Chapter Text
Corvo was tired, it was a constant in his life by this point. He’d been tired — exhausted really — ever since he was locked in Coldridge prison nearly seven months ago. At some point he’d learned to push past it, to work despite the deep ache in his bones.
He’d been betrayed, imprisoned, tortured, saved, stabbed and shot at, puppeteered and poisoned and betrayed again. Now, standing at the door to the lighthouse, he was going to fulfill his empress’ last wish, his final order from the woman he loved. He was going to protect Emily.
Once inside the lighthouse and at the top of the steps, he blinked atop a bookcase, surveying the large room from above. Trevor and Martin were gone, he could sense it, poisoned in their chairs and Havelock was standing at the hearth, lamenting the implosion of the Loyalists.
“I know Corvo’s coming for me just like he came for the others — crossing the island below like it’s nothing,” the old Admiral continued. Corvo smirked with twisted satisfaction as his left hand closed into a fist, the mark on the back of it glowing, and he was traversing the room in a blink.
The void rushed past him, air whistling by, and a moment later he was standing there, face to face with the haggard man.
“Admiral,” Corvo said, venom dripping from his voice. His hand flexed, anticipating a fight, his grip on his sword tightening. What he hadn’t expected was the disinterest with which the man was currently regarding him.
“Did you think I’d fight you Corvo?” He asked, cocking his head, “sorry to disappoint.” The Admiral gestured to a key then, “This is yours — the key to Emily’s cell. She’ll be glad to see you.”
Corvo stared at the him for a long moment. This was too easy. The Havelock he’d worked with over the last weeks wasn’t one to roll over. Still, the man stepped forward, powers at the ready as he swiped the key off the table, glaring at Havelock as he did.
“You made quite an impression on her, did you know that?” Havelock continued even as Corvo went to step past him. He paused, turning back. “She asked about you constantly. Where you were, what you’d been doing. I told her. In the end, I told her everything. From the start, when we had such noble goals in mind, to the end, when we were afraid, fighting in secrecy about who we could trust and who we had to kill. Arguing over who would act as the new Lord Regent. And she listened, eyes wide.”
Corvo gritted his teeth at that, thinking back through the past few weeks, the things he’d been told to do, ordered around like an attack dog. They’d promised to protect Emily, to reinstall her, all the while sicking him on everyone in their way, Campbell, Morgan and Custis, Esma and Hiram. Did he tell Emily what Corvo had really done? Did she know that he hadn’t killed them but found a different way each and every time — or did Havelock tell her that Corvo was a murderer?
“She’s become an interesting girl. If she lives, she’ll make a memorable Empress.”
Corvo fought back a snarl at the suggestion of Emily’s death, he could feel the flames of anger flaring up in his body as he fought to keep his composure.
How dare Havelock speak about her like this. How did he have the audacity to rip the poor girl away from hope once again? How did the world and the void and the outsider himself have the audacity to continue to tear down this innocent child.
Corvo looked down at the key in his hand as Havelock spoke again, “Go ahead, kill me or take me to Coldridge Prison. Make your choice. She’ll be watching.”
His mind shouted again that it was a trick, that if the man could betray him once, poison his co-conspirators, that he would do it again. Still, Emily’s cries in the room broke his resolve. The Royal Protector turned his back on the man, eyes focused on the door to Emily’s cell, and he knew it was the wrong choice immediately.
He could feel his senses heighten even before he heard the click of Havelock’s pistol, the sound of it firing. He summoned his powers on little more than instinct as he pulled his hand down into a fist. Distorted voices of the void whispered in his mind as the color drained from the room, time grinding to a halt. Corvo spun on his heel, face to face with a bullet.
Hundreds of scenarios — hundreds of ways to kill the old Admiral flashed through his mind. He could possess him and walk the man in front of his own bullet, he could blow the man into the fire with a sharp gust of wind or simply cut out his legs from beneath him. If his sword found the right purchase in the man’s arm, he could force Havelock's gun back on himself — but no.
It took every fiber of his being to admit it to himself — to fight against the burning rage in his soul which was screaming to kill the man, but he couldn’t. If Emily was to assume the throne, he didn’t want it to be on a pile of bodies, and he needed Havelock on trial if things were to go smoothly, not in a grave.
Corvo summoned his power once more, blinking behind the man just as color bled back in, time resuming. His arms closed around Havelock’s throat, and a moment later the man was out cold, snoring quietly.
