Skyrim One-Shots

Ulfric x Reader(Female) ~Hard Nights~

You dipped the quill back into the inkwell, moving the feather back to the paper a few seconds later and continuing to write the final copy of the newest law that would be passed. The ring on your fingers glimmered in the dim light of the candles scattered about the room, a frown etched on your face despite the immense progress your city had been making the last few months on racial tensions and general citizen welfare.

Ulfric had been on the battlefield for nearly 5 months now. He'd write every other week, and you would respond, but still, it was never the same as talking to him in person. It was never the same as hearing his voice, his laugh, and seeing his grins.

You'd even take his awful temper just to see him again. Then again, he'd been getting a hard grip on said hot-headedness ever since the both of you got married, but with every letter, he seemed to be more and more on edge. The reports Galmar would get from the generals started to get alarming- briefly, they'd mention Ulfric being snappy, moody, or just generally impatient and agitated for spans of days before he'd smack himself out of it.

Many, many nights out of these five months you have cried yourself to sleep, or gotten none at all. You've forced a smile, or didn't even try to hide the fact you were struggling to keep on top of everything.

You were doing what Ulfric never seemed to be able to. Trying to fix his city, trying to fix the things he didn't know how to. You were a peacemaker at heart- you knew how to fix these rifts of different people. He only knew how to create them.

And so, it made everything all the much harder.

The people of Windhelm had thought you just a broodmare for children the first months of your marriage- it all changed when you convinced Ulfric to execute a man who'd raped countless women. Now, Ulfric didn't stand for any sort of that behavior, but he was a former member of Ulfric's council. A Nord male, and one Ulfric had known for years. He was leaning to just put him in the Bloodworks for the rest of his life.

No, you cut the man's head off yourself, and that's how you earned respect.

You had fought in the Great War too. It wasn't like you were a stranger to death.

But now, after he had left Windhelm in your hands, you had an opportunity to... shift things. You held the upper hand over his council members, after all, who dare go against the wife of Ulfric himself? Dare they face the wrath of the Bear of Markarth when he returned to a distraught spouse?

No. They were not that stupid. They did not have death wishes.

They knew how strong Stormcloaks were, be them married in or by blood.

You were not a weak woman. If you were, you would have never gotten here.

Ulfric needed someone to slap sense into him when need be and calm him down when he was about to do something irrational. He admitted it. He was short-tempered just the same as his father and his father- it tended to run in the family.

However, it wasn't just him who needed someone. You needed someone to keep you in good spirits, to keep you feeling safe so you could do what you did best. You needed security.

Ulfric was your security, and he had been gone for neigh 20 weeks. Not only were you lacking the upbeatness you would normally have, but you also did not feel assured in your path. You were double checking corners, constantly looking out windows and Galmar had expressed his worry on it.

A good man, Galmar. Tough at times, but he was a stubborn old coot, and he was there when you needed him. One of the reasons Ulfric married you, too.