It was the middle of the day so I guessed I should take Lucien's advice and familiarize myself with the city of Skingrad. I began walking, exploring every alley and alcove I found. The whole time I felt someone watching me and honestly, it made me feel uncomfortable. I knew that it wasn't Lucien.
This made me feel cold everywhere. Since I was in an alley at the moment, feeling this way made me glance around nervously so I ran back out into the main street and almost bumped into a Skingrad guard. He glared at me but kept walking. It was getting late (finally!) and I slowly made my way towards the castle. When I say slowly, I mean slowly. I took the longest possible route to the castle. The sun had set when I got to the base of the hill that led to the impressive and imposing castle Skingrad. I cast an invisibility spell and crept up the hill. The two guards at the door didn't' see me so getting inside was relatively simple. Now how to get to the second floor…I stood against the wall and released the spell. My magika was going to be completely drained soon if I didn't rest.
This armor helped keep me invisible anyway (at least in the shadows) so I had a few seconds to get my strength back. A guard came through the courtyard and I froze, held my breath, and waited for him to pass. He did and I was unnoticed. I let my breath out with a whoosh. I officially loved this armor. I checked the courtyard then ran across and found some stairs. They led up onto a little walkway with a roof…I had an idea. I jumped and grabbed the lip of the building and swung my legs back and forth to gain momentum. Then I did a flip and landed on the roof.
"That wasn't so bad." I whispered to myself. "Now for the wall." I wasn't sure where the Count's room was so I was going to have to just get to the second floor. I cast the invisibility spell again and put a hand on the wall. I briefly thought about people would think if they saw a person scaling the wall and giggled at the thought. The stone was rough and worn but it had enough handholds to make for a (hopefully) simple climb. I placed my hands and feet where I wanted them and began climbing up slowly. My goal was the lowest window on the second floor. I detested heights and this wasn't making me feel too great. I placed a hand on a stone, moved my feet, and rested my weight on the wall. A stone under my left foot broke away and I nearly fell. I scrambled up the wall and all but leaped inside the castle. Since I was invisible, I placed my back against the wall, slid down to the floor, and placed my head between my knees.
"Gods…" I breathed. This wasn't even where my damn mark was. I stood and began creeping through the halls. I almost ran right into an argonian female when I rounded a corner. Since I was still invisible, she didn't see me but she did stop and look around like she suspected something. That wasn't good.
Follow her. Was that a voice in my head? It was back? I'd thought I'd lost it…Obviously I was wrong. The voice hadn't led me astray before, so I decided to trust it and I crept along behind the argonian. She turned and went down another hall, unlocked the massive door at the end, and I jumped in behind her before it closed and she locked it again. Now I was in an ornately decorated room in shades of scarlet and black. Such fashion sense, I thought to myself. I pulled my hood back over my head and began sneaking around. Sure I was still invisible, but I knew that the count was skilled in magic and could easily dispel the spell that I'd cast and if that happened, I didn't want him to see my face. I walked up a small flight of stairs and found the count sitting at a desk writing a letter to someone.
The argonian stopped at the base of the stairs and stood there. I walked over to the count. He spun around and quickly did what I thought he would do: he dispelled my invisibility. His look of fury quickly turned into one of recognition.
"You are from the brotherhood." It wasn't a question, but a statement of fact. I just nodded. "The silent type. Well then listen here. There is a thief planning on coming here tomorrow night. His name is not important. There is a secret door in a basement room that leads right to my quarters. You know just in case." He grinned, showing his fangs. I fought back a gasp. I didn't like seeing fangs on anybody, not even Vincinte. It just made me uncomfortable.
"I will allow you access tonight and tomorrow night to get rid of this man." I nodded. This didn't sound to hard. "Your biggest problem will be getting there. You have to go through the dungeon and then through a secret door at the end of the jail cells. Just pull the candle." This honestly sounded way to easy. What was the catch? "I can't believe I'm trusting an assassin with this information." He added to himself. I didn't blame him. I wouldn't have trusted me if I was in his position. "Just pull the candle. Alright, you're free to go." I cast the invisibility spell again and crept back out of his quarters.
The argonian stiffened as I walked by her but otherwise there were no other issues. The jail wasn't that hard to find. I found a stairwell that led right down to it. There was one guard sitting at a table reading a book and only one prisoner who was asleep in his cell. I found the candle I was told about and pulled it. The door slid open and I snuck in. It slid shut behind me when I pulled another one. I cast a night eye spell and looked around. Was that blood on the ground? I tried not to look at it. I didn't want to go any farther in this stupid hallway so I leaned up against the door and settled in for the wait.
I was about to nod off when there was a sound directly in front of me. I recast my spells and added a detect life one this time. A short bosmer was sneaking towards me. I drew my sword, glad that I got to use it, and shifted positions. The elf heard me and froze, drawing his own sword in response.
"Who are you?" He demanded. "Show yourself."
"Why don't you show yourself? You're the one who doesn't have permission to be here."
"And who are you to tell me what to do? You're just a weak little female. An Imperial by the sound of it." That just ticked me off. I released my spell and glared at where he was standing. It was honestly weird glaring at rock…He released his spell. "I was right! You are just a stupid female." What was he, sexist?
"I'm not the weak female that you think I am." I moved and the candlelight reflected off my armor slightly. The elf's eyes widened.
"You're from the Brotherhood. That's their armor…" He whispered. I grinned. It felt good watching him squirm like this. The dark thing inside of me thirsted for blood; I could feel it. "I won't let you kill me!" He yelled. The elf lunged at me and slashed at my neck. I blocked it easily and slashed his left arm, rendering it useless. He snarled at me. This was too easy. Fueled by adrenaline and whatever lived inside me, I made quick work of the elf. I didn't want to do anything with the body (From the looks of the blood, people came down here often enough) so I released ever other spell and cast the invisibility one again. I was getting tons of illusion practice tonight, I thought. I silently ran back out of the castle and into the courtyard. Someone grabbed my arm. I jumped about a foot in the air.
"Rivien, it's me!" Lucien hissed. I relaxed instantly. I felt completely safe now.
"Hey Lucien. I guess you did know exactly when I finished." He kept a hand on my arm and we walked out of the city together. Once outside, we both released out invisibility spells. I gave him a quick hug. He smiled and whistled for Shadowmere. She came out of the stables and trotted over to us. He helped me up then mounted himself.
"Ready?"
"Yeah." He began leading Shadowmere down the road. "So, when are we going to get back to Cheydinhall?" He hesitated for a moment.
"We're not going to Cheydinhall." I was confused.
"Why?" I turned to look at him.
"Because I believe that you've proven yourself."
"Proven myself?" He nodded.
"I've watched all of your contracts and I agree with everyone else; you're gifted. Sithis marked you to be one of the best assassins the brotherhood has ever seen. So Rivien, you are going to be doing your contracts with me from now on."
Author's notes:
I realize that I made a mistake in chapter 4. I said that Telaendril was an argonian when she really was a wood elf. My bad. I just didn't really see her that much. Anyway, I'm sorry that it took me four days to post anything. I had a very busy weekend. Hope you enjoyed it. Let me know what you think.
XO, eldest123323
