A/N: Warning for unashamed cannibalism on Eola's part.
Summary: The Blind Cliff Cave job goes without a hitch, but an unexpected offer from Markarth's Jarl leads Liriel to move on to bigger targets... with unexpected consequences for Madanach.
Blind Cliff Cave was a fair hike from Reachcliff, and the journey wasn't helped by Eola guiltily tugging at Liriel's sleeve and asking if she could wear the Shrouded Armour instead.
"I don't want them seeing my face!" she pleaded. "I might run into someone I used to know! Please, Liriel?"
"It will never fit you!" Liriel protested, but gave in. She changed into her Shrouded Robes and Eola took the armour. Various belts and buckles had to be adjusted and the legs rolled up, but it fit in the end. Sort of.
"It's too tight!" Eola wailed.
"I cannot help it if you're fat, Eola," Liriel hissed, drawing a buckle in.
"I am not fat!" Eola shouted. "Just because you're preternaturally skinny! Seriously, what is it with you Altmer anyway? Does all that extra magicka eat up your muscle mass?"
"That extra magicka will be eating up yours if you don't stop whining," Liriel muttered. "There, you're done. And you had better be able to fight in that, because if this goes to the Void, I will be wanting back-up, especially as that's my only proper armour. You just be grateful I'm a mage."
"So am I, I consider my mage armour up to the job," Eola said pointedly.
"Oh, be quiet, we're here," Liriel said, taking a deep breath, casting her mage armour and trying to remember all Madanach had taught her. Fists clenched, to the shoulder. Breathe, Liriel, breathe.
Eola at her back, she walked in.
First person she came across was a Forsworn sentry, standing idly around – or at least he was until he saw her.
"Hey! You'll regret facing the Forsworn!" he cried, axes raised – and then he saw both the robes and the clenched fists and hesitated.
"Greetings in the name of the old gods," Liriel said, trying not to sound nervous. "I am here in the name of Sithis, seeking the Matriarch Melka."
Slowly, the sentry lowered his weapons, gulping.
"She – she's Matriarch no more, but – but she's here. I mean, in the tower. Did Petra send for you?" He caught Liriel's raised eyebrow and looked away, skin flushed, and Liriel realised he was awfully young in human terms.
"No, no, I suppose I shouldn't ask, should I?" he said quickly. "Bad luck to ask – go on through. Just keep going up – she's the one in the cage. Er... hail Sithis!" Sheathing his weapons, he darted to one side, fists clenched and eyes rooted to the ground. Liriel merely nodded her thanks and swept on in like a proper Altmer lady, Eola following silently in her wake.
It was the same all the way through the castle, Forsworn leaping out, taking one look at the robes and seeing Liriel's clenched fists, and backing off, hearing her say she was here for Melka in the name of Sithis and immediately waving her through.
Finally, they found Melka, sitting in a cage. The Hag looked up at the robes, eyes wide.
"No, no, not like this!" she screeched. "I did not call on the Dread Father, I did not call the Ascended One! Tell me it is not me you have come for!"
"It is you I came for," Liriel purred, gliding over in her Shrouded Shoes. "But not to kill you – not if you listen to my proposal."
Melka seized on the chance, looking hopeful. "A proposal, a proposal, yes, Melka shall listen. Melka will help the pretty flesh if she will help Melka, yes? Melka would not wish to offend the Dread Father, no. I just want my tower back and my treacherous sister dead!"
Liriel leaned closer, hiding her revulsion behind a cruel little smile. "It can be arranged, Melka. For a price."
"A price, a price, yes, I have a staff, the Eye of Melka, yours if you kill Petra, yes!" Melka cried, grin revealing yellowed teeth as she rattled the bars of the cage. "Now let me out!"
"No," said Liriel softly. "I have another price."
Melka hissed, glaring at her. "The Shrouded Meat is a hard bargainer. Very well, tell me. I just want my tower, I care little for anything else."
"You can have your tower," said Liriel. "You can do whatever magical research or rituals you want in it. But those soldiers, guarding you, your Forsworn warriors – those are what I'm after."
