The Connivers of Bosmora, (a redo) Options

[redsrock]

The following will be a remake of the last one. The previous story was rushed and I just hated it. This one will be much better. Expect the first chapter to either come out tonight, or tomorrow.

[redsrock]

CHAPTER FOUR


When Sirius finally woke up he found himself lying face up on a hard and cold surface. His vision took a few seconds to focus, but when it did he realized he was in some kind of dungeon cell, with an uncomfortable stone floor. There were bars around him, and there were other inmates in other cells gawking at him with curious expressions.

Holy hell…


He rubbed his head to shake the sleepiness away, and then stood up from the ground, and recollected the recent events that had occurred. He had been walking back to Caldera when the Dunmer came, along with three other elves. The last thing Sirius remembered was failing to subdue the elf. Then a flash of light, and then everything went blank. Now he was in a place he’d never seen before, a stranger in someone’s dungeon. But whose dungeon? However, it certainly looked familiar to him for some odd reason.

Where have I seen this place before? Sirius thought to himself. Unfortunately he didn’t have a lot of time to think, for a steel door opened down the hall and in walked the same Dunmer that had cast the spell on Sirius, along with several guards. And upon seeing the guards, Sirius knew exactly where he was. He was in Mournhold. The crimson-uniformed guards had given it away, and now Sirius stood in the one place he was exiled from long ago.

I’ve got to be dreaming…

But this was no dream, and that was proven when the Dunmer and the guards unlocked the cell and stepped in. Sirius didn’t dare make a move, for several reasons. One, he was in no shape or position to take on two trained guards, not to mention the Dunmer that had already proven his skill. And two, he was suddenly very curious as to what was going to happen. Perhaps House Hlaalu was finally going to try and charge him for his ‘crime’. This was all so sudden, and thousands of questions were circling through his head.

“Finally awake, eh?” The Dunmer asked, rather cheerfully. “It’s about damn time; you’ve been sleeping for nearly three hours.”

The elf was smiling at Sirius as if the two were old bodies. Hell, for all Sirius knew they could have been. The Imperial had forgotten a lot of people since being dismissed from House Hlaalu.

“I apologize for having to take physical action against you back in Vvardenfell, but you left me no choice. I swear to you I wouldn’t have done it if I didn’t have to.”

Yeah, my boat... Sirius thought to himself before the Dunmer continued.

“But enough small talk, there are other matters to be discussed. Follow me while I take you to Lord Helseth.”

At that moment Sirius was filled with complete rage. Just the sound of Helseth’s name made him want to go crazy. The mer used to be Sirius’s friend, until the King of Morrowind stabbed him in the back. Needless to say Sirius didn’t want anything to do with him, but of course he really didn’t have much of a choice. He went ahead and followed the Dunmer, if only to find out what Helseth wanted.

The foursome followed the elegantly decorated hallways until they arrived outside of Helseth’s own personal chambers. After a loud knock the King himself opened the door seconds later. The initial reaction wasn’t too surprising. Helseth and Sirius both stared at each other for what seemed like minutes. Finally the Dunmer agent, whose name was Dorvel, broke the silence and said his goodbyes, then took off to who knows where. The guards remained present and at last Helseth told Sirius to enter his room, and then closed the door leaving the guards in the hallway.

This was all so strange to Sirius. He wanted nothing more than to leave Mournhold and never return. That was his sentence when he was exiled long ago, to never show his face in the magical city again. But now he stood in the presence of Helseth once more, who himself continued to stare at the Imperial with wondrous eyes. Finally the King asked Sirius to take a seat, and he did without saying anything. Helseth sat down at his desk and the talk at last began.

“I’m sure you’re wondering why you’re here,” Helseth said feebly, not really knowing what to say. Again this was one of those rare times when the King was at a lost for words. Sirius could certainly smell the awkward conversation miles away, so he decided to break the ice himself.

“Hell yeah I do,” he said, a little harsher than he planned. “I want to know why I’ve been lied to! I want to know why I’ve been tracked by the Dunmer that just left us a few minutes ago! I want to know why after five years of exile I am now standing in your room once again, and I want to know all of this now!”

