"Have you ever thought of becoming something other than a lowly mercenary?"
Teldryn's face twisted at yet another of the man's jabs at him. At first it had been something to occupy the time, arguing with the half-wit. Now it was just annoying him to no end. "No."
Avari gave him a sympathetic look before turning to Deculin and forcing a smile. "The sun is giving me quite a sore head, perhaps we can travel the rest of the way in silence."
Teldryn nodded in agreement. "I can already see the gates, perhaps if your companion can keep his mouth shut for only a short while longer..."
"Excuse me?" Deculin jerked his head towards Teldryn. "Are you forgetting who is paying you?"
"The young lady here." He pointed at Avari with his chin before narrowing his eyes at Deculin. "Why you are here is beyond me. You don't seem to be doing anything, but flapping that oversized mouth of yours."
"Enough!" Avari screamed. "Everyone just shut up and be done with it. When we reach Anvil we will go our separate ways and be done." She snapped, finally reaching her point after listening to their back and forth the whole journey.
The rest of the ride was silent, only the hooves of their horses clicking against the stone road filled the air. Deculin opened his mouth a few times before snapping it shut. When they came to the gate and dismounted Avari quickly walked away with Teldryn following close behind her. Clearly offended, Deculin made no move to follow after them. It seemed that Sybina's message was unneeded now and the two made their way straight to the docks.
"Do you think we should at least get the message just in case?" Teldryn finally spoke as they began to board the ship.
"No. I am likely to snap at him if he makes any type of appearance." Avari groaned.
The two hurried into their quarters, more to hide from the annoying man before he had any type of chance to spot them aboard the ship. With their luck he would hop right on and follow clear to Morrowind. Teldryn fell onto one of the cots with a loud sigh. After sleeping on the hard ground last night, this welcomed him warmly. He turned his head to look over at Avari who had slowly sat down onto her own bed. He turned onto his side, propping himself up on his elbow to look at her.
"What's wrong?"
"Nervous to see Miraak."
"Do you think he's going to be that harsh with you?"
"No, I-I don't know. He seemed really upset at first, but now it's different. Worse even. I can handle him being upset with me."
"He gets upset by the wind blowing." Teldryn groaned, falling back onto the mattress."
"He is hard to please, but I think he has a valid reason this time to be upset with us."
"Us?" He turned to look at her. "I only came out here because he wanted me to go after you. If it wasn't for Edgster he would have began this war before he was even ready to just to get to you."
"I know." She looked down at her hands.
"Don't regret the choice you made, Avari. You've always led us in the right direction."
"Except it's more than just you and me now though."
"It worked out in the end, that's all I care about."
"You might be speaking a bit too soon." She laughed dryly.
The ride to Morrowind was long and involved many days and nights of Teldryn bent over the side of the large ship and spewing his meals into the salty water below. When they finally arrived she thought to see Miraak waiting for them, but the docks were void of anything with the priest's presence. It had taken Teldryn asking many people to find that his camp was miles away.
"I thought Tenven sent word that we would be arriving." Teldryn remarked as he hauled both of their packs on his back, walking down the road in the direction they had been pointed towards.
"Maybe he didn't want to endanger us by waiting fully armed and manned for an arrival of a ship straight from Cyrodiil."
It felt like hours had passed before the familiar banners came into view. A moment later and they were greeted by armed soldiers.
Teldryn dropped the packs in front of his feet, a warm smile tugging at his lips. "Finally! You boys can haul these up to the camp for the lady and me."
Avari quickly raised her hands to show she was unarmed when the soldiers pulled their blades and pointed them at the duo's throats. She couldn't help the shriek that escaped her lips when one of the men yanked her arm behind her back and pushed her to the ground.
"Have you gone mad?!" Teldryn yelled moving to knock the man off her back only to have a blade pushed against his throat, the sharp tip of the blade digging into the tender flesh under his chin. He narrowed his eyes at the man, before turning his attention back to Avari who was gasping loudly at the pain as rope was secured around her wrist.
She could barely breath with the man's knee pressed firmly against her back, his body weight pushing her into the dirt. She closed her eyes tightly, keeping the dirt from entering them like it was her mouth. Suddenly she was jerked upright, a hand grabbing her hair from behind, yanking her head towards the sky.
