Chapter 127 - Firemane (6) : Jullanar The Brave
"... Sigh! I have been imagining how this conversation we are about to have will go for the past sixteen years. Our child has finally grown up and came back to us. I think it is the time we dot the (i)s and cross the (t)s." Grandpa said and looked at me.
Woah! These are some fancy words old man, it is like that Arabic idiom we used to say when we want to make everything clear and end the confusion about something.
Well, I am listening.
"First, regarding the Assassin Girl..."
"Her name is Jullanar." I spoke in a cold tone.
It seems they wanted to take the conversation somewhere I won't be happy with.
The hall turned silent when I interrupted Grandfather. The situation was getting awkward but it was him who started talking about something he shouldn't talk about.
"Jonhild, this is important!" Aunt Skadi spoke.
"I know, she is important." I said.
"Boy, do you know her background? Do you know how many people she killed? Do you even know her real name?" Uncle Njord spoke in a deep tone.
Hmmm! He has a point. Still...
"Jull!" I spoke.
Jullanar whose expressions can't be seen removed her hood and stood up.
The girl with the pale grey skin, the brown eyes, and the black hair walked to the front of everyone and faced Uncle Njord. I didn't think she would have the courage to do so after what he did to her.
Last time these two met was in a prison cell in Castle Duar of Solitude. That time, Jullanar was left to die with her wounds.
I know that Firemanes got all overprotective and angry when my life was targeted so they questioned the only thing they could reach and Jull was the one.
She is now facing the most terrifying powerhouses in the Firemanes. Njord, the Cheif Captain of the Firemane Fleet. Skadi, the Cheif of the Firemane Trading business. Forseti, the Cheif on the Secret Force. Turmond, the Clan Head and the Warchief. Jenna, the First Lady of the clan and one of the strongest Mages in the Hidden Clans.
This girl of mine stood and faced all of them alone.
One thing I am sure of is that the place she is standing at is the last place anyone who has made a problem with the Firemanes would wish to stand at.
"My background is Jon Dare's follower and servant. Whatever he wishes my background would be then it is my background. If you are asking about the girl you met in the prison that time then I am happy to inform you that she died there. The one you are looking at is the one Jon Dare breathed soul into. Regarding how many I killed since the time I came to life is about one hundred and twenty-two living soul all in the name of Jon Dare, there are a couple of kills I did just for fun but it was all for a good reason. And my real name is Jullanar, I don't think any name I was called with before matters anymore. This is the name that Jon Dare gave me and the only name that brought me luck. With that name, I am free and can do whatever I want. Any questions left I can answer?" She just said in a cool manner and with a faint smile.
Well said, girl!
I looked at the people around and some of them already had their brows up while looking between Jullanar and me.
Skadi was the first to recover.
"What she said..."
"Is all true!" I said. "She is my one of my people. Someone I value and put my trust in. It is true that we only know each other for a year but in that year she was the closest person to me even though I mistreated her a bit in the beginning. She cooked my food, washed my clothes, healed my wounds, poured my mead, watched my back, and warmed my bed. In this world, the only people I would never doubt are Nurina, Wulfur, Jullanar, and Nefertiti." I said.
"Haha! This brat is good!" Jonrad said. "Who was Nefertiti again?"
"Meow!"
"Oh! Hey there!"
"Jonhild! From what I understand, there is no arguing with you about her." Grandpa said.
"Well, this is the first day we met each other and you are already trying to meddle in my business. I can understand your concern and I appreciate it but I guess we have already gone too far beyond the point where you get to decide something for me." I said.
The hall became silent once again.
"He is right!" Hilda said. "It is not our rule to decide anything for him. He has already grown up all these years on his own and we need to make peace that the child we left at Riften is now the leader of a business that controls one-ninth of Skyrim and went head-on against the Bloodsail on his own and sent them to the bottom of the sea."
"....." Hilda's words made them go silent.
"I also would like to add that he is born under the 'Serpent' stars so we don't really get to decide anything for him especially when he is about to get through the adulthood ceremony." Jonrad said.
Grandpa Turmond started thinking for a bit didn't reply.
"What Jonrad said is true! And I really like the girl!" Grandma Jenna dropped another bomb.
"Sigh! I guess there is no helping it then. I thought it would come to this too." Grandpa Turmond wasn't stubborn about the matter it seemed.
"But we can't neglect the influence of the Dark Brotherhood! They don't let a contract go, and they don't let a traitor go too." Skadi said.
"That puts me and Jull on the same boat." I said.
"But if the 'Black Sacrament' was performed..." Skadi said.
"The Dark Brotherhood has no listener, the Black Sacrament can't be performed." I said.
"How do you know that?" Skadi said.
