Author's Note:

I hope you're all ready for the conclusion of the Solitude plotline (most of it at least) and for the next one after some interim chapters ;) I am definitely excited to share it all.

A little progress report, for those of you interested. I just finished writing the last chapter of this book :) I am looking forward so much to share everything with you, all the way to the last chapter (150, just like last time ;) ) It is not the last book either. I will begin working on the third one soon enough :) I know the story is insanely long as it is, but I hope you are all still enjoying it and that you'll keep enjoying it as it continues. Your continued readership means so much to me :3

That's that, and now no more yapping from me, here's the chapter :)

Enjoy :3

Chapter LXXXI – The Truth

The sharp sun rays were seeping into the large windows, warming the room pleasantly.

Everything was so quiet. Not even the crackling of the torches disturbed the peace – they have all died down by now.

Aeyrin was sleeping soundly. She hadn't woken up all night. Exerting her before sleep was definitely one sure way to stave off any of the lingering nightmares. And it was no wonder that she was exhausted after last night.

Bishop squeezed her closer in his embrace, pressing her back into his chest, and he buried his face in her messy hair. She still had all those pins in there that had been holding up her hairdo, but by now, it was just a mess of tangles, even worse than it would have been without those pins. She looked so perfect like that – all disheveled and worn out after the night they've had. He didn't really wanna wake her up just yet.

He let out a contented sigh and nuzzled his face into her hair a little more. The mansion was so peaceful like this. All theirs. Well… not yet, but soon. Still, it felt like this was the only night it was theirs. It did provide a lot more privacy than Breezehome or Honeyside ever would, but it still didn't feel the same. Not like the cottage would. It will be perfect for them. Just the two of them and Karnwyr.

He still had a lot to consider about that place. He was still intent on surprising her with this. He didn't know when exactly. He needed to get it ready first and that would require a lot of time. A lot of time away from Aeyrin somehow. And even if he found an opportunity to part ways with her… he didn't really want to. But one day, he would find a good way to handle all this.

Maybe he would make it a surprise after they got married.

If she even wanted to marry him. Why was he planning it like this already? He didn't know how shit was gonna turn out.

Ugh… he needed to stop thinking about this. What happened to him? He was planning a fucking wedding and a house in his head. If someone told him two years ago that he would be doing that, he would never believe them.

But he didn't mind. It was a nice change to think about the future in actually pleasant ways instead of wondering when anyone close to him was gonna die or when his enemies would catch up with him.

Although… those things were still kind of on his mind. Especially now that he thought about it again.

Fucking stop it.

That was enough. No more thinking about stupid shit, pleasant or otherwise. He should think about something else. Like last night. That was definitely a much better thing to think about.

Fuck, it was almost like he could still feel her enveloping him, squeezing him so tight.

"Bish?" Aeyrin's groggy voice interrupted his thoughts. He had barely noticed that he was pressing her to his embrace more and more.

"Mmhm. Morning, love," he planted a kiss into her hair and squeezed her again.

Aeyrin squirmed in his arms a little. She wasn't sure which sensation she should concentrate on first. Bishop's body was warming the back of her own pleasantly, as usual. The bed was incredibly soft. It was almost unbelievable. She felt like she was on a cloud. But also, her whole body was sore and achy and every movement was at least a little painful.

"Don't think I can move today," she mumbled, still feeling half-asleep.

Bishop's chuckle rang behind her head. "Yeah, I know what you mean," he grinned as he tried to languidly stretch on the bed. He was kinda sore all over. But it was definitely worth it. And it was nothing that a tankard of mead, a small healing potion, or better yet, one of Aeyrin's massages, couldn't fix.

"On the upside though," he smirked before he bit into her bare shoulder gently. "We don't really have to move today, do we?"

Aeyrin giggled at him lightly in response. Maybe they didn't have to. She couldn't help some thoughts creeping into her mind at the thought of what to do today – did Azshan really accidentally imply that he had poisoned her? Should she talk to Casavir again? And what if this whole house ruse to trick Tullius now would get messed up because Bishop and she told Azshan and Gisli about the house last night? She hadn't even thought of that properly before!

But she didn't want to think about any of that right now. Maybe staying in this incredibly soft bed all day wasn't such a bad idea.

Aeyrin turned around in Bishop's embrace with a barely audible groan of pain and she snuggled herself into his chest. But just as she determined herself to enjoy the moment, as opposed to obsessing over the questions in her head, a loud sound interrupted the serenity.

That sounded like… the door being slammed open. It came from the basement.

A few seconds later, muffled voices reverberated through the room – it sounded like someone was yelling instructions or something.

"Oh Gods!" Aeyrin gasped under her breath as she pulled back a little from the embrace. Those must have been the people preparing this house for the new owners.

