#millona umbranox

[arimabari]

my TES Secret Santa for @inkysqueed !

Imagining these two post-thieves guild at party where Corvus is barely integrated back into polite society and Millona is giving every judgy noble the stink eye. Mans just happy to be near his wife.

Hope you like it! And thanks again to @scorchedcandy for hosting!

#The Elder Scrolls #TES #TES Oblivion #Oblivion #Corvus Umbranox #Millona Umbranox #TESSecretSanta2023 #inkysqueed #art #drawing this made me realize I really need to start relearning how to draw men again my lordy

[oblivion-npc]

i hate when married couples drag you into their drama :/

#oblivion #tes oblivion #the elder scrolls #fae's oblivion screenshots #gray fox #the gray fox #corvus umbranox #millona umbranox

[nine-blessed-hero]

Two Foxes

Universe: TESIV: Oblivion Warnings: None Words: 500 Context: I was inspired by @thenopequeen's tags on this post: "#anvil is home once I have completed the thieves guild #i like to imagine that I go to corvus for advice sometimes". I banged it out in like 2hs between laundry loads so LMK if you spot any spelling errors. Available on AO3

"Oh, and the Hero of Kvatch called by last night," Dairihill said, "asking to speak to his Lordship. However, your Ladyship and Lordship had just gone in for dinner, so I felt it prudent not to bother his Lordship." Millona Umbranox nodded, as she shifted the papers on her desk. "Did you catch that, dear?" she asked, over her shoulder. "Yes, my love," Corvus replied from where he lounged on the other side of the room, drinking coffee and pursuing the latest Black Horse Courier. "Curious they asked for you?" "I'm sure it's just a social visit. They are, after all, responsible for ending my amnesia and bringing me home." "Mmm. You'll have to invite them to dinner. I never did get to thank them properly." "Of course, my love. Dairihill, do you know if they're still at Benirus Manor? I'll take a walk down after breakfast." "I believe so, your Lordship. Speaking of breakfast – since it's a lovely morning, I took the liberty of having it laid out on the balcony." "Capital!" Corvus stood, readjusting his robe. "Will you join me, your Ladyship?" Millona glanced around to see Corvus extending a hand, giving her a boyish smile. She squeezed his hand. "In a moment, dear. I've a few more items to cover, and then I'll be out." "Very well, my heart," Corvus said, kissing the back of her hand.

~~~

Outside, the morning was already warm and bright. A salt-scented breeze ruffled his hair, as if it was glad to have him back in the castle. Beyond the crenelations, the sea glittered like a spray of diamonds on blue silk. "These are damn fine strawberries." Corvus startled, head whipping towards the table under the bower, hands reaching for an absent knife. "How d'you think they grow 'em so sweet?" the Hero of Kvatch asked. Their feet were propped on the table, and they held up a half-eaten strawberry for consideration.

Corvus smoothed down his dressing robe, regaining his decorum as he took a seat opposite the Hero. "I believe," he said, reaching for a slice of bread and the butter dish, "it has to do with the fertilizer used. Good to see you again, my friend. To what do I owe the honour of this visit?" "Ah, Foxie. Let's eat first, maybe?" "Millona will be out soon. I'd rather not alarm her by finding a stranger at her breakfast table." "Didn't I just hear her inviting me to dinner?" The Hero grinned. Corvus rolled his eyes, a small grin of his own creeping onto his face. "Touché. However, I don't think this is quite what my Lady wife had in mind. Your business, my friend?" The Hero lowered their legs, leaning in with a serious expression. "Very well, my Lord Corvus. I need some advice, regarding the Guild…"

Above, the gulls wheeled in the puffy periwinkle sky while below, the surf crashed against yellow cliffs. And in Castle Anvil, two Foxes conversed over strawberries.

