Ahoy! So, this is a nice little chapter - I thought that I should make a little undercover chapter, so enjoy! How many other Skyrim fanfics include an undercover pyromancing thief?

As an apology for not updating in a long long LONG time, enjoy a staggering 4000 words.

Reviews...

gallantmon7196 - Thank you! I hope you enjoy this chapter - I'm aiming for unique... let me know what you think of it!

SirAC - I forgive you - you're one of my top reviewers!

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Read below for an example!

Farani- Your demand is met.

Guest- No, it's not over yet - still quite a few chapters left.

Shout-out to gallantmon7196 and sketchywolf for following this story! I hope you enjoy further works!

Solitude had always been a serious city - behind the gates, the execution stage was raised high, but not too high, as there was still a 'splash zone' in the first ten feet of the stage. At the Bard's Festival, however, it had morphed into a carnival, with fireworks spinning off through the night sky, and free mead and wine given out through the course of the night.

I leant against the wall, pulling the cuffs of my sleeves down; I was garmented in the freshly made clothes that mimicked my old 'noble' attire. I undid the top of the dark doublet and shirt, accommodating for the rare warm evening.

"How much longer?" I asked the blacksmith, who was hard at work at the grindstone.

"It'll take as long as it takes." He said gruffly.

"Does that attitude earn you many customers?" I muttered to myself as I cocked my head away from the blacksmith. He turned around to reveal a series of small scratches and healed scars on his cheeks. Past his grizzled appearance, I could make out the Imperial sigil upon his arm. He had an air of confidence and authority - obviously a retired soldier.

"Do you want your blade or not?" I turned away as a response and allowed him to turn back to his work.

"So, you used to be a soldier." I stated, pacing.

"What's it to you?" He growled.

"I think you're missing something on that question." I said, trying to don the persona of the noble once again. He clenched his fist around the hilt of the sword.

"What's it to you...m'lord?" I felt abysmal, putting on a smug grin at his obedience.

"Which war did you fight in?" I asked, genuinely interested, although I disguised it as a throwaway attempt at idle chit-chat.

"The Civil war." He muttered.

"At least you were on the winning side." He stood up, wiping down the blade as he approached me.

"Winning?" He asked. "If you call enslaving a nation to an Empire too cowardly to fight against the Dominion the 'winning'," he dropped the rapier into my hands, "I guess you're right." In his eyes, I saw a tempest of rage and anger at the notion of 'enslavement'. He glistened with a idea of hope. I could do little else but hide my smile at the passion I had not seen in years. "Enjoy the banquet m'lord." He said, turning back to his smelting.

"What's your name blacksmith?"

"I doubt you'd have heard of it." He scoffed subtly.

"What is your name?" I repeated.

"Valerius." I nodded, examining the thin rapier before placing it into the scabbard.

"You do good work." He humphed in response. "I have a feeling we'll meet again."

"How fortunate I am." He mumbled, not bothering to hide his obvious disdain of nobility.

The banquet was held in the courtyard of the castle, - an old stoic masterpiece with heavy archaic slabs of rocks, which made the silhouette of the castle resemble more of a silhouette of a mountain, with fireworks exploding high above its peaks in a burst of vibrant colours. As I examined them, I heard footsteps approach me, and before I could reach for my hilt, I was presented with a familiar treasure.

"If it isn't my saviour." I looked down and immediately smiled. "Didn't I say you were no commoner?" I chuckled.

"Indeed you did. It's a pleasure to see you have been safe in your travels my Lady." I bowed my head slightly to Lady Altino.

She was presented in an expensive silk gown, a deep, ruby tone. Most women wore scarlet tonight, mimicking the favoured colour of the Empress Dowager. However, as she moved closer, the candlelight and fireworks revealed her face - a long graze was evident on her cheek. She noticed my inquisitive expression and simply smiled.

"A riding accident. It would seem that this country holds no love for me." She chuckled. I smiled back at her.

"I could not imagine a country without love, Lady Altino."

