Chapter CXXXVIII – Legitimate Business Venture

Of course she was going inside with him!

Bishop honestly didn't expect anything else. Hopefully things wouldn't turn out too bad. Aeyrin did know that something was going on, and she wasn't stupid – that hardly looked like a warehouse of legitimate businessmen.

It was rather impressive how far she was willing to go for that wretch. What dangers she was willing to risk. It was so infuriating to see her exude such effort only to be inevitably hurt by him, but… in some ways… it was rather comforting.

If she could get over all that shit that her father did…

Bishop still wasn't sure how she would react once they went along with Karliah's plan and he'd tell her the truth about Thorn. He knew that she would be angry about all the secrets, all the lies… but maybe if he made sure that she understood what was at stake, she'd understand. Maybe she'd forgive him.

She was all too forgiving to that wretch after all, and unlike Bishop, he never did any of that shit for anything but his own damn interests.

Bishop was just protecting her after all… she would understand, wouldn't she?

But none of this mattered now. What mattered was making sure that she would get out of that decrepit building alive and well. And hopefully without that fucker at her heel.

Bishop didn't wait very long before he followed them, gesturing for Karnwyr to stay behind.

He located the trap door inside the crumbled house instantly and he opened it as slowly and silently as possible in order to peek inside. No one was right below him. Good. That meant that they were somewhere further in and he had a chance to hide inside somewhere.

He slipped in with his steps and movements completely silent with the magic ring on his finger. At least something useful came out of their whole association with Delphine. Other than that, it was nothing but a pain in the ass.

There was a small room inside, walls and floors all made out of wood and nothing else – save for stairs leading down and one small window.

How… perfect.

He approached the window quickly and he peeked out of it. There was another larger room below him, filled with some crates. It did look like a warehouse, although not a very well supplied one. There were only four boxes in there.

There was a door on the far side of that room and other than Faldaen and Aeyrin standing about impatiently, there was nothing else.

He still readied his bow, just in case.

And then the door at the side of the room finally opened.

…

"Ah! Here they are!" Faldaen's nervous fidget got even worse as the door leading further in opened.

This was a strange warehouse. It wasn't very… full.

But the bottles that her father had showed them were small and maybe these people were just selling specialized items like that. It was strange, but possible. Maybe these businessmen were just starting out too.

Faldaen was really nervous though.

Aeyrin kept her hand on the handle of her mace pre-emptively. Just in case.

"Rabbit, don't look so menacing. I can't have them thinking that we're here to rob them," Faldaen hissed when he noticed her tense stance.

She sighed in resignation and she let her hand fall from her weapon. She could still Shout if something went down after all. She just needed to be alert.

Then, four men entered the room.

They didn't look like merchants. Not at all. They looked haggard, they had armors on, very makeshift ones at that, as if they had combined them from randomly collected pieces. And they were all armed.

Aeyrin threw a scowl at Faldaen. He didn't even look at her. He just continued fidgeting in place. He was starting to sweat and shake uncontrollably. This was starting to feel… fishy. Well, it felt fishy the entire time, but now it was getting really uncomfortable.

The men eyed Aeyrin curiously as they approached. Some of them even smirked at the sight of her there. But they did not seem surprised to see her there at all.

"Well… I see you got here without trouble," one of the men smiled at Faldaen, but his eyes still kept darting towards Aeyrin.

"Yes, yes. Do you have the trade?" her father snapped impatiently.

This was weird… there was a strange thick tension in the air. She wanted to grab her mace again, but she stopped herself. It wasn't as if she was helpless without a quick access to her weapon. It would be fine.

"So… this is your daughter?" the man turned his gaze to her fully now, eyeing her from head to toe with a weirdly eager expression on his face.

"How would you know that?" she narrowed her eyes at him. Where would he get that information? They weren't supposed to know that she would be here with Faldaen. Something was going on.

"Family resemblance, sweetheart," one of the other men snickered at her while he gave her a mean look. She really hoped that it wasn't actually true. Her father looked like he had one foot in the grave with the marks that the years of skooma had left on him.

The first man laughed heartily all of the sudden as he shook his head a little incredulously. "Fuck, how I love this business! It's not every day you get to see this."

What was he talking about?

