A/N: We may even get three chapters tonight. Forsworn Do Blood On The Ice is going to spill over into two chapters, what with the first half of this one being Kodlak deciding being politically neutral only goes so far.
Summary: When the Forsworn take Windhelm, no man of honour can stand by and let innocent lives be put at risk. But once Kodlak's in Windhelm, he finds himself face to face with a Jarl who's not quite the despot he'd thought... and then a grisly discovery requires both men to put aside their differences and work together to protect Windhelm from the enemy within.
Kodlak had seen the fight from Jorrvaskr, watching from the Skyforge with Eorlund, then both of them staring in amazement as they'd seen the dragon flying off again, this time with a small figure on the back.
"Is that Jarl Elisif flying off on the back of a dragon?" Eorlund had asked, disbelieving. Kodlak had just nodded, not sure he trusted himself to actually speak.
"Well!" Eorlund had laughed. "Girl's got guts, I'll give her that. I'm no Empire-lover, but the girl's a true Nord after all."
"She always was," Kodlak said, feeling a little bit tearful as he watched the young queen fly off to her destiny, proud and worried and hopeful all at once. He wasn't exactly a fan of the Empire himself, but he was so very very proud of young Elisif.
Returning to the hall, he'd found Aela and Ria arriving, having just got back from Dragonsreach themselves... and a young woman with them in Stormcloak gear. Except hers was gleaming with enchantments, as were the Blades swords on her back, and she was no Nord. Breton, almost certainly some sort of mage... and he knew her.
The dream, always the dream, of Sovngarde awaiting, Harbingers before him being taken by Hircine, and then his turn... and the wolf held at bay by two of them, a rogue and a mage, the red-haired Imperial in black and red leather, and the Breton witch with her magic at the ready... and the wolf sent fleeing by black arrows and unholy fire.
Kodlak as a rule did not hold with magecraft, but for the dream to keep coming and for him to keep being saved from the beast blood by an Imperial man with his ex-lover's face and a Breton witch with power that probably didn't come from the Aedra, and for the woman to be real and alive and here! Such dreams came rarely, and Kodlak would take this one as a sign from the gods.
"Harbinger," Aela was saying, coming to greet him. "I thought you should know we did it. We caught a dragon."
"And let him go, I see," Kodlak said, tearing his eyes away from the Breton with the knowing smile. "Was that really Elisif I saw on his back?"
"It was!" Ria gasped. "She was right there talking to a dragon like it was no big deal or anything, like it's the sort of thing she does every day, and not only does it tell her what she wants to know, she persuades him to fly her there! She was amazing, Kodlak, you should have seen it."
"I do not doubt it, lass, it was a mighty deed," Kodlak laughed, wishing he'd gone with them now. "But who's your friend?"
The Breton stepped forward, still that unsettling smile on her face. Blind in one eye, warpaint over the scars that covered it, an old battle wound no doubt. But was she honourable? Kodlak had no idea, but he had a feeling she just might be able to help him.
"Eola," she said, and that cleared a few things up. That was no High Rock name, that was a Reachwoman's name. Well now. Wasn't that ironic. He wondered if she was actually Forsworn or just a spellsword who happened to hail from there.
She must have seen suspicion on his face because her smiled faded a little and her eyes hardened.
"Don't worry, I'm not here to join," she told him. "I know you don't take mages."
"Oh magic has its place," Kodlak said, repressing the unease he was feeling at the sight of her. "We just don't practice it here in Jorrvaskr... but what Companions do away from here is their own business, so long as it's honourable."
"Oh I see. So magic's fine as long as you don't have to be confronted with it and mages are prepared to hide the fact they're mages around you," Eola said, nodding her head, scrutinising him carefully. "Of course."
Which wasn't it, it wasn't that at all, it was just mages didn't fight fair, they'd keep moving and dodging and flinging fire and ice at you before you could get a blow in, and when you did hit them, those robes completely failed to protect them and the whole business left you feeling vaguely tainted. No true warrior had any business messing around with magic – look what it had done to him, after all.
"Your opinion of Jorrvaskr remains your own," Kodlak said through gritted teeth. "But if you dislike the place so much, why are you travelling with two Shield-Sisters?"
"She's not – well, she was here helping Elisif," Aela said, glaring at Eola, who didn't seem to care. "Now her boyfriend's off on some secret mission in Riften, and she's probably going back to her father in Windhelm."
Windhelm? Not many Reachmen in Windhelm.
"You're not from the Reach then?" he asked, frowning. Eola smirked as if at some private joke.
"Oh, I am, and my father definitely is. But recent events have led to a bit of a population movement, and now my father's living in Windhelm. It's a bit cold out there, but we're settling in."
"Ulfric must be loving that," Kodlak said out loud, before recalling how cagey Elisif had been about how she'd neutralised the threat from Ulfric, and it dawned on him that Elisif had neutralised the threat by killing Ulfric, and she clearly hadn't done it alone. Reachmen in Windhelm, lots of them... Elisif rumoured to be a Forsworn hostage... the Forsworn having their own grievances against the Stormcloaks... Talos help him.
"The Forsworn have taken Windhelm," Kodlak said, seeing guilty looks on Aela and Ria's faces and smug satisfaction on Eola's. "And Elisif sanctioned this?"
"She needed Ulfric out of the way so Balgruuf would let her use his palace, and when the Legion wouldn't help..." Aela admitted. "Harbinger, Vilkas and Farkas are still there, keeping an eye on the place, Madanach's not as bad as they say, I wouldn't cross him but he's not a monster either."
This was hardly reassuring. "Madanach himself's running the place?" Kodlak cried. "By the – by the Divines, Aela, the man's got so much blood on his hands it's a wonder they're not stained red permanently. Maybe he's biding his time now, but it's only a matter of time before something happens. Where are my things, I need to pack, we need to be on the road immediately."
