightly. 'What makes you think that?'

'I just haven't seen you around before.'

'So you think you know everybody in the city?'

'I'd recognize anybody as pretty as you, that's for sure!'

For a moment, a smile lit up her face then the frown returned. 'Does that one ever work?'

'Nope. So usually I rely on threatening to haul people up for stealing from a fellow member of the guild'.

She stopped so suddenly that Faric walked into her again. Her eyes darted from side to side and she spoke in a whisper heavy with panic. 'You're in the Thieves Guild? I didn't know! I'm sorry!'

'Hey! There's nothing to worry about. It'd only be a problem if you actually had stolen from me.'

'You know I did! This...' she put her hand in her pocket then broke off, looking puzzled.

'So I was wondering if I could buy you a drink with one of these gold coins I have here?' said Faric.

The girl took her hand out of her pocket and appraised Faric carefully. 'Smooth. I'm Risi Fire-Eye. And if you think you can get me drunk on 20 coins, you've never met a Nord before.' She smiled again, her entire face lighting up.

'Faric Merian. And if we're both thieves, what makes you think I'll be paying?'

.oOo.

'Where've you been?'

'I told you, I had some business to take care of', replied Risi.

'But that was a week ago!'

'It was a lot of business.'

'I was wor... wondering where you were, that's all.'

'Aw! Is the poor little Bwetony-wettony wowwied about the wittle Nordy-wordy?', she teased, reaching up to pat Faric on his head.

'Nah. The only thing I was worried about was having to turn to sesquicentennial elves for... entertainment'

'I heard you usually have to make do with Orcs. Or ogres', smiled Risi.

'In that case perhaps I'll have to find an orc to wear this.' Faric reached into his pocket and pulled out a gold necklace studded with so many gems the gold was almost hidden.

'Faric! It must have cost somebody an emperor's ransom!'

'Nobody important'. He fastened the amulet around her neck and waited for the reaction.

'Oh! It's wonderful. I can hardly see myself!'

'It's a chameleon enchantment. Pretty handy for people with our... calling.'

'I think we need to see how well it works. I'm going to remove anything that might make a noise' - a pair of shoes appeared on the floor - 'and you try to track me down.'

Faric followed the faint shimmer in the air as it moved towards the stairway, a green blouse appearing as if out of nowhere.

'Is this helping?'

'I can still see where you are...'

A skirt dropped to the floor.

'Now?' The shimmer moved out of sight.

Faric headed for the stairs.

.oOo.

The two of them walked hand-in-hand through the Imperial City scarcely aware of where they were. They made their way to the Arboretum and sat on a bench watching the city's inhabitants going about their business. Risi lay back with her head on Faric's lap while he stroked her hair.

'So just reconnaissance then?', he asked.

'Yup. You know that big old house called Riverview?'

Faric paused. 'I think so. I haven't been to Cheydinhal for a few years though.'

'It's owned by this Altmer called Voranil who loves throwing parties for the great and good. The Gray Fox wanted to know if one of those parties would make a good... investment opportunity.'

'What's your verdict?'

'You'd need to be invisible, silent and lucky. I couldn't get in but there were so many people you'd be falling over somebody all the time.'

'Is that what you told him?'

'Yeah. I said that if you could get in you could make a fortune but I couldn't see how it could be done.'

'I bet he didn't like that!'

'He just smiled and said that was why he was the Gray Fox and I was just a cat-burglar'.

'Arrogant git!'

'You know what they say. If anybody can do it, he can. Just wait for the news of a bunch of penniless partygoers.'

Faric grunted. Risi was right; the Gray Fox was the greatest thief Tamriel had ever seen. If only a tenth of the rumors about him were true it meant he'd still pulled off stunts nobody else would even think about.

'Don't tell me scouting one house took a week though?'

'It didn't. He wanted me to try to lock down a rumor. There's an abandoned house in Cheydinhal and he was hoping I could find out about it.'

'There are abandoned houses everywhere. What's the big deal?'

'This one's a nice house right in the center of town, opposite the chapel, nice surroundings.'

'Okay so it's a nice house. I still don't get it.'

Putting her arms around Faric's neck, Risi pulled herself upright, looked around and put her mouth against his ear. Out of habit they hadn't been speaking loudly but now she dropped her voice to a whisper. 'The rumor is that the Dark Brotherhood uses the place.' She lay back down again.

'Come on! They're nothing but legend! A story to frighten the kids – eat up or the Dark Brotherhood will get you; stop bullying your sister or the Dark Brotherhood will get you; be home on time or the Dark Brotherhood will get you!'

'Shh! I'm serious. Everybody in Cheydinhal knows it but you have to be really charming to get it out of them.'

'And you managed how, exactly?'

'Don't change the subject! The rumor is everywhere but I couldn't verify it. The house is completely deserted. There's some kind of weird painting in the basement but that's it. I watched it for hours but nobody ever went in or out.'

'What does the GF think?'

'Do you really think he'd tell me? He just thanked me and told me he had some thinking to do. You know what he's like. Anyway, what about your appointment tonight?' Faric told her all the details he'd received from Methredhel earlier.

'And you're sure you don't want any help?' asked Risi.

'No thanks. I need all the money I can get. I want to buy you a ring to go with that necklace.'

'Buy?'

'Obtain.'

'Don't you forget it.'