Chapter LIV – The Dibellan Teachings
"Is he far enough now?"
Aeyrin looked back over her shoulders towards the stables to see where the driver of their carriage ended up.
"Stop it. Just go inside. Seriously, you and subtlety…" Bishop rolled his eyes at her and he pointed with one of his provisionary crutches towards the large Dwemer gate leading into Markarth.
After a brief wait in Rorikstead, the driver came back and they headed towards the City of Stone instantly. It didn't leave the two of them many opportunities to talk, now that they suspected that the driver was spying for Ulfric. They had to be wary of talking about… well almost anything. It was best to simply not give Ulfric any information – nothing about the dragons, nothing about the College and nothing about their plans and concerns about Markarth. The bounty on Aeyrin's head had nothing to do with Ulfric, but somehow, he would just think of a way to use that knowledge to his advantage. If nothing else, he would just spread more malicious rumors about her.
That left them with a somewhat boring journey. Not that they didn't have anything to talk about aside from touchy subjects, but they found themselves overthinking everything eventually. It was better not to delve into anything about their lives, really. Who knew what schemes Ulfric would come up with?
Luckily, the darkness fell soon and they could easily get away with snuggling back on the bench and trying to get some rest through the journey.
They needed to take a brief break while the driver had his rest and then, shortly after dawn, they reached Markarth at last.
Aeyrin quickly rushed towards the gates and waited rather impatiently for one of the guards to open it. But much to her dismay, Bishop was taking a bit longer to get up the small steps towards the gate with his crutches – they weren't really quality-made after all, they were only broken branches. She just wanted to get away from anyone that could overhear them already.
When Bishop finally made it past the gates and they closed behind them, Karnwyr ran off into the city and the two of them stopped by the ramparts to finally talk freely.
"Gods! Finally! You think that the driver was really some kind of informant for Ulfric? Or was Alec just paranoid?" Aeyrin's brows creased deeply. They didn't get much chance to discuss this back in Rorikstead – the driver had returned to them so soon.
"I don't think he was just paranoid. Every time that driver coughed he asked you about something else. They might have even discussed those questions before we left Morthal, you know, when the driver was 'shopping for supplies'. Our 'fancy man' didn't really look like he wanted to ask anything," Bishop nodded at her. Once the reason for Alec's odd behavior became clear, it was all too easy to notice the subtle signs of the spying attempts. Hopefully they left the driver none the wiser about their knowledge of it though.
"So… Ulfric is using Alec as a spy?" Aeyrin shook her head in disbelief. How did this happen? Was this because of their first meeting, when Ulfric got angry that Alec dedicated his performance to her? Or… was this Ulfric's plan all along? Did he invite Alec to the Palace of the Kings in the first place so that he could make him his spy?
"Hmm… a spy, maybe a recruiter too. You know, when I was in Windhelm, Free-Winter said that Ulfric needs the support of nobility outside of the city. The people there don't really appreciate having their workers cut off and starved at the docks so I guess he needs the money of someone who doesn't care what happens in Windhelm," Bishop nodded, pondering on the implications further. Brunwulf had insinuated that Ulfric was trying to find a way to do this. Alec probably wasn't the only such 'agent'.
"Do you think that this is why he invited Alec to Windhelm in the first place?" Aeyrin gave him a strangely hopeful expression. She did kind of hope that it was the case. She knew that it shouldn't have been her concern right then, but she needed to convince herself that this wasn't because of what happened during the performance. That this wasn't because of her.
"Probably. Not so strange that someone like Ulfric would hold an event like that now, right?" Bishop nodded at her.
"Yeah…" she sighed. It did somehow explain much. "So, how could we help him out of this?" she promptly gave Bishop a determined look. Alec was clearly coerced against his will in some way. This needed to stop. She may have had to abandon Windhelm, but Ulfric would not get to bully anyone on her watch again.
"Out of what? We don't even know what's going on!" Bishop instantly retorted. He knew that she would get it in her head that they should help that bard, but they knew absolutely nothing about the situation. Maybe they were wrong. Maybe this wasn't even Ulfric's doing at all.