"Harbinger, you can't be serious – it's dangerous!" Aela protested, realising what he was intending. "The situation's under control, I promise."
"Is it really," Kodlak said, sceptical. Aela had reached out to grab his arm, panic in her eyes, and she really didn't want him to go. That she was worried was rather touching, but Kodlak knew what honour demanded, and it wasn't letting some Reachman warlord preside unchecked over innocent Nords.
"He put up with us and the twins in his camp for the best part of a week," Ria added hopefully. "He didn't even object too much when Farkas seduced his son."
"He did what?" Kodlak cried, and while he didn't disapprove of men being with men, and knew Farkas didn't care what gender his partners were, going for Madanach's son was just asking for trouble. "Talos help us. I'm definitely going. That city is going to need politically neutral observers keeping an eye on Madanach, and if Elisif's not going to be there to rein him in, clearly I'll have to go. Nine know what he'll do otherwise."
"The Temple of Talos is still open," Eola said quietly, halting Kodlak in his tracks. Slowly he turned to look at her, not sure what she'd just said, or what she meant by it anyway.
"The Temple of Talos," Kodlak said, uncertain. "What... the one in Windhelm?"
Eola nodded, smile gone, looking deadly serious now.
"Yeah. Da hasn't had to sign the White-Gold Concordat yet, and it seemed more hassle than it was worth to shut the place down," Eola said, shrugging. "Talos-worship's still legal under Jarl Madanach. As long as you don't start preaching in his palace – he will throw you out if you start extolling the virtues of terrible and mighty Talos in front of him."
Da – father? Madanach the King in Rags was Eola's father. Kodlak could weep. But the same Madanach allowing Talos-worship in his city... Kodlak hadn't seen that one coming. It seemed some of his worries might be unfounded. All the same, the situation was a political tinderbox. If bloodshed was to be avoided, the city needed observers on the ground, honourable observers. Neutral observers, although Kodlak was beginning to think half of Jorrvaskr had helped out in the takeover. All the same, who else was there? The Greybeards? Hah, as if. No, Kodlak needed to get to Windhelm in person and assess things for himself.
Things had not got off to the best start when the portal appeared before them when they were barely past the Ritual Stone, some eldritch voice shrieking down it in an unintelligible language. Eola had hissed under her breath and turned to Aela.
"I knew she'd last five minutes on her own. Listen, I need to go, but when you get to Windhelm, just tell Da I'll be back soon, and say to him this: iTa cean calwan cavairma."/i
"Tah kay-an calwen cavare-mer?" Aela said, frowning as she went over the unfamiliar sounds.
"Close enough," Eola sighed. "Look, just tell him I'm helping his Dragonborn lady friend out. He'll understand. I'll be back soon, I hope, see you!"
Eola leapt through the portal and was gone, leaving Aela looking haunted and Ria also a bit nervous.
"Lady friend?" Kodlak asked, dreading to think what that turn of phrase implied. "Aela, Elisif is twenty three, Madanach was a seasoned warrior when they arrested him twenty years ago, surely he's not so devoid of honour..."
"She's not his girlfriend," Aela reassured him, although she didn't look too convinced. "Really."
Kodlak sincerely hoped not, although his mood was not helped by Ria chiming in.
"But he fancies her something rotten," Ria said, grinning. "It's the talk of the entire city. Brynjolf's running a book on when or if they'll ever hook up... er, not that any of us have placed bets or anything." Ria had gone a bit pink, and Kodlak had a feeling that she wasn't being entirely truthful here.
"Dare I ask who Brynjolf is?" Kodlak asked.
"He's a market trader from Riften," Aela said, and from the way she said 'market trader', Kodlak correctly guessed that was a cover for something else entirely. "He works for Elisif acquiring items and information, and managing her reputation."
Good gods, what was happening to his Companions?
"Lass, we are plain-speaking warriors, not rogues and sycophants," Kodlak sighed. "Does he perchance steal things, spy on people and spread rumours?"
Both Aela and Ria looked a bit embarrassed, shamefaced as they admitted yes, that was precisely what Brynjolf did.
"And Elisif knows about this?" Kodlak said, trying to work out why Elisif would keep a thief on her payroll.
Aela and Ria admitted this was also the case.
"But he broke me out of prison!" Ria added eagerly. "And we wouldn't have taken Windhelm without him! He and his friends rounded up every soul gem in the city for the illusion shield to keep Madanach's hidden camp hidden, and he's managed to keep enough money coming in to fund all of it."
"Did you ask how?" Kodlak asked. Of course not. First the Forsworn, then the Thieves Guild, who else had Elisif thrown in her lot with? It'd be Dark Brotherhood renegades next. Or Daedra-worshippers. Or both.
Of course, the Forsworn were also rumoured to worship Daedra too, and looking at Madanach, Kodlak could believe it. They'd arrived at the city to find goats' heads and Spriggan corpses decorating the entry bridge and gates, speared on wooden spikes that had been jammed into stone somehow – had they melted it with concentrated mage fire? Kodlak could only give the poor carriage driver outside the city a sympathetic look, although the Altmer running the stables seemed happy enough, actually smiling as a couple of Forsworn, one male and one female, both leaned in closer, seeming to be hanging on his every word, although Kodlak was sure that wasn't what they really wanted to be hanging on.
Inside the city, the guard had been replaced by Forsworn warriors wearing rather more fur that Kodlak recalled them ever wearing in the Reach, but other than that, no real differences. There was the cook from the tavern collecting firewood, an Altmer on her way back from the market, a dark-haired Nord leaving the tavern just as a red-haired Dunmer entered it, all citizens seeming to be going about their business... apart from the man in black leather with a hood hiding most of his face, standing in the shadows near the gate.
"Welcome back, lasses," he called, slow Riften drawl giving him away. Brynjolf, had to be.
"Brynjolf," Aela nodded to him. "We're back. Thought you should know it worked. Elisif's on her way to the portal now, flew off on the back of a dragon."
