I awoke with a jolt. I was on a cold stone floor under a skylight. Why was I underground? The temple had wood floors… What? Where am I? Who's talking? My head whirled as my vision slowly cleared.
"Mercer! Trust me… I am the leader here, anyway."
I recognized that voice… Was he the guy…? No… No! He was at the Temple of Mara with me. Did he… I sat up in a spasm-like manner to address the man.
"Gallus…" another man continued.
They stopped their conversation when I turned to look at them with narrowed eyes. My slurred speech was able to form something comparable to a sentence.
"I… I've seen… You kidnapped me…"
I eyed the Imperial with suspicion. His little Breton friend by the name of Mercer Frey claimed that I was as most Dunmer are – retarded. I would have argued had my lips agreed to move, and they didn't. Gallus did the talking.
"Nocturnal's bidding isn't finished yet. The effects could last for days, Mercer," Gallus stated matter-of-factly.
"She's still a Dunmer, Gallus! I thought you would understand," Mercer whined.
"I might have agreed with you had she not changed my mind… She's as clever as an ancient Dwemer!" cried Gallus. Mercer sighed.
"I guess I'm not going to be able to change your mind then," sighed Mercer as he turned his back on Gallus to return to the business legers to do as much number crunching as a thieving organization can really do.
The remaining man, Gallus, helped me up and over to an inviting bed roll and settled me in. I kind of wished I could see this guy's face…
He offered me some sort of sleeping concoction and as much as I would have liked to say no to the narcotics for a while, sleep was the only thing I wanted to do, so I reluctantly accepted.
"What is your name, dear?" Gallus inquired as he waited for the potion to work its way into my systems.
I barely managed a halfhearted "Karliah" before I drifted off to sleep.