Chapter LXVII – The Chosen

She perched atop the city wall, hidden by the golden leaves of the nearby trees.

Sun behind back, the man below couldn't see her even if he knew where to look. Only a couple more minutes. He was like clockwork. He couldn't take it for long before he needed another drink. She had him watched for days – he always left at the same times, thrice a day.

Only a couple more minutes before he left the garden.

That was where Sibbi's body was found. It almost seemed unbelievable.

Why would Mercer bury the evidence in his own backyard? Did he get sloppy? Was he in a rush? In panic? Or did he want to send a message? So risky, so short-sighted. But that was Mercer. Revenge was everything to him. She'd seen it firsthand – what he was capable of.

It only worked in her favor now. Reckless people slipped up sooner or later.

It was all within reach again, her old life, the favor she had lost. Everything would be right again.

But first, she needed to take care of this.

The man in the garden let out a sigh before he looked around himself conspicuously. Only a few seconds later, he started to make his way out of the gate and into the streets of Riften.

Fool. How has he not gotten punished yet for leaving his post? Was Mercer's authority in the city really waning?

There was not much time to ponder this. She needed to act. Only a few more seconds before the man disappeared behind the corner – her moment.

She jumped down from the wall deftly and snuck into the garden on swift feet. The man didn't even lock the gate behind him. How droll. But she knew that worse counter-measures awaited her inside.

One, two, three steps westward. The perfect spot. She reached down to her belt and unfastened the readied grappling hook with a rope fastened to it. Roof was the only access point. The blueprints had confirmed it.

She quickly looked around for good measure, but she knew that it was safe. It was not even midday yet – bright and early. But you don't steal from a thief at night. They expect it. They are prepared for it.

But a Nightingale can find a shadow in the brightest of rooms.

She swung the hook without delay and it lodged itself perfectly right behind the wooden beam lining the roof. Just as she had calculated. And with no one around the back gardens, there was no better time to seize the opportunity and climb up.

It didn't take her long at all to make it up on the roof. She quickly dislodged the grappling hook and pricked up her ears. She could hear the noise coming from the west – from around the marketplace. Almost noontime, everyone was there. For a meal, for a drink, for company. Oh how she missed it, walking the merry streets, hand in hand with Gallus. He loved Riften and he showed her all its beauties.

Mercer would pay for taking him from her.

Soon.

She crept across the roof towards the chimney. Careful. No missteps. Any of the roof tiles could come loose, but she knew how to keep her step light. And she had luck on her side, for now.

She would make sure that it did not run out.

The chimney was already in reach, but before she would enter it as stealthily as possible, she hid behind it and crouched down. Nobody could see her there. It was just for a second. She closed her eyes and let out a deep sigh of concentration.

Phase one hundred and thirteen. Check. Night Mistress, may my hands be deft and my feet swift. May I walk with shadows and never be seen. Empress of Murk, shroud me in darkness.

Karliah gripped the grappling hook in her hand once more with a determined nod. It was time. Mercer was definitely at the cistern right now and the coast was clear. She needed to get inside the mansion quickly.

She lodged the hook on the chimney and swiftly tied the rope around her waist. She checked the sole of her leather boot once more, kicking against the chimney, just hard enough to make sure that the muffling enchantment worked. There was no reason for it not to, but she knew all too well that she needed to double-check everything. She had learned that the hard way when her old friend Mayaal died. If only she had checked the rope twice back then, it would have all been different.

Bad judgment.

Or bad luck?

She was so sure that it was her fault. So convinced that she had lost Mayaal because of her own negligence. But there was always more to it. It was inevitable that she eventually noticed the pattern. A misstep here, a broken lockpick there. Slip-ups, patrol route divergences – her small band of thieves, her dearest friends, they encountered it all. And one by one, they were lost.

Ineptitude? Negligence? Not enough planning? She blamed it all.

She still remembered the day when she had lost her last friend as if it were yesterday. Sings-With-Shadows. They were the last two standing after a series of mishaps and accidents. All of which Karliah blamed herself for. This time, she did everything right. Everything. Her plan was impeccable. It was thought out to every little detail. It was perfect, fool-proof.

It was… her greatest failure.