#corvus umbranox #millona umbranox #the grey fox #the gray fox #Dairihill #hero of kvatch #writing #TESFic #oblivion fanfiction #oblivion fanfic #tes oblivion #The Elder Scrolls #wandering words #oblivion #concrit welcome

[nerevar-quote-and-star]

Oblivion Sexyman Poll 🔥❤️‍🔥

We are in: It's over. Go back to your own abyss, bloody redditors

Round 1 🔥😎

Captain Burd Volanaro vs Volanaro

Lucien Lachance vs J'skar

Jauffre vs Blademaster Owyn

Relmyna Verenim vs Guilbert Jemane

The Gray Fox vs Rasheda

Methredhel vs Martin Septim 

Azzan vs Antoinetta Marie

Sinderion vs Mannimarco 

Jyggalag vs Telaendril

Ocheeva vs Dumag gro-Bonk

S'Krivva vs M'aiq the Liar

Hieronymus Lex vs Millona Umbranox, Countess Anvil

Mirel the Golden Saint from Cylarne vs Peryite

S'jirra vs Syl, Duchess of Dementia

Farwil Indarys vs Shady Sam

Dar-Ma vs Haskill

Cutter vs Druja

Mehrunes Dagon – because y’all will give me Hell otherwise. Weirdos vs Raminus Polus

Bogak gro-Bol vs Gogron gro-Bolmog

Earana vs Boethiah

Glarthir vs Jensine

Gwinas vs The Adoring Fan

Hannibal Traven vs Runs-in-Circles

Luciana Galena vs Amusei

Agronak gro-Malog, the Gray Prince vs Anaxes the Xivilai from Paradise

Sheogorath vs Teekeeus

Vicente Valtieri vs Falanu Hlaalu

Umbra vs Janus Hassildor

Mazoga the Orc vs Thadon, Duke of Mania

Modryn Oreyn vs Ocato

Dyus of Mytheria vs Baurus

Valen Dreth vs Uriel Septim VII

Round 2 ❄️🤍

Glarthir vs Vicente Valtieri

Volanaro vs Cutter

The Gray Fox vs Janus Hassildor, Count Skingrad

Mannimarco vs Modryn Oreyn

Amusei vs Shady Sam

Syl, Duchess of Dementia vs Millona Umbranoc, Countess Anvil

Jyggalag vs Valen Dreth

Blademaster Owyn vs Sheogorath

Gogron gro-Bolmog vs M’aiq the Liar

Peryite vs Antoinetta Marie

Mazoga the Orc vs Ocheeva

Runes-In-Circles vs Martin Septim

Anaxes the Xivilai from Paradise vs The Adoring Fan

Boethiah vs Baurus

Mehrunes Dagon vs Lucien Lachance

Haskill vs Relmyna Verenim

Round 3 🩷😘

Lucien Lachance vs M'aiq the Liar

Syl, Duchess of Dementia vs Baurus

Haskill vs Ocheeva

Modryn Oreyn vs Jyggalag

Antoinetta Marie vs Vicente Valtieri

Amusei vs Sheogorath

Janus Hassildor, Count Skingrad vs Anaxes the Xivilai from Paradise

Martin Septim vs Cutter

Round 4 🌼✨

Martin Septim vs Jyggalag

Lucien Lachance vs Vicente Valtieri

Sheogorath vs Haskill

Janus Hassildor, Count Skingrad vs Baurus

Round 5 — The Semi-Finals! ❤️‍🩹🥀

Lucien Lachance vs Sheogorath

Martin Septim vs Baurus

Round 6 — Championship! ❤️‍🔥👑

Martin Septim vs Sheogorath

#oblivion sexyman poll #the elder scrolls #tes #Oblivion #polls

[nostalgic-breton-girl]

Corvus Umbranox

first impression: the whole revelation was just a massive 'OH!' moment. and then the ring... so many feelings so little time to reconcile them all

impression now: love him. so much to unpack about his backstory... and his return to anvil... him and millona oh i love them so much. absolutely capital fellow. brynjolf could never

favourite moment: aside from the whole last part of the thieves' guild questline... before that point when 'the stranger' spends half his time watching millona. or when you meet him in the abandoned house in anvil and he talks about the grey fox leading a lonely existence...

idea for a story: i want him to meet gentleman jim somehow. idk when or how. but the gentleman-thief conference needs to happen. it will be the most chaotically polite thing you've ever seen

unpopular opinion: i don't think i have any... i do wonder if him and millona being so antagonistic towards the whole business afterwards is kind of an act though

favourite relationship: did i mention millona because millona

favourite headcanon: honestly i like to keep a little of the mystery. kind of spoils the fun if you start elucidating his past. but i am toying with the idea of him putting the old smugglers' tunnels in castle anvil to use...

