What ended up happening was beyond anything that Nytalia had ever thought of: she was actually travelling right beside Bishop!

This was all thanks to Aelonalia, Duncan's niece. Since they needed a thief, Bishop volunteered her, describing her as someone he knew, as well being a 'A good enough thief'

Nytalia wonder what the others thought of the two of them, they were not particularly close despite spending many of their nights together. In addition, Nytalia would show no sign of jealousy when Bishop talked to the other females of the party with rather crude allusions. She might even join Bishop in his mockeries.

This was because she knew how much Bishop hated to be possessed and jealousy was a symbol of such a thing. She wasn't really jealous either, since she herself had quite some man that she slept with. What he said meant nothing.

Yet she was special to him because he admitted that he didn't know another idiot like her.

All good things must come to an end, Nytalia thought a bit sadly as she decided to step out from her hiding place, the fun was over.

"It seems that I really am stupid whenever you are concerned." She said softly, "I won't ask you about why you are doing this, instead, I want to know why you don't just go? Why don't you just leave now? Why do you plan to make your escape more difficult?"

Bishop just broke the lock of the main gate, but instead of running away, he actually concealed what he just did.

"The bargain is that I open the gate for them." he told her in a very matter of fact voice as he went to stand beside her, his dagger still in his hand. "This is merely my preparation."

"Why? I know you well enough to know that the most important thing to you is you. Why do you even bother to make this bargain when you can just desert without any problems since Aelonalia is one of those foolish women who believe in the non existing goodness of the human heart?"

"Do you really want to know?"

Nytalia shrugged and muttered: "My answer won't make a difference." And she was right, as he already decided to tell her.

"Because of this." He told her as he pressed the blade of the dagger against her throat. "You do not tremble at all, Nytalia, and this is because you know that I won't kill you."

"Maybe it is because I do not mind being killed by you." Nytalia chuckled bitterly. "You know how foolish I am whenever you are involved."

"You are an idiot, Nytalia, but you are not that stupid." Bishop said as he re-sheathed his blade.

"So you decide to kill everyone just because you think I am not afraid of you? What has this got to do with anything?"

"I don't care about anyone else because I can kill them anytime that I want. You however, I can not kill. That is why I will open the gate to these so called 'enemies', this is what made me agree to their request, otherwise I would never bother something so troublesome."

"What is my crime then?" Nytalia asked steadily. "Why do you wish for me to die so much even though you cannot bring yourself to do the actual act?"

"That itself is your crime." He drew her close to kiss her, but for the first time her lips were very cold. This wasn't a surprise as he doubted that anyone in her position could be passionate let along amorous.

"What are you going to do with me given that I just saw your plan?" Nytalia said, remaining immobile in his arms. "I could just tell everyone and you would most likely be executed."

"Nothing." He said with a trace of his old smirk. "Because I know that you will not do anything. You wouldn't do something that would harm me."

Her silence was a good enough answer.

They ended up spending that night together, refusing to mention tomorrow at all.

"Do you remember our first meeting?" Nytalia said softly, when they were both too exhausted to continue. She did not even wait for his answer- was it because she doubt that he would give her an answer, or was it because she was afraid of what he might say? "It happened ten years ago, it has been ten years since we met.

"I still remember everything that happened, starting from the look of disappointment on your face when you saw me, as the body I had then was still the body of an un-grown child. And the truth is that you wouldn't have slept with me if I didn't want to, would you?"

"That is true." He admitted. "I am not very fond of doing such a thing, even though you actually weren't that young. But Nytalia, there is one thing that I wish to know: did you realise what might easily have happened?"

"Yes but no. I have never been a prostitute and that is something I am quite proud of." Nytalia said softly. "That is your answer. But Bishop… why do you care?"

"Because I wish to know how this whole mess begun." He said truthfully. "How this whole foolishness continued."

"Because I have always been foolish when you are involved." She said, quoting what he had said to her quite a lot of times. "I do not know why…I still don't know why, but somehow you attracted me. But what I remember the most that day is what you said as you were about to leave me: 'Don't expect anything from me'. And I continued doing that, even. Yet this still ends up happening…

"I use to often wonder whether I am cursed for meeting you and loving you. But now I think my curse is to have gained your affections. You… are the worst type of coward, Bishop! Because you want to destroy what you are afraid of."

"It is one way to live."

"Bishop…if I survive then I will be at my home, waiting for you. As always," she whispered. "You are free to come and go."

For the first time that she could remember, Nytalia allowed herself to cry and clung onto him as any other woman would. She fell asleep with her arms tightly around his body although she knew that she would wake up alone again.

Author's note: Technically this story is finished here, and this chapter is really the extract that I suddenly had, which inspired this whole story. But I am thinking about doing an epilogue, which is a bit happy-happy, but then that seems a bit inconsistent with the rest of the story.