She started south down the road next to the river, hearing the two of them laugh.\u00a0 Well at least someone\u2019s in a good mood, she thought sourly. It didn\u2019t last long.<\/p>\n
\u201cDar, watch out!\u201d Roggi\u2019s voice was sharp and full of alarm; and Frina whirled, readying her war pick out of pure reflex.\u00a0 An ice wolf was hurtling up the banks of the river toward Dardeh, snarling and snapping its teeth.<\/p>\n
\u201cFUS- ROH DAH!\u201d<\/p>\n
Frina had never heard such a loud noise before. It compressed the air around Dardeh in all directions, it snapped with a loud concussion, and it echoed off all the surfaces near where they stood as well as the walls of Windhelm itself, all the way across the river. She flinched backward, even as she gasped at what she saw. The ice wolf flew far into the air, somersaulting end over end, back down over the banks and beneath her line of sight.\u00a0 She heard the splash as it landed in the water, and the yip that followed, and the roar of laughter from Roggi after a moment of surprised silence.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/baakay.com\/FanFic\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/4-2-5-1.png\")
<\/p>\n
Dardeh was chuckling, too. She could hear the deep rumble from where she stood and in spite of herself she found her mouth curling up into a smile.<\/p>\n
He has a good laugh. A friendly laugh.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019ll be everywhere by sunset tomorrow,\u201d Roggi laughed. \u201cWolf Takes Flight, Courtesy of Dragonborn. Who needs wings?\u201d<\/p>\n They turned and walked down the road toward Frina. She had to admit that the smiles they had for each other made her feel a bit more at ease.<\/p>\n \u201cI needed to get that out of my system, I think,\u201d Dardeh said. He looked at her and grinned as they approached. \u201cI don\u2019t suppose you\u2019ve ever heard Ulfric Shout, have you? Or have you not known him long enough?\u201d<\/p>\n Frina swallowed hard, and turned her head to look at him as they continued on their way. \u201cJarl Ulfric can do that?\u201d<\/p>\n Roggi laughed, a short bark of laughter. \u201cNo, Frina. Ulfric can\u2019t do that. He does have the Voice, though, and he knows some Shouts. He knows part of the shout Dar just did, and he does it very well indeed. I have a formerly-broken rib that aches when it rains, courtesy of his Foose.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFUS, Roggi,\u201d Dardeh said, correcting his pronunciation, the energy around him thrumming even with a quiet statement of the word. \u201cSomeday you\u2019ll get it.\u201d<\/p>\n Roggi smiled. \u201cNo, Dar, I don\u2019t have it in me. That\u2019s as close as I can get. Maybe you can teach Sayma. But, Frina,\u201d he said, turning to her, \u201che is<\/em> pretty powerful, Ulfric is. He can disarm a man with his voice as well, as I remember it. The thing to remember about this whole situation is that Dardeh is so very much more powerful than he is, or anyone else is.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell, we never tested out Arngeir,\u201d Dardeh snickered. \u201cSomehow I suspect the four of them could blow me right off the mountaintop.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSure, if they worked together,\u201d Roggi said, stopping to pluck a few snowberries off a nearby bush and popping one into his mouth. \u201cI\u2019m not convinced they could outdo you one-on one.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWho\u2019s Arngeir?\u201d Frina asked. She wasn\u2019t any happier about the whole situation than she had been but it was good to be travelling beside Roggi. He looked and sounded like the big brother she remembered, and as long as she didn\u2019t think too hard about the wedding band on his finger, maybe it would be tolerable.<\/p>\n \u201cMaster Arngeir is one of the Greybeards,\u201d Roggi said. \u201cThe only one of them with a voice quiet enough to speak to the rest of us. Up on the Throat of the World.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cA place to which, gods willing, I will never have to climb again,\u201d Dardeh muttered, to be met by a loud guffaw from Roggi.<\/p>\n \u201cThey have all studied the Voice for many years,\u201d Roggi continued. \u201cThey\u2019re the ones who taught Ulfric.\u201d<\/p>\n Frina dared a glance at Dardeh.\u00a0 He was smiling, now, looking more relaxed, and she had to admit that in the fading sunlight he didn\u2019t look like a demon at all. She hadn\u2019t noticed how blonde he was, inside the dimly-lit palace, or what delicate facial features he had. She cleared her throat and asked him a question.