Author's note. My apologies for the lateness of this chapter. Put simply, there was no wifi in my cabin at Yellowstone National park. I think this one is well worth the wait. Future chapters will still be uploaded on Saturdays, barring outside circumstances.

The next morning, I headed for St. Olms canton. I learned that Saint Olms the just was known for founding the Ordinators by reading a plaque under a stone portrait of the ancient Dunmer on one of the canton walls.

I ignored the upper waistworks where the legitimate businesses dealt with the law abiding citizens and found a stairway to the lower waistworks. The place would have felt like a dungeon, but it was dry, well lit, and clean for the most part. It didn't take long to locate the beggars that the tax man had told me about. A Dunmer and two humans sat on a blanket spread in an out of the way corner. They passed a ceramic jug between them, swilling the pungent liquor and giggling like fools.

I headed for a hallway to their side, as if to skirt them. As I neared, they stopped chatting and asked the inevitable question. "Spare a coin for a poor soul?"

I stopped and turned my head to look down at them. "Perhaps a coin. Maybe a whole purse. That depends on how helpful you are to me."

The Dunmer sat up straighter, grinning a gap toothed smile at me. "What is it you want Muthsera." He used the formal title, no doubt hoping to butter me up.

"An acquaintance recommended the services of a Khajiit named Addhiranirr," I said cooly. "She's rather difficult to find."

"Ah," the Dunmer said with a sly grin, tapping the side of his nose with a finger. He glanced at his companions as if sharing a joke. "Wouldn't we all like a little service from her, but I don't think she's really in that business."

I groaned inwardly, without any patience to deal with innuendos from the old man. I saw that they'd set their pot of liquor beside them on the blanket. I lifted my foot and stomped the clay pot, splashing the beggars and the blanket and giving off an eye watering smell.

The beggars cried out in protest, but fell silent when I grabbed a torch from a sconce on the wall and held it towards them. Three sets of eyes rapidly looked between the torch dripping small globs of flaming pitch, to the fabric soaked in alcohol. When I spoke, I had their undivided attention. "Tell me where to find the Khajiit, or you'll become intimately familiar with my services."

After a moment of tense silence, the old Dunmer's grin returned. He shoved the man next to him off the blanket and folded the fabric back to reveal a wooden trap door. "She's hiding in the sewers from the tax man. Have fun."

I pulled the door open by an iron ring and dropped the torch through the hole, revealing a twelve foot long ladder. I mounted the iron rungs and lowered myself, closing the trapdoor above me.

To my surprise, even the sewer area maintained the architecture of the rest of the canton. The canals ran deeper than was needful and the walkways were wide and clean. Drainage tunnels ran into one big tunnel on either side of the canton.

I dismounted the ladder, picked up the torch, and strolled along the empty walkways without drawing my weapons. "Addhiranirr, I wish to speak with you." The echo of my voice joined the symphony of echoes from running and pouring water, but was not answered. I held my hands out to the side. "I'm not the taxman or a guard. I'm with Caius." My voice echoed and died with no responce.

As I crossed a bridge over a spillway, I heard the faintest sound of something landing behind me and the Khajiit was suddenly by my right side with an arm draped over my shoulders.

"And how is our good friend Caius?" She purred more than Ajira did. "Still up to his old shenanigans?"

I tried and failed to pretend she hadn't caught me off guard. Her overly friendly manner is not what I had expected. "Well, you know Caius. He stays busy."

"Oh yes friend, Addhiranirr knows Caius. Very well," she added suggestively, circling me on the balls of her feet and looking me up and down as if I were prey. By the way she spoke, I wondered if she was making an innuendo or if she just always spoke this way. Maybe both. "Perhaps Addhiranirr can get to know you too, Mr..."

"Han lu," I finished for her. "Han lu Urshar."

