{"id":487,"date":"2021-02-05T12:51:18","date_gmt":"2021-02-05T19:51:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/baakay.com\/Snow\/?page_id=487"},"modified":"2021-02-18T13:54:40","modified_gmt":"2021-02-18T20:54:40","slug":"chapter-18","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/baakay.com\/Snow\/volume-1\/part-1-moonlight\/chapter-18\/","title":{"rendered":"Chapter 18"},"content":{"rendered":"
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 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

He looked around, disoriented for just a moment until he realized that the horn had brought him back to the same spot from which he\u2019d left, there in the front yard of his cabin.\u00a0 He pushed his hood back off his head and scooted around the side of the cabin to his workshop area, to unload some of the things he\u2019d picked up along the way \u2013 pelts, mostly; the armor and weapons he\u2019d taken from the other hunters in Hircine\u2019s realm would go inside. It was sundown, and a beautiful orange hue was beginning to fill in the horizon visible through the gap between mountaintops.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Chip spent a bit of time putting together another batch of arrows. It had become abundantly clear to him that the heavy undergrowth and very dark conditions in the Hunting Grounds would not allow him to fell adversaries with one shot, or even two or three in some cases.<\/p>\n

I did well, though, once I got over being afraid.\u00a0 They\u2019re different kinds of things than I\u2019ve ever hunted before, but in the end they\u2019re just prey.<\/em><\/p>\n

He realized what he\u2019d been thinking as his hands worked almost without conscious direction, securing the fletching to the new arrows as quickly as he could move them. He couldn\u2019t even remember a time when he hadn\u2019t known how to make arrows. While he wasn\u2019t the best fletcher in Tamriel he was surely nearly the equal of most of them.\u00a0 He shook his head at himself and grinned.<\/p>\n

Just prey. I guess I really am a wolf these days. It\u2019s a wonder that moon didn\u2019t turn me while I was there in the Hunting Grounds.<\/em><\/p>\n

He looked up at the darkening sky and thought about it.\u00a0 It was still several nights shy of the full moons; at least it should be, unless time worked differently in the Hunting Grounds.\u00a0 And yet the moons there had been completely full, and blood red.<\/p>\n

So they are the moons, but not the same, somehow. Perpetually full, it would seem; and yet they didn\u2019t compel me to turn. I suppose I shouldn\u2019t be surprised. It is Oblivion, after all. <\/em><\/p>\n

He\u2019d been thinking about traveling to Riften to see his family, or maybe Windhelm, in the event that Harald was home.\u00a0 He felt the need to be in touch with something familiar, and normal<\/em>; because what had been happening to him in recent weeks was anything but.\u00a0 The moon phase was going to render that impossible, though, for the time being.<\/p>\n

They\u2019ll be full here soon, and I will lose at least one night to it. I can\u2019t put anyone I care about in jeopardy of wolf-me, or in the way of people who will try to kill me when I turn. Can\u2019t do it.\u00a0 And I can\u2019t risk turning in a place where there are dozens of other lycanthropes, because I\u2019d be completely outnumbered. So that means I either have to finish what I started in the Hunting Grounds now, before it\u2019s too late, or give up the idea altogether.<\/em><\/p>\n

He stopped what he was doing for a moment, staring up at the sky. Then he shook his head.<\/p>\n

Nope. Not happening. I\u2019m going back in.<\/em><\/p>\n

He finished the arrows, and went inside to stow the rest of the gear he wouldn\u2019t need right away. He spent some time making more potions, to take the place of those he\u2019d used; in particular, he brewed up some poison. Every little bit of advantage he could give himself would help; a good bow and the best arrows he could make could only be made better with a dash of poison. He studied a book he\u2019d taken from the corpse of one of the human hunters. It was a spell tome, holding the means to summon a wraith like the ones he\u2019d created from Queen Frina\u2019s old staff. It would take almost all of his magicka to cast the spell, but it would save him from needing to carry the staff and that was a good thing. The less weight he had to carry, the easier and more quietly he could move through the undergrowth.<\/p>\n

