The Wolf Queen Awakens

Chapter 2

In the end, things had gone fairly smoothly – everyone was agreed she had to follow the Greybeards' call. So off to High Hrothgar it was. She'd kitted herself out with a full set of finely crafted scaled armour – not terribly substantial, but she could barely move in steel plate. It would do. She'd also got potions, an axe and sword, Elven bow, a few glass arrows and lots of steel ones, some food for the road, and a full coin purse. She'd also talked Sybille into teaching her some basic spells – nothing fancy, just healing, the three basic Destruction spells, how to cast mage armour, how to conjure a familiar, and spells for clairvoyance and candlelight. She'd never be a wizard but it wouldn't hurt to know a few spells.

About the only stumbling block had been her insisting on going alone. Falk had put his foot down and insisted she take guards, she'd shouted back that the whole point of this was to get to know her country and discover what she could really do, and she wasn't depriving Solitude of its protectors. Falk had asked what about her protection and Elisif had just shrugged.

"I'm Dragonborn. I don't need it like you do."

"At least take Bolgeir," Falk sighed.

"And won't you need a guard?" Elisif had asked.

In the end, they'd compromised. Which meant Elisif set out on her journey accompanied by a troop of Haafingar guards escorting her as far as Dragon Bridge, and then the rest of the way by one of the housecarls in training, Jordis the Sword Maiden. Falk had seen her off at Solitude gates, giving her a hug and telling her to take care, and she'd hugged him back and told him to look after her city. Then she'd left, feeling a lump in her throat as she'd walked away. Dragon Bridge had arrived all too soon, and she'd stared at the bridge, knowing once she crossed it that would be it. She'd have left Haafingar and she wouldn't be Jarl any more, just one warrior and a not terribly experienced one at that.

Elisif took a deep breath, whispered a prayer to Mara, and started walking.

Once over, it was amazing how the fear just seemed to slide from her, like a weight had just lifted from her shoulders. Elisif walked on and kept walking, and then started running, running and squealing like a little girl until she got tired and had to stop. She was free! She could do whatever she wanted! Go wherever she wanted! She didn't have to worry about being Jarl or Queen or about Ulfric or the war or anything. She was just Elisif, on her own, ready to start exploring.

Well. Not quite on her own.

"My Jarl!" Jordis gasped, running after Elisif in her steel armour, slowed down a little but Jordis' stamina far outstripped Elisif's. "Wait for me!"

"Sorry," Elisif said, waiting for Jordis to catch up. "I got... carried away."

To her surprise, Jordis actually giggled, and Elisif realised that for all the woman's strength and prowess, she was no older than Elisif herself, not by much anyway.

"Oh that's all right, Jarl," Jordis laughed. "It's exciting, isn't it? I've never been up to High Hrothgar before. I wonder what it's like?"

"Cold, I imagine," said Elisif, looking towards the Throat of the World, its peak just visible in the distance. "Listen, Jordis, now we're away from Solitude, you need to stop calling me your Jarl. I don't want people knowing who I am. It'd get the wrong kind of attention."

"Of course, my Ja- sorry," said Jordis sheepishly. "Er. What do I call you then? I don't think I can call you Elisif."

No, and the name wasn't common enough that people wouldn't automatically associate it with the High Queen to be, especially a young High Queen who was Dragonborn apparently. Wouldn't take long for a rumour like that to spread.