(Reyvin's POV)
I make a show of dusting my hands as the limp dead body of Madanach falls head first onto the pavent "Well, that is that dealt with."
"To think this man was once King of this city..." Alor mutters, his tone contemplative "And then just like that" He snaps his fingers "Gone... poof."
Davos chuckles at the confused Falr and claps him on the back lightly "You will get used to it, kid."
"Crown or no crown, it is just another dead fool." Nightshade stares down at the corpse coldly, getting a nod of agreent from Serana who had been hiding out nearby.
"That he is." I clap my hand to stop any further banter and point toward a duo of my n "Bring him with us, I trust that Jarl Igmund will be very happy to learn that his old enemy didn't manage to slip through the cracks."
A mont later I hear the two Dunr hoist the corpse up and we start moving.
As we walk down the streets a small crowd gathers around us, though none are quite so stupid enough as to try and approach too closely.
"I can already hear the rumors spreading." I muse aloud.
"And are already making plans on milking them for all they are worth." Davos deadpans.
I pretend to swoon, causing so of the onlookers to step back in either surprise or disgust "You know so well."
Davos imdiately palms his face in regret "Why do I even bother?"
"Pardon , my lord." Alor interjects "But won't the Jarl be angry now that he cannot deliver his vengeance personally?"
I stop and round at the snow elf with a raised eyebrow "You think he can say or do anything to ?"
Alor blinks before his face twists into an amused expression "No, I guess he can not."
"What do you an you already bloody killed him!?" Igmund snarls at .
'Well, that was unexpected.' My face doesn't even twitch as I repeat myself "Exactly what I have said, he is dead and this whole ordeal is over." I also note Alor giving a wry look out of the corner of my eye.
"You!" He seems just about ready to start ranting at but whatever rationality he seems to have left wins out and he takes a deep breath instead "Apologies, I have looked forward to beating the bastard to death for so long that I could not hold back."
"Understandable." I accept the offered olive branch "What about the Silver-bloods?"
"Both surrendered." Igmund scoffs "Like complete idiots."
"Well, no Sovengarde for them I guess." I shrug, earning myself a dark chuckle from the Jarl.
"Their public execution is scheduled for tomorrow morning and their family is to be banished to their distant cousins in Solitude where they will be soone else's problem." Igmund explains "I'd love to put their heads on pikes but I don't need the Stormcloak getting support for no good reason."
"That would be most unwise." I offer neutrally "Though it might have been better to just get rid of the brothers without anyone knowing a thing, at least the public execution will serve to assure the people that the source of the Forsworn was dealt with."
"Aye." The Jarl nods sowhat tiredly "Their raids have been driving insane and with them at least cowed I will be able to focus on the war effort."
"What of he Silver-blood's holdings?" I ask, simply out of curiosity.
"Spread under the dominion of wealthier commoner families and under the purview of a number of Thanes, most notably the Cidhna Silver Mine will be given to Thane Rath now that he has proven his loyalty."
'He has actually put thought into this, I might need to reevaluate him.' "Our daring infiltrator?" I tilt my head "Fitting, I guess."
"I did not do it because it is fitting" Igmund scoffs "I did it because the young one is so focused on pleasing he won't have the ti to plot behind my back."
I notice the topic of our conversation currently dragging a corpse with the common soldiery and chatting them up, one deeper scan later, which he could obviously not sense, and I offer Igmund a nod of approval "You are not wrong there."
The Jarl gives an appraising look before seemingly understanding what I did and suddenly looking a fair bit more cautious "About that execution..."
"You do not want there?" I cut straight into the at of it "A wise decision."
"I can't be having the Sto-" He stops suddenly and blinks at in surprise "Wait, you agree?"
"Yes." I deadpan "I have no need to stand on ceremony when everyone that matters will know what happened. And there is no need to give Ulfric more anti elf propaganda material."
He mutters a "Well, that was easier than I hoped" To himself, probably thinking that I cannot hear him and looks up at "How much longer do you plan on staying in the city?"
"We will leave today." I say bluntly "There are many issues I need to deal with and I have already dawdled here long enough, I wish you a pleasant celebration tonight."
Seemingly feeling both ashad and put out he offers a strained smile followed by the customary offer of friendship "Thank you for your help Fla-tongue, know that you will always be welcod within my halls."
"And you in mine." I offer in return and after a strong handshake leave the Jarl to his plans.
Just as I am about to return to my people and finally depart from the city I notice Reynauld and his n boasting to each other about how well they did in the battle. They were so boisterous in fact that they nearly missed my approach until I was right behind them.
"Ah!" Reynauld rounds on "Court Mage, I trust that you have caught the vile ruffian?" "I have." I nod "However I have no ti to recount my deeds as I have co to tell you that I will be leaving the city within the hour."
"But... but what about the celebration?" Reynauld seems genuinely distraught.
"Duty waits for no man or r, I am afraid." I say, pretending to be disappointed.
Which seems enough to placate him as he nods sadly "I see." His expression brightens "Very well then, know we a toast in your na, and rest assured good sir, wards you have placed under our protection will find neither harm nor sorrow under our care." "Good to hear." I smile at the man "See you on the battlefield Knight Captain."
"You can bet on that, Court Mage!" He raises his sword in a salute and all of his n follow him a bit too dramatically.
'If I didn't see them butcher a bunch of idiots barely an hour back I'd call them complete posers...' Scorch quips.
'Why not both?' I ask back, earning a shrug, and head toward my group. It was ti to finally leave this city behind and focus on the bigger problems looming ahead of us.
By the ti we reached Solitude four days later, the first snows had already started falling and even covering certain mountains, the Skyrim weather was always harsh but this winter looked to be an exceedingly unpleasant one for those less fortunate with their lot. Honestly, the weather bothered far more than the bunch of idiot bandits who thought that raiding my party was a good idea. Needless to say the roads were just a tad safer after we passed and an entire bandit camp had been thoroughly integrated back... into the soil.
