Trey in Mournhold, Chapter 5 Options

[treydog]

Chapter 5

Dedicated to the memory of Jonajosa. Be at peace, my friend.

Rather than walk back to the Palace, I used an amulet to cast Divine Intervention. Mainly, I chose that means of transport because I was terribly weary. But I admit that it was also a calculated insult to the Tribunal Temple. After all, the spell carried me to the entrance of the Imperial Cult, their religious rival. Once I had been deposited in the Palace courtyard, I mentally prepared myself for my meeting with Tienius Delitian. If possible, I hoped to keep Galsa Andrano’s name to myself- betrayal did not come easily to me. Though she was a member of Almalexia’s Temple, she was not responsible for its misguided choices. Before heading for the throne room, I nipped down the stairs to the basement and exchanged my armor for a robe. While the Dark Brotherhood armor might have served as a pointed reminder of Helseth’s murderous intent toward me, I did not think it wise to appear before his guards dressed as an assassin. While the King’s paranoia might be the product of a guilty conscience, theirs was a professional reflex- one that I preferred not to test. A measure of their caution was the fact that I had yet to lay eyes on Helseth, even in his own throne room. Confronting him with my…righteous indignation was going to be difficult if all he ever did was cower in his private chambers. Of course, he would also have a hard time governing from that position, a prospect that did not make me particularly unhappy. On the other hand, my disagreement with Helseth was personal rather than political, so I rather hoped he would show his sorry face sometime soon.

If Captain Delitian was happy to see me, he disguised it quite well. Stony-faced, he stared at me and queried,

“Have you anything to report? Or have you just been wandering around Mournhold gawking at the sights?”

I was becoming used to his irritating manner, having realized that his baiting was as much an attempt to surprise me into blurting something revealing as because he genuinely disliked me. Besides that, I didn’t really care- I didn’t much like him, either. So I simply smiled blandly at his sneer and described what I had discovered regarding the Temple’s view of his precious monarch. At the end of my recital, he grunted and said,

“Of course, I had someone follow you, so I know that you spent some time with the healer, Galsa Andrano. She certainly speaks her mind, and, from what you say, sounds sincere. You handled her well. The Temple seems to recognize that King Helseth will not be content to be a puppet like King Llethan, and plans to act against us. Very good work, Trey. The king will hear of your loyal service.”

So much for keeping Galsa out of it. Well, I had tried. And perhaps there would not be a confrontation between Temple and king. Better still, maybe someday I would get over the feeling that I was a particularly low form of life that betrayed confidences.

Meanwhile, Delitian had other things on his mind. Motioning for me to follow him out into the hallway, he dropped his voice and said,

“Now you can help us with another matter. King Helseth is concerned about possible disloyalty among the Guards. I've replaced many of the former king's guards with more reliable men. But I had to keep some experienced guards, and I can't be certain of their loyalties. I will pretend you wish to join the Royal Guards. That's your excuse for talking to the guards, sounding them out, and looking for evidence of disloyalty. If you find any hint of treason or evidence of disloyalty, report it to me. Take no action. Report to me, and I will judge what action is appropriate.”

The cover story struck me as being awfully thin, although it would have the advantage of explaining my repeated visits to the captain. Hoping for a bit of guidance, I inquired as to which guards I should investigate. Delitian’s familiar scowl reappeared and he replied,

“It's your judgment I'm testing, not mine. Talk to them yourself. Form your own conclusions.”

The assignment revealed still more of Helseth’s problems- and his errors. I was practically certain now that he was responsible for King Llethan’s death. And it seemed that a number of others had reached the same conclusion- including some of the palace guards. Regardless of whether they had personally liked the old king or not, his safety had been their responsibility…and they had failed to protect him. I had no way of knowing whether Helseth was any good as a ruler, but he had a positive genius for making enemies. So far, he had alienated the Temple, the conservative Dunmer (probably including House Redoran), and some of his own guards. And, oh yes, one insignificant but highly motivated Breton. He was beginning to discover that a major problem with ascending to the throne through assassination was the ideas it put into other people’s heads. Ideas like- if one king can be killed, why not two? Actual justice is often fickle or uncertain, but watching a guilty man squirm in fear of justice can sometimes be an acceptable substitute.

None of these ruminations were getting me any closer to finding out which guards, if any, were contemplating a change in management. The only thing for it was to visit the guard quarters and spread some charm and cash. I briefly entertained the notion of trying to implicate some of the loyal guards, thus weakening Helseth, but realized that Delitian wanted evidence- not just my accusations. I again had to play it straight if I was to have any hope of gaining the king’s confidence.

The guard quarters were functional and little else- each guard had a bed and a locked chest for personal items. The room itself was open and offered no possibility of concealment. A quick glance at the chests showed that the locks were of reasonable quality. I could get past them with sufficient time or with a spell, but the idea of getting caught rummaging through a Royal Guard’s possessions did not appeal to me. My fears were given additional emphasis when a guard wandered through the room, and turned his helmeted head to stare at me. Sighing with disgust, I sat down on a storage chest to consider my options. As I idly traced the badly carved name on the chest, Ivulen Irano, my eyes fell upon a scrap of parchment that had fallen between the chest and the foot of the bed. Thinking it was probably a note inviting the guard out for drinks after work, I picked it up. After some effort to decipher the tiny and nearly illegible handwriting, I understood that it was a copy of guard duty rosters for the past several weeks. Three names were always correctly spelled -- Milvela Dralen, Ivulen Irano, and Aleri Aren -- and those watches when all three were the only guards in the Throne Room were underlined twice. My finely-honed investigative senses told me that this might be what was known in the trade as a “clue.” More to the point, I thought it might be a good idea to talk to Guardsman Ivulen Irano.