"What?" Melka screeched, rustling her feathers. "Why would you want them? Recruits? The Auld Alliance died years ago, Shrouded Morsel. The Forsworn have a war to fight."
"Yes, they do," said Liriel, feeling her adrenaline build. "But not under your command. They can stay here, guarding this place, but they won't be serving you. Pledge yourself and them to the King in Rags, Melka. Swear an oath that when Madanach needs those warriors, they'll march to his side."
Melka's eyes widened, then she backed off, claws raised, shrieking in outrage.
"Him! That boy! That cursed boy! He who thinks he's the equal of a Hag! He doesn't deserve the title King, not when he's been hiding in a cave for the last twenty years!"
"He was not hiding!" Liriel snarled, raising her hands, flame magic at the ready. "He is the rightful leader of the Forsworn, the true Lord of the Reach, the Reach-King that was and will be again! And you will serve him, Melka, or I shall take this offer to your sister instead and see if she's any more receptive!"
"Tssss!" Melka hissed, flinging herself against the bars of the cage. "How dare he! How dare the upstart call in the Dark Brotherhood against his rightful mistresses! Treacherous, deceitful, son of a skeever – ack!"
The lightning bolt flew narrowly past Liriel's head and just over Melka's shoulder. Liriel turned to see Eola there, smoke rising from her hand and eyes narrowed.
"Do you mind?" Liriel snapped. "A little discipline for once?" Eola muttered something and relented, arms folded and looking mutinous.
"Don't tell me you don't want Petra dead," Liriel said, calling on the honeyed words that had served her so well in Altmer high society. "Don't tell me you wouldn't have called us in yourself if you'd had the chance. Madanach doesn't want to start murdering Matriarchs, he just wants them to ensure that his warriors are ready when he needs them. You can use them for whatever you like in the mean time. Doesn't that sound like a good deal?"
"It is a coward's bargain," Melka hissed scornfully. "Madanach is too afraid to face me himself!"
Liriel shrugged and prepared to walk off. She'd tried. She could always kill both Hagravens if she had to. Madanach wouldn't mind either way.
"Come on," she said to Eola. "We're going to talk to Petra. I'm sure she'll be very interested indeed to hear that Melka called the Sacrament down on her."
"WAIT!" Melka cried. "Morsel, wait!"
Liriel stopped, suppressing a smile. She knew she'd won right there.
"I... just want my tower back," Melka growled. "Fine, fine, let me out, if you help me kill Petra, you can tell the arrogant brat he'll have no trouble from me. He can call the warriors up whenever he needs them. Just as long as I am left alone in my tower, free to pluck eyeballs, tasty eyeballs!"
"Sweet Namira, even I don't eat the eyeballs," Eola muttered. Liriel hushed her and turned back to Melka.
"Done. I'll let you out. Go back on your word, and I'll be back to kill you personally," Liriel said, reaching for the cage release. The door opened and Melka scuttled out, grinning.
"Understood, understood, the Shrouded Flesh shall have no trouble from me," Melka cackled, rubbing her claws together. "Now, let us kill my treacherous sister!"
They went on to do just that, Forsworn seeing Melka free and the Dark Brotherhood in their wake and melting into the shadows as they passed. At the top of the tower, a quick battle ensued and although Petra was powerful, she was outnumbered. Finally, she lay dead, charred remains lying in a heap on the floor.
"Dead! Dead! To the Void with you, dead sister!" Melka screeched at the body. The two Forsworn in the chamber were already on their knees.
"You will honour your promise?" Liriel asked, hands on her hips. Melka nodded.
"Yes, yes. Tell him he has my gratitude," Melka growled, a little surly but seemingly acquiescent. It would do.
"And the other promise?" Liriel asked, holding out her hand. Maybe Madanach was paying her anyway, but a bonus was always nice.
"Yes, the Eye of Melka," Melka said, grimacing, opening up a secret compartment in the wall an producing a Forsworn-made staff, handing it over. "Kill something pretty with it."
