Author's Note: Sorry for the delays (past and future). I have not abandoned this, it's just real life taking precedence.
Chapter Twenty-Six: Breaks
--SI--
Lahallia sat on her bed in Sickly Bernice's Taphouse, while Herdir sulked in a corner. The stooge colored the atmosphere of the room as surely as the moisture of the late evening storm crept in, bringing the smells of dingy, rain washed streets. Truly, he must find it galling to not participate in the mission to which he was assigned. Lahallia felt no pity for him, much preferring heading this investigation with finesse. At least then the inhabitants would not hate her, should she need to interact with them at some point in the future.
"You're quite certain?" Her gaze travelled over to the window, which Orphael closed, blocking the conversation and the evening air out.
Orphael nodded before giving Lahallia his attention, or most of it. "Very. They meet late most nights, especially over the last few."
"Who are they?" sneered Herdir from his corner, hating both the Altmer and the Mazken. Without the rain he felt restless, the precipitation, however, brought downright edginess.
Orphael cast a supremely distasteful glance at the twisted little Imperial. Yes, he must feel frustrated at his lack of usefulness, but it did not account for why he was so twitchy. The Mazken didn't like it, though he liked the looks Herdir occasionally tossed Lahallia's way even less. Unwilling to take Herdir to task over any ideas the man might have about introducing the Seer to any of the implements in Syl's torture chamber while Lahallia was in earshot, Orphael put it on his list of things to do. Best Herdir know someone here knew what he was thinking. "They are Ma'zaddha the Khajiit, and Grakedrig Nelrene. Haven't you been listening?" Orphael answered calmly, though with a hint of distaste. "It stands to reason they'll meet again tonight, particularly since no one is sure whether we got to Anya or not."
Herdir's stomach dropped straight to the soles of his feet. How had they discovered Nelrene's involvement? Her hand was supposed to remain undetectable, using the other conspirator as a cover…
Damn the Seer's Visions - he could think of no other explanation. Nelrene needed to know, and soon.
"They'll assume we have. I would." Lahallia got to her feet, looking from Orphael to Herdir. Like Orphael, she had not missed the looks Herdir was giving her, though unlike Orphael she did not concern herself with them. As long as all he did was look she had no complaint. She did not doubt her ability to deal with Herdir should trouble arise. From a broken mind like his, Lahallia expected musing about causing pain in others, particularly others he did not like. Clearly she found her way onto the list. "How late?"
"Sometime while it's dark. You know day and night aren't exactly consistent around here." Orphael's gaze wandered out the rain spattered window.
Madgod's realm, Madgod's rules, and it occurred to Lahallia she no longer cared how light or dark it was outside, so much as when she was awake, and when others were awake. The need for rest remained unaffected by strange - and often abbreviated - times for day and night. "In that case..." She pulled her cloak from its peg on the wall, swirling it around herself.
Orphael started for the door, giving Herdir a jerk of the chin, indicating he should move as well.
"No." Lahallia strode to the door ahead of both men, glancing back before turning the handle to let herself out. "You stay here."
"What?" Her words caught Orphael flat-footed.
"I said stay here," Lahallia clarified with patience she did not really feel. "I'm not going to give away the game by taking both of you." Not the least because Herdir gave the impression of having no skill at sneaking. At least she could magically hide herself. "It's easier to hide one person than three." Especially with what she had in mind, favoring detect life spells as she did.
Herdir jumped at the opportunity to get away from scrutiny. This early and he might yet be able to warn Nelrene. "Well, if you're going to continue not needing me I should like…"
"You will stay here as well." Lahallia's tone brooked no argument. "I may yet find a use for you, so I'd like you to stay where I can find you. If you please." The pleasantry remained perfunctory, leaving no one in any doubt she did not expect to, but simply wished for some form of convenience.
Orphael repressed a smirk. If Lahallia had not stopped Herdir leaving, he certainly would have. Something rubbed him wrong about the way the Imperial jumped at the excuse to get away from them, when previously he acted with all hope that Lahallia would call upon his not so delicate touch for interrogations. Perhaps he was simply bored, but a Mazken knew enough not to take things at face value, without looking for deeper meaning – and treachery – first.
