#morrowind enquirer headlines lol

[aladaylessecondblog]

Red Mountain Waffle House pt. 16

DAGOTH FAMILY SCHISM! BRUTAL PUNISHMENT FOR UNKNOWN INSULT!

Sources close to the Dagoth Family state that Dagoth Gilvoth has fallen out of favor with the rest of his kin. When asked why, one source said, 'He thought he spoke for Lord Dagoth, and he pays the consequences. Not permanently - this House does not dispose of useful members - but retribution comes regardless.'

One has to wonder what grave sin could prompt such a thing considering the general state of the Sixth House, but more than that the source refused to say.

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Helseth was a man prone to paranoia. Anyone who had the foolishness to count him a friend knew to walk slowly when beside him, for he always had an ear out to hear little sounds of expected assassins or eavesdroppers. Or to listen out for things that might be useful to himself...

...every unknown factor was potentially useful or potentially deadly for him. He had made his rise this way, and so, he imagined, he might avoid his fall.

So it was rather galling, he thought, when he saw his mother's retinue approaching with a stranger in tow. He looked over her with no small amount of consternation, glared even, but she didn't seem fazed by it. Perhaps a bit tired. The woman lowered her gaze and gave a slight bow, and that was all.

Helseth greeted his mother, "Your journey was delayed, I was beginning to worry."

"A rough blight storm struck while we were sailing back, and we had to take shelter for a time. This young woman--"

"You aren't taking in urchins again, are you, mother?" Helseth grumbled, "You know that can be dangerous."

"I am not an urchin!" the new woman protested, and then realizing her rudeness, added, "Your grace."

"Really...what are you then?"

"Only another Hlaalu--" Her voice choked slightly there, "--taking a job offered to me by the Queen Mother, your grace."

"I see. Well, expect your background investigated, as with any job. This is the palace, not some backwater--"

Barenziah gave the woman a look. The latter nodded, and kept her gaze downward.

Then his mother looked back at him.

"I can spare you the time and the trouble. This is Sadara, the missing woman whom the papers have made such a fuss over."

"The Dagoth bride?" Then Helseth looked harshly back. "Why are you here?"

"Avoiding those who do not wish to see me, your grace," Sadara went on. "The family made it clear I am unsuitable and all I want is to be left in peace, until the annulment goes through."

"...I see. You may go - but my people will be keeping an eye on you."

His gaze lingered on her as she walked along with Barenziah down the hall. The Dagoth bride, clearly so dear to the House itself, seemed to be under the impression she was unwanted. The schism within the House...and Nerevar, being now alive, clearly looking for her...she was dear to at least some of them. To keep her there in Mournhold could be handy, to ensure House Dagoth cooperated.

If Lord Vivec could not find a way to keep the Dagoths on a leash, then it was up to him.

Helseth decided he would welcome the woman.

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VIVEC CAUGHT CHEATING! ALMALEXIA HUMILIATED - SEE SECRET PHOTOS INSIDE!

[The picture is taken from a distance, from the back. Vivec is leaning into a kiss with someone inside the building, grasping a boxy necklace of theirs to pull them into it. Nothing of the person's face can be seen except a Dwemer-fashion beard.]

Almalexia was many things, looking at that picture. Furious foremost among them - but humiliated? No. No, she was never that, that was for lesser women. Women like HER did not slow their schemes long enough to be petty things like humiliated.

No. She would not be cast down like this, she would find a way to take vengeance. What did it matter if Vivec had thrown her over for that atrocious first love of his? What did it matter that Neht had done the same?

She was so consumed with the headline she didn't hear the footsteps that approached the newsstand she was standing near. She did hear the voice that followed.

"I'm here for the Queen Mother's order."

Almalexia whipped around--

Sadara? What was THAT woman doing HERE? She'd thought the woman wouldn't be leaving Red Mountain - the headlines said she was missing, but those hadn't been paid much attention.

"The Queen Mother can't resist Black Marsh cigars, can she?" the clerk laughed, and once Sadara produced her identification and the paper detailing Barenziah's order, in turn produced a fancy looking box with a Black Marsh seal on the top. "She's paid ahead of time, so no need for extra now."

"Thank you, serjo," Sadara said. She bought a pack of gum, turned--and paled when she saw Almalexia. "L-Lady Almalexia."

"And WHAT--" Almalexia's tone went and stayed sharp, "--are you doing HERE, exactly? Do the Dagoths give you nothing, and force you to make a living on your own?"

"Why should they be giving me anything?" Sadara asked. The woman was shaking. "I don't want any trouble, my lady, I'm simply trying to stay out of everyone's way. The Dagoths don't want me there because they've got Nerevar, so I've got to make a living somehow."

"Don't want you there? But they're l--"

Almalexia paused suddenly, and then let a falsely genial smile spread across her face. On a septim she turned.

"The Dagoths are a rather brutish house, aren't they? They dangle the promise of love in front of you and snatch it away the moment you think you have found your place. Come, I bear you no ill will--we can start afresh, you and I."

Oh, this will be EASY, Almalexia thought to herself.