Skryim III: The Dawnguard Wars.

Part Eleven: Reading the Scroll.

The members of Harkon's court snickered and jeered as Dexion Evicus walked through behind Serana and I. He had no emotion, as if he didn't know he was walking through a den of predators and killers.  I saw Harkon clap in approval, "Ahh....very good. You have brought us the Moth Priest! Well done, my daughter. Well done, Taniiaae. You are proving yourself to be a fine member of our family." 
 Serana held her head up high but I could tell by how stiff she became how unimpressed she truly was. She didn't seem to agree with her father or his court. I play the part of a doting servant and bow my head. "Of course, my lord." I say.  In reality, I want to vomit....but I didn't think I could anymore.  Harkon stepped towards the Moth Priest, his advisors never out of sight. He looked at the man and smirked. "Are you ready to do my bidding, blood bag?" 
Dexion gave a slight nod, not from fear but out of duty. "Yes, my lord. I will do whatever you ask of me."  
Harkon smiled and looked at his advisors. "See, Vingalmo, Orthjolf? I told you that our newest member of our family was competent enough to find me my Moth Priest."  
  I see Vingalmo give me a nasty smile....but Orthjolf glared at me in hatred. Apparently he had seen how Vingalmo was clinging to me.   My eyes drift towards Harkon as he snaps his fingers and Garan walks over, holding the Elder Scroll. He hands it to the Moth Priest as Harkon commands. "Now, read it and tell me what it says."  
 Dexion takes it and opens the scroll. A bright light illuminates from the parchment as Dexion recites, "I see a vision before me, an image of a great bow. Auriel's Bow!" I turn to Harkon as The Priest reads the Scroll. A smile grows across his face, and his yellow eyes glint.  When Dexion sets down the scroll, his eyes seem still, glassy, unseeing. "In order to continue the prophecy, we need the other half of this Dragon Scroll.....the Scroll of Blood." He says, emotionless. Harkon's smile disappears and he glares. "This scroll only gave us half the prophecy! We know we need Auriel's Bow, but there was no conclusion on what we needed for it to work!" He turns to face Vingalmo and Orthjolf. "I knew we needed the other Scroll. My wretched wife had taken it...when she took my daughter from me." He says, covering his eyes with a hand. I look at Serana, who is unresponsive, watching her father with blank eyes.   
"We must find that Scroll....." Harkon says, turning to me, and then the rest of the court. "But first, we must find Auriel's Bow. If we can find that first, then we can go after the Scroll after.." He looked at Garan, who shared a look of understanding before he bowed his head, and took  Dexion Evicus down towards the kitchens....and the dungeon. 
  "May I ask, what are you going to do with my thrall?" I ask, taking a step forward.  "Taniiaae, what are you doing?" Serana whispered. 
 Harkon raised his hand towards Garan and smiled at me. "Do you not want to share your Thrall with the court?" He said, a hint of malice in his voice.   I clear my voice. "The Moth Priest is my thrall, my servant. I want him...."  What I didn't say was that I wanted to make sure he was safe and not bled out by my fellows. Harkon nods and then waves his hand as Garan releases the moth priest towards me. The Moth Priest's eyes are still and he says in a dreamlike voice, "I appreciated your kindness, Mistress, but I live to serve you." 
I try to see if there is any motion behind his eyes, but there is none. So I say, "Then serve me, I will speak to you of your duties in private." 
    I turn to see Ronthil watching from his alchemy room that he shares with Feran when I say. "For now, I want him to help serve Ronthil in his duties." I say, with authority...or try to speak with it.
Ronthil's eyes widened and Feran nodded. "Anything to help the boy keep his head out of the clouds and make him more useful is fine with me."   I was surprised by his answer, but I keep my face passive. I nod at Feran who timidly showed the Moth Priest to where he would be working. I turn to see Vingalmo eyeing me before I turn my head away.  I feel his cold grip on my arm and he whispers in my ear. "You are very impressive....are you not?"  
"I don't know what you are talking about." I say, pulling my arm out of his grip. If I was wasn't a vampire, I knew his grasp would of bruised. 
  His red eyes glimmer, and my breath hitches. I can see little traces of Vulono in this man. I wonder how far back this evil ran in our bloodline. "You should meet me in the Cathedral....I want to speak to you about something...something a little too delicate for other ears, hmmm?" My eyes drift over to Serana, who has a chalice of blood in her hand. She gives me a worried expression as I nod at the elf. "Of course."

      The Shrine to Molag Bal glows an eerie red. The blood drains from some unknown source from the mouth piece into the basin.  Vingalmo stands by the bloody shrine as I enter the Cathedral.   I keep my distance from him as he takes a couple steps down towards me. "You have caught the eye of several members of our court, young blood."  I look around room, searching for anyone else. When I see no one, Vingalmo gives me a sly smile. "I assure you, it is only you and I in this place." 
  I lift my chin. "What do you want, Vingalmo?"  
His smile broadened. "I hear that you have a husband on the other side of these walls.....I can periodically smell him on you." 
 I lunge at the Altmer and snarl as he holds my arms against his face. Fear grips my insides. "What is it to you?" I sneer. Vingalmo pushes me back roughly and adjusts his composure, "So protective." He murmurs.  He tilts his head, "As I was saying, and you just proved, you have a spouse. I wanted to give you the opportunity of letting him join our little family here.....I'm giving you the privilege to share our Lord Harkon's blood with him."  
  My mouth drops open, I have no words. Sinding, being given the opportunity to become a Vampire....I couldn't do it to him. Not after what he went through to be cured of lycanthropy, but...I would need to talk to him first.  "How?" My voice is barely a whisper. 
"Much like what happened with you, my dear." Vingalmo says, "Embrace him with the kiss of death, or in plan speech, bite his neck with your fangs and wait for his transformation to be complete."   
  "But why? Why would you offer something like this to me?" I say, shaking my head in disbelief. 
Vingalmo smiles. "We are family aren't we?" 
I have a sick feeling in my gut thinking about it before I realized he meant part of this Vampiric Coven, not that  I was actually kin to him.  I don't respond, so he says, "Consider it. We may need more on our side if things get...complicated."
Before I can ask what he meant, he slid by me as the door to the Cathedral opened and Serana stood in the dimly lit doorway. Vingalmo bows to her and slides by her without so much of a word as she approaches me. "Are you alright, friend?"   
  I feel slightly dazed as I nod.  
She looks towards the hall and whispers, "What did he say to you?" 
I meet her gaze and said, "He is offering me the chance to turn Sinding into one of us."