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
The Wolf Queen Awakens 13.1
Date: 2013-11-11 08:43 pm (UTC)Summary: Cicero returns from his night out with a new lover and new recruit in tow, one with Forsworn ties and a Daedra's power, so Delphine will be pleased, right? Wrong, as it becomes apparent the Dragonborn's in trouble, having wound up in the toughest prison in Skyrim surrounded by Nord-hating Forsworn, with only her wits and her courage to sustain her.
Warnings/Kinks: Angstiness, but other than that, nothing to worry about.
It was early when Cicero and Eola snuck into Sky Haven Temple, arms round each other and giggling as Cicero explained all about the place, enthusing about the running water in the bathrooms – boiler needed stoking first of course, but hot baths!
“You can stoke my boiler any day, cariad,” Eola murmured in his ear and that set Cicero off blushing and giggling again. At least up until Delphine's voice rang out across the main hall.
“Where the fuck have you been, Cicero?” Delphine shouted. Cicero went still, gulping nervously and with good cause, because Delphine was advancing, hair down and unbrushed, face pale and worried, clearly furious with Cicero.
“Er... look, Grand Master, Cicero found a new recruit!” Cicero cooed, hoping to distract her. Eola smiled too, but Delphine barely noticed her.
“Never mind new recruits!” Delphine snarled. “All the recruits in the world are no use to me if we've got no Dragonborn!”
Cicero's smile faded, a horrible sense of foreboding settling upon him. No Dragonborn... but surely Elisif had gone straight home as he'd told her. Had something happened to her on the road? Or... no. No, she wasn't that stupid. Surely even the idealistic young High Queen wouldn't have gone off meeting strange young Reachmen in isolated places.
“Oh, but Cicero told Elisif to come home right away while he dealt with the Dark Brotherhood assassin!” Cicero trilled. “Surely she arrived back long ago!”
Delphine advanced on him and grabbed him by the shirt. “She never came back last night,” she growled. “I waited up till midnight then fell asleep. Woke up an hour ago and her bed's not been slept in. I was hoping she was with you and you'd spent the night in Markarth.”
Cicero shook his head, torn between tears and shrieking rage and howling, hysterical laughter.
“Cicero sent her back... Cicero thought she was here. Cicero did not know... did not know she'd go after that Reachman!”
“What Reachman?” Delphine and Eola said in unison, then both turning to look at each other properly for the first time.
“Who is this?” Delphine asked, frowning. “You're... you're a Reachwoman, aren't you?”
“Am I ever,” Eola sighed. “Ex-Forsworn in fact. Don't worry, that was a long time ago. I don't have a problem with Talos-worship as long as I don't have to participate.”
“Ex-Forsworn,” said Delphine, looking thoughtful. “Hmm. Interesting. Could be useful. All right, I can use all the help I can get, especially right now. I take it Cicero told you everything.”
“He did that,” said Eola, rubbing Cicero's back, cuddling him now Delphine had let him go. Delphine didn't miss the gesture, raising an eyebrow as she watched him snuggle up next to Eola.
“So that explains where you were all night,” Delphine remarked, faint grin on her face. “Well, far be it from me to kick Cicero's girlfriend out. All right, Cicero, tell me about this Reachman. Who was he and what did he want with Elisif? Does he know who she is?”
So Cicero explained, telling Delphine everything, with much wailing about how he'd told her to walk away, leave it alone, no good could come of it, and Delphine listened, both resigned and appalled, while Eola listened in utter shock.
“And so she went to meet him as soon as you left her,” Delphine sighed. “Damn it, Cicero, you know she can't resist a sob-story! Although I suppose if there was a known Dark Sister in town, you'd have to deal with that first. So, this murder. You think the perpetrator was a Forsworn agent.”
Re: The Wolf Queen Awakens 13.2
Date: 2013-11-11 08:44 pm (UTC)“Right. And this other man that spoke to you, was he a Forsworn agent too?”
“I don't know,” Cicero whispered. “I don't think so. Cicero heard him swear by the Eight...”
“Doesn't mean he's not one,” said Eola grimly. “Sithis, Cicero, I think your Dragonborn may be in trouble.”
“The Forsworn have an assassination ring going on in Markarth, a secret underground resistance,” Delphine said, eyes widening in horror. “Oh Talos, of course they do, they're masters of covert ops and insurgency. Even back before the war, we were taking note of them – they got organised all of a sudden, there was this gradual increase in activity, then while the Empire's back was turned, they took the Reach. It was actually quite brilliantly done – we were cursing their opportunism and suspecting Thalmor involvement but whoever planned all that was a damn genius.”
