11th of Rain's Hand
Well, that was SOME adventure! Elenwen's going to be mad after what I did. No regrets. It was worth it.

Anyway, back to business, Journal. I gave Delphine the two Dossiers and herself and Esbern. She was astonished that Esbern was still alive. He was being hunted down for his knowledge of Dragons, which explains why the Thalmor are after the Blades. He's hiding out in Riften, probably the Ratways, according to her. When I do find him, I'm supposed to mention "the 30th of Frostfall" so that he can trust me. Alright then.

She wants me to talk to a guy named Brynjolf. Apparently, he's well-connected.

I hope he's not what I think she means.

Location: Riften Market
12th of Rain's Hand
4:53pm

"Luck for you that I had them on me. I'll be sure to look out for the flawless sapphires, if I can."

"Thank you, land-strider. Safe travels."

Kayleigh Leanne had just arrived in Riften after a tiring ride. Nice place, just as she remembered it. She had just got done purchasing a few items from Madesi, an Argonian merchant, as well as giving away a few items he had been trying to obtain. With that out of the way, it was time to head on over to the Bee and Bard inn.

"Never worked an honest day's work for all that coin eh, lass?"

A smooth male voice then stopped her from continuing further. She turned to her left in order to find the source and there stood a red-headed man, who was leaning against his stall, arms folded across his chest. He was wearing some blue-colored fine clothes and was a taller and bigger in size than Kayleigh. "Excuse me?"

"It's easy to tell just by looking at someone, lass. Guess you can say it's one of my many talents." The Nord kept his little smirk on his thin lips as he addressed her.

She resisted the urge to put her hand on the mace of Molag Bal that was attached to the side of her hip, in an attempt to intimidate the man before her. "Never judge a book by its cover. I'm sure you're smart enough to know that."

"Hmm… Tough too? I was right about you."

"I'm afraid you're terribly mistaken, handsome," She instead placed both her hands on her hips. "You don't know anything about me or my wealth." A single thought came to her at that point. "You're a Nord with red hair... You wouldn't happen to be the mysterious Brynjolf, would you?"

Brynjolf appeared to be pleasantly surprised by her assumption. "Never knew the word 'mysterious' was now added to my name."

"Courtesy of yours truly," She told him bitterly.

"Now," He took one step closer to her. "Why would a stranger like you be looking for a stranger like me?"

"Oh, trust me. You can't be a stranger to me anymore," She smiled. "I hear you've got connections around this place. Think you can help me out?"

"I can, but only if you help me first. Surely you don't think I'd give you something for nothing, now do you, lass?"

"No, I suppose not." That'd be entirely out of character for a man like yourself. "What do you need?"

"I'm going to cause a little distraction. I want you to steal Madesi's ring from his strongbox under his stall. Then, sneak over to the elf over there, Brand-Shei, and plop it in his pocket."

Naturally, she was appalled by this proposal. "Are you kidding me? You want me to break the law? Steal from Madesi? After I just helped the man out?"

"Not that kind, eh? Sorry. I usually have a nose for this kind of thing." He scratched the back of his head, a little embarrassed.

"Well, you're nose is not entirely wrong. I just… haven't done the dishonest work in a while..." Her tone gradually turned into a murmur.

Uh. Think, Kay. Think. What do you do? You need this man's information. But you'll be breaking the law...

"Alright, I'll do it," She said in a quick manner to prevent herself from stalling any further. "But it's your job," She thenjabbed a finger into his upper left chest. "To make sure no one gets hurt. Or else it's your pretty face I'm coming after."

"Point taken, lass." He raised both his hands palm-out to her in truce. "Nothing bad will happen. You ready, though?"

"Let get this over with."

"Everyone! Gather around! I have something to show you that demands your attention!"

A little crowd consisting of locals and stall owners gathered around Brynjolf's stall, all eyes on him. Kayleigh leaned against the well, arms folded across her chest. Her body was facing Brynjolf, but her eyes were focused on the people attended there. Everyone was directing their attention to Brynjolf and his 'Falmerblood Elixir" discovery or something, she was not sure what. Pretending to be a bored attendee, she began to walk away… to Madesi's stall.

She knew she only had one shot at this and it had to be now, while everyone - including the guards - had their sights on the red-headed Nord.

Kayleigh slid the slide door open and opened up Madesi's just-so-happened-to-be-unlocked strongbox. She quickly pocketed his ring and closed the strongbox and door. Making sure no one was looking at her, she got to her feet and looked for Brand-Shei. He was sitting on a large crate and was behind everybody else.

Perfect.

As discreetly as she could, she crept up to him and plopped the ring into his pocket. She was now able to breathe easy.

"I'm afraid that's all the time I have, people." Brynjolf declared, having witnessed Kayleigh's actions the entire time. The crowd, a little annoyed and disappointed, dispersed.

Kayleigh returned to Brynjolf's side once his stall was clear of anybody else. "Could I interest you in some Falmerblood Elixir, lass?" Brynjolf questioned.

"That depends," She then lowered her voice. "It's done."

She could easily see the elation on his calm features. "You claim you haven't done this in a while?"

"Not since I was 17, no." She admitted, still ashamed of her actions. The things I do to find one stupid man...

He chuckled at that. "While, you haven't lost your touch, then. You're just the kind the Thieves Guild need."

She was taken aback by that statement, at the same time wondering how the heck did she not put the obvious puzzle pieces together. "Thieves-? Ha! Well, that explains why you have 'connections' in this place. Thanks for the offer, handsome, but I've got a bigger issue at hand. I think you owe me some info about the old guy hiding out in the Ratways?"

"Suit yourself. But you ever want to get your hands dirty and earn some gold, you come find me. I'm not going anywhere from this place" He told her, maintaining his smirk once more. Kayleigh did not know understood why, but she felt like he was being honest with her when he said that he would offer her a job. "And to answer your question? Yeah. I think I know your guy."