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The Forsworn Retribution	By : Samson Category: +A through F > Elder Scrolls - Skyrim Views: 60892 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 3
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All for One

The Forsworn Retribution
Part VIII - "Legends in the Making"
By: Jesse Racine AKA Samson
Original Date Written: August 14, 2015

“...So. As you all already know, Bunny had a run-in with a sister of her’s. Straight wanted to bring Bunny back to her clan, purely because they wanted her skill with alchemy. She was looking to convince Bunny that everything would be forgiven if she just went back to the family. Maybe they’re upset that Bunny’s actually been able to find a life outside of them.” Maximus gave a heavy sigh. Leaning back into Sabrina’s throne-like chair, he shrugged with his eyebrows, staring sightlessly at a stack of tomes piled up on the table, not far from his spot. “Bunny’s clan is planning an attack on Markarth. We already know that, Straight spilled the beans to Bunny. What we don’t know is, are any other clans taking part in the attack, and what are they planning on doing that needs poison? What kind of attack would call for something quiet, like that?”

Anya, feet shoulder-width apart, one hand holding the wrist of the other at her back, immediately offered “Perhaps the clan is acting alone, and believes that poison will help even the scales? Markarth is, after all, a very well-fortified city.” Maximus responded by looking over at Bunny, raising an eyebrow at her. The petite Breton wearily brought a hand to her face, rubbing her fingerprints at the center of her forehead as she mumbled “That could be...I dunno, m-maybe. I can’t really say, for sure. I thought the same thing, before...The clan never really made big use of poison, before. If they’re all of a sudden desperate enough for it to come after me, even after treating me like crap for all these years, then it must be important.” “The plan probably depends on poison, entirely,” Gabriella chimed in, her expression cool.

Maximus’ eyes shifted over to her, standing on the far side of Sabrina’s circular table. Svetlana and Bunny stood on the left side of the table, while Sabrina and Anya took the right side, left standing as they discussed the plan. Maximus threw his two cents on the subject, commenting “If they can’t get enough poisoners to do the job, they’ll probably try to find some other way of getting it, like kidnapping some poor bastard to do the work, for them. I somehow doubt they aren’t stubborn enough to just try pushing ahead with the plan, anyway, if they don’t have the people they need.” Her brow faintly furrowing, Gabriella gently tapped down on the table with the ends of two fingers, speaking with quiet confidence. “Poison on their weapons is one thing, but if it were up to me, I’d want to use the poison before the fighting even began. Maybe poison the entire guard force, or slip something into the Jarl’s wine. Maybe even eliminate the entire leadership, Housecarl and all.” “That’s more the work of an assassin than a rabble of bandits,” Sabrina calmly commented.

Svetlana swallowed her mouthful of stew, then let her spoon settle in the bowl long enough for her to say “Sabrina’s right. I think managing to slip in to the Jarl’s palace and poisoning his inner circle is a bit much to expect from some filthy natives. Using poison in a fight is one thing, but I don’t see them being able to pull off anything too impressive. Let’s not get too carried away, here.” “Well, no, that’s not what I meant, Lana.” Sabrina commented, looking over at the Nord. “Never underestimate your enemy. The knife that gets you is the one you thought could never reach you.” Maximus remarked, raising an eyebrow at the beautiful blonde. Sabrina glanced at him and gave a little nod of agreement. The priestess defended her position with raised eyebrows.

“Oh, c’mon. They have tattoos on their faces. They smell like dirt. They dress in animal pelts. Even if one of them managed to clean themselves up and dress like a civilized person, they wouldn’t get more than ten steps into the city square before a guard saw the tattoos and ran them through.” Svetlana, leaning left and right in a kind of bouncing motion, took on a more derisive tone as she added “And, with all the Forsworn we’ve fought, I don’t think I’ve ever seen one that had the acrobatic skill to jump from rooftop to rooftop, blending in with the shadows like a master assassin. They can’t just walk in, and I don’t see them sneaking in, either. They don’t have it in them, I’m sure.”

Relaxing a little, standing straight with her hands on her hips, she calmly added “I’m not going to pretend that I know what they have planned, but if I had to guess between the two ideas we’ve come up with so far, I’d say it’s just to coat their weapons for the fight. I mean, there’s a lot of things you can do with poison, right? If those savages could whip up enough paralyzing poison, for example...” Sabrina’s brow began to furrow. Quietly, she commented “I shudder to think of what they would do, in that case. The bloodbath would be horrific. Short of every single guard in the town wearing armour enchanted to defend against poison, there’d be no defence. One scratch, and they’d be left helpless.”

Anya lightly shook her head. “True as that may be, I would still say the more effective tactic would be to cripple the enemy before the attack even takes place. If they made a fatal poison, rather than a debilitating one, and somehow managed to strike Markarth’s guard force, with it...Perhaps by tainting their water supply, or something similar...If they simply eliminated the city’s standing combat force, the attack would be won before it had even began.” “I really don’t think they’re as smart as you think they are, Anya.” Svetlana remarked, pulling a bit of a grimace. Anya gave her a patient look, resisting the urge to educate the priestess on the value of not underestimating the enemy. Raising an eyebrow, Svetlana briefly drew her lips wide around her spoon, hastily chewing a small potato slice before swallowing it down.

