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<\/p>\nIn spite of Ulfric\u2019s concerns about Frina\u2019s well-being, the four of them were walking back to Windhelm. She had put her foot down.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m pregnant<\/em>, Ulfric, I\u2019m not ill<\/em>. I need exercise so that when the time comes I\u2019ll be strong and ready. I want to walk home. Besides, it will add to our time away, and nobody will be expecting us to be on foot, right?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou do have a point, Stormblade,\u201d Ulfric had told her reluctantly.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are two of us with the Voice in this caravan,\u201d Dardeh had said. \u201cEven if someone tries to bother us I\u2019m sure we\u2019ll be fine.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI also still have the ability to swing an axe,\u201d Frina said sourly. She was happy that they were concerned about her, but they seemed to have forgotten that she had single-handedly cleared out the Blood Horkers\u2019 base.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd you don\u2019t want to be in front of that axe,\u201d Roggi chuckled. \u201cTrust me.\u201d<\/p>\n Frina was enjoying the fresh air as they made their way north. What she was not enjoying, in the least, was the atmosphere of doom and gloom that surrounded all of them.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t that it was unwarranted; the idea of Edwyn Wickham being out to get all of them raised her hackles. It was just that being continually on guard was tiring and stressful, and the exercise only did so much to cut through that anxiety. She also was trying to process the information that Brynjolf had been a vampire.<\/p>\n \u201cRoggi.\u201d<\/p>\n He was just behind her when she asked.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ve known Brynjolf for awhile, right?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes, probably longest of all of us aside from Sayma.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhy? Why was he a vampire?\u201d<\/p>\n She heard him sigh heavily.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t answer right away, and she didn\u2019t want to badger him about it.\u00a0 Finally he cleared his throat.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, there were a few reasons. I think he needed to feel like he was in control of something again.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t understand.\u201d<\/p>\n They walked for a long while after that while Roggi told her the story of how Sayma had been Dagnell, and how Brynjolf had ended up with Andante, and how they had found her again. He hesitated for a moment.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m worried about him,\u201d Roggi said. \u201cI took care of him when he was giving up. Before he got together with Andante. I know he thinks that being that powerful again could defeat Edwyn but\u2026 I can\u2019t help but think it would put him right back where he was way back then.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou mean you think Sayma would leave him?\u201d Dardeh asked.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know, Dar. But yeah, that\u2019s what I\u2019m afraid of. I don\u2019t want him to give up.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell he\u2019s not going to just rush into anything. At least I don\u2019t think so,\u201d Dardeh said.<\/p>\n \u201cHmmm.\u201d\u00a0 Ulfric\u2019s rumble startled Frina a bit. \u201cPerhaps we can remove his incentive to turn again. Perhaps it is time to put some pressure on these recalcitrant Jarls to hold the Moot at last. There is true danger afoot, and not from the source they expected. It is in Skyrim\u2019s best interests to have a High King in place, and for that High King to pressure the rest of the Empire to finally turn its attention to the vacancies in its own ruling body. If the decision has been made, Edwyn Wickham will become moot and thus the need for Brynjolf to become stronger to fight him will, as well.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ll forgive me for saying this, Ulfric \u2013 at least I hope you will \u2013 but I can\u2019t help but wonder whether you\u2019re maneuvering to have yourself put on that highest throne,\u201d Roggi rumbled. \u201cPlease don\u2019t be angry with me. It needs to be said. Again.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cRoggi!\u201d Dardeh snapped, turning to his husband. \u201cYou have got<\/em> to cut it out with this stuff.\u00a0 Ulfric\u2019s going to be High King of Skyrim. That\u2019s all. We all agreed on this. That\u2019s why we fought the damn war. What is your problem at this point?