Chapter 14
A Long Day
4E 194 Skyrim, 2nd of Sun's Dusk
The night sky was black but two full moons sat in the sky illuminating the land beneath them. Tall trees shaded a majority of the ground from the moon light but the light found a way to creep through the thick leaves and light the area beneath just enough for a nighttime traveler to see his path.
Beneath the thick trees walked a couple hand-in-hand guided by a small candle's flickering orange light. The lovers shared plenty of laughs and giggles as they lived their day to its fullest.
The boy, a burly Altmer with long tangle free golden hair, held a lantern in one hand and the girl's hand in the other. Soft angelic giggles came from the tall and slim Bosmer girl. Her long brown silky hair fell below her shoulder blades and was a nice complementary color to her light brown skin. The candle's flame danced in her wide, joyous, and youthful eyes. Her salmon colored plump lips curved into a soft smile showing her perfect bright white teeth.
The boy sat the lantern down at the foot of a tree in between its massive roots that covered the mossy soil. He leaned his broad shoulder against the tree watching the girl who's hand he held. His wide lips were bent into a perfect smile that stretched across his chiseled face. The boy's strong and defined cheekbones were highlighted in the candle's light and his green eyes reflected the light like jades.
He pulled the bubbly girl over closer to him by the tree. The large roots from the tree tripped the young girl and she stumbled and fell into the boy. The two fell into fits of laughter that filled the space around them.
"Today has been a great day." The girl leaned against the tree on her shoulder and faced the Altmer. "Thank you for everything, Arcatius." Her soft honeyed words were sincere and calming.
"No need to thank me, Lia." Despite being an Altmer, Arcatius's words weren't the usually haughty tone but instead a more sugar coated tranquil tone. "You've made my day great as well." His lips curved into a childish smile.
Lia's smile faded into a more somber expression. "Tomorrow's the day." He gaze turned towards the ground as she thought about her wedding with a man she barely knew tomorrow.
Arcatius cupped Lia's cheek with his palm. "I will always be here, Lia. You're not losing me." His smile died down but his reassuring words comforted her.
"I know that, but I won't be allowed to talk to you anymore, much less come out into the woods and goof off like we did today." There was a long pause between Lia's sentences. "I'm going to miss this more than anything. I'm going to miss us." Her glossy eyes burned into Arcatius's heart.
"This won't be the last time we do this. I swear on Y'Free it won't be." Arcatius's voice became shaky.
Lia said nothing but curved her lips into a warm smile. She perched up on to her tip toes and gave Arcatius a warm kiss on the lips.
Arcatius turned positioning himself in front of Lia. His rested his muscular forearm above her head and grabbed her waist with his free hand. "What was that? Is it your way of saying it won't be the last time? Or was it a cover up saying it will be the last time?" Arcatius playful voice and laughter assured Lia of a hopeful future.
Lia wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him into a long kiss. Arcatius wound his bottom lip between her thick lips. He slipped his other arm down to her waist and picked her up, fixing the height difference problem. Lia wrapped her legs around his warm body.
After what seemed like such a short time to Arcatius, Lia slid her hands down to his chest and clinched on to his navy blue cloth shirt. She leaned her forehead into his chest ceasing their kisses.
"Why can't it be you?" Lia whispered in a low voice.
"Um..." A puzzled look grew across Arcatius's face. "What?"
"Why can't I get married to you?" Lia sighed.
Arcatius lifter her chin up with his finger. "I wish it was me too." His somber voice only brought more pain to Lia.
Lia unwound her legs from Arcatius's body letting them dangle . "When do you leave?" She looked up at Arcatius glossy eyed.
"For Cyrodiil? I have no idea. Father won't tell me." Arcatius shrugged his shoulders.
Lia took a deep breath. "I guess we should start heading home. After all I have a big day tomorrow." She dropped her head resting it on Arcatius's chest.
Arcatius smiled and shook his head. "Don't let this consume you."
"It's too late for that." Lia said beating her head against Arcatius's chest.
Arcatius grabbed Lia by her shoulders and held her back so she couldn't beat her head anymore. "That hurts." He smiled looking down at Lia.
