A/N: Sitting at 3879 views so far. If we break 5000 views, I will write about Janice's past, before everything in Skyrim took place. It will be interesting. So either keep reloading some chapters to drive the view count up artificially or tell your TES friends about this story! Remember to always favourite, follow and leave a review if you think this is a good story and write a CONSTRUCTIVE, CRITICAL REVIEW if you think it is utter shite. If you don't feel comfortable leaving a public review, you can always PM me.
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Chapter 18: Meet the people
Walking to the guard tower atop the many stone formations, Janice noticed that the guards and the other Imperial soldiers from the legion were still recovering from the attack, even though it had already been almost a full day - long enough for the soldiers to go home, at least.
"The healers must be having a hard time," Beehaz commented, juggling Janice around to maintain a proper grip.
"I would have expected Markarth to have more healers, you know, just in case the Forsworn makes an attack." Janice replied.
"Either they do have more healers or they were not well equipped to deal with so many injured." Beehaz said as she opens the door.
Inside, guards and soldiers were laid out across the floor, almost to the point where walking will be difficult.
"So many, where are all the healers though?" Beehaz asked.
"Probably at the back, lets go." Janice replied.
"You aren't going to use your restoration magic to help?" Beehaz asked the white dragoness hung over her arms.
"They don't look that badly injured. Besides, I can't heal all of them at once." Janice replied as she look at some of the soldiers that had noticed them.
"Says the Khajiit that uses the Grand Healing spell every time, either healing yourself or other people." Beehaz rebutted softly, not wanting to wake some of the resting guards and soldiers.
"Okay, fine." Janice replied in mild angerment before proceeding to heal those close to them with the spell.
"That wasn't so hard." Beehaz said as she opened another door leading to the inner dormitories.
"Where is my mother?" Janice asked aloud to no one in particular.
"Get away from me! Back!" A screamed of terror sounded from a room.
"Well, I guess that is where she is." Beehaz commented as she went over.
"Hey, don't be scared, she is trying to help." Beeht's voice sounded from the doorway. "If you don't accept her, you will never be able to face a werewolf again, and I doubt you would like that. Don't you have a sense of duty? If not for the new Empress, at least be brave for your Jarl."
"Nice words," Janice commented as Jane went over to the small group of nervous guards at a corner of the room.
"Done with modeling?" Beeht asked as she positioned Derkeethus on her shoulder.
"Dibella was hard to work with, but I got the job done, as well as teaching her a lesson about beauty." Janice replied as Derkeethus balanced himself on the thin shoulder.
"So, how many have their fears of a werewolf 'healed'?" Janice asked Jane as she made sure that the group have recovered from their encounters from the day before.
"Most of them, they had been cooperating quite well, despite their initial fears. We can leave now." Jane replied as Janice transforms her. "Good to finally be able to move freely." Jane said in relief as she stretch herself.
"I am very hungry…" Janice groaned as they made their way out, most of the guards staring at the two dragons in caution as they made for the inn.
"You would have to transform or you aren't going to eat at the table." Beeht warned Janice as she opens the door.
"I… I can't for some reason." Janice said as she tried to transform.
"What do you mean?" Beehaz asked.
"I can't find my form, Dragon Aspect didn't work." Janice said desperately.
"Dibella will pay…" Beehaz mumbled softly to herself.
"What was that?" Derkeethus asked.
"Nothing, should we get some food? I am as hungry as Janice is right now. We hadn't ate anything since lunch yesterday." Beehaz said as she sat down at a table, carefully putting the dragoness on the stone floor.
"Do you want to eat at the table or with your wife?" Beeht asked Derkeethus as she sat down.
"I will join her." Derkeethus said as Jane called the innkeeper.
"So, what happened? Why can't you turn back yet you can still use your transformation powers?" Derkeethus asked as he was sat down on the floor.
"I don't know, this isn't like with Talos who had turned me into that sword. I really can't find my Khajiit form, last time I could, just that I couldn't use my powers." Janice replied. "Must be something to do with Dibella, she transformed me after the… the… sculpting session."
"What happened when I was away? And why did you stutter?" Derkeethus asked in concern as the innkeeper walked away with the orders, slightly thrilled that the Royal Family of all people were dining at his inn.
"Just a question, why did we come here to eat instead of Understone Keep?" Beehaz asked.
