I knowwwwww, it's been way too long since my last update, and I apologise for that. It's been a rough month for me and have had no time at all to write anything for long. Thankfully, all the manic events have passed and I can actually get going again xD Thanks for staying patient and hopefully you will enjoy this chapter :) Things will start getting hectic after this chapter, you have been warned hehe ;D

Serana smiled at the sight. After Valerica's return, Serana had insisted that the three of them take their leave of the castle interior and to talk some more in the courtyard garden. She had been glad that she had made a start on restoring the garden to it's former state after centuries of neglect, and when she saw her mother smile a little, Serana had to hide the smirk that was trying to escape.

But it was the sight of Morgan and Odahviing that pleased her at that moment. Her lover had called the dragon the second she had entered the courtyard, her thu'um ripping the sky asunder. Serana had forgotten after a mere month how Morgan's voice could give her a thrill like no other, and to see how the her voice caused the snow to fall less was something she would never get tired of.

Odahviing had been prompt, landing a few minute afterwards. And Morgan had sprinted over to him and was now wrapping her arms around his snout, nuzzling her head into his red scales. Serana couldn't hear what Morgan was saying, but she could feel the vibration of the air itself when Morgan was speaking in the dragon tongue, and she knew she was saying something meaningful to her ally.

Valerica had raised an eyebrow but stayed silent. Instead, she gently took a hold of Serana's arm and motioned her to sit on the bench beside her. Serana said nothing and did as asked, giving her mother an inquiring look.

"I apologise for not giving you the space Morgan and yourself need my daughter, but I need to tell you many things. And some of them may be upsetting to you."

"Mother?" Serana asked, not sure what her mother was saying.

She is back and she seems happier than I have seen her in a long time. Yet she clearly has something on her mind.

"Do not be fooled Serana."

Serana raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean? Morgan is back, you have somehow returned…."

"And that is the problem," Valerica replied, keeping Seranas gaze fixed onto hers. "She may seem happy now but you must have noticed that something about her is different. She is hiding something from you."

Serana made to retort but Valerica placed a hand on hers, shaking her head slowly.

"I do not mean to sound ungrateful Serana. Morgan has given me a second chance and I will forever be in her debt for that. But you need to know what happened to her."

"She will tell me eventually," Serana insisted.

"She does not wish for you to be burdened with her own emotions, and while that is admirable, she will not be able to tell you."

"What are you getting at Mother?"

"Serana….Morgan was in Coldharbour."

Serana had no body heat any longer, but if she had, she would have felt as though someone threw a bucket of cold water over her as Valerica said that word. She still had the nightmares but they had receded in number after so many years of deep slumber.

No, she cannot have been there…

"She cannot have been there…"

"She was," Valerica said quietly. "Molag Bal tricked her into coming into His realm. He forced her to battle slaves for his own amusement and afterwards…."

Serana hissed but Valerica hadn't finished.

"Morgan was forced into a variation of the Ritual, Serana."

Serana felt as though the ground was trying to swallow her whole. She couldn't bear to see what Morgan and Odahviing were up to at that moment and she focused on her mother instead.

"She didn't go through the Ritual itself. Because he cannot claim her soul, he was not allowed to even touch her. But as always, he found a loophole."

"What did he do to her?" Serana snarled, her fangs extending.

"She was subjected to experiencing the Ritual and the fourteen days that followed in a single day…I could not wish such a thing on my most hated enemies."

She had to die again but this time she had fourteen days of pain and misery all rolled into a single day.

Serana shuddered in anger.

"I am going to destroy that fucking shrine in the keep."

"Serana."

"No Mother, I will do it. No-one harms my love."

Valerica stayed silent and saw that her daughter was not joking. She had never seen her so angry. Valerica herself had wondered just how Morgan seemed to be taking it in her stride but she wasn't fooled. She knew that the Dragonborn would think about the events of Coldharbour for the rest of her eternal life.

"Serana, there is something else I need to tell you."

Serana took a moment to see Morgan and Odahviing talking quietly. Morgan was running her hand along his scales on the corner of his jaw as she talked and Odahviing chuckled. She looked closer and saw that Morgan's eyes seemed hotter somehow, as though her inner dragon soul was burning through.

"It was thanks to Morgan that I returned to Nirn."

"How is that possible? Molag Bal would have total control over his realm and what rules are to be followed within it."

"True, but it turns out that even he will follow commands from those who are possibly more powerful than himself…something that irked him no end I am sure."

"Who would force him to release you though?"

