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Chapter 4: Developments

Ziris exhaled and pushed open the door of the house, the weight of the ring she'd just stolen heavy in one of her belt pouches, despite the fact that the ring didn't weigh that much. She'd had a very bad feeling about going into the house when the night was so clear, but Vex had said that she needed the ring as quickly as possible. Ziris wasn't one to waste time, either, and so she'd risked it.

Apparently, that had been the wrong choice.

"Hey, you!" Ziris winced and did the wrong thing, again: she stopped moving and glanced over her shoulder. A Riften guard was coming towards her, looking like he knew exactly what she had been up to, and she had no doubt that he did.

"I can explain -" she started, but before she could get further, the guard grabbed her wrist and hauled her up right. "Hey! I wasn't doing anything!" she exclaimed as he pulled first one wrist, and then the other behind her back and held them there. He then started to push her forward towards Mistveil Keep.

"I saw you come out of that house," the guard growled. "I know you stole something. Give it up, or go to jail. Your choice."

Ziris let out a breath, but didn't respond to his accusation. She'd known that she should've waited, but had she listened to her instincts? No, of course not. She'd gone with her routine, and now she was paying for it. And, she had a feeling that she'd been ratted out, too, and probably by the person who'd wanted the ring she'd stolen.

When she'd snatched it from the strong box in the bedroom, she'd seen that it had been a golden wedding band. She imagined the person who'd wanted it back was a jilted lover or something similar, and so it was understandable that they'd want it.

So… why was she now being arrested for stealing it?

Probably because of her own stupidity, more than anything. Mercer was going to be furious.

The guard continued to push her towards Mistveil Keep, and there was nothing Ziris could do as he shuffled her towards the jail cells and shoved her into one. Without any remorse, he slammed the door and locked it with a key off the ring on his belt.

"Damn thieves," he muttered to himself, shaking his head at her. "When will you learn that your Guild is dead?"

"It's not dead as long as there are still thieves," Ziris retorted.

The guard shook his head again and stalked away from her cell. Ziris grabbed at the bars and watched him disappear through the door, which closed loudly behind him. Aside from her, the prison was empty.

"Damn," Ziris cursed, and then she kicked at the bars before her. "Damn!" Of all the times she could have had bad luck, it had to be the time when a guard just so happened to be watching the house she was stealing from.

She stalked back and forth in front of the cell's door, glaring at the ground and wondering how long she'd be able to last before she decided to give up the score in order to be released. There was always the uncertainty that she'd actually be allowed to go free, anyhow, and with her luck lately…

Besides all that, the Guild needed all the gold she could bring in. Whether or not this ring was going to still be paid for, she couldn't just risk giving it up in order to be let out. She needed to think of the Guild first, and how badly they needed the money from this score.

She cursed again, lowly, and sank down to the ground, crossing her legs and glaring out through the bars. She was stuck.

"Not stuck, nor out of luck," came a familiar voice from the corner of the cell. She glanced over her shoulder at the shadow. "You prepared for this. Remember?"

Ziris frowned and faced forward again, trying to figure out what the shadow meant. She supposed that she could try to pick the lock on the cell, but she only had three picks, and she didn't trust herself not to break all of them in her attempts.

She was beginning to turn, to look at the wall behind her and search for a weak spot, when a door opened nearby. She immediately stood up and and grabbed at the bars, peering through them. She frowned when she didn't see anything, and then let out a gasp when Mercer suddenly appeared in front of her, out of nowhere.

"Well, well, look at what you've gotten yourself into," he started with a disappointed sneer. "How did you manage this?"

"I think I was ratted out," Ziris mumbled. "They were watching the house before I went in."

"And you didn't notice?" She drew her eyebrows together and glanced downwards, and Mercer shook his head to himself before pulling out a lockpick and getting to work on the cell. "Don't make me have to do this again," he muttered without looking up at her.

"I won't, but… it seems like everything's out to get me, lately," Ziris sighed. "I've had the worst luck."

"It has nothing to do with luck," Mercer informed her. "It's all about skill. You not realizing the house was being watched was lack of skill. You deciding to sneak into a house on a clear night like this was was lack of skill." The lock on the cell popped, and he opened the door for her. "Maybe you aren't skillful enough for breaking and entering yet."

"I'm so tired of stealing from the Marketplace, though!" Ziris exclaimed. Mercer gave her a warning look, and she clamped her mouth shut and joined him in a crouch on the floor.

