Oh I am sorry, Macole! I guess my attitude to her showed now... but I still think she didn't have to die. And she didn't!

11 Mid-Year, 4E202 - Anvil thieves

Lena arrived in Anvil in mid-afternoon. Her armour needed repairs after all those fights with bandits, trolls and minotaures along the road, so she stopped by the Fighters Guild.

"Fancy meeting you here!" - Maglir greeted her in the hall. "Eager as ever, I see" - he looked somewhat disgusted.

"Actually, I just..." - Lena started, but the porter interrupted her.

"Azzan wants you in his office" - he said. "Go to it."

Lena rolled her eyes but went to see Azzan.

"We've got thieves trouble" - he said. "I hear you are the one to deal with such things." He smiled, looking at her expectantly.

"How did he..?" - she thought but didn't ask. "What can I do to help?"

"Rumour has it, they are holed up somewhere nearby, but we don't know where exactly" - Azzan shuffled some papers on his desk. "Find out. Then deal with them - and take Maglir with you. It's time he found out he had to work for his pay. Go to it."

He dismissed her.

"Wow, this isn't the Legion" - Lena thought. "I wonder if Azzan noticed?"

As Lena exited Azzan's office, Maglir was already waiting for her.

"Come on - let's get it over with and get paid!" - he said with a scowl.

"So, Azzan had told you about this job already, had he?" - Lena looked at him in suspicion.

"He wanted me to take it on my own but I refused" - Maglir said angrily. "I have no death wish! He said he'd find someone more senior to help me. And that fool is you!" He added triumphantly. "So let's get going."

"No" - Lena shook her head. "You wait here for now. I need to gather information first - the work of the mind, you know" - she smiled sweetly. "I'll come for you when I need brawn."

She brushed past gawking Maglir and into the living quarters. She needed to change into her robes - she had another job to do first. A job at the castle.

...

"Well, what do you know - another thief dying of a heart attack" - Lena stood over Orrin's corpse, checking that he was dead. "Thieving is a dangerous occupation."


"You look different" - Maglir looked at Lena in surprise when she returned to the Fighters Guild.

"I'm a mage - remember?" - Lena smiled. "Hrota Cave. Let's go."

...

"Stay behind me and don't rush ahead" - Lena told Maglir as they entered the cave.

"Don't tell me how to fight!" - he retorted with a scowl.

"I thought you didn't have a death wish?" - Lena said softly, raising her hood.

...

"Aauww, they are raising zombies!" - of course Maglir rushed into the fight and spooked too many thieves at once. And yes, they were all spellswords with enchanted weapons - and they summoned zombies. It seemed Maglir didn't count on that.

Lena sent a few poisoned arrows, and soon the fight was over.

"It's not fair!" - Maglir complained. He took quite a beating.

"Here - let me" - Lena started healing his wounds. "We are not here to play fair, we are here to win."

She offered him some of her poisons, but he refused.

"Suit yourself" - she shrugged.

The rest of this job went pretty much along the same lines: Maglir took the lead, letting his iron armour make as much noise as possible as he walked through the cave. Lena was sure the thieves could hear him from the moment they entered. So she crouched and tiptoed behind him, her bow at the ready, silently taking out the thieves with her poisoned arrows as they engaged Maglir and her clannfear.

...

"Phew, that was quite a fight!" - Maglir grinned contentedly, rising after a knockout. "I've shown them! Err... well... We've shown them, of course."

"Of course" - Lena smiled.

...

"Why do you mages insist on wearing robes?" - Maglir asked as they passed a mage they'd killed. "Surely, they don't protect you at all."

"We try not to get hit" - Lena pocketed some nice enchanted arrows from the mage. "Robes allow for easy movement, they don't make noise and blend into the shadows."

"Wait - that sounds like assassins, not mages..."

"That sounds like anyone wishing to survive against overwhelming odds" - she looked at Maglir. "How many spellswords were in this cave? Eight? Nine? Plus their summons? Against the two of us - that's hardly a battle I'd rush into head on, armour or not."

"Point taken" - Maglir nodded, massaging a bump on his head left by a mace that knocked him out. "Let's return to the Guild."

...

"Amazing job!" - Azzan was ecstatic. "I see great things for you two in the Guild!"

Lena and Maglir exchanged surprised glances.

"I hereby name you Protector!" - Azzan turned to Lena. "Report to Chorrol for duties."

He turned around and walked away, effectively dismissing her. Lena turned to Maglir who was laughing.

"You got the short straw! You've got duties!" - he was nearly crying with laughter. "I've got duties too - the tavern!"

Lena silently retrieved her gear and went to the Benirus Manor for the night.

Ooooh, Maglir! He needs a one hour paralysis spell administered at the door to the dungeon to keep him outta the way methinks! I'll admit Lena exercised a lot of patience.

12-14 Mid-Year, 4E202 - Mages Guild in disarray - Fighters Guild babysitting - Lindai crown

"So, it is perfectly possible to ride from Anvil to the Arcane University in one day" - Lena was patting Roach on the back. "And no, magic isn't cheating" - she grinned. "I just gave you a little boost, is all."

Arch Mage Traven looked crestfallen.

"The Council of Mages is in disarray" - he said. "We could not agree how to handle the Necromancers - and I fear that we've lost a lot of good people." He paced around the chamber. "Two of our most senior mages took important artefacts for 'further study' - whatever that might be. You need to recover University property and return it here."

"I'll see what I can do" - said Lena, turning to leave.

"We have come to really depend on you, you know" - Traven said, as if to himself.

...

"Come on, Roach - it's not that far" - Lena wanted to go to Chorrol now. It has been a day of riding. Reluctantly, Roach agreed.

They arrived rather late in the evening, Roach visibly tired, and Lena feeling a little guilty. It was too late to go to the Fighters Guild, so she left it for tomorrow.


"I've got a mission for you" - said Modryn Oreyn. "But it's a bit hush-hush." He looked around. "I need you to take Viranus Donton out into the field and show him a good time."

"Excuse me?!" - Lena cried with indignation.

"I don't mean that!" - Modryn looked stern. "He needs some field work to boost his confidence, so I am sending the two of you on a contract to find some poor idiot in Nonwyll Cavern. Your job however" - he looked at Lena with significance - "is to protect Viranus and to make sure his mother the Guildmaster doesn't know about this until after the fact. Which is why he must stay alive! Do I make myself clear?"

He did. Modryn Oreyn had a way with people, but not a particularly nice way. Lena's new rank of Protector clearly meant "babysitter".

Viranus Donton was a nice enough young man. He was ready to leave when Lena stressed that the poor missing person might well be in mortal danger, so they had to make haste - no time to check in with Mother.

Nonwyll Cavern was empty, apart from the corpse of the unfortunate person that they were supposed to find. A broken shield lay next to him, and it looked like he'd been dead for some time.

"This is strange - what killed him?" - wondered Viranus.

"There were trolls in this cave some time ago" - Lena recalled. "My friend and I cleared them out. It must have been them. I seem to remember seeing this poor man already then."

Well, there was nothing else to do, so they returned to Chorrol.

"Hmm, suspicious" - Modryn didn't like it. "But none of our business. Well done keeping Viranus out of trouble." He handed Lena an enchanted dagger. "Here is your reward - off the books. And while you are here..." - he looked her over. "Maglir has defaulted on a contract again - now in Bravil. And it wasn't even that hard a job! Go there, fulfill the contract, find Maglir and..." - he clenched his fists - "send him to me!"

"Wow!" - Lena thought. "Those sanguine eyes can positively glow! Something tells me - Maglir won't be coming."

...

She had lunch at Oak and Crosier, considering her jobs.

"Fort Ontus for Traven, South West from here; Fort Teleman also for Traven, all the way near Leyawiin; Bravil for Modryn; Leyawiin for Ocheeva... oh - and Lindai for Umbacano, and that's nearby..." She poured over the map. "May be I should just do that first, Roach is in no shape to travel today anyhow."

Of course Lena could simply buy another horse, but she didn't want to. Lindai it was then.


Lena returned to Chorrol at 5 a.m. Lindai wasn't a very large ruin, but it had many dread zombies that took a long time to put down. There was also no shortage of other interesting undead.

Lena found the crown - just as the collector predicted. It had a strong enchantment.

"I wonder whether Mr. Umbacano is going to know that this is the wrong crown" - Lena thought. But whether or not to steal the original for him was a decision for another day. Motierre House was quiet, and Lena could finally relax.

As it transpires, she should have frozen him solid when she had the chance - there's more Maglir trouble brewing!

12-14 Mid-Year, 4E202 - The Anvil lighthouse - Cheydinhal investigation

"Oh, this is interesting!" - Rayenna noticed some oddly shaped bricks in the lighthouse cellar in Anvil that she was renting. "I've never noticed them before." She never looked behind the tapestry before, either. "What's that - they come out!"

Two bricks appeared loose and could be removed, revealing a cavity behind them. It was dark inside, but Rayenna thought she saw something. She put in her hand and retrieved an old journal. There wasn't much written in it, but it contained several folded sheets of parchment. Rayenna swallowed her dislike of spider webs and thrust her hand all the way in, feeling for any other objects inside. She found more folded sheets of parchment and a scroll. She laid out her finds on the table and set down to study them.

First her attention was drawn to the old scroll with a wax seal. The seal had been broken long ago, the parchment dried out somewhat, fraying at the edges. She carefully unrolled it and read:

Last Will and Testament of Greywyn Blenwyth, Assassin

I, Greywyn Blenwyth, a servant of Sithis, hereby entrust my estate Deepscorn Hollow to Lena Wolf - the young daughter of my distant paternal Cousin Lillian 'Lily' Delafere, my only direct relative. Should Lena Wolf not survive to adulthood, I then entrust the estate to Mathieu Bellamont, a distant maternal Cousin of Lillian Delafere. My intent hereby is to pass on the Sanctuary to another Assassin, so that it may be used to its purpose. I have no doubt that little Lena will follow in her mother's footsteps.

May they walk in the shadow of Sithis.

Dated: 2 Second Seed, 3E 421

Next she examined the journal - it was disappointingly empty. Just some scribbles as if someone was cleaning their quill. The folded sheets of parchment however were letters - and what letters! A correspondence between a certain Lena Wolf, Assassin, and Mathieu Bellamont, Speaker.

Allow me to welcome you to the Brotherhood, dear Cousin, and let me congratulate you on your rapid progress. Your mother's blood runs thick in your veins - aa well as your Great-Uncle Greywyn's. Please forgive my liberty - for we are quite far removed in the family tree connected through our mothers, yet our choice of occupation speaks volumes. Our Breton heritage wins over all else, and so I feel as your true Cousin. I pray you may accept me as such.

Extending my warmest regards --

Mathieu Bellamont

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

It is pure joy to hear from you, Sir, and to learn that I have a Cousin! No matter how far we are removed in the family tree, we are still family, which is all that counts. Please rest assured that should a situation arise where my loyalties come to be tested, you can count on my unreserved support in your every endeavour.

Sincerely yours --

Lena Wolf

These appeared to be the oldest of the letters and the ones that were best preserved, perhaps cherished - they were inside the journal. The other sheets of parchment seemed to have had water damage that washed away the ink in places, some were torn, some had singed edges, looking like they've been salvaged from a fire. With her best effort, the most she could decipher were just a few words: "dead drop replaced", "bonne chance", "Lachance" and "Applew..." - the last part of the word had been washed away. She wasn't even sure it was "Lachance" she was reading and not "la chance", as correspondence between two Bretons was likely to be peppered with Breton expressions anyway. But "Lachance" gave her a jolt, so she settled on that.

"Who was Mathieu Bellamont?" - Rayenna wondered. "He must be dead because I haven't met him... These letters look old - is this the same Lena Wolf as that floozy in Lachance's bed? Probably not - surely, she isn't old enough!"

Rayenna was confused. Normally quick-witted, she sensed the importance of these papers and of those scraps of words... If only she could link them together! But the Dark Brotherhood Archives were not even open to Listeners, let alone Silencers, so she had no chance of finding out anything there. But perhaps there was another way... After all, they were all citizens of the Empire. Wasn't there a friendly Captain of the City Guard in Cheydinhal? She heard rumours he was partial to ladies...


"No, I need to speak to the Captain himself!" - Rayenna was adamant. "It is a sensitive matter!"

"Anything you can say to the Captain, you can say to me" - Regina Regis was not giving up. "I am his second in command, and it is my duty to deal with public complaints first."

"This isn't a complaint" - Rayenna grinned. Where direct assault didn't work, charm might do better. "It's a personal matter. Of a delicate kind" - she winked to Regina. "I'm sure the Captain would like to hear about it from me rather than from someone else."

"Oh, I see" - Regina smiled. "Well, he is in the habit of dining at the Newlands Lodge, you can try talking to him there. If you get a chance" - she added, grinning.

...

"Captain" - Rayenna approached Garrus Darelliun at the Lodge. "It is Captain, isn't it? I haven't mistaken you for someone else, have I?"

"I am Captain Garrus Darelliun" - Garrus rose from his seat. "How can I be of service?"

"I wonder if I could have a word..." - Rayenna put on her most charming smile - "in private. I have a... ah... delicate matter I would ask your help with. A most delicate matter" - she looked at him with significance, blushing slightly. "I took a room in this Lodge - come with me, please?" She looked at him pleadingly.

"Certainly, my lady" - Garrus smiled. "I'll do my best to assist."

Several people in the room followed them with their eyes. "Well, that's the Captain gone for the night - let's just hope he won't be late for duty tomorrow!" - they chuckled and went back to their drinking.

...

Rayenna didn't find it hard to get Garrus to relax and start helping her with her delicate matter. She massaged his ego as well as his torso, and soon he was eating out of her hand. Or so she thought.

"I was looking around Cheydinhal and discovered that one of the houses is called the Wolf Sanctuary" - she said nonchalantly, falling back on the cushions. "That's a strange name for a house!"

"Not really" - Garrus replied, turning to look at her. "It belongs to someone named Wolf. It's a Nord surname, I believe."

"Oh how exciting!" - Rayenna sat up. "A Nord! He must be tall and strong, with those blond braids - and wearing furs of course!" Her eyes glazed over with a vision, her mouth half open.

Garrus laughed. "Actually, it's a girl - and she's a Breton."

"Oh" - Rayenna tried to look disappointed, but Garrus noticed a grin of satisfaction on her lips. "A Breton with a Nord surname?"

"It happens" - Garrus became evasive. He had suspected that Rayenna's motive was exactly as she had said - she needed help with a delicate matter - getting classified Imperial information out of an unsuspecting Captain of the Guard. He wanted to know what it was she was after - yes, he too could play the game. "Forget that girl" - he whispered, nibbling on her ear - "You still have spots I haven't fully explored yet..."

Information gathering did have its pleasant aspects, and besides Rayenna still had all night to question him...


"So, this is the house of Lena Wolf" - Rayenna picked the lock and stepped inside. All was quiet - Lena was out of town. "Let's see if I can find anything of interest."

She went through all the drawers, knocked on the walls looking for loose bricks, pulled back every rug and every tapestry - and came up with absolutely nothing of interest, except a solid door in the basement with an equally solid lock that she couldn't pick.

"That house stood abandoned for a very long time" - Garrus had told her at some point. "It had a hole in the wall in the basement leading to a cavern - rats were coming out of it by the legion. We didn't want to brick it over in case it flooded again, so we fitted a heavy door. It's as good as a wall, that." A cavern... Rayenna wondered about that. But then again, it wasn't unheard of...

She had to admit that her expedition to Cheydinhal didn't yield the results she was hoping for. Borba wasn't making a secret of supervising the works on the house.

"House refurbishments is what we do!" - she beamed. "We offer the best quality goods and the lowest prices in all Cyrodiil!" - she added proudly.

"So what can you tell me about Lena Wolf?" - Rayenna decided to be blunt. After all, she was talking to an Orc.

"She's with the Mages Guild" - Borba bared her fangs. Was that a smile? "Quite high up, I believe - a Warlock or something!"

Rayenna knew that - that was public knowledge. It seemed that public knowledge was the only type of information that Rayenna was getting in this city. Were they hiding something or was there simply nothing to find? She couldn't read Orcs or Elves and she melted before the Imperials... she would have to think of something else.

14-15 Mid-Year, 4E202 - Bravil - Maglir - Mages Guild

Lena got up in mid-afternoon without any desire to chase after necromancy artefacts for Traven, even though Fort Ontus was not too far away. Instead, she decided to go to Bravil and see what Maglir's problem was now.

She rode cross-country and made it to Bravil in under four hours.

"I am Blackwood Company now!" - Maglir declared proudly. "More work, more pay and no Oreyn to breathe down my neck!"

Lena wasn't surprised. She was annoyed that Maglir wouldn't tell her what his contract was so that she could fulfil it - she had to return to Chorrol for that.

"Well, not today" - she tought. "Good riddance, anyway, one less idiot to babysit."

She went home and sat on the porch for the rest of the evening. The moons were dark and the quiet night brought peace to her thoughts.



"Good to see you all" - Lena entered the Mages Guild in the morning.

"Come have breakfast with us" - Kud-Ei greeted her from the dining room. "Warlock! Or is it Wizard now?" - she smiled.

"I lost count" - Lena grinned, joining them. "'Traven's errand girl' is probably more to the point."

"You don't like it?" - Henantier looked at her intently.

"So far I didn't have to do anything that I disagreed with" - Lena returned his look. "But I feel that I shall have to make choices with my current assignment."

"Oh of course" - Kud-Ei nodded. "He sent you to retrieve those 'stolen' artefacts, am I right?"

"Indeed."

