Chapter 69

Dreams of the Past

They walked back up to the group on the hill and Bishop immediately went over to Freya and held his hand out, "Ready to give it up?"

Freya scowled at him, pursing her lips but relented and handed over the documents. He gave them to Serlas then and said, "There it is. Everything the Thalmor have on her."

Serlas raised his brows and said, "Thank you Bishop." He gave a quick nod to Freya and left them, heading back to camp and saying, "I will be perusing these immediately to see what we may learn."

Rona asked Bishop, "Just how much personal information is in those documents?"

Bishop seemed to realize that he just handed over the particulars of their relationship, including some very intimate details to Serlas and ran ahead shouting, "Uh, hang on Serlas! Maybe you could just read these other pages…"

Rona smirked at his back then glanced over at the sisters who were a short distance from her. Both Venus and Qetesh looked like they wanted to kill Freya. Bast however was just looking on at the dragon bones in the distance, while a few townsfolk hurried over to get a better look.

"You stole from them?" Qetesh was furious. Freya just crossed her arms, turning her face away.

"We finally have something good going," Venus said, "Are you trying to ruin this for us?"

Freya looked over at her and muttered, "We were doing fine without them."

Qetesh scoffed at her, "No! We were not! I won't let you do this to us anymore Freya. For once in our lives we could live a normal life in a place that's safe. We could live with a real roof over our heads instead of hiding out in every dirty cave or ruin we find, wondering if that'll be the day that the law or all the damn bandits we owe finally catch up to us!"

"You really think the cities are safe!?" Freya argued, "With the war going on they're just as dangerous as anywhere else!"

"Just stop!" Venus cried.

"You can't keep doing this!" Qetesh barked, "It needs to stop. You need to stop."

"After everything I've ever done for you all! I made sure we had food, shelter, clothes on our backs, even money!"

"At what cost!?" Qetesh barked, "Your way of doing things has always been to steal and run. Always! And all its ever done is put us all in danger. Every. Single. Time. Enough Freya. I've made too many excuses... I've let you drag us down for too long."

"Oh? I've dragged us down? Really!?"

"Yes, really!" Qetesh grit her teeth and curled her fists, getting right in her sister's face, "I'm sick of it Freya. Your attitude, your behavior, all of it! You need to start taking responsibility for your actions!"

"I'm only like this because Bishop-"

Qetesh threw a hand in her face, "NO! You can't blame him anymore Freya! It's been six years, damn it! SIX! You are this way, because you choose to be! Stop being so selfish and for once just think of your little sister. Bast deserves to have something other than this! All the banditry, the thieving, the lying, the running! If you're just going to sabotage it - try to ruin it for us - if you don't want this - then just leave!"

Qetesh gave her one last hateful glare and turned away, Venus followed close behind and called back, "Come on Bast. Let's get some sleep."

Bast turned away from the sight of the dragon bones and gave Freya a sympathetic look before walking along and joining her siblings. Rona turned away too. She had a strong feeling that she was the last person Freya wanted to talk to and she wasn't exactly in the mood to have a discussion with the woman anyhow. If her own sisters couldn't get through to her she doubted she'd have much luck either.

Qetesh stopped Rona as she was coming down the slope to their campsite and said, "I'm so sorry Rona. I want to personally apologize for everything-"

Rona waved her off, "Don't. It's alright Qetesh. I'll make good on my promise. We'll get you to Whiterun tomorrow and get you all settled in."

Qetesh gave her a weak smile and went and laid down with her sisters. Serlas was sitting by the fire reading over the dossier while Bishop sat with his back against the wall of the inn, lost in thought it seemed.

She went over to him and sat down by his side. He smiled at her and handed her a stack of papers and whispered, "Heh... managed to rescue some of the more, uh, personal stuff."

Rona took the papers and skimmed over them. She turned beet red reading some of them and realized that they'd been followed and watched by the Thalmor for a long time. There was an entire page recording the first time she and Bishop were ever intimate and lengthy details of their long week spent by the falls.

He chuckled at her, "You know, I might hang onto these, just in case you're not around and I'm feeling a little lonely."

She gave him a side-eye glance and lit a fire in her hand.

He snatched the papers back and quickly stuffed them into his pocket and said, "Don't burn them! They might have something important in them."

She scoffed and smirked at him, "Yeah. It just proves what lechers the Thalmor really are."

"I thought that was obvious when they groped all over you back at the Embassy," he growled, "If I'd had my dagger then..." He curled his hand into a fist.

Rona just smiled and leaned into him. He put an arm around her and said, "Guess this means we're okay then? You done making assumptions about what you think I did the other night?"

She turned her head and looked right into his eyes and said, "Yeah, no more assumptions. If there's anything you want to tell me, I'll listen."

