Chapter CVIII – Vultures and Pariahs

A loud creak behind her back drew Aeyrin's attention from the city ahead.

It wasn't anything new when the Whiterun gates closed again, but she still looked back. Maybe she hadn't been here in a while and the sound caught her off guard. It had been quite a long time. The last time she was in the city, so much was different. There was no Brotherhood, at least not chasing Bishop. Mercer and Karliah were still alive. She wondered how much things had changed in here.

She was actually… excited. She was always anxious about going to Whiterun, ever since Bishop's bounty became a problem. That didn't change. There was the constant fear at the back of her mind. Bishop was out there – in the wilderness, where he shouldn't be. He was being safe, she knew that. He was waiting there until nightfall when it wouldn't be so easy to see him enter the city through the secret smuggling route. But she still worried about him.

Yet more than that, she was excited to be back. She was looking forward to seeing Saadia and Lydia. She was looking forward to the house and she was looking forward to being there with Bishop too. All four of them together again in that place. She couldn't wait. And she was also excited to see the Companions again. Some of them at least.

But as the creak continued to screech behind her, something else drew her attention. A different noise, drowning it out. It was loud enough to hear – the guards behind the gate were talking. She wouldn't have paid it any mind, but their words stuck to her ears and piqued her interest immediately.

"Think we shoulda told her?"

What? Was that guard talking about her? Who else would he be talking about? She just passed them as she went through the gate.

"Nah. She'll find out soon enough," the other guard snorted.

What was that about? 'Tell her' what? 'Find out' what?

They said nothing more and Aeyrin was only left there staring at the closed gate. It wasn't like the gate would keep her from hearing them further. There was a gap on the bottom. And on top of it of course - they were just battlements, they didn't go on forever, they couldn't keep whatever the men were saying from her in any way. That was kind of a shoddy gate, now that she thought about it. Nothing like the one in Solitude or Windhelm. Or Markarth, but then again, nothing could really beat Dwarven architecture.

And why in Oblivion was she thinking about gates?

She shook her head at her own antics and turned on her heel, back towards the city. There were people around. People who just saw her staring at a gate for no reason. She just needed to get to…

Oh.

Gods.

That was what the guards were talking about.

She didn't even have to take a step away from the gates to see it. Breezehome was right there, only a few houses past the city entrance. She could see it from here easily. She could see the large white letters painted on the side of the house, plain for everyone to see.

.

BANDIT WHORE

.

A chill enveloped her instantly. She felt like she stood there, paralyzed in place for a long time. It probably wasn't very long at all, but it felt like an eternity. She felt people stare at her, taking in her shocked reaction. She could hear them giggle in the distance.

She let out a shuddering breath and finally stepped away. She didn't want to keep standing there with them gawking at her. She didn't want to look at anyone either though. She didn't want to give them the satisfaction of knowing that she had noticed their stares. And the only thing she could stare at, without looking all around at the residents littering the streets, were those letters.

Why? Were the people here really so petty, so bitter? It had been months. They still all lived off that rumor. That bounty. Everyone was all too happy to blame everything bad in the world on Bishop. And they were all too happy to paint her at as the stupid naïve girl who just got tricked by a bandit because he 'seduced' her or something. She understood how it was a popular narrative. Azshan would have loved this. But how were they entertained by it for so long? Did they just want to torment someone and felt safe doing it to those who weren't even about?

Those who weren't around… was that it? There were still people around. People who got affected by this. Much more than she ever did.

She couldn't help but stop for a second when she reached the house. She could see that the letters were smudged a bit in several spots. And the white paint was more light-grey now. They've been there for a while now. And the smudges weren't from rain. They were circular. Someone tried to erase those letters. But obviously they couldn't. Even rain probably couldn't, if it even rained since this happened.

It didn't matter. She knew that Lydia and Saadia tried to get rid of those. She didn't even think that they did it to keep the house clean or anything. She couldn't imagine either of the women giving the residents the satisfaction of seeing them struggle trying to clean this. She knew they did it for her. So that she wouldn't have to see this.

They had to deal with these vultures the entire time and yet they still tried to protect her from them. They always had. Even if it was just by never fully admitting how bad things were here for them.

Aeyrin looked at the door to the house briefly, then ahead on the road. She saw a small group of people by the road, whispering something. She could have sworn that they were looking at her while they did. Whenever she was here, she wasn't sure if she was just paranoid or if it was really that bad, but she didn't care anymore. The letters alone were bad enough.

