\u201cYes, my Thane,\u201d she said, making a face at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re getting to be impossible, Lydia.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, dear.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dardeh couldn\u2019t help it; he laughed and walked toward the door, turning to point at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cImpossible.\u201d<\/p>\n
She grinned at him and went back to her breakfast.<\/p>\n
Dardeh shook his head and snickered as he and Roggi walked toward the long steps to Dragonsreach.\u00a0 \u201cI love that girl,\u201d he said, earning himself an elbow in the ribs from Roggi.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, I see how it is, now,\u201d he chuckled.\u00a0 \u201cWhat am I doing sharing your bed, then?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTold you it\u2019s not like that, fool,\u201d Dardeh said, smiling.\u00a0 \u201cI love her like she was my own sister.\u201d\u00a0 He pondered that for a moment as they passed the dead Gildergreen tree in the center of Whiterun.\u00a0 \u201cWell, maybe I would love my own sister. I don\u2019t know. It seems less likely all the time that I\u2019ll ever know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m keeping my ears open,\u201d Roggi told him.\u00a0 \u201cTold you, I\u2019m good at listening. Haven\u2019t heard anything so far, but that doesn\u2019t mean I won\u2019t, and if I do we\u2019ll go wherever the lead takes us.\u00a0 But right now we need to deal with this dragon business.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dardeh smirked. \u201cYes, sir.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSorry. I don\u2019t mean to be giving orders.\u00a0 It\u2019s just that you have been acting odd since you got back from Solstheim and this is hanging over us \u2013 over you.\u00a0 It\u2019s something we can do, now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dardeh nodded at him.\u00a0 They mounted the stairs and entered Dragonsreach to find a mostly empty hall; only the servants were rustling about.\u00a0 They stopped before the throne and looked at each other.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy are you smiling?\u201d Roggi asked him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know. Maybe it\u2019s because it feels like we\u2019re finally going to get something accomplished. \u00a0I hear voices upstairs.\u00a0 Ready to go talk to Balgruuf?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re the one talking to Jarls, not me.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Balgruuf was leaning over his map table, along with Irileth and Proventus Avenicci.\u00a0 Flags placed on the map showed the status of each city in each hold, whether Imperial or Stormcloak-controlled, and it looked as though the province was fairly evenly split.\u00a0 The flag atop Whiterun was red \u2013 Imperial \u2013 which surprised Dardeh.\u00a0 He\u2019d been under the impression that Balgruuf was more or less neutral in the matter of the civil war, but perhaps not.<\/p>\n
Balgruuf looked up at Dardeh and gave him a warm smile.\u00a0 \u201cHello there. I\u2019m pleased to see you again.\u00a0 What can I do for you?\u201d He turned his gaze back to the map.<\/p>\n
Dardeh took a deep breath.\u00a0 Polite but preoccupied.\u00a0 I understand.<\/em> Well here we go.\u00a0 This had better work.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cI need your help.\u00a0 I, uh\u2026 need to trap a dragon in the palace.\u201d<\/p>\n Balgruuf said nothing for a moment. \u00a0He slowly turned his head to look back at Dardeh, and gave a small, sarcastic laugh.\u00a0 \u201cI \u2026 must have misheard you.\u00a0 I thought you asked me to help trap a dragon in my palace.\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh nodded.\u00a0 \u201cYes. I understand that the great balcony out there once served as a trap for a dragon, and we need to use it again.\u201d<\/p>\n Balgruuf straightened up, crossed his arms, and shook his head.\u00a0 \u201cWhat you\u2019re asking for is insane. Impossible!\u00a0 Why let a dragon into the city when we\u2019ve been working so hard to keep them out?\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh turned to look at Roggi, who had been standing quietly at the corner of the map table.\u00a0 He simply nodded.\u00a0 Dardeh turned back to Balgruuf and met his gaze as directly as he knew how.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s the only way to stop<\/em> the dragons, Balgruuf.\u00a0 Alduin has returned.