<\/p>\n \u201cDid they teach you, too, um\u2026 Dardeh?\u201d<\/p>\n He glanced at her and smirked.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, sort of. They gave me a couple of words, and a bit of a short-cut to master them. They taught me the basics of how everything goes together.\u00a0 But I knew how to Shout as soon as I killed my first dragon. It\u2019s how we found out I was Dragonborn, like it or not.\u201d<\/p>\n She nodded.\u00a0 I\u2019m going to have to think about this. I do remember the stories about the Dragonborn, and I had heard that the dragons were back not long ago. And I\u2019m going to have to watch my tongue. This man is so much stronger than I had imagined, if all of this is the truth, and I think that flying wolf is pretty good proof of that.<\/em><\/p>\n They walked easily down the road. Frina listened as the two of them chattered about people she didn\u2019t know; and she found herself relaxing just a bit. Then there was a motion. At least she thought it was a motion; it was more like a slight disturbance of the light in front of them, a shimmering, and it seemed to move from the undergrowth beside the road to just in front of them.<\/p>\n \u201cThere you are,\u201d she heard, the voice unmistakably Argonian, and she flinched as the black-clad form shimmered into light directly in front of them. Assassin.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cWatch out!\u201d she yelped, reaching for her weapon.\u00a0 She never got a chance to use it.<\/p>\n Roggi was still reaching to his back to unsheathe his greatsword as Dardeh calmly took a single pace forward and whirled. The double-edged sword he carried in his right hand sliced neatly through the Argonian\u2019s neck, sending its head hurtling down over the banks of the roadway.<\/p>\n That was frightening enough, but what set Frina trembling was the look on the man\u2019s face. It was grim, his eyes cold and hard, his mouth pressed into slim, unforgiving lines.<\/p>\n It\u2019s like he didn\u2019t even have to think about it. He just\u2026 took the Argonian\u2019s head off.<\/em><\/p>\n One less Argonian in the world didn\u2019t bother Frina in the slightest, but the looks that passed between Dardeh and Roggi after that had her stomach churning. She wasn\u2019t sure whether Roggi was angry at Dardeh, angry at the Argonian, or both. Maybe he is a demon after all. He can make things fly with his voice and take off a man\u2019s head with a single blow. And Roggi looks like he could, as well.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cThere must be some kind of splinter group, Dar. She wouldn\u2019t send someone after us,\u201d Roggi was saying.<\/p>\n \u201cOf course she wouldn\u2019t. I\u2019m beginning to fear that you\u2019re right. After the battle is done we\u2019re going to have to go see her and let her know.\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh ran a hand over his braids and blew out a breath. \u201cListen, we\u2019re not getting anywhere near Whiterun before it\u2019s dark. Know any good camping spots?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI do,\u201d Frina blurted out. \u201cThere\u2019s an old prison tower farther south on the river.\u201d<\/p>\n Roggi gave her a surprised look and nodded. \u201cYes there is. It\u2019s not level, not really, but it\u2019s safe. I\u2019ve camped out there before.\u201d<\/p>\n And so it was that, by the time it had gotten fully dark, Frina found herself once more sitting around a small campfire in the ruins of the old Imperial prison.\u00a0 She mostly listened as Roggi and Dardeh talked about the assassin. Roggi seemed really worried about Dardeh, Frina thought, because of what he\u2019d done, but it didn\u2019t surprise her that much. She\u2019d seen Redguard men fighting before and knew what their training and mass could do.<\/p>\n Dardeh didn\u2019t really speak to her, much, in spite of being seated next to her. Instead, it was Roggi who kept up the non-stop stream of chatter as the full night settled in. She had to smile at it. Some things didn\u2019t change, and this part of Roggi\u2019s personality clearly hadn\u2019t. Dardeh chuckled at him, and inserted his quiet, plain responses from time to time. He was too angry about this, he said. He thought he had solved the problem, he said. Frina didn\u2019t know what he was referring to; she mostly sat, and watched, and had the same insistent thought over and over again.<\/p>\n That Dardeh. He\u2019s dangerous. I need to watch out for him.<\/em><\/p>\n They\u2019d long since spread out bedrolls and settled down for a few hours of rest when the sounds of movement nearby startled her awake. She was about to leap up to alert the others when she heard a low moan, very near at hand.