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FALNAS

An Eel In The Net

The Ratway

"So 'ere's the plan," Delvin said to Falnas after the others had left on their respective thieving sprees. Falnas hoped they'd all be back safe. "Brother'ood girl doesn't know what we're plannin'. She comes in, we invite 'er to sit in the chair. Once she does, we 'old 'er down and snap the manacles on."

Falnas noticed the iron bands set on hinges. They were open now, hanging under the chair's armrest, and could be brought up and snapped closed to trap the wrists of the unfortunate occupant. But… wasn't this incredibly risky?

"Uh, Delvin…"

"Yeah mate?"

"Isn't this, well, a deadly assassin? A highly-trained killer?"

Delvin shook his head. "Nah mate. With a few exceptions, like that hairy oaf Astrid still buggers with, Brother'ood assassins are good at sneakin', an' plannin', an' poisonin', an' shankin' a feller in the back." He chuckled. "They're usually no damn good in a straight fight. Her escapin's gonna be a bigger concern'n our safety."

"Still risky, though."

"Life's all 'bout risks, mate. If we don't get this little nightingale to sing, life's gonna be very 'ard for us."

"She's not gonna sing. She can't even talk."

Delvin chuckled. "Yeah, well, 'make this nightingale write' don't 'ave the same ring to it, does it?"

So that was the plan then. Invite her into the Cistern, get her to take a seat, and clink. "What if she doesn't want to sit?"

"Then we make 'er, mate. She's just a slip of a girl right? We can overpower 'er easily enough."

Heh, right, 'slip of a girl', he'd never live that down. There was another concern, though. "Won't this bring the Brotherhood down on us?"

Delvin shook his head. "Got it sorted with Astrid. Got the feelin' she isn't too keen on our little guttersnipe."

"So once we've got her, then what?"

He shrugged. "Then li'l guttersnipe gets a choice. Write down the name of the contractor the easy way, or write it down the 'ard way."

"And the hard way entails…?"

Delvin looked at the door grimly. "Let's hope it don't come to that. 'Ere she is now."

The door opened, and led inside by one of the few remaining Initiates, was the Brotherhood girl, an irritated look on her face, her frown even more accentuated by the straight-cut brown fringe over her forehead. Siari, right, that's what her name was.

"Evenin', Siari. Come on in, 'ave a seat."

The girl approached warily, her eyes flicking back and forth between Falnas and Delvin, but she didn't sit down.

"Go on," Delvin insisted. "Your legs must be tired, sit down."

The girl simply shook her head and remained standing.

Delvin let out a disappointed sigh, and before Falnas knew what was happening, he lunged at her, grabbed her by the hair above her ear and faster than she could react with anything more than a pained yelp, planted her butt squarely in the chair. She made to claw at him, but Delvin blocked the attacks with his shoulders and grabbed her by the wrists. "Clamps, move it!"

Falnas immediately did as he was told, first closing one clamp around the girl's wrist, then moving around to close the other, as the young assassin struggled and kicked at Delvin, kicking her foot straight forward, trying to break his knee. But before she could get a hit in, Falnas had closed the second clamp, and they could let her go and retreat to a safe distance.

The girl struggled in the chair, kicking out at them, her normally pretty face contorted in an ugly snarl, her teeth bared. A few locks of hair were pulled free of her ponytail, and quite a few strands hung between Delvin's fingers.

"No sense strugglin', ya little ankle-biter. This'll be over in a second if you tell us what we need to know." Delvin stood hunched over, his face pained. "Phooah. Little daedra scamp got me in the nads."

Falnas took over, telling the captured girl, "You were sent to kill Mjoll, weren't you?"

The girl just looked at them, breathing hard through her nose, her mouth tightly shut, her shoulders pressed against the back of the chair. Falnas didn't think he'd ever gotten a look of such contained fury in his life. She was pretty enough, but now she looked downright ugly, and her muteness just made her that much more unsettling, the fact that she couldn't form words made her seem like even more of an animal.

"Don't bother denyin'," Delvin grunted at her, recovered from his rather critical encounter with the girl's knee. "What you're gonna do, dolly girl, is write down the name of your contractor. That's all we want, then you can go."

It was a lie, but not a terribly rotten one. They'd spring her from jail after turning her over to the guard anyway. If there was one thing the Guild was good at, it was a good old jailbreak.

