In Cyrodiil, it was often called Slave Pass. Captive persons kept in Morrowind who had escaped their plantations needed someplace to go, and it was widely known that slavery wasn't tolerated in Cyrodiil. That knowledge brought escapees to the heartland of the Empire all the time, and the pass had once been a popular spot for fleeing slaves. Until, at least, slavers took notice of it and set up blockades, restricting people from Morrowind from entering Cyrodiil.
The people of Morrowind called it the Outlander's Gateway, because it was the largest pass on the Cyrodiil-Morrowind border, and the Dunmer continually saw foreigner after foreigner migrate into their country. And since Dunmer were notorious for their hatred of foreigners, the Outlander's Gateway was not a loving nickname for the pass. Many Imperials were sure that the Dunmer prayed to their Almsivi that an avalanche would close off the pass once and for all.
Lily herself heard that the Outlander's Gateway was the more popular name, ever since the slave blockades started taking place several generations ago. It was the name she had always known it as. She was sure that the actual, historical name of the pass was forgotten by all but historians.
But certainly the name of the pass 'didn't matter for shit', as Jake so eloquently put it as soon as they reached the Valus Mountain range and started to slowly trek upwards. What mattered was that they were climbing the most inhospitable mountains in Cyrodiil.
Lily noticed he hadn't said where the most inhospitable mountains in Tamriel were. She hoped it wasn't Morrowind, but with the country's less-than-sterling reputation…
But Ida had been right. The going was slow. Their heavy equipment and supplies were in the canvas-covered wagon she gave them, towed along by Martin, who was being steered by Jake. The bastard had looked so delighted to get off his feet and simply sit on the drivers' plank. Piggy and Mallory led the party, as her horse was young and strong. Suna still climbed on foot, with Lily, Remmy and Victoria coming up behind her, and Jake and Martin bringing up the rear.
It was already two days after they left Cheydinhal with their fresh supplies, and they still had a while to go before reaching the Outlander's Gateway.
Going. Was. Slow.
First Seed would probably end by the time they made it into Morrowind. It was already the eighteenth. Now would be a great time to turn into a bird to fly into Morrowind.
Another day passed. Still they climbed.
Trees thinned, their places being corrupted by fungi, mushrooms and tiny, skeletal shrubs. Barren rocks littered the rough path into the mountains. Icy breezes washed over them constantly. The hard-packed dirt began to look frozen as they went higher and higher in altitude, until finally there was frost blanketing everything.
Everyone was exhausted and irritable from the hike into the mountains. Nobody snapped at each other except Mallory and Remmy, but that was to be expected. They always snapped at each other.
But nobody noticed just how exhausted they were until the twenty-first of First Seed—the day Lily and Mallory realized they forgot to cast their daily detect life and repellent spells.
Very few creatures can survive in the Valus Mountains. Wolves are one of those very few.
Nobody saw them at first. They only noticed them because Piggy sensed them first, and he stepped backwards, nearly ploughing into Suna as he whinnied and snorted with panic.
Mallory, expert horsewoman, merely rubbed his neck and whispered comforting things to him. Lily watched with pride as her daughter's hands glowed briefly. Mallory had cast a calm spell on the terrified animal.
"What's got him so spooked?" Jake shouted up to her from the back of the train.
"I don't know!" she called back. Her voice was muffled from the wind and the heavy, fur-lined cloak she already insisted on wearing to block out the cold. "He's just all panicky for some reason!"
"You'll be fine, Mal," Lily contributed, tightening her grip around Remmy's waist. She'd been pondering all morning if she should deposit him in the wagon to make her riding less treacherous, but so far, he remained on Victoria. "Just keep going! Suna!"
The blue-haired girl glanced back at Lily and slowed her pace until Victoria caught up with her. "Aye, ma'am?"
Lily gave the girl a long, contemplative look. She wasn't showing any signs of heavy exhaustion just yet, even though she had so far completed the entire journey on foot while the rest of them rode. "Would you be able to go ahead of Mallory for a bit? Just to scope out a better path for walking on?"
One shoulder rose and fell. "Sure." Without another word, she ran ahead, hoping over loose, flat rocks and winding past lichen-drenched boulders. Watching her leap nimbly about, Lily dug her heels into Victoria's sides to urge the horse to close the gap between her and Piggy.
She was halfway there when Mallory's horse made a terrified grunt and abruptly stopped.
Frowning, Lily had her mouth open and was just about to ask why, when she heard Mallory's breathy, "Mama… wolves."
