Markath was not the ideal place for a Dunmer, with its already large population of elf-distrusting Nords.  With the city - and most of The Reach in general - all but packed with refugees and escapees, it was a riot waiting to happen.  But, at least in the Reach capital, an elf could walk the streets without being arrested.  At that was why Anirin had come here two days ago.<br/><br/>She'd been to Markath - and every other city in Skyrim - many times before.  But the recent changes in legislation had placed a significant barrier on her ability to move about freely, and thus her ability to do her job.  She was a sell-sword, offering her blade to anyone who would pay.  Generally, most people hired her to track down and kill certain people: thieves, murderers, escaped convicts.  She didn't care too terribly much who she was hired to kill, so long as the money was good.  When she first started her life as a mercenary, the idea of possibly killing an innocent person seemed far too harsh.<br/><br/>But, she quickly discovered that innocence was a difficult concept.  Often, the act of exacting revenge or justice demanded that a person commit a sin against another.  Which then led to someone exacting justice against them.  She knew a number of people who wanted her own head - and likely the only reason so few had tried was because of her particular knack for separating one's head from their shoulders.  Most experienced mercenaries knew her name, and her past kills.  While there was an unspoken code against taking money to kill a fellow mercenary - especially to exact "justice" against them for a job they performed - Ani believed that most sell-swords disliked the idea of trying to kill someone who was as skilled in combat and tracking as they were.<br/><br/>Caught up in her thoughts, the dark-skinned elf almost didn't notice the human woman standing in the center of the path ahead of her.  She took the woman in with a quick look, noting her armor and her weapons first.  Too armored to be a simple hunter, too well-armed to be a simple adventurer.  The human was likely another mercenary.  Ani considered the wisdom of exposed legs in a climate such as Skyrim's, but she couldn't deny the physical attractiveness, if nothing else.<br/><br/>She folded her arms across her chest and stared at the woman's ass for a moment before speaking.  "You keep showing these people your ass," she said, "and one of them is likely to smack it."