Liera Ventilius
The truce that Siglak had formed still held; God's, it did more than hold, it blossomed. There had been some light skirmishes here and there, but the roads were safer than in the months before when you were likely to run into a full scale battle. The peak of this peace was the wedding. Victoria Vici was to marry Asgeir Snow-Shod. His family was tied to the Stormcloaks, and Victoria, she was the cousin of the Emperor. Their marriage was supposed to calm the tension, and perhaps lead to negotiations where the war could end.
Until then, I was still an officer in the Imperial Legion. As such, I was assigned to stand guard at the wedding. General Tulius didn't suspect anything would happen; my presence was merely a token to show that he cared about their union. The ceremony went well; the couple went through the motions, and when they kissed, it looked as though they truly did have feelings for one another. The beauty of those two stirred up old memories. They were from long ago, but I remember preparing myself for occasions like this. Back when my father was the first consoler, I was desired by many men who sought to further their station. Many were a great deal older than myself, after all, I was a girl not yet into her twenties. Most sought only personal gain, and my father turned them away. There were some, however, that were truly good men. One in particular pulled at the strings of my heart. Gelbic was his name. He was a Nordic thane from Markarth, and it was from him that I learned to fight with a battle-axe. He was honest, kind, and loyal to the Empire. More than that, he had told me about Skyrim, and about the Nords who lived there. Most importantly, he had told me that above all things, a Nord should follow his heart, even if it seemed foolish. It was those words that I remembered most fondly. In the end, it was his love of the Empire that ended our chances at love. When my family was arrested, he chose to protect the Empire over me. I could hardly blame him; all he knew was that someone had committed an act of high treason-. He thought he was defending his Emperor. I heard talk that he had moved on since then and found another woman and started a family. But that was years ago, not worth dwelling on any longer.
The ceremony went well, but some guests seemed less pleased. The groom's father bickered senselessly with the bride's mother over, what else, the war. "Ulfric is committing an act of treason," The bride's mother declared.
"Was it treason for you to rebel against the Elves after they took the Imperial city?" The groom's father let out a loud huff.
"That's different, the Elves were foreign invaders; we liberated our home," She answered.
"My point exactly!" If Nord tempers were as hot as I remembered, this could have gotten out of hand quickly.
"You seem unhappy," I said, trying to interrupt the argument.
"Of course I'm not happy!" He nearly shouted at me. "My son is married to an Imperial."
I didn't think I could reason with him, but luckily, the bride took her place on the balcony to address her guests. "Please hold your anger for a moment, the bride is speaking." Crossing his arms, he nodded and walked away.
"Today, there are no Stormcloaks and no Imperials, there are only citizens of Skyrim." Victoria's words could have given me hope for a brighter future, but that was when it happened. The statue which hung from the wall above, fell on top of her, striking her head and sending her falling from the balcony.
Most of the guests were focused on Victoria, so I was the only one who noticed the figure crouching atop the wall where the statue had fallen from. "Up there!" I shouted and pointed to the killer. We chased him as he ran atop the wall, but keeping up was difficult as he was very fast and my heavy Imperial armor weighed me down. The assassin emerged from a set of stairs next to the gate as he climbed down from the wall, and that was when he gave me a clue to his identity. Ahead of me, a guard tried to stab the stranger, but in two swift motions the figure drew his blade, deflecting the guard's strike in that same motion, and then, cut the man down with his next motion. With that, he slipped out through the gates and was gone.
What really caught my attention, was the weapon he used. My father kept a blade like it; he called it a Katana. I remember seeing another blade like it here in Skyrim; it was at the negotiations at High Hrothgar. There were those odd two; they weren't on either side of the war. I remembered the Grey Beards regarding them coldly.
Seven thousand steps later, I found myself explaining everything to them. "Please, this murder will cause the bitterness to run deeper; if that happens, then this war will only end with a lot more bloodshed."
The one who seemed to lead them nodded. "There is wisdom in your actions, but the Greybeards rarely take part in the problems of the world below."
"But you gladly held a peace conference here, surely you can tell me who those two were, the ones whom you seemed upset with." I practically pleaded for his help.
