Waking Up in a Thief's Bed

I made it through the quiet streets of early morning Whiterun at a decent pace. I nodded to a few stall keepers as I walked by, thinking of Brynjolf in his finery in the Riften market hawking potions and poisons. He had looked so natural there, despite the dingy surroundings. But here, here his charisma and attitude would be much better suited. I smiled, thinking of him here, outselling poor Arcadia left and right with just his stall. To be fair, she'd probably get more business if people didn't dread walking in the door for fear of being told how ill they look.

I walked the stairs to The Bannered Mare and went on in. I looked around and didn't spot him so I walked up to the innkeeper, a Nord woman who smiled warmly as I approached.

"Hello, I'm supposed to meet a friend here - " I said, unsure of whether Brynjolf gave out his real name when he traveled.

"Here, he left this for you," she said and handed me a sealed letter.

"Thanks."

I took a few steps away, toward the fire, and broke the seal. Instantly a lockpick fell out and onto my hand. I eyed it curiously before stuffing it in my pocket and reading the note:

Ever, must be some party you're at up the hill. I have some business to take care of in the city. If you make it to the inn before I make it back, my room is the third one on the left up the stairs. I upgraded the lock but I'm sure you'll be able to handle it.

Yours,

B

"Great," I muttered under my breath.

I shook my head and fingered the lockpick in my pocket. I looked at the stairs, wondering what I'd gotten myself into. Only a few minutes in and Brynjolf was encouraging my...talents. Talents I hadn't wanted to think about and that the Companions wouldn't particularly approve of. I wasn't comfortable with this, but...I didn't know what Mercer had planned, and it was best not to have more trouble than necessary. I wanted to clear everything up, preferably as quick as possible.

I looked around, the Inn and bar was empty of most people except one dark elf, mostly asleep in the corner and the innkeep. At least (so far) the odds of me getting caught breaking into a room (permission or no) was small.

I climbed the stairs, looked around the hall, and took out the pick, twirling it in my fingers and then taking a good look at it. I didn't want to do this, he probably knew that, but part of me was curious as to whether I could. What was more, I knew this was supposed to be a challenge, and Brynjolf knew I had trouble resisting those. Stupid red headed thief.

It only took a about a minute to open the door and walk into the room. I put the pick back in my pocket, making note to give it back to the thief when he arrived.

The room was larger than I expected and contained a writing desk on the far side by a window, and a large bed with dark golden sheets in the middle. I shut the door behind me and looked for a chair. Despite the desk, there didn't seem to be one, so I hesitantly took a seat on the bed.

An hour later, and with no sign of Brynjolf, I fell asleep.

"Well, I didn't expect to have you waking up in my bed, lass. Well at least not for some time."

I opened my eyes fully and saw Brynolf seated at a chair at the writing desk. I groaned groggily, gaining enough sense to throw a pillow at him which he caught easily. He rose from the chair and placed it on top the other one then stared down at me.

"Not a morning person I see," Brynjolf said. "Though it is mid-afternoon."

I sat up, feeling every inch of my aching and injured body. I thought of how bad it would feel without having been treated yesterday by Vilkas and was suddenly thankful to the Nord for being so damn stubborn. Of course, it seemed all Nords were that way.

"Where did you get the chair?" was the first thing I managed to say.

"I asked the innkeeper for one. It seemed that my bed was taken."

"Well, yesterday I got beaten up by a horde of vampires, bitten, drained of blood, joined the Companions, and then stayed up all night feasting and dancing so I was a little wiped out. But I had this plan to meet with this thief from Riften here, but he didn't show up for a long time so -"

"Vampires, eh? And dancing. I think I'd like to see that," Brynjolf said, smirking.

I rolled my eyes as Brynjolf took a seat again at the desk. I scooted over to the edge of the bed. "That's what you take out of that, is it? I'm fine by the way."

"I also noted that you rushed over here to see me," Brynjolf said, winking.

I sighed heavily, hoping it would distract from my pink cheeks. "Don't look too much into that."

"I won't," he said. Then seriously, "I expected you would not be over for some time, given the apparent festivities. The Inn was practically empty by the end of the night."

"Probably because people were going to sleep. Anyway, you did want to see me right? Oh, and just so you know," I said, and fished out the lockpick from my pocket. "I don't need this anymore."

Brynjolf raised an eyebrow. "Oh, but you will. Keep it. That's what I came to talk to you about. I was able to put doubt in Mercer's head about you being our enemy. It wasn't easy but he's willing to give you a chance to prove you're innocent, but there's a catch."

"What's that?"

"He wants you to join the Thieves Guild."

Author's Note: Hello everyone! Thanks for all the comments, it's been truly wonderful! Just thought I'd like to clear something up before this goes too much further about Farkas and Everlee. I know some of you are worried or think that they're "together" now but I'd like to say that nothing is for certain yet. I had hoped to make clear in the last chapter that Everlee hasn't thought about anyone that way. She didn't shoot Farkas down but she didn't say yes to any sort of relationship either. She's just trying to give Farkas a chance. She's open to romance and to looking at Farkas that way, but she currently is not in any serious committed relationship with anyone or has any specific feelings. She is still discovering how she feels while trying to also juggle her crazy life (or trying to become aware of her emotions as she's been sort of stuffing them away!). I hope you all continue to read and enjoy.