How to Pickpocket a Pickpocket

Chapter 34

The morning started with throwing up.

"Bring another bucket!" Sapphire called to whoever was the closest, her hands holding Artis' hair back as her head hung low in a bucket.

"By the Eight, how much did she drink last night?" Rune muttered as he kicked another bucket at them, holding his head while suffering from his own hangover.

"Let's just say she didn't stop after one barrel." Sapphire scrunched up her face when the Dragonborn's body jerked again.

"Stop taking all the buckets!" Niruin called from the other side of the cistern, "Vipir is soiling the training room thanks to the lack of the stuff!"

Delvin jolted awake from where he fell asleep on the Guild Master's desk, the Bust of the Grey Fox spooned close to him, "Could all of you stop yelling?! Dibella's tits, you're making my ears bleed!"

It took a while for most of them to compose themselves, some coming off the hangover quicker and easier than others. Artis' head throbbed from the inside as she finally stopped puking, her sides hurting from all the contractions. She fell on her back, not caring if she lied on the floor and stared up at the rocky ceiling of the cistern.

"Didn't I tell you and Vex to hold me back?" she panted, looking up at Sapphire with heavy eyes.

She shrugged, "Oh, but you were so happy and having so much fun. We couldn't bear to stop you."

The Dragonborn snorted, "Traitor. You partied just as hard as I did, drank just as much, too."

"True." Sapphire grinned, "But you have to have a strong stomach if you grew up on a pig farm."

Artis pushed herself up with effort and staggered her way to the wash room, praying that no one was occupying it. She was lucky to find it empty and nearly dived head first into the water. While letting her skin soak in a bit of lavender and honey oils she found, she conjured a healing spell in her one hand, letting it take care of her hangover and stinging headache.

She calculated the time she needed to leave to get to the Twilight Sepulcher by the break of dawn. It was a few miles west of Falkreath, which meant she could stop by Whiterun and Riverwood on her way there, say hello to Lydia, let her mother know she's alive. It made her somewhat excited to go on this quest, knowing that she'll see her loved ones again. Though she was definitely hiring a carriage.

By the time Artis entered the cistern again, she was clothed in clean Thieves Guild armor Tonilia provided her with. She strapped the Nightingale blade to her belt, secured the Nightingale bow on her back and made sure that she packed everything she needed to take with her. She still had a few errands to run before leaving Riften and saying goodbye to the Guild – again – might take some time as well.

Delvin was still sitting on the edge of the desk, rubbing his bald head and eyes from the all the drinking the previous night. She smiled and dug through her bag, finding what she was looking for. First, the Breton didn't pay attention to her as she approached him, but his black rimmed, puffy eyes grew when seeing her place a large, shiny object on the top shelf of the trophy wall.

"Is that..." he blinked, "Is that what I think it is?"

"Oh, this?" she smirked and pointed at the new object, "If you're thinking that that is the left eye of the Falmer, then you're absolutely right."

"It's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen." Was that a tear in his eye?

Artis nodded, "Indeed, it is. If you're wondering about the right eye, I'm going to sell it. It's worth at least three chests of coin, which will be a great start at filling up the vault again. Besides, we only need the one eye to prove we got to it first, don't we?"