Chapter LXXIX – High Society Conduct

The next couple of hours were much more pleasant than those before.

Bishop and Aeyrin didn't separate for the entire time – neither of them wanted a repeat of the situation before. They tried to ignore all the nobles plotting and gossiping around and enjoyed the ball the best they could together. It didn't prove that hard in the end. With the spiced wine, good food, and surprisingly pleasant music, it was easy to get lost in the atmosphere. Especially when they avoided everyone else.

They spent the evening in the most shadowy corners they could find. And the more the wine flowed, the more the mood shifted. Bishop certainly had a knack for distracting Aeyrin effectively and he did begin to take advantage of Aeyrin's dress more and more. She felt strangely exposed with nothing underneath her gown whenever he touched her. He was always close and soon his feather-light teasing touches became bolder and firmer.

It was exciting, at first, but it was bordering on frustrating as their subtle flirtations turned more serious. Bishop even asked Aeyrin to dance, much to her amusement, although she knew what that meant. Neither of them actually wanted to dance. They just swayed in the corner in a tight embrace, constantly kissing and roaming their hands over each other.

Aeyrin was starting to feel impatient. Usually it was Bishop who was the first to try and find an opportunity for them to relieve some tension, but that night he seemed to be enjoying teasing her a little too much. She had trouble concentrating on anything else. And the alcohol certainly didn't help. She had been feeling boiling hot for so long now with her face constantly flushed bright red. And Bishop only seemed more and more amused by her squirming under his touch.

That was it. She'd had enough teasing. And the alcohol helped her be a little bolder. But before she could even think about how to resolve her predicament, Azshan found them in their recluse. Much to her dismay, he insisted that they come join him and Gisli and some other people that they didn't know at one of the tables by the side of the room. There was apparently going to be a musical performance and it would be rude not to act as an attentive audience.

It could not have been a worse time for something like that.

Bishop and Aeyrin begrudgingly followed Azshan to one of the tables and sat themselves down, side by side, facing the rest of the group. They didn't know anyone at the table, aside from Azshan and Gisli, but that didn't matter. Fortunately, nobody spoke at all as a bardess marched into the center of the ballroom and began singing, accompanied by the other minstrels playing instruments.

Bishop didn't even protest about being forced to sit there, although if he had already known what Aeyrin was planning, he would definitely not stand for it. And maybe it wouldn't be the worst thing for Aeyrin to cool down a little.

The table was filled with plates of delicious-looking treats set on silver platters and an embroidered silk tablecloth, but again, nobody touched any of them. So instead of thinking about the ridiculousness of it, Aeyrin opted to scoot her chair a little closer to Bishop and lay her head on his shoulder comfortably. Bishop squeezed his arm between her back and the chair in turn and placed his hand on her hip. It was nice. And definitely calm enough to help her get over her heated mood, but unfortunately, Bishop wasn't really planning on letting her.

When everyone was concentrating on the performance, he squeezed his hand on her hip a bit and leaned down to whisper in her ear. "That bard's got nothing on your singing, sweetness," he smirked. "Though you know when your voice is the best?"

Oh Gods, she knew where this was going. She barely even managed to cool down a little and he was starting again.

"I can't wait to hear you moan under me again," he groaned into her ear, sending shivers down her spine. His voice took up the familiar low tone that always got her more excited and his hand moved a bit lower on her hip as he squeezed her once more. "Fuck, you have no idea how much I want to throw you on this table, roll up that dress and just take you, over and over until your voice gets all hoarse and you can't even catch your breath."

Aeyrin let out an involuntary shuddering breath at his words. Divines, she couldn't stop imagining that. She was really grateful for that bard getting all the attention, otherwise everyone would likely be asking what had her so flushed. Although that may have just been a permanent state for her by now.

Much to her frustration, Bishop leaned back in his chair and didn't say another word. In fact, aside from his hand still on her hip, he was practically ignoring her. He was just looking at the bard with a content expression on his face, which for some reason made her feel a little peeved. She didn't want him to continue, did she? It made the teasing only more unbearable.

But it was just more and more frustrating. She looked straight at him several times, but he didn't even give her a glance back. She had no idea why it had such an effect on her just then, but it did. She craved his attention more than ever. She craved something else too.

With another shuddering breath, she carefully looked at the people by the table and a few others around. Nobody was paying any attention to her and Bishop – they all either whispered amongst themselves or listened to the bard with rapt attention.

And she needed to get him just as frustrated as she was. It was only fair. And then he would either stop teasing her or, hopefully, continue. Yes. She really wanted him to continue.

She tried to be as subtle as she could when she gently placed her hand on his thigh under the tablecloth.

He flinched! Good. He didn't expect that, but he didn't let it break his composure beyond that subtle movement. He still didn't even look at her. But that was fine. It was not as if she expected a light touch to rile him up much anyway.

She started to slowly move her hand, up his thigh and the higher she got, the more she began to tighten her touch and squeeze his skin. She could feel him tense, more and more each second, but she didn't let up. She continued to slowly glide her hand higher, pressing the fabric of his clothes to his skin until she slid it slightly to move more towards his inner thigh.

Bishop felt all his muscles tense as Aeyrin continued to tease him. Fuck, he did not expect this from her. She was getting dangerously close to where she was inevitably heading with her hand and the tight trousers were getting more and more uncomfortable for him. He thought that he would just tease her through that performance. It was so fucking satisfying to watch her get all flustered the entire evening. He was even pretty sure a few times that she wouldn't be able to take it longer and that she would drag him somewhere to get some privacy. He was really curious to find out when she would reach her limit. He did not really expect her to turn the tables on him like that. She wasn't ordinarily this bold with touching him like this in public, even though she didn't mind him doing the same to her.

Then again, he could consider this sort of a success. She wouldn't have resorted to teasing him back like this if she wasn't at her limit herself.

He could feel her gently brush her fingers against his cock under his clothes and his body tensed even more. He couldn't help the smirk spreading on his face.

But he was definitely done as well. The trousers suddenly felt unbearably tight and uncomfortable and he desperately needed to take this further. She said that the restroom had a lock. That was a good enough place, right? Hopefully she would get the hint.

Without a word, he grabbed her hand under the table and removed it sharply from himself. He could see that Aeyrin shot him an amused look from the corner of his eye, but he did not look back at her. Instead, he rose from his chair as silently as he could, not to draw attention to himself, and he marched quickly towards the restroom at the side of the chamber.

Aeyrin sat by the table with a hint of surprise and amusement on her face. Alright, she did not expect him to actually storm off like that. He must have been much more affected than he let on. She felt kind of proud of herself for getting such a reaction from nothing but light touches.