“Madanach,” Eola said, looking rather proud of him. “Not just him, he had a high command of course. Keirine, Mireen, Nepos, a few others. But the Forsworn have leaders, Delphine. They have a King.”
“They have... he's still alive,” said Delphine, surprised. “Didn't they capture him a few years after retaking Markarth from him? I'm amazed he wasn't executed.”
“So am I,” Eola whispered. “But he's still alive and in Cidhna Mine. I don't know what state he's in, for all I know his health went years ago and his mind followed.” Her voice caught on the end of that sentence and she looked away.
“Oh don't you worry, I have a feeling his mind is just fine,” Delphine said, starting to pace up and down. “So, there's a Forsworn underground in Markarth freely murdering people, and just by coincidence, that city is home to a maximum security prison containing the King of the Forsworn, who we know is one cunning son of a bitch capable of taking the disunited Reachman hill tribes and turning them into an organised resistance movement in under a decade. He's clearly behind it, but what bothers me is how the Nords are just letting it go on. Thonar Silver-Blood owns that prison, he hates the Forsworn, he's a Stormcloak sympathiser. Why he's not had Madanach killed is a mystery. It's not because he's a decent human being, let me tell you.”
“So what do we do?” Eola asked, wide-eyed and fearful. “It sounds like a fucking hornets' nest and it also sounds like your Dragonborn just started poking it.”
Delphine looked at Eola, eyes narrowed, appraising her very carefully.
“Our Dragonborn,” said Delphine coldly. “You want in to the Blades, you better start thinking of her as our Dragonborn. And here's your chance to prove it. Both of you, get to Markarth now. Find her, find out what's happened to her and get her back here in one piece. I don't care about whatever conspiracy is going on there. I just want the Dragonborn back here. Go. Now. And hurry. From what I know of Madanach, he is not a man who messes about. If she's really been poking into his affairs... Talos, just get out of here.” Delphine turned away, hands running through her hair.
“Delphine?” Cicero whispered, reaching after her as she walked away, stricken with guilt. Eola grabbed his arm, leading him away.
“Leave her,” said Eola softly. “Elisif's the one in real trouble. Come on, let's go.”
Cicero nodded once, following Eola out. Time to track down the Dragonborn.
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.
Re: The Wolf Queen Awakens 13.4
Date: 2013-11-11 08:47 pm (UTC)All the more reason to find Madanach quickly. So here she was, making her way down the tunnel towards his private cell. Didn't reek as badly as the rest of the prison down here, apart from the private toilet facility off to one side, the sole one in the prison, needless to say. Elisif made her way down the tunnel to the room at the end, wondering what she'd find.
What she hadn't expected was a bed, chest, food, wine, and sitting behind a writing desk, an older man, dressed in prison rags but looking distinctly less grimy than the rest of the prisoners. He was busy writing a letter of some kind. More kill orders for his underlings?
He barely spared her a second glance as she walked in. Now that she was here, she had no idea what to say to him. Ask for help? Shout at him for aiding and abetting death and corruption? Shout at him for real and hope it killed him outright before he could recover and start casting back?
She wasn't sure that last one was a good idea. Even with her fully armed, she had a feeling he'd be tough to beat. One did not get to be King of the Forsworn by being weak.
“Well, well. Look at you,” he growled, eyes flicking over to her but not lingering and that was actually a relief. Someone in this mine not staring at her like she was a piece of meat. “Your kinsmen have turned you into a wild animal, caged up and left to go mad. So, my fellow beast, what do you want? Answers about the Forsworn? Justice? Not a lot of that in this city, Nord.”
“I noticed,” Elisif growled, wondering if she was strong and fast enough to throttle him. Probably not. He was the same height she was, more or less, but stockier and stronger from the look of it. Stronger and not remotely reluctant to kill Nords. She'd have to be careful. “You've got a lot to answer for.”
“Do I,” Madanach murmured back, anger flashing in his eyes. “And what about you, hmm? You're the one who came here, started meddling, going where you weren't wanted, antagonising the wrong people. Now your foolishness brought you here and you expect me to make it all better for you? You Nords, you want it all on a plate, don't you? You disgust me.”
“You're not exactly endearing yourself to me either!” Elisif shot back. “You're the one murdering innocent people on the orders of someone who you should be fighting! At least I'm not a hypocrite!”
The quill slammed down, and as Madanach slowly got out of his chair, glaring at her, Elisif stepped back, realising she'd gone too far.
