Chapter VII – Knight in Shining Armor

The beast descended from the southern mountains, menacingly plummeting towards her.

After Aeyrin spent the night at Moorside Inn, she headed towards the road leading east, searching for the caravan. It was barely afternoon when she saw the carriage filled with boxes riding down the road. She had to make sure to stay a safe distance away, so that neither the guards nor the caravan driver could accidentally see her.

She followed for a few hours, but by the time the sun was setting, a familiar roar echoed from the mountains. All this took much less time than she had expected. Not that she wasn't happy about that. The sooner she got this ordeal over with, the better.

The guards brandished their weapons and rushed further away from the caravan, determined to protect the man and the goods he was transporting.

She hurried down the road instantly.

When the guards spotted her in the distance, she could have sworn that she saw their tense stances ease up a bit. It was somewhat heartwarming that she inspired such confidence in them, yet at the same time, it was quite a pressure. She could already see the heartbreak and disappointment in their faces if any of them didn't make it through the fight. They would rely on her so much to protect them from the beast.

No matter. Her target was clear and she needed to do everything in her power to save these people and Maven's merchandise.

She finally reached the guards after a short while. There were three of them and they all looked at her with palpable hope in their eyes.

"Are… are you the Dragonborn?" an Imperial woman among them asked uncertainly.

"Yes. I was just traveling towards Dawnstar when I saw," Aeyrin nodded. She tried to sound reassuring, but she wasn't sure if she had managed. Every dragon was still daunting to her, even after all this time.

"Should we… should we do something specific? What is their weakness?" a Nord man beside the Imperial probed.

That was a difficult question for Aeyrin – saying that she didn't know would likely not bolster their morale. She looked the guards over briefly. The woman had a greatsword, the Nord wielded two axes and the last man, a Breton, had a glowing staff in his hands. Well… at least he could attack it at range, but it would still be better to keep the beast on the ground.

"Try to attack its wings to prevent it from flying, then concentrate on the head. Blind it if you can," she nodded resolutely. She knew all too well that battling dragons was much more about improvisation than anything else, but the guards seemed more reassured after hearing a clear tactic.

Perhaps fortunately for her, there was no more time to talk as the beast closed the distance, staying low above the ground. It opened its maw mid-flight and a bright faint-blue light began forming at the back of its throat within a moment.

Gods, she'd be freezing the whole night again after this.

If she survived…

Stop thinking about that!

Aeyrin and the caravan guards all rolled out of the way instinctively, dodging the ray of frost hurled from the dragon's maw. The ground got promptly covered in a white mist while crystals began forming on the rocks paving the road.

The beast passed them in its flight, but it turned right around and reached them again a second later. It hovered above, watching them with what looked like a measured stare in its eyes. It opened its maw again, but before the Shout could even form, a large ball of fire was hurled onto its head.

The dragon roared in anger and heaved. It wanted to charge at them – Aeyrin could already tell.

She considered telling the guards to be ready to roll out of the way, but then she realized that the beast could actually understand her too. It was odd to think about. Tactics were yelled out often in battles against dragons, and only after meeting Paarthurnax she fully realized how stupid it was – it only gave the beasts a heads-up.

Since she opted to stay silent on the matter, after that realization, the dragon plummeted towards the ground at once, making everyone jump out of the way in panic.

But the second it collided with the frosty stones, Aeyrin riled herself up and turned towards it.

"KRII!"

The familiar red glow enveloped the creature instantly and Aeyrin didn't hesitate before she charged. She readied her flaming mace and smashed it into the dragon's wing bone with as much force as she could.

The guards realized themselves soon enough as well and they ran towards the beast. The two warriors started to hack at its head hurriedly while the Breton hurled more fire at it, alternating between his staff and his free hand.

The dragon would not survive the onslaught for long, especially under the effect of Aeyrin's Shout.

After a few minutes of attacking and meticulously interrupting the beast's countering moves, the dragon slumped down with its blood seeping from the deep cuts and gashes in between its scales. The Imperial woman thrusted her claymore into the creature's eye when its head fell to the ground and the dragon finally let out one last pained roar.

