Ysmir found it hard to breathe at the moment. Which was ironic, considering the fact that he no longer needed to do so.
"My Lord, need you be so nervous? You already know she loves you. I doubt Lady Serana will refuse from pressure."
Ysmir rounded on Dexion. "You think I don't know that, Dexion?! My control over my emotions is crap after suppressing them so long!"
A hand landed on his armored shoulder. The only part of him with real armor at this point.
"But he is right, Stormblade, my friend. Just breathe. In the nose, out the mouth. Just because you don't need it, doesn't mean it won't help."
Taking Ralof's advice, Ysmir found the knots in his veins loosen.
"I just don't want this day to get messed up. The last time I cared about someone like this was..." He trailed off, not really wanting to remember his life in Cyrodiil. It was in the past; no use digging up bad memories.
Ralof just smiled at his more-pale-than-usual friend. The man who had bravely faced dragons and prejudice for his new blood with barely a break in his stony face was nervous- maybe even frightened- at the idea of marriage. It showed that, despite his somewhat questionable actions, his friend was still human under the mask he set up.
"My friend, you won't mess up. You will find that things that seem to be complicated will often turn out simpler than one would expect. One day, you will look back and laugh at yourself for being so ridiculously nervous. And I know love can be a double-edged blade, but I have seen the love between you two to be stronger than any I have seen before. Just stay as calm as you can. Besides, the ceremony lasts five minutes at most. Not very much time to humiliate yourself, am I right?"
Ysmir couldn't help but laugh at that. Ralof's sense of humor came out at the best of times. It was hard to believe they had met on the way to their own execution.
"Alright, Ralof, you convinced me. But you best remember this when you find someone you love."
"When that day comes, I'll turn to you to talk sense into me, Ysmir."
The door opened, with Garan Marethi, Ysmir's personal advisor, poking his head in.
"Excuse me, My Lord, but they are ready for you."
Ysmir turned to Ralof and Dexion. "You two go ahead. Got one last thing to check up on."
"Don't take too long, wouldn't want to miss your own wedding."
After they left, Ysmir looked over himself in the mirror(thank Bal that no-reflection thing had been a myth).
Standing at 6 feet 5 inches, he was certainly taller than most, but not as tall as the mysterious Ebony Warrior he had dueled last week. (Why that man had been able to shout him down the mountain was beyond him.) His hair was cut short, his pointed ears proudly showcasing his distant Altmer ancestry.
His outfit looked similar to the Vampire Royal Armor, but was modified to have Dragonscales on the front torso and around the wrists. The shoulders were made of dragonbone, with a thin coating of ebony on top of the bone. The leather part depicted images of the battle with Durnehviir done in purple thread. He figured the warrior dragon could have something dedicated to him, since he couldn't be at the wedding itself.
Opening a drawer, he took out the last piece of his wedding outfit. It looked similar to the Jagged Crown, but was made mostly out of Daedric Metal. The dragonbone horns were smoother, longer, and gave off a greater feeling of regalness. The Daedric Metal Part wrapped around the jaw as well, with the lower horns engraved into the 'sideburn' parts. It had two enchantments to enhance the power of lightning-based destruction magic and of blood-based magic. He called it Strunsos Du'ul, the Stormblood Crown.
It would have been rather difficult for most to get on their head, but a liberal use of his 'storage space' allowed it to flash onto him. Daedric Armor- and the Jagged Crown - had this strange ability to reshape itself around a wearer if they were smaller than it's crafted size and proportions. Which he was still trying to figure out.
He knew he couldn't keep them waiting any longer. Steeling (or maybe Eboning?) his nerves, he exited the room.
//Small timeskip//
The throne room of Castle Volkihar had been redone for the wedding. Clan Volkihar, as well as the different Jarls' courts, were seated at the long tables. Ulfric looked uncomfortable being here, but the other Jarls trusted Ysmir to prevent any blood-draining. There was a few representatives from Cyrodiil, as well as the Queen of Alinor and a few non-Thalmor guards.
Hidden in the room's shadows were some of Ysmir's own assassins, trained by Astrid, assigned to protect from outside attack and stop any attack from within. Ysmir didn't trust Ulfric not to try a stupid assassination. The as-of-yet unnamed group was made up of both wild vampires and some of the former Thalmor soldiers Ysmir had enslaved. Apparently they suffered from something called "Captor's Empathy" that made them more loyal to Ysmir even without the collars. Some still kept them on for personal reasons, though the magic block was removed.
(Captor's Empathy is the term for Stockholm Syndrome here.)
Many of Ysmir's friends and allies were gathered amongst the tables, especially those from the College or the Thieves' Guild. Aela had been the only one from the Companions who seemed to trust him as a vampire. The Orc tribe leaders were there as well.
