A:N: Here is the next chapter! Thanks to those who reviewed, and I hope you like this chapter!
I am sent with broom before, to sweep the dust behind the door. - Puck AMND.
Lauraine looked up at Azura, seeing her own fear reflected in the Princes face.
"How long until they get through?"
"Three days."
Lauraine frowned, allowing the situation to sink in thoroughly.
"So... we have a Daedric prince, an abundance of animals and half breeds, and a dozen murderous warriors. These, versus a few trained legion soldiers and farmers who consider a pumpkin to be the worst thing they've tried to move... Cyrodiil is, in the nicest way possible, screwed. What do we do?" Holding her face in her hands, Lauraine glanced back towards the table, observing the warriors and situation.
"Child, that I do not know. I assume you know the Prince?"
"Hircine... The wolf behowls the moon. But why?"
"Hircine has always had a will for power. Power, and a good chase is what fuels him. It seems he has grown bored of the hunting grounds..."
Lauraine shuddered at Azura's words, remembering herself exactly what the hunting grounds were like. Cold, dark and dangerous.
"I'll try to stop it... But i'll need your help."
"Your clues lie in Tamriel. Search for the followers."
Lauraine held the mask to her face, allowing her curls to flow down her front and back. Her dress, standing out against every other pink and blue outfit in the room, set off a dark aura to shield herself from the eyes of others. Black and dark red in colour, the corset held tight against her chest, allowing her bust to seem more defined, and her waistline to seem slimmer than average. Flowing out from the skirt down, the lace and embroidery caught the eye of many men, but not the one she had hoped to catch.
"Damnit Hleyroy... Where are you?" Softly, she asked the question throughout the ballroom, searching for a unusal tuft of bright blue hair accompanied by red skin. Normally, someone easy to see and simple to catch for Lauraines skills. But when in the midst of a ball, with an entire family of blue headed men, accompanied with every other Dunmer and Breton in Cyrodiil, made the task just that little bit harder.
Dancing and moving swiftly, Lauraine looked through little gaps that were made by dancing couples to attempt to find the Dunmer.
A tutting noise caught Lauraines ears, as she turned to face three Dunmer women, all dressed in bright pink ball gowns.
"Excuse me?"
"We said nothing" The tallest, with her families bright blue hair and dark red skin, stared down at Lauraine disapprovingly, glaring at the red satin lace that adorned almost half her dress.
"You tutted, and I find that exremel-" Slowly trailing off, Lauraine noted the hair colour, immediately changing her tone. Plastering on a sweet smile, Lauraine curtsied and locked eyes with the elder daughter.
"Lady Hleyroy. An honour to meet you. Although I must ask a simple favour from a stunning lady such as yourself. May you please inform me as to the location of your eldest brother, as I Have a matter to discuss with him which is of the utmost urgency."
Ellevana Hleyroy glanced down once more at Lauraine, contemplating giving her invalid information.
"No. Lady-" She glanced down at the invitation that was still clapsed in Lauraines hand. -"Bellamont. I shall not give you the details of my brothers whereabouts. One person such as yourself cannot be allowed to my brother unaccompanied."
"Right then. I really didn't wanna have to do this, so don't make me." Pulling back the layers of silk and underskirt fabric, Lauraine pulled her dress up to her knee, revealing a very sharp knife sheathed in a holder. "Okay, so you see it. If you don't tell me where your brother is, then I will pull this knife out, kill you, and then I won't hesitate to kill everyone else who witnesses it. Believe me my lady, I have killed far more than a simple ballroom parties guests, so I won't think twice about killing you. So, are you going to tell me where he is, or not?" Her smile, still sickened sweet and dangerous, was flashed once more towards Ellevana. A sharp look of fear crossed the woman's face, before she switched to a look of denied defeat.
"Fine. Third floor, second door in, then fourth door out. I believe you will find him there."
"Thankyou, my lady." Curtsying once more, Lauraine turned on her heel and made her way towards the marble staircase.
Another ragged gasp escaped Firwal Hleyroy's lips, his mind refusing to let him show weakness. His body, on the other hand, seemed to wish to show the weakness to avoid the pain.
Lauraine rolled her eyes at his weakness, remembering a time when it was her who was strapped to a chair, being beaten and attacked. Of course, she had refused point blank to show pain. Her hood shrouded her face, looking dangerous yet oddly blending in with the themes of her dress. Kneeling down to Firwal's height, she slowly leaned in towards him, her low voice whispering dangerously in his ear.
"Listen up, Firwal. You will give me the locations, and the maps. Unless, of course, you want to lose something else..." Her dagger slowly moved down the front of his ripped shirt, the point dangerously digging in the fabric above his groin.
"N-no! I can't! As a woman of shadow, you must understand the need to hide these things!"
"Right, that's it..." Lauraine pulled the crescent shaped dagger up into the air, bringing it down harshly and swiftly upon the dunmers chest. Blood sprayed from the wound for a moment, before seizing to a quick flow that stained his trousers and the remains of his top. Shoving a ripped part of the Dunmers blouse inside his mouth to muffle his scream, Lauraine then threw a mixture she had made herself onto the wound. Firwal's screams were loud, but thankfully muffled by the cloth. Lauraine could only imagine the stinging pain coursing throughout his body, as she had once used the mixture on her own wounds.
In seconds, Firwals chest was healed, the only sign that a wound had once been there was the sicken red blood that was dried across his chest.
"Going to answer me now?" Pulling the cloth from his mouth, she waited for an answer.
"No... No amount of pain you put me through will make me tell you..." The cloth was straight back in.
Rolling her eyes once more, Lauraine dabbed a poison on the end of the dagger, before bringing it down sharply into the dunmers kneecap. Ripping it out, she one again stabbed it in the next kneecap, the blood spilling out over her hands.
