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<\/p>\nDagnell walked into the Winking Skeever in Solitude and tried to slide her way in past the elbows of drinking locals crowding the doorway.\u00a0 The innkeeper called a welcome, or at least she hoped it was a welcome, through the noise of the revelers.\u00a0 Dag had no idea how she would find her target in the midst of this crowd. Every race in Tamriel was here, as far as she could tell: multiples of all of them, half of them drunk, all of them loud.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
It was a pleasant inn, downright opulent compared to some of the others she\u2019d seen in Skyrim.\u00a0 The place was made of stone and was clean and attractive, with glazed Nordic place settings and bright hangings.\u00a0 There were potted plants here and there \u2013 deathbell, she noted in amusement. Poisonous plants as d\u00e9cor was an odd choice for an inn but they were beautiful plants, after all, with large, showy flowers in a deep, saturated purple.\u00a0 One of the barmaids held a drink tray above the shoulders of her customers as she wound her way into an alcove just out of eyeshot to the left; the voice thanking her was distinctly Argonian.\u00a0 Dag smiled. She would start with him.<\/p>\n
She had made good time coming across the province, stopping in the afternoon sun at a farmhouse outside Whiterun long enough to do Vex\u2019s job.\u00a0 The stablemaster and his son, just across the road from that farmhouse, had been arguing.\u00a0 He\u2019d been nagging loudly about all the possible chores to be done in a stable, coming up with a new one each time it seemed he was finished.\u00a0 The son, who had already done them all, was getting more than a bit annoyed about not being allowed a moment\u2019s respite. Dag took advantage of the attention they were drawing to let herself into the empty house, plant the stolen ruby in a chest, slip out of the house and continue running across the plains just as though nothing had happened.<\/p>\n
It was the easiest money she\u2019d ever made. It felt almost too good. What was it Brynjolf had said? Larceny in her blood?\u00a0 If she stopped to really consider the years between losing her parents and now, and be truthful about it, she had to recognize it: more often than not the bulk of her money really hadn\u2019t been the result of honest work. Roggi had been right to leave her, given his feelings about thieves.\u00a0 It was galling to admit that to herself but she\u2019d be damned if she would ever give Brynjolf the satisfaction of hearing it, arrogant so-and-so that he was.<\/p>\n
Once, approaching a range of hills, she\u2019d heard the cry of a dragon in the distance; but no amount of squinting at the sky had revealed a hint of where it might be coming from.\u00a0 She\u2019d listened carefully for that odd, percussive sound that Dardeh had made knocking Kematu off his feet \u2013 the Shout, Roggi had called it \u2013 but she didn\u2019t hear it.\u00a0 Aside from that and a few frostbite spiders lurking in the marshes, nothing had happened once she\u2019d left the tundra.\u00a0 No assassins, no bandit attacks. Not a thing. It was a relief.\u00a0 Dag really didn\u2019t like being flat out afraid, and that dragon had shaken her right to her core.\u00a0 It had looked like death on the wing.<\/p>\n
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The Argonian in the alcove was decked out in merchant clothing.\u00a0 He looked up as she approached and scanned her from top to bottom, his eyes glinting in recognition.\u00a0 Yep, it\u2019s him, she thought. He knows the uniform.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, what do we have here? Let me guess.\u201d\u00a0 He sniffed. \u201cFrom your scent I\u2019d say you were from the Guild, but that can\u2019t be true because I told Mercer I wouldn\u2019t deal with them anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n
Oh really? Dag thought. Mercer didn\u2019t mention that to me, and Brynjolf said you were claiming a shortfall of goods, not that you were cutting ties. Someone was lying. Interesting. \u00a0Not surprising, but interesting nonetheless.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m here about Goldenglow Estate,\u201d she told him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t deal in land or property.\u00a0 Now if it\u2019s goods you\u2019re looking for you\u2019ve come to the right person.\u201d<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t have the time for this, she thought, or the patience.\u00a0 \u201cDrop the act, Gajul-lei.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gulum-Ei looked startled, and swallowed hard, then tried valiantly to cover for himself, his voice oily. \u201cOh wait, did you say Goldenglow?\u00a0 My apologies.\u00a0 I\u2019m sorry to say I know very little about that\u2026 bee farm, was it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, I said Goldenglow. You heard me the first time. It\u2019s a bee farm. You acted as the broker for its sale, and I need to know who bought the gods-damned thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
