Meme Announcements!
Oct. 29th, 2011 12:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
skyrimkinkmemeANNOUNCEMENTS: UPDATED 12/16/2017
Happy Holidays, fellow Kinkmemers! I have returned and have no reasonable excuse for my absence except LIFE. I will be working on updating the archives. If anyone sees anything amiss, please let me know.
I am also hoping to find another Mod and an Archivist.
The more dedicated people we have in this Meme the less chance of it dying. I admit that being the sole keeper of the Meme is not great for the fandom. If something were to happen to me, for good, this place would go the way of the Fallout Kink Meme. Let's not let that happen! If anyone would be interested in Modding/Archiving, please drop me a line. Thanks! <3
Re: Nightshade and Juniper 19.9
Date: 2013-07-09 09:21 pm (UTC)“I lost my daughter,” he finally said, still not looking at Liriel. “I'm a father mourning a child. But it's more than that, Liriel. I'm also a king... and with Kaie gone, I don't have an heir.”
Liriel couldn't breathe, couldn't think. She recalled what Argis had said – he was Crown-Prince until a legitimate heir turned up. An heir ready to succeed Madanach in twenty years and all she could give him were Altmer babies who wouldn't even be adults for another fifty and no one in their right mind gave anyone under a hundred any real responsibility.
“But it's all right, I've been thinking about it,” Madanach continued, getting up and joining her on the bed, talking fast, all nervous energy and more than a hint of desperation. “We'll need to get married, soon, and get to working on an heir right away – well, we don't need to wait for the wedding for that. Get you pregnant, get the child born, raise it as best we can – Altmer come of age at fifty, don't they?”
“You're not going to live another fifty years!” Liriel whispered, heart breaking. Madanach had an arm around her, squeezing her hand.
“I know,” he said softly. “But Imperial law allows a wife to inherit her husband's title and land if there's no heir – Elisif did it. You'll rule after me, and you can step down in favour of our child when you feel they're ready. The only other option is Argis and his line, but he's a Nord marrying a Nord and I'm not handing my country back to them in one generation, I'm just not.”
“Madanach...” Liriel began, feeling her pulse race and her blood pound and her head spin. “Madanach, I – I can't...”
“I know it's quicker than you might have wanted but it's the only way, Liriel, please – Liriel?” He'd finally stopped and was looking up at her, going very still as he realised she was shaking all over, tears on her cheeks. “Liriel? What's wrong? I thought you wanted children...”
“You can't have a kingdom of humans ruled by Altmer,” Liriel whispered. “The Thalmor would be all over the place and even if they weren't, everyone else would think they were running the show. It'd be a hundred years before any child of ours was remotely ready to take over, maybe longer. And then they'd live for centuries! I thought the idea was that Reachmen ruled the Reach??”
“Well the Nords saw an end to that, didn't they!” Madanach shouted. “I had four beautiful little girls and I lost them all, one way or another. So I need a legitimate heir and if they can't be full Reach-blooded, I'll settle for half – we're descended from Altmer, it's better than Nord blood.”
“You would give your people a god-king,” Liriel breathed, because she knew that was what would happen, they revered her enough already, give them several generations of the same unageing, undying, golden-skinned ruler? It'd be the Tribunal of Morrowind all over again. Madanach didn't seem to care.
“I don't mind fathering a god,” he said, faint hint of a smirk on his face, and that was so very typical of him, to laugh when he'd not be the one living with it. And it wasn't just the Reach who'd suffer either.
“I mind!” Liriel cried. “If I have a child with you, I can never go home again!”
She stared at him as it hit home – if she had his child, she might as well mourn her parents now. They'd forgive her coming home in forty or fifty years having married a human who'd died – a youthful fling with a human would be ignored, swept under the rug, acted as if it had never happened, everyone made mistakes while young. But a child... a child couldn't be ignored, and she knew exactly what her staunch Thalmor mother would say to a half-blood grandchild.
Re: Nightshade and Juniper 19.10
Date: 2013-07-09 09:23 pm (UTC)“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 19.11
Date: 2013-07-09 09:24 pm (UTC)“Tell me about her,” Liriel whispered. “Tell me about Eola. You never did say what happened, you didn't even tell me her name until now.”
“Why'd you want to know now?” Madanach asked, sounding more than a little baffled.
“Just tell me,” Liriel said softly, nestling in his arms. “If – if we have to part... I want to know the last piece of the story before I go.”
She felt Madanach's arms tighten and a kiss on her head.
“Well, why not, it's not like it can hurt any worse than the rest of all this,” he sighed. “All right. You know how she saw Amaleen die. Well, it changed her. She'd always been closer to me than her mother and I know Mireen resented that. Mireen was not a good woman – she blamed me for not saving Eithne, and I think she blamed Eola for not saving Amaleen, or at least being the reason she died. Either way, she took it out on Eola, and managed to combine overprotectiveness with constant belittling. The way Kaie told it, Eola always seemed to be the naughty one, the stubborn one, the one who talked back, the one who invited trouble. Well of course she was, she was my girl through and through. I never knew when to shut up either.” Laughter at this, every word shot through with pride and really Liriel had to wonder how she'd not seen the relationship before. “Anyway, that's how it was and things got worse as she got older. She threw herself into her training, did really well by all accounts, was shaping up to be one of our best nightblades. Gifted, they called her. Never seen anything like it, so I heard. Better than her sister in a lot of ways. She had my gift for Destruction, her mother's Conjuration talents, could sneak like a Dark Sister, handled a blade like veterans twice her age. I was so proud, couldn't wait for her to turn sixteen, get initiated and then come do the jail runs with her sister so I could finally see my girl again. But it never happened.”
