Author's Note:

For those of you interested, I have posted the second and last chapter of the first side story for the second book. It's available in the Second Book Extras :)

And other than that, I hope you'll enjoy the read :) Aeyrin very rarely uses swear words, even in her own head (without Bishop goading her into it, of course). But when she does, you can be sure that she's really pissed :D

Chapter LXIII – Brothers and Sisters

There was a strange odor in the air.

Aeyrin could still smell that odd alchemical tinge, but it was much fainter than before. The main thing that was bothering her was the strange wooziness that she could still feel and the blurriness in front of her eyes.

They were open, she should be able to see, but it was hard to make out anything but vague shapes right then.

She tried to concentrate on where she was, on what had happened. She only remembered going outside through that window and then someone grabbed her. There was only the smell then.

And now she was here, wherever that was. Her shirt was gone and she was splayed on some cold stone slab with her arms stretched along her body. She could not feel anything else. There were no binds restraining her, no chains, no gag. But she could not move at all. Her eyes were open and they were stinging unbearably, as if she hadn't closed them in a long time. Her lips were parted, but when she tried to make a sound, nothing came out. She could feel the sound leaving her, her throat vibrating, but nothing at all made it out. How?

Her eyes were so dry. Why couldn't she close them? She must have been paralyzed.

She'd never been paralyzed before. It felt awful. It was one thing to struggle helplessly against bindings, but this was so much more unnerving. She could move! She was free to move! Why was she not able to move?

Alright. Fine. She was paralyzed. It was a spell. It would pass. She needed to concentrate and figure out where she was.

She knew that she was on a stone slab or table and not on the ground. She could feel the edges on her arms and ankles. And it wasn't particularly cold in there. That meant that she was somewhere inside. Likely still in Windhelm. Nobody would be able to take her out of the city, right?

She remembered her own body vanishing before her eyes before she had lost consciousness. The attacker must have made her invisible. That's how he got her through the city without the patrols picking up on that.

The attacker. Was it Calixto? Was all that talk about the figure in the dark just a ruse? Or was her attacker that figure?

She couldn't figure out much without actually looking around. Her eyes were still blurry and stinging so badly and there was also a slight pain right in the middle of her right arm. It was as if something was stabbing her in it, but not very violently. More like pinching.

She needed to find out why she was here, but before she could ponder again, suddenly, her eyelids twitched in reflex.

She blinked! She could move! This was her chance!

Her eyes were starting to clear as she continued blinking rapidly, trying her best to wet her dry eyes. The next thing she did, she did on pure instinct. She needed to make sure that nobody paralyzed her again.

But when she tried to Shout, to summon her ethereal form to shield herself from magic, no sound came out.

Why?!

"Ah. Conscious already?" a voice echoed in her ears and she suddenly felt herself stiffen again. She didn't even manage to move yet and her body was paralyzed once more. For a while, she could only see bright green light in front of her as the effects of the spell spread out throughout her form.

When the light disappeared, she could finally see clearly.

She almost wished that she couldn't.

The first thing that her eyes were laid on was a… body.

No, not a body. Body parts. Pinned to the wall in front of her to form a body. She could see seams connecting the different colored parts. There was a stomach, arms, legs, pelvis and a head. The strange… thing was missing a chest entirely, as well as ears, eyes and nose, but that was not the most disturbing part by far.

The face. Despite the strangely distorted features and the lack of a nose, Aeyrin recognized it right away.

Susanna.

The face staring back at her lifelessly was none other than her murdered friend. Aeyrin could have sworn that she screamed, but no sound left her at all once more.

"Beautiful, isn't she?" the voice spoke again. Now she recognized it. It was definitely Calixto.

That bastard! He tricked her. All that talk about the figure in the dark. And of course he wasn't afraid of the streets at night because of the Butcher. He was the Butcher! And Susanna. He must have been the one she was talking about back then – her new suitor. He tricked her into it all in order to… do that to her. He pretended to be taken by her, pretended to care for her. She was so happy that she had found someone to help her heal after her lover's death, only to end up like this.

