236 Chapter XL: Mephala's Reward

The large trade ship slowly nestled its way into Winterhold's still sleepy docks, the familiar morning fog bringing an involuntary smile to my face as I beheld the massive college which only I could see the true beauty of. 

My enraptured gazing was brought to a swift end, however, when the jolly fat captain whom I hired for this voyage made his way toward me, his legs surprisingly steady for his... immense girth.

"It never fails to bring a sense of wonder to one's heart, no?" The Imperial man says in greeting.

"You have no idea." I say while turning around "You have my thanks for the ride, Captain Avinius. As agreed, you and your men can enjoy my hospitality free of charge." Before he can say anything I quickly add "Just make sure none of them do something... regrettable in their celebration."

"But of course, Lord Reyvin." He bows as much as his bulbous form would allow "My men shall be the picture of decorum." He quickly looks up toward the dock and offers a practiced apologetic smile "Ah but I must leave you now, we will be docking within ten minutes."

"At your leisure, Captain." I offer him a nod and return to looking at my home.

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"Will that be all, Karsus?" I ask as I finish signing yet another delivery order for my ever expanding enterprise.

My personal Steward bows "That is all for today, my lord. I wish you a pleasant evening."

As he leaves me alone I lean back into my chair and let out a contented sigh.

Our arrival back to Winterhold was a relatively subdued affair, all things considered. Most of my subjects just wanted to take some time off and rest, while Serana wanted to retreat to the library due to a sudden bout of inspiration she had when she saw me playing around with restoration magic and realized she could actually cast it now.

I shudder at the thought of the monster I've inadvertently created.

Speaking of monsters, the massive spider from Markarth was successfully transported without anyone noticing and was now nesting in the lowest reaches of my underground base. I could not wait to start blasting the disgusting creature with rituals and see what came out!

Back onto less dread-inducing topics, I spent most of my day completing the large backlog of documentation that was waiting for my signature. Karsus' work was impeccable so I only had to do so much but it still surprised me just how much paperwork had to be done when running an expanding enterprise.

Not that I minded at all, such work could even be relaxing from time to time, it was like watching your treasury fill up in real time, in small dosages, of course.

The world, being what it was, did not deign to let me relax for long however, as a sudden feeling of foreign anticipation scratched at my senses.

At least she announced herself this time...

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Resigning myself to my fate I allowed myself to blink and the scene of my study was replaced with its enwebbed copy in the realm of the Daedra, my guest appearing right in my lap, her hands snaking over my shoulders and her face contorted into a cheeky yet still wildly seductive smile.

I deadpanned at her and refused to acknowledge her presence any further until she got her ass off of me.

She pouted but did finally get up after a bit, elegantly dusting herself off she spoke "You know, a lady might think herself unwanted if she is always welcomed with such eyes."

"Says the one who decided to barge into my life without an invitation." My deadpan expression doesn't even twitch.

"Part of your life, am I? " She teases and pretends to swoon "How bold!"

"And a good evening to you, Prince Mephala." I finally let my bored facade crack as I incline my head in greeting "What brings you here?"

"Your reward of course." She responds happily "Don't tell me you forgot."

"Priorities" I shrug "Though now that you mention it, what happened to the mace?"

Mephala places a finger over her mouth and winks "Now that would be telling."

I raise an eyebrow but quickly realizing that she wasn't about to spill the beans I shrug once more "Fair enough." Might as well focus on something useful "What kind of reward were you planning to give me then?"

"Eager, are we?" She teases before snapping her fingers and making what looked like an incredibly attractive Dunmer woman wearing a beautiful but not eye-catching dress and armed with numerous hidden knives next to her.

What drew my attention however were the woman's vacant eyes.

"And this is?" I ask disinterestedly.

"This" Mephala says grandly "Is Mephys."

"...And?" I raise an eyebrow.

"You really can be difficult sometimes." She pouts but doesn't seem truly irritated "As I was saying, this is Mephys, what you may call a... blank slate. A servant you can mold however you desire that will serve your every. single need."

"Ah yes, because looking at a brainded Mer is no doubt going to make me want to ravish her." I deadpan at Mephala's suggestive tone.

The Daedra giggles melodiously "Do not worry, she isn't as useless as you might imagine. She is in fact rather powerful and will be able to sniff out any and all assassins on mere instinct alone."

"Getting warmer, my Prince." I quip "Though why did you choose to... give her to me specifically?"

"Now that, my dear, is a surprise." She winks.

"Of course." I deadpan again "Fine, not like I am not going to have a use for her."

Just out of paranoia I give the woman construct thing a quick scan with my magic, and another with my system for good measure. 

I pointedly do not react to what I find.

"That is great to hear, dear." Mephala smiles and snaps her fingers.

I get the contract notification which is worded clearly for once, the lengths that she was willing to go for her little trick to work would have been funny if not for the constant spiking of my paranoia happening at the same time.

I offer my mental assent and the constru- or Mephys I guess, offers me a deep bow as we both feel the distant connection fall into place.

"My thanks for your gift, Prince Mephala." I say after a beat of silence.