The girl just kept glaring at them, breathing hard through her nose.

"Don't make this any 'arder 'n it's gotta be, lass," Delvin said, his voice already unhappy with her lack of cooperation and the actions he'd have to take to ensure it. "The contractor for the Mjoll killin'. Just one name."

Still no response.

Again faster than either Falnas or the girl could react, Delvin let his hand lash out, whacking her straight across the face, so hard the side of her head banged against the hard wooden back of the chair. Her head rocked from the blow, and when her eyes opened, they were briefly crossed before turning to normal again. Tears welled up in them, but still she didn't show any sign of capitulation.

"Come on, girl. Don't make me do this," Delvin said, and Falnas didn't think the regret in his voice was acted. "You're breakin' my 'eart."

The tears fell, running down her cheekbones, one of which was rapidly swelling. She hung her head, but still no surrender. Still, Delvin kneeled in front of her, pushed a piece of paper under her right hand and held a stick of charcoal between her fingers. "Go on. Write it down, 's all we ask."

Falnas didn't agree with this treatment. "Delvin. Can I talk to you for a second?"

"What, mate?"

He motioned towards the end of the Cistern.

With a sigh, Delvin followed him, leaving the girl in her chair on the middle of the bridge that ran over the water.

"Delvin, I don't think we should hurt her too bad."

His friend rolled his eyes in irritation. "Look mate, she'll recover from a few knocks in a day or two. It's more for intimidation purposes than to inflict injury."

"Doesn't matter, it's still - "

"This is the Guild, mate. This is part of the job, yeah? If your 'eart's too weak for an occasional beatin', then just go sit in the Ragged Flagon 'til I'm done."

"Hello. You mind if I take this little bitch with me when you're done?"

What in Oblivion…

A few metres from Siari's chair stood the Initiate that had escorted the little assassin, his hands behind his head, and behind him, a burly looking Nord stood, holding something to the Initiate's back. Probably a dagger. And did he... look familiar?

"An' 'oo the fuck're you then, twatwaffle?" Delvin barked at him. "You fuckin' bonkers, mate, forcin' your way in 'ere?"

"I don't give a shit what you want with this little murdering rat," the Nord said calmly. "All I'm telling you, and I'm not asking, is that when you're done with her, she comes with me. Alive, and still aware of her surroundings."

Yeah, no, that wasn't going to happen. They'd caught this assassin to get answers, not to let some Nord take her away for whatever reasons. Falnas snorted. "As if we're going to just hand her over to some half-baked snow-eater we don't know. Turn around and walk away while you still can, fur frotter."

"Look," the man explained, taking his dagger off the back of the Initiate. "I've got some very personal things to discuss with this little backstabber. Nothing that concerns you. You go ahead and... do whatever it is you want to do to her, all I'm saying is, turn her over to me when you're done or else."

Delvin chuckled. "Look at that. This dunghead comes to threaten us in our own 'ome. In't that adorable."

Meanwhile, Falnas motioned towards the Initiate. "Out." Thankfully, the rather simple-looking Redguard waif did as she was told and scurried out, leaving Falnas to go back to breaking his head over where he'd seen this character before.

"You're right," the Nord said. "That wasn't very courteous of me. Let me rephrase. My business with her is completely separate from yours. And I'd sincerely appreciate it if, when your business is concluded, you let me take her with me. None of it will come back on you, I guarantee it."

Falnas shot a brief look at their captive, but she bore a scared yet puzzled expression. She apparently had no idea who this man was, but Falnas knew he did. He looked too familiar for it to be a mistake. His face was young, but his long hair and light beard had gone a premature grey. Vivec's soggy crotch, he'd seen this bugger before. But where?

At that moment, Falnas saw in the other man's eyes that he was wondering, and trying to remember, the same thing. Dammit! Where did he know this guy from?

"Well mate," Delvin went on. He clearly hadn't seen the man before. "Your business with her isn't our business either. An' that's why we feel no need to 'elp you. So bugger off to wherever you came from an' we won't rob you, your family, an' your little dog blind over the comin' months." Delvin nudged his chin at the weapon on the man's belt. "An' don't think that axe scares us. We're thieves, an' you're on our turf. We know this place like the back of our 'ands. You'd blunder into ten traps before you'd even get close to us."

