Chapter Text
«Darling, have you seen my collar pin ? » Emmrich’s strained voice was heard from the bedroom, distant noises of his shuffling around reaching Rook’s ears.
« I believe it would be in the box where you always put it away, on the nighstand ? » She replied from the living room.
« I already searched there an it wasn- » Emmrich started before he interrupted himself, then grumbled something intelligible. « Nevermind, I found it ! » He told her from afar.
Rook chuckled to herself. Emmrich was obviously stressed. It was unusual for him to misplace his belongings. He was a very organized and tidy man ; except for the eventual stray papers and books that could litter his desk when he was really engrossed in his studies. So much so that when Rook moved in with him, she didn’t quite feel at home in the space that he had inhabited alone for years. But that was ancient history. Now his cosy but spacious residence in Nevarra was their home. And Manfred’s of course.
Emmrich was stressed but he had reasons to be. Today was a big day.
« Urgh, now he has memory impairement.. I cannot fathom how you decided to attach yourself to that senile sentimental you call ‘husband’ » Johanna’s voice echoed from her skull under the glass container that Rook carried her in.
Husband. That notion was familiar too now. It had been a few years already since Rook and Emmrich exchanged vows, first alone in the intimacy of the Necropolis’ garden where they first kissed, with Shroud’s Kiss in her hands and hair, and then in style with the people they loved in the beautiful scenary of her ancesters' Arlathann.
Rook sighed at Johanna’s usual bickering but didn’t grace her with a reply. That only served to irritate the undead more.
« I heard you again last night you know ! How that decrepit weakling can go at it like that without breaking his osteoporotic bones is beyond me ! »
It wasn’t the first time Johanna said something crass of the sort, yet Rook still blushed, remembering the events of the previous night. What started with her gently holding her troubled husband turned into less chaste activities to keep his mind off things when he got frustrated that he couldn’t find sleep.
It was a delightfully tender moment, and a good way to then spend a good night. But Rook didn’t really want to share that with a half-liche power hungry necromancer.
« Jealous Johanna ? » Rook grinned, regaining her composure and usual cockiness. « You won’t be getting any anytime soon I fear »
Johanna only huffed indignantly.
After a beat of silence, Rook asked more gently. « So, ready for the big day ? »
« You mean the day I finally get to leave that sickenly sweet home of yours ? » Johanna scoffed again.
Rook was used to it, that old lady didn’t know how to express herself any other way.
« At least my ordeal will end there » Johanna dramatically added.
Those Necromancers really had a thing for the dramatic.
The corners of Rook’s lips turned down. « It would be okay to be afraid you know » She said, lower this time.
« Afraid ?! Me ?! » Johanna of course was offended. « Unlike Volkarin I am not a coward »
She paused and the silence felt heavy in the room.
« I’ll face whatever will come, like I did everything else » Her voice came from the skull, quieter this time.
Rook’s fingers ran over the glass of Johanna’s highly warded prison, almost synmpathetically. After a long trial, as well as years of researches and discussions, the Liche Masters of the Mourn Watch adjudicated the case of Johanna Hezenkoss, as well as the punishment for her crimes. And the day of judgement was this very one.
After a ritual in which Emmrich was to participate, Johanna’s soul would be cut from any contact with the fade, and then, all maimed and powerless, would be imprisonned in a forgotten dark corner of the Necropolis, guarded by spirits and warded by the most powerful of spells, for eternity. As a mage, Rook likened her fate to being made Tranquil. A fate worse than death, and a life of suffering for a soul that wouldn’t be complete anymore. It was a fate she wouldn’t have wished upon even such an ennemy.
Dear Emmrich in all his kindness and idealism voted against that cruel punishment, but he sadly wasn’t part of the decisive majority.
« I’ll miss you Johanna » Rook half jested half confessed.
All these years they had kept her, for it was Emmrich’s duty to watch her. When they could have put her away in an abandonned room, they chose to keep her in Emmrich’s study. Guarding her was a duty he took very seriously (like he always did with work), and which also allowed him to regularly converse with an old friend (on the rare occasions where said friend was in a good enough mood not to insult him). Johanna had been part of their lives since the Veilguard, and seeing her go was like turning a page over years of their shared lives.
If Rook felt nostalgic, she couldn’t begin to picture how Emmrich felt on this day. Given how long he took to get dressed, it must have been worse than she thought.
« Of course you’ll miss me » Johanna retorted « I’m the only interesting person in this house ! »
Rook didn’t pay attention to her and asked Manfred to go check on Emmrich.
- - -
If the Necropolis could sometimes feel warm, intimate and inviting, the room where they stood felt as cold as ice.
