Chapter 59: Revelations

Bishop lay flat on his back staring up at the sky and noting that it was now mid-morning judging by the position of the sun. However, he couldn't bring himself to care at the moment for he was exhausted. Nim had kept him busy most of the night 'appeasing her' as she put it. Not that he was complaining, for it had been one of the wildest nights of his life and he had been an enthusiastic participant. He felt the elf stir on top of him and soon her emerald eyes were staring directly into his. There was a happiness in her eyes that he had seldom seen and a slight smile curved her lips.

"I hope you're happy now wench," he tried to growl out but was too tired. Closing his eyes he continued, "I honestly think another round will kill me." He felt her nuzzle his neck as a low chuckle rumbled from her throat.

"Poor boy," Nim murmured. "It wouldn't be so bad a way to die, would it?" she asked as she looked down at him and saw a smile curve his lips. "Yes, you've made me very happy ranger," she whispered and then placed a soft kiss on his mouth. Leaning back she traced the lines of his face, a thoughtful look coming to her eyes. "There is something else that I need you to do however," she saw him grimace and smiled slightly.

"Hells woman, what more can you want from me?" he asked with a groan. "An apology? Fine, I'm sorry for embarassing you and I won't do it again. Happy?"

Chuckling again, Nim shook her head. "No, I don't need an apology Bishop. What I do need is your promise that you will stop baiting Casavir so much."

"Oh come on Nim," he growled out. "The paladin practically begs me to taunt him with his holier than thou attitude and rigid code of conduct." He studied her closely and saw something in her eyes that made his jealousy flare up. "You like him don't you?" he accused.

"Yes Bishop I do," Nim sighed. "Though not in the way you're thinking so you have no cause to be jealous." She saw him about to protest and placed a finger on his lips. "He is one of the few humans, besides you, that I have come to respect. Casavir, like you, doesn't allow what other people think or say to change the way he looks at things. Most humans I know are like dandelion seeds blowing this way and that in the wind. While we don't see eye to eye on many things, he respects my opinions and feelings as much as I do his."

"He has feelings for you or aren't you aware of that?" Bishop snapped.

"Sand and Shandra pointed it out to me yes," she answered and saw his eyes widen slightly in surprise. "Yes I had to have someone tell me because I didn't see it myself. Probably becuase I had so little understanding of humans," she mused thoughtfully. "However, I have to wonder if his feelings stem more from gratitude than anything else."

"He wants in your skirts Nim, not in your head," Bishop snickered. Wrapping his arms around her he pulled her down so he could kiss her. "If another man, including the paladin, tries to get into your bed I will kill him," he growled possessively. "I don't share my women."

Nim felt her heart flutter at his words and staring into his eyes saw something there that made a warm tingle run through her and yet scared her too. Could this cynical, I care only about myself human have fallen in love with her? Not wanting to dwell on that thought she pushed it aside. "I don't want anyone else but you," she told him softly. "I used to wonder what my life would have been like if my mother had not died. But now I think that if it never had happened, then I would never have been sent to Neverwinter and we would never have met. I would have never known what I was missing."

Bishop stared into her eyes and saw some emotion in them that he rarely saw in the eyes of a woman who looked at him. Could this elf, who had such disdain for humans, have actually come to care for him? That thought thrilled him and also spooked him a little. It didn't pay to get too close to anyone, they always disappointed you in the end. He should push her away, grab his things and head far away from her, before things went too far. Instead he found himself pulling her closer and burying his face in her neck. "Okay, if you want me to play nice with the paladin, I will try," he murmured. "Although I can't promise I will be successful," he chuckled. "The man does ask for it you know with his condescending 'I am better than you' attitude."

Nimbrethil smiled at him and gave him another kiss before getting up and looking for her clothes. "I know it won't be easy, but I'm glad you'll at least make an effort. The others have already talked with Casavir about the situation and he has agreed to not be so openly hostile to you. I am going to need both of you in the weeks ahead for I can't do this alone. He has a great deal of knowledge and he is willing to share it without expecting anything in return."

Bishop propped himself on his side to watch her dress. The matter of fact tone she used when talking about the paladin assured him that he had no reason to be jealous. He was also glad that she and the others acknowledged that the paladin had been openly hostile to him and the real reason for it. He suppressed a chuckle at the thought that life couldn't possibly get any better than this.

Nimbrethil saw he was just lying there watching her and smiled a little. "I thought you were tired Bishop? Or have you recovered and are trying to tempt me to stay here for the rest of the day?"

Chuckling he got to his feet and began to put his clothes on. "No, I just like watching you." He saw her smile widen and couldn't keep an answering grin off his face. "Seriously elf, you've worn me out, not that I'm complaining mind you."

"In that case, I guess I can wait until tonight," she laughed. "However, I think it's time I got down to business and started putting the keep in order. I really don't want to have to deal with that woman Kana. She strikes me as the unbending, do it by the book type. Perhaps I should ask Casavir to deal with her. They'd make a cute couple don't you think?"