"Like I said," the man told him, "We got off on the wrong foot due to my overeagerness, but I'm not here for violence. I'm asking for a favour." He pointed his dagger at the young assassin clamped into the chair. "Her. That's all I ask. Doesn't cost you a thing, doesn't take any effort. All you have to do is let me take her with me after you're done."

"An' I'm tellin' you that ain't happenin'."

Unperturbed, the man slowly came even closer to the chair, showing his empty hands. Falnas and Delvin were too far away to be able to stop him from whatever it was he wanted to do. "I just want to talk, is all. Look, how 'bout I help with your interrogation? Because that's clearly what you're doing."

The girl threw Falnas a pleading glance. She looked scared, much more of this man than of her captors, and Falnas started to believe she had every reason to. This guy didn't just want to have a chat with her, there was something underneath his handsome and friendly face, a terrible anger, no, a need for something, for... was it vengeance?

Delvin let him approach, and Falnas trusted his companion. They approached the chair too, until they all stood around it. If anything went wrong, they could bolt to any corridor they wanted to, and this lumbering woodcutter would never catch them. It would be unfortunate for the assassin, but that was another matter. And both Falnas and Delvin knew that if they got violent with this guy, there wasn't a huge chance of them surviving, because looking at his stance, his controlled movements, this man clearly wasn't some pipe-smoking basket-weaver, this was without a doubt a warrior, and a skilled one at that.

"I'm sure we don't need your 'elp, mate," Delvin merely said.

"Please, allow me," the Nord insisted, sounding and looking friendly, but underneath that exterior boiled something terrible. "So, little throatcutter," he said to the captured assassin, whose face was now completely terrified as she tried to pull away from him. "You don't look like I'd imagined. Not that that will make me think twice. And you probably don't know who I am, do you?"

The girl didn't react, just kept pulling back from him. Her breaths were fast and shallow.

He kneeled by her. "I've been looking for you, though. Came all the way from Jorrvaskr to find you."

The girl's face became utterly terrified.

With a triumphant grin, he snarled at her, "That turns you white, doesn't it?! You know what happened at Jorrvaskr, don't you? What you did?"

Jorrvaskr, that was in Whiterun. Of course! That was where he'd seen the guy before! He'd been searching for someone, looking utterly shaken and angry, his clothes smeared with blood. Falnas remembered him throwing his torch on the ground when the woman he was with told her they'd lost their quarry. Was this her? Had this been the person they'd been looking for? And the blood on his clothes, had that been from a dying person? The conclusion was obvious. This girl had murdered someone at Jorrvaskr and got away, but now the jig was up. And so this guy was one of the Companions. They were an honourable sort, but also known to be merciless to those who tried to strike at them, especially if they did so in a cowardly fashion. Like the assassinations the Brotherhood carried out.

The girl's breathing quickened even more, until she was panting in terror, and fresh tears ran down her cheeks. She'd done something terrible there alright.

"This is messed up, mate," Delvin told Falnas quietly. He had to agree.

"Their names were Njada, Ria and Kodlak," the man growled at her in barely contained fury. Njada was difficult and petty, but that was because she felt ignored and passed over. Kodlak was a wise, proud man who tried his best, all his life, to keep the Companions honourable, and on the path of right. And Ria..." the anger on his face mixed with grief. "Ria was a kind, hard-working jewel of a girl, who was going to do great things..." His lower lip trembled in both hatred and sorrow, and he told the girl, "You've taken all that away from them, but I want you to know who they were. People, not just names on a list. And they bled to death, or got stabbed through the heart just because you thought it was just a job."

"Mate," Delvin said to the Nord. "I dunno what 'appened at Jorrvaskr, but you clearly aren't thinkin' straight now. How 'bout we all take a second to calm down an' clear all this up, yeah?"

"I don't need a second," the Nord grunted. "You murdered my friends, innocent people, you dirty shit stain, and I'm going to make you remember it for the rest of your short, pain-filled life." From his kneeling position, he looked up at Delvin and Falnas. "You're interrogating her, right?"

"Yes," Falnas said, "but - "

"Let me give you a hand," the Nord said in feigned cheer. He looked beside himself with grief despite it.

The man took out out his knife, set the tip in the wood next to the assassin's left hand. With the other, he grabbed her fingers, leaving out her little finger, which he pressed against the wood. Before Falnas or Delvin could react, he pushed the handle down, and with a wet crunch, the blade bit into the girl's little finger, crushed the bone, and took the digit off at the knuckle.

