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Chapter 35 - Sanctuary

When Yssha was dressed and getting ready to go join Rayya for tisane, something brought Marcurio awake, to see two figures forming. The first to solidify was Talos' familiar form, smiling. "I'm here with some news I think you two will like," he said.

"And what would that be, dii zeymah?" Yssha asked.

"Bormahu was displeased when Ysshaya was killed before she was able to keep a certain promise she made you. With unfinished business, she has become a ghost rather than going directly to Aetherius. But it's a thing she can't complete if she's immaterial, so he's going to restore her material body for as long as necessary."

The other figure was recognizable now, though not solid. "If you still want me to, of course, youngster."

"Grams!" Yssha was elated. "I did not think I would see you again until I visited Aetherius myself again, voluntarily or otherwise. Of course I do! Ah, how ... how are you?"

"Dead, of course," Grams said, grinning. "I didn't have time to feel pain at all, if that's any consolation. Internal bleed-out before the shock wore off enough for the pain to surface. But I'm looking forward to Aetherius, so do me a favor, okay, and have the baby on time?"

Yssha managed a shaky purr. "I shall do my best, Grams. I am delighted you are willing to delay your departure long enough to deliver him!"

"Wouldn't miss it, and I'm grateful to Akatosh for the opportunity. I don't feel any affinity to the Sands Beyond the Stars, so I'll probably take up residence in Stormhaven and try to convince your greats-grandfather and our kids to come along, if you don't mind."

"Mind?" Yssha stared at her ghostly relative. "Grams, I would love it! Nothing could be better. My family and friends, in a realm of Aetherius where they can create their own version of what the afterlife should be for our non-Elsweyr folk ... yes, indeed. I will enjoy visiting, when I may, to follow their progress."

Grams grinned, then became serious. "Have you decided on a name for the boy?"

"No, not yet. Just that since he will look Khajiit, he should have a Khajiit name."

"Then ... I've been feeling a bit sentimental since I died. While you're deciding, would you mind considering my husband's name? With the proper honorifics for age or status, of course. Dirsha."

Yssha glanced at Marcurio, to see him nodding, and turned back to Grams. "He is Dirsha, then."

She vanished, and Talos smiled at them. "I think you've made her very happy, briinah."

"I am glad of that." Yssha smiled. "And I am glad she did not suffer."

"I'd also like to point out it was a death in keeping with her life," Marcurio added. "She sacrificed herself to save a dear friend who happened to be Emperor of Tamriel, as well. Hers may be the biggest non-Imperial funeral ever."

"Which she deserves," Talos said. I believe Bormahu would agree, so I think I'll plant a few ideas to that effect."

Marcurio smiled as he and Yssha joined the rest for breakfast. "Okay, love, you proved your point yesterday, that while you may be pregnant, you're neither defenseless nor helpless. So if you want to go adventuring, I won't argue. At least not too much, since it can't involve dragons or Dragon Priests, and I think we have a few promises yet to keep."

"We should start with the oldest, I think," Yssha said. "Back when we took those on, we were far less capable than we are now, so they should be the least dangerous." Which ought to reassure him, at least a bit.

"Good point, love. I'll go dig out our older notes, and we can decide from there. Give me a bit to find them."

Actually, Yssha was more interested in finding a private place to practice using her dragon body. But being alone for more than a few minutes could be difficult - was impossible, at home. A nice remote mountain peak would be ideal, but she wasn't aware of any that weren't already dragon lairs. The bandit and necromancer lairs she'd cleared were odds-on to have been reoccupied by now, even if they hadn't been too small for the kind of practice she needed. Even Skuldafn, while remote by most standards, was busy with construction or renovation, of dragon towers and their teams' living quarters mostly, for the moment. So where?

She got two answers almost simultaneously. Stormhaven is yours, briinah. You need not be killed to go there, that's just the automatic way. All you have to do is simply will it, in Talos' familiar mental voice.

And something more like a normal voice, in an amused tone. "But it isn't really private, with Borri already there, and it is becoming less so. I find you fascinating, Bragonborn. I grant you a pocket universe in my Myriad Realms of Revelry, to be shaped as you desire. None will bother you there, or even know where you are. And since time is as malleable there as it is in Aetherius, you can get a lot of training accomplished in almost zero Nirn time. A day or week there can be a minute or years, Nirn time, as you desire."

