The Thief That Stole His Heart
Summary: Since the Dovahkiin restored the Guild to its full strength, the thieves have enjoyed their luck and filled their coin purses to the brim; but their luck will become even stronger when a foe becomes an ally. But what ties to the Guild does this thief have and why is Brynjolf so drawn to her?
X: Coming Clean
She had tossed and turned most of the night, mainly due to her busted side but it had something to do with her past. Mercer haunted her dreams, she didn't know what he looked like, but she heard his voice taunting her in the darkness. When she finally woke, she was covered in sweat, her night dress was drenched and for once she was thankful to be waking up alone. Elsie was tired of having to keep secrets from people she considered as friends and if she was going to move forward with her life, she couldn't live in fear of the past. She tied her hair up tight and kept her old bandage on for the time being; she needed to speak with Brynjolf and get his advice, but she couldn't talk about anything in the cistern. Anyone could over hear their conversation and then it would be game over.
The out of breath courier ran into the Flagon with fear in his eyes. Brynjolf and Delvin couldn't help but snigger to themselves when they noticed the claw marks on his legs; this young man was obviously new to the job and had no clue about the chest they had set up for letters.
"Is something troubling you, lad? Are you lost?" Brynjolf tried to hide his grin, but he did it terribly.
"A young woman stopped me, asked me to deliver this to you." He waved the letter in Brynjolf's face, standing back when he snatched it from his hand. "Is there a less dangerous way to get out of here? I think those skeevers down there got a taste for my blood."
"You've just got to go the way you came in, but here, if you buy one of Vekel's pies and feed it to them, they might leave you alone." Delvin replied mischievously.
"Great suggestion, thank you, friend."
Brynjolf raised a brow at his friend and shook his head. "You know that the residents of the Ratways go crazy for his pies."
"I know, maybe one of those crazy beggars might take pity on him and help the poor courier out."
"Or maybe they'll tear him apart." Brynjolf watched the courier naively walk back towards the Ratways and let out a sigh as he opened his letter.
"Anything for a bit of entertainment, Bryn. Who's writin' ya now?"
"Elsie, she wants me to meet her at the river." He summarised as he put the letter into his pocket.
"Oh, a little, sneaky rendezvous. How long are the two of you going to keep this up?" Delvin watched as Brynjolf gathered his things together, noticing how he seemed to drop everything when he knew she wanted to see him.
"For as long as she wants to. Some people want to keep their private life private, unlike you who leaves Vex's death threats all over the Flagon." He started to walk towards the cistern with urgency. "If anyone needs me, tell them I'm out on a task."
"You can count on me, Bryn."
By the time Brynjolf arrived at the riverbank, Elsie had been in and out of the water. She glanced up at him as she wrapped a clean bandage around her side and smiled at him. He took the place beside her and pressed a kiss onto the side of her head. He understood why she was taking some time away from the cistern; with an injury that bad you need as much rest as possible. He just missed seeing her face every day.
"How is it healing?"
"A lot quicker now that I have a potion to help, I've just got to keep it as clean as possible." She tied the bandage and lowered her armour back onto her body. "Did you read all of my letter?"
"I read every word, lass. Why now? What is possessing you to come clean with everyone?"
She shrugged her shoulders and played with a loose piece of grass. "I'm having these nightmares and these horrible thoughts, I know it's my father from beyond the grave, messing with me."
"Even if it was Mercer's voice tormenting you, why would he pick on you?"
"Did Mercer need a reason for anything? The voice in my head is right though; if I leave this any longer then the rest of the Guild are going to think that I've tried to hide this from them to be deceiving and not for the real reason."
"Everyone in that Guild has family outside of here, some of them have stories like yours, lass. If none of them can see that you hid this because you're hurt, then there's something seriously wrong." He tried to support her as best as he could; he wasn't going to mislead her. He wanted her to thrive.
"There are two people that I worry about the most. Apart from you and Odin, they have the most influence in the Guild. Vex has always hated me and I know for a fact that she will take great pleasure in turning everyone against me. The other is Delvin. Like you, Mercer was a mentor to him."
"Delvin likes you, if anything he'll react how I did; with compassion and an understanding."
Elsie looked at Brynjolf and touched his cheek with the back of her hand. She wanted him to be right, but she knew that he wasn't. "You get it because you have feelings for me. These people don't have the same connection with me."
"We're a family, Elsie and we'll work through it together. Even Odin said to me that he is willing to stand with you when you tell the Guild."