He met her gaze looking curiously at her for a moment but said nothing about the kiss. Instead he asked, "You really think the dragons are watching you?"

She turned her face away from his, pressing her cheek to his chest instead. She couldn't understand why he still hadn't mentioned it, but couldn't bring herself to ask about it. She wanted so much for him to admit what happened. It seemed that he might never tell her the truth.

She said, "I do. I started to suspect that they've been studying me ever since my fight Alduin at Arcwind Point," she looked back up at him, "Whenever they use fire breath or ice breath, I use the opposite against it. The two shouts collide together and create this dusty explosion. I'd use it as cover, to leap in and attack when they couldn't see... but Alduin knew. He was ready for it then. The same thing happened with the dragon at Nightgate Inn too. It was ready for my attack. Not to mention they already know to target you or anyone else close to me first... They're keeping up with what I know, learning how I fight."

Bishop gave a deep sigh and ran a hand through his hair, "If the dragons are watching you, you're going to need to train more."

"If I could find the time to train I would. It's hard you know? Practicing fighting without actually fighting any dragons."

"You should at least practice your shouts," he suggested, "Maybe we should go back to High Hrothgar."

She cringed a little at that notion. She liked the Greybeards just fine and Paarthurnax was her favorite dragon because he was the only one not trying to kill her. But that place just seemed to bring the worst out in her. She wasn't ready to go back until she had the scroll in hand.

She said, "Maybe. But first let's try to find the Elder Scroll. What I really need is Dragonrend."

"We'll find it... we have to find it," he spoke low as his gaze turned towards the dancing firelight of the campfire. Rona watched as the fire flickered in his eyes and both fell deep into thought, staying quiet before laying down to doze off into strange dreams.

(Recommended background music One Problem Settled or Tantalus' Theme from FFIX Soundtrack)

Bishop and Karnwyr stalked along the dirt road to Lost Knife Hideout. It was still fairly early in the morning. He'd gone all the way to Riften the day before to purchase the week's worth of potions Jules' would need from Elgrim's Elixirs in Riften. He was in a bad mood too because the damned alchemist hadn't even kept good on his promise to slash the cost of the potions if he brought him his list of alchemical ingredients. Bishop had spent days between jobs collecting all sorts of ridiculous plant life and stored it away in bottles.

Elgrim had the nerve to tell him that none of it was fresh enough for his use and yet still wanted to take them and charge him full price for the potions. He was pissed. He ended up getting a small discount in exchange for the 'spoiled plants' as Elgrim called them, but still could only afford half a week's worth of what Jules' would need.

As he rounded the bend in the road and came up to the lake he caught sight of a line of men standing outside the hideout.

Bishop snorted and muttered under his breath to Karnwyr, "Can't believe it's not even noon yet and they're already lining up out the door for the girls. How much you want to bet they're putting on show tonight? Eh, boy?"

Karnwyr perked his ears up at Bishop and gave a low whine.

Bishop frowned at the long line of mostly nord men and a few other varying races as he walked by them all. Plenty of other folk were coming and going from the hideout too. He saw a pair of Rats he knew, two young brothers, about fourteen years old, trying to work their way up in the ranks. Only joined because they'd been kicked out of Honorhall for being unadoptable, as they'd essentially aged out.

He felt bad for the kids. They had no idea the kind of shit show they were getting themselves into. He saw a few Thieves leaving too, heading out to work another job for Thorn most likely.

One of his fellow Specialists was leaving too, an old dark elf, trailing behind the three Thieves and caught sight of him giving him a toothy grin, "Where you been Bish?"

"As if that's any of your business Joren," he growled.

Joren smirked at him and just shook his head, "Always the secretive one, eh? Well I guess that's why you're the best then. Can never be too careful."

Joren walked by him chuckling nastily under his breath.

Bishop rolled his eyes and continued on into the hideout. He couldn't trust any one of them. They'd act like his friend, they'd play pretend, try to cozy up to him and learn his secrets, but he knew that game just as well as any of them. He didn't like it when people got up into his business and started asking questions. He made sure to shut that shit down, right quick every time.

He walked along the cavern and looked over at the line of clients, standing outside the brothel. Thorn was a nasty bastard definitely, but he'd done a damn fine job of renovating and revamping the entirety of Lost Knife even after it was ruined several years prior from a raging fire, which was started when two rival bandit groups got into a territorial dispute. A dispute which unfortunately he and his brother both got mixed up in. They managed to survive, got picked up by the rival group that won and worked with them for a while.

Then Thorn and his group came along. The Oblivion and terror he unleashed on the Rift was nothing anyone had seen before. It wasn't long before every brigand and thief around was bowing to him.

