The last thing on Dardeh’s mind when they trotted across the yard toward the keep was what Valerius or Marcus would have to say to Korst. He’d been preoccupied all the way back from the Thalmor prison, the look Roggi had given him there weighing on him like an anchor.
Will we ever be whole again, either one of us? Or will this damnable set of conflicts turn out to have broken us both permanently and the best we’ll be able to do is limp along for the rest of our lives hoping one or the other – or both! – of us won’t break and go on some kind of killing rampage?
I’m sure Roggi must think I’m mad. I know he’s not completely certain I went to Sovngarde and didn’t just imagine it, and no wonder; there’s the ancient Dragonborn spirit that nobody can see except me. I know that Jine was real, because Sayma saw him, too; but what about the times I’ve not been aware that I was about to Shout death by fire at someone? And now I have Hermaeus Mora, or at least his influence, living in my head to an even greater degree than he was before. Am I mad?
And poor Roggi. Ulfric twisted him. Twisted his life, twisted Roggi’s relationship with his wife, made him do these unspeakable things to people and now is married to the sister who looks almost exactly like her. Is it any wonder Roggi took those tools off the table? I’m sure he has feelings for Ulfric that he’s never admitted. The closest he ever came was that night in Candlehearth Hall, that night when he begged me not to harm Ulfric. He was horrified by that and so was I, to be honest. Can he control himself? Or is he going to break again, the way he’s told me he did after Briinda died?
Can we ever be normal again, either one of us?
He pushed the door open and waited while Falco, Cienna, Korst and Roggi all filtered inside. Roggi smiled at him, and he smiled back; but his mind was still in an uproar.
He looks better. I feel certain it’s just an act. But maybe we can find some sort of solace in pounding at the rubble, removing the debris Alduin left behind, and helping to rebuild this place the same way we tried to erase some of the marks of war from Whiterun. Maybe I am mad after all, but it feels like that will help.
They ran down the stairs and into the central area to find Valerius. He was reading, walking back and forth slowly in front of the fireplace, and looked up and past Dardeh as they all approached him. He saw Korst and broke into a broad smile, then looked back at Dardeh.
“Shor’s bones, I see now why Marcus has spoken so highly of you! Quite impressive! Now let’s see if we can find out what in the name of Akatosh is going on in that prison.”
“Not much, right at the moment,” Dardeh said, grinning. Roggi chuckled in agreement.
“Korst, thank the gods you’re safe,” Valerius said, clapping the grey-haired Nord on his back. “But how in Oblivion were you even captured?”
“I don’t know how they even found me,” Korst said, shaking his head. “It’s like they knew exactly where I was hiding. I never had a chance to escape.”
“Well thanks to our new friends you’re ok now.”
“Don’t discount Falco and Cienna,” Roggi said. “We likely couldn’t have made it in to find Korst without them.”
“That’s definitely the case,” Dardeh agreed.
Valerius smiled a bit before his face returned to its usual dour expression. “Tell me what you learned.” Korst nodded and cleared his throat.
“It’s a prison, alright, and it’s heavily guarded inside. Well… it was heavily guarded. There are none alive in there now. The Commandant was never there, as far as I could tell.”
Valerius frowned. “Did anyone mention where he was?”
“The guards joked about him getting soft in the Embassy and spending too much time with some whore from the Tall Mast Tavern but that’s all I could hear them say.”
“Did you learn anything else?”
“I overheard them talking about how many prisoners were coming and going from the prison; and I noticed several new prisoners that promptly got taken away while I was there, just like he said. They were not tortured, beaten, or starved, either. I guess they saved all of that for me. One group had a family, a woman and a small child not old enough to fight. The guard joked about raping the woman and selling the child to bandits as a slave.”
Roggi hissed. He’d come up to stand beside Dardeh and this last tale of Korst’s had his eyes dark with rage.
“That’s a new low, even for them,” he growled from between tightly clenched teeth.
“Could that be true?” Korst continued, his voice getting louder and more agitated as he spoke. “They are selling slaves?”
Valerius spoke, calmly and quietly, in the manner of a seasoned leader who knew when his people were getting upset. “Well now. That’s certainly a lot to chew on. Excellent work, old friend. I’ll check and see if any of my sources know anything about this. Thank you, Korst. Go get something to eat, and some sleep. I need you well rested. Dismissed.”
Korst nodded, and left the area. Valerius, though, took a step closer to Dardeh.
