A/N: Hey! Thanks to those who reviewed the last chapter, and thanks to my Beta TimexHasxGone! Forgive me if this chapter is crappy, I'm suffering from writers block :(
They always say time changes things, but you have to actually change them yourself - Andy Warhol.
Folding her hands in her lap neatly, Azura ignored the look of shock and horror that was splashed across Martin Septims face. Choosing to force him down onto the stone floor, rather than let him attempt to help Lauraine, Azura was convinced her idea was a good one. In fact, if the Septim boy was not struggling against the powerful female guard that held him down, Azura would have no problems currently going on.
"My lady! Please, open a portal and let me help her! Lauraine could be in danger, my lady, an-"
"Oh do be quiet! Stop worrying, child, and allow me to inform you of something. Someone is on their way towards Lauraine right now. Sending you back would take too long, as I do not know her exact location. However, I feel someone getting closer to her, so if you don't digest this information and convince yourself that my child is safe, then I shall be forced to order my guards to silence you..."
"You'll kill me?" Martin was immediately taken back. He had always thought Azura to be the kindest and most concerning of all the Daedric Prince's.
"Do not be stupid. My guards have powerful blows; anyone of them could knock you cold in seconds..." Azura motioned to the guard holding him down, who tightened her grip on Martins arm to prove her point.
"Okay, okay. You're certain she will be fine."
"I am always certain, and always correct." Azura leaned forwards slightly on her throne, resting her chin in her palm, which was rested on the arm of said throne. "Now, young Septim... Why don't you tell me a bit about yourself?"
Azura's sweet smile allowed Martin to understand that the question was a hidden order. Swallowing the lump in his throat, Martin cast a glance up to the daedric prince. Her hair was whiter than the walls of the palace they stood in, contrasting with the bright pink skin and hair of her guards, yet blending perfectly with her skin tone. Her eyes, a fierce, deep blue, were the exact same shade of Lauraines, yet her power reflected from the glassy orbs that seemed to stare right through him. Martin -still attempting to swallow the lump that had grown from nowhere- looked away from her locked gaze, swearing that, had he not known Azura had taken Lauraine in at eight years old, the two could have been related. Same skin colour, same eye colour, same aura of power and the exact same tone of voice that pierced any chilling silence that hovered.
"Well, my lady. I uh- I was born the 27th of Heartsfire, 3e 406..."
Lucien Lachance was, for the most part, extremely confused. His horse, Shadowmere, had been going at an extremely fast pace through Blackwood, before -without any warning- halting abruptly. This resulted in Lucien being thrown from his horse into the closest tree. Groaning as shooting pains ran up his back, Lucien dusted himself off, sending glares towards the horse that was now waiting for him to mount her.
"Stupid horse...Why did you have to do that? Shadow- Where are you going?" The moment Lucien had mounted her, Shadowmere began to turn to the left, trotting quickly through the thick trees.
The sight that greeted him at the stopping of the horse was a most unusual one. Sliding off the side of Shadowmere, he examined the scene before him.
A horse, the exact same colour and height of Shadowmere, was attempting to back herself into a cave, with no such luck. Raising a dark eyebrow at the horse, he took note of the black hand saddle, and with a half smile, knew exactly who the horse was, and why Shadowmere had dragged him to the cave.
"You brought me all the way here, to show me your twin foal. Rare as that is, why should I care?" Shadowmere aimed a back kick towards Lucien's knees, the crack splitting through the air and catching the attention of the other horse. "Oh sweet Sithis, what the hell was that for?"
Cursing rather loudly at Shadowmere, Lucien's eyes wandered back over to the second horse, narrowing at the long burn mark that ran down the horses back leg. Due to his vampirism, Lucien's leg had healed back up quickly, and he moved over to examine the second horse.
"Same markings. Hm, I'm certain I made that mark on Lauraines horse before..." Vaguely aware that the horse was chewing his sleeve in an attempt to distract him whilst slowly pushing him towards the cave door, Lucien finally recognized the horse. "Velina?"
