Act II: Chapter 2

Hello Everyone,

Follow me on instagram at wtmcdonaldauthor! If you are feeling generous, and wish to donate to my writing career, you can find me at Patreon under Twubs for early access to chapters of The Ladder, Defiant, and Tsunami of the South!

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

*********************************************************************************************************

"Jarl Ulfric has challenged High King Torygg, in the old ways."

It was Rikke who revealed the information to me. I rode beside General Tullius and Legate Rikke, as we made our way down the main road towards Solitude. It had been a week and a half since we split off from Jarl Igmund, and the Markarth soldiers and we had been pushing our men hard to make it back in time.

The road was well maintained, by far the nicest I had ever seen in this universe. Which made sense, considering this was the capital, and the richest hold in Skyrim.

My heart dropped, as I realized I had run out of time to prepare. Torygg was about to be murdered, and Skyrim will be plunged into a civil war.

'Unless I can stop it.' I thought, trying to be optimistic.

"When?" I asked, trying not to be too upset. It was tradition, and Ulfric had every right to challenge him as a Jarl.

"The Jarl's will be notified soon. Runners should be reaching them soon, and they will travel to the capital to bear witness." Tullius answered, before continuing. "I told Igmund myself. He would have joined our party then, if he hadn't been away from Markarth for a month already."

"The city is in a very critical state right now." I said, agreeing with Igmund. "And the nobles will need to be put in check. No doubt, they have taken some liberties while we were busy. While the cat's away, the mice will play." I quoted.

"Very well put." Tullius said without looking in my direction. "But I fear that Skyrim is about to have bigger problems."

"Ulfric cannot be allowed to win." I said confidently.

Rikke's head snapped to me, and she couldn't help but respond. "We cannot interfere!" Rikke hissed towards me.

I was reminded why Tullius kept her around. She was, if rumors were to be believed, a fierce warrior, and an even fiercer nord. She kept to the old ways.

I weathered her gaze, as a nord man should. "Ulfric will plunge us into a civil war!" I responded. "That Skyrim, and the empire is not ready for."

Tullius actually turned to look at me after I said that, surprised at my stance on the issue.

"I was told you held the old ways." Tullius said probingly.

"I do. But I am not blind to the political state of the empire. And there was a lot of information to be found in Markarth on Ulfric Stormcloak." I lied to the man. I needed a way to explain my meta-knowledge of Ulfric Stormcloak. It seemed like as good of an excuse to reveal it as any.

Tullius hummed, but otherwise didn't react to the information. "I think it's time I brief you on what your duties will be." Tullius said, completely switching gears.

I perked up, curious. I had been waiting patiently since I was told of my new position of what exactly it was that I would be doing.

"I am a simple man." Tullius started. "With a simple skill set. I can lead men well, very well. I am a master tactician, with almost no peer in the legion." He paused, letting that sink it. I didn't know if he was just bragging or about to reveal something important.

"That is not enough. I have had to drag every bit of talent I have with a sword out of my body, and even then I am barely considered passable with a blade. That is why Legate Rikke is always by my side." Tullius explained. "Not only is she knowledgeable on nordic tradition, she is one of the best fighters in Skyrim."

I nodded, as my suspicions were confirmed.

"Neither of us have any magickal talent. And Skyrim's history is rooted in the arcane. Did you know that most people outside of Skyrim, think of the thu'um as a relic of the past? Most only know of it because of Tiber Septim's legend. I never considered the truth." Tullius continued.

"The language of the dragons, capable of being learned by any disciplined enough." Tullius paused once again. "Ulfric Stormcloak is immensely disciplined, it seems."

'You can say that again.' I thought, agreeing with the assessment.

It was weird to me, that the rest of the world considered the thu'um dead. Every child in Skyrim knows to fear it's capabilities. And everyone knows of the Greybeards at the Throat of the World. Most were tales told to children, but that didn't make them fake. Tiber Septim conquered the world with the thu'um.

'One could make an argument it was superior to magick, although I would doubt it.' I pondered.

"Some might say that we are glorified bodyguards." I told him, seeing through what he was telling me.

"Some would also kill for a position beside me, regardless of the title." Tullius responded.

