THE FORSWORN CONSPIRACY

Valentine

The first place they decided to go after speaking to Eltrys and learning of the years of Forsworn attacks was back to the Silver-Blood Inn. Part of what he hired them to investigate was looking into the reason why Margret of all people was attacked. He believed since she was relatively new to Markarth that there had to be something special about her to warrant such a public attack.

"We can meet back here later tonight," he'd said as they left. "I'll pay you then for any information you all can uncover."

Valentine was the unofficial leader of the group that stayed with him, or was at least their navigator. Markarth was an oddly designed city with many different levels, staircases, and bridges. He'd been to the former dwarven city a few times during his time in Skyrim, and thus knew the layout the best out of any of them.

No one was in their armor, though the attack in the marketplace the day before made Valentine want Gale to wear his. Vex had talked him out of it, assuring him that Gale would be fine with them around to protect him. Still, before they'd left the inn the first time for the Shrine of Talos, Valentine had made sure his son had his dagger on him.

The Silver-Blood Inn was the most popular inn in Markarth. As such, even at an early hour, the place was booming with business. Even so, it didn't take them long to find Margret sitting by the fireplace along the back wall of the inn. The group found seats nearby her, Valentine taking the closest one to her. He gave her his best smile when she looked his way. "No one else has tried to stab you in the back this morning, have they?"

Margret returned the smile. "Thankfully, no."

"Word has it that you aren't from around these parts," Vex said. "A bit odd then that someone would try to murder you." She tilted her head to the side. "What brings you to Markarth, Margret? Something that attracts the wrong sort of attention?"

She shook her head. "Just visiting. I had some business here. That's all."

Valentine and Vex exchanged glances. Both of them could tell immediately she was lying. Judging the expressions of Lydia, Kharjo, and Gale, they likely had their suspicions as well.

He turned back to her. "So what's the real reason you're in Markarth?"

Margret frowned. "Was it that obvious?" Valentine nodded. "Damn. I must be losing my touch."

Valentine thought to inform her what had been her most obvious tell that she'd been lying—her nervous tugging at her sleeves—but decided to hold that back in case she decided to lie again. "So why are you really here?"

Leaning in to be heard only by the group, Margret whispered, "I'm one of General Tullius' agents. I was sent to investigate the Treasury House and the Silver-Blood family." Vex gasped at that, but Valentine didn't think much of it.

The Silver-Blood family. Valentine often heard them referred to as the Black-Briars of the West. Both were families with so much power and pull in their respective hold, they were often seen as the actual rulers of their cities. At least Maven isn't so arrogant as to have an inn named after her.

"They own Cidhna Mine," Margret continued, "one of the toughest jails in Skyrim. I was hoping I could buy or steal the deed, but I don't think that's how things work here."

"You believe the Silver-Bloods tried to have you murdered?" Lydia asked.

"Mark my words: Thonar Silver-Blood was behind that attack in the market. Somehow."


Back outside, Vex said, "Do you think that would really work? Stealing the deed to Cidhna Mine to put it under the Imperial Legion's control?"

"I'm not sure," Valentine said. He pecked her on the cheek. "But I suppose there's always time to find out later, but take it for ourselves instead, once this whole Forsworn thing is behind us."

"No, that's not what I—"

"Mom, Dad? I think he heard you." Gale pointed at a guard nearing the entrance to the Silver-Blood. Or rather— nearing them.

"Stay behind me, Gale," Valentine said. Gale complied while the others stared down the guard who was making his way towards them. There was only a slim chance the guard had heard them, as he'd been standing a good distance away by the city gates, but he was definitely staring at the group.

The guard stopped in front of Valentine. "You're that vigilante from yesterday, aren't you?"

"If you mean the man that saved a woman from being murdered by a raving lunatic, then yes, that's me." Valentine recognized the Nord's voice as the same one Vex had chewed out yesterday; the same one who'd vaguely threatened the whole group following the attack on Margret.

"You can't leave well enough alone, can you?" the guard asked. "You're lucky I didn't haul you in last night for killing a citizen of Markarth."

