章 4: Act I: Chapter 4

Hello everyone,

Follow me on instagram at wtmcdonaldauthor! If you are feeling generous, and wish to donate to my writing career, you can find me at Patreon under the same name for early access to chapters of The Ladder, Defiant, and Tsunami of the South!

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

*********************************************************************************************************

"March, don't move! March damn it!"

I took an abnormal amount of pleasure seeing the men get serious at my tone. Two groups of twenty men stood in marching formation. They were currently marching twenty steps forward, and counting every step. Then right, then left, and finally backwards.

"Back!" I ordered and for the first time since the men started, they reached twenty steps backwards without tripping over each other.

At the call of 'twenty', I shouted. "Alright! We're done, you're finally competent enough to walk without tripping over each other and dying."

I continued to be amazed by the lack of training and discipline of the imperial legion. It was no wonder that Ulfric Stormcloak believed himself able to lead Skyrim better. He was probably right, if the state of Markarth was any indication.

"Quaestor!" I heard behind me.

I snapped to attention quickly as I turned to face the man. It was my current legate, who was in charge of me, and the men in front of me, for the afternoon shifts in the market and surrounding areas.

I expected the man to look livid, instead he was escorting someone my direction. He loved his power over me, and was looking to impress her.

Ariella walked behind him, her keen eyes roaming over the field and taking in the men still standing in marching formation. They were at attention now because of their legate.

"You have a visitor. Come see me after soldier." The legate commanded.

"Yes, sir." I told him before turning to my guest.

A part of me thought it inappropriate for me to be caught shirtless by Ariella. Then her eyes wandered and I had to beat back the grin that spilled on my face.

"Ariella." I greeted. "Welcome to the shit show that is the Imperial Legion." I spoke low so that my retreating legate wouldn't hear.

"Hadvar. They don't look so bad." Ariella said.

I snorted. "Yes, well this is after two weeks of practice. They only got it down, just now."

She smiled at me. It was by far her most attractive attribute, and that was saying something. "You know this is not your responsibility?"

She finished pointing to the men, who were still standing at attention, waiting for me to give them the word so they could break. I took pity on them.

"At ease, go get some water. Then pair up and spar." I turned away from them immediately and could hear their shuffling and sighs of relief.

"Someone has to do it." I commented back to Ariella. A part of my mind wondered if she had enchanted something on her to make me so ...well enchanted with her.

"Because the captain won't." Ariella said and her eyes finally met mine. I didn't let it show, but it brought me happiness.

'What the fuck is wrong with you Hadvar? I've never let women have this effect over me.' I thought to myself.

"Precisely." I agreed with a nod and waited for her to get to the point, the reason she was here. It must be important.

She took the hint. "I came to warn you." Ariella said. She turned back to the men who were done hydrating and were now sparring.

"Ok." I said, once again waiting on her to continue.

"You have eyes watching you, important eyes." Ariella said. "I still don't know if you've done it intentionally, or if it's all coincidence."

I frowned. 'Is this about me taking over my superiors jobs of training the men? Or something else?'

"The Jarl, the Captain, and Calcelmo." I recited, telling her of those that I knew were watching. I was also fishing for more, seeing if she'd give it away.

Ariella chuckled, as if I had no idea how wrong I was. I deduced that was exactly what she was thinking.

"How do you know?" I asked, curious why she knew these things and I didn't.

"My new position has thrust me into the politics of Skyrim." Ariella answered while not really giving me anything to work on. "The corruption runs deep, Hadvar. Deeper than you can imagine."

My eyes, and determination, hardened. "Are you telling me to stop what I'm doing?" I asked, hoping that it was not the case.

"I'm telling you that if you continue, to be prepared for the repercussions it will bring." Ariella answered as her own voice got more steady. When she met my eyes this time, they were not nice. They were calculating, judging.

"Do you know that I could conquer this city with a thousand men trained like them?" I told her pointing at the men across from us. Their proficiency with the blade, and their fighting in general had improved by leaps and bounds. And they still weren't that good. I could probably cut through all of them alone.

Ariella didn't answer me, and her eyes didn't waver from mine. "One thousand. That's all it would take. That is fucking pathetic." I added on, disgust showing on my face.

"I joined the legion out of a sense of duty, to do my part. Instead I have found a deeper purpose." I finished.

"And what is that?" Ariella asked.

I always heard that a person's eyes were like the windows into their souls. The way she looked at me, the intensity, reinforced that theory.

