He could have done without the stares.
Dirge had started cracking his knuckles before they even reached the ramp. Tonilia had carefully positioned a dagger along the railing behind her. Delvin had started twisting a small vial of poison between his fingers. The rest of the crowd had simply turned and glared at the two of them. Brynjolf seemed to be the only one who wasn't openly hostile. He instead leaned calmly against the bar, sipping a bottle of Blackbriar Reserve. His eyebrow was quirked in interest.
Aneira had made to stride past Dirge without a word at first, until he'd stopped her with a firm grip on her left arm. To her credit, she didn't seemed particularly unnerved, merely glancing up at him and requesting that he remove his hand.
"If you're here to make trouble you'll get more than just my fist on your arm," the bodyguard ground out.
Etienne moved to lift the leather helmet off his face, hoping his presence would lessen the threat, when Aneira beat him to action.
"Oh, I see. Well, fortunately for you," she observed in a honeyed voice, "I'm not here to fight today." Aneira wrenched her arm free of Dirge's grip before allowing her shoulder to bump into him, brushing past him and into the light of the tavern. The bouncer snarled viciously before righting himself.
Etienne hurriedly placed himself between the Dragonborn and Dirge, hastily undoing the straps on his helmet. He had told her not to display hostility to Maul's brother. The beast was practically a chained pit wolf. Of course the first thing she did was challenge his authority. After fighting their way past a few common thugs that littered the sewers and had refused to let them pass in peace, Etienne was desperately hoping that the Guild members would be more reasonable.
"Easy, big guy. She's not here to start anything," Etienne declared loudly, backing away and pulling his leather helmet off. "She's with me, alright?"
Dirge took a moment to glance at him, curling his lip into a scowl. It was only after a few seconds had passed that he began to gape at him, confusion marring his features. "Etienne? But you're supposed to be dead!"
He frowned at Dirge, cautiously leaning away from him. "What does 'supposed to be' mean?" Etienne demanded, coming to stand beside Aneira.
They both faced opposite direction in the tavern, Etienne watching Dirge at the ramp and Tonilia at her table. Dirge kept glancing from him to Aneira, pointing at Etienne slowly.
"Maul said you were good as dead a few weeks ago. That's why you disappeared from the tunnels after getting back from a big job without collecting your cut. Said we shouldn't bother looking for ya in any of the prisons, either."
Etienne's eyes narrowed at him. He felt Aneira tense slightly, her hand poised at her side. "Yeah, well, guess that's not the case, is it?"
Dirge did not look appeased. "Maul said it, and I believe him, even if he couldn't tell me why. If he said you were a dead man," Dirge growled, taking a dagger from his hip, "then you oughta be. He hears everything from Maven."
"Well, your brother was obviously misinformed!" Etienne snapped back, stepping to his left and away from Aneira. Angling himself slightly, he saw that the other Guild members in the Flagon were all standing, though no one else had drawn a blade. Etienne felt a shiver of apprehension crawl up his spine. Leave it to the two brainless meatheads to cause trouble.
Brynjolf stepped away from the counter smoothly, walking slowly in their direction. "Well, Etienne, we're certainly all glad t' see you back." He stopped a few feet away from them both, eyeing Aneira curiously. "However, Dirge does have a point. Why would Maven tell us you weren't coming back alive if here you stand," Brynjolf paused to look him over, "apparently in one piece?" Etienne chose not to reply, glancing at Aneira for his next move. She continued to watch Brynjolf with a stoic expression. His thoughts raced while Aneira did nothing, and the Guild waited for an answer. "From our side, you must admit it looks like she wasn't… particularly sorry to see you gone. As if you'd done something to offend her." Brynjolf spoke calmly, but the threat hung in the air. "If we were to welcome you back when Maven wanted you gone, it certainly wouldn't be good for us."
Etienne scowled at his comrade. "Well, you can all relax, because I haven't done anything to piss off Maven or her bloody family!"
Brynjolf raised his hands in a placating gesture. "Then why tell Mercer that you were dead?"
Etienne stood up straighter, throwing his arms out from his sides. "Probably because she knew the Thalmor waltzed into Riften and abducted me!" Etienne bit out, pleased by the surprised glances exchanged by a few people behind Brynjolf.
Brynjolf's calculating expression dropped, his expression changing to one of shock. "You're saying that the Thalmor have had you for the last few weeks?"
"Obviously!" Etienne retorted, feeling the phantom shiver of the knife in his side again. "And our precious benefactor knew the whole time! She practically offered me up as a sacrificial lamb for them!"
"But why would Maven do that, Etienne?" Delvin inquired, rising from his table. He came to stand next to Brynjolf, arms folded across his chest. "What would the Thalmor even want with ya?"
Before Etienne could respond, Aneira finally chose to participate in the conversation.
"They wanted information concerning an old man living in the sewers." All eyes turned to her. She didn't look away from Brynjolf for more than a second, glancing surreptitiously at Etienne. "He's in his sixties or seventies, roughly. Intelligent, and highly skilled in magic. Theoretically, he's been down there for quite some time."
