Summary: In which our four heroes do the sensible thing and report this whole mess to law enforcement before heading off into danger. Which means the Royal Court of Solitude, where the High Queen and Reach-King are presently to be found, and it turns out they're not the only ones come to lobby the High Queen on the vampire crisis.
A/N: I really did like this one - writing Elisif the High Queen is a bit of a change from writing her internal monologue, but it's an enjoyable one. Also I got to write little Maia in! She's a little over a year old so doesn't do much, but it's nice writing Elisif and Madanach as parents and seeing their softer sides.
It's entirely likely that I may at some point write another fic further down the line crossing this universe over with Dragon Age Inquisition, in which an older, verbal Maia shows up. So this is her introduction.
Solitude had always been an impressive sight, and the early morning sunlight showed it off at its best, the Blue Palace gleaming in blue and gold, reflecting the sunlight off the roof… and off the scales of the dragon basking on the roof.
"Is that a dragon?" Serana gasped. "A real one, on the palace roof?"
"That is indeed," Eola purred as they made their way up the path to the imposing stone arches that formed Solitude's gatehouse. "That's Odahviing, the Dragon-Lieutenant of Solitude. Protector of the city, he who scares away lesser dragons, and also has reduced banditry in Haafingar and Hjaalmarch considerably. We're all very fond of him."
"Wow," Serana whispered, in awe as she realised the stories were true. "Hey, it's the Solitude windmill! Gods, I always wanted to see that up close. You can just see it from the castle."
"Well, now you're here," Athis said, squinting in the sunlight, already feeling his skin prickling and blood heating up, and Cicero's comments that he should be glad he was in the far north, it was so much worse for vampires in Cyrodiil, there the sunlight would sear skin and leave unsightly burns, were not helping. Although Cicero was hardly one to talk, he got terrible sunburn if he was out in it too long without coating all visible skin in strong fire resistance salves.
"I know!" Serana gasped, nearly walking into people as she passed through the gates and stared at the city, enthralled. "Gods, this city is beautiful!"
Athis couldn't help but steal a glance at Eola as Serana said this, and something inside him constricted with jealousy as he saw Eola looking genuinely pleased at this. She'd looked like that at him once. Sometimes she still did at Cicero.
He doubted she'd look at him the same now and that tore at his heart, and he desperately wanted to take her in his arms and tell her he loved her… but he didn't know how any more. It broke his heart, but there was little he could do about it. Not right now anyway.
So he kept quiet and the little party made their way up to the Blue Palace, hoping that the High Queen would be available. They weren't disappointed… although it turned out they weren't the first to arrive.
"High Queen, you can't just ignore what's going on," a deep Redguard voice growled echoing down from the throne room above. "My people have dealt with fifteen reported vampire attacks in the last three months alone, and we must have about thirty refugees at Fort Dawnguard. How many more need to flee their homes before their Jarls do something about it?"
"Isran, we're investigating the source of these attacks, and I can promise you we have everything under control," a masculine voice replied, clearly unimpressed with the posturing.
"That's Argis, the steward," Eola whispered. "My big brother."
"Literally! He's huge!" Cicero giggled, only to be swiftly hushed by Eola. Serana could imagine. Argis' accent was Nordic and most Nords weren't built on the small side. Serana did however wonder how a Breton of the Reach ended up with a Nord brother. Then another voice spoke up, male but light, another Reachman from the sound of it.
"Doesn't seem like it! High Queen, we respect your abilities and your commitment to protecting the people of Skyrim, of course we do, but we can't fend them off forever! The Vigil are already gone, the Knights of the Coloured Rooms could be next!"
Serana turned to Eola, hoping for an explanation. She was surprised at the one she received.
"They're the guardians of the Restored Temple of Meridia at Kilkreath," Eola whispered. "They honour the Lady of Life, deal with undead issues, that sort of thing. Not enough of them to really hunt down vampires in the numbers your da's got though."
"The High Queen of Skyrim's sponsoring Daedra worship?" Serana whispered. Eola just smiled.
"She did a favour for Meridia involving rooting out necromancers, got given a magic sword in return, put it to good use hacking Draugr to bits, and once Meridia's Temple was necromancer free, some new folks moved in to rededicate it to Meridia, and Elisif decided kicking them out was too much hassle and a bit ungrateful, plus it stopped anyone worse moving in," Eola whispered. "That's their boss, Brother Celann. Ex-Vigilant. I'm told he left because he disagreed with their extremism, also he's a Reachman. Too many Daedra-worshippers in his own family."
