Like a thief in the night, Nessa stole into Whiterun, but it did her little good; everyone knew her here.

"Good day, my thane."

"Thane Nyholm! You've been missed. Where have you been?"

"Welcome, Dragonborn. Have you slain any more dragons?"

"Have you thought about mercenary work?"

Dammit! Oh, she liked Whiterun well enough. She would live here if she had the coin to purchase a property, but their expectations of her were unreasonable, especially that Dragonborn nonsense the Jarl was spreading around. She couldn't even walk into the Bannered Mare without the damned bard singing that obnoxious song.

She politely excused herself from anyone trying to corner her for a real conversation. She had some shopping to do and then she needed to get back to Falkreath. Not wanting to be caught with a stolen horse, she sold it, only getting a fraction of its real value. The apothecary, Arcadia, looked happy to see her when she came in. Nessa was one of her best customers and was quickly mastering the trade.

"Any giant's toe, Arcady?" Nessa asked.

"Nessa, you walk in here like you haven't been away for three months, just to ask for giant's toe?" Arcadia shook her head. "Where have you been, child?"

"Here and there, Arcady. I wish I had more time to catch up, but I've got to get my tasks done and be back on the road," Nessa replied. She was getting adept at shutting down conversations she didn't want to have.

Arcadia smiled and pointed to a basket full of giant digits. "Quite a few, actually." She picked up the basket and brought it over to Nessa. "I had to stop selling them to Farkas. He kept buying them and putting them in the girl's beds." She laughed hard and wiped tears from her eyes with her apron. "You might think that's war paint he wears, but I'm pretty sure Aela gave him a permanent pair of shiners."

The story made her smile. "I'll take two then."

She walked out of the shop a short while later with a tidy package then stopped at the open air market and found someone selling marzipan and someone else selling maple candy. She wondered briefly what sort of treat Arnbjorn might like, but she couldn't imagine anything that wasn't dripping blood would appeal to him. Babette… perhaps she'd like candy? She certainly used that ruse to lure her targets to their deaths. She bought a gaily striped stick candy for her. For herself, she bought a few new ribbons: Blue, her favorite color. Her old ones were left behind at the thieves' guild. That thought made her feel melancholy for a few moments.

She wanted to be sure to get on the cart headed to Falkreath so she rushed out of town and nodded politely to people she knew on the way out. Just as she was about to duck out the front gate she recognized Maven Black-Briar coming from the other way. She gasped and turned suddenly to the gate guard so her back would be to Maven. "Well… so, how have you been? It's been a while since I've seen you."

The guard looked startled by the attention. "Why… fine, fine. Thank you for asking, Thane."

Maven drew nearer but she was busy expounding to someone, angrily smashing her fist against her open palm. "I can't believe that impudent oaf turned down my offer!"

Nessa shifted nervously and crowded closer to the guard. "Is your family well?" she asked.

"Um, Thane? My parents are dead and I'm a bachelor." There was a hopeful little gleam in his eye.

"Oh! I'm sorry. I'd forgotten. I'm sure you've told me before," she shifted nervously and watched Maven out of the corner of her eye.

"Perhaps," the guard whispered, "if you stand on this side of me, I can screen you better." He shifted so that he would be between her and Maven. "And… pretend to pick something up off the ground."

Nessa gratefully followed his instructions. Maven walked by and never gave them a second look. "I owe you a big favor," Nessa said, realizing she didn't even know the guard's name.

He looked into her serious-looking, wide blue eyes. "My name is Gunter, my thane. If I can ever be of service…"

Clasping his hand warmly, she said: "Thank you, Gunter. I will buy you an ale at the Bannered Mare on another day." She turned and left the hold. The cart driver was nearly ready to leave her behind and he scolded her for being late. His tongue stopped wagging when she paid him an extra five septims for the inconvenience.

~o~o~o~

"Silence, my brother."

The foreboding door rumbled open when she whispered the password. She stepped into the sanctuary and the door shut behind her, enveloping her in the cold, dank silence of the elaborate system of caves that comprised their hide-out. She followed the lit torches and descended the stairs to the great hall and then she could hear the hushed conversations punctuated, from time to time, by Babette's high laugh.

