Falkreath
Noon
Dead Man's Drink wouldn't usually be crowded this time of the day. Indeed, it would likely be almost empty. But when a city is housing over twice it's maximum capacity in civilians alone, few public places aren't going to be crowded. Least of all a tavern.
Jonus was sitting in the corner, watching the people mill about. He seemed even paler than usual, and wore a hollow expression on his face. His fifth mug of ale was in hand. Anybody there that day could tell that something bad had happened to him.
Jonus made sure no one was watching and slowly poured the ale into a wide crack between the wooden floor and the wall. This was the fifth and final time Jonus had done this. He couldn't afford to get drunk. Not now, when he needed wits wits about him most. But he did need to make it seem that he was.
He stood up and swayed a bit before "drunkenly" stumbling across the room and out the door and into the streets, still carrying his empty mug. He spotted a Necro Nord in a cloak down the street. The man turned and Jonus saw that it was in fact the Stormcloak General, Baldur Red-Snow. He was talking to a woman that Jonus assumed was the High Admiral. The one that he'd recently married.
Here goes nothing.
Jonus hesitated. Damn Kilvar! Had to go and get himself arrested! Had to put this on me!
Jonus's current plan was a radical one. And he was far more involved than he liked. But there was nobody else that could do it. That Stormcloak Captain, Boldir, somehow managed to catch Kilvar. And Kilvar knew things that could jeopardize everything. He almost knew as much as Malik. Jonus needed to get into the prison and insure that he wouldn't talk.
Jonus criss-crossed his way down the street. He was smart enough not to do anything to Red-Snow himself. Instead, Jonus chucked his empty mug at the head of a nearby soldier and shouted.
"You owesh may a farm Shtormcloak!"
"I had to let her go," Rebec was telling Baldur, referring to he elf Aglaren that she had been holding in prison for a few days, ever since Runil's assistant Kust said she had been lurking around watching them and asking suspicious questions about Runil. The Bosmer had then been caught by night sentries trying to sneak out the gate, after which Rebec had had her locked up.
"I was hoping we'd find something Thalmor in her belongings, but she obviously was a careful one. I assigned some of the redguard to watch her, though. I still don't trust... What's this?" Rebec turned around to see a drunk man shouting something about his farm. Instinctively her hand went to her axe.
Baldur turned around to watch the spectacle. He placed a hand in front of Rebec so that she wouldn't step forward.
"Hold it, lets just observe for a minute."
As the angry soldier turned, Jonus sprinted at him and kicked him in the shin. As the surprised soldier got his bearings, Jonus through a left punch right at his helmeted head.
Please don't hurt too bad. Please don't hurt too bad!
*Crack*
"AHHH!" Jonus reared back, clutching his left hand in the right. His knuckles were busted. And he was certain that he'd broken a couple fingers against the steel helmet. It was a solid punch though, and the impact had sent the Stormcloak to the ground.
Thats enough.
Jonus backed away from the downed man to avoid getting his legs hit. He fought back tears and threw out his arms towards the small gathering of soldiers near the General.
"Anyone elsh?!?"
Rebec pushed out around from Baldur, strode up purposefully to Jonus, and cuffed his ear with the flat of her axe to stun him. Grabbing his collar, she jerked him around and then laid a hard left hook on his jaw.
Baldur grimaced at the sound of the impact from Rebec's hit. He felt a little sorry for the man she just laid out. Rebec didn't seem like the type to hold back.
Damn...
"Well, no one can say I didn't try to hold her back. Throw 'em in a cell until he sobers up, someone."
***
Jonus's vision faded in and out as he could feel two men dragging him down a flight of stairs by his arms. "Uuuhhhng..."
Never again.
He shook his head and opened his eyes. Kodak stood before him, holding open a cell door with no expression on his face.
Good man.
"Stupid drunk! We'll see how you're doing in the morning."
He was thrown onto the floor face first and heard the door close and lock behind him. He rolled over and looked back at the entrance. He saw Kodak and the two soldiers filter out of the room without looking back.
"Boss?" Jonus heard the whisper of a voice he'd been dreading to hear. It was Kilvar. He turned to see his loyal friend and ally sitting behind him.
"This a part of the plan Boss?"
Jonus groaned and clapsed his broken fingers.
"Yeah Kilvar... It's all part of the plan."
"Thought so. Too much of a coincidence otherwise. That you're willing to take a beating like you seemed to, really shows that you're serious about all this. And even willing to do things yourself. I'm glad to be on your side... I haven't told them nothin' Boss. I swear.".