If horses could roll their eyes in annoyance, Lucien was sure that both horses would have done just that. Lucien was just about to ask aloud were Lauraine was, before another shocking realization dawned on him. If Lauraine was nowhere in sight, her horse attempting to back into a cave rather conspicuously, and his own horse had stressed her way through the thickets to reach Velina, then something wasn't right.
The sight that Lucien Lachance saw before him in the dusty confined sections of the cave both annoyed and angered him. It angered him because he had spent two hours searching the cave, passing this section many times without actually checking it. It annoyed him, because he knew very well Lauraine Bellamont could get out of the grip the strange skeleton figure had her trapped in.
Yet, the woman allowed the skeleton to inflict the pain upon her, allowing it to slowly cut off her air supply and attempt to kill her. Narrowing his eyes towards the skeleton, Lucien unsheathed his dagger quite quickly, taking aim and throwing it swiftly through the air towards the skeleton. The blade, poisoned and extremely sharp, cut through the air wildly, embedding itself through the robes and into the bone of the skeleton.
Lauraine was dropped to the floor, an ear-splitting scream echoing throughout the caverns as Lauraine writhed on the floor. Lucien at first thought that it was the skeleton who was screaming, knowing his dagger had hit the right spot, and that perhaps Lauraine was simply trying to roll away from the thing. However, when the robed skeleton started to slowly drift towards Lucien, he understood that it was Lauraine emitting the scream; Lauraine who was writhing in agony and pain from his dagger. Surprisingly enough, Lucien's dagger was most certainly embedded in the robes of the skeleton, yet it was Lauraine suffering the effects.
"What the hell is going on?!" Yelling seemed the most suitable option, as Lucien pulled his longsword from the inside of his black robes. Quickly, and resulting in a very loud and agonizing cry to stop from Lauraine, Lucien blindly swung the sword and cut the skeletons hand off. Both Lauraine and the robed skeleton screamed, Lauraines pitched much higher and longer than the skeletons.
In one fluid movement, the skeleton ceased all noise, spinning on the spot and disappearing, with the red robes falling to a pile on the floor, the hand disappearing with it.
Lauraine cried in fear, gripping her wrist with a look of utmost terror splashed on her face. Staring at her in stunned confusion, Lucien could only hear her words.
"Oh holy Akatosh! Why did you do that?! How am I supposed to stop all this blood?" In hysterics, Lauraine's voice was climbing octaves, fear lacing her voice as she screamed in terror of the blood that was supposedly covering her wrist. Snapping his head towards her wrist, Lucien frowned when he saw that nothing was there. No blood, no cuts. Just a pale wrist accompanied with a paler hand.
"I don't see anything."
"How can you not see it?! My hand is gone! So much blood!"
"Believe me, Lauraine. If you were bleeding, I'd smell it. Have you been sleeping properly?" The look on her face confirmed his question.
"Look, I think that you've just eaten something dodgy. There is nothing wrong with your wrist or hand- what in Akatosh?!"
Lauraine was pulled through the portal backwards, landing with a thump in front of a very bored looking Azura, and a very teary Martin.
"Then, I don't even know why, my lady, she was dead. I could do nothing-"
"That's all very nice Master Septim... Lauraine, what in the name of Meridia happened?!" Azura broke her eye contact with Martin to stare over towards Lauraine. Shaking with a new bout of fear, Lauraine pulled Martin to stand beside her as she locked eyes with Azura.
"I was taken to a cave in the middle of Blackwood. There I was found by a member of the Dark Brotherhood. He threw his dagger at the skeletons shoulder, and cut off her hand." Lauraine pulled up the sleeve of her robes, tracing the outline of a scar that appeared out of nowhere along her wrist. Judging by the colour of the scar, she would have had to have her hand cleaved off. Pulling the sleeve up further, Lauraine indicated another scar that rested in the delve of her arm socket.
"I had no wounds with these scars, yet they appeared in the same places that my Brother harmed the skeleton."
"What does this mean?" Martin spoke up, standing up beside Azura's throne in slight confusion.
"My lady, Martin. It means that, and nothing can stop this, that that skeleton... Is me."