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."

For obvious reasons, Ulfric hadn't understood what Draco had said before he suddenly wore that wicked grin. "You can try." Ulfric challenged. "I could make life rather difficult for you... Or I can give you everything you desire, aside from freedom, of course."

Dex hissed something at Poppy in the dragontongue and snatched her arm away. "Don't you touch me!" She hissed, her grey eyes wild. "I won't stay here, simply to be the pet of a pampered little princess!"

"Then you have nothing I want." Draco murmured, turning his back on Ulfric. "You cannot stop me. When I regain my strength, I will lay waste to this hold and you with it."

"There's no need to insult me!" Poppy cried. "I am just trying to help you. I am not the one who hurt you, Dex. There's no need to treat me like I am!"

"Then I should end your life now." Ulfric replied coolly. "No use putting the lives of my people at risk." He added. "You are not as strong as you think, dragon. I may have injured your eye, but someone else did that." He continued, pointing to Draco's wounded hand.

"You keep me here against my will, there is every need!" Dex hissed. "I do not need your help! Your Jarl's man should never have brought me here!"

"I'm stronger than you think, Ulfric Stormcloak." Draco snarled, baring his teeth at the other man. "Test me and you shall regret it. You cannot be a high king if you are dead."

"He was trying to help you!" Poppy shouted back, losing her temper which was a rare occurrence indeed.

"No, but I can be the high kno who presented the dragon's head to his people." Ulfric replied, drawing his blade at last.

"I do not need help, I am not you!" Dex snarled, making a break for the door and bursting out into the hallway. Every part of her body screamed in protest to the pain, but she had to try.

Draco turned back at the sound of the steel leaving the sheath, his golden eyes glittering with challenge. "And I can be the one who feasts on the blood of your new bride." He purred.

Galmar was there to catch her, his strong arms wrapping around her before she got too far. "There now, girl. There's no sense in running here. You are safe. No one will hurt you here."

"You can try." Ulfric replied, his smile far from friendly. He finally realised what a mistake it was taking pity on this creature. "You have until sunset to make peace with whatever deity you creatures worship, then I shall take your head."

Dex's entire body grew tense as Glamar's arms wrapped around her. A moment later she began to tremble, desperately fighting back tears that threatened to spill. She could not cry, guild members did not cry, no matter how savage their treatment.

"Do as you wish." Draco snorted. "I am not afraid to die." He returned to his place on the cot, a slight shiver washing over him. "I don't know what you're expecting from me, human. I don't understand why you've kept me alive this long. I have nothing to offer you."

"There now." Galmar breathed, brushing heavy fingers through Dex's silken hair. "Let it out. I won't tell anyone. Not a single soul."

Ulfric smiled again and sheathed his blade as he placed a hand on the door. "While we were talking, my mages were probing your mind from the hallway. "We know who your mate is. You may not fear you death, but you fear her's." that was a lie, of course, but the Jarl needed something to crack this proud man.

Dex was young, by guild standards, and despite all her outward bravado, not prepared for the horrors she had witnessed these past few days. Finally she surrendered, sobbing brokenly as she buried her face against Galmar's chest.

"Your mages cannot read my thoughts. They don't speak my tongue." Draco chuckled. "She is the only one who could do that. And I don't believe she would help you."

Galmar held her tightly, odd to his nature he was pressing kisses into her hair. "All will be well, child. You will see."

Ulfric smiled even more. "then it is definitely the Dragonborn." He purred. "And I know her face. She is a thief, and thieves always slip up. It is a mere matter of time effort I snare your mate and make you watch as I rip her unnatural tongue out."

"I just want it to end!" Dex sobbed. "He cast me away! He pushed me to the brotherhood, he caused all of it!"
At the other end of the hallway light blue eyes burned with jealousy as one of the court women saw the much sought after Galmar pressing his lips to the dark hair of the supposed imperial spy.

Draco was on the other man in a moment, shoving him hard against the wall. "You will not touch her!" He snarled. "You will never lay a finger on her!"

"Let him go. Forget him." Galmar breathed, trying to comfort her. "He can't hurt you anymore."

"I will not need to. A sloppy thief like her, I imagine she is already rotting in a holds dungeon somewhere, one of her sticky little hands removed and nailed to the wall above her filthy cot." Ulfric sneered in Draco's face. "It sickens me that the Dragonborn gift was given to a vile imperial in the first pace!"