Corvo took a moment, catching his breath as the adrenaline of being shot at once more subsided from his body.
“Who is that? Admiral Havelock?” Emily’s voice rang from the other room.
Corvo stood immediately, racing to the door Emily was locked behind.
“If you don’t let me out I’m going to make you stand in a corner until you learn how to behave!” She demanded, causing Corvo to pause, chuckling for one of the first times in months.
“Corvo, is that you?”
He fumbled with the key in his hand, trying to unlock the door. After a moment it swung open and there Emily was, running towards him.
“Corvo!” She said as Corvo crouched, jumping into his arms. “I knew you’d come.” Corvo grinned, hugging the girl tight.
“Is it going to be okay now? Will I be Empress?” She asked as she pulled back, breaking the hug.
Corvo hesitated, caught between the urge to comfort her when she’d been through so much, and the pull in his heart that was telling him to be honest. The heart — Jessamine’s heart — held within his coat next to his own heart beat once, “She sees more than she is telling. Young Lady Emily.”
“It’s not going to be ok,” Corvo said, pulling her back in for another hug. “Not yet. I can’t promise that everything will be alright, or that you’ll be Empress,” he continued, pulling back himself now to look into her eyes, “but I promise you Emily, that I will fight to make you Empress — make everything ok.”
“We’ll do it together,” Emily said after a moment, a surety in her voice that made her sound years beyond her age.
Corvo nodded, a smile spreading across his face, “we will.”
“How do we start?”
Corvo paused, thinking at that. He’d snuck his way across the island leaving unconscious guards and overseers in his wake. He couldn’t strut out of the elevator — as far as everyone below knew, Lord Regent Havelock, Prime Minister Pendleton, and High Overseer Martin were enjoying a fine bottle of Tyvian red.
His eyes slid off of Emily, raking over the room as he tried to find anything to help. His eyes finally fell on Havelock — still unconscious — and the beginnings of a plan began forming in his mind.
He looked over Emily for a moment, her dirty hair, knotted in places and her tear-stained skin. If Emily was going to be the Empress, her reign would have to start right now. “When we walk off that Elevator,” he began, speaking slowly, “We need to look like we belong. The men below need to see an Empress and her Royal Protector. Can you go upstairs and clean yourself off for me?”
Emily nodded slowly.
“Good,” Corvo said, mustering a reassuring grin, “I’ll be up in a minute.”
Once Emily was gone, he turned his attention back to Havelock. The old Admiral might have one last use after all. Corvo blinked around the room for a few moments, trying to find what he was looking for. Finally, he found a sturdy link of rope tying back a curtain and ripped it out of the wall, pausing to tear off a long strip of the curtain. Afterward, he blinked back to Havelock’s side making quick work of restraining the man’s hands in a tight knot and gagging him with the velvet of the curtain.
When he was sure the man was restrained, he planted his knee square on Havelock’s chest to keep him down and wheeled back, smacking the man hard across the face.
Havelock awoke with a start, eyes bulging wide as he realized his situation. The Admiral struggled against his restraints, his voice muffled as he barked out insults.
“Farley,” Corvo said, not giving the man the satisfaction of using a title he doesn’t deserve. “Your empress requires one last thing from you — an announcement. Your final act as Lord Regent. You will announce that I arrived at your invitation and that I’m here to escort Emily back to the tower, you will order your men to send for Captain Curnow, and you will confess your crimes to him when he arrives.” The Royal Protector punctuated each ‘will’ with a shifting of his weight, pressing his knee harder into the man’s chest as he spoke.
Havelock beneath him continued to struggle, but Corvo kept his glare hard. Finally, after a long few moments the man began to calm down, and Corvo reached down, sliding the gag out of his mouth.
“What do I get out of this?”
“When you’re thrown in Coldridge, I won’t argue that you should see the gallows for what you’ve done,” Corvo growled, “do we have a deal?”
When the man didn’t respond, Corvo pressed his knee down into the man’s chest in a quick, sharp jab, “yes, yes — have it your way Corvo,” Havelock snarled.
The announcement went over smoothly — partially thanks to the crossbow bolt Corvo had pressed into the man’s flank as he spoke — and nobody had stormed the lighthouse immediately. Corvo locked Havelock away in the cell where he’d kept Emily, disappearing to find her upstairs.
Emily was sitting at a desk off to the side of the office brushing her hair and humming quietly to herself — humming the same song Jessamine used to hum whenever she brushed her own hair. The realization struck something deep in Corvo’s chest, and he paused for a moment before finally making his way over.