Before she could continue her thought, however, Gabriella cut in, commenting “If they were stupid, Lana, they would’ve been kicked out of the Reach a long time ago.” Anya gave a little shrug. Raising an eyebrow, her eyes not only fell half-closed, but down to the table, in front of her. Without even turning her head to the Dunmer, she said “I would attribute much of the Forsworn’s survival on their intimate knowledge of the Reach, and the rest on the arcane support they’ve been receiving from Hagravens. It’s not really much of a secret that the native Bretons have been fraternizing with those...Twisted freaks.” The way Anya’s tone had hushed with her insult made Max’s eyes shift to Bunny. Briefly gesturing with a hand, he asked “That true?”

Bunny gently pressed her lips a little tighter together. She gave a nod, her eyes briefly drifting down to the table before she could look him in his own, again. In a somewhat subdued tone, she mumbled “Yeah...Every clan has at least one of those things, at the top. I don’t know if we always followed them, but we’ve been doing it ever since we first took Markarth, at least. I never actually met the one that my clan listens to, and...A-And I’m glad I didn’t.” Bunny swallowed some excess saliva. Max’s brow twitched down at the noticeable fear he saw swell in her eyes. Her breathing quickened, for a moment, as her eyes shifted around. “I saw her at her shrine, a couple times. I saw some of the trophies she kept. I know the hags are the ones that do the Briarheart ceremony. I don’t wanna go anywhere near something like that.”

Everyone was quiet, for a couple seconds. Eventually, Maximus raised an eyebrow and asked “Speaking of Briarhearts...I’d sure as Oblivion like it if the one we dealt with at Red Eagle was our first and last one. He put up more of a fight than I would’ve liked, I mean, the bastard almost killed Gabriella. I’d rather not have a repeat of any of that crap, so, tell me now...Does your clan have any Briarhearts? Any at all?” Bunny raised an eyebrow. For a couple seconds, she looked downwards, her lips parting hardly a crack as she drew in a breath. Sighing as she spoke, she halfheartedly mumbled “Maybe...The clan only had one Briarheart, before, but he died in a fight about a week before I left. By this point, someone else has probably already been chosen to be a Briarheart, so...And, since this big attack is coming, there might actually be more than one...”

Maximus looked upwards, then let them drop back around in half an eye roll. “Fuck,” he blurted out. Sabrina looked over at him. Reaching over, she gently laid a hand on his shoulder, reassuring him with a casual “Don’t worry, Max. I can handle the Briarheart, if there is one. I doubt their imbued power can surpass my own knowledge of Magicka...I’d like to think that there’s a slight difference between their inflicted energies and my lifetime of research.” Raising her eyebrows a little, she slowly began to turn her head away from him, eyes still locked on him all the while. In a little mumble, she added “...Of course, a lifetime of studying Magicka doesn’t amount to much if you chase my enemy into a pit.” He narrowed his eyes at her, a little. Smiling, he reached over, plucked her hand off of his shoulder, and dropped it back to her side.

“Real funny, fang-face. I guess you’ve forgotten that it wasn’t me who ran after the Briarheart, it was Gabby. I went after her because I wasn’t about to lose a member of my team. By the way, you just talked yourself out of getting fucked, tonight.” At first, the relatively amicable tone in his voice made her think that he wasn’t annoyed. When he abruptly revoked her sex privileges for the night, however, her mouth fell open. The other girls raised their eyebrows, particularly Svetlana, who couldn’t help but grin and snicker with amusement. Sabrina stammered for a second, but Maximus simply closed the discussion with a sharp “I’m sure you expected to get deep-dicked after spilling your guts, earlier, but I can’t say I appreciate you insinuating that I made a stupid decision, especially considering had I not made that decision, a certain somebody would almost definitely be dead, right now.”

Gabriella blinked, staring unnoticed at the Imperial. At first, she, like the others no doubt, thought that Maximus was overreacting. Sabrina, herself, must’ve been flabbergasted by his snippy reaction. Then, Gabby thought back to the events of Red Eagle, to the things he had said to her. Slowly, her eyes dropped. No...On second thought, he wasn’t overreacting, but she nonetheless couldn’t find the will to defend him against the others’ silent judgement. The things he had said to her, the way it had all made her feel, even now...It was sacred. None of the others had any business hearing it. She gave a couple blinks in rapid succession, looking back up to her lover.

If nothing else, his passionate reaction proved that, to him, too, it hadn’t just been words. The stress of the moment might’ve brought it out, but the things he had said at Red Eagle had been real. She couldn’t hear the voices as everyone moved on. To her surprise, Gabriella began to feel guilty. Was she doing the right thing, hiding what that courier’s message had meant? The immediate answer to pop into her head was, yes, of course, she had no choice. How could she share what something like that could’ve meant? And yet, that way of thinking didn’t satisfy her, it only made her guilt worse, if anything. She was lying to him. She was hiding something, something huge, and it gnawed at her.

Gabriella opened her mouth, but paused, for a second. Before she could find her voice, she found a choked syllable. “...Max...” Bunny looked over at Gabriella, noticing the unusual waver in her voice. The hesitant, almost hurt look on her face made Bunny’s lips part, a crack. Maximus looked over at her, but he evidently couldn’t figure out what was on her mind, or didn’t think it was worthy of adding to the discussion. Instead, he raised his eyebrows, chin, and hands, remarking “That reminds me, right. We should get around to this before I forget, then we can get back to Bunny’s clan.” Gabriella couldn’t bring herself to argue. Instead, she simply fell crestfallen, swallowing back the nerve she had mustered up, certain she could regurgitate it later. This probably wasn’t the time, for that. She could get him one-on-one, later. Probably better off keeping it between the two of them, anyway.

