"Thanks again for taking us to Solitude, sir. It certainly was a rough day, but you stuck with us." Sarila thanked the carriage driver as she exited the carriage with Marcurio and Ysgrig. He politely smiled and gave a curt nod. "It was no trouble, milady. 'Least now I'll have a story to tell folks who come to rent my carriage." He chuckled, waving goodbye to the trio.
"I'll head up to the gate and ask where the nearest inn is. I'll meet you guys up there in a moment." Marcurio informed the twins, who nodded simultaneously as he scaled the hill to the city. Sarila and Ysgrig soon followed after him. Marcurio, who had just finished conversing with a guard, gave a sheepish grin to Sarila and Ysgrig. "Ysgrig, come here." Marcurio motioned for Ysgrig to come closer. The redhead obliged, and Marcurio leaned in to whisper something to him. Ysgrig's eyes widened, and his facial expression hardened. "I see. Sarila, we need to get to the inn immediately, no dawdling." Sarila was confused, but nodded anyway. Slowly, the door to Solitude opened.
As soon as Sarila entered the city, she fell in love with its exquisite architecture and its natural landscaping. Her curious eyes wandered over to a large crowd of people gathering by a platform. "Keep moving, sis." Ysgrig instructed, grabbing Sarila's hand and pulling her with him. "Why? I want to see what-" "Please, let's just keep moving." He sternly ordered. Sarila felt hurt. She took one glance behind her at the crowd, and was able to make out a large axe, a man in worn robes, and a small square on the ground of the platform.
The realization hit Sarila like a ton of bricks. They're executing that man. She felt the unpleasant chills begin to run down her spine as she walked with Marcurio and Ysgrig to the inn. They're KILLING that man.
Ysgrig closed the door to the inn and exhaled. "Welcome to the Winking Skeever, friends." A man behind the bar greeted warmly. Ysgrig cleared his throat and approached the bar. "Hello, do you happen to be Corpulus Vinius?" Corpulus nodded. "In that case, we'd like to rent a room, please." "Excellent. I have a room available upstairs for only ten Septims." Corpulus offered with a smile. Ysgrig nodded and reached into his pocket, pulling out the sufficient coins to hand to the innkeeper, who gladly took them. "Right this way, please."
Corpulus had shown the trio a decent sized room with a table and several bookshelves. He was promptly thanked for his service, and he returned to his bar. "Uh-oh. Sarila, it looks like we have a problem with sleeping arrangements." Ysgrig told his sister. Sarila and Marcurio looked puzzled until they realized that there was only one bed, and it was double-sized. "You guys can have the bed. I'll take the chair by the table." Marcurio offered.
"Are you sure you're alright with that?" Sarila asked with concern lacing her voice. Marcurio nodded. "I pretty much live on that bench in the Bee and Barb. The first couple nights I spent there, Keerava whacked me on the head with a broom for sleeping on the bench, but after a while, she just got used to it." Marcurio explained to Sarila and Ysgrig, who grinned in amusement.
"You both should rest up. I'll ask Corpulus if there's anyone named Gulum-Ei nearby. I'll call if I need you." Sarila informed Ysgrig and Marcurio as she walked out the door, shutting it quietly behind her. Marcurio made himself comfortable in the chair at the table and began to sip a bottle of Spiced Wine he'd found on the table, while Ysgrig eyed the books in the bookshelves curiously. Things seemed quiet in the room, until Ysgrig decided to break the silence.
"You fancy my sister?"
Marcurio was caught off guard and nearly spit out his wine. He swallowed the swig of wine he had just taken and cleared his throat. "What do you mean?" Marcurio asked with a smug grin on his face. Ysgrig scoffed. "You know exactly what I mean, Imperial." "No, I don't. I know nothing of the sort." Ysgrig gave an irritated sigh. Marcurio was clearly doing this to get a rise out of him. "Do you like my sister?" Marcurio chuckled. "Of course. Your sister has been a good friend to me in the time I've known her." He answered, taking another swig of wine. Ysgrig was about to continue pressing, but let out another irritated sigh before giving up altogether. Marcurio grinned even more when he took notice of this. Looks like Marcurio's won this round once more. Not only am I a master of the arcane arts, I'm a master of speechcraft, too.
Downstairs, Sarila approached the bar that Corpulus stood behind. He gave a warm smile to her. "How can I help you this evening?" "Would there be anyone named 'Gulum-Ei' around here?" Sarila questioned. Corpulus nodded and pointed over towards the windowsill. "Him. The Argonian in the orange tunic by the window. Bastard's been causing trouble for as long as I can remember." Corpulus murmured. Sarila nodded and thanked Corpulus before strolling over to Gulum-Ei, who sat by the window, drinking a bottle of alto wine.
Gulum-Ei managed to look away from his wine for a full second as he noticed Sarila approach him. He was stunned to see such a gorgeous specimen of woman coming to talk to him of all people. Perhaps, he thought, she was from the Thieves' Guild, here to question him about his 'assistance' with Goldenglow. Gulum-Ei almost snickered to himself before realizing Sarila was staring right at him. He cleared his throat and put his wine bottle on the small, oak table to his right. "So, what do we have here? Hmm. Let me guess. By your scent, I'd say you were from the Guild. But that can't be true, because I told Mercer I wouldn't deal with them anymore." Gulum-Ei snapped, and Sarila slightly backed away in surprise, but otherwise stood her ground.
