Chapter LIII – Winds of Change

After their breakfast, Bishop and Aeyrin were finally set to leave the College behind.

They were still planning on saying goodbye to some of the Mages, but if they were all still sleeping and hungover, it might be best to just leave, rather than wait for Gods-knew-how-long. Who knew that a bunch of scholars could cut loose like that?

But when they reached the courtyard, an unexpected sight greeted them.

Some of the mages were already awake, and apparently, not too happy about that fact. There was a group of them right by the giant statue, but they weren't alone. A company of six Altmer in familiar black robes was standing there alongside the mage Masters and, clearly none of them were in a very amicable mood. They were obviously arguing about something.

Aeyrin and Bishop peered at the scene curiously for a while, but they couldn't hear the argument from the distance. There was an undeniable temptation to get closer and see what was going on, but before they could, a nearby voice interrupted them.

"Come on, I'll open the gates for you. Don't get mixed up in that shit."

They turned to see Enthir behind them as he gestured towards the gate leading towards the long bridge. He didn't look like he meant that as a suggestion – it was more of a command.

Well… to be fair, they have just gotten out of one mess with the College and the involvement of Thalmor meant nothing good. It was probably best to leave this place.

They followed Enthir towards the bridge and Aeyrin waited until they were past the gate and definitely out of earshot, before she finally asked: "What's going on?"

"What do you think?" Enthir rolled his eyes. "Ancano had been reporting about the Eye for a while of course, but nobody told him anything substantial. And now, since that whole clusterfuck was visible probably all the way from Windhelm, the rumors have spread about shit happening. And of course, the Thalmor asked Ancano for an explanation, but he was quite indisposed. So they decided to check things out. They're only a little late," he chuckled meanly.

"Oh. So… they just want to know what happened?" Aeyrin continued to ask. It was never that simple with Thalmor, surely, but… since the Eye was gone, what could they do now?

"Yeah. Not that they're getting anything," Enthir smirked.

"Why? Why not just tell them and get rid of them?" Bishop scowled at him. Who in their right mind wanted to voluntarily prolong Thalmor questionings?

"Oh sure. Let's tell everyone! The Nords particularly will love that story. And the Thalmor won't try to take over the College for 'safety reasons' at all. Besides, the Psijics are kind of their rivals in the Isles or something, and they helped us out. Seems kinda shitty to send the Thalmor right after them and the Eye," Enthir shrugged.

"So… what's the story? You said it yourself, everyone saw," Bishop raised his brows at him. They must have come up with some explanation, or the Nords might just try to close the College anyway after an unexplained explosion.

"Yeah. That's the fun part," Enthir chuckled again. "There was no Eye. No Staff, nothing like that. Ancano has always been a little… eccentric. He had a vivid imagination and when a person's mind starts to go… qualities like that become a problem," he snorted in amusement. "And then he had some sort of an episode where he started yelling suddenly and then he pulled out some strange artifact and caused the explosion. We just held down the barrier and then the artifact got depleted. It wasn't on his corpse and nobody has any idea what it was."

"What? The Thalmor would believe that you know absolutely nothing about any of this?" Aeyrin raised her brows at him in disbelief.

"Hopefully. You know, they didn't believe Ancano about the Eye in the first place. That's why he kept prying and asking for our research. They didn't believe his word alone, because how could mages from Skyrim find something so legendary, and they barely got permission to have one agent here in a Stormcloak region so no one could verify it. I have no idea how much they had to bribe someone to let them in today. Maybe they just promised to take away the magic that caused the field though. Nords just want all magic gone from their land, they don't care if the Thalmor blow themselves up with it later. Anyway, Ancano never got any proof or solid research about the Eye to send back to the Thalmor and he had no proper access to it. And the Dominion thinks that all mages in Skyrim are just some fucking backwater imbeciles, so convincing them that we know nothing about what happened is pretty easy. And this is the official story now, by the way. Unhinged Thalmor agent. So bear that in mind."

"Aren't you… just spurring the war on with lies like these?" Aeyrin asked uncertainly. If the Nords heard this story, they would just treat all the elves and all the mages even worse than they already did, wouldn't they? And even more of them would want to march on the Thalmor to kick them off their land for good.

"Oh, I'm sorry, are you worried about the poor Thalmor? Do they deserve a little break after practically conquering the Empire?" Enthir rolled his eyes at her. "Blame it on one of us, College closed, and mages throughout Skyrim probably get burned at stake. Say it was the Eye and the same shit happens, only with the Thalmor also going after the Psijics to find the Eye and maybe blow it up again. Say it was a Thalmor agent, well… the Nords hate them already anyway. So does the rest of the world. What's the fucking harm there?"

