Disclaimer: I do not own Dishonored. This is a fanfiction. Dishonored is owned by Arkane Studios, published by Bethesda Softworks. Please support them.

Notes: this is all post game low chaos.

-8-8-8-8-

Corvo relaxed against the back wall of the newly refurbished Hound Pits. It was almost nice to be back here. The preceding nineteen months since Havlock had been captured and Emily put on the throne without a Lord Regent to manipulate her had been hectic.

Officially, Corvo had been given the title of Lord Regent but anyone who spent more than an hour in the workings of the court knew that it was merely a formality. Emily was thoroughly in command of the court by this point and she was doing a remarkably good job at it.

She had funded Piero and Solkalev's research from the city treasury and within months of Havlock's defeat, the neurotic natural philosophers had come up with a legitimate cure for The Rat Plague that the former Royal Spy Master had released upon the city. With that in hand, Emily had order her marshals to devise a plan to retake the city from the festering disease.

In the inswing months, Corvo had been splitting his time between Emily and helping the City Watch hunt down the various hiding holes that the infected might be hold up in. They had pulled Granny Rags out of the sewer system and handed her over the Church of the Everyman for 'crimes against the church'. Over all it was surprisingly peaceful despite the flurry of activity. Over 70% of the infected and walled off areas had been deemed plague free. The extensive sewer system was still being hunted through and people were still showing symptoms but it was far more manageable now than it had ever been in the past.

Corvo knew that Jessamine would be proud of her daughter and the kind of empress she was becoming… but maybe not at this moment.

Corvo's gaze shifted to the bar where Emily stood behind the counter. The previous month she had come to him requesting that they visit the Hound Pits. Since that part of had been officially reclaimed form the plague, Cecelia had petitioned and succeeded in buying the bar. From who Corvo was not sure seeing as it was officially owned by the Pendleton family but with the twins rotting in a mine and their own lord Pendleton dead from poison, he didn't know who had control of the estate. Whatever the case may be, the street girl now owned the place and Emily was eager to return to it and have a gathering of her old allies.

While he had at first resisted, it was more for show than anything else. He trusted all the survivors of the Loyalist Conspiracy to not try and harm their Empress.

What did mildly disturbed him was the outfit she was wearing. Through means that still eluded him, Emily had acquired for herself a tailor fit bar wench uniform made out of lace and satin that gave the illusion she was several years older than she actually was. They had rode out together in a non-descript carriage and when they arrived at the bar, Emily went into a back room and emerge like that. Callista had laughed and that led the Royal Protector to suspect the tutor's involvement

Whatever the reasoning, she was now serving beer to the other party goers and laughing along with them. The alcohol flowed until finally Samuel turned to Corvo and asked, "Listen Corvo, I know it might not be my place and all, but are you Emily's father?"

Suddenly the entire room went silent. All eyes either fixed on Corvo or the old boatman.

With practiced restraint the bodyguard took the last swig of his mug before turning to his friends. "No." He responded flatly.

This got a cry of disbelief form Callista who unsuccessfully tried to turn it into a caught.

With a pointed look at her Corvo continued. "I, Corvo Attano, am not the father of Emily Kialdwin."

"Then who is?" Geoff slurred. He had been drinking the hardest out of all of them and was well inebriated at this point.

Corvo looked over at his charge behind the bar as if asking permission and in a way, he was. Admitting that he was not Emily's father did nothing more than quell one rumor. Telling everyone who had sired the current empress was not his secret to tell.

Emily nodded her head almost unperceptively but to her loyal defender, it might as well have been a firework.

Corvo eased himself back a little bit and got comfortable. It would be a rather long story. "In order to know Emily's father you first have to know a bit about her lineage." He looked at Callista, "Some of us are rather well aware of the more public side of it but for those that don't know, I'll give a little history."

It was rare for Corvo to talk this much after his imprisonment and torture following the late empress' death but he would, for Emily's sake.

