Author's Note:

Dear all,

I hope you enjoyed the finalization of the Thieves Guild plotline. It's been a rough one to write for certain. Now the last chapter of it all awaits us before we delve into new adventures again :)

I wanted to mention that there are still stories to be told regarding the Guild. Right now you can find the first chapter of a prequelesque story in Second Book Extras already, related to the Guild plotline. And following that, I will be posting a story of the Guild's endeavors after Brynjolf became the Guildmaster. So I hope you're going to enjoy all the extra content if you choose to read.

And last but not least, credit where it's due, a huge thanks regarding today's chapter goes to Rainpebble3, Vivifriend and VivalaPluto for their excellent suggestions on certain things included in the story ;) And of course, I highly recommend that you check out Rainpebble3's and Vivifriend's stories on AO3.

That's all. Enjoy :3

Chapter XCIV – The Priceless Freedom

They were all called into the Guildmaster's chamber right after breakfast.

It had been two days since the news of Karliah's death was announced and everyone had been adjusting at their own pace. Aeyrin kept fussing over both Bishop and Raven to distract herself, but Raven seemed a little better on his own after his talk with Bishop. Though he still had moments where he just disappeared and didn't come back for hours. Bishop wasn't trying to avoid Aeyrin anymore, but he wasn't eager to talk either. He did tell her what had transpired between him and Raven, much to her surprise, but he didn't talk about Karliah at all. He just seemed more and more annoyed by their stay in the sewers, growing restless by the minute.

But Brynjolf kept asking them to stay. He asked them to be patient for a while yet.

They weren't involved with any missions that were supposed to build the Guild up again. They weren't involved with anything at all, which was kind of unfortunate. It just gave them all too much time to think.

But finally, after those two days had passed, all three of them, Aeyrin, Bishop and Raven, were called to see Brynjolf in the… well… in his room now.

They arrived in the chamber shortly and Brynjolf was already waiting there, along with Delvin. His right hand now, apparently, though that was hardly surprising.

"Good morning," Brynjolf smiled at them warmly. He looked very tired, but surprisingly at peace. "We've been pretty successful so far with the more urgent alliances that needed to be secured. We won't get to keep the entirety of Karliah's network, but… we'll be alright."

"That's good to hear," Aeyrin smiled back at him. Hopefully now this would be a Thieves Guild worthy of its name – stealing from the rich, taking care of people who had no choice in their life but to pick pockets and keeping the black market business flowing. There was never going to be a society with no crime, so at least the underworld would have a reasonable and kind leader now in Brynjolf.

"Aye," Bryn nodded. "And, after everything, I have decided to extend an… official offer. To all of you," he gave them a meaningful look. "You know that the bounty is taken care of, there will be no other, of course, and you are welcome to trade with the Guild or ask for information any time you wish. But we could also use your help in the days to come – with missions and plans. Raven, Bishop, you two have already been part of the Guild. I would be glad to have you both back. And Aeyrin, I know your… skills are a bit different, but that doesn't mean that we have no need of protection. I know you have other duties elsewhere, but you would always have a place here if you agreed to help when we need."

Bishop and Aeyrin shared a brief look, but there was not much to think about there. They both felt the same. It was nice to have allies in the Guild – it was nice even to just be able to stay in Riften without fear and to be able to shop and ask them for anything. But that was it. This chapter was over.

This wasn't the life for either of them.

"Sorry, Bryn," Bishop gave him a brief shake of his head, but he wasn't really sorry at all. He was just glad that this was over.

"It's alright, lad. I expected that," Bryn smiled briefly. "I knew that you two are meant for other things," he nodded at the both of them with reassurance on his face. "Sapphire has already approached me about coming back, so of course I said yes. But you haven't, Raven. What about you?"

Raven didn't react for a while. This had been the life he knew for a long time before Mercer decided to get rid of him. And even after that, it was a very similar thing with Karliah. It would have been strange for him to refuse.

But he did.

He shook his head at Brynjolf regretfully and remained with his eyes fixed onto the ground, as if he was avoiding Bryn's reaction.

"Ah," Brynjolf sighed. "I see. Well… lad, if you ever change your mind, you can always return."

Finally Raven looked at him and nodded. He didn't seem all too eager about that offer, but it was not as if he had to take it.

"Well, in any case," Brynjolf let out another sigh before he forced a smile again. "We're still grateful for your help, despite the mess that happened when you came here and… despite everything in the past, we are happy to be on good terms with all of you."

"Believe me, so are we," Aeyrin smirked at him a little. It had been so long. So much time spent hiding from them, worrying about them. It still hadn't hit her fully that they were finally free from all this.

But they were.

Finally free.

…

They stepped outside together, taking in the somewhat fresh air after what felt like an eternity.

After all three of them refused Brynjolf's offer, there was no more reason for them to stay in the cistern. The Guild would be busy piecing everything back together again and they have spent too long there already.

It was time for a change. For everyone.

It was still hard to believe that it was over. No more Mercer, no more bounty.

No more Karliah.

None of them had it in them to feel in any way ecstatic about how things have developed, but… but it was a relief, to some measure.

