In Elisif's memories, Jaxius Amaton was alive, and he was holding her in his arms.

"I don't want to get up today." she murmured, pulling the covers tight around them. "They can run the city themselves for a day, surely."

The Dragonborn's hand rubbed her shoulder, warm and comforting. "I've had that same conversation with myself many times," he confessed. "Although I'm not sure there's anyone who could kill dragons for me."

Elisif laughed, pulling Jax closer and rubbing her nose against his scratchy beard. "Maybe we can trade," she suggested. "You nod at the suitors all day and pretend to listen to Erikur's latest complaints, and I'll go hunt a giant lizard down and eat its soul."

"I'm definitely terrified of doing one of those things." Jax groaned and ran a hand over his face, opening his eyes to the sunlight streaming in her bedroom windows. "Sometimes I wish I'd been born a cabbage farmer."

The High Queen rolled out of bed, stretching languidly. She could feel Jax's eyes on her as she walked to her wardrobe. "I have a meeting with Ambassador Elenwen today," she said, pulling out a dress to wear. "Even after all this time, that woman frightens me."

Jax frowned, his countenance darkening. "The Thalmor have been especially quiet recently. I'm going to have to keep an even closer eye on them."

She chuckled, bending over to pick up her regal shoes. "Shouldn't their silence be a relief? I haven't received a missive ordering me to draw and quarter all Talos worshippers for months now."

The savior of Skyrim pushed himself out of bed. "A howling wolf can't sneak up on you, love." Jax pulled on his leather boots, strapping them with a practiced hand. "It's the quiet hunter you have to watch out for."

Elisif steadied herself in front of the bedroom door, taking a deep breath. Jax came up behind her, wrapping a hand around her waist.

"I won't see you for a while," Jax confessed, leaning against the wall. "I want to head back to Lakeview for a week or two and spend some time with Runa." Her heart sank, but Elisif understood. Many responsibilities competed for the Dragonborn's attention, and she was only one of many. Teldryn shouldn't be a full-time babysitter, after all.

"Time to face the wolves, then." she said, smiling at him. Their lips met and they kissed, sharing a last moment before the oncoming storm.

If only I'd known it would be the last moment with Jaxius Amaton that I'd ever have.

"My Queen?" Bolgeir's voice broke through her thoughts like a warhammer through a glass sculpture. "Are you well?"

Elisif sighed, staring out her window at the lethargic city streets. Only lonely cobblestone roads remained where there had once been so much activity and life. So many of her citizens had left Solitude since the incident at Castle Dour, most of them Imperials and the other races that depended on the Empire for their livelihoods. She couldn't blame them.

"Yes, Bolgeir, I'm perfectly fine." Elisif smoothed her skirts and rose from her chair. "Is everyone here now?"

Her housecarl nodded as she picked up her crown from the bedside table, placing it carefully on her head. "Chief Guardsman Haywir had to finish setting up some new patrol routes, but everything is in order."

They proceeded down the gray hallways of the Blue Palace, silence dominating the still air. Elisif could not recall a time when her city had been this empty, and it tore at her soul. Torygg would have gone mad had he ever seen Solitude in such a state. For once, the name Solitude was no longer an ironic title.

When they reached the old council chamber, she found all four of her advisors sitting around the stone table. Thane Erikur's seat was empty, as was Aldis's, serving as a disquieting reminder to the rest of the group. Elisif took the seat at the head of the table, and Bolgeir sat beside her. Let's get to it, then.

She cleared her throat. "I'd like to get right to the point of this meeting, so we don't waste any time. As you all know, several days ago a series of attacks were committed against the peaceful land we call home. The Dragonborn's estate was assaulted, along with Sky Ruler Temple and Whiterun."

"Sky Ruler Temple?" Steward Bryling interjected. She had taken Falk's position after he resigned to marry her. How things have changed. "The headquarters of the Blades, correct? An isolated dragon hunter's guild seems a strange target."

"Not when you're the Thalmor," Court wizard Sybille Stentor suggested darkly. "They're the only group I know of that could perform this sort of operation so smoothly."

Viarmo, headmaster of the Bard's College and citizen advisor, shook his head in disbelief. "The Dominion wouldn't dare attack Skyrim so openly. The peace treaty with the Empire…"

Chief Guardsman Haywir chuckled harshly, running a hand through his dark beard. "The Empire hasn't been the Empire since Titus Mede was assassinated. We all know it, we're just too afraid to admit it."

"I share a mind with Sybille on this matter," Elisif said. "We have to assume the Thalmor carried out these attacks." Her gaze darkened as she met the eyes of each of her advisors in turn. "And we have to assume we haven't seen the last of them. Haywir, share your plans with the rest of us."

Haywir leaned forward, his chainmail clinking against the stone table. "We obviously can't rely on the Empire for defense anymore, owing to our attempt to capture the Thalmor Headquarters. At the same time, we don't have enough men or weapons to protect the entire city."

"Sounds perfectly hopeless," Sybille commented, and Elisif had to agree with her. Did I doom Solitude with my attack on Castle Dour? Jaxius would have done the same thing, I'm sure of it.

The guardsman continued undeterred. "We're going to start a volunteer militia to help protect the city, and bring in the guards from the docks and Dragon Bridge as well."

"What of the people living in Dragon Bridge?" Bryling asked. "We can't leave them unprotected against the Dominion."

Elisif interrupted, "The people of Dragon Bridge will be moved into Solitude for the time being. It's the best we can do in a hopeless situation. Headmaster Viarmo, could the Bard's College spare any beds?"