"To begin with, I am not Emily's father but second cousins once removed, third and four generation descendants of Admiral Forris Culme Seymour. Back before the rebellion that ended the last dynasty he was one of the leading military figures in the Empire. He and his wife Edith Cavell had two children. One was Josephus Daniels and the other was named High Overseer Darrius. Josephus went on to be the Prime Minister during the Rebellion. His wife was Maria Bockha, a noble woman who was the head of parliament. Following the war, the two of them were able to lobby for their son Euhorn Jacob to be named the next Emperor. He took the name Kaldwin and his only child was Jessamine. I come from the other side of the family. Before he was named High Overseer, Darrius had a bastard son named Luis Esteres after his mother. Luis had three children. One who died young, one who never had children and my father Oscar Griwold."

Corvo took a drink of water and allowed the others to catch up. Everyone was hanging on his words with the exception of Geoff and Callista who were both writing out a crude family tree on a napkin. Corvo smiled behind his glass. He had done the same thing when it was first explained to him as a child.

Putting the glass down he held his hand over it so Emily wouldn't refill it.

"I think my old man was considered first cousin to Euhron Kildwin and the black sheep of the family. Overall a rouge and a lecher, he was however a very skilled diplomat and Euhorn sent him to negotiate the treaties after the rebellion was put down. While on Serkoros Island he bedded the first female officer ever to exist in the history of the Empire, Olena Stphaniv Corvo and I am the result of that union. When he found out, Emperor Euhorn… wasn't pleased with my father. By that point his own wife was pregnant with the future Jessamine and saw my life as a possible means of creating a successional civil war among the empire. It was compounded by the fact my father Oscar died not long afterwards of tuberculosis. So now my mother and I were left destitute and possibly in line for the throne. Euhorn tried to shuffle us away by forcing my mother to join the Ornacular Order of the Abbey. I was sent into the militia where he probably hopped that I would die in some accident and solve all his problems for him."

At this Corvo grinned and Emily mirrored it. "Obviously that didn't happen. It wasn't long before people started to take note of my abilities. And by the time I was in my late teens, I was considered a rising star in the Sekoros defense forces and was serving as the personal bodyguard to one of the major noble houses on the island as what is referred to as a 'Hand'.

At this most of the room gaffed. Piero and Samuel were the only ones who didn't seem to realize what that meant.

"Well?" The mouse faced scientist asked, "What is a 'Hand'?"

Geoff was now instantly sober. "A 'hand' is the catch all term in Sekoros for a private man at arms. As Sekoros has historically been one of great turmoil, Hands usually serve either as close bodyguards to a noble family… or their personal assassins. Sent to kill anyone who could be a threat to the family."

"This had old Euhorn in a pickle. He was getting old, Jessamine was young and just about to be coordinated as the new Empress when he stepped down. And the only legal threat to succession was the bastard of his family who was a proficient assassin for one of the largest houses on the most troubled piece of land in his empire. From what I understand he had two options. Either try and kill me, which if it failed could be used by me to start a civil war. Or force me into the public eye under his terms."

"Well, what did he do?" Solkalev demanded. He loved to hear good stories and gossip and this one was both juicy, and unknown at court. He could parlay this into a full week of free booze at any one of the upper class houses.

"Emperor Euhorn summoned me to the city and into one of his private off-the-books offices. He stared my right down and made me an offer. I could come to the capital and work directly for him, or I could leave the empire and never return. I chose the former."

"He planted my right at his and Jessamine's side during all formal events as a member of the guard. However Jessamine was no idiot. She saw how her father treated me and went digging. It wasn't long before she discovered our connection and confronted me on it."

"What did you do?"

"Told her the truth. In every detail that I knew. Before a week was through, we were sharing our own private jokes about it, much to the displeasure of her father. Then when he retired and it came time for her to choose her Lord Protector, she chose me, just to spite him. And the rest, as they say, is history."

Corvo reached around the bar and filled his glass mug with some water from a spicket.

"But then why does everyone think you are Emily's father?" Callista asked. She hadn't even been at the court for two years and she knew that it was a popular, if well worn, topic

"Oh that." Emily said speaking up for the first time since Corvo began his tale. "That was mother's fault." All eyes turned to her. "One night during a party she got fed up with everyone asking who my father was so she and Corvo started the rumor that he was. Just to see the result." Emily giggled at that. "You wouldn't believe how fast it got around. In less than a week she had half of parliament demanding a response to the rumor. Or so mother told me. I wasn't quite born yet so I don't know for sure."

