Honor of the Dragonborn

Preparations

Vilkas was the Master At Arms for the Companions of Jorrvaskr, and the husband of their Harbinger, Krinna the Dragonborn. His beast blood had been cured years ago, the war was long over, and Alduin was dead.
Vilkas and Krinna had adopted two little children who weren't so little anymore. Sofie could shoot a bow better than most of the Whiterun guards, Blaise was proving to be force of nature with the destruction spells Krinna had taught him, and they were both almost big enough to start training with real short swords.
Vilkas's brother also had children of his own. Farkas and his wife, Lydia, had adopted a little girl about the same age as Sofie, and then they'd had a son last year. Lucia had been training with Sofie and Blaise and was easily keeping pace with them. Jergen was only a year old, and had just recently begun trying to walk.
And if being a father and an uncle wasn't enough excitement, being married to the Dragonborn certainly kept life interesting. Vilkas accompanied his wife on most of the jobs they took for the Companions, but he'd also been with her to see her save the world twice now. After their last major adventure they'd decided to build a large manor outside of Whiterun and set up a homestead.
Vilkas was a proud husband, a proud father, and a proud uncle. He was enjoying life.
Things were going well...
...Until a group of cultists showed up in Whiterun and attacked his wife...
They'd called her a false Dragonborn and a deceiver, which made Vilkas's blood boil. They'd also yelled something about a "lord Miraak" and the "true Dragonborn" coming, and that made Vilkas worry.
Krinna and Vilkas had fought off the cultists, but only just. If it hadn't been for Sofie's marksmanship and Blaise's firepower, Vilkas wasn't sure that fight would have ended as well as it had.
Just to add insult to injury, the damned cultists' attack ruined the mood for his nephew's birthday.

That had been a week ago and he and Krinna were now preparing to leave for Solstheim. Vilkas was still furious about it. After everything he'd watched her go through to save the world from Alduin, he wasn't about to let some crazed group of outsiders tarnish her reputation and honor. He'd wanted to take off for vengeance that very night, but Krinna had talked sense into him. A trip that long was going to take some preparation. Besides the fact they were the Harbinger and the Master-At-Arms, parents couldn't just take off for an unknown amount of time without some arrangements being made first.
Fortunately, the rest of the Companions agreed, this insult and threat to their Harbinger could not go unanswered, and said preparations only took them about a week.
Aela recruited Athis to help with day to day work and jobs at Jorrvaskr so they could run things more smoothly with almost all of the Circle away. Krinna hinted strongly that if that went well, he could be the next one initiated to the Circle, which had definitely gotten the Dunmer's attention.
Farkas and Lydia relocated their family to Vilkas and Krinna's large manor just north of Whiterun where Ria and their housecarl, Gregor, could help them look after all four children.
Vilkas sifted through his book collection, reading everything he had on Morrowind and Solstheim, and trying to find information on this "lord Miraak." So far he'd learned plenty about Solstheim, but nothing about Miraak...
Krinna quickly figured out no one in Whiterun knew anything about him either, and the lack of information was making both of them uncomfortable.
Farkas volunteered to sharpen Wuuthrad and Dawnbreaker for them, and then he'd set to work crafting Vilkas more arrows for Auriel's Bow.
Lydia worked with the kids a bit more on ranged their attacks, and Krinna helped after she decided to leave the research to Vilkas. The fight with the cultists had made Krinna decide she needed to teach Blaise some more destruction spells besides fire, as well as some that had more range. Lydia had the girls work extra on archery, and had them start practicing with smaller and farther targets.
When he was tired of reading in the evenings Vilkas came out of the library to help train his children with their daggers, and he started them practicing throwing them. Farkas periodically left the forge to join in the training as well. The brothers agreed that at least Blaise might be ready to start learning a real short sword soon, but that should probably wait until Vilkas and Krinna got back.

