image [https://i.imgur.com/spj7R0e.png]

Benezia stood waiting for me, arms crossed and barefoot in the middle of the rented shack, her hair wet and twisted over one shoulder, highlighted by the flicker of a single clay lamp that greased the room with the sweaty stink of cheap oil. Her pajamas clung to her freshly washed body and I had not forgotten my oath on the pine covered mountaintop to take her again into my arms to profess my affection — a less insane prospect now with the incredible wealth, power, and social access I had at my disposal.

"Benezia!" I cried, hands readied for an unmet embrace. Taking a step forward, a tide of reassurances swelling upon my lips to assure her of my gracious protections being extended upon her — all fell off as a slap cracked across my jaw so hard that the bare wall spun into my vision.

"You fetcher!"

My brain buzzed as it tried to reorient and a strange trickling feeling ran down my neck muscles. She went on, hands planted on her hips. "You leave me in the middle of the night without a word and come back expecting what? A peck on the cheek?"

I righted my skull into a forward-facing position. "Well I left a letter—"

"And you stole my tent! I had to share with Sorvild for the rest of the trip. You can't even begin to imagine the odors I've endured, the things I've seen!"

"I'm sorry, by the Nine I truly am, but I had no choice. Abbard betrayed me and the southern Mane’s men were after me."

"I know, and who do you think they went after when you vanished? We had a whole party of them attack us in a hostel and more tailing us well into the wastes."

My stomach sank. "Well I'm sorry, dammit! I thought you would be safer without me."

"Your thinking is the greatest danger my mission faces at the moment, so I'll thank you to keep it to a minimum while I try to salvage this mess."

"Our mission. And my thinking seems to have worked out pretty well for me. I seem to recall you kneeling before me the other day."

A poor choice of words, perhaps. Her mouth twisted, had she the ability to spit acid I am quite sure she would have exercised it on me at that moment. "People like you are everything wrong with the world, you run off without a care for the plans of others or the repercussions. And now you think—" she devolved into a growl before ranting on in this manner for quite some time. I had to apologize about a dozen more times as we covered the same ground of my supposed betrayal over and over — I shall spare you.

But once I had her settled we had a sit down on her bedsheet which she unfurled like a carpet to be the hovels only furnishing besides her luggage in the corner, a partially written letter perched atop it.

Cross-legged, I was finally able to tell her everything, from the betrayal of Abbard (who she said had not been seen since that night either) to my meeting my brother in the tower. She took it all in with a monk-like serenity, having already exercised her demons. Like any productive confessional, a weight lifted off my shoulders as I spoke.

When I was done she merely blinked at me. "Is that all?"

"That I'm an abomination created by rift in fate-time? Yes, that's bloody well all."

"Oh Berry, you're not an abomination. Just an ass, an uncommon one I guess, but not so unlike the rest. I’m more concerned that this Mane is a… ‘Stranger’ you called it?

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

I nodded. "I'm just as committed to seeing this all resolved as you are, and better placed than I would have ever imagined, so I hope you'll still consider me a friend in all this."

She rose and strode to the barred window overlooking the now dark street. "Of course, I'll need to report all of this to Caius. The emperor himself will need to know. They were hoping for clearer answers — a single side being legitimate — but it seems we’ll have no easy way out if they both are truly the Mane. Even Governor Lucca doesn’t seem like a good faith actor. I’d had my suspicions, but based on what you’re telling me, he may be actively involved with those promoting unrest in the capital."

Only the thrumming sound from below filled the air for a long moment, gently shimmering into the absorptive tissue of my buttocks — a sort of sympathetically magical reflection of the simmering uncertainty of our situation. Finally I cleared my throat. "I’ve been speaking with my brother—”

“Your brother?”

“My Deviator, we… well he has been developing a coalition that should be able to seize Elsweyr through diplomatic means, a nearly bloodless transition if it can be managed."

“What kind of coalition?”

I counted off on my fingers. “Well there’s the Silversword company of course now that you’re here, the last few northern waste tribes, the western march lords, the central highlands which have remained completely neutral so far… and most importantly there’s a Bosmer delegation arriving in a few days time.”

“What kind of delegation?”

“Some prince or another, I'm supposed to act as ambassador but haven't had a spare moment to get up to speed yet."

“Berry, if they’re planning to pull one imperial subject nation into war with another… you’re starting a civil war, you do realize that?”

"From a certain point of view, I suppose—"

“A spark of contagion. An even deeper legitimacy crisis. Berry we have to stop any alliance with the Bosmer.”

"But it's my job, and if it goes well it could be the end of all this."

Her crimson eyes narrowed. “And if the other Mane, the ‘Stranger’ one, gets an outside ally as well? The Morrowind or Summerset? It’ll be an absolute bloodbath. No, we have to end this now. And we’re completely on our own, Berry. Lucca is a traitor, Caius won’t receive my message for days — if it even makes it back across the border — and there isn’t another living senior agent in the rest of Elsweyr so far as I know. No, we have to save the empire, you and me, by whatever means necessary.”

“Hold on now, ‘by any means’ is quite a broad door to leave open, my dear — my friend.”

Her jaw set, voice lowering to a hiss. "More than anything we need to remove the deviator Mane. He’s the only one we have access to, our only way to diffuse the situation.”

“I can’t do that,” forced my voice lower, “kill someone. And a Mane besides!”

“He’s completely out of control, surely you see that Berry. This strange self aggrandizing cult he’s started — did you hear they’re going to mandate sun salutations? Fanatics going door to door to make sure people are exercising at dawn — complete madness!”

“Well actually there are many benefits to morning cardiovascular—”

“Besides, you won’t need to do anything, only create the opportunity. Like all leaders, the Mane already has enemies, factions plotting against him. Your job will just be to act as a recruiter and entrypoint, let the right player in and the pieces will play out as they will. I’m going to have you establish contact with The Lunar Priests.”

She stared at me, and I’ll admit to being quite sullen. The enormity of the situation was overwhelming me. To imagine that I, a failed academic and this former pauper girl had been plucked by fate to play any role in the grand machinations of the Empire was beyond my wildest imaginings. Finally, I cleared my throat. “I’ll talk to them. I won’t promise anything, but I’ll talk to them.”

“Thank you Berry. I know he’s been good to you. I know your brother — excuse me, your deviator has been good to you. But I’m glad you remember your loyalty to the empire.”

This was completely true of course, and something that should be remembered as a sort of underlying constancy in the subsequent pages of this text — loyalty (as I often say) is so often an impression rather than an expression, a guiding star that is sometimes not immediately obvious in the complicated course one sails through the choppy seas of life.

Regardless, she provided me with instructions on how I might establish contact with the Lunar Priests, following which she hung in the doorway as I climbed down the wall, cutting a fine ink-black silhouette by candlelight from within, the heat of her eyes upon me.

I walked back to the palace through quiet streets, Shebah on the alert behind me, but very alone.