One of the other men marched towards the stack of boxes and he opened the lid on one of them before gesturing for Faldaen to come and take a look.

Her father didn't even react to all their strange talk. He practically ran towards the crate, only to peer inside hungrily. She saw that exact same look in his eyes many times before. The need, the want, the uncontrollable urge. It was all too familiar.

Oh no…

"All there, as you can see. Now for the trade…" the first man turned his eyes to Aeyrin again and a disturbing smile decorated his lips. "We might have some fun with her before the boss gets her, but you don't mind, do you, you lowlife fuck?" he laughed again as he turned briefly back towards Faldaen. Her father looked like he didn't even hear him at all. He was just constantly peering into the box with a mesmerized stare.

"Hah! Of course you don't. Idgarr, get her!"

"FO!"

The men in front of her got enveloped into a frosty mist instantly, their bodies covered in tiny ice crystals, contorting in cold. She was kind of surprised at herself how little caught off guard she got.

Did she really expect something like this deep down this entire time?

She knew that Faldaen was hiding something from her. She knew that something wasn't right about this 'warehouse'. And she knew that she should always expect a fight. But she was still a little surprised at how… normal this felt. The ambush, the betrayal, it didn't even sting. It was almost a… relief.

Suddenly, she could feel someone behind her.

Damn! There were only three men freezing there in front of her. One of them must have hidden from her sight at some point and she didn't even notice. She was too concentrated on what was going on to keep an eye on all of them.

She turned around sharply, only to see a large Nord heaving right behind her. His massive warhammer was raised above his head, ready to descend upon her.

But… he wasn't moving.

A second later, he slumped down, falling over to the side stiffly like a log.

He was paralyzed, possibly even already dead.

Bishop.

She gave a brief glance to the window perched atop the stairs at the back of the room. She should have known that he would follow her. It wasn't even surprising. None of this was surprising, oddly enough.

But now was not the time to concern herself with it. The men in front of her were still not dead.

She unfastened her mace at last and she turned back towards the three freezing men shaking on the ground. They were still covered with frost and, despite the fact that they were all Nords, they could do nothing but shiver helplessly. Apparently their famous resistance to the elements was nothing when they were assaulted with a dragon Shout. She couldn't help but wonder how much worse would any non-Nord end up after being affected by that particular ability of hers.

But at that point, Faldaen finally seemed to notice what was going on. He fidgeted instantly with palpable panic in his eyes and he buried his hands inside the crate instantly, making its contents clatter. It seemed like he wanted to save his haul before even attempting to save his life… typical.

He grabbed a few of the bottles inside and he began clutching them to his chest while she swung her mace against one of the men, bashing his head in.

Faldaen's eyes were filled with fear and his hands were shaking, making the small bottles clatter violently. He started to run on unsteady feet, straight towards the stairs in the back, as she systematically killed the remaining men on the ground.

A second later, the sound of a loud 'thud' and breaking glass echoed from behind her. She looked back, only to see Faldaen paralyzed, stiff on the ground with an arrow protruding from his leg and shards of the broken bottles everywhere around him.

She threw a brief grateful smile in the direction of the small window atop the stairs. She wasn't sure why Bishop didn't kill him outright for that ambush, but she was glad for it. She didn't even stop to think whether she wanted that.

She finally disposed of the last man and instead of heading towards Faldaen to deal with him, she walked over to the crates in the room. She wasn't even sure why. She knew what was in there.

The bottles were a little different. Blue. But it was clear that what she had suspected was only confirmed. Skooma. She promptly stepped back from the crates, making sure that all of them were in her radius, before she opened her mouth and heaved.

"FUS RO DAH!"

The broken wood and glass dispersed all over the room after the impact of the invisible force, leaving only unsalvageable debris in her wake.

She could hear a pathetic whimper coming from the direction of the stairs, then another loud 'thud'.

She turned around to see Faldaen struggling on the ground feebly with Bishop's foot planted firmly on his chest to keep him down and his sword outstretched towards her father's neck with little crackling lightnings grazing his skin and making him jerk. Although that may have just been his general twitchiness.

She walked back towards them and finally looked down on her father whimpering on the ground.

"P-p-please, rabbit… please… I didn't want… it was all him! He made me!" he sobbed while he continued trying to get himself up, but Bishop put pressure on his foot again and again, pinning him to the ground more firmly each time.

