"Ralof, you did not do anything wrong. In fact you did all that I could have hoped for." I told the disgruntled warrior.
"I appreciate the thought, but those Thalmor had me near death. I thought it was the end." He looked at me. "I didn't expect you to come in and save the day. I'm no damsel in distress."
"No, but you're a damn good soldier and I need more like you."
"Why did you come for me in Whiterun?" He questioned. "You could find hundreds of men willing to follow the Dragonborn. You picked a suspected traitor."
"Well I knew you revered the old ways. That's why you followed Ulfric to war. I need someone who I can agree with, Delphine doesn't believe in anything anymore."
"There are many Nords who still believe in Talos." Came the reply.
"Aye, that there are. How many have fought as a warrior, trained as a soldier, and served on a secret task force?" I laughed when I said this.
"I need Blades who are loyal to me, who can fight, have discipline, and can keep secrets and work outside the law."
"But that still doesn't explain why you thought I would be loyal."
"In all honesty I didn't know if you would be or not. I thought you would, I mean I had heard stories."
"So you sent me to that cabin not knowing what I would do?"
"Aye, it was a test. We gave you a wagon, supplies, and put you right near the border to High Rock. You could have fled and never looked back."
He gave me a queer look.
"No, Ralof it wasn't a suicide mission. The fact that you nearly died only proved your loyalty."
"Okay next question." Ralof tried to steer the topic away from him almost dying.
"What's that?"
"What are we doing now?" He turned to look at our small caravan. One wagon with the ten Nords, two Wood Elves, and the Blades. We had passed through Rorikstead an hour before.
"We are finding a new home for the Blades. There's an ancient Blades temple in the Reach."
"Like with the Forsworn?"
"Aye."
With that the questions from Ralof stopped. The Nords would continue to whisper and stare at me wide eyed through the trip.
Delphine stopped us as we came into view of the Karth River valley and with it the Karthspire.
"Our destination lies there, in the Karthspire." Delphine pointed at the tall mountain."Esbern, you and Malborn will protect the wagon. We will take the camp and come back when it is okay." She ordered.
"Or we could be civil." I interjected. I heard Esbern grumble in the background. We set out on our path to the camp.
"Civil? With the Forsworn?" She shouted.
"Yeah, look they are in the middle of their own power struggle. We might find a group that is not looking to fight the Dragonborn. In fact us being here could be a deterrent to the opposing tribes of Forsworn." I explained my reasoning.
"Are you suggesting we ally ourselves with the Reachman?" She looked as if I were speaking a foreign language.
"Yes, just this tribe. It would keep away any who could threaten Sky Haven. If we have this group of Forsworn who defend it from the outside our presence will never be revealed." Ralof looked like he didn't approve, if he had a "Skyrim for the Nords" mentality common among the Stormcloaks we would need to talk.
"Alright, and how do you suggest we get their attention without them attacking first?"
Then I Shouted. Not in the language of the Dov, but in the common tongue laced with the thu'um. "Reachman of Karthspire, I am the Dragonborn. I am not here to fight you. I want to make an alliance. Send out your elder, or I will consider it your rejection of terms." I looked over to Delphine, who was furious I didn't ask for her approval. "Please let us meet to talk. Don't let this be a battle."
An hour later, a small war party had left camp to meet us. In front were two men, one young and one old.
Addressing the elder, I spoke," Hello sir, I am the Dragonborn. Most know me as Uther. Thank you for meeting."
To my surprise the elder did not reply but the younger man did. He identified himself as one of Madanach's son. "Well then Uther. What are your terms?" A gale of wind caught the man's ginger hair, making it look like a flame flickering.
"Well a defensive alliance would be ideal. I will see to it that in return for you allowing us inside the temple and letting us live peacefully then we will help you defend yourselves in case of attack and if worse comes to worse your people can take shelter inside." I started when Delphine grabbed me arm.
"You don't have the authority to make those decisions." She warned.
"Delphine, you may be the acting grandmaster, but I am still the Dragonborn. Remember who you serve." I warned, my Voice backing my threat. The ground trembled as each syllable was pronounced.
"Problems?" The Breton raised an eyebrow.
"None, as I was saying. My Blades gain access to the Temple. We in turn help with your camp. Actually we could help you turn it into a small village. This is a fertile river valley with plenty of fish in the river. All I ask is that we have your discretion about who is here and all of that."
"A village?" He looked around at the war torn stragglers he was calling a tribe. Several looked like they appreciated the idea. "We might could work with that, but the temple is sealed. None of our Dawn Magics did anything to unseal it."
"Aye, that's because it is meant for only me to open." I sent for Esbern and the wagon.
It was not long before I was proven correct. My Shout and my Dragon blood were the only things to get us through traps.
With the help of the Reachmen, we cleared out any rubble that was an immediate inconvenience, and began to set up our base. The Nords were going to be servants of the Blades, similar to the Order of Talos back in the days of the Septims. They would make sure the place was not cluttered l, the braziers were lit, and that everything was taken care of. Malborn and Brelas were serve as quartermasters and make sure we had food and drink.
Ralof, Delphine and myself would join Esbern and try to find out what came next, and how if we were truly facing Alduin, the World Eater.