V: Dark plots.
A man spoke. 'Brothers, as you all know the empire is facing a difficult time. The emperor is old and weak and will soon pass away. However, his passing is too slow. It is in the best interest of the empire that a new emperor ascend the throne as soon as possible. This is a task for us my brothers. We have pledged ourselves to the safety of the empire and must be prepared to go to any lengths to see to this. The coming of a new, strong emperor has been foretold and it is for us to support. However, with the ascendance of a new emperor comes the demise of the current one and this is where we must value the community over the individual. The emperor is more than a mere symbol, he must be the living spirit, the beating heart of the empire, a weak emperor makes the empire weaker, a strong emperor makes the empire stronger. Our task now is to dispose of the old emperor so as to make way for the new one.'
An outburst of protest followed these last words.
'Kill the emperor? Flavius, are you insane?'
'This isn't why I joined the Cult!!'
'You'll plunge us all into chaos!!'
'Silence!!' the first speaker cried, he had anticipated these reactions and had prepared his speech carefully to appease his fellows. 'Remember that our allegiance lies first and foremost with the empire as a whole, not the emperor as a person. Furthermore, as I said earlier, the coming of a strong emperor has been foretold, his coming is written upon the Elder Scrolls themselves. Yes, there will be chaos, but if the new emperor is truly strong then he will put an end to it and come out the stronger for it. Think about it, quelling the chaos and uprisings after the assassination of the old emperor will gain him the respect of nobles, commoners and the legion.' Raising his voice the speaker added. 'We cannot change the future, the coming of a strong emperor has been foretold, thus a strong emperor will come!'
In the following silence the chime of a small bell could be heard clearly in the small shrine-like chamber. And as one legionnaire detached himself from the small congregation so a shadow sped ahead of him through the dimly lit corridor and up and out through the trapdoor. Hulhra cursed himself for not having paid attention to anything but the speech, yet this was invaluable information for the assassin and his mind was already at work to include all this in his own scheme. Judging by his clothes Hulhra guessed the man named Flavius, who had put forward the plan to kill the emperor, to be a high-ranking officer in the legion. If anyone, he might have blueprints to the palace. Following him would be the best course of action, the assassin decided. What he had just heard had been most useful and he decided that risking another close escape, as the one he had just made, would be useless. 'Better to wait until they leave and follow this Flavius then.' Hulhra thought to himself.
Apparently Flavius had his plans laid out already for the gathering lasted for well over five hours after the last man had arrived. Finally the first men began to emerge from the door of the deserted house. Hulhra watched them closely from the post he had taken up in the alley across from the house. Last to leave was Flavius, which was exactly what Hulhra had hoped for. After he saw the man carefully lock the door Hulhra cautiously started stalking him. Back to the south of the city they went, the Imperial up front, cautiously looking over his shoulder from time to time in a way particular to traitors. Hulhra followed him as closely as the shadows and the man's caution allowed him, the risk of loosing him was as great as the risk of being discovered and Hulhra could allow neither of those things to happen.
Hulhra's guess about the man's status was proven to be correct when the man opened the door to a large apartment in the rich southern quarter of the city. After the lights inside had dimmed the assassin moved towards the front door and inspected the lock, he took out a small probe and wriggled it about in the lock. As was to be expected the lock was custom-made, beyond the myriad wards he noticed six tumblers. The tumblers shouldn't to be too much of a problem if only he could get past the wards, feeling his way around the lock he noticed one false ward, apart from that the wards seemed to be straightforward enough, luckily there weren't any hidden wards. Still, he would need either special tools and a lot of skill to pick it or a copy of the key. Settling for the latter Hulhra decided to get some wax and make an imprint of the wards, with that he should be able to create a rough duplicate of the key with which he could open the lock. Traversing the city at speed Hulhra made for his apartment to collect the blank key and wax he kept there for such occasions as this and, within less than an hour, was back at Flavius' apartment. Looking around the street to see if no one was there, he proceeded to make an imprint of the inside of the lock. Carefully placing the blank back in its little container he walked away, all the while working his mind on how to incorporate the Talos Cult's plot into his own mission.
The first light of dawn crept through the blinds in front of the window of his own small apartment as he sat at his desk filing away the obstructing metal from the key so that it may pass the wards and open the lock. His first task was to find out if the Talos Cult was in the possession of any blueprints of the castle. After that they would be a threat to his mission rather than anything else. Perhaps disposing of them would be best. If he could find any written plans for the Cult's betrayal he could assassinate the leader and expose their plans, by doing so early on the security of the palace might slacken by the time he would execute his own assassination. That last option hit him as it were, it seemed to be the logical solution to the problem that had been eluding him since he had first heard of the Cult's plot. As he cleaned the metal filings from his desk the idea of setting up the Cult settled more firmly in his mind. If he couldn't find any evidence of their betrayal then he might be able to forge it. Either way, he could not run the risk of having the Cult upset his careful preparations.
(c)2005 Deadyawn
On to the next chapter