Chapter XXIV – All in the Family

The drinks kept flowing that night as the hours whiled away.

It was fortunate that the swill they served at the small tavern in the Leyawiin slums was so watered down Bishop couldn't possibly get too drunk from it. Ost and Duful seemed buzzed, though not enough to lower their guard too much. Ost may have had a Nordic constitution, just like Bishop, but it seemed like he hadn't built up the same tolerance to alcohol. After all, if all he drank was cheap shit in low-grade taverns, there was no way for him to get used to proper drinks. The only proper drinks one could get in Cyrodiil were the very expensive brandy and the quality wines. But in Skyrim, mead was affordable for everyone. And it tended to have a kick.

It was a… surprising evening, really. There was constant tension and suspicion in the air and Bishop noted that his brothers tensed up every time he even made a small move. It was understandable. But other than that, it was oddly… amicable. The three of them drank, insulted each other occasionally, but mostly they just… talked. Catching up on some shit or doing some semi-drunken rambling. It wasn't nearly as bad as Bishop had feared it might be.

He did have to watch himself though. He had to be careful what he divulged. Making up too much shit always had the most potential to backfire, so he stuck to the truth with some stuff. Like working for Thorn, or that Jules was sick because of his heritage. He did tell them that the disease eventually got him and he said that his 'hard times' were the result of Thorn's death and raids on the clans. Bishop claimed that he got out of that mess, wary of another attack on Lost Knife or of a violent takeover, but he soon discovered he was not as successful on his own. That was when he remembered Kari's words and came looking for his original clan to reap some of its fortunes.

The brothers seemed to buy that story. After all, it was much more believable than the truth. What else would a bandit do with his life? Bite the hand that fed him and end up gallivanting around, raiding tombs with the last Dragonborn? Who in their right mind would ever believe that?

Aside from a few interesting stories of causing trouble in cities and on the roads, Ost and Duful didn't give Bishop much more useful information about their lives since Torban's death. From what he gathered, the two of them were mostly just selling the goods that the siblings stole or looted and they also arranged any smuggling deals – those were also done mostly by the others. It was the same as with Torban. They did none of the grunt work but they had all the contacts and the money.

They were not willing to have Bishop just sit and do nothing for a slice of that profit. That was understandable though. So aside from the 'opportunity' he promised them, along with some more potential ones in the future, they made it clear that he would have to do some work as well. Bishop, of course, promptly reassured them that he was not going to let the brothers take all the money he made here. They agreed to split the profits five ways for now, with two parts coming to each of them and one for Bishop.

That was acceptable, for now.

He was not willing to do the shitty jobs they offered the siblings though. He told them that he could make some money on his own, though he needed their contacts and buyers. Hunting was a good source of income, as long as there was a susceptible chump that bought at high prices. He would just make the money they requested and contribute that way – like Liesl and Galric did that with their whoring. And Kari did too with getting money and loot from her cult's bullshit.

But the brothers didn't really like that too much. After all, hunting wasn't exactly illegal. The clan did it to feed themselves, not to make money. They said their sources for buying this shit weren't the best, but that they would get someone. However, Bishop would have to pull a bit more weight before they did. Bishop didn't know what specifically they meant, but he knew what the purpose of it was.

They wanted leverage. They needed him sucked into the vicious cycle of culpability and dependence. They needed something they could threaten him with if things went sour.

Fine. Whatever. Bishop was willing to do shit like that. Of course, he would just do it his own way, how he always had ever since he decided to fight against Thorn. Whatever they would ask, he would agree and then just… improvise.

For now though, he was quite content to drink the night away with them. He was even surprised how easy it was to hide his disdain for them. Although he didn't have to really hide it, they all despised each other, but they all accepted that fact. It didn't prevent them from drinking together. It never had.

Bishop just wished he had a way of letting Aeyrin know that he was fine. She must have been worried, even if she knew he would be here with the two of them – she had no idea whether his brothers would try anything.

But he couldn't get too antsy about that. He wasn't supposed to be in a rush to get anywhere – he was supposed to be here alone, just looking for the clan. And Aeyrin was definitely not supposed to be someone he would be worried about, in case the brothers learned of her existence.