Aeyrin only sighed. For some reason, the sight of Faldaen like that… it did nothing to her now.

There was a strange freedom about that.

"Why? What was this?" she shook her head at him in exasperation with a stony expression on her face.

"I-i-it wasn't me, rabbit! I-I-I swear! I didn't want to! Ri'zhassa made me!" he continued sobbing and stuttering. This was all too familiar. Now she knew that it meant nothing.

"Just tell me!" she snapped at him impatiently.

"H-he… he heard the… the rumors rabbit… about the… Dra-Dragonborn… thing. He thought… he thought that… since… since we know you… that… there would be some… profit… in it," Faldaen half mumbled in between his frantic breaths. It looked like he tried to get up again, but he didn't manage to move an inch as Bishop pressed him firmly to the ground.

"H-he… he m-made contact with s-some people… up here. T-they let him k-know recently… about the b-b-bounty… and… he promised to d-d-deliver you… for… for the… the blue stuff. H-he promised me a whole box, rabbit! A whole box! It would have lasted me for so long…" he sobbed as his eyes strained to see the devastated goods splattered all over the corner of the room.

Bishop scoffed at him in disgust, eliciting a pained groan from the elf when he pressed his foot firmer onto him. "Would have lasted you a week until someone found you dead in a ditch, wretch."

He wasn't wrong.

But… what was it that her father had said?

"'Bounty'?" Aeyrin scowled at him. What was he talking about? There was a bounty on Bishop, but Faldaen wasn't interested in him at all. Was there one on her too? By who? By Ulfric? That was… doubtful. If Ulfric wanted her dead or captured, he'd hardly had to pay anyone with his army of loyal soldiers.

The men mentioned taking her to their 'boss'. Come to think of it, so did the men Thongvor had led her to.

Something strange was going on.

"I don't know, rabbit! I-I-I swear I don't know! H-h-he just said that there's a bounty! He took me here to b-b-bring you to these people! I don't know anything, rabbit! Please!"

Bishop gave her an uncertain expression, still clutching his sword with its tip touching Faldaen's neck lightly.

"Ri'zhassa's in Skyrim?!" Aeyrin's eyes gleamed. That damn Khajiit needed to die a long time ago.

"N-n-no! N-n-not anymore, rabbit. He l-left a-after… a-after we left that town. What was it… Morhal? H-h-he was gonna send people here… to collect the goods… b-b-but… he went back… to Ch-Chorrol."

Damn… so much for that.

She wanted to kill that bastard so badly. But it seemed like, yet again, he had escaped her grasp.

"You still use that shit. How the fuck are you this lucid?" Bishop snapped at Faldaen, changing the subject.

"T-the potions... h-h-he, Ri'zhassa, sells them. People use them for energy… t-t-to w-work or… r-rob people. They make you… better. B-but they make you sick… I h-haven't eaten in t-ten days… I need… Rabbit, why did you destroy it?!" he sobbed again and his hand moved feebly towards the shards and the wet spot on the wooden floor beside him, as if he was hoping to absorb some of the skooma from the soaked planks like that.

"What would happen then? After you handed me to those men? What were you gonna do then?" Aeyrin shook her head at his pathetic state.

"I don't know! I didn't care, rabbit! He told me that I could have a whole box for this!" Faldaen cried out desperately, feebly struggling against Bishop's foot again. "I-I-I left at n-night… at that t-town. He… he wanted me to meet him. T-to t-t-tell him how… how you reacted to me. He told me what t-to say n-next… all those stories… h-how I should… m-make you c-concerned over this… warehouse. To get you to come with me. H-he… he made me say things! G-g-gave me notes to remember."

It all made sense now. Why he had apologized to her, why he volunteered to tell her about her mother. It was clear that some of the things that he really felt, like his disdain for the people at the temple, still made it through. He likely couldn't help himself. But all those 'kind' moments when he tried to reach out to her, they were all fake.

"T-there... there was supposed to be an-an ambush or… or distraction… t-to try to… get rid of h-him. T-to keep you alone. I-I-I don't know what, they d-don't tell me anything! B-but… you did that yourself," his eyes briefly looked at Bishop before they turned to her pleadingly again as he continued to sob. "I don't know anything else, rabbit! Please… please, don't kill me… It's not my fault."

