Elden Ring: Putrefaction of Gold

The Offspring of Queen Marika

Radagon looked out through the night sky at the Erdtree. Even as far away as Leyndell it was, it always appeared close, looming over the entire Lands-Between.

He sighed as he considered her and how she might react to the recent turn of events. It was strange to refer to the queen as though she were another entity from him. They were one and the same, yet Radagon imagined, even wished, that he was someone else.

Parts of Radagon wanted to reveal this to everyone. He could have screamed it to the skies if he had to, but he refrained. The Golden Order couldn't afford its dogma to be undermined by something like the truth. If Radagon was to be a god, as his other half already was, it was for him to put the Golden Order above all things, including the truth.

Wrestling under the sheets pulled Radagon's attention away from the Erdtree and to the bed where the beautiful young queen slept.

Radagon never intended things to go as far as they did. Rennala called him to her chambers, as she often did without incident, so the two could discuss strategies to negotiate with that "semi-barbaric queen" Marika. Rennala wanted to understand this queen: this stranger from a land far away who proclaimed herself a goddess. Was it the truth or mere hubris? Was her nature always to destroy, or was there a seed of reason within her that they might touch?

Their frequent conversations turned from the official business of brokering peace to discussions of their personal lives. Before Radagon knew it, he had gone from giving Rennala his counsel to sharing her bed.

Radagon's hand still shook as he touched Rennala's pale skin and rubbed his hand across her thigh. She smiled, showing she was never really asleep, and said, "Thine lips can start right about there, my love."

"I'm afraid doing so is a sin," replied Radagon.

"Then sin again, my beloved," she said.

Those words were uncomfortable. Radagon had never abandoned his duty in favor of anything before. He always supposed that as long as he had both his faith and his god, he had enough and no right to ask for more. He was the other part of a God. And for all intended purposes, her chosen champion to tame the insufferable Liurnians. And yet, when faced with temptation, Radagon was helpless to resist.

Rennala rolled to her back, revealing her bare torso, as she placed her hand on Radagon's cheek.

"I understand risk, Radagon," said Rennala. I make commands to my own soldiers, and I expect nothing less than their full obedience. I hope they tremble as thou hast at the thought of betraying their queen."

"More than a queen. She is a goddess," said Radagon.

"Hush, now!" hissed Rennla. "In this chamber, there is only one who rules. One voice thou must heed here: Mine. Though I may not be a goddess, it is I who loves thee, Radagon. Now, come and embrace me."

With that, Radagon laid his nude body over her as he placed kisses against her cheek and neck.

Never in his eternal life would Radagon suspect the son conceived of that once forbidden union stand before him on trial. Less, he thought that his stepson, beloved by all who saw him, would compel the same treatment as traitors: To stand before the throne of Elden Lord and answer for their crimes.

As Radahn and Godwyn stood beside each other, they kept making disgusted glances at each other. These men hated each other, yet there was no reason they should. Radahn was an admirer of Godwyn's father. It was easy for Radagon to think they ought to embrace each other in friendship. Yet, here, they fought as though they could win the approval of a man who wasn't even there.

"Ye both ought to be ashamed of what ye have done," said Radagon. "It is by no means befitting of those who profess to call themselves the offspring of Queen Marika."