Lena killed the dragon and became the Sovran of Vermund, but she didn’t get her heart back. The day of the coronation was all a haze to her. The best royal beauticians spent hours reducing the puffiness under her eyes and the inflamed redness of her face as she had spent the night crying.

“I just don’t see a way out…” She was saying over and over, sobbing. “Where did I go wrong? I killed the dragon, should I not have received my heart back? I got it back last time…”

“This world works differently, it seems,” Scorpio didn’t have any answers, so he just sat next to her, stroking her hair. “This is evidently not the end. We’ll just need to figure out how things really work here.”

“And in the meantime they are crowning me into a Sovran!” Lena’s sobs redoubled. “I am no queen! I don’t want to be a queen! But I cannot refuse – if I do, they’ll hang me as a false Arisen!”

“And we want to avoid your untimely demise,” Scorpio tried to calm her. “It is not as bad as that. You get to live in a castle, you’ll have the best garments, the loveliest jewels…” Lena’s sobs were only getting worse – she didn’t care for any of those things, not at all… not really… well… may be a little… that part wasn’t too bad, in fact… but definitely not worth being stuck there for all eternity, and without her heart!

“They don’t allow pawns in the castle,” she continued sobbing. “They won’t let you in and I’ll be all alone here…”

“Well, but you will be the Sovran,” Scorpio shrugged. “You can change that.” Lena stopped sobbing. “In fact, the previous king had his pawn with him here, as his bodyguard. I shall be your bodyguard then.”

“Hmm…” Lena stopped sobbing and looked at him. “My consort. Not bodyguard.”

“They won’t allow it, pawn or no pawn,” Scorpio shook his head. “Your hand in marriage is too valuable as a diplomatic commodity to allow it to go wasted on a consort.”

Lena rolled her eyes but didn’t say anything. On the one hand, Scorpio was probably right, on the other hand, if the gentry of Vermund decided to crown her as their Sovran, they may be getting more than they bargained for – this Arisen was not a fraud and had a will and stubborness to match.

“All right, we’ll start with the bodyguard,” Lena nodded. “In appearances at least…”

…

The coronation the following day was as pompous as could be expected. Lena’s head felt heavy, her speech was sluggish, her thoughts were somewhat confused. “Surely, this could not be because of all the tears last night?” She wondered, trying to shake off the haze and being unable to do so. Time and time again she turned around to make sure that Scorpio was still right behind her, that he had not been removed while she wasn’t looking. As the ceremony progressed, some twenty or thirty pawns were led into the Great Hall and made to kneel to her, demonstrating her power over them, the power of a true Arisen. But it wasn’t she who was commanding them… it felt odd, she felt being set up. At the culmination of the ceremony, newly crowned, she was offered a goblet of wine to be raised for the glory of Vermund. She raised it. The crowd cheered. She drank… and everything went black.

…

“Well?! I can do this all day!” Lena heard Scorpio’s angry voice between clashes of steel and shrieks of pain. “The Arisen is not accepting visitors!”

Lena opened her eyes. She was lying on a luxurious four-poster bed in a richly decorated chamber. Her coronation gown was draped over a stand nearby. She was wearing… prison garb? How odd…

She rubbed her eyes and looked around. This was the royal chamber, she recalled it from her sneaking around the castle previously. Scorpio was fencing with several opponents, it seemed, not allowing them to enter… What on Nirn was going on?!

Whatever it was, appearing in prison garb was the wrong thing to do, she felt instinctively, so she threw it off… but not finding anything else to replace it, and not having the time or assistance to get into the coronation gown, she wrapped herself in a bedsheet – after all, togas never went out of fashion.

“What is going on?” She stepped towards the door, keeping her hand on the hilt of her dagger hidden in the folds of her “toga”.

“Your Majesty!” The knights on the other side of the door immediately stopped combat. “By the order of Lord Chancellor, we are here to guard your person,” one of the knights turned to Lena, “but this… pawn…” he glared at Scorpio, “is preventing us from fulfilling our duty!”

“This is Ser Scorpio, my personal guard,” Lena tried to sound as official as possible. “Have you not been informed? I shall have a word with Lord Chancellor about that,” she looked sternly at each of the knights, and they each took a step back. “You may guard my chambers from the outside. Make yourselves useful and fetch me my maid. And bandage those cuts – you’re dripping blood all over the floor!” She glared at them another time and closed the door into their faces. “What the..?” She started saying, but Scorpio signalled her to be quiet and went about checking every alcove, every closet and every window. When he was satisfied, he tossed her some clothes from a chest in the corner – her old assassin’s armour.

“Glad you have a clear head again,” he said, watching her dress. “You were drugged at the coronation, probably before the coronation as well. You fainted and were brought here, they tried to kill me but failed, I got in through the window, found you on the bed unconscious wearing prison garb… I believe the plan was to have these knights come in and discover that their new Sovran is a false Arisen… But it didn’t work out like that,” he grinned.

“Where did you get my armour from?” Lena was checking her pockets – poisons, potions, lockpicks – everything was in place.

“Rook,” Scorpio was watching shadows in the castle gardens as the sun was setting. “He seems to have known what to expect… somehow…”

“There’s a lot more to Rook than what meets the eye,” Lena nodded. “Level ten mage my foot,” she smirked. “But anyhow – what do we do now?”

“It’s your choice: either we escape and you become a fugitive, or we stay and you play the Sovran. I believe your life is in no immediate danger, at least not tonight.”

“We stay,” Lena said firmly. “This court intrigue needs to be unravelled. I need to find who is pulling the strings. It can’t be the previous Queen Regent, surely?”

“I think not,” Scorpio nodded. “I think it is whoever was manipulating her… whoever murdered the previous king, perhaps.”

“How delightful,” Lena grimaced.

At that moment there was a knock on the door and a maid laden with clothing and accessories entered the room.

“Your Majesty called?” She panted. “I gathered these and came as quickly as I could… I hope at least some of these garments will fit Your Majesty’s person… until more suitable garments can be made… I didn’t know what to do… there have been no orders…” She blushed, clearly confused. “Oh… Your Majesty is all dressed already! But how..?”

“It’s fine, thank you,” Lena tried to be soothing. “Let’s see what you brought. I don’t expect my armour would be appropriate to wear to dinner anyway…”

…

When Lena appeared at dinner that evening, dressed in a suitable attire and accompanied by her personal guard, heads turned, and some surprised glances were exchanged. The Sovran of Vermund was taking her place. With the dragon slain and the Arisen to guide them, the people of Vermund were looking forward to many years of peace and prosperity. All hail the Sovran! All hail..!