Half way through the ride, Evelyn ends up falling asleep. Her head on Artemis lap. Not that he minds, for the most part. Though he leans away anytime there's a bump in the road. Last thing he needs is for her to ram into a certain part of his body. Jarlaxle is watching out the window, they had past the border ages ago. "So my friend, are you really up for this type of life?" Jarlaxle is a player, he's never denied as such. But he always did his best to make sure to not leave any 'surprises' behind. Not that it matters now that he's here. He watches his friend as he looks down. "Can't say I've pictured it...." He places his hand on the back of her head as she sleeps. His brows slowly move down as he sits there. "I wonder..." He pauses for a minute. "The shade..." Jarlaxle rises his brow at this. "You think it may have an effect?" The Drow leans back as he gives it some thought. "I would think her being Dragonborn would have more of an effect..." Artemis shakes his head. "It's not something that's passed down. From what I understand, she was chosen. But that doesn't really change neither one of us will be gone of this world any time soon." Jarlaxle rubs his chin as he thinks it over. To be fair, he didn't really have much of an answer to this one. "Time will tell...if what happened to you will be past down." Artemis doesn't say anything, he just keeps his eyes on Evelyn. "I don't even know how to really feel about this. It doesn't feel real..." He lets out a low sigh.
"Would have I felt the same if I learned that Calihye held my child? I did care for her, but her anger blinded her..." Jarlaxle goes quiet, knowing the woman had still been alive. He had taken her to the Underdark, but telling him that seems pointless. "What do I know of being a 'father'?" Jarlaxle lets out a low chuckle. "My friend, it's something we learn. Not that I ever considered that path. Imagine a tiny me running around!" Artemis shakes his head at the very idea. "One of you is enough...." "See, that's what I mean! Imagine, a tiny you, only mixed with her..." He tilts his head. "Will they learn magic? Or follow your footsteps? There's endless paths my friend." Artemis just lets out another side and decides to look out the window. She wakes up by the time they make it to the Imperial City. She hadn't really came here all that often, she found the place to crowded for her taste. She lets out a small yawn as Tullius and the rest of the Legion lead her to the Imperial Palace. She does her best to try and wake up by the time she gets there. The roads are lined with people cheering and she jolts a bit. She didn't expect so many people to be aware of what was going on. She just gives a slight smile and a wave as Artemis just stays at her side. Once inside the palace, the High Council make it official. She was now the new Empress. Her first order of business, reestablish the mages guild. How and why that changed she never really understood. Not only that, but to make repairs to the fallen White Gold Tower. Her next move from that was to unite Tamriel as one. As such, the agreement made with the Aldmeri Dominion was now void. All crimes committed by the Thalmor will be dealt quickly and firmly.
Not just because of what she went through, but to honor those that lost their lives to them after they took over. It wasn't going to be easy, but she had every plan to see it through. Tamriel was in need of a strong leader willing to stand up for it. But it was far time to start moving forward and make changes to how things have been currently working. The Legion was more then happy to follow under her. Even Tullius was rather impressed with how she was handling things. As the days wore on, she did her best to keep up with everything. When things started to calm a bit, she would see to looking into repairing the old Sanctuary in Cheydinhal. Not that anyone needed to know about her connections to the Brotherhood. The only people that really knew was Artemis and Jarlaxle of course. Not that Jarlaxle cares much, he's enjoying the high life. Artemis just remains close to his lover, mostly ignoring everything that's been going on around him. He's leaving everything up to her on what she wants to do. After all she knows what she's doing better then he ever would. A couple of weeks past, and she was given her own office to work in. The same one the old Emperor used to work in. It was a bit of a mess so organizing everything took some time. She was still working on a few things when Tullius walks in. He was dressed in his finest armor. She was wearing, at the moment a royal robe given to her. Which right now worked for her. She wasn't showing just yet, still to early, but some months from now she would be. "General...you're looking fancy today, is something going on?" He lets out a polite cough.