Truly? Talos' mental voice now was focused on the Other, though Yssha could still "hear" it. And why would a Daedric Prince make such a generous offer?

"As I said, she fascinates and entertains Me. Also, My Realms can be warded against anyone, even you Divines, and I pledge not to intrude, except to show her how to alter it to her desire. So if she truly wishes privacy, I can give her more than anyone else."

And you are personally honest, despite what you may lure others into. Talos gave a mental sigh.

He has a point, he told Yssha. Ask him to swear on his Name, and you'll be safe.

"She need not ask," the Prince said, sounding a bit insulted. "I, Sanguine, called Lord of Debauchery, do swear freely, by My Own Name, to the Dragonborn Yssha of Family Marcurio in Clan Ysshaya that anything she may think, say, or do in the sub-Realm I give her will remain there. It will be her Sanctuary, and not even I will intrude, after showing her how to use it, unless asked. Anyone she invites is free to enter, of course."

Then it would be in your interest to accept, Talos sent. I wouldn't normally recommend accepting a favor from a Daedric Prince, but in this case ...

"In that case, I do." Yssha bowed, hoping both would take it as she intended. "It is most kind of you, Lord Sanguine."

She felt approval ... from both? ... and she was suddenly in a mountainous area reminiscent of the area above Ivarstead, climbing something that looked very much like the Seven Thousand Steps.

There were no wolves, ice wraiths, or frost trolls ... no High Hrothgar, either ... and no need to use Clear Skies to get to the summit. Once there, she saw Sanguine materialize, and bowed. "I thank you for this, Lord Sanguine."

"Most welcome, Dragonborn." He grinned. "This is your Sanctuary, one of my many thousands of Realms, and it's totally malleable to your will. I'll show you how to do that, then depart, never to return unless you ask. Of course, I hope you will, but that will be totally up to you."

Yssha blinked. "Totally malleable? Then ... a mirror, please? A very large mirror?"

Sanguine laughed. "You want to see your dragon form, do you? Of course." She sensed a manipulation, and understood it, then there was a mirror in front of her, larger than a Word Wall, and perfectly reflective.

She turned away, not wanting to actually watch her transformation, but when it was over, she eagerly turned back to see herself.

The huge golden dragon she faced made her flinch and back up a step, until the image did the same, then she reared up on her haunches and spread her wings, looking at the relatively tiny red-and-black Daedric Prince standing beside her. "Is that ... truly me?" she asked, awed.

"It is, Dovahkiin," Sanguine said, smiling. "I personally prefer your Khajiit form, but I'm sure your male vahriine, except Nevan, of course, will prefer your dovah form. Once you can handle it properly, of course."

Yssha took time to study herself in the mirror. She wasn't pure gold; she had bits of scarlet on her muzzle, wings, feet, and - when she turned - on her tail. But those were mere highlights; the over-all impression was that she was pure gold. Even her eyes were a clear amber.

"I thank you for that," she told Sanguine. "But I need this place mostly to practice handling my new body. So can you show me how to modify the terrain? I need high places to glide from, but climbing back to them to try again is a waste of traning time."

"As you wish, Dovahkiin. Though you need not climb; your teleport spell will work quite as well here as it does on Nirn."

The next time Sanguine and Malacath spoke, the Orcish Prince grinned at his counterpart. "It seems we find ourselves on the same side, Sanguine."

"Dovahkiin's, you mean?"

Malacath nodded. "I've been studying her, and I like what I'm seeing. She's strong and a wily fighter, enough so to defeat a couple of my chiefs bare-handed, which I wouldn't have thought possible. Believe it or not, she uses their size and strength against them!"

Sanguine chuckled. "How else could one of the smaller Khajiiti types defeat an Orc without weapons or magic?" he asked rhetorically. "If you haven't already heard, there was one time she was fighting a Thalmor Justiciar. She couldn't reach anything above his waist, so she brought him down to her level by shoving her mace up between his legs."

Malacath looked surprised, then laughed. "And then cut his throat or something, eh?"

"Exactly," Sanguine said. "Then, when the Thalmor were all dead, she found a note on one of them that essentially said she was a kill-on-sight target. That was the first time Talos spoke to her."

"But hardly the last." Malacath sighed. "She's the oddest being I have ever encountered, I think. Though I must admit, the cat and dragon natures of her two sides do mesh astonishingly well."

