\u201cYes. Right. Little girl came in a couple of days ago and left it. Um\u2026\u201d\u00a0 Thoring rifled around under the countertop and pulled out a sealed note, sliding it across to Brynjolf. \u201cStill sealed up good and solid.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s good,\u201d Brynjolf said quietly. \u201cNot that I would expect anything less. It would be a shame if something bad were to happen to this fine establishment of yours.\u201d\u00a0 He grinned as Thoring gulped visibly, and walked back into the inn\u2019s great room to find a darker corner.<\/p>\n
He broke the seal and smiled at Babette\u2019s familiar, child-like scrawl. \u201cWhere once the Redguard listened.\u201d<\/p>\n
He chuckled. That\u2019s obscure enough, isn\u2019t it? Clever lass. Alright, time to go meet an old friend.<\/em><\/p>\n It didn\u2019t take him too long to make his way out of town and up the road to the south.\u00a0 He\u2019d only been to the farmhouse once before, but everything about it was seared into his memory. He\u2019d stayed there the first night he\u2019d spent knowing he was a father; the first night he\u2019d known that Dagnell was no longer Dagnell, but Sayma Sendu, the Listener; the first night he\u2019d been human once more and the first night without Andante by his side.\u00a0 In spite of how happy he and Sayma had been since reconciling, the memories had him knocking on the door in a somber mood.<\/p>\n Serana opened the door and waved him inside.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m glad you made it. You\u2019re alone, yes?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOf course. I was careful.\u201d\u00a0 He closed the door behind him and sniffed. While the scent of a brisk wood fire was recent, everything else about the place smelled unused, maybe even a bit musty.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s good to see you, lass. How are things?\u201d<\/p>\n Serana smirked.\u00a0 \u201cIf things were good, Brynjolf, I\u2019d never have written you that letter. I assume you read it?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAye. You say Vingalmo is gone? That\u2019s hard to believe.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI watched it happen, Brynjolf. It was brutal, and sudden. And undeserved.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt would almost have to have been sudden, to get the drop on him. And who was the killer, Serana, that you needed to call on me of all people?\u201d<\/p>\n She frowned. \u201cAndante\u2019s successor.\u201d<\/p>\n Brynjolf grimaced. \u201cI was afraid you were going to tell me that. Damn.\u201d<\/p>\n Serana looked surprised. \u201cYou know him?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes. He bought Proudspire right out from under me. Let me in to take some of Andante\u2019s things and later found he was missing a great deal of valuable armor and so forth.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBrynjolf,\u201d she smirked.<\/p>\n \u201cYes?\u201d\u00a0 He grinned at her. \u201cJust business, lass. We fought hard for those things and he didn\u2019t spend enough on the mansion to account for all of it. At any rate. He\u2019s never come right out and said that he\u2019s the new Lord of Volkihar but he has spent a great deal of energy trying to get me to tell him why I\u2019m not a vampire any longer and how Andante managed to kill Harkon. And of course he wants to know where the Bow is.\u201d<\/p>\n Serana nodded. \u201cYes. Edwyn was my father\u2019s prot\u00e9g\u00e9, even before I was locked away by my mother.\u00a0 We were\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n Brynjolf studied Serana\u2019s face. It had been some time since he\u2019d seen her, but he remembered her as a person whose feathers were not easily ruffled. At this moment, though, the look she carried was a mix of sorrow and anger.<\/p>\n \u201cYou were close?\u201d<\/p>\n She nodded. \u201cMy father, in his infinite wisdom, intended for the two of us to wed. At least that\u2019s what he told us back when we were both much younger.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSeriously? And you were willing to go along with that?\u201d<\/p>\n Serana gave him a lopsided smirk. \u201cWell, yes. Eddie and I were pretty compatible. Right up until he told me that he\u2019d married Elisif of Solitude. And until he held Vingalmo up in the air with one hand and tore his throat out with the other.\u201d<\/p>\n Brynjolf felt his hackles rise as the hideous vision played out in his mind. \u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n One-handed? And him a small Breton against that great, tall Altmer?<\/em><\/p>\n The implications of that killing had a shudder running down his spine. He would not have wagered that Edwyn was quite that strong, not from the interactions they\u2019d had. Strong, yes. Of course. That<\/em> strong, though?<\/p>\n \u201cI see that I may have underestimated the man.\u201d<\/p>\n She sighed heavily. \u201cLet\u2019s sit down, Brynjolf. This is going to be a long story.