Just before rounding the corner she paused and took a deep breath. Now she was the blooded assassin returning home after a successful job, not a thane, and not the Dragonborn. This was yet another role to play. She wondered if she had lost herself in all these different roles. She stepped into the great hall and the conversations stopped as her fellow assassins – her brothers and sister in murder, truly now, she thought – turned to look at her.

"Welcome, sister," Veezara hissed.

"Nessa!" Babette shrilled. She launched herself at the tall Nord and hugged her.

Nessa looked down at the girl and squeezed her affectionately, but her eyes scanned the room looking for Astrid.

Babette, looking up at her, saw her lack of attention. "She's in her room. You should go see her right away."

Nessa smiled at Babette and mussed her hair. "I will, but first… I brought you something."

"Me?" The little vampire's smile was dazzling. "Hmmm… that's very thoughtful. What is it?"

Nessa unslung her pack and rummaged through it until she found the brightly striped candy stick. "Well, it sounded like you never actually make it to the candy shop. So I went for you. I hope you like it." She handed the candy to her.

Babette let out a peel of delighted laughter. "That's very thoughtful!" She unwrapped the sweet and sniffed it. "Oh, it's peppermint! My favorite, well, unless you manage to find blood flavored candy, in which case it is my second favorite."

Nessa continued digging through the pack and found the maple sugar candy that she had learned Veezara loved. "I found something for you too, brother." She handed the wrapped package to him.

The Argonian took the package into his reptilian hand and sniffed it, his tongue flicking out to sample the air. "Ah… it seems you found my one weakness. How did you know this about me?"

Nessa winked at him. "A little bird told me."

"Such information collecting is the hallmark of a masterful assassin, my sister. I think you will go far. My thanks." The lizard put the package into his pocket. "If you will excuse me, sisters." He made a polite bow to Nessa and Babette and headed up the stairs to his room.

Nessa went to her room and dropped off her bag. She made a quick trip to the grotto to wash up and found Nazir soaking himself in the hot spring. He looked up at her lazily. "Well, new girl, I see you aren't dead yet. Did you complete your assignment?"

"Of course," she said. "There was hardly anything challenging about it." She slipped into the water quickly, trying to avoid looking at the naked Redguard, not that she could see anything but the broad expanse of his well-developed chest that was above the water.

"No?" he said, shrugging. "Sometimes the challenges aren't in the execution but within the assassin." He reached down to the bottom of the pool and picked up a handful of sand and vigorously scrubbed his arms with it. "One can be assailed by doubt or guilt." He laughed and his rich, hearty voice boomed off the rock walls of the cavern. "One assassin turned the dagger on himself rather than complete his first assignment. That sort of failure is rare, Astrid is very good at picking recruits, but Astrid didn't pick you."

Nessa had been scrubbing herself and stopped suddenly and stared at Nazir. "What do you mean?" She was confused. Astrid had given her the choice of murdering one of the prisoners or dying. If Astrid hadn't chosen her, who had?

"Babette was the one, actually. She saw you murder the old lady. She saw something in you. Astrid must have seen it too, otherwise…" he let the word hang in the air for a moment, "Well, let's just say you wouldn't be here. I suspect you'd still be in that damp shack missing a few quarts of blood."

Despite the muggy heat of the grotto, Nessa shivered. She forgot, most of the time, that Astrid and Babette were vampires.

Nazir enjoyed watching her reaction. He was still convinced that this one had been a mistake. She was timid, too skinny, and only fair with a blade. Granted her abilities with a bow were amazing, but that wouldn't be enough. She was pretty, if you like them skinny; Nazir didn't. There had been assassins, who had used their seductive skills to kill, but this one was too timid. She had no blood-lust, unless she hid it very well.

Nessa found the bar of soap; it was usually kept in a hollowed out niche within reach of the pool. Today it was scented with Dragon's Breath, a rare, imported fragrance. Babette and Gabrielle were always concocting new scents and infusing them into soaps or perfumes. She washed her hair with the bar of soap and rinsed it out. She hurried her bath, both wanting to escape the ever depressing Nazir and not wanting to keep Astrid waiting, but she wanted to be clean. Traveling left one feeling a bit grubby.