He closed his eyes and bowed his head slightly. "You are likely referring to the Blades, but they would not do such a thing. I do not doubt that they would kill if they needed to, but they have long sought to protect the Empire, not harm it."
"That is true," I said, recalling the stories my father would tell about the great deeds of the Blades. "But I need to find them; the assassin I am looking for carried a blade like theirs."
The man gave a solemn nod and told me of Alduin's Wall in a place called Sky Haven Temple. It was a long journey there, and I had many encounters with Foresworn savages. The Blades did not receive me much better. "Reach for your weapon and we'll kill you," said an older woman with grey touched yellow hair, tied back in a long ponytail.
I raised both of my hands in front of me to show that I meant them no harm. "Please, I need your help to save the Empire."
"That is no longer our purpose." She sheathed her sword, and sure enough it was a Katana.
"That weapon," I said as I pointed to it and she gripped it. "Who else has one?"
"Why would you want to know that?" She took a fighting stance. Clearly this woman was very cautious.
"An assassin recently killed the Emperor's cousin, and he carried a blade like that." This time I put a hand on the haft of my axe. "I'll ask again, who else has one?"
"All you need to know is that the Blades had no part in this," She said, shifting her eyes between my feet and my axe.
"No, I need to know who else had a katana, otherwise I will have to assume that the Blades know something about this assassination and are hiding that information from the Empire." She looked like a wolf ready to strike.
"I don't think that you have the authority to decide that," she said.
"No?" In fact, I did not; I was merely acting on my own initiative, but as much as I hated the idea, there was another option that I could very well do. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but the Thalmor are searching for the Blades, are they not? Suppose they get a tip that there are some Blades hiding here. All I ask is this, who else owns a Katana?"
Her scowl cut deep and put me to shame for playing on their fears like that. "There is myself and Esbern, we are both Blades, and the Dragonborn." At that moment, realization struck me, and I felt foolish for not realizing t sooner. Of course it was him, who else would it be? There was talk of the Emperor coming to Skyrim to ease tension. Was Siglak planning to strike then? I ran from that temple as fast as I could, bound for Whiterun, before it was too late.
By the time I arrived, a new murder was on everyone's lips. A young officer of Pentus Oculotus, the Emperor's elite order, had been killed in a bar fight that had broken out at the Bannered Mare. In the confusion, no one had seen who had actually killed him, but it was not his death that caught my attention. The man had been found with documents that tied him to the assassination of Victoria Vicci. Could such a thing have been possible? It seemed strange to me that the Emperor's finest protectors could have traitors among them. I truly did not know what to make of it, but I had one idea.
"It's not true," declared a black haired Imperial man who held the victim's corpse in his arms. "My son is no traitor!" Tears rolled down the man's cheeks.
I gently placed a hand on the man's shoulder. "I am sorry for your loss, and I believe you, but I must ask you something, it may help me find the man who killed him."
The man steadied his breathing and laid the body of his son down, ever so gently. Scrubbing the tears from his eyes, he stood and faced me. "If you want to find the scum who did this, then I want to come with you, and rip him to pieces."
Where there was once sadness, there was now hatred, so pure that I could feel it radiating off of this mourning father. "First we must find him. My name is Liera Ventilius, and I am guessing by your uniform that you are from the Pentus Oculotus."
"I am Commander Gaius Marrow, and this was my son, Gaius the second."
"I must ask you something Commander, if I may." He nodded. "What was your son doing in Whiterun?"
"He was inspecting the capitol of every hold in Skyrim for the Emperor's visit. Surely you know this. Why else would you come to Whiterun if not to inspect a victim whose orders you should have been made aware of?" His voice was heated, suspicious, accusing.
"I am searching for a man whom I believe could be linked to the killing of Victoria Vici. As it so happens, he lives here in Whiterun, and he might know about your son."
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go pry open his door and find out what he knows."
"First, I would like to talk to the bartender."
"She's already been asked; she didn't see who killed him."
"That's not what I'm after. Just hold on a moment." The man was irrational in his grief and tried to protest, but I walked away before I would allow myself to sink into such sadness. "Hulda." The woman behind the bar turned from the man she was serving to look at me. "How did the fight start?"