"He's going to kill you for that." Teldryn growled, eying the man who had a hold of the women.
"I want to see Miraak." Avari forced out, gasping after each word she spoke. Stars danced behind her eyes at the pain from the man's hand twisting itself in her hair.
"You are not in a position to make demands!" The man barked out, pulling her hair back more. The soldier turned to his fellows, nodding his head toward Teldryn. "Take him to the Lord."
The other men quickly grabbed Teldryn, forcing his arms behind his back. Teldryn fought back, landing a fist against one of the advancing men's jaw. They quickly pushed him into the ground, one giving him a hard stomp to the head.
Avari fought against the weight of the one who had her pinned, watching Teldryn's eyes roll back in his skull as he lost consciousness. "Get off me!" She growled, bucking wildly when they began to drag Teldryn away. Waiting until the men were far enough away that they wouldn't be able to come so quickly to their friend's aid, she threw her leg up. The heel of her boot hit hard on the back of the man's head, disorienting him enough that she could get her arms back around her and push her body up. Twisting just enough to get the man off her back and hurrying to her feet. "Bastard!" She growled through clenched teeth, bringing the flat of her foot hard on to his head, just as they had done to Teldryn. She jogged after the group who'd taken Teldryn, unwinding the rope around her wrist. The blood that had gathered on her lips and chin was wiped away with the back of her hand, the ring on her finger catching the light from the sun and bringing her attention to it. She'd completely forgot about wearing it, it'd become like any other piece of jewelry she wore. She pulled it from her finger, stuffing it into her pocket and picking up speed as the group ducked into a tent.
Roughly pulling back the thick leather covering that made as a door, she stomped inside, the whole room becoming quiet at her appearance.
"Avari?" Edgster stood, looking to her with amazement.
She ignored him, moving to the soldier who had kicked Teldryn in the head. Her fist balled tightly before winding back and hitting the man hard in his face. His grip immediately let loose the Dunmer who collapsed on the floor and knocked the soldier onto his back side.
"Know your place!" One of the older men corrected another soldier who moved to restrain the woman. "That is Lady Avari." He took hold of the younger man's arm, pulling him back into place.
She ignored the two, grabbing the front of the leathers that belonged to the man she'd just knocked down. "Do you recognize me now?!" She hissed, roughly grabbing his chin and forcing him to look at her. She slipped the ring from her pocket and quickly slipped it on her finger. "How about now, you damned fool!" She pushed him back onto the ground, pulling the ring from her finger once more and throwing it to the bloodied man who had once pinned her to the ground. Having just made his entrance into the tent. She moved to Teldryn, kneeling next to him and rolling him onto his back, carefully cradling his head. "Is this how these men operate now?!" She snapped towards the still shocked Edgster. "Attacking us before we even enter the camp?!"
"My Lady, we didn't..."
She glared at the older soldier. "You didn't give us a chance to even explain! You attacked us, immediately! And what's worse, some of you recognized Teldryn and look at still what you did!"
Miraak walked with two of the men who had come to retrieve him after an altercation on the road leading to camp. He raised his eyebrow at the yelling coming from the main tent, looking at the guards who were hurrying passed them.
"What's the commotion about?" Kotod appeared suddenly, a hood pulled over his face to keep it safe from the blazing sun.
"The men said they caught someone trying to walk into the camp." Miraak answered, coming to a stop next to the vampire.
"A drunkard, perhaps? I've never heard someone make such a scene over being some where they should not be." Kotod laughed calmly. "Edgster is in there, is he not?"
"He was when I took my leave."
"Poor old man, he's probably so flustered with all that commotion."
Miraak chuckled. "Perhaps I should leave him to it then."
"More excitement is something he's lacking." Kotod smirked, looking back at the tent just as the flap flew open.
"Get off me, you fool!" Avari emerged, being gently handled by the newly arrived guards. "Take your hands off me!" She pushed the man holding her arm, getting him to release her.
"Lady Avari, please calm down." Edgster pleaded.
"Look at my face, Edgster! Your men did this to me!" She pointed at the gash in her lip, fresh blood dripping down her chin.