“Oh gods,” she whispered. He was advancing on her, eyes narrowed as his mage armour flared into being. This was it, death coming for her, and now it was actually happening she wasn't greeting it with open arms, she was terrified. But she was still a true Nord and if she died bravely, Sovngarde awaited, right? Torygg, get some mead ready, I'm coming home... Elisif closed her eyes.
“Go on then,” she heard herself say. “Send me to Sovngarde, I don't even care.”
Silence. Nothing at all, and finally Elisif risked opening her eyes to see Madanach not moving, just frowning at her.
“You know,” he said at length, “it's almost like you want me to kill you.”
Elisif just shrugged, not sure she really wanted to talk about this with a stranger, especially not the King in Rags.
“Why would you care?” she snapped. “You hate Nords, don't you?”
He didn't answer. He was just staring at her, appraising her very carefully.
“Who are you?” he murmured. “They told me you were some mercenary called Maia, but there's something about you... You're not a mercenary, that's for damn sure.”
Re: The Wolf Queen Awakens 13.5
Date: 2013-11-11 08:49 pm (UTC)Madanach returned to his seat, crossing his legs and stroking his chin, still that thoughtful look in his eyes.
“Not yet,” he said, almost smiling, and definitely intrigued now. Well, she had his attention at least. But how to keep it and persuade him to keep her alive long enough for the eventual rescue?
“What about helping me escape then?” she asked. Well, not like she'd lose anything by asking. He must have ways in and out of this place, surely.
That did get a laugh. “Perhaps,” he said. “I'm just trying to work you out. You see, I've had a lot of reports come in of late. Lots of interesting ones over the last few months, and some frankly baffling ones over the last week or so. Some mercenaries destroyed one of our camps the other day, but not ordinary mercenaries, no. A werewolf, a little red-haired daedra in human form, some other warriors, at least one mage, and... a young Nord woman with red hair who killed the dragon that had been menacing the camp for the last week and allegedly took its very soul.” He was staring straight at her, eyes cold and Elisif began to realise that if she'd been in trouble before, she was pretty much doomed by this point.
“You know, that camp was home to my daughter and her mother,” he said, still sounding oddly calm for someone whose people she'd helped kill. “You're very fortunate my daughter got out before the carnage started, but as it is, she lost her mother. My little girl is heartbroken, Nord.”
“I'm sorry,” Elisif whispered, wondering if it was worth telling him she'd hardly killed any Forsworn, it had been the others... but she was queen and they'd been there because of her. Leaders took responsibility for this sort of thing, right? “We just needed access to the ruins in the Karthspire, we'd have negotiated... but they attacked first.”
Madanach didn't answer, but he nodded once and Elisif felt herself relax a little. He wasn't going to kill her quite yet, it appeared.
“Why did you need access to the ruins,” he said, still sounding eerily calm. “They've been abandoned for decades if not more. I was fifteen when I came to Karthspire and joined the Forsworn, and that was nearly forty five years ago now. The place was sealed off tight and the elders said the place had been that way ever since they could remember too. Now you and your people manage to just turn up and get in when we never managed it in all those years?” He shook his head, laughing to himself. “You know, the Akaviri have been gone for years, and their successors, the Blades, they've been on the run since the war ended. I heard the Thalmor hunted them all down.”
“You heard wrong,” Elisif said before she could stop herself. Madanach just smirked, triumphant at having got something out of her.
“So. You're a Blades cell. Now that is interesting. You know, the old tales talk of the Akaviri being friends and allies when they first came to the Reach. That when the Cyrodiils finally conquered the land, they intervened and stopped it being an all-out bloodbath. They treated us fairly, unlike others I could name. Then the First Empire fell, and the Akaviri remained, living in peace with us. It was only when Tiber Septim came that they followed his lead and let him abuse us and enslave us. And so we turned on them too. It's said that's why they sealed their temple up and fled the Reach. You a Talos-worshipper, girl?”
“No!” Elisif protested. Not that she had anything against Talos, but Talos worship was illegal and had been all her life. She'd only ever known eight Divines.
“So why'd you join the Blades? And why are you reclaiming that temple?” Madanach returned, eyes never leaving hers. No, definitely not giving her the creepy male gaze the other prisoners had, but this wasn't exactly preferable. At least she'd known what the others had wanted. She had no idea what Madanach was after. But she might as well tell him, keep him talking.
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.
Re: The Wolf Queen Awakens 13.7
Date: 2013-11-11 08:52 pm (UTC)“Did he now?” Braig said thoughtfully, lowering his pick and sitting down, making himself comfortable. “Well all right then, if he wants you to hear it, I'll tell you. But let's hear yours first. When was the first time you felt chains on your wrists?”
