A figure shuffled along the cobblestone floor, cloaked and hunched over with a small tray in their gloved hands. The hunched figure approached one of the guards near the jail door and coughed raggedly, holding the tray up just a little with a trembling hold on it.

"Food for the prisoner…" a raspy voice issued from beneath the hood.

One of the guards glanced to his companion, the other shrugging his shoulders and holding up his hand, "As long as it's not long,"

The figure nodded and began to shuffle forward, when suddenly the door opened, "No. No food for the prisoner except what we have here. I wont risk anything, be gone," he waved off the hunched person with the tray and slammed the door shut behind him with a deep, echoing slam. The two guards straightened themselves and sent the figure away a second time, suddenly acting firm where only moments before they had been so lax and lenient.

The figure shuffled away, disappearing into a shadowy alcove before the entryway, they straightened and slammed their fist rather violently into the cobbled stone wall. "Damn it!" the curse was quiet and hissed through their teeth furiously.

It had been two days since Tarric's arrest; Aria had taken that morning to worm her way into the keep and down to the dungeons disguised as an old serving woman in a cloak. She had gone through all that work and she hadn't even been able to see Tarric, let alone get in to try to bust him out. There was no way he would know the symbols on any escape routes, let alone be able to spot them in the first place. The justice system still had yet to proclaim Tarric's punishment for the murder in the marketplace, but Aria was already assuming the worst.

At first she thought that she could just leave Tarric, she had the book and she was sure she could go to Riften to grab Brynjolf to help solve riddles. Yet something was tugging at her, she didn't want to leave Tarric to rot in a cell for a crime he had not committed. Another part of her was bringing up her brother; she couldn't leave another companion behind in Solitude, again. Her head was confused and she couldn't figure out why she felt a small pang in her chest, she shook it off like an annoying fly and refocused her mind.

They'll most-likely read out his sentence later, probably in the evening. She sighed gently and hunched her shoulders once more, fixing the hood over her shoulders she shuffled out of the dungeons. A small rustling sound came from the bag at her hip and Ragnar stuck his pink nose out and snuffled with a short grunt. Aria stuffed the rabbit back into the bag and shushed him, "Quiet! You want them to catch us?"

Ragnar only shuffled and nipped her hand, as if to say 'only you.' Aria just grit her teeth and ignored the rabbit, knowing that if she did get Tarric out, he'd be thoroughly putout if Ragnar vanished and Aria acquired a new set of furry socks.

Oh well, better save that for next time.

She managed to get back to the market and to a hidden cache near the back of Radiant Raiment where she had stowed their travel packs and gear. The Winking Skeever innkeeper had started giving her strange looks when she had come back with bloody hands the previous day after the guards had hauled Tarric off. She had only been inspecting the body of the 'murdered' stall keeper, but she didn't want any unwanted attention, so she left.

Though her little escapade that cost her the room was rather beneficial, she had inspected the body and the wound was too clumsy. The knife still stuck in the flesh was buried deep and at an odd angle, it looked like the man had fallen on the knife instead of having been stabbed with it. On the upside she made note that the man was a butcher, in his early seventies, with several cuts and old scars on him already. He had been a clumsy man, so her guess was that he had somehow tripped and fallen into a knife he had been carrying, and Tarric had just been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

What's worse is that I can't even find a way into that accursed place… unless I got arrested myself and that's out of the question. Despite her thoughts she rolled that idea around in her head for a while, inspecting her pack and making sure everything was still there and then shouldering it and moving out of the alley into the street.

She sat by the market stalls, nibbling on a strip of dried beef for the longest time, her mind working frantically on a plan to get Tarric out. Her mind worked so fervently, however, that she hadn't noticed a small crowd gathering near the steps leading up to the second level and the training barracks. A man dressed in imperial armor strode forward, the glint of his heavier armor catching Aria's eye and her attention. She slowly rose and followed the procession of people gathering about to hear what kind of news the man carried with him.

Aria smacked a small child's hand away from her purse, her eyes catching his and making him squeak and run from the crowd. Aria didn't like the press of the people around her, but she swallowed her discomfort and ignored it for now.

"Listen up!" the man shouted, gaining the silence and full attention of the crowd, he unrolled a scroll and cleared his throat, "The accused man has been tried and charged with murder, Jarl Elisif declares he be put to death upon the next sunrise, by beheading. So I'm sure you'll all enjoy a little early-morning show to start the day tomorrow!" He laughed cruelly and rolled up the parchment he was holding in his hand.

