Dragon's Conquest

Debts and Vows

Nariilu took a few more deep breaths and defrosted her hands. "Stormcloak," she said, not turning to look at him. "You can stay in Ancano's bedchamber. I don't care what you do, as long as you don't leave that room or damage anything. And, by Oblivion, if I so much as hear you speak, I don't even know what I'll do." She set to work hanging her robes back in the wardrobe with much more force and noise than was necessary. Archmage Aren's spell had gotten the blood out of the soiled robes still strewn on the floor, and she moved to pick them up.

She was able to spy into Ancano's bedchamber, seeing Stormcloak already rifling through Ancano's things. Good, now she didn't have to do it for herself, she thought. In a few hours she'd ask him about what he'd found, after she'd given herself time to stew. Stripping out of her ruined armor, Nariilu put on a set of College robes and pulled a cloak over her shoulders. The chest plate couldn't be saved; she'd try to salvage the metal in it later. Malachite and moonstone weren't cheap or easy to get a hold of, so she had to save what she could to avoid weeks of going with weaker armor.

It didn't take a scholar to figure out that Stormcloak had gone through her things, seeing as how they were partially strewn across her bed. Nariilu wondered if he had found what he was looking for, and righted her things and put them away in various drawers and pouches about her bedchamber. She went to J'zargo's bedchamber and grabbed a bit of fruit, cheese, and nearly stale bread; he still owed her from all his meals she bought when they had traveled together a few months ago.

Nariilu hesitated before tossing an apple and a chunk of the bread to Stormcloak. It landed on the bed; the apple bounced off and hit the floor. Stormcloak turned towards the food at the noise, then briefly made eye contact with the Dragonborn, who preoccupied herself with a bite of her own apple. Ulfric thought the bread was wonderfully tasteless; it went well with the signs of Thalmor in the room: a banner with the symbol of the Aldmeri Dominion, a set of gloves neatly laid on the desk.

Ulfric made short work of reading Ancano's notes, mostly because he couldn't read any of it. It was either in Aldmeris, perhaps coded, and after staring at it for a few minutes Ulfric couldn't find any sort of pattern to begin to understand it. His other items were equally useful; Ancano had almost no personal items outside of a few extra sets of robes and soul gems. He leaned back in the stiff desk chair, hearing the wood groan with the movement.

"Anything interesting?" Ulfric looked up to see the Dragonborn leaning against the central well. "I've grown bored of being angry, and I'm looking for something else to waste my time on."

Ulfric was thoroughly unsurprised that the Dragonborn's mood had managed to change so quickly. "I don't know; I can't read any of it," he said, gesturing to the books, scrolls, and loose pages he had strewn on the desk. "It's in Aldmeris."

The Dragonborn walked in and grabbed a few sheets of paper. Of course it is, she thought as her eyes scanned the runes. "And now we have to find a forger who understands Aldmeris. Have anyone in mind?"

"None that your army didn't kill," Ulfric replied.

The Dragonborn hummed. "I can't believe that the Archmage is willing to hire a forger. I knew he was laid back, but to be this unconcerned with a death inside the walls and willing to go around the law to cover it up," she said. "Granted, Ancano deserved to die. A proper thanks is in order, once we figure out someone to write Ancano's damned letters for him." She threw the parchment back on the desk. "I'd bring in an Imperial forger if Tullius wasn't ready to demote me. Besides, it would be easier to simply learn Aldmeris myself than to deal with the forms required." The Dragonborn kicked the desk. "That just leaves the Thieves Guild."

Ulfric couldn't help but feel a little proud of himself for recognizing her wealth as ill-gotten. "Friends of yours?" Perhaps thievery is what earned her a place on the executioner's headstone.

The Dragonborn scowled at the desk. "I'm going to ignore that. They owe me a favor. I saved one of their members from a Thalmor interrogation. I didn't know he was a member until I saw him walking around Riften at night with a lockpick. Now, that's not too suspicious--"

Yes it is, Ulfric thought.