Lia looked back up at Arcatius and shyly smiled back while pushing her long brown hair behind her hear.
"Don't let it worry you too much." Arcatius threw his arm over her shoulder and leaned back next to her on the tree.
"Easy for you to say." Lia said grabbing his hand that dangled off of her shoulder.
"Easy for me to say? I'm the one leaving for Cyrodiil at who knows when for who knows how long." Arcatius's voice stayed calm as he spoke about his biggest fear.
A moment of silence passed before Lia spoke. "I'd rather not think about that."
Arcatius unwound his arm around Lia while still holding her hand and grabbed her free hand. "Come on." He said turning around and pulling Lia's arms over his shoulders.
Lia jumped up on his back and Arcatius let go of her hands to hold her legs up. She wrapped her arms around his neck and dropped her head down by his.
"Niruin's coming tomorrow." Lia whispered with a smile on her face.
"See? Tomorrow won't be so terrible." Arcatius chimed.
"Maybe not." Lia sounded dissatisfied though.
Lia hummed a song that she would sing while hunting. The gentle rhythm of her voice brought a smile to Arcatius's face and he began to sing along. His tone deaf singing was soon drowned out by Lia's fits of giggles.
"What, ya got a problem with my supreme voice?" Arcatius laughed.
"No! Those aren't the words!" Lia snickered.
"Oh, they most defiantly are!" Arcatius smiled looking at Lia who just shook her head. "I've heard this song thousands of times. Those have to be the words."
"And I have sung it thousands of times." Lia was smiling childishly. "Those aren't the words." She whispered to him.
Arcatius laughed shaking his head. "Okay. Okay. So I replaced a few words because I might of forgotten them."
Lia laughed and looked at the ground Arcatius walked on. She looked up noticing the gentle glow of lights from their village and her laughter ceased. Lia wrapped her arms tightly around Arcatius.
"Okay." Arcatius sighed dropping her and turned around to face her. "Lia, I love you. You know that. And guess what? I always will. That will never change." He grabbed her hands and squoze them tightly.
"I love you too, Arcatius. I just don't want to marry him." Lia sighed.
"I don't want you marrying him either but running away from our problems isn't an option now." Arcatius kept his gaze on Lia's dark brown eyes.
"But what if it is? We can leave right now, right?" Lia looked up into Arcatius's glossy gaze and he shook his head. "We should of left with Niruin! Why'd you let me talk you into not going? Why'd you listen to me then? You never listen to me, but-"
Her furious words were interrupted by two warm hands cupped around her cheeks and two warm lips pressed against hers. Arcatius slid his hands down to Lia's shoulders and then pulled away from the kiss.
"Better." He mumbled irritatedly to himself.
He grabbed her soft hand and silently lead her to her home where the two stopped in front of the steps.
"Goodnight, Arcatius. I love you." Lia wore a sheepish grin to conceal her pain.
"I love you too, Lia." Arcatius smiled down at the girl he loved. He kissed her on the cheek and then turned to walk to his home. "Goodnight and I'll see you tomorrow." Arcatius said over his shoulder.
There was a short pause of silence before Lia came chasing after Arcatius. "Wait." She grabbed his wrist and he promptly turned around to face her. "I want you to meet me after the ceremony in the wooded area behind my home. I- I want to have my first dance with you." Tears blinded Lia's eyes.
Arcatius wrapped his arms around her small body pulling her into a hug. "I'd love to share the first dance with you, Lia." A single tear ran down the bridge of his nose and dropped into Lia's hair.
Lia propped up on her tip toes and gave him a soft kiss on his cheek before hurrying off inside her home.
Arcatius sat the lantern down on a table sitting on his porch and then made his way inside. He wasn't supposed to be out so he quietly creaked the door open and snuck in to his home. With his back facing the inside, he closed the door behind him and was sure not to make a sound.
When Arcatius turned around he froze. His father stood before him dressed in his Thalmor robes accompanied by three more men in Thalmor robes.
"Oh, look who came home at a good time." One of the Thalmor men spoke.
"Arcatius." His father walked over to him. "Tonight you will leave for Cyrodiil!"
