In the depths of the grotty, dark Imperial dungeons, a half-asleep young woman jolted upright as a rat ran down the length of her spine. Jumping to her feet in horror and fright, the young woman stumbled back against the wall in regret at her quick movement. Pain wracked through her skull, and she felt as though she had been smacked up the head with the hilt of her Blade of Woe. It was with a grimace that she remembered, correctly, that it had been used to knock her out when she refused to cooperate.
She'd been sent to the Imperial Palace on contract; simply a minor contract, get in and get out. It should have taken her half a day at most; her target was only a minor member of the elder council, responsible for organising the shifts of the palace guards, and his quarters had been fairly close to the entrance. Yet somehow, fate had chosen a Blade to patrol the corridor at the exact moment she left the room, her mark dead, and Lauraine Bellamont had been captured, interrogated and thrown in the dungeons.
Lauraine wasn't even entirely sure why the contract had been given to her; the job was suitable for a recruit of Murderer rank, and she was Assassin. And she knew the Brotherhood's viewpoint on those who get caught; she was on her own until she was at the very least halfway to Cheydinhal.
With a sigh that echoed round the small cell, she slowly made her way to the door and gave it a quick shake, as she had done the day before. She wasn't sure how long she had been unconscious in the cell, and then asleep, but she would not put it at any longer than a week. The Dark Brotherhood were probably still hoping that she had not been captured.
"Pale skin, and still wearing that snotty expression. I'm telling you, you're definitely a Breton." Lauraine's movements had attracted the attention of the dark elf in the cell opposite, and as his eyes moved up and over her body she began to feel uncomfortable in the prison cell and the ratty clothing she had been given. With a sigh she took a step back.
"I keep telling you that I am a Breton. I'm not sure why you feel the need to keep informing me of something I already know." Venom laced through her voice, the blank coldness a skill she had learned from many a day trying to perfect her impression of Vicente when he was angry at a subordinate. But the elf would not be dissuaded: as the doors to the dungeon opened above them, the elf continued speaking.
"You're not leaving this prison until they throw your body in the lake! But oh they'll have fun with you; all pale skin and bright eyes, the guards fight over the little ones, you know. You're going to die!" He sounded almost gleeful, a fact that disturbed her more than it should have. The unlocking of the door down the prison hallway was done in such a rush that they both heard it down the steps, and for a moment both elf and woman were silent as they heard hurried footsteps.
"You hear that, Breton? That's the guards, they're coming for you now and you're going to die." His voice lowered as the footsteps came closer, but Lauraine had already tuned the arrogant bastard out.
Four figures came into view, lit up by a torch that burned so brightly her eyes briefly watered. She recognised three of them as Blades; that cuirass was one she wasn't soon to forget after being sorely beaten and handed over to an Imperial Guard. But in the centre of them, unarmoured, stood an older man with too-tired eyes dressed in brilliant purple and gold. Lauraine whistled lowly through her teeth.
"The Emperor, in the Imperial Prison?" Her words were overheard by the female Blade leading the group, and she sneered down at Lauraine in distaste. Lauraine winced: it was the same woman who had knocked her out.
"What is this prisoner doing here? I left orders that this cell was to remain unoccupied!" Her shout, more akin to a bark, caused the other two Blades to flinch slightly in surprise. The elder of the other two, and perhaps older than the woman, stepped forward and peered into the cell. Lauraine stared at him.
"Erm, must have been a mix up with the watch, I ordered them to keep it empty, and-"
"Oh never mind you fool. You, prisoner, get out of the way of the doors." At the words Lauraine took a hasty step back towards the window, and warily eyed the katana that was strapped to the woman's armour.
The woman, she realised now she must be the captain, walked past Lauraine without as much as a glance in her direction. Behind her came the Emperor; he glanced at her briefly before he did a double take, and stared at her face so intently that she froze where she stood.
"I've seen you before… Let me see your face." It was a command that would have resulted in a bitter retort from Lauraine had she been able to find the words to speak, but she was distracted by the icy blue of his eyes and the shocking realisation that she had seen them before. They glinted even in the darkness of the dungeon, and Lauraine wondered how she had ever forgotten that startling colour.
"The stars were right, then, and today is the day. Gods give me strength. You look almost the same as you did then, all those years ago." He was both focused on her and distracted, lost in a memory that she could almost see in her own mind. If she rifled through the borrowed memories, she could see the flickering of a fire, the cry of an unknown baby boy as he was handed back to his worried father.
"Why are you here?" She blurted the words out in such a blunt manner that she knew her parents, if they ever knew about this, would tut at her in horror. Lauraine locked eyes with those icy blue ones, and saw in his face the characteristics she identified with another man. The pit of uneasiness in her stomach started to grow.
"Assassins attacked my sons, and I am next. My Blades are leading me out of the Palace via an escape route that, by chance, passes through your cell." His words pulled her from her thoughts, and Lauraine stared in surprise as she noticed that the wall behind him had disappeared, replaced with a long and eerie looking tunnel. "You should come with us, for your part in this begins anew." The Emperor nodded at the Blade closest to him, who only nodded in acquiescence.
