2

Sasha and Jayred returned from their scouting mission.

"There's another convoy on the way." Sasha reported panting heavily. "Armed infantry and cavalry just like this one. They'll be here inside of ten minutes. Are you sure we hit the right one Dayan?"

"Where's Guilbert?" Jayred interjected.

Dayan was now examining the condition of two of the covered wagons knowing they would be the only way his team could deliver the crates to their buyer in Falinesti. Of the three wagons in the caravan, two were loaded with crates and one with provisions. Unfortunately the wagon with the eleven crates had three broken wheels. The crates would need to be moved to a different wagon. Whatever was inside the locked cases was too heavy to be carried by hand and too large to be strapped to a saddlebag.

"We need to leave! Where's Guilbert?" Sasha repeated.

"Dead."

"Then can we leave?" Sasha asked not showing the slightest concern.

Dayan checked the neck yokes and harnesses of the third wagon. All of the horses in the caravan were either dead or claimed by the second mercenary team, but the Riders had their own stationed just a few hundred yards away.

"You and Amir go get the horses and tie them into this wagon and that one over there." Dayan pointed.

The Dunmer nodded in understanding and took off running into the jungle. Dayan whistled and waved his hands in the air, signaling the remainder of his team to converge by the wagons. Elgamil, Jayred, and Mogakh joined Dayan in moving the eleven crates into a new wagon. When Sasha returned with the horses, they yoked them in. The other mercenary team, so caught up in looting the high quality armour of their dead foes, failed to notice their activity or the crates.

"What's going on?" Toji asked, strolling nonchalantly past his teammates.

Dayan could not stop his work to reprimand the Khajiit though it would have made little difference because Toji only answered to Guilbert. The Breton held an endless supply of moon sugar over the strung out Khajiit making him more of a pet than employee.

"Go help Jayred tie the horses up!" Amir ordered.

"Relax! He's got help."

Toji was tossing around a small canvas pouch in his paws. Dayan recognized it as Guilbert's moon sugar stash.

"Who is helping him?" Dayan was a bit concerned now.

"The guy." Toji answered.

"What guy?"

"The guy that killed Guilbert."

"Guilbert is dead?" Mogakh asked the Redguard with great surprise.

Dayan stopped working and rushed over to where Jayred was supposed to be harnessing in the horses on the other wagon. He found Jayred bent over one of the bodies of the dead soldiers, removing the man's clothes.

"Here, put 'em on."

Jayred handed the items to the slave who eagerly accepted the bundle and began to dress himself. Dayan figured the odd looking boy for a Nord though his height made him think otherwise. The crest of his head was even with Jayred's shoulders at just below six feet in height. The clothes were a bit too small. His pant legs were hiked up by his ankles.

"Don't worry, we'll get some better clothes in Falinesti." Jayred comforted much like a father to his son.

Dayan was very surprised by Jayred Ice Vein's compassion. The Nord searched the body of a second soldier, removed a sabre with sheath, and handed it to the slave.

"Are you crazy Jayred!" Dayan exclaimed, snatching the sabre from Jayred's hand. "He killed Guilbert!"

"That makes him a hero in my book. Probably a lot of other books too. I wish I could read."

Jayred and Dayan turned and looked at the slave boy sitting patiently in the driver's seat of the wagon.

"Besides, I couldn't figure out how to get the damn harness on."

Dayan noticed that his argument had attracted the attention of one of the mercenaries. Donned in freshly stolen armour, the Breton approached him.

"Oy! You just say Guilbert is dead."

"Is that a question or a statement?" Dayan joked, not smiling.

"If he's dead, how do we and me boys get paid?"

Yes, how indeed? Dayan thought.

"Our contractor for this job is located in Arenthia, a Cyrod fellow named William. Ride ahead and he'll give you your cut. We need to stay here and bury Guilbert." Dayan lied, trying to look upset.

The mercenary was sympathetic and patted Dayan on the shoulder.

