The eyes of the council were again upon her, only this time they all seemed to be studying her. After incinerating the ill-fated Mucianus and saying a brief prayer for his soul Lilia had transported back to the Imperial City. She'd refreshed her magical anchor and then had made her way directly to the University through the blizzard that was currently creating large drifts of snow against the walls, angled drunkenly by the icy winds. She'd last met with them late this morning and it was obvious that they were pondering her remarkably quick return. She suspected that Raminus had not shared the fact that she knew how to teleport, though she was sure the members of the council would quickly be able to deduce it. For some reason the spell was relatively unused in Cyrodiil. In her experiences in the outlying provinces it was far more common. In Morrowind they even had three different versions, but she'd only ever learnt the one.
"A worm thrall? And he's been conveniently turned into ash? Did the Necromancer suffer the same fate?" Irlov Jarol did not seem to believe her tale. His tone was very hostile as he questioned her.
"No. You'll find her pieces on the lowest level if you want to go look for yourself. It's an easy journey to get there, no traps at all." She gave the man a wicked smile as she lied. The thought of a long metal spike poking up out of his circular head, like a grape on a toothpick, pleased her. He really didn't like her and the feeling was mutual.
"Irlov." Caranya's voice held a note of warning as she hushed the Imperial. She turned her eyes back to Lilia and gave her another soft smile. But her golden eyes didn't smile along, too busy studying Lilia intently. "How did you manage to kill the Necromancer? If she could create a worm thrall she must have been very powerful."
"I don't know how powerful she was, but a well-placed arrow made her no longer a threat." Lilia gestured to the bow on her back. She was not comfortable revealing the magics that she'd used to defeat the Breton. She didn't want her strategies to be used against her, and she strongly suspected that there was a mole either close to the council or on the council itself.
"An arrow? You killed a Necromancer with an arrow?" Maranique's sultry voice dripped with disdain.
"It worked, didn't it?" Lilia turned her attentions away from the Imperial Battlemage and over to the Arch Mage. He hadn't said anything to her story and he looked as though he was assessing her. She still hadn't ruled him out as a traitor. Since he'd assumed his role things had gotten progressively worse for the guild. "So what's the plan? It's obvious that the Necromancers are enemies of the guild. You must move against them now. Surely Mucianus was able to provide you with some useful information after a year undercover."
"Magician, you forget your place!" Irlov's voice was so loud he was almost shouting. "It is not for you to dictate to the council. Now I don't care what Raminus has said, I order you to show me your hand."
"You want to see it so badly? Fine!" Lilia pulled off her left gauntlet and made an obscene gesture at him with her clear and rippling fist. A chameleon spell hid the mark from view. As Irlov's hands began to glow with white dispel magicka she quickly cast spell reflection. His charge of white energy bounced off her fist and hit Maranique right in the face. As Lilia ducked down under the table, putting its thick bulk between her and Jarol, she noticed that the Battlemage had a very large red pimple right on the tip of her nose.
"Stop it! All of you!" Traven's angry voice carried over the various oaths, curses, and even the shrill cries of fury of Maranique that bounced against the walls. Though the Breton's cries were somewhat muffled by the hands she was holding in front of her nose. "I will not have spells flying about the council chamber. Magician, get out from under the table."
Lilia crawled out as dignified as she could and stood defiantly in front of the mages. They could expel her for all she cared. She could see no compelling reason to try and aid them any longer. She thought that her original assessment had been correct - they were fools.
"You have completed your task and we thank you for it, but do not presume that your opinions are sought. Leave us. We have much to discuss." Hanibal dismissed her coolly.
Lilia stalked over to the teleportation pad and found herself in the deserted foyer. Fools! They were all fools! The servants of the King of Worms were already at war with them - they just didn't see it. The time for talk had passed. It was now time for action.