"So stay here, and don't kill each other." Orphael blinked – surely she wasn't actually joking. The smile hovering faintly around her mouth, like the lingering taste of fine Dementia brandy indicated a slow creep of real humor. "I'll be back when I know something." Lahallia shut the door behind herself.
Herdir swore softly, before flinging himself into a chair, growling sourly.
So, the Attendant was sloughing off the Apocrypha's influence. Or perhaps she simply found herself comfortable, more or less, in present company. "Have you something else demanding your precious time?" Orphael asked, returning to the window, opening the catch again to let in some fresh air. He caught sight of Lahallia heading out of the Taphouse and up the muddy street before she vanished into thin air.
Herdir's eyes burned like coals, aimed at the Mazken's back. His hand drifted to a pocket in his trousers, touching the neatly coiled garrote within. So easy to dispatch the Mazken…if she wanted him back, she would simply need to get word to Pinnacle Rock. They would not refuse such a request from Sheogorath's Agent, and the Mazken would come back, be none the wiser…and he'd certainly cause less trouble, with all suspicions wiped from his mind like so much dust.
Orphael turned sharply, his eyes drawn immediately to the hand by Herdir's pocket. "Don't even think about it, Mortal." Really, if Herdir thought he could sneak up on and kill a Mazken, Herdir was crazier than Orphael ever gave him credit. The most basic powers of perception screamed to keep one eye on Herdir, or at least, an ear open when he was in the room. Even the Attendant, who should have shown a naïve streak a mile wide – and thankfully had defied this expectation – knew enough to keep an eye on the Imperial, if Orphael wasn't.
Herdir blanched.
"That's right. We know how you think." Orphael walked over to the table upon which Lahallia left her catalogue, flipping the book open, watching as the scrawl inside seemed to shiver for a moment before his eyes, then appeared completely readable, whereas a moment before it was not. Not the most interesting material to pretend read, but leaning on the table allowed him to put his back to a corner. It was certainly more interesting than harassing Herdir.
We know what you think. Well, it was not hard to divine what a murderous twerp like that had on his mind: pain. Preferably someone else's, but maybe he was more twisted than he let on. Herdir and Nelrene should really…
The catalogue in Orphael's hands lowered, his gaze unfocused as his mind began to work doubly fast. Surely not. Eyebrows knitting together, Orphael regarded Herdir from beneath them. Suddenly, the Imperial's skittishness made sense, his recent eagerness to get away from the inquisition, to find himself on his own all fell into place.
Well, well, well. Lahallia would like to know about this duplicity and possibility of treachery. Even if it turned out he had followed the wrong track of logic – Orphael did not make the mistake of thinking his logic infallible – he could needle Nelrene about it later, should opportunity arise.
--SI--
Drizzle made the dreary streets of Crucible soggy, causing the puddles of foulness to overrun their usual bounds, adding slick sludge to the soupy mud. The rain beating down as the evening wore on plastered Lahallia's hair flat against her skull, even through the hood of her cloak, tangling the ends to the point she dreaded having to cut them off.
Her hair had not given her so much trouble since…she could not remember when.
Then again, she blew water from her lips, squinting through the blue-wash of a nighteye spell, the Apocrypha was not known for erratic weather.
Vanity aside, the chill of Crucible – not to mention the smell – was starting to get to her. As she waited atop her vantage point, plans for a hot soak with equally hot tea – or perhaps something stronger, but no less warming – took shape.
If anyone took the precaution of looking around, even with a detect life spell, the likelihood remained low that they would see Lahallia, perched quite a few feet above the 'the usual meeting place' Orphael indicated after his investigations. Stretched belly down on the roof, Lahallia's confidence her life-light would go unnoticed remained high. People simply did not look up when looking for eavesdroppers.
In this case, eaves-dropping was almost a literal state of being. Getting onto the roof required magical assistance, as would getting back down. However, unable to come up with anything better, where she felt the changes of discovery were low, the roof it was. She could not hear, perhaps, anything going down on street level, but she could see just fine.
Right now, all she needed was to see two people slinking about after dark. She would let guilty conscience and an attempt at imitating Orphael's rather sadistic performance earlier do the rest. Otherwise, she might have to invite the real thing to join the discussion.