"Really?" Brynjolf said, impressed. "Well now. You are going to have to tell me the rest of that over a mead or two. That sounds like a story our little Dragonborn will need the world to hear."
"Sure thing," Aela laughed, before remembering she was a Companion and her Harbinger was right there. "Er, Brynjolf, this is Kodlak Whitemane. He's our Harbinger. He heard the Forsworn had taken the city and decided to come and see for himself."
"You're the Harbinger?" Brynjolf asked, surprised, and then a slow grin appeared on his face. "Ah. I see. You don't trust Madanach not to start executing Nords. I wouldn't worry. No one's died yet. They've all been good as gold so far. You'll want to visit the Palace then. Straight up that way, through the arch, keep going. Can't miss it. Just keep a civil tongue in your head, Himself's got a bit of a temper at the best of times. Bring booze, or have either Elisif or Eola with you, he's always in a better mood with them around. Say, wasn't Eola meant to be coming back with you?"
"She leapt through some portal or other on the way back," Ria said, biting her lip. "We're not sure where she went. But she seemed to know what she was doing?"
"She said she was helping Elisif," Aela said. "So I'm guessing Madanach sanctioned it. Or one of his people did."
"You're guessing," Brynjolf said, actually hauling himself upright and looking like he wasn't sure whether to laugh or sympathise. "Shor's bones, Aela, I hope you're a bit more certain when you tell Madanach that. He's very fond of Eola, you know. She's the baby of the family and he's not seen her in two decades. He'll be very upset if anything happened to her."
"Don't remind me," Aela said, teeth gritted. And now here they were in the Palace of the Kings itself, bear banners gone and replaced by silver banners with a crowned red eagle on them. Too good quality to have been produced since the takeover, which meant Madanach had been planning this a while. Originally intended for Markarth? Who knew.
What he did know was that Farkas was standing at the end of the hall with a big Orc glaring at him and a furious Forsworn man with silver hair like Kodlak's own was shouting at him.
"What do you mean, he jumped into a portal?" the Forsworn, who Kodlak could only assume was Madanach himself, shouted. "Portals don't just open! We've got a very strict schedule, Keirine herself is in charge of it, there are no unauthorised portal openings in this city! She would know, believe me!"
"But that's what happened!" Farkas protested. "Argis said he fancied wearing his armour today, got his weapons to hand, just in case, he said, and then this glowing purple thing opened and he told me he had to go, duty called but he'd be back and not to worry, then he kissed me and was gone!"
Argis? Wasn't that Elisif's housecarl's name? A housecarl with mysterious origins that Aela had recognised but been guarded about? And seen coming out of Farkas's room the morning after Farkas had got back to Jorrvaskr – dear gods, Farkas had been said to have seduced Madanach's son. Madanach's son was a Nord and Elisif's new housecarl?
"Not to worry? Oh good gods," Madanach cried, hands tearing at his hair. "What have I told him, what did I always tell him growing up? Never jump in a portal when you don't know what's on the other side! He knows that, all my kids know that! What possessed him..." He looked up to see them advancing, expression barely changing as it swept over Aela and Ria, but hardening as silver-blue eyes took in Kodlak.
"You're back. Who's this. And where... where's Eola? She was supposed to be coming back with you. Don't tell me she's gone to Riften with Cicero after all."
"Not exactly," Aela began and Madanach's hostility intensified.
"Not exactly? What do you mean not exactly? Where is she?" He saw the guilt in Aela and Ria's eyes and something in Madanach's face shifted, just for a second or two, angry king giving way to a worried father just for a brief instant.
It wasn't a lot but Kodlak wondered if maybe he'd misjudged the man.
"Where is my daughter?" Madanach said quietly, ominously, and Ria lost her nerve completely.
"She jumped through a portal too, we couldn't stop her, please don't be angry!" Ria cried. Madanach stared at her then growled, baring his teeth.
"She did what?" he roared. "Have all my children taken complete leave of their senses? She's a mage too, surely she knows better! Didn't she say anything about where she was going?"
"Only that Elisif needed her," Aela said, conveniently leaving out the bit where Eola had implied she was his girlfriend. "Ta cean calwan cavairma, I think she said?"
"My chosen called for her help – but Elisif didn't have a charm with her," Madanach said, frowning. "Not unless Keirine... old gods help me. Kaie! KAIE!"
Kaie turned out to be another fur-clad Forsworn with eyes just like Madanach's and a scowl like his too.
"What?" she cried, and the lack of respect for Madanach cemented Kodlak's suspicion that this was another child of his.
"Where's your aunt?" Madanach snapped. "I need a word with her."
"I don't know," Kaie said, her composure shifting a little. "No one's seen her since yesterday. I was having her quarters searched and found this on her desk. Addressed to you."
Madanach took the letter she was holding and scanned its contents, rage growing with every word.
"Very sorry... Elisif not going to survive on her own... going with her to stop her being too heroic... may summon Argis and Eola if need be... don't worry, we'll be back soon... damn her to the Void and back!" He screwed up the paper, hurled it into the corner and sent a firebolt after it, glaring as it went up in flames before turning back to Kaie, heedless of one of his guards putting the fire out with ice magic and another sweeping up the ash.
"Da, you can't talk about the First Matriarch like that, even if she is your sister," Kaie sighed. Matriarch? Didn't the Forsworn call Hagravens that? Oh good gods, was there one of them in this city? Well, not at the moment, that was clearly Madanach's problem.
"She had no right to abduct my children without telling me, none at all," Madanach growled.
"Sounds like Argis at least knew about it, if he had weapons and armour ready," Kaie said, arms folded. "We're adults, Da, we're allowed to make our own choices."
Madanach glared at her, clearly disagreeing on this point, but thankfully he decided not to press the issue. Instead he turned back to Kodlak.
"I still haven't heard who this is," Madanach snapped. "I'm guessing from the armour he's one of your lot?"