And why? What was that horrid abomination? Why was he… assembling a person? What purpose could it have? If he needed a body for whatever depravity he was doing, couldn't he just get a whole body? Why would he kill so many? Why would he risk getting discovered? Why…

Oh Gods, she was going to be next. What did he want her for? There were still parts missing on that thing!

She needed to calm down. She needed to breathe. There had to be a way to deal with this sick freak. She could almost move before. The paralysis would pass again. But why couldn't she still Shout back then?

Whatever the reason was, she couldn't count on her powers now. She needed to move the second she could and somehow incapacitate Calixto.

She could feel her body attempt to shift and wiggle in discomfort, but she never really moved. This was worse than being tied up.

But why was she still alive? Why did that sick man keep her alive for this? She wasn't sure if she was more relieved or terrified at that. What was he going to do? Was this some game, for his own amusement, like what Thorn used to do to people?

Please, don't let that be true.

She couldn't go through that again.

"You have brought me a lot of trouble, dear," Calixto's voice echoed through the room again. At least Aeyrin could move her eyes. She could see where she was now. It was a small room, lit with only sparse candles. There was some blood on the wall around the assembled corpse and she could see Calixto's back out of the corner of her eye. He seemed to be doing something by another wall, but she couldn't see what without turning her head. There was one exit that she could see. It was not a door though, it was just a narrow hole in the wall. It reminded her of Delphine's closet hideout entrance.

But all too soon, Aeyrin's eyes were beginning to fill with tears again as she couldn't blink. At least she managed to look around, but she wouldn't be able to see much again with her eyes too dry. They already hurt badly. But at the very least, once the paralysis dissipated a bit, her body would respond instantly by blinking. It would give her the necessary signal to act.

"After you came to Windhelm, I could not settle for less, after all, could I?" Calixto snorted derisively. 'Settle for less'? What in the Void was he talking about? "Your foolish banishment was very inconvenient to my plans. I hoped to at least use the time to gather more, but your actions have made the guards too wary. You have delayed my efforts considerably."

There was anger in his voice, but she still had no idea what he was saying. Was he waiting for her? Was he planning to use some… part of her on that corpse? Why? Why her? Why would he wait for her to return? She may not have even returned, ever!

And why was he assembling that corpse?! What in Oblivion was wrong with him?!

At least this sick freak couldn't kill anyone else with the guards on high alert. At least that foolish night when she had gotten banished brought some good.

But what did he want her for? What did he mean to do to her now?

"But we had to be patient just a little longer. I have spent years without my beloved by now, I could wait a bit more. Especially if it got me what I need to reunite us for good this time," Calixto sighed and through blurry tears, she could see the shape of him move a bit at her side. A second later, there was a sting in her arm and the pain she had felt there got even more palpable. What was that?

And did he just say 'beloved'? 'Reunited'. Was he… trying to resurrect someone? That was impossible!

Another bout of strong wooziness overcame Aeyrin once more, leaving her head spinning. Was this from the paralysis? She had never been paralyzed before, she didn't know how it felt. She could have lived happily without ever knowing that.

"But soon, all will come together." There was a sound of rusting and the dark shape of his form moved again, this time towards the corpse on the wall. She couldn't tell what he was doing, but it quickly became apparent when he spoke once more. He was talking to that… thing.

"My love, my sweet Lucilla. You will have the blood of a dragon coursing through your veins. Nobody will take you away from me ever again with that kind of power."

'Blood'?

Oh Gods! Blood! That was that sensation in her arm. There was something stabbed into her arm, probably to let her blood drip from her body! That was why she was feeling so weak and woozy! Who knew how long he'd been doing this? He hoped to infuse that corpse with the blood of the Dragonborn, thinking that it would make her invincible. Would it? Aeyrin certainly didn't feel particularly stronger than anyone else with combat training, especially now. And… her blood wouldn't give someone her powers… would it?

She still didn't understand why Calixto wouldn't just kill her for it. She didn't understand anything. And how would he ever transfer her blood to that thing's body? Even if somehow he could, it didn't even have a chest and a heart. What kind of horrid magic did this man know?!