She wanted nothing more than to run into that house and hide from everyone.

Except that she wouldn't be able to hide from everyone. Not from Saadia and Lydia. She wanted to see them, she was looking forward to this so much, but now it was like there was a cloud hanging over everything. They would wave their hands dismissively, saying that it wasn't that bad and that people were just assholes and it didn't bother them. But she knew that it bothered them. How could it not? But they would just keep reassuring her and fussing over her.

She just… didn't want that. Not now. Her excitement was effectively snuffed out. She just… needed to get away. For a bit. She just needed to snap herself out of this. Out of the shock, the constant anxiety that clawed on her when people looked her way or whispered around her.

No. She would come back later. She just needed a minute.

What was she supposed to do before Bishop showed up?

Buy supplies. That… was… out of the question. The last time she tried, Belethor threw her out because of the 'dreaded bandit'. She came to Whiterun hoping that all this had already passed, but it was obviously just the same. Or worse. This felt worse.

The other thing she had been planning on was to visit Jorrvaskr.

It was a good time. She would like to spend the next day when Bishop was here at the house with everyone. And right now, it felt like the best idea.

The Companions had already pestered her about Bishop enough, hadn't they? They wouldn't anymore. She just needed to have a drink, something nice to eat and to listen to some of their adventuring stories. It would put her mind at ease at least a little. It would distract her from this. Then she could just go back to Breezehome, not nearly as overwhelmed as she was now.

Aeyrin took a step towards the market square and marched forth, determined to ignore everyone around her as she did. It was harder than it seemed though.

She could see them watching her, no matter how hard she tried not to look anyone's way. She could hear them whisper. Some of them didn't even bother to whisper.

"I can't believe she still shows her face here."

"I hear she's still harboring him somewhere."

At least those were the more 'polite' ones. She really wanted to block out the other things she overheard. Especially those about a 'desperate whore, too stupid to tell a bandit from an actual person'. Was it odd to be more offended about the fact that they didn't consider bandits 'people'? She was probably overthinking all of this anyway. She shouldn't be thinking about this at all.

Why did she let it get to her at all? She envied Bishop so much just then. She wished that she could just… ignore people.

The marketplace was the worst. She traversed it as fast as she could, but the clanking of her armor didn't exactly allow her to be subtle. She should have taken it off before she entered the city, but she was just so excited to get to the house quickly.

Stupid. So stupid.

She just wanted to get away. She just wanted to stop listening to them talk. She just wanted some quiet.

Dammit, she should have just gone to the house. Now it felt too late. If she turned on her heel now and went all the way back, it would look like she was enjoying the scrutiny or something.

Gods, she hated this. She hated overthinking this. She hated feeling like this. She just wanted to be at Jorrvaskr already.

She just wanted to stop listening.

"What do you think will happen?"

What? What were they talking about now?

Maybe it wasn't about her. For Gods' sakes, she was just listening to people's private conversations now. Maybe she was craving the scrutiny in some twisted way. Why was she doing this to herself? Why was she still listening to…

"Do you think they told her?"

'Told her'? The guards at the gates wondered if they should 'tell her'. Was this not about the paint on the house? She would have obviously seen that by now, no matter what, they must have known that.

She couldn't help it. It was instinct. She turned her head to look at the source of those words, but as she did, she never stopped walking up on the steps leading away from the marketplace.

On the very last step, she collided with someone, hard. She couldn't really turn around enough to see in time before the person shoved her in retaliation. She had to flail her arms to steady herself on the step. Now she was thankful for the armor. Even with it on, she almost fell over, down the steps. It wouldn't have been pretty, especially with an audience like this.

A few sparse chuckles rang through the air and she turned back to look at the person who had shoved her. An old woman. Unbelievable. An old woman actually shoved her and almost threw her down the stairs. Gods, she was really rattled.

She tried to ignore the people around her as she shook her head at herself in admonishment.

Stop, for the love of the Eight, just stop noticing them, stop thinking about them.

She took a few absentminded steps back, towards Jorrvaskr, before she could even turn back around. But then something else caught her attention.

A flash of light entered her peripheral vision suddenly. She didn't pay it any mind at first, concentrated on the people around, until it became too prominent, too bright.

