Chapter LIX – Negotiations

"Alright. Ready?"

Bishop asked without even looking over at Aeyrin. He only kept peering ahead across the bridge leading to Windhelm. There wouldn't be much time for talking later. The second the soldiers spotted them approaching, they would surely usher them straight to Ulfric.

"I guess…" Aeyrin sighed. There was not much else to do but face the man. And as much as she would wish to postpone this, it was really not a smart option.

Bishop threw her a concerned glance after that uncertain response. Well, it was understandable. He himself was really unnerved about what awaited them in the city.

"Hmm, just remember," he reminded her again, but he was promptly interrupted.

"I know, I know. Don't talk about Alec," Aeyrin sighed again. Bishop knew her well and he had warned her not to bring up the subject ahead of time. He was right. They had no idea what was going on and it was safer for both them and Alec not to meddle. But she was still dying of curiosity and concern.

But Ulfric was an unstable man. Who knew what he could do to the bard if he knew that the secret was out? Well… in a way. They still didn't know enough to be sure of anything. It was best to keep Alec out of it today. Ulfric was not one to make threats idly.

That was what worried Aeyrin incessantly.

"I still think that you should have gone with Karnwyr," she grumbled at Bishop. When they were nearing Windhelm, they had sent Karnwyr away on a hunt again. Aeyrin remembered Ulfric's threats all too well – how he would use Bishop and Karnwyr as bargaining chips to force her to do his bidding. It was safer for the wolf to stay away. And it was safer for Bishop to stay away too, but when she tried to convince him, he had been adamant.

"No. We've been over this. You're not going in there alone," Bishop narrowed his eyes in the direction of the city. "Whatever that fucker wants, we'll deal with it. And if all else fails, we'll just run the fuck out of there." He smirked, but there was an unnerved edge to his words.

He was not going to suffer somewhere in the wilderness, worrying about her being imprisoned and lashed again. And if Ulfric thought that he could break Bishop with such tactics, he was sorely mistaken. Worse men have tried. He had years of honed resilience under his belt already as a courtesy from Thorn.

"Alright," Aeyrin sighed in defeat. There was no convincing him before and there was no convincing him now. She understood. In his place, she wouldn't let him do something like this alone either.

"Let's get this over with."

…

They were marched through the city, surrounded by a group of five soldiers.

Windhelm was as empty and eerie as ever and they could not help but catch sight of the notice board by the tavern, with a myriad of papers stuck to it. There were so many that some of them were even littering the ground beneath after they had fallen off, replaced by new ones.

But the few people that were around had certainly taken note of Aeyrin and Bishop's arrival. Everyone was staring at them with wide eyes and quiet whispers, curious about what was going on.

However, none of that was more daunting than what awaited them.

They were led into the Palace of the Kings in silence, and ushered right towards the throne where Ulfric already waited for them. He was seated there in a haphazard way and he almost looked bored. As if he was trying to seem casual about all this. As if they were barely worth his notice.

When the soldiers dispersed to the sides of the room, leaving them standing in front of the throne, Ulfric finally addressed Aeyrin with a curt nod.

"You are lucky that you have arrived here now, elf. I almost had my soldiers search for you," he scoffed arrogantly. The emphasis on the word 'elf' has made it perfectly clear. He was still not willing to acknowledge her as the Dragonborn in front of his soldiers.

And already Aeyrin felt the familiar anger well up inside her, only at the sound of his voice.

Good. She was worried about getting anxious and afraid, but Ulfric's attitude ensured that she would get mad instead. She was kind of grateful for that. It was an empty threat that he had made. If he wanted her brought to him instantly, he would have done so already.

"What do you want?" she spat at him.

Ulfric's eyes moved towards Bishop for a spell, as if he was wondering whether he should have him ejected from the Palace. Surprisingly enough, however, he did no such thing. He didn't say a word about his presence there this time. It was strangely unnerving.

"You are here to talk. Nothing more. That is, if you cooperate." His eyes turned back to Aeyrin with the familiar stony expression on his face.

'Talk'? No dragons? No using her powers for Ulfric's benefits? That was unexpected.

Why was it making her more anxious than anything else? At least with a dragon, she knew what to do. Talking to Ulfric would constantly make her doubt every step she took in the conversation.

She folded her arms across her chest and gave him an expectant look. She was determined not to flinch and cower in front of him. She has been mentally preparing herself for this the entire journey across Skyrim. She would not appear weak in front of that man. Never again.

