Chapter 10

Confessions

(Background music Prendimi by MattiaCupelli)

It was so surreal to her. Here she was, unexpectedly reunited with the love of her life while he sobbed in her arms almost worse than the time he told her about his sordid past. She'd imagined their reunion for so long and in so many different ways but this was too soon and too sad. She'd always thought it would be after she completed her journey after she defeated Alduin in some great heroic battle of the ages. Then she'd return bloodied but victorious and she'd run into his arms and they would carry on with their lives together, free from her cruel destiny forevermore.

But this... this was not what she expected. How had he found her? How had he made it from Riverwood to Morthal so quickly? He'd promised to be in Riverwood at least until the day before and it was at least a two-day trip from Riverwood to Morthal. Perhaps he'd given up early and left to search for her again. She could hardly blame the man. She'd failed to show up there at all, despite how much she'd wanted to.

She felt him trembling in her arms, shaking and sobbing like never before and her heart ached painfully. She sniffled, wiping at her own tears and held him in her arms. She didn't want to think about how much she'd hurt him, but seeing him like that now, she knew she'd hurt him deeply.

Rona stroked his hair and tried to soothe him, "It-it's okay, Bishop..."

Then he looked up at her, his face cringed sharply together with his anguish and he pulled back from her and shook his head, his voice breaking with anger, "No. No, it's not okay. None of it's okay," he threw a hand to his chest and roared, "I'm not okay."

She knit her brows together and her lower lip trembled as she held back her own sobs. He took a sharp breath, "How could you do that to me? How could leave me like that?"

She just stared at him, wordless. She didn't know what to say and he wasn't finished talking anyways. "That was heartless what you did. It was cruel! Do you have any idea what that did to me? Do you know how long it took me to work up the courage to ask you that? To find the right words? I put myself out there for you because I love you. I gave you my heart, my soul... everything. I asked you to marry me," he shook and stood up, clenching his fists, "And you said no. No explanation, no nothing. And then you left, just like that. Like - like none of it mattered! Like I didn't matter-"

"That's not true-" she tried to defend herself but he cut her short.

"No, let me finish... fuck," he rubbed a hand to his head and groaned, "I swore I wouldn't do this. That I wouldn't chase you away again with all of this, but you need to know what you did to me. What you did to your father," he spoke with so much disgust in his voice as he started pacing back in forth, nearly kicking Karnwyr, who huffed, got up and moved over to the fire.

"I've only ever seen that man cry twice in my life," he continued, "The first was when you almost died after Thorn took you. The second time was when Illia came back from Falkreath with the bad news. Word was the Dragonborn was dead. Serlas hit the floor so hard that I thought his heart gave out, Rona," she threw a hand to her mouth and winced at this revelation, "And when he came to... gods... I've never seen an old man cry like that before. It broke him. He just curled up in a ball and sobbed like... ugh... I never want to see that again."

He took a deep breath and stopped his pacing, looking right at her and snapped, "And you know what I did? I convinced him that you were alive out there and that I'd fucking find you and bring you back to him, without even really knowing if you were myself. It took all my willpower not to break down and cry with him, to just believe that you were gone and we'd never see you again or find your body or have any kind of closure."

He glared at her, angry tears in his eyes and she just looked back, ashamed of herself with her own tears streaming heavily upon her cheeks.

"You said you left because you wanted to protect me from the dragons. Well, do you know what I've been doing to try and find you?" She blinked and tried to speak, but her tongue felt thick in her mouth. He said, "I've been fighting and killing dragons all over Skyrim."

Her mouth dropped open and she said, "No."

"Yes," he affirmed, "I did it because I knew it was one of the only ways to find you." He held his fingers up, "Three times now it worked. After killing fifty or more of those bastards, three of them burned up and I was able to track you. The first one was just outside Whiterun and it led me to Shearpoint Mountain. The second was out by Karthwasten and it took me to Dragontooth Crater and the last… that one was near Riften. I know you've been hiding out there with the Thieves Guild."

She couldn't believe her ears. All of it had been meaningless? All this time he'd been fighting the dragons anyway and putting himself in harm's way just to find her? She was furious, she was livid. Her anger boiled over, matching his own and she stood up suddenly, clenching her fists and screamed, "NO! Don't tell me that! Don't you dare tell me it's all been for nothing! I did it to protect you, Bishop! To save you from them!"