Sings was the most talented and careful thief that Karliah had ever known. She was her dearest and oldest friend. Their plan was going to work, there was no doubt about it. It was going to be the heist for the ages. One of the most secure treasuries of House Redoran. They were to get in and out, unseen, unheard, without a trace. With how meticulously she had planned this, it was almost going to be easy.

And it was. Everything went just right. Everything went according to the plan.

Until an ash storm drove the Redoran patrols from the outside areas into the building. The plan was suddenly useless and the hurdles were insurmountable. They agreed to retreat, leave the heist to another day. The plan was still usable after all. But there were too many of them and Sings got discovered during their retreat.

They killed her on the spot.

The risk was too great. There was no sure way out. Karliah couldn't just stake her life on chance. It would have been too reckless. She had already lost her dear Sings that day. The last person in her life.

Instead of a retreat, she opted to hide. There was a small library in the building, full of Redoran records and old books. It had many hiding places and, as jarring as it would be to be stuck there until the storm passed, when all she wanted to do was to disappear into the dark alleys of Blacklight, alone, to wallow in her sorrow, it was still her best option for survival.

And in the end, her hiding place in the small and barely-guarded library had really saved her life. In more ways than one.

There, when she passed the hours by snatching obscure and forbidden books from the shelves, trying to distract herself from seeing Sing's face in front of her constantly, there she found out what went wrong. She found the one thing that got every single person that she had ever cared about killed. She found the one thing that had always been missing from her plans.

Lady Luck.

Karliah checked the rope around her waist once more before she began her descent down the chimney into Mercer's mansion. She held on to the rope tightly while her feet supported her against the inside walls. It was important to do this just right – the right timing, the right pace. She knew about the trap down the chute, she was prepared. That was the key. Perfect preparation and luck on her side. She was fortunate that she still had that. One more mistake, one more disappointment, and she would feel the Mistress's wrath once more.

Never again.

She was almost down in the smoke chamber now and she could already feel the heat reaching her. Not that she minded. She merely drew her mask over her mouth and nose to keep out the ash. She knew that that was enough for her to make her withstand the heat and the smoke without alerting anyone to her presence. She was a Dunmer after all. She may have been raised in Skyrim, but her years on the streets of Blacklight were experience enough. Smoke, ash and fire felt like her youth all over again. They did not feel like home though. Only one thing, one place, had ever felt like home to her. That small room with an enormous bed and safes full of secrets. That small room that Mercer now claimed as his own.

He would pay for all of that.

If that room could not belong to Gallus anymore, it would belong to her. Nobody else had the right to the only place where she had found real happiness after she had lost everything. And it was all thanks to her. The Night Mistress.

When Karliah had learned about her in that small library, suddenly everything made so much sense. She remembered her mother's skills, honed and perfected, but there was always something more. Something that Karliah had always lacked. And when she read about Nocturnal, about her favor, about the secret order of the Nightingales, she understood. She knew what needed to be done.

She would never lose anyone she cared about ever again.

Karliah waited with bated breath in the chimney's smoke chamber with her mask over her face. There was a mechanism there, right above the firebox. The trigger was on the ground in the nearby hallway. Whenever the patrolling guard would pass through, he would spring the mechanism, impaling anyone trying to get inside through the chimney.

It was clever. And such an unpredictable trigger was always a challenge, but it was nothing that she hadn't dealt with before. And she had precision that Mercer would never be ready for.

It took only one more minute before she heard the faint sound of a moving tile and, right after, there was a clanking noise below her feet and several spikes sprung from the barely visible holes in the flue. Only a few more seconds and they retracted again and she could continue. This time, she needed to be quick.

She let go of the rope and dropped down into the firepit. She instantly jumped out of the way, into the small room with the fireplace. The flames barely managed to graze her with her speed, and the quicksilver weaving in her armor ensured that it did not catch the flames easily. She was safe, if a little heated.

Thank you, Mistress.

The room was empty, but she knew that she only had a few moments before one of the guards made their appearance. She still had to traverse three rooms and get inside the basement. Then the real challenge would begin. But she was ready. She had been ready for years. Ready for anything.

Everything changed for her when she left Blacklight and traveled back to Skyrim. Her mother had taught her all she needed to make a living as a rogue in Skyrim, but she had always talked about something more. Some… higher purpose. Karliah had been brushed off with the excuses of youth, fed promises of learning more when she would be older. Her mother never lived to keep that promise. But after Karliah learned of Nocturnal, she understood. She recognized so many of her mother's teachings.

