Author's Note:

So here we are, one hundred chapters.

I bet you're all expecting something amazing right? Well… no such luck, sorry :D It just didn't work out that way and I'm not disrupting the story structure for a number ;)

So here's a fairly standard set-up chapter, but it does kick off a longer and hopefully exciting plotline.

In any case, since we have reached this number, a little progress update might be in order for those interested ;) Currently I am steadily working on Northbound Pilgrimage II, with over 30 chapters finished (yes, it does mean that I have over 80 more chapters in stock for now, and yes, I am insane). I am also partly working on re-editing the first book all the way from the first chapter. Don't worry, there are absolutely no plot changes so there is no need to re-read anything to follow the further chapters. I only fix up the wording, stylistics, typos and all that jazz, so in case you are that bored and actually consider re-reading, if you want, you can wait a bit longer before I finish up with that. There might be some additional lines of introspection and such if you do ;) (but again, like I said, nothing extremely plot-relevant).

Sorry about the blathering, but one more thing (one that you have heard countless times before, but it needs to be said). I am so grateful for all my readers. You brighten my days, give me courage to post more and spur me to write on and on. Thank you for every kind word, every like and vote and every single number on the reader counts. I love you all.

Now, enough of this mushy crap :D

Enjoy the chapter and the fifty more to come in this book ;)

Chapter C – Bait and Switch

"I just don't get why she called you for it. It's not like it's a dragon."

Bishop grumbled morosely as they walked towards the Blue Palace.

Aeyrin noticed that he got nervous when they were passing by Castle Dour, but he kept up his composure and didn't mention anything. After all, he was the one who didn't want to drag the paladins into any of this. He was worried that they may accidentally run into Casavir on their way to the Palace and he suspected that their association with him would intrigue Mercer even more for some reason.

She didn't understand why. Why would the Guild be interested in a paladin Order?

It all seemed to be oddly connected – Bishop's mutiny at the Guild, his brother's death, Casavir and Elisie…

She wished that he would talk to her about all this.

But those things could not be forced. She knew herself that she wasn't anywhere near ready to talk about the most painful experiences of her life. She's been thinking about those a lot in the last two days. She wondered why. What happened to make those memories resurface so suddenly?

"I mean for fuck's sake doesn't she have the whole Legion on her beck and call or some shit?" he continued his complaining diligently.

"I don't think the Legion has the time to deal with this. See… there's this little war going on…" Aeyrin smirked at him while trying her best to appear casual. She tried so hard not to constantly look around conspicuously. She just knew she was bad at pretending, but she had to do her best.

It wasn't even pretending, in fact.

Raven's idea was rather simple, but still cunning. He suggested that they enter Solitude and come up with a reason for their visit, thus making any association with the warehouse unlikely. They would have to believably convince Rune of their complete lack of knowledge on the whole operation while he followed them around the city.

Then there was the real bait. Gulum-Ei, convinced that Rune's attention was diverted by the two of them, would take the opportunity to raid his stash of goods to finally transport them to the smuggler caverns and end his compromised operation in Solitude for good.

Raven was sure that Rune would notice him. And after being confident that Aeyrin and Bishop's presence had nothing to do with the Guild, he would leave them to their business and follow Gulum-Ei instead. The Argonian would lead him right into the cavern where Karliah would try to talk to him.

It was a good plan – it left them with no culpability, just like Bishop demanded, and it was believable that Gulum-Ei would use their diversion of Rune's attention to his advantage. They couldn't have Rune suspecting that he was being led into the warehouse deliberately – they needed him calm and confident. If, for whatever reason, he thought that he was walking into a trap, he could take some precautions and alert Mercer. That was why Gulum-Ei couldn't simply act without their diversion at first. It was too obvious and Aeyrin and Bishop were the only ones who could actually capture Rune's attention so much that he would abandon his investigation for a time.

It was simple and subtle and it covered all their bases. After all, they still didn't know just how much Rune knew about all this. They didn't even know if he knew of Gulum-Ei's betrayal. So they needed to do everything they could to ensure that he does not get suspicious and decides to alert Mercer to the strange happenings. They were going in blind, so they needed to be meticulous.

Thus this whole theater play came to be, all to make Rune think he had the upper hand.

The only thing they needed was some credible business in Solitude.

Aeyrin mentioned that they could visit Casavir and the paladins, but Bishop was convinced that it would only make Rune more paranoid about their intentions.

Either Aeyrin was right about everything being strangely connected, or it was just an excuse to avoid the man that he hated.