"Well, it's been pointless because you should have known from the start that nothing would stop me from trying to find you."

She moved forward and hit her fists furiously on his chest screaming, "How could you!? How could you make it all worthless!?"

"YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE LEFT!" He bellowed back, grabbing her wrists to stop her from hitting him.

"I WATCHED YOU DIE! WHAT WAS I SUPPOSED TO DO!? TELL ME YOU WOULDN'T HAVE DONE THE SAME!"

They both stopped chests heaving, and stared crossly at each other for a moment. Finally, she choked out, "Tell me you wouldn't have done the same. If you were me and you watched me die like that... what would you have done, Bishop? Would you have stayed knowing you were putting my life at risk?"

The creeping realization seemed to set in for him as his expression softened from one of anger to one of sympathy. He let go of her wrists and put his hands on her shoulders, running one up the side of her neck to cup her face. He wiped at the trail of tears on her cheek with the pad of his thumb and knit his brows together. "You're right. I would have left. I would do anything to keep you safe."

She sniffled again and grasped at his waist, wrapping her arms around him, pulling him into an embrace. He held her close to him, stroking her hair and rubbing her back. He pressed his lips to the top of her head, kissing her and said, "But tell me you wouldn't have done the same if I'd left you. That you wouldn't have searched for me."

She gripped him tighter and started to cry harder against him. He was right. She would have searched the ends of Nirn for that man if he'd done the same to her. Nothing would have stopped her, not even the dragons.

His hand fell from curling gently in her hair and he grasped the tip of her chin turning her head up to look at him. He gave her such a loving and meaningful look when he said, "Don't leave me again, Rona. Please don't ever leave me again. You're not alone. You don't have to do this by yourself anymore."

She let out a pathetic and feeble sob in reply and he leaned down, grazing his lips across hers and whispered, "Let me help you forget." He took a hold of her mouth with his and poured all his love and passion into one of his wonderful, breathtaking kisses. She'd forgotten how much she missed his touch. The feel of his strong, calloused hands as they gently stroked at her skin, finding all her sweet spots and making her melt and whimper in his arms. The wonderful musky smell of him; leather, burnt pine, honey mead, and just him under it all. The way his lips felt against hers as the light stubble on his face rubbed coarsely against her, no matter how close he shaved. His tongue, strong and forceful entwining with her own as he invaded her mouth and left the sweet taste of himself there. And his hardness pressing urgently against her hip, eager to take her world of pleasure to new horizons over and over again.

(Background music Harvest Dawn Jeremy Soule)

Although it seemed her stomach had other plans when it growled loudly and they both pulled away for a second, just looking at each other while her face burned red. Then they both burst into laughter and he said, "And here I was trying to be all roguish and charming, but I see you've got other things on your mind!"

Rona rubbed the tears out of her eyes and said through her giggles, "Oh my gods… that's so embarrassing…"

He smiled down at her, still chuckling and pulled her into another hug, "Not to worry Sweetness, I already planned for this. Sit down at the table and allow me to serve you."

She went over and pulled up a chair at the small corner table while Bishop went to work in the tiny cottage kitchen, putting together two plates of hot food. He came back over setting the plate down in front of her and her mouth started watering. "Dinner is served," he said before taking his own seat and picking up a knife and fork, "I hope you like spiced venison because it's all we've got. And uh, hopefully, the vegetables are up to par because I found them in your cupboards and it looks like they've been here for a while."

Rona pursed her lips, "It's been a few months since I've been here."

He chuckled, "Yeah I could tell."

She avoided the cooked vegetables on the plate and instead cut into her slice of meat, taking a bite and savoring it with a low moan. "Bishooop!" She whined.

He smiled and asked, "Yes, Ladyship?"

"I've missed your cooking so much!"

"Ah, it's just one of the many perks of being with me," he said playfully, but the implication of his words hung in the air for a moment while she quietly chewed on her food and he prod at his own piece of venison with his fork.

Finally, she broke the tension and asked, "How has everyone been? How's Ata?"

