Author's Note:

Dear all,

as the title suggests, this is the continuation of my fanfic Northbound Pilgrimage. The story follows the journeys of my Dragonborn, Aeyrin – a Bosmer cleric from the city of Chorrol, and Bishop from Skyrim Romance Mod (as well as other minor characters).

For those of you who have read the first book, I am very glad that you stuck through the entire thing, and I am eternally grateful for your support and readership. Without all of you, I'd never take my writing this far :)

For those of you who didn't read the first book, I would suggest that you do, if you plan on reading this one. This is a direct continuation with tons of references and spoilers for the previous events and I'm pretty sure that you'd get lost very soon. The first book is available in its entirety on SRM website, Wattpad, FFnet and AO3.

In any case, I hope everyone enjoys the read, and I hope that you stick around to see where the story goes. There's a lot of unfinished business yet and I can't wait to share it all with you.

Enjoy :)


Chapter I – Four Words

It was finally over.

Her grip on the mildew-covered grass eased as her tense body finally relaxed a little.

It felt like it was getting worse.

She took a couple of deep breaths, while her heart continued pounding in her chest and her body heaved, covered in sweat. She could have sworn there was smoke coming out of her.

But of course there wasn't. There never was.

She was getting better at handling this before. At least it felt like it. But now, if anything, it felt much worse than it used to. Almost as bad as the first time.

She got back up on her feet unceremoniously before taking one more deep breath. It even took her so much longer to calm down when it was over. It was devastating to think of all that progress just… gone.

She wasn't left with much time to concern herself over it, however. A second later, a large hand squeezed her shoulder and a familiar voice echoed from behind her, full of worry: "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, thank you, Erik," she smiled a bit, as much as she could while she was still recovering, and she gently patted his hand on her shoulder.

Erik let his touch fall from her a little uncertainly, but soon enough, his attention was captured by something else as he approached the remains of the dead beast.

"I can't believe we killed it! I helped the Dragonborn kill a dragon!" he suddenly clapped his hands together in excitement. She almost expected him to start jumping up and down with joy. It was quite heartwarming to see such joy from their success. The battle was rough, but they both managed to persevere in the end.

Aeyrin looked over the dead bodies on the ground – four heavily armed men were lying at her feet, unmoving. If she had gotten there a little sooner, perhaps this could have been avoided.

But there was nothing to do about that now.

At least Erik was alright.

He had appeared like a saving grace, running into the fray alongside her when she least expected it.

For quite some time, she feared that she'd be left alone to face the dragon. It would have been the very first time for. Up until now, there was always someone with her. There were always soldiers, Companions, armed travelers and… Bishop.

It'd been over two months since they parted ways. Since she left.

But despite all the reassuring proverbs she ran through her head, time did not make it easier. It did not heal all wounds.

For a time, she was just wandering around Skyrim, aimless, purposeless.

She felt like she had nowhere to go. She was so afraid of walking into another ambush prepared by Mercer's associates, so she avoided any place that she could think of that could be teeming with people like that. And she still didn't feel ready to see Lydia. Bitter feelings filled her any time she even thought of that possibility. And the thought of spending her time with the Companions filled her with similar dread – it wasn't about Farkas's strange behavior, leaving Whiterun before she could see Aela, after she had so recklessly divulged Bishop's identity to the Jarl. Now, she simply didn't want to answer any questions. About where Bishop was, what happened between them… what happened to her. And so, every place that used to feel safe, that used to feel like home, just… didn't anymore.

She thought that with time, she could work through her feelings, that she would be able to move on from the memories.

But that time never seemed to approach.

And now she dreaded even thinking about it, let alone speaking about it with anyone.

When she received a letter from Raven some time ago, it was… terrifying. She didn't want to see him. She didn't want to see anyone who was there in Falkreath. She didn't want to see anyone who knew what had transpired.

But Raven made it a necessity.

She could have refused to help him, but… she knew that she couldn't live like this. She couldn't live in constant fear of that dreaded bounty.

She needed to help with their mission.