"Ah, prisoner, it looks like today is your lucky day. Stay out of our way, or we'll run you through." The youngest Blade spoke to her with a dry layer of humour, and she had to smile at his attempt to lighten the mood.
Once they moved into the tunnel, Lauraine debated only for a moment before deciding to go with them. Childishly, she waved cheerily to the scowling Dunmer before she practically skipped into the tunnel.
She followed them quietly, always behind them a few steps as their heavy footsteps drowned out her low, quiet ones. She wanted to remain hidden behind them; if assassins caught up to them (and she knew they were not Dark Brotherhood assassins, she would have heard of the contract) she did not trust them not to use her as cannon fodder whilst they protected the emperor.
As they opened into the first chamber, dark but lit faintly by the glow of what she suspected were Welkynd stones, she registered the almost-silent sound of a blade being unsheathed. Looking up, Lauraine spotted three men stepping out from the shadows in blood-red robes. They summoned Daedric armour to protect their bodies, and stepped into the light. Focused as she was on them, she didn't realise she was nearing the emperor until she walked into him.
"Protect yourself." Was all he said to her as he drew his own blade and immediately shoved it into the abdomen of the assassin nearest to him. He was agile for his age, but as he spun around his eyes widened and Lauraine very nearly missed the warning in his focused eyes. She ducked and spun, aiming a well-packed punch into the groin of the unseen fourth assassin behind her. He fell to his knees in pain, and Lauraine took the opportunity to take his dagger and run it swiftly across his throat. Blood sprayed over her legs and arms, and even reached the now-dead body of the Blade Captain.
It was only as the adrenaline took over that she realised the fighting had stopped, and the rushing of her blood in her ears was making her eager to keep going, to keep fighting. The young Blade gave one look to the body of his captain and then turned to the emperor.
"Come on sire, we need to keep moving." His tone was mournful, but his stance resolute.
"Captain Renault?"
"Dead, sire. I'm sorry, sir, but we have to keep moving." Lauraine watched the scene in silence, unsure what to do. The other Blade, now the one in charge, glanced at her.
"You handled yourself pretty well back there." He gave her the ghost of a smile, before his face set in a scowl. "But that doesn't mean I trust you."
"I don't blame you."
He rolled his eyes at her before he turned to open the locked door. Searching through the darkness, he seemed to be satisfied with the lack of movement and motioned for the Emperor and the other Blade to pass through. With a frown, he turned to Lauraine.
"Stay put, prisoner. You cannot follow us here." He slammed the door shut and locked it before Lauraine could even blink. With a useless slam of her fist on the door she cursed, wishing to all the Gods that she could just have been able to hide a lockpick.
Lauraine cursed loudly into the darkness, and glared down at the sore cut raging down the inside of her right arm. Her legs were aching as though she'd ran the length of the Imperial City, and her breath was coming in such ragged gasps that she was surprised she hadn't woken the dead. She had stupidly entered the caverns plainly, and unaware, without any concealment charms, and had not realised the goblin shaman was near her until she'd been attacked with a sharp staff. One quick slash, and the skin on her arm was pulled apart.
Lauraine could see a hole in the crumbling walls ahead; bright light was bursting through and she knew she'd finally come back into the Ayleid subterrane. Sitting on the ledge with her legs dangling, she ripped the bottom off the leg of her prison trousers and tied it as tightly as she could around the wound. Knowing she would need a healing potion the moment she reached civilisation, she became eager to leave the rat-infested place. As Lauraine carefully jumped down into the ruin, she heard a snippet of conversation between the Emperor and his guards.
"We should stay here and wait for help."
"Help?! What makes you think help will come before more of those bastards?!" The second voice was that of the younger Blade, and Lauraine had to whistle through her teeth in admiration. That drew attention to her, and the older Blade unsheathed his sword and came towards her.
"Kill her, she might be working with the assassins." At his words she stepped backwards, out of his reach, and shook her head.
"No no no. Wrong guild, red isn't really my colour." The other Blade choked down a laugh, and the emperor intervened as the Blade moved closer.
"Glenroy, no. She is not working with them. We can trust her." The blade was sheathed. Lauraine eyed Glenroy warily. "Come closer, my dear. I would prefer not to have to shout." The Emperor's order was kindly enough, and she dodged around Glenroy to go closer.
"Why do you trust me?" She had no wish to look a gift-horse in the mouth, but at the same time she was an assassin; she could in all theory take the opportunity now and bring glory to the Brotherhood.
"How can I explain? You know the Nine, how they guide us and protect us? Guide our fates with an invisible hand?" He was desperate for her to understand, but Lauraine could not. The Nine had never been a part of her life, not really.
"You no doubt know who I serve." It was an honest answer, though her voice was quiet. The emperor nodded, but she saw out of the corner of her eye the younger Blade glance at her in curiosity.
"I remember. I have served the Nine all of my life. I know every sign, and I wonder, which marked your birth?"
