A Nord's Tale

A/N: I know I am taking a long time with this, however I just got laid off and I am having to devote all my time to finding another job so I can pay the bills. Real life isn't being too kind right now.

Sanyue shielded her eyes as she stepped out into the bright daylight. The air smelt so fresh and sweet that it almost made her sick after all the hours in a dirty cell and walking through dank caves and sewers. The urge to bathe in Lake Rumare was almost overwhelming, however she was not so keen on attracting the attention of anyone who happened to be wandering around. Guards might be patrolling the area, so Sanyue decided that staying any longer was not smart. She had begun walking around the prison tower toward the north and east. Several guards were stationed around the area so she had to stay near the lake to keep from being spotted. The only benefit of that was the few pieces of crab meat she had picked up from a few wandering mud crabs. The first had nearly taken her finger off when she had tried to drink from the lake so she had fire balled it. The rest followed soon after when she had figured out that fire balls cooked the meat rather well inside the shell. Her mother would call her lazy, however it was not like she could just walk into the Feed Bag.

Though if she remembered correctly, there was an inn near the Imperial City where she could sell the few things she had picked up and get a decent meal. What appealed to her most, however was a soft bed and a warm cozy fire. Just thinking about those two things made her eye lids droop. Just getting there seemed to take forever for Sanyue. The sun was already far to the west when she had come out of the sewers and now she could already see the very beginnings of twilight to the east. The skies over Chorrol were probably already dark and even without this new danger, it still was not safe to travel at night. There were more than bandits waiting on the long roads of Cyrodiil.

By the time she had finely entered Wawnet Inn, Sanyue was exhausted. She didn't even have the energy to haggle with the owner over her gems and the few odds and ends she had found and ended up taking about twenty-five gold for the whole lot. The bath and room together cost about fifteen gold, so she considered herself about even. She was able to scrub the dead smell out of her leather armor and boots and wash herself properly. By the time she had shambled into her room, she was nearly asleep on her feet. With just her under clothing on and the sack with the Amulet close to her, she collapsed into bed and fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

Sanyue slept so deeply that when she woke, it felt as though no time had passed. Her sleep addled mind was slow to take in her surroundings and for a moment, she forgot where she was. The events of the past day or so came back to her in a trickle and she finely recognized the bed she was in. Though in her still half-awake state, she did not remember leaving the door to her room wide open like it was. Her eyes rose to the wall opposite her and all her exhaustion left her immediately, she recognized the shadow of the red-robed assassins she had fought in the Imperial Subterrane. The candles in her room were just reaching the end of their wicks, which told her she had been asleep for no more than three hours. Instead of fear, she she chided herself for being such an easy target. Though she supposed that this was better than being found out in the open somewhere.

She stayed as still as she could, the shadow approaching slowly. She felt a tickle at the back of her mind, it was nothing specific but it told her to move. Sanyue lurched forward in the bed, twisting the covers as something heavy landed where her back had lain not a few moments before. Her forward momentum took her off the other side of the bed and she landed on the wooden floor with a loud thud. She got to her feet as fast as she could, her eyes settling on the bed. Where she had been, there was a gaping hole in the mattress; which was now hemorrhaging down feathers. The would be assassin spit feathers out of his mouth and brandished his black hilt dagger again and leaped over the bed toward Sanyue.

She was at a bit of a disadvantage without her armor, though she still had her fists. The red-robed assassin was quick with his dagger, slashing this way and that to try and disembowel her or disable her some how. He seemed wholly unprepared to be put on the defensive when Sanyue blocked his strike and landed her fist to the side of his head. His confusion gave Sanyue enough time as she dove for her sword and drove the would be assassin against the wall. It was easy to see that the assassin was expecting an easy kill, not getting his dagger swept aside with a short sword nor to have that same sword thrust into his chest, pinning him against the wall. Sanyue waited until the red robed assassin ceased to move, his armor fading away with red smoke before she pulled her sword from his chest and cleaned it on his robes.

Just as she was reaching for her armor, she wondered why the owner of the Inn had not come to investigate the noise she and her attacker had been making. Sanyue's eyes narrowed, she did not like her train of thought in the least. She quickly dressed herself, made sure the Amulet was tucked close to her body and climbed down the stairs. She left the body where it fell, slumped down against the wall at the foot of the bed. As she entered the candle lit foyer, she found the owner tucked under the front desk cowering in fear with a dagger in his hands. She just walked out without saying a word to the man and turned west. She took one last look at Imperial City and started off on The Black Road and into the Great Forest.

It was late in the evening when she finely left Wawnet Inn, her only light were the stars and the torch she had lit from the lanterns outside the Inn. What little sleep she did get seemed to have taken the edge off of her exhaustion. This made it somewhat easier to make her way through the forest without her tired mind playing too man tricks on her. Several times she was convinced that bandits hid in the bushes or rocks that obscured sharp curves in the road. She had slowly rounded the curve and each time she had found nothing there. She was relieved every time, however she also knew that this was only a symptom of lack of sleep. She had a nagging suspicion that this would become an all too common occurrence.

