THE QUEEN AND HER IRON CASTLE

by WestiDisc

Ashadon never wanted to grow up to run a kingdom, she just wanted a simple life where she'd do simple things. Luckily for her, the gods seem to have her interests in mind, but wishes don't come without a twist or two. Come on and join the ride in a very...'extravagant' journey across Skyrim with with some very 'extravagant' people. ;}

3. Chapter 2: A Surprise Worthy Of Cake

Chapter 2: A Surprise Worthy Of Cake

(So this is gonna be the first time I try a "dream scene", don't really know how this will turn out. I think I might try a couple of these and see how they turn out. I'll write it in italic to signify it from what could be considered "Reality text". However, there's one part where I use italic to signify a note. Also, now that reading the story from fanfic's site I've noticed instances were I've put three spaces randomly and the only reason they're there is because I used a different font for the story prior and so triple spacing was near impossible to see. If you spot a triple space I'd love to know because the damn things kill me when I see them on screen so any you find are ones I missed..)

(Fredas/12th of Last Seed4E of 201...3:21 p.m.)

"Oh god did her hands work miracles." I thought as Shanna's hands roved over my body. She moved from my shoulders down to my chest and then back up. She'd did that once or twice and then moved lower, she rubbed my waist and then took her hands to each of my breasts, cupping them, and then rotating around their entirety. As she worked around my body I could feel myself slowly heating up all over and becoming much more sensitive than usual. Finally she moved down even further, she pushed my legs apart, her hands on each of my thighs moving ever so closer to my entrance.

Her hand's slowed to a complete stop at my entrance, the anticipation in my body hit a peak. I gasped as I felt her slide her fingers in, the feeling of her digits parting my walls were like a drug. I almost died as I felt her begin to withdraw only to be excited when she quickly rammed them back in slightly farther. Time felt like it had come to a stop as I could only think of the constant thrusting of her fingers. Yet something felt missing as I laid, eyes shut, listening and feeling to our love. Shanna, it was like she was here doing this but at the same time it seemed as if she wasn't.

Almost as if just thinking of her told her she was needed somewhere, I could feel her breaths on my body work their way from my stomach to my face. Something wasn't right about her breaths, they seemed a bit heavy almost like mine, but she wasn't the one taking it. They also had a scent to them, a strange mix of ale and food, but Shanna didn't drink mead or ale, it almost smelt of Shadow. Right before I decided to open my eyes the breathing stopped and my lips connected with her own, but it wasn't her. My eyes now open, I could see the fur that covered this person's face and the structure that it held, it was Zarcath.

I instantly broke the kiss but some part of me did not break the contact between our bodies. My mind was scrambling to understand what was happening but my body was scrambling to buck and thrust against Zarcath's body. As I looked over us, I noticed how Zarcath had both of his arms on the pillow I rested my head against. The thought that Zarcath fucking me sent my mind into an overload, I instantly looked between the small space between our bodies, and saw his slightly exposed manhood penetrating my body. I just looked back at Zarcath to find his eyes trained on mine burning with passion.

I felt myself screaming but not actually, I could feel my face pulled into a smile and I could hear only the pants and moans exchanged between us. I started to cry but it was like I was crying in my head along with the screams. All the while I could feel Zarcath's thrusts become deeper, harder, faster, both of us were getting close. My walls started to contract around him as I was about to climax, our moans becoming louder as he to was close to climax. Just as we climaxed in usion I felt myself succumb to darkness, the moans thudding in my head.

"NOOOOOO!" I screamed as I thrusted up from my bed pressing my back against the wall. I whipped my head left and right looking for Zarcath, my eyes clouded with tears. It felt way too real to be just a dream, I felt the walls of my entrance clamping so hard, I lifted the cover and found the sheets completely soaked in my various body fluids. It couldn't have been a dream, but looking back on it, the fact Zarcath still had facial hair proved it was a dream. I tried to calm down as I sat in the corner of my bed where it met the corner of the walls.

Why'd it have to be Zarcath, he was the closest thing to a brother I had, why'd he do that to me? I'd had dreams like this before, but never with him and never like that. What meaning could be behind my dream or was it just nonsense? Did I deserve this? Is this a punishment from the gods for what I had done to him? My mind strained as more and more possibilities for why this happened crossed my mind.

"Hey Ash, you want to go to the baths together?" the door swung open to reveal shanna wrapped in a blanket.

"By the gods what happened!" she yelled, she ran and jumped onto the bed moving to embrace me. I couldn't respond, my mind still clouded in thought, I just stared at her.

"What's on your…?" Shanna began, looking from the stained area she kneeled in to my soaked legs. I don't know what she was thinking but she moved aside the blanket I was using to cover myself. My wet and naked body now exposed to her, still I did not move to stop her or respond to her.

"Oh god," she gasped "come on we need to get you out of here." she grabbed my arm and tried to pull me out and away from the bed, I silently complied. When I was fully standing Shanna took off her blanket and wrapped it around me in an attempt to cover my nakedness. She seemed to have been wearing clothes underneath already so she immediately took us to the door and out. She must have been taking us to the bathes already, not once during the trip did I say a word.

Finally at the door Shanna opened it and pulled me in after her. With both of us in she locked the door and started to pull me to the tub. I was able to finally do something myself and took off the blanket, slowly descending into the tub. Shanna must have just thrown her clothes to the side since she followed me in seconds later. As soon as she was in she wrapped her arms around me and used one to push my head against her. We just sat there, neither of us spoke, I let her continue to embrace me.

"You want to tell me what happened?" Shanna had finally broken the silence that had originally enveloped the room. I didn't respond, yeah it was a dream, but how was I supposed to tell her. "Hey Zarcath rapped me in my dreams and I liked, but at the same time I didn't!". I probably could have said that and she'd take it no problem being the type of person she was. I could only assume at the same time she'd actually kill Zarcath just for being the person fucking me in my dreams. Still, I had to give her some response or she'd just push the envelope harder.

"I...was...raped." I mumbled.

"What?" She responded.

"I...was...RAPED!" I started to cry as I repeated to her what I said.

"WHO DID IT!?" She grabbed my head and forced me to look her in the eyes.

"Not literally." When I said that she changed from a sane killer to a confused killer.

"I find that hard to believe with how you and your bed look!" I guess my case was going to be hard to plead with evidence like that.

"It was a dream." It was getting harder to look at her with every word, I tried to retreat to her shoulder, she gripped my face harder.

"Ash, you were...leaking all over your bed and cowering in the corner like you were defending yourself. Don't get me wrong, I've had some crazy dreams before, but you dreamed of being raped. Then you woke up looking like you were raped, how is that possible?" I just tried looking to the side, I didn't know how to even start a response. Maybe it would be best if I just told her who did it.

"It was Zarcath!" I blurted out, she instantly bolted up from the seating bench and grabbed the side of the tub as to get out, clearly she forgot that I said it was a dream.

"NO!" I shouted, pulling her arm as to keep her from going to kill our "friend".

"ASH, you just told me, HE RAPED YOU!" She stopped trying to pull against me, but looked at me with bared teeth.

"IN MY DREAM!" It seemed to pull her only slightly back to sanity as she then opted to sit on the edge of the tub instead of stand. I may have made the moment a bit awkward as her crotch was now at my eye level prompting me to stare.

"Ash" I whipped my head up hoping she didn't understand what I was looking at.

"It wasn't really him physically, but just in my head." I said in a wanting way, a want for her to understand what I was saying.

"OK...fine...it was in your head, but that still doesn't excuse Zarcath for mind rapeing you." When she said that she said it with hate, some earned and some not.

"So what are we going to do about this whole, he raped me but didn't rape me situation?" I looked at her with the most dumbfounded look I could give her. One second she's off to slay Zarcath and the next she's calm and accepting of everything, there was no way she wasn't bipolar.

"We're not going to do anything...it was just a dream after all and this isn't your problem. I just want to understand why it was him and not anyone else. I've had this type of dream just not with him." She looked at me in silence, possibly trying to actually understand what I was saying, a tug at her lips appeared seconds later.

"You said you had the dream before, just not with Zarcath, right?" I had no clue of where she was going with this but I went along with it.

"Yes."

"Was it rape when you had the dream with other people?"

"No, it was...consensual and I actually liked it." I felt so damn awkward telling her this but maybe she'd actually help me come to an understanding.

"So then why was it that when Zarcath was the one delivering it was rape?" I just stared, now I was the one trying to understand, I thought in complete silence. Was it really rape, I screamed, I cried, I felt hate for the situation I was in. Still though, at the same time, I felt the smile, I felt the pleasure, I felt the want for him. I felt so conflicted now thinking about everything that had actually happened. I had feelings for him both as a brother and as a possible lover.

"I…I don't know?" I was shocked that she was able to stump me so easily. She actually started to giggle, was she a fucking psycho, what the hell was she thinking?

"Hey remember when I told you I've never had a dream like yours?"

"Yeesss?"

"Well I lied, I've had a dream similar to yours, but just not with the same person and not with the same reaction. I did however orgasm so hard that my bed actually looked worse than yours." She finished, she had a full on fucking smile and was now laughing. I didn't think this conversation had come to the point were laughing was acceptable. Also what the hell was with the panic earlier like she didn't understand what was happening, well maybe it was the spur of the moment.

"Care to explain?" I asked, I really needed to know what the hell she was trying to really say.

"Well to put it bluntly," she said" I believe that you want Zarcath." She left me shocked yet again, my mouth slightly left ajar this time though. "When I had my dream it was of the person I wanted the most, and it left me the most emotionally...discharged? To put it simple my dream told me who I wanted the most." Was there any truth to what she said? This was my strongest dream yet and as she said it left me like a wreck afterwards.

"Shanna...you do understand what our relation to Zarcath is, yes?"

"Well what you want isn't conscious of relation, only of what it desires the most." I can't believe she was actually telling me to fuck my 'brother'. Or at least she was telling me that a part of me wanted to have him. I didn't need her to tell me what I already knew, it was just too fast for me. So yeah, there was a partial truth to what she was saying but it was killing me to fully accept that coming from her mouth. I turned my back to her and looked up at the ceiling, the tiles were still scorched, I laughed.

"HOLY SHIT...I was right!?" Shanna tilted my head and forced me to have to see her face. I went back to silence as I stared at her, and just thought about the situation again. Was there really anything wrong with my affection for him, he wasn't blood related. To hell with it, I'd try it, I'd try to romance the boy I called a brother. What was the worse thing that could happen, Zarcath turning me down? Only thing is I'd have to give that jackass a restart, how does someone go about romancing a pervert they just assaulted?

"Fuck it," I chuckled," maybe my mind loves Zarcath, but my heart loves someone else, any guesses?" When I told her I loved him she smiled and she grinned and even harder when I told her I loved another.

"I have my guesses." She leaned down, and I raised up, our lips met and we kissed. Was this even possible, could I love two people so dearly, both a brother and a sister. Is it ok to pronounce my love for one, but then physically love another. As we parted from our kiss everything seemed to straighten in my mind and I became fully confident that this would work. When my head finally rested on the polished stone, a knock sounded from the door.

"Coming in!" The door opened but I wasn't able to see who it was from where I sat. I could hear the person quickly approach us as the sound of their shoes grew louder.

"So how's the birthday girl doing?" Xaria's face appeared over Shanna's shoulder.

"How'd you get in!" Shanna gave a little shocked stutter and started blushing hard, unless that was just the heat of the steam. Such bullshit, I laughed on the inside.

"Ah, I used my secret daedric unlock spell that allows me to unlock any lock in Nirn." She gave a menacing wiggle of her fingers.

"Totally not the same way we tried to get into Zarcath's room." I sarcastically mentioned.

"Em, you girls didn't have anything to do with what happened to Zarcath did you?" We both chose to remain silent.

"Good answer girls," Ok, so no answer is a good answer but lying is a bad answer, what a sound logic, "needless to say I woke up right at the sunrise to Zarcath bashing on my door. Apparently someone had frozen his hand into a fist with magic and I had to fix that!"

"Anyways, birthday girl, how's it going?"

"Good so far." I responded, could have been considered a lie, but from my new view the day could only get better.