It was freedom.

All they really wanted.

Raven took a deep breath as he stepped forward. He looked around the cemetery tentatively, lingering on every grave, every fallen leaf, every fragile nightshade flower, like it was the last time he was seeing any of it.

Maybe it was.

Before Bishop or Aeyrin could wonder about Raven's current plans though, he himself turned towards them and began to scribble on the convenient notepad.

.

I have nowhere to go.

.

Huh… that was… probably true. He had been with the Guild and Karliah for so long and he never mentioned any other family or friends. It must have been a strange feeling for him. Maybe even scary. If he was going to leave Riften, he would be leaving everyone he knew.

It was a big change.

He looked so lost just then.

Maybe he could use a place to stay until he figured out what he actually wanted to do.

"You know, Raven," Aeyrin started to ponder out loud. "There's still that… house here." Before they could officially confirm to Karliah that Honeyside was secured and ready for her to take, she called Bishop to that Nightingale training place. And then, Brynjolf never really asked for that house. Maybe he felt like it wasn't his place since he had nothing to do with Aeyrin getting it in the first place. Or maybe he just didn't need it. He probably had plenty of warehouses at the docks for smuggling.

Raven gave her an uncertain expression. It looked like he didn't want to presume.

Aeyrin gave Bishop a curious look to see if he agreed, even if the house wasn't really his, but he only shrugged noncommittally. He didn't seem to care at all.

And it would definitely be better off in Raven's hands. It was a bit tempting to keep a house without a housecarl, but who knew if the Jarl wouldn't just send a new spy after a while, as ridiculous as it would have been? And they would just be there rarely, whenever they were in Riften. They could just as easily stay at the inn. Raven, on the other hand, would have a safe haven here, close to his friends without having to join the Guild again. He could stay in the city he knew for as long as he liked without worrying about paying for every night. Nothing would be forcing him to move on with his life. He could take whatever time he needed here.

"Take the house, Raven," Aeyrin smiled at him warmly. "You can just stay there until you find out what you want to do or… you can stay there forever. At least we'll know where to visit you."

Raven's eyes watered again involuntarily. He was still so rattled from all the events. But now he smiled with palpable warmth and gratitude. He instantly enveloped Aeyrin in a fierce hug, squeezing her tightly. He even planted a brief kiss into her hair, but just when he did, he opened his eyes to look directly at Bishop with a cheeky grin on his face.

Bishop let out an exasperated sigh and raised his middle finger at Raven promptly, but despite his constant sour mood, he couldn't help but smile a bit just then too. Suddenly Raven's provocations bothered him much less than they used to.

Aeyrin disentangled herself from him after a bit, but she kept her hands on his shoulders and gave him a friendly squeeze.

"It's gonna be in good hands," she smiled. "We don't have much use for it anyway." She reached to her belt pouch and promptly located the right key. They never even had a copy made for Bishop with the whole Iona situation, so Raven would now be the only one with access. It was all his.

Raven took the key from her and examined it for a second. Then he looked around and pointed with the key to a general direction, somewhere towards the northern city gate.

Ah. He didn't know where the house was.

"You know what, we still need some supplies for the road," Aeyrin nodded resolutely. "Bish, how about you take Raven to the house and then find Karnwyr while I get our supplies?" She had her own ulterior motives for sending Bishop away. Originally, she had planned on sending him to the alchemist again, but this was even better.

But probably not too subtle. Bishop clearly didn't understand why she would send him with Raven instead of going herself, but he did seem like he wasn't really in the mood to argue about it. Or anything, really. That was kind of why she had that plan.

Bishop shrugged before he ushered Raven along, but the spy didn't leave without another warm hug with Aeyrin.

"Take care of yourself, Raven," she smiled. "We'll see each other soon."

His nod and grin were an answer enough.

Aeyrin was the first to head out and the two of them followed. It was kind of pointless to say goodbye already since they were heading the same way for a bit, but none of them spoke for the short stretch of journey.

When the two men parted from her, Aeyrin went after her goals instantly and as quickly as she could. She had a clear plan. Bishop had been silent and moping for days – not that she could blame him – and he didn't want to talk at all. That was fine though if it was how he wanted to deal with this mess. She knew him well enough not to press.

But what she could do was something to cheer him up a bit and take his mind off things. He always took care of her and listened to her and did everything he could to make her feel better whenever she was upset. She hoped she always tried to do the same but… that was much easier when he was satisfied with a brief reassuring talk and some 'distractions'.

No. She needed to make more effort.

She headed towards Grelka's stand first.

Bishop had once told her that whenever something bad happened, he always tried to clear his head on hunts with Karnwyr. But she knew that ever since they got closer to each other, he mostly never went hunting unless he really needed to for meat.

Well, she had a solution for that.

"Hello," she greeted Grelka amicably, only to be met with nothing but a curt grunt. "Do you have any light armor that would fit me? The cheaper the better," she chuckled a bit. This armor wouldn't see much use, but she wanted something that she could join Bishop on a hunt with and not chase off all the wildlife with every step.