"Perhaps you've misunderstood me. I'm here about Goldenglow Estate." Sarila reasoned, crossing her arms. Gulum-Ei shook his head and sighed. "I don't deal in land or property. Now, if you're looking for goods, you've come to the right person." He informed her, a hopeful gleam in his eye at the thought of smuggling more merchandise. Sarila was getting slightly frustrated. "No, I think I know exactly what you deal in…Gajul-Lei." A sly smile played across Sarila's lips when she earned a gawk of surprise from Gulum-Ei at the mention of his old alias.
Gulum-Ei immediately got a grip and recomposed himself. "Oh, wait…did you say Goldenglow Estate? My apologies." He gave a sheepish grin and awkwardly chuckled as Sarila narrowed her violet eyes at him. "I'm sorry to say I know very little about that…bee farm, was it?" Sarila's frustration only grew at the Argonian's words. He was continuing to toy with her, to test her gullibility. Sarila was no fool, however, and got straight to business. "You acted as a broker for its new owner." She plainly stated, trying not to clench her fists. "Maybe I did, maybe I didn't. I can't be expected to remember every deal I handle." Sarila finally grew desperate. "Please, just identify the buyer and we'll forget what we know." She reasoned. Gulum-Ei scratched his scaly chin for a moment before sighing. "All right. Had I known the deal would bring me this much trouble, I never would have accepted the gold."
Gulum-Ei inhaled deeply before speaking. "As far as Goldenglow Estate goes, I'll tell you what I know. I was approached by a woman who wanted me to act as the broker for something big. She flashed a bag of gold in my face and said all I had to do was pay Aringoth for the estate. I brought him the coin and walked away with her copy of the deed." Gulum-Ei explained. "Did she say why she was doing this?" Sarila inquired, her tone returning to normal. Gulum-Ei shook his head. "Not at all. I tend not to ask too many questions when I'm on the job. I'm sure you understand. However, I did notice she was quite angry and it was being directed at Mercer Frey." Something about Gulum-Ei's descriptions seemed off to Sarila. "That's it? No name or anything?" Sarila questioned. Gulum-Ei was, of course, prepared with an answer. "In this business we rarely deal in names; our identity comes from how much coin we carry." He reasoned.
"Gulum-Ei, I know you're lying to me. I can see it in your eyes and hear it in your voice. Besides, your descriptions sound…well, they sound rehearsed." Sarila bluntly stated. Gulum-Ei would have mustered up more confidence and spewed more lies to Sarila, but he knew there was no getting out of this. He couldn't look into Sarila's eyes; the guilt he felt for lying to her and putting her on the spot brought pain to his heart. Finally, his lips quivered, and he broke down. "It's Karliah! Her name is Karliah."
Sarila felt like there was something she was missing. "Who's Karliah?" She asked, her eyes softening. "Mercer never told you about her?" Gulum-Ei asked, astounded. "Karliah is the thief responsible for murdering the previous Guild Master, Gallus. Now she's after Mercer." He explained. "…So you're helping her?" "Help…? No, no! Look, I didn't even know it was her until after she contacted me. Please, you have to believe me!" Gulum-Ei pleaded, his voice desperate and his eyes wide with fear. Sarila placed a reassuring hand on the Argonian's shoulder, earning a slight shiver from Gulum-Ei. "It's alright, Gulum-Ei. I believe you. All I need to know is where Karliah is now. It'll be alright, Gulum-Ei." Sarila softly reassured him.
Gulum-Ei shuddered at her surprisingly pleasant touch. "I don't know. When I asked her where she was going, she just muttered 'Where the end began'." He mumbled. His eyes suddenly widened and he dug in his pockets, pulling out a slip of paper. "Here, take the Goldenglow Estate Deed as proof. And when you speak to Mercer, tell him I'm worth more to him alive." Gulum-Ei handed Sarila the paper, and she placed it in her pocket. "Oh, and, tell you what, if you need any stolen goods fenced, you bring them to me and I'll pay you good money for them. Consider me your new friend in the north." Gulum-Ei offered with a kind smile.
"Thank you, Gulum-Ei. I'll be sure to put in a good word for you with Mercer. And for the record, I believe you. It's going to be alright." Sarila smiled to her new friend as she walked back up to her room.
"How'd it go?" Marcurio asked, biting into a loaf of bread. "It was surprisingly easy. I just used my gilded tongue and let the lizard do the rest." Sarila replied, sitting in the chair across from Marcurio. "What're we going to do now?" Sarila thought for a moment. "We could probably spend a few days here. Solitude is a very beautiful city, and Ytri never brought me here before in our travels. I'm thinking we could maybe take a look around, go sightseeing, perhaps buy some spiced wine. Our possibilities are nearly endless." Sarila explained with a smile. "All that sounds nice and all, but for now, I'm going to get some sleep. I hardly slept at all last night, and the little 'dragon incident' earlier didn't really help." Ysgrig announced, climbing into the bed. "Oh, well, goodnight, Ysgrig." Sarila told her brother, who was already asleep by the time she'd finished her sentence.
"What about you?" Marcurio suddenly asked. "What about me?" "What are you going to do?" Sarila ran a hand through her hair and pursed her lips. "I'm going to go get some wine. I need a drink." She mumbled, already making her way down the stairs. Marcurio chuckled. "What is it with the Nords and their drinks?"