Poison Song , Book II Content . Tay felt no guilt , which frightened him . All through the long , fast walk away from the gorge , through the woods , across the dry creek bed , he chatted merrily with Baynarah , fully aware that he had just committed murder . Whenever his mind strayed from the conversation , and he thought back on the last moments of Vaster ' s short life , the Song would soar . He could not think of the boy ' s death , but Tay knew he was responsible . “ You ' re a mess ! ” cried Aunt Ulliah the moment she saw the two children emerging from the woods onto the grounds of Sandil House . “ Where have you been ? ” “ Didn ' t Vaster already tell you ? ” asked Tay . The scene played itself out as Tay knew it would , every dancer in the Song performing their steps as choreographed . Aunt Ulliah saying that she had not seen Vaster . Baynarah , not yet frightened , making up an innocent lie about the threesome not having strayed far , saying he must have gotten lost . A slow but steady rhythm of panic intensifying as night began to fall , and Vaster had not yet returned . Baynarah and Tay tearfully ( he was surprised how easy it was for him to cry without feeling ) admitting where they had been , and leading Uncle Triffith and a crowd of servants to the junk pile and gorge . The tireless search through the woods as night turned to dawn . The weeping . The light punishment , merely cries of anger , that Baynarah and Tay suffered for losing their young cousin . It was thought , from their stricken expressions , that the children felt guilty enough . They were sent to bed at dawn while the hunt through the woods continued . Tay was drifting to sleep when his nursemaid Edebah came into his room . The look of unwavering love and devotion had not left her eyes , and he sank gratefully into his dreams and nightmares with her holding his hand . The Song wafted almost imperceptibly through his consciousness as he again had the vision of the room in the castle . The girl and her baby . The bird in the rafters . The dying fire . The sudden explosion of violence . Breathless , Tay opened his eyes . Edebah was stealing out the door , softly humming the Song to herself . In her hand was the crystal globe from his satchel . For a moment , he hesitated , about to cry out . How did she know the Song ? Was she aware that he had murdered another boy to get the globe ? Somehow he knew that she was helping him , that she knew all and loved him and sought only to protect him . The next day , and the next week , and the next month were all the same . No one spoke very much , and when they did it was to suggest new places to look for the missing boy . Everywhere had been searched thoroughly . Tay was curious why they never looked in the gorge , but he understood how inaccessible it was . A side - effect of Vaster ' s absence was that the tutorial sessions with Kena Gafrisi took on a more serious , even academic quality . The younger boy ' s high spirits and meager attentiveness had always cut the lessons short , but sensible Baynarah and quiet Tay were ideal pupils . He was particularly impressed by how focused they became during a rather dry history lecture about the heraldic symbols of Houses of Morrowind . “ The crest of the Hlaalu features a scale , ” he sniffed disdainfully . “ They see themselves as the great compromisers , as if that were something honorable . Many hundreds of years ago , they were the tribesmen following Resdayn who chose - - “ “ Pardon me , Kena , ” asked Baynarah . “ But what is the crest with the insect on it ? ” “ You don ' t know House Redoran ? ” asked the tutor , lifting up one of the shields . “ I know you have a sheltered life on Gorne , but you ' re surely old enough to recognize - - " “ Not that one , Kena , ” replied Tay . “ I think she means the other crest with an insect . ” “ I see , ” nodded Kena Gafrisi , brow furrowed . “ Yes , you would be too young to have ever seen the crest of the Sixth House , the House of Dagoth . Our enemies together with the accursed heretical Dwemer in the War of the Red Mountain , now totally destroyed , thanks be to Lord , Mother , and Wizard . That House was a curse on our land for millennia , and when at last their pestilence was snuffed out , the very earth itself breathed a cloud of fire and ash in relief , bringing night to day for over a year ' s time . ” Baynarah and Tay knew they could not speak , but they exchanged knowing glances at one another as the tutor enlarged on the theme of the great wickedness of the Dwemer and the House Dagoth . As soon as the lesson ended , they walked silently out of Sandil House until they were far from all ears and eyes . The afternoon sun stretched out the shadows of the spear - like trees surrounding the meadow . Off in the distance , they could hear the sounds of the workers beginning their preparations for the autumntide harvest , yelling to one another unintelligibly in coarse and familiar accents . “ That was definitely the symbol on that shield you found at the garbage heap , ” Baynarah said at last . “ Everything there must be a remnant of the House Dagoth . ” Tay nodded . His mind was on the strange crystal globe . He felt a light vibration of soundless music touch his body , and knew he was discovering a new cadence of the Song . “ Why would our people have burned and discarded all that ? ” he asked thoughtfully . “ Do you think the House Dagoth was so evil that everything associated with them could have been cursed ? ” Baynarah laughed . At the height of day , all talk of curses and the evil Sixth House were pure supposition : something to add romance to one ' s life , but nothing to worry about . The two children walked back to the castle for yet another in a series of cold , quiet dinners . As the night fell , Baynarah looked through the treasures she had picked up in the junk heap . By the light of the moons , the small jars , the torc with orange gemstones , the bits of tarnished silver and gold of no obvious purpose , all took on a sinister aspect . Revulsion overtook her feeling of admiration instantly . There was a strange energy to them , a tincture of death and corruption that was undeniable . Baynarah ran to the window and vomited . Looking out to the dark open lawn below , she saw a figure below lighting an arrangement of candles in the shape of a large insect , the symbol of the House Dagoth . When it looked in her direction , she pulled back , but she saw the face illuminated by the tallows . It was Edebah , Tay ' s nursemaid . The next morning , Baynarah left the castle grounds early , bearing a large sack filled with her treasures . She carried them to the dumping ground and left them there . Then she returned , and told her Uncle Triffith what she had seen the night before , leaving out only what had made her sick in the first place . Edebah was banished from the isle of Gorne without discussion . She wept , begging to be allowed to say goodbye to Tay , but all believed that would be too dangerous . When Tay asked what had become of her , he was told she had to return to her family on the mainland . He had grown too old for a nursemaid . Baynarah never told him what she knew . For she was afraid .