"Well, use your judgement and remember that the Mages Guild is not the only professional group of mages in Tamriel" - Kud-Ei considered her sweetroll for a moment. "Or even in Cyrodiil. In particular around Bruma."

"How is Volanaro?" - Jowan joined the conversation. "I hear there have been changes at their Guild Hall."

"Volanaro asked me to tell you that they are holding a place for you if you want it" - Lena answered with a smile. "They have returned to their old work - and no one had to die. So they no longer answer to Traven."

"Do they answer to Mannimarco then?" - Ardaline looked up, worried.

"If I know Volanaro" - Henantier turned to her - "they will not answer to anyone. Instead, they will form a new group with more and more mages joining in. Like the whole of Mysticism, for example, and much of Conjuration. But not before Mannimarco is either dead or gone back to the Sommerset Isle - Volanaro is careful."

Several people around the table nodded in agreement.

"I fear Traven's censorship has touched us all" - Kud-Ei added. "He has now banned half of Illusion spells as well, because commanding creatures or people is apparently 'evil'."

"So what is he left with?" - Delphine started counting on her fingers. "Restoration, Alteration and Alchemy?"

"Half of Alchemy, you mean" - Ardaline shook her head. "We are not to study or make poisons, remember? As if you can study half a science!"

"Even with Restoration - spells like Absorb Health come from Necromancy, don't they?" - Jowan looked around the table. "Anyway, that's how I was taught..."

"This is correct, of course" - Fathis Aren said slowly. "And this is how we used to teach it in Morrowind as well - in particular in House Telvanni. Much of it is a matter of perspective. The same as Damage Health which for some reason falls under Destruction, yet it isn't an elemental force."

The table went quiet for a while.

"Well, I should be getting back to the Castle" - Fathis said, getting up. A shuffle of chairs followed - breakfast was finished.

"If I may?" - Fathis touched Jowan's arm. "I have heard of the way of things in Ferelden, and I understand your reluctance to join any organisation" - he said quietly. "But you might find Bruma very welcoming in spite of the cold."

"Thank you - and I agree" - Jowan smiled. "I think I shall take Volanaro up on his offer."

"That would be a good move for you" - Kud-Ei turned to Jowan. "And I wouldn't be surprised if our paths crossed again in the future."

The people were going about their business, and the Guild Hall grew a lot quieter.

"If I can have a word?" - Kud-Ei asked Lena. "I've heard what happened in Nenyond Twyll - those battlemages going in completely unprepared. This wasn't the first time that Traven neglected to provide adequate information. You may want to look into that - from the Legion side. Perhaps some of your friends might help - or their family members." She looked at Lena with significance.

"Of course" - Lena smiled. "Say no more, I'll investigate."

One more job on Lena's list, but she would have to wait for Hauk's return first.

Lena had a lot of things to do, but she worried about Lucien - in case his fort had been compromised, and what that would mean for him and for the whole Cheydinhal group. For if a Speaker was targeted, his group usually found itself in a lot of trouble. She decided to return to Cheydinhal.

15 Mid-Year, 4E202 - Suspicion - Lena's choice

Come immediately. Ocheeva.

Lena found a message in the Wolf Sanctuary. She went downstairs. Lucien was staying in Ocheeva's room.

"Close the door" - Ocheeva shot a glance into the corridor. "I don't suspect anyone here, but we don't want gossip."

Lena closed the door and joined them at the table.

"We believe they are after you" - Ocheeva said, fixing Lena with her gaze. "Now, I know what you are going to say - that you've dealt with worse back then, but it is no reason to underestimate them now."

"Do we know who they are?" - asked Lena calmly.

"I have an idea" - said Lucien. "You need to be very careful. If my suspicion is correct, she is exceptionally skilled and determined."

"But no - wait" - Lena shook her head. "You said 'she'?" - she looked at Lucien. "So it is like we thought - another woman wanting your attention. She didn't try to kill me yet, so I don't think that's her plan. She wants you - she will first make sure you hate me, so that she could have you for herself afterwards."

"Exactly what I told you" - said Ocheeva, also looking at Lucien.

"Ok, intrigue then" - Lucien shook his head. "I found a small crack by the trapdoor in the fort, by the way" - he added, turning to Lena. "It's been closed now, but Ocheeva insisted I should stay away for a while. Then check if the crack reappears."

"Good" - Lena nodded. "I think we have to wait and see what she does next. Unless you want to search her house? I assume she has one?" - she looked at Lucien.

"I already have - there was nothing there, but I placed some bait. We'll have to wait and see. We shall know at least if we suspect the right person."

Ocheeva got up to leave. "I'll be in the training room." She closed the door behind her.

"That foolish woman stands no chance" - Lucien held Lena in an embrace. "But you must be careful, nonetheless." They kissed.

"It could still be someone else, with an entirely different motive" - Lena looked into Lucien's eyes. "Targeting you, and only using our relationship as a diversion."

"Oh, I have my share of enemies, certainly" - Lucien nodded. "Which is why I am staying here for now. If they are after me, they'll have to change tactics, and we will notice."

Lena was looking into Lucien's eyes, feeling his embrace, and she suddenly realised that her feelings for him transcended friendship. This was the time to make her choice.

"I love you" - she said. "I have no doubt."

Lucien smiled and kissed her, then just held her in a tight embrace.

They didn't know how long they stood there, when there was a light knock on the door and someone opened it slightly, then shut it again.

"Come in!" - Lucien said loudly, releasing his embrace but still holding Lena around the waist.

Vicente appeared at the door.

"I was looking for Ocheeva, I apologise" - he said. Then, looking at Lena, he added: "Remember that bottled blood. Happiness can drain you more than sorrow. I am glad you've finally found each other."

He smiled and left. Vicente was much older than all of them. Lena's eyes were red.

...

"Hello Borba, how have you been?" - Lena entered Borba's shop.

"Good to see you" - Borba beamed. "Garrus left you this message" - she handed Lena a note. Lena read:

We need to talk - it's urgent. Garrus.

"Tell him I'll be at home all evening, he can come for dinner" - Lena looked up.

"Of course" - Borba nodded. "He stops by when he's doing his rounds. Anything else I can do for you?"

"Yes" - Lena hesitated. "I need the same beverage that you supply to Vicente" - she smiled timidly. "And I need it regularly, but not in the same amounts."

"The cure didn't go far enough, did it?" - Borba said with understanding. "I've heard others say the same. But that drink doesn't keep - you'll need fresh supplies, whether you use them or not."

"Yeah" - Lena sighed. "So be it."

Lena could not risk being knocked out by wraiths and not being able to recover. She decided to carry bottled blood with her the same way as she carried healing potions. There was no getting away from it - she wasn't a regular mortal.

...

"Hello - anybody home?" - Garrus knocked, then put his head through the door.

"Up here - come in!" - Lena answered from upstairs.

They sat down for dinner.

"A very good-looking Redguard woman came asking questions about you" - said Garrus after the usual greeting. "She was very thorough - wanted to know about your past. She probably went through your things here too."

"Oh" - Lena sat up. "Tall, dark hair worn loose, unusually fair skin for a Redguard, piercing green eyes - right?"

"Yes" - Garrus nodded. "With many well-concealed scars all over her body. A Sister of yours?"

"Sounds like it - we have a suspicion."

"We?"

"She... Well, I might as well tell you, since she came fishing here already" - Lena sighed. "We believe she is jealous of Lucien and me - she saw us... umm... being intimate... and... well... we are not sure what she'll do, but it doesn't look harmless."

Garrus sat back in his chair.

"So... you made your choice."

"I have." Lena felt a weight falling off her shoulders for telling this.

Garrus smiled at her. "I thought it would be him. You were very touchy when I asked you about the flowers."

"But I wasn't sure then at all!" - Lena protested.

"No, you needed time to understand it, but... he's been a part of you for a long time - it was plain to see."

With serious matters out of the way, they spent a pleasant evening chatting about Lena's recent adventures in caves, forts and ruins of Skyrim, Cyrodiil and Shivering Isles. Garrus looked a bit wistful at times, but Lena assured him that as soon as this matter with the Redguard woman was resolved, she would make the time for more adventuring - and she would take Garrus along. Sometimes there was nothing else to do but wait.

17 Mid-Year, 4E202 - Adamus Phillida's retirement

"You..?" - Adamus Phillida felt a blade under his ribs but he could not move. "Assassin!" - he breathed, looking at Lena in the mirror, surprise written on his face.

"Objects in the mirror are closer than they appear" - smiled Lena. "You wanted to see one standing before you - and now you have. We were never far away."

"So I was right!" Phillida wanted to raise alarm, call the guards, but paralysis gripped his throat and all he could manage was a quiet hiss. "And now you've come for me!"

"Yes" - Lena nodded. "You will die of a heart attack."

"But why? I am retired now" - the old Commander looked at her pleadingly.

"You know how we operate. Someone did not wish to grant you retirement" - Lena shook her head. "But I can grant you a painless death and a prayer to Arkay for your soul."

"Arkay will not hear you, Assassin!" - Phillida breathed, his face contorted with disgust.

"Oh but he will - he always does, I always get a blessing." Lena put her hand on Phillida's shoulder. "The God of Death knows me well." She nicked his skin with her poisoned blade. As Phillida's heart skipped a beat, he looked at Lena's reflection in the mirror, suddenly realising that what she said was all true. Arkay was waiting for him, and she would send him off with a blessing.

...

Adamus Phillida was found dead in his quarters in Leyawiin barracks seated at his dressing table, his heart ripped apart as if of electrocution. A sudden heart attack, no wounds, just a small cut in his side under the ribs. The City Guard had nothing to go on, but a certain Captain shook his head upon hearing about it. "Why am I not surprised" - he thought to himself. "Keep poking a cloaked dragon, and one day he'll poke you back."

Nice job of painting Phillida's last moments.

Thank you, Acadian! This is how I played it. Cloak and dagger. Illusion and Alchemy are great schools of magic.

17 Mid-Year, 4E202 - Leyawiin Sanctuary, a prelude

"I see you still honour Arkay" - Lucien joined Lena on a pew in the chapel in Leyawiin. "Phillida?"

Lena nodded. They sat quietly for a while.

"Any news?" - Lena asked.

"Not yet, but we need to warn Fenris."

"Let's go."

...

"Mistress! You have returned" - Fenris kneeled before Lena as she entered the Leyawiin Sanctuary. Then, remembering that she had told him not to kneel, he looked up but didn't rise. Lucien stood behind Lena.

"Hello Fenris, good to see you" - said Lena, lifting Fenris up by the shoulders. "You look well." She smiled at him.

"You will find poisons in the chest, and I have been learning making potions too" - said Fenris, glancing at Lucien sideways. "I shall prepare dinner for you."

She let him leave.

"I like what you've done with the place" - said Lucien, looking around. "Much better than the way it was on my last visit." He smiled. His last visit was over two centuries ago - when the Dark Brotherhood came for the Crimson Scars and he killed Lena's great-uncle.

...

They came into the dining hall just as Fenris was dressing the table. He kept his head low and was shooting sideways glances at Lucien.

"Fenris, this is Lucien Lachance, my Speaker and friend" - said Lena.

Fenris froze, looking into Lucien's face, now that Lucien had removed his hood.

"I believe we've met before" - said Lucien. "You were one of the young recruits that escaped right after our first visit. We never found you again."

"Until now..." - Fenris' voice sounded hoarse.

"Oh, I've known about your existence for a long time already, do not worry" - Lucien smiled. "You have been absolved."

Fenris relaxed, then dropped to his knees before Lena again.

"Thank you, Mistress - I know this is your doing."

Lena looked at Lucien in exasperation, then lifted up Fenris by the shoulders again.

"I told you not to worry" - she said. "With Rowley Eardwulf's death Purification has been completed. Please - let us have dinner. There is something we need to tell you, Fenris."

They sat down for dinner and Lena told Fenris that an assassin had been making inquiries about her - with unknown intentions. Fenris looked shocked.

"It is quite possible that they will come here looking for documents or anything else that they think they could use" - said Lucien. "How are your fighting skills, Fenris? That assassin is skilled."

"I can fight" - Fenris looked up. "Although I shall have to practice" - he looked into the distance. "It has been over a century since my last job, but I am still a vampire" - he smiled. "I shall go slightly hungry to sharpen my reflexes."

"Good" - Lucien nodded. "One of our Brothers will join you - Teinaava, and..." - he put an enchanted dagger before Fenris - "this might help, too."

"Paralysis?" - Fenris touched the dagger.

"Indeed" - Lucien smiled. "If you can capture the intruder instead of killing her, it would be ideal. Yes, we believe it is a woman, but at this point it is still just a suspicion. We could be wrong. Be careful - she is not after you, but she won't hesitate to kill."

"I shall be discrete" - Fenris smiled, clipping the dagger to his belt.

...

"The main entrance to the Sanctuary is under water" - Lena turned to Lucien after dinner. "Was it like that when you were here last?"

"No, it must have sunk later." He looked into the water, barely making out the door. "But don't you have another pool here too?"

"Indeed" - Lena smiled, leading him to the purifying pool with a salt formation next to it. "We don't need the salts but the pool itself is quite nice for regular bathing. And Fenris stays away from it like from the plague" - she winked.

"Well then" - Lucien closed the door. "We should test the waters."

18-21 Mid-Year, 4E202 - Phillida's message - Imp hunting - A letter from Hauk

"I shall return to Cheydinhal" - said Lucien during breakfast at the Leyawiin Sanctuary. "Teinaava should arrive here today, then all we need to do is wait. He will return to Cheydinhal once an intruder has been caught. Fenris will be able to keep her subdued after that, I trust?" - he looked at Lena with a question.

"Never fear" - Lena smiled. "Fenris will need to feed after a fight like that, especially since he'll go hungry before it. Have you not seen how much blood Vicente keeps in store?"

"Very well, then there is nothing to do here for us until then" - Lucien nodded. "What are your plans now?"

"Imperial City - Phillida job is not quite finished yet" - she winked. "Then Chorrol Fighters Guild, then wherever they send me, but I suspect it will be Bravil."

"Good, makes it easier to send word when it's time."


"Am I supposed to be impressed?" - the new Commander of the Imperial Watch opened his desk first thing in the morning and saw a finger with Phillida's signet ring where he expected to find his inkwell. He poked the finger with his quill. "Disgusting."

He looked around, making sure no one had seen him, then, without touching the finger, he rolled it off his desk with a couple of quills, dropping everything into a basket and covering with crumpled bits of parchment.

"Yuck!" - he shivered. "But I get the message!" - he told someone unseen. "I have just as much desire to touch you people as I like to touch that finger!"

The door to the Imperial Legion Offices opened and closed silently, although no one was seen to go in or out.

...

"He quit, did he?!" - Modryn Oreyn was livid as Lena brought him the news of Maglir's switch to the Blackwood Company. "We took him in when no one else would, and this is how he repays us!! Unbelievable!"

"Not so unbelievable" - Lena thought to herself, as it was out of the question to actually say anything to Oreyn right now. "Maglir had been trouble from the start - my trouble!"

"Well, you'll have to fulfil his contract" - Oreyn looked at Lena angrily. "Don't just stand there, go to Bravil Mages Guild and see what they wanted! Now!!"

Lena turned around and left without another word. It appeared that fire-breathing dragons were back in Cyrodiil too.

...

"Imp gall! I need imp gall!" - Aryarie was pacing the Guild Hall nervously. "I am stuck because of this damned Fighters Guild!"

"Ah, it must be her" - Lena thought, entering the hall. "Aryarie, I'm here on behalf of the Fighters Guild" - Lena said to her with a smile. "Was it imp gall that you wanted?"

"Yes! Finally!" - Aryarie turned around, she did think the voice was familiar. "Oh! Warlock... sorry, didn't realise you were with the Fighters Guild too..." - she blushed a bit. "But I am rather stuck, so if you don't mind..."

"Of course" - Lena beamed at her. "Imp gall it is." She turned to leave, then changed her mind. "For some reason once you pass Conjurer, the Mages Guild stops paying you for your work."

She walked off, leaving Aryarie seriously doubting her ambitions to make Magician.


Hunting imps was a breeze, even if it did take all day. Lena took it steady and slow, taking care to extract the gall carefully, and to check for any chests along the way - caves like that were often used by smugglers. The chests didn't disappoint, and there was even a minotaur to play with.

"I'll need to remember this cave" - Lena thought to herself. "Lots of imps in here, and they will be back, no doubt."

Aryarie was delighted with the imp gall, even more so because Lena actually knew how to cut it out without destroying it and how to keep it fresh.

...

"I have a letter for you" - an out-of-breath courier stopped her as she was leaving the Mages Guild. "Something I'm supposed to deliver... Let's see now..." - he fumbled in his bag. "Oh - here, marked 'urgent'!" He handed her a sealed parchment. "Well, better be off!"

"But - who is it from?" - Lena cried after him, but he only waved and disappeared around the corner. "Hmmm..." - Lena thought, breaking the seal. Something told her, it wasn't good news.

If you are reading this, I have been taken into Boethia's Realm. It is unlikely that I will return. It has been a privilege to walk with you. Goodbye.
-Hauk

"No!" - Lena's first reaction was to panic, but she steadied herself, folded the parchment and went home. "Think it over first, something isn't right."

Lena thought the letter sounded strange, not quite how Hauk would put it. Her first instinct was that this was a trap, so the thing to do was to go to the Imperial City to look for him. Lena decided to leave right away, even though Roach disliked travelling at night. She arrived before sunrise and went straight to the Bastion, but the guards told her that she had to wait for the morning. She checked his house and most taverns to pass the time - she didn't really expect to find him, but she couldn't sleep anyway.