"Skyrim and her people are weak and unprepared for what is coming. But give me a year or two, and she'll be ready for the storms on the horizon." I answered, finally giving her an answer.

Ariella's eyes brightened for a moment before darkening. "You may not have that long, Hadvar. Do it sooner."

'So she knows something is coming too? What does she think it is? How does she know it?' I wondered, at her reaction.

Something nagged at the back of my mind. "Why did you come to Skyrim, Ariella? A 'prodigious talent' like yourself, going to the College of Winterhold? Doesn't the rest of Tamriel think it a laughing stock, compared to the mages guild?"

Ariella couldn't hold back the surprise on her face. "You know more than you let on, Hadvar." She answered, once again giving me nothing. "Let's just say that it is about to become more important, with their more recent findings."

My heart dropped. 'They've found Saarthal?' I thought. 'Is that why Ancano is traveling through Markart? To get to the College?'

'There was never any Ariella at the College.' I thought to myself, and immediately my mind came up with several theories that were thrown out the window just as fast.

"Be careful, Ariella. Skyrim is an old land, and holds many secrets." I said, trying not to reveal any of my knowledge. Hopefully my heritage would let me play it off.

Ariella's head cocked sideways and her eyes narrowed. 'We both know more than we're letting on.' I realized.

"I came here to warn you, and instead you have swapped the roles." She commented, amusingly.

"It's only natural. I am very wise, after all." I joked. "In my humble opinion."

"Humble." Ariella repeated the word. "Of course." She laughed as she said it. It was music to my ears.

"I am leaving today, with the "ambassador"." Ariella said raising her hands and doing air quotes with them.

'I didn't know that people used hand quotes here.' I thought to myself as I laughed at her joke. Ancano thought himself more important that he actually was. He was a reject, sent to remind the arch-mage of the Thalmor's looming presence.

A part of me ached for the slightest moment, because of her impending departure. The past two weeks had made me forget of her first impression, apparently. I thought I would hold a grudge longer. Maybe it was the pretty face, or intelligence.

"Good, you've been distracting my studies everyday." I teased her.

Her eyebrows rose and I expected a witty comeback. Then her eyes lowered to my bare torso. "I'm distracting?" Ariella teased back.

This was how it had been ever since the meeting with her and Calcelmo, that day in the library. Her elitist attitude disappeared entirely, and she even talked to servants better. I thought it was because she felt bad for judging me based on my inheritance, and looks.

I sobered up from our teasing. "I'll have to come visit you." I told her, mainly to ease my own disappointment.

"You'll never get the chance." Ariella shot down. "You'll be too busy cleaning this mess."

"Then you'll have to visit me." I countered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

She laughed again. "I'll be too busy cleaning that mess." Ariella countered.

I frowned. "So this is it? After this, our meetings will be circumstantial?" I asked.

"I wouldn't say that. I have a feeling we will see each other again, soon." Ariella said while reaching her hand to me, palm up waiting on something.

I reached my hand out for a handshake. "No, you brute. Your sword, give it here." Ariella corrected me.

I frowned and did as she asked, handing it to her hilt first. I felt her summon her magick and feed it into the blade. The same runes as before appeared along the length of the blade. Without warning, her magick flexed again and twisted before enveloping the sword. The whole process took about twenty seconds.

Then she twirled the blade with surprising efficiency, before offering back to me. I grabbed it and fed it my own magick before inspecting it.

The whole design of the runes had changed. Along the middle ran at least three times the amount of runes. And she added more along the edges. It was obviously a masterful display of enchanting.

"There, now you might have one of the top ten most valuable steel swords on the continent." Ariella bragged and I thought she would flip her hair for a moment.

Steam rose from the blade, and the air distorted around it, as the enchantments kicked in with my magick.

"This is too great of a gift, Ariella." I said.

"Stay alive, Hadvar. You'll need all the help you can get." Ariella said before turning around.

"Till we meet again."

*********************************************************************************************************

I found my legate in the mess hall, after asking around for a moment trying to locate him. I walked up to him, without getting a plate of my own even though my stomach growled at me.

"Sir." I said, getting his attention.

He looked up, and his eyes lit up in recognition. He took one last bite before standing up and walking off.

"Follow me."

I obeyed and walked behind him. He led me through the halls of the barracks for a moment and didn't speak until no one was around us.

"You are a good soldier Quaestor, but you are drawing a lot of attention to yourself." The legate, whose name I still didn't know, said.

"I'm not trying to sir, just doing my duty." I retorted quickly.