Aeyrin stepped back from the scene and braced herself. The beast didn't manage to let out any other Shout than the first one – that meant that she would be freezing again. She hated that one. The fire wasn't much better though. And the strange purple one or the acid one were even worse. Well… she hated all of it, of course. But there was nothing she could do but withstand it now.

She had thought that it would only be getting better with time. Wasn't she supposed to get stronger with more consumed souls? It certainly didn't feel like it. Nothing was better now.

It didn't take long before the rays of light shot out from the corpse. She closed her eyes firmly and fell to her knees, trying to prepare herself for the worst part.

Her whole body tightened in shock as a sharp pain shot through her abdomen, followed by one in her chest and another through her temples. It was as if someone stabbed icicles into her body – there was a cold wet feeling accompanying the pain. Her hands got clammy and cold, she tried to move them but she couldn't. They were only getting colder, as if she was burying them deeper and deeper into snow. She couldn't take much more of this, the horrible seeping cold was only spreading further, traveling up her arms, over her shoulders and then up her neck and down her torso. Soon enough, she was all frozen. Her body had the uncontrollable urge to shiver, but she couldn't move at all, not even subconsciously. She was frozen solid.

"… not sure… try one more? I don't know what else to do!" a woman's voice penetrated Aeyrin's thoughts.

She finally started to realize what was happening around her. She still couldn't move at all, but soon enough, she realized why. There was a thick blanket wrapped around her incredibly tightly and someone's hands were keeping it in place, holding her by the shoulders.

Another heavy blanket was slumped down onto her and wrapped around tightly. She slowly started to open her eyes.

The caravan driver stood in front of her with a few other fur blankets in his hands. He looked like he was in shock, shaking, and his eyes kept darting towards the remains of the dragon nearby every now and then. The Imperial woman and Breton man were both standing above her and looking her over with concern while the Nord man fastened the blanket around her form.

"Can you hear us?" the Breton asked carefully.

"Y-yeah… yeah. I'm alright now… thank you," Aeyrin sighed and gave the Nord by her side a reassuring nod. He let go of her shoulders with a hint of uncertainty on his face and she started to unwrap the blankets from herself. She was still freezing, but she could use her cloak instead – that was much more convenient for travel.

"What happened?" the Imperial inquired after a while.

"It's normal… happens every time. Don't worry about it," Aeyrin reassured them again.

They all stayed silent for a while, uncertain about how else to react to Aeyrin. But she stood up from the ground, in the meantime, and handed the blankets back to the merchant.

"I… I am very grateful for your help, Dragonborn. If there's anything I can do to repay you," the caravan driver seemed to finally find his voice, but she only shook her head at him. Not that she would ask for compensation in any case, but more importantly, she needed as much goodwill with Maven as possible. The sooner this task was over, the better.

Aeyrin rummaged in her pack for her cloak and wrapped it around herself with a wry smile. She briefly said her goodbye to the people surrounding her and headed further along the road to Dawnstar.

Once she was out of their sight, she could disappear into the wilderness and head back to Morthal while still remaining inconspicuous.

Everything happened much sooner than she had expected. Now she could move towards the Reach the next morning. The beginning of the next month was only a day away – Azshan would be there soon. There was no reason to delay meeting him.

Besides, she was excited to see a friendly face.

Even though she dreaded explaining to him why she was alone.

…

It was the second of Sun's Height by the time she had arrived at Old Hroldan Inn.

She had expected to be there much sooner, with the dragon taken care of already, but her journey got interrupted by a few miners, asking for help. They had uncovered a passage in their mine, only to find it infested with draugr. The men were running for their lives, as far away from the mine as possible, when she encountered them on the road.

The mine led into what looked like the remains of an ancient barrow, but much to her dismay, there was no Wall there for her to study. There were a lot of draugr though. And then she was graciously invited to stay with the miners after the battles, delaying her in her journey to the inn.