Nevertheless, Karliah remembered some recent news from the Blue Palace. Apparently, there's been some trouble regarding the village of Dragon Bridge and, with the army preoccupied, Queen Elisif sent out a call for help for any volunteers.

They came up with a scenario where the Queen sent a personal letter to Aeyrin, asking for assistance in the matter when her men couldn't. It was simple, and they could take this as far as it was necessary. They could even help out with the problems in the village, while they were at it.

Now they only needed to convince Rune that this wasn't all a large ruse.

They continued on their way towards the Palace. They were already nearing the garden where Gulum-Ei stored his goods in one of the abandoned sheds.

"And why won't she even say what 'trouble' there is? It's gonna be something insanely dangerous and not worth the trouble, just you wait, princess," Bishop continued yet again.

"How about instead of constantly complaining, you actually wait and see what she has to say?" Aeyrin sighed in exasperation. This was actually starting to get rather annoying. He was a good actor. It made it easy to follow with her own retorts. Also… he might have meant it, to an extent. If it weren't for the necessary ruse, he would hardly be excited about answering a vague call to arms. He would be just as wary and suspicious as he was pretending to be now.

"Pfft… yeah, yeah… I still think it's possible that she just wants to get rid of you. Ulfric does, why shouldn't she?" he scoffed. The more they talked about the war and other concerns, the more likely it was that Rune would lose interest.

Bishop could hear the rushing feet behind him when they were a safe distance from the garden. Karnwyr briefly turned his head back, but he ignored the sound further.

That was definitely Gulum-Ei. It was just subtle enough to be believable and just noticeable enough to catch Rune's attention. Bishop knew that they were being watched the entire time.

Things were going well so far.

Now only to keep up the ruse, just in case…

…

"All I am saying, my Queen, is that if we send an entire unit into the cave, we are leaving our countryside exposed to dragon attacks."

A man in fancy colorful garb sighed regretfully. He stood in front of Queen Elisif, shaking his head at her with a somber expression.

The woman herself reclined on a beautifully decorated throne made of carved stone with gilded ornaments and red cushioning. She wore an elegant red dress and tons of expensive-looking jewels all over her. A delicate gold-ruby crown decorated her head.

She looked like the epitome of Imperial royalty and the banners with the symbol of the Imperial dragon on each side of her throne only accentuated the whole impression.

"I understand that, Falk. But there must be something that we can do! Did you speak with Sir Casavir?" Elisif threw the man a look both hopeful and exhausted at the same time.

"My Queen, the paladins have been dealing with a persistent cabal of vampires near the city for several weeks now with no end in sight. They regretfully cannot provide assistance now. Not for… rumors," the man whom she called Falk frowned at her, but she didn't seem to be listening to him any longer since she spotted the visitors approach her throne.

"Lady Aeyrin!" Elisif stood up from her throne abruptly, her light blue eyes beamed with hope. "I am so glad to see you back in the city. Is it too much to hope for that you've heard of the trouble in Dragon Bridge and are here to assist?"

The Queen still called her by her name! Aeyrin didn't know why it made her so excited, but it did.

"That's exactly why we're here, your majesty," Aeyrin smiled at her, a little amused by her excitement.

Elisif fell back into her throne uncharacteristically gracelessly. The relief became palpable in her every movement and every expression. "Thank the Eight for that! And thank you, both of you," she smiled kindly at Bishop in greeting. "You must be lady Aeyrin's companion. It is a pleasure."

Bishop merely nodded at her in acknowledgement. He looked oddly uncomfortable and his eyes occasionally darted towards one guardsman in the room or the other. Perhaps he was too used to anyone in power in Skyrim being an insane power-hungry dictator.

"Now, please, let us discuss Dragon Bridge," Elisif's face turned serious again. "The problem is that the reports we've received are, for now, mere rumors. A representative of the village came to me some time ago, bringing news that his citizens have noticed some suspicious activity in the nearby forest. Apparently they've spotted large numbers of… witches. Now, a cabal of witches is not often something which would put my citizens in danger, but what concerns me, are the reports that some of the witches were overheard talking of… summoning Potema," Elisif's brows creased in worry.

"Potema?" Aeyrin raised her brows at her. Potema… as in the insane queen of Solitude?

"Yes. The Wolf Queen. I am uncertain whether this is possible. What I am certain of is that, if it indeed is, the spirit they would summon would be… highly unstable and dangerous. In whatever form they conjured it…" Elisif sighed again and shook her head incredulously.