"I have heard an… interesting report," Ulfric's brows creased deeply. Was there some worry in his face? That was uncharacteristic. "One of my agents has informed me about your… endeavors with the dragons, and I'm unsure how reliable this is."

Aeyrin raised her brow at him curiously. He wanted her to confirm a spy report? Who did he think that he was talking to? The entire Skyrim was talking about her fight against the dragons, what was it that he needed to hear it from her alone?

What could have made him so concerned to actually request her presence in Windhelm?

"What have you heard about Alduin?"

Oh.

How did he hear about that? Nobody has heard about that! They were keeping this a secret very carefully. People wouldn't tell Alduin apart from any other dragon if they ran into him, wouldn't they? Ulfric himself has seen him in Helgen! And he hadn't even considered this option before. What changed?

Aeyrin couldn't help but look at Bishop covertly, but instead of the expected shared look back, he was staring at Ulfric with narrowed eyes.

"Iona," he grumbled almost silently.

Divines, he was right! They had talked about Alduin at Honeyside. They were so convinced that they hadn't divulged any secret in front of her, but they were wrong. Maven was right. Iona was waiting for them to talk to each other about their secrets instead of trying to gauge the information out of them. She had overheard them. And now Ulfric knew.

But… he doubted her report? Why?

"Ha! So you do know about her," Ulfric chuckled victoriously. He must have heard Bishop say her name. "I knew it. Leila is anything but subtle in her schemes. So, you have been feeding her laughable attempt at a spy with lies and fairy tales, have you?"

The scoff in Ulfric's voice carried through the room and none of the soldiers even flinched. They must have been ones he trusted, to speak so openly about such things. They must have known what this meeting was about.

But there were more important matters to concern oneself with.

Ulfric didn't know if Iona was right. He had, quite shrewdly, anticipated their plan to feed her false information. But they didn't know about Iona back when they were discussing Alduin. And now Ulfric was unsure.

He was scared. He wanted the report to be false, but he was worried that it wasn't. That's why he had ushered Aeyrin to the Palace. That's why he didn't mind Bishop's presence. He thought that he would have a better chance at deciphering their reactions if there were two of them. He thought that one of them would give the truth out.

But they didn't. Not yet anyway. She shared another covert look with Bishop and, this time, he looked back at her. His face was inscrutable, but she knew that he was thinking the same thing as she was.

They held all the cards.

"I guess you caught us," Aeyrin narrowed her eyes at Ulfric, but she couldn't help but smirk a little as she had said it. She had no idea how to play this. She had no idea if it was best to leave Ulfric to think that it was all a ruse, or whether him knowing the truth would do some good. But right now, the situation filled her with strange confidence. She had never held such power over him. He was always the one calling the shots on how their conflict would evolve.

This was different. She could see how badly he wanted the information.

Ulfric peered at her with a deep scowl.

Ha! It worked! He still had no idea if she was playing him or not.

"Pfft. Alduin," he scoffed at her. "Were you reading up on Nordic legends, wondering how to scare me? You thought that I would cower at the notion of some doomsaying idiocies?"

"I guess that I miscalculated," Aeyrin shrugged her shoulders at him. Was that vague enough? It must have been. Ulfric was still scowling, looking from her to Bishop and then back at her again, clearly trying to see if either of them would flinch under his gaze.

"Did you think that it would make me turn my army against the dragons instead? Instead of the much larger threat at our doorstep. If so, you really do not know who you are dealing with." He pierced her with a hateful gaze and out of the corner of her eye, she noticed one of the soldiers actually flinch.

They didn't know the truth either. Ulfric's doubt had sown some in them too.

Maybe it didn't matter what Ulfric thought. Maybe he wasn't the one that needed to be convinced to stop this bloodshed.

His soldiers were people, not blind followers. They were the ones who were scared of Alduin. They were the ones who needed to see that their leader was ignoring their safety for his cause. Maybe they were the ones who demanded the answer in the first place.

"Why do you even care, Ulfric?" Aeyrin scoffed at him. "If the report is true, you are the one feeding his plans. You are the one drowning Skyrim in blood and supplying souls to the World-Eater." There! The soldier flinched again. "You yourself say that you wouldn't stop, so why does the information matter to you? You would just be helping Alduin whatever the truth is."

"Haven't we been over this?" Ulfric smirked at her, but the deep frown was still etched on his face. "You still think that I'm in league with the beasts?"

