Lost Legends

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"It can't keep going on like this!" A young woman's voice gasped as two figures dove over a snow drift to avoid detection by passing guards. "We have been fighting for so long that no one even cares anymore!" She added, running her fingers through blue black hair that had already become brittle with the cold.
"Of course they remember, Dex." The young woman's companion replied in an annoyed whisper. "We fight for freedom from the imperial invaders who seek to make us bow down to them!"
The woman who had just been referred to as Dex rolled her grey eyes. "What does it matter who sits on the throne as high emperor? Either way, we're still left down here in the dirt." She added, poking her head up to see if the coast was clear. "The rebellion is just pushing back the tide, sooner or later the imperials will find us all, and execute us as promised."

"My men are capable." Ulfric replied, already unpacking the deer hide tent from his horse. "However, it would not do for my queen to arrive the hold exhausted, now would it?" He told her with a warm smile.

Dex had reached up, her fingers linking with Draco's even as she pinned them by his head, her lips teasing further kisses from his own. The young woman was by no means inexperienced, but at the same time, she was no whore.

Poppy set about helping him, offering him an almost worried smile. She proved efficient at setting things right and soon had a rationed dinner bubbling in a pot over the fire for them. "Are your men going to worry that you're alone?" She asked as she stirred the dish.

"Oh no." Draco growled, suddenly pushing Dex away from him and getting to his feet. "I'm not going to let you get the better of me again, girl. Go on with you. You've served your purpose."

"I'm not alone." Ulfric replied cheerfully as he leaned over the pot to smell what was cooking. "You know... If word gets out that you make rations smell this good... I may have to lock you away, for your own safety." The Jarl teased.

They was a look of quite obvious hurt in Dex's moonlight coloured eyes as she picked herself up from where Draco had tossed her. She had been a fool, and this was the price to pay for it. Turning her face from Draco, lest he see how deeply he had wounded her, Dex did her best to pull on her pants, then cover herself with her torn shirt. "I hope they flay you alive!" She practically screamed before she fled his sight.

Poppy laughed, offering him a bite once she'd blown on the spoon to cool it off. "You think this is good, you should taste my mead. I had marriage proposals lined up around the village because of it."

Draco returned to his dragon form, watching Dex escape him for as long as he could see her. He'd had no choice. He was letting his guard down and it was far too dangerous.

"I see... Then I shall have to be having words with then men..." Ulfric teased, pausing to taste the food Poppy had prepared. "My, my... I can see I really am going to have to lock you away!" He added witha hearty laugh.

Once she was certain she had out enough distance between them, Dex screamed at the forest around her, unintentionally destroying several trees with the power of her shout. That done, she sank to her knees and buried her face in her hands.

Poppy wrinkled her nose at this, a bright blush coloring her cheeks. "It's just rations, my Jarl. I'm sure you've had a meal fit for a king."

Draco sighed deeply, watching her destroy the edge of a forest. He shouldn't have gotten involved with her. He should have killed her the moment he discovered she could speak his tongue.

"You would think so, wouldn't you?" Ulfric chuckled. "But between you and me... I'm too scared of my cook to fire her! Have you ever seen an angry Orc? No thank you!"

Dex's eyes were dark as she rose back to her feet, her resolve settled. Riften could wait, for now she would stick to the threat she had made when she first met Draco; she was going to contact the Dark Brotherhood. She wanted this man to suffer like no other ever had.

"I've never seen an Orc at all!" Poppy proclaimed. "Tell me what they look like. Are they really as mean as my father said?" While she spoke she prepared him a plate, holding it out like an offering.

Draco returned to sleeping, Dex's warning forgotten as he returned to his dreams of the taste of her skin.

Ulfric took the plate and pulled his bride into his lap with his free hand. "Oh yes, frightfully mean... And always claiming it is some sort of holy day of their daedric god." He replied with a grin, an arm around Poppy's waist as he ate his food.

Dex had been spurned only once before, and back then she had promised never again . But this time was different. This time Draco really had played her for the fool. She felt a perfect idiot for falling for the way he had looked at her with those golden eyes. When she felt her resolve begin to waver, that was when she killed her sacrifice, and began the chant that would bring an assassin of the dark brotherhood right to her.

Poppy laughed softly at this. "At least they are allowed to freely worship their god." She finished with a sigh, resting her head against Ulfric's shoulder. "It is so unkind...the high emperor...I don't blame you for what you intend to do."

Dex didn't have to wait long for a response. In moments a tall light haired man appeared before her, dressed all in black. "I have come to answer your summons." He said simply, looking down at her with eyes that were an unnatural green.

"He is high emperor in name only, he is in truth no more than the imperials lapdog." Ulfric replied, kissing the top of Poppy's head lightly. "The Nord people are no better than slaves with things the way they are now."

Dex got back to her own feet, blood still staining her hands as she looked the assassin over. "The man I want you to kill... I want you to humiliate him! He has to suffer long before he is dead!" She declared. "As for payment... Name your price. I can get anything."

"I worry that with all the executions the Imperials have been carrying out lately, there will not be enough of us left to fight." Poppy confessed. "You should have seen it, yesterday. Even women and children."

The assassin nodded, almost smiling as he listened to her words. "I think ten thousand gold coins shall cover it." He said evenly. "Half now and half when I am finished."

Ulfric nodded, as though he had been expecting this. "Anyone can be a rebel, and so they treat us all the same." He replied sadly. "They need to realise, the only reason there is a rebellion, is because they are invading somewhere they do not belong."

"Despite what you may think, I am not an idiot." Dex replied firmly. "You will get your payment when the job is done, when Draco's head is at my feet!"

