
Master

Joined: 3-July 08
From: The darkest pit of your soul. Hi there!

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Entry 4
The Tenth Divine I woke floating in darkness, dim shapes in the gloom far above. I struggled to move, but it was like swimming through air. A soft voice spoke beside me. I couldn't understand what it said. The grey light faded, and I sank back into the black. Then I must have really awakened. It was hard to keep my eyes open against the light. I was so tired, and I hurt. Not from any one place. Just a deep, mournful ache. At least I was warm. Then there was that voice again, so I made my eyes open until I could see. Candlelight. I was in a bed with folding screens around it. The air felt cool and dry, and it carried the sharp smell of healing potions. I couldn't see the ceiling. It was too high. I felt heavy. I wanted to sleep. "Wake now," said the voice. "You are safe here. You may wake." I looked into the face of an Imperial woman. She had the kind of little moustache that comes when we age. "There you are," the woman said, smiling. "I think you have finally decided to join us." My throat felt like broken glass when I tried to speak. "Hush," said the Imperial. "Drink this. I am Silana Blandia, and you are in the Great Chapel of Zenithar in Leyawiin." She lifted my head and placed a cup to my lips. "It's only water with a few herbs to help you fight the fever." I sipped the liquid until it was gone. It tasted like grass. "Well done, Otavia," said Silana. "Yes, we know who you are." Silana's palm felt cool on my brow. Her face contorted as she sent healing light over me. It felt like chilled watermelon juice on an afternoon in Sun's Height. It took more than just the pain away. Then she smiled. "Rest now," she said. "We'll speak again later." It was a long while before she came back, but there were others who tended me. One washed my hair and put it in a braid over my shoulder. It looked like a flame running down my bed gown. Another left a book for me. By the intercession of St. Alessia, may you be so filled with grace, and the strength and wisdom that comes from grace, that through these teachings you may come to the true meaning of the Nine Divines and Their glories. I supposed I wasn't in any state to read about wild adventures. And perhaps the priests knew more about me than I'd like, so I read their book about the Nine and their teachings. If only each man might look into the mirror of these Commands, and see reflected there the bliss that might enfold them, were he to serve in strict obedience to these Commands, he would be cast down and made contrite and humble. The obedient man may come to the altars of the Nine and be blessed, and may receive the comfort and healing of the Nine, and may give thanks for his manifold blessings. Heedless, the wicked man turns away, and forsaking the simple wisdoms granted to him by the All-Wise and All-Knowing Nine, he lives in sin and ignorance all the days of his life. He bears the awful burden of his crimes, and before Men and Gods his wickedness is known, and neither blessing nor comfort may he expect. How much did these people know about me? More than I about recent events, it would seem. I knew how I got to Leyawiin, but my plan hadn't included waking up in the chapel. Akatosh says: Serve and obey. Study the Covenants. Worship the Nine, do your duty, and heed the commands of the saints and priests. I started over and read that book again. Then Silana was back, propping up pillows and smoothing my sheet. "Lerexus Callidus of the City Watch is here to see you, Otavia." I saw one of the screens move and Silana gestured at the chair pulled up beside the bed. She stepped back, wringing her hands. Lerexus took the seat with a clank of armor, helm under one arm. He was dark like a Nibenean, but now I could see his eyes were as pale as mine. I could smell sweat in his hair. He cleared his throat, but then looked down and didn't speak. "Good day, Officer," I said. I wasn't quite sure what I should call him. He gave me a job to do, but other than that I just couldn't remember. "It's good to see you." "It pleases me to see you well, Otavia," he said. "I came before, but they ..." He glanced up at Silana. "That is to say, I had to wait until you were stronger before I could speak with you." "What happened?" I asked. "You will not upset her," Silana insisted. Her lips were in a thin line. Lerexus looked at Silana, then back at me. "I found you on the road outside the West Gate. Your injuries were extensive. I brought you here to the chapel." He looked down at his hands, and then he pulled off his gauntlets and placed them on the table beside my bed. "What do you remember, Otavia?" Now it was my turn to look over at the healer. She just gave me one more judgment