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cPerhaps Roggi desires the throne for himself.\u201d\u00a0 Ulfric\u2019s slight grin, and the wink he gave Roggi, said that he wasn\u2019t serious. Roggi made a face at him and chuckled.<\/p>\n \u201cNo. I\u2019m just the High King\u2019s Inquisitor, if I\u2019m anything at all in the new world coming along.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t be bothered, Dragonborn,\u201d Ulfric said. \u201cRoggi only speaks the truth. I admit it. There was a time when perhaps I might have coveted even more power. I might even have thought I deserved it. After all, I am the Jarl of Windhelm, hand-picked as a child to become a Greybeard because of my talent with the Voice. I admit it. I assumed that I was special.\u201d\u00a0 He reached for Frina\u2019s hand then, and squeezed it, and she felt the strength of his love through his touch. Ulfric stopped walking, then, and turned to face Roggi.<\/p>\n \u201cBut now, Roggi, what I want is to spend my remaining days with my family.\u00a0 And while I would hope that you know this already, if I have need of an Inquisitor I would have nobody but you in the position.\u201d<\/p>\n To Frina\u2019s utter surprise, Roggi smiled, and then bowed. It was the sort of bow one would expect to be given to a king, and yet given at the degree one might expect between equals. It conveyed a sense of acceptance, not just acceptance of Ulfric\u2019s new role but also acceptance of himself.<\/p>\n \u201cYou do me honor, sir,\u201d he said quietly.<\/p>\n To Frina\u2019s ear it was the most honest and heartfelt thing she had ever heard Roggi say.\u00a0 She noticed Dardeh give him a curious glance. It sounded different to him, as well. Genuine. Respectful.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cHonor which you have earned and richly deserve,\u201d Ulfric said quietly. \u201cYes, I will be High King. I will do that work for Skyrim. I owe her that, after taking her through the pain of this war just past. But beyond that I desire nothing more than to greet my son and see him on the road to his own story.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe will do that together, Ulfric,\u201d Frina said, smiling at him.<\/p>\n \u201cYes. You and I, and our extended family. Including Roggi and the Dragonborn.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDardeh,\u201d Dardeh snorted. \u201cYou know, Ulfric, the first time I met you, you took a look at me and just dismissed me as some nameless Redguard. I have a name. Dardeh at-Dadarh if you want to get all technical and Redguardian about it. That\u2019s one son of a bitch the world is better off without, and I\u2019m glad my mother was a Nord who raised me as a Nord.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd I am ashamed to admit that I do not remember much of that encounter, and am very sorry if I looked at you that way. I doubtless did. I remember our later meetings, though, and I am afraid I treated you not much better; and for that I am appalled, and very sorry. But regardless of who your father was the world is a far better place for having you in it,\u201d Ulfric continued. \u201cPerhaps\u2026 No. It\u2019s ridiculous.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cPerhaps what, Ulfric?\u201d Roggi asked. \u201cYou know better than to just leave something hanging in midair like that. Spit it out.\u201d<\/p>\n Frina stifled a giggle. As painful as it had been to discover that these two men she loved most in the world had once loved each other, and as irritating as it was to have Roggi continually on edge about being in Ulfric\u2019s company again, it still made her heart sing to hear what was clearly an old, well-worn friendship emerging once more, bit by bit.<\/p>\n \u201cDardeh said something in Riften that has had my mind searching back through the old tales yet again.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd what was that? We all said a great deal while we were there,\u201d Roggi asked.<\/p>\n \u201cHe spoke of how he would never be the Emperor.\u00a0 And yet, by tradition, only<\/em> the Dragonborn can lay claim to the Ruby Throne and rule as the one, true Emperor by divine right. Perhaps it is meant to be, Dragonborn, that you are<\/em> to reclaim the Ruby Throne.\u201d<\/p>\n Frina realized then that there were only three of them walking together.\u00a0 Roggi and Ulfric were next to each other and she was on Ulfric\u2019s far side, holding his hand.\u00a0 She released that hand and turned to see Dardeh, standing stock-still in the middle of the road, his face as pale as she could imagine it ever being.<\/p>\n \u201cDardeh? Are you alright? What is it?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo,\u201d he rumbled.