Several Days Later…
City of Solitude, Northern Skyrim…
Dovah and his party arrived at the gates of Solitude just before Sunrise. The guards stopped them at the gate.
"Hold, there!" The guard called out, as two more blocked the door. "What business ha- Oh! Dovahkiin! What brings you here at this hour?"
"I need to speak to the General at once." Dovah said. "It's of great importance."
"Very well." The guard said as the two moved aside. "Open the gate!" He called out.
The large gates of Solitude parted, revealing the city inside of the walls. Dovah and his companions went through the gate quickly, escorted by the guard to Castle Dour. They went through Solitude's misty streets at a swift pace, up to the fog shrouded castle.
Dovah threw the doors to the castle wide open, walking in at a quick pace towards the war room without stopping. He could see General Tullius having a discussion with Jarl Elisif and Legate Rikke.
"I'm telling you, Ulfric is planning an attack on Whiterun!" Rikke exclaimed.
"He'd be insane to try. He doesn't have the men." Tullius replied.
"That's not what my scouts report, sir!" Rikke countered. "Every day more join his cause. Riften, Dawnstar, and Winterhold support him!"
"It's not a cause. It's a rebellion."
"Call it whatever you like, General. The man's going to take Whiterun."
Tullius rubbed his brow. "Jarl Balgruuf..."
"General Tullius!" Dovah exclaimed as he walked into the room. "I need to speak with you at once! It's urgent!"
Everyone jumped a bit upon Dovah's intrusion. General Tullius looked at Dovah with a stern expression.
"Dragonborn, You had better have a damn good reason for interrupting this conference." Tullius growled.
"Right now General, I definitely do." Dovah handed the letter from the Emperor, along with the Signet ring, to the General.
General Tullius took the letter, and read it quickly. His face was a mix of shock and disbelief. "By the Eight… You are the new Emperor mentioned in the Proclamation?!" Tullius paused to think about it for a bit. "It does make sense, though... Only the Dragonborn has a true claim to the Ruby Throne. Though right now, we can't coronate you properly. Not until the Stormcloak problem is taken care of. You will need to stay here, as having you out in public would jeopardize your future reign. Also, for future reference to everyone in this room, if anyone so much breathes a word of this in public, you will be summarily executed. We cannot afford a word of this affair getting out until it is safe to do so. In the meantime Dovah, you will have to remain here until the Stormcloak threat is dealt with."
"General, with all due respect, I can't just stand here and do nothing while that traitor Ulfric tears Skyrim apart!" Dovah protested. "There must be some way I can help!"
"I understand you want to help besides just staying put, Dovah." Tullius said. "I will try to get you into the Legion so you can deal with Ulfric, but right now is not the best time. I give you my word, I will do my best to have you in the Defense of Whiterun, and the forseen Siege of Windhelm, but for now the best thing you can do is stay here, out of sight and out of mind of the Thalmor."
"He is right. At least here, there are better emplacements for protection." Delpine said. "This is probably the safest spot for you in Tamriel right now..."
Dovah groaned. "Alright, Fine. Just work quickly, General. I don't like sitting on my hands with the current state of things as they are."
"Sounds like something Titus Meade I would have said." General Tullius complimented.
With that, Dovah and his group were escorted to the Emperor's quarters.
# # # # # #
In the Emperor's quarters, things were quiet with Dovah and his companions. They all were looking around the quarters in awe with its decadent decorations and furnishings.
"This is… nicer than anything I'm used to." Dovah mused. "From lone traveler, to Dark Brotherhood assassin, to Savior of Nirn, now… Emperor of Tamriel."
Krog scoffed. "You're making the Companions sound like chopped liver."
Delphine chuckled. "What about us Blades? We thought we'd never guard another Dragonborn Emperor again after Uriel VII and Martin Septim."
Dovah chuckled. "Everyone's lives have changed at this point."
"Life never fails to surprise Khajiit." Ta'liq replied.
