In My Time of Need

Quest Objectives

 * Find the Redguard woman
 * Speak with Saadia or Inform the Alik'r of Saadia's location
 * Talk to the Alik'r Prisoner or Inform the Alik'r of Saadia's location
 * Kill Kematu or bring Saadia to the stables

Quick Walkthrough
Speak with Saadia inside The Bannered Mare. OR
 * Help Saadia:
 * 1) Speak to an Alik'r Prisoner in the Dragonsreach Dungeon.
 * 2) Pay the fine for the prisoner and receive the location of the assassins' hideout.
 * 3) Head to the Swindler's Den to kill Kematu.
 * Turn in Saadia:
 * 1) Tell the Alik'r at Rorikstead where Saadia is.
 * 2) Return to Saadia and have her meet at the Whiterun Stables for an ambush.

A Wanted Woman
Two Alik'r Warriors appear at Whiterun's main gate in a heated discussion with the city guard or you may find the two Alik'r men a near one of the holds the road arguing with a Redguard. The Alik’r have already been banned from most of the city after an incident and jailing, but the men are determined to try and find a Redguard woman somewhere inside the walls. Upon speaking to one of them, the player is asked to help.

The woman in question is Saadia, a cook at The Bannered Mare. After telling Saadia about the two Alik'r Warriors looking for her, Saadia becomes agitated and asks to speak privately. At this point, the player can follow Saadia and speak with her privately or head straight back to the Alik'r and inform them of her location.

Siding with Saadia
Speaking with Saadia privately, she threatens you with a dagger. If you have the perk, you can steal it so she threatens to cut you in half with her fists. Also, she reveals she is a noble from Hammerfell who fled to Skyrim and has been forced into hiding after an attempt on her life for speaking out against the Aldmeri Dominion. She goes on to explain that the Alik’r Warriors are mercenaries led by a man named Kematu. Remove him and the remaining forces are likely to scatter. Saadia also tells the player about an Alik'r Prisoner in the Dragonsreach Dungeon who could help in locating Kematu.(the dungeon is on the right side of dragonsreach itself) Once inside the Dungeon, speak to the prisoner through the bars. He agrees to help if the player pays his fine. After paying the prisoner's 100 gold fine to the guard, the prisoner reveals Kematu is in a cave west of Whiterun called Swindler's Den. The guard does taunt the prisoner about not being able to hear, losing the key to the cell etc. however he does eventually release him.

Not Just a Pretty Face
Swindler's Den can be found due west of Whiterun, at the base of a rocky hill in the middle of the plains. To reach Kematu, the player must fight the bandits inhabiting the den regardless of siding with Kematu or not.

Once the player reaches Kematu he does not attack on sight, allowing the Dragonborn to speak to him. Kematu gives his side of the story, claiming that Saadia betrayed her Hammerfell and a Redguard city fell during the war against the Aldmeri Dominion. Kematu explains that the Redguard houses wish to bring her back alive to face justice. At this point, the player has a pivotal choice to make: Kill Kematu or side with him.

Siding with Saadia
To save Saadia from the clutches of the Alik’r, the player may simply attack Kematu and his guards at any point. The guards line both sides of the room, take care not to be surrounded. It is possible to exit the dialogue with Kematu and keep advancing forward to where he is, giving you a better chance to hide. Just walk straight forward, up the hill, once on top turn back and kill all the guards including Kematu from a sneak position. After the battle, loot the corpses and return to the Bannered Mare in Whiterun to inform Saadia of the end of her problem. She will reward you with 500 gold.

Alternatively, if you return to the previous room, you can use Battle Cry to cause all of the Alik'r to run straight towards you. By standing at the exit to the narrow passageway, you can light all of the Alik'r on fire, as they get caught up in a bottleneck, by blocking the passage while hurling flames at them.

Siding with the Alik’r
Kematu informs you that his troops aren’t assassins, but agents acting on behalf of the Redguard Houses and are tasked with returning the fugitive (Saadia) to Hammerfell. Ask what he wants the player to do, and Kematu asks you to return to Saadia and convince her to meet at the stables, where she’ll be ambushed and brought to justice.

Head back to the Bannered Mare and lie to Saadia - tell her the player failed to defeat all the Alik’r forces, they are coming for her, and the player has a horse ready for her to escape. Exit Whiterun with Saadia following and head to the Whiterun Stables. Around to the side of the stable house, Kematu is waiting. He immobilizes Saadia and the player may speak with him one final time to collect the reward of 500 gold.

