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Skyrim Page 5 - "NAKED! Naked naked naked "

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“I've got a little Cicero, look! Mamma made him for me because she knew I wanted one. Except now she's gone away too and... and I miss her. But Liriel went away for ages and ages and AGES and I got to see her again so maybe I'll see Mamma again soon too.”

“Maybe you will, Cali-cat,” Liriel said, rubbing her sister's back. “All right, let's get back to the Keep. We need to tell Eola we're back.”

“Yes, we do, don't we,” Madanach said, smiling faintly although there was little humour there. “Let's see if she's willing to listen to reason.”

Liriel bit back the comment on Eola getting that from him. She suspected it wouldn't help. But from Eola's most recent letter, she also suspected Madanach's chances of being King again were better than he thought.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eola was indeed holding court from the Mournful Throne when they arrived, Nepos and Keirine flanking her and ReachGuard everywhere... and she wasn't alone. A small group was standing at the foot of the throne and Liriel's heart sank as she saw gleaming golden eagle armour and the blue robes of a Justiciar – no, not a Justiciar. Elenwen herself was here, and that did not bode well.

“Ambassador, I appreciate your concern but surely this is an internal Thalmor matter?” Eola was asking, and Madanach growled to see her wearing Miraak's robes.

“She steals my clothes as well as my throne?” he muttered to Liriel.

“I'll get her to give the robes back,” Liriel conceded – those had after all been a birthday present from a wife to her husband, not a gift of tribute to a king. But right now, Elenwen was the bigger problem.

“Isn't that Ambassador Elenwen?” Ancalime asked, curious. “What's she doing here?”

“I don't know, but it can't be good,” Liriel said, approaching warily.

“A noted Justiciar resigns without warning and disappears without even stopping to explain herself in person, and she was last seen leaving Solitude with her daughters and your king,” Elenwen snapped, tapping her foot. “We have one dead Aldmeri citizen whose remains need to go back to the Dominion, Sabrinda apparently going AWOL, and a small child to locate and return back to her older brother in Alinor if we can't find her mother. And all the available evidence appears to point back to Markarth and the Mournful Throne. So I will ask again. Where. Is. Sabrinda?”

Damn it. Liriel should have known Elenwen would start poking her nose in where it wasn't wanted sooner or later. Time to resort to drastic measures.

“Cicero,” Liriel whispered, beckoning to the Keeper, who was skipping along with Sissel and Ancalime. “I think your wife's missed you. Go and say hello.”

Cicero looked up, eyes falling on Eola and lighting up. “She has, she has!” Cicero sighed, besotted look in his eyes as he let go of Sissel and Ancalime's hands and sprinted up the corridor. “SWEETLING! EOLA MY LITTLE SWEETROLL, CICERO IS BACK!”

“Good call,” Madanach murmured, squeezing Liriel's hand as Cicero bounced past a momentarily stunned Elenwen, up the steps and right into Eola's lap. Eola cried out as she caught him, smoothly guiding him onto her lap and promptly kissing him, not seeming to care about the Thalmor Ambassador's presence.

“Thank the gods, I was starting to think you'd got tired of me already!” Eola laughed, smiling up at Cicero, who gasped in horror.

“No sweetling, never sweetling! Cicero missed his precious sugar dumpling, he did!”

“Glad to hear it,” Eola smirked. “Sweetie, I'm trying to hold court here. We've got visitors, look.”

Cicero turned to look at Elenwen, eyes narrowing and lips curving into a cruel little smile that was the mirror of Eola's own. “So I saw,” he purred. “What does my lovely want done with them, hmm?”

“Nothing, for now,” Eola said, seeming quite cheerful now her husband was back. “They wanted to know where Liriel's ma was. Problem with her letter of resignation apparently. Or so they tell me. Not like I need to know about Thalmor personnel issues, is it?”

“Given the number of Thalmor personnel that have gone missing in or near the Reach, I'd say you might want to take a little more interest in the Thalmor,” Elenwen said, glaring at them both. “Skyrim has beasts as well and far more marauders than the Reach, and yet we lose three times the number of people here than we do elsewhere. The terrain isn't that rough, Princess! So tell me, before I take this to the General, what exactly happened to Sabrinda? Is she another disappearance like the others?”

“She's alive and well,” Liriel announced, deciding that if the Thalmor were going to try to use her blood family to get at her in-laws, she should probably intervene. “But don't bother hassling Eola. She doesn't know where Sabrinda is. My mother's mourning my father, isn't up to parenting at the moment and has gone on a pilgrimage to recover. Ancalime is staying with me. I see no need for the Thalmor to interfere in any of this. This is a family matter and we'd like a bit of privacy. Cali's very upset over the whole thing and needs stability.”