Lahallia could admit to liking Orphael, but the fact remained she still retained the Attendant's mindset that her projects were her projects, and not something shared by a group. Quite apart from which, he had so far proved extremely amicable, which made her think he was preparing some comment to rile her up, lest he find himself rather well-liked by a dedicated Attendant.
Sheogorath forbid he ever become friends with one.
Lahallia's mouth twisted into a smile at the inanity of the thoughts, a smile which vanished within moments as a Khajiit slipped into the back alley her rooftop vantage point overlooked, moving tentatively in the mud. Almost directly beneath her eyes, he stopped, waiting.
Her skin prickled as with warmth as invisibility set back in, the need for precaution making her careful. The Khajiit's voice reached her, even if the words did not, worried with a hint of something similar to barely controlled fear.
--SI--
Ma'zaddha shivered as rainwater crept into his fur, making him feel twice as heavy as he usually did. The sound of invisible sloshing feet gave him a few seconds' warning before Nelrene appeared from the gathered gloom, looking nothing short of bad tempered. Water coursed down her dark skin in glistening rivulets, as she waved a hand, a murky green magelight appearing above her palm.
"Well?" Nelrene pinned the Khajiit with her keen eyes.
"Bad news."
"I saw Anya Herrick brought in." Nelrene shook her head. The lack of screams and shouts indicated nothing too terrible had befallen the scapegoat, which accounted for Nelrene's poor mood. That and Herdir's continued silence. Surely he would find a way to slip away from the others if something genuinely went wrong. "It doesn't matter. Find out what she told them. If she held her silence, see she does it soon."
"And if she didn't?" Ma'zaddha asked.
Nelrene cast a look about the alleyway, detect life suddenly misting her eyes. Nothing indicated the presence of eavesdroppers. "It doesn't matter. She's in easy reach." Nelrene wiped rain from her face, flinging it carelessly to the ground. "Just to be safe…make sure our mutual friend is ready to go into action, should Herrick fail. The inquisition is still chasing their tails, but they will not stay distracted indefinitely."
The Khajiit nodded quickly, eager to affirm his willingness to follow orders.
"Do it quickly." Nelrene glanced about again, then vanished, swallowed by the night, her magelight going out as the invisibility spell took hold.
--SI--
Nelrene's footsteps remained visible for some distance, Ma'zaddha watching her go. Lahallia cautiously shifted to a sitting position before slipping off the roof, the levitation spell catching her midair. Lahallia waited until Nelrene was out of earshot before dropping herself in the mud – almost losing balance as it oozed to accommodate her feet.
Ma'zaddha nearly shrieked when he turned around to find the Grand Inquisitor standing several feet away from him. "Y-you…"
"Don't be coy." Lahallia's tone cut softly through the night. "I heard you, I heard Nelrene, I know what this is about." She did not light a magelight, nor did she renew her nighteye spell. She did, however, pull magicka into her fist, so the air hummed, the spell at the ready. "So you can talk to me, and save yourself a great deal of pain and suffering…or you can talk to Herdir, and I get to listen to you scream yourself hoarse. Or," Lahallia added on a flight of inspiration, "I'll let my Mazken have you. Then you'll wish you knew more. Infinitely more."
In the blue shades of Khajiiti night vision, Lahallia's smile took on sinister tones as she played upon the Khajiit's fear of and shock at sudden discovery. "What do you want?"
"I want names, obviously. Evidence. And you will be watched. Any hint of duplicity, any attempt to warn your Mazken friend there," Lahallia motioned in the direction Nelrene had vanished, "and we'll see how Lady Syl feels about your plans. Believe me, Ma'zaddha, I could make this stick to you very easily."
"Then why don't you?" The words left Ma'zaddha's lips before he could stop them.
Lahallia beamed. "Because I want to make the right sort of impression. Pulling this little bit of foolishness up by the roots would certainly do that. But if you don't want the immunity that comes with working with me, I'll quite understand."
As Ma'zaddha nodded mutely, he wondered if he had not just met a bigger devil than the one he usually worked with. "I'll have what you want by tomorrow, midnight," he answered. The Inquisitor didn't know anything, after all...
"Midnight then. Don't disappoint me." Lahallia turned to walk away, feeling apprehensive. Casting a spell of invisibility around herself, she heard Ma'zaddha groan.
--SI--