He took over Lost Knife and turned it into his own kingdom. He actually dug out more tunnels into the rock, creating the brothel near the entrance to Bishop's right and off to his left was another section made for his drug trade, a private place for every addict in Skyrim to come and snort their fill of Moon Sugar or drink Skooma until they passed out or died of an overdose.

Today though, there weren't as many addicts as there were horny men looking to get their fill of what the Courtesans had to offer. Bishop, gave a nod to the two huge orc men who were standing outside the brothel. They were working Muscle in case any of the clientele got too rough with the ladies. He walked right by the line of men who were stuck behind a roped off section. The few in front were lecherously ogling the women inside as they walked about the brothel in skimpy clothing or with their breasts exposed.

The room was very open and decorated in plenty of frilly drapes, curtains, rugs and even some erotic artwork which had been hung on the walls. There were plenty of luxurious looking couches and chairs in corners where men could have private 'dates' with the ladies before they flounced off to one of the many rooms in the back. Most everything in the brothel was some shade of red or pink aside from the wood floors.

There was a counter set up by the line where one of the girls was working in a very tight fitted red corset, made to accentuate her bust and give the men a peak of what they might enjoy next. She collected their dues before giving them a number and sending them off to one of the many private rooms with a Courtesan of their choice - well, a Courtesan they could afford. Some of the women, depending on their physical assets and how well 'used' they were, were more or less expensive than the others. The most popular women were the priciest and brought in the most money.

As Bishop stepped past the entire line of men, two in front barked, "Hey! Get back in line buddy!"

"Yeah! We were here first!"

Bishop looked back smirking at them and the young lady at the counter squealed, "Bishop! What brings you in today cutie? Bring us any presents?"

He looked over at the cute busty, blonde breton and said, "Sorry to disappoint Berinna, but all I've got is my charming smile for you today."

She bat her lashes at him and gave him a flirty smirk, waving her hand, "Oh you! Hey, Bishop, real quick!" He stepped over, leaning on the counter as she whispered with her hand up to her mouth, "You should come meet me in room fourteen later today. I've been feeling real lonely and wouldn't mind offering you some fun for no charge at all."

He gave her a roguish grin, "As tempting as that offer is Berinna, I'm afraid I'm going to have to disappoint again."

"Aw!" She pouted, "You never bother with us Courtesans. You just like to come and tease us all you bad boy!"

He laughed, "You know me too well, beautiful. I'm gonna go pay a visit to the other girls. See how they're all doing."

"Go right on in cutie!" She said with her over the top girlish voice.

Bishop glanced back, flashing a snarky smirk at all the men standing in the line who were just gaping at him.

He couldn't get enough of messing with the idiots that crawled into that place. Karnwyr loped alongside him and he rounded into the girl's changing quarters. They were all completely nonchalant about it, seeing as they often strolled around almost or even entirely nude most of the time.

Their changing room consisted of plenty of vanities lining the walls, the dressing tables were covered in tons of different kinds of makeup and perfumes. There were a few changing dividers which served as nothing more than a place to hang their lacy undergarments as they were rarely used for privacy. There were several tall wardrobes lined up against one wall, two partially open revealing an assortment of sexy lingerie, corsets and everything else the women would dress up in. There was even one with plenty of kinky costumes, the most popular being the maid's outfit.

A bunch of the girl's squealed, "Bishop!" A pair of them were topless as they knelt down to scratch behind Karnwyr's ears and give him plenty of loving attention and pets. Bishop had a feeling the wolf enjoyed visiting the brothel as much as he did, if not for the nude women, then definitely for the head scratches.

One of them said, "We've been missing you for a whole week, where have you been?"

A cute redhead pouted playfully while she applied her eye makeup in a mirror and said over her shoulder, "Bet you found some girl you're sweet on, hm? Is that why you're ignoring us?"

Bishop grinned and said, "Not at all ladies! I would never do that to you. Just been busy running a lot of jobs lately. They had me working Muscle out by Refugee's Rest when that shipment of Moon Sugar came in."

They squealed, "Oooh!"

"How'd that go?" A tigress looking khajiit asked as she sauntered by to sit at one of the many vanities in the room, her ample bosom swinging freely, "Heard you all had a bit of trouble with some necromancers."

"Wasn't anything I couldn't handle," Bishop said with a cocky smirk.

"Give us the dish Bishop!"

"Yeah tell us!"

He beamed, flashing his nice smile at them all. He really did love the attention all these beautiful women gave him. It was one of the few pleasantries he got from working for a creature like Thorn. He pulled up a chair, sitting on it backwards in the center of the vanity room and started getting into telling them the story, going into nitty gritty detail and definitely embellishing the tale for their entertainment.

