Later that evening, they sat at the inn in Ivarstead. Not far outside town, Ulfric and Tullius were camped on opposite sides of the field, which had caused minor panic among the villagers, who had thought war was about to break out at any moment.
"Gods I was so nasty to them," Lendri said, half laughing in embarrassment. "They probably wouldn't have listened any other way but a part of me feels like I should apologize."
Ria sipped her mead. "Why? It got the job done and every one of them benefited from being taken down a notch."
"Most of the time I don't just yell at people. But being on mountains...the air is so thin, and it makes my head hurt. It makes things so that I don't have any patience."
"So, how else would you have done it? This would have been you. 'Can I say something? I want you all to stop killing for a little while, I know it's a lot to ask but, I mean, just consider it, okay? For the world? Thank you.' And they would have laughed."
"I'm not that shy."
"You can't live your life always trying to spare everyone's feelings. Sometimes you have to say what you mean. Remember what you said to Arngier about conviction? You're going to need that to kill Alduin. So maybe you should remember to be mean once in a while."
epilogue
Later that evening, they sat at the inn in Ivarstead. Not far outside town, Ulfric and Tullius were camped on opposite sides of the field, which had caused minor panic among the villagers, who had thought war was about to break out at any moment.
"Gods I was so nasty to them," Lendri said, half laughing in embarrassment. "They probably wouldn't have listened any other way but a part of me feels like I should apologize."
Ria sipped her mead. "Why? It got the job done and every one of them benefited from being taken down a notch."
"Most of the time I don't just yell at people. But being on mountains...the air is so thin, and it makes my head hurt. It makes things so that I don't have any patience."
"So, how else would you have done it? This would have been you. 'Can I say something? I want you all to stop killing for a little while, I know it's a lot to ask but, I mean, just consider it, okay? For the world? Thank you.' And they would have laughed."
"I'm not that shy."
"You can't live your life always trying to spare everyone's feelings. Sometimes you have to say what you mean. Remember what you said to Arngier about conviction? You're going to need that to kill Alduin. So maybe you should remember to be mean once in a while."
He didn't.