[bretongirlwrites]

tagged by @druidx for a writing tag game... tagging anyone who wants to join in :)

what is your total posted word count to ao3?

134,749 words, across 75 works... which actually is more than i was expecting. most of my pieces are about 400 words long heh

how often do you write?

would you believe me if i said barely ever? all of my short fics come to me in flashes of inspiration, i spend an hour or two knocking them into shape, and then i don’t write anything for weeks... i could do with practising more

do you have a routine for writing?

see above. i’m an disaster

what’s your favourite trope/pairing?

i don’t write tropes so much as plagiarise scenes from authors dead long enough not to care... i don’t know much about fanfic tropes. i don’t write them intentionally if that’s what you’re asking. doubtless you could find them in my work regardless

i haven’t written for a lot of pairings... in terms of tes i did love writing for corvus and millona umbranox. and of course julienne and marcurio my beloveds... oh one day you might see the whole story of lunette’s conquest of crassius curio. that’s more politics than romance and it’s a complete disaster that i don’t condone but by the gods it’s fun to write

do you have a favourite fic of yours?

i have a fondness for my comic fics like the imperial city irregulars or the formation of a courier... sometimes i cringe at my more serious older fics but the funny ones hold up better... seem more ‘timeless’

also dragonflight... first and only foray into something resembling poetry. can’t do better so haven’t attempted it since

your fic with the most kudos?

don’t know if i can answer this since i think my top results were hit by the kudos bot :(

anything you don’t like about your writing?

oh so much. writing goes slowly enough that the pacing feels fine, but reading it back, it’s always off. my thoughts go too quickly for my hands and i’m bad at filling the gaps between dialogue or internal monologue... of late i have been using dashes far too much. they’re damn near everywhere. i can’t write a sentence without interrupting myself or going off on a tangent

now something you do like?

i like to think i’m funny. and that i’m okay at dialogue. i like writing banter, back-and-forth... sometimes i worry it doesn’t go anywhere, it’s just for the fun of it. but then i remember that’s also a criticism levelled at marivaux and i love marivaux

#tag game

[artistic-lightcycle-tes]

Hok: so we believe Dagon will open a great gate at Bruma to destr-

Count Indarys: why Bruma?

Hok: ... uhm I don't think there is a reason why-

Count Hassildor: Does this imply that our citys aren't good enough for Dagon to open up a "great" gate?

Hok: It doesn't matter where the gate is located!

Countess Umbranox: Well Anvil is a great city and I think it should be there.

Hok: WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?!

#oblivion #tes 4 #tes 4 oblivion #the elder scrolls #hok #incorrect quote #millona umbranox #janus Hassildor #Andel Indarys

[cyrodiilproblems]

people still theorising about what happened to count umbranox. guys it’s been ten years

#cyrodiil problems #millona umbranox #corvus umbranox #oblivion #anvil

[luckydxy]

if you want to know why i love the umbranox’s here’s a quick peek  ❦

#;;ooc #;;headcanon #the important bits stop at 4:55 btw #corvus : the cowl is yours now #ara : thanks -- i'm tossing it down a fucking well #i love this scene -- but i also ache knowing that it's this exact scene #which is ara's unraveling as she gets desperate for a change of histories & fate post-crisis #but less about that & more about cOUNTESS MILLONA UMBRANOX #BOSS ASS BITCH OF ANVIL #she loves this man & his dumbass enough to wait ten years & through a curse -- but she still ? puts her people ?? first ??? #''you have broken my heart for a second time'' #shot the fuck down & he's still swooning & proud #they work it out -- i adore them -- ara adores them

[dumpsterhipster]

The Trash Dweller's Dumpster Dives: 4

Welcome back for fic rec #4--a fic I only just read which was so spectacular that it had to jump to the front of the queue.

[1] [2] [3] [5] [6]

The Parting Glass

- by StopTalkingAtMe

fandom || Oblivion rating || M (some sexual content, adult themes) categories || F/M, gen genre || autobiography, romance characters of note || Corvus Umbranox, Armande Christophe, Millona Umbranox, the Gray Fox status || 36/36, 303k

The best TES novel you'll ever read.