"I'm not going to tell anyone with the two of you looming over me. I'll speak to people one on one and start with the easiest people like Niruin and Cynric. Then I'll make my way to Delvin and Vex."
"Are you sure, lass?"
"It's the only way I can see myself walking out of that cistern alive." She placed both hands on his face and pecked his lips sweetly. "Will you walk me back to the Guild?"
He gazed into her eyes and nodded. "I'll walk you anywhere."
"And when I'm done, will you take me riding?"
He smiled and got onto his feet before pulling her onto hers. "Of course, it's about time that you learned."
The nerves were eating away at her, she knew that Niruin would be the easiest to talk to, but he still put her on edge. When she took him to the side of the room, away from the rest of their family, he was confused and could sense how anxious she was. He placed his hand on her shoulder and furrowed his brows.
"Is everything okay, Elsie? You don't look well at all."
"There's something I need to tell you, it's not going to be easy for me to say." She clasped her hands and looked down at the floor. "Mercer Frey was my father, that's why I had so much interest in getting back at him before I joined the Guild. I never met him, he abandoned me before I took breath, but I just thought you should know." She blurted out quickly. The sooner it was out in the open, the sooner she could breathe again.
"You're a Frey?" he sounded shocked as he took his hand of comfort away from her. It seemed like he was contemplating something but decided against it. When he looked back at her he gave her a comforting smile. "I thought I recognised you when you first arrived here; obviously you're easier on the eye than he was but the family features are there."
"You're not going to stop being my friend, are you?"
"Why would I? He betrayed this family, not you. It wouldn't be fair of me to place blame on someone who wasn't around. You're not going to burden me alone with this, are you?"
"I plan on telling everyone today, just don't mention it to anyone yet. Once everyone knows, you can talk about me until your heart is content."
"I wish you luck, a lot of these thieves aren't going to be as forgiving as I am but thank you for entrusting me with this information." He bowed slightly at her before he left her alone to work out the rest of her strategy.
Most of her fellow Guild members were sympathetic when it came to her past, some even knew before she said anything; her desperation for his things could only come from someone that either romanced him or was related to him in some sort of way. The rest thought she was joking until they really looked at her and like Niruin, saw some resemblance. It was the best reaction she could've got but she still had Delvin and Vex to tell, and she didn't know if she should tell her enemy or her friend first. When she stepped into the Flagon, she saw Delvin sitting at his usual table and Vex standing at the back of the room, arms folded and a scowl on her face. She took in a deep breath and sat down beside Delvin, tapping him on the shoulder.
"There she is, how was your dip?" he said with a smirk.
"Refreshing as always," she looked around the room quickly before turning to him once more, "I need to speak with you."
He could see how nervous she was, her pupils were so contracted that it looked like she didn't have any. "What is it? Has something happened to Bryn?"
"No, Brynjolf is fine. He's in the cistern. It's something that's very important and I'm just scared to see how you react."
"Well spit it out and you'll see for yourself."
She let out her breath and placed her head in her hands. "I don't know how else to tell you, I can't beat around the bush with this… I'm Mercer Frey's daughter." She looked up at his angry and shocked face. She immediately feared for the worst outcome and went to put her hand on his shoulder, he shrugged her off.
"This whole time, I've been making friends with and worrying about Mercer's daughter? I can't believe this, I don't believe this. You're telling a cruel, cruel joke." When she shook her head at him, he lowered his head and gripped onto his tankard, knocking back his drink. "Have you kept this from Brynjolf?"
"He's known for a while. Can I please tell you my side of the story?"
"No, I don't want to hear it." Delvin got out of his seat, knocking it over violently. It drew attention to the two of them and it piqued Vex's interest. "I think you should stay away from me for a long, long time."
She dropped her head and grasped her hands under the table as he stormed out of the Flagon, slamming the door to the cistern behind him. This was how she expected Vex to react, not Delvin. She still had to break the news to her and she knew it was going to be worse than this.
Delvin stormed up to his friend, an angry glare and a fist ready and waiting but when Brynjolf turned and looked at him, he quickly relaxed his hand. They stared at each other for a moment, Delvin staring at him with pure rage and Brynjolf with an expecting look.
"Whatever you have to say to me Delvin, just say it."
"You knew who she was, and you still got with her? Are you out of your mind, Bryn? You know what Mercer did to us." He poked him harshly on the shoulder, knocking him back slightly. "You out of all of us should've been the angriest."
"Did she do something to this outfit, personally?"
"No but,"
"But nothing, Delvin. You can't blame the lass for who fathered her. Did she tell you her story? Did you actually listen to her?"