She grabbed me by my collar and leaned in close to my face, taking in my scent. It was at this point I realized I was dealing with a master manipulator. It was rare that I didn't feel in control of a situation, but this Khajiit used her allure to put me at ease, yet maintained a predatory presence that made my fingers itch for my sword pommel. In that moment, I was so caught up between caution and… excitement that she could have stabbed me or kissed me. I stared, eyes wide, until she drew back from me, a sly smile on her face. In the light of the torch, I could see that Addhiranirr was different from other Khajiit I'd seen. Her coat was white with small black and gray speckles all over. She had three black streaks running from the top of her head down her face to meet at her nose. She was very short and slender. I realized she wasn't wearing any clothes which put me further off guard, despite her being covered in fur.

I met her gaze as her own began to fall. She stepped back dejectedly, clasping her hands behind her back and crossing her legs in a helpless gesture. "Unfortunately, Addhiranirr is in no position to help her friend Caius. She is hampered and driven into hiding by the Imperial agent who is looking for her." She sighed dramatically. "If only there were some strong handsome young Dunmer who could get rid of the agent and make Addhiranirr safe again." She immediately broke into a sly grin at me.

I had to get ahold of myself before speaking. I recognized her manner as being manipulative, playing on my emotions to make me sympathetic to her plight, but she did it so naturally and convincingly that my heart ached and my throat tightened, even after she broke character. After collecting myself, I backed up a pace.

"Okay, to be clear, if I get rid of the taxman, you'll give me the information Caius needs?"

She rolled her eyes. "Of course. Addhiranirr wants to help friend Caius and Caius' handsome friend. Once the taxman is gone, she will be free to do so. You scratch her back, she scratches yours." She looked up to me with big golden eyes. "If that's what you're into."

This time, my face went bright red from the implications. I struggled to form a response, but ended up just saying, "Uhh."

Addhiranirr chuckled and helped me shut my gaping mouth with the back of her soft fingers before walking past me, brushing the back of her short claws against my cheek. "This one will find you once you've done what she asks."

She walked away, letting her soft tail brush past my knees. I watched her go to a ladder, hips and tail swaying purposefully, and climb back up to the world above.

I slowly went to the opposite ladder, trying to come to terms with the things she'd said. Was she just playfully flirting or was she… Could she be attracted to me? Half of me felt violated. I didn't quite feel comfortable with how familiar she acted. As I climbed the ladder though, I also had to admit, she had excited me. My cheeks burned with embarrassment for thinking that way about a Khajiit. What would others think? I didn't even know what I thought about it. When I emerged back into the hallway the beggars were squatting in, I noticed the old gap toothed Dunmer, grinning at me.

"She's really something, isn't she?"

I shook my head, wishing to get rid of my blush. "Shut up fleabag!" I was not open to discussing the matter. He still grinned at me as I made my way back to the Canton.

By asking around, I was able to track down the taxman within the hour. I found him back in the Foreign Quarter market, questioning passers by.

"You, Imperial," I called over the din of the crowd. He turned to see who was calling him, giving the nervous wood elf he was questioning time to scurry back into the celebratory crowd.

He raised his hand in greeting. "Hello my Dunmer friend. I don't suppose you've brought good news for me, have you?"

I feigned disappointment, letting my shoulders slump. "I'm afraid not. One of the dock workers said a white and black spotted Khajiit took a boat to Ebonheart two days ago. I'd go to track her down myself, but I have other things I still have to do before leaving the city. I thought you'd want to know though."

"Of course, of course," he said excitedly, scratching out some notes with a charcoal. "Did you happen to get the name of the boat?"

"Uh," I stumbled and realized too late that I should have said no. He glanced up at me as if I were trying to remember. "Uh, it was… the Wave… Breaker."

I cringed internally. What kind of Captain would give such a generic name to his ship?

The tax man did not seem to notice, scribbling the randomly picked words onto his notes. "Thank you for this friend. I must be off right away. May the Nine guide you."

