Chapter 20: From Past to Present

Sithia cast a magelight before following Serana, throwing their shadows far in front of them. Or at least as far as they could go in the winding passageway.

Serana opened the door at the end and finally emerged into the top of the tower: a large room.

"Not another dining hall, or at least not now." Sithia pulled her mask down. "Finally no dust!"

Serana couldn't resist giving her a quick kiss to celebrate, stepping back before either of them could be tempted to deepen it. "We did pass through some kind of enchantment on the door. That might explain the lack of dust."

"This room certainly has some special stuff in it worth keeping dust free."

It was definitely something special. There was some sort of summoning circle in the centre, surrounded by candles and about three times as wide as a man was tall. Serana paced around it, trying to get some idea of exactly what it was for. She slowly shook her head. She couldn't feel any sort of magic emanating from it, but then it was likely centuries since it was last used. She inspected the rest of the room from where she stood, circling on the spot.

"Look at this place. This has to be it!"

There were shelves holding various ingredients on most of the laboratory walls. Alchemy equipment stood on a table against the nearest wall, and she caught a glimpse of an enchanting station opposite a more extensive alchemy station on the platform overlooking the summoning circle.

Serana frowned as she catalogued the contents of the shelves from a distance as only a vampire could. Alchemy ingredients and enchanting soul gems… Her mother had been interested in alchemy and enchanting, but necromancy was her passion. Why—

"Nice laboratory," Sithia commented, eyes on the nearby table underneath a mammoth skull mounted on the wall.

Serana blinked. That was a very big skull, and she had no idea how it got all the way up here. She looked back at the door they'd come from, and at the only other door in the room, up a flight of stairs the other side of the skull. Both were far too small. How… Wait. Walls could be torn down and rebuilt, and with vampiric strength it wasn't even that hard to do so. It wasn't really that much of a mystery.

Sithia stepped closer to the table and Serana followed, wondering what had caught her eye. Bones: human, troll, and what might be both ground up into bonemeal. Now this made more sense for her mother: necromancy supplies. There were even some dragon bones. Maybe leftovers from her mother's futile experiments with raising her very own undead dragon servant? Until Serana had seen Alduin do it she'd thought it impossible to raise a dragon from the dead.

"Nice laboratory? I'll say. I had no idea she had a setup like this. No idea this even existed. She only shared her alchemy station in her drawing room with me, and that didn't come close to what's here. Look at all this. She must have spent years collecting these components."

"What did she research?" Sithia picked up a bowl of bone meal and rolled a pinch of it between her fingers. Serana really hoped she wasn't about to eat it, and was relieved when Sithia let it fall back into the bowl.

"Looking at the equipment and materials, I'd say she was trying to advance her necromancy. To what end… I don't know. Certainly not longevity. Kind of a waste of time for a vampire." Serana smirked. "I also don't know why she'd feel the need to improve it - she already was a master. I mean, she taught me everything I know. Let's take a look around. There has to be something here that tells us where she's gone."

Sithia's agreement was a little too enthusiastic, and Serana abruptly realised Sithia's covetous hands still held the bowl and were reaching for her enchanted pack.

Serana put a hand over Sithia's before she could slip the bowl into her pack. "Wait. Before you make off with anything, we'd better try to find out what my mother was getting up to. We don't know what we might need to activate that." She pointedly looked at the summoning circle.

"We don't know anything! We don't even know if we'll need to. Come on, Serana, I've never seen such high quality reagents."

"You can have any we don't need. For now, put it back, and help me look for anything that might tell us where Mother is."

"She won't have left anything that might give that away, surely?"

"She had a habit of keeping a journal to detail her experiments; she was meticulous about her research. I know it seems stupid to leave anything my father could use, but if she had a chance to taunt him she'd take it. I mean, if she did that it'd probably be something he couldn't do for some reason."

Sithia gave a dubious hum, but her next words were pretty diplomatic. Especially for her. "We won't know unless we find it."

They both started looking, Serana keeping half an eye on Sithia to be sure she wouldn't steal anything. The journal certainly wasn't on the table, unless it was buried under the assorted bones lying on it.

A small library alcove was just to the right of the bone table. It was probably the most likely place to find a journal, especially if her mother had left any mocking breadcrumbs in the event Harkon found this place.

Serana winced at the condition of the books, and gingerly pulled one out. It crumbled away despite the gentle touch. Had her mother neglected to enchant the bookshelves as she must have done with the alchemy reagents for them to have survived the long years?

Sithia stroked a fingertip along a shelf, below the cracked spines of ruined books. "This was enchanted, but…" She chuckled and tapped the shelf. "Not against woodworm! Look."