As he told his story he noticed one of the middle aged nord ladies come in, bringing a very young girl with her. It was Elksa, one of the more expensive and experienced Courtesans working there. She had long, dark brown hair, beautiful, large dark brown eyes and very full lips. Her figure was incredibly curvy, hourglass shaped. Her hips went on for days and her breasts were enormous. She was only wearing some black panties and a thin red robe which was wide open in front. She was in her mid forties, but looked half her age. She worked as a mentor to the newer Courtesans in the group. All of the girls looked up to her and sought her out for direction on a variety of issues they faced as working girls.

She had remedies for any diseases they might encounter from the dirtier men, potions for unwanted pregnancies the girls found themselves with, she even helped when they chose to keep their pregnancies, giving them advice on how to work while pregnant and the women often helped with the births. She had plenty of tips and training for dealing with dangerous men who might be getting too rough with them, though there was enough Muscle around that any attacks were rarely a problem there.

Bishop noticed that she was looking a little agitated, as she grabbed an extra chair, putting it by one of the open vanities, allowing the child to perch nearby while she sat and worked on her makeup. The little girl was dressed in a clean blue dress and holding an old doll. She had a thick bushy mane of brown hair around her head and two pretty hazel green eyes.

"Then what happened?" The cute redhead asked when he'd stopped talking suddenly, distracted by the child in the room full of some very inappropriate and adult themes.

He snapped out of his reverie and said, "I slit his throat obviously," he smirked at her, "These magic users think they're so much better than the rest of us, but I say all you really need is some physical prowess and a nice sharp knife."

"Mmm, you can knife me any old time Bishop. Come by room eleven if you're ever in the mood."

"Chandrel!" The girls all gasped at her, giggling and tossing some bras and pantyhose at her jokingly.

Bishop played coy though, "You know me ladies, still saving myself for that special someone."

The tigress khajiit laughed, "Or you just don't like sloppy seconds!"

His grin grew a little wider as he conceded, "Thaaat may be a factor too."

The girls scoffed and laughed at him, a few walked by poking him in the arm, caressing his shoulders and one even went right up and gave him a kiss on the cheek. He was polite. He let them poke at him, but he made sure to never touch any of them. It wasn't in his nature to be fondling women that didn't want it. Now granted, plenty of them wanted it, but he wasn't about to stoop so low as to pay for sex or sleep with a woman who did it for a living. He still had standards for himself too, nice as they all were. He preferred being the only man giving it to any woman he was with.

Elska sighed deeply, catching his attention again, while she put on some earrings and applied a dark red lipstick.

"Mama," the girl said, grasping at her mother's robe.

Elska focused her attention to the girl and sweetly asked, "Yes, Bastet my dear?"

"Are we gonna stay here all day?"

"You will sweetie. The girls will watch out for you, but Mama has to... work today."

Bishop got up and went over to them, leaning on the vanity and getting a view of Elska's naked, ample bosom in the process. It felt weird staring with a kid around though and he looked away, blushing slightly as he asked, "Hey Elska. How're you doing today? Putting on another show?"

She smiled up at him, "Oh, Bishop! Good to see you and yes... Thorn's idea," she rolled her eyes - he tried so very hard to keep his gaze on her eyes, "Said we needed to get the coin flowing and since it's the summer there's plenty of foreign clients looking to get a taste of our local variety, if you will."

"Hmph," he gave a half-smirk, "I know. You've got a line going all the way out past the lake."

She sighed, "It's going to be a long day and a longer night."

Bishop looked down at the girl who was fussing with her doll's dress and asked, "Who's the little one?"

Elska ran her fingers through her daughter's wild hair and said, "My youngest Bastet," she glanced up at him, "I know what you're thinking. I wouldn't have brought her here if I didn't have any other choice. My other three girls are busy running that big job with the Thieves and my friend Millie, who was supposed to watch her disappeared on me. I suppose that's what I get for trusting a Rat."

"I could keep an eye on her for you," he offered.

She looked up at him wide-eyed, "Really? You'd do that for me?"

He shrugged, "Just spending the day looking after my brother. I wouldn't mind it."

"I'd be so grateful if you could! Really!" She grabbed her travel pack and started fishing through it, pulling out a bottle of potion and handed it to him, "That's for emergency use only. Sometimes Bast gets a bad cough and needs it. She only needs half though."

"Got it," he said as he tucked it away with the rest of his potions, "Anything else I need to know? She's, uh," he glanced down at the little girl who was still more interested in her toy than them, "toilet trained, right?"

Elska laughed and waved a hand, "Oh of course she is! This is perfect. I'll stop by your room tonight to pick her up after the show's over. It might be pretty late, will that be alright?"

"Not a problem. I'll teach her how to play cards," he grinned.

Elska chuckled and said, "My other three girls have already done a fine job of that. I'd watch out for Bastet, she might just clean you out!"