[treydog]

Based on the rosters, it appeared that Irano was presently on duty in the Throne Room. So as to not be too obvious about it, I first spoke to a couple of other guards before introducing myself to my suspect. Putting on the expression of a prime candidate for the Royal Guard (i.e.-looking barely sapient), I stuck out my hand and said,

“Name’s Trey. I just came over from Balmora and heard that the king might be looking for a few new guards.”

At the mention of Balmora, Irano relaxed a bit and shook my hand. He said,

“What did Tienius Delitian send you to me for? If he wants you to be a Royal Guard, then you'll be a Royal Guard. Nothing to do with me. So you’re over from Balmora? A cousin of mine there works for House Hlaalu. He says there’s lots of ways to make money. Dangerous place, though.”

His reference to House Hlaalu gave me an idea, so I casually remarked,

“Oh, I’ve done some work for Hlaalu myself.”

Impressed, Irano leaned closer and said,

“Oh? Really? Does Tienius Delitian know that? Did you talk to Aleri Aren? You should tell her that you're House Hlaalu. Really. But don't tell Tienius Delitian. Just tell Aleri Aren.”

Of course, I had never said I belonged to Hlaalu, just that I had done some work for them. And that was true- I had killed Ralen Hlaalo’s murderer and collected a reward for that action. But I did nothing to correct Irano’s mistake. Instead, having broken the ice, I asked the dull-witted guardsman how he felt about the death of King Llethan. His eyes grew guarded and he growled,

“You hear folks say old King Llethan was a fool. Well, folks should keep their mouths shut. Maybe he was a fool, but lots of folk are fools. Maybe he had no business being a king, but that's what he was, so folk should show some respect to the old fellow.”

That statement, combined with the note on the guard rosters and the comment about Hlaalu, was probably just what Delitian was looking for. Promising to pass on his greetings to his cousin in Balmora, I took leave of Irano and left the Throne Room. It would not do to rush right over to the captain, so I made my way back to the basement to rest awhile and practice my alchemy skills.

When I judged that Irano’s shift was over (a task made easier by the copied roster), I returned to Delitian to report my findings. He scrutinized the note and said,

“This is Ivulen Irano's handwriting on the note you found. He notes the watches when Dralen, Aren, and Irano are the only guards in the Throne Room. I believe I'll change the watch schedules to prevent that. And I'll need to keep a close eye on all three. Very shrewd work, Trey. You've brought me clear evidence of disloyalty among the guards. I am also interested in this House Hlaalu business. As it happens, Llethan was from Hlaalu. Some of the nobles were not happy about his death. I need your help finding evidence of conspiracy against King Helseth among the Hlaalu nobles.”

Scratching his chin, Delitian continued,

“The old king's Hlaalu supporters haven't accepted King Helseth's accession to the Throne with good grace. Maybe they think that another candidate -- a Hlaalu candidate, for example -- would be better. Maybe they have some plan to express such a preference. If so, I doubt they would be candid about it. But maybe you should search Llethan Manor for documents, diaries or other tangible evidence of such plans.”

On the one hand, I was glad that Delitian did not seem to be contemplating any extreme measures against the guards- I really did not want their deaths on my conscience. But another part of me was becoming quite annoyed at my role as the captain’s hound. It wasn’t that I cared about the corrupt Hlaalu- I just wondered if Helseth was ever going to come out of his bolthole. The whole point of doing these “little favors” for Delitian was to gain the King’s confidence. If it didn’t work, all I was doing was strengthening my enemy. Still, no other course seemed open to me- simply standing in the Palace halls and bellowing for the king to come out and face me like a man would not work. At best, he would simply have his guards confine me or toss me out. At worst, the death of a single Breton adventurer would not cause him to lose any sleep- a fact that was already abundantly clear to me.

I was somewhat surprised to hear that the late King Llethan had maintained a house in the Manor District- I had thought that the king lived in the Palace. As I considered it though, I realized that the living arrangements reflected Llethan’s priorities- he had been House Hlaalu first and King of Morrowind second. Helseth, who was now far from his original home in Wayrest, had little choice but to live in the Palace. Besides that, he intended to be king in fact, not just in name. As I made my way to the Manor District, I tried to think of an excuse for visiting Llethan Manor. Although Llethan was dead, he had almost certainly maintained a substantial household, most of whom would still be around. Hlaalu nobles and their retainers would be much harder to fool than Guardsman Irano- if I claimed House membership, they would certainly ask for some sign or password that proved my claim. Perhaps the best approach would be to express my sympathy for Llethan’s death. That would have the advantage of being true- I was sorry Llethan was dead, even though I had never heard of him before I came to Mournhold. My sorrow was of a more personal nature- if Llethan were still alive, Helseth would not have been around to send assassins after me. Before I realized it, my thoughts had carried me to Llethan Manor. Without knowing what I was about to face, I raised my hand to knock on the ornate door.