This was her calling. Her purpose.

She needed to return to her roots and find out whatever she could about her mother's life. About her faith.

It took her years to find every single obscure hint about the existence of Nightingales. It took even longer to find out the location of the Nightingale Hall. But she made it. She found the place where her mother and her fellow Nightingales used to meet. She found the place to summon Nocturnal.

She was promised so much. She was promised that her plans would never fail on coincidence ever again. She was promised power, skill, beyond any thief she knew. She was promised protection and purpose. All she had to do was to serve. All she had to do was to protect the Key and find those who would follow alongside her. Those two chosen ones who would help restore the Trinity. And the others, who would be able to join them in the Ebonmere forevermore. All of them. Together. Forever. Safe. With luck on their side. It was no price to pay. It was just another reward.

She would have a family again. She wouldn't need to be alone. She would never lose anyone again.

And she knew just where to look for these people.

Karliah quickly transferred the room and jumped over the threshold into the hallway. Interesting, the tripwire in the door arch was barely visible at all. If she hadn't known about it, she might have just triggered the trap. It was quite surprising that none of the patrolling guards had ever tripped it by accident.

But the blueprints that Bishop had gotten her and the following insight by Maven ensured Karliah's triumph today. She just needed to stick to the plan. Her luck would hold. The last thing that the Mistress would want now was Karliah's failure. She had a stake in this too. Granted, Karliah could never rely on that too much. Ineptitude and negligence were never rewarded. She knew that all too well.

She'd been punished enough for her mistake.

Another creak of the floorboards echoed from around the corner and Karliah quickly opted to hide behind the nearby large shelves rack. It was a shadowy spot, perfect for her. Even if the guard passed right by her, he wouldn't notice.

She waited. She knew their agreed-upon routes perfectly, but people were unfortunately more unpredictable than that. A few years ago, she knew that moments like these would be her downfall. Something would always go wrong, some misfortune, something unexpected. But not now. Not when Nocturnal herself needed her to succeed. It took ages to get back to this point after her failure. It took ages until the Mistress's wrath finally waned. Karliah was punished, in the most horrible way possible, but it wasn't enough. She had to scrape by, build herself up from nothing without any favors, any luck. She had to build her network all the way from the ground up until Nocturnal finally trusted her again to get the job done and to get the Key back. If Karliah failed now, she didn't even want to imagine the price that she would have to pay.

But was there even anything more that could have been taken from her? Everything that had ever mattered to her had been stolen already.

She could hear the footsteps approaching, and a second later, they stilled, very near her. The guard stopped by the shelves, with a bored sigh escaping his lips, before he turned back again and began walking in the other direction, back to where he had come from.

Perfect. All according to plan. A few more moments and she could slip into the other room unnoticed. From there, getting to the basement would be relatively easy. While the rest of the house had a second story above the rooms, the ones that she would find herself in now had high ceilings with spacious wooden beams. She would be able to traverse them easily until she got to the stairs leading down into the basement.

Easy.

When she knew that the time was right and she could hear the footsteps echo softly all the way from the second hallway, past the next room, she dashed forward. Right now, the next room should be empty. The guards were always on the move throughout the day, fortunately. Stationary ones were always harder to work around.

She reached the next room in no time and her eyes instantly darted towards the cupboard by the nearby wall – her perfect access point up on the beams. Maybe if Mercer thought more about being practical than appearing opulent and grandiose, he would have realized just how easy he made it for someone like her. But the whole room was instead filled with furniture, hardly of any use for a mansion for one person. It was all there just for show.

She quickly climbed up onto the polished cupboard made out of dark wood, decorated with golden handles and ornaments. She only looked around quickly before she finally hoisted herself up on the closest beam. It was a bit of a struggle, as it was a little higher than it originally looked, but it didn't take her too long to make it up there and situate herself firmly up above the ground level. No one would notice her now.

Karliah walked slowly and carefully across the beams, wary of any creaks or crackles of the wood. She traversed the rooms below, watching the guards walk their patrols lazily. Her eyes caught more than one item that would be so easy to steal and quite valuable, but she had to leave them behind. No mistakes. No stupid risks. The Mistress would not appreciate her getting over-confident and greedy when her eyes were set on a bigger prize.