Panic struck Arcatius. His eyes grew wide, he broke out in a cold sweat, and his breathing became labored and heavy.
"No." He barely whispered the word before everything around him vanished into black.
Arcatius woke up in the cold stone room. It was just a dream, he thought to himself. Niruin and a man he didn't know stood by a table discussing something that looked important.
Arcatius ran the back of his hand across his forehead wiping the sweat off.
"Arcatius!" Niruin's excitement to see Arcatius away shortly faded into worry. "What's wrong?"
"Oh, um, just a bad dream." Arcatius shyly smiled and let out a fake laugh.
Niruin nodded his head and then turned to the man. "Rune," he said addressing the man. "Go talk to Sapphire for me about the new job."
"If I must." Rune sighed while marching out of the room.
Niruin closed the door behind Rune and walked over to Arcatius's bedside. "Everything alright?"
"No," Arcatius turned over to his back. "This wasn't as much of a nightmare as much of a... Painful memory."
Niruin sat down in the chair pulled up by the bed. "What was it?" He rested his elbows on his knees.
Arcatius looked over at Niruin. "It was the night I left for Cyrodiil."
"With Lia?" Niruin asked somberly.
Arcatius nodded his head. "Um, what time is it?"
"Eh, it's after noon. Probably around three." Niruin shrugged.
"So, I take it Danya already left?" Arcatius asked.
Niruin stood up and slid the chair he was sitting in against the wall with his foot. "Yeah, she just left actually." He walked over to the table he was standing by with Rune and pulled out a Dwarven that was lodged in the table. The golden dagger was coated in a gooey blue substance.
"What are you doing?" Arcatius sat up looking at Niruin.
Niruin was holding the dagger in front of his face watching gravity slowly take effect on the goo. "I have to show you something." A childish grin grew across his face.
Danya had not seen daylight in far too long. When she emerged from the secret entrance for the Cistern shaded by a rock canopy, the warmth of the sun overwhelmed her. She paused as she let her skin bask in the sun's rays.
The day was warm and only a few clouds sat in sight. There was no cool breeze that usually stirred the air at her home to help cool her off.
The guild had lent Danya a black tee, brown trousers, and a pair of lace-up boots for her to wear out that day. She loosely held her Daedric dagger in her fist. It was one of the few things she had taken with her from their camp. She gently fit the dagger through a loop on the side of her pants and proceeded to make her way to the gate on the other side of the large keep.
As she walked through the town she could hear the cheers and laughter of the towns folk. The town that seemed so dull and lifeless to Danya turned out to be filled with more joy than she had originally thought. She had noticed that for this to be a town known for its crime and corruption, there were very few guards patrolling around. She has seen, at most, three guards throughout the whole town.
Danya had made her way past the keep and was nearing the gate to exit the town. It wasn't the gate she had come in the town through but she figured it would have to do since she didn't know the town well. The large keep shaded the area near the gate off from any sunlight but large shrubs still managed to grow around the area.
Two large hands clinched on to Danya's shoulders, forcing her to a stop. She whipped around ready to pull a dagger on someone but when she turned around she was face to face with a cackling man dressed in Thieves' Guild armor.
"Rune?" Danya questioned irritatedly.
"Well that was funny." Rune said still laughing. "Where ya going?"
Danya clinched her fists by her side. "It wasn't funny." Her voice was stern. She spun around and headed towards the gate again.
"Hey! That doesn't answer my question." Rune said as he caught up with her.
"I'm going back to the small camp Arcatius and I made." Danya said with a sigh.
"By yourself?" Rune stood in front of Danya obstructing her path.
Danya looked around and then threw her hands out. "It would look like that wouldn't it?"
Rune shrugged while scratching the back of his neck. "I- I'd guess so."
"And you'd be right." Danya said pushing him aside.
"Wait. You should find someone to go with you. I'd go but I have a contract that I need to do." Concern grew across Rune's innocent face.
"If I see someone I will ask for help." Danya smiled before turning around and pushing open the large and heavy wooden gate.
A Riften guard stood on the other side of the gate. He was leaning against the stone wall behind him and his head was cocked to the side. His snoring was a immediate give away that he was asleep, next to his appearance.