"The shadow." The realm of my lady. Her answer was truthful, but brought memories of a seductive voice that moved like velvet through her mind in a way that was so undeniably daedric.
"Of course. The signs I read show the end of my path. My death, a necessary end, will come." He confided in her, but his voice was slightly shaken beneath the strong face of royalty and stubbornness.
"What about me?" She was afraid to ask; if he was going to die, what about her? She had anticipated a task for most of her adult life: now that it was here, she felt adrift.
"The Shadow will hide you from Destiny's cunning hounds. But my dreams grant me no opinions of success; their compass ventures not beyond the doors of the death. But in your face, I behold the sun's companion. The dawn of Akatosh's bright glory may banish the coming darkness, and with such hope and the promise of your aid, my heart is satisfied." As he spoke Lauraine observed him; he was wiser than any man she had met before, and although he knew he was a dead man walking, he did not allow it to darken the brightness in his eyes.
"Aren't you afraid of death?" A question she had no right to ask, as an agent of death herself, but she was curious how he could seem so fearless.
"No trophies of my triumphs precede me, but I have lived well. Men know their doom, but not the hour. In this I am blessed to see it." Lauraine fell silent at his words; she had no other questions to ask, no way of knowing the correct way to answer that. She merely nodded her head and peered over at the younger Blade.
He handed her a torch.
"May as well make yourself useful. My name is Baurus."
"My thanks." Lauraine muttered as she took the torch. She had to squint at the brightness. Baurus gave her a wry smile, and lightly pushed her forwards so that she lit the path ahead. As her torch swung light onto all the corners of the following room, five more assassins left the safety of the shadows to fight.
This time the Blades were far more prepared than they had been, and the fight did not last long. Lauraine managed to throw a dagger from one assassin's belt into the chest of another, creating enough distraction for Baurus to finish him off. Aside from this, however, she stuck to the emperor and kept her few arrows in their quiver.
She accompanied Glenroy into the next room, the light showing their way, and watched him move towards a mesh metal door that she knew on sight alone was locked. Glenroy confirmed it with a curse.
"Damn it! A trap!"
"What about this passage here?" Baurus' voice reached them from where he stood glancing into the passage, one hand carefully wrapped around the emperor's upper arm. Lauraine walked towards him with the light, accidentally revealing the assassins cloaked against the far wall. Baurus sprang into action, grabbing both her and the Emperor and all but shoving them into the passage.
"Stay here with the emperor; guard him with your life!" Lauraine had no time to give him an answer; the emperor grabbed her wrist and pulled her into the room beyond the passage. He immediately started to fiddle with the clasp of the necklace he wore, fumbling until he handed her the glittering jewel that was the Amulet of Kings.
"I can go no further. You alone must stand against the Prince of Destruction and his mortal servants. He must not have the amulet! Take it to Jauffre; he alone knows where to find my final son. Find him, and close shut the jaws of Oblivion."
When she looked back on it, Lauraine knew that everything had happened too quickly for her do anything about it. The words had hardly left the emperor's mouth before the stone behind him was pushed aside, and the emperor was cut down in a single strike. Lauraine was pushed to the ground by his falling body, and the assassin turned his gaze on her. She scuffled back towards the corner, reaching for an arrow, anything. Just as she was about to be run through, the tip of an Akaviri Katana burst through the front of the assassin's chest. It was removed just as quickly, and the assassin fell to the floor in a heap as Baurus rushed to the emperor's body.
"No… We failed. I've failed. The Blades are sworn to protect the emperor and now he and all his heirs are dead." The sadness in his voice hit Lauraine like a wave of heat; heavy and overpowering. She wanted to grieve for him.
"No. There's another heir. He gave me the Amulet of Kings and told me to give it to Jauffre. Listen, Baurus, you need to keep an eye on who moves in the Palace. I wasn't in that cell by chance; well, that particular cell I was, but listen to me. I'm the assassin who was sent to kill Councillor Arryth. I don't know who commissioned the contract, but I kill the man who control the guard schedules and then this happens? I suspect a rat." Lauraine gave him a heavy look, one that Baurus understood. He stood up straight and handed her a key from his small pack.
"The emperor trusted you; it seems I have no choice but to either. About the heir; nothing I ever heard about, but Jauffre would know. He lives in a chapter house at Weynon Priory. He is the Grandmaster of our order. This key will get you through the next part of the sewers. As an assassin, I'm guessing you'll be able to find your way on your own?"
"I should be able to, yes." Baurus nodded to her at her answer, and looked sadly down at the corpse.
"Good. And thank you, for the tip. I'll keep an eye out."
With a nod to each other and small smile on Lauraine's part, she held the key tight in her hands and took off down the passage the assassin had opened up. It took her only fifteen minutes to find her way out, and she could not have slammed the gate to the sewers behind her hard enough.
As she stood in the shade of the sewer grate and waited for her eyes to adjust to the light, Lauraine swallowed gulps of fresh air and let the warmth heat up her skin. It was time.