She needed to help take Mercer down.

Her meeting with Raven was oddly… comforting, in the end. He never mentioned anything about the events, aside from the report on their success in Falkreath. And the reports of their misfortune in the Rift.

Aeyrin knew that it was her fault. Her brash escape from the tavern in Falkreath and subsequent capture forced them to adjust their plans to save her. But Raven never mentioned any of that, he never cast any blame her way, even if there was plenty to be cast.

He was sweet and considerate. She wondered for a while if he was behaving that way only to gain her assistance, but… she hoped that he wasn't. He probably knew that she would assist with the Guild, even if he had blamed her for the events in Falkreath. It was worthwhile. It was… her duty.

And if the death of the dragons plaguing Maven Black-Briar's caravans on the roads helped the woman see that Mercer was doing harm to her business with the bounty, it was only right for her to do this, no matter how much she might have wished it wasn't.

She's been following Maven's caravans from a distance for some time now, waiting for the beasts to attack.

The first one attacked a fortnight ago. Luckily, Maven's guards were there to help her during the battle. It didn't make the absorption any easier – it was the first time after she had left Bishop that she encountered one of the creatures, and she had a sneaking suspicion that the process was only harder with the knowledge that he wasn't there to hold her through it.

Regrets flooded her instantly then. More than ever she wished that she had never left. More than ever she wished that he was still by her side.

These thoughts have been plaguing her constantly. Her mind was in a perpetual state of conflict. At times, she reassured herself that she did the right thing, calmly reminding herself that she needed time to work through her feelings. At other times, she got angry. Angry at all the lies, all the secrets, seething at what he wrought with his selfish desires to keep her in the dark, convincing himself it was for her 'safety'.

And at other times… she just wanted to see him. She just wanted to seek shelter in his embrace and to forget all the difficulties in her life, all the bad memories. She just wanted to drown in the feeling of being close to him. She wanted to forgive him for everything, forget everything and start over, with him.

She was glad that she hadn't seen him ever since she had left. It was inevitable, eventually, she knew that. Especially since they were both still working with the same people, towards the same goals. But as long as she felt like this, always conflicted, she knew that she wasn't ready to deal with any of this. The letters he sent her were bad enough at making her pine for him. She kind of hated herself for that. But… on the other hand… she did appreciate them. And the fact that he still cared for her just as much as he did before she left, made her… happy.

She looked over the corpse of the beast again.

This time she wasn't so lucky – the guards were already dead by the time she made it there and she was sure that she wouldn't be able to kill a dragon all on her own.

But then Erik appeared, as if from out of nowhere.

How did he get so good in battle? She could still remember the boy, chopping at skeevers in the small hut. Maybe he was always this good, they just couldn't tell because the battle with the skeevers was hardly difficult. He did help them with a dragon before, although, granted, it was almost dead already. But he did save their hides back then.

"Erik… thank you so much. I… I couldn't have done this without you," she smiled at him with exhaustion still etched on her face after the battle and her long travels.

Erik laughed heartily in response while he wiped the sweat from his brow. "I bet that's not true at all! But I'm glad I could help anyways. Shor's ass, that felt… good!" He stretched with a wide grin on his face, still exhilarated from their victory.

If only there were more people like him. The dragons didn't feel nearly as menacing with someone like Erik bravely facing them without hesitation. He seemed even more ready for this kind of danger than Delphine, whose sole goal in life now was to rid Skyrim of these beasts.

Oh! That actually wasn't a bad thought.

Erik was perfect. Just the person that the Blades could use.

A veritable dragon-slayer.

But before Aeyrin even managed to broach the subject, a heavyset man called out to them as he hurried up the small hill that they perched atop with the dragon corpse, as well as the man's deceased guards. He had been driving Maven's caravan, not far from Rorikstead, when the beast appeared and attacked.

The man huffed in effort, panting wildly when he finally made it up the hill. His eyes were still wide from the shock and his body was shaking with uncontained fear.

