Disclaimer:  Another worldbuilding episode.  

 

Hey, it’s Destana, and this is my wedding!  I’d told Madanach and the others I was getting married on the following day, and I was woken up in the morning after sleeping the sleep of the dead.

“Who are you?” Borkul asked.

“I’m here to collect my mother for the wedding.  She’s still got a few hours, but we need to get her ready.”

I peeked my head outside to find Damien and Runa waiting for me.

“Hi mom!” Runa said.

“These yours?” Borkul asked, then looked at me, and at them.

“You guys probably should’ve sent Fenrir.  At least he looks like me,” I smirked, “Where’s the wedding?”

“Temple of the Divines in Solitude,” Damien said.  Better than my last one. 

“Alright, hang on to me and I’ll teleport to Volkihar,” I said.

Damien raised an eyebrow, “Why not just teleport directly to Solitude?”

“Do you… know how to do that?” I asked.

“Yeah, I can teach it to you later,” he replied.

“Dang spellcasters,” Runa mumbled.

“My thoughts exactly,” Borkul commented.

“Wait!  Wait!” Madanach rounded the corner of the cave and peered into Borkul’s tent, “When and where?”

“Noon.  Solitude Temple,” Runa repeated.

“Of course you should’ve picked under the Sacred Tree to be married… but I’ll be there!  Just let me go get some others and I’ll see you there!” Madanach smiled.

 

“Do you think that’s wise?” I asked.

“Hey, we’re friends now.  If they have a problem with me, fuck em,” Madanach chuckled, “Besides, I’m going to change into something more appropriate.”

“You’re a madman.  I’m staying right here in the comfort of my tent,” Borkul said, then he smiled at me, “Come by sometime.”

Madanach teleported out, then Damien grabbed us by the arms and teleported to Solitude. 

“I’m going to go ahead and tell them we’re here,” Runa said, leaving Damien and I.

 

“Have you had breakfast yet?” I asked.

“Not really.  Want a bite?” He asked.

“Definitely need water too.  I’ll be glad when I’m a vampire again and I don’t need to worry about such things,” I said as we walked into the Winking Skeever.

“Given it much thought to when you’ll go back?” Damien asked.

“I dunno, I was thinking I might age up a little and then go back.  Not natural to be 29 forever.  But then the vampires wouldn’t even talk to me when I went there last.  Except Serana, of course,” I explained.  Our water and a plate of food hit the table and we ate it quickly, “Do anything exciting in the past two weeks?”

“Yeah.  I have bad news about the Eye of Magnus.  Turns out it is some kind of ancient weapon, but that asshole Ancano tried to harness its power.  We had to stop him, but we lost it in the process.  The Psijics took it back.”

I sighed, “Too bad.”

“Yeah, Savos Aren and Mirabelle Ervine died.”

I shook my head, “Good people.  Who are they making the Archmage?”

He chuckled, “They actually offered it to me.  I turned it down of course.”

“Well, you could probably do it,” I said.

“Yeah, maybe, but so many of the staff have decades of experience on me.  And I just want to be free to learn magic.  I nominated Tolfdir.  And hell, I got a taste of dungeon delving with my magic.  I use stealth and magic.  I understand now why you like it so much.  Oh!  Hey!  I have a present for you,” he put a scroll on the table and rolled it out, “I don’t know that this will have the intended effect, but I found a word wall, and I took a rubbing of it for you.  My Dova is not great, but I figured this could be useful to you.”

“Ah ha!  Klo, meaning Sand, the second word of Slow Time,” I smiled big, “That is a great present.”

I took a long drink of water, cleared by throat and shouted, “TIID – KLO!”  And time slowed for an entire twelve seconds.

“Thanks.  Still, shame about those deaths though.  Another Thalmor casualty.”

“Actually…” He smirked a little, “A long time ago I heard you talk about how you were looking for a Resurrection spell.  I figured since you have a lot on your plate, I’d take up that search, and I found one with the help of Colette.  Sadly, it only works if the body is intact.  Savos was too far gone.  But I was able to save Mirabelle with it.  She was very thankful.”

“I bet!  She’s a little old for you, but I bet you could’ve gotten some real thanks,” I winked.