"I did say it would be a gift for the both of us" She winks "Do make sure to summon her as soon as possible, I must return to my domain now."

"Have a pleasurable day" I offer and the vision ends.

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I blink once again, now staring at the no longer web covered walls of my study and let out a truly tired sigh. I hoped that whatever Mephala was merely something along the lines of her usual thottery because I was not about to walk into her scheme unprepared.

With a flick of my hand, the Staff of Magnus appears in my grasp already glowing with its near-divine power, and like a wave starting from myself hundreds upon hundreds of minuscule Magnusite runes start covering the floor and walls, and even the ceiling after a while.

My room became a complete and utter deathtrap meant to direct the entirety of the power I could extract from the Eye of Magnus at whoever found themselves in its center.

Taking a deep breath I center myself and mentally invoke my connection with my newest summon.

Less than a heartbeat later Mephys simply blinks into existence at the center of my room, looking far more animated and alive than the last time I saw her. Though her amused expression shifts into one of surprise as the entire room starts glowing with power, all of it aimed straight at her.

With narrowed eyes and a proverbial twitching trigger finger I calmly ask "Kindly explain to me what exactly you are trying to do here or I will make what happened with Meridia seem like a fucking joke."

Mephys, or more accurately the small fragment of Mephala blinks in surprise before her face is overtaken with a rapturous expression "Oh you just keep on getting better and better..." She mumbles to herself, the hunger in her voice evident.

"Mephala." I grit out "Explain."

"What is there to explain?" She tilts her head, completely uncaring about the mass of magic aimed at her "I wanted to have some fun and help you in the process, is that so wrong?"

"Ah yes" My eye twitches "Help me by using me to enter the world and do as you will."

She scoffs lightly "Come now, Reyvin. You know well enough that I can only use so much of my power to influence the world before that annoying dragon interferes. Besides, I did not lie when I said I wanted to help you."

"Not lying." I drawl "Like you didn't lie when you failed to inform me of my 'new servant's' more quirky features."

"I simply forgot." She smiles sunnily.

I exhale heavily before allowing a smirk to form on my face "You seem to have failed to take one little thing into account with your little plan."

"Oh?" She leans in, genuinely curious.

Instead of answering her I send a mental command toward her body and without any control from the fragment of the Daedra itself it immediately takes a seat. I would have been smug as all hell if not for the entertained glint in her eyes that followed.

"Oh my" Mephala gasps falsely "It seems I am at your mercy."

"You wanted this." I say flatly, and with a fair bit of disgust.

"I am certain I have no idea what you are talking about, dear." The unmoving Daedra says cheekily.

I stare at her for a while without uttering a word before slowly palming my face and letting out a tired groan "Apparently I forgot just who I was dealing with."

"The folly of youth." Mephala sighs dramatically.

"Whatever" I roll my eyes and deactivate the ward array, allowing the runes to dissipate and the stone bricks to return to their original, unmarred forms.

Mephala tilts her head "I expected a bit more resistance if I am being honest."

"Would it have changed anything?" I ask blandly.

"No." Is her cheerful response.

A quiet knocking on my doors interrupts our conversation and a moment later Davos enters my study, his eyes immediately landing on the seated Daedra "I didn't see any guests enter." He mutters, a bit alarmed.

"This one is rather special." I say wryly, earning a beaming smile from my guest "Davos, this is Mephys. An... important guest."

He merely offers a disinterested nod and a bland "A pleasure." Though I do notice him taking in each and every bit of information he could gather from her presence, his mild disrespect probably an attempt of getting anything out of her.

"What did you need, Davos?" I ask him, ignoring the incredibly amused Daedric Prince currently planning on how best to scare the shit out of my right hand man.

"A Nord scholar of some repute by the name of Katria wants to see you, says she has information about some kind of old Dwemer secret and wants your cooperation in finding it."

'Katria... Katria... hmmmm....' I scratch my chin thoughtfully.

'It's the magic uranium' Scorch informs me after a moment.

'That one?' I blink, my rapidly changing expression no doubt entertaining my guest greatly.

Seeing no reason to deny her I nodded at Davos "Send her up."

"Sure thing, boss." He salutes.

But just as he is about to leave 'Mephys' speaks up "My thanks for your hospitality, Lord Dagoth. I am tired and need some rest, would you please let your man here lead me to a place to stay?"

Davos immediately gives her an odd look, his own paranoia no doubt spiking like mad.

But unfortunately for him I have had waaay too much Daedric bullshit for one day so I simply say "But of course. Davos, escort the fair lady to one of the servants rooms." Earning myself an amused snort from the rogue.

'Poor guy, he has no idea what he is getting himself into' Scorch 'laments'.

'Mephys'' Eye twitches but she doesn't say anything.

Oh no, she was far too entertained by the prospect of fucking with Davos to even bother pretending to care about her accommodations. Probably had something to do with the fact that she could retreat the fragment of her consciousness from that body at will.

As the two leave I send a quick prayer to the gods for Davos' safety and lean back into my chair, massaging a burgeoning headache.

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The stones on this woman...

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