First time?? This was the first time. Elisif could cry. She shouldn't be here, she wasn't a criminal, she didn't belong here! But her story... she could tell him that.
“Never,” Elisif whispered. “I grew up in Wayrest, out in High Rock. It was just me and my father. He was about your age when I was born, he'd married a much younger woman. But she'd died in childbirth, leaving him with me. I don't think he ever got over it, but he loved me regardless. We weren't exactly rich, but we weren't poor either. Then when I was about nineteen, he started to get sick. Really sick. So he sold everything we had and took us on a boat to Skyrim. To Solitude. He wanted to look upon his homeland again before he died. So we went there, rented a house and lived there, and every day I'd take him to the docks if it wasn't raining and he wasn't too ill so he could see the Throat of the World in the distance. It made him happy, and I was glad of it. Then there was a party at the Bards' College for the Burning of King Olaf Festival. I went along on my own and then I met this young man there. He was so handsome and charming and had a throng of young men and women around him but the moment he laid eyes on me, he barely left my side. Kept seeking me out, talking to me, asking me to look after his drink for me so he had an excuse to come back. I was flattered and pleased and he seemed so nice. A few days later he called on the house and spent some time with my father, and then he started visiting regularly. Then he introduced me to his father and that was... intimidating. And then one day he turned up with an Amulet of Mara and asked me to marry him. So I did. And we were happy. Really happy. We were married for three years, and despite my father dying and then his father at the end of last year, we didn't care because we still had each other. And then Ulfric Stormcloak came to Solitude and murdered my husband. Just Shouted him to the floor and ran him through before he could defend himself. Right there in front of me, in front of everyone!” Elisif felt the tears started to come, and she wiped her eyes, sniffing as she tried to blink them away.
“He was twenty five years old,” she whispered. “He wasn't a seasoned warrior, he'd had some training but he was just a young man and he couldn't Shout like Ulfric could. And Ulfric just walked up to him and killed him. Not because he'd done anything wrong even, but to make a point. He did it because he could. And he broke my heart.”
Elisif had been sitting down anyway and that was probably a good thing because it meant she didn't injure herself due to her legs giving way as she began to cry in earnest.
“I shouldn't even be here!” she sobbed. “I should be in Solitude right now, in our house there, with my husband alive, looking forward to – I was pregnant, did you know that? We'd just found out, I'd told him that morning, and we were so happy. We'd wanted children more than anything. Then he died and... and I lost the baby and nothing's been right ever since. I should be in Solitude, thinking of names and picking out decorations for the nursery... and instead here I am, travelling Skyrim, trying to learn to be a warrior so I can challenge Ulfric and get revenge on him. Instead I walk right into Thonar Silver-Blood's hands and he slung me in here to get me out of the way. Even Madanach got a trial, didn't he?” Elisif wiped her eyes and looked up at Braig, wondering how he was taking all this. It had gone strangely quiet out there, the mine silent, no one hacking at rock faces, no one talking or anything. Just an old Forsworn warrior staring back at her and looking guilty for even asking.
Re: The Wolf Queen Awakens 13.8
Date: 2013-11-11 08:53 pm (UTC)“I – yeah,” said Braig faintly, sounding a bit helpless and for some reason he was looking over her shoulder, eyes pleading with someone behind her. “I'm really very sorry to hear it, young lady, and believe me, I do know how it feels. I lost my little girl too. She was barely four years old. Nord soldiers killed her and threw me in here. I'll spare you the details. Er... are you all right?”
Elisif shook her head, feeling her heart breaking all over again, and honestly she was glad Braig hadn't told her any more than that, because that was awful, killing a four year old because of what her father might have done? And her own country's soldiers too, her kinsmen. Nords should know better. Nords were supposed to be honourable warriors, fighting evil and protecting the weak, not murdering children. Were they Igmund's men or Ulfric's, she wondered, and then decided it didn't matter. It wouldn't bring Braig's little girl back, or anyone else. All this in her own country, an entire Hold with its own war going on, and maybe the Forsworn were animals, maybe they were murderers... but the Nords they'd been fighting were no better. Worse in some ways. She'd wanted to see what Skyrim was like for people that weren't Jarls. She was certainly finding out and she didn't like what she saw.
“I'm so sorry,” she whispered. “For everything my kinsmen did to you. You deserved better. I'll try and get justice for you, I swear.”
“Don't waste your pity on me, girl,” Braig growled, not looking at her now. “I'm just an old Forsworn who wishes he'd killed more of Ulfric's men when he had the chance. Never mind justice for me. Just give Ulfric a few swings of the axe from me when you see him.”
