When Edwin, Irileth, Ralof, and the guard escorting them entered Dragonsreach, Jarl Balgruuf was sitting talking with Proventus and a man Edwin didn't know. "You have returned, good. The Jarl's been waiting for you to get back Irileth." Proventus said as he eyed them walk the hall.

"You heard the summons. What else could it mean? The Greybeards..." Jarl Balgruuf then noticed Irileth walk up to them. "Irileth, what happened at the watchtower? Was the dragon there?" as he finished talking to Irileth he noticed the scene behind her. The guard was holding a struggling Ralof who was still in cuffs as Ralof looked Panicked around the room. "Irileth, what is going on? Who is this Stormcloak? Why is he in cuffs?" the man standing next to the Jarl said to Irileth as they survey the scene. "My Jarl, the dragon was there but we manage to kill it. Hrothgar, to answer your question I don't know what is going on but I think our friend Edwin might." They all turned to Edwin who sighed as she walked forward, "Jarl Balgruuf, my I show you something as I believe it will answer the question better than I could. But first could you please release Ralof as he is with me." Jarl Balgruuf gestured her forward as he nodded at Irileth to have Ralof released. As Edwin walked up to the Jarl, she reached up to her neck to undo the necklace to hand it to the Jarl. The necklace and the ring were still hanging around her neck where she hung them before heading into Darkwater.

Jarl Balgruuf, took the necklace as she handed it to him, he looked down at the necklace as he noticed the design on the necklace. "Why didn't you show this to me earlier? I wouldn't have sent you off as a common sellsword if you had!" The Jarl said as he handed the necklace back to Edwin.

"I didn't show you because I didn't want special treatment. My full name is Edwin Shadow-Oak and my family is made up of sellswords and blacksmiths, I happen to be both. When Ulfric gave me that necklace five years ago, I told him I would only use it if I absolutely had to." Edwin said looking at the Jarl.

"Watch your tongue! A Jarl deserves respect, not matter your personal feelings about him." Proventus said at Edwin as she raised an eyebrow at him (he hadn't seen the necklace design),

"Proventus! I believe my fellow Jarl wouldn't make someone special to him call him by his title. Now go prepare a room for our guest for the night. The one for visiting Jarls would do." Jarl Balgruuf said to Proventus before turning back to Edwin, "Edwin, I give you a room in my hall as an honoured guest. I am guess your friend is a temporary escort until you join Jarl Ulfric back in Windhelm and you get issued with a permanent one," When Edwin nodded he continued, "Well then I understand why he refused to enter into Whiterun. I will allow it for now as he tried to respect the laws of a temporary guard. Now what happened when the dragon died?" Jarl Balgruuf said effectively changing the subject.

Edwin hesitated, "When the dragon died, I absorbed some kind of power from it."

The Jarl sat up straighter at that, "So it's true. The Greybeards really were summoning you." Edwin just shrugged, she knew about the greybeards as Ulfric had talked about his time at High Hrothgar. "Well I guess, I should go to High Hrothgar then… I will leave as soon as I have finished my armour tomorrow."

Ralof frowned, "Why not collect yours from Windhelm?"

"Because I am not going anywhere near Windhelm until I have spoken to the Greybeards. Before you ask, my brothers and Ulfric will become overprotective if I go there first." Edwin replied.

Jarl Balgruuf listened to the conversation between the two before him as his brother and Proventus had an argument off to his side about whether or not the Dragonborn was 'Nord nonsense'.

'You are something special Edwin…' He thought to himself, "Edwin step forward," Edwin walked up to Balgruuf, "Whatever happened when you killed that dragon, it revealed something in you, and the Greybeards heard it. If they think you're a Dragonborn, who are we to argue? It's a tremendous honour to receive a summons from them. I envy you, you know. To climb the 7,000 Steps again...I made the pilgrimage once, did you know that? High Hrothgar is a very peaceful place. Very... disconnected from the troubles of this world. I wonder if the Greybeards even notice what's going on down here. They haven't seemed to care before." Jarl Balgruuf said while deep in thought, "Edwin, you've done a great service to me and my city by killing the dragon. By my right as Jarl, I name you Thane of Whiterun. Before you say anything, I know you may feel a conflict of interest if Ulfric brings the war to Whiterun, but I would still like you to accept. It is after all the greatest honour that's within my power to grant. I assign you a personal housecarl, and this weapon from my armoury to serve as your badge of office. And a house will be made available to you in town. We are honoured to have you as Thane of our city, Edwin." The Jarl smiled at Edwin.

"I thank you for your offer and gladly except."

"Excellent! We will feast tonight to celebrate the victory over the dragon." Balgruuf noticed his wife talking to a maid down near the table, "Ann, could you please come here for a moment." Balgruuf called down to his wife.

Ann looked up at Balgruuf, nodded her head and walked up to the Jarl and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "What is it Bal?" Ann asked.

"Darling, this is Edwin. Could you please look after her and get a change of clothes for tonight please? She is to be treated as a visiting Jarl wife." Ann nodded her head and turned to Edwin, "Edwin I am Anna, Balgruuf's wife. Please follow me." Ann gestured to Edwin, who followed out of the room. Ralof watched them leave, "Ralof follow me and I will show you to your room. It is right beside Edwin's so you will be able to protect her. I am sorry for arresting you but I didn't realise why you refused to enter." Irileth said.

"It is alright. You were only doing your duty after all." Ralof said to Irileth as they walked out of the hall.