"Shut up, and let's get out of here," he muttered, and then led the way back through the door.

Both were silent as they snuck out of Mistveil Keep and made their way towards the hidden entrance in the graveyard. Ziris knew that she shouldn't try to explain herself further, because Mercer didn't want to hear it, but she felt like she should defend herself.

She kept her mouth shut until they were both down the ladder into the cistern, and then she followed him to his desk. "Mercer, I'm sorry. I didn't try to get caught. You can't expect me -"

"What, Ziris? I can't expect you to what?" Mercer growled, turning around to face her. "I can't expect you to retrieve an item of interest for us? I can't expect you to sneak into a house without getting caught?"

Ziris let out a breath in order to keep herself from yelling in response to his own tone, but it didn't work out. "You can't expect me to be perfect!"

Her shout rang around the cistern, and Niruin, who was sitting quietly at the table eating a bowl of stew, looked over at them, curious. Mercer turned his gaze away with a glare, which he then turned to Ziris.

"You will not speak to me like that ever again. Do you understand? I am your Guild Master." Ziris lowered her gaze to her feet, and Mercer went on: "I don't expect you to be perfect. I expect you to get the job done clean. You didn't manage to do that this time around, and I'm disappointed in you. Am I allowed to be disappointed?"

Ziris merely shook her head and reached into the pouch that held the wedding ring she had stolen from the house before the guard had caught her. Silently, she tossed it down onto the desk in front of him.

"Don't bother with the payment. Obviously, I don't deserve it."

With that, she turned and stalked away from the desk, across the cistern to her bed, where she dumped her sword belt, and then flopped down across it with a frustrated grunt.

After a few minutes, she heard the door leading to the Flagon open, and then Brynjolf strolled through. He paused when he caught sight of Mercer behind the desk, and then his eyes drifted over to where Ziris lay across her bed. He seemed to debate something with himself for a moment, and then he walked over to her.

"Something happen?" he asked, and Ziris huffed.

"I got caught sneaking out of a house. Mercer had to spring me, and neither of us are happy about it."

"Ah." Brynjolf glanced over his shoulder towards the Guild Master's desk, and then he looked down at her. "I wouldn't feel too badly. Just last week, I had to spring Vipir after he got caught sneaking into a house. At least you were able to get the score."

"That's the reason I'm upset," Ziris mumbled. "Mercer doesn't even care about that. He's just pissed that I got caught at all, and that's the only thing he can focus on. It's like all he cares about is what I do wrong, and not what I do right." She buried her head under her arms. "I try so hard to impress him, but it's useless, isn't it?"

It had been a long time since she'd joined the Guild, and still it felt like she didn't know what she was doing, sometimes. She had been working extremely hard to reach the standards she thought Mercer expected from her, but every time she thought she had it, it turned out she was wrong. She wasn't sure what the problem was exactly, but she was starting to believe that Mercer just didn't like her as she had thought he did. Maybe whatever he'd seen in her had been wrong.

Brynjolf didn't respond for a moment, and when he did, it was with something she was surprised to hear: "I think he does get impressed by you, sometimes."

"What?" Ziris asked in disbelief. "No he doesn't."

"Sure he does," Brynjolf insisted. "You're the youngest thief in the Guild, but you bring in more coin than most of us combined."

"That's just because Vex and Delvin don't really do legwork anymore," Ziris said dismissively. "And you… you're busy recruiting, so you don't have time to do jobs, either." She raised her head and shook it. "Me bringing in a lot of coin isn't that impressive."

Brynjolf sighed to himself. "I should stop trying to cheer you up," he said. "You never seem to listen to my compliments."

Ziris managed a smile at that. "Maybe it's because your compliments aren't very good."

"Ziris, get over here," Mercer ordered from across the cistern.

Ziris rolled her eyes at Brynjolf.

"Now," Mercer added darkly.

She sighed to herself and slid off of her bed, then made her way over to his desk. When she reached it, she kept her gaze on the wall behind him while Mercer examined her.

After a moment, he grunted to himself. "Do you want your pay?"

"No," Ziris answered immediately.

"No?"

"I mucked up the job," she said simply. "I don't deserve it." Mercer sighed and dropped a coin purse onto the desk in front of her. Ziris didn't reach for it, nor did she look down at it. "I don't want it."

"Take the damn coin purse," Mercer growled.

"No," Ziris said. "Keep it, and pay off the guard with it when they realize I'm not in jail anymore." She finally turned her gaze to meet his. "It's put to better use that way, don't you think?"