No matter, Azshan wasn't there yet anyway, according to the innkeeper. And he probably didn't expect her so soon. But she saw no reason to wander around the wilderness longer. She was looking forward to seeing him, away from all the drama of Solitude politics and Casavir's and Bishop's animosity. She's had enough of all that for a lifetime.

So she paid the innkeeper Eydis to fix her something to eat while she disposed of her armor and headed towards the baths.

At least she'd get a calm evening with no fighting for once.

Although these evenings hadn't been nearly as enjoyable now that she was alone again.

There weren't even any patrons around so that she could join in for some fun revelry with them. No one to sing for, no one to talk to. Eydis seemed to be used to the empty inn and she hardly looked like she wanted company. The entire time, she hasn't even made that much small talk – she was only busying herself with the dishes or baking some lavender dumplings. At least there was that. They smelled amazing.

After a long and silent evening, when Aeyrin tried hard to occupy herself in any other way than by overthinking her life, she readied herself to retreat to her room. She rented the large room that used to belong to Tiber Septim again, just for that big bed. She only needed to check that no one was hiding in the secret room there, for her own peace of mind.

"Good night, dear. Do you want me to knock on you if your friend arrives?" Eydis called out to her from behind the bar.

"Alright. He's a Redguard. And… he'll probably be wearing heavy armor. A very shiny one," Aeyrin smirked a little. Not that she'd expect many people to arrive there through the night, but this way, there would be no mistaking him.

"Got it. Waiting to be swept off your feet by a knight in shiny armor, huh?" Eydis giggled at her.

Aeyrin only shook her head with a light chuckle in response. People got so obsessed with knights and paladins. She saw that in Solitude too. Azshan certainly drew some stares there everywhere they went. It was really not the case for her tonight though.

She entered the room and immediately went towards the closet that held the hidden entrance to push it out of the way. Fortunately, the room behind it was completely empty – there was only a table, a bed and some empty shelves. Delphine and Esbern had obviously made sure that there was no trace of them left there.

After the brief examination, Aeyrin returned to the room and prepared herself to get some rest.

Hopefully Azshan would come the next day.

She didn't really relish the thought of staying at the inn for much longer with nothing to occupy herself with.

…

A knock on the door rattled Aeyrin from her sleep.

Any small thing, any faint sound could wake her up lately.

Not that she wasn't a little relieved – it felt like she barely got some rest – always dreaming, always waking up and falling back asleep in exhaustion.

It did still take her a few moments to realize what had happened and that there was an actual knock, before she crawled out of the bed tiredly and shuffled towards the door.

Her eyes went wide when she opened them. Azshan was standing in front of her with a very weak and wavering smile on his face. The side of his head and neck were covered with blood with a prominent gash under it. The plates of his armor were dented in several places and he had his gauntlet removed and his arm bare, displaying another deep bloody gash.

His legs seemed to be trembling and he looked like he would topple over at any second.

"Hey… Aeyrin. Remember… how we talked about… working on your healing?" his voice quivered, but he still tried to keep his usual smile up.

Aeyrin noticed Eydis behind him, staring at them both in horror. That must have been quite a shocking sight to have him walk into the inn like this. It was no less shocking for Aeyrin herself though.

Azshan extended his armored hand to her and she quickly grabbed it in order to drape it over her shoulders to support his weight on his wobbly feet. She tried to be gentle while she dragged him towards the bed, but her concern for him may have made her movements a bit more rushed. It only elicited more grunts of pain from him.

"I… uh… what do you need?" Eydis stepped into the room after them with her eyes still full of shock.

"Just... clean water, I guess," Aeyrin mumbled at her while she sat Azshan down on the bed. He was still groaning in pain with every movement. That did not look good.

"R-right… uh… mind the sheets! Uhm… n-never mind. I can wash them… just… alright," Eydis stammered nervously before she finally rushed out of the room, leaving the two of them alone.

