Thankfully, the dark tunnel was a short one. When Carolara emerged from the other end she the heard voices of the Emperor and his guard again; it seemed her route was just a detour off of their own. Remembering their threat, she kept quiet, lying flat against the ground on the upper level of the room they were passing through.

"We should find a defensible spot and protect the Emperor until help arrives," an Imperial man's voice was saying, a tinge of panic to it.

"Help?" replied the Redguard with a guffaw, incredulous, impatient. "What makes you think help will get here before more of those bastards? We need to get the Emperor out of here."

The Emperor spoke, calm, patient. "Have you seen the prisoner?" Carolara lifted her head just enough to be able to look down and see them, but ducked away when his wise eyes locked onto hers. She laid there perplexed; how could he see her when his trained guards could not?

"Do you think she followed us?" the Redguard man glanced back at the way they had come. "How could she?"

A smile from the old man, "I know she did."

"Dawn is breaking!"

Both Carolara and the party below her turned to the source of the very Elven voice to see another group of the red-robed men rushing at the Emperor and his guard from one of the many branched-off passageways. The guards, their swords already in hand, rushed to meet them but it was four on two.

Carolara cursed under her breath. She didn't want to get in trouble for getting in the way, but her conscience wouldn't be quiet and she couldn't abandon the Emperor to death. Outlaw or not, he was still her Emperor, and it was thanks to him that people had all those nice things to steal in the first place. Thus the redheaded Breton leapt from her hiding place above, using the force of that jump to knock one of the men right down on the ground. The Redguard finished him off before she got a chance to, a bit to her relief, and he spared her not a glance, too concerned with the battle for the moment.

As soon as the fight was over, however, the Imperial guardsman turned his anger on her, putting his sword up against her throat. Carolara dropped the blade in her hand and put her hands up, "I'm on your side!" She objected. "I promise!"

"Glenroy." The Emperor came forward, placing a hand on the man's shoulder. "She is not one of them. She can help us."

"As you wish, Sire." Respectfully but begrudgingly, Glenroy backed off from the Breton, moving away to wipe his sword clean on the robes of his enemy.

Carolara took a moment to remember to bow, swiftly reclaiming the weapon when she did, nervously smiling as Uriel Septim's eyes were on her. "Thank you, Sir... ah, Majesty."

"They cannot understand why I trust you," he said, gesturing for her to walk alongside him as they proceeded on. "They've not seen what I've seen. How can I explain?" The Emperor rubbed the snowy stubble on his chin, struggling to put thought into words. Carolara felt the scrutinizing eyes of the Redguard behind her but daren't look back.

"Explain what, Sir?"

"I've served the Nine all my days, and I chart my course by the cycles of the heavens." Uriel spoke softly as they strode down empty stone halls, seeing naught but the occasional rat. "The skies are marked with numberless sparks; each a fire, and every one a sign. The signs I read show the end of my path. My death, a necessary end, will come when it will come."

Though still intimidated by her situation, the Breton was always appreciative of a good talk- and how many people could say they had a chance to speak candidly with the Emperor? His calm was rather infectious too despite his morbid prediction, keeping Carolara's hand from shaking too much on the sword. From her own fear came the question, "Aren't you afraid to die?" She heard the Redguard clear his throat. "I mean, aren't you afraid to die, Sir?" A sigh came from behind her. She shrugged.

"I have lived well," the Emperor replied with a chuckle, "and my ghost shall rest easy. Men are but flesh and blood. They know their doom, but not the hour."

Glenroy stopped the group, hand in the air. "Hold up," he said firmly. "I don't like this."

Carolara tensed, looking around for any sign of movement in the surrounding darkness. They were in another room with far too many good hiding places for comfort, standing right in the middle of it all with lit torches. She frowned at the small but still heavy blade in her hands, very much wishing it was a bow. It didn't seem the other men had any projectile weapons either. Inconvenient.

Her attention was caught by a clanging sound; it was Glenroy trying to open the gate ahead to no avail. "Dammit! The gate is barred from the other side!" He drew his katana. "A trap!"

The Redguard followed suit but glanced over his shoulder, turning around, "What about that side passage back there?"

"Worth a try. Let's go." But his partner was ahead of him, getting the gate open and stepping into the room. Uriel Septim followed, and Carolara was just behind; but once they got in there was nowhere else to go. A collective sigh filled the room.

"What's your call, Sir?" The Redguard asked his Emperor. But before the man could reply there was a maddened rallying cry from whence they had just came and Glenroy darted for the door.

