The Price of Vengeance- A Skyrim Fanfiction

Thirteen: The Price of Vengeance

The rest of the night was a rout. I'd requested Ulfric to take as many Imperials as he could as prisoners instead of killing them outright. He looked at me, taken aback. I was a bit shocked myself. About a year ago, I was thirsting for the blood of the Imperials myself. But everything had changed with the death of Halfrogge.

I finally realized that the death of my family wasn't the doing of the Imperials, but of a few isolated individuals. Don't get me wrong. I still planned on hunting down the soldiers who'd killed my family. But I'd learned to let go of my obsessive hatred. Arngeir would be proud.

The price of vengeance was sometimes letting go of what your present could be, of all the good in your life, and I'd learned that. Time to move on. Ulfric needed a bit of explanation though. And that was when I played my trump card.

"Ulfric, tell me, why do we fight?" He raised an eyebrow at this, and said, "For the freedom of Skyrim of course. And-" I broke him off. "And who are we oppressed by? The Imperials? Not really, when you come to think about it. So who then?"

Ulfric saw what I was getting at. I still went on though. "The Thalmor. That's who. Plus, you do realize that a lot of our own people fight with the Imperials themselves. At the end of the day, we all want the same thing. Don't you realize that?"

His brows furrowed. "When you put it like that, maybe. But I cannot in good conscience leave the officers alive. I'll have to kill them to get authority. But maybe, at the end of the plan, we'll talk about this." I knew enough to stop fighting when I'd won, especially seeing that I was the only officer here at the moment.

After capturing the city, I'd asked Ulfric to gather the Imperial soldiers near the gate in front of the stage where I'd seen a Stormcloak hanged when I'd first visited Solitude. He did so with a bit of grumbling but I could see my argument had gotten through to him.

The soldiers stared at me with expressions ranging from shock to betrayal and I knew this was my one chance. I looked at them. Most of them were Nords, though there were a few other Imperials and even a Breton or two. I'd have to speak with care.

"Soldiers. You know me as Ven Dragonborn. But before that, I was just Ven. I lived in the forests near Markarth. Until a troop of soldiers slaughtered my mother and my best friend." I took a deep breath. "They were Imperials. I despised the Empire till a while back. I've slain many. Until once, I killed a boy who was barely a man. It took me a bit longer to realize the truth: we're fighting this war for ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! The Stormcloaks attack you because you don't let them worship their gods. You don't let them worship their gods because of a treaty made by the Aldmeri Dominion."

I glanced at my audience. Most of them were still, though some of them were nodding almost subconsciously. I went on. " Let's talk about what the Aldmeri did. They almost destroyed Cyrodiil and enslaved Hammerfell. We defeated them though. And because both sides were exhausted, we signed this peace treaty that had a clause about Talos in it. Did anyone realize why they were so insistent about it? I'll tell you why. Because they knew that Skyrim was the sole nation left unaffected and at great strength to boot. They knew that we could be a powerhouse one day."

Now they were openly agreeing with me, no longer looking like they wanted to kill me. I took that as a good sign. "So they ban the worship of Talos. And here we are today, having swallowed their bait with ease, fighting among ourselves. It doesn't matter who wins, Imperial or Stormcloak. Either outcome means a whole army is destroyed, a resource capable of defending us against the Thalmor gone. Why should we do what they want?"

I raised my voice now. "We are the people of Skyrim! We live in this harsh country, and we love it. We've faced dragons and trolls and Falmer. What are a few elves before us? So stop differentiating yourselves as one or the other. You are the people of Skyrim! Victory or Sovngarde!"

The men were caught up in patriotic fervor now. "Victory or Sovngarde!" A couple more shouted, "Skyrim is for the Nords! " And quite a few took up a chant of "Ven Dragonborn!"

Back in Castle Dour, Ulfric approached me. "That was quite a speech you gave. You even had me wanting to yell along with the rest for a second. So do we carry on with the plan?"

Ah the plan. After conquering Solitude, the Imperial Legion would be in the field, surrounded on most sides, seeing that the Stormcloaks held Windhelm, Riften, Solitude and Dawnstar. As soon as Solitude was secure, the Stormcloak legion would split- Most of it attacking the Legion which was in the open, while the other portion approached Markarth, to prevent an attack from the rear. The Empire was exposed on all sides, and the Stormcloaks were especially gifted at picking off forces from a distance.

I nodded. "Yes sir. But with a change. Send a few of these men in first to try and negotiate. Maybe we can get their cooperation instead of submission." Ulfric sighed. "You're too optimistic sometimes Ven. But, yes I'll consider it. Shouldn't be much of a loss. But I will attack if they insist on being headstrong." I tilted my head in acknowledgement but before I could leave, Ulfric stopped me.

"I realize that you're probably the fastest soldier to advance through the ranks at this point, but after all you've done, you deserve it. Thus, I name you, Ven, as Stormblade, for everything you've done for the Stormcloaks so far." My expression must have been a mixture of shock and delight. "And on that note, I'm going to send Galmar off to Markarth. You'll be coming with me to Whiterun. Let's see if your words can actually work on Tullius and the rest."

I got a new set of Stormcloak armor that looked pretty good, if not as protection offering as my own. I sighed, and debated for a while, before putting on my own Dragonscale armor. No more of being spat at by either side for wearing the other's armor. After fastening Mourning to my arm and Stormfall at my back, along with a few more knives, I went outside to see how the city was doing.

After disarming the prisoners, instead of locking them up, we'd asked them to help with the few repairs that had to be done and they gladly obliged. Not all of them were still properly convinced. But the clemency shown went a long way towards helping, especially since they couldn't really stage an uprising when out numbered and helpless. And yes, I think my speech had made a difference.

So I was in a good mood when I felt a hand on my shoulder stop me from behind. I turned back and looked into Ralof's face.