“I'll do what Elisif would have wanted to the best of my ability, Erikur,” Falk said bitterly. “Maybe I'm not authorised to sign death warrants, but I can certainly make sure you stay in a cell until Jarl Elisif arrives or there's a new Jarl. And that won't be you, Erikur, you can be sure of that!”
“No. It won't,” Elisif said, stepping into the light. She was sure Falk wouldn't have an innocent man arrested, but Erikur was still one of her Thanes at the end of the day. She couldn't see him arrested without knowing what he'd done. “Falk, what's happening?”
Everyone stopped dead, all staring at her as if she'd come back from the dead, eyes flicking to the Crown, and that did please her. She was Jarl after all, about time they acted like it.
“Elisif,” and there was Falk hurrying down the stairs, racing over to her and then Elisif found herself swept into a bear hug. “You're alive. Thank the Eight. After you disappeared, we all feared the worst... thank the gods you're all right.”
“I'm fine,” Elisif whispered. “I – well, my people – got rid of the Dark Brotherhood, I'm safe from them now. You don't need to worry.”
Falk hugged her again silently. It was some moments before he let her go.
“You're my Jarl. Of course I worry.”
Guilt stabbed at Elisif's heart. Falk had been nothing other than loyal, decent, hardworking, kind, the perfect steward in fact. And here she was preparing to leave him with Solitude for good, after weeks away, after just disappearing.
“Thank you,” Elisif whispered, before nodding at a nervous Erikur. “Why are you arresting him? He's a Thane, I find it hard to believe he was out there murdering people.”
“No, he had his friends in the Dark Brotherhood to do that for him,” Falk said viciously. “Here, read this, the last page with writing on it has the information you want.”
He handed her a book with a black leather cover and a red hand embossed on the front and Elisif could feel her blood starting to chill as she realised what it was. The Dark Brotherhood's ledger, a record of their contracts.
“Where did you get this,” Elisif whispered.
“A red-haired Nord man in black armour and a purple-eyed Dunmer woman in some weird grey getup delivered it to me about two nights ago,” Falk said. “They said I'd find it of interest. Was taken from their Sanctuary after it was destroyed. Elisif, do you know anything about that, because everyone is saying it was you...”
“Not in person, but I know who was responsible,” Elisif said, guessing who the man was. “I had some good friends of mine take care of it, sounds like they brought evidence to you.” Steeling herself, she flipped the ledger open and scanned down it, recognising the names of some of the assassins sent out on jobs. Gabriella, Veezara, Arnbjorn, and Astrid's signature at the bottom of each page.
“It's genuine,” she said quietly. “I recognise the names of the assassins. What, don't look so shocked, I have my sources.” She quickly turned to the back page, knowing in her heart what she'd find there... and sure enough, there it was. One contract on the Jarl of Solitude, price ten thousand septims, payable from Erikur Thane of Solitude, five thousand already paid, the rest on completion of the job.
“You utter BASTARD!” Elisif shouted, flinging the ledger at him. “This court has given you everything – power, respect, a title – and how do you repay us?? With this? Why, Erikur? I know you're not the most honourable, but I thought you were at least a bit better than this!”
“We needed a Jarl, Elisif!” Erikur snapped. “Not some idiot girl who when she actually bothers doing any ruling and isn't either moping after her dead husband or off playing dragon hunter is sitting there giving orders without any real clue what she's actually ordering! Solitude needs someone competent, someone who understands how the world really works, someone with a head for business.”
“Solitude has her,” Elisif said softly. “And I was not playing, Erikur. They say I got given my sword to rid the world of corruption – well, that's not strictly true, I actually got it to rid the world of undead. But parasites and traitors, I can deal with those as well.”
Re: The Wolf Queen Awakens 26.6
“No. It won't,” Elisif said, stepping into the light. She was sure Falk wouldn't have an innocent man arrested, but Erikur was still one of her Thanes at the end of the day. She couldn't see him arrested without knowing what he'd done. “Falk, what's happening?”
Everyone stopped dead, all staring at her as if she'd come back from the dead, eyes flicking to the Crown, and that did please her. She was Jarl after all, about time they acted like it.
“Elisif,” and there was Falk hurrying down the stairs, racing over to her and then Elisif found herself swept into a bear hug. “You're alive. Thank the Eight. After you disappeared, we all feared the worst... thank the gods you're all right.”
“I'm fine,” Elisif whispered. “I – well, my people – got rid of the Dark Brotherhood, I'm safe from them now. You don't need to worry.”
Falk hugged her again silently. It was some moments before he let her go.
“You're my Jarl. Of course I worry.”
Guilt stabbed at Elisif's heart. Falk had been nothing other than loyal, decent, hardworking, kind, the perfect steward in fact. And here she was preparing to leave him with Solitude for good, after weeks away, after just disappearing.
“Thank you,” Elisif whispered, before nodding at a nervous Erikur. “Why are you arresting him? He's a Thane, I find it hard to believe he was out there murdering people.”
“No, he had his friends in the Dark Brotherhood to do that for him,” Falk said viciously. “Here, read this, the last page with writing on it has the information you want.”
He handed her a book with a black leather cover and a red hand embossed on the front and Elisif could feel her blood starting to chill as she realised what it was. The Dark Brotherhood's ledger, a record of their contracts.
“Where did you get this,” Elisif whispered.
“A red-haired Nord man in black armour and a purple-eyed Dunmer woman in some weird grey getup delivered it to me about two nights ago,” Falk said. “They said I'd find it of interest. Was taken from their Sanctuary after it was destroyed. Elisif, do you know anything about that, because everyone is saying it was you...”
“Not in person, but I know who was responsible,” Elisif said, guessing who the man was. “I had some good friends of mine take care of it, sounds like they brought evidence to you.” Steeling herself, she flipped the ledger open and scanned down it, recognising the names of some of the assassins sent out on jobs. Gabriella, Veezara, Arnbjorn, and Astrid's signature at the bottom of each page.
“It's genuine,” she said quietly. “I recognise the names of the assassins. What, don't look so shocked, I have my sources.” She quickly turned to the back page, knowing in her heart what she'd find there... and sure enough, there it was. One contract on the Jarl of Solitude, price ten thousand septims, payable from Erikur Thane of Solitude, five thousand already paid, the rest on completion of the job.
“You utter BASTARD!” Elisif shouted, flinging the ledger at him. “This court has given you everything – power, respect, a title – and how do you repay us?? With this? Why, Erikur? I know you're not the most honourable, but I thought you were at least a bit better than this!”
“We needed a Jarl, Elisif!” Erikur snapped. “Not some idiot girl who when she actually bothers doing any ruling and isn't either moping after her dead husband or off playing dragon hunter is sitting there giving orders without any real clue what she's actually ordering! Solitude needs someone competent, someone who understands how the world really works, someone with a head for business.”
“Solitude has her,” Elisif said softly. “And I was not playing, Erikur. They say I got given my sword to rid the world of corruption – well, that's not strictly true, I actually got it to rid the world of undead. But parasites and traitors, I can deal with those as well.”