Author's Note:

Dear all,

I hope you're still enjoying the book. We're nearing the end again, slow but steady. Well a little faster but steady. You may have noticed that I quickened my schedule again a bit for the holidays. I want to have good chapters for you for Christmas and this time mostly for the New Year's so that you can enjoy the festive mood ;) So my updates will continue to be generally more frequent now for a bit. I hope you don't mind ;)

On another note, I am well into writing the third book, with over thirty chapters written. I can't wait to share it all with you.

That's about it from me for now. I hope you'll enjoy this chapter and that you're having nice and relaxing pre-holiday times if there are any holidays upcoming for you :)

Enjoy and thank you for reading.

Chapter CXIX – The Perfect Trap

The rest of their fifth day in Hjaalmarch fortunately passed without incident.

Aeyrin rushed up towards the Wall, leaving Bishop to slowly make his way after her. She would have watched over him, but once she noticed the Wall, time was of the essence.

Much to her relief, learning the word was just like it always used to be. She learned the Word 'KRAH' and before Bishop got there, she tried it out at a safe distance. Nothing happened though. She tried and tried and once she accidentally let out her frost breath Shout, although barely as effective as ever. She had no idea how that happened. It was a strange feeling having these powers she had no control over whatsoever. It was even worse than back when she had discovered them for the first time.

But eventually, Bishop made it up there as well and she quickly turned her attention to him, examining his injuries. There was no one and nothing around, so it was probably safer to undress him so that she could feel everything properly, rather than having him walk all the way to Morthal wounded like that. It was only a small fracture of one of his ribs. It took her only three tries to fix it up with her spells. He would probably be a bit sore for a while, but he was fine otherwise.

After that, they decided against exploring Labyrinthian further. It's been a long day.

The following day, they decided to stay in Morthal. They headed back to Highmoon Hall to inform Idgrod about the dragon so that she could send her soldiers to harvest the bones. It was good – less chance for Alduin to come back and resurrect his fallen brother again, if he was capable of that. But Idgrod didn't need to know about that.

Later that day, Aeyrin had learned more about her new Shout. Her book on Dragon language said that it meant 'cold'. That explained some things. It was likely the second Word of her frost breath Shout. It was comforting that the lapse at the mountain wasn't entirely random and out of control. Still, there was no use for this Shout now. No use for any of them.

But those worries had to stay buried for now.

The rest of their day was spent in pleasant recuperation, only occasionally disturbed by the constant worries whenever Bishop went outside alone. He didn't even know what to do there most of the time. He pretended to scout out a bit outside the city limits or, much to his dismay, make small talk with the town guards about any explorable areas around. But nothing ever happened. It was kind of a relief, but still a bit frustrating.

He was set to go back to the alchemy shop later that evening – at least then he would have something to do and replenish their supplies which he had drunk a lot of already to numb his sore rib. But first, some good meal and a calm dinner with Aeyrin was in order. If only that screeching Orc would shut up for one night.

But the food made it a bit more manageable. And at least the self-proclaimed 'bard' did take a break at one point to eat as well.

Though the quiet did provide some more opportunities to drown in one's thoughts and overthink everything.

"I feel watched," Bishop mumbled quietly before he popped the last bit of his pheasant meat into his mouth. He wasn't sure who could be watching him. There were the usual patrons there whom they have been seeing all week, or at least parts of it. No new arrivals today.

"You said that every single day we've been here," Aeyrin smirked at him. She couldn't really fault him for being paranoid though. She also felt uneasy their entire stay in Morthal.

"I know," Bishop scoffed defensively when he was done chewing. "Doesn't mean I'm wrong."

It was true enough. For all they knew, they could have been watched this entire time. They were being watched this entire time – at least by the Penitus agents outside. But those couldn't be everywhere. It would have been too conspicuous.

Aeyrin only nodded at him as she finished the last bits of her own food. She could see how hard Bishop was trying to look casual just then – to look like he wasn't watching everyone covertly, trying to gauge whether they could be a threat.

It was making her a bit more uneasy. Funny, she should be used to it by now, but it appeared that there was no getting used to this constant worrying. She was looking forward to when he would be back from his errand again and with her in their room. That was probably the only time she could properly relax. That was, until time for sleep came and she was void of any distractions that would help her not think of all this.