"Please, Arabella." She insisted, linking her arm in mine. "These feasts are always so formal. I feel like I can't breathe. And all of this food - do they only have mead and elk here?"

"No, there are also mammoths." I grinned at her.

"Ah, yes. The infamous giants and their livestock." A voice behind me said with drawling class and substance. Lady Altino turned around.

"General Tullius." She smiled. My heart stopped - Tullius? He was here? What if he recognized me? He would almost certainly take me back to Cyrodiil and I would never find Mercer...

... But was that so bad?

A part of me began to explore the possibility - what if I was home? Tullius could restore me to my noble origins. I'd never be hungry again, never have to steal or lie... I could find Caprius and Ignus again - I hadn't seen them in seven years. They'd be men by now. And Titus...

"This is my friend, the Lord..." She waited for me to turn around.

I took a breath accepting the inevitable.

"Tenebraeus," I said finally, turning around "of the house of Magnus."

However, the man who stood in front of me was my age, with black hair, shorter than mine. His gold armour glistened in the light of the explosions, and the lack of scratches on his chestpiece informed me of how long he had been a general for.

"Magnus?" He smiled, shaking hands with me - recognition crossed his face at the name, but not at my face. This was not the man I travelled to Skyrim with, or the one who instructed me as a child. He was young - only a few years older than I, his hair was still a golden colour, and "Believe it or not, but the Tullius family have been acquainted with them." I smiled politely.

"With respect General, I had heard of General Tullius being a lot more... experienced. You clearly cannot have had as much experience as the man who quelled the Nords?" He glared at me for a tense moment, but upon realising Arabella was standing beside us, he chuckled.

"Very astute, Lord Magnus. No, that was my father. He had died in the Siege of Windhelm years back. I have assumed command here."

"But of course." I nodded, relieved now. He examined my eyes for a moment.

"What did you say your name was again?" He asked suspiciously.

"Magnus." I repeated, looking directly into his eyes, bluffing confidence. He soon smiled.

"Fascinating. You see, we have another Magnus here - or so it is rumoured." My heart caught in my chest once again. What Magnus - not Titus surely? I felt my stomach flutter with fear and excitement at the prospect of seeing my brother again.

"Another Magnus? How exciting." Arabella stayed beside me, smiling happily.

"Indeed." I nodded as I escorted Arabella to her seat at the banquet and took my place beside her.

A jester came cartwheeling down between the long banquet tables before sweeping into a low bow to the Jarl and made remarks about various Counts, before declaring himself the Count Magnus.

"Count Magnus?" Arabella asked me.

"Generations ago, Count Magnus was... well, he was commonly known as Magnus the Mad." Tullius enthusiastically informed Arabella between laughs. He turned to me. "So, is there any relation between you two?" General Tullius asked, sitting on the other side of Arabella.

"No." I said tersely, clenching my jaw.

"Are you sure?" He asked with a smirk.

"The man is of no relation to me."

"That you know of." Tullius murmured. "You two have a striking resemblence." He looked between the jester and me before he winked at Arabella. I clenched my jaw.

"Speaking of family, I had heard that your father only assumed command in Skyrim because the real general died." He snapped his head around to me. "Not to say that your father wasn't a real general, of course."

"This 'real general' as you call him died before he even stepped foot in this city. Hardly a capable leader."

"He was a good man." I said, trying extremely hard to restrain my anger.

"A pity then, that he wasn't as a good a fighter." He replied, before eating his food. I opened my mouth to reply, but felt a hand on my wrist.

"Lord Magnus?" I looked towards Arabella. "What do you reckon of our fool?"

"A skeever in armour." I said lowly to her. She laughed lightly.

"Our jester." She pointed at the fool 'breathing' fire. "It is almost like magic." I smiled - if only she knew.

"It's only tricks, my Lady."

"He's breathing fire."

"Only dragons breathe fire." I said, shuddering slightly as I remembered the reptilian monster in Riften. "He's simply spitting oil through the torch in front of his mouth." She watched as the fool did so.

