“Oh come on, that's insane,” Delphine protested. She knew Elisif wanted revenge, but she could wait, right? Wait for the Legion to take the city, go in with them, she'd led troops at Whiterun, proven herself, she could do the same in Windhelm, right? “She'd never go alone, if she survived, they'd kill her, Galmar would take over the cause, it would achieve nothing other than to martyr Ulfric. She's not that stupid or that suicidal...”
Madanach's eyes were boring into hers, and he did indeed have opinions and feelings on this topic, very strong ones and that wasn't anger, it was heartbreak and desperation.
“When we first met, we argued and I got up to... I don't know, I just wanted to intimidate her a bit,” Madanach said softly. “She must have thought I was going to attack, and she was unarmed. She didn't beg or plead or run. She just closed her eyes and told me to get on with it. Like she wanted to die and get it over with. When I asked her about it, she just said Sovngarde would await if she died bravely. Delphine, you do not have a fearless warrior on your hands, you have a grieving widow who lost a husband and miscarried a baby she'd only just found out about because of Ulfric. Honestly, if Nords didn't think suicides were cursed to roam Oblivion for eternity, I think she'd have taken her own life.”
Aela's hand on her shoulder, Eola looking pale and worried and it wasn't true, Elisif wasn't suicidal, she was sane and calm a lot of the time, she wasn't crazy, surely? And yet, and yet...
“She can't die,” Delphine said, fighting off the panic. “We only just found her – the world needs her! We need our Dragonborn!” What are the Blades without a Dragonborn?? Nothing, that's what, that's why we crumbled so easily, we didn't have a purpose. If we'd still had a Dragonborn, we'd have done like the Forsworn have – formed a resistance. But they hadn't, and if Elisif died, Delphine wasn't really sure the new Blades would hold on. Aela would go back to Jorrvaskr, Brynjolf to the Thieves, Cicero who knew where and Eola with him, that was if he didn't lose it completely and have to be put down, and Erandur she barely knew. They needed their Dragonborn alive.
“I know that, I need her too!” Madanach cried, fingers ghosting across his cheek again, or at least they did until he recollected himself. “She's the only one who can grant me a pardon and make me king, the only one who thinks of me as a friend anyway. I need her to stay alive long enough to do all that, and afterwards things will run a lot smoother if there's a ruler in Skyrim who actually understands us and who I actually like! So she can't die, Delphine, you need to keep her alive, you need to get her out of there afterwards, make sure that when she goes to face Ulfric, she's not alone!”
“This is what you wanted to talk to me about,” Delphine whispered. “You're worried about her!”
“Of course I'm-” Madanach stopped, looking away, still rubbing his cheek. “Look, you people are sworn to guide and guard a Dragonborn, so I'm told. So guard this one. Keep her alive!”
“I can't fight a city full of guards on my own,” Delphine sighed. “I don't have the people, even Cicero's not that good, and I don't think the Legion are going to lay siege to the city for us.”
“I'm not expecting you to take the city, just sneak people in there and cover her escape,” Madanach growled. Sneak people in there – a stealth mission then. But even that would only last until Ulfric was dead – once that happened, any guards with a brain would seal the city. Delphine couldn't rely on there being any Roggvirs in the Windhelm guard who'd do the honourable thing and let them out. No, their best option was to capture the city, but even if Delphine could exploit Windhelm's simmering racial tensions and persuade those dissatisfied with Ulfric's reign to spontaneously rise up in revolt, she couldn't rule it herself and she really didn't have the troops. Damn it, if only she knew someone who'd done this sort of thing before and had troops at his disposal...
Re: The Wolf Queen Awakens 16.7
Madanach's eyes were boring into hers, and he did indeed have opinions and feelings on this topic, very strong ones and that wasn't anger, it was heartbreak and desperation.
“When we first met, we argued and I got up to... I don't know, I just wanted to intimidate her a bit,” Madanach said softly. “She must have thought I was going to attack, and she was unarmed. She didn't beg or plead or run. She just closed her eyes and told me to get on with it. Like she wanted to die and get it over with. When I asked her about it, she just said Sovngarde would await if she died bravely. Delphine, you do not have a fearless warrior on your hands, you have a grieving widow who lost a husband and miscarried a baby she'd only just found out about because of Ulfric. Honestly, if Nords didn't think suicides were cursed to roam Oblivion for eternity, I think she'd have taken her own life.”
Aela's hand on her shoulder, Eola looking pale and worried and it wasn't true, Elisif wasn't suicidal, she was sane and calm a lot of the time, she wasn't crazy, surely? And yet, and yet...
“She can't die,” Delphine said, fighting off the panic. “We only just found her – the world needs her! We need our Dragonborn!” What are the Blades without a Dragonborn?? Nothing, that's what, that's why we crumbled so easily, we didn't have a purpose. If we'd still had a Dragonborn, we'd have done like the Forsworn have – formed a resistance. But they hadn't, and if Elisif died, Delphine wasn't really sure the new Blades would hold on. Aela would go back to Jorrvaskr, Brynjolf to the Thieves, Cicero who knew where and Eola with him, that was if he didn't lose it completely and have to be put down, and Erandur she barely knew. They needed their Dragonborn alive.
“I know that, I need her too!” Madanach cried, fingers ghosting across his cheek again, or at least they did until he recollected himself. “She's the only one who can grant me a pardon and make me king, the only one who thinks of me as a friend anyway. I need her to stay alive long enough to do all that, and afterwards things will run a lot smoother if there's a ruler in Skyrim who actually understands us and who I actually like! So she can't die, Delphine, you need to keep her alive, you need to get her out of there afterwards, make sure that when she goes to face Ulfric, she's not alone!”
“This is what you wanted to talk to me about,” Delphine whispered. “You're worried about her!”
“Of course I'm-” Madanach stopped, looking away, still rubbing his cheek. “Look, you people are sworn to guide and guard a Dragonborn, so I'm told. So guard this one. Keep her alive!”
“I can't fight a city full of guards on my own,” Delphine sighed. “I don't have the people, even Cicero's not that good, and I don't think the Legion are going to lay siege to the city for us.”
“I'm not expecting you to take the city, just sneak people in there and cover her escape,” Madanach growled. Sneak people in there – a stealth mission then. But even that would only last until Ulfric was dead – once that happened, any guards with a brain would seal the city. Delphine couldn't rely on there being any Roggvirs in the Windhelm guard who'd do the honourable thing and let them out. No, their best option was to capture the city, but even if Delphine could exploit Windhelm's simmering racial tensions and persuade those dissatisfied with Ulfric's reign to spontaneously rise up in revolt, she couldn't rule it herself and she really didn't have the troops. Damn it, if only she knew someone who'd done this sort of thing before and had troops at his disposal...