Then he rested, as best he could, until he could stand being in bed no longer. He gathered his things and went outside, fed his animals, and then pulled out the hunting horn, blowing it loudly and feeling its magic surround him once more.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Once the sphere of magical energies dissipated and his eyes had a moment to adjust to the dim, ruddy light, Chip took stock of his surroundings and was pleased to find himself back on the same portal that had received him the last time he\u2019d been here. Not knowing where he was last time had nearly been his undoing.<\/p>\n

He crept down the short path to the edge of the ritual shrines\u2019 clearing, extending his senses as far as he could.\u00a0 After all, he\u2019d left several werebeasts roaming the area; even if his conjured wolf had managed to take one or two of them out he knew there were others, and he wanted to be ready for them.\u00a0 He hugged the right-hand side of the area, staying in the shadows of the forest as best he could.<\/p>\n

He\u2019d been thinking about his previous trip while his hands had been occupied with arrows. He\u2019d started down the path to the right when he\u2019d first arrived, but then in his panic he\u2019d fled, retreating down the path back toward the shrines.<\/p>\n

And I don\u2019t think I returned the same way. Not at all. But there\u2019s only one way to find out for certain.\u00a0 I\u2019ll know once I get down into the path to the right and see whether or not there are lions there. I\u2019ll recognize the landscape.\u00a0 I think.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The moonlight shone at an angle that illuminated not only the clearing and the shrines, but also a fair way down the forested path beyond. There didn\u2019t seem to be anything moving nearby, a reassuring fact that helped him proceed without hesitation and without the pounding heartbeat he\u2019d had on his first encounter with the place.\u00a0 The forest soon closed in on him, though he still could make out the pieces of fallen stone archway that he\u2019d seen before. He crossed over to the left side of the path to stay in the shadows, and kept as low as he could.<\/p>\n

He\u2019d gone about half the distance to the fallen stonework when something \u2013 not quite a scent, more a sensation of warmth than anything else \u2013 caught his attention. There was something<\/em> in front of the stones. He peered into the darkness so intently that he was afraid his eyes would burst, waiting for his brain to make sense of the limited information his eyes were gathering. \u00a0It looked like the lighter shades of sparsely-furred, powerful shoulders with a darker strip of heavy fur between them.\u00a0 It was either a werewolf or a wereboar; it didn\u2019t really matter which. While he would prefer not to kill one of his own kind, Chip knew that the creatures here in this domain would not give him the same consideration. He maneuvered his bow out in front of him and applied a poison to it, readying a shot.<\/p>\n

Maybe I\u2019m about to poison a stump. That\u2019ll be funny\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

He took a long time to line up his shot and calm his breathing to control his aim just as much as possible.\u00a0 He finally released the arrow but continued holding his breath, staying as still and silent as he could while watching the arrow bury itself into the creature beyond.\u00a0 As it grunted loudly it collapsed down and backward, the moonlight catching its enormous tusks and revealing it to be a wereboar.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

That\u2019s one.<\/em><\/p>\n

Chip expelled the breath he\u2019d been holding and was starting toward the corpse when he heard a man calling out.<\/p>\n

\u201cIs someone there?\u201d<\/p>\n

He swore, silently, and readied his bow again. The poison had done well against the wereboar; it could hardly help but work even better on a much smaller human. He drew the string and waited; motion crossing the path toward the left side revealed the man, but moving much too quickly into the deep shadows for Chip to risk the shot. He held his ground, frozen, waiting for an opening, and finally loosed when the ripples of barely-recognizable shape seemed to move across from the left toward where the carcass of the wereboar lay.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat was that?\u201d he heard.\u00a0 To his utter dismay, he suddenly found himself facing not one, but at least four adversaries. Fortunately, they were milling about by the dead wereboar and didn\u2019t seem to have noticed him. He found his way to a boulder and climbed up onto it for a bit of height. Any advantage he could give himself was going to be a good enough one.<\/p>\n

