Telki slowly returned to consciousness. The wooly feeling in her head and her own herb lore supplied the high probably of a drugging. Unsteady eyes confirmed she was no longer at the Sleeping Giant Inn wrapped around Erandur. Wherever it was, it was a ramshackled hut in the middle of nowhere. Brown bloodstains confirmed it'd seen more than its fair share of violence.
"Welcome back to the realm of the living, sleeping beauty." The voice was smooth as silk, sinful, and sultry. Telki was sure it'd lead many a man, probably women too, to the Void. She wasn't fooled for a moment, though. There was menace under the silky words, and Telki waited for the shoe to drop.
"Where and why am I here?" She was mostly playing for time. She'd had a strong clue when the bundled up traveler on the road bumped into her, and left a black hand print note with "We Know" written in large blocky letters. Only the Dark Brotherhood used such a hand print, and she had killed Grelod, smothering her in her sleep with her own pillow. She'd hoped, as old as that vile woman was, it might be taken for a natural death. Luck was apparently not with her, given her current situation.
"Oh, let's not play such games, shall we? It was a good kill, old bat had it coming. However, it was our kill, and now, you owe us. Look behind you." Rather than provoke the bloodless killer lounging high above her on the bookcase, honestly, you'd think she was the Khajiit instead of Telki with that indolent and boneless grace, Telki obediently checked behind her. Three hooded and bound figures knelt on the floor there.
"One of them has a contract on them. Choose wisely, and your debt to us is done." Really? This ...this assassin really expected her to kill someone, just like that? Telki, still playing for time, knelt by each of them, talking to them. They were quite the characters. A mercenary with the appellation Fearless who clearly wasn't, sobbing for his life. No, Fearless should have been the moniker of the woman, mother to six kids. She was a true terror. Bound as she was, she dared order Telki to free her, and berated her openly for her capture. Telki admired her, but didn't think she could stand her presence for long. The last one was a problem. The last one made her feel ashamed of her race. He desperately needed killing.
He was every stereotype ever imagined about the worst of Khajiit, and then some not even dreamed in the most depraved of Khajiit haters. Telki wanted to scrub her own fur off just talking to the thing. He admitted to murders, to having contracts on him, bribing and threatening her by turns. He was a problem she would have to deal with sooner or later. Definitely later, because damn it all if she was going to kill him on the Dark Brotherhood's say so. Telki reminded herself of her priorities. One problem at a time, and there was a big problem lazily lounging on the bookcase behind her.
"Well, Telki, your answer?" The woman sounded indolent and proud, as if she knew Telki's acquiescence was but a matter of course.
"FUS...RO DAH!" Telki leapt on her, claws and fangs bared. The assassin died with surprise writ large in her blue eyes.
Telki worked her now tender jaw. It appeared keeping her dragonborn status at a low profile was a wise choice. She hardly ever used her Shouts. In the face of her exuberance and frivolity, it often slipped people's minds she could. That oversight had just saved her life. Now to free the captives...and then follow the problem.
"Dammit! How could this have happened?" Erandur ran his hands through his hair, trying to calm himself enough to think. Waking to find his wife gone and a nightshade on her empty pillow as much as shouted who the culprits were. Delphine had the decency to look shamefaced at least. Esbern was already looking about the inn for clues to the disappearance.
Esbern, in his usual rambling manner, had explained how crucial Telki's continued well-being was to the future of Nirn. Now, the Dark Brotherhood had just waltzed in and disappeared her from Delphine's own inn. The look on her face said that this insult would be repaid in blood, but did nothing to assure Erandur his Telki would be returned safely.
"Slumberwort, should have known." Delphine snatched a small, white petaled sprig off the floor where it was wilting by the firepit. "This is how they came in with none of us knowing. Stuff is nigh undetectable when cooked into something." Delphine twirled the offending herb between finger and thumb. "Only question left is, how'd they get it in the stewpot with none of us noticing?"
"Delphine, look you here." Esbern sorted through the herb basket behind the counter. "It seems the slumberwort was mixed in with the seasoning herbs. As much like pepperel as it looks, it could have been mixed in with the herbs at market with no one the wiser."
"Damned clever. They went to a lot of trouble to keep this quiet. They want her alive for some reason. I just wished I knew what." Delphine threw the offending sprig into the firepit, watching it burn.
"If they want her alive, then we've a chance to get her back safely?" It was the first good news Erandur had heard since finding his wife gone.
"Fairly logical assumption, except we have no idea where to even start looking for her. They left precious few clues, and none of them point to a possible destination." Esbern came back around the counter, wiping his hands free of the herbs as he came. He looked as lost as when they first found him in the ratways.
