"Did they look like this?" Festus Krex said as he pointed to an image in a book he had retrieved from his room a moment before. The image he pointed to depicted a grotesquely thin, grey-skinned creature with spikes protruding from its arms and back and down its tail. It had squinted eyes and a circular shaped mouth with multiple tusks bulging out of it.
"Yes!" exclaimed Babette.
"That's them." Nazir's deep baritone voice confirmed.
"What are they?" Gabriella's softer tones chimed in.
"They are known as The Hunger." Krex answered with his voice that sounded like he had a fair amount of gravel stuck in his throat. "They are the prized servants of the Daedric Prince, Boethiah."
"That's right!" Gabriella chimed in as she finally recalled them. "They belong to the Prince of Plots. I wonder what they are doing on the mortal plane."
"How would I know?" Krex returned. "I just got back to be presented with this mess."
Gabriella turned a glare on the Family's curmudgeon that went ignored.
"Why is it any of our business?" Nazir asked. "It is not our responsibility to solve Nirn's every problem."
"Perhaps not," Astrid finally spoke. "But they keep attacking the Sanctuary. How long do you suppose it will take before they appear in numbers so great that we cannot turn them back? Shall we sit besieged in our own home starving to death?"
"The question of why they are here is secondary." Krex said gruffly. "We should figure out how they are getting here. If we find out how they are getting to the mortal realm, perhaps it could be shut down."
"Is it possible that Boethiah is actually here as well?" Astrid asked everyone.
"I doubt it." Gabriella answered. "The Gauntless hasn't come yet and I doubt Boethiah would remain inconspicuous for so long if he was here."
"The Gauntless?" Astrid asked.
"It's also known as Gauntlet's Day." The dunmer assassin replied. "It is Boethiah's summoning day. It falls on the 2nd of Sun's Dusk."
"That's not quite a month away." Their leader mused.
"That still leaves us with nothing." Arnbjorn said clearly irritated. "And I'd rather deal with them so I don't have to keep repairing Family armor."
"Gabriella, Festus." Astrid looked to each of them. "Do you know of any other abilities they might have aside from disintegrating armor?"
"It is said they have paralytic abilities." Festus offered. "Though I obviously can't confirm that."
"It sstill doess not answer any of our questions." Veezara said. "There musst be ssomething we haven't thought of."
"Perhaps when you speak next, lizard, you could offer something useful or at least original and not just re-state what we already know." Krex shot at him.
"And what help have you been old man?" Nazir boomed. "All you've done is give the problem its name."
"Watch yourself Nazir!" Festus snarled back as loud as his gravelly voice would allow. "I won't tolerate such insolence. . ."
"And when did you become the king of the Family, Festus?" Gabriella broke in.
Within moments, the discussion withered into a cacophony of shouting and insult-hurling and it was just then that Astrid – her eyes focused on the one member of her Family that had been rather quiet through the meeting – saw Babette's eyes go wide as she muttered a single word that was lost in the noise of the Family's discord.
Quiet was quickly restored as Astrid plunged her long dagger into the table they were gathered around with enough force that its blade sunk several inches into the wood.
"If I may have a moment of everyone's time," came the scathing tone in Astrid's otherwise dulcet tones. "I believe our eldest sister has thought of something."
They all looked to Babette as she looked to Astrid and repeated her single word. "Sionis."
Astrid's confused countenance begged the vampire to explain without needing words.
"Do you remember his plight?" The false-child prompted. "There was a mage he was trying to find."
"Yes," Astrid confirmed. "And he apparently found him."
"Do you remember why he was looking?" Babette continued. "The mage had re-animated his beloved sister. But. . ."
Astrid gasped as it hit her.
"Would either of you two kindly tell me what grand revelation you're experiencing?" Festus broke in, once again ignoring the scowls shot his way.
"Didn't Sionis say that what was done was unheard of?" Babette asked.
"No." Astrid corrected almost breathlessly. "He said it was impossible."
"Exactly." The vampire confirmed.