Last minute change of heart
Right now you may be feeling a little sorry for Saadia, despite what she may have done back in Hammerfell, so at this point, before you collect the reward from Kematu, you can attack and kill him instead. Saadia will be angry you led her into a trap and state that you should have warned her first, but she will then thank you for ridding her of her persistent pursuers, and reward you with the sum of 500 gold. You can then loot Kematu's body, which holds between 50 and 300 gold.

However, if you kill Kematu after retrieving the reward, Saadia will wake up and attack you ferociously with either a dagger, or punch you with bare hands (if you pickpocketed her dagger).

Playing both sides
If you want to earn 1000 gold and do not care about killing both Saadia and Kematu, you can collect the reward from both characters. After Kematu immobilizes Saadia, collect the 500 gold reward from him. You can then kill Kematu and steal his belongings and 50 to 300 gold. And you can also kill the immobilized Saadia and get a Water Breathing necklace.(Tested negative on 360)(Tested negative on PC, too)(Tested negative on PS3) Because you betrayed her, Saadia will be hostile to you after you have killed Kematu. However, if you cast calm on Saadia you can speak with her and tell her that the Alik'r will not bother her anymore. She will thank you and reward you with 500 gold. Once the calm effect wears off, she will attack you on sight. Fast-traveling away while she is calmed will not cause her to forgive you in the long run, and the next time you approach her she will resume attacking you. Killing her at that point isn't considered murder, so you'll receive no bounty, even in the middle of town.

Bugs

 * If you talk to the Alik’r warriors in Rorikstead after you've killed Kematu and tell them you've found her (before finishing the quest), they'll tell you to lure her to the stables. If you now try to enter the Bannered Mare Tavern, your game crashes back to the desktop.
 * If you side with Kematu it is possible that a clone of Louis Letrush, at the Whiterun stables, will become hostile towards Saadia as she attempts to escape. If this happens the quest will become impossible to complete, as Saadia and all other nearby NPCs will engage in never ending combat with Letrush, who cannot be killed. However, if you fast travel to the stables immediately after getting Saadia to follow you, this will bypass Letrush and you can complete the quest.
 * If you use a fury or frenzy spell on Kematu before speaking to him, he will begin attacking all of the Alik'r warriors. If Kematu dies by the Alik'r, the quest will be stuck, saying "kill Kematu or talk to him". This also happens if he is killed by a bear trap.
 * When attempting to pay the fine, no matter which guard you talk to, the dialogue may never show up. This could happen if you have escaped from jail and all the guards say "Wait...I know you" as you walk past them. Though annoying, this does save you 100 gold and it is still possible to side with Saadia and complete the quest. Go to the dungeon, talk with the prisoner, agree to pay the fine and talk to a guard. After they don't offer you the dialogue option of paying the fine, go to Swindler's Den and when you reach Kematu, the quest will update and instruct you to either talk to, or kill him, essentially skipping the need to waste gold.
 * If you choose to talk to the two Alik'r Warriors the icon shows them at the front gate but they are not there.
 * If you exit conversation with Kematu and go up to the upper level, then attack the guards, they start chasing. If you now retreat through the doorway at the top of the ramp leading out of the water and follow it through into the next narrow tunnel, no matter what happens neither the Redguard warriors nor Kematu himself will follow you any further, allowing you to pick them off with ease.
 * Sometimes, after accepting the Alik'r request to bring Saadia to the stables, she vanishes once you exit Whiterun. (Note: it is best not to fast travel but instead follow her.)
 * If you agree to help Kematu with capturing Saadia, and then attack his group of men, two Alik'r warriors will stand just inside of the gates of Whiterun just like you found them at first. They will not attack, and rather they will not do much of anything besides occupy space in front of the main gate. Attacking them will gain you bounty and most likely get you imprisoned.
 * The two Alik'r warriors will also appear inside Whiterun after Helping Saadia and Killing the Alik'r in Swindlers Den. Just like above they wont be doing anything but taking up space.
 * After Speaking to the Alik'r Prisoner and agreeing to pay the fine, when you pay the fine to a guard, he is not released and the option for paying the fine is no longer available.
 * If you abandon the questline for a month or so Skyrim time you may find that both the original Alik'r warriors will appear dead and naked just inside the Whiterun gates. This does not however effect the questline if you have already spoken to Saadia as one of them will still be alive in the Whiterun jail.
 * There's a bug in which Saadia gets stuck to the kitchen of the Bannered Mare and does not exit the building, therefore rendering completion of the quest impossible. To avoid this, follow Saadia instead of running ahead of her.