The Cure For Curie (Complete!)

The Cat and the Mouse

"No. Absolutely not. Cosnach, you're lucky I even let you sit at the bar." Hulda shouted as she tapped another keg for the evening.

"If I told you that I needed it to save the world, would you let me?" The blonde Nord asked, hopeful.

"Ha! I wouldn't let you if you told me that giving you that room would single handedly beat the Aldmeri Dominion." She huffed. "Saadia, fetch me the rest of the wine from the kitchens. The shops will be closing soon."

The Redguard emerged from the back of the inn, arms filled with green bottles. She hesitated a moment when she spotted Cosnach with Lydia next to him. Squaring her shoulders, she began placing the bottles under the bar, glancing over often at the armored companion.

"What is all the fuss out here, Hulda?" Saadia asked as she straightened her apron.

"This numbskull thinks I am going to let them use the back room to conduct some sort of mission." She replied gesturing wildly at the pair.

"Oh?" The barmaid asked intrigued. "Is it for our lady the dragonborn?"

"As a matter of fact it is." Cosnach replied after finishing his cup. "Hulda, doesn't seem keen on saving the world though."

"What do you need?" She asked.

"Saadia, don't--" Hulda started but the woman put her hand up, asking for silence. The owner threw her hands up dismissively and walked towards the kitchen muttering to herself.

"Well, necromancers are threatening to take over the world. You know how they are." He said with a smirk. "They got this king and Lilelle has no idea who he is. I've got a plan that will help us figure it out so we can end this."

"And the dragonborn, she knows of your plan?"

Cosnach grew very still, searching for something in the bottom of his tankard. Saadia waited for an answer but was becoming impatient. Before she could press the warrior, Lydia put a hand on her shoulder, quietly pleading to wait.

"They attacked. She was injured." Lydia offered when Cosnach stayed silent.

He whipped his metal cup into the wall. The sound rang into the large room, crashing into the tapestries that hung there. The inn was dead silent as he slammed his fist into the bar in a rage.

"They left her broken, dammit!" He shouted. "I needed to do something. I can't just sit around, thumb in my ass, while my wife cannot wake in her bed!"

"Why don't we talk upstairs, in private. I may be able to help." Saadia said as she gestured toward the stairs.

The trio walked in silence as they made their way through the inn, just as the merchant crowd was entering through the front doors for the night. Cosnach grabbed a bottle of wine from the bar before joining them at the staircase. He was surprised when he entered the room on the second floor. He had expected to see Saadia's meager quarters as he had before. His wife and him had helped the poor woman escape from under the thumb of some Alik'r bounty hunters who had been after her. The room they stood in now had been turned into a plush sitting room filled with silver and large stuffed chairs.

"It seems you've moved up in the world?" He said lightly as he plucked up a honey nut treat. He retreated to a large wooden chair, stick in hand.

"Hardly." She responded in a huff. "Hulda pays me scraps. I have moved into Olava's recently vacant house. I had to sell my dagger to afford it but it was worth it to have quiet in the evenings."

"So, you said you could help us?" Lydia asked, redirecting the conversation to the task at hand.

"Yes." The Redguard replied as she seated herself on a bench. Lydia pulled over a stool from under a table and gestured for her to continue. "If it's business you need to conduct, you may do so at my residence. I only ask that you fill me in on what's going on and why you cannot conduct your meeting at Breezehome."

"Well that last question is an easy one." Cosnach replied. "There are items stored there that Lilelle would rather not lose."

"That is true." Lydia added. "Her Lady, stores certain items of power there that she has aquired. She does not trust the mages at the college. They are spelled and guarded at Breezehome instead."

"That is fair. Now, tell me what's going on?"

                            ----------
Saadia made herself look busy behind the bar as she watched the woman enter. There was an air of authority surrounding the elf, leaving no room for doubt. This was the necromancer Saadia was waiting for.

The Bosmer woman glanced around the almost empty bar. So early in the day, very few patrons littered the tables. Her eyes settled on the empty bar stools, a sigh of agitation swept through her. She turned back, looking at the entrance, contemplating if her time had been wasted or not.

"Can I help you, miss?" Saadia asked, drawing the woman's glare. The barmaid shivered slightly, as a chill crept up her spine.

"No. It appears the coward I was to meet here has decided to flee."

"Well, why don't you have a glass of wine before you go? Here, you can sit at this stool, the first one." Saadia spoke in implication. The mage raised an eyebrow at the intended meaning as she moved to sit.

"You are the one I am to meet?" The woman asked in disdain.

"No ma'am." The barmaid replied as she pored the woman a glass of wine. She slipped a piece of folded parchment under the cup before sliding it across. Without another word, Saadia left the bar and walked into the kitchen.

Adla huffed in irritation, this whole mysterious affair had become tiresome. She had half a mind to murder that Redguard in the back, if she was convinced she'd make it out of Whiterun alive. She didn't have time for this nonsense. The Draugr Matron would be free of the earthen tomb and she needed to have the book back safely. Whoever was behind this, their head would roll, of that she was sure of.

She took a long sip of the wine before picking up the note. She checked over her shoulder for any prying eyes before opening it. A young bard tuned a lute in the corner and an older red headed woman wiped down tables in the otherwise empty inn. Feeling secure in her privacy, Adla opened the note.

Behind Warmaiden's sits a shack. In front of the shack sits a bench, you'll find another piece of your precious book there. Go inside the shack. I'll be waiting to start negotiations on where you'll find the rest of the book.

The arch mage crumpled the paper in anger. Dammit. The words 'find the rest of the book' taunted her. She cursed herself for underestimating the fool she was dealing with. She hadn't counted on them being smart enough to hide the holy tome. She finished her wine in one gulp before stomping out of the inn.