I do not own Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.
This is the most filler chapter that has ever filled. Chapter.
I'm sleepy, and I'm on sinus infection medicine. Sorry.
Review Responses:
Lydia: Yep, yep, yep! Couldn't write a story without an appearance from the other two OCs, could I? I'm glad you're approving of the Ziris/Mercer dynamic, and, maybe, you will see a better, stronger relationship blossom between Ziris and Brynjolf. I'm not gonna give away any hints, though.
Manu: Wowie! You know Mercer better than I do, which isn't that hard to accomplish, because I don't think I write Mercer very well at all. I'm glad you understand his plan, because I didn't even think about it before writing it down. Also, yes, Brynjolf and Ziris are now separated on not only a relationship level, but also on a professional level. Maybe they'll reconcile sometime soon? We'll just have to wait and see!
Guest: Technically, all three characters are considered Dragonborns, but, in my world for them, Cry is the only Dragonborn that has the ability to use her Thuum. Hainin and Ziris can't do that, because that's just how the AU goes, I guess. It's not really and AU, but it sort of is, since all three characters would have the same capabilities if I'd written it how the game intended. But, since they all exist in the same world, they do not all have Dragonborn capabilities, which is why Ziris and Hainin are always listed as OC, rather than Dragonborn, on my stories.
Wow. I've never actually written about that, so it felt good to try and explain. Thank you for your review, which prompted me to explain, anonymous friendship!
Chapter 9: Luck v. Skill
The following morning, Vex still had not returned from whatever she was doing, and Mercer was growing more and more disgruntled with each passing hour. By eleven, he was pacing behind his desk, and Ziris debated going over to speak with him.
Before she could make up her mind, there was the sound of grunting from the secret entrance, and Ziris turned her attention to it. Her eyes widened when she saw Vex appear, one arm wrapped around her stomach, and the other doing its best to support her weight as she climbed down the ladder with one foot. Her opposite leg sported a long, ugly gash that Ziris could see from where she sat on her bed.
Without hesitating, Ziris stood and hurried across the cistern to her fellow thief. Vex didn't complain when Ziris wrapped her arm around her neck and helped her over to her bed. She laid down on it with a groan, and Ziris quickly went to retrieve a potion and some linen for the cut on her leg.
When she returned, Vex's bed was surrounded by Brynjolf, Mercer, and Delvin. Vipir and Cynric stood nearby, exchanging concerned glances.
Ziris pushed through the men and quickly poured some of the potion she'd retrieved into Vex's mouth. The lithe thief spluttered a bit, coughing most of the potion back out, but Ziris persisted, and managed to get her to swallow half of it.
"Vex? Can you hear me?" Brynjolf queried, resting a gentle hand on Vex's forehead while Ziris went to work on the cut on her leg. Vex let out a mumbled response, and Brynjolf frowned, glancing at Mercer. "She needs rest."
"I need to know what happened," Mercer insisted coolly, and turned his stormy gaze to Vex's face. "Vex? Tell me."
"Damn mercenaries… all over the place," the thief managed, her voice weak. "Caught me… when I got on the island."
"So you didn't get into the house?" Mercer asked, and Vex responded with a shake of her head, wincing. Mercer scowled to himself, and stalked off towards his desk.
Brynjolf lingered a moment longer, glancing at Ziris, who ignored him in favor of persuading Vex to drink more of the potion, which she did. Brynjolf retreated after Mercer, leaving Delvin and Ziris with Vex.
"She'll be all right," Ziris told Delvin, who was considerably pale as he gazed down at Vex in worry. "The cut on her leg is the worst thing; it just needs some time to heal."
Delvin managed a nod, and then he sank down on the edge of Vex's bed, taking one of her hands in his. Ziris watched them for a moment longer, then, deciding there wasn't much else she could do, turned and started towards Mercer's desk.
Brynjolf was studying the ground as she approached, and Mercer was gazing at his ledger. Neither looked up when she reached them, although Mercer did ask, "She'll be all right?"