Mercer gazed at her without speaking for a long time. Finally, however, he reached forward and took the coin purse back. "Fine," he said. "You're right."

"Is that all?" Ziris queried, and Mercer grunted by way of response. She dipped her head and walked away from his desk again, back across the cistern to where Brynjolf still stood by her bed. He frowned at her as she sat down on it, and Ziris shook her head.

"I don't know what to do about him."

"I don't think any of us do," Brynjolf agreed, his frown turning into a smile. He then let out a breath. "I wanted to ask you what you thought of Vipir."

Vipir was the most recent addition to the Guild, the first to have agreed to Brynjolf's offer in a long time. The first had been Cynric, right after the attack by the other thieves.

Cynric, a Breton, had been a jailbreaker, but a job had gotten botched and had landed him in High Rock prison for three years. After he'd been released, he'd headed for Skyrim, and Brynjolf had noticed him unlocking one of the stands in the Marketplace shortly after.

After Cynric, about three years later, had come Tonilia, a young Redguard woman who knew how to get rid of something a thief did not want in their position. Her skill was useful, as the few shopkeepers down in the Ratway had packed up and left when the majority of the thieves did. She was their fence, and their source of lockpicks and other items necessary to thieving.

After that, Brynjolf had had a long line of turn downs to his offer, although some had come, stayed a week or two, and then left. The one Ziris missed the most was a Nord woman named Veera, who'd reminded her of Lyslin. She'd been an incredible addition to the Guild for the two months she'd stayed, bringing in so many items she'd fished out of pockets that it was incredible Tonilia was able to sell them all. But, after two months, she had left, and Brynjolf's bad luck had continued until about a month ago.

He'd been in the Marketplace, looking for a mark, when he'd noticed a young Nord man creeping along after the person he himself had been searching for. He watched, curious to see what the man was going to do. Imagine his surprise when the Nord easily reached into the mark's pocket, withdrew the very item that Brynjolf was meant to be stealing, and ducked away into the shadows.

Needless to say, Brynjolf had wasted no time in finding the man and asking him if he wanted to put his pickpocketing to use, and make a bit of money off of it.

And, needless to say, the man had agreed.

"Vipir's all right," Ziris said with a shrug, glancing up at Brynjolf. "I haven't really talked to him much. Why?"

"I just wanted to know," Brynjolf responded with a shrug. "See if you'd noticed how well he was fitting in."

Ziris tilted her head, and watched as the young Nord strode through the door leading to the Flagon, pausing to speak with Niruin for a moment before he made his way up the ladder and out the secret entrance.

"I mean… he's seems fine," Ziris commented, shrugging. "He's a thief."

"I suppose," Brynjolf agreed with a sigh.

"Are you feeling downtrodden because you haven't found anyone else worth your time?" Ziris inquired, and he offered a shrug.

"I suppose. It's mostly that I'm tired of getting turned down." Brynjolf glanced around a moment, and then he looked at her. "Wanna come up top and take a walk?"

"I don't think that's a good idea," Ziris replied. "I should stay down here for a few days, until the guard 'forgets' about me."

"Right," Brynjolf agreed, rubbing at his neck. "That's smart. And you're probably tired. I'll let you get some sleep."

"Good night, Brynjolf," Ziris said as he started to walk away. He nodded back, and crossed the cistern to get to his own bed. Ziris exhaled and rose to strip down to her tunic, carefully putting her armor on top of the chest beside her bed. She then slipped under the blanket and cuddled her pillow close to her face, eyes drifting shut.

She slid into a steady sleep that was unaffected by dreams, and that lasted for several hours. She was awoken, however, when she heard a door closing, and she opened one eye in order to see what was going on.

The cistern was dark aside for a few lanterns that glowed warmly above and next to a few beds, and beside the ladder. The door she'd heard wasn't the one to the Flagon; she would have recognized the sound of that. Instead, she watched in surprise as a dark figure slid away from the Guild's master vault and towards the ladder that lead up to the secret entrance. She watched the figure until it disappeared up the ladder, frowning to herself, but too drowsy to worry about it.

As soon as she was sure the dark form was gone, her eye closed again. She struggled to force herself back into sleep, but it easily evaded her, and she sighed to herself before sitting up in her bed. She pulled her hair back out of her face and glanced around for a moment. The beds that were meant to be occupied were, aside from one. She frowned when she noticed it, and then she slid her legs over the side of her bed and rose, stretching.