Well… he had a point there. Maybe it was the least harmful story. All the others just sounded worse.

"I'll tell you one thing though, Karliah's gonna be pissed. She's preparing for some heist and she wanted all sorts of things from me lately, protective enchantments and stuff. She even wanted me to try and enchant something with a detect life spell that I've told her about recently, but I don't see that research getting completed anytime soon. I'll have to try and do it the old way," Enthir grumbled. It sounded like Brelyna was close to finishing her spell, but that was certainly not happening now. "We're lucky that the field didn't destroy the Hall of Countenance but I still had storage in the Hall of the Elements. My legal shop will be having trouble getting goods, not to mention the not-so-legal one."

"Didn't the Eye just kill living things?" Aeyrin raised her brows at him.

"It seeped magic from things. Including living beings. So while my shit isn't exactly destroyed, the magic is gone. Might as well open a fucking clothier shop like this. The enchantments are gone. You're damn lucky that Aren's amulet for Labyrinthian was based on a mechanism and not magic. Otherwise all of us would have been fucked."

That was certainly an uncomfortable thought.

"Anyway. You get some loot, you know where to find me. I need to replenish my supplies," Enthir nodded resolutely as they finally stopped in front of the gate leading back into town. The citizens were already walking outside, but there weren't many of them. Some people were still probably hiding out, in case something blew up again.

"Well, we do…" Aeyrin started to talk, but Enthir promptly interrupted her.

"Oh, keep your Dwemer shit. I've got plenty of useless metal as it is. I need magic. That's what I'll pay for. I can't afford to spend money on useless junk now."

Well… Calcelmo was a safer and more lucrative bet for that anyway.

"Alright then. I'm gonna see how it went with the Thalmor. And write to our mutual friend," the elf groaned a little exasperatedly, but a second later, his expression turned into a mean smirk. "Have fun."

It didn't take long before they understood what he meant by that.

There was already a crowd of people nearby, looking at them curiously and clamoring for answers. Nobody else must have left the College since the menacing glowing barrier disappeared, and no one was guarding the gate to hear their questions. Well, only Darren must have passed through, but it may have been too early in the morning for anyone to notice. Now they had certainly noticed and they were all expecting an explanation – a more satisfactory one than the brush-off that the people had received on the day of the explosion.

Oh well, maybe after the story that they would receive, the townspeople would actually lynch the group of Thalmor on their way back from the College.

…

Their journey across the north of the province was almost idyllic.

Bishop and Aeyrin had quickly reiterated the story about the power-mad Thalmor to the curious citizens before they rushed away from Winterhold to escape more questions. Let the mages deal with their mess, they have done more than their share to help.

When they were far enough from the city, Karnwyr rejoined them excitedly. He seemed relieved to see just the two of them, instead of another mage 'intruder' to their little group. It was right back to the old routine for their little party.

They timed their travels just right so that they would make it all the way to Morthal by nighttime. Or… at least into the vicinity to camp out. Anywhere but Dawnstar was acceptable. They did start their journey somewhat early in the morning, but unfortunately, the plans didn't turn out as they had hoped since they got side-tracked by a heavy blizzard right near a very familiar place – Fort Fellhammer. And with the lack of any nearby viable caverns, they were forced to try their luck and hide out inside the fort.

It was quite eerie to be coming back to the place that symbolized the beginning of so much anguish to the both of them. It was almost fitting that it still stood empty.

And was there any wonder? The interior was decimated. If anyone wanted to actually move in, they would have to haul out furniture and probably get rid of all that soot and scorched remains of wood and metal scattered around the enormous hall. The only room that had livable conditions was the Altmer dealer's room atop the stairs at the corner of the large chamber. It did only have the furniture though – Tilmuril clearly came back to take whatever he could with him at some point.

But, decimated skooma refinery or not, with the blizzard raging outside, it was the best place to rest before they continued their journey towards Morthal. If the weather didn't prevent their journey again, they would get there in only a couple of hours easily. This journey should have been fast – plundering dungeons along the way was not an option anyway, since their packs were still stuffed to the brim with the loot from Mzulft which they had refused to sell to the College for the meager prices.

Besides, under the layer of dust, the bed was quite luxurious, especially for a remote illegal hideout. It would be a shame not to take advantage of that.

…

The rest of the short journey sadly didn't pan out as well as they had hoped either.

It was understandable, with the mountains nearby, that the areas around Morthal would always be a prime hunting ground for dragons. That, however, didn't make it any less unnerving when the beast swooped upon them from behind the peaks not even an hour's worth of journey away from the town.

At least this time it was alone.

