Cearbhail:
What? A chapter so soon? And two more soon enough? Yes, very yes.
Oh...and enjoy. ^^
Dear diary of shadows,
Well, you know what I'm supposed to be doing. I have like 8 hours to prove that House Severin is behind the assassins trying to kill Councilor Morvayn or else my parents might be executed. So, I'm heading to her house to participate in a tea party while one of my teammates searches for any evidence we can use against House Severin.
Ok, and now for the stuff that's changed. I um… I have a new spirit. Well, a Daedra Lord anyway. He has this crush on me or something like that. He likes me when I'm drunk, I guess is the best way to say it. He gave me a special staff called the Sanguine Rose. I'm able to summon him whenever I need him or one of his many Daedra servants. I kinda like having a new spirit to help me with. After losing Anari, I needed a new one to help me. Kyuu isn't always available and my Ash Guardian is only able to help me if there is Ash nearby. Ok, let's just get this over with.
Veselle Tenvanni.
…
I stood outside the Severin Manor with Seth and Zera. Tilisu was out in the garden picking ash yams as we walked up to the manor. Just watching her as she picked yams from her garden, I could never think that she was some sort of assassin. Nah, this had to be a mistake.
"Hey, Mrs. Severin!" I screamed to her as we ran up to her garden.
Tilisu nearly jumped out of her skin as she turned to look at me. "Oh, Veselle. It's only you." She said as she rubbed the sweat from her forehead. She put her basket of ash yams down to look at me and my friends behind me. "And your friends, right?"
I nodded. "Yeah. You know Seth and Zera, right?"
She nodded. "I may be old, but my memory is sharp as a tack." She nodded to Seth and Zera. "Members of the Ulen family, right?"
Seth shrugged. "On our mother's side, yeah."
Tilisu nodded to Seth but then looked over at me. "So, Veselle. What can I help you with? Do you want more milk?"
I shook my head. "Not anything like that really. I was hoping we could have a little tea ceremony class." I looked over at Seth. "I already asked my father and Seth's but my father's a little…busy at the moment, and Seth's father knows nothing of tea."
Seth nodded. "It's true. My father is a complete dunce." He tried to hold a chuckle as he looked over at me.
"It's not his fault he's a dummy!" Zera screamed as Seth and me.
Tilisu smirked as she bent down to pick up her basket of ash yams. "Well, culture is possibly the most important thing in this world." She turned to look at us, finally nodding. "Well, there is no one better to learn from. Come with me."
The three of us followed Tilisu as she walked over to the front of the door. She handed the basket of her ash yams to me as she unlocked the door. She pushed the door open, ushering us inside. "Come, come." She looked up at the sky, frowning. "There is a storm brewing."
I looked up in the sky. There wasn't a single cloud up there, nor could I see any smoke coming from the Red Mountain. What kind of storm was she expecting? I looked at Tilisu. The gentle look in her eyes was gone. She looked a lot like Teldryn right now… ready for a fight of some kind. Tilisu clapping her hands caught me by surprise. "Right." She said as she led us over to the staircase that led us to the main floor. "You know where the meditation room is. I will be there shortly with the tea pot."
I looked over at Zera and Seth. "Ok, so… let's go sit down and wait."
I've been inside the Severin Manor before, but I'd never actually looked around. I mean… why would I? I always came over here to hang out with Mirri. She was pretty much the only girl close to my age. She was 15, only one year older than me.
The main floor of the manor was just filled with stuff. There was a complete room dedicated just to Alchemy. Another just for Enchanting. And even still was one large room filled with complicated training dolls. The meditation room was right next to the training room. I could hear heavy breathing from inside the room.
"You call yourself a fighter?" I could hear Vendil Severin bellow from the other side of the wall.
"I'm sorry, father." I heard Mirri's shaky voice. "I'll try harder."
"See to it that you do." Vendil replied back. "If we are going to…"
"We have guests." Tilisu said in the hallway as she passed by the training room.
There was a slight pause and then Vendil looked into the room from the hallway. He looked at the three of us as we stood in the meditation room. He finally nodded to us. "Do not mind us. Mirri is only training to become a guard when she grows up. We are House Redoran after all."
