Hi. I wanted to state that I am not making money off of this. All Characters w/ the exception of the Dunmer Girl/Woman, Saeana (and that's fifty-fifty), Ilura, Tavrel and the unnamed wood elf are the property of Bethesda.
I also entered this story in a fanfiction contest on , so if it looks familiar to you, it just might be.
In case you didn't notice the preview, there are some MILD spoilers in the story, most of them for the Dark Brotherhood questline, but some general game spoilers as well.
This story is rated M for violence and some unpleasant, though non-explicit, ideas.
So, without further ado..
"We Are Merely Shadows…"
By JediShyala (aka ELW)
"Shadows are not an absence of light..."
Skelos Undriel; Shadowmage
It was just before sunset as the broadly shouldered man rode on a raven-black mare to the Black Waterside Stables outside of Cheydinhal, the two moons just starting to come into view in the red streaked sky. They hadn't traveled terribly far, but the terrain wasn't the smoothest and the mare was tired. Dismounting the beautiful horse, the man patted her on the neck for a job well done, giving a fond smile to his long time equine companion.
"I'll probably be most of the night Shadowmere, so rest easy," he murmured in his gravely voice, though normally unsettling and even frightening, there was a tone of unmistakable fondness intertwined in the words. "We'll leave tomorrow morning." With that, he stroked the soft velvet of her nose and turned to Tovas, the young, dark elf proprietor of the Cheydinhal stables, who had just come in to the stable.
"Good to see you again Mr. Lachance, just one night as usual?" he asked, as cordially as he could, though his intimidated mannerisms were hard to ignore.
"Yes, we'll be leaving in the morning, so make sure she's brushed down properly," Lucien Lachance said, using his intimidating timbre on the Dunmer, all the fondness flushed from his voice. "And only the finest feed, I'm not paying you for mediocrity." The man nodded, too uneasy to say anything. Though she knew Lucien was fond of her, it always made Shadowmere feel good to hear him insist on her care. He strode away, his confident form disappearing through the Cheydinhal city gates. Shuddering, Tovas walked over to Shadowmere, looking over his shoulder to make sure that Lucien was really gone.
"I don't know what it is, but that man gives me the creeps," he said, half to himself half to Shadowmere. "Of course with those bright red eyes of yours, you used to give me the creeps too." Just to make him feel more uncomfortable, Shadowmere stared directly at him. She succeeded, Tovas's face contorting with anxiety. "That's not funny, stop that!" he said, his voice tense. Shadowmere nickered, finding it very funny, on the contrary, since Tovas, being a Dunmer, naturally had the bright red eyes that were characteristic of the race.
"There's my girl," Mivryna, Tovas's stable hand, among other things, said, walking up to Shadowmere and scratching her behind her ear. "It's been awhile, hasn't it girl?" Shadowmere nuzzled against Mivryna's neck. She liked Mivryna; she seemed to be one of the only ones, other than Lucien, who appreciated her as something more than a horse.
" 'Your girl' is trying to screw with my head," Tovas complained, hauling a bale of hay to the manger in front of Shadowmere. "I was telling her that her eyes used to creep me out and she got into a staring contest with me." Mivryna laughed, rolling her eyes and patting Shadowmere's forehead, sliding a shiny red apple to her lips.
"Have you looked in the mirror Tovas? Your eyes are the same as hers! Staring was her way of calling you an idiot." If she could have, Shadowmere would have smirked at Tovas. She settled for crunching the apple Mivryna had just delivered and watching the two Dunmer go about their chores. It was late, and they looked tired, but seemed to enjoy the time together, their voices jovial and laughing. After enjoying the finest feed they had, Shadowmere began nodding off a little as Mivryna brushed her with a currycomb. Shadowmere let herself nap, her eyes growing heavy but jerked awake at the sound of Mivryna's shriek.
"Tovas!" she yelped, laughing. Shadowmere looked to the side and saw Tovas holding Mivryna around the waist, kissing down her neck. "In front of the horses?!" Tovas laughed, bringing his lips from her skin for a moment.
"They don't seem to mind," he flirted. As Mivryna gave in and returned his affections, Shadowmere rolled her eyes and turned around, knowing what this was going to lead to. It never ceased to amaze her what people were comfortable doing in front of animals. Listening carefully, Shadowmere heard them disappear to the darker part of the stable, hidden from the light, but their shadows revealing their every movement; limbs entangling, hips thrusting, bodies pressed close.
"It's because we are mere shadows in this world, girl, cast according to the light that hits us. Some lights make shadows dim, some bright, some badly distorted, some revealing what we really are. The trick is to know the difference between bad light and the true self."
The thought floated to the surface of Shadowmere's mind, bringing memories she hadn't thought of in years. As her eyes drifted shut in sleep, she remembered that her life would have been drastically different if it hadn't been for one day, long lost in the shadows of her mind.