"That damned feud between the Battle-Borns and the Grey-Manes; Siglak came in and paid Mikael to sing The Age of Oppression. You can guess how Idolf reacted, calling Siglak a traitor, then Siglak punched him out cold. The Grey-Manes came to his aid, and the Battle-Borns came to Idolf's. Pretty soon the whole inn was fighting. What's worse is that the Imperial officer was killed."
"But Siglak was here, yes?" her eyes narrowed a bit as she nodded slowly. I put a small bag of coins on the table. "Thank you Hulda, you've been very helpful." Before leaving, I promised Marrow his vengeance, promised that I would bring the man who did this to Justice. I couldn't have ran down the street fast enough to the house next to the blacksmith's forge.
When I pounded on the door, Lydia, Siglak's housekarl, answered it. "Liera," She rested her hand on her sword hilt, "What brings you here?"
"I must speak with Siglak at once," I said, consciously keeping my hand off of my weapon so as not to give any impression of hostility.
Lydia shook her head and her stony expression softened a bit, but her hand never left her sword. "I haven't seen him in months, not since he disappeared in Windhelm. Is that what you're here about?"
"You didn't see him when he was here earlier? Not after he started the fight at the inn?" Her eyebrows raised. "You really have no idea, do you?" She shook her head and I took a deep breath. "Lydia, I think Siglak is an assassin, the one who killed Victoria Vicci and I think he started the fight."
Lydia stared blankly off into the distance for a moment in complete silence. "I want to tell you that it's impossible," she said at last, "but I can't be certain anymore. You know, about a year ago, Siglak went into the Thalmor embassy to collect information on the dragons. What he found instead was an old enemy, and Siglak slaughtered him with brutality that I have never even heard of." Her finger traced something along the hilt of her sword, and she still stared off at nothing. "He is my Thane, and he is my friend. I will not help you find him because of what you might do, but when I see him next, I will see if I can reason with him."
The door closed in my face, and I didn't knock again. Events were moving quickly, and I had significantly less information than I had hoped for. I had to assume that Siglak was the assassin, but I could not prove it. All I could do was prepare for what would inevitably come.
Lydia closed the door before Liera could object, and I came out of the small Alchemy lab where I had been hiding. "Is it true, is any of it true?" She didn't turn away from the door.
"I'm only doing what justice demands I do; many have died because of the Emperor, and soon he will get what he deserves." She rounded on me and tried to plant he fist in my face, but I caught her wrist in time. "I take it you disagree."
"Is this what it's come to?" She pulled her wrist free of my grip. "You're an assassin for the Dark Brotherhood! You've spilled the blood of innocent people, and you've abandon your honor. What was it all for?" I opened my mouth to speak, but she talked on. "Don't tell me that you're avenging the dead or that you're bringing justice. Gods! Is there nothing left but your blind hatred?"
"You do not understand, nor could you. You were not there when people died because the Emperor would not protect his own. An Emperor who cannot protect his subjects deserves death."
"Please Siglak, just let it go. This is going to kill you inside."
"I can't let it go; the dead can't. The guilty must die." Lydia turned back to the door and began to open it, but I pushed the door shut again. "Where are you going?"
She looked at me with tears in the edges of her eyes. "Siglak, you've placed me in an impossible situation. I can see that you will not leave this path, and therefore I must make a decision. I must choose between my honor and my heart. As your housekarl, honor demands that I stay, but my heart screams for me to run now and never look back." She turned her eyes away from me and yanked the door open. "I'm leaving Whiterun. Goodbye….." She gave a bitter chuckle. "You know, I want to say 'goodbye Blacksmith', but my friend died a long, long time ago." She ran out the door and down the street quickly until the gates closed behind her.
I was a fool for driving her to this, and even more the fool for not going after her. At the time, I thought that it would do no good, after all, she had made her decision. I let myself fall even further into mindless hate, and soon, it would turn to shame.
I'm sorry that it took this long for me to post this chapter. The simple truth is that I have been busy lately. I hope to post another chapter this week. Thank you guys for reading, and feel free to leave comments and constructive criticism.