No one would ever have asked, and Lucien most definitely never would have answered, but the question remained. Why? Why was he even pondering it? With each step he told himself that his reason for it was finishing what he had started, but if her throat were before him at that very moment, would he proceed to cutting it?

The ride back from Anvil had been wrought with such questions. Long rides always brought long thoughts to his mind, and Elisif was a ponderous subject indeed. If what she had told him was true, then all these years, he had wronged her. In and of itself, wronging an individual was of no consequence to him; often he had slaughtered just to paint the surrounding landscape. This was different.

He entered through to Talos Plaza District, stabling Shadowmere at the entrance. No one paid him any notice, yet still he cast a chameleon spell, his silent tread insuring that guards did not detect him. It would not do for the Thieves Guild to warn her of his coming.

Rumors flew surrounding his Elisif. Some whispered that she and Raminus Polus had a lovers' quarrel that landed her in jail. Still others say she had fled the Imperial City to fight daedra, dying in the planes of Oblivion. Lips murmured soft words about the Arch-Mage and the Thieves Guild being pitted against one another, while others say that the lady had murdered the Emperor himself. At this one Lucien had to laugh. If she had murdered anyone, he'd be one of the first to know.

Since more or less all of the rumors involved Raminus Polus, the Speaker had to assume that she was at the Guild of Mages. The thought of seeing Raminus made the assassin groan inwardly. He remembered him from years before, the young man who had studied with the same mage as Elisif, always at her side, always underfoot. When Lucien had again come into Elisif's life, finding her a woman full grown and not the young awkward girl he'd tucked away in the City, Raminus had been an ardent admirer of hers. Still the boy was no fool, and once Lucien had shown his face (and really, Elisif had never had eyes for another besides him in those days), he had made himself scarce.

Raminus the Man was much different from Raminus the Boy, yet still he knew it to be him. The rich brown hair he had once possessed was gradually turning grey, and his eyes that seemed so bright and nervous around Elli had calmed, growing careworn and wary. Still, he looked fit and able, and his prowess with magick was well known by all. In truth the man ran the Guild, with Elisif merely being a figurehead.

As much as he looked like the foolish boy, Raminus was much more shrewd in his older years. His eyes observed as much as they read, and he was nearly always seen with a book in hand. So Lucien should not have been surprised when the flash of the floor runes drew the mage's attention. The assassin merely kept going, ready to slash the mage's throat if it came to it. He would talk with Elisif, and damn any who wished to intrude.

The top of the mage's tower revealed that she was not there, just as she had not been at the Thieves Guild. Yet, as he turned to leave, Raminus Polus stood in his way, right on top of the floor runes. He stared in Lucien's direction, and it was almost as if he made eye contact with the invisible man.

"Come out, sneak." Raminus demanded, looking around, and Lucien felt a strange relief that the mage could not actually see him. He kept his silence, deciding to wait the younger man out, yet before long Polus muttered a phrase and promptly dispelled the chameleon charm from Lucien. His reaction was swift, a dagger to his throat, before Raminus could think to draw his.

"Where is she, fool?" Lucien ground out, and at that Raminus darkened, his hands resting on the assassins chest in an almost feminine way. The mage was looking up at him, seemingly helpless. "Didn't know you fancied the company of men, Raminus Polus." he leaned closer to the man's face, taunting him. "Sorry to say I'm not interested in your flesh, unless it is to flay it from your bones."

Raminus did not respond, merely peering st him innocently as he sent a powerful electric shock through Lachance's chest from each hand, knocking the man back against the far wall. He crumpled to the ground, hood knocked back to reveal hs face; to his credit, the mage did not seem surprised.

For the unfortunate and slightly smoking Speaker, the world was in a haze, and no sooner had the fog left him than he was lifted up and shoved into a wardrobe, the doors secured. He could hear the fool Raminus talking to someone, another mage, maybe a servant. They chatted for far too long, and the mage's voice was much too low for him to make out anything. Nevertheless he pressed an ear to the thick wooden door, but he could scarce make out anything at all.

So intent was Lucien that he didn't catch his balance when Raminus opened the wardrobe doors, and the usually graceful assassin tumbled out onto the floor. The Master-Wizard looked down at his foe with a raised brow, backing away when Lucien's dagger swiped at his legs.

"You've come to the wrong place, assassin." Raminus spoke softly, watching with some humor as Lucien stood with care, "If the gods be good, you will not see her again, and if the gods are very good, you will see her only once: when she plunges a knife into your chest.

"Leave, Lucien Lachance, and know as you do that the Guild of Mages has shown you two mercies today."

"Two?" the Speaker growled out, running a hand over his own shoulder and casting a bit of healing magick there. Raminus leered at him.

"The first is your freedom from this place, a kindness no one else here would have shown you. The second...the second is the only bit of information I have. Kvatch has stopped burning, and word is that she put the fires to rest before going north."

"You would direct me there, knowing what I will do to her?" Lucien mocked, but Raminus scoffed in return.

"Perhaps you'll kill her, but more likely you're as desperate to have her as a man with his first woman. She's a comely one, and I know she is skilled in many different ways." He only glared as Lucien stood wide eyed and angry, then beckoned to the floor runes. "After you, assassin."