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<\/p>\nIt was a slow and very somber trip back down the road toward Windhelm.<\/p>\n
Frina was stunned by how loud the conflict had been, how brutal it had been; and she hadn\u2019t expected to be stunned.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t as if she was unaccustomed to fighting. She\u2019d trained a long time to replace her sister, symbolically at least, in Ulfric\u2019s army. Long after they had cleared Whiterun proper, though, her ears continued to ring and her mind struggled to make sense of everything. The battle for Whiterun was always going to be a series of disjointed images in her mind. Flaming projectiles taking out the roof of the stable.\u00a0 The beggar with golden eyes trying to escape the flames that were devouring his tunic. The trellis around the great tree groaning in agony as it slumped over to one side, half destroyed by the violence around it.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Roggi cleaving an Imperial soldier in half.<\/p>\n
That one was going to bother her for a long time, she was certain. She\u2019d always known Roggi as a soldier; he had been one of the reasons she\u2019d wanted to be one herself. There was something, though, about having seen him kill the man so efficiently, especially after hearing him snarl at her and seeing the ferocious look on his face after the assassin\u2019s attack the previous day.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t know him as well as I thought I did. That\u2019s become really clear.<\/em><\/p>\n And then there was the other thing. The thing that had taken her legs out from under her.<\/p>\n She didn\u2019t speak of it, herself.\u00a0 Roggi was the one who brought it up as they set up camp halfway back to Windhelm.<\/p>\n \u201cDar,\u201d he said quietly, feeding sticks into the beginnings of the fire. The air was still enough that the smoke hovered near them, and the smell of it reminded Frina once more of the smoldering city they\u2019d left behind them.<\/p>\n \u201cYes?\u201d Dardeh was hunched up with his arms resting on his knees, staring almost sullenly at the fire pit and not looking at either of them. He hadn\u2019t said much of anything as they\u2019d walked.\u00a0 None of them had, but Dardeh had been the one over whom a dark cloud seemed to hover.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat happened, back there?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat do you mean? Which thing?\u201d<\/p>\n Roggi paused for a moment and cleared his throat.\u00a0 \u201cThe guards,\u201d he said quietly.<\/p>\n Dardeh sighed, and looked at him.\u00a0 He glanced at Frina, too, and shook his head almost apologetically, she thought.<\/p>\n \u201cThat,\u201d he said, \u201cwas what happened to me in Apocrypha, Roggi. One of the things that happened. You wondered why I came out of there with my hair eight inches longer, looking like a guy who didn\u2019t care anymore?\u00a0 Well, I found out that I really could <\/em>do that thing everyone accuses Ulfric of doing. I read one of Hermaeus Mora\u2019s Black Books and now, when I use that Shout, I can kill people. That\u2019s one of the reasons he thinks he controls me now. Maybe he does.\u201d<\/p>\n His face was a picture of misery. His eyes were unfocused, Frina thought, as though he was seeing those three piles of ash on the floor in front of him again.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t want<\/em> to do it, Roggi. I didn\u2019t intend<\/em> to kill them. I just wanted them to back off so that we could talk to Balgruuf.\u201d He looked away from them and shook his head. \u201cOr maybe I did want to kill them and I didn\u2019t even know it. Stranger things have happened. Usually they\u2019ve involved flames.\u201d<\/p>\n Roggi\u2019s eyebrows furrowed but aside from that he didn\u2019t react. He just kept feeding the fire.<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t imagine you intended to kill them, Dar. Not unless they were hurting one of us. But in that situation, well, we were there as soldiers after all. It was our job to take care of them one way or another.\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh\u2019s head dropped forward so that he was staring at the ground between his knees. When he spoke again Frina had to strain to catch his words.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been trying to stop this war ever since I came back from searching for Dag. Since the day Alduin appeared, the day I met Ulfric for the first time. So long. And it just keeps circling around and starting up again.\u201d<\/p>\n Frina glanced at Roggi just then and was taken aback at the expression of pure anger that passed across his face for just a moment. His eyes flared and his mouth sneered; his brows nearly met for the depth of his frown.