"What in the Gods' names happened to you?" Aeyrin gasped at Azshan before she tried to collect herself properly. She needed to help him, not just stare at him in shock. Only a few seconds later, she bent down to his level and started to unfasten his cuirass and pauldrons with quick movements.

"Those… those damn barbarians. I was almost here when they attacked. I… managed to kill them all but… not very efficiently," Azshan tried to chuckle, but it was interrupted by another strained grunt.

Forsworn did this to him? And… they just attacked him? Out of nowhere? She probably shouldn't have been this surprised. Even back at Cael's camp, his sister had admitted to attacking travellers on a regular basis. Aeyrin wasn't sure why she found this revelation so shocking. She may have been too influenced by her own warm-ish welcome among the people.

"I… wasn't sure if you'd… you'd be here already," Azshan let out a sigh that was partially filled with relief and partially with palpable frustration at his injuries. "Talk about luck. They broke my leg. I managed to heal it but… I couldn't anymore," he shook his head in exasperation. The battle must have taken a lot from him. Aeyrin wasn't sure what the extent of the damage was, but if it was just the gashes, she could likely heal them. And if not, she had one emergency magicka potion that she could give him so that he could take care of it himself. But in his current state, she wasn't sure if it would help much. He would need some rest at least.

But he'll be alright. He'll be fine.

She finally disposed of the plates of his armor, tossing them to the other side of the bed. But he still had a thick leather gambeson on him, forcefully pulled up where his arm was wounded. She considered disposing of it too after she had seen those dents in his plates, but it would only aggravate the wounds further. She decided to take care of those first.

Aeyrin reached out for his wounded hand but, before she could pull it towards herself, Azshan jerked away from her with his whole body.

"Careful! Broken too…" he warned her hurriedly. She had noticed before that he didn't move the arm, but she thought that he did that because of the wound. She couldn't heal a broken bone though, that was beyond her capabilities and training. Instead, she stood up and walked around him in order to sit herself on the other side and have better access to his arm.

Only a second later, Eydis appeared at the door once more with a small basin of tepid water in her arms. She didn't say a word as she laid it down on the ground by Aeyrin's feet, but her eyes never left Azshan while she continued examining him with palpable concern.

She must have realized that she had been staring though, after a while, since she suddenly cleared her throat uncomfortably and let out a short sentence in an uncertain voice: "Anything else?"

"No, thank you," Aeyrin didn't even spare her a glance while she reached out for the pack by the foot of the bed and rummaged around for clean cloths.

Finally, Eydis left the room and shut the door behind her as Aeyrin got to work. She didn't need the innkeeper hovering around and asking if everything was alright. That would only be distracting. So with a resolute nod to herself, Aeyrin began cleaning the wound on Azshan's arm gently.

"I can't heal the broken bone, Azshan," she sighed when he flinched a bit from her treatment, careful as it was.

"It's fine. Just… do what you can for now." This time his smile actually looked genuinely relieved.

She meticulously worked on cleaning his wounds, slowly working on anything visible. After she was done with his arm, she ran the washcloth over his face and neck before she finally disposed of it and lit her hands with magic.

"They just attacked you? On the road?" her brows creased. She wasn't sure why she was still so crestfallen that they would do this. She knew enough from Cael – there were many tribes with many different… tactics. And all of them were adamant about ridding their land of invaders.

"Are you surprised? You're lucky… if you haven't run into any yet. They are… vicious." Azshan's body was slowly relaxing under her healing touch, but his breathing was still strained. It was comforting though, that she could almost feel the tension gradually leaving him.

She decided not to mention her own run in with the Forsworn. It might make him either worried about her trusting them or it might make him bitter that he had received such a different treatment.

After a while, the wound on his arm was slowly starting to close – it was now plainly visible with the blood finally cleaned off, but it was going to disappear in a moment.

"Are there any other wounds?" Aeyrin looked over his gambeson again.

"Not… sure. Bruises definitely… maybe worse. I can't feel much… had a healing potion. But I'm all out… of everything," Azshan seemed to try to shrug, but he stopped himself instantly.