From what she'd seen of the Reach and its people so far, Serana could well believe Daedra worship was rampant across the entire province. Given the amount of spirit-binding and blood magic traces in the very land itself, it would have to be.
Serana followed Eola up the grand staircase leading up to the throne room itself, wondering what to expect. The stories had led her to expect some all-powerful warrior out of legend, leading vast armies as she laid waste to her foes… yet Queen Elisif had barely even spoken yet.
Standing before the throne were two male warriors, one a large, imposing Redguard in practical dark armour with a shield decorated with a quartered sun on his back, and the other a shorter dark-haired Breton in red and gold armour with a fiery sword and sunburst on the front. Both had arms folded, looking annoyed, and the focus of their ire was the young redhaired woman on the throne. She didn't look like an all-conquering warrior at all, just a young woman in fine green and red clothing and a gold circlet who appeared to be developing a headache.
"Brother Celann, I've taken the trouble to assign extra guards to Dragon Bridge and Kilkreath, at the cost of Solitude's safety, I might add!" the young Jarl sighed. "I already lost my court mage to this, I know what's at stake! I'm just thankful they attacked while Madanach and I were in the Reach."
"Which was totally intentional, they were targeting Sybille not you, and didn't want to risk your wrath," the Nordic man next to her snorted, and despite the nobleman's outfit, he had an ebony sword at his belt and the muscles visible beneath his clothes indicated he knew how to use it… as did the facial scar and missing eye. This man was a capable warrior indeed, a veteran fighter, and there was definitely something in his looks that reminded Serana of Eola.
"I know," Queen Elisif said coldly, eyes narrowing and her posture shifted subtly, sending out a brief flicker of menace. Serana realised that underneath that pretty noble exterior was someone far more dangerous than she seemed, and that Queen Elisif only needed a target for her wrath to do some serious damage. The High Queen took a deep breath and sat upright, eyes boring into the Redguard's.
"Isran, have I not been generous enough?" Elisif said coldly. "I negotiated with Jarl Maven to provide you with Fort Dawnguard, I've persuaded nobles, Jarls, the Thalmor, merchants, even private citizens and small businessholders with little enough gold to spare, to donate to your cause. I even had people track down your old contacts, who by the way were all shocked and amazed you were admitting you needed help and in particular theirs, and in some cases needed considerable persuasion to return to you. I was hoping you'd have something for me by this point."
Isran grimaced but did not look away.
"I am… grateful… for the help, High Queen," Isran said, sounding more than a little grudging. "And we've been able to put it to good use. But we need information, leads! All the soldiers in the world are no good if we've nothing to attack, Jarl."
"Try taking a prisoner or two instead of slaughtering everything in your path, you might have some," Argis growled, eyes flashing. "Had more than a few reports of your people killing maybe-vampires or maybe-thralls. We will be taking the weregild out of your funding, Isran."
"These vampires are cunning," Isran snarled back. "Can never be too careful."
Serana saw the young queen's posture shifting as she leaned forward, gritting her teeth and clearly this close to losing her temper. And then everyone was distracted by another man walking in, an old Reachman dressed in something that looked like a dragon priest's robes if Serana was any judge, positively radiating magicka in a way that must be alerting every mage in the city to his presence which meant he was either seriously powerful in his own right, stupidly arrogant or had a ton of guards to deal with rivals for him. Serana didn't think any mage got to that age, level of magicka and the High Queen's court by being stupid. In fact, perhaps the strangest thing about him was that he was cradling a baby in his arms, a chubby infant in a white silk be-ribboned dress with red hair and bright silver-blue eyes like the mage's.
"Elisif!" the mage called to her, apparently heedless of any protocol that might apply to someone entering the High Queen's throne room, or indeed might require them to not just bandy her first name about as if she was some serving girl. "Got something requiring your immediate attention! Got a little princess wanting an immediate audience with the High Queen on a matter of the utmost importance. She's not had enough lullabies sung to her today or been told how cute she is enough, and she thinks that's appalling, don't you, Brenyeen?"
