these things now belong to you

“Are you an idiot?” Laura demanded. “You do realize that I was a thief, right? And that you’re a…”

Much to Laura’s surprise, Martin smirked.

“…A priest?”

Laura gave Martin a blank stare.

“Laura, was that what you were going to say?”

“No,” Laura snapped in response. Although in truth, that was exactly what she was going to say. “It’s just…you’re a good person, and I’m literally the complete opposite.”

Martin chuckled slightly.

“Laura, there is no such thing as a truly good person.”

“You don’t know what I’ve done,” Laura insisted. “Or what I’ve been through! Or the thoughts I’ve had to battle in my own mind! Even though I was mainly a thief, I’ve done so many unforgivable things simply to survive!”

“And what makes you think I haven’t had to fight battles of my own?” Martin countered, his voice a deadly calm. “In my life? In my mind? What makes you think that I haven’t done things as unforgivable as you have?”

Laura was about to respond, but the way Martin had said those words sent a shiver down her spine. But she found she couldn’t. At least, not until four very predictable words slipped off her tongue.

“You are a priest.”

“I was,” Martin corrected. “And it so happens, I wasn’t always.”

“I ran away from home to avoid literally killing my mother’s husband in cold blood,” Laura let out, the anger in her voice becoming more and more noticeable. “Once in the Imperial City, I realized I had no money, no talent and no future. I stole items that weren’t mine and sold them, but that wasn’t the only things I sold, Martin.”

Laura’s eyes met Martin’s for a brief moment before she spoke again.

“I sold drugs; moon sugar and skooma, mostly,” she admitted. “There was a Khajiit guy that lived in a shack on the waterfront named Dar’zah; he saw me and asked me if I wanted a job. I was homeless and I had no way of making money, and in exchange he looked out for me. That was after the other stuff…”

Martin looked momentarily shocked, soon enough he went back to the calm expression he had before. Laura felt her heart jump as he spoke again.

“You didn’t just sell drugs and fence stolen items, did you, Laura?”

Laura averted her eyes away from Martin’s bright blue ones.

“Honestly, Martin, what do you think?”

Laura waited for Martin to answer, and when he didn’t, she continued.

“Yes, I sold myself too. I had no choice,” she spat, bitterly recalling her past.

She had tried so hard to put her memories on a shelf in her mind, but somehow, in this conversation, they were brought to the surface. If the Gods existed, they truly were bitter bastards.

“I know that I’m probably going to rot in Oblivion one day for this, but I wanted every man who ever touched me to die,” she continued. “Every single one of them. I wanted to kill them during those very moments when they first laid eyes on me, when I wept with anger at the end for having had stooped so low that I would…”

Laura stopped. She had to stop talking, because otherwise she would cry. She couldn’t cry in front of others, least of all Martin, who sighed and put a hand on her shoulder.

“You were young, alone and desperate,” he said. “Divines know I didn’t have the same excuse for what I did.”

Laura met Martin’s gaze again, and she could see a hint of guilt shining through those bright blue eyes.

“Before I was a priest,” Martin began, “I was the son of a farmer. A very religious, nine-fearing father. I grew impatient with my sheltered upbringing and I did what any teenager would do; I rebelled and asked to join the Mages’ Guild.”

“Why did you want to join the Mages’ Guild?”

“Because I had a thirst for knowledge that I thought only the Mages’ Guild could provide,” Martin explained. “My father thought that the knowledge gained from religion was the only knowledge he and I needed, but I thought he was wrong. I suppose now he was trying to protect me from myself, but at the time I couldn’t see it. I ran from home to join the Skingrad Mages’ Guild on my sixteenth.

“During the time I spent there, I learned so much; that’s how I know what I know about magic. But in time, me and a group of friends grew impatient with Mages Guild restrictions. As soon as we heard there was a daedric shine nearby, we threw ourselves into the riddles of daedric magic. We hungered for forbidden secrets. Knowledge and power were our gods.”

“Was that shrine the shrine to Sanguine?”

“The very same,” he replied, his tone dark. “I’m sure you can guess the rest. We got in over our heads…we gave in to our desires and temptations; drugs, sex, powerful magic…in the end, people died, and it was my doing.”

“How?”

“I was a fool, Laura,” Martin admitted. “A fool blinded by my own lust for power. I didn’t care about anything but myself and the rose. I didn’t understand the power of such an artifact until I was the only one standing amongst the corpses of my friends. I’d say in that regard, I’m a much worse person than you were.”

Laura bit her lip, trying to find a way to respond to Martin’s words.

“You were desperate,” he told her. “You did what you had to do to stay alive. What excuse did I have? My thirst for knowledge and power? I don’t think those two excuses are comparable.”

“Maybe not,” Laura finally said. “But we’re clearly more alike than I thought we were. We both have regrets.”

Martin sighed.

“I think everyone has regrets, Laura. But I've put those days behind me, as I needed to so I could make up for what I did.”

“Is that why you became a priest?”

“Yes,” Martin said. “And when I started serving the Nine, I thought I was a fake. I thought because of my past, I would never fully be able to help others as I thought I should.”

That sounded more than familiar to Laura. It sounded like the thoughts that ran through her head when she first joined the Blades. She had been a thief. She had done unimaginable things to stay alive in the Imperial City. Why would the Emperor ever let her go free, knowing what he must have known? Why would the Order of the Blades ever treat her as an equal, knowing what they knew?

Why would Martin talk to her so candidly about his past, knowing what he knew?

Laura suddenly knew the answer. It was because they weren’t so different.

“I learned to stop hating myself eventually,” Martin continued. “I learned to accept things as they were. I learned that I was human, and that humans make mistakes and have regrets. I learned we all have desires, but as a priest…it wasn’t appropriate or right to act on them any longer. But the bitter wisdom that one has been a fool is not without value; I did learn valuable lessons from the days I spent worshipping Sanguine."

Martin placed his hand on top of Laura’s, and Laura didn’t flinch or move away, as she usually did when someone came too close.

“I shouldn’t have sent you or Eriama to bargain with daedra,” he admitted. “They are not to be played with. Eriama at least has some knowledge of daedra, but you…”

Laura snorted.

“It was the daedric prince of debauchery, Martin,” she began, snappishly. “It wasn’t like I went to deal with Molag Bal.”

“I don’t think you realize how dangerous all the daedric princes can be,” Martin replied. “Just how dangerous Sanguine can be. I’m kind of surprised all he asked you to do was strip the Countess of Leyawiin and her guests naked.”

Martin actually let out a small chuckle after he said those words.

“I kind of wish I had been there to see it myself,” he admitted.

Laura rolled her eyes.

“Oh, please don’t tell me you wanted to see the Countess naked,” she said. Laura began to grow disgusted at the very thought. “She’s so fucking vile that I wanted to punch her in the face. Were it not for getting that artifact, I probably would have.”

Much to Laura’s surprise, Martin just laughed.

“It so happens, I agree,” he said. “The Countess of Leyawiin is, by all accounts, a very selfish, xenophobic woman. She’s definitely not the reason I wish I could have seen everything with my own two eyes.”

“Then what is?”

Laura swore she saw a mischievous twinkle in Martin’s eyes for a second.

“The reason is standing right beside me.”

Laura raised an eyebrow.

“You’re kidding me, right?”

Martin smiled slightly, in a way that sent a warm sensation down Laura’s spine.

“I may have been a priest, but you already know I wasn’t always,” he began. “And it’d be hard to consider me a priest now. But even when I was a priest, I had desires; I just couldn’t act on them.”

“You can now, though, can’t you?”

“I don’t know, Laura,” Martin met her gaze again. “You’d have to tell me the answer to that question.”

The journey to the Imperial City was a long one, not so much as in the length of time but for the emotional toll it took on Eriama. She had once lived in this city, and had spent her entire childhood there. And Gods only knew what Laura must be feeling…they were about to set foot on ground where Laura had lived at her worst.

Eriama glanced at her friend as they got the carriage away towards the Imperial City. Laura’s expression was completely flat, which said more about her feelings to Eriama than anything she had said about this journey.

Hopefully, Baurus would distract them enough from their own pasts.

By the time they had arrived, it was late and the cobbled streets of the Imperial City gave off an air of eeriness Eriama didn’t like one bit. It was hard to believe she had once walked down these very streets with such confidence as a child.

They made their way to the Elven Gardens District, and then stepped into Luther Broad’s Boarding House. Eriama caught a whiff of nice smells, such as baked bread and Tamika’s Vintage wine. Luther glanced in their direction with a look of suspicion, but Eriama paid him no mind. She looked around and saw where Baurus and a young, Imperial man sitting at the bar, both of them with a tankard close to their lips.

This must be the other Blade Jauffre mentioned, she thought.

She thought she saw Laura raise a confused eyebrow, and a look in her eyes that seemed very close to recognition, but it went away after a few seconds.

“Come on,” she said to Laura. “He’s over there.”

Laura sat beside Baurus while Eriama sat on the other side of him, next to the Imperial man. Baurus put the tankard down.

“Listen,” Baurus whispered, while clenching his teeth, “We’re going to get up in a minute and walk out of here. That guy in the corner behind me will follow us.”

He nodded towards a middle-aged Breton male sitting in the corner with a copy of The Lusty Argonian Maid and a goblet of wine. At first glance, this didn’t seem suspicious at all. But, then he quickly glanced at all four of them.

Eriama resisted the urge to shudder.

“You two follow him,” Baurus finished.

From the look on Laura’s face, Eriama knew that she had many questions to ask Baurus. But Eriama placed a hand on her lip, signaling Laura to keep her mouth shut before saying, “got it,” to Baurus. Baurus nodded and then got up from his seat, with his Imperial companion joining him.

Just as Baurus predicted, the man got up a few seconds later.

Eriama and Laura exchanged looks.

“I have no idea what’s going on, but let’s go,” Eriama said.

Laura nodded in silent agreement, and the two of them didn’t say another word to each other as they continued onwards.

As soon as they entered the basement, Eriama barely had the time to register the spell the Breton man had cast, which revealing a set of silver, daedric armor. He had a deadly looking blade in his grasp, and looked as if he was about ready to kill Baurus and his companion.

Eriama was really getting sick and tired of those assassins.

The man started towards Baurus with his dagger in hand, and Baurus’s companion pushed him out of the way. Eriama knew she didn’t have the time to ready her bow, so instead she grabbed a long stick of wood that was leaning against the stone wall and whacked the assassin over the head. His body fell onto the floor.

“Is he...dead?” Laura asked, hesitantly.

Eriama reached down and placed a hand over the Breton’s wrist, feeling a pulse.

Dammit. He’s still alive.

“No,” was Eriama’s reply.

“For fucks sake,” Eriama heard Baurus’s companion mutter under his breath.

“Search his body before he wakes up,” Baurus instructed, his voice shaken.

