14th of Hearth Fire 4E 158

"Easy now... you aren't skinning a buck, Karliah." Gallus hovered over the Dark Elf's shoulder. She was getting close to finding the sweet spot in the Dwemer door lock, she was just struggling with rotating the bolt with the tension wrench. "You're trying to force it, it'll turn smooth as butter if it's in the right spot."

"It's just this metal, it gets stuck so easily." Karliah muttered, growing frustrated. "Are you sure we're almost there?" Gallus had no way of knowing for sure, but he reckoned they were approaching their prize. This was far from his first dungeon dive into Dwemer ruins.

They had started their journey into Avanchnzel yesterday, following a lead provided by a scholarly colleague of Gallus' to a mysterious and largely unstudied artifact called the Lexicon. Along with Dwemer sites being a personal favourite of Gallus' it was a perfect opportunity to shadow his new recruit. Plenty of traps to make examples of, intimidating automatons to teach how to handle, and always a promise of exceptional loot.

Normally Gallus would tackle Dwemer ruins on his own or with a more experienced partner, but this was a mission to examine Karliah's skills, and to give her a more intense, hands-on training. Recently the young Delvin had an unfortunate run in with a tavern owner in Markarth that resulted in the boy's first kill, and Gallus had decided it was best to send him to the Dark Brotherhood until the murder grew cold. The Guild Master had then taken it upon himself and the other seniors to make sure each junior member was up to standard before being given any more contracts. It was time consuming for sure, but absolutely necessary if the Guild was to maintain its "blood-free" guarantee and keep its members out of jail, or worse.

Besides, Gallus had been pining for a chance to spend some quality time with the Dark Elf. It wasn't an accident that Karliah was assigned to be shadowed by the Guild Master.

It had been almost four months since she had joined the Guild, and while she definitely was skilled at thievery in the outdoors that resembled her home in the Falkreath woods, she needed more practice at urban and dungeon larceny. She could walk along a forest floor without snapping a single twig but one creaky floorboard and she was hooped. She had already gotten uncomfortably close to getting caught on more than one job.

But what Karliah lacked in experience she made up with sharp intellect, Gallus did not have to explain anything twice to her. After their opening confrontation with their first Dwarven spider, Karliah had already figured out how to aim her arrows for the soul gems that evidently powered them, and with her brilliant archery skills she had sniped out more than one potential battle with the machines.

"You're gripping too hard, if you force it it won't budge." Gallus spoke again, his voice almost drowned out by a hiss of steam from the machines churning behind them. As much as he wanted the door to open already he loved watching Karliah's concentration face. Her eyes were so focused and close to the lock she appeared cross-eyed, and every so often her tongue would stick out between her lips. It was adorable.

"Just give me a moment." Karliah abruptly pulled out her lock and tension wrench and stood up. Before Gallus could stop her she had stepped away and began pacing briskly around the room.

If she had been some other underling Gallus probably would have given her a mild scolding, a few firm words pointing out that not every lock will provide the time and liberty to take a little break from picking. But as always, watching her rendered him silent.

Her long, slender legs stepped gracefully in front on the other, spinning every time she switched direction. Her gray face was slightly downcast and pensive, bathed in the pale artificial light emitting from the Dwemer's humming machinations. Gallus could tell she was anxious, failing to pick a lock right in front of her boss was probably what was stressing her out.

"Just relax, Karliah. You're not in trouble."

"I'm better than this. I've been picking locks since I was a child."

"Dwemer locks are different, it's why we're here." Gallus continued to lean against the metal door as the Dunmer woman let out an exasperated sigh and proceeded to pace. Gallus thought now, after over a day of navigating the ruins, finally might be his chance to learn more about Karliah's past, and he seized the opportunity. "You've been picking locks since you were a child, why? What locks are there to pick in the woods?"

"You could say my mother and I were the roguish type, even though we were recluses." Karliah answered slowly, her step easing slightly. "We were your typical, outcast, backwoods family. We hunted, foraged, lived off the land, mother was exceptional at alchemy and taught me everything I know. But sometimes we'd go into Falkreath to sell our wares, and that's when we would use our skills at thievery. Nords... they aren't the kindest to mer. They'd try to take advantage of us, and we would let them. We sold our meat and hides and potions for real cheap and they would think they'd be getting great deals... Little did they know we would be breaking their strongboxes that night." Karliah had fully stopped pacing now and was leaning on a wall facing Gallus. And as much as he craved to learn more about her past, there were pieces starting not to add up in the Guild Master's brain.