“Geez, mom!” Damien smiled.

A man was laughing at the bar, “I have it on good authority he did accept additional thanks from Mirabelle.  Better or worse than the Dark Seducers he’s been hanging out with?”

 

 

“Who are you, stranger?” I turned, then I blinked, “What the hell are you doing here?”

 

 

“I came to give you my blessing,” the man said, and he threw back his hood, revealing Sam Guivenne, his human form.

“Dad,” Damien said.

“Hey son,” Sanguine replied.

“It’s been a while,” I said, “Longer for you than me.”

“Hard to believe you last saw me only a few months ago.  In Skyrim, it’s been a year?  And for me it’s been at least a decade,” Sanguine said, “Anyway.  I hope this one makes you happy.  I know I was too damn flighty to have the staying power you needed.”

“I’m… the flighty one,” I said, feeling tears form at the edges of my eyes.

“Anyway, I’d better be hitting the road,” Sanguine said, “If you’ve in Oblivion sometime, come by.”

He laughed as he walked out, and so did we.  But it was a sad laugh. 

 

We made it to the Temple within the hour, and the first thing I noticed was Maramal was here amongst the other priests, getting ready for the ceremony.  Damien took his leave to help the preparations.

“Did you bring the boxes?” A voice said around the corner.

“Of course I did, m’lady,” it was Falk Firebeard.

As I turned the corner, I spied Falk in a nice set of noble’s clothes, and Elisif the Fair in a white dress.

“Hey, Elisif.  You know I considered a dress like that.  People seem to like them,” I said.

 

“What… are you wearing?” She asked, and I realized I was still wearing my forsworn clothes, boobs out and all.  I think my family was starting to get used to my strangeness.  I threw a shirt on for Elisif’s sake. 

She smiled at me, “I know we don’t know each other that well.  But I hope we can be friends in the coming years.”

“I would like that, Elisif,” I said.

“Also, after the wedding, stay on the dais.  I have something for you both,” she walked away with Falk.

About that time, Fenrir walked up to me.

“Hey kid, have I mentioned before that you’re almost as tall as Ulfric?” I asked.

“Uhh… thanks,” he replied.

“Where do I change?  I hope they brought the dress I ordered,” I said, “You look like you need to change too.  Nice dwemer armor.”

“Oh yeah, I’ve been hitting dwemer ruins lately, trying to find some new gear.  In between drill runs and organizing the army.  You don’t think the armor is okay for the wedding?  I polished it.  Looks better than daedric armor.  Dad’s wearing his armor,” Fenrir replied.

“That old bastard,” I muttered.  I’d been seeing people here and there dressed for the occasion, but mostly the Jarls and officials who’d made a long trip.  I had no idea who they invited.  But I turned and saw Vex, Brynjolf and Delvin all walking in.

“Hey, lass.  Good to see you,” Brynjolf said.  He was wearing a green tunic, his hood from his Nightingale armor peaking out onto his head. 

“Hey, guildmaster,” I turned to the others.  Vex was wearing a long, black dress and Delvin was wearing a set of respectable fine clothes.

“You steal those clothes from some unsuspecting nobles?” I snickered.

Delvin clapped me on the back, “Not really.  We’re rich now so we don’t really need to worry about it.”

“Yeah, Maven helped us buy a couple of those businesses south of Riften, complete with some business advice.  Now that we’re paid off, we’ve got legit income,” Vex smiled, “Thanks again, I guess.”

I smirked, “You’re still the same Vex.”  Always cold.

“Did you guys ever have that wedding?” I asked.

“Yeah,” Delvin said, “It was a small affair though, not like this; Jarls and such.  Though Maven came.”

“Well, I’m sorry I missed it,” I said.

“It was while you were fightin’ Alduin, lass,” Brynjolf said, “Think nothin’ of it.”

“Gods, would you three stop presenting your hindquarters to the new queen,” Maven said, walking in the door with Maul and Jarl Laila Law-Giver.

“Maven!  As crabby as ever,” I said.

