Warriors and Thieves
Chapter One
The Good-Fortune-Thief
Farideh was a genius. Nothing less. One could tell, simply by looking at her proud posture and her expensive clothing, that she was far more than just your everyday thief; she was accomplished, an expert and a professional. The clinking of gold coins from her satisfyingly fat leather purse was a testimony to that fact.
She listened to the sound, counting how many individual coins her feline ears could pick out from the metallic-chorus. She smiled, faintly. It had taken her no more than seven days; seven days to make more gold than she could possibly spend - seven days from when she first entered Riften.
All those rumors she had heard about the city had been true. The place was so corrupt by the ever lingering presence of The Thieves Guild, that most any crime would be blamed on them and all investigation immediately canceled.
It hadn't taken Farideh long to notice that the law enforcement in Riften was near useless. In other words it was the perfect place for a pretty, innocent-looking khajiit like herself to make a fortune and get away rich - without any form of consequence. Farideh smiled.
However, Farideh had in Riften seen opportunities that other thieves and criminals dared not even dream about. She saw how The Thieves Guild, like a blackbird, had been collection all the shiny, shiny valuables in Riften and placed them all in their own little ‘nest’. Why steal from the commonfolk or the jarl when the biggest prize of all lay in the hands of outlaws, she had asked herself.
It had been by luck that she met him, Mercer Frey, and by luck that he noticed the look in her eyes; the look of a cutpurse so talented that no imaginable coup would be daring enough to satisfy her lust for a challenge. He contacted her and told her about a burglary which would make them both rich for life.
Being the khajiit she was: daring, greedy, skillful and more than a little arrogant, Farideh could not refuse Mercers offer: “Help me break into the thieves guild’s vault. Help me steal every single last coin from their treasury and I promise you a reward beyond measure”, she still remembered his words clearly. The smile returned to her slim lips. Mercer had been a fool. She knew his true intentions; he didn’t need her help, really. However, he did need someone to blame when confronted with the stolen gold… a conspicuous khajiit such as herself would have been perfect for that role. He would have payed some mercenaries to hunt her down and kill her, then he would have collected her share of the gold and disappeared off to some luxurious lifestyle far away from The Guild.
What a shame - she had sniffed his little ploy out like the flame of a candle and planned one of her own - a shame for him anyways. She giggled gingerly at the thought. How it amused her that the leader of The Thieves Guild himself had been outsmarted by a small innocent khajiit.
But Farideh knew that she shouldn't be laughing yet. To underestimate Mercer’s wrath at the discovery of her treachery would mean an early grave if she wasn’t very, very careful.
It was nightfall when Farideh reached Kynesgrove - an inn run by an imperial from Cyrodill and her sister. She decided that she had come far enough North to escape any immediate revenge from Mercer; to be honest she wasn’t even sure if he would've noticed her disappearance yet… anyways she needed sleep, a warm meal and something to drink. There was no way around it.
She entered the inn. It was warm, the whole building heated by a single longfire. Above the fire hung a large iron cooking pot filled with boiling stew, the smell of it made Farideh’s mouth water.
“Welcome to Kynesgrove traveller”, said the innkeeper from behind a solid oak counter, “What can I do for you?”.
Farideh paused for a moment to consider, “This one would like to rent a room, just for the night. Also a bowl of stew and some cold water”.
The innkeeper chuckled, “Cold water is the only water we have… that goes for most of Skyrim”.
Farideh nodded thoughtfully at that.
“Very well”, Said the innkeeper, accepting her customers silence as weariness from a long road, “A bowl of warm stew, a room for the night and a mug of cold water”, the innkeeper fell silent for a moment, her lips moving slowly as she worked out how much she would charge her customer.
“That’d be 33 septimes please”.
Farideh dug her long elegant fingers into her purse and lay a single flawless ruby on the counter, “This ought to pay the expenses”, she said with a sly smile.
Farideh knew she shouldn't be flaunting her newly earned wealth with such carelessness, but she just couldn't help herself when faced with opportunities such as this one… she simply found people's looks of astonishment and utter disbelief far too amusing. Besides, Farideh needed to bribe the innkeeper or Mercer would have little trouble tracking her down.
The innkeeper gasped, “No no 33 septimes… not tha-”, Farideh cut her off, “This one thinks you need the money. Listen, take the payment and serve a khajiit what she has payed for… everything will be well. Only thing a khajiit asks is that you won't tell anyone of her visit to this inn”.
The innkeeper nodded quickly, “I won’t tell anyone”, she said.
“Good, good. A khajiit can trust you, I see”, Farideh took hold of the innkeepers right hand, slowly turning it upwards. Carefully she lay the jewel in the innkeepers palm and closed her fingers around it. “This should fetch you a nice price my friend. But remember: if anyone asks there was never a khajiit here...”.
With that, Farideh gracefully turned on one leg and made her way to a table near the hearth. She sat, enjoying the warmth of the fire on her beautiful soft fur.
Farideh was a genius.
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Comments
For the simile to work it should be snuffed - you don't sniff candles out. Unless you mean sniffed in the sens... more