"But he asked for help. And he's…"
"He asked us to forget the whole conversation. Because, apparently, that fop has some sense in him. Sweetness, I don't know what you think that you can do about this, but I guarantee you, if you mention this to anyone, chances are, he's gonna get killed. I couldn't care less about that, but I suspect that you do. You don't know what Ulfric has on him to be able to blackmail him into doing this. Leave it be. We can't do shit with assumptions and guesses."
Aeyrin let out a defeated sigh, but he did have a point. She knew this even before he had said it, but his words still made her crestfallen.
"Yeah… I… I know…" she nodded in resignation. "Let's just… let's get you to the temple."
Bishop looked at the city in front of them, bathed in the morning light. The stairs were going to be such a fucking pain to get through. And that wasn't the only daunting prospect about their stay in Markarth.
"Ugh… yeah. Let's go. Best to get it out of the way. Soon enough the Silver-Bloods will try something, just you wait," Bishop groaned at her annoyance.
"I'm sure they won't. We will be in public all the time. And we have our 'rules', remember?" Aeyrin giggled at him. It was quite touching how worried he was. It was no wonder, after the last time, but she definitely didn't believe that the Silver-Bloods could get away with dragging her off to Mercer forcibly through the town. This was still an illegal bounty after all. They couldn't do anything to enforce it in front of crowds of people and guards, right?
"Doesn't mean that they won't try," Bishop scoffed at her, but then something mischievous flashed in his eyes and he gave her a wide grin. "Wanna bet?"
Her cheeks flushed instantly at the prospect. What a stupid thing to bet on, but… she couldn't say that she wasn't eager for the point when they would settle the score in their usual way. This time, however, she really hoped that he wouldn't win. As much as she enjoyed that, it was definitely not worth getting tangled up in Silver-Blood schemes.
"You're on," she giggled. "Now let's go already. I can't believe that you're still standing," she looked critically at how he was perched on one leg with the crutches lodged into the paved street.
Bishop nodded at her with a pleased smile.
At least now, when the inevitable happened and the Silver-Bloods tried to claim the bounty again, he would get something in the end to make up for the ordeal.
…
"Alright… just… lean here," Aeyrin pressed Bishop against the wall of the temple while she tried to steady her breaths.
Their ascent to the highest part of Markarth took so long and one of the branches, that had served as Bishop's crutches, snapped in half infuriatingly early along the way. Since they had nothing to replace it with, Aeyrin had to support Bishop with his arm around her shoulder while the other crutch handled the rest. He couldn't exactly make it all the way up with only one branch to help him since he still had to keep his leg above the ground.
It was exhausting and with Aeyrin's height, it wasn't exactly ideal, but it was the only option they had. There weren't many people walking those steps to help them and if, by some miracle, someone passed them by, they very obviously pretended that they hadn't noticed the two of them struggling to make it to the temple.
"Fucking… Void… who builds a temple here?" Bishop let out a few strained breaths as he leaned back against the wall and let his leg down for a spell. If it weren't for the healing potions, that would have hurt so much. It still hurt, but it was at least manageable. He couldn't hold it in that slightly bent position on his own all the time. At least now, soon, he wouldn't have to.
Aeyrin pressed on the heavy Dwemer door to the temple and she promptly slipped inside, leaving him to wait outside by the entrance. The priestesses would help get him there – Aeyrin was already exhausted enough and she couldn't very well drag him through the door while he could barely support himself.
He only had to wait for a little while longer before the door opened again and two priestesses came out. They were both young Nord women, dressed in rather opulent gilded corsets and bright red skirts. They were adorned by all manner of jewels and delicate golden chains in their hair. The priestesses in Markarth were generally known to stay in their temple at all times and it was no wonder – they were obviously prime targets for a mugging.
And weren't priests supposed to be humble and austere or some shit? He'd never seen a priest look like that.
The women gave him a sympathetic smile and they quickly positioned themselves to drape his arms around their shoulders. When he was situated, they started to slowly walk him inside the temple.
The temple didn't look any less opulent than the women's priestess robes did. It may have been the Dwemer metal gleaming everywhere that was making it look even more impressive, or maybe he was a little woozy from the potions, but it looked like anywhere he could see, there were gilded statues of Dibella with gems and flowers spread around the altars.
