"So far so good, let's hope nobody saw us slip out." Malborn whispered. "Come on, we need to pass through the kitchen. Your gear is hidden in the larder." They entered the kitchen and Jerien saw a lean, dark furred Kajiit standing behind a wooden chopping block filleting some fish. She looked up, put her ears back and hissed as she turned around to stir whatever was in a large cooking pot behind her. "Over here." The wood elf said as he unlocked the door to the pantry and stepped inside. He kneeled down to unlock a large chest. "Your gear is in here. I'll have to lock the door behind you or the patrols might notice something's wrong. Don't screw this up."
"Malborn, please forgive me for my attitude tonight. I know my actions were rude and uncouth, but I had to play the part or they wouldn't believe that I was the spoiled daughter of a merchant." Jerien put her hand on his shoulder. "Please know that it really did bother me to act that way towards you and the other help. I am not that person. I hope you believe me when I say that I'm truly sorry."
The elf stood and turned towards her. "You played your part well. I don't think anyone thought you were someone other than who you portrayed yourself to be. If you would have warned me about your attitude, my reactions wouldn't have been genuine and others might have picked up on it. You have no need to apologize, for you didn't do anything that wasn't expected, but I appreciate it." Jerien pursed her lips together and nodded. "Quickly now, I have to return to the party before I'm missed. Shall I send your cartman away?"
"No, it's been prearranged that he should leave without me. He has a straw dummy that he is going to pretend is the Lady La Chance as he slips away with the rest of the guests." The Nord said as she hastily undressed. She handed Malborn her party clothes so he could burn them in the kitchen. She saw him blush as he sneaked a quick peek at her in her under clothes. "Go!" she whispered at him as she slapped his arm.
"Good luck Jerien. I hope to see you again someday under different circumstances." He stepped out of the pantry and she heard the lock click a moment later. She then heard the Kajiit hiss again and Malborn raise his voice at her. She wondered what they were arguing over and hoped the cat wasn't going to sound an alarm. She slipped into her leather armor and covered herself with some empty burlap sacks while she hid behind some barrels. She still had a couple hours to wait until midnight before she picked the lock and started her search of the compound.
The twelve o'clock bells startled her awake. Jerien felt guilty for falling asleep. She was lucky that a guard didn't decide to do a random check of the pantry while she was dozing. She gathered her weapons and picked the lock on the back door of the larder. She thought about trying to re-lock it but it would take too much time so she left it unlocked and hoped that no one would notice it until after she was well and gone.
Slowly she creeped down the dark hallway towards her first real test. Her route would take her into the second room on the left where two guards were posted. She could hear them talking through the door. "Did you see those robes march in this morning? Who're they with? More of the Emissary's treaty enforcers?" A male voice asked.
"No, they're high mages, just in from Alinor. I guess Miss Ambassador is finally getting worried about all the dragon attacks." A woman's voice responded.
"Ah, good. I've been wondering how we were supposed to defend this place from a dragon." The male voice said. She could hear his elven boots scrape along the stone floor as he walked.
"If a dragon does show up, maybe we'll get lucky and it will eat the mages first. Might give us enough time to kill it."
'Ha! I'd like to see those arrogant bastards taken down notch. Always looking down their noses at us lowly foot sloggers…" The man's voice became fainter and fainter. Jerien could tell that he was walking up the steps to the second floor. She knew that one guard was supposed to stay in the room while the other checked on the upper rooms, but her intel said that both guards usually took the trip upstairs together. She held her breath as she prayed that the information was accurate and picked the lock to the hallway door.
Slowly she opened the wooden door and peeked into the room. It was fairly large and finely furnished with expensive tapestries, elegantly carved furniture and several bookshelves filled with beautifully bound books and it was blissfully empty of any guards. There was a bar area to her right and beyond that was the steps that lead to the upper floor. That was the path Jerien was to take. She held her breath and stole across the room as quietly as possible. She hid in a small alcove under the stone stairs and waited for the guards to return. A few minutes later, as if on cue, they descended the steps and stood at the bar as they continued to criticize the visiting mages. Twenty minutes later the half bell sounded and both high elves left the room to go and get their mid shift meal. Again, one of the guards was supposed to stay in the room, and again, her notes were correct that both would leave.
Jerien inched her way around the corner and ascended the stairs. She knew she would have to sneak down a long hallway past several bedrooms and a formal dining room before she reached the door to the courtyard. Those rooms didn't interest Jerien because they were for guests and visiting dignitaries. It was pretty slim that the Thalmor would hide any secret documents there.
As she reached the landing between the floors, she heard muffled conversation coming from above her. She quickly scrambled up the remaining steps and hid in a small closet where unused furniture, extra rugs and cleaning supplies were kept. A Thalmor mage and inquisitor rounded the corner as she crouched down out of their sight. 'These must be some of the new relief mages the previous guards were talking about.' Jerien prayed to the Nine that this new development didn't throw a loop in their plan.