She could only manage to turn around towards the source before it blinded her. So bright, she couldn't see anything else when it was upon her. So bright that nobody else would be able to tell what it was.

But she could.

She had seen it too many times before to mistake it for anything else. And seeing it even once had always been enough never to forget it.

First there was confusion. How did this just happen? Where did the light come from? What… what would it feel like this time?

But then the sensations hit her, obliterating all the questions and thoughts from her mind.

Something strange shifted in her. She had been rattled before, anxious, annoyed, angry. But now all that was gone. Now she was just… afraid. So afraid. She didn't know what she was afraid of but she felt this deep, searing fear envelop her. Her whole body began to shake. She was screaming, she was sure of it. Just screaming, on and on, as if she was seeing something horrendous in front of her eyes. But she could see nothing. Just darkness. Horrifying, empty darkness. The shaking of her body made her bones rattle and she felt like she was losing her voice. She just kept screaming. She couldn't stop. She had never been so afraid in her life.

She had no idea what was happening. Everyone must have been staring at her, shivering, crying, cowering.

She felt cold. Alone. She knew that these people were likely just enjoying the show.

But then… why did she feel like someone was touching her?

It made her feel so much more terrified. She screamed again, but no sound came out this time. She just wanted to scream, even cry for help. Why did nobody help her? She was so alone here.

"…Stop…!"

The voices. They were still there, all around. Why wouldn't they just stop? She couldn't take this anymore!

"You are sick! Sick, twisted vultures!"

Why were they yelling at her? Why were… what? 'Vultures'? As in more than one? This wasn't directed at her?

"Look at that. Whores sticking together," another voice rang in Aeyrin's ears unpleasantly.

"Shut up, Olfina! I am so sick of you. Nobody would ever actually want to fuck Jon but you. Get over your drama and leave me alone. And leave her alone too."

What… was… happening?

Aeyrin finally tried to open her eyes. She was so confused. And she still felt so afraid. She had no idea what came over her. That was a dragon soul. Where did it come from? And what was that strange Shout after-effect? She had never felt like this before.

But those were questions to be answered later. Right now, she was more shocked by the sight in front of her.

She was practically surrounded at all sights. People were there, watching her, standing in a circle around her as if they were just watching some street performer. But their faces were filled with twisted fascination and malicious sneers in some cases.

It took her a while to realize that she was on the ground. She must have collapsed. Did she really scream as much as she had thought? That would just make things much worse. That would be so humiliating.

But contrary to what she thought in her delirium, she was not alone.

Someone was holding her in a tight embrace with her head laid on a lap.

"Are you alright, sweetie? That didn't look good," the fierce voice from before became decidedly quieter when the woman spoke now.

Carlotta?

Aeyrin was pretty sure that she had said that aloud, but she didn't hear any actual sound leave her. She was pretty sure that she was still shaking like a leaf too.

"Can you stand? Can you walk? We should get you home." Aeyrin felt a comforting hand touch her head briefly. This woman was like a Gods-send. She kept helping her, despite all these… people. These 'vultures'.

Just then, Aeyrin wanted nothing more than to listen to her and go. Leave all these people behind and hide in the house. Divines, she even saw some of the junior members of the Companions gawking in the crowd. Nobody else even moved an inch to help her.

"What good is she?" someone from the crowd scoffed. "That's how she kills dragons? She just gonna drop dead when there's more of them?"

Gods, stop wondering if he's right, you idiot!

"Come on, come," Carlotta's pleasant voice rang in Aeyrin's ear again instead and she was quickly ushered to stand. She still felt a little weak and very disoriented, but she wanted to leave already too.

Carlotta supported her while she got up in her heavy armor. It felt so much heavier now. Aeyrin could still hear all those comments, she could still feel all those eyes on her, but Carlotta's presence was so oddly comforting. She grabbed Carlotta's arm readily, both to steady herself and to just… not feel so alone. She felt like a scared little kid all of the sudden, clinging to their parent's garb.

As if this wasn't humiliating enough already.

Aeyrin didn't even remember how they got down the stairs and back to the marketplace. Everything felt like it was in a strange haze. But they were already making their way towards Breezehome, without stopping for a single second. Though Carlotta still let Aeyrin lean on her and hold onto her. She wasn't sure why she needed that, but she did.

"What… what just happened?" Aeyrin managed to stammer.