Their last dragon encounter had unfortunately acquainted them with Alduin a lot more than they had ever hoped and before that, they were traveling separately. Neither of them did so well against the dragons on their own as they used to. Hopefully now they would really be back to their old routine and this would be nothing but a brief battle with an unpleasant moment at the end.

For a short while, Aeyrin felt a wave of relief when she saw that the dragon wasn't one of those smaller colorful ones, until she remembered that it didn't really mean anything. Any of them could know those awful Shouts after all, and it wasn't as if the others were any better. She got used to handling the flames and the frost, not that those weren't bad enough, but anything else was just too much.

It wasn't easy not to instantly panic when her last two dragon encounters ended so poorly for her – whether it was that storm Shout that had knocked her out cold, or Alduin.

But there was nothing to do but fight – the mountainous pass didn't grant them any way to hide or to retreat and the dragon was upon them fast.

Karnwyr had barely managed to get away before the dragon landed heavily right in the middle of the road in front of them and opened its maw. The wolf quickly ran off, while he still seemed a little shocked that he almost got crushed by the beast's giant foot, and Bishop and Aeyrin were left in the pass to deal with the creature alone.

It attacked straight away and before they could register the frosty light at the back of its throat, a stream of shredded ice burst forth, right at them. Aeyrin only barely managed to jump in front of Bishop and put up a ward against the onslaught. He wasn't usually very affected if a little bit of frost spell hit him, but a full-blown blast would probably incapacitate even a Nord.

The dragon's attack wouldn't let up and Aeyrin's hand started to waver quickly. Her magic definitely wasn't strong enough to withstand a Shout for long. When Bishop noticed that she couldn't hold out any longer, he quickly rolled out of the way of the Shout. He got hit by the stream of ice a little in the process, but not enough to have more than a thin layer of frost stuck to his armor. It wouldn't even impair his movement.

"TIID KLO!"

Good, now Aeyrin was able to stop the spell without having the time resume and the full blast hitting Bishop. She would probably have even more time than usual before everything started to flow again with the new Word from Labyrinthian. She quickly unclasped her mace from her hip and charged at the beast as everything around her stood hauntingly still.

She targeted the wings first – it was a sure way to prevent the dragon from getting out of her reach at any point. She quickly smashed her mace into each one until she heard the bones crackle, before she moved over to crush it into its head. She only managed to do that once with all that running around the wings before the time began to flow again. The dragon instantly roared in pain when it felt the impact of her blows and it reacted swiftly by snapping its jaws at her menacingly. Luckily it missed.

Bishop quickly lunged at the dragon with his sword drawn. He was too close for archery anyway, so he might as well get into the fray along with Aeyrin.

The beast thrashed its head as Bishop's sword managed to penetrate its neck and Aeyrin's mace hit its scalp. The enchantments didn't seem to faze it, but the weapons, at least, did their job. With Aeyrin's Shout, they managed to attack it so many times that it already seemed almost dead.

In its last stand, the dragon took a hurried step back, thrashing its head again as it managed to yank the sword out of Bishop's hand and leave it lodged in its neck. It was right in front of them now, and it managed to open its exhausted jaw one more time. There was something forming at the back of it, but it didn't look like frost. It didn't actually look like anything that they had seen before. It had a slightly ashy hue and it swirled quickly.

Aeyrin stepped in front of Bishop, and just as the Shout was about to hit, she held up another ward.

A deep rumble of the Voice echoed through the pass, but Aeyrin could not decipher any Word from it. It was always hard to understand the roars, but for some more familiar Shouts, she managed to catch at least something. Now she didn't.

An overwhelmingly powerful gust of wind hit them instantly and Aeyrin's hand got yanked down by the impact, dissolving her ward. She tried to stand her ground, but the wind was too powerful. She had to close her eyes because she felt like it would push them back into her sockets. And when she couldn't see a thing, she could only feel what was happening around her. Her feet left the ground and she felt like she was being tossed from one direction to another violently. Her armor shook on her form when she felt her back hit something very hard for a second, before she was yanked out again, flying in another direction altogether. She tried to curl into a ball to prevent the wind from tugging at her limbs, but no part of her body would listen to her – she was entirely at the mercy of those violent gusts.

It was as if something had pushed her down onto the ground, slamming her from a great height, down onto her back. Both her armor and her teeth clattered painfully and she could feel her bones vibrate, but the wind didn't lift her up again.

It was over.

She tried to open her eyes, but her vision was blurry and her head throbbed. She could feel something warm spilling on the back of her head.

Gods… what was that?

She weakly flipped her body over and pushed herself up shakily on all fours. She could see the blurry large shape in front of her. The beast still wasn't dead. She needed to kill it. Fast.

