She stood by his side as he gave his final speech. Skyrim was finally free. Why, then, did she feel so bad about what happened? She hated fighting and killing, always had, but she had never felt bad about it when it was necessary. Hadn't they tried every other option? But Tulius could not be persuaded out of his stubborn stupid path. Respectable, but stupid. And now hundreds of not only Nords, but Imperials and citizens as well were dead thanks to this war. She was brooding on this when her thought were interrupted by Galmar.
"Well, lass. What do you think we should do with Elisif? I think we should execute her. Ulfric believes that to be the wrong thing to do," she was used to being included in their war councils by now, and they always listened to her.
"Well. She is the rightful Jarl of Solitude. Even though so was Balgruuf. My point is that taking her away would weaken our point. We appointed the other Jarls as leaders provided that the others couldn't be trusted in war. Elesif, on the other hand, was never truly more than a figurehead. So why don't we use her as one. Make her think that we were right to do what we did and that her husband was a regrettable, but necessary, fatality. If we can get her on our side, than we will probably pick up most of the remaining Imperial loyalists in Skyrim."
"See, Galmar. I told you Stormblade would agree with me. We spare her and let her keep her position. She already promised to support me in the moot. What more do you want from her."
"Unquestionable loyalty."
"I doubt we even have that in most of the troops…" at this point she stopped listening to the conversation.
She had quickly lost her taste for killing, and simply made a mad dash for the keep. She had tried to talk with Tulius, and so had Ulfric when he and Galmar had arrived, but it hadn't been enough. When Tulius' life had been offered to her, she had declined. If she didn't want the death of the enemy general on her hands, then she definitely wouldn't have the death of an unarmed civilian on them either. She was about to leave when she felt a hand clamp on her shoulder. Instinctively she rolled out of the grip before pivoting and drawing her dagger on the offender, only to realize that it was Ulfric and hurriedly put it away.
"Easy there, Stormblade. I just wanted to let you know that I wanted you to take control of the watch on Elisif. I am scared as to what might happen to her if there is no guard on her, and I need Galmar's men for another task. I planned to have you oversee the reconstruction of Solitude anyway, why not protect the Jarl while you're at it?" he chuckled in his deep, rolling voice.
She just nodded and headed over towards the Blue Palace, to find a room to sleep in for the night, which was approaching quickly. Upon arrival, she quickly noticed the large number of empty rooms and hoped that the vacancies weren't results of the recent conflict in the city. Too many people had died and the real problem had yet to be addressed. She wondered if somehow the Thalmor had planned all of this. And with that merry thought, she picked a room and collapsed in the bed.