Rikke and I chuckled at that. "I have a bit of a confession to make." I said. Tullius didn't tell me to continue, but he did wait for me to. "I tend to focus on the more subtle aspects of magick. I will not be commanding a storm of fire to do my bidding anytime soon. Nor will I summon monsters from the realm of the Daedra to wreak havoc on my enemies."

"What is it you can do, then?" Tullius asked.

"I can manipulate your emotions, without you knowing." I said as I sent a burst of 'fear' towards him and his horse, quickly followed by a 'calm'. The horses head whipped about for a moment before calming. Tullius' face didn't change, but his eyes did meet mine in surprise. No doubt, he felt the change in his emotions.

"I can create shield capable of blocking magickal and physical attacks." I continued as I manipulated the magicka in my body. My red dragon scale shield appeared in front of me, about the size of my horse and I. I have been very busy the past few weeks.

"I am, without a doubt, one of the most skilled healers on the planet." I said, although I didn't show them. I really couldn't without there being an injury near me.

"And I have some skill in telekinesis and fire spells." I finished, summing up my abilities.

"Do me a favor, Hadvar." Tullius said. "Never manipulate my emotions without me knowing." Although, his face didn't show it. I could tell that Tullius was a bit angry that I could do that.

"I only ever project positive emotions, such as 'courage' to my allies. My enemies ...well that is free reign as far as I'm concerned." I said, trying to placate him.

"When you look at this out of context, it doesn't seem very impressive. But when you take into account my position, it makes me an excellent commander of men, and a terrifying person to face one-on-one. My men will never break rank, because I do not let fear to cloud their judgement. And that cannot be said for whoever stands on the other side of the battlefield, because I can control them too." I stated, laying down my cards for him.

"What of your skills with a blade?" Tullius asked, eyeing the steel on my side.

I smirked. "I have yet to be bested." I said confidently while eyeing Rikke in the corner of my eye.

Even though she was still mad at us for disrespecting tradition, she appreciated the challenge and smirked my way. I knew we would be sparring soon.

We all fell into a silence after I finished. I knew Tullius was thinking on how best to use my skills, or maybe he was just trying to process everything. Eventually, he decided to continue telling me what my duties are.

"Your first task while we are in Solitude, is to train up the guard the same way you did in Markarth. Find competent people, and delegate. You won't have time to do it all yourself. When you aren't doing that, you will accompany me in my dealings with the High King and the Aldmeri Dominion. Do you have any issues with that, soldier?" Tullius asked.

"No sir." I answered the General.

"Good. Now, at any moment I might send you across Skyrim to do my bidding. Do you have a problem with that?" Tullius asked once again.

"No sir." I answered him once again.

"Good. Now you may be wondering what you gain from this particular arrangement." Tullius stated, and waited for me to answer.

I thought about it for a moment, but couldn't come up with a decent answer. "I bring glory to the Legion?" I asked lamely.

Tullius and Rikke laughed for a moment. "You're not wrong." Rikke joked.

"I am making you a symbol, Hadvar." Tullius revealed. "Ulfric has painted himself as some warrior of old come to save Skyrim from the empire, and now he seeks to claim the throne. I need someone on our side, to rival his legend."

"And how do you plan on doing that?" I asked, curious. It wasn't that far fetched. One could easily manipulate my deeds in Markarth as one of a hero, with a little exaggeration.

"You already have." Tullius answered, supremely confident. "The people of the Reach sing praise of your deeds already. Soon enough, word will spread to the other holds. With a little help and embellishing, you'll become the symbol I need."

A part of me was uncomfortable with the attention. The other part relished in it. Every nord grew up hearing tales of Talos, Ysgramor, and other nord heroes. All of us had once played the part in childhood games even. To actually have your name written in the history books, was ...well, it was incredible and there was no way I was saying no.

It wasn't my plan, ever really. I only wanted to do my part for Skyrim and her people. But after the 'merge', I knew I had to get more power, for the coming threats. Alduin, Civil War, Harkon, The First Dragonborn… I needed to be able to help out the Dragonborn, and mitigate the damage that these threats would bring. Never did I imagine I would be the symbol for the Legion, but if that was what it takes, then I'm game.

"And if that isn't enough incentive, I would remind you how financially beneficial it can be to be the General of an entire province's personal battlemage." Tullius added on.