\u00a0 And then she heard the unmistakable sound of Roggi trying to stifle a giggle.<\/p>\n \u201cShh, Dar. You\u2019ll wake her up.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSorry, Roggi, it\u2019s just that when you\u2026\u201d and he moaned again.<\/p>\n Frina felt herself freezing into place.<\/p>\n By the gods. They\u2019re doing\u2026 that. <\/em><\/p>\n Frina had no real idea what they were doing, not specifically, but she did know that she didn\u2019t want to hear it or imagine it.\u00a0 She squeezed her eyes shut and tried not to hear, but that was like trying not to imagine a pink horker lurching its way along a beach. It was horrible. And then she heard something else.<\/p>\n \u201cI love you, Roggi.\u201d It was a quiet whisper, but Dardeh\u2019s voice was so resonant that she heard it as though he was whispering directly in her ear, not Roggi\u2019s.<\/p>\n \u201cI love you too, Dar. It\u2019ll be all right. I promise. Now try to get some sleep.\u201d<\/p>\n Frina found tears slipping out from behind her eyelids and down the sides of her face.\u00a0 The sound of Roggi\u2019s quiet declaration left no room for doubt. He truly belonged to this man. And no matter how hard she tried, she couldn\u2019t reconcile that with the man she remembered, the one who had joined the Stormcloaks with her sister to fight for Talos, to give Skyrim back to the Nords.<\/p>\n __<\/p>\n There was a camp set up on the south side of the road across from Whiterun\u2019s gates, and catapults were already hurling boulders and other flaming projectiles at the city\u2019s walls. Whiterun was returning fire, and every few moments there were bright flashes and loud concussions as incoming fireballs landed near them, and Frina jumped every time one of them shook the ground nearby.\u00a0 She could hear Galmar shouting, even over the chaos, and headed toward him; Dardeh and Roggi followed.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is it, men!\u201d Galmar shouted. \u201cThey say that our cause is false and that we are nothing more than thieves, thugs, and murderers \u2013 but no!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo,\u201d Roggi muttered behind her. \u201cThat\u2019s for damn sure.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cRoggi, hush,\u201d Dardeh said. \u201cWe\u2019re miners, right? That\u2019s what we are and that\u2019s good enough.\u201d<\/p>\n Frina had no idea what they were talking about, and she missed some of what Galmar was shouting, but it didn\u2019t matter.\u00a0 Her excitement was rising; butterflies danced through her and her grip on her war pick was tighter by the moment.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s go! Let\u2019s get on with this! Let\u2019s take this city for Ulfric and for Talos!<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cOur objective is the drawbridge. If we can find a way to drop it, the city will be ours.\u00a0 Everyone on me! Let\u2019s show these Imperial milk-drinkers what true Nords look like!\u201d<\/p>\n Galmar led the charge down the hillside and up the road toward the city. Stormcloaks ran past her toward the barricade. Frina could see an archer in Imperial red atop the walls so she pulled out her bow and stopped. She was lining up a shot at the archer when a huge sound filled the air.<\/p>\n \u201cMID- VUR SHAAN!\u201d<\/p>\n It was like the explosion of one of the flying missiles, but with a voice embedded in it, and she knew it had to have been Dardeh. She suddenly felt a surge of energy the likes of which she had rarely experienced, and looking around at the ecstatic faces of those nearby she could see that they felt it also.\u00a0 She caught a glimpse of Dardeh; the grin on his face just before he pulled a masked helmet down over it told her that he was the one who had done it, whatever it was.\u00a0 It didn\u2019t matter; the surge of energy was apparent as the Stormcloaks moved forward.\u00a0 Imperials and Whiterun guards were toppling like matchsticks.<\/p>\n Frina moved nearer the barricades to take a shot or two at the archer. She saw him flinch backward and knew she\u2019d caught him at least one, but he didn\u2019t go down.\u00a0 A flaming missile struck the roof of the house nearest her; it caught fire and she should hear screams from inside. \u201cTalos smite you!\u201d she heard from nearby.\u00a0 It might have been Roggi, she thought, but in the confusion it was hard to say. The closer in to the city they moved, the thicker the smoke grew and the more she coughed.<\/p>\n She kept firing, both at the archer and at others she could see barring the way ahead.<\/p>\n \u201cUp in that tower! Quick!