Valerica smiled slightly.

"Morgan had a necklace worn around her neck when I saw her. It was the item that tricked Morgan into being sent to Coldharbour. That necklace was powerful, I could sense it the second I saw it, and I never knew why until after I was freed…I didn't return to here directly Serana. I was in another Prince's Realm before I arrived."

"Whose?" Serana hissed, angry at the thought of her mother and lover being trapped at the whims of the Princes.

"Azura."

Serana gasped and shot her mother a look of disbelief.

"That's…impossible…"

"I assure you, I was there. And so was Morgan."

Serana's mind was spinning, and she forced herself to focus her mind as her mother had taught her all those years ago.

Close your eyes. Stick to the facts. Pay attention to the sound of my voice, with your heightened hearing you will be able to hear any hesitation in a voice…a sign of someone telling the truth, living or otherwise.

She opened her eyes and met her mothers approving gaze evenly, feeling much more calmer.

"Explain."

"Morgan is Azura's Champion as I am sure you may be aware of. That means she is protected in some ways. Azura seemed to be very fond of her newest Champion, and was also very angry at what had been done to her."

"She told you this herself?"

"In her very garden in Moonshadow," Valerica sighed, closing her eyes a moment to remember the stunning vista she had been in. she then opened her eyes and gave her daughter a soft smile. "She told me everything Serana."

Valerica accepted the goblet of fresh blood from a passing thrall and took a sip, grimacing at the taste.

"You really need better cattle," she muttered before giving Serana her full attention once more.

"That necklace has one of Azura's artefacts within it. Namely, the Moon and Star Ring. You have heard of this of course."

"That was the ring that only one of Azura's blessed could wear."

"And was also the same ring that the Nerevarine wore centuries ago. At any rate, Molag Bal somehow gained the Ring and cast his own enchantment over it."

"I doubt Azura would have been pleased with that," Serana said with a small smirk.

"Indeed. When she found out that Morgan had been sent there and the state she had been sent to Moonshadow….Morgan had been healing there all that time, on the brink of another death. If she had died, she would have passed on to whatever deity has the most hold over her soul. Azura tended to her personally, and when Morgan healed…she asked to be reunited with you as soon as possible."

Serana glanced over at Morgan who was still quietly talking with the massive red dragon and felt an overwhelming sensation of love flow through her.

"There's more," Valerica said quietly.

Serana turned her attention back to her mother and raised an eyebrow.

"How can there be more?"

"Azura granted Morgan a boon for her loyalty and love for her. I have no doubt that Azura would have sent Morgan back without her asking, but Morgan did answer."

"What did she ask for?" Serana inquired, wondering at the choices.

She could have asked for anything. Total mastery of the elements, use of magic that hasn't existed in millennia…maybe even go back to being mortal if she wanted to.

"She asked for me to be returned to you Serana."

Serana shuddered.

Is she truly so selfless? She chose to make me happy instead of making herself almost untouchable? I am sure the dragon part of her soul wanted something along those lines.

"Now you see why Azura chose her as her Champion."

Serana smiled, gave her mothers hand a squeeze of gratitude and left her seat, walking briskly over to her lover.

Morgan smiled as she ran her fingers along Odahviing's scales.

Kin.

Then she smirked as a pair of smooth arms wrapped around her waist and gently spun her around. Serana was pressed against her passively, a knee gently resting between her legs. Morgan sighed and looped her arms round Serana's neck, bringing her head down to kiss her.

"Thank you," Serana whispered as she ended the kiss, her hands gently running along Morgan's hair.

"What for?"

"You know what for," she replied with a smile.

Morgan said nothing and simply nodded.

"I need to see my mother before I do anything else. Where is she?"

"She left the Sanctuary a few days after you…vanished. She was also at Whiterun for your….fuck, you didn't know…"

Morgan raised an eyebrow and Serana sighed, her hands caressing Morgan's back gently.

"Jarl Balgruuf held a funeral for you a week ago, so many people were there, even those who don't live in the Hold itself…"

Morgan blinked and closed her eyes for a moment. Everyone had thought she had died, she had been gone for so long.

No doubt Ulfric was happy…and I would wager his Stormcloaks would have gained significant headway in the war. Fuck.

"I will have to see him again as well, but you never answered my question," Morgan said with a small smile, hoping that Serana would see she wasn't mad at her in any way.

Serana gave a grateful smile in return and nodded once.

"I'm sorry, this is too fast for me to catch up with. Lilith is staying with Lydia at Whiterun. I haven't heard from her since your…you know."