"You have a habit of destroying illusions." She muttered.

"I have a knack for conjuring them too." She cocked an eyebrow.

"Oh really?" I picked up the knife beside me and held it upwards.

"What is this?"

"It's a knife."

"Is it?" She took the knife, examining it in her hands.

"Well, what else could it be?" She said with more certainty.

"Close your eyes." I said, and then I cast my hands over the knife as my mother once did to me. I focused on the serenity of the memory - the tone and the feelings as I pictured her magic envelope and change the knife. "Now open." She opened her eyes and dropped her jaw at the sight. "Certain flowers only grow in Skyrim." I said, allowing her to take the 'flower'. She eyed me for a moment, excitement escaping her smile as she giggled.

"How did you do that?"

"Something I picked up during my stay in Skyrim." I shrugged.

"What other impressive feats do you possess?" I leant in and spoke lowly.

"None that can stop this incessant nuisance of an 'officer' sadly." I looked towards the arrogant 'general'.

"...Tell me, Lord Magnus, what exactly do you do? Skulk along behind bandits and heroically wait to dispatch them? Or do you commonly follow noble ladies?" Arabella looked at me, curious.

"Perhaps I would not need to 'skulk' behind bandits if you had already dealt with them. After all, I'm sure a soldier would be more than capable of doing so, if someone like I could."

"So, you are not an officer. Just another nobleman. Although your clothes would suggest otherwise." He said with a smirk.

"A safety precaution." I replied as quickly as I could. "I figured I would only take a few of my best garments, since a feast like this is bound to attract thieves and other such ruffians." I successfully hid my smile.

"Indeed - I take it these are you finest garments? Very... odd aren't they?" He chuckled at them. Arabella, however, did not.

"They were made by a seamstress in Daggerfall." I quickly lied. "Just what I had picked up on my travels."

"You're a man of many countries then?" Arabella smiled at me.

"Or none." Tullius mumbled, drinking from his goblet.

"Yes, I am." I replied to Arabella.

"An adventurer as well as a vigilante." She smiled. "I am intrigued by you Tenebraeus."

"And I you, Arabella." I grinned as I saw Tullius' jaw clench out of the corner of my eye.

"Any poor beggar can become a vigilante or an adventurer." Said the crass and bitter Tullius. "Unlike a commander - something that requires leadership, courage, virtue - fine breeding. It a birthright."

"Forgive me, but aren't you a commander?" I asked.

"Yes." He said proudly. I nodded, looking back to the jester.

"Fascinating." I murmured after a moment's pause.

"Becoming a commander is a reward." Tullius said, almost dropping his goblet onto the table. "A title that is bestowed on those with prowess on the field."

"Yet you only assumed command after the war was won. Thank the Eight, otherwise you life could have been in danger." Arabella began to bite her lip to stop herself laughing.

"Hardly, Lord Magnus: I am a man of action. Unlike certain others here tonight..."

"Well, in such places as Daggerfall and Skyrim, leadership, courage, and compassion for ones men is what earns him his position, not a body count... or his name."

"Do you question my ability sir?" Tullius asked, his voice rising.

"Of course not General." I said, placing my goblet down on the table. "I don't think I have to ask any questions about it." I said with a grin. Before Tullius could respond, another voice chimed through the courtyard.

"I feel a challenge is being issued here." Arabella smiled.

"A challenge?" I asked.

"I would enjoy a duel between two esteemed gentlemen such as yourselves. I fear our fool has become obsolete." She sighed, watching the fool stagger around with a bottle of mead.

"Do you accept Lord Magnus?" Asked Tullius, emboldened by the prospect of impressing the Lady Altino. I nodded.

"I accept General."

"Boy, get me a rag." He called to one of the servants, walking down between the two tables.

"Good fortunes Lord Magnus." Arabella smiled at me.

"Enjoy the duel Lady Altino." I grinned before walking down between the tables and facing Tullius.