He hurried off, excited by his new lead. With him gone, I looked around, realizing I hadn't arranged a follow-up meeting with Addhiranirr. "Oh for the sake of Azura," I grumbled. "If I have to spend hours scouring this city for her again, I'm going to scream."

I returned to the sewer where I'd first found her and saw no trace. Even the beggar's from before had left the vicinity. With no leads left, I decided I'd better look for the last contact Caius had given me, figuring Addhiranirr would find me, or I could track her down later.

I started following the canton paths south, remembering that the Temple Canton was towards the tip of the cluster of buildings. I reviewed the instructions I had been given, not to ask around for her directly, but to look in the castle library for a Dunmer woman with red hair. 'Hard to miss,' I thought to myself. No sooner had I completed my thought than I turned the corner and beheld true majesty.

Ahead of me, only two more cantons remained. According to the signs, the first one was the Temple and the second was the palace of Vivec. The Temple was stylized differently from the other cantons. It had a lower walkway with doorways leading to various offices and the library where I needed to be. The upper walkway was designed like a courtyard and held a building no less impressive than the cathedrals of the nine in Cyrodiil. A twenty foot statue adorned each corner, presumably the images of some of the temple saints. The temple boasted a tall sweeping roof which came together at a long pointed spire. This was framed by the palace in the background which stood far taller than the temple. A single set of stairs led up, over trelles after trelles, each one flowing with water. Just looking at it, I could tell there were well over a hundred stairs. A single solid wooden door sat at the top, the room it lead to being nestled among the clouds.

Among all these sights, one stole my gaze most of all. Floating above the temple, perhaps 50 to 100 feet above the ocean swells was a massive round stone, nearly the size of the temple canton itself. It stayed suspended over the west side of the temple without moving or swaying. Though the clouds made anything above the bottom of the stone difficult to see, I could make out wooden walkways built into the side.

I detoured from the route to the library simply to stare at the temple and the moon which the god Vivec himself held suspended. I was aware of a number of Ordinators and priests who glanced at me, but none moved to reprimand or remove me. On the contrary, the priests wore happy grins as they beheld my wonder. At the back of the Temple, I was surprised to find that there was no honor guard between the temple and the palace. If I ran, I could get to the very door before any of the temple guards could intercept me.

I looked to the nearest person I could find, an elderly Dunmer priestess in a thin brown woolen robe. "I beg your pardon muthsera, but shouldn't the palace have guards."

The woman seemed amused at my question as she stood up straight, setting a watering can down next to her. "Lord Vivec needs no protection for his person. Human Emperors and Elven kings may, but Vivec is a god. His Ordinators are to protect his people, not him." She reached out to the garden box she was watering to a fat bumblebee on a flower. It climbed onto her fingernail and across her hand. She held it unafraid of being stung. "All peaceful creatures can feel the safety of this place." She turned to look at me with a kind, but knowing smile. "Can you?"

I huffed. "No, I suppose not. However, I may just be too awestruck to feel it. This place is amazing."

"It really is," the priestess mused, fully transfixed by the bee. She seemed to have lost interest in me, so I politely bowed and made way to the library. I would have found it odd that the general public was allowed admittance to such a large and historic collection of tomes, but there were so many Ordinators inside that you could hardly sneeze without one being close enough to wipe your nose. Nobody hovered over me or lectured me on the proper care for books. It was perfectly clear that there would be no tolerance for shenanigans in this place.

I lazily browsed the shelves, covertly scanning the area for Mehra Milo. I went ten minutes without a glimpse of red hair. To avoid suspicion, I plucked a book from the shelves and sat down to read. The 36 lessons of Vivec. It was nowhere near as interesting as it sounded. I figured my best chance to find Mehra was to stay in the library and wait for a glimpse of her. It would be just my luck if she had the day off or something.

I sat and read the old scriptural text for the better part of an hour. Despite the cryptic language, I was able to glean a couple interesting tidbits. I found out that Vivec claimed to be a member of a nearly extinct race of elves called Chimer who were the ancestors of today's Dunmer. My interest was piqued momentarily when the book mentioned the land of Indoril, but it didn't expound on the subject any further than that.

