Man I've been gone for a while, sorry and here I thought I'd upload regularly. Let me try to get into that jist, so that we can get this story all the way to the end before too long.
Tenebris stood in front of the gates to the College. Her Arch-Mage's hood was up, making it harder to make out her face. Luckly it was snowing pretty hard, so her hood didn't look too suspicious to others in the college who might not know what's going on. She took a quick glance to Ancano, who was leaning against the wall, out of sight of the gate.
Ancano couldn't see if Estormo was coming, so he just watched Tenebris' reactions closely, not wanting to miss anything. He was just there to offer some sort of advice silently if Tenebris got stuck. Though he didn't thing that would be the case. She was smart. Hot headed and generally didn't think before doing something, but smart none the less.
He shivered as a cold breeze passed through his thin layers. The Thalmor robes were not meant for the cold air of Skyrim and thus made it quite unbearable for an agent to be out in the cold air for too long. But outside the altmer had to stay, to make sure things went right.
The silence was stinging for both mer as they exchanged glances with each other here and there. Then Tenebris gave a small intake of breath when she saw a robed figure crossing the bridge to the gates. The snow was falling too much to tell who it was. But at this late in the evening, she was sure it was the Thalmor agent. No one else would come here at this hour. At least none others that she could think of.
XxX
Estormo walked along the bridge, cursing the cold and the Arch-Mage that made the meeting in the evening, during a snow storm. He glared up towards the gate. The Arch-Mage better be there. Otherwise he'd make sure the college had to answer to the Thalmor. He would personally see to the overtaking of the college if this turned to be a waste of his time.
Once at the gate, he glared through at the robed figure on the other side. The figure took several steps closer to the gate, allowing Estormo to see that the figure was female, wearing the Arch-Mage's robes. The short figure stopped just a few steps short of the gate. She cleared her throat and spoke out in her deep accented voice. Confirming that the Arch-Mage was indeed a dunmer. "My adviser informed me that you wanted to speak with me." The dunmer paused for a moment before she spoke again. "I..apologize for the hour. I am been quite busy since getting back."
Estormo huffed in reply and frowned darker. "Save your apologies dunmer. The Thalmor do not enjoy how you run the college, and we have questions you need to answer to." He said in a demanding voice. He didn't want to spend much time out in the cold. His robes weren't as thick as her's looked, so standing out in the cold was quite uncomfortable for the altmer.
He heard an annoyed huff from the dunmer before he launched into his investigation. "How did you come into the Arch-Mage position?" He asked, his eyes narrowing. He'd had his suspicions that the new Arch-Mage was the dunmer mage he was requested to do away with in Labyrinthian. He didn't know any details about what ever happened he'd been knocked out, leaving it open for speculation. Now he was determined prove Ancano had lied to Lady Elenwen.
There was a silent pause before the Arch-Mage hummed, and tilted her head just slightly to the side. "I have been a student here for a long time. I was a student, then became a teacher's apprentice before I started helping the Arch-Mage. I gained his trust, and by the time he was dead, the teachers agreed that I would be the best replacement, with the time I'd spent helping the Arch-Mage." Came the response. To Estormo, it sounded like there were holes in the story. Something Estormo didn't like. But he couldn't fully place where the holes were, just that there were holes.
XxX
Tenebris had tilted her head down so that the Thalmor agent couldn't see her face properly. Her greeting had sounded forced in her own mind, as she didn't greet anyone in that way at all. But she had to sound as little like herself as she could. She'd already exchanged dialogue with Estormo before when she'd gotten the Staff of Magnus. So Ancano wanted her to distance herself from her normal image as best she could. Her answer to the first question came slowly. She told the truth, without going into any detail. And the next few questions were pretty much requesting her to go into detail, which she didn't. She stayed as vague as possible.
"How long have you been at the college?" Came the next question, from the annoyingly arrogant voice. Though Tenebris had no room to talk there, her own voice normally held quite a bit of arrogance itself.
"Quite a few years." Came her reply. Her first lie. But she had to make it seem as though she'd been there long enough to gain trust, rather than just by the freak incident with the Eye. She constantly tilted her head slightly to the side to look at Ancano to see if he could silently offer her anything. Or offer anything.
"How did you get to the college?" Estormo asked next, irritation growing in his tone. According to what Ancano said, Tenebris could only guess that that irritation came from her not giving Ancano's lies away.
"I was a traveler and made my way to Winterhold. While I stayed in the town, I became interested in learning magic so I learned a few spells and applied at the college. And got in. Nothing more." She answered, folding her arms across her chest. The questions seemed easy so far. She just hoped she wasn't contradicting anything Ancano had told the Thalmor.
"What do you know of the dragonborn?" Came the irritated demand. And Tenebris then became aware of just what the Thalmor seemed to suspect.