Maybe he was just delusional. This could never work, he could never resurrect someone like this. What about that woman's soul? Didn't it move on to the afterlife? And dead body parts and organs could not be made whole again anyway! Not for long at least. Aeyrin didn't know much about necromancy but she didn't think that any of this would be possible. But… didn't the Forsworn use those briars to bring people to life too? Was that permanent? Oh Gods! What if this was all really possible?!

Could this insane man really resurrect this… Lucille?

That name. Aeyrin was sure that she had heard it before. It was getting hard to think, but she was sure of it. She heard it recently.

Yesterday at the cornerclub. Calixto had said that name.

Divines! It was his sister! The one he had told all those tales about.

He called her 'love'!

Well this just got even creepier.

By the Eight, she was going to be killed just so that her blood would be used to resurrect Calixto's sister with whom he definitely intended to get friendlier than a sibling should. All those women died for this sick plan!

She couldn't help the anger boiling inside her. Susanna died for this?! And this freak had the audacity to trick her into thinking that he would harbor feelings for her! Aeyrin wanted to break every bone in this man's body just for that. And then bash her mace into his face over and over for every other woman he had killed.

Except that she could do no such thing. She still couldn't move and her eyes were burning and throbbing madly at the dryness. Not to mention the dizziness.

She really hoped that the spell would dissipate before she got too weak to do anything at all.

…

"Look, nice seeing you and all that, but I've gotta go," Bishop nodded hurriedly at Gabriella while he continued looking around the room. Aeyrin was definitely not there. It might be a good idea to check the baths again too, but… he was already getting a suspicion that it would not lead anywhere.

She must have gone outside. He had no idea why she would do something so stupidly risky. What on Nirn could have happened to make her leave the tavern right now? He should have checked below the window. Even though it was snowing, there may have been some tracks on the ground if she had left only a little while ago. Now the tracks were probably already covered again, but maybe he could still see some faint traces of her passing.

"I know," Gabriella interrupted his panicked pondering. "You're looking for the Bosmer? The Dragonborn?"

Bishop's eyes went wide at the woman instantly. How the fuck did she know that? This was all so weird.

"Don't look so surprised," Gabriella chuckled lightly. "You two are known throughout the city. It's hard to avoid the rumors of your presence here, even for travelers. And saw her on my way here. So since you're running around here in panic, calling her name, I just assumed."

That made sense. Probably. Bishop didn't give it much thought after he heard that one sentence.

"You saw her?!"

"Outside, she was entering a house in Valunstrad," Gabriella nodded at him knowingly. "I can take you there."

What?! What the fuck?! Why would Aeyrin be going into some house? And how? How could she have ever gotten across the streets with the patrols everywhere? Come to think of it, how the fuck did Gabriella get around?

This was fishy. Too fishy. None of this made any sense.

"She can't be outside," Bishop growled. "You couldn't have been outside! What the fuck are you playing at?!"

"Easy," Gabriella's eyes went wide at him. She looked a bit startled at his outburst. "I don't know how she got around the city. I only saw her enter that house when I made my way to the quarter. I didn't pay it any attention before I saw you here calling for her. And… I have my means."

She stood up from the seat in front of him and she gave him a brief wink with a sly smile on her face. Bishop threw her a questioning look, but before he could ask her what she had meant, she raised her hand and it briefly lit up with purple light. Only a second later, her whole body disappeared in front of Bishop's eyes.

Oh. That was how she moved around the streets.

"I didn't know you were a mage," Bishop scowled. This still seemed suspicious, even though her story sounded less far-fetched now.

"Why would you?" A chuckle echoed through the room. It was odd talking to her when he couldn't see her.

"Fair point," Bishop nodded. He didn't really know anything about this woman besides the fact that she was just some random traveler. If they even talked much that night back then, he couldn't really recall any of it now anyway.

"I travel a lot. It's useful to know how to defend yourself. And how to hide yourself." Bishop could practically hear the smirk behind her words. "I didn't know about what was happening in Windhelm before I came here, but I've learned to adapt. I need to be able to move around at night."