The distant skittering of a massive spider would forever haunt those that were allowed to escape and spread the tale of their fate.
As we ascended up toward the noble quarter of the city I got a perfect view of the massive Solitude Sprawl and saw it appear far more bustling than I ever would have guessed as even while it still looked sowhat ramshackle and destitute in certain areas I could see large amounts of workers milling about a large marketplace while many a new shop was opened all across the vast quarter.
The fact that I had a hand in this newfound prosperity did bring a smile to my face.
A smile which only widened as I saw my dearest lady Elenwen riding out of the city and nearly made her fall of her horse in reaction to my focused gaze.
It took the legionary guardsn one good look at and they imdiately let inside the city, and after telling my people to make themselves at ho in the mage's tower I made my way toward the throne room, drawing many looks from the visiting lesser nobility.
I even got to experience seeing a kid playing at being while 'destroying' his friends with a mighty fireball. That got a good chuckle out of .
The housecarls saluted as I entered the throne room, the lesser nobility parting in front of like water before a rock as I approached Torygg who was currently busy talking to General Tullius and his Steward Falk Firebeard about troop movents while his ever stoic bodyguard Bolgeir Bearclaw stood vigilantly to his right.
The High King was the first to notice my approach, his expression imdiately brightening and quickly drawing the looks of his two companions.
The Steward nodded in greeting, though most of his gaze was still locked firmly onto the map
he was holding.
The General simply stared at , only letting out a short hum in greeting, evidently being
curious as to why I was here.
'Well I could always tell him I work here.' I muse but choose to not waste ti and instead offer the High King a short bow "King Torygg."
The young King lets out an exasperated huff at the formality but seeing as we were currently being stared at by a bunch of petitioners, even if they were mostly out of hearing range, he chose not to comnt on it.
Instead he smiled in greeting "Finally you return Reyvin. I thought I would never get to introduce little Trygve to the reason he still has a father."
I raise an eyebrow at that "There is no need for such dramatics but I wouldn't mind eting
your whelp."
Torygg points at with faux accusation "That is your Prince you are talking about!" He
japes.
"A thousand pardons your kingliness." I bow dramatically "It won't happen again!" We stare at each other for a mont before bursting into laughter. Apparently soone was not as amused as Tullius cleared his throat and began "If you are quite done..." And Torygg had the decency to at least look ashad.
I, of course, had no such issues and simply turned to the General "Yes, General Tullius?"
"We have been hearing all manner of rumors coming forth from Markarth, mostly about your sudden presence there." His gaze turns a fair bit sterner then "Then ca the news of the deposition of an entire clan and the death of the missing King of the Reachn."
The General shares a quick look with Torygg who nods and speaks "An explanation would
indeed be welcod here."
"As you wish." I nod and pointedly glance toward the petitioners "Though we may wish to retire to a less... acoustic environnt."
And so we did, just after Torygg made sure that no proud noble was offended by it of course.
No need to antagonize people needlessly, especially when you were currently busy with a state-wide civil war.
I gave them a full report on both the cults, the Forsworn and the Silver-bloods, even going so far as to regale them of the capabilities of the Breton knighthood which earned a very satisfied smirk from Falk, a truly rare occasion.
General Tullius was also very satisfied with the developnt, the lack of troops from Markarth was starting to be noticed at the frontlines and while the city's force of heavy infantry was not going to be all that useful with the current skirmish focused phase of the war they would still allow for other troops to focus on such tasks instead. Torygg was simply happy that his people were now under less risk, and even swore that he
would make sure the innocent Silver bloods would find their place in his city, an offer he also wanted to extend to so of the less fanatical Forsworn once they cald down sowhat. By the ti we were done, the sun had already set and the General and Steward left and the
King to our own devices, Torygg wasting no ti in practically dragging to his private quarters and before a surprised Elisif.
The Queen Consort of Skyrim had been angry with for a fairly long ti after the Kingsmoot debacle, as I was the one who made sure she could not leave her room at the ti.
Motherhood had seemingly llowed her out and the young woman greeted warmly and without a hint of her earlier fury.
Torygg had a goofy smile on his face as he showed his son off, going on and on about how he
had his eyes, or his cheekbones or any other minute detail. Both Elisif and I shared a look of exasperated amusent as he kept praising his months old child to .
I did make sure to scan the child and took great pleasure in telling the parents that he was in
perfect health. Elisif, being rather tired from her overenergetic brat's antics, shooed us out of the room not long after.
Torygg let out a tired but contented sigh "What a woman" He mutters.
"Kindly drool over your wife when I am not there." I quip, causing the young King to scratch the back of his head in embarrassnt.
His look suddenly turns a fair bit more serious as he asks "How long until it arrives?" "Just about a year or so, I can't make a precise prediction but any later would be odd." I
inform him flatly, though I fail to suppress the mix of dread and excitent that appears in the back of my mind.
"So we still have ti..." Torygg nods "I have been making sure to have the cities prepare but
the re thought of those beasts attacking even Solitude makes dread the casualties."
"In this instance I advise that you trust in the Divines." I say cryptically.
"What does that even an?" Torygg huffs.
"Not sothing that is mine to reveal, unfortunately." I shrug "Though I advise you focus on
dealing with your current predicant as I may be unavailable for so ti."
"Oh?" Torygg quirks an eyebrow, not overly worried about my apparent absence "What will
you be doing?"
I offer him an annoyingly cryptical smirk "Going hunting."
"You know, you could just tell you were going to deal with the vampires." He deadpans.
'Watch out pops, he is learning!'
A stone for ya boi Torygg, for he has both friends and maidens!
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