She could see them past Mallory and her horse, but she couldn't see them all. There were about five or six, thin, patchy and rather sickly-looking, but still wolves. Large and imposing, with a look of desperation and starvation in their golden gazes.
And they were right in front of her daughter. Eyeing her and her horse hungrily.
Taking in the hesitation, Lily's eyes roved upwards, where Suna had stopped bouncing about like a mountain goat. She was hunched over on her toes atop the flat part of a precariously perched boulder, her hands moving slowly to her side. The silver war axe glinted in the pale sunlight.
A shiver slid down Lily's spine, and it wasn't from the cold of the day.
"Remmy, when I tell you to, run for Dad and hide in the wagon. He'll protect you," Lily whispered to her son. Remmy couldn't defend himself adequately. He got that particular trait from Jake—well, he could defend himself, but it wouldn't work against wolves. Lily and Mallory however—born under the Mage and the Atronach respectively—were both well in-tune with Aetherius. Lily had trained Mallory at a young age to tap into the magical realm and summon Magicka to her fingertips. The only downside? Those born under the Atronach had a very difficult time keeping up their magical attacks, and it drained them easily. Magicka didn't automatically return to them like it did with everyone else. They had to work at it.
But they had Suna. And Suna had an axe.
Lily glanced at the girl again, and noticed she was creeping down the mountainside toward the wolves, which in turn had begun stalking toward Piggy and Mallory. They weren't close enough to leap yet, thank Akatosh. They had a little time left.
Moving as quickly and silently as she could, and keeping her eyes locked on Suna's little boyish form, Lily grabbed up Remmy beneath his armpits—gods, the kid was getting heavy—and neatly deposited him on the dirt beside the horse. "Get to the wagon, Rem. Now," she hissed, and heard him scamper away.
The noise was enough for the wolves to begin snapping and snarling, and then one jumped.
Suna let out a growl and slammed into its side before it could chase after the smallest and most easily catchable prey. She and the wolf tumbled to the ground and began to roll down the slope. They were stopped after a short venture by a large, spindly bush.
Inspired by their comrade, the rest of the wolves began to charge. Two instantly ran toward Lily, two began circling Piggy and Mallory, and the remainder jumped between the riders and the wagon, where Jake was valiantly poking at them with a stick.
Keeping on her horse's back, Lily tugged on the reins and urged her terrified steed up to Mallory's. After quickly dousing Victoria in a very strong calm spell, and doing the same for Piggy, she pulled an arc of lightning from Aetherius and shot it at the wolves surrounding her. The prickle of destructive magic made her fingers tingle, but the thrill of being able to attack something freely again made her heart pump and her cheeks flush with delight. She hadn't been in a real fight since the Daedric Invasion.
The shocked wolves collapsed, whimpering, but the rest snarled and growled, snapping at the horses' legs. Lily pulled Victoria away from the mess and sent a small but hot ball of fire toward two of the ones still standing. Their dry fur immediately caught and burst into flames. The stink of burning flesh filled the air as they screamed and writhed in agony.
Beside her, Mallory sent a powerful gust of command creature toward the ones who were running back toward the wagon to harass the boys. They immediately stopped and turned around to attack their fellow wolves.
The two wolves that Lily had set afire lay collapsed on the ground, quite dead. Four left, then.
A bright patch of hellish scarlet caught Lily's eye, and she looked away for a split second to see Suna jogging back to the battleground. She was limping—there was a large bloody gash in her leg—but she wore the mask of a warrior on her young, scarred face. The shining silver war axe was gripped tightly in her hands, dripping dark blood to the ground as she moved.
Three killed.
The creatures had finally abandoned their quest to attack the boys at the wagon, and were circling the three women. Mallory grunted as she tossed an icy frost spell at them. Sweat beaded her forehead and she was panting with the effort of using her pitiful reserve of Magicka. Mallory had the promise of a powerful mage if Lily ever saw one, but she didn't know how to control the negativity around being an Atronach.
Whiteness clung to the wolves' fur like icing sugar as the frost spell smacked into them, and they hesitated, but didn't stop from biting at the horses' legs. It took two more strong calm spells to keep Victoria and Piggy from booking it into the brush.
Just as Lily was bringing another fireball to her fingertips, Suna shoved forward and violently swung her axe. It moved with an unnatural grace that belied her youth. Although she looked like a festive holiday tree with her bright green eyes and blood red locks, she was nothing of the sort as the sharpened edge of her axe buried deep in one wolf's ribs. The animal howled with pain and its eyes misted over. It writhed about, trying to dislodge the weapon and get its teeth into the thing that attacked it.
