What the Empire supporters pulled was clever. Banking on an attack on the city so that Ulfric would have no choice but to release them made Thorunn feel like they deserved their freedom only because of a game well played. The four Imperial supporters were kneeling before the throne, Ulfric slouched comfortably within, Thorunn and Galmar standing at his sides. Ulfric was weary, pinching the bridge of his nose. He wore only a simple tunic over the bandages wrapped around his midsection concealing the wound in his side.
But the Imperials were not the only ones whose freedom was in question. Altair Silver-Blood was among them, head bowed, but not kneeling.
"What would you ask of me in return for your... assistance?" inquired Ulfric tiredly.
"Our freedom," Elisif the Fair said. She was a beautiful Nordic woman with auburn hair and soft features, hence the name. She raised her head to look up at Ulfric. Her words were calm, but her glare was one with hatred. Ulfric had widowed her, so her scorn was well within reason. "We have no desire to start a rebellion, not at a time like this. We will continue to fight alongside you if that is what it takes."
Ulfric's glossy eyes passed to Balgruuf. "Can these other three not speak for their selves?"
"We want the same thing, Ulfric," said Balgruuf the Greater. Like the three surrounding him, he was a Nord, traditionally handsome with braided blond hair and blue eyes. He still wore his armor. "Liberation from the Thalmor. My housecarl and I would continue to fight at your side."
"You think I would allow a traitor to brandish my banner?" said Ulfric calmly.
"I never wanted to side with the Empire." Balgruuf spoke through gritted teeth. "You forced my hand. What was I to do, Ulfric? I vouched for peace for the sake of my city and based my choice on strategy alone. More the fool I for doing so."
Ulfric shrugged in agreement.
Balgruuf sighed irritably. "Let me fight for my country so that my children may see a day where it is not plagued with war."
Thorunn thought of her own child, just shy of development within her womb. She laid a hand on Ulfric's shoulder. He looked over at her, raising his cheek from his fist, and she gave him a small nod. Ulfric wetted his lips and turned his attention back to Balgruuf. "As you wish, but you will continue to live under my supervision," Ulfric relented. "You may take up residence within the palace along with your children."
Balgruuf opened his mouth to further defend his case. He stopped cold when he realized he didn't need to, that Ulfric had yielded, then he narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "What's the catch?"
"No catch. Just be ready to fight and remember that deserting is punishable by death, no matter who you support at heart." Ulfric's eyes passed to Elisif. "Am I to suspect the same from you? In exchange for your freedom, you will fight?"
"I will do my best, but you know I am no experienced shield maiden. I would prefer to pull a few strings and provide supplies for the army." she said, lowering her eyes.
"Do that, but I would also like you on the field. My lovely betrothed can train you, yes?" Smirking, Ulfric looked over to Thorunn, whose jaw was clenched.
"Fine, but I will not enjoy it," she stated. There were plenty of other shield maidens that could train Elisif. Why Ulfric had chosen Thorunn of all people, she could only guess.
He chuckled softly. "Atta girl. As for your housecarls, they may retain their positions. The other Imperial dogs of yours will remain right where they are in the cellars. The only time you may be allowed to possess a weapon is at my disposition. Now, go settle yourselves." He waved his hand dismissively, and the Imperial supporters dispersed, leaving only one man left awaiting trial.
Altair straightened up and clasped his hands behind his back, stepping forward while he cleared his throat politely. His expression was surprisingly stoic, but Thorunn knew the mocking smile was never far. "Your Grace." he said.
Ulfric tilted his head in acknowledgement. "You've done Skyrim a service. In exchange for the lives you took, you saved hundreds. If you give me your word that you will not take the life of another innocent, I will be willing to grant you the same pardon I did the Imperials. Join my forces in exchange for your life."
"I am not required to forsake my gods in favor of your Talos?"
"No, but a close eye will be on you at all times."
"Naturally." His signature mocking smile rose. "I will take it."
The king nodded. "Good. Take a guest room in the west wing." Altair curtsied and began to take his leave when Ulfric halted him. "And Altair? Speak with your father. Make amends. That's an order." His tone was firm.
Altair clenched his teeth, discontented. "As you wish," he seethed, then left the room.
Galmar replaced him at the foot of the throne. "We've received word from Markarth," he said in his gruff voice. "Kottir Red-Shoal says the Dominion has hit them as well, though the attacks are sparse as of now. They'll need reinforcements as soon as possible."
Ulfric sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Already we are spread too thin, but luckily, it seems the elves spent the bulk of their army on Solitude. I do not think they'll attack us so recklessly again." He stood with some difficulty, wincing as his bandaged wound protested. "Send Markarth the men they need. Four units of twenty, and I want those Imperials out of this city immediately, so send them as well. Tell Commander Kottir to limit their privileges."