A quick shot toward the group of moving figures struck one of them: probably another wereboar, he thought, based on the loud grunt. Unfortunately, the figures all turned and made for him; and as they grew closer he could see that there were actually two wereboars as well as two human hunters coming his way.<\/p>\n

But Chip had been here before; and he\u2019d kept his eye peeled while making his way along the edges of the canyon this time. He jumped down from the boulder he was on and ran back toward the shrine clearing, and across the path to where he knew he could jump roughly a full body height up the cliff face.\u00a0 Aside from blowing the horn to return home \u2013 which he refused to do \u2013 this was his best option.\u00a0 As he turned he caught a whiff of blood.\u00a0 He\u2019d done some serious damage to the wereboar, based on how strong the scent was.\u00a0 At least that was one opponent he should be able to take down quickly.\u00a0 He turned back to face the open pathway, and waited for them to appear down it.<\/p>\n

And he waited.<\/p>\n

Nothing happened.<\/p>\n

He could hear the men taunting him to come out, and he could hear the rustling and snorting of the heavy wereboars rushing about in the undergrowth; but they didn\u2019t follow him far enough down the path for Chip to have a shot at them. After several long minutes of waiting, Chip snorted impatiently and decided to use the new spell he\u2019d learned.\u00a0 With any luck, a conjured companion would lure them out of their safe spots into the open.<\/p>\n

And then he tsk\u2019d in disgust.\u00a0 He cast the spell perfectly; the wraith appeared, and stared at him, and did nothing.\u00a0 Unlike the wolf he\u2019d used for so long, she did not rush into battle; she simply waited for him to make the first move.<\/p>\n

No help for it. I just have to get closer.<\/em><\/p>\n

He hopped down from the boulder and pushed carefully through the gap between the cliff face and the nearest tree, around to the corner of another large outcropping and forward into the deepest of the shadows.\u00a0 He could barely see anything, and nearly cried out when he walked into the side of another huge boulder hard enough to rip his pants legs and bark his shins.<\/p>\n

Damn it, that hurts! Why does it have to be so damn dark in here? Why am I even doing this?<\/em><\/p>\n

He stood stock-still for a moment, stifling the desire to howl at the pain and listening to the sounds of movement up ahead of him. As he waited, the temporary urge to throw in the towel and go back to his cabin also subsided.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m doing this because I have to. I have to prove that I\u2019m worthwhile.<\/em><\/p>\n

He climbed quietly up onto the boulder he\u2019d just walked into and looked ahead, down the passage once more. There in the distance, between two great trees, he saw a shape. He drew, quietly, and took aim at the dark blob; and as the blob moved to Chip\u2019s left, Chip took one step right and released. He heard the arrow strike its target; there was a loud, very human groan and the shape dropped to the forest floor.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s two.<\/em><\/p>\n

He watched for a moment, expecting the other hunter to investigate the noise. Sure enough, a figure scuttled from left to right across the tiny opening between the trees where Chip could make out anything at all.\u00a0 A few heartbeats later, nothing else had happened; so he lobbed an arrow into the general vicinity of the hunter he\u2019d downed, and watched for a reaction.\u00a0 When nothing appeared, he nodded.<\/p>\n

Time to get creative.<\/em><\/p>\n

He got down from the boulder and dashed across the mostly-open path, just to the edge of the shadows on its far side. Then he swung right, peering down the clear space toward the bodies he\u2019d felled, and searched for the next foe in line.\u00a0 He was not disappointed; he could see both the hunter and another wereboar sweeping back and forth across the area near their dead comrades.\u00a0 The hunter went left, and then back to the right; and as the figure turned once more it met one of Chip\u2019s arrows and dropped.<\/p>\n

