Songs of the Crooked

13: The Stolen Carriage

Eliza made her way back up to the carriage and waited for Vex to return. She had already waited around for five minutes before she heard Vex call out to her. 

"Eliza!" She screamed. 

Eliza perked up and followed the sound of her voice and was startled to see Vex, completely wet, running towards her with a lute and a huge bag of what appeared to be gold in hand and at least ten guards chasing her. 

"Eliza! Get a fucking horse!" Vex yelled. 

Eliza looked around and noted that the carriage was the only transport closest to her. She went up to the carriage driver then pulled him off the carriage seat and climbed on and rushed over to Vex. Vex jumped on the back of the carriage and Eliza wiped the horse, making it take off down the road. 

Vex sat up and held on tight to her loot with one hand and the seat beside her with the other, as Eliza drove the carriage fast through Dragon bridge. She risked a look behind them and saw that five guards were still chasing after them, while two guards hopped on a horse and was making their way towards them. 

"You might want to go faster, Liza!" She called out. '

"I'm going as fast as we can!" Eliza yelled back at her. "This horse is doing the best it can!"

"Well we're going to be caught if you don't make this cart go faster!"

"Who's fault is it that we're even in this mess?!"  

Vex groaned and grabbed at Eliza's bow, setting it up with an arrow. She wasn't all that great with bow and arrow, but she had to at least try to get them off their tail.

Eliza snapped her head back wide eyed, before looking back at the road. "What are you doing?!" 

"I'm gonna slow them down!"

"Just don't hurt the horses!" 

Vex laughed. Of course she was more worried about the horses. She aimed at one of the guards that was on the horses, and fired, getting him in the shoulder. He cried out in pain and fell off his horse. She grabbed another arrow and aimed it at the other guard on the horse. With a sinister grin, she shot the arrow, hitting him in the knee. He cursed loudly, but still stayed on his horse. Annoyed, she shot another arrow at the same knee. He screamed and forced his horse to stop. 

The other guards stopped their chase and focused on helping their wounded men.

Vex sighed in relief and collapsed on the floor of the carriage, laughing out in pure joy.  "That was so much fun!"

"Yeah!" Eliza snapped sarcastically, slowing down the carriage. "We should totally do this again."

Vex leaned over to the driver's bench where Eliza was, and planted a kiss on her cheek. "Come on, Doll. You gotta admit that was a little bit fun." 

Eliza blushed and her jaw hanged slightly opened, briefly forgetting how to speak. She cleared her throat, trying to regain her composure. "J-just be more careful next time, Vex." 

They drove the carriage all the way to Rorikstead, where they stopped to take a moment to relax before having to return to Riften. Eliza sat down at a table, already eating the food in front of her, while Vex dried off in front of the fire. From what Vex had told her, she had to jump in the lake to retrieve an important item for the job she was doing for Erikur. Eliza was thankful that she didn't have to do that. She was a terrible swimmer. 

She looked longingly towards the blonde Imperial, admiring the sight of her features being highlighted by the warm burning fire.  She thought back to when Vex and kissed her on her cheek, still able to feel the soft and warm lips against her skin. She wondered what she meant by that kiss. Did she do it to be funny, or did she actually felt something for her? Vex was a hard person to completely understand. She acted one way with other people, but acted different when she was around Eliza. Even Brynjolf noted how much Vex changed anytime Eliza was near her. What could it mean? 

"What are you thinking about, Doll?" Vex asked her while eating her chicken soup by the fire.

Eliza shrugged her shoulder and sat down on the ground next to Vex. "I'm just worried how I'm going to tell Mercer that the person who killed the old guild master, is now targeting him." 

Vex nudged her shoulder. "Don't worry. Mercer can take care of himself. Besides, he has the whole guild by his side if that elf tries anything." 

Eliza smiled softly. "Yeah, you're right."

"Of course I am. I'm right about everything." 

"That may be so, but I guess you're not smart enough to not get caught by the guards."

"Hey! I did the job perfectly! I just...wanted to grab a few things from that college you were telling me about earlier." 

Eliza gasped. "You stole from the college? Why?"

Vex pulled out a lute from the bag and handed it over. "You said that you used to be a bard until you had to move to Riften." Vex explained. "I don't know...I just felt...kinda bad. So I thought I would at least get you a lute to play." 

Eliza took the lute in her hands. It looked like just a normal lute, but to Eliza it seemed like it was magical. She stared at in in awe, before looking back up at Vex. "Thank you, Vex. I don't...I don't know what to say." 

"Well, you can perform for me." 

Eliza laughed nervously. "Excuse me?"

"I almost died getting you that lute. The least you could do is play me a song." 

Eliza shook her head. "Just because I was a bard doesn't mean that I have the best singing voice."

Vex leaned back on her elbows, allowing her legs to stretch out. "Let me be the judge of that."

Eliza huffed, but set up straight and adjusted the lute in her lap. It was the least she could do. 

She cleared her throat and gave a nervous glaze towards Vex, before starting to sing. 

" One, I love
   Two, she loves
   Three, she is true to me,

   All of my friends fell out with me,
   Because I kept your company
   But let them say whatever they will

   I love my love
   With a free good will

   One, I love
   Two, she loves
   And three, she is true to me

   They tell me, she's poor
   They tell me, she's young

   I tell them all, to hold their tongue 

   If they could part the sand from sea, 
  They never could part my love from me

   One, I love
   Two, she loves
   Three, she is true to me"

Eliza continued to sing as she played softly on her lute. It was the first song she ever learned when she first started going to the Bard's college. When she first had to learn the song, she didn't like it, thinking it was a silly song. Now as she sang it for Vex, it felt like a perfect song and she couldn't imagine singing anything else for her. 

She finished the song and turned towards Vex, who was staring deeply in her eyes. Then suddenly, Vex leaned over to her and kissed her, cupping the back of her head. Eliza was taken aback, but quickly leaned into the kiss and kissed back. Vex's lips were better than she imagined. 

They slowly pulled away from the kiss, both with a blush on their face. Vex cleared her throat and stood up, offering a hand to Eliza. "Come on. We better get going." 

~

It finally happened! Yay!
Though, I'm sure that everyone who has played the Thieves Guild quest line, knows what's coming up soon...

The song that Eliza played is an actual real song. It's "One I Love" By: Meav