User blog:Leea/The Tale of Voronwe, Chapter 12

Previous Chapters
1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th

4th Era 100, 24th of First Seed, Pyandonea
Eyes blinking as they adjusted to the gloom, Markadil stopped in the entrance of the Royal Stables, smelling the familliar heady aroma of seaweed, which was used both as bedding and food for the beasts. Walking past the empty stalls, he picked the first stall to have an occupant, disregarding the sign on the stall's door: "His Majesty Only."

Opening the door, he was pleased to see that the serpent was already equipped with a saddle, though the purple color made his nose wrinkle in disgust. "Some people..." he thought. Swinging up onto the creature, he nearly fell off as the beast bucked from the abrupt mounting. Patting its great head, he tried to soothe it, murmuring, "Easy there," and took the reins. Easing the serpent out of the stall, he turned it to the seaward exit.

* * *

Balachil and Nerien were walking back from the North Harbor when Nerien nudged his comrade and said, "There he goes."

Looking in the direction Nerien was pointing, he saw the assassin mounted on the King's steed and swimming out to Summerset. "Isn't that the--"

Nerien cut him off. "Yeah. That's the King's steed, alright. I can tell right off by the ridiculous purple saddle. The King was never good with colors; that's why he has to have the Royal Designers make almost everything for him, otherwise everyone would have gone blind from the color combinations a millenia ago." Pausing, he shook his head as he continued, "Prissy prick thinks he deserves everything, though I could care less if it was the King's ride or not."

Balachil grinned crookedly. "Hey, he is head of the Sea Serpents."

Nerien grunted. "Sea Serpents my ass. Just another guild created by the King to do his bidding, like the Sea Vipers. No wonder we have such a bad name to the rest of the world; its because of law-enforced pirate and assassin guilds."

Watching the rapidly dissapearing steed over the water, Balachil wondered aloud what would happen to the beast.

The other Guardsman shrugged, his armor clinking with the motion. "I don't know. Personally, I hope it suffers the same fate as the man riding it. That old beast had the worst of tempers."

* * *

His spirits rising as the Isle got closer and closer, Markadil readied the charmed necklace from his knapsack as he began to see the tall masts of the ships in Summerset's southern-most harbor. Putting it around his neck, he fingered the locket and the Illusion spell activated, so he appeared just like another High Elven fisherman coming into port on his boat with a load of catch. He had never cast the charm whilst riding a serpent, and was giddy that it worked as desired. He knew, however, that the charm wouldn't last long, due to the strain of making such a great beast appear like a boat, and it would soon start to crack, before the enchantment faded alltogether. So he quickly bypassed the harbor and continued up the shore to the Northern beaches, staying far enough from the coastline to avoid being spotted by any telescopes that may be pointed in his direction. He knew the Aldmeri Dominion didn't take any chances, so neither should he, especially if he wanted his plan to fructify.

Going as fast as the great beast was able, Markadil made good time rounding the Isle, and made it to the corner where the Western beaches met the Northern shores in one day's time. Pulling on the reins, he slowed the steed to search for a shallow area where he could hide it, not wanting to alert any of the potentially roaming Thalmor agents of his arrival, though indeed the Nothern beaches appeared deserted. Likely because of the incredibly rocky coast, he thought. He'd finally arrived at his destination, now was not the time to get complacent.

Finding a good area that was shaded by trees, he pulled the serpent into the copse and leapt down nimbly, wading through the shin deep water to one of the trees, leading the serpent behind him. Tying it to a tree that he thought it would have some difficulty pulling away from, he patted the great steed's neck and whispered, "Stay here until I come back," as the huge head and all-too-aware eyes looked at him. He almost thought he saw Orgnum looking out at him from their depths. Shaking his head, he thought, "No, not possible," though he knew that it could happen someday, as the King could control the steeds from afar when no one else could. Suddenly uncomfortable, he rolled his shoulders to ease away the feeling of being watched. "This King isn't here," he mentally told himself. "Just do your job and everything will work out the way you wanted it to." He walked ashore and dug a small hole in the sand with his hands before taking off the charm necklace from his neck and placing it in the hole, as the charm was depleted now, so there was no use to keep it around. Covering it, he stamped down the hole and brushed errant grains of sand from his gloves and uniform. Readjusting the knapsack's straps over his shoulders, he began to walk Eastward, looking for his quarry.