"The Jarl didn't have time to invite us since the attack took his full attention. Besides, we are not officially visiting, he doesn't need to invite us to his keep." Janice replied. "This place also serves the best meat in all of the Reach too."
"By meat, did you meant Hogni's beef?" Derkeethus asked, not liking how Janice had reference her cannibalism acts so casually.
"To a certain extent." Janice replied as the innkeeper came with two steaks inside a couple of dog bowls.
"I wish I had a camera…" Beehaz quietly said to herself.
"What is a camera?" Janice asked as she chewed on the meat, evident that she was listening.
"A box that takes pictures with large lens on the front." Beehaz described from a faint memory of her using one when she was in other universes.
"I have no idea what you are talking about." Janice said as the innkeeper delivered the rest of the food, bowing in respect.
"Well, it is a piece of modern machinery far beyond what we have here. Don't worry about it." Beehaz assured as she cuts into the beef, blood squirting out from the raw piece.
"Why do you like your beef raw?" Derkeethus asked as a line of blood landed on his snout.
"Being a dragon meant that you can either cook or eat your prey raw. I preferred it raw, though Paarthurnax likes his cooked." Beehaz answered as Jane and Beeht wipe some small blood splatters that had landed on their armours.
"Why he doesn't like it raw? I mean, by the time the Greybeards delivered the meal, it will be stone cold." Janice asked.
"You taught him to cook his meals, not me." Beehaz replied as another stream of blood squirts onto the table.
"How much blood does a single piece of beef holds?" Jane wondered.
"You should ask Hogni, he provides most of the meat for Markarth." Janice answered as she gulped down the last of her meal, before swinging her head to the side to dodge another jet of blood.
"Your Majesty!" Hamal called out as the group made for the main gates.
"What is it, Hamal?" Janice asked.
"Well, you left a huge pile of gold in our temple. Do you perhaps want to make a donation?" Hamal asked.
"No, I want you to melt the gold and turn all of it into a golden statue of Dibella. Send it to the Imperial Palace as soon as it is done." Janice said from her perch atop Jane's shoulder.
"The temple could make do with the money such a big pile could bring in, are you sure you don't want to donate, Your Majesty? The Divines reward kindness." Hamal suggested.
"I am a daughter of one of the Divines, if I want something done, I can ask them myself." Janice answered.
"Very well then, Your Majesty." Hamal said before leaving, slightly deflated that she couldn't keep the gold.
"I want to make a detour to the Throat of the World." Janice announced as the group exited the main gates.
"You want us to meet your other family?" Jane asked as Janice enlarged Derkeethus and herself.
"Not really, but I thought it would be a good idea to visit once a while." Janice said as Beehaz and Jane got on, before raising her head to deny Beeht from getting on.
"You ride your son, I am not carrying you." Janice gave the Argonian mother an answered before she could say anything.
"What about the horse?" Derkeethus asked as his mother got on him.
"Cedran!" Janice called out, sounding more like a roar.
"AHHH!" Cedran screamed in fright from the volume, not having seen where it had came from since he was tending to the newly resurrected horses.
"So, the prayer was a success, I presume?" Janice asked as she saw the horses reacting the same way Cedran did.
"Ye- Yes, Your Majesty." Cedran replied, still a little shocked.
"Well, could you perhaps deliver Derkeethus' horse to the Imperial City for us?" Janice asked.
"Anything for His Majesty!" Cedran replied, not having noticed the green dragon beside Janice.
"Good, see you later." Janice said as both dragons took off.
[Throat of the World, 4 p.m.]
"Hmm…" Paarthurnax said as he squints at Derkeethus.
"May… May I help you?" Derkeethus said nervously as his head retreated.
"I am not that FAT!" Paarthurnax roared as he finished his inspection. "And you made me older than I really am!"
"Well, you ARE old." Janice replied as Odahviing landed.
"Is it just me, or are we running out of room?" Jane asked Beeht.
"Having four dragons on space no larger than the Blue Palace would do that." Beeht replied. "Especially four big ones."
"Not as old as you two." Paarthurnax said as he pointed to Janice and Beehaz.
"I am twenty!" Janice shouted. "She is probably millions of years old, likely from the era when Time has not yet been recorded fully."
"You both were created on the same day, before Mundus even existed (Note 1)." Paarthurnax rebutted.
"I am still twenty." Janice replied in annoyance.
