Ancano stood with his arms behind his back, his right leather gloved hand clutching his left. He was staring at nothing out of a window on the second floor. She'd fled again. Under the assumption she'd slept with him and confessed her love. His heart was pounding in his chest. He took a deep, calming breath.
Aya had mistaken Estormo for him. He would admit to himself that it had bothered him. He'd wanted nothing more than to reach out and kill the other Thalmor. His fists had clenched with barely restrained magic behind his back when Estormo had confirmed it. It had taken all of his considerable will power to remain passive and still, emotionless in front of his agent. He had too.
He was a loyal Altmer, which meant he was a loyal Thalmor. The Aldemeri Dominion was his one constant. He could never turn on his associates, not for a Nord hunter. She was but a sliver in his long, long life.
The Thalmor gritted his teeth and his eyes narrowed. She was a sliver he wanted , sharing her had never been his intention. He took another deep breath as he thought of what he would tell her next he saw her. He would confess her mistake, he would not be able to keep that from her. The thought of not telling her at all flitted through his mind briefly but he shoved it aside. He was not a liar, his word was his bond.
He swallowed. He wanted to hear her say those words. He felt his face heat awkwardly. Ancano would say them back. He would confess his own feelings. She deserved to hear them. They would figure this out…
His lips pressed together in a grim line. Ancano cast Detect Life, and turned on his heels. He walked slowly to the courtyard where he came face to face with the Last Dragonborn. The hulking Nord, who was just a couple inches shorter than his own imposing height of seven feet, was advancing towards him determinedly, there was a glowing staff attached to his back.
Ancano stilled. His fingers flexed behind his back, his spell Ebony Flesh at the ready. A tingle of apprehension shot down the Altmer's back like an arrow, he tensed almost involuntarily.
"Hey you," the Nord called as he jogged towards him. Ancano peered down his nose at him and arched a white eyebrow.
"Yes?" He murmured with disdain, his muscles locked.
The Nord's unnerving glacial eyes narrowed to mere slits and he paused a couple feet away from the black robed Altmer. "You know," he licked his lips, "I don't give a flying mammoth's ass about this little war you and Ulfric are waging," both of Ancano's eyebrows arched high on his already angular face as the Nord continued, "My only concern is the fucking black dragon of fucking death," the Dragonborn's eyes burned like ice fire as he glared at Ancano, "that for some reason, you fucking people seemed to have completely forgotten about in your insignificant little power struggle," the Nord spat at his feet, and Ancano realized a couple of things as the Nord straightened in front of him, his large chest expanding as he pulled in a deep breath.
One, the Dragonborn was angry. At him .
Two, this was going to hurt. A lot .
The Altmer had just enough time to dual cast Ebony Flesh before he was sent flying backwards by the accursed power of the Voice (Unrelenting Force for those interested). He landed flat against a stone wall about fifteen feet back. The spell protected him from the worst of the damage, it still hurt mind you. He had to get to his feet and quickly, the Nord was stomping towards him.
"You have my attention now. Sending your man to kill me, in spite of Alduin ," The Dragonborn picked him up by the collar roughly before Ancano could steady himself, "Are you stupid, Thalmor?"
Ancano was dazed slightly, a sense of vertigo sending the room spinning. Unfortunately, he saw the iron gauntlet fist clearly as it was coming. Stars exploded in front of his eyes, his ears were ringing after two quick hard punches to his face. Ebony Flesh saved his nose from being broken, but the pressure was felt. Auriel be damned, the Nord was strong .
He moved quickly, bringing ice in one hand and lightning in the other. He would hit his stamina, he had to stop those powerful hits, and hopefully stun the Dragonborn. The elf slapped both of his gloved palms on the Nord's shoulders and cast his spells.
The human grunted and released Ancano's robes. The Altmer moved quickly, sidestepping gracefully as he cast Bound Blade and pulled out a ghostly daedric blade from thin air. He used a flame spell to set the Nord aflame, his heavy iron armour was smoldering and smoking. Ancano was quick to refresh his Ebony Flesh, and quickly switched to a Restoration spell as the Dragonborn gave his smoking, horned, helmed head a shake and turned in his direction.
A ghost of a smile played along those thin lips, and the ice cold eyes narrowed, taking on an almost beastial stare. Ancano felt a shiver dance down his spine, though he would never admit it. Those were the eyes of a hunter, a predator. A dragon .
Then man straightened, and reached back for a large two-handed battleaxe. It resembled the one held by Ysgramor, the fabled Wuuthrad. The axe had the same shape, the same look… it… it couldn't be… could it ? The head looked like it weighed a good fifty pounds, and gleamed sharply in the light. The Nord bared his teeth in a mad smile, and roared as he charged the Altmer.
Aya was staring at the Thalmor in mortifying silence. This was a sick, sick, sick joke. A Daedric prince was doing this. Had to be. What was the name of the tricky one…? The mad one could be doing this too. They both started with an S… Her mind was drifting over the names of the Princes as Estormo stared at her intently. They were standing three feet apart.
Her mouth opened and then closed only to reopen again, very much like a fish out of water. Could that be construed as a bluff? Was he bluffing? Could he be lying? Guessing ? Was this a trap? She swallowed back the troll fighting to escape her throat and closed her eyes, she was reaching now… A hand came up and covered her eyes as she hid her shame. She had fucked Estormo… "Ugh." For real. This was not a horrible nightmare…
Now what…? Was this how it ended for them? Was he going to kill her…? Her eyes snapped open suddenly and she looked at the Thalmor nervously. Estormo hadn't moved, and he was still looking at her. Oh gods…
"Are you going to kill me?" She knew she shouldn't be asking, but she had too. Ancano had stressed the life and death situation they were in.
He took a deep breath and averted his head, "No."
She sighed in relief before she caught herself and swallowed another lump that had formed in the back of her throat. That was good… wait! She cleared it loudly. "Please don't blackmail, Ancano…"
"I am as guilty as he is," he answered slowly, not looking at her, "Your secret is safe."
She stared at him for what felt like a long fucking time before she nodded to him. She didn't care to dig into his response and took it at face value. Her eyes filled with tears of relief and she returned to packing her belongings in her pack. She stopped abruptly and straightened before she turned to face the Altmer.
"Ancano knows…" it wasn't a question, she was stating it.
"Yes," she noticed his chin, the only part of his averted face she could see, darkening, "I relayed your message."
She blinked at him, and smiled, "Thank you…"
He nodded again and cleared his throat awkwardly. "Let's get going then."
She nodded and finished her packing before she hefted her backpack over her shoulder. "Yes, lets," she made for the exit of the cave, "we should be there by nightfall if we don't dally."
"Lead the way," he said simply.
