Not twenty minutes later, she felt Madanach vanish entirely... and then re-appear seconds later to the north. What the actual... had he just teleported? Where to? North east of here, which was all wrong for Cwm Prendwemyn.
Gentle reassurance from him and a large dose of amusement, and Liriel was torn between wanting to slap him and wanting to kiss him. But he hadn't abandoned her.
Madanach had an awful lot of grovelling and making up to do before Liriel actually took him back. But if he could give her a few satisfactory answers as to just what was wrong with him, she just might do it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The first sign that anyone in Solitude had that something was wrong was the unexpected sight of an ageing Breton in purple and black armour and a silver circlet, and a huge Orc in traditional Orcish armour tearing out of the cellar of the Temple of Divines. This was followed by the Breton making the Orc pray at the Shrine to Arkay, all the while tersely telling him “it's fine, it passes eventually, lots of people get portal sickness, it's OK” and the Orc moaning “you're not telling me anything about that was natural, boss!”
But the Orc seemed to rally and the Breton was persistent, only stopping to pay his own respects to the Julianos shrine, grin smugly at the empty alcove that had once hosted a Talos shrine, and then bundle his guard out the door.
Jordis the Sword-Maiden was next to notice something odd when she heard a key in the door and Liriel not expected for weeks.
“Hope you're not here to cause trouble, what can I do for you, friend?” she asked, getting up and reaching for her sword... at least until she saw her Thane's husband walk in with his Orc bodyguard at his side.
“Sir! It's you, I didn't realise... are Liriel and the girls here?”
“The girls are back in Markarth, and your Thane's in trouble,” Madanach said without preamble, and if he looked paler than usual with horrible bloodshot eyes, Jordis elected not to comment. “Jordis, I'm going to need the Jarl's help and my son's assistance, but you're sworn to her service too, and I could do with all the swords I can get.”
“Say no more,” Jordis said firmly. “I'm right behind you, sir. Let me get geared up – what's happened?”
So Madanach had to explain that Liriel's own parents had abducted her and were bringing her to Solitude to get her on a boat back to Alinor, all the while averting his eyes and nudging at Borkul to do the same while Jordis changed into a set of ebony armour that actually seemed to have black smoke rising from it, along with matching helm, boots and gauntlets, a nice Elven bow and arrows, and a massive warhammer.
“Is that the Hammer of Malacath?” Borkul gasped, unable to take his eyes off it.
“Yes,” Jordis said smugly. “Liriel got given it ages ago and said I could have it. Pretty, isn't it?”
It was spiky and glowing and the head was bigger and heavier than an Orc's, clearly capable of smashing the unworthy into pieces. Borkul nodded, clearly smitten by it... or possibly just Jordis, Madanach did have to admit the girl was very pretty. Just not as pretty as Liriel.
“Come on,” he said, dragging Borkul away from staring lustfully at his wife's housecarl. “We've got a Jarl to appeal to.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Elisif turned out to be busy putting Lirela to bed, but Argis was always pleased to see his father. Maybe their relationship hadn't always been easy, maybe being the illegitimate half-Nord son of the King in Rags was a tough burden to bear for anyone... but Argis was devoted to his father and always had been.
“Da, what are you doing here? We weren't expecting to see you here so soon after the wedding, what's up?”
And there he was, strapping six foot Nord warrior, now wearing the fine clothes of a King Consort and a golden circlet, holding his arms out to embrace his father.
Madanach returned the hug, feeling something of the warmth and safety Skooma had given him, if in a far more muted form, and he was also acutely aware that Argis didn't know what he really was or that he technically wasn't King any more. In fact, probably best to keep that little detail quiet for now.
“Son,” Madanach said quietly. “Son, I need help, Liriel's in trouble, I need to speak to your wife immediately.”
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timeasmymeasure
Re: Thicker Than Blood 9.5
Date: 2014-02-26 10:51 pm (UTC)Gentle reassurance from him and a large dose of amusement, and Liriel was torn between wanting to slap him and wanting to kiss him. But he hadn't abandoned her.
Madanach had an awful lot of grovelling and making up to do before Liriel actually took him back. But if he could give her a few satisfactory answers as to just what was wrong with him, she just might do it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The first sign that anyone in Solitude had that something was wrong was the unexpected sight of an ageing Breton in purple and black armour and a silver circlet, and a huge Orc in traditional Orcish armour tearing out of the cellar of the Temple of Divines. This was followed by the Breton making the Orc pray at the Shrine to Arkay, all the while tersely telling him “it's fine, it passes eventually, lots of people get portal sickness, it's OK” and the Orc moaning “you're not telling me anything about that was natural, boss!”
But the Orc seemed to rally and the Breton was persistent, only stopping to pay his own respects to the Julianos shrine, grin smugly at the empty alcove that had once hosted a Talos shrine, and then bundle his guard out the door.
Jordis the Sword-Maiden was next to notice something odd when she heard a key in the door and Liriel not expected for weeks.
“Hope you're not here to cause trouble, what can I do for you, friend?” she asked, getting up and reaching for her sword... at least until she saw her Thane's husband walk in with his Orc bodyguard at his side.
“Sir! It's you, I didn't realise... are Liriel and the girls here?”
“The girls are back in Markarth, and your Thane's in trouble,” Madanach said without preamble, and if he looked paler than usual with horrible bloodshot eyes, Jordis elected not to comment. “Jordis, I'm going to need the Jarl's help and my son's assistance, but you're sworn to her service too, and I could do with all the swords I can get.”
“Say no more,” Jordis said firmly. “I'm right behind you, sir. Let me get geared up – what's happened?”
So Madanach had to explain that Liriel's own parents had abducted her and were bringing her to Solitude to get her on a boat back to Alinor, all the while averting his eyes and nudging at Borkul to do the same while Jordis changed into a set of ebony armour that actually seemed to have black smoke rising from it, along with matching helm, boots and gauntlets, a nice Elven bow and arrows, and a massive warhammer.
“Is that the Hammer of Malacath?” Borkul gasped, unable to take his eyes off it.
“Yes,” Jordis said smugly. “Liriel got given it ages ago and said I could have it. Pretty, isn't it?”
It was spiky and glowing and the head was bigger and heavier than an Orc's, clearly capable of smashing the unworthy into pieces. Borkul nodded, clearly smitten by it... or possibly just Jordis, Madanach did have to admit the girl was very pretty. Just not as pretty as Liriel.
“Come on,” he said, dragging Borkul away from staring lustfully at his wife's housecarl. “We've got a Jarl to appeal to.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Elisif turned out to be busy putting Lirela to bed, but Argis was always pleased to see his father. Maybe their relationship hadn't always been easy, maybe being the illegitimate half-Nord son of the King in Rags was a tough burden to bear for anyone... but Argis was devoted to his father and always had been.
“Da, what are you doing here? We weren't expecting to see you here so soon after the wedding, what's up?”
And there he was, strapping six foot Nord warrior, now wearing the fine clothes of a King Consort and a golden circlet, holding his arms out to embrace his father.
Madanach returned the hug, feeling something of the warmth and safety Skooma had given him, if in a far more muted form, and he was also acutely aware that Argis didn't know what he really was or that he technically wasn't King any more. In fact, probably best to keep that little detail quiet for now.
“Son,” Madanach said quietly. “Son, I need help, Liriel's in trouble, I need to speak to your wife immediately.”