Coldness of Windhelm immediatley made me miss Falkreath and Whiterun. It was almost colder than in Dawnstar. That's probably because of the wind. The wind carried large snowflakes and smacked my cheeks. They were eather pale as snow or red as frozen roses. My nose was always red whenever I was cold. I hated that.
Fortunatley, my equipment included mask which went over my lower region of face, mouth and nose. It kept me warm, less recgonizable and more creepy than I already am in those dark robes.
The guard let us in without any questions. I found that quite strange. But after I heard the next thing he said, I changed my mind.
"Psst. I know who you are. Hail Sithis!"
As soon as Morpheus and I entered the city we were welcomed by the group of three people arguing. Two Nords were insulting female Dark Elf. They were clearly not happy by the fact how many Dark Elves lived in Windhelm. Tch! Stromcloaks. I don't know who I hate more. Imperials or Stormcloaks.
We passed by the two annoying Nords. Now I heard exactly what they were saying. They were complaining how Dark Elves polute their city and do nothing for Stromcloaks. In other words, they are racistic trash. So is Ulfric Stormcloak. He is smart enough to never say that but everyone knows he believes that Skyrim belongs only to the Nords. Maybe I am Nord but if that's the way I should act as Nord, then I am ashamed to be one of them.
"So, what's the plan?"
"We are going to rent a room in local inn. It's getting late so we could work on plan tomorrow."
"I agree."
"Good."
We walked on slipery and cold stone. It was covered with ice and snow. Fresh snow. It was snowing a lot. A lot more than in Dawnstar. I'm starting to dislike this city. It is cold, full of war and blood. It is dark.
Suddenly, we found ourselves at the entrance to Candlehearth Hall. We entered the inn and soon all of the coldness was replaced by stunning scent of freshly cooked food and good breed of mead. Snow on my hood started to melt so I let it fall of my head. Morpheus talked to a brown-haired woman and gave her a small bag of gold. She handedn him the keys and smiled offering him food and drink. He just nodded and murmured something. He walked back towards me and led me to the room.
Warmth of the room suited me. I was glad to finally rest in warm bed.
There was one bed in the room. Did Morpheus pay for two rooms?
Obviously, one of us will sleep on the bench.
"You rented two rooms?"
I asked. My voice was a bit cracked. Great. Maybe I'll catch a cold here on this lousy weather.
"No. I don't have enough money. Don't worry. You'll sleep in bed. I said before that I don't sleep much."
"Why? I really think you should rest. Even if you are chosen by those Daedric Princes as you say, you are still just from flesh and blood. Tiredness affects you."
"Maybe you're right but even if I wanted to sleep, I couldn't. There are a lot of things to do. We have to examine the city. It's streets and places where guards walk around. And also we have to create a plan. I can do that while you are resting. But I doubt I can rest."
"I can go study the city and you can rest until I return."
I suggested. He raised both of his eyebrows. Two long lines formed on his forehead.
"Are you sure?"
"You doubt me?"
"No. I just don't like someone else to do that."
"Whatever you want."
I shrugged and threw myself on the wooden bed. It screamed under my weight although I wasn't very heavy. In a split of a second I was afraid it might broke. Fortunately, it didn't.
"Fine. You go do it. I'll rest. Don't disappoint me."
He sighed. I got up from the bed immediatley and waved him goodbye leaving the room a bit to excited and happy.
I walked put of Candlehearth Inn nodding while passing past the innkeeper. Again, the coldness of Widnhelm embraced my face and fingers. Even through cowl and gloves my skin felt roughness of wind.
I carefuly walked on stone streets trying not to fall on thick layer of ice. I wonder how would I get up if I fell. It was so slippery.
As I walked through Windhelm, I noticed how there really is a lot of Dark Elves. Of course, the Nords were holding the position of most numerous population here, but a bit less then half were Dark Elves. Life seems really hard for them. Almost every elf's face was pale and haggard. But Nords were also in bad state. This is what wars do to people. I heard an old man saying how there is no glory in the war. It's just something rulers say to make people think it's worth to fight.
A group of people passed and muttered something about the "Butcher". I heard some rumours about that. The killer in Windhelm who takes women as their victims. The victim is later found naked and her body is slashed and multiply stabbed. Terrible. Yet, some kind of artwork. The Buthcer leaves so brutally masacred cropses and yet no one knows who is the killer. Also, the cuts are always planned and perfectly placed. None of it is concidental. Deserved name for the killer.