<\/p>\n \u201cNo to which, Dar?\u201d Roggi said. \u201cYou\u2019re not alright? What\u2019s happened?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI can never take the Ruby Throne,\u201d Dardeh said.<\/p>\n \u201cBut you are the Dragonborn,\u201d Ulfric said. \u201cSurely there must be something to the old-\u201c<\/p>\n \u201cNID!<\/em>\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n The ground shook around them as Dardeh\u2019s Shout took them all by surprise. It was Dardeh\u2019s voice, no doubt; but it was overlaid with huge, cavernous, angry tones twice as deep as his natural timbre and wider than any voice Frina had ever heard before. The immense sound rousted birds from the grasses where they\u2019d hidden; they took to the air in noisy clouds of dust and feathers. Frina gasped, and grabbed at Ulfric\u2019s arm to steady herself. As the shock wave of the Shout dispersed over the landscape some distant wolves began howling. Frina looked at Ulfric, whose eyes were wide.<\/p>\n Roggi, who had put his hands to his knees for balance for just a moment, straightened and calmly stepped up to Dardeh. He put both hands on Dardeh\u2019s shoulders.<\/p>\n \u201cCalm down, Dragon-boy. It\u2019s alright. Tell us what\u2019s going on.\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh snarled.\u00a0 Then he blinked a couple of times and gave Roggi a quizzical look.<\/p>\n \u201cDragon-boy? Are you serious? Dragon-boy<\/em>?\u201d<\/p>\n Roggi grinned. \u201cWell, you\u2019re the one who said I got the dragon, my love. Seems only fair I get to give him a pet name, yes?\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh smiled. Then he broke out into a chuckle. \u201cYes. Thank you, Roggi.\u201d<\/p>\n Frina had the sense that Roggi had just managed to avert a potential disaster. Just his touch, a calm voice, and a bit of humor had brought Dardeh back to himself.<\/p>\n Roggi dropped his hands and stepped back. \u201cSo, why all the noise?\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh shook his head. \u201cI can never be the Emperor, and not just because I\u2019m not a ruler-type. Seriously. If one of us was going to be the Emperor it would be Ulfric, and he doesn\u2019t want it.\u201d\u00a0 He shrugged his shoulders and started slowly down the road again. The rest of them fell into a comfortable pace behind him.<\/p>\n \u201cListen. When I was on Solstheim, I learned a lot of the old legends from the Skaal. They\u2019re the reason I was there for so long \u2013 or at least part of the reason. There\u2019s an old book that talks about the fight between Dragon Priests \u2013 one called the Guardian and the other one called the Traitor – that they say is what tore Solstheim away from the mainland. That part of it is pretty far-fetched, but it\u2019s not the most important thing. The outcome was that the Traitor was subdued and the Guardian ruled over Solstheim for a very long time.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAlright,\u201d Frina said. \u201cSo it\u2019s an old legend about good and evil. What does that have to do with you, Dardeh?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell, the Guardian didn\u2019t kill the Traitor. He was about to, but Herma-Mora snatched the Traitor away at the last moment and hid him away from the world.\u201d\u00a0 Dardeh glanced at each of them in turn to make sure they were paying attention. \u201cThe same thing happened to me.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat do you mean, Dragonborn?\u201d Ulfric asked.<\/p>\n \u201cMiraak was a Dragon Priest \u2013 he called himself the First Dragonborn. He started emerging on Solstheim again not long before I went there. His cultists almost killed Roggi, because he was with me. That\u2019s why I went there to kill him. I am certain Miraak was the Traitor from that legend. I\u2019m certain of it.\u201d He closed his eyes and shook his head; Frina could see the eyes moving beneath their lids and knew he was reliving the scene. \u201cI almost had him, in Apocrypha. It was a terrible fight, but I was no more than a few blows away from killing him. He was almost<\/em> defeated. And then Hermaeus Mora appeared and finished the job before I could do it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell,\u201d Frina said, trying furiously to sort it all out, \u201cthat means you\u2019re the Guardian, doesn\u2019t it? The good guy? The one who brought peace and justice to the world? You also killed Alduin and helped us restore Talos worship to Skyrim. Isn\u2019t that all the proof you need?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd therefore you would be an excellent candidate for Emperor, would you not?\u201d Ulfric said quietly.<\/p>\n \u201cNID.