Eriama looked through the man’s pockets. There was no sign of the amulet, but that was to be expected. All Eriama managed to find was a few Septims, a set of useless looking keys, and a very strange looking book. The book’s materials felt not of this world, and had daedric lettering on the front cover. No doubt this had something to do with Tamriel’s current predicament. Eriama held it out for everyone to see.

“Will this do?” Eriama asked.

Baurus took a few steps towards Eriama and took it, and then began flipping through the pages.

“Yes, this will do just fine,” was Baurus’s reply. He looked away from the strange book. “I’m glad to see you both by the way. You caught us at a bad time.”

“A bad time, Baurus?” The Imperial man countered. Eriama couldn’t help but notice a slight hint of a Mournhold accent whenever the man spoke. Despite the fact that this man was an Imperial, he spoke in a manner that reminded her of her father, when she was growing up. “We almost got murdered by a fucking cultist and all you have to say is ‘a bad time?’ Figures.”

Laura and Eriama exchanged looks of confusion.

“Just who are you?” Laura demanded.

The man smirked.

“Don’t tell me you don’t recognize me,” he replied, looking directly in Laura’s direction. “Because I sure as Oblivion itself recognize you, even if it has been a long time.”

Laura scowled.

“Mate, this isn’t funny, so just tell me who you are.”

He chuckled.

“I’m Aiden, Laura,” he said. “Your cousin, Aidie…Good gods, don’t you remember me?”

Laura blanched.

“Gods…who knew my little cousin would grow up to become a hero! Your mother would be so proud.” Aiden put a hand on Laura’s shoulder. “I think we have quite a bit of catching up to do, don’t we?”

Laura said nothing in response, averting her gaze away from her cousin. Aiden turned to Eriama with a curious expression.

“And you would be?” He asked Eriama.

Eriama shrugged.

“Eriama Therayn, the other Hero of Kvatch,” she answered.

Aiden then raised an eyebrow.

“You…wouldn’t happen to know a Ulina Therayn, would you?”

Those words took Eriama aback.

What -? Ulina -? He knows Ulina –

“She’s my sister,” Eriama replied cautiously. “Just how exactly -?”

“I knew a Ulina back when I used to live in Mournhold,” Aiden explained.

So that explains the accent, at least, Eriama thought.

“She said she had a sister back home that she missed. That her name was Eriama…do you think we knew the same Ulina?”

Eriama raised an eyebrow.

“That depends,” she said. “Was she short with red hair?”

“Guys –“ Baurus interjected, but he was ignored as Aiden answered.

“Red, curly hair,” Aiden responded with a nod.

Eriama couldn’t help but feel shocked by this news. Before she had the chance to ask Aiden anymore questions, Laura spoke in a surprised tone of voice.

“Guys, listen –“ Baurus interjected again only to be cut off.

“Funny,” Laura said, her voice filled with curiousity, “this is my cousin, who knew your sister way back before we met each other in that prison cell…strange –“

“Yeah, I know,” Baurus interjected, his tone a mixture of annoyance and amusement, “Tamriel is actually a small world. Now come on, guys, we have work to do. The Amulet isn’t going to find itself, you know!”

Laura, Eriama and Aiden quickly exchanged looks, before Eriama spoke.

“So what have you found out?” she asked.

Baurus sighed.

“The assassins who killed the Emperor were part of a daedric cult known as the Mythic Dawn,” was his response.

“Oh great,” Laura snapped. “I thought daedra were bad enough, but no. We’re dealing with a fucking daedric cult as well. There’s only so much crazy I can take.”

“Just tell me it’s not Molag Bal,” Eriama said with a sigh. “Please.”

“It’s not Molag Bal,” Aiden interjected. “But we’re fucked either way.”

“Apparently they worship the Daedra Lord Mehrunes Dagon,” Baurus explained. “Aiden and I have been tracking their agents in the Imperial City. I guess they noticed.”

Aiden threw Baurus a glare.

“Really? It was only a guess?” Aiden snapped.

Eriama didn’t know how to process the information she had just been given. Mehrunes Dagon? What little she knew about Dagon was that he was the Daedric Prince of Destruction. He was involved in a inane plot with Jagar Tharn over forty years ago before the Eternal Champion stopped it all.

This was bad. Very bad.

“Be quiet, Haynori,” Baurus snapped back at Aiden, before turning back to Eriama and Laura. “And now that I’ve heard that they’ve taken the amulet from Jauffre, things are a lot worse than I thought.”

“It’s not all that bad,” Laura interjected. “We found the heir.”

The grim expressions on Baurus and Aiden’s faces disappeared.

“His name is Martin,” Laura finished.

“Thank Talos he lives!” Baurus exclaimed. Eriama noticed this was the happiest she had seen Baurus all evening. “Martin Septim, you say? We will restore him to the throne! It is the sworn duty of all Blades!”

“Funny,” Aiden remarked. “I signed up to protect the Emperor, not crown a new one. I guess it isn’t Tirdas after all.”

Baurus narrowed his eyes in Aiden’s direction.

“Would you stop that shit?” Baurus didn’t sound entirely unamused despite his exasperation. “Why do you have to put a downer on absolutely everything?”

“It must run in the family,” Eriama remarked, and in response she got a snort from Laura.

Baurus chuckled.

“Come on upstairs, everyone,” he said. “I think we should all try to get some rest, and then figure out the rest of this daedric cult stuff tomorrow.”

They all walked up the stairs together in silence, and Laura went to Luther, handing him the gold to pay for a room, before Eriama followed her up the stairs. While the room was small, it was bigger than anything Eriama had ever been used to. Even the bed was gigantic.

Laura seemed to still be shocked at the appearance of her cousin, and Eriama knew a little bit of how she felt. Or at least, she thought she did before Laura opened her mouth.

“After all this time…” Laura muttered, in disbelief. “After all this fucking time and now I see Aidie again?”

Eriama raised an eyebrow.

“You don’t seem too happy to hear that.”

Laura looked towards Eriama, and Eriama thought she could see a hint of fear in her eyes.

“What if he was looking for me?” Laura looked frantic as she said those words. “What if my mother sent him and he’s been searching all this time? It wouldn’t be entirely out of character for her to do so, Eriama.”

Laura began to remove her armor, and placed it near a small, wooden chair that sat near the bed.

“Who knows what sort of lies he believes?”

“The only way you’re going to be able to find out is to talk to him,” Eriama told her.

Laura looked at her in disbelief.

“Are you fucking kidding me?”

“No,” Eriama began to remove her own armor, “I know this is a…big deal for you, but sometimes words are the only way to make sure.”

Despite the fact that Eriama had only just met Aiden, she knew she would have to exchange a few words with him herself. He had apparently known Ulina after her disappearance.

That lead to a bigger question. Ulina had been in Morrowind? Eriama had been led to believe that she would serve a very long prison sentence. For something that wasn’t even her fault. The memories of the night that Ulina had been arrested had left a permanent scar in Eriama’s heart that she knew would never heal. So to hear that Ulina had been released and was possibly still alive made Eriama hopeful, even if it was only a little hopeful.

“Even if I wanted to, I wouldn’t be able to,” Laura pointed out, breaking Eriama’s train of thought. “We have a fucking amulet to find, remember?”

“They’ll be plenty of time to sort other things out,” Eriama responded.

They both pulled the covers aside, climbing into the bed. Eriama blew the candle on her side of the bed out, and watched as Laura did the same, leaving them in darkness.

“Go to sleep, Laura,” Eriama told her.

Eriama heard Laura snort in response, and Eriama didn’t exactly blame her. Eriama knew that the both of them were going to have trouble sleeping. The events of the night had been overwhelming.

Morning finally came, and Laura couldn’t be more thankful this was the case. The night before had left her feeling so overwhelmed and the nightmares that came afterwards left her feeling shaken. Eriama was getting herself dressed when she awoke, and Laura proceeded to do the same, and the two of them headed downstairs.

Laura began to feel herself grow nauseous after taking in the smells of freshly prepared foods, and made her way to the front door, where she saw her cousin sitting on the front steps. Aiden had a book on his lap, but he wasn’t reading it. In fact, it looked like he was using it to lean on. On the book was a thin piece of paper, and pouch that had a very sickly sweet smell. Laura identified one of the aromas; it was tobacco, but the other one was something she very much didn’t want to remember at all.

“Finally awake?” Aiden asked.

Laura shrugged in response, but said nothing. She sat down on the step beside Aiden, silently watching as he began to shake the pouch lightly, and then delicately place the mixture of tobacco and sugar into the thin piece of paper.

“I know, we had a rough night last night,” Aiden said, while picking up the piece of paper and carefully rolling it. “So we never really properly had the chance to talk, did we?”

Laura raised an eyebrow.

“What exactly is there to talk about?” She demanded. “We haven’t seen each other since we were kids.”

Aiden cast a light fire spell, and then began to smoke. There was a faint smell of tobacco and moon sugar in the air. Laura couldn’t fathom how anyone would willingly breathe such a smell in. But maybe it was because of the fact that tobacco reminded her of her mother’s husband, and that moon sugar reminded her of her years spent living in this very city, struggling to survive on her own.

“That’s why there’s so much to talk about,” Aiden replied. “I have one question.”

“Oh yeah? Spill it, Aidie.”

“Why the fuck did you disappear?”

Laura felt herself scowl.

“How did you know about that?”

“Aunt Sabrinda told me,” Aiden replied. Those words left Laura feeling knots at the bottom of her stomach. “She sent me a letter, and I came back to Cyrodiil to help find you. She was fucking devastated, Laura. You have no idea.”

“I have some idea,” Laura spat in response, though not at Aiden so much as at her mother. “She’s a godsdamn liar and a fraud. Whatever she told you, Aiden, it’s a bunch of mudcrab shit.”

Aiden sighed, taking a drag from the smoke in his hand before speaking again.

“So tell me the truth.”

“The truth is I came to her when her husband hurt me and she denied every word I said,” Laura was astonished that she managed to even get the words out. “And if my own mother refused to believe me, then what was the point in even staying?”

Aiden’s eyes widened, but Laura knew he was going to ask the question. The dreaded question.

“How did he…hurt you?”

Laura let out a bark of bitter laughter.

“How the fuck do you think?”

Aiden let out another sigh.

“I guess she did fucking lie to me,” was what he said. “At the very least, she lied by omission. But there is something you might be happy to hear.”

“What would that be?”

“He’s dead, Laura.”

Aiden threw his finished smoke into the street, not caring as a member of the Imperial Guard passed them by.

“He drowned.”

Laura bit her lip.

“He should have been gutted like the pig he was,” she snarled, before saying, “but at least I can rest knowing he won’t hurt anyone again.”

“Anyways, what happened after you left?”

