Chapter 20: The Aftermath
… What had I done? I’d taken care of a threat, plain and simple. Ancano had said it himself. He was disloyal. The value he put into the Thalmor was purely selfish in nature. And if that wasn’t all, he wanted what was MINE. He wanted Svanna. Well… he couldn’t have her. He would NEVER have her. Eyes wide, I stare off the edge of the Academy Ramparts, feeling a small surge of satisfaction at my complete inability to see any trace of him.
He'd fallen into the water down below, and his body was unlikely to ever be recovered. Good. It was no less than trash like him deserved. As a small grin spreads across my face, I realize… a part of me hoped this would happen. But then, of course it did. My human half, the part of me that had viewed this world a dozen times through the lens of a game, knew Ancano was trouble.
Of course, even the human side of me didn’t know what was going to happen next. Ancano was a fucking Essential Character in the game. Meaning, he literally couldn’t be killed until the time came for him to die in the Mage College Storyline. Had I just killed my first Essential Character? What would happen now? Without Ancano to instigate, antagonize, and fuck everything up… how would the story unfold?
I realized I didn’t know… and that was terrifying to me. In the end, I’d just stepped off the deep end. Not just by killing a Thalmor Mage who was almost certainly higher in rank than me, but by fucking with the narrative. My Thalmor half might have cared more about the first thing, but my human half cared a hell of a lot more about the second thing.
… Though, both parts of me were in agreement about one thing… I didn’t want to get found out for causing Ancano’s death. Hopefully, there would be no investigation. The College of Winterhold had hated the Altmer after all. Ancano had not endeared himself to a single soul in the entirety of the College. He was disliked and despised, and altogether distrusted.
With that said, I should still get back to Svanna. This was all a bit much, and I really wanted to get back on track. The rails of this crazy ride were with the Dragonborn, and look what I’d done the first time I’d truly separated from her?
Making my way back down off of the College’s Ramparts, I go and pick up Lydia. My Housecarl is definitely reaching the end of her rope, but for now, I simply order her to armor up and follow me. Together, we make our way to Saarthal, where I can only hope Svanna is waiting for us near the entrance as I bade her to.
-x-X-x-
When we arrive at Saarthal, the others are already inside… but upon entering, I find Svanna waiting for me in the first chamber, just as I’d asked of her. She smiles upon seeing me, and I smile back at her… but something must show in my face, because she quickly frowns. Moving to my side, she takes my hand in her own… and I admit, I lean into the touch, squeezing as I bask in her presence.
This was what Ancano wanted to take from me. And maybe if I were just Thalmor, I would only have been vaguely insulted, instead of apoplectic with rage. As it was, even my Thalmor half had come to be somewhat fond of Svanna. She was still of ‘inferior’ stock given she was Nord instead of Altmer… but she was also Dragonborn, and that had to count for something, right?
Meanwhile, my human half unabashedly loved Svanna. It was certainly a dark, twisted, possessive sort of love… but how could I not at least somewhat love this woman who was just as selfish and amoral and lurid as I was?
Together again, Svanna and I make our way into the Excavation Sight with a quiet, armored Lydia at our heels. We soon find Tolfdir just up ahead, with him blinking at us.
“Ah, you’re a bit late, but I’m glad you made it all the same.”
Interesting. Because Svanna had traveled with the other students, I was now late. The power of narrative at work. Only Svanna could always be on time for everything no matter what order she did things in.
“What exactly would you have us do, Master?”
Tolfdir hums.
“Ah, yes. Hmmm… well, why don’t you see if you can assist Arniel Gane? He’s one of our scholars, here working on cataloging our finds. I expect he’d appreciate some help.”
“Very well.”
With that, we make our way deeper into Saarthal. I’ll admit, I get a little distracted as we go. I sort of go on auto-pilot, having done this so many times before. We find Arniel Gane and talk to him for a beat before he sets us to finding the artifacts nearby. We pick up the Enchanted Rings before reaching the Saarthal Amulet, at which point we find ourselves ‘trapped’.
