Chapter 8: Falk

                                    

                                          
What a fucking fool, Falk thought angrily at himself. It took everything in him to keep walking away from Elisif. He shouldn't have visited her like he did, shouldn't have crossed that line. He knew she was alone, he knew she was afraid, exhausted, and sad. His steps slowed and he came to a stop in a servant's hallway. Everyone else in the palace was asleep, and all that could be heard was the crackling fireplaces and occasional snores coming out of the servant's rooms. His goal was to comfort her, but he had made a terrible mistake. 
Falk dragged a hand across his face. She would never look at him the same again, he ruined everything. He tried not to think about the kiss, the way she felt against him, the sounds she made. Fucking fool, he thought again, she will never be yours and you made sure of that tonight. He didn't deserve to think about her. He willed his feet to move again, continuing on to his room. The truth was, he wanted to run far from the palace. He wanted to never see that version of Elisif again, the one that loathed him. But his duty was to serve her, and even if she hated him he would protect her. 
When he reached his door, he was troubled to find it slightly cracked open. He had shut it, he knew that he had. When he palmed the door open he found a very amused Sybille waiting for him. She made herself comfortable in one of his armchairs beside the fireplace. Her severe features were not given any favors by the dancing harsh light coming from the flames. 
"Well Falk, I was joking about a tryst but I can't think of what else you might be doing outside your room this time of night." 
"What are you doing here?" He replied flatly. Sybille was barely an acquaintance, and while he didn't mind working beside her, she was currently pissing him off. He couldn't stand people who made it their mission to pick others apart for sport. Sybille had been picking at him like a scab, and he was through with it. 
"Say what you need," he almost growled at her, "Then please go, tomorrow is a momentous day for us all." 
"Hmm... I see, you must have been rejected." She shrugged, "I told you that girls won't like the feel of that beard." 
"Sybille!" Falk thundered, done with any sort of decorum he had left, "Get out. You had your laugh now get out of my sight." 
She stood to her full height, with a smirk that said that she was happy to get a rise out of him. "So this is who you are. I have to say Firebeard I like you better this way." She rolled her eyes then, "Look, you and I both know Elisif isn't ready to face her demon. She might listen to you if you ask her to stay here." Falk very much doubted that. If he told Elisif to not jump off a cliff he was sure she would do it now just to spite him. "Her mind is made up about going, and I think she can handle it with the protection of the Imperial guard." 
"General Tullius can handle Ulfric now can he?" Sybille scoffed, "How can you let her go into the lion's den so easily? I thought you cared for her." 
His face flushed at that. He was sure she meant platonically caring, but the very idea that his admiration for Elisif was known to everyone around them made him feel sick. 
"She is stronger than you give her credit for." He replied, pushing past his embarrassment, "Why are you so set on stopping her?" He realized the whole theatrics of Sybille's visit was out of character for her, and she wasn't someone who often advocated for others. Something was off and Falk knew it. The court wizard sighed and took a few steps forward until she was right in front of him. 
"It would be mutually beneficial for us, that's all I can say." She replied darkly, "Talk to Elisif tomorrow." Before Falk could even register what she meant, Sybille swiftly left his room like a spirit who found it boring to haunt him any further. 
Falk gripped the top of the chair in front of him, trying to decipher what in Tamriel she could have possibly meant by that. Did she know something about the meeting? Was she just looking out for Elisif? Was Sybille involved in some sort of assassin organization like the Dark Brotherhood? His raked his mind for anything that made sense, but his exhaustion made it impossible to clearly think about anything. Collapsing onto his bed, he lost his battle to sleep. But the last thing that rang out in his head before he dozed off was Elisif's words to him, "Leave me be."