Night had fallen and Whiterun's inns and taverns were bustling, but nowhere was busier than the Bannered Mare. It was a simple and moderately sized building, but it was nearly always crowded inside with patrons. Drinks were being served up, songs being sung and constant loud talk filling the room. Despite this, there were still small niches were two people could sit and talk quietly. Sitting at one of these tables was a nord and an Orc. The Orc was chatting loudly and continuously, in between swallows of ale. The nord, however, was just sitting silently, staring down at the table.

'…and so I told her, I'll pay for your services, but that don't mean I'm gonna be gentle!'

Realizing his Orc friend was trying to be funny, the nord looked up and gave a weak grin.

Seeing that he didn't receive the reception he wanted, the Orc asked, 'something wrong with you tonight Jamith?'

The nord named Jamith looked up from the table, 'nothing…. I'm just…. Just a bit tired, is all.'

'Then let's get you some Argonian Ale!' he shouted excitedly, 'that lizard piss will wake you right up!'

'No… no thanks I'm fine, Brunzon.'

'Suit yourself…' The Orc muttered, sitting back in his chair.

As a woman walked past, Brunzon slapped her arse and told her to stay at the table.

'Can I help you, sirs?' She asked meekly. Jamith looked up from the table to look at the woman. She was a nord, with fair blonde hair and a slim body, couldn't have been more than twenty one, twenty two years old. Attractive, Jamith thought, in a nord way.

'My friend here is tired,' Brunzon explained, 'I think you should take him into one of them rooms over there and show him a good night.'

Jamith began waving her away, 'no, that won't be necessary…'

'I'm no whore!' the nord woman said loudly, stalking away from the table.

Jamith expected Brunzon to be angry or at least frustrated, but instead he just burst into laughter, the sound booming through the room. When Brunzon noticed that Jamith wasn't sharing in his humour, he finished his ale and got up off the chair, 'I've uh, I've got to be somewhere. I'll see you tomorrow, eh?'

'Yeah, see you,' Jamith waved him away unenthusiastically.

Brunzon walked away grumbling.

After sitting at the table for another minute or so, Jamith decided he may as well go home, as with each passing minute, he was becoming more and more bored in the Bannered Mare. It had been Brunzon's idea to have a few drinks that night, though Jamith was much more of a quiet and controlled person than his Orc friend. While Brunzon would be out getting drunk and chasing whores, Jamith would most nights just be sitting at home reading or writing. Life had been quite dull for Jamith as of recent. Most of his friends had gone off to join the Imperial Legion, including his brother, Ternos. The recruiter had come through Whiterun three months ago, offering places in the Legion.

'General Tullius needs you! Join for the good of Skyrim!' The recruiter had shouted on the main street in Whiterun. He was travelling around the Whiterun area recruiting because of a failed assault on Windhelm. The supposed course of action of the Imperials was to march to Solitude to rally forces before making a march on Windhelm. Of course, this hadn't gone to plan, as on the march there, the Imperials were crippled by many small Stormcloak ambushes. The Imperial's forces when set out from Solitude had been close to two hundred, but after the ambushes and retreating back to Solitude, the remainder of their forces was around eighty. Jamith hoped that his friends and his brother had got out of it well, but he knew there was nothing he could do. He had never really been close to his brother Ternos, but he was still blood, so he prayed for him. Ternos had tried several times to convince his brother to go with him in joining the Legion, but Jamith had declined everytime, being somewhat opposed to the whole Imperial Legion against the Stormcloak conflict. He thought it all quite stupid; but it would do no good to go about saying these things in public.

Jamith stood up and started walking towards the door when it opened and he stopped dead in his tracks. Three people walked in, all of them dressed in Imperial Legion armour, and one of them was Ternos. Ternos saw his brother and shouted, 'Jamith!'

A grin appeared on Jamith's face, but it was more a grin of relief than of greeting. His brother was safe back in Whiterun, away from the war. For now at least, he thought grimly to himself.

'It's good to see you back safely, Ternos,' Jamith said, walking up to embrace his brother.

'Indeed it's good to be back!' His brother replied loudly, 'innkeeper, get us some drinks!'