But it was looking promising. The evening was dragging on and it was the brothers who were beginning to look a little antsy. Duful was mostly looking at any passing young girl with palpable interest, while Ost kept giving nods of greeting at different people, clearly some of his current contacts. He looked like he was eager to go do some dealings with them. He kept watching when some of them sat by a table together and began talking.

"I need to talk to those fuckers," Ost grunted after a while of observing the other table.

Finally.

Bishop could leave at last. Even though it wasn't as bad as he had anticipated, nothing could beat going back to Aeyrin.

Ost stood up from his chair and marched to the other table with determination, without further explanations. Good. This was a good point at which to leave the night off.

"I should probably…" Bishop began to talk, but before he could pretend that he was tired or insinuate that he should get some sleep, Duful interrupted him.

"Ya know, you're not like the rest of them."

"What?" Bishop cocked his head in confusion. What was he talking about?

"The other shits. They're all crazy, you know? Each one of them in a different way. You don't seem so insane," Duful shrugged. Was he talking about the other siblings?

"Them? Not you?" Bishop smirked. Why were only the other siblings insane?

"Nah, it's Rina's cunt. Everything coming out of it ends up insane," Duful laughed.

Ah. This. Torban used to love saying that. That's why eventually Ost and Duful were his favorites. They had nothing to do with Rina's insanity. But Bishop knew all too well that they cultivated their own brand of it.

"Yeah, well, I never bought into that shit," Bishop shook his head. What was he even supposed to say to this? He should really just leave. "So I'm gonna…"

Duful promptly interrupted him yet again.

He wasn't even looking at Bishop. Instead, he was staring at the ass of some girl that was currently bending over the bar to try and attract the attention of the innkeeper. The man was busy in turn, talking to other patrons.

"Nice, huh?" Duful growled appreciatively.

"Sure, I guess," Bishop shrugged. There was a nicer one back at the inn…

"You 'guess'?" Duful scoffed and he finally turned back to Bishop. "You into guys? I remember you running off to some girl… or was that someone else? I was a fucking kid, it gets blurry."

Bishop didn't even remember. Well sometimes he met someone, but he was running off for any reason under the sun. Girls, thievery, hunting, whatever the fuck was there just so he could get away from the insanity that was his family.

"Yeah, that might have been me," Bishop nodded. Might have been anyone else too. "Anyway, I should…" he tried to make excuses again, but Duful interrupted him once more.

"Alright, let's go find us some whores then. I really need to fuck something."

Yeah, sure, nothing I wanna do more than go find some whores to fuck with my half-brother.

"Yeah, I think I'm gonna call it a night…" Bishop started again, but once more Duful jumped in. Fucker.

"What's the matter with you? Your dick don't work or something? Come on. They're always prettier after a few ales."

This couldn't be called an 'ale'. And there was no amount of them that could make anyone any prettier than the one that was still waiting for him at the inn. No doubt very worried.

Bishop wasn't exactly sure what to tell him though. But before he could think of an excuse, a hand landed on his shoulder.

"Ready to show us what you got after all these years?" Ost was back already and he gave Bishop a smug smirk.

"What?" Bishop scowled at him. What did he talk to those people about?

"I got a job for you," Ost smirked. "Steal what I tell you and you get your first share tonight. How does that sound?"

"We were gonna go find some sluts to fuck," Duful grumbled, but Ost only waved his hand at him dismissively.

Give it a rest already.

"I'm not saying no to the money," Bishop nodded. "What's the job?"

"The guys over there heard of some fancy fuck with some fancy gold-threaded coat checked in at the Three Sisters' today. Don't know which room and I don't know if they're asleep already, but it's an expensive fucking coat. Are you up for a challenge?" Ost smirked. "Three Sisters is in the rich part of the town. And getting into the inn isn't easy. They don't allow anyone in the upper floors unless they pay for their overpriced room – which I doubt you can afford. They got a guard there and shit."

Pffft.

"I'm in," Bishop said resolutely. He had no trouble getting to the upper floors. He had a fucking room there anyway.

"Really? That's fucking nothing to go on," Duful looked at him like he was insane.

"The inn's not that big," Bishop shrugged. It's not like he had to do this the old way. He wasn't a bandit that would be booted from the inn by his filthy looks alone.

"You're fucking insane. It was a joke. But now I wanna see if you can pull it off," Ost laughed. He clearly didn't think Bishop would manage this.

