"I'm glad you're here," Karliah breathes when Iris enters the Flagon. "I think some of these people are beginning to suspect who I am. Are you ready to face the Guild?"
Iris fidgets, looking at her boots. "What if…what if Mercer's there?" She doesn't bother to hide the fear in her voice.
Karliah places a reassuring hand on her arm. "Then we show them Gallus's journal and hope for the best. Remember, we have proof, and all he's got is his word."
Iris nods slowly. "Okay." Taking a deep breath, she swallows. "Let's go."
"Keep your eyes open. I'm not sure what to expect when we enter the Cistern." She chuckles softly. "Who knows what Brynjolf told them?"
The two thieves, weapons at the ready, cross the stone bridge and crack open the door to the Cistern.
And promptly run into Vex, Delvin, and Brynjolf, awaiting them at the entrance.
Iris swallows her smile at seeing Brynjolf feigning anger and brandishing his dagger.
"You better have a damn good reason to be here with that murderer, lass," he growls at her.
His expression is so intense, that it actually frightens her a bit.
"Please, lower your weapons so we can speak. I have proof that you've all been misled!" Karliah holds her hands up.
Brynjolf regards her with his stormy eyes. "No tricks, Karliah, or I'll cut you down where you stand. You, too, Iris."
Iris swallows as he points his dagger at her.
"Now, what's this so called proof you speak of?" He sheathes his weapon, urging the others to do the same.
Iris takes a step forward, the journal in her hands. "We have Gallus's journal. I think you'll find its contents…disturbing."
"Let me see." He takes it from her hands, opening it up and flipping through it. "No, it…it can't be. This can't be true. I've known Mercer too long…" He glances up at them with outrage etched on his features.
"It's true, Brynjolf," Karliah assures him. "Every word. Mercer's been stealing from the Guild for years, right under your noses."
Bryn closes the journal, handing it back to Iris. "There's only one way to find out if what she says is true." He turns to Delvin. "I need you to open the Vault."
"Wait just a blessed moment, Bryn. What's in that book? What did it say?"
"It says Mercer's been stealing from our vault for years. Gallus was looking into it before he was murdered." Brynjolf begins to move toward the Vault, the rest of them in tow.
"How can Mercer open up a vault that needs two keys? It's impossible. Could he pick his way in?" Delvin questions.
"That door has the best puzzle locks money can buy," Vex finally speaks. "There's no way it can be picked open."
"He didn't need to pick the lock," Karliah mentions quietly.
"What's she on about?" Delvin wonders.
But Bryn waves his hand. "Use your key on the Vault. We'll open it up and find out the truth." He catches Iris's gaze as Delvin moves toward the Vault and winks.
"It's still locked up tighter than a drum. Now use yours."
Brynjolf walks up to the Vault, using his key and pushing the golden doors open.
"By the Nine!" Iris can tell his surprise is real this time. "It's gone, everything's gone! Get in here, all of you!"
Iris enters the Vault and gasps, seeing nothing but empty chests and urns where coin and jewels use to be.
"It's all gone." Delvin's mouth opens in horror.
Vex unsheathes her dagger, fury lacing her mouth. "That son-of-a-bitch! I'll kill him!"
Brynjolf approaches her, his hands up. "Vex, put it away. Right now. We can't afford to lose our heads. We need to calm down and focus."
"Do what he says, Vex. This isn't helping right now," Delvin encourages her.
Looking between the two, she sighs, sheathing her dagger. "Fine. We do it your way. For now."
"Delvin, Vex…watch the Flagon. If you see Mercer, come tell me right away."
They nod, starting off in that direction. Once out of earshot, Brynjolf turns to Iris, grinning slightly.
"You're an absolute genius, Iris," he praises her.
She sweeps her hair over her shoulder. "Why, thank you." She bites her lip. "You scared me, though. For a second, you had me convinced."
He quirks an eyebrow. "Just a second?"
She tries to smother her smile, elbowing him.