"That is half the problem around here. I'm not telling you to stop, just to be careful. Captain's asked to speak to you." The legate said.

That's when I began to recognize where he was taking me. I mentally prepared myself for the coming confrontation. We reached the hall that would lead me to the captain's office and the legate stopped suddenly.

He leaned into my ear. "You're not the only one who wants things to change around here. Tonight, behind the shrine of Talos."

And then the legate was gone, almost running down the halls. I shook my head and focused on the task at hand.

I approached the door I knew was the captain's office and knocked. I waited for a moment.

"Come in." I heard the captain's voice say from inside.

I obeyed, and entered the room. The captain was alone, once again. He kept the same tactic as last time, and kept writing on the piece of paper before lifting his head to address me.

"You've been busy." The captain said. He leaned back in his chair staring at me intently.

A part of me was surprised at the declaration. The past week, since the incident with Margret, had been fairly quiet in town. Sure, him and his men had been stopping more and more thefts and muggings in town, but nothing besides that.

"I'm not sure what you mean, Captain." I told him truthfully.

"You think your actions in the training yard every morning wouldn't draw notice?" The captain said.

"Just doing my duty." I answered.

"Of course." The way the captain said those words made his blood boil. He was so condescending. It made me remember the young dark elf sitting on his lap that day in the Silver-Blood Inn. "Our Jarl is happy with our latest success in his city, and has finally awarded me with some respect."

I tried not to let the anger that increased show. He's getting credit for my hard work. I realized.

"Oh don't look so angry at it. It's the nature of these things, you know. I get the credit for everything, good and bad. It's not all it's made out to be." The captain said, seeing my look of rage.

"Plus I did make the decision to put you and your men in the marketplace, where you would be most effective." The piece of shit continued.

'Yes, the only relatively intelligent thing you've done.' I thought to myself.

"Don't let it be said that I won't honor hard work, soldier. As of this moment, you are Praefect, for your actions in getting the men where we need them." The captain said.

'At least I'm getting something.' I thought a little relieved. The captain wasn't a complete dick head at least. 'Even if he'll get even more credit, now that I have more power and control.'

It wasn't that much of a promotion truly. It just meant that I was the official 'head' guard while on patrols. I was already the unofficial 'head' guard, because of the respect the men had for me. Maybe this would cause even more men to show up in the mornings. Close to fifty men wasn't that great when the city boasted a little over a thousand guards. Although most of those patrolled the nobles in the mountain.

"Thank you sir." I told the man, not completely lying.

"Two promotions in two weeks is an accomplishment you should be proud of. Keep it up and you can make Legate in short time." The captain said.

'Legate isn't good enough. That will be my seat soon.' My ambition reared its head in my mind.

"That's all, soldier."

I walked out, proud of the promotion, and a little pissed off too.

*********************************************************************************************************

I grew up a firm believer that Talos had indeed achieved divinity as one of the Aedra. Nords embraced him as their chief god, over Akatosh.

Now, I wasn't sure. I knew that, according to the games, the gods existed. It was the reason I stayed completely out of the conjuration section in the library. The name itself was misleading.

Conjuration didn't conjure anything. It summoned things from the other dimensions. Dimensions that the Daedra ruled over. I refused to draw the gaze of spirits so powerful they were considered gods. No, I would stick to other ways to become powerful. Similar to how Talos did during his campaign of uniting the continent under one banner.

Although where his focus was the Thu'um, mine would be magic. His ambitions spanned the continent. Mine were focused on my homeland, my people. Skyrim was my only focus right now. If that changed in the future then I would cross that bridge when I reached it.

All of these thoughts ran through my head as I looked up at the Talos shrine in Markarth. It was a massive thing, nearly identical to the one in Whiterun. It was obviously the same sculptor.

There was nobody around, I was the only one here. Very few people openly worshipped him anymore because of the Thalmor's looming presence. That didn't stop brave nords from visiting the shrine daily, however.

The sun had set some time ago and I was getting tired of waiting, it had cut into my study time. That didn't stop me from practicing completely, if the rocks floating around my hand was any indication. Telekinesis kept four rotating around my hand, in a particular pattern. It was a fantastic control exercise. One of the best in fact.

When I wasn't practicing meditation, I had floating rocks around my person. I still hadn't found an excuse to start lifting really heavy things with my magic.

'It's too bad that weight is directly proportional to the amount of magicka used.' I thought, remembering the warnings the alteration book had given.