"That's the perk of not looking like you, lowlifes," Bishop chuckled at him maliciously.

"Where did you get those clothes anyway? They look fancy," Duful scowled at him.

They were fancy. And expensive.

"Stole them. Just like I'm gonna steal that coat. Just you watch," Bishop gave him a smug smirk. "Well… don't watch, that's fucking suspicious. But I'll be back soon."

"Alright… crazy fucker," Ost shook his head in disbelief. But it was not as if he would ever be concerned about Bishop getting in trouble. What did he care?

Bishop was only glad for this opportunity. Not only would this make him more trustworthy to his brothers, but he could also go reassure Aeyrin.

It was the perfect development to the evening.

…

"Bish! Thank the Gods."

Aeyrin jumped into his arms almost instantly when he closed the door to their room behind him. He felt really bad for having her stay in the room constantly while he kept going into this… uncertainty.

"I'm alright, love," he kissed her cheek promptly in reassurance. "Everything went good. They agreed to that fake arrangement and shit."

"Really? Alright," Aeyrin nodded at him, still nuzzling into his arms. She sounded really… uncertain.

"Something wrong?" Bishop couldn't help the scowl forming on his face.

"No, just… I don't know. Your brothers are supposed to be these… ruthless guys and… I just worry," she sighed. It was an understandable concern. He would be beside himself in her place, if he had to just sit around and wait while she threw herself into uncertain danger. He had no idea what else to do here though.

"I know, princess. I'm sorry," he gave her one more kiss. "But… how about you come and help me with this shit right now?"

"What? Really?" Aeyrin pulled a bit from his embrace and gave him a confused look. "I thought you didn't want them to know about me."

"Well, I don't. At the very least I can't have them knowing exactly who you are to me. But this is a different job. None of them will see you with me, so it's all good. We won't even leave the inn. I just… kind of volunteered to prove myself."

"With?" She narrowed her eyes.

"A theft. From someone here. Some gold-threaded coat. And I bet that whoever bought that, can afford another one."

"Oh. So… you want me to come to this person's room with you?" Aeyrin looked at him uncertainly. She wasn't subtle – he knew that. She couldn't steal with him. Or did he need her to distract the owner or something?

"No, just come downstairs with me. I still have some snooping to do."

…

It was a simple plan, really.

Bishop gulped down the contents of the white phial, letting the invisibility take over. Aeyrin had an easy job of talking to the person behind the check-in counter.

These fancy Imperial inns were usually a bit less leisurely with their guests, unlike in Skyrim. There was always a records book, holding important information – a name, the date, how long they were staying, and a room number or a letter or whatever indication the inns used. Bishop and Aeyrin already had to put up their information into a record book like this at the King and Queen in the City, in Skingrad, and in Cheydinhal. The rest of the inns they stayed in weren't trying to seem all fancy with this shit.

For the first time, this was actually useful.

The only thing that Bishop knew of this person with the coat was that they checked in today.

The biggest challenge about all this would have been getting to the inn and finding the room. Something quite impossible for someone who wasn't one of the patrons, or at least a potential one, or didn't have the money to splurge on invisibility potions. The brothers would find this shit so impressive, but for him, from where he was in his life now, this was child's play.

"Excuse me," Aeyrin approached the counter, a little nervously, but not too obvious.

"Yes?" The man behind it shuffled a bit to get nearer to where Aeyrin was standing. She was at the edge of the counter. This gave Bishop room to maneuver. He promptly snuck past the man and reached his 'work station'. The record book was just there – on one of the shelves on the counter.

"I wanted to order some meals for our room. Uhm… let's see…" Aeyrin pondered a while, pretending to think about food. Though she didn't seem nervous anymore, so it was likely that she was thinking about food. That could always preoccupy her mind successfully.

In the meantime, Bishop grabbed the book and put it on the floor, behind some shelves – the best spot where it wouldn't be seen by the innkeeper, not even in his peripheral vision. After all, Bishop may have been invisible, but the book wasn't. He couldn't see it being opened and sifted through like this!

"Our cook has some excellent mutton cutlets in apple gravy made today, with grilled spiced potatoes and ginger seasoning," the innkeeper beamed at Aeyrin.

"Oh," she smiled back. That sounded really good. She hadn't had dinner yet, even though it was late. And she was pretty sure that neither had Bishop. "Alright, two of those please."

