The Elder Scrolls is © Bethesda. I own nothing you recognize.

"No."

My head shot up. I was bowing before the Mournful Throne in Markarth, and Jarl Igmund had just denied my request to see Argis the Bulwark, my contact. I bit the inside of my cheek, the coppery taste of blood filling my mouth. I had nearly killed my horse to get here in two days instead of three; a sabre cat that had run after us as we dashed through the Reach had scratched my leg, leaving it scored and bloody; and I had barely rested at all. What sleep I did get had been plagued by nightmares of dragons and vampires alike.

I was not in the mood to be told no.

"Jarl Igmund," I repeated, more slowly and with more emphasis. "I humbly request that you allow me to see Argis the Bulwark. It is a very urgent issue." I looked at the bald man, lounging on his throne as I had seen Jarl Balgruuf do. "It is a matter of life and death." Or undeath, I added in my head.

"And I have told you no," the insufferable man replied. "Now be gone or I will have my guards remove you."

Seeing no other alternative, I stood, bowed stiffly (so much for showing subservience, that had gotten me nowhere), and left the Jarl's hall. Looking around, I noticed the massive amount of rocky debris that littered the outer entranceway to the Mourning Throne, and an idea immediately came to my head. I walked just far enough away that I was out of the guards' line of sight before hopping over crumbling stone and hiding in a little alcove in a far corner of the room, close to the bedroom chamber door. My hiding spot provided me with a good view of the room but was mostly hidden to everyone else. They'd have to have incredibly sharp eyes to find me, with my all-black Nightingale armor and the darkness of the corner. I decided to wait until the Jarl left for supper to break into the private chambers, where Argis would no doubt be. I healed my leg during the lull of activity, the bloody gouges knitting together and leaving me with long, pink-ish scars that I'd probably have for the rest of my life. Nothing I could do about the dried blood on my pant leg. I settled down to wait.

"Have you found her?" A male voice I hadn't heard before rang out a couple of hours later. I shrunk down a bit further.

"No, sir." Two more replied in unison. Recognizing the accent as coming from the Summerset Isles and dreading seeing the people I knew I was about to see, I peeked over one of the rocks in my hiding place. Sure enough, two Thalmor soldiers and one Justiciar stood in front of the entrance to the throne room.

"She couldn't have seen us following her," the Justiciar continued. "She was riding too quickly to bother with checking her trail. She couldn't have gone far. Search the city."

A duo of "yes sir"s echoed and the sound of heavy footsteps came closer. I shrunk back as far into the corner as I could, curling into a ball and just stopping myself from murmuring an incantation that would turn me temporarily invisible. That had been a gift from Nocturnal herself after Karliah, Brynjolf, and I returned the Skeleton Key that Mercer had stolen to its rightful place in the Twilight Sepulcher. I would probably need that spell later.

Waiting a few more minutes after the sound of footsteps faded, I peered over the top of the rock in front of me to see the Justiciar talking with the Jarl in low tones. It was too far away for me to hear everything, but the words "catch", "Nelecar", "abomination", and "Oncano" were mentioned loudly enough that I could piece together what was being said.

That last Thalmor at Helgen had lived, told others about me, word had gotten to Oncano, and now I had to worry about the Thalmor actively searching for me as well as these stupid dragons. Like I needed one more thing to worry about.

I shook my head to clear away the distracting thoughts. I needed to focus on getting Niruin out of Cidhna Mine. But first, I had to find Argis. The Jarl, the Justiciar, and their accompanying entourage all headed towards the private area of the palace, and I waited a good twenty minutes before sneaking my way over as well.

It was a lot easier to find him than I thought it was going to be. The man I assumed to be Argis sat on a chair inside what must have been his quarters, a bored look on his face and his head in his hand. His fingers idly traced the red swirl tattoo that covered his right cheek. Tense muscles belied his agitation, however.

"Argis?" I asked quietly, emerging from the shadows near his doorway. The man jumped and stood up to face me. I immediately noticed how tall he was. Larger than Jarl Balgruuf, for sure, and that man was already a head taller than me.

"I assume you're Satyr." he responded brusquely. I nodded, silently thanking Brynjolf for using my alias. "Follow me." The armored Nord led me out of his room and down an adjacent darkened hall, towards a door that I hadn't noticed until then. I couldn't decide if Argis' short temper had to do with my being late or if he was just like that on a normal basis.

"How is Niruin?" I asked quietly as we descended some stairs.

"He attacked an inmate and dragged him down one of the tunnels a couple of days ago. Neither have been seen since."

I felt a twinge of guilt for the man that had been the victim, but Niruin had some blood in him and that was a good thing. Hopefully it wasn't tainted by skooma; I didn't know how I would handle an addicted vampire. "But no trouble besides that? What about the Forsworn?"