As she trudged up the slight incline, she could swear she smelt roasting lamb on the breeze. The road had turned slightly to the north, the terrain becoming hilly and rocky; boulders and rocky outcroppings dotting the landscape. The air also had a just a hint of the cold bite she had remembered as a child in Sky Rim. Even the skies were filled with billowy clouds like Sky Rim. The tolling of a bell brought her attention from the sky to the road ahead of her. She quickened her steps, nearly running as the silhouette of a small priory became visible between the trees. Sanyue felt a sudden wave of relief wash over her. She was sure that what ever bad dream she had walked into was soon to be over.

Hurrying up the steps to the wooden door, she pulled it open easily, stepping into the warm and inviting priory. An older monk in dark robes lifted his shaved head from his book. He slowly rose from his seat at a small, round table filled with several apples, pears and wines. The monk marked his page before walking around the table and greeting her with a small nod of his head. "Is this Weynon Priory?" Sanyue asked, still winded from her run.

The older monk seemed like he would rather be reading than answering silly questions. "Yes. And how my I help you?"

Sanyue smiled and fought the urge to yawn. "I must speak to Jauffre. Is he here?" The monk gave her a once over and seemed satisfied with her.

"He's upstairs. Go ahead." As soon as the last syllable left his mouth he turned around and went directly back to his reading as though she had never entered the priory. Sanyue climbed the stairs. To her left several monks were sleeping in a communal area. To her right, the stairs ended in an open doorway. She could see alchemical equipment on the shelves including several dozen books, all lit by a flickering candle. She turned to the right and stepped into the doorway. The room was long and wide and the morning sun shone through the simple but large windows directly behind and to the left of a Grey haired monk reading at a large wooden desk. Just like the other monk, he seemed lost in the pages and it was not until Sanyue was directly in front of him that he registered that someone else was in the room with him.

Sanyue cleared her throat as the monk looked up from his book. His face took on that same look of annoyance as the first monk downstairs. "Are you Jauffre?" He did not answer her question at first, he only marked his page with the books ribbon and folded his hands on top of it in a sort of scholarly resignation.

"I am Brother Jauffre. What do you want?" Sanyue felt slightly annoyed. She had endured hours of assault by assassins on all sides, crawled through the gods knew what in the sewers and more assassins, walked all the way here and the only thing she was greeted with was 'What do you want?' Sanyue took a few short breaths to keep her annoyance out of her voice.

"The Emperor sent me to find you." That aloof expression that annoyed Sanyue so much was replaced by one of deep suspicion. His eyes narrowed, looking less like a monk's and more like the seasoned warrior's that Barus had described.

"Emperor Uriel? Do you know something of his death?" As Jauffre asked his right hand slipped below the desk, gripping the hilt of his sword. His hand tightened on it when she shifted her feet.

Sanyue felt positively uncomfortable. She only now noticed the monk's hand on his sword and began to think that coming here may have been a bad idea. "I was there when he died." If this monk was going to run her through, she might as well have her last act be an honest one.

The monk withdrew his sword a few inches from its sheath, his eyes glinting just like the oiled blade. "You had better explain yourself. Now." Sanyue gulped, her eyes on the blade as the monk held it just out of its sheath. She tried not to withdraw her own blade. That would certainly make things much worse.

"He gave me the Amulet of Kings." Sanyue expected to be run through at any moment. However, what she did not expect was for this monk to go from being ready to kill her to laughing so hard his eyes threatened to tear up. The monk set the sword back in its sheath and looked at her with a mixture of pity and amusement.

The monk wiped a few tears from his eyes. "You brought me the Amulet of Kings?" He threatened to crack up again. "This can not be. Let me see it." Sanyue thought it would have been better to forgo him seeing it and just let him have the Amulet right between the eyes. Though instead of chucking it at him, she slipped it out of her shirt and set it on his desk. She noted, with grim satisfaction that his amused expression had vanished. His eyes were wide with shock as he picked the Amulet up and examined it by turning it over in his hands. "By the Nine!" He seemed to take a long while to recover enough for just that. "This IS the Amulet of Kings!" Sanyue was sorely tempted to quip 'I told you so' at him, but she remained quiet.

Jauffre's right hand grasped the hilt of his sword again, his eyes hard. "Who are you? Where did you get this? What do you know of the Emperor's death?" He fired all three questions at once and Sanyue didn't know which one to answer first. So she told what she knew from when The Emperor and his three Blades had used an escape route in her cell to the assassins and finely Uriel's final words to her. At first Jauffre looked as though he was going to kill her to be on the safe side, though as she continued her story, his hand released the hilt of his sword.

As she reached the end he shook his head, examining the Amulet again. "As unlikely as your story sounds, I believe you." His words lifted all of the tension out of Sanyue, her shoulders relaxing as Jauffre sat back down at his desk. "Only the strange destiny of Uriel Septim could have brought you to me carrying the Amulet of Kings."

