Fire And Fangs

Chapter 15

"Jarl Ulfric. Thank you for allowing us an audience" Astrid said softly.

She didn't bow or kneel though. She didn't bow to anyone...unless Sithis himself were to turn up, then she thought she might. The fact that she and her two companions not bowing seemed to amuse the Jarl of Windhelm and anger the massive Nord standing next to him. This amused Astrid. The man may be huge but she had her husband/werewolf alongside her, and matter the size of the man, he would be no match for Arnbjorn should he get aggressive.

"Galmar" Ulfric said softly with a raised eyebrow at him, "These assassins wouldn't be here talking to us if they meant to kill us right now"

"Fine Ulfric. But I am watching all three of you" Galmar said, eyeing each assassin and all three met his gaze with cold eyes. He narrowed his eyes and leaned against the stone pillar and waited to see what Ulfric would do next.

Ulfric ran his hand along the stubble on his chin before looking at Astrid again.

"Do not mistake my allowing an audience to be an offer of an alliance. I only do this because I have a feeling that what you desire is similar to myself. Am I right?"

Astrid smiled, but there was no warmth there.

"You are correct Jarl Ulfric. The Dark Brotherhood will never ally themselves with someone who kills the High King without so much as a grimace. Although I am impressed at your professionalism"

Galmar made to move but when he noted the white haired Nord tense his muscles, he knew that trying to even get close to the cheeky Nord woman wouldn't be a good idea.

Ulfric smirked at the dry humour. It was similar to Galmars.

"Alright, so what is the reason for your...visit?"

"The Dragonborn asked us to come on her behalf. You must have heard the rumours flying around by now?" Astrid said.

"That the savior of Skyrim and the one who defeated Alduin, the World Eater himself, is now a bloodsucking vampire? Yes, I have"

Ulfric made a disgusted face without even noticing. It had been funny at first when he was told, he thought it had been a prank designed to get him riled up. But then a few soldiers started talking about a few dead Imperial soldiers being found in the southwest, drained of blood. Then he heard about a bandit cave filled with corpses. And many other strange occurrences. Like the Companions of Whiterun being overpowered by a new type of vampire.

"The rumours are true. She is a vampire now. And a very pissed off one at that" Astrid said, "She hates how Jarl Elisif was nearly killed by the Thalmor and Imperials and she also hates how the Dawnguard group are being led by the Thalmor. Not to mention having the attention of a group of very powerful vampires trying to kill her"

"So what is your proposal?"

"Morgan asked if you could continue to harass the Imperial armies in such a way that she and a few others could sneak into Solitude and bring you General Tullius' head"

"And what would that gain apart from offering us a chance to rid ourselves of the Imperial General?" Galmar muttered.

"The death of the leader would send their armies into disarray. Not to mention that Elenwen, the Thalmor ambassador, would lose her greatest ally. Then the Dawnguard wouldn't function as well without Tullius and his tactical prowess...and that would leave only the vampire group to deal with" Astrid said.

There was silence for a moment and Ulfric nodded.

"Fine. We will continue to attack the Imperials. But the Dragonborn will never again be allowed to set foot in any of our towns or cities that we control. We do not want vampires or werewolves or even dragons at our doorstep" Ulfric said with a sneer.