The Archmage teleports the two of us to his chambers and takes a seat while pointing me to another one.
As he sits down he takes out a bottle of mead and takes a long swig.
We sit in silence for a minute before I decide to ask, half-joking "Alright, how fucked am I?"
Savos stares at me for a bit and shakes his head, running his hand through his hair "Honestly, I am not sure what to do with you right now Reyvin. On the one hand, I would have done the same, or worse in your position." Understandable "On another, you did torture and force into service a fellow student of yours."
I let out a long sigh and say "I would have preferred to keep her as a friend to this."
I shake my head "Unfortunately, reality is often disappointing... the moment her father decided to try and enslave me was the moment that he died, inevitably ruining said friendship. If she warned me I would have been far more lenient, but she didn't care one bit, so I have decided that I will give her the same treatment."
He takes another swig of his drink and is silent for a time.
Finally, he says "Well, at the end of the day you didn't permanently harm her, just ruined her life probably." He snorts self-deprecatingly.
I suddenly get the feeling that he is saying this more because he has to than him really caring about Edrasa's fate... that is rather odd. Why would I know that?
I take a suspicious look at my system and there sits the answer.
[Trait gained: Mephala's blessing: You are able to sense the motivations of others and have an easier time hiding your own.] Yup, that'd do it.
Deciding to shelve those thoughts for later I explain with fake compassion "I wouldn't go so far as saying I ruined her life, she will still own the tower and possibly have some servants, and while I did force her into my service it doesn't mean I plan on torturing her as some form of sick revenge."
Savos slowly nods "Fine, while I don't like the way you went about your business with her you were technically within your right..... I will leave this alone for now, gods know I have tolerated far worse from my students before, just try and keep any future drama to a minimum, please?"
I snort "We both know I didn't choose this Archmage."
"Just please try and not make any more work for me Reyvin" he grumbles.
Ah, so that is the actual issue here. I almost laugh when I realize this.
"Sure sure, wouldn't want to take time from your experiments eh old man?"
He rolls his eyes "Off you go, you have a mess to clean up"
That I do, I stand up and turn to leave.
Just as I am about to leave the room I hear behind me "And I want my ring back by tomorrow at the latest!"
I chuckle "Sure old man, I'll try and keep it at least somewhat intact"
I hear a 'HEY!' behind me but I am already skulking away.
------------------------
(General pov)
Deciding that he really doesn't want to deal with a million questions from his colleagues, Reyvin sneaks out of the college grounds as best he can, his first destination is the guard house where he left Edrasa.
As soon as he enters, he sees all the guards that helped him attack the Telvanni compound inside, they turn to him and greet him with a cheer. Reyvin approaches Thorgrim and asks "Seeing as you are all sitting here in good cheer, Hjolmir didn't make any problems for you?"
The old Nord grunts "No, the moment you informed him that the fucker was the one to kill Korir we were all suddenly too drunk to remember doing anything today and he was inclined to believed us. We were let off with some extra training."
The Dunmer laughs "Truly, Nord mead is one hell of a drink" everyone joins him in laughter, and after a bit he speaks again "All right lads, tonight we will meet at the inn, my treat for everyone." they give him the expected reaction and he goes on "But first I have to deal with the aftermath of everything, so I will be seeing you." He receives nods from everyone and walk toward Edrasa, who is sitting in the corner, a somewhat dead look on her face.
Reyvin approaches her and signals her to follow him, she does so reluctantly and they walk outside.
After a bit of walking Reyvin speaks up, still feeling a bit vindictive "So, still think I can't kill a great Telvanni Master?"
She sighs "What do you want me to say Reyvin? Congratulations on killing my fater?" she seems completely done with life, but Reyvin senses that it is more to do with her now actually having to work to live instead of her father dying.
His new sense will take some getting used to.
Reyvin rolls his eyes "No, that is not what I want. I don't for a second regret what I did but I do regret having to do it."
He then says in a falsely sad tone "We were after all becoming friends and now that is forever ruined due to your fathers foolishness." He shakes his head "What I do want now is to deal with the aftermath of everything and make the best of this situation."
Edrasa chuckles dryly "Oh yes, make the best of taking my family fortune and my servants, how very generous of you my Lord" the 'Lord' she says with utmost sarcasm.
He scoffs "Oh please, it's not like I am going to keep you from your father's knowledge. Just because you always had everything handed to you doesn't mean that you can't learn how to actually get your own wealth and power"
She gives him an incredulous look "What, do you expect me to become a Master in a year?"
Reyvin snorts "Not with that attitude. In any case, what I do want you to do is actually get serious with your magic training, the whole Lord thing is mostly ceremonial for now, but I will not have anyone in my house be a spoiled princess, of that much I can assure you"
Edrasa goes to give another sarcastic comment, but one stern look from Reyvin is enough to remind her that they were no longer equals.
It is at this moment that the new reality of her life finally clicks in her mind.
She gives a defeated nod and they continue walking toward the tower.
When they arrive they are met with four Nord guards and the servants milling about the compound, there are about ten of them with six looking completely out of it.
Reyvin approaches the bored looking Nords and says "Thank you for staying boys, I'll take over from here"
The lead guard seems relieved and says "Aye flame-tongue we'll leave you to it" and they walk off.
The heir of Dagoth turns toward the servants, coughs to get their attention and speaks up imperiously "I regret to inform you all that your master has offended someone he shouldn't have, and has thusly received his due punishment."
He sees a mix of relief and disbelief on their faces.
His gaze then turns compassionate "Now since this might cause turmoil in your lives I have decided to offer employment to all of you." before they can answer he continues with a stern look "Before you give your answer I want to know who among you was involved in your previous master's eating habits, know that if you hide anything the punishment will not be light"
One of the coherent servants fearfully stands in front of them all and says "It was the one you impaled Serjo, he was the only one that was ever allowed into ma-" he goes to say master but corrects himself "Dyrren's private rooms, even the young Lady Edrasa wasn't allowed there."
Reyvin senses no lies and nods "Very well, so who among you is interested in following me?"
The same servant asks with surprise "You are giving us a choice?"
Reyvin raises an eyebrow "While my robes are inspired by Telvanni fashion, I assure you I am not a member of that house. So yes you do have a choice in following me or remaining in miss Moabain's service"
They mutter among each other before the spokesman turns back to him "And what would we be doing for you? if you don't mind me asking Serjo"
"I plan on opening a rather sizeable inn with a bathhouse" He responds, and quickly adds "Before someone asks no it will not be a disguised whorehouse. I am also building a mansion for myself and will need someone to keep the place clean. naturally you will be given fair compensation for your work."
The servants go back to talking among each other again, and after a good five minutes of debate, with even the broken ones nodding absently. The lead servant returns "While two of the maids would like to remain in Lady Edrassa's service, the rest of us are willing to follow you"
Reyvin nods, satisfied "Good, you may pack up and come to the north-western part of town. A part of the inn has already been built, so you can stay there. We will discuss payment and other conditions in more detail when I am done here."
The servants quickly get to packing up, showing a great amount of eagerness to get out of there.
Reyvin senses that all of them just want to get out of this 'cursed' place, and from what he overhears from the two maids and Edrasa, they seem to have practically raised her so they chose to stay.
After he confirms that they are all getting busy, he turns toward the tower.
'Time to loot this place for all it is worth'
----------------------------
If you have enjoyed reading this donate a stone for the reconstruction of the sixth house.
If you want to support me directly and get access to 20ish chapters in advance visit my patreon page patreon .com/Rastislav156