Aria's heart sank when she heard the man speak; she stood where she was as the crowd dispersed. People murmured excitedly, muttering and talking about the announcement as they went back to their activities. Aria stood and stared at the podium in surprise for the longest time. Something in her chest felt heavy, some harsh, weighted feeling of dread settled itself right between her breast and her heart and sat there like a toad. For a few seconds she couldn't breathe right, and for another few seconds she wasn't able to comprehend the announcer's words. It was even longer before she finally was able to shake herself of her thoughts and actually start to think straight again.

Alright. She stood up straight, her eyes sharp and cold while she fixed herself and tried her best to ignore that cold stone in her chest. I have to get working on a plan, or else Tarric's head will roll from his shoulders come morning.

Tarric ground his teeth and clenched his jaw tightly at the sound of a cell door opening with a dull shriek. The sound grated on his ears and he was tired from his lack of sleep so the sound only aggravated him more, pulling at the last threads of his resolve. He blinked away the grit in his eyes and sighed raggedly while the door opening somewhere made a loud clanking sound as it shut, Tarric could hear the sound of footsteps across the stone floor fade as they retreated from the prison area.

I'm going to either rot in here for the rest of my life, or lose my head, what an anti-climactic life this was, Tarric leaned his head back against his dark cell wall. Nearby there was only a trickle of cold, greenish light spilling from what seemed to be a tiny window too high up for him to reach or see out of. Tarric's stomach growled and he gently brought up his hand to rub at his abdomen; he was glad he was allowed his clothing and armor, for now. Most of his items had been with Aria, which he was also glad for, but any kind of money he had kept on himself had been taken away, as well as his iron sword and his dagger he had hidden in his boot for emergencies.

He closed his eyes, speaking of Aria… I bet she's halfway to Markarth by now. He found himself feeling disappointed that she hadn't come to spring him out. The first day he had been kept in here he had expected her to be working out a plan, by the next day he was getting worried that she couldn't get in. Then, by the second night he figured she had just abandoned him this time, leaving him to whatever the Solitude guards and justice system decided for him.

Tarric sighed lightly; I suppose that I shouldn't be surprised. She's made it quite clear that it's in her job not to trust people, and that she never gets close to anyone. That of course I'm certain of, it took me forever just to find out her name, and I still haven't seen her face and it's been at least a month and a half, if not more! He hugged his knees to his chest, staring at the barred door across the cell from his corner, he couldn't see much out of the door, only other cell doors in a circular chamber. Though I'm a little disappointed, I can't say I didn't see something like this coming. It's a thief's nature to look after only their own skin, but he stopped himself in that thought. His mind suddenly pulled up the past month's happenings without his permission, preventing him from steeping himself in cold, dark resentment.

Wait… in Windhelm she could have easily gotten herself out, I'm sure of it. Even back in Rorikstead, Aria could have just let that guard beat me senseless and that would have been it. Yet, she didn't, she saved my lousy hide more than once. He felt the pit in his stomach drop a little lower while he buried his head in his arms against his knees, biting his bottom lip.

So then why abandon me now? That was when he felt the first burn of tears in his eyes, the first time since his sister had died.

Aria walked into the Winking Skeever around nightfall, the haze of drink, sweat, smoke and heat was already starting to thicken as some of the soldiers off-duty broke into the heavier meads and ales. She looked around for a moment, before spotting a familiar argonian in the alcove nearest to the door.

Slowly walking towards him, she pulled up a chair and sat down beside him, one slender leg crossed over the other, leaning back casually. She regarded him, he looked at her while nibbling on a piece of bread. His face was short and scaly, like most argonians, two thick horns protruded from his temples and merged with his eyebrows. The scales themselves on his body were a brownish-green, like the murky water of a lake that sat in the sun for too long. His shifty little eyes looked her up and down, one hand moving up to fix and fidget with the collar of his red tunic.

"To what do I owe the pleasure, Nightingale?" his voice was raspy and baritone, again a very common argonian trait. He took another, larger, bite from his bread, sniffing lightly.

