Lena woke up late, opened her eyes and saw Sanguine sitting up in bed watching her. She smiled to him and stretched out her hand to caress his face. She always slept well in his company.

“I do miss the time in the Isles” – she said. “I felt at home there.”

“There’s nothing to stop you from going back, you know” – Sanguine smiled at her. “And let another two hundred years slip by.”

“No, it’s not the same” – she sat up as well, reaching for sweetrolls. “I still feel at home there when I go back – and I shall never stop going back there. But it’s Sheogorath’s Realm again – not mine. My place is here, in Mundus. Besides, I have friends now.”

“Now you see why I never bothered with a Realm of my own” – Sanguine got a sweetroll too. “It’s the people that make up a life, not the land.”

“Speaking of which – I’ve got work to do.” Lena stretched and got out of bed. “After I retrieve my money from the chest at your shrine” – she winked. “And the Rose of course! I missed it.”

“You need to get better at those drinking games if you want to keep it for longer” – Sanguine laughed. “And in future if you want to see me, just ask Dessos – he’ll let me know.”

“Dessos?” – Lena turned to him in surprise.

“Your dremora. It’s been the same one for a long time already, you noticed. He insisted” – Sanguine smiled.

“Oh!” – Lena blushed. “Thanks.”

…

Lena got to the shrine of Sanguine in the afternoon, having stopped just once along the way. She didn’t dare to go to Bravil as she had no money and she was sure there was a bounty on her head for breaking out of jail. She had no wish to go back to jail just because she had no coin on her to pay the fine.

The worshippers at the shrine pretended not to see her, even when Sanguine spoke to her through the statue. Lena smirked and left them to their jealousy.

Lena got to the Imperial City in the early evening. She stopped at her house on the Waterfront for a quick break before going into the city – she had a job to do there.

Passing through the Temple District, she was approached by a Dunmer woman asking her with great urgency to go see a certain Seridur, right there in the district. Lena thought it might have been a trap, but decided to go anyway.

“It is good to finally meet you, Assassin” – said Seridur. “Your reputation precedes you.”

“Oh?” – Lena gave him a blank stare.

“That Altmer noble killed in the skooma den… that Dunmer agent killed in his house… and of course Fathis Ules hitting his head on the stone steps of an inn in Chorrol… Do I need to go on?” – Seridur smiled. Something in his face didn’t look right.

“Oh I see!” – Lena said. “And you think somehow that those unfortunate deaths are linked to me?” – she smiled.

“No, of course not!” – Seridur laughed. “It was just a little joke! Please follow me.”

Lena followed. A Dunmer in daedric armour stepped aside to let her pass.

“I am Seridur’s bodyguard and… assistant” – he said.

“Yes…” – Lena thought. She sensed where this was going. The question was whether they could sense her.

…

“Welcome to the headquarters of the Order of Virtuous Blood!” – exclaimed Seridur when they entered the basement. “The Order of vampire hunters!”

“How ironic…” – Lena thought. “But what a clever disguise.” No, Seridur couldn’t sense her, and the other two members were not vampires.

They wanted her to track down and kill a certain Roland Jenseric who, Seridur claimed, was a vampire. Why, Seridur saw it with his own eyes! Roland kissing a girl in a back alley, and then the girl was dead with two puncture marks on her neck! That proved it – Roland did it!

“So you see, now you must go and slay him!” – Seridur said triumphantly.

“Well, that is certainly quite a task!” – Lena said, pretending to be in awe. “You need a professional assassin for this. Have you considered contacting the Dark Brotherhood or perhaps Morag Tong?”

The Dunmer vampire hunter in the room twitched, the Argonian changed colour, but Seridur remained calm.

“It is too risky” – he said. “Claudius Arcadia will rot in the Imperial Prison for the rest of his life for performing the Black Sacrament. Even though there is no law against it. Which is why we need your help!”

“Well…” – Lena looked into the expectant faces of the other two vampire hunters. “I can certainly look into it… although I still think you need professional help.”

“Payment will be forthcoming, do not worry” – Seridur said with a smile.

“Oh – I would not require payment for doing the right thing!” – Lena exclaimed. “The Mages Guild wouldn’t stand for it!”

“Mages Guild?” – Seridur was taken aback.

“Mages Guild Warlock at your service” – Lena bowed her head. “I thought you knew who I was?” She gave Seridur her brightest smile and thought to herself: “Feeding too often dulls your senses.”

She turned to leave.

“I’ll be in touch.”

…

First of all Lena had to follow up on that business with Claudius Arcadia. Was it true? She found him in the Imperial Prison complaining to anyone who’d listen. Yes, he prayed to the Night Mother and got arrested for it! And there wasn’t even any law against it! And the City Watch confiscated his house, too! The unfairness of it all! Arrghhh!

“Quick – unlock this door so that I can escape!” – he cried excitedly.

“And go where?” – Lena looked at him with regret. “There’s a guard on every corner, and this section is not the one with the underground passage.”

“Passage? What passage?” – Claudius’ eyes lit up.

“Get yourself transferred to the other section, and who knows – I might visit you again” – Lena replied. “Compliments of the Night Mother” – she smiled.

She left and wondered who it was that Claudius wanted killed – and why. She had to investigate his house.

…

“Only assassins and thieves are out in the Imperial City at night” – thought Lena passing through the Market District at 2 a.m. where she just bumped into Carwen canvassing the shops.

Claudius’ house was across the street from Hauk’s, in the Talos Plaza district. A public notice on the door stated that the house had been seized by the City Watch. Lena thought it was likely that a watchman would be inside, so wrapped herself in a chameleon cloak before picking the lock and entering.

She found the scene of a Black Sacrament in the basement. But who had been the target? There were no clues there. The ground floor was deserted, but upstairs she found the watchman sleeping in Claudius’ bed. No matter, she still went through the chests and desks until she found a diary. She was surprised that it hadn’t been taken away as evidence, but there it was.

“It worked!” – she read. “A man visited me and money has been exchanged! Rufio will die!”

“Rufio?” – Lena smiled to herself. “Yes, Claudius, the contract has been completed.”

She took the diary. There was no need to leave evidence lying around. With her other business in the Imperial City completed, she decided to go home and get some sleep before riding to Cheydinhal.