She chewed on her lip, thinking over her answer. She glanced to the side again to Ancano, who raised his eyebrow at her, then shrugged. "I know that the dragonborn is female. Though all I heard was that she'd been summoned to the Grey Beards." She answered, mentally cursing the length of time it took for her to answer. She noted the eyebrow raise she got from the Thalmor agent. He didn't seem to buy it.
XxX
Her pauses were a little concerning. But there was no way Ancano could help her. He could just watch her from the side, out of sight. He couldn't see Estormo's physical reactions. Though his tone of voice didn't seem to be leaning in their favor. It concerned him. Though Tenebris' answers did sound believable enough. It was all up to if Estormo believed them. That was something Ancano could only pray for.
Once Estormo launched into the dragonborn questions, Ancano could only grit his teeth. He was already aware that Elenwen was concerned about that, but he wasn't aware of how much concern Elenwen had for that particular possibility.
There was a small silence. Ancano guessed Estormo was thinking. Possible about how to approach his next line of questioning. It was an uncomfortable silence, only broken by the howling of the wind while the snow continued to fall.
XxX
Tenebris bit her lip as she watched the Thalmor Agent from beneath the hood of her robes. He was thinking, as he silently gazed down at her through half lidded eyes. His expression made the dunmer uncomfortable.
Tenebris opened her mouth, ready to end the conversation with the Thalmor. Except that he beat her to it. "Listen Dunmer. I will make this very clear to you. You have not cooperated with me. And you do not cooperate with the Thalmor. Your position as Arch-Mage is in danger if you continue to be uncooperative." He threatened, causing Tenebris to shift a little uncomfortably. "As for your claims on what you know of the dragonborn, I beliv-"
XxX
"Excuse me, I have a letter for the Arch-Mage." Came a male voice behind Estormo, cutting him off. He turned and glared at the man who dared have the audacity to interrupt him. "Back away Human. There if offical Thalmor business going on." He hissed at the man, who shrinked back, scared of the Thalmor agent, who's wrath he invoked. I...Apologize.." He mumbled. "I was ordered that this was urgent." He continued in the mumble that could barely be heard over the sound of the wind around them.
Estormo glanced back to the Arch-Mage who stepped closer to the gate. "We may have to cut our meeting short. I apologize Thalmor." She said before motioning for the courtier to come closer. The courtier inched around Estormo, keeping a cautious eye on the Thalmor, who glared intensely at the man who interrupted his interogation. "If you wish. Arch-Mage." He grated through gritted teeth. Then turned and walked back along the bridge heading back to the inn.
He paid no attention to anyone around him as he marched into the inn and went straight to the room he was staying in and collapsed in the chair set across from his bed. He let out an annoyed growl. That did not go the way it was supposed to. The Arch-Mage was hiding something. Ancano assured Estormo, as well as Elenwen that it was just a slow process. But Estormo didn't believe it. He believed the Arch-Mage was the dragonborn, plotting against the Thalmor. He didn't have any proof, so he couldn't tell Elenwen that accusation, just in case it wasn't true.
XxX
Tenebris took the letter from the courtier and offered him some gold for his service and dismissed him with a thanks. Then turned, heading back to the Hall of Elements, motioning for Ancano to follow her. "I'm concerned..." She noted, half to herself and half to him. "I don't think he believed anything I said." She continued, folding her arms across her chest.
Ancano hummed in reply. Not looking down at her as they walked side by side. Tenebris slid her hood back to look up at him better. At his lack of answer, she sighed and walked inside, then went up the hallway to the Arch-mage's quarters. She threw her hood off and sunk into her desk chair. She looked at the letter, then up at Ancano. "It's from the Serana." She noted before opening the letter.
Tenebris,
I didn't know who else to turn to. Everything's changed since I was last awake. You're the only one I think I can trust.
I need to explain everything to you. I left my father. And I will be on my way to the Vampire hunting fortrace, Dawnguard. I believe was what you called it. It is dangerous for me, but at least being near that location will keep me safe from my father. Come find me there.
I will explain everything once you come.
-Serana
Tenebris looked up at Ancano. "It seems we're going on another trip." She said, setting the letter down on the desk. She sighed and rubbed her face with both hands. There was too much going on now. She didn't want to deal with Serana's request right now, but with the Elder Scroll involved, it was something she couldn't pass up.
"Where?" He asked walking forward and picking up the letter to look it over. After a moment he lowered the letter to look at the very tired looking Tenebris, "Dawnguard?" He asked, which was met with a short nod. He let out an almost inaudible sigh, "It would be a good idea for me to inform Estormo that there is little point in him staying for a while."
Tenebris watched him walk away, then sighed and pulled out some parchment, and a quill, and began to write her own letter. One to her parents.
I am so sorry for the delay. I had huge writers block for a while. I hope to get this going again and post more frequently. Thank you for waiting patiently. This is a slow chapter I know. But it get's a few things going again.