Without waiting, Suna wrenched the axe from its side and brought it over her shoulder, bringing it down hard on the wolf's back. The spine cracked with a sickening, wet crunch, and it immediately went still.
As she turned toward one of the remaining two, Lily almost forgot that they were fighting for their lives. Behind her, Mallory cried out as she was weakened by her birthsign, but she valiantly cast another destructive spell. Suna viciously beat down her opponent, though it snapped at her all the way down to its death.
Finally, all six were dead.
As soon as it was done, Suna collapsed on the ground beside her most recent kill, her axe slipping from her hands. Blood was still oozing from the wound on her thigh. Mallory instantly slid off her horse, panting and gasping as she dropped to her knees beside the Manic. Lily watched in blank, shocked silence as her exhausted daughter shuffled up to Suna's side, dragging her dress in the dirt, blood and rocks.
She never expected to see Mallory lay her trembling, pale hands on Suna's leg, around her deep, bloody scratch and pushed hard. Suna grunted and dug her teeth into her lip, squeezing her eyes shut against the pain. Blood flowed with increased fervour from the wound. Breathing quickly and shallowly, Mallory's hands glowed a brief, bright silver-blue, and she pressed them against the open cut. The bleeding slowed. Suna pushed herself up with one elbow and gawked at what Mallory was doing, her chest still heaving as they pumped oxygen into her lungs. Squeezing her eyes shut, Mallory's hands brightened, and then she suddenly flopped, ragdoll, at Suna's side.
Helplessly, Suna peered up at Lily. Her hair was rapidly changing from vicious red to its regular electric blue. "Is she okay?" she croaked.
Though her limbs felt like goo, Lily dismounted Victoria and hobbled over to the girls. She quickly felt Mallory's forehead, and exhaled slowly. "She's only gone unconscious. It happens sometimes, when she overworks herself." At Suna's incredulous expression, Lily added with a weak, trembling smile, "The month she's born in. It doesn't let her regenerate Magicka like I can."
Suna's mouth moved in a soundless "Oh" as she leaned back. Lily quickly finished patching up the girl's wound with her own magic, and was pleased when she saw that Mallory had nearly fixed it all herself. Once she was finished with Suna's leg, she checked for anymore injuries on both girls, then the horses—the wolves had done their damage, but nothing was so bad that Lily couldn't heal it immediately—before she ran back to the wagon. Remmy was curled up in Jake's lap, watching over his arm with wide blue eyes. Jake merely looked bored.
"Quite the adventure, huh?" Lily said, smiling awkwardly as she approached. "Is everyone all right here?"
"Just fine and dandy. How's Mal?" Jake asked, his dark gaze flicking briefly to their unconscious daughter.
Lily glanced back and almost laughed when she saw Suna delicately poking Mallory's arm, as if to check if she was asleep. "She's fine. She just used too many spells for her level. She healed Suna and conked out."
"I saw." Jake still wasn't looking at her, and Lily turned to follow his gaze. Suna had given up poking Mallory and was huddled on her knees, pulling an old, grotesque cloth from her backpack. With slow, steady, deliberate movements, she began to clean the blood off her axe. Jake exhaled slowly. "She really is Baran's kid, isn't she?"
Lily's jaw tightened at the sight. Suna, blue head bent over her work, and the blood staining her axe pink before she scrubbed it away. "No fourteen year old should have to fight like that," she murmured. Shaking herself out of her reverie, she turned back to her men. Remmy was watching Suna as well, with wide, scared eyes. "You all right too, Rem?"
He nodded slowly and untangled himself from Jake's lap. "Yeah, I'm okay. They didn't get me. Can we go home now?" he pleaded quietly, his voice a small whimper.
Lily sighed softly and stepped onto the edge of the drivers' plank. Remmy immediately scooted over and clung to her, and she leaned her cheek on his soft thatch of copper hair, hugging him tight. "It'll be okay, Remmy. Once we're in the pass, it won't take too long to cross into Morrowind and get to Mournhold." They were already over a week into travelling, and they still had a long way to go before they even touched the Outlander's Gateway. And then they had to trek all the way across Morrowind to reach the capital of Almalexia, then gain entrance to Mournhold from there. But she didn't tell Rem that. There was no point, if he was already homesick.
"How long is—" the twelve year old started to ask, but stopped when Suna marched over to them, industriously scrubbing blood from her worn leather armour.