"The last listener was killed in Cyrodiil a few years ago in the fight between Skooma Gangs. The coffin of the Night Mother was taken to Skyrim by its keeper yet he was not welcomed by the Dark Brotherhood in Skyrim. It seemed that the Dark Brotherhood in Skyrim has converted its beliefs from cultist killers to contracted ones." I said.
"... Are you sure about that?" Forseti asked.
"Yes! The keeper's location is unknown to me, unfortunately!" At this point, I had to lie.
I actually know where the keeper is but interfering with him means interfering with the future. The future that I want to keep as predictable as possible.
"Hmmm! What is your source?"
"The source is me! I have gained an inside information on the brotherhood and I plan to send an agent to infiltrate their ranks in the future."
"Fufu! My son is obsessed with spying too." Jonrad was amused for some reason.
"Is it a good thing I wonder?"
"It is good we know this much information now. It may need some time to confirm but the clan can do a lot relying on this information you provided." Uncle Forseti said.
"Glad to be of help!"
"With this, all said and done, I think this is time to move to the next subject." Grandpa Turmond said.
"Yes, this is regarding you Jonhild!" Grandma said. "I hope that the people of this room are very aware of the prophecy of that Moth Priest about Jonhild acquiring three Elder Scrolls in the future."
The conversation finally took a serious turn.
"Jonhild, I hope that you understand that this is no small matter. This will bring a lot of trouble to you in the future." She said.
"Yes! I am well aware!"
"Good! Then do you understand what an Elder Scroll is?" She asked.
"The Elder Scrolls, also called the Aedric Prophecies, are scrolls of unknown origin and number which simultaneously archive both past and future events. The number of the Scrolls is unknown not because of their immense quantity, but because the number itself is unknowable, as the Scrolls (do not exist in countable form). They are fragments of creation from outside time itself, and their use in divining prophecies is but a small part of their power." I said.
"You know well! Then you know how important these scrolls are, only the Empire as the strongest superpower in the Tamriel managed to keep the Elder Scrolls under their watch. Even the Aldemeri Dominion is lusting for them."
"I understand! An Elder Scroll has various dangerous powers that may devastate a whole army and a child fated with three of them is rather a problem even for the Empire itself." I said.
"It is true! The Empire neglected to aid Hilda sixteen years ago to not cause a political problem and used the Dominion to do the dirty work for them."
"I always thought it was suspicious!" I said.
"Due to that, we'd like to keep the knowledge of your survival a secret in our clan and the Moonblade Clan. Also, your father's and your mother's whereabouts are secret."
"You mean the whole family is wanted?"
"Well, your father was a Blade, your mother caused a lot of casualties in the ranks of the Dominion and many other clans, add to them yourself who is a considered a child of destiny. I guess you are right, that's one unlucky family you three!"
"Hehehe! I think I can live with that!"
Who wouldn't want a fully wanted family being chased down by murderous beings? Unless they are Terminators of course.
"I am glad you are accepting it this easy." Grandma said with a smile.
"Never mind! As long as we are all on the same page then this is alright."
The people in the room smiled and everyone nodded in approval.
"Hahaha! Of course, he wouldn't be afraid of some Thalmor or those scrawny Bloodsails. I have tested his metal back in the Garden and he almost blew me away!" The old bastard was showing me off for some reason.
"Wait! Jon entered the garden?" Hilda asked. If I remember, she arrived a little bit too late when I was playing with Jonrad on the Flame Atronach Hawk.
"Yes, he went in there after Tyr brought him over. I think Tyr wanted me to get out but I never thought that the rascal would reach the Rock, he still che..." Jonrad said with a grin.
"Wait a second! He reached the Rock?" Grandpa Turmond jumped from his place.
What's wrong with that? It was hard but was it that hard?
They are looking at me as if I am some sort of a freak now. Even Hilda.
"Something wrong?"
"....."
"Hello!"
"They are just wounding how you did it!"
"I flew in there to avoid the heat on the land."
"Well, you reached the Rock which no one else other than me and my father did."
"Aha! Is it supposed to be hard?"
"Well, not from the first try."
"Well, I wouldn't have endured the heat all that long!"
"It still counts as a success from the first time."
"Hmmm! I guess it's a good thing then."
"Supposedly! The dangers of the Fire Garden are more than just the Heat, the poisonous gas is not something one should go near to."
"Yeah! Uncle Tyr told me."
"Also the energy of the place is very harmful, this is the most dangerous thing about the place."
"Th, The Energy?" Suddenly, my head felt light. I remember absorbing some of it myself.
"Yes! You shouldn't try to use it, if someone absorbed it then the Magicka in their body may go out of control and injure them until it drains itself from them, it is really one tricky and mysterious energy." Jonrad said.
For some reason, I started sweating. I remember absorbing that energy and facing some resistance but nothing happened. The energy got suppressed in the end and got absorbed easily.
I shouldn't hide that.
"Ehem! About the energy thing, there is that thing that happened..."