"--but then he offered to put in a good word for me with the Guild. If we leave Winterhold tomorrow, we should be able to make it to Riften the day after, and back in three more days, if the negotiations go well. That means that I can be in Whiterun next week." The Dragonborn idly ran her fingers along a few garnets on the desk and slipped them into her pocket, figuring Ancano wouldn't miss them.

"Why are you so eager to go to Whiterun?" Ulfric asked. He didn't believe that he would ever be so intent on visiting again. The last peaceful time he had visited was before the Moot; Balgruuf had expressed his lack of support for Ulfric's kingship and even called him impulsive, which Ulfric found quite ironic from the short-tempered man. And, of course, he sieged the city the last time he was in the hold. It wasn't in Balgruuf's nature to hold strong grudges, but some things were more unforgivable than others.

"I'm going to catch a dragon in Dragonsreach." She inspected a soul gem before placing it back on the desk and moving to look at the next one. "Then he's going to tell me where Alduin is."

Ulfric was speechless. Catching a dragon, of all things, was beyond ambitious and into insane. In Whiterun, a city of thatch roofs and ancient wood, a dragon would spell disaster. And to say it so casually, as if she was discussing the weather! Ulfric briefly considered if his siege would've been more effective had it happened during an attempt to trap a dragon, or if the dragon would have turned on his army as well.

"So, if everything stays on schedule, Alduin should be dead before Rain's Hand arrives."

"You've gone mad," Ulfric declared. "Catch a dragon like a rabbit? And I suppose I'm the bait!"

The Dragonborn chuckled. "The dragon we have in mind is Alduin's right hand. He'll want to bring me back to Alduin dead. You're going to keep that dragon subdued until we can trap it. You may be the only one who can, for a time." She turned and leaned against the desk, crossing her arms. "He could be anywhere in Tamriel, and I'm going to Shout loud enough to summon him from Akavir."

"And you believe this will work?" Ulfric asked. The Dragonborn nodded. "Jarl Balgruuf will be overjoyed with your plan, I'm certain."

"You jest," the Dragonborn replied, "but the Jarl agreed to it in Sun's Dusk."

Ulfric blinked. Ulfric had never known Balgruuf to put his hold in danger; the safety of his citizens had always been his highest priority. It had kept him aggravatingly neutral for most of the Civil War, until Ulfric had all but marched through Whiterun's gates.

Your Thu'um will keep the dragon occupied while I catch my breath," the Dragonborn continued. "We must keep the dragon away from the actual city. Ward spells can only protect so much of Whiterun."

"You'll see the hold burn."

"I'll see Tamriel free of any winged beasts. Dragons seek me out without me summoning them enough. It shouldn't stray far from Dragonsreach." The Dragonborn frowned. "I'm taking every precaution to avoid unnecessary risk to the hold's citizens. We've already made a plan for each possible outcome."

"Who is 'we'?" Ulfric asked. He'd learned through experience that knowing exactly who had laid the plans altered how well they would go. Balgruuf, though an excellent shield-brother to stand beside in battle, was not a strategist he would want to trust his life to.

"Unimportant," the Dragonborn responded. She stood up straight and moved to the arched entrance of the room.

"I'd argue that it is important," Ulfric countered. "Balgruuf is an impatient man on his best days. He is no tactician."

The Dragonborn stopped on her way out of the room and turned back to face him. "The Jarl's housecarl and I were responsible for most of the planning. The captain of the Whiterun Guard, the court wizard, and my own housecarl also contributed. It was the mage's idea to surround the city in ward spells."

"You'd trust ward spells to stop a dragon?" Ulfric stood and walked over to her. He felt a cold weight settle in his stomach thinking of all the ways a dragon in Whiterun could go wrong.

"Without hesitation." The Dragonborn met his eyes and Ulfric saw the barest hint of a smirk flash across her face.