I followed the carnage to the city gates, trying not to attract more attention than necessary, or look like I belonged to either group. I noticed with some sick kind of satisfaction that the majority of casualties were guards, the occasional reach man had fallen, but none that I recognized. I briefly wanted to check the inn for Mercer, but thought better of it and headed for the gates. I stood atop the steps, watching the group who had freed me from prison fight their way away from the city. I followed at a distance.

It was dark by the time I was clear from the city. There were no other travelers on the road, but I didn't want to risk hiring the carriage. I hoped my newfound companionship with the Forsworn would be enough to prevent me from getting attacked on the road, and that the darkness would keep any guard patrols from recognizing me. By the time I would exit the mountains and enter Whiterun hold, it would be daytime, and I could catch a carriage to Riften. I'd be safe there, if the guild still accepted me. If not then, well Daggerfall is preferable to the Reach, but… I shook my head, keenly aware of the weight of Madanach's gift in my pack. It made my skin crawl thinking about it, but whenever I pulled it out I was trapped, like the scrappy, uncured leather was calling to me. I couldn't throw it out, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to keep it.

The irresistible smell of stew wafted towards me, halting my thoughts. I wasn't entirely sure if it was my imagination or not, after days of eating thin gruel and stale bread, but I continued in its direction, eventually seeing lights off the main road. I followed the thin path up to what looked like a manor house, but it had the sign of an inn. I pushed open the door and the warmth regaled me. A blazing hearth, and yes, the stew was most definitely coming from here. My mouth watered as I felt for my coin purse, relieved when I felt it had been returned untouched with the rest of my belongings.

"Welcome friend. The Old Hrodan has warm beds and clean rooms, Tiber Septim's room has already been rented out, I'm afraid"

"Tiber Septim?" I asked as I slid a few septims across the counter. She launched into a history of the inn as she served me a bowl of thick, hot, stew and warm, Fluffy bread.

"Perhaps a more… private room, for me and the lady" a new voice interrupted.

I turned, confused, staring into murky green eyes. "Mercer" I breathed out, wanting to launch myself into his arms, but reluctant to let go of my bowl.

His face was unreadable as usual, but I took this as a good sign. He was never one to hide rage.

"You two know each other? Always nice to meet a friend on the road"

"Quite the contrary. This little pain in the arse has sent me across the country three times over" Mercer growled as he took my bread.

I protested loudly, reaching for my precious loaf. I thought I caught the ghost of an expression in his eye, could he be happy?

"I believe we have some private discussion" he said flatly, crossing the inn.

I smiled an apology to the innkeeper as I took my food and followed him.

"Convenient of you to show up here"

"That's my bread" I said, grabbing at it. He continued to hold it just out of reach. "Not at all curious why I'm here and not cozy in Riften, laughing with Delvin about all the other thieves who managed to get themselves caught?"

"You never laugh. And I didn't get caught, now can I please have my bread?"

"I told you it wasn't a good idea. You need to learn to leave the past in the past" he took a bite.

I hadn't let myself be angry at my father while I was in the mine. It would have been the perfect opportunity to, with no actual hope of escape or salvation I could have sat there and dwelled on everything that went wrong in my life, like everyone else in there did. There certainly wasn't much else to do. Even the hard labor of mining silver became monotonous, routine behavior. More of a function than an activity. I had turned my mind towards Mercer, I realized. Towards escaping, to get to him, at least before I met Madanach and his familiar yet so distant face.

"Why are you here?" I finally asked.

"I was just on my way back to pay your fine" he smirked as he crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair.

"You mean my father's debt?"

"Quite substantial" he nodded.

I had to look away from him. I wasn't sure how to react. I could feel my face flush.

"Come on, you must be tired"

"I want my bread"

Maybe an hour later I laid down, wearing a soft tunic and my stomach round with food. I had gorged myself, and I didn't feel the least bit bad about it, no matter how much Mercer rolled his eyes or reminded me that I had actually only been in prison three days. I slid over on the straw mattress as he got in next to me. It was a small bed, but I was glad for the warmth.

"Better than the floor?" he asked

"Not as good as your bed." I muttered back, I had been fantasizing about the expensive down mattress even more than I had been fantasizing about the man who owned it.

He let out a sound that could almost be a chuckle. I closed my eyes as he smoothed my wild hair down.