The mage was holding the baby out towards Elisif, grin on his face, but Elisif was paying him no heed. All her attention was on the baby, who'd squealed "Ma! Ma!" at her and was beaming at the High Queen, who was no longer looking remotely queenly. No, she'd just squealed "Baby!" and held out her own arms, taking the baby off the mage who'd carried her in and cooing over her as the little one snuggled into her arms, reaching for long hair and chewing contentedly.
Well, that baby could only be Elisif's own, judging from the blissed out look on her face, and this was confirmed as the mage grinned and whispered in Elisif's ear, arm round the throne and quietly enough so that most couldn't hear him… but Serana's sensitive hearing caught every word.
"Thought you needed a break – could feel you from here. You normally only get like that in combat or just prior to it."
Elisif did look up to him then, happy smile on her face as she kissed him on the cheek.
"Thank you, love," she whispered, and then she turned her attention back to her court… and then her eyes fell on Eola.
"Eola!" she cried, seeming genuinely pleased to see her. "Hello! Maia, look who it is, it's your big sister, look!"
The baby looked up, gurgling at Eola and babbling something like "olla!" at Eola, who'd already made her way over, lowering her head to coo at what was apparently her little sister, surely not through Elisif… and Serana realised the old man by the throne must be Madanach the Reach-King, Eola's father… and husband to the High Queen and therefore father of the baby currently perched on Elisif's lap and babbling up at her half-sister.
"Hey cutie!" Eola was purring over her. "I got some important news for your ma! You OK with that? You OK with me borrowing her?"
Maia seemed fine with his, although her father seemed less pleased, pouting at Eola and wanting to know where his hug and kiss were, hmm? Which was adorable but Serana's attention was caught by the sound of a weapon being drawn and she turned to see Isran drawing his battleaxe, while Celann had also reached for his sword.
"You'll regret showing your faces here, bloodsuckers," Isran snarled, preparing to advance, even as Eola cried out for him to stop… and Cicero stepped forward, shielding both Athis and Serana, daggers snicking into his hands.
"Cicero is very sorry, but Cicero cannot allow you to harm his friends," Cicero said calmly, apparently unfazed by the prospect of a big burly Redguard bearing down on him with a battleaxe. "They are here to help the High Queen, not kill people." Cicero tilted his head, smiling craftily. "Cicero would hardly encourage stabbing in the High Queen's court room. Cicero has standards."
Isran growled and turned to the Jarl, whose smile had vanished… but it was Isran she was glaring at, not the two vampires or Cicero.
"You can't possibly be willing to allow vampires to walk openly in your court!" Isran raged at Elisif. "Especially at the behest of this… this fool!"
Elisif's eyes flickered and she carefully handed little Maia back over to her father.
"Hold our daughter for me," Elisif said calmly before getting to her feet, standing on the dais for extra height and staring down Isran with such vehemence even he began to realise he might have miscalculated.
"Have a care, Isran," Elisif said coldly, her voice starting to throb with some power Serana didn't recognise, but which made her shiver. Behind the Jarl, Madanach was carefully enfolding his child in his arms, a hand over the ear not pressed to his chest and fingers casting a Muffle spell of some sort over her. "That little fool is one of my best and most loyal agents, and I will decide who I will have in my court room, not you!"
Cicero was already preening under the praise, but Isran barely shot him another glance.
"You're making a mistake," Isran warned her, but he shouldered his weapon. Elisif barely reacted.
"I will be the judge of that," Elisif said smoothly. "Now, I believe Eola had some information for me, didn't you, dear?"
"Hmm? Oh, yeah, that's right," Eola said, smirking at Isran from where she was standing by the throne. "Elisif, this is Serana. Cicero and Athis saved her, and in return she's been able to tell us where the vampire attacks are coming from and what their plans are. We thought you should know. Also, we, er, need a favour. But it's totally connected with the vampires, don't worry."
Elisif looked Serana over quizzically, and then a single word escaped her lips, a soft sibilant whisper that wasn't magic exactly, but a demand to the world that it couldn't help but answer.
"Laas!"
Serana gasped as she recalled tales of ancient Nord warriors, warriors with both hands for their weapon and their magic not in their hands like a mage's, but in their voice… like a dragon. This was dragon-magic, she could tell, the power of the legendary Thu'um… and this young queen had it. Bright blue eyes fixed Serana and Elisif frowned.
