Heart of Gold (Brynjolf)

Chapter I: Falmerblood Elixir

"I still think it's a little weird how he found you outside a random Dwemer dungeon, in the middle of nowhere, just in time to save your life," Nurica said as she walked. Mjoll the Lioness, lawful vigilante, righteous protector of Riften, and Nuri's sister, strode beside her through Riften's bustling streets. "Have you ever even seen him hold a sword?"

"Well, no, not before I started training him," Mjoll said. "But Aerin is a good man. I trust him. I owe him my life." Mjoll's distinctive Nordic accent was stronger than Nuri's, but Nuri found a sense of comfort and familiarity in her sister's words. It had been a while since they had seen each other, and they were each other's only family now. It was good to see her again.

Mjoll had holed up here in Riften ever since an adventure gone awry had left her next to dead. It was only by sheer luck, Mjoll said, that her rescuer Aerin had found her in time and brought her here to the city to nurse her back to health.

Nuri didn't agree so much on the "sheer luck" part of the story.

Nuri pressed her lips together. She couldn't be the only one that thought it odd how Aerin followed Mjoll around everywhere she went. It was a miracle Nuri was able to get her alone this time to bring it up, and even then, Aerin wasn't too far away. He waved at them from a nearby stall in the marketplace, and Mjoll waved back. Mjoll was so infatuated with her knight in shining armor that she had failed to realize he had never worn armor. Not even on the day he saved her. What kind of man strolled through Dwemer ruins without a weapon or armor on him? And what had he been doing up there alone anyway?

Still, Nuri supposed she owed some semblance of gratitude to Aerin. No matter how incredulous the circumstance was, he truly was the reason Mjoll had made it out of that dungeon alive. She had to give him some credit.

Mjoll had taken up the role of Riften's personal protector ever since Aerin had brought her back to his home here. She all but patrolled Riften, interrogating even innocent bystanders. Since the moment she stepped outside and realized what havoc crime was wreaking on the city, she had claimed Riften as her own, protecting it as a mother wolf would protect her pups.

"What happened to your adventuring days, Mjoll? Riften isn't the only place that needs your help," Nuri said. "It's not like you to stay in one place for so long."

"Riften has problems of its own. Now is not the time for exploration and discovery. It would take a threat to all of Skyrim for me to depart. This city needs me." Mjoll looked over the marketplace and sighed. "But, the city has to want to help itself first, before I can do anything of worth. Sometimes I wonder if they even want my help."

"It could be a long time before they're ready," Nuri said.

"I love these people, Nuri. I can't just leave them. Aerin says I'm the only good thing that's happened to this city in a long time. This city is a good place under all of this corruption, and I'm determined to see it that way."

Nuri kept her thoughts to herself as Mjoll preached. It was one thing for Mjoll to stay in a town for a few days until crime rates were down, but she had been in Riften for years. Sure, the city was a beautiful place under its rough exterior, but Riften was notorious for being the most crime-heavy place in Skyrim, besides some places in the Reach, perhaps. It would take more than just Mjoll to cleanse it.

They entered the inset marketplace and Aerin approached them with a bundle of paper and handed them each a sweetroll. Mjoll and Aerin chatted together and Nuri leaned up against the short stone wall that surrounded the market, picking at her sweetroll and studying the marketplace. There were four stalls, though one was empty, and people milled about the area. Outside the short stone wall there were more merchants. One with a cart called out something about fresh meat, and the sounds of the blacksmith's forge filled the air.