The Tale of Zooryuvokogan
Disclaimer: I don't own Skyrim or anything involved with it.
I run up the streets of Windhelm and to the Palace of Kings. Remembering back hurts a bit but it was still nice to live and grow up here. The Stormcloak guards push open the doors hastily, since they see I am in a hurry. Ulfric is sitting on his throne, looking bored as his war advisor Galmar Stone-Fist tries to persuade him into shoving a sword down Jarl Bulgruuf's throat if he sides with the Imperials. It seems he is still battle hardened.
My fast pace stops and I put my hands on my knees to catch my breath. As I breath heavily, Ulfric looks down at me. "What do you want?"
I put up my hand and give him the 'one moment' sign. "I have a book and letter for you." Slinging my pack off my shoulders, I unbuckle it and throw around the things in my way. Flowers and dried food fly all over the place but I finally retrieve the journal and letter. I give Ulfric the letter and hand him the journal after. He seems upset that I threw my junk all over but I am quick to clean it up.
Ulfric reads the letter and grasps it tighter and tighter until you could almost hear the middle of the parchment splitting. He grabs the journal and I see the same reaction. "Ugh," The Jarl slumps into his chair and puts a hand over his eyes. "I messed up." He looks down at me and looks conflicted.
"Don't shoot the messenger!" I shout quickly and throw my pack over my shoulders again.
"Galmar. Do you remember Hunbrii?" Ulfric yells to his housecarl who is in the war room.
Galmar walks out, just as I remember him. Old and proud with his armor that resembles a bear still on. "How could I not? The little tyke got into everything! She ran in the halls, threw food around, knocked over chairs, broke a window, burnt some of Candlehearth Hall, sliced all the practice dummies open, seriously, I could go on forever." He names off mostly everything I did and the memories flow back.
Ulfric covers his eyes again. "Apparently, she's my real daughter. And I mean real. Blood related. From my loins." I have a feeling he would continue and I stop him.
"Wayyyy too much information! So, what are you going to do?" I may be pushing it a little but I need answers. Now. "Do you forgive her and let her back into her home? Or do you keep her cast out and in the cold?"
"Who are you anyway?" Ulfric questions and I turn to leave but the guards are right behind me. Damn.
"Shit." I mumble under my breath and the fight begins. They grab for me but I twist away. One of the guards falls at my feet and trips me while the other goes for my neck. I kick both of the guards faces' and bolt for the doors. Locked tight. I turn around again and jump on the table, not caring if I knock over food or drinks.
Using my higher skills, I jump for the chandelier but miss by a few inches when a guard grabs my feet. I fall on the table and flip the guard over my head and to the other side with him attached to my ankles. He releases me and I trip on the bench. My knees collide with the stone floor and I hear a sickening crack that makes me uneasy. I don't resist when they pull my hood off because I know I lost.
"Hey dad." I give Ulfric a weak smile and then I blackout from the pain. The black darkness is fuzzy and confusing but I awake in my old room. There are still toys from my childhood and weapons I made and found stored on the wall racks.
Not a speck of dust is visible which is surprising since I've been gone for four years. I look at my clothes and I see that I'm in the soft tan ones I use as pajamas. My knees are bandaged and it seems they took the brunt of the impact. I sit up and use a healing spell for my knees. The bones readjust back into their correct places and I feel a lot better. I can sense it is early afternoon because of the shadows cast from the window.
Ulfric comes in unexpectedly and I act like I'm sleeping. "I don't know if you can hear this but I'm sorry I treated you poorly." The bed seems to cave in on one of the corners and I guess he sat down. "If you are still mad, I get that, you were always my daughter and I didn't know. The only think that hasn't changed is that you are still my little princess." My father plants a kiss on my forehead and closes the door quietly behind him.
I get up out of bed an hour later and put on my armor. My knees hurt just a little now but I can heal again later. I leave my hood of and walk down the hall to the War Room and then the Central Hall/ Dinning Hall. Ulfric embraces me in a big hug. "You know I don't like hugs." I say so I don't get squished.
He releases me and has me take a seat on a bench at the table. "So, what have you been doing for four years?" Ulfric questions and we both start to eat. I slice a steak and tell him after I finish stabbing it.