Grelka looked her up and down critically with a permanent scowl on her face, though that was probably just how she always looked.

"Hmm… a few scraps, maybe. You gonna freeze," the woman smirked at her a little meanly.

Yes… yes she was definitely going to freeze dressed in a few scraps on a long hunt in winter. But she would have to withstand that for Bishop. Besides, he always liked it when she was cold anyway – so that he could warm her up properly.

"Fine," Aeyrin nodded. Hopefully it wouldn't cost much. They were just scraps, right?

She waited patiently while Grelka rummaged in the crates by her stand, pondering on what to get next. She knew that the food merchant here sold very few durable products from Cyrodiil. Like ironwood nuts. Those were always kind of unpleasant to eat though. They had a bitter taste, but a very nice aroma. And she did know a perfect way to use them. Bishop would definitely appreciate something like that. She wasn't even sure if he had ever tried it before.

She kept ruminating idly before she noticed something on Grelka's stand. It was a small wooden figurine carved into the shape of a howling wolf. It looked just like Karnwyr. It was kind of endearing.

It was very useless. They didn't drag around useless stuff like that. What would Bishop even do with a figurine? It was not as if they had a proper house of their own or something where he could put it on a mantle. And even if they did, it didn't sound like something he would do, did it? Well… he probably would since it was from her.

She didn't know why that figurine tempted her so much, why she thought that it would cheer him up. It was probably stupid.

But she could always ask.

"How much for this?" she pointed at the small wooden wolf.

"Two hundred and thirty," Grelka answered noncommittally.

What?! Was she serious?

"F-for a figurine?" Aeyrin gaped at her.

"They're hard to make," Grelka smirked at her.

Sure it was very pretty and artistic, but… for two hundred and thirty?! That was insane. Anyone could just make one for free for themselves!

Well… she could make one. And Bishop would surely love it even more if she did.

She waited for Grelka to give her the armor while she still continued looking at the figurine.

How hard could it be?

…

"Well, this is it," Bishop ushered Raven inside the house at the edge of the town.

Raven stepped inside with curiosity all over his face, looking from one corner to another. The house was fully furnished, of course, and kind of half-decorated by Aeyrin too. They had to throw out most of the flowers that had been left there since Iona obviously wasn't taking care of those. But still, it was very comfortably livable without even a dime invested.

"It's kinda open, but I guess that doesn't matter if you're gonna be here alone," Bishop shrugged before he ushered Raven into the adjacent bedroom. "That door there leads to the back porch. You can get in and out of the city through the house like that if you need to. Or smuggle shit if you want to. Or I don't know… go fishing or something," he smirked. He had no idea what Raven was actually planning on doing with his life now.

Raven looked at the door for what seemed like a long time before he turned back to Bishop and nodded. He still looked a little shocked and mesmerized.

"Downstairs is a bathroom and a room with an alchemy station and an enchanter. I doubt you can use those though," Bishop scoffed. Neither could he or Aeyrin. No thane or housecarl probably could. Maybe some select few. "There's also an extra room. Used to belong to that spy. Heh, I guess it belongs to a different spy now," he smirked weakly at Raven again.

The Imperial only shook his head somberly in response.

That's probably not who he was anymore.

But he definitely didn't have that figured out yet and Bishop didn't feel like prying anyway.

"Alright then, guess I'll leave you to it," he nodded resolutely. He wasn't sure what else to do there, but Raven suddenly grabbed him by the sleeve to stop his departure.

Bishop waited patiently as Raven took out his notepad and started to scribble.

.

Thank you.

.

And just as he handed Bishop the note, he started the next one already, but Bishop still managed to get a word out before he finished.

"Don't thank me. This is Aeyrin's house. And her idea."

Raven finished the note, but before he showed it to Bishop, he gave him a meaningful look and shook his head.

Ah. He wasn't talking about the house. He was talking about before – when Bishop told him the truth about Jules.

.

I will make sure to pay you back one day.

.

"'Pay me back'?" Bishop raised a brow at him. "That sounds fucking sinister."

Raven chuckled at his reaction and quickly shook his head. That was a little reassuring. He had reacted well to the news about Jules, but one could never know with Raven. He was too good of a liar.

But right now, he really seemed genuine as he placed his hand on Bishop's shoulder in a surprisingly amicable gesture.

Bishop nodded at him in mutual understanding, but the moment was getting a little too emotional for his comfort. He should really cut this short.

"Right. Well… good luck here," he murmured before he finally thought of something to shift the mood a bit. "And enjoy the bed. We did," he smirked meanly.

Raven shot him a death-glare, but he did roll his eyes right after with a subtle hint of a smile on his face.

It was definitely progress.

…

"Princess, did you not buy any meat?" Bishop called out to her as he rummaged through their provisions sack.

It was actually one of the very few things he had said to her all day, but she was still determined to weather the silence and let him cope however he preferred. She preferred to distract herself by taking care of him and respecting the silence was part of it.

They left Riften right after they met up at the marketplace and they hadn't stopped since, marching through the wilderness.

They had no particular direction and so they headed east. They had no plan, no idea where they should go, so they picked the least explored direction.