“You’ve done me a great service, friend. You saved his life, and for that I will never be able to repay you. Is there anything else you can add?”
“Not really. Korst certainly observed more than we did. We did see the evidence that he’d been tortured, and we saw that all the other cells were vacant. We took care of all the Thalmor.”
“With pleasure,” Roggi added quietly.
“Did you hear anything about slaves?”
“No. About all we heard were screams. But that prison is huge, and he was alone there.”
Valerius crossed his arms, and chewed the inside of his mouth for a moment. “That is odd, isn’t it? So it looks like the elves are up to no good.”
“When are they ever anything else?” Dardeh snorted.
“Where else to easily kidnap people but in Skyrim? All they have to say is that they’re worshipping Talos. I’m sure many of these enforcers skulking about in Skyrim are under their command.”
“Yes, and in Cyrodiil too, from what I saw. And that was some time ago.”
Valerius nodded. “I know you’ve had a long day. I won’t keep you. We’ll let you know when we have anything new. But please, check in with Marcus as soon as you can. He’s probably upstairs. Thank you again, my friend.”
They found Marcus upstairs in what had once been the Imperial troops’ barracks. He turned to them and smiled as he saw Dardeh.
“So you defeated Alduin and saved Skyrim? There will be songs written for you for years, my friend!”
“I did,” Dardeh said, grinning, “but the dragons keep coming. I guess I didn’t do a good enough job of it. At any rate, Valerius asked us to speak to you. Where do you want us to start digging? Two miners, at your service.”
“Yes,” he said. “I praise the Nine you came along. Your help thus far has been invaluable. But it’s time to make some difficult choices. Valerius and I have spoken at length about this and we value your opinion. We need more guards for the hold, as there’s only a few of us now. We’re vulnerable to attack from several fronts, especially from the entrance through the caves as well as the two main gates. There is no possible way that laborers and carpenters can begin their work if they’re not able to do so safely. We need more guards.”
Dardeh and Roggi swapped a glance. Roggi was frowning, and while Dardeh was careful not to let himself frown, agreed with that sentiment.
“We’re… not guards. We have a family to take care of. I had thought we’d just spend time helping to clear the area.”
“Oh!” Marcus laughed. “No, we certainly weren’t intending you to serve as guards. Or as common labor, either. You’re far too valuable for that. We were just hoping you might have some ideas as to where we might find some.”
Roggi cleared his throat. Dardeh glanced over to see him nodding his head slowly. It was clear that he had an idea.
“Tell us, Roggi. What are you thinking?”
“The war’s over,” Roggi said. “I’ll bet Ulfric would be willing to send a group of Stormcloaks here. It would be to his advantage to beef up the guard on this part of the border anyway, what with the pass being right there.”
Marcus looked at Roggi and then back to Dardeh. “Dragonborn? What do you say to that?”
“I say Roggi knows Ulfric a lot better than I do, and if he thinks Ulfric would send men he’s probably right. It would be strategic of him to put guards here, not just helpful to you; and I’m pretty sure he’d recognize that right away. And for those of us down here on the border it would be far preferable to have Stormcloaks stationed here than having to fight an incursion from Cyrodiil without any help from him.”
“Yes,” Marcus said. “Ulfric would undoubtedly love to have Helgen under his control.” He paused as Roggi started chuckling. “And your service to the Sons of Skyrim is legendary. Alright. Are you sure?”
“Yes, I think it’s the easiest solution and the best one for the greatest number of people, even if they may not see it that way right now.”
“Alright. I want you to contact an old friend of ours, in that case. His name is Shadrick Oaken-Heart. According to Valerius he’s still on active duty and has a camp near Winterhold. Pull him to the side and tell him ‘My sword sings with the heart of Frandar Hunding.’ He’ll no doubt be shocked. But he’ll also know what it means.”
“Oh, I don’t think…” Roggi started.
Dardeh interrupted him and shook his head. “Or he’ll think I’m some Redguard being pretentious. I assume this has something to do with the Keepers of Hattu.” He shrugged. “Whatever, then. If you think that’ll work, I guess I can do it.”
“Tell him we need his help, and report back to me when you can.”
“Alright. We’ll be back as soon as we can, Marcus.” He moved toward the door as Marcus headed toward the stairwell.
“Dar,” Roggi began. “Um…”
Dardeh shook his head. “Come on. Let’s go. We’ll talk about it outside.”
They stepped out into the air and crossed the keep’s yard. Once they’d gotten well out of earshot from the door, Roggi turned on him.