She carefully looked at the others by the table when Bishop left. Barely anyone took note of them – only one of the strangers shot him a brief curious look, but when he saw the direction in which Bishop was heading, he turned back towards the bard, disinterested.

Now Aeyrin had an important question to ponder on. Did Bishop leave to be… 'alone' or did he expect her to follow?

Well… what was she thinking? When would he ever prefer to be alone rather than with her? Especially when it came to this. And besides, she really needed to release some tension herself.

She just needed to be subtle and inconspicuous about this.

When she was sure that nobody was paying any attention to her, she rose from her chair carefully. Azshan noticed and threw her a curious look and she nervously inclined her head towards the restroom door on instinct. She didn't even realize that he could connect the dots when he would notice that Bishop wasn't there, but Azshan didn't really seem to ponder on any of it after she had gestured with her head. He turned back toward the performer instantly.

Good.

She took another deep breath as she started walking towards the restroom. It all felt so exciting and strangely forbidden. She kept looking behind her back to see if anyone was watching her. But nobody was paying her any mind for a change.

When she reached the restroom door, she quickly slipped inside. The moment she did, she got grabbed by familiar strong hands and pressed against the wall. She barely managed to close the door behind her.

"Finally," Bishop growled before he quickly captured her lips in an insistent deep kiss. His body pressed her flat against the cold wall, sending shivers down her spine at the contact. The thin layers of their clothes didn't leave her guessing to his need as his hips grinded into hers.

She gathered all her resolve to push him back and with a shaky breath, she whispered: "I need to lock the door." She really didn't want any interruptions for this. She would die of embarrassment if their escapade became the talk of the ball.

Bishop nodded and stepped back from her a bit. The room was rather small with only two washbasins with a mirror on the wall in between them, one extra door leading into another side room and a small area hidden behind some modesty panels. The whole place smelled of a myriad of perfumes mixing together in the air and it was only dimly lit by a few candle sconces on the walls.

Bishop stepped back towards the opposite wall while Aeyrin used the key on the door to seal them in. He pressed his back against the cold stone and let out a strained huff. She really took her time getting here. Or maybe it just felt like it since every second without her now was torture.

She must have felt the same way though as she practically lunged herself at him when she was done with the door, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck and grabbing at his hair as her lips pressed to his again and her tongue slipped into his mouth.

Bishop let out a pleased groan against her and pushed his body to hers firmly once more. His hands grabbed at her buttocks, either in an attempt to grope her or to press her more firmly against his groin, or both, and he started to nip at her lower lip teasingly.

They continued for a little while, touching everywhere while their heavy breaths mixed whenever they parted for a brief second of respite from the kissing. But neither of them were really eager to prolong the preamble too much. Soon enough, Bishop pushed Aeyrin away from himself slightly and moved his hands down to the lacings of his trousers. They were getting really uncomfortable. He couldn't take it anymore.

Aeyrin, however, instantly grabbed his wrists in her hands to stop his motion. She leaned towards him to plant one more languid open-mouthed kiss into the side of his neck, brushing her nose against his stubble while still holding his hands at bay. She could practically feel the frustration seep out of him.

But that was going to be easily rectified.

When she parted her lips from him, she shot him a brief demure smile before she let go of his hands and lowered herself to kneel in front of him. The stone floor was quite uncomfortable to kneel on, but it wasn't that concerning in her current heated state. Her hands moved to the lacings of his trousers practically instantly and she started to tangle with the strings with palpable impatience.

Bishop leaned his back against the wall with a satisfied smile spreading on his lips. Fuck, what a sight she was like that. He could just see the flush of her cheeks and the teasing view of her cleavage from above. The slit of her dress uncovered her whole thigh in that position and the fabric slid tantalizingly between her spread legs, bunching up on the ground. She worked surprisingly deftly with the laces and soon enough, Bishop let out a sigh of relief as he was freed from the tight fabric at last.

A sound of the door handle being yanked interrupted them for a brief while, but the door was locked securely. Whoever wanted to get inside, wouldn't. They could easily take their time here, were it not for their already bubbling frustrations and impatience.

Aeyrin looked up at Bishop briefly with a slight smile on her lips before she reached out to stroke him with her hand. Bishop's own palm cupped her cheek for a brief moment and then he moved his fingers to tangle them in her hair. He had definitely ruined her hairdo just by that motion alone – a few strands fell from the pins holding them up instantly. She didn't pay any attention to that though. She barely stroked him for a few seconds before she leaned forward and teasingly licked at the head of his cock.

"Fuck," Bishop let out strained breaths as she did that again, and again. His grip in her hair tightened involuntarily while his whole body tensed with each contact with her tongue. She still kept her hand on his cock, stroking slowly, but it wasn't enough. He needed to be inside those gorgeous lips already.

"Princess," he nudged her, gripping a few strands of her hair a little too firmly between his fingers, but she still only continued the same treatment. Occasionally she ran her tongue over his entire length or squeezed him with her hand more firmly, but that was the extent of it. So fucking frustrating. He would have thought that she enjoyed tormenting him a little too much, but she looked like she was barely holding together as well. Her breaths were all too heavy, despite the fact that she wasn't doing anything very straining. Yet. And he noticed how often she shifted in her position, pressing her thighs together, likely to feel the fabric of her dress press in between her legs more firmly.

Finally, when he thought that he couldn't take anymore, she enveloped her lips around the head of his cock and moved herself down his length. Her tongue never stopped teasing his skin while her warm mouth encompassed him and her hand still remained on the rest of his length, with her thumb rubbing on the underside of it. Bishop let out a rather louder moan than he had wanted to at the sensations. He bucked his hips almost subconsciously and Aeyrin quickly let her hand fall from his cock to accommodate him and take more of his length inside her mouth.

The wetness between her legs was starting to get too hard to ignore. And it was even worse when she was so exposed with barely anything covering her there. Bishop had taken charge almost immediately when she took him as far into her mouth as she could. His grip on her hair tightened again as he held her in place while he began thrusting in and out at a harsh pace. It wasn't that hard to accommodate by now though. Aeyrin was even a little proud of herself at that moment at what she was able to concentrate on through all that. Bishop's grunts and moans echoed through the room while she ran her tongue over his cock as much as she could during the motions. Her hand moved back to his crotch, but this time she moved it to gently touch his balls. Bishop stopped the pace instantly at that and, while letting out strained huffs of air, he gave her a bit of a reprieve to catch her breath as well while she fondled him slowly. It didn't take long though before she dropped her hand and let him resume his thrusting once more. She was getting too distracted by her own arousal by now and she couldn't resist sneaking her hand under the fabric of her dress and between her legs. She was never really that effective when it came to this, not as much as Bishop was when he touched her, but she couldn't stand the pressure any longer. She pressed her fingers between her exposed folds firmly, running them up and down for a bit, while Bishop continued to thrust into her mouth.