"The dragon? It… it got captured a while ago on the plains," Carlotta let out a sigh. "The soldiers actually carried it into the city in plain sight with no bindings while it was dead. They all bragged about the kill instead of worrying what would happen if it awoke. It was… disturbing. I had to cover Mila's eyes the entire time. But… it worked. They brought it up to Dragonsreach and… imprisoned it. So that it wouldn't keep plaguing the travelers when it awoke. It was… hunting very close to the outskirts."

"Why didn't anyone tell me?" Aeyrin wasn't sure why she even asked. The Jarl may have promised her the courtesy, but that was ages ago. That was before… all this.

This was what the guards at the gates were talking about. Those damn bastards. At least she could have been prepared. Though… she could never really be prepared for this.

"I don't know, sweetie," Carlotta sighed again. "They should have. I… I think it must have been alive again. It's been a while. They probably only killed it when the scouts saw you approach. Or maybe they kept it dead whenever they could? I… I don't know."

There was a brief moment of silence as they marched. They were almost there when Carlotta spoke again.

"That was… terrifying. You screamed so much and then you just fell onto the ground. I was already running to help you but… nobody else… I… I'm sorry. You know how these people are."

"I thought… I thought it would be over by now," Aeyrin couldn't help but choke up a little as the words left her. They were still gawking. Even if she couldn't see anyone right now, she could feel their eyes on her back from a distance.

"Yeah… I thought so too," Carlotta nodded sympathetically. At least she wasn't afraid of standing up for Aeyrin though. She wasn't sure how to ever repay her for everything. Surely this went beyond one threatened bard ages ago.

They were already in front of Breezehome. It was time to go. Time to hide, hopefully.

"Come on, I'll walk you in," Carlotta smiled encouragingly.

Oh Gods, no. Aeyrin didn't want Lydia and Saadia to know what happened. They would find out anyway, but… just not now. She didn't want to talk about this now. She was still piecing it together. And she could still feel the last remnants of the Shout – that horrible fear. Maybe that was why she was so worried about this.

But Carlotta was already opening the door before Aeyrin could react.

With head hung low, Aeyrin followed into the house. Why did she still feel so… helpless, so overwhelmed? What was she doing? They were just some petty, gossiping people. Why did she always have to react like this? It didn't matter if it was here or in Solitude at some stupid balls or if it was some taunting soldiers. Every time she just shut down like this. Scared and… cornered. She hated herself for it just then. Why couldn't she get just as angry at judgmental crowds as she could at Ulfric or any other asshole she was faced with one on one?

"Aeyrin, you're here," Lydia's excited tone echoed through the house the second they entered. It was odd to hear the happiness. It somehow made Aeyrin even more miserable.

Lydia was just grabbing some chicken and frost mirriam from the back shelves, probably preparing dinner. She didn't even look over towards the door for a while. Before she did.

"Oh. Aeyrin, are you alright? And uhm…" her eyes darted towards Carlotta a little uncertainly, but they didn't linger overlong. Lydia seemed more focused on studying Aeyrin with palpable concern.

Was it so obvious that something happened? Aside from Carlotta's presence there.

Well… being 'brought home' probably didn't instill a lot of confidence. And Aeyrin still felt like she was shaking a bit. Did she really cry before, when she was hit with that Shout? Her eyes may have been puffy. And she was pretty sure she couldn't really hide that forlorn expression of hers.

"Carlotta?" Another voice echoed through the house when Saadia appeared at the top of the stairs, summoned by the commotion by the entrance. "If you're here about the thing I wanted, it's a little late now."

"Oh… the turpentine?" Carlotta sighed. 'Turpentine'? For that… paint. Of course it was late, Saadia probably just didn't want Aeyrin to see it. "Sorry, I didn't get a chance yet. I was at the stall and then with Mila all day and… well now…"

"What happened?" Lydia and Saadia were already approaching, both with those concerned expressions on their faces. They should have been the ones that Aeyrin was concerned about. They were the ones living here. It made her feel even worse, how worried they were about her.

"The… dragon," Carlotta answered when Aeyrin still stayed silent. "And the vultures," she murmured under her breath a second later.