\u201d<\/p>\n It was quieter, this time, not delivered with the same awful volume as it had been before, but Frina still had to check her balance as the word\u2019s massive undertones shook ground beneath her feet.\u00a0 She stared at Dardeh in amazement.<\/p>\n \u201cWhy are you suddenly speaking dragon, Dar? Just say \u2018no\u2019 and get it over with,\u201d Roggi said, reaching out to touch Dardeh again. It seemed to Frina that he was grounding Dardeh, somehow; anchoring him to the world he was supposed to be in.<\/p>\n Dardeh opened his eyes. \u201cNo. It would be a terrible thing. You see, I\u2019m not the Guardian. I\u2019m the Traitor.\u201d<\/p>\n Frina frowned. \u201cYou just said that you defeated Miraak.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo. I said that Hermaeus Mora killed him. I watched Miraak die. And then I heard Mora tell me the reason. Miraak had outlived his usefulness. Hermaeus Mora chose me to take his place. There\u2019s a specific passage I remember: \u2018\u2026the people of Solstheim, the heirs of the Guardian, must remain wary, lest the dark influence of Herma-Mora, or even the Traitor himself, return someday.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDar. Is that what you meant when we were leaving Septimus\u2019 cave, after you read the book?\u201d\u00a0 Roggi\u2019s face was wreathed in a frown so deep that Frina could barely see his eyes.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah. That\u2019s what I meant. He owns me, Roggi. That\u2019s what I told you. He\u2019s put his knowledge directly into my brain with those Black Books, and especially the one we found with Septimus. I fight him, as hard as I can, but\u2026\u201d\u00a0 He sighed heavily and looked at each of them in turn. \u201cDon\u2019t you see? I may be Dragonborn. I may have defeated Alduin. But I\u2019m the last <\/em>Dragonborn for a reason. If I were to sit on that throne \u2013 any<\/em> throne, but that one in particular \u2013 Hermaeus Mora would have access to all the power in the mortal world.\u201d<\/p>\n They all stared at him. Roggi put a hand on Dardeh\u2019s back and rubbed up and down in a reassuring motion.<\/p>\n \u201cDar. You\u2019re not the bad guy. I understand what you\u2019re saying, but you\u2019re wrong. You\u2019re the good guy. You\u2019re always thinking about everyone else, and what\u2019s good for all of us.\u201d\u00a0 He leaned over and kissed Dardeh\u2019s cheek. \u201cYou don\u2019t have to be Emperor. You\u2019d be a lousy Emperor, anyway. You\u2019re not devious enough for the job,\u201d he added, chuckling.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is still important, though,\u201d Ulfric said.<\/p>\n Frina looked at his frown and felt a cold shudder run down her spine. \u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d<\/p>\n Ulfric sighed. \u201cIt is important because it is yet another reason to keep Dardeh safe from Edwyn Wickham.\u201d<\/p>\n She was thoroughly confused for a moment, even as she heard Dardeh\u2019s sharp intake of breath.\u00a0 Then it dawned on her; she spoke, slowly at first and then building momentum as the thought solidified in her mind.<\/p>\n \u201cIf \u2026 there\u2019s anything at all to the idea that he could take Dardeh\u2019s power with his blood\u2026 he could inadvertently give Hermaeus Mora access to the world in that way, through the vehicle of an ancient vampire.\u00a0 Couldn\u2019t he.\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh nodded.\u00a0 \u201cSo you see. I\u2019m not just a bad candidate to be Emperor. I\u2019m dangerous<\/em>.\u00a0 I\u2019m dangerous because I\u2019m at least the equal of those four old men up on the mountain who refuse to use their Voices. I\u2019m dangerous because I can kill people without intending to do it. And I\u2019m dangerous because I could give the most powerful vampire in the world even more power. I should \u2026 go away.\u201d<\/p>\n Roggi snarled audibly and once more grabbed Dardeh by his upper arms, so hard that Frina flinched looking at the indentations his fingers made in Dardeh\u2019s padded sleeves. He roared, not in the huge, monstrous sounds Dardeh had made but a guttural, terrifying voice that she\u2019d never before heard from him.<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t you dare<\/em> say a thing like that, Dardeh at-Dadarh. You belong to<\/em> me,<\/em>\u201d he said, shaking Dardeh. \u201c<\/em>Not Hermaeus Mora. Me<\/em>. You are staying, with me<\/em>. I will not let you go. You\u2019re mine<\/em>. Do you understand me?\u201d<\/p>\n There was a moment of utter silence before Ulfric chuckled. \u201cDon\u2019t argue with him, Dragonborn. He\u2019ll take out your fingernails.