“Corvo!” Emily said, jumping up as she saw him. She stopped, surveying him for a moment, “You need to change.”
“What?”
“Your coat is ruined,” She said, continuing to survey him, holding her hairbrush out for him to take, “and your hair — it’s dirtier than mine was.”
Corvo paused for a few moments, considering what Emily said. After a hesitant moment, he took the brush, running it through his hair a few times, feeling it snag. It was a process, but finally a couple of minutes later it felt smoother. Afterward he wet a cloth and softly cleaned Emily’s face, followed by his own. He looked better when he checked himself in the mirror. He still wasn’t completely clean — far from it, but his hair was less disheveled and his skin clear.
Emily had disappeared, and when she came back she was carrying one of Havelock’s coats, the blue fabric of the admiral uniform heavy in her arms as she dropped it in front of him.
“It’ll have to do for now,” she said, arms crossed expectantly as she stood, watching him.
Corvo sighed after a moment, leaning down to pick the coat up off the ground and shrugging off his current one. The coat didn’t fit perfect, a bit too wide in the shoulders, but like Emily said, it’ll have to do for now.
Twenty minutes later, a phone rang on the desk and Corvo blinked over, picking it up immediately. A guard was speaking on the other end, “Sir, Captain Curnow is here.”
Corvo cleared his throat, “We’ll be down to collect him soon, thank you.”
“We can send him up. There’s really no need —”
“Thank you, Lieutenant,” Corvo said a bit sharper than was needed, hanging up. He and Emily needed to go down, the men below needed to see them, for the plan to work.
Emily was next to him a moment later, “Who was that?”
“City watch,” Corvo said, turning to her. “Captain Curnow is here, we need to go down and welcome our guest.”
Emily looked a bit hesitant, “This is part of your plan?”
Corvo nodded.
“Alright, I trust you.”
Corvo bowed deeply at that, gesturing for her to walk ahead of him, “Your Imperial Majesty.”
The guards and overseers at the fort watched with a tense mix of curiosity and unease as the elevator of the lighthouse rode down. Instead of a child and an assassin however, they saw an Empress and her Royal Protector as they stepped out of the elevator inviting Captain Curnow up to the lighthouse.
Things moved fast from there. Havelock confessed to everything — the poisoning, the murder, the abduction of Emily, all of it. Curnow called on the guards and Havelock was arrested. They left the island soon after that, making the long trip to Dunwall Tower.
The midday sun shone bright on the wrenhaven as their ship cut through the water, and Corvo leaned against the rail, looking at the way it glittered in the light. He watched the reflections as he reflected on the last few days, weeks, and months. He had been betrayed, he had been imprisoned, tortured, and everything else he’d listed before, but in the end, he’d also been victorious.
It was true that he’d failed at his one job as the Royal Protector, and he’d have to live with that. He couldn’t save his empress, but in the end, he’d been able to carry out her final wishes. He’d found Emily, and he’d protected her. In the end, he’d been given a second chance, and he was going to protect Emily no matter what.
Dunwall Tower’s tall white walls were cast in beautiful oranges and yellows as the sun set over the city — over the awful past months. Corvo wasn’t naive or stupid, he knew things wouldn’t be easy — there was far too much to do, and there would be challenges — but he was beginning to let himself hope that the worst of it was over.
The rushing water roared, loud in his ears as they rode up the waterlock, and then he was watching Curnow step off the boat. It brought his mind back to that day — the day which had started all of this. The news he’d arrived with had weighed heavy on his shoulders, all too aware of the letter in his coat and what it would mean for the future of Dunwall as he walked up to his Empress.
Emily shook his arm and his mind snapped back to the present as he cleared his throat, stepping off the boat. He turned, offering his hand to her, and she took it, stepping off as well.
Jessamine’s heart beat next to his own in the coat as they stepped out into the grounds, “We have both been here before.”
His eyes drifted to the pavilion, its copper roof glittering in the sun. Her memorial was there. A metal plaque on a small stone plinth. He’d left a rose on it when he’d passed through here last night — he wondered if it was still there.
Corvo took in the tower as they stepped off the bridge, Curnow and another officer of the watch following two steps behind them. The dark metal of Lord Regent’s fortifications clad the building, clinging to the white stone facade — equal parts intricate and ancient — and Hiram had covered it up. It stood tall and overbearing on the shore now, all jagged sharp lines. It was a disgusting bastardization of what the tower was supposed to project, strength, beauty, and a regal stability.
