Stin

The Dossier

"I am not the only one who runs this operation," Ayla explains as she places her palms on the doors leading to the war room. She gives a shove and both doors swing open, revealing four people on the other side of the room, "I have many sources who help me in my endeavors," she adds, giving Ulfric and Ralof a quick glance before walking into the room.

The two Nords look at the others in the room as Kharjo walks past them and takes his spot next to Vilkas, "Don't be shy, they won't bite," Ayla says, glancing over her shoulder at the two, giving them a smile, before looking back at the others, "This is Athena and Vilkas from the Companions. Athena is the Harbinger," Ayla introduces, pointing out the two before moving on to the other two in the room, "this is Brynjolf, he is a thief from the Guild. And over there reading a book is Asteria, Headmistress of the College. The leaders of the Dark Brotherhood and Thieves Guild would be here, but they are on an important mission at the moment,"

"Wait, you allied with the two most dangerous organizations in Skyrim?" Ulfric asks, staring at the Dragonborn with furrowed brows. He would never have thought that the legendary Dragonborn, the hero of Skyrim, would align herself with such people.

"How did you think the Emporer mysteriously died?" Ayla questions, turning her head to meet Ulfric's gaze, her light blue eyes, something rare amongst Nords, piercing his, "I am sure the Emporer would never have killed himself, seeing as he lived a life of luxury,"

Ulfric couldn't believe what he was hearing. There have been rumors circulating that the Dark Brotherhood were the ones to murder the Empire's beloved ruler, but, like most assassinations, there was no incriminating evidence at the scene. A knife across the throat was how the old man had died.

"You organized the Emporer's death?" Ralof asks the question that was swarming in Ulfric's head. They both watch as Ayla lets out a bark of laughter before walking around the table and examining some of the bookshelves lining the room.

"At the time of his death, I was in Whiterun, planning to trap Odahviing in Dragonsreach," she explains, running her finger along the books of the shelf, "I had no interest in the Civil War at the time, so why would I intervene to kill the Emporer when I had nothing to prove?" she looks back at the two blondes, a small smile on her lips, "someone else contacted the Brotherhood and asked for his assassination in reward for a large sum of money. Money I didn't have at the time,"

"Why are you telling us this?"

"Because we need to trust each other if we are going to be successful in this war. You know that just as well as I do," Ayla replies as she pulls a red book from the shelf and turns to face the table. She sets the book down but rests her hand over the title, "you may not like this, but the Empire isn't our true enemy. The Thalmor is," she then slides the book across the table and it slows to a stop in front of Ulfric.

"On my journey to defeat Alduin, I worked alongside the two remaining members of the Blades," Ayla explains as Ulfric slowly picks up the book. 'Thalmor Dossier: Ulfric Stormcloak' it read on the leather cover, "the Thalmor were hunting them down, so naturally, they thought the Thalmor were somehow behind the return of the Dragons. So they sent me to infiltrate the Embassy and I did so with success, saving two lives as well.

While I was there, I collected that dossier as well as two others based off of the Blade members," Ayla continues while Ulfric flips through the pages, reading a few paragraphs here and there. This was accurate, too accurate for his liking, "the Thalmor want this war to go on for as long as possible, not caring at all about the millions of deaths wasted during it,"

"I assume you read the whole thing?" he questions, not looking up at her. Ayla blinks as she stares at him, noting the way his fingers tightly holds the book. She looks to her right to see Asteria giving her a pointed look as if saying 'I told you so'.