We entered Riften in the dark of the early morning just a few minutes later. Barely anyone was about, and I found myself more relaxed than ever. We had just broken into a house, escaped with what we went for, gone through a fight with seven guards, and the Guild was being plotted against, but all I could think about was how wonderful my life was.
"Ah, I love the smell of Riften," I sighed delightedly. "Smells like home."
"Where did you live, the bottom of a lake?"
Leave it to Mercer to ruin my good mood.
Karliah turned the corner, guiding us down a narrow passageway into the Riften graveyard while I tried not to strike the chuckling Mercer. There was a shortcut into the Guild's cistern this way, which proved helpful whenever any guild members were caught in the act of stealing. Our special Guild's armor confused the guards, making it harder for them to identify exactly who it was, and since most of us in the Guild were fast, the hidden passageway gave us a fast getaway. It also made us "vanish into thin air", as I heard a guard put it once.
No one was in the graveyard late at night, so the three of us hastened towards a small building. Inside, a few candles sat on a jutting portion of the wall, directly above something that looked to me like a coffin. I never bothered to puzzle out what it was. It was an entrance to the Guild, and that was all that matter.
Karliah pressed a small button on the side of it and stepped back. The floor in front of the coffin pulled back, revealing steps down to a lit lantern and a trapdoor. She descended down the steps. Then I followed, and Mercer. When we made it, he pulled a chain on the wall, effectively shutting the entrance and leaving us with nothing but the small lamp light.
I bent down, helping Karliah tug the trapdoor up. I watched as she leapt down, grabbing hold of the ladder and climbing the rest of the way down. Mercer shot me a look and followed her. I glared down the hole, waiting until he had disappeared before I did the same, grabbing the trapdoor and pulling it down again.
I caught up to them right as they were making their way into the Cistern, reaching up and lowering my hood. The familiar smell of blood, sweat and mead assaulted my nose, causing me to sneeze. No matter how long I had spent down at the Guild, I would never completely be used to the sewers. They were sewers, after all.
We approached Gallus, who was donned in our own outfit and bent over his desk nearby the gold vault. He was studying a map of something, but I couldn't tell what it was from where we stood.
The guild master glanced up, taking a few moments to take us in, standing in our still-damp armor. "Run into trouble?" he asked, a glimmer in his eye.
"Nice to see you too, Gallus," I said flatly. I made sure to smile, just in case he didn't realize that I wasn't actually angry.
"Just a few guards," Mercer said. "We handled them pretty well."
"Glad to see you two enjoyed yourselves out there," replied Gallus. I smirked as he turned to Karliah. "Did you get find what we were looking for?"
"Yes, we found it," she replied, turning to Mercer. He pulled out the letter, handing it to Gallus.
"A note to my successor…" the leader mumbled as he read. "Pleasant job… Rift… Jarl… past deeds… union… underneath – underneath the city?"
"That would be us," Mercer commented. "We think that whoever this man is, he's been planning an attack on us. Right now, it seems he's gathering an army, or at least a fair amount of warriors, if not that."
"For a guild as small as us?"
Karliah cut in. "It's ridiculous, I know. But Gallus, this letter provides proof. They could be here at any time. We have to remain on our guard."
Gallus straightened up, running a hand through his hair and closing his eyes. "If you're right," he said, "then we'd better get a move on. We'll need all the preparatory measures and aid that we can get. The earlier, the better. I'll send out a few of our numbers to see if we can find out any more information about this situation."
He looked at Mercer and me. "If I were you two, I'd start sharpening my skills on something else, other than just your swords. If, and when, this happens, I'll want you two to lay low until we've got most of them slaughtered, before you rush in and make irrational decisions. Use bows and arrows for that."
I groaned. "I'm awful with those."
Mercer shrugged, silent.
"Good, then you agree. Get your rest; you've earned it. But first – Karliah, come with me."
I glanced over at her. She lowered her hood, and I could see she had a smile on her face. "Absolutely." I watched as she walked off with Gallus towards the training room, her radiant brown hair swept over one shoulder. She was a Dunmer elf, so naturally her skin tone was darker than most of the guild members. It had a blue tinge, one that I loved to look at. It made me feel relaxed, because I felt like Karliah was one of the few that I trusted in our Guild, save for Gallus and Mercer. Us Nightingales had learned to stick together. Or at least I had learned to stick to them.
"Do you think we should stay here tonight, or go back to the Hall?" I asked Mercer quietly.
"Well, seeing as Karliah and Gallus will probably be talking for a while, I say we should just stay here. Besides, if those idiots decide they want to pay a surprise visit to the Guild tonight, at least we'll be here for it."
"Yeah, good thinking," I said, looking around the Cistern. "I'm going to change out of this wet armor. It needs to dry, and I think I'm still soaked to the bone. Not to mention my stab wound still hurts."
Mercer shook his head, already beginning to walk away. "If you can't handle a little pain, I'd hate to be near you once the real battle actually begins."
"That's why I resort to sneaking!" I yelled, but the words seemed to bounce off his back.