to worry about. But she looked like she wasn't about to leave. "I remember my arrest and the deal we made," I told him. "If I cooperated on your skooma investigation all of the charges against me would be dropped. Just in and out of the house you showed me to make sure you had the right place. You said you couldn't risk another incident." Officer Callidus wiped a hand over his mouth. I supposed my feeble presence in the bed meant parchment for him to file. "That's right," he said. "An outsider with your skills might succeed where a known officer of the law had failed." "You didn't say 'might' when we spoke," I said. At the time it was me who was in a tight spot. Now he was the one who should be saying he was sorry. No matter what had happened, I was sure it wasn't my skills at fault. "What action did you take?" he asked me. "I waited until Lonavo's gang would be gone for the night, then I went to the house you showed me on the map. Looking for evidence like we agreed. I don't remember anything else." "How long did you wait before you went there, after we spoke? How many days, can you remember?" Silana made a shushing gesture at him. I remembered this part, but his question still didn't make sense. "What do you mean? I went there that same night, right after we spoke." There was a moment of silent but urgent communication between Lerexus and Silana. Julianos says: Know the truth. Observe the law. "Lerexus, tell me." He started to speak, then stopped and cleared his throat again. "I found you on the third night. You were missing for two days." To his credit, he looked sincerely miserable. "Otavia, I'm sorry. I should never have sent you there alone." Zenithar says: Work hard, and you will be rewarded. Never steal, or you will be punished. "If there was a mistake, it was mine only," I told Lerexus. He looked sorry enough, but I didn't feel any better. It was my crime that put me in his path to begin with. This watchman should never have met me. "Did you arrest them? How did I get here?" Silana stepped forward. "That is quite enough for today." When a healer speaks that way, even a law man listens. But Lerexus leaned forward and made slow business of picking up his gloves. "We arrested three of them including Lonavo," he told me. "For skooma cooking and distribution. Their woman Mirielle is still at large. I'm sorry, Otavia. We didn't have the evidence to connect them to you." So they were in prison then, but not for long if they could pay their fines. I put my hand out on the crisp sheet, and he took it like I was made of spun glass. "Sometimes the monster wins." After he left Silana brought me some foul-tasting tea. I made sure she saw me wince when I drank it, then I gestured to the chair. "Silana, please sit with me." She glanced around as if some emergency might pop up and save her. None did. She slid into the chair. "Tell me about my injuries. You took away the scars, but I need to know what happened." "Otavia," she began. Her tone was not cooperative. "It's upsetting me more not to know. Please, Silana." She gave me a long look. "All right." It took a moment for her to fidget the way some do when they're gathering their thoughts. Then she looked back in my eyes. "I was at my morning prayer when Officer Callidus brought you in. It was just before dawn. He had wrapped you in a blanket from the stable. You were so cold. It had rained during the night." She looked down at her hands, remembering. "You had ligature marks at your wrists, ankles, and neck. Lerexus said the gag is what saved most of your teeth." Silana took a deep breath and met my gaze again. "Your jaw was broken. You had a depressed skull fracture. Your bones were broken here, here, and here." She indicated by gesturing to her own limbs. "Your left shoulder was dislocated, and you had three broken ribs. You had bite marks on your torso and shoulders." "Animal bites?" I interrupted. "No. Your face was bruised and swollen. Lerexus..." Silana paused and composed herself. "Officer Callidus didn't recognize you until he saw your hair in the light, even though he had been out looking for you. Some of your wounds had been partially healed, but then you had received further injuries. It's likely that your head wound was sustained not long before Lerexus found you. You're lucky it was cold that night. Lady Kynareth helped slow your passing." Kynareth says: Use Nature's gifts wisely. Respect her power, and fear her fury. We stared at each other across the clean, white sheet. "I suppose I should be glad I don't remember," I finally said. "I've been a healer for longer than you've been alive, Otavia. People have accidents every day. But injuries like yours ... Well I know it happens, but folk just don't make it to the chapel when they've gone through such abuse." "They go