Sabrina let out a long, quiet sigh, her eyelids easing half-closed. She supposed that if the two of them weren’t going to get passionate, later on, then they weren’t going to talk about their relationship, either. As disappointing and, truthfully, hurtful as that was, she knew she couldn’t have made her feelings any clearer. She had already laid herself bare. There was nothing more she could do, except wait for his answer. With that in mind, she had been able to refrain from pushing the issue, although it would’ve helped her bite her tongue if she even knew why Max had gotten annoyed, in the first place. She hadn’t meant to insult him, in fact, if her comment had been directed at anyone, it would’ve been Gabriella. She had assumed that that would’ve been clear, but, evidently, she had thought wrong.

“Get around to what?” Bunny asked, an interested look on her face. Maximus sat up a bit more in Sabrina’s chair, lightly clearing his throat. Looking off into the distance at nothing in particular, he casually said “Earlier today, Gabby and I heard something...Kind of problematic, from a courier.” “...Problematic?” Anya repeated, her lips briefly pursing as she leaned over, getting a better look at him. Maximus raised his eyebrows and tilted his head back a little, all without taking his eyes off of his invisible subject. He didn’t see the point in mincing words. “...Torygg’s dead. Ulfric killed him. He managed to escape Solitude, on top of that. He’s probably already headed back to Windhelm, where he can’t be touched.” Everyone was silent, at first.

Anya’s nostrils flared, for a moment. Her brow furrowed harshly as her eyes fell to the table, her jaw tightening up like a vise. Sabrina stared into the distance, pressing her lips hard against each other before letting a sigh quietly drift through her nose. Hearing the news a second time barely took the edge off of the notion. Bunny’s eyes widened, while her mouth fell open, a crack. She kept staring at Maximus for a moment, but her eyes drifted off to the side as she raised a hand to her head, feebly attempting to distract herself from the news by preening her hair. Svetlana seemed the most stunned, especially once her still alcohol-fogged mind thought back to her visit to the Silver-Blood inn.

Raising a hand to her mouth, her eyes subtly twitched around as her blood began running cold, sending nauseous shivers down her back. “N...No wonder everyone was being quiet...” Everyone glanced at her as she put her bowl down, nearly slamming it against the table. The woman brought her free hand to her stomach, pressing her other palm tighter against her mouth as if to muffle a scream. Her forehead was already glistening as she dropped her hand to her throat. “...By the Nine, n-no wonder everyone was moping around! The High King is dead! I was the only one who didn’t know! I...I think I’m going to be sick!”

After a moment of fighting the sensation, Svetlana simply turned around and made for the cave exit, hurrying up the tunnel passageway to the surface. Maximus raised an eyebrow, absentmindedly remarking “Well, at least she had the decency to do it outside.” After a couple seconds of silence, he added “...Give her a minute, then I’ll go check on her. She’ll get over it. Just too much mead in her system, still.” Gabriella slowly looked over in Bunny’s direction as she asked “Alright, well, um...What exactly does this mean? You guys have talked about Ulfric, before. He’s a Jarl, right?” Anya unclenched her jaw long enough to snap “It means that, unless Ulfric is captured and executed yesterday, one war or another is coming to Skyrim. Ulfric can’t be High King.”

Bunny just looked confused, which Maximus found perfectly understandable. She couldn’t possibly have put the same thought into the political climate as the others, at the table. Sighing tiredly, he raised his eyebrows, tilting his head to the side as he watched her. “It’s just common sense that someone killing the High King in a duel has more legitimacy to take the throne, themselves. Someone killing the king, especially if it’s for political reasons, can only mean they want to be a replacement. Ulfric Stormcloak’s already a Jarl and a veteran of the Great War, and his father, too, was a great man. The problem with all this isn’t so much his legitimacy as it is his personal opinions. Besides, that’s not how Nords do things, anymore. We can’t all be killing each other off, that’s what the Moot is for.”

Gabriella calmly continued Maximus’ train of thought, giving a slow blink as she looked over at Bunny. Resting her hands down against the table, she explained “Ulfric has never been, shall we say, open-minded about elves. As long as you’re human, you’re alright. If you’re a Nord, you’re golden. The Dunmeri in his city live in filth.” The Dunmer’s voice dropped to a more hushed tone, and her eyes narrowed, a little. “He hates the Aldmeri Dominion, and really, who can blame him? The real problem is, he’s also started to hate the Empire for the White-Gold Concordat, and he’s been pretty public about it, too. It’s not exactly a secret that Talos worship is extremely important, to him. If he became High King, the first thing he’d do is announce that Skyrim’s seceding from the Empire. Obviously, the Emperor isn’t going to just take that, lying down.”

