It turned out to be a young Reachman, face painted in the traditional style, but not dressed like a Forsworn, or armed as far as Elisif could see. He just looked like a young man out for a walk.
“It's fine,” Elisif said, letting Cicero help her up. “I just had to sit down for a bit after...” She indicated where the guards had brought stretchers and were hauling bodies away. The young Reachman shivered, looking sympathetic.
“I know, I saw it too. To have such a thing happen here in the city... how much did you see?”
“Saw the whole thing,” Elisif whispered. “I just couldn't do anything about it. My first time in Markarth and this happens!”
“That must have been a horrible shock,” the young man said. “I hope the Eight give you more peace in the future. Oh! I think you dropped this. Some sort of note, fell out of your pocket.”
Elisif's hand went to the sealed letter to Erandur in her pocket but it was still there, quite safe. She frowned at the young man.
“I didn't drop anything – is this your note?”
He shook his head, utterly guileless. “No, that's your note. You dropped it when you sat down.” He pushed it into her hand and turned to leave, and now Elisif was sure something was up.
“Do you know something about all this?” Elisif demanded. She was almost positive he did, and if someone was behind the attack, if it wasn't a one-off, she was honour-bound to do something about it.
“Me? No,” the young man laughed, shaking his head. “I just stepped out for some air. Had one too many pints of mead at the Silver-Blood inn.”
Drinking in the middle of the day? But Elisif hadn't smelled mead on his breath. She watched suspiciously as he left and then opened the note.
Meet me at the Shrine to Talos.
Well hadn't this little mess just got complicated. She showed the note to Cicero to see what he made of it.
“What do you think he wants?” she murmured. Cicero pursed his lips, frowning.
“Cicero doesn't know but he is up to something. He is not Brotherhood, no, but Cicero doesn't trust him. He lies, Maia. He knows too much.” Cicero's frown faded and then he was all smiles again. “But Maia doesn't need to worry about this. Maia has business in this city and once that is done, Maia and Cicero go home, yes? Yes! Let Markarth deal with its own problems.”
“Markarth's problems are my problems, I can't just walk away from this, Cicero! I'm queen!” Elisif protested. Cicero's smile faded as his eyes darkened and he glared at her. Elisif felt her bravado fade as she remembered that for all the prancing and posturing, Cicero was underneath it all a very dangerous man.
“Now see here,” he murmured, voice dropping to a growling low pitch. “Sweet Delphine was very insistent that you are important. She was most keen that you return safe and unharmed. Cicero thinks that if Elisif starts poking under stones, things might start crawling out from under them... and that would be bad. Very bad indeed. Also if Elisif were harmed, Astrid would take the credit and Cicero will not have that. Let the filthy pretender work for her coin!”
Fair point, it wasn't like Elisif didn't have other things to do. All the same, she could sense the secrets, the corruption just under the surface of this city. When she was queen, she promised, she'd come back here and talk to Igmund and see just what sort of city he was running here. But for now, she had a courier to hire and a bow to buy for Cicero.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Courier hired, letter sent, Erandur likely to be on the way within a few days, and now Elisif was haggling over the price of an Elven bow with Ghorza, the Orc who ran the forge. It was very shiny and Cicero had taken one look and starting cooing over it. So Elisif had bitten the bullet and asked after it. Good thing she'd been able to top up her coin purse to a full thousand septims before leaving Solitude really.
“Do you need his measurements?” Elisif asked, reaching for her purse. Ghorza stopped, looked up and stared at her as if she was insane.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
timeasmymeasure
Re: The Wolf Queen Awakens 12.5
Date: 2013-11-10 03:38 pm (UTC)It turned out to be a young Reachman, face painted in the traditional style, but not dressed like a Forsworn, or armed as far as Elisif could see. He just looked like a young man out for a walk.
“It's fine,” Elisif said, letting Cicero help her up. “I just had to sit down for a bit after...” She indicated where the guards had brought stretchers and were hauling bodies away. The young Reachman shivered, looking sympathetic.
“I know, I saw it too. To have such a thing happen here in the city... how much did you see?”
“Saw the whole thing,” Elisif whispered. “I just couldn't do anything about it. My first time in Markarth and this happens!”
“That must have been a horrible shock,” the young man said. “I hope the Eight give you more peace in the future. Oh! I think you dropped this. Some sort of note, fell out of your pocket.”
Elisif's hand went to the sealed letter to Erandur in her pocket but it was still there, quite safe. She frowned at the young man.
“I didn't drop anything – is this your note?”
He shook his head, utterly guileless. “No, that's your note. You dropped it when you sat down.” He pushed it into her hand and turned to leave, and now Elisif was sure something was up.
“Do you know something about all this?” Elisif demanded. She was almost positive he did, and if someone was behind the attack, if it wasn't a one-off, she was honour-bound to do something about it.
“Me? No,” the young man laughed, shaking his head. “I just stepped out for some air. Had one too many pints of mead at the Silver-Blood inn.”
Drinking in the middle of the day? But Elisif hadn't smelled mead on his breath. She watched suspiciously as he left and then opened the note.
Meet me at the Shrine to Talos.
Well hadn't this little mess just got complicated. She showed the note to Cicero to see what he made of it.
“What do you think he wants?” she murmured. Cicero pursed his lips, frowning.
“Cicero doesn't know but he is up to something. He is not Brotherhood, no, but Cicero doesn't trust him. He lies, Maia. He knows too much.” Cicero's frown faded and then he was all smiles again. “But Maia doesn't need to worry about this. Maia has business in this city and once that is done, Maia and Cicero go home, yes? Yes! Let Markarth deal with its own problems.”
“Markarth's problems are my problems, I can't just walk away from this, Cicero! I'm queen!” Elisif protested. Cicero's smile faded as his eyes darkened and he glared at her. Elisif felt her bravado fade as she remembered that for all the prancing and posturing, Cicero was underneath it all a very dangerous man.
“Now see here,” he murmured, voice dropping to a growling low pitch. “Sweet Delphine was very insistent that you are important. She was most keen that you return safe and unharmed. Cicero thinks that if Elisif starts poking under stones, things might start crawling out from under them... and that would be bad. Very bad indeed. Also if Elisif were harmed, Astrid would take the credit and Cicero will not have that. Let the filthy pretender work for her coin!”
Fair point, it wasn't like Elisif didn't have other things to do. All the same, she could sense the secrets, the corruption just under the surface of this city. When she was queen, she promised, she'd come back here and talk to Igmund and see just what sort of city he was running here. But for now, she had a courier to hire and a bow to buy for Cicero.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Courier hired, letter sent, Erandur likely to be on the way within a few days, and now Elisif was haggling over the price of an Elven bow with Ghorza, the Orc who ran the forge. It was very shiny and Cicero had taken one look and starting cooing over it. So Elisif had bitten the bullet and asked after it. Good thing she'd been able to top up her coin purse to a full thousand septims before leaving Solitude really.
“Do you need his measurements?” Elisif asked, reaching for her purse. Ghorza stopped, looked up and stared at her as if she was insane.