Liriel said she would and took her leave. It was only once they'd got out of the tower and down the road that Eola ripped the cowl off and sank to her knees, hands clutching at her head.
"Eola?" Liriel asked, worried. "Are – are you all right?" Eola really didn't look it, and Liriel couldn't think what might have got to her. Eola was not a woman with a weak stomach by any stretch of the imagination.
"You're really working for him, aren't you?" Eola's voice was almost a whisper, but Liriel's sensitive Elven hearing caught the words. "Madanach. The King in Rags."
No sense keeping it secret any more. "Yes," Liriel admitted. "Is this going to be a problem?"
"Problem?!" Eola looked up and to Liriel's surprise, Eola looked delighted, huge smile on her face. "Void, no! Do you have any idea who you've teamed up with?"
"Well, he's the leader of the Forsworn," said Liriel, puzzled. "Used to be Reach-King until the Nords overthrew him, and he wants his country back. I do know all this, Eola."
"Not like a Reachwoman, you don't," said Eola, getting to her feet. "Liriel, everyone's got a King in Rags story to tell. The man is a legend! They say he can shoot hawks from 200 feet away with his shock magic."
This was true – Liriel had seen him do that very thing.
"They say he's so good at Illusion spells, he once got cornered by fifteen Nord mercenaries on his own and got away by getting them to start hacking into each other," Eola was enthusing, eyes alive with excitement. "They say he's as cunning as a fox, they say he fights like a sabre cat, they say he's Red Eagle come again. He was the first in years to get us all united properly again, to start planning for an uprising and taking advantage of the Great War to kick the Nords out. Even when they took the city back, he got away, stayed on the run for five years nearly, always one step ahead. Then they caught him and locked him away for twenty damn years, but now they say he's back. That he broke out and rained blood and death on the streets of Markarth and he's still as strong as ever and didn't go mad or anything."
Liriel thought of Cicero, alone for eight years at Cheydinhal, going mad in silence while he waited for a Listener, and then Madanach, shut away entirely for twice that time and still coming out fighting, and while Madanach could hardly be said to be a saint, one thing he definitely wasn't was insane.
"He's still strong and he's not crazy," Liriel said, smiling. "Want to meet him? I can take you to his camp – he's not fond of outsiders, but you were a Forsworn too, I'm sure he'd be happy to welcome you back – Eola?"
She'd gone pale, her smile fading.
"No," she said quickly. "No, I can't, I'm sorry, I can't. Liriel, please, you mustn't tell him about me, promise you won't say a word!"
"Er... OK?" Liriel said, confused at how Eola could go from hero-worshipping him to terrified in seconds. "Why not?"
"Because I ran away," Eola said quietly. "I'm a deserter, Liriel. You don't know what he does to deserters – he may or may not catch them but if he ever finds them again... it's not good. I can't... I can't face him, Liriel. Not the King in Rags. I know he's been in prison most of my life, I doubt he'd know who I was to look at me, but... please, Liriel. I'm not sure I could handle it if he turned on me."
Well, that would explain quite why Eola had been so paranoid about being recognised. All the same, Liriel had to wonder if maybe the woman was overreacting just a bit. Still, she also had to admit Eola knew the Forsworn better than she did.
"All right, I won't tell him," Liriel promised. "I'll make sure you get a cut of the gold though. Only fair."
"No rush," said Eola, linking arms with Liriel. "Come on, let's get back to Markarth. Be nice to have a night at the inn for once."
Which Liriel would no doubt end up paying for but nevertheless, she'd been travelling all day, it was the early hours of the morning now and she didn't fancy making for Druadach Redoubt in the dark, especially not as her horse was back at Markarth stables. Back to Markarth it was then. She just hoped she didn't get too many comments about the last time she'd been there.
"Jarl wants to see you."
Not the words Liriel wanted to hear from the guards, especially as last time she'd been here, she'd been arrested, imprisoned and escaped.
"What about?" she asked, dreading the answer.
"Didn't say," the guard shrugged. "Just said to tell you to pay him a visit if you came this way again."
