Mortal (Book 3)

Chapter 20

As we're about to leave through the gates, I notice a flier glued to the stone wall just beside it. It's titled "Dragonborn Unexpectedly takes the Throne", With a small drawn picture of my face. To my surprise the artist's picture is actually decently realistic; normally the sketches in these declarations are hurried and inaccurate. I pull it down to read it.

In an unexpected turn of events, the Dragonborn, Stormblade Novariana of Rorikstead made a surprise grand entrance to the ball held in the Blue Palace last night after the first day of the Moot. Even Jarl Ulfric Stormcloak himself seemed shocked, even tearful to learn she is alive. Following their reunion, Jarl Ulfric officially announced their engagement.
Almost just as surprisingly, Jarl Ulfric abdicated his nomination to the throne in favor of the Dragonborn herself as High Queen, and following the second day of the Moot, he announced her coronation tomorrow and made it publicly known that he believes the Dragonborn to be a descendent of the Septims themselves. The Dragonborn made a speech herself, and said she was just as surprised as anyone at her election by the Moot.

I wouldn't have called it a 'grand entrance', but I suppose it was a surprise. I try to hide the flier, expecting Carth to question me about it, but she's looking off back at the city.
"Ready to go?" I ask her as I stuff the paper into my bag.
"Yeah, just saying goodbye to the dreary old place." She says, finally turning back to the gate and pushing it open.
"You have a horse?" She asks when we reach the stables. I nod.
"This is old Fjori." I say, rubbing her nose. This is when I notice Carth doesn't even have shoes. I climb into Fjori's saddle and pull my boots off, handing them to her.
"Oh no, I won't accept your charity." She says, pushing them back to me.
"You need them more than I do; I have Fjori. It'll be a long road to Solitude without them." I tell her. She sighs, taking them and putting them on.
"Odd. We're the same size."

