Prologue:

Emperor Titus Mede II sat at his smooth oak desk writing a letter to the Elder Council which was to be sent by bird in the morning. The Katariah slowly swayed in the port outside of Solitude as the candle on the royal desk flickered ever so slightly as it burned to the last of its wick. He heard complete silence, not the bodies dropping, not even the solid oak door opening, until it was too late. The assassin was shrouded in armor as dark as the Void itself. The dark specter only stood in front of the door in silence.

The Emperor asked "who are you?" and yet no response came from the hooded figure. After a moment he realized something and then he continued to speak "you and I both have our own destiny, it just so happens my journey ends here."

Titus seemed content with his lot in life and asked only one thing of the man who was about to end his life, "will you do me one favor? Kill whoever has assigned you this contract."

The old Ruler of Cyrodiil and all of her subjects did not expect an answer in return, so he stood from his desk, straightened his regal robes of gold and silver. Then with an enlightened heart he slowly walked over to the only open window in his private quarters and stood waiting for the inevitable. "Get it over with" was all he said.

Emperor Titus Mede, the second of his name, looked out over the Sea of Ghosts and felt a chill breeze cut through him like a dagger made of lifeless steel. He gazed up to the heavens admiringly, and for that brief moment before one's life ends, he recognized the beauty and order of the stars.

Chapter 1: 11th of Evening Star 4E 201

The sun had just begun to rise over the mountains when the massive arch that supported the city of Solitude came into view. The Blue Palace sat atop this high arch and over looked the Sea of Ghosts and the port of Solitude. The Blue Palace was home to Jarl Elisif the Fair, rightful High Queen of Skyrim. The captain of the Imperial warship, The Dawn Walker, informed Roylat Victinus, Commander of the Penitus Oculatus and Head of the Imperial City Security Bureau, that they were approaching the dock. Roylat walked out of his room on to the deck of the enormous warship to see a beautiful blonde haired woman and two Imperial Legion soldiers waiting for him on the docks. The Dawn Walkerslowly pulled into the port and dock in the largest spot available, its massive sails embroidered with the seal of the Empire.

When Roylat finally disembarked the ship, the woman was the first to speak. She spoke with a sweet accent that reminded him of summer back home in Cyrodiil. "Welcome Commander, my name is Lieutenant Daphne Ilse with the Imperial Legion. I presume you had a pleasant voyage from the Heartland?"

"17 days on a boat is not my idea of pleasant, but it was the fastest way for me to get here." Roylat's voice was distant and void of emotion. He realized this by the almost hurt look in Daphne's blue eyes, she would not have revealed this fact, for her training had taught her to show no weakness or emotion and a lesser man would have never noticed, but it was one of Roylat's many duties, as Commander of the former emperors' personal guard, to notice these subtleties. He did not want to offend her so he evened out his voice and politely said, "However it could have been worse, thank you for your hospitality and arrangements."

She smiled softly and replied, "If you would please follow me, General Tullius wants to speak with you at your earliest convenience."

"If you would show me to him, I would like to find out what exactly the situation is, in person."

"Of course, and we shall have your armor and additional belongings brought up to your room in Castle Dour." With the pleasantries exchanged she turns around and begins to walk up the stairs with the two guards following her and Roylat not far behind. He watched her closely studying her girlish figure in a green and gold dress with a brown corset; he guessed she couldn't be any older than 17 or 18. How she had reached the rank of lieutenant this young was beyond his imagination.

They continued up a wooden staircase and onto a cobblestone walkway that leads up to the only gate into Solitude was flanked on either side by guards of the city. Daphne noticed Roylat's intrigued look and elaborated on the heightened security around the gates. She said, "since the emperor's death we have increased the number of guards on duty, which has caused rumors to arise..." she lowered her voice, leaned in close, and in a hushed tone she continued "some citizens even think the emperor was assassinated just like his cousin, Vittoria Vici. Also, your arrival here has given a few locals even more suspicion."

Good, General Tullius was keeping this situation under wraps until we catch the killer. Not even his lieutenants knew of the murder. To put Daphne's fears to rest Roylat explained, "After the death of any ruler there will always be rumors of how he "really" dies, conspiracies will run rampant. No man wants to believe the simplest answer is the correct one, however it normally is." She seemed content with that answer. "As for me being here, I am only here in an advisor role to General Tullius, to help bring a swift end to this Stormcloack Rebellion." This answer put a different look on her face, she did not completely buy that part of the story but she knew not to push the subject any farther.