“I tried to leave the Province,” Laura began. “But just my luck, I ended up getting robbed and stranded here in the Imperial City. I ended up joining the Thieves’ Guild and stealing from rich assholes to stay alive. It wasn’t my finest hour, but as far as I was concerned, anything I could do to never go back home was worth it.”

Laura finally found herself exchanging looks with her cousin for the first time since sitting beside him.

“I can sort of understand that myself, so I have no right to judge,” he said. “After my parents died, I was alone in Mournhold and pretty down on my luck. Considering I was technically a foreigner, no one wanted to help me. I was being taken advantage of left and right. Sometimes I had to steal food in the Bazaar to stay alive.”

He smiled slightly, despite the grim nature of the story he was telling.

“Some fucking s’wit named Gaenor scammed me out of a hundred and fifty drakes after I did him a favor. But it wasn’t an entirely bad thing.”

“What isn’t bad about not getting money you’re owed?”

“Because the very day I confronted him over it, I met Ulina Therayn,” Aiden replied. “She took me under her wing and taught me most of what I knew about combat, along with her partner. I would not be here today if it wasn’t for her.”

“Wasn’t Ulina Eriama’s sister?”

“Yeah,” Aiden’s expression suddenly turned very grim.

Laura raised an eyebrow, curious as to how this story turned out in the end.

“What happened to her, then? Why aren’t you with her now?”

Aiden leaned back against the stone wall, and then sighed.

“Her partner died,” Aiden said darkly. “He was murdered. Right before our fucking eyes. The worst part of it is we believed that bitch that did it.”

“We?”

Aiden sighed.

“Me and Ulina,” Aiden said. “She was never the same after. From what I heard after I left for Cyrodiil, she disappeared without a godsdamned trace. No one I know now has heard from her for almost four years.”

Laura turned around, and saw Eriama standing behind them. Judging from the look on her face, Laura figured she had been there awhile, and they just hadn’t noticed. Once Aiden noticed Laura had turned her head, he did the same.

“What did you hear?” Laura asked her.

“Everything,” Eriama replied. She looked towards Aiden. “What happened after you came back to Cyrodiil?”

“After I came back, I went to go and see my aunt, and tried to help her find Laura…I regret that now, considering what I was just told. At least I got something useful out of Sabrinda, though. Apparently my father had been a member of the Blades.”

Laura almost choked when she heard that piece of information.

“Uncle Theron was one of the fucking Blades? Are you serious?”

“Ma was too,” Aiden replied, shocking Laura all the more. “That was why we moved to Mournhold, although I didn’t know it then. Anyways, when I contacted a member, they were impressed with my combat skills and offered to recruit me. Considering I had literally fuck-all else to do, I accepted.”

Aiden sighed as he finished the story, and then looked to both Laura and Eriama.

“But now I think it’s time to lighten the mood,” he said. “Do either of you smoke?”

Laura snorted. There was no way she was ever going to touch either of the nasty things she saw Aiden inhaling into his lungs.

“Not for a long time,” Eriama replied. “That is, if we’re talking the normal stuff and not that sugar stuff that makes people stupid.”

Laura found herself gaping at the two of them.

“You’re both disgusting,” Laura remarked.

Aiden chuckled.

“Chill out, little cousin,” he said, before turning to Eriama. “I mean, I function just fine but…Want me to roll you one with just the normal stuff then?”

“Please,” Eriama replied. “I think I’m going to need one before Baurus wakes up.”

Laura rolled her eyes, and stood up, going back inside. She saw Baurus sitting at one of the tables, digging into a full Cyrodiilic breakfast that must have been freshly prepared by Luther.

He’s clearly awake already then.

Laura sat down at the table across from him, and within a few minutes, Eriama and Aiden came back inside, with Eriama sitting beside her and Aiden by Baurus.

“Where were you all?”

“Outside,” Aiden replied.

Baurus snorted, but didn’t say anything further, nodding to the plates of food on the table, which were currently going uneaten. Aiden looked more than glad for the food, and began to wolf the food down with enthusiasm. Laura and Eriama didn’t begin eating until Baurus spoke again.

“Eat,” Baurus said, “who knows when we’ll have the chance to do that again today?”

Reluctantly, Laura took a bite from the freshly baked bread on her plate. The rest seemed too much to even stomach; the sight of the sausages, beans and potato made her feel nauseous. Laura glanced in Eriama’s direction, and saw she was eating with no problem.

“Let’s get down to business,” Baurus began. “There’s a scholar at the Arcane University. Tar-Meena’s her name. She’s supposed to be an expert on daedric cults.”

Baurus glanced very clearly in Laura and Eriama’s direction.

“I need both of you to go and investigate,” he finished.

Eriama raised an eyebrow.

“Aren’t you coming with us?” She asked.

“Can’t. Both Aiden and I need to keep running down leads on the Mythic Dawn,” Baurus replied, before taking a bite from his food. He then turned to Aiden, with a glare. “It’ll be a bit hard, considering that this asshole got himself high while on the job, but it needs to be done.”

Aiden shrugged.

“We all have a hobby, Baurus,” Aiden said, before turning his attention back to his food.

Laura decided to change the subject. There was a much more pressing concern than whether or not Aiden was partially intoxicated at the moment.

“Then just how the fuck are we going to get into the Arcane University?” Laura demanded. “They’ve restricted entrance, even after they dealt with the necromancer threat.”

Baurus took a sip of his drink, before saying, “relax, Laura. We’re with the Blades. They can’t keep you out. Just show the Battlemages’ your katanas, they’ll let you in.”

Eriama placed a hand on Laura’s shoulder.

“We got this, Haynori,” she said.

After breakfast, Laura and Eriama took the long walk to the Imperial City’s Arcane University. Despite hearing so much about it, Laura had never been anywhere near the Arcana University, and was looking forward to seeing what it looked like, as much as she hated to admit it to herself.

The Arcane University was actually a smaller area than Laura had expected. Battlemages – a special regiment of the Imperial Guard - were standing at almost every corner and a few seemed a bit flabbergasted to see them there. However, with both their katanas clearly visible, they didn’t even question their presence.

Despite the University’s small size, Laura and Eriama still found themselves very much lost once they walked around the campus a few times, until they found themselves going around in circles.

Laura couldn’t help but feel like the current situation was very much applicable to her life; going in circles.

“Excuse me, are you lost?”

Laura turned around to see a young Altmer who didn’t seem much older than they were. She had light hair pinned back and was wearing green robes, and had a kindly smile.

“No, we’re here to see Tar-Meena,” Laura replied.

The woman raised an eyebrow, clearly curious as to why two strangers with no ties to the Arcane University were even here, asking for a scholar by name.

“We have...business with her,” Eriama explained.

“I think she’s in the Arch-Mage’s lobby,” the woman said. “I’m Tinaralia, by the way.”

Laura was taken aback by those words. Despite her general ignorance regarding affairs that didn’t concern her own life, she recognized that name. Tinaralia was the new Arch-Mage of the Mages’ Guild, having replaced Traven less than a year ago.

She tried to seem relaxed as she spoke the next few words.

“I’m Laura Haynori,” she replied. “This is my companion, Eriama Therayn. We’re -”

“- With the Blades,” Tinaralia said. “I’m aware now.”

“We have important business here,” Eriama said.

“I understand completely,” Tinaralia nodded towards a tall tower, right in the heart of the Arcane University. “You’ll find Tar-Meena in the lobby over there. She mentioned she was expecting a visitor today, but I didn’t expect it would be so important. Take all the time you need.”

After that, Tinaralia turned around and made her way in the opposite direction. Laura sighed, and then followed Eriama in the direction of the tall tower.

There were three people in the room, but Laura knew who Tar-Meena was without much help. Tar-Meena was an older, deep-voiced Argonian scholar. Before she noticed the two were there, she was stuck into the book she was reading. Laura didn’t have time to catch just what book it was before she heard Eriama clear her throat.

Tar-Meena looked up and gave them a toothy smile.

“Can I help you?”

Eriama didn’t say a word, she just showed Tar-Meena the handle of the katana strapped to her side, and Tar-Meena then chuckled slightly.

"Ah. You must be the ones I got the message about,” she said. “I must say, not at all who I was expecting…I thought Baurus would be the one to be here.”

“Baurus is busy,” Laura told her.

“I understand,” Tar-Meena put the book down. “How can I help you?"

Eriama reached into her bag, and then handed Tar-Meena the strange book that was found the night before. Tar-Meena examined it, and after a few seconds, Laura swore she saw her eyes light up. But is was hard to tell with Argonians sometimes.

“We need you to tell us what you know about the Mythic Dawn,” Eriama then said, her tone dark.

Laura had no doubt in her mind that Tar-Meena’s eyes did light up after Eriama said those words.

“You know of them?”

Laura and Eriama exchanged looks.

Know of them? They tried to fucking kill us multiple times, Laura thought. Judging from the look on Eriama’s face, she was thinking along the same lines.

“I guess you could say that,” Eriama eventually said in response to Tar-Meena’s question.

“They are one of the most secretive of all the daedric cults. Not much is known about them,” Tar-Meena explained. “They follow the teachings of Mankar Camoran, whom they call ‘the Master.’ He’s a shadowy figure in his own right."

Tar-Meena began to flip through the pages of that odd book after she spoke, until she found a part of particular interest, and then looked up.

"Ah yes. ‘Commentaries on the Mysterium Xarxes,’ wonderful!”

Laura didn’t think it was so wonderful so much as insane, but she didn’t say a word as Tar-Meena handed them the book back to Eriama.

“I take it you have a scholarly interest in daedric cults, then?" Tar-Meena asked.

“I wish that were the case,” Laura replied, although in truth she did not. “We need to find them.”

Tar-Meena looked as if she was about to raise an eyebrow.

"Find them, eh?”

“Yes,” Eriama replied, matter-of-factly. “It’s of grave importance to the Empire.”

Tar-Meena nodded.

“I understand,” she said, “I won't poke my nose any further. Official business and all that. I'm used to working with the Blades, don't worry. Say no more.”

Tar-Meena cleared her throat.

“In any case, finding them won't be easy.”

Laura sighed. She already had the feeling that this would be the case, but the fact that Tar-Meena said those words aloud filled her with even more dread that she could have expected.

“I've studied Mankar Camoran's writings a bit myself, at least those that I could find. It is clear from the text that Mankar Camoran's ‘Commentaries’ come in four volumes, but I've only ever seen the first two books.” Tar-Meena explained.

“What does this have to do with finding the Mythic Dawn?” Laura demanded.

Reading a pile of books all day would get them nowhere. Tar-Meena must have sensed at least a little of What Laura was thinking, based on what she next had to say.

“I believe that his writings contain hidden clues to the location of the Mythic Dawn's secret shrine to Mehrunes Dagon,” Tar-Meena replied. “Those who unlock this hidden path have proven themselves worthy to join the ranks of the Mythic Dawn cult. Finding the shrine is the first test. If you want to find them, you'll need all four volumes of the ‘Commentaries.’”