Elisif nodded tearfully. She could certainly do that – if she ever got out of here. She got up to find Madanach, turned round... and realised he'd been there the whole time. There were five of them, that yellow-eyed prisoner Uraccen, the young one called Odvan, Duach who'd given her the Skooma, Borkul at the back towering over the others, and at the front, Madanach kneeling, staring at the ground, and then he looked up.
The one thing she'd never have expected to see in the Forsworn King's eyes when looking at the Nord Queen was understanding, sympathy and pain of his own.
“How much of that did you hear?” she gasped, mortified.
“Enough,” was the response as he got to his feet, holding out a hand to her. “I wanted you to know what it was like for us, turns out you already do. Braig, thank you, I know you don't like talking about it, but this was important, trust me.”
“Anything for the cause, sir,” Braig said deferentially, picking up his axe and staring at the rock face. Madanach nodded at the others, all of whom were also looking sympathetic, even Borkul, and motioned for them to get back to work. They dispersed quickly enough, leaving her with the King in Rags.
“You were listening in,” she whispered. “You son of a bitch.”
He had the nerve to smile. “Braig won't talk about his story unless it's on my orders, and he always asks for the other person's first. I wanted to know who you were, really. Now I do... and now I think we can help each other. Come with me, let's talk.”
He knows who I am. Of course he did, how many other people's husbands had Ulfric walked into Solitude recently and murdered? The others might not know, being stuck down here, but Madanach must have had reports from his people on the outside. By this stage she wasn't even frightened... just numb. Whatever he did to her, it couldn't hurt worse than seeing Torygg dead had. She just nodded and went over to him, not even objecting as his hand came to rest on her upper back and he led her out.
No one even looked at her as they went out, apart from that Nord Grisvar, but he just looked confused – or at least he did until Madanach glared at him then he very quickly looked away. All rather different to how it had initially been. No staring, no ogling, nothing. Cicero had been right. Get the prison king on your side, no one hassled you. Even Borkul nodded respectfully as Madanach led her back to his room.
Re: The Wolf Queen Awakens 13.9
Date: 2013-11-11 08:57 pm (UTC)“Are you all right?” he asked as she sipped at the wine. It was cheap Alto wine but right then Elisif couldn't have cared less. It helped.
“How in Kyne's holy name am I supposed to be all right after all that,” Elisif whispered. “I lost my husband and my baby and oh gods, I never told anyone about the baby before.”
He was sitting next to her on the bed, rubbing her upper back but otherwise sitting about six inches away from her, no part of him touching her and that was a surprise but a nice one.
“It gets easier to bear,” she heard him say quietly, sounding like he knew first-hand and Elisif remembered hearing Torygg speaking of Ulfric, telling Elisif what a great man the Jarl of Windhelm was, how he'd smashed the savages of the Reach, torn their resistance movement apart, overthrown the treacherous usurper who'd led them, heroically reclaimed the Reach for Skyrim, and Elisif had lapped it all up unquestioningly. Now here she was hearing it all from the other side, and she was questioning everything she'd ever been taught. Here she was, trapped in a prison with said murdering usurper, and here he was, comforting her.
“What was your story?” she said, looking at him properly. “I mean, apart from being king and then getting dethroned – Torygg told me that one.” She didn't mention Torygg gleefully recounting about how Ulfric had shown those murdering witchmen a thing or two, or how she'd snuggled up with him and thrilled to the details. It didn't seem right to enjoy the victory when you knew innocent children had died, and not by the hands of the so-called witchmen either.
Silence, and he'd let her go, hands in his lap, just looking at the ground. He picked the wine bottle up and took a swig straight from it.
“I had a daughter too, four of them once,” he said softly. “Eldest was called Eithne, she'd be thirty four, thirty five maybe, if she'd lived. Married maybe, out there leading the fight perhaps, I might have grandchildren, you know. I'd have loved grandchildren.”
Elisif hadn't even realised what she was doing before she'd taken his hand, squeezing it.
“Could still happen?” she said hopefully. “You've still got one daughter at least!”
Madanach smiled bitterly, still not looking at her.
“Eithne was the reason I took over the tribes, turned them into the Forsworn, started all this. I wanted a better world for her than the one she'd been born into. She was my heir, my princess. And then when she was fourteen, the Nords found the camp we were living on – just me and her, the other three were at Karthspire with their mother. Ulfric was with them, he was Jarl himself by then, but he left Windhelm when he heard they were storming my camp. Apparently he hated unfinished business. It was a bloody fight, but I could have carried the day – it was me, Ulfric, Thongvor and Thonar, and Igmund left standing. Four against one, but I could have won. At least until my daughter, who I'd told to hide and stay out of sight, decided to go for Ulfric. He just shouted her down with that voice magic of his and ran her through. I surrendered after that. Dishonourable? Perhaps. Should I have fought and avenged her, even if it meant my own death? Maybe. But she was my little girl, my reason for fighting. Didn't seem a lot of point going on without her.”