"That's convenient, I can see her then talk to Balgruuf in one fell swoop. I also need to send some ravens to Astrid and Elisif to let them know I have returned."

Morgan concentrated and felt that pull of magic, and she smiled when two massive ravens were perched on Odahviing's snout, seemingly uncaring that plumes of smoke was trailing from the dragon's closed maw.

"Sorry Odahviing, I think they like you," Morgan grinned.

Odahviing sent a swath of smoke at Morgan and chuckled.

Morgan then turned to Serana again.

"You don't think you could ask someone for some parchment and ink could you my love?"

Serana kissed her softly and winked.

"I'll get it myself Little Dragon," she purred.

Morgan smiled as she watched Serana walk back towards the courtyard doors that led into the castle. She nodded to Valerica who had walked alongside her daughter, and she nodded back briefly before vanishing inside. She turned back to Odahviing and sighed.

"I have a lot of work to my friend."

"Geh. But you have a way of making events happen quickly Dovahkiin. Tread lightly my kin, the war has only just begun."

"I was afraid you would say that," Morgan muttered as she looked upwards into the clear sky.

So much has happened in my absence. Did anything else go awry while I was gone?

"Serana."

"Have you seen that parchment mother? The one that I used to use, I am sure I left it here," she replied automatically, throwing a silver plate over her shoulder as she rummaged through a large oak chest.

"Serana."

Serana stopped what she was doing and blinked.

It's been a long time since she talked like that. In fact, I was a child the last time she did that…I spilled a flagon of wine all over one of her friends at a banquet. Before we became one with the night…

Serana sighed and shut out the painful memory of what had been much better days before rising up and meeting her mothers gaze evenly.

"I am not seven years old any longer Mother," she said quietly.

"I only came to give you one final piece of advice before you go," Valerica sniffed, her eyes hard and unyielding.

"I'm sorry. It's just….Morgan coming back and now yourself? It's a lot for me to keep pace with is all," Serana replied.

Valerica nodded and walked over to her only daughter and caressed her cheek with her right hand.

"I worry about you my daughter, but I know you be safe for the most part. But…"

"But…?"

"Your bond with the Dragonborn is through blood as well as love, you know this already. But I fear that you may have lost sight of what she truly is."

Serana made to retort but stopped when Valerica shook her head.

"I have no issues with your attachment to her. She is a strong willed woman and a fierce warrior. But she is also part dragon, Serana. There is a darkness within her that cannot be contained all the time, even by herself. Surely you know of what I speak?"

I do indeed, Serana thought unhappily. She could easily see Morgan's transformation in Windhelm in her minds eye, right down to the anger and desire to destroy within her eyes.

"She is more level headed than most," she replied.

"Indeed. But the darkness is still there. And after what she has been through, that darkness will have grown. Dragons hate being defeated. Durnehviir was slain for the first time in his existence, and that dragon outside has also been defeated. By another dragon."

Serana nodded. Her mother was telling the truth. Both dragons had been defeated by one of their kin.

"They follow her because they see her power. By staying allies with her, they will gain more power also. Even you shall grow stronger with her because she offers you more than what anyone else could."

Valerica gave Serana's hand a squeeze.

"I do not tell you this to hate myself or to become estranged with Morgan. I only tell you this because you needed to see the truth. Dragons can never be fully trusted Serana, and while Morgan seems content right now, she will desire more in the future. I have said my piece, do what you will with it. Safe journey my daughter."

Serana watched her mother leave the room and she hissed after a few moments.

No. She's wrong. Morgan is not a full dragon, only part of one. She still has her humane side, something that most of the Court here lack.

She spotted the full inkwell and the sheaths of fine parchment on a book case and she nodded.

Enough second guessing her. She needs you, Serana.

She wouldn't allow any more negative thoughts to fill her head, she swore it.

Astrid ran her hand over her forehead and massaged the tips of her fingers into her skin. She had one mighty headache coming on, and she knew that it was due to stress and a lack of sleep. After Morgan had vanished and Serana had left, the Sanctuary had become colder somehow, as though the lack of the Listener and her lover had somehow affected the very atmosphere of their home.

Golag and Solia were spending more time together, working on armour and weaponry for days on end without much rest, and the last time Astrid had checked the weapons, they were flawed due to a lack of care.

Everything has fallen apart.

She frowned and took a sip of stale wine and spat the contents out, pulling a face. Astrid made to stand up and make her way to her bed when a plume of red smoke billowed from the edge of the desk.

