Chapter 1: Jeanne
I.
It's never going to be a serious relationship. Jeanne Merrick is a competent spellsword, surprisingly competent, she's a pleasure to have about, and she's a very agreeable bedmate. That's it.
Andanyon first hired her for a job about two years ago. Someone important back in the Isles was kicking up a fuss that they "needed" a magical knick-knack that their archives indicated might be lying around a dusty Breton tomb north of Alcaire. The job got handed off to Andanyon, as the closest Thalmor agent for miles. He didn't have time to research the thing fully, so he asked around for names of local treasure-hunters. He needed someone who knew the local burial culture and tomb architecture. Jeanne was the only one available.
He was at first rather doubtful of her abilities and of her common sense: agreeing to go out into the wilderness with a strange Altmer mage she'd just met. But she was actually very good with a sword and much more magically-talented than he'd expected.
She fell for him almost immediately. By the time they were out of that first tomb, she was hanging on every word he said. Always asking questions. Very clever questions, really.
He's pretending to be a refugee from the Dominion. So, there's no problem taking the girl as his apprentice. (Jeanne is thirty-years-old and would object to being called a girl, but Andanyon is one-hundred-and-sixty-five. All these humans seem young to him.) It's a great boost to his cover here. Since it's all for Thalmor business, he doesn't have to feel guilty about leading her on. One thing leads to another, and soon he's sleeping with her. That, he tells himself, is very good for his cover.
II.
She isn't the first human woman with whom he's involved himself. He's lived a very long life, much of it far away from the Isles. Back home, such connections would be scandalous; in the field, it's an open secret how badly behaved the Dominion's people are when they're on the continent. Still, this is turning into the most intense full-time relationship he's ever had and that is a problem.
Sometimes, in the early days of their affair, he wonders if he is bewitched. High Rock is, after all, the land of witches' covens, and there has to be some explanation for why he's behaving so foolishly at his age. But he was trained to stricter self-examination than that. To mercilessly cut through justifications and excuses of others, one must first know oneself. The girl is no witch or temptress. The fault is all in himself.
Getting involved with an apprentice was a mistake. She's always around and so he's getting too comfortable with that. She isn't clingy, though. She's busy with her own work and friends and she doesn't ask for anything more than he's giving her now.
He's getting old and sentimental, he decides.
III.
If Jeanne's Nede ancestors were half as charming as her, no wonder the Direnni fell.
In all the other lands of men, he's grown used to grudging or amused toleration at the best of times. The Bretons act as though they like you, which makes High Rock a very dangerous place psychologically for servants of the Dominion. If he gets out of this mess, he'll pen a warning for field agents on getting too friendly with Bretons.
He's recently let his mask slip himself; he was careless with a letter he was writing. Jeanne caught a glimpse over his shoulder and realized the truth. He is Thalmor, and she is a diversion.
She's crushed but she has not left. Perhaps she can still be useful.
IV.
And then she disappears while he is away in Valenwood for a few months. Not well, of course. He's been doing this work a long time and it's pathetically easy to trace her to Evermore.
The moment he sees her belly, he realizes why she left without a word. She's terrified to see him, which cuts him to the core. But he knows she isn't wrong to fear for herself and her child. If he has the courage to confess his errors to the Divine Prosecution, he would be brought back into the fold through long penance and re-education, but those errors would need to be wiped out. His Kinship would demand it.
Naturally, he won't do anything of the sort. What does it matter if there's an extra pinch of mer-blood added to the mongrel Bretons, anyway? Jeanne's already moved far away from his base of operations. She'll give birth to their child, keep far away from Andanyon and the Thalmor, and no one in High Rock will raise an eyebrow even if the child shows some evidence of merish blood.
Jeanne's clever and talented and will do well for herself wherever she goes. Before he departs, he gifts her something that will tide her through the next couple of years. It isn't easy to get a large sum without attracting attention from the Dominion's book-keepers, so he pretends to have lost the sword he received from his father after the Great Anguish. Jeanne is an expert treasure-hunter. She can sell it privately for a good sum. The shame he endures for losing his father's sword is nothing compared to the shame of the truth being made known to his family.
V.
He's back home in Shimmerene a couple of months later for the naming-ceremony of his twin nieces.
His brother and sister-in-law have been nagging him to marry for decades. He's seriously considering it, at last. He can come back home and start over, in the correct way. His heart longs for his unborn child, but here he can have a child with a more suitable partner: a child of pure Aldmer blood who will be strong and long-lived and treasured by their whole Kinship.
His favourite niece, Elenwen, is ecstatic that her uncle might be moving back home permanently. Everyone agrees that sixteen-year-old Elenwen is the strongest magical talent in the family since Andanyon himself, and her heart is set on her uncle training her.
He's looking forward to that.
VI.
He returns to Evermore, around the date his child is due. He'll see the baby one time and properly bid Jeanne farewell. That's all.
End notes:
(I have so many of these snippets of Curinwe's life, I've decided to put them together as a fic: a series of moments that make up her life.
As mentioned, this is a prequel to my Skyrim fic, The Bonds of Civility, though you certainly don't need to read that to follow this one. This is the backstory to a background character in that fic.