"He's doing alright," Bishop said, as he tried some of the vegetables taking a bite and immediately frowned at the taste. He reluctantly swallowed it and said, "He's up at the College. He agreed to take on the role of Arch-Mage until they can find a replacement. He stays in touch with me. Sends letters down to Illia where I can pick them up as I'm passing through from time to time. I visited him a couple months ago too. He said he's still trying to get a hold of Septimus, that crazy Elder Scrolls guy."

"No luck?" Rona asked.

"Not yet. Seems like the man's new obsession is to collect blood for something. I dunno... it all sounded nuts to me. But he's been in and out of that place way out on the ice, Serlas just keeps missing him," then Bishop looked seriously at her and asked, "What about you? Any luck? I found your marks outside the ruins in the Rift."

Rona sighed as she mindlessly prod at a mushy carrot on her plate with a fork, "I dove into another one recently but no scroll. I did find something that might help me locate it though."

Bishop's face lit up, "Really?"

She nodded, "It was some kind of cube... a Dwemer Lexicon. It stored all their vast and ancient knowledge and when I touched it well," she grimaced remembering the pain it had carved into her skull, "all that knowledge went directly into me. The trouble is that I can't understand or read any of the runes because it's all in Dwemeris."

"We should go to the College," Bishop suggested, "I'm sure they'd have something to help translate it," he smiled warmly at her, "We could see your father too and I know he's been worried and missing you."

She sniffled a little, getting emotional again just thinking about that and whispered, "I'd like that."

Bishop put a hand to hers and said, "We'll rest here for the night and leave tomorrow... together."

She smiled at him and agreed, "Okay."

Bishop could hardly contain how happy he was, a wide smile perking at the corners of his mouth. But Rona wasn't so sure about any of it. She still had to kill for the Brotherhood in order to keep the Black Hand on her arm at bay and she couldn't fathom bringing Bishop with her to do that. She couldn't even bring herself to tell him about it. She was terrified of him finding out and how it would change the way he looked at her.

He was so happy about her agreeing to go with him too that he seemed to completely forget about what happened at the inn as he talked much more than she'd ever seen him do before. He started chattering away about the Companions, telling her how well Nelkir was doing and even revealing that Freya and Farkas were expecting a child together. She felt a twinge of jealousy hearing about it.

If she weren't the Dragonborn and was just a normal woman she would have said yes to Bishop's proposal six months ago. By then they'd probably be married, happily living their peaceful lives together somewhere, maybe in Skyrim or possibly in Cyrodiil. She might have even been expecting their first child by then too. But she wasn't a normal woman. She was the Dragonborn. Rona wondered if she would ever be afforded the right to live a simple life someday or if she'd forever be plagued by the destiny that had been placed on her shoulders by the gods.

Bishop noticed her glossed over expression and said, "Looks like you're done eating. Here," he picked up her plate, "I'll take care of the dishes if you want to wash up," he nodded to the bath, "I filled it earlier. You'll probably have to heat it up a little again, but it should still be fairly clean."

"Thanks," she said and got up. Bishop cleared the table and started tidying up in the kitchen while Rona put a hand into the water of the bath and heated it, making it bubble a little with her flames spell. She found herself still having trouble getting it to stay hot and not burn out on her. Her emotions were a complete wreck and she was finding herself terrified of seeing her father again. Afraid of the disappointment that would come with him somehow learning about her new ties to the Brotherhood. She'd have to keep her mark hidden.

She looked over at Bishop, whose back was turned to her while he worked at scrubbing the plates in a wash basin. She turned her wrist up and looked at the dark fingers clutching her, slightly moved up from only a few hours ago, although it did seem to have slowed significantly since her last kill.

She quickly disrobed and stepped into the bath, settling into the warm water and started to wash herself with a bar of soap sitting nearby on the floor. She was halfway through washing her hair out when she heard a chair scrape across the floor. Bishop dragged one of the table chairs over and sat in it backwards as he crossed his arms over the back of it. She glanced up at him, realizing he had a perfect view of the tops of her breasts and the rest of her naked body through the soapy water. She started blushing and he chuckled and asked, "Should I uh, give you some privacy?"

She turned her face away and said, "It's been a long time... I guess I'm not used to it anymore."

"Used to what? Me seeing you?"

"Yeah..."