"Still waiting!" Krex barked impatiently.
Astrid turned her gaze on him. "Festus. Could a corpse be re-animated permanently?"
"Of course not." The ancient Imperial snapped. "The zombie would dissolve to dust as soon as the effect ran its course."
"And the mage would have to stay fairly close to it?"
"Yes." Festus confirmed.
"And if I told you there was a mage that had managed to not only permanently raise a dead person but also was nowhere near the area it was found?"
"I would have no problem calling you a fool." Krex fired back not caring a bit about the slight slandering of his leader. "No mage that ever lived could do such a thing."
"Perhaps no human mage?" Astrid coaxed.
"What are you getting at?" The old mage demanded. "Not man, mer or any other race. Only one of the Divines or perhaps a Daedric Prince could. . ." He trailed off as the implication hit him.
A moment later, it seemed to settle upon the others as well, but no one said anything.
"Sionis opened a contract on Boethiah." Babette spoke after a moment of silence. "And Sable is undoubtingly on her way to fulfill it."
"Do you think Sionis knew?" Astrid asked the vampire child, a hard edge to her voice.
Babette shrugged. "I can't say for sure." She replied.
"We must get to her and rescind the contract before it's too late." Astrid ordered.
Once again the room was filled with a multitude of voices all seeking to be heard at once. This time it was their matron jumping up on the table and stamping rather loudly that brought them back under control.
"We can't all go." Astrid said evenly. "A large group will only move that much slower. Besides, there must be some of us that remain behind to look over and defend the Sanctuary. And there will still be contracts to take."
She paused a moment in the silence to make sure that she still had their attention and obedience before stepping from the table and continuing.
"Gabriella and Babette will go."
"If it's speed we are looking for, I can run both day and night." Arnbjorn stated. "I can travel much faster than anyone else here."
"Indeed that is true, my husband." Astrid acknowledged placing a hand on his arm. "But we need you here. We may have need of your blacksmithing."
The werewolf grumbled something under his breath but said nothing aloud against his wife.
"Thank you, husband." She offered. "If we are too late, Babette has the best chance of getting Sable out alive and Gabriella's healing abilities may well be needed." She turned to the two women. "Babette, Gabriella please ready yourselves and set out as soon as you are ready and able." The dunmer and the vampire nodded and left the room in a hurry. "It will be business as usual for the rest of you."
When she had been left alone, the matron of the assassin's guild pulled her blade from the table and sighed. "Please Sithis, be with our little overachiever."
They came out of the other side of the main building to find it was gently snowing. Sionis was beginning to get uneasy as the body count continued to rise and they still hadn't found anything. Worrying about only having two lock picks left, Sable had followed the path of least resistance through the building – meaning that she turned away from any door that was locked; thought there had been only one. He doubted that it held anything, however, as her summation had been correct. Having come through a kitchen, its larder, a smaller banquet room, and several bedrooms on the upper level, it had become quite clear that it was used solely for parties and hosting guests.
Every person they had encountered was now lying dead. So far he had just been following making sure to re-cast his invisibility and muffle spells as needed and worrying about when they would finally be found out and caught. He trailed close behind Sable as she crouched behind the walls of the walkway surrounding the compound and began making her way toward the smaller tower-like building sitting at the north point of the embassy grounds.
Peeking above the wall, she saw just one guard milling about in the courtyard between the two buildings. She took a moment to scan the outer walls to see if any others were walking the perimeter on this side of the compound, but after a moment, refocused her attention on the one in the courtyard.
She crept along the walkway, pressed up against the short interior wall as she made her way towards the small set of stairs that led down into the courtyard. Peering around the corner, she saw the Thalmor sentry milling about between two planters in the middle of the open area facing the target building. Coming at his left shoulder would make sneaking up on him tricky and she hoped his hood obscured enough of his peripheral vision that she could make it behind him unnoticed. Then an idea came to her.
Sable hid herself from view once more.
"Sionis," she whispered, "Are you nearby?"
"Yes." Came the disembodied whisper in reply.