Elisif remembered the days after Torygg's death, when she'd just stayed in bed, lying there as the miscarriage took her, sobbing her heart out or just staring into space, barely aware of anything. She'd got better since, got better at going through the motions anyway, and since the whole Dragonborn thing, she'd had things to take her mind off it. What had he had? Just four walls of his prison cell and a rebellion to lead.
“Are you all right?” she asked, her turn to comfort him now, and of all the people she thought she might share a grief with, all the people who might understand, she'd never expected it to be the leader of the Forsworn.
Re: The Wolf Queen Awakens 13.10
Date: 2013-11-11 08:58 pm (UTC)“One day, we will have our freedom,” he said quietly. “One day, I will see them pay, the bastards who killed my family, threw me in here, ravaged my land... Thonar, Thongvor, Ulfric, I'll see the Void take them all. All things must die.”
She didn't know Thongvor at all, but as far as Thonar and Ulfric went, she was quite happy to see them bludgeoned.
“I'll give Ulfric a stab from you,” she promised. “Thonar too. If you get me out of here.”
Madanach finally looked up, actually smiling, sly grin that might have unnerved her once but now actually gave her hope.
“Yes, you and I have business to discuss, don't we. Jarl Elisif, known as the Fair, and recently Dragonborn. The Fair suits you. I'm not sure about the dragon, not unless you've got scales somewhere.”
Elisif took her hand from his, and shoved him in the side, but in all honesty, she didn't feel terribly offended and nor was he, just laughing and lounging back against the headboard.
“I don't have scales! Or a tail, before you ask. I just... can take a dragon's soul when it dies. Stop it coming back.”
“Like you did at Karthspire,” Madanach said, nodding in understanding. “That's how I knew it was you, by the way, I'd been wondering why the Empire's choice for Queen of the Nords could go from helpless figurehead to being idolised just by adopting a warrior name like Dragonborn. So it does actually mean something. A useful talent to have now they've come back.”
“I could wish they'd picked someone else,” Elisif sighed. “But they chose me so I guess I have to do this.”
“And what do you do with the souls once you have them?” Madanach asked, actually looking fascinated. “Can you enchant things with them?”
“I've... never tried,” said Elisif, thinking of the two inside her right now and starting to wonder if she could actually enchant things with them. An interesting possibility, but she really needed to hang on to them in case she found another Word Wall. “I use them to learn how to Shout – once I've learnt a Word of Power, I can use the soul to learn how to use it.”
“Voice magic,” Madanach breathed. “You can Shout. Like Ulfric.”
“Better than Ulfric,” Elisif said proudly. “It took him years to learn the few he does know. Me, I can learn words in seconds, I just need to see them written down. And then I just use a dragon soul and I can shout it. Of course, I have to kill the dragon first but even that's getting easier, and now I've got the Blades with me, I've got help! That's who they are, they're the guards of the Dragonborn, they're an order of dragonslayers. They served Reman Cyrodiil, but if they'd already made arrangements with you, that was why they stopped his Empire wiping you out. But when Talos arrived, a full Dragonborn again... if the arrangement had weakened or broken down, they'd have had to obey him.”
Madanach nodded, eyes flashing angrily again. “I see. And the current full-blooded Dragonborn, where does she stand on the Reach?”
A difficult one to answer. On the one hand, the Forsworn had killed an awful lot of people. But on the other, they'd been effectively Thonar's puppets for years, their king trapped in a daedra's bargain and too grief-stricken to care about anything else... or at least he had been. The man in front of her didn't look heartbroken at all, in fact he seemed cheerful. Pleased. A certain vibrant energy radiating out of him.
“Torygg hated you all,” she said quietly. “Thought you were all murderers. Animals. Traitors. But he also admired Ulfric and look where that got him.” Elisif considered her opinion on the Forsworn. Murderers, perhaps, so they'd have to stop that. Traitors? Well, insurrectionists yes, but given what currently passed for the government of the Reach, she found herself no longer blaming them. And as for animals... when you started treating any sentient being as less than a person, that was usually when the trouble started.
Re: The Wolf Queen Awakens 13.11
Date: 2013-11-11 09:00 pm (UTC)Madanach was grinning, and there was very little evidence of remorse there at all, but he did nod in agreement.
