"So, seeing as I just bought your freedom, do you think you can tell me who made you do this?"

Asmund shifted uncomfortably.

"I can't tell you", he said, "if I do, he will... he said he'd... he would..."

Serana approached, "do you want some water?" she asked.

At Asmund's nod, she went to the kitchen, and then came back with a cup of water for the boy, which he took, thanked her for, and took a sip from.

"I can protect you", Nero began, "WE can protect you. If this... person is threatening you, we can keep you safe. Did this man force you to steal from me?"

Asmund looked straight up at Nero and nodded.

Nero and Serana exchanged a look. It was now confirmed.

"Asmund, I know that you're scared, you have every right to be. I don't blame you for what you did, you had no choice, seems to me. We will protect you from this man, stop him from ever harming you."

"It's not me he threatened."

Nero and Serana's eyes went a little wider, until Nero asked, "who has he threatened?"

Asmund looked up at Nero, "my friends. He said he'd hurt my friends."

"We can help you", said Serana, "stop this man from hurting your friends, but we need you to tell us everything."

Asmund looked at the pair of them, before taking another sip of water, a breath, and beginning.

"I'm a... a-an orphan, with the rest of them at Honorhall. My parents are... they were... soldiers. They went to fight in the Civil War and... they didn't..."

He took another sip of water.

"It's alright, take your time" said Serana.

"One day, as a kind of joke, we snuck out, me and Aventus, to go steal some wine. Aventus would cause a distraction, while I got the wine. He strated knocking over some stuff and saying some chanting to get the guards to catch him and everyone to watch, while I snuck behind a market stand and grabbed a bottle."

Nero raised an eyebrow and the kid's skills.

"No one saw me, except for this one man. This Breton man, I don't know his name."

"What did he look like?" asked Nero.

"He had long brown-grey hair. He always looked annoyed. He had a golden sword, and was dressed in black."

Nero tried to think of anyone he'd met matching that description.

"When he saw me, he took me to the side, and told me that I had a knack for thievery. He asked me if I wanted a job."

Asmund looked around.

"Don't worry", said Nero, "you're safe here.

The boy took another sip of water.

"Go on" said Nero.

The boy held the glass at his lap and continued.

"The man, he... he knew I was an orphan, said I was nothing. He said if I do a job for him, we'd be rich, if I didn't... he would have me taken away and thrown into a hole, along with all my friends."

Tears began running down Asmund's face, though he was trying to keep them back.

Serana went and put her arms around him.

"It's okay. It's okay."

The Housecarls had re-entered the room and heard the last of it. They now stood disarmed of their hard natures, and Nero joined them in standing and turned to them.

"Jordis, Iona, I need you to prepare a bed for the boy" he said to them, and they nodded in understanding. He then walked over to Asmund, whom Serana had now released. He went down on one leg and rested a hand on the kid's shoulder.

"No one's gonna hurt you or your friends while we're here, you have my word. You can sleep here tonight. Have you had anything to eat?"

Asmund shook his head, and Nero turned to Lydia.

"Go and make some soup for him. You like sweetrolls?"

The kid nodded with a hint of a smile.

"That makes all of us."

Whilst Jordis and Iona made a room ready for Asmund and Lydia brought him some soup, Nero and Serana went over by the door to the balcony to speak privately. They looked in at him drinking the spoons of soup while Lydia sat with him, before they turned to each other.

"What a day to find out you're pregnant, huh?" cracked Nero.

"Well I'm definitely looking forward to the teen years" topped Serana, to which they both laughed.

After a moment of silence, Serana finally broached the question, "so what are we gonna do about the boy?"

"I have a theory as to who exactly hired him, maybe... but there's only one day I can be sure."

"Okay, who?"

Nero was silent a moment before asking, "have you ever heard of the Thieves Guild?"

The several thousand-year-old pregnant vampire was silent for a moment. In her time since waking up, she'd had to get used to a few things of the modern day, like the existence of the Empire, some old towns and new ones, and the Dragons flying about. She hadn't heard of the thieves guild. Or maybe she had.

"Sounds... slightly familiar. Why?"

"Because it looks like they're who we're going to see."

Author's Notes:

AND I'M BACK! I've written a lot in my absence and am ready to get back to continuing this story! I apologise for the wait, but everybody needs a vacation! Even lazy slobbish nerd geek writers such as yours truly.

So! It may be the Thieves Guild that had a hand in this, and it was revealed that Nero has had... history with the Guild. He knows OF them, and what exactly his relationship is or was with them may come to light in the coming chapters.

I apologise if this one seems a little short, I just really wanted to get another chapter out and move straight on to writing the next one, because we're getting to the good stuff. You will lika the merchandise.

Characters: None new

Dragon language: None used

Thanks for reading, and again, pls leave a review!