I nodded. Ok… that was suspicious. "Yeah, no problem. Listen… if Mirri ever needs a sparring partner, I'm pretty good at martial arts."
Vendil smirked. "Do you wish to prove that right now?"
Tilisu exhaled in defeat as she walked up next to Vendil. "Dear husband, they are here for tea ceremony, not a muscle flexing contest." She entered the room and nodded to us. "Everyone, take your seats on the cushions."
I looked down to see the purple cushion I always sat on and claimed it by throwing a Shield around it as Seth tried to sit down on it. He received a small shock to his butt as he tried to sit down. He jumped up immediately before sighing and walking over to a different cushion.
Tilisu gently bent down and took a seat on one of the cushions while setting the tea set aside. "Mirri, you should com join us for tea." Tilisu gently called into the training room.
"Mother, I'm pretty sweaty. Shouldn't I shower first?" She called right back.
"Nonsense. You're just fine for tea." She laughed gently as she started setting tea cups up for us. She closed her eyes in meditation as she started pouring tea.
Vendil sighed with relief as he sat down next to his wife, closing his eyes. They just sat there in quiet meditation. I looked around at Zera and Seth. I shrugged at them as I tried to think of a way to get one of us out of here. The best way would be for me to fight Mirri in a sparring match. That would draw everyone's attention and while I took her on, Zera or Seth could go their thing.
Everything was quiet for a minute before Mirri entered the room. She was running a towel over her face, trying her best to draw whatever sweat she had on her onto the towel. She smiled at me as she sat on the other side of her mother. She took a deep breath as she sat down in seiza, closing her eyes in meditation too. Tilisu and Vendil finally opened their eyes. Vendil watched as Tilisu started pouring the cups of tea. It was a slow and methodical practice. The tea came out deep green. It was matcha tea. Yuck… but whatever. I'll drink it.
As one of the tea bowls was handed to me, I took a deep breath, holding it as I spun the bowl in my hands a couple times before bringing it to my lips. Tilisu watched me intently as I drank from the bowl. Seth and Zera took their bowls as well, following my example and drinking it the same way I did. And we sat like that for a couple minutes, just drinking tea. It was nice, but I couldn't help but think that I needed to find some proof or else my father and mother would probably start a war between House Telvanni and House Redoran.
Veselle! I heard Kyuu's voice in the back of my head. I talked to Tatianna. She'll be more than happy to talk to Zera about bonding with her.
What? What's going on? Sanguine started talking next. So… this Tatianna. Is she available?
Dude… not going to happen. Kyuu called back.
Does she have a great personality? Can she hold her liquor? What about her figure? Plot or justice?
Drop it, or I'll drop you! Kyuu growled to him. She's not available to someone like you!
Shut up! I thought to both of them as loudly as I could. We're not going to discuss her plot points inside my head, or at all.
Sanguine only sighed. Very well. You're enough of a cutie for me anyway.
Yeah, that's stopping too. I said to Sanguine before I heard a clap. Tilisu was done with her tea and was looking at me with mild interest.
"Veselle. You seem distracted. Is something wrong?" She asked me as she took my tea bowl from me.
I sighed and shrugged. I gestured over to Zera and said, "Well, yesterday, I promised Zera that my bound spirit Kyuute would help her get a spirit of her own. Well, he can speak to me telepathically and reported to me that his friend has agreed to meet Zera."
"Really?" Her eyes shone with anticipation. "I can't wait to meet her."
I nodded at Zera before looking back at Tilisu. "And then I met this Daedra Lord. I think his name is Sanguine."
Vendil frowned at the mention of Sanguine. "You met a Daedra Lord? What did he want with you?"
I shrugged and pulled out the Sanguine Rose. "He wanted to give me this staff."
Vendil finally nodded. "Well, it would seem that you have become quite the capable Dunmer mage. Getting the attention of our gods is something that would become the envy of many Templars." He took a sip of his tea, not saying anything else as he sat there with his eyes closed.
I looked back over to Tilisu. "So, the reason I was looking distracted was because Sanguine is always talking to me through telepathy, just like Kyuu. They were fighting with each other and I was trying to get them to shut up."