"By the Eight… you… you killed it!" He peered at the enormous bones beside them. "I-i-is it… is it really dead?" He narrowed his eyes at it. It was obvious that he'd heard the rumors – the beasts couldn't be killed without Aeyrin around.

"Of course it's dead! You have the Dragonborn right here!" Erik beamed with excitement and grabbed Aeyrin around her shoulders, squeezing her to his side proudly. He was clearly still elated from the battle.

The man's eyes went wide as he looked Aeyrin over before a bright smile formed on his face a second later. At least that was a sign that Maven didn't extend the knowledge of Mercer's bounty to all her people. Otherwise he'd be plotting her demise already for the fifteen thousand drakes promised for her head.

"I… I can't thank you enough! You saved my life! Both of you," he smiled demurely at Erik. "How can I repay you?"

Aeyrin wanted to answer, but she was promptly interrupted by Erik's beaming smile: "No repayment necessary, my good man. The victory is rewarding enough." He squeezed her around the shoulders again with a mischievous wink. She couldn't help but smile at his genuineness, despite her exhaustion and less than stellar mood. His excitement made her wistful. She wished that she could still feel like this again.

"Let me at least pay for your meal and rooms at the inn. I'm sure that you could use the rest," the man smiled at them with kindness in his eyes.

Erik chuckled a little in response. He hardly needed that, since his father owned the nearby inn, but he didn't mention it. He only nodded in agreement.

Aeyrin did want to stop for the night in any case and getting food and room for free was definitely helpful.

"T-there's… uh… just one problem…" the man gave them both a nervous look while he inclined his head back towards the caravan on the road. It was clear what his issue was. His horse did not survive the encounter. It looked like it simply dropped dead on the spot, still tied to the caravan. Maybe it was so spooked that its heart gave out.

Erik nodded at the man eagerly and he instantly let go of Aeyrin to head down the hill. She joined him after a second with a subdued sigh. Rorikstead wasn't far, but the idea of dragging the caravan with their hands wasn't very pleasant.

But leaving it there only for Maven to lose her goods to anyone coming by would defeat Aeyrin's whole purpose there.

"You know, I appreciate the help. With the horse. It was a bit… pricey, but… not like I had a lot of options here," the merchant, who had earlier introduced himself as Keldst, sighed dramatically, but the smile never left his face. "I am sure that my employer will compensate me though."

Aeyrin and Erik managed to get the caravan to Rorikstead, upon which one of the farmers eagerly offered Keldst to sell him one of his horses. Keldst agreed, without any other options, and he then joined the two adventurers at the tavern to pay for their meal and two rooms. Erik still didn't divulge his connection to the innkeeper and his father was more than happy to accept the extra coin.

"I still lost my guards though," the merchant sighed. "Any chance you two would be interested in taking their place until I get to Solitude?" He gave the two of them a hopeful look while he rubbed his thumb against his index and middle fingers to signal the eventual payoff for accepting.

"Oh… I'm sorry, I have somewhere to be. I have to leave in the morning," Aeyrin gave Keldst an apologetic smile. She needed to return to Raven – she had promised to come back after every successful battle against a dragon attacking the caravans. This was only the second one, but she still needed to know where to search for the third caravan. Or possibly to find out whether it was a good time already to approach Maven and discuss the bounty with her. Raven was convinced that she'd see how reckless Mercer's vengeance was, that she'd see how needed Aeyrin was.

Erik looked a little crestfallen at that, but he smiled at Keldst a second later, nodding. "I could accompany you. I'll make sure that you make it to Solitude unharmed."

In turn, Keldst beamed at him excitedly while he reached out to shake his hand with eagerness and a relieved sigh escaping his lips. "Excellent! You will be well compensated, I assure you. My employer can be a very grateful woman," he smiled conspiratorially. He still didn't divulge to them who he was working for, but Aeyrin already knew anyway.

"I think I'm gonna turn in now. Honestly, I don't know how you two are still able to even sit straight after that battle," Keldst chuckled nervously before he got up from his seat by their shared table. "Thank you again. And thank you, Dragonborn, for getting rid of the beast for good. My employer will be very glad to hear about your deeds."

