Chapter 10: Imperial Nights

Her 'home' was a small little shack on the Waterfront. Nothing to impressive, it had no windows, one visible door.. Baurus raised an eyebrow as she searched for her keys in her pouch. It looked like the shabbiest shack in the little community.

"This is your house?"

"My Imperial City house. I have one in Anvil, Bravil, and Bruma. Another in Cheydinhal. Makes traveling easy. My Skingrad house is far more impressive." She finally found her keys. The ring was completely loaded with keys. Baurus guessed there were fifty or so. At his look she chuckled, "Most of these are... Borrowed." She opened the door on the first try, and with an exaggerated bow she gestured him in, "My humble abode." Inside was anything but humble. Rugs, and tapestries covered the place. And the bed had wolf fur blankets and cotton sheets. The wine rack was fully stocked, as well as the bookshelf.

"Wow." He looked around in awe.

"It's alright I guess." She said with a blush, "I really only use it when I want to be away from the Gu-" She cut herself off causing Baurus to give her his full attention.

"Away from the what?"

She gave him a morose look, "Take a seat." He did as instructed, still looking around. Tsamusa turned away from him, "What you drink?"

"Ale is fine."

"Okay." She grabbed two bottles and sat next to Baurus. He took it and took a drink. She watched him closely. Anticipation rising in her stomach, they talked about the books and what they could possibly mean, but her mind was elsewhere. It noticed his strong features, when he smiled, and his tight ass when he got up to get them drinks from her cooling box. Baurus drank twice as much as her becoming more and more anxious as time past. She wasn't sure why, but it might have to do with her undressing him with her eyes every couple of minutes. There fingers touch every time he handed her a new drink causing her heart to flutter wildly. "I need to know I can trust you, Baurus."

He looked at her, surprised. "Have I given you any reason to doubt?"

"I doubt anyone who gives selflessly." She said pretending to examine the label of the drink. Really she was thinking, calculating.

"I'm glad to know you think I'm selfless." He took another drink. A sign he trusted her not to have it laced with poison.

"I want to trust you." She said wistfully as she watched his hands. They were strong, callused, skilled. She wondered about the muscles hidden beneath that shirt. The scars he must have. His arms were huge compared to hers. He was all power and muscle...

"I would like that very much." He said suggestively. Was he... Studying her from the corner of his eye? Yes he was.

"Then I think I will."

"I don't think I believe that." He thought a moment. His eyebrows furrowed in concentration. Then relaxed, "I got it. A gesture of trust. We tell each other some thing we haven't told anyone else."

"Secrets, you mean." Something she'd never told anyone...

"Should I start?"

"Fine."

"I use to be head over heels for Captain Renault."

"I knew it!" She said triumphantly. She loved being right.

"Yup. That's my secret. Of course she was married to a Nord, so I never made a move." He looked to her, "I trust you won't tell anyone." That was a statement. Not a question. There was faith in his eyes, deeply rooted in who he was. She hoped she wouldn't disappoint him... Or the Emperor... Or Martin. But especially Baurus. He had no reason to trust her. The Emperor had his dream, Martin had her saving his neck. Baurus had intuition and didn't doubt her one bit. Why shouldn't she do the same? "What about you?"

"Long version or short?"

"Short will do."

She sighed, unable to believe she was about to say this, "It's been four months since it happened. I hunted down my parents murders... It took me a whole year to track them. They weren't easy to find. But when I did, I slaughtered them all. Without a second thought. I was visited by the Dark Brotherhood. The Blade of Woe is still lying around her somewhere. I didn't kill the man they asked me to, so they must have taken it as a no..." Why did she tell him that?

"Tsamusa-"

"That isn't the end. I had made a friend of a Nord who agreed to help me search. We'd become very close... But the wounds he received in the battle were to severe. He died. Right in my arms. I feel no remorse for the Vampires... It is him I feel like I've murdered. I lead him to his grave."

"You two must have been close."

"Very. Only Nord I was ever fond of." She said choking back tears. The Blade turned and looked at her. "I keep thinking- If I had been stronger, faster... I might have been in love with him, Baurus." She had never admitted that to anyone, not even herself but to him it just poured out of her. There she was pouring her guts out. "I feel... Helpless when I think about what happened." She didn't like the feeling. Not one bit.

"I know exactly what you mean." She looked at him, his eyes were soft. Filled with a warmth she did not expect to see just then. She did trust him. The one she didn't trust was herself. If she wasn't careful she'd- no, she couldn't think about it. "But you can't let it haunt you forever." Her eyes filled with tears that streamed down her face. She looked at his bottle, it was empty.

"Let me get you some more Ale-" She rose quickly and Baurus did too, catching her arm, and pulling her close. Nope, she couldn't trust herself at all.

"Hush now." He said as she sobbed into his soft cotton shirt. It smelled like saffron. "Oh, little thief. You shouldn't hold these things in. It's not healthy." She looked up at him and he wiped her tears away sweetly. She tried to smile. That's when she felt the muscles under the hands she had placed on his chest. "See? Better?" He kissed her forehead, "I won't tell anyone. On my honor as a blade-" There was a knock at the door before she could answer. It was rapid and insistent.

She sighed, rolling her eyes, "Armand." She pulled away and Baurus let her go. She opened the door a few inches, "Hello?"

"Let me in."

"I'm busy, Armand. I'll come by the Guild in the morning-" He forced the door open, and saw Baurus.

"Who is he?"

"He is no one of consequence to you! Now out!"

"What is going on?!"

"Sir, a lady asked you to leave her home. I believe you should listen." The glared in Baurus' eyes could have melted a whole through steel.

Armand turned his attention back to Tsamusa, "Have you been crying?"

"GO!" She pushed him roughly and he stumbled back enough for her to shut the door. Leaning on it she stared at the ceiling, "Don't mind him. He's just jealous."

"What's he jealous of?" Baurus asked, his face suddenly indecipherable

"You in here with me alone at all hours of the night. His mind goes straight to the gutter. It's such a burden being me." She said in mocking exasperation. Baurus stepped forward, holding her chin. His eyes suddenly feral.

"I don't blame him. I'd be jealous too." Before she could think, he leaned in and kissed her. It surprised her in it fierceness. A surprise only matched by the one she felt as she kissed back with just as much resolve. As they kissed she locked the door with her free hand. His hands slid down her arms and around her waist. This was not her style. She didn't just jump in. There was always a lot of brooding and brewing, scheming and plotting. But no. There was not a six month plan for this. Spontaneous. In the moment. Passion like fire, lighting up her sky. He pulled his mouth away from her's to kiss her neck. He hit a sensitive spot and she writhed under him. He chuckled, and pulled her over to the bed. He laid down and just like that-

He was out cold.

"Damn it. Man can't hold his alcohol." She said with a sigh as she sat on the edge of the bed. Had she given him one lined with sedative without realizing? She grabbed his bottle and smelled it. Nope. She chuckled as he snored softly. "Good night." Kissing his forehead she moved to a chair and grabbed one of her many books, disappointed the festivities were cut so short. "Perhaps it's for the best."