Ancano's gaze moved to the window he sat next to. The book titled "Night of Tears" rested lazily in his lap. The Eye had sparked quite a bit of interest in the high elf, to the point that it was difficult to think of anything but. Even so...The dunmer was also involved with the Eye. With her involved things could get more complicated.

He watched the snow dance outside with an unfazed look. Though his natural frown deepened just a little. He had to think of a way to work around the dunmer, to slowly widdle away her involvement. Though beyond gaining power, he was unsure of what to do with the Eye and had little plans besides. Which made it difficult to create a plan. His elven eyes narrowed slightly as the thought of the dunmer grew just a little. There was still the issue with the Psijic coming to see her. He would have to question her further on that. Perhaps there was a conspiracy he could expose to remove her from the college.

Ancano's gaze shifted down to the book again, and lifted it to reread the passage slowly. These battles over the Eye were interesting. Though something with that amount of magicka could surely create contention. His lip twitched at another thought. What if the dunmer was after the Eye for the same reason as he?

He stood, tossing the book unceremoniously on the chair he'd been sitting in and walked out of the Arcanaeum. He had to seek out the dunmer. The Psijic possibly told her how to control the Eye, or something more important. He had to get the answers out of her soon.

He paused in his step after stepping outside into the cold and closed his eyes, letting out an irritated huff, causing his frozen breath to billow out for a few seconds before disapearing. He hated how important the disrespectful dunmer was to the ordeal with the Eye. He opened his eyes again and turned his head to look in the direction of the sleeping quarters, where the dunmer might be, as she wasn't in the Hall of Elements. His steps took him off the path to to the main gate, stepping into the snow, cutting across the court yard to the quarters.

XxX

Tenebris seated herself down on her bed and sighed. Her usual armor was gone, replace by robes, as they were lighter and more comfortable. The normal strong look on her face replace by fatigue. She hadn't had much sleep with all the running around she'd done for the college since her and Tolfdir discovered the Eye. She had been required to find Mirabelle about the Staff of Magnus, but she required some extra rest before halling off on another potential quest.

She paid little attention to the sound of the door to the hall opening. She was too tired to react much. Not that she thought much of it anyway. It was most likely one of her classmates coming in for a rest or to grab some supplies for a class.

Tenebris looked up when she saw a figure in the archway of her small quarters. Then frowned, "What are you doing here?" She grumbled towards the certain high elf standing in her archway.

A similarly unpleasant look crossed Ancano's face, "You know why." He accused before stepping into the small room. "My earlier questioning still stands." He continued, holding his head high as he glared down at Tenebris. "I have little doubt that the Psijic came to you with information on the Eye. You will tell me what he told you."

Tenebris groaned, having wanted to forget about his questioning. It wasn't his business to what the Psijic said, though he did have quite a bit to do with the Eye, if what the Augur said was correct. Though that was beside the fact that she didn't want to be in the same room as Ancano, let alone having a conversation with him.

She opened her mouth, taking a small breath in before Ancano learched forward, and slammed her against the wall causing her to gasp out. Her hands flew up reflexively to try and knock him out of the way, though he caught her hands in his much larger hand, and held them down to the side. Then his hand clapped over her mouth. She let out a muffled noise of surprise and glanced up at the high elf out of the corner of her eye.

He leaned down and hissed in her ear, "You will not pull a stunt as you did before." To which Tenebris answered with a muffle, she tried to turn her head to the side, to send a glare towards the high elf, though his strong hand held her head straight. "Now, you will tell me what the Psijic wanted." He breathed out, causing Tenebris to shiver as the breath hit her ear.

Ancano waited a few moments before he allowed his hand to lower from her mouth. Though he resituated his hand to grip her jaw, forcing her head to stay forward, away from his person, who was standing just to the side of her. "Now speak." He ordered.

Tenebris glanced back up at him, and her lip twitched up in a snarl, and tried to pull at least one of her hands away from the grip of his larger hand. She let out a small yelp when she felt a small shock charge through her arms. She glanced down at the hands and saw a few small sparks graze over the back of his gloved hand. She snarled at him again, though this time expressing her irritation towards the fact that he was winning this time. She couldn't get a leg up with this altercation. He seemed to have already had a plan set up.

She let out a sigh, not wanting to be in the humiliating position much longer, "He told me to find the Augur." She finally half grumbled. Glancing away from him so that she didn't see his triumphant smirk.

"You were instructed to seek out the Augur, why?" He further questioned. She shuddered at the almost gleeful tone in his voice. It made her feel sick to think that her humiliation caused him this glee.

"They had concerns about the Eye, but didn't tell me why." She grumbled more. A pout almost unfolding on her face. Though she wouldn't give him that benefit.

"And the Augur told you?" The high elf pressed. Absolutely loving that things were going his way with the difficult disrespectful dunmer.

Tenebris grumbled and glared at the high elf out of the corner of her eye. "That you're an ass." She growled. Though in her mind, that wasn't too far from the truth. She let out a groan when she felt another electrical jolt through her arms. She shot the high elf another glare, "That's the short version." She gritted out through her teeth. "It said you're going to create a whole lot of hell for everyone." She continued through gritted teeth.

Ancano observed the dunmer for a few moments just to see if she had any more to offer, and to decide if she was being truthful. He finally let her off the wall and pushed her away as if she were some vile thing he'd touched. Then left, pace quick. Leaving Tenebris to rub her jaw, and glare at his retreating form. He was good at what he did. She'd give him that. Though she wouldn't like it, and she wouldn't admit it to anyone.

XxX

In his quarters, Ancano paced. Thinking over what the Augur had said, and what the dunmer had said. They mattered little towards his eventual goal. But they were things he still had to consider, as she was an obstacle in his path. He stopped in his pacing when The words from the Augur entered his mind

"These will lead to your ruin."

These...Which meant that there was more than just the Eye the Augur was talking about. Another warning entered his mind, though was blocked out by a foreign whisper. He looked around, wondering where or what the whisper was. It sounded dark, but it was too quiet to distinguish. He opened his mouth, wondering if he would hear the whisper better if he voice the command out loud. But a whisper sounded again, and he felt a pull.

"The eye will guide you on your path..."

Were these whispers the eye? He closed his mouth, and looked towards his door. Then started walking towards it, intent to go to the eye. Maybe he could hear it better if he were closer.

He stopped, another warning from the Augur entering his mind, temporarily blotting out the whispers he tried desperately to understand.

"Your perseverance will only lead you to disappointment"

He stayed, paused, looking at the door. Wondering which to heed, the whisper, or the Augur. His frown widened and he placed his hand against the door, leaning against it. He looked down. His perseverance was the will of the Thalmor. And they valued power within their superior species. With the eye, he would be highly valued within the Thalmor to pursue their will.

He raised his head and opened his door, exiting his chambers.

Thank you for reading. I'm actually very happy with this chapter.