In the morning, Hauk was still not around, and no one at the Legion Offices would tell her anything. "Should have expected that!" - she thought. Yes, he could simply be away on Legion business. Or he could be in Boethia's Realm. Would she take that risk? No, she wouldn't.

Cursing for the lost time, she bought a daedra heart and set off for Boethia's shrine in the Valus Mountains. She approached the statue, the heart in her hand.

"I wish to enter your Realm" - she said.

"Compete in my Tournament, win, then you can roam my Realm" - answered Boethia, opening a portal.

Lena entered without thinking.

The Realm consisted of an arena. There were no prison cells, no changing rooms, no training grounds - and Hauk wasn't there. Perhaps there were other islands in this sea of lava? If so, she could not see any.

"Boethia does not take captives" - her first opponent told her. "We are here to fight - one of each race. If your friend is not among us, he isn't here."

One of each race... She would have to wait for the Nord. And then? What if it was Hauk?

Boethia's quest, at the time I couldn't rationalize doing the sacrifice in order to gain entrance to her realm so I never did this one. Looks like you have a very good reason to perform entrance ritual.

This should be interesting.

I think you might be confusing it with Mephala's or with Skyrim. Here it just required a daedra heart to be brought to the statue - and you're in! (And you had to be at least level 20 to have at least a miniscule chance of surviving it. )

EDIT: Unless of course something else happens. I am just about to touch the statue in the actual game, and I've never done it before!

Yes, I was thinking of the Skyrim Boethia quest.

Either way, it'll be fun to revisit this one.

21 Mid-Year, 4E202 - The Tournament of Ten Bloods

An arena lay before Lena. She would fight one of each race, and hope that the Nord was not Hauk. Boethia's Chosen... Hauk did not worship Boethia, but he did have the mace of Molag Bal - may be this was Boethia's revenge?


"Focus on the fight" - she told herself, brushing these thoughts aside. "The first one is an elf - definitely not Hauk. Survive!"

The elf made short work of Lena's clannfear - he was a mage... and a fighter... the worst kind. Lena went down twice...

"Focus!" - she told herself angrily. "There's nine of them still to come! You won't get far this way!"

Nine or ten - she wasn't sure whether she'd have to fight a Breton or not. It didn't matter.

Lena wasn't a warrior, she was a stealth assassin preferring ranged attacks from cover. There was no cover here - this tournament would be her death. Unless...

Coming to, she wasted no time summoning another clannfear. It wouldn't be deadly, but it was fast and charged the elf, giving Lena an opening. She poisoned her blade, cloaked and crept from behind...

"What?!" - the elf spun around in surprise, feeling the wound, sensing his life energy ebbing away, with great fatigue taking over his body. "Where..?"

"...is she?" - Lena finished his sentence in her mind while her clannfear delivered the final blow. The elf couldn't heal fast enough.

"One down..." - Lena thought going through his pockets and picking up healing potions. She would be needing those.

There was no time to rest. Lena's boots were shattered already, so she kicked them off and pulled on a pair of shoes. Her iron cuirass and grieves were weakened but still held, and of course nothing could break the shielding enchantment... she hoped.

Another elf... a mage. She poisoned her blade again and cloaked, dodging the shock spells. He was using a staff, so he wouldn't be silenced. His skeleton was engaging the clannfear. "Hero or Champion" - Lena thought, noticing that the clannfear wasn't winning.

Lena crept up behind the mage, came quite close, still cloaked and almost ready to strike, but he sensed her then. "Life detection?" - she thought, but it didn't matter, invisibility was not going to work. She lunged with her sword.

"Aauww!" - the elf spun around, a warhammer in his hands.

"How..?" - Lena caught herself - "Don't stop to wonder!" He was a battlemage. Dodge, lunge, paralyse, apply more poison...

It wasn't a fair fight, but you didn't get points for fairness.

"Eighty six healing potions!" - Lena went through his pockets once he was down. "This explains the robes - and the noise he was making. Well, they didn't help..." She didn't take the potions - she had enough of her own, and didn't want to be slowed down by all the extra weight.

An Imperial... a Khajiit... a Nord... Lena was hit, poisoned and burned, but her poisoned blade always found its mark. Her armour was all but shattered now, but the enchantment still held. There was no time for repairs.

"A Nord?" - she looked into the face of a young woman she just defeated. A wave of relief washed over her - it wasn't Hauk. So... this was a trap. She wasn't done yet, there were more opponents to come. How many? She lost count.


"I am disappointed" - she heard Boethia's voice. "She was quick and strong, I shall miss her."

"What?" - Lena turned around, but of course Boethia wasn't showing his face. "Oh" - she looked at the Nord girl again. "He must have liked her... I wonder if this means that things will get tougher from now..."

It did. The next opponent was an Orc. She dispatched Lena's clannfear in a single hit, and when Lena tried paralysis, the spell was absorbed. The Orc retaliated - and Lena went down, over and over again. What now? Vanish and Heal potion bought Lena a little time, but the Orc had fully healed herself by then. "Dessos" - Lena thought, preparing to summon her dremora. She needed cover to apply poison again - twice or three times, and of different kinds.

The fight was fierce, and Dessos was banished twice, but in the end the Orc could not heal fast enough, with three poisons ravaging her body. She died, but not before Lena was bruised and cut beyond simple healing.

"Whoever said that axes were blunt, never felt one on their own flesh" - she thought, wincing at the pain. She gulped down another potion - it took the edge off the pain and made her feel stronger, but she wasn't fooled. Lena's wounds were deep, it seemed she could not stop the bleeding, not all of it, anyway. Yet, she still had a long way to go... "Better get on with it - I won't last much longer" - she thought.

A Redguard... Lena could swear the opponents were getting tougher and tougher. His strike was so strong, he paralysed the clannfear, banishing it with the next hit of his mace. Dessos didn't fare much better, although he didn't get banished that fast. Poison seemed to glide off the Redguard's skin doing barely any damage...

"It cannot be!" - Lena thought. "There must be a way..."

No, he had no weakness for Lena to exploit and the fight was wearing her down. But the Redguard was but a man, not a god, with his only weakness being his mortality... The poisons got him in the end - his heart ripping apart as if of electrocution.

"Phew" - Lena sighed, kneeling to check his pockets. "Nothing. You ran out of potions, my friend." She would be soon running out of potions too.

But who was next? Lena didn't see anyone, but summoned a clannfear nonetheless - and saw it burn. An archer. The clannfear charged - and was banished before it could reach its target. She summoned another - the archer had moved and Lena lost him again. A Bosmer? This wasn't a forest, yet he seemed to hide in plain sight. Lena had to be quick. She poisoned her sword, cast life detection and charged.

"Huh?" - the Bosmer was still shooting arrows at the clannfear. But the poison took away his stamina first, and he couldn't lift his heavy battleaxe to get to Lena. The clannfear found him, he banished it with another fire arrow, but Lena had the time to apply more poison onto her blade...

The Bosmer went down with a sigh. She won another battle, but the tournament wasn't over.


Lena was feeling tired. She could barely walk, from pain and exhaustion. She started shivering - how could she be cold on this island surrounded by bubbling lava? Red mist wafted into her vision, black spots started replacing the fires... She would pass out soon... Surely, that would count as a failure, she would be left for dead... No, she could not allow it - there was one more thing she could do. Blood.

Borba's bottled blood cleared away the mist, but Lena was still shivering. Another bottle. She felt warmer. How many more fights were still ahead? Better not be too many, she had no blood left...

"Showing your face here was the last mistake you'll ever make!" - a hoarse voice brought Lena out of her near-stupor. Quick, another opponent!

Lena had barely any strength left, but she willed herself on her feet, summoning her dremora. While Dessos was engaging the opponent - an Argonian - Lena poisoned her blade, flanking her. She hit without conviction - that was the best she could do. She hoped the poison would work... Or would it? Weren't Argonians resistent to such things? Ouch.

The poison didn't do much, but Dessos managed to land a few strikes with his fire-enchanted claymore, and the Argonian tried to run back and put some distance between them, switching to a bow. A single arrow banished Dessos in a cloud of red mist - it was enchanted. "Damage Health and probably everything else for good measure" - Lena thought, shuddering. She summoned a clannfear again - for speed, then hesitated selecting a poison. "Let's try one with an elemental effect" - she thought - "since Influenza Subita didn't do much. Oh, here - Napalm."

She ran up to the Argonian hoping and preying that clannfear would still be holding her opponent's attention - Lena's magicka was nearly out. She hit once or twice, then cloaked with the last of her will, and waited. Would the poison suffice?

She was feeling weak, she could barely stand. She fell to her knees, her armour weighing her down. Red mist was swirling in from all sides again, and darkness closing in... She heard Boethia's voice, but could not make out what he was saying... "...Breton..." Breton? Did he say Breton? So then, she won!..

The darkness closed in and she was gone.

Wow, what a nailbiting series of fights! Sounds like Lena won but barely. Whew!

She may have won... But did she survive?

22 Mid-Year, 4E202 - The Tournament of Ten Bloods, the aftermath

"Sanguine?" - Lena opened her eyes with difficulty and saw a dremora kneeling over her. "What... happened?" Her tongue seemed to have doubled in size.

"Bloody Boethia - whatever possessed you to enter his tournament? This isn't the Imperial City Arena!" - Sanguine was casting healing spells at Lena. "Look at you - you're a mess!"

"But... I won" - Lena tried to smile, but her mouth wouldn't stretch.

"You won..." - Sanguine shook his head. "You were the one still barely alive while the others lay dead, yes. And all of it for what? A sword! Unbelievable."

Lena raised her head and looked around. She was lying in a clearing, it was early evening. A gentle breeze moved through the light foliage around her. She smelled a campfire, heard the birds chirping. It seemed familiar.

"Where are we? This isn't near the shrine."

"No, you never made it out of Boethia's Realm" - Sanguine sat cross-legged next to her now, stroking her face. "I brought you to one of my islands."

Lena's face felt better, she could speak almost normally now.

"What do you mean - never made it out? How did you..?" No, speaking was still painfully difficult.

"Boethia does not care for his contestants. You won the fight, yes, but you still had to walk through the gate on your own, and you couldn't. As to how I knew..." - Sanguine smiled. "Dessos. He took quite a beating himself." Sanguine jerked his head towards the fire. Lena turned and saw a dremora tending to his wounds, his armour in a heap next to him.

"Oh I am so sorry!" - she cried, although it came out more like a growl. "I was mostly summoning clannfears, but sometimes I just needed help..." She tried to get up, but her legs refused to cooperate and she fell back onto the bedroll with a thud. "I am a mess, you're right" - she admitted.

"You mortals are too fragile for this" - Dessos said without turning. "Yet you are undaunted. Strange."

"Yeah..." - Lena smirked. "That's us."

She felt drowsy - Sanguine gave her a potion.

"You need to rest now" - he said, getting up. "Was anyone with you?"

"No" - Lena mumbled, falling asleep. "This was my own foolish idea..."

This wasn't entirely true - Lena had been tricked. That letter wasn't from Hauk - it was sending her to her death. Murder by Boethia's Tournament... A stroke of genius, she had to admit. It's just... she didn't like to be the target.

...

Lena woke up on a clearing, turned to her side and saw two dremoras and a Mazken sitting by the fire. She was still in Sanguine's Realm. Her body felt as if every bone was broken, but she was alive.

Sanguine heard her move and turned around.

"Ah, you are awake!" - he smiled. "Good. You need better healing than this, Dylan will take you to the Shivering Isles."

"Wait - before we go" - Lena sat up, wincing. "Here - take a look at this" - she produced a blood-stained letter from an inner pocket. "This is why I was there. This was a trap - the letter is a lie. Lucien needs to know."

Sanguine read the letter, his face turning grim. Dylan clenched his fists. Dessos put on his armour.

"Someone wants you dead" - said Sanguine.

"I know" - Lena nodded. "That's not new. Tell Lucien to speak with Ocheeva - this is an intrigue, not a plain murder, and we still have no proof. Tell him..." - she winced at the pain again. "Tell him that if I find him dead when I return, I'll go into the Void and make him come back. Sithis can't have him yet."

She tried to get up, but again her legs wouldn't cooperate. She swore.

Dylan came up to her, lifting her up and holding her around the waist, her feet barely touching the ground.

"Ready?" - he asked, preparing to cast a spell. She nodded, he opened a portal and they disappeared into it.

"She would go against Sithis?" - Dessos looked at Sanguine in surprise.

"And she would likely succeed, too" - Sanguine grinned. "A lot of passion in this one..."

Ahah, nice followup. Saved (sort of) by Sanguine. Handy to know, Sanguine is. You mortals are too fragile for this!

Sanguine is still a Prince, he's got powers, even if he's drunk most of the time. He's very fond of Lena, may be one day she'll tell the story... Or may be he will, if he stays off felldew long enough.

22 Mid-Year, 4E202 - Bernice's Taphouse

"Aquanostrum is what she needs - Aquanostrum!" - Sickly Bernice was proclaiming between the coughs. "That's what's keeping me alive!"

"She's not wrong, you know" - Ushnar chimed in. "But once you start drinking it, you'll never stop - it's worse than skooma!"

"Skooma?" - a voice piped up from a heap of rags in the corner. "You've got some skooma? Friend? Pal? To share? Oh pass the skooma already!"

"There's no skooma here, Caldana" - Ushnar cut her off.

A disappointed sigh came from the rags and Caldana went back to sleep. The gathering in Bernice's Taphouse went quiet for a moment, everyone trying to think of something that would help Lena heal.

"Why don't you take her to the Wellspring again?" - asked Earil, looking at Dylan. "It worked last time, didn't it?"

"It doesn't heal" - Dylan shook his head. "It regenerates. There was no disease to cure last time, no wounds to close. It simply regenerated her skin. I'll take her there if she keeps any scars after this, but she needs to heal first."

"It's too bad that Muurine is dead" - Cutter said with regret. "She was a gifted Necromancer, she would have known what to do."

"What?!" - Una cried in disbelief. "Necromancer! We want to keep her alive, not turn her into a zombie!"

"Una" - Cutter started speaking slowly, as if explaining things to a child. "Necromancy deals with life as well as death - they are one and the same. Muurine would have been able to find the cause of her illness." Cutter rolled her eyes, shaking her head. "It can't be just wounds - I cut myself all the time, and I've never needed anything beyond simple healing."

"Sticks! Fresh sticks! As long as they are fresh, there's nothing better!.." - Gloorolros' voice trailed off as everyone stared at him.

"Aw, fribble!" - Bolwing swore, trying to pick out Big Head's fork from a pile of cutlery on the table. "This... Yes?" - he looked at the others. "Is this the right one? Can you understand me?" They nodded. He brightened up and continued. "Where is Ahjazda? She's not here. She's an alchemist - a good one. She knows potions that heal wounds of the soul, too."

"Keep that crazy cat away from me!" - Ushnar shuddered. "I would not take anything from a cat!"

"We know, Ushnar" - Una patted his arm. "Calm down now, come and see me at the museum again - we'll keep the cats out" - she spoke soothingly.

"Oh, of course, dear... err... Una, I mean" - Ushnar mumbled. It was his luck that Orcs didn't blush much.

"Wounds of the soul" - Arctus mused, looking into the distance. "I always knew she was Demented, yet she lit the Great Torch for Mania this time - that must be the wound in her soul."

"No, it's not!" - Tilse walked in. "What? Don't stare - we care for her just as much as you do." She joined them at the table with a challenge in her sanguine eyes. "It's love, don't you see?" She looked around the table. "Why did she go there? To save someone. Bring him to her, and she'll recover" - she concluded triumphantly.

Everyone looked at Dylan. "You know her best. So?"

"No" - Dylan shook his head. "She knows he wasn't there, she's not worried about him. And..." - he looked at Tilse - "he's not the one she loves."

"I wish I had friends like this" - Earil sighed. "That would go to Oblivion and back for me..." - he looked wistful.

The room fell silent again. Bernice refilled everyone's goblets with her summer wine, adding a goblet for Tilse.

"Hey, this is good!" - Tilse looked up, having sampled the wine. "I should have trusted Ahjazda, she keeps bringing it over, but I..." - her voice trailed off as she felt everyone's stares. "What? Didn't you know? About Ahjazda and me? Oh..." - she blushed, visible even on her dark Dunmer skin.

"Love, eh?" - Earil grinned. "I see where you are coming from, sister!"

This lightened up the mood, so Bernice put smoked balliwog legs on the table and everyone suddenly realised that serious discussions called for sustenance.

"But what are we going to do?" - Arctus felt they had to make a decision. "About the healing?"

"Well" - Earil started firmly. "Heal the wounds first - that's the easy bit. Then we'll see. May be Ahjazda does know something we don't" - he looked at Tilse - "since she's... you know..."

"What?" - Tilse rose from her chair slightly.

"...more open-minded than most of us" - Earil finished his sentence. "Carrying on with a Manic like that."

Tilse snorted but didn't say anything. Everyone started reciting their favourite healing recipes, the ones that closed the wounds of the physical nature. Somehow they were all pretty much the same... and Dylan knew them already. He didn't learn anything new, and yet he felt more at ease and almost certain that the treatment would work. Why was that? The ways of the mortals were strange indeed.

25 Mid-Year, 4E202 - Hauk in Crucible

"Dylan" - Hauk nodded a greeting as he entered the Wolf House in Crucible. Dylan was making potions downstairs. "How is she?"

"Sleeping" - Dylan looked up from his work. "Or resting, anyway. She will be glad to see you."

Hauk dropped off his gear in the corner and changed out of his armour into a robe.

"Here - take this to her, it's nearly time" - Dylan handed him a potion.

...

