The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – Brynjolf and Carissa –"Stealing Hearts"
Location: Outside of Riften
15th of Sun's Dusk, 4E 219
8:19pm
Alayna hurried over to Brynjolf's side, where Gabriel already was, accessing the wound on his chest. The iron dagger was still here, and even when time had passed by, there was not much blood. In fact, there was hardly any.
Alayna ran her hands past his cheeks and hair. "No…" She then gripped the iron dagger, wanting to extract it.
"Alayna, don't!" Gabriel clasped her hand with his left one. "That dagger's keeping him alive!" He said frantically. "And I think it's poisoned. But he's still alive. Not responding, but alive."
"We need to get him back!" She said, ready to sob. "He'll die out here!"
"Come on!" Rune rushed over. "Let's not waste any time!"
Location: Cistern, Thieves Guild
"LEXA! GET YOUR MER ASS OVER HERE!"
Lexa (not being her real name, of course), a Wood Elf and the Guild's personal medic, did not like being yelled for. Coming close to 100 years of age, she certainly hated being bossed around. However, when she turned around to see who were entering the cistern, the color drained from her fair face. "Oh my Gods! What happened?!"
Gabriel and Rune were carrying their unconscious second-in-command over their shoulders, dragging him to the nearest bed. "The Draculs happened!" Alayna said with tears eyes. "Lexa, please! You have to save him!"
"Now, now, child," Lexa said in a gentle tone. "There's no point in you getting worked up. Calm down." When Gabriel and Rune put him on the bed, Lexa took a look at the stab wound, the knife still being there. She pressed two fingers against his neck and then his wrist. The colour almost drained from her face. "Oh no…"
"'Oh no'? What do you mean oh no?!" Alayna cried out.
Lexa turned her head to the young guild member. "Alayna, child, I am so sorry…"
"No…! NO!" Alayna hurried over to her father, hands on his cheeks. "It can't be! Papa!"
Gabriel grabbed the nearest seat he could find, suddenly feeling a little sick to his stomach.
"Gabriel!" Arisha quickly helped him sit down, noting of the condition his arm was in. And also his shock. "I'm so sorry, wolfie…" She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him into a small embrace with his head on her chest.
Gabriel wanted to do something. He wanted to cry, but he couldn't. He wanted to tear up, but he couldn't. "I-I can't-"
"OI!" And at that moment, all of them froze, for the shout of their Guildmaster shot through the air. Carissa popped her head out from the doorway of her private quarters. "What's going on here?" She walked out of the room, and witnessed the looks on all of her family members. "What's with all the yelling? Are they back yet?"
She scanned the cistern and that was when her electric-blue eyes fell on Brynjolf, with the knife in the centre of his chest, and Alayna crying her heart out.
For a split second, time had stopped in her world, but then reality struck her hard. "NO!" Carissa cried out frantically, making a run for him. "BRYN!"
"Carissa, wait!" Rune quickly got to her, and grabbed her by her waist in order to stop her from advancing to him.
"LEMME GO, RUNE!" She almost screeched. "Let me go! Brynjolf!" She desperately called out for him, not wanting to believe that this was the end.
"Carissa, please!" Rune tried his best to hold her down. "There's nothing you can do for him…"
"No!" She was almost flaying in his arms. "No, it can't be! It can't be! Bryn!" Tears were already streaming down her face. "Bryn, please! Wake up! WAKE UP, you big oaf! DON'T leave me! Tell me you're alright! Please just tell me…!" Upon that last statement, she stopped struggled and fell to her knees, with Rune safely catching her and letting her cry into his chest.
9:32pm
From a distance, after Arisha successfully bandaged Gabriel's hurt arm, he was left alone, watching his mother caress his father's cheek lovingly with a blank look on her face. Brynjolf was still exactly where he was. Everyone, including Carissa knew that they had to prepare him to be buried, but none made the effort to tear Carissa away long enough for that to happen. Why? Cause anything goes right now. Everybody knew of Carissa's temper. Would she really appreciate being told to move away from her husband right now?
Probably not, but nobody dared to find out.
Even Gabriel was having a hard time grasping this. Just a mere second before his father fell to the ground… everything was supposed to have been fine. He had decided to make amends. He had decided not to leave the Guild. He had decided to be with his parents and built a real family – the one he had once lost. So how? How did it suddenly become like this?
