Trigger Warning: Graphic depictions of gore
Chapter 82
Living Like Royals
Rona was pacing around the camp very early. She was as paranoid and panicked as Bishop had been after the Thalmor tried to blackmail him. Maybe even more so. He was still out cold from the night before and she was dying to talk to him already. Karnwyr was looking quite agitated too, he'd stayed up with her almost the entire night, getting up every time she did. The poor wolf looked like he just wanted to sleep.
Suddenly, Bishop rolled over and with a yawn mumbled, "Where are we?"
She shouted, "FINALLY!"
He groaned, covering his ears and said, "Please don't yell Ladyship. My head is killing me…"
She stood in front of him, fists to hips and barked, "Why did you get drunk all alone last night!? What the hell Bishop! WHY!?"
He squinted up at her and said, "Well I… uh…"
"Oh good!" She snapped at him scornfully, "I'm glad we cleared that up!"
He scowled at her, "What's your problem? Why are you mad at me? And why the hell are we out here in the middle of nowhere?"
She started rambling almost nonsensically, due to a lack of sleep and nerves, "Well as it turns out Mrs. Gilseene just so happens to be a member of the Dark Brotherhood! Oh and she's dead by the way! She killed herself right in front of me, slashed her wrist up real good," she swiped a hand briskly over her wrist, "and then a crazy fucking jester came chasing after me and I was almost swallowed up by the woman's magic blood that turned into a black hand and I narrowly escaped with my life, thank you very much! Luckily I got away only to find YOU completely shit-faced at a tavern, all alone no less, for apparently no real reason at all!" She finished her rant with a nervous laugh and sat right down on a tree stump, crossing her arms over. She glared at him still fuming and he just stared at her, brow raised, baffled.
He scrunched his eyes and rubbed at his temples and said, "What? Wait… what?"
She took a deep breath then and her face crumbled and she said with real fear in her voice then, "Bishop the Dark Brotherhood is after me."
He looked skeptically at her and said, "Sooo… let me get this straight. Your elderly landlord is a member of the Dark Brotherhood and there's a hit out on you? Ladyship, I don't know how to tell you this, but I think you've been hitting the bottle too hard. You need to lay off the wine and all the guild work. You're seriously overworking yourself."
She stood up, fists curled and screamed at him agitated, "OH I NEED TO LAY OFF THE BOTTLE!? I'M BEING SERIOUS BISHOP! They're after me!"
He winced at her shrieking, but said tentatively, "You sure this wasn't just another nightmare?"
"YES!"
"Okay, okay," he raised his hands, "Just, calm down already. Sit down and start from the beginning. Slowly this time."
She tried to calm herself down and started from the beginning, telling him every crazy thing she heard and saw the night before.
Bishop listened closely, frowning a little more and more with each new piece of information given. When she finished he asked, "What's a Listener?"
She snapped, "I don't know! I don't want to know!"
"So… they're not trying to kill you. They're trying to recruit you?"
She nodded, her brows knit tightly together.
He sighed and stood up then, "So show me."
She shook her head, terrified and said, "No. No way! I'm not going back there!"
"Look, Ladyship, if the Dark Brotherhood is living under your house, you might want to tell the local guard about that."
She kept thinking of the creepy black hand chasing her with its long fingers, thinking it would still find her. Her fire burst from her body again, involuntarily, as it had done nearly all night when she snapped awake over and over again out of paranoid fear. It was her only protective measure against the thing.
Bishop stared at her with half lidded eyes, "Feeling anxious?"
"YES! Of course I am. Gods Bishop, if you saw it too you'd… you would," she fidgeted with her hands.
"I'd burst into flames?" He chuckled.
She scowled at him and she quickly forced the fire to disperse then helped him pack up their small camp. They both rode back to the city together to her great reluctance. Once inside Rona clutched at Bishop's arm the entire time, looking around nervously at every little movement out of the corner of her eye.
Finally, he yanked his arm away from her grasp and snarled, "Would you stop that!? You're worse than that bosmer refugee!"
"Wait," she said, "Let's get the others. I really don't want to go back there without more people."
He sighed and said, "Whatever you say, Ladyship." Clearly Bishop was still skeptical of her story and that bothered her a lot. She had no reason to lie about something as insane as this.
They hurried along to the Fighter's Guild and stepped inside where they found the others finishing up their lunch at a large table.
Roxlin saw her and waved, "Oh Rona! Ready to go? We've got a big surprise for you all and you're gonna love it!"
"Not quite ready to go yet," Bishop said acutely.
They all looked on curiously and Bishop explained what was going on. Rona was grateful that her friends at least took it seriously and were quick to act, getting fully equipped with their gear as they headed right over to the house. Charissa informed the local guard what was happening and requested their assistance. With the entire Fighter's Guild and five of the guard standing around the front of the home, they ultimately started to draw the attention of the local townsfolk who came around to rubberneck.
Rona stood anxiously back with Roxlin and Linel and tried so damn hard to keep her fires from bursting out of her, lest she scream to the entire city, Dragonborn over here!
Bishop, Magrob, Charissa and Marco all peered down into the well.
"Definitely looks like it goes somewhere," Magrob said.
Marco scoffed as he looked into the dark well, "You could not pay me enough to go down that filthy hole."
Charissa rolled her eyes and said, "Outta my way." She was the first to climb in and Rona felt her pulse quicken, worrying deeply for her friend.
Bishop called, "What do you see?"
"There's an entire antechamber in here. Come on down!"
Magrob went in next and Bishop followed. Everyone waited anxiously, but Rona was the worst, fidgeting still and twisting at the hem of her dress. Roxlin pulled her into a reassuring hug.
After what seemed like hours, but was only a good twenty minutes, Charissa came up out of the well with Bishop and Magrob following close behind.