"Shit. How are they not done yet? We get the house tomorrow," Bishop growled. Besides, everything looked fully furnished already. Unless they wanted to put in more perfumes and shit like that that nobody in their right mind needed. Well… except for those massage oils, those had good uses. He should grab one vial for their travels.

Whatever the reason was for those people being here, one thing was for certain.

"We need to get out," Aeyrin whispered. She wouldn't likely be heard downstairs unless she yelled, but she still felt like she should whisper. Those people had no idea that the house was going to belong to Aeyrin and Bishop and they likely wouldn't believe them. Besides, they shouldn't spread it around and they were not allowed to come here yet.

Bishop nodded at her and looked around the room. Their clothes were thrown at various places on the ground, but other than that, they hadn't left much evidence of the intrusion. They could be out of here fast. The only question was, how to get out unnoticed.

They both quickly got off the bed and threw their clothes back on. Bishop had to look around for his knife a bit and Aeyrin spent some time making the bed, but soon, the room looked just like it had before they entered. Apart from the one vial of oil missing now, but no one would ever notice something like that.

Bishop quickly ran around the room and peered out of each window in there. Finally he stopped by one of them and began opening it.

"Come on, I can scale down here. It's not that high," he urged Aeyrin to follow and vaulted over the windowsill to stand on the ledge below. It was only one story and there was a small wall on the side of the house – he could jump down on the wall and then down onto the porch – it looked like he would end up by the second entrance to the house – the one leading into the entry area rather than the basement.

Aeyrin approached the window, her dress haphazardly thrown on with only a few of the strings being secured by the hooks again, her bow untied and her shoes in her hand rather than on her feet. One of her heels was still broken anyway. She couldn't really walk in them properly.

By the time she made it to the window, Bishop had already hopped down onto the low wall. Only when she peered outside did she notice just how dangerous this was. The mansion was at the very edge of town and with the lack of proper ramparts around the noble district, falling from that wall would actually mean plummeting down the cliff right into the Sea of Ghosts.

Bishop balanced himself on the wall nimbly though and, within a second, he hopped down again onto the safe, solid ground of the porch.

She let out a sigh of relief when he made it. Not that he wouldn't – he was too good at stuff like this, but it didn't stop her from worrying. And now she was worried about how she would make it. She slowly and carefully vaulted over the sill and onto the ledge and she closed the window behind her. Now she needed to somehow jump onto the wall and not fall off. At least she could always Shout. But she couldn't Shout right now, otherwise the people inside would hear.

"Forget the wall, just jump down, I'll catch you!" Bishop called out to her in a half-whisper and he spread his arms pointedly to reassure her that she would land into his embrace.

Yeah, that was probably the best idea. She really didn't have much confidence in her balance just then. And it was just one story.

She positioned herself carefully so that she would land in a comfortable way for Bishop to catch her before she let herself fall. There was a brief moment of uncertainty, but Bishop didn't miss a beat. She ended up in his arms as intended, with him holding her with one hand around her back and the other below her knees.

"Hey, sweetheart," he grinned at her when she finally opened her eyes and looked at him.

"Hey," she smirked. That certainly went better than she had feared. Now they just needed to get back to the Skeever, back to their things and normal clothes and to finally get a proper bath. She still felt kind of sticky everywhere. Really everywhere.

"So… what's the plan here?" Bishop inclined his head towards her bare feet, dangling from his arm. She was still holding her shoes in her hands and the ground was still covered in snow, though only a soft layer. She could put her shoes on, but that would slow them down considerably since she couldn't walk properly in them. "You want my boots? Although I'm not sure if that will be much of an improvement," he chuckled. He wouldn't mind walking barefoot in snow – he was a Nord. It didn't make a difference to him. But walking with boots that large for her might just have the same results.

"Yeah, I don't think that would help," she giggled a bit.

"You can just stay like this. Or get on my back," he smirked. He certainly wouldn't complain about that.

"I don't wanna be carried like this in broad daylight. I look haggard enough as is, at least I'd like to look like I can still walk," she shook her head. It wasn't exactly a tempting prospect at all, walking through the city with her dress crumpled every which way, messy hair, smudged makeup and no shoes. And in yesterday's clothes. Everyone will be speculating about where they had been last night.

"Who cares?" Bishop scoffed. As if anyone wouldn't instantly see that they had spent their night somewhere they shouldn't be, doing very obvious things.

"It's just a little snow. I've survived worse," Aeyrin smiled gently. She would be freezing the whole time in that dress and walking barefoot, but it wasn't that far to the inn.

Bishop only reluctantly let her step onto the ground and into the fresh powder.

This was definitely not preferable to staying in that bed all day.

…

Bishop and Aeyrin walked through the city as fast as they could to make it to the Skeever.

At least Aeyrin could be warmed by Bishop's vest a bit, covering her shoulders, but it didn't help that much with her feet and arms freezing so much. She couldn't wait until she could finally get a proper warm bath.