Tilisu nodded. "I guess you don't know how to block out telepathy, do you?" She smirked as she sat up. "It's quite easy, really. You might run into a telepath one day that can rip your mind asunder… and then you'll be a yam." She stood up and brushed off her dress before saying, "Just imagine your thoughts as a cloud. And then you put a Shield over that cloud, like you would yourself when you're defending yourself from a magicka attack."
Was it really that simple? I would have to try that one day. But, there was something I really needed to get started doing. I needed to find proof that the Severins were really the Ulens trying to kill Councilor Morvayn.
I looked from Tilisu over to Mirri. She was still drinking her tea quietly. "Um… do you think we can have that sparring match?"
She looked over at me, brushing her loose hair away from her eyes. "What? Why?"
"I'm a martial artist. I like to fight new people. Don't…you?" The look in her eyes told me that she wasn't too thrilled with the idea of fighting me.
She looked from me over to her father. I looked over to him as well. He finally nodded and looked at me. "I'm curious as to what you know as well." He smirked as he left the room. Gee… he reminded me so much of my father that I could barely think they were different people. And Tilisu seemed just as composed as my mother was. And well… Mirri… she reminds me of my sister Brelyna. If Brelyna was a martial artist like me.
Vendil led us out of the meditation room to the training room. There was a large space left completely empty. It was a large square fighting floor, filled with floorboards with springs underneath that let you stomp your foot and take a hard fall without getting hurt too much. I loved training on these. I needed to build a training dojo like this for Tel Mithryn.
I looked at Mirri as she looked at me uncertainly. She sighed as she stepped up to the other side of the floor. She bowed to me, and I bowed to her. She brought her fists up and then screamed at me. She moved quickly. I almost didn't have time to bring up my own fists when she charged at me. Most opponents I've fought would punch me. Mirri didn't do that. She palm-thrusted me. And raw magicka was rolling off her thrusts, burning mildly like flames. Hey! That was my thing!
I closed my fists and started punching her, flames pouring off my fists. As I punched at her, she blocked me, pushing my arm away. Two fingers from her other hand found their way into my soft underarm. Two slight pulses of lightning surged through me and I felt my arm go dead. I was puzzled for a second. It was like when I fought with Dad. He'd do this stuff to me too. I looked back at Mirri. The soft look in her eyes was gone. She looked like a true fighter, her eyes sharp and analyzing me. I felt two more slams in my stomach. More flames pushed through me and I was stumbling back. My insides were squirming, my legs turning to jelly.
No! I mentally screamed to myself. I fought the weakness in my body. I noticed that Seth was missing and so was Zera. They must be looking for the proof by now. I just had to keep this going. I brought my fists up and took a deep breath. I pushed after Mirri, throwing a few punches at her as fast as I could. She effortlessly dodged my attacks, each time punching my arms with her lightning fingers. I couldn't believe she was taking me out so easily. I was trained by Mjoll! That's right… I was trained by Mjoll. And Karliah! What was I doing? This fighting style I was using was not what they taught me. I never needed magicka before I came to this place. Why should I start using it now?
Mirri moved like a serpent. She moved off to the side a little, jumping out of the way of my vision. I felt her presence underneath me and I jumped back in time to avoid a palm-thrust intended for my chin. Light blue flames that did not resemble the blue flames that Seth used barely missed singeing me. I jumped back, snapping my leg out at her as I did so. I made contact with her and she grunted as she took the full hit.
I used that kick to push me further away. By the time I touched down, Mirri was regaining her balance and looking at me with a pained expression. She readied her stance again, taking a deep breath as she collected herself. I readied myself as well. I waited for her as she collected herself. The longer it took her to continue fighting, the better chance my friends had to find the proof we need.
"Where are the Vedes children?" Vendil asked from outside the ring. Crap! He noticed they were missing.
"Zera wasn't feeling too well from drinking her tea. I showed them to the bathroom." Tilisu stated. "That's odd. I didn't expect Zera to have a weak stomach to matcha."
"It's an acquired taste to be sure." Vendil stated from beside her.
I turned my attention back to Mirri. "Hey, you're pretty good."