"Oh you know, hermit stuff. Lived in a cave. Got a dog. Formed a new type of armor. Studied. Killed bandits." I stab my meat repeatedly and eventually, the plate breaks and the fork is bent. My attitude isn't subtle like it should be. It should be happy and gleeful.
"Do you have to break everything?!" My father yells harshly at me. He regrets his actions and becomes silent.
I recoil and get off of the bench. "This is too weird. Yes, I am your blood related daughter but you are acting like I've been gone for 20 years instead of four. I'm only 22. Calm down for a second and let me adjust to everything!" I shout back at him and march out the front door without my hood. The guards hold me back and I push them away.
"Stop right there young lady!" Ulfric is behind me and stands taller while using his 'I mean business' voice.
I put my hands on my hips and turn around. "I'm going to join your army and you can't say anything about it. All my life with you, you've been restricting me and coaching me to be proper. I need to find my own path and not be led down another." I let it all out and a tremendous weight has been lifted off my shoulders.
My dad just stands by the door in the cold with me. "If that's what you want. Just remember. You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain." And with that he hands me my hood and a necklace wrapped in a silk patch. I pull it out and see it is an Amulet of Talos. "Talos guide you."
"I'll come back to visit often and fight for Skyrim and our city. I love you dad." I give him a hug that he gladly returns. Then I put on the amulet and head out of Windhelm.
The journey takes two days and by the time I reach Whiterun, I'm battered and bruised. There was a bandit ambush and I haven't been able to stop and heal yet. The Whiterun guards let me in and I crash at the Bannered Mare. I rent a room and see that Nonvul is there too.
"You're not dead." He says plainly and takes a swig of mead. Or is it wine? The bard is playing a ridiculous song and I tell him to stop. "Don't be such a buzz kill."
I can tell that he's drunk and has been for awhile because his hair is unkept and dirty. "When was the last time you cleaned yourself?"
"When was the last time you shut up?" He drunkenly shoots back. It seems like I can't do anything here because he would instantly act out. I just leave him in his wooden chair and walk up to my room. Just as I am about to go to bed, I heal myself and soon feel better. I close my eyes and wake hours later to hear snoring.
Nonvul is asleep in the chair across from my bed with his hand barely clutching a green glass bottle. I throw a piece of bread at him and he wakes up startled. "Wrong room skeever butt." He groggily gets up and that's the last I see of him till morning.
After I wake up again, I seek out Nonvul to find he has an atrocious hangover. "Cheese brain. Stop drinking!" I pull the mead bottle out of his grasp and he gives me an evil glare. He tries to gran for the bottle but I set it on the wooden bar. "You need to get cleaned up." Is all I say and he follows me to the same shop where I bought the materials for my armor.
"Welcome back! See anything you like?" The shopkeeper asks politely and lets us look at his wares.
"I need two steel daggers, two sheets, one rag, a bar of soap, and some bread and cheese." The shopkeeper fills the order and I pay, but Nonvul gives some money too. I take the goods and walk out of the city with Nonvul. We silently walk to one of the small waterfalls and springs. Nonvul trips half of the way so I take the lead.
"What are we doing out here?" I can still smell the drink on his breath and he tries to keep up. He sits on one of the ledges that conceals the spot.
"You are going to get clean." I pin up one of the sheets with the daggers so he has privacy. Then I throw the bar of soap in with the rag and leave the last sheet for him to dry himself with.
He starts to peel off his armor in front of the sheet and I yell. "Behind the sheet! I don't need to see your Barracks!" I turn around and march 15 feet away.
"Why not? If we are going to be partners in this little Dragonborn business, why not get comfortable?" Nonvul says seductively and finishes undressing behind the sheet.
I roll my eyes and start picking at the bread and cheese.
He shouts some more ridiculous things that I ignore. "Do you want to get in here Sweetheart?" Or "I bet you're very dirty too, let's see."
Finally, he finishes and is fully armored. Nonvul hands me the soap bar and smiles. "Your turn." I throw the bar at his head and give him his food.
"I'll get clean when you're not here." I pick up the soap and wash the dirt and Nonvul germs off in the connecting stream. The soap is then placed back into the makeshift cleaning area for later. I plan to visit it later when Nonvul is sleeping.
Nonvul comes to my side and dries his hair a bit more. "Do you have any remedies for a hangover too?" He throws the sheet in the stream and I fish it out.