"Well you to should hurry up because we're kinda waiting on you two." And she didn't call me out, maybe she had some magical foresight that could see into my mind or some shit and decided it wasn't worth it.

"Just a bit longer, I want to make sure I'm sparkling." With that Xaria left and headed out the door. I waited for her to leave before I finally got out of the bath and headed for a towel.

"I thought you said we'd wait awhile longer?" Shanna spook up from behind me, I turned around. I stretched my hands above my head and crossed my legs.

"Well," I yawned" I thought about it and I think that I'm shining already, what do you think?" She gawked at me and then bit down on her tongue.

"Do you need to ask me what I think?"

"I do, but right now I'd like to get to my party." By now I had already finished drying off and Shanna had just began. I casually walked over to where Shanna had thrown her clothes and the blanket and picked up the blanket. When I began to wrap myself in it I noticed a wet spot from when Shanna originally forced it on me, and I was a bit curious. I pulled the wet spot up to my face and took in a whiff of the spot, me, Shanna, and some more unexplainable scents pierced my nose. So this is what love smells like, I thought, I could only hope for more.

"You can be quite the freak, you know Ash?" I practically threw the blanket, she was just drying off, no way she dried off that fast. I looked over to where she was originally drying, but she wasn't there, I turned around and she was standing fully dressed and ready to go.

"No way you dried off that fast!?" I was completely flustered as she just stood there looking at me like I was crazy.

"You know how long you've been sniffing that?" she pointed back down to the wet part of the blanket.

"No more than a couple seconds."

"Nope, you've been going at it for a good couple minutes, I could hear you sniffing it from across the room." A piece of me died when she said that and I just slumped down and headed for the door. When I was about to reach the door I was slammed in the back and grabbed by the breasts through the cloth.

"Hey don't be so down about it, and don't worry I liked the show." She semi-whispered into my ear, I stood up straight shocked from her sudden advance. She let go when I reeled on her, she just laughed it off.

"Also I have a present for you but it's still in my room. So if you don't mind just going to my room instead, that'd be nice."

"Fine, but it better be nice or I'm going to steal your clothes." It wasn't a real surprise what her present was since she always made me a dress for my birthday. Yet I was actually surprised when I saw what the dresses actually looked like each time. It was fact she made them all by herself and they were just for me, that's what made her presents the best.

I finally opened the door and started to make my way to her room. It wasn't till I got to her hallway that I wondered what she was going to do. I turned around to ask her, but she wasn't there, probably should have expected that. Then I was hit with another realization that I hadn't encountered anyone else during my whole trip. I swear father must have cut down the number of guards in the castle because not even they were present. I guess it was nice that they weren't here since I was only covered by a blanket.

I made it to her door and opened it, fireplace and candles lit throughout the room. As I entered and closed the door behind me I was hit with a wave of discomfort. That being the one thing wrong with Shanna's room, it was always an uncomfortable place without her. For me it was the mannequins that she used for making her dresses that were so disturbing, their textureless faces and leathery bodies, they left the room in an eire state. Who was I to judge, I surrounded myself in books and she choose to surround herself in mannequins, but she really didn't have a choice did she?

Trying to keep from mentally destroying myself I tried to ignore them and instead focus on the bright box on Shanna's bed. The same box she'd used for the past five years, the box's sleek wood surface reflected the fire's light turning into a practical beacon. Standing next to it I admired the swirls and flowers that had been etched upon its surface. I pulled its top up and took a quick glance over it's insides, a note lying atop a stack of white strips of linen.

Dear, Ashadon

Yet another year passes and yet I feel as if it has only been days. I wish I did not feel this way knowing the saying, Time flies when you're having fun. At the same time I take solace in knowing that I've been able to enjoy time with people like you and Zarcath. Due to recent events though I cringe at the name of our friend, but in my heart I know that more enjoyable times are coming. Besides all of my redirect above I'd like to say, Happy Birthday, and I hope to that you enjoy my handcrafted present for you and only you.

Your mistress, Shanna

Well...that was certainly one of the more interesting things Shanna had written, when'd she become my mistress? I set the parchment onto her nightstand and began taking the cloths out of the box. Finally with it off, my eyes became glued to what was left inside. A ball gown made of Fiery and vibrant colors with what looked like streaks of gold woven in. I pulled it out and held it against my body, luckily Shanna had a mirror in her room, it was beautiful. Now I just needed some undergarments and I was ready for the party.

After sifting through some of Shanna's draws I found a pair that just barely fit my slightly bigger size and a piece of cloth to cover my breasts. Now with some undergarments I put on the dress making sure to be careful incase it was smaller than my current shape. Strangely enough with the dress on it seemed to fit a bit loosely and allowed for a decent range of movement. I couldn't remember the last time I had given Shanna the time to measure me, and the fact she'd worked on this for a year and was able to get the size right amazed me. Quickly I turned to the mirror and gave a twirl, a problem showed already, my breasts were practically the centerpiece of the dress. Wasn't like I could change anything, I needed to get to the party soon. I made for the door and out into the halls, after a quick sprint hop through the halls I made it to the main hall doors.

Oh, I wonder what was on the other side of these doors. I pushed them open and walked in eyes closed and smiling just wanting to get the beginning over with. Although no hoots or hurrahs sounded, I opened my eyes and was met with complete darkness. The door behind me slammed shut and I lost my shit, I thought I was gonna get attacked, I lit my hands with fire and brought them to the size of cabbages.

"STOP...STOP...STOP…!"

"PLEASE NO!"

"PUT OUT THE FIRE!"

"WHAT IS THIS JEST JARL!"

"I TOLD YOU SHE WOULDN'T LIKE IT!" Voices shouted all around me, figures began to run and dive around the hall, all the while I started to freak out myself. Meer seconds after the shouting and screams, braziers started to burst to life throughout the hall. I could see the faint flashes of some figures just finding cover by the time the entire hall was lit. I disbanded the fire from my hands and just flashed a quirky smile to the only person who didn't leave their seat, Father.

"Well...Happy Birthday!" Father rose from his seat and raised his mug in an attempt to toast. Some people now seeing the fire gone also rose from their cover and cautiously walked to their seats, raising their mugs and turning towards me.

"Ahhh...thank you!" I cringed, this is why I hate being the center of attention, I always manage to fuck up. Thankfully my end of the table was right next to the doors I'd come through, the empty chair next to Shanna screaming at me to sit on it. I quickly moved to it before a guard pulled the chair out for me to sit down, I threw my butt into the chair before he'd moved it back into place.

A minute of awkward silence passed as people cringe and twitched at what had just happened. Eventually small talk turned into full on conversations up and down the table, everyone took to their seats and the chefs began bringing out the first course. This party was off to a bad start, I totally ruined the opening bit and now everyone was on edge.

As the food began to be served I took the time to actually look over the crowd and the decor. The table itself stretched across the whole hall and gave seating to about fifty or maybe even a hundred of us with some empty spots I could only assume was for the chefs when they finished. Father sat at the head of one end while I sat at the other, I was sat next to Shanna and some stranger in a metal helmet, Father was seated with Xaria and an elf lady, her ears easily giving her away. The decorations were a nice green, black, and gold, on banners and streamers hung from the ceiling and laid across the table. Some banners had the traditional ram's skull banner of the city while others were like still images of things one might see at a festival.

"Hey...Ash!" I looked away from the decor and over to my left, Shanna waiting for me.

"Ya know you've been spacing out quite a lot today?"

"Sorry," I smiled" I've had quite a bit on my mind recently, and I've only spaced out twice that's not a lot."

"You don't see me spacing out when your're talking to me." I turned to my right to find a stranger in a helmet staring at me, but the gap in the face plate was too small for me to see their face.

"I'm sorry, I don't believe we've met before." the stranger echoed through his helmet, his hand came up from under the table.

"I'm Prince Articu of Windhelm, nice to make your acquaintance princess." My hand was about to make contact with his when I actually looked at it, it was covered in fur. I quickly raised my hand up slightly and brought it down on his in the shape of a fist. He clearly felt that one as he bashed his helmet against the table in what must have been an attempt to stay the sound of his pain. It also didn't help that he was wearing a dwemer helmet, and was apparently a prince from Windhelm, but he still got me to raise my hand which was the disappointment.

"Well I do say prince Articu, the fur on your hand reminds me of someone I know. His name is Zarcath, he's a pervert that roams the hall of my fair castle, he has a black and white pattern just like your hand." I continued to keep up my princess facuad just to piss him of some more.

"Come on, I was only in there because I needed to grab something."

"What would that have been?" As I finished I looked down and found my food served, a nice bloody steak with roasted potatoes and sprinkled with herbs, fantastic.

"That's none of your business." I glared him down, he's gonna wish I killed him if he thinks he had a right to be in there.

"Zarcath, you know what you saw last night!?"

"I saw two girls having a fun time." He said it with pure confidence and a slight hint of arrogance. I took my knife covered in the blood from my steak and inspected it in front of him.

"Hey Shanna, do you think it would be cannibalism to eat Zarcath?" Shanna looked at me with a slight dread, what did I go too far?

"Ash if you wanted to eat me out you just had to say." I put my cutlery down and just sat back for a minute while I thought of a comeback, I had none. Guess it was time to exucute my great plan that totally had nothing to do with the situation. I'd actually been planning on using the plan when we're older but I could try to bend it to work now.

"Zarcath, how do you feel about starting over?" The question seemed to change the mood of the atmosphere to a more serious feeling.

"What do you mean start over?"

"Well I feel like after last night our, well at least my thoughts, have changed about each other. So I'd like to see about wiping the slate clean and starting fresh like when we first met."

"You know you'd be asking me to forget about all the awesome things we did before yesterday's event?"

"That wasn't really what I was going for when I meant about starting over. I guess I was more so asking, do you want to go on an adventure?" When I looked at him he had a face that said, are you stupid? It was something I had quickly thought up on the way to Shanna's room. I thought of it as a bonding experience, and Xaria told me about how Mother, Father, and Her had forge their friendship through their own adventures.

"Why didn't you just say that, because what you said the first time was way different from what you're asking now. And what do you mean by an adventure?"

"Would you like to go on an adventure, take it or leave it? I'm not going to get into the specifics because then it'd be ruined." He broke eye contact, as in his helmet just tilted downward, and he stared at his food intently, as if it was really a trick question or something.

"Ash, what about me!?" Shanna whined from my left.

"If you want to come than you can, you just didn't strike me as the adventurous type." I wasn't being completely truthful with her, I had full intentions on asking her in the future.

"Being around you is an adventure in and of itself." She tried to be as sultry as she could. That forced a blush out of me and a laugh out of her. I went back to Zarcath and he was still looking at his food so I could only assume that conversation was lost. I began to work on my food again and just look around the room for something to focus on. Eventually I found myself looking down the table at Father and his new elf friend. It seemed like they were having quite the time since they were smiling and laughing. Then as if on queue, the conversation must have turned to me, Father and the elf lady looked down the table to me. I quickly looked down and went back to my food.

When I finished my meal the second course was just coming out and being served at Father's end. Eventually the last meals made it to us, a curry loaded with what looked like fish and vegetables. The fish and spice turned out to not be the most satisfying meal but still edible, but the heat almost made it unbearable to finish.

During the meal I made more small talk with Shanna, eye contact with the reflection of myself on Zarcath's helmet, and thought with myself. Finally the last course came around, carried by the head chef and five of his assistants, a six tier cake with what looked to be different flavours for each tier. I could only tell because it wasn't overdone with icing like most cakes, for me the less icing the better.

As soon as everyone else began to see the cake, a chant began urging me to cut it. As if they didn't notice the cake was still halfway across the room and still coming my way. When it landed on the table, the wood began to creak under its weight, and the chant had hit its peak. The Head chef, out of nowhere, pulled out a sword and handed it to me. It's weight greater than any other sword I'd held before and it's length longer for what I could only assume was to make up for the cakes size. To even further the point of how big the cake was, a chef brought out a small wooden stair step for me to get a better angle on the cake with.

The Chanting was killing my head, when I reached the top step I raised a hand to silence everyone. Finally the room had only become the sound people's breaths and creaking seats. Before I cut I took a quick look behind me and then raised the two hander over my shoulder. I threw all my strength into my overhead swing on the cake. It wasn't till about the sword was going down that someone began to say something.