"They didn't mean..." He kept his voice calm, a frown painting his face.
"I don't care what they meant to do! They should not be man-handling anyone!" She glared at the old man, his calm voice angering her more.
"Ah, I would have never guessed it was Avari causing all this noise." Kotod sighed, moving towards the group when Teldryn stumbled out.
Miraak slowly walked towards her.
"Avari, you just don't understand what we've been dealing with since we arrived here." Edgster pleaded, glancing over her shoulder at the approaching priest.
"It doesn't excuse the reaction that we received." Her face twisted with anger when someone grasped her shoulder, taking the unwanted hand into her own and tightly squeezing its fingers while she whipped around, tearing the hand from her shoulders. "I said don't touch me!" She screamed, quickly closing her mouth at the face in front of her.
Kotod looked up from tending Teldryn's face at the sudden silence. "Ah, I see you've decided to intervene." He remarked before turning attention back to Teldryn.
Miraak looked from Avari's battered face to the two men who had bloodied rags held up to their faces. "Do any of you want to even try to explain why my wife's face looks like this and why two of my men are also bleeding?" He looked over the group slowly.
"She wore a ring that changed her appearance." Edgster spoke up. "They did not recognize her."
"Did Teldryn also wear a similar ring?" Miraak turned to the Dunmer who shook his head. "Then does anyone want to explain why he also looks like he's been beat?"
The men looked down at the ground, none of them coming forward with any type of reason.
"Edgster, see that they are punished."
"Yes, my Lord." Edgster bowed his head slightly before motioning for the guards to take the small group of soldiers.
"Perhaps you should go deal with that." Kotod approached them. "It will give me time to get these two cleaned up." He looked at Avari, cupping her chin softly. "I imagine that cut is going to begin causing her pain soon now that the commotion has died down."
Miraak nodded in agreement before walking away without saying another word.
"Come, help me with Teldryn. The lad is still weak on his legs." Kotod took hold of Avari's hand, leading her to the Dunmer.
Avari looked over to Teldryn who was sleeping soundly, the swelling on his face and the bruises that scattered his dark skin ever evident. Kotod gently cupped her chin and turned her face back towards him, wiping the now dried blood from her skin.
"We'll just let the other two deal with their injuries themselves, hmm?" He smiled when she looked at him. "It's good to see you safe, all of us worried for you." He set aside the dirtied rag, picking up the ointment and carefully dabbed some onto her wound. "The priest was the worst of us all. The others thought his anger would never subside. Then the moping began, though it was enjoyable for a time to no longer hear his booming voice snapping at all of us." He pulled his face back to examine her skin. "No other injuries?"
"Nothing pressing."
"Good." He smiled, glancing up at the sound of footsteps. "Ah, he took longer than I thought."
Miraak stepped inside the tent, ducking his head to miss hitting the bar. He looked to Avari before turning his attention to Teldryn. "How's he doing?"
"Better. No real damage, just minor scrapes and bruises." Kotod spoke, looking to the Dunmer. "I'll keep him here for the night, make sure nothing suddenly pops up."
Miraak nodded, turning back to look at Avari. "I need to speak with you."
Avari slid off the table from where she'd been being treated by Kotod. "Of course."
The two stepped outside the tent, walking in silence with Miraak leading them through the camp. He stopped next to the large tent in the area, pulling open the flap for her and following her in. Clearly the man's living area, a large bed stuck right in the center surrounded by everything he would need. Avari looked up at him as he passed by her, motioning to a large, decorated sofa.
"Sit." He spoke softly, pulling his robes from his shoulder. She did as she was told, sitting down on the large cushions and folding her hands in her lap. He was silent, shrugging out of his armor and hanging it onto the shoulders of a mannikin who stood tall next to a large dresser. She watched while he washed his face and neck in a large basin that sat atop the dresser. His eyes looked at her reflection in the mirror. "How is Tenven?"
"He was well when I left him." She looked at his face in the mirror, watching his hands drag the towel over his wet skin. "What about Ulfric and Elisif?"
"They are well also. Elisif returned to Solitude only a few days ago."
"Ah, so she's been here with you for sometime."
"She traveled with us down here, yes." He looked over the edge of the towel.