She wanted to use that powerful storm Shout, but she quickly stopped herself. She had no idea where Bishop was. The lightning could kill him instantly. She had to settle for something else that would kill the beast without her having to fight again. She couldn't fight again.

"FUS RO DAH!"

It would crush the beast, wouldn't it? Its bones were already smashed numerous times. It had to work!

Her vision was slowly starting to clear and she could see the dragon slumping to the ground in choppy motions as its bones broke under the strain and gave out from under it. It didn't seem to be capable of moving anymore, at least.

Aeyrin was certain that the best option was to make sure that it was dead, yet she couldn't help but look around frantically now that she could see shapes more vividly. She had no idea what happened to Bishop. She couldn't even hear any screams through the wind before.

She finally noticed the black shape a small distance away by a lone tall pine tree. It was one of the few ones lining the pass around the mountains. She could try to get up on her feet, but she still felt kind of rattled and broken and she was pretty sure that her head was bleeding. Bishop wasn't moving though, and if he was alright, he would definitely be rushing towards her by now – either to finish the dragon, or to hold her through the absorption.

She couldn't concern herself with anything else and she started to crawl on all fours over to him as quickly as she could. Everything hurt, but she couldn't stop. She had to make sure that he was still breathing.

When she finally reached him, she could vaguely see that he was propped up against the tree and looking at her.

Alive. Good. A wave of relief spread through her body immediately, but once that worry was out of her head, suddenly the pain came crashing down even more.

It felt like her head started to spin much more wildly than before when she tried to think of what to do next. She should heal herself, but she also needed to see properly what was wrong with Bishop. And… was the dragon still alive?

But before she could think too much about any of it, she was suddenly yanked down hard by her arm. Her other arm gave out under her instantly and she toppled right onto Bishop's body. She could clearly hear him hiss in pain, but he still enveloped his arms around her in a tight desperate hug.

Only then she realized what was happening.

The light entered her at a merciless speed and right away she could feel something pull at her arms and legs violently. It was just like those gusts of winds but smaller – this time, they didn't pull her whole body in different directions, only parts of it. Her arms and legs stretched so painfully, as if the wind was trying to rip them right off her. She screamed in pain, but her face got instantly 'slapped' by another sharp gust – like whip slashing across her skin. The same thing started to happen all over her body, to her back, stomach, chest and all her limbs while they were still being pulled apart. She tried to move, tried to cover herself from the wind, but she couldn't do a thing. It was so strong.

Then she felt it entering her body. The wind filled her mouth and it was violently filling her lungs with air. So much air that she was certain she would burst at any second. Her head was spinning uncontrollably and the wind was still tugging at her limbs, until a searing pain spread through her shoulder.

She could feel it. It literally tore off her whole arm!

And it didn't stop. It continued to tug at it again and… wait… what?

She could still feel the arm being pulled from her.

Gods, why could she just not realize this sooner? Why did she have to go through this for so long? She knew that it wasn't real! Why did it still manage to convince her every time?!

At least now, when her mind composed itself, the tugging stopped and she could try to breathe normally again.

"Good… fuck… you good? That was… fast…" she could hear Bishop's voice mumble in exhaustion when she started to open her eyes again.

'Fast'?! That was 'fast'?!

It felt like it lasted so excruciatingly long.

"You're… bleeding…" Bishop was still breathing heavily and she felt his hand as he very gently placed it over the wet spot on her head.

Maybe that was what was making her so dizzy. And maybe it didn't help for how long the aftermath of the soul felt to her. She should probably heal herself first, before she tended to him. He was talking and breathing, that was the important thing after all.

She pressed her hand over the spot on her head the second that Bishop withdrew his and she lit it up with healing magic. It was probably not internal – that would hurt a lot more. She was still feeling a little dizzy when she was done with the healing, but that would hopefully pass in time. Now she could at least see somewhat clearly and she could finally think.

"Are you alright?" She rolled off Bishop's body quickly when she remembered the pained hiss that he had let out when she toppled onto him. He must have been wounded, it definitely wasn't from the impact – he was used to her weight even with her armor on.

"No. Fuck. I don't know what the fuck… that was. I got caught in that… fucking tree." Bishop looked up at the tall pine above them. Now she noticed that a lot of the branches looked broken, but she wasn't sure if it was from Bishop falling through the tree or from the wind. "It kept tossing me around in there. My legs got caught in it… I think both are broken. Hurts like the Void."

That was bad. But, then again, it could have been much worse. At least she knew a little bit of healing for broken bones now. She wasn't sure how she would get him away from this place otherwise.

Well, it was definitely time to put that knowledge to use.

…

The healing didn't go as well as Aeyrin had hoped.