Viarmo snorted. "Spare beds, my queen, is something we are in abundance of in the College. Students have been leaving in droves the past few days."

She regretted the College was suffering because of all of this, but music came second to people getting the resources they needed to survive. "Solitude is truly in your debt," Elisif told him, truthfully.

The meeting was interrupted by a courier entering the room, silently passing a couple of missives to Steward Bryling. The Nord warrior read the letters as the rest watched, her eyes wide with shock.

"What's happened?" Elisif asked, "Surely the situation can't get any worse than it already is."

Bryling shook her head. "A trader made his monthly journey up to High Hrothgar to deliver food and supplies." Her voice shook as she continued. "He found the Greybeards...massacred. The town guards say it looks like the elves did it."

Around the table, Elisif's advisors reacted to the news. Haywir, a Nord through and through, dropped his head in grief. Sybille frowned deeply, a strong display of emotion from the typically cynical mage, and Viarmo sighed as if in long suffering.

The Greybeards. Elisif had never met the celebrated monks in her years as Jarl, but she knew how dear they were to the Nord people. Even Torygg, anti-traditionalist as he was, had spoken of them with reverence in his voice. They had trained the Dragonborn, helped to guide him on the path to save Skyrim. And now they were dead. The people of Skyrim will not accept Jax's death and the Greybeards being murdered in the same weak. There will be riots.

"Bryling," Elisif spoke suddenly, the seed of an idea growing in her mind. "I want to send letters to all of the Jarls, at once. Invite them to a formal gathering to discuss recent events. Maybe we don't have to fight the Thalmor alone."

"With pleasure, my Queen." Bryling waved an aide over and began whispering orders into his ear, putting the plan into motion.

Sybille interjected, ever blunt. "Elisif, the Jarls will not come to Solitude no matter how nicely you word your requests. A supposed ally of the Empire has committed unspeakable crimes against Skyrim. Solitude is, or was, the seat of power for the Empire in Skyrim. They will think it's a trap." Her yellow eyes flickered with amusement. "I know I would."

"You're right, of course." Elisif's mind raced, trying to thinking of an alternative meeting place. Somewhere neutral, with no semblance of political influence.

"Whiterun, then." she decided. The city was centrally located, and Jarl Balgruuf had been a decidedly on-the-fence player in the Civil War. She didn't know much about the new Jarl, his brother Hrongar, but he undoubtedly shared some of his deceased brother's better qualities.

"The Empire and the Dominion will view your gathering as a provocation, my Queen," warned Viarmo. "Especially after the incident at Castle Dour."

"The Empire is something we no longer have to worry about." Bryling murmured, reading the second message. "This missive was supposed to be for Legate Aldis. The Elder Council is pulling the Legion out of Skyrim and suspending all military operations in the province."

Haywir slammed his fist on the table. "They've abandoned us, after everything! The backstabbing milk drinkers are leaving us to the elves!" Viarmo looked up sharply, taking offense.

I suppose it's better to be abandoned then attacked. "Then we are truly alone in our fight against the Thalmor." Sybille shook her head in disappointment.

"This makes the Whiterun gathering even more important," Elisif said, her resolve hardened. "If Skyrim is to fight the Dominion alone, we need to come together as a people."

Bolgeir spoke up, an unusual action from the usually stoic housecarl. "If anyone can save us, it's you, my Queen."

Elisif smiled wearily. "I'm glad I have your confidence at the least, Bolgeir. You are a loyal soldier and a worthy friend." Maybe my only friend left still breathing.

Bryling finished preparing the letters and passed them to Elisif for her signature. She accepted ink and quill from an aide, and her advisors quietly filed out of the room as she signed the letters. Bolgeir left to stand outside the chamber, perhaps sensing she wanted to be alone once more.

She set the quill down, rising to stroll over to the window overlooking the palace gardens. The thistle and nightshade swayed in the breeze, indifferent to the struggles of their native land. She envied them their ignorance. What was it Jax had said? Sometimes I wish I'd been born a cabbage farmer.

The Empire was leaving Skyrim. The thought boggled Elisif's mind, like as if someone was telling her that the mountains and trees were leaving as well. The Empire had saved Skyrim from the rule of Ulfric Stormcloak, and given her the High Queenship. She still remembered the day General Tullius left, resigning his position in order to settle down somewhere. He had been changed by the war, and by the Emperor's assassination at the hands of the Dark Brotherhood. They had all been changed. If an Empire can win a war against half a country of nationalistic hardened warriors, why couldn't they protect their leader from a long dead gang of cutthroats?

For five years the Elder Council had neglected to choose a new Emperor. Titus Mede left behind no heirs, and the right to rule was hotly contested in the upper echelons of Cyrodiil. Every decision was second guessed, and nothing had been accomplished since that fateful day out in the Solitude bay. All the while, the Dominion pushed their boundaries, testing what they could get away with. The Elder Council was too busy fighting each other to see the Elven dagger hovering behind them.

And now, Skyrim suffers because of it. Jax is gone, and so are the Greybeards, and Balgruuf, and the Blades. The Dominion had scarred Skyrim irreparably, and Elisif knew in her heart her country would never truly recover. But maybe we can survive. She shook her head, clearing out the dark thoughts, and turned to leave the room. There was a gathering to plan, and not much time to plan it.

Author's Note: I'm writing on a laptop keyboard now instead of a desktop, so apologies for any mistakes. Please review if you continue to enjoy the story!