Mortal (Book 3)

Chapter 30

The next morning I wake up to Ulfric kissing my cheeks and neck. I roll over and press my face against his neck, my hands curling against his bare chest. I would hide from the morning sunlight if I could.
"Good morning, my love." He says as he runs his fingers along my skin. He rubs my back and begins to reach for something a little lower, to which I wriggle away from him and sit up in bed, laughing.
"Oh no you don't. Not again; we'll be late for the tournament." I tell him.
"Then we'll be late for the tournament..." he yawns, trying to grab me and pull me back down. I climb out of bed and begin looking for some clothes to wear for when Taarie and Endarie arrive. I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror and realize how big my stomach is getting. I turn to the side to observe it. Ulfric gets out of bed and pulls his pants on, then grabs a thin grey robe for me to wear. He joins me next to the mirror and gently runs his hand over my stomach, to which the baby responds with a gentle kick, right into his palm. He audibly gasps.
"Did you see that?" He whispers.
"No, but I felt it." I tell him sarcastically. It's almost like he doesn't hear me as he stares at my stomach in awe.
"Do you think it's a boy or a girl?" He asks as I pull the robe on.
"Hmm... I think it's a boy." I tell him.
"What makes you say that?" He asks.
"Intuition, I suppose."
"I think it's a little girl." He says, grinning.
"We have plenty of little girls around here; Taarie and Endarie included." I observe. He smiles tightly, his mind already other places.
"Thorwulff was right; I'm a far different man now that I have you than when I last saw him. I don't think you would be so glad to wake up next to that man." He sighs, tucking my hair behind my ear. "I've done horrible, unforgivable things Nova."
"Your brother forgives you. And there's nothing you could do that would make me stop loving you." I explain, placing his hand over my heart. Large tears gather in his grey eyes, so I kiss him.
"I love you."
"I love you too."

~

Taarie and Endarie quietly dress me in one of my older blue dresses. It doesn't hide my stomach at all, but soon enough nothing will. I decide not to announce anything, and to simply allow the people to put two and two together. When Taarie doesn't even attempt to put makeup on me, I have to wonder what's going on.
"What's wrong with you two? You're so quiet." I ask them. Taarie immediately bursts into tears, and Endarie immediately rushes over and pulls her into her arms. "Oh Taarie, I'm sorry... What did I say?" I ask her.
"No no, it's quite alright your majesty... She's just tired." Endarie explains, shushing her sister.
"Are you sure...? It's alright, you can tell me. Maybe I can help—" I start, but I'm interrupted by Carth bursting through the door. Taarie immediately turns around and pretends to be busy folding clothes on my dresser, concealing her face.
"Is she ready? We're going to be late!" Carth exclaims.
"Yes, she's ready." Endarie answers quickly, and Carth hurries me out the door.
Ulfric and I quickly kiss the girls goodbye as Galmar and our party of guards rush us outside to escort us to Castle Dour. Finally we arrive in the improvised stadium; Ulfric takes his seat as Carth shoves a small piece of paper in my hand listing today's matches.
"Good morning, good people of Solitude! Thank you for joining us again today for the second day of the tournament. Today we'll have two matches between the four remaining competitors from yesterday, and perhaps a final third match between the remaining two competitors if they're not too injured to continue. If they are, then tomorrow we'll meet once again for the final match. First up today we have Umana of Elindir versus Vilkas of Riften." I announce, and the crowd cheers as I take my seat. Umana struts out into the courtyard, waving to the crowd.
"I hope the boy comes out of this one with both eyes still in his head." Ulfric jokes with Galmar; I'm surprised he didn't wish Vilkas dead.
"Did you see that little blood stain on the ground coming in? I think that was from the Orc's eye..." Carth adds.
"Oh! She's fixed her shield." I point out as she waves to the crowd with her shield arm, the bent spike now a bit overcorrected in the other direction. Vilkas enters the courtyard as well, and the crowd cheers even louder. "By the end of this, the people of Solitude will favor my housecarl over me." I complain, shouting over the noise.
