Chapter 31

"I am Sodrinye the Sleeper," said the smaller of the two Dremora. "What do you want with us?" She was an odd-looking creature for that race, curly-horned and unusually thin. She walked and stood even more awkwardly than Adanatir himself, stiff as a month-old zombie.

"I might ask you the same question," said Adanatir warily. The larger of the two kyn carried a mace in his hand, but he did not appear about to attack. He looked around the room with a sneer which Adanatir correctly interpreted as a neutral expression for a warrior kynaz. The smaller one's face was disconcertingly blank by comparison. The two humans watched Adanatir cautiously, but even the girl did not seem particularly frightened by him.

"We need a place of concealment," said the Sleeper. She raised one arm slowly, and Adanatir tensed, but she merely set it on the outstretched forearm of the bigger kynaz.

"You seem to have dealt with those above with no trouble," said Adanatir.

"They killed my caitiff, and I was at pains to recover him," said Sodrinye. "It is likely I would not be able to do so again. It is best that the Imperium not know we still live."

"And you want to stay here?" said Adanatir. He waved his free hand. "In a ruin full of undead? These friends of mine have been here for centuries, destroyed more times than I can count. As long as I can keep the priests away, they are permanent."

"So much the better," said Sodrinye. "We have no reason to fear human dead." Behind her the two humans exchanged glances, but did not speak. "We do not require much space. Near an airshaft, so that we can make fire. We will not trespass on places which are yours."

"I will consider it," said Adanatir. "If one of you performs a service for me."

"What is it you require?" said Sodrinye.

"I am preparing a rare unguent which requires special ingredients," he said, reciting his carefully-prepared lie. "In my position the diamond was particularly hard to acquire. I have lost it. And I cannot swim." He pointed down at the dark water with a shriveled finger.

Everyone except Sodrinye stared at the slick surface. There was a momentary silence.

"I also cannot swim," said Sodrinye. The peculiar violet eyes still watched Adanatir, giving him the uncomfortable feeling that his leathery skin was transparent. No one suggested the big kynaz do it. He was wearing heavy armor, Adanatir could not picture him removing it voluntarily, and if the lich knew anything about kyn, he knew he would not leave the one he served. Particularly not with me.

"I can," said the older of the two humans.

"It won't be enough," said the girl immediately. "It will be dark, and perhaps deep - "

"I am told it is three yards or more," said Adanatir.

" - And you can't breathe underwater or make your own light. I can."

"You're a little young to have learned to water breathe, Laure," said the older one, looking severely at the girl. Adanatir remembered him as Goneld.

"I am a Breton, you know," she said severely. "And an unusually fast learner. Would they have taken me on at the Chapel at this age otherwise?" She turned to Adanatir. "How large is the diamond, sir?"

Sir? he thought. He held up a thumb and forefinger about an inch apart. "So," he said. "It is rough. It will not sparkle like a cut diamond."

The girl raised her eyebrows. Adanatir was thankful that his face in its current state did not show much in the way of expression.

"That would be hard for a lich to come by," she said. "Very hard."

"There is something you are not telling us," said Sodrinye. Finally she turned back toward the others. Adanatir was again thankful that he was neither able to hold his breath nor release it. "What is a diamond, Menien Goneld?"

"Not many of those in the Deadlands, are there," said Goneld. "They're very hard and very rare. Humans use them in jewelry. One an inch long, even a rough one, would be worth a lot of gold. More than I've seen in my entire life."

"Only if it were an extremely good stone," said Adanatir quickly. "Which I assure you it is not."

"For magical purposes, it couldn't be of low quality," said the girl at once. Adanatir drew himself up haughtily.

"Child, I am hundreds of years old. I have magical arts of which you have not the slightest conception - "

"It's your soul, isn't it," said Laure. Adanatir opened his creaky jaw and then snapped it shut before he gave anything else away.

"Explain," said Sodrinye.

"He's a lich," said Laure. "That means he keeps his soul somewhere outside of his body. It'd be good common sense to pick something almost indestructible. Like a diamond."

"You want Laure to retrieve your soul," said Sodrinye, turning back to Adanatir. "That is of more importance than a gemstone. We will choose our own space."

"It is not my - " Adanatir began.

"Then we will leave," said Sodrinye. "Perhaps we will find another place to stay."

"You will not," said Adanatir, trying to regain lost ground. "I heard what passed up above. You've killed Blades. They won't stop until they've found you. You might find another hiding place, but it will not be good enough. And next time they will be better prepared."

"They will not," said Sodrinye. "They are not now certain that we exist. They cannot easily coerce the atronach, and all the other witnesses are dead."

---

No doubt because of residual fallout from the aedric nullification caused by proximity to an elder priest of Arkay, she was wrong about that. Tracks-Too-Well was very nearly certain of what had happened inside the ruin – he'd seen the light from a huge fireball, and no one who had gone in had come out.

This had left him with a few options as he stood there at the treeline, tail twitching. He could go inside and find out what had happened. On the other hand, the Argonian had not reached his current age in his current profession without any survival instinct, and he didn't want to be seen by the two Dremora. Especially not the sick one. He had nightmares about what that would be like. And what would happen after that, yes.

