The doors of the Blue Palace banged open, in truth louder than Uhther had meant. Palace servants and courtiers alike turned to regard the new arrivals.

Behind him, Uhther felt his housecarls stiffen in readiness. Without looking at them, he could tell that all four had their hands on their weapon hilts.

'You certainly make an entrance,' Ralof said.

Delphine said nothing. She did not seem as wary as the housecarls, though Uhther had known her long enough to recognise the troubled look she wore. They were moving into unpredictable territory now. He knew it as well as she did. What they did next would decide if he would be remembered with honour or as just another rebel.

One of the well-dressed palace servants came forward, Uhther did not believe he'd ever met this one before.

'Lord Dragonborn,' he said, his voice high and nasal, 'the queen and the other jarls are waiting for you.'

Uhther followed without a word, the others following behind him. The servant did not lead him to the queen's audience chamber, which was where Uhther was used to seeing Elisif, but through a pair of doors into a large circular chamber where stood a large, circular table with nine chairs placed around it. This must be the chamber used for the moot, Uhther realised, where the jarls of the nine holds met. He wondered just how many of the other jarls had arrived already.

As it turned out, only the two Uhther already knew of had reached the palace. Elisif sat in the highest seat, Jarls Igmund and Idgrod sat on either side. Elisif and Idgrod appeared deep in whispered conversation while Igmund lounged in his seat, looking a little bored, though his face became thunderous when he saw Uhther enter.

'You!' he barked, 'so you've arrived, have you? Have you any idea of the peril you've put us in, you honour-blinded fool?'

'A pleasure to see you again too, Jarl Igmund,' Uhther said coolly. It had been several years since he had last met with Igmund. Markarth was, in truth, not Uhther's favourite place. Those stones had seen so much blood, there was an undeniable air of foulness in the city. The Silver-Bloods and their mine did nothing to help that problem.

Igmund's lips twisted in a snarl.

'Don't you get smart with me, boy,' he said, 'for years we have held peace, a peace that you have now broken all to pieces!'

'Jarl Igmund,' Elisif's quiet but firm voice cut across the Jarl of the Reach, 'turbulent, though these times are, it is still customary for the High Queen of Skyrim to greet a new arrival first.'

Igmund blanched and leaned back in his chair. He seemed embarrassed by his forgetfulness of custom, though he still gave Uhther the darkest of looks. Elisif turned her gaze on Uhther.

'Lord Dragonborn,' said the queen, 'I am pleased that you have come. Though the army you have stationed outside my city gives me cause for concern.'

Uhther walked around the table, careful not to look at Igmund, and knelt before the queen.

'I remain your servant, my queen,' he said, meeting her eyes, 'and that army is loyal to you and this land, as am I.'

Elisif raised an eyebrow at that.

'And yet you put this land in danger by your actions,' she said, 'you put the Thalmor embassy to the torch and risk another war. You must have known that the Aldmeri Dominion would not let this action slide.'

'I knew it, my Queen,' Uhther said. He knew he must take care with his words, 'just as I knew that the Thalmor would come for us one day. They would find any excuse to bring war to us again. Here in Skyrim more than any other land. I simply chose to begin that war on our terms rather than theirs.'

He tried to read Elisif's eyes, to judge what she thought of this. The queen was giving nothing away. Igmund, however, snorted.

'What is this rubbish?' he demanded, 'the Thalmor have left us more or less alone since the signing of the concordat.'

'If you believe that, Jarl Igmund,' Uhther said, not troubling to conceal the scorn in his voice, 'then you have hidden away in your mountain too long.'

Igmund swelled with indignation, though Elisif cut across him.

'The other jarls are on their way to attend the moot,' she said, 'no formal judgements will be made until all are in attendance. They should all be here by the end of the day. Lord Uhther, will you walk with me?'

'Of course, my queen,' said Uhther reverently, standing up and backing away while Elisif stood. Bolgeir Bearclaw, the queen's housecarl, moved towards them from where he had been standing with the other jarls' housecarls but Elisif halted him with a raised hand.

'The Lord Uhther and his companions will be enough to keep me safe, I think,' she told him, gently, 'remain here. I will not be long.'

