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."

Ulfric's large fingers closed around Poppy's tiny digits, and continued to hold her hand as he glanced around for a cloak to keep the chill from her supple skin. "You are right, the rebellion is important. The Imperials have grown too fond of simply invading a country and expecting its people to bow down before them. If we stand up, maybe other countries will too."

One of the dark feathers floated down and landed upon Dex's lips, allowing it's scent to drift up into her nose. Carefully the young woman took hold of the feather and lifted it into her line of sight. She was frowning as she looked at it, unable to understand why that scent was just like that of the man from the mead hall.

"It bothers me that so many must die for this cause." Poppy confessed, moving with him toward the closet where the heaviest of cloaks were kept. "There have been so many already. So many even today. My village has no idea. They believe themselves to be raising a queen and nothing else matters. Either that or they are simply cowards."

The crow shifted its weight and began to squawk louder than before. In an instant he was up in the air and wheeling away from her, sending the ribs showering down around her.

"The imperials wish to change everything the Nord way of life is." Ulfric replied, helping Poppy put her cloak on. "They have already made it law that worship of Talos is a punishable offense. What next?"

Dex was cursing under her breath as she crawled out of the debris. It was only as she was crawling that the pain in her abdomen reminded her that she had been injured the previous night. As she pulled herself free, some of the stitches split open, allowing some blood to seep free.

"That explains the priestess at the beginning." Poppy sighed deeply. "I hate being so weak. If I were half the fighter Dex is...I may have been able to fight back. I'm sorry for dragging your name into things."

The crow disappeared and moments later the dark haired man returned. "Dex, you shouldn't be pushing yourself so soon." He whispered, kneeling beside her. "You're not healed yet."

"Poppy, look at me." Ulfric breathed, turning her to face him and resting both his hands lightly on her slender shoulders. "Never wish to be like that woman, not even a little." He breathed. "She is trouble... And one look would tell anyone that she is not the Nord she claims to be. Everything about her reeks of the imperials."

"Don't touch me..." Dex attempted to swat her saviour away with one hand, while the other was pressed to the wound in her abdomen. "I can take care of myself..." Her voice wavered slightly as she spoke those words. That's seemed to be all she had ever done her entire life; taken care of herself. There had never been anyone else.

Poppy nodded at this. "I agree and that bothers me." She admitted. "She seemed off. That worries me too."

"Indeed. That's why you were nearly killed by Stormcloak a few days ago." The man chuckled, moving closer to her without seeming to care if she was going to try and attack him again.

"Off? How?" Ulfric asked, opening the door for Poppy. "She is a thief and a liar, you shouldn't trust a word she says."

"I was not!" Dex protested firmly. "How would you know anyway?"

"She saved my life." Poppy said quietly, tilting her head back as they exited to the courtyard. The snows from Windhelm had come early to the valley this year. She was glad of it. "What's the land of ice like?" She asked him after a long moment. "Is your village as beautiful as mine?"

The man held up his hand. "You stabbed me, Miss. Don't you remember?" He asked her, his lips turned into a smirk.

"More so." Ulfric replied, though he was watching Poppy, not the snow. "Much larger, with many people. We are one of the few towns who openly trade with the Kajit, so there are always new things to see."

Dex looked at the wound on his hand, then scowled. "You took liberties with me!" She shot back. "And besides... What happened in that village... It wasn't Stormcloak's doing, it was mine."

"Really?" Poppy stopped looking at the sky and turned her eyes on him, her full lips curving into a smile. "Oh that would be wonderful. I couldn't imagine seeing something new every day."

"You were the one trying to kiss me." The man said thinly. "And that makes it worse. Don't you know how to control your own spells?"

Ulfric chuckled quietly, his fingers brushing Poppy's smooth cheek as he continued to watch her. "Then my first promise, would be to make sure you saw something new every day." He told his bride. "Would that make marrying me a little more bearable?"

"It wasn't a spell. It was..." Dex stopped herself there. Telling someone what she truly was had never gone well, and so she had stopped trying. "Anyway, if I were the one going around kissing strangers, why would I then give them my favourite dagger?" She huffed.

"Your majesty, it's not that I'm having a problem with marrying you..." Poppy whispered. "I'm just...you see...I'm afraid."

"This old thing?" The man asked, pulling her precious blade from his belt and tossing it at her. "Hardly worth the loss."

"Of me?" Ulfric asked, genuine worry over this in his deep blue eyes. "Child... I would never hurt you, or ask anything from you that you did not want to give."

Dex reached out to snatch the dagger as it flew through the air, though in the process a few more of her switches tore open. "No, I think you were not worth the bother of getting it dirty!" She shot back defensively.

"How long have they postponed this wedding for?" Poppy asked after a long moment, not sure how to respond to his question. "And...what will become of you when it's over?"

"My name is Draco." He told her, brushing the long black hair from his eyes so that she could see their golden hue.