Thankfully the awful red banners of the former Lord Regent had been removed. Discarded somewhere in a deep pit, Corvo hoped as they finally entered the courtyard outside the tower.
Standing outside awaiting their return was the full tower staff — or at least what remained of it. Corvo recognized some of the faces, Mrs. Blackwood the housekeeper and Mr. Amoretti the cook, a couple maids and footmen, but more were new to him. Also waiting there were the royal guards, standing alongside General Tobias, as well as Vice Overseer Crowley, and Callista.
Corvo reflexively glanced down at his hands at the sight of the Vice Overseer, checking again to make sure his gloves still covered the mark on his hand.
Emily ran over as soon as she saw her caretaker, shouting “Callista!” as she hugged the girl. Corvo went to reach for the young Empress on instinct, but stopped himself, she was safe now.
Captain Curnow appeared at his side, watching his niece embrace Emily. “I hope you don’t mind, Lord Protector, but I took the liberty of calling ahead to the tower and sending for a few useful and familiar faces.”
“Thank you, Captain,” Corvo said with a nod, turning his attention back to Emily.
She was now walking down the line of people, shaking their hands as they introduced themselves to her. Corvo appeared by her side when she reached the Vice Overseer and the General.
“Your Imperial Majesty,” Vice Overseer Crowley said with a bow, “I’m Vice Overseer Elias Crowley. In the absence of a High Overseer, I speak on behalf of the Abbey of the Everyman — we are at your service.”
“Thank you, Vice Overseer,” Emily said with a nod. She had all the regal serenity of an empress, and Corvo immediately thought of Jessamine.
“Lord Protector,” the Vice Overseer greeted him, shaking his hand firmly.
“Vice Overseer.”
“Your Imperial Majesty,” the General greeted with a bow as well, “I’m General Henry Tobias. I worked with your mother. The Imperial Army stands with you.”
“Thank you, General,” Emily nodded again.
“General Tobias,” Corvo greeted the man with a firm handshake.
“Corvo,” the General said with a smile, “It’s good to see you here again. I never quite believed the Lord Regent’s claims about you.”
Corvo knew he shouldn’t let his anger get the better of him, especially with a potential ally, but he couldn’t stop his reply, “and yet you did nothing to stop it from happening — followed Burrows’ orders?”
Emily refused to sleep in the Empress’ chambers — her mother's chambers. Corvo couldn’t blame her. He’d escorted her to her room hours ago. Afterward he’d patrolled the tower — twice — he checked every door and lock, and spoke to every guard.
Finally, he retired to his room and collapsed onto his bed. When he wakes up he can hear the leviathan echoes of whales and the whispers of the void. His bedroom is the same until it isn’t. He sits up in the plush bed, silk bedding slipping off him in time to watch the way the wall opposite the bed split away from the rest of the room, drifting aimlessly into the pale blue void.
“Corvo,” The outsider said, voice curling around his name with a sick fondness, “here you are at last, back where it all started. Emily Kaldwin the First will retake her mother's throne and the interregnum will be over. Will you stand beside her, Corvo — just as you stood by her mother? Will you guide her young mind? Will you protect her from those who seek to exploit or harm her?
“I have to say, I’ve so enjoyed our time together. You’ve toured a city on the brink of collapse, corrupted and tired. You have watched and listened when other men would have shouted in rage. You held back instead of striking. I wonder, will you and young Empress Emily have what it takes to bring this city back from the brink?
“There are many things to do Corvo, and I, for one, am watching with great interest to see how you’ll do, but I’m not the only one waiting. Others will be observing you too, some waiting to see how you perform, some ready to jump into the fray alongside you, and others still biding their time. I’ve lived a long time, and I’ve seen many things, Lord Protector, this may only be the eye of the storm. Good luck.”
Corvo woke with a start, his mark on the back of his hand tingling like it always did after a visit from the Outsider. Judging by the darkness still present outside the windows — and the tiredness which still remained, drowsy in the back of his mind — he’d only slept a handful of hours.
He slipped out of his room, moving through the shadows and avoiding the guards paths for the first hundred or so steps — out of habit more than anything else. An officer turned away, continuing his patrol back down the hall.
Corvo’s back was to the room as he quietly slipped into what used to be the office, shutting the doors with a heavy sign.
