"He told you to go to the Ratway? I don't know why anyone would want to go there, of all places. Full of degenerates."

"So you should feel right at home." Bishop shot me a glare, to which I just laughed. "If you're not feeling it, I can go on my own."

"Nah, it's fine. It's not like I've got anything better to do."

"Good." I put a smile on my face and a hand on his bicep. He didn't acknowledge either, simply hoisted his bag onto his shoulder.

"Then we should get a move on, ladyship."

"The Ratway isn't going anywhere," I pointed out, pursing my lips. "Not that I disagree."

"Then stop trying to start a fight."

"I'm not."

"Mmhmm. Right." Bishop glared my way. "Off we are to get some incurable disease because milady feels the need to explore a labyrinth of skeever-infested sewers."

"Oh, come on, Bishop. Let's go."

"As you wish."

...

I slowly crept through the Ratway, silently thankful Bishop was with me. While I wasn't exactly a sneak-and-stab type, I wanted to check out what was lurking around before rushing in and cutting off heads. Besides, this sewer system creeped me out. Though I'd been to Riften before, I'd never felt the need to go into the Ratway.

"I hear voices." Bishop was quiet as he snuck past me and took the lead. "Stay behind me." He drew his bow. It took a moment, but I heard the same thing the ranger did when I listened intently.

"...I dunno, Drahff. They'd skin us alive if they found out we were doing this." The harsh voice probably meant a Nord.

"Why do you always have to act like such a big baby?" someone else responded, sounding exasperated. "I've gotten us this far."

"This far? We're livin' in a sewer," the first one retorted. "You said we'd have a house as big as the Black-Briar's by now."

"You just worry about bashing people's heads in; I'll worry about the Guild, okay?"

"Okay, okay."

"I'm going to check the entrance. Be right back." Footsteps started to approach, and Bishop's grip on his bow tightened, but he did not nock an arrow just yet.

One of the men came into view. The second he spotted us, he reached behind him to grab his own weapon, a wooden hunter's bow. He never got the chance to fire it, as Bishop had already pulled an arrow from its sheath and shot it at the man. Karnwyr let out a low bark and loped ahead, growling as he tore the second man's throat. Bishop twisted around, cracking the joints in his back. "Ah, that felt good."

"How did you know he'd be hostile?" I queried, slightly suspicious.

"I didn't. But I knew it was a possibility, so I took out my bow and waited to see what he'd do when he found us." I didn't want to admit it, but I was impressed by his thought process.

"And Karnwyr?"

The red wolf came running back, a bit of blood still on his muzzle. I took out a rag and started wiping it off, drawing back as he started licking my face. I mopped the mixture of dog saliva and blood off as I listened to Bishop. "Karnwyr's pretty good at telling what I'm thinking. Not that he's psychic or whatever, but we've been a team for years." I scratched Karnwyr's chin, and his tongue lolled about in response.

"Good boy," I whispered to the wolf, giving him a final pat before standing up. "You make a good one. A good team, that is. You sure such a savage wolf wouldn't want another in his bed?" I teased, gently trailing my finger down his arm. I was rewarded with a slight shudder from the Nord before he pushed me off.

"No, I prefer making pretty ladies like yourself howl at night." He paused, clearly waiting for a reaction I refused to give him. Finally, Bishop groaned. "Pulling that again won't earn you any favors either, ladyship. Different wenches, different nights, different taverns- that's enough for me. I don't have a singular lover, and I definitely don't want one." To the ranger's evident surprise, I laughed and nodded, gleeful that I'd finally managed to shock Bishop as opposed to the reverse.

"Join the club." I sobered up slightly. "Love isn't worth it."

"I take it you had someone?"

"No," I snapped perhaps too quickly, making it obvious I wasn't being entirely truthful. Clearing my throat, I continued, hoping Bishop would drop the subject. "And as you said, I don't have one and don't want one."

"Well, at least we agree." Bishop pawed over the two bodies before removing their coinpurses and pocketing both. "Now, pretty words and implied dead romance aside, let's keep going."

"Ready when you are."

"Well, I'd prefer if you went ahead. After all, it is your adventure, and just the view of your lovely hips alone is worth letting you take the lead."

"And we're right back to the flirting." I rolled my eyes. "Let's go. I have some unfinished business to attend to, and I hope to resolve it soon."

Bishop pursed his lips, amused. "Ooh, sounds ominous. Who is this man anyhow? A longtime enemy? A Daedra worshipper? Oh, I know! He cheated you out of your cut of gold."

"Bishop?"

"Yeah?"

"Shut up."

...

My excitement over potentially finding the bastard was tempered by both it and the clattering that could be heard from the various turns in the stinking halls of the Ratway. The light was hardly enough to see the doorway, but it did show a nasty drop just ahead. I pinched my nose for a second, but it didn't stop the sneeze that followed from the dust and foul stench. It was followed by a laugh from the Nord behind me.

