Fate's Games
(A/N: Third up today. Finally, the Brynjolf oneshot requested quite a while ago now. Here's hoping that reviewer is still reading this story. This will be sort of continued in the next oneshot I'm posting. Like I said, I'm trying harder to link the oneshots together as I'm planning a larger project.)
The Thieves Guild
Riften had never caught her attention before. Rugged streets, rough looking people; but it had merchants if nothing else, and provided a whole new territory to work over for gold and valuables. She'd worked independently, mostly. Thieving came as easily as breathing air to her, you see. Her mother had been a thief and had taught her daughter well. In general she was a good person—at least she liked to think so—but stealing was her exception. In Skyrim it wasn't hard to understand why she'd sunk to it. It wasn't easy to earn money in a war-torn land.
"Never done an honest day's work for all that coin you carry, eh lass?" a voice said to her from behind. She started and turned curiously. There behind her stood a red haired man. He was very tall, and very handsome. She blushed ever so slightly.
"Excuse me?" she questioned.
"I have a nose for these things," he bragged, a small smirk coming to his lips.
She shifted awkwardly from foot to foot. "My wealth is none of your business," she replied, showing her defiant side. It came up more often than not, but she hardly cared.
"That's where you're wrong, lass. It's very much my business," he replied. One day she would look back on this moment, and she would know that in that second, with those words, she had been hooked like a fish; and it wasn't the promise of vast wealth that drew her.
ES
It hadn't been long before she'd learned of his affair with Tonilia and the drama surrounding that whole situation. She was jealous, this she wouldn't deny, and in fact toyed with the idea of snagging Vekel away from the woman. Vekel had proven an unobtainable target, his loyalty not once wavering from Tonilia. It had agitated her as much as it impressed her. Most men would have leapt at the chance for revenge such as that, even if nothing came from it. Her respect for Vekel had certainly gone up, but it had gotten her nowhere with the target she wanted. Brynjolf only watched her attempts to woo the man in amusement, not jealousy. That amusement as opposed to what she wanted to see burned her all the more.
"What are you looking at?" she testily bit at him after another brush off from Vekel.
"Give it up, lass. The man's a wall," Brynjolf said.
"If only you had been so sturdy," she insulted.
"I like that fire, lass," Brynjolf said, eyes sparkling in amusement. "Never lose it."
ES
She had done it! It had taken a few months, but she had done it! The Thieves Guild was on its way back, though slowly, and she was being praised amongst the others. She had gained the respect of almost all, Mercer Frey included… But there was also a sort of resentment in that man. That resentment she didn't trust. She watched him cautiously. All at once, though, arms were wrapped around her midsection from behind. She smiled softly, Mercer forgotten, and leaned back into his embrace. "Mmm, Brynjolf," she purred.
"We owe our existence to you," he murmured silkily back. "If only there was some way to repay your efforts."
"You're becoming bold with your flirtations," she remarked to him, turning around and smiling slyly. "You know how dangerous that can be. Your words drip with honey. One day you may get stung for it."
Gently he kissed her. It wasn't a romantic kiss, he told himself, just a friendly peck… on the lips… that lasted about three seconds before they pulled apart… "I haven't yet, lass," he replied.
"I could just be toying with you, you know," she whispered, playing with his clothes absently.
"Perhaps you are… but it's a game I won't regret playing when it's over," he replied, grinning.
"Oh you are good," she remarked admiringly.
"The best," he said, drawing back. She was more than a little annoyed at his separating from her, she wouldn't hesitate to admit.
ES
Her adventure had only just begun. She had received a message from Maven Black-Briar herself. For a thief there was no greater compliment to one's ability than to be asked for specifically by the woman who held Riften and the Thieves Guild in the palm of her hand. From there the journey had only spiralled, and before she knew it she had been caught up in a quest unlike anything she had done before. This was life and death, and she had almost lost the game this round.
She'd known Mercer wasn't to be trusted, she'd known it… Now she was here, thanking the woman she'd been hunting—Karliah she believed the name was—for saving her life. Karliah told her everything; about Gallus, about how she had been framed, about how she had had to flee, and the young woman felt nothing but pity for the Dark Elf. She'd vowed to help and Karliah had told her the plan. She didn't even hesitate. Without a thought she said, "I'm in." Karliah smiled, and with a last goodbye they had parted ways.
ES
"She was killed in the tomb," Mercer said to a shocked speechless Brynjolf.
"No…no, that can't be right," Brynjolf said in denial, not even meeting Mercer's eyes as he desperately tried to tell himself that it was a lie, that somehow, someway, she had gotten out.
