Act II: Chapter 5

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"I see you have made yourself at home."

My eyes snapped open as I heard the voice in my room. My hand grasped the hilt of my sword that leaned against my bed. I drew it smoothly and jumped out of bed already swinging it where I heard the voice.

A hand grasped my wrist, and a leg kicked my leg that had all of my weight on it.

I fell back on the bed, and my other hand moved to continue my attack on the person in my room.

Golden-orange-yellow eyes peered into me behind an otherworldly beautiful face.

"If I wanted to kill you, you would be dead." The owner of quite possibly the most beautiful eyes on the planet said.

The woman's voice was the most seductive I had ever heard. Even the way her lips moved, promised unimaginable pleasure.

I felt my magicka rise in my body, in response to the subtle Illusion magick she was casting on me. The lust and desire in my body disappeared immediately, but her features didn't disappear. In fact, her lips smirked as she felt our magicka clash against each other.

I was helpless as I felt her magicka scan my own in a way I had never felt before.

And then her hand was off of my wrist and the woman backed away from me, out of reach of my sword. Her magicka retreated from my own, apparently done with whatever the fuck she was doing to me.

I stood up, fucking livid. Not really about the magicka, but rather about the fact that I was helpless to the woman in front of me. I hate that feeling.

"Sybille Stentor." She introduced herself, as if none of the events of the past minute had just happened.

I just stared at her, and contemplated all of the ways I wanted to murder her. In the end, I decided that I might not be capable of the deed, and forced myself to calm down. The whole time, she stared at me with those bright, captivating eyes, waiting.

"Hadvar." I introduced eventually.

She smiled at me, seductively. I couldn't tell if it was intentional, or just her natural smile. Her eyes flashed to my lower body for a split second.

'Oh that's right, I'm naked.' I thought as I realized what she was getting at.

I nodded and turned away from her to sheath my sword before getting dressed.

She waited patiently, and her eyes roamed my form the whole time. If I was a normal Nord, I would have propositioned her or teased her for it. But I could tell that it wasn't a lustful stare, but instead a calculating one. Like she was learning more and more about me from the way I moved and the scars on my body.

I let her do as she wished and focused on the task at hand. I was used to dressing quickly, because of my position in this world, so I was done quickly.

"Would it be too much to ask for you to knock next time?" I asked the woman as I belted my sword on my waist.

Her head turned, and she smirked at me once again. Is everything she does, seductive?

"You didn't have fun?" Sybille asked.

"Absolutely not." I told her.

It was then that I realized who I was talking to. She had introduced herself earlier, but the information didn't really click in my mind because of the adrenaline in my veins. It only just hit me that she was the court wizard of Solitude, and had been for a really long time. Her eyes told me of the reason for that.

'Vampire.' I thought as I looked at her. I didn't hide my gaze, as I didn't see the need to be polite considering her actions.

She wore exquisite dark blue mage robes. Somehow they hid her curves, but also told me that the body underneath them would be worth killing for. Her hood was not over her head, and revealed pale blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail. Her cheekbones were high, and sharp with perfect skin pulled over them. Her jaw was sharp, and delicate at the same time. Her nose sat in the middle of her face, perfectly placed and designed.

All in all, her beauty rivaled Ariella's. Where Ariella's beauty screamed natural, warm and blessed, Sybille's promised pleasure, but had a deadly aura behind it.

'Nothing like the games.' I thought as I drank her form in.

"I thought I would meet the new Battlemage Tullius has been bragging about." Sybille said while completely ignoring my request of knocking. "I am not disappointed." She added with another smile that cut through my defenses for a moment.

"That wasn't a very good first showing." I told her, ignoring her approval of me.

"Don't take it so hard, Hadvar. You were impressive." Sybille said and if it was possible, her smile got even wider.

I refused to blush, as I realized the innuendo.

"For one who just started his path as a magician, you are progressing rapidly." Sybille continued.

My eyebrows rose, questioningly.

"Magicka tells many stories, love, if you know how to listen." Sybille answered my unasked question.

'Are all vampires this sexual?' I wondered.

"That was very intrusive." I told her, talking about the magickal scan she had used on my and also her invasion of privacy in general.

"Yes, it is. But I have my reasoning." Sybille answered me while moving to my bed and flopping down on it. "I know that you discovered 'Mages Downfall'. That tome is not one I will just allow to roam around unhindered. I had to make a decision."

'Ah, so she didn't just leave it in the tower for anyone to take. Must have some sort of enchantment to notify her when it's moved or something.' I deduced.

"And what is your conclusion?" I asked her, curious as to what her scan told her about me.

Her head tilted again, and I moved over to a chair in the room before sitting down. "My conclusion…" Sybille said, as if she was surprised at my word choice.

"...is that you are another impossibility." She finished.