They shared in a laugh and he whistled for Karnwyr who was busy getting a belly rub from an argonian woman dressed up in a maid's outfit. The wolf rolled right over, tail wagging and tongue lolling and went up to Bishop. Bast seemed suddenly interested in the new furry animal near her, but she just looked, she didn't touch.

Elska grasped her daughter's hands then and said, "Bastet, sweetie, you're going to go with Bishop today. He's going to keep an eye on you while Mama works, okay?"

Bast looked at her mother then glanced up at Bishop. He gave her a kind smile, but like any other kid, she did not return it and looked anxious about leaving her parent to go with a new stranger instead. She shook her head slightly and grasped her arms around her mother's neck.

"Don't be shy, hun. Bishop's a very nice man. Go on now." With a bit more encouragement and urging from her mother Bast finally relented and followed Bishop out of the brothel.

He made sure to stay close to her, keeping her sandwiched between himself and Karnwyr. He didn't trust any of the sleazy creeps in there, no matter how much Thorn promised none of them would touch the Courtesan's kids. They walked along through the winding tunnels, passing by the open water filled cavern with the three waterfalls.

That entire area had been renovated too. They outfitted the lake area with planks of wood, covering most of the surface of the water and creating an entire bar and dining area down below. There was even a large stage set up on the far end, just for shows like the one that would be happening later that day. The entire dining area was busy and bustling with some clients waiting for the Courtesan's show to start and plenty of Rats, Thieves and Specialists drinking and having a bite to eat. Thorn knew exactly how to make it look appealing to work for him when he had such a lavish setup. Bishop knew better though. The floorboards down there were damp and moldy, they watered down the ale and the food all tasted like crap.

They kept going, moving on up into the depths of the winding tunnels, passing by their fair share of more of Thorn's working men and women who had the day off to do whatever they liked. That's how Thorn ran the place. You worked five days and you were off two unless he absolutely needed you for something and couldn't live without you. Bishop had been one of those people that Thorn seemed to need all the time. He figured it was mostly because the degenerate liked to call on him and harass him every chance he got. All because he'd refused to join the rank of The Whips.

The price for that level was far too disgusting and depraved for Bishop to stomach. Plus he wanted as little to do with Thorn as possible. The man absolutely repulsed him.

As they neared the Specialist's sleeping quarters they passed by Slash, a Whip and one of the worst of them. He was a grey fur coated khajiit man and got sick pleasure from sinking his claws into human flesh while doing other foul things to them. Another sadist, just like Thorn.

Slash looked over at Bishop and his eyes caught sight of Bast and he said, "Oh and who is this now? You would bring a child into the den of wolves? Hmm... What nice new skin she has," he gave a wicked chuckle.

Bishop stood protectively in front of Bast, hand to his dagger while Karnwyr moved to his side and bared his fangs, sensing the malevolence in the air.

Slash's ears lowered at the sight of the wolf and he hissed, "You know Bishop, Thorn only allows you to keep your pet here, so long as he does not bite. If he bites though, I will gladly cut him open." He allowed his claws to draw and gave another low hiss at Karnwyr.

"You know Slash, Thorn doesn't tolerate people threatening or eyeing the Courtesan's kids and if you don't sheath your claws I will gladly bury my dagger in your throat," Bishop threatened right back.

Slash eyed the little girl, who was now clinging to Bishop's leather cuirass and peering anxiously around at the khajiit.

He retracted his claws and curled his lip, "A child of a Courtesan? My mistake..." He left quickly, hurrying down the path, leading away from the sleeping quarters.

Bishop looked down at Bast and asked, "You alright kid?"

She looked up at him with her big hazel eyes and nodded slowly. He smirked and said, "Not much of a talker are you?" She shook her head slowly again and he laughed and said, "Come on. We're almost there."

After another few turns in the tunnels they'd arrived at his small living space. As a Specialist he was offered a private room of his own. One of the perks for being the best. It was a small room though, only enough space for two beds on opposite sides of the walls, one dresser and a small table with two chairs centered in the middle. It had no windows and the entire room was made of rough stone that had been carved out. They hadn't even bothered to lay a wood floor down.

He and Jules did their best to make it comfortable, adding a rug and some paintings they'd managed to steal on some of their outings. Bishop hardly stayed in the place though. It was too claustrophobic for him. He preferred the outdoors, sleeping under the stars in the forest. Not to mention he remembered what it was like when the place was on fire a few years back. It was dangerous to stay in a room with only one door like that and so high up in the tunnels with no real exit.

He went over to the bed on the right where a young man with thick dark hair and thick eyebrows was nestled under the covers. His facial hair was growing quickly and was full of curls always. His face was sweaty with fever too. He looked exhausted. Bishop sighed. When he'd left the day before Jules was doing alright. It was worrying how quickly he went from being slightly sick with a light cough to being bedridden with fever.