"No, unlike other people, I don't get drunk and I don't drink." I throw the wet sheet at him and he lays it on a rock to dry. "Come on, we need to get to Riverwood."
We travel to Riverwood quickly and Delphine is waiting by the door for us. "Come on. I don't think you were followed." She takes us back down into the secret room and tells us her plan. "I figured out how we are going to get you both into the Thalmor Embassy."
"That didn't take long." I say.
"Remember, I've been doing this for a long time. While they've been looking for me, I've been spying on them."
"So what's the plan? How do we get into the Thalmor Embassy?" Nonvul asks as he comes by my side.
"They are having a party. I can get you both into one of them and once you're inside, you can get away. I have a contact in the Embassy. He's not one of them. His name is Malborn and he's a wood elf. Plenty of reason to hate the Thalmor. Meet him in Solitude."
"Don't we need invitations or something like that?"
"I have it covered. I just need your names for the guest list."
This is going to be dangerous. The Thalmor have tight connections with the Empire. I need a different persona and name. "Shouldn't we use fake names? You know, if something goes wrong we might need to make ourselves disappear. Or at least the fake self." I offer this to them and they agree.
I point to Nonvul. "You can be Mulhadrim and I can be-"
Nonvul stops me. "If you get to pick my name, I get to pick yours." I agree relentlessly and he taps his chin. "Kulass. Your name will be Kulass."
"Really? You're naming me that? Do you even know what it means?"
"Well it's better than Smoliin." Nonvul laughs and runs up the stairs like a child.
"Nonvul fen aus fah tol!" I yell up to him in the dragon language. All I hear is him snickering from upstairs.
"Get going." Delphine says and I trek up the stairs after noting her strange expression. I probably shouldn't have yelled at him in that language.
Nonvul gets on the horse we both paid for and holds his hand out to me.
"No. I'm going to take a carriage. You act like a little kid when I ride with you." I walk back to Whiterun alone and decide whether to take the carriage or buy my own horse for full price. Skulvar greets me and I cave in and buy his last horse.
It takes about a day to get to Solitude but my horse reaches the gates moments after Nonvul gets off his horse.
"Decided to buy your own horse, huh?" Nonvul crosses his arms and pulls my horse over by his own. He ties them both to a fence and I get off. I give my black steed a pat on the nose and we walk into Solitude.
There is a public execution going on and I catch the words 'Talos', 'high king', 'Ulfric', and 'traitor'. Nonvul pulls me to the Winking Skeever tavern and we find a wood elf in the corner.
"Nords." He sounds like he's accusing us of being our own race.
"Our mutual friend sent us." I say quietly and he is surprised. Not in the good way.
"Really?! You both are who she picked?! I hope she knows what she's doing. Okay, I can smuggle some equipment into the Embassy for you. Give me what you can't live without." Nonvul starts throwing everything at Malborn. He gives him various types of potions, lock picks, weapons, and even his own armor which he takes off in a back room and replaces with regular clothes.
I start to give him items too but he gives them back.
"Delphine has something else planned for you. I don't need any of your things, just his." Malborn says and he grabs all of Nonvul's load. "Meet Delphine at the stables. She'll take it from here." And like that, he's out the door.
Whatever Delphine has planned for me, it might not be good. We head out of Solitude and go to Katlia's Farm where Delphine is leaning against the mill. There is a carriage near her and she unfolds the plan.
"You two will be a married couple attending the party." I feel even more uncomfortable with Nonvul around now. "Nonvul, disguised as a noble named Mulhadrim, will be doing most of the work. He will be sneaking around the Embassy to find out information. You," Delphine points to me. "will be disguised as his wife named Kulass. I have makeup for you so you will look different. You always hide your face so the makeup will disguise it for you." She smears the makeup on my face after I take my hood off. "A distraction will be needed, that's where you come in. Do whatever you must. You can pretend you're pregnant and throw up all over the floor or something like that. After an hour, say your husband is missing. The guards will look for him and that's your chance to escape to Reeking Cave. I'll have your horses tied up there."
"This is going to be weird. It's like playing dress up and house. I'm too old for that. I'm 22." I comment after Delphine tells us the plan.
"I'm too old for dress up too. I'm 24." Nonvul adds his commentary after me.