“Oh, don't worry, my little deal with Thonar is drawing to a close. And if the High Queen of Skyrim is considering giving us our land back, well, I can agree a little amnesty for a while. May I take it your Blades friends won't be destroying any more of our camps?”
“I'll talk to them,” Elisif promised. “It really was just the Temple we wanted, now we have that, we're good.”
“I hope so,” Madanach said. He was still watching her, something clearly still bothering him.
“What is it?” Elisif sighed. “What else do you want?”
“I have some more questions, if I may,” Madanach said. Elisif nodded for him to go and ask them. “If you're so against murdering the innocent, why are you working with the Dark Brotherhood? Don't tell me you don't have one of them with you, I have eyewitness accounts of a little red-haired daedra called Cicero swearing he'd send us to the Void in the name of Sithis. Well, he's not one of us, and the only other organisation who believe in Sithis and the Void are the Brotherhood. Going to get them to stop murdering innocents too?”
“If I have to,” said Elisif, remembering Veezara lying dead on the floor of her bedroom and Arnbjorn bleeding out on the road through Falkreath. “They tried to kill me once. They'll try again, but I don't intend to let them win.”
A sharp intake of breath from Madanach, and she'd never thought she'd see fear in his eyes, but he looked genuinely worried.
“They have a contract out on you,” he gasped. “Sithis, Elisif...”
And this was what Elisif had feared, the Dark Brotherhood and Forsworn being in league.
“You have an agreement with them,” she said, prepared to run if she had to – but where, that was the trouble. So it was she could have cried when Madanach shook his head.
“We used to. Many years ago when they first got started. We trained their assassins, they helped us out. Sithis is one of our gods, they worship Sithis too.” Then his eyes hardened. “But we drifted apart years ago. Sacrament doesn't even work any more. There's no one in the Forsworn remembers the old days personally, and I think they've abandoned us. So you're planning to take them on, are you? Presumably this Cicero's a renegade member.”
“Yes, although he doesn't see it that way,” Elisif explained. “The Dark Brotherhood's down to one group, according to him. They lost their Cyrodiil Sanctuaries after the war, there's just the Skyrim one and it no longer follows their leader, the Night Mother. Cicero still does, but he's the only one. There was a fight over it and he had to flee the Sanctuary. We saved him and now he's working for us. He thinks they're liars and heretics, not the real Brotherhood any more, so he's willing to help me fight them. He's... a bit odd, all right, very odd, but he can be really nice and he's already taken care of one of them for me!”
Madanach's worry had eased, and now he just looked sad. “So the Brotherhood have abandoned their Matriarch. No wonder the Sacrament stopped working.” He did smile then, grinning at Elisif in the candlelight. “In that case, I'd say they've got it coming. All right, next question. How exactly did you end up here anyway? My opinion of the Nords' intelligence has never been high, but even they aren't stupid enough to throw their own queen into prison, right? Surely the Jarl recognised you, he was up in Solitude at that Moot thing they held after the old High King died.”
Re: The Wolf Queen Awakens 13.12
Date: 2013-11-11 09:02 pm (UTC)Laughter from Madanach as he refilled her tankard and drank more of the wine himself. “And that's Thonar all over, judging everyone else by his standards. Honestly, I have daughters, I don't go around raping and abusing innocent young women, or even the guilty ones for that matter.” His face turned sombre, shadows in his eyes. “So if Thonar knows who you are and is in contact with Ulfric still, he's probably sent word to him already. If Ulfric wants you alive, and there's a good chance he might if he thinks he can use you, he'll be sending people for you soon. We don't have a lot of time.”
No, they really didn't, and Elisif was a sitting duck here if Ulfric did decide to collect her.
“You wouldn't let them take me,” she whispered. She wasn't sure quite how far she could trust Madanach but he'd not want to let an asset like her fall into Ulfric's hands, right?
“Never,” Madanach growled and Elisif felt a little nervous. She'd hate to have that anger turned on her – Madanach was a frightening man when he was angry. But it passed as soon as it had arrived.
“Don't worry,” he said gently. “I'll make sure that doesn't happen. I just have one last question. Are you serious about learning to be a better warrior so you can kill Ulfric and avenge your husband?”
“Very,” Elisif said, remembering the blood on the Blue Palace's tiles and the screaming, gods she hadn't even sounded human. “He broke my heart, destroyed my family. He pays.”
Madanach didn't seem remotely worried by her anger, in fact he looked delighted.
“A woman after my own heart,” he laughed. “Tell me, have you given any thought to what happens after? You'll need back-up to get you in there and then out again without his guards killing you, and then that city's going to need a new Jarl. Unless you were planning to run it yourself.”