He touched his brother's forehead, pushing some of his damp and tangled hair out of his face. Jules opened his eyes slightly at the feel of Bishop's fingers and coughed harshly. He wheezed, taking a deep, choked breath.

Bishop took out one of the potions he'd bought from Elgrim and gave it to him, "Drink."

Jules took it and gulped it down. He smacked his lips and made a face while he wiped at his mouth. "Ugh... Why's it always taste like raw Chaurus guts?"

"Because the recipe calls for Chaurus guts," Bishop replied with a smirk.

"Disgusting," he muttered. But the color was returning to his face and he was moving a bit more. He sat up on the bed and grumbled, "Had to cancel with Elise tonight. I was really hoping to take her out. But... just not feeling up to it."

"You still seeing that Thief?" Bishop pried.

"Uh yeah," Jules looked at him, holding his hands up to his chest and groped the air, as he said, "Have you seen the rack on her? I mean seriously, those gorgeous melons are just -" he noticed the little girl standing off to the side next to Karnwyr, just staring at him as he stumbled, "r-ripe for the picking," he furrowed his brows, "I mean... no, uuh...why is there a kid here?"

Bishop burst into laughter and said, "You should see your face right now!" Jules frowned at him, but Bishop quickly explained, "She's Elska's kid. I offered to watch her 'cause she's going to be busy all day and all night."

Jules looked at him with half-lidded eyes, "Line out the door?"

Bishop snorted, "Line wrapped around the lake, twice."

Jules rolled his eyes then said, "Hey, give me one more of those skeevy potions. Maybe if I take another I'll perk up enough and can still go on my date."

"Sorry little brother, only have enough to barely make it through the week. And you'll have to take them sparingly, like half of one when you're feeling really bad."

Jules scoffed, "Seriously? I thought you got a week's worth?"

"Yeah well, Elgrim being the pissant he is went back on our deal," he said pulling up a chair at the small table, "Didn't even give me much of a discount for all those damn plants I collected for him. I would have strangled it out of him, but I can't afford to get banned from another city. I already fucked up trying to threaten Nurelion's outrageous prices down. I can't even afford to pay my bounty out that way and I definitely can't show my face around The White Phial ever again."

Jules knit his brows together and asked, "I thought Thorn just paid you though?"

Bishop scoffed, "Pft... like half a share of what he promised. It barely covered the cost of our food. Been trying to scrimp and save, but," he grumbled, "I know he's trying to keep us down. He knows the second I have enough saved that I'd skip out and he knows the longer you stay sick, the less chance we'll leave, 'cause we can't survive out there Jules. Not with your cough and fevers always breaking out at the wrong time."

Jules looked away and said, "I don't know if I would leave..."

Bishop cocked an eyebrow at him, "Wow, you're really sweet on this girl of yours aren't you?"

Jules blushed a little and said, "She's great Bish... seriously. I've never met anyone like her. Smart, witty. Fucking sexy," he sighed, "And the things she can do with her..." his eyes traveled back to the little girl who was sitting quietly on the floor fussing with her dolls dress again, ignoring the both of them. "Umm...yeah. So, the kid's just here 'til tonight, right?"

Bishop laughed, "Yeah, just 'til tonight. Hey, give me your playing cards will yah? Gonna teach her how to play blackjack."

They were both startled when Bast spoke up suddenly, "I already know how to play," she looked over at them, "Freya taught me how."

Bishop grinned at her and asked, "Oh yeah? Well come have a seat and show me the ropes then kid."

Bast got up and pulled her tiny self up onto the old rickety chair by the table. She was a little too short to see over the table and Bishop said, "Hey, pass me a few big books for her to sit on."

Jules leaned over and yanked three thick tomes from the shelf carved into the wall. He passed them to Bishop who set them onto the table, then picked Bast up and set her on the floor for a second and stacked the books onto the chair. He lifted her up again and sat her onto the books. She was just the right height to lean on the table.

He gave her a friendly smile and said, "There we go, better?"

She nodded and watched as he started shuffling the cards with incredible skill. He decided to show off a little and did a few tricks for her then he spread some cards out on the table and dealt two to the girl. "Alright," he said, "Show me what you got."

She looked up at him and said, "I don't have anything to bet..."

He chuckled, "Ah right," he pulled out a small coin purse and dumped thirty gold pieces onto the table then divided it up giving her ten and keeping twenty for himself, "House rules. So, how much you wanna bet?"

She shifted two gold pieces out in front of her on the table.

Bishop smirked and dealt two cards in front of him, one face up the other face down.

Bast looked over her cards and his and said, "Hit."

Jules stroked Karnwyr's back and snickered a little as he watched his brother play this gambling game with this little girl who clearly knew the rules and terms as she placed bets and won more times than she lost. It was probably only an hour gone by when they were on their last round.

