A Dragonborn by any other name

Sneaking Bees

Gwen was considering giving up. This was something that didn't happen very often at all. Usually she was strong-willed, and stubborn. This was one secret, though, that she would do anything to keep. Sitting on her new bed, she considered her options. She could stay with the Guild, and pretend nothing had happened. She could leave, and pretend she had never been there, but with Delvin knowing she was back in Skyrim she couldn't go to the Brotherhood. Not for the moment anyway. The third option, as she saw it, was to kill Mercer Frey before he could endanger her any more. While it was attractive, it would put her in a bad position, so for now, she just had to wait. Coming to her decision, she stirred herself heading out to the Flagon to find the fence, and get a set of armour. She looked around, trying to match the description she had been given to a face. Finally she spotted the Redguard, and headed over, trying to block out the sounds around her. One short, unpleasant conversation later, and she finally had a decent set of armour, and her pack was considerately lighter. She slipped away to change, this time, checking around to make sure nobody saw the Amulet, and hoped people would just decide she was shy. Finally, she returned, and obtained a map of the lake, so she could plan what she was going to do with this job. She had to get in, burn three hives, no more, and clean out the safe. The safe was in the basement, and that was what she would sort out first. If she tried to burn the hives, then get to the safe, it would put the guards on high alert. However, if it went the other way, it could be days before anyone found out the safe was empty.

Eventually, she was out, slipping away before people could notice she was gone. She waited for the sun to be near setting to slip into the water, finding her way to the sewer system of the island. When she surfaced, thankfully on the correct side, she took a deep breath of clean air, preparing herself for the long sneak ahead. When she was collected, she slipped into the sewer, Muffle casting in one hand, Invisibility in the other. She was careful not to touch anything, and to look for places where she could duck into alcoves, or hide, to recharge her Magicka. It took a while to get through, though she had no way of telling the time when she was down underground. One thing she noticed was that the guards were lazy. When they decided their shifts were finished, they would walk off to find someone to relieve them. Using that, she finally made it almost to the safe. One last guard stood in her way. Unlike the others, he seemed alert, and careful. She could wait for him to tire, or she could find a way past him. Her decision was made for her when he finally sat in the chair, almost stepping on her. Silently, she cast once more, and made it into the room with the safe, ducking around the corner so he couldn't see her. She spied the safe, and grimaced, pulling out her lockpicks. A check up the hall revealed the guard was not only asleep, but snoring. The sound he made would cover any from her opening the safe. She set to work, spells wearing off before she heard the faint click that was the last tumbler moving into place. She turned the contraption carefully, and it swung open silently. Clearing it out, she left the sewers the same way.

Gwen had thought long and hard about how to burn the hives. Being part Altmer, magic came to her easily, one of the things she shared with her sister. A simple flames spell was always an option. How to get away afterwards would be the problem. If she was as good with her archery as her sister, she would try shooting the hives with flaming arrows, but she didn't trust herself enough for that. The third option would be to sneak up with a torch. All presented interesting ideas, but by far, her favourite was magically burning them. She could control it that way, and if anything happened, there was a big lake she could jump into to get away. Decision made, she wrapped the document she had pulled out of the safe in her oilskin, and tucked it beside the amulet in her armour. Crouching down, she pushed through the door, opening it onto the twilight just before dawn. It wasn't a coincidence. She knew this was the time when Nocturnal was at her strongest. Saying a silent prayer, she headed across the grounds, avoiding mercenaries as she went. Finally she was next to the hives. She cancelled the Muffle, and called flames to her hand again. One more quick prayer, and she fired, hitting three hives in quick succession. They all caught, and started burning. Her suspicions about the mercenaries being lazy were proved correct, as she was almost back to the lake before they realised the flames were licking at the precious hives. She smirked, and dived into the water. She hated mead anyway.