\u00a0 Then, just as quickly as it had come, the look left him; he took a deep breath and spoke very quietly.<\/p>\n \u201cDardeh. I\u2019ve been involved with this war one way or another for a dozen years.\u00a0 I never thought I\u2019d be back in the middle of it again. And think of Ulfric. He and Galmar have been at this for twenty years. Longer than that, if you consider the time Ulfric was in the Imperial Legion while his father was Jarl. All of us have seen more death than anyone should ever have to witness. Every time we think it\u2019s done it flares up again.\u201d He opened his mouth as if to say more and then snapped it shut again and shook his head.<\/p>\n Dardeh looked at Roggi, sadly.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m sorry, love. I should remember those things. It isn\u2019t all about me.\u201d A moment passed. Then his voice became hard again. \u201cExcept that it is<\/em>. You weren\u2019t there when Alduin snatched the souls of dead soldiers right out from under my nose while I was trying to save them. You didn\u2019t hear Ysgramor himself speak of not wanting to leave the Hall because of that dragon.\u00a0 I wanted this to end<\/em>, Roggi, when we arranged that damned truce.\u201d<\/p>\n The muscles in Roggi\u2019s jaw were working again, Frina noticed, before he finally answered.\u00a0 He\u2019s angry. They\u2019re both angry. Dardeh\u2019s saying things I don\u2019t understand at all, but Roggi understands them and he\u2019s angry about them.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cI know that\u2019s the case, Dar, but nobody else does. You can\u2019t expect them to. And even if you were to tell them, people won\u2019t believe you. Most of them never saw Alduin. \u00a0Almost none of them have ever been to High Hrothgar. You and I were part of something very, very important; but the rest of the people in the world don\u2019t know that and they don\u2019t care about that. They are important too and they have their own views on life. To them, this war is about them.\u201d<\/p>\n He nodded at Frina.<\/p>\n \u201cFrina has her reasons for fighting. I expect they\u2019re a lot like her sister\u2019s reasons were. They\u2019re a bit like my reasons were. Right now, I\u2019m back in the war because you wanted to be in it, Dar; but I was a Stormcloak long before you were.\u201d He ignored the fact that Dardeh was glaring at him as he laid several larger branches on top of the fire.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat I\u2019m trying to say is that this thing is a vicious cycle that has been going on for many more years than you\u2019ve been involved in it. I love you, Dar, and I think you have the best chance of anyone alive of breaking the cycle. But you can\u2019t underestimate the contributions of all the other people who have been involved. Some of us paid very heavy prices. I did. Ulfric did. Briinda did. And so did those soldiers whose souls Alduin grabbed away from you.\u201d<\/p>\n He reached out and grabbed one of Dardeh\u2019s hands, and squeezed it gently.<\/p>\n \u201cUnderstand?\u201d he asked quietly.<\/p>\n Frina watched the two men gaze at each other for several long, tense moments before, finally, Dardeh\u2019s shoulders dropped.\u00a0 He nodded.<\/p>\n \u201cYes, I do. Nobody else will ever know how very strange my time in Apocrypha and in Sovngarde was. That\u2019s a good thing.\u201d\u00a0 Then his voice started to shake, and his next words were not much more than a whisper. \u201cBut it frightens me to know that I can kill men with my Voice, Roggi. I want to be just a miner again.\u201d<\/p>\n Roggi looked at him for a long moment, with an expression of regret and resignation. Then he scooted closer to Dardeh and put an arm around his shoulders.<\/p>\n \u201cI know, Dar.\u00a0 So do I.\u201d<\/p>\n Frina watched them, and chewed on the inside of her mouth. She still felt her skin crawl whenever she thought about the two of them being married, or remembered hearing them speaking of love to each other; but it was clear that they did love each other. It was more obvious than the Throat of the World looming over them.\u00a0 They were sharing something she had no way to understand.<\/p>\n Roggi\u2019s still a very caring man, isn\u2019t he, even if it\u2019s not my sister he cares for. He\u2019s the one who is keeping them both whole right now.<\/em><\/p>\n And Dardeh saved his life, by jumping between him and Balgruuf\u2019s sword. That was a very brave thing that he did.<\/em><\/p>\n He looked so sad when Balgruuf turned away from him. I do believe he cared about the Jarl.\u00a0 He\u2019s not a demon after all. He\u2019s just a very powerful man, and he\u2019s almost afraid of his own power.<\/em><\/p>\n The three of them prepared a modest meal and ate it, largely in silence.