2nd of Hearthfire
The Mother House continued to be a beehive of activity as each of the children were identified by name, age, and village of residence; and as visitors continued to arrive through the large front doors.
"Countess, what a rare blessing." Mother Oranius said to the woman that was surely too young to be the reigning authority for Bruma. "It has been too long since you graced our home with your presences."
"Do not chide me too sharply, your Grace." The Countess replied. "You know that there is not one minute of my day that is not allocated. It appears that the same can now be said for my nights. I received a very late report of a band of warriors conducting a wagon load of children and a prisoner through the main gate, bound for your door."
"Countess Larina Bradus, may I introduce our sister in Cybele Noxaura, who has arrived for her investiture as Archpriestess, and her companion Aric, Archmage of the College of Winterhold in Skyrim."
"It is an honor to welcome the Imperial Prefect for Skyrim to Bruma." the Countess said to Aric as her cheeks began to gain color.
"It is by order of the Emperor that the lady and Priestess who stands beside me is appointed High Priestess of, and Prefect to Skyrim, Countess." Aric said with a smile.
"For religious affairs only, Thane." I said to him. "And you know full well that the title I love most is simply Priestess."
"I know that well." Aric said. "But you are now known throughout Skyrim as Noxaura, High Priestess and Custos Urbi of Skyrim. You cannot shed your titles any more than I can shed mine."
The Countess recovered her composure quickly.
"Honored Prefect, I humbly beg your pardon." She said to me. "Had I but for a moment considered, I would have realized from your posture and the elegance of your robes that you were more than a simple Priestess."
"I am, in my entirety, a simple Priestess, Countess." I said. "But the Mother Goddess, in collusion with the other Divines, saw fit to place me where I was most needed. The titles that the Thane and Archmage recites were in recognition of my efforts, but my true reward is a land more at peace, and more in harmony with the wishes of the Divines."
"You will not be allowed to depart your Investiture Celebration without a recounting of these events." The Mother Superior said.
"Be forewarned," I said, "That chain of events began with the death of my Father, and I have yet to speak of it without an overabundance of tears."
I had barely spoken the words before my eyes became damp, and Aric's hand found mine.
"I apologize sister." Mother Oranius said to me. "I only know of your valiant efforts on the battlefield, and your numerous acts of kindness and selflessness. I was not aware of your personal suffering."
The Countess seemed to be aware of none of those things, as her expression clearly showed.
"You must visit me, Prefect and Archmage both." She said. "I would hear of these events myself, as well as the events of yesterday."
"It was our intention to request your aid Countess." Aric said. "Neither the Prefect nor I have visited Cyrodiil recently, and we will require a guide if we are to return these children to their homes without an abundance of wandering."
"You will have such a guide before the sun sets, sir." Larina Bradus said to Aric. "I will see to it personally."
"Thank you, Countess." Aric said to the blushed, smiling face of Larina Bradus. "Now, you must excuse me. My daughters and housecarls will surely eat the Mother Superior out of house and home if I do not assist the cook in defending her kitchen."
"And I must check on my charges and see how they fare after a night's rest and a proper bath." I said. "Once their homes are identified, the guide you provide can help us plan our route to return them."
"How do you fare, Giselle?" I asked the Novice who was assigned the task of assisting me with the list of children.
"Some of them found the bath far too animating, your Grace, and I was forced to make a second copy." Giselle said. "But it is complete. The children are bathed. They must make do for the moment with common robes while new cloths are arranged. The taller of the Archmage's daughters is seeing to that task.
"Her name is Lucia, Giselle, and my name is Noxaura." I said, "Cannot you simply call me that?"
"I do not believe I can your Grace." She said.
"Is the title of Sister also too much to ask?" I asked.
"You bear titles from the Emperor himself, your Grace." She said. "It would not be proper."
"Very well, though I will tell you plainly that I miss the sound of my own name more and more." I said.
"I can imagine." She said with a smile and a laugh.
"Please bring me the list when it is convenient." I said.
"It seems it is no longer possible for we two to travel any distance without events hijacking our itinerary." I said as Aric and I stood in my guest room, my back resting against his chest as his arms surrounded me. "Will there ever be a time again where we can simply stop at a convenient spot, pitch our tent, and take our leisure?"
"You begin to discover what I have known for some time." Aric said. "The weight of titles begins to weigh upon you. You become involved more and more in matters of importance. What you describe will occur less frequently and be more treasured as a result."
"I spoke the truth earlier, as you well know." I said. "I wish only to be a Priestess, and a Healer."
"You are a daughter of Morihaus." Aric said, "The blood of Kynareth herself flows through your veins. Your heritage and your destiny both point in another direction."
The sound of shattering crockery startled us both, as we turned to see Giselle, the remains of a tea service at her feet, mixed with what appeared to be the list of children. Her face was a mask of shock and fear.
"Giselle, what is the matter?" I asked as I move towards her.
She began to back away as if a serpent approached her and her hands began to shake.
"Why do you look at me in that manner?" I asked her as she turned and fled.