Great, more drinks…

'So how fares the war, brother?' Jamith asked in a subdued tone, quite the opposite of his brother's, as Ternos led him back over to the niche spot he was sitting in before.

They both sat down and took their drinks, Ternos quite welcomingly, 'ah, you know, the same old shit.'

'I hear it was quite the spectacular failure, what with all these Stormcloak ambushes.'

Ternos sighed regretfully, 'that's right. It was quite unfortunate, the way things turned out. We lost some damn good men, that's for sure.'

Jamith took a small sip of his ale, 'so was anything achieved in the end?'

'Aye, something was,' Ternos leaned in closer to his brother, 'we managed to capture one of the Stormcloak's. After a bit of questioning he revealed to us useful information. He said that Ulfric Stormcloak, the bastard himself, plans to get the support of the Forsworn.'

Jamith was puzzled, 'the Forsworn? But they're just…'

'A tribe of savages and bandits, aye.'

'So why would Ulfric hold any interest in them for joining his cause?'

'The Stormcloak we captured didn't reveal anything more.'

'So what did you do with him? Take him back with you to Solitude?'

Ternos shook his head, 'nah, we slit his throat and threw his body over a cliff into the river.'

'Oh.' That was probably unwise.

'True, it wasn't very subtle, but he didn't appear to have any more information,' Ternos replied, seeming to justify the cold-blooded execution.

The two of them sat in silence for a while, occasionally taking sips of their ale. Eventually Jamith thought he better ask, 'so what's next for the Imperials, brother?'

'Well,' Ternos began, 'when we fell back to Solitude, General Tullius was there to welcome us back. He was pretty pissed at us though, if you ask me. Yelling that we wasted good men on a stupid path. True, we took the main road, but who would have thought the bloody Stormcloak's would attack two hundred bloody Imperials?'

'It does seem surprising,' Jamith muttered.

'So anyway, we were back at Solitude, and after a good yelling down by Tullius, he took our captains into Castle Dour and they began re-planning our next course of action. Eventually they came to the conclusion that attacking Windhelm front on will fail, especially with our reduced numbers. So he came up with a different plan.'

Ternos paused, so Jamith asked, 'and that is?'

'To assassinate Ulfric Stormcloak.'

'But that's madness!' Jamith exclaimed, louder than he usually speaks.

'At first I thought so to, but he backed himself up, He said that if we can get somebody inside Windhelm and inside the Palace of the Kings, we may have our opportunity.'

'So who does he plan to use for this plot?'

Ternos looked to his left to make sure nobody was listening, then lowered his voice and leaned in close again, 'me.'

It took Jamith a few seconds to fully comprehend what he had heard, 'y-you? Why you? Surely not.'

'I was surprised as well when I heard it, believe me. At first General Tullius had no idea who I was, but my commanding officer, Captain Faltron, apparently recommended me to the job when in discussion with the general.'

Jamith let out a deep breath, 'and you're actually going through with this?'

'Of course, this mission is a great honor.'

'But… you're an Imperial Legion soldier from Whiterun, how will you be put into the Palace of the Kings, let alone let near and trusted by Ulfric Stormcloak?'

Ternos shifted uncomfortably in his seat, 'this is where it gets… difficult.'

'Go on,' Jamith urged.

'To gain the Jarl's trust, I'm to present him with a small group of Imperial's, ready for execution or torture.'

Jamith's eyes widened, 'that's… That's terrible! Surely General Tullius disapproved of such an action!'

'Actually, it was his idea,' Ternos replied uncomfortably.

'Talos save us…' Jamith muttered under his breath.

'I don't feel any better about it than you do, but it was the only clear way for me to gain Ulfric's trust.'

'Ternos…'

'As soon as I get the chance, however, I promise you I will stab the Stormcloak rebel straight in the heart, and watch him bleed to death.'

Jamith had somewhat regained his composer, 'this all sounds well and fine, Ternos, but what exactly do you think you will do once the Jarl is dead? Simply wipe your feet on a rug and walk out the door? They will kill you in seconds.'

Ternos made no attempt to disagree, 'a necessary sacrifice for the better of Skyrim.'