Magrob was holding something bright red wrapped under his arm and he unfurled it in front of everyone revealing a tattered banner with the sign of the Black Hand pressed to it. Everyone in the immediate vicinity gasped, some people held their hands to their mouths and the head of the guard instructed some of his own to go in and search the well and told one other to inform the Captain of the guard.
Magrob approached Rona and said, "Looks like they vacated the place completely, no sign of the sarcophagus you mentioned. This was the only banner left down there. That and the door."
"That's the creepiest fucking door I've ever fucking seen," Charissa muttered.
Bishop looked up at the house and said, "It goes under the house. I think it connects inside."
"You're probably right," Charissa agreed, looking back at it.
Bishop went right up to Rona and said, "Sorry I doubted you Lightfoot. Here, give me your house key, we're going in."
She found the key in her pouch and handed it to him. He went up to the door and unlocked it, opened it and stepped inside while the others followed only for Charissa to shout, "Oh my gods!"
"Shit..." Bishop muttered.
"What?" Roxlin called, "What is it?"
Magrob held a hand out and said, "Just stay there sweetie. You don't want to see this."
Bishop looked on at Mrs. Gilseene, or whatever was left of her mutilated corpse. She had been splayed, sitting upright across her own couch and gutted so that her entrails spilled out halfway across the floor. Argonians already had quite wide maws, but hers had been slit wide open and her tongue removed and pressed into the palm of her left hand and her entire right arm had been completely ripped from its socket. Her blood was smeared all over the walls too, but right above her, in dripping black blood were the words,
The Black Hand comes for you Listener
There is no escape
Bishop felt angry then. Not even disgusted. Just furious. How could they do this to her? Rona already had enough to deal with but now the Dark Brotherhood was coming for her? This was sick. It was wrong.
"What in Oblivion is a Listener?" Charissa mumbled.
Magrob looked at the staircase behind them and opened the door saying, "Looks like an old cellar. Bet the other side of that door is in here."
He went down the steps and the other two followed. It looked like a normal old dingy cellar. But Magrob eyed a large shelf on the back wall and grabbed the side of it, throwing it forward so that it crashed heavily onto the ground. It revealed an opening in the brick stone wall that led into a creepy red lit corridor. They went in and followed the short path where they were met with the other side of the black door.
They just looked at it and Charissa said, "How long do you think it's been here?"
Magrob studied it and stroked the tuft of hair on his chin, "Long time. Probably even longer than the house has been here."
"So Rona's been living above the Dark Brotherhood headquarters since she came here?" Bishop speculated.
"Well, luckily she usually stayed in the guild barracks," Charissa said, "But yeah, it looks that way."
Magrob touched the door then and a horrible hissing whisper filled the room.
"What is the color of night?"
"Holy shit!" Charissa snapped, leaping backward, "It talked!"
"It's a spell," Magrob said, "A password spell it looks like."
"What do you think the answer is?" Bishop asked chuckling nervously, "Black you think? These freaks seem to like that color."
Then the door hissed again, "You are not worthy."
Magrob was quick to react and rushed both Bishop and Charissa, throwing his arms out and forcing them to fall backward just as a slew of spears shunted out from the walls around the door, crisscrossing over one another. They would have all been skewered to death otherwise.
Bishop swore under his breath and Charissa barked, "Out! I'm out!" She scrambled to her feet and immediately went for the exit.
Magrob looked back and said, "That was a close one. Next time a creepy door asks you a question, try not to answer it."
"Yeah," Bishop breathed, "I'll keep that in mind."
They went back upstairs and found the entirety of the city guard already surveying Mrs. Gilseene's corpse. Charissa told them about the black door and insisted they avoid the thing because it was protected with a deadly spear trap.
Bishop went back outside and walked over to Rona. She looked up at him, brows knit together and asked, "Well? What did you find?"
He shook his head, "It's a mess Ladyship. Your landlord is dead in there. So, whatever you do, don't go in there," he hesitated to tell her what was written on the wall but felt she had a right to know, "That's not the only thing."
"What?" She looked absolutely terrified but he relented and told her anyway.
"They left a message on the wall... it says 'The Black Hand comes for you Listener. There is no escape.'"
She looked like she was going to be sick and nearly fell over when he caught her.
"Ladyship!"
"Rona!" Both Linel and Roxlin cried simultaneously. They looked on at her worried.
"Why?" She moaned, "Why me?"
Bishop wondered that too, but didn't say anything about it. He just held her and as the crowd grew larger, trying to see inside the home Bishop noticed a blonde woman standing by her gate looking around as she stroked her daughter's dark curly hair.
Their eyes met for a moment before he turned away from her. He couldn't let that get to him anymore. Not now, not with this new much more pressing matter at hand. The Dark Brotherhood were extremely shady and dangerous. They were trained assassins and were nothing like anything they'd faced before. Not even the Windhelm murderer, The Butcher, could compare to this. These people were organized and knew how to cover their tracks. They would have to take extra precautions. He would not let anyone take her from him again. Never.
After sharing everything she knew with the Cheydinhal guard, Rona had Bishop collect a few of her things from the attic and then the group left for the Imperial City. It was a day's travel for them, but she was looking forward to staying there. There was plenty to do in the city to keep everyone busy and entertained for the next two weeks before the wedding and keep her mind off the new threat against her.
(The Music is Welcome to Cork by Erutan)
She felt a lot safer with everyone else as well and they had quite a bit of fun, singing and dancing around their campfire that night. They brought the dogs too and Karnwyr was having a blast with his new husky friends. They ran around wildly, barking and chasing one another before Karnwyr caught sight of a jackrabbit and started to bound off after it.