"Listen, lass, I need you to do something else for me."
"What would that be?"
"To break into Mercer's house and search for anything that could tell us where he went."
Iris frowns. "He has a house in Riften?"
"Aye. A gift from the Black-Briars after they kicked the previous family out…place called Riftweald Manor. He never stays there, just pays for the upkeep on it. Hired some lout by the name of Vald to guard the place."
"I'll take care of it." She moves to walk past him, but he catches her arm.
"Be careful, lass. This is the last place in Skyrim I'd ever want to send you. Just find a way in, get the information, and leave." He pauses, his green eyes boring into her violet. "And you have permission to kill anyone who stands in your way."
She nods. "Any suggestions on how I deal with this Vald?"
Bryn exhales. "He's a real piece of work. Mercer's holding something over his head, keeping him loyal. Talk to Vex. She used to know him very well…if you catch my meaning."
Iris can't help but laugh, and Brynjolf has no choice but to join in her infectious laughter.
"Oh, Gods, that's all I'm going to think about when I see him now." She moves past him, heading to find Vex.
"Want me to come with you to Mercer's?" Brynjolf questions.
She turns. "No, I can do it. You should stay here. Keep an eye out for that motherf—uh, for Mercer."
Brynjolf smirks. "That's not what you were going to say, lass."
"Shut up. I'm going to Mercer's house."
His expression turns stony. "Be careful, okay? I almost lost you to that madman once. I don't want it to happen again."
Against her better judgment, she strides back over to him, planting a purposeful kiss on his cheek. "You worry too much." And with that, she heads into the Flagon.
"So…you're alive after all," Vex comments when Iris finds her.
"Luckily. Mercer tried to kill me and then told everyone he succeeded."
"Yeah…Bryn was a mess after that."
Iris winces, drowning her despair at the thought. "He said you have info on Vald," she changes the subject.
"That pig? Oh, I have info on him. More than you care to know."
"Ew, Vex, spare me the details." Iris chuckles. "I just want to get on his good side."
"Vald? Good side?" Vex scoffs. "I think you have the wrong person. The only thing Vald understands is gold. A man after my own heart."
"Why didn't it work out?" Iris smirks. "Kidding. So, do I buy him off?"
"Sure, but he'll ask for a whole lot. I mean, you are asking him to betray Mercer Frey. Your best bet would be to erase his debt with Maven Black-Briar. If you talk to her, she might be able to give you the details. Of course, you could just run him through and take what you need off of his corpse…I couldn't care less."
Iris smirks again. "You're making me wonder why you broke it off, and I'm pretty sure I don't want to know, despite how curious I am about it."
Vex waves her hand. "Yeah, you don't want to know."
Iris thought Vald's debt would be easy to resolve. She'd find Maven, find out how much he owed, and pay the rest. But no. Of course it had to be more complicated. Maven told her that Vald was delivering a magical quill but dropped it in the lake. She will only take the quill to absolve the debt. So, Iris had no choice but to jump in the nasty waters of the lake and dive to the bottom, scouring the depths for the blasted thing. She finally finds it in a strongbox near debris from the small rowboat. She breaks four lock picks before opening the box; picking locks underwater is hard work. But she finally obtains the quill and paddles to the surface. Shivering in the wintery air, she makes her way back to Riften and presents the quill to Maven who gives her a letter to give to Vald saying his debt has been paid.
The oaf hurries away after Iris delivers the letter, leaving her wonder what in Oblivion Vex saw in him. She slips past the gate, pulling her hood up and readying herself for a huge infiltration job. She shoots the mechanism on the balcony as Bryn suggested, and a ramp lowers down. She carefully climbs up the ramp and slips into Mercer's house.