"We've got to keep going," she announced, peering between the two adults. Her makeup had smudged during the fight; there was a long streak of black running down one cheek. "Y'know, the nights get cold real fast up here. We'll want a fire before long. Oh, your daughter's awake," she added as she turned and began to jog back to the front of the trail. Sure enough, Mallory was sitting up, leaning against a rock and cradling her head.
Lily hopped off the wagon and crossed her arms, huffing softly. "She's going in the wagon with you. Rem, up for a little riding?" As the boy screeched with sudden delight and lunged off the wagon, she hurried after him and called, "You have to stay close to me, you hear me?"
By the time Mallory was helped into the back of the wagon, snug between two bundles of blankets, and Rem was firmly seated on Victoria—he had never ridden Piggy before, and that wasn't about to change on an adventure in the great Valus outback—Suna returned from… wherever she had gone to.
Seeing the blue hair flounce back into view against the bland backdrop of the mountains and hearing the potions clink together in her backpack, Lily looked up just as Suna scrabbled down the mountainside. Distracted momentarily from adjusting Piggy's stirrups, she stared at the girl in blankness.
"Were you just gone?" she asked incredulously.
Suna nodded and drummed her fingers on her axe, which was once again in its home at her hip. "There's a level area a ways up. It's not very sheltered, but whatever. We could camp there."
Lily frowned up at the sky. Grey, but the sun still shone. "It's only late afternoon," she sighed, looking back down at the girl. "We could go so much farther yet."
"Not with him dragging her along in the wagon," she pointed out, gesturing to Jake and Mallory with her chin. "Er, at least, that's my profesh opinion. Do whatever you think's best."
Lily gave the girl a narrow look as she began to climb up the steepening slope. They could travel for hours yet, not stop a half hour up the mountain.
They ended up spending the night there anyways.
—
A small wooden cabin marked the official entry to the Outlander's Gateway. It was the last haven before a treacherous traverse through the infamous mountain pass—the last place a traveller could rest before the real journey began.
Mallory was the first one to spot it, midmorning on the twenty-third of First Seed.
"Is it just an abandoned shack?" Remmy asked, his voice almost unintelligible through the scarf wrapped around his head. There was a thin layer of snow on the ground, and icy gusts of wind shot down from the mountaintops. First Seed was nearing an end, and yet there they were, dressed like it was the middle of Evening Star. Fetching ridiculous, if you asked a certain red-haired ex-priestess.
"I don't know, Rem. I've never been here before." Lily let go of her son for just a minute to ferociously rub her runny nose with her sleeve. The shirt was well beyond repair anyways. Might as well be a little disgusting in it before she had to burn it to Oblivion.
Suna skipped along beside them, her alchemy tools clanking loudly together. Lily figured she must have put some spell on them, or the delicate instruments and vials would have surely broken by now. "It's an inn, actually," she pointed out, kicking snow in front of her. "Some old Dark Elf guy runs it. Says he's been there since the blockade began, but I dunno if I believe him."
"The slave blockade?"
"Yeah."
"Well," Lily pointed out, "Elves live for a very long time. He could be telling the truth. Now, if an Imperial said he'd been there since the blockade began, you would've been well within your rights to accuse him of escaping the Shivering Isles."
Suna obviously caught the jab at her people. "Hey, we're not all stupid crazy. I'm not."
Even Rem gave his idol a long, blank stare. When he opened his mouth to speak, Lily nudged him discreetly in the back. No need to be rude when everybody else already knew she was stupid crazy.
"Well, even if the man is insane," Lily intervened before the redhead and the blue-head could get into an argument, "we're staying there for the rest of the day and the night. We need to rest before going through the pass."
Remmy bounced in his seat and gave a little cheer. "Finally! I can barely walk alone anymore!"
Lily smiled ruefully and shifted in the saddle. "I know what you mean."
Soon, they made it to the inn. To their luck, there was a small covered stable behind the ancient, snow-covered shack. Lily gratefully dismounted, but as soon as she helped Remmy down, he immediately scooped up a handful of snow and pelted it at Suna. It missed and smacked Martin's side instead. The horse grunted and gave the boy a long stare.
And then, of course, Suna retaliated by whipping a more expertly designed snowball at Rem, hitting him square in the nose. Somehow, even Mallory got involved, and Jake and Lily had to quickly lead the horses and themselves out of the war zone before they got caught up in it as well.