The soft hum of the teleportation pad behind her made her turn around. Raminus walked over to her and grabbed her arm firmly, pulling her outside into the swirling snow. His face was grim and a little angry and Lilia wasn't in the mood to soothe him. But she allowed him to guide her down to the shore, his robes collecting clumps of snow as they went out into the chill twilight. Out of all of them he was the only one she trusted not to be a traitor. The fear he'd shown when he'd first seen her mark had been genuine, and if he'd been a Necromancer that would not have been his reaction. If he'd been a Necromancer she'd probably already be dead.
"Would it kill you to be civil just once?" Frustration was evident in Raminus' voice. The way he looked at her was the same look her father used to give her when she'd been caught getting into mischief. The resemblance was so uncanny she found herself wanting to laugh despite her foul mood.
"Yes, actually, it might. Raminus, the Necromancers knew I was coming. Who else besides the council was aware of the plan?" He'd released her arm and she was standing facing the water. The sky was amber, the low grey clouds reflecting the torches and fires that lit the Imperial City, glowing with light that was not their own. The water looked black by comparison as it swallowed up the gusts of snow, its high waves relentless in their gluttony.
His frown deepened at the question. "No one. We decided to keep it secret when we discussed it this morning, since Mucianus' allegiance was in question. Are you sure they were warned in advance?"
Lilia told him about the Breton's words and watched as his eyes grew so narrow they almost disappeared.
"Damn it Lilia! Why didn't you tell the council?" His angry shouts were dampened by the wind and snow. "How can they decide what to do when you hold back information?"
"I didn't tell the council because one of the members is a Necromancer." She kept her voice low. He was getting very agitated.
"What! Who told you that?" The Imperial threw his hands up and a wave of fire washed over him. Lilia shrank back until she realized he was just using the magical flames to keep himself warm. He wasn't wearing anything besides his mages robes in the middle of a raging blizzard.
"You did." Her answer caused Raminus to look at her as if she'd sprouted a second head.
"You're mad. I said no such thing."
"Yes you did. Just now. You told me that only the council knew that I was going to investigate Mucianus. The Necromancer was expecting me." If only the council members and herself had known of what she was going to do today then at least one of the six people who'd been in the council chambers must be a spy for the King of Worms. And she was sure it wasn't her, and she was also sure it wasn't Raminus.
"Are you sure the Necromancer didn't see you in the ruins? Your armour is rather distinctive." He pointed towards her multi-metaled cuirass.
"She didn't see me. If she'd been spying on me I would have smelled herrr, err...something fishy." Lilia managed to catch herself before she said too much. Raminus would definitely want to know just how she could smell a Necromancer. "Besides, she was behind a wall. I don't know of any spell that allows you to see through walls."
"This is not good. This is not good at all." Raminus' eyes were searching the shore, examining the snow-encrusted rocks. He shot off a blast of shock magicka at one, sending the snow flying off in large clumps. She could have sworn he muttered something about never finding a mud crab when you needed one as he did so.
"So what are we going to do about it? The council has at least one traitor on it, and the only member I trust is freezing his ass off in the middle of a snowstorm while the rest of them decide the fate of the guild." Raminus was no longer darkly eyeing boulders and was now looking at her instead.
"Before I return to them is there anything else that you failed to report to the council?" Now he looked like a tutor who knew that she'd cheated on a test. Lilia found her lips curling into a smile despite the inhospitable surroundings and rather distressing subject matter.
"No. But I did bring you back something. Think of it as a peace offering. I know you're very curious about them." She reached into her pack and pulled out the dark purple crystal she'd recovered from the body of the Breton. Passing it to Raminus she noticed how he hesitated to grab it.
"A black soul gem." He was examining the crystal. After a few moments his eyes shot back to her. "Why didn't you destroy it when you found it? You know such things are not tolerated by the guild."
"Destroy it? Why would I do that? Besides, you can always use it when you catch the traitor." She smiled at him as she spoke, but her smile faltered as she noticed his expression. He was now looking at her as if she'd sprouted a third head.