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWeren\u2019t expecting that, were you?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re up on that wall!\u201d<\/p>\n Those were the Nord voices she could hear.\u00a0 She also heard Imperials shouting.<\/p>\n \u201cI could do this all day!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve suffered worse during training!\u201d<\/p>\n Galmar was somewhere nearby and she had the absurd urge to laugh as he shouted \u201cI\u2019ve got something for you!\u201d and ran forward to engage an Imperial officer.<\/p>\n Frina drew her pick in her right hand and a steel war axe in the left, and ran. The combat was too close now to try to fire arrows; the chances of hitting one of her own men too great to risk.\u00a0 Instead, she ran for a pair of men near a ramp, one of them in Legion armor and the other in Whiterun guard gear.<\/p>\n That ramp is going to be how we get to the drawbridge.<\/em><\/p>\n She sprinted past a pair of Imperial archers, a part of her mind waiting for the arrows to strike from behind; but by weaving across the width of the road she was able to avoid them and engage the first of the two men at the base of the ramp.\u00a0 She caught him full-force with the wicked spikes of the war pick and he fell back, bleeding.<\/p>\n A shape in black whizzed past on her left as she met an attack from the Whiterun guard. Dardeh rushed up the ramp toward a man taunting him.\u00a0 Frina didn\u2019t have a chance to watch him fight though, as she blocked with her left weapon and swept the deadly sharp spikes in her right hand at the guard\u2019s legs, but she heard another huge, almost metallic sound and knew that Dardeh had Shouted again.<\/p>\n Keep his path clear. Let him open the gate.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cBehind those rocks over there! See him?\u201d she heard an Imperial soldier shout at his fellow and knew that they meant Dardeh. She ran up the ramp to intercept both of them, and the next few minutes were a blur of motion and bone-rattling impacts and pain as she struggled to keep the path clear so that Dardeh could reach the drawbridge. She thought she was screaming at them, but couldn\u2019t be sure whether it was her screams she heard or someone else\u2019s. Once the men were down she followed, just in time to watch Dardeh throw the lever that dropped the drawbridge.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been wounded worse by better!\u201d she heard from an Imperial as he tore a path down from the wall, with Roggi in hot pursuit. She stopped for just a second to catch a breath and saw Roggi, silent and grim, swing his dragonbone greatsword around him and up into an arc that ended with it cleaving the man completely in half.\u00a0 Frina\u2019s mouth fell open for a moment, in shock; but then she realized that the battle was moving into the city and she would be left behind if she didn\u2019t run as well.<\/p>\n It was more of the same, moving through Whiterun and up toward the marketplace, except that it was worse because there were civilians, some in rags, trying to find any shelter they could from the battle. It seemed as though all the soldiers on both sides of the conflict were trying hard to avoid them, but they were in the way; and worse still there was an occasional attack by someone in plain armor or clothing who might not appear to be a soldier but who had taken a stand at the last moment. She screamed at them to move aside, get out of the way, because she knew her goal was Dragonsreach and not the rest of the city; but in the chaos it was impossible to know how many of them may have fallen as well.<\/p>\n There were barricades at various intervals, and she helped break through those, to let Galmar and his men rush ahead. Once or twice she heard Dardeh make that piercing, metallic sound, and once she actually saw the sword fly out of the hand of the soldier he was facing. Roggi shouted and snarled as he carved his way through anyone in his way, and Galmar hurled insults as frequently as he swung his weapon.<\/p>\n There was so much sound. It was deafening, and overwhelming, even moreso in the confined spaces of the city walls than it had been outside. The air was thick with smoke and the stench of burning buildings and dead and wounded bodies. She could barely focus on getting ahead one Imperial at a time. She heard screams of pain, and the clashing of steel and the thuds of heavy objects striking bodies, some with meaty smacks and others with the sharp crack of bone disintegrating. She heard someone shout \u201cthe Emperor can kiss my ass!\u201d and wanted to laugh; but there was no time to laugh.