They continued on until late afternoon. Aeyrin stopped them a few hours before dusk – she knew that it was best to start hunting while it was still light out. It was definitely better for her, Bishop probably didn't mind either way.

They only made camp and prepared their bedroll before Bishop decided to make something to eat. It was more out of lack of anything else to do, since he was still adamantly silent. They had some rations for lunch and they weren't really hungry yet.

"Yeah, sorry, no meat," Aeyrin gave him a small smile. Gods, she really hoped that he would like the idea of them hunting together again. They hadn't done it in a long time and she never knew before whether she wasn't just a bother on his trips with Karnwyr.

"I… uh… I bought something else though…" she bit her lower lip nervously as she approached her backpack to show him. Gods, she was getting more and more uncertain about this by the minute. What if he would just find her presence on a hunt distracting? What if it looked like she just wanted to make the silence uncomfortable by always lingering around him, forcing him to talk? That would just frustrate him. And she didn't want to do anything to make his day worse.

Bishop stopped bothering with the provisions sack and cocked his head at her curiously. He waited without a word, unsurprisingly, until she pulled out the flimsy fur armor she had purchased that morning.

Now he was actually forced to speak.

"What is that?" Bishop narrowed his eyes at the armor.

Oh… it must not have been very recognizable like that. And she showed it to him right after he asked about meat. It must have appeared like she bought a dead animal, pelt and all, or something.

"Uhm… it's… an… an armor," she bit her lower lip again and she couldn't help but avoid his curious gaze. She still wasn't sure if he would like this idea. "I thought… maybe we could… go hunting together. You know… clear our heads, like you always say."

There was silence again and Aeyrin couldn't take it for long. She looked at him with trepidation, but his face showed nothing but surprise.

"You wanna go hunting with me?" he raised his brows at her. She was never really patient or subtle enough to enjoy that. She always got fidgety or restless. But… he did kind of feel like clearing his head out on a hunt. And he didn't really want to leave her behind. Even if they weren't doing anything, not even talking, he felt like being away from her would just make him feel worse.

"We… we don't have to," she shook her head quickly. Did she change her mind? "We can just send Karnwyr for a rabbit. Or you two can go alone, I can just…"

"I want you to come," he quickly interrupted her. He could see now that she was just getting insecure about her idea. It was actually really sweet. She knew what he usually wanted to do when dealing with shit and offered to share it with him. "You even bought an armor for that?" he smirked with a somewhat impressed look on his face.

"W-well… I know I would just scare everything away in my armor and… I didn't wanna go unprotected in the wilderness," she shrugged uncertainly. "And it was really cheap."

Bishop actually gave her a genuine smile after her rambling. He almost looked… touched. Did he really like this idea? She was so sure that he would hate it just a moment ago. Gods, why did she have to get so insecure all the time?

"Alright, love," he nodded resolutely. His face looked so much lighter than the entire day.

"Let's go on a hunt."

…

Aeyrin crouched down in the thicket, careful not to make a sound.

Her armor was barely any armor at all – just thick fur coverage of her torso and legs. Her regular clothes were peeking out from everywhere. Bishop had noted that it was normal to be naked under fur armor, but she didn't quite believe him for some reason.

She was surprised herself how little of a hindrance she had been on the hunt. And it was kind of fun. She had only ever been on two hunts with him – once, he tried to show her the ropes of it all and the other time was when they were at Nilheim, just sitting in the crumpled tower and waiting for a deer to come by. She wasn't counting the times where Bishop opportunely shot down a mammoth or any other game that came into view. This was different. On a proper hunt, there was a lot of waiting, watching and a lot of silence.

She didn't mind though. It was impressive to watch Bishop concentrate and pick his prey. And he was clearly showing off a little too. Each time, he shot a target a little further away, a little faster or in flight. She didn't even know what in the names of all the Gods they would do with a hawk, but… he did manage to shoot one. As well as a deer and two rabbits. Those were the most impressive – such small targets, paces and paces away, hidden by tall grass. Bishop really did have quite the eye for this.

And while they barely spoke, he did look pleased. He looked even more pleased whenever he shot something and Aeyrin looked at him in giddiness and admiration. He was definitely showing off, but she didn't mind one bit. His skills were something to be proud of and she rarely got an opportunity to admire them this meticulously out of the heat of battle or without dangerous enemies around.

And he had such good rapport with Karnwyr during the hunt. The wolf always knew when to run towards the prey, either to scare it into Bishop's direction or to make sure that it was really dead. He looked very happy and in his element too.

Right now, Bishop had been watching an elk for at least half an hour already and Aeyrin couldn't keep her eyes from it either. It was oddly calming, watching the wildlife with such intent. She was starting to get why this was so appealing for him.

Night was almost upon them though and it was best if they ended this quickly. They still had to make some food and set up their traps after all.

"Princess," Bishop interrupted Aeyrin's concentrated stare at the elk. She turned her eyes towards him promptly, only to see him holding his hand towards her with his bow in it.

Was he offering it to her?