“Well, I don’t know how you managed to swindle your way into being queen.  Oh, yes, I know exactly how.  I must’ve been drunk or high that day,” she smiled, but only just a little, “All the same, you’ve got balls.  I respect that.  You did work for me for a while.  I wonder if that had anything to do with it.”

The group went into the sanctuary beyond us, and I looked back at Fenrir, “So where’s my dress and changing area?”

“Oh, right,” he said, then he led me to a private room.  Runa was already there, and Fenrir left to go find Ulfric.  A familiar face showed herself out of a dark corner.

“Babette?” I asked.

“I came with Runa.  I feel like I haven’t seen you in months, and I find out you’re going to be a bride, and a queen!  Imagine my astonishment,” Babette smiled.  She was wearing a simple, black dress.

“You guys wanna help me out?” I started to strip off my fur and leather, and wash the parts of me that needed washing.

“Runa, have you seen Serana?” I asked.

“Yeah, she’s here.”

“Hmm… I wonder if she wants to hang out with us,” I said.

“No,” she said, then she looked confused, flustered, like she wasn’t sure how to put what she was trying to say, “She… doesn’t want to see you.”

“What do you mean she doesn’t want to see me?” I asked, getting a little sad.

“Oh, I mean, uhh….” Runa said.

“Ok, well, I definitely need to go see her now.  Where is she?” I stood.

“No, you… can’t,” she replied, “Help me out here, Babette!”

“Hey, don’t look at me!” She replied.

“Can’t?”

“She um… wanted to be alone.  Nothing against you.  You know how she gets,” Runa replied.

I tilted my head, sitting down, “I guess…”

We finished putting my dress on, realizing time was approaching.

“Say, what have you been doing these last couple weeks?” I asked.

Runa replied, “I caught back up with the Brotherhood.  We have a presence in Bruma again, assuming this war doesn’t just destroy Skyrim in the process.  Helped Aventus offload a bunch of goods from Bruma.  Then I helped Azuk deal with a problem from his past (he’s a member).”

“Are you guys an item?” I asked.

“Kinda…” she replied, “He’s pretty useless in a fight though.  He swings around a Glass Rapier like he’s helping.  But he can talk his way out of pretty much anything.  We haven’t really … confirmed what we are I guess.”

“Good for you.”

There was a knock at the door.

“Who is it?” Runa answered, “Oh hey!”

“Mind if we see the bride?” A woman said.  It was Farkas, Vilkas, Aela and Ria. 

 

“Hey!” I shouted, hugging the four of them and Runa in a group, “I didn’t think you’d show.”

“You told us about this last week!” Ria said, “Obviously not everybody came.”

“The four of us figured you needed the support.  What’s this I hear that you and Ulfric are getting crowned King and Queen?” Farkas asked.  F and V were wearing matching fine clothes, both with the sleeves removed.  Ria was wearing a white fur dress (that must’ve been hard to get) and Aela was wearing a short blue flower dress, that might’ve been meant as a party dress, but it worked in the ‘not overshadowing me’ department. 

“Where did you get those robes?  They look like they’re your formal robes for lifting weights,” I laughed. 

Vilkas laughed, “Is it that obvious we don’t dress up often?”

“Just wanted to wish you well,” Aela said, and they cleared out.

More people showed up now, just walking into the open door.

 

“Hey!  You really clean up!” I said.  It was Madanach with Katalia and Badycia.

“None of the others wanted to come into the city.  Prefer country life.  But since I’ve been living in a city for at least a decade…” Madanach said.  The women were wearing green matching dresses, and Madanach a blue fine tunic. 

I looked down at Badycia’s feet.  Not wearing shoes.  I smirked.

“I think at some point today we should talk about what you meant when you told our king you were going to ‘give him the Reach,” Badycia said.

“Politics, it never fails,” I sighed, “Well, Igmund is already removed from power.  No matter what I’m going to do, the Forsworn are to be taken under the wing of Skyrim.  Not in an exploitative manner, but a protected people.  Either, we let the Silver-Bloods keep Markarth and make a tenth hold: the Southern Reach, or I make you Jarl of Markarth and absorb Thongvar Silver-Blood into my staff.  Ulfric and I are going to require a staff for this unification thing to happen.”