"Wait, THAT'S…" It was too late as the blade entered the cake and cut through each tier and almost brought me with it through. When It was finally through though, the hall burst into laughter. I looked to find the cake mostly destroyed and somewhat barren. Then I looked to the sides and found the icing that originally coated the cake now coated everyone within a couple feet of the cake. I also found myself laughing unlike the chefs and a few other guests, but there was someone who was laughing just like me. I looked at Zarcath who was bending over in his chair, his helmet previously gold now a glossy white.

"YOU CAN'T GET ME!" he shouted at me over the crowd, grabbing the helmet by the sides and pulling it up and off. It seemed that everyone had instantly turned to him and became dead silent. Still Zarcath laughed till he noticed the room was completely silent except for him. His entire head had not a single hair from when I burned it off the previous night.

"Oh shit." He said bluntly, putting the helmet back on and then slamming it against the table for a second time. The crowd erupted with laughter yet again, but not for the cake victims but for the shamed Zarcath. When they laughed, I did not, a wave of guilt passed over me. It may have been his fault for pulling of the helmet, but that did not warrant the laughter he received. I felt that I need to stop it, he was still like my brother and needed protection. Yet when I went to open my mouth I just choked.

The laughing roared for another minute before subsiding and leaving everyone back to talking amongst themselves. By now I had sat back down and was just watching the chefs as they attempted to take what remained of the cake and divvy it out amongst the guests. I watched as a slice was laid before me but I didn't try to eat it instead opting to just look at it. The piece a nice wedge with some frosting left, a yellow tint to the batter signifying it to be what I assumed was lemon. It was awesome being the daughter of a jarl, I don't think I would have ever tasted a lemon otherwise.

"Yeah, I need to get out of here." I broke sight with the cake and looked at Zarcath, his helmet now half covered with icing. I just cracked a smile and turned back to the cake without a word. I took up a fork and began cutting up the cake into small bites before eating it. The party went on as usual while everyone ate what remnants of the cake they got. Otherwise the party was pretty dull even with the sound of instruments ringing through the hall. Although it was nice to have a more toned done party in comparison to the Carnival father had once let into the city.

When it seemed everyone in the hall had finished eating and had come to quite small talk, father stood. "Everyone here today, I thank you for coming to join in my daughters seventeenth birthday. I can't speak for all of you but I believe this has been quite the party. How'd I love to keep this going, but sadly we all have duties that must be attended to," the crowd all gave out whines and moans," so I'll thank all of you yet again for making this party even grander than it might have been without you all and hope to see you all at the next one."

Everyone just continued to sit in their seats as if they didn't understand father had already excused them. Father palmed his face, "When I said, we all had duties to attend to, I meant GET TO WORK!" At that outburst people jolted up out of their chairs. Some bumping into others as they tried to get out of the hall possibly fearing another outburst from their jarl. When the hall had cleared all who remained was Father, Xaria, Zarcath, father's guest, Shanna, a mix of servants and guards from the castle, and myself. But even then we still had a considerable amount of people left in the hall.

Then without warning the table shrunk to about a third of what it originally was. After the table shrinked, my chair shot forward to the table, I squealed. Now instead of being the hundred and so feet away from father, I was now only about thirty or so feet away. My hands still had a grip like that of the dead as I sat still trying to get my bearings. Father just stood up and started to walk to my end of the table with both Xaria and his guest flanking him. I tried to stand, my knees slightly shaking, but I had to grip the table for some help.

"So what do you think of your birthday so far, Ashadon?" father said, with a smile on his face, as he approached. Both Xaria and the elven woman from earlier brought up the rear.

"Up until the table and chair just now I'd say it's been quite nice."

"Yes, maybe a warning to everyone would have been sufficient."

"Very much."

"I know your birthday is all about you, but there's someone I'd like you to meet." The elven woman moved up from behind Father and stood by his left side. The woman seemed to tower over father like myself, at least a few finger widths taller. She wore a pure black dress with long sleeves and a bountiful skirt that touched the floor. Mixed with her slightly paled skin and even I would have thought she came for a funeral and not the party. Maybe it was some sort of ancestry amongst elves, but her face was almost a copy of Shanna's except for the strained lines that lined her eyes and expansive face.

"This is my friend Justicar Saranto, I so graciously extended her a invite to your party so that she might learn to enjoy herself. Being tied up at the embassy as often as she is it's to my understanding she doesn't get such privileges." So she is the woman who met with Father yesterday, the Justicar famed for her countless pursuit to get Father to open the gates to those of the Dominion.

Father had never mentioned the woman's name but had made it his monthly goal to rant to Shanna, Zarcath, and I about how she'd kept ranting about such and such and couldn't see something his way. At least it had been a once a month event and not weekly, I thank the gods that she couldn't make the trip from solitude every week. However, there was a time when I heard from the Silver-Blood Inn's barkeep Kleppr that a agent of the thalmor had bought a room for a month.

"It's nice to meet you Justicar, I hope my party hasn't failed to meet your expectations?" I put on my princess face, I don't think I could have been nice any other way.

"I'm sorry to tell you princess, but I was never one for parties. I fear that this is one of your father's ploys at trying to fade away from business. Although I will say that your party is very...extravagant, but it pales in comparison to the ones we hold at the embassy." Was she being serious right now, she was literally proving that thalmor were complete asses.

"I'm sorry to hear that, maybe you'll have to invite me to one of these embassy parties so that I might know what a true party looks like."

"I would be happy to show you what glory the Thalmor have to show the people of Skyrim. I'll even allow you to bring some friends, of course you'll have to send word to the embassy before hand so I'll be able to get permission from the ambassador."

"Ok," Father butted in," before you start trying to indoctrinate my daughter into your cult. I think we should start moving on with the party."

"Sapir, I do not take kindly to you calling the Aldmeri Dominion a cult! A cult is a group like the dragon worshippers and especially those who worship that barbarian Talos! And get your stupid hand off my back!" Saranto flipped on Father, forcing away his hand he had set on her and taking a very aggressive step away while turning towards him. Father's bodyguards, who had been lingering in the back, both moved closer to our circle and some of the nearby servants had hushed to watch the outburst.

"Saranto," Father hushed his voice," I don't take lightly to people disgracing my own citizens, especially the gods. And if you want to talk about barbarians then maybe we should take a trip to the local reachmen, I'm sure they would be happy to show you their religion."

"I will also remind you that this is a party, ruin it and I'll make sure the city guards know to never let a thalmor in again." All the while he held a smile on his face as if the tension of the conversation could not be felt. Saranto had continued to fall into Father's game as she relaxed and became placid in the face.

"Good, now that we're done with that, I think it's about time that we move onto the presents." Father put an almost musical spin on the end of his words. I showed my instant pleasure with a wide grin, teeth showing. But I could still feel the tension hanging in the air that almost hampered my happy reaction. "Also I'll be saving best for last."

"Well I've already given Ash my present." Shanna said, now standing in our loose group, throwing a death stare at Zarcath.

"Well then, maybe Zarcath should start before we get to the rest?" Father smiled at Zarcath, pleasant, but with some hidden meaning.

"Fine," he huffed," let me go grab it." He got up from his chair and headed for the hall entrance opposite to where I came in. When he reached the doors he waved a hand through it. Seconds later a group of guards holding what looked to be a box the size of horse pen, covered with a sheet, managed to enter the room. They walked all the way to me, set down the cage, and then stood off to the side. The cage began to shake lightly, no longer being held steady by the guards.

Zarcath grabbed a hold of the cloth,"I present to you," he whipped the cloth,"your first ever pet!" Inside the cage a full grown wolf just sat swaying left and right! The wolf was completely white except for it's two eyes surrounded with red fur that streaked back to it's ears, ending in fine lines.

"Why a wolf!" I squealed in shock, almost like the wolf, I myself started to sway back in forth.

"First, she's not actually a "wolf" wolf," he air quoted with his fingers," she's a dire wolf from what the breeder said. Second, I thought you might want a pet that could actually be with you instead of your supposed "pet" horses. Third, I had no idea what you might have wanted and father pushed me to get you a animal." As he finished I threw a dagger stare at my father.

"Now I did say a pet would be nice, but only as a suggestion, and I didn't say to go get a damn dire wolf."

"Ok well maybe you should have been a bit more specific and said to get her something that wasn't a wolf."

"How long has "she" been here?"

"Well it's been about a week give or take since I bought her. It was weird though, she was so excited to see new people when we showed up, and the mother didn't seem to like her so I ended up taking her." He stuck a finger through one of the holes and tried to poke the wolf, a somewhat sad look on his face.

"Wait, the mother, Zarcath how old is she!?" he looked back up at me but only shot his gaze off to the side after a quick peek.

"Well the breeder said she was apart of a "fresh" batch so…maybe a month or two give or take?" If this thing was only about a month old and was already as tall as my waist, how big could it get!?

"Zarcath did you even see the mother?" I looked at him with a blank face and slowly took some steps towards him. He didn't reply as we stood for a couple of seconds, I punched him in the gut.

"As big as a horse!" he huffed out as he held onto the cage as a support, all the while the wolf just watched.

"Are you shiting me,"I yelled at him," you just gave me an animal that will grow to the size of a horse! Zarcath, that's bigger than me, who's to say she won't eat me?"

"She's domesticated, unless you decided to start hitting her, you'll be ok."

I felt something brush my leg as I leaned over the cage, it was Shanna. She knelt next to the cage and put a finger through a hole and poked the wolf's nose. The wolf stopped swaying as shanna held her finger against it's nose and just stared at her. Then in a quick lean of the head the wolf snapped open its jaw and then closed it around Shanna's finger.

"Are you kidding me!?" Zarcath ran around the side of the cage to the front in some attempt to save Shanna even though she had shown no signs of pain in the seconds that had passed.

"I vouched for you, you damn mutt, and here you go attacking people!" For what was happening, Zarcath was the only person freaking out, the room was completely silent except for some of the guests shuffling forward to better see what was happening. Zarcath grabbed a hold of Shanna's hand and tried to pull it away from the cage and the wolf.

"Zarcath, stop it, she's not biting me you stupid just look." Everyone who could actually see it from the start had probably understood what was happening and that was probably why they hadn't been freaking out. On closer inspections the wolf had actually been sucking on Shanna's finger, a bit disturbing may it be, but more so disgusting. At least to me it was disgusting, I'd been licked by a dog before, and it wasn't nice.

"Well…how about those presents yeah?" Zarcath was now standing, one hand on his helmet and one on his hip, just his body posture gave away his embarrassment from under the helmet.

"Can I take her out?" Shanna asked

"I have no problem with that." I said, and unlatched the cage myself.

"Make sure you keep her in here though, I'd prefer not to have a wolf hunt in the city." Father added.

"Well I guess I'll be going next." Xaria broke from father's side and pulled out a small wrapped box from behind her back. Minding the wolf as she extended it over Shanna.

I shook the box as I had always done with such presents, but nothing sounded

"I thought as much." she said as she finished walking back to father.

I huffed now looking at the bow of cloth wrapped around the box. I took a minute or two just trying to open it with my fingers but it wouldn't let up. A guard tried to offer me his knife to cut the bow but I turned it down, instead turning my gaze to the wolf.

"Zarcath are these dire wolfs any smarter than maybe a dog?"

"How should I know, a dog is a dog, and dogs chase their tails."

Nice, I bent down to the wolf, instead of sucking on only Shanna's index finger she was sucking on all three of fingers.

"That seriously doesn't bother you?"

"Nope, it's actually quite nice," she swayed her head over to mine"I wouldn't mind if you tried it." she whispered. She was raising her game to whole new heights saying stuff like that in here with everyone around.

"Another time." I poked the wolf in one of her side chops or lips, whatever you called them. She didn't stop sucking on Shanna's fingers but did give me one of her eyes in acknowledgement. I raised the box up to her eye, "Shred" I said, she stopped her sucking and snapped the box out of my hand. Gripping the bow by the top she pressed her two paws onto the top of the small box and yanked her head back. The entire top of the box ripped off with that yank and she just sat back on her hunches and grabbed Shanna's fingers back into her mouth.