"Will do, sir," Galmar put a fist over his heart respectfully then departed. Thorunn suspected he'd tell Kottir to do more than just limit their privileges.
With a sigh half borne of pain and half of exhaustion, Ulfric turned to Thorunn, who was standing tentatively. He moved a heavy hand to her neck, his thumb running across her jawline tenderly. "Words cannot express how relieved I am you are unharmed." His gaze slowly fell to her stomach, still hidden beneath steel. His hand passed to her waist. "And you," he added softly, speaking to the child growing within her.
"You should rest, my love," Thorunn told him, remembering the scared elven girl she'd found cowering behind a dummy in the courtyard. "Allow your wound to heal. I will join you later."
He looked disappointed, but nodded all the same. His hand moved back to her neck and he leaned to place a gentle, savored kiss on her forehead. "Yes," he agreed, out of his element. "Rest. Of course." He nodded for no particular reason, then allowed Jorleif to lead him to his quarters.
Watching them go, Thorunn sighed quietly. Skyrim was not ready for another war. They didn't have the resources, the numbers, not even the loyalty. Thorunn's confidence in that had spiked since "Hail to the Stormcloaks" had been chanted at the main square rally, but she had good cause to remain dubious. More people in Skyrim supported the Stormcloaks than the Empire ever estimated, that was true, yet it was not enough to defeat the Aldmeri Dominion.
They needed allies. Obviously, they could not call upon the Empire, nor did Thorunn ever think for a second that that would be plausible. Cyrodiil was out of the question and any province with Aldmeri presence went with them, naturally ruling out the Summerset Isles as well as the Bosmer home of Valenwood and the Bretons of High Rock. The Khajiit of Elsweyr were Thalmor pawns and the Argonians of Black Marsh were on a standstill and, henceforth, unlikely to want to involve themselves. The Dunmer of Morrowind were along the same boat, too staggered from the Accession War with the Argonians to prove of any real assistance even if they did agree to help.
That left the desert-home of the Redguards: Hammerfell. After rejecting the terms of the White-Gold Concordant, they entered into another brutal war with the elves then proceeded to become the very first province to push back the Third Aldmeri Dominion. They had good cause to resent the Empire. Thorunn knew that she and Ulfric would not need to worry about Imperial or Thalmor spies, not after what both factions inflicted unto the Redguards. Hammerfell experienced a strikingly similar situation to Skyrim- they, too, were once a province of the Empire, up until they rejected the Concordant and seceded from both.
Thorunn saw no reason they wouldn't at least hear Skyrim out, other than the fact that they were still recovering from their war with the Dominion. She would bring the matter up to Ulfric once he recovered from his wounds, and if he rejected the idea... Well, she was going to become queen soon anyway.
Leaving the thought behind, she left the Blue Palace to return to the courtyard in hopes of finding the Altmer girl alive. It wasn't likely, considering the Stormcloaks would have returned by now and most were not as open to stay their hand at the sight of pointed ears and gold-tinted skin. Her notion became a reality when she saw a crowd of blue and silver circled around something or someone she could not see. Some were laughing, others were flicking their wrist in alarming ways.
Thorunn shoved her way to the front of the crowd, silencing the soldiers as she went and as they realized who she was. There the Altmer girl was, sobbing and on her knees while a soldier snapped a whip at her. He never intentionally hit her, only snapped it a few inches in front of her to torture her with the idea that she would be hit. "Enough!" Thorunn bellowed, the edges of her Thu'um creeping into her voice.
That silenced them. The man holding the whip halted like a deer caught in torchlight. "M-My Lady," he stammered, dropping to one knee. "We were only taking care of a straggler. She's just one of them elves, m'Lady."
"Stand, man, and I am no Lady," snapped Thorunn. Not looking her in the eye, the bulky man clambered to his feet. "This elf surrendered personally to me. Instead of torturing her, you would have done well to bring her before the king. I doubt she posed a threat when you found her."
"I only thought..." started the man, but one of his friends struck her input.
"She did pose a threat, sir, she did. Took her knife and started swinging it this way and that. We's only teaching her a lesson, that's all." The woman- short-haired and dirty, likely only here to receive her money's worth -exchanged a look with the man, who was starting to look fearful. Clearly, they hadn't ran over their lie before executing it.
Thorunn shifted her weight to one hip, raising her eyebrows. "Uh huh," she said dubiously. "That so? What knife, may I ask?" If Eriswe the Altmeri had brandished her dagger, the Stormcloaks would have taken it from her. A subtle glance at Eriswe's belt made it clear they had not done so.
They exchanged another conspiring look and said nothing.
Thorunn nodded as if she'd expected as much. She walked towards the crying girl and effortlessly hoisted her to her feet. Now that she wasn't cowering or slouched, Thorunn noted that she was a good few inches taller than herself, and a good seventeen years younger. Eriswe was shaking, bottom lip trembling, a strand of dirtied white-blonde hair falling over her slanted gold eyes.
