It only took me an hour to figure out how to put the armor on, and I was not looking forward to taking it off. Tonilia had given me half-warning, half-threat, when she had given it to me. Everyone else I tried to talk to did the same. Vex, an imperial had told me something about not replacing her as the guild's infiltrator. The barkeep, Vekel only said that I needed to pay for my drinks. The bouncer only grunted. Delvin was nice to me, but he was full of warnings, saying something about a curse on the guild.

I did some petty jobs within the Rift for Vex and Delvin, I was guessing that no one trusted me enough to let me go any further. They paid a bit less, but anything was more coin than I had been making before.

Then there was the matter of Mercer.

"For the love of Mara fix your foot. I could topple you with a breath"

I flinched at that grating voice, refraining from sending a glare his way, trying to focus on Brynjolf's attacks.

"Is that really how you think you hold a sword, girl?"

Brynjolf stopped. "Mercer it's just basic defense, she doesn't need to be a master-"

"Basic defense? The girl couldn't fight off an old man"

"I can think of one old man I'd like to fight" I mumbled, letting my sword drop.

"You wouldn't survive a second".

Mercer had begun to sit in on my lessons about a week in. At first, I thought that he was trying to chase me off, but then Vex had told me that he was the one who ordered that I stay in the Rift.
I then did the most mature thing I could muster. I let my sword fall on the ground and stormed out.

"Adelie" Brynjolf called after me, but I was having none of it.

Brynjolf found me soon after, sitting outside the ratway door, throwing stones into the river.

"Well, lass, it couldn't have been that bad if he's sending you on a real job now"

I looked up.

Brynjolf nodded. "In Solitude"

"Really?"

He nodded again. "You'll be going with Sapphire"

"Of course I get a babysitter" I threw another stone in the river.

"I wouldn't say that, lass. It's a big enough job that two experienced guild members were supposed to go, but Mercer is sending you instead"

"Listen up, newbie" Sapphire (who turned out to be the woman berating a redguard when I entered the city) was every bit as terrifying as I remembered her "Contrary to popular belief, I plan on getting back to Riften alive. So you're going to do exactly what I say, when I say it. Got it?"

I nodded.

"Good" She slumped down into the chair across from me. She put her elbows on her knees, leaning forward and lowering her voice so none of the other patrons of the Winking Skeever could hear. "Okay, so here's the deal. Tomorrow night, the mark is importing shipment of furs. We're going to sneak onto the boat and change the shipping information so half are unloaded to our contact, and he'll get them back to Riften to be fenced".

"And tonight?"

"Tonight, we're going to empty some coffers".

We waited until it was past midnight before slipping out of the inn. We split up and began to hit every place we could think of. Sapphire headed to the blue palace and the thanes' houses, and I took the shopping district, earning a heavy bag of fine jewelry from Radiant Raiment, and quite a few gems and plenty of coin from the rest of the town's strong boxes. I was careful to leave enough that the shopkeeper wouldn't immediately be suspicious, Sapphire had warned that we might have to stay in town until the late afternoon, depending on when the ship got in. We met back at the Winking Skeever just before dawn.

She nodded at my haul. "Not bad for your first time. Mercer might even let you keep some of it"

"Really?" I asked as I sat down in the chair.

Sapphire nodded, holding a circlet up to the light. "Yeah, it's not bad- What are you doing?"

I stopped, in the middle of taking my boot off. "Getting ready for bed?"

"No. We're going to the docks now. Can't risk missing that boat".

I sighed, pulling my boot back on and following her out to the docks.

We sat perched on a rock overlooking the harbor, obscured from everyone on the docks below and the road above. She handed me a loaf of bread and an apple.

I tore the bread in half. "So… Sapphire is quite the name".

I flinched. I could feel it before she even opened her mouth.

"Look. I don't know you, I don't really know anyone in the guild. Why do you care anyway. It's not like we're a family. This is a business" She snapped.

I tried not to shrink away from her too much. "Just trying to pass the time".

She had turned towards me. "Look. You wanna know all about me? I'll tell you. I'll tell you about how when I was a young girl, barely out of my teens, living on a pig farm in the middle of nowhere. Didn't have a coin to spend in our entire family, we ate the same slop we fed to our livestock".

"I-I didn't realize-"

"Oh wait. It gets much better. How about the fact that our farm was attacked by bandits who killed my entire family who didn't brandish a single weapon against them. Oh, and here's the best part. They took me as a prize and violated me for a fortnight. Tossed me from bandit to bandit like… like…" Her chest was heaving shallowly.

Delicately, I put a hand on her shoulder. When she didn't immediately cut it off I spoke. "You don't have to keep going".

Her breathing evened out. "It's fine" her voice wasn't angry. "I had to tell someone. Carrying around that weight, it cuts you up, like a dagger to the heart. Anyway, I gained their confidence. Then one night I grabbed a knife and slit all their throats as they slept… That's my story. What do you think?" She almost seemed friendly.