"Come on, try one. Let's see how much you remember from our archery contest," he smirked.

Oh Gods, did she remember that contest. Though to be fair, she remembered their wild night after much more than the tips he gave her. But she was still tempted to try. And they already had so much meat, it wouldn't be a big deal if this one got away.

"I remember the contest," she bit her lip as she whispered, her cheeks flushing involuntarily.

"Uh-huh. Fun night," Bishop smirked at her, but he still seemed adamant about offering her his bow.

She took it tentatively and waited for him to hand her an arrow. The elk was calmly chewing on some grass or berries down on the ground, oblivious to their presence on their vantage point.

She knelt down on one knee and notched the arrow. She was pretty sure that she had the animal properly in sight, but a second later, she felt Bishop behind her, gently reach for her elbow and adjust her aim a bit.

He did that once, but then he didn't seem content with how her back was arched and he wrapped his arm around her stomach and pressed the other one between her shoulder blades to rearrange her to his liking. She didn't mind. It was kind of impressive that he could tell just by looking at her like that. And she could never really mind him touching her anyway.

When he seemed finally satisfied, he let go of her, but he remained at her back. She could feel his breath on her neck as he watched the elk over her shoulder carefully. Gods, he was distracting. But now she really wanted to do well.

A deep breath later, she let go. She wasn't sure for a second if she should close her eyes in anticipation, but she couldn't tear her gaze away. The arrow flew straight towards the elk, weathering the wind and the distance with ease.

And it struck. Aeyrin let out an unexpected squeak of joyous surprise, but fortunately disturbing the wildlife was no longer a concern.

Bishop had to chuckle at her giddiness while Karnwyr ran off to finish the animal off.

She was so fucking cute. It was an easy kill, especially after his re-direction, but still, he was probably happier with this one than all his previous kills that evening. She was so excited.

He returned his hands to her promptly, hugging her from behind and squeezing her against him.

"Well done, love," he pressed an affectionate kiss onto her temple.

"Right. If you didn't help, I would have probably shot at that tree over there. And missed," Aeyrin giggled. She didn't mind one bit though. They always worked well together.

"We'll never know, will we?" Bishop chuckled in response. "You could have still messed up this shot too, so I say it was well done."

True. She wouldn't be surprised if she had missed this one somehow, even after Bishop's help. She should still be proud of herself.

But she was much prouder of a different accomplishment.

Bishop's mood hadn't seemed this good in days.

…

It took them a while to get all the meat off their haul and clean it off properly.

It was dark already when they were done, but all that was left was a pleasant evening by the fire. After they both washed up in a nearby spring, they finally secured their secluded camp with traps, ready to stay in one spot for the night. They were pretty well hidden by the first peaks of the Velothi Mountains behind their backs, shielding them from being seen from all directions, but they would not risk it regardless. Security in the wilderness has become all too integral lately.

Bishop took a larger piece of the elk meat and started to dress it in spices promptly. He was silent again, but he did look a little less morose than before since that hunting trip.

And it was now time for another surprise. Aeyrin definitely needed to get started on it already. She hoped that he would like it.

She reached out for a small pot that Bishop had set aside earlier as something he wouldn't need. She was already used to watching his cooking enough to know what was fine for her to take. Besides, that was the only thing she needed.

"I've got this, sweetness," Bishop gave her a small smirk when he thought she was trying to assist him. "And I wasn't really gonna…"

"I know," she interrupted him. Of course she didn't know what he was going to do next, so helping him would be kind of strange. No wonder he didn't want that. But that wasn't the intention. "I just wanted to make dessert," she smirked at him.

"What?" Bishop raised his brow at her in surprise again. That was fair. She never really 'made' anything ever since he got so good at cooking and they rarely had 'dessert' unless they were at an inn or unless Bishop bought her some treats.

"Well… I thought… I would get you something you might like for a change," she gave him a bashful smile. She knew that he wasn't that much for sweets, definitely not as much as she was, but he did really like one sweet thing in particular.

She rummaged around in her pack until she found the bag of ironwood nuts that she had bought before. They smelled great already but she still needed to make them more edible.

"Ironwood nuts?" Bishop looked at her curiously. "Uhm… alright… that's… a choice," he looked at her as if she had no idea what she was doing or no idea how bitter they were. She grew up in Cyrodiil too! She knew all too well.

"Hush," she shook her head at him. "You just focus on the meat and leave this to me."

Bishop chuckled a bit and raised his hands in mock surrender. She still saw him watch her from the corner of her eye though as she spilled the nuts into the small pot.

She grabbed one of their bottles of mead and poured it over the nuts in the pot. An old man in Bruma taught her that once. She had been staying at the Jerall View Inn there and spending all her money on their famous sweet cakes. But then they ran out and when that old patron saw her pout about that, he asked why she wouldn't just wait for the next day when the proprietor would make more. Aeyrin had plans to leave the next day – she had agreed to accompany a scholar into the nearby Ayleid ruins, and she lamented never getting to eat anything sweet on the road because it was too hard to make. The old man told her about this simple treat that could be made on the road – ironwood nuts boiled in mead and honey crust. Even a child could make it, he said. And she did try soon after. It really was simple enough for anyone to make, fortunately. And she knew that Bishop always went for the treats made with honey first. And he always loved mead. She really hoped he would like this.