\u00a0 Frina watched them, saw how their body language changed as they relaxed, and marveled over how gentle Roggi was with this large man who wielded power unlike anything she\u2019d ever seen.\u00a0 She thought about everything they\u2019d said.\u00a0 There was one thing that kept going through her mind, poking at her, until at last she couldn\u2019t stand it any longer.<\/p>\n \u201cRoggi, can I ask you something?\u201d she finally said.<\/p>\n He smiled at her. \u201cOf course.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat did you mean when you said Ulfric had paid a price?\u201d<\/p>\n Roggi\u2019s smile faded. \u201cWell it\u2019s pretty tough being in a war for more than twenty years; don\u2019t you think that\u2019s plenty?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt is, but that\u2019s not what you meant, and don\u2019t try to tell me it is.\u201d<\/p>\n Roggi stared at her, looking uncooperative. She stared back, unflinching. I\u2019m not going to back down, and if he remembers who I am at all he\u2019ll know that. <\/em>She saw the moment when his eyes changed, when he realized he couldn\u2019t win; and she watched him shrug.<\/p>\n \u201cYou know the Thalmor took him captive a long time ago, right?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes. During the Great War.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell, they tortured him. It was pretty bad. He\u2019s told me about it, before,\u201d he said, his eyes shifting away from her and back to Dardeh, who had clearly taken a fresh interest in the conversation.<\/p>\n \u201cPhysical torture?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cUm\u2026 yes. The rack, beatings. Blades. The usual. Bad enough that he told them things. They all do, sooner or later, if the pain is bad enough. Even Ulfric. But it wasn\u2019t just that. The Thalmor also lied to him. Told him that what he had given them was the reason the Imperial City fell to the Aldmeri Dominion.\u201d He frowned. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t. What he told them didn\u2019t even matter. The city fell before Ulfric cracked.\u201d He stretched his shoulders. \u201cI don\u2019t believe he\u2019s ever really gotten over that.\u00a0 It\u2019s a pretty high price to pay, for anyone, don\u2019t you think, to believe everything is your fault?\u201d<\/p>\n Frina shuddered. She couldn\u2019t think of anything but the sad, sad eyes she\u2019d seen looking back at her from the man about to declare war yet again. No wonder, she thought. No wonder he hesitated to start the battle for Whiterun. No wonder he was so passionate about the lives that had been lost before.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t want anyone else to go through what he\u2019d gone through.<\/p>\n I want to\u2026 give him a hug.<\/em><\/p>\n Frina flushed. Because she wanted to do more than that, no matter how hard she tried to think about something else. She tried to distract herself.<\/p>\n \u201cYes, I do. That\u2019s just awful. You\u2026\u201d she began, her sentence dribbling off into nothing as she struggled with what she wanted to ask.<\/p>\n \u201cI what?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou know him a lot better than I thought you did.\u201d<\/p>\n Roggi and Dardeh shared a look that Frina did not understand. To her complete astonishment, one corner of Roggi\u2019s mouth rose into a hint of a smirk.<\/p>\n \u201cYes. I know Ulfric a lot better than most people think. I know him very well.\u201d<\/p>\n Frina was confused. She was confused by the look on Roggi\u2019s face, the grin he shared with Dardeh.\u00a0 She was confused when Dardeh chuckled and poked him in the arm.<\/p>\n \u201cI thought you didn\u2019t care for him, Roggi,\u201d Dardeh rumbled.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t,\u201d Roggi said. \u201cNot in the least. But that doesn\u2019t stop me from being sorry that the man was tortured, especially under the circumstances. Don\u2019t you agree?\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh\u2019s face darkened again, for a moment. Then he nodded.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re a better man than I am, Roggi.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat remains to be seen, Dar.\u201d<\/p>\n Frina went to sleep that night in one of the strangest states of mind she could ever remember. Between flinching from the memory of exploding missiles around her, jumping at every sound, and wondering what Roggi and Dardeh had meant she took a very long time to relax. And she kept wanting to give Ulfric a hug. She didn\u2019t know exactly what happened to people when they were tortured, but the way Roggi had spoken of it being bad, she was sure she never wanted to find out.<\/p>\n —<\/p>\n Ulfric was happy to hear their report, the following day. Dardeh gave him a quick rundown of what had happened, with Roggi filling in a few details. Frina stood quietly to the side and said very little, at first.