Madanach scratched his chin, “I think after being under the thumb of the Silver-Bloods for so long, I would like to have Markarth as my own.”

“I can grant that, as long as you allow all the current residents to stay there, without pressure or danger,” I said.

 

“The old High Kings of Skyrim had a Lord Administrator that handled taxes, finances and the royal treasury,” Babette said.  Everyone looked at her like she’d grown a second head.

“What?  I may look like a child, but I’m 311 years old.  As you can see, I was made a vampire when I was around ten.”

I nodded, “Sometimes I forget.  What other positions did they have?”

“Uhh… Lord Commander, who commanded the armies.  High Scholar, who keeps records.  And I think King Istlod employed his own blacksmith, and a group called the Skyrim Rangers that patrolled the borders.  Some old kings had a High Wizard, but it’s usually just the Archmage, or a high-ranking representative.”

“I already have some names in mind,” I said. 

 

Bells started to ring in the chapel, reminding me of why I was here.  Everyone rushed out of the room before me, and I stood, getting myself mentally ready.  In about thirty seconds, I put on my best smile and slowly began to walk down the stairs.  I could hear the bards playing music, echoing throughout the temple.  As I entered near the back, all eyes turned towards me and everyone stood.  Everyone I’d seen earlier was lining the seats, with the additions of Jarl Baalgruf, Irileth and Jarl Thongvar (sitting next to Madanach!!  Though I’m not sure he notices him).

I approached Maramal.  Ulfric was to the left wearing his armor, with Fenrir and Galmar.  Serana was off to the right wearing a purple dress, with Runa and Damien.

 

 

I stood across from Ulfric and he smiled at me.

 

 

“Dearly beloved…” Marmal started, and I stared at Ulfric for a little bit.  I did love him, of course, we had a long history.  It wasn’t fiery like Serana, but it had staying power.  I peered over to her and she was smiling too. 

“I do,” Ulfric said, and I snapped me out of my daze. 

“Do you?” Maramal looked to me.

“I do,” I replied.

“By the power vested in me by our lady Mara, I declare you to be wed. I present to the two of you with these matching rings, blessed by Mara's divine grace. May they protect each of you in your new life together.”

 

 

We embraced, kissing in front of everyone.

 

 

“And!” Maramal said, “We have a second set of vows to perform.  I’m excited.  This is the first one of these I’ve been privileged to perform.  Please, Serana Volkihar, step forward.”

I looked at her, and she smiled, blushing.

 

 

“Did you plan this?” I asked.

“Ulfric and I got to talking, and figured we’d spring this on you,” Serana smirked.

“Serana, do you take this woman to be your wife?” Maramal asked.

“I do,” she replied.

“Destana, do you?”

"I do, now and forever."

“Under the light of my lord Dudestia, I declare you to be wed.”

 

I kissed Serana, and everyone there cheered for us. 

A few seconds later, Jarl Elisif the Fair stepped up to the group, Falk Firebeard holding two boxes.  She opened the first one.

“We thought it fitting I do this, because I have all rights to take this position, but I never wanted to rule Skyrim.  If things had been different…” Elisif said.

Ulfric kneeled before her.

“By the power vested in me by the moot, I do crown you, High King of Skyrim, Ulfric Stormcloak!” Elisif said.

A great cheer rang through the temple as she placed the Jagged Crown on his head.

She opened a second box.

“Of course, you don’t have to wear that thing.  It’s just symbolic.  We had a king and queen’s crowns specially made for this,” Elisif said, motioning to the smaller, more manageable crowns in the second box. 

“Now you,” she looked at me.

I knelt and Elisif said, “By the power vested in me by the moot, I do crown you, Queen of Skyrim, Destana Stormblade!”

Another cheer.

“Let a whole new wave of cruelty wash over this land!” I said, then smiled, “Kidding.”

As people started to mill around and congregate, talk, ask questions, etc, it was clear the ceremony was over.  I sighed.

“What is it, mom?” Runa asked.

“I wonder where my old friends are.  You know, Inigo, Sofia, Shirley.  I would have sworn they would come,” I said.

“Oh, Inigo and Sofia are in Elswyer.  I actually went down there in a caravan for a while.”

