Madanach's entire face had closed up and he just turned away, shoulders hunching.
“So that's it, is it. I'm not good enough for you, am I? Humans are all right for a little fun, but no true Altmer breeds with one, is that it?”
Oh Kynareth, no, she'd not meant it like that, not at all, she'd do it if it meant that much to him but oh gods, her family... It was a big ask.
“It's not like that, Madanach,” she whispered. “I love you, I'd have a child with you, but... Alinor is home and I'd miss it. Like you'd miss the Reach. My parents can turn a blind eye to a marriage that'll be ended in thirty years, but they'll have to disown me if there's a child.”
Madanach was still looking away, hands shaking and he looked deathly pale. “Don't say it, Liriel. Please don't. Because if you won't do it, I don't have a choice. I need to marry a Reachwoman, and not even one my own age, she'll have to be young and fertile. And while we all know it won't be a love match, you'll have to leave because no queen of the Reach deserves a man who's constantly hankering after his Altmer mistress.”
Liriel's heart cracked in two as reality hit home, the awful truth she'd been repressing since learning of Kaie's death, the reason the pitying looks hadn't just been aimed at Madanach. She couldn't give him an heir, not really, and if not her, someone else would need to. She'd just lost him for good.
Dissolving into tears, she began to cry, heartfelt sobbing, howling her grief out that after everything it had come to this, that she'd been so happy, loved him so much and she could never have him, they could never give each other what they needed.
“Don't,” he was saying, sounding as miserable as she did, taking her in his arms and cradling her against him, raining kisses all over her hair. “Don't cry, cariad, I love you, we can do this, please, please have my child, please, don't make me send you away, I can't do it, I can't, oh gods, Liriel, why...” He held her to him, crying himself, just the two of them weeping in each other's arms until finally neither had the energy to continue.
“What did I do,” Madanach whispered. “Who did I offend, what god did I upset, did I displease Sithis, is that why he took my girls? I had four of them, Liriel, four and they were so perfect and beautiful from the day they left their mother's womb. And they're all gone, I lost them all. Eithne, killed by that Stormcloak bastard. Amaleen, killed protecting her littlest sister. She'd wandered off from the camp, I think she might have been trying to get to Markarth to visit me in prison, but she was only eight, she barely knew what direction the city was in. Amaleen found her, but some Nord mercenaries found them too. Carved Amaleen into pieces while her sister watched. She'd hidden herself, the Nords never found her. But she was never the same again. She was out there for hours, cold, hungry, frightened – they say she got so hungry she ended up taking bites out of her sister's body. I don't know whether to believe that or not, but my poor girl, my little Eola...”
Everything in Liriel's brain came screaming to a halt as the pieces slotted into place. Eola. His youngest daughter was called Eola. Eola who Argis had looked very intrigued by and actually said she reminded him of someone, in fact he'd even recognised the name. They even looked similar. Of course, it was possible there were quite a few Eolas in the Forsworn... but Liriel had heard the story of Amaleen's death before and not from Madanach. From Eola, who despite having lost faith in the Forsworn, had never lost her faith in the King in Rags, had stared up at him in Markarth with the same adoration Liriel had felt. Eola who'd had issues with both her mother and the Matriarch of Karthspire, and now Liriel realised the two were one and the same. Eola who'd spent her childhood feeling overshadowed by Kaie – easily explained if the two were sisters. Eola who said her father was the only one who'd ever loved her unconditionally and while Liriel had thought he'd been killed, Eola had never used that word. She'd said the Nords took him, that he was gone. The Nords had killed her sisters, but only taken her father. To Cidhna Mine.
Re: Nightshade and Juniper 19.10
“So that's it, is it. I'm not good enough for you, am I? Humans are all right for a little fun, but no true Altmer breeds with one, is that it?”
Oh Kynareth, no, she'd not meant it like that, not at all, she'd do it if it meant that much to him but oh gods, her family... It was a big ask.
“It's not like that, Madanach,” she whispered. “I love you, I'd have a child with you, but... Alinor is home and I'd miss it. Like you'd miss the Reach. My parents can turn a blind eye to a marriage that'll be ended in thirty years, but they'll have to disown me if there's a child.”
Madanach was still looking away, hands shaking and he looked deathly pale. “Don't say it, Liriel. Please don't. Because if you won't do it, I don't have a choice. I need to marry a Reachwoman, and not even one my own age, she'll have to be young and fertile. And while we all know it won't be a love match, you'll have to leave because no queen of the Reach deserves a man who's constantly hankering after his Altmer mistress.”
Liriel's heart cracked in two as reality hit home, the awful truth she'd been repressing since learning of Kaie's death, the reason the pitying looks hadn't just been aimed at Madanach. She couldn't give him an heir, not really, and if not her, someone else would need to. She'd just lost him for good.
Dissolving into tears, she began to cry, heartfelt sobbing, howling her grief out that after everything it had come to this, that she'd been so happy, loved him so much and she could never have him, they could never give each other what they needed.
“Don't,” he was saying, sounding as miserable as she did, taking her in his arms and cradling her against him, raining kisses all over her hair. “Don't cry, cariad, I love you, we can do this, please, please have my child, please, don't make me send you away, I can't do it, I can't, oh gods, Liriel, why...” He held her to him, crying himself, just the two of them weeping in each other's arms until finally neither had the energy to continue.
“What did I do,” Madanach whispered. “Who did I offend, what god did I upset, did I displease Sithis, is that why he took my girls? I had four of them, Liriel, four and they were so perfect and beautiful from the day they left their mother's womb. And they're all gone, I lost them all. Eithne, killed by that Stormcloak bastard. Amaleen, killed protecting her littlest sister. She'd wandered off from the camp, I think she might have been trying to get to Markarth to visit me in prison, but she was only eight, she barely knew what direction the city was in. Amaleen found her, but some Nord mercenaries found them too. Carved Amaleen into pieces while her sister watched. She'd hidden herself, the Nords never found her. But she was never the same again. She was out there for hours, cold, hungry, frightened – they say she got so hungry she ended up taking bites out of her sister's body. I don't know whether to believe that or not, but my poor girl, my little Eola...”
Everything in Liriel's brain came screaming to a halt as the pieces slotted into place. Eola. His youngest daughter was called Eola. Eola who Argis had looked very intrigued by and actually said she reminded him of someone, in fact he'd even recognised the name. They even looked similar. Of course, it was possible there were quite a few Eolas in the Forsworn... but Liriel had heard the story of Amaleen's death before and not from Madanach. From Eola, who despite having lost faith in the Forsworn, had never lost her faith in the King in Rags, had stared up at him in Markarth with the same adoration Liriel had felt. Eola who'd had issues with both her mother and the Matriarch of Karthspire, and now Liriel realised the two were one and the same. Eola who'd spent her childhood feeling overshadowed by Kaie – easily explained if the two were sisters. Eola who said her father was the only one who'd ever loved her unconditionally and while Liriel had thought he'd been killed, Eola had never used that word. She'd said the Nords took him, that he was gone. The Nords had killed her sisters, but only taken her father. To Cidhna Mine.