8th of First Seed 4E203

Kaiya woke as she felt her pillow move underneath her. Her eyes slowly opened to try to make sense of what was happening in the dark, the sun just barely beginning to creep up into the sky in the wee hours of the morning. She felt the corners of her mouth turn up in a smile as she realized that what she originally thought was her pillow was instead the chest of Mercer Frey as he slowly tried to disentangle himself from her limbs.

"Off so soon?" her voice was thick with sleep as she let herself fall into the mattress on her stomach at the loss of Mercer, who now moved silently around her room looking for his clothes. At the sound of her voice he paused, his eyes meeting hers in the dark as he grabbed his trousers. A hint of a smile made its way to the corner of his mouth as he dressed, his eyes never moving from her naked form as she lied on her stomach before him.

"I have to meet with Maven" he stated, his voice rough with his grogginess.

Kaiya smiled at the sound of his rumbling early morning voice. Even though they had been secretly spending their nights together for a few weeks now, she had still not been able to get over the way she felt at his voice being the first thing she heard every morning. It still felt too good to be true, like the other shoe would be dropping at any moment. Things usually didn't work out like this for Kaiya.

Mercer moved to sit on the side of her bed as he put on his boots while she sat up to embrace him from behind, her naked breasts pinned between her and his naked back.

"But why?" she asked innocently, trying her hand at sounding convincing.

He let out a single laugh in response to her machinations. "We still haven't figured out who is trying to sabotage us, Footpad."

The small reminder sent Kaiya's mind hurdling back into the stress and anxiety that had plagued the guild and its Guildmaster for some time now. Her stomach tightened with worry when she thought of the fact that someone was after them and they had no idea who or why. Whoever it was could strike again at any moment, and they had no idea how to stop them. Someone wanted to wreck what they had built, what she had just been accepted into. Not now. GIve me a few more minutes of happiness before we return to business.

"Always so serious," she joked in a mocking tone as she let her hands roam around his chest and stomach while she continued to press herself against his back. "You know what they say about all work and no play, right Mercer?" In case her intentions weren't clear, she planted a kiss in the nape of his neck, trying her best to distract him enough to stay for one more round.

"Yes, it makes a man wealthy" he joked as he grabbed his other boot, doing his best to ignore her featherlight touches on his body. She let one hand wander down to reach for his hardness as she continued to plant kisses along his neck and shoulder.

"And oh so sexually frustrated," she joked into his ear as she massaged his erection through his trousers. He could try to pretend as if he weren't affected all he wanted, but that erection did not lie. She dragged her tongue down his ear and to his earlobe before pulling it between her teeth. A shudder raked through Mercer's body as she teased him, bringing a grin to her lips. His ears were one of his weaknesses and she was not above exploiting it. One boot on and one boot hanging from his fingers, he had stopped trying to get dressed and instead sat still in her arms, breathing heavily.

"Just one more time before you go?" Her voice was sheer temptation as she breathed her words into his ear, drawing out yet another shudder.

"She expected me last night. I'm already late. You've already dis-" he shivered again as she planted more wet kisses behind his ear and ran the hand that wasn't on his pants through his hair. "-distracted me."

"Mmhmm," she hummed against the skin under his ear. "So what's a few more minutes, then?"

"A few minutes!?" he barked, somewhat offended. "Give me some credit, Footpad. You know I'm good for more than a few minutes." He eyed her over his shoulder at this, scowling playfully.

"Hm, I don't know…" she teased back, kissing up his jawline. She grabbed his hair and maneuvered his head so that they were able to make eye contact before continuing her taunt. "Why don't you prove it?"

His eyes closed at her words as chills prickled down his skin. "Shadows save me," he whispered in prayer. "Nocturnal knows I tried."

And at that, he spun around and climbed on top of her naked, grinning form. "You win this time, Footpad" he growled as his mouth found hers, kissing her as she smiled.