"Isran speaks true, you are a vampire!" Elisif said, not entirely sure about this. "And is that… wait a second, is that Athis? How long have you been a vampire?!"
Athis lowered his face in shame, but it was too late to hide his vampire status.
"Not long, High Queen," Athis said softly. "I'm sorry. I didn't know I was infected until it was too late."
"We registered him at Hag's End, Keirine's sending him blood potions," Eola promised, which got Madanach's attention.
"Oh, so we've got a Companion of Jorrvaskr claiming blood on the Slan Gwasanaeth's septim, is that so, daughter?" Madanach snapped, clearly not pleased with this. "I set the Adar Gwasanaeth up to save lives, not sustain vampires that don't even live in the Reach!"
"They don't live at all!" Isran roared, and Celann was glaring too. "They're not people! They're things, monsters! Look, one has information, fine, I won't question your sources. But don't trust it, don't keep it around any longer than you have to, and never think it's your friend!"
Eola's eyes had narrowed, Madanach was scowling even as Maia fussed in his arms, and Elisif's eyes had flickered as she inhaled sharply, clearly displeased.
"I will take that advice on board," Elisif said, voice clear and commanding and not one you disagreed with in a hurry. "That will be all, Isran, Celann. I will hear Serana out in closed court, and decide a strategy based on what she tells me. I'll be in touch. Dismissed."
"High Queen-," Isran began, and then Celann touched his arm, motioning for him to back down. Elisif's glare intensified and she spoke once more.
"Dismissed, Isran!" Elisif said, raising her voice only slightly but it was enough to send vibrations through the air and the ground strong enough to rattle windows and set Maia off wailing. On the far side of the room, a dark haired Nord woman in ebony gear stepped forward, and she was in no way smiling.
"That's your cue to leave," she said grimly, with a stony-faced demeanour common to housecarls everywhere. Isran took the point, and with one pointed glare at Cicero and the vampires, he bowed perfunctorily to Elisif before leaving via the other staircase. Celann bowed to Elisif rather more respectfully and then actually saluted Madanach with a fist to the chest before following Isran out.
With the vampire hunters gone, Serana finally felt able to relax a little. Except for the fact that now the High Queen's focus would be on her.
Elisif had turned to Madanach, taking Maia off him and rocking her in her arms, whispering softly to her.
"I'm sorry, baby! I'm sorry, little one!" Elisif soothed, kissing Maia on the forehead while Maia sniffled and grumbled in her mother's arms.
"Mama wasn't angry at you, baby, I promise!" Elisif whispered guiltily. "Sweetie, I'm sorry! I'm so sorry, baby. I love you, baby! I do! I love you, little Maia! Who's my little Maia, hmm? Who's my good girl? You are, baby! Yes, you are! You're my little princess, aren't you, sweetie? Yes you are! Yes you are! There's a good girl, there you go, Maia, there you go, hush now, hush now baby, shhhhh."
Maia had calmed down, snuggling into her mother's arms, no longer wailing but still looking a bit upset. She was however feeling curious enough to peep out at Serana, nervous but clearly interested. Elisif smiled fondly at her baby, stroked her head and then turned to Serana, clearly intrigued herself by the presence of two vampires… and one an utterly unknown quantity at that.
"Well now," Elisif said, her voice gentle and calm for now so as not to disturb Maia again, but Serana had no doubt that she'd unleash the Thu'um at the merest hint of danger to her beloved baby.
Serana idly wondered if her own mother had ever cooed like that over her. She remembered Valerica being kind, on occasion at least, if a little distant. But never that ridiculously affectionate with so little care for what anyone else was thinking, so long as her baby smiled at her. Said baby was watching Serana uncertainly, chewing on her mother's hair again. Elisif barely noticed.
"Eola tells me you can help us stop these vampire attacks," Elisif said, eyeing Serana curiously. "Good news indeed, these attacks seem to be coming nightly, and my people are dying. I have Jarls, nobles, even ordinary citizens, petitioning me for help, but there's so little I can do if I don't know where they're coming from… or why. But first tell me, why's a vampire turning on her own kind?"
Serana glanced at Eola, who'd approached, placing a hand on Serana's shoulder.
"Her family were really awful to her, Elisif," Eola began, but Elisif stopped her with a frown.