Music to her ears! She really hoped that Raven would poach Maven back soon, or at the very least make her disregard the price that Mercer had put on her head.

Keldst left the two of them alone in the rather empty tavern to finally retire to his rented room. At least now Aeyrin would be able to speak to Erik freely. She was still sure that he would respond positively to her offer.

"Wow! That was some battle, wasn't it? I couldn't help but remember when we met, how I told you that I never wanted to even see a dragon," Erik chuckled heartily. "I have to admit… it was… exciting. I'm sure that I wouldn't fare as well without you, but still," he sighed wistfully. He didn't tell his father yet about what had transpired. Aeyrin wondered whether he ever would. The father was worried about him enough as it was.

But it was good news that the battle didn't sour him for more.

But before she could broach the subject again, Erik shot her a worried look while he spoke up again: "So… where's Bishop?"

Ugh… she feared that he would ask eventually.

She had trouble enough as it was not thinking about him. It was clearly not meant to be. Thoughts of Bishop would simply follow her wherever she went. It was hardly the fault of other people though. She herself was unable to stop thinking about him constantly and Erik was just surprised that he didn't see him around.

"I… I don't know," she sighed. It was true at least, but she really hoped that this would discourage more questions.

Erik's eyes went wide, but a second later, he threw her a sympathetic smile while he moved his hand in front of his mouth and gestured as if he was locking it shut with an imaginary key.

"Sorry. I won't pry."

She smiled at him gratefully. She needed to change the subject now fast, before she found herself lost in these thoughts again.

"Listen, Erik, I have an offer for you, sort of," she looked at him, a little unsure about how to explain things. Delphine had mentioned that she should only approach those that she trusted, but… that was a… difficult concept right now, after everything that happened. At the very least, she knew that Erik would hardly rat the Blades out to the Thalmor. Probably.

Erik leaned on the table with an eager smile. He seemed so excited about everything, even before he knew what this was about. It was very endearing.

"Have you… have you ever heard of the Blades?" she gave him a questioning look. Most of the people probably have, but even she didn't know their true purpose before she met Delphine.

"Yeah… uh… they used to be bodyguards for the Septims, right?" he raised his brow at her, pondering her intent. It was the answer that she had expected.

"Yes… they were. But before that, apparently, they were… dragon-slayers," she gave him a meaningful look, hoping that he would start to catch on soon. "There… there are still some of them… working against the returning dragons. I… I've been working with them, trying to figure out how to end this… well… all of this," she sighed. She should probably not spring everything on him right away.

"Really? There's an actual group of dragon-slayers?" he gasped in astonishment. Well… that was not exactly accurate. She was pretty sure that Delphine and Esbern weren't walking around killing dragons. It would be kind of pointless anyway, without Aeyrin with them.

She started to wonder what any recruit would even be doing with the Blades. But maybe Delphine would train him, to be a better dragon-slayer, to learn their weaknesses and how to battle them. Not that Aeyrin knew anything about that… she always just improvised.

But Delphine wanted new members. She must have had a plan for them.

"There's… not many. But they were hoping to bolster their numbers, to find help against the dragons. Maybe keeping them at bay, studying them in battle to learn the best ways to deal with them," she gave him a wry smile. That seemed like the most likely plan for a potential recruit like him. Didn't it?

"Wait! Are you… are you telling me this because… you want me to join them?" Erik gasped again and his eyes went wide at her instantly.

She only nodded at him with another smile while she absentmindedly fluffed the hair by her right ear. He looked even more excited than before. "If you'd like, I could give them your description and they'd approach you for a meeting and explain everything. It… doesn't really… pay, I think. But…" she wasn't sure how to make her case. Saying that it was the right thing to do sounded like a weak selling point.

"Say no more! I would love to help you. And them. I mean… these beasts need to be dealt with. They threaten Rorikstead too!" he beamed at her with a wide grin and an enthusiastic nod.

Well… that was easy. She did have a good feeling about him.