"Stand," she said.

Bishop flipped his card over, he was just under seventeen so he drew making him draw up to nineteen.

"Your turn," he said.

She said, "Hit."

He dealt another card, an ace, making her hit twenty one, "Damn it." He chuckled and said, "I can't believe it. You actually cleaned me out."

Bast let a gentle smirk pull at her lips then and took the rest of the gold he passed her, stuffing it all back into the coin purse. She handed it back to him though and said, "Thanks for playing with me."

He pushed it back and said, "No you keep it kid. You won fair and square. How old are you anyway?"

"Seven," she replied.

Jules snorted loudly and said, "Wow, bro, you just got hustled by a seven year old."

Bishop picked up the cards and shuffled them back together as he leaned on the table shaking his head and looked over at Bast and said jokingly, "Mind keeping this between us? I've got a bit of a reputation to keep around here."

Bast grinned at him and nodded.

Then he asked her, "You hungry? It's probably about lunch time."

She shrugged and nodded again. Jules laid back down on the bed and said, "Get me something good this time, will you? That cabbage stew you brought up last time tasted at least four days old." He scrunched his nose.

"It probably was," Bishop said. He whistled for Karnwyr and Bast followed him along out of the room. They headed back down the winding tunnels and she clung a little closer to him, trusting him more, while she watched an entire assortment of people coming and going.

She'd probably never been in the place before. Most of the Courtesans, at least the well paid ones, had living arrangements over in Fort Amol very close by. It was a safer place where they could raise their children and not expose them to the depravity of the inner workings of their day jobs. Just another thing Thorn offered that was appealing to the broken and downtrodden members of society, but just like always it wasn't much of anything. Just another nasty, crumbling place, full of mold, parasites and skeevers.

Thorn liked to pretend he was some sort of messiah to these people, while at the same time he sent his Specialists out to kidnap young women and bring them back for his personal pleasure.

And right on cue he saw Slash coming through, leading the way while Bane, another one of the Whips, a dirty nord man in leather armor, held a bound and gagged girl by the arms. She looked pretty beat up too, she'd fought against them.

Slash looked over at Bishop again, who once more stepped protectively in front of Bast, while Karnwyr gave a low growl of warning.

Slash stopped a minute and said, "See anything you like Bish? You know, Thorn's still offering you a position with us at the top if you're interested."

Bane held the girl close to him and he leaned his face up next to hers so they were cheek to cheek while he gave Bishop a nasty smirk. Then he went ahead and licked the poor girl from the neck up making her shiver with fear and whimper through her gag. Bishop instinctively reached back to cover Bast's eyes.

He just glared at them. He wanted to help her, to save her, but he couldn't. Everyone in that place was far too tangled up in Thorn's web to ever give up what little he gave them any move he made, he'd be dead in seconds. And he had to think of his brother.

Bishop watched, a scowl etched fiercely on his face as Bane circled his nasty tongue around the girl's cheek before he moved back down her neck and bit her sharply making her wince in pain as he drew blood. Then he gave Bishop a nasty smirk and said, "She's a tasty one. Sure you don't want a piece?"

"Get the fuck out of my face," Bishop snarled. He couldn't bear to stand there and watch these sick fucks do this for a minute longer. Finally, he grabbed Bast by the shoulder and hurried her along the path, while Karnwyr followed, his hair still bristling as he looked back at the two Whips who were both chuckling wickedly.

Bast didn't ask about it and he was grateful for that because he didn't know how to try and explain what they just saw to a seven year old. He was feeling a lot less hungry after seeing that too, which was fine because they were broke.

They went down to the dining area and he saw several men and a few of the Courtesans getting the stage set up for their show. They were busy erecting five separate metal poles along the stage and putting out plenty of candles for mood lighting.

Bishop went up to the bar and called to the old nord fellow who ran the place, "Hey Ulftaag, what's on the menu today?"

The old man, who only had one good eye and a nice pair of scars over his bad one, scratched at his chin stubble and said, "Cabbage stew."

Bishop looked at him disgusted, "The same cabbage stew from last week?"

"S'all I got," he shrugged, "Got plenty of mead and ale if you'd rather fill up with that. Least its fresh."

"Fresh until you water it down with the swill in this lake," he retorted.

The old man leaned heavily on the counter and scowled at him, "You accusing me of ruining perfectly good drink Bishop?"

"Yeah, I am."

Ulftaag frowned but then his lips twisted into a smirk and he laughed, "Well you'd be right about that. Thorn's orders you know."

"I figured," he said, "Look, do you have anything fresh? I'm watching Elska's kid and don't want to give her anything that's gonna make her sick."