I shot a sharp look in his direction before walking off in the opposite direction towards my room. It was in a small, secluded portion of the hallway between the Cistern and the Ragged Flagon, the Guild's own personal bar. On calm nights, it was almost quiet, save for the snores of the other members. Over the years, it had become my second home, because I felt so comfortable here.
I opened the door to the hallway, keeping my head down as other guild members walked past. One thing I figured out quickly when I first joined the Thieves Guild was that some people here weren't very mindful of business. For example, one of the members - Dryfius the Brave, or so he called himself - couldn't go an hour without finding some bit of information about a guild member. He stuck his nose in conversations and listened in, and then went out and gossiped to the others. It got to the point where I couldn't utter a single sentence without him twisting the meaning of it into something completely different. Some guild members and I even started calling him Dryfius the Pryfius when he wasn't around. It served him right.
I slipped to the side and into my room. I always kept two or three candles lit inside even when I wasn't around. I liked my room well lit when I got back. It felt more welcoming. At my old home, my parents always used to keep their lanterns lit throughout the hallways and in our rooms. I carried on that practice to the Thieves Guild.
My room was a mess, as always. I never bothered cleaning it. Otherwise, one of the others might be tempted to look through my belongings, and that was something I would not tolerate. I made for the wardrobe beside my bed, which held all of my common traveler's clothes and Guild coverings. At the Guild, I always preferred to wear its usual attire, just because everyone else did.
Slowly, I tugged my Nightingale hood off, tossing it onto the bed. Off came the gloves, the armor, and the boots. I blew out the candle nearest to me so that any curious eyes wouldn't be able to see me, and then turned around to get a good look at my wound. It was a long laceration now, red at the edges from some dried blood that I hadn't gotten off. Nothing that would bother me for long. It still ached a little bit, but it felt a lot better than it had earlier.
I removed my Guild clothes from my wardrobe, changing into the armor and hood and tugging on my boots and gloves. As soon as I was comfortably fitted, I went ahead and put my Nightingale armor in the chest at the base of my bed. I kept my armor there because it was easily accessible during emergencies.
Since I wasn't exactly ready to tuck in for the night, I decided to head on out to the Ragged Flagon and get myself something to drink. There were only ever a few people around at a time. Most were at the Cistern, either training or already drunk, or a mixture of both. There were always at least one or two people drunk at any given time down here. It was my source of entertainment to watch them from the shadows, especially if a fight started.
"Evening, Katica," the bartender greeted.
I leaned over the front of the counter. "Hi, Vekel," I replied. "Hear any news recently?"
"Nothing except the usual," he said, grabbing for a cup from beneath the counter. "You want what you normally get?"
"Not so much tonight. I need a good night's sleep tonight." I watched him bring out the ewer of mead. "And could you water it down more than usual, too? I'm not in the mood tonight. Thanks, Vekel."
"Anything for a member of the Guild," he said, handing the cup to me. "Just don't take anything from me, and we'll still be on good terms."
"I can't promise anything," I said with a wink, sipping at the honeyed drink. "Just don't tell anyone outside the Guild I drink this, and you won't find anything missing from your pockets."
The bartender chuckled. "If anyone finds out that I work for the Thieves Guild, I'll be thrown in jail for the rest of my life."
"Are you saying that if you mentioned me to anyone, you'd get in trouble?"
He raised an eyebrow, grinning. "I could be."
I straightened up from the counter, holding my mead. "Watch your belongings, Vekel." I managed to make it a few feet before I started laughing.
"Enjoy the mead!" he called. I raised a hand in response and trudged off.
In the center of the Flagon, there was a shallow pool of water. It ran beneath the bar in the shape of a circle. Most people sat at the counter or tables nearby the bar, but my favorite spot to sit was at the edge of the water. The Flagon was light enough so that you could see your reflection if you looked into it. It was also a spot that I could keep a clear lookout at the entrance.
I sat down near the steps up to the Flagon, leaning forward and looking down into the water. I looked the same as ever, perhaps even a little cleaner due to the fact that I had cleaned myself properly in the river earlier. I lowered my hood, watching my damp black hair fall toward the water and dangle above it. I had inherited my mother's black hair. My father had a lighter brown shade of hair. My mother had told me that, with the exception of my hair color, I was just like him. Same light eye color, same skin tone, same fierce tone and personality. We were both curious, and roamed around the area whenever we could. Later, I found out I also liked close combat, nothing from afar; just like papa.
I took another mouthful of mead, staring at the water in thought and swallowing it down. I wasn't someone that liked to get drunk, but I did enjoy getting a drink every now and then. Which usually meant every evening.
"Drunk yet?"
I shook myself out of my thoughts, leaning back again. Mercer sat beside me with his own cup. He had also dressed down into the Guild's armor. "You look kind of out of it."
"I'm just thinking about home," I said, glancing over at him. "Are you drunk?"
"I just got here, idiot, but I will be soon." As if to prove it, he took a drink of his own mead. It probably wasn't as watered down as mine.
I rubbed my eyes. "Men are idiots."
"At least I think before I act," he said gruffly, kicking at the water. "Especially in a fight."
"If you came here just to insult me, you can go-"
"You spoke first. I have nothing to be held responsible for."