\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh sighed heavily and gave Roggi a weak smile.\u00a0 \u201cI know it, Ulfric. You\u2019re right, Roggi. I belong to you. Don\u2019t worry. I\u2019ll keep on fighting, here, just as long as you\u2019re near me to help.\u201d<\/p>\n Roggi dropped his hands and nodded. \u201cYou know it.\u201d<\/p>\n Ulfric turned to Frina and smiled. \u201cLet\u2019s get back to Windhelm, love. Then we can decide how to proceed.\u201d<\/p>\n Frina followed along beside them, mute. She was still trying to process what she had just seen and heard. Roggi and Ulfric had exchanged expressions of complete respect for each other, which was not something she\u2019d ever expected to see. Dardeh had sounded like\u2026<\/p>\n A dragon. He really sounded like a dragon. <\/em><\/p>\n She remembered the black and green dragon that had dropped onto the road in front of her, when she\u2019d been passing by the cabin where a dog had been valiantly guarding his master\u2019s dead body.\u00a0 That was the sound Dardeh had made: huge, and menacing, and more powerful than anything she\u2019d ever heard before from either him or Ulfric.<\/p>\n And all he said was \u201cno.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n And Roggi had faced him down as if all that power was nothing at all.<\/p>\n Frina grabbed hold of Ulfric\u2019s hand and squeezed it again, needing to feel something warm and solid that was familiar.\u00a0 She looked up at Ulfric and caught his gaze. She must have looked distressed; for he gave her a small smile and wrapped one arm around her shoulders as if to say \u201cI will protect you.\u201d<\/p>\n She glanced over to see Dardeh and Roggi walking side-by-side. As she\u2019d seen before, their hands would occasionally touch, their fingers intertwine for just a moment and then release, as though they weren\u2019t doing it consciously but were reassuring each other that they existed, here and now in this world, and that nothing would ever tear them apart.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t think I\u2019ve ever seen two people so perfectly matched. Talos chose them for each other, for a reason. I\u2019m sure of it.<\/em><\/p>\n They were approaching the bridge into Windhelm when Dardeh spoke again. \u201cI think you may have been on to something, Ulfric.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh? What would that be?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI may not be Emperor material myself, but it seems to me that between Roggi and me we could put the fear of Talos in some of the Jarls, don\u2019t you?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMight be a decent thing for us to do while we wait for word from Brynjolf; is that what you\u2019re thinking?\u201d Roggi asked, pushing open the gate to Windhelm and holding it for the rest to go through.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah,\u201d Dardeh said. “Ulfric, since I\u2019m no expert at all on these things, what can you tell us about organizing a Moot?\u201d<\/p>\n Ulfric chuckled. \u201cLet\u2019s make our way to the palace and do some planning, shall we?\u201d<\/p>\n Frina followed the three men quietly, grateful that she would soon be able to shed the too-tight armor and sit down.\u00a0 As much as she wanted to be an integral part of the planning, the business of growing an heir apparent was taking it out of her, more with every day that passed.<\/p>\n How is it that I have become a part of things that are so large?<\/em><\/p>\n She rubbed the spot beneath which Harald Stormcloak wiggled in his warm cocoon, and slipped into the warmth of her home, making her way toward the back stairway. As she entered the second stairwell to their bedroom, she shook her head.<\/p>\n It is what I get for loving Ulfric. I am to be the High Queen.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know how such a thing came about but \u2026 if Talos put Roggi into Dardeh\u2019s path, perhaps he also had a reason for putting me into Ulfric\u2019s.\u00a0 I can only hope that\u2019s the case.\u00a0 If I don\u2019t think of it that way, I\u2019m going to be too frightened to continue down this road.<\/em><\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n Brynjolf found himself sitting on a tall wedge of rock next to the water. For several very long moments he looked around himself in confusion. It looked like the area around Lake Honrich, and yet it wasn\u2019t Riften he was near. The town he was near reminded him of Shor\u2019s Stone, but he couldn\u2019t remember ever seeing a three-story building there, not even before the one house had burned leaving only its bones behind.<\/p>\n He rubbed his eyes trying to clear his head, and then looked down at himself.