Sloan sat at the vanity that had, presumably, belonged to Aventus' mother and studied her face in the mirror with a frown. Her silver eyes stared back, still disconcerting to see after a lifetime of looking at golden irises. Another small mystery in a sea full of them. Perhaps it had something to do with her new ability to see in the dark?

 

She shook her head as she tapped the calendar next to the vanity. A rarity, that - few people in a land like Skyrim needed to know the exact date. Only the wealthy (and people who had assignments that needed completed by a specific date) bothered having an actual physical calendar. This one had not been used for some time, judging by the layer of dust on it, but the embedded magic still worked - it showed the current date: Sundas, 17 Last Seed, of the year 201. She had been at the Vixen for just over two weeks at this date last time; had had her maidenhead taken but was still in training and was another week away from being entrusted with real clients. 

 

A different life for a different person. Sloan gave herself a soft laugh and stood while, behind her, the Three Idiots quarreled amongst themselves.

 

Introducing Tihwen and Yek to Aventus had seemed like a good idea. Aventus needed something to do to make a living and Tihwen and Yek needed someone to help center them. Aventus was the youngest of the three but he had proven himself to be resourceful and intelligent, in Sloan’s eyes. He had, after all, masterminded his own escape from the orphanage and had shown near-inhuman tenacity when calling upon the Dark Brotherhood.

 

Unfortunately, it appeared her plan had backfired – the three had, in fact, bonded with a disconcerting immediacy, probably very much aided by Tihwen’s exceedingly low-cut dress. As they talked in excited tones about their plans, Aventus’ eyes never left Tihwen’s cleavage. Instead of centering Tihwen and Yek, it appeared they were dragging him down to their level.

 

Well, it couldn’t be helped. Besides, this had accomplished her two primary goals – get Aventus in a position where he would have gainful employment (by helping with Tihwen’s jam and, perhaps, Yek’s potions) and extract herself from the equation with a clear conscience. They (okay, Yek, at any rate) had managed to survive this long on their (or his) own for this long – surely they could figure things out from here.

 

They didn’t seem too broken up when she told them she was leaving. In fact, they barely seemed to notice at all – Tihwen just waved and said, “Goodbye!” while Yek gave her a nod. Only Aventus managed to pull himself away from his faceful of breasts to give Sloan a quick hug and a breathy, “Thank you!” before turning back.

 

Sloan paused on the doorstep of Aventus’ house, enjoying the cool early morning breeze (although not the stench - it was around the time the chamber pots were emptied around the city) while she tried to decide what to do next. All her efforts to find Trendil had crashed into dead ends; if her sister-of-sorts was in the city, she was well-hidden. More likely Trendil was not in the city – apparently the Stormcloak recruits had been sent on missions of some sort. It was impossible to know who had been sent where without access to the records, and Sloan had no way to gain access to those without putting herself at more risk than she felt comfortable with.

 

She heard the voice long before she saw them – a gaggle of young nobles, wrapped in overly-wrought robes, with a familiar face in the center. The last time Sloan had seen that face, it had been sinking into a bog in Drajkmyr. Benrad Gray-Mane, aka Jaunty, aka Dragonscorcher was holding court as the group walked.

 

“…and my cousin Avulstein…you know Avulstein, of course, or Av, as I call him. No, you can’t, only those close to him can. He is the son of Eorlund – yes, that Eorlund Gray-Mane, he is famous, as, of course, is the rest of my family (we are direct descendants of Ysgramor of the Five Hundred Companions, don’t you know) – Av said, ‘It is too bad none of us are brave enough to join the Stormcloaks. We could really get…’

 

“Yes, he did too! And I, of course, have always been the bravest of the family. Everyone says so. So I said, ‘Fear not, O cousin of mine! For I, Benrad Grey-Mane, Slayer of Monters, shall…’

 

“What? Yes I did, I killed that skeever when I was…no, it was not ‘just a large-ish rat,’ it was a skeever! The biggest anyone had ever seen! Everyone who saw it agreed! Anyway, I said, ‘Fear not, O cousin! I, Benrad Grey-Mane, Slayer of Monsters, shall take it upon myself to…”

 

The group turned a corner and disappeared, though Benrad’s voice continued to rise above the noise of the street for quite some time after.

 

Sian bit her lip as she considered (then stopped herself with internal reproach vis a vis Mishi’s mocking voice – this was exactly the kind of habitual tell she needed to re-purge), then smiled, turned, and re-entered Aventus’ house.

 

“…to be somewhere where I can grow my snowberries or I won’t be able to make jam,” Tihwen was saying.

 

“Maybe the roof? There is a small…”

 

“That wouldn’t be big enough! I need…”

 

“Hey, you guys won’t believe who I just saw outside.”

 

All three turned and, in an eerie lizard-like way, blinked at her in unison.

 

Tihwen raised her eyebrows and shifted, probably for the sole purpose of making her breasts jiggle. “I thought you left.”

 

“I did, but then I came back. Guess who I saw?”

 

“Um…” The three turned and mumbled together, but Sloan wasn’t that interested in the game.

 

“Benrad Grey-Mane.”

 

“No fair!” Tihwen twisted her lips down but, with her face, it came out more like a grimace than the cute pout she had probably hoped for. Too bad she had refused the makeup lessons!  “You didn’t give us a…wait, Benny is here?”  

 

Sloan nodded, holding back a triumphant smile. Of course the nobles all knew each other.

 

“Yes!” She feigned excitement. “I overheard him telling his friends that he is joining the Stormcloaks!”

 

Both Yek and Tihwen turned sour.

 

Yek waved a dismissive hand. “Nah, he wouldn’t do that. That would be far too much work for him.”

 

Sloan bit back a curse as she scrambled to get them back on the hook. “But he did! Avulstein said, ‘Too bad none of us are brave enough to join the Stormcloaks. We could gain control of all the mines by “conquering,”’ she added finger quotation marks, “’them!’”  And Benrad said he, being a monster-slayer, would do it.”

 

Yek snorted, but their attention was back. “Is he still claiming that mouse was a skeever? I was there – it was already mostly dead from poison. He just stepped on it.”

 

Tihwen looked surprised. “Really? I heard he saved his little sister and was a hero!”

 

Yek shook his head. “The only heroic thing he ever did was save a pile of coins from falling off a table.”

 

Tihwen laughed and the other two joined her while Sloan seethed in impatience as she pretended to laugh along. They were ignoring the important part! Time to take a small chance.

 

“Do you think they would really do it?

 

“Do what?” They had already turned away and Yek didn’t bother looking at Sloan this time.

 

“Join the Stormcloaks just to try to ‘conquer’ a bunch of mines.”

 

“Oh, that. Sure, probably. That’s what wars are for, after all – to make money.”

 

Sloan festered in silence as the three began to talk again, this time with ideas about meeting up with Benny, then left again.

 

She had been trained to act as a noble, to fit in with their soirees and tea parties, but she clearly had years to go before she actually understood how they thought.

 

Well, she had started the rumor, at any rate. Last time, the Grey-Manes had managed to keep their plot a secret from the public for the entire course of the war. At the very least, the public would have whispered inklings of it this time. Maybe it would help finish the war sooner.

 

Either way, Sloan felt she had accomplished as much as she would be able to in Windhelm, short of randomly running into Trendil as she left. With no firmer plan, it was time to head to Riverwood. Maybe Delphine would be able to help find the other sisters.

 

On her way out, she mused as she began to walk, perhaps a visit to a few of the inns and taverns throughout the city. A rumor spread best when it seemed to appear from nowhere yet was suddenly everywhere. Might as well plant some seeds as she went.

 

 

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