She quickly padded towards the Flagon's door and stepped through, closing it softly behind her. She followed the darkened corridor out through the hidden entrance in the cabinet, and stepped into the tavern.

Delvin was seated at the bar, a tin cup in front of him. Vekel was absent, however, probably fast asleep in the small room he occupied just outside the Flagon.

"Del?" He glanced in her direction, and smiled when he spotted her, inviting her over with a tilt of his head.

Ziris walked to the bar and settled down on a stool, resting her elbows on the wooden bar top and her chin in one hand.

"What're you doin' up, love?" Delvin queried, taking a sip of his drink.

Ziris considered telling him about the figure that had come out of the vault, but decided against it for some reason. She shook her head.

"Don't know," she said. "I woke up, and sleep wouldn't come back to me. I noticed you weren't in bed, and I got up to see if you were out here."

Delvin nodded, and set his mug back down on the bar. "Had a bad dream," he admitted. "Nothing a bit of mead can't wash away, though." He glanced at her again. "Heard Mercer had to break you out earlier this evening."

Ziris rolled her eyes to herself. "The house I was stealing from was being watched," she said with a dismissive shrug. "Not the first time I botched a job, but it was the first time I got taken to jail." She eyed him. "Ever been in jail, Delvin?"

"Aye," he confirmed. "Spent a week in a cell once, after Gallus refused to come get me. Said I needed to think over what I'd done."

Ziris frowned at him. "That bad?"

"The worse," Delvin agreed. He smiled. "I got into a brawl over Lyslin at the inn, and knocked the other one senseless. Then I got on a chair and attempted to swing from the chandelier."

"The Bee and Barb had a chandelier?" Ziris asked, and Delvin nodded.

"Until I pulled it from the ceiling." They shared a laugh at that, and Delvin wiped at his eyes. "A week in the Mistveil Keep jail made me realize that no woman wants a man to declare his undying love while hanging from a chandelier."

Ziris shook her head at him. "How old were you?"

"Not much younger than I am now," he responded. "Must've been… oh, thirteen or so years ago. Couple before you came along."

Ziris gave him a confused look. "How old are you?" she asked, and Delvin chuckled.

"I'll never tell."

Before she could say anything more, there was the sound of movement from the direction of Vekel's room, and then the Guild's main lookout appeared, looking half-asleep and under-dressed.

"Hey, Maul," Delvin greeted. He held up his mead. "You wanna drink?"

"I heard you two laughing, and you woke me up," Maul grumbled, plopping down in a chair at one of the tables. "Aren't you up past your bedtime, Ziris?"

"Hahah," Ziris said without humor. "Very funny. You know I'm almost twenty, Maul."

Maul had been apart of the Guild before the betrayal, and he was still sticking around. Ziris had to wonder how long it would be before his loyalties switched entirely to the Black-Briars, who had gotten him the job as the Guild's lookout in the first place. Ziris imagined the Black-Briars would pay a lot more for eyes on the street than the Guild could afford to pay for eyes in the Ratway.

Maul yawned and rested his head onto the table. Within a few moments, he was snoring softly. Delvin and Ziris exchanged an amused glance, and then Ziris yawned herself.

"Go back to bed, love," Delvin advised. "I'll be all right."

Ziris nodded, gave him a pat on the shoulder, and then she slipped away from where he sat and headed back towards the cistern. As soon as she walked in, she headed over to her bed and slid beneath the blanket again and was asleep instantly.

The following morning, she woke up later than normal, and found that the cistern was empty. She frowned, sitting up, aware that her hair must have been a sight. She quickly pulled it into a bun and slid out of bed, reaching for her armor. She couldn't go anywhere, but she didn't need to be walking around in her tunic.

As she was dressing, she heard the hidden entrance open, and she glanced up in time to see Brynjolf coming down the ladder. She smiled at him, and waved him over to her.

He took his time, strolling around the edges of the cistern rather than going across the bridges. He reached her, and she gestured to the buckle on her armor that always gave her trouble.

Brynjolf easily did it up for her, and she offered him a grateful look. "What would I do without you?" she asked, and he shrugged.

"I doubt you'll ever have to find out."

Ziris chuckled. "Did you already eat?"

"Couple of hours ago," Brynjolf replied. "You just woke up, I take it."

"Guilty," Ziris admitted with a shrug. "I woke up in the middle of the night and had a talk with Delvin."

"What about?"

"Jail time and girls," Ziris answered earnestly.