She smirked. "So are you. Who taught you?"
"Mjoll the Lioness and Karliah Indoril." I couldn't let them down now. I had only just begun this fight. Vess. I could hear Seth's voice in the back of my head. We found a note in a safe. It's true. Vendil Severin is actually Vendil Ulen. It's all right here. They're planning on killing the Councilor.
It's too bad you had to find that. I could Vendil's voice in my head. Shivers ran down my spine. Now I can't let you leave here alive. "Daughter, I believe it's time for you to end your fight with Veselle." He turned to leave the room. "Do be quick with executing her."
Mirri looked out at Vendil. "Dad?"
He looked back at Mirri, almost growling. "Don't argue with me, daughter. Just kill her."
Mirri looked at me with wide eyes. "I'm sorry, Veselle. I'll miss you." She charged at me with speed so quick that I could barely track it. Next thing I knew there was a palm thrust in my neck. The world spun around me and I was down. The life inside me vanished and the last thing I saw was Mirri looked down at me with tears in her eyes.
…
The first thing I noticed that I wasn't dead. My arms felt heavy, cold, lifeless. My head throbbed like it was killing me. I groaned as I tried to sit up. I was still lying in the dojo, pushed off to the corner like a piece of trash. As soon as I sat up, the whole room spun around me. My vision blurred and I felt my stomach spasm. I turned around and found myself vomiting on the dojo floor. I sat bent over like that, keeping the majority of my weight on my hands as I looked down at the green pile of bile spilt over the floor.
I struggled to remember what had happened. I was fighting with Mirri and then… she chopped me in the throat. And I thought I had died. My body felt stiff. Mirri was fast in the way she hit me too. I thought for certain that if she wanted to kill me that she would. I remembered Zera and Seth were with me and that shot me up to my feet. I stumbled, my legs nearly buckling underneath me. I had to find them! I ran out of the dojo as fast as I could, looking around for any signs of a fight. Vendil, the Ulen assassin, went after my friends to kill them for finding out his secret. If he found them, they would be dead. I don't know what I would do if they were. As soon as I exited the room, I heard a gasp. I snapped my head around to see Zera standing right behind me, her hands over her mouth like she didn't expect me to be standing up.
"We thought you were dead!" Zera screamed as she charged into me. My weak body toppled over and Zera ended up on top of me, punching me lightly as she cried. "Why did you do that to us?" She started crying into my shirt.
Seth popped out of the bathroom, looking at me. "Vess? You're really here?"
I looked at him and faked the best grin ever. "Yup. Mirri's strong, but she's a horrible shot."
He sighed a relief. "I just got back from the Bulwark. I gave them the note I stole from the safe. Captain Veleth is preparing an attack force. He's asking House Telvanni to assist in the main charge. Thinks we'll do better than his guards."
I nodded as I started pushing Zera off me. "Sure. Is it over? Are Mom and Dad free?"
He nodded. "Released, pardoned, and everything. Master Neloth is heading the charge. He thinks you're dead. And he wants vengeance."
I sighed. "We can't let him kill Mirri."
He crossed his arms. "Why not?"
I thought about it. "If she wanted to kill me, she'd kill me. She missed me on purpose, and she even told me she'd do it too. She saved my life… and I will save hers too."
"You're going to save an Ulen?" Seth asked baffled. He stood there, looking at me with wide eyes.
I nodded. "You didn't see the look on her face when she was told to kill me. She didn't want to. She was crying by the end of it. I can't let her die for something she has no control over."
"And what's that?" I heard Captain Veleth as he stepped down the staircase leading to us. "What can't she control?"
"Who her parents are." I replied to him.
Captain Veleth seemed to understand that. "Very well, Veselle. We will spare the girl if she comes peacefully. Now, come with me, children. We're going to Ashfallow Citadel to finish this."
Cearbhail:
I want to show the chapter with Ruby so I'm working on this before I return to the Chronicles of Ruby. I hope to have another one down by tomorrow evening.
Oh, and i just want to say that I know there are like rumors that Mirri is almost as old as Vendil and that they're not actually father and daughter, but for the purposes of awesome storytelling they ARE father and daughter in this story.