Hiding underneath the shelter of the stable, Lily stood and watched the children for a moment as Jake began to unload what they would need overnight. Shaking her head and rubbing her thighs, she turned around to take care of the horses. "I think my legs are going to be permanently bowed," she announced grimly as she loosened saddles. "I am so sore."
"Don't worry, there won't be a lot of riding once we're in the pass," Jake mentioned conversationally. He grunted as he hoisted a heavy bag over his shoulder. Lily arched an eyebrow at him and he smirked. "It can get pretty narrow in places, Lil. I'm honestly not surprised Suna came here by foot."
Lily tried not to let her jaw drop. "And we're supposed to bring a wagon through there?" she demanded harshly.
Jake rolled his eyes and slapped her shoulder with his free hand. "That's when we unload the wagon, flip it sideways, drag it through and load it again."
Lily was sure her eye twitched. Jake snorted with laughter when he looked at her.
"I'm kidding! Gods, you have no sense of humour anymore. I'm kidding still," he added, seeing her eye-twitch turn into a dangerous glower. "No, by narrow, I mean the horses tend to get nervous. You could still ride them through, but they wouldn't be too pleased about it. Especially Piggy. You know how he gets."
"Well, so long as we make it through alive and well, I don't care how narrow it is. Shall we go inside then?" Helping with the bags of bedding and some food, she led the way back out of the stables. "Come on, kids, we're going inside."
Remmy whooped and jogged to the front of the building, with Suna and Mallory following.
"I can't wait to sleep in a real bed again," Jake moaned, trudging along beside Lily. "Rocks hurt."
"Even when dampened by blankets?" Lily pushed through the children and opened the door, glad that they hadn't rushed in before her and ruined first impressions. Last thing they needed was the owner kicking them out to sleep in the snow. Warmth from a fire blasted her as soon as she opened the door. Sighing with relief as the heat warmed her sore, frozen legs, Lily stepped inside. From what she could see, it was a one-room building. A counter and small fire were at the opposite end of the room, with baskets and crates along the wall. A larger hearth with a crackling fire was nearby, and before it was a plain wooden table with several chairs. Lily smiled. It was perfect.
An aged Dunmer man was sitting in one of the chairs, absently carving a piece of wood. He looked up at their entry, his red eyes bloodshot and rather lifeless. Nonetheless, he pulled his leathered cheeks upwards in a welcoming smile. "Hello."
"Hello. I'm Lily Bercarius, and this is my husband, Jake," Lily introduced quickly after making room for the others to get inside. "Is this an inn?"
He nodded slowly, as if pained. "You heard right. Only five gold septims per person for the night, if you want. I'm Drevlyn." Slowly, he put the wood and knife on the table and held up a shaky, veined hand. Lily shook it warmly and definitely believed that he had been around for the slave blockade. He definitely looked old enough. She wondered absently if he was one of the last escaped slaves to make it across the pass before the Dark Elf slavers started the blockade. She doubted it, since the Dunmer weren't too keen to enslave their own kind, but it was possible.
After Jake shook the old man's hand as well, he set his bags on the floor and gestured to the kids, who had all lined up and stayed silent. Somehow. "This is Mallory and Reman, our kids, and a friend of the family, Suna." Remmy stuck out his tongue, disgusted that his father had referred to him by his full middle name. Lily smiled to herself. Remmy or Rem was what he preferred to be called. He was only Reman for strangers, and he was always Jacob when he was in trouble. It was sometimes so easy to forget that his name wasn't actually Reman.
"A pleasure to meet you all. And to see you again," he added, nodding at Suna. "You want food, I can supply it. Five gold per person, just like the rooms."
Lily helped Jake hoist up the bags as the kids wandered further into the room to explore. As the adults moved them away from the door, Lily heard Remmy pipe up, "Why's it so cheap for everything here?"
She heard Jake sigh, and she glanced his way to see him roll his eyes. Figures that their son would say something extremely rude.
The Dunmer man merely laughed and set his carving on the table. "Nobody comes through here much. They'd never come through if it was expensive. This way, I'm helping promote tourism into Morrowind," he added slyly, with a wink for the boy.
Remmy nodded and smiled. He only had a vague inkling of the Cyrodiil-Morrowind relationship, but he knew enough to understand that the people of Morrowind didn't like outsiders.
"Mama," Mallory called. "Where are the rooms?"
Lily looked around, seeing no doors or stairs that would lead to a separate part of the house. Perplexed, she merely shrugged at her daughter. "Suna?" she asked, glancing toward the blue-haired girl, who was idly looking at a painting on the wall.
