"It wasn't supposed to be an insult." I said before this could escalate.
"What was it then? Because it sounded very much like my arrival was being insulted." Meridia said with narrowed eyes.
"It was an observation made under duress. Perhaps Mephala is trying to sow discord as she is inclined but she is correct that your.... method was physically harmful to me. I was temporarily blinded and deafened." I said honestly.
"Are you insinuating that I made a mistake?" she asked with a tone that made it clear I should choose my words carefully.
"No. You made a minor miscalculation. If it had only been your fellow princes here your method would have been perfectly reasonable. You merely discounted the mortal present, an understandable thing for a prince to do." I said carefully dressing her fuck up in a pretty way.
Meridia stared at me in silence for a good minute before visibly relaxing.
"I will allow the matter to end here." she finally said before turning crisply to distance herself.
"Ara~ Quite the silver tongue on you. Not many could calm that one down once she's had her feathers ruffled." Mephala said with a seductive lilt.
"No one was in the wrong. Of the lot of you she's usually quite reasonable." I said bluntly.
"Heh, Fair enough. Enjoy the view at least? So full and perky. Why you simply must have wondered what it would be like to get your hands on those right?" she said wiggling her eyebrows.
"Of course you'd ask something like that. Sorry to disappoint but the thought never crossed my mind. I was a little too preoccupied with the uncomfortable proximity to the potentially murderous prince." I said flatly.
"No fun at all." she pouted.
"You'll have to forgive me if the threat of death prevents me from finding an iota of attraction to any of you. You could be the most comely creatures to walk the worlds but I'm not going to risk my life over it." I said honestly.
"And what if there was no threat of death?" Nocturnal asked with a slight smirk.
"I'm not celibate." I said without elaborating as my point was made.
Mephala laughed at that but didn't keep pressing. I may have also been mistaken but Nocturnal also seemed satisfied with my answer though it was hard to say with how impassive her expression was.-
The air grew wet and sticky feeling as a new presence made itself aware. Deep inky green tentacles with black ink splotch marks appearing with them. In the center of this mass of tentacles a set of dozens of fleshy eyes opened to reveal twin pupils.
"Squid! Kill it with a boot!" Sheogorath shrieked at the thing before pausing "Wait! False alarm! It's just Mora." he said wiping his brow dramatically.
I could have sworn I saw one of the eyes twitch just a little at this but the almost lazy voice that followed it made me think I might have been having a daedric prince based hallucination.
"I have arrived." the deep watery voice of Hermaeus Mora spoke at an even and slow pace.
"Lord Mora." I said respectfully.
The many eyes of the prince lock on me with slow blinks.
"Greetings mortal. I have followed your exploits with great interest. The voice and sword singing. Never has such a pairing appeared together. Neither has a mortal ever contained a true weapon within their soul. You are.... unique. Full of secrets." the prince said with that low almost congested sounding voice that hissed it's S.
"Knowledge for knowledge. The ancient bargain. Offer and if I feel it fair I will give." I said calmly.
This was a gamble on my part. Of all the princes Hermaeus Mora was typically the fairest. He did not lie, nor did he truly trick people. All the stories that end with the ones who dealt with him ending up mad or in service to him were entirely because of the mortals in question. That said he was absolutely an opportunist who had no problem at all holding desperately needed knowledge over your head.-
If you had something he wanted and were in a bad spot he was well known to show up offering just what you needed, like a devil offering tainted salvation. Then of course were his bait for those who just couldn't help themselves, the black books. Each one a portal to his realm, each one a trial and each one leading to a secret knowledge he had hoarded. If you passed the trials of the books the knowledge you obtained was yours, free and clear. Fail them or succumb to the sweet poisoned temptation of all that knowledge around you and you might find yourself trapped in Apocrypha.-
"You surprise me mortal. Most would show reticence to offer me knowledge. Yet you openly bargain for it. Are your secrets so cheap?" the prince asked with a curious tone.
"Cheap? No, you'll absolutely be paying heavily for them. They are not however something I need desperately hold from you. Learning them won't help you, they may in fact only cause your thirst for more to rage uselessly." I said bluntly.
It was true too. Neither the circumstances behind my rebirth or even my past life's world were things Mora could do anything with.-
They existed outside this reality. Unless he could somehow exceed this universe him knowing does nothing but leave him with a longing that can't be quenched. Hell even all of my future knowledge that I brought would only be a short lived prize for him as time would render it obsolete, a mere curiosity at best.-
"Fascinating. What is the nature of your secrets?" he asked with rapt attention.
"That's not how this works, you know that. Make an offer, I swear by my soul that I will not trick you with unfair terms." I said solemnly.
Every other prince here sharpened slightly at my words as that was no base oath. Breaking it meant your soul belonged to the other party. If I was going to gamble like this I was going to make sure the stakes were just as juicy as they could be. I wasn't playing for a mere pittance, I wanted a fortune. Mora could tell this too, all of these princes could. If I played my hand and lost that was it, if I won though. THAT would shuffle the playing field.