Three down.<\/em><\/p>\n

A few moments went by with no further sounds from the wereboar he knew was still up ahead.\u00a0 The moonlight had shifted enough to fully light the path ahead, down which Chip walked. His nose wrinkled in disgust at the stench of two hunters\u2019 corpses; but he bore the smell long enough to take an unusual yet interesting set of heavy armor from one of them, and some stout arrows from the other.<\/p>\n

He approached the semi-upright carcass of the first wereboar he\u2019d killed. Past it, the wereboar he\u2019d been expecting to find was plodding toward its dead fellow. He dabbed a bit more poison on his bow and quickly took aim. The wereboar took the arrow in its heart and collapsed.<\/p>\n

\u201cHuh?\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Another hunter emerged from just behind the dead wereboar, battleaxe at the ready, and took approximately five long strides toward Chip before an arrow lodged itself in his heart, as well.\u00a0 Chip blew out a long breath and straightened up.<\/p>\n

Five now. <\/em><\/p>\n

He moved cautiously along the silent path, toward the brighter spaces ahead.\u00a0 There was another, mostly-collapsed archway ahead, with a trilith in the center of the passage.\u00a0 It seemed to him that the triliths marked the entrances to important areas:\u00a0 the landing circle; the shrine clearing; the shared opening to the path that had led him first to the werelions and now toward wereboars; and, most importantly, to the werelions\u2019 grassy field.\u00a0 This almost had to be the entrance to another alpha\u2019s territory.<\/p>\n

As he reached the trilith and slowed to a stop between its uprights, Chip saw that he\u2019d been right. And he smelled it, as well; it was clearly the wereboars\u2019 home ground in the forested area beyond.\u00a0 He could see one boar, well ahead of him, and knew there must be many others.<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s going to be a real bitch trying to get them, too. Just look at that undergrowth. It\u2019s no wonder we always have tales of great heroes coming to their ends while hunting the wild boar in places like this. No wonder the Rieklings ride boars. These are easily twice the size of those.<\/em><\/p>\n

He had a perfectly clear shot at the boar he could see.\u00a0 But neither that shot \u2013 which struck cleanly \u2013 nor the next one actually killed the creature.\u00a0 Chip hissed in frustration, and then heard the not-too-subtle sounds of other boars approaching.\u00a0 He turned and slipped back down the pathway, into the shadows, to wait for another decent opening.<\/p>\n

The next very frustrating while was a blur of missed shots as he slid in and out of the heavy brush along the edges of the path. He couldn\u2019t see the wereboars very well, as the patterns of dark fur and lighter skin on their bodies blended in with the moonlight and shadow in the forest. The good part about that, of course, was that they couldn\u2019t see him, either; and they kept traversing the same area over and over until one of Chip\u2019s shots made a lucky hit on what was, judging by the others\u2019 howls, the alpha wereboar.<\/p>\n

Chip approached the carcasses, bow at the ready. If he\u2019d taken the alpha, he could potentially just harvest its heart and be on his way.\u00a0 As he moved out into the territory, though, he shook his head.<\/p>\n

I can\u2019t do that. There is more prey here and I am the hunter. I need to get them all.<\/em><\/p>\n

There were two of them, as far across the forest as he could see.\u00a0 He shot at one, which moved just as the arrow reached it. The arrow brought them both rushing toward him; he shot again and struck one, but didn\u2019t wait around to see whether he\u2019d killed it.\u00a0 Instead, he backed down the passage yet again. He could hear movement behind him; but instead of panicking the way he had when werelions had been behind him, he rolled across the open passageway and behind a tree on the other side.\u00a0 From that spot, he was able to turn, get a bead on one of the wereboars, and pick it off with another pair of well-placed arrows.<\/p>\n

It was very quiet in the aftermath. But Chip wasn\u2019t sure whether he\u2019d taken down the first of the pair he\u2019d shot from across the forest; in fact, something told him that it was still alive, if injured, and waiting for him.\u00a0 Once more he crept ahead, out into the clearing just beyond the trilith, and into the tall grasses beyond it.<\/p>\n