Serana looked closely. Sithia was right. While structurally sound, the shelves were riddled with tiny holes. Too much wood in crucial places had been eaten away, breaking the enchantment. The infestation must have been limited to the bookshelves or the alchemy ingredients would likely be spoiled too, unless the enchantments on those covered more than the bookshelves.

"Damn. Damn! How are we meant to find her if every book is falling apart?" Serana resisted the impulse to punch or kick the poor shelves; it would only make them collapse.

"Hang on, not all of the books are done for. See?" Sithia picked out a handful of intact books, their leather bindings cracking but not yet rotten.

Serana sorted through them. No journal, but… "What do we have here? 'Opusculus Lamae Bal' of all the books to survive. Nasty one, that."

"Not read it but I suspect I don't want to, do I?"

"No, you don't."

Despite Sithia's words, she reached for the book.

"Er, Sithia, you just said you didn't want to."

"I don't, but I can't resist an unread book."

It didn't take her long to read the sad account of the first vampire. She sighed, shoved the book back onto a shelf and returned to the search.

"There's something here." Sithia knocked aside two crumbling volumes and extracted a slim blood red book.

Serana almost snatched it out of Sithia's hands. Valerica had used that distinctive leather to bind her notebooks. "Let me take a look at it."

Sithia passed it over without argument. Serana hurriedly read through it, then reread it again at a slower pace to do more than just absorb the gist of it. The good news was that it revealed where Valerica was hiding. The bad news was that she'd chosen a part of Oblivion that was notoriously difficult to reach.

"What's this 'Soul Cairn' she mentions?" Sithia tapped the page, her body warm against Serana from where she leaned close to read.

"It's where the remnants from soul gems end up after they're used for powering enchantments. It's a tiny sliver of Oblivion, but unlike other planes there's no Daedric Prince ruling it. Other things do. Unseen, very powerful beings known as the Ideal Masters."

A look of horror crossed Sithia's face. No doubt because of the soul gems in her pack.

"Don't worry, we're fine to use the soul gems you have without being guilty about where the leftovers end up. I think it's specifically the remnants of black souls the Ideal Masters want. I don't know if the Soul Cairn takes just any leftovers."

"That's not…" Sithia shook her head, lips briefly compressed into a thin line. "Never mind. Back to the matter at hand. What exactly are the Ideal Masters?"

"Nobody really knows. Maybe they are some kind of Daedra that just prefer to remain invisible. Maybe people do eventually get to see them, but as far as I've heard, no one's seen them and returned to Tamriel to tell about it."

Sithia raised a sceptical eyebrow. "Then how are you sure they even exist?"

"My mother was sure. This says she actually contacted them." Serana tapped the journal. "And I've read stories about fools that managed to communicate with them. You give the Ideal Masters souls, they give you powers to summon the undead. It's all very business like."

"Fools? Why do you say that?"

Serana couldn't help but smirk a little. "Because most of the stories end with the Ideal Masters duping the necromancers, who end up dead or wishing they were dead."

"Does that mean your mother is, well…"

'Dead or worse?'

That wiped the smirk off Serana's face and she winced. "I hope not, but she did spend a lot of time trying to contact them directly, to travel to the Soul Cairn itself."

Sithia put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "If she made it there, we'll find her."

"That circle in the centre of the room is definitely some type of portal." Serana had thought it a summoning circle at first, but her mother's journal made it all too obvious what it really was. "If I'm reading this right, there's a formula here that should give us safe passage into the Soul Cairn."

"What do we need?" Sithia turned to the shelves, fingers twitching. Serana made a mental note to keep watching her carefully, or some of the ingredients they needed might go missing.

"Soul gem shards, some finely ground bone meal, purified void salts, and… Oh, damn it."

There were two problems. Big ones. Her mother made no mention of quantities required. If she intended or feared that Harkon would find this journal, that might explain the omission. Not that it mattered when the fourth reagent was far beyond their reach.

"What's wrong?"

Serana sighed. "We're also going to need a sample of her blood. If we could get that, we wouldn't even be trying to do this in the first place."

"Don't you share her blood?"

"Hmm. Not bad. Mine is a little over half hers, I think. As far as I know, we get half of it from each parent, but her blood was corrupted just like mine by Molag Bal."

Serana shivered. She didn't like to think about it. It was just a drop of his blood in her veins, but a single drop corrupted it all. That single drop of Daedric blood from the ritual was what made it so easy for her to resurrect dead things, being a Daughter of Coldharbour.

"We'd better hope that's good enough. Mistakes with these kinds of portals can be… gruesome."

Sithia frowned. "Are all of those ingredients here? The bone meal is, but void salts are rare and soul gems usually crumble into fine dust once used."