Sirius glanced over to the wall to his right for some reason, and the first thing that caught his attention was the painting of him and the King himself, shaking hands and grinning widely. It amazed Sirius that King Helseth was able to keep the portrait up, when it surely had to bring a lot of painful memories.

“Yes, I apologize for that, but it was the only way to get you here for sure,” Helseth said, a weak comment at best.

“Yeah right, Hlaalu, I’m sure you are. As sorry as you were when you exiled me five years ago?” Sirius didn’t really want to bring up the past, but then again this was a perfect time for him to finally let loose and let the King of Morrowind know how he really feels.

“I am sorry, Sirius, and if you can’t see it, then that’s your fault. I didn’t bring you here to banter about the past; I brought you here to offer you a job.”

“I really don’t care what you want, Hlaalu. I am a prisoner here, but obviously I am a very important man to you if you’ve tricked and kidnapped me. The way I see it, I am in total control right now,” Sirius said, almost grinning a bit from the last sentence.

Helseth glared at Sirius, both admirably and angrily. Still a smartass. Doesn’t surprise me Helseth thought to himself. “Listen, Sirius,” he said, before being cut off by the Imperial.

“Now, you listen! Stop telling me what to do; I’m not your lackey anymore! Before you say anything, I want to tell you something, and then I want to ask some questions, alright?”
“First off, I want to thank you for personally ruining my life. After ridiculously exiling me simply because I told the truth and did what was right, I ran away to Caldera, where there were no boat-holes from House Hlaalu to stab me in the back. I figured I could make a good living, selling clothes, but of course my old habits never really ended like I planned for them to. The beer took its toll and soon I found myself in debt, about two years after coming to Caldera in fact.”

“Is that all?” Helseth asked impatiently, even though he knew the Imperial was far from finished.

“No, actually it’s not, and I advise you to shut the hell up until I say I’m done,” Sirius replied back. Helseth bit his tongue as he allowed Sirius to continue his tirade. He knew very well that his once best friend was taking full advantage of this golden opportunity to criticize and complain.

“You were wrong in exiling me, Hlaalu. When I first learned of your involvement with the killings I just shoved it aside. But then I got a little suspicious for some reason and I pried around, trying to put all the pieces of the puzzle together and figuring out why you killed those two Dunmer. When I got too nosy you exiled me and found out the truth for myself you exiled me from The House, ordering me to never return to Mournhold or else I would find myself in a dangerous situation. But if I was such a threat to The House, then why did you let keep my life?”

“That was five years ago, Sirius. Why bring up the past?”

“Because the past is what’s caused by failure. The past is what’s haunted me for so long. The past is what stole my best friend.”

The two stared at each other for several minutes, and then Helseth finally told him the very truth.

“Alright, Sirius, I will tell you truth about why I let you go.”

Sirius crossed his arms and waited for Helseth to continue.

“I killed those two Dunmer because they were treading on something that did not concern them.”

“Which was?” Sirius asked.

“I am sure you are familiar with the death of Athyn Llethan?” Sirius nodded. “The two Dunmer knew some facts about his death that I didn’t want to be made publicly, and that was exactly what they were going to do.”

“And just what were those facts, Hlaalu?” Sirius asked suspiciously.

Helseth sighed heavily and shook his head while looking at the surface of his desk. He really didn’t want to talk about this; he didn’t want Sirius to know the truth. But, there was no other choice.

“I poisoned the former King, Sirius, something you are obviously aware of. How those two Dunmer found out about my actions I have no clue, but I immediately sent my agents to silence their tongues before the truth was spread throughout Mournhold.”

“But I was your best agent, Hlaalu. Why didn’t you order me to carry about the deed? This is also something I’ve been trying to answer myself.”

“Because you were someone with a large heart and someone who wanted to do things right, unlike the other agents. The others didn’t care what happened as long as they pleased me and received their payment. You were into ethics, they were into gold. I didn’t tell you because I knew you would never have agreed with such an assignment.”

“Alright, fair enough, you are right. I would not have gone through with the assignment. But what would it have mattered if the public had known the truth? They all had their own opinions anyway.”

“I didn’t want a rebellion to start. Sure, a majority of them assumed that I had poisoned King Llethan, but they had no actual proof. And without the proof the rebellion would have been a small one, because most would not have taken part simply for the fact that they weren’t one hundred percent sure that I was involved with the former King’s death.”