"Just needs to rest and let the cut on her leg close," Ziris confirmed. "She'll be back on her feet in two or three days." She glanced between him and Brynjolf, frowning. "What did she risk and almost lose her life for, anyhow?"
Mercer glanced up at her. "Our revenue from Goldenglow Estate has stopped," he said stonily. "We want to know why, and Maven wants to know why there's no more honey flowing her way. Vex was trying to find out both of these things."
Ziris frowned to herself as she considered this. After a moment, she met Mercer's gaze. "Do you want…?"
"No, not so soon after Vex was just there," Mercer responded. "It was risky before, and now even more so, knowing that Aringoth has hired mercenaries." He growled to himself. "Damned wood elf."
Ziris let out a sigh. She hadn't been given a high-paying job for a long time. She didn't necessarily need the gold, but she liked feeling important. It was no secret that Vex was the best infiltrator in the Guild, but Ziris trusted herself to sneak onto an island and into an estate.
Still, Mercer had a point. The mercenaries would be on high-alert for at least a week. They'd have to wait.
"Fine," she said, "but I want to do it."
Mercer rolled his eyes. "Give it a week before you try anything," he told her.
Ziris nodded, content, and then she turned to face Brynjolf. "You want to do that thing now?"
"Sure," he replied. "Give me a few minutes, and then we'll head up to the surface."
He walked away from the desk, and Ziris looked back at Mercer. "Do you think Aringoth sold Goldenglow?" she asked.
"It's possible, but he'd better hope he didn't," Mercer answered, eyes narrowed. "Maven won't be happy to hear that he did, and we won't be happy to have to tell her. He'll have a lot to answer for."
"And you don't want him dead?" Ziris inquired. Mercer gave her a look, and she smiled. "All right, all right. Not the Dark Brotherhood. I get it."
Brynjolf returned a few moments later, dressed in a fancy outfit that looked as though it had been worn before. Ziris frowned when she saw him.
"You leaving us to become a steward?" she asked, and Brynjolf shook his head.
"You'll see. Come on."
Ziris followed him up the secret entrance ladder and trailed behind him as they walked through the burial ground behind the Temple of Mara. Brynjolf paused on the edge of the marketplace, and studied the activity there for a moment before turning to face her.
"It's pretty simple," he started. "We need to steal a ring from Madesi's lockbox behind his stand and place it on Brand-Shei. I figured you could do that, while I caused a distraction."
Ziris pursed her lips. "Why are we doing this?"
"Someone wants Brand-Shei out of business," Brynjolf replied with a shrug. "You can handle it, right?"
Ziris rolled her eyes and started to walk away from him towards a clump of shadows. "Just cause that distraction, Brynjolf. I'll plant the ring before you can say 'Black-Briar mead'."
Ziris ducked into the shadows as Brynjolf made his way over to the only vacant stand in the marketplace. She frowned when she watched him do this, and then he immediately began pulling out long necked red bottles from behind it and setting them up. How long had he been planning this job for? Obviously a while.
She rolled her eyes, again, and waited for him to begin his distraction.
Five minutes passed. And then ten. As fifteen rolled by, Ziris began to wonder if he'd dragged her out into the open for nothing. Finally, however, he seemed to remember what he was supposed to be doing.
"Everyone, gather 'round!" he invited to everyone in the marketplace.
With grumbles, they began to crowd around his stand. Ziris watched Brand-Shei plop down on a pile of boxes, and she sent up a thank you to the Divines for the position he'd put himself in. She then glanced at Madesi's stall. The Argonian hadn't moved.
Damn.
She looked towards where Brynjolf was holding everyone's attention with his 'wares', and then back at Madesi. He was watching Brynjolf. If Ziris was very, very careful, she could, very possibly, get in behind him, pick the lock on his stand, steal the ring, and get out of there before he noticed.
Did she put that much stock into her abilities, however?
Of course she did. She'd done the same thing to Grelka the day before.
Ziris crept around the edge of the marketplace and paused momentarily, eyeing Madesi's position behind his stand. He was standing more to the right, leaving just enough space for her to creep in there and get the door open.