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAlright.\u201d\u00a0 He sat opposite her and listened as she began to weave her tale.<\/p>\n Brynjolf had only known her for the short period of time when he and Andante had traveled with her through the Forgotten Vale and the Soul Cairn, and he knew her to be resourceful, hardy, and tough-minded. But aside from the basics of her relationship with her father and his obsession with Auriel\u2019s Bow, he knew very little about her. She told him about her history with Edwyn Wickham, how Edwyn had been sent to Cyrodiil and why. She gave him her assessment of his skills as a vampire.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was always naturally talented with magic, Brynjolf. Never used a physical weapon, as long as I knew him; he always uses conjuration magic and he\u2019s very good at it. At least he was, before \u2013 you know.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI would assume he\u2019s good with all kinds of magic now.\u201d<\/p>\n She nodded. \u201cI don\u2019t know for certain, but I do know that he was specifically sent to infiltrate the magical guilds and organizations in Cyrodiil. They wouldn\u2019t let him near if he had no talent.\u00a0 But here\u2019s the thing\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n Her story continued.\u00a0 The more Brynjolf heard about Edwyn\u2019s stated plans, the more concerned he became. He knew that Harkon had been after the Bow. He hadn\u2019t known about his plans to take over Tamriel.\u00a0 He drew his hands down over his face and blew out a breath. It was worse than he\u2019d thought.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know for certain,\u201d Serana said, \u201cbut I wonder whether he was behind killing the Emperor.\u201d<\/p>\n Brynjolf shook his head. \u201cNo, I don\u2019t think so.\u201d<\/p>\n He stopped himself. Even though I trust the lass I shouldn\u2019t give that bit of information away<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u201cNot unless it was a very round-about path he took,\u201d he continued, hoping that would cover his first statement well enough. \u201cBut it wouldn\u2019t surprise me if he decided to take advantage of the situation when it arose.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe didn\u2019t know I was back, Brynjolf. Not at first. He tried to pick up where we left off, and I was more than willing, like a complete fool. And all the time he was wooing Elisif.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSo he is just as much a gentleman as I suspected. The man puts up a good front, but I\u2019ve managed to get under his skin several times now and I\u2019ve seen some pretty rough edges. He can\u2019t figure out what happened with Andante and Harkon \u2013 and me – and I won\u2019t tell him.\u201d He looked up to see that Serana had as sad an expression on her face as he\u2019d seen from her. \u201cI\u2019m sorry, Serana.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd then he killed Vingalmo. He fed on him. And then he insulted the poor corpse by burning it to ash.\u201d<\/p>\n He shuddered involuntarily.<\/p>\n \u201cWell none of this is very reassuring. And what\u2019s more, lass, is that Ulfric is agitating for the Moot to finally happen.\u201d<\/p>\n She snarled.\u00a0 Brynjolf tried to suppress an involuntary shudder. He\u2019d nearly forgotten how intimidating Serana could be.<\/p>\n \u201cHe got married to have a claim to Elisif\u2019s throne. I know that\u2019s why he did it. He wants to be the Jarl of Haafingar and High King of Skyrim. We can\u2019t let him do that. And there\u2019s something else, as well. He\u2019s spent hours and hours with his two subordinates researching. Something. I haven\u2019t gotten close enough to find out what. I can\u2019t stand to be near him now that I know what he\u2019s capable of. And I can\u2019t talk to any of the others. You know how it is there. I don\u2019t know whether to trust them or bare my fangs.\u201d<\/p>\n He looked at her, studying her face, trying to decide whether it was simple jealousy making her say that.\u00a0 It didn\u2019t seem to be.<\/p>\n \u201cAlright. It\u2019s certainly bad. I\u2019m not sure what to do about it, though.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe needs to die.\u201d<\/p>\n Brynjolf shuddered again, remembering the moment that Karliah had asked him to utter those same words against Mercer Frey. He closed his eyes and nodded. Finally he opened them and looked at her once more, weighing what they might be able to do.<\/p>\n He nodded. \u201cAlright. Let\u2019s talk about it.\u201d<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n It was\u00a0 dark by the time Brynjolf stood outside the house that had once been Sayma\u2019s, watching Serana walk away to begin the trip back to Castle Volkihar.\u00a0 He looked around himself and sighed before making his way toward the Jarl\u2019s longhouse.<\/p>\n This should be a real adventure. I wasn\u2019t planning on being a king\u2019s messenger, or I\u2019d have dressed the part when I left Riften.