Sabrina crossed her arms beneath her tremendous bust, tilting her head forwards as she stared off in contemplation. Softly, she said “This situation doesn’t have many positive outcomes. If Ulfric is executed and a new High King or Queen is chosen quickly enough to avoid chaos, then Skyrim will be off relatively well. If Ulfric evades capture and insists that he has claim to the throne, then there will be war, especially since he’s already attracted so many soldiers to his cause. Now, if it had been anyone else to murder Torygg, the Aldmeri Dominion might not have even been a concern, but as it stands...” Anya raised a hand, running it through her hair. The stress simmering inside her began to ooze through her tone, making her more ragged than usual.

“The Thalmor would never permit Ulfric to become High King. He’d be a threat, then. You probably don’t know this, Bunny, but my comrades prefer things to be as stress-free as possible. Even though an independent, rebellious Skyrim would not be anywhere near as big of a threat as the entire Empire is, the Aldmeri Dominion is already waging multiple wars on multiple fronts. No...If it doesn’t have to have another, then it’ll do everything in it’s power to avoid it. Ulfric, obstinate man that he is, would immediately go to war with the Aldmeri Dominion, if he had the throne. His claim to the throne and the Talos worship he supports gives my old superiors a very legitimate excuse to all but occupy Skyrim. If they want in to Skyrim, if they say they want to “assist,” the Empire is obligated to accept.”

Anya paced off to the side, closing her eyes as she brought both hands to her face, trying to calm herself by slowing down her breathing. Almost under her breath, she muttered “I can’t stay here...By the Eight, this is a death sentence...” Maximus slowly stood up from Sabrina’s throne with a sigh. Nonchalantly, he said “Relax, Anya. Don’t fall apart on me now, I still need you. Listen, I’m gonna go check up on Lana. When I get back, I’ll finish my thought about Bunny’s family, and then, we’ll talk about your situation, Anya. Alone.” Before he could get more than a couple steps towards the exit, Gabriella managed to get out “Max, wait...I wanted to talk to you about something. We need to go over something, together.”

Maximus raised an eyebrow, glancing sidelong at her as he walked for the exit. With a shrug, he remarked “Alright, fine, well, we can talk at the same time I’m dealing with Anya-“ ”It’s really important...It might take a while. I wanted to be alone with you, for it.” The Dunmer added, hoping that the mildly insistent tone in her voice would get across that she was being serious. He slowed to a stop. Bunny, her eyebrows arched high, looked at Gabriella, then turned around and watched Max’s reaction. The Imperial simply stared at her for a couple seconds, meeting her intent gaze. His mouth set in a flat line, he eventually commented “...Fine, if it really means so much, to you. You can wait until after I’m done with Anya. I guess we can be alone, then.”

“Thank you. It does mean a lot to me.” Gabriella murmured, giving a single nod. Maximus watched her for a moment more, gauging her expression, trying to get a feel for what the issue was. If he were a little more cynical, he’d think she just wanted to get him alone to play hide the salami, but he already knew she wasn’t the type to put up a song and dance in front of people for something like that. She wanted to tell him something, and it was obviously personal enough that she wasn’t comfortable doing it in front of the others, so it must’ve been a little better than just catching a ride on his bologna pony.

As he made his way up the cave exit, he thought over her request, thinking back to anything that could’ve been unfinished business between the two of them. Of course, there was that bizarre letter she had gotten from the courier, which he already planned on getting the full story on, one way or another. Hopefully, she’d just spill the beans with a bit of pressing, but if getting to the bottom of the issue meant getting to the bottom of her gullet, then so be it. Maybe Gabby was already thinking one step ahead of him, hoping to save herself the trouble of a throat-stretching by coming clean. If not, then he was genuinely lost on what could be on her mind. There hadn’t really been anything else noteworthy, anyway...

After bringing Svetlana back in, who had, unfortunately enough, managed to unveil the dinner she had partially eaten all over the ground in front of the cave, Maximus pulled out his map of the Reach, showed off Bunny’s marking, and made it clear to everyone that he intended to slaughter every living person in the entire encampment. One hand against the parchment to keep it flat, he pointed at the charcoal circle on the map. His face cold, his voice low, he said “Believe me when I say that every man, woman, and child in there is as good as with the Divines, already. I won’t stop until either I’m dead, or all of them are. No exceptions.”

Raising his eyebrows, he glanced from face to face, looking around at each of them. Instead of telling them what he truly wanted to, he told them what he knew they wanted to hear. “...I’m going to need some help, for this. Each and every one of you.” “You don’t even need to ask, Max. I’m with you until the end. It’s thanks to you that I’m free.” Bunny immediately said, an uncharacteristic strength in her voice, a confident smile slowly growing on her face. Maximus looked at her for a moment, unable to help smiling, a little. It was nice to see her starting to come into her own, a little.

She was growing from the stammering girl he first met into a real woman. Maybe he should start calling her by her little nickname, Tiger, to reflect that. It’d probably help her leave behind her family, get some closure and bury the past. She didn’t need her clansmen to give her a new name or put ink on her face in order to make her feel like an adult. If that was the way it worked, Maximus could’ve arbitrarily declared her an adult, then and there, and it would’ve been just as legitimate. The idea stirred something, in the Imperial. Maybe it was just a twinge of sentimentality, but for a moment, Maximus couldn’t help but feel an undeniable hope that Bunny would be able to move on, afterwards.