She gets past the guards with ease, timing their steps perfectly so they miss her completely. She's almost caught, though, when picking the lock on the double doors on the bottom floor. She manages to hurry into the room before they see her, but it's a close one. Growling to herself in her mind, she finds that the room leads to nowhere. She's searched this entire damn house and hasn't found a single shred of evidence of where he's gone. Her hair blows lightly into her face, and she swipes it away in annoyance. How there's even a breeze in here is beyond her—wait. Her violet eyes find the cabinet on the far side of the room, noting the dimensions are slightly off compared to the others. She creeps over to it, opening the cabinet and tapping on the back panel. Sure enough, it's hollow behind and with a small push it opens up into a series of tunnels. It turns out Mercer's house is directly connected to the Ratway. After dodging traps and maneuvering through the tunnels, she comes to a wide, stone room. She almost laughs when she sees a bust of the Grey Fox sitting upon Mercer's desk. She searches the desktop, finding a bundle of papers detailing Mercer's next move. She curses under her breath when she skims through the papers. She has to get this back to Bryn. Leaving the room, she continues down the tunnels, coming to a small hole and dropping through it to fin herself standing at the entrance of the Ragged Flagon. Easy enough, she thinks to herself as she opens the door and goes to Brynjolf to tell him what she found.
—
She finds him leaning over Mercer's desk in his little corner when she enters the Cistern. A small smile tugs at her lips as she sees his brow furrowed in concentration; he hasn't seen her yet, and she admits that she quite likes watching him without him noticing. But Mercer's plans are of utmost importance. So, she approaches him, trying to keep the smile off her lips.
"Iris." He glances up when he sees her in front of the desk. "We've scoured the entire damned town, and I've spoken to every contact we have left. There's no sign of Mercer."
"Damn it," she mutters.
"Any luck on your end?"
"He wasn't there. But," she places the plans on the desk, "I did find these very helpful plans."
Bryn's eyebrows lower as he reads the plans.
"Fuck! He's going after the Eyes of the Falmer? That was Gallus's pet project." He glances up at her, his eyes intense. "If he gets his hands on them, you can be certain he'll be gone for good and set up for life."
"Then we'll just have to stop him."
"That bastard's taken everything the Guild has left, and to go after one of the last greatest heists is just an insult." He shakes his head. "I've talked to the Guild, and they've all agreed to make amends with Karliah. She wants to talk to us."
"About what?"
"She didn't say. But we should probably go at once." He steps out from behind the desk. "Come on." He nods to where Karliah stands in the center of the Cistern.
Karliah approaches them both as they join her in the middle.
"Brynjolf, the time has come to decide Mercer's fate. Until a new Guildmaster is chosen, the decision falls to you," Karliah tells him seriously.
"Aye. I've come to a decision." He looks at Iris, his eyes hard. "Mercer tried to kill both of you. He betrayed the Guild, murdered Gallus, and made us question our future. He needs…to die."
Iris nods eagerly.
"We have to be very careful. Mercer is a Nightingale, an Agent of Nocturnal," Karliah warns them.
Iris scoffs. "Well, I'm the fucking Dragonborn. I'll Shout him to pieces."
"I'm not sure that's the best way to go about this," Karliah says slowly. "We need to meet Mercer on equal footing. But I have an idea. Just outside of Riften, beyond the Southeast Gate is a small path cut up the mountainside. At the end of the path is a clearing and an old standing stone. I'd ask you both to meet me there first thing tomorrow morning." Karliah peers at them. "You two look completely exhausted."
"Aye, because we are."
Karliah leaves them; Iris turns to Brynjolf.
"Well, I'm going to Honeyside. I haven't been there in a while, and I don't really like sleeping out in the open like this." She gestures to her designated bed.
"Okay. I'll see you at the stone tomorrow, then?"
Iris nods, wrapping her arms around herself. "How did we get into this mess, Bryn?"
"It wasn't our doing, lass. It was all Mercer. But it will all be over soon." He places his hand on her arm, giving her a reassuring smile.
"Thank the Gods. See you tomorrow." She leaves him with a smile, aware of his eyes on her back as she climbs up the ladder and out of sight.
Oohhh, what will happen next? Thank you so much for reading! And, as always, favorite, follow, and review! :)