He was such an amazing person. Exactly what a young adventurer should be. She wished that she could still get excited over all of this, just like him. She still tried to do what she used to, help whoever she could, do whatever good she could. But… everything seemed… off now. She wasn't even sure what the real reason was. Maybe it was her general bad mood, maybe the lack of energy. Maybe it was the bad memories constantly taking her mind off the things that she used to love. Maybe it was the fact that… she was doing this alone now, after so long.

The one year anniversary of her arrival in Skyrim was approaching. She had always wondered where she would be at that point. At first, she thought that she would be back in Chorrol, then she thought that she'd be still in Skyrim, but… not alone. She thought that she'd still be with Bishop. She never thought that things would end up like this. That she would end up being hunted, aimless and alone.

"That's great, Erik. Really, I wish there were more people like you around," she smiled wistfully and Erik gently touched her hand in return with a sympathetic look in his eyes. The weariness must have been palpable on her face. "I'll let them know. Hopefully they found more recruits on their own already and you'd be joining a much more… prominent group," she chuckled slightly.

Delphine would definitely be ecstatic about him nonetheless. Well… after the inevitable paranoid outburst.

Aeyrin slumped down onto the bed tiredly.

She had spent some more time talking to Erik before she could finally retire to her room. She was getting so exhausted. And she still needed to write a letter to Delphine and send it to the Sleeping Giant. One of the update messages from Delphine mentioned that it was the best place to reach her eventually – she could hardly have messages delivered to her at the Sky Haven Temple. Although, Aeyrin was pretty sure that the Imperial Courier Service would manage even that.

She really wanted to go to sleep already, but she had no illusions about getting any good rest anyways.

She never could, not since she had left Falkreath.

If she wasn't tossing and turning in bed, she was plagued by constant nightmares. It kind of reminded her of Dawnstar, but at least there, she couldn't remember the vicious dreams.

With a resigned sigh, she rummaged in her pack before she pulled out her papers and quill with the bottled up inkwell. The messages that she didn't get rid of for security's sake, or sentimentality's sake, were pulled out along the blank parchments, of course, with Bishop's crude handwriting prominently displayed to her eyes.

She didn't want to think about him, but for some reason, reading the letters over and over still made her feel better. Or sometimes they made her sadder. She wasn't sure anymore.

She still couldn't stop herself from reading them and imagining answering. She still hadn't and it only made her feel guilty. But… she never knew what to say.

He wasn't really one for writing elaborate encouraging or sympathetic letters, not like Master Therien, and he was far more focused on actually conveying some information, but they still somehow managed to warm her heart every single time.

She took the first one into her hand, resigned to read it over again:

.

Princess, I know you don't wanna see me, but at least for now, I need to make sure that you know who to avoid so that you don't get into some shitty situation. I managed to pry the information on all of Mercer's current associates from Karliah. Stay clear of these people, no matter what!

Black-Briars (the whole fucking family, just stay away from Riften, that's the safest bet)

Silver-Bloods (not like you don't already know that)

Shatter-Shields (a noble family in Windhelm, but I guess that one's out of the question for you anyways)

Rest of Thorn's clans (better stay away from the areas around north-west Rift around Lake Geir, Karliah's mission in that place didn't end well)

A smuggler ring near Winterhold (no one knows their location yet, but just be careful if you're in the area, unless you wanna get ambushed)

Tilmuril (we don't know where he ended up after Fellhammer either, not really helpful with that one, huh?)

The Guild is still officially loyal to Mercer, but things are starting to heat up there and most of them are definitely against the bounty. Either way, without Thorn around, anyone who wants to claim the bounty would need to get you to Mercer personally. The Guild wouldn't really allow that, I think, but Mercer can still make arrangements to have you delivered somewhere covertly.

Just be careful, please.

Bishop

.

The letter was delivered to her not long after she had left Falkreath, maybe a week after. He must have gotten the information when he reconvened with Karliah about how the mission went.