Lena was awake. She was sitting up in bed, trying to read, but the words on the page kept moving, making her dizzy. She heard voices coming from downstairs... familiar voices. Hauk? She strained to hear.

Hauk softly opened the door and looked in.

"Ah, you are awake!" - he smiled. "Here - drink this" - he handed her the potion.

Lena was going to say something, but he thrust the potion into her hand.

"Drink this first" - he said firmly.

Lena sighed and obeyed. Then, as Hauk bend towards her to take the empty vial, she leapt up, wrapping her arms around his neck. "You're alive" - she whispered.

...

"If I didn't know better, I would have said you shouldn't have done it" - he smiled. "But I know you" - he sighed, stroking her cheek. "So I'll say: you need to be better prepared."

"There is no preparing for something like that" - Lena shook her head. "Well, may be for the fights themself... But if I had known what this Tournament was... that I would have to fight one of each race, if I had understood what the letter implied - that I would have to fight you... I don't know what I would have done" - she looked at him with horror. "The nightmares of that possibility are still haunting me."

"But it didn't happen" - Hauk was holding her hand in his. "Put it out of your mind, don't let that assassin win."

Lena nodded slowly. "Dylan has been saying the same thing, but it isn't that easy." Then she looked up, remembering something. "How did you find out? Sanguine?"

"Yes" - Hauk nodded. "I saw Lucien too."

"Then... you probably guessed" - Lena smiled uneasily. "I've made my choice" - she said with difficulty.

"Yeah... I guessed" - Hauk was still holding Lena's hand. "I must say I was expecting it" - he smiled softly. "You be happy with him."

Lena leaned forward, grabbing Hauk's arm as if to stop him from leaving.

"Oh, I am not going anywhere" - he said firmly. "It is now twice that you've gone to Oblivion and back on my account - you are not getting rid of me that easily. Besides, I didn't think that Lucien was keen on Ayleid ruins, so you need me." He gave her a broad grin.

Lena smiled too, letting go of Hauk's arm.

"Dagail was right" - she said, her voice trembling slightly. "This time I have friends."

16-19 Mid-Year, 4E202 - Rayenna's investigation

"Where is Deepscorn Hollow?" - Rayenna was pouring over a map, not finding it. "It was his Sanctuary, so it would have been secret, but not in a town since it's an estate." Cyrodiil was too large to search every possible cavern. She wasn't having any luck. "Well, it isn't surprising really that it's not on the map." She folded it away. "Ok, let's try something else: who was Mathieu Bellamont? And what are these scraps of paper? And why did I find it all here?" She stared at the papers that she had retrieved from their secret hiding place behind the tapestry in her home, but the papers didn't answer. "There must be some clue that I'm missing..."

The sea always helped Rayenna to think, so she went out the door of her rented lighthouse cellar and strolled along the pier. It was a hazy morning and the Castle of Anvil was only showing its outline.

"Morning, Rayenna" - Ulfgar Fog-Eye greeted her. "Still getting up early, I see? It's good to see you back here, I already started to wonder whether you still wanted that cellar."

"Of course I do" - Rayenna smiled. "This is my home." She looked him over, taking in his worn clothes - he wasn't a rich man. "Say, Ulfgar" - she started tentatively. "Would you sell it to me?"

"I would, but I can't" - he looked at her with regret. "The Countess owns the lighthouse and the cellar now, and although she lets me rent it out, she won't sell it, not after what happened here before."

"What happened here before?" - Rayenna was unsure what he meant. She grew up here on the docks, surely she would have heard all the rumours by now?

Ulfgar looked around, checking that no one was listening in, then he came close to Rayenna and said as quietly as he could manage: "The Dark Brotherhood. There was a madman living here, he was a member but tried to destroy them from within." Ulfgar looked over his shoulder again. "They say the cellar is cursed - that his spirit still dwells in there."

Rayenna looked shocked.

"The Dark Bro..?!" - she cried out, but Ulfgar quickly put his hand over her mouth.

"Sshhh..." - he looked horrified. "Are you trying to get us killed? They are everywhere!"

"You have no idea" - Rayenna thought, relaxing. Ulfgar let go of her. "When was that?" - she asked in a low voice.

"Oh, some two centuries ago" - Ulfgar scratched his head. "But people remember. Not many even want to come near it now." He looked at her with a worried expression. "You are not going to move out, are you? Now that you know?"

"Of course not" - Rayenna assured him with a smile. "I never noticed any curse, I think it's just stories."

...

Rayenna didn't think those were just stories - she now had a lead. She didn't believe in an angry ghost in her cellar - she knew there wasn't one - but she suspected that the madman from the Dark Brotherhood might have been that traitor that she heard talk about. She never knew his name - could he have been Mathieu Bellamont? That would explain so much...

She went around the port, greeting everyone and carefully fishing for that old legend about a curse in town. She heard a lot about the Benirus Manor, but not much about the lighthouse. She brought it up at the Flowing Bowl. Maenlorn froze, then quickly caught himself.

"Oh, that's just old superstition!" - he beamed at her. "You don't want to listen to such nonsense!"

"Wait - he's an elf" - Rayenna thought, searching his face. "He was probably around then." And she asked with a smile: "How long have you been running the Flowing Bowl, Maenlorn? I've known you all my life..."

"Oh, we've been here longer than that" - he smiled evasively. "Caenlorn is still talking about leaving, but we are well settled in here by now. Valenwood is not for us."

"He's changing the topic" - Rayenna noted. "I won't get anything out of him. But what about his brother? Perhaps he's more talkative."

She found Caenlorn wandering around the city, looking bored. "Ideal" - she thought. She walked with him, carefully steering the conversation towards old legends. It took a lot of manoeuvring, but eventually he told her something that she wanted to hear.

"Bellamont was his name - a Breton" - Caenlorn was looking into the distance. "I remember him because he always used to argue with Maenlorn about the food. Not good enough for him. Then he vanished one day, and the Countess took possession of the lighthouse. The man had been mad - you should have seen his cellar when we cleared it out... Blood everywhere... bones... And a severed head - flesh decomposed beyond recognition! It was a shrine of some sort, you could tell. A shrine to the severed head! Mad, I'm telling you..."

Caenlorn shuddered - it wasn't a pleasant memory. Rayenna learned what she wanted. Bellamont was the traitor whose name was not spoken. And he was Lena's cousin - a cousin to whom she had pledged loyalty. Surely that meant that Lena was a traitor herself? Except... that was two centuries ago, and the girl in Lucien's bed was in her early twenties.

"She's an imposter" - Rayenna decided. "She must be. She was a Breton, they are not that long lived. Even if she did have an Altmer for a Great-Uncle" - she remembered that mention in Greywyn Blenwyth's will. "Even if she was still alive, she would have looked older. No, it can't be her."

Now Rayenna had to prove that Lena Wolf was an imposter. "Why is it that with every question answered, I get another that's even harder to figure out?" - she thought in frustration. "How am I going to prove that? Unless..."

Deepscorn Hollow was the key. Whether Lena Wolf was an imposter or the original, she would have papers, documents, journals, something - she must! And she would be keeping it in Deepscorn Hollow. Rayenna had to find it. She didn't know where to start, so she decided to start with what she knew - the living Lena Wolf was with the Mages Guild, so why not start asking about her there.

...

"Lena Wolf?" - Carahil was looking at Rayenna in surprise. "She's a Warlock now, has been helping the Arch Mage fight the necromancers." Carahil looked proud. "She might not be the most powerful mage in the Guild, but she's resourceful, and we need people like her. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, no reason" - Rayenna smiled, trying to charm Carahil.

"Your charm spell needs work" - Carahil scowled, unimpressed. Rayenna made a quick exit. May be it wasn't her brightest idea to use magic against the head of a Mages Guild chapter...


"Bruma - I should try Bruma" - Rayenna thought, riding North. "The Nords can't keep their tongues on a leash after a few rounds of mead, and why would they anyway - I might learn something there."

The Mages Guild hall looked strange with the skull and bones banners adorning it.

"This Guild Hall specialises in Necromancy, as it always has" - Jeanne told her proudly. "It is just another magic school - we are no threat to anyone."

Rayenna didn't get a good feeling about the place, and there were no Nords here, so she decided to try a tavern instead. Olav's Tap and Tack looked the part.

"Lena Wolf?" - Olav scratched his head. "Oh, you mean that Breton girl that always shows up with that Nord in tow?" - he grinned. "I even put a double bed for them in one of the rooms. Inseparable, they are."

"The Nord?" - Rayenna asked hopefully.

"Oh I see now" - Olav winked. "It's not the girl you're after" - he laughed. "A battlemage - Hauk. He's with the Mages Guild, of course. As is his twin brother, sometimes people confuse them." He laughed at a memory.

"Are they close?" - Rayenna decided to look jealous. "Hauk and Lena, I mean?"

Olav nodded. "They are. I hate to break it to you, but you better look for another Nord" - he winked and smiled.

"Oh great" - Rayenna thought, looking him over. She didn't like Nords that way, so she hastened to thank him and leave. But now she had a name.

She wasn't sure what to do next, but decided to ride to the Imperial City - the main road out of Bruma led South. She passed a shrine of Namira along the way.

"Daedric Princes send mortals to perform dangerous tasks for a reward" - she remembered how it worked. "Some tasks are more dangerous than others... Perhaps even too dangerous... Say... it's worth a try!"


The First Edition in the Imperial City had what she wanted - The Book of Daedra. Rayenna settled down in a far corner of the All Saints Inn to study it. She purposefully chose the quietest inn in town so that she could be undisturbed.

"Boethia's Tournament of Ten Bloods... hopefuls have to fight one of each race to become Boethia's Chosen, who then fight new contestants in future Tournaments... fights to the death..." - she read. "That's it! She's an assassin, not a warrior, she won't survive one of each race" - Rayenna closed the book. "I know I wouldn't" - she shuddered. "Especially if she panics and goes unprepared..."

She got ink, quill and parchment out of her pack. "Let's see now..." - she took the quill in her left hand, made a few trial scribbles, then wrote:

If you are reading this, I have been taken into Boethia’s Realm. It is unlikely that I will return. It has been a privilege to walk with you. Goodbye.

Hauk

She folded the parchment, sealed it, and wrote an address:

To Lena Wolf, Warlock of the Mages Guild - URGENT

The Black Horse Couriers were known for their speed and efficiency. Rayenna took the letter to their offices, paid the urgency surcharge without negotiating, and left, smiling softly.

20-21 Mid-Year, 4E202 - Rayenna's trap

Rayenna spent the night at the All Saints Inn in the Imperial City. She felt relieved that she had finally found a way to get Lena Wolf killed without attracting suspicion to herself, so she allowed herself a day of rest. The Imperial City always fascinated her - such grand structures, so well preserved after thousands and thousands of years since they were built. How was it that these buildings still stood in their full glory while all the other Ayleid structures were reduced to rubble, at least above ground? It was an interesting question to ponder. She spent a relaxing day and returned to the All Saints Inn for another night.


Rayenna was a light sleeper. She was awakened by some knocking downstairs, she strained to hear and realised that someone was trying to wake up the innkeep. Then she heard voices... She opened her door a crack and listened intently.

"So you haven't seen him?" - a young female voice was saying, sounding agitated.

"Seen whom?" - the innkeep was sleepy, struggling to understand what the woman wanted.

"A Nord battlemage... in Legion armour... no, probably rather in steel armour... Was he here?"

"When?" - the innkeep finally woke up. "The last few days? No." He sounded irritable, not surprising considering that he was woken up in the middle of the night, but then he softened his tone. "Sorry, lass, no, I haven't seen anyone by that description here. You look tired, why don't you take a break from your search - you won't find him in the middle of the night."

"Thanks..." - the female voice sounded familiar. Was it... Lena Wolf? Rayenna got a jolt. "Thanks, but I couldn't sleep anyway... Sorry to have disturbed you."

She left. Rayenna heard the front door open and close and the innkeep sigh and settle down into his bed again.

"Yes!!" - Rayenna was ecstatic. "She took the bait! She'll be gone to Boethia's Realm by tomorrow!"

Rayenna's excitement kept her awake, but she didn't want to go to the common room. The Book of Daedra was next to her bed, and she picked it up again. The chapter on Azura was rather boring, and Rayenna soon nodded off to sleep.

...

"Masterfully done!" - a voice woke her up. She looked around - she wasn't at the inn. She was in a cave - a large cavern with strange luminescent mushrooms as the only sources of light. Something fuzzy brushed by her - she jumped back. Spiders. Giant spiders.

"Where am I? What is this place?" - Rayenna asked. She waited, standing still, but there was no answer. "It's a dream" - she thought. "It must be..."

Her eyes adapted to the darkness and she could now make out the rocks and the critters in the cave. They were giant spiders or something similar, but they didn't attack. The mushrooms looked familiar somehow...

"Blackreach" - Rayenna thought. "It must be Blackreach. But how? Does it extend all the way to Cyrodiil?"

Rayenna read travel accounts about Blackreach in Skyrim, saw drawings and colour plates of strange rock formations and these luminous mushrooms. No one knew how big Blackreach really was, there were some old Dwemer exits in Skyrim, but what if it was much bigger than that?

"And how did I get here in the first place?" - wondered Rayenna, carefully picking her way between the rocks towards a larger source of light. She wasn't yet sure what it was.

...

"Welcome, Assassin!" - a Dunmer sat on a throne in an Ayleid chamber. The centre was illuminated with a large wrought iron brazier containing aquamarine crystals. The light did not reach the walls.

Rayenna approached, her hand on the hilt of her sword.

"There is no need for that" - the Dunmer pointed at her hand with a nod. "We are no threat to you... today."

Rayenna felt the air move and heard the slightest noise coming from the darkness. They were not alone.

"Who are you and why did you bring me here?" - she asked, her voice even.

"I am but a messenger" - the Dunmer replied. "And we brought you here to convey a message from our Lord."

The Dunmer fell silent, waiting for Rayenna to ask the next question. When she didn't, he continued.

"Go to the shrine of Mephala, speak to His followers, summon the Prince. Hear His task, fulfil it, and your reward will be what you seek."

Rayenna raised an eyebrow. "And how do you know what I seek?"

"I do not" - the Dunmer fixed her with his gaze. "But My Lord knows."

"And if I refuse?" - Rayenna thought she already knew the answer, but decided to test the waters anyway.

"My Lord will not be denied" - there was fire in the Dunmer's sanguine eyes. "My Brothers will see to that."

A green light shot from the darkness, and Rayenna felt her muscles spasm, paralysed. She passed out.

...

"Well, that was interesting" - Rayenna came to on a cold stone floor. A rat was sniffing her curiously. "Shoo" - she flicked the rat on the nose, the rat recoiled in surprise, then jumped onto Rayenna with a hungry squeak. Rayenna's dagger slit its throat before it made contact. "Ugh" - she threw off the rat and got up. She was in an Ayleid ruin. "So, it wasn't a dream."

The ruin was in a poor condition, with many cave-ins. Rayenna stumbled and nearly fell, landing on a carved stone tablet with a scrap of parchment next to it. Someone was trying to translate the text. "Meridia... Terror of the Most Terror..." - she read. That didn't make sense, so she let it be.

The animals inside the ruin didn't present much challenge to Rayenna, but some mage was less fortunate - or less skilled - and was now but a corpse, lying next to another stone tablet. Past him was an old stone door, and it took all of Rayenna's strength to get that open.

The door led into a flooded cave.

"Oh great" - Rayenna cursed, she was hoping for fresh air, but instead she faced a minotaur. And another. Some imps, too. "How do they even get in here?" - she wondered, but that didn't matter. Eventually, she saw daylight coming through a wooden gate - she was finally outdoors.

Rayenna stood on the City Isle, it was late morning. She walked to the nearest gate - to the Market District - and then to the All Saints Inn.

"Good morning" - the innkeep saw her in surprise. "I didn't see you leave. Breakfast?"

"Yes, please" - Rayenna smiled. Thinking didn't work on an empty stomach.

I enjoyed reading about Lena's induction and introduction into the Dark Brotherhood. She certainly has a lot of questions about how they run things.



The 'so much for being a secret organization' part. *nods* Yes, I have always very much agreed! It's like--how much more can you stand out, while trying not to stand out? Ha.

Of course that would explain all those "Pssst! Hail Sithis!" comments from perfect strangers. I mean, how on Nirn do they know that she's with the DB? Oh, yeah, the armour...

22 Mid-Year, 4E202 - In service of Mephala

"How am I going to do this?" - Rayenna was sitting at the shrine of Mephala, covering her face with her hands. Mephala had set her a task: go to the settlement of Bleaker's Way, find and kill the heads of the families, place false evidence on them to suggest another family's meddling, don't get caught. This required stealth, something that Rayenna still struggled with. She could creep up to her target for the kill, but stealth for the sake of stealing was not her strong suit. She wasn't sure how to obtain the fake evidence before she could start on the murders.

Well, there was nothing else for it - she had to try.

The village was busy, but eventually Rayenna found a moment when no one was around and broke into Hrol Ulfgar's house. She was good with the locks, just not with sneaking around - in her bandit days she would kill the owners first, then work on the locks without rush, but now the opposite was required.

"Better be quick about it - I don't want to be caught in this house" - she thought. She wasn't here for the riches, she needed something of significance. She looked around, trying not to make any noise, then finally spotted a signet ring on a dresser. "Ulfgar" was etched on it, this looked like a heirloom, so she pocketed it. She exited quickly and was glad that no one saw her.

It was several more hours before the village square was empty again and Rayenna could try the lock on Nivan Dalvilu's house. Finally, she was in. It was a small house and she quickly spotted an elegant dagger on a low table.