It was probably for the best in the end that Aeyrin had told Bishop to leave. Who knew what was planned in order to get rid of him? This was all much more elaborate than she was used to from Ri'zhassa. He was always playing mind games, but this…

What was this bounty that the Khajiit went to such lengths for it? It must have been for a lot of money. Four crates full of skooma would be very costly, let alone this blue thing, without a doubt. Faldaen had made it sound like it was something special.

One thing was for certain – she needed to get to the bottom of these ambushes.

But there was nothing else to gain from standing about in here. Looking at Faldaen only made her sick.

If he told her once again that none of this was his fault, she wasn't sure if she would be able to remain this… numb and indifferent.

It was surprising how little she felt just then. She was angry, but it was not that overwhelming, consuming feeling that she often got. She was disappointed, but somehow… this outcome simply wasn't that surprising after everything. She… was not sympathetic. Not anymore. There was only so far she could go to help him. He crossed every line of that, time and time again. Why was she still making excuses for him? Even just a short while ago.

For the first time, she felt something that she's been missing all her life.

Closure.

The certainty that she did all that she could have done. The certainty that she tried. But it was for naught. He would not change. Sick or not… he had no desire to change. He was beyond her ken. And now he was beyond her concern.

It was freeing.

"What now, love?" Bishop interrupted her ruminations. His sword was still pointing at Faldaen's neck while the man threw her pleading looks constantly. Bishop looked ready to slit his throat at any second.

She wondered about that for a while. It may plague her conscience. Faldaen didn't really attack her either. She refused to let that man occupy even an inch of her mind anymore.

"Let's just go, Bish," she nodded at him as she finally turned her eyes away from the helpless man on the floor.

"You sure? He might… try something again. If… you don't want to do it, love… I can," Bishop looked at her uncertainly. He wasn't sure how she would deal with the knowledge of killing Faldaen, considering her vows and her convictions. He knew all too well that things like this never went without a second thought or a look back, even without such strict morals in the way. But if it would keep her safe from another attempt like this, he had no trouble doing it for her. He had practice.

"Try something? I doubt it. Look at him…" she scoffed, shaking her head at the man on the floor. Even this elaborate ploy was hardly a shock to either of them. Bishop was so certain of his eventual betrayal that he followed them all the way and she was always ready and alert during their journey. Her father was hardly a mastermind, even with Ri'zhassa's planning.

Bishop nodded slowly with a slight smile on his face, before he sheathed his sword and took off his foot from Faldaen's torso. For some reason, it made him happy that she didn't want him dead. Anytime something shitty happened, he kind of worried that it would turn her callous and jaded. He knew that a lot of things in his life had some measure of that effect on him. He was glad that she was different.

Faldaen scrambled to sit up while he tried wiping his face off the tears, sweat and snot.

She only nodded at Bishop resolutely and they both turned towards the stairs, leaving the man behind on the floor for good.

"W-wait, rabbit! Y-y-you're just gonna leave me here?!" Faldaen called out to her desperately as he unsuccessfully tried to stand on his shaky legs.

"Maybe Ri'zhassa will come and find you. And if not… well… you know how it is. Everyone gets what's coming to them," she scoffed, barely sparing him a brief glance back.

Ri'zhassa always loved saying that.

It was his excuse to treat people like garbage.

But it was appropriate just then.

They walked up the stairs, towards the ladder to the trapdoor.

Faldaen's faint voice still echoed behind them with desperate sobs.

"Rabbit, wait! P-p-please!"

She hated that nickname.

…

"So… aren't you gonna yell at me for following you?" Bishop chuckled a little weakly. He was uncertain about how to start up a conversation after what had happened at the warehouse.

They've been already walking for at least half an hour in dead silence.

"Oh… if you want me to," Aeyrin smirked at him a little, somewhat absentmindedly. "Honestly, I'm… I'm kind of tired of being angry," she sighed. "And you did stay away like I asked you to. And… well… thank you for taking that man down. And for not killing fa-… uh… for not killing Faldaen. I… I don't think that I would have wanted that," she shrugged a little uncertainly.