<\/em><\/p>\n When he pushed the door open and entered the longhouse he could sense immediately that something had happened here, not very long past.\u00a0 He\u2019d never had direct dealings with Jarl Skald before, in spite of Dawnstar\u2019s status as one of the finest ports in Skyrim; but he recognized the circlet and the clothing as being a Jarl\u2019s.\u00a0 What he hadn\u2019t expected was to see the man walking circles around his firepit in spite of his housecarl\u2019s attempts to get him to retake his throne.<\/p>\n \u201cStop nagging me, Jod! I\u2019m the Jarl. If I want to pace, I\u2019m going to pace! By the Nine I need to think and you\u2019re not helping the effort.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes, sir.\u201d<\/p>\n Brynjolf closed the door behind him, as quietly as he could, and stood just inside it. The more information he could glean before he announced himself, the better.<\/p>\n \u201cDamn it, what are we going to do<\/em>, Jod? I\u2019m sure Ulfric is expecting my support. And he really ought to have it. He does <\/em>have it, damn it all, but\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n Uh oh. This doesn\u2019t sound good.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cThey did just remove a rather major problem for us, sir,\u201d Jod said quietly.<\/p>\n Brynjolf moved down the hall, as quietly as he could, and finally cleared his throat when he was just short of the Jarl. Skald whirled to face him and Jod \u2013 who, Brynjolf noted, had been highly unobservant for someone charged with protecting his lord from people just wandering in \u2013 pulled his weapon.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd just who in Oblivion are you?\u201d Skald said, frowning at Brynjolf.<\/p>\n \u201cMy name is Brunulvr, Jarl Skald. I\u2019m here with a message from Jarl Ulfric Stormcloak. I\u2019ve just come through Windhelm on my way to take care of some business, and he asked me to check in on you.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDid he now.\u201d\u00a0 The old Jarl narrowed his eyes and put his hands on his hips. \u201cAnd what exactly would this be about?\u201d<\/p>\n Brynjolf weighed his options. Just blurting out the whole truth usually worked against him, and he had a feeling this would be the case here.<\/p>\n \u201cI see you\u2019re a cautious man, and that\u2019s only to be expected. I\u2019m a friend of \u2013 it\u2019s a bit convoluted, but a member of his new extended family by marriage. That\u2019s why you\u2019ve likely never heard of me before.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re right. Never heard of you. But what\u2019s Ulfric\u2019s message?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt seems that there\u2019s been another rash of pirate raids along the coast. Jarl Ulfric wants to beef up the guard at all the port cities but of course he can\u2019t do that without your permission.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHmph.\u201d\u00a0 Skald peered at him, taking his measure.<\/p>\n He hasn\u2019t been Jarl for all these years by being a fool.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cWell, he\u2019s right of course,\u201d the old man continued. \u201cSmart of him to recognize that. Tell him he has my permission to send more men. Odd things have been happening of late.\u201d<\/p>\n And now is my opportunity.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cOh? What sort of odd things?\u201d He put every bit of power he could muster into that question, hoping that a little of his Nightingale persuasion might bleed into it.<\/p>\n Skald sneered at him, took a couple of steps in the opposite direction and then turned back to face him again.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know you. But if you\u2019re heading back to Windhelm\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n Brynjolf nodded. \u201cI am. I promised the Jarl to return with a report. So if there\u2019s any other information you\u2019d like him to have, I\u2019ll be happy to take it along.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s magic. Those damn mages at the College of Winterhold.\u201d<\/p>\n The hair on Brynjolf\u2019s neck rose. This doesn\u2019t bode well.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cSir?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSomething they did there unleashed a lot of magic\u2026 what did he call them, Jod?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnomalies. My lord.\u201d Jod stared at Brynjolf.<\/p>\n That man is smarter than he looks. He knows I gave a false name, I can tell. <\/em><\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s right. Anomalies. Well, two of them just left here after taking care of a problem for us. Damn anomalies were threatening the entire hold! But they weren\u2019t the only issue, you see\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n Skald rubbed his chin as if on the brink of making a decision. Brynjolf extended his mind, just the tiniest bit, thinking \u201ctell me\u201d<\/em> over and over, hoping that he wouldn\u2019t nudge too hard and create a problem.