Oh wait! Crap!

She was supposed to stall with the food. She got carried away. She needed to improvise.

"And… uh… what kind of wine do you have?"

"I can only recommend Tamika, year 396 with the meal, milady," the man answered promptly.

Dammit, he was quick. She liked wine a lot, but she certainly didn't know enough about the different years and such to be able to discuss other options with the man. She needed to figure something else out.

"Alright… I… we'll take a bottle of that," she nodded. "And… uh…"

"Yes?" The man asked somewhat impatiently.

"I… I meant to get one more thing… I just… I can't recall now…" She couldn't figure out anything. Dessert? It was past midnight. Would anyone really order a full meal after being there all day like this? Hopefully it wouldn't be too strange.

But then, fortunately, she felt a tap on her shoulder.

Bishop. Good. He was done.

Hm… she kind of wanted dessert now though. Why not? Bishop deserved a good meal after pulling off an impromptu heist and it would be definitely a good pick-me-up for her after a day spent worrying.

"Right. Any good desserts?"

No reason not to indulge themselves.

"Of course, milady."

…

"You better find a me a fucking challenge next time."

Bishop smirked as he placed a wrapped cloth with the stolen coat inside on the table right in front of Ost.

The rest was easy. There were two rooms taken today and Bishop was ready to check both. Aeyrin was only his lookout now, as he checked through the keyholes to make sure the first room was dark. It was, and he promptly unlocked it with his lockpick. There were people inside, sleeping, but he was quiet as a mouse. And as luck would have it, he saw the gold threaded coat in the closet of the first room. The threads were really prominent and they glistened in the faint moons-light permeating in through the window.

That was that. Bishop grabbed it and left, locking the room again behind him.

Now he merely returned back to the tavern to give it to Ost while Aeyrin waited for their ordered food.

"You're fucking kidding," Ost scoffed. Duful was nowhere to be seen anymore – probably found himself a whore at last. It was for the best. Bishop was in no mood to get persuaded by him again to go with.

"Take a look. And give me my money," Bishop smirked.

Ost did check inside the linen, but once he saw the obvious gold threads, he covered it quickly again. "Fucking impressive. Alright. You earned it."

He began to feel around his belt for a while before he finally located some coins and he pressed them into Bishop's hand. It felt like fifty drakes. Not much, but not too bad. The coat was definitely worth at least a few hundred though. But Bishop wasn't going to argue now.

"Come on, let's celebrate," Ost pointed to the chair next to him promptly.

"Nah, I gotta go back," Bishop shook his head. No more of this. He just wanted to be with Aeyrin for the rest of the night. "I met someone… really cooperative there," he winked at Ost. A good excuse, hopefully.

"Got it," Ost smirked back. "Well… we'll probably be here tomorrow again. If you do that hunting shit or something, you know where to find us."

"Will do," Bishop nodded before he turned on his heel. He was really eager to get out.

As he weaved his way through the crowds again, leaving Ost behind, he heard his voice called out once more. Something Bishop really didn't want to hear.

"Welcome back to the family!"

…

Aeyrin let out a sigh as she walked through the city idly.

It's been two days and it was the same routine. Bishop went on a hunt in the morning, staying until the afternoon hours. Sometimes he apparently talked to his other siblings, but mostly he was trying to prove his usefulness to Ost and Duful and trying to find an opportunity to get rid of them. He had been in a… strange state. Aeyrin had never seen him like this. He was doing well in his 'mission', but he seemed constantly on edge and somewhat… angry. He said it was his family. That they brought it out in him. Aeyrin wasn't sure why, when nothing really wrong was happening with them. He even sounded like he was kind of happy to see some of them.

But then again, Aeyrin had only ever seen Kari before and for brief times. She had no idea what these people were like. Bishop did keep calling them insane.

But hopefully, things would continue to go well. This whole mess left her with a lot of time for herself. She hated being so overbearing and always worrying about where Bishop was, but how could she not, in this situation? And she really hated having nothing to do when she was alone. She didn't want to just wait for him and do nothing, but… she really didn't have anything to do other than that. She read her books on Talos sometimes, she walked around the town, but she didn't know anyone here. She did stop by the temple yesterday to talk to the priests and enjoy the serene halls again, but she was too antsy to spend all the days there.