Aria huffed behind her mask, "No pleasantries tonight, Gulum-Ei, I'm here on business,"

"Really now?" his pleasant tone gave way to a slightly more back-alley rasp, "I was thinking you had finally developed some class, but I see I was wrong,"

"Shut your mouth and listen, I need certain supplies and right now you're the only one who can get them to me before dawn tomorrow," Aria knew that this wouldn't be enough, but she was definitely prepared to deal with greasy folk like Gulum-Ei, she did it practically every day.

The argonian smirked, showing his short but pointed teeth, "Ah, now it would really depend on the items you were looking for. Be it of a business type, unsavory perhaps? Or maybe… romantic?" the lizard scoffed, his yellow eyes narrowing just a little, "I would never have taken the great Nightingale of our time to be so, kinky?"

Aria swore under her breath, "Listen you slimy bastard, I'm about three words away from slapping you so hard that you'll have to talk with your head sideways for the rest of your life,"

"Now that is a little too harsh, Nightingale," he retreated just a little, throwing up one hand in defense as he relaxed against the chair; though his tense shoulders told her that he was anything but relaxed. "What is it you need?"

Discussing business always made Aria feel a little better, she tilted her head back and thought for a moment. She played with the hem of her cloak, "I need a length of rope, a low-priced, yet good iron dagger, and some kind of potion that I can use to get two people away from a large crowd,"

"Is that all? Gods Nightingale I thought you were here for something more than just a simple burglary job," he scoffed and looked into one of his bags while he spoke.

"It's not a burglary job!" she hissed, keeping her voice low, "I… I need to repay a debt to someone,"

Gulum-Ei raised an eyebrow, or eye scale, "You, in debt? The world definitely is turning on it's heels, normally it's the other guy who's in debt to you is it not?"

"Enough, do you have the items or not?" the short reply spurred Gulum-Ei to move towards his bag again.

"Yes! Yes, by the eight your persistent," he rummaged through his bag, "I have some rope, and a dagger, though your method for escape is going to be tricky. I have a potion that will make you invisible for fifty seconds, it's a hard thing to come by nowadays," despite his words, he didn't produce the items right away.

Aria nodded, "Fine, how much for all three?"

Calculating in his head, Gulum-Ei paused before he looked at her, "Six-hundred,"

Her jaw practically dropped, almost enough to knock her mask off, "What? Are you trying to bleed me dry you lecherous phony?" she snapped at him, her eyes furious.

"Listen, the bulk of that price is the potion. It's not an easy item to come across, so I need to squeeze it for as much coin as I can, right?" he smirked, feeling his victory despite Aria's anger.

She hissed and shook her head, "Fine you pansy-eyed fuck-face, here's the money," she handed over the coin in a small leather pouch, "take it and give me the items, before I change my mind about how valuable you are to the guild,"

Gulum-Ei smiled sweetly, handing her the three items, "Pleasure doing business with you, Nightingale, as always,"

"Yeah, yeah, shut up,"

"So, looks like Tarric Mercius has finally decided to return home from whatever hole he crawled down,"

Tarric raised his head from his knees at the sound of a voice, his eyes felt puffy and he was sure there were bags beneath them. He looked up at the door to his cell and saw two men standing there, one a soldier dressed in light armor, the other in a dark cloak. He saw the flash of a blind eye beneath the hood of the second man and he frowned, confused as to why the man was there.

"Who… are you?" he said, his voice cracked and dry.

The cloaked man shrugged, where the other man laughed. Tarric saw the light pick out some of his features, but he couldn't make sense of them yet. "Been hanging out with thieves too much that you'd forget your own commander's face? I'm ashamed of you, boy,"

Realization dawned on Tarric and he leapt to his feet, albeit more like jumped and staggered to his feet, "Commander! Commander please, it's not what you think! I'm serious, I didn't kill that man!"

"Ah, just like you didn't take that antique journal from the Jarl?" the man in the armor raised an eyebrow. Tarric could now see his incredibly short hair and gray eyes, square jaw and firmly set features of a seasoned veteran. He instantly felt ashamed, angry with himself for disappointing this man who he had originally strove to impress.

Tarric looked at his feet, "Sir, I mean this, I did not take it. I was trying to prevent a thief from stealing it and it became a big misunderstanding,"

"Yet you ran from Solitude, with the thief as I heard, and vanished for almost two months," the older man rested his hand on the pommel of his sword, "explain that, Mercius,"

"I ran because all of the other guards were chasing at me and hacking with swords, wouldn't you run?" he growled lightly, growing more and more frustrated by the second.

