All Roads Lead To You (A Skyrim Romance Mod fanfic)

Chapter Forty-Two

A/N: As always, thank you for reading, voting, commenting, following, and adding this story to your reading lists! You all are the best!

Later, Aruna would reflect on the jarl's display with both deep gratitude and awe. The jarl put on such a convincing show of having a premonitory fit, that Aruna nearly believed it, herself. She never realized how many Thalmor were the superstitious sort, as she glanced some of them shooting each other uneasy glances as Jarl Ravencrone shouted out her "visions" in great and terrible detail. Aruna slipped behind the bar at the agitated beckoning of Malborn and followed him quickly behind a door, which he shut behind them.

"Quickly now," he hissed as he kept up a brisk pace. "This way."

They slipped through the kitchens and down a short hall, where Malborn opened a door and ushered her inside a little passageway, where a few shelves and a trunk lined the walls. "In here," he whispered. Aruna slipped in past him.

"All right, your gear is in that trunk," he said, pointing. "Get changed and head out through that door there. Most of the guards are at the party or outside, but there are still quite a few milling about inside, not to mention some of the officials still on duty. This is where I leave you. Good luck, Dragonborn."

"Thank you, Malborn," Aruna said, just before he shut the door and locked it behind her. She heard his brisk footfalls fade down the hall, and she was alone.

She changed quickly, stowing her party clothes in the trunk. Delphine's armor wasn't a perfect fit, as the other woman was taller and a little thinner than Aruna was, but it was better than nothing. She pulled on her boots and sheathed her sword, then buckled on the pouch of throwing knives so that they nestled at the small of her back. Then she took a deep breath, whispered a hasty prayer to whichever gods happened to be listening, and opened the door.

Aruna found herself looking down a hallway. At her left, was an open door, and she could hear voices coming from inside. She crept closer, listening and trying to discern how many people were there. Two guards from the sound of it, and they were discussing what they would do if a dragon attacked the Embassy.

Aruna frowned. Was it possible the guards weren't aware that the Thalmor were responsible for the dragons? She doubted it; Thalmor were prideful to a fault. If they were responsible, it was likely all of their people would know, not just the officials. She bit her lip and hoped this hadn't been a waste of time and an unnecessary risk. Unconsciously, she twisted Bishop's ring on her finger. The thought of him out there, looking for a way to come to her aid, was oddly comforting. She hoped he would be safe.

She waited until the guards moved away from the door and farther into the room before slipping inside. She hid behind a counter near the door, ducking into the quivering shadows and away from the candlelight. She peered over the top of the counter to see a set of stairs across the room. The guards continued their conversation at the foot of the stairs as a Thalmor wizard entered the room from the stairs.

Aruna ducked down and let out a silent breath. She needed to get up those stairs. She could wait down the hall and hope the room cleared out, but the longer she was there, the more she risked being caught, which was bad enough, but then it wouldn't be long before the Thalmor realized Malborn had helped her and discovered Bishop, too. She couldn't let that happen.

She risked another glance over the countertop. The wizard was busy gathering bottles and jars from a shelf on the other side of the room, while the guards remained at the foot of the stairs, still deep in conversation. Aruna saw a half-empty wine bottle sitting on the counter. She grabbed it and ducked down again. Creeping forward, she looked around the side of the counter to make sure the three Thalmor hadn't moved. Then she threw the bottle across the room, where it smashed into a corner. Startled, the wizard dropped the jars he was holding and cursed as they broke on the stone floor, their contents combining and releasing a thick acrid smoke. The guards hurried past him to see what had broken on the other side of the room, and immediately fell into coughing fits from the smoke.