She could feel that he was close. His thrusts were becoming faster and it was getting a bit harder to manage her breathing through them. She could feel a few drops of saliva escaping her lips as Bishop's cock rubbed against her lips. The huffs of air leaving her nose were getting more and more irregular and strained. She pressed her fingers against her clit almost desperately now. She wasn't sure if she needed herself to come more or if she needed Bishop to.

Fortunately, it barely took a few seconds before Bishop let out another loud moan as his cock throbbed and twitched in her mouth. She could feel him spill himself inside her mouth and she instantly began to swallow at a bit of a frantic pace. As soon as his peak subsided, she let him slide out of her mouth and panted heavily to catch her breath. His cock and the corners of her mouth were still stained with seed, but she needed to catch her breath a little first.

Bishop's hand was still in her hair, but now his grip eased considerably. He was the only one who was starting to calm down though. Aeyrin was still desperately pressing her fingers to her slit, occasionally, pushing them slightly inside her entrance while she tried to rub her clit with her thumb. It was a bit awkward like that though, she couldn't really get a good angle in her position. Her breaths never really calmed down, but she still used her other hand to take hold of Bishop's softening cock again and to push it into her mouth one last time. Her tongue darted over his sensitive skin once more while she continued to play with herself. Though this was just getting more and more frustrating. She could never hit the right spots. Even when it felt good, it never felt as good as when he did it to her.

Aeyrin let Bishop's cock fall back from her mouth once more after she had cleaned it off the last residues of his release, but she still continued with the motions of her hand. Only when she looked up at Bishop briefly did she notice that he had been watching her with what could only be described as rapt attention. He was still panting after his climax, but soon enough, he actually managed to get some words out.

"Stand up," he huffed at her.

What? She wasn't done yet. Not that she would be anytime soon, probably. But she really wanted to come already. Her body felt like it was just constantly on fire. She gave him a pouting look, but he only chuckled in response in between his slowly calming breaths.

Bishop didn't wait for her to obey. His hand tangled in her hair once more and he pulled slightly – not enough for it to hurt at all, but he did get his message across. She reluctantly moved her hand from in between her legs and stood up. Very haphazardly and somewhat clumsily at that. Her legs felt like ectoplasm. Luckily, Bishop's hand darted to her waist quickly to prevent her from stumbling.

She didn't get to ponder on why he had made her stop for long. She was instantly pressed against the wall with a rough motion and Bishop's hand slid down between her legs only a few seconds later.

"Need a hand, sweetness?" he smirked at her as two of his fingers penetrated her immediately, eliciting a loud moan from her lips. Gods, this was so much better. Bishop didn't wait a second before he began teasing her clit and moving his fingers in and out of her at a rough pace. It was just what she needed. Her body bucked and tightened with each motion.

It didn't take her long at all to reach her climax at last. Bishop's treatment was relentless and he only made everything come crashing down faster when he fastened his lips on his favorite spot on her neck. The familiar jolts of pleasure finally ripped through her body and Aeyrin let out a breathy moan in response.

Bishop continued to tease her much more slowly through her peak and when her breathing was beginning to calm and her body stopped heaving and convulsing, he removed his fingers from her and pressed them into his own mouth to clean off her arousal from them.

By the time he had tucked his cock back into his trousers and laced himself back up, Aeyrin only managed to barely catch her breath. She was still pressed against the wall, trying to rile herself up from their ministrations. She would probably need to clean herself up before she could come back to the ballroom. She could still feel wetness on her chin and a different one between her legs. And she was sure that her hair turned into a very telling mess.

Bishop stepped towards her with a smirk on his face and he moved his hand towards her face. She felt him run the side of his finger against her chin before he pressed it against her lips. She opened her mouth almost instinctively, allowing him to push his finger inside, coated with the fluids of their ministrations.

"You need help, princess?" he chuckled at her before he withdrew his finger from her.

Aeyrin gave him a deadpan look in response, but she couldn't help the smile still tugging at the corners of her mouth. She did need to clean up though. And if she let Bishop 'help', it would definitely end in something which they would need to clean up after yet again.

"You should go," she let out an almost disappointed sigh as she ran her hand through her messy hair. "I need to fix myself up and… we shouldn't really be seen leaving this place together." Avoiding such rumors was really imperative right now.

"Alright," Bishop nodded, but before he turned on his heel, he cupped her cheek once more and leaned down to give her a brief but passionate kiss. "That was so fucking good, sweetness. I can't wait to get out of here once and for all and continue this with you alone. All night." He punctuated his words with another quick kiss before he turned around at last.

He briefly stopped by one of the washbasins to wash up his hands before he walked toward the door, unlocked it, and slipped out back into the ballroom.

Damn, why did he have to say things like that just before he left? She was already tempted to drag him back into that room and continue right there and then. But it would probably be smart not to lock themselves in there for too long. It might have become too suspicious otherwise.

With a heavy sigh, Aeyrin pushed herself off the wall and stepped towards the washbasins and the mirror by the side of the room.

Gods, she really needed to fix herself up. Tresses of her hair were dangling from the updo, released from the pins and the whole thing looked a bit askew. Maybe it would be easier to just let her hair down. She certainly couldn't recreate the style properly. The soft makeup on her eyes was a little smudged as well and the fabric of her dress needed smoothing out, but none of that was her immediate concern though.

She quickly reached for one of the washcloths stacked neatly on a washbasin and dabbed it in water. She didn't wait a second longer before she wiped her face and lips with it to get rid of any residual mess there and before she reached out below her dress again to wipe off the wetness between her legs. She threw the cloth away into a small pot below the washbasin, but she still felt a bit flushed and heated. Before she would deal with her hair and makeup, she bent down towards the basin to splash some cold water on her face. Hopefully that would help.

Still bent down above the sink, she suddenly heard a faint sound of a door clicking. She didn't lock up again after Bishop had left, but that wasn't such a big deal now. In fact, her heart just skipped a beat at the thought that it was him, returning for more. It would be all too easy to get tempted into doing that.

She didn't realize for a while that the sound came from the other door. And it only fully clicked when she felt someone's presence right behind her. She straightened up abruptly, but before she could turn around, a large hand landed on her buttocks sharply, making her jump up a bit and let out a yelp in shock.

"Well, look who it is," a snide voice echoed in her ear with a palpable measure of venom in the tone.

She turned around sharply to face the man. She could still feel the sting of his hand on her, even though now he wasn't touching her anymore. He was still too close for comfort though. A Nord, blonde, tall and very familiar.

Oh Gods, she recognized him.