Silently, and making sure not to bump against him, Ziris sidled up behind the stand and quickly picked the lock on the sliding door. When it was open, she glanced up at Madesi. His gaze was still on Brynjolf.
Ziris turned her own back to her business, and cursed silently when she found herself face to face with a lockbox. Brynjolf had said there was one; why hadn't she considered it?
Not seeing any other choice, she put her lockpick in place and nestled her tongue between her teeth to keep from cursing aloud as she picked the lock on the box. Luck seemed to be on her side again, because she didn't have to fiddle with it for long.
Without pausing, she raised the lid, snatched everything that was inside, and scurried off to another patch of shadows a good distance away from the stand. Madesi didn't look down once.
Ziris sighed to herself, and then continued on around the marketplace to the boxes that Brand-Shei was seated on. She hid behind the stack and his stand, and, very carefully, slid the silver ring she's pulled out of the lockbox into his pocket. Without hesitating, she backtracked out from behind the boxes and around to the other side of the marketplace. Once she was in the clear, she rose and gave Brynjolf a look.
"That's all the time I have for today, unfortunately," the redheaded Nord said to his gathered crowd. "Thank you for listening."
"Hogwash," someone muttered as Ziris walked past him to the stand. Brynjolf gave her an appreciative look when she reached him.
"I'm impressed," he said to her. "I wasn't sure you were going to be able to get that ring with Madesi standing there."
"But I did," Ziris said simply, crossing her arms.
"You did," Brynjolf agreed. He produced a small coin purse from one of the pockets on his outfit and handed it to her. "Thanks for the help. I've been doing the merchant thing for a week, trying to figure out how to handle it. Seems like it was a two person job, however."
"Glad I could help," Ziris said, sliding the coin purse into one of her pouches. "That was all?"
Brynjolf seemed to hesitate for a moment, but he then nodded. "That was all."
Ziris dipped her head. "Then back to the cistern I go. Bye." She turned and walked away from him, half-wanting him to call her back. He didn't.
Ziris walked back to the secret entrance and tapped the button on the tomb. It slid backwards and away, and she dropped down into the opening and pulled the chain to cover the entrance again. When it was closed, she slid into the hole and made her way down the ladder.
When she reached the bottom, she found Delvin waiting for her.
"She's still sleeping," the thief said, meaning Vex.
"Yes, Delvin," Zris responded. "That's typically what happens when a person takes a potion and their body is trying to heal. They sleep for a long time." Delvin didn't look convinced, and she rested a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, Del. She's going to be fine."
Leaving him with that, she walked away from him and towards her bed. She settled down on the edge of it with a sigh, and then tilted her head when she noticed someone she hadn't seen in the cistern for a while sitting down on a bed of her own.
Sapphire was reading a book, leaning back against the wall behind her bed. She seemed to sense Ziris was watching her, because she lowered her book and met her gaze. Ziris lifted a hand in greeting, and Sapphire's eyes narrowed before she returned her attention to the book, positioning it so that Ziris couldn't see her face.
Ziris sighed to herself. She understood why Sapphire was angry with her, but it would have been wrong of her to allow Sapphire to keep threatening Shadr.
She was a thief with morals, so what? It kept her sane.
Still… she couldn't let the anger linger for long. If Sapphire didn't get over it herself within the next few days, she'd do something about it.
She glanced towards Mercer's desk. He wasn't there, and a look around the cistern confirmed his absence. Ziris rose from her spot on the edge of the bed and stretched. She was feeling hungry; perhaps she could go see what Vekel had prepared to eat.
She ducked out of the cistern into the Ragged Flagon. It was quiet with both Vex and Delvin inside the cistern instead. Tonilia sat by herself at a corner table, reading a book, and Vekel was busy wiping down the bar. Dirge stood near the platform leading to the bar, ever alert for a threat.
Ziris hopped onto a barstool and watched Vekel work for a few minutes without speaking. When he finally glanced up from his task, he raised an eyebrow at her.
"Welcome home," he greeted. "Haven't seen you for about a week. Off on a job?"
