Rise of House Sigeweald Book One (Skyrim Fanfiction)

Chapter Twenty-Five: I'm sorry, but I'm just thinking of the right words to say

"The Archivist's career . . . is one of service. He exists in order to make other people's work possible, unknown people for the most part and working very possibly on lines equally unknown to him, some of them in the quite distant future and upon lines as yet unpredictable. His Creed, the Sanctity of Evidence; his Task, the conservation of every scrap of Evidence attaching to the Documents committed to his charge; his Aim to provide, without prejudice or thought, for all who wish to know the Means of Knowledge."

~Sir Hilary Jenkinson, "The English Archivist: A New Profession" (1947)

After almost a week away, Elspeth dreaded going back to the archive. She lingered over breakfast before finally heading over to the Arcanaeum and when she arrived she saw Urag and Aine waiting by Urag's desk looking enthusiastic about something. Well, Urag looked mildly pleased whereas Aine appeared positively giddy. Assuming that she was excited about the books and the prospect of Orthorn returning, Elspeth felt just a bit sorry as she imagined having to tell her otherwise.

"Oh, I figured as much," she said when Elspeth explained that Onmund was not able to convince Orthorn to return. She did not reveal, however, that he also hadn't tried very hard. And that he had been somewhat discouraging.

"We have something for you," said Urag with a sly grin. He looked almost mischievous, which made Elspeth somewhat uncomfortable and so she turned her attention to Aine, whose enthusiasm was not quite as disconcerting.

"I found her." She took a small piece of paper from a folder on the desk and slapped it down in the desk. "I found your mage."

"Wha...?" said Elspeth as she reached for the paper. "Are you certain?"

"We compared the note to the letter several times," said Urag. "The script is identical."

Elspeth covered her mouth with her hand as she slowly sat down. She inspected the note carefully, not quite ready to believe it was the clue she was seeking.

Tolfdir, I believe this is the manuscript you are looking for. ~Harinde

The script matched so perfectly that Elspeth didn't need to confirm it with the original letter. She just knew. It was a simple note, one that might not have made it back to the archive in the first place. Perhaps Tolfdir forgot to remove it. Or perhaps it had been used to mark a place in the file. Perhaps. Either way, it was in Elspeth's hands now. She sat and stared at it for several moments before she turned to Aine and Urag and, with a trembling voice, thanked them and asked to speak to Urag alone.

Urag pulled Nerussa's original letter from the lockbox on his desk and handed it to Elspeth before pulling a chair up to join her. "I remember Harinde," he said. "Lovely Altmer woman. She was admitted as an apprentice but she did not practice magic. She spent all her time down here." Urag looked at the letter over Elspeth's shoulder again and tilted his head. "She was interested in the Divines. And she worked down here every day. All day, just compiling notes."

Elspeth remained silent for a few moments. Finally, she asked, "Do you know what happened to her?"

"I do," said Urag. "After she exhausted the archive I sent her to Solitude to investigate some of the old radical religious groups like the Talos Cult."

"The Talos Cult? Is that like the Imperial Cult?" Elspeth asked, recalling the former name given to the worship of the Nine Divines.

"No, the Talos Cult was a small faction back during the reign of Uriel VII. They plotted to murder him and seat one of his sons on the throne. They believed the divine Septim blood ran thicker in his sons." Urag leaned back and scratched his beard, as if trying to recall something. "Harinde seemed especially curious about the sub-cults of the Divines and the hero cults of the various Septims, such as the Hörme. I sent her to see Sybille Stentor at the Blue Palace. Haafingar has seen a number of those cults come and go. And the Imperial library in Castle Dour has quite a bit of information."