"Oh, definitely. Mother would have plenty of those materials in her laboratory, we just need to find them." Serana hoped she didn't sound as worried as she felt. If this all went disastrously wrong hopefully Sithia would never know. With any luck catastrophic failure would be instant death and not lingering agony.

"Do you think she left out the ingredients like this in the quantities needed?" Sithia picked up the bone meal again.

"It explains why she'd leave them out in bowls rather than tucked away inside containers." Serana really hoped that was the case.

'Don't you remember what I taught you? Have you thrown caution to the wind? You know better than this!' The memory of Valerica's lecture was so strong Serana could almost hear her mother's voice.

She mentally turned her back on this lecture from the past. She didn't have time to argue with a memory. They still had reagents to find, and then hopefully her mother and the Elder Scroll. For now that meant finding the soul gem shards and the purified void salts.

Serana quickly checked the shelves opposite the remains of the little library. She'd only looked from afar before, and she didn't want to miss anything. Not that it mattered, bits of torchbug were not what they needed. Across the room, Sithia was searching the shelves flanking the stairs up to the platform. Serana noted that the hand holding onto the bone meal was a little too close to her pack for Serana's liking, so she hurried over to her and helpfully took it from her.

Sithia didn't complain. Odd.

They rummaged through the cupboards below the shelves. Or rather Serana did. She glanced at Sithia and realised that she hadn't said a word or moved since Serana had joined her. She was staring at a black soul gem, her expression bleak.

Serana stood up and put a hand on Sithia's shoulder. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine." The words were choked out.

"If you don't want to talk about it you don't have to, but please don't lie to me." Serana kept her voice mild. It wasn't Sithia's fault that Serana couldn't lie to her, and this was a minor lie if one often told. She carried on searching amongst the soul gems.

Sithia sighed. She took Serana's hand and gently tugged until Serana turned to face her.

"Sorry. I'm not sure it'll help to talk about it, but considering what we're trying to do, you need to know. It's…" Sithia briefly looked away, her lips pressed tightly together. "Before they took his head, the Thalmor soul trapped Tiber. His soul, or whatever is left of it now… it must be in the Soul Cairn. And it's my fault."

"How can you say that? Of course it's not your—"

Sithia laid a finger on Serana's lips. "I carried his soul around with me for a decade. I had the soul gem used when my armour was enchanted to keep me from freezing to death. I thought I finally released him." Tears welled up in her eyes. "Instead I condemned him to the Soul Cairn. I highly doubt it's a pleasant place. Most planes of Oblivion aren't."

Sithia swiped at her eyes as tears trickled down her face, her face strained as she tried to set it into a neutral mask.

Serana set down the bone meal and caught her by both shoulders. "Don't. Let yourself feel. My father liked to say that Volkihars are ice, that we do not weep. But he's wrong. Ice melts. And we're no different to anyone else who thinks and feels."

Sithia shook her head. "Weakness." Her voice broke on the word.

"You're anything but weak."

Sithia's face crumpled. Serana pulled her into a tight embrace, stroking her hair as Sithia sobbed against her shoulder, her cloak soon soaked with bitter tears.

"You had no way of knowing," Serana murmured. "It's not your fault."

The storm of grief passed, Sithia's body still shaken by occasional dry sobs. She drew away enough to raise her head. Her cheeks flushed, and she looked away. "You must think me so stupid."

Serana shook her head, tipping Sithia's chin up as she leant down. She kissed her tenderly, lingering until Sithia reciprocated, melting against her. She drew away enough for Sithia to catch her breath, and caressed her cheek. "No. Not with this."

"I already grieved! He died a decade ago!"

"That was before you knew where he ended up. Now…"

"I might see him in there." Sithia's voice was caught between hope and dread. "What if he blames me?"

"I highly doubt that's possible. It's not your fault. You didn't soul trap him. Even if you never used the soul gem, he was kept from Aetherius."

"You have a point. Now, we've still got things to do. Soul gem shards to find." Sithia pulled herself together with a visible effort, her face strained. She stepped away from Serana and opened another cupboard, revealing a bowl full of fractured soul gems, all the same sort of size and shape. "Found 'em. How many do we need?"

Serana eyed the bowl and its contents. "Take all of them."

"Are you trying to deprive me or do you think we'll really need them all?"

"Seriously, Sithia? I wouldn't want to spoil your fun. My mother left specific quantities for a reason." Serana turned away, hiding her wince. 'I hope.'

"If you say so." Sithia picked up the bone meal and balanced it on top of the soul gem shards. She led the way up the stairs, longingly eyeing a table full of varied reagents.

"Void salts!" Serana picked up the bowl, already turning to the vessel at the edge of the platform, exactly opposite the circle below.

