A FAREWELL TO ARMS =================== Akhara dared not flex a single green muscle. She counted no fewer than 9 enchanted weapons drawn and poised within inches of where she stood, feet firmly planted to the floor tiling of the anti-chamber to the Imperial war room of the Castle Dour. Ugor and Ogol's faces were drawn into hostile snarls of aggression and retaliatory promise, but even they knew in present company, they were outmanned. Among the multitude of the Legion's most infamous veterans were Captain Aldis, Legate Rikke, Adventus Caesennius, and Praeclarius Stultius, the hook-nosed Imperial wizard from Dragon's Bridge who spent most of his time harassing female students of the Bards College. His hands already glowed and crackled with the violet lambency of an electricity-based spell about to be chucked. Even as a Thane of Solitude owning property both in the city proper and across the neighboring marsh, having been recognized by Elisif the Fair herself as the Dragonborn of Skyrim, and visibly bearing the seal and marker of the Archmage of the College of Winterhold, it was not an easy thing to waltz into the very beating heart of the Imperial Legion of Skyrim and attain an audience with the legendary General Tullius.
When the Governor of Skyrim himself emerged from the neighboring room only a moment later, Akhara's brow arched noticeably with surprise.
"What's the damn meaning of all this ruckus?" the general wondered with annoyance.
"Sir," Rikke responded almost immediately. "It's the Dragonb--, I mean, Thane Akhara of Solitude, sir! She requests an immediate audience with you, in fact! Says it can't wait another minute."
Tullius paused, handing the parcel of documents he was holding to the attendant beside him before methodically removing his bracers. "Well, I'm here now, aren't I?" he observed flatly. His eyes locked upon the warchief's. "We've crossed paths before," he said. His eyes gleamed with knowing, but he didn't mention Elenwen's soiree, the incident with Potema at court, or even the execution at Helgen. He nodded, almost imperceptibly, then added, "You're the emissary the Greybeards elected? You're greener than I thought you'd be."
"You're shorter than I thought you'd be," the Lord of Cradlecrush Rock replied with a smirk.
Several of the legion officers exchanged terse glances, but after a moment, Tullius, both of his bracers finally removed, gave a dry, hearty laugh, closed the space between them, and extended his arm.
"I apologize for the security, Thane," the Governor began. "My men had begun to give free reign to anyone that simply wandered on into the castle. We've...corrected...that behavior since. I'm sure you'll understand, what with the sharp increase in dragon sightings, vampire attacks, and now bone-headed cultists from Morrowind on top of everything else."
"That's why I'm here, General," Shug replied.
Tullius took Akhara's hand and arm tightly in his own and looked upward into her strong features. "I know why you're here. The Greybeards sent you."
"You're well-informed."
"If Skyrim is truly ever to be saved from itself, I have to be. Sadly, my scouts intelligence did not mention exactly 'why' the Greybeards sent you. So I know the who, and the where, but not the why."
"The war room would be a more fitting place for this discussion," the warchief said, still very much aware of the amount of weapons at the ready, prepared to cut her to pieces.
Tullius nodded and issued a few brief instructions to his men. Rikke, Caesennius, Stultius, along with Akhara's own personal guard Ugor and Ogol, resumed the conversation in the private office afforded by the General's adjacent war chamber.
"The Greybeards are convening a Peace Council at High Hrothgar," Akhara informed the governor.
"For what possible reason? There's nothing to discuss as long as that traitor Ulfric is in arms against his rightful Emperor."
The warchief sighed. The weariness from all the travel, sleeplessness, and constant battle had already seen her temper in short supply. Even the Dragonborn's limits could be tested.
"We need a truce until the dragon menace is dealt with," she retorted impatiently and bitterly. "We all have our own responsibilities, General. You to your people, me to mine. The dragons are making it increasingly difficult for all of us to live up to those responsibilities. Surely you can agree with that, Governor."
"They are getting to be a problem," Tullius admitted, leaning over the map of Skyrim sprawled across the surface of the large wooden table in the center of the room. He placed his palms flat on its surface, staring down at the little red flag that represented their current location in Castle Dour. "But I wasn't sent to Skyrim to fight dragons. My job is to quell this rebellion, and I intend to do just that, dragons or no dragons."
"C'mon, let's just go. We're wasting our time here," Ugor whispered from behind Akhara and to her left. The Imperial wizard studied the red-headed orc suspiciously and with obvious prejudice.
"The dragons are a bigger problem than the Stormcloaks right now," Akhara pressed. "Were it not for the dragons themselves, General, it is very likely you would have already ended this infernal war, with or without the reinforcements you requested from Cyrodiil."
The governor glared at the warchief sharply. "It would seem I'm not the only one well-informed in this castle," the general commented sharply. He looked at Rikke who shrugged nervously, but nodded as if to communicate that if there was an information leak, she'd find it. "Most of the Legion is tied down on the border with the Aldmeri Dominion," Tullius continued after a moment or two. "The Emperor can't afford to risk weakening Cyrodiil's defenses. From the Imperial City, our war here is just a sideshow. An interlude before the main event against the Thalmor resumes."
"Which is why you need to take things into your own hands, General," Shug drove the point home. "This is your chance to end this, once and for all. The Empire can't afford to snub the Greybeards, and at the same time, you're in a position of strength. Dominate the peace accord, let my Green Army deal with Alduin and the dragon menace, and when it's over, you can finish the Stormcloak Rebellion off in a single master stroke and become lionized back in Cyrodiil when you send a courier to inform the Emperor that you and your meager few officers managed to quell an entire conflict all by yourselves while in the process strengthening the entire province's loyalty to the very empire that saved them from their own destruction."
At that, Tullius simply stared down at the map for what seemed like an eternity. He was deep in thought, but Akhara's intuition told her he'd already taken the bait. When he finally looked up, she was not surprised to hear the words that left his mouth next.
"It is a shame you are not one of those officers," Tullius remarked. "You seem to have a remarkably well-tempered and scholarly understanding of military strategy. Quite rare for an orc, in my own personal experience."
"Oh believe me, General, I'm a lot more than I appear to be," the warchief quipped back with a smirk. "Just you wait and see."