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd what is your take on this, soldier?\u201d Ulfric asked her, turning his piercing gaze to her.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s as they\u2019ve told you, my lord,\u201d she said. \u201cJarl Balgruuf surrendered, after a short fight, and is likely on his way to Solitude even now.\u00a0 Galmar and Vignar Gray-Mane were securing the city as we left. It will take some time to repair the damage and bury the dead, but I think the worst of it is over.\u201d<\/p>\n He nodded slowly. \u201cWe\u2019ve driven the Imperials out of Whiterun. This is good. Very good. We now control the center. It\u2019s a powerful position, one I aim to keep.\u201d\u00a0 His eyes narrowed a bit. \u201cAnd we needed a powerful position, since the Dragonborn here gave away our control of the Rift.\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh sighed. Roggi snorted.<\/p>\n \u201cNow wait just a minute, Ulfric,\u201d he spat. \u201cYou wouldn\u2019t have <\/em>the center if not for Dardeh. He rallied the troops so that we could get to the keep. He was the one who managed to subdue Balgruuf. We wouldn\u2019t be standing here giving you good news if not for him.\u201d<\/p>\n Ulfric turned a cool stare to Roggi. \u201cIs that so. And I suppose you were instrumental in the battle yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe was, my lord,\u201d Frina interjected. \u201cI watched him clear a path through to the gates. And he was first to reach Balgruuf. That almost cost him his life. But Dardeh stepped in between and took the blow himself.\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh ran his hand up over his braids. \u201cYeah, well, I wasn\u2019t about to let Balgruuf kill Roggi. There\u2019s a nice deep dent in the back of this armor that needs fixing now because of that.\u201d He took a step closer to Ulfric. \u201cEveryone did their part, Ulfric.\u00a0 Especially Frina. I would not have been able to lower the drawbridge if she hadn\u2019t cleared the way for me. She ran ahead once we got into the city and took out all the barricades they had in our way. It was really something.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd Galmar and Ralof were like madmen,\u201d Roggi added. \u201cAll the troops were, really. It was impressive.\u201d<\/p>\n Frina watched them interacting, and was both confused and amazed. The mutual dislike among them was so thick she could nearly taste it; and yet each of them admired the others\u2019 strengths. That was clear, as well.\u00a0 She didn\u2019t understand what had happened among these three powerful men in the past but the fact that they were all focused on a common goal made them a force to be reckoned with here and now.<\/p>\n I\u2019m really out of my depth, aren\u2019t I? Well, I suppose that\u2019s a good thing to know. Maybe it\u2019ll keep me alive.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cVery good,\u201d Ulfric said. \u201cTake a few hours, Dragonborn, and repair your gear. Then head out to our camp in Falkreath Hold. Galmar will have gone there after securing Whiterun.\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh nodded, turned on his heel, and left the keep.\u00a0 He was almost to the door when Ulfric turned to Roggi.<\/p>\n \u201cRoggi, I have a special task for you. It\u2019s waiting in the usual place. The guard will fill you in. Let\u2019s see whether you\u2019re still as good as I remember.\u201d<\/p>\n Frina watched in confusion as Roggi\u2019s face changed. His eyes narrowed and took on a cold look the likes of which she\u2019d never seen, an even more frightening aura than he\u2019d had after the assassin\u2019s attack. He looked eager, almost hungry, it seemed to her, and it made a shudder run down her spine.<\/p>\n \u201cThat I am, Ulfric,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ll take care of it right away. But remember. When Dardeh leaves Windhelm, so do I. Don\u2019t forget about that. It\u2019s important for all our sakes that I be with him.\u201d<\/p>\n He turned and walked toward the front of the great hall, heading to a door in the side and disappearing into it as Frina watched in confusion. She couldn\u2019t seem to make sense of everything she had heard and stared blankly, not quite able to focus.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd what do you suppose he meant by that, Frina?\u201d Ulfric\u2019s deep voice startled her out of her daze and had her whipping around to look at him again.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2026 I\u2019m not sure, my Jarl,\u201d she stammered. \u201cUnless, well\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat is it?\u201d His voice lowered, and was softer.