Corvo grunted.

"But we have gotten away from the point," Piero said. "Who is Emily's father?"

Corvo looked at him in much the same manner that a well fed cat eyed a mouse. As if to determine if it was worth eating. "About a year prior to Emily's birth, the great island of (North) forced a party of dignitaries into the capital. At the head of the party was Lord Nathanial Sindes."

Corvo raised his hand to a little above his own tall frame. "About this tall, pale skinned and an avid hunter. I didn't like him much and by accident insulted his marksmanship." At that the Royal Protector smiled, "He challenged me to a shooting match on the spot and to my surprise, I lost."

Solkalev let out his bark like laugh. "I remember that part Corvo. Empires Jessamine nearly had my paint a thumb nail sketch about it just so she could rub it in your face."

Corvo joined in the laughter and soon everyone was chuckling good naturally at the idea of Corvo embracement.

As they all quieted down Corvo continued. "He was a bit of an idiot as a diplomat but unlike most of them, he KNEW he wasn't any good at the job and admitted that much." Looking at the bearded Solkalev, "How did he put it?"

"'I am smart enough to know what I'm not but foolish enough to try anyway,'" The natural philosopher quoted.

"Well what was supposed to be a three week gathering extended on into almost two months. During that time, Jessamine grew rather close to a slave of Lord Sindes' care. A dark man from the continent called Hamish." He waited for the customary shudder to go through the room. While the Isles were considered 'civilized' the mainland was a mass of old growth forest and 'unruly' people. Corvo had never been there himself so all he knew of the continent was hearsay at best but for the vast majority of the empire, the place might as well be the Outsider's playground. He was not disappointed. "It would appear that Hamish was a souvenir from the last pilgrimage conversion the Abby tried."

"And you let that man near our Empress!" Cecelia demanded. Her knuckles white on the napkin.

Corvo looked over at her, "Emily is Jessamine daughter. Neither one of them can be stopped when they are determined to do something. Besides," the Lord Protector shrugged. "I always have a knife ready." To emphasize the point Corvo started to cut up and apple with a blade nobody saw the origins of and held a slice out of Emily. The young empresses took it right off the blades edge like a trained animal and smiled at the room with the apple still in her mouth.

"None of us are questioning your skills Corvo but to allow a savage…" Geoff began before realizing he had no way of finishing that and just let the sentence drop.

"Well. Jessamine was quite taken with Hamish and after I threatened to offer him to the academy for a living autopsy and castration should he so much as scratch my cousin I ran interference for them." Corvo continued. Speaking of the torture like he would anything else.

Then his mood darkened, "She gave him a necklace before he was set to leave with his master. A token of their time together. We didn't get the typical response that Lord Sinder's ship had arrived safely back at port. A few weeks after their departure, a whaling ship called the city watch. On their way into port they had found a mass of bodies strung together just outside the bay like some kind of human raft. I went down to look at the scene. It was Lord Sinder and his crew. Or at least, what was left of them. The sea critters had eaten a fair amount of the flesh away. But they left a small gold and bronze necklace intact. I… took it to Jessamine that night. It was then that she told me she had missed her time of the month…"

The room was quiet for what seemed like an eternity. "To this day nobody officially knows what happened to Lord Sinder's ship. However there have been a few rafts of bodies strung together before that and even more since. Unofficially, the Abby blames it on worshipers of the Outsider or some dark creature of the abyss. I am not sure. All I know is that the entire whaling crew never went back to sea after that day."

Samual couldn't keep it in anymore. He let out a bark like laugh that caught everyone's attention. "Ohhh. Good one Corvo. Had me going there."

At that the Lord Protector also broke out into a lopsided smile that somehow made his face both more and less severe. "What part gave it away?" He asked the old boatman.

"The body raft." Samuel responded as he finally calmed down to speak again. "I have been on these waters a long time Corvo. And while I have heard of that body raft thing you talked about to my knowledge, we have had only legitimate three cases of it. One was a small fishing boat, another a City Watch patrol ship that was swept out to sea in a storm and once with a whaling ship. Never has anyone of significance ever been killed or else someone would have made a big deal out of it."