Well, they weren't arresting her, but all the same, Liriel felt uneasy.
"Think we should go?" Liriel murmured to Eola. Eola just shrugged.
"Up to you, it's you he wants to see. But if you were in trouble, I don't think he'd have taken a chance and let you walk in unmolested."
A fair point. So Liriel decided to investigate. She could always cast a few Illusion spells and set the guards against each other if she had to.
It turned out to be the opposite of trouble. Jarl Igmund was feeling penitent and wished to apologise for her unjust treatment on her last visit.
"We had no idea Madanach was behind all those murders," Igmund said, sounding genuinely heartfelt. "Thonar always assured me his spirit was utterly broken and he was half-mad due to the isolation. To know he was running the Forsworn from inside Cidhna Mine – but don't you worry. We'll find him and this time no one's getting in the way of him and a fast execution like the criminal he is."
Liriel smiled sweetly, nodding politely. We'll see about that, Igmund. The King in Rags is not for hunting by the likes of you.
"I have every confidence in you, my Jarl," said Liriel smoothly. "I'm just glad the little misunderstanding over my involvement was cleared up."
"Yes, I feel I owe you some recompense for that," said Igmund, looking sheepish. "Especially due to all you've done for this Hold. Finding the Sybil of Dibella, helping young Muiri out with her ex-lover, helping get Calcelmo and Faleen together, helping get the Hall of the Dead re-opened, and Nepos the Nose speaks very highly of you, calls you a true friend to the Reach."
"Do thank him for me," Liriel purred. "He's such a lovely man." She'd never actually laid eyes on the man personally, but she could see Madanach's influence at work there.
"I will do that," Igmund promised. "But first, there's the matter of compensating you. There's room in my court for a new Thane. It's an honorary title mainly, but there's a few perks someone like you could make use of. You're already well-known throughout the Hold, but if you purchase a house from my Steward and take care of a little task for me, I'd be very glad to make you my Thane."
Liriel wasn't entirely sure if Madanach was going to approve of this, but on the other hand, the perks sounded nice. She knew what a Thane was entitled to – the guards looking the other way for lesser offences, a shiny weapon from the armoury... and a housecarl. With Lydia watching her kids, Liriel could do with another bodyguard.
"I'd be honoured," she told him. "What's the job you want doing?"
"It's a tricky one," said Igmund. "Many years ago, when my father was Jarl, he tried to stop the Forsworn. Tried to negotiate, establish a treaty. They refused and they killed him. Raerek, my uncle, got his body back here for burial and gave me his sword – but he couldn't bring the shield as well. The Forsworn took it, and they have it still, at the camp they call Hag Rock Redoubt. Liriel, if you were to find that shield, I'd make you my Thane."
Hag Rock Redoubt. The camp she'd tried and failed to get the pommel stone from. How very fortuitous. She glanced at Eola, who nodded once. Excellent.
"I'll do it," she promised.
"I hope you will," Igmund said softly. "That shield meant a lot to me. Those Forsworn bastards may have killed my father but I can at least get his relics home."
Liriel smiled and took her leave, stopping only to hand over her entire coin purse to purchase Vlindrel Hall from Raerek and get some basic furnishings put in – just the hall, bedroom, kitchen and living room but that would do for now. She'd have to think about whether to move her girls here – but no. If her association with Madanach became known and she had to flee, or if the Forsworn Rebellion escalated and Madanach really did take the city, it was best if her girls were elsewhere, safe in Whiterun. Still, a base in the city was a useful thing to have, especially since she envisaged spending time here. A lot more time.
The house itself was up about three steep flights of stairs, a small Dwemer home overlooking the city gates. Inside was surprisingly homely, and as she began to cook for them both, in no way shape or form wanting Eola anywhere near her kitchen, she asked Eola if Madanach would disapprove of them treating Drascua as they had Petra.