Finally she made it all the way there, into the room that led down in the basement. Nobody would be there – it was too dangerous even for the guards. And Mercer would not divulge all of the information about his traps to all his guards – that would have been reckless. She would be all alone there, but that did not mean that she would be safe. The basement was deadly.

When the room cleared and the patrols were far from sight, she dropped down from the beams and slipped inside the basement, practically jumping over the stairs.

A strong smell of dampness assaulted her in an instant. It was to be expected in Riften anywhere underground. But that smell carried a lot of memories.

She still remembered it – her first day. When she was brought into the Ragged Flagon. She did everything she could to get noticed by the right people in Riften and it did not take long before someone approached her on the streets and invited her into the Ratway.

She was going to find friends again, she was going to be part of something. She was going to find people who had been through as much hardship as she had been through and she would show them that there was a solution to their problems. She was going to show them the glory that they could achieve with just a little bit of luck. They would rule the underworld with no effort. If they were powerful and influential now, she could barely even dream of what it would be like when they were all blessed with the Mistress's favor.

She knew that she needed to be careful though. People in Skyrim were not as tolerant of Daedra as the Dunmer. She needed to befriend them and gain their trust. Well… she didn't need to. She wanted to. She wanted a family again.

But she didn't get to do any of that. She didn't even remember most of the people from back then. Because there was one person who managed to steal all her focus, all her attention. When she looked at him, she could not even see anyone else in the room.

Oh Gallus. How she missed him. She could still remember so vividly the feeling of his fingers running along her spine. The feel of his lips right below her ear. The feel of his chiseled jaw under her hands. It seemed like the pain would never go away, no matter how many years had passed. He caught her eye in an instant. Handsome, charming, clever, cunning. He seemed to have everyone wrapped around his finger, and soon she was too. She felt so foolish at times, to let herself get lost in him, but something that felt so right could never be foolish, could it? Just then, she knew that she had found the one. She wanted to share everything with him. He was so impressive, even without Nocturnal's favor. He was the most brilliant thief that she had ever met. He had friends and contacts everywhere, he had the world at his feet. But even he wasn't immune to misfortune. She could see the strain on him, whenever the news of one of the Guild members being arrested or killed arrived. She could see the frustration on him when a job did not go exactly according to plans.

And the best thing was, she could help him. She could make both their lives perfect. Gallus would never have to worry again and she would never have to fear losing someone that she loved so much, like she had lost all the others that she had ever cared about.

He was the one, and he was the chosen one. He was perfect. The Trinity could never get a better man to their midst.

The closer they got to each other, the more she revealed. He chuckled at her at first – it was a silly notion, luck was random after all, but Karliah knew him well. She knew that his inquisitive mind would not let him dismiss her. He was intrigued.

Everything was going to be perfect. Gallus had everyone's trust, everyone's loyalty. Once he would join her, once he would understand, he would approach the others. Nocturnal would be pleased and her favor would always keep them alive and rich.

But there was still one thing missing. The last chosen for the Trinity.

Karliah took a deep breath as she looked into the narrow hallway in front of her. Every nook in between the stones lining the walls was a danger, but there was no other way to go forth.

Phase one hundred and fourteen. Check. Thank you, Night Mistress. I will not fail you.

She stepped towards the long hallway and scanned the walls. It was very dark, but that was not an obstacle for her. Her hand darted towards her belt and she quickly picked one of the small vials there. A night eye potion. Enthir was very helpful with the things he had sent her from the College. If it weren't for him, she would not be nearly as prepared as she was.

After she downed the potion, her vision started to warp into a familiar blue hue. It was much easier to see the details of her surroundings now. Her eyes turned back towards the wall in an instant and she began scanning it for small holes. They were almost all over the place, and the same was true on the other side. She knew the correct floor stones to step on, but she needed to be sure. She needed to take every precaution. No mistakes. Even if she was sure about the floor, she still needed to stay in the proper positions to avoid the poisoned darts that would shoot out with every misstep. And she had several antidotes in stock to boot, just in case.

When she finally determined the right positions to get herself in, she took a step forward. The stone beneath her foot did not move. Good. The hallway was long and it would take quite some time to traverse it like this, but she needed to be patient and focused.