"I wouldn't have been surprised if you'd had destroyed your present with that stunt." Xaria said with a noticeable hint of displeasure.

"Hey, at least we don't have to train her." Zarcath added in his attempt at humor.

"Don't tell me you thought "we" were going to help you?" father seemed genuinely surprised, going as far as to raise his brows.

"We'll yeah, she's a part of the family now, and family takes care of family."

"I didn't know family stalks family to?" Shanna whispered to me again, I only gave her a nod and a slight smile.

I grabbed what was left of the box and stood. The inside was filled with cloth stripes which must have been why I didn't hear anything earlier. I pushed aside some of the cloth till I found what looked like the beginnings of a ring. I took off the layers atop of the ring and exposed it for all near to see. It was smooth on the inside with hard engravings along the outside and shined surprisingly well for what was iron. It was the center piece that was amazing though, a nice rectangular ruby sat indented into the flat top of the ring.

"Made it mostly by myself and the twins but the ring itself was done by Moth."

"Hope you like it." Moth said from somewhere on the outside of our circle.

"Don't worry I do." I half shouted as I continued to inspect the ring.

"Ash, do you notice anything strange about that ring?" Xaria questioned, it was oddly shiny, I wouldn't be surprised if she meant it was enchanted.

"It's better than your last gift?" I said, a potion that turns the color of objects randomly isn't the coolest present I'd gotten from her.

"No, it's special in that the gem on top may or may not be filled with the souls of spriggans." That was a bit shocking to me now knowing on my finger lay the souls of some dead creatures, what a way to kill beauty.

"That makes this ring special how?"

"Well first, it's filled with however many souls of the damn things the kids and I killed, and let me tell you, not fun. Second, it's a birthday gift so you should be happy I at least got you something. Third, the main reason this ring is actually special, the soul's work as a amplifier for your magic, so expect to be casting some stronger spells with that thing on."

"How much more "amplified" does it make my spells?"

"Try for yourself." I held the ring in my left hand as I drew up a flame in my right hand. The flame was about the size of an apple and just sat idling in my hand. Some of the people around me began to back up thinking I was probably about to light the place up again. Extinguishing the fire, I slipped the ring onto my ring hand, I tried to bring the flame back. This time the flame engulfed my entire hand, gasps sounded throughout the hall, the fire almost licking the ends of my hair.

"That...is pretty cool."

"Don't you mean hot." Zarcath said, fingers drumming the air, why the puns, why? He probably felt the total shame everyone was sending him since he just folded his arms and went back to leaning on the cage.

"So, where are the twins right now?"

"Ah, yes, my dearest twins couldn't make it to your birthday. They said they had to go grab some items for their magic shop. Not like they could have just asked their mother for some ingredients."

"I guess I'll go check on them when they come back then."

"Well, now that the small things are out of the way, let's get to my present for you." Father clapped his hands, grabbing everyone's attention, the doors now opposite from where Zarcath brought forth his present, opened. A group of guards carrying a platform, with what looked like a person under a cover on it, entered and began approaching us. When they were less than about fifth-teen or so paces away they lowered the platform and set themselves in two lines flanking the platform.

"Now, two options, everyone who contributed to this project can uncover it for you or you can uncover it yourself." I thought on it but only for a moment.

"I'd like the first." with that said, Xaria, Father, and Shanna, with the wolf in tow, went to the platform.

"Moth get you ass over here." Father turned to look at the crowd formed around the front of the platform.

"Yes my Jarl!" he shoved his way through the depths of the crowd, a few excuse me's later, he stood along with the other three.

"On the count of three." Father said, everyone grabbed a part of the cloth.

"One...Two...Three!" They all threw the cloth up as fast as they could and whipped it to the side. Finally what had lay beneath that cloth had been revealed.

The crowd started to praise and gasp as I just stood in awe. A full set of what looked to be leather armor with steel reinforcements along it clung to a wooden mannequin. The light reflecting off the polished armor causing slight spots of shine to strike my eyes. Yet, not only was there armor, the sight of both a bow and a scabbard caught my attention next. The bow looked to be made of a rich dark brown wood with engravings all along its arms, and little ornaments hanging from the middle. While the scabbard still leaned against the mannequin, I could tell nothing of the blade itself, but the shape had been of nothing I'd seen before. Curved, similar to that of the blades of the red guard peoples, but longer and a bit straight and with a thinner handle.

"I'd say it was worth every septim." Father said, he had a grin on his face that really showed off how pleased he was.

"Her face would say the same." Xaria had managed a grin, I couldn't feel it but I must have had my mouth at least slightly ajar.

"Can I...touch it?" I asked, I still couldn't believe that these in anyway could be mine, it seemed so foreign. Who'd ever heard of girl, well maybe a woman depending on what you considered a woman, that had a full set of armor and weapons, especially a princess!?

"It's yours, just don't lose any of it."

"Try not to damage it too much while you're at it. It did take me a good two weeks to just make the thing. I could only imagine having to repair it especially with those damn enchantments." Moth said, two weeks to just make this seemed a bit excessive, but enchantments!

"It's enchanted!" I blurted out, damn thing must have cost more than what a ransom was worth.

"Indeed it is," Xaria began," took me the best part of a month to just enchant it, and another just to get the soul gems delivered."

"What kind of enchantments though?!" I was becoming a drooling dog with every passing second I didn't know the secrets of the armor.

"Nothing too serious, just some more enhancement encantes to help with your fighting abilities." Could she have been any more vague with her answer I would have dropped dead still not knowing the powers of the armor.

I began to step towards the platform and up it's small one step that was actually the platform itself. The enchantments Xaria had mentioned were actually noticeable now that I was mere inches away from them. Both the head piece and the chest piece had shimmers of red while the boots had a green glow, but strangely enough the gauntlets had a grey glow. I hadn't really gotten into Xaria's lessons on enchanting, but this was something I had never heard or seen of before. Moving on, I looked over the bow, the engravings had turned out to be nothing more than waves and lines but still gave the bow an appealing aesthetic. The bow was also enchanted, a shimmer of red and orange, definitely a fire enchant.

Then all that was left was a quiver of arrows and the scabbard sword. I reached for the quiver and drew out an arrow, its tip covered in a cold mist.

"Enchanted arrows, not really fun when your making them, but a blast when actually using them." Xaria said, I'd picked out another arrow, this one covered in a purple mist. I picked through a couple more, blues, yellows, blacks, reds, oranges, and just about any other color that existed, a total of sixty arrows, crowded in the leather container. I'd probably have to test a few though just to get an idea of their full potential.

Then the sword, I picked it up by its belt, and then I grabbed it by the handle with one hand and the scabbard with the other. I drew the blade out, the shink of the blade leaving its sheath sounded through the hall. When the blade was finally out, it's polished length showed me my reflection, it was similar in design to only one other type of sword, a Blade's sword.

Guess those history classes were starting to come in handy.

Much of it looked exactly like one, the only differences being the etchings and designs the blade held. It sadly enough was a normal sword in that it had no enchantments but it still looked like a generally nice sword, I slide it back into the scabbard.

"You best hope that's not the real thing Jarl, the dominion might get the idea you've sided with the enemy." It was the second time I'd heard the voice, but the first time I saw the person who held it.

"Your actually serious, aren't you, just after what I said?" Father was genuinely disappointed, as he turned to her, putting his hands on his hips.

"I'm just saying, that one looks pretty real to me, it'd be a shame if someone said something about it."

"I invite you to come and enjoy a party, which up until minutes ago, I'd say was going quite swell. Then after I warn you to keep to yourself, you make a threat to my daughter for having a weapon of your ancient enemy, the spooky ghost that haunts the Dominion. I'd say I've taken many weapons off my own enemies to have as both trophies and weapons for myself, so I see no reason for you to threaten her for having such a sword that was from my personal collection."

"It wasn't a threat it was more so a statement of concern." she brushed off Father with that and just went to stare idly around the room.

"How about you, I don't know, apologize to my daughter."

"I have nothing to apologize for!" she looked back at father, slightly baring her teeth, the sound of guards armor slightly shifting.

"Fine, be it as you will, our visits stop now, unless you have a gift for the party, in which I'd gladly make time for a visit tomorrow." Father was indeed a strange man, playing her the way he had before.

"Fine, yes I do have a gift, just get your feet off my back Jarl!" Now she was all smiles and acted like nothing was wrong.

"At least I can keep my hands on you." Saranto had been reaching into a pocket of her dress when she shot her eyes up to look at father. The crowd to had gone especially quite with his comment, and seemed to await an answer before even considering making a noise, I also awaited an explanation.

"Metaphors people, Metaphors, I've never touched this woman before!" Father was all out blushing, and so was Saranto, although the crowd just laughed in belief it was a jest, I had a feeling it wasn't.

"Your jests make me sick Sapir." Saranto had finally fished out a small book, nothing really special about it, and handed it to me.

"Only tell your father when I'm gone, girl." She whispered in my ear, whatever that was supposed to mean, but I understood when I opened the cover. "The Lusty Argonian vol.1", I closed the cover, blankly staring at her. So that was why she was all smiles when Father made her give up her 'gift'.

"Thanks…" the few moments of awkwardness passed painfully slow.

"Your welcome."

"It would appear that there's no more presents to be had, unless someone has a second one in hiding?" Father gave a quick scan of the room, "Ok then, I would like to thank all of you yet again for being able to attend my daughter Ashadon's birthday. I'd also like to give a special thanks to our chefs for making such exquisite food this evening, those of the guard for keeping our little event under control, and to the rest of you for keeping our home running and looking at its finest. I'd say that this was the best party we've had yet, what of you Ash, what do you think?"His sarcasm just seemed to beam out of him as he smiled at me.

"I think I'd have to agree." The room broke out in applause, some cheering, some hopping around, but most opting for a great round of claps. It died slowly die as father began to try and control them to get out whatever he had to say.

"Calm yourselves people," he managed to get over the last couple hoots," as a present from me to all of you the rest of the day is yours to be had." Yet again the hall erupted into hooting. "Now get out of my hall you beasts!"

The crowd began shifting towards the staircase and eventually to the main hallway between the main hall/room and the doors to the keep. Even father had begun to wander with the crowd to the stairs, Saranto in tow. It took some time but the hall had become silent and only myself and a few others were left to stand and wander.

"I can't wait for the next one." Zarcath sarcastically said from behind me, I turned around.

"As long as I don't end up being covered in cake." Shanna was sliding her hands along her dress looking for the remains of the massacred cake.

"I doubt that I'll be having another birthday for a couple of years, I can only imagine what it cost to have this one, presents included."

"Eleven-thousand three hundred and ninety-one gold pieces, and a era of time." Father walked up from behind, both Zarcath and Shanna had a wide eyed look at the mention of the money, I myself was surprised he went all out. "You won't be getting any presents for the rest of your life."His voice was hoarse and his face scrunched with frustration.

I looked back to the stairs where he'd takin Saranto, she was standing at the top most step with her eyes boring into the back of Father's head. Her own face was smitten with frustration, but her eyes seemed to sparkle before she broke contact and started going down the stairs.

"Well I hope that doesn't count for all of us, I still want a set of enchanted armor and weapons." Zarcath must have been really jealous mentioning that he wanted the same things I'd gotten.

"I don't think you're my only true son or daughter, now are you?"

"I may not be but you still took me in as you own, I'd prefer to be treated as such."

"Really now, I can do that," Father walked up to Zarcath and put him in a chokehold," tell me, how does it feel to be treated like one of my own?" Zarcath spazzed out and started to try and throw father over his back and onto the ground. Only accomplishing to be thrown to the stone floor and face planting against the cold stone, his helmet saving him from a broken face.

"So what you going to name our little wolf friend?" I turned away from the scuffle, Zarcath definitely lost, and yet I could still hear him choking and thrashing as father continued working him. The sight that presented me when I turned around wasn't to different from when we had first let the wolf out, it still sat and still sucked on Shanna's fingers, and this time though Shanna was standing. I took a step or two and reached down, stroking my hands through the wolf's thick fur, I can't wait for the bath time with this girl.

"I haven't considered, it's not like I knew I was getting a pet today."

"You don't need to have a name planned out ya know, just look at her, and give her a name."