Argis stopped suddenly and whirled around, his eyes – one a milky, blinded white – staring at me angrily. "If you want to keep your tongue, I suggest you stop wagging it." I promptly closed my mouth and shot the Nord a blistering glare although he seemed unaffected as he turned around and led both of us further down. The hallway got darker and darker as we continued, and it seemed as if the walls were closing in on us. I heard skittering at one point and flinched when a spider's web brushed against my face. Not much later, we came to a closed wooden door. Argis unlocked it before pulling on the handle. The door's hinges screamed in protest; this was obviously a disused area. As if the sheets of cobwebs we'd waded through on our way down hadn't been indicative enough.

"Go down this corridor. You'll go through some empty Dwemer ruins and then end up in a cavern. Follow it and you'll be in the prison. It shouldn't take you long to find your guild mate."

I peered inside the long hallway. I could see about ten feet ahead of me and then he rest was pitch black. "And how am I supposed to get Niruin out without attracting more attention?" I snapped. "I highly doubt you'll be leaving this door unlocked." Argis shrugged, unconcerned.

"You're a thief. I figured your lockpicking skills would help you. I'm only supposed to get you inside the mine and then out of the city so I can get my payment from Brynjolf." I huffed, crossing my arms.

"All right. I'll meet you back at this door in an hour. Be careful with Niruin. He may not be… mentally stable when we get out." I walked inside the hallway before turning back around. "Thanks for the help."

Argis shrugged and closed the door behind me, leaving me in almost complete darkness. I trudged ahead, keeping one hand on the wall. Shuffling along, I mentally cursed myself for not thinking of bringing torches.

It took me a few more minutes before the darkness began to fade to a gray, and finally to a muted, fluttering gold. I could see the edges of the cavern on either side of me. Mushrooms dotted the ground and walls of the cave, and I had to stop myself from harvesting some of them for potions. Noting that someone had a torch going nearby, I crept silently closer until I came to a barred door that was reminiscent of a prison cell. Testing the door and finding it locked, I pulled out my picks and a small knife. Picking the lock took a lot longer than I would have liked, but I finally undid the latch and gently pushed the door open, the hinges thankfully silent.

I stuck to the shadows as I made my way through the prison. A strange combination of manmade and natural formations, the mine was quite the sight to behold. I passed one older man sitting at a desk with quill and paper (how'd he get all that?), but I slipped past him as I made my way through to the main cavern. Here the ceiling lifted to over three stories tall and was easily as wide as two giants placed end to end. Weak looking wooden structures climbed the walls of the cave, providing the inmates more area from which to mine. It was mostly dark inside the cavity, with the exception with a couple of torches on the far western wall and a small fire dug into the ground not far from where I stood. Ignoring the inmates that sat around the flame and praying their eyes wouldn't turn my way, I concerned myself with finding my guild mate. I was presented with two routes to go at that point, either left or right. I could hear the sound of pickaxes coming from the left cavern; it was the sound of humans working. An eerie, almost unnatural silence emanated from the tunnel in the opposite wall. Knowing Niruin would probably want to avoid people as much as possible to circumvent (more) bloodshed, I made my way over to the darkened tunnel on the right. My guess had been correct, for not even twenty steps inside the cavern, a deep, bone-chilling hiss invaded my ears. I paused in my walking.

"Niruin?"

The hissing stopped after a moment. "…Rysta?" the Bosmer rasped. I rounded a corner and came to a dead end, where I found my guild mate huddled on the ground with a body lying on the opposite side of the cavern. The inmate that had disappeared, I assumed.

"Niruin, I'm here to get you out. Brynjolf sent me." I inched my way closer to my fellow elf. Once I reached his side, I knelt down and attempted to coax him out of the fetal position he had curled himself into. "C'mon, we've got a friend waiting for us at a secret exit. We just have to sneak out. Simple."

Niruin shook his head as he slowly released his legs from the death grip he had them in, as if trying to dispel bad thoughts. "Yeah… easy…" He let me help him to a standing position, his weight leaning heavily against my side. His skin was cold and almost papery as I wrapped one of his arms over my shoulder. His head landed on my collar bone. "Rysta, I smell… blood. You… okay?" Shit. I'd forgotten about the dried blood on my pant leg.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Sabre cat got me, that's all. No big deal." I had to get Niruin out of here as quickly as possible. He wasn't going to be in a coherent state for much longer with my blood so close to his nose. Besides, our hour was almost up. We snuck past the other inmates and had just gotten inside the tunnel when Niruin snapped.