"Downstairs," she replied absently.
Lily and Jake shared a confused glanced, but Drevlyn confirmed this when he coughed and croaked, "Through the trap door to the cellar. It's behind the counter over there. Got the idea from the Nords," he added, seeing confusion etched all over Remmy's face. "They build their houses so living quarters are underground. Preserves heat. Head on down whenever you want."
The family gratefully took him up on his offer. Lugging the bags over, Lily and Jake waited for the children to find and open the trap door and climb down. Of course, there would be a ladder instead of stairs, so they had to make an assembly line to get the bags downstairs. Once it was done and everybody was down, Lily noticed they stood in a short hallway with three doors. One was closed—was there another visitor?—but the other two were open, inviting them in.
"It looks like you three have to share a room," Lily said, gesturing to the kids.
Remmy immediately made a face. "Ew, Mum, I don't want to stay the night with Mallory."
Mallory seemed to agree, though her expression was flat. "I think I deserve privacy."
Jake barked out a laugh and ruffled her long waves, making her slap his hand away. "Ha, Mal, I think Mum and I are the ones who deserve privacy. You're sleeping with the other children, got it?"
The brunette girl grimaced, but she obediently went into the room after Suna and Remmy.
Lily smirked as Jake started to drag the remaining bags to the other room. "Thanks for that."
"I'm just being selfish, Lil. No need to thank me." Jake pushed open the door to their room and sighed heavily. "Well, this is it."
The room was tiny and quite simple, but Lily really hadn't expected much more than that. There was a small bed pushed into one corner, and a table opposite. Everything was simple old wood, except the hearth, which was lined in stone from the nearby mountains.
"Quaint," Lily remarked, lifting the bags onto the table. "It's perfect."
"I know. A real bed. Which I call," he added, grinning. "There's only room for one on there."
Lily rolled her eyes and punched his arm, making him laugh. "Bull. If anyone's going to be sleeping on there alone, it'll be me. I am the lady, after all."
"Some lady you are." Jake flopped onto the old straw mattress and peered up at her. "You've got snot stains on your sleeves."
"Oh, pssh. That's inconsequential." Lily sat down beside him and instantly felt the tension in her legs ease. "Ooh, that's nice. Sitting on something other than a horse or a rock for the first time in ages."
"Got something against rocks?"
"I know you do."
Their idle conversation was interrupted when their door creaked open and Mallory's head poked in. Her dark brows were drawn together almost nervously, and she was absently biting the inside of her cheek.
"What's up, Mal?" Jake asked conversationally.
"Um, Papa, there's somebody in the room beside ours that wants to talk to you." Mallory sounded just as confused as she looked. "None of us have seen her before."
Hearing the concern in her daughter's voice, Lily instantly glared at her husband. "Who's this 'her' nobody's seen before?" she demanded.
Jake blanched. "Whoa, calm down and stop jumping to conclusions. I'll go see what's up, okay?"
"No. You aren't going anywhere. Mallory, get her here," Lily snapped.
Mallory nodded and scurried off, leaving them alone once more. They could hear the childrens' voices in the room beside theirs; Remmy sounded scared, but Suna just sounded bored.
"So who is it?" Lily asked.
"Hell, Lil, you've seen me every day since we got married," Jake groaned. "Even if I wanted to, how could I possibly have cheated on you?"
"Not every day. What about the times when you vanished in the first few years? Or when you had to chase Rem to the Imperial City?"
"Relax. Jeez. I've given you no reason to freak out like—"
"Sorry to interrupt," a low, feline voice purred from the door. Lily and Jake both glanced up to see a familiar, little amber Khajiit standing in the doorway, her tail swishing almost happily. "It's been a long time."
"Luke," Jake said, stunned. "What're you doing here?"
Lily looked between the newcomer and her husband. All throughout their marriage, she had seen the Khajiit no more than three times, and those visits had been in the early years, when the Cheydinhal sanctuary of the Dark Brotherhood was falling apart—nobody had yet confirmed Lucrezia was part of the dark family, but Lily suspected it. And after fifteen years, Lily still didn't know how Jake and Lucrezia knew each other.
"I was sent from the City," the Khajiit intoned quietly. Her yellow gaze flicked down the hallway, and she took a few steps into the room. "I've been here for a few days already, waiting for you."
"We took a detour to Cheydinhal. What's up?"
"He got your letter," Lucrezia said. Her amber eyes moved over Lily, and she hesitated. "Does she know?" she asked, obviously directing the question to Jake, despite who she was staring at.