straight to the undercroft is what you're saying." Arkay says: Guard and tend the bounties of the mortal world. Honor the spirits, living and dead. It wasn't too hard to find a smile for her. "I'm hard to kill. I can thank the stars for that." Silana gave me a look like she was searching for something. "There is a lot we don't understand about head injuries. How do you feel now?" I shrugged. "Like it must have happened to someone else." It took a few more days before they would let me leave the chapel. I didn't have anything on me when Lerexus brought me in, but someone got my clothes from the Five Claws. Witseidutsei let me back into my old room without paying for the time I spent at the chapel. She did go on about how she had kept it clean for me, though, but it wasn't hard just to stand there and listen. Dar Jee waved me off when I tried to talk to him. I supposed they had given my job to someone else. The only thing left was the leaving. I had enough coin to take a ferry back to the Imperial City and I certainly didn't want to stay, but when I started out the West Gate to the docks somehow I just kept walking. I checked my pockets and pouches as I went, making sure I had all of my defenses ready. Clouds covered the moons, and singing crickets were much louder than my feet. I used a potion with my spell to keep an eye out for predators on the road to Greyland. Just one or the other didn't give me much range. I passed some deer and plenty of mudcrabs, but nothing I needed the Shadows to hide me from. Yet the wicked and foolish are not doomed, for in their infinite mercies, the Nine have said, "Repent, and do Good Works, and the Fountains of Grace shall once more spill forth upon you." Repent your crimes! Tender unto the Emperor the fines of gold, that they may be used to spread the Faith and its Benefits to all Men! Do yourself good works! Redeem your infamy by shining deeds! Show to all Men and the Nine the good Fame of the Righteous Man, and you may once again approach the altars and shrines of the Chapel to receive the comfort and blessings of the Nine. The Shadows failed me the last time I walked this road. I wasn't sure how I had slipped into a place between my Mistress and the Nine, but I needed to find out. I found the house just the way I remembered it. Just a cottage really, with boarded up windows and no neighbors nearby. I crouched down behind a low wall and slipped off my larger pack. It took a moment to shift my things around and take my potions for the break-in. Then I tried to remember. Nothing. One life sign moving around inside. I went ahead while I could still see it. My heart beat fast and strong like it always did when I was working. I used my breaths to count the time. The lock on the door was a good one, but it hardly slowed me down. I wondered if I had picked it before. I dispelled my life detection and slipped inside. I could take in most of the interior with one glance. Plain furnishings, open beams, and only one section walled off into a separate chamber. A woman in a skirt and blouse bent over a fire against the left wall. Plenty of candles lit meant she must be worried or expecting company. The weapons rack stood off to my right. Nothing looked familiar. I stepped forward, knife held out in my right hand. She turned when she heard my heel scrape the boards. The woman had dark eyes and brown hair pulled back away from her face. Her soft features made me think she was a Breton. Maybe this is the one who healed me, I thought. She was about my height and just as slim. Recognition flared in her face, then disbelief. "What are you doing here?" she demanded. Her eyes darted at the swords neatly racked behind us, then at a dagger on the table also far out of her reach. I walked up fast and clumsy. It wasn't hard to pretend nervousness, I was no killer. Besides, the empty place in my mind was boiling with what should have been memories. When I got close I stuck out the knife to see what she would do. She made a lunge and grabbed my wrist. I let her. My left hand was the weapon, paralysis poison on a spiked ring in case she could resist my spell. I caught her before she hit the floor. The Warrior made me stronger than I look, but it's practice that let me get her tied down before the poison gave out. I wondered if I had ever sat in that chair. I cast a spell to loosen her tongue, Calm with some Charm usually works that way. I made sure she didn't see me do it. I picked up my old knife off the floor and then went over and got the dagger. It was my silver one that Fathis gave me with the acorn pommel and oak leaves chased on the blade. I always carried it for luck, so that answered one question. I heard the Breton take a gasping breath. I pulled a chair over so I could sit in front of her. "Mirielle?" "Yeah, I