One Night with the Emperor

Chapter Four – Daedric Shrines

Finding one of the spies wasn't hard. She sat near the runestones when I arrived. Some Dunmer chick. Didn't expect me. Easy kill. She carried a letter that told me the name of the other spy. I took it with me into Bruma and found Captain Burd.

Captain Burd knew the second spy. Some lady who just got back from a trip she left for before the assassinations. Together, we visited her house. Apparently, my status for Mythic Dawn members is "kill on sight." As soon as her eyes fell on me, she summoned her armor and struck at me. I killed her so Burd wouldn't have to.

With a heavy heart, Burd let me search the house for anything that would help the Blades. He couldn't bear the idea of one of his own people being an assassin, right under his nose, so he left. Her house wasn't very large, and she didn't hide the trap door into her basement very well. From her basement was a roughly-hewn cave that connected to an actual cave that led out of Bruma's walls. A secret way into and out of the city.

On a desk in the basement, hidden under a few other things, sat a letter with orders. I sent a guard with information about the hidden tunnel to Burd. With everything taken care of, I crashed at the Fighter's Guild for the night.

In the morning, I returned to Cloud Ruler Temple. Jauffre exited the building through the door into the sleeping chambers as I topped the steps. He thanked me for the orders, and turned to prepare to head down to Bruma to speak of security measures with Captain Burd.

I went inside, through the doors into the main hall. Martin sat at his table, hunched over the Mysterium Xarxes. He looked terrible, as if he hadn't slept at all.

It took me knocking on his table for him to finally notice me, even though I stood right next to him. When he realized who knocked on his table, he jumped up, grabbed my arm, and pulled me down to look at the Mysterium Xarxes. He proceeded to excitedly tell me everything he learned overnight. The Mysterium Xarxes held many things, including how to access Camoran's Paradise, where he believed Camoran fled to with the Amulet. Only problem is that all of it wasn't in any language of Tamriel. But he did manage to decipher some of it. The beginning part of how to access Camoran's Paradise. We needed four items, one being a Daedric Artifact. He didn't know the other three yet.

"I have to go get the artifact, don't I?" I asked.

Martin sat back in his chair, releasing my arm. "Jauffre doesn't give anybody else the freedom he gives you."

"I'm not sure that death-defying missions count as freedom."

He closed his eyes and rubbed his face. Something's bothering him. Something more than just lack of sleep. It probably caused the lack of sleep, actually. Not research into the Mysterium Xarxes.

"I don't know where any shrines are." I told him. "I purposefully tried to avoid them when I came here to Cyrodiil."

"Oh, here, I have a copy of Modern Heretics on my table." He pulled a book from the table, studied the cover for a moment, and handed it to me.

I held up the book. Looked at the cover. Life of Uriel Septim VII. Oh, Martin.

"It's the library's copy-"

I put my hand on his arm and held the book out in front of him. "Martin. What does this say?"

"Life of- oh."

"What's bothering you so much that you can't sleep? You need sleep."

He looked away from me. "I know, but… it's so hard to sleep when I know you're out there, risking your life for me and all of Tamriel and I sit here all nice and cozy. Especially after what happened yesterday. I know the logic. I'm the only one who can relight the Dragonfires. But I still feel useless."

"First things first, you saved my life yesterday. If you weren't here, I would still be holding the book, waiting for you to return, and falling farther under its spell. Everybody here would be in proximity to it as well and not know the danger. And now I have to go off, knowing you're here with this evil thing and being exposed to things I or any of the Blades can't protect you from. But you said it yourself. You have to translate this. We need the translation to reach Camoran's Paradise and get the Amulet back." I sighed and put the book back on Martin's table. "If it makes you feel better, go sleep now. I'll still be here when you wake, reading."

Martin sighed, continuing to look away.

A smile tugged on my lips. "Would you like me to come up there and read to you until you fall asleep?"

He smiled. Much better. "Alright, you win. Just don't sit too close to the Mysterium Xarxes while I'm gone. It's shielded now, but you spent too much time around it before it was shielded."

I pulled Modern Heretics from the pile on Martin's table. "Pfft, I don't even know why you sit here. I'm going to go curl up by the fire."

My eyes hurt. My hands hurt. My back hurt. My brain hurt. How did Martin do this for days on end?

"Figuring anything out?" A voice asked in my ear.

I looked up. My vision blurred. I blinked a few times. Whoa. Who knew the real world had such depth? Martin stood next to me, smiling.

My mind refused to disengage from the mush the book turned my brain into. "Ah… Give me a minute." I hit the side of my head to try and get it to clear. Didn't work. "My brain has decided to stop working. I may need to go hurt something to get the blood flowing again."

Martin's smile grew wider. "Daedric shrines."

Things clicked into place. "Yes, Daedric shrines. Ah, Azura and Namira have the closest shrines. Namira's is closer, but I think Azura will… understand."

He sat down. "What do you mean?"

I lowered my voice so only he could hear me. "Well, my mother is The Nerevarine."

"She's the–!"

I clapped my hand over his mouth. "I said it quietly because I don't want anybody else to know."

He lowered his voice. "Why not?"

"Haven't you read any of the books about her? She doesn't mention me in a single one. I think she's trying to protect me."

A flicker of amusement crossed his eyes. "Most people would feel hurt and ignored because of something like that."

"I'm not most people am I?"

"No, you're not. Good point."

"My mother and I have a… special relationship. I don't bother her, and she doesn't bother me. She's keeping people from bothering me because of her because of her by not mentioning me. That's how she says she loves me."

"But you're The Hero of Kvatch. You already have the people's attention."

I grimaced. "Exactly. You know the bad side of the game. Imagine it. 'The Nerevarine tries to claim more power through her daughter, The Hero of Kvatch!' And my kids. Even without connecting me to my mother, people are going to expect great things from them simply because I'm their mother. It'll be worse if people know their grandmother is The Nerevarine. Any chance for a normal life goes out the window from the top of the White Gold Tower."

Martin nodded, gazing at the floor. "I get it completely. I'm in a similar boat now, too."

"Anyway, yes, I'm going to Azura's shrine." I stood and stretched. "What time is it?"

"About two in the afternoon."

"But that means you only slept for six hours after not sleeping for two days."

"But I slept."

"Point taken."

Martin stood. "Azura may understand, but nobody can predict what Daedra will do."

"I expect to have to do a service at least. She's not going to give me her star for nothing."

"Exactly." He placed a hand on my arm. "Be careful."

I returned the embrace, gripping his arm. "I'll try."