"Disapprove? Are you kidding? Drascua's one of the biggest pains in the arse around," Eola replied from where she was lounging in a nearby chair. "She runs Hag Rock herself, and it's a huge camp, one of the most heavily fortified anywhere. She's got a fair few Briar Hearts at other camps too. I don't think he'd mind at all, in fact I think you'd be doing him a service. Are you going after her then? You clearly knew her name without me or Igmund telling you. Is this something Madanach told you or is there a contract?"
"In a manner of speaking," said Liriel. "Let's just say she has something a client of mine wants and is willing to pay good money for. Are you in?"
Eola raised the bottle of mead she'd helped herself to. "Oh absolutely, my friend. You can count me right in."
Liriel smiled, turning back to her stew. Two clients satisfied in one easy job. This just got better and better.
In the end, it proved even easier than Blind Cliff Cave had been. The Forsworn had simply melted away before her, even the Briar Heart hesitating. The troll had been leashed and led away, and finally they'd cornered Drascua in front of a Word Wall, busy sacrificing some poor fool in a Soul Gem powered fire trap that she'd immediately turned on them.
Eola had yelped and leapt to one side, summoning a Flame Atronach. Liriel had cast her mage armour and staggered back, warding with one hand, blasting lightning right back with the other, and then remembered she was in fact a Dragonborn.
One blast of Unrelenting Force later and the soul gems had fallen off their pedestals, Drascua was flying back into the wall and Eola was leaping forward, blasting away with fire magic at the unfortunate Hagraven.
Liriel raised her own hands and added lightning to Eola's fire. Drascua shrieked her last and finally succumbed to the onslaught.
Liriel paused long enough to learn the word off the Word Wall and get that chanting out of her head, then she was searching the Hagraven. Finally she found it, the small black stone that was part of Mehrunes' Razor.
"Got it!" she called out to Eola. "Eola, I got it! Eola?"
Eola had been ferreting around under the altar and retrieved a box from a secret compartment.
"Hags, all the same, you'd think they'd use some imagination," Eola said, flipping it open and removing the Soul Gem keeping the contents fresh. Liriel came to look over her shoulder and immediately wished she hadn't. Three still-beating hearts were lying there in a pool of blood.
"Oh Sithis, are they...?" Liriel began, feeling queasy.
"Yep!" said Eola, grinning. "The hearts of her Briar Hearts, her means of controlling them. We destroy these, they die."
"You're going to eat them, aren't you – Mara's mercy," said Liriel, forcing herself to look away as Eola bit into one of them, blood spurting everywhere.
"W'nt sh'm?" Eola asked, still chewing.
"Don't talk with your mouth full," said Liriel, pointedly looking elsewhere. That shield had to be round here somewhere...
Igmund had been ecstatic to see the shield again and had had no problems making her Thane, presenting her with a nice Elven bow with a fire enchantment on it for her trouble. Liriel's archery was by no means as good as her magical skills, but it was good enough. She thanked him and left with Eola.
"Staying here tonight?" Eola asked. "We could get to know your new housecarl. They might be cute. They might be... tasty." She was smiling that smile again, the seductive one that gave Liriel the shivers and that had had her doing the unthinkable once.
"No," said Liriel firmly. "No eating my housecarls! Honestly, Eola, there are limits. Now, I'm going back to Druadach tonight. Are you coming too or are you still determined not to face Madanach?"
Eola's whole expression closed up at the mention of his name.
"It's best for all of us if I don't go there," she said. "There'd likely be a scene. It would be... unpleasant. If you're going there, you go alone. But I'll be back at the Shrine if you need me."
Well, if that was her wish, Liriel wasn't going to force her. She reclaimed her Shrouded Armour back off Eola, said her goodbyes and retrieving her horse, rode north. Madanach awaited.
Last time she'd been there, Druadach Redoubt had mostly been inside, with a small outside area behind the stockade where there was a fire and a tent and usually guards. Not this time. More tents had appeared outside the camp, and there must have been about five Forsworn milling around, none of whom she recognised. None of them recognised her either.
