Goldenglow

"So this is Goldenglow," Kathryn said. "It's smaller than I expected."

Aila had to agree. The way Brynjolf described it, she had expected a great mansion resting upon an island. In actuality, Goldenglow was connected by bridges, spread across three islands. On one lay the estate, larger than most houses, but Aila still found it's size disappointing. On another was the bee farm. Aila could see the hives from her hiding place. Kathryn bought a spell tome specially for this mission. It was very simple; all it did was spout flames, but it would get the job done. The third island didn't appear to have any real use. There were no structures or buildings, only flowering trees and blossoming bushes. It seemed it was only there to look pretty. All three island, however, were crawling with mercenaries.

From the pretty island, there was a bridge connecting it the shore of Lake Honrich. Just a little ways away from this bridge, Aila and Kathryn were hiding in the woods. "I don't see any way in," Aila said.

"We could always just swim," Kathryn suggested.

Aila groaned. "I was afraid you would say that."

"What, you don't like swimming?"

"Swimming's fine, it's the getting my armour soaked that I have a problem with."

"Well, do you have a better idea?"

Aila vainly tried look for a way across that didn't include the bridge or water. She sighed. "No. I don't."

"Come on, I'm sure it won't be that bad."

They made their way to the beach, taking care not to be seen, using the cover of night to their advantage. Kathryn went in first. She stepped in the water and waded her way across the lake. When the water was chest high, she turned back to Aila. "Come on," she called.

Aila took a tentative step into the water before quickly pulling back. "The water's freezing!"

"It's either this or hacking through a bunch of mercenaries," Kathryn reminded her.

Aila grumbled something unintelligible and, before her resolve collapsed, walked out into the water. She gasped as the bitter-cold liquid swarmed around her legs, soaking through her armour. By the time she reached Kathryn the water was too deep for her to touch, and they both continued on swimming to the island with the bee farm. They swam under water, only coming up every moment or so for air. That way, there was less chance of being seen.

After several minutes of the agonizing swim, they had finally reached the island. Just a little ways away from where they reached shore, they saw what they were looking for. "This must be the tunnel Vex mentioned," Kathryn said. Aila nodded, her teeth chattering.

It was a circular opening, with a somewhat perilous-looking ladder leading down it. They climbed down steadily and entered the tunnel. Once they reached the bottom, Kathryn cast a Candlelight spell so they could see. Aila, shivering all the while, pulled her quiver off her back. She took out the arrows and turned it upside-down. Water came pouring out. "Now all my arrows are going to get rusted," She complained, as she put them back in the quiver.

"You can always get more," Kathryn said. "Come on, we should probably keep moving."

"Wait." Aila pulled Kathryn close and wrapped her arms around her. Almost immediately, she felt the cold begin to recede. "We're safe for now. Let's just rest a moment."

Kathryn looked hesitant before she realized what Aila wanted. "Okay," she said.

Aila was incredibly grateful for Kathryn's unusual warmth. She stopped shivering and soon began to feel warm again. They held each other silently for a while before Kathryn said, "How did we get into this mess?"

"We jumped into a freezing-cold lake in the middle of night," Aila offered.

"No, I meant with the Guild."

Aila looked at her. "What do you mean?"

"Well... we left Riverwood meaning to go to Winterhold so we could enter the College. But somehow we ended up in Riften, as newly initiated members of the Thieves' Guild. How did that happen?"

"Things rarely go as planned," Aila said.

"I certainly didn't expect this, though. And I didn't thieving would come so easily for you. I would have thought that you'd be too... well, scared."

"I was at first," Aila said, thinking back to the first time she stole something. "I went the longest time without stealing. I tried my best to get by on what I had, but it wasn't enough. When I begged, I never got more than three septims a day, if I was lucky. Eventually, the hunger got the best of me, and I decided to steal something. It was only an apple, but it was the best apple I've ever had." She smiled slightly. "I still remember taking it."