Maybe another potion would help him. Aeyrin had some of those to spare.

She rummaged in her pack and handed him a healing potion. It might make him more lightheaded, but at least he would get some reprieve from the pain and exhaustion.

Azshan took the potion from her eagerly and drank it all in a few deep gulps. Another smile spread on his face a second later as he let out a satisfied sigh. "Better," he grinned at her. By that time, she was finally done with the gashes and moved her hands to the fastenings of his gambeson.

He couldn't feel the pain of her manipulating his broken arm now, luckily. There didn't seem to be any broken ribs, but there were several dark spots on his skin where his plate was dented.

"Didn't they use magic?" Aeyrin asked him with a worrisome expression. She would definitely be out of her depths then.

"No. There weren't any mages, lucky for me," he grinned at her victoriously.

At least there was that. But now she was kind of at a loss on what else to do. The only wound remaining seemed to be his broken arm.

"Well… I did say that I would teach you, right?" Azshan chuckled.

"You want to teach me now?" she laughed back at him. It would take at least a few hours. It would definitely be more relaxing for him if he just rested and took care of the injury himself.

"Are you in a hurry or something?" he smirked before he stretched himself down onto the bed and let out another satisfied sigh. His smile did suggest that he was feeling much better after the second potion, and he gestured towards the door with his hale arm. "I threw my pack somewhere by the front door. It was heavy. I brought a book for you. You can give it a shot while I rest a bit."

Aeyrin only nodded at him and left for the common room to locate his pack.

First, she had to reassure Eydis that Azshan would be fine, before she hurried back into the room. Azshan was already comfortably resting on the bed, although he still had his plate greaves and boots on. He didn't look like he minded.

She sat herself down next to him and propped his pack towards him so that he could take out the spell book he had brought just for her.

"Broken bones… shouldn't be too hard for you. You definitely picked up those sun spells fast enough," he smiled at her as he handed her the book.

At least he looked more at ease now. And he was right, there was no reason why they shouldn't use this time productively. He wouldn't really get much sleep anyway since the pain would return the second the potion's effects wore off.

And Aeyrin was not very eager to go to sleep either.

…

"I don't think it worked." Aeyrin looked at Azshan's arm critically while she continued slowly rubbing over it and trying to feel around for the fractures.

"It's alright. Just try again," Azshan smiled at her with encouragement. He was already looking much better after some respite and her healing, but his arm was still broken in several places. By now, he was surely able to heal it himself, but he let her try over and over again anyway.

He did promise that he would teach her. And he made sure to explain to her any elements of the spell that she didn't understand. As long as that potion was in effect, she was more than happy to try and heal him herself. It would have been much more nerve-racking if he was in pain the entire time.

Her hands lit up with magic again and she meticulously concentrated on the area where the bone was most severely splintered.

"You have no idea how glad I was to see you here. And not just because I needed healing," Azshan chuckled after a while of silence. His eyes were closed, but he sounded pretty lucid. "I've had to rely on rumors about you for too long now. And it's really hard to tell which ones are true in Solitude. The people there are insane gossipmongers. I don't even know true from false half the time."

Aeyrin only smiled back at him sympathetically, although he couldn't really see it.

"Just recently, some merchant was singing your praises all over the city. Telling everyone how you saved him from a dragon. I even got to chat a bit with his bodyguard who said he was fighting beside you against it."

That's right, Erik was accompanying that merchant they had saved to Solitude. He wouldn't be a 'bodyguard' much longer. Aeyrin wondered if Delphine had already contacted him by now.

"Yeah. That did happen," she smirked at Azshan.

"He… said that you were traveling alone when he rushed to help you with the dragon," Azshan's eyes suddenly snapped open and he gave her a concerned look. "Is… uh… everything alright?"

She knew that this question was coming – no surprises there.

"Everything's fine, Azshan. Just some… stupid fights. I don't really want to get into it right now," she sighed. It wasn't strictly true, she wasn't sure if any of her talks with Bishop could be considered a fight – more like a mess of confusion and insecurity from both sides. But it hardly mattered now. She could barely wrap her head around things herself, let alone explain it to anyone.