Tar-Meena then got up from the bench that she was sitting, towards one of the bookshelves, and pulled one from the shelf. She then handed Eriama a book with similar daedric lettering on the outside. Laura instantly knew what it was, and had her suspicions confirmed when she got to hold the book herself.

“Here, you can have the library's copy of Volume two,” Tar-Meena said. She glanced at Laura, then frowned as Laura flipped through the pages. “Treat it gently, if you please!”

At this remark, Eriama took it from Laura and then stuffed it into her rucksack.

“Any idea where we can find the other two?” Laura asked.

Tar-Meena sighed.

“As I said, I've never even seen the third and fourth volumes,” Tar-Meena was now sitting back down on her bench. “But I would try First Edition, over in the Market District. Phintias, the proprietor, caters to specialist collectors. The chances of this are slim, but maybe he knows of where to locate those books."

Laura felt herself blanch. She knew all too well who Phintias was. And he understandably hated her guts. To walk back into the First Edition was going to be like reliving a nightmare.

Laura saw Eriama glance at her, before speaking to Tar-Meena.

“Thank you for your time,” Eriama said quickly. “I think we’ll take our leave.”

“It was no trouble,” Tar-Meena said. “Don’t forget to come back and let me know how your hunt for the Mythic Dawn turns out!"

Laura turned around, and Eriama followed suit, and they then made their way to leave the Arcane University.

It was time for the next step.

By the time they made it back to the Imperial City, the First Edition was closed, so Eriama and Laura headed back to the Elven Gardens, where Baurus and Aiden were sitting at one of tables, sipping a mead and a mazte respectively. Eriama sat down beside Baurus, while Laura sat with Aiden.

“Any luck?” Baurus asked.

Eriama pulled the copy of the second book out of her bag and handed it to Baurus.

“This is on loan from the Arcane University,” she warned. “Be careful.”

“Of course,” Baurus replied, while scanning the pages. He then frowned and looked up from the book. “What did Tar-Meena say?”

“She basically told us to fuck off to the First Edition to find the next two books,” Laura snapped. Eriama raised her eyebrows in Laura’s direction, but said nothing in response to her irritated tone of voice. Baurus sighed.

“She said she’s never seen a copy of the third and fourth volumes,” Eriama added. “But we need to find them if we want to find the Mythic Dawn.”

Aiden nodded.

“Ah, looks like we need to pay Phintias a visit,” he said, sounding just as irritated as Laura was. “He’s a fucking s’wit, but if he has the answers, then so be it.”

Eriama couldn’t help but notice that Laura’s expression softened after Aiden said those words.

“We’ll pay a visit first thing in the morning,” Baurus promised.

And that was exactly what they did. The Market District at that hour on a Turdas morning was crowded as people started working or began to shop, but eventually, they found themselves near the First Edition. Eriama tried not to look in the direction of Jensine’s Good as New Merchandise, as that was extremely close to home – in a very literal manner of speaking.

Fortunately, despite the crowds outside, the First Edition was very quiet. There was not a single customer browsing the shelves at all.

The proprietor – Phintias – stood by the counter watching them with a bored expression, until he laid his eyes on Laura, and that was when he began to watch them with interest.

Eriama couldn’t help but notice how pale and skinny he was in comparison to other Redguards she had seen. Maybe he had Imperial heritage; it certainly wouldn’t surprise Eriama in the slightest if that were the case. Most people native to the Imperial City had ancestry from all over Cyrodiil. He also seemed to hold an air of superiority about him in a way that made her feel deeply uncomfortable.

Maybe Eriama shouldn’t have been surprised. He did own a bookstore that sold rare books to collectors, who no doubt felt even more superior than he did.

Within a few moments of them entering the store, Phintias could no longer contain his interest.

“How can I help you today?” he asked, while still eyeing Laura in a deeply suspicious manner.

Laura scowled.

“We’re looking for a rare book,” Laura snapped. “You do sell rare books, don’t you?”

Phintias smirked.

“Well, well…” he began. “Look what the cat dragged in. I thought you were arrested –“

“Shut up,” was Laura’s response, coming out as a snarl. “I’m no longer someone you can look down on, Phintias.”

At this, Aiden and Eriama exchanged looks, while Baurus cleared his throat, and began to speak. Eriama figured that considering the way Laura was handling things, it was probably for the best.

“We’re looking for the Mysterium Xarxes,” Baurus said, his tone calm and professional. “Would you happen to know anything about that?”

Phintias raised his eyebrows, looking momentarily dumbstruck, before letting out a small chuckle and answering Baurus’s question.

"Oh, I see…” he began, his tone very patronizing, “you must be referring to Mankar Camoran's ‘Commentaries on the Mysterium Xarxes’. A common mistake."

“So get to the fucking point, Phintias,” Aiden interjected, not bothering to hid his irritation. “Do you know anything about these Commentaries or not?”

“Now now, no need to be that way, sir,” Phintias replied.

Baurus threw Aiden a quick glare, before letting Phintias continue.

"The first and second volumes are rare, but you may run across them from time to time,” Phintias explained in the same patronizing tone. “The third and fourth are almost impossible to find."

He glanced in Laura’s direction, and Eriama was only just beginning to realize why that was the case. He had clearly met Laura at some point in her life before, and given what Eriama knew about Laura’s past, she was starting to realize just what kind of scenario she had met Phintias in.

He was probably wondering why Laura would even walk into his store in the first place.

“We need the last two volumes,” Eriama explained. “Any idea where we might find them?”

"I've never even seen a copy of the forth volume,” Phintias admitted. “By the Nine would I love to get my hands on a copy…"

There was a sudden glint in Phintias’s eye that irritated Eriama. She had the distinct feeling that he was about to gloat in some form or another.

“I do have a copy of the third volume,” he said, “but I’m sorry to say that it's already been paid for. Special ordered by another customer.”

He smirked nastily in Laura’s direction, making Eriama feel even more irritated.

“I am so sorry I can't help you,” he finished.

“That’s a lie, Phintias,” Laura snarled. “But you know what isn’t a lie? You’ll be sorry you didn’t sell us that book if you knew how fucking important it is.”

Baurus laughed nervously.

“What my friend here is trying to say is that you would be doing the Empire a great service if you sold that book to us instead,” Baurus began to reach for his coinpurse. “How much did this customer offer you?”

Phintias’s nasty grin didn’t fade; it only grew larger.

“A thousand Septims,” was his reply.

Eriama felt herself blanch when Phintias mentioned the price. A thousand Septims? Just where were they going to get that kind of money? She looked around, seeing the shocked looks on both Laura and Aiden’s faces.

Baurus didn’t even flinch.

“We’re willing to pay you double that price,” was Baurus’s reply.

Phintias went silent for a moment, but then shook his head.

“That’s a very tempting offer,” he said, “but I don’t go back on my word to such valuable customers. My store is already struggling at the moment, and if he comes back for more, then he’s going to make me a lot more money than this offer ever will. Especially…"

Phintias was now looking at Laura, and Laura responded with a cold expression.

"…since there are low-life’s around this city who lose me some pretty valuable cash because they try and steal my stock,” he finished.

For crying out loud, Eriama thought. This more than confirmed to her that Phintias was only refusing to sell the book out of spite. He obviously hated Laura, and anyone associated with her by default.

Baurus sighed.

"But you could always wait for Gwinas,” Phintias suggested. “He'll be here any moment now..."

Obviously, he wanted to get rid of them, and Eriama knew that there were all more than happy to oblige. The four of them sat down at one of the tables near a tall bookshelf.

“What’s the next step, waiting for Grainas or whatever his name is?” Aiden asked.

Baurus sighed.

“His name is Gwinas, Haynori, and the answer is yes,” Baurus replied. “That shopkeeper is obviously of no help to us.”

“I could have told you that to fucking start with,” Eriama heard Laura growl under her breath.

For the next few minuites, they waited for Gwinas in silence, but eventually, the front door to the shop opened and a Bosmer male wearing long, red, expensive looking robes and tied back blond hair stepped into the room.

Eriama could only imagine who that could be.

Gwinas walked towards Phintias and they exchanged a few words. Eriama couldn’t quite hear what words were being exchanged, but she saw before gold change hands and the Bosmer being handed a brown package. She then heard Gwinas enthusiastically thank Phintias.

“Of course,” she heard Phintias reply. “Keep us in mind for any future needs.”

Ugh.

Gwinas turned around and made way to leave the store. As soon as he was out of sight, the four of them got up from their seats and began to follow him.

Despite the fact that Gwinas had shorter legs than any of them, he was much faster than Eriama would have imagined. Baurus said something about not confronting him in the openness of the Market District, so they followed him into the Elven Gardens District.

Eventually, when Gwinas was halfway to the Talos Plaza District, he seemed to catch on to the fact that someone was following him, despite their best efforts to blend in and not look overly suspicious. Before Eriama could say a word, Laura ran towards Gwinas, in an effort to keep up with him.

“Laura!” Eriama shouted.

It was for naught; Laura disregarded Eriama and continued to run. Eriama sighed, then began to run, mentally noting that if Laura ended up losing the guy to her impulsiveness, she was going to never let her hear the end of it. Then, she ran in an effort to catch up with her, not thinking of Baurus and Aiden, who were right behind.

By the time Eriama caught up with Laura, Laura had grabbed Gwinas by the shoulder in an effort to get his attention. He sharply turned around, with a puzzled look on his face.

“Can I…help you?” He began.

Eriama felt her expression turn grim. With Laura leading the conversation, things were not going to end well. She heard Baurus and Aiden behind her, and saw Gwinas’s face grow paler, knowing he was surrounded by four people with weapons.

“Yeah, sure,” Laura responded coldly. “Let’s chat, Gwinas. You’ve bought the third volume of Mankar Camoran’s Commentaries. We really need to talk.”

Gwinas raised an eyebrow.

“I fail to see what business that is of yours, Imperial,” he replied, while making an effort to appear intimidating. Eriama almost laughed, as she knew he was failing miserably.

Laura snorted.

“Sure you do,” she responded sarcastically.

Eriama sighed, knowing that Laura’s verbal jousting would get them absolutely nowhere. Eriama then turned to Baurus, who nodded knowingly.

“Listen,” Baurus interjected. “We know you bought that book. And we’d like to take it off your hands. I’ll pay you double what you paid in that rip-off bookstore.”

Gwinas scowled at those words.

“No,” he snarled, clutching the brown package close to his chest. “I came all the way from Valenwood for this book, and I’ll be damned if anyone’s going to take that from me now. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a hotel room to check into –“

Laura blocked Gwinas’s way before he could walk, and Eriama blocked the other side of him.

