The Imperial

Chapter 9: The Imperial

The following morning Noela awoke to the sound of footsteps, chatter and the dull clanking of cutlery in bowls. She opened her eyes, rubbing the sleep from them, and was a little disoriented at first to discover that she was in an unfamiliar place.

Her memory came back quickly though, and everything that had happened yesterday flooded back within a second or two. She was in the Cistern in the Thieves Guild, and as she sat up, saw a few of the brown leather-clad folk here and there.

Her fellow thieves.

It sounded strange, the thought that she was a thief again. And not just a thief like before, but a thief in the infamous Thieves Guild in Riften.

Slipping into her new brown armour, she made her bed and walked over to the kitchen and dining area to get breakfast. There were three thieves sitting at the dining table and another four about the room, some practicing archery, others standing around talking. The ones at the table looked at her as they passed, and she gave a polite smile. Surprisingly, none of them returned it, and she frowned before remembering what Astrid had said yesterday: "Let's just say that some thieves don't particularly like assassins."

She pondered on the statement, wondering why exactly that was the case. Just then, someone tapped her on the shoulder and she spun around quickly, the wooden bowl in her hand nearly dropping to the floor.

"Sorry, lass, I didn't mean to scare you," said Brynjolf in a gentle tone. "How are you, Noela? Did you sleep alright?"

Noela smiled in response, placing the bowl on the kitchen bench. "Yes, I slept okay."

"You can tell it as it is, lass," he said kindly, "It's the smell that's hard to get used to at first, everyone knows that."

"Well, in that case, I slept rather poorly," said the mage with a laugh.

"You'll get used to it in no time, I'm sure. Anyway, I have your first official mission for you. Before I tell you about it, can you follow me? There's someone you have to meet—our Guild Master, as it were."

Noela followed Brynjolf from the kitchen to the centre part of the Cistern. The floor here was comprised mainly of a circular, stone slab, sitting above the shallow water, four footbridges adjoining it to the rest of the floor of the chamber.

Here, a Breton man stood beneath the hole in the ceiling that acted as a natural skylight for the room. He was roughly shaven, and looked about a similar age to Delvin, perhaps shy a couple of years. But he wore an expression of seriousness, and Noela could tell he was not exactly the warm sort.

"Mercer, this is the one I was talking about," said Brynjolf, as he and Noela halted in the circle as well. "Our new recruit."

Mercer surveyed Noela, his eyes clearly judging her. "This better not be another waste of the Guild's resources, Brynjolf." He addressed Noela, "Before we continue, I want to make one thing perfectly clear. If you play by the rules, you walk away rich." His tone was completely business-like and Noela nodded mutely. "You break the rules, and you lose your share, no debates, no discussions. You do what we say, when we say, and definitely, you do not kill anyone. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, I understand."

"Good," the Breton replied. "When you're working for the Guild, you act like a thief, and you think like a thief. You're not an assassin." He scratched his head. "What have we come to, hiring Dark Brotherhood members to do our work for us?" he muttered under his breath.

"Noela's got the talent, and the skill," Brynjolf spoke up. "I'm confident she'll be an asset to us. You'll do good work for us, won't you, Noela?"

"Of course," she replied, nodding again.

"In that case," Mercer continued, "I think it's time we put your expertise to the test."

"Wait a minute—" said Brynjolf, interrupting the Breton. "You're not talking about Goldenglow, are you?" he asked in a tone of disbelief. "Even our little Vex couldn't get in."

Mercer turned to the other man, a look of annoyance on his face. "You claim this recruit possesses an aptitude for our line of work. If so, let her prove it."

The sound of footsteps approaching brought their attention away from the conversation, and Noela saw Vex striding towards them. She stopped once she was within the stone circle.

"Morning, Vex," said Brynjolf, and she gave a brief nod in response. "Had a good night?" he asked, and Noela noticed a twinkle in his eye.

Vex's cheeks seemed to flush slightly, and she replied, "Yeah, was as good as any."

Mercer cleared his throat. "Anyway, now that Vex is here, let's get back on topic." He looked to the two women. "I have a mission for you ladies. Vex, I know it was just last week, but I need you to go back to Goldenglow, this time with Noela, and have another go."

The Imperial looked at him like she couldn't believe what she'd just heard. "What did you just say?"

"I want you, Vex, to try Goldenglow again, and take Noela with you this time," Mercer repeated, getting somewhat impatient.

"You can't be serious," she replied, and Noela was surprised by the sudden look of outrage she was displaying. "After I was nearly killed last time? Plus, you want me to go with a newbie?"