<\/p>\n \u201cHe \u2013 Dardeh. He killed three of the guards in Dragonsreach with a Shout.\u201d\u00a0 She watched in amazement as Ulfric\u2019s eyes widened and his brows rose, if only for a split second. \u201cThey ended up piles of ash on the floor. I\u2019m not certain we would all have survived the keep if not for that and\u2026\u201d\u00a0 She stopped again, surprised, as her mind reached a conclusion it had been churning toward for the past day.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not convinced that he can control it, sir. He was very upset, afterward. Very distressed. I\u2019m not sure he would be settled even now if Roggi hadn\u2019t been there.\u201d<\/p>\n Ulfric ran a hand over his face and took a deep breath, then blew it out. He started speaking, quietly and quickly. He addressed Frina, but it almost seemed to her as though he was speaking to himself. His eyes stared blankly into the middle distance, not focusing on her or anything else.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is indeed important information. I\u2019m often accused of killing High King Torygg with my Voice but I assure you that it was my sword that delivered the killing blow. I was not aware that such a thing could actually happen. I always assumed it was simple hyperbole, like so many of the other legends. That makes Dardeh a very dangerous man.\u201d He shook his head. \u201cI should have known that already, without needing further evidence. He tossed me head over heels into the map room with his Voice. He is much stronger than any of us gave him credit for.\u201d<\/p>\n There was a long pause. His eyes wandered back and forth across the space before him. Frina could almost hear his mind working, weighing this new information against a million other details he needed to keep straight and work out. \u00a0She struggled, herself, to grapple with the idea that Dardeh had thrown Ulfric aside with a Shout. That certainly would explain some of the tension between them. But why<\/em> he would have done such a thing \u2013 that part escaped her entirely.<\/p>\n Finally, Ulfric shook his head and brought his focus back to her.<\/p>\n \u201cWell. I thank you for bringing this information to my attention. And for everything you did in Whiterun. We shall call you\u2026 Ice-Veins now, I think. For the thick blood of our land has seeped into your heart.\u201d<\/p>\n He reached down beside his throne and pulled up a sword, which he handed to her.\u00a0 It was of elven make, which made her lips curl back in distaste; but it radiated cold, and magic.<\/p>\n \u201cHere,\u201d Ulfric said. \u201cTake this.\u201d<\/p>\n She looked at it, and back up to him. \u201cYou\u2019re giving me a gift?\u201d<\/p>\n He smirked. \u201cIt\u2019s an Imperial officer\u2019s sword. A fitting weapon to use against our enemies, don\u2019t you think?\u201d<\/p>\n Frina nodded, not daring to say how much she loathed having anything elven near her but overwhelmed that she had just received a gift from Ulfric Stormcloak.\u00a0 I can disenchant this, though. I can keep the materials, or sell them, and use what I learn from it to my advantage, maybe on my war pick.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n \u201cThank you, my lord,\u201d she finally managed.\u00a0 \u201cWhat is our next move?\u201d<\/p>\n Ulfric smiled at her, and her stomach started dancing with butterflies.<\/p>\n I wish he wouldn\u2019t do that. It makes me have thoughts that no soldier should be having.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cI suspect you will be of greater use to me with greater freedom, so you are free to engage the Imperials as you see fit.\u00a0 But I also want you to go to our base in Falkreath. Accompany Roggi and the Dragonborn, and keep your eyes on what they do. Galmar will have need of you, and may give you special tasks. Cause as much mayhem as possible for the Empire and any Jarl that supports them.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes, my lord,\u201d Frina said. She couldn\u2019t help but grin. \u201cIt will be my pleasure.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI can see that it will be,\u201d Ulfric answered, grinning back at her with his eyes twinkling. \u201cIt\u2019s a shame that I must be here to supervise the whole war. You make me want to join the fight myself. Talos guide you.\u201d<\/p>\n She had no choice but to smile. We understand each other, I think. He\u2019s enjoying taking the battle to the Imperials as much as I am, everything else be damned. What I wouldn\u2019t give to see him fight. <\/em><\/p>\n She stood there, just smiling at him, for what felt like a very long time but probably was only a moment or two. While she might have expected him to dismiss her he didn\u2019t. Instead, he smiled back, his eyes warm and twinkling.