Thorunn pulled the glass dagger from the elf's belt and held it up for the crowd to see. "This knife, yes? Why, then, did you not disarm her?" she asked the persecutors.
The crowd started parting ways to make a path for a familiar man coming through, angry-eyed. "What's going on here?" Commander Istar Cairn-Breaker demanded. "Why aren't you lot training the newcomers I sent you? There's a war going on for Talos's sake, in case you missed-" His dark brown eyes landed on Thorunn and the Altmer girl. "Dragonborn. Is something the matter?"
"Your men decided to lie to me in order to justify their torturing of this girl," said Thorunn calmly as she lowered the dagger in her hand.
Istar's eyes went stern. "Who?"
"Those two." She pointed to the two in question, one of which was holding the whip.
Istar marched over to them and yanked both up by the collars of their mail. "You will not lie in the presence of your betters, is that understood? Let alone the Gods damned betrothed of the king." He shoved the two away and turned to Thorunn, all wisps of his anger replaced by an apologetic look. "What would you have me do with them, Your Grace?"
"Leave them. We can't afford to lose men now. I suggest you finger-wag them about torturing this girl instead of lying to me, however. And give them a long lesson on what to do with surrendered enemies that are barely in their teenage years." Thorunn didn't wait for his response. She looked towards the trembling Eriswe. "Come on, girl. Let's figure out what to do with you."
The elf nodded eagerly and Thorunn made her way back through the crowd. She felt no pity for this girl. Girl or no, she still made the conscious decision to take up arms against Thorunn's men, and that was unacceptable. That she surrendered wasn't what gave Thorunn pause. Any other time, she'd laugh and strike the enemy dead anyway. But this elf taking small, careful steps beside her was a misguided girl, especially in the eyes of the elves with their prolonged lives.
She led the elf back to the Blue Palace and up to the throne room. The only people in the room in Ulfric's absence were Freya Gentry and the court wizard, Sybille Stentor. Both women were quietly minding their own business, not reacting to Thorunn's arrival despite the oddity she had with her.
Ulfric was resting, thus unavailable. Thorunn realized with a jolt of surprising excitement that for once, a matter was completely in her hands. That power tasted good. She turned to face the elf, whose eyes were on the ground.
"Look at me, girl," Thorunn ordered. The elf did as bade. "You say you are no combatant?"
"N-No. I know a little bit of magic- er, all of my kind do, I suppose -but none of it is destructive. I can heal people and I can cook and clean and wash linens, even sew. If you won't let me return home... I'll do what it takes for my life."
"Do you have parents?"
She looked away again.
"Look at me."
She obeyed reluctantly. "I do, but they... They don't want me. They wanted a battle mage, not a daughter, and, well... I can't be that. They forced me anyway, and that's how... how I ended up here. I want no part in the war, I swear to you. All that talk of mer being the superior race and how we have to rule the world, I don't care for it. I love my home and my people but what they're doing... It isn't right, I understand."
Thorunn weighed her options. "Even so, you were part of their army, if briefly. Do you know their plans? Where next they plan to hit?"
"They were talking about spreading East. Forgive me, ma'am, I don't recall the name of the city, but they spoke of snow and cold weathers."
Windhelm, Thorunn knew, her heart dropping. "What else? How did they reach Solitude? What route did you take to get here?"
"High Rock, ma'am. We crossed the Eltheric Ocean into High Rock. The Bretons had no choice but to let us pass because of the treaty."
"Yes, yes, I'm well acquainted with this treaty," Thorunn said with an impatient wave of her hand. "Do you have anything else to offer in regards to their future plans?"
"No, I'm sorry," She hung her head. "What... what will become of me?"
Thorunn thought on it. This elf could be useful, but Thorunn wasn't sure if she was useful enough to prove an asset rather than a liability. There was also the matter of this girl feeding her a line of bullshit in order to weasel her way into Ulfric's plans and secrets. Thorunn made her decision.
"You can become my personal ward and servant, nothing more. You will not be permitted to attend formal gatherings of the court and you are not allowed free roam of the palace. You will be under constant scrutiny and not relayed any information whatsoever on the coming war. The only time you may leave the city is at my side should I choose to bring you along. Understand that the only reason I am allowing you your life is because you are a child that didn't object to giving me the information I requested. You will not send any letters, own any land, conspire with any of your kinsmen, don any weapons, or do virtually anything without my consent. If you display good behavior and do nothing that would give me cause to suspect your disloyalty, we may speak of you becoming a battle maiden. You'll heal soldiers and perhaps become apprentice to Freir at the Temple of the Divines. Are we clear?"
Eriswe curtsied. "Yes, ma'am. Thank you for my life. Thank you."
But Thorunn didn't know if she was truly doing this elf a kindness.