"Hold on." Sithia took a pinch and examined the salts closely. "These are nothing out of the ordinary for void salts. They're relatively rare, but I've seen my fair share. That journal said they're supposed to be purified."

"Oh." Serana put the bowl back. She would have been blushing if she were physically capable of it, which she wasn't outside of a good long feed in warm conditions.

They continued their search on the shelves beyond the enchanting station. As they did, Sithia asked a question, her voice still a little rough from her outburst of grief:

"What will you do if we find your mother? She might not be entirely pleased to see you after locking you away for safekeeping of you and the Elder Scroll she left with you."

Serana paused. She hadn't been consciously thinking of it, but deep down… "I know. I've been asking myself the same thing since we came back to the castle. She was so sure of what we did to my father, I couldn't help but go along with her. I never thought of the cost."

"It sounds like she did everything for your sake as much as for her own."

Serana moved to another shelf, picking up some likely looking reagents only to replace them when close examination proved they weren't purified void salts. "Possibly. I guess even a vampire mother is still a mother. She worried about me. About all of us. But she wanted to get me as far away from my father as possible before he really went over the edge."

"Hopefully we'll find her in there, and you can ask her yourself about all of her reasons for doing this. Hmm. What do we have here…" Sithia leaned close to the last shelf on the platform, lifting a pinch of something up to her eyes and letting it drop back into a bowl full of it. "Got them. Purified void salts." She picked up the bowl and showed it to Serana. At first glance they were like any void salts, but on closer inspection they seemed to suck in the surrounding light, creating shadows where there should be none.

"So that's what purification does to void salts. And yes, you're right. She might not be pleased to see me. She certainly won't be after I've said what I need to. I'm sorry."

Sithia gave Serana an incredulous look. "What in the Void are you apologising for?"

"For worrying you, I guess? Having anyone care about how I feel is new to me. Even Mother… When it came to seeing my father fail, anything else didn't matter. Thank you."

Sithia shrugged. "I care about you. Caring about how you feel comes with the territory. As does worrying about you, so save the apologies and the thanks. Unless you want me to be saying sorry and thanking you in return?"

"Point taken. And no, I don't need any apologies or thanks from you. If I ever do, I'll let you know." Serana winked.

"Likewise. Let's get that portal open, and we'll see what we'll find in the Soul Cairn."

"All right. See that silver vessel overlooking the portal circle? Put the ingredients in there." Hopefully the order they were put in didn't matter. Would they need mixing or not? Serana had no idea and could only hope it wouldn't matter.

Sithia emptied the three bowls into the vessel, the silver still stained with what had to be Valerica's blood from when the portal was last activated. Serana cleared her throat, pointedly looking between the dregs in the bowls and the vessel. Sithia sighed heavily and scraped out every last remnant with clear reluctance and a sulky look at Serana.

"Thank you. The rest is up to me." Serana slowly lifted her arm over the vessel, all too aware that her blood wouldn't be a perfect match. Hopefully it would be good enough. Hopefully it would work. Hopefully it wouldn't kill them. Should she tell Sithia the full risks here so her Dragonborn could make an informed choice? Maybe she'd agree to stand out of harm's way? Of course the problem was that Serana had no idea what a safe distance might be.

She looked nervously at Sithia. What could she say? What should she say? She swallowed hard, her mouth dry. "I'm not entirely sure what this thing is going to do when I add my blood."

"In that case…" Sithia stepped closer and reached up, taking Serana's head in her hands. She slid a hand around to cup the back of Serana's head to lower it as she stretched up, bringing their lips together. Their earlier kiss had been more about tenderness and comfort. This one? Sheer passion.

When they drew apart, Sithia breathing raggedly, it took Serana a moment to remember what she was doing, her arm still extended over the vessel.

"Do it. I'm not going anywhere, so don't even try asking." Sithia's words were firm even if her voice wasn't; ragged from being out of breath.

"You're impossible," Serana muttered. She leaned forward and bit her wrist, pulling her head back and letting the blood trickle down into the vessel. How much blood was needed though? She had absolutely no idea. 'Thanks a lot, Mother.'

Purple light suddenly streamed up from the vessel. Serana snatched her wrist back, her blood dripping onto the flagstones. The wound wouldn't heal. Her eyes flickered towards the narrow windows high up on the wall. She winced, turning her gaze away. Too much sunlight, even from such small windows. She clamped her other hand over the wound, stemming the flow. Blood still welled up around her fingers, if sluggishly.

A deep rumbling drew her attention away from the problem of healing herself in a room exposed to sunlight. The very floor shook. Serana hoped it hadn't shaken her father awake in the main part of the castle. The circle below the platform broke apart, the shaped flagstones whirling around and rising up to form a floating staircase, the centre of the circle as the last step into the glowing purple portal now yawning open.

