Serana and Jordis stood looking up at the large hole in the second floor. A piece suddenly broke off, and fell onto the floor between them.
"How did you even do that?" asked Serana.
"Oh it wasn't me", replied Jordis, "when I saw him getting into the safe and he saw me, he threw one of those magic runes on the floor nearby. Must've done something wrong though, because it exploded as soon as he passed it."
"Right..." said Serana.
They stood there another moment.
Then Jordis suddenly turned to Serana.
"YOU'RE PREGNANT!?"
Serana, very surprised by Jordis, turned and jumped a bit, before summoning the power to speak.
"I... a little bit, yeah."
"That's amazing! Oh!"
Jordis embraced Serana, and Serana returned the hug.
"Why didn't you tell us?" she asked.
"We literally just found out."
"Oh, so you haven't gotten a Priestess of Mara to confirm it?"
"We haven't had time. But I'm pretty sure."
"How pretty sure?"
"Very" said Serana, with a smile.
Jordis embraced her again.
"So, how did you do it?"
Serana turned to her, "what?" she asked, going red, "you want to know how we did it?"
"NO no, not how you did it, as in... with your being a... you know..."
"Oh" Serana said, slightly relieved, "it's... kind of a long story. Let's just say I had some help from a... herbalist... of sorts."
"A herbalist?" asked Jordis.
"Of sorts" replied Serana.
"Well, it's a shame our thief friend had to intervene" said Jordis.
"Yeah, well as long as Nero catches him, then we'll be able to celebrate."
"Well not with any drinks for you" said Jordis, who laughed at Serana's comedic glare.
Suddenly, the other two Housecarls, Lydia and Iona, came up.
"We heard the commotion, what's going on?" asked Lydia.
Serana turned to her and explained the event, before describing how Serana was pregnant, which earned ecstatic excitement from Lydia and Iona who hugged Serana.
"Does Nero know?" asked Iona.
"Oh yeah, Nero knows."
"How'd he react when you told him?"
Suddenly, Nero came in through the front door, followed by two guards who had hold of a young boy, clad in brown armour, with blonde hair that fell down to just above his green eyes.
"In the chair" said Nero, and the boy was moved over to the chair and sat down. Everyone was slightly confused as to why the kid was in there.
"We'll have to take him to the dungeon soon, my Thane" said one of the guards.
"Just five minutes, and then he's yours."
"We'll be outside" said the other guard, before both turned and left, closing the door behind them.
Jordis walked over to the boy, hand on the handle of her sword. The boy looked up at her, as she went around next to him.
Serana went to her husband, hoping for some form of explanation.
"Nero", she began, "should I ask about the elephant in the room?"
Nero turned to her, "he's not that large" he replied.
Serana glared at him, "why have you brought him back here? Do you know him?"
Nero looked at the boy, "not... really, no."
He turned back to Serana, "it's a little complicated but I just need to speak to him."
"About?" Serana inquired.
Lydia came over.
"My Thane, I know you can be a little less temperamental when it comes to younglings but why did you bring him here?"
"Because I need to ask him some questions."
"About what? How to pay for the damages?" said Serana.
The boy looked around. The house was pretty much the same as it was when he was last in here. Small pieces of wood and rubble fell from the edges of the hole he'd made earlier. He still needed to refine his runes.
"A hunch", said Nero, "just going to ask him if he works for anyone."
Serana and Lydia were still confused when the boy made an attempt to get up, but just as quickly, Jordis grabbed him by the shoulder and forced him back down.
"I'd stay still if I were you" she said.
Nero walked over to the boy, while Serana followed to lean on a nearby table and Lydia went over to stand next to the boy opposite Jordis, while Iona stood behind him.
"What's your name, kid?" asked Nero.
The boy said nothing.
"... don't want to tell me?"
Nothing. The boy avoided Nero's eyes.
"Are your parents in town?" Nero asked.
The boy shifted uncomfortably, but stayed silent.
Jordis lost her patience. She grabbed the boy by his collar and yanked him up to eye level.
"Are you deaf? He asked you a question. Speak up now or I'll give you something to talk about!"
Nero grabbed Jordis' shoulder, "Jordis!"
She looked back at him, before reluctantly letting go and the boy sank back into the chair.
Nero figured. He was intimidated by the Housecarls; he kept looking around slightly at Lydia and Jordis.
"Give me and Serana a moment alone with him" commanded Nero.
The Housecarls looked at their Thane.
"But Ne-"
They saw on his face, it wasn't time to argue.
Eventually, they all turned and followed their orders, leaving Nero, Serana and the boy alone.