"This one believes you are full of it," Kharjo said.

The guard turned to Kharjo. "I don't right care what 'this one' believes, cat."

"Don't call him that," Lydia ordered.

Laughing, the guard returned his eyes to Valentine. "You've got not one, but two bitches that don't know their place? You must be an Imperial of great patience."

Valentine tried to step forward, fists clenched and ready to teach the Nord some manners, but Vex grabbed his arm and held him back. He looked at her, but she shook her head. "He's not worth it."

He nodded, relaxing his hands.

"I see who wears the pants in this relationship," the guard said, chuckling. "Anyway... Back off. You don't want to know what happens to troublemakers here."

Gritting his teeth, Valentine said, "I plan to find out."

"This is your last warning, outsider. We keep the peace here. Stay out of our business." With that, the guard left.

Valentine looked at Vex again. "Why didn't you let me take care of him? You know he wouldn't have been a match for me."

"I know, honey. But he was a guard. Beating him to a bloody pulp would have landed you inside Cidhna Mine." She smiled. "Besides, it's not like I let him get away with calling me and Lydia bitches." She presented a coin purse in her hand, a heavy one. One that did not belong to her, or hadn't until a moment ago.

Valentine was impressed. Even he'd failed to see her steal the guard's money. He kissed her again, this time on the lips. "You're amazing. You know that, right?"

"I love you too, Max."


Instead of going straight to the Treasury House, which was on the opposite side of Markarth, they went instead to the Warrens. Eltrys mentioned that the Breton who Valentine had killed, whose name was Weylin, had been his neighbor in the Warrens. As well as the Warrens being closer to the Silver-Blood Inn, Valentine figured there had to be something in his room connecting Weylin to the Forsworn.

The Warrens was the home for the lowest people in Markarth. The poor, the diseased, the lame—as well as the miners who weren't prisoners in Cidhna Mine and the smelters of the city's silver supply. Valentine had never been there himself, though he knew there was a Shadowmark there that signified it had no value to the guild.

To reach the Warrens, they had to descend into the deepest part of the city. And they also had to pass the entrance to Cidhna Mine. Margret had called it one of the toughest prisons in Skyrim, and Valentine had heard it was also the most secure one. Seeing only one guard posted outside the entrance to said prison, he found that a little hard to believe.

Valentine spoke to the overseer of Markarth's smelting operations, an Orc named Mulush gro-Shugurz. He found out from him that there'd been an extra slip of paper for Weylin the last time he'd paid the workers, which had been the day before last, and that Weylin had rushed home to read it.

A key to Weylin's room was obtained from a Breton called Garvey. "It'll be the door on your right, at the end of the Warrens," he said.

The group stuck close together as they went deeper into the shelter. Valentine had experience with beggars in both Cyrodiil and Skyrim, but he could not help but wonder in disgust what sort of illnesses hung in the stale air of the Warrens. We should've left Gale outside. He couldn't imagine Eltrys, who'd mentioned his wife Rhiada was with child, trying to raise a family down there.

Weylin's room was small and unsavory, illuminated by a single lantern on the cave-like floor. The only furniture—Valentine used that word loosely—inside was a dirty bedroll, a single wooden chair, a few buckets, and a chest in the corner of the room. "If that slip of paper is anywhere, it's going to be in there," Valentine said, gesturing to the chest.

"Kharjo will allow you to rifle through the Breton's belongings," Kharjo said, standing perfectly in the center of the room. "He does not want to touch anything in here."

Valentine chuckled and opened the chest. Inside were several animal furs, a dozen or so Septims, and a several papers. He started sorting and opening them, trying to find anything that would connect Weylin to the Forsworn or possibly Thonar Silver-Blood.

"There doesn't seem to be a chamber pot in here," Lydia said a little sickly.

"Those buckets... you don't think...?" Vex pondered.

"Eww," was Gale's only response to that.

"Kharjo agrees with the young one."