“Dardeh, what is wrong with you?”
Dardeh felt the warm embers of irritation rising in him. He frowned. “What do you mean?”
“You’re no errand boy. That’s practically all we’ve done since the war ended. You’re the Dragonborn, Dar. You helped stop the war, in more ways than one. You deserve … I don’t know. A break. Some accolades. Time with the kids. But you keep acting like you have to do something to atone for some sin none of the rest of us even know about! What is going on in your mind?”
Dardeh gritted his teeth and frowned. The part of him that responded poorly to being challenged was getting irritated, and when he spoke he couldn’t quite keep the sarcastic edge out of his voice.
“You gave me a hard time for taking myself too seriously when we fixed the trellis in Whiterun, Roggi. I said I wanted some accolades and you made fun of me for it. I’m not asking for anything this time, except for a chance to help do something that I know will help. But more to the point, I thought we agreed that getting Stormcloak guards here was a good idea. In fact, it was your idea.”
“Yes! We did! But why should you be the one to go run the errand? And why do we have to go through one of their old friends to do it? I can do this, Dar. Send me to see Ulfric. Directly. No middle-men. You know I won’t have any trouble convincing him to send troops here.”
Dardeh was growing more and more annoyed with Roggi’s entire line of conversation. He felt certain that Marcus and Valerius had a reason for going through their old friend, and neither he nor Roggi had any reason to question it. And then there was the matter of him potentially sending Roggi to Windhelm alone. Dardeh found himself almost snarling.
“Of course you won’t,” he snapped. “Especially since you were good enough to go to his sham of a wedding. But what will you have to do for him, Roggi? Or is that the idea? Are you that anxious to see him again?”
As soon as the words left his mouth, he regretted having said them. He watched Roggi’s eyes go wide with shock, and then narrow in anger. When he spoke, his words were short, clipped, as though he was having a hard time to keep them in check at all.
“How dare you say that to me? You’ve got a whole lot of damn nerve.” He threw his hands up in the air and headed for the gate.
“Roggi, wait.”
“No I’m not going to wait, Dar.” He strode out through Helgen’s northern gate so quickly that Dardeh found himself having to scurry to catch up with him. Roggi’s voice rose as he increased the distance between them, clearly wanting to be certain that Dardeh heard his words. “If that’s how little you think of me, I’ll go see Ulfric myself and let the chips fall. I know what he wants of me. If this is the way things are, I’m not sure anymore whether there’s a good enough reason not to give it to him.”
Dardeh picked up speed trying to reach Roggi; but the man was so clearly incensed and walking so quickly that he couldn’t seem to catch him.
“Roggi, slow down a second. I need to talk to you.”
“No.”
Dardeh’s anger flared. He didn’t even think about what he was doing; the words just burst from him, the same way they did when he needed to take down an enemy.
“GOL – HAH DOV!”
Roggi staggered for a moment. He stopped, and turned to Dardeh; and the expression on his face made Dardeh gasp.
By all the gods. What have I done?
Roggi had no choice but to obey, for such was the nature of the Bend Will Shout that Dardeh had learned on Solstheim, and which Roggi had never heard before. His expression was open and willing, waiting for his instructions like a soldier facing his commander. But his eyes were dark with anger.
“I’m sorry, Roggi,” Dardeh said, catching up to him and taking him by the shoulders. “I’m so very sorry. But you have to hear me out. I … can’t even imagine why I said that about Ulfric. I know better.” He cupped Roggi’s face with one hand and when Roggi flinched his eyes filled with tears. “By the Nine, Roggi. I … just get angry and things happen before I can stop them. How did we ever get to this place?”
He knew it wouldn’t be long until the effects of his Shout wore off. He had to speak quickly or risk losing his chance.
“You’re right, you know. I do feel like I have things to atone for. Alduin, for one.” He turned and waved back at Helgen. “The old legends, Roggi. They suggest that Alduin would only appear when brother fought against brother, when there was another Dragonborn to stand in his way. I don’t know if it’s true but if it is, Alduin appeared because of me and Helgen is my fault. My fault, Roggi. I know that Ulfric and Tullius were both there, too, and maybe that had something to do with it; but if I hadn’t been out trying to find Dag I wouldn’t have been at the border and I wouldn’t have been taken along with Ulfric and the others. And maybe all those people would still be alive. He might have appeared somewhere else – but maybe if I hadn’t been alive he wouldn’t have appeared at all.” His voice caught and he shook his head. “All those people died because of me. Here, and on Solstheim, and the soldiers in the war.”