"You," she gritted her teeth. She remembered him all too well. They met a year ago at the Thalmor Embassy. She didn't recall his name but she definitely recalled how he harassed her back then. He did serve as a good distraction for the heist eventually. And when Aeyrin caused a scene, he had gotten punished by Elisif herself. He had his title taken away or something silly like that. It was probably important to him though. He definitely looked like he held a grudge.

"I've been looking for you all night," he sneered. "Imagine my joy when I finally found you here on your knees getting used like a common street whore," he chuckled maliciously. "At least now I know what Dragonborn's mouth is for when it's not Shouting."

Aeyrin's mouth went ajar in shock at his words and she felt her face heating up again promptly.

She didn't know which implication she should process first.

He saw that?! How?! Did this… did this creep sneak a peek at them from the service entrance or something? She couldn't think of any other explanation. He must have seen her walk into the restroom and then followed. Gods, he must have been that person trying to get inside before.

Her face was still burning, but she didn't feel as overwhelmingly embarrassed as she would have expected to. Now she was much more angry than anything else.

'Used like a common street whore'? What in Oblivion was wrong with that man? If that was the only way he could make a woman feel, that was on him. And it was hardly surprising after what she had seen of him before. He was just as much of a disgusting pig back then as he was now.

She could show him that 'other use for her mouth' right then and Shout that creep to pieces.

"That little performance of yours at the embassy has cost me a lot, whore," he sneered at her again and took another step towards her, making her press back against the washbasin. She instinctively tried to lean back from him, trying to get away from his presence. She was really tempted to Shout just then. But most of the things she could do would either kill him on the spot or just let her get away easily. She definitely felt like hurting him but… she was better at this now, wasn't she? She shouldn't let her anger take over and she shouldn't kill a man for some stupid talk. But she wasn't sure how else to react just then. It was bubbling up inside her unpleasantly, as if the Voice was begging to be let out in her anger.

"Good," she sneered at him. What did he expect? He was blatantly harassing her in front of everyone back at the embassy.

"Not for you, cunt. You owe me for that," he hissed. "I'll make sure you'll pay tenfold. It's a good thing you enjoy getting down on your knees because you're going to be spending a lot of time there now. I'm gonna teach you your place, fucking knife-ear. That's where all your kind belongs."

The man reached out with a fast motion that she barely managed to register and he grabbed a mass of her hair at the back of her head. Aeyrin let out a sharp gasp at the contact. She didn't expect him to touch her again. She didn't expect him to talk to her like that. Did he not know what she was capable of? Did he think that she would just obey him because he was acting all menacing? Or maybe he had a very familiar issue that he couldn't control. She could almost sympathize with that – the blind rage getting a person into constant trouble. He should have thought about that back at the embassy though. Now it was too late and he had gone too far.

She swallowed heavily, trying to suppress the urge building up in her. She was not the one to let herself get overwhelmed by anger. This creep was going to get away from her and that would be that. He could stew in his rage here afterwards.

She raised her knee with all her strength in a swift motion until it connected hard with his crotch. The man's grip on her hair let up in an instant and he let out a loud scream. It permeated into her ears unpleasantly while the man's own hands darted to his crotch, cupping it. He collapsed onto the floor within a second, curled into a ball there as ragged pained huffs escaped his lips.

Good. That would keep him down for a while. Hopefully she was done with this asshole. He had the time to think about what she could have done to him instead. Idiot.

With an angry huff she bolted towards the door, leaving the man still panting on the floor.

…

Aeyrin looked around the ballroom, but she felt like she didn't actually see anything. She wasn't able to concentrate much – she was still quite angry.

But it was fine. Over and done with. He would definitely think twice before he would try anything again. She should just calm down and get away from the restroom before that jackass got himself back up on his feet.

She set off into a random direction with her mind still preoccupied, before she realized that she had just heard her name being called. She looked behind her shoulder, but as she did, she collided with someone in front of her.

Azshan's hands grabbed her by the shoulders to steady her. She blinked a few times before she realized that he was the one to call out her name and that she had collided with him instead of answering. It was hard to tell from which direction sound was coming from with the constant voices in the room.

"Aeyrin? Are you alright?" he looked her up and down with a somewhat amused expression. "What happened?"

"Sorry… I didn't see you," she shrugged noncommittally.

"Not that," Azshan chuckled. "I meant all this." One of his hands left her shoulder and he gestures towards her face. He reached out to twirl one of her loose strands of hair around his finger for a second before he moved that same finger under her eye briefly to rub his knuckle against her smudged eye makeup.

"Oh… uhm…" Aeyrin bit her lower lip. That stupid man didn't let her fix everything up again. She was definitely not going to tell Azshan about the real reason for her messy state, but she could tell him about that man. Maybe he knew him. Maybe if that man got any other ideas, Azshan could talk him down. He had a way with people. "Do you… do you know this one Nord. Some nobleman. He's blonde and dressed in dark green clothes. I… I think he lost some title like a year ago," she tried to tell Azshan everything that she knew about that man. Otherwise 'a blond Nord' wasn't much of a description in Skyrim.

"Erikur?" Azshan's eyes gleamed eagerly. Gods, he always had that same face when he thought he would get some juicy gossip. Well… maybe it was gossip. She just wanted to prevent that man from accosting her again if it came to that. And the name was definitely right. It did ring a bell.

"That's him," she nodded.

"Yes. Gisli's brother," Azshan smirked at that for some reason.

"He's her brother?" Aeyrin raised her brow. Well… there was some family resemblance. For one, they were both unpleasant. It did remind her of Taarie subtly taunting Gisli about her brother during the fitting, but she dismissed that recollection as irrelevant. That wasn't important now.

"You didn't know?" Azshan asked casually. It must have been obvious that she didn't. But she didn't care enough to continue talking about Gisli's family relations. She just wanted to tell Azshan what happened.

"It doesn't matter," she sighed. "I was in the restroom and he just… jumped me. Started taunting me and… touching me," she shuddered involuntarily.

"He did? In there?" Azshan's eyes went wide as he inclined his head towards the restroom and there seemed to be a measure of panic on his face suddenly. He looked really worried, even though she was obviously fine. Although… granted, the messed up hair and smudged makeup could have looked a bit more suspicious without the full context. Thank the Eight that she had managed to clean the rest of herself off before. "And you were alone? Are you alright?" the panic seemed to permeate from his voice even more intensely now.

"I'm alright," Aeyrin quickly reassured him. "He didn't… do this, that was before… it's a long story," she sighed while gesturing towards her face. Fortunately, Azshan seemed to relax at that considerably. "He didn't manage to do anything to me."

Why was he so worried about her? Did he think that some noble that had never seen a second of battle would be able to overpower her?

"Whew," Azshan let out an exaggerated sigh of relief. "Good. I wouldn't think he could, but… well," he gestured to her face again.

Yes, I get it.