"Wait here, Sire!" He shouted, rushing headlong into the incoming group. "For the Emperor!"

"Stay here," the Redguard instructed the wide-eyed Breton, who nodded blankly at him. "Guard the Emperor with your life!"

Carolara's knees felt a little weak but she placed herself between Uriel and the door, brandishing her blade and trying to not to look as frightened as she felt. She jumped a bit when the Emperor placed a hand on her shoulder.

"My guards are strong and true," he said, tone grave once more. "But even the might of the Blades cannot stand against the Power that rises to destroy us. The Prince of Destruction awakes, born anew in blood and fire. These cutthroats are but his mortal pawns."

Between the battle outside and the dark, near-mad words the old man was speaking, the Breton could find no answer as her Emperor took the massive diamond-shaped crimson amulet from around his neck, then seized her free hand and placed it in her palm. She nearly dropped her sword, staring at it in fear and wonder, then questioningly looking back to Uriel.

"Take my Amulet," he said with urgency, "Give it to Jauffre. I have a secret son, and Jauffre alone knows where to find him."

In a sudden but fluid motion, Carolara slipped the amulet around her wrist and then used the free hand to seize her Emperor by the arm, jerking him forward as she jumped back. But much to her horror, she felt him collapse against her, dagger in his back; she had seen the assassin behind him a second too late. An elven laugh sounded out, and the old man in her arms wasn't breathing. Stunned, she lay him down on the stone floor, not taking her eyes off the assassin who just haughtily waited for her to make her move.

And that she did, dodging deftly past a fireball he threw and stepping into range to slice him deep across the chest. A snarl from the hooded elf, who retaliated with a blast of icy air that sent the small Breton sprawling onto her back. The sword clattered to the ground out of reach. But as she was struggling to sit up, skin stinging from the intense cold, the Redguard rushed back into the room and put his katana through the assassin's gut.

The man hadn't even hit the ground yet when the guard saw what had become of his Emperor and rushed to his side, dropping to his knees and checking for a pulse. "Talos save us," he said heavily, taking off his helmet in reverence, his exhausted and battered state making him the picture of despair. Carolara didn't need to ask what had happened to Glenroy; his friend's face told it all. She rose, shaking heavily as the adrenaline wore off and the nerves set back in, fidgeting, wondering what would become of her now.

It was the Redguard who voiced what both were thinking. "We failed. I've failed." He threw down his sword and helmet, slumping against a nearby wall.

"I'm sorry," Carolara said shakily, carefully sitting down some distance away from him but averting her eyes. "I wasn't fast enough."

"No," he shook his head. "It was our responsibility, the Blades are the ones sworn to protect the Emperor." The man pulled off his gauntlets to run both hands over his bloodied face. "And now he, and all his heirs, are dead..."

"Actually, perhaps not," the Breton turned over her hands to reveal the Amulet, and the Blade's eyes widened. "He spoke to me before he died. There's another, and I have to get this to him... well, to a man who knows where to find him, someone named Jauffre."

The Redguard seemed unbelieving. "Jauffre? He said that?" Wearily, he crossed his arms, looking at the ceiling in thought. "Another heir... nothing I ever heard about. But Jauffre would be the one to know."

"You know where to find him, then? Because I haven't the faintest idea."

"Of course. He's the Grandmaster of my Order, although you may not think so to meet him. He lives quietly as a monk at Weynon Priory, near the city of Chorrol."

She nodded, "That chapel east of the city, right? I've seen it."

"Tell him Baurus sent you," he said, scrutinizing her. "It feels weird to entrust the Amulet to a thief, but..." A brief glance to the still Emperor, looking away quickly. "He saw something in you. Trusted you. They say it's the Dragon Blood, that flows through the veins of every Septim. They see more than lesser men."

Carolara looked to wall that had been behind the Emperor during his final words. Where there had unmistakably been stone before there was now a small hole, just big enough for someone around her size to slip through. It had probably been some kind of Illusion spell, she thought, peering through and seeing naught but a sewer grate in a small room, right behind the door that had been barred from entry. They had been herded in like sheep for a slaughter, and they had somehow known right where their prime target would be... these assassins had, seemingly, thought of everything. What if they knew about the heir too? She clutched the Amulet.

"I have to go. Now."

"Down that grate is a tunnel into the sewers and out of the city." Baurus said to her, shifting slightly and removing a key from his belt that she caught with ease. "I'll trust you, too. I better not regret it."