Serene of Cyrodiil, chapter 7, Comfort is given, Justice is taken... Options

[minque]

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If an injury has to be done to a man it should be so severe that his vengeance need not be feared.
Nicolo Machiavelli


Chapter 7, "Comfort is given, Justice is taken"

After spending a week in the good custody of Lloros Sarano I was back in Sarethi Manor again. Athyn, who had visited me every day while I was in the Temple, was ecstatic at having me back. I was worried about him; he had had too many traumatic things happen to him during the last six months, and now he seemed more exhausted and worn out than ever. In fact what he needed mostly now, and I too, for all that it mattered, was a vacation, a break from the normal struggle. I promised myself that when all this was over with we’d go…somewhere…that was, if I survived…

The prophecy by Sinnamu Mirpal was very clear to me, and it was also confirmed by the recent attempt on my life, because I knew very well who was responsible for that; the amulet I ripped off my would-be assassin was familiar; it belonged to the Venim family. I doubted Bolvyn himself was the one who tried to kill me, but whoever it was, it was on his orders, of that I was certain.

So all I had to do was to challenge Bolvyn Venim to a duel and then end his life, at the Arena in Vivec…?

Of course it was not that simple! I had to ponder a lot how I should let Justice be taken. I had to take active part in the government of House Redoran, to be able to get to know where the loyalties were. I had to know the standpoint of the other councilors and also raise their disposition to me.

Thorough planning was crucial here; otherwise I would be the one who would bite the dust. I also needed to train my sword-skill. I hadn’t used my Katana for a long time and I knew I had to be beyond simply good if I was to defeat a man like the Archmaster. I didn’t even consider another way of fighting him; a duel at the Arena witnessed by the Nobles of my House would be the only honorable way of dealing with this matter.

I discussed my plans with Athyn; naturally he tried to talk me out of it!

“Serene, I don’t like the thought of you being decapitated by Bolvyn Venim, In fact I don’t like the thought of you being decapitated at all. I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you!” he said, holding me close to him. “Why not let Sethyas do the fighting instead? He’s very skilled and…and he is a man! Besides, I know you do not like to take lives, even if taking this life would be justified.”

I took his face between my hands, kissed him deeply and sighed;

“I was convinced you would be the first one to stand behind me in this! I’ve told you about the prophecy of Sinnamu Mirpal…I’ve told you about my weird dream…and you know I am protected by Azura! You, Athyn Sarethi, the sun of my life, I love you more than you will ever know, and I beg you to support me now! The life of Bolvyn Venim will be taken by a woman, not a man, and that woman…will be me!”

Tears burned behind my eyelids as I once more kissed him. I was aware of his fear to loose someone dear to him and also the fear of acts of reprisal from the Venim family. But I couldn’t let that stop me; I had to do this once and for all or I’d never get peace at heart again.

Before he made an attempt to answer me I told him about a book Drulene Falen once showed me, “The Hope of the Redoran”. I actually never read the book but Drulene had told me what it was about.

“You for one should know that some things just have to be done,” I said, “If you hadn’t defeated your cousin back then, we wouldn’t be having this conversation at all.”

Athyn hesitated for quite some time before answering me. I could see in his face he’d given in to me, that he’d stand by my side all the way…This was of great comfort to me.

“I’ll go with you to Fort Buckmoth,” he said, sounding defeated and tired. “You will have to go through thorough training before you can even think of challenging the Archmaster, because that’s exactly what you’re going to do, right?”

I nodded and he continued;

“Since you are familiar with that confounded book, I think you know the name of the lady who used to train me when I was young? Shardie was the very best trainer to be found. She and I got on very well together and it is because of her that I have the position I have now…But you know all that.” Athyn paused, getting out a bottle of brandy and two glasses.

“We will need some fortification I think,” he said and offered me a glass. We tasted the beverage and he continued;

“Shardie has a daughter, named Shardie-Lee, who now is a master-trainer at Fort Buckmoth. She’s known as just Shardie and she is the one who I’d like to train you. Then you will have the best there is!” Athyn gently stroke my chin. “I care so much for you my love; I do not want to loose you.”

“We’ll be off to Fort Buckmoth, first thing tomorrow,” Athyn concluded. “So let’s spend this evening as nicely as we can, shall we?”

We had far too much brandy, far too much good food and maybe far too much love, but I still remember that evening as maybe the last evening that I still was somewhat innocent.

My head was aching and I could hardly stand the bright sunshine the following morning as Athyn and I were heading towards Fort Buckmoth. He, too, obviously suffered from last night’s events because he walked by my side silently with his head somewhat down. The sun was warm and I was drenched in sweat under my full Imperial Armor. Athyn had to take off his robe and carry it; the heat, or maybe last night, took its tribute out of him, and his face was a tad more grayish than usual, with beads of sweat forming on his forehead and he had to stop a few times to regain strength. I was carrying a small satchel with a few shirts and an extra pair of trousers together with my usual herbs and plants; nothing much really but it felt as heavy as if I’d had stones in it.