"I know you haven't yet Kilvar. But they'll come to you soon. They'll ask you questions. They may even threaten or torture you. I just need you to hold out for today. Just one day and the plans will be in order. Can you do that for me Kilvar?"
The red-haird Nord's face looked worried. But it suddenly flooded with bravery.
"Yes. I can for you Boss. I trust you."
Jonus groaned inwardly. This man's loyalty was ultimately going to make things more difficult.
***
Baldur followed Rebec to the prison shortly after the arrest to interrogate Kilvar. All Baldur knew was that someone on the inside was trying to sabotage them, and he had no idea why.
"You think it's Imperials? If so, why try to get me to come to some meeting if they're still trying to take the town? Doesn't make any sense."
"Who knows what the imperials are up to," Rebec grumbled. "I'm getting very tired of all these games." She didn't say it, but the stress of the past weeks was getting to her, and she felt like making an example. The civilians were scared, many of them were angry, but on most days it seemed like they didn't realize that this was actually a war and not something the Stormcloaks had set up purposely to inconvenience them. If they couldn't be grateful for the army's protection, they would at least learn to respect its authority.
"Bring out the saboteur!" she shouted at the guards as they reached the prison. It was loud enough so that everyone in the jail could hear.
Jonus, who was now sitting against the back wall beside some random sleeping prisoner, heard the Admiral's voice ring through the prison. He looked up at Kilvar, who met his gaze from across the cell. Jonus gave him a solemn nod. The man returned it. He didn't speak out loud, but he mouthed the words: "I'll be fine." Jonus, still clutching his injured hand, looked away and closed his eyes as Rebec and Baldur entered the room. It wouldn't do for them to know that he and Kilvar knew each other.
Baldur took a table and two chairs, and put them in the middle of the prison room for the prisoner to sit in. After setting the table up, he sat the prisoner down and had his hands bound behind the chair. He purposefully set this up so that the other prisoners could see. He too thought it time to set an example. Baldur sat across from the prisoner and began the interrogation with Rebec standing.
"Okay, lets start small. My name as you know is Baldur Red-Snow. This here is my wife, Rebec Red-Snow. What is your name?"
"Kilvar."
Like most other prisoners, Jonus had opened his eyes and looked up. He was surprised when he heard the resolve in his companion's voice. There was no fear in it at all.
Baldur smiled, putting on a facade of friendliness. Baldur didn't know it, but he was subconsciously adapting the Thalmor's methods of interrogating.
"Good, good. See? Not so bad is it? Now, as you know last night there was a raid on our supplies, and a group of men including yourself was seen running away from the burning tent containing a somewhat substantial amount of food for the town. Before we get to that, lets start with some basics. Are you an Imperial soldier? You seem tough enough to be one."
Jonus was as curious to hear Kilvar's answer as anyone else was. Kilvar was the only one of the three that had not worn a disguise last night, as they only had two and he was the fastest.
"Yes."
Baldur could tell he was lying. If he was a legionary, he wouldn't have told him that so easily. Not with the meeting that they wanted him to come to in the near future. This would surely make their plans of capturing him fail if that was their goal, as it would shatter any small amount of trust that they had built up. Which of course was none. And on top of that, Tullius would have no reason to poke around if they were still going to try and take the town. Baldur looked to Rebec and gave her a nod.
"I'm sorry, that was the wrong answer."
"Alright, Kilvar," Rebec said, looming over him. "You're obviously no legionnaire, and you don't look very smart, so you might not know about wartime justice. Let me fill you in. We're the law here now, and wartime rules are a little different than the usual milk drinker penalties handed out. A fine here, a slap on the wrist there. Not this time. Disrespect our soldiers like that other mead-swiller just did in the street, and we can lay your skin bare under the lash. You steal from the army, cause panic, that endangers everyone. And so you pay in blood and breath."
The admiral stopped, and her voice grew soft. She even sounded concerned. "Have you ever seen a man hanged, Kilvar?"
Kilvar shook his head. His voice remained strong, but there was now a slight dryness to it.
"No. I haven't."
"It's not pretty," Rebec replied, still keeping her voice sympathetic. "I much prefer tossing people into the Sea of Ghosts myself. The water is so cold it kills quickly, even Nords. But there's no ocean around here, so we'll have to hang you."