Nero grabbed a chair, and sat right in front of the boy, whilst Serana continued leaning on a table.
"Listen, kid. Those guards outside want nothing more than to take you to the dungeon and throw you in a rotten dark cell, feed you a crappy meal once a day for... I don't know how long, and forget about you. Assuming they ever remember to actually release you one day, your time in there is not going to be pretty. There are many worse Thanes than me who would have done so much worse by now due to their arrogant natures. I don't think a single one would stop the guards from doing their duty, let alone bring you into the same house you were robbing from."
"And the same house you put a hole in" added Serana.
Nero looked up at the hole, along with the boy, before he looked back and met eyes with Nero.
"It was five minutes about two minutes ago, and I can have them come in any time before then. So. Why don't you drop the whole silence act and speak?"
The boy kept looking at Nero a moment, arms crossed, before looking down and away, still saying nothing.
Nero sighed, "suit yourself. Enjoy prison, and the other criminals that'll be in there with you", he said as he got up and began heading for the door.
The boy looked up, and just as Nero was at the door,
"Asmund."
Nero stopped, and turned his head.
"What?"
The boy shifted a little, before finally looking up and saying, "my name is Asmund."
Nero met eyes with Serana a moment, before he turned and came back to his seat in front of the kid.
"Well, that's a start."
Asmund looked at Nero every now and again, continuing to try and avoid his gaze.
"How old are you Asmund?" Nero asked.
"... I'm fourteen."
Nero and Serana were both taken aback. Nero had guessed he wasn't too far from becoming a man, as did Serana. He must've seemed taller when he ran.
"Are your parents in town, Asmund?"
He shifted uncomfortably again, "no."
Nero looked at Serana, before back at the boy.
"Why were you here, Asmund? Why did you steal that gold?"
Asmund looked up at him. But said nothing.
"You punched that hole in the roof with a fire rune, right?" said Serana, "be it a... poorly constructed one."
The kid went a little red but nodded.
Nero stifled a laugh, "well that gold you stole is probably going to have to be used to patch that up, so I guess we're all losers today."
Asmund smiled a little.
"Did you know this house was mine?"
Asmund nodded.
"And did you know we'd be back from our honeymoon today?"
The blonde boy went red and shook his head.
Nero and Serana smiled.
"Think you need some practice at the whole Thief thing."
Nero's smile faded a little.
"Asmund. Did you do this for someone?"
The kid looked straight up at him, the smile completely gone.
"Did someone make you do this?"
The boy stayed quiet.
"Are you working for someone?"
Helooked up at Nero.
"... I can't" he said.
Both Nero and Serana now gave him complete and undivided attention.
"You can't? Why not?" asked Serana.
"... he'll... he said he'd..."
Nero moved a little closer, "who?"
Asmund looked up at the Dragonborn. Then suddenly the door to their house opened and the two guards outside came back in.
"Time's up, my Thane. We have to take him. It's the law."
They moved over to Asmund.
"I'll pay his fine."
They looked at Nero suddenly, "what? Wh... he..."
"He stole from me, so it's really my right to see him put in a dungeon. But I'm not pressing charges, and I'll pay his fine."
The guards looked at each other, before finally back the Dragonborn.
"100 Gold Septims he costs."
Nero smiled, and grabbed the same pouch that the boy was running off with earlier, and counted the gold to give to the guards. Once it was all there, the guards began to turn to leave. But just before they did,
"Thane Nero, we would advise against this, but the law is the law. You should convince him to avoid stealing anything from anyone else in the future, because we will catch him next time if he does."
With one final glare at Asmund, the guard finally joined his comrade and left, shutting the door.
"Well isn't that ironic?" said Nero, looking at Asmund, "the gold you stole bought your freedom."
Author's Notes:
Okay. Instead of making one massive chapter, I'll just divide it into two pieces. Which means the next part should come out pretty very soon, hopefully.
I'm going on holiday pretty soon and I'm unsure if I'll be able to post during then but hopefully if I can I will! But just in case I'll try to get out what I can!
Anyway. Nero is slightly... ohh I forgot the word, basically he's wondering if Asmund is part of a certain group, and/or if he was forced or made to do what he did by someone. Which hopefully we'll find out in the next chapter!
Dragon Language: None used
Characters:
Asmund: a blonde haired, green eyed teenager who appears to know magic (to some degree) and was stealing from Nero. But why?
Thanks for reading and please leave a comment, I'd love to hear your reviews so I can better my writing and general storytelling! If it's mean I won't take it to heart! (At least not openly, inside I'm a little boy).