She finished her bathing and bid Nazir goodbye, climbing out of the pool and feeling self-conscious about her nakedness. Somehow she doubted Nazir cared on whit whether she was clothed or not. He seemed distinctly uninterested in her. It didn't bother her too much, except he always expected the worst from her.

She changed into clean clothes, a new dress she bought while she was in a town. The blue in the dress was the same color as her eyes, the shopkeeper had said. She wove her new blue ribbon into her braid. Arnbjorn would certainly complain about all the blue if he saw her, but he would certainly find something to complain about anyway. She was pinching her cheeks and putting the last stray hairs into place when there was a rap at her door.

"Come in," she said, turning away from the tiny mirror in her room.

"Nessa!" Astrid strode into her room and shut the door behind her. "Babette said you were here." Her face warmed at the sight of the young Nord. "I should scold you for not coming to me directly but…" she sniffed the air, "you must have bathed and changed. I recognize the scent."

"I had a lot of dirt from the road and it has been unseasonably warm. I thought it might be best if I smelled a little better," Nessa explained.

"Of course! That's very thoughtful." She went to her young protégé and took her by the hand, leading her to the bed. "Have a seat, Nessa. Tell me all about your first assignment." She smiled and inhaled deeply, her eyes looked far away. "I remember my first contract, it was terribly exciting. It was before I was… turned. I had to murder a court magician." She laughed at the memory and became animated. "I made a mess of it. I got blood everywhere, all over myself. I might have been a bit too enthusiastic, but it was terribly exciting watching the life leave his eyes. He tried to cast a spell at me, but it was too late for that." She laughed again. "You should have seen me sneak away, covered in blood. Then a guard saw me and gave chase. Before I got away, I think I had six guards after me." Her eyes glittered as she recounted the story. "It was very exciting."

She laughed again and sat on the bed, next to Nessa. "Listen to me run on. I wanted to hear about you. How did your assignment go?"

There was so little to tell, Nessa felt almost foolish. She thought she should have an exciting and adventurous story like Astrid's. "It went well, actually. The woman drank some mead I had put a sleeping draught into. I helped her get to her bed and then when it seemed like everyone had retired for the night, I… I did it. Then I stole a horse and left town quickly."

Astrid picked up the girl's hand and watched her face closely. "Details, Nessa! I want details. What did it feel like? Was it exciting?"

Nessa was cornered now. Truthfully, she felt little. She was a bit sad for her victim, but not too much. "Oh yes, it was very exciting. I remembered what you said about being careful when you cut someone's throat. I doubt she felt anything. She was pretty sound asleep."

Astrid was puzzled for a moment. Nessa wasn't telling her everything and what she had said felt like a lie. "You don't ever need to lie to impress me, dear one."

Caught in her untruth, she thought to deny it at first. How could Astrid know how she felt? Instead she decided to reveal her true feelings, but she worried Astrid would be critical. "I… no, I guess I didn't feel excitement." She stared at her hands. "Truthfully, I didn't feel much of anything. Well, stealing the horse was exciting, but murdering the woman was…" She sighed. "I felt nothing like you say you did. I'm sorry."

Reaching out, the vampire took the end of Nessa's braid in her hand and played with it. "My poor, sweet girl. You thought I expected you to experience everything I did?" She sighed and looked into Nessa's eyes. They seemed especially blue tonight. "It's my fault, I suppose. Sometimes I forget we're two very different people." She smiled sadly at the girl. "You're entitled to all your own feelings, my sweet." She leaned in closer to Nessa and put her fingers under her chin and brought the girl's face closer to hers. "Now, let's start over. Tell me everything exactly as it happened this time."

A flood of relief swept over Nessa as she realized that Astrid would let her be herself. Of all the people she'd known since her parents had died everyone seemed to want her to be someone else. She shut her eyes and relaxed into Astrid's touch. She had a powerful impulse to kiss the older woman. She opened her eyes again and watched her mentor's face closely as she drew a little closer. Astrid's eyes seemed to smile encouragement so she tilted her head slightly and ever so slowly closed the distance.