Bear and Boomer attempted to follow, but Magrob kept them in check, "Golz!" They stopped immediately, waiting, tails wagging and then he'd say, "Aht!" and they'd come to him.
Bishop was leaning back on his arms, listening to Rona's lute, and Marco's flute with the others when he looked over at the two well behaved dogs. "Got them well trained," he said to Magrob.
Magrob tore a couple pieces of dried meat off from a thick swatch of it in his pocket and tossed them to the two waiting dogs. "Got to start them off when they're pups," he said. Then he glanced over at Karnwyr who was digging madly at a jackrabbit den under a large oak tree and asked, "Ever considered trying to train your boy?"
Bishop scoffed, "Karnwyr? Nah. He's a wild animal. Why would I try and train him? He's just fine exactly the way he is." He leaned over, grabbing a blanket and balled it up and used it as a pillow as he laid back on his bedroll.
Magrob chuckled, "He's pretty tame for a wolf. Bet my pa would be interested in studding him."
Bishop looked back over at the orc, raising a brow, "What? You mean like letting him fuck your dogs?"
Roxlin snorted a laugh, "Well if you want to put it like that."
Charissa said, "Wow, could you get any more vulgar?"
Bishop grinned at them, "Let Karnwyr fuck those bitches huh?" he clarified for profanity's sake, "I'm sure he'd enjoy that plenty. Been a while since he's gotten any, that I can recall, anyhow."
Rona looked over and said, "Karnwyr's mated with other wolves?"
"Sometimes," Bishop said, "He does what he wants. Caught him a few times tied to some pretty little thing out in the forest."
Rona blushed furiously and the others started laughing. Marco put his flute down and sneered, "You really are a crude one aren't you? What in the world do you see in the man Rona?"
She smirked, blushing still and tried to hide her face under her hair.
"Rona likes a bad boy!" Roxlin shouted, teasing her.
"That she does," Linel tittered.
"Which is odd," Marco said, "Considering he's the complete opposite of Casavir."
"What can I say?" Bishop said with a broad grin, "I know how to keep her warm at night."
Rona picked up a stick and threw it at him, "Would you quit it!"
"Careful now," Charissa laughed, "girl's gonna catch fire if you keep up the tease like that."
"She does that already without anyone else's help," Bishop said smirking at her, "Go on Ladyship, show 'em your golden fire."
"I don't think so," she said as she continued to strum her lute, "Done plenty of that already."
"So how's the dragon fighting been?" Roxlin asked.
Rona's face fell and she hummed, "Mmm you know... killed lots and lots of them..."
Bishop stayed silent. If she wanted to tell them, he'd let her, but he wasn't about to be the one to share all the awful things they'd experienced and make her revisit those memories.
"That's it?" Roxlin pressed her, "Come on, Rona, you haven't said a word about your journey since you got here."
She sighed and shrugged, blowing a bang out of her face, "I don't really want to talk about it. It's been bad. Just... really bad."
"Aw, Rona, I'm sorry," Roxlin said sincerely,"I didn't mean to pry."
"It's okay. A lot happened... a lot of friends... died," she said.
Everyone got really quiet then and to break the awkward silence Charissa said, "Hey! Sing To My Dear Friends will you? Been a while since I heard it."
(The Song is To My Dear Friends by Erutan)
Rona smiled and started to play and sing the song while Marco continued to back her up on the flute. Bishop relaxed on his bedroll, closing his eyes. He remembered the song well because it was the first song he'd ever heard her sing that day in the carriage outside Whiterun.
He'd thought it was funny at first, as he often looked down on bards and minstrels, like they were just a bunch of fanciful fools wasting their time singing songs of merriment. It was silly to him. But as he'd listened to her song, her gentle voice had started to capture him even then and he'd found himself wanting to hear more, something he could never say about himself when it came to listening to any bard sing.
Over time, with each new song he'd felt his affection for her grow more and more until it got to a point where he couldn't even sleep soundly without the lull of her voice at night. His happiest moment was the night when he confessed his love to her and she returned the words over and over again. He was at his happiest then, knowing he'd won her heart, in fact, he could hardly believe at all that such a beautiful and talented woman like her ever had any interest in him, especially after all the times he'd been so snarky and rude to her. Granted she was pretty good at returning the snark.
He really did love her with his entire being and with all the talk of her friend's wedding plans and with everything else that had been happening, he'd had something hard on his mind. He'd been saving gold for some time, stowing away a little bit here and there for her. He'd had to dip into his own savings a few times for some other things, but he always tried to replace it when he could. He knew she'd be willing to give him any amount of gold he'd needed, they were practically swimming in it at that point, but he wanted this to be from him. From his hard work to scrimp and save. This was more important to him than anything and it was most important that it came from him.
He'd already gathered the gemstones for it too. He was thrilled when he stumbled upon a rough uncut diamond chunk in a cave they'd been scavenging in ages ago. It was pretty big too and exactly what he'd need because this would be custom made. He'd also found a beautiful piece of morganite in a chest on a bandit raid. He'd liked it a lot because it shimmered a rose color, almost like the shade of her hair.
Then there was the final piece he needed, which he'd taken care of very recently. After an evening of passionate lovemaking, when she'd finally fallen into a deep sleep, exhausted from their efforts as well as a long day of guild work, he'd taken a string and wrapped it around her ring finger, getting the exact size. He tied that little string off and put it in his pocket for safekeeping and occasionally found himself pulling it out to look at it, smiling to himself like the love-struck fool he was.
He knew he'd find a good jeweler in the Imperial City. This was his only chance and he was not about to pass it up. He was ready and he hoped she was too.
