Author's Note: And here's the violence. One more chapter for now.

IODH: If you recognize it from the game, it's probably not mine.

I don't own anything I reference, either, honest.

Nobody Important

Chapter Three: Of Questions and Duress

In which a wild dialogue has appeared!

By: N3k0

A sword pointed at her throat.

If she knew anything about blades, she'd guess it was another katana, not all that different from the one slung across her back.

She knew a fair bit about blades.

Wielding the katana was either a would-be assassin who had looted it -

"Damn it, it's that prisoner again!" A furious yell. "Best kill her! She might be working with these assassins!"

- or one of the Emperor's guards. After she'd just saved his life. Some gratitude. Her gaze slid down the back of the blade to rest on the man, and she stared at him, evenly. She said nothing. If he was going to kill her, she wasn't going to dignify this idiocy by pleading for her life.

"No ... no." The old man. One of her ears flicked very lightly, but she kept her eyes on the one who would behead her. "She is no threat to me. She saved my life."

"That one? She's surely nothing more than a worthless skooma addict!" She didn't respond. She'd given him no reason to think otherwise, honestly ... "Like that other one .... That Dunmer fellow. Where's he, huh?" The guard looked around, smirking, himself. "What, was he too high to chase freedom?"

She continued watching him, evenly. He met her gaze, for a minute or two at least. She wasn't surprised when he was the one to back down - he even pulled his sword away from her throat.

"Girl ... Lyssi." The Emperor's voice was curious. "Have you any idea what transpires here?" She looked around, shrugged. A nod followed the shrug. It was pretty straightforward, in her mind. Some red-robed assassins had come to kill the Emperor, and the Emperor himself was fleeing the city to avoid that fate.

Idle curiosity made her wonder if the red-robes were competition for the Brotherhood, or merely fanatics to whatever cause craved the instability of the Empire.

"Will you help us?" Another nod. He didn't look surprised by it. However, he did take a moment to survey his guard, to see what disposition they held on the matter. "They do not understand why I trust you." He leaned in, so their conversation might be slightly more private, even with the two human men hanging onto every word

"They've not seen what I've seen." Another thought. All this talk of skooma made her wonder if the Emperor himself were an addict. It wasn't so far fetched an idea. Apparently reading her skepticism, he sighed. "How can I begin to explain it ...? You know of the Nine? How They guide our fates with an invisible hand?" Only one hand for nine people? A sad day for them all.

She shrugged.

"I've served the Nine all my days, and I chart my course by the heavens." Astrology. Her luck had been sour of late. She wasn't entirely sure she trusted the stars. "The skies are marked by numberless sparks. Each is a fire, and every one a sign." He watched her, curious, a slight twinkle in his eyes. "I wonder. Which sign marked your birth?"

And thus began Lyssi's slight bout of terrible discomfort. She didn't like others prying into her business, and even such basic information felt like a violation of her privacy. He had her name, did he need more? Still, grudgingly, the word, "Thief," escaped her mouth.

"Speak louder. It is not something to be ashamed of, after all. Each of us travels our own path, and though our path is marked by the stars, in time, we may each rise above it." He smiled, encouragingly. He acted as she imagined an old friend might, rather than a disaffected nobleman. Perhaps that was why she found herself taking a liking to him. Still ... it was her business, not his.

"The Thief," she repeated, nevertheless.

He nodded, seeming unsurprised by her answer. As though he expected it ... or, even more bizarre, had heard her give it before the words had first crossed her lips.

Not that she believed in the mumbo-jumbo star-magic business he was spouting or anything - he just had an eerie demeanor.

"The signs I read show the end of my path. My death, a necessary end, will come when it will come." He seemed resigned to his fate. No ... not resigned. He accepted it wholeheartedly. "As for you, your stars are not mine. Today, the Thief walks beside you - today, the Thief guards your steps."

The Thief hadn't 'guarded her steps' in years. She felt as though she'd run out of luck long ago. Or at least, good luck. Still ... suppose he wasn't deranged, or skooma-addicted. Suppose that he was wise, and that even so much as a grain of truth was to be found in his words. What could be learned from such a person? What questions should she ask of him?

"Do you fear Death?"

It was one question she'd always been curious about. How did others face their end?

His smile was genuine, but ... indescribably sad. "No trophies of my triumphs precede me, but I have lived well, and my ghost will rest easy." He shook his head, suddenly. "Men are but flesh and blood. They know their death, but not the hour. In this, I am blessed to see the hour of my death. To face my apportioned fate, and then fall."