“Wow, you did a lot while you were out there.  Where else did you go?” I asked.

“Well it was five years.  I went all around Cyrodiil, Elswyer, a little of Morrowind, then I skirted the border until I found the tunnel.  We’d had to travel through it to get out the first time (because border control was tight then) and we found the time distortion gradually changed as we moved through the tunnel, so it was passable.”

“Hmm… hopefully the Thalmor don’t figure that out,” I said.

I turned to Ulfric, “So we’re in agreement that I’m not just a royal spouse and I have actual power, right?  Since I did kinda make this happen.”

“Yes, of course,” he said, “Run your decrees by me first.  But I trust your judgment.”

“Remember what I said about the Forsworn?”

“Is what you’re about to do going to make us a lot of enemies?” He asked.

“Maybe.  But it needs to be done,” I replied.

“Alright,” Ulfric said, “But I expect results.”

“Jarl Thongvar,” I said.  He stepped up to the front.

“Yes?” He asked.

“You remember that conversation we had about the Forsworn?” I asked.

“Yeah.  You told me you’d forge peace between us,” he smirked.

I reached out and grabbed Madanach by the shoulder, “This is the leader of the Forsworn.  I think it’s time for a change.”

“Change?” He asked.

“Why don’t you and your brother and Madanach here all come by Windhelm tomorrow?  The Forsworn aren’t our enemies, and the shit we’ve been doing against them needs to stop.  I don’t want your family to stop their business.  I want us to be able to use the Silver to fund the war, and to continue to make Skyrim prosperous.  But I do want to change Cidhna Mine.”

“Sounds like you’re asking a lot,” Thongvar said.

“Compromise can be hard.  Let me be frank.  I want to remove you as Jarl, but promote you to Lord Administrator, in charge of taxes and finances of the entire country.  Your brother will continue to run the silver business.”

Thongvar’s forehead twitched a little bit, but when he gave it a second’s thought, he returned to his normal stone-faced demeanor.

“This is … acceptable,” he said, “Tell me, who will be Jarl?”

“Madanach.  He ran the Reach for two years when the Empire was dealing with the Thalmor.  He'll have your staff to help him make nice with Skyrim's ways.”

“How would you like to change Cidhna Mine?” Madanach asked.

“Oh, I want silver workers to be freed contractors.  The Silver-Bloods are filthy rich from the silver mined there.  I want you to pay them.  I want you to pay them well.  I was in Cidhna Mine the day before yesterday, and I can tell you that work is back breaking.  Also, I think when this is all said and done, I’m going to do an investigation of Markarth’s guards.  Not only did they throw me in the mines without probable cause to implicate me in murders they committed, but I heard from Runa they were killing Forsworn.  Who knows, it may even help curb our bandit problem if more people have decent, honest work.  We’ll work out the details later.”

“What happens to the people of Markarth?” Thongvar asked.

“Nothing.  Madanach gave me his word they’d be unharmed.  Also, the Forsworn are to be given full citizen status, and allowed to live in the city openly if they wish, or they can stay with their pastoral way of life.  We want to worship Talos and the Thalmor won’t let us.  They want to worship their ancient gods.  Same thing.  I expect all three of you to enforce this coming together.”

Thongvar looked like he wanted to stab me in the face, but then he said, “You killed Alduin and the vampire lord, right?”

“I did,” I replied.

“And you’re going to lead us to victory over the Thalmor invasion, right?” Thongar asked.

“Talos willing.”

“As much as I don’t like to be told what to do, you seem to know what the hell you’re doing,” Thongvar said.

He shook my hand and walked off, probably to contact his brother.

Ulfric blinked, “What the hell.  I never in a million years thought I’d see that man react like that.  I hope you know what you’re doing.”

I leaned over, standing on my tiptoes and whispered in his ear, “I’m making this up as I go along.”

After a while of mingling, Elisif approached me, “Hey, we’re going to retire to my estate in the hills for a celebration.  Want to come with?”

“You have a second castle?”

“Yeah, it’s called Highreach, and it’s on the small side for a castle.  Nobody uses it anymore.  I think in ancient times it was home for one of the Kings of Skyrim, and it looks down over Solitude.  Now, it’s just barely been restored to usability.  I was thinking of selling it, since I have the Blue Palace anyhow.”