At this point Emily started pout. "Why did you have to ruin it Samuel? Corvo had everyone hooked on the story."

"So." Piero began. "It was all a lie."

"No." Corvo said. "Not all of it. About two years before Emily was born a Lord Sinder did come from up north and I did lose to him in a shooting contest. And as Samuel just confirmed, occasionally boats on the open sea will be attacked and all their crew killing and left to float away. But the part about Hamish being Emily's father, that was the only lie."

Corvo then turned to Emily. "How was that origin story my lady?"

Emily put her finger on her chin in mock concentration. "A three out of ten." She responded after the appropriate amount of pause that left nobody in question that she didn't really think about it. "Your punishment," she picked up a tin of sardines, "Is to preform a full dance with Callista while balancing this on your head. Should it fall you have to restart."

At this the Empress's maid paled. "I.. I cannot dance my lady." She stuttered out to try and escape the fate.

"No!" Emily said with as much authority as she could muster in a maid's outfit. "Corvo must be punished for telling such a pitiful tail." The young empress then looked directly at Callista, "Or would you rather you both have to dance with tins on your heads?" The threat worked and Solkalov nearly spilled his entire pint down his front in his rush to sketch the hilarious scene before them of the great Lord Protector dancing with not one but three tins of sardines and a pear with a knife through it on his head with everyone laughing around them while a decidedly flatfooted maid was trying not to trip over the chairs the young Empress kept pushing in the way. This one would go into his private collection rather than on the market. Any good artist must keep something in reserve.

After the dance, Corvo sat down and became quite for the rest of the night. His throat still hurt from his time in Prison and likely would for the rest of his life. However that was not way he withdrew from the merriment. No. It was thinking back to the night that Jessamine had given birth to Emily. Corvo had been wrestles all through the labor and had been forced out by the attending physician and midwife. So he had taken to stalking the corridors of building.

Well after midnight he had returned to his charge to look upon the proud mother and newborn girl. As he had opened the door, Corvo saw something through the glass. A figure dressed all in white standing over the sleeping Empress. He had been through the door in a millisecond only for the figure to be gone. He first though it was his mind playing tricks on him if the clapping didn't begin. With a dagger in hand he turned to see a hairless woman with dark skin and impossibly white clothing standing over the crib of the newly born Lady Emily.

The intruder held one finger up to her lips while pointing down at the newborn before disappearing into a waft of smoke.

Corvo just stood there for an hour. His eyes focused on the spot where the woman had been.

He had only spoken of this even once. To Jessamine when she had awoken the next morning. The Empress had confessed to him that she too saw the figure on a few occasions during her pregnancy. Jessamine was afraid that it was some trick of the Outsider and that the Abby would take Emily away should they learn of the phantom. Afterwards, the topic became a taboo between them.

Now through, the Lord Protector knew better. He had interacted, however grudgingly, with the Outsider and while Corvo was certain that the hollow eyed man was not the same one as that which he saw at Emily's birth, that didn't comfort him much. There were things in the world and the void beyond the world that he couldn't explain. The Outsider was just what could be seen on the surface. The iceberg below could go on for miles.

"What is it Corvo?" Samuel asked, drawing the younger man back into this world.

"Nothing Samuel. Just an old memory a time long ago." With that, Corvo finished his glass of water and rejoined the celebration.

*/-*/-*/-*/-

Corvo and Emily exited the Hound Pits a good few hours later. The sun was nearly set and the streets cast long shadows.

Emily was practically skipping along and Corvo knew that he shouldn't have allowed her the third glass of wine. The first he accepted based solely on the young Empresses argument that she was old enough to rule a nation then she should be old enough to have some alcohol. Now the young lady was overly hyperactive, the direct opposite of how one should be when slightly intoxicated.

"We should do this again Corvo. How about next week? No, NO that wouldn't work. Can't do it too often of the novelty would weir off. Besides, the new High Overseer wants to meet next week about trying to send a religious conversion expedition to the continent. Like I would. We have enough to deal with by reclaiming the city from the Rat Plague." She skipped several steps ahead of him before turning like a ballerina on her toes to face him. "I know, we should have Piero make a robot doll of myself. Then it can sit in on the pointless meetings while we come here…" She paused and slowed down, "But that wouldn't be fitting for an empress would it Corvo?"