Hopefully he wouldn't ask any more questions about why she looked like that.

"Alright. So… what did you do to him?" Azshan's brows creased again in worry.

"What? Nothing!" Aeyrin gasped at him. Alright, it wasn't as if she hadn't been tempted. But she could control herself, right? Most of the times. Lately. She was getting better at that. "I just… kicked him. To get him away from me. Then I left him there."

"That's it?" Azshan raised his brow at her. And now he looked a bit disappointed. She was getting confused by his expressions – what did he want from her? To kill the man? She was never able to read Azshan easily.

"W-well… yes. What else would I do?" she huffed indignantly.

"So nobody saw? You didn't Shout or anything?" he gave her an uncertain look.

"Why would I Shout? It wasn't a horde of undead assaulting me. Just one… filthy goblin," Aeyrin scoffed. It wasn't necessary to mention how close she was to actually Shouting. She was glad that she resisted the urge. It would have been quite a mess to deal with. And… she didn't want to kill the man over some petty grudge anyway. She could have just sent her frost breath against him – he was a Nord, he would likely survive – but not even that was a guarantee.

"Why not?" Azshan scowled. "You just kicked him and nobody saw what happened. There was no commotion at all. People won't believe you that it even happened."

"You don't believe me?" she gasped at him. Why would she ever make this up? Why would he think that she would ever make something like this up? That was hurtful.

"I do," he sighed in response. "But others won't."

"So? I don't care," Aeyrin shook her head. "Why would I even need to tell anyone?"

"Well… don't you want him punished for trying that on you?"

"Not particularly," she sighed. "I wanted him to get away from me. Now… he's away from me. I don't want to deal with this anymore." Maybe it was a mistake to tell Azshan. She just wanted to make sure that it was over. She didn't want to make a scene and get even more attention on herself.

"You don't think he deserves worse than a kick for what he did?" Azshan scoffed. Dammit, why was he not letting this go?

"I don't care," she growled. She had no doubt that this would all just be an excuse for another public lynching. Just like with Casavir, she did not want this to escalate more than it had to. She didn't want to deal with things this publically. It always got out of hand. Besides, if Azshan thought that Erikur deserved worse… "I could tell Bishop and I guarantee you that he would get so much worse," she smirked. The man would be beaten to a bloody pulp if he was lucky. But she wasn't going to involve Bishop in this either. It would just mean another performance for the masses here. She could tell him later.

"Oh… no… that's not a good idea," Azshan shook his head briskly. "That would just look like Bishop's attacking Erikur for no reason. And I don't have to tell you how that might turn out."

Exactly.

Everything public in this city had potential to backfire.

"Then let's just drop this, alright?" she gave him an almost pleading look.

"Aeyrin, what if he does this to someone else? Someone who can't defend herself like you can?" Azshan scowled.

Well… he did have a point there. And back at the embassy, Elisif had mentioned that it wasn't exactly the first time Erikur caused trouble like this. Maybe Azshan was right. Maybe she shouldn't keep this to herself. But she still didn't want to accost him here and cause a scene. That might not help much.

"Fine," she sighed. "I'll tell Elisif tomorrow. She'll believe me. She's already seen him get like this at the Thalmor embassy."

"Yeah, I heard about that," Azshan nodded. "Everyone has. But it's not that simple. He's been… kind of doing penance all this time, acting like a damn saint. Everyone's watching him ever since and he hasn't slipped up once. People won't believe that he jeopardized his recovering reputation like that. And even if Elisif did, she won't do anything without evidence or witnesses."

Gods, all these politics again. It was making her head hurt just listening to this. Azshan obviously wanted her to start something here and, truth be told, she didn't trust him not to want that mostly because it would make the evening more eventful and exciting. Telling Elisif would be the safest option right then.

"I'll… I'll think about it," she sighed. She wouldn't. She had already decided, but hopefully this would get Azshan off her back.

Azshan gave her an encouraging smile, but he didn't say anything else. That was good enough. She looked around the room again and when she didn't see Bishop anywhere, she decided to get distracted another way.

"I'm going to go get a drink."

…

Bishop looked around the room again, searching for any hint of Aeyrin.

She was taking her time in the restroom after he had left, so he went to get another drink in the meantime. Unfortunately, the drinks table that he had approached was completely empty just then. He had noticed before that the servants were already having trouble keeping up with the nobles' pace of drinking. After some time, he spotted one of the servants with a tray full of drinks on the other side of the room and he rushed towards her. And now he was wandering around the ballroom, dodging all the annoying fops and waiting until he would catch a glimpse of Aeyrin again.

Finally, after some time, he spotted her. She was by another drinks table some distance away and it looked like she was just waving off another group of nobles. She was pretty far, but he could tell that her hair was still pretty messy.

Heh, she probably wasn't able to tame it back in place after what had happened in the restroom. Fuck, he was still thinking about that. Still thinking about her tongue running over his cock and the sounds she made when he brought her over the edge after a whole evening full of teasing and frustrations.

He couldn't hide the smile on his face as he began walking towards her. He noticed Azshan talking quietly to Gisli some distance away from Aeyrin as he passed them, but when he was close enough to overhear them, something caught his attention.

"No, I don't think that Aeyrin would do that," Azshan sighed quietly with his eyes fixed on Aeyrin in the distance. What was he talking about?

Bishop decided to hang back a bit and listen a while longer. It was probably nothing important, but he was curious nonetheless.

"Great. Why you think that involving her is a good idea is beyond me," Gisli scoffed. "Another perfect opportunity wasted, all because she never does anything."

"Don't worry, I talked to her," Azshan reassured Gisli. "It's not over by a long shot, I promise. Either he is going to try again or she's going to confront him, I'm sure of it."

Alright, now it was getting interesting. What the fuck were they talking about? Who the fuck was 'he' in this scenario?

"You better be right," Gisli growled. "You've messed up enough by constantly involving her. You're on thin ice. And she better not actually start anything violent herself."

"She wouldn't attack him. Don't worry, it will work out," Azshan nodded at her.

Gisli only grunted in response. Fortunately neither of them noticed Bishop standing nearby – their backs were still to him after all. He was really curious about what this was. Did Aeyrin know about whatever they were on about? And who was this 'he' that she wasn't supposed to attack, seriously?

"Look, there he is," Gisli nodded in a general direction of the restroom and the tables of food. Bishop scanned the area instantly. He didn't know anyone there at all. There was that man whom Azshan had introduced Bishop to before – Gisli's brother. Was that who they were talking about? He was just leaving the restroom with quick and somewhat tense steps.

"He looks angry," Azshan noted. He was right. The man did look angry. It was definitely him they were talking about. "I think he's noticed her now. Go, get everything ready. The show's about to start." There was a disturbing note of amusement in Azshan's voice when he said that.