Avari nodded her head looking away. "Is there some where I might go to get some food? I haven't eaten anything for sometime."
He turned around to face her. "I'll have someone fetch you something."
It felt awkward, their reunion was not going the way she thought it would. There were no signs of affection, no words that even hinted at the two missing each other. As much as she wanted to embrace him, apologize and show him she'd thought about him it felt now was not the time. Nor did it seem wanted by Miraak who came off cold to her. She began picking at her nails, avoiding his eyes to focus on something else. Someone stepped into the tent, pulling both their attention to them.
"I had them fetch hot water for a bath for you. I assumed you had not been able to enjoy one for sometime." Miraak motioned to the large tub for the servants who hurried over to dump the water. "Could you see about a supper for her?"
"Of course, my Lord." They bowed, turning to Avari and bowing once more. "My Lady."
"Thank you." Avari stood as they left.
"I'll leave you to your bath." Miraak spoke after clearing his throat.
She moved towards the bath, listening to him walk across the thick carpets that decorated the floor. He paused for a moment, waiting for him to say something she froze. He simply sighed loudly before leaving, leaving her alone in the large tent.
The water felt nice on her skin, washing away dirt and the smell of the sea. After a bit of searching she'd found her hair brush and other items belonging to her tucked cleanly inside a large white vanity. She untangled her hair before braiding it and wrapping it up in a bun on the back of her head. Miraak stepped into the tent holding a large plate of food and holding a glass and bottle of wine in his other hand.
"Ah, you found your things." He remarked, glancing over at her as he set the items down on a table. "I wasn't sure what all you would need so I had your ladies pick out everything."
"Everything's here." She forced a smile, turning around to face him.
"Do you want to eat?" He stood up, motioning at the food.
She pushed herself out of the chair walking over to him. "Are you going to join me?"
"No, I ate while waiting for you to finish."
"Oh."
He pulled the cork from the bottle, filling the glass and handing it over to her.
"Thank you."
He smiled at her before walking away to occupy himself with something else.
She slowly ate her food, listening to Miraak flip through reports on his large desk behind her. No other sound filling the tent. She filled her glass once more when she had finished, pulling her legs up on the couch and sitting back to enjoy the feel of the softness around her.
"Finished?"
She didn't open her eyes to the sound of his voice, keeping them closed with her head laying back against the large the pillows. "Mhm." She listened to the movement of his steps, gripping her glass with both hands. Her body rocked when he sat down next to her, running rough fingers up her bare legs and pulling them into his lap. She smiled softly, adjusting her body and setting her glass aside blindly. Fingers dug into the soles of feet, drawing out quiet moans from the relief it gave her. His hands moved to her calf, massaging the muscle there.
"Avari?"
She opened her eyes, seeing the frown that had formed on his face. "Are you okay?" She sat up suddenly.
"We need to talk about somethings."
Her heart sank at the way he spoke, but she simply nodded her head and pulled her legs from his grasp.
He moved closer to her, touching her cheek with the backs of his fingers. "Gods I've missed you." He sighed, studying the vibrant blue eyes that watched him closely.
She ran her fingers over the scar that covered his unused eye.
He pulled her to him, wrapping his large hand around the back of her neck as he did so and pressing her lips against his own in a quick kiss. "Don't ever disappear like that again." His voice suddenly became very harsh.
"I won't." Avari whispered, keeping her eyes closed.
"You put yourself and everything we've worked for in danger."
"I know I did."
He sighed loudly causing her to open her eyes and stare up at him. "I requested Tenven to return with you. Is there a reason why he is not here?"
"Things haven't been going so well. Some of the agents were killed or have disappeared, we still hadn't made contact with Dannelius. From what little information I got while I was there, none of the agents had been in contact with him for some time."
"And what does Tenven think about it?"
She shrugged her shoulders.
"What do you think about it?"
"Well..." She adjusted herself on the couch, sitting comfortably. "I think there are three things that could of happened. He was discovered and was killed or detained because of it. He was raising suspicion and stopped contacting our agents until he can communicate with them without suspicion from those around him. Or he has changed his mind and does not see us as someone worth his time."
"Which do you think is the more plausible situation?"