He was right, so I stopped talking and looked back at my reflection. If there was one thing I hated, it was someone else proving me wrong. As much as I hated to acknowledge it, Mercer was smarter than me. He could do well on his own, that was for sure. I hated to think what happened to people who got on his bad side.
My leg throbbed, and I suddenly remembered that he had also been grazed in the fight. "Hey, how's your arm?"
"It's been better."
"Does it still hurt?"
Mercer removed the glove from his injured arm, resting his elbow on his knee and holding it out for me to see. "It's only been a few hours, Katica. Of course it still hurts."
"It looks worse than mine." His wound would only look like a cut, if it weren't for the inflammation around it. "It's a bigger cut, but it's not as blighted."
"Well, congratulations." He grunted, putting his glove back on. "Send a letter to your mother yet?"
"Shut up." I swing my leg to the side, kicking his ankle. I leaned forward again, raising my drink and downing the rest of my mead. It didn't take me much to get me inebriated, and even with my mead almost fully watered down, I could still feel a faint buzz. I shut my eyes tightly and lowered my head, taking a deep breath.
I stayed that way for a few minutes, listening to scrambled conversations and hum of yelling from the Cistern. It was relaxing for me, a way to wind down after the activities of the day.
"Hello, fellow Nightingales," came Karliah's voice. I listened to her footsteps crossing behind us, raising my head when she settled in beside me. She was still in her Nightingale armor
"Hey. Are you done talking with Gallus?" I asked.
"We only went over what they might be planning," she said, resting her arms on her legs.
"Sure you were," muttered Mercer. Karliah didn't hear, but I did. A grin snuck onto my face.
"Did you get anything to drink?" I glanced around, but she didn't have her own cup.
"I'm not thirsty," she said, looking over at us with her glowing purple eyes. "You two smell like you've had quite the drink, though."
"I didn't have much, it's all Mercer," I said, leaning back on my arms. "I don't want to do anything stupid that could cause my injury to get any worse."
She glanced over at the male pensively. "Mercer, you've got your work to do tomorrow. I suggest you don't have too much to drink."
"I'll be fine," he replied angrily. "Can't a man have a little drink around here without someone reprimanding him?"
I nudged him. "Sure they can. But you've got more responsibilities than most members of the Guild."
"I've also got more intelligence than most members of the Thieves Guild, including you."
"I hope you choke on that mead," I said, glaring at him. I could hear Karliah laughing behind me, a soft, dulcet laugh that drew a smile out of me.
Mercer grunted in response, and with nothing else to say, I turned my attention back to the water yet another time and letting the quietude of my friends surround me. As much as I argued with Mercer, I enjoyed his company around. When I had first joined the Guild, the first people I ran into were Karliah and Mercer, who quickly took me in; Karliah with her mellow words, and Mercer with his familiar slander. They had chosen me to be another Nightingale, but I still didn't know why that was.
"That was a good melee tonight."
I looked at Karliah. "But we still got caught."
"But we handled them," she said with a faint smile. "And damn well at that."
"That'll teach them to mess with the Thieves Guild," said Mercer, slamming his cup down. "Maybe they'll turn tail and decide not to attack us after all."
"We can only hope for the best," said Karliah. "If they do come here, at least we'll be ready for them."
"I just hope we get through it," I said.
"I think we all do," she said faintly.
Our short conversation faded into silent. Each evening, if we could make it, we would come to the Flagon and find each other. It was Karliah that had started the cozy tradition. One evening, after I had completely a long mission that involved sneaking past a few guards, I came to the Ragged Flagon to order my usual drink. I saw Karliah sitting quietly at a table and staring into her drink, and had gone over to speak with her. Not long after I joined her, Mercer and Gallus had come in. As soon as they saw us, they grabbed their seats, and the custom was born. Every evening from then on, the Nightingales would get together and talk. Even if we returned to Nightingale hall, we would still get together.
We sat quietly for ten more minutes. By the time they had passed, I was once again leaning over my legs and staring into the water, absorbed in my memories.
"Well, I think I'll get some sleep," said Karliah. She stood, looking down at us.
Mercer also started to get up, so I grabbed my empty cup and got up as well. "Yeah, I'm tired too," I said, rubbing my forehead. "I think I'm starting to get a headache."
Mercer snickered behind me. I expected him to make a rude comment, but he didn't. Instead, he began to walk off.
Karliah and I walked with him, past the bar and through the side hallways towards the cistern. When I reached my room, I stopped, turning to face them.
"See you two tomorrow," I said, reaching out and tapping both of their shoulders with my knuckles. "Today was fun."
"Especially watching you cry over a cut," said Mercer. My expression fell flat.
"Sleep well, Katica," Karliah said.
I looked over at Mercer vehemently.
He looked back at me, silent. After a few tense seconds, he looked away. "See you tomorrow."
"Good night, Nightingale," said Karliah. "Sleep in the shadows." She placed a hand on Mercer's shoulder and guided him into the cistern. I changed into more comfortable clothing and tossed my Guild armor on top of the chest, falling into bed, and soon, sleep found my waiting form.