Motion between two of the tall pines drew his attention; but by the time he had his bow raised he\u2019d lost sight of the creature again. This area, like the werelions\u2019 grassland, was essentially a large bowl-shaped box canyon, surrounded by incredibly steep, likely unscalable cliffs which nevertheless provided shade \u2013 and cover.\u00a0 He turned right and crept into those shadows, staying next to the walls and looking out into the forestland to find the remaining wereboars.<\/p>\n

He spotted the one he\u2019d attacked earlier and shot it.\u00a0 It didn\u2019t go down; not to that arrow or the next, nor the third one which grazed it; and by the time Chip had drawn a fourth arrow the beast was in front of him, slashing at him with dagger-like claws, its tusks far too close for comfort.\u00a0 Chip squeaked, and buried that arrow into the creature\u2019s eye socket. Then he stood, shaking, for a few moments, getting his pulse back to normal as best he could while downing a healing potion for the slashes.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

It was dead silent in the woodland, and stayed that way. His close call had been the last of the wereboars.<\/p>\n

Chip moved quietly from corpse to corpse, salvaging arrows and taking a few tusks as trophies.\u00a0 He harvested the alpha\u2019s heart.\u00a0 Then he heaved a satisfied sigh, smiled, and trotted through the trilith on his way back to the shrines.<\/p>\n

This time, he dropped into a crouch before he reached the central henge, and moved cautiously to the very edge of the cliff face before circling around it.\u00a0 As he\u2019d suspected, there were two werebeasts near the central structure \u2013 werewolves, he thought, judging by the smell.\u00a0 But they didn\u2019t seem to take any notice of him, so he carefully pushed his way around the clearing and out the other side of it, toward the shrines.<\/p>\n

The wereboar shrine was to the right of the werelion\u2019s. He approached it and grinned. \u201cTime for you to have a bit of decoration,\u201d he murmured as the alpha wereboar\u2019s heart squelched its way down onto the sharp spike.\u00a0 Chip took stock of his situation.\u00a0 He felt much calmer and happier than he had on his first trip here; and in spite of having used far more arrows he\u2019d finished the wereboars in much less time than he had the werelions.\u00a0 However, the armor he had picked up was very heavy, and so were the tusks.\u00a0 Now that he knew how well his poisons worked, and had a sense of how easy it was to travel back and forth to this plane of Oblivion, he had no reason not to approach the next passage as well-equipped as he could be.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

He pulled out the horn and raised it to his lips, its clarion call filling the empty space.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t you give me that, Ulfric Stormcloak! I\u2019m tired of it, and all the rest of your excuses!\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Roggi stopped just short of the throne and sighed, crossing his arms.\u00a0 He\u2019d come to tell Ulfric about the Imperial encampment Chip had run across; but he knew better than to get into the middle of one of these arguments.<\/p>\n

At least not purposefully.\u00a0 He certainly had a habit of accidentally coming between the High King and his Queen, either through physical proximity or via the remnants of a history that would not allow itself to be forgotten.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd what would you have me do, Frina?\u201d Ulfric snapped. \u201cI have the entire province to look out for and our puppet Emperor is of little to no use against Thalmor incursions. I don\u2019t have time<\/em> to supervise your civic improvement projects as well!\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cWell maybe if you didn\u2019t constantly drive our son away from home, he might be able to help me! He\u2019s young enough to go pull the weeds and remove brush himself!\u201d<\/p>\n

Ulfric sighed, a heavy sigh that Roggi recognized as the one that came just before he lost his temper entirely.<\/p>\n

She just had to poke at him about his age, didn\u2019t she? <\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThe boy is weak. He\u2019s been coddled by his mother<\/em> for too many years. It\u2019s well past time for him to be on his own, Frina. It\u2019s good that he\u2019s gone to Markarth for a bit. Perhaps a little exploration will toughen him up.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s fifteen<\/em>, Ulfric. He\u2019s still a boy! I don\u2019t even know what to think of you, anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n