From any other warrior, Uhther might have expected disappointment, worry or distrust. But Bolgeir's face had ever been like blank slate, giving nothing away. The man only nodded, and returned to where he had stood.

Uhther was surprised by the queen's words. To go alone with him and his warriors showed a level of trust completely at odds, not only with what she had said, but with her actions. She had put a bounty on his head, hadn't she?

Uhther's surprise seemed to be shared by the two jarls. Both Idgrod and Igmund looked wary but, at a look from Elisif, neither voiced any objections.

Elisif put an arm through his and led him away from the chamber, with Uhther's housecarls, Delphine and Ralof following on behind.

No one said a word as they walked through the corridors, servants and courtiers alike bowing as they passed, until they exited through a door and out onto a large terrace that looked newly built onto the roof of the palace's east wing.

Finally the queen stopped and turned to Uhther.

'All these years, ever since you became a thane of my court, I have trusted your council,' Elisif began, 'and time after time you have proved, by both your actions and your words, that my trust was not misplaced and that Skyrim was lucky when fate gave you to us. But you must help me understand this.'

Uhther was taken aback. As too, it seemed, were the others.

'You say you have trust in the Dragonborn,' Ralof said, 'yet you have put a bounty on his head?'

'In order to hand him over to the Thalmor,' Delphine cut in, her stern face creased in a frown, 'a curious way to treat a man you trust so well.'

Elisif regarded the two of them for a moment, then sighed.

'The bounty was a ruse,' she said, 'I never had any intention of handing Uhther over to the Thalmor.' She turned away from their surprised faces to look back into Uhther's eyes. 'And I know what the consequences of that act will be. That's why I had to buy time. I told the Thalmor we would seize you, to placate them and allow the jarls time to gather. And for you to tell us why. Why you attacked the embassy, what this is about. I know you, Uhther, you would not have done this for nothing but hatred of the elves. There is more to this.'

Uhther looked and saw the honesty in Elisif's eyes. She meant it. She was not going to hand him over to the Thalmor. Hope quickened inside him.

'It did begin that way,' he confessed. He felt she deserved honesty, 'what I said in there was the truth. I felt Skyrim, and the Empire, had lived long enough in fear of the Aldmeri shadow. They were waiting for an excuse to bring another Great War to us. I thought we should strike first.'

Elisif's lips had gone very thin, always a danger sign. Uhther went on.

'But then I was called on by the Arch-mage. And she revealed something I had not known. And I knew attacking the Thalmor was something we had to do, not just for Skyrim or humanity, but for everything.'

And he explained, as well as he could, what Quaranir had told him. He told her about the Towers, about how the Thalmor had destroyed them, one by one, and how now the Throat of the World was perhaps their last hope.

Elisif's eyes were wide by the end of the tale.

'And you are sure of this?' she asked, 'you're sure this Psijic was telling the truth?'

'No,' Uhther admitted, 'but I believed him, as did the Arch-mage. And I don't think we can run the risk that he might be lying. If he was honest and we do nothing, all of Mundus dies.'

The High Queen exhaled. She walked to the parapet of the terrace and leaned against the small wall, looking out onto the sea.

'It's times like these I miss Torygg most of all,' she said, wistfully, 'the man had his faults, but he was ever dependable. He would face adversity, no matter the outcome,' she chuckled sadly, 'though look where that got him.'

'It got him to Sovngarde,' Uhther said, stoutly. Elisif turned to regard him. She knew that he had been to Sovngarde, when he had gone to face Alduin. She had never asked if he had seen Torygg there and Uhther had never told her that he had. She said nothing else. She just turned back and watched the sea. Uhther listened as it rolled in the bay and gently rocked the ships that were tied at the docks. With what would come soon, the war and the fury, it was nice to take a moment to just listen to the sounds of Skyrim.

That moment ended when a palace servant came out onto the terrace.

'My queen,' he said, his eyes low, 'Frothar of Whiterun has arrived. He says, due to Balgruuf's ailing, he speaks for Whiterun Hold. He also says he saw the jarls of the Pale, Eastmarch and Winterhold close at hand as he approached the city.'

Elisif nodded in acknowledgement and the servant withdrew.

'Well, she said, 'let us be about out work.'

Uhther nodded and, flanked by his housecarls, Ralof and Delphine, followed the queen back inside.