\u00a0 Finally Skald nodded.<\/p>\n \u201cThat damn Archmage badgered me. About the Moot. It\u2019s no great secret that I support Ulfric. Always have. He needs to be on that throne. But the two of them suggested <\/em>that it would be a shame<\/em> if more anomalies threatened our hold. He implied that he could call the damn things back! He\u2019s married to the Jarl of Solitude, did you know that?\u201d<\/p>\n Brynjolf nodded, holding his breath so as not to interrupt the flow of information from Skald.<\/p>\n \u201cPractically held the magic over my head as a threat if I didn\u2019t throw my support in with Elisif. Well, I won\u2019t do it,\u201d he harrumphed. \u201cI\u2019m Ulfric\u2019s man to the end. Tell him he has my full permission to put more men here. As many as he likes. And tell him it\u2019s about time we got the damn Moot under way. Tell him that.\u201d<\/p>\n Skald swiveled without waiting for a response and stomped loudly toward his throne. Brynjolf swapped glances with Jod, who seemed relieved that his Jarl was finally going to stop pacing.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll give him the message, sir,\u201d he murmured, not knowing and not really caring whether Skald heard him. It was definitely time to get going before anything changed. \u201cThank you for your time.\u201d<\/p>\n Brynjolf left to the sounds of the Jarl and his housecarl arguing loudly, and shook his head. \u00a0This was not a good situation. None of it made him happy at all.\u00a0 But if Edwyn and his right-hand man had just left Dawnstar there was a chance he\u2019d be able to catch up with them, as they were undoubtedly headed for Winterhold.<\/p>\n At least I might, as long as they aren\u2019t running. No way I\u2019d ever catch a pair of running vampires. I\u2019m quick but I\u2019m human. Still\u2026 maybe someone saw them leave. I don\u2019t want to head inland if they\u2019re on the coast.<\/em><\/p>\n He started trotting down the road to the east and stopped the first guard he met.<\/p>\n \u201cDid a pair of men pass here not long ago? One of them would have been wearing some pretty fancy dark robes.\u201d<\/p>\n The guard\u2019s eyes said yes, but he hesitated. \u201cUm\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWould this help jog your memory?\u201d He pulled a generous handful of coins out of a pouch and held them out.\u00a0 The guard grinned and scooped the coins into his own cupped hand.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah. Awhile ago, maybe an hour? They were headed this way,\u201d he said, pointing down the higher, inland route.<\/p>\n \u201cThank you. You\u2019ve been a real help,\u201d Brynjolf said, clapping the man on the back and taking off down the road in a sprint. I can catch them. I have to see what he\u2019s up to. I can\u2019t very well take him out, especially if he\u2019s with another vampire, but I can at least see what he\u2019s doing and let Ulfric know about it.<\/em><\/p>\n He ran as hard as he could in the dark, amused at the irony of having once been able to run as fast as Edwyn could and not being able to do so now.\u00a0 He was amused, as well, at the thought that his life could ever have reached a point at which he was fully involved in making certain that Ulfric Stormcloak, of all people, would be safe. Every so often he stopped to catch his breath and sip water; but he made good time.<\/p>\n He saw footprints, every so often \u2013 two sets of them, closely placed, heading the same way he was.\u00a0 Apparently they were having a leisurely trip back to the College.\u00a0 As he reached the place where he would have expected them to turn north toward Winterhold, though, the prints turned south instead.\u00a0 Brynjolf stopped, panting, and stared.\u00a0 It was definitely their trail, heading south; two sets of prints, side by side.<\/p>\n What are they doing?<\/em><\/p>\n It was then that he heard it, off in the distance.\u00a0 At first the sound was so faint that he wasn\u2019t convinced he wasn\u2019t imagining it; but as he broke into a trot again it became clearer.\u00a0 Brynjolf shuddered as he ran inland, up the slope toward the mountains; for he remembered all too clearly the night when two fire dragons had burst upward from beneath the ice, threatening to take his life, and Andante\u2019s, and Serana\u2019s.\u00a0 The sound was unmistakable.\u00a0 Somewhere not too far away to the south, Edwyn Wickham and his companion were fighting a dragon.<\/p>\n Brynjolf followed the sound until he reached a spot, tucked into the mountainside and next to what he recognized as a dragon word wall, where he could hunker down and watch what was happening.\u00a0 Circling around the two figures on the ground was a magnificent red, black and white beast with an attack that seemed a cross between a blast of sand and a burst of fire and yet which emitted a strange light. He shuddered watching it, and watching the two men battle it.