Frina threw her hands up in the air and inhaled, in a gesture Roggi had also learned to recognize.\u00a0 It was one her sister Briinda had used, too, and it meant that Ulfric was about to get an earful.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t have time for this. I need to give Ulfric his information and get back to Dar.<\/em><\/p>\n

He cleared his throat.\u00a0 Frina whirled and glared at him. She was every inch the queen; and she did not look happy in any of those inches.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cRoggi. I don\u2019t suppose you and Dardeh have seen Harald recently?\u201d<\/p>\n

Roggi winced internally. She\u2019d never been the same, not since she and Ulfric lost the baby that should have been Harald\u2019s sibling. Both Frina and Ulfric had been gutted by the loss; and even though everyone knew it was nobody\u2019s fault, Frina had somehow gotten it into her mind that Ulfric\u2019s advanced age had created the problem. And Ulfric, having always been a trifle vain, did not take kindly to those suggestions.<\/p>\n

\u201cHello, Frina,\u201d Roggi said flatly. \u201cIt\u2019s good to see you, too. I\u2019m doing well, thanks for asking.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRoggi\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd no, I haven\u2019t seen Harald lately. I have seen Chip, though, and that\u2019s why I\u2019m here. He brought us some news that I thought Ulfric should hear.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course<\/em> you did,\u201d Frina said. \u201cWell then, I\u2019ll leave you to it.\u201d\u00a0 She turned and stomped off toward the door that led toward her chambers, leaving both Roggi and Ulfric staring after her.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Roggi sighed. \u201cShe\u2019ll never forgive us, will she?\u201d he murmured, looking back up at Ulfric.\u00a0 He looks tired. And he does look old. I never thought I\u2019d be telling myself that. He probably thinks the same looking at me.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cNo, my old friend, I don\u2019t suppose she ever will,\u201d Ulfric said. \u201cFor a great many things. I wish it were otherwise. Harald does need to find his way in the world, though. At his age I was\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Roggi smirked. \u201cAt his age you were up in the monastery learning how to Shout, Ulfric. Harald\u2019s not Dragonborn and he doesn\u2019t seem to have the gift, any more than I do. But he is your heir, and you really ought to keep better track of him before he gets himself killed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll keep that in mind,\u201d Ulfric said dryly.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cI know, I\u2019m living dangerously trying to tell the High King what to do. I should know better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ulfric cracked the smallest of grins at that. \u201cAnd you will always be able to tell the High King what to do, no matter how old we both get. You know that to be the case. It\u2019s why I\u2019ve been trying to get the two of you to move to Windhelm for fifteen years. So tell me, what\u2019s this news you needed to share?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, it\u2019s like this\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTry<\/em> to keep it short, Roggi. I know that is challenging for you, but I\u2019m a busy man.\u201d<\/p>\n

Roggi laughed. Then he gave Ulfric the news Chip had shared, as briefly as he could.\u00a0 Ulfric\u2019s slight smile gave way to a frown that got deeper as he went on.<\/p>\n

\u201cImperials again. I thought we had that under control. I hope\u2026\u201d Ulfric stopped, clearly deep in thought.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is it?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope it\u2019s not that ridiculous Vici emperor being manipulated by the Black-Briars again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Roggi frowned, and shook his head. The latest Emperor was a distant cousin of the former Emperor, in the same family line as the late Vittoria Vici. Maven Black-Briar had tried to extend her influence directly into the heart of the Empire by engaging her business partner Asgeir Snow-Shod to Vittoria, only to have her plans foiled when someone had killed Vittoria at their wedding.\u00a0 Roggi had always suspected Sayma Sendu of the crime based on its timing; but she\u2019d never said anything about it to him.<\/p>\n

