The Dragon of Solitude

1

Emperor Titus Mede sighed at his desk. The dim candle light illuminated the notes before him. All of the papers contained dour news, guard reports the guards had decided were important enough to warrant his attention, and one small, hastily scribbled note. Just one word.

Morndas, it wrote. Black ink, and wrinkled from being crumpled, most likely from someone's pocket. Most certainly not a piece of parchment to just be sitting on the Emperor of Cyrodiil's desk. And yet it did. Just one simple word, and et it held all of the meaning to Titus.

There was a knock on his door, three in quick yet firm succession. Before the Emperor even had a chance to muster a "come in", the door opened, and a young imperial Oculatus agent entered. Or, it looked that way to anyone but the emperor.

He could easily tell the armor was made for a larger man than the one standing before him, meant for someone else. Add to the fact that each Oculatus guard was hand-picked by Titus, and he definitely did not pick this imperial. Or rather, the imperial refused to be chosen. "Who's armor did you take, Caius?" THE emperor asked. He folded his hands on his desk as he waited for a reply.

The younger imperial said nothing as he closed the door, locked it, and waited for a few moments. Once he was satisfied, he turned his blue-eyed gaze to the emperor. "I'm afraid that is a need to know basis." He said simply.

"I think if one of my personal guards had a his armor stolen, and the thief walks into my office, I should be included in this 'need to know' basis, don't you think?" Titus cleared his throat. "Besides, I can already guess who it is."

The younger man shifted his weight slightly. "You could just tell them that I'm a more important agent than they are, and should be allowed access without all these 'tresspassing', and 'possible assassination attempt ' ideas in their heads."

"They're doing their jobs, Caius."

"They're doing it poorly."

Titus sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose between his eyes. Caius was definitely an overgrown child at times, and yet Titus couldn't imagine anyone else for the task at hand. "I'm sure you've heard about things escalating in Skyrim," he changed the subject.

"Civil war, possible secession from the empire, what's not to love? "

And now the good part, Titus mused silently. He put his hands together before him, crossing his fingers over his knuckles. "Elenwyn is there now." The younger imperial pursed his lips into a thin lime, for once without a quirky remark. The emperor continued. "It's under the head of overseeing the talos worship ends, but I think she intends on fanning the flames even more."

Caius began to pace. "She's almost as bad as your wife."

"Caius…"

"I know, I know. If she has her fingers wrapped up in Skyrim politics, the Empire will crumble." He stopped pacing, face grim. "We're at the brink of another war with the Dominion."

Titus nodded, mirroring the other man's expression. "She wishes to divide us."

"Titus, I'm not a soldier. I'm a thief."

"I know. I have enough soldiers in Skyrim right now. I need you, someone I trust."

"You need someone immune to political tie down." He let out a low, almost feral sigh. "Alright, I'll go along with whatever plan you have, but this doesn't change anything between us, Emperor."

Titus smiled. It was, truthfully, the best result he could ever hope to get with the man. It was little more than a small miracle to get him to go along with plans. And in these dark times, Titus feared, they would need all the miracles they could get. "Thank you, Caius."

"Don't spoil it, old man."


Caius opened the doors to a small tavern in the Waterfront district. A musty, smoky smell assaulted his nostrils as he walked through the threshold. He wrinkled his nose. By now, he had changed into simple leather armor, dyed black, with a pair of swords on his waist. The Oculatus armor would only draw the worst kind of attention in this place. Besides, he had returned that armor, begrudgingly, because of the emperor.

He walked up to the orc bartender. "Gazra, I need something strong."

The orc looked him over with an amused look. She smirked. "Big job coming up, Caius.?" She asked as she handed him a drink. Caius looked over his shoulder to watch the other patrons; an old redguard with one eye with a rather feral looking bosmer, two female khajiit twins murmuring quietly to each other, and a rather incapacitated dunmer who had already fallen out of his chair. He nodded to himself. The usuals.

"Something like that." He took a long drink. "What do you know of Skyrim?"

Gazra snorted as she wiped down a mug with an old rag. "You're kidding, right?" at the imperial's neutral expression, she sighed. "Cold, war, and filled with a people who are the embodiment of bar drunks."

"That seems to be the general consensus." Caius agreed grimly.

"Have to say," she said, leaning on the bar counter in front of him baring her tusks in a grin. "Didn't think you were one to take a job over in big bad Skyrim. Always figured you to be a…noble thief. Take from the rich and snobby. Not steal from drunks."

The imperial chuckled at that. "I owe someone a favor, unfortunately. "

"Find someone's long lost lover that went to war? Take revenge on some cowardly bandit that stole a treasured heirloom? C'mon, you can tell your pal Gaz."

"Oh, you know, steal important documents from Thalmor diplomats to prove they're trying to start another war."

It took the orc several long ,omens to determine whether or not Caius was telling the truth. "Never knew you to be that suicidal, Caius."

Caius laughed. "You know me," he shook his head. "Danger finds me whether I like it or not."

Gazra only smiled and shook her head. "And when are you leaving for this heist?"

"Tomorrow, actually. "

"Aww, came to say goodbye to me and the gang, then? You're so sentimental. "

"There will never be another bar to replace this one up there," Caius promised. He sighed. "What did I owe you for the drink?"

"Consider it my going away present, and to remind you what you're missing so you get back here quickly. " Caius could only smile at that.


A/N: HI everyone! Finally got around to posting one of my fics. Just a warning, there are many things I disagreed with in Skyrim, so I took the liberty to...alter...things, some of them very obvious, and several of them are from my own mind, and the inspiration of a few mods. When I get to the changes based off a mod, I will put credit in my notes. :3