It was a very gentle kiss at first, but then Astrid's lips parted under hers as she responded to the cautious kiss. The older woman's hands reached up to Nessa's cheeks and pulled her even closer. Then Astrid opened her mouth and her tongue delicately caressed her lips. Never had Nessa been kissed like this. She let her mouth open and Astrid's searching tongue found her own and stroked it, twirling around it sensuously. She made a soft moaning, deep in her throat, and Astrid pulled away from her suddenly.

"My sweet, sweet Nessa." She picked up the girl's hand and brought it to her lips. "I've wanted to do that for so long." She heaved a heavy sigh. "But right now, I want to hear your story." She laughed a deep, throaty laugh. "Or were you trying to distract me?"

Nessa shook her head vigorously. "Oh no! I just… I was relieved that you weren't angry with me and… I… I…" She broke off when she started to stutter and flailed her hands helplessly, trying to pick the right words out of the air. "I wanted to."

Artless, guileless, without any sophistication at all, this was Nessa's great charm, Astrid realized. The girl didn't know how powerful an aphrodisiac her naiveté was. She wielded her honesty and shyness as skillfully as a courtesan could brandish her highly trained sensuality. This was a girl any debauched courtier would love to seduce, convinced he was the first. She was also the girl a man would fall madly in love with or, if he were married, she would reminded him of his wife while they were courting. This quality of hers, however fleeting, would make her a formidable assassin she realized. She also saw that it was a limited resource. Drawing upon this quality as an artifice would cause it to fade. Still, Astrid was enough of a guild leader to make use of all the tools at her disposal, no matter how badly she wanted to keep one for herself.

"I spent my first day pretending to look for a job, but gathering whatever information I could about the woman. I found out she liked to spend her evenings drinking by the smelter with her workers. They invited me to join them. I pretended to be a little drunk and I knocked over her drink."

Astrid laughed and squeezed her hand. "Oh, that's very good."

Nessa smiled at the praise. "So I begged her pardon and asked her if she'd allow me to get her another. She took my offer. I guess she liked my manners, so she had me sit next to her. She was getting pretty drunk so the sleeping draught I put in the drink just made it speed up a bit. She asked me to go back to her house with her." She looked at Astrid shyly, unwilling to admit it but felt compelled. "I think she fancied me a little."

"You little minx!" Astrid laughed even harder. "Did you flirt with her?"

Nessa shook her head. "No. I was just polite and she liked my manners." She wrinkled her nose at the memory. "She was dirty and didn't smell good."

"Of course she liked your manners. You have a natural talent, Nessa. You need to learn to use it to your advantage. What happened then?"

"Just before she passed out she announced to everyone there she was taking me to bed and they should be certain to tell her ex-husband." Nessa chuckled at the memory. "Then a miner helped me carry her home. He tried to get me into bed, but I reminded him his boss might not like that."

Astrid shook her head. "Silly man."

Nessa nodded. "You'd think these miners might clean themselves up before they asked someone to their bed. Ugh!"

"What happened after the miner left?" Astrid prompted her.

"I built up a fire in the fireplace so she…" Nessa felt silly confessing this, "I didn't want her to be cold."

"Your heart is soft, Nessa," Astrid said. "That's not a bad thing, but you must be careful. What did you do next?"

"I had a long wait, until I knew everyone was in bed. I searched the house and took a few valuables, and some alchemy ingredients I needed. Then I sat by the fire and thought."

"About what?" Astrid prompted her.

"About the thieves in Riften. I wonder what they're doing sometimes. Do they think I'm dead?" She blurted out the last without really thinking.

Astrid nodded. "Probably. Do you want them to know you're not?"

Pain flitted across Nessa's eyes. "No. It's probably best they think I'm dead. This is what I am now."

There was something in Riften that Nessa regretted, Astrid could see that. They had stolen her right out of the thieves' guild; perhaps she had been happy there. Maybe she had been sweet on someone. The thought made her a little jealous. She was glad Nessa hadn't asked to contact them. It would have complicated things. Given a little time, she would forget about them. She would make her forget.

"Then I killed the woman while she slept peacefully. I cut open her neck artery and she bled quickly. I sneaked to the inn, got my stuff, went to stable, stole a horse and left." She looked thoughtfully at Astrid a moment. "Stealing the horse was a lot of fun."