"No. I'm just wondering why you would need to know if you wouldn't call off the war and actually concentrate on the real threat." She still kept her arms folded across her chest stubbornly.

"You expect me to abandon my convictions on your word alone?" he shook his head.

"I expected you to actually think about what you're causing with your bloodshed. But that doesn't seem to be happening," she rolled her eyes at him exaggeratedly. It didn't matter if he wasn't willing to stop the war. She wasn't even sure if that was the right thing, considering the possibility of Alduin's retaliation. But she could still convince his loyal soldiers that he was risking their lives to aid the beast. That would surely sow some dissent in his ranks. And she couldn't pass up the opportunity for that.

"'Think'? I still suspect that this is all a pathetic lie. A way for you to try to sow fear in me," Ulfric scowled at her hatefully.

"Aaww, is it working?" she smirked at him. Was it strange that this was kind of fun and invigorating? She had been so scared of this meeting. She never would have dreamed of any of this happening.

"You don't scare me, little girl!" Ulfric bellowed suddenly. His aloof and stony expression was all gone and he was now getting increasingly angry. "I can have you back in chains and I can get the information out of you the hard way. And if you don't cooperate, there are still other means for me to employ."

He looked pointedly at Bishop, but it only elicited a sneer from him as he placed his hand on the hilt of the sword on his belt. "Good luck with that," he growled at Ulfric. This angry fit was not scaring him in the slightest. Ulfric may have been menacing when he wasn't practically begging for information and when his soldiers weren't cowering by the walls with palpable concern and fear in their eyes.

Ulfric stood abruptly from his throne. His face hid none of the anger boiling inside and he clenched his fists in fury. It seemed like the lack of trepidation and fear from the both of them frustrated him.

"Do you think that you have any power here? You don't! This is my land! And if you want fear, girl, I will show you fear," he growled at her furiously.

"Yeah?" Aeyrin scoffed at him. He was really losing it. And it was time to show his soldiers who their leader was really antagonizing. "Well… I will show you a dragon. A real one. Not the one that you pretend to be."

Ulfric suddenly burst out into dismissive laughter, but there was still an unnerved edge in his voice. He obviously had trouble being in control when rage consumed him. Aeyrin could kind of relate. It made Ulfric strangely more… human. And much less scary.

"Really, Ulfric, what did you learn at the monastery from the old men? Did you learn a little Shout?" she chuckled at him mockingly. "Good for you. I'm sure that you have impressed your lackeys with it, but you don't impress me."

Ulfric suddenly heaved and opened his mouth. It was a very familiar sight and neither of them had expected him to actually escalate things like that. His lack of control in his anger seemed to have overcome all rationality.

Luckily, they were fast to react.

Bishop practically jumped out of the way before the words left Ulfric's lips and Aeyrin readied herself instantly.

"FUS!"

"FEIM!"

Bishop had just managed to avoid the invisible force of the Shout as it went right through Aeyrin harmlessly. The dishes and goblets at the long table behind her clattered, shooting around the room at great speed, spilling mead on the floor. One of the goblets shot straight into one of the soldier's foreheads and the man hissed in pain. The others just looked outright terrified as they stared at the scene and at Aeyrin's ethereal figure.

"Cute. Do you want me to show you more, Ulfric?" Aeyrin chuckled at him mockingly. She was really enjoying this. It was both terrifying and exhilarating at the same time. She had no idea what Ulfric was capable of in this state and she probably should have been worried more about it. But she couldn't help it. There was such energy flowing through her, such confidence. Such victory.

She could have sworn that Ulfric's face was redder than before. With gritted teeth, he inclined his head towards Bishop with a meaningful stare directed at one of his soldiers.

"If any of you takes even a step towards him, I swear, I will freeze you into a block of ice and smash my mace into it until you shatter into a million little pieces," Aeyrin hissed right at the soldier nearest to Bishop instantly. She barely noticed Bishop's proud smirk before she saw the soldier's eyes go wide in fear. He didn't move an inch.

He believed her.

They all believed her.

Now they all knew that the rumors were false. Now they all knew who the real Dragonborn was. Ulfric's lies ended here and now.

"Do you wanna see more, Ulfric?" she turned back to the seething Jarl. "How about we go outside and I call lightning down from the skies on you. Or I can always just stop time itself, walk up to you, and slit your throat without you ever even seeing me approach. That one is fun too."

"This posturing will get you nothing!" Ulfric yelled. "Do you really think that you can stand against the might of my army?!"