Whether it was by his side or on her own, he wanted her to have a fresh start, free from the shadow cast over her by the life she had had before she and him had met. She deserved that much, to be free, to escape her cruel heritage, the ancestry she had never claimed as her own. He knew that her family had never done anything to earn Bunny’s allegiance, and the resulting price was her abandonment...She just wanted to leave them behind. They had expected so much, and afforded her so little. She just wanted to be on her own, somewhere quiet, away from the troubles of the world, left alone so she could study her alchemy...She was a lot like Sabrina, in that regard. Different area of interest, same preferred method of study.

“...Thanks, Tiger.” He got around to answering, still smiling. Bunny’s own smile started growing a little brighter, a bit of colour slowly flushing across her face. Sabrina slowly reached her hand over, gently resting it down overtop one of Max’s own. In a soft coo, she asserted “You have me, Max. Always.” Maximus looked down at his hand, then let his eyes rise to her face. A little slowly, he answered “...Thanks, Sabrina. I appreciate it.” The corners of Sabrina’s mouth flickered upwards as she slipped her hand away from his. Maximus looked over at Gabriella, staring at her for a moment before raising his eyebrows. She simply gave him a wordless nod, a hard look lingering in her eyes.

“I’m no fair weather friend, Max. Things getting a bit tougher doesn’t change much, to me.” Svetlana declared, giving her lips a licking as she finished her stew, hoping that something new in her stomach might help keep it settled. Setting the bowl down on Sabrina’s table, she gave a sleepy stretch, then added “Mmf...Something tells me we won’t be getting any gold for this, though...” Maximus shook his head. “Nope. This isn’t a job. This is strictly for me. You can’t expect any Septims, for this.” Perhaps insensitively, he raised an eyebrow, momentarily tilted his head to the side, and added “Maybe if we find anything decent in the clan’s coffers, I’ll pass it around. I’m not concerned about money, with this one.”

His answer merely made Svetlana look down at the table, a glum expression creeping up on her face. Max’s eyes shifted to Anya. The Altmer’s brow furrowed deep. At first, she met his gaze, but it didn’t take long for her eyes to drop to the map on the table. Her lips parted a crack, she lightly jutted out her lower jaw as she drew in a deep breath, sighing it back out in a heavy gust. Her jaw went back into it’s proper place, she clenched her teeth, and said not a word. The other girls quietly watched her, eyeing her rigid posture. Maximus leaned over a little, resting his hands against the table. His eyes wearily falling half-closed, one eyebrow lazily cocking up, he asked “...Well?”

Anya’s eyes narrowed to defeated slits as she gave the mildest shake with her head. In a low mutter, she remarked “...I suppose I’ve come this far. I’ve already put myself in a damning situation, with you people...Every step I take brings me closer and closer to Oblivion. What’s a few more?” Looking back up at him, she turned slightly, facing him from the far corner of the table. In a somewhat bored tone, she added “I know what this has all been about, Maximus. I made a file on you, remember? Not a very expansive one, but enough to know some essentials. Your parents were killed during the Forsworn Rebellion. It doesn’t take much more than that to explain why you’ve been so keen on going after them.”

She rested a hand of her own against the table, glancing back down at the map before meeting his eyes, again. She went quiet for a couple seconds, then said “...If I said no and walked away, right here and now, would you try to stop me?” Maximus gave a light shake of his head, without hesitation. Rather matter-of-factly, he simply said “I’d understand, completely. Do whatever you want.” Anya’s stare continued for several seconds. Eventually, she gave a brief huff of a sigh, through her mouth. At first, she spoke slowly, reluctantly, as if she were still arguing with herself about her decision. “I’ll...Help you...Just, give me a sword. You’ve kept me unarmed for long enough.”

The girls looked over at Maximus. Bunny, at least, was smiling at Anya’s agreeal. The elf’s tone took on a more decided undercurrent as she added “I’m a soldier, I can’t do anything if you don’t give me a weapon. I can kill whoever you want me to, but only with the right tools.” Maximus promptly stood back up straight, lightly swiping his hands against one another, clapping them off. “Better hold that thought,” he remarked. He gave her a quick gesture, wagging his finger at her with a nod towards the cave exit. “Come with me. You too, Gabby. We’ll talk outside,” he curtly explained.

Gabriella blinked, quietly heading for the nearby corridor to the surface. Anya’s brow lightly furrowed in confusion. “Is something wrong?” She asked. Maximus, folding his map back up, raised his chin and eyebrows, looking at her with a somewhat distracted look on his face. “Hm? Oh, no, everything’s fine. Just, c’mon. We’ll get some fresh air. Mind the puke, though.” Glancing around at the rest, he said “The rest of you, call it a night. We’re leaving bright and early, tomorrow morning. Lana’s practically falling down, over here.” Bunny perked up. With a big, beaming smile, she chirped “Ooh! Are we all gonna snuggle up in Sabrina’s bed?”

Maximus smirked, a little, as he slipped the map back into his armour. “Maybe. Get a move on, Anya.” Bunny grinned with excitement and scampered off, heading in the direction of the fireplace. Anya gave a cautious nod and began walking after him as he turned away. She had no idea what this was about, but if she expected something less than pleasant, she likely would not go disappointed. The three of them were silent all throughout the walk up to the surface, but once they were out in the moonlight, Maximus cut to the chase.