A few hours later, Kaiya entered the cistern. This was one of her favorite moments of any given day, when she climbed down the ladder and turned to face all the familiar sounds and smells of the cavernous space. Nuruin was practicing his archery as usual, the sound of arrows hitting the straw reverberating around the stone. Rune and Sapphire chatted casually by one of the cooking pots, the smell of venison causing Kaiya's stomach to rumble. The ever present smell and sound of rushing water had become so commonplace that she almost didn't notice it anymore but there it was, gurgling, sputtering, and washing out all of the idle conversations taking place across the cistern. Just as they did every time she entered, the corners of her mouth turned up into a grin. This was home.

The flutter from the scene she had caused in the Flagon with Ravyn had died down over the past few weeks, and of that she was grateful. He still gave her a wide berth when he passed her in the cistern, but his broken nose had healed nicely. Apparently Delvin wasn't kidding when he had said that they had all had moments like that. The thieves gave her the same small nods and hellos as they did before 'the event' as she had begun thinking about it, so she decided not to make a big deal out of it either. Plus, Delvin was also right that it was nice to have everyone know exactly what she was capable of, even if it was crazy.

What she hadn't expected when she walked into the cistern was for Mercer to call for her in the same angry tone he usually did the moment he set eyes on her. He had just seen her a few hours ago, what could possibly have happened? They had decided to keep their relationship private and not let it affect their work, but Kaiya would be lying if she said she hadn't hoped for a little easing up of his brutish nature. Apparently Mercer was better than she thought he'd be at keeping work and personal life separate, still just as authoritative as he was when he wasn't getting laid nightly. With a roll of her eyes she knew he couldn't see, she made her way over to the Guildmaster's desk as she had so many times before.

When she arrived at the desk, she realized she had mistaken his tone for angry. He was energetic, animated even, but not angry. She watched with rapt attention as he hastily dug through papers that were spread out in front of him on the table. When he noticed her presence, he shot her a side glance and a quick wink before diving into the papers again. Heat bloomed on her cheeks at the show of attention, but she couldn't help but think that Mercer was acting almost… manic.

"I spoke with Maven." He spoke hurriedly as he looked through his papers, his fingers walking through stacks so fast she wondered how he was reading them. "She agreed with my observation. Looks like ol' Delvin's wrong after all. We're not cursed. We're under attack."

"Under attack!?" Kaiya responded in shock. That didn't sound good.

He looked up long enough to shoot her his signature smirk before looking back down at the papers in front of him. "But there is good news, Footpad. We're not fumbling around in the dark any more."

"What?" she was perplexed. Very rarely did Mercer ever speak in riddles like this. "What's going on Mercer?"

"Whoever it is that's doing this made a mistake. They're good. Really good. But I'm always one step ahead." He looked up at her as he said this, a proud grin taking up his face.

"Ah! Here it is!"

He pulled out an old letter, so old the parchment had yellowed and looked worn. Kaiya moved to stand behind the desk next to him, peering around him to watch. He scanned through the old correspondence quickly, looking for something in particular. When he spotted it, he smacked the area of the paper with his hand and pulled Kaiya up to see it herself.

"See?" he pointed at the old letter. "This letter is from years, perhaps decades ago, but it lists the contact as Gajul-Lei." He then moved his finger to point at the bill of sale from Goldenglow. "And well look here at who is listed as brokering the deal at Goldenglow? Well if it's not the same Gajul-Lei."

"Do you know who that is? Gajul-Lei?" Kaiya asked, fascinated by the excited behavior of her Guildmaster. He was really onto something here.

"It just so happens that I do, Footpad." He turned to face her now, his hip leaning into the desk. "He's an old contact of ours. His real name is Gulum-Ei, slimy bastard." His eyes narrowed as he spoke of the old contact, although he was obviously trying to stave off any effect the betrayal had on him at the moment.

"What do I need to do, Mercer?" she cut straight to the heart of it, as Kaiya always did.

He gave her a half smile at her directness. She hoped he could sense her determination, her eagerness. She wanted to take this bastard down as much as Mercer did. He let a slow grin take over his features as his eyes bored into Kaiya's before he finally spoke.

"You're going to Solitude to pay a visit to a dear old friend of mine."