"He's our Harbinger," Aela explained, looking very demure by her usual standards. "Kodlak Whitemane. Harbinger, this is Madanach, Jarl of Windhelm and King of the Forsworn."
Madanach's eyes had narrowed and the hostility had seemed to concentrate, getting that bit more potent.
"I know the name. So you're the one who's spent the last twenty years harassing my camps and killing my people."
Hadn't he known it would come to this? Fortunately, Kodlak had had the journey to think of some responses.
"We're paid professionals, Madanach. Called in when your people started killing travellers and civilians. You're hardly an innocent victim in this."
"Maybe not. But we were all innocent once, and it was Nord cruelty set me on my path," Madanach said coldly. "Just as Nord compassion appears to have changed my fate yet again. You're very fortunate your people have been making amends and that the young Dragonborn speaks highly of you. As it is, don't think I won't be watching you while you're here."
"Likewise," Kodlak growled. The man might be shorter than him, but he practically reeked of dark magic. Madanach was no weakling and therefore there was no dishonour in opposing him. "You may have persuaded Elisif you're on the side of the Aedra. I remain unconvinced. I'll be remaining in the city until she returns, keeping an eye on you and your troops and ensuring the innocent are not harmed."
"Did you hear that, cariad? He doesn't trust us," Madanach said, pouting at his daughter, who laughed, seeming to find the whole thing very amusing. Madanach dropped the pout and laughed himself, before turning back to Kodlak.
"You do that, Harbinger. You stay here as long as you like. You just remember who the Jarl is. The official Jarl, with the clean criminal record and the full pardon, signed by the true High Queen herself." He indicated two parchments, framed and positioned prominently on the wall, one on either side of his throne, and while Kodlak couldn't read them from here, he could see Elisif's signature on both, and an Imperial seal. By the Nine, Elisif really had declared him pardoned and Jarl of Windhelm. What she was thinking, Kodlak didn't know, but he guessed she'd had little choice.
"Just because you are on the right side of the law does not mean you're honourable," Kodlak snapped, and at these words, Madanach's expression shifted, annoyance taking on tones of sadness.
"Just because I was on the wrong side of the law most of my life doesn't mean I'm not honourable either," Madanach said quietly. Then he shrugged and retreated to the throne that had once been Ulfric's.
"Kaie, get Jorleif, get him to find the Harbinger a room. I can hardly put half of Jorrvaskr up at the palace and let their Harbinger fend for himself at the inn. I suppose you can share a room with Farkas until my son gets back."
Jorleif? Ulfric's old steward? Still here and alive and serving in some capacity? Apparently so, because despite looking a bit awkward, he looked healthy enough.
"It'll be my honour, Harbinger Whitemane, sir," Jorleif said, bowing as he emerged from Ulfric's old war room and led Kodlak away. "I didn't think we'd see you here, but half of Jorrvaskr is here so I suppose it's no surprise. I'll make sure you're looked after while you're here, don't you worry."
"Madanach didn't have you arrested?" Kodlak asked, surprised. Jorleif shook his head.
"Oh no. Well, at first, but the morning after the takeover, he hauled me into his throne room and said he needed someone in his court who knew where everything was, and that I could have my old job back if I swore loyalty to him. Well, seeing as the High Queen was here vouching for him and Companions helping too, I decided he couldn't be all bad and agreed. So I help out as best I can, although Kaie's in charge of the city guard and oversees a lot of the administration. I just look after the servants and the palace itself mostly."
"And Madanach's treated you well," Kodlak said, scratching his head. "He's not abused or ill-treated you."
"I won't lie, he's got a bit of a temper, but he's not much worse than Ulfric, and he only actually throws Destruction magic at young Cicero, and frankly I don't blame him there. Creepy little fellow, that one," Jorleif said, shivering. "But as for Madanach, no, he's not so bad. Seems to know what he's doing. City could have fallen apart after the Dragonborn killed Ulfric. But it hasn't so far and I don't think it will. Most of the die-hards died in the uprising. Rest of us just want a bit of peace."
"You don't miss Ulfric at all?" Kodlak asked, feeling fairly certain that someone who'd worked as closely with Jarl Ulfric as Jorleif had surely had some feelings on the subject. Jorleif just shrugged.
"Aye, of course. But Ulfric knew the risk he was taking when he started the war. At least he died bravely. Me, I'm just glad to still have my own life and that things aren't worse."
Not exactly a ringing endorsement but not condemnation either. Very odd. Kodlak had expected a terrified populace cowering under Forsworn rule, but Jorleif just seemed resigned. It was early days, of course. But it seemed things weren't as dire as Kodlak had feared.
Eola returned that evening, walking into the city with not a mark on her and her usual smile on her face... and on her arm was an old woman in black robes, coated in illusion magic and smelling of necromancy and wrong.
Hagraven. Right here in Windhelm, and the guards stood to attention as she passed. They knew, they must do, the entire Forsworn knew, and on talking to Aela and the twins, it became apparent they knew too.
"She came up with the illusion shield and looks after the portals, the uprising wouldn't have worked without her," Aela said, although she didn't sound terribly enthusiastic.
"Look, she's Madanach's sister, she's untouchable," Vilkas sighed. "I'd personally love to carve her head from her shoulders, but she's too important. I think the Forsworn respect her more than they do Madanach."
"She's not so bad," Farkas said quietly. "She listened to me talk about Argis. Made me tea. She's OK. For a Hag, you know?"
His Companions had collectively gone insane. There was no other explanation for it. Mind you, if the gods were sending him dreams of the child of the Forsworn King saving him from Hircine, he was possibly not entirely sane himself.
Eola was being hugged to death and told off by her father, scolding her for worrying him like that, was she all right, how had it gone, was Elisif OK?
"She's fine, Daddy," Eola soothed, kissing her father gently on the cheek. "I'm fine. I helped kill two dragons and a ton of undead Nords, it was awesome!"