Ulftaag leaned around Bishop and looked over at the little girl who finally braved a pet on Karnwyr and started stroking his wiry fur. The old man sighed and said, "Alright, fine," he pulled a key out of his pocket and said, "Take a look in the store room, but take just enough for the kid. I catch you stealing anymore than that and I'll make sure the Whips hear about it. Already had enough trouble with the damn Thieves trying to break in there all the time."

Bishop grinned and said, "Thanks Ulftaag. I owe you."

"I'm doing this for Elska not you," he turned away and went about cleaning some mugs with a dirty rag, which seemed counterintuitive but Bishop never drank there anyways.

He went back up towards the entryway of the hideout and crossed over the small streamlet to a pair of very securely locked doors. Bishop chanced a glance over at the brothel. The line had gone down quite a bit, he could actually see the end of it. They'd started to let the clients inside for 'dates' probably. The whole thing was a show and a game. First they got them all riled up with 'dates', casual flirting and teasing by the working girls, then the men would get to watch the show, enjoy their drinks and toss gold at the feet of the women dancing for them and after the fact they'd get to bid on their favorites before having an entire night alone with the woman they won.

Bishop rolled his eyes. It was crazy and pointless to him, but he figured if he was as butt ugly as some of those poor sods he'd probably be just as pathetically desperate too.

Thorn was a real genius coming up with something like that. The wealthier men who came calling, especially those coming in to visit from faraway places like Elsweyr, Hammerfell and even the Summerset Isles, spent a ton of coin just for the experience. Elska was damn good at what she did too, making sure to put on a real spectacle with her girls. He'd seen it once himself and had to go take a dip in the lake just to cool off.

Bishop turned his attention back to the task at hand then and fit the key into the lock on the store room door and let himself in. He looked around. Most everything up front was starting to spoil, which was why it was up front, it needed to be used. He started browsing around the back of the shelves and managed to find some good bread, it was a little stale, but better than nothing and he went over to the large ice box and pulled out a fresh slab of horker loaf from the bottom. He grabbed a few decent looking vegetables and snagged a couple bottles of Honningbrew for himself and his brother, stuffing the few things he probably shouldn't have taken into a bag on his hip.

Once he had everything he needed he locked the store room up again and went back up with Bast and Karnwyr, making sure to stop by the bar to give Ulftaag his key and his thanks.

The minute they went into his room though he saw Jules convulsing violently on the bed. Bishop dropped everything and ran over to his brother, putting a hand to his chest and arms, trying to hold him steady, "Jules! Jules!" He shouted.

After a minute or so the convulsions stopped and Jules took a sharp, struggling breath. He was covered in perspiration and wheezing harshly. He squinted up at Bishop and choked out, "Don't think the potion's... working... anymore."

"Shit," Bishop looked around then grabbed another one of the bottles of potion from the table nearby. He uncorked it and took a whiff. It didn't have the usual smell it was meant to have. Could Elgrim have used the wrong ingredients? Maybe he used some of the spoiled plants he brought with him. He didn't know, but he was afraid to give more to his brother in case he was having a bad reaction to it.

Jules leaned over suddenly and started coughing hard into his hand, hard enough that he coughed up way more blood than Bishop was comfortable with.

Bast went over to him and said, "Sometimes I cough up blood too." Bishop looked down at her and she looked up at him and said, "He can have some of my potion. Qetesh will make me more. She's got lots of it."

Bishop pulled the strange red and green potion out of his pocket. Elska said that if Bast got sick that he'd only need to give her half of it. He looked back over at his brother who was taking short, sharp breaths, like he was struggling to breathe.

Bishop went for it. He grabbed an old but clean tankard from a shelf and poured half of the potion into it and knelt by his brother and held his head, "Drink this."

He held the tankard to Jules lips and he quickly swallowed the strange mixture. He sighed and leaned back on his pillow. In minutes the color had returned completely to his face and his breathing went from ragged to normal.

He took a few deep breaths and sat up suddenly saying, "Wow... wow." He looked at Bishop and asked, "What was that stuff? I feel... normal. Healthy! And it didn't even taste like Chaurus guts either. It was good like, juniper berries."

Jules stood right up and flexed his hands out, and shifted his shoulders, "Amazing. I don't even feel achy anymore."

Bishop couldn't believe the transformation in his brother. He looked over at Bast, then knelt down to her height and put his hands to her shoulders, "Thank you Bast. Thank you."

"Yeah!" Jules said, twisting his waist back and forth while he stretched his arms out, "Thanks a lot! That potion was amazing!"

"You're welcome," she said politely.

"You said your sister makes it?" Bishop asked. Bast nodded and then he asked, "Do you think I can meet her?"

She smiled, "Sure. We can ask Mama."

Bishop returned her smile and though she probably didn't realize it then he was more grateful to her than she'd ever know.