"Who is the Prince of Destruction?" This had been bothering her from the moment the Emperor had said it. She knew that she aught to know.

"The Prince of Destruction he referred to is none other than Mehrunes Dagon, one of the lords of the demonic world of Oblivion." Sanyue inclined her head. Now that name she knew well. During her education in the Imperial Cult Chapel she had heard of all of the lords of Oblivion and the one most feared was Dagon. Though the chapel priests discouraged their games, the children of Sky Rim loved to play 'Dagon Destroys Imperial City', sometimes taking the mock battles into the chapel itself. She shivered at the thought of that little game becoming a reality. "The Emperor's words-- "Close shut the jaws of Oblivion" --certianly suggest he perceived some threat from Oblivion. But all the scholars agree that the mortal world is protected from the daedra of Oblivion by magical barriers."

Sanyue found this all familiar, but again she felt something nagging at the back of her mind. There was more to this than wanting a big, red gem. And how did the assassins play into all of this? "How can Oblivion threaten us then?"

Jauffre shook his head. "I am not sure. Only the Emperors understand the meaning behind the rituals of coronation. The Amulet of Kings is ancient. Saint Alessia herself received it from the gods. It is a holy relic of great power." The monk sat back in his chair. "When an Emperor is crowned, he uses the Amulet to light the Dragonfires at the Temple of the One in Imperial City. With the Emperor dead and no new heir crowned, the Dragonfires in the Temple will be dark, for the first time in centuries." Jauffre stroked his chin. "It may be that the Dragonfires protected us from a threat only the Emperor was aware of."

Jauffre's talk of an heir reminded her of the other part of the Emperor's request. "The Emperor asked me to find his son."

That seemed to add weight to her story because Jauffree seemed impressed. "I am one of the few who know of his existence. Many years ago, I served as captain of Uriel's bodyguards, the Blades. One night Uriel called me into his private chambers. A baby boy lay sleeping in a basket. Uriel told me to deliver him somewhere safe." Sanyue's eyebrows nearly shot off of her face. She could only imagine the kind of scandal an illegitimate son would have caused to a marriage that was already publicly on the rocks. "He never told me anything else about the baby, but I knew it was his son. From time to time he would ask about the child's progress. Now, it seems that this illegitimate son is the heir to the Septim throne. If he yet lives."

Sanyue knew when she was being sent on an errand, and this sounded like an errand. She figured she would be in for her weight in Septims when this was all over. "Where can I find Uriel's son."

Jauffre ignored the obvious annoyance in her voice. "His name is Martin. He serves Akatosh in the Chapel in the city of Kvatch, south of here." She had to admit that the city could have been worse. He could have been serving Mara in the city of Bravil. "You must go to Kvatch and find him at once. If the enemy is aware of his existence, as seems likely, he is in terrible danger." Sanyue could feel her stomach rumbling again and her mind becoming fuzzy. All she had wanted to do was hand over the Amulet and find somewhere to rest. Now she was being asked to walk even further to Kvatch and fetch an heir and drag him back to the priory. Somehow she thought that her father would find this all quite funny.

"And please let me know if there is anything you need." Sanyue's ears perked up. "My resources here are limited, but I will help in any way that I can." She felt the first genuine smile pull at her lips for what seemed like days.

"I could use a few more arrows." Jauffre nodded and pulled a set of keys off of his belt.

"I keep a few things here in my chest to resupply traveling Blades. Help yourself to what ever you need." Jauffre slipped the small brass key into the lock and the top of the chest popped open. Inside the chest was anything she would need. There were several dozen arrows of several types, swords, bows, armor both leather and steel and several healing and poison curing potions. She slipped some of the steel arrows into her quiver and pocketed a few of the healing and poison cure potions. She also exchanged her bow with one in the chest and several other weapons that had seen better days. But what she wanted most was not in the chest. She stood up, her eyes falling on the beds across the stairs where several monks were finishing their chores of sweeping the floor and making the beds.

"Jauffre?" The monk was about to sit back down to his studies, though her interrupting him did not seem to reward her with the same annoyed glare. "Is there an empty bed I could use? I haven't slept in several days." The old monk nodded and gestured to the other side of the stairs where the communal sleeping area was, his book opened to the page he had marked it at.

"Just make sure to leave everything as you found it." Sanyue turned to thank him, however he was once again lost in the pages. She smiled and picked a bed that was close to the stairs that looked like it had not been slept in recently. The last thing she wanted was a grouchy monk complaining that she had put him out of his bed. She chuckled at that thought as she set her weapons against the wall and her boots on the floor. Since she was essentially in a house full of men, she was not about to remove her armor, so she slipped under the covers as best she could. The warmth of the wool blanket was a welcome change from the chill of night and her eyes closed as soon as she settled into a comfortable position.