Chapter 5

The next morning Katlyn awoke peacefully in her bed. Based on the amount of light in the room she supposed it was approaching noon. She closed her eyes again and stretched under the covers enjoying the feeling of the sheets on her bare skin. It was so rare that she got to sleep in and she relished every time she did. Her hand reached behind her for Brynjolf but felt nothing. Feeling slightly disappointed she couldn't snuggle against his warm body; Katlyn opened her eyes and looked around the room for him. She found him sitting at the table casually thumbing through one of her books. After a moment Brynjolf felt her eyes on him and looked up.

"Morning, lass," he grinned at her. "Sleep well?"

"mmhmm," she sprawled out on the bed happily, "and now I have the whooooole bed all to myself." Brynjolf shook his head at her amused.

"I didn't wake you cuz I figured you could use the rest after yesterday." Katlyn propped herself up on her elbow keeping the sheets over her chest.

"You let me sleep in? Oh Brynjolf," she said placing her other hand over her heart. "I think I love you." She said in a mock serious voice.

"Cut that out," Brynjolf snapped at her. "That word makes me nervous, even when you're kidding."

"What word, love?" She asked her eyebrows furrowing.

"Yes that one. It always ruins everything." Brynjolf muttered bitterly picking up an apple of the table and taking a bite. He chewed and made a face. "These aren't fresh," he complained setting it back down.

"Of course they're not fresh. I just got back last night, ya dolt." Katlyn rolled her eyes at him. "I've got some fresh vegetables in my bag. There might be enough to make some soup for lunch if you're hungry."

"That could be nice," He stroked his chin considering her offer, "would ya make some sweet rolls too, lass?"

"If you want someone to make you sweet rolls, get yourself a wife." Katlyn quipped climbing out of bed. Wrapped in the sheet, she went to the dresser and pulled out a clean set of the black Nightingale underclothes. "I know there are some potatoes in the cabinet. Start pealing them and I'll check on the rest of the stuff" She ordered as she dressed.

A short while later Katlyn added the last ingredient to the pot of vegetable stew was slowly cooking over the fire. "There, now it just needs to simmer for a while." Brynjolf nodded and backed away from the pot. He watched as she went over to her bag, pulled out a small leather bound book, and sat down cross legged on the bed. The book was Katlyn's journal where she kept a record of everything she did. As far as he knew she never let it out of her sight.

"How's that been going for you?" Brynjolf asked tilting his head at her book.

"Fine as far as I can tell." She said without looking up.

"No more blackouts? Remembering everything?"

"Not for a while. Definitely none since Mercer Frey."

"Good, good" Brynjolf nodded, "and your head, any more pain?" Katlyn shook her head.

"No, not for a long time actually. I think it might finally be healed."

Brynjolf took a breath to ask another question but Katlyn cut him off.

"Bryn." She said with one eyebrow arched warningly finally looking up at him. Brynjolf looked sheepish.

"Sorry, lass. I know I can be a bit protective of you." Katlyn's face softened.

"I know and I appreciate your concern. But the last thing I need is to be coddled. I am the Dragonborn after all."

The truth was Katlyn had very little memory of anything that had happened in her life before Alduin's attack on Helgen. The last thing she remembered clearly was waking up in a cart with three other men and a fractured skull. Based on the shape of the wound the healers had guess that the trauma to the back of her head was caused by a war hammer or something similar. She had no idea how much time had passed between sustaining the injury and when the healer had seen her but the bone in her skull had begun to heal on its own in the improper position. The healer had done all he could for her but Katlyn could still feel a slight indention near where her neck met her skull. Occasionally it pained her, especially when she wore helmets, hence her preference for hooded armor, but the pains were becoming less and less frequent.

But worse than that was what the incident had done to her memory. The healer suspected that whatever injured Katlyn had been enchanted with some sort of shock enchantment and its effects had interfered with the electrical impulses in her brain. When she woke up in the cart bound for execution in Helgen, she had no memory of anything other than her name. As time passed things slowly began coming back in flashes but she had no context for any of the memories. She could remember her childhood house but had no idea where it was. She could remember her father and mother's faces but not their names. She remembered other children but didn't know if they were friends, siblings, or what. What triggered the memories was also completely unpredictable. Once an innkeeper mentioned her recipe for clam chowder soup and suddenly Katlyn could hear her mother's voice bragging about making the best clam chowder in all of Tamriel.

The injury also seemed to affect Katlyn's ability to create new memories as well. After the first few times she'd woken up and not remembered anything she'd done the previous days Katlyn had decided to keep a journal of everything she did. If Katlyn ever had a 'blackout' as Brynjolf called them, where she couldn't remember what she'd done recently usually reading the account in the journal jogged her memory. But thankfully her blackouts had been becoming less and less frequent in the months since she'd joined the Thieves Guild.

Brynjolf was one of the few people who knew about her memory problems. She had begun keeping that information to herself after observing the change in people's behavior towards her upon finding out she had no memory of her childhood. Even though she was the Dragonborn and a capable warrior they somehow saw her as weak upon finding out. If there was one thing Katlyn hated it was being coddled and treated like a child.

Brynjolf kept an eye on the soup while Katlyn detailed her account of her trip to Windhelm. Katlyn paused quill in hand when she got to the part where she met Aventus. For the first time there was something she had done that she didn't want to put in the journal. Writing it down could incriminate her should her journal ever be read by anyone else, but more than that writing down what she had done would make it seem too real. Besides that was one night she wouldn't mind forgetting. Sighing, she flipped back a few weeks and began skimming old entries. One in particular made her pause.