I made a show of leaning back in my chair to stretch so I could scan the room again and this time I saw her. Like Caius had said, there was no mistaking her identity. I had never seen a ginger haired Dunmer before. It wasn't a bright red like you saw in some Bosmer or Nords, but even though it was a dark shade, it was unmistakably red hair. The woman wore simple green priestess robes. She was not quite middle aged, but wore a serious and mature look that seemed to add a few years.

I looked down at my book for a moment, planning how I'd make contact. All had to do was bring up the code word Amaya, which was a lake within an hours walk north of here. I gently closed the book of sermons and reshelved it. I approached the priestess who was struggling to reshelve a couple heavy tomes.

"May I be of assistance muthsera?" I held out my hands, offering to hold the stack of books while she replaced them.

"Oh would you please," she accepted, happily handing me the books. She took a moment to replace a few strands of hair that had fallen out of place before returning to her sorting. "Thank you Sera."

"Of course," I insisted. "Are you the librarian here?"

"One of a handful," she answered.

"Perhaps I could ask you a question while I've got you here. I've been researching some local geography and I was hoping to learn about the area surrounding lake Amaya."

Her reaction to the codeword was a quick glance at my face for confirmation that it wasn't just a coincidence that it had come up. I met her eyes with my own meaningful gaze. She didn't show any other sign that would attract attention.

"Of course sera," she answered. "I can show you the geography and cartography sections."

After shelving the last book, she beckoned me to the back of the library. At the end of a row of bookshelves, we were sufficiently isolated to speak freely.

"What does Caius want?" She spoke with a lowered voice.

"He needs information on the Nerevarine and Sixth house cults," I replied, matching her clandestine tone."

She nodded, bobbing her head in concentration. "I'm afraid I haven't got any useful knowledge about the sixth house cult, but as for the Nerevarine cult…" she paused to check our surroundings. "There are a number of former temple staff who have left after claiming belief in the prophecies. If they get caught, they are punished severely, but there is a group of dissidents who have left the temple and pursued the true history of Indoril Nerevar. They claim that the power of the Tribunal is not divine at all, but sorcerous in nature. There is a book they have compiled called the Progress of Truth. Copies are difficult to find, because the Temple has banned it, but you might try a non-dunmer book seller."

I pondered for a moment, thinking back on what Huleeya had to say yesterday. "I don't understand why the Temple is so oppressive of this subject. Whether Nerevar comes back or not, oppressing those who believe it changes nothing. If the cult is so small, why would gods be so concerned with it?"

Mehra gave me a long hard look. "The power of the Tribunal is derived from the faith of its followers. I may not know any useful facts about the sixth house cult, but I understand the threat Dagoth Ur presents to Morrowind. The blight, the ash storms, and many evil creatures flow over the ghost fence surrounding Red Mountain. The faith of the Dunmer is the only thing giving the Tribunal the power to maintain the ghostfence and in recent years that power has been waning as more Dunmer become casual in their worship or question the Tribunal's power altogether. This is why dissidents can not be tolerated in the eyes of the Temple. We must remain faithful or Dagoth Ur will win this battle of wills and Morrowind will be doomed to thousands of years under his rule. He won't stop there either. He will move to conquer and expand into the mainland."

I steadied myself on the bookshelf. "How do we know he's really that powerful?" I let my hopeful disbelief show on my face.

Mehra shook her head sadly. "I don't. I don't even know how he became so powerful. What I do know is that the temple flows with whispers of the evidence. The ordinators are saying that all throughout Vvardenfell, there are people who are falling into strange trances and preaching the coming of Dagoth Ur. They leave their homes and families, sometimes wearing little or no clothing. Often they become aggressive. The call themselves dreamers. The Ordinators are calling this trend 'soul sickness'." She took a deep breath. "The Temple tries to keep these things quiet, but the truth is that there is much unrest in Morrowind. Now," she concluded. "Is there anything else you need to ask? We shouldn't remain here much longer."

