11th of First Seed 4E203
Mercer was tired. The past few days of preparing Kaiya for her mission to Solitude, planning what to do with the information once they got it, and tamping down his own anxiety about the whole situation was weighing on him. It was steadily approaching midnight and the Guildmaster still felt like he had a mountain of work in front of him. This mission to send Kaiya to Solitude had taken priority, rightfully so, but that didn't make the other items on his list lose their importance. He stretched his aching muscles as he stood by his desk in the cistern and listened to his stiff joints crack under the movement. He needed a break. The ledger would be there for him tomorrow.
As soon as he made the decision to call it a night, he felt the corners of his mouth curve into a smile. Kaiya would be coming over tonight before she left for Solitude in the morning. The past several weeks had been long, but it was his nights with Kaiya that made it worthwhile. No, they weren't getting much sleep, but he wasn't complaining about that. Just the thought of being able to spend the rest of his evening with her beneath him was reason enough to smile. Suddenly he felt like he couldn't get out of the cistern fast enough.
He made his way through the graveyard as he exited the cistern and headed towards the back entrance to his home. Although he rarely spent his nights at his house before, it seemed necessary now that he was spending more of his evenings with a woman. How could she let him know all the ways he was pleasing her if they had to be quiet? Distracted by his thoughts of his upcoming plans, he missed the signs he would normally have noticed that signaled he was not alone once he entered the yard behind Riftweald manor. The gate had not been closed all the way. Candlelight could be seen from the window of his bedroom on the second floor. Mercer went about his business as usual however, which is why he was so surprised when a voice greeted him as he entered his bedroom.
"Hello, Mercer."
He froze, immediately recognizing the voice. While it was a woman's, the voice did not belong to the woman he would have been happy to see in his chambers that night. He let his eyes narrow at her through the barely lit room once he spotted her. There she was, stretched out and laying on his bed as if in invitation.
"What do you want, Maven?" The words came out exasperated and tired, exactly how he felt. He was not in the mood to hide his aggravation at the intrusion.
"Is that how you greet me now, Guildmaster?" she asked as she moved to stand up from her perch on his bed. She sauntered over to him in what to other men may be a sultry, flirtatious walk, but to Mercer it was just grating.
He could not have stopped the heavy sigh that broke free from him if he had tried. His eyes shut and his fingers pinching the bridge of his nose in irritation, he answered her taunt. "I'm tired Maven. It's been a long day. I just want to go to bed."
"Is that so?" she asked, not deterred in the slightest. Her hands wandered up to rest on his shoulders, preparing to sense the reaction her next jab would have to his already tense body. "Is that what you would have told your little Breton whore if it had been her instead of me on your bed tonight?"
He tensed. Just as she expected.
"What are you talking about, Maven?" he groaned, acting the part of a frustrated and innocent man. Inside, his thoughts were screaming. He should have known it was only a matter of time before she figured out he and Kaiya had been spending their nights together. They had been so careful, so cautious, but with Maven, it was never cautious enough.
"It's endearing really, how you still try your act on me after all these years." Her lips pulled away from her teeth in the most menacing smile she could muster while still maintaining her calm. "Oh don't play coy with me, Mercer" she spoke with more aggression now, her hands slowly pushing back his shoulders until he was pressed against the wall. "You know nothing happens in this city without me knowing about it."
"Well Maven," he retorted, removing her hands from his shoulders with disgust. "If you continuously threaten your informants with bodily injury if they don't have information for you, sometimes they might make things up." He pulled himself away from her hold by the wall and made his way to the fireplace, sitting down in one of the chairs he had by the fire. "Maybe you should rethink your technique. It's getting tired."
She slowly followed Mercer to the fireplace, shooting him her predator smile once again as she took the chair opposite him. "Aw, are you lying to me for her now? And here I thought that maybe it was just about the sex."
"What is it that you want, Maven?" he groaned as his patience ran out. He let his head fall back to stare at the ceiling in a show of exasperation. "I grow weary of your games." He knew better than to try to argue with her if she didn't believe him. It was an exercise in futility at best, and dangerous at worst.
"Oh honey, when will you accept that I'm not playing games with you?" She reached over as she spoke, giving him a patronizing pat on the back of his hand. "You know you're merely a piece to be played in my games, not an opponent."
"Even more reason to cut to the fucking chase, you succubus."
"Fine." She stood at this, seeing no more reason to continue to play coy. "I know you're fucking her, Mercer but that's not why I'm here. I'm here because I still own you and it's time for me to collect my dues."
His head shot up at this, his eyes glaring at her with a look of pure hatred. "No."
"Oh please," she scoffed away his denial. "If I remember correctly, you are the one that made this deal with me, Mercer. Now you wish to pull out of it?" She laughed, rolling her eyes at his feeble attempt to defy her. "If that's the case then the whole deal's off. You don't have to give me my dues tonight and I will go and tell your guild what a bad boy you've been." She couldn't help the evil grin that took ahold of her features at this blackmail. She was so good at this. She turned to leave, giving Mercer no time to argue or debate her. Either he would let her go or she would get her way. There was no gray area.