\u00a0 The clothes he wore were green, with tall, tall leather boots that came well above his knee before ending in a wide, turned-down cuff. He knew this clothing; but he hadn\u2019t worn it since the days when he was traveling Skyrim with Dynjyl.\u00a0 At his belt was a pair of glass daggers, not the weapons he\u2019d been carrying for years now.<\/p>\n He reached up to touch his own face and found that he had no beard. The hair, though, was long; well past his shoulders, with a braid on the left side, and a much more vibrant red than the dark, faded auburn he had grown into.<\/p>\n No beard, long hair.<\/p>\n Oh. I see. I\u2019m dreaming. Well at least that means I finally got to sleep. It\u2019s been days.<\/em><\/p>\n He cleared his throat and jumped when the sound he made was much lighter, much higher in pitch than the rich baritone he was used to hearing. He stood and looked around himself in confusion.<\/p>\n I\u2019m just a boy. My voice hasn\u2019t even stopped changing yet. I\u2019m not even as old as I was when I met Dynny. What is this? <\/em><\/p>\n More to the point \u2013 where is this? <\/em><\/p>\n He hopped down off the rock and made his way toward the town. There was a house to his left, from the front of which he heard a woman calling out.\u00a0 Her tones were heavily accented \u2013 Nord, no question of that, but achingly familiar. He couldn\u2019t quite put a finger on why he knew that voice, but he knew that he did.<\/p>\n He rounded the corner of the home and came perilously close to running straight into the woman in question.\u00a0 He stopped stock still, and stared.<\/p>\n She was at least half a head taller than he was, a fact that reinforced to him how young he was at present. She had long, unruly hair the same flaming red color as his.\u00a0 Gazing at her eyes he realized they were bright, emerald green \u2013 the same as his.\u00a0 For a moment the thought flitted through his mind that she might well have been the most beautiful woman he\u2019d ever seen.<\/p>\n Then he wondered if, in his dream state, he\u2019d somehow managed to conjure up one of the red-haired women from Andante\u2019s stories.<\/p>\n It wouldn\u2019t be too surprising, I suppose, after enjoying some of his recipe\u2019s results. Who knows what it might have done to my mind. But I could at least be dreaming of myself as a grown man, not a\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cAnd what exactly are you doing back here, Bryn?\u201d the woman said in her sing-song Nordic tones. \u201cI thought you lived in Skyrim now.\u201d<\/p>\n He gasped. It had been decades. Most of his life, in fact. But he knew who this was.<\/p>\n \u201cMa?\u201d<\/p>\n This person standing before him was in fact Gulmist, a woman whose voice and touch he remembered dimly at best. \u00a0And his mind, in his dream, had to be putting words in her mouth. There was no other explanation.<\/p>\n \u201cAye. And it seems to me that you\u2019re out of place here, Brynny. You\u2019re\u2026\u201d she waved her hand at him. \u201cYou\u2019re far too grown up to be here, but you\u2019re only half-grown. Your da will be beside himself when he sees you.\u201d<\/p>\n She turned away and walked onto the porch of the home, and he followed her for a time.\u00a0 But when she swiveled back to face him again he stopped short, struck by the sad look on her face.<\/p>\n \u201cAh, my beautiful lad. It makes me so sad to see you. You were such a wee thing when you ran away and I never got to watch you grow up.\u00a0 You broke my heart, love. I never had another babe after you.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWait. We\u2019re in Falskaar, aren\u2019t we?\u201d\u00a0 He looked around, blinking, and knew it to be the case; his very dim memories from a childhood long ago left behind confirmed it for him.<\/p>\n \u201cAye. Amber Creek.\u00a0 You never came back, son. You ran away when you were so small, and you never came back. And now I see how you must have looked when you were older. You\u2019re a handsome thing.\u201d\u00a0 She smiled, for just a moment, but the smile faded, replaced again by a sad, regretful look.<\/p>\n \u201cAh, well I didn\u2019t age that well in the long run, I\u2019m afraid. Although my wife seems to like it well enough.\u201d<\/p>\n Ah is this why I\u2019m having this dream? And why none of it makes any sense? I\u2019m worried about Sayma. That\u2019s it, isn\u2019t it.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cA wife. And children?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTwo.\u201d\u00a0 It somehow didn\u2019t seem incongruous to hear a partially unchanged voice from a lanky, growing body speaking of being a father of two to a mother he\u2019d not seen in thirty winters.<\/p>\n \u201cMisty!