The old man had been last to die, his Destruction magic proving a bit of a problem and sending Brynjolf staggering back – but Delphine had all the magic resistance of her kind and had powered through to finish him off, Karliah and Aela pinning him down with their arrows, and then Eola had caught up from dealing with Babette and shocked him to death with her lightning spells.
It had all been commendably quick in the end, and Delphine had claimed the Brotherhood's ledgers, intending to find out who the client for the Elisif job had been, while Aela and Karliah had copied down the glyphs on the Word Wall to send to Elisif later. Eola had trotted off to give Cicero a hand with Astrid, and everyone else had agreed the pair of them were best left to it. So it was Delphine and Aela were making for Riverwood, Cicero and Eola had been left in the Sanctuary to loot the place, do whatever Cicero wanted doing with the Night Mother's coffin (left unharmed, the sole condition Cicero had insisted on, even being allowed to kill Astrid had only been a polite request), and Brynjolf and Karliah had met up with Sapphire and retreated. The Twilight Sepulchre wasn't far from here, and they did have a job to do.
“It's done then,” Sapphire said, no emotion showing. Brynjolf nodded.
“Aye. It's done. I'm sorry, lass. Astrid wouldn't back down.”
“No. She wouldn't,” Sapphire said quietly, wiping a tear away. “But it's done now, I guess. No sense getting upset, not like I'd seen any of them in years. Not like any of them ever bothered getting in touch to see if I was all right after she kicked me out, eh?”
Brynjolf put an arm around Sapphire, and then Karliah was on her other side, arms around her waist.
“You've got us,” Karliah said quietly. “I'll always be here if you need me, I promise.”
“I know. Thanks,” Sapphire whispered, glad of her Nightingales being there. Just business, that was all the Dark Brotherhood job had been, just removing something that was in the way. Except Sapphire still missed them all. But she'd never been the sentimental type and she preferred to focus on the future, not the past. “So where's this Sepulchre then?”
It wasn't far away, hidden up against the mountains at the end of a simple forest trail. Not much to look at from the outside, but the best treasure stores never were. Brynjolf and Sapphire headed for the entrance... only to stop on seeing Karliah hang back.
“You're not coming?” Sapphire asked, surprised.
“This whole thing was your idea, lass,” Brynjolf pointed out. “You're the one who insisted the Key had to go back to Nocturnal, and now you're dropping out?”
“I can't do it, Bryn,” Karliah said, shaking her head. “After what I've done... I can't face Nocturnal again, I just can't.”
“Why, what did you do?” Sapphire asked, alarmed. “Karliah, if there's something else you haven't told us...”
“No, there isn't, at least I don't think so. But I broke my oath, Sapphire! I failed as a Nightingale! Gallus and I were so wrapped up in each other, we let Mercer destroy what we should have been protecting! How am I supposed to face Nocturnal after that?” Karliah cried.
Brynjolf looked at Sapphire. Sapphire looked at Brynjolf. It was said women were the naturally more empathetic ones – well, whoever said that had clearly never met Sapphire. All the same, Sapphire could be kind to people she trusted and cared about, and apparently Karliah was now one of them.
“Karliah, sweetie, it wasn't your fault,” Sapphire sighed. “Mercer was cunning, Mercer was good at covering his tracks, we know that. And Gallus wasn't so in love with you he hadn't noticed anything – he was on to Mercer. He was this close to exposing him when Mercer killed him and framed you. None of it was your fault, honey.”
“But I should have noticed, should have realised, Mercer was my friend!” Karliah cried. “And I never noticed a thing.”
Re: The Wolf Queen Awakens 23.2
It had all been commendably quick in the end, and Delphine had claimed the Brotherhood's ledgers, intending to find out who the client for the Elisif job had been, while Aela and Karliah had copied down the glyphs on the Word Wall to send to Elisif later. Eola had trotted off to give Cicero a hand with Astrid, and everyone else had agreed the pair of them were best left to it. So it was Delphine and Aela were making for Riverwood, Cicero and Eola had been left in the Sanctuary to loot the place, do whatever Cicero wanted doing with the Night Mother's coffin (left unharmed, the sole condition Cicero had insisted on, even being allowed to kill Astrid had only been a polite request), and Brynjolf and Karliah had met up with Sapphire and retreated. The Twilight Sepulchre wasn't far from here, and they did have a job to do.
“It's done then,” Sapphire said, no emotion showing. Brynjolf nodded.
“Aye. It's done. I'm sorry, lass. Astrid wouldn't back down.”
“No. She wouldn't,” Sapphire said quietly, wiping a tear away. “But it's done now, I guess. No sense getting upset, not like I'd seen any of them in years. Not like any of them ever bothered getting in touch to see if I was all right after she kicked me out, eh?”
Brynjolf put an arm around Sapphire, and then Karliah was on her other side, arms around her waist.
“You've got us,” Karliah said quietly. “I'll always be here if you need me, I promise.”
“I know. Thanks,” Sapphire whispered, glad of her Nightingales being there. Just business, that was all the Dark Brotherhood job had been, just removing something that was in the way. Except Sapphire still missed them all. But she'd never been the sentimental type and she preferred to focus on the future, not the past. “So where's this Sepulchre then?”
It wasn't far away, hidden up against the mountains at the end of a simple forest trail. Not much to look at from the outside, but the best treasure stores never were. Brynjolf and Sapphire headed for the entrance... only to stop on seeing Karliah hang back.
“You're not coming?” Sapphire asked, surprised.
“This whole thing was your idea, lass,” Brynjolf pointed out. “You're the one who insisted the Key had to go back to Nocturnal, and now you're dropping out?”
“I can't do it, Bryn,” Karliah said, shaking her head. “After what I've done... I can't face Nocturnal again, I just can't.”
“Why, what did you do?” Sapphire asked, alarmed. “Karliah, if there's something else you haven't told us...”
“No, there isn't, at least I don't think so. But I broke my oath, Sapphire! I failed as a Nightingale! Gallus and I were so wrapped up in each other, we let Mercer destroy what we should have been protecting! How am I supposed to face Nocturnal after that?” Karliah cried.
Brynjolf looked at Sapphire. Sapphire looked at Brynjolf. It was said women were the naturally more empathetic ones – well, whoever said that had clearly never met Sapphire. All the same, Sapphire could be kind to people she trusted and cared about, and apparently Karliah was now one of them.
“Karliah, sweetie, it wasn't your fault,” Sapphire sighed. “Mercer was cunning, Mercer was good at covering his tracks, we know that. And Gallus wasn't so in love with you he hadn't noticed anything – he was on to Mercer. He was this close to exposing him when Mercer killed him and framed you. None of it was your fault, honey.”
“But I should have noticed, should have realised, Mercer was my friend!” Karliah cried. “And I never noticed a thing.”