Chapter 106: Relations

There was less guilt this time, waking up with Sirilonwe in my arms. She had returned to me. I, who had no right to expect anything but scorn from her; for the trust I abused, and for what I had become.

But still, there she was; absent-mindedly rubbing the place on her neck where I had fed from her, an hour previously - near dawn. I suppose she had her reasons... she wanted me to stop hunting others for their blood, of course; but she had also told me that she missed me...

Perhaps it was - and could be - as simple as that. I too had desperately missed being around Sirilonwe, and there could be no denying that we had both felt something for the other from the moment we met: even discounting the various Charm spells flying about. In any case, I promised Sirilonwe that I would stop hunting; and she reaffirmed that when I became hungry, I need only come see her...

She teleported away before the sun was much above the horizon, wanting to be back at the guild hall in Vivec before any awkward questions were raised. She told me that she was unsure how the other members of the guild would react if they were to find out about us; apparently they still trusted me, but only to an extent. I could quite easily imagine how brittle that trust would be, so I did not object to such subterfuge; even if it did not make me wildly ecstatic that Sirilonwe wanted to keep our relationship a secret.


I spent a large part of the morning with Falorn, discussing in detail how we might alter the shutters on my chamber windows so that they would allow fresh air to enter the room, but not sunlight. (This was largely due to Sirilonwe having complained that my chambers were too stuffy - something I of course had not noticed, since vampires do not breathe). In the end we decided on replacing the existing shutters with ones that closed to form a sort of box over the window, with a lip extending both beyond the top of the window and below the sill. Air could therefore pass through the spaces at the top and bottom of the shutters, but the lips would prevent sunlight from entering the room. A second set of more conventional shutters on the outside wall could be closed against rain and other bad weather.

Falorn and Ulfred (the blacksmith) decided to attempt the construction of the new shutters themselves, but I made them promise to seek a carpenter if it proved too difficult. I left them to it, and went to have myself teleported to the Mages Guild hall in Sadrith Mora. I was in an expansive mood (which can safely be attributed to Sirilonwe's return). I even felt confident enough to venture outside Wolfen castle without my armour.

Since arriving on Vvardenfell, I had spent the majority of my time in armour. Some people laughed, some scoffed, some merely shook their heads and wondered aloud how I could stand to walk around all day draped in heavy metal plates and chafed by tight leather straps. For my part, I had been made so paranoid by the attempts on my life by those Dark Brotherhood assassins that I had rarely dared to remove my armour outside the walls of my castle.

However in the time since I had become a vampire, it had dawned on me that I could move faster than virtually any creature (or man or elf) I had ever encountered; save for those dark, powerful vampires I had seen in Ashmelech. I would be in little danger if I chose to go without my armour.

And so, buoyed by the comfortable thought that as long as Sirilonwe stood by me I would not have to risk myself on the nightly hunt for blood, I felt - as I said - confident enough to visit Sadrith Mora in nothing more than some fine new clothes I had bought during one of my daytime trips to the Foreign Quarter canton in Vivec. My new pants, shirt and coat were all of a deep, deep blue, and had been found in a boutique store called the 'Red Drop', located (strangely enough) in the 'Canalworks' level of the canton - only one level above the sewers.
Despite the odd location, the store - which only carried clothes for men - was home to some very fine items. I was quite taken with my new clothes. I think I also held some vague hopes that I would appear less threatening, and therefore be more persuasive, dressed in fine clothes rather than utilitarian armour.

This was important because I was going to Sadrith Mora to look into the matter of Dhaunayne Aundae's long-lost mortal son, and I expected to need to talk to a number of people to do that.

Luck was with me that afternoon. One of the regulars at the Sadrith Mora Mages Guild was Tusamircil, an alchemist - and more importantly to me - an Altmer. I showed the Aundae signet ring to him, as Dhaunayne had suggested I do; and he recognised it immediately!

"Yes," the tall and quite gaunt Altmer said, "I've seen a ring just like that on Sinyaramen's finger. He's one of my customers. I don't know if you'll have much luck speaking with him though, Frost. He has... a powerful dislike of your kind." Tusamircil paused to check whether a potion he was preparing had come to the boil yet. "Although... he did order a potion from me, and neglected to say when he might return to collect it. If you took the potion to him, you might... win him over." Tusamircil smirked, as if he did not think this at all likely; but he still handed the small, stoppered potion over.