It was quite clear that he was wary of broaching personal subjects and he opted to stick only to the necessary information, but it still made her smile to read it. As much as she had feared before that getting rid of Mercer and Thorn were his only concern, his main intentions were laid bare by the letter. All this time, he was doing this to keep her safe. She sort of knew that, ever since he had confessed everything to her, but still, the letter always made her feel a little better about things whenever she read it all over again.

With a wistful smile, she reached for the second letter promptly:

.

I got your armor and mace back from Karliah. I didn't know what to do with them. I doubt that you'd wanna meet up so that I can return them to you. I snuck into Whiterun instead and left it at Breezehome. I hope you'll get this before you spend a fortune on new shit. I left your cut from the bounty on Thorn there too.

And at least I got my armor back too. Wouldn't want to lose that.

Bishop

.

She smiled to herself again. She doubted that she had done anything to deserve the cut from the bounty – she kind of messed up the operation in the first place, and it was a rather substantial coin purse. She was really happy to get her things back though. The Stendarrite amulet was not among them and neither were her clothes, but at least the armor, shield and mace were intact.

She had a bit of a hard time getting those things back though. She still didn't want to run into Lydia. She actually went to the trouble of lurking around the city and waiting somewhere in a shadowy corner until she saw her leave for the Mare, likely to visit Saadia. Then she quickly snuck into her house to retrieve her items. She even tried to disguise herself with her cloak and some old blanket, as much as she could. She didn't want anyone getting a word about her presence in Whiterun.

But Bishop's gesture was sweet nonetheless. He risked so much by even approaching the city and by even being in Whiterun Hold. He did tell her that he knew about a secret route, but still, it wasn't necessary for him to risk it.

Luckily he was kind of right, as she had postponed getting herself proper new armor for quite some time. She purchased a simple iron armor and mace – it was supposed to last only until she would feel like spending a whole day at the forge. In the end, it worked out for the best.

She reached out for the last letter. This one arrived only two weeks ago:

.

Been talking to Raven about what you're up to. I'm glad you're alive at least. Still feels kind of shitty not to be there with you when you throw yourself against dragons. I'm not really thrilled about the mission Raven has you on, but I guess I've got no say in that. Not like I ever did, if you put your mind to it. I know it's my own fault, but I still wish I could be there with you to watch your back.

Just be careful, princess.

Bishop

.

She sighed as she read the words over.

More often than not, she wished that he would be there too.

She didn't like that he blamed himself for the whole thing. Not that there wasn't plenty to blame him for, but there was plenty to blame herself for too. And other people to blame.

She knew that she needed time to think things over, but she wasn't even sure where to start.

She just wanted things to go back to how they used to be. She just wanted to feel… normal again.

But that seemed impossible.

Ugh! Stop thinking about this!

That was exactly her problem! Every time she started to genuinely want to work through the thoughts in her head, she got so… anxious and overwhelmed, she couldn't stand it. She had to force herself to focus on other things instantly, hard as it was.

She really hoped that a time would come when she could feel ready to deal with everything plaguing her mind.

She put the letters away hesitantly.

She still felt so guilty about not answering any of them. She knew that Bishop was concerned for her and she didn't really want him to think that she wanted to ignore him.

She meant what she had told him that day. She would never want him out of her life.

But she just… didn't know what to say.

With a deep sigh she grabbed a blank paper and the quill.

It didn't matter that she didn't know what to write. She needed to force herself to do it.

Maybe that would make her feel better.

Bishop downed the rest of his mead morosely.

The day couldn't get much shittier, and the prospect of waiting for a new mission only made things worse. He hated the waiting. It gave him too much time to think.

He couldn't really call today's task a success…

He met with Brynjolf deep in the forests of the Rift to find out the newest developments in the Guild. There was not much information that he could get from the man though. Instead, he pretty much got yelled at for hours. It was no wonder that Brynjolf was livid with how the situation had developed, with how heated things had gotten. He did tell Bishop no to stir shit up.