"Yeah, they could talk about protocol and procedure while polishing their armor," Bishop snickered and saw her grin. "Seriously though, you should put them all to work doing something useful. Otherwise they'll probably get bored and start complaining and ugh," he shuddered.

"You know, I will need to find more men to defend the keep," Nimbrethil started walking home, Bishop falling into step beside her. "While having foot soldiers is always a plus, we will need to have a well trained group of archers. You are the best with a bow after me and you're certainly more capable of dealing with others than I am."

Bishop felt something sweep through him and to his surprise recognized it as pride! To hear her say those words pleased him greatly. She was matchless with the bow and knew what she was talking about, and she wasn't one to hand out compliments on a whim. "I know that I could train them to be deadly accurate," he stated confidently. "I'll do it so long as you make sure everyone knows who's in charge," he replied.

"Well seeing as how it is my keep techinically, I'll do things my way," Nimbrethil snorted. "There will be no misunderstandings on what duties and responsibilities everyone will have, trust me on that."

"You're the only one I do trust, at the moment," Bishop told her. "What will you do if the others object to the way you do things?"

"Then I will leave, plain and simple," she answered. "I might not make it on my own, but I would rather die free than live in chains. I will not let them tell me how to run things. If they don't like it, then they can get someone else to build their precious keep. I have enough gold to start the reconstruction, gold which I have paid for in blood. It will take a hell of a lot more than what I have to finish the job, which means most likely shedding more blood. That alone entitles me to full control of what happens."

Bishop nodded in approval. "Good, don't let them brow beat you into doing things their way. Besides, if they knew what to do any better than you, they would have done it already."

"Of course, they still could be wrong about all of this," Nimbrethil said. "I'm still not fully convinced that I am the only one who can defeat this King of Shadows, I don't care what the gith says. She hasn't given me any proof that what she says is true, and I have no reason to take her word for it. I'm not sure I'll ever be able to completely trust her, for how do we really know that her people are any different from the gith we've already met?"

"Point, we only have her word for how things are," he answered. "Her kind has never been seen on this plane before so no one knows anything about them, not even Sand. Though you did say Aldanon knew something of them, but getting the information out of him is like trying to stop Khelgar from snoring when he sleeps: impossible."

Nimbrethil laughed at that. "Oh it's not impossible to get information out of Aldanon, it's just that I don't have the patience to listen to him long enough to glean anything useful from what he says. Grobnar might be the only one who could stand being around him that long, maybe I should ask him to talk to the sage."

"Here I was thinking the gnome was good for nothing more than arrow bait," Bishop stated and then laughed when Nim smacked him. "Easy, I'm just kidding," he smiled at her. "I know how much you like the little pest. You know he will agree to do anything you ask of him so you should have him talk with that mad sage."

"Yes, but first I think I will keep my promise to him to show him how to track," she saw Bishop shake his head. "I know you think it's a waste of time but the little guy might just prove you wrong. Besides, it's always good to have an extra pair of eyes when you're hunting the enemy. He's always saying he wants to help and this way he could really be helpful."

"Just don't get your hopes up," Bishop said and then changed the subject. "I think you'll like the room I've picked out for us at the inn. We'll be able to sneak out anytime we want to from it."

"Last night it was pathetically easy for me to slip past the guards on the walls," Nimbrethil snorted. "I'm going to have to see about testing the alertness and reflexes of the men we have. Then I'm going to have to sharpen the skills of the ones with the most promise. I don't want it to be so easy for anyone to sneak about my keep."

"I know what you mean," Bishop told her. "I'm not quite as good as you and yet no one saw me leave the keep either. Either they aren't observant enough or they're just lazy, but it means that assassins and who knows what else could easily gain access to the keep. Well, at least until the walls and gates are fully repaired and manned."

Sighing Nimbrethil stopped and rubbed the back of her neck, the tension already building at the mere thought of how much work was going to have to be done. She felt Bishop move behind her and then felt his hands massaging her shoulders. Feeling the tension in her ease, she turned her head to smile her thanks at him.

Bishop pulled her into his arms and kissed her thoroughly. "I guess I'm going to be kept busy keeping you relaxed over the next few weeks huh?" he smiled.

"Yeah, I think you will be," she returned his smile. "But that's your own fault because you're just so good at it you know." With a wicked chuckle she turned and continued towards the keep.

Bishop watched her for a few moments, a big grin on his face, before hurrying to catch up. Falling into step beside her he continued their discussion of what needed to be done and who would be best at what tasks. In this way the time passed quickly and they were both in good spirits when they reached the keep, which made it easier to deal with the frowns they got from everyone for being gone for so long. The only one whose opinion mattered to him was Nim's and so he merely smirked at Casavir and Nevalle from his position at her side. He could see that the paladin and the lapdog were both hoping he would give them a reason to cut into him, but he had promised Nim he would behave himself and he intended to do just that for as long as possible. So he was surprised that he got as much enjoyment from frustrating them as baiting them and had to cough to hide his laughter. When Nim gave him a questioning look he smiled and shrugged, but inside he was secretly gleeful. Oh yeah, this was going to be fun.