Finally, the afternoon before they were planning to leave, Vilkas found a mention of Miraak in one of the old books Krinna had found somewhere in her dealings with the dragons. So with that information gained, best as Vilkas could tell, he and his wife should be ready to depart. They planned to leave for the port in Windhelm in the morning. Vilkas put things away in his library before making his way to the patio outside where Krinna was still drilling Blaise on the destruction magic she'd taught him.
"Fire for undead, lightning for mages, and frost for warriors," Blaise recited.
"Good, what else?" Krinna nodded.
"... uh... Fire is less effective on dark elves, and frost is less effective on Nords...?"
"Good enough," Krinna smiled.
"How's your aim?" Vilkas asked. Blaise looked up at him with a smile that told Vilkas Blaise was eager to show him. Then Blaise turned and shot a pinecone off of one of the trees up the hill with an ice spike.
"Pretty good," Vilkas nodded appreciatively.
"Very good," Krinna agreed. Blaise just grinned proudly. Vilkas put a hand on his son's shoulder.
"Keep practicing with your dagger while we're gone too, and when we get back I'll show you how to use a short sword," he promised.
"Really?!" Blaise asked excitedly. Vilkas heard Krinna let out a soft chuckle at the boy's excitement.
"Aye," Vilkas grinned, "you've grown. You're almost ready."
Blaise stood a little straighter at that, beaming with anticipation. Then his eyebrow quirked and he looked up at Vilkas, suddenly looking slightly confused.
"But Pa," he said slowly, "aren't you Jorrvaskr's two-handed weapons trainer?"
"What? You think I can't still show you how to swing a short sword?" Vilkas laughed.
"He actually used a one-handed sword the first time I met him," Krinna added with a smirk.
"Really?" Blaise repeated, looking from his mother and back to his father in disbelief.
"Aye," Vilkas nodded, "I prefer larger weapons, but I know how to use them all."
"He is the Master-At-Arms," Krinna added with a warm smile.
"Awesome!" Blaise cheered. Vilkas chuckled and pat Blaise on the shoulder.
"Head inside for dinner," he told his son, "your mother and I will be in in few minutes."
"Alright, Pa," Blaise nodded before going inside, still smiling.
"You found something then?" Krinna asked hopefully as soon as the door shut behind Blaise.
"Aye," Vilkas nodded, "not much, but one of the old books you found makes mention of him."
"One I found?" Krinna repeated in surprise. Vilkas knew his wife would immediately know what category that put him in. They had at first expected Miraak to be a current ruler attempting to rise to higher power, but their initial research had ruled out that idea, leaving them with only a few suspicions.
"Aye," Vilkas nodded again, "he was a dragon priest, but he rebelled against the dragons and attempted to rule them."
"I can't imagine that went well for him..." Krinna commented curiously.
"Not as badly as you'd expect," Vilkas shook his head, "he was apparently also Dragonborn... he ruled all of Solstheim for a time before another dragon priest defeated him."
"Oh I really don't like the sound of some long dead Dragonborn dragon priest trying to come back..." Krinna shook her head with a furrowed brow.
"Me neither," Vilkas grumbled. Then Krinna sighed and turned to look up the hill at Whiterun, and then to the setting sun.
"Alright, let's get inside and enjoy our last night at home. I've got a feeling it'll be a while before we're back."
"Aye love," Vilkas said taking her hand.

They made their way inside and found the rest of their family, their steward, and their housecarl beginning to gather around the dining table. Vilkas just stared for a moment, appreciating the pleasant atmosphere of his home. It suddenly struck him just how much he didn't want to leave... he watched lovingly as Krinna joined the others at the table... Blaise was bragging to his younger sister and cousin that he could shoot a pinecone out of a tree with ice from fifty paces away. Sofie and Lucia didn't believe him, but Krinna proudly confirmed Blaise's claim. To which Sofie replied that she could shoot a pinecone with an arrow from sixty paces, and Farkas interjected to tell Blaise it was true before Blaise could open his mouth. Vilkas chuckled proudly. No, he didn't want to leave, but he and Krinna definitely had to. A threat to his wife, to his family... to this happy moment in his home, was not going to go unanswered. He would make all of those damn cultists pay, and he would make sure neither the cultists nor this Miraak could ever pose any danger to his family again.
Krinna looked back at him with the gentle smile that always warmed his heart and he smiled back at her before joining his family at the table.