When you're a thief, sometimes life hands you a gift. I think of it as a glass of alcohol, because why not? Sometimes that glass is a filled with the sweetest nectar imaginable, a thousand times finer than even the best Cyrodilic brandy (if such a thing is possible), and sometimes it's filled with poison. And you have no way of knowing which it is until you've drunk it down. Sometimes, very occasionally, it's both.

I’ve been staring at a blank page for an embarrassingly long time trying to figure out where to start this review, because I for real could write (and based on the word count of one of my comments, have written) entire essays about this fic. Where to start? I guess by saying that for an entire week The Parting Glass completely took over my life and thoughts, and it still hasn’t left, and probably never will. This is the best fic I have ever read, hands down—which, as I’m sure you’ll realise if you’ve read any of my other reviews is unbelievably high praise. To quote myself:

Very rarely, I come across fics which trigger some weird undefinable switch in my brain where suddenly it feels like I'm reading a novel rather than fanfiction. It's not just a quality thing--I've been fortunate enough to read many truly excellent fics--rather some nebulous extra *something* which I usually can't place my finger on. With your writing, it's actually a lot easier to define why: aside from the plot itself, which is of a level of complexity and originality that is near unheard of in fic and which I'll gush about more in a bit, there's this incredibly vivid richness and tangibility to both your setting and characters that brings them to life and makes your writing incredibly immersive. In all honesty, this fic reads like a pre-publication adult fantasy novel, and a good one, too--to me like a cross between Locke Lamora and the Kingkiller Chronicle.

The Parting Glass truly is a standout work on the Archive. On the surface it’s a relatively simple conceit—the autobiographical retelling of the Count of Anvil’s life, the defining event of which you’ll be familiar with if you’re familiar with Oblivion (I wasn’t), and which I won’t spoil if you’re not—but the way it’s executed is above and beyond anything I could ever have expected. The plot is intricate and complex and draws you in and does not let you go; the characters are as real and vivid as I’ve ever seen; the worldbuilding is so rich and detailed that I haven’t been able to remove my head from the Cyrodiil they’ve lovingly crafted; and oh my god, their use of THEME. The further you get into the fic the more apparent it is how cleverly they’ve constructed everything about the story—even the very particular and unique style of narration—to build into the marvellously complex and nuanced delve into themes of identity and duality, truth and lies, the masks we wear and the stories we tell others and ourselves.

I seriously cannot emphasise enough how highly I recommend this fic. I tore through the entire back half in a day—I don’t think I’ve ever read a fic (and it’s been a while since I’ve read a novel) which grabbed me so thoroughly. It’s absolutely criminal that at time of writing this, the fic had less than 60 kudos, despite having been up since 2017. If you have even a passing interest in Oblivion, or Thieves’ Guilds, or a love of immersive, rich and complex down-to-earth fantasy storytelling, you owe it to yourself to check this out. It’s very long, but worth the time investment a thousand times over.

PLEASE NOTE that the fic does get very dark, with very intense descriptions of violence and some scenes of torture. There are mentions (and one brief on-screen description) of non-consensual sex (though the POV character is never involved), some (non-explicit) sexual content, and mentions of underage sex (between consenting teenagers, never on screen). Please be mindful of any relevant warning before diving in! (And if you do check it out, please drop into my DMs any time to discuss it, because I could rave about this story all day.)

