Disclaimer: Skyrim is owned by Bethesda. All the copyrights associated with Skyrim belong to the company. Only the ideas contained within this story are the property of the author. No profit is being earned by the writer of this story.


In order to avoid confusion, here are some facts taken directly from UESP website:

- In return for sacrificing thousands of innocents, Molag Bal granted Harkon—as well as his wife Valerica and his daughter Serana—the gift of vampirism. As pure-blooded Vampire Lords, Harkon and his family had immense vampiric powers.

- Lord Harkon's court, also known as the Volkihar Vampire Clan, are ancient and purer vampires.

- The Volkihar bloodline thins with each new generation, becoming weaker and eventually losing the ability to transform, though the progeny and "grandchild" of a pure-blood are still pure enough to transform into a Vampire Lord but are still considered to be half-breeds, at least compared to the Daughters of Coldharbour and Harkon.

- The first Daughter of Coldharbour can be roughly dated back to at least the early First Era. Lamae Beolfag was a Nedic virgin who was raped by Molag Bal. Since Lamae, a tradition developed among cults worshipping Molag Bal which dictated that women be offered to him on the 20th of Evening Star, his summoning day. Few survive the ordeal and those who do emerge as pure-blooded vampires.

So based on these facts, it's clear that there's difference between Daughters of Coldharbour and Vampire Lord. Thus the idea behind this fic.


In Volkihar Keep

"What did you just say?" Serana's normally calm tone slightly raised in the end.

"You heard me well Serana." The dragonborn sighed, but her eyes were determined.

They were sitting in the chairs facing the fireplace in master bedroom that previously belonged to Harkon. The dragonborn offered to pour more blood from the jar on the stand into Serana's almost empty cup, but the pure-blooded vampire was too engrossed in her thought.

After a few silence, Serana finally spoke. "I must have misheard you. I thought you asked me to help you summon Molag Bal."

"I intend to become a Daughter of Coldharbour." The cup almost slipped from Serana's hold upon hearing the last statement.

"Have you lost all sense? I already told you about the ceremony. You obviously can't sacrifice a thousand innocents. You ARE the dragonborn, you will draw too much attention!" Serana exclaimed.

"Sacrifice is not only the option, right?" The dragonborn said it more as a statement rather than a question.

"You… haven't been with a man before." Serana's eyes widen in surprise.

"I thought it was obvious. Anyway, after the ordeal in the old abandoned house in Markath, I'm sure that Molag Bal is only interested in claiming my virginity before bestowing the gift." She still shuddered at the memory when she was ordered by the daedric lord to kill the poor old priest of Boethiah.

"But why? You have just been cured of vampirism not long time ago. You are the slayer of Alduin the World-Eater. You took part in establishing a truce in the civil war between Imperial and Stormcloak. You are the Thane of all holds in Skyrim, except Windhelm. You prevented my father from completing Tyranny of the Sun prophecy. You are now the lord of this castle. You are the only Nord, and maybe the only person I know that managed to achieve all of this in such short time. What more do you want? I- I can't understand…" Serana spoke with such haste, that the dragonborn almost forget that she doesn't really need to breathe.

"Serana… it's true that I can just sit and enjoy for the rest of my life. But I begin to wonder, what is the purpose of my life? All this time I only focus on completing the tasks I have to do. Now… I'm afraid of death. I don't want this to end. I can't just do nothing and be useless!" The dragonborn was exasperated by the fact that she was no longer of use to people of Skyrim.

"Diana, you don't need to become a Daughter of Coldharbour. I'm sure you can find another purpose in life. You can find a husband, have children, adopt children, anything." Serana reminded her, hoping to convince her that short human lifespan is not as bad as it seems.

"You know very well that I'm not interested in having a relationship. I'm an adventurer, I can't adopt children as there is no purpose for always leaving them behind."