"I think he may have become compromised and is allowing eyes to move away from him before he makes contact with us again. The fact that even our agent within the city has dropped contact makes me lean more in that favor. Our man in Kvatch was killed and made an example of, I imagine that Dannelius fears the same happening to him and our other agent and has backed down a bit."
"So you think we should still trust him?"
"Until he gives us viable reason not to."
"You don't think him dropping contact like he did does not give us reason to no longer trust him?"
"I don't. Agents drop contact a lot. It is better to deal with the suspicion then run away and compromise the next agent who tries to continue. Tenven and Sybina know what they are doing, they'll find a way to make contact."
"Sybina? Who is Sybina?"
"A Breton woman and also Tenven's partner."
"I have never heard of anyone named Sybina."
"She gave me the ring with the enchantment. It helped me move through the land without anyone knowing who I truly was."
"And that is why the men attacked you." He stated, glancing down at her fingers. "Where is the ring I gave to you?" He raised his eyebrow, looking up at her face.
"Ah, I forgot." She pulled the braided thread from around her neck, holding it out to him. "I was suppose to be a lady of the Countess, it wouldn't make sense if I was suppose to be looking for a husband if I already had one."
Miraak gripped the thick threading and tore it apart, slipping the ring off of it. She watched him push it back onto her finger before holding her hand with his own. "I checked on Teldryn on my way back."
"Is he well?"
"He was up and eating."
"Good." She sighed in relief "What did you do with the men?"
"They're being punished, it's not anything to worry yourself over. You did plenty damage to them already. We will just ensure the lesson that they do not behave in such a manner."
"Why did they react the way they did?"
"Things have been a bit rough is all. I'd prefer to speak about it another time." He moved her legs so he could stand before picking her up in one swift movement. "Right now I'd rather you help me get rid of this anger I have with you."
She frowned. "I'm sorry I left the way I did."
"I know you are." He smiled down at her, carefully placing her onto the over-sized bed. "We have a lot of things we need to speak on."
She watched him as he walked around the bed, sitting on the edge to pull off his heavy boots. "Miraak?"
"Hmm?" He didn't looked up from his boots.
"Why are not wearing an eye-patch?"
"The muscles in the eye no longer work so the eyelid does not function as it should. The eye-patch was uncomfortable, since the eye stays closed I do not worry about dirt and the such getting in there."
"Did Kotod ever find out why it did that so suddenly?"
He laid back onto the bed with a satisfied groan. "He did, but I didn't pay attention much when he was explaining it. I had you on the mind and was more occupied and trying to get information about you than why my eye no longer functions as it should. You will have to speak to him if you are still curious about it." He tilted his head to look over at her, stroking the underside of her chin with his fingers.
"So..." She looked down at him, taking hold of his hand at her face and holding it in her own. "What exactly do you want to talk about?"
His brow came together.
"You said you wanted help with getting rid of your anger towards me. I cannot help you if you cannot tell me what will help."
"Let's start with why you left."
"I wanted to help."
"And you couldn't do that from where you were?"
"No. Every time I tried you treated me like a delicate flower or chose another to do what I could have done."
"And what could you have done?"
"I could have stayed with our people, saw to things while you were in Solitude."
"It would have been dangerous."
"Everything I do is dangerous."
"Because you put yourself in danger."
"Would you have even brought me here if I would not have left to Cyrodiil?"
"No, absolutely not. I am still trying to decide if I should trust you to stay put if I send you back to Skyrim."
"I won't."
He narrowed his eyes, sitting up to stare at her face.
"This is the reason I left." She spoke harshly, releasing his hand.
"You left because of a tantrum that you took too far."
"I left because you treat me like a child."
"And you do not think you act like a child."
"You forget who I am."
"I did not forget anything."
She threw her legs over the side of the bed, groaning loudly out of frustration as she stood. "I should have stayed in Cyrodiil."
"See how you behave."
"I behave this way because of how you treat me. I am a warrior, trained by some of the most amazingly skilled people you would ever meet and yet you guilt me into being locked up like a princess in a tower. Being in Cyrodiil around people who understood that I could take care of myself was freeing. You're forgetting who pulled you out of the temple."
"I am not forgetting anything."
She ignored the raise in volume of his voice, staring him down. "You said you brought Elisif here?"