“Precisely, which is why she needs to go back to Alinor,” Elenwen snapped, turning on Liriel. “I hardly think this city's a suitable environment for an elven child. Between the smelter smoke, a sealed house no one's allowed in because it was used for Daedra worship, the goats' heads everywhere and allowing Skooma addicts in what passes for society, I hardly think Markarth's a suitable environment for anyone, let alone a well-bred Altmer child.”

Liriel was vaguely aware of Madanach flexing his fingers, lightning crackling, and while she had a feeling no one would exactly stop him if he did kill Elenwen, Liriel could do without the coverup and could definitely do without her kids seeing it.

“You are not taking my sister!” Liriel snapped. “Children, your room, all three of you. Now.”

Sissel and Lucia didn't need telling twice and swiftly shepherded Ancalime off to their bedroom, Ancalime protesting that she wanted to stay in Markarth, she liked it here.

“You heard her, Ambassador,” Madanach said. “The girl likes Markarth. She's made friends. I really don't see how you can justify claiming custody when her own sister's here.”

“I can justify it quite clearly when one of my Justiciars is missing, and the only witnesses to Meryndor's death are, how shall we put it, not terribly reliable,” Elenwen snapped. “The King Consort says Meryndor was already dead when his party arrived and the only living people there were Sabrinda herself and your... Garra-Lann, do you call him?”

Cicero grinned down at the Ambassador, not needing to be told to edit the truth.

“Cicero was worried!” he cooed. “Cicero wanted to make sure sweet Liriel's family made it to Solitude without harm! Alas, he arrived too late to save Liriel's dear papa from the horrible Falmer, but he was able to help save the sweet little elfling from them.”

“The Dominion's grateful,” Elenwen said, her lip curling. “But that doesn't answer the question of where Sabrinda is now. As it is, I have only this man's word for it that it was Snow Elves that killed Meryndor and not ReachGuard, rogue or otherwise. Convenient that the ReachGuard acted to destroy the cave the attacks were said to be launched from.”

“Hey, we acted at the request of Queen Elisif herself to stop anyone else getting hurt,” Eola snapped. “I've got letters right here, and I know Elisif will say she wanted it done. Do you honestly think the High Queen of Skyrim's in on a plot to assassinate your people?”

“No, of course not,” Elenwen purred. “But I do have to wonder one thing. Why you're in the Mournful Throne, wearing the torc no less while your father ran after your stepmother and her family. More usual to send guards for that, hmm?”

“My wife needed me. I went after her. Forsworn Bond of Matrimony meant I needed to go in person as I was the only one who could track her,” Madanach growled. “So I left Eola in charge. Ambassador, did you have any actual accusations to make, or were you just going to stand here wasting everyone's time?”

Elenwen glared at him, nostrils flaring as she advanced.

“Accusations, is it? I have a letter of resignation that could easily have been forged, one dead mer that may or may not have been killed by your people, and a missing Justiciar who may have gone to find herself, but could also have been made to 'disappear'! And so far, no one is giving me anything in the way of straight answers!”

Madanach glared back, every muscle indicating what he'd like to give Elenwen, but before he could react, Keirine had risen to her feet, the First Matriarch of the Forsworn drawing her illusion cloak about her in such a way that the usual grandmotherly facade got just that bit thinner.

“Brother, there is no point hiding it any longer. We may as well admit it. It is not like we have done anything wrong. Ambassador, Sabrinda is at Cwm Prendwemyn. I have a training institute there, but there's a religious aspect to it as well and Sabrinda's there, communing with the old gods while she decides where her life is going. I hope she stays, she's a talented mage. Of course it's not the most family-friendly place so Ancalime is going to live here, but we plan to arrange regular visits. But don't take my word for it. I was heading back right now, did you want to come with me? You can see for yourselves that she's fine.”

Mollified, Elenwen stood down and acquiesced, falling in behind Keirine as the First Matriarch of the Forsworn swept out of the Keep, nodding to her brother and simply saying welcome back to Liriel.

“You have not heard the last of this, Reach-King,” Elenwen snapped as she passed... then she stopped and inclined her head. “If that's still your title.”

“You can call me sir or my lord, I always answer to those,” Madanach said, gritting his teeth as he stared her down. Elenwen's eyes narrowed, fury oozing out of every pore, but she said nothing, just sweeping out after Keirine, her guards in tow.

It wasn't until she was gone that everyone finally relaxed.