"Alright, I'm gonna head out," Bishop nodded at her with determination. Good. The sooner he would leave, the sooner he would be back. And in the meantime, she would hopefully be able to relax a little in a warm bath. That was their usual schedule after dinner. Bishop thought that regularity would make it more likely for the Brotherhood to strike and she didn't really mind. Bathing now when he was gone just meant that she didn't have to separate from him later again for that purpose.

Bishop got up from his seat and approached her briefly, bending down to plant a kiss on her lips.

An hour. She would be counting the minutes again, but that was alright.

As long as he would come back to her soon once more.

In the last few days, she couldn't help but get naively hopeful that the Brotherhood wouldn't strike at all.

But then they would just have to live with the uncertainty for Gods-knew-how long.

…

Aeyrin submerged herself in the warm tub with a satisfied sigh escaping her lips.

It was kind of relaxing, despite the situation. The bathing room was all warm and cozy and it even smelled nice. She noted an incense burning on a cupboard there. It hadn't been there any of the previous days, but now it definitely added to the atmosphere. The innkeeper had probably put it there to mask some smells, but Aeyrin chose not to dwell on that thought and just enjoy the nice scent. It reminded her of mountain flowers – she loved those – and something else that she couldn't quite place.

She reached out to her bathing supplies lazily and grabbed a washcloth and a bar of soap. This was probably the first day when they didn't really get many opportunities to get too dirty – no dungeons, no roaming around the wilderness. But still, it did feel nice to be washing off what little grime there was. It was just such a mundane task that felt… normal. Like not many things did this week.

The water sloshed around her as she continued washing, with the scent almost numbing all her other senses. Except for the warmth. It was so nice. She could fall asleep like this within a second.

But she couldn't sleep, of course. She needed to wait for Bishop. She had to be vigilant. If he would be gone for longer than an hour, she needed to act. Besides, falling asleep in a public bathing room was probably not a great idea. Who knew who could walk in there next?

She did feel like sleeping though. It was definitely the warm water making her drowsy.

She continued to wash for a while as she felt several times her eyes waver a bit and try to close. Dammit, what had gotten into her? It wasn't even as if she should be tired after today. They barely did anything. She wasn't even this tired after that absorption.

Aeyrin thought back on the events of yesterday briefly. She really was relieved that both the Wall and the dragon soul didn't change. She wasn't sure what to think of it if they did. How to make peace with the fact that that monster inside altered her very soul. The blood was bad enough on its own.

But she didn't need to worry about that. Everything went as it always did – sure, it was painful and frightening, but she still thought that it was better than having to agonize over the implications if it wasn't. She did have to scoff a bit at Aela's notions that this beast inside would make her stronger. If that was true, the absorption would have been easier. It was nothing good. There were no benefits to this curse whatsoever. How could she not see it?

It was pointless to think about Aela though. It was only making Aeyrin angry. She didn't want to be angry. She just wanted to enjoy the nice bath.

And that pleasant scent.

After what felt like a long while, she discarded her washcloth and soap and leaned back on the edge of the tub, stretching her arms out on the rim. She should probably head back soon. She was done with the bath after all, but she didn't feel like getting up. She felt so tired. She just wanted to relax a bit in the warm water.

Maybe close her eyes for a second.

No, she shouldn't be doing that. She needed to stay alert. To stay…

Her lids fell again and she opened them up quickly, but soon, she felt them begin to fall once more.

Dammit, she couldn't resist. Why was she so tired all of the sudden?

Well… maybe she could give in. Just for a second.

No… no… she really shouldn't.

But as she was trying to mentally convince herself, she had barely noticed that her eyes were already closed. And soon, her conscious thoughts got jumbled a bit with strange half-dreams. She kept waking up from them, snapping herself out and reminding herself where she was. But through all that, she couldn't open her eyes anymore. Not even for a second.

Soon, the jumbled images in her head got overwhelming.

And she couldn't even think straight as they finally claimed her, lulling her to sleep.

…

Bishop stepped out of the apothecary after only ten minutes.

He could have stayed and browsed a bit, though there wasn't really anything for him to see among potions and ingredients. He only picked up a few healing potions and some ice wraith teeth to preserve their provisions.