"Forgive my intrusion, but I was asked that you and your...husband join me." Evelyn rises her brow at him as she looks at Artemis. He had been keeping himself busy poking through old paperwork. "Is something the matter?" "No no, now that you're the new Empress, we just need to make this official." "Make what official?" She wasn't to sure what he was talking about. "Your marriage...it's just protocol and such." She turns to Artemis before looking at Tullius. She's never asked to make things official, she was just fine letting people think what they wanted. But now that she was in charge, image was everything. What would people think when they found out she wasn't married and pregnant. She didn't really care as she lets out a low sigh. "Tullius, the last thing I need is some big...oh Gods it's already set up isn't it?" He gives her a slight nod. "Yes My Lady..." "Please don't..." She really didn't want him to go that far. She might be in charge but she didn't want to change how people saw her. "Oh sweet Talos...." She rubs the side of her head. "Well cancel it!" "But...we kind of have to do this properly." She slams her hand on the desk. "Drop it, I don't care what people think. I believe we have far more important matters to look into." He gives up for now as he bows his head and leaves the room. She just shakes her head slightly. "The nerve, like I'm going through all that just to please people."
"I hate to know what they set up for it." She blinks as she slowly looks over to Artemis. "Oh Gods I really don't want to know..." She slowly makes her way over to a near by chair as she looks at him. "I never asked...but..do you want to make it official? I mean, we don't have to, I kind of like what we have..." He gives it some thought as he shakes his head. He's just as fine with how things are between them. "We don't need the Gods blessing, or anyone else's for that matter." He's already make it rather clear how he feels about the Gods and such so she doesn't blame him for that part. They don't need to make things complicated. She rises as she walks over to him, placing her hands on his face. "The way I see it as long as you're happy nothing else really matters." He glances up at her. He's never given much thought to his own happiness. Not that it's something he really considers. He moves slightly closer, placing his hand on her stomach. "I'm...fine as long as you are." She gives him a slight smirk. "Oh come now, is there nothing you want?" "No." Her brows rise at this, he asks for so little it surprises her a lot. He's just the go with the flow type of person. They hear another cough as they both turn to see the High Chancellor. He was a rather tall Altmer. He had been the one to make things official with her becoming Empress. "Forgive me, but did I hear right?" She lets out a low growl, she really doesn't like it when people over hear things. Mostly when it's meant to stay private.
"Depends on what you heard." Her eyes have remained the same after her rescue, so she looks far more fearsome. The poor elf, she's rather sure he just pissed his pants as he holds up his hands to calm her. "Relax, it's my job to know these things. If you are expecting, you need proper care, treatments." The elf turns to Artemis. "And I would like to advise to make things official for the people's sake..." He stops right there, the look in her eyes was a clear warning. She lets out another growl, this time Artemis has to hold her arm to keep her back. "He's my husband, that's all anyone needs to know. If they don't like it, then tough. I'm not about to make a show of my relationship. That's not why I'm doing this, I'm here to fix the mess the last Emperor made!" She feels a slight tug as she moves back. "I'm here to do a job, not to please people by making an arse of myself, now if you don't mind!" The poor elf jumps and quickly leaves the room. Her eyes remain on the door as she feels someone run their fingers up her back. She blinks and turns, Artemis has that look in his eyes. There's something oddly arousing about seeing her not take crap from people. She makes sure to lock the door in order to make sure no one else bothers to walk in on them. A small break couldn't hurt and the desk was just the right size after all.
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Three months past and she was able to convince those around her to be able to return to Skyrim. She can run things in Castle Dour. This way she could be closer to the Brotherhood, and closer to her friends and family. Not that anyone could really say no to her, so it was allowed. She kept to wearing robes, since her small bump was starting to show. By now must already knew and even Tullius was a bit on edge on protecting her. But she assured him she was capable of taking care of herself. That and she knows Artemis wouldn't allow anyone to get to close to her. Given time she was able to return to Jorrvaskr to check on how things where going. Like normal, Farkas was the first to greet her, but before he can hug her, he glances down. It takes him a minute to figure out what was going on. A huge smile crosses his face. "You're having a baby!" She forgot to tell the others so it really didn't take long to gather. Aela was over the moon as she gushes slightly. Acting every part as protective aunt and sister. "You never told us." Evelyn rubs the back of her head slightly. "I may have forgot, besides I was still getting used to the idea." She spots Vilkas near the back. He didn't say anything, but he looked happy for her. Farkas ends up almost knocking Artemis over when he pats his back. The Nord did tower over the poor guy. He catches himself when someone thrust a mug of mead into his hands. He's not sure where it came from, but this was the Companions after all. As things slowly calm down and Artemis finds a way to place his mug elsewhere, Drizzt walks up to him.
