Jonas cast his eyes fervently around, searching for something that might aid in his escape. His mind was still reeling from the revelation that there had not been an Emperor by the name of Cassynder for a very long while, and he had fought the thoughts of the murdered chancellor, dunmer and xivilai back into a dark corner of his mind where he could forget about them.
Soon, Jonas found what he was looking for. In a cell adjacent to his, he had found the skeleton of a previous occupant. The bone was sturdy, but Jonas knew that it would not withstand too much strenuous use as a weapon. He did feel, however, that given the element of surprise he could knock out a guard or two and thus escape. Where to he did not know.
Jonas crept up the stairs as quietly as he could, wielding the bone like a club. The gaoler was sat at a desk across from the door. He was sat in such a position that he could see each of the three exits clearly. At the moment, however, he was reading a note, his brow furrowed in concern.
Jonas slowly bent down and picked up a small stone from the floor. He lobbed it at the open door across the vestibule. The gaoler looked up suddenly, his eyes narrowed. "Who's there?" Slowly unsheathing his sword, the fat balding man edged toward the door opposite from Jonas.
Jonas crept up behind the man, careful not to let the door creak as he passed through. Then, as Jonas' bare foot scuffed the ground, the gaoler turned his head, and felt his face connect with the bone Jonas carried. The man's skin split and blood ran into his eyes, intermingled with sweat from his furrowed brow. It was perhaps a piece of luck on Jonas' part, because (as he realised much later) had the gaoler not been blinded by that initial impact, he could have easily turned and cut the boy down.
"When I get a hold of you, you bastard, I'll-…" Spurred on by some surge of adrenaline or maybe a temporary madness, Jonas swung the bone again, this time connecting with the man's mouth. He swung again, and again, and again, until he realised that the gaoler was already unconscious. Or dead… a voice I the back of his mind whispered.
Jonas frantically searched through the man's belongings, finding two keys, a few Septims and a love note, scrawled by someone called Raven. Jonas took the keys and the Septims, leaving the man's note. He also took the man's sword, fancying it would better serve him than the bone he held.
Once the sword was fastened securely to his belt, Jonas stood, and indecision gripped him once again. What now? Jonas had been pinning all his hopes to the certain eventuality of his being reunited with his father; the Emperor could surely save him from being subjected to the punishment he would likely receive for these deaths. Right now, it didn't seem likely.
Then another thought struck Jonas like a sledgehammer. Who is the Emperor? Of course, the assassin had told him that Emperor Uriel was dead, and he had naturally assumed him to be his uncle Uriel. But why had no new heir been crowned? Jonas was brought abruptly back to reality by a loud creaking noise from above. A fourth door he had not noticed was protruding from the ceiling, and an Imperial Soldier was beginning to make his way down the ladder connected to it.
In the name of Akatosh, please don't let there be… Jonas launched himself out through the main doors, dreading meeting more guards here. There were none. Jonas gave his silent thanks to Akatosh, and made his way forward, in the general direction of the Arcane University. That daedroth or whatever it was had magic in it, he reasoned, so Jauffre is probably a mage. If he is a mage, I should be able o find him at the University. Pleased with his deductions, Jonas pushed himself onward, wary of any guards who might recognise him as a prisoner.
Jonas was fortunate in that he didn't bump into any soldiers until he reached the entrance to the Arcane University. "Hello there son," the battlemage leaned down toward him. "Are you lost? I don't think this is a place for kids."
"N-no, I'm fine," Jonas stammered as the guard took in his distinctive appearance, taking particular note, Jonas thought, of his red eyes.
"Ok then," the man raised his eyebrows sceptically, "but you know you won't be allowed into the main area of the University – only the vestibule." Jonas nodded in response.
The vestibule of the Arcane University was lit with candles in the colours of victory, if Jonas remembered correctly. He wondered vaguely why this was considering that the emperor had died recently, and there was apparently no heir. An argonian woman looked up briefly from her book when Jonas entered, but she made no noise.
"Hello, young one," a man clad in a blue robe greeted him. "Can I help you with something?" He looked up and down at Jonas' shoddy prison wear and smiled ruefully.
"Yes," Jonas avoided locking eyes with this man. "I was wondering if, er, Jauffre was in?"
"Jauffre?" Jonas nodded eagerly. "I can't say I've ever heard of anyone called Jauffre." Jonas' face fell. "I'm sorry I can't be more helpful."
"Can you at least tell me who the emperor is then?"
"Well, that is the question, isn't it?" the man smiled mysteriously. He made to walk away.
In a last desperate attempt to solve the mystery he had found himself immersed in, Jonas called out, "dawn is breaking!" The man looked at him oddly, but did not display the same flicker of recognition that passed across the argonian's face. The book slipped from her hands as she stood abruptly.
"Raminus, if I may, I'd like to talk to our guest…" she smiled and beckoned Jonas over.
Jonas had always found argonians slightly creepy, what with their lizard like features and staring eyes, but he had never felt so uneasy at being with one than he did now. Of course, his grandmother having been both the empress and a dunmer, Jonas had tried to teach himself not to be racist, as his grandmother had suffered from just that, but he still found it terribly difficult.
"Hello, young one," the woman said, not dissimilarly to Raminus. "My name is Tar-Meena, what is yours?"
"Jonas S…" he bit his lip. "Jonas."
"What do you know, Jonas, of the Mythic dawn?" Tar-Meena's eyes sparkled.
"Er, nothing," he admitted. The argonian woman frowned slightly at this, but went on.
"About daedric cults?"
"No, I – wait…does that mean, like, daedra?"
"Yes," Tar-Meena smiled. "You have, I presume, run into a society that worship daedric princes?"
"I think they were called a Markynaz and a Xivilai," Jonas said, stumbling a little over the unfamiliar words.
"Oh," Tar-Meena said, slightly disappointed. "Then you are like many here: you saw the daedra pour through the oblivion gates in the city."
"N-no," Jonas said, wondering how much he should say. "It was last night, or the night before that I woke up in the forest with them, and…" he cut off the rest of his sentence as he realised he might be giving too much away.
"No, that's not possible," Tar-Meena frowned. "Martin closed all the oblivion gates, and all the daedra were killed weeks ago. It's impossible."
Jonas gave her an accurate description of the events that night, and he showed her the slightly-healed wound on his chest.
"But this makes no sense," Tar-Meena protested. "I have never heard of blood being used to generate power in such a way…you're sure they were daedra and not vampires?"
"Yes, I'm sure – it's what the guards said, anyway." Tar-Meena shut her eyes and went into a state of deep thought, not saying anything for a while.
"Ok," Tar-Meena said at last. "We need to get you to Cloud Ruler Temple, the headquarters of the Blades; there is definitely something special about you Jonas, and I think you would be safest there. Unfortunately, I don't know where Cloud Ruler Temple is, but one of their contacts is scheduled to come by soon. He can take you there." Jonas nodded. He was feeling quite depressed. "I'm sorry I can't help you find Jauffre. Maybe one of the Blades will know who he is." Jonas privately thought that that was a very remote possibility, but since he had no other options, he had no choice but to agree.