"Decorative more than practical" - she thought. "Dalvilu" was engraved on the hilt - another heirloom. She pocketed it. Suddenly she heard someone opening the door. She crouched in a dark corner - it was Nivan Dalvilu returning home.


It was only early evening but she planned to murder them at night, so what was she going to do? Sit quietly until he goes to sleep or murder him now? Was she even able to sit crouched for six hours without losing feeling in her legs?

She was pondering these questions when...


"What are you doing here?" - Nivan Dalvilu noticed her presence.

"I'm... Umm..."

Rayenna decided to bring forward the execution, then put Ulfgar's ring in Dalvilu's pocket.

She waited until past midnight before she ventured outside and into Hrol Ulfgar's house.

Hrol Ulfgar was asleep, and Rayenna crept up and stabbed him. She underestimated the Nord's skill however, and a full blown battle ensued. Good thing they were inside his house, so no one noticed.

"Phew, never underestimate a Nord!" - thought Rayenna when it was all over. She put Dalvilu's dagger into his pocket. "Now just to mention this casually to someone..."

The inn was still open, and Rayenna mentioned overhearing that Hrol Ulfgar had been killed by one of the Dalvilu... And the villagers were at each other's throats.

"Looks like they never really got on" - she thought. "It was like bringing a match to a haystack."

She didn't linger and returned to the shrine of Mephala.

"Well done, Assassin!" - Mephala's voice sounded from the statue. "You should consider joining my ranks. But now for your reward - you were promised that what you seek. Deepscorn Hollow lies East of Leyawiin on the shore of Topal Sea. Go now, Webspinner!"

23-28 Mid-Year, 4E202 - Rayenna at the Leyawiin Sanctuary

"East of Leyawiin, on the shore of Topal Sea" - Rayenna was pouring over a map at the Roxey Inn. "Well, there's nothing here, of course. I'll have to go and see."

The trip was going to be long and she bought supplies for the road. She could have reached Leyawiin in a day - her black horse was swift - but Rayenna was uncertain. She didn't know what she would find, and whether she would find anyone there or not. And what if she found no proof of Lena's deceit? She decided not to think about it. Just take one thing at a time - she was too far down this road to stop now.


"Ok, I'll do it tonight" - Rayenna told herself. There was no point in delaying it any further. She had found a ruined farm house half sunken into the sea - it was the only point of interest along the shore of the Topal Sea, not counting Tidewater Cave filled with trolls.

Rayenna was losing her touch, or rather losing her head. She found the cave first and entered without an investigation. The next thing she knew was a troll kicking her in the ribs. She gathered her strength and ran towards Leyawiin gates with all the speed she could muster.

"Redguard adrenaline is not supposed to be used to run away!" - she told herself in shame, but shame was better than death. The guard outside the gates finished the troll.

"Don't you worry about that, Miss!" - he called after her.

It took Rayenna two full days to nurse her ribs back to health. She avoided the Tidewater Cave from then on and continued her investigation of the shore line, now a lot more carefully. The sunken farm house seemed abandoned, there were no trolls or any other animals around, and there was a small camp just North of it, without any bandits.

"This is strange" - she thought. "A nice camp like that would normally have tenants. Unless... someone clears them out every so often."

Back at the abandoned farm house, she took off her robe and dived into the water. The door seemed to function, the hinges were clear of rust, but it was locked. Rayenna pulled on it a few times, but without a waterbreathing spell or a potion, she could not keep her breath long enough to fiddle with lockpicks. "Perhaps there is another way it" - she thought. "This must be the place."

After some time she found a trapdoor a little distance away. It too was locked, but it wasn't submerged, and Rayenna set to work on the lock. A short time later it clicked.

"Strange" - she thought. "Why was it so easy?"

No, it couldn't be. She was the hunter here, not the hunted. She was the one setting traps. It could not have been a trap set for her! She refused to believe it. She checked her weapons and went through the trapdoor.

She stood in a short corridor leading into a chamber - she could tell by the light coming from it. She crouched and edged forward until she could peek around the corner. An Argonian stood with his back to her, reading a book. He wore... Dark Brotherhood armour. No! It was a trap. But it also confirmed her suspicions. She needed to enter, to search this place... She would kill her Brother for it. Once he was dead, no one would know what really happened. She attacked.

Teinaava was expecting her, and yet he was surprised - Rayenna was quick and quiet. "And that is why she is a Silencer and I am not" - he thought. But he was no novice either. They fought, Teinaava tried not to kill her - they wanted to capture her instead. He tried to give Fenris an opening to stab her with his paralysing dagger.

Rayenna was winning - Teinaava was bleeding heavily. Another assassin joined the fight - a Dunmer, she noticed. He wore clothes, not armour, his hood hid his face almost completely, but Rayenna saw the paleness of his skin on his hands. He was quick - he diverted her finishing strike from Teinaava, and stabbed her with the other dagger. She fell, paralysed. "Enchantment" - she thought. She would have been resistant to poison. "It shouldn't take long, I'll recover" - she readied her mind to pounce back. The Dunmer turned her to her side, kicking away her sword. He was behind her. A sharp pain in her neck seemed to cut through the paralysis, she wanted to move, but instead... she felt being drained until she passed out.

29-30 Mid-Year, 4E202 - Lena is back in Cheydinhal

Lena walked into the Cheydinhal Sanctuary.

"Oh - you are back!" - Antoinetta Marie ran up to her. "We were so worried!" She hugged her warmly. "You are not angry with me, are you? For before?" She looked at Lena with a troubled expression.

"No, I am not angry with you" - Lena laughed. "Good to see you!"

"Lucien is not here" - Antoinetta said apologetically. "But Ocheeva will want to speak with you... I assume" - she added and winked.

Lena went to see Ocheeva, shaking her head.

...

"So there's still no news, and Lucien has got work to do" - Ocheeva was saying matter-of-factly. "He won't sit still, you know him" - she smiled. "At least he agreed to stay here for now."

"Yeah..." - Lena nodded. "Let me leave him a note."

I am back - I miss you.

She folded the parchment and left it on Lucien's bed.

"I'll be upstairs" - she smiled at Ocheeva.

...

"You have very interesting friends" - Lucien dispelled his cloak finding Lena nodding off over her book, a wine glass in her hand. "Careful, you'll spill that" - he steadied her hand.

She raised her eyes to meet his. "Sanguine?"

Lucien nodded. "That was... unexpected."

"He saved me" - she rubbed her eyes, the book sliding off her lap. "I would have died there without his help. That assassin is clever."

"Sshhh..." - Lucien kissed her, raising her from her chair. "It's late, let's get you to bed, we'll talk tomorrow."

"But..." - Lena grabbed his arm.

"I am not leaving" - he said, smiling. "No need to venture into the Void just yet."


They were still asleep when there was a knock on the basement door. Lucien woke up first, reaching for his dagger under the pillow. He wasn't used to sleeping in Lena's house.

Before there was another knock, he was on his feet, casting chameleon instead of bothering with clothes. Lena woke up too.

"It's from the basement - someone from the Sanctuary" - she said, shaking off her sleep. "May be there's news."

They heard the door creak and a voice calling into the house: "Hello!"

"Up here!" - Lena shouted, then hastened to add: "Just a minute! Give us a moment to... Oh, hello Antoinetta."

Antoinetta's grinning head appeared at the top of the stairs.

"Good morning!" - she said. "Don't mind me... Oh!" Lucien's chameleon ran out just as he was clipping his dagger belt - before any clothing.

"What news, Antoinetta?" - he asked completely unphased, picking up the other weapon belts.

"Teinaava returned during the night" - she said, watching Lucien with rapt attention. "They caught an intruder."

"Then it's time to go" - he turned to Lena. "Let's speak with Teinaava first, then you ride to Leyawiin and I shall gather the others and follow." He finished with the belts. "You can tell Telaendril" - he looked at Antoinetta - "that you've seen more than she, and perhaps she'll return your septim" - he winked. "May I get dressed now?"

The time for waiting was over, it was now time to act.

30 Mid-Year, 4E202 - Teinaava's report - Lena at the Leyawiin Sanctuary

Teinaava confirmed that the intruder to the Leyawiin Sanctuary was Rayenna.

"We heard someone approach - sound carries under water" - he grinned. "There were some splashes, but no one entered. Then we knew they were looking for another way in. I stood in the hall with my back to the hatch, while Fenris crouched in the shadow. He is very capable, you know" - he looked at Lucien - "very stealthy, very controlled. Anyway..." - Teinaava stretched uneasily, wincing somewhat. "Then someone entered, and before I knew it, they were upon me. Remarkable! She is a Silencer, all right."

"So she attacked first?" - Lucien didn't sound surprised.

"Indeed" - Teinaava confirmed, bowing slightly. "Of course, she had to - she was intruding. Fenris paralysed her while I was keeping her busy, then..." - Teinaava looked at Vicente who was listening from a short distance away. "I've never witnessed a vampire attack, and I count myself lucky that I didn't have to fight one like Fenris."

Vicente smiled. "Impressive, isn't it? I take it he was hungry?"

"He was" - Teinaava nodded. "But you will find him well fed now - he's been keeping Rayenna subdued."

"He must take a lot of her blood each time for it to work" - Vicente came closer. "She hasn't got long to live this way."

"We aim to resolve it swiftly" - Lucien turned to him. "Will she live a few more days?"

"A week at most" - Vicente confirmed. "If Fenris is careful."

"We don't need a week" - Lucien was satisfied. "We leave now."

...

Lena was the first to arrive at the Sanctuary, late at night. She entered to the sound of groans coming from the cells. She tiptoed down the stairs.

Rayenna was sleeping in her cell, groaning in her sleep. She looked pale but not sickly. Lena turned back and went upstairs, looking for Fenris.

"Mistress!" - he greeted her in the dining hall. "I have done as you asked, but too much blood has dulled my senses. I didn't hear you come in." He looked guilty.

"It will pass, do not worry" - Lena smiled. "Thank you!"

"I found this in her pocket" - he handed Lena a packet. "Documents."

"Bait" - Lena smiled. "You read them?"

Fenris looked down. "I should not have... I deserve punishment." He kneeled.

"Well, it is not a problem" - Lena unwrapped the packet. "We didn't tell you not to read them." She scanned the papers. "I see Lucien was thorough. But these are copies - not the originals."

"But they suggest..." - Fenris looked up at Lena. "They suggest that you supported the traitor."

"They do, don't they?" - Lena chuckled. "Clever Lucien to select these. Mathieu Bellamont and I exchanged those letters when I was still just an Assassin - before the Black Hand decided to Purify Cheydinhal. And of course I did not suspect his involvement until much later. He never contacted me after that - because I refused to perform Purification throwing his plans in disarray. And by the time I figured him out, I had other priorities." She lifted Fenris by the shoulders. "I had to choose which promise to break, and he stood no chance."

"Why?" - Fenris looked into her eyes. "He was your family."

"So was Lucien, Ocheeva and the others - not all family ties come from blood, and Mathieu Bellamont was a very distant cousin. We never even met until I discovered him."

"And then?"

"And then I told him that he had lost me." Lena returned Fenris' gaze. "Family ties can be broken."

"Yeah, I know." He nodded and turned away.

Lena felt uneasy - she touched a nerve, but there was no other way to put it. She left Fenris alone for a while and went into the cells to return the packet of documents to Rayenna's pocket.

1 Sun's Height, 4E202 - Rayenna's interview

"What now, Rayenna? Sa'sinar is most disappointed" - the Khajiit stood outside Rayenna's cell at the Leyawiin Sanctuary.

"I..." - Rayenna heard her name and tried to open her eyes. She felt drowsy, her body didn't obey her. She wasn't paralysed exactly, but she had no strength to move. She tried to remember what happened. "I... found a traitor" - she finally managed to speak. Why was she so sluggish? "She plotted against the Brotherhood... Her Great-Uncle and her Cousin were both traitors!"

"And whom do you mean?" - Sa'sinar bared his fangs. This wasn't a smile.

"Lena Wolf, of course!" - Rayenna was awake now.

"What proof do you have?" - Sa'sinar's face was impassable now.

"Letters... notes... and a will!" - Rayenna fumbled with her robes, retrieving a packet. "Here - see for yourself!" She passed it to Sa'sinar through the bars. He took it.

"And what were you doing here?" - he asked, without unwrapping the packet.

"Why, this is her Great-Uncle's Sanctuary!" - Rayenna tried to shake off her tiredness, but her body was hurting too much. "I came looking for more proof of her deception! I wanted to know what she was planning, but..." - she broke off, massaging her neck.

"But?" - Sa'sinar was still impenetrable.

"I was attacked" - Rayenna looked up at him.

"Attacked?" - a faint smile touched Sa'sinar's lips. "But you were trespassing. And were you not the first to attack?"

"How do you..?" - she started, then saw Teinaava's figure appear behind Sa'sinar. "There! He's behind you!" - she cried, pointing at him.

"That" - Sa'sinar turned, pointing at Teinaava - "is your Brother from Cheydinhal, do you not recognise the armour?"

Colour drained from Rayenna's already pale face, making her look more like a ghost of herself. Yes, she did recognise the armour. She recognised it the moment she entered, seeing Teinaava in the hall with his back to her. But prevention was better than cure, she always used to say, and so she attacked. No one would know how it went once he was dead. But then... as Teinaava responded in kind and they were locked in combat, someone else stabbed her, and she fell, paralysed. Then something happened. She felt a sharp pain in her neck and everything went black.

She woke up in a cell, she tried the door - it was locked. She found her lockpick, but her fingers were so clumsy and sluggish, she could not work the lock. She tried a spell - if fizzled out. She was tired, so tired. Perhaps if she slept a bit, her strength would return.

"Sa'sinar wonders" - his ears turned to the sides, as if to listen to every sound from every direction. "Why did Rayenna suspect Wolf in the first place?"

This was a trick question. He knew exactly what started this, but he was giving her a chance for a neutral explanation. She hadn't prepared for a question like that.

"I... felt it" - she finally managed. "A woman's intuition, you know" - she smiled brightly, it was worth a try.

"Intuition..." - Sa'sinar turned his ears forward, facing her, now listening to everything she had to say. "And does Rayenna's intuition tell her where Wolf might be now?"

"Oh, is she missing?" - Rayenna's delight brought some colour to her cheeks. "I really wouldn't know where she'd be..." She was grinning ear to ear.

"It seems she received a letter" - Sa'sinar suggested.

"From a friend? That must be it!" - Rayenna nodded as vigorously as her painful neck would allow. "Abandoned all her responsibilities and took off after her friend - I told you she was not to be trusted!"

"Yes, we found a letter" - Sa'sinar reached inside his robes. "This one" - he handed a blood-stained note to Rayenna through the bars.

"Oh my - Boethia's Realm!" - Rayenna beamed. "No one returns from there" - she passed the note back to Sa'sinar with satisfaction.

"Really?" - he turned one ear to the side. "I didn't find it that hard myself." He touched the hilt of his sword - a one-handed katana, burning with a fire enchantment.

"Goldbrand!" - Rayenna paled. "I've never seen you carry it..." - she raised her eyes at Sa'sinar.

"Sa'sinar is not vain" - he answered simply. "But he is not the only one to carry it - the sword is not unique. Sa'sinar still wonders, however..." - he fixed Rayenna with his gaze. "Why does the handwriting in that letter resemble Rayenna's handwriting so closely? Sa'sinar compared it to Rayenna's reports... One could almost say they were written by the same hand."

"Almost, but not exactly!" - Rayenna cried in indignation. "I am being framed!"

"Rayenna thinks so?" - Sa'sinar turned his ears to the sides again. "Sa'sinar hears other opinions as well."

What was the point of these questions? Sa'sinar was Rayenna's Speaker, surely he was on her side? She'd just given him the proof that Lena Wolf was a traitor... or at least that her great-uncle and cousin were traitors, making her untrustworthy. Rayenna couldn't find out anything about Lena's mother, and assumed that she died young - she did hear rumours that Lena had been brought up by her grandmother. An Argonian grandmother? It was hard to believe, but stranger things had happened. The one thing that Rayenna still couldn't understand, was Lena's age. She couldn't have been in her twenties, not if it was indeed one and the same Lena Wolf as that mentioned in the will and in the letters. When Rayenna came to this Sanctuary, she was hoping to find proof that this Lena Wolf was a different person, an imposter, hijacking a long-dead assassin for... what, exactly? Who knows, this wasn't important! The important thing was to get her removed, by whatever means necessary, Boethia's Tournament included. But Sa'sinar was now asking her all these questions... not looking at the proof she'd given him... not releasing her from the cell... What did it all mean?

Suddenly Rayenna understood it: he was waiting for a confession. He did not mention that evening when he caught Rayenna spying on Lucien Lachance's fort, but he knew of course that it was the root of it all. What was she to do?

"I am very tired now" - Rayenna said, half-closing her eyes. "My body hurts, and my neck hurts even more for some reason. My mind is in a fog, too, and I don't even know what I am saying. Please - can we continue this later?"

"Rayenna does not have a 'later'" - Sa'sinar looked straight at her. "The vampire that has been feeding on her, will finish her next time he feeds."

"No! You cannot allow it!" - she cried, jumping up from the floor with newly found force.

"Sa'sinar cannot afford to have a Silencer who allows her passion to cloud her mind, to send her Sister to a certain death, to get caught, and then not to have the courage to tell her Speaker about it!" - Sa'sinar's face was perfectly still - he was boiling with cold rage. "This" - he threw Rayenna's packet back into her cell - "was bait. Placed in Rayenna's home by Lucien Lachance for Rayenna to find."

Rayenna was lost for words. She was finished, this was the end. Her plan failed. Yet she still had a glimmer of hope - if Lena was dead, she could not defend herself.

