(General POV)
"By the gods this is unbearable." A blonde mounted atop a warhorse and clad in impressive looking furs and clothes muttered "Was it this bad when you were first here, Jarl Balgruuf?" He asked while desperately trying and failing to fan himself.
The man riding next to him chuckled, even as beads of sweat poured down his forehead "I had other things to occupy my mind back then I am afraid, too much heat in our blood to notice the heat of the land and all that."
The third rider, one a fair bit younger than the other two merely smiled, his enchanted clothing making the trip perfectly comfortable. Being the Jarl of Winterhold had its advantages, despite the relative poverty of the hold.
"A bit of heat is more than worth it." The fourth rider smiled widely "The opportunity a gathering like this will bring us is not to be ignored."
Balgruuf scoffed "Still seeking to prove your clan isn't cursed after what your mother did, Black-Brair?" The moment the words left his lips, all the nearby Housecarls tensed.
"Bah!" Hemming Black-Briar scoffs "I don't need to prove a thing to you, Olafsson. She was stupid in the way she went about it but the city was protected and that is all that matters."
The Jarl of Whiterun stares him down for a long moment before chuckling and shaking his head "As you say, Black-Briar, as you say."
"Peace, my friends." The first rider interjects "We are closing in on the gates, and it would not do to make ourselves look at odds."
"At odds, King Torygg?" Jarl Assur speaks up for the first time "But that was mere banter?"
"Imperials are odd like that." Balgruuf explains, to the great amusement of his more experienced fellows, and to many merry 'Aye!-s' indeed.
Their conversation slowly trailed off, and soon they found themselves entering the greatest city upon Nirn, the people of whom gave them their best welcome... and nearly knocked a few of the Nords out with how overwhelming the very air had become.
And yet all of them endured, and came upon the White Gold Tower, where a grand reception awaited them.
---
Within the seat of the Empire's throne, a few crowds had formed, one made of Cyrodiilic nobles and soldiers, one of the Emperor's own entourage, and finally one of the Dunmer of all houses, all of whom surrounded their liege lord who was currently busying himself staring at the group of Nords entering the chamber.
They offered their greetings and bows to the Emperor upon the Ruby Throne, and to his heir apparent who smiled at seeing the familiar faces, even if they never truly became friends in the usual sense.
Allies? Certainly.
But not friends.
Still, the boisterous Nords were more than happy to offer their praise to their honored kinswoman, voicing quite loudly how they would eagerly crush any who would stand against her righteous ascent.
An act no one doubted as all the Jarls including the High King outright made an oath of the whole thing, placing the weight of tens of thousands of furious warriors behind the last scion of Talos himself.
Understandably, such a declaration utterly silenced the throne room.
A silence that was soon cut through without mercy by loud steps echoing as they struck the marble flooring, and the quartet of Jarls and their protectors rounded to see a figure approach, one who now looked down at them with a completely blank expression.
Not being one to immediately cave to such tactics, High King Torygg returned the gaze with his back straight and heart firm, staring the interloper down without flinching.
Already whispers began spreading throughout the great chamber, speculations and rumors abounding in mere seconds.
That was of course before both the High King and Hortator grinned and embraced each other as brothers, both of them laughing merrily and completely stumping the scheming nobles around them.
(Reyvin's POV)
Patting Torygg on the back one last time I disentangle myself from him and look to the others "Balgruuf" I nod at the man who returns the gesture "Assur" The young Jarl of Winterhold ever so slightly bows his head, "And Hemming" I raise an eyebrow "I am surprised you managed to escape dear Maven's clutches... How is the shrew by the way?"
The poor man groans "You too Flame-Tongue?" He cries out a bit too dramatically "Why does everyone keep going on and on about my bloody mother? If you are so curious go and ask her! Might as well save me a future headache."
His housecarl, it seemed Maul had find another employer, hides his snort with a cough.
"Touchy subject?" I ask with a shiteating grin and he rolls his eyes.
Thus entertained I turned back to the rest of them "Come on then, I am not going to force you to stand after such a long trip, and we have some catching up to do."
An offer they were more than happy to oblige.
My subjects welcome my allies with open arms, as they were told, and many introductions are had, most of which are paused as Almeril Faren is dragged onto the proverbial stage and the Nords proceed to toast him repeatedly for his participation at the battle against the dragons.
Something he took in stride, as as much as he may have hated it he had gotten used to the reaction. That and his wife and kids travelled here with him, which obviously mellowed the Mer out quite the bit.
All the while this was going on, poor Irileth, who had obviously followed Balgruuf south, was looking between me, my subjects, and her master with the trademarked fish out of water expression, the poor woman still failing to compute the cunt who used to annoy the shit out of her whenever he visited was now technically her sovereign.
I personally found it fucking hilarious.
But I could not spend all my time fucking with the poor warrior woman, and soon enough, after receiving the obligatory marriage teasing/congratulations, I began asking the Jarls and their followers about their works and actions in the past months, an act that brought up yet another cheer as all of them present profited greatly from my import orders, and would no doubt use the wealth to grow their domains instead of hoarding it like idiots not worthy of their positions.
That was in fact a threat.