"Aww, what an adorable little sneeze," he simpered, "from such an adorable little warrior." I flicked his ear, though Bishop didn't seem bothered at all. He shuffled around in his pack and drew out a torch, then struck a few stones together to light it. Our light situation improved, we were able to see ahead.

"Shut up," I grumbled, his constant flirting far more annoying now that my mood had worsened. I stared at the bridge, then at the fall below. "Got any ideas, genius?" I leaned forward to look down, but unfortunately, I moved too far and lurched forward with a screech. Bishop's hand enclosed my wrist, preventing me from falling any further. He let me dangle for a few seconds before yanking me back up.

"Watch your step, princess. Can't be having you fall and expecting me to carry you out of this damned place. As for ideas, yeah, I've got one. How about we use our brains and don't put ourselves in needless and frankly stupid situations?" He grinned widely as I muttered under my breath and dusted off my sleeve. "What was that, princess?"

"I said thank you, but I get the feeling you knew that."

"Of course I did. I just wanted to hear it again."

I waved my hands about. "Fine! Fine. Let's focus on getting through, and then we can argue."

Bishop shrugged. "Sounds like a plan to me." He eyed the mechanism locking the bridge in place, then squatted down to check the distance. "Fantastic."

"What?"

He stood back up and dusted himself off. "That's twenty, maybe twenty-five feet down there. You try dropping that, and you'll break something for sure."

"Fun." After a confused look from Bishop, I rolled my eyes. "Sarcasm." Eyeing the distance, I started to wonder if I could jump the gap.

"Stop thinking what you're thinking, princess." Bishop scratched his stubbled chin. "You're not jumping. There are no handholds, for one, and for two, it's too far away. You might make it to the edge, but I guarantee that you'll fall."

I pressed my lips together, disliking how he was just about reading my mind. "That's not what I was thinking."

"Bullshit." Bishop reached out and touched the few white strands of my hair. After letting them fall from his fingers, he chuckled under his breath. "You, milady, have a tell."

"What are you talking about?"

"Your ears get red. Pretty noticeable, princess." Unconsciously, my hands drifted to my ears and covered them. After a smirk, Bishop returned to business. "I hate to suggest this, but we might have to turn back."

"Absolutely not!" My voice echoed throughout the Ratway, and I gave Bishop an apologetic look before continuing. "You have no idea how important this is to me. If there's even a shadow of a chance that he's in here, then I have to take it."

Bishop crossed his arms. "You can go ahead and say it." I bit my lip as he went on. "I'm not an idiot, princess. You're looking to kill someone, not find them." We became so quiet we could hear the dripping of water and squeaking of rats in the brick tunnels below. "Care to elaborate?"

"Again, absolutely not. Someone's going to die, and that's all you need to know. So are you still gonna travel with me, or are you gonna get the guard?" At my query, Bishop let out a laugh.

"I know that tone. This is about revenge of some sort, and princess, nobody understands that better than me. Besides, it gives me time to seduce you with my sheer animal magnetism." He puffed out his chest, and I had to crack a smile.

"Yeah, all right, buddy. You do that." I returned to the problem at hand. "There's probably a lever or chain on the other side that'll open up the bridge."

"But again, we have no way to get across." He peered at me. "Not sure I like that smirk."

"Throw me."

Bishop blinked in surprise. "What?"

"You heard me. Throw me."

He ran a hand through his sandy-brown hair. "What, do you have a death wish? That's one of the dumbest ideas I've ever heard."

"All right, since your mind is oh-so-clearly superior, why don't you give me a solution?" Instead of replying to my question, Bishop eyed the area around us. He kicked at a loose pebble and let it fall off our ledge.

"Sure." He handed me the torch, and after I took it, he gave me his bow and knife. "Don't lose these."

"What are you- oh my gods!" I shrieked, watching in shock as Bishop launched himself off. Instead of dropping straight down, the ranger had jumped forward in a way that allowed him to roll on the floor. "What the hell?!"

Bishop climbed to his feet and dusted off his black leather sleeves. "There you go, princess." I opened and closed my mouth several times, though my search for words failed. "Ah, I do love leaving the ladies speechless. Now, please toss down my bow and dagger, darling."

I furrowed my brow but did as he asked. "First off, don't call me that. Second off, what do you expect me to do, jump down for you to catch? Or try what you did?"

"What? Gods, no. That'd hurt us both, maybe even snap our spines. Plus, how's Karnwyr gonna get down here?" He sauntered over to the gate near the drop-off. "You're not skilled enough to pull that off, so instead of walking you through a process you'd undoubtedly fuck up..." He planted his left foot into the ground before kicking near the lock with his right heel. The highly corroded metal almost instantly broke at the force. "I'll find a way through and lower the bridge." I remained quiet when he left, though I didn't miss the faint groaning as he rubbed at his back. I suspected he'd injured himself at least slightly with the jump, but at the same time was incredulous that he'd made it with relative ease. The sounds of a scuffle echoed from the other room while I turned to the wolf and scratched his head.