Just as Bishop had suspected, both of his legs were broken – one on the shin and the other in several places no less. He told her that he already had a healing potion right after his fall. It was no wonder – the pain must have been excruciating.

Aeyrin managed to heal the less injured leg, but the other was beyond her attempts. She made it a little better at first by healing some of the smaller fractures, but the rest only caused Bishop more pain when she tried. She still wasn't very good at this. He definitely needed the help of a professional.

The broken tree branches at least proved to be useful in the end as Bishop ended up using two particularly sturdy ones as crutches to move around. They could get to Morthal this way – it was not so far. But he could not go on like this all the way to Markarth. Morthal didn't have a temple or a mage healer, as far as they knew. It begged the question of how the townspeople got by when some disaster struck. Maybe Falion knew some healing magic, but it would likely not be enough. Bishop needed a proper healer.

So instead of running around Morthal and trying to find some healer hermit or to work Falion beyond his abilities, they agreed to hitch a ride on a carriage to Markarth. Bishop would just rest in the back and use potions to numb the pain in the meantime. Aeyrin could also try to heal him again in peace this way, just in case she actually managed to do it at some point. And if not, they would be at the temple of Dibella only in a day or so.

They slowly made their way into the town while Aeyrin kept fussing over Bishop in case he needed supporting. He was doing pretty well with his crutches, but walking was still very slow like that and he was feeling a little woozy since he drank another potion to numb the pain even more after Aeyrin's failed attempts at healing.

He couldn't wait to sit down in that stupid carriage. He usually hated travelling like that, but this time, it sounded really fucking tempting to just sit and relax while the only harrowing thing in front of him would be those fucking steps towards the temple in Markarth. He had no idea how he was going to manage those.

"Oh my goodness, what happened?!" Lami, the alchemist, exclaimed when she noticed them slowly make their way through the town. She was just closing up her shop, likely for some errand, judging from the packages in her hands.

They both must have looked quite haggard. It wasn't just Bishop walking with crutches – they were all filthy, bruised and with dried blood everywhere on their armors and faces. That strange wind Shout really did a number on the both of them.

"Dragon," Bishop grunted morosely in response.

"A dragon?! What?! Where?!" Lami yelped and she instantly started scanning the skies warily.

"It's dead, don't worry. It attacked us in the pass to the east. You can tell the Jarl. She might want the bones to sell or something," Aeyrin shrugged. The people were starting to make use of the dragons often and, after her last excursion to Morthal when she had slain another dragon to protect Maven's caravan, she knew from the rumors around town that Jarl Idgrod was particularly interested in the corpses. Aeyrin had never pried into her reasons. She chose to assume that it was for the bones.

"Oh. Good. But you two look like you need a healer," Lami pointedly looked at Bishop's leg which was bent a bit so that he wouldn't drag it on the ground, causing himself even more pain. It was painful enough as it was like this, even with the potions. He really needed to sit down.

"Is there a healer?" Aeyrin looked at her a little hopefully. Perhaps they had assumed wrong about Morthal.

"Oh… no. There was one, two years ago, but he died. Falion doesn't know much healing magic, but one from the temple in Solitude comes here every two weeks to check on us. Queen Elisif had arranged that when the Jarl told her about our predicament. We could get no other healer to move here permanently," Lami explained.

"When's the healer coming?" Aeyrin asked her eagerly. Maybe they would get lucky…

"He… was here two days ago. I'm sorry," Lami bit her lip nervously. "I have potions… if you want."

"I guess we can stock up, at least. Just in case. Is there a carriage here today?" Aeyrin nodded. There was one or the other carriage around most days, but with their luck, it may have just left too a little while ago.

"Yes. It's stationed by the mill, as usual," Lami smiled, palpably relieved that she could provide them with some good news for a change. "I think that it's gonna be leaving in a few hours or so, it's when the fancy man is leaving. I think that he wants to get to Rorikstead before nightfall. I'm sure you can hitch a ride with them if you're headed that way."

Rorikstead was an acceptable destination, they could easily continue with the carriage to Markarth from there without losing much time. But it looked like they would have company on the road.

"'Fancy man'?" Aeyrin raised her brow at Lami.

"Some traveling minstrel. He performed for us at the tavern last night. And the night before he even performed for the Jarl. He's got a beautiful voice, but it's easy to impress people here with that," the alchemist giggled briefly as she gestured with her head towards the tavern which usually only offered the citizens the awful wailing of that horrible Orc.

Bishop only groaned at the idea of sharing the journey with a bard, but, at least, it was going to be less painful than walking. Probably.