Little Assur, who was no longer so little, and surprisingly grew out of being my puppet to becoming an actual ally worth having, was more than happy to inform me of the state of Winterhold, and how much it was prospering due to the increased trade and acting as a wayport between Solitude and Mournhold.
Winterhold was still very much among the poorer holds of Skyrim, but at least the city itself was growing wealthy enough to begin true reconstruction and recovery from the disaster that brought it low.
That many a Nord applied to the College due to the sudden glory of the profession and became skilled magi in their own right was but a happy little coincidence.
Balgruuf was more than happy with how things were unfolding, and I could even see him growing just a tiiiiny bit more chunky than before, but I could hardly begrudge him his peace after he had acted so decisively to win it.
I could not begrudge it, but I would certainly have to take it away soon enough.
Hemming Black-Briar, a man I could appreciate but hardly respect all that much, did not attempt to ingratiate himself with me more than he already had by being a useful pawn once upon a time, and instead focused his attentions on my subjects, drawing up trade agreements that would further the prosperity of his hold and his clan while the rest of us chatted.
Oddly enough that served to win him more respect and favor than any words he may have said, even if I did have to call him out on the current state of Riften as the walls were still not fully repaired, a misstep he justified by enlarging the guard after thoroughly purging the little shits.
I do wonder how Brynjolf and his posse were taking the sudden reordering of their city.
...Probably by getting drunk now that I think on it.
Torygg himself was more than eager to let his Jarls speak and only joined himself once they were all done, telling me proudly of how he kept following my ideas and settled the people in newly founded towns along the roads and rivers so that he would never have to deal with overcrowding again.
My own subjects' looks once they realized I effectively used Skyrim as a testing ground were... appreciative to put it politely.
Torygg spent some time praising his son whose steps were growing firmer by the day, and of course his once more pregnant wife.
'Horny little bugger.' Scorch very usefully commented.
The topic inevitably shifted to their travel and the freshly repaired roads between the provinces, and to that of other travelers. Which is to say the conversation inevitably shifted to that of the Bretons.
"We met them after we passed Bruma" Torygg says "A trio of Petty Kings and their knights, all of them of the east, decided to show their solidarity with the Empire by attending your wedding."
"Solidarity" Balgruuf cuts in in a distinctly disdainful drawl "Bloody fools could not agree on how they set their camps up, much less on how to show their support. They should have arrived with us but after three days of stupid delays we decided to just ride ahead."
"Not the way I'd put it, but not incorrect either." Torygg gives the man a pointed look to which he offers an apologetic one back.
But I was more interested in something else here "And what of the Bretons of the west? Do they expect their absence to be ignored?"
"I don't know" Torygg states bluntly and shrugs "I do not engage in spycraft within the other provinces and they seemed peaceful enough for years now. Either they simply do not care to attend or there is something else brewing in High Rock."
"Probably Daggerfall growing too big for their robes again." The annoyed voice of one Vels Karvanni cuts in, drawing all attention to himself in an instant "It isn't the first time the fools tried growing in influence while their opponents were distracted."
At least someone has an idea "So what do you advise?"
"Outside of just intimidating them into submission?" Vels asks as if it were the most natural reaction in the world, but seeing my instant deadpan he scoffs "Just send the guild to see what they are doing then. Either they are playing at internal power games or we have potential traitors on hand, and neither is acceptable."
"Master Karvanni speaks sense." Balgruuf nods his agreement "A potential problem like that should not be left alone until another province is lit ablaze." The other two Jarls present are nearly as fast in voicing their own support.
Torygg's expression remains perfectly calm at the allusion to Ulfric's rebellion, but I feel a wave of sadness radiate off him for a brief moment at the reminder "Reyvin, I trust you can have this well in hand?"
"Certainly" I smirk and clap my hands "My subjects will begin gathering information post haste. You will know the moment I find anything out."
He does not even bother pretending to be surprised I had people listening in from the shadows and merely raises his mug of mead in a salute "I thank you for the peace of mind."
The other Nords swiftly follow and the conversation slowly drifts into topics of lesser consequence.
---
The Breton delegation arrived three days later, or at least they would once the sun rose once more, if they did not spend yet another day hunting down another harmless tribe of beasts.
'Fucking Reynauld...' I shake my head 'At least the madman may make things more interesting, I've heard a lot of shit about Breton nobles but at this point I am unsure if it is caricature or truth.'
'First things first however...' I frown and look away from the sprawling city, turning instead to the interior of my manor's balcony "Had your fill of slinking about yet? You do know I can sense you, right?"
The shadows just to the side of the door shift and expand and in a near instant they are replaced with the familiar figure of a dear guest. A dear guest currently giving me a totally innocent smile as she pretended to clear her nails "Can't really test if my concealment spells work if I announce myself, now can I?"
"Fair enough" I raise my hands in faux surrender and chuckle "Did the locals give you any trouble?"
She tilts her head "The Hassildor fellow was polite enough, and seeing as you told him about me he was quite willing to cooperate so long as I did not try and... expand."
"Hopefully that shouldn't be much of an issue." I grin "I doubt mortal blood is all that enticing for you at this point, eh Serana?"
She grins a fanged grin "I get by."
I probably do not want to know.
-------
Imagine being that one guy who didn't place the stone where it belongs
couldn't be me.
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