"Oh! Aeyrin, we were going to tell you. We thought you would stop by right away," Saadia's brows creased even more. "Or was it still too close? I don't know how this thing works, I thought you had to be close to that thing for it to… well… otherwise it could get you all across Skyrim, right?" She started to babble a bit. She knew about what tended to happen to Aeyrin when a dragon died. Both her and Lydia knew, even if neither of them had ever seen it. First they found out from the rumors. Whiterun was ripe with them after the first dragon died, after she had found out what she is. And then Aeyrin and Bishop spoke about these things with the two freely later, when they were already close. Both the women knew that Aeyrin always went through something awful. And apparently, it didn't even need to just be pain. This time it was just that… fear.

"No… I… yeah… close…" Aeyrin shook her head quickly. "I just… I wanted to go see the Companions first and…"

"You're shaking. Was it bad? We should have waited outside for you or something," Lydia approached her and studied her even more. Gods, they were so concerned. Couldn't they just… stop? It was making everything worse. Aeyrin didn't really even know why it bothered her so much, why it felt like she was getting overwhelmed again. She couldn't help it.

"You should have seen those assholes," Carlotta spat. "They were gawking like it was some spectacle or something. Nobody even went over to her to see if she was alright. She screamed and fell and none of those assholes even moved. Some of them even laughed."

Oh Gods, please stop talking about it!

"What do you expect from these people anyway?" Saadia scoffed in turn and folded her arms across her chest.

But Lydia only continued to look concerned. None of them were really helping Aeyrin get out of this… state.

"Did you see?" Lydia looked so guilty when she asked.

"A blind Moth Priest would be able to see it. It's right there," Saadia growled. They were talking about the paint on the house.

"When we got your letter this morning, we tried to get it off before you get here, but it wouldn't come off," Lydia sighed. "We needed something to help. Like turpentine. But Belethor won't sell to us because of the… well… you know. So Saadia asked Carlotta but… well you heard…"

"Y-yeah… I heard…" Aeyrin stammered. She still felt like she couldn't even calm down from the whole thing, but she tried to concentrate on Saadia and Lydia more. They just left it there on the house. They were only concerned when they knew she was coming. Because of Bishop coming with this time around, they had decided before to let Saadia and Lydia know in advance so that they can be ready for someone trying to sneak into the house at night. But, did they really not care? About the paint, about how the people treated them? "You didn't have to… because of me…"

"Yeah, we did, you shouldn't have to see that," Lydia scowled. "Those shits shouldn't treat you this way."

"Me?" Aeyrin scoffed. "They shouldn't treat you this way. I'm barely here. And you're the ones who get this every day. Because of me."

"It's not your fault, Aeyrin," Lydia gave her such a sympathetic look, it made her feel a little worse again.

"Shit, it's not even Bishop's fault. Not really. It's those fuckers out there. Don't even worry about it," Saadia smirked.

"Yeah, we're fine," Lydia gave her an encouraging smile.

That was so unconvincing. Why did they keep doing this?

And it was her fault! She was the one who told Balgruuf about the bounty. She was the one stupid and naïve enough to think she could talk him into a pardon. Who knew? Maybe the original threat of revealing it was empty. Maybe Tullius had never planned on doing that if his ultimatum didn't work. He would have lost his leverage after all.

No. This was all on her.

And it just made her feel so crappy when everyone treated her like she suffered from it the most. Bishop couldn't even step across the Hold borders without the possibility of being caught and executed or hunted for that outrageous bounty. And Saadia and Lydia had to deal with these people day in, day out. The only one better off was possibly Carlotta, because these rumors had taken the attention away from those about her. Though she may have jeopardized her peace now again with her outburst.

"It's gonna pass," Carlotta gave them all a small smile. When? It's been months. "They will find some other rumor to live for eventually. This one's just… a big one, so they can feed off it for a long time," she let out a disdainful scoff.

"Thanks, Carlotta," Aeyrin mumbled a bit. Her mouth felt dry, as if she hadn't been talking for a long time. That wasn't exactly true. But she wished she didn't have to talk at all. "For coming to help me."

"No problem," Carlotta smiled. "I'm glad I was there. But I should probably go. I sent Mila home alone. I should go check on her."

"Go, and thanks," Saadia nodded at her. "And don't worry about the turpentine. It… it doesn't matter anymore."

Carlotta nodded as well and, with a last smile forming on her lips, she turned on her heel and left the house.

