He took a sip of his tea before breathing in to steady himself.
"Before I begin I believe a distinction needs to be made. Those who serve the Aldmeri Dominion are not necessarily only Thalmor. In truth the Thalmor are only just one political party of the Dominion. They just happen to be the one currently in power so the others must obey them to a certain degree." he said seriously.
I sip my own tea "I know this already. I was raised by an Altmer in the orphanage who made it a point to hammer that knowledge into me and everyone else." I reply calmly.
He blinked in surprise at that "I was given to understand the orphanage was run by a Nord?" he said confused.
"It was, for a time. She was murdered and the assistant of the time, Meralda, was appointed the new care taker." I explain calmly.
"I see. That makes this considerably easier. Your mother is the leader of one of these separate political factions, the Aldmerist. This faction believes that each race is on the same foot and that only the prosperity of our nation truly matters." he said seriously and even paused to make sure I was understanding.
"The Thalmor disagree with the first belief on principle but the second is a common ground most of them understand and accept. Your mother was assigned to part of the naval division of the war efforts during the great war. She won a great many battles and was a powerful warrior all her own. Titus Meade is no fool despite what many believe and he cleverly laid a trap for your mother. A sacrificial bait tactic to lure her into an unwinnable situation. He succeeded." he said stopping to sip his tea and calm himself.
"The battle was fierce and her ships and crew fell one after the other but never her. No your mother never stopped fighting and the enemy commander decided trying to capture her wasn't worth the losses and directly had her ship sunk in the middle of the sea before all other ships were pulled back, leaving your mother to die to the perils of the open sea. A pitiful end for a remarkable woman. Fate, however, had other plans. Your mother drifted atop the waves for nearly five days with no food and only the water of her always handy water pouch. Then THEY found her." his tone shifted to something dark and angry when he got here.
"Pirates. Come to pick the wrecks and bones of the battle clean of what spoils they could find. According to your mother they assumed she was dead when they hauled her onto the main ship. Intending to strip her corpse of valuables before tossing it back in the sea. When they discovered her alive however." His breathing rattled as he fought to keep the emotion down.
"The captain of the ship took a fancy to her. Had her cleaned, fed and tied in his bedchamber. Two weeks he VIOLATED her, until she managed to recover enough strength to break free and slaughter the entire crew to the last. She took especially good care of the captain the tale goes. Within three weeks of her return to Summerset she discovered her pregnancy. All of us begged her to get rid of it, you. She rejected us all. That woman was a stubborn one and deeply caring for her own. Unhappy the circumstance of your creation was but that was not something you chose. Those were her own words when asked for her reason." he said with a tired sigh.
"I'm sure that went over great with the Thalmor." I commented.
"Indeed, they were QUITE unhappy with the idea of your mothers long and prestigious line being tainted with a half-breed. A Nord at that! Many an attempt to poison your mother with termination potions and mild poisons were made over the long arduous months of her pregnancy. Perhaps her staunchest defender and yours for that matter was your grandmother. One of the few Archmages in the world and fiercely protective of her only child, she killed a great many would be assassins in the defense of your mother and you." he said pausing to take another sip of his tea.
"I admit that she was perhaps not your greatest fan given the nature of your creation but she did not hate you yourself. In fact when the date of your birth came she was the first person in the world to hold you. Every servant present would swear upon their lives and honor that she even smiled at you for a moment before handing you back to your mother and putting on the mask of a hardliner." he said with a small smile.
"Your mother loved you dearly from the moment she laid eyes on you. It was why she almost broke when she chose to send you away. She knew that you'd never be safe in the Summerset isles. The Thalmor would have no compunction about finally purging you now that doing so might not provoke your grandmother. So in secret your mother and grandmother hatched a plan to secret you away to Skyrim, where you might be bullied but safe. Your grandmother cast a grand spell that took all her power but she split you into six possibilities. Each one real and simultaneously false." he said gravely.
"Decoys." I said with a frown.
"Yes. Six loyal to the death servants were chosen and given you. Six were scattered in different directions so none could determine the end position. As expected the Thalmor sent their kill squads to wipe out you out. Ambushes, relentless chases and near misses were what we each faced to see you safe. The moment you were safely within that orphanage the spell ended and you became the only you. The rest simply got folded back into you where they always were from the start. The Thalmor hunted us servants after that. If they couldn't intercept you they could still kill you if they could find you quickly. This is the price I paid to escape capture. I'd do it again in a heartbeat too." he said gesturing to his disfigurement.
"Who are they, my mother and grandmother?" I asked since he'd never actually said names.
"Your grandmother is Lady Celosia Aldmeri Alysaen. Your mother is Lady Sinderia Aldmeri Alysaen. Your full name is Alexan Aldmeri Alysaen." he said formally.
"Aldmeri? As in the royal line? THAT Aldmeri?" I asked with barely more than a horrified whisper as I practically heard the mad laughter of a certain god in the back of my head.