“Okay, that makes sense. But you still haven’t answered my first question. If you killed the tow Dunmer for finding out the truth, then it would only make sense to kill me as well. Why didn’t you?”

“You were my best agent, and also my best friend, Sirius. Believe me; the other Councilors wanted you dead, for several reasons. One because you are an Imperial and you being part of The House is questionable enough. Two, they also didn’t want a rebellion to start. All in all, they were scared for their life and were willing to kill anyone that threatened them, including you. It took a lot on my part to dissuade them from killing you, or ordering someone else to do the job.”
“I didn’t want to kill you for my own reasons. You were my best friend Sirius, and believe it or not you still are my friend deep down inside. I hated exiling you, but it was the only way. I knew you would have tried something to dethrone me. There is also another reason, and it directly involves the current situation I am in now.”

Sirius leaned in a little closer and then Helseth continued.

“When I exiled you, I was more than well aware that you were my top agent. In fact, nobody could even touch you, nor can anyone now. I didn’t have you killed because for some strange reason I knew I would need you in the future. It seems controversy has followed me wherever I have gone.”

“What are you getting at, Hlaalu?”

“Four members have gone missing in Balmora, Sirius. They’ve simply vanished and nobody can figure out why. I’ve hired our top investigators to solve the case, but nothing has come up.”

“But why Balmora?”

“I don’t know, that’s why I’ve brought you here. You are the only person for the job, Sirius.”

Sirius immediately stood up from his chair and yelled, “Wait a minute. You mean to tell me that you’ve brought me here so you can hire me for a mission?”

“Precisely.”

“Why didn’t you just send an agent? What was the point of the letter and tricking me?”

“Isn’t it obvious, Sirius?” Helseth asked with a dumb expression on his face. “You never would have outright agreed to come on your own free will. I know there are hard feelings between us. I had to trick you.”

“What did the other councilors say about bringing me back?”

“They didn’t like at all, but we are smart, Sirius. We all know you are the only one skilled enough to get to the bottom of whatever is going on in Balmora. We need you, Sirius.”

Things were happening so fast, and Sirius didn’t really know what to think or say. Just two days ago he was talking with Malpen about paying back a considerable amount of debts, and now he’s being asked by the King of Morrowind to solve a case of mysterious vanishings.

“You know, I have my own problems, Hlaalu. Like I said, my business back in Caldera isn’t going to well, and I have many debts to pay back. To top it all off I only have six months to do it.”

Helseth laughed and replied, “Nice try, Sirius, but you know I can take care of that myself. I am willing to pay all of the debts for you, if you agree to help us. Also, once the deed is done, I will allow you to stay with the House if you wish. There will be more gold to be handed out of course, but we can talk about that later. And let’s face it, you aren’t going to be able to pay those debts without my help,” He said with a large smile. He was baiting Sirius in perfectly.

“I don’t know, Hlaalu. Why should I help you after you stabbed me in the back? You betrayed my trust and ruined our friendship. Don’t you see how awkward of a situation this is?”

“Yes, of course I do. But I don’t like seeing my members vanishing without a trace. I need you, Sirius,” Helseth said sternly

After sitting back down in his chair Sirius thought to himself for a couple of minutes. It was true that he hated Hlaalu and the councilors for their decision to exile him. But on the other hand, he really did need the money. Right then he decided to accept Helseth’s offer. Of course there was no way he’d stick with The House once it was all over.

“Fine, I’ll do it. But only because I need the money, and nothing else. You are not my friend, Hlaalu, and this will be strictly business. Once everything is over and I’ve solved the case, I will take my money and leave for good.”

“That is fine. I would expect nothing less from you. Now, walk back to the lobby and Dorvel will take you to Godsreach, where I have a house already furnished and ready for you. You will use this house as a home throughout the investigation. Tomorrow there will be a meeting with you, me, and the other councilors. We will go into detail about who has disappeared, and will list any leads we have. For now you may leave. And thank you, Sirius.”

“Don’t mention it,” Sirius said with a smartalic tone as he walked away from the room. What the hell am I getting myself into?