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Free from the Honorhall Orphanage after a childhood filled with abuse and neglect, Sloan must now find her own way in the world.

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Sloan's story

Sloan's Story part 35 - A Generous Offer, All Strings Attached

“Hey, girl! Stop!”   Sloan stopped as a burly guard stepped toward her, then put forth her best innocent face.   “Me?” She squeaked her voice on the word.   “Yes, you.” The guard stopped, towering above her. “What are you doing with that dagger?” He cast a dismissive eye over her. “If you have a license, I’m the Jarl of Solitude.”   Sloan didn’t have to feign her surprise or ignorance on this one. “License?”   “Aye. You know women can’t carry wea
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Sloan's Story part 34 - It's a Brand New World

“Here you are, dear. It looks like it will be about your size. And it has only had two previous owners!”   “Thank you, ma’am.” Sloan took the bundle of clothes with faux shaking hands and nervous smile. The woman’s price for a set of battered hand-me-downs had been beyond ludicrous, but “real” Sloan wouldn’t know that, of course. It didn’t matter – getting more money was easy enough. “What about that dagger?”   The shopkeeper’s eyes raised in surprise. “What things could a gi
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Sloan's Story part 33 - Plan for the Future You Need, Not the Future You Want

Sloan clutched her small sack, filled with all her worldly possessions, and took deep breaths as the room came into clear focus. Then she froze in place.   The Bee and Barb hummed with the normal activity of the day as locals, taking a break from their daily routine, came in for a pint and the latest news from the rest of Tamriel via the merchants and other visitors fresh through the Cyrodiil gate.   “What the…”   Mirren had continued walking a few steps, but now tu
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Sloan's Story part 32 - The Shout Heard 'Round the World

Sloan had been lucky - had she stayed in Riften, she would have been baked to a crisp, as the rest of the population had, when the dragons attacked.   Centuries before, the dragons had ruled the world, and the smaller people had been nothing but their slaves. Now it appeared they were planning on re-creating their version of the good old days - dragons had swept out of the north, thousands of them at once, decimating everything and everyone in their path. The rumors and refugees from o
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Sloan's Story part 31 - Her Mother's Daughter

(Quick note: for those of you who do not read all my stories, THIS CHAPTER of Trendil's story contains the defeat of Mishi at the hands swords of Trendil, whose uncanny skills learned from her particular sword style allowed her to see through Mishi's trickery. It also would have held a very strong emotional note for Sloan's story had I thought ahead enough to do a little more emphasizing of how Mishi has taken pains to undermine Sloan's feelings of having a family at The Vixen, both to teach her
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Sloan's Story part 30 - Criss Cross

Sloan moved through the room, chatting and laughing with the people she came across as if they were old friends, all the time circling her prey.   Mishi looked resplendent. No surprise, there. It was funny how she never seemed to get the assignments that would require her to dress as a pauper or a servant – hers were all high-society kills.   Sloan laughed to herself. It was too bad she hadn’t thought of that before – she could have hidden in the grimiest, lowest-of-the-low a
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Sloan's Story part 29 - The Last Game

There are moments in every assassin’s career when the most meticulous plans are subverted; when the highest skills are rendered useless and life or death hangs on the tenuous hook of sheer luck. The two things together form a loose coalition known as fate.   And fate is a fickle thing.   Sloan and three other Novices of Mara chatted together as they walked through the columned portico of the temple into the courtyard beyond. It was a lovely day, the kind with light fluffy clo
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Sloan's Story part 28 - The Beginning of the End of the Beginning part 1

Something was wrong. Sloan wasn’t sure what it was. Well, okay, she had a pretty good idea what it was: it had been weeks and no one had said a thing about Mallin. She had turned in his ring and it had been accepted with minimal questions. And that was the problem.    Because there were always questions. Mishi took extreme delight, in fact, in asking the most exquisitely detailed questions she could think of. And then taking the opportunity to lay out sixty ways the assignment could ha
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Sloan's Story part 27 - Gateway to Hammerfell