I equip the Amulet and with a single spell cast at the tablet, free us from our imprisonment. After which, Tolfdir takes the lead, and we begin moving forward.
It’s only as we’re chewing our way through the draugr that I jolt and remember what’s supposed to happen right after Tolfdir takes the lead. My head whips around, and I look to Svanna with a furrowed brow. My little stealth archer is doing what she does best, of course, though she’s not currently using her enchanted gear’s bullshit stealth attribute to sneak and is instead firing away with her bow right alongside the rest of us.
She looks… focused but not like anything weird has happened. Would I even know if one of the Psijic Order had approached her? This WAS where the one called Nerien was supposed to show up in a vision, was it not?
Moving back to stand alongside her again, I whisper to Svanna carefully.
“Have you seen anything odd since we picked up that Amulet. Anything the rest of us didn’t notice.”
The look Svanna shoots me is one of utmost confusion, making it clear that no, she likely hadn’t had an encounter with the Psijic Order. Not unless they’d talked to her about me, told her things about me, and now she was lying to me.
… No, that was the paranoid Thalmor in me. I would know if Svanna was lying to me, or at least I hoped I would. More than that, I didn’t believe anything they could tell her about me would make her choose some random time stopping Monks over me.
But that meant something just as bad… that meant that the Psijic Order hadn’t spoken to the Dragonborn in a vision like they did in the original game… in the original narrative. How my killing of Ancano mere hours before had already begun to change things, I knew not. But clearly it had. The Psijic Order refusing to show itself to Svanna… it could mean any number of things. That they didn’t trust her. That they decided they weren’t needed. That they didn’t trust ME.
Tch, blast it all. I’d had perfect knowledge of the situation so long as Ancano was alive… and now I was flying blind. Now, I didn’t know what would happen next.
We reach the end of Saarthal and the final battle swiftly enough. None of the Draugr in this place can hope to stand against us, after all. Not even Jyrik Gauldurson puts up much of a fight, though he’s certainly tougher than any of the other Draugr we have to fight in the tomb. Indeed, if I recall correctly, he’s supposed to be on the same level as a Draugr Deathlord. Even that though, isn’t enough to stop me at this point.
I collect the fragment of the Gauldur amulet and the Writ of Sealing from his corpse, and then turn to Tolfdir, who is of course, fascinated by the Eye of Magnus. Still, the old man isn’t completely oblivious to his surroundings, and when he realizes we’re all staring at him expectantly, he looks over to our little troupe.
“This is… this is amazing, Apprentice. Absolutely amazing. The Arch-Mage needs to be informed immediately, but I don’t dare leave this unattended. Could you return to the College and inform Savos Aren of this discovery for me?”
“… Of course, Master.”
I give a perfunctory bow, and then lead Svanna and Lydia back to the surface, after which we begin the hours long trek back to the College. By the time we make it back, its quite late in the evening. I feel strangely exhausted. Not tired in a physical sense, I still have no need for sleep thanks to my strange physiology, but there’s a certain… mental and emotional exhaustion to me as we trudge up to the College and more specifically, up to Savos.
“Arch-Mage, we bring word from Saarthal.”
“Oh, please don’t tell me another one of the apprentices got incinerated. I have enough to deal with right now.”
“… No, Arch-Mage. We found something in Saarthal, and Tolfdir believes it worthy of your personal attention.”
Savos blinks at that, and then peers at us all a bit more closely. Despite getting totally chumped in the game, and despite being a coward who fled and left his fellow apprentices behind, I am reminded that this is a Mer who rose to the position of Arch-Mage through what I can only imagine is significant power and merit.
“Hm. Very well, I trust that you wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t significant. Thank you for bringing this to my attention. Tolfdir normally oversees you Apprentices, yes? Since he’s apparently otherwise occupied and I will need to see to this discovery myself, I think perhaps you should begin researching the subject for us. Speak with Urag in the Arcanaeum in the morning. For now, get some rest. And… good work, Apprentice.”
I bow lowly as he leaves us to it. Heh, I guess more of my exhaustion showed on my face than I thought. Hm, no mention of his missing Thalmor Advisor… but then, to be fair, I suspected he’d be more relieved than anything by Ancano’s sudden prolonged absence.