"Good on you, cariad," Madanach said quietly, kissing her back and ruffling her hair. "I'm very proud. Just tell me next time, I was worried! And you! Disappearing! What if I'd needed your services urgently? You've been gone a whole day!"
"I've been gone longer and the sky has yet to fall in," Keirine said, shrugging. "You would have been far more distraught had your beloved been killed by Draugr Deathlords within minutes of her arrival. As it is, she is safe... or was safe when I last saw her. Alduin may since have eaten her."
"Don't!" Madanach shivered. "And she is not my beloved. She and I talked and we are just friends and collaborators."
"Of course," Keirine said, smirking.
"And Argis, where is my son?" Madanach demanded. "What happened to him? Why isn't he with you? Keirine? Where is he?"
"Sovngarde, I imagine," Keirine shrugged, and something almost like a high-pitched whine came from Madanach's throat as he put a hand to his face.
"No..." Madanach breathed. "No, he's not... he can't be!"
Next to Kodlak, Farkas had gone very pale, reaching for his brother's hand and Kodlak barely knew Argis but even so hadn't wanted to see him die.
"Via the portal," Keirine clarified, smirking a little. "What, you thought he'd died valiantly in honourable battle? No, no, he lives yet. He went through the portal to Sovngarde with Elisif. It's possible they might decide to keep him if he dies there, but he's no shade. After Skuldafn, I didn't feel it wise to let Elisif go alone, and Eola and I were never getting in. Don't trouble yourself over it, brother, they will both be back with exciting stories to tell before we know it."
"Or they'll get killed out there and we'll never see them again!" Madanach cried. Cursing under his breath, he stalked back to his throne and sank into it, hand covering his face. It was Eola who quietly poured a goblet of wine and brought it to him, balancing on the arm of his chair and putting an arm round his shoulder.
"They'll be all right," Eola said quietly. "And even if they're not, don't worry. I'll look after you."
Soft laugh from Madanach, who accepted the drink and slipped an arm around his daughter.
"Bless you. You're a sweet girl. Thank you."
Kodlak looked away, wishing Madanach would just stop being so damn human, with children and family and feelings. He needed to stay neutral and respected, able to step in and take up the side of innocents if needed.
He needed to be able to challenge Madanach if he had to... and that would be a lot easier if Madanach would actually act like the bloody-handed murderer everyone said he was.
Early hours of the morning. Barely past sunrise, the sun slowly rising over a sleeping city. Not that it made a lot of difference temperature-wise. It merely took the place from frozen to cold.
Madanach would personally prefer to be back in bed, swathed in furs, fire rune under the bed, nice and warm with some tea or soup waiting for him when he got up. But Odvan wouldn't have woken him up at Sithis' backside o'clock without a good reason. At first Madanach had thought it was one of the children, or they'd brought Elisif back.
He'd not dreamt he'd be seeing this.
"What happened?" he asked, shivering despite his thick fur parka. "I mean... who did this?"
"Wish I knew," Kaie sighed, standing beside him and staring at the bloodied naked corpse that had once been Susannah the Wicked. She'd been the one to send for him, and Madanach was pleased to note his Forsworn were already busy cordoning off the area. They'd even gathered some witnesses together, although Madanach suspected none of them would be any help. "First we heard about it was when Helgird came out here to do her morning invocations to Arkay and found the body. That beggar Silda was next on the scene, and then that Corrium man. We've got them lined up but they don't seem to know anything, so the guards tell me. They came running when they heard the screams but we've not been patrolling this area much. I mean, the graveyard's not exactly a target for thieves, is it?"
No, not normally, but burial places were always a target for deviants in other ways. Madanach just hadn't thought it'd be warm enough for the sexual ones to be out here, and as for graverobbers and necromancy, there was already a surplus of bodies of fallen Stormcloaks in the Hall of the Dead that were far more accessible than the ones out here.
Of course, Susannah hadn't been out here, had she? She'd been a living, breathing woman only last night, serving drinks, laughing with her customers, just as she'd been the night Madanach had met her, undercover in a Nord city looking for others that were tired of Nord tyranny. He'd not expected one of them to be a Nord barmaid, of course, but Susannah's sympathy for the Dunmer had been genuine. She'd been wary at first of course, but Madanach had tipped generously, mentioned she reminded him of his little girl Eola, acted the part of lonely widower who just wanted a bit of company, and generally charmed her into co-operation. She'd smiled and called him an old sweetheart, and told him everything he wanted to know, and who knows, maybe she might even have been interested if Elisif wasn't. Doubtful but you never knew.
She'd never be interested in him or anyone else now. It saddened Madanach. It made him angry. It worried him. Why her? Why display her like this? Did the murderer know she'd helped the uprising? Sithis, was someone targeting collaborators?
"Tell you what, Brannach, those don't half look like operation cuts. Look, that one's exactly where a Matriarch would cut to remove a kidney."
"Don't be ridiculous, Sorla, why'd a Nord girl be donating her kidneys to one of us?"
"Well, she wouldn't, it was the bloody murderer, wasn't it? Honestly, Brannach, you're a fecking idiot sometimes, I swear."
The two guards meant to be keeping an eye on the body had been poking at it curiously, trying to make sense of the wounds, and Kaie had already made her way over, tersely telling them that was evidence, that was, stop interfering. Then she took a closer look, kneeling next to Susannah's remains, going over the various wounds.
Kaie had been a Forsworn warrior for over a decade now, and she'd killed an awful lot of people and seen an awful lot of corpses and helped her aunt out with experiments often enough to know what wounds looked like... and what surgical incisions looked like.
"Da. Get over here. Take a look at this."
Madanach made his way over, wondering what had got his daughter worked up. She had her dagger out, poking at the wounds. Surprisingly clean wounds and who on earth stabbed someone to death in straight cuts down the back of the legs or on the shoulders? The relative lack of blood on those told its own story. They hadn't, it had been the sliced throat that had killed her. The rest happened after she died. From the way Kaie was frowning, he guessed she'd worked that out too.