It didn't take me long to find Palace of the Kings, place where Jarl Ulfric Stormcloak lived and ruled. Four guards stood at the entrance. I recgonised the armour of Stormcloak soldiers. The massive iron door were hovering over me like a bird over the worm.
I walked away not wanting to become suspicuous. Homeless woman in rags was trying to warm up beside the pit of fire. I threw her a coin and heard her saying with cracked, raspy voice:
"Divines bless your kind heart."
I walked around the city for more then an hour. The sky was darker and darker. So was with coldness. I decided to return to the inn.
I carefuly opened the door of the rented room, not wanting to awoke Morpheus. I looked at him. He was lying on the bed on his back. His breathing was steady and relaxed, meaning he was in a deep sleep. He looked so peaceful now. Usually, he was always frowning a bit, but now his face was pure and innocent. Like a tired child. I left him sleep for few more hours. Time passed faster when I found some books to read.
Outside was already deep dark. Stars couldn't be seen. It was cloudy. It looked like it will rain or snow. I hope it won't. I was at the end of my book when I heard a slight shifting on the bed. Morpheus was yawning and rubbing his eyes, still not quite aware of his surroundings. He opened his orange eyes and looked at me.
"What time is it?"
"Past nine pm."
"You should've wake me up."
"You needed rest."
"Yeah. Whatever."
He walked to me and pulled a chair to the table where I was sitting.
"So, what did you see? Any weak spots? Something we should look out for?"
He asked willing to hear my report. I described him the entrance to Palace of Kings and told him about some shortcuts we could use for the escape route if the situation gets tough.
He just nodded and scratched his chin. He didn't spoke for few seconds after I was done with my talking. Then he sat straight and coughed before he stared forming the idea and plan.
"The front entrance is out of question. The guards won't let us in. Even if we act as traders or even as servants, they won't let us in. Jarls usually don't take visitis and this is Jarl Ulfic we are talking about. He would...well, probably has the elite bodyguards around himself. We have to find another way in. The one where we can enter the palace without any obstacles."
"Maybe we can use a distraction?"
"Any ideas?"
"There is word around the city about the Butcher. Maybe we can use that for cover and distraction."
"Clever."
He said and smirked still scratching his chin.
"So in what way would you use Butcher as distraction? We don't know who he or she is so we can't get in the contact. But that could be dangerous also."
"I say...we pick a victim, kill her and create a fuss which will distract guards and...we are in."
I simply said. He chuckled and was clearly satisfied with my plan.
"Sounds possible."
"Yes. I like it too."
He gave me a look don't-start-now-you'll-regret-it and continued 'fixing' my plan.
"Tomorrow we'll interact with people a bit but not too much. We'll pick the victim and follow her whole day. When the sun goes down, we kill her. That should be the place not too far yet not to close to the Palace of Kings. We want to keep guards busy. But we still have a small problem. Who will report the murder to the guards? We'll have to bribe someone who won't be suspicuos."
That was a problem. But I remebered who could that be.
"There is one homeless beggar that is always around the Palace of Kings. She tries to keep herself warm by standing beside the fire in front of Jarl's palace. Beggars are always on streets. They see and know everything. The guards probably know her. She could be useful."
"Are you sure?"
"Can I?"
"No. You cannot. But we must chose carefuly. You really think she won't gave us away?"
"I don't know. That's your part. You are the best in persuading."
"Then there's nothing to worry about. I'll take care of her. After our contact raises alarm we must act fast. We have no time to lose. You said there are four guards on the entrance. Two of them will follow the beggar and two of them will stay guarding the entrance. Now that we are equal I say we knock them down and put on their armor. By that way we can enter the palace without anyone immediatley noticing us. The tricky part will be killing Ulfric Stormcloak."
"We will be on the unfamiliar ground."
"Exactly. Your job will be to found out what is like inside the palace."
"How?"
"Do I have to take your hand and walk you everywhere like a child? The inn. The place where you are now. Plenty of people come here. Beggars, nobles, guards..."
"Got it. Consider it done."
"Tomorrow we'll finish the rest of the plan. Rest now. Maybe you won't have a chance after this."
He said. I nodded and walked towards the bed. Those last words awoke some strange fear inside me. It was a combination of excitement, fear and a bit of panic. I was thrilled. And I liked it. For the first time in a long time I felt like I belong here. Like I deserve to be an assasin. Like I am a rightful member. It felt good.