"Don't tell your master, but I'm simultaneously impressed and pissed at him," I murmured to Karnwyr, to which the red wolf licked my face repeatedly and wagged his tail to the right. "Bleh, dog spit!" I wiped the saliva from my skin just in time for the bridge to scare the shit out of me as it suddenly fell. There across the way was Bishop, fresh blood on his jacket and that smirk I'd grown accustomed to.

"Well, princess? You coming?"

"Well, duh," I grumbled, stomping his way. As I passed him, I let out a sigh and set a hand on his shoulder. "Thanks, Bishop."

"You're very welcome, ladyship."

I unrolled the parchment still in my pocket and moved forward into the room at the end of the hall. The corpses of a massive ratlike creature and male Orc were splayed on the floor, gashes across their bodies presumably made from Bishop's knife. "Okay. Let's get serious." I approached the table and smoothed out the sketch of my target. "Again, the guy looks like this. If you see him, don't kill him. That's my job."

"So you want me to cripple him instead, get him in the leg to stop him from running? I suppose a well-placed shot could sever some very important tendons."

Making a face, I continued. "Brynjolf said to ask Vekel in the Ragged Flagon about him. Apparently, Vekel knows the ins and outs of the Ratway."

"Well, you're in luck, ladyship." Bishop made a grand sweeping motion and pointed to the nearest door. "You'll find the Ragged Flagon there, along with this Vekel character." He grinned. "Their mead isn't horrible, so long as you get a clean mug."

"Once I talk to Vekel... gods, I can't wait to go through every goddamn nook and cranny of this reeking sewer, so I can find this motherfucker and put a knife in his throat and a sword up his ass!" A cloud of dust flew up out from nowhere, and I realized my voice had risen into a hateful shout. Admittedly, I would relish the memory of Bishop's wide, shocked eyes for the rest of my life. I coughed into my elbow and smiled, embarrassed for losing my composure. "So... let's go, yeah?"

"As you wish. Well, lead the way, princess." Clenching my teeth, I took another look at the parchment and shoved it into my pocket. I drew my twin swords, ready for business. If he was in the Ratway, I'd be asking him a lot of questions before flaying him alive. For example, I'd be asking what the hell was going through his mind in Oblivion before I stuck something sharp through it, who the fuck he thought he was, a lot of who-what-why questions, really.

The Ragged Flagon seemed to live up to its name. Ragged and full of rascals clutching their flagon like it was the last thing they cared about. Maybe it was.

I weaved through the small crowd, heading for the bar where Vekel was. As we approached, he eyed us with distrust, and I prepared the parchment. "Hello."

"Who are you?" Vekel growled, pausing in his task of wiping down the bar.

I slammed the paper down, trying not to let my body quiver with the level of my fury. A gentle hand pressing on the small of my back stilled me, letting me know I hadn't been as subtle as I'd intended. "I need to find this man and heard he might be hiding out in the Ratway. Any ideas?"

Vekel scratched at his chin as he scanned the face. "I might, but my memory's a bit fuzzy..."

"Gods be damned, I'm sick of you extortionists!" I snapped, throwing a pouch of coin- about fifty septims- onto the bar. "Tell me what you know!"

"Calm down, ladyship," Bishop's low voice whispered in my ear, brushing a few strands of my hair aside. "Putting that bleeding heart of yours onto your sleeve isn't a way to get things done."

I pushed him away and watched Vekel scoop the pouch up. "Yeah, I know your boy. He was in here a few months ago on some sort of treasure hunt. From what I understand, he left for Windhelm not too long ago."

"Windhelm," I whispered, my brain going over the different cities in Skyrim. Almost directly north of here, likely a few days' trip. My heart started beating quicker, the idea of holding that fucker's neck in my hands and choking the life out of him all too attractive of an idea. "Thanks." I turned on my heel and stormed out of the Ragged Flagon with Karnwyr at my feet, Bishop trailing not too far behind.

"Ladyship!" he called out once we'd reached the bridge. "Ladyship, hold up!"

"I don't want to hold up! I want to find that motherfucker and impale his head on a spike!" Wincing, I held my head in my hands.

"Sweetness, I'm all for revenge, but you need to rest before we get anywhere."

I scowled at the muscled ranger. "Oh? And give him more time to escape?" A few heartbeats passed, Bishop's golden eyes observing me. I took a deep breath. "Sorry. It's just..." I scrambled for the words. "I'm sorry, but I can't tell you. I-"

"Don't trust me. That's fine, ladyship." He gave a slight frown, and his voice dropped down deep. "We've all got a few skeletons in our closet we don't want to be found."