"You may look and act like you are twenty, but you are still older than me." Paarthurnax answered.
"Whatever, can we just get to how I am going to turn back into a Khajiit? I didn't drag my family here to discuss whether you like yourself in the mirror or to discuss who is older." Janice said.
"So this isn't a family visit?" Odahviing and Jane asked.
"You can mingle, I just need Paarthurnax here to help me. See you at the top." Janice said as she flew up, becoming smaller as she landed on the mineral deposits at the peak.
"I am not going to fit up there." Paarthurnax called out as Derkeethus went over to Odahviing from the word wall.
"Yes you are, little one." Janice said as Paarthurnax shrunk to half of her size.
"That isn't fair at all!" Paarthurnax squeaked as he dug his head out of the snow from where he fallen off the word wall.
"You insisted that you were the young one, so I made you the size of a juvenile." Janice replied as Paarthurnax flew up, ignoring the snickering from the people and dragons below.
"So, how did you get yourself into this situation?" Paarthurnax asked Janice, feeling a bit intimidated now that he was smaller than her, not that he feels more powerful before; Janice could have killed him easily if she wanted to when they first met.
"First, why didn't you know that it was me when I came here?" Janice asked, a little curious that Paarthurnax hadn't knew.
"Well, I had my suspicions, especially when you shouted at me. But I thought it was impossible." Paarthurnax replied.
"Well, maybe your power has waned, like Alduin said." Janice commented.
"Impossible, I have meditated on the Rotmulaag since I came here. I should have been able to sense your Thu'um on the wind the minute you shouted, like Odahviing's." Paarthurnax said with pride.
"Keep working on it, I am sure you will sense my Thu'um eventually." Janice replied.
"Yours and Alduin's Thu'um were unique, I couldn't locate Alduin when he arrived, I am even more certain that I couldn't known it was you when you first shouted in Whiterun." Paarthurnax said.
"By the way, you said Alduin will appear from the Time Wound, so why didn't you stop him since you are living here?" Janice asked, a little perplexed that Alduin had escaped Paarthurnax's attention when he himself said that Alduin will appear at the Time Wound.
"I… Uhh… Was sleeping?" Paarthurnax tried to answer.
"How could you be sleeping in the middle of the day?" Janice asked, remembering that she saw Alduin at one in the afternoon that day.
"Look, I didn't know that Alduin would go terrorize a town as soon as he appeared. I was going to talk some sense into him." Paarthurnax replied.
"What could you possibly have to say that will convince me to not try to take over Nirn?" A black Argonian said from the side of the cliff leading down.
"What are you doing here?" Janice asked as Beehaz stood up.
"It was boring, Odahviing didn't want to talk to me after he knew that he had betrayed me and my half-mother wasn't up to chatting." Beehaz replied.
"Alduin?" Paarthurnax said in slight surprise that she hadn't already killed Odahviing for bringing Janice to Skuldafn.
"What is it, traitor? I really should rip your throat out now that I have the advantage." Beehaz said as she advance to the small green dragon.
"Try this," Janice said before turning Beehaz into a chicken. "How are you going to rip his throat out now that you look like a snack?"
"I don't want to be a chicken!" Alduin clucked.
"Lucky for you, if I kill you, the Greybeards will come after me." Janice said.
"Why is that?" Alduin and Paarthurnax asked.
"Have you ever tried killing a chicken in Riverwood? The entire town would go after you like you have done something bad when you had only accidentally stepped on the chicken." Janice replied. "It is like they live by a code that tells them to kill anyone that kills the chicken.
"I see…" The chicken and the dragon replied.
"Anyway, tell me how to change back! I want to be back in the palace by sundown." Janice said to Paarthurnax.
"Pray to Akatosh, our father." Paarthurnax replied.
"I don't think he has the time to answer us, he is very busy you know." Janice rebutted.
"He will answer, he can't deny his favourite child." Paarthurnax said with a hint of envy.
"I was his favourite?" Janice asked as she dug around her invisible sack for her amulet, ignoring the pain of her weapons and armour stabbing into her snout.
"Yes, you always protected the innocent, something Akatosh had no time for and you made good decisions." Alduin clucked.
"Really? The decisions I had made when I was adventuring in Skyrim were not usually morally correct." Janice replied.