He took out his rapier - a thin and sharp sword that was engraved down the blade, leading up to the extravagant and gilded rings that curled around the hilt, with a basket secured around the hilt. I brandished my own rapier, with only three rings around the hilt, so as to not throw the sword off-balance.

Tullius came towards me first, lunging for my stomach. I took a step backwards, repelling his advance. He tried again, but I leant out of the way of his lunge, snipping the end of my blade across the side of him, drawing blood.

He stumbled backwards, checking his knee. I looked towards Arabella with a smile, only to see she had disappeared. I frowned, confused, but Tullius' grunts drew my attention, as I only barely leant out of the way of his lunge. I shoved him in the chest with my shoulder and slashed at him, only to be repelled by his counter. He began advancing on me with flourishes of his blade and grandiose twirls. It was only when he went to lunge for me behind his back that I scratched his forearm, making him drop his blade. I picked it up and presented the sword back to Tullius.

"Be careful - a general should not be without his sword." I said, allowing him to take back his rapier.

"So our history tells us." I felt like snatching the hilt back from Tullius and running him through with his own blade."You're an accomplished swordsman Lord Magnus." Tullius muttered darkly at me.

"As are you General." I said coldly. "Now, I must take my leave to attend to my wounds."

We bowed our heads to each other before I left. I dawdled amongst the nobles, nodding politely every now and then. I picked up a goblet of wine, drinking as I examined a way into the castle. A pair of guards were posted outside the door closest to me. I looked up at the ramparts, which were definitely out of the question - the men had enough arrows to riddle me like a porcupine.

I positioned myself next to a crowd of nobles, trying to think of a way to get rid of the guards. I glanced over to Tullius, and an idea formed in my head. I approached them, straightening my back and walking with the sense of self-accomplishment Imperial nobles possessed.

"You there. Guard!" I approached one of them. "Why are you just standing there? Your General is injured, and you would loiter like a dog?"

"My Lord, with respect, it is not your place to-" The other guard began.

"Why are you still standing there fool? Get your General some more wine!" They glanced at each other uncertainly before looking back to me. "So be it - where is your commanding officer? I would see you flogged!"

They quickly straightened up, both of them rushing off to attend on Tullius. I grinned to myself. "Idiots."

I moved inside the castle, doing my best to move quietly as I heard the flicker of flames echo through the entire corridor.

Right, where would an Imperial put information about a Master Thief's house?

I walked through the Castle until I came to the War Room: it was filled with documents, spread all about the table. I groaned - it would take ages to find, so I would have to start quickly, so I could leave before the guards returned to the door.

I shifted through various scrolls, ledgers, reports - anything that was there, but nothing. I even checked the staffing for the Bard's Festival - anything that seemed out of the ordinary, but nothing. Nothing at all. I cursed under my breath. There was no finding Mercer Frey.

"Blasted boy..." I heard Tullius cursing as he walked into the War Room. I darted my eyes around the room, looking for a place to hide - under the table? No, it was too small, not to mention moving past the stone chairs in the way first. I glanced around and noticed a small gap between the stone wall and the book case. It was, by far, the dimmest corner of the room. I leapt over the table soundlessly and pushed myself into the gap, watching Tullius march into the War Room. He walked up to the marble table and began picking up various scrolls and parchments before an Imperial guard walked down the stairs.

"What is it?" Tullius asked curtly.

"It's another update from our... observant friend - they've located the girl."

"About time." Tullius said tiredly, taking the note and reading it quickly. "Send the gold to the location." He said, dropping the note on top of the rest of the parchments. "Dismissed." He said to the soldier, yet he did not move. "Is there something else Captain?"

"Yes sir... we've caught Captain Nebulo."

"Ah, fantastic." Tullius said, his face suddenly turning into a wide grin. "What about his crew?"

"All in cells sir. A few were killed in the boarding, but we caught the boy."