Just as they had passed the market square, however, loud rushed footsteps of feet clad in metal caught their attention. When they turned around to locate the source of the noise, they noticed Azshan rushing towards them from the landing leading to Castle Dour.

Aeyrin couldn't help but groan a little. She didn't want to deal with him. Not now. She was sour over last night's revelations and she had no idea how to act around him now. She worried that she might give her knowledge of the events away accidentally.

"Remember, ladyship, don't let him find out what we know about the poisoning," Bishop murmured quietly as the paladin neared them.

"I know," she sighed. She knew that it was probably important to act ignorant. Bishop was right, they barely had any information at all and there was likely a good reason why Casavir was covering for her friend.

'Friend'. Since when do friends poison each other casually? How could he have done that to her?

Azshan finally made it down to past the market square and stopped right in front of them. The grin he was wearing threatened to split his face as he looked both Aeyrin and Bishop up and down with amusement.

"That… must have been some afterparty," he chuckled. "Where in the Void have you two been hiding all night?"

"Uh… not… not important," Aeyrin stammered as her cheeks turned red. Gods, it must have been so obvious what they were doing all night. And she was suddenly all too aware of the likely prominent dark spot on her neck marking Bishop's love bite as Azshan's eyes rested on it for a second. But what was more concerning was the bitter tone in her voice that she couldn't hide no matter how hard she tried. She really hoped that he would just think that she was hungover or something. Or really cold. Which was actually true. "What is it?" she gave him an expectant look as she hugged her arms around herself to warm up a little.

"Not much. I wasn't sure when you were planning on leaving," Azshan shrugged. "I went to the tavern in the morning, but the innkeeper said you haven't been back yet, so I had some guards let me know when they saw you."

Why did that suddenly sound so much creepier than if he would have told her something like this just a day ago?

"I just wanted to…" he cleared his throat a little uncomfortably. Yet again, the nervousness on his face was uncharacteristic. "I just wanted to make sure we see each other before you leave. I'm really sorry that you got hurt, Aeyrin. That was never meant to happen," he sighed. "I just wanted to make sure that… that you understand why I… arranged things like that. It needed to be done."

"I understand," Aeyrin nodded. She had to fight hard not to say that through gritted teeth. She understood last night, even if she didn't like it. She didn't understand the poisoning at all though.

"Good… good," he smiled at her weakly. He still looked very nervous. "So we're… alright?" The uncertain expression was laced with strange scrutiny. She understood why. Very likely, he knew that last night's conversations could have revealed a bit too much and he wasn't sure if Aeyrin even heard it or connected the dots. She needed to act as if she didn't.

"Yeah… we're alright," she smiled at him as best as she could. It seemed to be convincing. Azshan looked very relieved just then and he quickly stepped forward to envelop her in a brief hug. It made her stomach clench in discomfort, but she did wrap her arms around him too. His armor was freezing cold, but that wasn't the worst part about it. She felt so uneasy around him now, it was heartbreaking. She still couldn't believe that he had done that to her.

"And don't mind Gisli being bitter over the thaneship. She's always bitter," he chuckled against her ear before he finally extracted himself and gave her a warm smile. "We did a good thing last night. Lots of people are going to be better off."

That was true enough, if everything he was saying was actually true on its own. She didn't really know what to believe anymore. And even if it was true, she still didn't like his methods one bit. She wouldn't have agreed to this, had she the choice.

She only nodded in response. She didn't know what else to say without snapping at him or doubting his words.

"Well, if we don't see each other before you leave, thanks again, really," his smile turned even brighter now. "And I'm glad we could have spent some more time together."

"Y-yeah," she stammered a little again, but this time she shivered deliberately to make it seem like it was from the cold.

"It was really nice seeing you again, Aeyrin." His bright smile was promptly turned towards Bishop then. "You too, Bishop."

Bishop just nodded with a nondescript expression on his face. At least he always looked kind of disinterested – he didn't have to work so hard to pretend that everything was fine.

Azshan squeezed her upper arm in farewell once more before he turned on his heel and headed back towards the Castle.

When he was once more out of earshot, Bishop murmured again: "Should I set up another meeting with Gulum?"

"Yeah," Aeyrin nodded at him resolutely. She needed to know the truth already. "But this time, I'm going alone to meet Casavir."

"What? Why?" Bishop scowled right away. "We still don't know anything. That fucker could even be involved. It would explain a lot."

"This is why," Aeyrin sighed. "I know that we don't know anything yet, but that's why I need to talk to him alone. I can't have you two sniping at each other again about every little thing. He won't talk to me sincerely with you there either. I need to find out what really happened, Bish."

Bishop grumbled under his breath at that, but he knew that she was right. He knew that if he was there, Casavir would be much more on guard and much less cooperative. Still, he didn't like it. He knew that she could defend herself if anything happened but… shits like that were more subtle then it appeared.