"Yes, she insisted she come on Ulfric's behalf."
"A woman who has known nothing, but pampering. She couldn't even fight her own war, had to bring in the Legion to defend her."
"She is a diplomatic woman."
Avari laughed mockingly. "Diplomatic, she's diplomatic." She rolled her eyes, shaking her head in the process. "The Jarl who did not run her own court, who had her steward running everything and answering concerns. What a joke. Diplomatic."
"At least she listens when she is told to do something."
"Of course she does, she's not use to thinking for herself. Why would she when everyone has and always will do it for her?" She turned her back, walking to towards the large dresser. "I should have stayed in Cyrodiil." She muttered.
"Do you want me to secure a ship so you may go back?" Miraak suddenly stood, his voice harsh with anger.
"Please do." She snapped, throwing the doors open and yanking out a dress. She looked it over before throwing it to the ground behind her, searching for her leathers. "You can find your puppet in Elisif. You prefer how 'diplomatic' she is."
"Stop it!" He ordered, taking hold of her wrist when she pulled a drawer open.
"Let me go, Miraak."
"You're being ridiculous."
"You are the one being ridiculous."
He gave her wrist a squeeze, stepping closer to her until they were only inches apart. "Stop acting like a jealous child, Avari."
The loud smack shocked them both, she'd hit him across the face, hard, and she had not even realized she was going to hit him until it had already happened. It'd sent him stumbling back a few steps, a red imprint of her hand standing out on his cheek. He kept his face looking away, wiping the blood forming on his lip with his thumb. She quickly fixed her expression from surprise to anger before he looked at her. It soon faded and she frowned. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hit you."
"It's fine." He was a bit surprised at her apology, loosening his grip on her wrist.
"It's not, I didn't even realize I was going to do it."
He tugged her towards the bed, sitting down next to her.
"I left for Cyrodiil because I felt useless, you were treating me like I was unimportant in any decisions."
"And I had Elisif giving her say in our decisions and not you?"
"Yes. Working with Tenven was the only thing that I had that made me feel like I was participating in something that was actually contributing to everything. Then you sent him off to Cyrodiil and I just snapped. I went because I knew there would be work for me there. Tenven only worries about me because of you. He knows what I can do and treats me like an equal."
"And I do not." Miraak nodded his head.
"You don't." She agreed.
"I'm sorry, Avari. I did not realize that you felt the way you did. Well, I did, but I did not know it was so strong that you would chase after Tenven and enter Cyrodiil."
She looked down, picking at the hem of her nightgown.
"I will try to treat you the way you want to be treated." He took hold of her chin, forcing her to look him in the eyes. She winced at the pale forming bruise under his bad eye. "I will always want to keep you out of danger though. You're the woman I love and having you in danger is hard to deal with. I know how strong and skilled you are, but it will never change my will to want to protect you and keep you safe." He smirked, his voice changing from the serious tone to a more playful one. "And you have no reason to be jealous of Elisif. While she is a beautiful woman, I prefer my gorgeous, strong willed, attitude filled, warrior wife." He laid back, pulling her to straddle his lap. "Who is like a saber cat in our bed." His fingers danced up her sides, rubbing the nightgown against her skin.
They both turned their heads to the sound of someone clearing their throat, Avari scrambling off the man and pulling the blanket to cover herself, though she was fully dressed. Edgster's face flushed and he looked away while Teldryn had a wide smile on his face.
"Oh, Kotod I think we came at a bad time."
"Hmm?" The vampire walked in passing the two men. "Are we interrupting something?"
"No."
"Yes."
Avari and Miraak spoke at the same time.
"Good." Kotod continued in, dropping parchments onto the table.
"I don't know who is redder, you or the old man." Teldryn teased, glancing between Edgster and Avari.
"Perhaps we should return in the morning." Edgster suggested, still looking away from the pair.
"Nonsense." Kotod looked over his shoulder at him. "This is urgent."
Miraak slid off the bed, retrieving Avari's bed robe and handing it over to her. "What is urgent?"
"Tenven sent a message for Avari." Kotod glanced up at the priest as he neared the three.