Kathryn held her tightly. "Oh, Aila. I can't imagine what it was like for you."

"It wasn't always so bad. Honestly, the worst part was not having anyone else with me. Nobody wanted me around. Eventually I got used to stealing. And then I learned to enjoy it. But what about you? You didn't want to be a thief at first, but after we joined you didn't have a problem with it. You seem to particularly like the jobs where you have to intimidate people."

Kathryn shrugged. "It grew on me, I guess."

"I guess that makes sense," Aila said.

Kathryn gave her a quizzical look. "How so?"

"In Riverwood you were hated and shunned. Maybe this is your way of getting revenge."

Kathryn thought about that. "Maybe. I was thinking it was more because of my lycanthropy, though."
Aila raised an eyebrow. "What does being a werewolf have to do with it?"

"How do I explain this...?" Kathryn went silent for a moment, trying to find the words. Aila waited patiently. "My lycanthropy gives me a very strong urge to... dominate is the only word I can think of. Naturally, I'm not going to go around beating people into submission, so I guess taking on those type of jobs is the closest I can get to satisfying the urge."

Aila looked at her worryingly. "Kat... tell me the truth, how hard does it get to control yourself?"

Kathryn smiled at her reassuringly "Don't worry about me. I can hold back these urges well enough. Instead, you should worry about our job. You should be warm enough by now, and we need to get going."

Aila smirked at her. She had actually warmed up quite a while ago, but she didn't want to leave Kathryn's arms so she didn't say anything. "Alright, you got me." Aila also noted how Kathryn had evaded her question and changed the subject. She didn't try to change it back. If Kathryn wasn't telling her something then there had to be a good reason. And there were more pressing matters at the moment. Perhaps she would ask again later.

Aila untangled herself from Kathryn and looked around the tunnel they were in. It was dark, and, if not for the Candlelight spell, they would not be able to see very well. As they made their way through the tunnel, Aila asked, "Where do you think we'll be able to find the information we're looking for?"

"Well if I was Aringoth, I would keep it locked up. Maybe in a safe?"

"So we're looking for a safe?"

"Most likely."

"I hope I have enough lockpicks."

Kathryn stopped suddenly and held out her arm. "Wait." She summoned a mini-blizzard in her hand and stopped to listen. Just then a skeever came running at them. It wasn't much of a fight. Kathryn threw an Ice Spike at it, and that was the end of that.

"Ugh. Disgusting little rodents," Aila said. They found many other skeevers in the tunnel. Not one of them proved to be the least bit challenging. Whether from Kathryn's magic or Aila's bow, they all ended up the same. Dead.

At last they had reached the end of the tunnel, and they climbed up the ladder leading out. Aila was expecting it to take them somewhere inside the house. Instead, it took them just outside the backdoor of the estate. For some reason, there were no guards around this entrance. Their lucky day. Kathryn tried to pull open the door. When that didn't work, she tried pushing. "Damn," she said. "It's locked."

"Let me see," Aila said. She grabbed a lockpick out of one of her many pockets and inserted it into the lock. It broke almost instantly. "This might take a while. Make sure no one is coming."

"Right," Kathryn said.

It was a very difficult lock. They were nearly caught once, but Kathryn was able to hear the guard coming, and they managed to hide themselves before they were seen. By the time Aila finally got the door open, she was nearly out of lockpicks. Aila opened the door just slightly and peeked. No guards. She stepped inside and quietly closed the door after Kathryn.

They searched the first floor, but they found nothing but mercenaries. Most of them weren't even doing their job, but sitting around a table playing cards. A couple were still patrolling the halls, but were easy to avoid. They were oblivious as long as the two stayed silent and out of sight. After they finished searching the first floor Kathryn suggested that they split up. "You search the second floor and I'll search the basement," she whispered.

Aila was about to protest, but she stopped herself. She had no real reason to argue. It was a good idea. They had less chance of getting caught than if they were together, and they would likely find where what they were looking for sooner. "Alright."