"If I remember, attacking someone will break your invisibility spell, right?"
"Correct." The invisible mage replied.
"What if you just throw a rock or something at no one?" She asked a smiling forming on her face.
"I'm not sure." He answered.
"What do you mean?" She retorted incredulously. "How do you not know?"
"I've never tried it." He snapped back. "Why would I have ever had a reason to do so?"
The assassin huffed and frowned and was quiet for a moment.
"Well, it's time to find out." She said still whispering. "Find a rock and throw as far as you can across the courtyard. Make sure it makes some noise."
"Why? I thought we wanted to remain concealed for as long as possible."
"Just do it." She hissed.
"Fine."
A moment later she heard a small clattering noise in the walkway across the courtyard. She peeked around the corner of the stairs again to see that the desired effect had been achieved. The hooded guard straightened and turned his attention to the sound and began walking away from them.
Sable took off from her hiding place moving swiftly, but silently. She was right behind her prey in mere moments and wasted no time in grabbing his mouth and yanking his head back before slitting his throat. She let go and he fell to the ground in a heap and the snow around quickly began to stain crimson. Without taking even a moment to consider yet another murder this night, she quickly turned and headed for the door of the final building.
She was there in a moment and knelt down pulling her last two picks and set to work. Knowing that her remaining picks were beyond precious, the assassin went slowly. Just as when she had finally cracked the door to the main building, she paused frequently and tugged ever so gently trying to find the sweet spot.
"Sable!" came the frantic whisper of her invisible companion, startling her and causing her to jerk the pick in her hand. Miraculously, while she did bend it quite a bit, it didn't break.
Her response was to scowl and take a swipe at where the voice had come from. She landed a glancing blow. It was so weak that if her companion even felt it, he didn't make mention of it.
"Sable!" He cried out again.
"What?" She snapped back.
"This is the Solar."
"So what?"
"Do you know what this building is?"
"Yeah! The Solar!" She mockingly mimicked him.
"This is the personal quarters and office of the Thalmor ambassador!" Sionis exclaimed not paying attention to her teasing him.
"Really?" She asked genuinely now.
"Yes!"
"Great. We're sure to find those personnel files in here."
Behind her, she heard a long exasperated sigh.
"Just be careful." The mage admonished.
Sable turned her attention back to the door lock. She took it even more slowly than before, determined not to break this pick and be left with only one for whatever encounters she might yet face. Minutes passed by has she blocked out everything but feeling for the correct catch on the pick. Finally, it clicked into place and the door was opened. Her elation at the hard won victory quickly vanished, however, as the pick snapped in half as she tried to pull it from the lock.
This time she held the door cracked open just enough to peek inside and see if there were any surprises waiting. Not seeing any sentries she proceeded inside, pausing long enough to allow her companion to enter in before her.
She quietly eased the door closed and turned to survey the private apartment of the Thalmor ambassador. Immediately in front of her was an expensive looking rug on which sat two tables and a pair of chairs. There were several arched columns arranged in the corner of a square supporting the upper floor. Beyond them she saw a staircase leading up to the second floor. To her left, she saw a door to another room. Another open room comprised the far corner of the left side of this floor.
She made for the door of the additional room and tried the handle. She cursed when she found it locked. Moving along, she found the open room to contain a pair of bookshelves, a desk and several chests. Sable moved around the desk and opened it. Her eyes went wide and a smile of delight spread across her face. There were two neat piles of papers contained within. When she looked closer she saw that she could not make out what was written on them.
"Can you read elven script?" She whispered, hoping her companion was close by.
"Yes, of course." He whispered back.
"Take a look at these and tell me if they're what we're looking for."
She felt rather than saw him lean in closer. After a moment he whispered, "They are dossiers on Thalmor agents. One pile looks to be for those currently serving in Skyrim and the others on those serving elsewhere. That is, if the top of each pile indicates the contents of each one."
Sable thought for a moment. "You keep looking here. I'll see if there is anything in that locked room."