A lot of people probably did. Not many of those that lived here had the luxury of powerful magic though. He should have suspected that she was more capable than the average Windhelm citizen though. He did know that she traveled a lot, although he had no idea for what purpose.

"Do you want to just stand here or should I show you the house?" Gabriella interrupted his thoughts again. "I would give you directions, but I don't know the city that well. It will be faster if I come along. I will know it when I see it."

Bishop couldn't shake the nagging uneasiness about all of this. Everything about this situation screamed at him to be wary. But… what else was there to do? Aeyrin was gone. He needed to find her fast. It wasn't safe on the streets, for multiple reasons.

He still had a million questions for Gabriella, like what the fuck was she doing at Candlehearth where she would likely just be thrown out right into a guard's arms or something, but finding Aeyrin was much more urgent.

"Fine. Take me there," he nodded at the empty space in front of him, and a second later, he felt a hand wrap around his wrist, tugging him along towards the nearest exit leading right from this room into the streets.

She better not be lying to him.

…

Aeyrin's eyes closed quickly. It was rather agonizing. She could practically feel the scrape of the dry skin on her eyeballs.

But she blinked! The spell had dissipated again! She could…

Green light covered her instantly and her body stiffened.

Fuck!

Not again! How did he manage to notice her so fast?! She couldn't move again and her eyes barely cleared at all.

"I should watch you more carefully," Calixto chuckled at her, his grating voice seeping into her ears as an unpleasant tune. He obviously watched her way too much already. If he didn't, she would be able to do more than blink!

"Hmm… maybe it's time to redo this one too," he sighed. She didn't know what he meant, but soon, she felt his hands on her neck and more light entered her line of sight, this time bright white. She wasn't exactly sure what spell he had cast on her, but she had a hunch. Silence spell. It only made sense. Why else would she be unable to Shout before? And her internal organs were obviously working despite the paralysis, she could probably Shout even when she was immobile. If it weren't for this spell, that is.

She was already so dizzy. The whole room was spinning and the blurriness was only making it worse. She didn't know how fast the blood was flowing from her, but it was definitely having an effect.

"Now, my dear, you won't be making any trouble. It was too much effort finally getting you here. I have been waiting for this moment from the minute I have learned who you really are." She could still feel Calixto's hands on her neck. It sent shivers down her spine, and if her body could move, she was sure that she would be trembling.

How was she going to get out of this? Bishop must have known that she was gone by now! Would he be able to find her? She didn't even know where she was. She could only hope that she wasn't unconscious long enough that Calixto could make it out of Windhelm. But… he would probably not be able to get past the gates with a limp body in his grasp, even if it was invisible. They must have been somewhere in the city.

Bishop could find her, even without Karnwyr. Couldn't he? She didn't know how else she could get out of this mess. Bishop's help or Calixto somehow miraculously forgetting to renew the spells were her only hope.

"Not only did you make things difficult with that banishment nonsense, but getting you alone is no easy task either," Calixto grumbled. "Luckily, last evening gave me plenty of ideas. With your obsession with the Butcher, it was easy to make you intrigued to follow. I just had to occupy your guard dog."

What?! No! What did he do to Bishop?!

"Nords," Calixto chuckled with palpable malicious delight in his voice. "How easy to manipulate when they are all obsessed with flexing their muscles at each other. That idiot who keeps yelling at the elves was much too easy to convince. All I had to do was taunt him a little about his dismal defeat at the cornerclub and he was more than happy to settle the score."

Seriously?! He goaded Rolf to fight Bishop to keep him away? No wonder Calixto never got caught. All these things he did, he always made sure that other people were to blame. He even convinced Susanna not to reveal her new suitor's identity to anyone before. He was obviously too used to being careful about all this.

That Rolf was just a drunken brute though. He wouldn't really do anything bad to Bishop. Right?

Please let that be right.

"Now, I'm wondering," Calixto sighed, tearing her away from her thoughts. "Maybe I should speed things up a little. You have cost me more time than I had wished, it would only be fitting to make up for it. Perhaps I'll take something other than your blood to make my love whole again."