"By the blood of my ancestors… She actually did it! Created a portal to the Soul Cairn! Incredible. Simply incredible."

Sithia stepped closer. For a moment Serana thought she was having a closer look at the portal, up until the pack on Serana's back moved, jostling her in the process.

"Seriously, Sithia?! Are you really raiding Mother's reagents now? I know I said you could, but—"

Sithia stepped in front of Serana and held out a blood potion. "Tempting, but that can wait until we get back. Drink up."

Serana took just a sip, more than enough to heal the small wound. She dealt with the blood on her hands and the floor as well with some swiftly melted ice.

"You opened it. Want to go first?" Sithia gestured at the portal.

"We opened it. You go first." Serana was all too aware that Sithia had someone to see in there too. Besides, she had a nagging feeling that she was forgetting something. Lingering a few moments as she followed Sithia might give her time to remember whatever it was.

Sithia hesitated for a heartbeat, a flicker of trepidation showing in her eyes before her jaw set into a grim line. She headed down the steps, her pace slow and deliberate. Serana followed, her pace slower as she tried to think. She almost had it when Sithia rebounded from the portal. She cried out and almost collapsed. Serana darted forward and pulled Sithia back upstairs, sitting her down at the top.

"Are you alright? That looked painful."

"It. Was." Sithia's voice was ragged and it took a burst of healing magic for it to return to normal. "What happened?"

Serana winced. It was obvious in retrospect. "Now that I think about it… I should have expected that. Sorry. It's hard to describe. The Soul Cairn is… well, hungry, for lack of a better word. It's trying to take your life essence as payment."

"I can't get in?"

Serana resisted the temptation to sit down beside Sithia. For what she was about to say, she needed a little distance. Touching Sithia in any way right now would feel coercive. "There might be a way, but I don't think you're going to like it. Vampires aren't counted among the living. I could probably go through there without a problem."

Sithia frowned up at her. "Are you saying I need to become a vampire?"

"Not your first choice, I'd guess." Serana folded her arms, hugging herself in the process. She couldn't help but hope that Sithia would accept. It would be so very intimate, and maybe they'd be able to bond like her parents had. And unlike her parents, Sithia would never grow to hate her - that must have been torture for both her mother and father. A bond that shared their emotions no matter how distant they were, physically and mentally… An unbreakable bond, except by death. Of course if death did break it, that was bad news. Her father's first adviser had such a broken life bond. Serana grimaced. She'd had to put the poor wretch out of his misery.

Sithia's frown deepened. "Your self control… Did you come by it naturally?"

"No. I told you, remember? Isran had it right when he called me a bloodsucking fiend. It took a long time for me to learn how to control my bloodlust."

Sithia shook her head. "Then what I said when you last offered to turn me still stands. I already have enough issues with self control without adding bloodlust to that."

Serana kept her arms crossed. She wanted to reach out, to lay her hands on Sithia's shoulders. No. It wouldn't be right. "It wouldn't be as bad for you! I wouldn't suggest this if it would be. You'd be a half-blood. Going feral would be an issue for you, but feeding would sate your bloodlust far more than it does for me."

"How would it work with my blood? I'm not your average mortal." Sithia raised an eyebrow.

"I… Damn it, you're right." Serana freed a hand to run through her hair, exasperated with herself, narrowly missing the crowning braids. "I don't know how that would change things, but it probably would make things different."

"That and making myself even more vulnerable to fire when there's fire breathing dragons around is the stupidest idea I've ever heard. No offence. There has to be another way."

"Maybe. We could just 'pay the toll' another way. It wants a soul, so we give it a soul. Yours." Serana winced. She sounded more flippant than she'd intended, considering the subject matter. But having her offer of vampirism turned down and called a stupid idea stung a little.

Sithia shot to her feet, eyes wide. "What?! Wouldn't that kill me?"

"No! No. My mother taught me a trick or two. I could partially soul trap you, and offer that gem to the Ideal Masters. It might be enough to satisfy them. It would make you a bit weaker when we travel through the Soul Cairn, but we might be able to fix that once we're inside. Maybe."

Sithia dropped her face into her hands, muffling her voice. "Those are my only options?"

"I could go in alone."

Sithia lifted her head, glaring, jaw set in a stubborn line. "No. I don't like any of this, but I'm not about to let you do that if there's any way I can come along."

"Thanks, I think. To be honest, I don't want to go in there alone. The Soul Cairn isn't exactly somewhere anyone should want to go." Serana sighed. "I'm sorry, I wish there was a better way, something that would be easier on you. Just know that… whatever path you choose, I won't think any less of you. Sometimes things just have to be done. I know that better than anybody."