The Imperial shot her a none-too-pleasant look and Noela felt a stab of anger flare up within her. She'd just called her what?

"Yes," Mercer said. "We absolutely have to complete this task. We can't let Maven down, you should know that."

"I know I have to try again," the Imperial said quickly. "But, if I couldn't get in with Delvin, do you really think I can get in with her?" She nodded in Noela's direction.

"It's an order, Vex, so you do it, whether you like it or not," Mercer said with a tone of finality. "You deal with this," he said to Brynjolf. "It was your idea in the first place. And explain the mission in full to her, too," he added, briefly glancing at Noela before taking his leave.

Vex glared at Mercer's back, fuming as he headed toward the Flagon. Then she turned to Brynjolf. "He may as well have just told me to go and die," she said, her glare now directed at the mage. "It's a suicide mission. And I just healed up, too."

"Vex," said Brynjolf consolingly. "Noela's got the skill and talent you need for this job. You and Delvin couldn't handle the eight mercenaries, so you need someone with more firepower. Which is where Noela comes in."

The Imperial looked like she'd just been slapped in the face. "The reason we couldn't 'handle it' was because they sprung at us out of nowhere, we were totally unprepared! Remember, the last we checked, there were only two city guards, not eight bloody mercenaries. That was more than triple our estimate!"

"But do you think you could pull it off with Delvin if you tried again, now that you know how guarded the place is?" Brynjolf asked in a serious tone.

Vex looked from the Nord to the mage, and back again. "No," she finally said. Brynjolf smiled, thinking he'd won the battle when she cut in, "But I don't trust newbs, Bryn. Especially since I barely made it out alive last time. You should know I'm not going to put my life on the line working with someone I don't even know can hold up their end of the stick. Heck, she could be the most powerful person in the world but if she can't sneak, or follow instructions, the mission's already screwed."

"Noela will work fine with you, I can tell," said the Nord in a straightforward tone. "Besides, if she couldn't follow instructions, Astrid wouldn't have hired her, right?"

"Look, Vex," Noela finally said, not wanting to listen to any more of this woman's bullshit. "I'm not going to prove it to you, but I can take out eight mercenaries, no problem. And I'm a pretty good sneak. I've been sneaking and stealing for almost my whole life, and I'm still alive," she said, making a sweeping motion down her body. "I know I can do this, so just have some faith in me." She wanted to add a few profanities after that, but knew that probably wasn't the wisest thing.

"See, Vex? You'll be fine," Brynjolf said agreeably. The Imperial still wasn't convinced, and Noela wondered just how badly she'd been hurt when she'd attempted the mission. Inwardly, she scoffed to herself. If she and Delvin couldn't even get past eight mercenaries… Well, in her mind, that was kind of pathetic. Then again, they didn't have the Thu'um or even magic to help—at least, they certainly didn't look like mages. She shook herself out of her thoughts as Brynjolf turned to address her.

"So, lass, your mission is to infiltrate Goldenglow Estate, just outside of Riften, a bee farm that provides honey for our most influential client. You're to burn three of the hives, and clear out the safe in Aringoth's house. Any questions?"

"Um, why exactly three hives?" asked Noela.

"Because our client would be furious if you levelled the entire place. We need to teach Aringoth a lesson, but we still need the honey that the estate produces—Black-Briar Meadery relies on it and our client would be very upset if she had to import the honey. Cuts into her profits, you see."

Noela nodded. "Got it. So the client is Maven Black-Briar, huh?"

Brynjolf smiled. "Good catch. Yes, and you probably know how she practically runs the city. One word from her and you could spend the rest of the fourth era behind bars, if you know what I mean."

"Understood."

They headed out the southern gate of Riften, Noela following just a few steps behind Vex. She was understandably not comfortable at all with the Imperial, and suddenly wished she were back with Astrid. Then she began to wonder where the Nord was now.

Noela sighed. She just had to get through today, survive the mission—or rather, survive being with this particular woman all day, and hopefully she'd be on her way back to Falkreath this time tomorrow.

She looked around. The sun was shining brightly, lighting up the orange-red leaves of the trees beside the big lake that was outside of Riften. The southern hold of Skyrim was a very beautiful place, much like Falkreath Hold, actually, and Noela relished the warmer temperatures and moderate climate. She supposed, if she ever moved out of Whiterun, she'd most certainly try to find a house somewhere in the south. Then, she remembered that her home was now at the Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary in Falkreath anyway, which rendered that idea moot.

She saw Vex glance over her shoulder at her, probably to check that she was following. Then, the Imperial stopped completely and turned to face her. Noela halted before she walked into the woman.