Maybe she could actually go adventuring some afternoon, take her mind off the worries. There had to be some interesting ruins around.

As she walked around the town, lost in her own thoughts, suddenly, someone grabbed her by her wrist.

Aeyrin quickly twisted from the person's grasp and turned around to look at them. She did not recognize the woman who grabbed her, but her eyes focused on another one, standing right behind her. That one she recognized.

"Hello again, whore," she grinned at Aeyrin with a strangely disturbing look on her face.

"Kari! Be nice," the girl that grabbed Aeyrin hissed. That had to be Liesl. She had the black hair, the blue eyes. She looked very similar to Kari. Except for her lack of freckles and very Imperial nose. And the amount of makeup, cheap jewelry and cleavage on her, as opposed to Kari in her wine robes.

"Uhm… Kari… hi… again," Aeyrin stammered a bit. What was going on? What were Kari and Liesl doing here, well away from the slums, and why did they stop Aeyrin?

"I'm Liesl," the half-Imperial smiled a bit. "Did Bishop tell you about me?"

"Uuhh…" How was she supposed answer? She wasn't supposed to be really 'close' to Bishop, but it felt strange to say 'no'.

"Don't bother, we know he did," Kari rolled her eyes. "He already told you I'm his sister, he wouldn't admit it so easily, usually. We've been looking for you for a while."

"What? Why?" Aeyrin scowled. Alright, this was bad. Or not? She had no idea. Liesl looked… nice. She kept smiling somewhat kindly at Aeyrin. Kari was just as she had remembered her, so the sour face was really no surprise. But still… these two looking for her could be nothing good, right? Bishop was trying to downplay their relationship specifically so that she wouldn't be involved with any of this.

"Come on, none of us just drag someone across the Province for no good reason," Liesl chuckled. "You're clearly important to our brother. We just wanna get to know you better."

"Uhh… you do?" That was probably a bad idea. A very bad idea. Liesl still looked kinda nice about it, but it made Aeyrin even more wary.

"Sure, I mean, you're clearly more important to Bishop than he lets on, but don't worry about that. Guys are like that," Liesl chuckled. "But that means, we're practically family, right?"

"What?" Aeyrin cringed a bit. Did they know that Bishop and she were engaged? They had no way of knowing that, right? But this was the first time Aeyrin had ever seen Liesl and Kari outright refused to talk to her before, and now they were here, claiming they were practically 'family'? This was making her skin crawl.

Any normal person would be happy to be the interest of future sisters in law, right? Any normal person wasn't going to be marrying into a family of bandits though.

Still, Aeyrin did feel for these two women. They've had a rough life which they couldn't get out of, no matter what. And there had to be some reason Bishop still cared for them. For Liesl at least.

"Yeah, come on," Liesl nudged her arm. "Bishop's been running around with those two assholes, making them money and pretending to be 'working' with them, all to help us. He killed Torban, left us in a lurch and bolted, but… he's family. He still does good for us. Fucking unbelievable, but he's here. So he's family. And so are you."

"Uhm… alright," Aeyrin nodded. What was the point in denying Bishop's and her connection now? The sisters seemed to have made their own conclusions – correct ones. "Look, your brothers are…"

"I know. Don't worry, they don't know about you," Liesl sighed. "We still remember what happened to Jack. It makes sense Bishop would be worried. But that doesn't mean we can't be friends, right? Sisters? Those two won't be around for much longer anyway."

"Liesl thinks we don't have enough sisters," Kari rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"I think we don't have enough fun sisters that aren't just bitchy and sour or little fucking kids. Aces is gone and you're a morose cunt, Kari. I just have Galric," Liesl scoffed. "Come on, uhm… what's your name?"

"Aeyrin," she said, still a little uncertainly.

"Come on, Aeyrin, some girl talk and drinks sound so fun. Where are you staying?" Liesl beamed.

'Girl talk'? What did that mean? Girls at the temple sometimes called something girl talk, like talking about handsome priests and pretty priestesses or about what hairstyles to wear with the robes, or about jewelry. It was like a fun thing to call these chats that were predominantly about unimportant and often vain things. But there was nothing wrong with that. Aeyrin enjoyed these, even if she didn't participate often, with her closest friend there being Azshan. Somehow though, she felt like it wouldn't mean the same things for bandits. Or a cultist and a courtesan, to be more exact.