"Fine," he said through gritted teeth. But if she didn't return soon enough, he would be there to find out what was wrong within a second.

"Good. Let's go then," she gave him a grateful smile. "A few more seconds and I'm turning into an icicle."

…

Aeyrin nervously shifted her weight from one foot to another as she waited in the small storage room.

Casavir should be there any second, unless he would refuse to come to the arranged meeting.

It was past sundown already and she and Bishop had spent the better part of the day washing and recuperating after last night's escapades. It was so pleasant. And she wished that she didn't have to do anything but rest today, but this was important. The unpleasant thoughts wouldn't leave her mind no matter what and she needed to appease them. She asked Bishop to arrange the meeting for tonight already. She couldn't wait anymore.

Fortunately, she didn't have to wait for long now. Only a few minutes later, the door opened and Casavir stepped inside, again clad in his armor with his sword on his back.

"My la-… Lady Aeyrin," he let out an oddly defeated sigh at greeting her like that. "I did not expect you to want to talk to me again. If you wish to speak to Elisif about my actions, I will understand."

"I don't," Aeyrin shook her head at him. He was still looking so guilty. He really was convincing. Or maybe he was just feeling guilty about all those lies. Or maybe he really was involved in some way. She couldn't be sure of anything yet. "I just need to talk to you about something."

"I… see," Casavir looked really nervous about that. "Where… where is Bishop?" his brows creased and he looked around the small room carefully, as if he was expecting Bishop to pounce at him from any shadowy corner.

"I asked him not to come. I don't need you two to start arguing again and detract from what I need to know. This is important."

"What do you need of me?" he gave her a confused look, but he did look a bit relieved at Bishop not being here this time.

"I know you didn't poison me," she scowled. She didn't know for sure if he was really innocent, but she needed to see his reaction.

"My la-… my lady," this time he gave up on correcting himself as a regretful sigh left his lips. "We have already spoken of this. I have admitted my guilt in this matter and there is nothing to do but to regret my actions as…"

"I know it was Azshan," she interrupted him.

Casavir's eyes went wide at that. He looked really taken aback, but she knew from his expression that she was right. It was all confirmed now.

"Wh… My lady, why would you… I'm not sure where you're getting your information, but…" Casavir stammered, but he was again interrupted by her.

"Did you hear what happened at the ball last night?" she asked with a challenging look on her face. Everybody had surely heard by now.

"Y-yes. I have," he looked even more confused now. "I am sorry you had to deal with that… lecher, my lady. Although I was surprised to hear that you would attend the ball again after… well after last year."

"Azshan asked me to," Aeyrin scowled. "He wanted to have me by his side to show everyone that I wasn't 'at war' with the Order. And I agreed. Because I thought that I was helping a friend."

Casavir's eyes suddenly turned very regretful and sympathetic. He likely had no idea what really happened at the ball, but the fact that he gave her this look, after she had lamented over Azshan's and her friendship, spoke volumes.

"It turned out that he wanted me there for something else," she continued to explain. "He was convinced that Erikur would not be able to control himself around me, since he's lost his title because of me. He brought me there to be attacked and for Erikur to be arrested or… at least disgraced by that. Then this Gisli woman was supposed to swoop in and disown her brother in front of everyone."

Casavir stared at her in shock for a while before he began muttering to himself. "Lady Gisli is involved? I had no idea. There were no indications of…"

"Yes. She's involved," Aeyrin scowled. "I don't know what with, but she certainly got talkative when she was drunk. Apparently, not everything went smoothly last night and she accused Azshan of 'yet again' involving me and ruining things. For the 'third time'." She punctuated the last bit especially. She decided not to get this more tangled up with mentioning the thaneship, but that wasn't important now. She really hoped that now she had made it obvious that she would no longer believe Casavir's martyrdom.

"'Third'?" Casavir looked at her in surprise. He still looked a little confused but much less so than he would be if he had no idea about any of this. "What was the second?" The question was again more to himself than to her, but he obviously knew what the 'first' was.

"I'll gladly tell you," Aeyrin nodded. "But first, you're going to finally tell me what you know. The truth. No more taking the blame for this. I don't know why you would even want to, but you're going to tell me the truth now and we're going to deal with it however we can."

"My lady," he almost smiled at her. He looked even relieved a bit, but he still shook his head at her in negation. "It is kind of you to try to relieve me of my blame in this, but that is not that simple."

"Casavir, I swear to the Eight," Aeyrin gritted her teeth. She was done with walking around this. She needed to know. She needed to know who to trust. She couldn't go on like this, wondering, pretending in front of Azshan that she didn't suspect him of something that right now looked really bad. "I will march down to the Palace right now and ask Elisif to reopen the investigation. And I will not stop until I find out the truth. If there's a reason why you're protecting him, you better tell me now so that I can reconsider."

