10 Frostfall, 4E 204

"This is ridiculous!" the Thalmor emissary whined, "How can you not know where your high king is!? Isn't that part of your job?"

"The king has gone out hunting," Delphine replied rather tersely, "And I don't know when he will return, because he didn't think I should. As I've said before, you will be notified immediately when he is ready to hold court."

"Very well." The high elf wandered off in the direction of the Winking Skeever to get something to calm his nerves, muttering to himself and shivering as he was buffeted by a keen Frostfall wind. "Three days, and he still isn't back from this 'hunting trip' of his. I swear to Auri-el, if I have to spend another night in this gods-forsaken, frozen wasteland of a city, I'll-" there was a tap on his shoulder. He whirled around, ready to take out his frustration on whatever hapless peasant had dared touch him, only to find himself face-to-face with a blue mask and thick, blue hooded robes. Great, he thought, a servant. Still frustrated, he struggled to keep his voice level, not wanting to offend whatever lord this one served. "What do you want?" he asked. A raspy voice, clearly belonging to a khajiit, sounded from within, "High king Ysnomir will see you now. Ri'Bonzo will bring you to Castle Dour."

Shoving the servant roughly aside, the emissary sprinted to the palace gates, yelling back as he did so, "I don't need some servant's help to find the castle, where do you think I just was?"

Delphine was surprised, confused, and annoyed when she was called down from her chambers not five minutes after sending off the high elf to find him at the front gates again, huffing and puffing with his hands on his knees like he'd run all the way from Riften to get there. "I came... as soon as I heard... the summons," he wheezed. "Why aren't… the doors… open yet?"

Delphine raised an eyebrow. "Summons? What sum-" She stopped abruptly, looked over the elf's shoulder, then nodded in understanding. "Ah yes, the summons. Follow Ri'Bonzo, he'll show you where to wait."

The servant in question seemed to materialize beside him. "Yes, follow Ri'Bonzo. He will show you into the castle," He rasped, barely above a whisper.

As they entered the palace doors, the cat started talking, seemingly to himself. "It would seem that Altmer are not suited for long distance running, or cold, for that matter. Why stick your embassy on a mountain plateau, then? Security? I can't see it. The snows there make sneaking up to it easy-"

"Know your place, servant, or I will personally make sure you end up nothing more than a beggar for the rest of your days," the elf snapped.

"This one apologizes. He forgets himself sometimes. Wait here, the king will be with you shortly. This one cannot stay, he has duties to attend to."

Due to how cold it was outside, one of the thrones had been moved to the middle of the altars inside the Temple of the Divines, so the king could still be judged by the gods. Noticing that the throne was empty (as well as the rest of the temple), he decided to take a look around, noting the continued presence of the shrine to the heretical god, Talos, beside the shrines to the other eight these nords worshipped. It looked a little worse for wear, probably due to being thrown into storage by some overzealous priest, but it was still clearly recognizable, and thus in violation of the White-Gold Concordat and Thalmor law.

He was still staring at it when a voice started speaking right beside him.

"I apologize for my lateness, I had… duties to attend to."

"Wha-... What? Who are you?" Was the reply from the startled elf.

"Hmm? Oh, sorry; I should probably introduce myself. I am Ysnomir the first of house Daggerflame, high king of Skyrim." the Khajiit said.

"Ah, good," the emissary replied, quickly regaining his composure, "I have come to inform you that the Lady Elenwen has invited you to a party at the Thalmor embassy, tonight. There will be food, followed by a trade discussion over drinks. She eagerly awaits your reply."

"Tonight?"

"It was three days hence, but you were on a hunting trip with no way to reach you. I hope this does not inconvenience you, your majesty."

No, not at all. Inform the Lady Elenwen that I will graciously accept this invitation, and that she can expect me 3 hours after sundown. I expected you'd need a horse to get back in time, so I've told the stables to have one ready for you; there's a bag of gold hanging off the saddle, which should compensate for the three days you spent waiting for me. You should hurry, I noticed a storm on my way in."

Thank you, your majesty. You are most generous," the high elf said with a small bow.

"Consider it a professional courtesy. My servant will meet you at the castle gates and escort you to the stables."

A/N

A small prologue to kick off this story. I apologize if the dialogue seems a little clunky, this is my first major work that hasn't been reviewed by a teacher. It will pick up bit in the next chapter, and chapter 3 should have the first combat scene.Now for some backstory: Thoromir is a Kahjiit dragonborn who sided with Ulfric during the Civil War, and then proceeded to take the throne by ritual combat, after spending a year in the College of Winterhold learning about his new home, as well as his birthright to the throne. He's completed every major questline, except:

- the dark brotherhood (either way)

- the Shield Companions

- killing the Dawnguard leadership (yes, he's a vampire lord)

-becoming archmage (did everything else, tho)

- Parthuurnax

One other thing: this story takes place in a realistically (lore?) sized Tamriel e.g. Whiterun is home to 20,000 people, it takes about a week to get from Solitude to Riften, etc.