"Okay, so if I put this mixture on the wound, you will be able to walk and the wound will be gone in seconds. If you don't tell me where the scrolls and maps are, aswell as the location that the portal will open, then I will leave them open. I'm afraid that then, you won't be walking anywhere in this life." Lauraine slowly turned the dagger whilst it still lay in Firwals knee, smiling at the crunching noise it started to make. Firwal screamed bloody murder into the cloth, Lauraines face as impassive as a rock. A rock with sadistic tendencies. Calming down, Firwal panted whilst having the cloth in his mouth, resulting in his skin turning purple. Lauraine yanked the cloth away.
"Fine! Fine! Please stop! Please!" Satisfied, Lauraine smudged the mixture over Firwals knee's, taking care to rub the mixture in the wounds as hard as she could.
"Now, the locations?" Lauraine flicked her dagger to the slide, wooshing it through the air and letting the blood fly off, spattering the walls.
"You recall the Lake Arrius Caverns?"
"Yes?" Lauraine seated herself at the edge of a bed, sheathing her dagger.
"In the storage room. There is a box that cannot be seen by the wandering travellor, nor the homicidal cult that inhabited the caverns. The wall is average colour, but a section remains cream coloured. Smash through that part of the wall, and you will find the box, with the scrolls included."
"Impossible. I burned that place to a crisp over fifty years ago..."
"The wall is still intact. I have the job of checking it every two months. A prince can never be too precautious." Firwal explained lightly, wincing as his bones connected back together, the small broken shards of marrow previously on Lauraines dagger fusing with the bones.
"If I find out that you are lying to me... Your family line will never be passed on through you..." Lauraine turned to leave, placing her mask over her face, and pulling her hood off.
"Wait! My lady, please. I must ask a simple favour. Please, let me see your face..."
Freezing in her tracks, Lauraine pondered the request for a moment, before turning on her heel to face Firwal. Removing the glittery mask that hovered over her face, she looked down at the dunmer, holding back a smirk as his features flickered to recognition.
"In the name of all that is holy... Meridia save me... I am, an idiot. My lady, had I known who you were, I would have given you the answers immediately. Can you forgive a young mans foolishness?"
Lauraine rolled her eyes for the third time that evening, pushing the Dunmers head back against his chair.
"I am but a simple worker, who happens to have the grace to live in the Palace of Azura. Do not treat me better than a commoner... I am amazed you recognized me..."
"After your statue appeared next to Azura, in the Jerall Mountains, rumours spread about your origin. Hircine confirmed it to us who you were... To live with her, and to be considered an equal. It's-"
"Yes yes, I do not have the time to listen to you. But keep in mind what I said. I'm sure your father wants his name to be carried on through you, not your obnoxious sisters."
Placing her mask back on, Lauraine high-tailed it out of the room, through the empty upper floors and down to the crowded, drunken ball room.
Quite suspiciously, Lauraine pushed her way through the crowd, a look of satisfaction etched on her face. Her speed was badly paced, however, as she soon collided with an Imperial male halfway to the exit.
"Oh, my Lady, so sorry. I- Lauraine?" Lauraine accepted the hand held out to her, staring at the face of the male, hidden behind his mask.
"Are you following me?"
"No! Why?"
"You seem to be everywhere I am. Is it coincidence you find me outside cloud ruler, and then here?"
"No! I mean, yes! I mean, aw Holy Akatosh... Coincidence outside the temple, but Corbyn sent me here tonight." Lauraine, who had started to slowly walk away, whipped around in her heels.
"What?! Why?"
"Apparently, Alessia, Armande and Karyssa wish to see you. After all, if their dead mother shows up twenty-five years later, they'll want to see her. You should have seen when Alessia was tending to my wounds... She almost fainted." Lauraine looked up towards Martin, raising an eyebrow to signify she did not find it amusing.
"Does he know about the danger?"
"About Morrowind? Yeah, he does. Angelo is over there, attempting to stop the war..."
"I wasn't talking about that danger."
"What? Does this mean we have two potential wars?" Corbyn paced the room, tugging at the collar of his robes nervously.
"Possibly, your honour. Hircine will strike in two days." Lauraine gave her son the information, watching as he collapsed into a chair.
"Now is not a good time to be emperor. I have my soldiers ready for an attack from morrowind. However, I do not have them prepared for an attack from Oblivion itself!"
"I cannot help with Morrowind. I can, however, help with the Oblivion attack."
"Of course you can! You know, it's not as if you've actually been inside those things! No one alive knows what it is like in the realms of Oblivion!" At Corbyns words, Lauraine frowned, whereas Martin snorted. Loudly. And certainly at an inappropriate time. A blade stood by the door uncertainly, a look of worry etched on his face.
"Actually, son, you will find that your mother helped saved Tamriel from an Oblivion attack before. She can do it again." Corbyn looked up at Martins words, his eyes lighting up.
"Really? How?"
"You forget my origins. My home is in Moonshadow for Akatosh's sake. I'm going to need my horse, and Martin, you need to come with me."
Martin looked up, a small look of fear etched on his face. He did not speak up, instead following Lauraine as she curtsied to Corbyn, then left the Temple quickly.
"You don't really think Velina is still alive, do you? That horse must be over fifty years old! It's impossible!"
"Oh Martin, if only you knew the way Velina was enchanted. I have been using her these past few years, including on my visits to High Rock. I assure you, Velina is very much alive."
Whistling loudly, Lauraine and Martin waited for a few moments, before the sound of hooves was heard, and the jet black horse with glowing red eyes trotted up the path to the Temple. Still waiting for her owner, the horse nuzzled Lauraines palm in eagerness.