"Why?" I asked quietly.

"Why what?"

"Why pay the fine. Why not just leave me there?"

"Maybe I thought about it"

"Maybe you didn't" I could feel him draw breath into his chest.

"Maybe I got bored"

"Bored?"

"As much of an idiot as you are, you're not totally incompetent, or so I thought before you got yourself arrested. If you were able to subdue those foolish tendencies of yours, you might be the only person who could pretend to rival me in skill."

I smiled at the compliment. "You have some foolish tendencies yourself," I teased. I pushed myself up on my elbows, waiting for him to quip back at me. He replied with a muffled, dismissive grunt, but I wasn't ready to let him off the hook. "A lifetime of gambling must yield some pretty substantial debt, and to sacrifice that amount of money for someone who could only pretend to rival you? Sounds foolish to me."

"I have big things planned." He replied, matter of factly.

"How big?"

"It would triple the amount, to start. And it only gets bigger from there"

"How big?" I asked again.

His hand moved across my body, coming to rest on my jaw. He tilted my face towards him. I opened my eyes to meet his. "Who has the most valuables, Adelie?"

"Nobles?"

"That's been done." His hand began wandering down my neck.

"The Jarls?"

"Done." His fingertips brushed my collarbone.

I chewed my lip. "Kings?"

"Done. Think bigger." His hands paused a moment before brushing down across my belly.

"The Emperor?"

"Bigger" His fingers found their goal, making it hard for me to think.

Who's bigger than the emperor? "Daedra?" I managed to choke out between gasps.

"It's all been done before, Adelie. The Gods." He said finally, anxious to get the words out of his mouth. His eyes gleamed. This was the closest to excited I had ever seen him. "I'm going to steal what the gods themselves have put on Nirn"

I pulled away from him, put a pause to his busy hands. "The gods, Mercer?"

"The gods, Adelie"

And then he kissed me.

I rolled over in the middle of the night, surprised to feel the warmth of the body still next to me. I propped myself up on my elbow to look into his face. The even rise and fall of his chest indicated that he was still sleeping. I smiled as i ran a finger along his jawline, the small sharp hairs catching on the callouses of my hand. He looked… peaceful? Well, as peaceful as a man with a permanent scowl could look in his sleep. Which I suppose was nothing remarkable, everyone looked peaceful in their sleep. But this proof that he did sleep, it humanized him. I settled back into the crook of his arm and closed my eyes.

Mercer was less than willing to elaborate on his plan to "steal from the gods" in the morning. Every time I asked him, the reply was simply an annoyed grunt.

I sighed, turning away from him and the chests of gold that I assumed were to pay my father's debt, my bounty, and towards the open road. I crossed my arms, trying to show him how irritated I was. He had been so gentle last night, sweet almost, and there was something new about his eyes. A light almost, they were warmer. It had dulled in the morning, but I could tell it was still there. And I could tell that he was irritated. Of course, he always seemed irritated, but now I could tell.

We waited for the carriage to pass by the Old Hrodan, where Mercer flashed a bag of coin, and we were allowed to get on at this unofficial stop, with all our luggage.

"I talked to the orc" Mercer said as I ran my fingers over the lock on one of the chests. "The overseer?"

I raised an eyebrow.

"I asked how much to get you out, he said I'd have to pay off the debt, and and I told him to just give me a number"

I sat up to look at him, still not replying.

"It was quite a large number" he closed his eyes.

"You would have stolen it back right?"

He paused, opening one eye a tiny bit to look at me. "Of course"

I smiled, trying to find a comfortable position on the hard seat of the cart. "I didn't need you"

"You didn't" he agreed.

A/N: Yet another late update, my muse has been unresponsive. Anyway, I figured I would crank this chapter out so I could try and get on with the story. I hope y'all find it acceptable. I hope everyone had a wonderful whatever-you-celebrate this season, and let's keep our fingers crossed for a better new year, (in case I don't update before then).

Clavicula: Thanks! And I agree, a lot of the Dovahkiin stories kinda go all over the place; it's fun in the game but it doesn't make for very good story writing. There are some good ones out there, but I didn't feel like I could achieve that on my first try.

Scyscarf: Mercer has always been one of my favorites, he's a badass. I'm glad you're enjoying it and I'll take all the luck and inspiration I can get.