Indeed I did look, but I couldn't just call her "Suck", nothing really came to mind. I began running through random names yet they were all so human that they wouldn't work with a wolf such as herself. I eventually got a bit desperate, "Ashanna?", Shanna just shook her head. I looked over her again, but parts of her contradicted what I wanted to call her, I couldn't call her Snowy if she had fire like streaks of red coming from her eyes. I found myself cluelessly stroking the wolf, not even attempting to guess anymore names, but something in my mind sparked.

I broke the trance that the wolf had put on me and looked around for something like a pen and paper. Yet there was none to be had in the hall considering there wasn't a real need for such items in a place of feast and conversation. There was however a few guards still lingering around, most actually watching Zarcath getting his ass handed to him and cheering on their king, I walked over to the circle making up their sparring area. Not really bothering to watch the match, other than for when father broke a chair over Zarcath's still helmeted head, I poked one of the guards shoulder's.

He turned around, a bit surprised he seemed to meeting eyes with me, "How may I be of service my lady?"

"Would you mind fetching me a quill and paper."

"It will be done." The guard broke from the circle and went off to fetch the supplies. I on the other hand took his place and watched as Father and Zarcath sparred.

What had started out as just some playfulness, if that at all, had turned into a full blow tavern style brawl. The remnants of the broken chair had found pieces of itself in the hands of the two combatants, used like blunt daggers to strike at each other. Zarcath swayed slightly as he stood in wait of an attack while Father stood slightly hunched but calm waiting for an opening, strangely enough he was shirtless, I wonder how he made time for that. Father, not wanting to waste anymore time, started fainting left and right swings from his daggers causing Zarcath to slightly step forward in an attempt to block what he perceived as a full on attack.

Father took the chance and closed the distance, sidestepping Zarcath's guard, and beat down on Zarcath's wrist with one of his "daggers". Zarcath released the wood and hissed in pain, but Father didn't back off. He raised his leg all the way up onto Zarcath's back and literally pushed off of him and up raising himself a good two or three feet off the ground till Zarcath gave out and flopped to the ground. Although when they hit the ground, an audible crack sounded, and the circle went silent except for a quick cat like shriek of pain.

"Fuck, looks like the healer won't be getting a night off, boys grab his legs, were off to the healer!" Father grabbed what of Zarcath's upper body he could and the group of guards supported the rest of him or just stood ready to go for the healer's chambers. I stood a bit shocked as they hauled his unconscious body away, Father had broken a few of my bones when we spared, but this was way different, I now knew how it felt to be the person to witness the breaking. Just the painstaking sound as the bone couldn't bear the impact and snapped in half.

"I have brought your requested items my lady." It hadn't reached my mind the first time the guard said it, he repeated himself.

"Ah, thank you."

"So who won?"

"Go to the Healer's chambers and find out for yourself." Sadly enough the man got giddy and started booking it to the Healer's, must have placed some bets and wanted to know if they paid off. I turned back to Shanna and the wolf, now the wolf was lying on her back in Shanna's lap sucking on her finger upside down, I walked over and set both myself and the supplies down on the floor.

"Ok let's try this." I poked the girl in the stomach a couple times till she rolled in Shanna's lap and stood up. I grabbed the quill and dipped it in the ink, I made some writing motions with the quill, "Your name." I offered the quill, she opened her mouth and fit the quill in it, at first I thought she was really going to write something. Then, however, I found myself being attacked with the inked end of the quill.

"Damn dog, stop, stop it now." After a quick minute of me trying to push her away, she dropped the quill, but the damage was done. I could feel the wetness of the ink all over my face and just looking at the collar of my dress showed some thin lines of ink. The damn wolf started prancing around Shanna with that "look at what I did" kinda look, just roaming in bliss.

"I might as well name you ass, cause that's what you're being right now." As soon as I finished, my head began to ache, it felt like someone just took a club and bashed me over the head. I bared my teeth, grunting a bit just to ease the pain, I stood up with a stumble and looked around for anyone else in the room, empty.

"Ash what's wrong?!" I turned to Shanna, she stood straight up, and then shot right down to the floor. She was completely knocked out, it was like she got hit over the head, but unlike me she was back on the floor in seconds. I went to yell for help but right as I went to yell, I was struck with an even worse pain, the air I had prepared all escaped in one puff. My ears began to ring and my vision started to darken as I fought to move, I used the table to support me as I dragged along.

As I got farther down the table and closer to the door, the ringing intensified and I felt myself drain of what little energy I had left, I hit the cold stone floor face first. I laid on the floor, barely noticing the pain spread across my face, sound slowly returning as the ringing began to recede, but my vision only got darker and darker as the light disappeared. The sound of something hard and sharp clattered against the floor, the noise coming closer within a few passing moments, it stopped right next to my head.

"Have a nice trip you little whore." The voice soft and seductive, the heat of it's words brushing against my neck, but so cruel and deceptive all the while. Throughout the city of my mind, quietness reigned, not a word was said, not a sound was made, for no one existed in the city that had once contained bustling markets and streets filled with the laughter of children. Just darkness and quietness, that's all I could think about, and I would bath in such waters till my city was rebuilt and back to the old times of light and laughter.

I opened my eyes, light flooded the darkness, I groaned in pain. My eyes took their time adjusting to the light but when they focused I was not surprised of where I was, no longer was I in the castle , but in the center of my mind's city. Quietness still enveloped most of the city square but the sounds of birds made a nice addition to the emptiness around me.

I found myself sitting on the square's main water fountain, swishing my hand back and forth through the water, but it felt like I had been here without actually being "here". It was like my body had unconsciously been moving around doing as it pleased and I had just stepped back in to take control.

I stood up and took a quick look around, market stalls, benches, trees, and a few birds here and there, but no man, woman, or children came to sight. However just looking at the stalls, organized with what goods were sold there, it looked like they had just recently been occupied. Maybe they were having a ball at the castle or playing a game of hide and go seek through the town, it wasn't rare for the amount of times I'd visited the town for such events to just happen.

Nonetheless I probably had a few hours to venture and do as I pleased before I woke up. Oh what fun it'll be when I wake up and the bastard who whacked me feels my wrath. Shit, I need to wake up, the longer I'm in here the more likely I was fucked in the real world. I looked around again trying to find the castle, considering it was visible from just about anywhere, it wasn't too hard to spot. It's white stone gleaming against the light of the sun.

I kept up a fast paced walk with a bit of jogging every now and then to make sure I made good on time. I passed through street after street all nearly the same with hanging gardens and balconies mounted on the sides of buildings or above windows. Nearly all the houses were the same, two to three floors tall and made of cut stones.

The castle began to come closer and closer but still felt like it was so far out.

I came to a stop outside a nice, slim, two-story house with a huge store window. Inside, on little pedestals, pastries were spread out and set up for all of those who passed to see. Nearest to the window stood the cakes, some so tall they'd reached up to my chest. They all had different designs on them, most seemed to be representations of the seasons, snowflakes, red, orange, and yellow leaves, bright flowers, and bright green leaves. Off to the side, one of the cakes made its presence know, a wedding cake stood all alone.

I admired it's simplistic form of white icing and pink bands going up and down like streamers at a party, I wouldn't have been surprised if my memory ripped them right from the party, they looked that similar. Then right on the top stood two little statues, a crudely carved man and woman, holding hands, their featureless heads tilted and looking as if they were going in for a kiss. I blushed a little, I wondered if I'd ever find the perfect someone.

"To bad you'll never get the chance to find out." I jumped at the sound of the voice, a shot of energy burst through my veins, it was the same as the one I heard from before I arrived in my mind's city.

In the glass I could pick out something moving right up on me from behind. I whipped around, a bit too late might I add, I was met with a blade already coming down at its highest point in it's arch. I raised my hand in a feeble attempt to block the blade, BOOOOM!

Everything around me changed in an instance, the sky no longer bright and clear, but a storm streak with the impacts of lightning and great balls of fire. The houses, no longer full and wholesome, but alight with fires and some destroyed to rubble. The streets, no longer lonely and quiet, but loosely filled with fighting soldiers and the wails of their battle cries. I found myself right amongst them, sword locked with whoever tried to kill me, fully dressed in my armor and ready to fight.

"I guess I don't have as much power in here as I thought." The figure pushed off my own sword with theirs, I raised my sword to hip level and took them in. All of their armor specially designed to resemble that of a wolf, but nonetheless, it was made of studded leather and draped in what looked like a fur cloak. Their blade wasn't anything to special, but her hands looked like they had talons of metal extending from the tips, this should be fun. No sooner than the thought itself, a yell burst from my left, I swiveled my body and braced for what was to come.

A bear of a man wielding dual axes came running from out of some destroyed building. It would be an easy kill, side step and slice, and it had been. It went just as I wanted and the man's body fell down with his hands clutching his throat. Something in me snapped though, the blood poured out of his neck were he let his hands slid away, I threw up. The blood just kept gushing out as he spasmed and choked on the ground.

I flashed my eyes away from the mixture of bile and blood, the war still raged, but the grunts and shouts had faded to the distance. That wasn't for the best as luck would have it. All the soldiers that had been decked in shining plate and steel armor now lied dead where they fell, but for those dressed in their leathers and animal skins, they stood at the ready to engage me. It was a practical lose at this point, my back was literally feet away from a destroyed ruins, and they had already cut off my exits. At least it was just a dream and I wouldn't die in my first battle. I raised my sword ready to go out in what most called a hero's death, the wolf figure stepped forward.

"It's a shame that such a pup like yourself is the last to survive, guess those soldiers must have been mere boys, poor excuses for men. Yet I'll give you a chance, last me in a duel for a minute, and you'll be free to outrun my wolves." The soldiers started hollering and yelling in pleasure, guess they were the wolves." Or you could try running now, but you'll find you can't outrun me."

"Either way I'm probably gonna die, might as well have fun doing it." I wiped out a fireball from my left hand and threw, I must have still had the ring of whatever on, the ball double in size as it hurled towards the armored woman. The sight of her completely disappeared from behind the ball of flames, but then the flames disappeared, she had used some sort of ward to block the ball but that didn't stop it from killing a man or two behind her.

"Magic never really was my strong suit, but I'll let it slide, your gonna need it." She darted forward, I drew up an ice spell, covering the ground between us in a thin layer of slick ice. Only that didn't help, she jumped a good four or five feet or the ice and landed right in front of me. I tilted back as her sword shot up along my chest in an attempt to pierce my jaw. Falling back I twisted around and rammed the butt of my sword into the stone of the bakeries wall, just managing to stop myself from face planting against it. However,I had left my entire back side open and paid the consequences as I felt her sword slice the back side of my right leg and trailing up my thigh till it departed at my butt. The pain so great I felt like I was actually going to pass out. I pushed off what existed of the ruined wall and tried to throw myself behind my sword trying to pierce the woman through the gut. She sidestepped that and slashed my back, the armor took it all, I felt the impact of the sword throw me forward, the cheers of the soldiers growing with each hit.

"Come on, you can do better than that, you don't have to much longer." I pushed off the ground and stood on my right leg, my left covered in blood and pulsing in pain. I went on the defensive, backing myself up against the ruins, sword raised for whatever came next. She broke my defense every time, like she knew my style before we even started, leaving a new bleeding cut each time. Only minutes had began since we started and she had me backed against the ruins of the pastry shop, leaning against it just to keep from falling. I dumped the last of my magic into healing whatever wounds I could and it probably wouldn't have helped if it hadn't been for the ring.

"You can lick your wounds but it won't make them any better. Yet I think we can end off our little session here." Everything stopped, the shouting, the cheering, the thunder, the lightning, even the fires had come to a complete stop, but the woman still swayed, still twirled her sword, ready to finish it.

"What are you?!" I grunted.

"Well here, I'm a woman such as yourself," she unlatched whatever things kept her helmet on, on the back."but in the real world, you'd call me your pet." The woman's hair poured out of her helmet as she raised it off. White as snow, and as smooth looking as ale being poured from a tankard. Then, when her hair settled off to the sides, her eyes, two perfect streaks of red lined around each eye and then brought back in a sharp upturn from the corner of said eyes and onto the sides of her face. Using just her looks and the fact I'd call her my "pet" if we weren't here, it wasn't that hard to make the connection.