He almost nodded off, listening to her song. And then it ended and everyone tucked in for the night. Rona crawled up next to him and he draped an arm over her waist and gave her a gentle kiss to the cheek. She returned it and gave him that sweet smile that he could only hope he'd see more often than not. Of course, he was really looking forward to how beautiful that smile would be when he finally proposed.
(Background music Youtube Oblivion - Music & Ambience - Towns 10 Hours)
They all got a good night's rest and the next morning they were off again, finally arriving at the Imperial stabled their horses and brought Karnwyr and the other dogs along with them. Bishop was in awe of the place. It had been years since he'd been and he had forgotten just how enormous the city was, not to mention how busy it was, with hundreds of people bustling about. Merchants, travelers, mercenaries, guardsmen, beggars, and even a few thieves, he noticed, were all in abundance as they visited the marketplaces and met in the streets.
People of all age groups were in attendance as well, several children ran by them, playing a game of tag, a little argonian boy and two dunmer children in fact. There were plenty of elderly types shuffling around and young people flirting, greeting and making general conversation.
The buildings wrapped in large circles around the central pavilions which served as small parks or places where a statue or monument was set. The homes and buildings were two, three and even four stories tall, towering high above them all. There were arches and pillars everywhere, a very specific architectural design seen mainly in Cyrodiil. Most of the walls were decorated with the red Imperial banners with the black insignia of a diamond crested dragon on them. It wasn't all stone and brick though, there was plenty of landscaping done along the edges of the brick pathways with tall thin trees that were well pruned and lots of other green shrubbery and even colorful arrangements of flowers.
The place was surprisingly clean, on the surface, Bishop thought. He recalled the Waterfront which was the dirtier part of the city where the more unsavory types hung around. He looked up where in the very heart of the city was the Imperial Palace, a round structure with a tall central point that rose high into the sky so as to be seen from a great distance.
He was sure there were some extremely wealthy types living in that pillar which was adorned with large windows for an amazing view. Certainly the Emperor himself lived up there, at the top he assumed, so that he might be able to look down on all his citizenry, watching over them.
"So are we going to your family's estate first Roxie?" Rona asked.
"Yeah! We still have to get everyone fitted in their formalwear," Roxlin said leading them all along.
Linel said, "We're going to stop by the Arcane University to get Lorrie first, remember?"
"Right! Right!" Roxlin said hopping up and down, "We'll see Attie too!"
Rona smiled at her and glanced at Bishop, noticing that he was looking around at everything and said, "I thought you've been here before."
"Been a looong time, Ladyship," he said, still staring at all the busy merchant stalls and the assortment of people. There were mostly Imperials in the city, of course, but there were plenty of other races too. Argonians, khajiits, redguards, bretons, every version of 'mer' you could think of and even a few nords and with surprisingly no animosity between any of them, in fact people looked rather happy.
"Do you think he cares?" Bishop asked her suddenly.
"Who?"
"The Emperor. I mean look at these people," he waved a hand out to them,"They're all so damn happy. Everything is so peaceful here, but back in Skyrim it's just chaos with the civil war and the return of the dragons."
"I'm sure Emperor Titus cares Bishop," she said, "He works directly with the Imperial guard and gets regular updates on the happenings of the war."
He looked right at her and said, "He didn't care enough to let Tullius go when he tried to execute you."
She pressed her lips together but then they curled into a smirk and she said, "Maybe we'll see him and then you can ask him yourself."
He scoffed, "As if I'd ever get a chance to meet the Emperor."
"Are you forgetting who my ata is?"
He gave her a side-eye glance, "You really think we might meet the Emperor?"
"Wouldn't be my first time. It's been a long time since I've seen him though."
"How long?"
"I was thirteen the last time I met with him," she laughed a little, "He came to my ballet recital with Ata."
Bishop furrowed his brows at her, "Ballet? You did ballet?"
"Gods you're forgetful," she looked up at him, "Remember my dance on the lake?"
"Mmm... damn how could I forget? You even wrote me that lovely song."
She blushed and said, "Exactly... Well I did ballet between the ages of eleven and thirteen. Ata encouraged me to do it, thought it would help get all that extra energy out of my system. I liked it and was actually pretty good at it, but I hated doing magic so much more and had to get away."
"Right, then you ran off to join these guys," he thumbed to all her friends.
"Mmhm!" She said perkily, "Best decision of my life!"
"The best huh?" He gave her a meaningful look and she blushed quite a bit at that. He grinned at her and chuckled.
They passed through the Market District and went along into the Central District where they could see the Imperial Palace up close. They continued around the circling path until they came up to another pair of tall gates which had already been opened for the day. It led right into the Arboretum; a gorgeous lush park flourishing with all kinds of plant life. There were statues set all around the circling gardens, representing one of each of the Nine Divines, or so Bishop thought until he realized that there was no shrine for Talos.
He leaned over to Rona and said, "I take it the Thalmor probably made them get rid of the Shrine for Talos?"
"See that temple in the center," she pointed to a small round building in the middle of the Arboretum, "That was the Shrine of Talos, or Tiber Septim here. But they closed it after the Emperor signed the White-Gold Concordat."
"Of course they did."
"You sound disappointed," she said.
He scoffed, "Not disappointed, just frustrated that these Imperials are so damn spineless."
"Hey!" Marco called back, "I heard that!"
"And I stand by my remark," Bishop said giving him a challenging look.
Marco narrowed his eyes at him and then turned away, while the others chuckled at his back. They passed through the Arboretum and through another set of gates leading to a section outside the city where a very tall building stood in the distance across a long bridge over the lake. This one had three tall pillars with pointed roofing on each pillar.
Right in front of the building were two strange lights made of glowing cubes which floated around and rearranged themselves into different shapes while their hue changed between purple and blue. Bishop eyed the things warily and groaned inwardly. "Are there going to be a bunch of students learning magic here?"