He was a bit surprised to see that Mjoll had accepted the invitation, though. Despite the reasoning he had given to her about trying to reform the Thieves' Guild to focus on weakening the corrupt instead of helping them, she had seemed thoroughly convinced he was just as bad as the rest of them. Guess she was trying to give him a second chance.
Lucia and Sofie looked adorable in their black dresses. Four and a half years had passed since he had adopted them, and he was glad they weren't afraid of him. They knew he was still their kind-but-stern father, vampire or not. It had not been something he had considered when he took up Harkon's offer, but he had been afraid they would run from him. His heart had twisted in ways he didn't like when those thoughts had crossed his mind.
Most of Skyrim thought that this was a simple political marriage in Ysmir's plans to unite vampires with 'civilized' society. None of them really knew that he was already Lord of Clan Volkihar, or that he had been with Serana over a year now.
Speaking of...
Serana's wedding attire was similar to Vittoria Vicci's, though the white was a deep-shadow black, and the red was the color of blood. In place of a wreath, there was an imitation of the Aetherium Crown, which was made of Ebony and inlaid with rare Bloodstone Rubies. Apparently, forging anything rarer than steel in the Aetherium Forge gave some kind of magical effect, though it worked best with an Aetherium component. The Bloodstone Crown enhanced all of Serana's vampiric abilities to be near on-par with Ysmir. Her hair was done in braids done her back.
To Ysmir, Serana simply looked stunning. And that was the understatement of the era, in his opinion.
The podium and Shrine of Mara had been set up in front of the throne. Garan was with the priestess to perform the vampire side of the marriage.
"Are we ready to begin?" the priestess asked.
Too nervous to speak, Ysmir and Serana simply nodded.
The entire room went silent.
"It was Mara who first gave birth to all of creation and pledged to watch over us as her children."
'Yeah right,' Ysmir thought, 'that was Lorkhan and Magnus. And the Eyra barely do anything most of the time but survive off the energy of prayers, except when they're trying to clean up their own messes. Vyrthur, Alduin and I are proof enough of that.'
"It is from her love of us that we first learned to love one another. It is from this love that we learn that a life lived alone is no life at all."
'Okay, that I can agree with.'
"We gather here today, under Mara's loving gaze, to bear witness to the union of two souls in eternal companionship."
'More eternal than you, that's for sure.'
"May they journey forth together in this life and the next, in prosperity and poverty, and in joy and hardship."
'I don't plan on there being a "next life." I'd prefer if we journey together just staying in this one.'
"Serana Volkihar, do you agree to be bound together, now and forever?"
A determined look came into her loving eyes. "I do, now and forever."
"Ysmir Stormblood, do you agree to be bound together, now and forever?"
A few whisperings came from the non-vampire guests. Stormblood? It's supposed to be StormBLADE. A stern look from the priestess and Garan sent all of them to silence.
In through the nose, out through the mouth.
"I do. Now and forever."
The priestess stood back to allow Garan to step forward, holding the Bloodstone Chalice in his hands.
"Long has the vampire clans of Tamriel existed, and we have always sought inner unity. To join these everliving souls in harmony with one another, they must drink of the blood of shared enemies."
Many of the Skyrimites grimaced. Though they were informed it was from captured bandits and Master Vampires, it was still unusual to have a marriage ceremony that required drinking blood.
After Ysmir and Serana each drank half of the Chalice, Garan took it back in hand and continued.
"May darkness shroud you together in bliss and joy evermore, Ysmir Stormblood and Serana Volkihar."
Setting the Bloodstone Chalice back down, Garan allowed the priestess to once again take center stage.
"Under the authority of Mara, the Divine of Love, I declare this couple to be wed."
She handed two matching rings of Ebony, with red markings depicting Ysmir and Serana in their Vampire Lord forms, holding hands and looking into each other's eyes. The eyes were made of small shards of Bloodstone Ruby. Ysmir had been taught the enchantment used by the Temple of Mara so he could add a second enchantment. The second enchantment would further enhance their vampiric powers.
"I present the two of you with these matching rings, blessed by Mara's divine grace. May they protect each of you in your new life together."
Putting the ring on Serana's finger after his own was on, Ysmir looked up at her, seeing her smile and tears, and couldn't stop the genuine, loving smile on his own face, which no doubt shocked quite a few people in the audience. They were too used to his unchanging cold gaze.
He leaned forward and kissed Serana. After a few seconds, polite applause rang out through the halls of Castle Volkihar.
Pulling back, Ysmir said the first thing that came to mind.
"Wow."
Serana was sent into giggles, which sent Ysmir, Garan, and the priestess into chuckles.
Looking over the guests, Ysmir decided not to delay anything.
"Let the festivities begin!"
//Later//
Ysmir and Serana went around speaking to many of the guests. Archmage J'zargo and Mirabelle were eager to discuss Ysmir's latest magical achievements- which, given his busy schedule as Lord Volkihar and a Nightingale, were few and far between. If it wasn't for his other abilities, Ysmir would be worried about J'zargo killing him by accident in one of their friendly duels.