“What are you fools doing?” Gwinas demanded, his eyes threatening to pop out of his skull. “I’ll call the guards and have you arrested for harassment!”

“Fucking try it,” Aiden snapped at him. “We’re with the Guards.”

Baurus eyed Gwinas with a calm expression.

“Answer me this now, Gwinas,” Baurus began, “are you with the Mythic Dawn?”

Gwinas paused, before speaking in a disbelieving voice.

“The Mythic Dawn?” He looked momentarily amazed, “are you…I mean, I don’t know what you’re talking about! I don’t know anything about any cult!”

Eriama couldn’t help but notice that none of them had even mentioned a cult so far.

“Don’t behave like you’re a complete moron,” Aiden snapped at Gwinas again, this time his tone sharper. “You know exactly why we’re here. You basically just admitted it.”

Gwinas turned towards Aiden with a furious expression, but said nothing as Aiden spoke again.

“It so happens that you’re in way over your little head,” Aiden continued, his tone as sharp as a knife. Gwinas shook his head in disdain.

"I beg your pardon? You presume to tell me about daedric cults?”

Gwinas’s tone sounded as if he found it impossible that any of them could possibly know anything about the daedra, when in fact it was the other way around.

He knew nothing about the daedra.

“I'll have you know I visited the Shrine of Sheogorath during the Festival of the Mad!” Gwinas continued, his tone filled with arrogance. “I've spoken with Hermaeus Mora beneath the full moons! I've -"

Before Gwinas could say another word, Laura grabbed him by the shoulders and pushed him against the stone wall.

“The Mythic Dawn fucking murdered the Emperor, you bloody idiot!” She snarled.

At those words, Gwinas fell silent, and the blood drained from his face. He looked towards everyone standing around him, before finally whispering his disbelief.

“I…is this true?” He asked.

“I wouldn’t say it if it wasn’t,” Laura replied hotly, letting go of his shoulders. Gwinas seemed absolutely shook with fear now, but he still managed to speak.

"The Mythic Dawn were the ones…” He stopped, and then looked up towards all of them with the same frightened expression.

“You have to believe me! I truly had no idea.”

Gwinas sounded like he was pleading for his life now. For all he knew, he was, even though Eriama knew that they had no interest in taking his life.

“I mean, I knew they were a daedric cult,” he continued stammering out, “Mankar Camoran's views on Mehrunes Dagon are fascinating, revolutionary even… But to murder the Emperor… Mara preserve us!"

“They're the reason there's all the chaos in the Empire right now, you know," Eriama told him. “Give us the book and help end it all!"

Gwinas hastily handed the brown package to Laura, and then produced a note from his pocket.

"I...here, this is all I know!" he cried. "Take it! I want nothing more to do with it!"

Everyone in the group exchanged looks.

"And the forth book?" Baurus demanded.

"You can get it only from a member. Now please, leave me alone!" Gwinas pleaded. He then turned around and ran off, leaving the four of them standing in the Elven Gardens District. Eriama then turned to Laura with a raised eyebrow. Laura responded with a confused look, before speaking.

“What the fuck are you looking at me like that for, Therayn?” Laura demanded.

Eriama sighed.

“Look, I know we needed to get that book and all, but…was such force really nessicary?”

Aiden shrugged.

“Look, Laura got the job done,” he stated. “We can’t complain about it now, can we?”

Baurus rolled his eyes.

“Enough,” Baurus told them, before turning to Laura. “Laura, how about that note?”

Laura sighed and opened it. After a few seconds of her skimming the text, she read it out loud to everyone in the group in an undertone.

Gwinas,

Your interest in the writings of the Master has been noted. You are taking the first steps towards true enlightenment. Persevere, and you may yet join the exalted ranks of the Chosen.

If you wish to continue further down the Path of Dawn, you will need the fourth volume of the Master's "Commentaries on the Mysterium Xarxes." It can be obtained only from a member of the Order of the Mythic Dawn. As your designated Sponsor, I will pass on my copy to you if I deem you worthy.

Study the first three volumes of the Master's writings. Look for the hidden meaning in his words, as best as you are able.

On the 13th of Frostfall at Nine PM, come to the Sunken Sewers under the Elven Gardens in the Imperial City. Come alone. Follow the main tunnel until you reach the room with the table and chair. Sit down. I will meet you there and give you what you desire.

- The Sponsor.

Laura looked up, and then looked towards all of them with a grim expression.

“Isn’t that tomorrow night?” She asked them.

Eriama nodded.

“Just how are we going to navigate the Imperial City sewers?” She thought aloud. Despite the fact that Eriama had never really seen much of it for herself, she knew from the accounts of others that the Imperial City Sewers were essentially a maze.

Baurus put a hand on her shoulder.

“That’s simple,” he replied. “I’ll be your guide. I know the sewers of the Imperial City well.”

Laura raised her eyebrows in response to that.

“You fucking what, mate?” Laura asked, her voice terribly deadpan.

Eriama almost snorted in response to that. The fact that Baurus knew the sewers well, as he put it, was hardly something worth bragging about.

Baurus scowled.

“It’s a very long story,” he replied quickly, obviously not wanting to elaborate on it at the current time. “We’ll figure out the rest of this later, but now we have time to kill. All we need to figure out is what we’re going to do with the rest of our time.”

He then chuckled.

“Well, the rest of you do, anyway,” Baurus said with a smile. “I know what I’m going to do, and that’s sleep like the dead.”

Baurus then turned around, no doubt making his way back to Luthur’s for a long and well-deserved nap. Laura didn’t say a word, and turned back in the direction of the Market District. Eriama had half a mind to call after her, but Aiden placed a hand on her shoulder.

“She’s a big girl, Therayn,” he told her. “She can look out for herself. She proved that today.”

Eriama sighed.

“What is it, Aiden?” She asked him wearily.

Aiden’s expression grew serious.

“I know something you might want to know about,” he said, his tone even more serious than his expression. “There’s a retired Blade that lives in the Temple District. His name is Cosades, and he was the one who recruited me into the Blades.”

Eriama raised her eyebrows, failing to understand why Aiden was telling her this, but let him continue nonetheless.

“He might have known Ulina at one point, but he was pretty tight-lipped about this when I asked him,” Aiden ran a hand through his hair as he spoke. “Though I have the feeling he might be willing to tell you more if he knows who you are.”

Eriama could hardly believe what she was hearing.

“Why are you telling me this?”

Aiden smiled slightly.

“Well, we have time to kill and I thought you might want to know,” was his answer. “You can take it or leave it. That’s entirely up to you.”

He paused, before finishing with a warning that Eriama was not expecting.

Laura leaned back against the wall, and attempted to close her eyes.

It had been two weeks since she was arrested, and was betrayed due to Pelena’s own ambitions. Laura laughed bitterly and then sighed. She should have seen that coming. Pelena had always been the kind of person who would betray those so she could better herself in the long run. Laura was stupid to thinking it would be any different with her.

It was stupid to believe anything her mother had taught her, least of all that “love conquers all.”

After all, that was what Laura had been led to believe. And she had loved Pelena.

But love conquered nothing. It had landed her in the Imperial City prison with not even a penny to her name. During the past two weeks she contended with what little she had left of her sanity.

Laura supposed it was mostly her own fault. Had she not run away from home in the first place and given into her mother’s pleas, she wouldn’t be here. But the life her mother wanted for her - find a decent husband and settle down - was not the life for her.

The abuse that she had faced after her mother had remarried was not the life for her, either.

She wanted something better for herself. She wanted to see all of Cyrodiil and most of Tamriel, and travel. Laura was not interested in looking for love; she wanted love to find her as she traipsed around in Skyrim’s frosty mountains or sipped Mazte in one of the sunnier locations of Morrowind.

At sixteen, Laura was too idealistic for her own good. Her mother had said so, but Laura hadn’t wanted to believe as she ran away to the Imperial City with as much gold as she could. Which, in the end, proved to be not enough.

Mother knows best, was something Sabrinda always used to say. Laura just didn’t believe it.

Eventually, that’s how she met Pelena and ended up being apart of the Thieves’ Guild. Pelena turned out to be a good friend…at least until she stabbed her in the back to avoid a prison sentence herself.

“Prisoner!”

Before Laura knew it, she was being dragged by a prison guard out of her cell and down the hall, before being practically thrown into another cell.

This cell was colder. And the only company she had was a quiet Dunmer woman who was sitting across the room with her head in her lap.

Laura sighed, mentally kicking herself for what she was about to do. She had to speak to someone, or she was going to go mad.

“Hey there,” she began. “I’m Laura Haynori. Nice to meet you…I guess.”

The Dunmer woman looked up, but said nothing, so Laura found herself continuing.

“So, what are you in for?”

The Dunmer woman averted her gaze, and then sighed.

“In truth,” she began, her tone flat, “I’m not really sure. I know I didn’t do what they accuse me of.”

Laura couldn’t help but let out a chuckle.

“Join the club, girl,” she replied. “So happens I was framed. By a woman I thought was my friend. I guess I was wrong. Bitch.”

Laura leaned back against the wall and sighed. The woman sharing her cell gave Laura a confused look, and then sighed herself.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” was the woman’s response.

Laura smiled slightly.

“Nah, don’t worry about it,” she said. “We may as well get to know each other seeing as we’ll be sharing a cell. I’m Laura, the thief.”

The woman blinked.

“I’m Eriama,” she replied. “The…well, I guess you could say that on paper, I’m a murderer.”

At this, Laura snorted. The woman before her looked like she was barely a child, with bright eyes that shone of innocence. Laura knew killers, she had met plenty of them, and they always had a look in their eyes. A look Eriama didn’t have.

“On paper?”

Before Laura could get a response, there was the sound of a loud whistle coming from across the room. Eriama immediately rolled her eyes. Laura turned her attention to the sound of the whistle. It came from the cell across from theirs. A Dunmer man was eyeing them both through the cell doors. He looked incredibly gaunt, with pale skin and large eyes.

Laura gave an involuntary shudder. This must be what happens if you stay in prison too long.

“Oooh, the pretty Dunmer maiden has a new cellmate,” he began sneering. “Let me know if you change your mind, my dear…that guard still owes me a favor.”

Eriama let out a snort of disgust, but said nothing. Laura turned to Eriama in surprise, which led to Eriama shrugging in response.

“That’s Valen Dreth. I’ve been stuck here for at least two weeks listening to his nonsense,” was her response. “After awhile, you just block it out.”

“So you’re just going to put up with this fetcher disrespecting you?” Laura demanded. “That’s what you’re telling me -?”

Laura suddenly got cut off when she heard the sound of Dreth laughing across from them.

“Oh, look, an Imperial in the Imperial Prison,” he began, all while his lips began curling to form a sneer. “I guess they don't play favorites, huh?”

Laura raised her eyebrows.