Dex wished she could do that. She couldn't say the words out loud, but... She loved Draco. She barely knew him... But even she knew the reason what he did hurt her so badly, was because of how deep her feelings ran. "You have mages here, don't you?" The small woman breathed at last. "They could take my memories..."

Draco had a handful of Ulfric's hair and slammed his head back against the wall. "Pray to your Talos that I do not get my hands on your wife. It will certainly not be a Nord that she gives birth to!"

"Is that what you want?" Galmar asked her, doing his best to get her to look up at him. "You want to forget?"

Ulfric pulled the dagger from his belt and jammed it between Draco's ribs. "Threaten that again, and I shall pass your Dragonborn around every one of my men until she is so bruised and useless, she will never bare you an heir at all!"

The face that looked up at Galmat was not the face that Draco had looked upon as he had made love to the young woman. Her full lower lip was painfully split, both her grey eyes were deeply bruised, one of them even being so bloodshot there was re red than white to it. There was also a rather prominent handshakes bruise on her already cut cheek where he captor had quite obviously slapped her with all his might. "Wouldn't you?" She whispered as a tear dripped off her chin.

Draco grunted in pain, his insides now on fire. "You will never find her." He snarled, blood sliding past his lips. "Unlike your queen...I can smell her all over you."

"If I forget where I came from, how will I ever know what I've overcome?" Galmar asked softly.

Ulfric trusted the dagger roughly, then jerked it out. "You underestimate me, and my queen, dragon. I will find your mate, and when I do, she will beg for death." The Jarl promised, blissfully unaware that Draco's mate had already begged for death many times that day.

"I can't expect a man to understand the pain I suffered, or how I remember it every it e I close my eyes." Dex whispered, Galmar's arms really the only thing keeping her on her feet now. The damage to her face wasn't the worst of it. Several broken ribs, more than a few broken fingers, knife wounds... And that was all before the deep bruising to her thighs had surfaced.

Draco waited until the Jarl had left to begin laughing wickedly. He'd gotten to the man whether he wanted to admit it or not. Who knew a woman could make a man so weak?

Galmar returned her to the bed where Poppy hovered over Dex, cleaning every visible wound and applying a healing balm to it. She did her best to remain quiet, hoping the other woman wouldn't yell at her again.

Dex put up no resistance this time. She seemed like little more than a rag doll where she lay in the bed, her desolate grey eyes simply staring at the wall. The troubled thief truly had given up hope. It was just as well she didn't speak, as Ulfric had returned to fetch his wife, and would have recognised her voice, if he didn't recognise her face.

Poppy smiled warmly at her husband as he was allowed into her bed chambers. Galmar was sleeping fitfully on the floor next to the bed and she was seated beside Dex, keeping a warm cloth over her face.
"Good afternoon, my Jarl." Poppy said cheerfully. "I hope you got everything taken care of?"

Ulfric grunted something that was rather incoherent. "Sleeping whilst on duty... Shameful." He remarked where he saw Glamar tossing and turning on the floor. "Has he been here the whole time?" He added, purposefully making no mention of what had happened with Draco.

Popp nodded. "I insisted that he take a nap. He was about to fall over anyway." She told him. "This one is still in a great deal of pain but I can't get a Mage to listen to me and help her." She gave a heavy sigh at this. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Ulfric nodded, but didn't elaborate. "This behaviour is most unlike Glamar, especially when we are at war." He commented, then turned his gaze back to his queen. "This is not your job, my love. I have maids and mages to do this for you. Come, let us eat."

"Your Mages aren't doing their job." Poppy muttered. "And neither are your maids. They've all ignored everything I've asked them for. I can't just leave her alone like this, Ulfric."

"Why not?" Ulfric asked, taking Poppy's slender hands and pulling her away from the bed, and her friend. "She wont be alone, Galmar will be here."

"Galmar is asleep, Ulfric." Poppy argued. "He'll be no help to her. And besides, I have healing balms to finish. It's not fair to leave her like this when your own people refuse to help."

"Then wake him up." Ulfric pouted. "I can call my people in here and make it an order that they take care of your pet."

"Ulfric..." Poppy sighed deeply, not sure why it was that she didn't trust his people. She shouldn't be this way. She was his queen after all. "Is it that important to you?" She asked softly.

Ulfric nodded. He needed to get poppy out of the keep, away from Draco until the Dragonborn was found. If only he knew the truth.

Poppy nodded, indicating that he could call a maid to help her. "Where are we going?" She asked, turning to hunt for a clean dress to change into.