Astrid pulled Nessa so her head was resting on her shoulder. "Thank you for telling me everything. I want to know you better." She kissed Nessa on her forehead. "Every assassin has their own way. I think I understand your strengths now. The way you are. Your sweet, shyness draws people to you and you're not even aware of it. You can use that to your advantage." She smoothed her hand over the girl's hair. "You're a little like Babette in that way. Her targets trust her because she's a lost little girl. They'll trust you because they see something so very rare that they want to possess, or corrupt. Right now, my sweet, it is real, but someday it won't be. Life has a way of stripping us of our innocence."

Nessa nodded, her brow furrowed. She never thought of her shyness as a strength. She hated how self-conscious she felt and how she tended to stutter when she needed to say something important. "I think," she said haltingly, "right now there are things I want to be less innocent about."

Astrid rested her cheek against Nessa's head. The girl couldn't see her smile. "There are many things I can teach you, Nessa, and I will, but before I do remember who you are today. The shy, stumbling girl who only knows she wants, but can't name what she wants. That girl is going to be gone…"

"Good!" Nessa said with vehemence. Astrid's low laugh caressed her ear.

"Yes, but that girl has a very special charm and gift. If you can master becoming that girl at will, you will be a formidable assassin… or anything you wish to be." She squeezed Nessa's waist with her arm. "Do you understand?"

"I suppose, although I don't really see how anyone would find my stumbling for words attractive." Astrid wasn't making a whole lot of sense. Nessa would so much rather possess the vampire's smooth way with people and words.

"Just trust me on this," Astrid insisted.

Nessa turned her head and looked up at her. "I… I do trust you, Astrid."

Those words felt like an arrow piercing her heart. Perhaps this relationship had started out as a lark, an amusement Babette had cooked up, but the worm had turned. She was ensnared by Nessa's ingenuous nature. "I promise, Nessa, whatever may happen in our lives, I'll never give you reason to doubt me." She caught Nessa's mouth with her own and kissed her thoroughly.

Nessa's breath caught as Astrid's tongue sought out hers again. It felt like this moment had been hovering between them for an eternity and now it had finally arrived. Astrid pressed closer to her and they fell back to her bed, still kissing. Astrid shifted them so Nessa was on her back and she hovered over her.

"Are you sure you want this, Nessa?" she asks, dragging her fingers across the girls face.

"Gods, yes," she replies. "I don't know… anything."

"I know. That's why you just need to relax, close your eyes and let me show you, my sweet." She turned the girl's head and kissed a line down her neck. The sigh coming from the girl told her everything she needed to know. Her fingers went to the buttons down the front of Nessa's dress and deftly unbuttoned them, pulling open the garment as she went. She kissed, sucked and licked every inch of skin that came into view.

Nessa couldn't help the soft moans and whimpers she made. Every sensation was new to her, yet known, as if some primal secret that had been held within her was being unlocked. "Oh Gods!" she whispered as Astrid's mouth gently teased one nipple and her hand the other. Tiny lightning bolts seemed to course through her body all of them aimed at her loins.

"You are beautiful, Nessa," Astrid murmured as she unbuttoned the last button and pulled Nessa's dress off. The girl lay before her, sinewy strength and graceful lines. She didn't have much of a bosom, but Astrid remembered being just the same at her age. Her hands ran over Nessa's body eliciting shivers and quiet gasps. It was almost as if the girl had never been touched. One moment her eyes would close in ecstasy, the next they'd open wide and watch Astrid closely.

Leaning over her and kissing her, Astrid whispered to her. "Have you done this before, my darling?"

Nessa shook her head then nodded. "With a man once, but not like this. It was nothing like this."

Humming in her throat, Astrid shook her head. "Not so good, hmmm? Over a little quickly and a bit painful?"

"Yes, exactly. It was just that once. A soldier. He promised me the heavenly pleasures of Dibella and the tenderness of Mara."

Astrid chuckled. "And delivered neither, I'll warrant."

Nessa shook her head.

"So you've never experienced the pleasure your body can give you?" She trailed a finger from Nessa's breast, down to her leg, delighting in the way Nessa's eyes dilated as her hand skimmed her thigh.

"No. Gods… not like this," Nessa said, her voice barely a whisper.