Roggi shook his head, slowly. It was clear that the Shout was wearing off.
“I have to do this, Roggi. I have to. Somehow I have to do something to make up for all the damage I caused and all the people who died because of me. If that means running errands for a time so be it. I have to do it. I thought we’d just be helping them rebuild, picking away at the rock, something to do with our hands and our muscles. But if they want me to do something else…” He looked back up the hill at Helgen. “If it helps put that place back together just a little bit, I’ll do it.”
Then he hung his head and dropped his hands from Roggi’s shoulders and his gaze to the roadway. “But I’m sorry. I shouldn’t ever question your loyalty to me. To us. I don’t even know what possessed me to say such a thing. We’re always so jealous of each other and it’s stupid.”
He heard a long sigh, and knew that Roggi had his self-control back. He waited. He half expected to be tossed backward by one of Roggi’s powerful fists connecting with his jaw. He surely had earned it. But nothing happened. Finally Roggi began to speak, his voice quiet and low.
“I don’t even know what to say. I can’t believe you did that to me.”
There was a long pause, during which Dardeh continued to stare at the ground, not able to look at Roggi for the weight of the shame he felt. Finally Roggi cleared his throat. “But the fact is that you wouldn’t have had reason to say what you did if it wasn’t so close to the truth.”
This time Dardeh did look at him, shocked to hear him say such a thing. Roggi was standing with his arms crossed, staring at him with an almost unreadable expression.
“I spent years with him, Dardeh. I can’t just erase my own past, even though I’ve tried. Not all the time we spent together was awful. I think you’ve always known that, haven’t you?”
Roggi reached for Dardeh’s hands and gave him a sad half-smile.
“And now I’ve been forced to get to know him again, because of you and Frina and the war. It raised all sorts of stuff up again. I think I’ve done a damn good job of putting up a nice solid wall between us but once you’ve lost yourself a first time, Dar, it’s not so big a step backward to lose yourself again. I have to fight it every day. So far, the hate has won out. And yet, I offered to go see him on my own to save you needing to do something a lowly foot soldier could do, because I thought you were above it. I guess I was wrong. At any rate, we have an errand to run. Let’s get going.”
Roggi dropped Dardeh’s hands, turned, and started down the road toward Riverwood once again.
Dardeh was stung. I almost wish he had laid me out instead of being so calm. It would have been easier to nurse a welt on his jaw than to deal with the vague, nagging pain of uncertainty that was settling into his chest.
He settled into a trot trying to catch up with Roggi again.
“Roggi. I’m sorry. You have to understand. It just happens like that sometimes. I get emotional and the Shouts just happen.”
Roggi stopped, turned to look at him, and sighed. His expression said we’ve talked about this before, Dar. You have to realize the truth of it someday.
“You’re a dragon, Dar. Of course the Shouts just happen.”
Dardeh’s mouth fell open.
What? Is that what he really thinks? Is that how he’s worked all of this out in his mind?
Roggi saw his reaction and nodded. “You know I’m right. You may be in a much more appealing package than one of the big scaly ones but inside you’re a dragon. And you expect to be obeyed. But sometimes I don’t do that. And it’s going to be that way forever. I’m not a dragon. I can’t hold a person captive with my voice. But I have my own power, Dar. I haven’t always used it well but it’s mine, and I won’t give it up, ever again. Not even for you.”
He started walking again. “So. Let’s go find this old member of the Keepers of Hattu and see what he will do to help his friends rebuild Helgen.”
Dardeh scrubbed at his eyes with the back of his hand, trying to remove the tears that had collected there. He was furious with himself for being the way he was: emotional, jealous, and short-tempered.
All those years Ma taught me that I was a sweet man. That’s what she said she saw in me. But she was wrong. Paarthurnax was right. The will to dominate is in our blood.
He watched Roggi’s broad back as he moved down the road and had to fight himself to keep from crying more. He swallowed hard against the knot of anger in his throat and then forced himself to start walking. A memory bubbled up to the surface, of the night he’d run to Kynesgrove to find Roggi after returning from Sovngarde. He could picture the long blonde hair spilling all over the pillow as Roggi had grinned up at him and said “You have some kind of Shout you’re going to use on me, is that it?”
I never thought such a thing could ever happen. I don’t know why he agreed to marry me in the first place.