"The boy?" Tullius turned around at the Captain, who produced a small, jeweled knife. "Oh, of course! Well then... to the headsman or the hangman?" The Imperials chuckled lightly before leaving to the dungeons. I sighed, pushing myself out from beside the bookshelf, relieved although slightly astonished that no one had seen me. I examined the parchment Tullius had been handed, and examined the drop-off location for payment - it was in Riften - could a criminal mastermind like Mercer be cocky enough to return to Riften?

"You there!" I looked up to see one of the Imperial guards walking through the doorway, a hand on the hilt of his sword. "This area is for military only!"

I paused, unsure of what to do - maybe throw fire at him? No, his screams would be too loud - guards would swarm from everywhere. Turn invisible? No, he was too close - he'd know I'm a mage and then, again, everyone would be after me.

"I do apologise," I said, smoothing back my hair, "I have a very curious nature - mother always said it would get me into trouble." I added with a laugh.

"My Lord, General Tullius must hear of this." The guard spoke with a thick, Nordic accent as he reached for my arm.

"I'll be sure to inform him at the banquet." I reassured him, taking a step backwards.

"My Lord, you are to co-operate," the guard reached for his sword, "in the name of the Emperor-"

I seized the opportunity to grab the man's wrist, locking his sword into his sheathe, as I grabbed him by the neck and threw him up against the wall. There was a large clang that echoed through the hallway as I tore the helmet off of the guard, and throwing a swift jab into his eye. His head slammed into the wall again and he fell motionless. I looked checked the hallway before moving back to the feast, cursing under my breath; they would undoubtedly come to investigate the noise, and I needed to be out of the city by the time they raised the alarm.

I opened the door a crack, peering out to see the other guard standing there, helmet turning slightly - he was searching the crowd for the other, now subdued, guard.

I reached out a hand and let my senses flood out. The fireworks whizzed and popped, and I felt the sparks and fizzes on the hairs on my arms. I could smell the powder of the fireworks and the scent of wine, mingled with the perfume of nobles and the sweat of the servants, who slyly stole a cup or two when no-one was looking.

I felt the firework spiral up into the air, and imagined that I held a line to it, pulling it closer. I felt the powder get hotter and hotter, biding my time until the final moment...

There was a humongous explosion in the sky, causing those who were unaware to fall to the ground in shock. I immediately held the door ajar and jumped against it as the guard staggered backward in shock.

"My- My Lord!" The guard turned towards me, quick to help me stand. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine," I laughed, "I'm afraid I've taken a liking to the wine." I grinned, slapping the man on the arm before closing the door shut behind me. I took a cup of wine off of a passing servant. "To your health!" I drank the wine from the cup, then passed it to the guard and turned around to leave.

It was always hard to walk away after a job. It was the moment when you didn't know if you had been detected. Had someone found the guard I attacked? If they sounded the alarm, the doors would shut, and then I would be faced with the hardest challenge of all - leaving an Imperial stronghold when everyone was looking for me. If the guard came to, he would immediately tell all-

"Excuse me, Lord Magnus." I stopped in my tracks, unsure of whether to run or turn around. "My Lord?" I recognised the voice this time, and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Lady Altino," I smiled, "I missed you after the duel."

"It was an exciting occasion - one that induced thirst. But, you are leaving now? Won't you stay?"

"I'm afraid I cannot. Brynjolf, my manservant, has a fondness for lectures. Especially when my punctuality is in question."

"The mighty Tenebraeus Magnus, scared of his manservant?" She grinned.

"The occasion is winding down anyway. I would rest tonight."

"Very well my Lord Magnus. I hope we meet again."

"Well, it seems to turn out that way, does it not?"

Okay guys - that's around about 4,000 words - I figured you deserved an update like this. I'm going to try really hard to finish this story, since it's one of my favourite to write. So, I just wanted to let you know that I may work on a short prequel and sequel after I finish writing this, but they would not be priority. So, only 17 more chapters until this story is finished - I've mapped out the story and it's full of intrigue, betrayal, plotting etc etc - you guys seem to have enjoyed it so far, so hopefully you'll enjoy how it ends.