Fuur was the last town in Skyrim before the gate that led to Hammerfell. Or the first one you came to if you were coming from Hammerfell. It had once been a thriving city but war and bad relations between the two nations had cause the flow of travelers to slow to a trickle. The last inn still running scraped by, as did the rest of the town, on those few who still had business between the two. It was the perfect place it was the perfect out-of-the-way place for someone to disappear.   O
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Sloan's Story part 26 - The Embassy

Sloan had come prepared to infiltrate the Thalmor embassy. She had spent an entire month putting together just the right disguise and building a credible backstory and reason for showing up. She was especially proud of the clever ploy she had devised to gain access to the inner rooms where non-elves normally wouldn’t be allowed. So it was with much disappointment when she arrived at the massive mansion that sat on a cliff overlooking the frosty Sea of Ghosts only to discover it had been abandone
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Sloan's Story part 25 - The Hidden Cellar

The room had been carved out of the stone of the mountain and was at least twice as large as the house that hid it. Light glowed from narrow insets spaced along the walls and in the ceiling, bathing everything in an even pale light. Sloan paused for a moment to study the source of the light, but she gained nothing from it – all she saw was what looked like a candle. It held no actual flame, but glowed as if the fire was inside the candle’s body. A magical device she was far too ignorant to under
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Sloan's Story part 24 - Family Matters

Sloan slumped in her chair with her head in her hands and closed her eyes.   It had seemed so easy, so hopeful! Ten names had matched the files from Falkreath and the records from the orphanage. Ten names to investigate, ten chances to find her rumored family. But not a single one had borne fruit.   She had learned a lot about other people’s families. Hours of sitting in people’s houses listening to stories from their pasts, of people whose names meant nothing to Sloan but st
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Sloan's Story part 23 - A Brief Debriefing

Sloan took a deep breath as she paused before the door. The debriefings were her least favorite part of the job – no matter how well she thought she had done or how careful she had been to leave no loose ends, Kira and Mishi always managed to find several errors or potential security risks. It was just like her times walking around with Gilna and then having to recount everything she saw.   She hadn’t cared for that, either.   She released the breath and opened the door. As e
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Sloan's Story part 22 - An Unwelcome Guest

It had been a year and a half, give or take a month or two, since the Stormcloaks had swept through the town like a raging tide of fury, washing the Imperial garrison away and changing Tekla’s life forever.   From scullery maid to Steward of the Jarl of Falkreath – who could have predicted such a rise? At first, when Dengeir had regained the Seat after his brother’s defeat and offered her the position of Steward, she had hesitated. Who was she to have such power? What would the nobles
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Sloan's Story part 21 - An Unexpected Assignment

“Matilda! Is that you?”   The old grey-haired woman looked up from her tea and squinted. “Beatrice? What are you doing in Solitude?”   “Ah, visiting an old friend.” Beatrice shuffled forward on arthritic legs and peered down. “What have you done with your hair?”   Matilda set an age-spotted hand on her coiled bun. “I decided to wear it up. This heat is beastly! Would you care to join me?”   “Well, but I shouldn’t stay long,” Beatrice replied, already pulli
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Sloan's Story part 20 - A Chance Encounter

The marketplace thrummed with noise and movement. People of all species went about their busy lives, making the perfect cover for a little murder.   It’s not murder, Sloan reminder herself. It’s assassination. It’s different. Somehow.   She eased the small knife into her palm from the sheath hidden against her forearm. The mark’s path continued in the same general pattern as it had for the past two weeks, which would put him where she needed him in three more paces. Just a li
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Sloan's Story part 19 - Confessions of an Assassin

Merry early Christmas! My gift to you: one chapter from each of my stories. Thanks for your interest in them!   /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////   The man nodded as the bartender placed his tankard of Black-Briar mead in front of him. One of the benefits of living in Riften – the Black-Briar brand was always plentiful. It was making inroads throughout the rest of Skyrim but had a long way to go before it supplanted Honningbrew.
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Sloan's Story part 18 - These Silly Games