Danya rolled her eyes and continued on down the stone path. Once she got far enough so that she wasn't able to be seen by the guard, she shot an ice spike in his direction. The spike hit the stone wall next to his head and shattered into dozens of small pieces falling into grass by his feet.
"Hey! Watch the magic!" He yelled out into the woods.
Danya chuckled to herself and then turned around. She looked up from the ground and froze in her tracks staring wide eyed at what was in front of her.
Four large men were standing in her way all wearing Imperial armor. The largest man stood in the front with his hands crossed over his chest. The soldiers behind him wore cheeky grins on their face.
"And what was that about?" The burly man dressed in heavy Imperial armor in front question Danya.
Danya positioned herself straight. "He was asleep, so I woke him up. I guess this is why the Thieves Guild resides here. The guards are so lazy." She wore a boastful smile as she spoke so scornfully about the guards.
"Uh huh." The large man in front turned around to face his soldiers. The man had dark skin and shaved black hair. His face was covered in scruff that didn't cover his scars well. A large gash ran over the top of his head and down to his forehead. His light topaz blue eyes shone brightly in the sunlight yet they showed exhaustion. "Where are you going exactly? We can't have infidels running around loosely." His voice was deep and stern.
"I'm going to my camp to gather my belongings. You are welcome to join me if you must." Danya kept her smile going strong.
The man man rolled his eyes. "Fine. Boys," He addressed the soldiers behind him. "Go into town while I take this lady to her camp." His voice sounded irritated.
Danya lead the way passing by the younger looking soldiers. The two walked for a while in silence before Danya eased up the un-comfort. "And you are?"
"I'm Luven. I've been in the Imperial Legion for years now. I've seen many great battles." He said boastfully.
Danya nodded her head. "Did you happen to meet a Mage and healer named Danya?"
"Never meet her, but she was a healer for one of the battles I fought in. I have heard and did hear a lot about her." Luven shielded his eyes from the sunlight as he looked over at Danya. "Why, you know her?"
"Oh, I am Danya." Danya smiled as she thought back to the war days.
"Ah so you're the great Mage that everyone raves about." Luven chuckled. "Why'd you quit?"
"I lost my honor." Danya said grimly trying to avoid eye contact.
"Lost honor? Hah, is that a joke? You were known to everyone in the Legion and in the Rebellion!" Luven took his large hand and grasped the back of Danya's neck loosely.
"I did. You can ask Tullius or Ser-" Her voice paused as she though of Seras, her old love. "How's Seras?" She turned her head towards the tall man.
Luven smiled and shook his head. "I haven't heard that name in a while." The man bit his lower lip. "The last time I heard his name was about a few months after I head you had dropped out."
Danya closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. She exhaled with a soft sigh. "By the gods." She mumbled to herself.
"Something wrong?" Luven looked down at Danya who was now rubbing her temples.
She looked up at the path in front of her. "No. I'm- I'm fine."
Luven grabbed her shoulder and held her back from walking any further. Danya looked up at him wide eyed yet anger clearly boiled in her eyes. She was furious at herself and at her old lover. Her anger set face quickly faded into a more saddened expression.
"We had talked before I went to one of my last battles, we said that if I quit or he quit, then we'd quit together. Little did we know, I was about to go into the battle that I would lose all my dignity in." She paused and took a deep shaky breath. "I would be dead if not for Seras. The day I tried to successfully kill Ciara but failed, Seras left the camp he was supposed to be tending to the soldiers at. He made his way to the battle and happened to arrive at the camp just in time to watch as I fell from a rocky cliff down to my death. Seras was able to save me while getting in trouble for leaving his camp."
"So he left because you left?" Luven asked jumping in to conclusions.
"I'm afraid so. I became a healer with him after I humiliated myself, then I soon realized that I was getting no where with that. I wasn't any where as good as Seras and it wasn't something I enjoyed." Danya frowned.
Luven gave Danya a weird glare. "I thought you loved magic?"
"I enjoyed inflicting people with pain, not watching my own men in misery." She smirked back to Luven.