"At the…" Aeyrin pointed uncertainly in the general direction of the Three Sisters'.

"Oooh, fancy," Liesl giggled. "Alright, let's go, we can talk in your room. With some nice food and drinks. I'm sure you can afford it if you can afford that inn. And these clothes," she looked curiously at Aeyrin's outfit.

"Uhm… I'm not sure if…" Aeyrin stammered. This was a bad idea. It was too fast. Could she divulge where she was staying, show them their room? Bishop would not be happy with Aeyrin doing anything like that, she was sure of it.

"You really wanna talk here where anyone can see us together?" Liesl scowled.

No!

It would be much safer if they weren't talking at all, but Liesl seemed so adamant. Maybe hiding out in their room really was the best option.

"Alright," she sighed. "Come on."

She'd definitely have to watch them unless she wanted to be robbed.

…

"Woow, look at this fucking place," Liesl gaped at the room as they entered at last.

Aeyrin led them to the Three Sisters', and while she did get a lot of strange looks for bringing her 'guests', nobody at the inn said anything, fortunately. It was understandable that the proprietors would not expect someone like the Thrice-Banished sisters to ever step foot in that place. Well, especially Liesl. While Kari did look kind of like a monk, Liesl's whole appearance just screamed 'street whore'. But the innkeeper was polite enough, even when Aeyrin ordered a bottle of wine and three meals for the room.

The room was really nothing that special. Not for Cyrodiil's fancier inns. There was a large soft bed, a washbasin, two armchairs and a small table, and a dresser. That was really it, aside from the lanterns around the walls. The room looked nice, but it was nothing that Aeyrin would gasp over. It made her somewhat self-conscious that she was so used to this by now. And it made her feel a bit more for the sisters, who had obviously never seen anything like this.

"Uhm… just… sit anywhere," Aeyrin gestured. She was still so nervous about this. She didn't know what to do. But the sisters seemed content with that. Liesl made herself comfortable on the bed while Kari walked to sit on one of the chairs.

"Damn, you're really living the life," Kari scowled as her eyes roamed over the room. "I know something was fucking up when Bishop got off scot free from the prison with fucking nobody even knowing about the bounty. I get it, you're both rich fucks that just coast through life without having to lift a finger."

'Coast through life'? Kari had no idea what it took to get Bishop out of that prison in Falkreath. No idea what that bounty caused in Solitude and subsequently Whiterun, or how incredibly lucky they were to have Maven on their side to prevent the same shitstorm in the Rift. No wonder she didn't seem remorseful over her extreme actions. She thought they had no consequences.

"How the fuck did he get this much money?" Kari scoffed. "Were you born to some noble fucks or something?"

"No, definitely not," Aeyrin shook her head briskly as she made herself somewhat comfortable on the floor by the dresser. That way she would somewhat 'guard' their packs hidden inside. She felt bad for assuming the worst, but she had no idea what to make of this strange visit. Maybe they just thought they'd score some free food and drinks though.

"Did you marry someone rich and run off?" Liesl prodded curiously.

"I… no… we're not really rich," Aeyrin sighed. Maybe it seemed like that to the sisters, but she and Bishop definitely couldn't claim that about themselves. Sure, right now, they had a comfortable amount of money left and top notch equipment, but still, there were days when they struggled to pay for their supplies or a night at an inn. And they were just… splurging a little more on their Cyrodiil trip. That wasn't a bad thing, was it? They never really had that much need for tons of money.

"Do you have like a house in the north?" Liesl continued to question, clearly quite taken with the prospect.

Alright, Aeyrin did technically have a house. Technically three. One of which was a mansion. She definitely shouldn't mention any of that. Besides, they weren't the ones living in any of them.

"No," she shook her head again.

"What do you do then? You some high-class harlot to have the money for all this shit?" Kari frowned again. Why did she keep calling her 'whore' or 'harlot'?!

"Are you?" Liesl perked up again. "How do you get to that, to the people that pay you a lot for that?"

"No! I just… we… raid stuff," Aeyrin tried to explain. It was much better to tell them right away before they started to guess more. And she quickly added more explanations, before they started jumping to conclusions about 'raiding'. "I mean ruins and such… for treasures."

"That… pays this much?" Liesl cocked her head.