She still hoped Sithia would pick vampirism, but Sithia's choice was no surprise after everything she'd said:

"Soul trap me."

"Right now?"

"I'm ready as I'll ever be. Unless there's something you need to do first? Like bottling some blood? If the soul trap weakens me as much as you said, it'd be better to replenish your blood supplies first. Come to that, is it safe enough in here for you to do it directly? I know you just had some, but…"

"I think so. We'd have been found by now if my father had any idea we were here."

"What about the portal?"

Even as Sithia said the words, it occurred to Serana that her father wasn't the only concern here. As one they turned to look down at the portal, a doorway into a sliver of Oblivion with powerful undead roaming about inside. Serana crouched down and frantically ran her fingers over the steps within reach. Surely her mother had…

She sighed with relief when she felt the telltale hum of the enchantment, and her fingers found the subtle carvings. "Anything that comes out of there will regret it. The stairs are warded. Thank you, Mother. For a moment there I thought she hadn't bothered, that she was too consumed with stopping my father. That she'd take the risk of incursions from the Soul Cairn if it meant they'd maraud into Father. But no, she didn't."

"Good. Maybe because they'd reach her first. Maybe out of concern for you, in case you were here."

"Maybe. Anyway, it's safe. As for feeding, I'm always thirsty. Especially for more of you. If I do feed directly, I'd better not bottle any blood. You'll need all the strength you can get in there."

"I can take a potion to counter the blood loss."

"I'd rather you didn't have to. I didn't take much of the latest bottle, just a sip, and there should be at least two more in the pack."

"Feed directly first, and then I'll fill one bottle. Deal?"

"If you insist." Serana gently pulled Sithia into her arms, angling her head to bite the offered neck, Sithia arching her head back out of the way.

At first Sithia's lingering grief and pain tainted the flavour of the blood with bitterness. Fortunately it didn't take long for it to be muted by lust, and then overwhelmed by ecstasy.

Serana held on tighter, holding Sithia up when she gasped and fell against her, sweetest richest blood flooding her mouth. Sithia's determination abruptly broke through, and Serana could taste exactly what she wanted, the emotion in the blood a clear picture in her mind.

She pulled away, meeting Sithia halfway, kissing her deeply. Sithia's blood made that kiss even more intense, the exquisite taste of it still in Serana's mouth. The heat of Sithia's passion, of her blood. It warmed Serana's lips, so much so that Sithia's felt merely warm rather than the burning heat they'd been atop the Throat of the World.

Sithia took Serana's hand and lowered it, below her waist, angling between her legs. Serana twisted her hand around and held Sithia's instead.

Serana broke off the kiss. "You're grieving. I don't want to take advantage."

Sithia met her gaze, eyes heated, her breathing ragged. "Tiber has been dead for over a decade. Even if we come across him in the Soul Cairn, it doesn't change anything. It's not like he'd be able to come back with us. He's my past. You're my future. And my present, if I have anything to do with it."

She took Serana's other hand, raised it to her lips and kissed her fingers, holding her gaze all the while. Sithia then brought their hands down even as she stretched up to kiss her again.

Serana didn't argue. Instead she kissed back, even allowed Sithia to deepen it. She wanted this. They both did. Tentatively, giving Sithia the chance to stop her, Serana slipped her hands under Sithia's upper armour at the waist, searching for the ties to loosen the bottom half. Sithia reached down and dealt with them herself, allowing Serana's hand to slip inside. She stroked her fingertips across the nub she found there and continued down. Sithia parted her legs and rocked into her hand to give her easier access.

Sithia moaned, drawing away from the kiss. Her knees buckled, and she fell against Serana again. She gasped as Serana slipped a finger inside her heat, testing her wetness.

"Cold! But don't you dare stop."

"Sorry," Serana purred, not really meaning it. Her lips and mouth were warmed by feeding, but it would take a while for the rest of her to follow suit. Vampiric circulation was sluggish. She slid another finger in, satisfied that Sithia was wet enough for it.

"Tease. You hadn't finished feeding, right? Get back to it."

"Are you sure—"

Sithia cut off Serana's worried clarification with a brief but deep kiss.

"I can take it. Feed. Just a little more." Sithia gently but firmly pulled Serana's mouth back to her sluggishly bleeding neck.

"A little," Serana murmured, and latched back on. She wouldn't take much. Just enough to affect Sithia, driving her to another orgasm faster than thrusting fingers could alone.

It didn't take long for Sithia to tighten around her fingers with a strangled cry of her name.

She hummed contentedly against Sithia's neck, smug in the secret knowledge she'd gained of what Sithia liked best. She could taste it. She'd remember it too; exactly where to put her fingers, which pattern of sliding strokes of her thumb to so pleasurably torment her Dragonborn with. No need to guess like the first time by Sithia's physical reactions.

