“I'm not a Blade,” she told him. “But as for why we need the Temple, we were hoping it would have clues on how to fight dragons.”
“You don't seem to need the lost knowledge of the ancients to do that, girl,” Madanach remarked, and he did grin at that. “From what I heard, you managed to kill one just fine on your own.”
“That was one dragon!” Elisif protested. “There's lots of them, and if I don't stop them, their leader will destroy the world and the afterlife too! I need to bring down Alduin, that's the first of them, but he's no ordinary dragon and I don't know how. I was hoping the temple would have answers.”
“And did it?” Madanach asked, still that strange curious smile on his face. Elisif shook her head.
“Not exactly,” she sighed. “But it's a secure base and it did give us some leads. Which I can't follow up because I'm stuck in here!” She glared at him, remembering how she'd ended up here in the first place. “The world is going to end and it'll be all your fault!”
The inconsiderate son of a bitch had the nerve to laugh.
“I shall have it engraved on my tombstone,” he promised. “Madanach ap Caradach, Lord of the Reach, Scourge of the Nords, Destroyer of Worlds. How does that sound? Suitably impressive?”
Sending him to that tomb earlier than he'd planned was starting to seem like less and less of a bad idea, but Elisif had a feeling it wouldn't end well for her either, and she needed to fight Alduin before she could finally die and let the world sort itself out.
“Get me out of this bloody prison,” she hissed. “Get me out of here and... and...”
“And you'll what?” he retorted, one elbow resting on his desk, and now he just looked bored. “Grant me a full pardon? Send Igmund packing and get me my land back? Have Thonar Silver-Blood executed for crimes against humanity?”
“I... er...” Elisif began. Technically, perhaps she could do all that, but Igmund was one of her supporters, she couldn't just hand his Hold over to the Forsworn. Thonar on the other hand, she'd be quite happy to ram a sword through his chest. True, it would also be illegal... but didn't she have a friend who specialised in that sort of thing? “All right. Get me out of here and I'll get Thonar killed.”
“Promises, promises,” Madanach said, shaking his head. “You'll forgive me if I don't trust you quite yet. Do you even know why we're fighting?”
Not a question she'd expected. “You want to rule the Reach,” she said, confused. Madanach went still, before slowly shaking his head.
“Actually no, I just don't trust anyone else to do a good job of it,” Madanach sighed. “And certainly not the Nords – you may think I'm corrupt and a murderer, and maybe you're right, but you think this is new? I'm nearly sixty, and this city was no different fifty years ago when I was a boy growing up in the Warrens. Wasn't new then either. You want to know who we are, what we're really about? Go and talk to Braig, he's one of the prisoners here. Apart from me, he's been here the longest. Tell him I sent you, ask him how he ended up here. When you've done that, come back here. Perhaps then I might be able to help.” Without another word, he turned back to his work, ignoring her.
“That – that's it?” Elisif asked. “You just want me to go talk to one of the other prisoners?”
“Did I stutter?” Madanach growled, not even looking up. Elisif flinched. While she didn't think he was going to kill her now, he was still rather intimidating, to put it mildly. But if all he wanted was for her to go and talk to another prisoner, well she could do that. So off she went to go find this Braig character.
What she didn't see as soon as she'd left the room was Madanach lower his quill, move noiselessly out of his chair, watch her walk away, taking a few moments to engage in all the eyeing up he'd been repressing throughout their conversation, before trailing in her wake, clinging to the shadows in a way even Cicero would have admired, casting a Muffle spell to make things easier. The King in Rags was no stranger to stealth or covert operations, and he was already hatching plans. He just needed proof that his suspicions were correct.
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timeasmymeasure
Re: The Wolf Queen Awakens 13.6
Date: 2013-11-11 08:50 pm (UTC)“You don't seem to need the lost knowledge of the ancients to do that, girl,” Madanach remarked, and he did grin at that. “From what I heard, you managed to kill one just fine on your own.”
“That was one dragon!” Elisif protested. “There's lots of them, and if I don't stop them, their leader will destroy the world and the afterlife too! I need to bring down Alduin, that's the first of them, but he's no ordinary dragon and I don't know how. I was hoping the temple would have answers.”
“And did it?” Madanach asked, still that strange curious smile on his face. Elisif shook her head.
“Not exactly,” she sighed. “But it's a secure base and it did give us some leads. Which I can't follow up because I'm stuck in here!” She glared at him, remembering how she'd ended up here in the first place. “The world is going to end and it'll be all your fault!”
The inconsiderate son of a bitch had the nerve to laugh.
“I shall have it engraved on my tombstone,” he promised. “Madanach ap Caradach, Lord of the Reach, Scourge of the Nords, Destroyer of Worlds. How does that sound? Suitably impressive?”
Sending him to that tomb earlier than he'd planned was starting to seem like less and less of a bad idea, but Elisif had a feeling it wouldn't end well for her either, and she needed to fight Alduin before she could finally die and let the world sort itself out.
“Get me out of this bloody prison,” she hissed. “Get me out of here and... and...”
“And you'll what?” he retorted, one elbow resting on his desk, and now he just looked bored. “Grant me a full pardon? Send Igmund packing and get me my land back? Have Thonar Silver-Blood executed for crimes against humanity?”
“I... er...” Elisif began. Technically, perhaps she could do all that, but Igmund was one of her supporters, she couldn't just hand his Hold over to the Forsworn. Thonar on the other hand, she'd be quite happy to ram a sword through his chest. True, it would also be illegal... but didn't she have a friend who specialised in that sort of thing? “All right. Get me out of here and I'll get Thonar killed.”
“Promises, promises,” Madanach said, shaking his head. “You'll forgive me if I don't trust you quite yet. Do you even know why we're fighting?”
Not a question she'd expected. “You want to rule the Reach,” she said, confused. Madanach went still, before slowly shaking his head.
“Actually no, I just don't trust anyone else to do a good job of it,” Madanach sighed. “And certainly not the Nords – you may think I'm corrupt and a murderer, and maybe you're right, but you think this is new? I'm nearly sixty, and this city was no different fifty years ago when I was a boy growing up in the Warrens. Wasn't new then either. You want to know who we are, what we're really about? Go and talk to Braig, he's one of the prisoners here. Apart from me, he's been here the longest. Tell him I sent you, ask him how he ended up here. When you've done that, come back here. Perhaps then I might be able to help.” Without another word, he turned back to his work, ignoring her.
“That – that's it?” Elisif asked. “You just want me to go talk to one of the other prisoners?”
“Did I stutter?” Madanach growled, not even looking up. Elisif flinched. While she didn't think he was going to kill her now, he was still rather intimidating, to put it mildly. But if all he wanted was for her to go and talk to another prisoner, well she could do that. So off she went to go find this Braig character.
What she didn't see as soon as she'd left the room was Madanach lower his quill, move noiselessly out of his chair, watch her walk away, taking a few moments to engage in all the eyeing up he'd been repressing throughout their conversation, before trailing in her wake, clinging to the shadows in a way even Cicero would have admired, casting a Muffle spell to make things easier. The King in Rags was no stranger to stealth or covert operations, and he was already hatching plans. He just needed proof that his suspicions were correct.