The jarls had gathered in the meeting chamber.
The others could not have been far off at all when the messenger had come to find Uhther and Elisif because, by the time they returned to the chamber, not only Frothar but Brunwulf, Brina and Kraldar sat with Igmund and Idgrod. General Tullius was in the room also, though a little apart from the table, flanked by Legate Rikke. There had been a little talking but all became silent when Elisif and Uhther returned.
More housecarls had joined the group that stood off to one side, among them were Calder, who Uhther assumed must have come with Jarl Brunwulf, and Gregor who nodded in greeting to him. The Companions must have arrived then. Uhther's other housecarls went to join the rest. They rather stood out from the others in their suits of dragonbone plate.
Six of my sworn eight, Uhther thought as he followed Elisif around the table. Soon we'll have Iona and Rayya too, if they're also coming with the jarls. He did not know if all eight of them had ever been in the same place at one time before. Truly a mark of how serious these times were.
Uhther turned his gaze away from the housecarls and instead regarded the newly arrived jarls. Brina was glowering at him as fiercely as Igmund had. Uhther held back a sigh. There was another who'd might make things difficult. Kraldar, always solemn, nodded in his direction but gave no indication otherwise if he was pleased to see him or angry with him. Frothar looked unsure of himself but sat straight in his chair, clearly wanting to make sure he would be seen as an equal to the rest of the jarls. Uhther gave him a supportive smile and received an uncertain one in return. Brunwulf just stared ahead, looking at no one.
'My lords,' Elisif greeted the new arrivals graciously, 'I thank you for coming.'
'Not like we had much of a choice,' Brina said but Kraldar spoke over her saying;
'We are ever at your command, my queen.'
Brina shot Kraldar an angry look but the old man simply held her gaze until she dropped it, looking abashed. Kraldar had always had that ability to silence a man or woman, just by looking at them. Uhther wished he had such a talent.
'I hope your journeys were pleasant,' Elisif went on, as if there had been no interruption.
'Pleasant enough, my Queen,' Brunwulf said, finally looking up, 'we were worried we were being tailed by bandits at one point but our scouts reported it was merely Saerlund's forces a few hours behind us,' He looked at Uhther, 'They were your daughter's scouts, in truth. She is here, along with her little band. They're down at that camp of yours.'
Uhther looked up. Lucia was here? He felt a surge of excitement. He hadn't seen his daughter in so long. Was Sofie here too? And Sylgja? He had not seen his wife in so long now. He had not realised until then how much he'd missed her, he'd been so busy he'd not had much chance to think of much else besides the coming war. But imagining Sylgja's face, her eyes, her smile was enough to make his heart skip and forget all else for a precious moment.
Then Elisif was speaking again and the moment passed, and all that had to be done returned.
'Has anyone heard word from Siddgeir?' Idgrod asked.
None had. Igmund took a break from glowering at Uhther to snort in derision.
'We really have to wait on the pleasure of that brat?' he demanded, 'and this usurper, Saerlund? Do we really count him as one of us?'
'He rules the Rift,' Elisif said, her voice soft yet firm, 'and he is the son of a jarl.'
'The younger son,' Igmund said, 'and the lesser, from what I've heard.'
'Perhaps you would prefer Maven Black-Briar back on the throne?' Brunwulf snapped, 'you never did miss the chance to kiss the Thalmor's boots.'
Igmund's face flushed red with anger. 'How dare…' but Brunwulf paid him no mind. Instead he turned to Elisif.
'I have spoken with Lucia, the Young Dragon, about how things stand in Riften,' he said, 'she claims that the citizens have welcomed Saerlund's rise. I have heard testimony from others who were in Riften and all say the same thing. And as Laila Law-Giver's younger son is a supporter of the Empire, I see no reason for him to be removed.'
Elisif smiled and nodded graciously to Brunwulf.
'It was not my intent to remove Jarl Saerlund from power,' she emphasised the title, which made Igmund harrumph loudly, 'indeed, given our rather tenuous relationship with the Aldmeri Dominion, it had always worried me to have such an open supporter of the Thalmor on the Rift's throne. If the people of the Rift are happy with Saerlund, I see no reason to remove him from his seat.'