I shook my head. "No. That's everything I needed. Stars watch over you Muthsera."

Before I could go, she stopped me short, grabbing my wrist. "Will you give Caius my best? He's a good friend of mine."

She waited until I agreed beforeleting go of me. I left the library, suddenly feeling every Ordinators presence like a weight on my back. Once outside the temple, I made a beeline north to the St. Delyn canton and beyond. I'd head for the foreign quarter, I decided, seeing as there were fewer Ordinators there. My plans were interrupted as I crossed the bridge. A familiar Khajiit was laying on the stone rail, taking a catnap in the noonday sun.

Since I'd seen her last, Addhiranirr had donned at least a little clothing. Thanks to their fur, Khajiit didn't always feel the need to go fully clothed. Her outfit consisted of a short practical leather skirt and a leather shoulder belt with pouches for carrying things. I caught myself contemplating her figure and cleared my throat to rouse her. She slowly stretched over the arched stone railing and rolled to face me.

"Oh how funny, this one was just dreaming about you." She propped her head on a hand.

I ignored the innuendo and replied, "I hope you were dreaming about what kinds of useful information you could tell me."

She put on a pout and swung up into a sitting position, crossing her hanging legs. "And here she thought Addhiranirr had met a suave debonaire Imperial spy." She shrugged and and spoke forlornly. "Perhaps it was better in her head. Addhiranirr is not even sure she wants to work with the Empire anymore." She hid her grin, but I could tell she was fighting the urge.

I put on a charming smile. "I don't suppose you could settle for a brutal, self loathing Imperial spy."

She raised an eyebrow playfully. "Are you making an offer?" My face flushed and the Khajiit laughed, coming to her feet and taking my arm. "Tell you what, we can discuss business over lunch and perhaps we can do…" She trailed off, looking me up and down sensually. "Something else, later."

I realized I was holding my breath. Addhiranirr sent thrills of excitement through me and at that moment, I was so enthralled, I didn't care that she was a Khajiit. She half giggled, half purred and went to lead the way north, when she jumped in fright. I looked to find what she had seen and there were suddenly a half dozen people, men and women blocking each side of the bridge. I hadn't noticed them close in on us at all. What's more, they all stood with arms hanging loosely at their sides and wore emotionless expressions. There were a handful of Dunmer and a scattering of other races. Some seemed rich, others poor. There was an Ordinator in front of me, but he stood like the rest of them, totally opposite the normally imposing posture they wore.

My first thought was that they disapproved of our interracial flirting, but seeing how they stood, I realized something else was going on here.

Addhiranirr scooted behind me, hanging on my arm. "Are these friends of yours?"

I scanned them and noticed a couple of the Dunmer from the bar last night. However, they weren't angry. They were almost comatose. Even their gaze was off. It was like they were looking through me rather than at me.

My hand slowly dropped to my sword. "What do you want?"

The group spoke as one. "We invite you to house Dagoth Han lu."

My heart dropped into my stomach and Addhiranirr tightened her grip on my arm. "Who are you?"

"We are dreamer."

The commotion had now attracted the attention of a number of Ordinators and two pairs of the warriors slowly approached the dreamers, gripping their spears. "What's all this about," one of them rumbled, hesitant, seeing that one of their own was in the group.

"House Dagoth rises and the false Tribunal wanes. The time is at hand and all must choose. Kneel or fall. Any other choice simply delays the inevitable and will incur wrath upon your head."

One of the sane Ordinators crept up to the entranced one and tapped him on the shoulder. "Duran! Duran, stop this. It's not you, it's the soul sickness." The dreamer acted as if his friend wasn't even there. They all stared at me.