The Draculs.
Gabriel thought Rurik's and Charna's deaths were enough for him, but they were not. And he had a slight feeling his mother was not satisfied as well. But he would not know. He had not spoken to Carissa just yet. What would he even say anyway?
His thoughts dissolved when Alayna returned to him, a tankard in hand. "Here you go, Gabriel." She sat it onto the table.
"Aw, bless your little heart, Layna. Thank you." Gabriel said with much gratefulness when Arisha brought him that tankard of hot water. He was in much pain after suffering that wound to his sword arm, despite Arisha's successful attempt at bandaging it. Guess it would heal with time.
"Are you still in pain?" She asked, clearing her throat.
"Are you talking about my arm or my heart?" He asked, glancing up at her with saddened eyes.
It pained Alayna's heart to see him like this. She herself managed to stop crying, but she couldn't imagine how her brother might be feeling right now. She sat next to him, taking his hand into hers. "Gabriel…"
"You know what the worst part was, Alayna?" His eyes detached away from her and into space. "We made things right. I was going to talk to my mother and the four of us, we were all going to be a family. Everything was going to be fine. How could this happen? I blame myself for this…"
Alayna was appalled to hear that. "Blame yourself? Gabriel, you have no reason to!"
"Don't I?" He looked at her. "If I hadn't stormed out in the first place, then maybe out father wouldn't have come after me and maybe he wouldn't be dead!"
"Gabriel, he's dead because of the Draculs! It has nothing to do with you!"
"Well, I provoked them, didn't I? With my comment? I led them here to us, didn't I? So yes, Alayna, it's my fault!"
"Don't say that, Gabriel, please!" She reached forward and cupped both of his cheeks. "Look at me! It's not your fault. No matter what you say. You didn't cause papa's death. Please, don't say that."
Gabriel was about to counter that, but was rendered speechless when he realized that there was a third party with them. Alayna took notice of his silence and turned around… only to see their Guildmaster standing in front of them, tears streaming down.
"Alayna, sweetie, could I have a word with him, if you don't mind?" Carissa asked politely, with a hint of dejection in her once-commanding voice.
Alayna smiled, removing her hands from Gabriel and stood up. "Sure, mama." And she walked away.
"Thank you, sweetie." She briefly tore her gaze away from Gabriel to acknowledge the Redguard. Once she was gone, she met Gabriel's eyes once more.
Gabriel got up and took a few steps towards her to meet her. He was almost frightened to stand in his mother's presence right now. He was also confused as to why she was even standing in front of him in the first place.
"Whatever you do…" Those were the first words she spoke, and they came out slowly, so as to help him understand. "Don't you dare say any of this was your fault."
"Carissa-"
"It's my fault, Gabriel," She said. "And everyone here knows it. I was the one who provoked them. 18 years ago, I knew what I was getting this guild into but did I care? No. My pride was all that mattered. And now… your father paid the price for my defiance…"
"None of us knew it was going to be this way, you know." He said.
"I'm the goddamned Guildmaster of this guild," She now had anger in her eyes. "I was supposed to make sure that it was not going to be this way. But look what I've done! I just caused the death of this guild's second-in-command! My husband! … Your father…" She added after a pause.
Gabriel was wishing that she would not speak like that. But how was he going to make her understand?
"I've done many bad things in my life. And I thought the worse was giving you up thinking it was best thing for you," She looked up at him with her teary eyes. "And now I have something that's just as bad as that: causing the death of the man who stole my heart. So please, Gabriel, for your sake," She reached up and cupped his cheeks. "Please don't blame yourself. Let me handle that burden. It's mine to bare anyways…" Her hands slid down to his chest, giving him a pat and turned to walk away, possibly back to Brynjolf.
"No, stop!" Gabriel grabbed her arm and made her turn back to him. "Stop this. I won't let you do this to yourself. You're my mother; you've suffered enough!"
She looked at him with widened shocked eyes, although he did not pay attention to that.