"Alright. We should get to the carriage. If it doesn't leave right away, I'll be back in a bit for those potions," Aeyrin ignored Bishop's discontent and she only beamed a grateful smile at Lami.

"Of course. My deliveries will only take a little while. I'll be back in my shop soon," the alchemist returned the smile politely before she turned on her heel and headed towards the houses by the swamp.

Now only a few more steps across the bridge and they could finally rest easy.

…

The driver of the carriage agreed to take them to Markarth once he dropped off the 'fancy man' at Rorikstead. They would leave in two hours, per the minstrel's schedule, so Bishop and Aeyrin made themselves comfortable in the carriage in the meantime while the driver went to gather supplies at the shops.

Aeyrin ran off, for a spell, to get more potions from Lami and, when she returned, she decided to try to heal Bishop again. It would have been better without his armor, but she couldn't really remove it without causing him a lot of pain, so she tried it like this. Her attempts, however, were no more successful than before so, soon enough, she decided that it was best to let Bishop rest without aggravating the leg further.

At least there was enough time for her to remove her own armor, as well as Bishop's chest piece, and she managed to wipe down some of the filth and blood off them with a wet rag. The driver seemed a little horrified at the sight of them after all, and Bishop instantly started joking that the minstrel would probably outright faint at the sight.

He seemed tempted to see if that would actually happen, but she didn't feel like making their journey even more uncomfortable so, despite his grumbling, she cleaned off the worst of the blood and grime.

After some time of just resting in the carriage, the driver appeared again, along with the long anticipated 'fancy man'.

And, much to their surprise, it was a 'fancy man' that they were already familiar with.

"Alec?" Aeyrin's brows shot up at the sight of him. She really didn't expect him to still be roaming around Skyrim. But after their last encounter, right before she got banished from Windhelm, he did seem to be determined to stay for some reason. It was strange, during their first meeting, he didn't really seem fond of the place and the people. But maybe he was such a rare sight in this province that it was more profitable for him to perform around here.

"Ah," Alec gave the two of them a surprised look when he saw them and it seemed like some strange eagerness flashed across his eyes. Strange, the last time he really wasn't happy to see Aeyrin. "Lady Dragonborn. A pleasure to see you again." He bowed courteously and his eyes darted towards the driver. The Nord man only raised his brow at their familiarity, but he didn't comment at all. He didn't even seem surprised that Aeyrin got addressed as the 'Dragonborn', but maybe the rumors had preceded her again.

"Are you ready to set off, sir? We need to get you to Rorikstead for your performance," the driver gestured towards the road impatiently.

"Ah. Yes. Thank you. We can go now," Alec nodded before he hoisted himself up into the carriage to sit opposite Aeyrin and Bishop. He kept looking at them with a strange expression on his face, but, surprisingly enough, he didn't seem unhappy to see them, or at least Aeyrin.

Bishop, on the other hand, was none too pleased about the situation. He was already in enough pain as it was and now he had to look at that fop's pampered face for hours. He was in no mood to listen to that annoying flowery speech of his. Hopefully he wouldn't decide to wail his songs again – that would have been worse than listening to that fucking Orc at Moorside.

And he better not start pining after Aeyrin again, now that his ass-kissing fans weren't around.

Instead of a greeting, Bishop only threw Alec a disdainful look, but the bard didn't seem fazed by that in the slightest. In fact, he still had that strangely eager and somewhat hopeful expression on his face. What the fuck was he up to?

The driver settled in his seat and the carriage set off on the road within a minute. With the pleasant sound of the gallop of the horse accompanying them, Alec looked at Aeyrin ponderingly.

"I am surprised to see you travel like this, my lady. I thought that you would prefer more… pedestrian means," he tried to smile at her somewhat weakly. Surprisingly enough, the usual tone of disdain at anything he would consider 'unrefined' wasn't there.

"We do, but we can't travel like that now. We need a healer," Aeyrin gently nudged her head towards Bishop's leg which was outstretched by the planks separating them from the driver's seat.

"Ah. I see. Yes, Morthal lacks a healer," Alec nodded at her before his eyes darted briefly towards the driver, then back at her. "The town is really currently not managed very well, considering," he proclaimed resolutely.

It was hardly the Jarl's fault. And she did get help from Solitude. Just not a permanent one. After all, Morthal wasn't really known to be welcoming to mages and not many people probably wanted to live in the swamp.

"I don't see what anyone could do about it if no mages want to live there," Aeyrin shrugged at him.

"Hmm… hopefully there's someone out there who can help with that. There are winds of change in the air after all," Alec said in a strangely monotonous voice and he again looked briefly at the driver. He was looking at the man quite often. Why? He wasn't even trying to be a part of the conversation.