Finally the horn sounds, and the two take tentative steps toward each other. When they reach the center they circle each other carefully, causing the crowd to jeer and taunt them. Finally, Umana runs at him ready to take the first swing. She ducks down low and attempts to knock his feet out from under him with her sword, only for him to kick it out of her hand and start toward her with his greatsword. She rolls backward and gets back on her feet,  guarding her body with her shield. They continue circling each other for a moment, until finally Umana loses patience and takes several quick steps toward him and attempts to bash him with her shield. He bends backward to avoid it, but is still left with a bleeding scratch across his cheek and nose, showing how dangerously close she was to his eye. In his effort to dodge her he falls backward, and she uses the time he takes to regain his footing to retrieve her sword. While she thinks he's distracted she takes a swing at him with her sword, but he blocks her and she stumbles a bit. This gives him time to swing at her again, which she blocks with her shield.
"She's too impatient..." Galmar mumbles just as Vilkas stabs through the wood of her shield and rips it away from her, throwing it far behind him, too far for her to hope to retrieve it. They block and swing at each other for a little longer with just the swords until Umana stumbles again. Her sword skids across the stone, and she simply sits on the ground with Vilkas' blade at her neck, exhausted. She slowly reaches up to remove her helmet.
"I surrender..." She breathes, and the crowd cheers, albeit a bit unenthusiastically. Vilkas helps her to her feet, and they shake hands before she exits the courtyard and Vilkas takes a seat on the bench as a healer quickly mends the cut on his face.
I announce the next match, Thorwulff versus Iolea of Blacklight. Iolea steps into the courtyard, coldly disregarding the crowd as always. Once again, she has her blades already drawn. Thorwulff enters after her, waving and blowing kisses to the crowd as they cheer for him. The horn blows, and she sprints toward him. Just as she thinks he's distracted by the crowd, he quickly draws his sword and blocks her, inches away from his face. They struggle against each other for a while before he manages to push her off, barely scraping her chin with the end of his blade. She stumbles backward and gently touches her chin, screaming in anger when she sees blood dripping onto her hand.
"She's too angry... And predictable." Ulfric observes as she drops a sword, just as she did yesterday, and summons her sparks spell once again. She sends her lightning flying into the stone wall just above where Vilkas sits. Thorwulff dodges it completely, sprinting behind her while she's distracted and pressing his sword to her throat.
"Surrender!" He demands.
"Never!" She screams. Shockingly, she reaches up and places her bare hands on the edge of Thorwulff's blade and begins to push it away from her. She screams in agony, but slowly makes progress until she finally pushes his blade off of her. Her hands are covered in blood, but she picks up one of her swords anyway and begins swinging again. Finally she crosses blades with him again, but I nearly feel her pain at the impact of the swords against each other; her sword slips from her hand. She attempts to pick it up again, only for it to slip again. Thorwulff kicks her in the back as she's bent over, then pins her to the ground with his knee. He presses his sword against the back of her neck and the screams in frustration
"Surrender!" He repeats, but she ignores him. Finally after several agonizing minutes, Thorwulff stands. "She said she surrenders!" He yells, and the crowd cheers. Iolea sits defeated on the ground and rejects the help of the healers, retrieving her swords before storming back inside. Vilkas stands from the bench and goes to greet Thorwulff. The two of them shake hands and exchange what at least appears to be a few respectful words as I wait for the crowd to calm down.
"We have our two final competitors, Thorwulff Stormcloak of Windhelm, and Vilkas of Riften!" I announce, and the crowd cheers again. "Are they ready for the final match...?" I ask, and the crowd cheers even louder. The two of them look to each other and they both nod, and signal to me that they're ready. I return to my seat, and they each take their places in the courtyard. As the horn sounds, my baby kicks several times in a row. Something feels wrong; not specifically with the baby, but generally wrong. I try to ignore it as the match begins.
The two of them artfully swing at each other, both masters of their weapon. For a long time they swing and block so similarly you'd think they were trained by the same person. Finally, Vilkas tosses his sword over his hands and spins around, cutting Thorwulff's neck. Thorwulff is bleeding quite a bit, but not fatally. If anything, he seems to laugh. He swings back at Vilkas, landing a decent blow on his arm, but Vilkas only laughs and shakes his head.