Brynjolf smirked. "I'll have to be awake sometime in order to sit in on one of those," he said. "It seems I'm missing out."

"You are," Ziris informed him, heading for the Flagon. "I'll see you later."

"Sure," Brynjolf replied, and Ziris was aware of him watching her as she walked through the door. She smiled a bit to herself as she walked down the hall and into the Flagon. Vekel stood behind the bar, cleaning a mug, and he lifted an eyebrow when he saw her.

"Sleep in today?" he queried.

"Maul didn't tell you?" Ziris returned, hopping onto a barstool.

"No, he didn't have too," Vekel answered. "I found him asleep at one of the tables. It wasn't hard to guess what happened." He set the mug down. "You and Delvin have got to stop having your late night conversations in here. You're going to make Maul quit, and that's not something the bar or the Guild can afford."

Ziris smiled complacently. "Maul loves listening to Delvin and I jabber about nothing," she said, and then she reached for some gold. "Breakfast?"

"Not warm," Vekel answered, eyeing the small pile of coins she made on the bar. "But… I guess I could stick something over the fire for a minute or three."

"You're the Man," Ziris said, winking, and Vekel rolled his eyes.

Ziris chortled to herself and turned around on the barstool, eyeing the Flagon. Vex was sitting alone at one of the tables, reading a book, and she spotted Tonilia on the dock, examining some weaponry sitting on the table before her.

Ziris had never had any close girlfriends, mostly due to the fact that she'd grown up on a farm, but partially due to the fact that neither Vex or Tonilia seemed willing to give her the time of day. Ziris didn't know what they had against her, or if they simply weren't friends with anyone.

Either way, Ziris didn't have a woman to talk too, and she realized that she hadn't thought about her mother in a long while.

Her mother, who'd looked nothing like her but had that same 'play by the rules' attitude. Her mother, who'd read to her at night if she wasn't busy doing anything else. Her mother, who'd been torn to shreds by vampires.

Ziris winced when Vekel plopped down a plate of fried ham and bread down on the bar, and she gave him a look.

"Thinking hard about something?" he asked her.

"My mother," Ziris admitted. "I haven't thought about her in a long time."

"Yeah, well…" Vekel shrugged and picked up a different mug to clean. "I never even met my mother, and I doubt most of the rest of the Guild remembers their own, so I wouldn't fret too much."

Ziris turned her attention to her food, but she couldn't help but wonder if any of the Guild did think about their parents. Ziris realized that the only one whom she'd spoke to about theirs was Brynjolf, and that he hadn't given her much.

They didn't want me, so I left and found a real family.

After that, she'd decided that maybe it was best if she didn't ask any of the others.

Still, she was curious. Had Mercer left his own family, like Brynjolf? Maybe his parents had been killed like hers. Was Delvin actually from a rich merchant family, and had decided he'd rather be a thief than live a cushy life? Did Vex have a mother somewhere in Skyrim? Was Tonilia's family still in Hammerfell?

Ziris contemplated this as she ate her food, and came to the conclusion that it didn't matter much. They were a family, now, and the Guild was the only family they all needed.

After she'd finished her meal, she thanked Vekel and returned to the cistern. Deciding it was best not to waste time while she was under house-arrest, she went to the training room and froze when she saw… it.

"I hate you," she muttered to the dummy wearing the bell-infested coat.

It was meant to help with pickpocket training. Whenever you reached into one of the pockets on the coat, the dozens of little bells sewn onto it would ring, unless you were being especially careful. Ziris, who hated pickpocketing with a fiery passion, in turn hated the dummy with a fiery passion.

"I really hate you," she told it.

"It has never done anything to you."

She turned and found Mercer leaning in the doorway behind her, his arms crossed.

"It makes fun of me," Ziris responded. "That's bad enough."

"It's supposed to help," Mercer said.

"It just makes me feel bad about myself," Ziris told him, walking over to the training chests instead. "That's all it's good for."

"Hmm."

"What're you up to today?" Ziris asked him, pulling out a lockpick and her dagger before sitting down in front of the big dwarven chest and setting to work on the lock.

"I was going to see if you wanted to spar a bit," Mercer said.

Ziris looked over at him in surprise. "Really?"

"We haven't trained in swordsmanship in a while," Mercer continued, stepping into the room. "I need to make sure you're still quick on your feet."

Ziris grinned, and hopped up, sliding away her dagger while leaving the pick in the lock. "I'm always quick on my feet," she told him, walking over to where he was pulling wooden weapons out of a chest.