\u201cDoubtful. Maven\u2019s never been quite the same since Brynjolf\u2026\u201d\u00a0 He stopped as Ulfric held up his hand. \u201cOh.\u00a0 Sorry.\u201d There was an unspoken agreement amongst all of them, their odd extended pseudo-family, that what Brynjolf did in the course of his business dealings stayed out of Ulfric\u2019s ears. Roggi was fairly sure Ulfric knew what went on in spite of that, but they tried to take care that he could deny knowledge of any shady escapades. \u201cNo, I don\u2019t think that\u2019s it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI suspect you\u2019re right, Roggi.\u201d Ulfric sighed. \u201cI suspect that what we all feared is growing ever closer.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Dominion?\u201d<\/p>\n

Ulfric nodded. \u201cWell, I can\u2019t thank you for the news, but I am glad that you brought it to me. Now tell me, how is the Dragonborn?\u201d<\/p>\n

Roggi lowered his head and closed his eyes for a moment before answering. How is he, Ulfric? He\u2019s ill, and he\u2019s not right anymore, and I fear that I am going to be mourning another spouse someday soon. I don\u2019t know what\u2019s wrong, and I don\u2019t know how to fix it, and I\u2019m terrified I am going to be alone again.<\/em><\/p>\n

He opened his eyes and smiled up at Ulfric. \u201cHe\u2019s doing well. Thank you for asking.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ulfric paused for a moment before shaking his head. \u201cDon\u2019t lie to me, Roggi,\u201d he said quietly. \u201cI know you far better than that. He\u2019s still coughing, isn\u2019t he?\u201d<\/p>\n

Roggi found himself nearly overcome by the undertones of concern and caring in Ulfric\u2019s quiet question, and could do nothing more than nod in agreement. Finally, he got control of himself.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, he is. And I\u2019m afraid.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIs there anything I can do for you? Either of you?\u201d<\/p>\n

Roggi shook his head. \u201cPrepare a nice corner of the dungeon for me to be buried in if he dies, Ulfric. Because I won\u2019t make it very far beyond that.\u201d<\/p>\n

There was dead quiet for just a moment.\u00a0 Roggi noted the ever-faithful Jorlief moving quietly away from hearing distance. Jorlief hadn\u2019t approved of the relationship they\u2019d had all those years before, and he hadn\u2019t approved of Ulfric\u2019s welcoming Roggi back into his inner circle; but he was loyal and discreet.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cYou will. I command it to be so.\u201d\u00a0 Ulfric\u2019s voice was quiet and warm. \u201cIf something should happen to the Dragonborn \u2013 to Dardeh,\u201d he said slowly, \u201cI will call you here, to Windhelm, to advise me on all things, as I would have had it for the past fifteen years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Roggi stared at him, marveling at the odd turns their lives had taken over the years. He chuckled. \u201cAnd Frina would never forgive you for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ulfric grinned, and waved one hand in the air. \u201cShe\u2019ll never forgive me anyway, Roggi. I may as well give her a real reason for it.\u201d\u00a0 He leaned forward. \u201cTell Dardeh that I command him to be well \u2013 for your sake if not for his own. And thank you for bringing me the news.\u201d<\/p>\n

Roggi smiled. \u201cI will, my lord. And we\u2019ll keep an eye out for Harald.\u201d<\/p>\n

He gave Ulfric a half-bow and headed for the door.\u00a0 Just as he was reaching for the handle, he heard Ulfric\u2019s resonant voice shouting.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow then. Frina! Woman! Where are you?\u201d<\/p>\n

Roggi smiled to himself. Ulfric and Frina\u2019s marriage might be strained, but there was not the slightest shred of doubt in his mind that they loved each other.<\/p>\n

Time to get back to Dar.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Home Previous \/ Next   He looked around, disoriented for just a moment until he realized that the horn had brought him back to the same spot from which he\u2019d left, there in the front yard of his cabin.\u00a0 He pushed his hood back off his head and scooted around the side of the cabin … <\/p>\n

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