Double cross her.

 Your bright green eyes search her dark face carefully for a long moment, but you can see no trace of deception or treachery there and in the end you nod slowly and you let go of your sword hilt for the first time since Saadia or ‘Iman’ rather had pulled the knife on you. 

   “I believe you” you tell the disguised noblewoman, her face brightens gratefully and she visibly sags with relief at your words.  “Thank you oh thank you” she whispers brokenly, the dagger sliding from her suddenly nerveless fingers and clattering to the room’s wooden floor.

   Leaving her behind, you stride from the inn and head back they way you came; as you approach the cities gate, your eyes are searching the busy streets for the two dark skinned men wearing robes you had spied when you had first entered Whiterun.   

    A tall, black horse slowly paces past you, pulling a battered wagon heavily laden with large, dully gleaming chunks of metallic ore, bound for one of the town’s blacksmiths no doubt; the wagon driver leers at you as he rolls slowly past and you shoot him a withering glare.  Once the wagon has moved past, you are able to spy your quarry; just inside the gates are the two Redguard men that you have been looking for.

   You can hear them asking the passerby’s about seeing a young Redguard woman recently in the town as you slowly approach the duo; the taller of the two looks at you suspiciously as you near, one of his hands dropping to the hilt of the scimitar belted at his waist as he takes in the sword at your own waist.  

You come to a halt just out of arms reach “I understand you have been looking for a certain young woman from Hammerfell” you murmur, just loud enough for him to hear you over the murmur of the crowded streets.

   His eyes narrow suspiciously “Yes, what of it?” he says challengingly, hearing the challenge in his voice, the Redguards shorter and stockier companion turns away from the conversation he was having with a farmer and looks at you coolly, his own hand slowly reaching for the hilt of the scimitar.

   You smile at him coolly “And just how much would her location be worth to you?”  

  “500 gold pieces” he said immediately “But only after you take us to her and if it is really her” his shorter comrade amends a moment later.

  The two of you spend a few minutes haggling but eventually you settle on a deal, they would give you 50 gold now as a down payment and you would meet the two Redguard’s in the stables outside of town at the stroke of midnight, they would bring the rest of the money and you would bring Saadia.

  The town slowly gets darker around you as dusk fades to twilight and twilight fades to evening, it is perhaps two hours before midnight when you return to the Bannered Mare inn, *Time to put this plan into action* you think, cracking open the door and slipping unobtrusively into the common room.  

   The bar room is almost empty, there are sounds of movement are coming from the storeroom behind the bar and the angry Nord woman you’d seen earlier was sitting at the bar staring into the depths of a large clay mug on the before her.

   You hurry up the stairs and knock quietly on the door to Saadia’s room “Saadia, Saadia wake up... Saadia, it’s me John” you hiss, you raise your hand to knock again but the door jerks open even as your hand comes up.  Saadia is standing just beyond it; she is holding her wicked dagger in one hand and a dimly glowing metal lantern in the other.  Your eyes widen a little in surprise (and if you were to be honest, pleasure) as you look at her, as save for a furious look on her face and a silver necklace the Redguard woman was completely naked *Nice tits* you think before forcing your mind back to the task at hand.

   “What is it?” she snarls, seeing you in the doorway.  You shove past her and step into the room, turning back to look at her with  a grave expression on your face “Saadia, the assassins know where you are, I was just coming back from a job a few miles outside of town and I heard an old woman telling them about you working here”

   Her face goes pale and she doesn’t put up a protest as you urge her to get dressed and pack her things quickly; dropping the dagger, she quickly drags a woollen dress over her naked form and stuffs a bag of gold and an armload of clothes into a backpack, thankfully she doesn’t notice the way you slip her dagger into your own belt, as she packs.  As the two of you hurry down the street your eyes go to the moon and a tiny smile flickers across your face for a moment *only a quarter hour until midnight* you think to yourself in satisfaction.

   “I have a pair of horses waiting for us in here” you lie, holding open the door of the stables for her to enter; she comes to a halt as she sees the trio of Al’Akir warriors waiting for her, scimitars gleaming dimly in the light from the lantern.  

   Saadia whirls to flee, her big brown eyes going first wide then cold as you just look at her, you smile coolly as her hand drops to her empty belt, your smile only widening as you step inside and close the door of the stables behind you. 

“Here she is, just as promised” you tell the men “Now toss me my gold”

The one in the middle steps forward, mouth opening to reply...