"I'm more surprised to see you here. Still," Aeyrin raised her brows at him. She questioned this before, but Alec had only brushed her off back then. Now he seemed much more willing to talk. Perhaps his bitterness at the rejection had already faded with time.

"Yeah, what are you still doing here with us backwater barbarians?" Bishop smirked at him snidely. He wasn't sure how that bard managed to survive a filthy place like Morthal.

Alec let out a nervous chuckle and he quickly averted his eyes. He started to mindlessly fiddle with the traveling pack placed on the bench beside him while he clearly pondered on the response.

"Heh… I suppose that… this land grew on me, overtime. There are… inspiring people here. And their plight is also… inspiring. The conflict of Skyrim is a… good source of new material," he answered rather uncertainly. He didn't seem like he was exactly sure of that. His behavior was getting stranger and stranger. His gaze darted towards the driver again and he purposefully avoided the eyes of Aeyrin and Bishop.

"You sing about the war?" Aeyrin asked. It didn't sound like his usual topic to delve into. Most of his ballads were romantic or about the beauties of the lands that he had traveled. At least from what she could remember about his music. She had only heard a few songs in the tavern and during Alec's performance, she was too anxious about Ulfric being there to pay much attention to the lyrics.

"Indeed. The story needs to be spread and preserved for posterity. And the people need to hear about what is happening across their land." Again his answer was strangely monotonous and automatic, as if he had said it a lot of times before. Well… maybe he had.

"Oh… yes. I guess that's true enough," Aeyrin nodded at him. It still seemed strange that someone like him would be concerned about war and politics, but maybe she was just not giving him enough credit. But he still said it very strangely.

Their conversation got briefly interrupted by the driver's sudden coughing fit, but he calmed himself down soon enough. Alec stared at the man's back for a while before he turned his eyes back towards the planks of the carriage as his hand continued to fiddle with his pack.

"But enough of that. Why don't you tell me about your travels, my lady? I am sure that they are much more exciting than mine," he looked up at her at last, but now his expression was no longer amicable. He seemed… strangely uncomfortable.

Perhaps Aeyrin was just studying him too much. It was such a stark contrast to their last meeting that she couldn't help herself. He was acting strange back then too and maybe she just projected that memory onto their current meeting.

"I… I don't know about that… I guess there were some interesting…" she chuckled a little, but before she could think of a safe story to tell him, which wouldn't involve the Blades, the thieves, the secrets back at the College or the Brotherhood, he interrupted her with his own request.

"I have heard some odd rumors about your stay in Solitude. Something… deliciously dramatic with the Imperial paladin order?" he gave her another weak smile as his eyes searched hers for answers. That was odd. It was so long ago. But… perhaps that was just the kind of story that he would find interesting. On the other hand, it was precisely one of those that she didn't really feel like reiterating.

"Oh… that… it was just…" she started to explain nervously, but before she could brush him off, Alec's eyes darted towards the driver again with a worried expression. When he could see nothing but the man's back, he quickly looked at her with an intense scowl on his face and he shook his head at her briskly and subtly.

What? He didn't want her to tell him? Not that she was going to, but… what was happening?

Bishop suddenly perked up in his seat when he noticed the bard's odd behavior. This was so fucking weird. First he brushed Aeyrin off back in Windhelm and now he was all eager to talk, but he didn't want answers? And the way he was looking at the driver… something shifty was definitely going on with these men.

"The fuck's it to you, fop?" he snarled at Alec. He wasn't exactly planning on getting on the offensive – Aeyrin would never tell the real story anyway, but Alec clearly thought that telling him anything in front of the driver would somehow be dangerous. The cough… the driver signaled him to ask. For whatever reason, he wanted the answer. Bishop had no idea why any of this would be important to either of them, but there was one sure way to get Alec to reliably drop the subject without the driver questioning his lack of prodding. "You collecting some petty rumors for that wailing of yours again? Don't bother. You're getting nothing from us. Go feed yourself to a dragon so that you actually have something interesting to croak about."

The driver looked over his shoulder to fix Bishop with a disgruntled stare, but he turned back a second later.

"I… was merely curious. It sounded interesting. Something about a paladin being disgraced or…" Alec's voice was palpably nervous, but he gave Bishop a very subtle nod in the process.

"What did I just say? Stop fucking prodding," Bishop scowled at him again. That should hopefully make it convincing enough.

"Yes…" Aeyrin nodded nervously. "Rumors get all too wild for their own good. It's not something that needs to be discussed. Why don't I tell you about our adventures in Morthal, since we've just been there? Maybe you can make a song for your next visit." Strangely enough, the den of vampires that she had wiped out with Falion ages ago was the only thing that she could think of that wouldn't be somehow… dangerous. She had no idea who this driver was trying to suss out information for, so it was best to cover all their bases.