"Alright, that I can't help you with, but I still don't get why you want to become like me. If you fear for death, I can turn you back to become a vampire lord." Serana offered, hoping for Diana to rethink her decision.

"That's the reason why I need to give myself to Molag Bal. I know that you and Valerica can control the vampires within and outside the castle. But I need to do it myself, to ensure that Skyrim is safe. I can hear every vampire in the court are talking behind my back, that I am not suitable to become their leader, even after I defeated Harkon. All because I'm not a pure-blooded vampire. I can't risk the turmoil in the court to destroy the peace we have managed to keep so far."

Serana was stunned upon hearing her reasoning. It may sounded logical, but she still thought that the dragonborn didn't need to go that far. After all she's done for Skyrim.

"Diana…are you sure about this? Once you do it, there's no turning back. You are very strong and beautiful, which is why I'm very sure you will become Molag Bal's treasured property. After he brutally raped you, you may never enjoy the touch of a man. You may even become insane. Is this what you want?"

"Yes." Serana could see the fire in her blue eyes. That means nothing can change her mind.

"Alright then, I won't stop you anymore." Serana finally released a long sigh. "I will prepare for the summoning in Volkihar Cathedral. When do you want to do it?"

"As soon as possible. I just want to get this over with."

"Give me few days. I will let you know once everything is ready."

"Good. Thank you Serana. I need to speak to Garan, so I must take my leave." The dragonborn got up and walked to the door. "You can stay here as long as you wish." Diana said before closing the door.

Serana just watched as Diana left the room. She only hoped that the Nord made the right choice.


At dawn, Diana found Garan Marethi, wandering around near the entrance to courtyard. As she approached him, she could feel his disapproval gaze on her. She knew the reason why, and that of the rest of her court.

"Milady, I don't mean to disrespect, but you are worth very little if you're not one of us. I suggest you ask Lady Valerica or Lady Serana to grant the gift to you again."

"Garan, surely that can wait? I still have some business to do before turning back." After 25 years of living under the sun, I just want to enjoy the feel a bit longer.

"…Fine. But I still want to warn you that mortals aren't allowed to freely roam the castle. Not even you."

"Yes, yes, Garan. Now, is there anything else you wish to discuss with me?"

"Yes milady. After you've killed the Dawnguard's leaders, the only other thing that might prevent us from spreading your influence across Skyrim is the Companions."

The Companions? "I've met some of their elite inner circle on my way to Whiterun. There's rumour that they are in fact werewolves."

"Lord Harkon holds a deep abhorrence for lycanthropes, yes, but his preference doesn't represent us vampires and actually we don't care about each other."

"Then why you want the Companions to be eliminated?" Diana was a bit confused upon the revelation.

"They, like people of Skyrim, despise vampires. For now they are not a serious threat, but we can't leave them completely unchecked or they may become one."

"I see. Hestla told me she was once a member of the Companions. She thinks they are no longer stronger than her."

Garan scoffed at the mentioning. "It is only a bluff. Hestla doesn't know about the beast blood. And she is not a warrior."

Great. Diana sighed. "Can't we let the Silver Hand handle the Companions then?"

"They have large number of people, but they are no better than a group of bandits. Therefore unfortunately they might not be that useful."

After giving some thought, Diana finally spoke, "The only way without attracting the Jarl of Whiterun and his people's attention is for me to join the Companions and investigate whether there's cure for lycanthropy."

Garan's normally disinterest expression changed a bit. "Milady that might be not an easy task. It might take months, even years! You can't abandon the throne for too long."

"Can you suggest better ways to do?

"…No, milady."

"Then it's decided. I'll leave any court's decision to Valerica and Serana during my absence. I want you to assist them, and keep Orthjolf and Vingalmo away from each other."

Without waiting for Garan's reply, Diana turned back to return to her chamber. It was a long night for her after all. Maybe I should try to sleep in coffin today.


A/N: I decided to combine chapter 1 and chapter 2