To the extent Dag could decipher an Argonian face, she thought his eyes narrowed warily.\u00a0 So now he begins to understand that the threat is real, she thought, and coming from higher places that have good intelligence.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe I did, maybe I didn\u2019t.\u00a0 You can\u2019t expect me to just hand over that kind of information. If word of it got around, my reputation would be ruined.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dag sighed. He was right, of course; below-board dealings required the trust that came from one\u2019s ability to keep one\u2019s mouth shut. Bribe Gullum-Ei.\u00a0 At least she remembered that much from her drunken conversation with Brynjolf. \u201cOk, what will it take to loosen your tongue?\u201d<\/p>\n
His face elongated into what she supposed was a smile.\u00a0 Or maybe a sneer.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell since you ask, I have a buyer who is interested in procuring some Firebrand wine. It\u2019s very expensive and quite hard to come by. It just so happens that there\u2019s a single case of it up at the Blue Palace.\u00a0 If you bring that to me, I will tell you what I know.\u201d\u00a0 Dag nodded in reluctant agreement. He could easily get that wine himself, she felt certain of it; but how much better for him if she was the one with her neck on the block. The very prominent executioner\u2019s block just inside Solitude\u2019s main gates, to be exact.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
Dag had happened to arrive in Solitude just as a very ugly public execution was taking place.\u00a0 She hadn\u2019t wanted to get close enough to it for people to notice her, but she thought she had heard Ulfric Stormcloak mentioned, and had felt a sharp twinge of sadness thinking of Roggi yet again. Whatever the circumstances had been, it had ended with a Nord\u2019s head rolling around separately from his body.<\/p>\n
She definitely would like to avoid being in that position herself.\u00a0 She would be very, very careful in the Blue Palace.<\/p>\n
The Blue Palace was a considerable stroll across the natural stone arch that held the city of Solitude.\u00a0 The capital city was old, not run-down as Windhelm was, but visibly ancient.\u00a0 The stone buildings were massive and beautiful, surrounded by flowers and moss and small trees, and draped with banners; there were homes and businesses and temples and what had to be the Bard\u2019s College, judging from the sweet music wafting out from its entrance.\u00a0 The streets were full of people, including children who stopped to ask whether she wanted to play tag, not caring who she was or what she looked like.\u00a0 She smiled at them and sent them on their way.\u00a0 There was money being flaunted here in Solitude, and lots of it, in spite of the few beggars and less-opulent merchant areas near the main city gates. This was good to know.<\/p>\n
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It was also good to see the heavy foliage lining the approach to the Blue Palace.\u00a0 There were a dozen places a thief could hide, if necessary, when trying to leave with stolen goods.<\/p>\n
The Palace itself was open, though well-guarded. Her eyes flitted from one expensive silver jug to another, service settings piled high with sweet rolls and cheese and other snacks scattered about near seating in the entry hall. These things would be altogether too tempting for a thief, she thought, smirking, if a thief were to come here thinking of robbing the place.\u00a0 A thief would be clever to keep them in mind.<\/p>\n
An elegant, curved double staircase led up to what must be the court, from the sounds of voices drifting down.\u00a0 That would not be where the wine was kept, certainly.\u00a0 To the left, Dag thought she heard the sounds of cooking: the clank of a spoon against a pot, the repeated thumping of a knife chopping ingredients.\u00a0 Service area; that was where she needed to go.\u00a0 She nodded at the nearest guard and walked down the hall just as though she was supposed to be there.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
