Elisif I
It was my wedding day. Finally the time had come, after months of preparation and organizing details. My father's court in Bruma and Torygg's in Solitude had spent a small fortune to put on the wedding of the year. We had sent out invitations to all of the right people. Foreign dignitaries would be attending, the wealthiest citizens of the Empire were bringing gifts.
It would be a week of celebration ending with the wedding and Toryyg and I going for a honeymoon trip to the Isle of Gold. The Rift was not the best vacation place, but Nordic kings have been going to the small island since the Second Era. Torygg was excited to see the rest of Skyrim without all of the fuss of Solitude.
It was supposed to be the best week of my life….
Things went horribly wrong from the start. The councilor from Raven Rock was offended by Torygg's court wizard. I have no clue why because the Breton was always nice to me anytime I was around. Then Father had gotten drunk on the wine and made fun of one of the other counts. It was horrid so far.
Things began to look up when Jarl Ulfric Stormcloak arrived for the wedding. I did not know the man personally, but my father served with him in the war and Torygg idolized him. I could admit he was an attractive older man. He moved through the room like a predator. His young son was always at his side. Ulfric was a social person, always moving through the parties and events talking to this person or that. He would single one person out and by the end of the night they would be the best of friends. Whenever a speech was to be made Ulfric was always the first to stand and speak for my soon to be husband.
When the Emperor arrived in the middle of the week everything became ten times bigger. From the moment that Imperial ship came in to port the parties became so much more extravagant. The politicians began trying to outdo each other and I was embarrassed to watch my father try to do some of the things he made me witness.
At one such event he raised a toast, mere minutes after Jarl Balgruuf of Whiterun made one in Torygg's honor. My father told the crowd how much of a blessing from the Divines I was, how much I would be one to Torygg's future family, and lastly the way I look. He called my Elisif "the Fair" several times. I am fairly certain my face was the color of Falk's beard throughout the night.
The wedding went off without a hitch. My brother Platius Carvain finally made it after missing the entire weeks' worth of celebrations. What a story did he have to tell! He and his wife had ended up in the Temple at Windhelm, I made a mental note not to mention around Elenwen about that it was a Temple to Talos. They had traveled with some Nord mercenary who was headed to Windhelm and tricked them into going there instead of here. He did bring them here right after his business there was finished.
The Nordic priest of the Divines did the vows, evoked Mara's holy name, everything a girl could dream of. The guests danced and celebrated. The night was one of joy and great merry-making. It was wonderful to see all the different people talking together. The King of Wayrest was even talking to the mercenary that brought my brother here,
After the ceremony came the terrible news. A Dark Brotherhood assassin had killed the Emperor. Everyone on board his ship had been killed as well as the Penitus Occulatus commander. A single Nightshade was left on the bodies of the commander and on the Emperor. When Captain Aldis and Crown Prince Tullius came to tell us the news they told us of an assassin that they had been tracking for months. He was trained Maro and had served well for years. Then the Emperor made a decision that hurt the agent's family and he went silent.
They told us that the Emperor's body had not been mutilated or desecrated. The assassin had left a note. In the note the killer wrote that the Emperor had been respectful and looked death in the face without fear. The man who wrote the letter said that out of everyone he ever killed Titus Mede II would be the only one he regretted. He then convicted Amaund Motierre, of the Elder Council, of being the employer of the assassin. He wrote that Motierre's body would be found in the Bannered Mare in Whiterun. Tullius said it was unusual for an assassin to implicate their boss, much less to kill the main who paid them. Aldis said it would have been from the respect the assassin had for Titus II. He was an honorable man.
Maro's body was not as fortunate as Titus' had been. Titus had been laid in his bed, arms crossed. His regal Emperor's robes almost devoid of blood stains. Maro had been torn limb from bloody limb. His armor had been shredded from his body. It was torn bit by bit and his arms and legs dissected from his torso and placed in an odd order. The legs were the arms went and vice versa. The nightshade was placed over the sigil of the Penitus Oculatus. As if to say that the Brotherhood was better than the Emperors bodyguards.
Aldis' already pale face was a few shades lighter. Tullius clenched his teeth together with a grim face. He would be Emperor now, well as soon as he returned to the Imperial City and was crowned by the Primate of the Temple of the One. He would be emperor not because his father passed it down, or died peacefully. He would become emperor because an assassin killed his father in a peaceful town during a peaceful time.
Then Ulfric Stormcloak burst through the double doors of the throne room. His son and his housecarl followed at his right and left hand. Everyone in the room's attention had turned to Ulfric. His eyes held a hardness I had never seen before. It was the look of someone looking for a kill.
"Torygg!" Ulfric shouted.
"Yes Jarl Ulfric?" My newlywed husband asked. He stood up from his seat ready for whatever his idol had to say.
"How do you plan to deal with the Forsworn now?" Ulfric continued to yell. Seriously was this man raised in a barn? Well the doors were left open after he walked in, definitely raised in a barn.
"I…I…I…" Torygg stuttered. "I had planned to petition the Emperor for a legion to come and help. Now I guess I will wait until General Tullius here is crowned Emperor and ask him."
"You would wait for the permission of the Imperials while your homeland bleeds? You worry about the convenience of the Legion when the true sons and daughters of Skyrim would follow you in taking back the Reach." Ulfric started another speech but Tullius interrupted.
"Excuse me, Jarl Ulfric. It sounds like you are saying to raise a Nord army and do the duty of the Imperial Legion forgetting about the Emperor or his wishes." Tullius turned, hs hand going to his hip where his sword hung.
"Torygg we have talked of this already. The Empire is dead. Either we go down with it or we cut ourselves off. If an arm is infected beyond repair, do you keep it or do you cut it off?" Ulfric began again.
"That's saying that Skyrim is the main body and the Empire is only a limb!" Tullius shouted back.
"Torygg, Skyrim needs a strong High King." Ulfric spoke now. The yelling was over.
"No, Skyrim needs a smart High King." Tullius looked to Torygg.
"I…I… I don't know what to do." Torygg was struggling for words again. The paic in his eyes evident. He looked to me, then my father, then back to the two men causing this argument.
"If you don't, I do." Ulfric slowly pulled the axe from his hip. The Imperial guards, the Oculatus, and every Jarls housecarl all drew steel. Then the mercenary that brought my brother here spoke up.
"Jarl Ulfric, do you seek to challenge High King Torygg." The armored stranger spoke and realization hit the Nords present. The Imperials and Bretons still looked confused but lowered their weapons.
"Aye, I, Jarl Ulfric Stormcloak, son of Hoag, challenge you, Jarl and High King Torygg, son of Istlod, by the old Nordic way first used by the Five Hundred Companions and upheld by all our ancient kings." He looked at Torygg in a sad way, and handed his axe to Torygg.
Torygg took the axe and scanned the room. He saw his Nordic Jarls who had all sworn to serve him, but so had Ulfric. Then he turned to his Imperial allies and the Breton allies. They had held true to their word.
He handed the axe back to Ulfric.