Chapter 3: A Hive of Scum and Villainy

For the next couple of hours, Hoenreid continued following, but he frequently moved up to help when she seemed to need it. She practically growled at him the first few times. The next few were frowns, and when he showed her the way after she got lost, she finally said, grudgingly, "Thanks."

On emerging from the cave system, they sat down on a rocky outcropping and he shared some of the food he'd picked up in the base of the Keep. While she ate hungrily, he watched her. She was old, probably at least twenty or thirty, he decided, but that was just a guess since Master Ricketsen's daughter was that age and she looked a little like her. She drained a bottle of Nord ale and shook the bottle upside down ineffectually when no more came out. She was a about to fling the bottle to break it when Hoenreid said, "Don't do that. There's a stream nearby where we can fill it up."

"Fill it up? With what?"

"Water."

"Oh, Divines. Why me?"

Hoenreid shook his head, not sure what she meant, but when she said nothing else, he said, "It's a long way to Whiterun, so we'll need some water to take with us if we're going to make it there to tell the jarl about the dragon."

"Kid, I don't know where you got that idea, but that's not anywhere in my plan."

"But, Ma'am, we need to let him know. Or maybe the new jarl in Falkreath, though Master Ricketsen said he was about as useless as tits on a boar hog."

She stared at him for a moment before breaking out in laughter. The boy looked at her questioningly again, but she finally shook her head.

"Forget it, kid. Just know this: I got nothing to say to jarls or guardsmen or anybody of the sort. You want'em told, you go tell'em yourself."

"But I'm just a kid, ma'am. They'd never believe—"

"Kid, my name's not Miss, Ma'am, M'lady, or anything of the sort. It's Brigitta. If you want to call me something, you call me that, you hear?"

"Yes, Miss Brigitta."

"Oh, fuc—fiddlesticks! I get stuck with a bloody kid and can't even cuss proper."

"I think it's 'properly,' Ma'am."

Hoenreid wasn't sure why she screamed, but she definitely showed that she had as fine a set of lungs as he'd ever heard and the thick, fallen limb she broke in half made him believe she was quite strong, too. Her face was bright red when she turned back toward him.

"Listen, you little sh...arrrh! Say, what's your name, kid?"

"Hoenreid, Ma'am."

She huffed. "Okay, Hoenri, I'm going to lay it on you straight. I'm going to Riften, straight to Riften, and nowhere other than Riften. Now, you're in trouble but you've helped me a little, so, as much as it burns me up, I guess I'm stuck helping you back, at least for a little while 'til we're even. You can come along as long as you stay out of the way. I really don't want your death on my...well, whatever the hell ya' call it." She paused for a moment before adding, "One more thing, Hoenri: if you get in trouble, don't expect me to come save ya'. I've got enough trouble protecting my own ass—ah, assets, that I don't need to add to it by having to protect yours, too."

Hoenreid replied, "Don't worry, Miss Brigitta. I don't have any assets for you to have to protect. Other than, Alvie, I guess, and he's not really mine. I'm just taking care of him until I can return him to Master Ricketsen. If he survived the dragon attack."

"Was this Ricketsen within the walls of Helgen?"

"I...I thinks so," replied Hoenreid.

"Then I wouldn't worry too much about him."

~ESV~

It was two days later when they arrived in Riften and Hoenreid was beginning to believe it was exactly like what he'd heard.

To start, Hoenreid's father had once told him that Riften was a wretched hive of scum and villainy.

Riften, he knew, was famous throughout Tamriel for its beehives and honey. With the city on Lake Honrich and with all of the quiet inlets around the lake, he figured there must be some pond scum hiding somewhere, too.

Unfortunately, he was beginning to believe the villainy part might also be true. The people in Riften seemed out to be out to get each other, with that red-haired guy in the marketplace being among the worst of the lot. Hoenreid had spotted him as a trouble maker, but he really didn't know why. To make matters worse, Brigitta seemed to fit in and be right at home in the town, and seemed to be particularly interested in Mr. Red. She'd already helped Mr. Red get one of the merchants in the marketplace in trouble. Hoenreid was trying to figure out a way to fix the problem, but so far he'd had no ideas.

Finally, the boy had heard that there might be an even worse such place out there somewhere, but he had no idea where it might be. To him, Riften was the worst, with the sewer system they were walking through being just another example of how bad it was.

They were in the sewer due to Brigitta helping Mr. Red; in return, she'd been invited to stay in a place under the city. It was a pretty yucky place, but she'd allowed Hoenreid to come along to stay there, too, as long as he listened to her, stayed out of trouble, and promised not to tell anyone about it.

They'd been in the sewer tunnels for a little while when Hoenreid noticed that Miss Brigitta must have been a little scared after they ran into a couple of sewer dwellers. Mr. Red was holding her hand leading the way, and when they stopped, she moved up close to him. In the darkness, it looked like they were whispering in each other's ears. He couldn't hear what they were saying but it sounded like "Mmmm-mmm"-something.