__
There was a dragon in the pass just north of the Nightgate Inn. They engaged it, as usual, but after his first Dragonrend Dardeh couldn’t seem to aim a Shout properly at all; and in the narrow confines of the rocky pass the dragon had very few places in which to land. Dardeh found himself running back and forth: up into the mountain, back down toward the Nightgate, ducking behind boulders to keep from being roasted alive. A bandit, and a man pursing him, added to the confusion. Dardeh could hear cries of pain and wasn’t certain whether he was hearing Roggi or the Nord bandit who sounded so similar to Roggi.
Several times he pulled out his bow and fired uselessly; for the dragon was very fast and evaded each and every shot. Time after time it would swerve just before the shock wave of Dragonrend reached it. Dardeh was as frustrated as he had ever been, howling in rage. Finally one of the Shouts struck the beast; it landed on the trail before Dardeh. He was able to get one solid bow strike in on the creature; but it was facing him and roared its enraged fire breath at him, forcing him back behind a boulder. By the time he stepped out into the open again, the dragon was leaping back into the sky. He Shouted at it again – and missed, again.
Finally the dragon flew south, dropping back over the crest of the hill and out of sight. Dardeh could still hear it roaring, though, and knew there was only one place close enough that the dragon might be. The guards at Heljarchen must be taking the battle to it. Dardeh barreled down the hillside as fast as he could to give them a hand. The dragon was outside the inn, as he had thought, being worked over by at least half a dozen Stormcloaks.
Even though they had the creature well in hand Dardeh sprinted into it as if the world would end without his help. He unleashed a hail of sword strikes on the beast, roaring in rage, opening huge gashes in it as the Stormcloaks scurried backward out of his way for their own safety. He was angry, livid, beside himself with rage that even after defeating Alduin, even after all of the dragons he had destroyed and whose souls he had absorbed, there were still creatures like this one trying to exercise their dominion over the lesser beings on the planet.
It went down and instantly burst into flames, the energy of its soul swirling around Dardeh, rushing into him. He closed his eyes, spread his arms apart and let it fill him. From somewhere deep inside him emotion bubbled up, and out, and he found himself laughing loudly as he absorbed the essence of what this great green dragon had been. Once again, as it had facing Miraak on Solstheim long before, his dragon blood called out.
I have defeated you. I am stronger than you. I am better than you. I have surpassed you.
You’re right, Roggi. Part of me is sheer dragon. And dragons are made to dominate.
That thought made him open his eyes.
I haven’t seen Roggi. Where is he?
He whirled around, checking in all directions, and didn’t see the familiar face anywhere.
“Roggi?”
The Stormcloaks hovering around the dragon’s skeleton looked at each other, and then at him, and shook their heads. They were veterans of Solitude. They knew the name as well as he did, and they hadn’t seen him.
Dardeh ran back down the road, back toward the intersection with the trail through the pass.
“Roggi!”
Oh gods please no. Please don’t tell me that the dragon got him somewhere when I was hiding behind the boulders. I can’t possibly live with myself if he’s hurt, or worse.
He turned up the mountain path and started dashing up it, shouting for his husband. Finally, near the crest and just as he was about to panic completely, he saw a familiar form jogging toward him. He sprinted, closing the gap, crashing into Roggi and grabbing him up in his arms, holding him as close as he could. He buried his head against Roggi’s neck, breathing in his scent as he tried to catch his breath, but not letting go of the big Nord. After a moment or two, Roggi started to chuckle.
“That bandit kept me busy. I assume you got the dragon?”
Dardeh hesitated for just a moment before saying the only words his heart could share.
“No, Roggi. You got the dragon. And the dragon loves you.”
Roggi caught his breath, audibly, and hugged Dardeh a bit closer. They clung together for a moment, not speaking.
“But yeah, I did get that green bastard,” Dardeh said with a chuckle, pulling back far enough to look Roggi in the face.
Roggi smiled at him. “Good. Now let’s get over this pass before someone else tries to kill us.”
__
The Winterhold Stormcloak camp was atop the snow fields near the excavations at the ancient city of Saarthal. It was a bitterly cold place for people to try to sleep in tents, and it was not a peaceful place, either. As Dardeh and Roggi approached the camp in the dark they heard the sounds of fighting just to the west, down in a fissure in the ice. Dardeh exchanged a quick glance with Roggi and then, without discussion, they ran down the slope to help.
The Stormcloaks walking the perimeter of the campsite’s area had been set upon by a small band of Imperial soldiers. Dardeh growled to himself.