If only there was a way to get rid of that man subtly so that they could talk to Alec.

…

They were already nearing Rorikstead after a journey filled with small talk.

Alec had attempted several times to ask about something odd, always after the driver's surprisingly convincing coughing fit. He asked about Aeyrin visiting the Thalmor embassy, about what she knew about the dragons' return or about her receiving the title of thane in Whiterun. These were such random events – they couldn't figure out what he was after.

Nevertheless, Bishop always shut things off reliably. Alec didn't even signal them any longer, he seemed confident that they had caught on.

For the last hour, the journey was only filled with talk about boring things, such as the weather or how dangerous the roads have become. But throughout that, Alec kept looking at the driver nervously while his fingers fiddled with something on the bench. Not with his pack though, his arm was constantly reaching behind the bench and down the side of the cart, but neither of them could see what he was doing.

When they reached the small hill leading south toward Rorikstead, there was a strange sound suddenly – a creak.

A second later, the carriage wobbled and it jumped violently as one of the wheels on Alec's side dislodged itself from the construction. The carriage slumped heavily onto the ground, eliciting a hiss of pain from Bishop as the impact vibrated through his leg.

The driver instantly stopped the horse from going forth while the wheel started to roll down the hill steadily.

"What the fuck?! I just had that thing checked!" the driver grumbled as he hopped off quickly from his seat. He threw a brief look back at the three of them.

"What happened?" Aeyrin gave him a concerned look.

"Just wait here. I'll fix it. Nothing to worry about," the man grumbled before he started to run down the hill to chase after the escaping wheel.

They waited with bated breaths until he made it far enough. This was clearly no accident. Hopefully the driver wouldn't think the same.

He seemed to be far enough now, but Alec was obviously still worried. He continued to stare after the man for a while before he nervously turned his head to the two of them with a panicked look in his eyes.

"You have to help me. I don't… I can't talk anywhere. Anyone could be listening, watching," his gaze darted towards the man down the road who was already picking up the wheel from the ground.

"Alec, what do you mean? What's happening?" Aeyrin gave him a concerned look, tearing his attention back.

"I can't be sure who would rat me out, but you... I know that you are not one of his lackeys. I don't know where else to turn. You have to get me out of this, please," his eyes were desperately pleading as he looked at Aeyrin deeply. He almost looked on the verge of a breakdown.

"Out of what? Who's 'he'?" Aeyrin shook his head at him in disbelief, but Alec's eyes were back on the driver.

That man was literally running back towards them with the wheel in his hand. He was almost at an earshot already.

"Fuck," Alec whispered. "I… dammit. Just… don't say anything. Act normal. Forget I asked, this conversation never happened… I…" he quickly composed himself and straightened up. His voice turned louder and calm again when he spoke next. "So I will be playing here at Rorikstead for one eve and I was promised another commission by a dear friend of mine right after that."

The driver was already almost back and Bishop quickly nudged Aeyrin with his elbow so that she would get rid of that panicked expression of hers.

"Wherever you're wailing, bard, I just hope it's somewhere out of earshot from us," Bishop scoffed at him while the driver gave them all a measured look. He seemed to have eased his own concerns quickly, however, when he heard Bishop sniping at Alec again and he knelt down to fiddle with the wheel.

There was no way that they could get any answers now.

…

Alec stayed composed for the rest of their brief journey and when they reached Rorikstead, he politely said goodbye to Aeyrin and he gave a curt, disdainful nod to Bishop. Apparently he was good at staying in his role – there was no way in which he would still despise Bishop after the help that he had been receiving from him throughout the journey, right?

Although Aeyrin suspected that Bishop still enjoyed being abrasive to him, even if it was just for show.

Luckily, when Alec started walking towards the inn, the driver excused himself too and followed the bard. Hopefully he hadn't figured out that they were conspiring the whole time, but at least it gave Bishop and Aeyrin a chance to talk.

"What in Oblivion was that about?" Aeyrin gasped incredulously when the men were out of earshot. "What's happened to him?"

Bishop narrowed his eyes as he pondered on the strange happenings. He was asking about such stupid things. The dragons were understandable – everyone asked them about that. But the Embassy, some stupid title in Whiterun and the paladins? What was the connection there?

If he was interested in titles, why the one in Whiterun and not the one in Riften? And why wouldn't he be more interested in the more juicy rumors, like Aeyrin's banishment from Windhelm?

Oh…

"He was asking about the Empire. And Whiterun is still neutral… and dragons…" Bishop started to ponder out loud before Aeyrin connected the dots too.

"Ulfric."