Winterbell decided that her next priority was resolving the issue of the Telvanni spy in the Mage's Guild. Winterbell half expected to find out that he or she didn't actually exist, and that this was merely an attempt by Ranis to get rid of her.
Winterbell still felt gnawing guilt with regards to Baladas, but didn't really have any ideas as to how to resolve the situation. She thought about going to Aryon with the problem, but wisely decided that this was between them alone. Winterbell also wanted to get her hands on the mysterious staff again, but whether or not that would eventuate was entirely up to Baladas. Winterbell hoped he hadn't destroyed the artifact in a rage.
Winterbell went back to the Mage's Guild the next day, just in time to hear Marayan get a dressing down by Ranis. As much as Winterbell felt sorry for the mage, it was a good distraction and she slipped in without catching Ranis's eye.
"Telvanni spy?" Estirdalin played absently with an earring as she thought. "I thought it was just a rumor. I'm afraid I haven't heard anything more than that." The Altmer looked quite disappointed that she hadn't been able to help. Now that Marayan was back, and the story of his niece being 'troubled by some bandits' had come out, Estirdalin was quite happy to talk to Winterbell again and assumed that the trouble was over.
"Why do you care?" Sharn grunted.
Winterbell narrowed her eyes, "Because it's my job. Besides, I'm not keen on having a Telvanni spy in the Guild."
"I'll bet you're not," the Orc smirked.
"Stop it you two," Ajira hissed quietly, "you'll cause a fuss."
"Why are you on her side anyway?" Sharn asked Ajira angrily. The three of them were grouped around Sharn's workbench. Estirdalin was dreadfully curious but Ajira shot her a sharp look when she got too close, and she retreated.
"Because she's a friend. I believe her when she says that she'll do her best for us. She's never let her Telvanni connections hurt us."
"So she says," Sharn said scornfully. Ajira sighed and shook her head. Winterbell was about to reply when there was a whoosh of magicka and Masaline bounced cheerfully into the conversation,
"What's going on?"
"I need to find out if there really is a Telvanni spy," Winterbell explained before Sharn had a chance to get a word in.
"Ooh, that sounds exciting. Hmm…let me think. I'm sorry, I just don't know."
"I didn't really expect that you would," Winterbell said quietly.
"But if I was a spy," Masaline continued brightly, "I'd probably be in Sadrith Mora, 'cause that's where all the Telvanni are."
"That's actually a good idea," Winterbell fought to keep the surprise out of her voice.
"You want me to take you there?" she asked.
"That's very kind of you, Masaline."
Masaline cast her spell and Ajira and Estirdalen chorused 'Good luck'.
When she arrived at Wolverine Hall Winterbell went straight to Skink, to hear his side of the story. Despite the fact that he was technically not in charge of the Guildhall, he seemed the most experienced mage there. He also appeared to enjoy Winterbell's company, and the Dunmer always made sure she had some interesting news to tell, since the Guildhall was so isolated.
Winterbell retailed the results, or lack of, of her investigations and Skink scratched his scaly head.
"Well, Wolverine Hall is the obvious place, I agree," he looked around the tiny guildhall, "But I can't imagine anyone here being a spy. Not that that's any reason to discount anyone, of course. But if you want my opinion, I don't think the spy would be here. Because we're so isolated there wouldn't be a lot of point. The best place for a spy would be where the decisions are made."
"Vivec."
"Indeed. That's just a guess of course."
"It's a good one. Thank you for your time."
Winterbell arrived in Vivec deep in thought. There wasn't much she could do with the information she had, but she couldn't help but second guess herself. Winterbell didn't know anyone particularly well in Vivec and so she went and talked to Sirilonwe simply because she seemed the least busy.
The answer was unequivocal.
"It's that advisor of Trebonius's. Tiram Gadar. He came highly recommended, apparently. But he's not one of us, that's for sure."
Winterbell felt that this was hardly a damming accusation, but nevertheless she decided that the mysterious adviser was the best candidate so far. She asked around a bit more, and discovered that most of the other mages shared the Altmer's suspicions.
Winterbell bought some lunch from one of the street vendors and ate it while leaning against the wall of the Foreign Quarter canton. If Gadar was a spy there was a good chance he knew of Winterbell and her position in House Telvanni. Then again, if he was a spy for Aryon or someone who didn't like Gotheren then getting rid of him would be losing a valuable ally.
Winterbell needed more information before showing her hand. The very act of collecting such information would be risky. The odds were any spy worth his salt would already know of her investigations. Still, there was one person who couldn't be the spy, and who wouldn't think too hard about the questions that Winterbell was asking. Winterbell went to talk to Trebonius.
To Winterbell's surprise, Trebonius dismissed the idea of a Telvanni spy in the Guild out of hand. With a vague smile he waved away Winterbell's respectfully phrased suggestions. Winterbell blinked at him, stumped.
Winterbell was still trying to come up with some way of prizing the information out of Trebonius when her eyes met those of a Dunmer sitting in the shadows of a room off to the side. He had a mean, pinched face and he had apparently dyed his hair a peculiar shade of orange, even though his beard was white. His gaze was challenging, direct and less than friendly. Gadar. Winterbell bared her teeth in a humourless smile and turned to Trebonius.
"I hear you have an advisor, a Tiram Gadar."
"Ah yes, he's a wonderful advisor." Trebonius apparently made no connection with Winterbell's previous enquiry about a Telvanni spy. "He was very highly recommended, see?"
Gadar's eyes flashed angrily as Trebonius proudly pulled some parchment from his robe.
"Just look at this reference. Why, if I hadn't witnessed Tiram's work with my own eyes I might never have believed it."