#tes #oblivion #fanfiction #oblivion fanfiction #fic recs #fic review #thieves' guild #the gray fox #corvus umbranox #trash dweller's dumpster dives #the elder scrolls

[nostalgicyorkshiregirl]

tagged by @elavoria to list 10 favourite female characters from 10 fandoms... heh idk if i have 10 fandoms but i will try my best

1. wynne from dragon age origins. wynne is categorically the best. struggling to get into dragon age 2 mainly for lack of wynne

2. ilmeni dren from morrowind. isn’t she just extraordinary

3. millona umbranox from oblivion. because oblivion is a separate fandom and because MILLONA

4. mirabelle ervine from skyrim. deserved better

5. the thirteenth doctor. oh she’s just incredible

6. zilia from lettres d’une péruvienne. is french enlightenment epistolary literature a fandom? it is now. she’s one of the greatest feminist heroes of the time. and so is françoise de graffigny, her creator

7. there are so few well-written women in jules verne unfortunately but it’s one of my big ‘fandoms’ so i’m going to say éva from voyage à travers l’impossible. not for want of better but because she is actually great. keeps her head while all the typical 19th century men around her are losing theirs

8. isabel de saint-gil, various aliases, from the paris des merveilles series by pierre pevel. i don’t know if an english translation exists but. she’s a fairy who escaped from the outremonde and who is badass and gets all the best fight scenes and she’s marvellous

9. oh i’m running out of fandoms now hmmm. used to be a big fan of septimus heap and thought marcia overstrand was marvellous

10. is classical music a fandom can i put louise farrenc

idk who to tag because idk who does these things but. anyone who follows this blog is tagged in these. you’re a small but great little crew

#tag game

[mxxnblind]

confirmed muses ;; 

glover mallory robyn mallory  sapphire mercer frey  ralis sedarys  jonathan crane *

still in consideration ;; 

martin septim millona umbranox  ????

#;;ooc #;;psa #;;muse list #the blog is is M E S S rn but i'm getting it pieced together #anyways wow -- i love all of them -- ralis is experimental but ----------- i love that sketchy bastard #& of course the mallory's are the reason i get out of bed in the morning #& mercer fucking frey --- m e r c e r f u c k i n g f r e y -- i hate him but i love him as well you see #* we sticking exclusively tes for jon -- because -- i dont wanna dc comics rn #i've had an au for him for years so that's gunna be easy peasy -- just gotta get it written down #cranky ass old ass 'tall for an altmer' altmer w/ his dumb books - fear poisons - & potato sack mask

[meloblivion]

Countess Millona Umbranox with melons

#oblivion #elder scrolls #tes #bethesda #the elder scrolls

[nine-blessed-hero]

CW: None

Summary: The new Grey Fox goes a-visiting to Castle Anvil for some advice.

Podfic version, read by me.

Original: Tumblr || AO3 Podfic also available on AO3

#podfic #podfic length 0-10min #MP311mb #TESFic #oblivion fanfiction #oblivion fanfic #tes oblivion #The Elder Scrolls #wandering words #hero of kvatch #the grey fox #the gray fox #Corvus Umbranox #Millona Umbranox #Dairihill #oblivion

[nerevar-quote-and-star]

Oblivion Sexyman Poll Participants

(which will have pictures, courtesy of UESP, when I actually post the poll. Which will be a day or so after ISQ's last round closes.)

Martin Septim 💕

Lucien Lachance

The Adoring Fan

Janus Hassildor

Vicente Valtieri

Mehrunes Dagon --- because y’all will give me Hell otherwise. Weirdos

Sheogorath

Haskill

Agronak gro-Malog, the Gray Prince

The Gray Fox

Mannimarco 

Baurus

Heironymus Lex

Anaxes the Xivilai from Paradise

Ocheeva

Gogron gro-Bolmog

Syl, Duchess of Dementia

Jyggalag

Dyus of Mytheria 

Sir Mazoga

Methredhel

Dar-Ma

Valen Dreth

Boethiah

Cutter

Relmyna Verenim

Mirel the Golden Saint from Cylarne

Antoinetta Marie

Glarthir

Millona Umbranox, Countess Anvil

Modryn Oreyn

Hannibal Traven

I added the obvious (to me) ones, and am open to requests. Will probably cap off at 32 like ISQ's poll, so get your contenders in now!

#someone please request modryn please #i told you i'm a dunmer lover #same rules as isq's skyrim poll: no dead bodies #undead (vampires mannimarco etc) yes. corpses? No Get Out #oblivion sexyman poll #the elder scrolls #tes #oblivion #mod post

[nostalgic-breton-girl]

this is a bit of an indulgent piece of writing. as you may or may not know, i just adore corvus and millona umbranox. i’ve been meaning to write something featuring them for a while; now i have, it’s about how they met, and it’s sweet and a bit silly and i hope you like it :-)

--------------

Invitation to the Dance

When the Count of Anvil held a ball, the invitations were rightly coveted among the Gold Coast nobility, its up-and-coming middle classes, and anyone with the conviction that they should have by now have come into immense wealth, but had missed it by a stroke of misfortune. These invitations were not given to these last people, of course, but they were liberally scattered among the former, such that Anvil Castle was that evening stacked with people, all of whom knew each other and exactly how much wealth the others possessed, and despite that tried to outdo each other spectacularly, in more areas than one.