Oh no, she worried that it would come to this. The bloodletting was bad enough, now he was going to cut off parts of her?!

Her mind got filled with the image of that assembled corpse again and she tried to chase it away. She didn't really want to think about what parts were missing, but she couldn't help it.

Why has the spell not dissipated yet? How long could it take? It couldn't be that long, right? But… she remembered that some of the more proficient mages could cast spells that would last hours, like the one that Tolfdir had cast on her so she could enter that magical field back at the College. She had no idea whether paralysis could last that long too. She had never studied any of the magic schools besides restoration. And she had no idea how skilled Calixto really was. He had never even mentioned that he was a mage during his recountings of his adventures. Maybe for this very reason – any mage could be a possible suspect, especially if he was also roaming the streets every night.

Aeyrin felt a bit stupid for never suspecting this man. Somehow, now, it all fit together. But then again, the same could have been said about anyone who was at the cornerclub their last night with Susanna there. And she was so preoccupied with the politics and the mistreatment of the elves under the Butcher business, that she never even considered anyone besides one of the elves or Ulfric's men.

Now it was too late for anything. And she had no way of getting out of this mess with those damned spells still in effect.

She saw Calixto move by her side again and she felt like her body tensed even more. It wasn't really possible, but the uneasiness still seemed to overwhelm her. He wouldn't just kill her now, right? There must have been a reason why she was kept alive, why he risked keeping her alive. He had been nothing but careful until now. There must have been a reason why he didn't just cut her and bleed her dry right away.

She would likely not figure that out, given her meager knowledge of necromancy. And the knowledge would not help her get out of this situation.

She felt Calixto's hand on her neck again and she worried that he would renew the silence spell, but instead, he moved the hand across her jaw towards her ear. She felt the impulses in her try to flinch, but of course, nothing happened. She just had to lie still while he brushed her hair behind her ear carefully.

His touch lacked the unwelcome hungry eagerness that she had experienced before with Thorn. It was different. She felt like a subject being studied. Like some magical component that he was carefully handling. He definitely didn't seem interested in anything but his Lucille. Aeyrin suspected that she wouldn't even be half-naked right now if the man didn't need access to her bare arm.

She wasn't sure if it was that comforting. Being cut up for parts didn't make the prospect much better, whether he would take pleasure in it or not.

"Hmm… I was starting to consider resorting to elven ears," Calixto murmured more to himself than anything. "Easier to come by these days. But I wouldn't have my love settle with a damaged one."

'Damaged'? That creep was cutting off body parts from people to assemble a horrid-looking abomination, and he complained about her damaged ear?! That thing on the wall had every part a different shade of skin!

Gods, why did she mind the comment? She should probably be glad that he didn't want to cut off her ear.

"Hair is acceptable in length and texture, but not color. That could be fixed though," Calixto continued to murmur to himself as his hand moved through her hair and began examining a lock of it. She didn't even think about that corpse lacking hair. As much as she would hate losing it, it would have probably been the best option in this situation. Unless he meant the scalp too…

Divines, she really needed to stop thinking about what he was going to do! This was making everything even worse. If her body could move, she would be shaking violently the entire time.

"Hmm, I did have my heart set on Arivanya's. I will just remove it and make a choice when I get a hold of her. It need not be fresh," Calixto continued to ramble.

He already had another victim picked?! Aeyrin had never heard of any Arivanya in Windhelm, but it was not as if she knew many people in the city. The name sounded Altmer though. Strange. She had only seen one High Elf around here before – Niranye.

But this information was hardly useful if she couldn't get out of this place! She needed to think. There must have been something that she could do even immobile and silenced… right?

Gods, what could she do?!

Calixto's hand left her hair and moved away, but before she could feel any sort of relief, he placed his palm on her breast. Again she got a strange feeling. It didn't feel like she was being groped. She still felt like a subject of his study. As if he was a priest, trying to figure out what was wrong with her.

The better question was 'what was wrong with him'?

"Too small. Definitely not adequate. I have yet to find anyone who could even compare to my beloved."

What?!

'Too small'?! Go jump into a lake of fire in the Deadlands, you creep!