Casavir let out a deep defeated sigh, but there was a strange smile still barely visible on his lips. He must have been relieved at least a little bit. This whole ordeal must have been so horrible for him – living in this place where everyone reviled him unrightfully, having to keep up this ruse for so long.

"Please, let us sit, my lady," he gestured vaguely towards a few crates and diligently waited for her to sit down first. When she did, he followed suit, sitting himself opposite her. He buried his face in his armored hands briefly as he let out another sigh. He looked so tired all of the sudden. It was strange seeing that stony façade crumble in anything else but frustration at Bishop.

He finally straightened his head again after a while and with a surprisingly sincere look, he began to explain at last.

"When you were poisoned, once we knew what it was that kept you in that state, we were prompted to investigate the kitchens, as you well know. This had led us to suspect Bishop of the deed. I wanted more evidence, but… Azshan had urged me to have him summoned to the court instead. It… wasn't strange, of course. Bishop is a vicious criminal and Azshan was protecting his… friend," he gave a brief sympathetic look before he continued. "You know what happened then, Bishop was convicted and all seemed resolved but… the motive was missing. Everyone had thought that Bishop had an affair with Her Majesty but… she would never lower herself to consort with such a lowlife… ah…" Casavir suddenly stopped with a bit of a shocked expression on his face when he realized that he had just inadvertently insulted Aeyrin.

She only rolled her eyes at that. She wasn't there to listen to his insults about Bishop. There were more important things to deal with now. "Fine. You didn't believe the affair. What then?"

"With the motive missing, I still wanted to dig deeper. I considered the fact that he had been framed," Casavir scowled. "Criminal or not, I… have been guilty of the same thing that everyone else. It is our duty to do justice by the people, not to pin every crime on an obvious suspect. I am sure that he does despicable things all the time. Just a few days ago I saw him…"

"Casavir!" Aeyrin cried out indignantly. Why did he always default to this? This wasn't what she needed to talk about.

"Y-yes… perhaps we can speak of this later," Casavir sighed. "Nevertheless, I did not really believe that he was guilty of poisoning you. I could not imagine why he would do such a thing. There were no benefits in this for him. So, if he was framed, the recommendation to check the kitchens, which led us to Bishop, was the obvious lead, correct? The person who had that idea could have been involved. I… understand that you came to the same conclusion."

"That thane woman," Aeyrin nodded. "The one whose bedroom I found you in."

"My lady, I had nothing to do with that woman. I came there to investigate the lead just as you have, but when I came in, she announced my presence as if to warn someone. So I rushed to find that person in her household. I had no idea why yet, but it became apparent that someone was there who I should not see," Casavir scowled. "When I entered her bed chambers, it was obvious that she had been spending time there with someone… and I found a travelling belt there, obviously made for a man… a warrior likely. From the items inside, I managed to figure out that it was Azshan's. That he had been having a dalliance with lady Bryling and… I suspected that they may have had a hand in the poisoning."

"How?" Aeyrin interrupted him with a scowl. "How did you know it was Azshan's?"

"There was a bottle of Domica Redwort fragrance in it," Casavir gave her a meaningful look, likely hoping that she would understand. She did. Azshan always wore that fragrance. He said that it reminded him of home. But still… other people could have used something like that.

"That wasn't all, my lady. There was a letter in the belt. With instructions," Casavir quickly explained more when he saw her doubtful expression. "It was filled with evidence about people in the Legion and in the Order, aside from Azshan, speaking about how you should be kept in the Castle, bedridden, in order to have you used as a… weapon against the dragons on the General's behest. I have verified these things, they were idle chatter by misguided people, but… in the larger context, they would have been considered damning. All these people would have been implicated, including the General. The Order, the war efforts, all would have been put in danger if this information got out. Lady Bryling insinuated as much and… when you interrupted us, I had no other choice than to take the blame upon myself. To protect my people."

Aeyrin blinked a few times, trying to process the information.

"I needed to investigate this conspiracy further, but I feared that if I told you the truth, you would... you would attempt to have these people prosecuted. I did not know the scope of this conspiracy, I still don't. But it would not have weeded them all out, it would only make the remaining members warier. And I… I also feared that you would not have believed me," Casavir sighed.

"Why didn't you tell Elisif?" Aeyrin whispered at him, confusion still palpable on her face.

"My lady, Her Majesty didn't believe that Bishop was guilty. And she believed the insinuations about me, as everyone in the court has. As you have, in the end. I have no credibility in this, everyone thought that I was attempting to get rid of a person close to you. And if I were to lay the blame on Azshan…"

"They would have thought that you were trying to get rid of another," she finished the sentence for him. That would definitely happen after all that. He was right to be worried about it.

"I am very sorry that I have let you believe the man to be your friend. I am very sorry that I couldn't tell you the truth, but it was the only way, my lady. I did not see any other. I needed to investigate this further, I needed to find all those involved in this as well as their motives, before I could act. Anything but that might have compromised everything. My people, the General, all of them could have been stripped of their function for something they didn't do."