<\/p>\n There was one last barricade at the foot of the stairs to Dragonsreach, and she ran for it with everything she had left.\u00a0 A Whiterun guard stepped out just in front of her, and in an exquisite moment of horror she knew there was no way she could possibly stop in time to avoid his sword.\u00a0 But a familiar shape in drab armor wielding a dragonbone greatsword stepped between her and the soldier and skewered him as if he was nothing.<\/p>\n Dardeh \u2013 unmistakable in his shining black armor – ran past both of them and up the last group of stairs, stopping to look behind them as a woman\u2019s voice shouted \u201cNow you\u2019ll pay!\u201d His head darted from side to side as if he was looking for the source of the voice, and he shouted, \u201cLydia! Lydia?\u201d But Roggi yelled \u201cNo, Dardeh! Go! Go!\u201d and he nodded, turned, and ran to open the doors of Dragonsreach.<\/p>\n She stumbled through the doors just behind him, just in time to witness a thing she had never expected to see in her lifetime.<\/p>\n \u201cHalt, in the name of the Jarl!\u201d she heard from the far end of the room, near the throne. It was the Dunmer woman, she recognized that much.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a little late for that, don\u2019t you think?\u201d growled a voice that she recognized as Jarl Balgruuf\u2019s.<\/p>\n \u201cStay back, lord!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll be damned if I let this rabble take my city without raising my own sword!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cProtect the Jarl, with your lives!\u201d Irileth shouted.\u00a0 Three of the guards rushed forward, down the stairs to where Frina and the others were waiting.<\/p>\n \u201cFUS- RO DAH!\u201d<\/p>\n It was the sound Dardeh had made when the ice wolf attacked, the same sound. It rattled everything in the space and pushed dishes off the tables near them, at the lower part of the keep.\u00a0 But when it caught the guards, it didn\u2019t push them back.<\/p>\n Instead, where there had been three guards, there were three piles of ash. Shimmering, pinkish ash.\u00a0 They hadn\u2019t been tossed backward. They hadn\u2019t been disarmed.<\/p>\n They had been disintegrated. They were simply \u2013 gone.<\/p>\n Frina found herself shaking, unable to move; she stepped back behind one of Dragonsreach\u2019s massive wooden support pillars and tried to get control of herself as Dardeh, Roggi, Galmar and the rest of the soldiers moved forward. Balgruuf rushed down the hallway, clad in steel plate armor, and for a moment it seemed to Frina that he and Roggi looked at each other as if they knew each other.\u00a0 Then Balgruuf raised his sword and took a mighty swing at Roggi.<\/p>\n No!<\/em><\/p>\n Frina raised her weapons and sprinted into the action, trying to get past Balgruuf\u2019s guards. She had to do something to save this man she had cared about for so long.<\/p>\n \u201cNo!\u201d Dardeh shouted, appearing from behind a pillar to slide beneath Balgruuf\u2019s sword and taking the brunt of the blow across his back.<\/p>\n \u201cNO!\u201d Roggi screamed.<\/p>\n Dardeh flew forward, falling onto his face. For a moment Frina wondered if he had been killed, but his armor had absorbed most of the impact. She could see a deep groove in the back of his cuirass. There was barely a moment of hesitation before he scrambled to his feet.<\/p>\n Ebony. That\u2019s not just dark armor, that\u2019s ebony. Thank Talos.<\/em><\/p>\n She took a swing at the nearest guard, trying to get in closer to Balgruuf, and suddenly had the wind knocked from her by a shock. She fought to regain her breath. Her head swiveled around far enough to spy long grey ears turning toward a Stormcloak in the other direction.<\/p>\n That damn Dunmer has magic!<\/em><\/p>\n Galmar was laughing like a maniac, swinging wildly, trying his best to get to Balgruuf, when the concussion of sound that surpassed the loudest thunder she had ever heard split the air.<\/p>\n \u201cMID- VUR SHAAN!\u201d<\/p>\n Suddenly the remaining Stormcloak troops, including Frina, were energized yet again and rained a tremendous flurry of blows on the Jarl\u2019s defenders.\u00a0 He blocked once or twice, but looked around him and saw that it was all over, and dropped to one knee.<\/p>\n \u201cEnough,\u201d he said quietly, gasping for breath. \u201cThat\u2019s enough.\u00a0 I surrender. I surrender.\u201d<\/p>\n His men hadn\u2019t heard him, or refused to believe him; they kept fighting. Balgruuf stood and shouted.<\/p>\n \u201cPeace! Everybody stand down! That\u2019s an order! Stand DOWN!\u201d Slowly, one by one, his guards dropped their swords and stood back from him, giving him space.