\u201d<\/p>\n Balgruuf\u2019s eyes grew huge. According to the stories he himself was a direct descendant of Olaf One-Eye, the First Era Jarl of Whiterun who had captured the dragon Numinex in Dragonsreach and had later gone on to become High King of Skyrim. If anyone understood the meaning of Alduin\u2019s return, it was Jarl Balgruuf the Greater.<\/p>\n \u201cAlduin? The World-Eater himself? But\u2026\u201d He paused, looking nervous for the first time Dardeh had ever seen.\u00a0 \u201cHow can we fight him? Doesn\u2019t his return mean it\u2019s the end times?\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh sighed.\u00a0 I don\u2019t blame him for being nervous.\u00a0 It is the end times, according to all the legends.\u00a0 Alduin is terrifying.\u00a0 I don\u2019t even know whether we can defeat him at all. Paarthurnax doesn\u2019t know either.\u00a0 All we can do is try.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cWell, maybe,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cThat\u2019s what all the prophecies say.\u00a0 But I\u2019ve killed other dragons. Lots of them, now. If we\u2019re going to go down, I plan to go down fighting.\u00a0 What about you?\u201d<\/p>\n Balgruuf responded to that, as Dardeh had hoped he would.\u00a0 He was nothing if not the quintessential Nord and the mention of battle against overwhelming odds was all he needed to hear. He broke into a broad smile and his eyes sparkled.<\/p>\n \u201cNo Nord could have said it better.\u00a0 I\u2019ll stand beside you, Dragonborn.\u00a0 Now then. What\u2019s this nonsense about trapping a dragon in my palace?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI need a dragon, sir.\u00a0 So that I can get to where Alduin has gone.\u00a0 We almost had him, Roggi and I,\u201d and he turned to smile at Roggi, \u201cbut he got away.\u00a0 Another dragon is the only way for me to fly to where he is and I intend to do that, if I can.\u00a0 And kill him.\u201d<\/p>\n Balgruuf nodded, but his face fell and he heaved a sigh.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to help you, Dragonborn.\u00a0 And I will.\u00a0 But you have to help me first.\u00a0 Ulfric and General Tullius are both just waiting for me to make a wrong move.\u00a0 Do you think they\u2019ll just sit idly by while a dragon is slaughtering my men and burning my city?\u201d He shook his head.\u00a0 \u201cNo, I can\u2019t risk weakening the city while we\u2019re under the threat of enemy attack. I\u2019m sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n He looked genuinely sorry, too, and Dardeh understood that.\u00a0 He would like nothing more than to take part in something larger than himself, the way his ancestor had.\u00a0 But his first duty and his constant priority was the safety of Whiterun.\u00a0 Otherwise, Dardeh thought, he would never have sent me, someone he didn\u2019t even know at the time, to fight the first dragon that had appeared.<\/p>\n Dardeh\u2019s mind raced.\u00a0 Well if it\u2019s the war that\u2019s the issue I just need to stop it.<\/em>\u00a0 Then he laughed at himself.\u00a0 What in Oblivion am I thinking? Me, stop the war?\u00a0 Well I guess there\u2019s nothing to lose.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cWhat if,\u201d he said slowly, \u201cyou didn\u2019t need to worry about one side or the other attacking you?\u201d<\/p>\n Balgruuf\u2019s eyes narrowed. \u201cThen of course I would help you with your crazy dragon-trapping scheme.\u00a0 But getting both sides to agree to a truce will be difficult at this point. The bitterness has gone too deep.\u201d\u00a0 He looked down, his brow furrowed, and was quiet for a few moments; then he looked back up at Dardeh.\u00a0 \u201cWhat about the Greybeards?\u00a0 They\u2019re respected by all Nords.\u00a0 High Hrothgar is neutral ground. If they were willing to host a peace council\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n Up the mountain? Again? Twice?<\/em>\u00a0 Dardeh glanced at Roggi.\u00a0 His distress must have been obvious.\u00a0 One corner of Roggi\u2019s mouth twitched up into a slight smile and he nodded.<\/p>\n \u201cAll right.\u00a0 I\u2019ll go speak to the Greybeards and see what we can come up with.\u201d<\/p>\n Balgruuf smiled.\u00a0 \u201cAye, Dragonborn.\u00a0 Maybe you can stop these dragons.\u00a0 And the war as well.\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh and Roggi turned to leave Dragonsreach.\u00a0 Roggi whispered.<\/p>\n \u201cNicely done.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat are you talking about? Now we have to go climb up to High Hrothgar again and who knows what that absurd old man will say.