"Well, the truth was, most of the people you killed were wicked people. That has to be something right?" Alduin said.
"Even the Dark Brotherhood contracts?" Janice asked.
"Yes, well, most of them at least." Alduin replied.
"Alright then. Can we proceed?" Janice said as she tries to remove the amulet off her snout.
"Sure, just close your eyes and channel some magicka into the amulet before asking for Akatosh." Paarthurnax instructed.
"I know how to use an amulet for prayer…" Janice grumbled as she hooked the amulet with her claw.
Before anyone on the peak could react, a purple summoning portal engulfed them and teleported them away.
[Aetherius]
"I thought this might happen." Janice said as she got up.
"I never been to Aetherius before…" Paarthurnax exclaimed in wonder.
"I thought Kyne would have sent you here to heal you?" Janice asked.
"No, she healed me in the cave. I think the only time any other dragons had saw Aetherius was when they were created." Paarthurnax replied.
"Well, all we have to do now is wait for Akatosh." Janice said as she sat down, her hind legs stretched in front of her.
"Can you turn me back?" Alduin asked Janice. "I don't like being a chicken."
"Alright. How long will father take to answer though?" Janice asked as she turn Alduin into her usual self.
"Usually now…" Paarthurnax mumbled.
"So, if it isn't my daughter." Akatosh greeted as he appeared. "What is it this time?"
"You should know, you monitored the futures." Janice replied as Alduin tries to get closer to Paarthurnax.
"Ah, yes, got trapped in your dragon form? Why do you like to stay in your mortal form anyway? It is weak." Akatosh said.
"Well, I miss being able walk on two legs and I like to use my weapons that isn't the size of toothpicks." Janice replied as she used her wings to swipe Alduin away from a retreating green dragon.
"Point taken, so Dibella removed your Khajiit form?" Akatosh asked.
"I want it back, I miss my fluffy tail…" Janice said, lowering her voice at the end.
"When was your tail even fluffy?" Dibella's voice ring out.
"Dibella! Give me back my form now!" Janice screamed to where she thought Dibella was.
"I can't, I have erased that terrible mortal meat from existence." Dibella said from somewhere.
"I guess I have to make a new one." Janice said sadly as Akatosh picks up Alduin by her neck and threw her away from Paarthurnax.
"Don't feel too bad, sister. You can always remake the same body." Paarthurnax tried to assure Janice.
"I guess so, so how is it done?" Janice asked Akatosh.
"Well, do you want to be an orc, a nord, an Imperial, a Breton, a Wood Elf, a Dark Elf, a High Elf, an Argonian or a Khajiit?" Akatosh asked Janice.
"I vote for Argonian!" Mara's voice sounded from somewhere.
"Would you get over my marriage decisions already?!" Janice shouted back at the voice.
"I want to be a Khajiit again." Janice said to Akatosh after a few moments.
"So, you want your old form back?" Akatosh asked.
"Yes, of course!" Janice replied immediately.
"Very well, but what is with the armour on your dragon form?" Akatosh asked, not having known why Janice had decided to encase herself in armour. "The scales not good enough for you?"
"Well, Dragonbane stabbed me pretty deep, I want to guard against that." Janice replied as Akatosh's magic surrounds her.
"I see…" Akatosh replied as Janice transforms.
"Pretty sight…" Paarthurnax said as Janice's naked form appeared.
"What? Stop staring!" Janice exclaimed as she covered herself.
"I think it is time for some improvements." Dibella said. "Consider this a blessing, you should look like a woman after all."
"Fine, just don't do something ridiculous like you did yesterday." Janice said as a soft glow surrounds her.
"Those breasts weren't really that big." Dibella said as she finishes.
"At least I don't have a face full of makeup and that my scar is still there." Janice commented as she looked at herself in a mirror Dibella had conjured.
Janice now sports some long, flowing hair as well as shinier fur, though the rest of her remains mostly the same, her breast and buttocks were rounder and slightly bigger.
"I don't look as horrible as I did yesterday," Janice commented in relief.
"You are mocking my beauty?!" Dibella's voice roared.
"No… no, I am just saying that I prefer this look than the one you gave me yesterday." Janice said defensively.
"To each their own." Paarthurnax said as he stared at Janice's buttocks in some weird form of obsession.
Putting on her armour, carefully noting that she may have to change certain portions of her armour to fit her new… proportions, she tucked her hair into the helmet and carefully slide it down.
