Skyrim | Thief Of Hearts | DISCONTINUED

15.

{Mercer POV}

'Sweet Mara!' I nearly got a heart attack as I tripped over a decapitated head as I passed the bridge to Goldenglow Estate. I looked down and saw the lifeless face of a mercenary, a guy not older than twenty years old. The poor thing. I pulled up my hood and got out my dagger. The odd thing was that I had not seen any sign of life, even bandits who would be looting the dead bodies were absent. If it took her clearly no effort to end those hired mercenaries, then why would she be gone for so long? Something must've happened. Carefully, I pushed open the door. Bodies were scattered over the place, blood staining the walls crimson. Fresh dirt covered the wooden floor planks, so someone must've been here recently. As I inspected the footprints better, I discovered that they were not from just one person. A group of men, according to the size of the feet and the space between the steps. I followed the trail, but they led to the kitchen. From there, there was simply not enough dirt left on the soles, which made the trail disappear completely at the cabinet with ale. My eye fell on one of the chairs, over which a cloak was draped. I grabbed the end of it to spread it out and the logo of the Stormcloak army appeared. The place must have been pillaged by some of those Nords. Aringoth was an Altmer, which made him most likely a Stormcloak hater, so it couldn't be his, and that fact made it unlikely for him to hire any Stormcloak mercenaries. Hatred can settle down deep into your core once you've been hurt by or experienced something horrible with those bastard. Not that I was against the Stormcloaks, but I agreed with a few people who told me that they are sometimes just too much of a pain in the ass. So, if Stormcloaks have raided this place, what happened to (Y/n)? I shuddered. Brynjolf would literally kill me if I returned empty-handed to the cistern. Not that I was afraid of him, but we were friends after all. He was one of the few members I actually liked, not that I showed that a lot to them, but still. Suddenly, my ear caught something in the cellar. Laughing and footsteps echoed through the halls as a heavy door fell locked. Quickly, I hid myself behind a bookcase. Three brute looking Nords entered the room, roaring with laughter and barking stupid remarks at each other. 'You must've seen the look on her face when I was done with her, she looked more broken than a mirror when you walk in front of it!' 'Are you saying I am ugly?!' One with war paint spat, pulling a case with mead bottles from the pantry. 'Aye, Hakovar, you are as ugly as a hagraven and a troll combined!' 'At least I don't look like a bloody draugr like you do!' 'Do you want me to hit you with the blade of my battleaxe across the face, stupid milk-drinker?!' The thirth man was cackling with laughter by now. 'Anyways, Bjatir, what are you going to do to that wolfie you killed?' 'Her pet? Oh, it was too ugly to even keep, so I dropped it into the water.' My eyes widened. So it was (Y/n) they were talking about! I pressed myself against the shelf to hide even more as they walked right past me. 'Tomorrow we are coming back, eh lads?' 'Only if I can have her first!' 'No, me. Gislen, you had her second today and I third, so I am first tomorrow!' The one called Hakovar sighed deeply. 'My friends, stop talking. We will need to return to the Stormcloak camp and stay there for the night. We don't want Galmar to become suspicious, eh?' They laughed and walked off. I swallowed. Did they...? I sneaked towards the cellar, which I found in no time. I heard cries coming from the room at the end of the hall, broken, bone-chilling cries. The door was locked. I silently cursed to myself and rummaged through my pockets to find a tiny strip of iron with a curved end. I placed it in the keyhole and took the tension wrench to click open the lock. With skilled fingers, it took a mere seconds. I fell face down into the room, since the door opened inwards. 'M-Mercer?!' I quickly recovered myself and looked up towards the girl I was looking for, quickly shutting my eyes. She was completely bare and tears streamed down her face. 'Mercer just help me!' I shuffled towards her with closed eyes. 'For Kynareth's sake, Mercer, release me!' 'The last time we met, you were extremely polite, what happened to that attitude?' I asked in an attempt to enlighten the mood a bit. I managed to open the shackles with my lockpick and she fell to the floor. 'Last time, I wasn't in such a humiliating position. Please, get me the rags over there.' She pointed away and I walked towards them, picking them up before turning and walking again with closed eyes. 'Sweet Mara, open your eyes. You are about to walk into a wall and I am certainly not the first lady you see naked.' I felt my face become hot as I handed her the thin linen wraps. 'Thank you.' She quickly put them on her scratched, bruised body. 'I might have some trouble walking, so I am sorry if I am slow.' She stood up, wobbling dangerously on her feet. I leaned forwards to grab her arm. 'Easy there... For the love of Akatosh, what did they do to you?' 'Isn't that clear?' she snapped. 'The first job and already caught. And no, they did not just held me prisoner. Just help me get out of here already.' Her voice regained strength with every word she said. As she stumbled towards outside, supported by me. We walked towards the river that was next to Goldenglow and sat down on the grass so (Y/n) could wash and redress. Now we were in clear daylight, I could investigate her better. Her (h/c) hair shimmered in the sunset, even though she had been bleeding on her scalp and under her eye. Her chin was a tint of purple and a long gash was made over her cheek. I couldn't help but think she was truly a fighter. 'Huh, they damaged you pretty bad...' She fastened the belts on her armor and looked at me. 'You don't have to tell me.' 'You are thinking about Nero, aren't you?' She gave me a quick nod, her (e/c) eyes filling with sadness. 'I know where they dumped his corpse.' I met her gaze. 'Pardon me?' 'They dumped it in the river somewhere here.' Guilt washed over me as tears started to leak down her face. It was my fault. It was my fault she was hurt and raped and it was my fault her beloved pet died. 'He was my only friend...' she mumbled, hiding behind her messy hair. 'It isn't your fault.' Wrong move, I realized a split second too late. Realization washed over her. It was my fault.'But it was yours. I had to prove myself for you! I had to go to this vile place by your idea!' She started to crawl away from me. 'Don't come ever near me again!' Supported by the branches of a tree, she stood up, pointing a finger towards me. 'You egoistic arrogant bastard!' '(Y/n)!' I tried. 'I didn't know that there would be Stormcloaks in there!' Her face was bewildered, her eyes starting to grow dark of hatred. 'You repel me!' With that, she jumped into the water. '(Y/N)! DON'T DO THAT!!' Of course she didn't listen and swam towards the shore of Riften. 'Oh crap...' I hissed. I realized she wouldn't be heading back to the cistern anymore, nor show her face around Riften. And that left me no choice than to lie to Brynjolf, only if it meant saving him from knowing about the horrors (Y/n) just went through...

New chapter at 100 votes just to know that people appreciate my work instead of only reading it hehe