What the fuck is going on?

Bishop had barely registered Gisli leaving the crowd while his eyes were still fastened on that man. Suddenly he was marching towards Aeyrin in quick angry strides.

Oh shit! He looked like he was going to…

It all happened so fast. Bishop barely managed to register the commotion. The man reached Aeyrin and, before she could even turn towards him, he grabbed her by the shoulders and shoved her away forcibly. He yelled out something. Bishop couldn't hear what exactly it was over the shocked gasps echoing through the chamber. Suddenly all eyes were on those two. But Bishop was pretty sure that the man had screamed a string of insults at her. He definitely heard the word 'whore' somewhere in there.

The worst part came when Aeyrin stumbled by the unexpected shove and tripped on her heels. She fell backwards instantly and her head collided with the edge of the drinks table. The table wobbled and all the goblets and bottles instantly fell onto the ground, spilling everywhere. But the worst part was that it looked like the fall could have really hurt her.

"Shit!" Azshan's exclamation echoed through the room and there was a measure of panic on his face. Bishop didn't focus on him for more than a brief second though. Just as he noticed Azshan breaking into a run in front of him, he had done the same.

What the fuck? That fucking bastard was going to get his face rearranged for even laying a finger on her!

…

Aeyrin had a hard time trying to make sense of what was happening. Her vision was blurry and her head hurt so much. She could feel something wet trickle down the side of her neck behind her ear, but soon, all the sensations were replaced by warmth.

The familiar warmth of healing magic and a hand pressing into a spot above her ear.

She blinked a few times to clear her vision and looked around the scene in front of her. She was on the ground, half-lying there and half-nestled into someone's arms. She assumed it was Azshan, based on the healing magic still warming her head.

She saw Erikur there on the ground as well. He was curled into the ball, much like he was when she had left him at the restroom, and he was clutching his stomach and nose, wheezing in pain, his hands covered in blood. There was more liquid all around him, but it was too light for blood. It looked like spiced wine and the goblets and broken bottles scattered around the floor kind of confirmed that.

Finally her eyes fell on Bishop. He was being held by his arms by no less than three noblemen, thrashing in their grip. He looked really furious.

"Let go!" he snapped at them angrily.

"Sir, please, he's had enough," one of the nobles holding him tried to take up a calming tone, but the panic was palpable in his voice. It took a while for Aeyrin to notice that practically everyone who had attended the ball was gathered around the scene in a wide circle, watching with fascination.

She hadn't even noticed Erikur approach before he lunged at her. She didn't expect it at all. She was never very stable on high heels and when he shoved her, she instantly lost her balance. Then the only thing she felt was a sharp pain in her head.

"Not nearly enough!" Bishop barked at the noble again. "Let. Me. Go."

Oh Gods, she knew that this would happen. Why couldn't that creep just consider himself lucky and drop this? No, his grudge was apparently stronger than that. She just wanted this scene to end. This was the last thing she wanted.

She gave Bishop a pleading look as she felt Azshan move his healing hand to her upper arm. Only when his fingers brushed over her skin she felt a sting and wetness there. She must have had a cut there or something.

Bishop looked to have calmed down a little bit as he made eye contact with her. His expression was still very angry, but he mostly stopped thrashing in the nobles' grips at least.

Gods, this was such a mess. What was going to happen now? She kept thinking about Azshan's words, about the fact that nobody might believe her side of the story. But… everyone saw Erikur attack her, right? They couldn't blame Bishop for hitting him for that. And they wouldn't believe any lies that Erikur might concoct after that, right?

When a moment of silence enveloped the room, she could hear a few faint whispers from the crowd. And then it began. Everyone started talking, pointing at her or Erikur on the ground and quietly whispering their theories to each other.

She couldn't help looking at all of them, wondering what they might be saying. It was impossible to tell with so many voices at once, but she could already see some of them throwing her judgmental looks. Gods, this was exactly what she wanted to avoid.

Her attention got suddenly diverted by a dark-skinned hand appearing right in front of her eyes with three fingers held upright. She got confused by that before Azshan's voice rumbled in her ear.

"How many fingers do you see?"

"T-three," she stammered. Alright, that made sense. He just needed to make sure that she was alright. And she was grateful for the brief distraction.

Just as Azshan let his hand move back to her arm with a supportive squeeze, the voices around quieted again. The nobles have finally let go of Bishop and he instantly ran towards Aeyrin. Fortunately he ignored Erikur now and instead he bent down to grab her around the waist and help her up, prying her from Azshan's arms. Azshan loosened his grip on her and she let Bishop hoist her up into his arms. When she put weight on her feet, she noticed that one of her heels was broken, but Bishop caught her firmly before she stumbled again. That way she had the time to steady herself a little.

Only now when she was standing, she noticed why everyone had quieted down. There was a group of guards marching down the stairs into the ballroom with none other than Gisli leading them.

The crowd made way for them when they reached the scene and when they all finally stood in front of the beat up Erikur, Gisli gave the men a stern stare and folded her arms across her chest.

It looked a little intimidating. Aeyrin had no idea what she meant to tell the guards. This was her brother. Surely she would try to make excuses for him. And as a noblewoman, she probably had a lot of pull with everyone here.

But what she said surprised Aeyrin even more.

"Here he is," she scowled down at Erikur who still wasn't able to do much else then wheeze in pain. "My brother ruthlessly attacked lady Dragonborn and caused her harm. You need to take him away."

A few astonished gasps escaped the onlooking nobles in the room and Aeyrin couldn't help but stare at the woman in shock? She had been nothing but unpleasant to her. Why was she taking her side here? The nobles around seemed to be just as surprised by this development. Aeyrin could hear some of them whisper amongst themselves.

"She's turning him in? I almost thought that she put him up to it," a woman's voice echoed from somewhere behind Aeyrin's back.

"She's not defending him anymore? Maybe she got duped by him before," another voice whispered nearby.

All the murmurs went along just like this before one of the guards cleared his throat loudly, commanding silence in the room.

"We will report this, lady Gisli," another guard nodded at the noblewoman resolutely. "But we will need to talk to witnesses and anyone participating in the exchange before we pass judgment."

Great. Now the questioning would come. But at least Aeyrin had nothing to hide. And it actually looked like people wouldn't contest her version of events, hopefully.

"Of course, my good man," Gisli nodded at the guards before she turned towards the crowd. "Ladies and Gentlemen, I am deeply saddened by my brother's behavior and I am ashamed to admit that he had me fooled with his lies before. I will make personally sure that he will answer for all his misconduct. Please, try to enjoy the rest of the festivities."

The crowd began murmuring wildly again and some of them finally began to disperse.

