Tirdas, 3:21 PM, 19th of Last Seed, 4E 201
Temple of the Divines
It really was unfortunate, the way things had gone. The Temple of the Divines was a place for solace, and mercy, and hope. It was a place where all believers were greeted with open arms. But Greta could no longer go there in peace. Not now.
If any one thing had gone differently, this wouldn't have been a problem. If Solitude weren't the Imperial capital in Skyrim, for one. Or if the Temple of the Divines hadn't been built into the walls of the Imperial Legion's Castle Dour. Or if worship of Talos hadn't been outlawed by the Empire. Or if Ulfric Stormcloak hadn't slain the High King of Skyrim in this very city. Or if her brother, her honorable Nord brother, hadn't been on duty at the gate when Ulfric tried to flee. But everything had gone the way it had gone. And now when Greta went to the Temple of the Divines, she had to pass through the home of her brother's killers.
She wouldn't have gone at all without her brother's amulet. It wasn't really to remember him. It was to remember what he died for. If she were seen wearing this little symbol around her neck, she could be arrested. Executed, just like he had been. Outlawing Talos worship was only the beginning of the Empire's threat to Nordic life. Roggvir had died trying to uphold that way of life.
But now, courtesy of her daughter Svari and a particularly generous stranger, she had the amulet. One more thing that could have gone differently, but hadn't. And she also had the good sense to tuck the amulet into her shirt. To the Temple of the Divines she went.
No sooner had she even stepped out her door, though, than a familiar voice called out to her. "Greta! There you are."
The voice came from just up the street. Greta turned to see a man leaning against the side of the house next door, well in the shade. A beggar, wearing old, tattered gray rags, smudged with dirt and dust. An older man. Bald head, weathered skin. Noster Eagle-Eye, he was called. Greta had seen him a few times over by the shops.
From what little she'd heard, this man had served in the Imperial Legion some time back. There were many like him, soldiers who came home to find nothing waiting for them, but for some reason Noster had always stood out. Perhaps it was simply because he had been here for so long.
Greta closed the door behind her, then stepped down onto the road. "What are you doing here, Noster?"
Noster pushed himself off the wall and walked a couple paces towards her, slowly. "I thought I'd pay my respects. I'm so sorry for your loss, Greta."
"I've heard that a lot these days," Greta said, but she felt strange about it. She'd had every friend and acquaintance in the city stopping by her house at one point or another. But Noster was just some penniless beggar. More or less a total stranger. He had no reason to even care about this.
Noster glanced down the street. It was pretty much a straight line from here to Castle Dour's east gatehouse. Houses along the left and right. A fairly busy street. "Are you headed someplace?"
"I was planning on visiting the temple," she said, warily. "Why?"
"Is it all right if I walk with you?"
He had to be up to something. No beggar would go so far out of their way to offer condolence to a random townsperson. But it would have been more trouble than it was worth to try to make him leave, so Greta simply nodded and started out into the street.
Noster fell in alongside her. The way he walked was like a guard on duty. All ordered and confident. "I was there for the execution," he said. "That was awful to watch. But I was there for Jarl Ulfric's escape from the city as well."
"You were?" Greta turned towards him, eyebrows raised. This was not going the way she had expected. He wasn't asking her for money, or anything else. Besides her attention, anyway.
"Your brother Roggvir," Noster said. "He made a choice. I don't know if I would have made the same one. But he took a stand. He must have known what would happen to him. That was very brave."
Very kind words. But something was still going on here. "What choice would you have made, Noster?"
It was a fairly quiet afternoon in Solitude. This street ran straight from Castle Dour to the Blue Palace, but there were only a few passersby very near to them.
Noster shrugged. "Whichever I thought would save the most lives. If I had been in Roggvir's shoes, and I closed the gate to Ulfric, I would have defied Nordic tradition. From a certain point of view, I would be condemning an innocent man to death." He paused for a moment. "But now Skyrim is at war with itself. Have you ever seen war in action, Greta? Been to a battlefield after the fighting was over?"
Greta shook her head.
"It's horrific. No one should ever have to go through that. But now a lot of good men and women are going to die. It's all so… Senseless. I don't even understand why we're fighting each other. We shouldn't have to."
Greta had had enough at this point. Noster was a legionnaire at heart, that was for sure. He must have known why Ulfric Stormcloak had taken up arms against the Empire. But he didn't even seem to care. "What sort of condolence is this? Are you telling me my brother did the wrong thing, letting Ulfric free?"
"Honestly? I think at this point in time, every choice is the wrong one. Roggvir made a hard choice. It was the Empire's place to judge him by their law, and now it's the gods' place to judge him by their will. As for me, all I can ask of anyone is that they do what they believe is right. Roggvir did just that."
"What do you think of the Empire, Noster?"
"What?"
"Ruling over us. The Empire today might not be the Empire you served during the Great War."
"No, I'm… I'm rather sure that it is." Noster made to speak, then paused. "This is about Talos, isn't it? That's what this is about for you. The Empire, treading on us Nords. That whole thing."
Greta said nothing. Castle Dour loomed at the end of the road. They'd already closed most of the distance.
"It's a bad situation, I know," Noster said. "It makes the Empire look bad. But don't forget who the real foe is. The Great War never really ended. It's the Empire versus the Aldmeri Dominion. Can you imagine how happy they are, that the Empire is spilling its own blood for them?"