My stomach lurches again, my nerves on end. Is it the match I'm nervous about? Thorwulff wouldn't kill Vilkas, he seems to like him. Somewhere in the city, over the cheers of the crowd, I hear a woman scream in terror. Is it just my imagination?
Ulfric seems to be quite excited about the fight, standing from his seat to cheer on his brother. Again, I hear another scream, but no one else seems to. My baby kicks again, as if trying to warn me. On the far side of the courtyard the crowd begins to shout in fear rather than for the competition, pointing at something in the far entrance where I can't see. Finally the rest of the crowd as well as Vilkas and Thorwulff see what it is, and I stand up.
Marching into the courtyard is Elenwen on horseback, followed by dozens of Thalmor soldiers. A few civilians attempt to run down the stairs but they're caught and held at sword point by the soldiers.
"I, Elenwen, Thalmor Emissary to Skyrim, hereby sentence Novariana of Rorikstead, for the crime of heresy, to death," She begins, grinning widely. "And I hereby sentence all conspirators in the city of Solitude to death for heresy." She announces. The soldiers holding the civilians immediately slit their throats, tossing their limp bodies down the stairs and chasing after the ones that run.
Elenwen extends her hand toward Ulfric, and before I can react a white ball of light hits him in the chest, so bright that it's blinding and it crackles louder than anything I've ever heard. When the light clears, Ulfric stands slumped against the wall with a hand to his chest and wide, terrified eyes. Slowly, he reaches out for me. I scream out his name and rush toward him, but someone grabs me and holds me back, my hand inches away from his. She hits him again, this time with a larger bolt that leaves me blind and deaf.
For years, it seems like the only things I can hear is my own heart beating and my panicked breathing. Distantly I hear his hoarse voice, begging for me. I roll on my stomach and start trying to crawl towards his voice as my hearing and vision slowly returns. Finally I see the ground, and then his hand.
"Nova..." He groans. I grab his hand and pull myself closer to him with all my strength; all I know is that I have to get to him, but I'm so weak. Finally I pull myself up onto his chest, grasping at his face; he's badly burned.
"Ulfric...? Ulfric please...!" I shout, trying to shake him into consciousness. His eyes flutter open for a moment, and he gently caresses my face, then presses his hand to my stomach.
"Tell her I loved her... And I loved you..." He sighs before his eyes shut. I shake him more, begging him, screaming at him to stay awake, but his hands fall away from me. I feel someone's hands on me, pulling me away, but I fight and struggle against them.
"Get her out of here! Now!" Galmar shouts, handing me off to someone else. He hoists Carth up by her arm and pushes her toward me as well. He shouts at us to get to the palace as he draws his axe and runs toward the quickly advancing Thalmor soldiers. Vilkas picks me up and runs along the wall, trying to find another way down besides the stairs. Thorwulff coaxes Carth along, and finally they find a tower that takes us back down to the street level.
When the confusion finally wears off and the rage sets in, I start kicking and screaming, doing anything I can to get out of Vilkas' arms. I kick him sharply in the ribs, and as he drops me I grab his sword handle from his back. I pull it free and I'm running for the courtyard, my feet slapping against the ground. Vaguely I hear them yelling and chasing after me, but it doesn't matter. I have to kill her. I have to kill her.
I enter the courtyard again, cutting down the first Thalmor I see, slitting his stomach open. I drive the sword into another's heart, their blood spattering on my face. Three more appear in front of me.
"Yol, Toor, Shul!"
All three of them are caught in my fire, screaming in terror as they attempt to put the fire out. I slit their throats, stab them through the back, cut their arms off just to make them suffer for what they've done. I cut through them as I see them, my own Stormcloak guards backing away to let me have them.
It seems like an instant but must be hours later that someone grabs my arms and wrestles the sword away from me, and I realize I've been hacking at a dead body. The last of the surviving Thalmor retreat from the courtyard, and a few terrified civilians roam the sea of bodies that covers the ground, screaming in terror. Having used the last bit of my strength, I collapsed to the ground.