With a bored sigh, he turned to her and said “Alright, Anya. I know how eager you are to start your new life, and I know how nervous you’re getting about your old friends tracking you down, so get out of here. Go on.” With his eyes hardly adjusted to the darkness, he could barely make out her face opening up with surprise. Gabriella immediately gave him a dirty look, the Dunmer promptly blurting out “Max! We talked about this, you can’t just dismiss any of us-” “You can get going. I’d say you’ve paid me back, by now.” He added, cutting her off. Anya didn’t have time to get a word in, edgewise. Gabby turned towards Max, partially stepping between the two of them.

Eyes wide, she threw her arms up by her sides and hissed out “Well, she hasn’t paid me back. How can you possibly have forgiven her, already? She tried to have you tortured and killed! She could’ve had us all killed!” Dropping her arms back down, she furrowed her brow and, with a rather firm tone, asserted “Nobody’s going anywhere.” The Imperial sounded rather bored as he tilted his head back and to the side. “Yeah, sure, but this is the last one, anyway, Gabby.” Gabriella’s expression morphed into confusion. He raised his eyebrows at her, tiredly explaining something he felt should’ve already been quite obvious to anyone smarter than a piece of tree bark.

“I didn’t come out and say it to the others, but this is our last job. It isn’t as if Anya can actually make it up to us, we won’t have enough time, for that. We can’t keep doing mercenary work if a war’s coming, it’s too obvious. It’ll draw too much attention to us. The Thalmor are going to want Anya even more than they’re going to want me, I’m just an escaped prisoner, she’s a turncoat soldier. Keeping her around is just going to put us in more danger. If she fucks off and does her own thing, it’ll help us in the long run.” Anya’s posture stiffened. She had expected something unpleasant, but the blunt sentiment that everyone would be better off should she just piss right off still caught her a little unawares.

The rationale was sound, and she wholeheartedly agreed with it, but it was still odd to hear it from Max when not so long ago in the night he had rejected her request to leave, despite hearing the same reasoning. He must’ve come around to her way of thinking, Anya decided. Gabriella needed a moment to come up with a retort. Eventually she, with a surprising calm, stated “Alright, you’re right, Max, but you know we can’t turn anyone away, not just yet. We need all the help we can get, if we’re going to take on a whole Forsworn camp by ourselves. We don’t have Johan or his men, this time around. If it means the difference between one of us dying and all of us making it out alive, we need to keep her around.”

“Be that as it may, Gabby-” Maximus started, brow beginning to furrow at her insolence. “This is your last mission, then?” Anya abruptly asked, cutting him off. His hardening eyes shifted over from Gabriella’s face, while the Dunmer partially turned to the side, slowly looking over at the Altmer. Max coolly asked “You’re surprised? Even after knowing that the Thalmor is gonna swarm Skyrim?” Anya gave a light shake with her head. “No...Just making sure. If you only have one more trip ahead of you, then...I think my previous decision stands. I agree with Gabriella...You can’t afford to send anyone away. Not even me.”

Anya slowly raised her chin, a little. Holding her hands together behind herself, she remarked “Besides, you already denied my request to leave. I agreed to help you, and it’s not too much out of my way, if it’s just...A few more days. I can manage a few days into my schedule.” Maximus subtly narrowed his eyes at the passive-aggressiveness he detected in her choice of words. Anya’s voice softened as she conceded “And...I suppose it’s going to take a while before my debt to you is repaid. There’s still more I can do for you...I threatened to take your life for a cause I didn’t have my heart set on. In exchange, I can offer you other lives for a cause you do believe in. That might be more of a fair trade.”

Gabriella’s eyes began to harden. She didn’t notice Maximus begin to pace off to the side, turning his back on the both of them. Coldly, she remarked “Let’s make sure we’re clear - just because I’m willing to admit we need you, Anya, doesn’t mean I actually want you here. I’d trade you for Johan and his mercenaries in a heartbeat. It isn’t just Max you need to repay, it’s me, too.” As Maximus turned back around to face them, he threw his arms up, surprising them both with the agitation in his voice. Rather firmly, he snapped “By the Nine, every time I try to do one of you a favour, you always find some excuse to argue with me. Every time I try to save some of you the risk of getting your head lopped off, you always find some reason to stay!”

Arching one eyebrow, he glanced skyward and added “I wanted to do this one alone. Either of you understand what I mean, by that? This was supposed to be the last one, and I was fine with that. I knew that if I said that, though, everyone would get upset and whine at me about how unfair I’m being, and that I need everyone’s help. I’m trying to give you all a way out!” To his surprise, neither of them said anything. When he looked at them, he quickly realized why. They were both giving him the same kind of melancholic look, maintaining the same kind of depressed silence...Barely frowning, their eyebrows gently raised, their eyes...Oh.

“...This really means a lot to both of you, doesn’t it?” He slowly asked. Neither of them reacted. He didn’t see the need to force them to. The three of them descended into silence.. Gabriella wanted to say that she knew it had started to make him uncomfortable, using them all for his revenge. She wanted to tell him that she had long stopped resenting being dragged along on his crusade, that she cared about his revenge because he cared, but the words couldn’t come out. The danger had stopped mattering to any of them. His mission had become their mission, they believed in it because they wanted to see him get some justice, some closure. At first, they had just been a team, to him. People to act as tools for his dream. That had changed, for everyone involved.