Serana lathed her tongue one last time across the bite, staunching the flow. Sithia shivered against her and brought her hands up to cup Serana's face, bringing it to hers for another kiss. Deep, long and passionate. So much so that when Sithia finally drew away, her eyes were dazed, lips parted, her own blood glistening on them, transferred from Serana during the kiss.

Serana smiled, cupping Sithia's cheek to help steady her. She brought her other hand back and sucked her fingers clean, stifling a moan. The taste of Sithia's arousal and satiation that much stronger direct from the source. Almost as good as her blood.

Sithia's ragged breathing slowed, together with her pounding heart. She shifted her weight back onto her own feet, nuzzling against Serana's supporting hand in the process.

"Huh. You're warm. Did you steal my heat with my breath just now?" Sithia shook her head as if that would regain her wits.

"Vampires warm up when they feed. I do, anyway. It just takes a while." Serana smirked, holding up the hand she'd been using to drive Sithia to completion. "These were inside you too. That warms me up nicely."

"So you did steal some heat too."

"It's only stolen if you're cold in there now. I doubt it. You were decidedly hot a minute ago."

Sithia blushed. "All right, not stolen as such. Not like when attempting to snuggle up to you when camping in the wild."

"I can't help it if I'm cold blooded. With the exception of how I react to feeding, I'm at the mercy of my surroundings."

"Like a reptile?"

"I guess, if they gain and lose heat according to their surroundings. Unless dragons are reptiles?"

"Pretty sure dragons have hotter blood than mortals."

Serana nodded, remembering her first battle against a dragon near Dawnstar. "They definitely do. Anyway, shouldn't we be getting on?"

"Hm?"

Serana looked to the portal. "Trap your soul, get through there. Unless you've changed your mind?"

"I haven't, but I still have a bottle to fill for you before then. And something else first too; I've got to return the favour." Sithia stretched up on tiptoe to kiss her, hands roaming under Serana's cloak.

"You don't need to…"

Sithia paused mid-trail of kisses down Serana's jawline. "No, but I want to. And I think you want this too." She dropped to her knees, unclasped Serana's belt and tugged her leggings down. She slowly leant forward, holding Serana's gaze, her intent obvious as she licked her lips.

'Oh my. Don't stop. Wait. Stop. Wait wait wait.'

Serana reacted to her torn thoughts and reached down. Sithia pulled her head back at the touch but remained on her knees.

"That's more than returning the favour. I didn't use my mouth on you."

"Oh, but you did." Sithia laid a hand against the bite wound and smirked up at Serana. Golden light leaked from her fingers as she healed herself.

Serana shook her head. "Not how you're intending," she finally managed to protest.

Sithia raised an eyebrow. "I don't think it'd have quite the same effect on you if I tried to feed on your blood."

"No, it wouldn't. You'd probably be bouncing off the walls for a while if you tried. My blood has quite some kick to it."

"I'm not going to. As you said, we have business to get down to soon. After I see to you. Now, if you say no to my mouth, I'll respect that. But do you really want to?"

"…No. " Serana admitted.

Sithia cocked her head, confused. "No, you don't want it or…?"

Serana slid her hands into Sithia's hair, cupping the back of her head. She pointedly brought her closer. "I do want it. I want you, in every way. Just bear in mind I'll be returning the favour next time."

Sithia grinned up at her and closed the gap.

By.

The.

Blood.

Serana's knees buckled. She moved her hands from Sithia's head to her shoulders, vaguely afraid of hurting her if she tried to hold on for dear life there. Sithia was very good with her fingers. She was even better with her tongue.

Stroking.

Flicking.

Sucking.

Swirling.

Too much.

She cried out, head snapping back as she came. Serana narrowly avoided collapsing on top of Sithia, bracing herself against the railing behind.

'Well she is a Tongue. More than that, she's Dragonborn. Her Thu'um is beyond any ancient Nord Tongue's. What did I expect? Of course she's outstanding with anything her mouth can do.'

Serana shook her head, trying to rein in her stunned thoughts. How could she possibly manage to truly return the favour, even with her feeding gained knowledge of Sithia's sensitive spots?

'No. No! I'll not be bested. Not even by my Sithia. I'll manage. Somehow. Even if I have to feed while doing it. Well, not feed right there, but her inner thigh might do…'

Sithia stood up, reaching over to help Serana right herself, both in terms of balance and pulling her clothing back into place. Serana blinked. She'd missed Sithia fixing her own armour back into place, but it looked as form fitting as ever.

