A/N: Thank you to choas666 for favoriting and MrsKittyCommander and theta117 for following!

Masks once again secured on their faces, Svana and Reyda returned to the small room where Brynjolf sat. Svana knew she had to be convincing to keep him from figuring it out, so she immediately whipped out her Daedric dagger. Stalking over to her captive, she could see the fear and resignation in Brynjolf's face. Smirking under her mask, she cut him out of the chair.

"Get up!" she snapped, impatient. The thief immediately complied, rubbing his wrists. Reyda silently joined her friend and gestured for the thief to put out his hands. She tied them with leather strips, another piece leading to her own wrist. Yanking him along, they stopped right in front of the door.

"Won't this look a bit... obvious?"

Svana rolled her eyes and held her dagger in front of Brynjolf's face. "What does it matter if it is obvious you are a prisoner? Do you really think the citizens of Windhelm will want to mess with two of the Dark Brotherhood's top assassins?" She elbowed him. "Just keep moving and keep quiet, thief."

Before she left the doors Hjerim, Svana turned to Calder and nodded at him, leaving a few Septims on the wardrobe next to the door. It was a form of thanks; he may be her housecarl and sworn to her service, but knocking out and tying up thieves for an assassin wasn't quite in his job description. With a final glance back to Calder, Svana closed the doors to her home and joined Reyda and Brynjolf in the street.

~.o.O.o.O.o.~

Brynjolf was the spectacle of the day. Citizens everywhere stopped to watch him be dragged around, including the guards. One of the guards did stop the trio, and, stammering, spoke to the leader. It was obvious that she was in charge; the other, Reyda, he had learned, kept herself slightly behind the leader.

"Now, I know who you are. And… and I know your business… Just, please… These are good folk we got here. Mostly…" The guard that spoke up paled as soon as the leader looked up at him.

"None of your people have been harmed, soldier. Best let us on our way." The guard immediately scrambled to the side, getting out of the assassins' path.

They passed through the graveyard as a shortcut to the city gates. Brynjolf found himself wondering how many of the dead there were murdered by the two women beside him. He felt ill at the thought.

They quickly continued outside the city walls, hurrying over the bridge. The trio turned west, over yet another bridge, and stayed on the road, following the river. Eventually they came across Anga's Mill. They had been walking for a few hours already. He was aching for a rest. As if she could read his thoughts, the head assassin spoke. "It's going to be cold, and if we do not cross quickly it can prove deadly. There is a small abandoned camp just a ways down the road from the mill, but it is on the other side. There should be room for the three of us." Brynjolf could tell he wouldn't like how this turned out.

The three of them crossed the river, and Brynjolf's captors led him uphill. It wasn't long after before he recognized the remains of a campfire and a tent beside the waterfall. He began to wonder how the assassins knew of the place.

"We will stop here for the night." Brynjolf nearly collapsed with relief. He saw one of the assassins – he thought it was Reyda, but they looked almost exactly alike in that armor - begin to pull firewood from their bag, while the other removed food items from another. Looking up at him, Reyda spoke.

"You didn't think we'd let you starve, did you?" Her tone was clearly condescending. Brynjolf laughed weakly in response. "I wouldn't have put it past you, lass."

The other assassin chastised Brynjolf. "If I wanted you dead, thief, you would be dead. Of that you can be assured." That effectively ended all conversation, leaving Brynjolf much to think about. Namely, how he could get away.

~.o.O.o.O.o.~

Later that evening, Brynjolf found himself tethered to the tent the two assassins shared. If he managed to get free, it would knock the tent down on top of whichever assassin was sleeping, waking them up. There would be no escape that night.

He looked over at the woman who had taken watch. She was propped up against a rock, sitting on the hide of the deer they had eaten earlier. He noted she had to have had experience with dragons, as she was keeping a close eye on the skies as well. Feeling his gaze on her, she looked at him.

"Why are you staring at me?"

The question caught him off guard. His answer was most of the truth.

"Can't sleep." And he really couldn't, not while the Brotherhood had him. His own guild wouldn't be able to help him out of this one; they were close to the Brotherhood and worked alongside them often. There was an understanding between the two groups; if a thief entered the home of an assassin, that thief's life was forfeit. He really was lucky to be alive at this juncture.

She murmured an assent. Growing somewhat bold, Brynjolf asked the assassin, "Lass, we're going to be together for a while unless you decide to kill me. Can I at least know your names?"

The woman hesitated for a moment. She couldn't see any harm in telling him; especially since it wasn't really her name. "You may call me Kirsta." 'Kirsta' nodded to her sleeping companion. "That is Reyda." After consideration, she continued. "You are undoubtedly curious about much. Speak your mind, thief. I will answer what I can." 'Kirsta' turned her eyes back to the skies.

"My name is Brynjolf." She looked at him. "You've been calling me thief, lass, and that's not my name."
"Nor is mine 'lass'." 'Kirsta' sounded amused.

"I suppose not. Just a habit." He sighed. "How did you know this place was here, anyways?"

The assassin was thoughtful. "There was an ex-miller by the name of.. Ennodius Papius, I think it was? This was his camp. He was my third contract killing." Brynjolf inhaled sharply. Of course it was the place of one of her murders. "The man was paranoid as he could be; always thought someone was after him." She laughed humorlessly. "Turns out, the last time, he was right. Slit his throat in his sleep; was the most painless I could offer him at the time. I think I did him a favor; the poor fool was always looking over his shoulder for an assassin or something. At least that way he was at peace."

Brynjolf stared at her. The woman could justify murder in a way that made him almost believe it was for the best.

"Mind you, this was over three years ago now. I'm not as soft as I was then."

That answered Brynjolf's next question. 'Kirsta' seemed more and more like a real, living person and less like a ruthless murderer in that moment. He grew quiet. "Why didn't you kill me earlier?" He frowned. "You had every reason to. I broke into your house; my guild knows that our lives are forfeit if we're caught trying to steal from your organization. And we both know if I tried to escape you'd run me through with those nasty looking blades on your hip."

There was a long silence. Brynjolf almost thought she wouldn't answer, but eventually, she did.

"I told you the truth earlier, more or less. You are not a threat to me, and the Unholy Matron has not given the order for your death. But you are a threat to my organization," she murmured. "You know the location of one of our bases and can lead authorities there to capture myself or a friend of mine. I cannot let you free for that reason, and it should be enough to kill you. I suppose I am... interested to see where this predicament may lead." 'Kirsta' paused. "Bloodshed always has a reason, and in this situation, it is unnecessary." With that, she stood up.

Walking over to Reyda, she tapped her companion. She dutifully rose and took 'Kirsta's' place by the rock, taking watch until dawn. There would be no more conversation that night. Uneasily, Brynjolf fell asleep.

A/N: I may be a bit slower posting as I still have yet to write it in its entirety and I just went back to school for senior year. Yay! But I have no intention of abandoning this story, it will be seen complete. Woo!

As always, please review so I know where to improve. : ) Thank you to everyone who has read this so far!