Luven smiled and rubbed the top of his lip. "Okay, well why do you think Seras just left, where would he go to?"
"I'm not sure. We talked about several places." Danya sighed. "He might of not even left. He might still be a healer and you just haven't heard of him." Danya reassured herself.
Luven took a deep breath in through his teeth. He was fairly high up in the Legion so he would know if Seras was still healing or not, but he kept his mouth shut in fear of hurting Danya. "So, about this camp,"
"We were resting for the night and then we woke up to some, uh, unexpected visitors." Danya interrupted him. "I'm fine, but Arcatius..." Her voice trailed off.
"Do you know exactly where the camp is?" Luven questioned her. They had walked quite a distance already and seemed to be getting no where.
"Umm. Not exactly." Danya looked around the area. "I know it was by this lake." She wore a sheepish grin across her face.
"Lovely." Luven grumbled to himself.
Danya looked at the path ahead noticing it trailed off from the lake. She was quick to change her direction and moved off the stone path towards the lake.
Luven had continued following the path that Danya was originally following. He turned around to ask her a question but he soon realized that she was walking along the perimeter of the lake. "What are you doing?" He yelled trying to catch up.
Danya waited until he stood next to her to answer. "Our camp was somewhere around the lake." She added a bit of attitude.
"How do you know it's still there?" Luven was growing irritated.
"I don't." A cool breeze interrupted her sentence blowing her hair back from her face and cooling her off. "But I promised Arcatius that I would get his book for him."
"His book? How old is this kid?" Luven laughed.
Danya gawked over at Luven. "He is forty-six. And he has been to oblivion and back. He's a lot better of a man than you."
"Oh," Luven sheepishly said looking down at the ground. "So, um, what is this book?"
Danya scrunched her nose up. "I'm not entirely sure. Other than it holds a bunch of notes that he wrote back and forth with his gir-" Danya stopped herself in the middle of the sentence realizing that the two were never really anything official and she cleared her throat. "With his love."
"Did I miss something there?" Luven scratched the back of his head.
"Not that I know of. Arcatius fell in love with a girl from his town. She fell in love with him as well. And well, their parents didn't allow anything to happen between them so they forced his the girl into marriage." Danya sighed.
Luven nodded his head back to her but kept his gaze over the lake.
"Hey! There's the rocks that Arcatius found the bow on." Danya cheered.
Luven stopped in place and watched as she ran to the lake. "What?"
Danya ran up to the edge of the lake and stood ankle deep in the smoothly flowing current.
"Um, you're not gonna like try to swim. Right?" Luven still stood in the same spot.
Danya gazed over the lake. The bright sun's rays danced on top of the water and the vibrantly colored leaves falling from the trees elegantly fell on to the surface of the water.
"I believe so." She turned around facing Luven with a childish smirk.
Danya swiftly ran through the cool water over to the rocky island with swift long strides.
Luven rolled his eyes and sighed. "You don't honestly expect me to follow you."
"Afraid of a little water, hmm?" Danya shouted over her shoulder.
"Eh hah, no." Luven spoke nervously and with a shaky voice.
"The water is thigh deep. You'll be fine." Danya laughed.
Danya made her way around the rocky land over to the lake's bank.
Luven stepped into the water trying to catch up with her. The cool liquid surrounded his bare legs sending chills up his spine.
Danya waited at the bank of the river for Luven. "No need to worry," she shouted as she watched him slowly make his was across the wide lake. "Nothing will get you, well except for a slaughter fish!"
Luven's eyes widened and panic struck him. He held his arms above the waist deep water and made his way to the bank with haste.
"You said thigh deep water." He scoffed with heavy breaths.
Danya laughed. "I say a lot of things."
Luven rolled his eyes as he followed her over to the abandoned camp site.
When Luven saw the camp his walking slowed to almost a stop but Danya had kept moving along swiftly. Two large Orc bodies lied on the soil with blood caked on their olive green skin and the grass and dirt around them. Both bodies had deep fatal wounds in them and some new broken flesh areas from where animals had snacked on them.
The repulsive smell drew most creatures away and made Luven sick to his stomach. He grabbed a loose cloth from under the large shinning steel on his armor and pulled it up over his nose.
