28DCD Day Two: Relationships (Parents/Guardians)

Elspeth lived with her parents for the first ten years of her life.  She remembers being closer to her father, as he was the more affectionate and nurturing one.  Bedyn made sure that he had plenty of one-on-one time with Elspeth, whether it was during their Sundas evening story-time or supervising her combat and magic training.  He taught her all the alteration spells she knew before she was 10 and at least once each week they would eat dinner alone, away from the other mages, Evangeline, Xeri, and Runa.  As for her mother, she had a great deal of admiration for her mother but Evangeline was always busy, writing or training new mages.  However, her mother always had an open-door policy and Elspeth was welcome to sit with her mother when she worked.  Elspeth did this quite often starting from about the age of 8 and following that, they spent a lot of time together, even if they weren't that close.  

Of all her caretakers, there is no one Elspeth loved and trusted more than Runa.   When she was 10 she moved to Bruma with Xeri and Runa.  She was quite close to Runa already.  Runa taught her to read and was in charge of most of her academics in the Spire.  Runa caught her when she was born and when Bedyn, Evangeline, and Xeri decided that Xeri would one day take Elspeth away from the Spire for more rigorous training and education, Runa spoke up and offered to go with them.  Runa always sensed that Elspeth was very sensitive, and she feared that if left to her own devices, Xeri would crush the poor girl's spirit.  It was Runa who baked her sweet rolls and made her special dinners on her name day, and made sure she had time to herself to read and play games, she was there when Elspeth was feeling defeated and sad, and made sure that her clothing was never torn.  She gave Elspeth's rather unconventional life some semblance of normalcy.

And then there is Xeri.  I don't even know how to begin to talk about Xeri.  If you asked Elspeth how she feels about her, she would have to pause and think about it.  As a mentor/instructor Xeri takes the weak/timid/undisciplined and makes them fierce and strong.  She's basically the Béla Károlyi of the fighter's guild in Cyrodiil.  Her students fear and loathe her, but in the end they generally respect her.  However, those students live with their families or with other guild members.  Elspeth had to live with Xeri.  Their relationship went from being together 1-2 hours a day to 24 hours a day and there was a long, hard adjustment period.  She didn't get that break that even her father had.  Xeri monitored every aspect of her life save for those things that Runa took over.

For a long time, Elspeth desperately craved Xeri's approval.  Eventually she figured out that Xeri would not give it—at least not in any way that was recognizable.  In general, however, Elspeth trusts and respects Xeri, but has always remained wary of her.  Since everything that Xeri does is so deliberate, she sometimes thinks that wariness was fostered on purpose.  Elspeth also thinks she's a little insane.  But she also knows that she wouldn't be nearly as skilled a battle mage without her.