Rona flashed him a wide grin and said, "Yup!"
He grumbled to himself and she grasped his arm and pulled him along. They went through another pair of gates leading into yet another courtyard with more cubed light structures scattered throughout and plenty of wild alchemical ingredients growing all around.
The place was busy with students wandering the grounds, some practicing their magics while others were poring over large tomes and some were picking at the plants, collecting ingredients. A pair of Imperial battle mages stood by the gates and one of them said, "Oh! Miss Thoraminh! Mister Dorngrove! Good to see you both again."
"Hello Vineas," Linel greeted the battle mage kindly.
"What brings you and the Fighter's Guild here?"
"Just come to get my sissy so we can finish up with Roxlin's wedding plans. We have to get her fitted for her dress and us in our doublets and then attend the rehearsal dinner and so on in the coming weeks."
Vineas chuckled, "Right of course! Congratulations to the happy couple! Oh –and Miss Thoraminh, your father just left for the Imperial Palace."
"That's alright," she replied, "We're just here for Lorrie. We'll catch up with him later."
"I'll let him know you stopped by."
"Thank you," she said politely and they moved along into the courtyard, but before they could get very far Lorrie came running out of nowhere and threw herself at Bishop, wrapping her arms right around his neck and cried, "Oh Bishop! I'm so glad you're finally here!"
Bishop was stunned and just held his arms out and stammered, "Ah - wha!? I - we - uhh..."
Lorrie leaned back from him and looked over at a rotund and homely looking breton mage in blue robes. He had blonde hair which had been cut in a neat circle around his head and quite a few large pimples dotting his face and plenty more on his large, bulbous nose.
"See Bernard! I told you my boyfriend would be here any minute!" She kissed Bishop right on the cheek and Rona fell into a fit of giggles along with the others who were snickering loudly as the breton mage looked on at her, absolutely crushed.
"B-But Lorrie... we... I thought we..."
"Well, got to go," Lorrie said sweetly, "My best friend Roxie's getting married you know and I honestly think Bishop might just propose to me soon too!"
Bishop just gaped at her and she whispered to him, "For the love of Y'ffre, play along."
He caught on and got right into it then, flashing her his most charming grin and said, "Great to see you darlin'. You ready to go slip into that sexy dress for me?"
Lorrie cocked a brow at him, blushing a little at his forwardness, fake as it was, and quickly said, "Yes I am my love! Let's go! Mustn't waste daylight!" She grasped his hand, dragging him along with her and the others all turned right around and followed them out of the courtyard and back onto the bridge.
The minute they were through the gates Lorrie let go of his hand and broke into a sprint, holding her green mages robes up a bit as she ran. Rona and Roxlin chased after her, crying with laughter while Karnwyr and the dogs ran alongside them in all the excitement. Rona shouted, "Another one Lorrie!? Are you serious!?"
"I was just testing it! It was supposed to be for Aiden but that troll Bernard drank it instead! Ugh!"
They ran into the Arboretum and Lorrie stopped to catch her breath while Rona and Roxlin both leaned against a wall, bowled over in laughter. Roxlin sank to the ground, almost in tears and said, "Oh my gods Lorrie. His face! Eyugh!"
"He didn't even have the pimples until he drank it," Lorrie frowned, crossing her arms, "Must've been a side effect. I'm going to have to work on the recipe..."
"Wait," Rona breathed, holding a hand out while she clutched her stomach, "Aiden's that burly Imperial mage, right?"
Lorrie blushed and said wryly, "Maaaybeee."
The others all caught up then and Linel snapped at her, "Honestly sister! Poisoning another fool with your love potions!? How could you do that to the poor soul?"
"It wasn't for him," she tried to explain.
Linel crossed his arms and scowled at her.
"It was for Aiden," she said with a smirk.
Linel blushed and said, "Gods, that hunk of man-meat? With the rippling biceps bigger than his head?"
She grinned and nodded fiercely.
"What I wouldn't give for him to peg me right in the..." he blushed then remembering his current company.
Charissa threw her hands up and barked, "You are all ridiculous! Just a bunch of horny animals!"
"Got that right," Magrob said, grasping Roxlin around the waist very easily with his enormous hand. She gave him a flirty look and they smooched, not caring who was there.
Charissa threw her head back and exhaled exasperated, "Good gods, all of you are perverts!"
Lorrie looked at Bishop and said, "Thanks for saving me Mr. Handsome."
"My pleasure m'lady," he winked at her, "I could never leave a damsel in distress and definitely not with a creature like that. Although I gotta ask, why exactly did he think you two were...?"
"Love potion," Rona said smirking, "Lorrie here seems to think she knows how to make a love potion and has been trying them out on every attractive man in the Mage's Guild for years now."
"Love potions are real?" Bishop asked doubtfully.
"No," Linel said, "They are not. But they do have potions that you can brew to make someone very infatuated with you for a brief period of time. They're not exactly... legal."
Lorrie pursed her lips and turned away, humming to herself, "So? Off to the estate then? Can't wait to see your aunties again Roxie!"
Roxlin scowled at the thought and said, "Maybe you and Rona can do me a favor and just light those three witches on fire for me. Or better yet, shout them into the lake Rona! Please!"
The three of them walked ahead of the group, chattering and giggling to one another. Bishop paced by Magrob and Charissa and said, "Wow, you were not kidding. Those three..."
"The tiny troublemakers," Charissa smirked.
"You haven't seen anything yet," Magrob said, "You're about to meet all seven of her older sisters." He snorted a laugh.
They had to travel a ways northwest to get to the estate which was just outside the city, beyond the Elven Gardens District which was the upper class residential district.