Two bed rolls lied on either side of a fire that had died. Other than two knapsacks, some food, and half empty mead bottles there wasn't much left at the camp.
Danya grabbed her knapsack and threw her it over her shoulder and then walked over to Arcatius's knapsack. "I guess the bandits decided not to ransack our camp after all." She shrugged while picking up the knapsack.
Luven looked at the dried blood stains that surrounded the camp. "It's this smell."
Danya threw the knapsack over the one she already wore. "It's not that bad."
Luven gave Danya a disgusted gawk.
"Oh please. You must not do much in the war if this bothers you!" Danya scolded. She walked over to the Orc's body that had been the one to throw her against the rock and grabbed him by the fur armor along his waist. Her arms still ached from being tossed at the rocks but she ignored the pain and rolled the Orc over.
Underneath the Orc lied the bow, quiver of arrows, and a coin purse that Danya had her intentions set on getting. She tossed the coin purse in her knapsack and the bow and arrows over her back.
"Lead the way." Danya cheered looking over at Luven.
He looked up at her. "You're done?" Luven was still a bit taken off guard by the great amount of blood covering the area.
Danya nodded her head as she walked over to the path she had traveled down with Arcatius's body when the incident occurred.
Luven was quick to follow behind her. "How'd you..." His voice trailed off as he contemplated the situation.
"How did I?" Danya hummed back.
Luven held his finger between his teeth. "This boy. How'd you carry him back to Riften?"
"I was in the Imperial Legion. I've carried men much more heavy set than him with arrows being shot at me plenty of times." Danya boasted.
Luven nodded his head. "But you were injured?"
"I never told you that." Danya said with caution.
"No, but the cuts running down your face and arm are new, so I assumed." Luven looked at the bruised skin on her.
"Fair enough. Yes, I was injured, but that doesn't mean I didn't have an adrenaline rush help me... Or a strength potion." She mumbled a bit.
Luven laughed and nodded his head and then looked up the stone path to Riften.
The two had made great time and were already halfway back to Riften and most of the walking was now in silence.
"What's your fear with water?" Danya spoke up interrupting Luven's thoughts.
"It's kind of a long story." Luven said shyly.
"I have time." Danya's response was quick.
Luven sighed. "Fine. When I was a boy my parents owned and captained a boat for the Legion. I was lucky enough to travel on their adventures with them. We went traveling out off the coast of Black Marsh and Morrowind, I was just eight at the time. We got out far into the sea easily and had traveled north up the coast of Black Marsh with no worries, until a violent storm hit. Our boat was a nice sized boat, but it was no match for those ripping waves. The boat ended up crashing into a large rock and tore apart the boards underneath leaving us to sink. My parents told me to stay on the rock that we had hit and they continued trying to save the people aboard. I wouldn't of made it out alive if it weren't for an Argonian carrying me all the way to shore." Luven smiled and shook his head. "I owe him my life. I woke up lying face down on the dirt shore with the Argonian just a few feet in front of me face down as well. We traveled together until I got home and went off to live with my older brother. I'm not sure where the man went."
"That would shake me up as well." Danya's words had meaning to them, being she lost her parents as well, but she wasn't about to tell the stranger that.
They had made it to Riften right as clouds were rolling in over the sun bringing loud cracks of thunder and a heavy sprinkle of rain.
"I'll be at the Bee and Barb if you want to catch up later. Maybe we can look into finding Seras." Luven winked at Danya as he crossed the bridge heading into the inn with his friends.
"Alright, well if you can find him, I will most certainly be in!" Danya laughed back.
Danya walked into to Arcatius's cold room greeted with laughter and smiles. Arcatius, Rune, and Niruin were laughing and sharing stories and ale.
"Danya!" The three men chanted.
Danya chimed in to their laughter, "Arcatius, I was able to get-"
"Oh, Danya!" Niruin interrupted her. "You won't believe this, I found out what made Arcatius's wound so bad!" He stood up from his chair placing one hand on her shoulder and the other in the air with a bottle of ale.
"Oh do tell." Danya said unenthusiastically.