Who in the Void does he think he is?! A serial killer, judging her!

Besides, she had never heard anyone refer to her… assets as 'too small'. Maybe compared to some humans, and…

And she should really not get riled up over his complaints about her body. What was wrong with her? She should be concentrating on her escape. If there even was a way to escape this mess before he cut her into pieces.

Or maybe he wouldn't. He didn't seem to like anything she had to offer anyway.

Stop it!

Finally his hand moved from her breast and much to her relief, he did not touch her anywhere else. But she did notice his head get uncomfortably close to her face, even though the sight was blurry.

"Definitely not the eyes," Calixto muttered with palpable disgust in his voice.

Screw you, asshole!

Oh how she wanted to Shout him to pieces just now. He better pray that she doesn't get out of this. He was in for a world of hurt.

It was a little disturbing that she was now getting even angrier. She should have been at her limit when she found out all the depravity that this man had committed, but it was somehow even worse when he was making this so personal.

"The nose is quite attractive though," Calixto continued to talk to himself.

Oh really? Is it 'adequate' for your beloved corpse sister, freak?!

As much as anger boiled inside her, Aeyrin couldn't help but feel a little relief at the fact that he didn't just fuel her insecurities and disappointment further by insulting yet another part of her. That relief however didn't do much for her eventually. It only made her realize how messed up it was to crave this man's approval.

"It will do."

Wait… what?!

She got so preoccupied with her anger and indignation, she had almost forgotten why he was evaluating her in the first place. He was going to cut off her nose!

Gods, now she really needed to do something.

The spell would dissipate soon, right? It was too long already. Maybe ten minutes? Could it last much longer than that? It was so hard to tell time just then.

She could see the blurry shape of Calixto turn and move away from her, but that was hardly comforting. He was surely going to look for some tool to do the deed.

"I need to transfer another dose first," he mumbled to himself. 'Another dose'? Of the blood? He needed to do it by doses, fresh ones perhaps? It would explain much. But that didn't change her dire situation one bit.

But he would be distracted with that, right? Maybe he wouldn't remember…

"Oh! Cannot forget this."

Before she could realize what he had said, the green light enveloped her whole body again, this time with little palpable effect.

Oh Gods no! Please no!

That was it. No chance. He renewed the paralysis and now she wouldn't be able to do a thing. She didn't even get to blink to let her eyes recover a little. They burned and stung so much.

She could barely see him moving around the room anymore. First he was by her stone slab, then he walked towards that abomination on the wall. Probably transferring blood. She had no idea how. She couldn't even think straight. Her mind was swarming with useless plans and ideas.

But there was no escape. Not like this.

It seemed like a long time while Calixto continued doing something by the corpse, but it was still all too soon when he approached Aeyrin again.

She could feel him so close to her. He was looking at her intently, studying her. He was probably already planning on how to cut her with the least damage to her nose.

Divines, she couldn't stop imagining it.

But then, she felt something odd.

There was a strangely sore tingle in her throat.

It was like a signal.

He forgot. She did too.

But now it was her saving grace.

"FUS RO DAH!"

…

Bishop was staring down at the ground intently, trying to see any sign of someone's passing.

But the snowfall was too heavy, there were no tracks to be seen. They would have to be really fresh for him to discern anything now.

"It's been about an hour," a voice whispered near his ear. "Don't worry, I know where we're going."

Easier said than done.

True to her word, Gabriella had led him through the streets of Windhelm, covertly avoiding the patrols while she kept her invisibility up, recasting the spell whenever they were out of sight.

All of this was still so strange, but Bishop had no idea what else to do but to go where she signaled. Whatever happened, he had no doubt that Aeyrin was in trouble. Why else would she disappear like that, without a trace?

He just hoped that it wasn't that fucking Butcher at fault, but he could not think of anything else.

"What were you doing here anyway?" He asked Gabriella quietly. Was it just his usual paranoia, or did all of this really seem like a suspicious coincidence?

"Walking to the inn," she only answered curtly. They were already making their way through Valunstrad, but they have not reached that house yet, supposedly.