"Before we begin, I want to make two things perfectly clear," said Vex in an authoritative tone. "One, I'm the best infiltrator this rathole of a Guild's got, so if you think you're here to replace me, you're dead wrong." She took a breath. "And two, you follow my lead and do exactly as I say. No questions, no excuses. You got that?"

Noela folded her arms, taking her sweet time to reply. "Sure."

The Imperial frowned, but said, "Good. Then we understand each other."

They walked for about half an hour, Noela still trailing a little behind as she had no intention of making small talk with the other thief. They were making their way around the massive lake—Lake Honrich, if Noela was not mistaken—which took up a large proportion of the southern end of the province.

"So," Vex began, and Noela's gaze landed on her back. "That there,"—she stopped and pointed out an island in the middle of lake, which was just visible through the haze that was out on the water—"is Goldenglow Estate. We've got to get into there, and not via the main entrance."

Noela held her hand up to shield the sunlight from her eyes. "I can see a bridge running from the mainland to the island. That's the main entrance?" she asked and the Imperial nodded. "So, how do we get in?"

"Well, there's an old sewer tunnel that dumps into the lake on the northwest side of the island. That's how we slipped in there last time. Should still be unguarded."

Her eyes met Noela's and the mage suddenly noticed that her eyes were in fact a rather unique cross between orange and brown, now that she was out in the sun. It was mesmerising, the many shades that were within just that colour. It did well to enhance her appearance, which was, well, she had to admit, very attractive; the same thought that she had had yesterday.

Though, really, the woman could have the nicest body in the world but if her personality was rotten, what did it matter?

She was snapped out of her musings as the Imperial opened her mouth to speak. "Why are you staring?"

"Er—" Noela blinked somewhat dumbly. "Was I?" She gave off a nervous laugh, realising that she had been staring. "Sorry, it's your eye colour. It's just—sort of interesting."

Noela was met with a look of astonishment before Vex composed herself, crossing her arms over her chest and giving a smirk. "That so?"

The mage felt her ears redden and looked away, back to the island. "So how do we get to the northwest side?" she asked, feeling the Imperial's gaze burning through her.

"A bit of swimming. Though, it's mostly walking through knee-deep water."

Noela gave a slight nod.

"Not afraid of getting wet, are you?"

"Of course not," Noela responded with a hint of indignation. The Imperial's condescension was beginning to irk her.

"Good. Then you shouldn't slow us down, newb," said Vex, taking the lead again.

Noela felt something inside of her snap. "Just… can you quit with the 'newb' thing?" she asked irritably before she could stop herself. "It's rather annoying."

The Imperial spun around so quick that it caught Noela off guard, and before she knew it, the pale woman was up in her face, but an inch away, a venomous expression fixed on her features.

"Look," seethed Vex. "You joined the Guild yesterday, didn't you? A membership handed over on a silver platter, mind. Hardly had to prove yourself, all because you're the 'Dragonborn'. Well, that may have won you the favour of Brynjolf, and Astrid, and Mercer, but it means absolutely nothing to me. I'll treat you the same as any other new member of the Guild, and you're not even a proper member at that. Just be glad I'm actually speaking to you, newb."

Noela clenched her fists, feeling rage boiling up, and concentrated on resisting the very strong urge to Shout at the woman. "I couldn't care less if you spoke to me or not, in fact, I'd rather you didn't," said Noela honestly despite herself. "You've thrown nothing but insults at me all morning, when I'm the one doing your Guild a favour. So show some gratitude, Imperial, before I decide that I'm wasting my time. Time that could be better spent elsewhere, just so you know."

The moment the words had left her mouth, Noela instantly regretted speaking them. She had no desire to start a fight with this woman, but there wasn't much else she could do to alleviate her anger.

Vex stared at her for a second, looking nothing less than shocked. Noela wanted to grin in smugness but before she could, she was caught off guard and had the wind knocked out of her as Vex grabbed the collar of her uniform and yanked her in a violent shake.

"That," she spat, "Is about as much as I'll take from you, newb. I'm your superior here, so you'd better know your place and keep your trap shut if you don't want me to pound your face into the ground."

"Is that a threat?" Noela retorted. "If so, I'll gladly take you on, Imperial."

That was when she felt a punch land in her gut, and Noela had to give credit to the other thief; she was fast when it came to using her fists.

Keeling over, Noela stumbled back a few steps and quickly regained her composure. She wasn't going to lose this fight. Silently, she decided not to use any Dragonborn abilities—a part of her also wanted to throw a few punches to relieve the high tension she was now feeling.