"Come to Red Mountain." The final sentence seemed to embed itself into my mind, echoing inside my head as loud as a cathedral bell. I stumbled, thrown off balance as the world blurred. Everyone moved at once, the dreamers turning on the Ordinators and a few of them rushing forward, grabbing at Addhiranirr. She screamed and hissed and scratched. As soon as I regained my senses, I tried to fight them off. I caught a dunmer sailor in the jaw with a solid punch, but he kept grabbing at Addhiranirr. I heard screaming and saw that the Ordinators had raised their shields and with lowered halberds they were stabbing the attacking dreamers.

I followed suit, drawing my orcish sword and stabbing the sailor in the side. He jumped back and glared, having ignored me up to this point. He tried to tackle me, but ended up impaling himself on my sword. With a shocked expression, the trance seemed to leave him and he stumbled backwards to the ground and screamed in agony.

Addhiranirr screamed as two dreamers pushed her up to the edge of the rail. I swung hard and took an Imperial male in the back of the neck. Before I could dislodge my sword, the other dreamer, a Dunmer noble by the looks of him, turned and tried to ram a long dagger into my stomach. I caught his wrist with both hands and we danced around with the weapon, wrestling for control. The dark elf was much larger than me and forced me to retreat, keeping my hand on his wrist. He twisted, throwing me to each side' trying to impale me. My hand slipped and his dagger thrust for my unprotected belly when he was cut down to the ground by an arrow. I panted, searching the surroundings for my rescuer. On the 2nd level of the St. Olms canton, Huleeya, the Argonian stood with a longbow. The fight was over, with most of the dreamers dead and some still dying. More Ordinators rushed the area. They formed a shield wall around the bridge, keeping people away from the scene. One Bosmer woman tried to push her way past screaming at the Ordinators that they'd killed her husband.

I stumbled back to the edge of the bridge next to Addhiranirr, yanking my orcish sword from a body and keeping it between me and the dreamers on the ground. Once the area was secure an Ordinator approached us. "We'll have to take you two in for questioning."

I stopped his advance by raising my sword. "We didn't do anything wrong. These people ambushed us out of nowhere."

The Ordinator nodded, holding his shield and halberd out to the side in a peaceful gesture. "I understand that. I saw the beginning from afar. You're not being put under arrest. We just need you to come to the Hall of Justice and tell us what happened. Both of you."

Three Ordinators hauled Huleeya onto the bridge, bound in manacles. The one addressing me turned to the three. "What's this about?"

"This one resisted," came the curt reply.

The officer nodded. "Will you all see these three to the Hall of Justice? No need to bind the other two, but the Argonian can stay shackled for now."

The guards gave a salute and approached. One held out a gloved hand for my weapon, which I surrendered considering how resisting worked out for Huleeya. Onlookers were flooding to see the scene from both the cantons and the temple. As we were marched back to the temple, I spotted the gardener I'd spoken to earlier. When she saw me, she fell to her knees and clasped her hands in prayer.

We were led to a room with a cell nearby the Ordinators quarters and locked inside. One of the Ordinators lingered by the cell. "The Captain will be with you once he's finished his work at the scene. Do you need anything while you wait?"

Addhiranirr and I answered in the negative. The Ordinator ignored Huleeya when he asked for a kegger and left. The Argonian struggled to his feet from the floor were he'd been dumped.

"Listen up you two. No matter what happens, don't admit to having weird dreams or visions. In fact, don't admit to anything out of the ordinary. These guys take this stuff very seriously."

Addhiranirr curled up in the corner fearfully and wrapped her tail around her. Her voice was small, no longer playful in any way. "Who were those people? What was wrong with them?"

"A better question," I interrupted, facing Huleeya, "Is how were you there when it all happened?"

The Argonian sat upright. "I was stalking some of those assholes who wanted to start trouble at the cornerclub last night so I could teach them a lesson."

Addhiranirr frowned. "You brought a longbow to teach them a lesson?"

Huleeya smiled sardonically. "Yes."