"I don't need to listen to the bitch's story to know that she's exactly like her father."
He didn't like the tone that Delvin was using, and he didn't like the vocabulary either. He placed his hands on his hips, widening his stance as he peered down at his friend. "You liked her up until a few minutes ago."
"And I adored Mercer for decades and I was wrong." Delvin stepped into Brynjolf's personal space, not willing to back down. "Just because she spreads her legs for you doesn't mean that you have to defend her or appease her beck and call."
Vex sat across from Elsie, watching as she rubbed the bad feelings from her face and when they finally made eye contact, Vex gave her the coldest smile.
"What was all of that about?" she crossed one leg over the other and leant against the back of her chair.
"The same thing that I'm about to tell you." Elsie looked away from Vex's glower and tried to pull her courage back together after Delvin shattered it. "I'm Mercer Frey's daughter."
Vex was silent for a hot minute and let out a snicker. "Of course, you are, I should've seen this coming. Where else would you have got your talents of deception and manipulation from?"
"What are you talking about?"
"You stole plans from us and used them to get a place here where you manipulated many people into befriending you all while keeping your backstory a secret. I just knew there was something about you that I couldn't trust. I have and always will be a good judge of character."
Elsie got onto her feet and rested her hands on the table, leaning into Vex. "Then look at me and I mean really look at me, into my soul and tell me that I'm the same as my father."
Before Vex could answer Elsie's request, they were interrupted by the sound of a brawl in the cistern. There was crashing and shouting; Elsie could hear other Guild members trying to break it up and both women ran in to see Brynjolf and Delvin at each other's throats. She ran towards them, casting a calm spell on the two men and stood in front of Brynjolf, placing her hands on his face so that he wouldn't be tempted to have another swipe at Delvin.
"What are you doing?" she said quietly as he gripped onto her shoulders.
"Why don't you ask him what he said about you, we'll see if he has the guts to repeat it." Brynjolf looked over the top of Elsie's head to see Delvin being tended to by Sapphire and Thrynn.
"I don't care what he said about me, he is your friend and you don't do that to a friend." She looked over his face, noticing the start of a black eye. "We need to put something cold on that eye."
"I'll be fine."
"Please, let me get you something." She reached up and placed a kiss on his cheek, outing their relationship to the stunned Guild.
"Hold on a minute, you and Brynjolf?" Niruin said from the side lines with a smirk. "How did I not see this coming?"
"Why didn't you mention this to me, Brynjolf?" Vex appeared behind Elsie, catching his eye. "We're supposed to be friends too, you know?"
Brynjolf rolled his eyes at her and let go of Elsie. "I don't have to tell you every personal thing that's going on in my life, lass. Is this going to be a problem?" he took the space by Elsie's side and slid his hand into hers.
"You rejected every one of my advances towards you, claiming that it's best to keep things strictly plutonic in the Guild," Vex was emotional, it was the first time that anyone had saw that side of her; they knew she had a soft spot for Brynjolf but no one knew how deep rooted it truly was, "but here the two of you are."
"It's not like that Vex. We spent a lot of time together, we got to know each other in a deeply personal way."
"So, did we, I guess I wasn't really good enough for you." She glanced at the rest of their family and composed herself before helping Delvin onto his feet. "Let's get you fixed up, old man."
The fresh air was exactly what both of them needed and learning to ride a horse was one of the easiest ways to take Elsie's mind off what went down in the cistern. She smiled as Brynjolf put his arms around her, holding onto the reins as he tried his best to teach her. Once she seemed to be getting the hang of things, he took his hands away slowly and let her take full control of the mare. He couldn't help but laugh as she looked over her shoulder at him, beaming with joy.
"I can't believe I'm actually doing this. Now I know why you all picked on me."
"Just keep your eyes on the road, wouldn't want to collide with the mountains." He rested his hands on her waist and placed a kiss on the back of her neck. "You're a natural at this."
"I just have a great teacher."
"Do you fancy going on a little adventure, lass?"
"That depends, where are you going to take me?" she glanced at him once more.
"It's a secret, but it'll be worth our while."
She smirked and leaned into him as she kept a tight grip on the reins. "Fine, I'll appease your adventurous side for now. You just need to tell me the directions."
He rested his chin on her shoulder and said into her ear, "I'll whisper them to you, no one but us can know where we're going."
"I like the sound of that…"
A:N Out of all the beautiful places in Skyrim, where could Brynjolf be leading her? Thank you so much for all of your reviews and for reading every chapter; I appreciate it so so much!