"I asked Serana," Elisif said, her voice cutting through the throne room. But then she inclined her head graciously. "But perhaps we can discuss this in private. I'll see the four of you in my bedchamber – Argis, can you find some extra chairs for us?"
"El, you sure about this?" Argis said, frowning at Serana. "I can let Athis go, but we don't know this one at all."
"High Queen, being alone with two vampires is a risky proposition at best," the housecarl warned. "Do you at least want me to get your armour?"
"I'll be fine, Lydia," Elisif said, already turning and walking away. "Madanach will be there too, won't you, dearest?"
"I will?" Madanach said, surprised. "Oh, I mean, yes I will. I mean, yeah, Isran's Dawnguard's all very well, but you're going up against dangerous undead monsters, you want the ReachGuard."
"Because they are led by dangerous undead monsters!" Cicero cooed, before a pointed glare from Madanach shut him up, and Serana recalled tales of the Reach's barbarian hill tribes who were said to cut their own hearts out and offer them to Molag Bal to be better warriors. Her father had coveted much, even ruled much as a mortal… but he'd never once even considered marching on the Reach. Not until recently anyway. Serana idly wondered what had changed.
Madanach stepped away from the throne, taking Cicero by the arm and tersely telling him to fucking behave himself for once, before hauling the giggling little jester, who seemed bothered not at all by Madanach's irritation, in the direction of Elisif's bedroom.
"Is this going well?" Serana whispered to Eola, who took her arm and led her away, Athis following behind and glowering for some reason. Eola nodded, smiling.
"Yeah. She's going to hear you out, but you're gonna have to be honest. She can tell if you're hesitant or nervous. That said, she's OK. And she will help. If… if you're still OK with all this."
"I'm about to throw my own father under a dragon, I don't think you can ever really be OK with that," Serana said softly, closing her eyes and trying not to remember happier times. But the memories were hazy, and it slowly dawned on Serana that before she'd been shut away, her father had been distant and preoccupied for years and barely spoken to her, and after her return, her father had been more pleased to have foiled his wife's treachery than interested in spending time with her. She literally had no idea when the last time Harkon had actually been any kind of father to her actually was. She must have been young. Still mortal, even.
She felt Eola's fingers tighten on her arm.
"Sometimes you wonder if things could have been different," Eola said quietly. "If you'd tried harder, behaved better, been a better daughter. But Kaie did all that, and it turns out talking with Kaie now, she's relieved Ma's gone too. She feels horrible for thinking it, but she sees Da with Elisif and how happy they both are, and how they both dote on Maia, and neither of us can ever remember our Ma being like Elisif is with Maia. There's Elisif telling a baby who can't even talk yet she's sorry for being angry and upsetting her, and I don't think our Ma ever apologised for anything to anyone. And I think we've both realised that our mother was a terrible person and a terrible parent and we both deserved better than we got. So, we're not mourning. Not any more. Do I wish it had been different? Sure! But that would have involved my ma being a completely different person. What happened needed to." Eola's free hand patted Serana's wrist, and Serana looked up to see sympathy there, someone else who knew just how hard the whole family thing could be, and somehow Serana felt easier in her own mind. What happened needed to. Her father was a terrible person too and maybe Serana deserved better than she'd got.
I think I'm still going to mourn him. I think I already am. But the man who loved me's been gone for years. This is something else.
"Thank you," Serana said quietly. "I don't think I could do this without you. Or Cicero. Or Athis. You're all awesome in your own way."
Cicero had turned around in the doorway to Elisif's room, Madanach having let him go in order to take Maia off Elisif and put his baby to rest. Cicero was smiling hopefully at her, and he was sweet, there was no doubt about it, despite the fact that he was unarguably not sane, and equally unarguably quite quite willing to shed blood any time, any place if someone gave him reason. Meanwhile Athis was staring at the floor, shuffling awkwardly, and Serana had been glad to have someone around who understood what vampirism was like, including being shoved into it suddenly and unwillingly. He seemed like a good man in a way that Cicero definitely wasn't, and Eola… Eola was somewhere in the middle. Good intentions but methods that perhaps weren't. Serana could empathise with that.
Steeling herself, Serana tightened her grip on Eola and went in for her audience with the High Queen.
