Velina remembered the first time the prospect of marriage had really crossed her mind. She was knee deep in skeever droppings and dead deathhounds, miles below Volkihar keep, when Serana asked her of her family. Her mother had passed so long ago in childbirth, and she hadn't seen her father since...well, it had been so long she seemed to have forgotten the sound of his voice.

"They were good people. I miss them." She answered shortly, not trusting herself to expand on the subject anymore.

Ever the curious and thoughtful one, Serana had continued. "Oh, I'm sorry I didn't mean to bring up bad memories..." Velina waved it off as she smiled. "Well do you have anyone waiting for you at home?" Upon the Nord's look of confusion, she elaborated "are you married?"

For once in her life, Velina seemed to be at a loss for words. Marriage wasn't something she'd ever really thought of. Sure, as a young girl she'd played with the idea of marrying the neighboring boy. Argin, was it? He was sturdy enough, for a Breton. He was slender, nothing like the stout and proud Nord her father was. And he had favored defensive magic. But he was a boy, and they had grown up together. From what she had heard, it was the perfect recipe for marriage. Had he not passed on when they had barely seen sixteen summers, she would've taken his hand in a heartbeat. She thought she loved him with everything she was. She thought this because that was the way in Skyrim. Young girls didn't venture past their hometowns. Their husband was in her village with her, or he came to her. Ladies did not adventure.

However, She hadn't known true love until she traveled the vast fields and caves of Skyrim.

Not until she gazed into a pair of piercing green eyes.

"I..well, no I'm not."

"But you'd like to be." It wasn't a question. Velina's eyebrows knit together suddenly and she opened her mouth to reply, but not before the vampire cut her off. "Velina, I am centuries older than you. I know longing when I hear it. You've got your eye on someone." The nord sputtered for words as the vampire simply smirked and cocked an eyebrow. Pressing on and ignoring her suggestion, Velina made her way towards the door at the edge of the stone hallway.

"Honestly, Serana some of the shit you say-"

"Am I wrong?"

She stopped dead in her tracks. "What?"

"Am. I. Wrong?"

Well...was she?

By the end of it all, Velina had rolled that stupid question about for days. Was Serana wrong? Or was that meddlesome vampire actually on to something?

Either way, she'd let her sit her down and work intricate and traditional Nordic braids into her hair. She wanted to look beautiful if she were to don that all too heavy amulet.

In her longing for a traditional proposal, she altogether forgot that she hated to have her hair pulled back. She was used to just letting it all hang free, blowing in the breeze as she stalked across the countryside. It didn't frame her face correctly when it was braided. She looked too round for her liking, and she always ended up yanking the offending twists from her hair.

But when she'd seen Serana's work...well, this case was the one exception.

She walked proudly in her soft sapphire dress that framed her strong figure, dainty pendants that had been gifted to her for one of her many heroic deeds dangled from her ears matching her dress just so, tiny and golden Dwarven beads from her first adventure were clipped to the end of the braids that disappeared into her longer hanging locks, and that obnoxious amulet bounced against her breasts with every step.

She tried her best to forget the conversation that had occurred when she retrieved the blasted necklace.

"Life in Skyrim is hard, and short, so there is little room for long courtship." The priest of Mara, Maramal, had told her when she questioned him on the purpose of the amulet. "Love is as earnest as the people who live here." This certainly explained why everyone married so young, and why they all seemed to eye Velina hungrily. She understood the desire to marry the strongest, most reliable mate, so why shouldn't they stare? She was the Dragonborn, for Talos' sake!

"The adventuring type don't often see that side of life." He'd gone on. "I can only name a handful of warriors that have graced my hall for such a ceremony, not unless they were retired, you see. Most people don't appreciate their spouses disappearing for days at a time only to return with wounds a plenty. Though I'm sure they don't mind the treasures they haul home!" He chuckled earnestly, clearing his throat in embarrassment when the woman stared at him blankly, unamused.

"What I'm saying is" He'd tugged the amulet back an inch, speaking deliberately, a hidden meaning laced in his words "...maybe marriage isn't for the Dragonborn..."

She scoffed now, tossing her head from side to side as her deep burgundy hair tickled at the pale skin of her neck. Who was he to tell her how she should live her life? If she sought companionship, who was to stop her?

All eyes followed her as she strode by the well in the center of town. Noting how everyone's gaze was seemingly glued to the sashaying of her hips, she cursing the Amulet of Mara for being so damn large. Though it might also have something to do with the fact that anyone had only ever seen her in armor, and never such a delicate garment.

Balimund, Madesi, and even Aerin watched her closely as she strolled through town. Madesi and Balimund set about working quite hard, their eyes never leaving her, while Aerin seemed to only watch in curiosity rather than desire. Balimund wailed on a single piece of metal quite vigorously as he grinned at the female Nord.

She could swear she even saw Madesi's feathers flit up and rattle as she grew ever closer to him, some strange mating custom among the Argonians, no doubt.

A beggar had even propositioned her! She didn't care, however. She wasn't angry or offended. No one could've known who had stolen the Dragonborn's heart.

They shouldn't even know each other. She was a warrior, the Dragonborn, the savior of Tamriel. He was a merchant who sold only the most questionable concoctions for the most questionable purposes.

Their paths never should have crossed.

