#ereval

"Come in," Ulennus called when she heard Lona's footsteps approaching her study and being followed by an unfamiliar set. She must be bringing a visitor.

When the door opened, her eyes lit up. She recognized the mer her Housekeeper had in tow: he was the agent who had been shipped over from the Imperial City last month. What an incredible boon—and incredible danger—to have a person she had been spying on walk right into her home.

"Lord Hlethi," Lona said in Cyrodilic, "may I present to you Ereval Bralen, Lawman of the Great House Hlaalu. He comes to ask for your support for his adoption into House Hlaalu as a full member."

"Ah, thank you, Lona. Please shut the door on your way out." And stay armed just outside, she did not need to say.

Then she turned her smile on the youth in front of her. He was short and lanky, wearing a pack so big it looked like it should tip him over, and he carried himself with more confidence than was probably earned. She motioned for him to sit across from her.

"I was hoping you'd stop by," she said. "It's good to finally meet you, Ereval. I have heard so much about you."

If this frightened him, he made no indication. Good actor, perhaps? Or had he not even done his research?

"The pleasure is mine, Lord Hlethi," he replied with an easy smile.

"So you wish to be adopted into the Great House Hlaalu? I must say, I am honored that you would ask me to sponsor you." Caius sent him, most likely. "Allow me to collect the paperwork."

If he were here to assassinate her, now would be the perfect time to do it. Ulennus kept her attention on all of her detection effects even as she turned away to reach for the papers. Though his eyes followed her, he made no move for a weapon nor spell—must be a longer-term information-gathering endeavor, then. That was for the best—she'd hate to have to kill him so soon—but of course it also meant she would need to keep her guard up at all times around him. Unfortunate, but relatively routine.

She turned back with the papers, signed her portion and passed them across the table.

"I have been all over Tamriel, and nowhere have I found any business as cutthroat as Dunmeri House politics. Whatever you have seen on the Imperial City streets, it is nothing compared to what you are getting into. And make no mistake: you are no safer from your fellow Hlaalu than you are from the rival Houses. If you are to make this your life, Ereval, you will need allies. That is what this agreement is: your first alliance. I am a valuable ally for a young Hlaalu, if I may say so myself, but there is something you need to know, and I'd prefer that you learn it the easy way: you can only trust me as far as I can trust you." She scanned his face for any discomfort, but his easy smile never faltered. That would be good if he were a typical applicant, but she preferred the targets of her spying to be a little more open—but she was sure her web would manage regardless. "If that sounds satisfactory to you, then sign and House Hlaalu will welcome its new kinsman."

He signed the papers without much more than a glance at their contents.

As he was passing them back, Ulennus nodded in the direction of his bag. "That's quite a hefty pack. Where's Caius got you off to this time?"

Ereval's head tilted slightly, in cautiously feigned confusion. "Caius, my lord?"

"Cosades. Your employer." She held his gaze for longer than she hoped was comfortable, though she let no malice show. "You must have assumed I would look into you before adopting you into my House."

"Of course," he smiled as if through a mouthful of undercooked bittergreen. "Are you a friend of Caius's, then?"

So Caius hadn't even told him about her, much less sent him to spy on her? Now that was interesting. He could turn out to be an open book if she could convince him that they were allies.

"We go way back."

"I see. Well, I'm sure you can understand that due to the sensitive nature of my assignment..."

"I understand completely," she assured him. "I only thought I might offer some advice if I had any."

The mer's ears all but perked up. Wherever he was going, it must not be pleasant. He still hesitated, but eventually his curiosity won out.

"He wants me to clear out a cave on the Bitter Coast."

"Smugglers?" she asked just before it occurred to her. "Sleepers."

"Enough to wipe out the last unit of Legionnaires who tried."

She sat back in her seat, arms folded in contemplation. "Have you done something to upset His Majesty?"

Ereval chuckled bitterly. "I've asked myself the same thing, but Caius promoted me before he sent me off. I think it's that if I die, I'm not the one they were looking for anyway."

So it was a matter of prophecy, then. That made enough sense; why else would the Blades hire some nobody out of prison and send him to a different province? She would need to review her sources, but she had a pretty good idea which one, and it was not necessarily good for the people of Morrowind—at least not if the Emperor was getting involved. Perhaps he could be nudged off the path...

"So he's sending you to your death, unless you happen to be, what? Favored by the gods?" Ulennus asked. "Are you comfortable with that, going on a suicide mission just because your employer told you to?"

"It...is not my place to question the Emperor's will," he said, letting his eyes drift downward.

"Of course not," she accepted with a smile. The seed was planted. "I'll hold off on giving you any assignments until you've returned safe and sound. Fight well."

He took the cue and turned to leave. Ulennus caught Lona's eye through the doorway and gave her a look that said, "Come back when you've seen him off." Once alone, she slipped into the hidden chamber where she kept her most sensitive intelligence and dug out the folder on prophecy. There was really only one thing it could possibly be, especially given the whispers floating around lately, but she had to be sure.

The environmental circumstances were certainly right for it, but everyone knew that. The information had gaps, but what she did have mapped on well enough. Orphan, foreigner, and she would need to find out his sign, but she had her suspicions. There were a few mentions of cursed flesh that could even explain why Caius was testing him by sending him into a Sleepers' den. She snapped the file shut and brought it back into her office just in time to see Lona returning and closing the door behind her.

"Damn Uriel," Ulennus hissed, sliding the file across the desk to her assistant and falling into her seat. "Memorize that, and find me anything else you can on it."

Lona picked the documents up and began to leaf through them. "The Nerevarine...what does the Empire want with an Ashlander prophecy, and a Daedric one at that?"

"According to Ashlander theology, Azura is the enemy of the Tribunal. And as long as the Tribunal are in power, we have the right to self-govern."

Lona put it together from there. "He wants to remove our last bastion of defense against total Imperial control."

"And he's using that poor fetcher to do it."

Lona knew when to let Ulennus think, and so the two of them sat in contemplative silence for a few moments longer. If they were lucky, the problem would solve itself in that cave. If not, Ulennus would need to instruct her web double the effort they were putting into keeping tabs on him; she might still be able to nudge him off his course. If all that failed, though, she would need to seriously consider grimmer options, which would be a pity. That young mer could have a bright future in House Hlaalu, if he ever had the chance. She sighed. As unfortunate as it was, it was best to lay the plans now.

Ulennus Hlethi, Agent of the Blades, Hlaalu Councilor, Hero of Kvatch, and Sheogorath

Ereval Bralen, Nerevarine