"I'm sorry, Brynjolf. I know how much she'd come to mean to you," Mercer gently said, placing a hand on Brynjolf's shoulder. Brynjolf looked up at him, a moment of uncertainty and hurt flashing through his eyes. Mercer left and he was alone. Was this his fault, he wondered? Was this punishment for what he and Tonilia had done…? But why her…? Why her…? He closed his eyes tightly, willing away the pain he felt. He looked towards the entrance to the Ragged Flaggon, willing her to come in… She never did… She never did… Why did it so hurt him to realize she never would…? Swiftly, wordlessly, he left, Delvin, Dirge, and Vekel watching pityingly after him.
"Will he be okay?" Dirge questioned Delvin uncertainly.
Delvin was silent. Finally he replied, "Let Brynjolf mourn as he sees fit. Time will tell."
ES
He couldn't believe his eyes. There she was; an apparition who had risen from the grave. It was her. It was her! She was alive! His joy was overshadowed by suspicion, though, as he noted who she was with. Karliah. But even still, he wanted to run to her, to take her into his arms and spin her in the air, cheering her return. He wanted to hold her close and never let go, to kiss… he reeled himself quickly in. Since when had he begun to think of her in a romantic light, he wondered? Perhaps from the start, he soon realized.
"You'd better have a damn good reason for bringing her here," he said; his first words to his protégé, his obsession, since the goodbye they'd shared the night she'd gone off to what Mercer had claimed was her death. He could have kicked himself for the greeting. She never got a chance to reply. Karliah stepped in quickly.
The next thing he knew Mercer's plan was in his hands, Karliah had told them to meet her in a certain location, they had gone, and he was now a Nightingale, a group he'd thought to be a myth up until that moment. That the Dragonborn had been initiated a Nightingale wasn't a surprise, gods knew she deserved all the praise and glory in the world, but him? Why him? It hardly mattered. There was no going back now, and just like that they found themselves whisked away on another portion of this quest; this time to track Mercer.
ES
Nothing had terrified him more than the moment he realized that she had been left to face Mercer alone. He could do nothing for her, forced by some spell to attack Karliah instead. Mercer had almost killed her before she'd managed to get one final hit on him, bringing him down just before he would have ended the heroine. Even in her weakened state she'd wasted no time in collecting the Eyes of the Falmer. The next moment he was there at her side, embracing her tightly. "I thought I was going to lose you," he said.
She smiled softly, holding him back. "I'm still here," she replied.
"We're not free yet," Karliah gravely stated. All at once water was pouring down from every direction, flooding the room.
"There's no way out!" Brynjolf exclaimed in alarm.
"There has to be!" the Dragonborn exclaimed in fear. As the water rose, though, and as they drew nearer and nearer to the roof, that hope began to fade.
"Not like this," Karliah begged, desperately searching the walls and the roof for any way of escape.
The Dragonborn dove under and began swimming, desperately searching. All at once she spotted a hole and her eyes widened. Swiftly she broke the surface. "Karliah, Brynjolf!" she called. She caught her breath in fear, paling. She couldn't see them anymore! "Karliah, Brynjolf!" she screamed. She dove under swiftly, hoping to spot them, but she saw nothing. She couldn't stay here waiting. She swam for the hole and escaped to freedom.
ES
She coughed, pulling herself onto the solid ground. She stood once more, looking back in fear. "Karliah, Brynjolf!" she called a third time.
"I'm here, Dragonborn," Karliah said, breaking the water's surface and swimming towards the shore. She climbed onto solid ground and stood next to the Dragonborn, choking for air.
"Where's Brynjolf?" the heroine fearfully questioned, eyes widening in alarm.
"He isn't here? I thought he had followed you!" Karliah exclaimed fearfully. The two women gasped, looking back at the water.
"No… No! Brynjolf! Bryn!" the Dragonborn cried. "We have to go back for him!"
"Wait…" Karliah began. Before she could continue, though, the other woman had dived back into the water.
The heroine swam, searching adamantly for him. Where was he? Where was he? She saw no sign of him. She stayed under as long as she could, but was soon forced to return. She broke the surface of the water coughing and gasping. Karliah hurried to her and pulled her up. "I-I can't find him," the Dragonborn said.
"I'm so sorry…" Karliah sympathetically, sadly, said. She knew, you see, that if he hasn't come up yet, he never would. Eyes filling with dismay the Dragonborn looked up at her. He couldn't be gone, he couldn't… Miserably she bowed her head, willing back the tears she felt burning in her eyes.
ES
"You underestimate me, Karliah," an all too familiar voice suddenly said. Brynjolf! The two women spun quickly.
"You're alive!" Karliah exclaimed. The Dragonborn didn't bother to speak. Instead she just raced to the man, hugging him tightly.
"It's all right, lass. You know me. Always lucky," Brynjolf softly said, gently hugging entwining his fingers in her hair.
"Next time keep your eyes on me," she replied sharply and angrily.
"I've never taken them off of you since the day we first met," he admitted.