\u201d<\/p>\n Roggi chuckled. \u201cWell we will at least be in good shape, won\u2019t we?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHeh.\u00a0 There is that.\u201d<\/p>\n _______<\/p>\n Master Arngeir was eager to speak to Dardeh once they entered High Hrothgar.<\/p>\n \u201cAlduin.\u00a0 We heard the Dragonrend Shout from here. You defeated him?\u201d<\/p>\n I had forgotten that we didn\u2019t speak to Arngeir on the way down, before.\u00a0 I wonder why he didn\u2019t go up to the summit himself and speak with Paarthurnax.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cWe did. In a sense,\u201d Dardeh said, sharing a smile with Roggi.\u00a0 We. I\u2019m not letting them overlook your part in this, and I don\u2019t either. <\/em>\u201cWe brought him to ground, we almost had him dead, but then he escaped.\u00a0 I need to find out where he went.\u201d<\/p>\n Arngeir sighed.\u00a0 \u201cI feared as much.\u00a0 I thought that I saw him flying east after your battle.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell, I spoke to Paarthurnax afterward.\u00a0 I need your help. I need to capture a dragon, so that I can follow Alduin.\u201d<\/p>\n Arngeir frowned.\u00a0 \u201cWe are not warriors.\u00a0 What is overlooked in the Dragonborn is not permitted to any other followers of the Way of the Voice.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh, no I don\u2019t mean that I want you to fight it. I\u2019ll take care of that part.\u00a0 Sorry for the confusion.\u00a0 I need your help to stop the war.\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh wasn\u2019t certain, but he thought that Arngeir came very close to rolling his eyes.\u00a0 Yeah, I understand \u2013 stop the war, is that all? I\u2019m sorry<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u201cYou misunderstand our authority.\u00a0 The Greybeards have never involved themselves in politics.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cJarl Balgruuf won\u2019t help me while the war is raging, and the only way to capture a dragon is to use the trap in Dragonsreach.\u00a0 Both sides respect the Greybeards.\u00a0 He thought that maybe\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n Arngeir nodded.\u00a0 \u201cI see.\u00a0 Well. Paarthurnax has made the choice to help you, thus this is the road we must walk.\u00a0 Even the Greybeards must bend to the winds of change, it seems.\u00a0 So be it.\u00a0 Tell Ulfric and General Tullius that the Greybeards wish to speak to them.\u00a0 We will see if they still remember us.\u201d<\/p>\n Outside High Hrothgar, Dardeh stood facing into the wind, smiling, and stretched. They started down the steps.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know why, Roggi, but this feels like the most progress I\u2019ve made on anything in\u2026 months.\u00a0 It feels so good.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMmm,\u201d he heard from behind him, and turned to look.\u00a0 Roggi had an odd expression on his face.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s the matter?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh, well, um\u2026 Maybe I\u2019ll just stop off in Kynesgrove while you\u2019re speaking to the Jarl of Windhelm.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat are you talking about? Of course you\u2019re coming with me.\u00a0 Aren\u2019t you?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh, sure, of course,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I\u2019d just as soon skip the meeting with Ulfric.\u00a0 He and I don\u2019t exactly see eye-to-eye, you know?\u201d He looked distinctly uncomfortable.<\/p>\n Dardeh peered at him.\u00a0 \u201cWell, sometime you need to tell me what this is all about.\u00a0 But I really do need you there with me.\u00a0 If you\u2019re willing.\u00a0 Tell you what, let\u2019s go to Solitude first. If we can\u2019t get Tullius to agree, we\u2019ll have no reason to go to Windhelm. We\u2019ll just go back home to Whiterun and try to figure out some other way to save the world.\u201d<\/p>\n Roggi glared at him. \u201cI know. I\u2019m sorry. Gods!\u201d \u00a0he snapped, then sighed.\u00a0 \u201cAll right, I\u2019ll come with you. But let\u2019s do Solitude first.\u00a0 I need some time to prepare myself.\u201d\u00a0 He shook his head. \u201cHow did I ever get myself into this?\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh was annoyed, and let Roggi know it.<\/p>\n \u201cHa.\u00a0 A question I ask myself every day.