<\/p>\n He\u2019s no Ulfric, Frina thought, and he\u2019s definitely no Dardeh, but he has the voice of authority.<\/p>\n Balgruuf turned and trudged heavily back up the stairs to the main level of Dragonsreach, followed by Irileth, whose magic still sparked and shimmered around her. Frina heard the doors of the keep open, and an old man\u2019s voice called out.<\/p>\n \u201cBalgruuf!\u201d<\/p>\n She was close enough to see the angry sneer on Balgruuf\u2019s face.<\/p>\n \u201cVignar Gray-mane. Your family was noticeably absent from the walls. Now I know why. Wouldn\u2019t a dagger in the back have sufficed?\u201d<\/p>\n The white-haired, heavily wrinkled older man in fine clothing stepped to within a breath of Balgruuf.<\/p>\n \u201cYou think this is personal? The Empire has no place in Skyrim, not any more. And you. You have no place in Whiterun anymore!\u201d<\/p>\n Frina suddenly felt faint and her legs wobbled, so she made her way to one of the long dining tables and sat down. For a moment she couldn\u2019t focus; then she saw a goblet half-filled with wine on the table just before her and tossed the drink down. While she had no wounds she hurt from a hundred blows, she was desperately tired and still shaking from the sight of seeing Dardeh\u2019s Voice turn three grown, armored men to ash.\u00a0 Dardeh himself stood silently to one side as Balgruuf, Vignar Gray-Mane and Galmar argued about the future. Ulfric would spread his rebellion too thin, Balgruuf said, and then what?<\/p>\n \u201cWe Nords are<\/em> the Empire,\u201d he said. \u201cOur blood built it. Our blood sustains it! You of all people should know that!\u201d<\/p>\n What does he mean? Ulfric\u2019s the one who fights for the Nords, not the Empire. Does he not understand that?<\/em><\/p>\n Vignar sneered at him.<\/p>\n \u201cIf this was my<\/em> Empire,\u201d he said calmly, \u201cI\u2019d be able to worship whoever I damn well pleased. You wish to see an Empire without Talos? Without its soul?\u201d His voice rose as he went, and Frina wanted to applaud him.<\/p>\n That\u2019s it. That\u2019s exactly it. That is why I\u2019m fighting. And I\u2019m pretty sure that\u2019s why Roggi is fighting, and Dardeh.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cWe should be fighting those witch-elves, not bending knee to them!\u201d Gray-Mane shouted.\u00a0 \u201cThe Empire is nothing more than a puppet of the Thalmor.\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh and Roggi both nodded and so did Frina, slowly. She didn\u2019t know much about the Empire itself but if these two men agreed with Vignar she was fairly certain they must be right.<\/p>\n \u201cTell me, Vignar,\u201d Balgruuf said, the anger on his face slowly giving way to sorrow, \u201cwas this worth it? How many of those corpses lining our streets wear the faces of men who once called you friend?\u201d His voice caught as he spoke. \u201cWhat about their<\/em> families?\u201d<\/p>\n Frina had a clear view of Dardeh, standing as he was next to Balgruuf, and she saw him wince. Roggi had noticed his reaction, too, and caught his husband\u2019s gaze, their eyes sharing words that Frina didn\u2019t understand.<\/p>\n \u201cEnough, both of you!\u201d Galmar said loudly as he clumped up the steps to stand beside Vignar. \u201cThere is a burning city out there that needs a government!\u201d<\/p>\n Vignar sighed. \u201cHe\u2019s right. Galmar, come. Let us restore order.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis\u2026 isn\u2019t over,\u201d Balgruuf muttered. \u201cDo you hear me, you old fool? This isn\u2019t over!\u201d<\/p>\n Both Vignar and Galmar ignored him, moving to speak to their people, to start what would clearly be a long process of recovery for the city. Balgruuf, though, turned to Dardeh.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd you,\u201d Balgruuf said, his voice bitter. \u201cA Stormcloak<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBalgruuf,\u201d Dardeh said, his first words since the battle had ended. \u201cI\u2019m so sorry, my friend. I had to take a side. This has to come to an end.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t presume to call me friend,\u201d Balgruuf hissed. \u201cNot now, and not ever. I had thought better of you.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t you see?\u201d Dardeh said quietly. \u201cThe war has to end. It\u2019s taking as big a toll on us as Alduin was. I had to stop him, and I have to stop this. I have to at least try. Don\u2019t you understand?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ll all come to regret this day!\u201d Balgruuf growled.\u00a0 \u201cGive me a few hours to gather my household, and I\u2019ll depart. You have my word.