It was pretty early to go back. Usually he liked to stay outside for at least half an hour. To give them the opportunity. It was a little weird, making himself into a bait like that, but he didn't know what else to do. Sometimes, he bought a piece of raw meat and went outside the city for a little bit, pretending to 'lure in' and call Karnwyr. The Brotherhood didn't know that he had sent him away, right? It was a good tactic, even though it just made him miss his wolf friend all the more and obsessively wonder where he was or whether he was alright.

Truth be told, Bishop really didn't have many ideas on how to occupy himself in the city without Aeyrin. Hunting took too long and he wasn't really one to constantly pester strangers with chatter. And the longer they stayed in Morthal, the harder it got to think of stuff to do.

He looked around for a bit before he took a step towards the inn. Maybe the meat thing? He really didn't know anymore. But just as he did, a very annoying sound stopped him in his tracks.

That Gods-awful Orc was squawking there again and it carried all the way outside. Ugh. Bishop made a disgusted grimace as he turned on his heels. Now he didn't even need to pretend. He just wanted some peace and quiet away from that fucking disaster of a singer.

He walked away from the inn again with only a small sack in his hand, filled with potions and icy fangs. It was nicely quiet further away from the inn. The sun was already almost entirely gone from the sky, only illuminating the horizon faintly in a soft orange light. Though it was all a little too blurry to appreciate in the fog.

Bishop walked all the way towards the end of the bridge, almost next to the mill. He didn't really feel like going to the inn again and pretending like he had a plan to do something outside. It was weirdly exhausting. Or maybe just exasperating. He had been frustrated about having to constantly be on the move, constantly having to run. Now it was even more frustrating to have to stay put. It wasn't as if he and Aeyrin hadn't spent way longer holed up in a city before. But it was never like this. It felt like a weird prison with all the planning and scheduling.

This better be fucking worth it down the line. If he was going through all of this just to get murdered, he was gonna be so fucking pissed.

He leaned on the stony railing and looked down into the murky water below. They should have really picked a different place to stay in. He did like Morthal well enough, but the swamps were a pain to be in and around both.

But within a few seconds, something else tore his attention away from the water.

A bright white light almost blinded him for a second as it flashed in front of his eyes. He instantly stepped back from the railing in surprise and let out a shocked gasp.

Well… he tried. No noise came out, not even the sound of his breath. What the fuck? He felt himself let out a gasp.

"Not a fan of the entertainment?" a familiar voice rang behind his ear. He couldn't hear anyone approach before. He couldn't see anyone now. He couldn't even feel anyone near. But he did recognize the voice when he heard it. Ever since that whole mess in Windhelm, it would be burrowed into his mind forever.

Gabriella.

He was almost relieved. Like a strange wave of acceptance washed over him. It was better than the anticipation. He couldn't really answer her though. He tried, but he made no sound.

"You should have called," Gabriella chuckled a bit. "We have ways of silencing people. You might have noticed."

Bishop made a quick motion, trying to hit the invisible woman with his elbow and get away. He had to make this shit believable. What better way than to actually try to get away? But Gabriella was ready for it.

A sharp pain suddenly erupted in the back of his shoulder before he could even thrash around to hit her. He was pretty sure he screamed, but nothing came out. The next thing he knew, his hand got grabbed and pulled behind his back, stretching what he could only assume was a stab wound in his shoulder. Fuck, that hurt. And it completely paralyzed him for a moment. Long enough for him to feel a familiar blade at his throat once more.

"That was for the last time. You've been difficult for too long," Gabriella hissed into his ear.

Fuck, couldn't she just punch him or slap him instead? Insane. His shoulder throbbed in searing pain and he desperately needed to get out of her grip, but the blade on his throat suggested that it wasn't a good idea. Gabriella sounded really frustrated. Maybe she wouldn't stand for defiance anymore. Maybe none of them would. As long as he didn't know why the fuck they were trying to recruit him so much, he had no certainty in anything.

He briefly hoped that someone might have seen what happened. The bright light may have been only so vividly visible to him, as clearly a silence spell hit him, but someone might have seen it through the mist, right? There weren't really any people around. He had already subconsciously walked into any direction where he would be completely alone in order to lure them in, even if right that moment that wasn't his only intention. But maybe he wasn't that far from the guards and the Penitus agents to have seen.