My heart dropped. 'Does she know of my transmigration?' I panicked.

"What do you mean?" I asked, trying to keep the panic out of my voice.

Sybille sat up on the bed, and locked eyes with me. "Nephew of a blacksmith, turned Battlemage with absolutely no formal training, and yet your magic is deep and refined when it should be shallow and unimpressive. You are an impossibility, Hadvar."

My heart calmed down a little when she said that, as I realized she was speaking on my improvements with magic. That actually made some sense. It was getting harder and harder to grow my reserves with the same methods I had been using over the past few months because of how much magicka I now had at my disposal. It wasn't near Ariella's, Calcelmo's, or even Sybille's but it was close to a normal magician my age who had been studying for a couple of years for sure.

'I'm still not sure I can cast this new spell.'

"I have been working hard." I told the woman in front of me, trying to play it off. My head turned to the window after I said it. The sun had yet to peak over the horizon, but light was beginning to spill into the tower.

'The men should be close to finishing breakfast.' I thought as I flexed my magicka in the familiar form of meditation.

Sybille twitched from her position on the bed and I could tell she sensed my magicka. She frowned as I continued the exercise.

"Calcelmo had the same reaction." I said as I noticed her twitch.

"My first thought is to correct you, but if I think about it, it makes sense." Sybille said as she stood up.

"It is similar to a muscle." I explained. "The more you use it…"

"Yes, yes, I know how a muscle works." Sybille interrupted. "We'll have to continue this conversation later. We are needed at the Palace."

She moved past me to the stairs and started down the tower. I followed her, taking the information in stride.

"What for, exactly?" I asked the vampire.

"Some very important people are arriving soon."

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"How did it go?"

Tullius looked like he had been up for hours when I got to the Blue Palace. Letters, with his handwriting on them, stood in one pile on his desk, while opened letters laid neatly stacked on each other in another pile.

"She is impressive." I answered him, and tried not to think about my meeting with Sybille any more.

Tullius and Rikke both snorted at my response. Rikke sat in a chair with her feet up and a book on tactics in her hand. Her eyes snapped up to me.

"Yes she is." Rikke commented quietly.

Tullius looked in her direction and just shook his head at her. I couldn't help but smile at my fellow nord.

"Yes, when I heard my messenger had been relieved by the Court Wizard, I expected you to be...delayed." Tullius said, holding on to the smirk on his face. "Very few catch her attention. Her gaze has been known to captivate many." He looked straight at Rikke when he said that.

Rikke's grin turned lecherous then, but she didn't comment further on the topic.

"All joking aside, she might be the most dangerous person in the city. Her words hold weight, and although I have a cordial relationship with her, it wouldn't hurt for you to improve the Legion's position in the city." Tullius continued, this time speaking directly to me.

"I was not under the impression that I am a whore to be used for the Legion, General." The words slipped out of my mouth without thinking.

Rikke's head snapped to mine, her book forgotten. She looked about ready to murder me at General Tullius' order.

Tullius himself never looked up from the letter he was writing, and replied almost immediately.

"Then you weren't paying attention, Hadvar. We are what the Legion needs us to be." Tullius told me nonchalantly. He was right of course, it was just something I never even considered being asked to do.

"I am not asking you to seduce her." Tullius offered. "Just do not ruin all of the hard work I have done in Skyrim."

'She has that much influence in the Palace? Makes one wonder just who she has under her spell.'

"Yes sir." I told my superior, satisfied that he wasn't giving me a direct order.

'Most men would kill for that assignment.'

"Now for the reason I actually called you here." General Tullius said, his eyes finally moving from the letter he was writing on and looking at me.

"Everyone important in Skyrim will be here in the next week or so. In fact, we expect your hometown friend at any moment now." Tullius continued. "I would like a showing from the legion… Have the men be…"

"Already done, General." I told Tullius a little more assertively than I should have. "The men will be ready."

Tullius stopped writing, and finally looked up to me. He let a small smirk crawl across his face.

"Good."

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My eyes roamed the crowd that stood with curiosity around the main entrance into Solitude.

A legionnaire stood in full uniform, sword on his hip, shield on his arm, and a spear in their hand side by side, creating a line on both sides of the road that would allow a large party to enter the city without having to worry about the civilians.

A runner had alerted us to the imminent arrival of the new Jarl of Whiterun, Ralof. I had hopped on a horse as fast as I could and raced to the gates to make sure that I was seen escorting him. So far, he hadn't shown, but news had spread quickly and the civilians of Solitude soon learned of new arrivals.

I bided my time by looking over my men, making sure they looked comfortable in their uniforms, and generally keeping them in line. My presence alone had straightened a couple of them up.

Eventually, a hush ran over the crowd that emanated from outside the gates.

'Well I'll give him one thing, he knows how to pull the look off.'

