"I just heard that more miners were killed at that old barrow," Niyya said as she stopped in the kitchen to pick up meals to serve.
"What?" Vanya gasped, pausing with her hands full of chopped vegetables.
"It's what I heard." Niyya shrugged as she headed back out to the tavern, plates in hand.
Geldis shook his head, sauntering across the kitchen to pull more plates from the shelf. "This is not going to be good for the town's reputation."
Vanya gave him a look as she tossed the vegetables into the pan over the fire. "Geldis, people are dying and you're worried about the town's reputation?"
After a few moments of introspection, he replied, "Let's just say it's in everyone's best interest that people stop dying untimely deaths."
Vanya rolled her eyes. "Very nice," she drawled while stirring the pan of ash-hopper and vegetables vigorously. "I just don't see how he gets more people to work for him after all that's happened. This is the third time there have been deaths."
"He offers a lot of money, to some it's worth the risk."
Vanya thought about the tall, dark-headed man that Bralsa had been eyeing that day on the beach. He had been in the first group that had gone to work for the dunmer, Ralis, who claimed there was some great treasure to be found in an old ruin somewhere on the island. This last time, he had come to town assuring safety as he had hired mercenaries to protect the miners from the dangers within. The rumor was they had awakened draugr, which were basically zombies according to Geldis' description. In her opinion, if acquiring the treasure was literally waking the dead then perhaps it was best left alone.
"Well, he's getting quite the bargain, isn't he. He hasn't had to pay anyone yet," she said drily, which caused Geldis to chuckle. She tossed the contents of the pan into a large bowl, tutting Geldis as he picked out a carrot for himself, then placed it on a warming platform over the hearth.
Niyya returned to the kitchen, stacks of dirty plates in her arms. "I think the ice-brain has finally figured out you're avoiding him," she said as she dropped them in the wash bucket.
"Hah, is it that obvious?" Vanya said tartly while scooping a serving of the fried ash-hopper onto a plate.
At first, she had been able to evade Gjollmir but soon he had made it his mission to be somewhere in her path so he could harass her with lewd comments. After dodging his hands once, she had resolved to never be near him again. She would not allow him to touch her.
"Who?" Geldis asked. "Who is it you are avoiding?" He looked at her curiously as he retrieved bread to add to the meals.
"Just some nord who can't take a hint. Don't worry about it," Vanya sighed. She set the plates on a tray and pushed it toward Niyya.
"Yeah, we agreed that she'll work the kitchen until he loses interest and he's only here in the evenings, anyway."
"Girls." Geldis looked between them. "If he's causing a problem I can tell him to get lost."
"I don't think that's necessary," Vanya replied. "He's just rude. Besides, he drinks a lot. Wouldn't want you to lost out on that gold."
"And he doesn't bother me at all," Niyya said as she lifted the tray.
Vanya eyed the redguard knowingly. "Probably because he doesn't want his head smashed in by a blacksmith's hammer."
"Hey," Geldis interjected, catching their attention. He furrowed his brow. "You know, I've been doing this job a long time and nobody has ever tried to get me into bed."
She and Niyya nearly choked with laughter at his feigned outrage.
"Why is that funny?" he said as he put his hands on his hips, the shadow of a smile playing at the corners of his mouth.
They laughed harder.
Vanya wiped down an empty table, thankful for the relative quiet as the tavern cleared out for the afternoon. She felt the presence only a moment before a shadow was cast over her. She looked over her shoulder, gasping when she saw his face. "Gjollmir!"
His predatory smirk was like a knife in her gut. "Don't stop on my account. I was enjoying the view."
"What are you doing here at this hour?" she asked as she back around the table, running into the wall. She cursed her luck at being in the furthest- and least visible- corner of the room.
He shrugged carelessly. "I took the day off. Felt I needed to have a little fun." He loomed so close she could not see around his massive frame.
"Y- you don't have fun drinking yourself into a stupor every night?" Good job, Vanya, insulting him will do wonders. She tried to remember who was still in the bar at the moment. Geldis was all the way in his office, and Mogrul and Slitter were in their usual spots, there might have been a few stragglers but for all she knew they could have left by now with the lunch hour nearly over. Niyya was off until supper, most likely spending the afternoon with Glover. Her chest was starting to get tight, her thoughts muddling.