Far from taking a seat, Queen Elisif was reclining against the pillows on the antique four-poster bed that dominated the room, baby Maia lying next to her, kicking her feet in the air and beaming up at her mother. Madanach was lying alongside his wife and baby, already conjuring some glowing illusion dragons for Maia's entertainment.
Cicero meanwhile had been unceremoniously deposited and left to round up some chairs, which he did, positioning them by the bed and motioning for Athis and Serana to take a seat. Serana took the one nearest the High Queen, Athis alongside her, and when she realised there were only two chairs, she wondered where Cicero and Eola were going to sit.
She got her answer when Eola slid on to the end of the bed, curling up opposite her father while Cicero snuggled up at her side. Of course. As kin by marriage to the High Queen, Eola had a few privileges at court. Such as persuading Queen Elisif to hear a vampire out in private.
Said High Queen was watching her intently, apparently intrigued. Serana wondered if she'd ever met a vampire before. Serana certainly hadn't met a High Queen before.
"So. Serana," Elisif said, without preamble. "Tell me more about your family. Are they actually your blood kin or just the group who turned you? Forgive me, I know this may be insensitive but I need to know what your loyalty to them is… or isn't."
"It's all right," Serana said, lowering her eyes and trying to smile. "They are my family – my mortal parents and their court. My father was a king once. He ruled a vast territory but he couldn't conquer old age. Until he became a vampire, him and Mother and me. He ended up gathering an entire vampire court at our home. It's a castle, west of Solitude."
Madanach was frowning, mouthing that final sentence to himself, but Elisif… Elisif had sat up, turning to shield Maia with her entire body.
"What's his name?" Elisif whispered, but Serana knew. She just knew that somehow, High Queen Elisif knew her father's name, would know as soon as it left her lips, somehow knew the story already.
"Harkon," Serana whispered. "Harkon, Lord of Clan Volkihar. My mother's-"
"Valerica," Elisif finished, looking like she was about to throw up. "By the Eight, Queen Valerica's alive? Or… undead, I suppose. I didn't even know she was real..."
Serana must have been staring, and she wasn't the only one. An entire room, save only the baby too busy playing with her feet to know what was being talked about, had fallen into stunned silence.
"You've… heard of him?" Eola finally said, at the same time as Madanach finally demanded to know what on earth Elisif knew about the Volkihar vampire clan, even the Reachmen had never managed to find out if there was any truth to the legends.
"I didn't know the Volkihar vampires were connected to Harkon!" Elisif sighed. "I wasn't sure they were real either! But my father was a bard and he told me the story once. It was the tale of Harkon the Bloody, a High King of Skyrim in a time lost to the ages. And the story goes he conquered many lands and people but he couldn't cheat death. So he tried sacrificing to all the gods he could find in hopes one would answer his prayers, and there's a whole bit about the Aedra all turning away one by one and then he starts asking the Daedra, but they either say no or ask for things he's not willing to give… but Molag Bal's the one to listen after Harkon starts sacrificing all the young maidens of his country. He agrees to give the gift of immortality if Harkon's willing to sacrifice his own daughter, but in the end it's Queen Valerica who takes her place. So Molag Bal grants the immortality but turns Harkon's own people against him and there's a rebellion, and… Daddy told me when I was little that the princess took over after her father was killed when the other Jarls rebelled, and she married their leader and lived happily after, because the rebel leader was handsome and a good man who treated her well. But when I was older he quietly told me there were older versions where the princess got sacrificed anyway by her own father after Queen Valerica was gone, and that some stories said Harkon was still out there somewhere, biding his time, and he'd come for the throne one day."
Elisif's voice was bleak and hollow and she instinctively turned to look at her baby, real fear in her eyes… but her husband simply shrugged, taking his wife's hand and kissing it.
"He picked the wrong High Queen to challenge," Madanach said, calculating smile on his face. "That's if it is the same man – so Serana, what really happened? And mind telling us just how far west of Solitude this castle is? Wouldn't happen to be on an island just off the coast, ten miles north of a couple of old Dragon Cult ruins, would it?"
The Temples of Volskygge were barely ten miles south of Castle Volkihar, and Madanach's stare on hearing this was not something Serana wanted to see again, ever.
"Elisif, my second city is the nearest human habitation, my sister is there, the Reach has to act if you don't!" Madanach said through gritted teeth.