“We should use it as a secret base to coordinate the war,” I replied.

“Yeah, you know what?  That’s a great wedding present,” Elisif smiled, “You can have Highreach.”

“I’m in good company if somebody I know will just give away a castle on a whim,” I snickered.

So we retired to Highreach Castle and I changed into a purple party dress.  There was food, and celebration by all.  After it got dark, a dragon attacked (I swear they can smell me, I need to talk to Partysnax about this).

 

 

“Kids, let’s get to it!” I shouted, and we took the thing down without casualty. 

 

 

And I decided to let the DKO happen.  After all, it's a party!  A massive orgy between all the Jarls and most the people I knew ensued. 

 

 

Later that night I remember Ulfric, Serana and I having some amazing sex, and she was so drunk she was stumbling around with cum all over her.  Quite the party and orgy to remember.

 

 

 

I laid her down in the bed, and in the morning Ulfric and I traveled to Windhelm. 

 

Thongvar, Thonar and Madanach showed up, as promised.  Thonar immediately hid behind Thongvar, who put his hand on his sword.

“I’m never going to be used to this,” Thongvar said.

“I hereby promote you to High Administrator.  You can retire to Highreach or stay here if you want,” I said.

“Highreach?  The old king’s castle?  I mean old,” Thongvar said.

I nodded, “And you, Madanach, I promote to Jarl of Markarth.”

“I would be honored to serve the Reach,” Madanach said. 

 

 

I teleported him to Markarth and hand walked him up to the throne with a forsworn entourage.  The guards drew their weapons and gave us the spiel, ‘You have committed crimes against Skyrim!’

I’m I responded, “Stand down.  I’m the Queen of Skyrim.”

And that worked.  News travels fast here.  Also, Thonar was already back in Markarth.  When I saw everything was in order, I left. 

 

 

I traveled around the next few hours with my teleports.

“Nazir, I appoint you head of my spy network, assassination and thievery.  You don’t have too much on your plate to handle that do you?” I asked.  I knew he was good at organization, and figured he could be my contact with the Brotherhood while still maintaining his contract duties, and apparently leading the Dawnguard Sanctuary.

“For you, I could do this,” Nazir said, "That phrase is a mouthful though.  How about the 'Shadow Network?"

"I like it."

"I knew when you walked into the Falkreath Sanctuary you were going places," he said.

For the Rangers, who patrol the lands of Skyrim (right now the southern border is a concern) I chose Galmar, Irileth, Aela, Farkas, and to lead them…

“Hey,” I said as I approached the Shrine of Azura.

“Dragonborn.  Good to see you,” the Nerevarine shouted down to me.

At that moment, a group of bandits attacked, and the two of us diced them up into fine powder, just like that one time.  My kids and Serana showed up a few minutes later.  I knew they’d been following me, but even as a Queen I’m damn powerful. 

“How’d you guys like to meet a living legend?” I asked, “Meet the Nerevarine!”

“THE… Nerevarine?” Fenrir asked, “I’m a big fan.”

“Thanks,” he replied.

“You bored up here?” I asked.

“Yeah, a little.  My wanderlust is taking over again.  Why, do you have an adventure you need help with?”
“Not exactly.  I just got crowned Queen of Skyrim.  I was wondering if you would want to lead my Rangers.”

“You know what?  Why not.  Sounds like fun,” he replied.

 

 

It wasn’t a day after I sent them on patrol when I got a message from the rangers.  I teleported down to Falkreath with my group, and found a huge melee! 

 

 

A large group of Thalmor were engaged with a Stormcloak patrol and the rangers.  A group of bandits had been dragged into the crossfire and were now fighting for their lives.  One of them shifted into werebear form during the battle.  We joined, and ultimately through my shouting commands our side was victorious, but with some casualties.  The werebear was the last hostile survivor and I called, “KAKE!”

Surprisingly, it worked.  He calmed down and shifted back into his human form. 

“Hey guy, how’d you like to come along on this hunt?” I asked.

“You… you stopped my transformation,” he replied.