After giving High Idiot Ulfric a few subtle threats and an arm wrestle with one of the orc chieftains(Ysmir won), Ysmir noticed the Queen of Alinor coming up to them with her guards. Her way of walking keyed him in to the fact that she wanted something. Serana had been dragged off by her new daughters, so he was likely going to deal with another royal pain by himself. What is this, the fifth one?
"Ah, Your Highness. A pleasure to meet your acquaintance," Ysmir said, ending with a bow.
"The pleasure is all mine, Lord Stormblood. Please, no bowing, this is your castle now, after all."
'By Bal, I can already tell this will be annoying. Her self-righteousness just oozes out of her. It's stupid enough we aren't allowed to know her name!'
"So, Your Highness, while I do appreciate a person of your status coming to my wedding, I do have to ask. Why come all the way to Skyrim for what surely must be a trivial matter compared to what you must deal with on a day-to-day basis? I doubt ruling 3 nations can be very easy."
"Well, the acceptance of vampires and lycanthropes in a nation is a rather important historical event. Especially given their connection to Molag Bal and Hircine."
'Azura, give me strength! Stop dodging around the question and just tell me what you want!'
"Well, only true-blooded vampires are always worshippers of Molag Bal. And Hircine is simply the Patron of Hunters- he's not malicious like most other Daedric Princes. Many do not choose to be vampires, and werebeasts are perfectly capable of controlling themselves. One should not judge a person for what they are, but WHO they are. Too many in Skyrim already unfairly judge one another for what race they are, and I've had more than my fair share of trouble trying to squash that."
The Queen hummed. "Quite true, I say. I've never understood the Thalmor's own obsessions with racial purity. If a Altmer wishes to marry one of another race, let them. We are all the Aedra's descendants, so there really should not be so much debate over it."
'That's the most honest thing you've said.'
"Ah, but I feel as though there may be more to coming here than the entertainment of history unfolding, Your Highness."
"You are correct. I suppose we should stop beating around the bush."
'THANK MORA!'
"You see, we received rumors that your clan had come into possession of certain... artifacts."
'Well well well, I suspect you think I wouldn't plan for this.'
"Am I correct in assuming you speak of the Bow and Shield of Auriel?"
The Queen blinked, clearly not expecting a straightforward answer.
"Err... yes. You see, there were times in Alinor's history when the Bow and Shield were wielded by our greatest warriors. Whilst we have no need for such a thing now, we were hoping to put them in the capital city's museum. To prevent misuse and such. Learning where you obtained them would be helpful as well."
It was almost a good enough act. Emphasis on 'almost.' Elven Malachite Armor, unfortunately, didn't do much for hiding the tension in the guards faces. It was clear to those who knew the signs that despite how it looked and sounded, the Queen was certainly not going to ask so nicely a second time.
"While I would love nothing more but to honor such a request, they are unfortunately no longer in my clan's possession. Or anywhere else on Nirn, for that matter."
The delivery of those statements, as though talking about the weather or something everyone should already know isn't very important, took a moment for the recipients' brains to catch up to.
The looks of confusion, then shock (and a small bit of horror) on their faces made Ysmir glad the ceremony was over. If his emotions had still been out of whack, he would have been unable to keep his features schooled. Probably would have just burst out laughing.
"WHAT?!"
Several people looked over. Some of Clan Volkihar looked ready for a fight before Ysmir signalled them to remain calm.
"W-what do you m-mean?"
At that moment, Garan made his own appearance.
"What Lord Stormblood means is that the Aedric god Akatosh, or Auriel as you know him, sent him a vision requesting the swift return of his artifacts to his side. Auriel had decided that his artifacts had been used for personal gain far too much by the races of Nirn, and did not wish for such a thing to happen in the future. My Lord did the required ritual as Auriel instructed. The artifacts became pure Aetherial energy and returned to the realm of Auriel. They are no longer, nor will they ever again be, found on Nirn."
The thing about being as old as Garan was, you become rather excellent at lying. And since he was a vampire, even a rare Truthseer would not be able to know when he was lying if he didn't make it blatantly obvious. They had no need to breathe -Ysmir did it out of habit- and their blood only flowed when they needed adrenaline.
Ysmir caught the flicker of anger in the Queen's eyes, as well as the slight tensing of her fists, before she took a deep breath.
"Well, if that is the will of Auriel, then there is nothing we can do about that. Thank you for being honest."
"You're welcome, Queen Alinor."
Ysmir chuckled at what was- to him- a pretty obvious joke.
"She's Queen OF Alinor, Garan."
"Oh, my mistake, milady."
The Queen was visibly annoyed at this, but could do nothing without seeming petty.
