(Reyvin's POV)
"You sure you don't want to fashion something out of that?" I ask as Minthara rather uselessly tries attaching Alduin's horn to the tip of a tall pillar "Could make for a powerful banner enchantment."
She fails to reach the intended height and finally surrenders, levitating up like a normal person "I already have Jurgen's horn for that." She answers as she alters a few protrusions into the surface "Besides, I am not going to honor the bastard by making him useful."
"Spiteful" I hum "I approve."
"Of course you do." She snorts and simply plops back down onto the floor "So" She spreads her arms "What do you think?"
Holding back an eyeroll I turn to look at the admittedly massive first floor of the royal apartments granted to us, the whole thing being three floors in height and a good small manor's worth in girth (Yes, the White Gold Tower was that massive)
What should have been a simple dining/ball room had been transformed from stoic opulence and masterful craftsmanship into a Nord warrior's wet dream. While a large table still occupied the center of it all, everything else had been overtaken by anything from utter junk to artifacts people would gladly murder for.
Or get murdered for as was the case right now, to say what happened to that one Psijic cuck was a mercy in comparison would be an understatement when compared to what would greet any little shit trying to infiltrate our new official home.
The smug demigoddess didn't merely throw her stuff about though, oh no, she went and spent the entirety of last night organizing every single bit of loot into thematic collections.
A full collection of all the most common weapons, armors, banners, and other heraldic items from the Stormcloak rebellion, up to and including Ulfric's own aventailed orichalcum nasal helm.
After that came a collection of Forsworn trophies, preserved parts of different beasts, a downright insulting number of Thalmor items, all of them bloodied, et cetera et cetera.
Two collections took the cake in my not so humble opinion as a series of plinths had been molded by yours truly for all the Dragon Priest masks save for Vahlok's and Konahrik's.
The former still being in use by the silent observer that was the Jailor and the latter being part of Minthara's own panoply whenever she could be bothered to actually wear her damned helmet.
The most prominent of all her themed collections however was a glinting gathering of dragonscales, one from each and every one of the poor fools who did not immediately bow down to her authority and were thus given their just dues.
All of it topped by Alduin's own horn, which even now radiated the absolute dread of its previous owner.
"It certainly has..." I pause just to annoy her "Character."
"Ass" She grumbles "You know you love it."
"Oh I do, don't get me wrong" I grin "It's just that I am currently too busy imagining a Thalmor coming in here..." Chortling I add "Poor fuckers would shit themselves."
Her eyes take on a mischievous glint as she cups her chin "Think we can invite your friend from the 'totally not embassy' in the Elven Quarter for a visit? What was his name again?"
"Narsis" I remind her "Sadly my 'friend' hasn't been in the city for a while now. I doubt he died, he is too wily for that, but something tells me his diplomatic 'failure' has him run ragged by his fellow Altmer."
"What a shame" She pouts "Now I can't get the idea out of my head."
"Just call some fools you want to intimidate later" I chuckle "Besides, I doubt dear old Titus is going to leave us to our own devices for much longer, especially after his poor Battlemage had to sleep off a massive headache."
Minthara actually shudders at the reminder "That man got far too fixated on what you were doing."
Right "I will admit he was a tad too... enthusiastic." I allow "But he is the Battlemage so begrudging him a chance to learn how to ward better would just be a dick move."
"Uh huh" She deadpans "Definitely not because you want to irritate the part of the council that still annoys you."
"Me, doing something so petty?" I gasp and cover my poor heart "Such betrayal from my own wife!"
Rolling her eyes she goes to respond but a loud series of knocks at the door interrupts us, the ever armored head of Akulakhan looming inside "My Master, the meatbag Jukulus has sent a runner asking for yours and your consort's presence."
I pretend not to hear the 'runner's' sputtering and nod at my servant "We will join them shortly."
The automaton nods and closes the door.
"Your consort's" Minthara mimics Akulakhan's tone with a raised eyebrow.
Raising one in turn I merely ask "Are you going to tell him not to call you that?"
She goes to immediately say yes but then pauses and frowns "No, that sounds like a headache."