The atmosphere left behind in there felt… stifling. At least it did to Aeyrin. She didn't know what to do with herself. She didn't know how to tell them to stop feeling bad for her and to stop looking at her like that. She didn't want anyone looking at her anymore. She didn't want anyone talking to her anymore. She just... she needed a moment. Why couldn't she get even a short moment of peace today?

"I was just making dinner," Lydia smiled weakly. "Come, it will make you feel better. You don't have to worry about those people anymore. Do you want a drink? Or if you want to take a bath or something, we can…"

"S-stop," Aeyrin shook her head vehemently. "I'm fine, I'm just… I'm not hungry. I don't want anything."

"You? Not hungry? Are you sure you're fine?" Saadia looked at her intently.

Gods, just stop, please.

She didn't even know how to explain this to them. She didn't even know what was happening to her, why it was happening to her every time in a situation like this. She just couldn't stand it anymore.

"Yeah. I just… I think I need to lie down for a while. Sorry."

She didn't wait for a response as she marched towards the stairs and towards the bedroom. She didn't really need to lie down, she just wanted to be alone for a while. She was still so bitter about how this turned out. She still thought about how excited she had been for today and now she made it all weird and uncomfortable with her pathetically insecure and overwhelmed state. For no good reason.

Luckily neither Lydia nor Saadia followed.

Maybe she could still have the day she imagined tomorrow.

For now though, the darkening, empty room upstairs felt like the most welcoming place she had seen since she came back to the city.

…

It was well past nightfall when Bishop made his way into Whiterun.

Sneaking into the city wasn't that hard. He just needed to be patient and careful. The smuggler's route was hidden by the battlements, but not the battlements by the front gates – not those with watchtowers and room to move. The entrance was by the southern side. Down below them, outside the city, there was only sheer cliff. Nobody would attack the city from here, so nobody bothered to put patrols anywhere near the walls there. Funny. Dragons could attack from anywhere. But then again, those could be seen and heard from miles away, so it didn't really matter whether there was someone patrolling every part of town.

For now, this played in his favor. The southern side was mostly empty and he could easily sneak by the occasional lantern by a house or a small trail. The girls were supposed to leave a window open for him so that he could slip in through the back and never even get anywhere near the main road.

He took Karnwyr with him. Maybe it was more risky, but he didn't want to leave him outside this time, not when his own escape from the city had to be timed after nightfall. The Brotherhood used Karnwyr before, even if just in theory. He worried that they might try again and with his abilities to go after him being time-restricted, he didn't want to risk it.

It went smoothly. Much smoother than his wait out there in the wilderness. But he didn't really want to think about that anymore. The pain in his face and back was a reminder enough.

He slipped into the open back window soundlessly and kept it open for a bit while Karnwyr jumped in as well. He closed it right after and turned around towards the table next to him. It was only Saadia and Lydia sitting there. Aeyrin was not with them. Weird.

The moment they saw his face, they both gasped in unison.

"Shor's bones! What happened?" Lydia's eyes went wide at him.

"Did someone catch you?" Saadia looked at him in concern.

"No… no one saw me inside the city. I'm fine, don't worry about it," he sighed. It must have been quite the shock. He still felt the dried blood under his nose and his skin throbbed painfully all over his face.

"Shit, can't at least one of you come here in one piece?" Saadia scowled fiercely.

It may not have been the best welcoming sight, true, but… wait. What did she just say?

"What? What happened?" Bishop frowned worriedly. "Where's Aeyrin?" Fuck, did something happen to her? What could have happened to her? She just went into the city and for their supplies and shit, right?

"She's… alright. I think," Lydia made a soothing gesture with her hands. "She's upstairs. She just… had a bit of a… bad 'welcome back' experience."

When she didn't explain further, Bishop only shot her an impatient look, urging her on wordlessly.

"There was a dragon," Saadia sighed instead.

"A dragon?! Here?!" Bishop gaped at her in shock. How? That was impossible. Dragons may have been getting 'impatient' as Paarthurnax had put it, but they attacked small settlements at best, not secure cities with battlements and countless soldiers guarding it. And even if there was a dragon who dared to do that, Bishop hadn't been that far from Whiterun at all. He would have seen it. He would have heard it. Unless it happened in that one exact moment when he was in that cave…

"No, not the way you're thinking," Saadia shook her head. "There was a dragon out near the outskirts weeks ago. The soldiers killed it, but… the Jarl has that… trap of his. It was brought back here. And when Aeyrin came, she… she apparently decided to visit the Jorrvaskr first. She must have gotten close to Dragonsreach and…"

And absorbed the soul. Fuck, Saadia made it sound like Aeyrin had no idea that the beast was even there. It must have been scary, to be suddenly assaulted by that pain out of nowhere. And he wasn't there with her. He couldn't have been there with her.

