(General POV)
An older man, a seasoned sailor by the look of him, trembled in terror as the creature that took his crew stood over him. He knew from its expression that he was already dead, and yet even as those hungry crimson eyes gazed into his soul he still spoke, his voice a stammer of fear "We- I- We thought..."
"You thought what exactly?" The creature pretended at patience "That you could just use my home as a port for your... trade?" The disgust in its voice apparently quite real.
Even if the sailor could not accept that as fact, the fear for his life bidding him speak further "This place always took our merchandise without issue!" His fear turned to panic as he saw his exclamation elicit but the slightest upturn of the brow "We had a gods damned deal, and the lord of the castle was always discreet!"
"The lord of the castle?" The creature hummed, and then smirked "I am afraid there has been a change in leadership in recent times, one only a blind and deaf man would have missed."
"But-" He tried speaking up but felt something pressing upon his mind, and his panic both grew and sputtered out.
"Shhh!" It placed a finger upon its lips "You are of no true use to me alive, and dead meat should not speak."
An instant later, the sailor felt claws rip into him and then all was agony.
---
Lady Serana Volkihar felt only boredom as the slaver in front of her succumbed to his wounds, yet another mark of her father's previous deeds that she had to deal with "...and it wasn't even the first one."
"My lady?" One of her attendants spoke up, a recently turned one and still quite respectful for it.
She'd likely grow out of it after a while, and then become another grasping fool.
"Nothing" Serana waved her off "Clean this place up and free the cargo. You may do as you like with the crew afterwards." She pauses and adds "So long as they are removed as well."
She had had no true issues with her subordinates 'creatively interpreting' her orders, or at least not after the first few demonstrations of just how little she tolerated such things, but she still found it much easier to just spell things out when necessary instead of trusting a vampire's better nature.
'If the newbloods even had one of those.' She thought with dark amusement.
She did not wait much for her attendants to disperse and begin their hunt, and once she was left alone she began her trek back to her castle, a though that still gave her pause from time to time.
Not that she spent most of her time inside these days in truth, the fact that the sun no longer felt like it was trying to flay her alive meant she could spend as much time outside as she wanted and having spent thousands of years in a literal stone box she would wish for as much freedom as possible indeed.
She was also kept surprisingly busy by her new role, as 'wild' vampires seemed to be popping up across the entirety of Skyrim on what felt like a monthly basis, and the small town that had sprung up on Volkihar's southern shores was not without problems either.
The yet nameless town was built in a way that was oddly tall and concentrated, all of its stone buildings and even the docks built with foundations that were raised with rising tides in mind, and considering the relatively small size of the island the buildings were all nearly touching with how close they were, leaving the alleys between them almost claustrophobically narrow.
Perfect for a midnight stalking one might even say.
The mortals who inhabited it at least knew to behave, the refugees from both the civil and dragon wars had more than enough excitement in their lives in recent times and were quite happy to just live a quiet life of well rewarded hard work.
They were also not to be touched by her servants or herself.
Oh no, that privilege went to the sailors, the lot of whom were encouraged to drink and spend as much as they possibly could when they would arrive, a plan greatly aided by the fact nearly all the buildings closer to the shoreline were inns and other houses of the night, and were all surprisingly cozy and welcoming.
Those who overindulged would find themselves slightly more woozy in the mornings, and that would be that.
Those who crossed certain lines however, would simply disappear, never to be seen again.
It was not a perfect system but it had only been a bit over a year, and she was still reluctant to turn her own subjects into what was effectively cattle, no matter how much mother or their more powerful subjects protested her... flights of fancy.
How they still thought it acceptable to behave like animals after what happened to Harkon, she would never understand. At least they had enough sense for self preservation to obey her commands despite their own beliefs.
Mood promptly ruined, Serana stopped her observation of the town and ascended into the castle, the gate guard and the few vampires she had allowed to be sired all bowing as she passed them by, not so much as slowing down until she reached her and her mother's wing of the castle.
But before she could enter, she heard a familiar voice within and stopped "-re moving rapidly in the mortal world. Only recently the upheaval in Morrowind and the proceeding war with Black Marsh changed the entire eastern landscape, likely for millennia. If we do not begin spreading our influence now we might be left helpless whenever an organization of sufficient power sets their eyes on us."
'This again?' Serana held back a frown, and entered the room, revealing the forms of Valerica Volkihar and their most 'trusted' advisor, Garan Marethi.
The dark elf turned vampire, immediately met her eyes as she made herself known, and bowed "My lady, it is fortunate that you are here."
She did not immediately respond, and instead walked in, taking a seat across her expectant mother and only then speaking up "Have another pitch to throw my way, Marethi?"
The Dunmer did not quite scowl but the feeling was definitely there as he inclined his head respectfully "All I am saying, my lady, is that remaining isolated while the world rapidly moves on will come to bite us sooner rather than later."
"But we are not isolated, are we? Not truly at least" Serana points out "You just find it grating that we rely on outside sources for information, no matter how reliable."
"Forgive my impertinence my lady" Garan drawls with practiced deference "But can you not see how using the newly ascended Hortator's own network for such things might prove... inefficient in the future?"
'He was about to say foolish, wasn't he?' The thought pops up unbidden, and she feels her irritation grow a fair bit "The very same Hortator who is our closest ally, and the personal savior of both myself and my mother?" Serana asks instead.