They finally entered a place that was better lit but there were a number of people around and they all seemed to be staring at either Brigitta or Hoenreid or Alvie.

"Leave the kid and the lamb alone," called Mr. Red. He waved to Brigitta before moving into a different room.

She turned to Hoenreid. "Kid, you need to get lost for a while. Brynjolf and I got some, uh, business to discuss. Just go up in the city and keep your eyes open and listen to conversations. Be ready to tell me anything you hear later tonight, okay?"

"But I'd like to learn about business, Miss Brigitta," he said, his eyes wide at the prospect of learning something that might help him get ahead.

She planted her fists on her hips and stared at him for a few moments. "I'm sure you do, but I'm also pretty sure it will be several years before you need to learn this particular type. Now do like I said and get lost for a while. Got it?"

"Yes, ma'am," he said sadly. "Come on, Alvie."

He didn't know why but he heard her growl as he walked away and closed the door behind him. He also thought he heard a crossbar being set as he walked away.

"It must be pretty important secret business, Alvie, if they're going to that much trouble to keep people out."

The trip back through the Ragged Flagon was scary, with all the adults stopping what they were doing to watch him leading the lamb around the pool to the exit to the city through the sewers. That part was even scarier, since he had to do it quietly. There were a few bad people who lived in the upper part of the sewers who'd already started to chase them once, with one even shouting a promise to eat Alvie and him if he caught them. Red Brynjolf had intervened the first time, but he wasn't here now. Not particularly wanting to be on someone's menu, he went slowly and quietly, hiding in shadows as they went along.

Alvie, on the other hand, didn't particularly understand the need for quiet and wasn't a big fan of the dark. Hoenreid was leading him through the last room before the escape to the canal when Alvie decided to express his displeasure about it all. His plaintive bleat gave Hoenreid a fright leading the boy to go "Ah!" in surprise.

The bandit half asleep in the room was still under the effects of the bottle he'd traded for in the Flagon, so he sat up and cried out even louder than Hoenreid. This set off a cavalcade of bleats and screams and cries as Hoenreid pulled Alvie along as quickly as he could. The bandit fell trying to reach the lantern to pull off the hood, with Hoenreid stepping on his fingers and the lamb running across his back.

Once he made his way up top from the canal, Hoenreid wandered around for a little while, allowing Alvie to nibble at the grass and flowers until someone threw an apple at them and told them to go away. The boy was hungry so he pulled out the knife that Brigitta had found for him in the Helgen Keep and cut it in half, giving Alvie part with the bite since he wouldn't object. Hoenreid looked at the knife while they sat and ate. It wasn't as sharp as his old knife that he'd lost to the dragon, but with some honing, it would be serviceable. The best place to do that was the blacksmith's shop that he spotted on the other side of the marketplace, so he sheathed the blade and slowly led Alvie toward The Scorched Hammer.

"Heh, kid! Where'd you get that lamb?" called a guard. "Hold on there! I want to talk to you. Where are your parents?"

Hoenreid ran, pulling Alvie along until he could scoop him up and put him on his shoulders. He ducked into an alley and hid in the shadow as the guard ran by. The boy breathed a sigh of relief when Alvie didn't bleat or otherwise give away their presence this time. Peeking around the corner, he didn't see the guard, so he quickly backtracked until he almost reached the shop. He ducked down behind a barrel after seeing his pursuer had already returned.

A very thin woman sitting on the ground a short distance away was watching Hoenreid. She briefly put a single finger to her lips, before making a bony fist as her eyes followed someone just beyond the low wall that surrounded the market area. Looking back around, she finally relaxed her hand before looking back at the boy.

"Thank you, Ma'am," he said. "I'm Hoenreid."

"Pleasure, Hoenreid. Edda." She gave a smile that exposed horrid teeth, almost frightening the boy. Fortunately, she was looking out for the guard and didn't notice. "You watch that Dreake, boy. Watch 'im, I say. That Dreake's a mean 'un, he is. You an orphan?"

"I don't think so, Miss Edda, but I'm not exactly sure. I don't know where my father is, so I'm traveling with someone at the moment."

"Well, you best get with 'em then, before he catches you. He catches stray kids and takes 'em to the orphanage, whether they're actually orphans or not."

"I wanted to sharpen my knife so I was trying to get to the blacksmith shop to see if the big man would let me."

"Balimund? He's as good as Dreake is bad, but you want to speak to Asbjorn instead of Balimund. He'll understand better and be willing to help 'ya more. You got anything to eat?"

Hoenreid reached in his pouch and pulled out his last wedge of cheese. "Here, Miss Edda. You need this more than me."

She ate the cheese quickly before saying, "Now, stay down low but help me up. I'm going over here so you can slip in the front door of the shop and find Asbjorn."

The woman staggered over to a stall where she started speaking to the very pretty but extremely bored-looking woman running the place.

"Just a septim's all I ask," said Edda.

"How many times do I have to tell you? Go away!" was the woman's angry reply.

The guards moved that way and Hoenreid slipped out of the marketplace and made his way to the entry of The Scorched Hammer.

~ESV~