Sure enough, the kitchens were directly to the left of the grand entry way, but they were bustling with servants. Dag frowned. How to find the wine? The audience hall was out; she wasn\u2019t about to show her face to anyone official.\u00a0 The kitchen was out as well, at least until people went to bed.\u00a0 Instead, she turned into a hallway to her right and wandered down it, past side tables and chairs, toward a landing at the far end with narrow stairways leading both up and down. There wasn\u2019t even anything worth lifting in this hallway, and she was getting frustrated.\u00a0 Dag stopped before a closed door on the left, wondering whether to chance letting herself in, and was just about to do that when a table near the stairway caught her eye.\u00a0 On the far side of a large urn, out of sight to a person standing where she had been in the entry hall, was a wooden crate filled with bottles. She lifted one out to verify that yes, this was indeed the Firebrand wine Gulum-Ei wanted.\u00a0 It was an odd place to have left such a thing, she thought, but there it was and she would take it.<\/p>\n
Getting back out was interesting.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t hard to simply walk back down the hallway as if she was supposed to be moving the crate to the kitchen, a totally natural thing to do.\u00a0 But the guards?\u00a0 They\u2019d just seen her come in empty-handed and she wasn\u2019t sure they\u2019d buy it if she left holding a large container.\u00a0 She dropped into a crouch and edged forward, keeping behind one of the decorative pillars and just out of range of the nearer guard, wracking her brain for an idea, any excuse that might hold water.<\/p>\n
One of the servants, a well-endowed, pretty maid, came out from the opposite hallway.\u00a0 \u201cMind your feet.\u00a0 I just washed there,\u201d she scolded the guard, while giving him the most obvious come-hither smile Dag had ever seen. He, of course, went thither, and why not; she would have as well, she supposed.\u00a0 The other guard turned to ogle them both as the first guard\u2019s hands started roaming. Dag simply stood and walked quietly out the door, snickering, and thanking human nature for her good luck.<\/p>\n
Gulum-Ei took the wine and gave her several gems in return.\u00a0 No, it wasn\u2019t a bribe, he said, it was a business transaction to ensure his continued survival.\u00a0 He was more than happy to tell Dag that he\u2019d been approached by a woman with a bag of gold who asked nothing more than he give Aringoth the money and walk away with the deed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat was her name<\/em>?\u201d Dag asked, exasperated.\u00a0 After all, that was what she\u2019d run all the way to Solitude to find out.<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t ask questions about names in this line of work, just about what kind of coin one holds. What I do know is that she was very angry, and that anger seemed to be directed toward Mercer Frey.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cReally.\u201d \u00a0Dag wished that she knew more Argonians so that she could read his reptilian face better. \u201cWell I think you\u2019re lying to me.\u201d<\/p>\n Of course he was lying. A buyer with no connection to the Guild would not have even known the name Mercer Frey, even if Gulum-Ei did.\u00a0 Not only that, the mystery buyer would have had no reason at all to mention Mercer or her anger with him to someone who didn\u2019t know them both already.\u00a0 No wonder both Mercer and Brynjolf like you so much, Gulum-Ei, she thought. You really are a slimy bastard. But you\u2019re a little sloppy.<\/p>\n He sighed.\u00a0 \u201cLook, that\u2019s all I know. Now since our transaction is at an end, I\u2019ll be leaving.\u201d\u00a0 He pushed past her and walked out of the Winking Skeever as briskly as though there\u2019d been an angry saber cat on his tail.<\/p>\n Dag sighed.\u00a0 She had really hoped to convince him to talk without too much fanfare.\u00a0 Apparently she wasn\u2019t awfully persuasive, and not very threatening, either.\u00a0 There was something else to work on, along with her pickpocketing skill.<\/p>\n She headed out to see what Gulum-Ei might step in.<\/p>\n Dagnell walked into the Winking Skeever in Solitude and tried to slide her way in past the elbows of drinking locals crowding the doorway.\u00a0 The innkeeper called a welcome, or at least she hoped it was a welcome, through the noise of the revelers.\u00a0 Dag had no idea how she would find her target in … <\/p>\nPart II: Shadows<\/a><\/div>\nPrevious<\/a> \/ Next<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"