"Do not chase her." Aric said behind me. "She will die from fright."
"What frightens her?" I asked.
"She was in the doorway." He answered. "She heard us talking."
"Gods." I said. "Merciful Gods."
I began to run after her.
I did not have far to run.
She was in the chapel, kneeling before Mother Oranius who stood above her. She had barely had any time to speak, but from the expression on the Mother Superior's face as she looked at me it had been enough time.
It did not help my digestion when Giselle turned and saw me and prostrated herself.
"Mother Superior, please allow me to explain." I began.
Mother Oranius' expression was no help to digestion either.
"It is true, then." Oranius said. "Giselle heard correctly; it was no figure of speech."
"I do not know what Giselle heard, Mother Superior." I said. "I was not able to inquire."
"Do you share Divinity with Kynareth?" Oranius asked me.
"That is not how I would describe it." I said.
"What words would you use?" she asked me.
"It is true that I am descended from Morihaus." I said.
"Morihaus." Oranius said. "The son of Kynareth."
"Yes." I answered.
Giselle began to cry.
"Mother Goddess." Oranius said as she sat on the steps to the altar and place her hands in front of her mouth.
"Please believe me, Mother Superior, that it was never my intention to mislead you." I said.
"I am not certain, under the circumstances, that it is appropriate for you to refer to me by that title." Oranius said.
"You are the head of my order, the order I was adopted into when I was eight years old." I said. "Giselle, please stop crying. I am the same person I was when we first met. I am the same Priestess I was a year ago when my father died. My heritage afforded me no protection then, or afterwards."
I untied my robes and exposed the scars on my back and side and arms and legs.
"I have collected more than enough scars this past year to prove that I am nothing more than flesh and blood." I said as I rearranged my robes. "Do not make me to be more than I am. I am still your sister, both of you."
"Even knowing your Divine heritage, you still wish to be a Priestess of the Maetreum of Cybele?" Oranius asked after a moment.
"It is all I have ever wished." I said.
"Then it is not my place, or anyone's, to deny the Daughter of Kynareth what she most wishes." Oranius said.
"May we please keep this revelation between the three of us?" I asked.
"Of course." Oranius said.
"Giselle, with your forehead pressed so securely to the floor I cannot interpret your answer to my question." I said. "Please regain your feet and look at me."
Giselle regained her unsteady feet but would look no higher that my ankles.
"Look me in the eye, dear child." I said. "This is the wish of the Reverend Mother."
Her tears continued to flow as her head finally came up and her eyes met mine.
"There." I said. "That was not so hard, was it?"
She shook her head in response.
"Come." I said. "Share an embrace with me. It is what sisters do."
She was shaking like a leaf as we hugged, but I held her and eventually the shaking receded.
"My reaction to learning my heritage was much more pronounced." I said. "The Thane may have kept the count of the number of times I swooned or cried or a combination of the two."
Giselle finally smiled and laughed.
"The Thane knows." Oranius said.
"Yes." Was all I said. One revelation a day is more than sufficient in my experience.
"Then we will all be co-conspirators and keep your secret." Oranius said.
"Thank you, sister." I said. "Now, I believe that Giselle has yet another draft of the list of children to write, and I have the remains of a tea service to clean from my guest room floor."
"Someone else will attend to the tea service, sister." Oranius said. "A daughter of Kynareth should not stoop to cleaning her own floor."
It was the first laughter that the three of us shared.
"Do you purchase clothing for the entire Mother House, sister?" I asked as I carried my armload of clothing along the main avenue of Bruma, returning to the Mother House from the market district. "I ask only for my personal edification."
"Your wit certainly needs no improvement." Lucia said in reply. "Though I admit that I may have gone somewhat past the bare minimum of items required."
"I see waistcoats in my bundle, sister." I said. "I will, therefore, agree that you are somewhat past that particular latitude."
"Good afternoon, Priestess Noxaura." A passing man said.
"Good afternoon, good sir." I replied as we continued on our way.
"When is your Investiture?" Lucia asked.
"Tomorrow." I replied. "It is our tradition to hold such ceremonies at sundown. It is quite short, I am told, in comparison to other ceremonies. We will hold a short rehearsal tonight."
"Will there be wine and revelry after the official ceremony?" she asked.
"Excepting your father, we are a community of women." I said. "So, it is possible that your concept of revelry will be left wanting." I said with a laugh.
"It there a double meaning in your words, sister?" Lucia asked returning my laugh with her own. "If so, it is most un-Priestess-like language."
"What does it say that I have never in my life blushed so much until I met your father and the company he keeps?" I asked as my face grew red.
"It says that your cheeks were overdue their exercise." Lucia said, bumping my shoulder with hers.
"Be forewarned," I said as the hour grew late. "I am not above simply writing the words upon my sleeve."
"You will do very well, I am certain." Mother Oranius said. "It is tiredness that speaks now. We have rehearsed for quite some time."
Mother Oranius, Giselle and I had rehearsed the entire ceremony many times. We were all past due our rest. When I heard the sound behind us, I assumed it was Aric.