"Well then" I smirk cheekily and offer an arm "Shall we go, oh consort mine?"
She rolls her eyes but the smile doesn't leave her all the way to the council chamber.
---
Rolling the tube of parchment a very inconspicuous Jackal handed to me as I entered between my fingers I offer a light bow to a very tired looking Titus as he greets us, his councilors nodding along his words all the while.
"...We have heard many rumors of what happened on Solstheim, some more outlandish than the rest" Titus looks at Minthara "However all of them seem to agree that you have accomplished what you set out to do."
"Our victory was quite absolute" The smug dragon nods smugly "Solstheim should be a thriving trade stop before too long, and that is without mentioning the ebony mine."
I notice Francis Vierre nearly speak up about the whole ebony monopoly thing of the East Empire Company but it would seem that the recent activity had somewhat enlightened our dear Master of Commerce because he failed to commit suicide by annoyed Hortator.
Will wonders ever cease?
"Yes, I am sure that a prosperous Solstheim will be somewhat useful in the future." Marshal Valenicus cuts in "But I still fail to see the reasoning behind investing imperial attention to a backwater like that, ebony mine or not."
Holding back a downright devious chuckle I answer "Your failings are your own to consider" I grin as he glares at me "But to give you a slightly more palatable answer, some couples take a month to retreat after their wedding, we" I spread my arms "Decided butchering the cult of an ancient Dragonborn and his dragons was far more entertaining."
Most of the councilors were rendered quite speechless by my declaration, Titus however merely groaned as he was no doubt smacked by a big old headache, covering his face with his hand as he leaned on his elbows "Explain."
Being gracious, and unwilling to commit regicide via violent apoplexy, I let Minthara tell the tale.
Without mentioning the whole Apocrypha business of course.
---
"That is..." Titus exhales slowly "Quite the tale."
"And one that we should have been informed of in advance." Chancelor Jukulus adds "With all due respect to the both of you, events of this magnitude are not something that can simply be waved off in favor of admittedly heroic adventurism."
"There is actually a good reason for that" Minthara chirps before the other councilors can interject "See, if we told you about it you would be obligated to make some noise, and thus inform our dear friends from the Dominion that something dangerous was happening."
Some faces light up with realization.
"And so you decided to simply deal with it while pretending to go on a retreat..." Jukulus finishes for her "I will admit as much as I dislike the idea of the last Septim rushing into danger, it was an expedient solution."
"That" I raise my index finger "And none of you could have dealt with Miraak, no matter what you did."
"Yes" Titus frowns and looks to Minthara "The 'Bend Will' shout you called it."
Cue shudders of primal fear.
"A power capable of dominating even dragons" She nods seriously "One only resisted by someone of equal power in the voice."
"And this power..." Surprisingly it is Admiral Alakim that speaks up "It is gone? Forever?"
Showing absolutely no tells, Minthara nods "It will never curse the air of Nirn again."
The Redguard deflates in his seat, the rest of the council sporting relieved expressions as well.
"A blessing indeed, to have such a crisis happen without notice" Titus nods, no doubt happy to not have to deal with the stress of it all "And of course, an additional naval base for our supply lines is always welcome" He inclines his head ever so slightly in my direction.
"But" He straightens up "Now that we have gotten our answers, doctored as they were" He gives Minthara a pointed look, to which she shows absolutely no reaction "Let us move on to the actual point of this gathering."
"Indeed, Your Majesty" Jukulus continues as Titus turns silent "The Thalmor have begun acting, slowly gathering their armies and training new reserves even as we speak, their domains in Elsweyr and Valenwood have also begun their mobilizations, even if the actions of our agents have slowed their efforts somewhat."
"How quickly can we expect them to be ready?" I ask.
"Full readiness will take them months still, by autumn at the latest" The Chancellor answers "But four of their veteran legions stand ready some distance from the borders even now, serving as gathering points for their auxiliaries."
"So they are ready for hostilities to break out but not to invade" I nod and hum "And our own forces?"