"The blade was poisoned! It took me until today to figure that out." Niruin pointed the bottle of ale at Danya's face and bursted into fits of laughter along with the other men in the room.
"And you're all drunk." Danya rolled her eyes and threw Niruin's hand off of her shoulder. She tossed the book and knapsack onto Arcatius. "You're welcome." Danya said peeved.
The Dunmer walked over to her bed and sat her knapsack down along with the bow and arrows and then made her way to the bar.
"Woah, Danya! Wait! Join us. Grab a bottle!" Arcatius called out to Danya but she chose to ignore him and kept walking.
The Flaggon was empty except for two people she had not seen before. One of them was a younger looking girl wearing the typical thieves armor but the armor was a dark black color simular to Brynjolf's. She was leaned up against some boxes stacked up on top of each other on the opposite side of the room. Her skin was pale white and her hair was a light platinum blonde. Danya could over hear her talking to the other man she didn't know. The girl's words were harsh and her voice was stern.
"Hey look. A visitor." The girl addressed Danya.
Danya walked into the room further.
"Why don't ya take a seat?" The unknown man's heavy accent caught Danya off guard. The man was sitting at a table near the entrance to the Flagon.
Danya cautiously sat her self down in the chair across from the man.
"What's your name?" The Breton man swung his words with a raspy accent.
Compared to the unknown girl, he looked aged. His skin was a dark tan color and he was bald headed. The only hair he had was a small area of blonde scruff around his mouth.
"I'm Danya, and who might you be?" Danya made sure to throw the question right back to him.
"Ah, I've heard about you. I'm Delvin and that's Vex over there." The man smiled looking over at the hateful girl. "You're here with that boy right? Atius?" Delvin directed his attention back to Danya.
"Arcatius, and yes, I am here with him. I would be with him now but he decided it'd be a good idead to get drunk." Danya's words came out more scornful than she had intended.
"Woo, someone's gettin' an earful later." Delvin whistled while adjusting his black leather armor.
Danya shook her head. "No, it's not that, I'm just... Confused." Her words were soft.
"Bout what?" Delvin asked before taking a large swig of mead.
"Oh... It's nothing." Danya smiled.
"Where is everyone today?" An irritated female haughty accent echoed off the stone walls around the room.
"Contracts, Galathil. We do have a job." Vex snapped.
"Who's that?" Danya asked Delvin.
"Ah, that would be Galathil. She's a face sculptor. Nothing too impressive if you ask me, thieving is where the skill comes in." Delvin chuckled to himself.
"Vekel, what time is it?" Vex whined.
Vekel looked up from the floor he was sweeping at Vex with dagger like eyes. "I don't know." He mumbled scornfully. "I liked it better when you were working on that contract and not here complaining all day."
Danya sighed and pushed her chair out from under the table. She walked out of the room ignoring the small talk that echoed off the walls and continued down the hall to the Cistern. Loud chants and laughter escaped from the bedroom with Arcatius. Danya walked past the room without thought and opened the door to the Cistern.
The large open area in the Cistern was empty except for Vipir who was lying in a bed with his face in a book. Sapphire's voice echoes off the walls. She lied in the bed next to Vipir's but he seemed to be ignoring her.
Danya walked over to a wide hallway on the left side of the Cistern that lead to a training room.
The large room was illuminated brightly by candles scattered around the room. Dummies filled the room hanging from the walls and resting on top of haystacks. In a corner by the door sat several various types of chests used to practice lock picking.
Danya walked over to the far corner of the room and sat down in a chair beside a small table. She scooted the chair back and kicked her legs up on to the table and rested her head back on the wall behind her.
"What are you doing?" A rough voice came from a haystack in the shadows. Thyrnn jumped down from the haystack into the light and sloppily walked over to Danya at the table. He wore a clean long sleeve black shirt and his purple-grey Guild Armor pants.
Danya sighed, "Trying to get away from..." She paused looking at the door to the room. Laughter and shouts eased its way into the practice room from Arcatius's room. "Them."
"Want one?" Thrynn held out a small purple bottle with worn paper around it.
"Skooma?" Danya whispered while grabbing the bottle from his hand.