Besides, Azshan had already been annoyingly judgmental about Bishop before. It was understandable, since he thought back then that Bishop had poisoned her, but she was certain that he would not take what had happened between them now with an open mind and understanding. She was in no mood to listen to another lecture about leaving Bishop behind her for good.

She was determined to make this decision on her own. If she ever managed to actually think about things rationally without getting anxious…

"Are you sure? You know I'm here if you need to talk, right?" Azshan still looked her over with concern before he reached out his hale hand to clasp one of her own in a reassuring gesture.

"It's nothing, really. I just needed… some time away from everything," she smiled at him, although she was pretty sure that it wasn't very convincing. Hopefully he wouldn't pry further though.

Azshan didn't look very impressed with her answer, but he nodded slowly nonetheless.

"Well… maybe it's a good thing. Getting away from all the drama for a while. You two certainly wreaked some havoc in Solitude. The rumors are still flying about as if it were yesterday," Azshan smirked.

'Rumors'? Was this still about the poisoning?

"What do you mean? I thought… I told Elisif not to pursue anyone," Aeyrin gave him an uncertain expression.

"Well… sure… nobody was 'convicted' in the end. But like I said, people in Solitude practically live on gossip," Azshan laughed while she lit up her hands again with magic to attempt to heal him once more. "And Bishop did kind of accuse Casavir of some… not very paladin-y things in front of the entire court and the guard. That kind of thing is hard to keep quiet, you know?"

True, but what did rumors matter? After what Casavir had told her at the ball, she assumed that the Order and the authorities never paid much mind to gossip. At least Casavir didn't seem to. Why would a few rumors be considered 'wreaking havoc'?

"Right… so… what did you mean? Did something happen after I left?" her brows creased deeply. She thought that she had put a stop to the whole affair when she refused to convict anyone.

"You know that not much happened at first, after Bishop accused Casavir of keeping you at the Castle deliberately. Some people looked at Casavir a little funny… but no one paid much mind. There was evidence against Bishop, so why would anyone really believe him? Elisif had her doubts though. You could see it on her. Everyone could. I think that helped to stoke the fires a lot. Once Bishop got absolved, the rumors just spun out of control," Azshan scoffed, but he still had his usual smirk plastered on his face. "People loved that story. A paladin, a head of the Order's chapter no less, having feelings that his vows forbade, unable to act on them. The fact that he framed your lover to keep you only to himself – people eat that stuff up," he chuckled.

He seemed to be strangely enjoying the story himself. Aeyrin knew that he was one to often get excited about drama and intrigue, especially when it involved his fellow paladins misbehaving, but he seemed to be enjoying this a little too much.

"Casavir was… disgraced, kind of. Elisif didn't trust him, the people didn't trust him. Nobody saw him as the pristine paladin anymore. You know, our reputation is… important. Not just for the people to feel safe, to put trust in us, but… to the members of the Order too. Many paladins believe the rumors and Casavir doesn't seem to command much respect among them anymore. One day, even the Prelate himself came to Solitude to assess the situation. He kept Casavir in charge… for now. But… he is on very thin ice. Unless he turns things around, he would be demoted. Maybe even 'asked' to leave the Order."

Aeyrin's eyes went wide at his words. What? But they were just rumors! How could Casavir be punished based on rumors?! That didn't seem fair. Even after what he did… well… it was despicable but…

For some reason, she still had a hard time imagining Casavir poisoning her. Maybe she was just being naïve again. People were capable of much worse for much lesser grudges. She should know better by now.

"He could be forced to leave the Order… because of rumors?" she gave Azshan an uncertain expression. It really seemed excessive. And she specifically told Elisif to end this just so that things wouldn't continue to get blown out of proportion. What if he had to leave the Order or even be excommunicated? Even if he deserved it, he could just hold her and Bishop responsible for this. It would only prolong this pointless conflict.