"She's alright. Carlotta helped her out and brought her back here. I don't know if you remember her," Lydia gave him a weak reassuring smile. Obviously though Aeyrin was not that alright. Not if she was hiding out upstairs for some reason, instead of spending time with these two.

"Why is she upstairs already? It's not that late." He was convinced that she would be here waiting for him with the others.

"I guess she was tired," Lydia shrugged, but she looked a little nervous as she did. Ugh, so fucking transparent.

"Look, I love you, but you're fucking crappy liars. Both of you. What happened?" He growled at them, but instead of fessing up, their faces got suddenly decorated by strangely shocked smiles.

"You… 'love us'?" Saadia chuckled at him.

"What? The fuck? I didn't say that. Shut up and tell me what happened," he barked back at her. He didn't say that. Probably. He didn't remember saying that. And if he did, it was just a fucking expression. He did that with Jules all the time. Like: 'I love you, but you're a fucking piece of shit.' Stuff like that.

Well, alright he did love Jules. As a brother, obviously. And these two were kind of more sisters to him than any of his real sisters ever were but…

Shut the fuck up, you ice-brain!

"You did say it," Saadia snickered at him. "Aaw, did it make you feel all warm inside? We love you too, you grouchy ass."

"Piss off," he growled back at her. "And stop stalling. What the fuck happened to Aeyrin?" He could go talk to her himself. But he wanted to know what he was walking in on. He just needed one fucking sentence of explanation from them, was it so fucking hard?

"Well… you know how the people here are... after…" Lydia let out a defeated sigh.

He did know. He never really got to experience the aftermath of the bounty reveal, but Aeyrin did. And Saadia and Lydia did. He knew, but he probably didn't even know the half of it.

"She seemed a little… rattled. Carlotta mentioned that the people just gawked at her while she was there in pain. Couldn't have been pleasant," Lydia lowered her eyes.

Yeah. That sounded shitty. Especially for Aeyrin. She didn't handle gawking crowds well, even if they weren't exactly malicious. When she was without her lute. It was no wonder it rattled her. He was a little surprised that Lydia and Saadia wanted to keep this from him, but they were probably just trying to 'protect' him or something, protect him from feeling bad about it.

Because this was all his fault.

"And there was that sign too, that fucking thing," Saadia groaned in frustration.

"'Sign'? What sign?" Bishop gritted his teeth. Seemed like Aeyrin really did get an unpleasant welcome.

"It's… nothing, don't worry about it," Lydia shook her head vehemently and shot Saadia an admonishing look.

"Ugh, you two are hopeless," Bishop scoffed. It was without a doubt something about the bounty again. He couldn't care less what these fucking bored peasants thought about him. He cared about them treating Aeyrin like this, getting her all anxious for no fucking good reason without a doubt. And he was so fucking pissed that this was still going on. He was so fucking pissed that Lydia and Saadia had to live here in this.

"There's some food left-over, if you…" Lydia tried to smile, but she didn't really manage.

"No thanks," he let out a frustrated sigh. "We'll… talk tomorrow. It's late. I'm gonna head upstairs."

It wasn't really late, but he wanted to see Aeyrin already. He absentmindedly scratched Karnwyr behind the ear before he turned on his heel and headed up the stairs into the bedroom.

The room was completely dark when he entered and he could only barely see the shape under the covers as his eyes adjusted. Then he noticed the soft rise and fall of the blankets. Was she already asleep?

He quickly slumped his pack onto the floor and began unbuckling his armor. It didn't take him very long to get out of it. He tossed away his shirt as well before he finally crawled into the bed to join her.

She stirred instantly. It seemed like she wasn't really asleep, maybe just dozing off. If she had been asleep, this would have never woken her up. She didn't say anything yet though, or make any sound, so Bishop snuck fully under the furs with her and wrapped his arms around her. She was only dressed in his shirt, as she usually was whenever she wasn't falling asleep with him. That would have been just a waste of time to have any clothes on. He leaned in to plant a brief kiss on her forehead, rousing her further. That made her open her eyes at last.

