20demayo Chapter 228: Chapter XXXII: Warped Morality
Chapter 228: Chapter XXXII: Warped Morality
Chapter 228: Chapter XXXII: Warped Morality
"And so in the name of the Divines, I proclaim you guilty of being heathen witches, unable to live in peace with your fellow man, and thus sentence you to death!" Reynauld grandly sentences the duo of literal children to death by fire.
All the while Serana looks just about ready to rip him a new one if her twitching right hand with slowly elongating claws is anything to go by.
The squires quickly get to work tying the two up but before they can even light a torch I finally decide to cut in "Hold." The intimidation of the thu'um, combined with a mass calm spell immediately gets everyone to stop moving and pay attention to me.
All of my earlier joviality and cordiality with the knights was gone as I approached them fully armed and armored, the priest of Boethiah standing uncaringly in the back but even he
showed a hidden disdain for what they were doing.
Reynauld, in his apparent infinite wisdom, decides to think I wanted in on the action and smiles at me "Ah, Court Mage you are just in ti-"
"What are you doing, Knight Commander?" I cut him off coldly, the chill in my voice making many of the less experienced Bretons stiffen and causing Alfred to give his student a disapproving huff.
Completely ignoring his teacher Reynauld still continues pretending nothing is wrong "Why punishing the heathen filth for their crimes, of course!" He says proudly.
"Heathen filth." I mutter before lightly tilting my head "What is a heathen, Reynauld?"
"Anyone who strays from the light of the divine!" He blurts and Alfred straight up facepalms. "it would seem I have overestimated you." I say with disappointment and refuse to elaborate further as he gives me a confused look, instead I look to the duo of girls "And you feel that these two deserve such punishment?"
He blinks "Did you not tell us that there were witches hiding within the fort?"
I outright groan at this "I thought I saw the usual underfed Forsworn. Not a pair of fucking children you psychopath!" A bit of my power seeps through, causing the stone roof we were standing on to crack up slightly but thankfully not outright break.
I had enough sense to swiftly repair that with some rock manipulation.
This time Reynauld finally gets the hint and flinches as if struck "B-bbut they worship Daedra!"
"So do I, what are you going to do about it?" I bark at him and round on the two shivering children "You two, have you been initiated into the cult? And don't lie, it would waste both of our time."
The slightly older one attempts to cover the younger with her body while looking at me with terrified, and knowing eyes. My reputation had well and truly spread amongst the Reachmen and I had well and truly become the boogey man to many of them.
It takes her some time for her to gather her courage, all the while I am forced to listen to Alfred silently whisper/hiss at his students about not offending other state religions. The young knight was no doubt talented and charismatic but his closed circle of friends and contacts had seemingly created a very warped view of the world and how it should work.
Finally the witch apprentice manages to stutter out "My s-sis-ter on-only just st-started b- b-b-" Her eyes try to meet mine but she curls up onto herself in fear the moment she catches a glimpse before finally forcing out "I was initiat-ted y-yesterday."
My lips thin at this in annoyance "Renounce her right now."
"You know I can't do that!" She snaps at me with a sudden and desperate coherence "I'd be tormented forever after death!"
Even the recently eager squires flinch back at the desperation in her tone.
"Do so and I will free you from that fate." I respond without any hesitation and with clear certainty, my blood boiling at the very idea of denying Namira even the smallest possible prey.
Her eyes tell me she isn't unwilling, understandable considering how brutal the cultists of Namira were even to their own children "I do not even know what I am supposed to do!" She yells again, though her voice is slowly losing its vigor as she falls deeper and deeper into despair.
"A simple declaration will do." I drone simply.
She starts breathing heavily, and neither the squires nor the knights daring to utter a word at what I had turned from an inquisition to a conversion.
"That thing you did with the child..." She trails off for a moment before finally settling on "How?"
I flip Blasphemy into my right hand, causing Serana to momentarily tense up, and twirl it in
my hand lazily "This is Blasphemy." I say and the blade seems to hum in my hand "It once held another name."
"Which name?" Serana patiently asks, already having gotten used to my flair for the
dramatics.
I grin toothily "Dawnbreaker."
It takes a moment for her brain to process what I've just said but when it does her expression
is something I immediately burn into my mind as the thousands of years old vampire gapes at me as if I had grown a fifteenth head in the span of a moment "Impossible." She says, a bit
brokenly.
"Oh I wouldn't say that." I tap the blade atop my left palm "Only improbable."
Likely leaving her thoughts for later Serana focuses back onto the present "How does the
sword matter in this situation?" Her tone was no longer disbelieving, something she likely forced down, but was instead calculating.
"The sword is all that matters in this situation, Serana." I say and my mood drops "For in the
act of usurping it I used it to liberate the soul of someone dear to me, leaving the blade forever capable of severing all bonds, for such was the power that fueled its transformation."
Her eyes widen "So you mean yo could..."
"Probably." I nod reassuringly "Though I'd recommend making the attempt in a more controlled environment, just in case of mishaps."
She blinks a couple of times, apparently not comprehending something "Just like that?"
"Just like that." I nod and unsummon the sword.
Serana spent the next ten minutes staring at me in disbelief, before simply shaking her head
as if she had heard something ridiculous and heading back to her tent.
True, it would probably be reasonable to ask for something in return. But she failed to understand one very important thing: Spite was far more important to me than money, and spiting Molag Bal would be as sweet as ambrosia.
Daddy Dagoth demands tribute!
If you want to support me directly and get access to 35ish chapters (Some 70k-ish words) in
advance visit my patreon page patreon.com/Rastislav156
If you want to discuss the story or just meme about join my discord server:
https://discord.gg/NSDHGQpvsF (refreshed)