"Only the best." Thrynn jumped onto the small wooden table and leaned his back against the corner of the wall. "But let's keep this our little secret."
Danya took a large sip of the illegal drink. "Fine by me. Where in Oblivion did you get this?"
"Back when I was a bandit, we'd raid Kahjit caravans and strip them clean of their moon sugar and Skooma. I have a large collection of Skooma left that I keep hidden in that hay over there." Thrynn's words were a bit slurred implying he had already had quite a sum of Skooma that night.
"Well, this is what I needed." Danya looked down at the bottle in her hands. "This and my robes." She shrugged.
"Your robes?" Thrynn said before finishing off a bottle of Skooma.
"I am supposed to give these clothes back to the guild but I need my robes first, or else I'll be walking around naked." Danya said rubbing at the fabric of the pants.
"Eh, you'll be fine." Thrynn licked the corners of his lips still trying to savor ever drop of the Skooma.
"I am not going to walk around naked!" Danya snapped.
"No. Not that. You can keep the clothes. We don't care." Thrynn slipped the empty bottle of Skooma into his pocket.
"Thanks but I prefer my robes." Danya took another large sip of the Skooma.
The two listened as muffled sounds echoed off the cold damp stone walls.
"Sounds like everybody is going to bed." Thrynn said running his fingers through his hair.
"Most of everybody." Danya sighed.
Her comment was soon followed by more laughter from Arcatius's room.
"I'm going to go shut that door." Danya sighed before taking the last swig of Skooma the bottle had to offer.
"Blow a few candles out on your way. I don't want to be the one responsible for this place burning to the ground." Thrynn said looking a little sluggish.
Danya laughed and blew most of the candles out leaving the room full of shadows and little light. The only candles still lit were the two in lanterns on the table with Thrynn and sitting on a book shelf on the far end of the room.
Danya briskly walked past the sleeping thieves in the Cistern. Sapphire had turned her back to Vipir and fallen asleep, Vipir had let the book collapse on top of him, and Delvin, Vex, and Tonilia were snuggled up in various other beds. Lucky for Danya, Mercer was no where to be seen.
Danya walked by the room filled with the boisterous men and slammed the door shut and then continued making her way to the Flagon.
She walked over to Galathil, who was reading a book on a bench, and threw a coin purse in the Bosmer's lap. "I want these wrinkles gone." Danya said pointing to her face.
Galathil looked up at her and then at the bag. "I suppose I can fix that." She held the bag up by the string tying it together. "How much is in here?"
"750 gold." Danya said sternly.
"That'll do for wrinkles. Alright. Lets see about this."
Danya walked into the dark room with Thrynn. Her face was sore and felt tight.
"You took a while." Thrynn said stretching his arms out.
"A bit longer than I had hoped." Danya quickly placed her hand on her face. She had not realized talking would be so painful, but she had to pull through and act as if nothing's wrong. "Anymore Skooma?"
"Ah, that's what I like to hear! Look in the haystack. Get me a bottle too." The candle's light highlighted Thrynn's wide smile that grew across his face. The two red lines of war paint on both of his cheeks were smudged across his face and his two small braids on either side of his head were starting to come loose.
Danya handed him a bottle and held another in her hand. She opened the bottle and took a small sip of the drink. The sweet sugary liquid rolled down the back of her throat easily.
"Oh, this... This is that double distilled Skooma." Thrynn said with a drunken smile.
"Double what?" Danya said licking the sugary liquid from her lips.
"I'm not sure. I just know it's some of the strongest stuff out there!" Thrynn laughed.
Danya looked at her bottle realizing that it was almost empty. She took the last sip and lied the bottle on the table beside three others. Danya stood up with intentions set on getting more Skooma but she soon realized she would not be able to make it over to the haystack.
"There is a crate with meads and ales over in the book shelf." Thrynn pointed towards the bookcases that lined the wall.
Danya got the crate and brought it back over to the table. Her vision was blurred and her legs were weak but she knew the ale and mead would whisk away her pain.
Danya grabbed a bottle of wine and Thrynn grabbed some mead from the crate. The two drank and talked all night until they both passed out on the table.