Oh well. Bishop still knew that Brynjolf wanted to get rid of Mercer as much as anyone, but his approach to wait for him to slip up was hardly effective. Some of the Guild members already knew that Mercer emptied the vault with his Skeleton Key, what the fuck was he still waiting for? An uprising would be bloody, Mercer still had a lot of support and loyalty, but that didn't mean that they should just do nothing!

Hopefully at least Aeyrin's efforts could get Maven back on their side.

He sighed. When he let his thoughts steer back to her, it only made him feel worse. It was not like he could help it though. It happened way too often. He couldn't stop wondering what she was doing just now, whether she was alright.

Sometimes he wondered if she even missed him at all.

She never responded to any of his letters. He didn't know why he still got his hopes up. He knew that she had gotten them. The last time he visited Lydia, the armor he had left there was gone. He wasn't really sure if that made him feel better or worse.

Lydia said that she never even saw her. Aeyrin must have avoided her somehow, likely on purpose.

And of course, Lydia was properly bitter about Bishop divulging all the secrets and dragging her down with him. He just wanted to tell Aeyrin everything at that time, he was sick of lying to her. He felt bad for Lydia, but there was nothing that he could do about it now.

At least Lydia did begrudgingly let him apologize and she somewhat tolerated his company when he had returned. He wasn't sure why he did return in the first place. At first, it was to leave the armor… but then… He didn't get it. Being alone with Karnwyr in the wilderness suddenly… wasn't enough.

Not that spending time with Lydia helped that much.

He knew that the only one he really wanted to see was Aeyrin.

But apparently, she couldn't even bring herself to write him back. He would have given anything by now for even the slightest hint of willingness to communicate at this point.

More than anything, he needed her back. Whatever it took.

But how the fuck was he supposed to do that with how things were now?!

And now he would spend days alone again, waiting for instructions from Karliah and constantly thinking about Aeyrin. It was not an encouraging prospect.

With another long sigh, Bishop motioned at Lynly to pour him another tankard. Just like the last few times, once more, she threw him a concerned look, but she walked over to the bar and poured him the drink without a word nonetheless.

She was giving him strange looks ever since he had appeared at Vilemyr Inn. She was likely wondering where Aeyrin was, and why he was just sitting there morosely, staring into his cups. But he made it pretty clear right up front that he was in no mood for conversation.

Lynly seemed rather crestfallen, since the inn was almost empty and she looked a bit bored, but he couldn't care less.

He eagerly returned to his mead and continued staring into the tankard again after every deep swig. The time just dragged on that evening. He had nothing to do but try to drown his thoughts in the alcohol.

It wasn't really working, but at least some brief distraction presented itself soon enough. The door to the inn opened and he could hear someone walk in. Maybe that would give Lynly someone to talk to and she would stop throwing him those annoying looks.

He heard the footsteps suddenly approach him and he threw his head back.

"Imperial Courier Service," the dark-haired man announced himself, presenting Bishop with a small folded note.

Already? That was quick. Karliah must have had something in the works right after he had left for the Rift. That was a good sign. Maybe it would be something more interesting than the constant busywork he had been doing.

Bishop accepted the letter and waited before the courier left.

At least this would give him something to focus on.

He unfolded the small note eagerly, but his eyes went wide when he noticed the neat titled handwriting.

He recognized it instantly. He's seen it too many times before – when she was scribbling on the long pages of her letters to Therien, or when she was pinpointing everything on their agenda in her journal. It was definitely Aeyrin's.

He couldn't even register the four words written on it. His vision almost completely clouded as his mind flooded with frantic thoughts.

He wasn't sure whether he wanted to read it now.

After over two months, it couldn't be anything good. And he knew how long the letters she usually wrote were. This did not bode well.

He was sure that it was something like: 'Leave me alone already' or 'Don't contact me again'.

Why else would she write to him now?

Stop this, idiot, and just read it!

He took another deep breath before he finally looked over the words on the paper.

He felt a wave of relief wash over him and a smile forced its way on his face. Why did the four simple words make him feel so… hopeful?

.

Thank you.

Love, Aeyrin