Skyrim: Faal Thur

When the elf opened her eyes Brom was sitting in front of her waiting. Immediately realizing she had been caught, the elf hung her head down. Brom noticed this look of defeat so quickly and became curious. Normally high elves (Altimer's) are notorious for being arrogant and having a superiority complex. This one seemed to have already been broken off of those traits.

"Let's start with something easy, what is your name?" Brom spoke calmly, even giving a hint of a smile.

He didn't want to have to torture someone again so soon, definitely not this young elf girl. But when the elf simply ignored his question, he began to rethink that notion.

"Fine, if you don't answer my questions, I will sell you to the highest Nord bidder. I'm sure they could use your help with certain…activities" Brom laid down his bluff.

The elf's eyes went wide as she realized what that meant.

"No, that will not be necessary. I will answer your questions" She quickly looked up at Brom and pleaded.

"Good, then let us start over. What is your name?"

"It is Erin" She looked down when she said this.

"Interesting name for a high elf, care to explain?"

She once again looked very uncomfortable and then looked Brom in the eyes.

"My master renamed me after wiping my memories."

"Your master? And who is that?"

"I.. I don't know"

"He can't hurt you if you do what I ask. If you don't, well I can't guarantee your safety from his wrath."

"I don't know his name! he, he only contacts me through messengers and his torturer does all of my punishments if I fail" she said then looked towards the door as if expecting someone to bust through.

"Now tell me, what makes you so special for him to go through all of this trouble to keep you under his wing?"

" He says I am a really good alchemist. And.."

"and?"

"I can cook better than the gourmet" After saying this she ducked her head in seemingly embarrassment.

Brom found this action adorable. Then he realized since she is an elf, he can't accurately guess her age.

"And how old are you?"

"I'm 19" She said with a questioning look.

"Hmm, young for a high elf. Definitely, the youngest I've ever met."

"Well you are not that old either," She said defensively,

Brom's eyebrows raised at this. It seems she is more comfortable with him now. Brom was not sure if that is a good thing or not, so he hardened his stare at her. This made her feel uncomfortable and she remembered she is his captive.

"Sorry" She quickly said and lowered her eyes.

"No, I'm not old. But I am far older than I look."

"What do you mean by that?"

"None of your business, for now."

Brom was already thinking of the benefits of having a chef with him. The alchemy part was sure to be helpful too. But first, he had to ensure he had her undying loyalty.

"Alright, you convinced me. Let us go kill your employer." Brom stated then stood up and walked over to her.

"what?!" she exclaimed, then seeing Brom's hands catch on fire she closed her eyes.

Brom saw a tear leaking out of the corner of her eye. She really was expecting him to torture her. This realization that she had been abused so much along with her earlier admission of her memory being wiped made Brom angry. He used the flame spell to burn the rope, careful not to burn her with it. Then broke it with his hands once it was weakened by the fire.

Frozen with fear and uncertainty, Erin as Brom now knew her, looked at him with questioning eyes.

"I didn't stutter, let's go," Brom said, then as he was about to walk out, he remembered something. "What were you trying to steal anyway?"

"A spell tome, I was told it was an alteration spell with the words Transmute Mineral Ore on it"

"Ah, yeah. I would try and steal that too." Brom conceded.

Then he grabbed his bag of supplies and pulled out the spell tome. Handing the rest to her he gave her, her first mission.

"Go sell all of this and come back when you are done, I'll be taking a nap."

"Wait, I thought we were going after my employer?"

"Yeah we will, but I'm tired and I don't want to lug this stuff around so"

"why would you trust me with this anyway?"

"Simple, right now I'm the lesser of two evils. But if you don't, I'll become the worst enemy you have ever made."

With that Brom laid in bed and closed his eyes, ignoring Erin. He put the Transmute Mineral Ore spell tome under his pillow and truly looked like he was going to sleep.