"Maybe not," Aeyrin nodded. "But maybe, just maybe, a really angry 'firstborn of Akatosh' will swoop down on you after a while and burn your little army to ashes. Do you really want to see if that happens?"

Ulfric's answer was only an angry scowl. He still had no idea what the truth was. He still needed to know. Especially now, when his soldiers were losing their blind faith in him.

This was her chance to end this on her terms. Ulfric wouldn't stop the war, even if he knew the truth. But that may have been for the best for now, as much as she loathed that trail of thought. But that didn't mean that she couldn't use this situation to make some things better.

"I can tell you if it will happen," she narrowed her eyes at him. "But you will rescind the banishment. And you will finally leave me alone!"

"What?!" Ulfric barked at her. "What do you care about the banishment? What do you want with my city?!"

"I want to see my friends," she smirked at him. She wanted to see everyone at the Grey Quarter and she wanted to see what other sick orders Ulfric had placed on their lives. She wanted to make things right here. She wanted to help them live in their home without fear. She wanted to clear her name from those outrageous rumors about her being that sick Butcher and she wanted to be able to talk to Jora whenever she needed to. This banishment had been too inconvenient to her endeavors with the priestess. And Aeyrin was never willing to live with it forever. She had always assumed that she would have to wait until Ulfric could actually be taken down for good, but now, she had a chance to get back her freedom. Mercer's influence was waning and now she could get rid of this stupid banishment too. She wanted to be able to go wherever she wanted without any of these maniacs dictating her life.

"You have no friends here in my city, elf!" Ulfric gritted his teeth at her furiously.

"I do, actually. Unlike you. You only have brainwashed zealots that piss themselves at the mere mention of what I can do," she inclined her head smugly towards one of the soldiers by the wall. Surely these men would spread the word about who the real Dragonborn was. At least she hoped so. Unless Ulfric decided to silence them in his uncontrolled rage.

She knew that rumors were fickle and that she would never be able to convince every one of his zealots about the truth. But at least she could use this moment to her advantage.

There was a long moment of silence when she could have sworn that she could hear Ulfric's heavy angry breathing echo across the throne room. It took quite a while before he broke the silence with a bellowing voice.

"You!" he pointed towards one of his soldiers. "Spread the word. The banishment is rescinded. Now!"

The soldier ran out of the chamber and towards the exit instantly. It looked like he was already eager to be anywhere else at that point.

"You can go to your 'friends'" Ulfric spat at her hatefully. "But you will not meddle in my politics and this does not absolve you of the orders placed upon the visitors to my city. Are we clear?!"

Aeyrin didn't even expect him to do this much this easily. She had no idea whether she could agree not to 'meddle' in his politics, but it did not matter now. Whatever would happen, she would deal with then. Right now, she should take the advantage that she got. Pushing Ulfric further might just take it away from her altogether.

"Fine," she nodded and folded her arms across her chest again.

"Follow me," he grumbled and started walking towards a small room on the side of the chamber. Clearly now he was too wary of having an audience.

She followed without question and Bishop rushed after them to join them in the room.

Once they were all there, Ulfric closed the door behind them and moved towards the large table in the center of the room. There was a map of Skyrim splayed on it with familiar red and blue flags all over it. This must have been his war room. Now they were the only three people in there. It was somewhat comforting that Ulfric had left his men outside. There was a chance this way that the word of what had just transpired would get out into the public before he could do any damage control. Hopefully she had managed to convince the soldiers of how much Ulfric was lying to them and endangering them by ignoring the real threat.

Ulfric seemed to have calmed down at least a little, but he still fixed her with a hateful stare when he stepped towards the table to face her.

"So, this was all a ruse? Did the housecarl give herself out that fast?" he scoffed with a surprisingly defeated tone in his voice.

"No," Aeyrin shook her head. It didn't matter anymore if Ulfric knew. The war would continue as it did before, he'd made that perfectly clear. And he would find out the truth eventually. She did not want to risk lying to him now. She didn't want to give him any reason to think about revenge in the future. "We didn't know about her at that time. Alduin is real."

"Is he?" Ulfric scowled. "Where do you get this information? How can you be sure?"

"I've seen him," she retorted with a deep frown. "You've seen him. He was the one that destroyed Helgen. He's the one that's resurrecting the dragons. And he's growing powerful because the souls of the dead feed him. You feed him. He was in Helgen to save you."