She began to stir the nuts in the mead a bit. If she left them in long enough, they would soften and sweeten, completely obliterating the bitter taste.

"Hey! The meat!" she chastised Bishop when he continued peering at what she was doing curiously, forgetting the meat altogether.

Bishop smirked in response and gave his attention to his own cooking again. He still peeked at her from time to time though. She wasn't sure why. She was going to just be stirring for ages now.

"Ever had this thing?" she asked curiously. Maybe he knew. The old man who had told her about the simple recipe was a Nord after all. Maybe it was a common Skyrim thing. Though there were no ironwood nuts growing in Skyrim so she wasn't sure.

"No," Bishop shook his head. "Sometimes, when I was little, those nuts were the only thing we could get to eat. Wasn't great…" he cringed a bit. "Never really tried to make anything out of them."

"W-well… I think you're going to like this," she mumbled a little nervously. Gods, she hoped she wouldn't be just stirring some awful childhood memories. "You can't even feel the original taste, I promise."

"It's fine, sweetness," he smirked at her reaction. "I'm curious."

She returned a grateful smile to him and continued concentrating on the food. Once the nuts would absorb enough mead to soften and sweeten, all she needed to do was to coat them in honey and roast them a bit more to get a little bit of a honey-crust on them. And that was it. It was really simple and she used to do this a lot back in Cyrodiil. She wished they had anything this simple make on the road from common Skyrim ingredients. But she had to be satisfied with jazbay grapes on the go, it seemed.

They both continued to make their respective meals for a while then, letting the pleasant smells fill their small campsite.

Soon enough, Bishop was done and they had a nice, though silent, meal of spiced elk meat with leek sauce. It was delicious, as always, his diminished mood certainly didn't reflect on the food. Aeyrin got a little uncertain whether her simple treat could even be appreciated after that, but she mentally chastised herself for still being so insecure today. She couldn't help it though. She was just so adamant about all her surprises going well and about helping Bishop and… distracting herself. These silly little things suddenly felt so important.

When they finished eating, Aeyrin moved back to her own small pot and finished the last things she needed to – getting rid of the excess mead and roasting the sweetened nuts in a bit of honey from their stock. It only took a couple more minutes before the treat was done.

She prepared a little piece of clean cloth upon which she spilled the warm crusted nuts. Then she moved towards Bishop with the cloth carefully splayed in her hands. She placed it gently on the ground on a flattened patch of grass and gave him an uncertain look.

"So… do you dare?" she chuckled slightly as she took one of the nuts between her fingers.

"Sure," Bishop smirked at her. He reached out for the food, but she stopped him and crawled over to him, holding the nut she already had in front of his lips. What? He always insisted on feeding her treats. She was going to enjoy this too.

Bishop let out a chuckle of his own and he opened his mouth obligingly. She placed the nut on his tongue gently, but he instantly closed his lips around her fingers. She kind of expected that, still she let out an involuntary giggle and her face flushed a bit. Still, she was more interested in his reaction to the treat than anything else right then. She withdrew her fingers from him and watched him with palpable anticipation.

"Hmm… this is actually good," Bishop raised his brows in surprise.

"Well don't sound so shocked," Aeyrin scoffed, pouting. Though she couldn't really blame him for being surprised. She wasn't the best cook. Not bad, just… nothing groundbreaking.

"Not like that," Bishop snickered. "It's those nuts. I didn't think they could be edible. Let alone actually tasty." He was kind of bracing himself for the bitter taste he even more bitterly remembered, but this was certainly a pleasant surprise. He wrapped his arm around Aeyrin's shoulder and nudged her to settle next to him, leaning on his shoulder, while he grabbed a few more nuts and popped them into his mouth.

"I like stuff with honey," he mused almost to himself.

"Yeah, I noticed," Aeyrin smiled as she snuggled into his embrace. She was glad that she didn't mess up by bringing up some bad memories. They've had enough of those for a while.

Bishop shot her an affectionate smile at that. He wasn't sure why she decided to make that treat now – maybe she just saw the nuts at the Riften market and remembered it – but in any case, he definitely wasn't complaining.

This whole evening out in the wilderness with her helped him get distracted from all that shit that happened.

…

The night was still somewhat young and Bishop decided to disarm one of the traps and go wash his armor after both the trip to that Nightingale training hall and now the hunting trip. Crouching on the ground or lying in wait in the dirt and grass sometimes made it ever worse than going through a dungeon. Aeyrin gave him the new furs to wash as well since she wasn't going to be using them much anyway – no reason to have dirty clothes in her pack for ages. Besides, she could use some time with Bishop away. There was still one thing she wanted to try out and never got a chance tonight.

Just as he disappeared, she decided to give it a try. She was still thinking about that silly figurine and she was sure that she could make something that would look like Karnwyr. She knew that she couldn't make it as pretty as that wolf at Grelka's stand, but she also couldn't afford to spend over two hundred on a silly useless thing. It wasn't exactly useless, but it was definitely useless for someone like Bishop. She still didn't know why it even caught her attention. Maybe her instincts were completely off.

