Not Alone (A Skyrim Fanfiction)

Chapter 22

Chapter 22

     I had managed to put off Brynjolf for the time being by telling him I needed to run some errands, and I must say that I spent far longer haggling over a new saddle for Gormlaith than I normally would have.  After that I spent nearly an hour at the stables just brushing the muddy stains out of the white patches on her coat and even combed her tail and mane for good measure.  I only stopped after that hour because Cerawyn showed up to see to her horse and I wasn't in the mood for chatter, so I escaped around the back of the stable before she caught sight of me.

     Next I needed to go to the blacksmith to have my swords sharpened after banging them on so many pieces of Dwarven machinery, so I asked the blacksmith to take as much time as he wanted sharpening it.  When the man turned out to be very efficient and had them done in few couple minutes I went to the apothecary and bought a few potions I had no use for whatsoever.

     I was procrastinating and I knew it, but I didn't want to deal with Brynjolf at the moment.

     The simplest thing would have been for Aetra to just leave, but if Brynjolf didn't already know who she was such a move would confirm any suspicions he had instantly.  Therefore we were both stuck here in a situation that I neither wanted nor needed at the moment as I needed to report to Jarl Brunwulf as a Stormcloak officer, not deal with Thieves' Guild business as the Guildmaster. 

     Finally, as the sun was once more starting to sink below the horizon I slowly made my way back toward the inn.  Steeling myself, I went upstairs to the main room and spotted Brynjolf sitting at a table in the corner out of earshot of the rest.  I navigated the busy room and sat down opposite him, assuming an air of nonchalance.  "Okay, what's up?"

     Brynjolf leaned back and regarded me for a moment.  "I'm glad you're still in one piece, that's what's up."

     "Care to explain?" I suggested, pretty sure I already knew where this was going.

     "Do you remember that botched job we handled a while back in Morthal?  You distracted the guards while Cynric covered us from the rooftops, I called the shop owner away on some nonexistent business, and Vipir went in to change the ledger and steal that dragon vase at the same time?"

     I remembered the job well, although I tried to avoid thinking of it whenever possible.  The shopkeeper had been so paranoid he wouldn't leave his shop, so we had devised an elaborate plan requiring all four of us to get it done.  Little did we know that someone else was after the vase, and whoever it was had killed Vipir and stolen the thing at the same time without leaving a trace.  "Of course I remember it.  What about it?"

     "That was where I saw Aetra.  Right after the job, walking along the street near the shop," Brynjolf asserted grimly.

     What?  "Are you sure?" I didn't know how to take this right now.  I had been prepared to defend Aetra, but if this was true....  Well, it explained why he had brought Cynric.  Cynric and Vipir had been close friends for years.

     Brynjolf looked at me in disbelief.  "Come on, lad.  A master thief walks by right after the vase disappears and Vipir is killed.  There's only one conclusion to draw."

     "That isn't the only conclusion to draw," I rejoined.  "I can think of several times I happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time."

     "So I thought too, so I thought too.  So I followed my other lead, her family name.  I asked my contacts whether any of them had heard the name Raven-Blade before, and one got back to me a few days later with a rather interesting story."  Brynjolf waved the barkeeper away, then continued.  "My contact's friend was a close friend of the family and knew her as a child.  Turns out she was actually born in Cyrodiil to a wealthy noble family with a lot of influence.  She left with her older sister for unknown reasons, supposedly headed to Skyrim, then wasn't heard from for years."  He leveled his gaze at me, daring me to interrupt, but I said nothing.  "That's not the interesting part, though.  My contact knew someone else who had known her in Cyrodiil.  He told me that when this man saw her again a couple years ago, she refused to talk to him beyond telling him that, and I quote here, she had 'found her calling with the Summerset Shadows'."