When the Count of Anvil held a ball, in short, the Castle was chaos, the dress was absurd, the conversation infuriatingly affected: and Millona Pelagia, the eldest daughter of one of the grasping country lords, did not like it in the slightest.

She had been handed her third drink of the evening – which had scarcely begun – by a tight-lipped butler, and was considering pouring it into a pot-plant like the others, when she heard footsteps at her side, and turned to see a young man with the most ludicrous coat-tails, but an amusedly scathing glance towards those who wore the same, and something like mischief twinkling in his eye.

‘Capital evening,’ he commented, in a voice that said the opposite: ‘capital ball. Just splendid.’

‘You’re not enjoying yourself either, then,’ Millona ventured.

‘Where’s the fun in all this?’ he said with a laugh, ‘pretending you’re better than you are, drinking so much you actually want to dance in public, and talking to the most obnoxious of the obnoxious.’

‘It isn’t the worst thing in the world,’ Millona lied, ‘it’s just... a bit rowdy. I’m not sure I like this much company, I have only been to one of these balls once before.’

‘You’re the Pelagia, I believe.’

‘The Pelagia? No, that would be my father.’

She glanced about for him; and given what he had been wearing when last she saw him, it was perhaps for the best that she could not find him to point him out.

‘Oh! No, rather, I have heard about you.’

‘Nothing bad, I hope?’

‘Quite the opposite.’

Millona was not particularly surprised, all things considered: already in the noble circles, she was described as something of a relief after her father, and she could not quite disagree herself. Certainly she had made just enough of an impression to be noteworthy, but a demure enough one to be striking beside the flamboyant and disparaging Lord Pelagia.

But she was not one for talking about herself, and so politely asked who the young man was, and what was his standing.

‘Oh, I’m the Count’s son,’ he said.

‘His son!’ she said in astonishment: ‘Corvus Umbranox?’

‘At your service,’ he replied, and made a somewhat mockingly low bow, before sweeping her hand to his lips.

She knew he was jesting, she had caught the note of dislike with regards to his own title, but she could not help being charmed all of a sudden by the glint in his eye, and most particularly by the gentle kiss which he placed on the back of her hand.

‘You’ve heard of me, no doubt,’ he went on.

‘Certainly I have,’ she said: ‘you are quite the talk of the nobility, I think: you are quite different from the Count.’

‘Oh, I should hope so,’ he replied.

A tray filled with wine-glasses passed his nose; he took one, and offered another to Millona, who might have refused it, but who was so distracted by him that she did not notice until the glass was in her hand.

Distracted by him? – what had come over her?

‘Some people say you are unsuitable for the position of Count –’

‘Oh, I know,’ he murmured.

‘– but not for anything bad, or anything which I find bad,’ she finished, quickly: ‘because you like to be among the people, of all classes, because you go round in common clothes and give your money to the beggars –’

‘Most people just say I’m naive and frivolous,’ he put in.

‘Oh! no, I don’t think that.’

‘How do you know I give money to beggars?’ he said suddenly.

‘Because the beggars told me so,’ replied Millona.

It was not a rumour which was put out about him: certainly it was not noble behaviour, and did not befit his class, but to openly denounce him for giving money to the poor would have been a step too far, and even the nobility were aware of that.

But she watched him react to her words, smiled when he realised what she had said.

‘Do you know,’ he said: ‘I think I have seen you before in Anvil.’

‘I come down sometimes,’ she said: ‘I love to walk by the docks, and on the cliffs... It’s a beautiful city.’

‘Truly it is,’ Corvus murmured, and sipped from his drink, perhaps to disguise a sudden burst of proud sentimentality. ‘I am surprised I have not seen you often; I walk by the sea whenever I can. At sunset it is at its most spectacular.’