~

About halfway through the day's journey, we pass through Dragon Bridge. Just as Solitude comes into view in the distance, Carth speaks up.
"So what do you do for the queen, anyway? You can't just be one of her maids." She asks. I suppose it's better to tell her the truth sooner than later; people trust you better that way.
"Well..." I begin. "I'm not sure if you'd believe me if I told you, so perhaps I should just show you." I tell her, reaching in my bag for the flier. I hand it to her and pull off my hood and begin pulling my hair down. As I finish adjusting my appearance, she looks back up at me and back down to the flier, then back to me once more.
"So you're her decoy?" she asks. I laugh.
"Something like that." I say. Carth simply shrugs and hands me back the flier, and I pull my hood back up.
As we enter the stable, the same boy greets me.
"You're back then." He says.
"I am. You keep your trap shut?" I ask.
"I promise I did! If I'm lying you can come back and tell my master." He says, for once sounding like an actual child. As hardened as he may be, he's still young. I look back to the older man and woman who run the stables that haven't even seemed to notice me, then throw him two coin purses; one with ten, the other with twenty.
"Give the ten to your master, keep the twenty." I tell him, beginning to turn away. As I'm walking away, he speaks up again.
"Is it true you adopt orphans?" He asks, catching up with me. I look back to him, and the people running the stable, then realize neither of them are his parents.
"I did. What's your name?" I ask him. He sighs sadly.
"Blaise." He says. I nod.
"I'll see if there's anything else I can do for you, Blaise. Okay?" I tell him. He nods quickly and runs back to the stable.
"What was that about?" Carth asks.
"I left in the middle of the night last time, promised I'd pay him to keep quiet about it." I tell her as a few guards' heads turn as we pass towards the gate.
"Why'd you leave in the middle of the night?" She asks.
"Because then people would've seen me and that would've blown my cover. When you're in my position, drawing attention to yourself and leaving a trail is a good way to get assassinated." I tell her.
"What do you mean your 'position'? Why are all the guards looking at you? You don't have a bounty do you?" She asks.
"No, quite the opposite." I explain.
"And what do you call that?" She asks.
"A reputation." I say with a smile. She looks extremely confused, and I just laugh. As we pass the gate, the first guard we see salutes me.
"Stormblade— your majesty. I wasn't notified you left the city—" She starts.
"Don't worry soldier, no one was." I admit.
"Did she just call you—"
"She did."
"Wait. You're not..." she trails off, but I only smile. As we walk down the street towards the Blue Palace, I overhear the whispers of people passing by. Most of them say, 'Is that the queen?' or 'Where are her shoes?' As we near the entrance of the courtyard, she stops in her tracks.
"Please, my queen.. I'm so sorry for all the things I said, please don't—" she starts to beg.
"Would you have accused me of those things if you'd known? Answer me, honestly. You won't be punished." I tell her.
"Well... I'm sorry your majesty, but... yes." She says.
"Then I appreciate your honesty." I say, turning back toward the palace.
"Did you bring me all the way here just to prove a point? What was the point, even? That I was wrong?" She asks.
"Maybe you're not wrong; that's for you to decide. And anyway, I brought you here to offer you a job, just as I said. The only thing I lied to you about was my name, and that wasn't even a full lie. It's Nova, not High Queen Novariana, not your majesty, not your grace. Not to you anyway." I explain. She still blinks at me.
"You want me to be your maid?" She asks incredulously.
"I want you to be my steward." I tell her. Her eyes grow even wider.
"Steward? Your majesty, I know nothing about—"
"Nova." I correct her. She rolls her eyes.
"Nova. I don't know anything about politics or war or law in Skyrim—" She starts.
"You don't need to. I didn't know anything about dragons when I killed my first one. I didn't know anything about war when I enlisted. Even now, I know nothing about being a queen. That's the first step though, admitting you know nothing. I can work with someone that knows nothing; what I can't work with is someone that knows everything. I need someone to learn with me. I understand it's an enormous undertaking, but I think you're perfect for the job." I tell her. She sighs again, looking me in the eye.
"Nova—" She starts.
"All I need right now is your honest opinion, Carth, which you've already done for me once. The rest will fall into place." I say. She still seems unconvinced. "At least join me and my family for dinner. I'll give you some new clothes, if you're worried about it. You can tell Ulfric all about the best gold digger in Tamriel." I tell her with a smile. She sighs and rolls her eyes.
"Fine. But don't say you didn't beg me." She says, following me inside.
As we enter to a relatively docile Blue Palace, despite servants and maids rushing around with wedding flowers and decorations, Ulfric and Galmar stand at the base of the stairs.
"Hello, love." I tell him, pulling him down to peck him on the cheek.
"That was quick. Where are your shoes..?" He asks.
"Everyone's so worried about my shoes today." I grumble, "Ulfric, Galmar, this is my friend Carth. She'll be joining us for dinner tonight. Carth, this is my fiance, Jarl Ulfric Stormcloak, and Stormblade Galmar Stone-fist, his housecarl." I say. Galmar lets out a cackle.
"Ha! Which gutter did you pull this skeever from?" He asks, looking at her disheveled appearance.
"Same one you took a nap in." Carth replies without missing a beat. This time, it's Ulfric that chuckles. At first Galmar seems a little offended, but he smiles.
"I like this one." He says. Just then, Erdi passes by.
"Your majesty, you're back! Oh, Endarie and Taarie are in such a fit that you weren't here for a dress fitting yesterday..." She groans. I roll my eyes.
"I'll send for them then, we'll do it before dinner. Erdi, would you please draw a bath for my dinner guest and get her something to wear? Any of my clothes should be fine, if they're not too short." I tell her, noticing Carth is a bit taller than me.
"Right away, your majesty." Erdi says.
"Carth, this is my maid Erdi. She'll help you; I'll see you at dinner." I tell her, nudging her gently toward Erdi. I turn and look to the nearest guard.
"Soldier, send for the dressmakers, tell them I'm ready for my fitting." I tell him, and he runs off.
"Dear, can I speak with you for a moment?" Ulfric says, gently pulling me by my waist toward the stairs. We go up to our bedroom, where the door is locked as I asked, and he shuts it behind us.
"Is that woman—?" He asks. I sigh.
"Carth is my cousin, Ulfric." I whisper, pulling him to the other side of the room from the door.
"Nova. We agreed that you would only meet her, nothing more—" he starts.
"She doesn't know who she is, I didn't tell her. She was a beggar living in the Warrens, Ulfric. Obviously Prince Amaund isn't doing his job. She's the last living member of my family, I'd feel terrible if something happened to her. I don't trust Motierre's agents to keep her safe; I feel better with her here." I sigh. He sighs heavily and nods, his eyes looking far off.
"I understand. What are you going to do?" He asks.
"Well, I've invited her to be my steward." I tell him.
"Steward? What does she know about—" he starts.
"That's what she told me! But Ulfric, I don't know anything about being a ruler, yet here I am. I really think she'd be good at it. She's quite clever; brutally honest too." I tell him.
"Yes, I gathered that much." He says as he laughs, then goes quiet for a moment. "I read the documents, Nova. I'm so sorry." He says, quickly pulling me into his arms.
"I have to kill him." I say, pressed against his chest. I expect Ulfric to be confused, shocked even, at least tell me that's a long way off now or that the Emperor is an elderly, feeble man that would sooner die peacefully in his sleep before I got to him.
"I know." is all he says.
After only a short few moments of peace, the door bursts open, and Taarie and Endarie's nasal voices follow close behind. As they begin to push him out the door, he pecks me on the cheek.
"I'll see you at dinner."