Telekinesis was apparently something that applied to more areas of magic than just alteration. It makes sense, considering you needed to propel your elemental attacks towards your enemy. It also worked into the basics of wards, which was apparently a part of alteration, and not restoration as it had been in the games.

This was another thing that made sense to me, when I thought about it. Restoration is purely based on healing. Alteration was geared towards defense, considering all of the armor spells that made up the genre of magick. That meant that wards belonged to this school of magick also.

Illusion was kind of a catch all for the sneakier arts. Such as emotion manipulation, like calm. Or muffle, which was sound based magick. I quickly learned that the game was not a reliable source of information for magick.

When I started looking at magic from a different perspective, I realized how powerful one's defense could become, when combining the concepts of say dragonflesh to a ward? It would protect you from all forms of damage, physical and magickal. This shouldn't have been an epiphany, unless your thinking was defined by a video game.

Now that the world was real, the magick seemed more and more broken. Talos only knows how bad the Thu'um really is. I wasn't ready for any bombs on that one yet.

'Pretty sure the time limit on a Thu'um isn't a thing. Why would it be?' I considered, horrified by the idea.

Ulfric Stormcloak is going to be a monster, a monster I am on the direct opposite side of. Thank Talos he wasn't the Dragonborn, that would be a nightmare.

I was interrupted by footsteps approaching and my hand dropped to my sword. My concentration on the telekinesis left and the rocks fell to the ground at my feet.

My legate's form was easy to distinguish, he was accompanied by a familiar looking nord. I racked my brain trying to remember where I had seen him before. His warpaint looked familiar.

"Congratulations on your promotion." The legate said, pointing to my new stripes on my uniform.

"Who's your friend?" I asked my superior officer, getting to the point. Neither was on duty, and he called me here.

In the two weeks that I had been in the world. I learned that while the Imperial legion was modeled after the Roman legion, no one took it nearly as seriously as the Romans had in my previous life. It was the reason people would obey me, even though they outranked me. Nordic culture mixed with it also, throwing it into some odd thing where people respected you based on a number of things. The most important being merit, what a fucking weird concept.

'If only I could figure out the reason the Captain got his position, I might be able to take it quicker.'

"This is Eltrys, a friend of mine. He works at the smelter." The legate said and I remembered where I had met the man. He was the same man I mistook for a blacksmith, on my 'first' day in this world. 'He called me a milk-drinker.'

"And my name is Thros." My legate, now Thros, said.

"Hadvar." I responded nodding to both of them. "Why have you called me here?"

Eltrys stepped up this time. "You're the one who saved Margret from Weylin. And the one who stopped those cultists in the hall of the dead?"

I nodded. "Yes, right place, right time."

"Or fate." Eltrys corrected.

I wanted to deny him, but even I knew it was a big coincidence. "Talos has blessed you." Thros said. "I've seen the way you lead the men. It won't be long until you make legate."

That was the second time the same day that the title had been dangled in front of me. Why?

"That doesn't tell me why I'm here." I persisted.

"Yes, yes. We need you to investigate something for us." Thros said. "Weylin was killed in his cell the other night, before giving any information up."

I knew the information of course. I was keeping up with the progress of the investigation. It had led to me visiting Margret for the second time, and had nothing to do with the reward I didn't mind collecting. I had a hard time staying away from the inn nowadays.

"Yes, I know. You need me to investigate where he lived?" I asked, remembering the quest line from the games. Go to the Warren's, find his notebook that gives zero information. Upon leaving, I'd have to fight a mercenary sent to kill me, by Nepos the Nose.

"Precisely, I told you he was the one." Thros said turning to Eltrys.

I, of course, had no intention of actually doing it. I knew the answers that would be found there.

"I'll meet with you tomorrow. Same time and place." I told both of them while walking away. I was hoping that the forsworn conspiracy didn't exist in this Markarth. I was wrong, and I need to plan.

There was a way that I could use this to my advantage, I just had to find it.

*********************************************************************************************************

A/N: Shorter chapter this week, mainly because any of the next scenes would be way too long to include in this chapter.

Ariella is moving on, with Ancano to the College of Winterhold. And they have found Saarthal and the Eye of Magnus. I wonder what this means for the story, brownie points for whoever figures it out. Hint: It's a fucking massive reveal.

The forsworn conspiracy has been revealed to be a serious thing, and Hadvar refuses to have it go like the games. Now he just has to change it to suit his needs.

How could he do that? I already know, of course. But I'm curious what you all think could happen.

Let's talk in the reviews!