He turned his head upward, grinning and said, "I can leave you be. I wasn't trying to peep. I just... I miss you is all. I like being nearby."

She smiled and met his eyes as he slowly turned to look back down at her. "I miss you too Bishop... I've missed everything about being with you."

"You know what I miss the most?" He asked playfully.

"I'm sure I can guess," she smirked, assuming it would be something lewd.

But he surprised her when he said, "Your beautiful green eyes." She looked at him totally confused before he pointed to his own pair and said, "As much as I love that you uh, chose my color for yourself, I'd love to see yours again."

"Oh!" She'd completely forgotten that her eyes were still golden in color and started blushing. She really had chosen the amber color because of him as a way to keep him a part of her, to always remind herself when she looked in the mirror that it was all for him. She waved a hand over her eyes, dispelling the spell and looked back up at him sheepishly, "Better?"

He sighed, laying his head onto his arms as he said, "Much."

She smiled to herself and went back to washing her hair, quietly enjoying the way he looked at her, knowing what would come next and started looking forward to it. But after a few moments he spoke tentatively, "Rona, I have to ask you something."

She stopped wringing the water out of her hair and looked over at him.

"Back at the inn..." He trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck. She held her breath, knowing this was coming. He opened his mouth and said with an awkward chuckle, "I knew you hated that song but um... I never thought you hated it that much."

She turned her face away from him in shame.

But he pressed her, "Rona, talk to me. Tell me what's going on. Why... why did you kill that Orc?"

She swallowed hard and grabbed the edges of the tub, pulling herself up out of the water. She made to climb out of it, but she was shaking all over and nearly slipped. Bishop leapt out of the chair, grabbing her around the waist and shoulders, steadying her, "Hey," he whispered gently, "Ladyship, it's fine. You can talk to me."

"No," she shook her head fiercely, "Not about that. I can't talk about it. I just can't."

He helped her out of the tub and passed her the slightly damp towel he'd used to dry off with earlier. She pulled it around herself and sat down on the bed. Her wet hair stuck to the back of her neck as she clutched at her knees and trembled."Please don't ask me that," she pleaded.

He sat down next to her and put a hand on hers, above her knee and assured her, "We don't have to talk about it right now. There was a time in my life when you had a lot of hard questions for me, but you let me answer them on my own time, when I was ready," she looked up at him knitting her brows tightly together and he smiled warmly at her and gripped her hand into his, "I think it's only right that I do the same for you."

Her tears broke free again and she leaned into him, wrapping her arms tightly around his waist. She didn't deserve him, this kindhearted and understanding man. "After everything, I've done to you, how can you still love me?" She sobbed, "How can you be so good to me? I don't deserve it, Bishop. I'm a terrible person, I've done such horrible things."

He held her close to him and said, "Well that would make me a hypocrite now, wouldn't it? After all the terrible things I've done... and you still love me, right?"

She looked up at him and said, "I've never stopped loving you, Bishop. I've thought about you every single day since I left, just hoping you were okay and... I - I know what I said in my letter, that you should move on, but I always hoped you wouldn't forget me."

"Never," he breathed, shaking his head and wiping her tears away, "I could never forget you, Rona. You're the love of my life. I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

(Recommended Background Music Tonight - Geom Remix by Cami)

Her heart was near bursting with love for him, for this perfect, wonderful man. How she'd gone without him for so long, she didn't know. He leaned in and kissed her then, slowly pushing her back down onto the center of the bed. He pulled her hands up, pinning them above her head as he kissed feverishly up and down her neck and across the top of her chest. There was an eager purpose in his motions now. He'd waited long enough it seemed and she was so ready for him too. He grabbed at the towel on her body and tore it off of her, tossing it to the floor, giving him full visual access to her beautiful blushing skin and nakedness. He dove in, burying his face between her breasts as he sucked, nipped and kissed all over her soft mounds and hardening nipples.

He growled low and needy between his nibbling and suckling, "Gods woman, you have no idea how much I've needed this. I've been holding back for six godsdamned months for you. I hope you don't mind, but I'm going to claim you now and make you mine."

"Yes," she whimpered under him as she gripped his shoulders, "Yes please Bishop! Take me! Make me yours! I've needed it too..."

