Heart of Gold (Brynjolf)

Chapter II: The Guild

Nurica dashed through the streets, feet pounding on the wooden planks as she frantically looked for a place to hide. She spotted an alley near the front gates and ducked inside, skidding around the corner to huddle behind a barrel that was sitting against the building. Blood and anxiety thumped together in her ears, overwhelming her. Her chest felt tight, like no air could get into it. Mjoll. She had to find Mjoll. Find her before-

She stopped herself. No, Mjoll was safe. Nuri took a slow, deep breath, almost painful as her heart beat irrationally. She felt the need to breathe faster but fought it, holding her breath for a few seconds, then letting it out slowly. She took another slow breath in, and collapsed against the wall, one hand on her chest. Mjoll was safe. She could take care of herself.

Nuri kept breathing, and felt her heart rate slow with it. Once her breath was under as much control as she could manage, she sat up and poked her head around the barrel, watching for her pursuer.

She didn't see or hear anything, and let out a hiss of frustration. How had she become so careless? She hadn't been caught pickpocketing since... She shook her head. She still gripped Brynjolf's coinpurse in her fist, knuckles white, coins held tight against each other.

She glanced at the purse and found a little symbol embroidered into it: a diamond, with a circle inside that touched each edge of the diamond. Had she snuck a look at the purse, or even noticed the symbol earlier, she wouldn't have gotten caught. She wondered if there would be guards searching the city for her soon. So much for making this an innocent family visit.

She didn't know if Brynjolf had even followed, or even intended to get her in trouble at all, truthfully. Something about his little scheme told her that he might actually approve of the initially successful steal. Even if he should have been more aware.

Still, it had been years since she had been caught in the act, and being caught after the successful swipe was even more embarrassing. She could have gotten away with it, had she taken more care. She knelt and took another look around the corner, saw no one looking for her, and leaned back on her feet to try and calm her nerves before figuring out what to do next.

A hand clamped around Nurica's mouth. She immediately brought an elbow back into the person behind her, turned, and brought her other fist, again clenched around the purse, into her attacker's face. While they were stunned she turned more fully and brought her knife from her belt and to their neck. There was a moment of silence as she stared, breathing heavy from another rush of adrenaline.

"Relax lass, I'm not going to hurt you," Brynjolf said, holding his hands palms-out to her in surrender. His lip was split and bleeding. "I just want to talk. I don't want the purse back."

Nuri took a few more breaths, then nodded slowly and lowered her knife. He eyed it and raised an eyebrow, obviously impressed at her speed and skill. She waited and said nothing.

"No one's ever been able to steal from me," he continued, bringing a hand to his lip and examining the blood on his fingers. "Look, my organization would be glad to have someone like you in our ranks. If you're interested, come find me in the Ragged Flagon, in the Ratway."

"The city sewers?" Nuri asked.

"Aye, that's it. There's an entrance under Plankside by the canal. I'd tell you to be careful, but it looks like you've got yourself taken care of." He said, glancing down at the knife she still had gripped in her hand. "Pay attention to where you spend other people's coins, and you'll do just fine in the city," the man said. He flashed a smile at her and left her in the alley to contemplate the invitation.

***

"Nuri, what happened? I looked up and you'd disappeared!" Mjoll said when she found her lingering near the front gates. Aerin followed behind her.