"Trollshit, who are you, becuase there's no way in oblivion you're my "pet"." I slightly lowered my sword, maybe she'd actually stick to conversing and not trying to kill me.

"Believe it or not." She started strutting forward, the swings of her hips and bounce of her chest catching my eyes if only for a second, somehow reminding me of Shanna if anybody. When she was about a step or two away, she dropped her sword, and grabbed my wrist with her slender hand. I was gonna draw back but she was a bit strong on the grip and I wasn't ready to have my wrist dislocated anytime soon. She lifted my hand to her mouth, slightly parting her lips, and shoved my middle finger in. Her ruby lips clamped down and her tongue started working the length of my finger. I just stared at her face, fuck was she beautiful, a set of cheekbones that would make a skeleton whistle, skin as bright as snow but tinted with a very light tan, her eyes lit like that of a bronze coin, and finally her ears which made for a perfect match if compared to a dog.

Something wasn't right in my head, emotions scattered, thoughts scattered, will scattered. I knew this wasn't right, I wanted to kill the woman right here but the fibers in my body stayed lax and left me slumped against the wall of the bakery.

It went on for what seemed like forever, the rough texture of her tongue becoming smoother with the passing time. Maybe I was way to forgiving, or she'd cast a spell on me, but I was already daydreaming about speeding things up and just burning our clothes off.

"Fuck me!" I blurted out, letting my frustration get the best of me.

"Are you sure, I wouldn't call this the most romantic setting, I personally wouldn't mind?" She'd already pulled off of my finger and was now pushing herself as close as she could into my body.

"No, I don't want to actually fuck, I'm just thinking aloud!"

"You sure, we just got done doing our little warm up, I'm warm, you're warm, and I'm really starting to get in the mood." Her hands were literally riding down the side of my torso and getting ever so closer to my ass.

"Yes, I am sure, I really don't want to have sex right here and right now!"

"Hmm, how bout later tonight, I can wait till then?" Her hands lightly residing on the sides of my thighs.

"Sure, why not, tonight we can have sex." What in oblivion was I doing, I wasn't even sure if this was my 'pet' to begin with, and yet I just promised to hand out some free sex to her. Goes to show how much I actually respected myself and my body, but she…

"Great!" she shot her hands around my thighs and to my butt giving each cheek a quick squeeze, even through my armor I could feel it like skin on skin. She followed it up with a quick kiss to the lips. Whatever, it was a dream, a wet dream I guess. Well, a really twisted wet dream at that.

"Are you a whore, I'm starting to think you're not actually my 'pet'?" I pushed her off me and gave my lips a quick swipe of my wrist, both her kiss and my saliva trailing along the the leather.

"I'm sure, just a really horny girl looking to get off, also you do remember you'll have to still deal with my wolves?"

"What, can't you just call them off, I'd like to not have to fight anymore than I already have!?" As if I wasn't sore enough from our earlier fight and she still expected me to take on her little mob of barbarians.

"To be honest, I'm more of a handler in a sense that I can give them orders but they still have their own free will of whether they chose to follow them. I do have some slight control over them but that goes only as far as being able to freeze them for short spans of time and this…" with the snap of the fingers the barbarians exploded into a wall of black smoke, but when the smoke cleared seconds later, no longer did barbarians stand as solid as stone but wolves scattered the scene. Some in mid jump and others in mid sprint but all still on a straight course for me.

"Gods," she giggled," this reminds me of a kid whose dreams I wiggled on into a few days ago. I spent a good few hours chasing him through the woods with the boys right here. I wish you could have seen the hair on him when I yanked him out of some house he'd been shaked up in, not to mention that tail of his, shot right up as I kicked in the door!" She kept up her maniacal laughter.

Honestly, this had to be the most sadistic person I'd ever met.

"So...yeah...do I get a head start?" This was going to be the most I'd probably ran in my life. Or I could try to catch her off guard and kill her now?

"Fine, only for you, but you better go all out tonight. And I can hear you, don't even try it. The only reason you're alive is because I've let you make it this far." She began walking towards the pack of wolves, "10...9...8...7…" but I was already off at the sound of ten. I went right around the crumbled ruins of the bakery and into a back alley littered with trees and shrubs. I looked up only to find my sight obscured by the limbs and leaves of any trees, going with my gut then. I took a right hoping it was still parallel to the road I was originally traveling before the duel, sprinting as fast as I could. Not a second later the pack of wolves skidded into the alley from where I had come in and were already making up the distance between us.

All sound seemed to come back in an instant, thunder striking in the distance, the balls of fire traveling through the air, and buildings crumbling.

I kept looking straight, making sure not to bump or trip into anything, I could only imagine the pain of having my body ripped to shreds by wolves. Already my legs began to give into the pain of the constant sprint. I could see an end to the alley though, trees stopped lining the end and the sight of a fountain laid at the opening of the lane. I went all out, pumping whatever energy I had left into my legs, I breached through the shade and into the open square. I made it all the way to the fountain before I dropped and hit the fountain's rim, feet first, tumbling right into the water. Gasping for air, I choked in water instead, I whipped my head up and out of the water throwing up whatever water that I had in my lungs.

I swiveled my head to the side to look back at the wolves, even with the burning buildings and various other sources of light, they were barely visible but they had just breached the opening of the alley. It'd be too late to start running again, I sat in the fountain just looking at the thundering clouds waiting for the wolves to pounce me. The thunder almost seemed to be growing in sound almost like it was getting closer or whatever was happening, maybe the clouds would come to eat me, I chuckled at my own stupidity in the face of death.

I counted in my head of how long I probably had left, 8...7...6...5…., the sound of the thunder roared in my ears, DADA DA DADA DA DADA! 4...3…., the snarls of the wolves became clearer as they were probably but a few dozen feet away.

"LANCES READY!" A voice broke out against the sounds of the thundering and the snarling of the wolves, I whipped my head to the right. A dozen armored horses carrying soldiers clad in glass armor, wielding lances of almost pure light came charging towards the wolf pack, the honor guard had finally arrived.

The wolves didn't even bother looking at the new enemies, instead, opting to continue their head on charge for me. They faced the consequence right at the last second when the one in the lead, a shaggy looking wolf of a black coak and face smeared in foam, was merely a foot from the fountain's edge.

The one in lead took a lance right through the head, and others met similar fates either by lances or the hooves of the horses, the sound of bones cracking became the new and loudest sound around. I stared in awe as the bodies of the wolves, instead of simply falling to the ground, blow up into clouds of the same black smoke as before. The riders seemed nowhere near as paralyzed as myself, merely dropping their lances and switching to swords rippling in the same white light as the lances.

"My Queen, glad to see your still well, but we need to leave now!" The lead soldier, Abren, if memory serves me correct, had positioned his horse at the edge of the fountain and stepped down and into it, quickly picking me up by the sides and hoisting me onto the back end of the horse.

"Great...timing...as always!" I managed to both gasp in air and shout all the while he remounted the horse.

"Well if you haven't noticed the city is under siege my lady, we've been dealing with evacuations, and we weren't able to find you so our problems are many. Come on men, were moving out!" The group had formed a half circle around the fountain and had managed to wipe out just about every wolf in the pack except for a stray few who tried to play it tactical if at the least. I wrapped my arms around Abren's waist as the horse reared into a half circle and sprinted through a gap in the circle back the way they had originally come from. We took the lead and whatever was left of the force had caught up and reformed on us.

I looked past Abren's shoulder and saw the castle looming in the distance, casted in the shadow of the clouds, until lighting struck nearby, and then showered in a quick blast of light. Much further down the road, the noticeable opening of a gate was etched in the light of lit braziers.

"So captain, what's on today's agenda, I was hoping for maybe a stroll along the docks or a nice walk in the woods?!" That was me, in the face of a disaster trying to crack jokes.

"I would say a sunset sail along the coast would do just right about now!" I never was sure if it was just my imagination creating people who fit my taste or if people really just thought like me, nevertheless, at least I wasn't the only one who could joke at such times.

We finally made it to the gate, once inside it shut behind us, archers and wizards mounted the walls, detachments of spear and swordsman ran along the inside of the walls heading to other gates to probably reinforce other areas, and finally tents and weapons depots stood erect all across the open area of the gate's inner walls. Abren steered the horse towards the direction of the largest tent and set us at a slow trot, the rest of the group headed towards a makeshift stables.

"So what brings you back to the kingdom at such a time?" Abren's face, except for his eyes, was completely obscured by his helmet but he made the slightest turn to look at me.

Whatever I had been doing prior to arriving in the city had smashed into my head like the pommel of a sword. I had left the city with a small detachment of cavalry to investigate rumors of an army massing on the border. I had commanded the honor guard to stay and had Abren run the city while I was gone. From there we'd only made it a day away from the city till we were ambushed at a crossroads. I had fled back to the city while the calvary held them at bay, but that's all that came back.

"I was on my way back to warn the city they were coming but it looks like they beat me here."

"I see, after we're done here we'll have to send out a party to go and find the calvary. We do however have a problem, whether you saw it or not, these barbarians outnumber us by at least four to one. So far we've been able to cut them down to about half of that, but not without loses to our own. Not to mention we lost both the third and secondary walls and we're now down to defending the last wall here."

"By the gods, how did they manage to get past any of the gates?'

"It's to my understanding they had suppressed the guards on the first wall and proceeded to use grappling hooks to scale the wall before opening it for the main force. We lost the second wall when they were able to zone in their siege equipment on a section of the wall, to which it eventually collapsed. Which now leaves us here, we should be able to hold here now that we're able to keep the wall fully garrisoned and their siege equipment hasn't been able to hit."

"So we just have to hold out till they leave the city since we don't have the numbers to push them back."

"Already a step ahead of you, and that plan won't work. What civilians that weren't able to evacuate out of the city were routed here. Food storages were meant to sustain just the army in the event we got forced back here, and not for long, for at least a week. We have at least a thousand or more civilians here , and that's cut us down to four days even with putting in place stricter rationing. And to add to our troubles there's still the supplies that lay outside the wall, they have access to an entire city to keep them sustained."

"So, based on what your saying, we have absolutely no chance at surviving this siege?"

"No, we can win this if we just resort to drastic measures."

"Like what?"

"I'll tell you when we get there."

Never would I have thought, in my eight years of rule, my kingdom would fall. We had been the superpower of the continent, we had the greatest army, richest cities, and the most prosperous lands. Neighboring kingdoms feared to anger me, always sending gifts or marriage proposals to keep me pleased. Although those proposals did the opposite because I knew they sent them with motive to also take the crown from me.

"It almost seems that the times end are upon us my lady, missing people, strange shadows in the woods, and now barbarians laying siege to the city. Next thing you know we'll be swarmed with rabid bunnies with a taste for blood!" His little outburst recieved my own little chuckle but nothing to loud or annoying. But his statement of the end times didn't go unfounded.

It wasn't till my second year of ruling till I had heard of the cities endtime prophecy. Some farmers had stopped paying their tributes so guards had been sent to inquire why they'd stopped paying, that's when we'd found them to have disappeared. Word got around of their disappearance and eventually we had people screaming the end times were coming. That led to me asking what the end times were and then a trip out to the mountains that bordered the east. Then some hiking through said mountains led to a cave with some ancient ruins.

The ruins were practically the same from the dwemer ruins back in Markarth, only differences being there wasn't any metal constructs like the dwemer used and the people referred to them as the 'Ancient Ones' and not the dwemer. The "Ancient Ones" had left a wall that had depicted the end of their civilization, yet another rip from reality with a twist. The scenes on the wall were the same as Abren had described them. The end result of our trip had done little to stop the paranoia that arose of the situation and only gave me a slight incite into the history of the land.

"Indeed, I wouldn't be surprised if we one day find ourselves in such circumstances, we can only hope the gods will have mercy upon us." By now we had already dismounted Abren's mount and we were standing just outside of what I assumed was our command tent, the incomprehensible shouting of men barely making it out the tent and over the sounds of other actions happening in the campsite.

"Not saying we should ask the gods for mercy but you might have to ask the generals for some." He pushed aside the flaps of the entrance and we stepped in.