Truth be told, Elisif hadn't really thought about it – that was all General Tullius' area.
“I'm assuming I'll have the Legion at my back,” Elisif said, shrugging. “But if I don't... well, I'll go in alone if I have to. I just want him dead. I don't care about anything else, I never even wanted to be queen, that was all Falk and Tullius' idea. If I don't make it out of there, at least I get to go to Sovngarde. I get to see Torygg again.”
Madanach said nothing, lowering the wine bottle to the floor, eyes never leaving hers, face sombre and Elisif could almost swear he looked sad about this, but why would he? He'd known her only a few hours, not like it'd break his heart to lose her or anything.
“That sounds like a colossal waste,” he said eventually and Elisif closed her eyes, not even sure why the tears were coming again, but there was just something in his voice, some wistful yearning there, as if he'd actually miss her if she died.
Well, she'd probably miss him too if he died. He wasn't a monster at all, just a man like any other – well, not like any other, he was a smart, charismatic battlemage who led an entire movement after all. But he wasn't a wild animal like Thonar had claimed either and while she didn't know if she could entirely trust him, the fact remained she liked him. Felt safe around him. Comfortable. In other circumstances, she had a feeling they'd be friends.
They still could be.
“Was there anything else you wanted?” Elisif asked, desperately wanting to get off this subject before she starting sobbing again.
“Just one thing. A little favour if you will,” said Madanach, still lounging back, hands behind his head, still that odd wistful look in his eyes, accompanied by a faint smile.
“What sort of favour?” Elisif asked. Hadn't she already agreed to talk the Blades round to non-hostility against the Forsworn, get Thonar killed and look into possibly getting them their land back?
Re: The Wolf Queen Awakens 13.13
Date: 2013-11-11 09:04 pm (UTC)“What, you want me to get arrested again?” Elisif asked, before seeing the twinkle in his eyes and realising no, he had no intention of staying in Cidhna Mine any longer than he had to.
“There's a Forsworn camp in the north of the Reach, in the Druadach Valley, just north of Karthwasten, on the southern bank of the Darkfall River,” Madanach told her, his voice soft and low but his eyes alive with promise. “It's called Druadach Redoubt and it's going to be my command centre. You want to see me, you'll be quite welcome as long as you don't bring an invading army with you.”
“You're breaking out of here,” Elisif gasped, hope flaring inside. She was getting out of here, they were all getting out of here!
Madanach nodded. “Yes. We've planning it for months, but recent events have convinced me now's the time to execute it. Want in?”
“Yes!” Elisif cried, ready to cry with relief. “Yes, of course. And I'll be sure to let you know when I'm going to Windhelm as well, so you know to start listening out for the news.”
“Yes,” Madanach said, still grinning. “Of course I'll want to do that, yes.” He got off the bed, patting the back of her hand. “Listen, we can't go just yet. I've got to make some arrangements first, get everything in place. But it shouldn't take too long, not more than a day at the most. In the mean time, you can stay in here with me. I know it's not much but it's better than anywhere else in this prison. There's facilities just down the corridor, food and wine here, and you can have the bed when you get tired. Make yourself at home.”
“But won't you need the bed,” Elisif asked, feeling the wine starting to go to her head. She was tired, a nap wouldn't hurt, but wouldn't he need to sleep at some point?
“I slept earlier,” Madanach told her. “Don't worry about me. You just rest and leave it all to me.”
“Thought you weren't going to make it all better for me?” Elisif said as she laid down on the bed, grinning sleepily at him.
Madanach stopped in the doorway of his room, laughing softly and glancing back at her.
“Not just for you,” he told her. “But if it makes you happy, I can live with that.”
Then he was gone, leaving her alone in a prison cell in the toughest prison in Skyrim, in a bed that wasn't hers, separated from her entire previous life and utterly at the mercy of and dependent on the man known as the Scourge of the Nords. So why she felt safer than she'd done since Torygg died, Elisif had no idea. She just crawled under the furs, closed her eyes and let sleep claim her.
~~~~~~~~~
A/N: And there you go, there's Elisif making friends all over.
Next chapter, Cicero and Eola, unaware of all this, start planning their own jailbreak operation... with mixed results.
Re: The Wolf Queen Awakens 13.13
Date: 2013-11-13 01:20 am (UTC)Re: The Wolf Queen Awakens 13.13
Date: 2013-11-13 01:18 pm (UTC)Re: The Wolf Queen Awakens 13.13
Date: 2013-11-17 12:04 am (UTC)Re: The Wolf Queen Awakens 13.13
Date: 2013-11-17 12:01 am (UTC)