The man sighed and shook his head, looking angrily at Tarric in disappointment, "I've had enough of your lies. All you are is a thief and a murderer, Mercius. You had us fooled for a long time, really you did," he straightened, "I'm done here. Tomorrow morning you'll face the divines in judgment, and none of your damned lies and thieving friends will be able to save you from them,"

Tarric's heart stopped, "What? But I didn't kill that man!" he got up shakily and threw himself at the bars as the man walked away, "I didn't do it! Please!" Though he pulled desperately at the bars his former commander just ignored him and left.

Something in Tarric snapped then, a dam in his heart cracked and let out a trickle of black, self-preserving thought. He ground his teeth, but this time in fury as he hissed through them and glared poison at the man he once thought was a teacher. "All of you betrayed me! I gave you everything I was, and you spat it back in my face like I was some mangy dog you couldn't care less about!" his former commander paused, glancing back at Tarric, "Well I have news for you, I'm sick and tired of following your damned rules, your 'honour' is nothing but a pile of horseshit and blood. You can chew on that while I laugh at you from beyond the grave!"

With that, Tarric spat on the ground, hatred filling his green eyes as he retreated to the rear of his cell to the shadowed corner. If death was going to come for him at dawn, if Aria had truly abandoned him, then he would greet it with bared teeth and a fury in his heart.

The cool air filled the square at the front gate of Solitude; the upper platform of raised stone was bare aside from a cloaked priest and a man hefting an executioner's axe. A small crowd had gathered in the shade of the walls to witness that dawn's events, the people shuffling and murmuring in the crowd were eerily quiet as the first glow of dawn's light peeked over the wall.

It was only a few seconds before two guards led a bound man through the crowd and up the steps. The murmurs grew louder while they passed between people, becoming louder and louder until someone shouted.

"Murderer!"

"You deserve what you get!"

"Die in pieces!"

"Boo!"

Tarric held his head high, the words bouncing off his newfound armor like arrows against a steel shield. He approached the block and stood there as a man, his former commander, stepped forward with a scroll in his hands.

"I expected better," he said under his breath as he unrolled the scroll, Tarric didn't even blink. "Tarric Mercius, charged with the crimes murder and theft from the Jarl Elisif, you have committed these crimes against Skyrim and her people and are a threat to the safety of all those you had once sworn your life to protect. With these charges you are sentenced this day to death by beheading, what say you?"

For once, he kept his mouth firmly shut in a tight line across his face. Clenching his fists Tarric raised his eyes to the shadow of the sun across the Winking Skeever's roof, his heart faltering slightly as he thought of Aria. He could almost have sworn he saw a shadow move across the wall's shadow behind them, but he ignored it and took it as a wishful hope before the jaws of death closed about hit throat.

"Very well. Proceed. And may the divines be merciful upon you," the commander nodded to the executioner, who pushed Tarric to his knees before the block.

Tarric sucked in his last breath, closing his eyes and waiting to feel the bite of the blade through his neck. He waited for the sudden crack of the sword tearing him from the world he had once wanted to protect and guard. He exhaled and squared his shoulders, fear lancing through him as his heart rate skyrocketed.

Just as he heard the swing of the sword through the air, there came a loud CLANG! Followed by a thudding sound and a blast of air in front of Tarric's nose. Surprised, he pulled back to see the blade of the axe embedded in the wood of the block mere inches from his face, not far away he spotted an iron dagger and the splinters of the axe handle.

What?

There came a loud scream as smoke burst from behind him, clouding Tarric's vision and causing him to look around in confusion. He heard his former commander call for more guards, but he couldn't see anything now, Tarric's heart raced as he felt hands on his back and mouth, holding him in an arched position.

"If you say anything I'll finish what they've started, just do what I tell you," came a voice next to his ear.

Aria? Tarric's eyes widened as he caught sight of a familiar pair of blue eyes and a strand of red hair beneath a hood. She winked at him and shoved something into his mouth while wrapping a rope around Tarric's waist.

"Don't look at me like that! I couldn't leave my faithful doggy behind now could I?" she brought out her own dagger and sliced a different rope, launching the both of them upwards and out of the smoke to freedom in a matter of seconds.

It was then and there that Tarric knew that he was in love.