"I truly hope that our food isn't covered with cat hair. I can't believe that they would employ a Kajiit to be a cook!" The inquisitor said to his companion.
"I bet if she isn't eating it, she's stealing it. But I supposed it's hard to get decent help up here. It's not like Elenwen would be able to get The Gourmet to make her meals!" The joke caused both High Elves to laugh as they went down the stairs. Jerien waited a couple of minutes to see if there were going to be any more stragglers looking for a late dinner before she left her hiding spot and slipped down the hallway towards where the two men came from. She was surprised to find several candles burning as she slunk down the hallway, making the space brighter than she expected it to be. 'This must be where all the extra newcomers are staying' she thought. She heard snoring coming from behind a couple of the closed doors as she snuck past. Just before she reached the door to the outdoor quad, she heard the two High Elves return from their excursion to the kitchen. Jerien was forced to duck into the open door of a dining room and squat down beside a bookshelf to hide.
"Strange that the door to the pantry was unlocked. Security must not be as tight as Elenwen claims it to be." The Thalmor mage said. Both men were carrying a tray of food.
"I think it was one of those guards. That's why they're lowest rung. Haven't been taught the discipline and restraint it takes to be a true Thalmor. Pity. I say if a dragon attacks, we send them forth first…where are you going? Aren't we going to eat in here?" Jerien stopped breathing as she saw the edge of a robe appear in the threshold of the dining room. Sweat started to pour down her face as she realized that her cover might be blown. She slowly unsheathed her sword.
"I think I'm just going to eat in my room instead. I'm exhausted from traveling and I doubt I will be able to get a good night's rest on these subpar beds. See you on the morrow." Jerien heard a door open and shut but the man standing in front of the room where she was hiding didn't move. She finally heard a loud sigh as the robes disappeared. A minute later she heard another door farther down open and shut. She remembered to breathe then and leaned back against the wall until she was able to control her heartbeat. 'That was too close.' She thought to herself as she sheathed her sword and peeked out the doorway. The inquisitor had blown out the candles so the hallway was nice and dark. Jerien inched her way to the courtyard door and broke two lock picks before she was able to get it open. She took a deep breath to steady herself and slipped outside into the cold.
An icy gust of snow-filled wind made her gasp and revived her senses. The temperature had plummeted since she arrived at the party and she wasn't expecting to get smacked in the face with it. Sweat froze to her face as she poked her head up above the stone railing. She knew she was at the far southeastern corner of the courtyard and the building she needed to get into was in the center. Unfortunately she still had to make her way around the edge of the yard undetected by the two guards patrolling the area and then past the sentry standing outside the entrance, which was locked.
'No problem.' Jerien whispered as she crept down the open corridor. To her right was a high stone fence with tall iron spikes sticking up out of it to deter anyone from wanting to scale it. To her left was a shorter wall that she was able to peek over as she made her way along. She could see the two guards turn their back to each other and head towards the snow covered stone steps that led up to the corridor Jerien was walking down. She immediately began to back up so she would be out of view as the elf reached the top step and followed corridor going the opposite direction. If the guard continued to follow the passageway, it would lead her all the way around the edge of the compound to the west side of the building Jerien had just left. Her notes told her that the guard would reach exactly the halfway point behind the center building, meet up with the sentry from the other side walking the exact same route, and then they would both turn around and repeat. She had only a couple of minutes before they returned so she quickly shuffled her way back and down the three steps to the quad and hid behind an old tree in the far southeast corner.
The tree had been there for over two hundred years and looked it. Malborn had been put in charge of getting it cut down for firewood because it was dead and starting to rot. Fortunately, he had been putting this off for several weeks so it was still standing, sort of. Jerien very carefully placed her hands on some of the lower branches and began to fill them with frost and snow until they were on the verge of breaking. The wind was howling enough so that the sound of her spell was drowned out. She stopped when she heard a slight snap. She waited until the two guards had returned to the center courtyard and were on their way back up the steps before she made her way to the west side of the square and hid behind a tall stone planter. She made a large snowball and counted the seconds until she knew they were the farthest away. At twenty five seconds, she gulped down a potion of invisibility and let the snowball fly. It hit the snow laden branches, over burdening them. They snapped and fell with a loud ripping groan and thump.
