One Land, Two Oaths

Solitude is burning; the fortress gates are sealed. You came beneath the bear-cloaks to make the Empire yield. Rikke, once beside me, now you guard its throne. I came to free our homeland, though I face you here alone. We bled beneath one banner when the southern sky turned red. I still defend the living; you are speaking for the dead. A broken Empire still can stand when foreign armies rise. Your freedom feeds their hunger while our sons pay out the price. A peace that bans our god is only conquest dressed in white. They chained the tongue of Skyrim and commanded us be quiet. I would not leave our children kneeling where their fathers stood. No crown is worth obedience bought with northern blood. One land, two oaths, one final door - The home we love cannot hold both our wars. Raise your shield; I know your name. Whoever wins, Skyrim will bear the blame. One land, two oaths - And neither heart can turn. I offered Jarls a country not commanded from afar. I heard Talos in the silence where they tore down every star. Call me proud, call me traitor - I will answer with my blade. Better scars upon the free than peace inside a cage. You offered them a civil war and called the graves a choice. Each farm beneath your banners lost a daughter or a boy. I serve no perfect Empire; I serve the line that still may hold. A lone and wounded Skyrim will be swallowed by the cold. Do you remember winter, when we shared the final fire? You bound my shattered shoulder. I pulled you from the mire. Then why must I defend my home against the man I knew? Because the home we both defend has split our truth in two. One land, two oaths, one final door - No victory can make us one once more. Raise your shield; I know your name. Whoever falls, Skyrim will bear the shame. One land, two oaths - And only one returns. Then come, Ulfric. Let the final oath stand. Forgive me, Rikke. For the same beloved land.