I screamed at Sheogorath as he jumped off the rock again and landed barely a foot from me. The waves sent me underwater and floating to the surface, gasping for air.

"Sorry." He chuckled as I tried to get water out of my nose.

"It's no big--"

I was cut off mid-sentence as I felt a sharp pain go through my ankle. I gasped as it hurt even more and started to tug. I looked underneath the water and saw a Slaughterfish having a field day with my foot. I grabbed onto Sheogorath and attempted to shake him off, but that only led to the water being colored red. Sheogorath led me onshore and I pulled my foot from the water. The Slaughterfish clung desperately to my foot, hoping for some kind of oxygen.

"Let it die." Sheogorath growled as I tried to put it back.

It fell off my foot and flopped for a while, almost begging for someone to throw him back in the water. I never liked Slaughterfish, but to watch it die like that just about broke my heart. Nothing deserved death. I would have continued on my philosophical rant if it weren't for the pain in my ankle.

"We'd better get home," Sheogorath said as the sun began to set, "I don't know how to treat your ankle."

I refused to talk to him until we got back to the palace. I couldn't call it home just yet.

"What happened now?" Haskill sighed as Sheo carried me in bridal style.

"Slaughterfish attack," I grumbled, "Don't even laugh."

As if Haskill could laugh anyway. Sheo called in the court healer and I was feeling better and able to walk in five minutes.

"Did you have fun at least?" Haskill asked.

"Yeah, a little."

"A little?" Sheogorath asked.

"Yeah, only a little."

"Why only a little?"

"Because you let that Slaughterfish die."

Sheogorath got up from his throne. I expected him to beat me half to death, but instead he merely put his hands on my shoulders and gripped them.

"It attacked you. It deserved to die."

"Nothing deserves to die Sheo." I whispered.

"Anything that attacks you deserves to die."

"Then what about you?"

At this point Sheogorath let go of my shoulders and stared at me. It was hard to read his expression, but it wasn't anger. I knew he wouldn't strike me this time. He looked to Haskill and walked over to him, mumbling in his ear and storming past me and out the door.

What had I done wrong? I went to Haskill and asked him where Sheo went.

"I can't tell you."

"Why not?"

"Because he doesn't want you to know."

Ah, figures. I went out the door and breathed in the cool night air, thinking of where Sheo might possibly go. There was the Gates of Madness, but without the Gatekeeper, why would he go? There was the possibility that he would go back to Hale, but that would be too easy for me to find out. I sighed and looked to the sky, noticing it was not a beautiful streak of hot pink, instead the sky was a deep red like in Dagon's realm of Oblivion. Haskill told me once that this meant Sheogorath was making another addition to the Isles and if I looked carefully enough I would be able to find a map in the sky. I stared at the sky for a few minutes and the stars began to align in a strange pattern. I quickly dug out my map and held it against the sky. A bright dot appeared over the Imean Sea near the entrance to the Isles and I quickly made my way there.

"Sheo?"

He spun around so fast, he must have been embarrassed. I was waist-deep in the water in all my clothes, I just wanted to know if he was alright.

"What are you doing here? How did you even know I would be here?" He asked, flustered that I had seen him at his work.

"Haskill said when you're adding to the Isles the sky turns red and a map appears as to where it's being added."

I tried to approach him but he backed away. It seemed that the roles were reversed; I was the attacker and Sheo was the victim. I felt my skirt rise slightly with the gentle swaying of the water and I gasped as I tried to push it back down. I heard a faint chuckle and Sheogorath supported himself on a tree he had recently created.

"And just what's so funny?" I exasperated.

"You're skirt is rising." He chuckled and stepped into the warm water. He waded over to me and held my skirt down.

I smiled and looked up at him. He was either really tall or I was really short. Maybe it a combination of the two? Or maybe neither?

"What did I say?" I whispered, avoiding his gaze.

"It's not what you said, it's what I did."

I held a hand to my chest, trying to catch my breath. He was admitting to his mistake?

"It's not your fault you have these mood swings Sheo. You're the Prince of Madness, it's what you do."

He strokes my hair softly, which was a little uncharacteristic of him. Then again, a lot of things were uncharacteristic for him. I wonder if he was feeling alright?

"Just know Layla, that I love you and nothing will change that. Not even the Greymarch."

I was confused at first, but Sheogorath was enigmatic, so it made sense I suppose. Why was he being sentimental all of a sudden? Was something bad going to happen so he wanted to get that off his chest before one of us dies? I pushed aside my morbid and melancholy thoughts and whispered,

"I love you too Sheo."