"But… what is their motive? Why did they poison me?" Aeyrin desperately tried to make sense of this.

"When you were bedridden, these people, along with Azshan, had staged two dragon attacks on some estates on the outskirts of the city, luring the beast there. I have suspected lord Erikur to be involved in this, since his estate had been affected. The nobles demanded compensation after this happened – all because you had been in the city, but myself and Elisif had refused to have you used in your state to absorb the beast's soul. They claimed that the crown and the Order promised to protect them, but when it came down to it, we refused."

"So… it was just to get money?!" Aeyrin gasped in astonishment.

"I thought as much, at first. It seems more… convoluted now though," Casavir sighed.

"But Erikur is not involved with this! Gisli is. She had him arrested!" Aeyrin shook her head at him. So much of this still didn't make sense.

"Yes. You have surprised me with this revelation, but… I suspect that discrediting Erikur may have been her plan all along. Erikur had only been stripped of his title, but if he was actually arrested, executed or banished, all of his holdings would pass on to lady Gisli. Perhaps he had been involved at first and lady Gisli got greedy. Or perhaps he was never involved and he was simply used as a pawn until he could have been gotten rid of. I am uncertain."

"So you think it's not just about money?" Aeyrin raised her brow.

"It is about influence, my lady. The pattern is clear. They are attempting to remove people in power and replace them. They have tried to discredit General Tullius in the conspiracy instructions, but they have settled for discrediting me, it seems, when I agreed to take the blame. Azshan has been… using me ever since. I have no say in the Order's matters anymore, not if he has other ideas. Not when he threatens to throw the rest of my men to the wolves. I have no choice but to play his game for now. They have attempted to disgrace Her Majesty with the rumor of the affair with Bishop and her having a hand in your poisoning. And they have gotten rid of lord Erikur now, recovering lady Gisli's social status and allowing her control over his holdings. These people are attempting to take control of the most powerful positions in the city in subtle ways, playing the games of nobility to climb up the ladder. I… I fear how far they intend to go. I… I fear for Her Majesty and her throne. And despite the fact that I do not always agree with his methods, I know that the General's motives are only to protect the Empire. And I fear for his position and the war efforts. Because I do not know in whose name and with what intentions this group acts."

There was a moment of quiet in the small room as Aeyrin mulled over the information. With every new snippet, she felt more and more overwhelmed. She didn't know what to even think about all this, but one thought couldn't leave her mind.

"I… I can't believe that Azshan is involved in this. That… that would do this to me. Why… just to help some nobles," she felt her eyes water involuntarily. She thought that he was her friend. She knew that he used people, but she knew that whenever he did, it was with good intentions. She couldn't see those anymore.

"My lady, Azshan leads the Order now in all but his title. My decisions are only those that he allows and… my men no longer trust me. They go to him for guidance. They think me to have been… corrupted," Casavir's voice quivered a bit at that word. "I am deeply sorry to have to tell you this. But you have said so yourself, you would have gone to Her Majesty with this. I cannot allow it. I cannot have my men compromised. And I… I did not think that he would use you in such a way again. What happened at the ball… is on me. I should have prevented this and let you know who he was sooner."

"It's… it's not your fault, Casavir," she sniffled a little as she quickly wiped away a tear escaping her eye. She couldn't help the thick lump pressing in her throat. "I know what he's like, I just… never thought that he would…" she took a deep breath instead of continuing. She knew he had her poisoned since last night, but hearing it all like this, it felt all too real.

"My lady, if I may?" Casavir very carefully placed his armored hand on hers. He left it there only briefly and he didn't even squeeze her palm, but he seemed satisfied with that gesture at least. "You mentioned that this was the 'third time'. The poisoning, the ball. But what else?"

She wiped her eyes again before she explained. "In the summer, Azshan asked me to help him with a dragon attacking an estate in the Reach. He said that the Order was stretched thin with the war and he… volunteered me. So we went alone to take care of the dragon. But when we were fighting it, a couple of Forsworn warriors joined the attack. They helped us, but Azshan wanted to kill them. Apparently, a Forsworn tribe had slaughtered all the guards around the estate. But I… I knew those warriors. They have helped me before and… I didn't want to kill them," she huffed in indignation. "So I questioned them instead. The Forsworn were only attacking the estate, because the noblewoman who owned it was kidnapping their mages to find the secrets of their… necromancy practices."

"Heavens, the Forsworn?" Casavir's eyes went wide. "They are provoking the Forsworn? What if the barbarians turn their rage towards Haafingar next? The Hold cannot withstand the war on two fronts." He shook his head and Aeyrin involuntarily cringed at Casavir calling them 'barbarians' as well. She should be used to it by now though. Everyone did that. "Lady Aeresius is the only noblewoman in Solitude that owns an estate in the Reach. She is an heiress of an important Nord house and her husband is one of the most important representatives of the East Empire Company. I wonder whether she is involved or whether she is another noble to be… deposed."