No mistakes.

Everything was at stake here. She needed to make things right. She needed to end Mercer for what he'd done and return the Key. Then maybe Nocturnal would let her use her blessings again. And more importantly, Karliah would finally redeem herself. She wouldn't have to worry about taking too long to return the Key, she wouldn't have to worry about her Mistress running out of patience. All would be right again once Mercer was dealt with. She just had to make sure that the rest of the Guild would not kill her for it in turn. And she still needed them. There was much to be done yet.

She slowly traversed the hallway. Once, she misstepped. Foolish mistake born out of negligence, but that was exactly why she took precautions. Several darts whizzed past her rapidly, but none of them hit. The strange contorted positions that she had been finding herself in suddenly seemed very worth it.

When she finally got past the hallway, she let out a sigh of relief. She uttered another silent prayer of gratitude to Nocturnal before she swiftly moved onwards. There was no time to lose. She couldn't be sure that Mercer wouldn't go right into his basement once he had left the cistern.

The basement was riddled with traps – pressure plates, hidden entrances and so many precarious spots. But it was all easier when she knew exactly what to expect. And she was good. Mercer probably never expected a thief of her skill to ever enter his mansion. Anyone with less experience would likely not make it through. But she'd been through a lot. With her mother, with her friends in Blacklight and with Gallus.

She didn't do these things as often now, she usually sent others to do this type of work while she coordinated her operations, but it felt good to be in the element again. She missed the excitement, but most of all, it reminded her so much of her time in the Guild. It reminded her of Gallus constantly.

She remembered when he finally began to listen to her with understanding rather than doubt, when he finally believed that their lives would become only better once he would join her. They could achieve so much and they would be together. Forever. No matter what.

It was only natural to ask Mercer. He was Gallus's right hand, his confidant. Karliah did know him, but not as well as she would have liked, but she put her doubts aside. Gallus trusted him. Why wouldn't he? They've been working together for ages. And Karliah didn't need anyone else's word than Gallus's.

A mistake.

The worst mistake of her life.

She got sloppy, she didn't make sure, she didn't trust Mercer, not as much as she should have. And she paid for it. Negligence got punished, and punished she got. Her carelessness caused her the one thing that she cherished the most. Her Gallus.

Mercer betrayed the Trinity the first chance he got and Karliah paid the price for bringing him in. Nocturnal knew why Karliah came to her in the first place – grieving and broken after losing everyone that she had ever cared about. And the Mistress knew just where to stab. Taking away another person from Karliah's life was a cruel punishment, but it was one that she deserved. It was all her fault.

And all she could do now was to try and make up for it. Everything was at stake here. If she didn't… perhaps Nocturnal would not welcome her into her dark embrace upon her death. She would never see Gallus again.

Karliah could not allow that. She had to make things right. She had to return the Key and restore the Trinity. The plans were already in motion. She only needed to get that treasure out of Mercer's hands, whatever it was. She just needed to stop him from gaining enough support to halt her plans. After that, she needed to use the money from the treasure to buy off some of the Guild members. Brynjolf had already told her who could be pliant. And with the money lacking at the Guild, the bought-off members would soon begin to question Mercer on the state of the vault. Everyone would find out, everyone would know. Chipping away at his influence was the only way to get through this without shedding blood of the Guild members. She needed to monitor the situation closely.

Then, once it was done and Mercer was punished for everything he had done, she could finally take back the Key and return it to the Sepulcher.

Then she only needed to pick the right people to stand by her side. The new chosen. This time, she needed to be sure.

It was going to be difficult.

Karliah traversed the basement. It wasn't that large, but the constant traps made walking through that much longer. Still, she knew what she was doing. And eventually, she reached her destined place.

There were thick metal bars guarding the treasure room. Well… there wasn't much treasure inside. Karliah knelt down on the ground, lowering her head below the cage door's lock level, before she took out her lockpicks and began working on her access. It took no time at all. She needn't have worried. The second the lock clicked, another sharp spike sprung from the opposite wall, right where her head would have been if she had not ducked sufficiently. She knew about this, of course. She knew about everything.

When the spike retreated, Karliah eagerly got inside the cage and began looking around. There wasn't much to see. One safe, one desk, and a large bust on it. It depicted the legendary Gray Fox.

Pfft. Of course Mercer would have something like this.