That there was an Altmer in Sadrith Mora who wore a ring with the same family crest as the one Dhaunayne gave me was indeed quite a stroke of luck. I could not think of a better explanation for this Sinyaramen wearing such a ring than him being part of the Aundae family, somehow. If the ring had been stolen, he would not likely wear it openly - not if it bore such distinctive markings.

I returned to Sadrith Mora at dusk and walked among the massive, creaking 'fungus-houses' (as I called them), crossing the local marketplace to reach the Gateway Inn; where I had heard Sinyaramen could be found of an evening. Most of the patrons at the Inn - including Sinyaramen - were richly dressed. I was again glad that I had thought to wear my fine new clothes.


Sinyaramen was engaged in conversation with a middle-aged Imperial man when I found him. Both were holding drinks. I stood a little way behind Sinyaramen and politely waited for them to finish. The Imperial man noticed me waiting, and paled when he saw my face (as I think I have mentioned, it was quite obvious to look at me that I was a vampire). Sinyaramen turned around to see what had disturbed his companion so, and the Imperial man took that as an opportunity to make a hasty exit.

Sinyaramen appeared a little startled to see me, but did not move - or even take a step back, as many people did when they saw me. Before he could speak, I held up the potion (which had a signed note from Tusamircil attached to it) and Dhaunayne's signet ring. The Altmer looked furious when he recognised the crest on the ring.

"Where did you get that, fiend?" He demanded, eyes fixed upon the ring. He did not appear to even notice the potion. "No doubt it was taken from one of my ancestors killed by your kind!" Sinyaramen clenched and unclenched his fists, looking as if he would have very much liked to tear my head off, but was holding himself back by virtue of his common sense and survival instinct.

"Not exactly," I replied, tossing the potion to him, "but... have many of your ancestors been killed by vampires, then?"

Seemingly distracted by having to catch the potion, Sinyaramen replied automatically:

"Yes - that's what I said, is it not? Vilandon was the most recent - but that was hundreds of years ago - he was my grandfather. Kjeld." He spat the name. "Kjeld, his name was: the vampire who killed my grandfather. Friend of yours?" He asked coldly.

I shook my head.

"No," I said, "I have not heard of him." I was about to leave, thinking that I had enough to satisfy Dhaunayne, but then it occurred to me to ask: "Do you know why Vilandon was killed?"

Sinyaramen shrugged, and replied with a sneer:

"You must be a young one. My grandfather was a great vampire hunter. Killed many of your kind before Kjeld took him."

I thanked him and left, pocketing the signet ring. I saw Sinyaramen slump into a chair and take a deep draught from his drink as the door swung shut after me. Even though I had left him unharmed, the Altmer would no doubt feel quite nervous for some time: unexpectedly coming to the attention of a vampire and not understanding the reason why can't be a pleasant thing. There was not much I could do about that, though. I had decided to keep Dhaunayne's part in the affair secret. Considering Sinyaramen's attitude to vampires, it seemed best to not tell him that one of his cherished ancestors was in fact a vampire herself. Safer for all involved, probably.


"My son... dead." Dhaunayne nodded slowly - a couple of hours later, once I had found Ashmelech - and her - again.

"Yes... mother." I replied, dropping the signet ring in her outstretched, pale golden hand.

"And it was Kjeld. I know Kjeld... Brutish oaf." The vampire paused - not saying anything more for a long time. Then: "This matter is not finished, little fledgling."

I suppose I must have looked quite hopeful up to that point: I had thought I had done rather well to uncover the fate of her long-lost son, and that she would definitely teach me what I needed to know as a vampire.

"Kjeld is of the Quarra family," she continued, "who reside in the Druscashti ruin. He should be there - along with the others. They do not often leave; lazy, bloated pigs the Quarra are. They prefer to stay inside and wallow in their filth. Kjeld is as big as he is dim-witted. He is strong."

Dhaunayne gazed into my eyes, and said, without blinking:

"But you will kill him for me."