"They're just rumors. Likely unfounded. But if someone would be willing to investigate the woods near Dragon Bridge and locate the cabal, they would be well compensated," Falk nodded at them after a minute of silence.

"We can do that…" Aeyrin smiled at Elisif, earning a grateful nod in return.

"Thank you. Really. It has been weighing heavily on my mind. If we neglected looking into this and the rumors turned out to be true… I don't even want to think about that…"

…

They headed down towards the docks instead of following the road to Dragon Bridge

They were certain that Rune's interest in them was no longer an issue – Gulum-Ei must have gotten his attention and their pretend talk about being summoned to the Palace must have deterred him from thinking that they had anything to do with the Guild's botched smuggling operations.

And so, before they went searching through the forests, they needed to make sure that everything went smoothly at the warehouse.

One of Karliah's men was waiting for them by the entrance to the EEC warehouse and they repeated the exact same routine they did with Karliah – he pretended he was an employee that was showing some clients their goods. It didn't take long before the coast was clear and they made their way back into the smuggler's cavern, weaving through the complex passages until the man led them onto a high platform, overlooking several familiar figures. There was a circle of men, Karliah's smugglers along with Gulum-Ei while Karliah and Rune faced each other in the middle of it. Only Raven was nowhere to be seen.

Aeyrin and Bishop both crouched down as much as they could, making sure that Rune could not see them up there, as they listened to the conversation intently.

"I don't see why I should believe any of this. For all I know, you're the one who's lying!" Rune scoffed at Karliah derisively.

"Aye. You do not have to believe me, Rune. But think of the risks. If you ignore our warnings and they prove to be right, just how far will Mercer get? What other schemes will he pull, how much more will he hurt the Guild?" Karliah's soft voice echoed through the cavern and her reasoning was left unanswered by the man.

He seemed to be considering her words.

"Is there any harm to see? All you need to do to make sure, is ask Brynjolf and Delvin to open the vault. You will all be able to see whether I am lying then," she continued to convince him, calm and composed. There was no plea in her voice, only reason.

"And in the meantime, I let you escape me here, right?" Rune scoffed again.

A snicker escaped Gulum-Ei's mouth at those words.

"Rune, you are surrounded by my men. How exactly were you planning to attack or capture me? I offer to let you leave here, unscathed, only armed with information about Mercer's treachery. It is up to you what you do afterwards…" Karliah's voice was filled with a measure of resignation. Was it an act, or did she worry that Rune might just come back with more men? She did reveal the secret location of her hideout to him after all. It seemed risky.

"This shit ends badly… You weren't around for…"

"I know what happened, Rune. But look at what you are doing! You refuse to even see for yourself if Mercer stole from the Guild, all out of fear. That isn't loyalty, Rune. It's intimidation, it's dictatorship! Look at what he does to those who resist him. How bad will all of you let this get before you decide it's too much?" her cold reasonable voice turned determined and passionate as her hatred for Frey seeped through her words.

There was silence.

"Just talk to them, Rune. They'll know how to check the vault without Mercer finding out."

Bishop and Aeyrin could almost see her kind, reassuring smile.

"What happens if you're right? Aside from the slaughter within the Guild? What happens when his network crumbles? What about Sapphire and Thrynn? And if the money's gone… how exactly would we be able to pick the Guild up again without the reserves and the associates?" Rune growled from behind his gritted teeth.

"Slowly, Rune. There is no reason to escalate things yet. Talk to Brynjolf and Delvin. Perhaps they'd be willing to establish contact with me. Without Mercer knowing, of course. If we do this right, we can prevent casualties and any unpleasantness. Thorn's clans will have to be dealt with to protect the refugees and some ties will have to be broken to deal with the unsavory businesses that the members are fed up with. But other than that… many associates will want to stay in business with the Guild. It is a profitable endeavor after all. Especially since my own network is not without its means and merits."

Aeyrin noticed Bishop flinch and prick up his ears suddenly with an intense look in his eyes. He seemed both alarmed and eager at Karliah's recounting of her plan.

"This is so fucking risky… If the word gets out… if some of his lapdogs find out about this…" Rune shook his head. There was palpable conflict and despair in his voice, it even seemed to crack occasionally.

"Aye. It will be bloody. That is why you need to be very careful, Rune. I have no desire to risk the Guild members' lives. And I have no desire to take the Guild down. It is still my home after all, even if it was taken from me, along with Gallus. I only wish to make things right. And you can help with that."

There was another moment of long silence.

Rune seemed to be seriously considering Karliah's words.