"Found something!" Valentine announced. He stood up and approached the lantern, just to make sure he'd read the note right. "It says, 'Weylin, you've been chosen to strike fear in the heart of the Nords. Go to the market tomorrow. You will know what to do.' At the bottom is a single initial. N."

"Who do you suppose N is?" Vex asked, reading the note for herself over his shoulder.

"I'm not sure, but this confirms Marget's theory that Weylin attacking her in the marketplace was no random event."

"Maybe Thonar knows who N is?" Gale asked.

Valentine nodded. "That's just what I was thinking." He folded the note and put it in his pocket. "Let's go to the Treasury House."


"Who sent you?" Valentine asked, rubbing his sore jaw. "Was it N?"

The Breton tried to speak, but the arm wrapped tightly around his neck made breathing difficult and talking next to impossible. His broken, bloodied nose didn't help for the former. Valentine didn't feel any pity for him—after all, the man had appeared out of nowhere and slugged him in the face as soon as they stepped out of the Warrens. But he did need some answers.

"Lydia, if you could loosen up a little so that he can answer, that'd be great."

Lydia obliged. She'd been the one to break the Breton's nose and put him in a choke hold following Valentine getting sucker punched. The Breton gasped for air once Lydia slackened the hold on his neck.

"What's your name, Breton?"

"Dryston..." he said.

"Dryston, I'm willing to forget what you did and not take you to the guards if you just tell me who sent you." Valentine hoped Dryston hadn't been tailing them all morning, else he'd know that the Markarth city guards would as soon arrest Valentine as a man who'd punched him.

He took a few more deep breaths before he could answer Valentine's question. "I... I was sent by Nepos the Nose. The old man hands out the orders. He told me to make sure you didn't get in the way. That's all I know, I swear!"

"Where does Nepos live?" Vex asked.

"I... I don't know. I've never personally met him. He hands out the orders but never directly to us. It's how he makes sure he's safe if... if—"

"If his hirelings get caught?" Kharjo asked.

Dryston nodded, or did the next closest thing with his head restrained.

"You can let him go, Lydia," Valentine said.

She did so, Dryston dropping down to his knees as he rubbed his neck.

"Dryston, if I ever see you again, it will be the last time someone sees you," Valentine said. "Understand?"

The Breton answered in the form of getting on his feet and running away.

"Nepos the Nose..." Lydia said as they all watched Dryston leave. "An odd name, if you ask me."

"Perhaps his nose is crooked like the man himself?" Kharjo guessed.

"At least we have a name to give to Thonar now," Valentine said. He spit a bit of blood onto the ground and rubbed his jaw, positive that he was going to have a fist-shaped bruise on the left side of his face.

"Are you going to be all right?" Vex asked. "Should we go get a healing potion?

Valentine shook his head. "He didn't do anything major. Punched like a girl."

He turned at the sound of Lydia clearing her throat. "You do realize that you were saved by a girl, don't you?"

"Lydia, you're a woman. Those are two completely different things. Women can be fairly formidable." He smirked. "I've found myself on my knees at the mercy of a countless women. Luckily, I can... navigate the waters without need of directions."

"Countless?" Vex said, narrowing her eyes.

He gave her his best doe eyes. "I no longer need to count now that I have you, my love. You're number one in my book."

"Why were you on your knees?" Gale asked, confused.

"Uh..." Valentine had completely forgotten his son, while intelligent in his own right, had the innocence and inexperience of what he was: a child.

Kharjo coughed. "I think that is our cue to go to the Treasury House."

"Yes. Yes it is." Valentine made a mental note to thank his friend later for getting them out of that awkward situation.


The door was unlocked, though when they entered, it appeared Thonar—a balding, older Nordic man in noble clothing—was having lunch rather than some important business.

"What are you doing here?" Thonar asked, forgetting his manners by speaking with his mouth full. "I told Rhiada no visitors."

Valentine was temporarily stunned to learn that the woman at the counter was Eltrys' pregnant wife, as he'd failed to tell any of them just how close his own family was to the Reach's most powerful family.