"Anything else?" Akatosh asked as he knocked Paarthurnax on his side for peeking.
"Yeah, what happened to Ralof?" Janice asked, curious to what Akatosh had done to the man.
"I sent him into a realm where he gets shot to kingdom come by a psychopathic man. And I made sure he was the one the man shot every time." Akatosh replied as he opened a portal back to the peak of the mountain.
"Oh good, Grand Theft Auto…" Alduin said as she flew up to Janice.
"Uhh… What?" Janice asked as Alduin landed on her shoulder.
"Nothing, nothing." Alduin said as Paarthurnax landed on her other shoulder.
"Let's just go." Janice said as she step through the portal.
"So, what did you do to get your form back?" Derkeethus asked.
"Akatosh gave me a new form, though I requested it be the same. Dibella added some improvements, you can see them later in bed if you want." Janice said as she stroke Derkeethus lightly on the snout.
"Finally ready to make love?" Jane asked as they got on Derkeethus.
"Well, we have been married for quite some time, it is only natural." Janice replied.
"Hey! What about me?" Paarthurnax squeaked.
"You stay like that now, I am sure the Greybeards would let you stay in their monastery." Janice shouted as Odahviing pick Paarthurnax up by his neck and flew down.
"Are you sure he is going to be okay? He is our brother you know." Alduin said, flapping her wings beside Janice.
"He will be fine, nobody knew him and the Blades are dead." Janice said as Derkeethus took off. "Why are you so concerned anyway?"
"Like I said, revenge is best served when you do it yourself." Alduin replied.
[Next morning]
"That was some night, eh?" Janice said as she stretched herself.
"Yeah." Derkeethus said as he got up.
"Cover yourselves!" Alduin shouted at the couple.
"I thought dragons didn't need clothes." Janice said as Derkeethus crawled out of bed.
"I still don't understand why you want to do it in your dragon form." Alduin commented, feeling a bit left out from last night's affairs.
"Well, have you ever thought how a lizard and a cat can make love? I just transform us both and it isn't so awkward anymore. Besides, I think I have teased him enough in my Khajiit form." Janice said as she made for the bathroom.
[Breakfast]
"So, when will we see the new children?" J'Zhar asked.
"You know that an Argonian and a Khajiit can't have babies." Jane replied for Janice.
"It might be possible for eggs to occur since they did it as dragons." Alduin said from her perch on Janice's chair.
"We will have siblings?" Sofie and Blasie asked in unison.
"I can't wait to take care of them!" Sofie shouted in excitement.
"Can we have this talk somewhere else? I don't think it is good for the kids." Janice said.
"Alright." Jane replied.
"Your Majesty, it has been about two weeks since you became the Empress, it is about time you meet some of your subjects." Cocceius said as he came into the room.
"I thought approval rating is still two weeks away?" Janice asked.
"What? No, I mean meet some of the people of the Empire, listen to what they have to say and try to improve on their problems." Cocceius explained, not knowing what an 'approval rating' was.
"I see, well, I need to announce some things later before I start, is that okay?" Janice said as she finishes her pie.
"Sure, take your time." Cocceius replied as he walked away.
"So, up to some listening, Derkeethus?" Janice asked her husband.
"What about me? What do I do?" Alduin asked as the children left.
"You can either play with the children or stay with me." Janice replied.
"I think playing with the children would be more fun." Alduin said as she took off.
"See you later." Janice said as Alduin followed the children.
"Are you sure leaving them with the World Eater is a good choice?" Derkeethus asked.
"Meeko can protect them, besides I had planted an item on her that saps away her magicka, enough to disable her spells but not enough for her to notice." Janice replied.
"Good thinking, me and Beeht will go shopping in the mean time, I am sure you don't need me around." Jane said as the two mothers left.
"I will go play some sport in the garden." J'Zhar said as he left.
"This is going to be a long day…" Janice groaned as she and Derkeethus got up and went into the Throne Room.
"Before we begin, I would like Ragnos to step forward." Janice said as she address the crowd gathered in the hall, mildly annoyed by how the cloak restricts her tail movement.
"Your Majesty." Ragnos greeted as he bent down on one knee.