<\/p>\n It was easy to see the truth of what Serana had told him about Edwyn Wickham\u2019s facility with magic. Edwyn conjured a wraith to assist and then immediately conjured a bow. He was more than adequate with it, picking his opportunities to fire when the dragon was stationary or nearly so. He would then switch to some other kind of magical attack, followed immediately by another bow. It was seemingly effortless for him. Brynjolf didn\u2019t even recognize some of the man\u2019s attacks, and that was worrisome. Meanwhile his companion shrieked and growled and fired ice spikes and the familiar vampiric drain spell at the creature, accompanied by the wraith and her energy attacks.<\/p>\n Brynjolf was mesmerized.\u00a0 He kept staring at Edwyn Wickham.<\/p>\n The man is fast.\u00a0 He\u2019s dodging attacks with no trouble at all. But the magic! The amount of it! <\/em>He could see that Wickham was not only using one spell after another but was also maintaining armor skin spells and something else that Brynjolf didn\u2019t recognize, something that had him shimmering purple.\u00a0 He was quiet. And he was deadly.\u00a0 That much was plain to see.<\/p>\n The dragon had been circling in a small area, occasionally landing on an outcropping on the other side of the valley from where Brynjolf hid.\u00a0 It was obvious that they were wearing it down. The beast fought its way back into the air, circled over Brynjolf\u2019s head and back toward a small natural bridge to attack the dark figure just at the edge of the bridge\u2019s cover, strafing it with its breath attack as it swooped past.<\/p>\n That was the only time Brynjolf heard a sound from Wickham. The man howled, a sound of pain tinged with shock and terror, and began casting dual-wielded healing spells as fast as he could.\u00a0 One, two, three, four times he saw the man cast; and yet as the fourth spell still shimmered over him he conjured both the wraith and his bow.\u00a0 He stepped out of cover and fired downhill into the dragon as it thundered to the ground, where it was pelted by the other vampire\u2019s attacks.\u00a0 A few moments later, it was dead.<\/p>\n Brynjolf crept down the slope, hugging the shadows, and watched and listened as they approached the carcass.<\/p>\n \u201cNicely done, Agryn.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou did well yourself, Edwyn.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell I must admit it was a bit close to the edge for a moment or two.\u00a0 I\u2019m grateful you distracted it while I healed. The beast nearly had me.\u201d<\/p>\n Brynjolf heard a heavy sigh. \u201cNow, you see, were I Dragonborn I would be able to consume this beast.\u00a0 Sadly, we will need to leave its corpse to rot. It is a splendid thing, though, isn\u2019t it?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt is. And while I\u2019m proud that we got it, I\u2019ll be much happier once we\u2019re back in your nice warm quarters at the College.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes, yes. You knew I couldn\u2019t let it be once I heard it, though. It\u2019s good to keep in practice. Let\u2019s be off.\u201d<\/p>\n Brynjolf waited until they were well underway to take up the pursuit again.\u00a0 He found himself shaken.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t as though he hadn\u2019t also killed a dragon before. He knew what formidable foes they were.\u00a0 No, what bothered him was the fact that Edwyn Wickham hadn\u2019t once, in the entire fight, used a single one of the spells or powers available to him as a vampire.\u00a0 It had been a battle between beast and mage.\u00a0 Just that, simply magic.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t know how we\u2019re going to beat him, lass. He\u2019s so much stronger a mage than I could have imagined. <\/em><\/p>\n Serana was strong; and her vampiric magic was strong. But Wickham was stronger, or so she\u2019d said; and that battle he\u2019d just watched suggested that the man had a huge pool of magicka to draw upon.<\/p>\n Brynjolf frowned. He had no magic of his own aside from the minor glimmers of healing magic he\u2019d retained after Andante had healed him.<\/p>\n Roggi\u2019s no mage at all, and I know nothing about Frina other than she is a warrior \u2013 a pregnant one, to boot. Sayma has a few spells, but nothing offensive to speak of. Ulfric has the Voice, and can fight with the best, but he\u2019s no mage.\u00a0 And then there\u2019s Dardeh.<\/em><\/p>\n Something about that thought had him frowning. Why had Edwyn made a point of grumbling about not being Dragonborn?\u00a0 He puzzled over it even as he followed the two figures up the slope past the ruins of Saarthal and down into the village of Winterhold.\u00a0 They stopped, at one point, the man Edwyn had called Agryn gesturing and pointing.\u00a0 Brynjolf crept up the street until the voices became clearer, and crouched behind a pillar holding the porch roof on one of the town\u2019s remaining buildings.