She was surprised that he didn't have a bust of himself there, but he likely prided himself in being akin to the Gray Fox. He thought himself a master thief.

He was no such thing.

He was a common murderer.

A lowlife scum and a thug.

He deserved to be put down like the dog that he was.

With another scoff, Karliah turned her eyes to her prize – the safe. Good thing she had the key for it now.

Phase one hundred and fifteen. Check.

She quickly unlocked the safe and peered inside. There were a few gold ingots in there as well as several expensive-looking necklaces and a heavy pouch of gold. She didn't take any of it. She couldn't have Mercer knowing that anyone had gotten into his house. He might just do something brash if he knew. No, she needed to be careful. She left no trace behind, safe for the grappling hook. But she already had a plan to return for it later. It was easy enough to get it back from the top of the chimney again and no one would notice it unless they really wanted to explore the dark chimney chute.

Everything was going according to plan.

There was one more thing in that safe – a small journal. She eagerly took it out and scanned the pages.

There weren't many words on them, no private thoughts or outpours of Mercer's secrets. There were only drawings and Dwemer runes, but the stray word here and there let her piece it out eventually. It was what she had been looking for – Mercer's plans to get his treasure. Disturbingly enough, Karliah even noticed a few notes in a very familiar handwriting in it – Gallus's. But she knew that they had been working together on this, it shouldn't have been a surprise.

All she needed to do was to memorize or copy as much of this as she could.

She would make sure to snatch these 'Eyes of the Falmer' right from under Mercer's nose.

…

It was done.

Karliah quickly stashed her notes into the small sack on her belt before she returned the journal into the safe. She locked it firmly again, double-checking, and then she left the cage once more to lock that too.

Eyes of the Falmer. Located in the Dwemer ruins of Irkngthand. Interesting treasure. And it took Mercer ages to learn its location. The question was, now that he knew, why wait?

But she knew the answer to that. It was the same reason why she could not just pack some equipment and head to Irkngthand herself once she got out of the mansion.

This was beyond her skills.

The shadows would not hide her from the Falmer, her lithe armor and bow would not protect her from hordes of automatons. She was not equipped for direct combat and Dwemer ruins were too unpredictable. She was not going to throw her life away, not when she did not know for certain whether it would end in Evergloam with Gallus. And Mercer was likely just as reluctant to risk his life irresponsibly.

But she had something that Mercer did not. She had the right connections. She knew people who could do this. Who had done this. Everything looked so promising now.

The Mistress will be pleased.

Everything was going smoothly. But now more than ever, her thoughts turned to the future. Her victory was within reach, and the closer it got, the more she agonized over this.

Just who was fitting enough to help her restore the Trinity?

She had so many associates now, so many who were willing to help her. But… she needed someone whom she would trust. Did she trust any of them? Could she ever trust anyone fully again after what had happened?

She made her way carefully back through the traps until she finally reached the small drain – her exit route. It was impossible to get inside this way. Not only was it too high and narrow for her to be able to get up there, but there was also a very inconvenient mechanism in place – a metal barrier operated from the inside. Luckily, that made it a perfect getaway.

She pulled on the lever near the drain and she heard the telltale clank of moving metal promptly. It took a little while for the blockage to shift, but that was only fortunate for her. She could close the lock and slip outside at the same time – leaving no trace behind.

When the barrier was retracted, she promptly pulled the lever again and, without hesitation, she slipped inside the drain. She barely managed to put the closing grate back in place before she plummeted down the slippery tunnel at great speed. The sound of moving metal was still echoing through the chute, but she was already past the barrier.

It didn't take long before she plunged into water, still pressed by the tight walls of the drain. Now she had to push her way through, but in the end, she would finally find herself outside, right in Riften's waterway. A perfect place to disappear unseen.

She began moving her arms along the walls, pushing her body through. At least she did not have to worry about breathing as she was submerged – Enthir had provided. He was quite the capable enchanter, when he wanted to be.

Her thoughts swirled back to her associates in a moment. Trust. It was a difficult concept. She couldn't afford to make the same mistake now as she had a decade ago.

There was always Raven. He had been helping her for over a year and he had been brilliant. Even without his tongue, he was an excellent spy. He could talk anyone into anything. And he had the necessary skills for a Nightingale. So devoted, so loyal.