We found Shardie-Lee sitting in the shadows in a corner of the courtyard when we arrived, her brown skin glistened with perspiration and she was drinking from a large jug. Four young soldiers were scattered on the ground, totally exhausted, apparently from the hard training.

When Athyn presented himself and me her eyes widened; “I’ve heard about you, Serjo Sarethi, from my mother!” she exclaimed with a smile, “Nice to finally get the opportunity to meet you!”

I let Athyn do the talking, for my stomach was in uproar and I merely felt like vomiting; the heat and last night affected me severely. I sat down in the shadows, taking a sip of water, thinking ruefully that I’d have big trouble getting to my feet again…armor is just not meant to wear sitting down…

[minque]

The Archmaster looked at me, and I never had seen so much hate in one man’s eyes before; I was sure that if he could he would have killed me right there, on the spot.

“Very well, outlander, I will accept your challenge and I must say I’m looking so much forward to wetting the dust in the Arena pit with your blood” With those words he turned away from me and headed for the door. But just before exiting he once more turned to us;

“You are all doomed. When I’ve finished this woman I’ll come back to you all, and I will show no mercy. So enjoy the last days of your miserable lives!”

Nobody answered or moved; they all sat completely still but I could sense the anger and hate emanating from the councilors. Seth’s hand on my shoulder tightened its grip and I knew instinctively what he was thinking, without using telepathy.

When the door closed everybody started talking again.

“I’m impressed; didn’t think you’d have the courage to do it,” Miner Arobar gave me something that might have resembled a smile.

“I knew she’d do it; she’s tough, really tough,” Hlaren Ramoran blinked at me. Garisa Llethri just shook his head; he looked sad and worried.

“Now shall we finish of this farce of a meeting and get ourselves a drink?” Brara Morvayn chuckled.

Sethyas and Athyn looked at me; I nodded, a drink was exactly what I needed. I still couldn’t really grasp that I actually had challenged Bolvyn Venim that I was prepared to kill him in cold blood.

The short walk to The Rat in the Pot did me good. For once the weather was nice; it usually is not in Ald’ruhn, but this afternoon the sun was warm and the faint breeze did not contain any red ash. I walked beside Athyn; Sethyas had disappeared just before we were off.

“I suppose he’s gone to get Ilmeni,” Brara Morvayn concluded.

It wasn’t too crowded at The Pot so we could actually sit down and have our drinks. I love Cyrodiilic Brandy, maybe a bit too much in fact. After two mugs of Brandy I felt strong and very confident I’d wipe the Arena floor with Bolvyn Venim. My complicated hairdo was falling apart, strands of damp hair hanging down around my face, and I felt invincible. But when I was about to order my third Brandy….

I wouldn’t go any harder on that stuff if I were you…

I spun around, and stood face to face with Sethyas, and beside him stood a Dunmer Lady, smiling at me in a friendly fashion. Yes a lady, nothing else would be appropriate to describe Ilmeni Dren, the daughter of Duke Dren and Sethyas’ fiancée.

“Renie, meet Ilmeni Dren, my wife to be,” Sethyas said with a faint smile.

“Ilmeni, meet my dearest sister Serene,” he continued.
Ilmeni told me later that she never met a more beautiful woman than me at that moment, something I at first found very hard to believe.

“Greetings, Sera,” Ilmeni’s voice was just like herself, calm and warm. “I’m so pleased to finally meet you, Seth has told me so much about you, and he thinks the world of you, which I really can understand.”

I took a deep breath and bowed my head; Ilmeni Dren was after all the Duke’s daughter;

“Greetings to you Sera…ehh Duchess,” I stuttered, “It’s an honor to meet you.” I blushed; I didn’t know how to continue, and then I glanced at Seth…the darn mer was laughing at my embarrassment!

“Ah, come on, let’s move over to another table; I’ve been so eager to get to know you, Serene.” Ilmeni took my arm and led me to a more secluded table.

I don’t remember everything we talked about, but what I do remember very well was the warm fuzzy feeling I had by just being in her company. She was an excellent listener, she was curious about me in a subtle way which made me open up to her quite a bit.

“Seth is a wonderful man,” I exclaimed. “But you know that already of course.”

“Yes…yes he is,” she responded thoughtfully. “Now he’s also quite special; you can’t tie him down; you have to allow him his freedom, or you’ll loose him. I never ask him what’s he’s been up to when he returns to me. He wouldn’t answer anyway,” Ilmeni smiled.

I felt a pang of remorse when I heard her, but tried to suppress it. Sethyas was my brother and that’s all there was to it…or?