"All we can do is wait and hope she turns up." Delphine clenched her jaw. She was not happy with the situation, but saw no way out of it.
"No." Erandur's fist hit the wall with a solid thump. What little patience he'd been hanging onto had played out, causing even Delphine to back up from the glow in his eyes. "Telki has friends in nearly every city and village in Skyrim; she's Thane to half the Holds or more. Somebody has to know something to help us find her. I won't learn that sitting here doing nothing. I'm going to go find my wife."
"We've no idea where to even begin looking!" To say Erandur's outburst startled Delphine was an understatement. Of the two, she'd considered him the levelheaded and cool one.
"Riverwood is small; I'll start by seeing what travelers have been round, and which way from the road they'd come."
"And Esbern and I?"
"Go on to Karthspire, we'll meet you there after I find her."
"Stubborn unreasonable Dunmer!"
"No, Delphine, just a husband in love with his wife."
Telki turned the horrid looking dagger over in her hand again. It made her stomach uneasy just looking at it, but it was the only proof she had of what had happened to her. Sheer luck allowed her to stumble upon a patrolled road; she still wasn't sure what Hold she was in, even. One look at the dagger, and the guardsman sent her on her way to Dragon Bridge via cart. Apparently, there were Penitus Occulus there who shared a common goal with her: the end of the Dark Brotherhood.
The cart passed over the imposing structure that gave the wee village its name. Telki thanked all the Divines for an uneventful trip. With no weapons, no food, and no money, she'd have been in poor shape indeed if even bandits had happened to them, much less a dragon attack.
"Which way to the Penitus Occulus?" Telki asked the driver as she hopped down.
"Oh, see that long building there? That's their barracks. Should find the commander inside." The driver was already headed for the inn and absently waved in the direction she should go. His mind obviously occupied by the tall mug of cold mead waiting for him inside, so Telki bobbed a thank you his way, and marched up to the barracks.
No sooner had Telki gotten within earshot of the barracks, she took off racing for the door. A very loud, very angry, and very dear voice was raised in a shouting match with someone. She could only guess it'd be the commander she was supposed to be meeting.
"That's not good enough!"
"Be reasonable! What would you have me do, send my men out helter skelter on the chance they'd find something? They'd be little more than targets for practice!"
"Erandur, love, what are you doing to this poor man?" Oh, the look on his face was totally worth the crushing hug. She snuggled into his arms, hugging him back just as fiercely. The big, sloppy, devouring kiss was a nice bonus.
"Telki, I presume?" Oh, one has to love the Imperials' faultless manners. Her husband was basically groping her right in front of him, yet he was as polite as a courtier from the High King's court.
"Um, Love? Can I breathe now? Yes? Thank you." Telki smoothed her tunic back out, and composed herself before meeting the Commander's gaze. She was again thankful for the fur that hid her blush. "Yes, sir. I had been kidnapped by the Dark Brotherhood. The one responsible is dead. She carried this." Erandur's faint hiss and recoil did not escape her notice when she presented the blade to the man.
"It can't be! The Blade of Woe? You killed their leader! We'll never get another chance like this!" In the space of a breath, the commander went from polite courtier to giddy school boy. His face lit up like a torchbug, grinning from ear to ear. She had to stifle a giggle when he nearly danced in place from excitement.
"A chance to what?" Erandur's arm was still wrapped tightly around Telki's waist, as if afraid she'd disappear again. It mollified him somewhat that her arm rested comfortably atop his own, stroking his skin. However, he was not mollified enough not to growl, sensing where the commander's exuberance was headed.
"Why, to destroy the last of the Dark Brotherhood." Husband and wife stood frozen in shock at his words. The room had grown silent as understanding sank in, the soldiers training outside sounded preternaturally loud in the sudden quiet.
"You can't be serious! You want to send my wife back to the same people that took her in the first place?"
"It's hardly the same thing! She'll be armed, ready, and none of them will know she's coming."
"Damned straight it's not; she's not going, not alone!"
The commander looked at him as if sudden realization had landed like an axeblow. "Did you think I'd keep you from going, man? Do I look suicidal to you?"
"You know, this is looking oddly familiar..." Erandur's wry comment came after Telki was retrieving her third arrow from yet another black and red body. This one was an Argonian.
"We're in the middle of a cavernous hideyhole devoted to the sneakiest, deadliest killers known to man...and this reminds you of something? When and where, love?" It took quite a bit of effort to keep her voice down, and she congratulated herself on her control.
"Nothing about you sniping everything dead before it knows we're here strikes a cord with you, does it?" Oh, now she could hear the sarcasm dripping off every word.
"Are we seriously having this conversation now?"