Despite his palpable pain, Erikur managed to turn his head to stare at Gisli with clear shock and hatred in his eyes.

Bishop squeezed Aeyrin tightly to himself, diverting her attention from the scene. But when she looked up at him, instead of the reassuring smile that she had expected to find on his face, he was glaring angrily at Azshan.

"What the fuck did you do?" he hissed at the paladin.

"Me?!" Azshan gaped at him. "I healed her."

"Not that," Bishop growled. "I heard you, you fucker. You knew that he was going to attack her."

Aeyrin tore her gaze from Bishop and she looked at Azshan with uncertainty. He did know about what had transpired in the restroom, but Bishop was clearly angry for a reason. What exactly just happened?

Azshan looked around quickly, taking stock of the few people that could still overhear them. He suddenly looked uncharacteristically nervous.

"Calm down, please," he gritted his teeth as he addressed Bishop again. "You're right. Just… quiet now. Go back to our table and I'll explain everything."

Bishop narrowed his eyes at him in response, but he didn't say anything else.

This better be a good explanation.

He had his 'show', now it was time to get the truth out of him.

…

Aeyrin and Bishop first had to get through the guards' questioning before they could return to the table and talk to Azshan.

It went rather well. While Erikur had been escorted out of the ballroom, Bishop was not, fortunately. After gathering all the witness reports, the guards surmised that him attacking Erikur in that moment was actually what prevented more harm coming to Aeyrin or anyone else interfering, so they left Bishop alone.

In the meantime, Gisli had been fully enjoying her moment in the center of attention. She had publicly asked everyone to leave Aeyrin alone after the ordeal and that she will tell the curious nobles about Erikur's behavior herself. She had been spinning tales the whole time while drinking heavily. The tales were getting more and more exaggerated with each goblet of wine.

Bishop and Aeyrin finally managed to get back to the table after some time and Azshan joined them in an instant. It was strange to see him actually nervous. He was usually so confident and laid back.

With the guards' questioning, Bishop didn't have time to tell Aeyrin what he had overheard. He barely managed to piece together what actually happened to her with Erikur in the restroom as he listened to her report to the guards. There was not much time to talk, but that didn't matter. Azshan better come clean now himself.

"So, you planned all this," Bishop narrowed his eyes at the man.

"What?!" Aeyrin instantly gasped. 'Planned'? What did he plan? Erikur? How could he have?

"Well… I wouldn't put it like that," Azshan shook his head a bit. His expression was surprisingly somber. "Just… let me explain."

He took a deep breath before he turned his gaze towards Aeyrin, rather than Bishop who had still been glaring daggers at him. Aeyrin just looked confused.

"You know this already, right? After what happened between you and Erikur at the embassy, he was stripped of his thaneship by Elisif."

"'The embassy'?" Bishop's eyes widened and he looked at Aeyrin curiously. What embassy? The Thalmor embassy? What did that have to do with this? Did Aeyrin already know that asshole?

"Uhm… I told you about that…" Aeyrin bit her lower lip nervously. She had to remind him without letting out the fact that Bishop was there as well and that the scene with Erikur was only meant as a distraction. "A year ago when I was invited to the Thalmor embassy, Erikur kind of… accosted me there. There was a whole scene and Elisif stripped him of his title there and then."

Bishop nodded in recollection. He remembered her telling him about some noble who was bothering her and how she used that to her advantage to cause the distraction. He would have never thought that this was the same guy though.

"Right. So," Azshan continued. "There were rumors before about Erikur mistreating some of the women in his staff… mostly elves. But no one actually talked. So when the embassy thing happened, everyone was speculating. He became a pariah overnight. Gisli didn't believe any of it and she tried to stand up for him. And that kind of made her an outcast too. Later she did find out that the rumors were true, but it was too late. She stood by her brother, arguing with everyone who said anything bad about him, while Erikur was trying to play saint and to 'repent'. But he didn't. Gisli knew that he was just more careful about his conduct. So she asked me for help. She needed to expose him and she needed to be the one to throw him to the wolves. Nobody would believe her otherwise."

"How did you know he would do anything to me? Here of all places, with all the people around?" Aeyrin gaped at him. If the man had been protecting his reputation of 'repentance' so much, why would he risk that?

"He's not great at handling his rage. And you're the reason he was in this situation in the first place. You've seen what he was like. He couldn't control himself," Azshan smirked, even a little proudly before his face turned more somber. "I… I am really sorry about how it went down. I never wanted you to get hurt, I swear."

"So that's why you invited me here," Aeyrin pouted. She wasn't even sure if she was upset. It all seemed like Azshan had actually done a good thing. Erikur needed to be stopped. But… she felt so used.

"It was… one of the reasons. What I said was still true, I needed your help convincing people that you were not angry at the whole Order. But… this was important too," he gave her a slight smile.

"Why do you keep doing this? Why can't you just tell me what you want when you ask for my help," Aeyrin shook her head. It was the same thing as in the Reach with the Forsworn. He only fed her half-truths for no reason at all.

"Aeyrin, honey, would you seriously go along with this? Would you come here to bait Erikur so that he could be publicly shamed? Or would you just reject my invitation and try to talk Elisif into arresting him with no evidence. That wouldn't have worked," Azshan sighed. "And it wouldn't have helped Gisli."

He… had a point. She would never want to go along with a plan such as this. Again it was the same as in the Reach. If he had told her, she would never have let him just butcher the Forsworn to leave that noblewoman there to her experiments. This wasn't how she wanted to deal with things. But he had to have his way.

She wasn't thrilled with him, but she did find it hard to be actually angry with the results. Still, the bitterness of being used was there. She nodded in resignation, but she knew, at the back of her mind, that she could never trust him when he asked for something. There was always an agenda with him. She didn't like that. She hated how it skewed the image of her good friend in her mind. It was a disheartening feeling.

Bishop hadn't said a word. He wouldn't exactly complain about that creep being arrested, but he still didn't like Azshan manipulating Aeyrin like this. He threw the man a disgruntled look, but he only earned an unapologetic shrug in response before Azshan spoke again.

"I told you. Someone has to decide who deserves it."

…

They stayed at the ball for another hour while the celebrations were slowly starting to die down.

Bishop and Aeyrin resigned themselves not to think about Azshan's schemes and Erikur much. There was nothing more to do and with Erikur arrested, nothing bad actually happened. Aeyrin felt a bitter feeling in her gut every time she thought about how her friend chose to continuously manipulate her to get his way and she just wanted to stop thinking about it for tonight. The evening had been exhausting enough already and all she wanted was to salvage what was left of it.

And there was no better way to salvage things than to get distracted by Bishop.

Since Aeyrin couldn't really walk that much with her heel broken, they remained by the table for the time being and indulged in more wine, food and teasing. They were both past caring about the nobles around after everything that had happened.