I didn't even realize what had happened until it was too late. I felt the sting of the bite, but a combination of not wanting to get caught and paralysis induced by sheer terror kept me from crying out at the sudden pain. I don't know how long Niruin kept his mouth to my neck, but the next thing I knew, I was the one leaning on the Bosmer. Spots danced before my eyes and I lost my footing, collapsing on the ground and breaking contact with Niruin. I could feel blood running down my neck, but it was hard to summon the energy to care. I just wanted to fall into the abyss of sleep. I could barely hear Niruin's desperate apologies, begging me to respond to his pleas. It was a struggle, but I managed to force my eyelids upwards, much to the Bosmer's relief.

"Rysta, I am so, so sorry. You need to keep your eyes open for me, okay? You can kill me later, but I need your help to get us out of here. Rysta, please, I need you to keep your eyes open and talk to me." I mumbled a reply that sounded gargled even to my ears, but Niruin must have understood because the next thing I knew, I was being carried through the Dwemer ruins and empty hallway I'd entered minutes before.

Nothing was very clear after that. I remembered the screech of door hinges, raised voices and being handed over to a different person, someone stronger and that smelled of musk with traces of something light and clean. I was strangely comforted by the scent; it reminded me of the soap Sorex used to use. I nuzzled into this new person's armored shoulder, not caring that the iron cuirass was poking my cheek. Everything was hazy and unfocused for a time. It was suddenly brighter and then darker once more. The next thing I remember was being laid down on a bed. Blurred faces and indistinct voices overwhelmed me, and I finally sank into a deep oblivion.

I woke up sometime later feeling lethargic and weak. Opening my eyes, I looked around the unfamiliar room in confusion. Where was this? The room was large, much bigger than anything I'd slept in before, with a stone-and-brass scheme. Dwemer? My bed was stone too, but piled so high with furs and blankets I barely felt the hardness of it. A stone bench and desk were located on the far wall, and a chest sat at the foot of my bed. There weren't any windows, but there was enough light coming from the lamps of varying sizes dotted throughout the room to dispel the gloominess. I wrapped one of the blankets tighter around me as I mentally checked off the last things I remembered. Markarth, Argis, torches, a body, and a guild mate.

Niruin.

My memories came rushing back all at once and I curled in on myself, a high keening suddenly sounding in my ears. It took me a moment to realize that the shrill whine was coming from my mouth. Almost immediately, two pairs of footsteps thundered into the room. I curled into a tighter ball, my hands entrenching themselves in my hair. I suddenly realized my hood was gone.

"Is she all right?" One voice, I figured out was Argis, asked.

"I don't know. She's got a bad history with…" here the heavily accented voice paused. "…with certain people and I think being back in the prison brought those memories to the surface." I had gone silent at this point, listening to this new voice. It wasn't Niruin, although it was very familiar, with a brogue only one person I knew possessed.

"Brynjolf…?" I whimpered quietly, slowly uncurling and turning around to face the redheaded Nord. The man was kneeling next to my bed, a large hand placed comfortingly on my head. Funny, I hadn't felt him touching me. He offered me a small smile.

"Hello, lass," he said softly, pulling his hand back. "Welcome back. We thought you were a goner for a bit there. How do you feel?" I blinked, my brain slowly processing his words.

"Like I've been run over by a herd of mammoths," I replied, making him crack a small smile. "What…" I stopped to clear my throat, noting how dry it was. A cup was pressed into my hands and I drank greedily, pointedly ignoring the ache that action caused. I drained the mug before continuing. "What are you doing here?"

"Niruin sent me a message the same day you collapsed," he explained, searching my eyes intently; trying to tell me something without saying it. "He mentioned you getting into a fight with one of the inmates during his rescue and getting cut on the neck. You lost a lot of blood, but he and Argis got you to a healer in time. I got here yesterday." That's when it clicked. We were keeping Niruin's vampirism a secret. Glancing at Argis and seeing his slightly suspicious stare, I went along with it.

"I'm sorry, Bryn. I know I'm not supposed to kill anyone."

"The rule was set aside for this particular case," he assured me. "We just wanted you back alive." Brynjolf sat back on his heels. "You were unconscious for almost four days. Argis here was nice enough to lend us his home in the city while you recuperated."

Ah, so that's where we were. I looked up at the Nord standing a respectful distance away from the bed I sat on. I offered the man a small, thin smile. "Thank you, Argis." The man in question shrugged and I got a sense of déjà vu.

"It's nothing," he told me in response. "I wouldn't have gotten my payment had I let you die." Argis played it off like it had been no big deal, but the light dusting of pink underneath his tanned skin indicated that money may not have been his only motivation.

"Where's Niruin?" I asked, finally coming to the heart of the matter. Redhead and blonde exchanged a look before Brynjolf turned back to me.