Regardless, I take Svanna and Lydia… and I lead them both right back out of the College. With the lack of privacy in the Hall of Attainment, I’d gone ahead and made some… arrangements before. While using Lydia while everyone was at the lesson earlier was nice, I didn’t intend to actually use our shared room within the College most nights.
Instead, I make my way to Birna’s Oddments, and use the key that the beautiful blonde shopkeeper gave me. It was part of our ‘deal’ after all, and she was all too eager to let me and mine use her house whenever we liked. As we enter, we’re greeted by Birna herself, who’s eyes light up at the sight of us.
“Ah, Master Vayral. It’s good to see you again?”
Smiling, I incline my head.
“Your brother?”
Birna’s smile turns wide and wicked.
“Ranmir will be staying at the The Frozen Hearth for the foreseeable future. You’re paying us more than enough for his bed, after all. And since I’m the one who brings in all the money with my shop, he really has no choice in the matter. Especially not after I used your Septims to settle his debts with Dagur.”
As she speaks, Birna is twirling a lock of her blonde hair around a finger, looking at me with such obvious bedroom eyes. Hah, I hadn’t even truly Charmed her… I’d merely ‘Charmed’ her with lots and lots of gold. Well, let’s see how far we could stretch this then…
“That’s good. That means it’s just us…”
Birna’s eyes flicker to Svanna and Lydia and her smile dips for a second. But I just grin and gesture to Svanna, who walks right over to Birna and, before the shopkeeper can react, pushes her backwards, shoving her towards the bed.
“W-Wha-mmph!”
Svanna’s lips smack against Birna’s own, silencing the blonde as she finds herself forced onto her own bed by the lithe Nord, pinned down and kissed quite heatedly. I watch in amusement, even as I nod to Lydia, who flushes but immediately begins stripping out of her own armor. It’s a testament to how far I’ve come with my Housecarl that she’s literally watching Svanna assault another woman right in front of her and isn’t trying to stop it. Heh, this has become… normal to her.
“Birna, my dear… Svanna here is my first love, I won’t deny it. We do everything together… including the lovers we take to our bed. If you want a piece of me, you’ll need to satisfy her first. Do you understand?”
It’s a test, to be sure. If Birna keeps struggling and resisting Svanna’s advances, I’ll have to use Charm Magic on her… and possibly on Lydia too, because outright magic might just break Lydia out of the submissive, masochistic stupor she’s found herself in. But if I’m right then… and indeed, right before my eyes, Birna’s struggling slowly stops of its own accord. She really does want me, or at least wants to stay on my good side.
When Svanna comes up for air a moment later, Birna gasps, pants… and quietly answers me.
“Yes, Vayral. I… I understand.”
Svanna’s savage grin draws a whimper from the blonde pawnbroker’s lips, followed by a yelp as Svanna roughly tears her dress off her body, pulling it away so she can get at the soft Nord flesh underneath. Meanwhile, I have my own Nord to play with… and as Lydia comes over to me, standing there naked and fidgeting under my gaze, I can’t help but admire her toned physique but also her shapely, womanly flesh.
As it so happens, Lydia wears a set of bandages around her tits, normally. Her breasts are bigger than I would have expected from the game, but then, that’s probably a side effect of this world seemingly being hit by the Sexy Effect. Regardless, it means that my Housecarl is sporting an impressive pair of milk jugs… tits that are still quite red and abused, along with the rest of her body, from our hour long session earlier.
“Lydia… what do you want from me?”
The question startles her, but she’s quick to answer.
“P-Please my Thane… might I touch myself?”
I raise a brow at the immediate ask and grin a little wider.
“Oh? Have you truly not masturbated since I forbid it? Have you kept your hands away, all this time? Don’t lie to me now, it will be so much worse if you do.”
“… Yes, my Thane.”
She’s telling the truth, I can tell. Which is great. My hold over her is even stronger than I imagined. Over on the bed, Birna continues to squirm and squeal under Svanna’s not-so-tender affections, the Dragonborn clearly preparing her for me. Amused, I beckon Lydia closer… and then grab her by the hair and drag her to her knees.
