#miraak and my ldb are alduins kids

[aladaylessecondblog]

Miraak's Lounge

There was a lull in business at the moment, and Miraak took the chance when he had it. Let the sous chef know he had to make a phone call and headed off to the back office. He dialed his sister's number and waited for her to pick up.

"Miraak?" Sadrith sounded tired. It was mid-day, she'd probably only just woken up. "How're you doing?"

"Well enough," he said, "You don't sound good, are you still working at the club?"

"Yeah, I am," she replied quietly.

"You know you don't have to keep working there, right? I can get you a job at the Akaviri place I manage."

"Miraak, we've talked about this. It'll pay the student loans off faster, I'll be a lot more comfortable without that hanging over my head."

"Yeah..." Miraak paused, and looked at the picture on his desk. The graduation photo she'd taken with him three years ago. Things had been bad then, but not as bad as now. "Listen, are you free Tirdas, say, at eleven in the morning?"

"What for?"

"Granddad's dead. Dead dead, and his lawyer called me the other day to say we've been left something. You and me both."

"Why would he leave us anything?" Sadrith questioned, "When we cut ties with dad, he cut ties with us."

"I don't know, he just says we're in the will, thought I'd let you know. Are you free?"

"Yeah, but can you pick me up? I had to junk my car."

"How've you been--don't tell me you WALK to work!"

"Miraak, don't be silly. I don't walk to work. I walk BACK."

"At FOUR IN THE MORNING? In the neighborhood you live in--" For a few moments Miraak was practically hysterical, before calming down. "Yes. Yes, I'll pick you up."

"Miraak, I'm a Dovah. I have literally nothing to worry about. The crime stats in this neighborhood are incredibly overblown...." There was a pause of her own there. "Dad's going to be there, isn't he?"

"When has dad ever missed the opportunity to reach for some of his father's money?" Miraak gave a rueful laugh. "We should be glad Vile's office is small, he'll be forced into his mer-ish form."

"Good. ...good."

They said their goodbyes and Miraak hung up, heading back into the kitchen when he heard a shout.

-----------------------------------

Sadrith was usually outspoken, but any proximity to Alduin and she clammed right on up, giving answers as short as possible. Miraak figured he'd do the talking - it was how things had always worked when it came to their intimidating father.

It started when they were seated in the office, before Clavicus Vile entered. Their father's mer-ish form was tall, pale-skinned, and covered in several places in the black scales that showed he was only the disguise of the true dragon beneath.

"I suppose," came the glare from those slitted eyes Alduin favored, "That you are still making a spectacle of yourself in front of strangers?"

"That's my job, yes." Sadrith's tone was muted.

"Disgusting. You had many better options and that was--"

"Father," Miraak said in a warning tone. "We have talked this to death."

"The talk did not end when you decided it did."

"The talk is OVER, father." Miraak let an edge slip into his voice. "As I told you four years ago, we aren't fighting with you any longer."

"Weak," Alduin growled, nearly slipping into a Shout. "Nikriinne, ney hin."

(Sadrith, seated on Miraak's other side, had suddenly grabbed at his hand and squeezed. He squeezed back.)

"No, we are simply taking our ball and going home."

"Home to a common slum, no doubt, which is where you belong when you--"

"Ah, my dear dovah family!" The polite tone of Clavicus Vile sounded off then, "Apologies. My expertise was needed on an emergency matter...but here I am. Let us proceed to the reading of the will quickly, and not waste any more time."

The first part of Akatosh's will regarded his donations as expected to the church of the Nine Divines. Miraak could still hear his father's familiar ranting on the upstart Talos, but kept focused on the reading at hand.

The donations to various charities took up the first third of the will, and after a few small bequests to friends it then moved on to family.

"Let me begin by saying it is also part of this contract's terms that any attempt to contest the will, will result in partial forfeiture of ones own share."

"You daedric swine," Alduin growled again, this time at Clavicus Vile.