No one spoke for a few moments, until Vekel finally spoke up from behind the bar. "Hey, Etienne. Who is this you brought down here?"
"She's the Dragonborn," Brynjolf said softly, staring unflinchingly at Aneira. She smirked slightly under the helmet.
"The Dragonborn!" Vex stood up, her chair tipping backwards and cracking against the floor. "You brought the damn Dragonborn down here?"
Aneira cocked her head lightly, eyeing Vex's enraged face. Sweat broke out across Etienne's brow when Vex unsheathed her dagger, coming up to flank Brynjolf with Delvin.
"Look, she just wants to find this guy. This doesn't have to turn into a-"
"Do you have any idea how many recruits she's killed?" Vex demanded, thrusting her ebony dagger in Aneira's direction. "Of course you do, you haven't been gone that long! We've lost men in every hold because of this bitch!"
"How is that my fault?" Aneira quietly inquired, leaning against a wooden column. She crossed her arms lightly. "If you pick a fight with someone stronger than you, you've got no one to blame but yourself when they take you down." Vex snarled, moving forward when Brynjolf seized her left arm. He yanked her backwards, keeping a firm grip on her upper arm. "Furthermore, I always gave them a chance to walk away. They never took it." Aneira's voice grew steely. "Maybe you should tell your friends that anyone who comes at me and mine with a knife will be given no quarter."
Brynjolf stared at her impassively, refusing to release Vex even after she stopped pulling on his fist. Silence reigned for a few long moments, broken only by the drops of water hitting the lake and the groan of the tunnels. Finally, Brynjolf looked back at Etienne.
"Your story is that the Thalmor came here, abducted you for information about someone in the Ratway, and that Maven knew what had happened to you?"
Etienne chewed the inside of his cheek, fighting the urge to make a sarcastic reply.
"Yes," he bit out.
"Maven's connections to the southern governments make her the obvious answer," Aneira began. "Even if they didn't ask her permission, someone most likely let her know they were coming. She may not have personally handed him over, but there is little doubt that she knew about it." No one had an answer to that. "Now, I've had enough chatter, personally." Aneira stood up straight, stepping away from the crates and toward Etienne. "All I want to do is go into the sewers, find the Thalmor's target, and be on my merry way. No mess, no clean-up for you to deal with." No one in the bar moved, except to exchange a few glances. "However, if you'd like to do this the hard way, why don't you ask Etienne what I did to the Thalmor who got in my way?" Aneira turned to him, smiling in a sickly sweet manner. It made his skin crawl. "Or," she continued, turning back to Brynjolf, "you could ask Brynjolf here to reenact our last encounter. When I took down two sabrecats at the same time," she grinned, "with nothing but a dagger and some destruction magic."
Brynjolf said nothing for a moment, as if considering her words. Finally, he gave a hmph of laughter before giving everyone an order to stand down. Relief flooded Etienne's system.
"You're as feisty as ever, lass," Brynjolf began, moving forward to stand directly in front of her. Etienne stiffened slightly when the red head leaned toward the Dragonborn's face. "Believe me when I say that I remember your skills very well." Aneira did not shy away from Brynjolf's nearness or his lilting voice. She tilted her head, keeping eye contact with the large Nord. "Be that as it may, anyone hiding out in the Ratway would be paying us good money to keep them hidden," Brynjolf explained softly. "If we were to let someone go looking for them, it would be bad for business, you see."
Aneira laughed softly.
"You're a sensible businessman, Brynjolf," she sighed, raising to fingers two his chest. "So you should know full well that they are far worse things for business," Aneira pushed him backwards, widening the gap between them, "than letting me go down there." She placed her hands on her hips. "Or do you not consider the dragon menace relevant to your operations?"
Brynjolf rubbed under his chin as if pondering her words. Aneira raised her left eyebrow in challenge. Eventually, he smiled and held up his hands in surrender, turning back to the bar.
"The lass goes where she pleases in the sewers tonight. Everyone else, go back to your business."
Vex let out a shout of indignation, glaring at Aneira as she casually strode over to where Etienne stood. "We're just supposed to take her word that she won't interfere with our business? The bitch who's been screwing with our operations for months!"
Brynjolf turned to Vex with his mead back in his hands.
"If you want to take her on alone, be my guest."
Vex glared at him furiously for a few moments before glancing over at Aneira. She slammed her dagger back into its sheath before stomping back over to her chair. Righting it, she sat back down, glowering in their direction.
"Don't think you're off the hook," she called to Etienne. "Your story is flimsy at best. Don't think we won't ask Maven how she feels about you being back in town."
Etienne stared back at her coolly, but Aneira's hand on his arm prevented his response.
"Alright, you. Show me how to get around down there."
Etienne nodded to the door past the bar.
"That's your entrance. But it's anyone's guess who or what is waiting for us down there. The psychos and thugs don't take kindly to trespassers."
Aneira adjusted her helmet before heading to the door. Showing a grim expression, she yanked open the door by the grimy handle.