Vex took the reins as Valentine recovered. "We've been doing some investigating, and we learned that you were behind the attempted murder in the marketplace last night."

Thonar didn't even try to deny the allegations. "Oh, you mean Margret, the Imperial agent?" A smile formed at Vex's surprise. "That's right. I knew. How many dogs are the Empire going to send after me?" His smile returned to a frown as he stood up and slammed his hands on his desk. "This is my business. My city. You Empire lovers should learn to stay out of it." He pointed at the open door. "Now get out."

Recovered, Valentine tried to ask where Nepos the Nose was but was interrupted by a loud scream back in the main room of the Treasury House. The group spun to look through the open door to see what had happened, finding a blonde Nord who'd been sitting at a table near the stairs falling out of her chair. Standing closer to the counter were a pair of Breton male and female servants, wielding steel daggers in one hand and primed Destruction spells in the other.

Valentine drew his daggers and sprang down the stairs, followed by the rest of the group—including, to his horror, Gale. He focused on the nearest of the two Bretons, an elderly man. The Breton cast a bolt of lightning at Valentine, but the thief nimbly avoided the spell. He thrust the Blade of Woe at his throat but merely nicked the skin as the Breton dodged a fatal blow.

The Breton raised his hand left hand, another lightning spell ready to be released, but Vex sank her own steel dagger into his palm. He cursed, the spell dissolving from the break in concentration. He attempted to swipe at Vex, but before he could, Valentine drove his ebony dagger into the Breton's neck. He collapsed onto the ground, futilely clutching the seeping wound before he died seconds later.

Valentine turned to see Kharjo slammed his mace into the second Breton's face, bludgeoning her features, as Lydia shoved her dragonbone sword through her abdomen. The Breton was dead before she hit the ground.

Gale had avoided getting hurt or into a fight as, thankfully, there'd been only two mages. No one in the group had been dealt any damage either. Rhiada had found safety in crouching behind the counter, now poking her head up to see that the fight was over. The blonde Nord, addressed by Thonar as his wife during the bout, had not been as lucky. One of the mages had hit her directly in the heart with a bolt of lightning—an instantly fatal injury.

Thonar spilled everything he knew as he knelt in his wife's pool of blood. The leader of the Forsworn, Madanach, had been locked up in Cidhna Mine for twenty years but was still very much active. Thonar had been using the Forsworn as his personal army, ordering Madanach to direct them wherever he deemed necessary. It seemed, however, that Madanach was tired of being bossed around.

Thonar ordered them all out of the Treasury House before Valentine could ask of Nepos the Nose's location, though he received directions from Rhiada before they left, as apparently this Nepos was a very public figure.

"That could have turned out better," Kharjo said as they stepped outside.

"Thonar had it coming," Lydia remarked. "He should have known that the Forsworn would not idly be directed by him forever."

"You all right, Gale?" Vex asked.

Gale nodded. Valentine knew this to be true, for even before Riverwood, Gale was no stranger to death. We first met with my blade running across Grelod the Kind's throat. Then he helped me get out of Honorhall undetected.

With no reason to stick around the Treasury House, they headed towards the home of Nepos the Nose.


"My dear boy," Nepos, an almost ancient-looking Breton, said in a condescending way after revealing in great detail his connections to the Forsworn, Madanach, and Thonar Silver-Blood. "What makes you think any of you are getting out of here alive?"

Faster than the older Breton man could unsheathe his own steel longsword, Valentine had the Blade of Woe at Nepos the Nose's throat. The rest of the room—the group and Nepos' maids and servants that were probably loyal Forsworn like him—suddenly had their own weapons out. Before a single attack could be made by either side, Valentine shouted at the three Bretons, "Drop your weapons!"

They hesitated, looking to Nepos for his orders, but he couldn't even turn away from the fireplace he sat in front of without cutting himself on Valentine's dagger.

"Drop them!" he demanded, breaking the skin on Nepos' neck.

"Do as he says," Nepos ordered.