A light tap on her shoulder indicated his consent and she went back to the locked door and stuck her last pick in the lock.
Fortunately, this lock was much simpler and thus much easier to get past. There were again a pair of bookshelves and desk – this one placed in center of the room. Across the room from her sat a glass display case.
Her curiosity getting the better of her, she ignored the desk and crossed the room to peer into the display case. Inside were a pair of gold circlets, one with a triplet of emeralds set into it. The other held a similarly ostentatious rubies, but it was the pair of elven daggers sitting between them with their blades crossed over each other that drew her attention. And just then, she forgot the reason for being here. She had to have those daggers. She knelt to pick the lock on the display case. She inserted the pick and began feeling out the lock. A moment later she thought she heard a slight scuffling sound out beyond the office she was in, but when no other sounds followed, she thought nothing of it and continued to work the lock.
She was so close when she felt the presence of someone behind her at the office the door. The sound of it creaking as it was opened wider confirmed to her that she wasn't alone. At moment later the silence was broken by a commanding voice that most certainly did not belong to Sionis.
"Halt!"
She froze only for a moment before resuming her work on the lock.
"You there." The voice most certainly belonged to a guard. "Get up."
Just as his hand gripped her shoulder in an effort to pull her to her feet, the lock on the display case clicked open.
"I said . . ."
He didn't get to finish. In a flash, the white-haired assassin stood while grabbing the top dagger from the case. Finishing the fluid movement, she whirled around and stabbed the dagger right into the guard's neck. His eyes flew open in shock, but he couldn't make sound against the quicksilver blade lodged in his throat.
Sable's eyes also went wide in surprise as she felt invigorating energy twirl up her arm. It hit her chest and she found that she felt stronger and livelier. The infusion lasted only a short time as it didn't take long for the Atlmer to bleed out and die. The dagger slid out from his neck with a squelching sound and spurt of blood from the severed artery. The flourishing feeling lingered and she stared awestruck at the dagger. It was gone in the blink of an eye, but she thought for sure she had seen a red glimmer dance across the length of the blade and down through the hilt.
She turned and grabbed the other dagger and noticed the same almost imperceptibly fast glimmer on it as well, though this one was a deep green color. She turned them over in her hands a couple of times before wiping the clean the first blade and depositing them into a pair of empty sheaths on her belt. She looked back at the circlets and wondered if they also housed some marvelous secrets.
Just then, Sionis came into the room. He was visible.
"Why didn't you do anything about him?" She asked in a whisper.
"My invisibility wore off just before I saw him coming down the steps." He explained with a pleading look on his face. "I couldn't have re-cast without him hearing or seeing me. Trying to warn you would have given me away as well, so I quickly ducked under the desk. I'm sorry."
"I see," was all she said for a moment while cocking an eyebrow up as she stared at him. After a moment of watching him squirm, she finally let him off. "It's okay. If I couldn't take care of a single guard, I wouldn't be much of an assassin, now would I."
She looked back down to the circlets and then back at him. "Do you have any pockets in all those robes of yours?"
"Yes," he replied, the confusion evident in his voice. "Why?"
"Here," she reached into the display case and grabbed the two circlets. "Keep these for me," she said before tossing them his way. It was rather clumsy, but he managed to not drop either of them and straightened himself before tucking them into the folds of his robes.
"Was there anything in here pertaining to our quest?" He asked.
"I don't know." Sable said somewhat sheepishly. "I went for the display case first."
"What?" Now it was his turn to raise an eyebrow. "You set our mission aside for some trinkets?"
"The jewelry was just a nice find. The real treasure was the daggers that were in there as well."
"Hope they're worth it." The mage grumbled.
"They are elven make." She said in attempt to justify her interest but the blank look on his face told her that he didn't understand the significance. "Never mind. Let's just see if there is anything interesting in here."
They both made their way to the desk and opened it. Inside was another stack of papers. Sionis bent over to inspect the elven writing.
"These are all dossiers on agents that have been killed or went missing." He remarked. "This is most likely what we've been looking for."