It was unfathomable to her. Even as naught more than a Bosmer, she had the opportunity to outlive this man by what seemed like eons. As something ... more ... she had the chance to extend her existence by ages beyond even that. It was almost awe-inspiring.

This human of less than a century faced his death with such ... serenity ... that even mer rarely attained in their seemingly near-infinite lives.

"My dreams grant me no opinions of success. Their compass does not venture beyond the gates of death. But, in your face I see the sun's companion." ... By Sithis he did. "The dawn of Akatosh's bright glory may banish the coming darkness. With such hope, and with the promise of your aid, my heart must be satisfied."

She knew their overarching objective of being elsewhere before the assassins could kill this brave old man, but she hadn't any idea of the specifics, especially after they'd escaped the city. "Where are we going?" If anyone would know, it would be the Emperor.

"I go to my grave. A tongue shriller than all the music calls me." There it was again. The same, sad, smile. "You shall follow me for a while, and then we must part."

The brown-skinned human eyed her appraisingly, as the other two males began to depart. They'd wasted too much time with chatter already. "You may as well make yourself useful. Here, carry this torch and stick close." He shoved a lit torch in her face. In her face. Of course, he probably meant for her to simply hold it, but it felt like he was trying to char her flesh. She already felt herself blackening ....

Seeing her panic, Baurus - she thought that was his name, anyway; she'd been a little bit maybe-high when she'd first heard it - shrugged, and kept a grip on the torch in his off-hand. "Guard the Emperor then. You're strong enough."

Lyssi had no doubts whatsoever that they were being followed. It might have been the subtle pitter-patter of little feet. It also might have been simply that, when she so much as turned to look over her shoulder in a reasonably darkened area, she felt the heat of two distinct lives behind her, saw the ghost-light of their lifeblood running through their veins.

Every time she went to investigate, however, more assassins threw themselves on the swords so deftly wielded by Baurus and The Other Guy (as she so fondly dubbed him). Definitely not the work of the Brotherhood, nor any agency wanting to compete.

"The gate is barred from the other side! It's a trap!" This statement, with the epitome of human intellect it implied, was made by The Other Guy, himself. Well, shouted, in a room where shouting actually felt like it might damage sensitive ears.

What surprised her was the Redguard's response. After all, Baurus had seemed rather smart. Or not. He seemed to trust Lyssi, after all. "What about that side passage back there?" He used the torch to point back the way they'd come. Lyssi pointedly avoided being anywhere near the fiery death-stick when it moved. Any humanoid with half a brain left in their skulls would probably have done the same!

Because the un-barred, un-guarded gate hanging wide open was not the trap. She rolled her eyes, waiting until the two Blades had their backs turned to make that gesture. She felt eyes on her anyway - the Emperor's. He seemed to find her reaction funny. She would have called him on it, but, well. He was the Emperor. And probably going to die down here. Let him have fun.

Regardless, she edged closer to the old man, scanning the shadows for their tail. Strange ... it had waited just out of normal sight. They knew this way was barred, and still they hadn't followed their quarry into the room....

"It's worth a try! Let's go!" And so they went, the Bosmer keeping watch behind them. It eventually reached the point that it would have likely been more practical for her to have turned around and walked backwards.

The Emperor's voice in her ear, murmured quietly. "You know, if you keep your head turned that way long enough, it just might twist right off."

The quiet humor startled a bark of laughter out of her, she covered her mouth with one hand. Priceless. Facing his own imminent destruction and he found time to crack jokes.

"If you've ... seen ... something behind us, Lyssi, might it not be better to tell them?"

At this, both Baurus and his fellow guard turned to look, and surprisingly, their human sight caught the maroon cloaks against the almost total darkness. A curse from Baurus, albeit under his breath, as the other man very nearly yelled, "They're behind us!" He did temper his emotions enough to speak in a slightly calmer tone for the second sentence. "Wait here sire."

Baurus turned to Lyssi, his voice low, almost inaudible. "Wait here with the Emperor. Guard him with your life." No, no! These were his guards. They were the ones wearing oversized tin cans! They should stay here and wait, and Lyssi could go dispatch of their tail!

The two men were gone before she could get a word in edgewise, screaming battle cries as they rounded the corner and engaged with their foes.

The slight rattle of a chain. The human beside her had decided to begin removing the blood red stone. She realized, however belatedly, that the thing held power. To her, it looked like ... like the blood of a dragon, or a god, crystallized. It held her gaze - and her tongue - until he'd completely removed the gemstone from around his throat.

"I can go no further."