"I grew tired of only using my skills in Falkreath, I wanted to grow and develop my abilities."Karliah continued in her smooth voice. "My mother, she refuses to leave our cabin, she is fixed to that place. And she abhors the Thieves Guild, forbad me from going for almost thirty years. I finally got too stir crazy and became desperate enough to disobey her. I'm one hundred and twenty four years old, I needed to venture out on my own, find my own path. So I came to Riften, so I could make a living doing what I do best at while continuously improving."

"Tell me the rest." Gallus demanded, and Karliah looked at him bewilderedly. "If you were a typical, outcast, backwoods family where did you learn how to read? Gods, where did you learn to speak?"

"What do you mean?" Karliah tensed up again, her expression guarded and confused.

"You talk like a sophisticated lady of the court, not even a trace of a Nordic accent despite living in rural Skyrim your whole life." Gallus shifted so he could face her fully, crossing his arms as he smiled at her. "You walk and hold yourself like a lady too, shoulders are always square, posture is straight, your step is prim and proper-"

"And you know courtly lady behaviors so well, do you?" Karliah interrupted.

"Yes, I do."

"And why's that? Aspiring to become one?" Karliah was teasing him. The Karliah. Gallus almost reeled at how much more attractive this made her to him. He couldn't even retort with a witty comeback, he simply continued to smirk at her. "Why are you so quiet? Am I catching onto something?"

"No, the reason I know a lot about courtly behavior is because my entire family were members of the court in Solitude, my father was a Thane at the Blue Palace. And I happen to be the youngest of seven sisters."

"Seven sisters?!"

"Really? The whole Blue Palace thing didn't impress you?"

"Well yes, but..."

"I grew up in that rat-hole, I know all about the lies and counterfeits masked as etiquette and policy. People think the Ratways are where the rats are, I know the Blue Palace houses more skeevers and shit than Riften's sewers ever could. I had to get out of there."

"Then why become a thief?" Karliah asked accusingly. "How can you condemn upper class liars and then set out to become a professional crook? And a rich one at that."

"Because I own it. I don't hide what I do and call it politics." Gallus responded firmly, yet his smile still rested on his lips casually. "Besides, after spending three years at the Mages Guild in Daggerfall I discovered the scholarly life wasn't for me. Obtaining knowledge is pointless if you're just going to sit hunched over a dusty book, arguing with other know-it-alls about pointless matters that don't affect anybody. I needed something with a bit more vitality... And nothing made me feel so much thrill and so much peace than living within the shadows." He could see something in Karliah's usual stern expression shift. It softened ever so slightly, her purple eyes now more like young lavender petals. They simply stood there, facing each other as the machines in the room continued their eternal whirls.

"You didn't answer my question, Karliah." Gallus finally said.

"And what was that?"

"Where did you learn how to read and speak?"

Karliah stayed quiet, but Gallus could see her mind thinking fiercely. He knew he was prying, pushing her out of her comfort zone, but like most subjects that sparked his voracious mental appetite, he simply needed to know. And so he patiently waited.

"Before creating our home in the woods... my family was aristocracy too." Karliah finally said, and Gallus visibly perked at the confession. "My parents are Indorils, a part of one of the Great Houses of the Dunmer. My father was well established, but my mother's lineage was always being called into question. She spent most of her life in Morrowind searching for her father, until a lead finally took her to none other than Shor's Stone in Skyrim... And there he was, an old, decrepit miner." Karliah crossed her arms as she continued to stare at the floor. "After reuniting and finally having a relationship with her father, and with Morrowind so unstable after the Red Mountain erupted, she decided to settle in Skyrim. My father, who had aided my mother in her search, returned to Morrowind. He wanted to help his people, bring Morrowind back to glory and all that. He didn't leave my mother before planting me in her belly though..."

"And so your mother and you lived in the woods... and she taught you how to read." Gallus muttered, Karliah gave a single nod. "And your mannerisms, your speech, you picked it up from your noble mother."

"If you gave her a proper bath and dress you would think she was royalty." Karliah confirmed.

"She never wanted to go back home?"

"She often told me that Morrowind never felt like home to her, she found her place in the shadows of the Jerall mountains."

The two reverted back to their thoughtful silence. Gallus didn't know how Karliah felt after revealing her family history, but he knew he felt exactly like he had just cracked open a strongbox to find precious gems inside. He had acquired something valuable, whether or not Karliah had felt pried open he did not know, but he was glad he was able to do it.

"Well, you want to try pushing forward again?" Gallus stood up from the door he was leaning on, exposing the vexing lock to Karliah. After a small moment of hesitation, she focused in on the lock like the hunter she was, kneeled before it and went to work.

And, not to Gallus' surprise, she had it open within the minute. The moment the lock clicked into place Karliah beamed up at her Guild Master, and the rush her expression gave nearly made him sick.

