Chapter 7: Echo of Someone Else

Previously: Sting

The sight of Sybille Stentor shouldn't have been amusing, and yet it was.

The former court mage of the Blue Palace was gaunt of face. Her dark red hair shone, but was styled very simply. Her gown was of admittedly fine fabric, but the design was wholly unremarkable. Her necklace was good quality, but still not befitting a vampire of her rank.

 

She was the mistress of Lord Harkon, one of the wealthiest, most powerful men in all of Tamriel, and yet this was all she had to show for it.

 

Viktoriyah resisted a much needed laugh, instead focusing on the task at hand.

 

"Sybille Stentor," she greeted, grinning and entering the alchemy lab.

 

"Miss Viktoriyah," Sybille replied, looking up from her work briefly. "Or is it Lady? I can't keep track. I thought you weren't due back until after the wedding."

 

"The wedding is why I'm here. I need a favor from a skilled alchemist."

 

The mage looked up. "Oh?"

 

"I need to ensure this marriage holds, Stentor," Viktoriyah said, serious now. "Elisif tried to take a lover mere days before Prince Cassian was due to arrive."

 

Sybille mulled that over. "Rumors say Cassian is a very handsome young prince."

 

Viktoriyah shook her head. "Elisif doesn't care about that. And her idiot Thanes aren't much help. You know how stubborn Nords can be."

 

"Well, I don't know what you want me to do," Sybille replied, shrugging. "If I knew how to fix relationships, I'd convince Valerica to take her husband back."

 

Viktoriyah's eyes widened in realization. She finally let out her laugh, and it felt good.

 

Of course Sybille was already bored with Harkon. It would explain her lack of effort with her appearance, not to mention how exhausted she looked. 

 

"I know love potions exist," Viktoriyah continued, when she finally stopped laughing. "I just never bothered to study them in depth."

 

"If you had, then you'd know they're not really love potions, so much as lust potions," Sybille said. She locked eyes with Viktoriyah. "I'm not drugging my friend for you."

 

Viktoriyah's humor drained away completely. "Elisif is not your 'friend', Stentor," she said coldly. "You are a vampire, of Volkihar no less. Your duty is to Harkon; your loyalty is to your own kind. And it is the will of all vampiredom that Elisif and Cassian have strong, healthy marriage. That they unite that godforsaken province and heal all its wounds."

 

Sybille's red eyes flashed in defiance. "Love potions don't exist, Viktoriyah," she reiterated through clenched teeth. "Lecturing me won't magically change that."

 

"No, but illusion magic could magically change that," Viktoriyah countered. "They just need to think they are in love. Isn't that what love is, after all? One big illusion?" 

They were interrupted when Lady Valerica suddenly entered the lab. Both vampires curtsied to the towering vampire matriarch immediately. Sybille opened her mouth to say something, but Valerica cut her off with a wave of her hand.

 

"My husband is looking for you," she said dismissively. "Go."

 

Viktoriyah saw Sybille's jaw clench before she left.

 

"My Lady," she calmly greeted Valerica.

 

"What was that all about?" the elder vampire inquired, eyeing Viktoriyah curiously, as though concerned.

 

"Academic disagreement, my Lady."

 

"I don't think I've ever heard you speak so passionately about anything," Valerica said, looking her over. "I never thought you capable of it."

 

Viktoriyah didn't know what to say to that. She remained silent as Valerica came closer, as though to inspect her better.

 

"For a moment there," Valerica murmured, "I thought I heard an echo of someone else."

 

 Viktoriyah's brow furrowed. "My Lady?"

 

"A vampire from long before your time," Valerica murmured, as though to herself. "Anyways, Stentor is right... unfortunately. You can't make Elisif love her new husband. You can't make anyone love anything."

 

Viktoriyah's body stiffened. She kept her face neutral, even though she was reeling inside. "I am well aware, Madam," she said tightly.

 

"But you can make someone lust," Valerica concluded. "If Sybille won't drug her former friend, I'll happily do it for her. Elisif and Cassian need to spend several days coupling, to conceive a child as soon as possible. That should calm the Blue Palace down."

 

Viktoriyah nodded stiffly. "It would."

 

"I'll need Kresh fiber, green lichen, and stoneflower petals," the matriarch said.

 

Viktoriyah's eyes widened. "That's all?"

 

"It's an old recipe, tried and true," Valerica assured her sagely. "One of the first I ever learned." She snorted softly, remembering. "When I was mortal, I wanted to wed Harkon more than anything in all of Nirn. Not for love, of course; he was a king. But I was no great beauty, and I was no princess, not even a noblewoman. So naturally, I had to improvise."

 

Viktoriyah wasn't sure what to do with this information except ask, "...and now?"

 

"And now," Valerica said wearily, "now I know that the things we want the most are usually the ones we shouldn't have." 

 

***

Vingalmo didn't usually see or speak with the Lady of Volkihar, and for good reason. For one, he loathed the entire royal vampire family, as they were the only thing standing between him and the throne.

Harkon was nearly invincible, so most of his enemies believe him to be their greatest threat. However, Vingalmo had learned long ago that it was actually Valerica who was the biggest obstacle, for unlike her husband, she was actually loved and respected by the vampire world. So while Harkon's death would be widely celebrated, Valerica's would start a civil war.

 

And Vingalmo had no desire to fight a war, much less be a king of ashes.

 

When she summoned him, the elf had no choice but to appear. He was curious as to why she'd specifically seek him; usually it was her husband who assigned him to various tasks.

 

"My Lord Vingalmo," she greeted, her tone flatly cordial as always. She gestured for him to sit.

 

"You summoned me, my Lady?" he asked, taking a seat on a black velvet couch opposite hers. The sitting room was expensively furnished, yet every bit as grim as its mistress.

She paused, as though weighing her words carefully. "What do you remember about Alythia?"

 

Vingalmo's eyes widened. Of all the things he expected her to say, this wasn't one of them.

 

"Um...," he hesitated, thinking, "I... I remember everything. In the rare moments she'd pry herself away from her research, she would play chess with me. She didn't much like the game, but she was a good student nonetheless."

 

"I ignored her to my own peril," Valerica confessed. "I'm an alchemist. She was an illusionist. Our schools of magic seemed so different from each other that I saw no reason to take interest in her work."

 

"Until now?"

 

"Now," she said, "I just overheard Viktoriyah and Sybille debating illusions and alchemy and it was like being flung back through time. Her research is still here, you know, hidden away in the royal vaults. The Alythian Relics, Harkon named them."

 

"You mean the Rings?" he asked.

 

Valerica's eyes betrayed her deep concern. When she spoke, her voice was just above a rasp.

 

"Oh, she made far more than just rings, my lord."  

 

Next: All Hail