"The Candlehearth. Why? You're staying there? They're not really keen on your kind in that place," he couldn't help but scowl. It had been bothering him a lot. He knew that there was a Dunmer bard once at the Candlehearth, but that was only on Susanna's constant urging. Now he had no doubt that no Dunmer was welcome in that place, especially with how the situation had developed with the Butcher and those orders.

"I'm not staying there, I'm staying with a friend in the city. I just come to the common room secretly because it's always empty at night. I like a little quiet," Gabriella whispered so quietly that he almost hadn't heard her. "You should take that as a hint. Guards could be around every corner."

Convenient.

But… she hadn't told him anything that wouldn't really make sense. Yet.

Bishop continued on his way through the streets until another guard appeared in their path from behind the corner. They've met at least ten of them by now. He couldn't fathom how Aeyrin had managed to traverse the streets. Did she take an invisibility potion from his pack again? He should have checked. Once again, in his rush, he left everything back at the room. Only now he realized how unprepared he was for whatever could be in that house.

At least he had a mage at his back. If she was on his side…

"Evening, sir," the guard nodded at him with narrowed eyes. This had happened with several of them already. Of course that they would be suspicious about anyone roaming the streets at this hour, but it was getting tiresome.

As usual, Gabriella promptly moved herself behind Bishop's back and he could only feel her hand at his shoulder. She was constantly making sure that he knew where she was, just so they wouldn't bump into each other or something and alert the guard.

Bishop only nodded at the man. He already expected the questions.

"What are you doing here at night? The streets may not be safe at this hour," the guard scowled at him.

"Walking. Needed some air," Bishop growled back at him. It was not surprising to have the man give a long lingering look to his face – the signs of brawl were clearly still showing, even though he had washed off all the blood a long time ago.

Fortunately, the guard didn't question him any further. Some of them had been more persistent before. This man only scoffed at him with his eyes still narrowed in suspicion. "Whatever. You've been warned."

Without much further ado, Bishop continued onwards with Gabriella at his back until the guard was out of sight again.

But after a while of walking in dead silence, he couldn't help but question Gabriella once again: "Why are you helping me?"

"Pfft, does it matter?" Gabriella hissed quietly from behind him. "I saw your girl before, and then you looked all panicked, so why not? I have a thing for sad cases, remember?"

The mocking undertone in her voice was palpable even through the whispers. True, he was not in the best place when he met her the first time. It wasn't very long after Elisie had kicked him out of her life. Not that it mattered much now. They were obviously both done with that night. And he didn't recall the majority of it anyway.

"Actually… not really," Bishop snorted in response. He did remember Gabriella. Just not many of the details.

"Shocking," an amused whisper echoed behind his back. He didn't really remember getting that drunk, but he must have. It wasn't important anyway.

"Weird night, I guess." Not to mention the morning after. It was at the inn in Dragon Bridge. He and Gabriella woke up early in the morning to the innkeeper screaming. Apparently a whole adventuring troupe had died right in their seats by the table and nobody knew why. The Legion investigated everyone at the inn, much to Bishop's dismay, but they didn't figure out what had happened at all. It was one of the stranger wake ups that he had, but it didn't really concern him once the Legion let them go.

"Weirder than this one?" Gabriella scoffed quietly, but her tone got serious once again. "And hush already. I expected you to be more subtle around guards."

Bishop continued to walk the street silently with her at his back, but he kept thinking about her words. Why would she 'expect' him to be subtle? She knew nothing about him, did she? Even if he had been drunk out of his ass that night, it was really not his habit to divulge anything about his usual… professions to strangers.

And he really didn't think that he had gotten that drunk that night. Not so much to remember so little. He remembered everything until they were in the rented room. The rest were vague and blurry memories of sex and restless sleep.

But thinking about that night was pointless. It was a long time ago and completely irrelevant now. It was possible that he was misremembering things after all that time.

He should really just forget about Gabriella and concentrate on finding Aeyrin. That was more important now. Who knew what happened to her? He wasn't sure if he was feeling more guilty or grateful that his paranoia about the Dunmer made him less worried about Aeyrin's whereabouts.

