Author's Note: Aaaannnnnd we're back! Hope everyone had a great summer, and that you enjoy this chapter! I don't own Skyrim. Enjoy!

The Party

After what seemed like ages, the hay wagon finally stopped. I stood up and eased myself off, my bones creaking from the lack of use. Shite, I thought to myself, how long was I on that wretched thing? I dusted myself off and removed whatever strands of hay and dirt that I could before making my way to the front gate. There was another man there heading in the same direction as me. "Ah!" He exclaimed in a sneering, and somewhat intoxicated, manner. "A fellow latecomer to Elenwen's little soiree." He rambled on and on as he stumbled towards the door, only to fall flat on his backside. I walked over to the door when one of the guards put up a hand in front of me to stop me from going any further. Oh shite, I thought in panic, have I been discovered? I was looking for a quick getaway when the guard calmly welcomed me to the Thalmor Embassy and asked me for my invitation. Breathing a heavy sigh of relief, I brought forward the invitation Delphine gave me. The guard looked it over and moved to the side. "Enjoy yourself, sir." She said as I went up the stairs and into the Embassy.

As soon as I came into the warmth of the party from the cold mountain weather, a slender High Elf dressed in clothes that made my fancy disguise look like a stable boy's clothing, came over to me.

"Welcome." She said in a curious tone. "I don't believe we've met. I'm Elenwen, the Thalmor Ambassador to Skyrim. And you are?"

"I am Will Svennson. Pleased to meet you." I said without thinking. Shite! Was I supposed to use a different name? What if my real name's fame as Dragonborn has traveled fast? The look of deep thought on Elenwen's face didn't help ease my panic as I tried to remain calm, hoping my ruse wouldn't be discovered too easily.

"Ah, yes." She said finally. "I remember your name from the guest list." Gods bless you, Delphine. "Please, tell me more about yourself." Elenwen continued, eager to socialize with her newest guest. "What is it that brings you to this… to Skyrim?" My mind went blank as I scrambled to come up with an answer that would lower suspicion and get her to leave me be so that I may continue my mission. Before I could speak, however, a cough interrupted the two of us. She sighed in annoyance. "What is it now, Malborn?" Malborn?! I turned to see Malborn, himself, standing behind a counter serving drinks.

"It's just that we've run out of Alto wine." He replied. "Do I have your permission to uncork the Arenthia red?"

"Of course." She answered, irritated. "I've told you before not to bother me with such trifles."

"Yes ma'am." Said Malborn.

"My apologies." Elenwen said, turning her attention back to me. "We'll have to get better acquainted later. Please enjoy yourself." And with that, she turned to mingle with other party guests.

"Good, you've made it in." Malborn whispered as he uncorked a wine bottle. "As soon as you distract the guards, I'll open this door for you and we can get you on your way."

"What?" I almost shouted in a whisper. "I'm distracting the guards? How?"

"I don't know." He whispered even more quietly and quickly in order to avoid the suspicious glare a nearby guard gave us. "I'm just to get you in. I'm only the servant and the guards pretty much ignore me, but they'll notice you." Gods damn him. Still his point was true. I needed a good distraction so I could leave unnoticed. Malborn handed me a glass of wine. "I'll be waiting at the door. Good luck." He left me alone to my task.

I walked around the room when I noticed a man sitting by himself on a bench, looking both bored and drunk. "What does a fellow need to get a drink around here?" He exclaimed when he saw the drink in my hand.

"Why can't you get one yourself?" I asked.

"Because, good sir," he replied sarcastically, "it seems during my intoxication, I rudely insulted Lady Elenwen and her High Thalmor ass, so they won't let me have more."

Hmmm, I thought, that's useful. "Here," I said, handing him my drink, "you can have mine."

"Ah," he exclaimed, his eyes lighting up at the sight of the cup, "the one generous soul amongst a gathering of pinch-pennies and lick-spittles! If there's anything I can do for you, do not hesitate to call on me!"

"Actually there's one thing you can do for me." I said. "I need you to cause a scene for me and grab everyone's attention."

"Is that all?" He scoffed. "My dear friend, causing a scene happens to be a specialty of mine. Just watch." He belched and got up to the center of the crowd. "Everyone if I could have your attention please. I'd like to call for a toast to our gracious host and mistress Lady Elenwen! I speak figuratively of course, no one actually wants to go to bed with her. Then again, most of you are already in bed her. Again I speak figuratively!" I eased out backwards as the guards closed in on the drunk, and made my way towards Malborn.

"Quick! Before someone sees!" He whispered and opened up the hidden door behind the drinks counter. We rushed in and shut the door behind us. He then led me through the kitchen and into the pantry. "Your gear is in that chest." He said pointing to a small chest in the back of the room. I opened it and equipped everything I had given him earlier. "Now go." He said, opening another door into the hallway. "Elenwen's solar is down this way, and out the courtyard. You're on you own. Good luck." He shut and locked the door behind me as I made my way into the hall.

