“Twenty three,” said Elisif, marshalling her courage and facing this creature head on. “And stop calling me child.”
Keirine lowered her claws, cackling in delight. “Yes, of course, you certainly aren't one any more, are you? Slayer of dragons, the Widow Queen wanting revenge, no, a child you certainly are not. And if you can stand up to me, you'll have no problem dealing with my brother. Even if you are young enough to be his daughter, in fact I think Eola's actually older than you.”
“Your brother...” Elisif started to say, but it was obvious once you looked at her, they had the same hair, eyes, cheekbones, even if Keirine's features were sharper and clearly not human any more. Madanach had a Hagraven sister. Well of course he did, Elisif didn't even feel surprised at this point. “You're Madanach's sister.”
Keirine smiled and nodded. “Yes. His twin in fact. I daresay he never mentioned me, of course he never did.” She rolled her eyes and gestured for Elisif to follow her. “Madanach is really quite bad at handling his family life. As you're no doubt going to find out for yourself, Brenhina. Come on, if you came all this way to see him, I'll take you to him.” Keirine swept off without another word, the watching Forsworn warriors who'd been regarding Elisif with suspicion all melting away as their Matriarch swept past.
“I just spoke to a Hagraven,” Elisif said faintly. “In the middle of a Forsworn camp – Argis, I'm on a Forsworn camp. And – and no one's trying to kill me.”
“No,” Argis said, letting out a relieved sigh. “No, no one is. As long as you don't do anything stupid, you'll be just fine. Word has been getting out about you, Lady Queen. Elisif ap Davrha, they're calling you, born of the Dragon. They seem to think you're going to save the Reach. I don't know if they entirely trust you yet, but you're not going to be harmed.”
Up until they find out I'm not in fact going to do any such thing, oh gods they'll kill me.
“Argis,” Elisif whispered, clutching his arm. “Argis, if this goes wrong... please get me out of here. I don't want to die at their hands. I don't want to be soul trapped or reanimated!”
“They won't do that,” Argis said quietly. “Come on.”
Easy for him to say. There were soul gems in cages everywhere, all glowing, all sending off energy beams into the sky, all converging on a central point – a soul gem mounted on top of a central command tent. Not just any soul gem either. Sweet Aedra, was that Azura's Star? But how in the world had the Forsworn got hold of that, that had been Vilkas's...
“ARGIS!”
Farkas got up from where he was sitting by the camp's central fire, rushing over and launching himself at Argis, pulling the other man into an embrace, and sitting by the fire were Vilkas, Ria, Aela, Brynjolf, a dark haired Nord that Elisif didn't recognise, Aranea and Erandur, all drinking and chatting and raising drinks to her when they saw her.
“What is this?” Elisif whispered, slowly coming to the realisation that something was not right about this particular Forsworn camp. “How – what are you all doing here?”
“Lass!” Brynjolf laughed, getting to his feet and waving a bottle at her, looking none too steady on his feet. “You made it! About time, this whole camp's getting antsy. Now you're here, the party can get started in earnest.”
“Party?” Elisif said, staring daggers at Brynjolf. “I'm not here for a bloody party, I've got dragons to kill!”
“Taken care of!” Ria laughed, arms around Aela and Vilkas. “We had three of them all roosting near here, attacking every other night. Not any more though, they're staying dead this time!”
“No thanks to you, Dragonborn, where were you?” Vilkas said, a tad reproachfully. “Shouldn't killing them be your job?”
“Oh Vilkas, come on, she wasn't to know this place was here,” Aela said. “We had the situation well in hand. Karliah and I, and Cicero while he was here, were shooting them down with no trouble.”
“Don't forget the magic,” Aranea pointed out. “You have me, Erandur, Kaie, Eola before she took off with Cicero, several Matriarchs, and several hundred Forsworn. Oh, and Himself of course. Never seen a human quite that good with fireballs before.”