Even if Gabriella could collect her thoughts well enough to get all that out, she wouldn’t say something so personal to him in front of someone like Anya. That kind of sentiment was best kept between two people, without bystanders on the sidelines. Instead, she got out a far more coarse “...Stop agitating it, Max. We’re helping you.” As he sighed, Anya confessed “I’ve seen the way everyone looks at you, Maximus. They respect you, they’re loyal to you and your goal...You’ve earned their confidence. A true leader does not abandon his soldiers because he’s concerned for their safety. He trusts that they’ll give their all, accomplish their goals, and get through alive.”

Maximus just sighed. Somewhat dismissively, he remarked “Alright, fine, but just remember...You asked for it. I tried to give you a way out, and you didn’t want to listen. If you don’t like what happens, if the outcome doesn’t please you, remember...” His brow lightly furrowed as he stared straight into Anya’s eyes. “You have nobody but yourself to blame,” he firmly asserted. Anya’s jaw lightly tightened as she gave a nod of understanding. He kept staring at her for a couple seconds, then looked off to the side, turning his head as he raised an eyebrow. Briefly throwing his hands up by his sides, he nonchalantly admitted “Well...To tell you the truth, Anya, I wanted to get in a proper fuck with you before we parted ways, but the mood’s kind of ruined, now, even for me.”

Anya’s face opened up, her eyebrows arching as the corners of her mouth fell in the smallest frown. Gabriella raised her eyebrows, too, but it only lasted a moment before she was glowering, openly staring daggers at him. Maximus grinned and added “That’s part of the reason why I wanted to get you alone, really. Look how far that got. Even though the company doesn’t stop us from fooling around - Gabby, you could’ve gotten in on it, I wouldn’t have cared - I’m just not feeling up to it, anymore.” Sticking an arm out towards the nearby cave mouth, he dismissively flicked his fingers, nodding his head over. His boredom only surprised Anya further. “So, you can go, now. Go on, get out of here. Go call it a night, with the others. Gabriella and I will down, eventually.”

Anya blinked, paused for a moment, then blinked a few more times in rapid succession. She fidgeted, raised a hand to the side of her head, and awkwardly smoothed a couple gauntleted fingers through her bangs. “Well, uh...Ahem...” She stammered, clearing her throat. Gabriella arched her eyebrows high, swiftly turning her head to stare at the Altmer. Maximus glanced at her through the corners of his eyes, grinning to himself. Oh, it was just too easy to make this little elf jealous. Anya’s face started to deepen with colour. Dropping her hand back to her side, she awkwardly stumbled over her words, mumbling “W-Well...You know, uh...Like you said, you, yourself said that...Well, no, Gabriella said that I still had a debt to repay...Uh...”

A smile slowly began to spread across Max’s face. Gabriella’s eyes slowly widened with indignation. Anya’s eyes darted back and forth between the two of them, a couple times, before she simply looked off to the side, averting her eyes. Quite visibly getting flustered, she cleared her throat, one more time. “...I’m making a fool of myself,” she muttered aloud. “I’ll be ready to travel, come morning. We need to find a weapon for me to use, as soon as possible. I sincerely hope you don’t expect me to fight with my fists.” She added, turning and walking into the cave entrance. Maximus couldn’t help but grin. The strong front she had put on, at the end, must’ve been her attempt to save face before she felt even more humiliated.

All he had had to do was mention in passing that he had been planning on having his way with her, and she had immediately begun entertaining the thought of openly asking for it. By Talos, she had even managed to suggest that it could be part of repaying her debt, the little slattern. Considering her dual frosty and holier-than-thou exterior, he almost felt like rewarding her courageous change in tune, right then and there, but...There would still be time, later on. He’d be certain to orchestrate things a little better, next time. If she managed to slip away before he could have a crack at her elven peach, he’d consider it a damn tragic disappointment and curse his ill fortune.

Gabriella continued to drill holes into Anya’s back until she was finally out of eyesight. Eventually, she muttered out “...The nerve of that woman. Absolutely no shame.” “Yeah, I loved it.” Maximus remarked, still grinning. Gabriella’s glare shifted over to him, the Dunmer raising an eyebrow at him out of annoyance. His grin started to relax as he turned around, idly pacing off for a few steps. “Alright,” he calmly said, “let’s get your thing over and done with. What did you wanna talk about that was so important, we needed to be alone?” Gabriella gave a heavy, albeit brief, sigh. Crossing her arms over her chest, she came out and admitted “The letter, from the courier.”

He raised his eyebrows, turning back around to look at her. Walking over towards her, he remarked “Oh, ready to come clean? Didn’t take very long. Must not have been life or death, after all. And here I was, scratching my head and getting all worried.” His teasing did nothing to improve her mood. Her nose crinkled, for a moment, as she resisted the urge to curl her lip up. Instead, she sneered, and only for a moment before managing to get herself back under control. As he came to a stop within arm’s reach of her, she uncrossed her arms, looked him in the eyes, and flatly said “Max, I don’t know how to put this without making it sound intimidating, so I’m not even going to try and bother dancing around it. The letter, from the courier? It was from the Dark Brotherhood. I know it was.”

