The Cure For Curie (Complete!)

A Warm Place

"Come to me." The voice whispered, almost seductively.

Lilelle tried to follow the commands but her body held fast. She felt like she was floating in dark water, but it was thicker, she couldn't move at all. She wasn't afraid, though, of this strange dark place. She felt safe here, warm, comforted.

"Lilelle." The voice beckoned once again, the woman's accent strange and foriegn to her. "Come to me, child."

A light flickered at the end of her vision, growing slowly. No. Not growing, she was moving. Inching ever onward at a pace she almost couldn't perceive. She closed her red eyes as she drifted away, carried by a current of peace.

"Come my child. Come and live in my embrace for eternity."

The warm glow of the light wrapped around her, closing her off from the darkness she had come from. Love hugged every inch of her body, she never wanted to leave. She had grown so tired of all the fighting. All the hopeless that seemed to look to her for answers. She had thought she had found peace when she had slain the mighty Alduin in Sovngarde.

It was a foolish thought. There would always be another monster to slay. There would always be another offended god to appease. Another king too hungry for power. She was just one Dunmer woman. Who was she to always save the world? Wasn't she allowed to know peace? Hadn't she earned her rest? She would miss her husband, but she knew she would see him again. For now, she wanted to remain here. Live in the soft supple glow of eternity's kiss.

"You wish to remain here, yes?" The voice asked. Lilelle could feel it's hot breath on her neck.

"I do. Please, let me stay." She pleaded.

"For now, my child. You may remain in my bosom, but you must return."

"But why? I no longer wish to fight. There is no point to it any longer."

"You have to fight, dear. It is in your nature to help those who cannot. I have seen many warriors, all feel my love eventually, but you are different. You need to return to your world, help those who are suffering. You are meant to succeed where others cannot."

"Will you let me return here? Once I've served my purpose." Lilelle asked hopeful. The voice was a long time in answering. She didn't mind though, the longer she could stay here in the light, the better.

"I cannot say for certain. We will meet again, of that much I can promise."

Lilelle felt herself shift away from the light, back into the thick sea of darkness. She tried to reach out but it was no use, in a blink it was gone. The woman was gone. She curled up into herself and wept. This abyss was suffocating compared to the love she had just felt. She was utterly, completely alone here.

                               -----

"Rorlund, what the hell happened?" Cosnach yelled, slamming his fist against the wall.

"Please, I'm afraid I don't know how this has happened. That man was alive when he arrived here, if barely." The High Priest was shaking in fear of the man before him and the betrayal of his sanctuary.

"Then explain to me how a man just explodes into dust if he is alive in the first place? You know damn well he was being controlled like some meat puppet to kill my wife." Cosnach was barely in control of his rage. He wanted answers, he wanted revenge. Someone would pay for this.

"It is possible, most likely, that the man was spelled before he escaped. Once he died, the mage would have had control completely." Rorlund mused as he cast a spell over the ashes.

"It all seems too convenient, if you ask me. It looks an awful lot like a trap." Cosnach replied cooling a bit.

"I suppose it's possible, necromancers aren't known to play by the rules. It seems they missed their chance to kill the Dragonborn, however."

Cosnach huffed in jest at the thought. He had heard the muffled words of the man screaming before he could get into the room. He knew that the mages who planned this had to be smarter than that. A small injured man with a dagger was simply no match for his wife, a true warrior. No, they wanted something from her and he knew they wouldn't stop until they got it. Lucky for him, he knew what it was, that damned book.

"I want Lilelle moved to Proudspire immediately." Cosnach said as he started working on a plan in his mind. He raised his hand when Rorlund opened his mouth to protest. "Jordis will be there to watch over her. Your priests can heal her there, I will pay whatever extra I need to."

"Cosnach, please, you know we don't heal for profit. I don't think it's wise to move the Jarl, but I understand your need for caution in light of recent events." The priest answered waving a hand towards the pile of ash still smouldering.

Cosnach nodded and headed up the stairs to retrieve his wife. He stopped at Freir, asking her to grab some guards from the courtyard to help aid the move. In a flash, without question, the Nord dashed out the door. He walked up the stairs to the private quarters and saw her laying there.

He stopped in his tracks, his breath gone from him at that moment. The love of his life lay across the room, bloodied and broken, so still. Her shallow breath of life, the only proof he had that she could come back to him. None of it seemed real. So helpless and quiet, her gray skin sunken and bruised. Her long black hair lay matted across her face covered in blood from her head wound. Damn them! They would pay for this, he would make sure of it.

He stumbled as he tried to climb the last stair, falling to his knees. This couldn't be, he muttered to himself. He closed his eyes, breathing deep. He needed to be strong, for her. She couldn't know he was so weak, he would be brave. He would be the warrior she deserved. He stood, legs shaking at first. With his chin held high, he lifted his wife off the bed. He kissed her cold blue lips and whispered in her pointed ear,

"Come back to me."