Pacing around him, Rebec came up behind him so he couldn't see her, only hear her voice. Her narration is slow, with pauses for effect. "A good hangman's knot can snap a person's neck instantly. But you see, I'm just not confident we've got any really good knot tiers here. Understand your dilemma? If you don't die on the first drop, it's going to take a while. You'll try to breathe, but you won't be able to. The rope will burn into your skin like it's on fire. You'll dangle there, helpless, and everyone will watch as you the [censored] and piss drip from your trousers. We won't cut you down right away, but once everyone's gotten a good look at you, you'll be in the ground and everything here will go on just like it was before. Even a knuckle-dragging sod-sniffer like you shouldn't end that way, don't you agree?"
There was a long pause before Kilvar answered. He spoke slowly, as if he had to force the words out.
"I don't suppose there's a way out of that now, is there?"
Jonus's eyebrow briefly raised. [censored]! He's gonna give.
Rebec glanced up at Baldur quickly, but kept on. From behind Kivar, she said, "We aren't unreasonable, but it's as I said. This kind of action endangers everyone, soldier and townfolk alike. You deserve to hang."
Baldur was rather disappointed but he didn't let it show. He was looking forward to see his wife rough up the prisoner a bit. He rather enjoyed playing good guard bad guard. His old self would have found it dishonorable, but his new self as a General knew sometimes honor just wasn't a commodity he could afford. Before as a captain, it wasn't as big a deal. Now...the fate of all of Skyrim rested on his shoulders. Baldur rationalized it by remembering that Stuhn, the god of ransom taught them the importance of taking prisoners of war. This was the reason you took them. To force them to give info. At first he thought that made him no better than Thalmor, but then he remembered all the demented things they'd do, and that they did it out of hate for their religion and the race of man. He was not like the Thalmor. Men like this in front of him were traitors. If he was wrong to enjoy hurting traitors, then he didn't care.
But of course the point is moot if he's just going to tell us what we want to know.
"Tell you what, you tell us who those men were running away and you don't lie about it, and I promise you won't hang. You deserve it, but you won't. You'll serve your time, and when the siege is over and done with...you can go."
Kilvar shifted nervously in his chair. For a second, Jonus was worried that Kilvar was going to turn around and look at him for answers. Thankfully, he didn't.
Come on Kilvar. It's like I told you. Just hold out for one day.
After an even longer pause than the last one, Kilvar gave his half-hearted reply.
"I-I don't want to betray my friends...
Jonus was worried now. The man didn't sound too convinced when he said it.
Baldur decided to try another tactic then having Rebec brutalize the man. He decided to go with his old style, which was scare tactics.
"Rebec, tie your rope up to that wooden beam above us, please. Stand on the table."
After Baldur said this, he got out of his chair so he wouldn't be in the way.
"I can understand your reservations, but you owe loyalty to your country, not your friends."
Rebec glanced once at Baldur, wondering if he was really going to do it. But she didn't hesitate to do as he asked. She believed what she said about such actions endangering everyone. They couldn't rely on the hope of the imperials doing what they said they were going to do, or succeeding at it. The fate of all Skyrim could rest on whether they held here at Falkreath.
She climbed up on the table and slung her rope over the beam, then began fashioning a hangman's knot. Now Kilvar could see her, and she deliberately let him see her struggle with the knot, cursing once. "Hard to get these right," she mumbled, hoping he would remember her account of how hanging could be a slow, agonizing death. When the noose was ready, she stepped back down and stood aside.
Baldur hoped that he wouldn't have to kill the man, but he prepared himself for the worst if he had to. He helped burn their food supplies, and that was a military attack. He couldn't have his enemies thinking his marriage made him soft. He had to do what he had to do. Baldur grabbed the man by his arm, and forced him up on the table. After they were up, he put the man's head through the noose, and jumped back down off the table. Afterwards, he put his foot to the edge and waited for the man's reply.
"Last chance. Who were the men that were seen running from the fire?"
Kilvar's eyes widened. He was now visibly frightened.
Jonus cursed inwardly. Damnit! Come on Kilvar, they're bluffing! Surely they'd make something like this public. He wanted to hollar out, but he knew he couldn't. So he just watched, hoping Kilvar would be brave enough to stand his ground.
Kilvar gulped and looked down at Baldur.
"The other Nord... His name was Stronlief."
Jonus sighed. It was the truth, and Stronlief was well known in Falkreath. He wouldn't be hard to find when he takes to the streets.
Baldur took his foot down and sighed with relief. Afterwards he nodded to Rebec so she'd take him down.
Well, that's one man. We'll get the rest from him after we grab this other nord.