"I should have told you" - she sat down, keeping her gaze to the ground and slumping her shoulders. Perhaps Sa'sinar would forgive her, one more time. "But those documents - do they not show that Wolf was a traitor?" - she looked at Sa'sinar with hope in her eyes. "At least the traitor is dead now, isn't she?"

"It is all true - these are copies of real documents from the Archives of the Dark Brotherhood" - Sa'sinar nodded. "But who do you think Wolf really is? Do you really think that Lachance would make just anyone his Silencer? After he was without one for two centuries?" He shook his head in disappointment. "Rayenna will wait for the Night Mother's judgement. The vampire will not touch her until then."

He turned around and left - he'd heard enough. They have all heard enough - Ungolim, Lucien and Lena were standing just out of sight, they had decided that Sa'sinar should conduct the interview on his own. Ungolim would consult the Night Mother, but no one expected her forgiveness.

3 Sun's Height, 4E202 - Rayenna's sentence

Ungolim returned from Bravil, ready to deliver the Night Mother's judgement on Rayenna. He and Sa'sinar went down to Rayenna's cell in the Leyawiin Sanctuary. It has been two days since Sa'sinar's interview with her, and as he promised, Fenris was not feeding on Rayenna since then. She regained a little strength and was sitting on her bedroll awake. She did not try to escape as she knew it was pointless.

"You have broken the Brotherhood's tenets" - Ungolim addressed Rayenna through the bars. "You have attempted to get your Sister killed. You have broken into her property and attempted to murder your Brother. You have not had to courage to confess. The Night Mother made her judgement. Are you ready to hear it?"

"'Attempted'?" - Rayenna was surprised. "So she still lives?" - she asked, not trying to conceal her disappointment.

"Indeed she does" - Ungolim confirmed. "Which is why your punishment is not death."

He waited for her to ask another question, but Rayenna just sat there, looking at Ungolim and Sa'sinar in turn. Sa'sinar spoke.

"Rayenna is no longer a member of the Black Hand. She will return her robes. She is no longer Sa'sinar's Silencer. Rayenna's rank has been dropped to Murderer."

"Initiate rank" - Rayenna murmured. If this was all, it was a most merciful sentence indeed.

"You will be exiled" - Ungolim's gaze was hard on Rayenna. "Every time you sleep, you will face the Wrath of Sithis in the very place where you sent your Sister to die - Boethia's Arena. You will fight for your life, and if you die there, Sithis will devour your soul."

Mercy was not in the Night Mother's nature.

"For how long?" - Rayenna asked, her lips barely moving.

"Indefinitely."

Her life was forfeit.

...

Rayenna stood on the shore of the Topal Sea. She wore plain black robes, having left her Black Hand robes behind. The faces of Ungolim and Sa'sinar were fresh in her memory, with their closed and disappointed expressions. The Wrath of Sithis would certainly be deadly, and she deserved it, she thought. Deserved it for failing. The image of Lucien's hard and cold eyes on her would haunt her dreams far more than Sithis. She lost her prize. He was there, watching her leave, his hand around Lena's waist. And Lena... no, she wasn't in her twenties, she was at his side and it was where she belonged.

Rayenna looked around, considering what to do. Her horse should still be at the stables, she would go home to Anvil, and then... time would tell.

A life time of not so pleasant dreams.

Indeed. But the wraith would only attack her once every night. So defeat the wraith, then sleep peacefully.

This is based on the original punishment if you break one of the tenets. In the game you only have to fight the wraith once, and you are forgiven. You can can break a tenet three times, and the wraith becomes stronger each time. When you defeat it the third time, you are kicked out of the Dark Brotherhood. However, this treatment is reserved exclusively for the player. If you talk to the other members, some will tell you here and there that the wraith would be attacking you in your sleep for as long as your exile lasts, and it is never as short as one night. And there's no such thing as quitting the DB - if you offend them more then once, your next sentence is death. But of course it would have been too harsh for the player... Or would it? Anyway, I used that to come up with a suitable punishment for Rayenna for her betrayal of the Brotherhood.

3-5 Sun's Height, 4E202 - Holidays on the Topal Sea

"You should take some time to rest" - Ungolim was saying to Lena and Lucien. "This was a most unpleasant business." He shook his head. "But I hope we won't hear from Rayenna for a while - you both know what she's facing." He gave them a long look, then smiled, as if shaking off a memory, and continued, turning to Lena: "This Sanctuary is beautiful. And your... err... associate... Fenris - he is most impressive."

"He is" - Lena nodded. "But he is not ready to join us yet. It's too soon." She looked straight at Ungolim. "He has not freed himself yet."

Ungolim returned her gaze.

"I see" - he finally nodded. "So be it." He turned to leave. "Don't rush back."

Rayenna was to face a wraith every time she slept - the Wrath of Sithis. Yes, both Lena and Lucien knew exactly what was awaiting her as they had each been exiled for a long period of time while Mathieu Bellamont was ravaging the Brotherhood. Lena was also being hunted for perceived treason. The assassins could not follow her to the Shivering Isles, but the Wrath of Sithis found her anywhere. The exile and the hunt were called off when she finally managed to unmask the real traitor - with Lucien's help, and in the nick of time, as the assassins were circling around him too. When it all came to light... It wasn't so much the wrath of Sithis that some of the other Speakers had to face, but the wrath of the Night Mother - for being careless, for jumping to conclusions, for making it possible for the traitor to progress so far. She didn't haunt them in their sleep - she killed them where they stood.

Rayenna would lie low for a while... but she was too strong willed to let the wraith take her. They all felt certain she would be back, one way or the other. But for now they could relax.

...

Fenris stood in a far corner of the hall, his keen hearing allowed him to follow the conversation. He was flattered by Ungolim's praise, but he felt uneasy about the suggestion that he might join the Dark Brotherhood. It was like Lena put it - he did not feel that he belonged to himself yet, and he liked his Mistress. He would take his time - after all, he was immortal.

...

Lena and Lucien took Ungolim's advice and stayed at the Sanctuary for two more days. Fenris was doing all the chores, and they had no excuse not to rest. They walked along the shore of the Topal Sea, watched the moons cross the starry sky and spent a lot of time doing "nothing" in the most inventive ways.

"Such heavy breathing will attract trolls" - Lucien pulled away from Lena letting her catch her breath. He smiled in amazement, watching her. "Where do you hide all that passion?"

She pressed his hand to her chest, her heart racing. "In here" - she smiled. "It's been locked up for too long."

"Sanguine was right - your Nord blood runs hot."

"Sanguine?" - Lena laughed. "What else did he say about me?"

"Nothing that I haven't discovered for myself" - Lucien took her into his arms. "Look" - he pointed up - "the Apprentice is ruling the skies this month. It's your birthday soon, but you have no age."

"Well..." Lena considered the stars above them for a while. "Perhaps it's for the best. This way I am never too old for anything."

She jumped up, pulling Lucien on his feet with her.

"...such as a midnight swim" - he thought, following her into the warm waters of the Topal Sea, casting waterbreathing just before diving. Their clothes stayed on the shore, but Lucien quickly grabbed his dagger belt - slaughterfish were never far away. "She didn't bring any weapons" - he noticed. "Mages."

The waters were warm but murky, and Lucien quickly lost sight of Lena. He wasn't a mage really, and couldn't cast a life detection spell. Suddenly he felt a sharp pain in his leg - a slaughterfish bite. He twisted, spun upside down and stabbed the space where the fish would have been. The water was now not just murky, but also red. The pain in his leg was gone - someone touched it with a healing spell. Lena. He felt her arms around him, her hands sliding along his body searching for more wounds... "Mmm..." - he closed his eyes for a moment. She tugged him to follow her out of the cloud of red mist.

They were quite a distance from the shore, and the water was almost clear there. They came up for air, their heads bobbing on the waves.

"We can swim in peace now" - Lena said, kissing him and covering them both with a cloud of waterbreathing. The other slaughterfish would swim to the blood, so as long as they stayed away from it, the fish would leave them alone.

They couldn't speak under water, but there was no need for that. Lucien never considered using waterbreathing for anything other than to cross submerged passages, but Lena showed him a whole new application. She kept renewing the spell, and he felt unexpected appreciation for the Argonian ways. Their bodies felt almost weightless in the water, and movement was slow and fluid, possible in every direction, not constrained by gravity, not requiring a solid foundation below. A few twists, and the notions of "up" and "down" lost their meaning.

The moons were sinking into the horizon when Lena and Lucien finally came ashore, exhausted. Several slaughterfish were floating on the water, dead.

"Look, they got into a fight with each other trying to eat that first one that bit you" - Lena pointed at them. "We should bring them to Fenris to cook for dinner."

Lucien nodded. "Serves them right." His dagger was digging into his side, so he unclipped the belt. "You swim under water like an Argonian."

"I was raised by an Argonian, remember?" - Lena laughed. "I used to wear a waterbreathing ring at first, but by now the spell is like second nature."

"You should teach our children that" - Lucien looked at her, smiling.

"If they come..." - Lena stretched out to touch him. "I think my past vampirism had destroyed all that."

"But the Mazken Wellspring would have restored you" - he sounded certain. "You might be with child already."

"But then..." - she sat up, looking worried and alarmed. "I mean... I can't be sure..."

"I know" - he stroked her face, smoothing out her frown. "The child will be ours, regardless."

7 Sun's Height, 4E202 - Preparations for Nenalata

"Hauk, are you in?" - Lena opened the door to Hauk's house in the Imperial City after he didn't answer the knock. She heard some rumbling from below, it sounded like he was training. She went to the basement.

Hauk was attacking a training dummy with a sword in his right hand and a spell in his left - shock on touch, she noticed.

"I didn't think you needed to train any more" - she said after a while. "Surely, you've done this often enough already!"

"I have" - he nodded, putting down the sword. "But it never hurts to keep it fresh. It's good to see you" - he whispered into her hair as her embrace knocked the air out of him.

"I missed you!" - Lena declared, releasing him so he could catch a breath. "That dreadful assassin business is over, it's time for an adventure!" She poured them mead from the keg and dropped onto the bench under the minotaur head. "Umm, I hope that head isn't going to fall on me" - she looked up - "like on that poor Bosmer in Bruma."

"It's not" - Hauk laughed, settling down next to her. "As long as you don't cut the strings" - he winked.


"How did you..?" - she started, her eyes growing wide. She never told him about that job. She got no answer though - Hauk just laughed into his mead.

"So, what's that about an adventure?" - he asked, grinning.

"Mr. Umbacano wants me to accompany him to Nenalata."

Hauk looked at Lena with suspicion. "And this bothers you - why?"

"Well, I got him an Ayleid crown..." - Lena was staring into her mead. "I actually had to steal it from another collector." She shot Hauk a glance. "And you know how much I like stealing."

"But?"

"Well, I did it because that collector suggested I present Mr. Umbacano with another Ayleid crown instead, and that somehow seemed even worse."

Lena fell silent, still studying her mead.

"And?" - Hauk prompted her. "Come on, let's hear it! It's me you're talking to, remember?"

Lena looked at him, gathering her thoughts.

"That other collector claimed that Umbacano wanted her crown in order to awaken some ancient Ayleid power, something dreadful that would destroy us all. I thought she was exaggerating, but now that he asked me to take him to Nenalata, I'm not so sure. You remember it, don't you?"

"I do" - Hauk said heavily. "Near Fort Grief. Lots and lots of high level undead, very angry, lots of traps too, and we couldn't get through to the last chamber."

"Yeah..." - Lena nodded. "Garrus nearly died several times, and I had to hide from their spells." She shuddered. "But it's not that which worries me."

Hauk looked at her with understanding. "If that was just the welcoming committee, then what is hiding in the locked chamber? And why does Umbacano want to go there, now that he's got that crown?"

"The Crown of Nenalata" - Lena nodded. "Exactly."

They sat drinking their mead in silence for a while.

"So, when are we leaving?" - asked Hauk, grinning.

Lena leapt onto his lap, her arms around him again. "Not before we're done here... I missed you - didn't I say?"

...

"Does Lucien know?" - Hauk surveyed heaps of clothing thrown off in a hurry around his basement. "What you're doing to me?" He kissed her again, rolling her over onto her back on the thick rug.

"Well, I never told him directly" - Lena blushed a bit. "But I never denied anything either, and he knows you're more than a friend. You didn't send me away" - she looked at him with a smile.

"It's between the two of you, of course" - he was serious now, sitting up and stroking her cheek. "But I still want to stay your friend - and his, too. So if you don't tell him, I will. Or we never do it again."

"You know we can't promise that" - she kneeled behind him, running her fingertips over the tops of his shoulders and watching his body respond as it always had. "We share too much."

"I'll talk to him" - he closed his eyes with a moan, falling back onto her. "Later..."

7 Sun's Height, 4E202 - Hauk and Lucien

Hauk knocked on the trapdoor to Lucien's fort but there was no answer. He lifted the door and peered inside, and not seeing anyone, he entered and left a note on the table.

We need to talk. I'll be waiting as usual. Hauk.

He walked to the main door to the fort, entered and settled down to wait by the entrance, far enough from the guardians roaming the fort. It could be a long wait.

...

"Hauk" - someone touched his shoulder, awaking him from his slumber. Lucien. "Come on."

They walked over to Lucien's trapdoor and went in.

"So, what's on your mind?" - asked Lucien, putting wine and mead on the table.

"Lena."

"Ah" - Lucien didn't look surprised. "Well, I know about you two - it's not exactly news."

"Yes, but things have changed between you and her."

"Yes and no" - Lucien was watching Hauk and sipping his wine. "She and I go too far back to feel threatened by our attachments to other people. You mean too much to her to just give you up. That would cause a great wound, and I love her too much to allow it."

"I always wondered about that side of you" - Hauk returned Lucien's gaze.

"What side?"

"Compassion."

Lucien laughed. "I am an assassin, I haven't got any."

"I recall different" - Hauk's eyes became hard with a memory. "Those times that we met during the Great War... I would have continued, but you insisted they'd suffered enough."

"They told you all they knew" - Lucien's eyes were hard too.

"I had to be sure."

"I was sent after them for that very reason."

"Why send you? A novice could have killed them at that point."

"Not with you around. Would you have let a novice disturb you?"

"No, that's true" - Hauk smirked. "I would have locked him up until I was done - in the best case."

"Exactly" - Lucien nodded. "The target wasn't the challenge - you were."

They sat watching each other in silence for a while, each reliving the same memories. Then Lucien got up to turn the spit - the roast was ready, he took it off and started carving it. Hauk silently passed him the plates, dressed the table, sliced up the tomatoes - this wasn't the first time they shared a meal.

"I understand it was you who prompted Lena to have me come to Skyrim with her" - said Lucien, returning to the present.

"Not in those words, but yes" - Hauk studied his mead. "I always felt her heart had been taken long before we met. She had to face it."

"Still not comfortable with uncertainties, are you?" - Lucien smiled.

"Can't say I am" - Hauk grinned at him. "Must be my Nord directness. Which is why I'm here. She would leave it untold but I couldn't, especially since she's been to the Wellspring again."

"Don't worry about that" - Lucien was quite serious. "The child will be either yours or mine, even if it isn't clear which for some years. We both have dark eyes and dark hair, and Lena's father was a Nord, so unless the child has sanguine eyes, we won't know."

"Does your father still live?"

"He does, I think. But he stays away for obvious reasons."

Hauk nodded. "Rayenna may have had Mephala's help."

Lucien looked up. "Deepscorn Hollow?"

"We think so. As a reward for starting the feud in Bleaker's Way."

"Then things are more serious than we thought" - Lucien looked into the distance, thinking. "It won't be immediate, but she could become a major threat, if she joins Mephala."

"I can take a message if you like" - Hauk looked straight at Lucien.

"You know how to find him?"

Hauk nodded. "We maintain contacts in Morrowind as well, I'll find out."

"Then do it."

It wouldn't be the first time that a Legion operative took a message to a Morag Tong assassin. All Hauk needed to know was whether Azarath Salvel was alive at least until recently. He would either find the man himself, or learn of his death. He'd have to prepare things first, but they felt there was no immediate rush - Mephala would certainly let Rayenna get a good taste of the Wrath of Sithis.

8 Sun's Height, 4E202 - Vindasel - Sardavar Leed

"Wake up and let's go!" - Lena was tugging on Hauk trying to wake him up. She'd been to Chorrol the day before to arrange for the month's supplies to the Battlehorn Castle, she got up before the first light and returned to the Imperial City when most people were just about waking up. Most people except Hauk who was still asleep, not being an early riser.

How do you wake up a Nord who probably had had too much mead last night? Was there such a thing as too much mead in a Nord's eyes? A bucket of cold water would have done the trick for a Breton, but Lena was pretty sure that Hauk wouldn't even notice. But fire... he was sensitive to fire, born under the Lord. But burning him would be cruel, no she wouldn't do that. Well, may be just a little...

Lena readied a beginner's fire spell - it wouldn't even leave burn marks, it was more of a warm touch. She turned it onto herself - she was now smouldering all over. "It feels like being back in Oblivion deadlands" - she thought. "No, that isn't a nice way to wake up" - she dispelled the fire, changing her mind. May be she'd just let Hauk sleep until he woke up on his own.

"Is it morning already?" - a sleepy voice came from the bed. It was impossible to tell the time in a room without windows. "Why is your face so red?"

"Good morning!" - Lena exclaimed, startled. "I was thinking of ways to wake you up."

"And it made you blush like that?" - Hauk was grinning. "I'm not quite awake yet, so go on!" But Lena just shot him one of those glances, and Hauk gave up with a sigh. "Ok, what's the rush?"