"It was just that your name…"

She chuckled, "I gave that to myself. I always liked to pick up shiny rocks as a girl. A traveling salesman stopped at our farm once, he had a sapphire. As soon as I saw it I was hooked"

I nodded, looking over the bay. We sat in silence for awhile, I quietly chewed my bread and tried not to think of the intimate retelling of her life.

"And you?"

"Me what?"

She leaned back. "Well you know my entire life, I should know yours too"

I picked the stem off the apple. "It's not terribly interesting"

"Interesting isn't always a good thing"

You have that much right. "My mother was a Breton and my father was a Nord-"

"I was wondering about that"

I nodded. "People always think I'm a just a Breton. But she was a mage studying in Cyrodiil, and he fought in the Great War. I came along and she decided to drop everything to move to Skyrim. They settled just outside Helgen"

"The Great War?"

"A few years after"

"You're still a baby then"

"I'm eighteen!"

Sapphire laughed. "Keep going. It sounds nice".

I frowned. "My mother died of bone rot when I was five. My father was supposed to be working to buy her medicine but he drank every coin he earned and gambled away every coin he didn't drink. And he wasn't very good at it. He kept going after she died too. When I was thirteen I woke up one day and he was just… gone. I waited, even though I knew he wasn't coming back. So I left. I just started walking. When I got to the next town I begged some, stole some, went to the next place and did the same. I guess until I got to Riften".

"That sounds… less nice"

I laughed. "Better than yours". Shouldn't have said that.

But she laughed. "Better than mine" Suddenly she was on her feet. "That's the ship".

I got up too.

"What in the name of Talos?"

I looked at the boat. "You're sure that's it?"

She nodded.

I chewed my lip. "Maybe they're below deck?"

"They better be" she growled, moving down towards the docks.

Oh boy.

"Delvin specifically said that it was a shipment of very expensive furs!" Sapphire was irate.

I looked at the massive log at my shoulder. "Maybe he heard firs, like with an 'i'"

"Frey is going to be furious".

"We still have the loot from last night?"

"Petty shit. This was supposed to be big"

"Well if we don't keep any of our-"

"I don't think you understand the position the guild is in. We're broke, Adelie. The guild has no money. The guild needed this. And to think I left the brotherhood for this…"

"What?"

"The old man thinks its some kind of curse. And it must be" She added, punching one of the logs.

The idea struck me. "Sapphire"

"Shut up and let me think"

"No, Sapphire", I grabbed her shoulder. "Delvin said this was a shipment of very expensive firs"

"I literally just said that"

"Very expensive" I repeated.

"They might be but there's no way we can just steal a few logs and-"

"No. We steal the payment."

She looked at me, eyebrows raised.

"I looked at the books. It said 'payment upon delivery'. What better to bring back than gold?"

She placed the heel of her hand on her temple, eyes closed in thought. "You know, that might just work"

"What do you mean you didn't steal any furs?" Mercer spoke slowly in that nasally voice of his. Just as Sapphire predicted, he was livid.

"I mean there weren't any furs to steal" Sapphire stood straight, her hands on her hips, looking Mercer directly in the eye. I couldn't decide who I was more scared of.

"No, no. I specifically heard 'em talking 'bout a shipment of 'igh quality furs" Delvin cut in.

"No" Sapphire snapped. "You heard them talking about a shipment of firs. With an 'i'. Like the tree".

"I'm tellin you. It's this Gods-damned curse"

"Will you shut up about the curse, Delvin?" Mercer snapped.

I wiggled impatiently.

Mercer turned towards me. "And where were you in all of this?"

I opened my mouth to speak, but Sapphire was faster.

"Leave her out of this Mercer. She shouldn't have gone on that job in the first place".

"You'd be wise to leave decisions like that to the guild master" Mercer growled.

Sapphire crossed her arms. Smirking. "In fact, you should be thanking her".

"And why in the name of-" his words died off as Brynjolf placed chest was placed in front of him. Filled to the brim with bars of solid gold and jewels. "What is this?"

"She found something to steal when there was nothing". Brynjolf said.

I looked around. Sapphire was smiling, whether it was from pride or smugness I couldn't tell. On Brynjolf, there was no mistaking that it was the former. Delvin's eyes were glued to the chest, his mouth slightly agape. Mercer's eyes were on me.

"Well, Bryn. You sure know 'ow to pick 'em" Delvin snatched a ruby from the chest, holding it up to the light.

"You sure do" Mercer said, leaning over in his usual position over his desk. His eyes were still glued on me. "But I suspect that there will be no more oversight like this. Now I have to deal with clients that were promised furs…"

"You could go cut down some trees" I suggested.

Sapphire snorted.

"Well, I'd say this calls for a celebration. What were you saying about that curse, Delvin?" Brynjolf placed a hand on my back, smiling broadly. I let him guide me towards the Flagon, but I was still keenly aware of Mercer's gaze boring into my back.