\u201d \u00a0A deep voice called out from around the corner of the house, and Gulmist waved in that direction.<\/p>\n \u201cBest go see your Da, son. I know he has things to say to you before you go.\u201d<\/p>\n Brynjolf shook his head at the vision of his mother, and felt his eyes stinging. \u201cNo, Ma. I don\u2019t want to go.\u201d He heard his own youthful voice crack with emotion as she crossed her arms and turned away from him as she had when he was a child, sending him instead to his father. And then, as though he had no control over it at all, he found himself going back down the stairs from the porch and around to the rear of the building.<\/p>\n He approached the figure he hadn\u2019t seen in so long, but whose stern features were etched in his memory so very clearly. He could see the roots of his own features in Brunulvr\u2019s weathered face, though in many ways he resembled his mother more closely.\u00a0 Brunulvr had plain, medium brown hair, not the bright auburn he and his mother shared. \u00a0But Brynjolf\u2019s father had eyes the set of which he recognized well.\u00a0 He knew that his own narrow, keen, suspicious gaze had come to him naturally.<\/p>\n It would have been one thing if he\u2019d been dreaming of himself as an adult. But in this dream this great bear of a man towered over him by almost a full head in height and had the full, stocky build he knew he had himself as a grown man: broad of chest, heavy of muscle. Brynjolf tried, but couldn\u2019t help himself from beginning to tremble. In this dream he was helpless against the power he remembered his father wielding so easily.<\/p>\n \u201cYe\u2019ve got a great deal of nerve to show up here of all places, ye reprobate, after all this time. Makin\u2019 yer ma sad.\u00a0 Look at ye. Looks like ye don\u2019 even know how te hold a weapon, much less wield one, ye thievin\u2019 brat. It was just as well ye left when ye did.\u201d\u00a0 He gave Brynjolf a withering scowl and looked him up and down, and then raised his left arm.<\/p>\n He knew that it was his own mind supplying Brunulvr\u2019s scathing words, not the man himself. Who knew what the man might actually say to him now, after so many decades. Yet in spite of knowing it was just a dream, and in spite of knowing that he was a grown man with children of his own, Brynjolf found himself cowering at his father\u2019s feet.<\/p>\n \u201cPlease don\u2019t hit me again, Da,\u201d his boyish voice wailed. \u201cI\u2019m sorry! I\u2019m sorry I took the things, and made you angry. I\u2019m sorry I wasn\u2019t what you wanted me to be, and I\u2019m sorry I ran away! Please, don\u2019t hit me!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYe need to leave,\u201d Brunulvr growled, pointing toward the horizon. \u201cYe\u2019ve made a right mess of yer life yet again and yer own wee brats\u2019ll suffer for it. Get out of here. Go back te Skyrim where ye belong and don\u2019t be bringin\u2019 yer mess here to upset yer ma.\u201d<\/p>\n I\u2019m afraid of my own father. A man I haven\u2019t seen since I was a child.<\/em><\/p>\n Brynjolf rose to his feet, turned, and ran away from Brunulvr as fast as he could.\u00a0 He ran, and he ran; and the faster he ran the slower he seemed to go, running into a great, unending forest of shimmering golden aspens and birch that were indistinguishable from the great, unending forests of the Rift.\u00a0 He thrashed and turned in his bed, unable to wake himself from his dream, and found himself once again perched atop the rock next to the water, wearing the same outfit he\u2019d worn when he sat beside the water crying over Dynjyl\u2019s still form; and he thought of Chip, who would doubtless never understand why his father had chosen to become a vampire yet again.<\/p>\n For the longest time he couldn\u2019t seem to wake from the dream. But he was sure he knew why he was having it. It was to make him wonder, once more, whether he had ever done anything right in his life. When at last his eyes opened and he found himself once more in his room in Honeyside, he sat up and cast his illusion spell. But he couldn\u2019t quite see what he needed to do next.<\/p>\n In spite of Ulfric\u2019s concerns about Frina\u2019s well-being, the four of them were walking back to Windhelm. She had put her foot down. \u201cI\u2019m pregnant, Ulfric, I\u2019m not ill. I need exercise so that when the time comes I\u2019ll be strong and ready. I want to walk home. Besides, it will add to our time … <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/baakay.com\/FanFic\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/5-2-12-2.png\")
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<\/p>\nPart II: Resolution<\/a><\/div>\nPrevious<\/a> \/ Next<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"