“Lord Attano.” General Tobias’ voice — Corvo spun on his heel, gloved hand twitching for a moment. The general was sitting behind his desk — right, this was his office now. “What can I do for you?”
“Sorry General,” Corvo said sharply, “I didn’t realize you were in here, I’ll go.”
“Lord — Corvo,” the General began, Corvo could hear the man standing from his chair, “could you wait for a moment, I’d like to speak with you.”
Corvo paused, hand on the door knob. Slowly he turned back to the man, nodding for him to continue.
“Please, sit down,” Tobias said, gesturing to the chair in front of his desk. Corvo kept his eye on the man as he moved across the room, taking a seat hesitantly.
“If this is about what I said earlier,” Corvo began, voice still gruff from sleep. He wasn’t particularly sorry for speaking the truth, but he suspected that they’d need the General if they were going to weather whatever storm the Outsider had alluded to. He wasn’t going to grovel to the man, but he wasn’t above apologizing for his bluntness.
“That’s what I wanted to speak about, yes,” the General said, raising a hand to stop him. “I wanted to apologize.” Corvo blinked at that, surprised, but didn’t speak, simply waiting for the other man to continue.
“You’re right, I didn’t do anything to challenge the former Lord Regent’s claims about you — and I did follow his orders. I don’t mean to make excuses for myself, but I did what I thought was best for the empire, and I would do it again. It would have been easy to give up, to not pledge my support to Burrows and let him purge me from the ranks, but that would’ve been ceding control to him. My stepping down — my quitting — would not have done anything. I would have been replaced in a handful of days.
“I chose to stay, yes, and I obeyed his commands, but I also got my foot in the door. I was able to be a voice of reason at his table, quelling his… more extreme impulses. For every loyalist conspiracy, plotting to take down Hiram’s supporters, there were a hundred people working quietly to defy the Lord Regent in small, everyday ways, Corvo.
“I know what happened to you at the hands of the Lord Regent and that blasted beast we kept down in the dungeons, I got the reports. I was trying to get the man sacked — had an officer looking into his history, but the damage to you was already done. I am sorry for my part in it, Lord Attano.”
Corvo waited until he was sure Tobias was finished speaking, studying the man in front of him. “Did it work?” He asked.
“What?”
“Were you able to be a voice of reason at his table — were you able to quell his impulses?”
The General sighed, leaning back in his chair, “That is the question, isn’t it…” he paused, thinking probably. “I like to believe I did. There were times when he wanted to quarantine the entire west bank of the Wrenhaven. Burn neighborhoods to the ground — most of them poor. He was becoming desperate there at the end, as the masked man grew closer…” Tobias paused, giving Corvo a knowing look that he didn’t quite like.
“I appreciate your apology,” Corvo spoke slowly, giving the General a short nod.
“Good,” The general said with a sincere smile.
Corvo found himself lost in thought for a few moments, his mind wandering back to the last few things the Outsider told him — the warning he’d given him. There was a chance that General Tobias was one of the few waiting to jump into the fray, but then… How hard is it to fake an apology — to seem reasonable. He could just as easily be part of the storm.
Corvo felt his hand closing around the heart in his coat before he even thought about it. It pulsed once as Jessamine spoke, “His entire family was taken by the plague. It is just him now.” Corvo blinked, looking at the man. He’d lost his family to the plague — to Burrows’ plague.
“If Emily is going to rule — if she is to walk this city back from the brink, she’s going to need support. I have a feeling that the worst isn’t over yet, and she is going to need strong, trustworthy people by her side. Can you be one of those people, general?”
General Tobias nodded his head immediately, “Of course, sir. I meant what I said outside in the courtyard. The Imperial Army stands by the rightful Empress, as do I.”
“Good. I want to start working immediately.”
The General barked out a short laugh, leaning across his desk to grab a bottle of Dunwall Whiskey, pouring them each a glass, “I wasn’t sleeping anytime tonight anyway. Where do we start?”
“The rat plague should be our priority. We need to find a way to slow down its spread, our people are dying,” Corvo said immediately.
“I agree,” General Tobias began, “We need stronger quarantines, and we need to make sure that citizens are receiving their elixir, we need to crack down on gangs, ideally we need to consolidate the survivors. However, the plague is far too complex for the tower to tackle alone. We need the support of the Abbey, the City Watch, and the nobility if we ever want to get any of that done.”
“The Imperial Council, then?” Corvo asked, guessing where the man was going.
“Exactly,” the General said with a nod.