Sheogorath put me back into his bed and attempted to walk away, but not before I tugged on his shirt to stop him.

"Sheogorath, do you love me?"

He stared at me, then waved Haskill out of the room. He sat next to me on the bed and I sat up, touching his shoulder gingerly.

"You know I do, but you worry me Layla."

"But these visions aren't my fault!"

"I didn't say they were."

I remained silent until Haskill walked back into the room.

"I'm terribly sorry to interrupt, but it seems that Order has taken over the Fringe."

Sheogorath jumped up, but not before I did. I strapped on my armor and sharpened my sword. Sheo didn't say a word, even when I grabbed my shield. I looked up to him, but I couldn't read his expression. I didn't waste time with goodbyes, or I-love-yous or any such nonsense like that, no matter how much I wanted to.

--

When I arrived in the Fringe, it was grey and bleak. It didn't look like there was one survivor here.

"The Gatekeeper would have been useful right now." I said aloud as a Golden Saint ran towards me.

"I'm afraid I must ask you to leave. The Fringe is currently--"

"Under attack, and as the Duchess of Dementia, I am here to end it." I growled.

"Your Grace! Forgive me, I had no idea."

"You can apologize later, what's happened so far?"

"All of my female fighters are dead, it's just me and the clumsy male fighters left. We can't hold out for much longer Your Grace, they just keep coming wave after wave."

"Alright, relax. Let's position your fighters better, and see what we can do."

She nodded and I assumed temporary command of her troops. As I expected, one was determined to give me a hard time.

"And who are you to make such demands?" He spat.

"As commander of this troop and Duchess of Dementia, that's who make such demands. Now get out your sword and move your ass to the front lines."

I positioned three to the front with swords and axes, and three to the back with arrows, including Aurig Desha. I watched as a wave of Knights came towards us.

"Fire!" I cried to the archers.

A hail of arrows flew over my head as the melee attackers took on the oncoming Knights of Order. Everything seemed to go smoothly when Aurig approached me.

"They must be drawing power from Xeddefen. You should knock out the power before we lose the Isles!"

I sighed and ran to Xeddefen, opening the stone doors and finding very little light inside. I grabbed a stick in the corner and using a fire spell to light it. It was dark and damp, with very little light to work with. After fighting a few Priests of Order, I ran into Shelden, of all people.

"Shelden? What the hell are you doing here, are you aware that the Fringe has fallen?"

"Layla, boy am I glad to see you! I ran into Xeddefen when it all started. Let me come with you, there's a giant obelisk in the next room, I'll distract the Priests while you overload the obelisk with the Hearts of Order."

"Sounds like a plan." I sighed and drew out my sword.

I took a heart from my pack and rolled it in my fingertips as Shelden brushed past me and screamed and waved at the Priests to chase him. It sort of worked until I got close to the Obelisk with the heart, when there was another Priest waiting for me. I rolled sideways and got the heart close to the Obelisk where it let out a faint purple light in my fingertips and a bolt of lightning shot through the obelisk. I rolled forward with my sword and stabbed the priest in the stomach, tearing out its heart and tossing it near the Obelisk where another bolt of lightning shot through it.

"Shelden!" I screamed.

No answer.

"Shelden!"

I ran around the corner where Shelden was cornered by three priests. I tossed him a sword and we clumsily took out the remaining three, tearing their hearts out and placing them near the obelisk. It finally shut down, but Xeddefen was coming down around our ears. Shelden was hit on the head with a rock and I was hit in the shoulder, dislocating it. I was forced to drop my torch, resheath my sword, swing Shelden over my good shoulder, and stumble through the dark without a sword or light. We eventually made it out where Aurig waited for me.

"Your Grace, you've done it! There are no more Knights of Order around, you've shut down Xeddefen!"

"I tried my best." I panted and laid Shelden down, right when he was coming around.

He stood up and fell back down again. I got down on one knee and placed my hand on his shoulder.

"You were hit pretty hard my friend. You may want to stay down for a while, an thank you for all your help."

He sputtered and fell back, talking of strawberries and grass clippings. Aurig didn't need to tell me twice, it was time to see Sheogorath.

--

"Stay still my Lady." The Court Healer sighed and popped my arm back into place.

Sheo stood in the door frame with his arms crossed.

"Maybe I shouldn't ask you to do anything anymore. You always come back injured, and before I know it, you'll come back without a head!"

"Oh stop," I replied with a wince and rolled my shoulder, "I'm a big girl Sheo, I can do this with a scratch or two."

He leaned down and kissed my forehead, then drew back, crossing his arms once more. Before I could ask what was wrong now, he retrieved a vial off my counter that I hadn't noticed before and stood over me, uncorking the bottle.

"Open your mouth, close your eyes and I'll give you something that will make you wise."

Trusting Sheogorath, the Daedric Prince of Madness, was mistake number one. Mistake number two was actually opening my mouth. He poured this horrible, vile tasting liquid down my throat that tasted like dead Grummite wrapped in Elytra droppings, rolled in lake scum. I suppressed my gag reflex to the best of my abilities while Sheo stood over me, laughing as my face turned green.

"What's so funny?" I gagged.

"You mean other than your face. Ah, I'm sorry mavourneen, you're running a fever. Hopefully, this will make it better."

"Yeah, maybe if it wasn't made by Relmyna!"

"Ha, funny story about that.."

I glared at him with great animosity. He sighed and sat next to me, rubbing my head gently.

"You know I can't make potions worth--"

"Doesn't mean you have to ask Relmyna to do it! I might die! She hates me!"

"And I know you hate her too, but you're both going to have to get over that damn quick, because you're both going to be working together in order to rebuild my gatekeeper."

"But Sheo--"

"Not another word." He said dangerously low, touching my lips with his finger.

He kissed my forehead gently and smiled, laying me back in bed.

"Relmyna didn't poison you, your fever is coming down. Now get some sleep dear, you've got a big day ahead of you tomorrow."

I kissed his lips softly and he left the room, closing the door on his way out and leaving me with the empty feeling of blue candelabras.