“I knew she'd cause trouble, I just knew it,” Liriel sighed. “What happens when she gets to Deepwood and finds no Sabrinda? Or worse, if Keirine actually takes her to Baila Siantri?” Unlikely, but Liriel really wasn't sure she could rule it out... at least until she saw Madanach smirking and realised perhaps she didn't need to worry quite as much as she thought.

“Don't worry, cariad. I don't think you need to worry about Elenwen ever again. You just let my sister deal with it. She's an old hand at this sort of thing. And speaking of sneaky, treacherous blood kin of mine...” Madanach had folded his arms, glaring up at Eola. “Daughter, you asked me to track Liriel down. I have done so, brought her here and restored harmonious marital relations. I have comforted and reassured our children. I have done all this and successfully avoided falling prey to cravings. That done, could I possibly have my throne back?”

Eola got up, making her way down the steps, Cicero skipping behind her and the surrounding ReachGuard standing to attention as she did so. A true Queen in waiting and while Madanach was certainly proud of her and loved her, no king could ever really be pleased to have such an obviously competent heir around. She finally came to a stop in front of Madanach, Miraak's robes rather too big for her but still looking good regardless.

“I don't know, I'm starting to get comfortable up there,” Eola mused. “Especially in these – do you know, everyone reacts so differently when I wear these. First sign of the blue and gold and everyone's so respectful, almost to the point of terror. No wonder the Thalmor have robes this colour.”

“They're used to seeing me in them, it's conditioned them to panic,” Madanach growled. “Pity they didn't have the same effect on you, you ungrateful wench.”

“I know, I'm completely undisciplined and unruly,” Eola said, shrugging. “I blame not having a father around in my formative years, what do you think?”

“I think you need to state your terms for handing the torc back and quickly,” Madanach said, barely flinching at the attempted emotional manipulation. Liriel repressed a smile. This, this was the man she'd fallen in love with. Take one kingdom away, and Liriel had a feeling he'd just set out to claim another. One of the High Rock city-states was surely looking a little bit shaky politically, the arrival of a soon-to-be-vampire king in exile might be just the thing to liven things up.

A grin flickered on Eola's lips, and Liriel had a feeling she was thinking the same thing.

“One month,” Eola announced. “In which time you enrol in the programme and see a mind-healer and stay on the meds and be a model husband and father and look after your traumatised children, and then you and me and Liriel and Uraccen and Keirine and Nepos are all going to sit round a table and see if you're ready to get back in the saddle.”

Madanach stared back at her, steely glare as one member of the House of Madanach contested with another... and then the head of the house gave in.

“One month,” Madanach agreed. “And then daughter, we talk. Now if you'll excuse me, I have children to settle down?”

“Of course,” Eola said, stepping back smoothly and indicating for him to leave. “Oh, and Da?”

“Yes?” Madanach said warily, glancing back at her.

“Welcome back,” Eola said softly, the Acting Reach-Queen giving way to the worried daughter. “I missed you. I knew you'd find her.”

Madanach looked genuinely startled, but fatherly affection had to win out at some point.

“Thank you,” he said, voice gruff but the affection back. “I missed you too. And... I'm sorry you had to see me like that. It won't happen again.”

“I hope not. My father's stronger than that. Better than that.” Eola fingered the robes, hanging a little loose off her narrower shoulders and the hem far nearer the floor than it was when Madanach wore them. “My da's a fighter.”

“All fighters lose at least once in their lives. But I'll do my best, cariad,” Madanach promised. Then he left, making a quick exit before anyone could see the guilt in his eyes, going to see how the younger ones were doing. Leaving Liriel with Eola, the remaining queenliness dying out of her once her father was gone.

“He's still talking to me. Thank Namira,” Eola said, relieved and a little tearful. “And you! We were so worried!”

“I'm sorry,” Liriel said, taking Eola in her arms. “I really am. Madanach's made me bring Jordis here as a permanent housecarl now. He seems to think I need my own after all this.”

“He's probably right,” Eola said dryly. “You were an idiot to go alone, even if they were your parents. But I'm glad you're back.”

“Me too,” Liriel said softly, cuddling the Acting Reach-Queen like she was one of her children, feeling relieved and safe and happy and just glad to be home. Markarth might have smelter-smoke and abandoned former Daedric lairs and a city under the city that required regular ReachGuard patrols to avoid the Falmer invading... but it was Liriel's home and she'd love it always.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I trust this won't take long?” Elenwen said, looking askance at the sigils painted on the floor of the former Talos Shrine, soul gems gleaming around the edge. The whole thing reeked of old heathen blood magic, and the ReachGuard men and women standing around the edge of the room were not going out of their way to reassure anyone. Keirine didn't seem that bothered, whispering to one of them before beckoning for the Thalmor to join her.