"Look. You did what you had to do to me, because you wanted to protect me. And was it successful? Yes, it was! Look at me, mama! I'm right here!" He almost cried out to her. "And that alone caused you and papa a great deal of grief! I know that you would cry every night for me, mama. I know. That alone was enough for me to know that you truly cared for me, and missed me so much." Gently, he took both of her smaller hands into his large ones. "And through all of that, you've suffered. And now you want to add this as well? No, mama. Don't. Please don't. I've already lost my father, right after I made amends with him which is the worst possible feeling to have. Don't let me lose you too. I want to make this right."
More tears rolling down her cheeks without her even blinking the moment Carissa heard all those words. She managed a small smile and shook her head. "You're not going to lose me, sweetie," She ran a hand past his cheek once more. "I've been staying alive just for you and your sister."
Gabriel smiled back, his hand touching that hand of hers.
"Could you do me a favour?"
"Anything you want, mama."
Her small smile escalated into a grin. "Keep calling me that." And she was taken into a massive hug.
30th of Sun's Height, 4E 201
(18 years ago)
"Hey, Bryn! You're finally back! Delvin just got us a weapons merchant. Isn't it amazing? Now we just need a blacksmith to go along with it. And… we also need everything else…"
Brynjolf smiled pleasantly at his lover, before lovingly taking her left hand, specifically the fourth finger, and slipping a ring onto it.
Carissa's eyes widened until they were ready to pop out and she gaped at it for an unknown amount of time. It was a silver ring with an Amethyst stone on it. Holy Mara, he was… "ARE YOU ASKING ME TO MARRY YOU?!"
Brynjolf chuckled, particularly because her shriek brought him back to the time he gifted her that Daedric Dagger, and she reacted the exact same way. "I believe that it is the only reason why one would place a ring on that finger, lass? So… does your yelling mean a yes?"
She was hopping up and down in her place and could not seem to stop. "YES! YES, YES, YES, YES, YES, YOU HANDSOME RED-HEADED NORD, I WANT to marry you!"
She was then picked up like a little puppy and hugged tightly and she didn't care that she almost could not breathe. She had gotten a marriage proposal and she was going to marry the man who had her since the day he stole her heart.
18th of Sun's Dusk
7:45pm
On the 18th of Sun's Dusk, the guild made plans to bury their second-in-command on a plot of land that Carissa bought years ago near Treva River in Riften. She had purchased it for the sole purpose of burying their dead, and now Brynjolf was to be buried there as well. The service went smoothly, and though she wished it could lessen the pain in her heart, it didn't.
Returning home, Gabriel tried his best to comfort his mother. Right now, he stroked her hair as she laid her head on his lap, tears silently streaming down. He was now out of words to tell her. Perhaps it was best to let her be, but he made sure he was right here with her.
"Carissa?"
That was Arisha's sweet tone calling out to her. Carissa made eye contact, but did not move her position. "Yes, sweetie? What is it?"
Arisha had her hands behind her back and she looked as if she was going to deliver some bad news. "Um… the folks from the Markarth hideout sent us a letter."
"And?"
"And um… they're gone."
"What?" Gabriel furrowed his eyebrows at that.
"It's true, Gabriel," She turned her attention to him. "News of the Dracul children's death reached Markarth, which obviously, would reach our Markarth members. After 2 days, there was no activity, so they broke in. And the place was ransacked. Like they had tried to take only the essentials."
"It doesn't mean we don't stop hunting for them," Carissa said in mumbles. "Write back to the members in Markarth, as well as the ones in Falkreath. Tell them that if they ever see Aeron or Mathilda, bring them here."
"Mama, I don't think we'll see them for a very long time." Gabriel told her gently.
"I don't care…" She said. "No matter how long it takes. I want them to really know what happens when you cross with the Thieves Guild."
"Alright, Carissa," Arisha obeyed. "And what about the little wreck-and-burn operation on all of their establishments in Skyrim?"
"Proceed with it. Tell Rune he's in charge."
Arisha nodded once more. "Sure." So saying, she turned to leave the two alone.
As Gabriel continued to stroke his mother's head, he told her softly. "Mama? Are you sure you want to go through all this just to take them down? Isn't killing their children enough? I mean, I'm all for revenge too, but I realized that it's not going to bring papa back."
"I. Don't. Care."
"Mama, I know you're hurting. But please, don't do anything rash."
"I know exactly. What. I'm. Doing."
