"I'm not used to such lax security," Serana says once they're through.

Lianda shrugs. "It's hard to filter everyone coming and going - Solitude's massive, over twenty thousand people. Smaller than the Imperial City, of course, or where I grew up in Hammerfell, but for Skyrim? It's ridiculously big. There's inspections of goods if anyone's coming in with a wagon, and the guards know the faces of the area's wanted folk. They all know me, and while there's some people who're suspicious of me because of my connection to the Meridia, plenty of people concern themselves more with what I've stood against. Volunteering to fight dragons gets you a lot of trust."

"That does make some sense, yes - but the war's not an issue? They don't send disguised soldiers?" Serana asks.

"They check more thoroughly at the Imperial borders - you saw how heavily militarized Dragonbridge is - and it's hard to get here without going around up north, swimming, or crossing there," she explains as they exit into Solitude proper. It's still the early morning, and most people out are going briskly about their business. Lianda pulls her hood up, and walks like someone with somewhere to be and no patience for distractions while she heads to the museum.

Whoever's been sent after her might still hear that she's back, but Lianda would like to muddle things at least some.

This time of day… Malielle's probably not in her apartment anymore, and is likely working to get things set up for the day, so Lianda heads for the main entrance. There's a scrawny teenager in charge of the front desk, who kind of awkwardly opens the front door when Lianda knocks and peers out.

"Uh," the teenager says, eyes a bit wide.

Lianda takes pity on them and smiles. "I'm Lianda, a friend of Malielle's. I'm a consultant on daedric theory and history."

The teenager nods, a bit frantically, and opens the door. "Miss Malielle said you might come some point, um, sorry I'm new here she's in the back rooms - " They've started vibrating, hands twitching.

"It's alright, I know my way around, but why don't you walk us down? Or if you're busy with opening, I can find my own way," Lianda says gently.

They bite their lip. "Um. I'm not supposed to let visitors just. Wander. So I'll walk you!" They take off almost without waiting for confirmation.

Lianda shakes her head, glances at Serana, and follows.

The vampire tags along. "The city's grown a lot since I was here last," she comments lowly. "This used to be a small little shrine."

"That's still part of the museum, actually," Lianda says, nodding. "Well, as much of it as is intact."

"Hm. Good, that not everything's forgotten." Serana falls quiet then, as they reach the employees-only entrance into the back rooms.

The visible portion of the Museum is a tiny fraction of it in truth - the main calling is repairing, restoring, identifying, and investigating historical artifacts. Most of them aren't actually stored here once the museum's finished - that's asking for trouble - but there's still a few people at work this early. Most of them nod or wave to Lianda, and send Serana curious glances, but don't stop to chat.

Malielle's in her office when they arrive, and the teen hastily introduces Lianda, before Malielle waves them off back to their post, smiling. Her black hair's pulled back into a messy bun, with a few curly strands escaping to frame her pale face. She turns to Lianda, grins, and after the door closes says, "I wasn't expecting you back so soon. Who's your friend?"

"Her name's Serana. Turns out, she's who I was looking for," Lianda says.

Malielle observes Serana sharply, tilts her head, and says, "Vampire? Old one, too. Hidden with something important."

"You're clever," Serana says, voice faintly amused. "I'm older than your Empire, yes. The important thing is - something I need to get back to my father."

"Not your usual company, Lianda," Malielle comments, still keeping the light tone to her voice.

Lianda sighs and nods. "Odd times make for strange bedfellows. But Serana needed help, and I thought it would be prudent to talk to you."

"Heh. Usually is." Malielle pauses, turns to Serana. "Is there anything you need? I'm unclear on how often different vampiric subtypes need to feed, but drinking blood's illegal here - I can pretty easily find a volunteer who won't tattle, or you can go clear out a bounty on some bandits, but feeding off random citizens isn't acceptable."

"A volunteer would be appreciated - I'm not the most martial type," Serana says. "I don't desperately need to feed, but I likely will soon."

"Right. Well, I'll hear the story, as much as either of you will share - then I'll want to talk to Lianda alone. You can wander the main areas of the museum while we do if you'd like," Malielle says, shrugging.

"That's acceptable," Serana says, then begins her story - it doesn't have any more detail than Lianda's heard. She was in the coffin for an unknown length of time, she needs to return to her father, yes they're vampires, she's sure he'll still be in his old castle, she doesn't need to rush so can accompany Lianda on trips. She's reluctant to go alone, since she's unsure how dangerous the wilds are, and how well she measures up given how much has changed, but she will if she has to.

Serana leaves to go wander the museum after that, and Lianda turns to Malielle. "She's hiding some. The thing in her scroll case is an Elder Scroll. I'm certain her father wants it for something - but the Elder Scrolls aren't in my field."

Malielle hums. "Prophecy, probably, or else past-viewing, or else magical knowledge - though that's unlikely. Most of the possibilities aren't inherently dangerous, but they could give him an informational advantage - assuming he can even read it. They drive most people mad, and even those who train ardently to read one go blind. He'll probably be looking for a Moth Priests, if he knows he's getting a scroll - assuming you let Serana reach him." She pauses, observes Lianda. "I'm curious why you didn't just kill her and take the scroll. She is a vampire. The sort of thing you're sworn to oppose."

Lianda glances aside. "I'm not Meridia. Serana doesn't feel like a monster. And there's - a riddle, here. If I killed her, there'd be no easy way of knowing what her father plans. Plus, she hasn't attacked me, or acted at all aggressive. I refuse to be someone who kills people for what they might do."

"She's probably killed plenty of people, given that she's a vampire," Malielle points out. "But if she's willing to follow society's rules, and not cause trouble, I don't have a problem with her. Her past is the dead's concern."

Lianda shakes her head. "That's not it. But I'm not here to debate morality with you again, so. I'm giving her a chance for now." She sighs, rubs at her face. "The question here, I guess, is - where do I go from here? We can probably delay a while to research any hints of her family, but the records that far back are few and far between. I'd rather not make a pilgrimage to ask Meridia if she knows anything, even if it's probably on the way - Serana indicated it's the northern coast, probably this Hold. Meridia isn't one for nuance. At all."

"My options," Lianda continues, "As far as I see them, are return to the Dawnguard with Serana and kick the decision to Isran, tell Serana she's on her own, or accompany her as far as it's reasonable. The problem with Isran is that Riften is very far away, that he very well might make a decision I'm uncomfortable with, and that I'm not sure Serana would follow me into a fort of vampire hunters. But it's probably the reasonable thing to do, and reduces the chance of conflict with the rest of the Dawnguard - some of them are already uncomfortable with me, Isran follows Meridia but we absorbed enough ex-Vigilants that's not universal. If I tell Serana she's on her own, I lose an information source, but I don't risk involving myself. If I accompany her - there's likely to be further hard choices down the road."

Malielle nods. "I can advise you - but it is ultimately your decision."

"I'm aware," Lianda says, sighing. "I'll think on it."