Emmrich stood before Rook in his elegant gold and black ceremony attire. The wrinkles at the corner of his eyes and of his lips were deeper than when they met, from age and from smiling so much since then. There was more white now than grey in his hair, but he still looked most dashing of all the necromancers present. However Rook could tell his posture was stiff and his shoulders tensed when he carefully took the glass container that held Johanna’s skull in his gloved hands.
« Thank you for accompanying me today darling » He whispered as not to disturb the ambiant calm.
« Of course. Wouldn’t want to miss Johanna’s retirement party » She joked to try and alleviate the heavy tension in the air.
« You know you won’t be able to attend dearest »Emmrich seriously replied. She knew that, he already told her so, but she let it slide. « And it’s best you don’t. The ritual might be… difficult to handle for unprepared souls»
Emmrich was frowning and Rook knew he wasn’t eager to participate in the curse Johanna would be put under. She wished she could support him further. She placed one hand over his and squeezed gently ; she couldn’t do much more.
« Let us get this over with » Vorgoth’s voice echoed behind them.
Emmrich let out a deep sigh and gave Rook an admitedly melancholic smile. « See you soon darling »
Rook waved and let out a casual « Bye Johanna » trying not to let emotion fill her. Her goodbye got no answer.
Manfred stepped beside her and watched Emmrich walk to the other necromancers, observing, curious as ever.
« Sad ? » He asked.
He kept surprising Rook everyday with how much he improved in magic, language, and these days even grasping human emotions, trying to understand them in his own way.
« Yeah. Saying goodbye is always a bit sad »
Manfred nodded with a contemplative whistling sound.
- - -
The group of mages performing the ritual was already in place. All Emmrich had to do now was open the large ornated doors of the grand auditorium and join them. This would be over soon and he would go back home with Rook and Manfred and forget about the horror of it all.
Taking another slow shaky breath to calm his nerves, he went for the door handle when a short call of « Volkarin ! » stopped him, making him jump in surprise.
He eyed down Johanna’s skull, blinking twice then clearing his throat to regain his composure. « What is it Johanna. Last words or requests maybe ? » He asked kindly, ready to listen to her like he would anyone on the verge of dying. She did terrible things in the past, but he still made it a point to respect the final wishes of a sentenced soul.
Johanna didn’t answer immediately, and Emmrich started wondering if she was stalling. But then her voice came out, low and softer, just how he remembered it from their shared years as students.
« Will you be there until the end of the ritual ? »
Emmrich’s gaze softened « I will » He promised.
A beat of silence. Then a voice from inside urging him.
« Be more strict with the wayward company you dare call a family would you ? » Johanna said when he reached for the door again. He stopped but before he could retort, she whispered her last words.
« Live long, and live well, you impossible man »
- - -
Rook was tapping her foot nervously when the large doors of the auditorium finally opened. Waiting for Emmrich had felt like an eternity. She kept worrying something would go wrong. Johanna was full of surprises, and it wouldn’t have been past her to try and get out of her sentence with a few dirty tricks. She was relieved to see only calm necromancers exit the room, unharmed. Everything seemed to have gone right.
Now to see in what state of sorrow she would get her soft husband back.
Emmrich was the last to exit, stepping away from the group carrying the funeral urn in which the remains of what once was Johanna were trapped. He didn’t spare a word to anyone and rushed to rejoin with Rook. He stopped before her, looking down, inhaling deeply before he straightened up, repositionning his already perfectly adjusted collar.
« It is done » He told her, nodding his head solemnly.
When he looked up to meet Rook’s eyes, she saw how misty his warm brown gaze was. She tenderly raised a hand to cradle his cheek and gently wipped an unshed tear from the corner of his eye.
Emmrich leaned into the touch for a short moment of indulgence, then sniffed and cleared his throat, stepping back. « The ritual was messy ; old books, bones, dust everywhere... » He mumbled, keeping his crying in check with a rub of his gloved thumb under each eye. Of course he would blame it on allergies. He probably didn’t want the others to see how affected he was.
Watchers were supposed to be at peace with loss and accept it with detachment. Emmrich’s tender heart never quite achieved that, but to Rook, it only made him more human and more lovable.
Rook took his hand and slowly traced his pulsepoint with her thumb. « My dear husband. The love in your heart overflows it seems. » She smiled just for him. « Let’s get you home to a nice warm cup of tea »
« Home ! » Manfred chirped in, excited. « Tea and biscuits ! » He raised his arms in the air. « With sugar ! » He then added, mimicking the sugar clamp he loved so much with his hand. The spirit’s show of enthusiasm made Emmrich chuckle, the sound still a bit wet from his tears.
« Yes my dears. Let us go home »