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSir,\u201d Dardeh tried, quietly, one more time.\u00a0 But Balgruuf just sneered at him, and made his way toward the Jarl\u2019s quarters, followed closely by two of the Stormcloak soldiers. Dardeh\u2019s head dropped, and he stared at the floor, his hands clenching into fists.\u00a0 Roggi moved to stand beside him, and placed a hand on his shoulder.<\/p>\n Frina stared at Roggi as he spoke quietly to Dardeh, and saw Dardeh nod several times. Then he patted Dardeh on the back and turned to find Galmar. Frina found herself feeling sorry for Dardeh. Whatever his relationship with Balgruuf was before, this has ended it. I don\u2019t know that he\u2019ll ever be able to repair it.<\/em><\/p>\n She saw Galmar waving her over and pushed herself away from the table, then walked slowly to where a knot of Stormcloaks were gathered, discussing next steps.<\/p>\n \u201cGet over to Windhelm,\u201d he told her, \u201cand tell Ulfric of our victory here. I\u2019ll be moving to our next camp once we have the city secured.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes sir,\u201d Frina said quietly.\u00a0 She moved to stand beside Roggi, and hesitantly touched him on the arm.<\/p>\n \u201cAre you alright?\u201d<\/p>\n He smiled. \u201cYes. A few cuts, but nothing major. It certainly wasn\u2019t as bad as fighting a dragon.\u201d<\/p>\n Frina just stared at him. \u201cA dragon.\u201d<\/p>\n He nodded. \u201cYeah. I\u2019ve helped Dar kill a bunch of them now. Hopefully, we\u2019ll be able to get back to Windhelm without seeing any, for a change.\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh was already walking slowly down the steps toward the door when a man Frina had met briefly at Korvanjund came up to him and poked him in the arm. \u201cI\u2019m pretty sure I killed more Imperials than you did, Dardeh. I was keeping count.\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh stopped and stared at the man, and for a moment Frina worried that Dardeh might lose his temper.\u00a0 But he shook his head and chuckled.<\/p>\n \u201cNo doubt you did, Ralof. You\u2019ve always been a better fighter than I am. It\u2019s good to see you again. I\u2019m glad you\u2019re well.\u201d<\/p>\n Ralof laughed and clapped Dardeh on the back, and then followed Galmar toward the back of the keep. Dardeh watched him go and then looked at Frina and Roggi.\u00a0 He sighed, and nodded toward the doors.<\/p>\n \u201cLet\u2019s get out of here.\u201d<\/p>\n The city was eerily quiet, save for the crackle of burning timbers and the sounds of the people fighting those fires calling out to each other. The trellis surrounding the great tree in the center of Whiterun was broken, leaning at a drunken angle.\u00a0 She looked longingly at the shrine of Talos, but shook her head.<\/p>\n Somehow it just doesn\u2019t seem right to worship right now. Not when there are people hurt, and bleeding, and weeping over their dead. <\/em><\/p>\n They got past the main gates and walked down the road.<\/p>\n \u201cWe won,\u201d she said, finally.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a major victory,\u201d Roggi agreed. \u201cUlfric will be happy to hear of it.\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh turned and looked back at the city, at the thatched rooftops still smoldering, at the newly broken places in the outer walls, and he tried to speak, but his voice cracked.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is where I was standing the first time I saw you, Roggi,\u201d he said quietly. \u201cIt thought it was the most beautiful place and the most beautiful day I\u2019d ever seen. Maybe it wasn\u2019t, but it felt that way. And now look at it.\u00a0 Was it worth it? Have we made a mistake? Is this not exactly what I wanted to prevent?\u201d<\/p>\n Roggi shook his head. \u201cI don\u2019t know, my love,\u201d he answered, equally quietly. \u201cOnly time will tell. But at least we did something, and didn\u2019t just sit on the sidelines.\u201d<\/p>\n He gathered Dardeh up into an embrace, and the two of them stood holding each other for a long moment.<\/p>\n And Frina couldn\u2019t find it in her to feel anything but sympathy.<\/p>\n She climbed back down from the shrine onto the road beneath and looked back toward the place where the two men stood, face to face, speaking earnestly but too quietly for her to hear.\u00a0 She hadn\u2019t been able to bring herself to kneel before Talos in the temple, not after seeing him there before her; … <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/baakay.com\/FanFic\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/4-2-5-2.png\")
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