Delphine doesn't care for our petty squabbling. "Well I'm a lot older than you two, practically twice your age. You both are going to do what I say or there'll be trouble."
She hands us some party cloths and we change. Delphine takes the rest of our stuff with her and she gives us the invitation with our fake names on it. We get in the carriage and soon arrive at the party.
Some more stragglers come into the party as well and we hand a Thalmor Guard our invitation and he lets us in. A high elf greets us when we walk into the main hall. "Hello. I am Elenwen. I haven't seen you both before."
"I am Mulhadrim and this is my wife, Kulass." Nonvul introduces us and Malborn's voice comes from the bar.
"We've run out of the Alto wine. May I bring out the other?" Malborn asks and we now know his location.
"Fine. Whatever." Elenwen turns back to us and apologizes. "We will have to get to know each other later." She leaves and we are free to mingle and cause a distraction.
Lots of people are here and I don't like the crowdedness. I may be able to pull off the sick pregnant wife. The people I recognize are Jarl Bulgruuf, General Tullius, who I manage to avoid, Maven Black-Briar, and one of the latecomers from outside. We let a half hour pass and decide that it is time.
Good thing I already feel sick from the crowd. I move to the far end of the room where almost everyone can see me and hurl. People say 'eww' and other words while the guards and some of the guests swarm me. "I'm so sorry. I recently found out I was pregnant and I couldn't stop. I'm so sorry." They feel sympathy towards me, and Nonvul makes his escape without being noticed. Someone cleans the mess up and I sit down on one of the benches. A server brings me a silver chalice filled with water.
The rest of the party goes off without a hitch. I am not discovered and an hour passes. "Do you know where my husband went? I haven't seen him for an hour." I ask Elenwen and she scatters the rest of the guards to find him. Without anyone looking, I also make my escape and head out the door.
"Have a good night ma'am." The Thalmor Guard says and I take my leave out the gate. After I make sure no one is watching, I run down to where Delphine said she put the horses. They are there but Nonvul isn't. I head into the cave and find Nonvul bleeding heavily and a half naked man trying to get up higher.
A frost troll runs after me and I shout. "Iiz Slen Nus!" The troll freezes and I get both Nonvul and the extra out alive. Luckily, the frost troll doesn't follow us out after it thaws. Nonvul can barely speak and is loosing blood fast.
I heal him and coax him into drinking potions I find in his saddle bag. The only thing that kept the troll from tearing him to pieces was his armor. It seems like Malborn didn't make it out alive or Nonvul didn't want to save him. "Thanks." Nonvul manages to say and I pull him on to his horse's saddle.
I lead the horses down the road slowly and constantly heal Nonvul. After a few hours, he is back to his old self and we race back to Riverwood. We go into the Sleeping Giant Inn and collect our gear. Delphine pries us with questions and Nonvul hands her all the reports but hands me the one about Ulfric Stormcloak. I open the note book and read a part that says relations. 'May have a child.' it says and I feel worried. They already know a lot.
"It seems like the Thalmor are just as in the dark about the dragons returning as we are. They said something about a guy named Esbern though." Nonvul hands her the last report and she becomes ecstatic.
"Esbern?! He's still alive?! I thought the Thalmor got him years ago! That crazy old man. He must know something if the Thalmor are after him."
"A prisoner told me he was hanging out somewhere in Riften."
"Go to Riften and find someone named Brynjolf. He'll help you. If you think I'm paranoid, just wait till you meet Esbern. Ask him where he was on the 30th of Frostfall, and he'll know to trust you." Delphine goes back to her maps and we head out to Riften.
"Halt. You must pay the visitor's tax to get into the city." A Riften Guard clad in his purple armor stops us.
"What's the tax for?" Nonvul asks and the guard stumbles over his words.
I know it's a shakedown but Nonvul doesn't. He pays and gets into the city. Without me. "This is obviously a shakedown."
The guard hushes me up and lets me into the city for free. A thief runs past me, and almost tramples me as he runs for the door. One of the guards on watch shoots him in the spinal cord with an arrow and he goes down. The thief isn't breathing and I get out of the way as a guard hauls him over her burly shoulder and throws him into the canal. It's good to be back in Riften.
Author's Note: SPOILER ALERT!
Dear Readers, the next chapter will be a short one. Self explanatory.