"Not that you made it easy, sweetness. Did you have to come across a damn dragon while I couldn't interfere?" Bishop scoffed in frustration.

"Heh… yeah. I missed having you there with me," she gave him a wry smile.

"Yeah, it was fucking killing me to have to just watch you like that. At least the Orcs helped."

She nodded in response while she looked ahead towards the road again. Darkness had already enveloped the forest and she was so tired. But she kind of wanted to get further away from that place. Darkwater Crossing was pretty close. They could just stay there again and not have to bother with making camp.

"So… are you alright?" Bishop interrupted her pondering while he rubbed the back of his head uncertainly with a tentative look directed at her. He really wasn't sure whether she was. It didn't happen often, but right now, her expression told him nothing.

"You know what?" she looked at him with a hint of surprise on her face. "I think that I am. I… I feel… free. I've always… I've always hoped that he would change. I've always hoped that it was the skooma, or… Ri'zhassa. But now… it doesn't matter why he did this, or on whose urging. He had the chance to… to show me who he really was all throughout that journey," she lowered her head with a resigned sigh. "I guess he did. I really thought that I would be devastated if something like this ever happened but… is it weird that I'm actually… relieved?"

Bishop gave her a sincere smile. He draped his arm over her shoulder and pressed her close to himself before he placed a gentle kiss at the top of her head.

"Not weird at all, love. You don't owe him anything. And he obviously doesn't want your help… not the one you wanted to provide him at least. What do some fucking blood ties matter anyways? They obviously don't mean a thing to him…" he scoffed derisively. She was pretty sure that he wasn't just talking about her father, but she didn't want to question him on that just then.

"Yeah. I… I feel kind of bad for always hoping for him to come back to me… different. Master Therien was a better father to me than I could have ever hoped for. I just feel ungrateful now," she chuckled a little. Her old mentor must have been sad to have her always ask about Faldaen, when he tried so hard to be there for her instead. She needed to write to him, to tell him about what happened and to apologize for her foolish hopes. He told her so many times not to concern herself with that man, but she could never listen.

"I'm sure he understood, princess. I mean… he's gotta know by now how obsessive you get about everything," Bishop snickered before planting another gentle kiss in her hair. He earned a firm punch into his chest, but the plate in his armor made him barely feel it.

"Yeah, yeah. Look who's talking about being obsessive after stalking me secretly for a whole day," she smirked at him.

Bishop only snorted in response. She wasn't exactly wrong. He did get more and more obsessive with everything going on. But what else was he supposed to do?

"I'm still worried about that bounty he mentioned," Aeyrin pondered. "Who would even issue it? I can't think of anything…" she sighed morosely, racking her brain for any possible culprits. Most of her actual enemies were dragons and other monsters. She hardly thought that Tullius or Ulfric would do this. Although… now that she had thought about it… could it have been Tullius's revenge for not going along with his manipulations? But that was a rather recent thing. Even if he had found out already that she defied him, that wouldn't explain what had happened in Markarth.

"Y-yeah…" Bishop stammered a little uncharacteristically. Mercer's bounty must have been really high if it prompted responses even beyond Skyrim. Hopefully this was a rare case. It was obvious that the Khajiit only thought that he had some insider advantage by knowing her and her father, but still… it was concerning that they knew about the bounty, even across the border.

He could tell her some things… but… he still wasn't sure if it was the right course of action.

As much as he hated to admit it, he needed help. It was not like his judgment had helped before about this kind of stuff. He got Jules back to Thorn, he got Ysolda hurt and her fiancé killed. He didn't trust himself anymore when it came to the bandits.

He needed Karliah's help.

They would decide together how much to tell Aeyrin.

It was for the best.

"It's not like we have any leads on that, sweetness," he sighed after a while. "I'm sure we'll get a hint at the source of that sooner or later."

"I know. I just hate this, not knowing who could have some ulterior motives. I don't like being suspicious of everyone. I hope that we can get to the bottom of this soon," Aeyrin sighed.

If only she knew how long he's had to deal with this.

It was so exhausting. He just wanted this to end. He just wanted Mercer and Thorn dead. Was it really that much to hope for that those scum would finally get what they deserved?

Well… not exactly. They deserved a lot worse than death.

"Tell me about it, love."