Ulfric stayed silent for a while, mulling over her words. The atmosphere was much calmer now, but no less uncomfortable. For a second, she thought that he might actually be considering his next steps regarding the war, but that idea was soon dispelled by his words.

"And you think that stopping will make him what? Abandon his plan to conquer and destroy the world? You think that he won't attempt to get his… souls in another way? If he had revealed himself in Helgen to save me, he would have no qualms about taking matters into his own… claws again. There will be more death, one way or the other. And if I stop, there will be more oppression and subjugation to the Thalmor overlords."

The worst thing was that he was right. He had the exact same thought that everyone else who knew about Alduin did. The war gave them time before Alduin took more drastic measures.

She had no way of arguing this. And she wasn't even sure if she should. Accepting this war was abhorrent. But what was the alternative here?

"Have you fought him?" Ulfric peered at her. Now he seemed more curious than disdainful.

"If… if you can call that a fight. He's… powerful," Aeyrin cringed. She wasn't sure whether she should admit her defeat like that in front of him, but he needed to know just how dangerous Alduin was. It was past time for lies and posturing.

"So you have no way to kill him," he scowled at her, but it didn't seem angry. He seemed to be pondering on something deeply.

"I'm… working on something," Aeyrin answered with palpable discomfort. Again she had no idea what the best answer was here, but when in doubt, it was probably best to tell the truth. Vaguely, of course.

"Hmmm," Ulfric nodded thoughtfully, but he didn't ask for more information. He likely knew that he wouldn't get it. Or maybe he didn't care, as long as someone was working on getting rid of this threat. "You have given me… useful information."

There was a tense moment of silence while Ulfric continued to be lost in thought. Aeyrin noticed that Bishop was standing beside her rigidly with his hand still on the hilt of his sword, as if he was expecting that man to attack them any second. His eyes were continuously fastened on Ulfric's face, wary of any change in his calmer demeanor.

"You can go now. And remember our agreement. Stay out of my business," Ulfric scowled at her threateningly, but she was hardly intimidated by that now. Although… she really didn't want to test her good fortune today. Things could turn very bad very quickly if she chose to provoke him.

She turned on her heel without another word and marched out of the room with Bishop in tow.

She was more than happy to leave this place.

…

They walked out of the Palace in silence and passed a few guards with a bit of trepidation.

Hopefully the soldier had managed to spread the word and Aeyrin wouldn't be dragged right back in front of Ulfric. That would have been embarrassing.

They walked somewhat aimlessly away from the Palace until they reached a narrow passage leading into the Grey Quarter. There they both stopped in their tracks, finally sure that they were out of earshot of every soldier and guard around.

Aeyrin turned to Bishop and let out an exaggerated sigh of relief. She wasn't sure what to think about her revealing the truth to Ulfric, but what was done was done. It was all out of her hands now.

Suddenly, Bishop let out a hearty laugh. She wasn't sure if it was relief of the stress leaving him or if actually found what had happened funny, but she found out the answer soon enough. He enveloped her in a tight, almost crushing hug, regardless of their armors still being in the way, and he buried his face in her hair.

"That was fucking amazing, sweetness," he chuckled. "Fuck, you almost had him piss himself. All those soldiers saw him get his ass handed to him."

She couldn't help but chuckle as well in his tight embrace. It was invigorating. And so satisfying. She was so sure that she would be scared, cowering in front of him. This was just what she needed to feel better about all her previous ordeals with that man.

"He got shown up by an elf in his own fucking palace," Bishop laughed again before he moved back from her in their embrace and looked her in the eyes with a palpably proud smile on his face. "You were so great in there, love. And so fucking hot."

He almost growled the last words before he leaned down to catch her lips in a deep hungry kiss. His hands moved down from her back to her backside, even though it was hardly effective in her armor, and he pressed her with a few quick steps against the nearby wall.

"Bishop," she giggled in the brief second when their lips parted, but she didn't have enough time to say anything more before he kissed her again, sliding his tongue against hers eagerly in a passionate exchange.

"Bishop," her tone got a little chastising when they parted again, but she still couldn't disguise the pleased groan escaping her lips. Unfortunately, this was definitely not the place to lose herself in his eagerness.

With a smirk, Bishop disentangled himself from her and looked towards the exit from the narrow alleyway.

"Right. Not now," he nodded with a hint of both frustration and amusement in his voice

"Let's go, love. The shittiest city in Skyrim is all ours again."