"Well, not for Avari. He sent it for lady in waiting that was part of the Countess of Bruma's court." Edgster corrected. "And used the name Sybina."
Avari hurried off the bed, tying her robe shut. "Sybina is not Tenven."
Miraak looked over at her. "She was just telling me about a woman named Sybina."
"I could have told you of Sybina, though Avari spent more time with her than I." Teldryn moved to join the group huddled around the table.
Miraak pulled Avari against him, her back pressed up against his chest to make enough room for them both to look at the letters. "I am assuming you read them?"
"Of course I did." Kotod glared up at the man. "We have no 'lady in waiting' here. I thought it was Tenven sending in code."
Avari scanned over the papers, gasping suddenly and pointing out a section on the parchment. "Look here."
They all leaned forward, reading where she had pointed.
"I don't understand." Edgster sighed, shaking his head.
"She's made contact with Dannelius." She followed the message with her finger. "The man who the Countess introduced you to at the last dinner inside the Imperial City wishes for you to contact him. He misses you dearly and I am sure he will be presenting an offer of marriage soon. It will do well for you to be with such an honored man." She read it out loud, a large smile forming on her lips. "She made contact with Dannelius and he wants us to contact him."
"We lost contact with Dannelius months ago. How do we know that this Sybina is not trapping us." Miraak pulled the letter towards him to get a better view.
"Sybina is the one who placed all our agents in Cyrodiil. She'd go down with us if it ever came to that."
"So I'll make contact with him." Edgster looked up to her.
"No, you can't." Avari shook her head, taking the letter from Miraak.
"You just said he wants us to contact him." Kotod narrowed his eyes.
"She wants me to contact him. I'm going to assume with the nature of this letter that I am still playing the same part that I was in Cyrodiil. I need to contact him as my character, not as Avari. Sybina must have permission from the Count to proceed with this. If it is ever questioned the Count and Countess will be able to vouch that I am indeed part of the court and that I was introduced to Dannelius as a potential wife." She pulled the other piece of the letter to her, looking it over slowly. "Oh no."
"Oh no?" Miraak leaned over her shoulder, reading.
Avari looked up to Teldryn.
"What?" Teldryn moved closer to her.
"That man, the one who rode with us to Anvil. He has taken a ship to follow us here."
"Is that a problem?" Miraak glanced between the two.
"He was suspicious when Sybina and I met with a contact. He insisted on joining us on the roads. If he comes here and realizes that Morrowind has joined you..."
"He's going to think you were an agent and return to inform the Legion." Teldryn sighed.
"That will put all of the agents in danger." Avari looked to Edgster.
"Sybina says to 'be harsh with your rejection so he does not continue with his advances'. What does she mean by that?" Miraak pointed out the section in the letter.
"I... I don't know." Avari stared at the words, thinking them over. "Perhaps she wants us to take him captive?"
"As a prisoner?" Edgster spoke.
Avari shrugged.
"Who is this man?" Miraak asked.
"He comes from a respected and wealthy family from Anvil. Sybina said he was a disgrace to their name and caused his Aunt a lot of headaches with his antics and choices." Avari set the letter aside.
Kotod nodded his head as if suddenly understanding. "So his family is not going to be too heartbroken if he suddenly goes silent."
"He knows your face, Teldryn?" Miraak looked to the Dunmer.
"Well, yeah. I don't know if he'd recognize me here though. We are surrounded by Dunmer."
"He'd recognize me, with the ring." Avari turned to face Miraak. "If I take Teldryn with me into the city when his ship docks, he will see me."
"And we just step in and take him. Quick and easy." Kotod smirked.
"It's not that simple, the Legion does not know we have Morrowind yet. We cannot be taking people from the streets." Edgster spoke up, looking at Kotod as he did.
"Then we lead him closer to the camp." Teldryn looked to Avari who nodded her head.
"He'll follow me, he was a bit smitten with me in Cyrodiil."
"Smitten?" Miraak groaned.
"You can mark your territory once we get him in the camp, old man." Teldryn sighed, backing away from the table. "I sure am interested in seeing his face when he realizes he was chasing after the Dragonborn. Even more interested when he sees you. You were quite the story in Cyrodiil."
"I can only imagine." Miraak sighed, bracing his hand on the table.