"So why did he slice her open after she died?" Madanach said, trying to work out just what their killer was playing at. Kaie's blade parted the severed flesh to reveal cut open femurs.
"Someone was after her marrow," Kaie replied grimly. "I think they took sinews too – don't ask me how. Da, this isn't political or even personal. Someone's doing some magical experimentation, and it's not one of us."
Magical experimentation... which meant it wasn't aimed at him. It wasn't the work of a resistance movement at all, it was some lone necromage.
Madanach the King in Rags was more than capable of dealing with lone necromages.
"Fascinating..." Madanach breathed, before remembering there were civilians watching. "Er... I mean, this is appalling and a crime. I will not have unauthorised necromancy in my city! Brannach, get the First Matriarch down here. Kaie, I want the city sealed. No one gets in, no one gets out. We've got ourselves a rogue mage to find."
Kaie snapped a few orders out to various guards to close the gates – known city residents allowed back in but no one allowed out except with explicit authorisation from the Jarl.
"You think we can do it?" Kaie asked once this was done. "Find who did this?"
"Yes," Madanach said, grimly determined to track this bastard down. He'd liked Susannah. He'd considered her a friend. And now she was dead, and he'd utterly failed to protect her. Because he'd had no idea there was a madman on the loose. "We're going to find him and then I'm going to kill him. After due process and a fair trial, of course. Speaking of which, I'm going to need a jury, aren't I? We'd better round up some fine upstanding citizens to verify that we're not harassing the innocent. Women, and men who can't do magic. All of them with strong stomachs, I'm not sure what we're going to find."
"You want Viola Giordano then, she's tough as anything and seems to have her nose everywhere," Kaie said, mentally cataloguing the residents of Windhelm. "If you wanted Dunmer representation, Suvaris is pretty well-respected. And you want Brunwulf Free-Winter of course. City will believe him, and he's a Great War veteran, he's seen things."
"Good, round 'em all up, tell them they're not under suspicion and I'll be sure to compensate them for their time," Madanach said, something else occurring to him. "Oh, and get Whitemane down here, Delphine too, although her name's not to go on any paperwork. Delphine knows a thing or two about investigations, and as an outsider himself, Kodlak's neutral. He wants to assure himself I'm honourable? He can watch me solve a murder."
"I'll get right on it," Kaie promised. Madanach smiled to himself as he watched her go. He'd been starting to get a little restless. This promised to be just the cure.
Madanach sat back on his throne, pondering the evidence so far. Susannah's body was in the Hall of the Dead, Helgird and Keirine already going over it, both women just a bit too keen on poring over freshly killed remains and talking incisions and organs and gods knew what else and honestly he had a feeling Helgird wouldn't even care about the whole Keirine being a Hagraven thing, she was so glad to have someone around who got as enthusiastic over corpses as she did.
Then there were the witness statements. Next to no useful information of course, just citizens in the vicinity going about their daily business, who'd seen nothing of any use. Helgird coming out of the Hall of the Dead to tend to graves and finding a fresh corpse. Silda warming herself by the forge, hearing Helgird's screams and coming running. Then Calixto Corrium happening to drop by on his morning walk, claiming he'd seen a fellow run off but didn't get a look at him. He'd been very vague on details, only saying it had been too dark to see. In one sense, not helpful. In another... what was he doing out there? Helgird had been doing her job, Silda often roamed the streets, having nowhere else to go (Madanach would see about that – he had every intention of making the Temple of Talos give her somewhere to sleep). But Corrium – wealthy citizen, out at that time in the morning? In Windhelm? Was he an insomniac... or something more? Madanach didn't know but it was suspicious.
"This is an outrage, I am an innocent civilian, you have no right to arrest me like this! I demand to see the Jarl!"
Oh good, they'd found Viola. She was the loudest, but Suvaris and Brunwulf were behind her and they looked a bit worried too, all following after Borkul. Then the door to upstairs opened and Delphine arrived, Kodlak not far behind her.
"Well, I'm right here, Madam Giordano," Madanach said, getting up and making his way down the steps as the little group gathered. "Don't worry, you're not under arrest. You three have been selected due to the esteem you're held in by the rest of Windhelm, and because I don't think any of you were involved in this morning's incident."
"Incident?" That was Delphine, ears pricking up. "What incident? You didn't tell me there'd been an incident!"
"You were in bed with Brynjolf, we didn't want to disturb you," Borkul said, smirking a little and seeming to enjoy the hostile glare from Delphine that elicited.
"And I'm here because...?" Kodlak asked, already sounding bored.
"Because you're an outsider and therefore it's unlikely to be you," Madanach said. "You came here as a self-appointed honourable observer, here's your chance to observe. A woman died this morning – murdered. We think it was necromancy, and not anything carried out by any of my people either."
"Necromancy!" Suvaris gasped. "By Azura, I didn't think..."
Kodlak also looked suitably appalled.
"Necromancers? Here? And not with you? By the Nine, Madanach, didn't you know?"
Madanach could feel a headache coming on. Non-mages, honestly. Show them a few illusions or fireballs and they thought you were a demi-god who knew everything. They also had a tendency to assume that because one was a mage, one would automatically know everything about anything magical in the vicinity, whether one was responsible or not.
In the Reach, they would be quite correct – Madanach's coronation rites had left him able to sense these things on his own land, and this rogue necromancer would have got about five minutes into his rite before Madanach would have had guards dropping round for a little chat. Out here on Nord land, he was essentially fighting blind.
Of course, in his younger days, he'd not been bad at that either.
"No, I didn't know," Madanach sighed. "Not until they found the body this morning. But by the old gods, I will put a stop to it. That's where you come in."
"You're launching a murder investigation," Delphine said, approving. "Count me in, I'll have people listening out. I'd not heard anything about necromancy, but it's possible no one here knew enough about magic to know the signs."