“Put my cock in your mouth. Suck it thoroughly. Prepare me for my time with Birna… and you will earn yourself some relief.”
Hope fills Lydia’s gaze, and the beleaguered raven-haired Nord opens wide as I push my golden cock past her lips. As I thrust forward, I almost immediately hit the back of her throat, causing her to gag… but to her credit, my Housecarl stays absolutely still, kneeling before me, her hands on my legs but not doing anything as she gazes up at me.
Hm, this isn’t just some random bitch… this is a Nord Warrior, trained and honed and disciplined. I grin at that and bring my other hand up to her locks, grabbing hold of her head with both hands… and beginning to bounce her up and down my cock, skull fucking her quite ruthlessly.
“GAGKH! GAGKH! GAGKH!”
As Lydia chokes and gags and gurgles on my dick, her eyes rapidly grow watery, and her tongue, which had been laid out completely still on the underside of my shaft at first, begins to writhe involuntarily in protest. Honestly, it just makes the experience even better. I fuck her face relentlessly for several minutes, waiting to see if she’ll break or snap and try to stop me.
But she never does. And in the end… I’m pleased with her.
Yanking my cock back before I can reach my release, I give her an approving nod as I rise from my seat and step past her.
“You did well. You may cum… once.”
“Y-Yes… hah, yes my Thane.”
As she coughs from the abuse, hacking up phlegm, I detect a note of honest pride and arousal in her voice. Not only had she gotten off on having her throat abused, but she was actually starting to be proud of her ability to handle my abuse in its myriad forms. Amusing, to say the least… especially since I had so much more planned for her.
Still, for now I ignore her and the sounds of her fingers shlicking against her sex and make my way over to Svanna and Birna. As soon as she detects my approach, Svanna spins her and Birna around, effectively getting under the other Nord woman, and positioning the blonde pawnbroker on all fours for me. Birna isn’t against this, of course. She too understands that I’m finally paying them more attention and wiggles her shapely pale ass in my direction until I seize hold of it with both of my golden hands and DRIVE my throbbing, saliva-coated cock inside of her.
I fuck her hard and I fuck her fast, having already gotten the foreplay out of the way with Lydia. To be fair, she’d gotten the foreplay out of the way as well with my Dragonborn lover, and once again Svanna has prepared a woman beautifully for me. I plow Birna forward into Svanna’s cunt, and Birna’s tongue acts as an extension of my will, driving into the lithe red head’s depths as Svanna gasps and throws her head back, moaning her arousal.
This right here was why we’d needed a place in town to stay while we were in Winterhold. While I ultimately hoped to turn the Arch-Mage’s Quarters into a true den of debauchery and depravity, right now those quarters were still occupied by a living Savos Aren. Meanwhile, the rest of the living spaces in the College were entirely communal and without privacy.
And so Birna’s shop, which I’d invested quite a bit of money to, would be our home away from home for the next few days, while I figured out what to do next.
This was, admittedly, an amazing distraction. Birna’s body was fun to fuck, and Lydia was, as always, a pleasure to torture. A sharp cry from the side lets me know that the Nord Housecarl has already reached her one allotted climax, and as she’s coming down from the orgasm, I make eye contact with her, enjoying the way she tenses up, knowing exactly what I’m conveying with my eyes.
Face flushed bright red, Lydia puts back on her underclothes, though not her armor. As she beds down for the night, I do make sure her hands don’t go anywhere they aren’t supposed to for a moment… but no, she’s a good girl. Such an obedient pet, so quick to learn. Chuckling, I rear back a hand and deliver a stinging smack to Birna’s backside, enjoying the blonde Nord’s squeals.
Svanna and I would fuck Birna until she passed out on us… and then, me and my sleepless little Dragonborn would be going on a midnight journey back to the College. There was something I needed to do, now that everyone should be asleep. Something that I wasn’t going to delay for even a second longer, especially with Ancano out of the way…
-x-X-x-
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