He could report to his last Blade contact, try to tell him what had happened, and hope his superiors believed Tracks-Too-Well in the absence of other evidence. Pointed questions were likely to be asked and the Blades were known to be untrusting of nonhumans lately.

He didn't particularly like the odds on that one, either.

He could run. There weren't a lot of places in Cyrodiil where the Blades would not find him.

It is at times like this that an Argonian feels most called to return home. Not even the Imperium would find him in the Marsh. And he had not completely lost touch with those who knew his true name, no.

His mind made up, Tracks-Too-Well turned and vanished into the forest and forever out of the sight of men.

---

"Bring me the diamond," snarled the lich Adanatir. "Then we will talk."

"Are there slaughterfish in there?" Menien Goneld asked abruptly. He dropped to one knee at the top of the slimy slope, looking at the black water. If he knew the two kyn, neither had blinked in five minutes; the lich and the exit were extremely well watched. The water was inky black. He saw no sign of a fin, no stray flick of a tail.

"I can deal with slaughterfish," said Laure behind him. He'd begun to realize she wasn't particularly good at concealing her emotions, but her voice was calm. He heard the quiet rustle of her robe as she stepped up beside him on the stone. "Slaughterfish will be easy compared to these last two days."

"You are willing, Laure?" said Sodrinye.

"Oh, yes," said the Breton.

"There is nothing there," said the lich. His distorted voice was hard to read, but Goneld thought it sounded sullen. "Every living thing diverts around the ruin. It is only that I cannot enter the water."

Goneld straightened slowly, looking down at Laure. She looked up at him. "I can cast detect life as well, you know," she said dryly, and began to untie the belt of her robe. He opened his mouth to object again, stopped at the sight of a surprisingly shapely body in thin linens, and closed it as Laure shoved her robe into his hands and dove beneath the black water.

He began counting silently. After ten seconds there was a brief light from below, a blue spiral as Laure presumably enabled herself to breathe underwater. After another minute, it happened again. Another minute passed. Another blue spiral, this time from a few yards away. Nothing seemed illumined by the light; it lit and vanished without revealing anything, an isolated spark quickly subsumed.

There was a booted footstep behind him. Ebel-Merodach was pacing, keeping an eye on the entire chamber. The way I should be. Sodrinye had not moved. She had been standing a long time, he realized. Goneld wondered how long it would be before she dropped to the hard floor like a marionette with cut strings. The lich still hovered over the water, but he had drifted closer to the edge of the furnished area, away from where Laure was. Goneld tried to envision the creature's real intent. It could not be meant as a distraction. He had no reason to believe the two kyn would care if anything happened to Laure.

"She's not going to last a week if she keeps volunteering," Goneld muttered.

"She is a resilient creature, I suspect," Sodrinye said. She was looking at the lich. "And you are overly prejudiced against her age. Did you not call me girl the first time you saw me?"

"That was different," said Goneld. "She is a girl."

He was relieved to see Laure's head break the water's surface, saving him from hearing the Sleeper's response. He reached down and helped her scramble up the slippery slope and out of the water. She shivered in the clammy air, water running off her clinging garments, but her left hand was closed tightly into a fist. Goneld draped her robe around her shoulders.

"Is this your diamond?" she asked, and opened her hand. Goneld raised his eyebrows. If anything, the lich had underreported the size of the stone. The lumpy gray-white gem shone dully in the cavernous room.

"Yes! Give it to me," said the lich, gliding forward. Goneld took Laure's elbow and guided her behind Sodrinye.

"We will stay here," said Sodrinye. "In whatever chamber we choose other than this one."

"Not the one I keep my books in," said the lich. "Otherwise, yes. Do as you like. Now give me the stone!"

"And you realize that any violence against us will fail," Sodrinye went on. She held out a hand without looking behind her. Laure stepped forward and pressed the diamond into it. The lich's milky eyes followed the gem anxiously.

"I am not a fool," said Adanatir.

"Then take what is yours." Sodrinye stepped forward and set the stone carefully on the floor, then backed clumsily away. The lich swooped down on it like a diving eagle, clutching it in his clawed hands. He turned it over and over, checking the surface.

"Come," said Sodrinye, and turned to lurch toward the door. Ebel-Merodach came to hold one of her elbows. "We will choose." She took one or two steps toward the doorway before her knees buckled. Ebel-Merodach seized her by the collar with one hand to stop her fall, drew his mace with the other, and whirled on the lich.

The old undead stared back at him in apparent surprise, still clutching the soul stone. Goneld and Laure moved back toward the doorway. She was still shivering. I'll build us a fire as soon as we find a place. There must be something down here that will burn.

"I didn't do anything to her," said Adanatir. "I keep my word, you know."

"No. It is her nature." Merodach stood in silence for a moment, watching him. Then he sheathed the mace and bent to scoop up the Sleeper. He slung her over one shoulder. "We will talk again, Adanatir," he said.

"I look forward to it," said the lich. His tone was almost gracious, or Goneld's tired ears deceived him. "And I shall see too it that no traces are left outside. My friends here can help with that."

"Thanks," said Goneld, since Merodach probably didn't know the correct response. "We'll be going now."

"Yes, do. I have work to do."

Menien Goneld and Laure followed the caitiff back up the winding passage, water squelching in Laure's sandals. Ebel-Merodach did not complain of the extra weight. But then, it was his right to carry it.