Aeyrin was waiting right by the entrance anxiously while the priestesses walked Bishop towards the back of the large entry chamber. There were a few stone slabs with furs on them back there and he was quickly sat down onto one.
Finally! His whole leg burned from all the strain and pain. That stupid dragon was lucky that it was dead after the shit it pulled, otherwise he would have chopped its head in half out of pure spite. Alright… that was probably not possible but he was still pissed off about that. What even was that Shout? Aeyrin knew so many of them already and she knew nothing even resembling that thing.
"Lie down, sir," one of the priestesses gave him a gentle smile and inclined her head towards the stone slab. Aeyrin kept hovering around with concern in her eyes while he did as he was told, but Bishop noticed her eyes kept veering off towards the grand hall of the temple more and more often, studying the surroundings curiously. She seemed just as stunned by the sights inside as he had been.
"Go on already," Bishop chuckled at her weakly. It was clear that she wanted to look around and probably talk to the priestesses. "You know that I'll be fine." It was not like his injury was life-threatening. And what would she be doing there anyway, just waiting for him to get healed?
Aeyrin gave him a grateful smile before she bent down and planted a gentle kiss on his lips. "Alright. I'll be around." She briefly turned to one of the priestesses then and smiled at her in turn. "Thank you again." It was her job, but still, Aeyrin was a little worried about the whole 'access only to women' that Bishop had talked about during their first visit to Markarth. But luckily, that didn't seem to apply to the people who needed healing at least.
"Yeah, go on and explore. You can tell me all about those secret sanctums later," Bishop smirked at her. The priestesses must have known about all those rumors around Markarth. He had heard so many stories before, even about some daring thieves trying to break in to find out what they were hiding in there.
"Men," one of the priestesses giggled at him, "they are always so obsessed with getting into our inner sanctums."
Bishop let out a laugh at the double entendre and Aeyrin's face got promptly decorated by a fierce blush. He wasn't exactly sure if she even realized what the priestess had meant before he laughed, but his reaction was kind of a dead giveaway.
Aeyrin quickly turned away and walked over towards the entrance of the chamber to look around a bit. She was a little conflicted about leaving Bishop's side just then. It was so stupid – the women were priestesses, pious and professional. They had to deal with healing people all the time. But still… they were all so beautiful and the sight of them in their gilded and quite revealing robes was mesmerizing. She couldn't help but feel an uncomfortable pit in her stomach when she thought about them fussing over Bishop. Especially since she knew all too well from experience how he tended to enjoy some of the healing treatments.
It was petty and stupid and it shouldn't have bothered her. After all, it could have been some old wrinkled priest fussing over him in the same manner if they were in a different temple.
But she couldn't help herself.
It was probably better to concentrate on something else and look around the temple, rather than watching the women paw all over him as they healed him. Well they would probably just be pawing at the fractured leg… probably.
Ugh! Stop thinking about it!
She quickly stepped towards one of the altars to distract herself. There was a bowl on it, made from Dwemer metal and filled with water. A golden statuette of Dibella was half-submerged in the middle of it with a myriad of flower petals floating around. And all over the rest of the altar, gems of various colors and shapes were scattered around.
She had never seen an altar like that. The temple of Dibella back in Anvil was a little more decorated than the others, but certainly not with gold and jewels. At least not so many. How could the temple afford all this? Weren't they supposed to take care of the poor and the hungry in the city with the money they received from donations and the paladin orders?
"Your friend will be fine, milady," a gentle voice startled her and she turned around to see that one of the priestesses had approached her. Aeyrin could see that the other one was still in the back of the chamber with Bishop. Her body was mostly obstructing the view of what she was doing as she was sitting by Bishop's feet on the stone slab, but there was a soft warm-white glow emanating from her hands. "It might take an hour or so to heal the bones. There are multiple fractures on his shin, but you did a good job aligning the bones correctly. Now we only need to make them whole again," the woman nodded at her sympathetically.
"Oh, good. Thank you again," Aeyrin smiled at her. "I wasn't sure if you… thank you," she mumbled a little nervously.