I knew stealth was my only option at this point or risk being killed. I crept around the corner when a guard shouted out in alarm. So much for stealth, I thought as I raised my axe to attack. I struck the guard in between his neck and shoulder blade, and moved to block an attack from the side. I turned to my attacker and swung my axe to his unprotected face. I turned to see a whole group of guards blocking my path, coming towards me. I drew in my breath. "FUS!" I Shouted, sending the mob flying backwards. "WULD!" I blurred into the next room, down the hall. Guards would be coming left and right, and I didn't want to have to fight the whole Thalmor Legionaire. I burst out into the courtyard to find several guardsmen waiting. Two of them came at me from either side, but I was prepared for this. "FEIM!" My body began to tingle and, slowly, my skin grew transparent. I was becoming ethereal. The guards attacks sliced through the, now empty, air. The Shout's spell only lasted for a few moments, which I used to my advantage. I sliced through one of the guards with my, now solid, axe, and bashed the head of the other with my shield, following with a quick slice to the throat. Five more guards came rushing at me at the front. "FUS… RO… DAH!" The blast not only knocked them off their feet, but over the high courtyard walls. That would've gotten attention, I thought, or at least an alarm. I rushed inside the solar.

Once inside, I killed the remaining three guards and began to search frantically for clues concerning the dragons. Time was not on my side. I rushed through chests and found papers and dossiers and Delphine and the dragons. Gods damn them, I thought, they know nothing more than what we know! I turned to leave but realized there was no other way out, and I wan't too keen on fighting my way through Thalmor reinforcements. I was considering Shouting a hole through the walls when I found a key to an interrogation chamber down below. I had nowhere else to go, so I ran down and unlocked the door. In the interrogation room, there were two guards torturing a caged man. I jumped down on one of the unsuspecting guards, axe blade first, killing him. I raised my shield in time to block the clumsy attack of the surprised remaining guard. I struggled to raise my axe from the corpse, but it was so lodged into the dead man, it was a hopeless effort. Giving up, I rushed straight at the guard, tackling him to the ground. I bashed my shield into his already dazed head and grabbed his sword. I plunged it downward into his chest, killing him instantly. The caged man took no notice, as he was too winded out from torture to care. I looked around and found another stack of papers, including a dossier on someone named Esbern. I grabbed all of them and stuffed them into my pack when I heard voices upstairs. With no weapons, I needed a fast getaway. I opened the cage of the tortured man.

"I told you I know nothing else about it." He said, in a tired voice.

"I'm not here to torture you." I told him.

"What?" He looked up at me for the first time. "Who… what do you want then?"

"You down there!" Voices came from the upstairs doorway. "Surrender now or die!"

"No time to explain," I said freeing him from his shackles, "we have to move now!"

"I know a way out of here." He said standing up and rubbing his sore wrists. "The guards use it to dispose of dead bodies, I've seen them do it all the time. Follow me." We rushed down the corridor and through a wooden hatch. We slid down a chute into a deep dark cave. "See you, friend." The freedman waved, and proceeded to climb into a small hole in the side of the wall. I walked forward and out of the cave, into the bright light of Skyrim.

I finally made made it back to the Sleeping Giant inn in one piece. I went down, tirelessly, to the secret chamber to find Lydia and Delphine waiting for me. "You made it!" Lydia cried and ran over to me. She made a movement with her arms as if to raise them for an embrace, but they were brought back down at her sides like stones.

"You made it out, alive at least." Delphine said, coldly. "Did you learn anything useful?"

"The Thalmor know nothing about the dragons." I said, cutting off Lydia's angry retort.

"Really?" Delphine almost looked disappointed that seems hard to believe, you're sure." I nodded. I knew the papers and dossiers back and forth on my ride back to the inn, nothing gave any hint about their supposed knowledge of dragons.

"They know nothing at all, so they're not the ones behind the dragons." I said. "In fact they seemed to be more focused on finding someone named Esbern."

"Esbern?!" Delphines eyes went wide. "He's alive?! I thought the Thalmor got him years ago, that crazy old man… It figures the Thalmor would be on his trail though, if they were trying to find out about the dragons."

"Who's Esbern and why do the Thalmor want him so much?" Lydia asked.

"Besides wanting to kill every Blade they can lay they're hands on?" Delphine replied. "Esbern was one of the Blade archivists before the Thalmor smashed us during the Great War. He knew everything about the ancient dragonlore of the Blades. Obsessed with it really. Nobody paid him much attention back then. I guess he wasn't as crazy as we thought."

"Then he's who we need for answers." I said. "If the Thalmor want him for the same reasons as we do, we'd better get to him first. They think he's hiding somewhere in Riften."

"Riften, eh?" Delphine pondered. "Probably in the Ratway. That's where I'd go."

"You wouldn't belong anywhere else." Lydia muttered.

"You'd better get to Riften." Delphine announced, obviously not hearing or caring about Lydia's comment. "Talk to Brynjolf. He's… well connected. a good starting point at least." I nodded and began pacing up my gear that Lydia held on to for me. "Oh and when you do find Esbern, you may find it hard to get him to trust you. Just ask him where he was on the 30th of Frostfall. He'll know what it means."

"Right, it couldn't have been too easy for us. Surprise, surprise." Lydia said as we headed outdoors. As we climbed up onto our horses, she turned to me. "How did you fare by yourself?" I looked at her.

"I'm alive, aren't I?" I said with a smile. She grinned and we rode off.

Author's Note: Hope it was worth the wait or close to it. I'm starting school again tomorrow so it could be a while until my next update. Until then, sky guard you.