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Lord Yezekael Ebonblade walked the long stone corridor towards the awaiting chamber, a small procession of Ebonguard behind him. Solemn and nearly silent despite their mail armour and heavy boots, cloaks, and a sash of ashen grey, the only light was the flicker of the candles gently held before them. The corridor flickered with shadows, the silent gaze of perhaps a dozen men and women, mere effigies of those who had met the final twilight, their deeds now eclipsed only by their legend. Eyes of carven stone, seeing and unseeing, ever watchful over these sanctified halls, watched them. The great door at the corridor's end swung open just as Lord Yezakael came within three paces. Within awaited a mausoleum of sorts, bathed in the last rays of the setting sun. Around the room, set in alcoves, rested the sarcophagi of the fallen, both family and Ebonguard alike, each one carved of alabaster, nearly shining in the light. A forged claymore of black steel set within the lids, at the foot of each, a plaque and a flame said to never die. The floor was a tightly fitted mosaic of the sun and moon at eclipse, and in their centre, another alabaster sarcophagus. Maiwenn Ebonblade lay at her rest within. Her head was wreathed in a crown of lilies, her armour polished to a shine unseen amongst her recently arrived compatriots. Stood flanking her head where the house arcanist and her "Cousin" Lady Gaëlle Ebonblade, wearing her mourning dress, her fiery red hair tied in intricate French braids, bespoke with lilies. Her gaze cast up at the single large window that let the last rays of the sun in as they shone upon the sarcophagus. Silently, the procession fanned out around the sarcophagus as Lord Yezekael stood at her feet.
Here they stood vigil through the long night, silent and unmoving save for the prayers of Lady Gaëlle and the mutterings of the house arcanist as he spoke over a dusty tome. Here they stood in the flickering light of the candle, no darkness yet would touch Maiwenn, and no Ebonguard ever would be let fall into darkness. So they stood until the moon had swung across the sky, its pale light seeming to travel around the room as the hours passed, then just before dawn, Lady Gaëlle spoke.
"She is as she always has been: In the flicker of the dimming firelight, caught in the eyes of men. In the fading dawn, in the distant streaks of falling starlight. In the sweet rot of fallen, autumn leaves. Mistake not the twilight's coming song as thy requiem... I call Maiwenn Ebonblade from the river's bank, may its icy chill not grasp yet her soul, be she willing still to serve. I call her now, tarry still from her eternal rest to walk again in twilight, or may the river's gentle waters carry her unto dawn."
As she spoke, the house wizard laid down the glowing runes of calling and return, and the room took on the eerie chill of the grave. Moments passed, then minutes as the sun began to rise. It seemed as though nothing would happen. "Maiwenn?" The lady Gaëlle called one last time, then, as the sun fell upon Maiwenn's body, a gasp for air shattered the near silence, and her eyes opened wide.
Maiwenn's eyes opening may have been what everyone hoped for, but the Ebonguard about her sarcophagus sprung to action, long blades exiting scabbards with a hiss, the two nearest Lord Yezekael immediately imposing their bodies between him and Maiwenn, the others nearest her head shielding Lady Gaëlle and the house arcanist. The last pair had their blades raised to strike, pausing only for the breath it took for Maiween to blink. Frost that rimmed her armour was already cracking as she blinked, bits of frost running like tears from her eyes as she slowly sat up. Her skin was paler, her eyes a bit less vibrant than they had once been, her hair too. All seemed like the colour had been washed away, but again she blinked and looked with intelligence at Lord Yezekael and the two guards nearest her feet. She did not flinch when she heard flames ignite behind her, nor when she saw the glint of blades ready to descend. She realised quite quickly that she.... had been very dead. She recognised the mausoleum, though what was happening to her now, she had never herself witnessed. She locked her eyes with each of the guards at her feet.
"Tiercelin... Servanne... "
Here voice came slowly, finding her throat dry. The mere sound of her intelligible speech, however, had all those about her easing their stances, but the blades held aloft did not waver until Lord Yezekael spoke.
"Meryyn, Fingar... lower your blades... all is as it should be."