Her words ignited a fire in him and he moved with an inflamed passion. He peppered her chest with his kisses before slowly moving down her abdomen, kissing around her navel and murmuring, "Your skin is so soft, Rona. Gods you smell amazing."

She merely whimpered and moaned from his touch and his words. She was always at a loss on what to say with him, she could only react in that moment. She watched and felt as he gently kissed her inner thigh, moving that much closer to her aching need until finally he found his prize and stopped to admire her there for a moment, just drinking in the sight of her down there.

She was blushing bright red now, a combination of her arousal and shyness at him looking so closely at her most intimate place. It really had been a long time. She couldn't believe how embarrassed she was from his staring and it only seemed to make her that much wetter when he whispered, "So damn beautiful," and immediately buried his face between her legs. She let out a pleased yelp and threw a hand to her mouth, biting at her finger with the pleasure she felt as he slid his tongue into her and started licking all around her lower lips, nibbling and pulling at them. He stopped for a second as he groaned, "You taste so fucking good, Rona," and she couldn't help but grasp at his head, pressing him back down insistently, not wanting him to stop for anything. He chuckled a bit before setting back to work, moving his teeth and tongue expertly in pleasuring her. When he gripped her hips and bit at her hardened nub though she let out a sharp gasp and then a deep moan as he started to suck her there.

He kept the tease up and slowly started to undress himself, undoing the buckles on his cuirass and tossing it to the floor, then practically ripping his undershirt off himself before adding it to the pile. When he struggled to undo his trousers though, while still working on her, she stroked his cheek and turned his head up to face her and said, "Stand up."

He grinned at her and pulled away, wiping at his mouth and standing at the side of the bed. She sat up and undid the button on his trousers for him before curling her fingers into his waistband and pulled down, sending his pants and underwear trailing down his legs and setting his extremely hard manhood bouncing free.

It was her turn to admire him as she remembered just how big he really was. She felt herself getting even wetter at the sight of his thick cock and heavy hanging testicles. She grasped his shaft with one hand, and cupped his balls with the other, feeling how incredibly hard and full he was and listened to the deep pleasured moan he released from her touch.

"Mmnn... Be careful Ladyship," he warned with a laugh, "I think I might pop at any moment."

She looked up into his dark, hooded eyes and pressed her lips to the tip of him, tasting his steadily streaming precum on her tongue. He gave a soft gasp and curled his fingers into her damp hair just as she moved her head forward, sucking hard on him, taking him all the way into her mouth.

He threw his head back, groaning hard and grunted, "Oh fuck, Rona. That's so good."

She started to steadily bob her head up and down his shaft, running her tongue teasingly under the soft crown of his cock, like she knew he loved and she smiled slightly feeling his hands grasping harder at her hair as his breath hitched in his throat, a sign that she was doing it exactly right. She found a steady speed, gripping the lower half of his shaft with one hand while she clutched at his rear with the other, setting the pace by pulling him forward slightly and letting him piston himself back and forth in her mouth.

She did this until he couldn't stand it any longer and grunted, "Ugh! Okay! Wait!" She pulled off his twitching cock and just smiled up at him mischievously. "You damn minx," he smirked, "If I didn't know any better I'd say you were trying to set me off."

She bit her lip and just giggled and he gently pushed her back down on the bed and growled, "I think it's my turn now." He wrapped his hands around her hips and tugged her right to the edge of the bed and lined his hard member up with her dripping slit. He slowly pressed forward, both gasping as he spread her apart and slid into her. He savored the feeling of her tightness wrapping around him while she enjoyed the sensation of him filling her so full.

(Recommended Background Music Call Out My Name by The Weeknd)

Bishop smirked down at her beautiful blushing face. He really wanted to see her at her most pleasured and was absolutely determined to make her come and make her scream out his name in ecstasy. He let his instincts as a man take over and started to rock his hips, gently sliding himself in and out of her velvety tightness. He knew exactly how to please his woman, arcing his hips just right so that the ridge of his cock would slide and catch perfectly against that sweet spot inside her.

He watched her shudder and moan once, twice, three times as he did it over and over again. His heart was pounding in his chest, and his cock was twitching deep inside her as she pulled and squeezed the life out of him. He tried to stay at a steady pace, to keep in control, but his arousal was getting the better of him. It had been so damn long since he felt such pleasure and watching this beautiful woman, his beautiful woman, lose control beneath him was almost too much. He ran his hands up and down her soft thighs, bringing her legs up high on his chest and planted soft, sweet kisses on her calf as he started to pound harder into her, letting himself lose control for a moment.

