There was something about Solitude that Athene really liked. The first time she visited she'd walked through the gates to find a man being executed for allowing Ulfric Stormcloak to go free. Everything since then had reinforced that first impression. It was full of rich, arrogant people, but they didn't differentiate between human and elf. It had its fingers in its ears about the other Skyrim capital, Windhelm, but it also held the garrison for the Imperial soldiers who'd sworn to wipe out the Stormcloak uprising. And though its streets were wide and sunny, it covered up a darkness and a madness all the way back to the mad Emperor Pelagius, and the brilliant and horrifying Queen Potema. Solitude was a place of contrasts and conflicts and to Athene it felt just right.

This week the city was celebrating the upcoming marriage of the Emperor's cousin to Asgeir Snow-Shod, a local Nord. There would be feasting and merriment, and meanwhile Athene had learned Vittoria already lived with an Imperial, Aquillius Aeresius, and he was no member of the family. There was that conflict again. It was like Solitude wanted to mess with your head.

She sat in The Winking Skeever with Veezara and watched Aquillius try to drink himself to death in a corner table.

"It is a little depressing," Veezara said.

"So the marriage is political. It won't be the first." Athene tipped her ale back. She wasn't going to get drunk but she needed a little looseness to accomplish what she needed tonight.

"Have you ever been married?" the Shadowscale asked.

Athene choked on her drink. "By the divines, no."

His scales twitched. "It's not that strange a question."

"Of course not, sorry. Have you ever been married, Veezara?"

"No. I began crafting a wedding band long ago, for a woman I knew when I was much younger than I am now. But it… well, it didn't work out."

"Did you kill her?" Athene said, unthinking.

He hissed.

"Sorry. Why didn't it work out?"

"Someone killed her," he admitted. "That's enough about that."

Athene nodded. She was curious but didn't want to depress him further. In her experience most couples ended up with one or the other dead before their time. But then, her experience was bloodier than most.

"Veezara. Can I ask you about Astrid?"

"Absolutely," he said. "As long as you're not going to ask what I think you are."

"What do you think I'll ask?"

"If you can trust her. If you have to wonder that, you're in the wrong place right now."

"I know. I just wonder anyway." Wonder was a soft term. She was actually desperate to know. She'd put everything into the Dark Brotherhood now, and Astrid's non-reaction to her betrayal weighed heavily on her mind. There should have been something more than that. The should have been sparks, fireworks, a wildfire. Astrid had just not cared.

The only explanation was that she already knew. But even then, why not react? Why not let on what she really thought, rather than sending Athene back out as if the time she'd taken to consider the Night Mother's idea had never mattered?

Veezara hissed, more softly this time. "You sure you want to do this?"

"Absolutely. Wish me luck."

He nodded. "Always, my friend."

She stood up and started to the bar, then tripped over the back of a chair and fell directly onto Aquillius' lap.

"I'm so sorry!"

"Well, it's quite all right, I just…"

"No no, let me buy you another…"

"I don't think that's necessary…"

Athene matched his bluster and confusion until she was off his lap and finished wiping up his ale. She ordered a few new drinks by waving at Corpulus, then plunked down in the seat across from Aquillius.

"So! You going to hit this party tomorrow?" she said.

"I'm sorry, party?"

"The big day. The wedding."

She felt even a little guilty as he slumped in his seat. "Yeah. Yeah, I might not make it."

"You don't approve? I hear it's a political thing. You know, Nord and Imperial…"

"That's it. It's… political. Yeah." He drank his ale in one.

"You don't seem impressed," she prompted.

"I just dunno if more politics is what we need right now. Is it gonna… is it gonna prove anything?" His dialect had gone downhill fast. The facade was gone.

Athene sighed. "It is kind of romantic though, isn't it?"

He scowled. "No."

"Oh?"

"She deserves better."

"Tell me about it." Athene slid her drink over to his thirsty hands.

Three hours later he was snoring in his chair and she paid off her tab with Corpulus while Veezara waited by the door. They walked out together and he nodded, impressed.

"You were right," he said. "Jealousy was the key. You're sure you've never been married?"

"Never quite married. Let's get to the Temple before they start setting up and find this hidden balcony he was talking about."

"I think you should go alone. It will be less noticeable. I'll bide my time in the castle courtyard and make sure I'm there when you need me."

"Thank you. Veezara, I'm glad you've come."

"Are you?"

"Of course. This is going to get messy and I trust you." It was a big admission, so she was gratified when he responded with a respectful bow of his head.

Then he said, "In that case you should know something."

"Yes?"

"Astrid sent me."