And eventually, when Azshan and Gisli returned to the table after the vigorous celebrations of their success, Aeyrin and Bishop decided to say their goodbyes and finally get a proper moment to themselves.

"So… I think we're going to head out," Aeyrin gave Azshan a demure smile as she moved away a bit from Bishop. He had been getting frustrating again for a while now, pressing her to him with their chairs right next to each other and constantly running his fingers over her exposed back and leaning down to kiss her neck teasingly.

"Back to that cesspool of a tavern?" Gisli smirked derisively before she let out an amused giggle. She looked much happier now, but she was still the same snooty noble as before.

"How is the Skeever a cesspool?" Aeyrin snorted. It was so luxurious as opposed to other taverns in Skyrim.

"Sadly, it is the best Skyrim has to offer," Azshan smiled a bit.

"Pfft, it's a nice place," Aeyrin shrugged. "You're just too used to… all this," she gestured around the lavish hall. It sounded like a bitter existence not to be able to enjoy perfectly nice things only because one was too used to over-the-top opulence.

"I wouldn't expect you to understand when it's the best you can get," Gisli scoffed at her.

"I bet our mansion's gonna be bigger than hers," Bishop smirked at her meanly. That woman was so fucking ridiculous. It would be perfect if the filthy adventurers, who were used to sleeping in mud and dirt, would get a fancier place than she would ever be able to afford.

"Oh, you're buying a mansion now?" Azshan snickered at that, but unlike Gisli, there wasn't really any meanness in his voice.

"Getting a mansion," Aeyrin giggled. They weren't supposed to spread it around much before the ceremony, but surely it wasn't that serious. The ceremony was already scheduled to take place the day after tomorrow. Or was it past midnight already? Maybe it was just tomorrow.

"Who's giving you a mansion?" Azshan chuckled again. He looked like he didn't really believe her at all and Gisli looked just as skeptical.

"Elisif, of course. And a thaneship to boot," Aeyrin gave him a challenging look in turn.

But suddenly the teasing mood evaporated in an instant. Both Azshan's and Gisli's smiles were replaced by shocked expressions. It wasn't that big of a deal, was it? It certainly wasn't a big deal to Aeyrin. It only meant that she would send another housecarl into another house. This one would get to live quite lavishly. And she and Bishop would get a free place to stay in the city too. Even if Azshan and Gisli found the Skeever lacking, it was still an expensive establishment.

"What? Is that… are you serious?" Azshan's brows creased in a surprising display of worry.

"Y-yeah," Aeyrin stammered. Why was he looking at her like that? It was making her nervous.

"You are going to be a thane? Of Haafingar?" Gisli scowled fiercely. She looked really angry all of the sudden.

"Yes," Aeyrin cringed. "It's… for… helping the city and all… and…" she began to stammer. Suddenly she felt like her title was undeserved, which… maybe it was? Would that really make someone this angry though?

Suddenly Gisli stood up abruptly and her hateful stare turned away from Aeyrin, directed straight at Azshan.

"This is all your fault," she gritted her teeth. "I told you repeatedly not to involve her. I told you that this is what happens every time. This was my chance and once again, you ruined it by dragging her in the middle of this. You can't ever pull through, can you? This is the third time! You think you're gonna get an infinite number of chances?!" She was seething while Azshan only stared at her wide-eyed. He vaguely tried to make a calming gesture with his hands, but Gisli didn't say anything more. She briskly turned on her heel, without as much as a look at anyone else, and began marching towards the stairs leading to the exit.

Azshan sat there, dumbstruck for a while, before he turned towards Bishop and Aeyrin uncertainly. They stared at him with a similar expression and he instantly let out a nervous laugh.

"I… uh… I'm sorry. Every Hold has only so many thanes and… I think she was hoping to take over after Erikur was dealt with. Sorry about that," he tried to give them his usual cheerful smile, but it didn't come out right at all. Within a second, he hurriedly got up to his feet and gave them a small nervous nod. "I… I should go after her. Sorry. Thank you, for today. Don't worry about her, it's not your fault. I'll… I'll talk to you later."

Azshan didn't wait for a response and he followed suit after Gisli with quick strides before he disappeared out of earshot.

Bishop and Aeyrin still sat there in shock. It wasn't the title dispute. That kind of made sense. But… Gisli had said so much more than that. 'It happens every time.' 'Infinite number of chances.' It was clear that Aeyrin had already foiled some of her plans before.

She thought about it for a second. Maybe… maybe Gisli was the noblewoman who was experimenting on the Forsworn. That would explain a lot of what she had said.

Bishop instantly remembered what he had overheard before from the conversation between Gisli and Azshan.

"Another perfect opportunity wasted, all because she never does anything."

Suddenly it all clicked.

"I think that she may have been behind those Forsworn when I was dragon hunting with Azshan," Aeyrin pondered out loud. Such a bitter, mean woman would surely have no qualms about experimenting on living beings like that. She was despicable enough for that.

"Princess, she said it was the 'third' time," Bishop scowled. Aeyrin may have been right about the Forsworn thing but that was definitely not the end of it. And the whole bit about Aeyrin 'never doing anything'… that could only mean one thing. One time when she had not acted when everyone had expected her to.

"What? But what would the third…" Aeyrin trailed off as Bishop threw her a meaningful look.

"Oh." Her expression turned from confused to crestfallen instantly. Was that really possible? Were they really talking about the poisoning too? He wouldn't, would he? He wouldn't actually hurt her. "I… I don't know… I need to talk to him about this… I…" she stammered, but Bishop interrupted her quickly.

"Sweetness, no. You can't. Whatever all that was for, there's gotta be a reason why the tin-head is covering for him this adamantly. You can't tell him that you know, you don't know what's going on. What he might do."

Gods, he was right. If Casavir was innocent, something much bigger must have been going on to make him cover for Azshan. She needed to find out the truth. She needed to know if her friend would really do this to her. The overwhelming bitter feeling enveloped her again and she quickly pressed herself into Bishop's side with a small whine escaping her lips.

"Just… don't worry about it, try to put it out of your mind," Bishop let out a sigh as he pressed his cheek to her head. "There's nothing you can do right now. And we don't know anything yet. We'll just… talk to that fucking tin-head again and get to the bottom of this."

She nodded weakly. He was right. And they still didn't know anything for sure. How many times had they already been convinced of something in this mess only to have it all turn out completely different in the end?

Maybe she was worrying for nothing. And another talk with Casavir might help. Hopefully a less antagonistic one.

She raised her head and planted a brief peck on Bishop's cheek. He always had a way of calming her down when she got overwhelmed.

"Come on, love, let's get out of here already. We can still forget all this shit and enjoy our afterparty."