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It's been a year, He said to himself, A year since Emily lost her mother... And I lost my... The nation lost their Empress.
Corvo Attano stood, Empress Emily Kaldwin at his side, as they paid their dues to the late Empress' tombstone. Emily had tears rushing down her face but she forced her sobs back. Corvo's keen eyes could clearly see that in the way her body shook violently. Her small fists were clenched until her knuckles turned white and her trembling bottom lip was caught between her teeth. The Royal Protector closed his eyes, pushing back the pain and emptiness that began to grow at the memory of Jessamine. Her smile, her soothing voice, and the love she had for him and Emily.
He couldn't bring himself to speak of her, let alone think of her. For him, the grief was still too near. And the gnawing emotion tugged at him more so than usual because of the fact he stood upon her grave.
The spot she was killed.
The spot where he watched Daud skewer her with his blade. The spot where a piece of him had died along with her.
He remembered how her biggest worry was with Emily. Her safety was nothing to her in those moments and despite the situation, he loved her even more for that.
Typical Jessamine, he thought to himself in bitter amusement, Even in the face of death, she was just as stubborn and headstrong as she was any other given day.
She was his closest friend. They had known each other since they were young, before Jessamine was Empress. They had been side-by-side since then. Inseprable was what they were.
Corvo always thought he would be the first to go. It's how it should have been.
Whenever he would reach the bottom of a whiskey bottle, he would always wonder how it would've been if he were the one to die and Jessamine that one to have lived.
Year ago, he was always confident him and his closest companion would always remain together - remain by each others' sides.
Never would he have thought Death would be the one to rip them apart and sever their connection...
Jessamine was gone.
The statement never sunk in.
Even after a year had gone by, he still couldn't accept the fact that she was truly gone. That he would never hear her laugh, watch her lead the nation and serve her people, watch her play with Emily, watch her look at him with adoration in her eyes. The hole in his chest seemed to grow larger but then a small hand tugged at his coat, coaxing him to open his eyes. The tears that formed prior had disappeared and Emily looked up at him, shoulders squared and a determined glint in her eye. The same glint that Jessamine had.
"I'm ready to go back now." With a nod, Emily began to walk down the steps, leaving a surprised Corvo behind. He watched her walk with a powerfully confident aura surrounding her which caused a small, hopeful smile to ease its way onto his face before he shadowed her footsteps, much like he did with her mother.
Daud stood at the port as his former second-in-command beside Billie finished paying the ship's captain.
He watched her, still growing re-accustomed to how she looked. Olive skin with a golden hue beneath it. Sun kissed skin, she used to call it. Long, dark hair - black as night and dark eyes. Authority and fierceness surrounded her like a blanket and personality could be kind or sinister.
She was Serkonan through and through, just as he was.
Arielle Hastings was her name.
Heiress to the prestigious Hastings family in Dunwall.
The family was originally from Serkonos but two generations ago, they immigrated to Dunwall and started off as talented tailors, artists and gifted minds. The family keeps its Serkonan looks by marrying other Serkonans who immigrated into the city or distant relatives, which Daud had found odd at first.
"Let's go." Arielle sternly said to him as she shoulder checked him without sparing a look.
Daud followed, amazed at how moronic he had been to return to this forsaken city. Amazed at how he'd let a former agent of his apprehend him.
"I'm surprised," He said monotonously," There aren't weepers around here."
"That's because a cure has been found." The female explained as she turned a corner, eyes scanning her surroundings.
"How did the Empress know you were one of mine?" The master assassin questioned Arielle as she halted in her tracks, seemingly waiting for something. She didn't answer for awhile.
"Because you dropped me from Dunwall Tower on that day." She turned towards him, a cold glare on her features. "Because you tried to kill me and I survived."*
Daud didn't reply. He simply bit his inner cheek which only infuriated the Serkonan aristocrat more so than she already was.
"I left your employ a month prior. I suppose it was foolish of me to trust that since I was one of your top agents, I would be treated like I was worth something." She let out a bitter laugh and shook her head. "You had your hand around my neck - I dangled over that ledge and you dropped me as if it was nothing --
"That's not true and you know it," Daud quickly answered, attempting to mask the rage creeping its way into his voice," I did it because I had to. It was nothing personal, Hastings. You've been around long enough to understand that." The man expected a witty and sarcastic reply but he received none.
She was done talking to him, it seemed, so he bit his tongue and refrained from talking and the two stood in silence for a while, waiting for what in Daud's mind was a vehicle.
"It's been a year since then," Arielle spoke up in a soft tone, surprising Daud," A year since you dropped me. A year since you killed the Empress," She stopped and cleared her throat, blinking away tears," It's been a year since everything and since then I've spent every single day trying to forget you... And yet, I haven't."
Daud didn't reply once again.
"The Empress gave me this mission to get you back so that she could appoint you Royal Spymaster. I told myself I'd kill you when I arrived at your door. Revenge for killing my mother's closest friend... And redemption for all the things I'd done under you supervision... But I stayed my hand and it's all because you - you of all people gave me somewhere I felt at ease." Arielle let out a bitter laugh. "By the Outsider, I hate you. I only wish I had the strength to kill you but I don't."
"I will... See the Empress about her request," The former Master Assassin slowly replied after a moment of silence," And then I will visit the Empress' grave when the night is at its darkest. Return to your priest."
"The priest is dead," Arielle answered hastily before turning towards him," He was poisoned."*
Daud watched in unusual silence as she took a step forward when a carriage arrived before he felt the Hastings heiress grip his coat and tug him up next to her.
"His wrists are raw and marked, Lady Hastings." The carriage driver said to her, eyeing the Serkonan man’s bound wrists.
"Good. That's only a taste of what he deserves."
As they traversed through the city, memories came flooding back into Daud's mind and the feelings with them hit him like a ton of bricks. He stiffened as he caught sight of Dunwall Tower.
That's where he broke.
That's where he realized that killing no longer had a place in his life anymore.
That's where he had the epiphany he needed to spend the rest of his days back in Serkonos, away from all the chaos the city always drew itself into.
As the tower begin to draw closer in the horizon, Daud nodded slightly to himself, making note to visit the Empress' grave later in the night and make amends with her spirit.