know who I am. What are you going to do to me?" "I don't know yet," I admitted. "I want to know what happened here." Mirielle sounded skeptical. "You don't remember? I can't believe you're even alive." "I know I was here for three nights. I know enough to tell if you lie to me. I know who else was here, and they are all dead. You were here, too. What I want you to tell me, Mirielle, is what happened to me here." Lying came easily. I played with my dagger as if I wasn't paying attention to it, making the blade flash in the firelight. "And you'll let me go?" "I know you're not responsible. I just want to know what happened. I might call the Watch, or something else. Why don't you make me angry and see what happens next? It's up to you." Mirielle was silent for a moment. Then she must have decided to play along. "We heard Callidus was sending in a snoop, so we set up an ambush. Kylius Silenced you with a spell. Haenig and I came in behind you and took you down. Kylius put the irons on you. It was easy." That accounted for two of the three Lerexus had in prison. I waited. "Saprius took you in there." Mirielle nodded toward the walled off room. I could see now it was a bedchamber. "He wanted to go while you were still... what did he say, fresh." Her short laugh sounded like a bark. "You were funny, you couldn't figure out how your magicka was Silenced. Are you sure you can't remember any of this? You two were in there for a long time." I didn't say anything back, but I cast my spell again to keep the words coming. Mirielle was warming up to her story. "It was Saprius's day to cook, so when he came out Tyronius took his turn. He said you bit him, and oh did he yelp! Anyway, he got you back. By then it was morning, so we all got some rest. I had to sleep on the floor, since you were on the rutting bed!" Mirielle glared at me. Then a smug expression crept over her face. "Kylius didn't want you. He doesn't like Colovians." Dibella says: Open your heart. Seek joy and inspiration in the mysteries of love. This woman's hopes for herself and the Dunmer didn't make any sense. Why didn't he let her share his bed instead of sleeping on the floor? I could see it against the far wall next to two pallets. Parts of the picture were falling into place, but it still sounded like it could be just an ugly story. "What happened the next night?" "Work happened, that's what," snapped Mirielle. Even given her current situation she sounded like the memory annoyed her. "Deliveries, payments, work! I had to gag you again, and Kylius made me wait around outside to make sure you couldn't escape. I had to hustle to get things done that night, I can tell you. When we all got back Haenig strung you up out here and had his fun." Mirielle nodded to a beam overhead. "That was some party. That Haenig! That's when you started to scream, the second night." Mirielle smirked at me. "And I got my bed back." I could not believe that Mirielle was telling me all this. It was starting to sound real. I took a sip from my water skin. Stendarr says: Be kind and generous to the people of Tamriel. Protect the weak, heal the sick, and give to the needy. I offered her a drink. "I don't want anything from you, filth! Anyway there's not much more to tell. When we woke at nightfall, Kylius said it was time to send our message. Haenig cut you down and said goodbye to you right there on the floor. Who would have thought a skinny little sneak could have so much fight left. He's the one who messed your face up for you. Then we killed you with the hammer, and Haenig left you on the road for Callidus. The end." "Someone healed me. Was that you?" "Yeah. When Tyronius made you bleed in there I was afraid you'd soak my bed." "How could you let them?" I still could not understand. "Let them?" Mirielle sneered. "Who do you think tied you up? Who broke your bones? I wanted to cut you for Haenig, but Kylius said the blood would draw too many flies. Now enough of this talk! I'm not afraid of prison. Call the Watch and get it over with!" Talos says: Be strong for war. Be bold against enemies and evil, and defend the people of Tamriel. Mara says: Live soberly and peacefully. Preserve the peace and security of home and family. The Nine say: Above all else, be good to one another. Well, which was it? Be bold against evil or preserve the security of this woman's home? I stood up so I could think. Mirielle kept up her sneering talk. I thought until my mind was empty. Without another word I pulled back the Breton's head and sliced through her throat. I left the door open so that the flies would find her, and then the rats. Screw the Nine. I'll write the book of Otavia. All I need is one.
This post has been edited by Colonel Mustard: Apr 11 2013, 03:11 PM
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