“Playing favorites? What in Oblivion are you saying?”

“I’m saying that your own kinsmen think you're a piece of human trash,” Dreth continued, spitting the words. “How sad.”

Behind her, Laura thought she heard Eriama let out an anxious sigh. Laura had a feeling as to why that was, but didn’t want to give Dreth the satisfaction of knowing he had gotten to her.

“Yeah, whatever,” Laura bit out, “my own kinsmen think I’m trash? I bet that pales in comparison to how your kinsmen must think of you…or are you only this nasty when you’re in a prison cell?”

Dreth let out a nauseating cackle, before continuing as if Laura hadn’t said a word.

“I bet the guards give you ‘special’ treatment before the end…” he paused, before continuing. “Oh, that's right. There is no special treatment. You're going to die in here, Imperial!”

Dreth threw a quick glare in Eriama’s direction.

“You're both going to die!”

Dreth continued cackling madly to himself, while Laura and Eriama just exchanged looks of mutual disgust. Laura then turned back to Dreth with a glare.

“Yes, I’m well aware I’m going to die in prison, idiot,” she spat back. “But so are you.”

Dreth wicked smile faded away and was replaced with a dark look.

“Yes, well…” he continued, “…Imperial criminal scum like you give the Empire a bad name, you see. You're an embarrassment. Best if you just... disappeared.”

Laura had had enough. Before anyone could stop her, she grabbed the ceramic jug that stood on the table before her,

“I DON’T GIVE A FLYING FUCK – “

And threw it at the cell door with such force that her fingers began to shake.

“- ABOUT THE EMPIRE, YOU DISGUSTING PIECE OF MUDCRAB SHIT!”

The broken pieces fell all over the stone floor, and Eriama let out a small gasp of shock while jumping away from the ceramic. Laura felt her face grow hot at the rage that she had let explode, and suddenly realized that she had started panting.

“He’s not worth it,” she heard Eriama say. Laura turned to Eriama, and was about to start yelling at her too, before realizing that her cellmate was right.

He wasn’t worth it.

Nothing was worth it anymore, now that she was in here.

Laura blinked, trying not to cry. She wanted to…she very badly wanted to cry. But one of the things she had learned was not to show vulnerability in front of strangers. They would use it against her, just as they had many times before.

So all Laura felt she could do was sit and lean back against the stone wall, hoping and praying to the Gods to help her keep her sanity intact.

That is, if the Gods even existed.

Despite the fact that there were two prisoners locked in a cell, there was only one bedroll. Laura took the pillow while Eriama rolled the blanket up into a pillow of her own. Eriama knew they were both shivering, but she knew no one would care.

Now that they were both in prison, no one would care about them. In fact, it was worse than that; no one thought they deserved anything. Not even warmth. Eriama could practically smell the cold air coming in from their pathetic cell window.

Eriama heard the sounds of loud snoring from Dreth’s cell, and footsteps from afar. Despite their distance, Eriama could still hear how heavy they were on the ground. Accompanying the sound of footsteps was muffled voices…just above being whispers.

“My sons…”

Eriama suddenly heard a quiet voice of resignation begin.

“…they’re dead, aren’t they?”

Laura stirred. Eriama suddenly sat up, knowing that it wasn’t the guards that often patrolled these cells. Across from their cell, Eriama could hear Dreth mumbling nonsense curses in their direction. Something about their deaths.

“In the name of Oblivion, shut up,” Eriama found herself hissing to Dreth. “I’ve had enough.”

Eriama turned to see Laura was now fully awake, standing and smiling.

“Thank goodness,” Laura remarked. “I was beginning to think you were hopeless at d –“

Eriama threw Laura a quick glare, hoping it would get the woman to be quiet. Laura immediately stopped speaking, and Eriama tried to pay close attention to the sound of the muffled voices that came from the hall.

“…we don’t know that, sire,” a female voice said. “Right now my job is to get you to safety.”

Eriama didn’t know what to think when she heard the sound of footsteps fall and shadowy figures moving closer towards the cell. She exchanged looks with Laura, who looked just as confused as she felt. Even in the poor lighting, Eriama could make out the figures of the four outside their cell.

There were three guards – but they were not in the armor of the usual guards that Eriama was now used to patrolling these halls. And standing with them was an elderly Imperial wearing some of the fanciest robes Eriama had ever seen in her entire life.

No, Eriama thought, it can’t be –

Eriama turned to Laura, who still looked just as confused as Eriama felt.

“What the fuck did you do?” Laura demanded in a voice barely above a whisper.

Eriama raised an eyebrow.

“Me?” she countered. “I was about to ask you the same thing!”

“Don’t you realize who that man is?” Laura snapped at her, gesturing towards the Imperial man in lavish robes. “He’s –“

“I’m aware,” Eriama responded coldly. “I’m not an idiot.”

They both fell silent at the sound of a frustrated growl from the female guard.

“What are these prisoners doing in here!” The guard barked “This cell was supposed to be off limits!”

The other two guards exchanged looks, before one of them begin to speak.

“Usual mix-up with the watch...I...”

“Never mind,” the female guard snapped, “just get that gate open. Now.”

The female guard then turned from her fellow guard towards Eriama and Laura with a stone cold expression.

“Stand back, prisoners!”

Without a thought, Eriama stood back, but Laura merely scowled at them.

“We won’t hesitate to kill you if you get in our way,” the woman added harshly.

That’s when Laura stood back and glanced at Eriama.

“You gonna tell me what you did?” Laura whispered.

Eriama scoffed. Why should she dignify this woman with a response?

“Maybe you should tell me first?” Eriama snapped.

Eriama could tell Laura was outraged now.

“Fuck you, you –“

“You…” another voice interrupted Laura and Eriama. It was the man in the lavish robes. His voice was one of amazement and awe.

Eriama quickly exchanged looks with Laura, and even though no words were exchanged, she knew that Laura was just as confused – or even more so – than she was.

“I’ve seen you,” the man continued. “Both of you.”

What?

“Let me see your faces,” he requested. "You are the ones from my dreams…”

What?

Eriama honestly didn’t know how to respond to that, so instead she glanced at Laura, hoping she would help. Laura scowled.

“Oh yeah,” she heard Laura mutter, “because that’s totally not a creepy thing to say at all…”

“…then the stars were right, and this is the day. Gods give me strength," the man continued, talking more to himself than anyone else. He behaved as if he had heard nothing Laura had said.

There was then a pregnant pause that entered the prison cell, until it was clear that Eriama’s cellmate could no longer take it.

“Just what in Oblivion is going on here?” Laura demanded.

Eriama sighed, and the guards looked angry, but Laura clearly wanted an explanation. Eriama did as well, but was hoping to get such an explanation by not pissing off people with clearly high positions of power.

“That is not your concern, prisoner,” the female guard snapped in Laura’s direction. Laura appeared unfazed.

“I think it is,” Laura snapped back. “We have the Emperor coming into our cell, don’t we deserve some sort of explanation?”

Eriama felt horrified at the prospect of what was to happen next, as the female guard went to open her mouth to respond in possibly the nastiest manner possibly. Before the female guard could speak, the Emperor held up a hand.

“No, Renault,” he said, his voice a deadly calm. “These women are no threat to us.”

The female guard – albeit reluctantly – closed her mouth and let the Emperor continued, although with a menacing expression on her face.

"Assassins attacked my sons, and I'm next," Uriel Septim explained to them. "My Blades are leading me out of the city along a secret escape route. By chance, the entrance to that escape route leads through your cell."

Eriama thought she could have been imagining it, but she thought she heard the Blades express their displeasure. She could tell that tell they disapproved of Uriel informing two lowly prisoners about their plans.

“Why are we in this cell then, if it’s supposed to be a secret escape route?” Eriama asked, the first words to come out of her mouth since the Emperor spoke.

“Perhaps the Gods have placed you both here so that we may meet,” Uriel replied. “As for what you have done, it does not matter…”

He paused, and then looked both of them dead in the eye, with an expression that almost made Eriama shudder more than the cold air.

“…that is not what you will be remembered for.”

Eriama was certain she heard Laura scoff and then mutter words under her breath. Something about this being the most ridiculous thing she had ever heard. Eriama knew better than to respond, but she didn’t blame her cellmate for saying so.

"Sire, we need to get going," the female guard snapped. Then, she proceeded to enter the cell and stood by the wall, before pull a lever that Eriama had previously not noticed. The lever revealed a narrow passageway behind the wall.

Eriama had not seen that coming.

Eriama quickly turned from the newly revealed passageway to the face of Emperor Uriel Septim, who gave both her and Laura a grim expression.

"You will find your own path," he told them. "Take care... there will be blood and death before the end."

Eriama didn’t know what to make of Uriel Septim’s chilling words, and tried her best to do so as he and his Blades walked in the passage. Renault, the female captain who spoke earlier, completely ignored them as she followed the Emperor and disappeared out of sight. So did one of the other Blades, an Imperial with a grim expression. The third Blade was a young Redguard who hadn't spoken up until now, and he gave them both a quick glance.

"It's your lucky day, girls,” he told them, “you can find a way to get out but don't –“

“BAURUS!" a shrilly female voice cried from inside the passage way. Eriama thought that it was Renault without a shred of doubt to her mind.

“ - follow us,"  the Blade - Baurus - finished. Then, he ran into the secret passage to follow the Emperor, leaving both Eriama and Laura to stand there and comprehend what had just happened. After a minute or so, Eriama saw Laura walk towards the passageway, before she turned around and looked to Eriama with raised eyebrow.

“You coming, Therayn?”

“Are you sure that’s such a good idea? Gods only know what’s down there –“

“I’m not fucking taking my chances being stuck in here any longer,” Laura countered. “And even though you didn’t ask for my opinion, if you stay here when we have an opportunity like this, you’re stupid.”

Eriama sighed.

“I see your point,” she said. She glanced towards the cell across from them, where Dreth was watching them with envy.

She’d follow Laura, if for no other reason than to get far, far away from that s’wit.

“Let’s get out of here, then,” Eriama said, before following Laura into the darkness.

Darkness. Giant rats. Living, stinking corpses. An army of Goblins. Those were among some of the things that Laura and Eriama had encountered while trying to escape the twisting, narrow tunnels.

Captain Renault was dead. Laura was the first to notice her body. She retrieved the sword that was lying by her side, mostly to use as a way of protecting herself against whatever was to come. Laura had never used a proper sword, only daggers. But she supposed it wasn’t much different.

In the ruins, they found older armor and more weapons. Eriama claimed an old, rusty bow and a few arrows left lying around. Laura didn’t object; she had no use for them. They both outfitted themselves in some of the old armor. The leather armor Laura was wearing was clearly made for a man, but she couldn’t exactly complain at the moment, could she?

