Chapter 16

Rioghnan wanted to tell her that what he actually wished to do was to stay and observe the strange Altmer girl who had piqued his curiosity. But he was fairly certain that Nilsie was the sort to go running right up to her or do some other mortifying thing if he even pointed her out, so he refrained.

"Er - I'm just sort of …watching whatever they're doing here. What are you doing?"

"Boring. Only a High Elf would watch this," Nilsie scoffed in mock disgust. "I'm going down to the docks. Delvas has nicked some sujamma from his father and we're all going to have some." She shot him a mischievous grin.

"Carry on then, I'm quite sure they wouldn't want me coming along anyway." Rioghnan retorted. He'd never understood the interest in such things. His mother occasionally enjoyed a glass of shein before bed, and he'd tried a sip before and found it absolutely repulsive.

Nilsie swayed her body back and forth a bit, but made no attempt to depart. She silently eyed Rioghnan for a few seconds. "Who cares what they want? You should come."

"I don't particularly want to. Sujamma? It's right disgusting, isn't it?"'

Nilsie giggled. "You don't drink it for the taste, silly boy."

"Then why drink it? Seems a bit pointless…"

Nilsie rolled her eyes in apparent exasperation. "Just come on. I'll show you." She held out her hands as she had the night before. Rioghnan glanced back at the assembly of mages, hoping for another look at the redheaded girl, but instead once again catching the eyes of the old, white haired mer upon him. The discomfort at finding he was still being studied by this stranger made him elect to reach for Nilsie's small, grey hands. She grinned and pulled him in closer, wrapping her arms tightly around his waist and resting the side of her face against the front of his shirt. He looked around, a bit taken aback by her sudden embrace, before awkwardly clasping his long arms around her tiny frame.

After what Rioghnan felt was an uncomfortably long time, Nilsie released him from her embrace. She gazed up at him for about half a second, before abruptly looking away. "Sorry. I'm just… I'm glad you're coming." She mumbled, smiling down at her feet.

As they made their way to the docks, Rioghnan was well aware that he was likely doing something of which his mother would strongly disapprove. 'So long as I'm home by midday…' he thought, 'she'll never know where I actually was.'

Nilsie led him along the waterfront, onto the docks, and up to a small cargo vessel. She hopped onto the deck and motioned for him to follow. He instinctively scanned the area before stepping onto the boat, just in case his mother had decided to keep an eye on him.

Nilsie pounded on the door to the boat's cabin. "Let me in you feckin' s'wits!"

The door creaked open, revealing a pair of red Dunmer eyes, darkness obscuring the rest of the face. Nilsie grabbed the door and pulled it wide open, in her typical brash manner. Past her head, Rioghnan could make out several more pairs of crimson eyeballs staring out from the shadows. A brief silence was broken by a young, male voice. "What's he doing here?"

"He's with me." Nilsie began to push her way into the cabin.

Rioghnan hung back, consciously attempting to seem undaunted.

"He can fuck right off, aye. We don't allow no Altmer muffs round here," another, slightly deeper voice chimed in.

"Oh stop, ya s'wits. He's alright." Nilsie said.

A third voice joined the fray. "Piss off, freak!"

"I think your mum's lookin' for ya," another unseen heckler chimed in, inciting a round of hearty laughter.

Rioghnan felt a searing rage building inside him. He'd known he shouldn't have come. He'd expected this, but the expectation didn't serve to dull the sting of the insults being hurled out from that little square of darkness. He wished he knew some sort of powerful magic – he'd blow that pile of shite right out of the water. Burn it to ashes with every one of those fetchers inside. But he didn't. He'd never learned a single spell; never wielded any sort of weapon. He was aware that even though he stood head and shoulders above all of them, their numbers would allow them to easily win any fight he might start. And that would be the end of his new freedom, because not much else would send his mother into a crazy, over protective panic like having her precious boy arrive home covered in blood and bruises. He curled his hands into fists so tight that his nails cut into his palms, clenched his jaw, and stepped back onto the dock.

