Elisif sank to her knees as the prison gate slammed shut, scarcely able to believe this was happening. She was High Queen! A Jarl! They couldn't do this to her. But they had.
She'd met that young Reachman, Eltrys his name was, and after hearing his story, of course she'd offered to help. So she'd searched the room of that woman Margret, found she'd been an Imperial spy investigating the Silver-Bloods, and after that, it hadn't been hard to work out Thonar was using the Forsworn somehow to kill his enemies. So she'd gone to confront him. It hadn't gone well. Two of his servants had killed his wife while she was there, and after that he'd furiously told her everything, how he'd stopped the execution of the Forsworn King Madanach and commuted it to life imprisonment in his mine in return for Madanach using the Forsworn to deal with his enemies. That had been twenty years ago. Now it seemed the so-called King in Rags was tiring of the arrangement.
She'd run back to Eltrys to tell him all this, only to find him dead and Markarth guards standing over him, intending to frame her for the deed. She'd gone along quietly, sure that once she got to see Igmund, she'd be set free immediately and a proper investigation could start.
They'd not taken her to Igmund. They'd taken her straight to the mine, where Thonar had been waiting, smug smile on his face. She'd looked straight into his eyes and her heart had sank as she'd realised he knew exactly who she was and she'd just played right into his hands. He'd had her incarcerated without even pretending there was any justice involved, saying not to worry, he'd send a full report to the Jarl, save him the bother of trying her.
So here she was, alone and unarmed, trapped in a high security prison full of Forsworn. Male Forsworn, who'd likely been here a long time, without a woman in their midst and oh gods, she was a Nord, they hated Nords, what were they going to do to her? Worse, no one knew she was here, Delphine didn't know where she was, Cicero didn't know, oh gods, she'd been such a fool to come alone. She could only hope that when Cicero got back to Sky Haven Temple and realised she wasn't there that they'd come looking. If anyone could organise a jailbreak out of here, it was Delphine. Or alternately she could at least get a message to General Tullius or Falk, get diplomatic negotiations under way to get her out of here. Thonar would have to let her out if Igmund commanded it, and Igmund would have to give the order if General Tullius was breathing down his neck. It would be embarrassing and probably the end of her freedom to roam Skyrim as she pleased, but it was better than being stuck down here. Cicero had been right. She should have left well alone. She wasn't cut out for prison.
Nevertheless, she wasn't completely out of options. She recalled the conversation she'd had with Cicero on the way up here, telling him to make sure he behaved himself and didn't break the law or he'd end up in Cidhna Mine, the toughest prison in Skyrim. Cicero had just giggled and told her he'd survived tough prisons before. The key was to find the most powerful man in the prison and make himself indispensable to him, helping him, bringing him things, dealing with his enemies for him, anything he wanted, anything at all, and Elisif had a horrible feeling Cicero had included sexual favours in that anything.
“With the prison king at your back, no one else will give you any trouble at all,” Cicero had assured her. “Do not worry, sweet Maia, it has never failed Cicero yet. Er. Not that he intends to get caught while he is here. Or do anything bad! No, no, that would never do!”
It was a deep irony that Cicero genuinely had stabbed a woman in this city and slipped off scot-free, whereas she'd done nothing wrong and ended up in prison. But she was stuck here until Delphine could arrange a rescue, and that meant surviving in the short-term. So that meant following Cicero's advice... and tracking down the prison king.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
timeasmymeasure
Re: The Wolf Queen Awakens 13.3
Date: 2013-11-11 08:45 pm (UTC)She'd met that young Reachman, Eltrys his name was, and after hearing his story, of course she'd offered to help. So she'd searched the room of that woman Margret, found she'd been an Imperial spy investigating the Silver-Bloods, and after that, it hadn't been hard to work out Thonar was using the Forsworn somehow to kill his enemies. So she'd gone to confront him. It hadn't gone well. Two of his servants had killed his wife while she was there, and after that he'd furiously told her everything, how he'd stopped the execution of the Forsworn King Madanach and commuted it to life imprisonment in his mine in return for Madanach using the Forsworn to deal with his enemies. That had been twenty years ago. Now it seemed the so-called King in Rags was tiring of the arrangement.
She'd run back to Eltrys to tell him all this, only to find him dead and Markarth guards standing over him, intending to frame her for the deed. She'd gone along quietly, sure that once she got to see Igmund, she'd be set free immediately and a proper investigation could start.
They'd not taken her to Igmund. They'd taken her straight to the mine, where Thonar had been waiting, smug smile on his face. She'd looked straight into his eyes and her heart had sank as she'd realised he knew exactly who she was and she'd just played right into his hands. He'd had her incarcerated without even pretending there was any justice involved, saying not to worry, he'd send a full report to the Jarl, save him the bother of trying her.
So here she was, alone and unarmed, trapped in a high security prison full of Forsworn. Male Forsworn, who'd likely been here a long time, without a woman in their midst and oh gods, she was a Nord, they hated Nords, what were they going to do to her? Worse, no one knew she was here, Delphine didn't know where she was, Cicero didn't know, oh gods, she'd been such a fool to come alone. She could only hope that when Cicero got back to Sky Haven Temple and realised she wasn't there that they'd come looking. If anyone could organise a jailbreak out of here, it was Delphine. Or alternately she could at least get a message to General Tullius or Falk, get diplomatic negotiations under way to get her out of here. Thonar would have to let her out if Igmund commanded it, and Igmund would have to give the order if General Tullius was breathing down his neck. It would be embarrassing and probably the end of her freedom to roam Skyrim as she pleased, but it was better than being stuck down here. Cicero had been right. She should have left well alone. She wasn't cut out for prison.
Nevertheless, she wasn't completely out of options. She recalled the conversation she'd had with Cicero on the way up here, telling him to make sure he behaved himself and didn't break the law or he'd end up in Cidhna Mine, the toughest prison in Skyrim. Cicero had just giggled and told her he'd survived tough prisons before. The key was to find the most powerful man in the prison and make himself indispensable to him, helping him, bringing him things, dealing with his enemies for him, anything he wanted, anything at all, and Elisif had a horrible feeling Cicero had included sexual favours in that anything.
“With the prison king at your back, no one else will give you any trouble at all,” Cicero had assured her. “Do not worry, sweet Maia, it has never failed Cicero yet. Er. Not that he intends to get caught while he is here. Or do anything bad! No, no, that would never do!”
It was a deep irony that Cicero genuinely had stabbed a woman in this city and slipped off scot-free, whereas she'd done nothing wrong and ended up in prison. But she was stuck here until Delphine could arrange a rescue, and that meant surviving in the short-term. So that meant following Cicero's advice... and tracking down the prison king.