"This is on you. If anything goes wrong, if he has half the Guild slaughtered or sent to the bandits, this is on you," Rune's voice trembled slightly in fear. He was obviously at a loss at what else to do.

"Aye, Rune. It is on me. You are making the right decision, you are protecting your friends. I am the one risking their lives."

Silence again. This time it seemed to go on for a very long time.

Rune disappeared from their sight as he weaved his way through the circle of men surrounding him. Then there was the sound of heavy purposeful feet, gradually quieter and quieter as Rune walked towards the exit of the cavern.

"Rune… how much does he know? About Gulum-Ei?" Karliah called out to him before he could leave.

"Nothing… I came to investigate what happened to Jaree-Ra's haul. Why there was no cut. I got caught up following… someone… then I saw your lizard sneaking to his stash suspiciously, so I followed." Rune scoffed.

The plan worked. He didn't know that Bishop and Aeyrin were involved and he followed the Argonian without alerting anyone or calling for backup.

Good.

"Jaree-Ra tried to keep the haul to himself. But you luckily convinced him of just how bad of an idea that would be. Gulum-Ei will take you to exit and explain everything. He'll make sure you get Mercer's cut. Don't worry, Jaree-Ra will answer any future letters from Mercer – I have that covered. And for now, if any of the members need to communicate with Jaree-Ra's gang directly, Gulum-Ei will act as the contact, just like he always has. Eventually Mercer will find out, of course, but this way, it will leave you out of the issue entirely."

And it will allow her some profits from Mercer's tips, no doubt. Karliah seemed to have thought of everything.

Rune didn't answer further and again they only heard the echo of his footsteps before he disappeared.

…

"That went better than I thought."

Karliah smirked after she met up with the two of them in the small alcove with the large table again. Raven appeared there only a second later.

"Now you just pray he keeps it subtle. Rune's right, you know? If Frey gets even a hint of what you're doing…" Bishop scowled at her.

"Aye. I am well aware of how erratic he can be. That is why, in the meantime, we should move on with our side of things. You may have overheard me mention dealing with…" Karliah was suddenly sharply interrupted by Raven's tug on her arm. His brows were creased and he shook his head at her frantically.

"What is it Raven?"

He started to scribble something on a small piece of parchment again and he handed it to Karliah. He seemed to be glancing at Bishop occasionally as he did that.

Karliah frowned while she read the note, giving him an uncertain look.

"I merely thought… not an attack… just to find the…" again she was interrupted quickly as Raven shook his head with a determined expression on his face.

"Very well… what about Tilmuril?" she gave Raven a questioning look upon which he only shrugged his shoulders.

Tilmuril? That name was familiar… where has Aeyrin heard it before?

"We were hoping to undermine Mercer's most profitable endeavor. It's… a grey area. The Guild has been dealing with people like Tilmuril for ages but… that man… he's taking his business to a whole new level. He doesn't just cater to his clientele, he actively creates it. Forcibly at times, from what we've heard. There's even rumors of him lacing public sources of water with his goods to slowly and subtly create more addicts." she sighed, shaking her head.

Oh… Tilmuril! Now Aeyrin remembered! It was that Altmer skooma dealer!

And what did she just say about public sources of water?! Was that even possible?! That was horrifying! And now she wouldn't be able to drink from them without thinking about that and she'd only have to collect water from the wilderness!

"Where is his operation?! We'll deal with it!" Aeyrin exclaimed overeagerly, eliciting a knowing snort from Bishop. That Altmer needed to die.

"Hold on. First of all… we don't know. Second of all… it might be more dangerous than you'd think. But the point remains. Skooma operations are usually hidden away in the wilderness to ensure privacy. That means caverns, ruins, dungeons… generally things in your area of expertise. We will gather information on his hideout and once we have something, we'd be glad if we could count on your help," Karliah gave them a demure smile.

"Of course! Let us know the second you find out!" Aeyrin couldn't hide her eagerness and contempt for that man. Bishop again reacted with a slight chuckle.

And if the hideout was in the wilderness, there was a high chance of Mercer never finding out that it was them who wiped the scum out, which seemed to concern Bishop. It was the perfect mission for the both of them.

"Aye… we will. Thank you again for today. I am so glad everything went smoothly," Karliah smiled once more and nodded at them gratefully.

Before they headed towards the cavern's exit, Bishop patted Raven on the back somewhat subtly and with a surprisingly grateful expression.

That was an oddly friendly exchange, considering their strained relationship.

Aeyrin wondered what it was about.