"We'll see," Mercer replied, and then he tossed her a sword and dagger. Ziris easily caught both, and she swung the sword around in a circle as she backed away a few paces. Mercer watched in amusement as she immediately reflected his stance.

"Kind of what happens when you're the one who taught me how to fight," Ziris said, seeing his expression.

"That's true," Mercer admitted, swinging his own sword a few times. "Ready?"

"Sure," Ziris answered.

Still, neither of them made the first move.

Ziris couldn't help but laugh. "I don't think either of us are going to go first," she told him.

In response, Mercer took a quick step forward, stabbing his sword in her direction. Ziris barely had time to deflect it with her dagger, and she quickly pushed her own sword down below the two blades and took a jab at him.

Mercer pulled away before she could reach him, and spun around, swinging his dagger towards her this time. Ziris twisted in the opposite direction from it, and smacked at the dagger with her sword. It fell from his grip easily, and clattered to the stone floor.

"Hah," Ziris said, grinning.

"Stop," Mercer mumbled, reaching for the wooden dagger. Ziris let him grab it, but once it was back in his hand, she shuffled forward, poking at him with her sword. Mercer pushed it away with his own, leaving a wide open space right in his chest for her to stab with her dagger. She did so, and he grunted, backing away a few paces.

"You're slower than I am," Ziris told him, rotating the wrist of the hand holding the dagger.

"I had a late night," Mercer said, relaxing his shoulders. He exhaled and flexed the hand around his sword.

"What were you doing?" Ziris asked, frowning.

Mercer gave her a look. "Is that any of your business?"

"N-no," Ziris stammered, looking away. "I guess it's not. Sorry."

Mercer sighed to himself, and Ziris glanced over at him. He jerked his head, indicating that she should follow him. She did so, and mirrored him as he put away his wooden weapons and then leaned against the wall beside the training dummies. Ziris joined him, and looked at him in confusion.

"I want you to have this," he said, producing a steel key from somewhere. He handed it to her, and she tested its weight in her hand for a moment before glancing up at him again. "It's to the master vault."

"I'm not supposed to have one of these," Ziris said, attempting to give it back. Keys for the master vault were for senior members of the Guild only, and high ranking ones at that. As far as she knew, only Mercer, Delvin, and Molgrom had one. Molgrom probably didn't even have his anymore, because of how often he was arrested and gone from the Guild.

"Why are you giving me this?" Ziris asked him when he didn't take it from her.

Mercer shrugged. "You've earned it," he said, "and Delvin and I shouldn't be the only ones with copies."

"But… shouldn't you give one to Brynjolf instead? Or Vex or Niruin?"

Mercer lifted an eyebrow at her. "Do you think I trust them more than I trust you?" Ziris didn't know what to say to that, and she turned her gaze back down to the key. "I don't want you to think you'll need to use it for anything. It's just a precaution, in case one of the other copies goes missing. The vault needs two keys in order to be unlocked." He nodded to the one she was holding. "Yours is the backup."

"And… you're sure you want me to have it?" Ziris queried. "Even after what happened last night?"

"Yes," Mercer said with a nod. "But… keep quiet about it, all right? I don't need Vex getting on my back about giving one to you rather than to her."

Ziris knew better than to argue with him, and so she nodded back. Mercer gave her a pat on the shoulder and stood up, gesturing towards the training dummy that was wearing the bell-coat.

"Practice a bit, and I'll let Delvin give you a job for tomorrow," he said.

Ziris nodded again, still looking down at her key. She listened as Mercer walked away from the training room, and then she exhaled to herself and slid her key away into one of her hidden pockets inside the armor. She didn't want to know what Mercer had been doing in the master vault the night before, but now she had no doubts that it had been him she'd seen leave it.

She was tempted to go to Delvin about it, see if he knew anything, but before she could make up her mind, Brynjolf poked his head into the training room, and grinned when he saw her.

"You want me to help you with your pickpocketing for a while?" he asked her, entering the room fully. "I have to head to Ivarstead on a job in a bit, but I could work with you until then, if you want?"

Ziris returned his grin and nodded, straightening up. "Sounds good."

She forgot all about Mercer's excursion into the master vault as she settled into her training, making sure to pay close attention to what Brynjolf was saying. After all, if she wanted to beat the bad luck that had seemed to have settled over the Guild, she needed to hone her skills to their sharpest points.