How dare you. We beat you in Solitude. Get out of here.
He couldn’t use an offensive Shout in this situation: packed as they all were between the ice walls, any one of his most useful attacks would scatter or kill everyone, friend or foe. But I can help the Stormcloaks.
“MID – VUR SHAAN!”
The sound echoed down the slope of the fissure toward the sea and brought a temporary pause to the fighting as startled Imperials looked around for the new adversary. The Stormcloaks, though, felt their own energy surge and grinned, bringing a fresh attack to bear on the Imperials. Dardeh joined the battle, dispatching one of the enemy in just a few sword strikes, and he heard Roggi screaming at another foe uphill from him. It didn’t take more than a minute or two before everything was quiet and the Stormcloak troops were trudging back up the slope. Dardeh broke into a trot and passed them, running up and to the left, finding the camp only by its firelight flickering through the darkness and falling snow.
It wasn’t a large contingent of soldiers in the camp, so it was easy to spot the man wearing the armor and cloak of a Stormcloak officer. Dardeh approached the man he assumed must be Shadrick Oaken-Heart, and cleared his throat.
“My sword sings with the heart of Frandar Hunding,” he said quietly.
The man turned and looked him over, top to bottom.
“What? Where did you hear that? What do you want with me? I haven’t done anything.”
Hmm. Did I just threaten him somehow? Did the sword-singers only sing when they were about to take vengeance on someone? I don’t know anything about that part of my heritage.
Dardeh shook his head. “No, don’t worry. Just relax. I was sent by a friend of yours who said you would know what that phrase meant and that you would know him.”
The man’s expression changed to one of astonishment. “Could it really be, after all these years? Valerius Artoria, alive? That’s the only person who could have told you that! It has to be. But what could he possibly want with me? This better not be some sort of a prank. I have no time, nor tolerance, for pranks.”
Dardeh chuckled. “No, it’s no prank. Valerius is definitely alive. He sent us to ask for your help in getting Ulfric to send people to help guard Helgen. We’re going to rebuild her.”
“Helgen? I’m surprised Ulfric didn’t seize it after that awful dragon attack in the first place but he said we were too short-handed.”
“Well, he had his hands full getting out of there, as I remember it. And after that we had him pretty well occupied with the war.”
“But now,” Roggi said, “the war is officially over and I’m certain Ulfric can spare a small contingent to help stabilize such an important and strategic waypoint on the map.”
Shadrick leaned forward and peered at Roggi for a moment. Roggi pushed his hood back off his head and grinned, and Shadrick’s eyes grew very round for just a moment.
Someone else who knows Roggi when they see him, eh? I don’t know whether that’s good or bad but it always makes for an interesting reaction.
“Guards, you say? A small troop should do. I could convince Ulfric to send them, but before I help you, I need you to help me. Perhaps this is my chance to get back in the good graces of whatever superiors I’ve offended. You help me, I help you. Deal?”
“I could go convince Ulfric, Shadrick,” Roggi said. “But we assume there’s a good reason we were sent to seek you out.”
“What do you need?” Dardeh said, grinning past Shadrick at Roggi.
“My men are bored and restless in this shite-hole camp. I don’t know who we angered enough to get this detail but somebody doesn’t like me.”
“Taking bets on Galmar,” Roggi muttered, earning a laugh from Dardeh.
“What’s worse is that, unbeknownst to me, two of them decided to sneak out last night and explore that cave just up the hill, and they haven’t come back. Idiots. Makes me look like I don’t have command of my own men. I need you to figure out what happened to them and bring them out if you can. You do this for me and I’ll get your guards for you. Maybe I’ll even get a new assignment there. Gods! If only I could be so lucky.”
Dardeh glanced at Roggi. Rescuing soldiers from one of this region’s deep caverns could be a very dangerous proposition. It was just the type of thing that they were better-equipped for than most. Roggi grinned and nodded at him.
“Ok, you’ve got a deal. We’ll find your men.”
“Excellent. In the meantime I’ll write up a communiqué detailing your proposal and send a runner to deliver it to Ulfric. I will see you when you return.”
“Alright. We’re off. Oh, put a P.S. in your letter to him. Tell him the Dragonborn congratulates him on his wedding and sends a hug to the new bride.”
Shadrick jumped a bit, startled by Dardeh’s revelation. Dardeh chuckled and winked at him.
“Come on, Roggi, let’s go soldier hunting.”