"Your sister's quite capable of defending herself for long enough for me to rally troops and get them there," Elisif said firmly. "Which I will do as soon as I've heard the rest of what Serana has to say. Serana, I'm sorry, you were telling us what the real story of Harkon the Bloody was."
"There's not much to add," Serana admitted. "Your father's version wasn't too far off. My father worshipped Molag Bal. He sacrificed innocent people to Molag Bal, trying to make himself immortal, and eventually Mother and I were the only ones left. So… he gave us to him. And now the three of us are vampires."
Serana didn't say anything else. She'd not even wanted to talk about this to Eola, never mind the High Queen of Skyrim. She felt her throat close up and her eyes itch but damned if she was going to cry.
Silence apart from Maia babbling – and a little noise of sympathy from Elisif. Serana glanced up, and actually felt worse on seeing the pity in her eyes. I'm not a victim, dammit!
Of course not. She was here selling out her father, wasn't she. Well, if she was going to stab her father in the back, she would do it without crying.
"Is that why you're here now?" Elisif said quietly. "You never forgave him?"
Serana shrugged, not sure how to answer that.
"It's not that simple. I guess it never is, is it?" Serana sighed. "I was only seventeen at the time. I never had a lot to do with the politics. I never went to Solitude, lived most of my life in our summer castle. That's where I got… turned. After that, the Jarls rebelled. They didn't want a vampire king. One called a Moot, and my father fled the city. He hired a Breton witch to hide his castle from prying eyes and left Skyrim to its own devices. I don't know what happened after that. We lived a life away from the rest of the world, and the rest of the world left us alone. After a few centuries, everyone had moved away from us. I honestly thought they'd forgotten we existed."
"Not entirely," Elisif said ruefully. "But you're right we didn't realise there was still a court of vampires out there, still less that they were the famous Volkihars. Harkon the Bloody's reign was so long ago, most people don't even remember him. Why's he making an appearance now?"
So Serana explained about the prophecy, about how her father had chased after this prophecy that promised him a way of fighting the sunlight, of allowing him to walk without fear of the sun and be king once more.
"He's insane," were the first words out of Madanach's mouth. "Does he honestly think that just because he doesn't have to retreat during the day that we'll just let him take over?"
"I think he thinks he can blackmail the Jarls into appointing him king in return for allowing them a few glimpses of the sun now and then," Serana said, trying to recall what she'd been able to overhear. "He's been shut away a long time, I don't think he's entirely thought this through."
"He really really hasn't," Madanach growled, before his eyes flicked wide, horrified. "Sithis, what if he has? Attack indiscriminately, make it look like the High Queen can't protect them, attack the Reach to knock out not only her allies and her kin by marriage but remove any halfway decent arcane-military expertise… shitting hell, Elisif, the Reach is next, I need to get back there…"
"Stay where you are," Elisif said, gritting her teeth as one hand went to restrain Madanach. "I killed Alduin, I can handle Harkon the Bloody. Also, I don't think he factored in Serana here telling us his plans. Eola, are you able to get back to either Markarth or Deepwood and warn Kaie and Keirine? Or get one of the Companions to do it?"
Eola just smiled, petting Cicero gently, who was also preening himself.
"They already know," Eola purred. "So does Delphine. Cicero had to take Athis to Hag's End for, er, treatment anyway, he also had the sense to tell Auntie Keirine what he'd seen at Harkon's castle. And Kaie was there at the time, she's already putting the ReachGuard on alert, including moving forces north, and Del's putting eyes on the castle. Harkon is not going to take us unawares, not now. I don't think he realised the Cicero who came to his castle and who was allowed to skip away freely is the same Cicero associated with Reach-Princess Eola and the High Queen's court."
"Also Cicero wasn't wearing the hat," Cicero added, still grinning. "No one recognises Cicero without the hat."
"And we do keep him out of the limelight, it must be said," Madanach said thoughtfully. "All right, I'll write to Kaie and Keirine both, find out what's happening. Elisif, you're going to need to let me know what Skyrim's response is going to be. Surely there's angry, bereaved Nords itching for a fight out there."
"Yes, although getting the Jarls to actually release troops will be a problem," Elisif said, brooding. "Wait, never mind, I have an idea. I'll have people make the announcement publicly before the Jarl and pin signs up in the taverns calling for true Nords who want to help me save Skyrim again to join a muster point – I think I'm going to need Argis for this, aren't I?"