"If I have to say it again, Holgolt, I will personally choke you till you soil your pants! We need reinforcements on the western gate or those damn tribals will breach the wall!"

"No they won't, you already have the rangers regiment and the college mages at your disposal, not to mention the fact that you also have three trebuchets at your will. All the other gates have barely anything in the way of troops, if the enemy even bothers pressing troops into the other gates, they will fall and we'll have to retreat to the citadel and I personally don't like the idea of giving those beasts anymore ground then they already have!"

In front of us stood a decently long table big enough for a dozen or so people but was only occupied by three, the generals. To the left, Holgot, a wary old nord with salt and pepper hair bred from some of the harshest battles our lands had seen, from what he said himself on many previous accounts. To the right, Strazin, a young argonian with red and orange scales, no older than myself by ten or so cycles, the newest general to the collection but not fresh to the concept of war. Then right in the middle, Borander, a lone wanderer, with piercing green eyes.

When he first arrived, decked in dwarven/ancient one armor, claiming his village was destroyed and he had fled from the neighboring province to seek sanctuary in my lands. A high elf, he claimed to be, but his skin was of a light tone compared to the darker and generally tanner skin of the high elves that populated the southern coasts of the province, I had my own theory that he might have been of dwemer decent if not dwemer himself.

"Ah, looks like our princess has decided to bless us with her presence this fine afternoon." Both Strazin and Hoglot shut up as Borander pressed off the table they surrounded, a slight shifting of paper followed his hands. However he managed to notice my silent entrance was beyond me.

"Well I'd say I had no choice, the whole damn kingdom is on fire and I didn't have a say in the matter." I approached the table and found myself leaning over it trying to make sense of the maps. I wasn't trained in the whole strategy of troop command and managing armies but I still could tell what the symbols for regiments and troop movement meant. So far it looked like we were good shape, at least four legions held each gate with the exception of the eastern gate that had the rangers mark, some groups of archers were station with each legion and smaller symbols showed mages and splinter groups of the honor guard reinforcing those troops. Then finally, stationed on the citadel walls, a group of trebuchets were marked for support, all and all we probably could still do with a few more thousand men or so.

"At least the men get to see their queen at the frontline with them." Strazin looked behind me and jogged to the entrance. I looked back to spot a runner in leather armor visibly panting as he extended a scroll to Strazin. Strazin thanked the man and began walking back to the table, undoing the twine of the scroll as he walked.

"Strange, it appears all gates are clear, and scouts are reporting the barbarians are in full retreat. That doesn't really seem like their style but I'll gladly take the victory on this one." He threw the scroll onto the table for all to see, and indeed the report summarized the enemy to be in full retreat.

Nothing was right about that report. Why would they siege the city and then retreat after breaking through all but the last wall? What had they come for, gold, food, materials, to come this far and not finish the job was very...off setting. Especially if they had warriors like that women I dueled, warriors that could easily disperse magic and dodge years worth of martial training, she could easily wipe out groups of soldiers. Maybe not the more experienced soldiers but easily the weak ones. Or maybe it was that simple, they'd just come for the easy pickings and left like the vultures they were.

"Looks like you boys faired well enough without me, but I fear my stay was only momentary, I must return to running the country before it gets out of hand. Do make sure to start fixing the city, I don't believe we'll want citizens camping out in the castle for winter, I will be back within a hour or so to see how things come along." I turned towards the entrance, Abren turning right along with me.

"At least make some time for a quick speech, it would quite nice to get a victory speech in before you leave." Borander tried coaxing me to accept.

"Nope, there's a reason you guys are my figure heads, I'm just too damn busy." I pushed through the tent flaps and into what was now a bright and sunny afternoon, but the camp had not changed one bit and some houses were still partly crumpled and burnt.

If this day changed anymore I was going to have a mental breakdown, I wasn't even sure if it was the same day.

"Back to the castle then mylady?" Abren followed right on my tail as we approached his horse. Strange that he wasn't asking the same question that I was, how the fuck did we just go from lighting and thunder a few minutes ago to bright as fuck, clear skies, guess this was just so normal to him.

"Yeh, hopefully I'll be able to return to 'business' from there." I let Abren pass me and jump up onto the mount, he lended me a hand, and I followed him up, on, and away. We sped through the streets, first they were crowded with soldiers, then nothing, and then scattered groups of civilians. As we rode, some groups looked towards us, some gasping and cheering for their queen, but I didn't feel like that queen. Some had made sure to enforce that feeling in me with the occasional scrunched face or dreadful stares.

After passing through the gatehouse of the citadel we made it into the castle's courtyard. A wide , open, ground of cobblestone flanked by strips of grass with protruding white birches and finished with a water fountain in the shape of the daedric prince Nocturnal, water flowing out of 'her' uplifted hands. Maybe it was a bit strange to have a almost naked statue of a woman be the first thing to greet my guests, but nothing else seemed to fit.

We dismounted at the steps of the great entrance, a giant oat door that reached forty feet up and met at a peak in the center, and twenty feet across. Whirls and swirls were etched into the door to create intricate designs of animals that roamed a glade, although you'd barely guess it to be that since if you weren't told what it was then it'd just look like whirls and swirls. I pushed them open, still amazed at how light the doors were for their true size.

The doors opened to the familiar sight of my home away from home, an almost identical version of the jarl of whiterun's castle but with my own changes to some parts.

Father had taken me on multiple trips to neighboring holds such as whiterun, I still didn't understand why he considered them neighbors when we were separated both by mountains and either days, weeks, or even a months travel away, so I had a lot of different ideas for how I wanted my own little castle to look like.

I ascended the first flight of stairs and was met with my own rendition of the dining area. Instead of two tables flanking the throne, I had four tables in the form of a square with a fire pit in the middle, and a chair at the 'head' of the table closests to the throne that resembled a more toned down version of my actual throne. Everything was made from a dark and rich form of spruce that almost seemed to shine depending how you looked at it, but only my throne was not made of the spruce. My throne was made of a smooth marble stone pattern of sky blue, fire red, and white swirls, however that was supposed to realistically work I had no clue, only my imagination could create such beauty. The seat and arms were cushioned with the hindes of bears ,which made for a pretty good butt scratcher believe it or not, so I at least didn't have use my own hand when it got a bit scratchy.

"Strange that they never targeted the castle, they could've moved their siege crafts into the city and just bombarded it." Abren walked up behind me as continued looking around the hall.

"Where's all the servants?" Usually the castle would be flooded with servants and guards almost making the hallways, the size of two carts side by side, seem like the streets of the city during rush hours.

"Well when the attack began most found their way to me and asked to leave for their families so I granted nonetheless, unless you think I shouldn't have?"

"No, you did right, I'd want to be with my family in what would possibly be my last moments, if I was in the same situation." I came back around to the throne and turned around to face Abren, he had his helmet off and his face open to my sight. His light brown hair cut short, but still long enough to cast the slightest shadow over his eyes. Dirt colored eyes, a nice golden tan, and a stone chiseled body, dare I say, accompanied the rest of him, but that was under all that shiney armor.

"So what are your plans now that the invasion has been repelled?" He asked

"Have you heard anything I've said? I need to get back to running the kingdom. Maybe go and take a trip to the other cities and the surrounding towns. I'll have to make sure we didn't lose everything." My head started to feel like someone was trying to squash it, I unlatched the straps on my helmet and set it on the table beside the throne.

"Fine, but keep up disappearing and people might think their queen is deserting them."

"It's been this way for years now, I come and I go, it's like day and night, I'm here during the day and gone during the night, I don't see how it could really be all that different now then it'd been before."

"Well we didn't have an invasion, disappearing patrols, famines amongst the harvest, bandit activity, and many other hardships, till now. I can only expect a possible rebellion in due time if the queen doesn't attend to her empire."

"Five cities, forty-six towns, and hundreds of farms, I find it hard to see a revolt from the peasants successful." I sat down in my throne and massaged my temples, it felt like hammers beating me back and forth.

"It's not gonna just be the peasants that revolt." Abren raised his voice.

"So there's already a revolt in the army then?" I summoned a bit of fire into my right hand and played around with it, so I was losing control, I could always burn them to death. If they wanted to attempt a revolt against me, it wouldn't take that many people to be honest, but I wouldn't go down without at least taking a few with me.

"There's words but nothing suggesting iminent revolt or insurrection." Abren cringed at his own words, if he gave me names I'd have put a stop to this possible 'revolt', but he probably knew that.

"We'll have to just wait and see then, if one does come, we'll fight it together than, I assume?" What if he was the one spreading words of revolt? What if all of my court was planning against me? If anything it was probably my mind that was betraying me, after all, it did control most, if not all, interactions and encounters in this realm. Nonetheless it was using its influence to overthrow me from the kingdom it had gifted me all that time ago.

"Ok then...I'm going to go back to the barracks...I'll see you soon my lady." With that he turned on his heel and headed back to the main entrance, anger in each echoing step. Bastard, one minute he's my trusted captain of the honor guard and the next he's acting against me. Did I have evidence he was spreading the words of revolution? No, he was able to keep whatever he might of been saying a secret and none would testify against him. Maybe I was just going crazy and he wasn't spreading revolution, just denying to point out who was.

When he finally stepped out, I slid into my throne letting myself drop the whole queen act. It was a pain to keep that shit up one moment and drop it the next. Being a queen wasn't something I wanted to grow into, maybe my mind thought that's what I wanted, but I guess my mind didn't chat with my heart all that often. The thought of having to lead anyone just made me sick in the gut, if anyone got killed or hurt due to my own orders, the blame was my own. I had no problem asking people for favours or assistance, but making them go out of their way to perform a task they didn't want to was a guilt trip all on its own.

I wanted to be just like other girls my age who didn't have to deal with court affairs or diplomatic relations, but I wouldn't drop the fighting or magic classes for anything. I wanted to grow up, get married, settle down, have children, maybe an adventure here and there, and then die old, may it be bland or just cliche, that was what I wanted my life to be like. I was born a princess though, if anything father was going to sell me off to one of the jarl's sons and I would live a life worse than what it was like now, but I'm not saying my life was bad as of now, there just wasn't enough adventure in it.

I threw my head back against the marble throne, my head pounding so damn hard, raising a hand of healing magic to it, but that only slightly turned down the pain. That only lasted seconds as the magic cut out, whatever I had left wasn't enough. I just rolled my head along the furs behind my head, slightly moaning in pain as I tried to moan it away.

"Mmhh, sounds like you're having a good time." I snapped my head up towards the ceiling and opened my eyes. Sitting just a few feet above me on the the rising back on the marble throne, the woman from the earlier fight was staring right down at me.

"How did you even manage to get in here, there's an entire army around this place, how did you even get pass me, I can see the entire room!?" I shot my hand down to my scabbred only to grab thin air where my sword should have been.

"Well scaling the walls wasn't to hard and that army of yours was too stupid to bother checking who was who. As for you not seeing me enter here is because I dropped from the balcony and onto this here chair of yours. Dare I say this is quite the chair, red and blue marble, never seen anything like it."

"Thanks for the compliment, but how about you knock next time instead of, quite literally, dropping in?"

"Nah, it's cooler this way, besides, you know you like it this way as much as I do." She pushed off the top of the throne and landed both legs on the arms of it, needless to say I was still looking up and my head was now mere inches from her crotch, nice. She walked off the arms and fell the two or three feet, she turned back around to me, hands on her hips.

"So quick run down for why I'm here and not outside the city, maybe you can't tell, but shits going down in the real world and we need to wake you up now." She slid a dagger out of a holster on her chest rig.

Wow, my mind was taking matters into its own hands and was literally going to kill me, what a great day!

"I take it that's what the headache are all about, I'd really not prefer to be stabbed to death, it's not really the best thing to wake up to!" I backed into the chair and stepped up onto it.

She followed me right up,"Well your not getting a choice in this because it's just that damn important." Using the momentum from her step-up onto the chair, she rammed the dagger straight through my armor and into my chest.

"FFFFFFF!" I gasped out air, I started to cry as the pain resonated through my body. She had quite literally stabbed me through the heart and I could feel every cold inch of the blade. My heart's usual beating, dead, the feeling of my blood both leaking out and stilling in my veins followed. I slumped into the woman, she grabbed me under the arms and set me down into the throne, dagger still in my chest. My vision already turning black around the edges, almost like I was falling asleep.