He swallowed hard when she really did start to gasp and scream his name, "Bishop! Bishop! Yes, yes, YES! THERE!" He felt his cock throb and immediately slowed his hard bucking the moment he felt his balls tightening, readying to burst their load. He let out a deep, slow exhale, calming himself. He was not ready to let this end just yet and allowed her legs to drop back down around his hips. He wanted to get in much closer to her and pulled out for just a moment, leaving her sighing with disappointment that he'd stopped at all.

He said, "Move back more." Rona immediately complied, centering herself on the middle of the bed and he climbed up, getting on his knees and pushed himself between her thighs. He let the tip of his penis prod her opening a little as he lay down over her, pressing his very firm chest against her soft breasts and placed his arms at either side of her. He looked down at her, as she gazed affectionately back. He truly lived for the smile that spread over her lovely pink lips, but when they parted and she whispered, "Oh Bishop, I love you so much. Please make love to me," he let his heart burst and ache with love for her and then he kissed her deeply and slowly pressed himself back into her.

He felt her delicate hands grasping at his back and she gasped under his mouth as he slid all the way to the hilt, making the tip of his cock meet with the opening to her womb. He was always careful there, knowing it could hurt her, but when she was highly aroused she seemed to love it. The sensation of being so deep within her while her chest rose and fell with her needy panting was nearly enough to send him over the edge again, but he had to finish her first.

He said, "I want you to touch yourself," she whimpered and pushed her hand down. He raised his hips a little, allowing her easy access to her swollen nub and when she found her target and he felt her tightening around him with the pleasure she was giving herself he allowed himself to relax on her again. He began the steady pumping of his hips once more, holding her body tightly against his. He started out slow and built his tempo, matching the movement of her hand as she massaged herself. He made sure to angle himself just right, hitting her sweet spot inside. Her writhing insides gripped him so much faster and she started dripping even more all around him. She was getting close, but so was he.

Their joined back and forth effort as he pound into her and she thrust her hips back against him, both sweating, moaning and gasping together was reaching its crescendo. Finally, Bishop felt the telltale swelling and throbbing of his cock and looked right at her and asked desperately, "Is it safe Rona? Can I come inside?"

She looked at him with those beautiful, sparkling green eyes, almost unsure herself before she cried out needfully, "Come! Come inside me, Bishop! Come! Please! I need it all inside!"

She wrapped her legs tightly around him and dug her nails sharply into his skin as she started moaning loudly, coming all over his cock. Her silky walls were purposely milking him and he couldn't hold it back if he tried. He gave a few final hard thrusts into her body and let out a deafening roar as he pushed himself into her deepest part and felt his cock swell and begin to spurt his heavy load into her, endlessly painting her writhing insides with everything he had. It was relentless. Wave after wave hit him and he gasped out over and over again with each delicious, throbbing release while she moaned, screamed and shook all over with her own powerful orgasm. Her pussy trembled and pulled at his spurting cock over and over again, utterly draining him.

Finally, it was over and he melted on top of her, absolutely breathless and exhausted. He rolled over to the side of her, staying sheathed within, not ready to part from her and he just held her and caressed her face and told her over and over again, "I love you, Rona. Gods I love you... please don't ever leave me again."

She knit her brows together, meeting his gaze and kissed him on the cheek before settling in his embrace and pressed her face to his chest. "I won't leave, Bishop. I love you too."

He just held her like that for some time, enjoying the intimacy. And when she started to quietly hum a lullaby he allowed himself to relax and doze off, hoping with all his heart that she was telling the truth.

(Background Music Return of the Dark Lord by Peter Gundry)

The next morning Bishop roused to the feeling of Rona straddling him. He smiled sleepily and murmured, "Good morning to you too, Princess. Still feeling frisky?"

But as he opened his eyes, intending to look upon his beautiful woman he was greeted by her furiously glaring face as she held a dagger high above her head, ready to plunge it into his skull. His eyes widened and he threw his head out of the way just as she slammed the blade into the pillow he'd been laying on, sending the feathers in it flying.