The Forsworn dropped their daggers. That only made them somewhat less dangerous as Valentine had seen at least two of them—the two men that hadn't answered the door—preparing spells. The female Breton hadn't shown magical prowess, but that didn't mean she wasn't capable of setting people on fire.

"So what are you going to do, boy?" Nepos asked, staring into the blazing fireplace. "Kill me and hope that you and your crew escape with your lives? Walk away with a great deal of gold lining your pockets and never come back to Markarth?" He laughed. "Report us and the Silver-Bloods to the Jarl?"

Valentine didn't know what to do. He certainly wasn't going to walk away, not after everything he'd learned today. He knew enough based on the Black-Briars that taking the Silver-Bloods to the Jarl would resolve next to nothing.

"What's to stop you from continuing Madanach's work if I let you live?" Valentine asked after several minutes of tense silence.

"Truthfully? Time has made me feel remorseful for my actions, but as long as my king has need of my services to the Forsworn, who am I to deny him?"

"You'd continue to kill in the name of a man who's been in prison for twenty years, then?"

"It is not a peasant's place to question the actions of their ruler," Nepos said, sounding very tired. "Madanach gave me his orders, and I have followed them every time. I'm far too old to change my ways now, if I ever had a chance to."

Valentine wondered how much of that was theatrics from a man who was scared to die, and how much was honest truth coming from a guilty conscience. Trusting his instincts, he decided what was best to do.

As he dragged the Blade of Woe across Nepos' throat, he again used his ebony dagger as a throwing knife and landed it in the chest of one of the male Bretons.

The female Breton backed away from the group as Kharjo missed a swipe at her face with his claws. A wave of flames shot from her hand, singeing the Khajiit's extended arm. He retreated from within her range, beating out the fire in his fur. Vex and Lydia overpowered her before she could use more magic, both stabbing her in the abdomen.

The male Breton, recognizing the slim chance of winning a fight five-against-one, raced past the three women and towards the door. Gale stood in his path, dagger out and ready to fight.

Valentine, however, tackled and cut the throat of the Forsworn before he could reach Gale. He didn't have a chance to push Valentine off before his blood stained the floor.

Glancing at Kharjo, he asked, "You all right?"

"This one will not lie, his arm stings," Kharjo admitted. "He supposes she could have burned his face, and then Kharjo would be hurt and less attractive."

"I could have stopped him," Gale said quietly, staring at the dead man who'd been running right at him seconds earlier.

Valentine cleaned his dagger on the Breton's shirt and got off of him. "I know you could have, Gale. But I'd be a terrible father to just allow a man to potentially harm you when I could kill him myself. Your training is meant to be used in the event that you have to fight someone, not when you can fight someone. Do you understand?"

Gale nodded slowly, obviously upset to have not yet proven himself in battle.

"Gale, that you had every intention to stop him boasts well that you are more than ready to do what is needed of you." Valentine placed a consoling hand on Gale's shoulder. "Revel in your innocence as long as you can. The first time you take someone's life... it changes you. You're never the same again. It's bad enough that you can see this—" he waved to the dead Bretons in the room "—and not cringe at the sight."

"I'm being brave, like you and Mom said," Gale said.

Vex appeared at Valentine's side, returning his ebony dagger to him. "That you are, Gale." She looked around the room. "Do you think Nepos has any further leads around here that we can follow?"

"Nepos was a professional," Valentine said. "He wouldn't have left anything incriminating easy to find. Besides, I think we have plenty of information to bring to Eltrys tonight."

"What should we do until then?" Lydia asked.

"First, we should certainly get out of here," Valentine began. "The guards around here already hate me enough for killing Weylin. They find out I killed Nepos the Nose, too, and I doubt my being the leader of the Thieves Guild will keep me from meeting Madanach in person. Let's go find Kharjo a healer and wait at the Silver-Blood Inn until nightfall."


It was about ten in the evening before the group made the trip to the Shrine of Talos, located under the Temple of Dibella. They'd lounged around the inn for hours, waiting for the agreed upon time to meet Eltrys to come around. Other than to eat a late lunch and dinner, they stuck to their rooms to avoid potential run-ins with the guards.