Vex was standing back with a smirk and was totally unprepared when Noela suddenly charged her. The mage collided with the Imperial, sending her flying backwards off the road and into the surrounding bushes.

Noela couldn't help but let out a laugh of triumph, and dusted off her hands as she watched Vex get up out of the bushes, a scratch that was now bleeding visible on her left cheek.

The mage almost felt sorry for what she'd done but quickly dropped that as she noticed that the Imperial was not done yet.

Tensing herself for the next round of the fight, Noela held her fists in front of her as Vex marched toward her, stopping about two paces away. Her eyes were burning with fury and indignation, and Noela held her gaze steadily, the time seeming to stretch as she mentally prepared for the next blow.

And then it came. Vex threw a fist aiming for her nose and Noela sidestepped, parrying the woman's fist and countering with a punch of her own. The Imperial was quick though, and dodged it swiftly.

Noela was not exactly the best at close-quarters combat and she didn't see the kick that was coming at her just outside of her peripheral vision. It landed painfully in the side of her ribcage, and the force of it threw her off the other side of the road and toward the lake, where she landed in a clump of dead leaves.

She was on all fours and barely had time to recover when she felt another blow in her stomach, and this time she was sent flying into the lake itself, the water flowing up into her nostrils as she felt herself sink into the muddy water.

Luckily the lake was pretty shallow at this depth, and she was able to sit up without being submerged. Coughing out the dirty water, she spluttered as she tried to catch her breath.

Vex was standing on the bank of the lake, still looking furious but somewhat satisfied. The gash on her cheek was oozing out a dark red trickle of blood, and, as Noela squinted, realised that it was actually more a cut than just a scratch.

Rising slowly from the water, Noela held up her palms in surrender. She didn't feel like fighting anymore—she didn't even know why they were fighting; it seemed stupid now. Vex relaxed her stance but narrowed her eyes, no doubt thinking it could be some trick Noela was playing.

Noela took a few steps in the water back toward the bank. "I give up," she announced. "I don't want to fight you anymore."

She reached the Imperial and the woman just crossed her arms, probably not believing her.

"I don't even know why we're fighting, Vex," began Noela. "I see you got a cut."

The Imperial peered at her with distaste. "It's nothing," she said, swiping at the cut on her cheek but wincing at the same time. She'd also managed to successfully create a nice red smear on her face.

Noela chuckled, the sight being somewhat amusing. Vex frowned at her. "Hey, just hold still a sec. Don't worry, I'm not continuing the fight or anything," said the mage, before letting loose a golden light from her hand which flowed directly onto the other woman.

Vex was about to jump back in alarm when she appeared to recognise the spell. Within a few seconds, the cut on her face had completely disappeared.

Smiling, Noela stopped the magic.

"I didn't ask you to heal me, mage," said Vex indifferently.

"A thank you would've been sufficient," replied Noela, feeling her dislike for the woman creeping into her again.

Vex straightened up, but kept her distance. "I think we're badly matched for this mission," she stated. "You deliberately picked a fight with me, and clearly, we can't work together like this. Not when we're entering dangerous territory with our lives on the line. I'm calling this mission over, and I'm going back to Riften. You do what you want, I couldn't care less."

She turned to march back onto the path toward the city, when Noela called out, "Wait!"

The Imperial turned around.

"Vex, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to pick a fight with you," continued Noela. "I know we can do this mission, and succeed at it. I promise to do as you say from now on."

Noela didn't know exactly why she was saying this, perhaps it was her pride. It would be terrible if they went back, and had failed before they had even begun. She didn't want to disappoint, that would be like a black mark on her record. What would Brynjolf say? What would Astrid say? No, a part of her, the thief part of her, wanted in on this. She did want to be a member of this guild.

Vex shook her head. "I don't trust you. And I know you don't trust me. So this isn't going to work."

Noela said, "I trust you. I do. And I'll behave from now on, really. I do want to be part of your Guild. You probably don't know it but I've been a thief since I was little. I was interested in joining the moment I first entered the Ragged Flagon. You remember the friend I had that you mentioned? She was persuading me not to join the Thieves after I told her I wanted to. Of course, at the time I had to do the Dragonborn stuff first."

The Imperial listened to her explanation, and Noela waited patiently as Vex seemed to reconsider. After what felt like ages, she said, "Fine. But this is your last warning, newb. One more screw up and I swear I'll never work with you again. Understood?"

Noela nodded, sighing inwardly. She wondered how long Vex was going to be referring to her as a newb. Perhaps, she just had to show her how un-newbish she actually was.