Confrontation - Dialog between Fleet and Miravel - Chapter 14 - Part 1

The Confrontation takes place deep inside Raven Rock Mine.

Dialog
Fleet: Miravel. I assure you there is know way out of that hole you are in. It is good to lay eyes upon you at last.

Miravel: You are Cimmerian. What do you want?

Fleet: Yes, I am Cimmerian. I am a great admirer of you and your work. I wish to speak with you.

Miravel: Speak with me? Why should I believe you would simply want to speak to me, I assume you mean to kill me.

Fleet: Why would I go to all of this trouble if killing you was my intent. I merely wish to have a conversation, one assassin to another. I guessed that these mines would afford me the level of privacy I required and they did not disappoint.

Miravel: You'll have to excuse me if I am not interested in conversation.

Fleet: Yes, that is an excellent point, perhaps we should have dual of archers, I assume you are a better shot than your sister was.

Miravel: You killed my sister.

Fleet: Certainly, you are right. It was my blade that separated her head from her shoulders but it was not I that killed her.

Miravel: That makes no sense, you speak in riddles.

Fleet: Your sister was the impulsive one. She was the impatient one, the hammer to your dagger... Am I right?

Miravel: [silence]

Fleet: You are one who understands the art. The tracker. You followed me for days and yet you never attacked me, why is that?

Miravel: [silence]

Fleet: Very well, I will tell you why. You were weighing the threat. How dangerous is this Cimmerian? He evades and defeats the Thalmor and they do no seem to even know how he is? You are a thoughtful person aren't you Miravel?

Miravel: A warrior who wishes to stay alive does not rush into battle without first understanding the enemy. This is the way of it.

Fleet: Of course, this is the correct course of action. The rash warrior is the first to die, but the dispassionate thinker, the tactician survives to fight another day through guile and clever strategy that plays to his strengths. This truly is the way of it. This was not your sister's way, was it?

Miravel: What are you getting at? I grow tired of this game.

Fleet: You knew where I was, you tracked me and you knew how to find me and yet you sent your sister far to the East. Why did you do this? I believe you did this because you knew that your sister, the blunt instrument, would force a conflict before you were ready.

Miravel: [silence]

Fleet: I have the right of it, and you know this to be true. So, how do you suppose your sister found me? You were in the east looking for her and all the while she was coming west to confront me. How could this have happened?

Miravel: I cannot explain it.

Fleet: I can... The Thalmor told her where I was based on your information. You follow the target and report back to the Thalmor do you not?

Miravel: Yes.

Fleet: Miravel, what did you think they would do? Allow you to continue tracking me forever? The Thalmor love their power and they seek to take it as often and as quickly as they can. They do not approve of slow methodical methods. They subscribe to doctrines of brute force and if you were not willing to strike they were more than happy to enlist your sister to do it. I understand she is more amenable to this type of operation than you.

Miravel: How can you know this?

Fleet: A Thalmor soldier told me this as I skinned him alive... I too am a huntsman by nature. The Thalmor are not like you and I. They believe in might as a path to power. So the question is, who really killed your sister? She fought with honor. She died with her blade in her hand and I cut her down quickly and mercifully. But it was your employer who sent her to the slaughter, not I.

Miravel: I don't understand this...

Fleet: The Thalmor take what they want, you should know this better than anyone. What has become of Valenwood? How many sacred trees have they burned? This is who you work for, why would you do this?

Miravel: I have not betrayed by people! I had to do this.

Fleet: You had to do this? Ah yes, you had to do this so that you would get your precious septims.

Miravel: NO! I did not do this for money. My sister was in trouble, we needed to get out of Valenwood and this was the only way. I agreed to help them and in return they agreed to destroy our writ of execution and return the deed to our family grove. My family was destroyed in the war with the Aldmeri Dominion and you stand there and mock me!

Fleet: Your family was not destroyed by the war, you are the last of your family because of the Thalmor. Miravel, I do not mock you, I offer you a way out. Let us speak face to face. I show you my face as a gesture of trust. [removes mask]

Miravel: What could you possibly have that I would want?