"He could be forced to leave the Order because he failed in his duties to inspire trust in people and exemplify justice and things like that. He could be forced to leave because he failed the demands his command put on him. Like I said, our reputation is important," Azshan explained with a somewhat disinterested shrug. He didn't seem to be bothered by that notion at all. But then again, he was rarely bothered by anything. And… he likely believed those rumors himself. Why wouldn't he? They were most likely true. And judging by how upset he got when he thought that Bishop had poisoned Aeyrin, it wasn't that difficult to assume that he would be even more upset with Casavir about it.

"So… what did happen?" he asked curiously after a while of silence and his bright green eyes peered at her with a hint of unbridled intrigue in them.

For some reason, she didn't feel like telling him what she had found out at that thane's house back in Solitude. This whole conversation soured her on that. She knew that Casavir poisoned her. She knew that he tried to get rid of Bishop in such a despicable way… yet… it all left her feeling bitter.

Was it really that strange to want the whole ordeal to be over with? Why was everyone so fixated on dredging up the events with rumors and gossip over and over?

"Does it matter?" she asked quietly.

"I... wouldn't it? If you… wanted to… set the story straight or something?" Azshan narrowed his eyes at her uncertainly. She knew that he simply wanted to sate his curiosity. Perhaps he would even enjoy stirring the pot more, adding more drama into the whole ordeal by claiming something which opposed all those rumors now.

She had no such desire.

"Do you suddenly have the power to stop the rumors? Or turn back time? What's done is done, right? The rumors are out there, I'd just be adding more to it," she sighed. Not to mention, she didn't exactly have any information to refute them.

"True… it wouldn't really help Cas out much now... if he actually was innocent. And everyone would just have to take my word for it." Azshan looked rather disappointed. He was just fishing for more gossip. When she thought about it, Azshan was probably in his element dealing with the nobles. He was always excited by the prospect of all that opulence and courtly intrigue that went along with being a paladin – more than the glorious battles and heroics. He did always gossip about everyone in the chapel in Chorrol too.

Aeyrin had always liked that side of him – he could breathe life into the most boring anecdotes and make everything seem excitable and interesting. But sometimes, he just reveled in the mean-spirited side of things too much.

"Then it doesn't matter," she shrugged.

Azshan still looked disappointed, but studied her face for a long time. After a while, he smirked victoriously – as if her answer gave him enough information to figure out the truth. Granted, it wasn't that hard. He probably knew her too well to know that if Casavir actually was innocent, she would defend him instantly.

"You know… you used to tell me everything," Azshan's smile turned a little sad.

That… wasn't exactly true. There were a lot of things that she had never talked to him about. But… she did confide in him a lot back in the day.

"That was… different. It's… other people's lives you're asking about, not just mine," she sighed. Azshan liked to meddle too much. She didn't mind when she was complaining about her studies or about other initiates, but those young problems suddenly got replaced by ones all too serious. And if what he had told her about Casavir was any indication, every word could have too much of an impact on people's lives.

She was not going to tell him what happened with Casavir and make the situation even worse. And she was definitely not going to tell him what happened between her and Bishop. Not to mention, she didn't really want to talk about it with anyone.

Aeyrin concentrated on Azshan's hand again. She needed to stop thinking and just focus on his arm, focus on the bones beneath the skin. She could still feel the fractures.

Her eyes closed and her hands lit up once more.

After the spell was done, she let out a sigh and felt around his arm again.

Was it just her, or did it feel… smoother now? Did it actually work?! Not perfectly – there were still some smaller fractures, but they seemed better aligned and barely misshapen.

Maybe one more try would finally do the job.

It was too bad that she could only really tell if it healed him completely after the potion wore off – only Azshan's pain would be her indication of any remnants of the fracture.

She cast one more light and then she could no longer feel anything out of order under his muscles… as far as she could tell. She gave Azshan a hopeful look and he tried to carefully move the arm, and then felt around with his other hand for himself.

"Seems good. We'll see in a while," he winked at her. The second potion must have really numbed him thoroughly if he didn't feel any of that.