"I only wish it wasn't this painful, but like I said, it's too important to wait." She stepped back from the throne and just watched as I slipped away.

The door to the great hall flung open, followed by what I could only make out to be the honor guard. They came charging towards the throne, but everything seemed to slow, it would take forever for them to reach me. At the same time, my 'pet' came back towards me, arms outstretched, but moving at the same pace as the guard. Maybe time slowed when you were about to die? I guess a comparison to sleeping was a far shot when you had a dagger in the heart.

My vision had finally tunneled, there was only the slightest bit of sight in my eyes, but before it went completely out, I was greeted by the last scene I'd get before death. The honor guard where now what seemed like miles away and almost impossible to see. The woman was clearly closer, her arm stretched beyond imagination and yet only an inch above my own and descending. Finally, my vision cut, but my feelings did not, I could only feel the presence of a warm hand on my own before I truely blacked out.

"BITCH!" I shot up, instantly being pushed right back down by a giant pair of hands.

"Ah, so you aren't dead, that's good to know, I do however recommend you stay down. Move to much and you'll ruin Xaria's work." Everything was so hazy as my eyes began to adjust, both figure's faces, who I assumed to be Xaria and Father, looked like smashed colors with no texture. The big black blob being Xaria and the mix of everything being Father.

"What happened?" I asked, I may have known what was happening in my head but I was still oblivious to what happened after everything in my head started.

"My guess is that you fainted, but your father believes you partied to hard." Xaria pulled her hands away and into her lap.

"I don't see how I could have 'partied hard' when I didn't even get a good mug of ale?" That was true, not one pint of ale had been served at the party, but there was wine of which I got none.

"You don't need to have hard drink to have a good time," he turned towards the entrance and started to walk out," your mother proved that to me a long time ago." He didn't even bother masking the anger in his voice as he went as far as to even slam the door on his way out.

"Father!" I went to sit up, but this time Xaria was the one to push me down. Could the man not let his emotions get the best of him!

"Leave it, you won't even be able to get out of the bed without breaking a bone or two."

"How did I even manage that!" I decided to heed her warning and stay laying on the bed.

"Even I have troubles understanding how you broke your ribs, yes you did fall chest first, but you only had light bruising. It was like your ribs cracked on their own accord whilst you were unconscious, but either way they're still somewhat broken ribs. I may not be the resident healer but I'd keep from both moving around and bending over, both will probably snap the bone again if you try. Otherwise I'll come every so often and check in on you, bring you some lixers, and provide you with some company if no one else bothers coming to talk to you. You'll probably only be stuck here till tomorrow when the healers able to help you."

"Funny how this was supposed to be the best birthday yet, but it just turned into a shit show in the end." I chuckled, and began to cry, wiping away the tears as they came.

"I also find myself wishing for you to have a normal birthday, one that your old father would have actually enjoyed." She grabbed my hand and slowly caressed the top of it, being the ever caring mother she was.

"What do you mean 'old father'?" I sniffed through the congestion in my nose, the only father I'd ever known was the old jest of a jarl that joked with everyone and got pissed when he was reminded of his wife.

"Don't tell me you actually think your father became jarl by being the way he is now?" She had a serious look plastered on her face in the shine of the candle light.

"I always thought father was the man who disproved that being a smartass got you nowhere?" Xaria chuckled at my light of humor, or maybe it was because I called my father a smartass, either way she seemed to enjoy it.

"Even before your mother passed he was a smartass, so yes, your father does disprove the saying, but he did inherit the title from his father so it's hard to say he really disproves it when he already had a guaranteed chance to become jarl. Needless to say, your father had been a very different man before you were born, he's more or so a shell of what he used to be, plastered in a facade of what he thinks being both a father and jarl are supposed to be. Oh how your mother would gasp at the sight of her husband if she saw him now."

After that, I didn't really have anymore questions, would asking anymore really do me any good. I'd bet I'd only find everything I'd already known, it wasn't liked I hadn't asked about mother before. I could remember the countless tales father spun of her incomparable beauty and her caring nature, and even a few stories of their own mischievous actions as teens. He made sure to brand the image of her, that he knew and remembered, into my mind so that I might imagine the mother I never had. I'd probably just get more tales of their own little adventures that Xaria actually came on, if I asked.

We sat in silence, her hand stroking the top of my left hand and my right hand stroking my tail. I didn't ask her to go and she didn't leave, she sat in the chair next to me and just stared into oblivion. Just looking at her face made me think she actually was looking into oblivion, her face was a mix of cringes and twitches, she must have been thinking so hard that her emotions were quite literally showing on her face.

A slight knocking sound came from the door, at first it was genuinely quite, not even Xaria heard it considering she was still frozen in place. Second time in sounded like a mallet was being beat against the door, this time Xaria snapped her head to the left and stared straight at the door.

"ROOM SERVICE!" A male voice screeched, like a hawk that just took an arrow through the wing, from the otherside of the door. Instantly the door was kicked inwards and in came Zarcath, still wearing his helmet, and Shanna, now with a sling around her arm.

"You know we have to get the doors replaced every time you do that!? Next time I hear you kicking in doors I'm going to turn you into one and kick you right in the knob, see how you like it!" Xaria shouted at him, as soon as Zarcath had made his presence known she had shot up and out of her chair, now she dispelled whatever magic she had been ready to cast, opting to walk up to him, without a break in stride, punching him straight in the gut.

"I'm sorry!" He wheezed as he bent over from the impact and began to cough like a dying man.

"You gods damn better be otherwise you'll be lying on the floor crying next time this happens!" Xaria took the time to brush some imaginary dust of her knuckles or whatever she thought she was blowing off.

"Well, I've got to go take care of some work before I go to sleep so I'll see you tomorrow actually." She went to walk out but stopped to look at the door. She put her hand against it, a clear indent, and from where I was watching, a broken lock accompanied it. "How is your foot not shattered!?" She threw up her arms and stormed out for good this time.

"I was wondering the same," Shanna stepped in from her spot at the door's frame," it's not like you got a ram for a foot."

"Oh, no, something's broken alright, but I'm just gonna go to the healer in a bit." Shanna had already taken Xaria's chair next to the bed and Zarcath limped his way to the end of the bed to sit down.

"Why couldn't you just entered like anyone else, you didn't need to go kicking in the door. And how are you even up and about, you just broke your ribs!?" I reached over to the bedside table and shakily grabbed the mug and pitcher, Shanna attempting to help me lift the pitcher with her not so broken left arm.

"Maybe I was wanting to join the pity party so I broke my foot, or maybe I just wanted to make an entrance, doesn't really matter in my opinion. But my ribs are just sore now, that healer is the second best thing to a magician, check it." He responded, lifting up his shirt to reveal dark bruise marks along the left side of his chest. He dropped it after we got our looks at his slightly barren chest which was quite weird considering he was more khajiit than myself so he must of shaved his chest often.

After his little show he sat down on the bed and brought up his boot, beginning to untie the laces.

"NO, you keep that damn boot on, I don't want to see whatever horrid mess you have in there." Shanna raised her hand, ready to give Zarcath a strong backhand across the face.

"Come on, I need to see how fucked it is, I can't even feel my toes!" It was nice to see how fast they were able to go from zero to ten in an instant. However, I didn't want to spend the rest of the night listening to them going at it, I'd probably stay up for another hour or two before I attempted to sleep again.

"Guys, please stop, can't we just not, I've already had my birthday 'ruined' and I don't feel like having it ruined any further." Shanna stopped, but Zarcath went in for the last word before she punched him right on his bad leg. He grabbed the piece of the covers and shoved them in his mouth, screaming and moaning, in pain. As Zarcath's screams came to an end, we entered a state of pure silence between us, only the fireplace crackled and popped as it burnt away its wood. It was during this silence that I remembered I had been holding the pitcher and mug, I poured the mug half full and weakly set both back on the table, not even bothering to take a swig.

"How did this even happen?" Zarcath, sheets now out of his mouth, asked, staring at the floor, not even addressing it to either of us in particular. I honestly saw no reason in telling him the truth, it was a bit far fetched to say that, I was knocked out by a wolf and then woke up in my dream world. Only to then apparently fight said wolf while running through the middle of a siege battle till I was found and rescued and then to top it all off, assassinated. Heck, I didn't even know if Shanna had the same experience as myself, for all I knew Shanna could have just blacked out.

"Last thing I remember…" Shanna stopped herself, like she was rethinking the decision to even speak, but eventually continued. "We were messing around with the wolf, trying to give her a name, but that didn't really work out. Ash had gotten attacked by the quill wielding wolf, you should have seen her face!" She went from a somber tone and then burst out a little laugh, I never did get to see what the wolf had done to my face. "Sadly enough it looks like someone cleaned your face, but eventually Ash threatened the wolf and kinda gave this weird cringey face, kinda like this." She bared her teeth, pulled back her cheeks, and tightened her eyelids to leave a scary almost demonic looking face.

"Oh gods, please stop making that face, I swear it looked nothing like that." She reluctantly dropped the facade and reverted back to telling the event.

"I stood up, and all the sudden, I felt like someone took a chair and bashed it over my head. After that I woke up on the floor with a broken arm. Then I got up, pushed on you a little to try and get you up," She pointed at me," but you didn't wake up so I went and got some guards. That's pretty much all you missed."

"Wait, how long have I been out, because it sounds like its only been a few minutes!?" I swear it had to have been at least an hours time since I woke up but she made it out to have only been half of that.

"Well, I'm still trying to guess how long I was knocked out, but if your asking from when I woke up to you waking up, it's probably been less than half an hour. Zarcath, you should know how long, you were in the healer's room when I came in. How long were you in there till I showed up?"

"Oh gods, I was just waking up to my ribs cracking back into place when you stumbled in, and I myself had probably only been in there for a bit, I'd have to say five maybe fifteen or so minutes." No way I had only been out for half an hour, or maybe it was the changing of scenery in my dreams, but my mind said it had been a day or more.

"Yeah, and we just came from the healer's, so I'd put it at about that half an hour or maybe even an hour." Fucking hell, just thinking about what time it was wreaked havoc on my mind. I'd just have to go outside and fix that when I could actually move, only one of the many problems of living underground.

"I guess that makes sense why father thought we were drunk." Just thinking of how he probably walked up on me, passed out and broken, had me questioning, how much was I like my mother?

"He thought we were drunk, shit, there goes all the Shadow!?" Zarcath scooted up further onto the bed and laid completely flat on his back, still wearing the helmet. I wasn't bothered enough to kick him back, but he was right, dad was probably going to get rid of all of our mead!

"You're so pitiful you know, that's why I don't drink mead, you eventually get hooked." Shanna said with a chuckle.

"You know you can get hooked on just about anything?"

"I know but his life relies on that damn mead, if he doesn't get enough of it he'll probably drop dead."

"My life does not depend on whether or not I can get in a mug of good ale here and there. My life depends on whether or not I can be happy living." There's a truth to that, there's a reason people choose to kill themselves.

"Off topic, it hadn't quite hit me till now, but where's the wolf?" Zarcath laid still, but was tense in anticipation of one of us to answer him.

"That's a good question, probably killing some people and rampaging through the halls." Zarcath sat up, slightly limping in pain on his way to the door.

"I can't wait to have father bounding down on my ass for leaving the damn thing unwatched! Honestly it's your pet now but I know father, I'm going to be the one who gets blamed if that wolf does something! I'll be back later, I need to go kennel the fucker before she does something!" He went on like a Mage who lectured his acolyte for screwing up a spell, eventually though he grabbed the door and threw it open just as hard as he kicked it earlier.

There was something blocking his path however, something that he didn't notice till he bumped into it, Shanna and I, we saw it clear as day. To Zarcath and her, it probably meant nothing to them, to me, it was nightmare incarnate. A fully armored women, made apparent by her bousteress breasts that Zarcath would have got trapped in had the figure not worn armor, a sword at her hip, daggers sheathed across her body, a pure white tail between her legs, and a bronze mask, reflecting what light there was, of a wolf.