Chapter 115: Passage of time

"It is done - I can feel it." Sirilonwe said, a light tremor in her voice.

I released her hand, and sent a light healing spell into it; the wound vanishing instantly. The cut in my own palm healed more slowly, but of its own accord: evidence that what Dhaunayne Aundae had told me about vampires' 'regeneration' was true.

So - it was done; as Sirilonwe said. The 'disease' I carried in my blood had been passed into hers - and now there was only the wait until the 'change' to be endured. The burden of doubt was mostly hers, of course. For my part, I was relieved that she had chosen this path. My feelings for her had only intensified in the time we had been together, and if she shared the same 'everyday trials' as I did (in terms of being a vampire), then I would have to worry considerably less about her objecting to some of my perhaps less-than-savoury actions: the ones I had deemed necessary to preserve my immortal existence.

Rather than spend some time in the sun, Sirilonwe decided that she wanted to stay with me during the three days she had left as a mortal being.

"Trust me, Edward; I have seen enough days of sunshine to last me." Her arm was around my shoulder. "I have been in this world for a long time already, remember." She gave a small smile. "And as you can imagine, you are really the only one I can trust to look after me properly when... it happens."

I was happy to oblige. I would most likely have not been able to concentrate on anything with her away from my side in such a state, in any case.


There was more on my mind than Sirilonwe's surprising request and imminent change. Arch-Mage. I was now the highest-ranked mage in the province of Morrowind - at least in the eyes of the Empire. It would be incorrect to say that the title was unwanted; I was too much of a realist to turn down such a position of power over my displeasure at being manipulated into it by Ranis Athrys. She would be under my thumb from then on, at any rate - though I would have to watch her closely. She was too clever to have placed me in a position of power over her and not have a secondary plan in mind, should her scheme of exploiting my debt to her fail - as it had.

Issues concerning my new position could wait until the morning, though; for there was still another matter on my mind: I had decided to go back to Blades Spymaster Caius Cosades.

I had not spoken once with the old Imperial since his revelation that the Emperor himself (allegedly) thought that I might be the prophesied Nerevarine: the reincarnation of the near-legendary Dunmer general Indoril Nerevar. I had not changed my mind regarding this: I did not believe in reincarnation - it was as simple as that.

However, I found that I was still curious to learn more about the Nerevarine and Sixth House cults. The things I had learned previously researching the cults for Caius had been fascinating, and the matter of the schism in the Tribunal Temple and the subsequent accusations levelled against the Temple and the Tribunal gods by the Dissident Priests was intriguing, to say the least. Could Vivec, Almalexia and Sotha Sil really be nothing more than powerful sorcerers, rather than divine immortals?

I have said before that curiosity is a driving force for me; and it is certainly what drove me back to Caius. My new power as a vampire also served to alleviate the concerns I had previously felt over approaching the proud and dangerous Ashlander people with the proposition that I, an 'ignorant outlander' might be the reincarnation of their greatest hero. If I could work with the Tribunal Temple - a faith that despises vampires - then I could handle the possible conflicts that might occur with the Ashlanders. My Illusion magic would get me through, if all else failed.

I persuaded Sirilonwe to stay behind, since the relationship between Caius and I revolved around secrecy: I was supposed to be a spy for him, after all. It was possible that he might be rattled enough by seeing me as a vampire that I would not want to add to the strain by bringing a guest along to one of our supposedly secret meetings.


As it turned out, Caius was not rattled - or surprised - by my new vampiric nature; but he was not pleased with me, either.

"You've really put me through the wringer, Frost." Caius muttered - without preamble - as he ushered me into his shack and closed the door behind me. "Can you imagine the questions I've had from my superiors? 'Where has your man gone?' they'd say. 'Oh' - I'd reply; 'he's disappeared up into Solstheim - no idea when or if he'll be back - and wait; now he's a bloody vampire!'"

Caius threw himself into a chair, massaging his temples. He did not seem at all concerned at being in close quarters with a vampire. I noted again the powerful muscles moving beneath his clothes, and remembered the stories I had heard about the mysterious disappearance of any who trifled with him. Though an old man, I thought, he was not someone I should underestimate.

"You know the reasons for those things, Caius." I said. "You know why I did it all... or you would not be worthy of your title of Spymaster."

This only seemed to further incense the old Imperial.

"Oh yes - since you mention titles... Arch-Mage! You just had to kill old Trebonius did you? In a duel in the Arena, no less? And now you're the vampire Arch-Mage of Vvardenfell - and starting tomorrow, the gossip on everyone's lips! Do you even know the meaning of the phrase 'to keep a low profile'? It's only I swear that I mentioned at some stage that you are a spy in my employ!"

I just waited while Caius vented his frustrations, my manner impassive. The problems with his superiors were not my concern - I did not care in the least about his troubles. Continuing our research into those cults was all that interested me.

After a moment's silence, the spymaster continued:

"So what do you want from me, Frost? Why have you shown your fresh-vampire-face here?"

"I'm ready to talk to the Urshilaku Ashlanders about the Nerevarine prophecies." I said simply. "Though I should clarify that I still do not believe that I could be the Nerevarine. I'm curious about them - and the Sixth House cult - that's all."

Caius seemed pleasantly surprised, though still mildly suspicious.

"Well - at least no-one has connected you to me - or to the Blades. Though I suspect that's due to your having not performed your duties or reported to me for such a long time, more than anything."

Despite his obvious irritation with me, the spymaster went over my previous orders again. I was to make contact with the Urshilaku Ashlander clan; with the intention of questioning their 'wise-woman' and 'Ashkhan' (their leader) regarding the Nerevarine prophecies. I was also to have them test me against the 'requirements' of the prophecy, to see if I could be the 'one'.

"Yes, it's still important, Frost - and it is part of our orders." Caius paused. "Look, perhaps I should have made it more clear that we think you may have the appearance of satisfying the prophecies - even if in reality you are not the Nerevarine. Personally, I'm not convinced one way or the other."

In my memory of our last conversation, the old Imperial had sounded fairly convinced to me - but I remained silent on that point.

"And Frost?" Caius was saying; "I'll expect to see you back here within a few days - rather than a few weeks or months. I know how quickly you can move around - and it's past time we dealt with this issue seriously."

I merely smiled and slipped the Wolfen ring on, teleporting home.


Sirilonwe and I arrived at the outskirts of the Urshilaku camp around an hour later. I had visited the camp before, during my search for the propylon indices for Folms - so locating it again was not difficult. The time had not come for the nomadic clan to move their yurts to another site.

The current site was quite remote from any major towns or villages, but was not too far from the Valenvaryon Velothi stronghold, with its propylon chamber. Because of this fortunate coincidence, most of our journey was over in an instant, when Folms teleported us across to the propylon chamber.

Just outside the camp was a Dunmeri Ashlander woman, beating the dust and ash from a woven mat. Looking up from her task, she studied Sirilonwe's face, and then my own.

Without hesitation, the woman turned and shouted across the entire camp:

"Vampire!"