Erin, not knowing if this was a trick slowly walked out of the door. She headed downstairs and outside. It was early dawn, most of the people in town were not awake yet. She probably had 2 hours before the first shop even opened. Not knowing what else to do, she started to dig through the bag, she was curious as to what else was in there.

-3 hours later-

Brom awoke to the sound of knocking on his door, he looked out the window and realized it must have been around 3-4 hours he was asleep. It was not a full nights rest but it was still a lot better than nothing.

"Come in," Brom yelled at the door.

Erin peeked her head in and came in the room, closing the door behind her she walked up and proudly handed Brom a bag of money. Brom looked at it and waved it aside.

"What? but this is what you wanted"

"I wanted you to sell the items, I never said I wanted the money. Besides you were gonna keep some no matter what I said."

"What do you mean?" Erin seemed to be trying to play innocent.

Anger flashed in Brom's eyes and he picked Erin up by her collar and held her in the air.

"Do Not Lie To Me!" Brom whispered with intense ferocity.

"Fine! I hid 20 septims for myself"

Brom just kept staring at her,

"Okay, 50. But that's all and I can go get it for you!" Erin pleaded.

Brom let her go and she fell to the floor. He picked up his cloak and put it on.

"Cmon, you are buying me breakfast."

"Uh, Okay?"

Erin for her part was completely mystified by this man. He appeared as a ruthless monster, yet there was a nice deed behind every action she has seen him do. As long as she didn't cross him or lie. Erin figured she would be relatively safe as his companion.

As Brom was walking out of the building, he smiled. He knew that this poor girl was confused out of her mind. He just hoped she saw how he was taking care of her under all his intimidating acts. He didn't want her to be sure he was kind, that way she would be less likely to take advantage of him. And vice versa, if she thought he was evil she was likely to go back to her old master.

"Wait I thought I was buying breakfast?" Erin asked as Brom walked right out of the inn.

"You are. Well, the ingredients for breakfast anyways." Brom called over his shoulder.

He took her to the general store and explained himself there.

"Okay, using the new money, go buy everything you need to make the best breakfast you can manage. I will be back in a bit, stay here even if you finish before I return."

Brom then walked out of the store and down the street once again leaving Erin confused at his intentions. He continued to the amply named shop The Mortar and Pestle that was an alchemy shop.

Brom was here for two reasons, the first was he needed some ingredients to test Erin's skills as an alchemist and for a book called 2920, vol 09 - Hearth Fire. This book was a skill book in the game that would level the player's conjuration. Brom wanted to read this book and see if it helped him at all. As he entered the shop he was greeted by the shop's owner Frida.

"The Mortar and Pestle makes potions, if you can't tell from the name. Just step up to the counter."

"Ha, yes I guessed so" Brom replied with a chuckle. "I was wondering if I could buy some ingredients from you."

"why of course, that is what this shop is for after all"

"good, I need Jazbay Gr.a.p.es and some Tundra Cotton."

"A simple request then. One minute and I'll fetch those out from the back."

As she left to gather Brom's ingredients he quickly snatched the book off a shelf and hid it in his cloak. Then leaned on the counter to wait.

"Here you are, that will be 13 septims"

"ah, thank you." Brom handed her the money and took his leave.

He had one more stop before heading back to the general store. He needed to go visit the court wizard. He wanted to see if they were selling a very useful alteration spell. Brom headed to the Jarl's Longhouse and went inside, then headed to the left to talk to the court wizard Madena.

"Hi, do you have spell tomes for sale?" Brom inquired

"I have a few"

"good, good. You aren't perhaps selling a Telekinesis spell tome, are you?"

"No, that is a rare spell. You won't find it here."

"Ah, well too bad. Thanks anyways." Brom nodded to her then turned around and cursed under his breath.

He then left the building disappointed that he couldn't get the spell. Well, he could not be too mad; he knew it was not going to be that easy, and he already knows a spot where it could be. Plus, he got a new companion today. Or, at least he hoped he had a long-term companion now. But who knows, he may get stabbed in the back later. He would have to see how this week went.