But she couldn't stop thinking about it, so she might as well try.

She grabbed one of their pieces of firewood and the Dwemer dagger she had enchanted for that hermit's contraption.

She started to cut off the ends and edges, but it became obvious very soon that the way the Dwemer dagger was made wasn't ideal for this. She needed something… pointier. Bishop's hunting knife would have been good for this, but he definitely had that with him, so she just had to settle for one of their extra knives for meat and emergencies.

It was… better.

Sort of.

It was a lot harder than she had imagined. Sure, art was hard, it needed a lot of practice and inspiration and talent and dedication but… she didn't imagine that she would be this bad at carving things. It was hard to actually make the knife go into the place she needed it to. How was that possible? She was aiming right at one spot and then the knife went another way! What was wrong with that knife?!

She kind of managed to make a head.

Though it did look more like a troll's head. It had no ears! She made ears but now it looked like they were gone! How?

She growled in frustration and continued to carve into the head to make the ears more visible again. It looked more like someone bashed its skull in with a club though.

"What are you doing?"

She almost jumped at the start. Bishop's voice came out of nowhere and it was even more eerie with how little she got to hear it in the last few days.

She dropped the knife immediately, though she wasn't sure if it was the startle or a defense mechanism since she instantly clutched the figurine in both hands so that he wouldn't see. Well… she couldn't really call it a figurine. More like an unrecognizable lump of wood.

"Nothing! Don't look!" she yelped.

Divines, why on Nirn would she say that? Now he would want to do nothing more than to look. Or maybe he would just let it go. Maybe he was in a bad enough mood not to bother. Maybe he would just…

"What? What'cha got there? Come on!" Bishop insisted immediately and he stepped closer, peering over her crouched back and trying to see what she was hiding in her hands.

Well… so much for that. He would never let it go now.

"No! It's not ready," she tried again. Maybe he would be patient and wait until whatever she was doing was ready. He was a patient man, right? He would just…

"'Ready'? What are you getting ready with that knife?"

She could feel him closer, behind her back, bending down to see better.

Dammit.

Aeyrin let out a long sigh of resignation and she uncovered the clutch of her arms slightly. She did that so carefully so that he couldn't actually see that much, but she knew that it was inevitable. Eventually, Bishop got too frustrated trying to see through her fingers and he grabbed the piece of wood out of her grip.

There was a long moment of silence as he just… stared at it. He crouched down, squatting by the fire, presumably to see better in the more direct light, and he began twisting the 'figurine' from side to side, examining it from every angle.

"… What am I looking at here?" he finally spoke.

Ouch.

"Nothing," she mumbled. She was definitely not going to tell him now when he wouldn't even recognize it! Well… alright, it would be unfair to blame him for it actually. It was beyond recognition.

"Oh come on!" Bishop scoffed at her. "Don't tell me I'm the one who has to drag things out of you right now."

Well… at least he was self-aware of his brooding silence. But, oh what was the point? He wasn't going to stop prodding until he got the truth out of her anyway.

"I… I saw this… thing at Grelka's," she sighed in defeat. "It was a small figurine or a statuette. It was a howling wolf and it looked like Karnwyr"

Karnwyr instantly perked up at the sound of his name, but when he didn't find them paying any attention to him, he went right back to napping.

"I know it's stupid," Aeyrin continued. "I mean, what are you even gonna do with a figurine? It's so pointless. Right?"

"Right," Bishop smirked.

Well, she should have trusted her head. He did think stuff like this was pointless. Why did she even try something so stupid? But he was still waiting for her to continue.

"But…" she lowered her head bashfully. "But it made me think of Karnwyr and it made me smile and I thought… I don't know what I thought. But it was so expensive and I thought… I thought I would…" she stopped talking. It was obvious what she thought she would do, wasn't it? She thought she could just make her own. So stupid.

There was only a brief moment of silence before Bishop burst out into genuine laughter.

It was kind of nice. She hadn't heard him laugh for a while. It was kind of frustrating that it was at her expense, but still… little victories.

"Yeah, yeah, I get it," she sighed with a slight hint of chuckle in her voice. She was ridiculous to think she could do this. "Not my calling apparently. Dibella and Zenithar are laughing right now just like you are, I think."

Bishop continued laughing as he raised the figurine in his hand as if to show it to her again, in case she forgot how bad it was. She promptly grabbed it from him and hid it in her hands again, but that didn't stop the laughter.

"That's so fucking cute," he snickered at her.

Aeyrin pouted at him, but it was really nice to see him laughing like that. She couldn't hide her smile for long either.

"Give me it," Bishop made a gesture with his hand, urging her to give him the figurine back.

Aeyrin revealed it again only very hesitantly, but she did relinquish it in a while and handed it back to him. "Are you gonna fix it?" She gave him a curious look. Did he know how to whittle? He was very good with that hunting knife.

"Pfft, no! I'm gonna keep it." Bishop laughed again.