'Tenuous?' now it was Brina's turn to scoff. 'Not so tenuous now. The Embassy is as much a burnt down husk as the Hall of the Vigilant. The Dominion will be out for blood now, because of him!' Brina levelled the accusing finger at Uhther. Murmuring broke out among the crowd of housecarls. Uhther was somewhat glad to notice that the angrier muttering was not only coming from his own housecarls.
'Jarl Brina,' Elisif said, chidingly, 'that is a matter for the moot and we still wait on two of our number.'
'You always hated the Thalmor,' Uhther said, quietly. All at the table turned to face him. 'You fought against them as much as any soldier in the Great War. You may remember I am a Thane of the Pale and have spent many an hour at your table, listening to you talk at length about how the Thalmor are a blight on Skyrim.'
'Your point is?' Brina demanded, her voice was cold yet a flush had begun to creep into her cheeks.
'My point is that I believe you jealous that I did what you wished you could do,' said Uhther, smiling as impudently as he could, 'don't hate me for living the dream.'
There was a mix of reactions to that. Brina's face went bright red. Igmund stood up and began accusing Uhther of flagrant disregard for the lives of everyone who called Skyrim home. Brunwulf and, surprising everyone, Kraldar roared with laughter that Frothar, after glancing nervously at Elisif, joined in with. Tullius did not appear to react at all, he kept his face hard at granite, though Uhther thought he saw Rikke look down to hide a smile. Idgrod raised a hand to her face while Elisif regarded Uhther, sternly.
'Lord Uhther, the subject of your attack on the Embassy is no matter for laughter. It has put Skyrim, and likely the whole Empire, at risk. But as I said, it is a matter for the entire moot so until the last of our number are here…'
As if summoned by mere mention of them, the chamber door swung open to reveal six figures, three men and three women. Two of the men were dressed in finery while the others in the group wore armour. One of the finely dressed men was looking nervous, the other looking imperious, as if expecting the occupants of the room to bow down and do him homage.
'My apologies for my lateness, my queen,' Siddgeir drawled, stepping ahead of Saerlund and the others, his eyes drifting lazily across everyone in the room, 'I…' he broke off whatever excuse he'd been about to offer when he saw Uhther. 'You!' and suddenly his voice was not so lazy. 'You have him already? Well marvellous, let's get him in bonds and we can wait for the Thalmor to arrive.'
Siddgeir moved as if to do this himself but froze when all eight of Uhther's housecarls, all dressed in dragonplate, took one step towards him, hands on weapons. Rayya and Iona were two of the four armoured figures, no doubt they had accompanied the two jarls to the palace. But now they scowled menacingly at Siddgeir. And they were not alone. Delphine and Ralof had also moved, along with Saerlund's housecarl, her hand on the hilt of a Glass longsword that Uhther thought he recognised. Another second and he realised it was Mjoll the Lioness. She was wearing a helm of Nordic Steel which covered much of her face. Even Rikke looked at if she had been about to move but, at a quick gesture from Tullius, she had remained still.
Helvard, Siddgeir's housecarl, had drawn his sword to defend his jarl. But faced with eleven of the fiercest warriors in Skyrim, not including Uhther himself, even the stalwart veteran looked nervous.
'The matter of Lord Uhther's arrest is one of the matters that will be discussed here,' Elisif said, firmly, 'please take your seat. And you also, Jarl Saerlund.'
Saerlund, looking grateful, dropped into a seat. A moment later, Siddgeir did likewise. But now Igmund stood up.
'My Queen,' he announced, 'this is too much. We have each brought only one warrior of our households with us, yet Uhther has ten at his back! This is most unjust.'
There were several muttered agreements around the table at that. Even Brunwulf looked thoughtful.
'It was my intention that Lord Uhther should keep his warriors, so he would not feel outnumbered,' Elisif said candidly. Igmund snorted.
'He is the Dragonborn!' he exclaimed, 'what would numbers matter? My point is that he should not be appearing here as a warlord in glory. He is an accused criminal, so why do we treat him with honour today?'