She would be the first in all the ways that mattered, Astrid thought. Her hands teased over the young woman's sensitive flesh and she watched her respond. This touch brought the blood to heighten the flush on her chest. Using her tongue on that spot made the girl's heart beat a little quicker. Her fragrant blood was pooling here and coursing there. It drew Astrid like a magnet. How tantalizing to lick a sensitive place and feel the flesh engorging with the ambrosia of life. How delectable it would be to drink of this untainted innocence.

Once or twice she found her sharp incisors poised above a plump vein and it was only with practiced discipline that she refused the temptation. A century had taught Astrid control, but it had taken losing two husbands and many lovers to her vampirism before she could trust herself. The only person she could truly lose herself with was Arnbjorn. He was strong enough to let her drink and push her away when she had taken enough. To give into the temptation this girl presented would certainly kill her, if not tonight then on some other occasion. It was satisfaction enough to feel the girl grow restless beneath her. The way her slender hips danced, searching for the release that had eluded her so far in her young life, was quite rewarding.

"Gods, oh Gods," Nessa began to chant. Her hands flailed for something to anchor herself and found Astrid's soft hair. Her fingers buried into her flaxen tresses as if she were teetering on the edge of a cliff. She was being driven closer and closer and her chanting grew louder and sounded less like words. Then just as she thought for certain she would fall and shatter into a thousand pieces, Astrid stopped. Her moan ended on a querulous note as the edge of the cliff receded.

"Patience, sweetling," Astrid said, lightly stroking her and keeping her balanced on the edge of eternity. One of the advantages of being a vampire was being so in tune with the ebb and flow of her prey's body. Not that Nessa was prey, per se. "Soon," she promised the girl, stroking her slender thighs.

Nessa thought she might die. "Astrid, please!" she whispered to the older woman. She squirmed wildly.

Astrid could sense her frustration rising and slowly resumed. The tension built quickly in the girl and soon she was clawing at the furs on the bed and arching her back. Her gasping breaths were punctuated by soft exclamations. This was it, the right time to shatter this girl and chip away a fragment of her innocence. With her touch, she possessed this girl in a way she'd never been before.

Nessa arched, like a bow, her mouth working soundlessly as her body was rocked with waves of ecstasy. She could hear Astrid's pleased hum, but she kept up her touches and the skillful working of her tongue as she was jolted again and again by shockwaves of pleasure. Finally it ended and she was left trembling and breathless. "By Mara's light, Astrid… I had no idea," she confessed.

Astrid collapsed next to Nessa on the bed and smiled at her. "I know, sweetling, but there's an awful lot more." She traced a figure eight between the girl's breasts with her damp finger. "I know you're exhausted after your travels and… this." She smiled at the girl, enjoying how flushed the girl's cheeks were. "So take a nice nap and have dinner. Then come to my room tonight.

"But… your husband?" Nessa said, her brows drawing together with worry.

"He's away. He won't be back for some time," Astrid said. She noted the concern on Nessa's face. "He knows, sweetling."

Nessa nodded. She knew that Arnbjorn knew… By the nine, it was all too confusing!

"You're mine, Nessa," Astrid said, staring intently at her.

Nessa nodded knowing it was true. Her worries about Arnbjorn faded away when her magical voice stroked her ears, just like her magical fingers had stroked her body. Astrid smiled at her again and kissed her softly then she got up and left Nessa alone. In the few moments before sleep could claim her she imagined herself with Astrid forever.

~o~o~o~

Notes: Phew! Life got a bit hectic there for a bit. I missed writing!

My first ever attempt at slash. I went for erotica rather than something more explicit. Truthfully, I think I prefer writing that rather than something more hardcore. I am looking forward to actually getting down to my plot bunnies. I can has plot bunnies!

Thank you Zevgirl and Biff for your feedback when I post my snippets on Google+ and for being such awesome friends!

Thank you my readers and special thanks to: CJ Robbins , Raven Hunter, Myrielle, Found-In-Reverie, x_Janelle_x, A Drunk Canadian, whoopsiedoodle, TheOtherLachance, Biff McLaughlin and Zevgirl for reviewing!

If you're into Dragon Age at all I posted a one-shot satire called "Tea with Bethany" about Hawke and her sister having tea in high society.