"I don't know," Aeyrin shook her head. "But Azshan didn't want me to know about the Forsworn. And… he was pretty angry when I made him release the imprisoned ones. And… Gisli did say that it was the third time that Azshan involved me and… things didn't turn out the way they wanted."

"True. I will have to look into the Aeresius household more. This is very valuable information, my lady. Thank you," Casavir smiled at her weakly.

There was another moment of silence before Aeyrin remembered another thing that had been bothering her. It made no sense to her.

"Can I ask you something?" she interrupted the silence, eliciting a nod from Casavir. "Why did you tell Bishop?" He had been so careful about keeping this all a secret. He had been so careful about not involving anyone else. Yet he confessed the truth to a man that he didn't trust at all?

"It was… it was a moment of weakness," Casavir's voice trembled again. "I have been accused of heinous crimes which I did not commit for months. And when that scum began attacking me and accusing me of the same things… hearing it all from him… it… I didn't mean to tell him. But I lost control. I couldn't help but defend myself."

She nodded at the justification silently.

"Strangely enough, I am grateful for that lapse of judgment now. I wonder if you would have thought me innocent now without that. What I do not understand is why he even believed me," Casavir shook his head in confusion.

"Because he was worried about me," Aeyrin answered. "He was worried that you were telling the truth and that someone here still wished me harm. That someone else did that to me."

Casavir scowled deeply at that and he looked like he wanted to say something, but Aeyrin interrupted him again.

"So… what happens now?" she looked at him uncertainly. This didn't sound like something that could be resolved just then and there. She wasn't even sure if telling Elisif would be a good idea. For the first time, she wasn't sure if the Queen would believe her. Or more likely, that she wouldn't think that Aeyrin was just being tricked by Casavir. This was a lot to take on faith alone.

"My lady, I… I need you to not say anything. This is a very delicate situation and like I have said, I cannot allow innocent people to get… ruined by this. I need to find out more," he gave her a very pleading look.

She knew that. It was hard to accept, to do nothing. But she understood.

"I will continue my investigation. Now… with a much lighter heart when I know that I am not alone in this anymore. I would ask you to come meet me here again if you can, whenever you may be contacted by Azshan for some suspicious reason. You… you didn't tell him what you know, did you?"

"I did not. And I understand," Aeyrin smiled weakly. "But… isn't there anything more I can do to help?"

"I don't believe so, my lady. You are kind to offer," his smile was so genuine. She hadn't seen that in a long time. "I myself am uncertain on how to proceed yet. But if there is any development, I will contact you."

Aeyrin nodded silently at that. She didn't know what to do anyway, but she still felt strangely… useless.

But at least now she knew. It all fit together. And now she knew how much Casavir had sacrificed to protect innocent people. She should have trusted her gut – she always hated the thought of him hurting her like that. It just felt… like he wouldn't. She was glad that it was true.

With another warm smile, Casavir stood up from the crate and she followed suit. There was quiet again and, once more, Casavir looked like he wanted to say something, but she interrupted him yet again.

She stepped closer to him and carefully wrapped his arms around his breastplate. Casavir was definitely caught off guard by the gesture, but he riled himself up quickly. He wrapped his arms around her in turn and a relieved sigh escaped his lips.

"Thank you for telling me the truth," she whispered, still enveloped in his arms. "And I'm sorry for everything you have to go through here to keep everyone safe."

"It means a lot to me that you gave me the chance to explain, my lady," he smiled. "I am glad I can trust you with this."

With a bright smile, she parted from him and nodded amicably. Casavir was scowling again, despite the smile on his face, but the atmosphere was much lighter now.

There was another moment of silence when she thought that he would leave, but instead, the smile disappeared and the scowl persisted. He took a deep breath before he spoke again.

"Could we… could we please discuss one more matter?" he asked uncertainly. "In the spirit of trust and… truth."

She had a feeling that she knew what this was about. She knew that scowl all too well by now.

"Is this about Bishop again?" she sighed. He really was relentless with this.

"My lady, I realize that you do not want to hear about him from me," he sighed as well. "But… you see how easy it is to fall under someone else's lies when you hold them dear. I only wish that you would listen to me. That you would let me tell you the truth."

"Casavir," she let out an exasperated sigh. There was nothing that he could tell her that she didn't already know. But he wasn't aware of that. He still thought her to be some naïve love-struck girl who got duped by a bandit, like so many others thought. Maybe at least if he knew that it wasn't the case, he would give it a rest.

"Listen to me," her face hardened considerably. "I know about everything. I know about what happened to Jules, I know about Elisie and I know about Thorn."

Casavir flinched instantly at the mention of Thorn's name and his eyes went wide. He obviously hadn't expected Bishop to share that.