"WHAT THE FUCK, RONA!?"

She yanked the blade up and made to bury it in him again when he grabbed her wrist hard and found himself utterly stunned by how strong she was as she pushed back, nearly overpowering him. "RONA! RONA STOP! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?"

She hissed at him, her voice a mixture of her own and someone else's, something deep and Daedric as she growled with two voices, "Sate its hunger with his blood. Kill the one closest to you. Empower it and send his soul to the Void."

A deep and mad cackling reverberated throughout the room then, as everything darkened over and anything not nailed to the floor started to rise and shake in the air, including the bed they were on. Bishop found his strength, grabbed her other wrist and pushed her back down hard onto the bed, pinning her arms above her and struggled to keep them there. She really was unnaturally strong. That's when he noticed her eyes glowing a deep, angry red. Something… someone was possessing her.

He looked at the glowing dagger in her hand and realized what it was, a Daedric Artifact much like the one Nelkir had once been possessed by. Rona writhed underneath him, screaming and hissing at him, trying desperately to escape so she could attack him. He had to get it out of her hands and he knit his brows together, cringing hard at what he was about to do.

"I'm so sorry Rona," he groaned as he took her wrist in hand and twisted sharply, snapping the bones. She shrieked in agony and dropped the dagger, then he made the mistake of grabbing it, feeling it's white-hot handle as it nearly seared a hole in his hand. He cried out in pain when he threw it across the room and it took a simmering bit of flesh from his palm with it as it smacked hard against the wall and clattered to the floor.

The room brightened immediately and everything that had been floating fell back hard onto the floor including them. He braced himself over her as the bed hit the floor and he caught his breath. His adrenaline was racing through his veins and all his nerves were on end. He looked down at her as she started to come to and completely lost it, "WHAT THE FUCK RONA!?"

She looked up at him dazed and winced holding her broken and limp hand close to herself, "Wh-what? What happened?"

"WHAT HAPPENED!? YOU TRIED TO KILL ME IS WHAT HAPPENED! WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!?" He jut his finger out at the still steaming blade on the floor.

Rona turned to her head to look and her eyes widened in terror. Her lip trembled as she burst into tears and shook her head shuddering, "No… Nooo…Please, please nooo."

Bishop pushed himself off of her and forced himself to calm down at the sight of how distressed she was. He was pissed beyond belief but he knew yelling and screaming wouldn't do anything to help the situation. He took a deep breath and looked over his own burning wound and said, "Look, I know that I said I'd give you time to tell me - but fuck! I think I deserve a godsdamned explanation for this!" He looked back at her, showing her the blistering and torn flesh on his palm. She turned away from him, still clutching at her wrist and held the most hopeless expression on her face.

"Talk to me damn it," he demanded, "A Daedric Artifact? Really? Who's is it? Sithis?"

She flinched and looked at him wide-eyed and asked, "Why would you say that?"

"Oh I dunno," he threw his hand up incredulously, "Maybe because you were trying to send me to the Void!"

Her gaze traveled away from him again as she looked over at the dagger on the floor and then gingerly held her broken wrist up, turning it over to reveal what appeared to be an enormous bruise on her arm in the shape of a handprint.

He looked at it and faltered in his anger, "Shit, Rona, I'm sorry, I had to do it. I didn't want to-"

"It's not from you," she whispered. He just stared at her perplexed. She wiped away her tears with her good hand and took a deep breath. Then she started explaining everything, "They finally found me. I was here in Morthal, working a job for the Thieves Guild... at least, I thought I was here to work a job. But no... the Thieves Guild sent me here to give me to the Brotherhood," she met his gaze, knitting her brows together. Bishop's mouth was parted slightly, in stunned silence.

"They took me," she said, "they did something... horrible to me and marked me with this. The Black Hand. If I don't routinely carry out contract assassinations for them, then the mark will get bigger and take my soul to Sithis in place of the ones I couldn't or wouldn't send myself. So now you know," she turned away ashamed, "I'm a murderer, Bishop. I have to kill innocent people just to live."