"It's time to get going towards Nenalata" - Lena was pouring over a map. "Mr. Umbacano will be expecting us in two days. It won't take us that long to get there, but I thought perhaps we could take a detour some place nice."

"Such as?" - Hauk looked up.

"There are four Ayleid ruins, six forts and two caves directly along the way" - she grinned at him. "Take your pick."

...

Vindasel greeted them with two storm atronachs by the entrance.

"Have we been here before?" - Lena asked, looking around.

"No" - grinned Hauk.

They went in.

The ruin was empty. There were traps and Welkynd stones, rats and mudcrabs, but nothing of significance. A far chamber was set up as a camp site. A woman in full ebony armour was pacing it, her hand on the hilt of her sword. Lena and Hauk stood on the gallery watching her.

"Friend or foe?" - Lena wispered to Hauk.

"Foe" - he wispered firmly.

Lena nodded, knocking a poisoned arrow and crouching. Shadowhunt sent a silent shot. The woman jerked, cursed and ran towards them with a... cry of joy? Bandits were getting stranger by the day.

The fight would have been fierce if Lena's poison hadn't worked, but it had. The woman got sluggish and slow, and even though her sword strikes were still strong enough to paralyse a daedroth, she couldn't do it also to a battlemage and a clannfear at the same time. Lena had an arrow at the ready for another shot, but the hulking daedroth completely blocked the corridor in front of her. Ten seconds later it was all over.

"Huh... That was quick" - Lena kneeled over the woman. "All ebony... Oh! And look at that sword!"

She took the sword that shimmered with an enchantment. "Umbra" was engraved on the blade.

"Clavicus Vile's sword" - she showed it to Hauk. "It eats souls."

"It sends life energy of a defeated enemy into a soul gem" - Hauk corrected her.

"That too. But it also eats souls" - Lena passed the sword to Hauk. "Feel for yourself."

The sword hummed in Hauk's hand.

"It's like the Dawnfang. I think I like your Honorblade better" - he looked at Lena, returning Umbra to her.

"Agreed." She dropped the sword. "Clavicus can come and fetch it himself."

"Thank you..." - the woman wispered, touching the blade. Her hand was bleeding now, and a shimmer of magic covered her body. She closed her eyes and let out her last breath. Umbra took her soul.

...

"Remind me never to enter this place again!" - Lena said with a shudder when they stood outside. Hauk didn't argue.


They continued on the Ring Road East to the next Ayleid ruin - Sardavar Leed. A spider daedra and a storm atronachs greeted them by the entrance, so they went in. The layout inside was complicated, with a conjurer or a daedra waiting around every corner. Lena and Hauk got separated and had trouble finding each other again, and although they often could see each other, it was on different levels without a clear path from one level to another.

It was past 11 p.m. when they finally got together, having cleared the main section. They found the conjurers' living quarters as well as a door leading deeper into the ruin. They knew they couldn't sleep not knowing what was waiting for them further on, so they stopped for a short break and continued.

Sardavar Leed Lattasel turned out to be a small chamber with a huge poison trap - as you stepped into the central section, walls rose around you and noxious gas started pouring into the sealed chamber. As soon as they entered, a daedroth ran to greet them, setting off the trap. The walls stayed up long enough to fill the chamber with gas, then dropped briefly, only to rise again. The daedroth died of poisoning, and a conjurer shared its fate. Even Hauk got caught in the trap for a short time, but he escaped when the walls dropped again.


"This is one dangerous trap" - he cursed, casting healing spells. "That gas is extremely potent... Hey!!" - he spun around when a clannfear rammed him in the back.

"That's not mine!" - Lena cried, summoning her own clannfear.

A conjurer behind a grate swore they would die on the spot - "And now you die!"

"I'll send your bloody soul straight to Sovngarde!" - Hauk replied in kind summoning a daedroth while Lena was frantically searching for the button that lowered the grate.

The conjurer fell even before the grate was fully lowered - one swipe of Hauk's daedroth was enough.

"Don't make promises you can't keep" - said Hauk to the dead conjurer.

"The same goes for you, Hauk" - Lena felt she had to defend the dead man's honor. "He wasn't a Nord."

"I was speaking metaphorically" - Hauk objected. "There must be some other place where his people's souls go..." He kneeled to look into the conjurer's face. "Breton. Where do Breton souls go?" Hauk looked up at Lena.

"Don't ask me - I have no idea!" - she shrugged. "I guess we'll see."

"You are going to Sovngarde, of course" - Hauk said firmly. "You are half-Nord and you are Dragonborn."

"Uriel Septim was Dragonborn, and he was an Imperial" - Lena objected. Were they really discussing life after death?

"Then he's gone to Sovngarde too, he must have done."

"Let's not rush to find out, shall we?" - Lena took Hauk's arm. "What we need in this life now is food and sleep. Come on."

They returned to the main section of the ruin and eventually found a way to the conjurers' living quarters. It was past 2 a.m. and a high time for a meal and a rest.

9 Sun's Height, 4E202 - Culotte

"Well, where next?" - Lena and Hauk were walking on the surface of the Upper Niben. "We have all day - Mr. Umbacano won't be expecting us until tomorrow." Lena surveyed the shores.

"There - that submerged ruin" - Hauk pointed East. "Culotte, I think."

They entered. A foul stench greeted them.

"Ugh, zombies" - Hauk grimaced, readying his fire. "Best to burn them from a distance."

Culotte was a crypt. Rows of sarcophagi filled a large hall, and that was it. Zombies were roaming between them.


"This isn't what I'd call an adventure" - Lena turned to Hauk, wrinkling her nose.

"No, more like a civic duty" - Hauk nodded. "Come on - now that we are here, we ought to put them down. They will rise again of course, but still..."

It took several hours but eventually the crypt of Culotte was quiet once again. It was early evening when they stood outside inhaling deeply, trying to clear their lungs of the stench of decomposing flesh.

"We should spend the night in Bravil - we are out of provisions" - Lena pulled last two bottles of mead out of her pack. "Of course we have some food at Fort Grief, but it's only what keeps..."

"Yeah, I could use a good meal" - Hauk nodded. They had to get ready for Nenalata tomorrow.

They were crossing the Niben when Hauk decided to do some fishing battlemage style.


"See - you don't just get the fish, it comes seared already!" - he grinned.

10 Sun's Height, 4E202 - Nenalata

The morning started out rainy. Lena and Hauk crossed the Niben feeling wet from above as well as from below. Mr. Umbacano was waiting for them near the entrance to Nenalata.

"It's best if we scout ahead first" - Lena told him. "There bound to be undead inside."

"By all means!" - Umbacano looked relieved. "I'll wait here until it's safe!"

Lena and Hauk went in.

"Something tells me that Umbacano can defend himself perfectly well" - she turned to Hauk. "But I didn't want him under our feet."

"Indeed" - Hauk nodded. "Did you bring your Spellbreaker? It will look better on your arm than in your pack" - he winked.

"Right" - Lena fumbled with it. "I'm not used to carrying a shield, but I'll need it, I fear. And this" - she put on an elven helm.

"This looks old!" - Hauk whistled. "Is that the other Ayleid crown? No wonder you didn't want Umbacano around."

"Yes, that's the one - it has strong magic resistance."

...

"Phew" - Lena dropped onto a sarcophagus half way through Nenalata Wendesel. "How many wraiths and liches was that so far? A dozen?"

"Probably, not counting their summons" - Hauk dropped next to her. "I lost count, I admit."

"Six portions of ectoplasm and seven handfuls of bonemeal, and I haven't collected them all" - Lena looked in her pack.

"That'll be plus seven never ending skeleton hero summons" - Hauk was examining a large dent in his armour. "With dwarven battleaxes!"

"Yeah, my armour is completely shattered" - Lena observed, stripping. "I'll need to mend it first..."

"You can't mend such damage here" - Hauk pointed out, picking up her grieves. "Better change into something else, or wear it for the sake of the enchantment."

"I know" - Lena pulled out a fancy blue dress. "My raiment of Arden-Sul! Trust the Manics to come up with a battle dress like that... All silk and lace and gold thread embroidery. Crab sandwich?"


With the attire sorted, it was high time to have lunch.

"At least you didn't get knocked out by the wraiths this time" - Hauk noted, making short work of the stack of crab sandwiches. "Although..." - he looked into Lena's face by the light of his torch. "It might be the light, but you do look pale."

"Yeah... I'm cold, too" - Lena admitted. "But there might be an advantage to that" - she said, smiling. "Remember Malada?"

"Your vampirism got triggered" - Hauk nodded. "It was useful against the living, but we are expecting more undead."

"If it really kicks in, it will make me much stronger... for a time" - she smiled at him. "I want to try it."

"Or you might collapse in the worst possible moment" - Hauk shook his head. "But I suppose you have to experiment..."

...

"So, this is it" - they stood in the final hall, having cleared another half a dozen of wraiths and liches. "Umbacano will have the key for that." Lena ran her fingers along the carving. "Wait... this looks familiar."

"The stone tablet from Malada" - Hauk nodded. "I bet that's the key. But we haven't got it, so let's go bring him here and see what happens."

...

"Oh yes, this is it!" - Umbacano stood in the final hall. He pressed the tablet from Malada into the socket on the wall and chanted an incantation. The tablet was important, but it wasn't all.

The wall opened and they entered the throne room of the Ayleid King of Nenalata.

"Finally!" - Umbacano was jubilant. "It falls to me to restore our glorious Empire!" He sat on the throne wearing the Crown of Nenalata.

"Somehow I don't think he means the Empire of Tamriel" - Hauk said in Lena's ear. "He must be a descendent of the last King of Nenalata. He is a High Elf."

Lena nodded. "Prepare for battle."

Umbacano's incantation caused more wall panels to slide open releasing six nether liches. The throne room swarmed with a dozen undead - some of the liches summoned wraiths rather than skeletons. Umbacano himself became hostile and joined the attack. He might have summoned something as well, it was hard to tell.

Lena and Hauk got separated, and Lena got battered by the skeletons. She tried to ignore them and get to the liches, but she couldn't heal fast enough, not with the liches and wraiths shooting spells at her as well. It was all she could do but to keep her summons going in between the knock-outs.

"Dessos" - she thought. "We need better help."

Dessos was less effective than a clannfear against the skeletons but more effective against the liches and wraiths. The skeletons kept banishing him though.

"Right, here we go" - Lena though. "A sacrifice is required."

She swallowed a potion to fortify her already very considerable magicka reserve and summoned Dessos with long term binding. Then she hit four skeletons in succession with a ranged fire spell and ran into the adjacent chamber. The skeletons followed, with a wraith joining them as well. She wasn't going to fight them - she wanted to lead them away. She went down repeatedly over and over again, but the skeletons stayed with her, hitting her every time she regained consciousness. She was going to have a lot of broken bones... and she was growing colder with every hit of the frost spell from the wraith.

"So much for all that spell absorption" - she thought. Although it would have been a lot worse without it.

She heard Hauk cursing from the next room, and Dessos roaring, at least they were still there, fighting. She would get up to her feet as soon as those damned skeletons were banished... But the liches had summoned them with long term binding too, they would not be banished until they were defeated...

"The Royal Guard" - she thought. Those were no ordinary undead.

One by one the wraiths and skeletons were banished as Hauk and Dessos defeated the liches. But even a single skeleton was enough to keep Lena down. The fighting in the main chamber continued. Lena heard a scream - was that Umbacano? Then - "Your life is forfeit, mortal!" followed by a loud slam of metal against stone. Another frost spell hit her and everything went permanently dark.

...

"She is not waking up" - Lena heard a deep and hoarse voice far away. "But I'm still here..."

"Then she's still alive" - another deep voice answered.

Everything inside her hurt... Every bit of skin hurt too. Every bone seemed to be broken. Again.

"Let it go and rise a pure-blood" - a powerful voice spoke in her head. "Leave your mortal life behind."

"Molag Bal?" - Lena thought she knew the voice.

"I shall raise you above the half-breed you once were. You will know the true power of a pure-blood."

"'You might be with child already'" - Lucien's voice sounded in Lena's memory.

"And my child?" - she asked.

"You will bare a pure-blood" - the voice answered. "And nothing will desecrate my gift - there is no 'cure' for a pure-blood!" The voice sounded triumphant. "Your pain will seize. Rise and take your place of power! Or die as cattle."

Lena's body wanted to say yes - the pain was intense, her head was spinning, she needed blood. She wasn't a proper mortal anyway, so why bother with the pretence...

"Exactly" - the voice answered her thoughts.

"So why haven't you taken me already?" - she wondered. It wasn't like Molag Bal to ask for permission.

"He needs consent" - another familiar voice sounded in Lena's head. "Ironic, isn't it? We can all devour mortal souls for breakfast, but we cannot own them without consent. Not any more, that is."

"She will still serve you, Sheogorath" - Molag Bal snapped irritably. "Get out of my way!"

"Typical" - Sheogorath mused. "I am not in your way - we're both in her head! Which is mad, if you ask me!"

A treacle of warmth was spreading through Lena's body. Where was it coming from?

"She needs more, let me" - a deep hoarse voice sounded far away.

"Bloody liches, I wish I didn't lose so much blood fighting them" - a familiar deep voice cursed.

"You mortals have less blood to begin with" - the hoarse voice was familiar, too.

"Well, I guess I won't be dying today, Molag Bal" - Lena said in her head defiantly. "A mortal and a dremora are trying to bring me back."

"Then suffer your mortal pain, you fool! But remember my offer."

...

Everything in Lena's body was hurting. She felt the cold of the stone floor she was lying on. She opened her eyes and saw Hauk's pale face above her. He was sitting with his back against the wall, Lena's head resting on his lap. He was asleep and he looked exhausted.

Lena raised her head and saw Dessos sitting against the other wall by her feet. He was covered in burns and cuts, but bruises were not showing on his dark skin. Steel and daedric armour was lying further in the chamber. Swords, staffs and battleaxes were piled up in the corner.

Dessos must have heard Lena move because he opened his eyes and looked around.

"It worked" - he said and smiled.

Hauk woke up too.

"You gave us a fright" - he said, stroking her hair.

"But you two prevailed" - Lena smiled, looking at them in turn.

"How did you survive? Those skeletons and wraiths were relentless" - Hauk shot Dessos a glance, still looking at Lena. Dessos nodded.

"Molag Bal" - Lena stretched, preparing to sit up. "He wanted to raise me as a pure-blood, but Sheogorath interfered."

"Pure-blood what?"

"Pure-blood vampire." Lena sat up and turned to prop herself against the wall. "Then your blood brought me back."

"Ironic" - Dessos smirked. "Molag Bal's own curse turned against him."

"How is it that you are still here?" - Lena turned to Dessos, realising that she had summoned him in what felt like a previous lifetime.

"Long term binding" - Dessos reminded her. "I cannot leave until you release me, or my body dies."

"Oh" - Lena blushed. "Right." She tried to scramble to her feet.

"There's no rush" - Dessos stopped her. "I'll go when you two are both able to walk. Lord Sanguine would be displeased with anything less. You might still need my blood."

They spent a few more hours in that chamber next to the throne room of the last King of Nenalata. Healing potions flowed as freely as mead, and everyone was glad that Lena had stuffed her pack full with provisions before setting out in the morning. They slept some more, and eventually they were able to walk. Dessos accompanied Lena and Hauk to Fort Grief and only agreed to leave after they cleared out the rats. Lord Sanguine would have been displeased with anything less, of course. But Lena wondered whether it was Sanguine's will that Dessos was following, or his own.
______________________

11 Sun's Height, 4E202 - Cheydinhal home

"Gods, that was something else!" - the events of the day before were still fresh in their memory. "I could use a rest now" - Lena was nibbling on her cheese sandwich.

"Cheydinhal?" - asked Hauk, watching her face. "I'll be staying at the Mages Guild there from now on." Lena squeezed his hand in thanks.

...

They got to Cheydinhal in late afternoon, stopping at Fort Farragut first to leave a note for Lucien. He wasn't in, and Lena briefly considered staying at his fort to wait for him, but then she changed her mind. The Wolf Sanctuary was a better home.

I'm back - will you join me? Wolf.

It was a bit awkward... They both were so used to living independent lives. They were still independent of course, but Lena wanted to see Lucien more often than just once an eternity. She hoped things would fall into place somehow.

...

Lucien returned to his fort in the middle of the night, bleeding - his target had put up quite a fight. But no matter, it wasn't the first time. He was looking for frost salts to press to the wound, when he noticed a note on the table. Lena was back.

What Lucien would normally do with a wound like that, was to stop the bleeding with a healing compress, take a cold bath to cool the fever, and then sleep it off. But now Lena was back, and he knew that she'd come to check on him in the morning. Normally he would just cast chameleon because he wouldn't want her to see him... But somehow none of what used to be normal applied any more. He wanted to see her even though he knew she'd start fussing over his wound. He'd have to change his habits, well, at least some of them. He put a healing compress to stop the bleeding, packed some of his spare clothes and stepped on the ladder to leave.

"Better move some of the blades as well" - he thought, making another pack. "Then I'll be able to leave straight from her place..." Things started to change.

...

Lena woke up to the sound of the front door clicking shut. Someone used a key to enter. She heard light footsteps on the stairs, her hand closing on the Sufferthorn under her pillow. She could see the top of the stairs from the bed. Lucien.

She was next to him in a split second.

"I missed you too" - he laughed, reciprocating her embrace. "Ouch."

"You are hurt!" - Lena pulled back, looking him over.

"Yes, but it's no longer bleeding" - he said dismissively. "And you had your bones broken again, and worse!" Now Lucien was looking Lena over.

"Yes, but it's mended" - she smiled. "Bath?"

"Let's."