"You weren't sure if we even allowed men inside our temple?" the priestess smirked at her. "The rumors about us certainly seem to run wild through the city. Of course we heal anyone who needs it. And we allow anyone to meditate here at our altars."
Of course they did. Why would she even think otherwise? They were still priests after all. And Aeyrin knew all too well how silly rumors could get.
Although she couldn't help but look at the glittering altar again after the priestess's words.
"It's really… beautiful. I… I am surprised to find something like that… in a temple," Aeyrin broached the subject with some trepidation. Of course the paladins and their balls were even more outrageously opulent than this, but she thought that the priests were at least dedicated to spending their wealth on the poor. Healing was rather expensive after all and she never thought that they would pay for gems and golden statues for their temple rather than help anyone who needed it.
"Markarth is a very prosperous city, my lady. And the wealthy citizens make frequent donations to our congregation. The Silver-Blood family makes use of our more selective services very often, for one," the priestess smiled at her.
Aeyrin couldn't help but cringe at the mention of the Silver-Blood family, but what was more surprising was that the family would concern themselves so much with a temple. What did she mean by 'more selective services'?
"'Selective'?" Aeyrin raised her brow at the woman.
"Perhaps that is not the right word," the priestess pondered. "We offer many services to the citizens. There is our healing, of course, for those in need. But even if a person is hale and well, we offer soothing massages and various beauty treatments, as well as any other means of relaxation that the citizens may ask for. After all, health and beauty is a matter of both body and mind. These services are, however, more expensive. And we always prioritize a wounded or a sick person in need."
Aeyrin couldn't help but wonder what 'other means of relaxation' the woman was talking about, but she quickly pushed that thought away. It would probably be rude to pry too much into it. Dibellan priests were, after all, not usually bound by the same vows that the Stendarrite ones were.
"So… you still do charity? Even with… all this?" Aeyrin looked skeptically over the large gilded statues lining the chamber. That may have also been a little rude to ask, but she couldn't help but wonder.
"Of course. But there is not much need for it in our city. Like I said, Markarth is very prosperous. You won't find many citizens in need here," the priestess smiled at her warmly.
That… sounded strange. She never saw a city where poverty wasn't an issue.
"Really? Not even the workers in the mine?" Aeyrin looked at her in astonishment. Miners weren't generally very wealthy, were they? They would hardly work in such harsh conditions if they were. And didn't Markarth have one of the largest mines in the province?
"Cidhna mine is a prison complex, my lady. There are no citizens there, only criminals," the priestess retorted matter-of-factly.
Ah. So there were no poor in Markarth because the second they resorted to thievery, they were thrown into Cidhna mine and remained kept there, likely until they were worked to death in that twisted scheme. Lovely. And all the while, the Silver-Bloods were enjoying their 'beauty treatments' and 'other means of relaxation' in the gilded temple.
"You are a member of a Stendarrite congregation, my lady?" the priestess interrupted Aeyrin's silence when her eyes rested on the amulet dangling on her chest. It was strange that she kept referring to her as 'my lady'. It really sounded like she was more used to dealing with nobility than with ordinary people. In most temples, the priests always referred to anyone as 'child' or 'daughter' and 'son'. The nobles probably didn't appreciate that.
"Uhm… yes. Sort of. I was, back in Cyrodiil," Aeyrin nodded at her.
"Oh? You are unaffiliated now, then?" the priestess looked at her curiously. Aeyrin wasn't exactly sure how to answer that. The temple in Chorrol was always her home and it would likely always be one, but she wasn't certain if she could claim to still be 'affiliated' with it. She did no work for them, well… no official work, aside from certain highly illegal dissident conspiracies.
"I was just thinking, my lady. You would do very well in our congregation. You already have a good start at the training, from what I have seen from your companion's injuries. And you are very beautiful. You would exemplify Dibella's teachings well," the priestess looked her up and down briefly before she gently took a hold of a strand of her hair to run her fingers through it.