The whole group wasn't going, however. Valentine and Vex decided to leave Gale at the inn, just in case they somehow ended up in a third fight to the death. Gale hadn't been happy with the decision, but as Valentine was already learning, children weren't going to like every choice made by their parents.

The Shrine of Talos was, obviously, a shrine to the Ninth Divine. A great statue of the man-god stood tall at the end of the hall the group was walking in. Several candles and lanterns around it lit up the small corridor and adjacent room underneath the temple of a legally recognized Divine. The last time the group had been here, Eltrys had been standing directly in front of the statue of Talos patiently waiting to discuss the attack in the marketplace.

Now he lay dead at the statue's feet.

Valentine rushed forward to examine Eltrys. It was obvious how he died; the tear in his shirt and the blood that'd poured from his chest was made by a longsword. But exactly why or how long ago he'd died was a mystery.

Until from the darkness of the outer rim of the shrine emerged eight Markarth guards, and flanking the group from the door to the shrine entered eight more guards, effectively outnumbering the group four-to-one.

A guard, one of the ones who'd been lurking in the shadows, stepped forward. Valentine audibly groaned when he again recognized the same Nord's voice from before. "We warned you, but you just had to go and cause trouble. Now we have to pin all these recent murders on the lot of you. Silence witnesses. Work, work, work."

"You're corrupt," Valentine spat. "Thonar is paying you."

The Nord nodded. "We have a nice arrangement in this city, and we're not letting you get in the way. You have a problem with that? Take it up with Madanach. I'm sure the King in rags and his Forsworn would love to meet you." He unsheathed his sword, prompting the other fifteen guards to do the same. "Now you're coming with us. It's a life sentence in Cidhna Mine for all of you."

As much as Valentine wanted to introduce the guard to the Blade of Woe, he knew that would be the end of him. There were simply too many of them. Lachance would bolster their chances of escaping the Shrine of Talos, but there were likely guards waiting outside the door.

He glanced at Vex. He could tell she was thinking the same thing as him: they had a better chance of breaking out of prison then fighting these guards.

Returning his attention to the armed guard, Valentine reluctantly sighed. "Fine. We'll come quietly."

"You'll never see the sun again," the guard said, his voice oozing with amusement, "you hear me? No one escape Cidhna Mine. No one." He looked to his fellow guardsmen. "Restrain their hands and take their weapons. We'll strip them of their armor and whatever else they got on 'em when we get to the Mine."

Four guards put away their swords and walked up to one of the members of the group. As his hands were being bound together, Valentine heard one of the guards near the door say, "Weren't there five of them before?"

Gale.

"That's right," the Nord Valentine had been dealing with all day said. "There's a kid with you all before. Where's he now?"

None of them answered.

"They entered the Silver-Blood Inn with the kid following them, but he wasn't with them when they left," said another guard.

"So he's still there then, eh?" The guard asked. "We can't put a child in Cidhna Mine. The Jarl will definitely consider that crossing the line." He shrugged. "I guess he'll just be another witness to silence."

"You wouldn't dare!" Valentine yelled, thrashing in his bindings.

"I'll kill you if you lay a finger on my baby!" Vex threatened, doing the same as Valentine. Lydia and Kharjo joined in as well.

"I'm not a complete monster," the Nord said unconvincingly. "I'll make sure his death is quick and painless."

Valentine had it. He'd rather die fighting than helplessly allow his son to be murdered. As he couldn't grab his daggers, he had only one weapon left to rely on. "Lacha—"

The guard threw a fist at Valentine's head. Before the Guildmaster could finish his summoning of the spectral assassin, he was knocked out cold.


AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thanks to JM38LACK, Nuclearwullfs, DynturaDJ, AmongUsAll, Someone, Productive faffer, RaptorZeroOne, Winter's Sentinel, Unslaad Grohiik, Gairi, helenaannevalentine, RangerArmy, dinabubakar5, Montigo66, and Fellblood Morgan for reviewing since the last update. Special thanks to Gairi for beta-reading.