A/N: Happy Father's Day weekend to all of my lovely readers! I was supposed to post this chapter a few days ago but I couldn't resist holding off until the weekend. I was lucky that the update coinciding with Father's Day also has a lovely little father/daughter moment towards the end, so enjoy!
Slowly, Leola lowered the mace. Aventus was beside her, and the others were in the hallway. Leola glared angrily at Samuel, wanting nothing more than to just kill him now, but she could do no such thing. Minot's life was on the line, and she couldn't risk Minot.
"I'm willing to listen to reason," Samuel said, smirking beneath his bustly beard. "Get all your little friends out of the house and we'll talk."
"Even if everyone leaves, you'll still have Minot, and she's one of my friends," said Leola. "And you'll have Kayd, too."
"Kayd can leave with your friends," said Samuel. "Minot is my bargaining chip, though, can't let her go."
"I could quite easily just dispatch people to round up Runa and your little lover, Oraina," said Aventus, folding his arms over his chest. "Being all-powerful is quite lonely when you don't have anyone to share it with. If Runa finds out about Oraina, then you've lost your wife and daughter. It will be pretty easy to keep Oraina from you, too."
A shadow flashed across Samuel's face and he narrowed his eyes. "You're bluffing," he said. "You don't even know where Runa is."
"We do, actually, because we moved her," Aventus replied. "She knows nothing about what's going on with you - all we had to do was say that you were in danger and she was all set to cooperate. You'll never find her - she's under our protection."
Leola could see Samuel's hesitation and she knew that Aventus was doing a good job. She looked over at him, smiling. "That's a good idea," she said. "Go get Oraina and Runa. We can have bargaining chips of our own - except, of course, we won't kill ours."
"Don't do that," said Samuel. "Don't do it."
"What's to stop us?" asked Leola, putting her hands on her hips. "You can't use Minot as a bargaining chip any more - our threats are holding too much weight. If you kill her, you've basically just sealed your fate."
"It's over, Samuel," said Aventus. "Hand over Minot and we might let you get back to your regular life with Runa, or Oraina, or whoever you're planning on being with forever."
Samuel narrowed his eyes. Leola could see him thinking it over. It upset her somewhat that Aventus had just lied to him - Aventus knew that Leola needed to kill Samuel in order to get Azura's piece, but how could she kill him right after promising him a chance at his freedom?
"Take her," Samuel snapped finally, all but throwing Minot at Aventus. He caught her, and immediately pulled her out of the little room, where all their friends were waiting out in the hall. Leola was left alone in the room with Samuel and Kayd, whose weapon was still drawn.
"Kayd," Leola said, looking at him. "I don't understand why you're doing this. If you have feelings for Minette, well, now she's free. You can have her."
"This isn't about Minette," Kayd said. "This is about so many things, so much more than a mere child like you could understand."
"By orders of the High King of Skyrim, you are under arrest, Kayd," Leola said. "You're both overpowered right now - there's nothing you can do. Step out with me and face your fates."
She took a step backward, waiting to see what would happen. Kayd, albeit reluctantly, sheathed his sword and bowed his head, walking past her and out of the room. She was left alone with Samuel now, looking him in the eyes.
"Is this the part where you kill me?" he asked, and Leola carefully reached one arm behind her. She pushed the bedroom door shut, knowing that everyone outside would be too busy dealing with Kayd, Minot, and the small army downstairs to notice. Taking up her mace once again, she stepped forward.
"Samuel, you've proven to me that you are truly an evil, evil man," Leola said softly. "You hurt the woman I love. You stole from us. You attacked me. You kidnapped Minot and you were going to kill her. You cheated on your wife and lied to her for - Talos, how long? I don't even know."
"Get on with it," Samuel snapped.
"I have no choice but to do this, and you should know I take no pleasure in it," she said. "Goodbye, Samuel."
Lifting up the mace, Leola murmured a quick prayer to Arkay and Stendarr before bringing it down over Samuel's head. It landed with what Leola could only describe as a harsh crunching sound. She could hear the certain crack as the mace broke through his skull, and his body collapsed to the ground a bleeding mess. Leola stared at it for a second before dropping the mace, falling to her knees and beginning to cry.
The next little while, to Leola, was a blur. She was vaguely aware of Aventus coming into the room. He tried to coax her out, to get her to come with him, but then declared to somebody else who was there with him that she must be in shock. He had lifted her up in his arms and carried her out, and she'd hidden her face in his shoulder and cried.
He carried her somewhere, though she didn't quite know where until she started to come out of her state of shock. Somewhere along the way, Leola had fallen asleep, too worn out from the shock and the stress to stay awake, and when she woke up, she was lying in a bed with her father sitting beside her.
"F-father…?" Leola mumbled weakly, and he smiled over at her.
"I'm glad you're awake," he said softly, reaching over and taking her hand. "Everything's going to be alright, princess, just breathe."
Leola paused, glancing aside. "My mother used to call me that," she said in a soft voice.
"Princess?" Ulfric asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes," Leola said. "I - I hadn't thought of it until now…something about…about being back there, I suppose…"
"All of the criminals working with Samuel are being transported to their own holds," Ulfric said to her. "Their respective Jarls will handle their punishments accordingly. Luckily, only one of them was from Windhelm, that being Grimvar, so I have minimal work to do."
"I don't think they all must be punished," Leola said softly. "And…and I don't want any of them killed."
"I can communicate that wish to the Jarls if you'd like me to," Ulfric said. "We don't need to worry about them now - we just have to focus on getting those last few pieces, and then we'll be done. What else is left?"
"Azura, Dagon, Hircine, Peryite, Mephala, and Clavicus Vile," Leola rattled off quickly.
"Then we have work to do," Ulfric said. "Are you alright?"
"I - I just killed a man," Leola breathed. "He has a wife, and a baby, and I - I killed him."
"Just think of how many lives you probably spared," Ulfric said. "Think of your mother - if her spirit was bound to serve him? How miserable her eternity would be, and how many innocent lives she would be forced to take."
"But how many innocent lives has she already taken?" Leola asked. "Erith and Aventus mentioned that one of Samuel's friends, his mother had been killed by mine-"
"Not without reason," Ulfric said, giving her hand a squeeze. "Just relax. Take all the time you need to rest, and when you're feeling better, we'll get started on finding the rest of those pieces."
Leola sighed softly. She lay back down, staying at the ceiling and shaking her head. "I don't think I'll ever feel better, father," she said in a soft voice.
"We'll see about that," he replied, rising to his feet and heading for the door.