All three guards came running towards the tree as Jerien turned transparent and ran to the inner building. She had exactly thirty seconds to get the door open and sneak inside before the potion wore off. She fumbled and dropped the lock pick in the snow twice before the door opened and a Thalmor inquisitor and soldier rushed out. Jerien thanked her quick reflexes as she jumped out of the way before they barreled into her. She was able to crawl on her hands and knees through the open door and scuttled directly across the room to the bottom of a stone staircase. She needed to get up the stairs to the second floor before the high elves returned. She half stumbled, half crawled up the steps and made her way down the hall to the third door on the right, Elenwen's room. Jeriens' hand reappeared as she grabbed the handle to the ambassador's room. She hoped that Elenwen was still asleep and that the commotion outside hadn't woken her. The Nord slipped in the room and shut the door behind her.
No candles were lit and the only light came through two windows on the far side of the room. She took a moment for her eyes to become adjusted to the dimness and eventually saw a figure lying on the bed across the room. The High Elf appeared to be still asleep and the soft snoring she heard confirmed it. Jerien was hoping that these rooms were set up like all the rest of the bedrooms in the stronghold. A bed would be along the wall, farthest from the door. At the foot of the bed would be a wide chest to which she quietly creeped over to. Surprisingly it was unlocked. The Nord took off her gloves and felt around for anything that felt like a document or rolled up parchment but all she found was clothing. She checked both table stands on each side of the bed and found a book, but it turned out to be another copy of The Lusty Argonian Maid. 'What is it with this book?' Jerien wondered as she put it back.
There was a desk on the far side of the room, near the door Jerien had entered, and it was unlocked also. The middle drawer scraped a little and she froze. Elenwen rolled over so she was facing the intruder, but continued to snore. Jerien dared not open the drawer any further and reached her arm in as far as she could reach. There were several papers inside and she gathered them all. She couldn't read what was written on them in what little light there was so she stuffed them all inside her backpack. She lifted the drawer up and gently and slowly pushed it back in.
She looked to her left and saw a jewelry box sitting on a small wardrobe. She wouldn't have noticed it in the dark but the lid was ajar and the mirror behind it reflected back a slight pink glow. Jerien crept over and opened it. Inside was the most beautiful pink jewel she had ever seen. It was large, almost the size of the palm of her hand and appeared to be illuminated from within with a soft pink light. She couldn't take her eyes from it. She closed the box and slipped it in her backpack. 'Why should I get something out of this?' She thought. 'I'm the one risking my neck for this mission. I deserve some sort of compensation.' She rationalized as she exited the room and softly shut the door.
She crept back down the hallway and overheard arguing coming from the ground floor.
"But I need that money, I earned it! I had my own expenses you know. Even though I'm highly skilled in the art of interrogation, I still had to bribe people." A whiny male voice said.
"Silence! Do not presume Gissur. You have been useful to us, but do not presume. We have other informants who are less…offensive…and have brought us promising leads also." A stern male voice reprimanded.
"But no one else has brought you such valuable information, have they? The thief, Etienne, he's talked hasn't he? He knows where that old man is that you're looking for. He's seen him, he told me himself. That alone should've earned me a bonus." The man called Gissur bemoaned.
"Oh, do we, do we have that man in our custody? Yes? No? No. Then you'll get the rest of your money when we confirm the thief's story, as agreed. We don't pay for rumors, Gissur." Jerien heard a book slam shut, signifying the end of the argument.
"But…but, the information…" Gissur stammered.
"Guard! Please escort Mr. Gissur safely from the embassy. This facility is so large with so many twists and turns, we wouldn't want him getting injured or permanently lost on his way out. Would we Gissur?"
"N-n-no." A much quieter Gissur meekly said.
"Very well then, I have work to do." Jerien heard papers being shuffled about and a lid being shut and locked. "A courier will be sent with the rest of your compensation if or when we are able to confirm any useful information." Footsteps could be heard scraping on the stone floor. A door was opened and shut and she assumed that the guard left with the whiny man. She could also hear the creak of someone descending wooden steps, which she assumed was the stern voiced man going down to the lower level. She waited two more minutes before she descended the stairs and made her way down and across the first floor to a room set up to be an office.
Jerien went immediately to the large desk and picked the lock of its only drawer. It opened surprisingly easy and was full of various loose parchments and documents. She grabbed them all and stuffed them in her bag. She didn't find any journals or books in the drawer so she turned to the bookshelf behind her. All of the books on the shelves looked to be published volumes with various titles. Nothing looked to be out of place so she turned her attention to a small locked chest on the bottom shelf. She pulled it out and broke another lock pick trying to get it open. She lifted up the lid and smiled. Jackpot.
Delphine's name was written neatly on the cover of the top most book. The next book had 'Ulfric Stormcloak' scrawled across it. Jerien scooped out everything from the chest and put it in her bag. She began to regret keeping the sabre cat pelt from her party clothes because her satchel was quite full now. She heaved it back over her shoulders and tied the safety strap around her waist and began to creep towards the door. A man's scream stopped her in her tracks.