Ann and Edwin entered the main bedroom of Dragonsreach. "Now you look about my size in clothes. I have a dress here that was given to me but I have never worn it, as I do not like the colour." Ann said as she walked to the wardrobe. She pulled out a simple, yet elegant blue floor length dress. "Wow! It is beautiful and would suite me. Especially since, my lovers' family colour is blue." Edwin said as she studied the dress.

Ann raised an eyebrow at that comment, "May I ask who your lover is?"

"Jarl Ulfric" came Edwin reply.

"Now I understand why he asked for the visiting Jarl room to be prepared. I will show you the way as I got the servants to prepare a bath for you so that you could freshen up before tonights celebration." Edwin picked up the dress and they exited the room to walk down to the room Edwin would be staying in. When they arrived outside Irileth was standing there with a women in armour. "Edwin, this is Lydia; your new housecarl." Lydia bowed, "It is an honour to meet you, my thane." Edwin looked Lydia up and down, "You will do for now. Between you, Ralof, and myself no enemy will stand a chance… well until we reach Windhelm anyway." With that Edwin thanked Ann before entering her room with Lydia right behind her.

Edwin walked into the hall where the party was going to talk place with Lydia and Ralof following her; she wore the dress that was given to her by Ann with her necklace and ring from Ulfric on display (the ring was back on her finger). "Edwin, it is good of you to join us. May I introduce you to the heads of the Grey-Mane family and the Battle-Born family." Jarl Balgruuf said as Edwin walked up to him.

The people standing beside him bowed.

"I am Vignar Grey-Mane, and this is my brother Eorlund."

"I am Olfrid Battle-Born and this is my wife Bergritte."

"I am Edwin Shadow-Oak, it is a pleasure to meet you all." Edwin said as she curtsied at the group in front of her.

Eorlund frowned when he heard her name, "Shadow-Oak… I only know one Shadow-Oak family, they are blacksmiths in Bruma…" He paused, while he thought on that bit of information, when suddenly his eye went wide, "Lady Shadow-Oak! It is an honour to have you in Whiterun indeed… I had the pleasure of studying my trade of blacksmithing under your grandfather along side your father. I was sorry to hear of his passing. How are your brothers?"

Edwin smiled, "The pleasure is all mine; to meet a friend of the family while I am away from family is a wonderful thing. To answer your question they are fine and are in Skyrim. John and I were heading for Windhelm to meet William before we got separated."

The group watched as this exchange took place, "Eorlund, you mean to say you know this person."

Eorlund turned to Olfrid and gave him a look of distain, "Of course I know her. You would recognise the family name too, if you read a book blacksmithing or even sword fighting!" Edwin just groaned, "Please, I am more than a family name; right now I would like to celebrate the success we had today. I do have a question for you Eorlund, would I be able to borrow your forge tomorrow as I need to make some armour before I head off to deal with something before I can meet with my brothers." She was glad he didn't mention what her family name also stood for.

Eorlund smiled at Edwin, "It would be an honour to allow you the use of the Skyforge. It has been a long time since I last watched a Shadow-Oak at the forge." Edwin bowed in thanks as she turned to the group, "You are all welcome to come and watch too. We are used to having people watch us back at Bruma; I have been told it is a site to see, not that I can ever see it." They group laughed at that comment, and parted ways to enjoy the feast before retiring for the night.

The next day Edwin got up and put her Pilgrim dress back on, as she left to go to the Skyforge with Ralof and Lydia. When they arrived with Jarl Balgruuf and he court in toe, the Companions, the Battle-Borns and Grey-Manes were already standing at the forge. Eorlund was closest and he had a collection of special salts sitting on a table near the forge. "Thank you for getting these Eorlund." Edwin said as she noticed the collection on the table.

Eorlund smiled, "That's alright. I normally only use Fire Salts and Frost Salts. But I thought you might like the whole selection as you might find a better mix for the forge, so went to Arcadia's Cauldron this morning to grab some of each kind for you."

Edwin nodded her head as she grabbed the smithing apron where Eorlund sat it for her. Studying the forge and its surroundings. "I think I might know a mix that will make the forge work better, may I?" Edwin gestured to the forge, Eorlund nodded his head and side stepped to watch her work. "I am guessing you use three Fire Salts in the fire and one Frost Salt in the water for cooling because of the location." Edwin asked as she prepared to and her mix in, when Eorlund confirmed this she continued, "Well, if you adjust the mix by adding four Fire Salts, one Void Salt to the fire, and keep the Frost Salt at one you will get a hotter fire and you will produce better items. It is to do with the position of the forge of course, the wind blowing through here will help to control the temperature and cool the items you make down quicker." Once Edwin had prepared the forge she moved onto making her armour, the people watched her as she danced around the forge creating a complete set of armour that was light and strong, but looked like it was made of steel. It was a sight to behold watch her work as she made it look beautiful and delightful.

Once she was done she stood back to survey her work. "A beautiful job, My Lady." Eorlund said as he looked at the set of armour she had made, "I know you don't normally like to use weapons or armour made by another person, but I made this war axe just after your father died as a present for the person who would succeed him, but I never got round to sending it. I would be honoured if you would accept it." Edwin looked at the axe Eorlund handed her, it was a beautiful axe so she accepted it.

With that the group split. Edwin, Ralof, and Lydia went back to Dragonsreach to pack, once they were ready and Edwin had put on her new armour they left Whiterun for High Hrothgar.