Flash Fiction February 2024 Day 4: An Unlikely Hope (Issy)

 Prompt: Where there’s life there’s hope

With the emperor assassinated all seems lost and the empire in disarray. Unheard of horrors pouring forth from Oblivion gates springing up seemingly at random both in Cyrodiil and elsewhere in the empire wreaking havoc and resulting in unsparing slaughter, few have managed to survive the attacks like the one at Kvatch. I hadn’t even been aware of the crisis or imminent threat until the emperor turned up at my cell door, which apparently contained a secret door that has since proved useful more than once. I still remember Baurus’ face when the assassins succeeded in their plot, and it is clear he still blames himself as he sits nearby mourning while awaiting instructions for his next mission. With no active emperor to guard he seems almost lost, hopeless even. I had been entrusted with the amulet of kings for some reason to bring to Jauffre, one of the most senior members of The Blades, and trusted advisor to the emperor. When I arrived at the tiny monastery I found out exactly how much the emperor trusted the blade, enough to entrust him with his illegitimate son and to keep an eye on him after placing him with a common family to keep him safe and out of harm's way, and most likely also to have the empress not find out about him. That bastard is most likely why the world hasn’t completely ended yet. Where there’s life there’s hope, even if that hope comes in the form of a bastard emperor with absolutely no experience with any kind of royalty. I debate telling Baurus about my own mission to go find him so we can hopefully end this crisis and end it quickly, but hesitate. I don’t want to make him any more stressed, or cause any more emotional strife if when I get to Kvatch I find him dead, I can at least hope he’s still alive. With the hour growing late I get up from my spot on the cold wood floor and bid Baurus farewell for now as I go to gather my things before heading west and give him a word of advice; have hope, dear friend, it can be a powerful thing, especially when it seems like all other lights have gone out.