We all stood up to greet him, out of respect.
"Lucien, always a pleasure." Ocheeva said, then looked at me again, "did he say the Grey Fox?" I chose to ignore that. Lucien gave me a knowing look. It made me angry inside.
"Please, as you were, my children." He said calmly. We all sat back down, though I was hesitant and the last to sit. I was surprised when Lachance chose to sit next to me. And not exactly thrilled. "I had intended to arrive here before Miss Dumont, forgetting to take her punctuality into account. You fail to disappoint me, murderer."
"Thank you?" It was more of a question than a real show of gratitude. I couldn't make out if he was serious or not.
"You're welcome." He didn't look at me. By the nine, why was he making me so agitated? I didn't even know him! He was being nothing but kind. I tried to calm down, there must have been a reason. Or maybe there wasn't. I needed to give him a chance. "I was planning to inform you all of her past before she arrived, to ease the transition. Of course, if the Night Mother can accept her reform, so can you all. Are we clear?" They all agreed and he seemed content.
"You were going to tell them my past without asking me first?" I asked him, though it came off more rude than intended. I realized by their faces I'd crossed a line. And yet he remained calm, outwardly anyway. But his gare was something that could have frozen over the planes of Oblivion.
"I would have told them as little as I could, but I was given instruction, unanimously, by the other Speakers to give them a little history lesson first. It was not my decision. You will do better in the future to remember your place, murderer." He stated without a hint of malice. Yeah. That was the reason. The reason not to like him.
The night proceeded without further incident and eventually, everyone had returned to the state they were in before. Except me. I answered questions, but kept a safe mental distance from the situation. To protect myself, just a precaution.
"What was it like? Going into the planes of Oblivion?" Was the question everyone seemed to want to have answered first. I thought a moment.
"Hot." I answered. "Incredibly dangerous. But I found it was easier to close a gate alone than with allies." They seemed confused. "Well, with a team, it was hard to work around them. Harder to instruct a group of people at once. Especially people who seemed to just not like me very much for no good reason at all-"
"I'm sure they had their reasons." Mraj-Dar received a shoulder-punch from Teinaava and growled in his throat. I continued when they all looked at me again, I didn't expect them to be so interested. I kept the part to myself about why it was really hard to work with other. Watch the faces of people you knew fall. Because you couldn't save them.
"Most of the planes were straight-forward. But some gates took me to harder areas. Ones with puzzles and stronger foes. The scamps and runts and atronachs could be dealt with easily, Dremora churls even. But the Caitliffs, Kynvals, Kynreeve, those. . . I'll admit, they made it more difficult. Not impossible, but difficult. Nearly all of them could use magic, of course. But most just used a standard melee attack unless they felt truly threatened. Churls were simple and arrogant. Caitliffs had the mental capacity of toddlers, like a Churl, but they had armor. Kynvals and up, though... they were more intelligent. And if it weren't for the living that could walk making it deadly enough, there was the flora, too. Spiddal plants released poison gas when you got too close, Haradda root would attack outright if you got within whacking distance. Blood grass was docile and easy to collect but quite worthless. The only time I used it was to cure someone of Vampirism. Then there's the traps. I still have nightmares about the towers that would spin and shoot balls of fire when they detected you. The technology there was deceiving. They all seemed so primitive, but that's what caused a lot of people to die. There were land mines, guillotines, dart traps, gates that had to be opened by venturing through towers. And at the center of it all, you'd have the tower portal. At least, that's what I'd call it.
The place you were trying to get to, your only real way out. I would send prisoners back through the gate but I never backed out of one myself. You'd have to fight your way to the top. And get to what they call the Sigilium Sanguinis. The top of the tower where the sigil stone resides. To close the portal, one would only have to take it. I remember the first time like it was yesterday. I thought it was going to be a trap. It was too quiet after hours of fighting. I told the Kvatch guard to leave, he was the only one that went in to come out alive, save for me. I still have it, I keep it in my house in Skingrad. In fact, thats where I keep just about all of the sentimental stuff. And I do say sentimental, because it's true. Some of it's junk, but it all holds some sort of value. Monetary or otherwise. Mostly otherwise." I joked.
They looked as if they didn't know what to make of it, but Gogron was the first to say anything.
"Hell, if it weren't for you, none of us would be here right now. That's what I'm hearing." Gogron said, raising his mug. Lachance and Mraj-Dar remained silent but the others cheered once more.
"Don't forget Martin Septim, of course. Never forget him. I know it may sound stuck-up, but I don't care what you all have against the Septims. When it comes to Martin, he might have been one by blood, but he was nothing like them. He was a friend." This time, I had raised my mug to toast. "To Martin." I said. And they followed suit, out of respect.
"Yes... for Martin." Lachance gave a nod to me, then stood. "I would say it has been a good day, has it not? But I believe it is time to retire. I, for one, have matters to attend to and it is much too late for you lot to be drinking any more. So... off to bed." Lachance gave his final word before leaving. They all waited until he was gone before cheering once more, finishing the meal and drinks, and heading off to bed finally around midnight.