The Khajiit stopped beating on Veria once she stopped resisting and instead grabbed both of her arms and pulled her to her feet. "Boss, I got her." He said simply. Ultimately, it was Veria's choice to submit that ended up saving Swims, as when the Nord heard the Khajiit speak up, she stopped short of delivering the killing blow on Swims and instead approaching Veria. He was too heavily wounded to even stand, so Swims was of no threat to them, and without help, would likely die of his wounds. 

When the Nord walked up to Veria, she grabbed her by the shoulders and, in a rage, slammed her up against a nearby tree. "You stubborn little girl, you just had to be stubborn, didn't you? All you had to do was pay up and you would be fine. But you had to go shooting me with that lucky arrow of yours. Now, I'm going to make you wish you were dead." 

The Khajiit took a few steps back to avoid the effects of his boss' rage, but he still seemed uncomfortable. "Boss, we really can't afford to wait around here like this. W have to get moving or-"

"Shut up!" The Nord barked, returning her attention to Veria. With the hand Veria had shot, the Nord grabbed Veria's right hand and pressed the back of it up against the tree. "You see this wound you gave me? Cut clean through my hand." As she spoke, she pulled one of her daggers with her other hand, then all at once stabbed it completely through Veria's hand, pinning it to the tree. "Well, I'm going to do that, and much, [i]much[/i] worse." 

Before the Nord could make good on her threats, a loud voice rang out to their left. "Hey!" 

When they turned their heads, they saw a single Khajiit male in Imperial light armor standing over the fresh corpse of their Bosmer companion, with his throat cut. Both the remaining bandits drew their weapons to defend themselves, but in doing so, they stepped just far enough away from Veria that the rest of the Imperial patrol, who were concealed in the bushes behind them, could fire their bows. Both the Khajiit bandit and the Nord were riddled with arrows and were dead before they hit the ground. 

The Khajiit soldier ran forward as the rest of his patrol revealed themselves. If Veria was still perceptive enough to notice, she would recognize the Khajiit as someone they knew from Leyawiin, Do'Khajra. He wasn't quite a friend of Swims and Veria, but more of an acquaintance they were on good terms with. He was a few years older than them and had joined the Imperial legion three years prior. Evidently, he was good enough to be given command of his own patrol. 

"Swims, Veria, what are you two doing out here?" Do'Khajra exclaimed. Noticing their dire predicament, he looked to his patrol's healer. "Lurian, check on the Argonian, see what you can do."

As the Imperial healer went to help Swims, Do'Khajra rushed over to Veria, removed the dagger from her hand, then caught her as she nearly collapsed to the ground. "Hold on, let me help you." He said, quickly reaching into his bag and pulling out a few bandages to wrap around her hand. "Are you hurt anywhere else?"