There was no denying it now, Karliah was officially under his skin. It was not just a curiosity anymore.

Despite his increased heart rate and cartwheeling stomach Gallus maintained his trademark suave, and like he had done so many times in the Blue Palace he bowed and held out his hand. Karliah's long, grey fingers took it, and slowly he helped pull her up.

"After you, sera." Gallus jested quietly as he slowly opened the Dwemer door.

"Oh, please." Karliah whispered back, and silently stepped beyond the threshold.

Gallus followed after her into a dim, short hallway that sharply turned left. He immediately went to hug the corner and peek at what awaited them around the bend, to his delight he saw exactly what they were looking for.

"The Lexicon is up ahead." Gallus muttered to Karliah now behind him. "We are too far away for me to really see though. Follow my lead, be dead silent, keep an eye out for traps."

Karliah briskly nodded her head and the two emerged from around the corner, creeping along the walls of the hallway towards the vast room at the end. However, the more the room came into view the more Gallus slowed down. Finally he froze and threw up his hand, halting Karliah, and pointed to the two automatons positioned on either side of the Lexicon. Gallus wasn't able to see them back in the hallway, now that the room was open before them the two metal giants were impossible to miss.

"Those are Centurions. If you think the Spheres were bad, you haven't seen anything." Gallus said under his breath, Karliah having to lean in to hear him. They were still far enough away from the Lexicon and its guardians but Gallus did not want to risk awakening anything. "These were the Dwemer's war machines. They're almost impossible to do any real damage on, have a giant warhammer that can crush you in one swing on one hand and a giant battleaxe on the other. Oh, and they can blast scalding steam that can literally cook your flesh off the bone." He looked over to Karliah, whose facial expression was an even mix of 'there's-no-way-you're-serious' and 'why-in-Oblivion-did-you-bring-me-here.' "But they move very slow, they're easy to run away from, and they can be sneaked by."

"If they're guarding the Lexicon they'll probably activate the moment we touch it." Karliah hissed, Gallus could tell she was nervous.

"That's why we're going to scout this entire chamber, formulate an escape plan, then take the Lexicon and bolt." Gallus assured. "You break and go right, I'll take the left. Don't go very far, just observe the layout of the room and meet me back in the hallway to tell me what you see."

Karliah unsheathed her bow, gripping it so tight her knuckles went pale, and sleuthed up and into the large, stone room and to the right. Gallus also made his way to the left and, staying out of the ancient, Dwemer-made light, he was finally able to get a good view of their goal. It was a strange, red glowing cube that floated on a pedestal, rotating and spinning in constant motion. The two dormant Centurions looked as menacing as ever, positioned on either side of the Lexicon and waiting patiently for anyone to take it. Beyond them was a flight of stone stairs, which led to another large Dwemer door. No matter where that door led, all Karliah and him had to do was get behind it once the Centurions awoke. They couldn't break down metal doors, Gallus knew this from experience.

Quickly Gallus retreated back into the hallway where Karliah was already waiting for him.

"There's a door beyond those stairs." Karliah whispered as soon as Gallus was within ear-shot. "But there's no way to tell if it's locked or not. Should we grab the Lexicon and run out the way we came?"

"We will sneak by the Centurions first to check the door and make sure it isn't a dead end inside. To take the Lexicon and quickly run in behind those doors is ideal, they can't bust through the metal." As Gallus spoke Karliah looked more and more apprehensive.

"The only way to get up the stairs is to get right up close to those machines. What if they wake up even if we're just close?"

"Karliah, this will be extremely risky, but all the most rewarding jobs are. If you want the money and the glory, you need to take the danger that comes along with them. This is your profession now, this is what we thieves do that no one else can."

Karlia's worried face morphed back into its usual strong expression, she straightened her shoulders and looked at Gallus firmly.

"I'm ready. Let's do this."

Crouching so low he was almost on all fours, Gallus made his way across the large Dwemer chamber and towards the stairs beyond the Lexicon. The closer he got the more anxious he became. Karliah was equally silent, he wasn't worried about her at all, but he thought, perhaps maybe, he was underestimating the Centurions. They were so big, and Gallus could now see the dynamo core spinning in their chest cavity and the faint puffs of steam emitting from their joints. Gallus turned instead to focus on the stairs beyond the Lexicon, placing one foot in front of the other and being hyper aware of every sound within the room.

He didn't need to strain to hear the echoing sound of a metallic boom, followed by a blasting hiss of steam.

To his horror the Centurion on the pair's right was in the process of activating, a grey cloud plumed around its stiff body as it tried to lurch into motion.