It is not Garan who answers her but Valerica "Daughter" She speaks with as much kindness as she is capable of, close to none that is "He may be our ally now but such things may change over the centuries, ensuring our own sources of information and other useful contacts is simply the natural thing to do."
"And how long will it take truly, for our benefactor to be convinced by an ambitious servant to strike us down out of some misguided zeal?" Garan catches on "Failing to prepare is preparing for failure, my lady, and it isn't like we are going to wash Skyrim in a sea of blood, we only need a few well placed thralls and that is it."
'Reyvin? Convinced of something like that?' Serana barely held back a derisive snort at the mere thought of it, and yet both her mother and advisor were speaking sense, even if the undertones of their words reeked of plans unmentioned "Very well, set up a few thralls in the ports for information gathering purposes and maybe insert a few into the trade routes, more money would not hurt."
Her words elicited immediate looks of surprise, but Garan wasn't Harkon's bootlicker in chief for thousands of years for no reason, and immediately grasped the chance while it lasted and bowed "I will see to it immediately, my lady."
He offers a farewell to her mother and promptly marches out.
Only when his steps turned distant and disappeared did she speak again "You do know that I am gutting him the moment he steps out of line, right?"
Her mother merely smiled at this "He may seem ambitious but I have never known Garan to be foolish. Merely trust him to want to ensure he can waste his days away without being disturbed by what he considers to be petty concerns, he is... oddly diligent about such things."
"I will let him play his games" Serana hums "For now."
"Let us hope he amuses at least" Valerica smirks slightly before turning more serious "A message arrived for you via portal, marked with the seal of Dagoth."
"Oh?" Serana immediately perks up "What is it?"
Valerica held back a sigh as she thought of the arrogant elf and instead produced the envelope, handing it to her daughter as she spoke "A wedding invitation. Apparently his previous apprentice, the Dragonborn, is of Septim blood and decided to bind Morrowind to the Empire in the only way that would ensure their true loyalty."
Serana paused for only a split second before taking the letter, more than long enough for her mother to catch on and give her a look of very mild pity. Oh Serana was quite aware of why she suddenly felt conflicted but she was not so foolish as to expect things to go the way of stories just because a small part of her wanted them to.
And it was only a small part of her to be certain, the much larger part of her was quite happy for her friend and quite eager to explore Cyrodiil now that she had an excuse.
So much to see and hear... An entire new world outside of the cold harshness of Skyrim.
She scanned the letter thoroughly and felt her eyebrows raising as she reached the end "He already negotiated my presence with the Vampirum before sending this letter, they agreed not to make an issue of it, but only if I went alone."
"How arrogant of them" Valerica nearly hisses but calms down just as swiftly "The insolence of these thin blooded fools never ceases to astound me."
"They are quite territorial, as are we" Serana shrugs "Besides, it is an excellent opportunity to make proper contact with them since I doubt Harkon ever bothered with it. It should solve the very same issue you spoke of earlier, or at least set us on that path."
Instead of the expected approval, Valerica chuckles "There is no need to convince me, daughter."
Serana instantly felt like a chastened child.
And as if knowing it would make it worse, Valerica simply went on "I know I cannot stop you from traveling south, all I want from you is a promise you will be careful and that you will return to me whole."
Despite the embarrassment, Serana smiled "Of course, mother."
"But since you were so generous as to point it out" Valerica smirked and Serana felt like she had made a rather large mistake "Why don't we go over potential agreements with our southern... friends."
Oh yes, she was regretting her words already.
-----
"And that is about it" She finished her quick retelling of the state of the castle while lazily swirling a beautifully decorated cup of 'wine' "Not nearly as interesting as your own past few months, no doubt."
Reyvin chuckles "Oh I assure you, the explosive growth of an island town is plenty interesting in its own right. Why if you can be be bothered you could raise a series of small islands and wavebreakers with some competent alteration and work to turn it into a full blown city in some centuries, or even decades if you are shrewd about it."
She cannot help but laugh at this "You certainly don't think small."
Her friend merely quirks an eyebrow "Have you ever actually seen me think small in all the time you've known me?"
"I don't know" She hums "Not even I quite expected you to reach for so much power so quickly. Why only a bit over a year ago you seemed so very disinterested in such things."
"Yeah, yeah" He grumbles after the slightest of frowns "But look at it from my perspective, I am already elbow deep in trying to preserve the world that at this point me having an official position or not makes absolutely no difference, since I'd be working at it anyway."
"And ruling certainly gives you a chance to do it better and easier" She finishes for him.
"Exactly" He snaps his fingers and grins, ignoring the hidden implication "Well that, and I am actually quite eager for my marriage, now that the hurdle of accepting the idea has been passed." He pauses and looks up wistfully "I was quite childish about the idea for the longest time and it took me getting verbally smacked down to get myself into order."
Serana was about to ask but then just nodded "Your bird?"
"My bird" Reyvin grinned "He may be an asshole but he is part me so he obviously has a bright thing to say from time to time."
"How very humble of you." She chuckles "Now, your message mentioned something about an island to the east and growing problems there" Her smile turns considerably more bloodthirsty "Something about more enemy dragons as well."
Reyvin's expression quickly shifts into a mirror of her own "Oh you will have more than enough dragons to nom on you damn addict, but only if you follow my cunning plan!"
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Inject those stones directly into my bloodstream!
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