"Ragnos, you and your cult, the White Dragon Crusaders, have shown great valor and bravery in combat in the recent Skyrim bandit war. Not to mention great skills as there were no injuries." Janice begun, raising her voice over the gasping of the crowd that Janice was going to endorse a cult that was considered to be a bunch of lunatics just a week ago and that no one in the cult had been injured trying to fight the bandits in the recent unrest in Skyrim.
"I hereby declare that the cult is to become an official sector of the Imperial Legion and that the religion of the cult to be made an official religion." Janice continued.
"You can't call your own worship a religion!" Some Imperials shouted among the crowd.
"Father Akatosh seems to deem it fine. Besides, I am not counted among the Eight and there have been other religions that seems to be about the worship of other people, not actual divine beings, like Talos." Janice retorted.
"Your Majesty, the council will not stand by this decision!" Cocceius warned Janice.
"Alright, fine… The cult may continue to believe in what they believe, but their worship isn't recognised as an official religion." Janice corrected, much to the dismay of Ragnos.
"As I was saying, the Crusaders shall be the highest ranking members of the Legion besides my personal knights. Anyone wishing to join must prove their strength in combat against one of them." Janice continued her speech. "They will be carrying out the most dangerous of missions as well as doing general policing of the area, making sure that bad things don't come to those who don't deserve it. Many trials await you and your cult, Ragnos, but I wish you good luck."
"It is an honour, Your Majesty." Ragnos replied as he backed off slowly.
"The honour is mine." Janice said.
"Alright, who wants to say something?" Janice asked the crowds.
"What would you do about the tax rate? My family is starving!" A poor waiter shouted.
"How is it these people come here?" Derkeethus asked Cocceius softly, rather annoyed that he had to deal with the less fortunate this soon.
"The palace is an open forum, anyone is allowed to voice their concerns." Janice replied. "Cocceius, what are the tax rates?"
"Twenty percent on income for everyone." Cocceius replied.
"Make that twenty percent for the rich and as low as one percent for the poor." Janice said. "No one should pay that much to live here."
"Thank you, Your Majesty!" The man shouted in relief.
"The harvest has been low these few seasons, some settlements are going without food!" A noble said.
"Send whatever food we can spare to those settlements, no one should die hungry." Janice said.
"Bandits are attacking travellers coming down from Skyrim!" A wounded adventurer shouted.
"Get the guards in Bruma to look out for injured travellers, we can't do much about the bandits since the legion has yet to recover fully." Janice said.
"I wonder what Alduin is doing right now…" Janice mumbled as she slumped backwards into her throne in boredom.
[In the children bedrooms]
"I do not want wear that." Alduin hissed a warning tone as Sofie tries to put Alduin in a pink dress.
"Don't be like that, I only have you until lunch. I am sure Blasie will be doing something you like." Sofie tried to reason.
"You better hope he has cool things to do." Alduin warned as she reluctantly crawled into the dress. "What will we be doing?"
"Dress up first, then we will be having a tea party…" Sofie listed excitedly.
This is going to be a very long day… Alduin mentally groaned as she tuned out the over enthusiastic girl.
"Hey, how do you deal with the children, old dog?" Alduin said to Meeko who was in a smart dark blue naval captain uniform custom made for a dog.
"Their games are fun." Meeko barked.
"Forget it," Alduin said dismissively.
[Lunch]
"Why do you look like a woman in a makeup disaster?" Janice asked Alduin as she sipped her stew.
"Don't. Ask." Alduin said in dread.
"Fine then." Janice said.
"How is your day so far?" Alduin asked Janice.
"Boring, managed to help a lot of people though. Cocceius said it wasn't feasible with the current resources, so I spawned a hundred tonnes of food to solve the food problem in High Rock." Janice answered. "What about you?"
"I rather not say…" Alduin said in embarrassment.
"She was the perfect play partner! She-" Sofie babbled on, not caring about how Alduin feels right about now.
"Now, now, Sofie, is this how you treat your half-aunt?" J'Zhar warned when Sofie finished her little speech; after seeing how Alduin is trying to shrink herself into a corner in embarrassment, of course.
"Sorry, auntie. I shouldn't have said it…" Sofie apologise, patting the black dragoness on the back.
"It's fine, just help me get the makeup off later." Alduin replied.
[Later]
"Is Talos really part of the Nine?" Heimskr shouted from the back of the crowd.
"I can't comment on that." Janice replied.
