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"Do you really think she loves you? That… thing?" Nalephor asked, smiling cruelly.
"Yes. I do."
"Girl, you're going to be sorely disappointed. That woman doesn't care about you at all. Wait a minute--I'll bet that she swept into your life, did you some favours to get in your good graces, and whispered sweet nothings in your ear, didn't she?"
If I traded Talos for Mara, would you join me in the temple? Muiri's heart sped up.
"Don't take it personally, how else could she have become that wealthy? She's manipulated everyone she's met, from here to the Imperial City. It's just who she is. But she made a mistake, trying to con us. And that's why we locked her in a Barrow for a few centuries." She gasped. "You didn't know? Has she never told you about her past?"
"She said she was kicked out of the Mages Guild, that she--"
"You don't even know her name, do you?"
"Her name is Laria, I don't know what you mean by--"
"It's short for Illaria."
"Should I recognise the name?"
"Illaria Seldas. You've heard the stories, right? Around the Oblivion Crisis, the newly-appointed leader of the Mages Guild was exiled, her name struck from the records? That the former Guild leader was a powerful necromancer?" As she nodded, he grinned wider.
"You know who I'm talking about, good. Illaria Seldas, the terror that haunted Cyrodiil for twenty years. People died, others robbed blind, and in the background of the demons coming out of Oblivion, there she was. A master mage, alchemist and enchantress. For twenty years people lived in fear that she would appear, kill some of their family, and then raise them from the dead, forcing parents to kill their children in self-defence, brothers to murder their siblings, lest they be slain. And then, of course, she disappears. And the stories turn to legend. There are still wanted posters, you know. In small villages, there are worn decrees calling for her head. 'The Shadow of Oblivion'. 'The Lich'. 'Illaria the Ice Heart'. And that demon is married to you."
"I don't believe you." She told him.
"It's all right. She'll be here soon. I gave her the location of the Barrow, told her to show up. But she won't be here for you. You don't matter to her. I'm not sure why she got hitched, but it's not for your sake. She won't save you, she's here to remove a threat to her existence. Which would be us." She looked at the ground, silent.
"Nothing to say? No witty remarks or angry retorts? Just silent, solemn acceptance? Good. Nothing you could say that I haven't heard already." He turned, walking away from her cell.
"She worships Talos." Muiri said quickly.
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"You're going to kill her. But she knows dragon Shouts."
"Really? That'll make it more interesting." He laughed, striding out of the room.