Valenicus clears his throat "With the return of the recently raised Skyrim legions, and not counting city garrisons and private forces, our numbers stand at a full six trained legions, four of them from Cyrodiil."
"The Bretons, are of course going to be taking time to become strategically useful." Jukulus cuts in "I suspect the battles of High Rock will not be fought on the field but through proxy."
"And our own proxy?" Minthara prompts.
"The good King Uthred has already begun moving" The Chancelor nods "He informs us that his forays into Stormhaven have already began bearing fruits, though it will be months yet before he has the chance to subsume the territory."
"And the orc problem in Rivenspire?" I prompt, feeling distinctly... miffed about a certain part of the report I was given.
"Growing more violent by the day" Jukulus answers calmly "I suspect a Warlord is likely to rise if something is not done about it but King Uthred assured me that the opportunity to consolidate those lands is too great to nip it in the bud just yet."
Some uncomfortable looks are shared but none of us are quite stupid enough to gainsay that particular strategy, distasteful as it is.
"Very well" I nod, part of my thoughts still on the report "What of Hammerfell?"
At this Titus scowls "The Forebears have sent a scant few missives our way but from what little we do know dislodging the Crowns without bathing the province in blood will be rather difficult with the Thalmor preparing as quickly as we are."
"Meaning all we can rely on is a number of volunteers" Minthara mutters.
"Quite" The Emperor agrees simply.
"Look at it this way" I speak up, drawing curious glances "No matter how disappointing it is that we will not be getting our hands on any Hammerfel legions, we all know how much the Redguards hate the Thalmor. Having one of our flanks secured by forces that are at least neutral will allow us to operate with at least some security to our central supply lines."
"He has the right of it" Valenicus grunts, looking almost pained to agree with me "It will make any interference with our northern territories a nightmare for them, even if it will not actually stop them from trying."
"Attrition is our best friend in war" I point out.
"Exactly" He smirks before realizing who he had just agreed with and frowning "Speaking of numbers" He grunts "What kind of support can we expect from Morrowind?"
Many a curious councilor perks up at that particular question.
"Considering the border with Black Marsh, the large coastline, and the sparse population I will have to leave the majority of my forces as a garrison" I answer without a care and immediately raise a finger "But! My most veteran warriors will gladly join us, so you can expect a good thirty thousand Dunmer elites to be at our disposal."
"Thirty thousand." The Marshal frowns "That is just slightly above a single legion."
Jukulus clears his throat "Two elven legions, Lord Marshal."
"Right" The Imperial nods "I suppose that will have to do, their showing at Thorn Pass wasn't shameful at least."
"Why thank you" I give him my most sickly sweet smile and the poor man nearly recoils.
"A thought occurs." Minthara speaks up "What if I were to, once we are ready of course... begin hostilities by leading my dear brothers on a little adventure to one of those Thalmor legion camps?"
Oddly enough, the idea of throwing some near thirty dragons on the enemy while they were clumped up didn't receive much resistance, at least until the fact the Crown Princess refused to not participate came to mind.
The discussion derailed not long after that, the fact that we still had months to prepare had us going over anything between economics to legion tactics, to the integration of different races in the same fighting force, to something as inane as who to buy horses from for the supply trains.
And through every single second of it all, I simply couldn't stop thinking about that damned report. The same one that stated Durrak had simply picked his spear up one day and marched out of Jorrvaskr, going due west without bothering to explain a thing to anyone...
Hopefully he would survive whatever quest he had undertaken, as much as I would have liked to help him out I had my own concerns to consider.
Mere months remained before the very fragile peace finally broke and I had an entire library's worth of books to go through, dozens of spells to refine and straight up invent, and to finally take the time to make Akulakhan the sibling I had promised him.
Hopefully dear old Clavicus Vile wouldn't mind me playing around with Umbra too much.
Oh who am I kidding, I'd have to remind the little shit I made Oblivion my bitch before the day was out.
-------
May thine stone find its way into my hands.
If you want to support me directly and get access to a bunch chapters in advance visit my patreon page patreon .com/Rastislav156
If you want to discuss the story or just meme about join my discord server: https://discord .gg/NsDHGQpvsF