“What’s your name?” I asked.

“Uhh… Yurgus,” he replied.

“Nice to meet you,” I turned to the rangers, “Where the hell did these Thalmor come from?”

“No idea,” Irileth said, “We’ll keep walking along the border.”

"I can cure you, if you like.  For you see..." I roared and transformed into a werewolf, then I spoke in a deep, wolfish voice, "I cured the companions."

"I will follow you," Yurgus said.

We traveled down the road, and found another attack.  This time Volkihar vampires were helping us out in the melee.  We downed them this time with heavy casualties.  Sadly, Yurgus perished in the skirmish.

“Do you guys know where these mer are coming from?” I asked.

“We believe they’re sleeper cells.  They’re trying to soften us up before the invasion.  You know how many Thalmor Prisons there are in Skyrim.  Odds are there’re a few bunkers somewhere too.”

“Maybe there’s another prison…” I laughed.

We continued along the border, stopping to say hi to Helgen and have lunch.

“If only you guys could fly, this patrol would be faster.  Horses just aren’t going to cut it through the mountains,” I said.

“Well… I can fly,” Damien said.

“And I taught her,” Serana said.

“Where’d you learn to fly?” I asked.

“Told you I’ve been learning a lot from the ruins I’ve been plundering.  I have a collection of old books,” Damien replied.

“I bet they’re going to hit Riften,” Fenrir said.

“Why’s that?” I asked.

“It’s what I’d do – Falkreath and Riften.  And we already saw two parties near Falkreath,” Fenrir explained.

“Well, let’s go!” Runa said.

We teleported to Riften and sure enough, we found a trail south of the new extension.  We followed it and found a group of Thalmor fighting Stormcloaks.  We helped take care of them. 

“This is getting complex,” I said, “We really can’t trust we’ll be safe until the times line back up.”

“What should we do now?” Fenrir asked.

“You keep building up our forces.  Runa, get the brotherhood ready, talk to the Thieves Guild as well.  Gods know we have a much better network of spies, thieves and assassins than the Thalmor.  And I’m fully willing to use them.”

Runa nodded.

“Serana, whatever help the vampires can give us is greatly appreciated.  I saw back there they’re already patrolling the borders.”

“They’re actually probably scouring the land of the Dawnguard.  I might need to redirect their efforts,” Serana replied.

“Hey, those guys are basically bandits at this point, like the Silver Hand.  We’re inclusive of our monsters in Skyrim,” I said, then turned to Damien, “I guess, find somebody to be my High Wizard.  If the college can supply some mages for our defense, that’d be great.  And… search for some unbelievable power that we can pull out of our ass at the last minute and defeat the Thalmor?  I guess I’m going to go grind rep with the Giants, or something,” I said.

Damien chuckled, then offered to teleport the others.  When the kids had left, I said, “Wait, Serana.”

“What is it?” She asked.

“I think I’m ready to be a vampire again.  And before I do, I have something that’s… weighing on me.”

“What is it?  You know you can always talk to me.”

“Well, in getting the Forsworn’s allegiance, I did something … terrible.”

“For you, that’s saying something,” she said.

“That’s not funny.  No, you know they ally with Hagravens right?  Well, in order to…” I could feel myself start to tear up.

She grabbed my hands, “It’s okay.  Take your time.”

“I let them rape a young woman, under control of magic.  She received the powers of a forsworn shaman, but she couldn’t consent.  Godsdammit.  I’m such a hypocrite.”

“I’m sure… you had good reasons,” Serana pulled me close.

“I’m such a hypocrite.  In fighting the Thalmor, I’m willing to go to such lengths… that I’m becoming what I hate.”

She grabbed my chin and said, “You know what you should do?”

“What?”

“Go talk to the woman.”

“Yeah.  You’re right,” I said.  Then she bit into my neck, and everything went black for a minute.  It was pretty painless this time, as if my body was ready to eschew all the annoying things from being mortal.  She looked at my face when it was all over and raised an eyebrow.

“Huh.  Well, your eyes look normal,” she said, “But I can sense you’re one of my kind again.  Strange.”

“No time to figure it out.  Back to Markarth.”