But Brynjolf was no ordinary merchant. He was the second in command of the Thieves Guild. And Velina was his Guild Master.

But of course, any and all talk that the Dragonborn herself was in with the Thieves Guild was always silenced almost immediately. As much as they wanted to claim the hero, Vex, Delvin, and Brynjolf had all agreed for the sake of her reputation and for the higher company she kept, it would be best not to lay claim on her.

The only folks who knew were her secret fences in select cities across the land.

Soon enough, Velina was staring at the crypt that held the secret passage to her second home. Taking a deeper breath than was strictly necessary, she pressed her fingers to the stone trigger.

Velina didn't pause for a moment in her decent down the rickety old ladder, not caring if her too quick hop to the stone floor had flipped her dress up for merely a second. Akatosh knows Dirge had already seen up her skirts after that surprise mud crab attack while she was attempting to...distract a rather innocent woodcutter as Dirge made his way inside the poor sod's cabin. The mission had failed miserably as mid-seduction a mudcrab had ripped straight up Velina's cotton gown and pinched her quite forcefully on her rump. Dirge had broken into hysterics in a moment, blowing their cover and forcing them to find another tactic to retrieve the precious family heirloom Vex had requested of them.

At this point, she didn't give a damn who saw up her skirts. It didn't matter. Only one man was going to be able to actually touch her.

And that man was standing smack dab in the middle of the Cistern. Looking delicious as always.

His head was down, buried in some paperwork, and his lips were twitching slightly as he read to himself. As always, his brow burrowed as he read what Velina was sure was the monthly income summary. Always too low for his liking.

Several members of the guild sat beside and upon hay bales near the practice targets. Sapphire was the only woman among them, as usual, twirling a blue gem between her fingers fluidly. Cynric shot of arrow after arrow, the constant "thump" as they found home on the bullseye mimicking the wild pace of the Guild Master's heart as she stared at the older redheaded man, her feet suddenly forgetting how to move.

Rune chuckled low in his throat as all eyes fell to the terrified woman. "Darlin, you've faced worse beasts in the wild. Breathe." The Imperial jested as he nudged the Nord from where she stood. The unexpected shove caused her to flail for only a moment as she caught her balance, turning her head only briefly to fix him with a glance that was less than amused. Still, she appreciated the "help".

Doing as he suggested, Velina breathed in slowly for four counts, holding for seven, then finally out for eight as she always did to get her heartbeat under control in battle. Somehow it seemed easier to do as she was dodging blades and firing arrows than it was in this precise moment. It felt as if her heart was in her ears.

"Bryn-" she began, gluing a smile to her becoming features. She hoped he wouldn't miss his pet name. "I was hoping maybe I could speak to you for just a moment?"

"Sorry lass, I've got important things to do. We'll speak another time." And with that he walked away.

Never once lifting his head.

Not so much as even casting his eyes to her didn't even think he shifted his eyes from that blasted report, just used his intimate memory of the Cistern's layout to make his way to the desk.

Where he didn't let his eyes leave the paper.

The initial pounding of blood in her ears died down as it all rushed to her fucking cheeks, and Velina finally noticed the dead silence that had overtaken the Cistern. Arrows had ceased flying, conversations had died on shocked lips, and it even seemed as if the water flowing below their feet had even been scared into silence.

A thousand words rushed to her mind as she stood rooted to the very spot where her breath had been taken from her. Most of them were in Dovah. Most of them would've caused blazing flames or violent earthquakes to spill from her lips. Maybe this is why she was silent for so long.

Maybe it was because for once Brynjolf wasn't eager to see her. That he hadn't ceased everything just for her. Did he somehow know the question was coming? Was he avoiding it?

Was he avoiding her?

Electricity crackled between her fingertips as her anger escaped her for only a moment before she stifled the purple current with a satisfying sizzle when she clenched her fists tight.

Members watched with bated as the smoke slithered out from between her fingers. Suddenly she stepped forward, into the dead center of the room.

She tried to control her temper, she really did.

Her vision went read, and breathing became a burdon. Before she knew what was happening, the Nord was breathing deep as she clenched her jaw, she cast her face upwards to the sky, the words ripping from her throat before she could swallow them.

"FUS RO DAH!"

"Beautiful baubles and gleaming gemstones over here!"

"Protect yourself right...buy armor from Grelka."

Merchants shouted over each other in the mist of the mid day rush as the sun beat high in the sky. The typical crowd was gathered around, the ladies examining Madesi's jewels as Grelka pushed armor on a poor sap who obviously knew nothing of fighting while others shouted about the food they came to town to purchase. Serana had ducked out of Honeyside and dawned her hood to quickly pick up the beef and vegetables for the surprise celebration she was planning for the newly engaged couple.

Without much warning, the very earth began to rumble and the wooden boards sealing the well in the center of town shot forth toward the sky, raining down on the poor screaming bastards who just happened to be standing too close. Not a second later the Dovahkiin's voice filled the air, it's crackling power seemingly sucking the oxygen from the townsquare.

Nearby, in the midst of the chaos, the hooded vampire heir of Lord Harkon simply sighed under her breath. "Well that could've gone better."

This is a story I've been wanting to write for a while and was finally able to sit down and perfect it :)

More to come soon! Let me know what you think! I'm always open to PM's and Reviews!