<\/p>\n \u201cBut isn\u2019t it too soon? Don\u2019t we need to \u2013 I don\u2019t know, visit some of the others, or wait for them to call it? What about Falkreath, for example? The old man is stubborn as Oblivion but with some careful handling\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat may well be, my friend,\u201d Edwyn said, \u201cbut I am tired of the waiting. I have been waiting for hundreds of years. I want to know what is going on. Come. Let us rest through the heat of this day and then venture to Windhelm.\u00a0 I believe that I would like to formally introduce myself to Jarl Ulfric Stormcloak and make myself known to him.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2026 know better than to argue with you, Edwyn, but I hope you\u2019ll reconsider,\u201d Agryn said as they made their way toward the precarious bridge leading to the College.<\/p>\n Brynjolf waited until they were well on their way before rising to his feet.\u00a0 He was tired, and hungry, and a few sips of water didn\u2019t do much to slake his thirst; but he headed out of town to the east.<\/p>\n Damn. This is bad. I need to get to the others. I don\u2019t trust that mage. If he was unbalanced enough to kill Vingalmo who knows what might set him off, especially if he\u2019s in the same room with the man who owns an ego as big as the Throat of the World.<\/em><\/p>\n He blinked into the rising sun and sighed, wiping his hand across his brow before breaking into a run yet again. He needed to get to Windhelm well before Edwyn Wickham did.<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n \u201cYou look exhausted, Brynjolf,\u201d Frina said, frowning.<\/p>\n \u201cThanks for your concern,\u201d he said with a grin. \u201cI haven\u2019t run quite so much in some time, and I haven\u2019t had a lot of sleep. I\u2019m going to take the carriage back to Riften, and I\u2019m hoping that the two of you will come with me.\u201d<\/p>\n At that, Ulfric turned and stared at him. \u201cAnd leave Windhelm at such a delicate moment?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cJust for a day or two.\u00a0 It\u2019s for your own safety.\u00a0 Both of you.\u201d\u00a0 He shook his head, and pointed at Frina. \u201cAll of you. I think you\u2019ll agree once I tell you what I observed and learned.\u00a0 A day or two will be all the time you need, I think.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTell me,\u201d Ulfric said, waving Brynjolf and Frina into the two chairs nearby while he paced around the map table.<\/p>\n Brynjolf told them.<\/p>\n He told them about his conversation with Jarl Skald; how Skald was still a staunch ally in spite of having been threatened by the Archmage of the College of Winterhold. He described, in as much detail as he could manage, the dragon fight he\u2019d witnessed and the amount of magical energies he\u2019d seen under Edwyn Wickham\u2019s control. The deeper into the tale he got, the deeper Ulfric\u2019s frown became and the quicker the pace of his circuits around the room.<\/p>\n Finally Brynjolf drew a deep breath and expelled it. \u201cAnd they\u2019re heading here. I followed them to Winterhold and overheard them. They were going to sleep and then head here.\u00a0 I\u2019ve beaten them here by several hours but \u2026 Come with me to Riften. Our home is very secluded. You\u2019ll be safer there than here for the short term.\u00a0 Dardeh and Roggi were headed there as well.\u00a0 We can all trade ideas and decide what to do.\u201d<\/p>\n Ulfric frowned, and turned to Frina with a questioning look.\u00a0 \u201cWhat would you advise, my Stormblade?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI think we should go, Ulfric. Just make sure that Jorlief isn\u2019t going to tell anyone where we\u2019ve gone. And I\u2019ll feel better getting the others\u2019 input on what we should do, now that we know more,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019ll wager you will, too. And we could stop in to reinforce Jarl Laila\u2019s support if we\u2019re discreet about it.\u201d<\/p>\n Ulfric nodded, and turned to Brynjolf.\u00a0 \u201cGive us a few moments. I\u2019ll need to make arrangements. It\u2019s tiresome, but the days when I could just come and go as I pleased have long since passed. I probably,\u201d he added, looking down at himself, \u201cshould wear some less identifiable armor.\u201d<\/p>\n And so it was that Brynjolf found himself in the most unlikely circumstance of escorting Jarl Ulfric Stormcloak, dressed in full Orcish armor, and his wife Frina in her nearly too-tight horned scale mail, south from Windhelm to Riften.\u00a0 He nursed a bottle of ale through the carriage ride.\u00a0 He was very tired, and not happy about his current circumstances.\u00a0 And he thought the situation boded poorly for his future.<\/p>\n He stepped ashore in Dawnstar and cast a rueful glance north, toward the Sanctuary. For once he intended to avoid the spot; and yet there was always the chance that Babette might be walking down the shore toward him at that very moment.\u00a0 All he saw were the distant ice floes, and the cold beach, … <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/baakay.com\/FanFic\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/5-2-7-1.png\")
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