Madanach could believe that. What he couldn't believe was Viola's reaction.
"No one cared, you mean," Viola said, glaring at him. "The guards wouldn't help, the people wouldn't help, I was the only one who thought he could be caught!"
"He?" Madanach sat upright, alarmed. "What do you mean, he? You know something about this?"
"The Butcher!" Viola breathed. "I've been following him for months now – well, not following. Trying to find him. Oh sure, people say I'm just snooping around bothering people, but I'm trying to save lives!"
Viola looked genuinely concerned, and on the one hand it meant she at least would be happy to be involved... but to find out Susannah wasn't the first... and Ulfric had just let this go on? Of course he had, Madanach really shouldn't be surprised by this point.
"JORLEIF!" Madanach roared. Damn idiot Nord steward, what in the Void had he been doing this entire time? Nepos would never have let things get to this stage.
"You called, my Jarl?" Jorleif asked, looking a bit worried and so he should, damn him.
"Tell me everything you know about the Butcher," Madanach growled. "How long's this been going on exactly?"
"Oh. That," Jorleif sighed. "Difficult to say, Jarl. I mean, Friga Shatter-Shield's murder was the first, we think, then Isabella from the inn. There might have been a few travellers vanished too, but we're not sure. We think it was the same man killed Friga and Isabella though. Body found at night or first thing in the morning, all torn up. We've no idea who's behind it."
"How long has this been going on?" Madanach said quietly, doing a very good job of staying calm considering he'd not felt quite this murderously angry in some time.
"Er, about six months now?" Jorleif said, scratching his head. "Friga died while Ulfric was off in Solitude fighting the High King."
"You've had a dangerous serial killer stalking the streets for six months and no one did anything about it?" Madanach roared, finally losing his temper. "No, let me guess, you were stretched thin because of the war and Ulfric didn't have time to deal with it?"
That did indeed turn out to be the size of things and Delphine was next in the firing line.
"And why in the Void didn't you tell me there was a killer on the loose, hmm?"
"You were after potential allies and military intelligence!" Delphine cried. "I was planning an uprising, not looking into rumours of some serial killer or other who might not even exist!"
"Well, he exists and because I didn't know, another girl's dead!" Madanach snapped. "He got Susannah from the Candlehearth, and she was one of our informers. I liked that girl. She had spirit, you know? And now she's gone and..." I miss her. Not to mention feeling horrible for failing to protect her. But he was Jarl now, not Ulfric... and he could avenge her at least. Madanach pulled himself together and started giving orders.
"Right. Brunwulf, Kodlak, Viola, Suvaris, you four are going to be my jury and observers, making sure we're not just executing some random person because we felt like it. You're going to be observing the investigation and testifying that we do in fact have the guilty party, when we find him, and we will find him, of that you can be sure."
Silent but determined nods from the Nords, worry on Suvaris's face but she did agree, and Viola looked nothing short of ecstatic.
"You're looking into it? You're actually looking into it?"
"Yes. Surprised?" Madanach couldn't help but ask. Of course she would be, she was used to a Jarl so focused on the big picture he couldn't see the little people making it up.
Maybe he'd been like that once. Too focused on the Silver-Bloods to think about the lives he was ruining. Well, the Silver-Bloods were gone now and so was Ulfric, and honestly even if this escapade went wrong, he had his back-up plan. Get Kaie to safety via the portals, Nepos to adopt her, his little girl Jarl of the Reach one day even if he never could be in charge. It wasn't his preferred solution but it was an improvement.
But right now, he had a city to clean up – and a delighted Imperial staring at him like he was some sort of Aedric saviour.
"Yes, I mean, no, I mean... you need my help, you just ask!" Viola enthused. Madanach smiled, pleased to see someone was feeling enthusiastic about it all.
"Come on, let me show you where we've got so far," he told them, getting up and leading them into what had once been Ulfric's war room, now Madanach's crime centre. The map of Skyrim had been removed and replaced by a plan of Windhelm Delphine had produced for him weeks ago. He already had pins and charcoal lines decorating the graveyard area.
"This is what we know," he said, indicating the outline of a human figure sketched on one of the graves. "Body found naked, dumped, killed by a slash to the throat but also sporting several post-death incisions in places you just wouldn't leave wounds in battle. I've got Keirine and Helgird examining the body in more detail and we'll see how far they've got later, but this is the murder scene. As I was saying, the body was found here, but probably not killed there. Helgird from the Hall of the Dead found her, coming out to do her morning invocations to the dead and finding one more than she bargained for. She screamed, and Silda the Unseen comes running from the market area, along with Calixto Corrium. He was out taking a morning walk apparently. Why he'd be out in this weather just for the sake of it, I don't know but there he was."
"He's not normally in the habit of taking early morning walks?" Kodlak asked. It was Delphine who answered, staring thoughtfully down at the map.
"Not usually. And Windhelm is cold early in the morning, you don't go out unless you have to. Corrium's a man of means. He's not normally seen outside until early evening."
"What are you saying?" Brunwulf asked, brow furrowed. "You think he did it?"
Madanach paused, remembering interviewing the witnesses himself, and while Silda had seemed genuinely upset at not being able to help, and Helgird a little mad but not dangerously so, Corrium had seemed a bit too smooth. Always a shame when someone has to die, he'd sighed. Had to die? Madanach had looked closer and seen nothing, felt nothing. No shock or horror, no emotion at all. It had been a bit like talking to a Briarheart... and Sithis knew they killed with no trouble whatsoever.
"I don't know," Madanach said, frowning. "I have no proof whatsoever, just a suspicion about his reason for being there. It could have been anyone... but he's a potential suspect. If I knew more about the circumstances of the other two murders, I could ask him where he was for those, but needless to say Jorleif remembers nothing of the details and the paperwork's a mess. However, if we find a more likely culprit, I'd be happy to take his name off the suspect list."