"What will become of me?" Ulfric asked with a confused expression. "What becomes of any Jarl when he takes his queen?"

"You!" Dex hissed, her own grey eyes filling with rage. "You are the reason I was seconds from being executed!"

"He returns to his stronghold to fight his battles alone." Poppy whispered, thinking this to be true. She truly believed that he would marry her and leave her in her village as if nothing had ever happened. After all, it was a political move and everyone knew it.

Draco raised an eyebrow, rather amused at this. "You were in one on the wagon, my dear. Not the other way around." He chuckled. "Besides, you were trying to use your friend to distract and attack me. I just got to you first."

"Not every battle is fought with swords." Ulfric breathed, gently tilting Poppy's chin up so she was forced to look at him. "As my queen, you would need to rule in my absence, you would have true power."

"My friend? You mean the coward who ran screaming when he heard you speaking the dragon language?" Dex replied, making no comment on the fact that she too had been speaking it.

"Tell me you're not that crazy." Poppy laughed ruefully. "You've seen how air headed I am. Right? I couldn't rule even a section of a kingdom..."

"I was speaking nothing of the sort." Draco snorted. "You and your friend were drunk on mead before you ever arrived at the chopping block."

"Everyone has the ability to learn." Ulfric told her with a smile. "You are still young, you have much you have yet to learn." He added, taking her hand and brushing his lips lightly across the back of it.

Dex's eyes were practically blazing now with the insinuation that she was nothing more than a confused drunk. "I swear to Talos... If I thought the Dark Brotherhood would even hear me... I would beg for them to come and kill you right now!" She hissed, clutching her dagger tightly with one hand, while the other held her abdomen as she did her best to stomp away.

"You know my mother is back in the cottage preparing for the wedding. She is as eager to be rid of me as you are to go back home." Poppy said matter of factly, pointing back toward the house so that he wouldn't see her blushing.

"Oh please." Draco snorted, rolling his eyes. "The Brotherhood of whatever doesn't scare me. They do nothing but talk and make childish plans. Can you not kill me yourself? Are you too weak for even that?"

"And what about you? What do you want?" Ulfric asked, still holding Poppy's hand.

Dex paused in her escape, thugh didn't turn around. "I don't kill, not unless my life depends on it." She replied, staring down at her fingers as she pulled them away from her wound; they were covered in her blood.

"To get the hell out of this village." Poppy answered rather honestly, surprising herself. She gave Ulfric a sheepish smile. "Sorry, your highness..."

"Are you going to let me take care of that wound for you, before it gets infected?" Draco asked, watching her back. "I can smell the blood from here and trust me, thief. That's not a good thing."

Ulfric laughed, glad of her honesty. "Don't appologise, little one. Very few people are so openly honest with me." He confessed. "They are too concerned with escaping my supposed wrath."

"What do you care if it gets infected?" Dex asked, closing her eyes as she fought the urge to scratch at the wound.

"Oh I've heard of that." Poppy nodded, unable to hide her grin. His good natured laugh surprised her almost as much as her outburst had. "They say that Talos would cower in fear from it."

"You won't taste as good if you aren't well." Draco said, using the ancient language before he'd given it a second thought.

"Perhaps I am Talos?" Ulfric teased. "Taking human form, so I may enjoy the more... Physical pleasures?"

"You wish to eat me, Dragon?" Dex asked, calling him dragon simply to see what his reaction would be.

"Don't get me started on those." Poppy laughed, rolling her eyes. "My mother has told me all about the rumors of what you like women to do for you. Unfortunately, I have no idea what she's talking about."

The golden eyes flashed as if he truly enjoyed her calling him by his true class. "My, you are smarter than you look." He purred.

"They weren't rumours." Ulfric replied. "But then again, those women were not my wife, either." He added, hoping to ease any fears Poppy may have had.

Dex took a step back towards Draco, finally understanding a little of what this attraction was that she had towards him. "I'm Dragonborn, my purpose is keep you from taking the lives of the people of Skyrim." She stated.

"At least you're honest." Poppy said softly. "This is a political move on both ends, your highness. I don't expect to be treated as if I am a priceless jewel. I know what my place in all of this is, Ulfric."

"Is that why you understand me when so many of your kind do not?" Draco snorted. "What a pity it will be to kill you when you seem to be the only one who understands me."

"Do you now?" Ulfric asked with a sift smirk. "And what if I said your place was to lead my army while I assassinate the high emperor?"

"You can try." Dex replied bravely, though she knew in her current condition that it would not take much to fell her. "You won't be the first to want me dead, simply for being who I am."

Poppy laughed at this, unable to help herself. "My that would be a clever use for a bride." She said softly, turning to head back toward the cottage. "Especially one you're trying to get rid of."

"It is not in my best interest to kill you now." Draco told her, as if that would make things better. "Let me tend to that wound and you can rest. We can call a short lived truce..."