"No." Her companion rumbled. "One cannot pick and choose when to be and not to be Empress. It is an all or nothing job… So why don't you abdicate the throne and we run away?" It was a nice little joke he could make to lift Emily's spirits, just like it did to her mother before her.

Emily let out a giggle that was interrupted by a sound like a gunshot.

Instantly she felt the world change around her. While she was unable to move, Emily knew what was happening. Corvo was the only thing still in motion while the rest of the world was frozen in time. He instantly scooped her up and ran backwards a several feet dodging razor wire traps that were hidden all around them mixed in with the debris.

Despite being unable to move, Emily could think and could hear what Corvo was thinking. He was counting and she knew that when he reached zero, time would start again. Just as zero came around Corvo bent down and supporting her with one hand, hit the panel beneath him. The grate opened into the sewer system that ran back to the hound pits.

Without a word he dropped her through the hole and hit the door shut. Leaving the Empress in darkness. However she wasn't afraid. After taking a deep and calming breath just like Corvo taught her to do, she closed her eyes and focused.

Six months after her mother's death and her abduction, A man in black clothing came to her in a dream. He told her that things were about to change for her and he was interested in seeing how she would react. After that night, she started to dream she was someone else. Someone tall and strong who was fighting for her. It wasn't until after Corvo rescued her from the Golden Cat that she realized what was happening. The man in black, the Outsider, was allowing her to look through Corvo's eyes. To see what he was and know what he though. She saw every action he made in his quest to get her back and return her to the throne. And she loved him all the more for it. It was his actions that had shaped her outlook on life.

Now she looked through his eyes again to see what he was doing.

After depositing Emily in the relative safety of the sewer, Corvo turned to the attackers. Using the specialty vision he counted six attackers as well as that many razor wire traps. The ambush had started when one of the attackers, a male in his later years, had jumped the gun and thrown a grenade at him. Corvo saw it coming at the same time he saw the first wire trap. He froze time to get Emily to safety and with that accomplished he could dispense with the assault.

Seeing the trap had failed, all the aggressors jumped form their hiding places. Four men and two women. Corvo hid behind a hunk of rock and then blinked up to a balcony above one of the attackers. Dropping down he intended to choke the man out but the fool had primed a second grenade and dropped it to try and wrest Corvo's arms from around his neck. The bodyguard jumped out of range just as the explosive went off, killing the man.

Corvo cursed to himself under his breath. He wanted at least 3 of them alive to try and get information out of them.

Male 2 and woman 1 both turned to the explosion and saw him. The both had pistols in hand and fired at him. However they were poor shots and both missed. The Serkonan bodyguard had his crossbow in hand and quickly knocked the pair out with sleeping darts.

'Three down.'

He back stepped as female 2 charged forward with a sword and tried to take his head. But the swing was bad and he was behind her and choked her out before she could try again.

'This doesn't make sense.' The man though as he blinked behind a dumpster with the woman's sleeping body. He checked again with his supernatural sight. The placement of the wire traps was precise. Laid out so that escape forward was all but impossible. However the people who were attacking were anything but detail oriented. They were street thugs.

He saw man 3 try and circle around but Corvo jumped the dumpster and kicked the man backwards. Unfortunately man 3 flew into another of the razor wire traps and was shredded instantly.

Corvo was annoyed that he didn't see that but couldn't dwell on it. Man 4 was trying to take shots at him.

Corvo ran behind some cover and then blinked forward without being seen. Man 4 was panicking and curing.

"What in the name of the outsider is he?" Followed by a stream of expletives that gave even Covro pause. He had never considered a structural sentence without an adjective it in. It was almost funny.

Emily looked on through Corvo's eyes as this all happened. Seeing his every move and his every reasoning. It was a comfort to her in a world were few existed, never having to question someone mean she could be absolutely open with them

However she was drawn out of her meditation by a screaking sound. Looking around in the gloom Emily couldn't see anything but she was silent and waited.