"Winterhold. I got back yesterday," Ziris confirmed. "Anything cooking?"
"Just some stew that Tonilia wanted heated up. You want some, too?" Ziris nodded, and Vekel turned and retrieved a bowl of it for her. He set it down on the bar, and Ziris traded two gold septims for it, accepting the spoon he offered her. "What was in Winterhold?"
"Some insignia necklace or something," Ziris replied with a shrug as she stirred the stew. It was brown, and she thought it had some kind of vegetable in it, along with an unidentified meat that she hoped was rabbit. "You know I don't ask questions."
"No one does," Vekel agreed, watching her eye the soup. "It's rabbit, don't worry. And cabbage and some carrots."
Content, Ziris spooned some into her mouth. She glanced around the Flagon for a moment. "Odd without Vex and Delvin in here," she said idly.
"Aye," Vekel agreed. "Little too quiet without their bickering. How is Vex?"
"Hasn't woken up yet," Ziris answered. "She took a whole bottle of potion, though. I doubt she'll be awake until tomorrow morning."
"She was lucky to get off the island, then?" Vekel guessed, and Ziris nodded.
"Luckier than a lot of the others would have been. Seems like a streak of bad luck has been following us for while. I almost mucked up a job I did with Brynjolf earlier because someone wouldn't move, and Thrynn told me he almost lost a finger during a heist when a door closed before it was supposed to." She shook her head, and put some stew in her mouth. "I don't get it."
"Been this way since Gallus died and Mercer took over," Vekel commented idly. "Have you noticed that?"
Ziris considered it. The Guild had suffered because of loss of jobs and lack of coin being brought in, but she didn't think they were too badly off. Unless they were, and Mercer hadn't shared that information with her.
Her hand drifted to one of the pouches on her belt and opened it, slipping in to finger the key that opened the Guild's master vault.
Ziris had felt proud at the time of receiving it, but now she wondered why it was in her possession. She knew that Delvin had one; he was the oldest member of the Guild. Mercer and Brynjolf each had one, as Guild Master and second-in-command, respectively.
Why did she have one? Vex had been in the Guild longer than she had, and so had Niruin. It didn't make sense, despite Mercer's promise of it being a precaution.
She shook her head and withdrew her hand from the pouch, securing it again and returning her attention to her stew. It didn't matter much to her; she couldn't open the safe without a second key, anyhow. Not that she would want to open the safe. All the gold that was in there could easily make someone go crazy just from looking at it for too long.
She finished her stew and thanked Vekel as she slid off of the barstool. Talking to the bartender always gave her a sense of understanding, although she didn't know why. She started to work her way back into the cistern, to speak with Delvin and see if he knew of a job in Riften. Before she could make it through the hidden panel in the wardrobe, however, Thrynn was there, blocking her path.
"Oh, hello," she greeted, blinking up at him. "I thought you were going to Whiterun?"
"Mercer told Vipir to take it instead, said it needed someone quick," Thrynn explained. He glanced past her towards the bar, and then met her gaze again. "Did you already eat?"
"Yeah, just now," she replied. "I was going to go ask Delvin if he had anything in Riften for me. I'm confined here, since I took so long on the Winterhold job."
"That wasn't your fault," Thrynn said. "You were waylaid by a dragon."
Ziris merely smiled and scooted beneath his arm to the other side of the closet. "Oh well. I wasn't up for traveling for a while, anyhow. Besides, Mercer can't keep me here for long. I'm the only one who seems to be able to do a job in another hold without mucking it up."
Thrynn cursed amiably after her, and Ziris continued to grin as she reentered the cistern. Delvin was still sitting vigil beside Vex's bedside, and Rune was seated at the table with Sapphire, discussing something. Niruin leaned against a wall, watching Cynric shoot arrows into the training dummies and offering a tip or trick every few arrows.
Brynjolf was back, wearing his Guild armor once again and standing behind the Guild Master's desk, studying the ledger with a furrowed brow. He glanced up when the door closed behind Ziris, echoing around the cistern, and waved her over.