Aeyrin got predictably caught off guard by that comment and she couldn't help the blush that spread over her cheeks. Was it a prerequisite of this temple that the priestesses were pretty? She had never heard of such a thing before. Of course, the priests of Dibella in Anvil took great care in their appearance, but it never seemed like some of them would not be accepted into the congregation based on physical features.
The offer was out of the question, of course. Not only did Aeyrin not have the time to dedicate herself to the temple, but she also couldn't help but think again about the priestess's 'services'. She still didn't know what that entailed.
"But why do you dress yourself in such rags, my lady?" the priestess frowned on her. It was fortunate that Aeyrin didn't have to answer the previous question, but this one made her a little uncomfortable too.
After she got captured by Thorn, the clothes that Bishop had bought for her disappeared somewhere. Maybe they were destroyed altogether. She bought some cheap functional clothes as soon as she was able to. They weren't really fitted to her frame, but it wasn't as bad as she had feared. And they were warm and comfortable – a simple grey tunic and brown leather trousers.
"A woman of your beauty shouldn't hide it under such ill-fitting clothes. Dibella advocates that beauty should be shown and shared with the people, so that they may appreciate all that the world has to offer to please our eyes and souls," the priestess nodded at her a little admonishingly.
"I… I don't know. They're practical. I travel a lot, I cannot really do that in pretty dresses," Aeyrin shrugged at her, but she still couldn't stop blushing at the woman's blatant praise.
"You need not walk around in impractical dresses," the priestess giggled at her. "Come with me, I have something to show you that I think you might like."
The woman quickly turned on her heel and started to walk towards the back of the chamber, without even giving Aeyrin a chance to respond.
A little dumbfounded, Aeyrin followed her as they walked through the chamber towards the metal door leading further into the temple.
She caught Bishop's gaze as he was still on that stone slab nearby when Aeyrin and the priestess reached the door. Bishop raised his head to look at her. He was lying on the slab, undressed from the waist down with a fur blanket covering anything indecent. It was understandable that the priestess needed him to dispose of the clothes to work on his leg, but it still made Aeyrin a little uncomfortable again. Especially after all that talk of 'relaxation services'. But this was just healing. What was she worried about?
Bishop threw her a confused look when he saw her by the door, followed by a somewhat concerned frown.
But she couldn't do anything but shrug at him before she was ushered past the arch and into the hallway beyond.
She followed the priestess down a set of stairs which could only lead further down into the mountainous peak upon which the temple perched. After a while, they entered another metal door into a second large chamber.
It was just as opulent as the first one, but this one was also fitted with several stone bathing pools, all filled with steaming water. There were people in there, relaxing in the water while a few more priestesses hovered around – some were massaging the people's shoulders and some were bringing them bowls of fruits and treats. There was one priestess in the far corner of the room, playing a gentle tune on a lute.
This looked nothing like a temple. It was more like some luxurious bathing house.
Aeyrin couldn't help but notice that some of the people in there were men. Either this was not that famed 'inner sanctum', or the rumors were completely false. Although there were several other metal doors around the chamber. This was still not the full scope of the complex.
The priestess led her into a corner of the room where they were hidden from the rest of the… patrons, by a wooden privacy screen. There was a large full-length mirror and two wardrobes in there and the woman promptly opened one to locate a burlap sack.
"Here, my lady. When we get called to service outside the city, which requires us to travel longer distances, we wear these practical clothes. You should try them on. They are well suited for long treks and they still exemplify Dibella's teachings. I am sure that they will look very beautiful on you. You may purchase them from us, if you wish. There is no reason for us to be stingy with our garments," the priestess handed her the sack wryly.
That was strange. The priestesses were certainly ready to provide anything to 'exemplify their teachings', it seemed. Aeyrin wondered, for a while, if this was supposed to be a tactic so that she would agree to join their congregation, but she hopefully made it clear that she wouldn't by mentioning her traveling tendencies. Alright… it may not have been clear at all, but the priestess didn't even dwell on that question. She didn't seem to be pushing an agenda.
And Aeyrin couldn't pretend that she wouldn't like some prettier clothes. She loved the ones that Bishop had gotten her before and if these would actually fit her, be practical and beautiful at the same time, it wouldn't be so bad to buy them would it? And the temple would get more money to… buy more jewels, probably.