Sun’s Height was Sloan’s least favorite month. The height of summer brought with it boiling heat and constant sweat and ripened the canal to its most pungent. She wrinkled her nose as she strolled with Gilna along the upper boardwalk.   “It stinks here. Now that the Stormcloaks have captured Whiterun, maybe we could open a new location there.”   Gilna laughed. “Whiterun is nice, but perhaps it would be best to wait until the war is truly over.”   “That’s true. It wo
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Sloan's Story part 17 - If You Can Sneak Up On a Deer, You Can Sneak Up On Anything

“This is stupid. Don’t we know anyone who can shoot a bow?”   “Shh!” Gilna waved frantic hands in a downward gesture.   Sloan dutifully shut up, but the question remained in her head. Here they were, sneaking through the trees to kill a deer with a dagger from close range instead of doing what sensible people did – shoot it from a distance. Fortunately, the deer did not appear to have heard the talking - it continued to munch on clover-laden grass.   Gilna stopped,
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Sloan's Story part 16 - In the Kitchens

“Was I that awful when I was one of the Ladies?” Sloan set down her empty tray and rubbed her temples.   Gilna and Jorg exchanged glances, then Gilna replied, “No. You weren’t one of the Bitches.” Her feline tail swished on the word. “You were one of the Indifferents.”   “So I ignored you. You would think I would know better considering where I can from.”   Jorg patted her arm which, given his hulking frame, felt like a punch. “It’s is okay. You know better now, so
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Sloan's Story part 15 - Met at the Door

Sloan eased open the door and slipped into the Vixen. Or, rather, tried to slip in. She had taken no more than a step through the door before a strong hand grabbed her by the shoulder and dragged her the rest of the way. She bit off her startled cry when she found herself face to face with a livid Matron.   “Foolish child,” Kira hissed. “Where is the knife?”   “The…” It was the only word that made it through the convoluted tangle of shocked emotions and thought that fought fo
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Sloan's story part 14 - Murder by Midnight

"Do you have any idea how long it's going to take you to make up nine-thousand septims?"   Sloan couldn't answer. All she could do was gape. She barely noticed when the chains came off of her wrists and ankles, although the removal of the collar helped shake her from a little of the shock.   "I...what...you..."   "That's all you have to say?" Seb laughed, jumped forward, wrapped her in a huge hug. "Welcome back! Ooh, you stink. We need to get you to the baths."
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Sloan's Story part 13 - Twenty-four Steps

In contrast to the plodding days of nothingness in the pen, once they stepped inside the building events proceeded at a breakneck pace. They were whisked to a large room containing some ingenious system that turned the entire thing into one huge communal shower. It was like standing in a moderate rainfall. Slaves, faces blank and impersonal, washed them off with brusque, efficient swipes of rough cloth. They were then led to another room where the chain that linked them together was removed. Thr
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Sloan's Story part 12 - The Pen

She had seen the Riften slave pens one time, when she and a few of the other girls from the Vixen had taken a trip to the seedier part of town on their day off. They had felt so bold as they peeked over the wall at the rows of corrals, like pigpens except with huddling chained human figures. They had been shooed away, giggling, by a mock-angry guard. It had never occurred to Sloan to wonder where the slaves came from, and had she thought to wonder, she would have guessed they were convicts or wa
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Sloan's Story part 11 - Journey's End

Despite Kra’aft’s concerns, the next two days of travel were pleasant. Kra’aft and Holo had supplied her with plenty of food for the trip, the weather was lovely and, aside from her aching feet, Sloan had no complaints.   Which was not to say there were not unpleasantries. Near the end of the first day’s travel, she came across what had clearly been a battle. There were no bodies along the road but there was still plenty of spilled blood and bits of broken armor and weapons strewn abou
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