Elisif shot a glance at Delphine, who just nodded towards the entrance, faintest hint of a smile on her face. As if she knew something Elisif didn't.
“Don't worry, Dragonborn. I've got your back.”
With seemingly little choice in the matter, Elisif did as asked, walking to the tent entrance and staring out at the camp, tents stretching into the distance, soul gems perched on top of them and around the perimeter, magical shield hiding and protecting it, Forsworn warriors wandering around, the sound of singing and laughing, her Blades sitting around the fire, Argis calling excitedly to Karliah asking if she recognised him and Karliah stopping dead and crying out “Little Argis??? Shadows preserve me, look at you, you're all grown up! And who's this? Argis, don't tell me you've got a...”
“Karliah, this is Farkas, Farkas, this is Karliah, she's the one got me out of Markarth when the Stormcloak Shouted the gates in. Fancy an ale?”
“I would love one,” Karliah laughed, Farkas happily moving to one side and sandwiching her in between them as he passed her a mead bottle, Honningbrew from the look of it, although where the Forsworn had found a large consignment of Honningbrew's best from was anyone's guess.
“Well?” Madanach murmured into her ear, standing right behind her. “What do you see?”
“My Blades,” Elisif whispered, feeling tears in her eyes. Her companions and friends, comrades, protectors, allies, and she was abandoning them all.
“What else?” Madanach murmured, hands curling around her upper arms and did he really need to stand so close to her?
“Tents. Soul gems. At least three Hagravens, and why on earth I didn't kill you in Cidhna Mine, I don't know, because frankly I'm not sure you're a lot better than the dragons. Lots of Forsworn warriors. Skulls, Spriggan heads, goats' heads, an entire deer's head, neck and shoulders on a pair of mammoth tusks – Madanach, what is it with you people, can't you decorate your camps with nice things for a change?”
Soft chuckle from Madanach.
“I'm sorry, cariad, shall we go for flowers and pink ribbons instead, really put the fear of Sithis into people?”
“I can breathe fire, you know!” Elisif informed him, glaring over her shoulder at him, wondering why the insufferable man was smiling.
“You'll have to demonstrate later,” Madanach grinned. His voice softened as he looked back out at the camp. “Take a step back. Look at the whole thing. What do we have out there?”
Good question. What did they have, taken in its entirety? A Forsworn camp. A big one. Away from home, waiting for something, some sign to move, camped in hiding out in Eastmarch. Eastmarch... Ulfric's own Hold. Why had Madanach moved out to Eastmarch? This must be half the entire Forsworn out here. Half the entire Forsworn...
“An army,” Elisif whispered, pieces slowly slotting together. “You're laying siege to Windhelm. Except Ulfric doesn't know it yet.”
“Oh you are smart!” Madanach breathed, approving. “Yes, High Queen, we are laying siege to Windhelm. Except due to our smaller numbers and limited resources, we're going about it a little differently.”
“How long have you been planning all this?” Elisif whispered, trying to think how much time it would take to plan an operation this size. Even with the troops already there and just needing moving, it wasn't an overnight job. “Wait, have you been planning this since the jailbreak?”
“In a way.” Delphine was approaching, standing a few feet away, definitely grinning now. “And don't blame him, an awful lot of this was my idea. Not organising the Forsworn, no, but the idea of taking Windhelm, all the setting up needed to get it from an idea to a working operation in a matter of weeks, a lot of that was me.”
“What?” Elisif gasped, wondering how – why? - the Blades had got together and planned all this without her. “When were you going to tell me?”
“We thought you needed to concentrate on the dragons,” Delphine said, shrugging. “We needed to get everything ready first, but there was no need for you to be involved with that. We just need you for the actual uprising so it doesn't look quite as much like a horde of barbarians descending on an unsuspecting city and terrorising it into submission.”
Re: The Wolf Queen Awakens 27.7
“Don't worry, Dragonborn. I've got your back.”
With seemingly little choice in the matter, Elisif did as asked, walking to the tent entrance and staring out at the camp, tents stretching into the distance, soul gems perched on top of them and around the perimeter, magical shield hiding and protecting it, Forsworn warriors wandering around, the sound of singing and laughing, her Blades sitting around the fire, Argis calling excitedly to Karliah asking if she recognised him and Karliah stopping dead and crying out “Little Argis??? Shadows preserve me, look at you, you're all grown up! And who's this? Argis, don't tell me you've got a...”
“Karliah, this is Farkas, Farkas, this is Karliah, she's the one got me out of Markarth when the Stormcloak Shouted the gates in. Fancy an ale?”
“I would love one,” Karliah laughed, Farkas happily moving to one side and sandwiching her in between them as he passed her a mead bottle, Honningbrew from the look of it, although where the Forsworn had found a large consignment of Honningbrew's best from was anyone's guess.
“Well?” Madanach murmured into her ear, standing right behind her. “What do you see?”
“My Blades,” Elisif whispered, feeling tears in her eyes. Her companions and friends, comrades, protectors, allies, and she was abandoning them all.
“What else?” Madanach murmured, hands curling around her upper arms and did he really need to stand so close to her?
“Tents. Soul gems. At least three Hagravens, and why on earth I didn't kill you in Cidhna Mine, I don't know, because frankly I'm not sure you're a lot better than the dragons. Lots of Forsworn warriors. Skulls, Spriggan heads, goats' heads, an entire deer's head, neck and shoulders on a pair of mammoth tusks – Madanach, what is it with you people, can't you decorate your camps with nice things for a change?”
Soft chuckle from Madanach.
“I'm sorry, cariad, shall we go for flowers and pink ribbons instead, really put the fear of Sithis into people?”
“I can breathe fire, you know!” Elisif informed him, glaring over her shoulder at him, wondering why the insufferable man was smiling.
“You'll have to demonstrate later,” Madanach grinned. His voice softened as he looked back out at the camp. “Take a step back. Look at the whole thing. What do we have out there?”
Good question. What did they have, taken in its entirety? A Forsworn camp. A big one. Away from home, waiting for something, some sign to move, camped in hiding out in Eastmarch. Eastmarch... Ulfric's own Hold. Why had Madanach moved out to Eastmarch? This must be half the entire Forsworn out here. Half the entire Forsworn...
“An army,” Elisif whispered, pieces slowly slotting together. “You're laying siege to Windhelm. Except Ulfric doesn't know it yet.”
“Oh you are smart!” Madanach breathed, approving. “Yes, High Queen, we are laying siege to Windhelm. Except due to our smaller numbers and limited resources, we're going about it a little differently.”
“How long have you been planning all this?” Elisif whispered, trying to think how much time it would take to plan an operation this size. Even with the troops already there and just needing moving, it wasn't an overnight job. “Wait, have you been planning this since the jailbreak?”
“In a way.” Delphine was approaching, standing a few feet away, definitely grinning now. “And don't blame him, an awful lot of this was my idea. Not organising the Forsworn, no, but the idea of taking Windhelm, all the setting up needed to get it from an idea to a working operation in a matter of weeks, a lot of that was me.”
“What?” Elisif gasped, wondering how – why? - the Blades had got together and planned all this without her. “When were you going to tell me?”
“We thought you needed to concentrate on the dragons,” Delphine said, shrugging. “We needed to get everything ready first, but there was no need for you to be involved with that. We just need you for the actual uprising so it doesn't look quite as much like a horde of barbarians descending on an unsuspecting city and terrorising it into submission.”