"First you, then all of the Reach!" cried one, racing towards her furiously. Liriel was back in her own Forsworn gear, but it didn't help her. Crying out, she clenched her fists in the Forsworn gesture of non-violence. Her attacker hesitated, but it was Kaie's voice ringing out from the stockade that saved her.
"Leave her, she's one of us!" Kaie cried. The Forsworn who'd been poised to kill lowered her weapons, confused.
"But Princess, she's an Altmer!"
"She's our Altmer," said Kaie, gritting her teeth. "Trust me, the King will be less than pleased if you hurt her. Liriel, honey, there you are. Get inside, he's waiting for you."
Liriel didn't stop to think, just racing for the Redoubt and safety.
"Kaie, what's happening, who are all these people?" she whispered. "Is there some sort of festival going on?"
"About to be!" Kaie laughed. "What in the name of Sithis did you get up to out there? Half the Reach just turned up to pledge loyalty!"
Two Hagravens dead. Eola making sure the Briar Hearts died too. Melka would take care of Blind Cliff Cave, but Drascua's camp would be leaderless now as would any controlled by her Briar Hearts, and Madanach would have had no warning whatsoever. In the absence of anyone else to take charge, it was clear the camps had panicked and immediately sent delegations to the King in Rags, asking for help.
Sure enough, two Forsworn warriors were standing on the top tier, speaking with Madanach. Kaie immediately grabbed Liriel and bundled her into a nearby tent, but the walls were thin and Madanach's voice in particular carried.
"You did the right thing coming here, both of you. Don't worry, I will do everything I can to help. I'll send people over to help sort your camps out. Fear not, this is not a judgement of Sithis on you."
"But sir, they just... stopped!" one of them, a woman, cried. "One minute Liam and Padraig were walking around as normal, the next they just fell to the floor screaming and died! How can it not be a judgement of Sithis? Red Eagle Redoubt's the cultural heart of us all, for our Briar Hearts to just die like that can't be anything else!"
"Red Eagle was the first Briar Heart and at his old stronghold, the Briar Hearts there are the first to fall," said Madanach thoughtfully. "I agree, it's a judgement of Sithis all right – but not on me or you. I think it's a sign that the road we walk is maybe not the right one. We've become too reliant on the Hags and not on our own power, so Sithis is undermining the Hags so we don't have a choice about changing."
"But sir, if the Hags fail, what will become of us?" the other one asked, a man this time. "This was no divine judgement either, two Daughters of Sithis just walked in and killed Drascua in a rain of fire! Sir, if someone's called in the Brotherhood and the Brotherhood are taking contracts against us now..."
"If the Hags fail, we'll fight without them," Madanach snapped. "No one in my Forsworn's incapable, none of you are cowards. Red Eagle spent the first half of his life fighting without Hagraven help, and he wouldn't have needed it if his own people had supported him. Boy, do you trust me?"
"Yes sir, of course sir, but the Brotherhood..." the man began. Madanach just grunted dismissively.
"Let them come. If anyone was going to take a contract out on me, they'd have done it years ago. When Sithis comes for me, I will die like a true Reachman but until that day comes, I will not live in fear. I ask again, do you both trust me?"
"Yes sir," the woman breathed. "I'd serve you until my last breath, Reach-King."
Madanach laughed. "That's not my title yet, but by the grace of Anu it will be again. And you, boy?"
"For as long as you live, I will follow you," the man said softly.
"And for as long as I live, I will never stop fighting for our freedom. You have my word on that, both of you."
"Reach-King," both warriors whispered and then there was just the sound of slapping on the back, presumably as Madanach embraced them both.
"Go," she heard him say. "Go back to your friends outside and tell them I have heard your pleas and I will answer. Tomorrow I'll send some of my blood-brothers with you to help your camps, but for tonight, consider yourselves guests of the Lord of the Reach. We will light bale-fires and the jenever will flow, and we shall dance to show that the Dance goes on still! For the old gods and the Reach!"