Ziris rolled her eyes to herself at having to do his bidding, but trotted across the walkway to where he was all the same.
"Yes, boss?" she inquired dryly. Brynjolf ignored her tone and gestured to the ledger.
"A few of Riften's citizens haven't paid up this month," he said, and glanced up at her. "Think you could convince them to hand over their coin?"
Ziris offered a long groan. "I guess," she bemoaned. "Who is it?"
"Haelga, to start. Keerava and Bersi, too." Brynjolf gave her a look. "Do not rough them up as an easy way of getting the gold. You know that's not how we do things."
"And you know that I'm too friendly to do something like that, anyhow," Ziris responded pleasantly. She drifted away from the desk and towards the ladder, offering Rune and Sapphire a friendly wave as she passed them. Rune returned it, but Sapphire did not.
Ziris hadn't expected her to.
She climbed the ladder and walked out from beneath the Temple of Mara, gazing around for a moment before heading for the Bee and Barb with a shrug.
She'd been in Riften long enough to know what could make someone give up the money they owed the Guild. For instance, she knew that Keerava had family living in Morrowind, and that she didn't want them discovered. Ziris could use that to her advantage.
As soon as she walked into the Bee and Barb, Keerava's assistant, Talen-Jei, walked over to her.
"Get out," he said plainly, and Ziris held up her hands.
"Easy. We just want what's owed."
"With the rumors going around about how poorly the Guild's doing, Keerava's gotten bold," Talen-Jei informed her. "She won't be giving up your pay without a fight, and I don't want to be cleaning blood off the floor."
"Nor do I want you to have to," Ziris responded. "I have a way around such a response. Excuse me." She scooted around the Argonian and sidled up to the bar. Keerava glared at her as she rested her elbows on top of it, and she tossed a wet rag down onto it with a loud smack.
"Leave. Now," the Argonian growled.
"I'm guessing you aren't willing to pay what you owe," Ziris commented.
"No, and I won't be, ever," Keerava agreed. "Get out of my inn!"
Ziris sighed and glanced around for a moment. "Perhaps I should visit that farm in Morrowind," she began. "I'm sure they'd be willing to pay…"
Keerava's orange eyes immediately lost their fire. "How could you possibly know about…?" She trailed off and shook her head. "Please, my family means so much to me. Don't hurt them."
"I can forget about it, if you give me the gold that you owe," Ziris said, lifting an eyebrow.
"Fine," Keerava said, sourly. She reached beneath the bar and then dropped a heavy coin purse onto it. "Take this to Brynjolf, and tell him he'll have no more trouble from me."
Ziris smiled and pick up the coin purse. "Pleasure doing business with you."
Keerava hissed at her and went back to wiping down the bar as Ziris strolled out of the Bee and Barb, securing the coin purse to her belt as she did so. She then headed for the Pawned Praun, not feeling like going to the Bunkhouse and dealing with Haelga just yet.
She found Bersi alone in the front room of the shop, and he frowned at her when she walked in. "Not another one of you people," he muttered under his breath.
Ziris strolled over to the dresser beneath the window on the front of the shop, examining the Dwemer urn that sat on top of it. "Not going to pay, then?" she guessed.
"No, of course not. If I didn't pay three days ago, what makes your Guild think I'm going to be paying now? Get out of my shop."
"Bersi, you don't pay, and bad things are going to happen to you," Ziris told him. "Do you really want that?"
"Petty threats aren't going to be enough to persuade me this time around," Bersi retorted. "Your Guild can barely protect themselves; why should I believe they can protect me? You people are all talk, and everyone knows it!"
Ziris sighed to herself, and pushed the Dwemer urn off of the dresser. It shattered as soon as it hit the wooden floor, and Bersi let out a gasp as it did so. Ziris turned around to face him, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Still don't want to pay?" she queried.
Bersi gaped at the shattered urn. "Do you know how much that cost?" he demanded after a moment, glaring at her. "More than I owe, that's for sure!" All the same, he produced a coin purse and tossed it to the floor at her feet. "Fine, take it. I'll pay on time from now on. Just… don't smash anything else."