“She died?” Liriel asked, all the while knowing that no, she never died, she ran away. Deserted, according to Eola. A common deserter, so Liriel had thought, but no, she was the long-lost Reach-Princess. In danger of a brutal and fatal punishment, so Liriel had been led to believe. Punishment?? From the sound of it, Eola was no more likely to die a long, slow lingering death at Madanach's hands than Liriel was ever likely to. All the same, Liriel needed to make sure that Madanach would actually take her back with open arms.
“Worse,” said Madanach softly. “She ran away. Mireen's fault. She stopped Eola's initiations, confined her to camp, refused to let her make the sacrifice for her initiation of Sithis, and banned anyone in the camp from going near her to consummate Anu's. Said she wasn't getting recognised as an adult until she'd learned to act like one, and that meant getting married to continue the line. She'd already starting making arrangements with eligible men at other camps. Apparently Mireen doubted Eola's commitment to the cause and thought it would be best to get Eola married and pregnant as soon as possible to tie her down. Married by force and at sixteen! She was a child, Liriel, my child!” Madanach was shaking as he spoke, voice harsh and furious and Liriel began to realise why he'd not mourned Mireen's death. She'd have found it hard to forgive a husband who'd try to sell one of her girls in marriage.
“So she escaped,” Liriel whispered, her respect for Eola shooting up. “Good for her.”
Re: Nightshade and Juniper 19.12
Date: 2013-07-09 09:26 pm (UTC)“You don't see her as a deserter or murderer then,” Liriel said, hope flaring. Madanach looked at her, surprised she'd ever think that.
“No, why would I? She was a child, Liriel! Uninitiated. Never taken a life, never been with anyone, not started the Dance as a full adult. I'm not going to hold her to account for what she did as a child. She was alone and afraid and didn't know any better or have any other options. Because I wasn't there to look after her and stop it.”
Guilty, bitter, blaming himself – but not angry. Not vengeful. Eola would be safe – more than safe. Loved.
“What would you say if you saw her again?” Liriel whispered. Madanach didn't reply, and Liriel looked up to see tears in his eyes. “Madanach? Oh gods, Madanach, you don't have to answer that...”
“She was my girl,” Madanach whispered, not looking at Liriel as he clung on to her. “My little princess. All the others were born at Karthspire but not her. She was born in Markarth, in the master bedroom at Understone Keep, while I was King the first time. When she was born, I took her out to the waiting city and told her she would have everything I could ever give her, she'd want for nothing, she'd have the life I never did. A promise I could never keep. I failed her, Liriel. I loved her so much and I let her down. She needed me and I wasn't there...” He clutched Liriel to him, face buried in her hair, silent tears on his cheeks.
“I'm not sure I even want to see her again,” Madanach murmured. “Don't know what I'd say. How in the world I'd ever make it up to her, I don't know. I don't suppose she wants to see me again – she must have heard about me taking the Reach by now, if she cared, she'd have come back. But she hasn't so I guess she's done with us.”
Liriel wasn't sure whether to be impressed by his stoicism or outraged at him just giving up. She let go of him, sitting upright.
“Madanach, she's your daughter!” Liriel cried. “More than that, with Kaie gone she's your heir! You can't just give up on her! You have to find her. I'm not having any child of mine at constant risk of disinheritance, and nor will any Reachwoman you might marry.”
That did get to him, the familiar spark firing up with anger in his eyes.
“And where do you suggest I look, hmm? She could be anywhere! Morrowind, High Rock, Cyrodiil, who knows where she went? For all I know she went off to study magic with your lot in Alinor.”
“They'd never teach a human magic,” Liriel laughed. “Goes against everything the Thalmor believe.” She leaned over and kissed him, her lips meeting his as she held his face and tasted him one last time.
“Don't do anything,” she whispered. “Don't make any hasty decisions. Just keep yourself safe and take care of the Reach. Get your son married. Don't think about heirs or finding a bride or anything. Just leave it to me.”
Re: Nightshade and Juniper 19.13
Date: 2013-07-09 09:28 pm (UTC)“I am Listener of the Dark Brotherhood, Archmage of Winterhold and Dragonborn,” Liriel replied, brimming with confidence at last. “I've got friends all over the place. I can find her, Madanach. I can get you your daughter back.”
“Don't make promises you can't keep,” Madanach warned her, but that was hope in his eyes, faint hope but hope nonetheless. He watched as she got up, reaching for her things.
“I can give you a year,” he finally said. “That's all, Liriel. I'm getting old, I can't wait forever.”
“I know,” Liriel said softly, shouldering her pack. It wouldn't take a year, it wouldn't even take a month if her intuition was correct. She just needed to hear the truth from Eola and persuade her to go back to her father.
Pausing to kiss Madanach goodbye, she left the tent, in search of Argis. Time to get her ex-housecarl's opinion, reclaim Cicero and then... then it was time to go find a princess.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N: The Forsworn funeral owes a lot to the Fremen funeral service in Dune, with a few Dothraki elements from Game of Thrones and Forsworn/Elder Scrolls lore mixed in to give it that canon feel. I hope you liked it.
Eola must be the least likely princess ever, but I have a feeling she'd go well as kin to Madanach. She's not going to tell him about the cannibalism and Namira worship though. Even Madanach has limits.
Re: Nightshade and Juniper 19.13
Date: 2013-07-12 01:42 pm (UTC)And I'm with Liriel- I totally should have seen that Eola was Madanach's daughter but I didn't.