Millona fell to reminiscence about the city that she loved: and in this swathe of memories, she almost forgot the ball... the music, unpleasantly mingling with loud conversation, was for the moment replaced by the gentle swish of the waves, the crowing of a seagull; gone in her mind’s eye were the crowds of robes and made-up faces and startling hats, replaced by the softly burning vision of the city at sunset, the capricious silhouette of the castle and the cliffs against the glimmers of the sea...

‘Oh! it is,’ she sighed: ‘if only I were out there now, rather than trapped in here.’

‘You could leave,’ he said.

‘I am sure I would not be allowed. Someone would see me going, and tell Father, and I’d be brought back.’

‘I could smuggle you out.’

She stifled a laugh.

‘I live here, I know this castle. Last time I had to be at a ball...’ He hesitated, made sure only Millona might hear him: ‘I couldn’t get to the door, but I managed to get behind a curtain and jump out of the window.’

‘You did what?’

‘Couldn’t bear to be inside a moment longer. It isn’t too far to the ground. – You don’t believe me, do you.’

‘Oh, I believe you.’

‘Do you fancy jumping out of a window?’

She felt a bit giggly all of a sudden, and looked behind her; they were pressed against the wall almost, near to the curtain, and there was something very tempting about the sunlight which was trying its utmost to penetrate the heavy fabric. Then she looked back at Corvus, who was surveying the room, and decided that jumping out of a window with him to escape a ball would be the most marvellous thing in the world.

‘Can we do it without being seen?’

‘I know I can... Wait until nobody is looking, and then get behind the curtain.’

She did so; and a moment later Corvus joined her.

‘Nobody has seen us,’ he said.

He reached over to the latch, fiddled a little; then, when it did not budge, he tapped his pocket, and felt within its depths before drawing out a small metal rod.

‘Locked,’ he said: ‘I’ll have that open in a moment –’

He stuck the rod into the keyhole, shifted it a bit; then there was a click, the latch lifted, and Millona studied him in surprise and admiration. He caught her looking, went a bit red, and pocketed the lockpick.

‘There,’ he said, peering out: ‘not too far down. Careful with your dress on the window-frame. Here – I’ll go first, then I can catch you if you need it.’

And in one swift movement he hoisted himself onto the frame, lifted his coat-tails to his waist, and held them in one hand; the other he planted upon the sill, and propelled himself out. When Millona dared to look out, she saw that he had landed as adroitly as the castle cat, and was beaming, willing her to follow him.

‘Oh!’ she said: ‘I’m coming,’ and she lifted her skirt a little, placed one foot and then the other out, and half-jumped, half-fell to the ground.

‘Someone will notice we are missing eventually,’ she said after a moment, taking the hand which Corvus had put out for her, though she did not actually need his assistance.

‘I’m sure they will,’ Corvus replied, and without quite realising laced his fingers around hers: ‘but they shan’t find us, and anyway, isn’t this worth getting caught for?’

‘Yes...’ Millona murmured.

The day was not yet gone, and the last light was always the most extraordinary: passionate flurries of colour, rebounding upon the gentle waves, and the quiet of the settling city, a nightingale in the woods, and a seagull far out. By day there were ships scurrying in and out, their bells clanging; now their masts and bells shook in the breeze, and then fell silent, a rise and fall like the breathing of the harbour.

‘I love Anvil,’ said Millona: ‘it’s the most wonderful city in Cyrodiil.’

‘I shall be Count of it, one day,’ Corvus considered: ‘and I don’t know if I want the title, but I think I shall be proud nonetheless.’

He regarded the sunset for a few moments more, did not realise that he was still holding Millona’s hand: a fact which she did not protest. Oh! how nice it was, to be out here, to breathe the salty air, and to be with this most unusual man –

‘I am sure you will,’ she said: ‘I would be proud to be Countess of Anvil.’

‘Well, that’s a bit forward,’ he laughed, with sparkling eyes.

‘Oh!’ she cried: ‘oh, no, I didn’t mean – no –’

‘I'm sure I wouldn’t complain about that either,’ he went on, and grinned. ‘But truly, Millona, I think I shall be charmed by more of your company, if nothing else. We shall have a walk this evening; and I think we shall have to meet again, soon after –’

‘I’d like that,’ she said.

‘Capital,’ he replied, quite honestly this time, and taking her arm walked her into the sunset.

#writing #oblivion #tes #elder scrolls #millona umbranox #corvus umbranox