"About me? Yeah. Not you."
"Tell me, or I can leave to give you your privacy," Lily said, trying not to sound demanding.
Jake cast Lucrezia a long look. "It's your call, Luke."
The cat's whiskers twitched. "I am also a member of the Thieves Guild," she admitted, looking at Lily. "I met Jake the same day I met you, when you were attacked in your father's home fifteen years ago. I was new to the guild then—the Fox had sent me to find Jake so I would know the more higher ranking members of the guild."
"Oh. Okay." Lily settled back, satisfied. She had suspected something of the sort, and it was nice actually hearing the truth of it.
Looking relieved to be able to speak freely, Lucrezia said, "He got your letter about a week after you sent it off. He figured you would be taking Slave Pass into Morrowind, and had me come here to meet you. I've been here for a few days, waiting."
"Why? Does he want you to come with us? 'Cause this isn't guild business, Luke. It's personal."
"I know. But he didn't want to send out a letter to you. He hates encrypting. I'm his letter."
Jake smiled and shook his head. "Figures. What's he want?"
"He told me to tell you that he's warned the guild halls in Morrowind about your coming," Lucrezia said softly, too quietly for the children to overhear. They didn't know about Jake's past with thieves, and Lily wasn't keen on letting them know, especially since Remmy already had a knack for it. "If you ever need the help of fellow thieves, it won't be hard to find them."
Lily saw Jake try to hold back a grin. "Great. Last time I was in Morrowind, I was only a Footpad, and gods, they were mean."
Lucrezia made a sound that had to be the feline equivalent to laughter. "I am only a Prowler; higher ranking thieves are always cruel. At least you are a Master now."
Lily jerked and frowned at her husband. "Master? Last I heard, you were still a Shadowfoot."
Jake smiled awkwardly, and Lucrezia piped up, "He was promoted to Master Thief after J'baana and Fathis Ules were killed about…" She paused to think, a little frown decorating her forehead.
"Seven years ago," Jake said immediately. "Well, J'baana was killed seven years ago. Fathis was killed just after the Daedric Invasion ended."
Lily gawked at him. "You've been a Master Thief for seven years, and I didn't know."
He looked away, uncomfortable, and Lucrezia said, "He is second in command to the Gray Fox alone."
Lily stared at Jake, unwavering. "I didn't even know you were still in close contact with them. Have you been stealing for him all this time?"
"To be fair, I haven't done anything for the Fox in two years. But yeah, I'm in contact with them. Enough to know that only eleven of the thieves I knew are still alive today. The majority of them were killed or imprisoned by Hieronymus Lex ages ago." Jake's voice softened at first, but hardened again as he said the watch captain's name. Lily bit her lip, knowing not to press it further; she knew how much Jake despised Lex for shutting him away fifteen years ago, and marrying his little sister.
"Who?" she dared to ask.
Jake glanced at Lucrezia. "Of the ones you know… Luke, me, the Fox, and Methredhel. Plus some others that you've never met." His mouth twisted somewhat, and he added harshly, "Ongar's dead."
"Are you still upset about that?"
Jake shook his head quickly. "No. He died of a heart attack. Just like Methredhel said he would. But none of this matters."
"Right." Lily slumped back and crossed her arms. She didn't care that he was in the Thieves Guild. He'd been with them since he was, what was it, sixteen? At forty-four, he had been under the Fox's protection for nearly thirty years.
"Is that it, Luke?"
The Khajiit's ears flattened the slightest bit. "No." Her tone was flat and careful.
Lily knew it was her cue to leave.
"Fine, I'm going." She stood and wound past Lucrezia to head for the door. "Make it quick, please," she said as she left the room and shut the door behind her.
To her surprise, the kids weren't in their room anymore, and the hatch to the main level of the inn was open. Climbing up the ladder, Lily poked her head out of the trapdoor to see the three of them seated by the fire with Drevlyn, listening to something the old Dark Elf was saying.
"… a plantation on Vvardenfell. I was owned by a monster of House Telvanni, the leading supporters of slavery in Morrowind," Drevlyn croaked as Lily tuned into what was going on. "Vvardenfell wasn't so densely populated then, which made it hard to escape and stay escaped. But I broke free of my pen in the Telvanni district, crossed the ashlands and marshes to the south, and stowed on a boat to the mainland. Once I made it that far, I was nearly home free."
"You didn't get caught?" Remmy asked, awed.