Then again, he should really calm down. This was the plan after all. Their perfect and well-thought out trap. It would only take a little over half an hour before Aeyrin would be freaking out that he's missing. She would rally the agents, she would rally a whole fucking army if she could, and they would follow him wherever he was instantly. It didn't matter if nobody saw the spell now.

"Now," Gabriella hissed as she pressed the blade more firmly into his neck. "This time, you better cooperate. I've had enough of chasing you for a lifetime. Enough to end yours quickly."

Alright. He got that. The blade made it pretty clear.

"I'm going to let go now, so that we don't have a repeat of last time," her tone continued to be threatening. Bishop was kind of shocked that she would let go of him, but then again, after what had happened in Windhelm, it was understandable. He really wanted her to finally leave his arm alone. The pain was just getting worse. If he could make a sound, he would be screaming all the time.

"There's a Brother nearby. He's got his crossbow trained on you. So no funny business. You're gonna do exactly as I say," she growled into his ear again.

Bishop couldn't help but throw her a dubious look, even though he wasn't entirely sure where exactly she was. That was like the oldest trick in the book. 'Oh yeah, I have an invisible friend that will shoot you on the spot. Definitely.' It was too bad that it kinda sounded convincing coming from her.

"Fine. Don't believe me. Less hassle for me," she scoffed at his doubtful stare and, a second later, the blade was gone from his neck and she finally released his arm. He let out a long hiss of pain as he straightened his shoulder back, but of course, it was silent, like every other grunt of pain or gasp of shock that had escaped him by now.

He didn't move an inch when she finally let him go. He couldn't. She sounded really fucking frustrated with Bishop's history of escaping the Brotherhood and he feared that she didn't care enough about keeping him alive to stand for another escape attempt. At least for now, she still wanted him to follow her instructions. That was good. If she wanted him dead, this place was perfect. With nobody around, she could just slit his throat and dump him in the swamp.

After a while of excruciating silence, he nodded. That seemed to finally satisfy Gabriella enough to move things along.

"Good," her voice rang from somewhere behind him. "Now, keep calm, do as I say, and you might live through this. We'll see. There is a submerged barrow at the end of the isle, to the north-west. You know which one I mean?"

Bishop nodded again. It was close to the city. He knew well enough what she meant.

"Go. Straight to the barrow. I will be behind you and so will the Brother with the crossbow. Others will meet us there."

It was odd to think about being fortunate that there were more assassins there waiting for him. But the more he saw, the more he learnt, the better. It was all going according to plan. It wouldn't be long now and Aeyrin would start looking for him. And whenever he needed to, he had that soul gem ring to signal her and the agents.

He started walking without another gesture. He was pretty sure that Gabriella wasn't making up that assassin with a crossbow. And besides, he needed to follow through anyway. He just hoped that the rest of those psychos weren't waiting there to kill him. But he really doubted that. So much trouble just for that? No. This was about something else. And hopefully, he would find out soon.

It didn't take long before they reached the barrow. And sure enough, there they were. Two more assassins waited there for him. Not even hiding. Familiar ones. They both had masks on, but he recognized the woman's pine-green eyes instantly – it was the same one who had abducted him the first time. And the man – by the stature and some of the grey long hair slipping from under his hood, Bishop had surmised that this was the Nord who had lured him out in Dawnstar.

"Everything set?" The green eyed woman looked somewhere behind Bishop, presumably at Gabriella.

"Yes. Though I still think that this was too…" the Dunmer started to talk in an annoyed tone, but she was promptly interrupted by that woman again.

"I know. Not here. We should move."

The assassins approached Bishop promptly. He still didn't move in the fear of getting shot and he still couldn't talk. They just stood there though and watched. He didn't understand why at first, but soon, he didn't really get to ponder on it further.

His body suddenly stiffened and he barely managed to perceive the green light enveloping him. Paralysis. He was sure that he would fall face-first into the swampy water, but he felt hands on his shoulders before that could happen, grasping him firmly.

Ow! Fuck!

Couldn't they leave his shoulder alone for fuck's sake?! He was already cooperating. Not that he had a choice. But at least he had a plan. He wasn't sure what would happen next, but he knew that soon, he would have Aeyrin running to his rescue.

It was a comforting thought. The last one he could concentrate on.

Then, a dull ache spread through his skull and that was the last thing he remembered.