"Very likely," Madanach grinned. "Should I fetch him?"
"Don't bother, if I know him and Lydia, they're likely listening in anyway," Elisif sighed. "All right, I'm likely going to have more questions later on the layout of this castle but that can all wait until you've had a chance to rest – what is it, Athis?"
"Begging your pardon, High Queen," Athis said, getting to his feet and bowing. "But Harkon's ultimate aim is to be able to put out the sun. We've got a lead on how, but, er, we need your help. Don't we, Eola?"
"I knew it," Madanach sighed and Elisif raised an eyebrow, but she motioned for Eola to speak. So Eola, with frequent interruptions and not all from Cicero either, explained about the Elder Scroll buried with Serana, and how they'd found a Moth Priest to read it, but it had said two other scrolls were needed for the complete prophecy.
"And we think one of them is your Elder Scroll," Eola finished. "You know, the one you brought back from Blackreach. We were wondering if we could, you know, borrow it."
"Borrow it," Elisif said, clearly not pleased about this at all. "My Elder Scroll. That is now with the College of Winterhold for posterity, secured by spells, charms and locks so cunning even highly skilled thieves failed to get in. Karliah took one look and refused to try. And you want me to just write to Archmage Ervine and get her to let you take it away."
Hopeful nod from Eola, who was also turning hopeful eyes on her father.
"Auriel's Bow could be really useful!" Eola said, hoping they'd buy it. "Especially if it really can put out the sun! We wouldn't want it falling into enemy hands, would we?"
"Cicero could look after it!" Cicero chirped up and Madanach's lips actually pulled back in a snarl.
"Elisif, say no," Madanach growled. "If it really is this dangerous, he's the last person-"
"But at least we'd know who had it and where it was," Elisif said thoughtfully. "Very well, I'll make arrangements to secure the Scroll and have it brought to this Moth Priest – he's with Delphine, is he? But the College will want it back after, and once you have the prophecy, I want a full report on the bow's location and capabilities. I don't suppose you know where the other Scroll is, do you?"
Eola exchanged looks with the others and offered a tentative shrug.
"Maybe?" Eola said. "Serana has a sort of lead, but it may come to nothing. It's all we have though."
"It involves finding my mother," Serana admitted. "She left my father ages ago, took his other Elder Scroll with her. We think that's the Scroll we need. We have an idea where to start looking… but it's dangerous."
"It involves sneaking into the back end of Castle Volkihar and finding Serana's mother's secret hideaway!" Cicero chirped, apparently heedless of Athis facepalming and the filthy look Eola was giving him.
"What," Madanach said, eyes boring into Cicero. "You honestly think THAT is a good idea? What if it's some sort of trap? You could be killed!"
"I can take care of myself!" Eola protested. "I'm taking these two, if it is, we have ways out! Elisif, tell him!"
"This sounds really dangerous," Elisif said, pursing her lips. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"
"No!" Madanach snapped, eliciting an exasperated cry from Eola. Mercifully, Maia picked up on her father's wrath as well and promptly starting fussing, and that at least distracted Madanach. With him comforting a small child and walking her up and down the bedroom while murmuring he was very sorry she was never going to know her insane older sister properly, he'd be sure to tell her all about her when she got older, Elisif at least was free to interrogate Eola and Serana.
"You think Valerica will help, if you can even find her?" Elisif said quietly. "What if she never survived either?"
"She's an immortal vampire, something would have had to kill her," Serana said, feeling protective of her mother even if Valerica didn't really deserve it. "And she's not easy to kill. My father thinks she's still out there, he's scoured Tamriel for signs of her. He's never found her."
"Maybe something else got to her first," Elisif said, and Serana knew it was possible… but she couldn't bring herself to believe it. Her expression must have shown because Elisif immediately looked contrite.
"I'm sorry, Serana," Elisif said softly. "But it's a possibility. If you don't find anything useful, we can't wait for Auriel's Bow to turn up. We need to plan the attack. Eight know his people have killed so many of us in the last few months. I'm not letting him continue. One way or another, we deal with this."
One way or another, and Serana knew how this would end. With her own father dead, likely at Queen Elisif's hands. Serana almost hoped it would be Elisif. The alternative was Serana doing the deed herself… and Serana honestly didn't know if she could.