The girl shrieked, a loud, hysterical and screeching wail, kicking in her chair, and banging the back of her head against the chair's back. The next moment, a dark stain spread on her breeches as her bladder let go of its contents.

"What the fuck, mate?" Delvin shouted, throwing himself at the Nord and giving him a hard push. "You lost your fuckin' mind? This isn't a fuckin' torture chamber!"

The Nord stumbled back a few steps from the shove, and made no attempt to retaliate. Instead, he held up the severed little finger at the girl, who was still yammering in pain, her eyes wet with tears as she looked up at him. "See this? This is only the beginning." And with that, he threw the dead piece of Siari's body into the stinking water of the Cistern.

The girl watched it go through the air. The severed finger hit the water, making a little splash, then sank down into the muck, mixing with the shit and piss of Riften's inhabitants. She let out a heart-wrenching wail of pain and bereavement when she saw it disappear. Blood ran from the severed knuckle, dripping down the wood of the chair.

This was going all wrong.

"You're fuckin' mad's what you are!" Delvin continued to rail at the Nord. But Falnas knew he wasn't mad. Not of his own. He'd seen it before, a man who'd lost his entire family to arson. He'd finally found the arsonist and tortured him to death, brutally and painfully, and everyone passed it off as the work of a sick mind. The man's mind had indeed been sick, but with grief. This guy was no different.

Still, whatever the reason, whatever the cause, whatever she'd done, this was going all wrong. This girl was going to get tortured to death, and nobody deserved this. Not only that, he had to protect this vengeance-blind Nord against himself as well. Because Falnas knew that after the terrible revenge, would come the horror at what he'd done. People weren't the same after losing themselves in their own insanity. He had to take action, for everyone's good.

And as Delvin kept shouting at the Nord, who didn't even say a word to defend himself and just stood looking at him grimly, Falnas kneeled by Siari, who was slowly rocking back and forth, staring straight ahead, her face wet with tears and snot. "Hey." When he didn't have her attention straight away, he said again, "Hey. Look at me."

The girl's eyes flicked towards him, big, wet, and full of despair.

Falnas shot a quick look at the two others, making sure their attention wasn't on him. He placed his hand on the manacle of the chair. "Was it her? The contract. Was it Maven?"

The girl just sat looking at him, panting.

"Come on, we don't have much time. Was it her?"

Slowly, the girl's head went up and down.

"Alright." After another quick look at the two others, he clicked the manacles open. "Dive. There's pipes that lead out, under the surface. Go, do it now."

The girl looked at him with an expression of pain, terror and grief, and immense gratitude.

"Go."

The next moment, she launched herself off the chair, leaping farther than Falnas thought a human being could. She dove into the water, droplets of blood trailing behind her, and disappeared beneath the surface with a loud and high splash.

The Nord's mouth fell open. "What did you do?" he shouted, rage taking hold of him. "What did you do?"

"What you were doing is wrong, man," Falnas said, standing up. "You were going to – "

Abruptly, the man, without hesitation, threw himself off the walkway, diving after her and disappearing beneath the surface with an equally loud splash.

"Well, this is one massive goatfuck, mate."

"I had to," Falnas said to Delvin as they stood staring at the frothing water the two had vanished in. "I don't care what she did, nobody deserves this."

"Maybe, but there goes our only chance to get Maven thrown in jail."

"I know, but come on, we couldn't – "

The water splashed up again, and the Nord appeared, bursting from the surface, his mouth wide open as he refilled his lungs with air. Red mixed with the water that ran over his upper lip and chin. Then he was gone again.

"Looks like she's gettin' away," Delvin merely remarked.

"I hope so."

Delvin let out a snorting chuckle. "Would you 'ave done the same if our captive was a wrinkled, baldin' Altmer with pockmarks on 'is face?"

Flanas had to admit that this girl made for a much more convincing, and compelling damsel in distress. Still, he said, "I... hope I would have, yes."

"Yeah. It's just easier when it's a pretty slip of a girl with big brown eyes, innit? We're all 'uman." he sighed, putting his hands in his sides. "This makes things very difficult though. We're not gonna be able to catch 'er again. It looks fuckin' bleak's what it does."

"It's not lost yet." He clapped Delvin on the shoulder. "Hey, we're the Guild. We'll find a way."