Maximus blinked, gave the lightlest twitch of a shake with his head, and blurted out “Wait, what? The assassin’s guild sent you a letter? That’s a bit of a stretch, don’t you think? How do you even know it was them?” Gabriella’s eyes started to look tired as they fell half-closed. She didn’t exactly answer his questions. Her lips in a flat line, her voice both slowed and softened as she replied “I didn’t want to show it to you...It’s not that I panicked when I saw it, it’s just that I didn’t know what to make of it. I don’t know what it meant, it didn’t say.” Maximus’ brow began to furrow. “What exactly did it say, Gabby? All I saw was “We know.” What else was there?”

The sudden firm tone in his voice, the warmth draining from his face, it caught her off-guard. It had taken him less time to take this seriously than she had initially suspected it would. Raising her eyebrows, she briefly tilted her head back as she said “That was it, I swear. Those were the only two words written on the letter. To go with it, there was a big, black hand, which is how I know it must’ve come from the Dark Brotherhood. As far as I know, a black hand is more or less the emblem of the Dark Brotherhood, so unless it’s someone playing a sick joke on me, I don’t see who else it could be.” “It didn’t say anything else? Are you sure?” He pushed, raising his eyebrows at her. She gave a little shake with her head. “No, I swear, Max. There was nothing.” She answered, softly.

They both fell into a tense silence, lasting several long moments. Eventually, Max muttered out “Well...The only thing out of the ordinary that’s happened, lately, was you putting down that merchant. I find it a bit hard to believe that the Thalmor would hire the Dark Brotherhood to hunt any of us down, but I suppose anything’s possible. It’s even less likely that the merchant’s family or friends did it, not so soon afterwards, anyway.” Gabriella sighed and raised a hand to her forehead, shielding her eyes as she wearily tilted her head forward. Meanwhile, Maximus continued. “Even if that was the case, though, why would the Thalmor send the assassin after just you, specifically, and not me, or Anya? No, I don’t buy it.”

In a low voice, almost under her breath, Gabriella mused “What I don’t get is, how do they know I did anything?...I’ll admit, I didn’t do the best job of hiding the body, but I’m positive that there wasn’t anyone around to see it happen...How do they know?...” A thoughtful look crossed over Maximus’ face as he stared at her hand, trying to meet her eyes through it. “...What if he was being watched? What if the merchant was actually an assassin, himself? Might make sense for one of his buddies to be keeping an eye on him, on the road.” Gabriella dropped her hand, letting her arm collapse to her side. To his surprise, Gabriella was actually becoming visibly distraught. Her eyes were beginning to glisten, a little, and she was forced to take a sniffle as she inhaled. Looking past his side, she gave a light shake with her head as she dropped her chin, tiling her head forwards.

“No, I...Uh...” She sniffled, shook her head again, and looked up to his eyes. Raising a hand, she wiped at the corners of her eyes, already hard at work to get herself back under control. Lightly clearing her throat, she finished her thought, saying “No, I don’t think that’s it...If I had killed one of them, I don’t think they would’ve sent me a warning by courier that they’d be coming to kill me. I don’t know what it means...But, I don’t think they want to kill me. Maybe that’s worse than killing me. Maybe I’m wrong, and whoever sent the letter just has a sense of humour.” Maximus gave a little smirk, remarking “I’d imagine assassins have the best senses of humour. You’d have to know how to have a laugh, in that kind of work. With the stuff they probably see, they must have it in them to throw the best parties.”

His attempt to make some light of the situation didn’t do much to cheer her up. She dropped her chin, again. Avoiding his eyes, she looked down at his chest, briefly pressing her lips tight together before mumbling out “I couldn’t hide it, from you...I had to tell you. I don’t know what it means, Max...I just didn’t want to feel like I had lied to you, whatever happens. I’m sorry if it’s not what you wanted to hear...Believe me when I say that I don’t like it anymore than you do.” Maximus didn’t say anything. His smirk slowly faded away, leaving behind a melancholic look in it’s wake. Gabriella gave another sniffle. The two of them just stood there for a couple seconds, not a sound passing between them. Then, almost in unison, they reached out for one another.

He slipped his arms around her waist, while she looped her own up around his shoulders. They pulled themselves tight together, embracing under the moonlight, refusing to let go. Gabriella buried her face against his armour, between his chest and throat, while he nuzzled his nose and chin into her hair, pressing half of his face against her. A moment later, he raised a hand to the back of her head, sinking his fingers into her strands as he kept her close. She quaked against him once, twice, and then she relaxed. Even so, it took quite a while before either one of them felt like letting go.

(Author's Note - Hey guys, sorry it’s taken so long for this chapter to come out, againD:. I celebrated a birthday around the end of July, and then a friend convinced me to give Diablo 3 a try, so I was pretty distracted for a couple weeks:P. Also, sorry that this chapter didn’t get any sex scene! I had it all planned out for Max, Gabriella, and Anya to have a threesome, where Max and Gabby both get a bit dominant with Anya, particularly Gabby as she would’ve worked out some frustration towards Anya. But, when I actually got to the point where the scene would take place, it just didn’t feel like the mood would allow it. Sorry, guys...I’m not sure how many of you are looking forward to another sex sceneD:.

We’re getting close to the end of the story, though:). Next chapter should be the beginning of the final part in the story, the beginning of the trip to Bunny’s clan. Will Max and the others survive? Will they be able to stop the clan’s plan to attack Markarth? Will Max get his revenge?! Tune in next time, same bat time, same bat channel:D. Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter!)
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The Forsworn Retribution