"Aventus Aretino," purred the voice of the Redguard woman, a smirk on her lips. She was pretty, with dark skin and long black hair that was tied into what looked like hundreds of thick, frizzy braids. Some of her braids even had beads woven into them, giving her a truly exquisite look. She wore a fur skirt and a simple top of brown leather that revealed her midriff and a great deal of her cleavage. "How lovely of you to come and pay us a visit."
Aventus narrowed his eyes, looking closely at the woman. "Braith?" he asked, and she grinned.
"Clever! He remembers my name, isn't that cute?" she said, her gaze shifting towards the Breton man on the other side of the path. "And I'm sure you remember my associate here, Blaise..?"
Aventus looked over at the Breton and gave a nod. "I do," he replied.
"Well, isn't this lovely! Where's everyone else? Erith, from Markarth, and Samuel and Runa – weren't they planning on getting married?" asked Braith, and Aventus nodded.
"They married," he said. "Runa has a daughter called Sillina."
"I'll have to pay her a visit, I do love babies," said Braith with a sly grin.
"What do you want, Braith? I know you haven't stopped us for pleasantries," said Aventus, lowering his dagger slightly.
"Well, we're just minding our own business, patrolling and stopping anyone who comes by to demand a decent sum of gold," answered Braith. "We certainly weren't expecting you to come along. Where are you headed?"
"Riften," Aventus replied. "I'm guessing you're unlikely to accompany us, though?"
"Ah. Thank you, but no thank you. The Guild has no place for lowly highwaymen such as ourselves," said Braith. "That is where you're going, isn't it?"
"No, our only associate in the Guild attacked Erith and ran off," Aventus replied, then paused. "I trust that you've heard the news about the Dragonborn?"
"Such a nice lady," said Braith. "Even tried to help me with my Lars problem back when we were young." This comment elicited a low growl from the Breton man, Blaise, and Braith gave a roll of her eyes. "When we were young, lover, Lars isn't a problem anymore."
"Well, this is her daughter, Leola," Aventus said, and Leola couldn't help but be flabbergasted as to why Aventus was introducing her to these bandits.
"Her daughter?" asked Braith, raising an eyebrow. "Who was the Dragonborn with?"
"Leola's father is the King," Aventus said, and Braith smirked.
"Of course," she replied. "Only the finest for the hero of Skyrim, right?"
"Braith?" said the Khajiit who stood at the Redguard's side, frowning. "Are we just going to stand here talking all day or are we going to make some gold? J'shadar likes gold…"
Braith was silent for a moment, closing her eyes as if to contemplate his request. She suddenly turned, plunging her dagger into the shoulder of the feline man beside her, who let out a pained wail. Leola quickly turned away as she saw the blood beginning to seep out of the wound.
"Braith!" Aventus exclaimed, stepping forward, but the Redguard quickly withdrew the dagger and pointed it at him.
"J'shadar," she said, addressing the Khajiit though she kept her gaze on Aventus, "you'd do well to head back to our camp and fix yourself up."
The Khajiit man nodded and began to slink away into the woods, clutching his bleeding shoulder. The Redguard smirked as she looked at Aventus.
"You're crazy," Aventus said.
"I'm flattered," Braith replied. "I've heard worse."
"Just tell us what you want and let us be on our way. We don't have all day to dawdle around with you," Aventus said, and the woman smirked thoughtfully, toying with one thick braid.
As Aventus and Braith spoke, Leola examined Blaise and the Argonian woman. The Breton had a large face scar, short hair, light stubble, and harsh features. He was focused on Braith and Aventus. The Argonian, meanwhile, was truly a fascinating being to look at. She was covered in smooth-looking green scales that seemed to shimmer in the sunlight, and she had a pair of small, slightly curved horns on the back of her head. It was a pity to Leola that such beautiful creatures were forced to resort to such means of living.
"Kajuxith," said Braith suddenly, and the Argonian quickly looked to the woman.
"Yes?" she asked in a low voice that had almost a hissing quality to it.
"Go check on J'shadar. Help him tend to his wounds and then get back to work. Blaise and I are heading to Riften," said Braith. Leola cringed. She didn't want the bandits to accompany them, regardless of how well Aventus knew them.
"Of course," said the Argonian woman, crossing the cobbled road and heading into the forest in the direction that the Khajiit had gone. That left Leola, Aventus, Sond and Bottar atop their horses with Braith and Blaise before them.
"We'll need a horse," said Braith, and Aventus frowned.
"Why would we give you one of our horses? You're probably just going to ride off with it," he said, and Braith laughed.
"Now, Aventus, I seem to recall owing you a favour, no?" she asked. "Consider this my repayment to you. This road has been crawling with bandits for the past few days. You got lucky stumbling on us first because we have no intention of killing you, but the others won't be so merciful. If we're with you, they won't dare attack."
"You owe me nothing," Aventus said. "You paid me."
"Ah, but what you did for me was worth more than gold," Braith replied. "Now, I can ride behind Blaise and I'm sure your princess here can ride behind one of you, so which horse will we be riding? You can keep it once we reach Riften, don't you worry."
"She can take mine," Bottar said, raising his hand voluntarily. "I don't mind."
"Very well," said Aventus, moving to mount his beautiful black horse. "Leola, do you want to ride with me?"
Leola nodded slightly, carefully climbing down off her honey-coloured horse and moving towards Shadowmere. She could feel the eyes of the bandits focused intently on her as she reached up and took Aventus by the hand, letting him help her up. She wrapped both arms firmly around his chest as Bottar climbed up on her horse. Sond took his own horse back and the two bandits mounted Bottar's speckled horse together.
"Let's get going, then," said Aventus, and as they had before, they took off.
"Aventus?" Leola whispered, her lips near his ear because of the position in which she sat behind him, and he turned his head slightly.
"Yes?" he whispered in response.
"Why does she say she owes you a favour? Who is she?" Leola asked him softly, still feeling uneasy about having bandits accompany them to Riften.
"She put out a contract on a rival within her group years ago," Aventus replied. "I was the one who happened to complete the contract."
"That's it? You helped a bandit?" Leola asked, and Aventus smiled slightly.
"Leola, our Brotherhood helps whoever prays to our Night Mother and pays us for our help," he replied. "We're not inherently good, nor are we evil. We serve our own cause, and that is Sithis and the Night Mother."
Leola nodded slightly. "But you help me," she said softly. "And Nazir rejected that contract on me."
"He did," Aventus said. "Only because he knew about our involvement, though."
Leola nodded slightly. She was fine with his answer. Braith didn't seem to mean them any harm – she was less sure about Blaise, but as Braith seemed to be the one wearing the pants in their relationship, she doubted that he would do anything without her consent.