Bishop thought he'd seen everything, just looking at all the wealthy nobles' excessive homesteads there with their perfect white painted walls, shining windows, fountains and perfectly manicured yards, but as they passed through the enormous gates leading outside the main residential district he was floored. They were greeted by an extravagant and flourishing estate. It was surrounded by tall, pointed fencing and square trimmed shrubs, made for privacy. There were long rolling lawns of green grass and the manor sat on the far end, right on the water. It was huge, on par with the Imperial Palace itself, but much nicer looking.
The home was designed with the common Cyrodiil architecture, with plenty of arches and marble columns. It was painted white and had enormous windows, spacious patios, verandas and a vast garden all its own which connected to an atrium on the left side of the house. There were even a pair of large single homes, no doubt the servants quarters set off to the side of the home near the gardens.
Roxlin went right up to the gates where two private guards stood. The moment they saw her they opened the gates and bowed their heads, "Miss LaRoues."
She smiled and nodded politely to them both and led the group in. They walked along a beautifully paved white walkway and Magrob waved a hand out, shouting, "Ek!" And both Boomer and Bear took off on the grounds with Karnwyr chasing after them.
They reached the front doors and Roxlin let herself and the rest of them in, showing them into an enormous foyer, with white marbled flooring and a beautiful curving staircase leading up to the second floor. The entire home was outfitted in the finest paintings, with ornate gold frames, marble carved statues of beautiful women draped in cloth, expensive looking khajiiti rugs and plenty of gold and navy colored chairs and couches. An intricate chandelier hung high above them, lit with lights made from magic it seemed. No expense was spared in the beautiful home.
Bishop found it all to be incredibly overwhelming to say the least. He thought he'd seen it all just visiting the palaces in Skyrim, but these people made them look like dirty peasants in comparison.
They were greeted by an older woman with thick blonde hair, which had been tied up onto the top of her head and left some thick coiling curls that fell down the back. She wore an elegant and lacy lavender gown. Her neckline, ears and wrists were all adorned in glittering diamond jewelry, set in gold.
She smiled a perfect white smile and cried, "Roxie!" She came quickly down the stairs, each step clicking lightly from her heeled shoes. She threw her arms out over her daughter's shoulders, embracing her and kissed her on both cheeks, "Oh how I've missed you dearest!"
Roxlin laughed and said, "Mama, we just saw you last week."
She grasped her daughter's hands and said, "I know dear, but a mother always misses her children. Oh my darling, aren't you just thrilled? Two more weeks and my youngest daughter will finally be married! - oh Magrob!"
Then she ran right over and gave the orc a big hug and did the same with him, kissing him on his cheeks while he blushed a bit and grunted, "Mimi, good to see you."
Mimi looked over the rest of the group and cried, "Just look at you all! This is wonderful Roxie dear. We can have them all fitted for their formalwear. I'll go collect your sisters and let them know you're here," she waved a hand, motioning them off to a room on the right, "Please, please, go on into the sitting room and I'll have some tea served."
She hurried back up the stairs calling, "Richelle - girls! Your sister and all her friends are here!"
Roxlin ushered them all into the sitting room then, which had pristine white carpets and dark wood walls. An enormous marble fireplace sat against the far wall and there was an assortment of more of the same gold and navy couches and chairs all around, with plenty of dark wood end tables and coffee tables spaced between them. There was a even a white grand piano facing a wall of glass windows which gave an incredible view of the lake outside as that side of the house was right on the water.
Sitting on one of the couches near the fireplace was a much older looking breton man with dark hair, streaked on the sides with grey and a neatly trimmed dark moustache and beard. He wore fine nobles clothes, a black doublet with a white undershirt and black trousers. He was looking over some paperwork while enjoying a glass of brandy.
He glanced back at everyone as he heard them come in and said, "Ah, Roxlin, Magrob. Welcome home and I see you've brought your friends. Excellent, excellent. Please have a seat."
Everyone found a place to sit around the fireplace and Mr. LaRoues continued to look over his paperwork, "I do apologize for not greeting you all more properly, but I have quite the workload this evening," he looked up and smiled kindly at his daughter, "Getting excited dear? Wedding's just around the corner."
"I am," she said, "But the three mean matrons keep ruining everything! I already had to send word to our caterer for the fourth time this week that we're still on! I even gave them a password this time to keep auntie Miriam from cancelling again!"
"That's nice dear," her father said mindlessly as he was already back to reviewing his papers.
Roxlin pursed her lips and whined, "Papa! You're not even listening!"
"No worries Roxie!" Another woman dressed in a simple blue dress, with straight long blonde hair and bright red lips, and who had a toddler on her hip appeared. She was flanked by six other blonde women, also all wearing simple dresses and who were of varying ages. "The witches won't be bothering us today or tomorrow or the next day since they all received invitations to a lavish party all the way out in Anvil. They're the guests of honor you know."
She winked and Roxlin grinned, "You didn't Richelle!"
"Oh I definitely did," she said with an rascally smirk.
Roxlin leapt up and ran into the midst of her giggling sisters. She introduced every single one of them, by age, but Bishop could hardly remember their names as they all started with the letter 'R' and they all looked practically the same to him. They were beautiful, definitely, but they could have been a group of identical siblings as far as he was concerned. The only one he could differentiate from them all was Roxlin and only because her hair was shorter than the rest of them.
"Alright ladies! We're pairing off!" Richelle pointed to four of her sisters including Roxlin and said, "You get the girls!" Then she pointed to herself and three others and said, "And we get the boys!"
Everyone got up then and Bishop followed suit, just going with the flow because he was lost otherwise. Then Rona went along with Roxlin and he made to follow but Magrob grabbed him, yanking him along with their group instead.
Rona called over to him from the opposite side of the second floor landing, "See you in a bit! Try not to get too annoyed."