Winterbell barely glanced at the reference itself. Her eyes were fixed on the signature below it. It had been a while since she had paid notice to the Archmages of the cities on the mainland, but she was fairly sure the spelling was wrong.
"What a remarkable document. May I keep it?"
"Why yes, of course," Trebonius beamed proudly as Winterbell carefully stored the document in her satchel.
Gadar watched her with thinly veiled hostility as she bid Trebonius farewell. Rather than go straight back to Balmora Winterbell found a chair and pulled out a book, pointedly ignoring Gadar. The spy was not slow to catch on. He scribbled a note and strode out, still looking very unhappy.
Winterbell strolled over and picked up the piece of paper. Written on it in small, cramped handwriting was a single phrase;
Lizard's Head Cornerclub at six
Winterbell smiled as she crumpled the note. A single spark of magicka and all that remained in her hand was ash.
Vivec was considered a dead-end for career Telvanni. Most posted there were considered by the bulk of the House in the east to have 'gone imperial'. The Telvanni presence in the city was little more than a formality, from a political point of view. Thus Winterbell's visits to the canton were infrequent although she was accorded due respect when she did stay.
The Lizard's Head Cornerclub was quite full by the time Winterbell arrived at around a quarter to six, but her status within the House ensured that she was shown to an empty table and served speedily. She kept her eyes open, but the fact was that practically everyone in the club looked suspicious in one way or another.
"You came." Winterbell glanced behind her, hiding her surprise at Gadar's sudden appearance. The spy looked only slightly happier than before. Winterbell smiled at him,
"Well, now I have the reason why the House found out about my Mage's Guild connection so soon."
"Connection? You're one of the Guild's rising stars. I seem to hear your name all the time, on both sides of the island."
"How flattering. Sit. We have things to discuss."
Gadar pulled up a chair and called for some greef. After it was served he sat and glowered.
"Well, what do you want?"
Winterbell pulled out the reference and smoothed it out on the table. "What I don't understand-"
"Trebonius is a fool. The misspelling was deliberate, the result of a bet between my superior and another councillor."
Winterbell shrugged and put the offending parchment away again. "So you admit that you're the spy?"
"I'll admit that I'm a spy," he smirked, "but with Trebonius at the helm half the Guild is probably serving other masters."
"I don't believe that to be the case."
"There's a Dark Brotherhood spy in Ald'ruhn," he replied smugly, "and of course, there's you."
"Who do you work for?"
"House Telvanni."
Winterbell ground her teeth and enunciated, each word dripping with suppressed rage, "Which Telvanni?"
"Mistress Dratha," he replied sullenly.
"I didn't think she employed men," Winterbell said with surprise.
"This is a punishment post. Do you really think we need to keep an eye on that addle-brained fool? You were the first news of note in all the years I've been smiling and nodding at that crackpot."
Winterbell was taken aback by the venom in his tone.
"He's a joke, and he's made the Guild a joke too. Go on, expose me as a spy. I'll be well out of there and we can all have a laugh at Trebonius's expense."
Winterbell leant back in her chair and surveyed the room thoughtfully, "I think you're lying. I think you were more than happy to get away from Dratha, and I don't say blame you. But you see," she leant forward, "I can report you to Ranis, or I can report you to Dratha. I'm sure she'd love to believe that her weak male subordinate had fallen for imperial ways."
"Ranis?" Gadar looked horrified.
"You think I'd be wasting my time with you if I had any choice? I'm merely working under orders here."
"Ranis would have me killed," he said in a strangled tone. "She's a monster; she wants to be back in Vivec."
"She was in Vivec?"
"She was rising just as fast as you are. Trebonius didn't see any problems with her, but everyone else did. The other captains talked him into giving her a promotion, but getting her out of Vivec. They've been blocking her attempts to get back."
"Hmm…you're not as useless as you look."
Gadar ignored the insult, "Look, let's make a deal, you don't reveal my position, and I'll get rid of Ranis. There are plenty of Telvanni toughs in Vivec who'd love to take down a Guild captain."
"Then my information would be all but useless and I'd owe you one. No, leave Ranis to me. I'll tell you what; you can keep your post if you support me in the Guild. No openly, of course; the last thing I want is your endorsement. Just make sure Trebonius doesn't cause me any trouble."
"The…that's it?"
"Like I said, I couldn't care less about your reporting to Dratha." Winterbell gave a triumphant little smile, "I've already received her support when I was promoted to Mouth." This half-truth staggered Gadar, who seemed to have given up the fight. Winterbell stood to leave,
"Just one more thing. Keep in mind that you may not be serving under Trebonius for much longer, so behave." With that parting shot Winterbell departed, leaving Gadar to pay the bill.
Winterbell flagged down a gondola and wondered if she had revealed too much of her hand. She decided that even if she had, the information about Ranis had been worth it. She had regarded Ranis as an annoyance, but it hadn't occurred to her that Ranis's antagonism was based on the fact that they were becoming ever increasingly direct rivals for the position of Archmage.
Winterbell had all the impetus she needed to get rid of Ranis for good.
"Archmage, I have terrible, worrying news! I have discovered that there is a Telvanni spy in the Guild. She's been undermining the authority and the reputation of the Guild for years!"
"Winterbell, this is terrible if true, are you sure?"
"Well, let me describe some of the chores that I myself, in my naïve innocence, have done for her. I'm sure the other Guild captains will agree that she has acted in a manner unbefitting of a member of the Mage's Guild."
"Hmm…that was surprisingly easy. I should have done that months ago." Winterbell smiled to herself; it had been a very productive day.