"Maven, wait" he sighed as his head fell forward to rest in his hands. As much as he loathed what was about to take place, he knew he had no choice. He only hoped that Kaiya would be spared the knowledge of this for a little while longer. Until he could tell her himself. And he prayed that she would be able to forgive him when he did. "What do you want?"
"You know your end of the deal, Mercer" she claimed in triumph, turning from the door to face his defeated form. "Now do you need more foreplay or are you ready?"
"I hate you." He spat out under his breath, almost inaudibly.
"Oh I know you do, Mercer" she grinned, relishing his torment. "But you love what I can do for you. Now, be a good boy and take off those leathers. Oh and try to act like you like it this time."
Kaiya traversed through the side streets of Riften towards Riftweald manor. It was late, just barely past midnight, but there were always people milling about in the market square. It was this nature of the city that prevented her from being able to go and come as she pleased from the Guildmaster's home, forcing her to stick to the shadows and the darkened alleys as she walked. While most of the residents of Riften may not care that she was gleefully fucking the Guildmaster every night, her and Mercer both knew that a certain Imperial woman could do serious damage with that knowledge. So secret they would remain.
As she approached the gate at the back of Riftweald, she noticed the faint candlelight that could be seen from Mercer's bedroom window. She felt her heart thump in her chest at the thought that he was up there, waiting for her to arrive. It had finally happened. They were finally together, even if she wasn't exactly sure what being "together" entailed yet.
She had been so lost in thought about their relationship as she stood there, staring at the light emanating from his window, that the sight of a shadow from the bedroom surprised her. She was even more surprised however, when that shadow became two - both distinct and obviously human. Who did Mercer have in his bedroom?
She felt her heart speed up as her stomach plummeted, her mind racing to catch up with her emotions. It's probably nothing. It's probably just one of the mercenaries. Or two of the mercenaries! Maybe he isn't even in that room! Try as she might, she could not convince her pounding heart that there was no reason to panic.
She lifted her hand to knock on the door when suddenly, it opened. Before her stood Vald, one of Mercer's paid mercenaries that she had met a handful of times during her visits to the manor. Vald's ice blue eyes grew wide once he recognized her, yet he said nothing. They stood silent for a moment, just looking at each other. Kaiya prided herself on being intuitive and in that moment, her intuition was screaming at her. She knew that look. Lips pinched in and brows so subtly raised, the mercenary wore a look of pity.
Finally, he spoke. "Hey Kaiya, I'm sorry but Mercer has asked not to be disturbed." His eyes cast downward, unable to meet the hurt present on her face.
"Oh, okay then?" She responded meekly, her tone making the statement sound like a question. When Vald didn't immediately reply, her brows deepened with her confusion. This was unlike Vald, who was normally so casual and downright playful with her, to not tell her what was going on. To hold back.
"Vald, what's going on?" She felt as if she had the right to ask that, didn't she?
"I'm sorry, Kaiya" he said, shaking his head as if it pained him to say it. "I can't say. Sworn secrecy and all that."
Kaiya stood stunned for a moment, willing her chaotic thoughts to come together long enough to form a response. In the end, there was only one question she had left to ask. One question that was screaming inside her head, dying to get out. "A secret meeting, in his bedroom?"
She saw it. His wince. He winced at her question. It was barely there and she could tell he tried not to react, but he did. And she didn't miss it. That couldn't be good.
"I'm sorry." He shook his head again, his lips pinched together in the same pitying expression they did when he first opened the door. She had the urge to smack that look of pity off his face, but that wasn't fair. It wasn't Vald's fault. Don't kill the messenger, and all that.
She took a deep breath to steady her racing pulse, doing her best to keep her emotions in check. "Will you tell him that I came by?" she asked, trying to break the silence. Gods, this was awkward. She felt like a girl with a stupid crush, showing up at his house to give him a love note. "You know what?" she laughed humorlessly, shaking her head at her own stupidity. "He's obviously tied up with something more important. Don't bother."
At this she turned to leave, not wanting Vald to see the tears that threatened to spill over in her eyes. She quickly jogged down half the steps before he responded, calling out to her back.
"Kaiya! I'll tell him you were here. He had been expecting you."
She slowed her retreat, her mind jumbled with thoughts of what his response should mean to her. Turning her head to call out over her shoulder, she responded "well then he should do a better job of making sure his appointments don't overlap."
The mercenary said nothing more, turning instead to slowly retreat back into the manor. Kaiya picked up her speed, escaping as fast as she could back to her home on the other side of the city. As she ran, her eyes stung with the tears of disappointment. She could not shake the feeling that whatever was taking place in Mercer's bedroom was something that was not as innocent as a business venture.
As she stormed into her house, she slammed the door behind her and leaned against it, thankful that she was finally alone to ponder her next move. She and Mercer had never discussed their relationship at all really, much less if it was exclusive or not. Was it fair of her to be angry? A small part of her wanted to listen to the hopeful side of her reasoning, the voice that told her that maybe it was nothing. Maybe it was business. Maybe it was a family member. But try as she might, her intuition could not be quieted so easily. She knew that whatever it was taking place in his bedroom that night was something that would hurt her. The only thing she had left to decide was whether or not she wanted to find out what it was.