I smiled at that last part. "That does help, yes." I answered. "Since you are being very upfront with everything, I will do the same."

"Torygg will die by Ulfric's hand." I said simply.

Tullius turned to me again, but he otherwise didn't visibly react to the information.

"How can you be so sure?" Tullius asked.

"There is nothing that says Ulfric can't use the thu'um in his challenge." I said truthfully. It was heavily implied that it was supposed to be a fair fight, but there was no such thing as fair.

Tullius turned to Legate Rikke when I said that. "Is that true?" Tullius asked her.

Rikke nodded her head. "It wouldn't be right! If Ulfric did that, he would lose a lot of support." She responded.

"But will he?" Tullius asked her.

Rikke's silence told him everything he needed to know.

*********************************************************************************************************

Solitude is massive.

The capital of Skyrim dwarfed Markarth. I had always assumed Markarth was one of the larger holds. Now I was questioning that assumption.

'Well, to be fair, half of Markarth is hidden in the mountains.' I thought as I looked at the massive walls of the city.

The road that led into the city was so wide, that all of the merchants and travelers had no problem venturing into the city without having to cramp together. Mountains towered around the city, but not actually close enough for it to be considered mountainous. The natural arch it was built on was another wonder.

The Karth River flowed peacefully underneath the natural arch, taking ships further down the massive river, or leading them out into the sea of ghosts. The port was absolutely massive also. Hundreds of ships came and went throughout the day, bringing foreign spices and clothing to the city. A lot bore the symbol of the Legion, as they ferried troops and supplies to the capital.

I took it all in with a smile, happy to see another beautiful place in my life. I had always been more of a mountain man, but Solitude had mountains in the background, along with being close to the beaches of North Skyrim.

"Impressive, isn't it?" Tullius said from his place beside me. We had already dropped the horses off at the Imperial Stable, about a mile outside of the city and were not continuing into the city with the men behind us marching. There they would be fed, and be allowed to roam free in the pastures until we had need of them again.

The crowds parted for us, as we made for Castle Dour. Tullius and I walked at the head. Rikke stood behind us, making sure that the men were marching properly and following orders. She was not an easy commander to have.

"It is." I said as I looked around at the crowd. My red gambeson armor that Calcelmo gifted me had a quick patching during one night of our camping. Tullius claimed that the people needed to know of my magickal prowess so he had the battlemage symbol stitched on. It was a silver dragon spewing silver flames.

'I'll get a blacksmith to make it out of actual silver, and then I'll secure it. Much better looking.' I thought about the new pendant.

"It's huge. What is the population?" I wondered aloud.

"Near half a million." Tullius said.

My jaw dropped and I looked around. The walls did seem to stretch on and on, and I could barely see the Blue Palace in the distance. Castle Dour was actually fairly close to the entrance gate to the city, which I thought was a little backwards.

"Why are we stationed so close to the wall, instead of the High King?" I asked Tullius as we approached the Imperial castle.

"The city guard near the palace is the best in all of Skyrim. All of them are natives of Skyrim. Even though Torygg is a supporter of the Legion, he will not be seen relying on us too much." Tullius explained. I actually tipped my hat to Torygg for that.

"Smart man." I commented.

"He is, surprisingly enough." Tullius commented.

We walked into the main courtyard of the castle inside of a city. Tullius had only left the minimum Imperial soldiers to upkeep the Castle. Since they weren't part of the city guard, they had much less duties during the day. This also meant that there were much less men in the castle than there were in the other cities around Skyrim. In fact, Tullius only had about one thousand men with him as his personal guard. I knew that number would soon grow.

"Come, let me show you to your quarters." Tullius commanded. That took me by surprise. I had thought him above showing me where I would be staying, but apparently I was wrong.

I followed him and we passed through the courtyard. At the end of the courtyard, a long building extended from the main towers. Tullius pointed at it. "That is the mess hall, capable of feeding five thousand at one time." He said.

Next to it were smaller buildings that rose higher into the air, maybe four stories, just below the walls to the castle. "That is the barracks. It's where the men stay. It can house about the same number." Tullius said.

If you were wondering how big these buildings were, they were fucking massive. I had no other way to describe it.

"Another three thousand can be held in the four corner towers." Tullius continued as he pointed out the four smaller of the towers.