We all turned in unison.
It was a man, or more accurately, men, but Aric was not one of them. I had seen their kind before. Versions of them had robbed me of my Father, and almost robbed me of my life.
"That one." The shorter one said, pointing to me.
"All of them." The taller said. "Can't leave no witnesses."
"Who are you?" Oranius asked, fear plain in her voice. Giselle had moved to her side, as the two clung to each other.
"We deal with meddlers." the shorter one said. "And we only do that one way."
"The same way we deal with witnesses." the taller one said.
Meddlers. What could I possible have meddled with in all of Cyrodiil, barring one particular thing.
"Do I understand that you will murder the three of us because I interfered with your trade in slaves?" I asked, my anger rising again.
"Only you." The shorter one said. "Them two because they are witnesses."
"I thank you for your explanation." I said, as my mind and body reacted almost without thought.
Breath out, breath in.
It was still more than I intended. My bound swords blazed to life as the whirlwind of energy enveloped me, and my body glowed like the sun.
My connection to Aric immediately snapped to life.
What is happening? He asked.
Assassins. I said.
I could sense his motion, as he ran full tilt from our room.
Do not fret. I said. It will be over before you arrive.
The two men had backed towards the door they had entered, the door that I now held shut, that could not be opened by any force of men.
"You would threaten us?" I asked, my voice echoing in the chapel that was now only lit by my glowing form and the cloak of energy around me. "You would murder all of us, simply because I have cost your master coin? Well then, gentlemen, by all means, attack me. Leap into your swirling doom. I am The Lady of the Air incarnate. Step close, feel my embrace, and burn into nothing. I have destroyed far greater threats than you."
At the words Lady of the Air my cloak coalesced into a giant bird of prey with my glowing form at its center. The bird's talons and wings were mere inches from the two men who were pressed hard against the door; a door that offered them no escape. One more step on my part, and they would both burn out of existence.
"SISTER!" the call came from behind me, halting my progress. "WE ARE HEALERS, NOT KILLERS!"
"I am both of those things, sister." I replied, my voice echoing from the stone walls.
We are outside I heard in my mind.
I stepped back and released the door.
Aric and his daughters stood on the other side, and the two assassins virtually leaped into their arms.
I swallowed the power of the Earthbones back down and sent it back to its source. It took a moment to light the sconces in the chapel.
Three barely dressed members of my adopted family now had custody of the two would-be assassins.
Aric approached us. He was barefoot, wearing only breeches. Runa and Lucia wore only loose shifts. One of them had used magical restraints on the assassins, who seemed to still be in shock.
"They were sent in retribution for our rescue of the children." I said.
"They were ill advised in their attempt." Aric said, as he smiled and found my hand.
"They have one of my sisters to thank for their lives." I said as I looked at the two priestesses who looked back with expressions I could not describe. "My anger overcame me. I would have reduced them to nothing if not for the intervention of one of you. I thank you."
It took no skill in lip reading to see that Giselle was reciting the Prayer of Faith. Mother Oranius was somewhat more composed, but her breathing had not yet recovered. I was not sure if the cause was my demonstration or Aric's almost naked form, but I rated the odds as even.
"These nocturnal disturbances will be my death if they persist." Countess Larina Bradus said.
"We are of one mind, Countess" Mother Oranius said shakily, "but we can hardly blame our guests for either. It appears that someone takes exception to the loss of revenue that results from the interrupted slave trade."
"The man." I said, looking at Lucia. "The man in the street."
"The one that greeted you." Lucia said.
"I paid him no mind, past a polite response." I said. "But he made a point of approaching us and greeting me."
"He was confirming your identity." Aric said. "You introduced yourself to the brigands on the road. One of the four must have given your description and your destination."
"It is a habit you must break, sister." Runa said. "You are too familiar with strangers."
"Oranius, are you well?" the Countess asked.
"No, Countess." Oranius replied, "I am very far from well."
"It is understandable." The Countess replied, "You were, after all, set upon by assassins."
That is not the whole cause of her indisposition. I thought.
"We must remove this threat from your home as soon as possible, good lady." Aric said to Oranius.
Judging from the look she gave him, she had not yet cleared the image of him standing almost naked, holding a shining sword, from her mind.
"We will not bow to these ruffians, gallant sir." She said. "It is only that we are unaccustomed to events of this nature."
"I do not doubt your bravery madam." Aric said, "It is necessary, in any case, to begin our journey to return these lost lambs before the weather turns in earnest. If the Countess will see to the guarding of the perimeter of your home, we will depart as soon as possible once tomorrow's ceremonies are concluded."
"I will position men shoulder-to-shoulder if that is what is required to protect this holy place." the Countess said. "But at this geometric rate, sir, my dungeons will be at capacity in only a few days."
"We will be away well before them, Countess." I said. "Whoever is behind this will require time to reflect and consider other options."
"That does not bode well for you, sister." Oranius said.
"I have faced, and overcome, much worse sister." I replied.
"I have not the least difficulty believing that." Mother Oranius said.