"He went back to Riften, lass. He figured you wouldn't want to see him." And rightfully so. His attack might have been for self-preservation motives only, but the Bosmer's actions had brought back the worst of my memories from the vampire attack on Solitude all those years ago. I struggled to push them away, but they overwhelmed me. I clutched my shoulders – apparently I'd been removed from my armor completely and placed in a plain blue robe – and shook uncontrollably.

"Why wouldn't Rysta want to see him?" Argis asked. My head shot up and I sprung out of the bed, my blood loss causing sudden tunnel vision that left me off-balance. I felt Brynjolf reach out to steady me.

"Who… who told you my name?" I demanded, leaning heavily on my guildmaster. "No one should know my name. They're coming for me now and anyone who knows my name will be found as well." I felt two pairs of eyes stare at me quizzically as I was gently lowered to a sitting position on the bed. I pinched the bridge of my nose took deep breaths.

"Easy there, lass," Brynjolf said, keeping a hand on my shoulder. "Who's coming for you?" I didn't look up, but my shoulders slumped and I released a deep breath.

"Oncano. Oncano knows I'm here, Brynjolf. And if he knows…"

"Every single Thalmor in Skyrim knows, too," he finished for me. The three of us were silent for a moment. Argis was the first to speak.

"I'm assuming you heard about this from the Justiciar that came to court shortly after you arrived." I nodded. "How on Nirn did he get his people on you so quickly? Brynjolf told me you've only been here a few days." I shook my head in response. I had no clue and honestly, I didn't really care. "Why does he want you?"

I lifted my head to stare at him. "I didn't get these from a pure Altmer coupling," I said, pointing to my ears. "I'm the product of a union that the Nelecar clan didn't approve of. I've tainted their lineage. My assumption is that they're trying to kill me to rectify my mother's 'mistake' and cleanse their bloodline." I suddenly realized that my head wasn't covered, and I was unspeakably glad to find that the robe they'd put me in had a hood. "Besides," I added, "I'm dangerous. I've got more magicka reserves than the most powerful Thalmor could ever dream of, and that scares them. They don't like being less than someone, especially a mutt like me." Argis stared at me, stunned while Brynjolf just sat next to me, a hand on my shoulder in a show of support and solidarity. I couldn't begin to express how much that meant to me. I cracked a bitter grin before lying back down on the bed. Brynjolf covered me with a blanket and asked if I needed anything. I sleepily shook my head 'no' and snuggled deeper under the covers. I was exhausted after such an adrenaline rush. I promptly fell back asleep.

I ended up staying at Argis' home for two weeks as I built my strength back up. Brynjolf left three days after I woke up, citing guild matters, but by the look he shot me when he said it I guessed he meant dealing with Niruin. He paid Argis before taking off, a very large sack of gold exchanging hands. I guessed Bryn had upped his payment. That left me and the blond Nord.

Life with Argis was… interesting, to say the least. Our personalities clashed, and more than once we ended up in a shouting match over the most mundane things, like whose job it was to cook dinner. I said it was mine, to express my thanks for housing me. He declared it was his home and thus his job to cook and besides, my cooking was atrocious (I'd used the wrong kind of mushrooms once). Those arguments normally ended with me locking myself in my room (the guest bedroom, I'd learned), and Argis storming off to the Silver-Blood Inn for food instead.

After I felt sufficiently better and the local healer deemed me healthy enough to travel, the two of us decided that we'd make our journey back to Whiterun. I needed to see if the Twins had retrieved the Dragon Stone. I told Argis that he didn't have to accompany me and that I was fine on my own, but the large blond Nord insisted. That had spawned another argument, although he eventually won, much to my chagrin. So, the next day saw us on our horses and out into the Reach.

It was the first night of our journey, and Argis and I had settled down in an empty cave to sleep. The nightmares had returned in full force, and I found myself waking up at every sound. At one point, I woke up and saw a ball of light. I blinked and saw the glowing yellow mass flying towards my face, and in my half-awakened state, I did what any person would have done.

I screamed.

Whew, I'm back! Let me just start off by saying how sorry I am this chapter took so long. An old knee injury flared up and it's prevented me from doing a lot of things and it threw me into a slump. But I've gotten better these past few days and have written this! Many, many thanks go to MadamHyde and Tae-Kwon-Do Dragon for being fantastic, wonderful chapter betas!

My thanks to MadamHyde, OppasYeobo, Aletheya, and a Guest for their extremely helpful reviews last chapter. To Aletheya and MadamHyde, I hope you two see your advice being implemented this go around; I took your constructive criticism to heart and tried to shape this chapter around it- I hope it worked. Now all I need to do is keep it going for the rest of the story! XD

Don't forget to review this chapter, too! I respond to every single review I receive, and you get your name listed in my A/Ns! Ain't that spiffy?

'Til next time!