"You did great. Find a few more suckers with broken limbs and you'll be healing them with barely a snap of your fingers soon enough," Azshan laughed amicably and ruffled her hair. She really wished that he was right, but the spell wasn't as complicated as she had originally feared. Maybe it wasn't that far-fetched. "Maybe you'll get more practice tomorrow after I'm done with my mission… for better or worse."

"Right! Your mission. You never said what it was," Aeyrin coaxed him curiously. Hopefully no more Forsworn battles.

"That's because I was easing into it," he smirked. "You know, I didn't just ask you here to see you. I wanted to see you, but… I was also kind of hoping that you could help me out… since I sort of promised the Order that you would," he gave her a wry smile, but he didn't really seem that apologetic. Well… nothing new there. It was just like Azshan to promise everyone anything they had asked for and then worry about achieving it later.

She chuckled a little with a shake of her head: "What is it?"

"You remember how the nobles got after the dragon attacks when you were… incapacitated, right?" Azshan asked, eliciting a nod from her. "Well, they are still kind of… riled up. So they make a lot of demands and it takes a lot to actually appease them. And so we scatter throughout the province, doing their bidding," he rolled his eyes with an exasperated smile.

Of course – placating nobles seemed to be almost a daily occurrence in the life of a paladin from what she'd gathered so far.

"So… there's this… estate here in the Reach. And… a very persistent dragon nearby," Azshan gave her an innocent smile, waiting expectantly for her reaction.

"Oh…" she couldn't hide the disappointment from her voice. It seemed like all anyone ever wanted from her anymore was chasing dragons. Not to mention, she really hoped that she would get some respite from it for now.

And it was just the two of them too. He could have at least brought more paladins to make the battle easier for them.

Wait…

Why didn't he bring more men? Was he really sent to battle a dragon alone?

"Azshan, you… came to kill it alone?" she narrowed her eyes at him. That was strange. Would the Order really risk one of their knights like that?

"Aeyrin, we are more than capable of handling it together, I'm sure. The Order is a little strained now, that's all," he smirked, but something still felt a bit strange to her. Couldn't they ask the Legion for help? They had fought the dragon near Solitude with Casavir the last time.

"Is that why you sounded so worried when I mentioned the dragon?" Azshan looked at her with concern again, studying her curiously.

She just shook her head with a shrug. She tried to give him a reassuring smile, to let him know that there was nothing to worry about, but it came out a bit weak.

"Is it about that… thing that happens to you when it dies? Casavir told us about that, you know," Azshan sighed. She didn't even get to answer before he grabbed a hold of her hand and squeezed it firmly. "I'll be there with you, Aeyrin. I'll make sure nothing happens to you, I promise."

It sounded so comforting.

There was always someone around when she killed the dragons, but… for a long time, not like this. Not supporting her, looking out for her. They all just stared, uncertain about what to do.

Azshan at least knew what would happen to her.

Maybe he'd make it easier.

Like Bishop used to.

A strange feeling came over her after that thought. As if she felt guilty for thinking about replacing Bishop's 'role' in her life, in her struggles.

That was ridiculous, of course. Why would she even think that?

She had a friend here this time to help her. One that she felt comfortable around, one that she trusted. She should just be happy with it instead of lamenting her past again.

Azshan ruffled her hair once more with a slight chuckle when she smiled at him.

He sat up on the bed and checked his arm again, moving it around and feeling it for any hints of fractures. When he was done, he gave her a rather proud smile. She was sure that the potions were still in effect, but even so, his confidence in her success was uplifting.

"Well, we should probably try to get at least some rest if we're to go dragon hunting tomorrow," he winked at her and reached out for the gambeson crumpled on the bed.

He dressed himself surprisingly deftly before he stood up from the bed. His legs were still covered with plates – he didn't even bother to remove them the entire time.

"Good night. I'll see you in the morning," with another charming smile he grabbed his pack and disappeared from the room.

Maybe tomorrow would really not be so bad with him around.