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Chapter 7

_Am I wrong?_Eldrin asked himself.

Everything within Eldrin snapped back against that thought. The Dunmer people had proven themselves the superior race through centuries of noble suffering, through perseverance, through domination over the other tribes that sought to take from their hands. The Dunmer gods were living gods who walked among their own people; what other race could say the same? Could Valka claim the god he served even cared for him at all, as the Tribunal loved and guarded their own? Could Eldrin be bound by a ring? Could his will be commandeered by any force in this world or the next? No! The ignorant should be tamed and educated to serve the wise and the just; that was natural and good and beneficial to all parties.

"Why do you serve Sheogorath, Valka?" Eldrin asked suddenly, sharply, looking up at the Mazken's eyes. "Do you not have the will to chose otherwise, when you are not in Nirn?"

"It's all I know," Valka said. "I rose from the Wellspring at Pinnacle Rock in Dementia." He snorted once as he thought back. "I was killed for the first time on my first day, as an example to the others that were new. I was looking at the room and didn't hear the grakendo. The officer," he added, realizing that the word was probably not familiar.

"Okay," Eldrin said impatiently. "If I released you to Oblivion and threw the ring in the ocean, what would you do? You'd compete with the others, you'd slowly rise in rank, you'd kill Saints who are reborn endlessly just as easily as you are.. how old are you, anyway?"

"That is a difficult question to answer because time passes differently there than here, and we do not keep track in the same way you do," Valka said. "I would guess something like four hundred years. It's likely there would be physical punishments, but no one would threaten to wall me up in silence and darkness for all time, either."

This was greatly daring, but it had been a bizarre and taxing few hours and he was losing the ability to feel adrenaline.

Eldrin frowned deeply at him. He was growing irritated, but he kept his voice more or less level.

"Don't throw that back at me, Valka, you've already seen that it was an empty threat. I'm asking what you would DO with your life, and the only answer you can give me is that you would be punished. Not, "I would become a respected warrior" or "I would write poetry" or even something as simple and stupid as "I'll finish reading that book!" I'd think you were obfuscating if that were possible for you. You've been alive for roughly three Dunmer lifetimes already and you've never had any sort of relationship that wasn't a woman using you.. why do you expect that to change? Do you understand what I'm getting at here?" Eldrin had stopped walking and now he stared intently at the Mazken, waiting for an answer.

Valka perforce stopped as well, leaning on the spear. He was gradually growing more accustomed to the ache in his legs. He could bear it. Even the blue sky was no longer so very strange.

"You think that I deserve to be your slave because I will not accomplish anything great," Valka said quietly. "And what will_you_do with the life of a free mer, Eldrin Llethri?"

"I don't know," Eldrin said coldly. It was a question he asked himself daily. It was a question that brought him great stress, a question that seemed to dominate his life even when he pretended it did not. He gave Valka the same excuse that he always gave himself. "But I'm only twenty-five, still young by merish standards. I haven't had four hundred years to think about it." He turned away, started walking once more.

"I'm not saying you deserve to be my slave. I'm saying this is an opportunity you would not have had in the Isles. Maybe I've gone about this all the wrong way. You need to be educated, not cowed." The last was added thoughtfully, mostly to himself.

"As you wish, Master Eldrin." Valka's tone was politely neutral as he resumed following along beside the Dunmer. He had no idea where this was even likely to go, but it could hardly be worse than it had been so far, could it?

He was beginning to recognize that cold tone as one Eldrin used when he had been told something he specifically did not want to hear.

An opportunity you would not have had in the Isles.

That was certainly an interpretation he had not yet heard. He was inclined to distrust it, but he could wait and see.

Eldrin was quiet and contemplative for the rest of the walk. He had been taught his entire life that to serve was his duty and his right. Eldrin's place was to serve his House which in turn served the Tribunal, and those below him would serve their own masters who in turn served the Tribunal. Almsivi themselves served the Dunmer people as a whole. There was no promise that every individual would achieve greatness or happiness in his lifetime, but through humility, through the acceptance of one's station, one should at least live contentedly.

Did Eldrin really feel that in his own life? Did Tsamabi? Did she realize that she was a single thread in the glorious tapestry of Dunmer society, and would it please her at all? Eldrin knew that the answer was no.

As for Eldrin, he went through the motions of having accepted his place in society; he obeyed his father, more or less. He had not rejected the marriage. But deep in his heart, Eldrin did not want what was expected of him. How could he teach Valka the value of obedience when Eldrin did not know it himself? He was blind leading blind.

Eldrin was not able to find any sort of answer to this problem by the time they had reached Ald'ruhn. He stopped when the guard towers were visible over the tops of the foyada wall and turned his back to Valka.