It was Poppy's turn to nod and though she didn't really mean to, yawn. She tried to hide it behind her hand but it did little good. It had been a long hard day or riding, not to mention leaving the only home she knew behind.

"Half now." The light haired man said, his teeth clenched in an angry sneer. "Half later. We will not be negotiating this."

Ulfric gently lifted Poppy into his arms as he rose to his feet. He was feeling the fatigue too. "It is a rather small tent..." He began, still mindful of her feelings. "I know we are married, but... If you are not ready, we do not have to share a bed just yet."

"Then there will be no contract." Dex replied stubbornly, even folding her arms across her ample chest in defiance.

"Where are you going to sleep? In the cold? I don't think so." Poppy said firmly, shivering as she heard a wolf's howl. It was closer than she would have liked. "Besides, we need one another's body heat."

"Perhaps another deal can be made?" The male asked, making it no secret what he wanted from her.

Ulfric chuckled softly, still holding Poppy as he climbed inside the dark looking tent. "No hogging the covers, okay?" He teased.

Dex saw it in his eyes what this man wanted, and she was jaded enough not the be surprised by it. "If that is what you want, then there will be no gold." She warned him, taking a step closer.

"I'm not going to promise anything." Poppy whispered, yawning again. As she fell asleep she found herself wondering why for the second night her new husband didn't want to touch her.

"You're not worth that much gold." The man snorted. "Don't think so highly of yourself. Otherwise, why would you want another man dead?"

Ulfric remained close to Poppy, wanting to keep her warm as she slumbered. His arms hugged around her, longing for more than a brief touch. He had no idea what Poppy was thinking as she fell asleep, his really did think she was afraid of him hurting her.

Dex smiled at this and began circling around the assassin. "The dark brotherhood... Not many people even believe you exist anymore, I would say that anything you can get... It something to be thankful for." She purred.

Poppy was somehow awake before Ulfric the next morning and she found herself staring at him while he slept. Her fingers traced the scars of his face before she could convince herself not to. He'd been through so much and he still had so much to accomplish. It was no wonder he'd looked so tired since the moment she'd met him.

"You believe." The man hissed, showing his teeth. It was clear that he was no more human than Draco had been. "Otherwise I would not be here."

Ulfric didn't usually sleep this soundly. In fact, it had been many years since he had even dreamed, always only half resting, afraid someone would come for him as he slumbered. Yet, lying here with his new bride, somehow he had finally found peace.

"Of course, if the brotherhood had any kind of power any more... You would not be begging for me to mate with you as part of your payment." Dex replied, her golfed fingers tracing over the dark armour that the assassin wore. "I have a proposition for you..."

"Jarl Ulfric!" Poppy had been about to lean over her new husband and steal a kiss when a shout erupted from outside the tent. Instead of kissing him, she tumbled on top of him. To her horror, Ulfric's right hand man found her straddling him when he pushed back the hide of the tent door.

"I like the sound of that." The man purred, his strange eyes never leaving her face.

There was an obviously puzzled expression on Ulfric's face when he woke to find his wife straddling him, and his right hand man watching her.

"Make me a part of the brotherhood." Dex breathed, her slender body pressed up against the assassins as she looked up into his face. "Initiate me... And I could pop you like a bottle of black-Briar mead. You would be begging me for respite before I was done with you."

Poppy was humiliated to say the least. She moved away from Ulfric as if he'd been set on fire and escaped from the other side of the tent, making herself scarce.
Galmar simply stared at his Jarl, his face red with embarrassment.

"That sounds like a tempting offer." The man purred. "But can you keep your word to please me? I am not sure you can offer me a wild night."

Ulfric sighed heavily as he sat himself up. "I hope this was worth barging in for." He muttered, running his fingers through his shaggy blond hair. "As I fear she will never speak to me again now."

"Trust me when I say... You will never forget it." Dex breathed, pressing her lips to his, to seal the deal so to speak. He would find that he had indeed never been kissed with quite the searing hunger Dex demonstrated right then, as the slender woman was thinking of the first time Draco had stolen a kiss from her lips.

"Who needs a wife to speak?" Galmar muttered, pushing his way into the tent and sitting down without an invitation. "The dragon has been spotted in the graveyard. But there's a problem...he ate the sacrifices before we could get them set up. Several of the men are dead or injured. Do I even need to mention the fire?"

"You have a deal." The man breathed once Dex had pulled away from him. He was barely able to even stand on his own two feet.

"But... That would mean he knew you were coming." Ulfric replied. "How is that even possible? What about the passenger he had taken to the burial ground? Did you find them? Or, should that be, did you find their remains?"

Dex smiled slightly to herself as she saw how breathless she had left the assassin. "Well then... The sooner I am initiated, the sooner I can uphold my end of the deal." She remarked, a finger tracing over her full lower lip.

"We found a ripped tunic and a handful of black hair." Galmar told his Jarl. "But nothing more than that. I assume that he feasted on whatever he brought back with him. There's no other explanation for it."

"And...uh...how would you like to be...you know..." The man breathed, his thoughts leaving him completely.

Ulfricmwas inclined to agree, however... "Ehy would the dragon carry it's food back with it? And why just one person?" He pondered out loud.

Dex was resisting the urge to burst out laughing when she saw the mess this assassin had become. "Teach me how to kill!" She declared.

"Snack?" Galmar asked sheepishly, not sure what else to say. Ulfric was right. The dragon didn't show a preference when it came to the Stormcloak army. Why would he do it with anything else. "Maybe a woman? Mating purposes?"

The man looked stupidly at thee body that was laying on the ground. "It seems you've done a great job of that without my help." He muttered.