"Do you require privacy, my lady?" the priestess asked her. What? Did she want to watch?
"Y-yes. Thank you," Aeyrin nodded at her and the woman promptly walked to the other side of the privacy screen to wait there.
Aeyrin rummaged around the burlap sack. First, she found a pair of boots. They were high almost to the knee and both their inside and the outside over the shin were lined with soft fluffy wheat-colored fur. It didn't look like it was from any animal that she had seen in Skyrim. Next she located leather trousers, thick but surprisingly flexible and in a beautifully vibrant dark-red color. The clothes had to be dyed, but that was hardly surprising – the priestesses likely spared no expense on donning themselves in pretty colors. The shirt was from the same stretchy material that the one which Bishop had given her before was made from. It was the same color as the fur on the boots and its seams were lined with golden threads. There was a small round-cut ruby right at the V-shaped cleavage, nestled under the golden seam. The tunic didn't have sleeves that would go over the shoulders and arms, which was a little concerning, considering Skyrim weather, but she could always wear her warm fur cloak over them. The last item was a pair of gloves, made from the same dark-red leather as the trousers. They were long enough to cover her up to her elbows with the golden threads lining the upper seams too.
It certainly looked beautiful. And it also seemed flexible enough for traveling and even fighting. But it looked quite expensive, especially with the ruby and golden threads.
But she did have money… and she couldn't wait to try the clothes on. That was probably telling enough.
She quickly disposed of her old and somewhat ragged garments and she dressed herself in the new ones.
They fit her perfectly. She was kind of stunned about that. Did the priestesses have any elves in their midst? The clothes were flexible enough, so they could probably fit even someone larger than her, but definitely not Nords.
She couldn't help but admire herself in the mirror for a while. It was such a stark contrast to the bland clothes from before, and who was she to argue with what would please Dibella? She was supposed to experience her teachings too, after all. Not that she wasn't doing that enough with her music and… with whatever she got up to with Bishop between the sheets, but she shouldn't leave out any aspects of Dibellan worship, right?
"Are you set, my lady?" the voice from behind the screen interrupted her. She had almost forgotten about the priestess with how absorbed she got with examining herself. That was a little embarrassing, to be so caught up in her own image.
"Yes… all set," Aeyrin mumbled the words a little and she quickly turned back towards the screen so that the woman wouldn't catch her admiring herself like that. Although she would probably approve.
"You look truly stunning, my lady," the priestess beamed a smile at her right away. "I am sure that you would brighten anyone's day with your beauty in these clothes. Your friend's too, I'm sure," she winked at her conspiratorially.
Well… she wasn't wrong. Bishop would definitely like this on her. Anything that hugged and accentuated her form usually had an effect on him. Aeyrin only blushed at the comment, but she couldn't help but start to imagine Bishop's reaction.
"So… how much would you…?" she asked nervously. It would definitely be expensive.
"We can sell you the clothes for four hundred and seventy septims, if you like. And may I say, it would definitely be worth the price.
'Four hundred and seventy'?! That was even more than she had expected. Her old clothes didn't even cost a tenth of that.
But… she did have the money. She still had plenty left from the bounty on Thorn. And she would get even more from Calcelmo for all the loot from Mzulft for sure. The clothes were so pretty. She couldn't really imagine draping herself in the old baggy ones after wearing these.
"Alright…" Aeyrin sighed in defeat. Trying to haggle would be pointless. This was Skyrim, after all. Besides, she would feel a little strange, haggling with a priestess.
"Excellent, my lady," the priestess beamed. "We will add it to the cost of the healing when we are done with your friend. We should probably return now. Unless… would you like some time to relax in the baths? Or make use of any of our other services?"
Aeyrin still had no idea what that meant, but she was hardly going to splurge on anything else after paying so much for a set of clothes. Besides, she was quite eager to return to Bishop. She was looking forward to his reaction. And… she was still a little nervous about leaving him there with that priestess, as silly as it was.
She felt a bit guilty for having such thoughts. It wasn't as if she didn't trust him, but… she just couldn't help the uncomfortable gnawing.