The ravens vanished a few days after Morgan vanished.

She stared in bewilderment as a massive raven appeared from the magical smoke, a small scroll of parchment wrapped around one of it's legs. Astrid took the scroll and unrolled it, rubbing her eyes for a moment before beginning to read.

Astrid, I apologise for my disappearance, I cannot tell you

what happened to me recently but I will explain in person

the next time we meet.

I will be travelling to Whiterun first and after that, it will be

time for the Stormcloaks to disappear. Permanently.

Tell Cicero and the others I will be returning soon.

Walk with Sithis my sister, we have much to do.

Morgan

Astrid gasped and reread the note. It was her writing for certain, and there was no way one of the ravens would deliver this note for any other except the Listener herself. She stood up, her tiredness temporarily forgotten, and walked briskly towards Babette's alchemy station, and passed the note to the small vampire with a smile on her face.

And when Babette nodded and gave her a firm nod and smile of her own, Astrid was content.

I need to get them all back in shape, starting with a short day of rest.

She looked over to the Night Mother's coffin and gave her a small bow.

"Thank you, Night Mother," she whispered before leaving the room once more.

Elisif frowned and fought the urge to throw her goblet at the young man before her. Ulfric Stormcloak's forces had gone straight through Morthal already, and were two days away from Solitude itself. Ever since Ulfric had found out about Morgan's death, he had pushed forwards with increased vigour, sensing victory.

How could everything go so wrong so quickly?

And now she was watching the young Stormcloak soldier before her, his long blond hair spilling out from under his bearskin helmet, his eyes always fixed on hers as he gave her Ulfric's list of demands for a peaceful surrender.

To say she was angry was an understatement.

Due to the customs that all the Jarl's followed, the soldier that Ulfric had sent was protected by the ancient customs of Skyrim. To kill him now when he was unarmed was an act of total war, and would also shame her and her Court as a coward and a cheat.

Those same laws were what killed my husband.

It didn't help that the person who Ulfric sent was someone who had once known Morgan as a friend. He had introduced himself as 'Ralof' and had even expressed a sympathetic façade when he had mentioned Morgan's name. Elisif had said nothing, she wasn't sure just how loud she would have yelled at him.

Ulfric's demands were worse than what she expected. He wanted full control of Solitude and the remaining Imperial soldiers to lay down their arms and surrender, leaving them at his mercy. He also wished for her to marry someone from his Court to cement an 'alliance' and to prevent her from using any nefarious means to kill her would be husband without being accused of being a coward and a whore.

And it doesn't end there, Elisif mused sadly.

Ulfric also wished for all of Morgan's allies to pledge allegiance to him, including Jarl Balgruuf, who would be stripped of his title and would be either executed or exiled.

"What is your reply Jarl Elisif?"

Elisif ran her fingers across her lips briefly as a cold sensation flowed through her, but she found it pleasant and very familiar to her.

It felt like the kiss I shared with Morgan.

Then she felt a hot rage fill her very being and she glared at the soldier before her.

"Tell that oaf that if he wishes for my seat in Solitude then he must come and get it himself," she hissed.

That felt good, Morgan would have laughed.

The man blanched but managed to compose himself quickly, giving her a small nod and bow.

"I will convey your message to him Jarl Elisif."

Elisif nodded and stood him, signalling an end to the meeting. She watched as the Stormcloak was escorted by four of Solitude's guards and turned to Sybille who had stayed silent the whole time.

"I need some time to think. I will meet with Rikke later this evening."

"As you command, my Jarl," she replied smoothly, her orange irises blazing like always.

Elisif felt the lump in her throat and she briskly walked to her room before the tears began to fall once more. She stayed there for quite some time, and only moved when a harsh cry echoed from in front of her. She snapped her head upwards and blinked the tears out of her eyes when she saw the huge raven perched on her nightstand.

I haven't heard from Astrid in a while, what does she want now?

She unrolled the parchment and began to read.

Elisif, I apologise for what happened. Know that I have

returned and am always at your command.

I have to see someone but use the raven if you wish

to ask for anything. I know about Ulfric and his armies, and

will do what I can to slow him down or keep him occupied.

I will see you soon My Jarl, walk with Sithis.

Morgan.

Elisif shivered as though someone were kissing her under her chin, and she smiled as she slumped into her chair, her hand shaking slightly.

She's back. I need to be strong.

She glanced at the raven and started writing furiously, a small smirk on her face.

Time to start fighting Elisif, for her sake more than anyone elses. She has done so much for us, it's time we started returning the favour.