\u00a0 Because I\u2019m certain I got up one morning thinking it would be a great idea to fight dragons, travel across the sea to deal with another Dragonborn in a plane of bloody Oblivion, and climb up this godsforsaken huge mountain more times than I can remember. \u00a0And back down it as well.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI know, Dar,\u201d Roggi said, quietly this time.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m sorry.\u00a0 I have no real use for the Jarl of Windhelm but I\u2019ll work on it. I\u2019ll go where you need me to go.\u00a0 Lead the way.\u201d<\/p>\n ____<\/p>\n All the way to Solitude Roggi went out of his way to avoid telling Dardeh what was bothering him about this particular task.\u00a0 He protected Dardeh, laughed with him, made camp when they needed to stop, and kept telling Dardeh that was how a true Nord fought whenever Dardeh made a good kill of a saber cat or a wolf. \u00a0He was particularly impressed by an encounter with some bandits, in which Dardeh sent a couple of them flying through the air with Unrelenting Force. But Dardeh was watching him, and noticed that whenever he thought Dardeh wasn\u2019t looking, his face dropped into a grim expression.<\/p>\n He asked about it, finally, when they were seated beside the campfire.<\/p>\n \u201cI can see that going to Windhelm is really bothering you. What is it?\u201d<\/p>\n Roggi waved his hand dismissively.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ve only been there once or twice, I think, in ten years.\u00a0 Just after I first met Dag. That was hard enough, but at least I didn\u2019t have to go to the Palace.\u00a0 Like I told you. I was a Stormcloak.\u00a0 I don\u2019t like Ulfric. I really don\u2019t want to talk about it anymore, if that\u2019s ok.\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh nodded.\u00a0 \u201cAll right.\u201d\u00a0 Talos knows Roggi doesn\u2019t ask much of me, I can at least respect that.\u00a0 But it\u2019s not going to stop me from wondering, and from feeling bad that he\u2019s this uncomfortable.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m also a little worried about you,\u201d Roggi said, much to his surprise.<\/p>\n \u201cReally? How so?\u201d<\/p>\n Roggi searched his face, his own solemn. \u201cThose bandits back there.\u00a0 You were pretty\u2026 brutal, I guess you\u2019d call it, finishing them off. Are you OK?\u201d<\/p>\n Ah. That.<\/em> He had been brutal. It was true. After he had Shouted the men down he\u2019d attacked and it had been a bit like meeting the pod of Cultists on his way to Windhelm for the ship; he\u2019d almost lost track of what he was doing, and the results were fairly ghastly. It was almost as though his father\u2019s swords had a life of their own sometimes.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m ok.\u00a0 I think.\u00a0 I hope so.\u201d\u00a0 He sighed.\u00a0 \u201cMaybe. You know, I never used to kill anything more than a wolf or a saber cat. Or a slaughterfish. It kind of makes me sick.\u201d<\/p>\n Roggi nodded slowly.\u00a0 \u201cI remember that. From just after I joined up. And then later.\u00a0 It almost gets to the point where you don\u2019t see the blood anymore.\u00a0 Or you do but it\u2026 doesn\u2019t matter.\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh stared at him, thinking about the Imperial and Stormcloak patrols he’d seen stepping on and over each other’s corpses on the road.\u00a0\u00a0I never thought about Roggi that way, but of course he\u2019s seen it.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll be ok.\u00a0 I\u2019m sure I will.\u201d<\/p>\n No I\u2019m not.<\/em><\/p>\n _______<\/p>\n General Tullius was stationed in a lower level of Castle Dour with his Legate and other officers when Dardeh and Roggi found him.\u00a0 The castle, and the room where he was, reflected Solitude\u2019s status as the capital of Skyrim.\u00a0 The city was ancient, but the buildings were in fine repair, the stonework sumptuous, the room itself hung with rich tapestries, its furnishings old but of finely-carved and well-polished wood. Tullius was, in fact, the grey-haired man in the ostentatious red cloak who Dardeh remembered from the long cart ride into Helgen.\u00a0 He wasn\u2019t exactly pleasant, but neither was he rude; he was simply a military man in the midst of a war, all business. He glanced up at Dardeh and made a snap judgment that the man in the dark armor was there to join up.<\/p>\n \u201cSpeak with Legate Rikke.\u00a0 She will determine if you are Legion material.