Or was he?

It was painful to think about, but Raven's duplicity had never been a secret. Karliah wanted to trust him, more than anything, but how could she? The man had been punished over and over for betraying Mercer. And not just him. Did Raven not betray Bishop and his brother, when he revealed their mutiny attempts? Did he not betray his Guild brethren over and over by giving Karliah their information?

Raven was an excellent spy. But that only made Karliah nervous. He could pretend to be anyone, anything, just to achieve his goals. It was a fickle thing. And it was worrisome.

He had never given Karliah a reason to doubt him. He did everything to help her succeed. But… perhaps that was what she was supposed to think. How does one trust a double-crosser?

She needed to consider other options, other thieves that would be promising candidates.

Brynjolf had always come to her mind. Many times over the years, she had regretted not approaching him instead of Mercer. Brynjolf had only one goal in his life – to protect the Guild and to help it prosper. He always strived to do that. He could see the value in Nocturnal's favors.

But… Brynjolf was a very careful man. Too careful.

He was too careful to turn his back on Mercer. He was too careful to voice his own opinions to the people that mattered. He was too careful to stand up to a tyrant. Instead, he kept biding his time, waiting for… she didn't even know what for. He was the one who always warned her to wait with her plans. He was the one that constantly claimed that killing Mercer would end in more bloodshed. He wanted to save everyone and he did not understand that it was impossible.

Brynjolf may not have had it in him to make tough decisions. He might not have had it in him to risk entrusting his life to a Daedric Prince.

Yet there was another she had been considering lately.

Bishop had proven himself to be capable beyond her original expectations, but more importantly, the one thing she thought would be a struggle, she had already managed. She had gained his loyalty in Falkreath. He did not even question her missions now, he just… trusted her. It was the perfect thing – to have someone trust you. It only made it easier to trust them in turn, didn't it?

But there was a catch. There was always a catch. When it came to Bishop, Karliah's greatest fear was Aeyrin.

Karliah already knew that there would be no swaying her. Her upbringing would never allow it. She would not be able to accept it if she knew that any of the people she had been helping had been associated with a Daedra. It was not her fault, the temples made great strides in their manipulation techniques. She had been molded into their image and there was no undoing that. The rigidity and close-mindedness came with it. They just did not like the concept of a higher power being actually… helpful to their followers.

Aeyrin would never understand. And Bishop would be too wary of risking their relationship for this. It would be a significant problem if Karliah decided to choose him.

She would simply have to convince him to keep it a secret, but she feared that that may be much harder after the events in Falkreath.

It was going to be a struggle, but perfection always was. She just needed to think this through to the last detail and last scenario. Even after she had chosen the ones, she still needed to convince them. She needed to offer them something that they really wanted.

But she already knew. It was always the same. It was the same for her, it was the same for Gallus. Only Mercer was an exception.

They all wanted one thing – to protect what they love. To have Nocturnal's favor spare them pain and heartbreak. She wanted nothing more than to never lose anyone again. Gallus wanted nothing more than to protect his people… and her too. Mercer was the only one who joined the Trinity for the money and the power.

In hindsight, it should have been a warning sign.

But her new chosen, they could be the ones. Raven had lost so much in his life. Despite his façade, he was a broken man, scared of how easy it was for him to love. Scared that once he did, he would inevitably always lose that person. Brynjolf was so much like Gallus in many ways. The way he cared for the Guild and all the people in it. He would want them safe, above all else. And Bishop, he would probably throw all his concerns aside when Karliah would assure him that Nocturnal's favor would keep Aeyrin safe from accidents and misfortunes along the way. The two of them were risking them more than anyone on their dangerous adventures.

It was all going to work out. She just needed to make the right decisions.

And she would. This time she would.

Nothing would stop her from spending her eternity with her beloved. Nothing would make her disappoint her Mistress ever again.

With a final powerful push, she thrusted herself out of the chute, straight into the river.

That was done. Phase one hundred and seventeen was a success. Now only to retrieve the grappling hook, in order to remove all traces of her passing, and she could head out back to the meadery. She would need to contact Aeyrin and Bishop after she had made her plans and research for Irkngthand.

It was all coming together.

Soon, Mercer's plans would be foiled and all would be right again.

All she needed was a good plan and a little luck.