Isola, a high-elf of the Somerset Isles, was considered an embarrassment to her family.
The day that she and her twin brother Ormirion were born, everyone was shocked to see not two boys in the cradle, but a boy and a girl! Everyone had been so sure that Estodilwe was carrying boys. The way she held herself and the size of her stomach made all around her certain that she would deliver boys.
This was the first time Isola was considered a disappointment. The second time came moments after her birth, once the initial shock of the unexpected female wore off. Although she was the spitting image of her mother, as new-borns go, there was one stark difference. Instead of having the golden eyes the rest of the family possessed, Isola's eyes were black. It was impossible to tell where the iris ended and the pupil began. Estodilwe and her husband, Sinedaen, were sure that this was a bad omen. Ormirion was born perfect, by Altmer standards anyway, as the twins grew, it became obvious who was the dominant twin.
During her childhood, Isola spent a lot of her time locked in her room as punishment for one misdoing or another. She was often accused of leading Ormirion into troublesome behaviour, like the time that Sinedaen was hosting dinner for a few high-ranking Thalmor members; During the interval between the main course and dessert, Isola and Ormirion ran into the dining hall, knocking a servant over in the process (both apologising to the poor woman immediately). Both children were covered in mud, and their fine clothes singed. The twins had been experimenting with their newly found talent – magicka, more specifically, fire shooting from the hands of unsupervised children. Then followed much hysteria from the twins exclaiming that they had only been practising their magicka as their tutors had taught them, but suddenly something went wrong and all of a sudden, their clothes and hair had caught aflame. After shooting his superiors a desperate look, Sinedaen dragged both children upstairs into Isola's room, shouted at them both louder than either twin had ever heard, barked at a servant to give them a bath, and slammed the door so violently that the horses in the courtyard whinnied in surprise.
Isola also had two older siblings, Astaine, the eldest child, was studious and quiet. She was fiercely attached to her parents, and would spend hours studying after her tutors had left for the day, determined to squeeze out as much knowledge from her tomes as she could. Isola liked Astaine, but was wary of her, as she spent a lot of time with her mother and father, she didn't wish to include Astaine in any of her schemes, for fear that her sister would be overcome with guilt and would tell Estodilwe and Sinedaen what was going on, landing Isola in trouble yet again.
Isola's older brother, Arinaro, was a carbon copy of their father. He was arrogant, self-assured and abysmally boring. As soon as he became of age, he began following his father around on official Thalmor business, hoping to one day become a Justiciar like his father. Isola detested him for the way he treated the family servants – Bosmer and Dunmer who had come to the home with the promise of a bed, food and a decent pay. While Isola treated the servants as she would a fellow Altmer, seeing them as no more or less important than herself, Arinaro could quite often be found shouting at a servant for not looking at the floor as he passed, convinced that they were unworthy of looking at him. He had on occasion beaten a servant so severely that a healer had to be called in, Sinedaen would make countless excuses for the behaviour, claiming that it was the right of the first born boy to assert his dominance, ready for when he has a family in the future. Isola was terrified for the poor sod who he'd end up marrying.
As Isola grew older, her childish misgivings and silly behaviour turned to other, more serious offences. As a young adult, she began stealing from local shops, was arrested for a drunken brawl which saw Arinaro's nose get broken in the ruckus (much to Isola's delight), and was given a public order banning her from using magicka in a public setting, after setting fire to the robes of one of her father's work colleagues (he had the audacity to try and squeeze her rear end when her father wasn't looking, he didn't believe her). To go with the public ban, Sinedaen imposed a full magicka ban on Isola, by use of a potent drain magicka potion which was slipped into her breakfast and supper.
This made Isola even more determined to cause trouble, if she couldn't cast spells, she would act out with the only other thing she was good at, archery. She would sneak out of the house and spend a lot of time shooting arrows at Arinaro as he attempted to court the daughters of many high ranking Thalmor, often causing them to run screaming about assassins and the return of the Dark Brotherhood. One day, Isola saw the bastard who had inappropriately touched her before leaving the residence, after a long evening of discussing plans with Sinedaen using gross terms for all other races which weren't Altmer. Isola sat on her window ledge, drew, and released the arrow, which embedded itself into the awful man's posterior. A cry of laughter left Isola as the man realised what had happened, Sinedaen came running out, and both turned to look in the direction of the heinous laughter emanating from the house. Sinedaen went ballistic at Isola, rousing Estodilwe and the other siblings out of sleep, who all gathered in Isola's room to watch the spectacle.
After much screaming, name calling and wishing she wasn't born, Sinedaen made plans for Isola to go and live with her cousin Elenwen in Skyrim. This was to teach her the correct way to behave as the daughter of a Thalmor justiciar, and Sinedaen hoped that the harsh climate of the province would straighten her out once and for all.
This is where our story begins.
A/N: Thank you for reading! Please let me know what you think, constructive criticism is welcome! :)