Aila headed up the stairs, while Kathryn headed down.

The hall was empty. Vex had said this place was "locked up tighter than a miser's purse" but most of it seemed to be empty. The guards were excessively lax. As she turned a corner, Aila saw a guard leaning against the wall. Startled, she quickly returned behind the corner. Her heart raced. Slowly, she mustered up the courage to take a discreet peek. He wasn't moving and his head was down. He looked asleep, but she couldn't be sure. There wasn't any way around him. Aila made a small knock on the wall.

The guard didn't stir. She did it again, a bit louder this time. Still, he did not move. She took a tentative step out and revealed herself. If the guard was awake he would had definitely saw her, but he made no movements. Aila cautiously tip-toed her way past him. When she was close, she saw that his eyes were closed, and he was indeed asleep. Another stroke of luck. She opened up the door on the end other the hall and let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding.

"Worthless mercenaries."

Aila whipped around and came face to face and Bosmer, "You... you must be Aringoth," she said.

"And you're obviously one of Mercer's lackeys. I knew neither he nor Maven would let me get away with this, but I didn't have a choice."

"Look," Aila said. "I just want to know why you stopped supplying Maven and the Guild. Tell me and I'll leave." She left out the part about burning down his bee hives.

"Ha! I may as well slit my own throat while I'm at it. If I give you the key to that safe, I'll be hunted down for the rest of my life."

So there is a safe, Aila thought. "Forget it, I'll just open it myself."

"No!" Aringoth screamed. "I won't let you ruin everything I've worked so hard for!" He pulled out a dagger and came at Aila.

He slashed at her, and she couldn't react in time. She cried out in pain as blood started to flow from her arm. Aringoth came at her again, but this time she was ready. She pulled out her own dagger and blocked his attack, doing her best to ignore the pain in her arm. As he continued to assault her, she blocked and dodged all his attacks. I need to get away from him. How she was going to do that, she had no idea.

The pain in her arm was accentuating. Each movement grew more difficult to carry out and produced greater consequences. As she raised her arm to block another attack, the pain became momentarily unbearable, and her blade was knocked out of her hand as it connected with his. She scrambled to retrieve it, but Aringoth kicked her legs out from under her, and she fell to the ground with a loud thud. Her arm was screaming.

"You can't do this to me!" Aringoth yelled. "I won't let you!" He jumped on top of her, and Aila just barely managed to grab his hands before he plunged the dagger into her chest. She pushed back with all her strength, but the dagger still inched closer to her. She wasn't strong enough. She was too weak. And that could mean her death. She desperately reached out for her dagger, but it was too far out of her reach. Aringoth lifted his arm abruptly and tried again to stab her. Aila was able to push his arm away just in time, and the dagger imbedded itself in the wooden floor below her. As hard as she could, she kicked him off her and jumped back onto her feet. Aringoth yanked the dagger out of the floor, and Aila pulled her bow off her back and nocked an arrow.

"Don't move!" she warned. She tried her best to mask the fear in her voice. "Just... just give me the key, or... or..."

"Or what?" Aringoth hissed. "You won't kill me. That's not your way."

There came a sudden knock at the door and a voice. "Aringoth, somethin' wrong in there? Thought I heard some noises."

The guard. Aila turned her head toward the door for a brief moment. That was mistake. When she turned back, Aringoth was charging at her, dagger raised high. Her instincts kicked in before her mind even had time to process. Aringoth fell to the floor with and arrow in his chest. Oh Gods.

The voice at the door came again. "Aringoth? Ya in there?"

She needed to hide. She ran to a nearby wardrobe and climbed inside. She heard the rattle of the doorknob, and she knew the guard was coming inside. She covered her mouth, not trusting herself to stay quiet, when she heard the guard's voice again, "Oh, shit..." followed by a rapid footfall leading away from the room.