Before Elisif could say anything, Uhther spoke up.
'Lydia, remain here. Jordis, can you take the others down to the camp?'
Jordis nodded and, with no more words, led the other six housecarls from the room, Iona and Rayya falling in behind her. Delphine and Ralof, however, did not move a muscle but both faced down Igmund with matching stubborn expressions.
'Where the Dragonborn goes,' Delphine said, 'the Blades shall follow.' Uhther looked at her, and she met his gaze levelly. There was nought but stalwart honesty in her eyes. She meant it, truly.
'And I am here to represent the people of Skyrim,' Ralof said, with a calm that belied the ferocity of his gaze, 'at least the ones that are camped outside the city walls.'
Uhther looked at Tullius. He had expected the old man to react upon sight of Ralof of Riverwood, a known former Stormcloak, but his gaze remained on Elisif. Igmund snorted but took his seat again. Now it was Elisif who got to her feet.
'Jarls of Skyrim,' she said, her tone formal now that all were assembled, 'you were called to this moot for a very grave reason.'
Siddgeir looked, malevolently, at Uhther but all other eyes remained on Elisif. Even Igmund was looking curious.
Slowly, Elisif reached into a pouch at her belt and brought out a tightly bound scroll. She passed this to General Tullius.
'General, would you please read this missive?'
His face unchanging, Tullius took the scroll, unrolled it and read.
"By the grace of the Nine Divines I, Lucius Mede the First, declare the truce between the Empire and the Aldmeri Dominion to be ended. I call upon all loyal servants of the Empire to take up arms against our enemies and oust them from our lands. I declare all who side with the Aldmeri Dominion to be enemies of the state and command any loyal subject to dispense retribution upon them as they would on the battlefield.
Dark days lie ahead, but the strength of our arms and the might of our hearts will prevail. Talos guide you all." Tullius lowered the parchment. 'It carries the Emperor's seal,' he said. He had stumbled a little over the word nine and at the name of Talos, but otherwise had read it smoothly and without emotion. He had seen the message already.
Elisif nodded, and turned to regard Uhther and the jarls. Uhther saw that each and every one of them looked as stunned as he felt. By announcing himself under the grace of the Nine Divines, and even going so far as to mention Talos's name in benediction, Emperor Lucius had broken the White Gold Concordat, the very agreement his own father had signed, the agreement that had led to the Civil War.
The thought of that made him look to Ralof, who met his eye. The former Stormcloak wore an expression that was partly as amazed as those of the jarls but with the spark of excitement. And Uhther thought he knew why. This declaration meant that the Emperor was with them. There could be no other explanation.
'That message was sent in total secrecy,' she said, 'I believe similar messages have been sent to High Rock and to Solstheim. The Emperor may have also sent messages to Hammerfell and Black Marsh, though whether the Redguards or the Argonians will aid us is anybody's guess. We must act with the facts we have.' She looked at Uhther quickly then back to the jarls. 'The bounty I placed on Lord Uhther was simply a ruse. To buy enough time to bring you all here without alerting the Thalmor to our true purpose. None but myself have seen the Emperor's words before today. I wanted no chance that this would be leaked. This is the true reason I have called you. The Empire is at war. Skyrim is at war. And we must plan.'
She was interrupted by an urgent bang on the door. Before Elisif could even react, the door had burst open and a court servant staggered in. He looked harried, afraid and more than a little nauseous.
'The moot is in session,' Tullius barked before anyone else had the chance, 'what part of "not to be disturbed" was so hard to understand?'
If the servant heard the general's words then he paid them no mind. He ran forward to fall to one knee before Elisif.
'My Queen,' he gasped, 'the Thalmor…'
'They've arrived already?' Igmund gasped, looking fearfully towards the door.
'We're as ready as we can be for them,' Brunwulf snarled, glancing towards the housecarls, 'if we're to tell them of the Emperor's edict, may as well be now as later.'
'Falkreath,' the servant went on, his voice still heavy, 'the Thalmor have invaded Falkreath!'