Fleet: How about vengeance? How about the writ? How about the deed to your family grove and your self-respect? Surely these are all things you value?

Miravel: It is not a negotiation when you offer things you cannot possibly give.

Fleet: But I can offer these things. The writ and the deed you seek will be in the Thalmor embassy, no doubt int he hands of Elenwen herself. I have plans for Elenwen and I will get your documents in the bargain.

Miravel: So you will just walk into the Thalmor embassy and get me what I need? Arrogance is not flattering.

Fleet: That is exactly what I will do and you know why I speak the truth. While you were following tracks through the forest I was infiltrating the deepest of Dwemer ruins, sacking barrows thought to be impenetrable and slipping in and out of the palaces of Markarth unseen. But you already know this, don't you? You know who I am, Listener, Nightingale, Dragonborn, Cimmerian.

Miravel: [silence]

Fleet: Yes, your sister was cut down by my blade but she was put in that place at that disadvantage by the Thalmor. They knew she would act while you would wait and they chose to sully that relationship. They took advantage of your sister's weakness and now she is dead. She attacked me with no understanding of who she faced. Sword to sword, she fought with honor and she lost. That is where the story ends for her but not for you.

Miravel: I should kill you now...

Fleet: But you won't because you are smart enough to know who the real enemy is. Let me ask, did you kill Nephae?

Miravel: Who is Nephae?

Fleet: Come now, you know exactly who Nephae is. You have been following me for weeks. The only way you could have tracked me to Solstheim is through Nephae. I left you all the clues you needed and now you are here. You know who she is.

Miravel: Was this some kind of test?

Fleet: Not a test but an affirmation. I needed to confirm what I already thought to be true, is Miravel after mere vengeance or real justice. I offered you Nephae as payment for the death of your sister. She was no doubt incapacitated, did you cut her throat or let her live?

Miravel: Nephae lives but many in her network do not, is that vengeance?

Fleet: No, that is the cost of doing business. You did not kill Nephae because she is not the enemy. Until your sister's death were you planning to kill me? Why did you not strike? There must have been many times when you could have. The Thalmor are your enemy, an enemy we share.

Miravel: What do you get out of all of this?

Fleet: I die.

Miravel: I don't understand...

Fleet: The Thalmor want me dead. They believe that all of their problems will go away once the deed is done. I want you to do it, I want Miravel the Bosmer huntress to kill me. Preferably in a very public way.

Miravel: You're insane...

Fleet: Am I? I want you to help me engineer my own death. I need the Thalmor to believe me dead, killed by their hired assassin. They will let their guard down and then I will execute the last stages of my campaign against them from the grave. Help me stage my death and I will help you get your writ and your deed.

Miravel: I do not wish to be another one of your underlings.

Fleet: You are no less than perfect in your craft. You could be no one's underling. You and I are equals, cut from the same cloth.

Miravel: I doubt that very much. How can I possibly trust the man who killed my sister?

Fleet: I killed the enemy, nothing more, nothing less. In time I believe you will come to see the world as I do. If at any time you feel I have broken your trust you may slip that elven short blade between my ribs and I will have deserved it for disappointing you.

Miravel: Partners?

Fleet: Yes.

Miravel: I will do it but if you break your agreement with me there will be no place you can hide.

Fleet: I have no doubt that hiding from you would be an impossibility.

Miravel: I suggest we begin by you helping me out of this pit.

Fleet: It is done. We should not be seen leaving the island together. I have a few things to complete before I can return to Skyrim, I will meet you there.

Miravel: Where will we meet?

Fleet: There is an old fort east of Dragon Bridge.

Miravel: Yes, Fort Snow Hawk, I know it.

Fleet: Meet me there in two days.

Miravel: Very well, two days it is.

Fleet; Miravel, as your partner, I would respectfully suggest that between now and then you find some less conspicuous attire.

Miravel: I had heard it said you were controlling, the stories do not disappoint.