There it was again. And now that she was paying attention, the young empress knew exactly what she heard. It was the telltale signs of a pack of plague rats.

She started to curse herself for her laps in judgement. Just because the Hound Pits and surrounding district was 'officially' cleared of the plague didn't mean the underground was. According to the experts, it would take decades to clear out the maze of sewers, caverns and pipes that ran underneath her capital.

She had to think, think brain! Panic would get her nowhere. What was needed was levelheadedness. She needed to think like Corvo. She took stock of her situation and climbed on top of a set of old crates just below the door. That would keep her out of reach of the rats assuming it didn't fall but that wasn't enough.

She needed to fight back.

However nothing that resembled a weapon could be seen. She through back to all that she had seen Corvo do both in his training and practice over the years as well as when he was dishonored.

She couldn't help but look through Corvo's eyes as he rounded on the final attacker. That was when she saw it. Right outside the grate was a wire trap that didn't go off. Corvo had likely seen it and slipped around it while dropping her in there.

But she could use it. Hitting the button that open the grate the setting sun momentarily blinded her. After her vison cleared, Emily carefully pulled herself up only to see the trap was an inch from her face. This nearly caused her to fall back into the hole and the waiting rats but she kept her cool, if just barely. Emily looked at it carefully and saw that it had been set improperly, that it wasn't armed.

She knew that meant she could just pick it up and go. Supporting herself on one arm she quickly grabbed the trap before losing her balance and falling backwards down into the sewer system.

The young empress took a moment to compose herself and in the light radiating down from above, she could see the rats were now circling the boxes she was supporting herself on. The brown and white fur moving in a blur of speed and squeaking sounds as if some horrid chorus at a play.

Emily steeled herself. She only had one trap and if she didn't use it right, it could kill her too. With one hand she primed the thing while with the other she grabbed her shoe. First she threw the shoe and like so many times before, the rats ran to the noise expecting a fast meal. With them as far away as she could hope, the dark hared girl threw the razor wire trap as far as she could. It came down in the midst of the seething horde. It went off like a small cannon in the confined underground as the metal cords ripped the rodents to pieces.

As the sound faded Emily saw that the light from above was blocked out. Looking up she saw Corvo standing there looking down at her.

After a moment's pause he asked, "Anything I should concerned with?"

Empress Emily saw this for what it was. Corvo was allow her to decide what to do. She looked up as him with a beaming smile. "Nothing at all Corvo. Just taking care of a few pests."

Her bodyguard nodded and offered his hand down to help her up. She took in gratefully. As he pulled her up she saw the four living members of the attack squad hog tied off to the side. Geoff was standing guard over them, obviously attracted by the sounds of the fight.

Corvo pulled out a firearm that Emily couldn't recognize and aimed it up into the air. An arc of fire shot up into the sky above the buildings and seem to hang there.

Emily stared in open mouthed wonder at the miniature sun and firework that her Royal Protector had acquired.

Corvo chuckled at her. "A new idea from the academy. It's much like the flare system ships use but compressed down into miniature size for easy use. I asked Solkalev to make it. I am planning on using them for both ship to ship communication and as a means of emergency communication for the city watch." He returned the odd gun to his belt and pulled out his pocket watch, always keeping one hand firmly in Emily's. "A detachment of the City Watch should be here in five minutes to take them away. Then we will see if we can't learn who sent them after you your Majesty."

Emily nodded her understanding. She was Empress of the Iles. There would always be some after her life. But as long as Corvo was around, she also knew that nobody would ever touch her unless she wished it. "Then let us back to the palace Royal Protector."

With a half bow to her Corvo responded, "As you wish my Empress Emily the Wise."

The End.

Author's notes: I partially suspected that the Outsider was Emily's birth father for a while. Now that Dishonored II had confirmed that Corvo was her father, that theory goes out the window but that still doesn't explain why the Outsider was so interested in Emily's wellbeing through both Corvo and Daud. So I though, 'If there is one enigmatic god like being in the dishonored universe, why not more?' So that's where the hairless woman in white came from and why the Outsider in interested in Emily. Because this nameless being appeared at Emily's birth and the Outsider wanted to see why.