"That." Tullius said, pointing to the tallest tower. "Is the Emperor's Tower. It can hold him and his personal guard. We keep it clean and ready for his visit. I never expect him to set foot inside of it."

That was the tower I knew would be one of the nicest ever furnished. No doubt, it had only the best materials inside of it.

"Is that where I will be staying." I joked with Tullius. He looked at me out of the corner of his eye but didn't bother to laugh or even knock me down a peg.

"You will be staying at the Wizards Tower." Tullius said, pointing to the second largest tower off by itself. "Reserved for the Emperor's Battlemage. I think you'll like what's inside. Sybille, the High King's court wizard, stocked it so as to impress the current Battlemage at any time."

I became giddy with excitement. Finally, unhindered ability to learn magick? I thought.

Don't get me wrong, I was grateful with all that Calcelmo had done for me. But he was a very strict wizard and would only let me advance when he said so. Most of the upper level destruction spells were still off-limits when I left. I was very very happy at this development.

Tullius opened the door and let me enter first. Torches lit, activated by enchantment and filled the tower with light. The bottom floor was one of the most finely furnished rooms I had been in in this life, and that's saying something. Art decorated the walls, mahogany desks sat beside finely carved chairs, and bear skins littered the floor.

I found the stairs and started upwards. The second floor was the master bedroom. The bed was made for royalty. The frame was also mahogany. The bed looked like it was made of cotton or some heavenly substance. I was used to the cots of the legion, so anything was better than that. The sheets were silk, and more bear skin laid on top of the comforter. A finely made trunk sat at the end of the bed and there was a desk on the other side of the room. More paintings, and fine decorations littered the room.

Tullius' steps behind me told me he was following me. He looked into the room and nodded. "It'll do." He said.

I nearly fell over. 'Is that not good enough for you Tullius?'

I continued up the stairs to the third floor. It was nothing special, just a kitchen and some beds. Probably made for the servants or something like that.

The fourth floor was an apothecary on one half. There were empty potion bottles in crates stacked up on the side, free for use it seemed. It was actually the first time I had seen a potion bottle in this life. Normally they were reserved for the upper class. And apparently there weren't a lot of potions that were well known, potion masters were rare, and held their recipes close to their heart. The most common potion was disinfectant and small wound healing potions.

It didn't help that there were merchants that would mix red dye in a foul tasting solution and pawn it off as a potion. This led to people only wanting to buy from legit potion masters, and they were the opposite of cheap. Potion masters were probably, besides enchanters, the most profitable of all the wizarding arts.

'Maybe I should experiment.' I thought for a moment as I looked at the potion making set up. There seemed to be everything there for experimentation. I set it to the back of my mind to try.

On the other side of the room sat an enchanting table. There was nothing else. It seemed as if it was just a pretty table that glowed and looked comfortable to hunch over to enchant on. I had witnessed first hand that one did not need an enchanting table to actually enchant something. Ariella had shown that in spectacular fashion with my sword.

I continued up the stairs to inspect the next floor, and was not disappointed. The fifth floor was the top of the tower and the ceiling ended in a spire. The spire actually had a type of glass at the top of it, allowing the sun to stream in and heat the room, like a greenhouse. It made sense, because in the middle of the floor sat an assortment of magickal plants growing out of the stone floor. It was amazing. The fluorescent colored plants seemed enticing, and I even noticed some bugs fluttering about on them although they paid me no mind.

"I never understood these things." Tullius said as he appeared on the top floor.

"Me either." I responded. "But I'd like to figure it out."

"You do that!" Tullius said as he clapped a hand on my back. "Meet me at the Palace in the morning. Break your fast before, we have a busy morning."

"Where are you staying? I'll walk with you up there." I said.

Tullius laughed at me, and I realized why he said the battlemages bedroom was good enough. The bastards next sentence told me he was a spoiled brat.

"I stay at the palace."

*********************************************************************************************************

A/N: Yo!

Not much happened this chapter but we did get a lot of information about Hadvar's position and what his duties will be. Things will begin to heat up soon with the other bomb I dropped.

Torygg vs Ulfric soon!

How was the description of Solitude? Was close to a half a million people too much? Do you guys think I overdid it? What about Castle Dour?

Let's talk in the reviews!