Ralof rode at the head of his party on top of a beautiful midnight black horse, whose head would have been a good foot taller than the others, in a magnificent version of wolf armor.

The design was very very similar to what the games portrayed, except it was obviously made out of better materials. The chest piece was actually made out of what looked to be like ebony, if the black sheen was anything to go off of, making it look almost black. The Accents on the chest piece were made out of silver, making it much more noticeable against the ebony background. The fur that made up the skirt and padding underneath the shoulder pads was also black and of the highest quality I had seen. The lower part of the armor matched the top in it's flair and uniqueness.

Ralof's blonde hair fell down onto the armor, drawing my eyes to his face.

He met my eyes immediately, from fifty yards away.

His face didn't let his emotions show, but his eyes told me that he was surprised to see me. 'Maybe he has yet to hear of me or my deeds?' I wondered as I analyzed the look.

We stared each other down for a bit, and the whole time his horse never stopped moving forward. I almost didn't notice the massive black battleaxe in his right hand, but once he got closer it was obviously Wuuthrad, the same weapon Ysgramor himself had wielded when our ancestors landed on the continent.

I wanted to take my eyes off of Ralof's so bad, to examine the magnificent weapon from the legends. Although I refused to lose the staredown to my hometown friend turned enemy, regardless of his station.

I prodded my horse towards the center of the road, right in the middle of his path when he was about fifteen yards away. Two identical black-haired men that rode slightly behind on both sides of Ralof moved to spur their horses forward, to meet me.

Ralof's hand darted out, and they stopped immediately, as did the entire procession of men and women behind them.

Ralof's horse trotted towards me without any physical commands from him. I mentally thanked my own horse for not embarrassing me as the monster Ralof rode closed the distance quickly.

As much as I didn't want to, my right arm went to my chest and I dipped my head towards the man.

"Jarl Ralof." I greeted as tradition stated and raised my head to once again meet him in the eye.

Ralof nodded towards me slightly, and his mouth twitched into what I thought might be the smallest smirk of all man-kind.

"Old friend."

Ralof's voice hadn't changed a bit from what I remember, although his greetings towards me has. I didn't let it show but it threw me off for a moment. His voice was still the type to boom across rooms and battlefields. It held weight to it, and you felt like the sound itself might make you budge from the force alone.

"General Tullius asked me to escort you to the Blue Palace." I told the man who would most likely become my enemy again.

Ralof said nothing, he just nodded towards me, accepting the courtesy. I nodded back before turning to my men.

"Form up!"

My men moved in unison, as if we had been practicing for months, when in reality it was only a week. Each of them took four steps forward to make a narrower path for our guests before turning in the direction of the Blue Palace.

'They paid attention this morning it seems.' I thought as the men finished getting in position.

"Forward march!"

I turned my horse as I gave the command, allowing Ralof to ride beside me at the head. Technically, my orders were to ride ahead of my own men and lead them through the city, but my curiosity got the best of me.

The sound of marching men hit our ears immediately, as did the oo's and ah's of the crowd.

"Impressive." Ralof commented as we started our horses walking towards the Palace. "The Legion has changed."

That statement was so loaded, it wasn't even funny.

"It had, and still has, to." I replied, playing his game.

"Of that, there is no doubt." Ralof told me.

That was a very curious thing to say, because it could mean many things. Does he want it to change because he knows of the greater threat we face in the Aldmeri Dominion? Or does he want it to change because he wants the Stormcloak's to replace it?

I couldn't ask him what I wanted to. I couldn't say what I wanted to. So I said nothing, and let the sound of men marching, and horses hooves hitting the ground fill my ears. My eyes scanned the crowd in front of me constantly, searching for threats I knew wouldn't come.

"I did not expect you here, Hadvar." Ralof said unexpectedly. "Last I heard, you were in some trouble in Markarth."

That surprised me for a moment. 'How has he not heard of my victory over the Forsworn?' I wondered.

Well the road from Whiterun to Solitude is long, longer than most because of the route over the mountains one has to take. Markarth to Solitude is a much easier and faster ride. Maybe the combination of integrating himself into his new city and traveling hasn't let him catch up on the events of Skyrim.

"Much has changed since then." I answered him briefly.

"I know why you ride beside me, instead of with your men." Ralof said bluntly, cutting through our game slightly. "We both want answers, so let us trade questions."

I smiled at that, as my old friend's personality finally came out from his Jarl exterior. Ralof had always been a very blunt person, while I had been a little more cordial.

"You first." I said, trying to get the ball rolling and deferring to him.

"What is your position, now?" Ralof asked.

We continued to ride through the city, yet we had yet to catch a glimmer of the Blue Palace, and we wouldn't for probably another half-hour at the pace we rode.

"General Tullius' personal Battlemage." I answered truthfully. "Although my duties extend far beyond that."

