Disclaimer in Chapter 1
Eshne groaned and pulled the furs up over her face to blot out the sunlight. She was sprawled across the bed at Honeyside where Elise had let her hide out after her run in with Brynjolf the week before. She heard the door open and close and she burrowed further under the blankets.
"I am not coming out!" she declared, voice muffled. "I am just going to lay here until Nocturnal takes me and then Gallus and I can spend eternity lamenting that we are not with the people we love," she continued and then added with a sigh, "At least Gallus knows she loves him back."
The bed shifted and she heard an amused voice, "And who is it that you love and does not love you back, Little Fire?"
She pulled the blankets down hurriedly and blinked up at Brynjolf. "Oh, hello there," she said, chuckling slightly. "Uh, I thought you were Elise."
He smiled at her and shrugged. "You did not answer my question," he pointed out.
"Oh, do not listen to me," she giggled nervously and tried to burrow back under the furs but he held them firm. "I am delirious with fever. Deathly ill you know. You should probably leave before you catch it." She tugged harder at the blankets and grunted when he not only did not release them, but pulled them down further. She huffed and gave up, resigning herself to glaring at him when he did not move.
"No, I think I will take my chances and stay awhile," he responded.
Her glare deepened and she pushed herself up, shoving her hair out of her face and absently realizing that it must look hideous. She tucked it behind her ears and crossed her arms. "Would not want you to catch cold. Or any other diseases I might have caught by being such a whore," she hissed.
He had the decency to look abashed and he released the furs, instead reaching up to unfold her arms and hold her hands. She tugged at them halfheartedly, giving up when he looked at her beseechingly. "I need to apologize," he said. "I should not have reacted the way that I did. I should have given you a chance to explain." He paused and squeezed her hands before continuing. "Elise told me what happened when you confronted the leader of the Summerset Shadows. She told me what you did. A traitor would never do that. Somebody with a heart of ice would never do that. And I know you are not a whore. I know you were not doing anything with Cynric except a job. Please Eshne," She looked up, startled at his use of her real name, "forgive me?"
"Why should I?" she asked sharply.
He sighed and looked down at her hands that were wrapped in his. "I will be honest. I have no real good reason. I was hurt by a woman once when I was young. She was the first, and only, girl I have ever loved. It made me never want to open myself up to that kind of pain again. When I found out about you being in the Shadows and trying to destroy the guild, well, it struck way too close to home."
She carefully disengaged her hands from his. "That is no excuse," she said.
"Give me a break, Eshne," he said. "Up until that night you were giving me nothing but the cold shoulder and then when you finally start giving me signals that maybe my attention was not unwanted, you unload a story of betrayal on me. I know I messed up in my reaction. I am trying to make it right. I wish I could promise that it will never happen again but I cannot. I am not used to the idea of a long term relationship, not anymore, but I swear to you, if you give me a chance, I will do my best to make it work. Normally the idea of something long term makes me want to turn tail and run, but the thought of long term with you, well, that is not so bad."
She looked away from him, face carefully neutral. Her mind was a torrent of emotions and she could not pin any of them down. Part of her wanted to tell him to leave and never come back. Another part wanted to gut him with her dagger. The loudest part though, was just tired; tired of running, tired of hiding, and tired of fighting.
She had spent the last week really digging into her emotions and realized that she actually did love the annoying man but she was not sure if she could give him a chance, if she could open herself to the possibility of having her heart smashed again. She heard Elise in the back of her mind, relaying everything she had to deal with as the Dragonborn and she looked over at Brynjolf. He was a player and he had a reputation, but he was also pledging to try for her. Life was short in Skyrim; she might as well take what she could.
The look on his face began to fall and she spoke, "I will give you a chance if you answer me one question." He looked at her eagerly and she leaned forward until their noses brushed and she grinned. "Will you bite?" she murmured.
He looked surprised and then leered at her. "Only if you ask nicely," he responded.
She chuckled lightly and her breath ghosted across his lips. "Pretty please?" she purred and he moaned lowly before pressing his lips to hers.
Several hours later they lay sprawled across Elise's bed. "I will need to get her new bedding," Eshne muttered and then stretched. "Completely worth it though," she sighed.
She glanced up to see Brynjolf leaning against the pillows, his eyes closed and arms behind his head, a satisfied grin on his lips. "It is a shame," he said and she hummed questioningly in response. "This man you said you love and he does not return it. It is his loss really, and a shame for him that he will never get to know you."
She rolled her eyes and slid up the bed to tuck her body against his side and pulled the furs up haphazardly over them. "Bryn, I was talking about you," she chided him.
He opened his eyes and tilted his head to look down at her. "Were you now, Little Fire?" he murmured.
"I was," she answered.
"Then I suppose I shall have to get to work on the whole 'loving you back' thing. Good thing I am already halfway there," he stated and she grinned and kissed him.
"Good to hear," she sighed and then settled back against him, her fingers coming up to draw random designs on his chest.
"Elise is going to be absolutely horrible to live with you know," he commented and Eshne giggled.
"We can just stay here. Lock her out of Honeyside and never leave again," she suggested.
"Lock me out of my own home," Elise's voice piped up. "Deplorable," she sighed. "Maybe I should not have plotted to get you two together if you are already trying to overthrow me."
"Been there long?" Eshne asked, face starting to glow red.
"Talos no," Elise said. "Glad for it to. You are replacing all that bedding," she stated. Eshne and Brynjolf both laughed and Elise smiled. "Much more like it. And while you are a captive audience, I have something important to tell you." She twisted her fingers together and inhaled deeply. "I have decided to take a break from the Guild," she said. "I need to get this Dragonborn thing under control and to do so I will have to go spend time with the Greybeards. Would you two be willing to run the guild in my absence?"
Eshne sat up, carefully tugging one of the furs around her and then moved over to hug Elise. "Of course we will," she said. "You take all the time you need for this. What happened that made you decide to do this?"
Elise blushed and tugged on her ear. "Thrynn caught me about to dive off the roof of Riftweald," she muttered. "I got a little too caught up in a flight memory and wanted to try it myself. You were right; I need to do something about it."
Brynjolf walked over, having donned his pants while the women were not looking, and pulled Elise into a hug. "You be sure to stay in touch," he said, "and let us know if you require assistance."
"I will," she said, tears hovering on her lashes. "Thank you both."
"One question," Eshne said. "The Cistern is not really all that private, would you have any issues with Brynjolf and I using Honeyside while you are gone?" she asked, waggling her eyebrows.
Elise groaned and covered her eyes. "As long as you do not defile too many of the surfaces then that is fine."
"Surface defiling, eh?" Brynjolf said. "Sounds like fun. Better go now Lass before you see more than you want to," he warned, tugging Eshne close to him. Elise squeaked and bolted from the room, the door slamming behind her.