Without another word on the matter the four imperials walked into the massive doors of the capital of Skyrim. To the right of the entrance sat the execution platform, with an old beggar in fur asking for a spare coin or two. However, no one paid him any attention.

Daphne gestured to here left at a sign that read "The Winking Skeever", "That's where you can grab a pint of mead if you want to relax a bit." She had also pointed out a few stores along the way. As we reached the sloping roadway that leads up to Castle Dour, the two guards that had been following Daphne's lead since he arrived at the docks, separated from the two officers and went to patrol, or look for women. Roylat could only guess.

The ring of a blacksmiths hammer bending metal blended with the sound of imperial troops releasing their arrows at targets as they approached a plain looking door. The two troops guarding the door both saluted as Daphne and Roylat opened the door. They proceeded into the war room which was down a short entrance hall.

General Tullius and his two legates were hovering over what appeared to be a map with flags marking troop positions. The old man glanced up and saw the two enter. He walked over and offered his hand to Roylat. They embraced and Tullius exclaimed, "It has been far too long my good friend" Roylat jested with him saying "This cold weather has made you older than the last time we met, I didn't think it possible!" With smiles on both their faces they decided it was time to discuss business.

The General thanked Daphne for accompanying Roylat and asked her to go see to his things being brought up. She nodded her head and began to turn away but Roylat grabbed her hand and gently kissed it and said "I hope you could show me around a little more and maybe get a drink sometime." Daphne blushingly accepted his request. "I would love to but I am very busy today, maybe another day." With that the captain grinned. He released the lieutenants' hand and watched her walk out.

"I regret not being able to attend the funeral, these damned Stormcloak rebels have been a thorn in my side for a while now. I hope you told Jade and Titus III, how sorry I am for their lose."

"I did. It was a sad day, even the Divines wept for him it seemed. Titus III is said to be taking the throne soon. I must find who did this quickly and bring this assassin to justice by the point of my blade." Roylat had started pacing back and forth in his frustration.

"General, we have nothing to go on so far do we?"

"Only the black mountain rose from the northern parts of Skyrim. It was found on the emperor's body after he was killed."

"Something tells me that will be how we find him, but how is the question." After a long pause, "may I have the flower? I am going to ask around to see if anyone has a clue of what or who I am looking for."

Tullius stood up and began to walk to his personal quarters and later returned with the black rose in hand. "Here, it will hopefully be of more use to you." Roylat took the rose and put it into a small leather pouch on his side.
"Leave it to me; it is my mistake that I must make right."

Tullius understood "I have complete faith that you will catch this murderous bastard."

"I will and I have had a long trip and I am tired, I think I will retire to my room if you don't mind." Roylat thought for a moment. "If you see Lieutenant Ilse again please send her to me. I think her knowledge of the locals will help me tremendously."

Roylat turned and walked up the stairs that Daphne told him to follow to find his room. One door was slightly ajar. He looked in and saw his belongings and walked into the room, when he was settled in he noticed a bowl of warm water in front of a silver mirror.

He approached the mirror and what he saw in the mirror he almost couldn't recognize. Roylat's dark brown hair had lengthened to the point that he started to flip it up in the front, much longer than he would normally allowed it to grow, his clean shaven face had given way to some stubble, and when the mirror reflected his eyes he saw the dark circles that have begun to form under his green eyes. He looked much older than the 22 years old that he really was.

In almost loathing Roylat walked away from the mirror and began rummaging through his belongings. He had decided that he must get some rest, the feeling that it was going to be a long night had slowly grown stronger throughout the day. After a few minutes of looking he found the purple vile that he had requested the High Mage back in the Imperial City to make. He uncorked it and downed all the liquid in the vile. It had no taste and it only took a few seconds for the potion to work. The room began to sway and spin, the lights began to dance, the colors in the room began to brighten and dim, and then he looked to the bed. All he wanted to do was surrender to the sweet embrace of sleep and that is exactly what he did.

End Chapter 1