She could be dead.

Fuck, stop thinking about that.

He just needed to get to that house, for whatever reason. The trek through the noble district had never seemed longer.

He could still feel Gabriella at his back. Sometimes her hand lightly rested on his shoulder, sometimes he could feel her get close enough to sense her presence there outright. She was clearly making sure that he knew where she was.

The silence was making the whole situation even more eerie.

But then, suddenly, a sound interrupted it.

A very familiar one.

It was faint, distant and distorted by walls in the way, but in the silence of the night, he could still make it out.

A Shout.

He heard it behind his back, all the way back at the other side of the long street which they had been walking through.

Aeyrin was alive, and hopefully taking care of whoever was to blame for this.

But Gabriella was not leading him to her.

Bishop stopped dead in his tracks.

She said before that she didn't know the city very well. She could have gotten turned around, it could have been an honest mistake. Maybe…

But before he could decide whether he would even believe any such excuses, he felt Gabriella press tightly to his back. Only a second later, there was a familiar cold sensation on his neck – a sharp edge of a blade.

Well… that answered the questions he was going to ask.

"Unfortunate," Gabriella let out a quiet sigh of frustration. "I was hoping to do this the easy way, but… never mind. I won't hesitate to kill you if you do anything stupid."

What the fuck was going on here? He didn't understand anything anymore.

"What? What are you doing? Where's Aeyrin?" Bishop scowled, but he did not dare move. Her blade was pressed to his neck firmly and in this position, she could really end his life pretty quickly. He had to be careful. As much as he wanted to run into the direction of that Shout and see what trouble Aeyrin was in, what use would he be if he just got himself killed right there and then? Aeyrin was at least alive now, that was important. But Gabriella definitely had something to do with this.

"I have no idea. I never saw her," Gabriella scoffed quietly into his ear.

Great. So what the fuck was going on with Aeyrin? And what the fuck did Gabriella want from him?!

"The fuck is this?" he growled at her. He got the urge to scream to get someone's attention, but he suspected that this would have gotten him killed too.

"Silence. We need to have a… talk. Privately. Go on. We still have a house to get to. A Brother should be there to join us," Gabriella hissed.

'Brother'? Who was her brother? Maybe he would actually finally explain what…

Oh fuck.

She didn't say 'my brother'. This kind of shit could only mean one thing.

"You're an assassin," Bishop growled. Now it made much more sense. And she had never even seen Aeyrin? She probably just took the opportunity of him looking for her and she led him here.

Come to think of it… that really explained a lot.

"You killed those people at Dragon Bridge." Bishop almost exclaimed that, but Gabriella's instant hiss made his voice quiet down again involuntarily.

"That should tell you how stupid it would be not to obey right now. Walk."

Bishop took a reluctant step forward, but it was definitely much harder with Gabriella still pressed tightly to his back with her blade on his neck.

"What did you do to me? Why don't I remember that night?" He couldn't help but question her more as he tried to walk forward. It was way too slow now. And he really needed to figure out a way to get out of this mess and go find Aeyrin already. Who knew what shit had she gotten herself into?

"Just a charm spell. Doesn't matter. You were an alibi. Now you should be more concerned about getting where we need to. You are testing my patience," Gabriella growled quietly and out of the corner of his eye, Bishop noticed the familiar purple light flash, signaling him that she had renewed her invisibility spell.

"You charmed me to sleep with me?" Bishop cringed. That made him feel weird. Not that he didn't want to sleep with her, but… still. Creepy.

"No, I slept with you and I charmed you during, while you were sufficiently distracted to notice. Enough of this already. Move," Gabriella growled back at him.

He had no choice. Her grip never wavered.

With an angry groan he stepped forwards again rather clumsily.

"Can't you people just leave me alone already?"

"I wish," Gabriella sighed. "You make such scenes, it's really tempting to just end it right now."

Well… that did not sound good. His questions were just frustrating her more and she did kind of hold all the cards now. He felt her blade press tighter into his neck, probably leaving a scratch, while she hissed into his ear once more for emphasis.

"Keep walking."