When she was sure it was safe, Aila crawled out of her hiding space. She looked at Aringoth, blood seeping out of the hole in his chest. Oh, Gods. She had never killed anyone before. Only some animals. Some skeevers, and even a wolf once, but never a person. She had to choke back a gag. I need Kathryn. She got up to leave, but then stopped and turned back to Aringoth. The key. Kathryn had likely found the safe they were looking for. They were almost out of lockpicks, and they would never get it open without that key.

She steeled herself and walked over to the corpse. She knelt down beside him and reached into his pocket. When at last she felt the metal object, she pulled it out and ran out of the room. At the bottom of the stairs, she could hear the guards arguing amongst themselves.

"We need to find the killer!" one was saying.

"Why?" said another. "Aringoth is already dead, there's no point in even staying here anymore."

"Shouldn't we at least..."

The voices died away as Aila entered the basement. She wandered around until she finally found Kathryn struggling with the lock on a safe. She ran toward her, and Kathryn, noticing her arrival, turned around and said, "Oh hey, I'm glad you're..." She was silenced by Aila crashing into her and nearly knocking her to the ground. "Hey, what's wrong? And what happened to your arm?" Aila didn't answer and only held on to her as tightly as she could. "Maybe now isn't the best time," Kathryn said. "But look, I found the safe. Only problem is, I can't open it. You're a lot better at lockpicking than me, can you try?"

Aila held out her hand. "Key," she said.

Kathryn grabbed it out of her hand and looked at it, amazed. "How did you get this?" Again, Aila didn't answer. "Hmm. Well, I suppose it doesn't matter." She put the key in the lock and turned it. The safe clicked open, and Kathryn reached inside and took out a parchment. "This is it? All that for a piece of paper?" She broke the seal and started reading. "Oh."

"What is it?"

"Later. Right now, we need to get out of here." Kathryn folded up the paper and put it in her pocket. "There was a guard down here earlier, but he ran upstairs a little bit ago. I was afraid you got caught." She touched Aila's bleeding arm. "Perhaps you did." She looked at it closer now. "This doesn't look too bad. What happened?" she asked again.

"Let's... let's just go. I want to get out of here as soon as possible."

Kathryn looked at her worryingly for a moment, before she sighed. "Alright, but first let's take care of your arm." She reached into her armour and pulled out a bandage. When she finished, she said, "Now, there's another entrance to the tunnel we were in earlier here. Come on."

Aila followed her to a trapdoor that did indeed lead to the tunnels under Goldenglow. If they had found this entrance before, it would have saved them a lot of trouble. They stumbled around in the darkness for a while until they found where they had initially entered. They emerged onto the island with the bee farm. Carefully watching for any guards, the two made their way to the middle of the island, where all the hives were.

"Okay," Kathryn said. "Here it goes." Her hands suddenly lit ablaze, and she thrust out her arm. A steady stream of flames poured from her palm and lit one of the bee hives on fire. She shifted her arm and moved the stream to another bee hive and then another, before she closed her hand and doused the flames. "There. Three hives."

Aila watched as the fire burned. She could hear the frantic buzzing of bees as their homes were turned to ash. Unbidden, memories of Helgen entered her mind. The colossal, black dragon flying above, stone and fire raining down. She shuddered and moved closer to Kathryn.

Suddenly she heard shouting. "Uh-oh. We'd better go," Kathryn suggested. They ran away from the hives. They were near the water when an arrow planted itself a few feet from Aila. They had been spotted. "Care for another swim, darling?" Kathryn said, as she jumped into the water.

Under normal circumstances, Aila would have laughed. Instead she only thought, This day just keeps getting worse.

She dived in after Kathryn. Swimming was made much more difficult by her arm, not to mention the cold, but she kept her body moving. Suddenly her leg erupted in excruciating pain. Her rhythmic swimming motions were interrupted and she tried to breathe, her lungs finding nothing but water. Her mind panicked, and she desperately tried to reach the surface. She couldn't. Her leg was in too much pain to move, and her arm was detrimental as well. She was drowning.