<\/p>\n It\u2019s the excitement of the war, surely. Nothing more than that. <\/em><\/p>\n She felt herself blushing yet again and turned to rush for the door, to the sound of Ulfric\u2019s chuckle behind her. Time to get this sword taken care of, she thought. I\u2019ll head to the forge.\u00a0 Maybe that\u2019ll distract me.<\/p>\n —<\/p>\n A tall figure in a black, hooded robe strolled casually down the main road through Solitude.\u00a0 Even though the night was very dark he kept to the deeper shadows hugging the city\u2019s buildings.\u00a0 Once or twice he passed near the other night-owls walking the streets, and he nodded to them but did not speak.\u00a0 He walked up the long ramp toward Castle Dour and headed through its courtyard toward the Temple of the Divines, looking very much like just another of the many priests who wandered about the area at all hours aside from the color of his robes. He didn\u2019t go into the Temple, though; instead, he veered right and exited the castle\u2019s courtyard heading down the hill toward, one might have presumed, the Bard\u2019s College or perhaps the Blue Palace itself.<\/p>\n Not far past the foot of the hill the man stopped, looked around, and dropped into a crouch.\u00a0 He slipped into a darkened garden area off the street and waited, silently, for the nearest city guards to clear the area. Then he crept back out onto the street and up a half flight of stairs to the landing between two of Solitude\u2019s most substantial homes. He approached the door of the home nearer the Bard\u2019s College and began working at the locked door.\u00a0 It took only a few moments before he turned the door handle and slipped inside.<\/p>\n He wasted no time on the main floor, instead creeping up the stairs to the second. In this area, near an enchantment station, was a collection of powerful weapons of all make: bows, staves, swords and axes. Some were Daedric, some Elven, many more of simple ebony design; but all were enchanted, filling the room with energy.\u00a0 The man brought several large sacks out from his pack and began carefully taking the weapons down from their displays and stowing them.\u00a0 He did the same with the armor on the home\u2019s mannequins, then opened each of the display cases and took the various gleaming daggers they held.\u00a0 As each of the large bags was filled he took them down two levels, along a corridor that passed near the home\u2019s bath and smithing areas, and out into the darkened garden, placing them in the deepest shadows he could find.<\/p>\n After the last of the large sacks was safely outside the man went back into the house.\u00a0 He stretched, and pushed the hood down off his head and the mask he had worn down and away from his face.\u00a0 He went back up to the top floor, grinning as he made certain that each and every display case was left wide open.\u00a0 He stopped for a moment in the bedchamber, checking in the cabinets before stepping into the study just beside it.<\/p>\n \u201cAh yes. Almost forgot these,\u201d he whispered as he spied the four gleaming Paragon stones on the bookshelf. \u201cNever did go back for the rest of them, did we, lad? Ah well. I\u2019ll hang onto these for safekeeping, just the same.\u201d<\/p>\n Next to them was a mask humming with energy.\u00a0 He scooped all five items into his backpack and sighed.<\/p>\n He adjusted the mask back over his face, pulled the hood up over his hair, and made his way carefully down to the lowest level and out the door.\u00a0 There were two men waiting in the garden, one in black leather and the other in brown.\u00a0 He picked up one of the heavy bags and both of them took one in each hand.<\/p>\n The three men watched for the guards patrolling the streets and left, one at a time, each by a separate route.\u00a0 The man in the black robes walked calmly back up the hill toward Castle Dour.\u00a0 As he passed through the gate he chuckled.<\/p>\n \u201cEnjoy Proudspire, Lord Wickham.\u201d<\/p>\n It was a slow and very somber trip back down the road toward Windhelm. Frina was stunned by how loud the conflict had been, how brutal it had been; and she hadn\u2019t expected to be stunned.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t as if she was unaccustomed to fighting. She\u2019d trained a long time to replace her sister, symbolically … <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/baakay.com\/FanFic\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/4-2-6-2.png\")
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<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/baakay.com\/FanFic\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/4-2-6-7.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/baakay.com\/FanFic\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/4-2-6-8.png\")
<\/p>\nPart II: The Storm<\/a><\/div>\nPrevious<\/a> \/ Next<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"