And all because my brother did what he thought was right. Maybe Noster was a legionnaire at heart. Maybe there wasn't anything wrong with that. Greta didn't know anymore.
She stopped where she was, reached to her belt, and unfastened her coin purse. Before Noster could react, she pressed the whole thing into his arms.
"What—"
"Take it," she said. "Just take it. Take it and… Stay alive. Enough people are dead as it is. Now please leave me alone."
Greta left Noster there, standing in the middle of the road with a bag of gold septims in his hands. He said something thankful to her, but she already wasn't listening. She couldn't even think straight. All she knew was that that had felt like the right thing to do. She imagined Noster would approve of that much.
Now it was time to visit the Temple of the Divines. Greta hadn't been here in weeks. It felt like much longer than that.
Just looking at the entrance to Castle Dour put a bad taste in her mouth. As she went in through the gatehouse arch, she passed right underneath one of those big red banners with the wolf of Haafingar emblazoned on it. It shared its ledge with scraggly curtains of green hanging moss. Such a perfect symbol of the Empire's decay.
Inside the courtyard, the guards were doing their drills, like normal. They were just part of the scenery. Something to ignore. But as she walked by, Greta realized that the one supervising them was Captain Aldis. The very man who oversaw Roggvir's execution. Greta felt a terrible, creeping chill deep in her chest.
Aldis was a good man. He had understood. It had meant a whole lot to her, but now… Greta looked downward and quickened her pace. The temple was just ahead. She could make it. Everything was piling up in her head, it was getting unbearable, but she could fix it once she was in the temple. It was safe there.
There was another, smaller courtyard, separated by another, smaller pair of arches. This was no longer the place of the Legion. This was the place of the Divines. The courtyard was something of an outdoor chapel. Two columns of pews, in front of a pair of ornate chairs. All empty. Greta walked alongside them to the temple doors. She'd traveled this exact path thousands of times. In some ways, it felt exactly the same as always. But even if this temple didn't change, Greta herself certainly could.
The doors were set in a narrowed recess in the courtyard, separated by a pair of braziers, and lined with flowerbeds. They were wide open. Inside, the temple was all dark stone and soft light. Greta's eyes hadn't adjusted yet. She could barely see what was in there. In fact, she didn't recognize the two figures standing there until she was practically right at the entrance. An Altmer, very tall, in black and gold robes. Standing right over the temple priest, right in the middle of the sanctuary.
Greta barely held in a gasp. She managed to turn aside just in time to not walk in through the doors. She ended up with her back to the wall just by the door, hands plastered on the stone bricks down at her sides. The two in there were talking. She could hear their voices around the corner, just barely. They hadn't noticed her.
"Your leadership demands an explanation, Freir," said the Altmer.
"My leadership?" Freir sounded upset. Scared, even. "We are no part of your hierarchy! The Temple of the Divines has always been—"
"You. You serve the Empire. The Empire cooperates with the Thalmor. You obey me."
By the Nine, the Thalmor were here. In the Temple of the Divines. That chill came right back, so much worse this time. One hand clutched over the amulet beneath her shirt. Her hands were numb. She couldn't feel what she was holding. Her heart was pounding. Everything had just become a nightmare.
They were still talking. "I promise you, I had nothing to do with this heresy! We will report any that we find. Please."
"This is the third Talos worshiper that we've discovered in your very temple in the past month. We should put the shrine back just to see who decides to pray to it."
"No, that's not—sir, I don't know what you expect from me. It is not within my authority to interrogate everyone who walks into this temple. Is that what you want for me to do?"
"A little more vigilance from you would suffice. The people of Solitude seem to think that the Thalmor headquarters in Castle Dour is simply some spare empty rooms. Contrary to your belief, we are here, and we intend to enforce the treaty your Empire signed."
Noster's words were repeating in Greta's head. The Great War never really ended. Had he known what she would find her? This was too perfect. This was too awful.
"That is your prerogative. But I do not understand what you want me to do about this. I am already doing all I can!"
There was a loud crack. Freir cried out. Something heavy thudded on the floor. Greta's breath caught in her throat.
"All you can do, then, is not enough," said the Altmer. "If you cannot keep the worshipers of Talos out of your own temple, then you will serve as an example to those who would insult the Eight Divines."
"What are you talking about—" Freir gasped. "No! No, you can't!"
Greta didn't wait to hear the rest. She just ran. She ran as fast as her legs would carry her. Straight through the courtyards, then out onto the street, then around the first corner she could find, then around another, then around another, weaving through buildings, rushing past everyone around her, putting distance between herself and the temple. By the time she stopped running, her chest was heaving and her lungs were burning. She didn't even know where she'd run to. Some back alley. She was alone.
Nothing made sense anymore. What had she even just witnessed? That Thalmor officer hadn't even been doing anything to enforce the ban. He'd just been tormenting Freir for nothing. And no one was going to stop him.
The Great War hadn't ended. This was no place to ride it out. Greta had to leave Solitude. She had to leave today. Find her husband and daughter, leave the city with them, and find someplace safe to stay. Someplace where she could ride out the coming months, someplace that wouldn't be under attack. Perhaps Whiterun.
