Collapse of Skyrim

Rielle Black-Briar

I've been waiting and watching Elenwen for days now, but I know that now, I have to get into the cells and see Christophe again. I have to. He has answers for me, I just know it. So I wait for days and nights, learning Elenwen's schedule, and she goes to sleep at a certain time each night. So I wait until one night when she has been asleep for quite a while, and then, I slip into the dungeons.

I drugged the guards, and made sure they're all too exhausted to be awakened anytime soon. I enter the dungeon, which is cold and makes me shiver. I approach the cell Cristophe is in, and he looks up at me.

"You came back," he says.

"I need answers. Ones that I think you can provide. So, I have some questions."

"Oh. Then by all means, ask," Cristophe says.

"When I saw you, you looked at me like you thought I was a ghost. Did you think I'd died or something?"

He sighs and his shoulders and head slump. "Yes." He looks at the floor, as though he can't bear to see the look on my face, in my eyes, as he speaks. Perhaps he is right. Maybe I can't hide the truth of his words as they enter my mind and heart, but I can still listen.

"I want to know," I say.

"Your mother and I found out she was pregnant with you in the middle of winter. And she was not happy. She thought she was above pregnancy, that it wasn't something meant for her. She .... tried to kill you, Rielle. But, when that didn't work, and you survived her attacks, she decided to wait. But as time went on, and she grew bigger with you, she started to hate and resent me. She broke up with me in a letter between us, while I was away on business in Markarth. Then, one night, one of her assassins came after me. But, I bargained with him. Told him if he faked my death, I'd go into hiding. That she would never hear from me again, and he could keep his hands clean of my blood. He was a newbie to the Dark Brotherhood, and so, he took me up on the offer."

"She sent a Brotherhood assassin after you?"

He nods, and I cringe. He gives me a quizzical look, and I shrug, then gesture for him to continue. So, he does.

"Time went on, and it was only when I had business in Shor's Stone, which isn't far from Riften, that I met an old acquaintance of Maven's, who now hated her. He told me about your birth and exile, that she cut you off from the Black-Briar fortune. But I never gave up hope that we'd meet one day."

"How were you captured and brought here?"

"Talos worship. It had nothing to do with Maven, or so I'd thought initially. It turns out, she'd coaxed the truth from the assassin and the friend who I met in Shor's Stone. She now knew of my life, how I was still breathing. And Maven knew I love Talos, so she decided to tell her friend Elenwen that I was a worshipper of the Nine. I was brought here, chained up, beaten daily. I don't know how long I've been here now, Rielle. But seeing you at last has made it all worth it. So, so worth it."

"How do I make Maven pay for what shes done to us?"

"Hmm. Perhaps you could kill her, and take her place as the matriarch of the Black-Briar clan. You could forge the documents that reinstate you as one of them, and then take her fortune after her death."

"I want her to suffer," I snap.

He smiles. "Like me, I see. Maybe we could forgo the idea of killing her for now, but sully her reputation as a fearless, shrewd businesswoman. You could sever her ties with her friends in high places. You could influence people to stop liking her. My dear, sweet Rielle, she will become Jarl of Riften if the Empire conquers it. She's too powerful to be touched by anyone, really. But I'm sure you can find a way to ...."

"I have an idea," I say. "I'm the Listener. I hear the voice of the Night Mother, and maybe she has a contract to kill some of Maven's friends, but frame her for the murder. Maybe I could kill some of Maven's allies, and withdraw the support from the Dark Brotherhood. I'm thinking killing that man in Riften, the snake oil salesman. The one with the accent and red hair."

"And frame Maven for Brynjolf's murder?"

"Exactly."

"Hmm. That could definitely work to hurting her connections to the Guild, but if it doesn't work, you need a backup plan."

"I'll just kill her myself," I say. "Torture her, as I'm sure she's done to too many people."

"Ruthless Rielle," Cristophe says. "I love it."

I smile at him. "But how do I get to Riften? How do I know that she won't send spies after me?"

"Who? Elenwen?"

I nod. "In the first part of the missions, she had spies follow me."

"Wait to see when she has you in that area next. Bide your time. It's been years for your revenge, what's more time to that?"

I sigh. "I've got to do this."

"And you will," he says. "I believe in you, Rielle."

I smile at him. "I'm going to get you out of here, one day."

"Don't hold your breath, my dear. They will hold me here until I die, which is bound to happen sooner or later. I've come to terms with it. Do not risk yourself for me. I'm.... I'm already dead."