We were interrupted by the Ordinators. They entered the room and one of them said, "The Argonian first." Huleeya was hauled to his feet and dragged out, leaving me with Addhiranirr. I looked to her huddled form and tried to think of something to say. The flirtatious, sensual Khajiit had been replaced by a furry ball of fear.

"I'm sorry that happened," I said dumbly. "I don't know why they came after me." Part of me still wanted to try and salvage our new relationship. I realized that she had been moving very fast, perhaps faster than was wise, but having been tantalized by her charms and good looks made me loath to give up on her. Who knew when I'd connect with a girl like this again.

Addhiranirr peeked out from behind her knees, her golden eyes gleaming slightly in the torchlight. "Han lu, Addhiranirr is Thieves guild. She doesn't like to fight. She doesn't like being involved in matters like this. She likes you, but we should not be friends. She doesn't want anything to do with the devil in the Red mountain." My heart sank and I stood up from next to her and leaned against the steel bars.

"Well, that's good I suppose. I won't be staying around here anyway." I knew right away, I hadn't hidden the hurt in my voice very well. Addhiranirr opened her mouth to comfort me, but I cut her off. "I did come to you for information. Just tell me about the Sixth house and Nerevarine cults and we can part ways as soon as they let us go."

She looked pained at my words. "Han lu, Addhiranirr is sorry, but she's scared."

I held up a hand, not wanting to discuss it. "The cults," I insisted.

She still looked pained, but bowed her head. "The Nerevarine cult is silly. From what Addhiranirr hears, it's followers do nothing worthy of note. The sixth house cult is up to something. Many smugglers this one has worked with don't have time to take jobs from her anymore. They work for a new client and are very secret. Addhiranirr boarded one of their ships once. They have crates of little red clay statues full of ash. Why, this one knows not. They are bringing the things secretly to all parts of the island. Addhiranirr only knows it is for the sixth house cult because she broke into a Captain's cabin and read his ledger after nobody would tell her the truth. They are usually loudmouth braggarts, but now they are tight lipped and carry heavy purses. Addhiranirr knows nothing else."

I realized that this was the only current information I'd received on the sixth house cult. Every other menton of them had been a historical one.

"This one is sorry she could not be more helpful to you, "Addhiranirr apologized, looking at the floor.

"Good, because there's one more thing I need," I offered. Her ears perked up, but her eagerness looked pained, afraid of what sordid affair I'd involve her in. "As part of my mission for Caius, I must get back to the mainland and I can't be seen with an Imperial ship. Do you know a smuggler I could hire to take two passengers?"

She thought for a second. "There are one or two who might, but they are secretive and very expensive. They might charge anywhere from five to ten thousand drakes."

I faked a smile. "My employer doesn't have a funding shortage," I lied. If I made her think it was Blade business, maybe she wouldn't mention it to anyone.

She pursed her lips in concentration and was quiet for a time. "Han-lu, the guild needs to be sure to protect its allies. Considering what happened just now…" she tried to trail off, but at an insistent look from me, she finished, "You are high risk cargo."

"Nuh uh. Nothing's standing in my way now. Anything. I'll do whatever it takes to get on one of those ships."

"You realize you are an Imperial agent. Who's to say this isn't all a ruse to get to the Thieves guild. Caius and I have a working relationship, but we are still on opposite teams."

I crossed the room and took Addhiranirr by the shoulders, staring her in the eyes. My body shook involuntarily. "Please, I need this. The whole world has turned against me, but if I can just get this one thing, I can gain control of my life again."

She shrank back away at my intensity and I gasped in exasperation. "Don't stop me here. Don't you dare deny me this!" The corners of my eyes welled with tears as the door opened and an Ordinator stepped in.

"Is everything okay in here?" I reluctantly let go of the Khajiit.

"Yes," I insisted, clearing my eyes.

The Ordinator grunted. "You next Dunmer."

Addhiranirr avoided my gaze until I finally broke away and resigned myself to questioning.