He chuckled. "See? That's why I like you. You are a snappy little she-wolf. I just had to see if you'd bite when cornered." He was closer now and Vanya squeezed her eyes shut, trying to melt into the wall as the heat of his body seeped into her space. She waited in the darkness behind her eyelids, shivers crawling over her skin as she anticipated his touch.
"Pity," he said disdainfully.
He grabbed her face roughly, causing her to whimper as his fingers dug painfully into her cheeks. "Though from what I hear you are an elf-lover." Flecks of spit landed on her mouth and nose as he spoke. "And your little elf girlfriend thinks she can scare me off. You just don't know what's good for you." His other hand drew up over her waist, sliding up her ribs toward her breasts.
Tears streaming, she silently prayed. Azura, please...
Just then, she heard a man yell, "Mogrul!"
Gjollmir released her and turned to see what was happening. Vanya opened her eyes and took a breath as if she had been drowning.
The man yelled again, "What kind of operation are you running out there, you snot-skinned piece of shit?" She heard chairs scrape across the floor. With Gjollmir's back turned, she took the opportunity to creep along the wall toward the bar. When she finally got to a point she could see what was going on she froze. Three men with daggers, who looked to be miners, were facing off with Slitter, his battleaxe at the ready. Mogrul was standing behind his bodyguard. "What is the meaning of this?" he barked.
"My brother just returned from your project at the barrow covered in blood, screaming about the dark elf massacring the others and then turning on him. He barely made it out alive and claims the elf said you are the money behind the whole thing."
"I have nothing to do with what's happening out there. The man asked to borrow money, so I lent him some. Anything beyond that is not my fucking problem."
Another of the men spoke, "You sat by silently as so many have been killed. I think that makes you a guilty party."
"Get out of my face!" Mogrul growled.
Instead, the men attacked. Vanya screeched as Slitter swung a wide arc with his axe, cleaving the first man in the chest with a loud thud. He wasted no time kicking the body off his blade then swinging it upward toward the next, a spray of blood flinging from the edge as he did.
Geldis came around the corner from the kitchen. "What is going on out here? Vanya!"
She ran to him as his eyes grew wide seeing the fight. There was a sickening crunch as one of the men caught the axe on the temple. Gjollmir ran across the tavern and up the stairs and she instinctively clung to Geldis, who commanded, "Go, child! Get out of here!" He tried to push her off but she held on, crying, "No! No! Not with him!" He saw her panic and relented, wrapping his arms around her in comfort.
Mogrul had retreated down the hallway of the inn and was out of sight. Slitter's eyes glinted, daring the final man to try his luck. The man lost his nerve and backed away. "Fuck this, I'm going back to Cyrodiil!" He turned to run away and Vanya gasped as Slitter pulled a throwing knife from his belt and nailed the fleeing man in the back and he fell to the floor groaning. Slitter approached and crouched over the dying man. He wrenched the knife from his back, grabbing a handful of hair to lift his head. The man cried out but it was cut short as the dunmer drew the knife savagely across his neck. The gurgle of the man's blood in his throat was the only sound as Slitter raised himself back up to his full height.
Vanya stared at the scene in shock. She'd never seen violence like that in person. It had happened so fast. Geldis pushed a key into her hand, whispering, "Go lock yourself in my room. Now."
She ran, hearing the tension in Geldis' voice as he addressed the bodyguard. "Slitter, I don't know what this is about and I don't plan to. Tell the Redoran guard whatever you want, just get out of my inn."
She closed herself in Geldis' room and locked the door. Blood was thundering through her ears as her mind raced. She'd seen everything- heard everything. Would they want to kill her? Would they kill Geldis? She bent over, leaning against the door, her stomach lurching. She became aware of the throbbing in her cheeks where Gjollmir's fingers had dug and she reached out her hands to the floor to steady herself. She crawled to the corner and curled into herself, the scars of her first days torn anew.