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timeasmymeasure
Re: The Wolf Queen Awakens 27.3
Date: 2014-04-25 08:32 pm (UTC)Keirine lowered her claws, cackling in delight. “Yes, of course, you certainly aren't one any more, are you? Slayer of dragons, the Widow Queen wanting revenge, no, a child you certainly are not. And if you can stand up to me, you'll have no problem dealing with my brother. Even if you are young enough to be his daughter, in fact I think Eola's actually older than you.”
“Your brother...” Elisif started to say, but it was obvious once you looked at her, they had the same hair, eyes, cheekbones, even if Keirine's features were sharper and clearly not human any more. Madanach had a Hagraven sister. Well of course he did, Elisif didn't even feel surprised at this point. “You're Madanach's sister.”
Keirine smiled and nodded. “Yes. His twin in fact. I daresay he never mentioned me, of course he never did.” She rolled her eyes and gestured for Elisif to follow her. “Madanach is really quite bad at handling his family life. As you're no doubt going to find out for yourself, Brenhina. Come on, if you came all this way to see him, I'll take you to him.” Keirine swept off without another word, the watching Forsworn warriors who'd been regarding Elisif with suspicion all melting away as their Matriarch swept past.
“I just spoke to a Hagraven,” Elisif said faintly. “In the middle of a Forsworn camp – Argis, I'm on a Forsworn camp. And – and no one's trying to kill me.”
“No,” Argis said, letting out a relieved sigh. “No, no one is. As long as you don't do anything stupid, you'll be just fine. Word has been getting out about you, Lady Queen. Elisif ap Davrha, they're calling you, born of the Dragon. They seem to think you're going to save the Reach. I don't know if they entirely trust you yet, but you're not going to be harmed.”
Up until they find out I'm not in fact going to do any such thing, oh gods they'll kill me.
“Argis,” Elisif whispered, clutching his arm. “Argis, if this goes wrong... please get me out of here. I don't want to die at their hands. I don't want to be soul trapped or reanimated!”
“They won't do that,” Argis said quietly. “Come on.”
Easy for him to say. There were soul gems in cages everywhere, all glowing, all sending off energy beams into the sky, all converging on a central point – a soul gem mounted on top of a central command tent. Not just any soul gem either. Sweet Aedra, was that Azura's Star? But how in the world had the Forsworn got hold of that, that had been Vilkas's...
“ARGIS!”
Farkas got up from where he was sitting by the camp's central fire, rushing over and launching himself at Argis, pulling the other man into an embrace, and sitting by the fire were Vilkas, Ria, Aela, Brynjolf, a dark haired Nord that Elisif didn't recognise, Aranea and Erandur, all drinking and chatting and raising drinks to her when they saw her.
“What is this?” Elisif whispered, slowly coming to the realisation that something was not right about this particular Forsworn camp. “How – what are you all doing here?”
“Lass!” Brynjolf laughed, getting to his feet and waving a bottle at her, looking none too steady on his feet. “You made it! About time, this whole camp's getting antsy. Now you're here, the party can get started in earnest.”
“Party?” Elisif said, staring daggers at Brynjolf. “I'm not here for a bloody party, I've got dragons to kill!”
“Taken care of!” Ria laughed, arms around Aela and Vilkas. “We had three of them all roosting near here, attacking every other night. Not any more though, they're staying dead this time!”
“No thanks to you, Dragonborn, where were you?” Vilkas said, a tad reproachfully. “Shouldn't killing them be your job?”
“Oh Vilkas, come on, she wasn't to know this place was here,” Aela said. “We had the situation well in hand. Karliah and I, and Cicero while he was here, were shooting them down with no trouble.”
“Don't forget the magic,” Aranea pointed out. “You have me, Erandur, Kaie, Eola before she took off with Cicero, several Matriarchs, and several hundred Forsworn. Oh, and Himself of course. Never seen a human quite that good with fireballs before.”