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cActually, sir, I am here with a message from the Greybeards.\u201d<\/p>\n Tullius raised an eyebrow.\u00a0 \u201cThe Greybeards? What do those old hermits want with me?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re convening a peace council at High Hrothgar, an opportunity for parley on neutral ground between you and Jarl Ulfric Stormcloak.\u00a0 It is very important.\u201d<\/p>\n He snorted.\u00a0 \u201cWhy? There\u2019s nothing to discuss as long as that traitor Ulfric is in arms against his rightful Emperor.\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh noticed Roggi grimacing.\u00a0 This must be difficult for him. He has something personal against Ulfric, but he was after all a Stormcloak.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cGeneral Tullius, we need a truce until the dragons are dealt with.\u00a0 They are a much bigger problem than the Stormcloaks right now.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHa,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cThe dragons are getting to be a problem, but I wasn\u2019t sent to Skyrim to fight dragons. I was sent here to quash a rebellion and that\u2019s what I intend to do. A bigger problem than the Stormcloaks, you say? I\u2019ll be the judge of that.\u00a0 Besides, by all reports the Stormcloaks are suffering just as much as we are from these dragon attacks.\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh nodded.\u00a0 \u201cEveryone is. And you\u2019re just going to keep losing men over and over if we don\u2019t do something. I haven\u2019t noticed a lot of reinforcements coming in from Cyrodiil. Am I wrong about that?\u201d<\/p>\n Tullius looked uncomfortable.\u00a0 That was a good guess on my part, wasn\u2019t it.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cI may have a way to deal with the dragons but I can only do it if we have at least a truce.\u00a0 Besides \u2013 I hate to put it this way, but can the Empire actually afford to snub the Greybeards?\u201d<\/p>\n Tullius stared at Dardeh for a few long moments.\u00a0 \u201cHmm.\u00a0 You may have a point. I\u2019m always surprised by how seriously the Nords take these things.\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh smirked.\u00a0 Don\u2019t ever underestimate your enemy, Tullius.\u00a0 I\u2019ve done that and almost died more times than I can count.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ll come to the peace council, then?\u201d<\/p>\n Tullius sighed and waved his hand.\u00a0 \u201cYes, yes. Fine.\u00a0 I\u2019ll come to this Greybeard council.\u00a0 For all the good it will do.\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh gave him the slightest of bows.\u00a0 \u201cThank you, sir.\u00a0 I\u2019ll make sure to have a courier notify you as soon as a time has been set.\u201d<\/p>\n He nodded to Roggi and they left the castle.\u00a0 They hadn\u2019t gotten very far past the city smith and started down the long ramp into Solitude proper when Roggi clapped him on the back.<\/p>\n \u201cWell done.\u00a0 Very well done.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, not too bad for a miner from Markarth, eh?\u201d Dardeh grinned at him.<\/p>\n \u201cNot too bad for anyone, Dar.\u00a0 And you\u2019re not just a miner from Markarth.\u00a0 You\u2019re the Dragonborn.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYeah,\u201d Dardeh said.\u00a0 \u201cNot that I could have used that on Tullius.\u00a0 We\u2019ll see whether it work on our true Nord in Windhelm.\u201d<\/p>\n Roggi sighed.\u00a0 \u201cOh yeah.\u00a0 Can we stop in the inn for a mead? Just one.\u00a0 I haven\u2019t had one in ages and I\u2019m going to need it if we have to go there.\u201d<\/p>\n They were just approaching the Winking Skeever. \u00a0Dardeh grinned at him.<\/p>\n \u201cSure.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go in.\u00a0 I feel like we\u2019ve earned it. If it\u2019s of any consolation, I don\u2019t much like Ulfric either.\u201d<\/p>\n Roggi laughed, and they stepped into the inn to take a break.<\/p>\n The next morning they rose early and wandered down the stairs to get food. Dardeh found himself on the receiving end of several sly glances from Lydia when Roggi wasn\u2019t looking.\u00a0 Roggi had shared Dardeh\u2019s bed that night. Dardeh was growing more comfortable with that; neither of them had any problem sleeping with the other … <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/baakay.com\/FanFic\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/2-2-4-2.png\")
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