Jonus felt a mixture of relief and frustration. On one hand, Malik was safe for now. And Stronlief knew Kilvar was arrested. He and Malik were both safe in different hideouts until Jonus's return. The problem was that Stronlief wasn't like Kilvar or Malik. He'd spill his guts to save his own life. He was useful, but now Jonus wouldn't be able to use him again. The risk of him being caught when going out would be too great.
Rebec sighed, too, but half out of disappointment. She had had it with all the games, inside and out of their forces. It was bad enough to have Thalmor and imperials slinking around, now there were Falkreath citizens doing the same. She stepped up and untied the knot, careful of the rope. That was the only solace- her favorite scaling rope wouldn't get this dung beetle's neck blood on it.
"Get down, you miserable coward," she said, jerking the man off the table by his tunic sleeve. "A few days of no rations ought to make you think about destroying food stores."
"Speaking of which, I need to address that issue with the townsfolk. I had to do that for a few days now. Have one of the men tell Boldir to organize the meeting for tonight in the street in front of the longhouse where that wooden platform was put up at. We'll have it when it turns dark." said Baldur.
***
Hours passed. At first, Jonus could hear many of the prisoners whispering to one another about Kilvar, who hasn't spoken to him since he was thrown back into the cell. As it got later, a guard brought some bread down for the prisoners. It wasn't much. Thanks to the heavier rationing, prisoners were getting very little food. As they lined up at the bars, Jonus made sure to stand beside Kilvar, who the guard intentionally skipped when handing out the small loaves. Jonus whispered in his ear.
"You did good."
He handed Kilvar his load of bread and went back to the corner of the cell and sat down. Kilvar didn't look at him, but walked over beside him and sat between Jonus and another man. Without looking over, he whispered to Jonus.
"Why are you in here Boss?"
"Assaulted a soldier."
"Why'd ya do that?"
"I needed to talk to you. Make sure you knew that if you could hold out today, everything would work out. It has. You'll be a hero, Kilvar."
"Why you though? Why not Malik? Or one of the others? Seems risky for you to be doing this."
"Malik just got out of prison. It's too risky to send him right back in. There's no telling when he'd be out. As for the others... I couldn't trust them with this job. How do you think most of them would've responded when you were about to hang? It had to be me."
Kilvar nodded. "I see. What else will ya need from me then Boss?"
"Nothing Kilvar. Leave the rest to me."
***
Jonus didn't move for several hours. He just sat in the corner, head against the wall. He didn't speak to anyone. As the day came to a close, and the prisoners began to fall asleep, he himself pretended to do the same. His eyes closed and his head leaned against the hard wall. He began to count the seconds. One... Two... Three... Four... All the way to sixty. Then he counted minutes. Again, all the way to sixty. Focusing on nothing else, Jonus counted the hours away in his head. Long enough that he knew it had to be well past midnight.
Finally, after four hours of counting, Jonus opened his eyes. As far as he could see, all the other prisoners around him were asleep. Including Kilvar, who slept along the back wall several yards from Jonus. Without making a sound, Jonus slowly rose to his knees and then to a crouch. He silently crept past the sleeping prisoners until he reached Kilvar. He reached down into his loin cloth and pulled out a small metal shiv.
Forgive me brother.
Jonus simultaneously covered Kilvar's mouth and plunged the shiv into his throat. The man's eyes shot open and his arms tried to jerk up. Jonus placed his knees on Kilvar's arms to prevent the attempts at flailing them from making noise. Jonus pushed the shiv harder, driving it deeper into his loyal friend's throat. He felt blood gurgle from his mouth, seeping through the fingers of Jonus's injured left hand. There was a wild look in Kilvar's eyes as they met Jonus's own. Unable to keep looking into them, Jonus looked away. After holding Kilvar still for several seconds, the Nord stopped trying to move and went limp. The whole ordeal was no louder than most of the snoring in the room.
Jonus carefully cleaned all the blood off of his hands onto Kilvar's shirt. He observed his own clothes and found that there was no blood on them. Leaving the shiv in his friend's neck, Jonus snuck back to his corner, getting back into the same position he'd been in all night and closed his eyes. He appeared the same as before, but his heart was now racing, and his hands were shaking. Jonus had never killed before. And this man had trusted him. He was a friend.
What have I done?! I killed him! No. No! I need to calm down! That was always the plan after all. He'd have caved under threat of death eventually. He'd have given Malik's name. Maybe even mine if he had to... I made the right choice. Yes. I made the right choice.
Jonus's mind began to ease. The shaking began to slow. He didn't know it. But as he drifted off to sleep, for real this time, the barest trace of a smile crept across his face.