"What?! No! Why?!" Aeyrin almost yelped as she reached back for the figurine, but Bishop kept it from her grasp adamantly.

"How can I not?" He chuckled. He still couldn't believe that she actually tried to whittle him a statuette. Even though she knew shit like that had no use, just because she thought it would make him smile too. "You are so fucking perfect, love." He used his free hand, the one that wasn't clutching the lump of wood, to cup her cheek affectionately.

"No I'm not," Aeyrin pouted at him in return. "If I was, I would have bought you the pretty one… or been better at this stuff…" she sighed. What was he even going to do with that unidentifiable piece of wood? She could have just not been cheap and gotten him a real piece of art.

"Sweetheart, what are you doing?" Bishop's constant smirk suddenly turned more serious as he studied her expression. She knew that he wasn't asking about the figurine anymore – not exactly.

"I just… I wanted to…" she let out an uncertain sigh. "I was just trying to make you feel better."

"What?" Bishop raised his brows at her in surprise as if the whole evening just ran again in front of his eyes and he realized what the intention had been. "You don't have to do that. You don't have to do any of this. I'm fine, princess," he shook his head at her in bafflement. He looked like he found it so inconceivable to think otherwise.

She wasn't fooled.

"No you're not," she gave him a somewhat admonishing look and shook her head. She must have seemed more sad than actually chastising though, since Bishop's pretend expression fell instantly.

He looked at her for what seemed like a long while. She waited for him to speak, but he didn't look like he would. His face was kind of worried and uncertain before he let out a long sigh. Instead of talking though, he just enveloped her in a hug. She couldn't see his face anymore, but she didn't need to. He clutched her in his arms firmly and buried his head in her hair for a while.

He wasn't saying anything and she knew that he didn't want to talk.

But she did. Somehow, at that moment, it wasn't working anymore and nothing could distract her from wanting to.

"I'm not fine either, Bish," she sniffled a bit as she pressed herself firmer into his embrace. "I… I don't know what to think, how to feel about this," it was like she couldn't stop herself now that she started. "I… can't believe she's dead. And I can't believe she was… that she was capable of…"

"Yeah, I know," Bishop nodded against her shoulder. She only expected him to say that much, to console her now. She didn't want that. She wanted to be there for him.

But instead, he pulled away from her. He kept his hands on her shoulders somewhat comfortingly and he kept looking at her with regret and uncertainty. He looked like he didn't know what to say just then. Or maybe he did and was just trying to bring himself to do it.

"Fuck… I…" he sighed before he shook his head at himself. He only spoke through gritted teeth now, somewhat angrily. "I trusted her. I couldn't even trust Jules when I should have. I… I couldn't even trust you with all those fucking secrets back then. But I trusted her," he growled.

Aeyrin wasn't sure if she should react to that or let him vent more. She understood the frustration and the anger of it all. She didn't want him to feel bad about not trusting Karliah over her, that wasn't what happened. The circumstances were completely different.

She wanted to answer, but Bishop's murmur interrupted her. He was almost talking to himself, but there was no way she wouldn't have heard.

"What the fuck is wrong with me?"

"Nothing!" She quickly placed her hands on his as they were still on her shoulder. "Nothing's wrong with you. I… I don't think it's about people," she shook her head at him. "I… I think it's about fear. You were worried about being betrayed by Jules, you were worried for my safety back then. But with Karliah, the only things you were worried about were Mercer and Thorn. It was… natural to trust her. Nothing's wrong with you. I trusted her too. Everyone did. Because… because there was someone else getting all the attention. While she was just…"

"Hiding in the shadows?" Bishop scoffed. It was fitting, probably. Karliah had always been secretive, always had an agenda. And nobody could still see this coming. Nobody could see her for who she was.

"Ironic, isn't it?" Aeyrin nodded somberly.

"Yeah." It was ironic and they all should have known better. They all should have been warier and smarter.

But they weren't. And as always, there was nothing to do but to learn from this and move on.

Except… Bishop wasn't sure if he wanted – to learn from this, that is.

A year ago, he would have suspected something. A year ago he wouldn't have followed her this far, not this blindly.

But a year ago he also decided not to trust the one person who he should have trusted.

Maybe Aeyrin had a point. It was never about the people. Not entirely. The circumstances, the fear, it changed a lot. And maybe it was pointless to keep agonizing about how he couldn't trust the right people at the right times.

Despite everything, it kind of worked out for the best this time around. Is still stung, but… Mercer was dead, Karliah was dead too, along with her twisted plans. And he and Aeyrin were finally free.

That was the important thing.

He grabbed her more firmly again and pulled her into his embrace once more. Whatever else, he was right to trust Karliah with this – the bounty was gone and so were Thorn and Mercer. Maybe that was all it ever needed to be.

"Thanks, sweetness," he smiled affectionately as he buried his head in her hair again. "For this. For today."

Aeyrin only squeezed him tighter in her arms, but that was all he really needed.

It did feel a bit better.

Hopefully they would actually be able to put this mess behind them.

It was about time they got to enjoy their freedom.