She snuggled closer to him, likely while her eyes still adjusted, but when they did, she let out a horrified gasp.

Fuck, he had almost forgotten about that already.

"Bish? What happened?" Her hand darted to his bruised up face instantly.

"I'm fine, don't worry about that now, I'll tell you later," he gave her a reassuring smile. "They told me about the dragon. And… some other shit. How are you doing, princess?" He moved his hand to cup her cheek and stroke over it gently.

"Better… I guess," she let out a small sigh, but she nuzzled her face a bit more into his touch. "It… it was… scary."

"Yeah, I bet," Bishop let out a subtle angry growl. "You didn't know it was there? Why the fuck didn't anyone…"

"It's… yeah… I didn't know," she interrupted him. She was probably just as frustrated and angry for the same reason. "I didn't mean it like that though. It was scary… out of nowhere. But… then, the absorption. I… I was never so terrified in my life."

"You mean the effects? Like the whole 'last Shout' thing?" Bishop scowled.

"Yeah. It didn't hurt this time, just… I was so scared."

"It's not impossible, I guess. Like a fear spell," he pondered for a while. Honestly, he wasn't sure what was worse – phantom pains or phantom fear. Both sounded fucking awful.

"Yeah… and then… everyone kept fussing over me here and I didn't want to…" she mumbled a bit, but as she tried to explain why she ran off here, a sudden loud crack interrupted her.

Both of them almost jumped in place at the start and their eyes darted towards the source – the window.

There it was, a slimy blob splattered over the glass, with a soft green hue around the brown center. Rock Warbler egg.

Aeyrin only let out a groan of exasperation as she buried her face into Bishop's chest instead of looking at it. Even through the closed window, some drunken laughter could be heard from the outside.

"Ugh, are they fucking five, or what?" Bishop growled.

Aeyrin stayed buried in his embrace for a while, before she let out a little snicker. "You were throwing eggs at windows when you were five?" For some reason, that image made her feel a little better. She wasn't sure if he said it because he had actually done stuff like that, but either way, it was kind of cute to imagine.

"That was probably one of the nicer things I was doing back then, princess," Bishop smirked.

There was a moment of silence before another crack landed against the window. It startled them as much as the first one, but there was really nothing either of them wanted to do about it anyway. What was the point?

"They said there was some… 'sign' or something?" Bishop asked after a spell.

"Yeah… I don't… it was stupid. Just… another 'prank' like this, I guess," Aeyrin grumbled. "I just… I hoped it would have stopped already."

"Yeah. Me too," Bishop let out a defeated sigh. Fucking bounty. If he ever found out who sent it to Solitude in the first place, he was going to wring that person's fucking neck.

"I don't even want to think about what it's like for Lydia and Saadia," Aeyrin shook her head a bit. "I wish they could just… move, or something." She should have offered them the house in Riften before, but she hadn't really even seen them since she got it, so it never entered her mind. Now it was Raven's anyway. And it was perfect for him, there was no point in second guessing herself. But still…

"Maybe they could move into the house in Solitude, if they don't have enough for their own. The mansion is so big. Jordis probably wouldn't mind company. I know that Lydia probably wants to stay here for the housecarl pay and Saadia has a job here too, but maybe…" she pondered out loud, but before she could get too tangled up in this, Bishop interrupted her.

"You wanna move Saadia to the Thalmor central?" he scoffed. He understood why she wanted to move them. He did too. It would make things a lot easier. For them. Not for Saadia and Lydia. It was not as if it was their decision to make. Those two had their lives here.

"Oh. Right…" Aeyrin sighed.

"It will stop one day, love," he leaned in to kiss her on the lips this time, but only briefly.

He really hoped that he was right, but he himself knew how long these grudges and rumors could last.

How did the city that provided so much shelter and respite for them before become such a nightmare?

If only there was something he could do about that fucking bounty.

"Enough about that, Bish," Aeyrin almost whined at him. She was so sick of thinking about this. "Tell me what happened. Who did that to you?" Her hand gently stroked over his cheek.

"Alright," he nodded at her. He had a message to deliver to her anyway. He let out a long sigh, preparing to tell her everything that happened in the few hours when he was supposed to be hiding out in the wilderness until nightfall came.

"Someone… found me."