"For the old gods! For the Reach!" half the camp chorused, and Liriel found herself mouthing the words with the others. No wonder Eola had had a case of hero-worship. On her previous visit, Madanach had been a man among intimates, relaxing with his daughter and with his blood-brothers, his fellow veterans of Cidhna Mine. Now he was playing the part of the King in Rags, and he was playing it to the full. Liriel was half-tempted to run out there and pledge loyalty to him herself. As it was, she waited for Kaie to come get her.
"All right, they're gone, you can come out now," Kaie called, opening the tent flap. Liriel scrambled out, rushing up to the top level to where Madanach was gleefully redrawing the lines on his map. The glee was short-lived. As soon as he approached, he looked up and his brow furrowed as he glared at her.
"What in the name of Sithis do you think you're playing at?" he hissed, striding over to her and grabbing her by the shoulders. "I sent you to Blind Cliff Cave, not to take on Drascua of Hag Rock!"
"Well, maybe I needed to go there for my own reasons!" Liriel snapped back. "I do have priorities other than you, you know!" He was still seething, glaring at her furiously and guilt began to gnaw at her. She hoped she hadn't caused him trouble. "Er... should I not have killed her?"
"No! I mean, of course, she was going to be a target anyway, but... Sithis' sake, Liriel, you could have been killed! And what's this about two Daughters of Sithis? You said your Sanctuary didn't support you as Listener. Exactly how many people are you going to bring in without telling me?"
"She's a friend," Liriel said tersely. "A trusted friend who isn't going to sell me or you out. Look, you hired me as Listener of the Dark Brotherhood to get a job done. You do not get to tell me how to do it or who I decide to recruit!"
"Drascua was not who I hired you to kill!" Madanach seethed, eyes burning with fury. "She's the most dangerous of them all, I didn't want to send you up against her, not without time to think and plan! Damn it, Liriel, will you not think of me before you do these things? If you'd died..."
"Well, I didn't and she's dead, so if you could stop shouting and get around to paying me, I would be very appreciative!" Liriel said, glaring back at the stupid, obnoxious, son of a troll. Why she'd been quite so ready to swear fealty to him a minute ago was beyond her, in fact right now she could happily punch him. Then he laughed, smiled and Liriel forgot entirely why she was angry at him.
"Yes, yes, she's quite dead and you are still very much dancing, my Liriel," he said fondly. "Come here." He stepped forward and drew her into an embrace, cheek pressed to hers. She really didn't understand him sometimes and began to wonder if Cidhna Mine hadn't sent him a little crazy after all. Still, he seemed pleased.
"You've forgiven me then," Liriel said, returning the embrace, enjoying the physical contact at least. He might be a little shorter than her, but by Sithis, he was strong. There were definitely muscles under that Forsworn armour, and she definitely needed to stop thinking about what else might be under there. Honestly, what was wrong with her these days? She was an Altmer of good family, she really shouldn't be getting quite so base in her thinking.
"There's nothing to forgive, Liriel," he said gruffly. "By Sithis, do you know what you've done? You've given me full control of the biggest Forsworn camp in the Reach, and Red Eagle Redoubt, the cultural birthplace of the Forsworn, all in one go. You've... you've given me the South. By the gods, Liriel, I don't even know how I'm going to repay you. But I'll give you gold, certainly, and anything else you need, anything at all, and by Anu, I will find you a gift worthy for a Dragon-Queen if it kills me."
"No, don't die!" Liriel gasped, a little breathless although that was probably due to the way he was squeezing her. "I'd miss you."
She regretted it the minute she said it. By Sithis, if he'd been obnoxious before, he'd be unbearable now. Mercifully, no mockery was forthcoming. He just squeezed her that bit tighter.
"I'd miss you too," he said quietly, before letting her go, coughing nervously.
"Right," he said gruffly. "Tonight we're doing what the Forsworn always do when something momentous happens, which is to get out under the sky, get some jenever down our throats and remind ourselves that the Dance of Life and Death isn't over, not for us at any rate. You'll be joining us, I trust."
"Try stopping me," Liriel laughed, linking her arm in his. Madanach looked a little surprised, but definitely pleased as he led her out. Time for the fun to commence.