"There is one last thing I wish to discuss with you, Lord Stormblood."
"Yes, Your Highness?"
'By the 16, what else do you want, woman?!'
"We decided to cross-reference our bloodline records with those of the Empire's, and we discovered you may be directly descended from an exiled royal bloodline."
Genuine shock showed on Ysmir and Garan's face as they looked at each other.
You see, after the Oblivion Crisis, a law had been passed by the then-new Queen that stated that after 5 generations(much longer timespan for elves than humans), the family of the firstborn line of exiled nobility could choose to return to Alinor and be given back their higher status. It had caused a bit of controversy, considering the fact that quite a few of those lines that accepted had become quite far from the nobility they once were.
But to be the firstborn-line descendant of an exiled royal under this law? This could give Ysmir sway in Alinor's laws that even the Thalmor would be hard-pressed to squash.
Keeping his expression properly shocked, Ysmir turned back to the Queen.
"Wow. Just. Wow."
The Queen smiled, clearly enjoying being the one shocking him.
"Yes, learning you had Altmer ancestry prompted us to check your blood connections to Alinor. And you clearly know our law concerning exiled nobility."
"W-well, yes. I had already been hoping to get a treaty with the Empire, but this? This could push my plans for acceptance far faster than I could have possibly hoped!"
Never let it be said that Ysmir Stormblood wasn't an excellent actor. Especially when he is partially genuine in his reactions.
"Yes, well, you see, there could be a few problems."
Ysmir frowned. "Let me guess, Thalmor?"
"Exactly. Even with you having saved our world twice over, they won't be quick to forget you and Ulfric once being their enemy. Being mostly Nord in blood won't help with the prejudice they keep spreading. They'll be sure to cause trouble for both of us if I simply let you in on important decisions for Alinor."
Ysmir grimaced. Of course they would. The treaty Ulfric made with the Empire and Dominion let Skyrim keep the captured soldiers -both Imperial and Thalmor- as slaves. Even if- as far as they were aware- no Altmer were captured, they were sure to cause a fuss over the soldiers who lost their lives in the Pale Pass.
"But, I may have a possible solution."
Ysmir raised a brow. "And what would that be, Your Highness?"
"Well, you see, I have a few sons your daughters' ages, so when they are all older, we could ar-" "No."
The coldness of his tone was worse than the coldness of the suddenly-even-more-freezing air. Everyone in the room went silent at the sudden change.
The Queen looked at Ysmir. The smile and look of curiosity and excitement had quickly been replaced with an ice-cold blank stare. His eyes felt as though he was peering into her soul.
"W-w-what?" In the silence, everyone turned towards them.
Ysmir smiled a malicious, mocking smile that didn't reach his now burning-red eyes. It was a smile that promised pain. Garan began subtly backing away.
"Oh, I'm sorry to interrupt you, 'Your Highness.' It's just I was able to guess the rest of what you were going to say. You were going to suggest a political marriage between our children, right?"
"Y-yes."
"That allow me to reiterate."
The false smile was replaced with a winter-cold glare.
"F ck no. If my little girls are EVER going to marry, it will be because they have fallen in love with someone who feels the same about them and makes them happy. Not for some political power play to make YOU look like some sort of saint.
And if you- or some suicidal representative you decide to send- ever suggest basically trading away my daughters' rights to choose who they love for political power again, there will not be a hole or cavern on all of Nirn you will be able to hide from me. I will hunt you. I will find you. And I. Will. END YOU!"
The last two words echoed with the force of the Thu'um, shaking the entire castle and being heard all the way to Solitude. Ysmir's magic came out in a blazing red Aura of Power.
Ysmir would never take away his daughters' freedom like that. Especially after seeing what such an attitude about family had done to the Volkihars. He would be no better than Harkon.
The guards behind the Queen of Alinor looked to be stuck between the natural instinct to flee from a superior, p ssed off predator and the trained instinct to draw their weapons and defend the Queen.
The Queen herself was frozen in awe and overwhelming terror (and a bit of lust) at the sheer magical might of the man before her.
Ysmir's Dovahsil was roaring in rage for him to kill the b tch who would dare try to convince him to abandon his monne, his daughters. Never before had he both wanted to listen and needed not to as much as that moment. Reeling in his Aura, he focused all his disgust at the Queen.
"Now get the cr p out of my castle. You are no longer welc-"
He stopped abruptly when his rapidfire mind finally picked up on something.
The air was still cold. He had reeled in all his leeking Magicka, but the air was still so cold that even a Nord vampire could easily notice it. Come to think of it, he didn't even know any frost spells that could take up a whole throne room. Few spells could be triggered by emotion, and none of them were in the Destruction tree.
All these thoughts took place in a split second, as Ysmir followed his instincts and looked up. Shock - and a not-so-small amount of fear - came over his face.
"WHAT IN OBLIVION IS THAT?!"