Serene of Cyrodiil, Chapter 8, Love and Death Options

[minque]

So at last chapter 8 will be revealed after a very long time. But first I will present an Interlude... Enjoy!

Ald’ruhn, Very late evening of 11th of Sun’s Dusk 3E 451

20 Years after the Events at Red Mountain and the disappearance of the Blight

I shut the door silently behind me. My heart is pounding and I am panting heavily from having run as fast as I could from the Square, I wanted to get home as quick as possible, before anyone noticed I had been out.

This is strange behavior for the Archmaster of a Great House I know, but things happened today that affect me tremendously.

It started this morning at dusk when Kausha, my maid, told me that Athynae currently is in residence at Bal Isra, with Baria and Trey! And she had been there for at least two weeks...without even tell me! Kausha said she heard it from Cai, who she had met at the Mage’s Guild last night. Naturally I was upset; my daughter, being away for quite some time on some sort of mission, then she returned and did not even bother to tell me. That was unacceptable behavior and I was determined to let her answer to me for that. Athyn had been worried all the time and he still is, I know that.

But the real shock came tonight. I went out for a walk an hour ago and reaching the Plaza I overheard a conversation between the two most important men in my life; Athyn and Sethyas.

I now wish I had stayed in tonight, because what I heard is written in fiery letters inside my head; I need to write it down in my current journal, and I will, but not just now, I can’t!

Now I need to do something I should have done years ago really, but there has never been a good time to do it. I must give Athynae my first journal, the one I wrote 15 years ago but never gave to her because…well I don’t really know why, it just never felt right to do it.

But now is the time, so I take the old worn book from the bottom of my personal chest, wrap it in a red piece of cloth and put it in my backpack.

The road to Bal Isra is dark as usual; I know it’s not safe to walk that road during the night, but there is no turning back from this; it has to be done immediately, otherwise I again will find a reason not to give it to her…

I see the flickering lights from Bal Isra as I approach; Hetman Guls is as always guarding the gates.

“Why, archmaster! What brings you here at this unsacred time?”

I put my hand over his mouth “Shhh, please, I just need to leave something here,” I say hesitantly, feeling very awkward. Well trained guard that he is, Hetman just nods at me. What he is thinking I can only guess!

I open the door very slowly; my hands are trembling as I take the book out and silently place it on the small table beside the door and then shut the door behind me.

The way back is even darker; I can barely see my feet in front of me. Of course my sight is clouded by the tears that run down my face.

I close the doors of Sarethi Manor after me for the second time this evening and head straight for my bedroom. My head is empty and numb; I am no better that a scared child, sneaking in and just leaving the journal for Athynae to find! The right thing would of course have been to read it with her and be there to answer her questions…because there will be questions!

And Athynae does not know what I just found out! When I think of it I start tremble again and I just fling myself on the bed and fall into a deep, dark sleep…

[minque]

I'm sorry but I forgot the dedication of this chapter in the first part but here it comes:

This chapter is dedicated to Black Hand for letting me use parts of his wonderful story of Sethyas Velas as background.

If you haven't read "Memoirs of a Morag Tong Assassin" yet I strongly recommend you do! You will certainly not regret it.

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The festivities and rejoicing continued for hours; we, the numerous wedding guests, consumed food, wine and a huge amount of Cyrodiilic Brandy. And then the dance began. The first pair out on the floor was Ilmeni and Sethyas. She was an excellent dancer, and I must say Seth did his best trying not to step too much on her toes!

“May I have the honor of the next dance, Sera Archmaster?” Sethyas stood before me, looking sternly at me with his dark eyes.

"We stepped towards one another, hands locking, mine slightly trembling, his steady, the assassin's nerves of steel...Our eyes locked for a moment, and I think we both saw something that should not have been there. True to my word, I would stay out of his mind, and I can never really know what he was thinking in that moment, as we both looked away.

We continued dancing, going through these motions. Everything felt mechanical...closed off. The Dunmer was pushing me away, guiding me into a mental cell that would close the two of us off forever.

Beside us were Ilmeni, dancing with Varvur, and Athyn had found Rayne Alas, but they were merely talking and sort of walking around instead of dancing. I smiled; Athyn was by far the worst dancer I’d ever met, so I think what they did was for the best.

I spied Athyn's beaming face over Seth’s shoulder. The pride in his face, the face of the man who supported Trey, Seth, and Me. The man who became my beloved one after his own loss.

I am loved.

I spied Ilmeni's face over Seth's shoulder. Tears of happiness rolling down her cheeks. The face of my sister. The woman who had supported him during all of his trials.