"Good. You look through them and get what we need. I have one last person to send to the Void."
"What do you mean?" Sionis questioned. "You don't mean Elenwen, do you?"
"Who's Elenwen?"
"The ambassador."
"Oh, yes. She's the one." She turned to away but he stopped her.
"You can't kill the ambassador!" The mage exclaimed.
"Why not? Why can't I kill her?" Sable challenged.
"Think about the repercussions of killing the Thalmor ambassador." He answered incredulously.
"Okay, I kill her and we leave." She replied quickly.
"If you kill her the Thalmor will launch an investigation into who killed her. Maybe they trace it back to the Dark Brotherhood or maybe they don't. But if they do, they won't stop until the Dark Brotherhood has been purged from Skyrim."
"And if I leave her alive, she does the same thing." She asserted.
"No, if you leave her alive, she will have to report the deaths and the theft of both some treasures, but more importantly, some very valuable personnel records." Sionis corrected. "She would be disgraced and replaced and the Thalmor will attempt to cover everything up to avoid the scandal of appearing weak to the Empire and the rest of Tamriel."
He waited while she took it all in. "Fine," Sable conceded. "The precious Elenwen can live, but there is still something I need to do. You find our records. I'll be back." She turned and left the room before he could argue further.
A short while, Sable returned looking quite smug and proud of herself.
"What did you do?" The dark-eyed mage asked.
"Don't worry. She's still alive." She assured him, but added when the questioning look didn't leave his face. "And unharmed. Did you find the files we needed?"
"Not yet." He answered looking back down into the desk. "There's too many here."
"Then just grab them all. We need to go before someone finds a body and the rest of the embassy comes down on us."
"You mean we didn't kill everyone yet?" He sneered at her while gathering up all the files.
"We?" She teased. "You didn't kill anyone. In fact, when you had your one chance to do so, you hid under a desk."
"What?" He cried as he shot a glare at her. "My killing him would've woke the embassy. I didn't think we needed that."
She giggled at him. "And no, not everyone is dead. Let's go."
"Madam Ambassador. . ."
Elenwen slowly woke to the sound of someone calling for her.
"Madam Ambassador. . ."
As her eyes fluttered open, she realized it was the voice of her commanding officer calling from the door to her bedroom.
"What is it, captain?"
"I beg your pardon for waking you Madam Ambassador," he began, "But there has been an intrusion on the Embassy."
Her golden eyes snapped open. Suddenly all lingering sleepiness was gone.
"What!?" She barked. "What do you mean by 'an intrusion'?"
"All but three members of the night watch are dead, Madam Ambassador." The captain stated obviously trying to keep the unease from his voice.
"What!?" The First Emissary of the Thalmor roared. "How did this happen?"
"We are still investigating Madam," he replied. "I decided to notify you as soon as I possibly could."
"I will be with you in a moment, captain."
"Yes, Madam."
As she rose, her eyes caught the movement of something tumbling into her lap. The Altmer looked down to see a flower. It must have been placed on her chest while she slept. She picked it up and inspected it. It had the same downward cascade of layered petals as a deathbell, but instead of the normal purple, violet, or blues hues, this one was white with just the faintest tinges of purple at the base and edges of each of its flowers. As far as she could tell, it truly was a white deathbell flower.
The astonishment at the floral oddity was quickly replaced by rage as she again realized that it must have been placed on her while she slept. The murderous intruder had been in her bedroom – had stood over her and could have easily killed her as well.
The high elf ripped the bed covers off of her and stormed out of her bed. She went to her wardrobe and quickly dressed in some robes before going to the door to meet with her officer.
As she arrived, she saw that her door was slightly ajar; further evidence that her personal bedroom had played host to their intruder. She flung it open to see that a lesser officer was now talking to the captain. When they both saw her, they hurriedly finished their conversation and the lower ranking soldier was dismissed.
The captain looked at her apprehensively. "Madam Ambassador," he started somewhat nervously, "I'm afraid there is more to the breach."
"And what would that be?"