“Not long at all, it's revolutionised travel in the Reach,” Keirine said cheerfully. “Used to take hours to get to Hag's End from here, now you're there in minutes. Now, are we all inside the circle? Good, good, including all bags and clothes please, nothing over the edge. We had a few nasty accidents in the early days but it should be safe enough for the four of us.”

“Accidents?” Elenwen said warily. “Have you had many people die in this thing?”

“Oh no, hardly any,” Keirine said calmly. “Not once the testing phase was finished anyway, but you never know quite how it's going to work until you've tried it, do you? Now, everyone stay still and remain calm...” Keirine raised her hands, summoned magic, the gems and sigils glowed and purple light flashed all around them, hurtling them through space and time... and when they finally landed, it was immediately apparent this wasn't Hag's End.

“What is this?” Elenwen whispered, staring around at a blasted landscape, crumbling ruins, lightning flashing across a purple sky, and what looked like ghosts wandering around. Then a second later the cold hit her and she and her guards were sinking to their knees, life and magicka seeping out of them.

Keirine appeared completely unaffected, gesturing at the portal through which they'd come, which to Elenwen's horror, had sealed shut behind them. No way out, and when Keirine turned around, the illusions gone, Elenwen only just managed not to scream. She'd heard of Hagravens of course, but she'd never actually seen one, and the reality, ghoulishly lit up in obscene purple light, was as terrifying as she'd always been told.

“This is the Soul Cairn, Ambassador,” Keirine said, smirking. “Ever wondered where trapped souls go after you enchant with them? This is it.”

“Why...” Elenwen managed, finding it difficult to breathe. “Why bring us here?” But she knew, could see it in Keirine's gloating hag features, in those silver eyes just like her brother's. Keirine was making sure there was no more trouble for the Reach from her.

“Because your machinations broke my brother,” Keirine said, little growl at the back of her throat. “He has stayed clean without help since he got out of prison, and he was happy. He had everything he wanted. The Reach was free, he had children to dote on and a wife who loved him. And you brought her parents here, fed them tales of terror about our country and nearly destroyed him.” She leaned closed, lips pulled back in a snarl to reveal a maw full of jagged, pointy teeth that could rip flesh apart. “And still you won't desist. Still you interfere, accusing us of murdering Thalmor, trying to take little Ancalime away. Because a stable Forsworn kingdom is one of the greatest threats to the Thalmor in Skyrim, because a wealthy mountain fastness guarded by fierce warriors who can resist your magic and use it as well as you can is the last thing the Dominion want when they declare their second war.”

Which was true enough and obvious to anyone with a brain, and Elenwen realised they'd been right to fear the Reachmen. Hedge magic, heretical nonsense, mages from elsewhere had claimed that was all Reach-magic was... but Elenwen knew in that instant they'd not known the half of it.

“You won't get away with this,” Elenwen whispered, trying to summon her magicka to cast a fire spell but her strength was failing as this horrible realm drained her dry. “The Embassy will find out and that war could happen sooner than you wanted.”

“Perhaps,” Keirine shrugged. “But very convincing illusory versions of you and your guards will be leaving Hag's End half an hour from now, loudly complaining about us, be seen leaving the town, return to your Embassy where the illusory you will file a report stating there's no real evidence of wrongdoing despite what you'd hoped, and then the witches wearing the illusions will all port out back to Hag's End. Leaving a vanished Ambassador and none of it our problem. Meanwhile the Ideal Masters get your souls and we get a bit of peace from you people. I don't see a problem.”

Elenwen would have responded but she'd passed out by this point. Keirine just looked down and shrugged, before teleporting back to Hag's End to arrange the cover-up, making a mental note to thank Valerica from the bottom of her heart. Keirine trusted no promise the Ideal Masters made, but the Soul Cairn was the perfect place to hide bodies. Not that she made a habit of murder, not exactly. But even a Hag still loved her twin brother, and no one hurt Madanach and lived. No one.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: Alas, poor Elenwen. She will be sorely missed, hem hem.

Next chapter may be the last, the fic is genuinely drawing to a close. Just the last few plot ends to resolve and a couple of epilogue-ey bits looking into the future. No more than two chapters at most. I will really miss this lot. Thank you for reading and commenting, I'm glad you're enjoying this!

Yummy! I hope we find out how things turn out for Sabrinda in the future. I kind of fell in love with her. Great writing as always and thank you for writing this.

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