Then again, why would she be feeling guilty about that?! Bishop got jealous all the time.
…
Bishop perked up instantly when the door opened again and Aeyrin and the priestess returned to the entry chamber. His brows shot up in surprise when he saw her donned in her new clothes and he gave her a half-amused and a half-confused look.
Aeyrin quickly made her way towards the stone slab where he was still lying while the priestess continued running her hands over his shin with magic emanating from them. Aeyrin stopped by the side of the slab where Bishop's head was resting and she gave him a wry smile.
"My filthy rags weren't pleasing Dibella, apparently," she giggled at him a little.
Bishop laughed at that heartily before he looked her up and down from up close, for as much as he could see from his position. "Well you definitely fixed that. You look fucking gorgeous, princess." He reached out with his hand to her cheek and he briefly stroked over it before he nudged her to lean in for a kiss. Aeyrin could hear the pleased giggles from the priestesses, but at that moment, she didn't really care enough about that to stop.
When she parted from him, he looked her over again with a familiar glint in his eyes. She had no doubt that, despite the praise to the clothes, he was already imagining how he would rid her of them.
"I am almost done with the healing, my lady," the priestess with her hands on Bishop interrupted them. "I only need to apply a balm to soothe the strained muscles and you'll be set."
Just as she had finished the sentence, a loud clanking noise startled them. They all instantly looked towards the source – the front door, although Bishop couldn't really see anything with Aeyrin blocking his view.
There was a man in the doorframe, panting heavily. He had obviously kicked the door out, since his hands were too preoccupied to open it. He was holding a woman in an expensive-looking dress in his arms and all they could see from the other side of the room was that she wasn't moving.
The priestess who had sold Aeyrin the new clothes instantly rushed towards the man, but he was already meeting her half-way, hurrying across the chamber.
"She needs help, quickly!" the man exclaimed. Both he and the priestess hurried towards another stone slab in the other corner of the room and as they approached, Aeyrin could see that his hands and the woman's dress were stained with blood.
"There was another attack at the marker. She got stabbed before anyone could do anything," he explained as he carefully laid her down onto the fur blankets. The priestess didn't waste a single second before she started to tangle with the laces of the garment. It was a little strange that she wouldn't just rip it off or cut it.
"'Attack'?" Aeyrin wondered almost silently, but the priestess working on Bishop did hear her.
"The attacks within the city have become quite frequent lately," she let out a mournful sigh. She was running her hands, covered with the soothing balm, over Bishop's leg much more briskly now. She was clearly eager to go help the wounded woman as well.
'Attacks within the city'? Was this what Bishop was talking about before? The Forsworn attacks? How would one even get into the city? Unless… they were pretending to have left the Forsworn, perhaps like that alchemist Bothela and her young helper.
"'Attacks'?" Aeyrin couldn't help but pry further.
"Yes, my lady. The Forsworn have become very vicious. They infiltrate the city and terrorize innocent people. We have already had many wounded and many dead from these attacks," the woman nodded somberly.
"Do you know why they are attacking?" Aeyrin asked. It wasn't that she couldn't have expected something like this, right? The Forsworn did do things like this, Robin had said so herself. Still… it always felt a little heartbreaking to hear about such incidents involving the Forsworn. Her stay at Cael's camp had somewhat endeared her to their plight, despite some of the more disturbing words.
"They are vicious barbarians who wish to steal our land, my lady. What other reason would they need?" the priestess sighed again. She promptly got up on her feet right after and she quickly dipped her hands into the bowl of water on the floor by the stone slab. "I apologize for the abruptness, but I will need your payment. I need to help tend to the wounded."
Aeyrin only nodded at her in response. It didn't seem like she would get more information out of her anyway. If there even was more information to get. It certainly seemed like that was all there was to it – the Forsworn had learned some way to get into the city and they have started to fight for their land in earnest by sowing terror into the Nords.
Aeyrin quickly began to rummage in her pack for her coin purse while Bishop started to put on his clothes again.
It was best to get out of the temple right then, the priestesses certainly had their work cut out for them, judging by the amount of blood.
There was nothing to be gained from gawking at them while they worked.