He looked at her confused but went along with it, "We're just fitting for clothes right?" He asked Magrob.
The orc smirked at him and said, "Getting custom tailored clothing. Mimi is a tailor and passed those skills on to all the girls. Richelle here runs the Divine Elegance over in the Market District, a high end clothing boutique."
Richelle smiled at him and said, "So we're going to get you the best fit for your clothes."
The men were ushered into a large room outfitted with the same gold and navy furniture as the rest of the home. The room was incredibly messy with fabric strewn across tables and draped over chairs and even a pair of privacy dividers. There were pincushions and spools of thread set in baskets everywhere too.
The women got right to work taking measurements first, starting with Linel and then Marco. Bishop looked at Magrob when they called the next person and he grinned and said, "Alright got my doublet and breeches made months ago."
Bishop grumbled and got up. The lovely blonde breton women seemed to be sizing him up as they giggled and blushed while they poked and prodded him, making him raise his arms and spread his legs out so they could get all his measurements. He could hardly complain though having four very attractive women fussing over him and groping him very close to his package.
After they took measurements the men spent the rest of their time waiting while the women began the arduous process of sewing clothes for them. Richelle passed her baby boy off to Magrob to look after while they worked. Magrob seemed to be at a loss with the baby and Bishop said, "Pass him here." He looked after the little blonde boy for the rest of the evening, making faces at him and getting him to laugh.
"Wow," Magrob said, "Never would have guessed you were good with kids."
Bishop smirked at him and said, "I was the second oldest of a brood of nine. Trust me, I know how to look after a little one."
Linel even got a little interested, taking a seat next to Bishop to fuss over the baby before Richelle would call one of them over to try on a piece of clothing they were working on so they could pin it to them.
Bishop started to understand exactly what Rona meant when she said try not to get too annoyed, especially after he got stuck in the arms and legs a few times with pins and grumbled loudly so they'd all know. The women just giggled and tittered at him giving a few apologies here and there.
Eventually a young boy with short blonde hair, around Bast's age came in with a tray of bottles and glasses and said, "Pa sent up some wine and brandy for you all, in case you're thirsty."
"Thanks Rahdex," Magrob said, taking the tray, "Tell Alaonard we appreciate it."
The lad leaned against a chair and said, "They driving you crazy yet?"
"Stuck me a few times," Marco said, as he poured himself a glass of brandy, "Think they're doing it on purpose, honestly."
Magrob chuckled, sipping his own drink, "Probably because you keep staring at them in places you shouldn't."
Rahdex laughed and said, "Yeah, I wouldn't mess with my sisters if I were you. You should see the things they've been doing to our aunts."
Marco made a face saying, "Riiigghht... I'll keep that in mind."
Bishop laid off the drinks since he was stuck looking after the baby. Magrob spent most of the evening telling him about his father's dog breeding business and told him just how much a tamed wolf like Karnwyr would be worth for studding.
Bishop got along best with the orc. He was the easiest to talk to out of all of them and considering Rona and Roxlin were such close friends they had that much in common as they laughed about the two women and their incessant need to sing and rush into battle.
After several more hours, as the daylight waned and the moon started to rise the women finished their work. The others had left the sewing room, retiring down in the dining room to have supper leaving just Bishop and Richelle as she finished up his breeches.
He handed the babe back off to her, as she passed him the entire outfit to try on. He went around the changing divider and pulled the clothes on, impressed with the fit and the feel. "These aren't half bad," he said, "They're actually comfortable."
"Great!" Richelle said enthusiastically. He came around and with her baby now on her hip she went around and tugged at the clothes in places, "Looks good. You clean up nicely. What was your name again?"
"Bishop," he said holding a hand out to her.
She shook it and said, "Hey, hold Quinn again for me." She promptly passed the baby off to him and he held the infant out, hoping the boy wouldn't decide right then and there to shit all over his new clothes. She grabbed his worn leather cuirass and trousers and said, "These are nice, well, were at one point. How would you feel if I remade these for you? Same style and everything, only the fit will be a little better."
"I don't know," he said, "I'm pretty attached to my armor, made them myself."
"Wow," she said, "I'm impressed."
He snorted a laugh and the baby started smiling at him. He grinned at the little one and stuck his tongue out.
"No really," she said as she went over to her large sewing table and set his clothes on it, "You're the one who travels with Rona right?"
"Yeah."
"Roxlin told me all about it," she said as she started quickly sketching out the look of his old armor on a piece of parchment, "So you fight dragons and plenty of other mean and nasty things up that way, out in the mountains?"
"Something like that," he chuckled as he cradled the baby in his arms and kept making faces to entertain him.
"I could enchant the new ones for you, fortify your magic resistance against fire and ice," she said.
"How much is this going to cost me?" He asked seriously. He couldn't afford to dip into his engagement ring savings just for a set of new leather armor.
"Nothing at all," she said smiling over at him.
"Seriously?"
"Rona might as well be one of my many little sisters, you know. She's been good to Roxie and I want to see that she and her own are taken care of. It's really no problem."
"Shit," he muttered and then looked at the baby and said, "Uh, sorry - Well if you're offering I really can't decline. Brand new enchanted leather armor? Sounds great to me."
"Excellent," she said, "I'll get started on it right away. But you'll have to go without your old ones for a few days, will that be okay?"
"Those are my only clothes," he laughed.
She went over to an old trunk and rifled through it before pulling out a white shirt and some brown trousers, "Will these work for now? I've got plenty more old clothes you can try, was just keeping them around for the fabric."
He traded her the baby back for the clothes and said, "Let's see." He took off his formalwear and tried on the simple clothing which reminded him a lot of the clothes he'd worn to the Thalmor Embassy, though the shirt was more snug. He shrugged, "Guess it'll do for now."