"It's a tough business brother, we all gotta die sometime." The mercenary consoled.

"Thank you, you better get going before someone shows up. Head up the road that way and you'll be in Arenthia in a few hours." Dayan directed, sending the remaining mercenaries towards the approaching armed caravan.

It was a dastardly trick, but it would buy the Riders some time to escape. The mercenary shook Dayan's hand, and then Jayred's before gathering up his men and leaving. In a few minutes the mercenaries were out of sight and Sasha signaled that both wagons were loaded up. The ambush site was well behind them when Dayan and the Riders could hear the sounds of the mercenaries being slaughtered.

"How's that?"

"What do you mean?"

"Is it less like a…storybook?"

Sasha and Sean were now seated around a table in the foyer of the Tiber Septim Hotel. The barkeep and residents were all asleep, and Sean was desperately fighting the urge to join them. He rubbed his eyes and stretched while yawning.

"Or is this more like a bedtime story?" Sasha inquired crossing her legs.

"No! No…earlier I was…well…"

"A jackass?"

Sean smiled and nodded. "Yes."

"But you were correct, I was lying before."

"Are you now?"

The Dunmer leaned back in her seat and put her hand hands together, as if she were praying. Sean proceeded to steer the conversation in a new direction.

"Tell me more about the Riders."

"What would you like to know?"

"What happened after Guilbert died? Now that the warden was dead, did you decide to disband?"

"Before Guilbert died, we, the Riders I mean, had been together for about three years. While we all collectively hated Guilbert we grew accustomed to one another even becoming so much as friends."

"So you stayed together?" Sean asked.

"We saw no reason not to. The money was good and there wasn't much else to do. None of us could see ourselves returning to a 'normal' existence. Amir knew the contacts and ran the books as he had done under Guilbert and Dayan became our leader. Nobody resented the idea of taking orders from him."

"And what of this young slave boy? You took him along with you?"

"That we did."

"Who was he?"

"We didn't know. At the time, he didn't speak a word of Cyrodilic – actually he rarely spoke at all during those first few years with us. He did seem to understand the language well enough."

"So he couldn't even tell you his name?" Sean asked surprised.

"Nope, Jayred named him Roe. It means red in Nordic, on account of all the red hair he had all over his body. We thought he was half troll until Elgamil decided to give a trim."

"So Jayred looked to him like a son?"

"Yeah, I guess you could say that. We all did really." Sasha nodded.

"What did he do in the Riders?"

"He took care of the gear, cooked and cleaned up camp, looked after the horses, that kind of thing. Remember he was only a teenager when we found him so we couldn't really rely on him to fight until he was a bit older. Most importantly though, Roe was an amazing alchemist and commanded a great knowledge of restoration magic. Dayan actually made each of us forfeit ten percent of our earnings so he could purchase equipment for Roe."

"Like what?"

"Flasks, calcinators, exotic ingredients and what not. Roe whipped up some helpful potions and saved all of our asses plenty of times with his magic hands." Sasha laughed.

"Did Roe ever learn to fight? Did you train him in destruction or did Jayred teach him how to use a blade or axe?"

Sasha spent a few seconds thinking before she answered.

"After Toji got well, Elgamil trained him. Roe was a natural hunter and possessed strong scouting skills, but he wasn't able to use destruction magicka nor was he proficient with a blade or axe. He sure could use a staff though!"

"Like a magic staff?"

"Oh no, like a stick."

Sean jotted the description of the Riders' hairy companion into his notebook. He was compiling a profile of all the names and events Sasha mentioned. He was unsure of what the old Dunmer could offer in regards to his investigation but it was clear she knew quite a bit. The young author furrowed his brow in confusion. Sasha stood, wrapped her arm around his and escorted him out of the Tiber Septim Hotel. The air was cold and the sky was orange and pink as morning approached.

"Don't get too upset Mister Finn, there's still more to tell."