"Thank you," Serana murmured, and reached down to pull Sithia into her arms. As much as the experience had outraged her sense of superiority, she'd enjoyed that. Very much so. Besides, it just made it all the clearer that Sithia was her match. Her parents would choke on their next meal at the idea of a mortal being the equal of a vampire. Let them. Serana really didn't care what they thought any more.

Sithia leaned up to share a heady kiss flavoured with their combined lust. Serana almost forgot everything. Almost gave into the temptation to turn her. The almost overwhelming urge. Almost. But no. Sithia had chosen the soul trapping method. She had to respect that.

Sithia drew away, and had to catch her breath before she could speak. "I'd better fill that blood potion."

It wouldn't be at Sithia's absolute best flavour, but close enough. Serana wasn't about to complain. She watched Sithia pull out an empty bottle and fill it, cork it and hand it over. The hum of the enchantment on her fingers reassured her that the blood inside wouldn't clot. Serana stashed it in a pocket. It barely fit, but was worth the discomfort of it pressing against her leg for later ease of access.

"We should get on with the soul trapping. There was a black soul gem back there, wasn't there? We can use that." Serana took a step towards the cupboard where the soul gem shards had been, only for Sithia to put a hand in front of her. "What is it?"

Sithia rummaged in her pack and produced an identical soul gem. "They're valuable. I slipped it in here while we were searching for ingredients."

"You… I was keeping an eye on you!"

Sithia shrugged. "You were also looking for what we needed to open the portal. Is it so surprising that I snuck a few things in my pack under your nose? Well, behind your back."

Serana sighed. "At least it wasn't anything we needed. Not for the portal anyway." She held out her hand. "Give it to me. We should get this over with."

Sithia handed the soul gem over. Serana could tell it was empty the moment she touched it, a hollow feeling rising inside her. She narrowed her eyes as she concentrated. The feeling passed as Serana exerted her will over the greedy gem. It wouldn't be siphoning any of her own soul now.

Serana readied the spell, purple light dancing over her palm. "I promise to make this as painless as possible. I'd never do anything that could hurt you if I could help it. Hold still."

"I hope this works," Sithia muttered. She was eyeing Serana's hands and the spell and gem they clutched doubtfully.

"I know my magic. I've cast partial soul traps plenty of times before. It'll work."

Sithia's gaze raised to meet Serana's. "I meant I hope it'll work on me, because it occurred to me that it might not. Soul traps don't work on dragons. The spell failed when I was trying to make a little gold from selling filled soul gems."

"And you have the soul of a dragon. How else could you take dragon souls?" Serana almost let the spell fade away. "We've still got to try. Besides, maybe a partial soul trap will work when a full soul trap wouldn't."

"Get it over with." Sithia tensed, visibly steeling herself.

Serana cast the spell, sickly purple light swirling from her hand to Sithia. Sithia grunted softly, a stifled cry of pain. She glowed faintly purple for a heartbeat before the light soared in a bright arc to the soul gem Serana still held.

"Are you all right?" Serana watched Sithia, concerned that her face was still screwed up with pain.

"Fine," Sithia said through clenched teeth. Her stance slowly eased a bit and her face returned to its grumpy norm. "Just stung a bit."

Serana nodded. "Sorry." She turned her attention to the soul gem, frowning. The cessation of its greedy tug for more soul was concerning. She'd expected it to lessen as it was partially filled, but to stop entirely?

"I partially soul trapped you," Serana murmured. "I know I only did that, there'd be nothing in this yet with a full soul trap, so why…" Her eyes widened. 'Oh.'

"Why what? Whatever it is, by the look on your face you just realised the answer your own question, so care to share?"

"This soul gem is full." Serana held the gem up out of Sithia's reach. "No, don't touch it, or I'll have to do it all over again. And it's because your soul really is a dragon's soul - it's larger than an ordinary black soul, so even a partial soul trap fully fills this gem. It must be why a full soul trap won't work on dragons - there's no soul gem big enough. Well, apart from you."

"Are you calling me a walking, talking overgrown soul gem? Very funny."

"Oh, you're far more than that." It was so tempting to lick her lips, but that would be far too distracting for both of them. They had a job to do. "Let's go. My mother must be waiting on the other side of that thing."

"Mmm. Let's find out if a partial soul trap was good enough to get me through." Sithia started down the steps to the portal again.

Serana darted ahead of her, pointedly holding up the soul gem. "You don't want to go ahead of this."

"True. In that case, princesses first."

Serana rolled her eyes and stepped into the portal. She wasn't going to give that a response; it'd only encourage Sithia.

AN: Many thanks to Gaunty for betaing! Next chapter will take longer to come than this one as I still need to finish writing it. Hopefully it won't take months and months and months… bear with me!