"He told me that you were his great granddaughter!" Heimskr shouted. "He told me that you nearly bested him in combat!"
"Guards! Remove this man from the palace." Janice ordered, trying to avoid telling everyone that Talos is real.
"I knew it! He is real! Why would you not give me a straight answer? It is because he is REAL! Join me in worship with Talos everybody!" Heimskr shouted as the guards dragged him off.
"Some foolish Nord." An Imperial commented.
"You don't know how literal that was." A Nord beside him said.
"What do you mean?" The Imperial asked the man.
"His name literally means 'foolish' in the old language." The Nord said.
"Are there anymore questions about the Divines?" Janice asked the crowd, wanting to quickly dismiss any possibilities that the crowd still wants to know that Talos is read or not.
"Yes, how was being rebirthed felt like?" A Khajiit trader asked. "Our Manes were thought to be the same soul reborn every time, yet they can't give us an answer to the feeling of being born again."
What is a 'Mane'? Janice thought, not knowing a single thing about Khajiit traditions since she had been living in Skyrim since she was born, besides knowing that Moon Sugar and Skooma are Khajiit favourites and that the Moons have something to do with birth. "I can't say, all I know was that I was a stillborn." Janice replied.
With that, the crowd fell silent. "How is it that you are still alive, Your Majesty?" The Khajiit asked as a few people left, not liking that Janice could be a ghost.
"My mother said that I was blessed by Akatosh when she prayed to the Divines, I am not quite sure what happened." Janice answered.
"You sure are a tough Khajiit." Derkeethus commented. "You don't look frail like the other stillborns that was blessed by Arkay."
"How do you know that?" Janice asked.
"I have came across many stillborns that were revived through intense prayer when I was working with my dad to bring the Argonians into Skyrim." Derkeethus replied. "Most of them ended up working as shop assistants, too weak and sickly for any other tasks."
"I see, I was lucky then, if not for Akatosh's intervention." Janice said.
[Alduin POV]
"So what are we doing?" Alduin asked Blasie as he leads the black dragoness to a large room filled with training equipment designed for children.
"We are going to practice target shooting today." Blasie said as he picked up a small crossbow and some ball-tipped bolts.
"Are you going to give me something to work with?" Alduin asked as Blasie checks the crossbow.
"Nope, today I am practising against moving targets." Blasie replied. "It is simple, I shoot, you try to dodge."
"WHAT?! Are you nuts?" Alduin exclaimed in surprise.
"Your left!" Blaise shouted as he fired a non-lethal bolt into Alduin.
"Ow…" Alduin exclaimed as the bolt bounced off harmlessly. "These may be non-lethal, but they still pack a punch…"
"Come on, show me what you've got!" Blasie said as he shoot at Alduin.
"Is this how you define fun?!" Alduin shouted as she tries to dodge the painful bolts. "I honestly can't tell!"
"Got to train hard if I want to be as great as mother someday!" Blasie yelled as he clipped Alduin on her wing, sending her crashing into a training dummy.
"You know that you can never reach her level, she was gifted to be good at combat." Alduin said as she got up.
"At least I would fall so easily unlike the last High King of Skyrim!" The young Breton shouted as he shot more bolts.
[After dinner]
"So how was your day?" Janice asked Alduin boredly.
"Painful and humiliating." Alduin replied, rubbing a sore spot where Blasie had hit her numerous times. "What about you?"
"I kicked that stupid Heimskr out of the palace before things get out of hand." Janice replied.
"Oh, okay then." Alduin said monotonously.
"There have been reports of travellers from Skyrim being attacked by bandits, what do you say to some destruction?" Janice asked, trying to overcome the boredom.
"Sure," Alduin replied, feeling much better after hearing that she had something she like to do, suggested.
"We will leave when Derkeethus is asleep." Janice suggested.
And so, on that night, five giant smoke columns rose from bandit fortifications north of Bruma. The land the fortifications stood on will still be smoldering for days to come.
A/N: Remember, 5000 views and I will write a special chapter about Janice's past, as well as some backstory to some other characters if I have the time. Well, I would write it even if I don't want to since it is inevitable. Whether it will be soon or later is up to you, the readers, to decide.
1. It is very likely that Akatosh had created the dragons before he got involved in Mundus and that the dragons wanted to call Nirn home. Well, this is just from me, the lore just said Alduin united the dragons, not when he was created.