Ziris scooped up the coin purse and left the shop without another word. She put the purse onto her belt and headed to Haelga's Bunkhouse. She walked in, and wrinkled her nose. The scent of intercourse was palpable.
Haelga backed away from the counter she stood behind as the door closed behind Ziris. "Please, don't hurt me."
"We want our coin, Haelga," Ziris informed her, remaining where she was. The less she touched in the Bunkhouse, the better.
"I know. I already heard from Keerava that the Guild is done waiting." She reached beneath the counter and pulled out a coin purse, then set it down. "Look, I even have the payment. Please, just take it and go."
Ziris stepped forward enough to pick up the coin purse, being careful not to touch anything else. She attached it to her belt and glanced up at Haelga.
"You know… I doubt that Mercer will keep coming to help you worship Dibella if you're late on your payment again," she said after a moment. "Keep that in mind, would you?"
Haelga scowled after her as she exited the Bunkhouse and headed for the secret entrance. She hopped down into the cistern and immediately went over to the Guild Master's desk. One by one, she dropped the coin purses onto the desk in front of Brynjolf.
"Keerava, Bersi, and Haelga. All taken care of." Brynjolf reached for the coin purses, producing a smaller one for her. Ziris took it without complaint and hefted it for a moment, watching as he dropped the coin purses into a drawer on the desk and closed it.
"Brynjolf?" He glanced up, and she let out a breath. "When… when's the last time you've been in the vault?"
Brynjolf's eyebrows drew together as he gazed at her. "Why?"
"I just… everyone I talked to about paying mentioned that they know the Guild's in a bad way," Ziris replied. "I was wondering how bad."
Brynjolf exhaled slowly. "I haven't had cause to go into the vault for a while," he said. "I trust Mercer to take care of it. He has been for a long time, now."
"Right, I know. I trust him too," Ziris assured. "I just wanted to know if the rumors are truer than we're making them out to be."
"Ziris, if it gets to be really bad, Mercer and I will tell everyone," Brynjolf said. "I admire your loyalty, and your worry for the Guild's well being, but it isn't your place to know anything before anyone else."
"I wasn't implying that it was," Ziris grumbled. She turned on her heel and stalked away from the desk, shaking her head to herself as she went. She headed over to the bed Vex was laid out on, and where Delvin was sitting beside her. The Breton glanced up at her approach.
"Nothing?" Ziris queried, and he shook his head. "Don't worry, Del. If the potion's doing its job, she'll be out until tomorrow." She rested a hand on his shoulder. "You don't have to stay here all night long."
"I want to," Delvin replied without looking up from Vex's pale face, which was even whiter than it usually was. "Did ya need somethin', love?"
"I was going to ask if you had any jobs in Riften," Ziris responded. "I need to waste time until I can take a shot at Goldenglow myself."
Delvin glanced up at this. "You want to go in there, even after seeing what those brutes did to Vex?" he asked in disbelief.
"Someone's got to," Ziris said with a shrug. "I figured I could give it a go." She smiled at him. "And, if it goes badly for me, at least I know you'll be there to sit by my bedside and nurse me back to health."
Delvin grinned back, reached up and took the hand she'd put on his shoulder. "Of course, love," he assured, pressing a kiss to the back of it. "I doubt you'll need it, though. You're the luckiest out of all of us."
Ziris didn't share with him that she believed she was just the most skilled. Instead, she nodded, and left him alone with Vex once again, retreating across the cistern to her own bed. She slid her newest coin purses beneath her mattress and then flopped down onto the bed.
All that was left to do was wait, she supposed.
Also, I'm sorry this is being uploaded later than normal. I sort of forgot to do it last night, and then I woke up at four this morning and I was sort of shook because of dreams so I didn't really do anything but watch Vine compilations on Tumblr for a good two hours, so...
And then I didn't wake up until 10, and I had to spend two more hours watching the new YouTube videos that were uploaded.
But I'm posting this chapter now, so I hope everyone enjoys it, and doesn't miss it!
I'll see you in the next one, which will, hopefully, be on time!