Laura hoarded all the valuables she could find, knowing that if she got out of here alive, she was going to need to get money somehow. But would she get out of here alive? That was an interesting question that she currently didn’t know the answer to.

But Laura had the feeling that if all the pests didn’t kill her, the Blades sure would.

Laura and Eriama quickly found themselves out of the catacombs and tunnels, finding themselves right before Uriel Septim and his blades yet again. All three of them were fighting three armored men. They wore incredibly strange, elaborate armor. Laura had never seen that make before, and she had seen armor of all different kinds during her time in the Imperial City.

No one had seen them yet.

Eriama pulled out her bow, and – much to Laura’s amazement – shot one of the men straight in the head. He fell down before Laura even had the chance to process it. His armor completely disappeared, revealing a set of red robes.

Maybe Eriama was not a defenseless as Laura had thought.

Everyone began to look around, and then Eriama jumped down, unsheathing one of the blades that she had retrieved in the ruins, stabbing another one of the armored men in the chest. It only took up until now for Uriel and his Blades to even realize what was going on.

By now, the third armored man was approaching Laura. Laura felt herself begin to panic, and unsheathed the sword she had without so much as thinking, slitting his throat and watching as his body fall to the ground.

Laura felt a sudden chill run down her spine, horrified at what she had just done. She knew these men were trying to kill the Emperor, but that didn’t change the fact that she had just killed someone. Throughout her life living in the Imperial City, she had always been prepared to take someone’s life, be she never thought she would actually do it. And the circumstances of which she had done so made it even harder to believe.

But then again, she never imagined she would ever meet the Emperor, either. This was a nightmare that she would wake from soon, surely.

"Dammit, it's those prisoners again!”

One of the Blades – an Imperial man with an expression filled with rage – cried out. Laura and Eriama quickly exchanged looks.

“Kill them! They might be working with the assassins,” He insisted.

“You have got to be fucking kidding me,” Laura let out in one of the most disbelieving voices she heard herself use. “If we were working with the assassins, would we really be here risking our necks to save your ungrateful backsides?”

The Blade’s expression was absolutely livid, and he opened his mouth to speak but Uriel held up a hand, interrupting them.

“No,” he began, his tone firm. “They are not with them, Glenroy. They can help us.”

Laura felt herself shift her eyes away from the Emperor when he began to glance in their direction. Laura knew for sure she couldn’t stand to be under his piercing gaze again.

Not now.

“They must help us,” Uriel finished.

The Blade - Glenroy - snorted, and then said - with a great deal of reluctance, “as you wish, Sire,” before storming off.

Laura looked over towards Eriama. The elf’s expression was filled with exactly the same emotion Laura was feeling; confusion.

"Here," a voice behind them began. Laura turned around and saw it was Baurus, the Redguard Blade from before. He was holding out a lit torch.

“If you're coming with us, you may as well make yourself useful,” Baurus said. “Take this torch."

Laura rolled her eyes, but Eriama held out her hand to take the torch, much to Laura’s annoyance. She shouldn’t be helping them, not after the way they were treated earlier.

"Whatever you say," Eriama replied dryly, taking the torch Baurus was giving to her. He then turned around and went ahead of Uriel and Glenroy, while they followed behind. After a few moments of silence following the three men, Baurus and Glenroy went ahead to scan the area. Uriel turned to both Laura and Eriama, his expression solemn.

Laura was beginning to dread what Uriel was about to say next.

"They cannot understand why I trust you," he began.

Laura didn’t even understand why he trusted them, and didn’t entirely blame the Blades for remaining sceptics in this situation. They were prisoners. She was nothing but a lowlife. Surely the Emperor could see that?

"They've not seen what I've seen,” Uriel continued, confusing Laura all the more. “How can I explain?"

Laura genuinely didn’t know how to answer that question. She didn’t even know if there was an answer. While trying to wrack her brains with an answer, Uriel spoke again.

"Listen. You know the Nine?”

Oh shit.

“How They guide our fates with an invisible hand?" He asked.

Growing up, Laura’s parents were both firm believers in the Nine Divines, especially her mother. But her mother had been a hypocrite, preaching about having faith in invisible beings but not her own daughter, who had come to her to tell her about the pain she had been forced to feel by the very man her mother had married.

It was around that time Laura had come to turn her back on the Nine Divines, thinking of them as mere myths that people told themselves so they could live with themselves. Laura knew for a fact that that was what her mother had done.

“I’m not sure,” Laura heard Eriama say, breaking into her train of thought. “I wasn’t exactly raised to believe in the Divines, but maybe they do exist.”

Uriel turned to Laura.

“And what of you?” he asked her.

Laura sighed.

“I’d rather not answer that, if you don’t mind,” she said, her tone filled with annoyance. “Why do you ask?”

"I've served the Nine all my days, and I chart my course by the cycles of the heavens," Uriel replied simply. "The skies are marked with numberless sparks, each a fire, and every one a sign. I know these stars well, and I wonder... which signs have marked your births?"

“The Lady,” Eriama said.

Laura almost snorted. Of course she would have been born under the sign of the Lady. Goodness knows she sounded like one most of the time.

Laura’s birth sign was much darker than that.

"The Shadow," Laura said tonelessly.

Uriel looked at the both of them, before his expression became grimmer than it did before.

"The signs I read show the end of my path. My death, a necessary end, will come when it will come," he said.

What kind of man is so accepting about his death? Laura thought. She had met countless people who had wanted to end their lives, but never anyone who expected to die while keeping so calm and composed as Uriel did in this moment. And out of all the people she would have expected to feel such a way, she never would have expected it to be the Emperor of Tamriel.

"But your stars are not mine," the Emperor continued, turning to Eriama, “Today the Lady shall fortify you in your quest for glory…”

And then he turned towards Laura.

“…and the Shadow shall hide you from destiny's cunning hounds."

Eriama raised an eyebrow.

“Are you saying that you can see our fates?”

Laura resisted the urge to snort again at Eriama’s question. She knew just as the Divines were myths, that fate was as well. There was only life, and it was horrible. No matter what the Emperor said, she wasn’t going to be convinced otherwise.

"My dreams grant me no opinions of success,” Uriel replied. “Their compass ventures not beyond the doors of death.”

He turned to Laura.

“But in your face, I behold the sun's companion…” he told her.

Laura tried not to show the confusion on her face, but she must not have been trying hard enough, because Eriama gave her a sympathetic look.

At least Laura could be comforted by the fact that she, too, had no idea what the Emperor was talking about.

“…the dawn of Akatosh's bright glory may banish the coming darkness.”

Uriel turned to Eriama again.

“With such hope, and with the promise of your aid, my heart must be satisfied," he finished.

Laura exchanged looks with Eriama. Even though neither of them said a word to each other, it was pretty much agreed that for the moment anyway, it was best neither of them say another word. Laura had no idea about anything Uriel had just said. Something about the Divines, stars, fate and other nonsense Laura couldn’t wrap her head around.

But she understood one thing.

Uriel Septim thought he was going to die. And he had completely accepted it.

The very thought sent a chill down Laura’s spine.

“If you’re going to die, then why aren’t you afraid?” Laura asked him.

Uriel turned to Laura with a faint smile.

"Because no trophies of my triumphs precede me," Uriel replied. "But I have lived well, and my ghost shall rest easy. Men are but flesh and blood. They know their doom, but not the hour. In this I am blessed to see the hour of my death... To face my apportioned fate, then fall."

“So where do we go from here?” Laura heard Eriama ask.

"I go to my grave,” Uriel responded calmly, “a tongue shriller than all the music calls me. You shall follow me yet for a while, then we must part."

As soon and Glenroy and Baurus confirmed that the coast was clear, they all began to walk in silence again, with Laura beginning to get angered at all the riddles that Uriel Septim had just dumped on her lap.

For fucks sake, a simple yes or no would have sufficed, Laura thought.

Not long after walking into a small, dark room, there was a loud clang and more armored assassins appeared.

Everyone unsheathed their weapons, and the assassin’s started to move in the direction of the two Blades. Baurus sharply turned towards both Laura and Eriama.

“Protect the Emperor, Prisoners!” Baurus ordered. “Guard him with your life!”

Eriama held out the old, rusty blade she retrieved from the sewers, standing in front of Laura and Uriel as they quickly fled into a small, dark room off the corner of a large set of gates. Eriama shut the door and locked it with an old, rusty arrow, much to Laura’s amazement.

“They can’t get in now,” Eriama said, whilst panting. Laura turned to Uriel, who stood in the middle of the room, almost like a statue, except for the fact that he was removing a large, red amulet from his neck. Laura raised an eyebrow.

“Err, Your Highness…?”

Uriel didn’t move or say anything. He just let out a deep breath.

“I think the coast is clear for now,” Laura said, “you can calm down n –“

Uriel suddenly grabbed Laura’s shoulder, and Laura let out a small gasp in surprise. His grip was really tight, and Laura felt her shoulder begin to ache with the pain.

"I can go no further," Uriel told her.

“What -?”

“They have found a way, and there is no point prolonging my demise,” Uriel continued, the grip on Laura’s shoulder becoming to tight that his hand was actually starting to shake. “You two alone must stand against the Prince of Destruction and his mortal servants.”

His blue eyes widened.

“He must not have the Amulet of Kings,” he insisted.

Prince of Destruction? Amulet of Kings?

Laura actually felt her stomach begin to tighten into knots at the confusion. She didn’t even know what these terms were, how was she meant to do whatever it was the Emperor wanted her to do? She looked towards, Eriama, who stood perfectly still by the door. She looked just as confused and shocked as Laura did.

"But, sire - " Laura began to protest.

It was no use. Before she could get another word to come out of her mouth, Uriel had already placed a large, red amulet into Laura’s free hand.

"Take the Amulet,” he began to plead. “Give it to Jauffre. He alone knows where to find my last son.”

“But - ”

Before Laura could say another word, an assassin appeared right behind Uriel and stabbed him right through the chest.  Blood began to fall everywhere. All over the stone-cold floor, onto Laura’s feet, and soaking into the regal robes the Emperor wore…

Laura found herself kneeling down to Uriel’s level, and checked his body. He was still breathing, but she knew it wouldn’t last long.

The assassin fell down not long after Uriel had collapsed onto the floor, having been shot in the head with one of Eriama’s arrows.  After the assassin died, Eriama approached Laura, kneeling beside her. Eriama took Uriel’s hand.

"Uriel..." Eriama began, her voice dangerously quiet.

Uriel began coughing up blood, but miraculously, he was still able to get a few words out as he looked at the both of them with desperation in his eyes.

"...find him…" he wheezed out in between coughs, "…and close shut…the jaws of…Oblivion…"

Uriel stopped breathing after those final words, with his blue eyes remaining open. All Laura could see now was an empty shell of who the Emperor might have been in life.

Laura knew that she was likely going to have nightmares about this very moment for the rest of her life.