"They do, don't they? I wonder if that's why Akatosh decided on a Khajiit Dragonborn instead of the Nord everyone expected." He shrugged, changing the subject. "What do you think of her less martial projects?"

"She champions the spurned and outcast, as I do," Malacath pointed out. "Sponsoring orphanages that take in beastfolk as well as men and mer, encouraging rights in Eastmarch for Dunmer and Argonians as well as her own Khajiit, restoring the Falmer the Dwemer betrayed and then destroyed ... she is, in all truth, what Akatosh forbids any of us to name her."

"To a lesser extent," Sanguine said slowly, "that's true of me, as well. Of course, I had Thalmor help during her captivity, but even without that, her feline and draconic sensuality were expressing themselves. Her only objection to bed-partners seems to be Argonians, and the physical differences there are so great, even I can't fault her. What their scales would do to her fur ... no, thanks."

Malacath chuckled. "Wanting to bed her yourself, my Lord of Debauchery?"

"Of course, especially given what Seridur has taught - and is teaching - her. But that's not going to happen until she's the one doing the inviting. Or at least until she's more comfortable interacting with Daedric Princes."

"Shouldn't take too long, then. A decade or three, maybe."

When Marcurio got back with his earliest journals, he was smiling. "Got one that should be very enjoyable for you, love, even if there's little or no danger. We need to head to the Temple of Mara in Riften, and speak to Maramar's wife, the Priestess Dinya Balu."

"Ah, yes, he did say something about her wanting us to spread Mara's Word." Yssha grimaced. "I just hope it does not involve handing out leaflets. But we will go there tomorrow, yes." She smiled. "I believe Maramal will be pleased to see my present, ah, 'condition'. And I do enjoy showing off our child, though he is yet unborn."

"That doesn't sound like anything we could help with," Serana said. "So if you don't mind, we'll go to Windstad, and I'll show Nevan a bit more about alchemy."

"And I'll try to get her a little less apprehensive about working with hot metal," Nevan countered.

Yssha chuckled. "You might want to try the jewelry workshop instead of the main forge, then. If there isn't enough precious metal, I'm sure one of you, at least, knows Transmutation, and there's iron ore in the main forge. Feel free to use any gems you want; they are Family property, of course, not exclusively mine."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Nevan said, and grinned.

When they entered the Temple of Mara, Maramal saw them almost immediately, and took Yssha's hands. "You are looking well, Dragonborn. Are you happy?"

"Very. This is something I have wished for a long time, but could not have until I defeated Alduin." She smiled. "Your wife the Priestess said I might be able to help others gain such joy. I would very much like to be able to do so, if she can tell me how."

Maramal smiled. "I'm sure she would be delighted, Ysmir! Come, join us for some freshly baked snowberry crostata and tisane."

"Happily," Yssha said, then she and Marcurio followed him into the tiny Temple apartment he shared with his wife.

Dinya greeted them with a smile. "Welcome, Dragonborn, Thane Marcurio. I'm pleased to see your prayers have been granted. When is your child due?"

"Priestess Danica estimates about mid-Frostfall," Yssha replied. "But she says she cannot be sure, since this is the first documented inter-species child, rather than inter-racial. So he could come earlier, if Khajiit genes determine it, or later, if Imperial."

Dinya served them still-hot crostata and tisane, then joined them. "Now, what do you wish of me?"

"When Maramal married us, he mentioned that we could help spread Mara's love, if we were willing." Yssha looked down at her swollen belly. "I would ... very much like to help others feel the joy Marcurio and I share. I was hoping you, as Mara's priestess, could guide us to someone who needs that aid."

"Of course I can ... Mara is always eager to aid those who wish to aid her. Let me meditate for a moment." She seemed to go into trance, then spoke in an odd tone. "Mara has reflected an image to me. At the foot of the Throat a young woman... almost a girl... her fickle love must resolve itself."

Then she seemed to return to herself to explain. "The village of Ivarstead. The woman, Fastred. This is the prayer heard by the goddess and relayed to her servants. Return when she has seen her path. I will entreat Mara on your behalf."

"We shall, and I thank you, Priestess." Yssha turned her attention to her tisane and crostata after smiling at Marcurio. Yes, this mission should be enjoyable.