Did you ever try and keep a secret from the two people closest to you? Let me tell you, it wasn't easy. With My Aunt soon to be married to my direct superior officer, I thought it a good Idea to vacate my room, in favor of the barrack's like the rest of the troupe. They would need my room for the baby anyway. So little by little I had been removing my thing's from my, soon to be the babies, room. It wasn't easy cause If I needed something I couldn't tell Irrillia that I needed to run to the barrack's for it.
Our, that is the whole troupe's, wedding present to the blissful couple would be some new furniture. I was making them a Game board with stone pieces, Amy was knitting ( I didn't even know she could) a couple baby blankets. A new bed for them and new crib for the baby, plus odd's and ends.... all had to be put in the couples room's after Irrillia left to get into her dress.
Not everyone from the garrison would be going to the wedding, because the Garrison commander decided that some important people from Alinor should attend, including some of Irrillia's relatives. Political maneuvering, they would attend because others of higher standing were going to be their. The Garrison Commander had somehow found out about my Aunts family and he was from a much much better one. Decin made sure that the trouper's seating the guests knew to put them in the back rows.
As I changed in my old room into the dress I would be wearing I directed the troupers carrying thing in. Amy fixed my mane into something resembling tidy and fashionable. I stood their holding the sky blue dress off the floor with the train draped over my arm, while Amy put flowers in my hair and another Trouper kept track of time.... though we had a signal, a loud thunder clap made by one of the young mages, that would let me know I need to run.
Just as the thunder clap let me know I needed to run, everything down to the lace table cloths, flowers and candles were in place. Someone would light them later, when the wedding diner was almost over.
I hiked the dress up higher and Amy and I took off at a dead run. We got to the audience hall, only slightly out of breath, just as my Aunt came around the corner and the wedding music started. I turned and walked up between the guest's.... and the boring social wedding was on. My Aunt said it was expected, though she would have preferred something much more simple.
May hours later, I finally escaped to the barrack's and was able to take off the dress and remove the, now wilted, flowers. Amy laughed as I practically flung the dress off. After a couple glasses of wine it was easy to fall asleep and the next I knew Amy was shaking me awake, it was time to go.
We stood infront of the Oblivion Gate ready for anything that came out. The trouper that came out waved and gave the pass code for "everything ok". We went through the gate and followed the trouper and his "buddy" in a round about path to the door of the Tower where the rest of his patrol stood waiting, Merican walked up to Decin and they stood their speaking quietly for a few moments. I looked around at the patrol and saw not one injured trouper and none appeared to be missing. I caught the eye of one of the troupers and raised my eyebrows in inquiry, he shrugged and then wagged his hand. I nodded at him and looked at Amy, "either they don't guard the gates well or we over prepared" she whispered. "probably don't expect anyone do be stupid enough to come through." " Of course the inside may well be better defended" I whispered back.
We went in the door and sure enough, it seemed the inside of the tower was much better defended than the area around the gate. We fought many Deadroth of varying types. Only one group of "buddies" let us pass as they waited for the healers. Amy and I right infront of the healers and two more troupers right behind them. One had an arrow through the thigh, which would be treated as if the arrow was poisoned.... something the healers and mages had thought out.
The turns seemed to be getting so tight, that had we not went through doors and up levels I felt I should have been able to turn around and see Decin leading the patrol, on my tail. Finally I could see a ball of light sitting on/in an odd pedestal and knew that was the Sigil stone and we were in the last room. As we all gathered around Decin, he called out every ones name.....and all answered. He asked the healer who's job it was to keep the time, if an hour had passed, she replied that according to the time candle 4 hr's had passed. That did not seem possible, Decin raised an eyebrow and Carhathal one of the battlemages shrugged and then said, " I have tipped over my hour glass six times. Though it hardly seem's that an hour has went by".
Decin nodded and told us all to come in close and make sure we where all touching. We were an odd ring around him, the inner ring each with one hand on him and the other on the person next to them, the next ring touching the first and each other, til it got back to the ring Amy, I and the healers were in.
Decin started counting backwards from ten, at 2 I closed my eyes and gritted my teeth.... at one I saw a very bright white light behind my eyes and felt my stomach drop to my feet. The next thing I knew I was staring up at the night sky, with the smiling face of one of Merican's patrol looking down at me.
I explained everything I had seen, smelled or felt to Aunt Irrillia, who had been waiting for us to come back to the garrison, along with the Commander, who took Decin with him. I told her that I thought we would disperse into smaller groups, maybe 5 or 6 as a full patrol was a bit much to close one gate.
Irrillia informed me that two days had gone by since we had entered the gate. I nodded and told her about the time candle and hour glass, time must run differently inside the gates. I yawned and told her my body now felt the two days it had missed, along with all the meal's. I left with a kiss to her cheek, just as Decin walked through the door. I paused by Decin and with a wry grin told him " If you ever want to sneak in on your wife and child...take off the boots before you walk up the stairs". He smiled and went to greet his new wife.
For the next year Amy, I and 4 other troupers closed gates as we found them and hunted the Deadroth that had come through them. We had noticed that we found no more open gates, only the shells left behind when one was closed...but there we still Deadroth to hunt. When we finally had found no more Deadroth in our area for a month, we returned to the Garrison, to find that a man named Martin Septium had sacrificed himself to end the Oblivion crisis.
As elated as I was about the end of the Deadroth and to see my new nephew. I was also not happy to hear the way some things had been going with the Thalmor's politic's. I talked to Decin and while he wasn't completely happy, he wrote up my papers to leave their service.
I talked to My Aunt who said I though to much like my father but she understood. I knew I would miss my little nephew, but left I did.
Amy had also got her papers to leave and as a non-Altmer she decided that she wished to go home to Skyrim and see how her folk's had fared. Thus my first trip into the cold harsh land of the Nord's was to begin.
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