"Fine, you can fuck off, the lot of you. Arseholes." Nilsie slammed the door hard and Rioghnan reached out to help her back onto the dock.

"It's alright. You can stay. I'll just… go back to watching the mages." Rioghnan shrugged, feigning indifference. He forced a tight lipped half-smirk. The sound of laughter and shouted abuses still echoed from within the wooden vessel.

"No, fuck these shitehawks." Nilsie turned abruptly and marched over to the cleat where the boat was lashed to the docks. She unwound the rope and shoved the boat away with one foot. "Have fun on your little cruise, n'wahs," she screamed as the boat drifted into the current.

Rioghnan watched with a mixture of wonder and apprehension as five grey faces popped out of the hatch one by one; he witnessed the expressions of confusion turn to horror as they realized they were floating away down the Odai, towards the Inner Sea. The shock he felt at his companion's actions prevented him from finding amusement in their predicament.

Nilsie, on the other hand, let out a maniacal cackle and gestured offensively at the helpless Dunmer youths as the boat bobbed ever further away.

"Aren't you worried what they'll do to you when they get back?" Rioghnan inquired, still following the boat with his eyes.

Nilsie laughed. "No. My father's a Redoran guard. They know better than to do anything to me. If they tried, I'd rat them all out for everything they've done." She turned to Rioghnan. "And fuck the lot of them, anyway. That was a load of guar shite. I'll admit; I used to think you were weird as well. But I'd never be like that. It's not your fault your mum won't let you out of her sight."

"Well, she did today…" Rioghnan smiled. "So. What'll we do now?"

After pondering this briefly, Nilsie replied, "I know - follow me."

Rioghnan looked back at the river several times as they strode away, wondering what would become of the boat full of Dunmer youths that had, at this point, drifted out of sight. He hadn't much experience with any kind of water vessel, and he was a bit worried for them, seeing as the unpopulated areas of Vvardenfell were home to quite a few dangerous and deadly creatures, not to mention the hordes of wandering criminals about which his mother had often warned him. Those kids were certainly obnoxious, but he wasn't sure he actually wanted them to die. He secretly hoped they'd be found and punished by their parents instead.

Nilsie led him into a narrow alley between the rows of buildings on the wealthier side of town. Presently, she crouched behind a stack of crates, next to three large urns that were lined up against the mud and stone wall. "Stay down," she whispered. "Don't let the guards even see that you're here."

Rioghnan ducked behind the crates just as a Redoran guard in full armor marched past the opening at one end of the alley. "What are we doing here?" He asked quietly, becoming a bit concerned as to his companion's intentions.

"Getting some money to go to lunch," Nilsie replied with a devious grin. She deftly lifted the lid on an urn and stuck her arm in all the way up to her shoulder. "Bah! Empty!" After a quick glance around, she proceeded to repeat the process on the next urn.

"Nilsie. Stop. I don't want to do this," Rioghnan hissed, his heart rate beginning to accelerate a bit.

"Pshhh! I do it all the time. These fetchers don't even know they've left gold in here. They never notice it's gone!"

Rioghnan considered just getting up and walking off. He was terrified of being caught, as this would be yet another reason for his mother to lock him away once again.

"Ah!" Nilsie pulled out a handful of gold coins, stuffing them into the pockets of her clothing before going in for another excavation.

Rioghnan sighed and leaned the side of his head against one of the crates. "You're mad."

"Oh, look! Here, you can have this." She tossed him a small, shiny object on a thin metal chain. Rioghnan examined it. It was some sort of amulet, which had a strange, shimmery glint to it when struck by the light.

"I don't want it." Rioghnan thrust it back at her. He was suspicious that it contained magic of some kind, and with his mother's anti-magic stance, he was not about to carry such a thing around.

Nilsie rolled her eyes and crammed it into her pocket. "Alright, ya weird elf. Let's go eat."