A loud burst of laughter interrupted our conversation; the men at the counter had started to get drunk, really drunk. Garisa slept with his head on the counter; Miner and Hlaren were arguing about something, but the laughter was Sethyas doing. He threw his head backwards and laughed loud at something Athyn said. Or maybe how he said it, the fact was that my beloved one was beastly drunk; he had severe problems just to stand upright. I made a move to approach him but Seth stopped me.

“Nooooooooooo nooooo ladies! Let me handle this. Athyn and I are going home now, they won’t serve us anymore at these premishes, so we’ll just head…*hiccup* head home to get…”

“Oh dear, there will be some men with severe headache tomorrow,” Ilmeni laughed. “Shall we follow then to see that they don’t get themselves into any trouble?”

We followed our men from a distance; we wouldn’t disturb them, besides we still had a lot to talk about.

There were quite certainly at least two Redoran councilors who suffered from headaches the next morning. One of them didn’t show up at all; the other did stumble out into the kitchen as Ilmeni and were having morning-tea. Sethyas looked just terrible; his red eyes were even redder, his face was dirt-grey and he smelled like a dead guar. Besides that, he was in a terrible mood, grumpy and sour.

“Don’t…say…anything!” he muttered as he downed a big mug of water. I had not the heart to tell him that I didn’t have to say anything; I knew perfectly well how he felt and what he was thinking about. I just smiled at him.

I decided to see how Athyn was doing and leave Ilmeni and Sethyas some space. My love was sleeping heavily; he even snored, which he normally doesn’t do. I lay down beside him and must have fallen asleep because the next thing I was aware of was that some kind of beast was trying to kiss me, I turned my face away, and the smell was terrible. Then of course I realized it was Athyn, and started laughing.

“Oh I’m sorry,” he said. “I smell awful, don’t I?”

“That’s the least one can say, but ok I can take it,” I said and kissed him hard. That caused us to remain in the bedroom for another hour.

Masser and Secunda would enter their third quarters within a week, so there was still some time for me to prepare myself for the duel. Or perhaps time to get even more scared! I was thankful for Ilmeni being around, she had a deeper understanding for how I felt and did her best to distract me from thinking too much about the forthcoming event. That was the best that could happen to me as it turned out.

“We are getting married soon, Seth and I, which is a miracle in itself! I never thought he would propose to me,” Ilmeni told me. “He doesn’t seem to be the marrying type of person.”

“He loves you, Ilmeni, and he needs you. He’s become a better person after meeting you, I can see that now.”

Our conversation resulted in the two of us going to Balmora three days later to visit Milie Hastien, the fine clothier. We were looking for a wedding gown for Ilmeni. It’s always a pleasure to visit Milie; she’s also very good at fixing hair, so both Ilmeni and I let her do ours. It was a wonderful day and I cherished it immensely because I’d noticed that Secunda and Masser now were not far from entering their third quarters.

We decided to let Milie manufacture a wedding gown for Ilmeni. I wanted her to look her very best when she was to marry my dearest brother and friend. It was a sheer joy to choose fabric and design and I was totally distracted from what lay ahead of me.

That following night I slept poorly. I encountered some undefined worry; it was like some diminutive scribs were crawling all over me. Not even lying in Athyn’s arms made my soul calm down.

Serene! Be prepared, the time has come. Today at noon you must be in the Arena Pit to face your destiny.

Azura’s message was clear, as she came to me just before dawn. Today was the day, maybe the last day of my life.

I could not eat any breakfast. I felt sick. My family gathered around me, fussing about, wondering how I felt, when all I wanted was to be left alone. Then again I could understand their worry and a trickle of joy went through me, I was loved; people cared for me- wanted me to make it through this.

I was sitting on Athyn’s lap holding him tight when Ilmeni and Seth arrived. Ilmeni embraced me, saying nothing, but I could feel her tears wet my cheek. Seth said nothing; he just sat down looking straight at me.

No, I will never reveal what I read from Sethyas’ mind that morning, but it affected me deeply.

First, I put on the sacred vest Sinnamu Mirpal gave me the last time I met her; while doing that I gently touched my tattoo. It began immediately to burn like fire. Then I chose to wear the guar skin trousers and matching tunic I got from the Ahemmusa tribe. If I was going to die I’d like to pass away as an Ahemmusa warrior.

I then said goodbye to my family. They were probably going to be at the Arena to watch the duel, at least it was expected from Athyn, but I could see how it tormented him.

The last person I encountered, just before leaving, was Seth. He took me in his arms, saying nothing. There was no need. I knew!

I promise I will! Just be there for me.

I was convinced he could read me….


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Just as I put down the quill for a second, the door was flung open. I looked up, annoyed; everybody knew that I was not to be disturbed when I was sitting in my private chambers, not at this time of the day anyway.

“Are you back???” This was the only person, except for my husband, that always had access to my privacy. I embraced him, only too happy to see him safe and sound.

There was no more writing that night though…