"I cannot believe that you just suggested not only using a tool of the Necromancers but doing so in order to capture a person's soul." The Imperial's tone was very cold and he was glowing again with magical flames. Lilia wasn't sure that they were being used entirely for warmth this time.
"Soul? Do you honestly think I would wander around with the soul of a Necromancer on my booo…back? I mean, if it had been full." Her tongue was far too loose tonight. "Don't tell me that you believe the superstitious nonsense about being able to capture souls with crystals." From the look on his face as she replied Lilia had the impression that he did indeed believe the tales.
"So what do they capture? Enlighten me. Now." The mage still hadn't extinguished his flames.
"Life force." Lilia stated matter of factly.
"I fail to see the distinction." The fire was definitely brighter now.
"Don't incinerate me, for Akatosh's sake! I'll explain." She was pleased to see him dim a little. "What happens to a person's soul when they die? Normally, I mean. Like from old age."
"It goes to the Aedra, Daedra, or wherever it belongs." At least he knew the answer to that question.
"Right. And can the soul be summoned back to Nirn? Could a Necromancer recall it with even their most powerful Dark arts?"
"No. Souls don't return." He was still giving her that strange look.
"Exactly. So then tell me, Master Wizard, what exactly is it that the so-called soul gems capture when you kill a reanimated zombie? Or a Necromancer created skeleton?" She made sure not to sound too smug when she asked the question. He really didn't seem happy with her tonight.
"Well, the soul is, um. Hmm." His flames dimmed to a gentle glow. She'd certainly given him something to think about. "So then what do they capture? Why do they come in different strengths?"
"You never studied enchanting, did you?" He shook his head in response to her question. She knew it wasn't a very popular subject among mages. It was considered tedious and very unglamourous. Learning how to make a pair of gloves that glowed with magical light was far less alluring than learning how to conjure a xivilai or freeze a goblin solid. "The crystals capture life force, the energy that keeps the body together, the magical spark that animates us all. Depending on the complexity of the creature the amount of energy available increases substantially. Humans seem to have the most amount of mystical energy in them, which is why the black soul gems create such powerful enchantments. But in order to fill one you need to kill somebody, and that is why the use of black soul gems, as well as the practice of Necromancy, is abhorred."
"Life force?" He asked the question to the black soul gem in his hand. "Does anything capture souls?"
"Not that I'm aware of. I've never heard of such a thing in all of my research into the acolytes of the King of Worms. Even when they create a worm thrall, like Mucianus, they can't contain the soul. It wasn't a pleasant end for him, but he wasn't trapped in that rotten undead prison of flesh. His soul passed on when his body finally died, hopefully to the Nine." Lilia was shivering as she spoke, and not from the cold. "Besides, I can hardly see the Aedra or Daedra allowing a soul of theirs to fall into someone else's hands. They tend to be rather possessive of such things."
"I should head back to the council." He turned to go.
"Wait. Raminus, you said that the council only decided to send me to discover what happened to Mucianus this morning. If so, why did you post a dremora at my front door two days ago?" Lilia had encountered a very unhappy Methredhel after she'd returned home from her illicit activities in the Arcane University. Apparently the demon had been standing under Lilia's leaning porch threatening to eat people's flesh when they passed by. After she'd received the note he had been sent to deliver Lilia had cast a shield spell before she'd tried to calm the angry Bosmer. Methredhel somehow felt that Lilia had been to blame for the unpleasant company.
"Yes. In the midst of all this I almost forgot. I received a letter from Count Hassildor. He has some information for us and he says he'll only give it to you. If you want to help the guild I'd suggest you go and see him at once. He wants you to be discreet. He's a powerful ally to have and a very good source of information." Raminus frowned at the lake. "Especially now that Mucianus is dead. We've no longer got any insight into their activities. The guild is blind. So as a favour to me, try to be civil."
"Very well. On one condition."
"What's that?" His voice was both curious and hesitant.
"You never send a daedra to my home again. If you do then I won't need to worry about my soul anymore. My neighbours will have already released it from Nirn."