"Just a few days, I promise!"
He left the formalwear there as they planned to return the day of the wedding to change and he and Richelle went downstairs and met with the others, grabbing plates to fill with food which had been laid out on white clothed tables in the dining room and then they took seats at one of the three large dining tables, joining the group of Cheydinhal's Finest, while Roxlin's parents and siblings all dined at another table nearby.
Rona looked Bishop over and asked, "Going casual?"
"Getting new clothes," he said as he took a bite of a pork chop.
"I like it," she said, tugging on his long sleeve. Then she turned and asked Roxlin, "Where are we all staying tonight?"
Roxlin shouted, "That's my surprise!"
Magrob chuckled through his own dinner and said, "Can't fit you all here."
Bishop laughed and looked around the huge manor, "Really? Because I could swear you've got plenty of space for a few more bedrolls."
Roxlin scrunched her nose and said, "Ooh, don't let Mama hear you say that. She'd absolutely hate the idea of anyone going without a bed."
Bishop looked at her with half-lidded eyes, "She ever take a walk around the Waterfront? Plenty of folk out that way looking for beds."
Roxlin rolled her eyes and said, "I mean as guests here. So! My whole family is arriving in the next day or two and we don't have enough beds to accommodate you guys, so Papa talked to some of his friends on the Elder Council and arranged to have you all stay in the Imperial Palace!"
Bishop's eyes widened and Rona said, "Wow, really?"
"You mean up in that big tower in the middle?" Bishop asked.
Roxlin nodded quickly, "And not just that, everyone gets their own rooms, well except you two, figured you'd prefer to share a room."
Rona blushed and Bishop smirked, "Yes, definitely! Wait - do they allow wolves?"
"Um, probably not," Roxlin conceded, scratching at her temple.
"Karnwyr can stay here," Magrob said, "Boomer and Bear will keep him company."
Bishop laughed, "Sounds good - great actually. He'll like it better being able to run around and stretch his legs."
With the fittings taken care of and Mimi, the perfect hostess she was, making sure everyone was well fed, Roxlin and Magrob sent the rest of their group off to the Imperial Palace, each with a letter stating their reason for being there and a key to their own rooms.
Bishop was neither excited nor disappointed with staying in the Imperial Palace, he'd have been just fine sleeping in a bedroll outdoors under a tree, but he did prefer this because he felt Rona would be so much safer there. The Dark Brotherhood had little chance of getting into the same building that the Emperor himself stayed in, considering the high security in the place. And there was definitely high security.
Upon arrival they all had to disarm and leave their weapons in the armory and they were all pat down and checked for any concealed weapons as well. Some battle mages even used some spells to check them all over, Rona said to check for weapons concealed inside the body which Bishop had never considered.
A kindly altmer man showed them to their rooms within the high tower, which was only accessible through a magic portal that only he and other authorized persons could activate. It was one of the wildest things Bishop had ever experienced because it essentially made him levitate and launched him up. It was almost as terrifying as falling, except he was flying upwards with absolutely no control over his position in the air.
The minute he was set down by whatever invisible force it was, he clutched his stomach and wobbled. The others, who'd gone first, before him, because he insisted on going last, were already headed off to their rooms. Rona touched his shoulder and asked sympathetically, "You alright?"
"Never gonna get used to all this magic stuff Ladyship..."
"Come on," she said, grasping his hand and tugging him along.
He leaned on her shoulder, wrapping his arm around her and asked, "You ever been up here before?"
"No," she said, "I never had a reason to visit the Imperial Suites."
They passed by a few haughty nobles that turned their noses up at them and started whispering to each other under their breath. Bishop made sure to give them all dirty looks in return and said, "Bet these snobs are wondering why people like us are up here."
"Oh I'm sure they are," she said and then she groped his ass, taking him by surprise. He looked down at her, brow raised and she said playfully, "Let's see how much we can annoy them."
His lips curled into the biggest grin and he pulled her in a little closer. Gods he loved this woman.
They passed by a few large balconies that led outside to an incredible view of the city and the rolling grasslands of Cyrodiil and continued going around the red carpeted hall until they reached their room. It looked like Charissa, Linel, Lorrie and Marco already found their rooms because they didn't come across them again.
Bishop was already getting very frisky too, reaching around to fondle her and running his hand up and down her rear. He started to feel rather excited at the idea of ruining a very expensive noble's suite by fucking on all the furniture.
Rona quickly let them into the room and Bishop threw the door shut behind them. He didn't even stop to look at the place, which was dark anyhow, due to a lack of candlelight and it being night time. His hands found their way under her clothes and his lips met her neck. She moaned in reply and they were both quick to undress.
He had her pressed up against a wall and found his way inside her very quickly, surprised by how ready she was for him. It seemed she also enjoyed the idea of messing up that fancy place with their naked and entwined bodies.
He grunted hard and thrust into her harder and she screamed with ecstasy which made his eyes roll. Her voice did so many things to him, but that sound, which was only reserved for him gave him more pleasure than he could ever imagine.
He wanted more of her though and lifted her legs up so that she could wrap them around his waist. With a quick glance around the darkened room he spotted the bed and carried her over, fucking her still with each step. The second he was at the edge of it though he threw her down onto it, watching her and her lovely breasts bounce through the sliver of moonlight that cascaded into the room from a large window.
He grasped one of her legs, drawing it up his chest and buried himself right back into her tightness. It was hot and rough and she gave in to it, returning all his lust with her own and more. They did it until they couldn't anymore and collapsed in an exhausted heap on the bed. Bishop lay there, holding that beautiful, sexy woman close in his arms feeling completely content and euphoric and wondered if that's what it felt like to be a king.