He edged through Tiercelin and Servanne to offer his hand to Maiwenn. Lady Gaëlle audibly sobbed, briefly overcome by emotion as the flames in the arcanist's hands blinked out. She arose, stepping carefully, shakily, as her body seemed stiff, nearly collapsing if not for Yezekael's strong grasp holding her.
"I cannae walk...."
She heaved a breath, the room spinning a moment as she seemed to be relearning her own body. Yezekael held her a moment longer before Tiercelin and Servanne took hold of her, supporting her weight until she had gained her footing. She gently pushed them aside after a moment and stood as tall as she could, turning about to face Lady Gaëlle.
"My Cousin, I thought never to see you until I finally gazed upon the sea of stars, where no shadows fall."
She took a somewhat shaky step around her would-be grave, and Lady Gaëlle hugged her fiercely before recoiling in shock. Maiwenn felt so cold to her. This shocked Maiwenn, before the arcanist could interject.
"The chill will pass, though you may never.... be quite the same again... You have waded in the river of death, and your soul is now both here and there. You walk now deeper in twilight than ever you have before."
His voice was sombre, yet matter-of-fact. They all stood a moment quietly before Lady Gaëlle and Maiwenn embraced again. They were, after all, bound cousins.
Yezekael gave them a few moments longer before he spoke,
"My wife, would you bind Maiwenn Seznec as your sworn cousin and protector, till the final twilight take you where no shadows fall?"
Lady Gaëlle looked up suddenly, unprepared for how direct her husband chose to be, yet she nodded.
"Yes, husband, I would bind her again... if she would choose again to live and die for me?"
Her gaze returned to Maiwenn, who turned instinctively to a small altar under the window, where she immediately strode on shaky legs and picked up a long black knife as Yezekael spoke again.
"Maiwenn Seznec, would you bind yourself to the Lady Gaëlle Ebonblade, becoming her bound cousin and protector forever, gaining all the powers required to do so, and forsaking those powers should she come to her final twilight before you? Would you forsake the name Seznec again and become a member of this family, until the final twilight takes you to where no shadows fall?"
Maiwenn removed her gauntlet with her teeth and slashed her thumb above the altar without hesitation, her blood dripping into an awaiting chalice. Lady Gaëlle was already hurrying over to take the knife and do likewise, both of them clasping their bloodied hands in unison as the house arcanist hustled over, himself unprepared for how sudden this was and began his spells, summoning one of the nearest Ebonguard, Joevin, to his side. Joevin assisted him with a few spells of his own as the chalice bubbled and foamed, various runes of binding, power, life, and death glowing in the mixture of their blood and the chalice's contents. Together, Lady Gaëlle and Maiwenn lifted the chalice to their lips and in turn drank from it, Lady Gaëlle making a face, but Maiwenn never flinched in the least and would have drained the chalice if the house arcanist had not put a hand to her arm and gently stopped her before taking the vessel from them to place upon the altar again. He offered each of them a black cloth before cleaning up studiously, as Joevin stared for a moment, as if struck with awe. A look many of them had, only one of them had witnessed another Ebonguard rise anew. Only one of the remaining guards had ever seen this, and thus he had stood in Maiwenn's stead, protecting Lady Gaëlle; he spoke up now, his voice low and cold, rumbling like gravel.
*"Maiwenn Ebonblade, come... mark your sarcophagus, so others shall remember you chose to answer again the call, that not even twilight could keep you from duty."*
Carantec held out a hand to her, then pointed to the alabaster lid of her sarcophagus. Maiwenn paused, then strode over, her legs becoming stronger and steadier with use. She bent then and placed her bloodied palm upon the lid, leaving her print. Rising, she gazed about the room at the other sarcophagi, perhaps a dozen. Maybe five had marks upon them, only one had more than one, and it was open still. She looked to Carantec, and he nodded,
*"Yes, that is my grave yet unfilled, let it ever be a reminder of your duty and your honour. You have chosen twice this day, once to live again, and secondly to abandon your name once more. We will sing loudly of your "final" battle whence you finally tell us that tale!"*
Carantec said with a grin, his lips almost white as parchment, hair ashen, and eyes a muted brown.
*"We will toast with all the Brandy Lord Yezekael will release from his cellars! YES!?" *
He exclaimed, looking at Yezekeal, who only nodded.