"I know who he was. I know who his family is and I know that… that his life was… hard. But he is a different man than the one you knew," she scowled. 'Knew' was not the right word for sure. Casavir barely knew Bishop at all. He knew whom he had worked for, he knew whom he had associated with and he knew what mistakes he had made when it came to Jules's death. But he never knew him at all.

"My lady, I do not believe he has changed. He is still a criminal at heart," Casavir scowled. "Just the other day, I caught him when he was attempting to rob a jewelry store here in the city." His look was challenging, as if he was so sure that she didn't know about that.

"Right," Aeyrin scoffed. She reached over her shoulder to pull her simple braid to the front of her body, to display the beautiful white and gold ribbon tying the end of it. "They sell these there, right?" She took the braid in her hand and showed him the ribbon. "He went there to buy me a gift, Casavir. He had to go back with an invisibility potion because he didn't want to be accosted by you again. You didn't even see him do anything! He told me what you did. And if you think that he stole this, feel free to ask that merchant." She shook her head incredulously. Granted she would have thought that it was kind of sweet even if he had stolen it, but Casavir didn't need to know that.

Casavir's face paled considerably as he had likely realized his prejudice. He was so adamant about not presuming Bishop's guilt with the poisoning, but now he had done the exact same thing. He still looked like he didn't believe that Bishop didn't rob the store, but now he could easily verify it and maybe realize what he was doing.

"I… I… apologize," he said through gritted teeth. "His actions were suspect."

There was another brief moment of silence before he spoke again.

"So you are telling me that you know about everything? You know that he had been working for that monster Thorn?"

"Yes," she scowled again. She didn't miss a beat. She was very careful about saying it without any hesitation whatsoever, lest he misinterprets it again.

"My lady, for all you know, he could still be working for that monster and…"

"Oh," she didn't let him finish as she gave him another scowl. Even the insinuation of that made shivers run down her spine. "So obviously the news hasn't spread. Lovely, all those rumors and this one is kept under the lid," she rolled her eyes. "Thorn's dead, Casavir."

Casavir's brows shot up in surprise. Did he really not know? She thought that he would have been invested in that.

"Guess who killed him?" she continued as Casavir gave her an incredulous expression. "I know what you think you know, but I'm sorry, you don't know anything. Thorn has been Bishop's worst nightmare ever since they met. He had been doing everything to get away from that freak."

"But… he betrayed his own brother for him," Casavir frowned, but beyond his angry scowl, there was obvious doubt on his face now.

"He thought that you and your men would kill him," Aeyrin threw up her arms in exasperation. "He tried to save his own life. He… made a mistake not trusting Jules. But that doesn't make him a monster. You keep judging him for what you think you know, but you don't even know the half of it all."

There was silence again, for what felt like a thousandth time today. But this time it was much more contemplative.

"I… I…" Casavir stammered a bit. "I… see. I… may have… made a snapped judgment. He was a vile man, my lady. He did heinous things to innocent people. And I shall not forgive him for it, no matter any tough situation he had found himself in. But… you are right. I judge him in the present for the sins of his past. I should strive to be better than that."

"You should," she nodded at him, still with the hardened expression on her face. "I don't want to deal with this anymore. I don't want to keep breaking up your fights or try to calm you down while you try to literally kill each other. Please, just stop hounding him. You have no right to do that."

"My lady… I cannot promise to be anything but… antagonistic to him. I cannot forgive him. He had done things which I cannot condone or overlook," Casavir gritted his teeth.

"I don't need you to be friends," she scoffed at him. "I need you to stop fighting and to stop accusing each other of everything bad in the world when you don't have anyone else to blame. This has to stop."

After what felt like a long moment, Casavir nodded at last.

"I swear, I will not pick a fight and I will not accuse him without sufficient evidence," he sighed a little defeatedly, but now it seemed more directed at himself. "Once again, you remind me of the ideals my years in the service had jaded me to," he whispered that under his breath. Now she kind of felt bad for him. She really hoped that he would take this to heart this time. She was so sick of him talking about Bishop in this way and of making his life difficult because of past grudges.

"Thank you," she said as her face softened. It felt good. Like a lot of things were suddenly looking up. Even though things with Azshan seemed more dire than ever, it still felt like some significant progress. Knowing the truth helped. And hopefully it would help to calm things down between Casavir and Bishop too.

"As much as I loathe to consider all this," Casavir sighed. "Thank you for telling me, my lady. I need to strive to be better."

She smiled at him sincerely this time. She hoped that he would, in this. She was glad to know that he had never harmed her, that he had never betrayed her. She was glad to still have an ally here. Maybe even a friend.

Casavir and Aeyrin shared another understanding smile.

Even if things didn't turn out quite well in Solitude, this was still comforting.

It made her feel a little better, despite the pain of losing a good friend.

There were still people around that she could trust.