"Put the skull in my bag. No one must see it. I suppose we'll stop by the temple first to cure you; it's on the way."

"Thank you," Valka said, for the first time in their acquaintance to date, and moved to put the skull into the knapsack. "I advise you not to touch this ungloved. It has a voice." That was slightly outside the mandate of his orders, but watching Eldrin lose all conscious control and then sacrifice himself to the skull would probably not improve Valka's situation.

Even if it might be temporarily satisfying.

No, probably not even that. Then he would have whatever possessed the skull as a master, and that would certainly be worse. Valka had no understanding of the concept of good and evil, only of the duality of mania and dementia; but there was an anger and viciousness to the whispering voice that suggested no kind fate was reserved to whoever fell under its thrall.

Possibly he could work up to asking why Eldrin wanted the thing in the first place. They had had an entire conversation, surprisingly. It was the longest he had talked to any other being. He was beginning to realize how very alone was the life of a Mazken compared to the life of a mortal mer. Eldrin rebelled against the people in his life, he disappointed them, he attacked them head-on, but they were there without being ordered to be there, without a common task to perform. They were not waiting for the moment of release from their duties to scatter in all directions into the wilderness, for a few precious moments of solitude before it was time to take up arms again.

The temple proved to be another shell-shaped building, wider and lower, this one surrounded by a courtyard wall. A couple of people in blue-gray robes stared at Valka as they passed. Eldrin felt the skull throb inside the knapsack as they entered the precincts of the Three, but inside the bag there was little else it seemed able to do.

Eldrin sighed. He'd been too preoccupied thinking of Valka to really consider much what this skull might be or why that woman would want it. He was glad Valka warned him, of course, but now Eldrin wished he didn't know that.

_It isn't too late to surrender this thing to the Temple,_Eldrin thought, jaw clenching as he lead Valka inside to the actual shrine. It was a low-ceilinged room held up with pillars, three circular ash pits set in the floor just as in the tomb. They were scattered with bones half-submerged in the ashes. There were two other people in the room, kneeling and praying silently on the little cushions that ringed the pits. Near the back wall stood two trioliths, flowers and trinkets left as offerings at their bases along with redware bowls that held a few gold coins. A large bas-relief of Almsivi took up the entire wall behind them. The room smelled of incense but it was something pleasant, faintly floral, and it didn't choke Eldrin as in his nightmares.

Valka looked around slowly as he followed Eldrin, leaning increasingly on the spear. The ash pits were not unlike what they had seen in the tomb, but there was not the constant whispering here, the oppressive close atmosphere. The temple felt clean and open. This was a place of the living even though the remains of the dead were present. He was aware of staring eyes on them, on him. This was not a place where anything associated with daedra would be welcome.

Eldrin kneeled before one triolith, laying his things on the floor beside himself while he pulled ten drakes from his purse to toss in the bowl. He pointed at the floor, indicating Valka should kneel, also.

"Touch the triolith and ask Ayem to restore you," he said quietly. The image painted in black on the face of the stone was a Dunmer woman in a long robe with flaring pauldrons. The picture was so heavily stylized that it was hard to tell if she was wearing a headdress or if that was merely her own hair piled up.

Eldrin was not sure this would work. Valka was a spawn of the House of Troubles. He really did not belong in this holy place - Eldrin could feel the other Dunmer in the room watching them, with curiosity or with judgement or both.

Valka stared in disbelief at Eldrin as he was given orders. He had literally just been told to perform an act of worship to a god other than his own. And he was unable to refuse. He was already sinking to his knees, one hand reaching out to touch the cool stone. He tried not to say the words, but the greatest effort of his will could not hold off the power of the ring for more than an instant.

"I ask for restoration," he said in a harsh, choked whisper.

There was a tiny burst of multicolored light in gold and purple. It blinded him for a second as it shot out from the triolith and spiraled up around his body, and he felt power course through every cell and nerve as the feeling of dragging weakness evaporated. A peal of mad laughter echoed in his head that he very much hoped no one else heard.

A stern-faced priestess approached them, glaring at Eldrin. She pointed to the door. "Out."

It was the first time Valka had ever shown any visible objection to his orders, however slight. What was his problem?_Ingrate._Eldrin frowned, and then jerked in surprise at the unexpected light show. The Tribunal rejected him after all?

"Yes Sera, sorry Sera!" Eldrin blurted, quickly gathering his things and scurrying out, face burning in shame. Was this another incident he'd have to hear about from his father? As soon as he was out the door Eldrin paused to replace his helm and lower the visor. He should have done that to begin with, although in all honesty he would probably be instantly recognizable by now. No one else in Ald'ruhn had a Mazken slave, to his knowledge.