"This appears to be a theft." The captain replied.
"And what was taken that was worth the lives of half a dozen Thalmor officers?" She demanded.
"The display case in your office has been emptied." He answered. At first she was a bit incredulous at the report of the missing items. While certainly valuable, the enchanted daggers and the pair of circlets she had there were certainly replaceable. But her eyes stretched to their very limits when he continued. "A large number of personnel files appear to have been taken as well."
"What!?" She nearly screamed before striking him across the face. "Which ones?"
"We are still sorting through everything, but it looks like the files regarding those who were killed or went missing. It appears that the thieves were looking for those files specifically. The desk that contained the other files was searched, but so far it doesn't appear any of them are missing."
With that last statement, Elenwen was spun into a whole new level of anger. Seething, she could only manage to get out two words through clenched teeth. "Show me."
The captain turned and led her downstairs to her office and around to her emptied desk. Her eyes went wide and she nearly shook with anger.
"How did this happen, captain?"
"I'm . . . well . . . we are still gathering information on that Madam." He finally managed. "Unfortunately, last night's snow has covered over any tracks the intruder left. We can only go by the bodies found throughout the main building and here in your solar. And there is still one guard that is unaccounted for."
The ambassador stood there staring at the blank space in her desk where the stack of papers should have been.
"The disappearance of the one guard may point to this being an inside job." The captain offered a moment later.
She rounded on him with a withering glare. "Either way, captain, you should make peace with the Divines because it is almost certain we shall be joining them as soon as the Dominion finds out about this."
"Leave us." The captain commanded the others in the room. Once they all had complied, he continued their conversation. "Perhaps, Madam Ambassador, they don't need to find out."
"What do you mean?" She snapped, her patience having been exhausted shortly after getting out of bed.
"I simply mean they need not find out about this." He replied. "We can cover it up. I can thin the watches a bit until you can replace the murdered men little by little. If everything is done right, the Dominion wouldn't notice anything amiss."
"Tell me, captain," The Altmer woman purred malevolently. "Why do you suppose we've been gathering and compiling all of these records?"
"I know not, Madam." The officer admitted.
"Do you not recall that we receive a representative from the Dominion every half year to audit our records?"
The captain's face drained of its color.
"That's right, captain." She continued at seeing the look of horror on his face. "We needed those records as the Dominion representative is due to arrive in two days."
"Could . . . could we forge the records in the meantime?" He asked with only a small amount of hope in his voice.
"It's an audit, you idiot!" Elenwen screamed, slapping him for the second time that morning. "Unless the forgeries are exact replicas of the real records we would be found to not only be incompetent, but also trying to cover it up."
"Forgive me, Madam Ambassador." The captain replied immediately. "I was simply trying to assist you in any way I could."
"My dear, Captain." The ambassador mockingly consoled. "Don't worry so much about giving me any apologies." She paused to see his countenance lighten a bit, before crushing it. "Instead, I'll take any last requests."
His eyes went wide and he fell to his knees. "Please, Madam, please. I beg you. . ."
"Guards!" She called and within a moment, several filed into the room. She looked at them and found the highest ranking among them and pointed to him. "You. You are hereby temporarily given the rank of captain. Please take the former captain here to the dungeons below and have him executed. Slowly."
The man nodded and signaled his new charges to take hold of their former commander. He never stopped pleading as they stripped him of his weapons and armor and drug him from the room.
Elenwen didn't hear any of it. She was already contemplating her choices. As she saw it, she could wait for the representative from the Dominion and his party, explain what happened, and eventually share in her former captain's fate, or she could flee, taking whatever valuables she could carry and hiding from her former employers for as long as she could manage. The decision wasn't a difficult one to make.
A/N: Thanks to everyone who has followed Sable's tale so far. Coming up, we'll see Sable and Sionis have to weed through all the records they stole and hope they find a lead to follow and the adventures that ensue. And have we seen the last of Elenwen? Hmm...
Reviews and PM's welcome. I would love to hear from you all.
-E.K.