This is a drabble. Feel free to make a request or two.
I walked around the crowded streets of Solitude. The giant crowd always formed during the now weekly Fire Festival. Not enough heads turned as I made my way to the Bards College to watch the burning of the effigy. Not enough people made attempts to part so I could watch the main event personally.
How could anyone not appreciate Thane Erikur of Solitude? I wore only the finest clothes and drank the rarest of wines.
As I neared where I could witness the burning of King Olaf, my eyes caught Jash with his family. The lizard had his lizard husband with him and two Nord children. Jash had his arms around Scouts-Many-Marshes and both laughed as their children whined that the event was boring. Lucia and Blaise needed to be raised with their own kind. Maybe they would act properly then.
I sneered for a moment before regaining my composure.
Most of Skyrim held Jash on a pedestal for saving Skyrim from Alduin and killing Ulfric Stormcloak. But I knew the Daedra underneath that performance. Besides being a hero and the Harbinger of the Companions, he was the Guild Master of the Thieves Guild. The lizard was the richest and most powerful creature of the province yet he stole from everyone.
It was that position that made me keep my composure around the creature. If I gave the Thieves Guild what they wanted, I would not be harmed. The Thalmor needed to enact their plans quicker as I loathed every time I had to be polite to the lizard.
The only reason Jash would dare to lay a finger on me was if he were truly the leader of the Dark Brotherhood. I knew my strengths and how far my influence could really go. Befriending the Dark Brotherhood was a dangerous effort that bordered on insanity.
Maven Black-Briar used to have those deadly assassins in her pockets. They insured that her enemies, or those who slightly inconvenienced her, would meet a swift end. Yet that didn't protect her in the end. They had turned on her and left her corpse to watch the rising sun in Riften.
Jash was good at balancing his conflicting duties of Harbinger of the Companions and Guild Master of the Thieves Guild. So if he truly led the Dark Brotherhood, I would need to make sure killing me would cause unrest in the Thieves Guild.
"Thane," Jash said as he walked over with a glass of wine. "It hasn't been ours to talk with you since I've come to Solitude."
"Perhaps you can join me for dinner." I replied politely and hoped he hadn't seen my sneer. "My Housecarl will enjoy having children visit."
"Perhaps."
"Excuse me being so upfront, but you don't tend to shower me with idle chatter."
"No, I don't."
Was Jash angry at me or was I merely imagining things? These lizards were impossible to read!
"I have been to Court." Jash said and looked at me, his eyes almost seemed like they had a pulse of their own. "So imagine my surprise when you weren't spewing lies about the High Queen or seeking to increase your power. You were actually silent which should make me glad."
It had hurt to keep my tongue silent on the matters of Elisif and my own businesses. But it had been hard for me to figure out what words would hurt the Thalmor cause in light of the rumors about Skyrim becoming independent and an ally to the Empire. So I found it much easier to be quiet. That strategy hadn't paid off if even a lizard noticed.
The rumors, if true, stated that Elisif and General Tullius were working together to figure out how the province could become independent. I guess that even the young queen knew that the Thalmor were a force to be reckoned with and to have a chance you needed a big army.
I couldn't figure out why Elisif had decided for the province to become independent as it seemed to have no benefit to her. Maybe someone in court had convinced her that while Ulfric Stormcloak had been a traitor, he was right to create some distance between Skyrim and the Empire.
Besides silence being good for my own safety, it allowed me to better track down how to stop what the rumors promised. Because if the rumors were true then...then...the Thalmor had ways to punish people. I would be begging for death if I failed them.
"I-" I began but was stopped by screaming in the crowd.
Five people, none close to the others, fell down. Some screamed as if they were being torn into pieces while others were completely silent as they fell. Without a thought I threw down my own goblet and grabbed Jash's from him.
The Dragonborn should never have risen to his heroic status, but he knew better than to be poisoned. If he did lead the Dark Brotherhood then it was even less likely that his wine would be poisoned. So I didn't think twice before drinking from the cup.
Suddenly the most extreme pain I had ever felt came over me the moment the wine touched my lips. It felt like my body was being torn apart while lightning shot out from every orifice. The only other thing I could make sense of was my body crashing onto the ground while everyone started blaming each other for daring to poison the Dragonborn.
Then I felt blessed nothing.
* * *
"A week." Someone growled as I opened my eyes.
Standing by my bed was Jash. The lizard looked angrily at my sweat drenched body. He had poisoned me! He had dared to try and kill me!
"You." I said with a voice that felt quiet even to me. "You tried to kill me. The Thieves Guild will hear about this."
Jash laughed before becoming silent once more. He must have broken into my house. The act would be easy for someone that had risen to the rank of Guild Master of the Thieves Guild. No one would have seen him enter and anyone here would be oblivious to his presence.
"Tried?" Jash asked and I couldn't tell if his tone was sarcastic. "It is not ours to kill in front of my children. I gave you the chance to die during the festival. But you didn't take the offer that the antidote gave freely. And, must I remind you, it was you that grabbed my cup before thinking to ask."
Antidote? How do you poison with an antidote?
"The Thieves Guild won't be happy." I pleaded. "No one else can grant the opportunities I can."
That should have gotten a reaction from the Argonian. Instead he just stood there with the same unchanging expression. Or maybe he had a reaction but I just didn't care enough about his race to understand it. I hoped there was something I hadn't noticed so that I wouldn't die.
"Unlike you, I am loyal to those I lead." Jash said dryly. "I made sure that Gisli was willing and able to open the doors you could."
"My sister..." I asked as I barely managed to get any words out. "Sh...she knows."
"If she knew then that would be a loose end I didn't need. No, she believes there are rumors about you being targeted due to your connections with the Thieves Guild."
Why hadn't my sister warned me? Why hadn't she seen that there were no such rumors? Or had Jash started rumors where they wouldn't get to me in time?
"Murdering one of Elisif's Thanes?" I managed to get out. "What will she think?"
The lizard loved Elisif and it was a well known secret that that was the reason he had fought against the Stormcloaks. Why he hadn't capitalized on that power and taken the throne was pure insanity. But what could one really expect from their kind?
"She doesn't need to know everything I do." Jash replied and barred his teeth. "Your death and my hands will appear as two separate things to most. But even if Elisif learns the truth of your demise, she will not retaliate against my decision."
"Bla...m...ail..." I tried to cry out.
"Blackmail? Hardly. Skyrim will become independent and an ally of the Empire. Which means the Thalmor and their spies will not be welcome. But she can't be connected to the murders of her own people or else those kaoc will use that against her. So my High Queen has allowed me to assassinate anyone I know to be a Thalmor spy."
How did he-no! Why hadn't I seen it before? All these lizards looked the same so I couldn't be to blame! Had the Thalmor known that Jash had been the Argonian to break into their embassy? Or had they just written him off as just another race beneath us? Had they been watching me all this time and thought I would ever demean myself to protecting him?
Jash moved slowly but still too quickly for my pained body. At least I resisted enough to where he had to massage my throat to get me to swallow the poison. I started to glare at the Argonian but my body stopped moving before the expression would be noticeable.
It was true, then. Jash lead the Dark Broth-
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