"Brynjolf?" she called.

"Aye, lass?" he answered from the kitchen

"When was the last time I visited the Greybeards?" she asked reading the journal entry from four weeks ago.

"Maybe a week or so before Mercer. Why?" Katlyn nodded.

"I guess that's right. I just don't remember that trip." She bit her lip. Her lapses in memory were frustrating but getting upset at herself didn't help. Katlyn just tried to work through as best she could.

"What does it say?" Brynjolf asked fetching two bowls from the cabinet and ladling out some soup for them.

"It says Paarthunax told me I need to find something called an Elder Scroll in order to learn a shout that will help me defeat Alduin. I don't know one more measly shout is gonna help me bring down Alduin, but it says I might can find some information about where the Elder Scroll is located at the College of Winterhold. Did I mention any of that to you?"

"Who's Paarthunax again?" Brynjolf asked thoughtfully.

"The leader of the Greybeards."

"I don't remember you mentioning anything about an Elder Scroll, lass" Brynjolf scratched his chin. "I'm sorry. The soup is done by the way."

"No, don't be sorry." Katlyn closed her journal and put it aside. She joined him at the table where her bowl of steaming vegetable soup awaited her. "Honestly, I'm glad I can talk to you about this stuff. It really helps me and I don't feel like such a crazy person. And now after reading it again I do kinda vaguely remember something about and Elder Scroll."

"Well lass, if you need some time off from the Guild just ask." Katlyn nodded.

"I may have to take you up on that."

For a few minutes they both continued eating the soup in silence. Then a loud knock came from the door. Katlyn's brow furrowed. She never had visitors, well visitors other than Brynjolf.

"I'll see who it is" Brynjolf said standing up. She noticed as he subtly checked his knife before opening the door. Katlyn's heart stopped for a moment when she saw the man at the door was one of Riften's guards. Panicked thoughts about being arrested and having to fight her way out of the city raced through her head. She'd have a price on her head. Mercenaries and bounty hunters would be hunting her. After a moment Katlyn regained enough composure to notice the guard wasn't trying to arrest her. Instead he was merely talking to Brynjolf.

"A city wide notice has been sent out across Riften. The Dark Brotherhood committed a murder in our city last night and any and all citizens who have information or witnessed anything last night are asked to report it to the Jarl's steward immediately." The guard said in a tone that suggested he'd said those words a dozen times or so already that morning.

"The Dark Brotherhood? How do you know it was them?" Katlyn asked from behind Brynjolf, her voice a bit higher than she would have liked.

"It was clearly their work. It fit their M.O. perfectly: lock expertly picked, nothing else missing from the house, nobody else hurt other than the victim."

"Who was the victim?" Brynjolf asked.

"Grelod the Kind, do you know anybody who would want to do her harm?" The guard inquired looking suspiciously at the Guild Master.

"Aye, however most of them are under the age of ten." Brynjolf scoffed. The guard wasn't amused.

"As I said, anybody with relevant information needs to report it to the Jarl's steward right away. You two have a pleasant day." With that the guard left shutting the door behind him. Brynjolf let out a low whistle.

"The Dark Brotherhood in Riften: that's not something you hear of every day. Anyway we need to be heading to the Cistern. I've got some work to take care of and you need to report to Delvin. Come on" Not trusting herself to speak, Katlyn nodded silently and followed him.

XXXXXXXXX

The stone slab slid into place behind Katlyn as she emerged from the Thieves Guild secret entrance. She'd reported the completed numbers job to Delvin and her purse now felt pleasantly heavier. It was late afternoon and several of the merchants in the town square were beginning to pack up their stalls for the day as Katlyn walked past them on her way back to Honeyside. She enjoyed spending time down in the Cistern with her Guild family but since she'd acquired her own house sleeping underground in the damp stone room with little privacy no longer appealed to her.

Katlyn wanted to spend the evening figuring out what to do about this Elder Scroll she was supposed to be searching for. Through the course of her adventures she had amassed quite the collection of books and wondered if any of them held information about the scroll. Katlyn was so lost in thought as she passed through the streets she walked right into a passing courier nearly knocking him down.

"Oh shit, sorry." Katlyn blushed beneath her mask embarrassed at her lapse in grace. "Can I help you find someone?" She asked as the courier straightened up and checked that he hadn't dropped any letters.

"Actually, I've been looking for you. Got something I'm supposed to deliver, your hands only. Let's see here. . . yeah got this note."

"Who from?" She asked hoping it was another letter from the Greybeards revealing the location of a hidden word wall. Crawling through trap filled barrows and emerging with treasures and the knowledge of a new Thu'um was one of her favorite things in all of Skyrim.

"Don't know. Creepy fella, black robe. Couldn't see his face. Paid me a pretty sum of money to get that into your hands though." The courier handed her a sealed note. "Looks like that's it. Gotta go."

Before Katlyn could question him further about the origins of the note the courier turned and ran off. 'Those guys are always in such a hurry.' She thought shaking her head at his retreating figure. 'Now who on earth could this be from' Katlyn wondered breaking the note's seal and examined its contents.

Paralyzing, unyielding, and absolute terror like nothing she had ever felt before gripped Katlyn in the very core of her being. The note contained a black handprint and only two words:

"We Know"

Authors Note:XXXXXXX

Skyrim was my first roll playing game and I was so excited to jump in and play that I never really came up with a backstory for my character. Over time her lack of backstory sort of became her backstory, hope that's not too cliche.

Anyway, there a lot more of the story to come, but do let me know what you guys think of Katlyn and the story so far.