"Obviously not," the old man said with a heavily lined smile. "My masters nearly caught me three times on my trek across Vvardenfell, but once I was in the mainland, it was much more difficult for them to find me. I made it to the pass after months of travelling, and was one of the last escaped slaves to make it safely through the pass into Cyrodiil before the blockades began."
"And you just started up an inn, right there?" Mallory asked, dumfounded.
Drevlyn chuckled. "No, not right away. This was an Imperial garrison outpost for a while. It's since been fixed up, of course… but about fifty years after I escaped, they abandoned the post. I took it up, fixed it, and started running it as an inn. Not a lot of business, but that isn't the point. The odd slave still tries to come to Cyrodiil this way."
Remmy looked up and caught sight of his mother, watching from the hatch. "Isn't that so cool, Mum?"
Lily smiled, and tried to tune out the hushed drone of Jake and Lucrezia's conversation downstairs. "Very cool, Rem." She climbed out of the trapdoor and wandered up to the table where they all sat. "The world must have been so different then."
"Lily Laroque, ever the priestess and historian," Mallory muttered, and Remmy giggled. Suna just rolled her eyes.
Drevlyn ignored the remark. Turning his bloodshot crimson eyes to her, he smiled and murmured, "Aye, a very different world. That was back when the Almsivi was young and powerful, and all was peaceful in Morrowind."
A frown decorated Lily's face, and she noticed Suna turn her face away, her eyes cast to the floor. Giving Drevlyn a hard stare, she asked, "Have things changed?"
"The Empire is a wounded creature, sera," the Dark Elf said sadly. "The de facto government Ocato is leading won't survive much longer. Diplomats from Black Marsh and Elsweyr are ignoring calls to the Elder Council and exhibiting signs of secession. Our Empire will be crushed within decades."
"And that's affecting the Almsivi?" Mallory asked. Ever curious about the world outside Cropsford, she had read all of her mother's old books from the family farm during her childhood, and even started getting books from her grandmother. She was even more knowledgeable about the goings-on of the Empire than her parents.
"Of course." Drevlyn absently pulled a wooden pipe from his pocket and fiddled with the bowl. "Almalexia and Sotha Sil are dead. Everyone knows, after that Nerevarine bullshit started twenty-one years ago, that the Tribunal is dying, just like the Empire. Only Vivec is left, and he's mortal now." He finished packing the bowl and held the pipe to his lips. "Get me a lit twig from the fire, will you?" he asked, nudging his head at Remmy.
Watching as the boy obediently did as he was told, Lily remarked, "Supporter of the Tribunal, are you?"
Drevlyn chuckled dryly and lit the pipe with the fiery twig Remmy brought back. "Heh, it's all I ever knew. So yes. I was furious when I heard that the Nerevarine destroyed the Heart of Lorkhan. Without those three, Morrowind is just going to plunge straight into darkness."
"But Dagoth Ur is dead too," Mallory pointed out. "It's balanced."
Lily grimaced. Sadly, her daughter didn't know that you never insulted the Almsivi—even remotely—in front of a staunch supporter. It could only end up badly.
Drevlyn scowled and said nothing at first. After taking a long drag on his pipe, he muttered, "Letting one devil die gives room for another to rise. The Nerevarine was only the start to the problems this Empire will have."
"I heard," Lily said, giving Mallory a stern look, "during the Daedric Invasion, that Vivec had just disappeared."
"Of course he did," grunted their host. "He's mortal. He didn't want to be killed by the Daedra. He went into hiding until all was finished. They had their problems in Morrowind too, you know, same with the rest of Tamriel. Cyrodiil wasn't the only place affected by the Oblivion Gates."
"I didn't know that."
"I get a lot of information from travellers," he admitted, shrugging and sighing softly. "Not saying you're not educated, sera; you just don't have access to the same things I do. I'm not surprised you didn't hear about this."
Lily drummed her fingers on the table. "Well, I knew the government wasn't doing so well. I just didn't know it was this serious."
Drevlyn's eyes shut and he nodded slowly. "It is this serious."
"You knew all of this?" Lily asked, turning to Suna.
The girl nodded. "Of course. I live in Mournhold. King Helseth tries, but there's only so much he can do." She sighed and shrugged. "It's not my home, but I care."
They fell silent after her words, and the cabin was quiet enough for them to hear the beginnings of a storm rise up outside.
Drevlyn exhaled slowly and leaned back in his chair so it creaked. "Hope that storm doesn't last."
Lily leaned her cheek on her palm and stared into the fire. "Me too."