Evidently, they both knew what to do.

12-13 Sun's Height, 4E202 - Mages Guild politics

Lena walked into the Cheydinhal Mages Guild looking for Hauk.

"Good morning, Warlock" - Deetsan greeted her. "If I could have a word?"

"Of course!" - Lena smiled warmly.

"Not here - walk with me" - Deetsan hissed - Argonians weren't good at whispering.

She went out the door and Lena followed.

"I've heard what happened in Bruma" - said Deetsan when they were behind the Mages Guild Hall. "This is most distressing, but not surprising. You should know that Traven was very displeased with you not eliminating them all, although of course he couldn't very well order an execution. He wrote to all Guild Hall heads to warn about you as a potential Necromancy sympathiser - we are to report anything suspicious. Don't worry, I am not about to report anything, and besides there isn't anything to report, but if eventually there is, then, well, it won't be reported..." - she broke off, with what looked like a blush on her cheeks. Did Argonians blush? Must have been the wind.

"Thank you" - Lena smiled. "These are turbulent times. Not all necromancers are out to murder people..."

"Of course not!" - Deetsan breathed with relief. "We are quite safe here with Alteration, I think, but other Guild Halls don't fare as well. Traven has now banned summoning any undead as well as spells that absorb life energies."

"But Summon Skeleton is the only novice summon!" - cried Lena. "How is anyone to learn Conjuration without it?"

"I wouldn't be surprised if he banned the whole of Conjuration" - Deetsan's eyes narrowed. "Be careful what you say around Trayvond though - with his views..."

"Yes, I remember" - Lena nodded. "He wouldn't practice Illusion, Conjuration or... Necromancy. Yeah, I remember him saying that."

"Anyway, we should get back before the others start getting suspicious" - Deetsan started walking towards the hall. "Do what you have to do and let's hope not everyone will be dead by the time Traven and Mannimarco settle their little dispute."

...

Back at the Mages Guild Lena found Hauk in the basement tending to his armour in old Falcar's room - none of the mages wanted to use it, so they converted it to guest quarters. A couple of letters lay on the desk.

"Letters from Iver and Jowan" - Hauk nodded towards them. "Both asking to meet" - he shot Lena a glance. "Iver specifically asked for you, something must be going on."

"I think I know" - Lena sat down with a sigh. "Nenyond Twyll. Those battlemages that perished there, had no idea what to expect. Kud-Ei mentioned it wasn't the first time either."

"May be" - Hauk didn't seem convinced. "It's not like Iver to get involved in politics though. I suppose we should just go and see. When you're ready to leave" - he smiled at her.

"Tomorrow? Imperial City first, then we can go to Bruma from there" - she nodded. "I suppose it was Volanaro who wanted a word, rather than Jowan. But it will be good to see them both." She fell silent for a while, thinking of something. "Hauk - why don't you join us for dinner tonight?"

"'Us'? Lucien's getting used to being seen around town, is he?" - Hauk laughed. "Of course I will come."

"Lucien is getting used to the idea that people know him in this town" - Lena nodded with a wink. "Even if most of them are smart enough not to say so in his face."


Iver was shooting shock spells at a training screen with obvious anger.

"Oh hello!" - he saw Hauk come in. "Wolf not with you?"

"Plundering the alchemy garden" - Hauk grinned. "Lunch?"

"Yes, better not here."

They picked up Lena on the University grounds and walked into the City.

"The King and Queen tavern" - Iver insisted. "It will be busy but not rowdy, and less chance to bump into someone we know."

Lena and Hauk exchanged glances, but followed.

"So, what's going on?" - Hauk fixed his brother with a steady gaze when they finally had their plates full of food in front of them at the King and Queen tavern.

"Traven is dropping battlemages" - Iver said angrily. "We are being moved to the Legion."

"Oh?" - Hauk raised an eyebrow. "I didn't receive any communications like that."

"You wouldn't, he practically dismissed you already years ago" - Iver rolled his eyes. "He's getting rid of us in groups, I haven't had the notice yet either, but some others already had theirs."

"So what do you want me to do?" - asked Lena unsure.

"Contact me if he sends you on a mission with battlemages" - Iver looked straight at Lena, just as Hauk would have done. They still looked nearly identical, having aged in the same way. "None returned from Nenyond Twyll, or from three other missions since then. And I for one don't want to be sacrificed."

"More Ayleid ruins?" - asked Hauk.

"Some" - Iver nodded. "But it's not the ruins that worries me, it's how he phrases the assignment. He wants a frontal assault..."

"...and this is not how you survive a battle" - finished Hauk. "I see."

"But why?" - Lena looked at them in turn. "Why would Traven want to hunt down battlemages?"

"Not all of us" - Iver shook his head. "Like I said - some are being transferred to the Legion, mostly the young ones who joined only recently. But those of us who've been around for a while... I think he is afraid we'd refuse to fight old friends who joined Mannimarco."

"Or even worse - join your friends and Mannimarco" - Lena nodded slowly.

"You could leave until this is over" - suggested Hauk without conviction.

"No" - Iver shot him a glance. "It's not as bad as it was for you then. I just need to survive until I get transferred to the Legion. With you out and about, the Legion will keep me in the Imperial City and in full view."

"And no one will be certain which Serck-Hanssen they've seen strolling around" - Hauk smirked. "Yeah, that's an old trick, Optio." They laughed and turned their full attention to the food on the table.

...

Lena and Hauk left the Imperial City after lunch heading North to Bruma. To save the time, they crossed Lake Rumare behind the Imperial Prison, coming out immediately at the start of the Silver Road. The trip was uneventful, bar the usual bandits, ogres and minotaers stalking the roads. It was past midnight when they arrived in Bruma.

"There you are, Optio!" - a boy with a Skyrim accent greeted Hauk as soon as they came in through the gates. He looked around searching for something. "Olav has been expecting you! He did say you'd have a wolf with you though..."

"I am Wolf" - said Lena laughing. "What's going on?"

"Someone is waiting for you!" - the boy shouted, running off.

The public room at Olav's was filled with people drinking, most of whom had already had more than enough to make the conversation slow and repetitive. Olav was standing in the corner surveying his guests, undoubtedly watching for the signs when it was time to throw the next one out.

"Optio, Wolf" - he greeted Hauk and Lena as they came in. "I've kept your room free for you, you'll find a package on the bed. Unless you wanted supper first?"

"Supper first" - said Hauk, taking a seat. "Unless..." - he looked at Lena, impatience written all over her face. "Go see what's in that package, it can't be such a great secret if they left it on the bed in an inn!"

Lena dashed to the room - her curiosity got ahead of her supper.

"We are to go to the Cloud Ruler Temple" - she handed Hauk a note that she found on the bed. "I recognise the handwriting" - she grimaced.

"We'll see tomorrow" - Hauk nodded. "She can wait."

14 Sun's Height, 4E202 - Cloud Ruler Temple

"I thought the Cloud Ruler Temple was ravaged by the Thalmor" - Lena turned to Hauk as they walked out of Bruma's North gate.

"They made a big fuss about it but in truth there was nothing to do here - the Blades had been gone for a long time already. This unit didn't survive the Oblivion Crisis" - Hauk explained, making long strides towards the Temple. "The next Emperor didn't trust them to protect his person" - he smirked.

"So the Blades are really disbanded, are they?" - Lena looked into the distance where the Temple outline appeared in the fog.

"I didn't say that" - Hauk winked. "I only said they were gone from here."

"Ah."

A leather-clad figure came onto the road from behind a rock, facing them.

"Optio, Champion" - she greeted them. "Thank you for coming."

"Delphine" - they nodded a greeting.

"I apologise for my poor information earlier - I do know now who you both are. And you are right" - she turned to Lena - "you have nothing to prove to me, Champion."

"Please call me Wolf or Warlock" - Lena grimaced. "Champion is a title from another lifetime."

"As you wish" - she bowed her head slightly. "But you are also Dragonborn, I'm sure the Greybeards are right, and so the Blades need your help again."

"And I won't be joining you again" - Lena said, looking straight at her. "'Honorary Knight Sister' is not my idea of an honour."

"Well... All right, I won't say I wasn't going to offer it" - Delphine smiled. "But I have something better for you: help us and I shall tell you about your father."

Lena went pale.

"This is blackmail, Delphine" - she said quietly.

"This is a fair trade" - Delphine answered. "I have information that you want, and you have the skills that I seek."

"To put towards achieving goals that I do not care for" - Lena objected.

"Well, if you are not interested" - Delphine raised an eyebrow - "then I'm sure someone in Morrowind would get a writ for a certain Speaker and his Silencer."

"Like I said - a blackmail" - Lena smiled, her eyes cold. "I shall help you, Delphine, but I want your information and proof upfront, so that the extent of my help could be weighed against your payment. And Morag Tong... that's just a hazard of my trade."

Delphine had overplayed her hand - there was nothing left but to agree.

"Olav has the documents" - she said with a sigh. "I trust to see you both in Riverwood soon."

She disappeared behind the rock.

"Why did she want you here as well?" - Lena wondered aloud.

"She thought I'd support her" - Hauk smirked. "But it doesn't work that way - wrong unit."

He turned around and started walking towards Bruma. Lena sprinted to catch up.

14 Sun's Height, 4E202 - Wolf Asgarsen

Lena's heart was racing with anticipation as she and Hauk entered Olav's Tap and Tack. Olav had the documents revealing the identity of Lena's father - or so Delphine had said. Olav smiled in greeting and pointed to their room. A package was lying on the bed.

"This is it" - Lena breathed, unwrapping it. "Let's see..."

The package contained an old scroll and two letters with broken seals. Lena started with the scroll.

To the Commander of the Second Legion Wolf Asgarsen -

Imperial Legion order of 27 Second Seed, 3E396

In view of recent unrest throughout the Empire, your Legion is permanently assigned to maintain peace in the Southern and Western reaches of Skyrim, and in particular the Pale Pass area, both in Skyrim and Cyrodiil. You are to eliminate any and all potential threats before they arise. Your base is to be the Pale Pass Fortress.

Wolf Asgarsen... The name was certainly suggestive, but the date was more than twenty years before Lena's birth. Besides, just because there was a Legion Commander by that name, it did not yet prove anything at all.

"Do not succumb to wishful thinking" - Lena told herself, putting the scroll aside.

She opened one of the letters. It had no date or signature.

The Commander has undesirable connections. His lover is a Dark Brotherhood assassin, which, as I am sure you agree, presents danger to the Empire. Neither our secrets nor our troops may be safe, should Asgarsen's loyalty to his lover prove higher than that to our cause. I propose the elimination of both - Wolf Asgarsen and Lilian Delacour.

The second letter looked similar - the same kind of parchment, the same simple wax seal without a mark, the same signs of ageing.

We have performed the Black Sacrament, and the money has changed hands. Ordering a killing of a Dark Brotherhood assassin by another Dark Brotherhood assassin was a stroke of genius, my friend! The contract has been accepted, now we wait. Asgarsen hasn't got long to live!

The letters fitted with what Lucien had told Lena and Geralt already. It was something, certainly, but it wasn't a definite proof. Lena decided that these clues would buy Delphine some of her services, but no loyalty.

"At least the parchment is the actual Legion issue" - Hauk noted, having examined them as well. "They might well be genuine, or else someone simply had genuine Legion parchment at hand."

"They are clues, not proof" - agreed Lena. "I suppose I'll need to investigate this in Skyrim somehow."

"The Second Legion had links with Falkreath" - said Hauk. "You might find something in the archives there, if any archives were kept at all. Not about this Dark Brotherhood business - this is clearly clandestine - but about the Commander himself."

"Yes..." - Lena mused, lost in thought. "If I can find out more about him, it might answer a few questions."

She folded the letters and the scroll and stashed them in her pack.

"That Imperial order also said that the Second Legion would be stationed at the Pale Pass Fortress" - she looked at Hauk, puzzled. "But we've been there looking for that necklace for the Countess, and all we found were ancient ghosts, remember? From the time well before that order. How could the Legion have been stationed there then?"

"It couldn't have been" - agreed Hauk. "Not where we have been, anyway. Perhaps there is another fortress somewhere around there? May be closer to the modern crossing into Skyrim? We do still call it the Pale Pass, even though it isn't the same trail."

"And also" - Lena continued - "assuming this is all true, then would it not suggest that my mother had lived in Bruma or nearby?"

"Do you not remember?" - Hauk looked at her searching.

"No, I was too little" - Lena shook her head. "My mother died when I was four, and I don't remember her at all. I grew up on the Niben. But I was born elsewhere, gran did mention that..." - she strained to remember. "But she didn't say where exactly. Only that I should go to Skyrim to learn about my father."

"Then that's where you should start - in Falkreath" - Hauk said firmly. "There are too many unknowns this side of the border."

14 Sun's Height, 4E202 - Bruma Mages Guild

"Good to see you!" - Volanaro greeted Lena and Hauk as they entered the Mages Guild in Bruma. "So you got my note."

"Yes, we figured it was from you" - grinned Hauk. "How are things?"

"Fine, quiet for now" - Volanaro smiled. "Jowan is here somewhere - he's been showing J'skar some of his spells. The same effects, different technique - very interesting." He wanted to say more, but restrained himself - the two mages before him were no academics. "I just wanted to fill you in on what we've done and heard around here."

"Gladly" - Lena nodded. They walked to the dining room - a conversation always went better with wine on the table.

"Since we no longer report to the Arch Mage" - Volanaro started - "we've reinstated our enchanting and spellmaking altars - they are in the alchemy hall, if you need them. Selena now also sells poisons, not just potions" - he smiled. "She will gladly buy any suitable ingredients from you, for more money than you'd normally get elsewhere. You would not believe the demand on poisons that we are seeing! It's almost nearing the demand for mead."

"How is Jeanne holding up?" - asked Lena, grinning to the memory of the pranks they played on her.

"She's her usual self" - Volanaro chuckled. "Still working on that scamp. But truth be told, her Illusions are far better than you would expect. She must have been holding back because Traven considers that school 'evil'. And..." - he looked around, then lowered his voice - "she can levitate."

"Oh!" - Lena and Hauk exclaimed in surprise.

"There isn't much known about her past" - Volanaro continued in a low voice. "But it would appear she spent time in Morrowind. So..."

"...what else can she do?" - Hauk finished his sentence with a chuckle. "Oh Jeanne!"

They chatted about other mages they knew, then Lena thought of her assignment from Traven to retrieve two missing artefacts.

"I suppose you've heard that the Council of Mages fell apart and Caranya and Irlav Jarol left the Imperial City, taking each an important artefact" - she started, looking at Volanaro. "Traven wants me to retrieve those items, but I don't think it will be that straightforward. Any thoughts?"

"Caranya is a necromancer" - Volanaro answered after a moment's pause. "She used to come here often enough - we had common projects. But I would not have thought she'd join Mannimarco fully, she's too independent."

"So you don't think she took the Necromancer's Amulet for Mannimarco?" - Lena asked with hope in her voice.

"No, I don't" - Volanaro smiled slyly. "She will probably say it, but I am pretty sure she'll keep the amulet for herself. Unless she plans to use it to weaken Mannimarco instead."

"How so?"

"That amulet raises your magical abilities, true, but it also significantly drains your life forces. Caranya might use it in the most unpredictable ways." He laughed softly. "I would not be so sure whose side she is on."

"And Irlav?"

"He isn't a necromancer, I don't think so" - Volanaro scratched his head in doubt. "A conjurer, rather. What did he take?"

"The Bloodworm Helm."

"Oh, yes, that makes sense" - Volanaro nodded. "It fortifies your summoning ability, while allowing you to absorb life energies from others. Akin Blood Magic, I would say. And I bet he has no plans to bring it to Mannimarco."

"Just using the crisis for his own ends, then" - Lena nodded.

"Conjuration has suffered a lot from Traven's bans too" - Volanaro agreed. "Irlav had to give up all his studies on long term binding. He mostly worked with daedra, but he can summon undead, too - hence his interest in Ayleid ruins. He won't be giving up that helm easily though."

"Well, may be he doesn't have to" - Lena mused. "My personal goal here is to minimise bloodshed, not to help Traven wage his war."

Ha, I know this guy. Skyrim has a bunch of little clever moments like this. Seems like Lena and Hauk didn't fall for this ruse.

Another thing. You have beautiful sunny weather in your game apparently, all the way to Riften. I only am noticing this because on Xbox, this is what I have noticed too. The sun shines a lot in the Rift, definitely more than 50%. But I've heard a couple gamers who play this game on PC often see much more overcast weather. And that's without any weather mods added. One of my friends has claimed "the sun never shines in my Riften". Odd.

I am enjoying this whole segment into Riften, by the way. First she gets accosted by the guards, yet she makes more money from defeating Nilheim. I love that you add NPC dialog into these chapters. Even the scene where Maul seems as he's about to confront Lena, but then he walks off without doing anything. Adds a bit of edge. Skyrim has a lot of edgy stuff going on when it comes to ordinary townspeople, just like TES 4 has a lot of goofy, nonsensical stuff going on. It's good that you've captured this.

The Rift is usually sunny on PS4! It's often foggy in the morning, but then the fog clears. I have no weather mods, so this is just as it comes.

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A note to faithful followers of the story: Lena has been arguing with Roach lately, and it is never a good idea to argue with your horse. So she's stuck in Bruma for a few days until Roach cools off - Roach is jealous of Luna (Hauk's horse) who is apparently younger, prettier and has bigger... you know what. But once this is sorted, they'll be off again.

Har har.

Interesting how Geralt is the one who went into the temple near Dawnstar. See, Lena can't get to everything. A lot of us approach these games in the same way. One character won't do every quest, and so on.

I am up to post 31