Valka strode straight-backed after Eldrin, high-boned face serene. He could bear all of their staring now. The Madgod had approved him.

"Well_that_was a mistake," Eldrin said to Valka as he resumed his pace, heading across town for the shop under-skar. His tone was not actually repentant.

"I am my own even less than I am yours," Valka said dryly. "Have I not told you so? I'm relieved that I was not struck down by any deity involved. At least my strength is restored."

The light inside the shop under skar seemed a little different as they entered. It was richer and redder, not quite as bright. Someone could be heard moving about behind the curtains, feet shuffling slowly, rhythmically. A different attendant stood behind the counter today. A young mer, younger than Eldrin, swayed slightly to music only he could hear, eyes distant. He turned to look somewhere past them as the door opened. His tunic was of blue velvet with slitted sleeves, showing gold satin underneath. A gold satin collar peeped above the broader one of the outer tunic as well. Under it he wore a long kilt or skirt of black linen that was richly embroidered with geometric symbols in silver. The hems of his tunic were embroidered likewise.

"Good afternoon, Serjo," he said. His voice sounded as though it had changed only recently, deep but diffident. "How may I serve?"

Eldrin approached the counter hesitantly, suddenly more uncertain than he ever had been about this situation._Go back now. This isn't right. They're necromancers. You know it._There was something else. Something he ought to know, something Valka had said in the tomb... Eldrin couldn't remember it anymore but he knew it was important.

"I... I spoke to a woman last time I was here," Eldrin finally said. He shifted uncomfortably, one hand tightening against the strap of his knapsack.

The young man's head turned slowly from side to side, as if looking around for anyone else, but his eyes remained vague and unfocused as they turned back to Eldrin.

"Have you brought the skull of Hlavren Nazthiri?" he asked slowly.

Valka was frowning, head tilted slightly to one side. He was sure that he heard whispering. It was not coming from the knapsack, or not only from there. It seemed to permeate this place, though the tone was less intense and hostile and more droning and hypnotic. He was aware of that quality, but it did not affect him.

_Why did I come here?_Eldrin wondered briefly._That's right. The skull. The enchantment for Garisa Llethri._He shrugged off the knapsack and stooped to open it, hesitating again before reaching inside to touch the skull. He could feel the power of it before his gloved hand even touched it, an intensely uncomfortable pressure in his head like he was trapped in a vice. He shuddered when he did touch it, a crawling sensation moving up his arm and down his body that made the little hairs of his arm and the back of his neck stand up. He wanted to drop it, but then something cottony and warm enveloped his brain, soft voices whispering in his ear. He could not hear the words, only sense their meanings._Stay. Calm. Good. Yes._Eldrin thought he could smell the incense again. His breathing slowed.

"Yes, I brought it," Eldrin said calmly, lifting the skull from the bag and placing it on the counter. The pressure in his head ebbed when he released it.

Valka watched the change in Eldrin with alarm:_shudder, relax, pupils of his eyes slowly widening._He was ready to reach out and bat the skull away when the Dunmer set it down voluntarily.

The younger mer smiled down at it, reaching out with his ungloved hands to caress each side of the domed skull. He knelt to set it carefully down behind the counter and came up holding an urn. It was about twelve inches high and six wide, enameled in black and silver with the image of a netch whose tentacles mingled and entwined with a nest of trama roots below. A matching domed lid sealed the top.

"This will have the effect you seek," he said. "It must be placed where your enemy will remain near it for a long time. A bedroom closet is best. An office might do. A dining room or entry hall will be too little." He intoned the words as if from memory, as though he did not really understand them himself.

The whisper was much dimmer this time, inaudible unless Valka strained his ears to find it. This was an object of far less power, but the same spiritual contagion infested it.Does he realize this is other than an ordinary enchantment?

"Thank you, Serjo," Eldrin said. He accepted the urn and tucked it into the crook of his arm, cradling it carefully. Then he turned to Valka. "You can take the pack now, Valka. Come along." The caressing whispers died away when the door of the shop closed behind him, but Eldrin didn't really notice. The air outside was different; cooler, fresher. He attributed his slight change of mood to the change in setting.

_Finally, I have it!_Eldrin thought gleefully, looking down at the urn in his arm._In time my father will recover his fortunes, but before long Garisa Llethri will be ruined! Now I only need some way to get this into his home. I suppose I could put a bug in Father's ear about wanting to visit my cousin, but how do I get into his private quarters? Hmm. I'll think on it more._He glanced up at the entrance of his uncle's manor high above his head as he walked over the spot where he had killed Valka just a day before.