Chapter 11

Day 30

It was early morning when the slamming on my door started. I tried to hide myself under the many furs that covered me. A childish act but still somewhat comforting to me. When I had thought that maybe the person would give up I heard a very deep and gruff voice from behind the door.

"Jarl Ulfric requests your presence! If you do not come within the hour it will be taken as an act of treason!" With that the man seemed to stomp off.

"Treason? I'm not even a stormcloak!" I groaned to myself as I sat up and stretched. My body popped and cracked as I tried to get dressed in my robes and put the strap to my satchel over my shoulder. This area was much colder than the other parts of Skyrim and my body was paying for it. It had been almost a month and my body was hardly used to the weather at all. Maybe it had been because I was used to weather in Florida and Ohio. Both places I had lived in regularly throughout my life. But this frozen land was nothing at all what my body knew but I would need to keep moving anyway. "I'll get used to it eventually." I muttered as I walked out to the commons area of the inn and sat down to order some water, bread, and pheasant breast. A filling breakfast as I had a feeling I wouldn't get many chances to relax that day. I took note of the familiar area as I ate. I had slept most of yesterday so I hadn't taken much stock in the people around me but now I could see familiar faces from the game. I didn't really remember any names but if I stayed here long enough I figured I could get to know at least one person here.

After finishing my meal I paid for my room for the next few nights then headed out to the palace of the kings where Ulfric would be waiting for me. The cold air bit into my skin as I walked out of the candlehearth inn. Dark clouds blotted out the sun as a light wind began to pick up. Though high walls surrounded the city, the most that people would have to worry about is the heavy snowfall. That's what I though at least. Did people shovel or move the snow away somehow? Maybe have a mage melt some of it? I laughed to myself as the thought of a mage walking through the snow using flame magic popped into my head.

I was greeted at the large gates to the palace of kings by two large guards. Their faces where hidden by their helmets, making their appearances a little more menacing that I thought they would be. They led me in where I was seated at the large table that was before Ulfric's throne.

"Ah, there you are." He greeted me with a smile and a spread of his arms as if in hospitality. What was with this man? Had he changed his opinion of me so quickly? "I wanted your account of something." He sat down on his throne and his general sat across the table from me. He was quick to get right to the point.

"What can I help with?" I asked as I leaned on the empty table. I remembered in the game how there was always food on the table but I guessed that the stormcloak leaders didn't always feast.

"I want to hear about your account with these 'enchanted' soldiers." He asked with a serious face.

I recalled the event where the soldiers where able to quickly dispatch a mage ambush before I could even register what was going on. I added that I had seen them walk into the Thalmor supervisor's tent after we had returned from the skirmish. " You believe that the Thalmor had done something to enchant these soldiers?" He asked.

"I'm not certain but I believe that they had some hand in what I had witnessed. As you probably read from my journal. They plan to use the Valtheim towers as a foundation for a multi-tiered fortress."

"I read that and sent a few scouts to the towers yesterday. The arrived early this morning and confirmed what you had written about. It was what confirmed my suspicions that you weren't a spy and allowed you to be alive right now." He said in a scarily calm manner. I could have been dead this morning? I would have just never woken up? I sighed heavily and did my best to not shake as I sat there.

"Do you plan to do something? If they set up that fortress it would cut you off from a majority of Skyrim." I asked, my curiosity getting the better of me.

"There are always other routes around the mountains. They would likely expect an attack on the site and I would rather not risk the lives of my brothers and sisters walking into a trap." I had taken the man for being rather rash and headstrong in the game but maybe he was more of a tactician than I thought. "Besides, I can't exactly share anything specific with you. You aren't a stormcloak and you where just recently in the company of our enemies." His eyes pierced through me as he stated the last part. With a wave of his hand he dismissed me and two guards came to escort me out.

The snow had picked up and was now falling heavily on Windhelm. I made my way quickly to the tavern and found my way to my room. "He's planning something. Is he going to attack while they are building? Or wait this out and use other routes across the mountains." I realized that I was talking out loud to myself and immediately shut my mouth. If the snow let up by tomorrow then I would offer my assistance to Ulfric and his cause. If I could get some protection against the Thalmor and the empire then I would take anything I could get. But then again they might send me to the front lines! I sighed heavily and sat on my bed. There was plenty of time left in the day today but the snow put down any possibilities of going out around the town. I had plenty of gold left from the time I spent in the imperial camp and I needed to restock on some things. My dagger had been taken from me and so I needed another and I would also need some more dried food like fruit, potatoes, leaks. Something I could keep in my pack for on the road. I also needed more ink as the things I've been writing are becoming less and less eligible. I would have to wait until the snow slowed down though. Would be bad luck to get sick now.