"I'm surprised." Artemis slowly turns to the elf. "So was Jarlaxle, he got over it." The elf decided to stay in Cyrodiil, for 'reasons'. Not that he was going to ask for details. The less he knew the better. "You seem to be handling this well." Artemis just shrugs as he keeps his eyes on his lover. He's more or less taking this one step at a time. He's how he mostly approaches life. Right now his only job was to keep her safe. Not that there seemed to be any danger. But he knows well enough to know there's always someone close by. Waiting for the chance to kill someone important. She was the one to kill the last Emperor after all. "It hardly feels real." Still he couldn't help but be honest. Drizzt places his hand on his shoulder. If only he had been as lucky, he would have been over the moon if Cattie-brie had his child. But the damage done to her when a giant crushed her with a boulder took that from her. "Well at least you have some experience." He points to the nearby children that have gathered around Evelyn. "That's easy, they're not mine...not by blood..." He looks down as he flexes his fingers. "My being a shade could be past to our child. If that's the case then at least we'll be around to rise them...." Still he can't help but worry just slightly on what the effects would be. "But it seems healthy, she's...fine, eats everything....kept having to remind her cheese makes her ill." Drizzt lets out a good laugh at that. "Well at least she has you to look after her."
Artemis just crosses his arms as he shrugs. "So how does it feel, knowing she's Empress?" "Nothing has changed, she was already in charge of half the guilds around here..." Drizzt moves to say something, but he does make a fair point. It comes naturally to her so it's not like this is anything new for her. "Good news is that the Thalmor are gone. Those in the Aldmeri Dominion are scrambling to brown noes so she doesn't rain hell on them for the mess they made. It's been rather entertaining." Seeing her work was something else. And for the most part she doesn't even have to use her Thu'um. But people know she can and fear her just slightly. Fear is a good weapon and can be useful. She wasn't abusing her power, she didn't have to. "So what's the plan now?" Artemis blinks at this as he looks at Drizzt. "I'm unsure, she plans to stay here and run things in Castle Dour. She wants to be here with her friends and family. She sees Skyrim as more her home." "Do you see this place as home?" Artemis wasn't really sure what to say. "Never had a home, it was always just a place to stay. My home is where she goes." Drizzt smiles warmly at the assassin, impressed with his change. "I hate to ask, where is Jarlaxle?" "Somewhere in the Imperial City, the less I know the better." After their visit, they had to leave for Solitude. She would visit as much as she could until it became to difficult.
She wouldn't be able to make a stop to Dawnstar without to many people asking questions. But she was still able to send letters to let them know what was going on. In time she hopes she will be able to sneak away for just a few days. But she would have to wait for the right time. She can wait, she has all the time in the world at the moment. She hates that she can't ride on a horse. After leaning of her 'condition' they refused to let her. So she was stuck riding in this fancy wagon. She hates it, she hates putting on a show just because she's Empress. She was never the one to show off. However as they head north she blinks and turns to Tullius, who was riding beside them. "Hey, dumb question, but is the Katariah still in the port?" She never did ask what happened to that ship after killing everyone on it. "Yes, the ship has been cleaned and pulled into port until farther notice." She smirks at this as she turns to Artemis. "Hey another ship, only we won't burn this one. But we can use it as a nice getaway." He's still not the biggest fan of ships, but it's hard to say no. It would make things easier for her to do what she wants with less eyes on her. "If that's what you want...but we're not having the child on it." She chuckles softly at this. "Aww...you really still hate ships. I would think it wouldn't be an issue anymore." He just huffs as she leans against him. "Fine I promise..." He relaxes, but says nothing else as he leans against her as well.