"Killers often like to return to the scene of the crime," Delphine mused. "They like to see the effects their actions have caused. Of course, they also tend to keep out of sight when they do it. I'm not sure he really intended to end up being quizzed by the Jarl."
"I'm sure he didn't, but that doesn't mean he's guilty," Madanach said. Of course, it didn't make him innocent either. What Madanach really needed was evidence... and he wasn't going to get it from staring at a map.
"Come on, come with me to the Hall of the Dead," Madanach said. "Let's see how my sister's been getting on."
It was crowded in the mortuary with all of them in there – Madanach, Delphine, Suvaris, Brunwulf, Kodlak and Viola, and down in the catacombs, Helgird and an illusion-bedecked Keirine were exclaiming over the corpse while Kaie looked on.
"Look at this one, the diagonal cut from the left shoulder, do you see?" Keirine was saying. "The entire muscle's been removed, and if you do this," she sent a small flicker of lightning into the corpse, "nothing. The body as a whole moves, but the arm doesn't. He's taken the nerves."
Helgird immediately turned from Susannah's body to that of a Stormcloak soldier, lying face down with a few fresh incisions mirroring Susannah's wounds, and repeated the shock spell. The Stormcloak's arm lashed out, something Susannah's hadn't done.
"By Arkay, you're right," Helgird breathed. "But how'd he even do that?"
"I don't know," Keirine said, sounding amazed. "You know, I'm actually impressed. It's a shame he's going to be brutally killed himself when my brother finds him, I'd like to ask him about his research."
"Research?" Kodlak couldn't help himself saying and that got all three women's attention.
"Oh, you brought him," Kaie muttered, scowling at Kodlak. "Great."
"Now, now daughter, he's one of the observers," Madanach announced. "Here to make sure we're following due process and all that. Now what have you got for me?"
"A corpse," Helgird said, indicating Susannah. "Not that that's unusual for someone in here – in fact this is the most living people I've had in here for years!"
"Does it always smell like this?" Suvaris asked, hand to her mouth and looking like she was about to throw up. Dunmer cremated their dead within two days of death, they never had to deal with the smell of embalming oils, dust and rotting corpse.
"Smell like what?" Helgird asked, having lost her own sense of smell years ago. Most priests of Arkay did.
"Did you want to wait outside?" Madanach asked, seeing how pale she looked. "You don't have to be here for all of it."
"I'll be fine," Suvaris said, not really convincing anyone. Madanach backed away from her, seeing Viola do the same, and turned his attention back to the corpse.
"So, the body. What have you found?"
"It's as you suspected," Keirine said, indicating the gaping wounds. "She was killed first then dissected. Both kidneys removed, bone marrow from her long bones, the tendons from her knees and elbows, and various muscles and nerves too. Must have taken some skill to do. Whoever did this knew what they were doing – they knew anatomy, they knew magic. I would have struggled doing some of this. And this can't be their first kill either, it's too precise. Brother, I fear we have a serial killer on our hands."
"We do, there's been at least two others, and I suspect travellers have suffered too," Madanach sighed. "Now you tell me he's a competent mage and a scholar on top of being a psychopath."
"That he is. You know, I'm quite impressed," Keirine said. "When you find him, can I interrogate him? His knowledge could be useful."
"He needs to face justice, not be recruited by you people," Brunwulf snapped, Kodlak nodding in agreement.
"We have to find him first," Madanach said, dearly wishing both Nords would just be quiet. This killer's knowledge might be being misused, but Keirine was right, the surgical and medical implications could be profound. He might be worth keeping around... if they could control him and ensure he did what he was told. He couldn't stay in Windhelm, that was for sure.
Of course, Madanach also knew what had happened to the last man who'd imprisoned a brilliant but ruthless mage and thought to harness his power for his own ends. The Butcher was no King in Rags, but he was likely still dangerous.
"Got any ideas on how to track him down?" Madanach asked Keirine.
"He's left no traces of his own skin, blood or hair on the body," Keirine growled. "He's a cunning one. But Helgird here noticed that the cuts were made by curved blades – ancient Nord embalming tools like the ones she uses, and she's right. I've got some myself back in the Reach, don't use them often but they come in useful sometimes. I thought the cuts looked familiar somehow."
"Are you sure none of your people were involved?" Kodlak asked, glowering, and Madanach did at that point turn on him.
"Very sure," Madanach snapped. "I can categorically state that there was no Forsworn interest in Windhelm before I got out of prison, and Friga was already dead by then if not Isabella."
"Isabella was already dead when I first scouted the place for you, it's been going on for far longer than we've been in the area," Delphine confirmed. "So, we're looking for a Windhelm native with ancient Nord embalming tools in his possession. That's if he keeps them in his house, which I doubt. A dissection like that must take hours, he must have some sort of lair in the city. If we could find it..."
A hidden lair could be anywhere, but on the other hand, it wouldn't be in any inhabited house, other than possibly the murderer's own, and Madanach knew that if he was planning something like this, it would be far away from anywhere the authorities might associate with him. That had to limit the possibilities, and he was about to ask Delphine for suggestions... and then he noticed Kaie grinning.
"Something to add, daughter?"
"We already worked out the kill and dissection must have happened somewhere else and I've been inspecting the crime scene," Kaie said, exuding smugness. "Turns out there's a trail of blood from the graveyard leading to one of the bigger houses. Doesn't seem to be anyone home though and it's locked tight. But I'm sure a Jarl could order it unsealed. Couldn't he, Da?"
Yes. Yes he could. Sure, he should probably find the owner first and get a key rather than kicking the door open or getting Brynjolf or Sapphire to pick it open. But power definitely had its perks.
"Show me this house, daughter. We've got a killer's lair to search."
A/N: Next chapter will be Blood on the Ice part two, and probably along in the next few days!
Ta cean calwan cavairma - your chosen calls for my aid.