Karliah had already sprinted ahead and tried pulling the Lexicon from its perch, but the red glowing ball didn't move, it remained fixed in its space despite Karliah's desperate yanks.

The Centurion's head snapped towards Karliah, and as it reared up its battleaxe arm Gallus ripped forward and tackled her to the hard ground. He definitely crushed her a bit, but the heavy swing of the battleaxe missed both of them and hit the Lexicon's pedestal instead with a deafening clash.

"Forget the Lexicon! Go!" Gallus shouted at her, scrambling to pull her up as the Centurion began its heavy march towards them. They continued to ascend the stairs just as erratically, there was no way they'd be able to backtrack with Centurion so close, their only hope was that the door was unlocked.

Gallus slammed into the Dwemer double doors as soon as he conquered the last step, and even though it miraculously wasn't locked the doors only budged slightly.

"Gallus!" Karliah shrieked behind him, and he turned to see the Centurion slowly but surely clambering up the stairs after them. Gallus was in full panic mode now, had he known of what was guarding the Lexicon he never would have brought Karliah there.

"Watch if he's going to blow steam!" He yelled back, and again slammed his body into the metal doors. When they only shifted a tiny bit he rammed into it again and again. He could feel the bruise forming in his shoulder but not the pain. As the shadow of the Centurion towered over them Gallus finally broke open the doors and tumbled inside with Karliah.

The two were in the process of pushing the heavy doors shut when the Centurion's battleaxe thrust through the threshold, narrowly missing Gallus' face and preventing the doors from fully closing.

"Gallus! It's a dead end!" Karliah cried. Gallus turned and looked, but where Karliah saw a dead end he saw a miracle. The short little hallway led to a circular alcove with a lever in the dead center. It was a Dwarven lift.

"Follow me!" Gallus abandoned the metal doors and raced to the lever, Karliah inches from his side. By the time they had reached the alcove the Centurion had fully broken open the doors, but it couldn't fit past the threshold. And sensing the threats to the Lexicon were further away from where it could reach them, Gallus could see the machination start to build up steam pressure. The arrow Karliah launched directly to its chest did nothing to stop it.

The automaton released its wrath of hot air the exact moment Gallus cranked the lever. The lift immediately plummeted, Gallus couldn't hear Karliah's screaming over the explosion of steam above them but he could feel it as he shielded her from the scorching heat. As his gut dropped the heat lessened, and soon the sound of steam was replaced by the clanking cogs and gears whirling them downwards. And just when he thought he was actually going to lose stomach the lift finally jerked to a stop.

Simultaneously the two thieves bolted, disregarding stealth and racing along Dwemer machinery and metal shelves. Even though Gallus knew their threat was far behind them he couldn't stop, he feared if he did the heart beating out of control in his chest would too. Karliah was nimbly sprinting ahead of him, blowing like a gust of wind through rooms that were starting to look familiar.

It was when Karliah tore through the final metal doors did Gallus fully recognize where they were, the enormous main chamber near the entrance of the ruins. Karliah must've known it too, as they reached the bottom of the stone ramp leading to the center of the enclosure they both finally stopped, doubling over and panting heavily. Machines continued to churn and pump around them, sparks even flying from a few damaged cogs, but the surrounding mountain had crumbled away over the centuries allowing moon and star light to pour in from above.

Gallus grasped his knees, struggling to get enough air in his lungs and his pulse under control, but as he continued to gaze at Karliah his difficulties only got worse.

She was so ridiculously beautiful. Her hood had fallen back due to her running, exposing the elf ears Gallus adored through her black hair, hair that was plastered to her face with sweat. This was a woman who was well-educated, yet with no interest in aristocracy. A woman exceptionally talented at both survival in the woods and larceny in the shadows. She was intelligent, independent, hard working, with a dry sense of humour. She was perfect.

As Karliah caught her breath she must've realized that Gallus was watching her, she looked at him with violet eyes still sparkling from their narrow escape. It was only for a few moments that the two thieves stared at each other, panting and heaving, until the smouldering in Gallus' chest suddenly erupted into fire.

Maybe Karliah really was driving him crazy, maybe it was because they had just actually escaped certain death, but in two wide steps he had taken Karliah in his arms with their lips colliding fervently. His lungs were still screaming for proper air but he couldn't let go, not of a moment like this. Bringing his hand to caress her face he brought her even closer into him, he wanted to flood his senses with her smell, taste and touch and drown himself in them.

And he could feel her gripping back, her arms were wrapped around him as well. Her lips were kissing him back.

This was far better than getting the Lexicon ever could be.

A/N: Thanks for reading! I really appreciate it!