"She found her."
"Indeed, she did."
"Everything is going according to the plan..."
"Should I finish them now, while they are together?"
"No, we wait for the right time. This is a story I'm eager to see unravel."
"Alright, but don't take too long. I'm thirsty for Fire-Leaf blood."
Lykaios was finishing her third cliff racer, Benjen was barely starting to drink her first tankard of black-briar reserve. She stared at her half sister, impressed. The woman was half Nord but had the resistance of a full Nord.
They had been talking about Nera, Coast of Fire and the Fire-Leaf family... Benny was waiting for the right moment to tell her that she was the daughter of the Madgod... since most people though it was just a rumor.
"So, Arikay Fire-Leaf, the woman who stopped the Oblivion crisis... is also our relative?" Asked Lykaios.
"Yes, that crazy bitch is our great granny. And her best friend, a khajiit dude, became Sheogorath, it's a really long story..." said Benny.
"Ugh, I don't really like daedras." Said Lykaios.
... well shit...
"Why?"
"They are evil bastards. They create powerful artifacts that make mortals fight each other in order to get them. It's fucked up, and their followers are even worse." She took a sip of her drink.
Benjen stayed quiet, awkwardly quiet.
"What's wrong with you?" Asked Lykaios.
"Oh, nothing nothing... I'm... just admiring the view." She said, grinning and looking at Sapphire, who was seating alone in a little corner of the Bee and Barb.
At first, Lykaios didn't quite understand. So she turned around, and when she saw the woman, she chuckled.
"You have a death wish, friend. And you are not fooling me." She said as she turned around.
Benny rose a brow.
"What do you mean?"
"I've heard the rumors. But, are they true?" Asked Lykaios.
"... which rumors?" She was pretty nervous, but acted as normal as possible on the outside.
"That you are the daughter of Sheogorath. Is it true?" Asked Lykaios.
"... I would say yes, but I am a bit afraid that you'll try to kill me."
"You just did. And I am not going to kill you, I just don't like daedras, but it's not like you had much of a choice there." Said Lykaios.
"Well, I did not have a choice back then, but now I follow him, as a daedra and as my father. I've learned quite a bit of stuff that would blow your mind, I've trained with golden saints and dark seducers, and I met some of our ancestors that live in New Sheoth." Said Benjen.
"Ancestors?" Lykaios rose a brow.
"Yeah, Abryn Fire-Leaf, the founder of our House, lives there... or maybe she is an illusion? I don't know. But anyway, that's not relevant. I came looking for you with a very specific purpose." Said Benny.
"Which is...?"
Benjen took a large sip of her drink, before staring at Lykaios with a smirk.
"We are taking Coast of Fire back." She said.
Lykaios's eyes widened in surprise.
"Your- I mean, our family's city?" She asked.
"Yes, it is my only purpose in life. You see, there are only two things I care about in life: blood and family. I like to kill, and I love my family. And I will kill for my family, it's a win-win situation. I don't care about Coast of Fire's gold, or it's ships. I care about it because it's everything our family has left. Years ago, we were a proud family, until my mom decided to go see the world. She came back... and guess what she found? Her mother, father and brothers dead... and my stepfather with a sword smeared in our family's blood. He forced her to marry him. I was just a child back then, but I remember everything... how he beat me and my mother... how he raped us..." her eyes started to go Golden, and her smirk was gone.
"wait, so you weren't born in Coast of Fire?" Asked Lykaios.
"No, I was born in Elsweyr. My mother travelled for about ten years and had two babies during that time... crazy, huh? I wonder why she didn't keep you, though..."
"Maybe she wasn't ready to settle down yet. You know, my life was pretty shitty here... but hearing about how your stepfather treated you... I guess dealing with Grelod the Bitch wasn't so bad." Said Lykaios as she took a sip of her drink.
"Speaking of which: I killed her." Benny smiled innocently.
"You did the orphans of Skyrim a great service. You know... you aren't so bad, for a half daedra. I mean, you saved Tamriel from Alduin and Grelod... you have a lot of power, you should use it." Said Lykaios.
"Yeah, I will use it to kill my asshole stepfather and his lackeys."
"I meant here, you could make a difference here. Which side are you on? Imperials or stormcloaks?" Asked Lykaios.
"I'm on my side, that war is not mine."
"But you could really-"
"Nope! Fuck the war, and fuck Ulfric and Tullius in the ass. Let's talk about something else, alright?" Asked Benjen.
"... okay... so..." Lykaios wondered for a couple of seconds, thinking about another subject to talk about.
"since you are the daughter of the Madgod, do other princes hate you or have tried to kill you?" She finally asked.
"I mean, I tried to become a werewolf once and almost died. Mehrunes Dagon is pretty pissed with Arikay because of the Oblivion crisis thingy, and I guess he would like to get revenge on her descendants or something like that; but he hasn't tried anything... yet. And I'm pretty sure Molag Bal doesn't like me either since I've killed a lot of vampires." Said Benjen.
Lykaios examined her cautiously.
"Any more enemies?" She asked.
"The empire, the stormcloaks, and the usual: dragons and bandits. Nothing much." She smiled.
"... yeah, not much." Said Lykaios sarcastically, taking another sip of her cliff racer.
"Yeah, Okay, I have a lot of enemies, but I don't care. They can physically hurt me all they want, I can take it. But they can't hurt my family since I don't have any... except for you. But you can handle yourself, and nobody knows you are my half-sister... soooo... keep your head low until I make a half-decent plan to take back Coast of Fire, and we should be just fine." Said Benny.
"I have no problem with that. And seriously? You have no more family?" Asked Lykaios.
"Nope. My lover is dead, I have no legitimate children, and all of the Fire-Leafs are dead, except for you and me. We are the only ones left of our dying family." Said Benny.
"There is someone else..." muttered Lykaios.
"Wait what?" Asked Benny.
"I have a son. He is about 10 years old now, my ex husband took him away from me and I haven't seen either of them ever since. So we are not the only Fire-Leafs left." Said Lykaios with a sad smile.
Benny smiled and jumped "hell yeah! There is hope for us!" She said joyfully.
Lykaios, without any emotion, took another sip of her drink.
"Okay, Okay, Okay. This is great news! Oh, I need to calm down." Benny took deep breaths. "Alright, Im good. And I should get moving." She grabbed her tankard and quickly drank its contents.
Lykaios rose a brow.
"You aren't staying?" She asked.
"Nope, I need to get a move on. I have a lot of stuff to do. But if you are in Whiterun look me up. Im always at the meadhall of the companions." Said Benny.
"Will do, Benjen." Lykaios smiled.
"We Will Always Rise." Said Benny.
Lykaios rose a brow.
"What does that mean?"
"It's the motto of our family. You should get accustomed to it..."
She made a small pause, her eyes went golden.
"Lykaios Fire-Leaf." She said with a smile on her face.