The door to the room burst open, and Laura looked up and saw Baurus standing in the doorway. His eyes betrayed the shock he felt at having seen the Emperor’s corpse in the middle of the floor.

“We failed…” Baurus began, as his shock turned to guilt. He looked towards Eriama and Laura, before continuing, “I failed...”

“The Blades are sworn to protect the Emperor, and now he and all his heirs are dead,” Baurus finished, his voice filled with grief.

Eriama looked towards Baurus, and tried her best to appear sympathetic. She was sympathetic, but it was hard to appear so given that she still felt more confused and scared about everything that had just happened before her very eyes.

What in Oblivion did he mean, ‘close shut the jaws of Oblivion?’

Her thoughts were soon interrupted by Baurus walking over to the Emperor’s body, inspecting it carefully, before swearing loudly, before continuing.

“The Amulet…” he began.  

Baurus then turning to Eriama and Laura with a frightened expression.

“Where’s the Amulet of Kings?” he demanded. “It’s not on the Emperor’s body!”

Eriama’s gaze turned to Laura, who then held something in her hands. Eriama sighed.

Gods help her now that Baurus knew she had it.

“I have it here…” Laura hesitated. “The Emperor...Uriel...he gave it to me before he died.”

Laura then handed it to Eriama, without Eriama saying a word. Miraculously, Baurus’s anxious expression disappeared and then turned into one of confusion.

Eriama knew he was probably more confused than either of them were, and that was saying a lot, truly.

“Strange…” Baurus’s voice trailed off.  “He saw something in you. Trusted you. Actually, both of you.”

Eriama bit her lip.

“But why?” Laura asked.

Eriama was just about to ask the same question. They were prisoners and he was an Emperor. The Emperor should know better than to trust random ragtags…this entire situation made no sense. But trusted them he had, and Eriama couldn’t fathom it.

“They say it’s the Dragon Blood, that flows through the veins of every Septim. They see more than lesser men,” Baurus explained. “The Amulet of Kings is a sacred symbol of the Empire. Most people think of the Red Dragon Crown, but that’s just jewelry...the Amulet has power. Only a true heir of the Blood can wear it, they say.”

Then why did he give it to Laura? Eriama thought.

Baurus turned to Laura, raising his eyebrows.

“He must have given it to you for a reason,” he began, his tone filled with confusion. “Did he say why?”

Eriama could almost feel Laura’s cluelessness.

“Mate,” Laura began, her tone deadpan, “do I look like I have a fucking clue? All I seemed to understand was that I have to take it to some bloke named Jauffre, and I have no idea who the fuck he is –“

Baurus stopped Laura by holding up a hand, with a look of surprise.

“Jauffre?” Baurus asked. “Why?”

“He said there was another heir,” Eriama interjected.

Baurus looked more and more confused, but eventually he hid his confusion with a shake of his head and a flat expression.

“Nothing I ever heard about,” he said, mostly to himself. “But Jauffre would be the one to know. He’s the Grandmaster of my Order. Although you may not think so to meet him.”

“Why not?” Eriama heard herself asking.

“Because he lives quietly as a monk at Weynon Priory, near the city of Chorrol. Very much not someone anyone would suspect of being Grandmaster of the Blades.”

“So what do we do now?” Eriama asked.

Eriama glanced quickly in Laura’s direction, and saw a frown etch itself onto her face. Eriama was tempted to ask her about why she was looking so angry about this information, but she heard Baurus speak faster than she was able to get the words out.

She would have to ask Laura later.

“First you need to get out of here,” Baurus said gravely.

Obviously, Eriama thought.

“Through that door must be the entrance to the sewers, past the locked gate,” Baurus then nodded towards a locked door behind them. “That’s where we were heading. It’s a secret way out of the Imperial City.”

“Then how did the assassins get in?” Eriama heard herself say.

Baurus then scowled.

“It was supposed to be secret anyway,” he added sourly, before reaching out to hand Eriama an old, rusty looking key. Eriama was a little shocked that he would hand it to her and not Laura, who was sitting behind them with a disapproving look on her face.

“You’ll need this key for the last door into the sewers,” Baurus said. That was when Laura made a move to the next room, leaving Eriama with Baurus.

“By the way, you saved my neck down there,” Baurus told her. “I take it from your actions that you are a noble knight?”

A knight?

Eriama almost laughed at the idea. She had lived with a criminal family in Cheydinhal for six years. Even though she had never directly taken part in what Estina had done, she wasn’t entirely innocent, either.

Eriama knew that she was far from a noble knight.

“No,” Eriama finally said. “No, I’m far from a knight.”

“Then what did you do?” Baurus asked. “Surely your imprisonment was a mistake?”

Eriama felt herself wince.

“I’m not entirely sure,” was her response.

She turned around and followed Laura without another word, and they both made their way through the remainder of the sewers until they got to a large gate. Laura began to kick the metal gate, until it budged open.

Bright light shone into Eriama’s eyes as she left the sewers, and she took in the sights, sounds and smells around her.

Sunlight. Fresh air. The sounds of birds chirping away, symbolizing a sense of freedom she thought she would never experience again. Not too far from them was an Ayleid ruin. The Ayleid’s had long since disappeared from Cyrodiil, but many of their secrets remained. There was also a forest up ahead, and birds flying in the bright, blue sky.

“It’s beautiful,” Eriama couldn’t help but say, while gasping for breath.

It was a refreshing sight, even from where she was standing; in a puddle of sewer water that had poured out of the escape with them.

“It’s a shame we can’t watch it forever,” she continued, “because we have to go to Chorrol and find out where Jauffre is - ”

Eriama paused, and turned to face Laura, who was already walking towards Lake Rumare.

“Wait! Haynori, where are you going-?”

“Home,” Laura spat.

Eriama couldn’t help but seem stunned by this pronouncement. They had been freed. By some divine miracle, they had been freed. And this woman decided to throw away that for…what cause?

Eriama ran towards Laura, grabbing her arm. Laura tore her arm away from Eriama’s grasp and threw Eriama a disdainful look.

“But, Haynori...the Emperor wanted us to -”

“Oh, fuck off, woman,” Laura snarled.

At this, Eriama’s expression twisted to show her annoyance. She had no idea what to say in response, so she just said the first thing that came to mind.

“The Emperor made a request to us right before he was murdered,” Eriama began, slowly. “Ignoring the Emperor part, are you really going to disrespect the wishes of a dying man?”

“Ignoring the Emperor part, who was he to me, really?” Laura countered angrily. “Yes, he may have given me my freedom, but I never asked to be dragged into a political crisis!”

“Haynori –“

“Look, do what you want, but this isn’t my problem,” Laura stated. “And if there’s one thing I’ve learned, if something isn’t my problem, then I shouldn’t involve myself. Because that’s how I got myself locked up in the Imperial Prison.”

And with that, Laura stalked away before Eriama could say another word, leaving her standing there in front of the sewer gate.

Eriama was now alone, with nothing.

Prologue

5th of Rain’s Hand, 3E 429

“Ow!”

All I could feel was excurciating pain from Serethi tearing the knots out of my hair. I felt as if my entire scalp would be torn away from my head. Serethi sighed.

“Keep still, Ulina,” she snapped, before proceeding to pull the brush through my hair again. I turned to Eriama, who was sitting across from us in a comfortable looking chair, seemingly bored with her enviroment. She kept fidgetting in ways that normally irritated Serethi. I was waiting any moment for her to just blow up.

“Eriama, stop that now,” Serethi snarled. “I know you are angry because I said you couldn’t go out and play this Loredas, but until you learn to stop disrespecting me, you won’t.”

Eriama said nothing, and my eyes darted towards the scars on Serethi’s arms. They were starting to fade, but I could still see them in the light.

“Serethi?”

“Yes, Ulina?”

“Did you hurt yourself?” I nodded towards the scars on her arms.

Serethi blanched.

“Of course I did,” she said.

“But how?”

“Never you mind,” she said quickly in response. I decided I wasn’t going to get very far when speaking to Serethi, as she never wanted to talk about herself. Or anything at all, really.

My thoughts were suddenly interrupted when I heard the front door open. My father entered the room, and then frowned slightly.

“Ulina’s hair is getting everywhere,” he told Serethi as a way of greeting. I tried not to scowl. That was just another reminder of how much I hated having the bushy, red hair that I did. How come everyone else in my family was lucky to have dark, straight hair but I had this? It made no sense.

Serethi scoffed in response.

“You can brush her hair instead, if you prefer, Sera I-Never-Know-How-To-Do-Anything,” she told him scathingly. “And while you’re at it, convince her she needs to have her hair brushed everyday. You know what she’s like.”

Serethi was about to begin the process of braiding my hair now as well, and at that time I was fed up. I hated having my hair braided. Serethi’s braids always felt like heavy weights pulling my hair down.

“I hate my hair,” I suddenly declared. At that point, Eriama, who had been pretending to read a book for the past few minutes, looked up in surprise.

My father chuckled.

“Ulina, you are only ten years old,” he said. “You are too young to hate anything.”

“But I do!” I insisted. “It’s red and curly and a mess. Why can’t it be more like yours or Eri’s or -”

My father then suddenly burst out laughing. I heard Serethi sigh. I turned to Eriama, who was watching the scene with interest.

“I think you got your hair from your mother’s side of the family,” he remarked.

I saw Eriama scowl.

“Father, you said our mother looked like me,” she suddenly spoke, after being silent for most of the time. Father nodded.

“Yes, Eri, she did,” he told her, before turning back to me. “But, Ulina...I never said you looked like your mother...although you do, in a way. I said you took after her side of the family.”

“Enough, Dranen,” Serethi snapped, using a dark tone I had never heard from her before. She turned to me. “Ulina, I’ve finished with your hair now. Eriama, come here please.”

The sounds from outside the window suddenly caused me to remember where I was. Solstheim, not Cyrodiil. I was no longer a child. My family was a family no longer. And my hair was in the worst state it had ever been in. I suddenly became painfully aware of my surroundings; I was in a small, cramped room in an old fort, trying to sleep on an old, tattered bedroll. Outside, I heard the sounds of now happy soldiers cheering, after many miserable sober months. I didn’t entirely blame them. They had been surrounded by no one except themselves, and the prisoners. And considering most of the prisoners were murderers, rapists and traitors, they didn’t make for the best company.

Yes, on my first day on this isolated island, I had apparently turned Fort Frostmoth into the opposite of what it was. Nuncius didn’t really like others having fun, you see. Good thing he ended up getting his comeuppance in the end.

Somehow, I had found myself here on this island as well, mostly with the hope that no one and nothing would find me and bother me ever again. I felt like a failure and as if I had been cheated. Somehow, deep down, I knew it was foolish to hope for such a thing, but I felt I owed it to myself and everyone else to try.