"You mind if I scribe this down?" Delphine asked, getting out her quill and parchment.
"Sure, go ahead." Dovah said. "Just don't publish anything until this is over. Remember what Tullius said."
"Don't worry. I'll keep this in the most upmost confidence until this is over." Dulian said, inscribing everything down with her magic quill.
"Too bad there are few windows." Ta'liq said. "Despite the thickness of the walls, I can still hear the play of children in the streets outside."
Krog looked down at the floor. "...That's partly why I left the Companions." He said reluctantly.
Kalur looked to Krog. "So something happened on one of your jobs, I guess?"
Krog's eyes displayed his sadness. "It was during one of my jobs. I was with my shield brother, Farkas on a job to take care of a vampire problem near Falkreath. We had just entered the clan's cave. We had slain the ancient vampire, and were getting ready to head back to the village. That's when I saw the corpse of… of a child." Krog was struggling to keep himself in check. "She was still whole, but there was blood running from her throat. She had barely died hours ago. I've had to live with that image in my head for the past five years. If we had been there a few hours before, we could have possibly saved her. I swore after that moment I wasn't going to do anymore jobs with the Companions. I left because of guilt."
"That wasn't your fault, Krog." Kalur said. "You couldn't have known."
"I know. It's just… difficult to deal with." Krog replied. "Perhaps one day, I may go back."
With that finished, the group got comfortable and settled into the tower.
# # # # #
The Khajiit Thalmor assassin stealthily climbed up the tower to the Emperor's quarters. She had just slit one of the guards' throats to get in. She sneaked in through the window to the Emperor's quarters. She was surprised to see that the Emperor was not alone. Strewn throughout the room were others, either sleeping on furniture or on the floor in rolled out bedding.
There, in the main bed lay the target: Dovah, "The high-and-mighty" Dragonborn, the new Emperor of Tamriel. As if she believed in those fairy tales. All that was on her mind was one thing: The well-being of Elsweyr and its people. She would not let this Nord live.
She sneaked over to the bed, as silent as a serpent. She crept up onto the bed into a kneeling position over Dovah, drawing her Elven Dagger. She raised it over her head, poised to strike. Then, she hesitated for a second. Was this the right thing to do?
Her hesitation would be her downfall in the Thalmor.
# # # # #
Ta'liq stirred in his sleep. He thought he had heard something. He sat up slowly, and sniffed the air. Something was amiss. There was another scent here, of another Khajiit.
He turned around, and the sight instilled alarm in him! There was an Assassin in black and red robes, looming over Dovah, with a dagger out, ready to stab him!
Ta'liq jumped into action. He drew the iron dagger he kept in his boot and threw it at the Assassin, striking her in the arm! She let out a mix between a hiss and a yowl, struggling to contain her pain despite the surprise! She looked down, hoping it had not woken the Dragonborn, but her hopes were dashed as she saw his eyes were wide open, piercing blue.
The last thing she heard before being flung across the room was an ear crushing "Fus' ro!"
# # # # #
"Assassin!" Ta'liq yelled, alerting the others. Kalur woke up with the others as he charged his sparks spell; Krog went to grab a spear from the weapons rack. Guards stormed the room led by Legate Rikke, just as Kalur was tying her up with Delphine.
"It's cool, we got this." Kalur said. They handed the assassin over to the guards.
"What should we do with her?" Rikke asked.
"Isn't it obvious?" Krog pipped up. "She just tried to murder the new Emperor! That's a crime only punishable by death!"
"No." Delphine raised her hand. "It's foolish to just dispose of her. We need to get info from her: figure out who hired her, and why."
Dovah nodded as he knelt down to examine his attacker. "Yes. We also need to figure out how she knew. After all, everyone in that room was sworn to secrecy. So how did she figure this out?" Dovah raised the assassin's head, and was surprised to see how young she was! She was barely an adult!
"She's so young..." Dovah mused.
Ta'liq walked over, and sighed at the sight. "How can someone so young bear such a burden?"