"And of course," Vile showed no signs of being afraid, "Threatening the lawyer's person will result in a consultation fee's worth of gold being cut from the threatener's share. Are we clear?"

Brimming with anger, Alduin sat back. Showing a bit of his fangs as he spoke, he replied, "We are clear."

Alduin retained a great deal of things. Dovah Manor, a trust fund, an insurance policy, the position in the company he'd filled for the last few decades. Still, it was less than he expected, and he said as much.

Clavicus Vile merely went on with the reading. To the two children of Alduin went a manor house in the upper east side of Solitude, and another in Ald'ruhn. If either of them wished not to occupy these houses, offers were already on hand for their sale. A joint trust fund, and individual sums of money - for the remainder of their student loans, and the Dovah Lounge, an Akaviri restaurant in Vivec City with an incredible reputation.

"Gods, the weight this'll take off my shoulders..." Sadrith breathed a long sigh of relief.

"Had you not insisted on dual-majoring in art, you would already have paid it off," Alduin snarked, "Art is for Dibellans, and you are a Dovah."

"Father," Miraak interjected.

"Alduin, if you don't mind, my paralegal--" Clavicus Vile gestured to a plump and rather nervous looking imperial woman, "Has paperwork for you to sign. If you don't wish to risk a conversation that will result in any losses, I highly recommend you get on that."

Still brimming with anger, Alduin left.

"Always angry, that one," Vile went on. "Now, decisions do not need to be made about the houses now..."

"What do you think?" Miraak asked Sadrith, "You want either of those houses?"

"Wouldn't mind living in Ald'ruhn again," she replied, "I don't imagine you'd care for being a nord in Dunmer territory, though."

"I've been in Ramsay's kitchen, there's nothing they can say that'll faze me," Miraak huffed. "I'd prefer to be close to the Dovah Lounge...that, that's a bit more to my taste than a house in Solitude. Provided you don't mind having your big brother in the same house over your shoulder all the time."

"With dad ready to shout us down at every chance, I WANT you there. He didn't care about us before, he'll 'care' now. I'd...rather have you close."

"Does this mean you'll want to be rid of the house in Solitude?" Vile asked.

Miraak and Sadrith both nodded, and the lawyer drew out another envelope. "A list of contacts for you, then, of those who are interested in its sale. And may I say..."

"If we ever need a contract written, you're available. We know," Sadrith said, "How much did you get out of our grandfather for this will?"

"Enough," Vile said with a smile, "But he knew if he wanted something Alduin couldn't find loopholes in he needed to come to me. I am the best choice for writing ironclad contracts - period."

----------------------------------

It was a breath of fresh (ashy) air, going back to Ald'ruhn. They hadn't been back in years; when they were a lot younger Alduin hadn't much cared for the ash-blasted city of Ald'ruhn. But it felt - right, to Sadrith, it felt like home. The foul weather outside was nice to watch from inside.

Miraak, of course, wore his mask outside, and only lifted it once he'd come inside.

"How you can feel at home here, I don't know," he laughed, "I feel like I've smoked two packs even with the mask on my face...but I guess your mother took you here often enough."

"When dad was...a bit too much. Before she..." There was a pause. "She said here it didn't matter, everything would turn to ash anyway, that it was pretty to watch."

Another pause.

"Do you think you'd want me waiting tables at the lounge?"

"Thought you didn't want to work for me."

"That was before. The loan's paid off. I can actually breathe." Sadrith took a mocking sort of deep breath, and coughed slightly as she inhaled the slightest bit of ash. "I hated stripping but I was making a fortune doing it."

The evening news here seemed to be handled by some dunmer who also wore a mask, and he looked only long enough to see the weather tomorrow was going to be ashy but sunny in both Ald'ruhn and Vivec City.

Good. It would make things a lot easier.

Miraak put a blanket over Sadrith when he realized she'd fallen asleep and then headed to the kitchen to see what was in the fridge.