"No, we're not really rich, we just get money in bulk for selling loot. We can afford expensive stuff one day and then we're broke for weeks," she tried to explain again. "We got some now so we could afford this room and the food and all that."

"Why don't you save some?" Kari narrowed her eyes at Aeyrin dubiously.

"For what?" Aeyrin shrugged in turn. What was the point of hoarding money? So that they could just spend it later? They tried to always keep some for emergencies, but no more than that.

"Right! I'd spend it too," Liesl grinned. "I'd buy all the pretty dresses and jewelry out there if I got some money. Spend it, or it just gets taken away from you."

"Yeah, that's a risk too," Aeyrin smiled a little. Liesl had the right of it. Money was meant to be enjoyed and spent.

"You got some pretty dresses?" The half-Imperial looked at her intently. Alright, maybe this talk would be about dresses and jewelry too.

"Ah… no. I'm not really a… dress person. They're impractical. This is the nicest thing I have," she gestured to her clothes. It wasn't entirely true. She came to like dresses eventually. Mainly because of Bishop's reactions to her in them. But still, she wasn't going to turn into someone who traveled around with tons of fancy garments in her pack to parade herself around.

"Oh… well… it is nice," Liesl shrugged, doing a double-take of Aeyrin's outfit from Skingrad. "A little prudish, I guess, but Kari's is worse."

"Fuck off, slut," Kari growled at her sister before she looked back at Aeyrin curiously. "So you can fight and shit?"

"Yeah, I can," Aeyrin nodded. She wasn't really going to elaborate on that much. Liesl and Kari merely exchanged a bit surprised looks before focusing on her again.

"So, why not just go with Bishop and kill those two assholes?" Kari scowled.

"Here? And have the Legion after us for murder?" Aeyrin gaped at her. "And besides, we don't even know what they're capable of. Just because we can fight, doesn't mean we can beat them, especially when we don't know anything about them."

"It's alright, I'm sure Bishop can handle this," Liesl waved her hand dismissively. "So, how long have you two been fucking?"

"Uhh…" another uncertain stammer left Aeyrin's lips. Alright, this was the kind of 'girl talk' she probably should have expected. She wasn't sure how to answer now, yet again. How much to admit about their relationship. The sisters already assumed they were very close after all.

But there was one way she could answer without getting suspiciously evasive and not divulging too much, hopefully.

"On and off for a year or so," she admitted. It wasn't a lie, though it was almost two years now. And the 'on and off' part was definitely true, unfortunately.

"Is he fucking other girls?" Liesl prodded.

What? What kind of a question was that? Was this really normal talk for them? Kari didn't even blink at that question, just awaiting the answer with some measure of disinterest while Liesl stared at Aeyrin eagerly.

"I… no… I don't think so," Aeyrin shook her head. She knew he wasn't, not even when they were separated.

"He would say that," Kari rolled her eyes at Aeyrin's apparent naiveté.

"Y-yeah, well… I don't know what to tell you," Aeyrin shrugged. What was her reaction to that even supposed to be? She trusted Bishop, there was no point in obsessing over Kari's words. She didn't even know Bishop. Not anymore.

"Well, I hope you're…"

Before Liesl could finish her thought, a knock on the door interrupted them. That was surely the food and wine. Aeyrin was kind of glad that line of questioning got cut short, wherever it was going. She promptly got up from the floor and opened the door for the server.

At least the food would hopefully preoccupy them from asking more questions.

And maybe it really was the thing they were here for. While Aeyrin might not even mind the company and the change of pace, not knowing what she could and couldn't tell them made her so uncomfortable.

No wonder Bishop was always on edge.

How did he even talk to his family when he was so full of suspicions all the time?

It was nerve-wracking for her, and it had only been an hour or so.

…

"You eat food like this all the time? It's unbelievable," Liesl almost moaned as she inhaled the smoked ham with grilled vegetables that the innkeeper recommended to Aeyrin today. It wasn't even that good. The mutton last night was better, but it was good enough. "So fucking good," Liesl added as she popped another piece of meat into her mouth.

