This story is my version of how things in Dunwall would be after Emily

was crowned Empress. It shows how the events in the game change the characters

and how Emily would be as an Empress. (From Corvo's POV)

It was nearly 12 am I hadn't been able to fall asleep; I wasn't prepared for what would happen today. So I just lied awake in my bed reading guard reports on my two favorite prisoners Farley Havelock and Hiram Burrows. God how I hated those men, I had more respect for Daud then those two at least in the end he didn't lie about everything. As I was looking through the reports one in particular caught my eye.

Report #46

Day 2, Month of Songs

Guard: Sam Wassen

Prisoner: Farley Havelock

Today I was in charge of patrolling Cell Block A with fellow Guard Patrick Dostin. At approximately 13:00 hours I escorted the prisoner Farley Havelock to the interrogation room, where I was to stay as Guard Dostin went back to his patrol to relieve the officer that had taken his place. In the Interrogation room was Captain of the city watch Geoff Curnow, and the Barrister that would represent Havelock in his upcoming trial. I sat Havelock into the seat and strapped the reatraints around his wrists, as is proper protocol for the more dangerous prisoners placed in Cell Block A. The Barrister spoke first. "Mr. Havelock, I'm Barrister Stephen Timsh, I recently took over the Timsh Legal Offices in place of my Cousin Arnold Timsh, who was arrested for unlawful sequestering of peoples property." To that Havelock mumbled "I don't really give a flying fuck who you are so long as you can prove my innocence to these damned nobles." The Barrister then told Havelock "That's the thing Mr. Havelock, you have no case. No Barrister in this city would take your case because you have no chance of winning. I suggest that you plead guilty in hopes that you will not be sentenced to death." When the Barrister finished speaking Havelock said nothing. Captain Curnow ordered me to take him back to his cell. I unstrapped his wrists and he stood up. As I reached for my cuffs to restrain him on his way back to his cell he lunged at the Barrister. He grabbed the young man by the throat and said "You expect me to roll over to that bastard child of an Empress and her father, excuse me, Royal Protector. I will show that I'm inno" He didn't finish because captain Curnow stuck him with a sleep dart. I hauled him over my shoulder and left the room to bring him to his cell. I have been told that the Barrister, aside from a bruised neck and strained voice, will be ok.

Formal report Concluded.

I noticed that there was a small envelope pinned to the back of the report. I opened it and on the inside was a letter from the guard that wrote the report.

Lord Protector Attano,

I know that the reports on Farley Havelock and Hiram Burrows are sent to you directly and I would like to apologize to you for not being precautious enough when letting Havelock up. I know now that the cuffs should have been ready for him and that it is my fault that Havelock attacked the new Barrister. I'm also sorry I had to write down his venomous words toward you and Empress Emily. I wanted to personally write my own apologies and let you know that I will not let it happen again.

Regards,

Patrolman Sam Wassen

I made a mental note to visit him and thank him for dealing with Havelock. In truth, I liked when guards wrote personal side notes. It was helpful knowing that they weren't just Guardsmen, but people that cared about their jobs and what they did and when extra effort was put into a report it showed they took their job seriously.

The report had angered me. I didn't care about what Havelock said about me, the accusations were always there, whispers and rumors always circled my name. But to call my daughter a bastard, he crossed the line. Just because she wasn't the result of a marriage and had no formally recognized father did not give anyone the right to call her a bastard child.

I got out of bed and walked over to my wardrobe and got dressed. I decided not to wear my Royal Protector uniform; this was not going to be a formal meeting. So I put on a pair of casual black pants and pulled a button up grey shirt over my undershirt. I looked very informal, but I didn't care, this was not a meeting of Royal Protect to Prisoner, no this was going to be man to man, social statuses would not matter. I grabbed my sword and walked into the hallway.

The room next to mine was Emily's bedroom. She hadn't taken her mother's room yet. She hadn't wanted to. She told me that she wanted to make it our room. So, we did, whenever she was sad or wanted to cry she just lied on her mother's bed and cried into the pillow. There were lounge chairs placed by the fire where we would sit and reminisce about the time before Jessamine's death, I would tell her stories about her mother and how proud of her she was. At the end of a long day Emily would be found either looking over the balcony into the grand entrance of her tower, or sitting at her mother's desk drawing just like she always had. As I opened the door to her room slightly to see if she was okay I noticed that her bed was turned down but she wasn't in it. I walked to her mother's room, knowing that's where she would be. As I reached the door I dismissed the guard posted there and walked into the room.

"Corvo, how many people have you killed?" Emily asked without looking up from her seat by the fire. This caught me off guard I was definitely not expecting her to ask that.

"More than I would like to admit to." I sighed.

"Why didn't you kill Hiram Burrows?" She asked.

I looked at the tiny exhausted little Empress and said "It's complicated Em."

"But how? If he killed mother doesn't he deserve to pay for it? I mean, how did seeing him not make your blood boil and make you just want him to pay for what he did?" She said, finally looking up to me.

I sat down in the chair next to her and grabbed her hand. "Emily, I didn't kill Hiram Burrows because that wouldn't have helped anything at the time. I had to expose him for what he did first."

Then she sighed, "Do you think he deserves to die?"

I wanted so bad to say yes, to tell her that its what I would do but I couldn't "That is not my decision to make. You are now Empress and you must make this decision on your own. Nobody will judge you either way. Even though I want to help you, I can't."

"Being Empress is hard. But I know what I'm going to do." She said looking away.

"Well, tell me. What are you going to do?"

"Well Corvo, as much as I want to tell you I can't." She said sticker her tongue out and mocking me. "But I can tell you that its what mother would do."

Hmm, I wonder what Jessamine would have done. Is there any way to deal with Burrows without sentencing him to death? Surely Jessamine wouldn't forgive him, perhaps she would just sentence him to life in prison, which to me still felt like he would get off way to easy. "Ok fine be that way." I stuck my tongue out at her and gave her a smile easing the mood.

"Why are you awake? Its late and you have a big day tomorrow." I finally asked. Tomorrow she would deliver the final verdict determining Burrows fate.

"I cant sleep, I was sitting in here thinking of what mother would do in this situation. What are you doing awake?" she asked in return.

"I was reading guard reports from the prison and there's something I need to address." I told her grabbing the folded up report from my pocket.

"Oh." With that she gave a yawn.

"I think its time you got to sleep little Empress." I said.

She stood up and gave me a hug. "Ok, I will. Goodnight Corvo, I love you."

"Goodnight Emily, I love you too." And with that I walked her back to her room. I closed the door behind me after she got into bed and called over a guard.

"I have business to attend to in the prison, I don't know what time I'll be getting back so keep guard at her door."

"Yes Lord Protector." the guard replied.

"Thank you." I said as I walked away.

With that I walked down the stairs into the main entrance and left for Coldridge prison.