"Mama-"
"He's not going to hold me in his arms anymore, Gabriel," She interrupted him. "He's not going to kiss me good morning or goodnight anymore. He's not going to call me 'lass' anymore too. Our marriage only lasted 18 years and you know what?" She suddenly sat up, looking at him in the eyes. "That wasn't enough! That wasn't enough for me! I wanted more! But I couldn't so now I want retribution! Can't I at least get that?!"
Gabriel looked at her with those green eyes of his, his face telling her that it was still not going to bring back her husband.
She sighed and softened her tone. "He was… the one man who wanted a nice full relationship with me, Gabriel. He didn't leave me or cheat on me. Nothing. He just wanted me. And I knew I wanted him after I realized that he was the one. And now he's gone. I just want him back."
Gabriel gently took one of her hands and squeezed tightly. "No matter how much it hurts, we can't get him back, mama. Death means death. There's nothing else to it. But what we can do is remember him for who he was and everything he did for us. We also can't sit around here every day and cry too. I'm sure he wouldn't want that."
Carissa sniffed and hung her head in dejection. "No, he wouldn't…"
"See?"
Carissa glanced up at him again, with something else on her mind. "But Gabriel?"
"Yes?"
"Could I uh… Could I just cry a little bit more, please?" She felt a sob coming on and she could not stop it. "Please, I just want to let it go…"
And at that point, Gabriel fought back his own tears and nodded his head at her. "As much as you want to, mama. I'm here for you."
She broke down in an instant and Gabriel quickly took her into his arms, letting her cry into his chest. He made sure he kept that promise: he was there for her now and was holding her in his massive arms, letting her let go of those last tears. And he also made sure that he would see her through tomorrow and the years to come, as long as he was still around.
Location: Marketplace, Riften
21st of Mid Year, 4E 201
8:15pm
"Stealing plus planting? I like it!" She beamed. "Consider it done, handsome."
"You won't disappoint me, will you?" He asked.
She shook her head. "Been doing this for 25 years. This is child's play." She reached up and patted his cheek. "Don't worry, handsome. I'll make you proud of me. Just… make sure you give me that distraction, alright? Don't let me down."
"Oh? 25 years? That's a long time. Well, let's see if you show off those years of experience tomorrow then." He brought back that bright smile.
"Tomorrow then." Carissa nodded. "Have a good night, Brynjolf." She opened the door for the Bee and Barb.
"And you, lass."
A/N: Well, here you go! The alternate ending to this story, if Bryn doesn't survive! Some material and quotes taken from Chapters 49 and 50 ;) Some of you guys wanted to see Bryn's proposal and/or the wedding, so I threw his proposal in here!
Happy belated birthday to Aela-Lachance97! :)
So now, for my news: NO, I'm NOT leaving the website! LOL Actually... now that this story's ended, this is actually going to be the last Elder Scrolls fan-fiction I'm going to be doing.
Yes, it's true ladies and gentlemen. I'm stopping the Elder Scrolls fanfics for now, but not permanently because, as you can see from my profile, I have a few more others to do. But my profile also states that I have other fics from other games that I have lined up. And I'd really like to get to them, and I feel that it's time to do so.
I'm sorry if some of you guys are disappointed, because I know that some of you followed me because of the numerous ES fics I have, but I'm afraid you're gonna have others popping up in your emails from now on LOL.
The thing is... I love the Elder Scrolls series. Seriously. I was first introduced to the series because of all the hype about Skyrim and after getting it for Christmas in 2011, I've never regretted the fact that I know more about the series than my own Chemistry textbook LOL But I'd like to move on to write about the other amazing video games that have inspired me and made my life meaningful.
But I hope you guys still keep an eye out for any new ES fics I might put up in the future. Maybe I'll post a new chapter in some existing stories, or start working on the ones that are still on my profile. But still, I hope you guys still support this soon-to-be 17 year old and her love for writing and telling stories, while she has to take her National Exams in a few months LOL.
Anyway! Thanks for following this story! There's an official theme to this story entitled "Stole My Heart"; the link is available on my profile. I'm also on ask fm! Link on my profile as well. Come ask me stuff! :D
Until the next Elder Scrolls fanfiction! (God knows when...)
Much love,
Ash ;)