Finally, I got a reaction from Ralof. He tensed slightly in surprise, the same way he used to when we were kids. I got a little smug then. He didn't comment so I decided to ask my question.

"Why aren't you with Ulfric?" I asked, getting straight to the point.

Ralof expected the question, no doubt. "He is not the man I thought he was." Ralof answered ominously.

'Well duh, Ralof. I tried telling you that before you left. I told you it wouldn't be like the stories.' I thought to myself.

"How did you get to this position, Hadvar?" Ralof asked quickly after his answer. It seemed his answers would be much more blunt. He was tired of beating around the bush.

I sighed, realizing we were nearing the end of our little game. "Fine, I will stop being vague."

"I discovered a conspiracy in Markarth between the Silver-Blood's and the Forsworn. My Captain was in on it, and threw me in jail. So I broke out, and delivered the King of the Forsworn to Igmund's feet in exchange for my freedom. I told him everything. He used the information masterfully, and cut one of the biggest families in Skyrim legs out from underneath them." I explained quickly. I didn't see the need to go into much detail.

My vagueness was a sort of test for my old friend, to see if he could piece everything together as a Jarl. I wanted to see if the stories of his competence were true, or just an exaggeration about a hero.

Ralof smiled widely. "Let me guess, he renegotiated the Silver-Blood mine agreement. What did he do? Take it from them, or give it to his people?"

'Maybe the rumors of his competence are true, then.' I deduced.

"Gave it to the people." I answered.

Ralof actually laughed. It was a booming, deep laugh. One that belonged in a tavern somewhere after a raunchy joke was told.

"Good!" Ralof said and gestured for me to continue. I absentmindedly wondered when I would get my questions answered but continued anyway.

"Then, Igmund and I led a campaign against the Forsworn that set their population back generations." I told him, trying not to sound too cocky or confident. A small twinge of guilt ran through me as I remembered the events of the Battle of Druadach.

"After that, Tullius saw my worth and gave me this position. Here we are." I finished.

Ralof was looking at me from his position on his horse, and I continued to stare forward. I don't know why, but I didn't want to meet his eyes this time.

"So we have both seen war, then?" Ralof asked rhetorically. "Not like the stories say, is it?"

"No it is not." I answered almost immediately.

We fell into a silence then, and continued to ride. We passed through a few more gates before the Blue Palace finally came into view. I knew we still had a little bit of a ride, but I decided to press him for his story.

"It is your turn, old friend. I didn't think anyone could have a more eventful four months than I did, but I have been proven wrong and I want to hear it from you." I told Ralof, and waited.

He shuffled on his horse, and I realized that the weight of the armor, and Wuuthrad must be enormous, and yet he acted as if he barely felt the weight at all. The signs kept pointing towards him being a werewolf.

"Well, once I discovered that the Stormcloaks are not what I expected, I tried to leave. I learned that it was not so simple. Without going into details, I wound up in a Companion's camp, on the verge of death. They nursed me back to full health and brought me to Whiterun and Jorrvaskr." Ralof began before getting off topic.

"Have you noticed how martially advanced we are, compared to the average nord?" Ralof asked as if he had just remembered something.

"Yes. It is odd, no?" I answered.

Ralof nodded quickly. "Well it saw me rise through the ranks of the Companion's quickly. As fast as anyone has. Soon, I found myself in the Inner Circle just as we encountered the Silver Hand for the first time in a long time."

Ralof took a deep breath. "What the public doesn't know is that we decimated their numbers before they ever attacked Whiterun. We celebrated the victory for days. And then I woke up to a silver dagger in my gut, and an attack on Whiterun. Even though we won, Whiterun and the Companions suffered a lot of losses. Next thing I know, they're calling me the reincarnation of Ysgramor and I am given the position of Jarl." Ralof's story was just as quick and lacking of detail as my own, but it matched up with what I had heard from Tullius.

"I hear you are much more capable than I would have expected you to be." I teased the man beside me like we were still in Riverwood.

Right as I said that, we arrived at the final gate that would lead us into the Blue Palace. I was reminded of how close the Challenge was as I looked at the massive structure. Soon, Ulfric would arrive, and I still had no plan.

"You have no idea, old friend." Ralof said loudly before his voice dropped very low. His next words were spoken just as we crossed the threshold inside the gate, and saw the High King, and his entourage waiting for us.

"You can not allow the Challenge."

"Welcome, Jarl Ralof!"

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A/N: Boom!

We're back on a schedule everyone. Enjoy this update, hopefully. Ralof finally makes an appearance along with Sybille!!

And their fucking monsters! At least, Ralof is for sure. Sybille has just had a very long time to master her magick.

Not a ton of information dropped in this chapter, but the small amount is very very influential on what can happen in the future. Ralof's personality and attitude to Hadvar and his story should be a big indicator.

Let's talk in the reviews!