"Rona," Bishop mumbled her name. But instead of him turning away or looking at her with disgust like she'd expected he reached in, grabbing her by the shoulders and embraced her. "I don't get it..." He murmured as she clutched tightly to him, "I thought Delvin was protecting you. I threw ten grand in front of him and he wouldn't even give you up for that much. Why now?"

"It's my own fault," she said, pulling away from him and looking up into his face, "That dagger," she nodded to it and Bishop looked back at it, "It's Mehrunes' Razor..."

He practically snapped his head back and blurt out, "Why do you have it?"

"I needed a dagger and it has a powerful enchantment which has the ability to sap one's life force directly and immediately. It doesn't always work, but I figured... with that, I could easily take out the Falmer in the ruins in close combat. But instead, all I've done with it is murder five mostly innocent people."

"Mostly innocent?" He questioned.

"The Brotherhood found me because I killed an old woman. The headmistress of Honorhall."

His eyes widened and he sputtered, "Wait. That was you?"

"You heard about it?"

"Rona I was there! I walked out of the Ratway when the guards were just arriving..."

"I didn't mean to do it," she said sadly, "I saw her hurting one of the children and I just got so angry and next thing I knew I was holding the Razor in her throat and I couldn't even remember how I got there."

"So how does the Brotherhood fit into all this?"

"She was a contract kill for them, that I took by mistake."

He let his head fall back a little as he exhaled deeply. Rona grasped his wounded hand with her good one and cast a healing spell, trying to mend him. He looked back down at her and said, "We have to get to Winterhold as soon as possible. Get your father to heal your hand and see if we can find some books on Dwemeris-"

"No," she said, shaking her head and stopping him.

"What do you mean no? We'd already planned to go there."

"I can't let Ata see me like this, Bishop. I just can't - and I still have to... I have another kill and the mark is still growing too fast. I don't know how much time I have before it overwhelms me."

"Rona..."

He gave her a pleading look but she just shook her head again and firmly said, "No."

"Then what now? There aren't any healers in Morthal or Dawnstar."

"We go to Whiterun," she said, "Maybe... maybe Eorland can make me a new dagger. But first I have to..." She stood up and carefully dressed herself, pulling her underwear and leathers on. She grabbed her fur wrap, draping it over herself and took a cloth hanging from the tub. She knelt down by the Razor and with the cloth in her hand tentatively picked it up, holding it in while it was wrapped in the fabric so it would not touch her.

"Wait," Bishop called as she opened the door, "Where are you going!?"

"To do what I should have done in the first place," she said as she stepped out into the blistering cold. It was snowing again and she looked to the skies, shouting, "LOK VAH KOOR!" Splitting the clouds apart. She threw the Razor onto the ground and stared hatefully at it. Bishop caught up with her, still bare-chested as he hopped on one foot, yanking his trousers up and buttoning them. He stood by her side as she took a firm stance, clenching her fists and roared, "YOL TOOR SHUL!"

A light golden fire burst forth from her. The Razor only burned red in reply. Rona shouted again, sending a slightly stronger flash of fire forth, still the blade did not falter. She did it again and again and again. She tried so many times until her voice started to become hoarse from the number of times she shouted. It was useless though. No matter what she did she couldn't get her fire to burn hot enough to melt the metal the way she'd done with the Ebony Blade. She screamed furiously at the damn thing as it merely glowed, taunting her.

Bishop put a hand to her shoulder and she looked over at him, tears clinging to her lashes. He was holding a shovel and said, "We'll bury it and freeze it over, Ladyship. Alright?"

She nodded and he found a soft patch of earth and started to dig into it, making a decent sized hole. She kicked the Razor into it and he covered it with dirt, stamping it down with the back of the spade. He took a step back, looked at her and said, "Freeze it."

She shouted, "FO KRAH DIIN!" Easily sending forth a powerful flurry of ice.

The mound of earth froze over but she wanted to be sure it stayed. She had part of another shout that was even stronger than frost breath so she mustered up all her hatred for the Razor and roared, "IIZ SLEN!"

It froze solid blue, into an ice form, one that would take dragon's fire to melt. She sighed hoping that it would keep. That somehow even Mehrunes Dagon wouldn't be able to take it. Bishop tossed the shovel aside and gave her a reassuring look, saying, "We'll get through this, Rona, like we always get through everything. I promise you, we'll reach the end of this all soon."