He is loved.

The dancing continued quite long into the evening, and I tried to get a dance with Athyn. I knew he didn’t like to dance, but at last I got him up on the floor. It felt good to dance with him at this moment, it was like a foretaste of what I would experience later…at our own wedding.

At the very late hours of the evening, I enjoyed a Brandy with Athyn and the married couple at a table off in a corner.

"Haha! Now you get to experience the fullness and the joy of marriage, my boy...run while you can!" Athyn laughed.

"Don't listen to him! You two will be very happy; isn't that right, dear?" I smiled

"I am sure of it. For I have learned that Destiny is made, as well as foreseen. And I intend to make as much of my own destiny from here on out." Sethyas responded, giving Ilmeni a deep kiss.

As though fate were returning his comment, a roar grew from the bridges that were guarded by the Ordinators; someone was trying to come in that wasn't invited.

Orvas Dren was accompanied by perhaps two dozen of his Cammona Tong thugs, and with a menacing glare, he made his way straight for our table.

"Don't mind me Velas! I'm just wondering why the Uncle wasn't invited to his own niece’s wedding! Very nice stunt you pulled in the Council Club in Balmora! Do you think I respond well to threats? Did you think I was just going to let everything go, once you won? You seem to keep on defying death wherever you go; let’s see how much luck you have left!" he shouted, motioning for his men to unsheathe their weapons.

“I didn't think you were that much of a fool, Dren!” Sethyas spat. “Look around you! There are Redoran and Hlaalu Guards here, not to mention Temple Ordinators. Come; let us finish our business, here and now! You have dishonored me and my bride by showing up here, and this offence I cannot let go!"

"Sethyas, NO! Not here! Not now! This is our wedding day, do not shed blood, please, both of you! Uncle! I beg you to lay down your arms, see some reason!" Ilmeni pleaded.

Athyn, who did have a weapon- he never leaves home without one, unsheathed his steel shortsword; Sanvyn Llethri, who never leaves my side, immediately grasped the severity of the situation and handed me one of his. The small army prepared to fight.

"You shut your mouth, you little whore! You are no blood of mine! Not anymore! You sealed your fate the moment you threw your lot in with the likes of him! You’re an outlander mongrel as far as I am concerned! Boys! Lets do this!" Orvas whistled and took out his own Ebony Spear, confident and formidable in his Orcish Armor.

It was then Sethyas went out of his mind; the rude words from Orvas Dren about Ilmeni made him go berserk. He hit him right in the face, screaming he would kill him right away. Orvas did not expect the ferocity and speed in that punch, so he fell like a High Rock Pine.

Then hell broke loose. I caught a glimpse of an archer aiming at Seth, and before I could do anything the bolt from his crossbow buried itself in his shoulder. In pure rage I shouted:"ìchyffyrddiad chan rhew” and the archer became covered in pure ice. I shattered him to pieces with a single swipe of my sword, but before that I noticed another bolt being fired off towards our table. I didn’t check it out when it happened, and as it turned out I will have to live with the consequences of what I didn’t do for a very long time.

Panting, more from anger than exhaustion, I noticed Athyn fighting two of Dren’s men at the same time, using the special “Sarethi-technique” which means you fight with both your hands and feet, at the same time. It made me smile; I’ve always admired that kind of fighting. I then noticed that Sethyas was bleeding rather heavily from his injured shoulder, and at the same time was fighting a huge Camonna Tong swordsman, and thought he might need some assistance. That, however, had to wait a while, since the fight extended even more.

It was then the Guards and Ordinators came to help and it was nearly over in fifteen minutes.

The amount of dead bodies on the floor was huge. Later I found out it was some twenty were actually killed, but it seemed to be more. I then finally went over to Sethyas, who was standing overlooking the ‘battlefield’ with a worried expression on his face. I put my hand on his shoulder; his shirt was soaked with blood. A few minutes of focusing and I could feel the torn flesh knit together again. He didn’t seem to notice though.

“Where is Ilmeni, where’s Dren?” Sethyas’ voice was sharp; he almost screamed. Then I was aware that I had not seen either of them since the fighting started.

Seth looked around, and grabbed the arm of an Ordinator.

"Sera? Did you capture or kill a Dunmer in Orcish Armor?"

The Ordinator called to his captain, and they both shook their heads after a moment of discussion. No one matched that description at all. He had likely escaped in the chaos.

I felt my heart sink and rushed to where we had been seated. As I rounded the table I saw a sight that would haunt me for the rest of my life.