"It depends," Aeyrin chuckled a little when she was done chewing. She was almost finished already with her portion while Kari and Liesl still picked at theirs. They ate much more slowly than her, at least by now they did. As if they couldn't eat another bite anymore but the taste of the food spurred them to defy the fullness of their stomachs. They were probably not used to eating this much, given their circumstances. Aeyrin hadn't been either before she got well into her combat training. Even if it was much simpler food at the temple, anyone that was spending a lot of time on their battle skills there did steal their fair share of bread and fruit and any other food available. The initiates were usually left with the scraps.

"Some inns have good cooks, some not so much," she shrugged as she continued. "Depends on where I'm staying. But I can tell you this, nobody cooks as well as Bishop," she smirked. Except for Lydia, of course. Who else but his teacher to surpass him? But Bishop was still already almost at her level of deliciousness.

"Really? Bishop?" Kari scoffed, clearly not convinced. And Aeyrin was not about to admit that he mostly learned for her.

"I didn't see it coming either," Aeyrin let out a soft chuckle before she finally finished the last of her meal.

The sisters looked at each other with a strange expression on their faces when Aeyrin put away the plate and reached out for her goblet of wine instead. She had no idea what that look was supposed to mean, but after that, both of them put away their half-full plates as well.

"You got a fucking huge appetite," Liesl smirked at her, but there was still that strange expression on her face.

"I guess," Aeyrin shrugged. What kind of a question was that? Well… it wasn't really a question.

"Is that… normal or...?" Liesl continued.

"What?" Aeyrin could only cock her head to the side in confusion. What did that mean? Of course it was normal. Was it another one of those uncomfortable 'is this how rich people live' questions? This was normal for anyone doing something as exerting as Aeyrin did. Especially for elves – their bodies were burning the nourishment faster – she learned that in her physiology studies. That was why most elves had lither physique than the human races. Except for the Orsimer. They always seemed to be the exception for anything 'elven'.

"Well… I mean do you normally eat like that?" Liesl elaborated, though not much.

"Oh for fuck's sake, Liesl, just cut to it," Kari growled in frustration. "Are you pregnant?"

"What? No!" Aeyrin yelped. She did not expect the conversation to take this turn.

"Are you sure? Because you can't tell right away," Liesl tried to smile at her in encouragement. "And the appetite is a fucking red flag."

"No! I mean, I'm sure," Aeyrin shook her head vehemently. "This is how I normally eat. I… I do a lot of physically demanding stuff, I need to eat a lot. With… heavy equipment and fighting and all…" she tried to stammer out the explanation.

"Well… as long as you're sure," Liesl sighed, though she seemed a bit unconvinced. "That shit can sneak up on you, you know? You taking something to stop the brats from hatching, right?"

Aeyrin's hesitation was not as much about not having an answer, but more about Liesl's wording of the question. Not to mention, this conversation got really uncomfortable and a little too personal. Aeyrin knew this shouldn't be a big deal. After all, it never was a big deal to her to talk about these things when she was doing her job at the temple. But when it came to her own life, she couldn't help it. She already felt her cheeks burning.

"Uh… y-yeah… I'm… being careful," she stammered a little. Though it did remind her that her supplies from Skyrim might run out before they were back home. She'd have to get something else somewhere here. At least she knew how to make contraceptives on her own from the local ingredients, in case they didn't have any finished products ready.

"You never know, you know? It's a shitty fucking situation you don't wanna get into," Kari scowled even more. "Trust me, we've seen it plenty. They're just crying little shits that annoy you and you have to take care of them all the time. You're not planning anything like that, right?"

"I… uhh… no?" Aeyrin wasn't sure how to answer that. There was not a moment she actually considered herself wanting children. But then again, she hadn't really thought about it. Ever. What did it matter though? There were no children now and there weren't about to be any anytime soon either. Not with assassins and dragons waiting for them back home anyway. She could just continue blissfully not thinking about this stuff.

"Good, still, shit can go wrong," Liesl nodded knowingly. "Even if you take something. We like to prevent that, you know? Especially with the work I do, you really don't want that."

"Oh, would whoring no longer pay if you had to have brats from it?" Kari smirked maliciously.

"Please, like I don't know what's going on in that fucked up cult of yours," Liesl snarled. "You do the same shit, but nobody pays you. How's that feel?"

"Shut the fuck up, you cunt! You don't understand anything!" Kari suddenly raised her voice and a slab of meat promptly flew towards Liesl, smacking her in the cheek. The younger sister retaliated right away and threw one at Kari herself.

"Riiight, you just do 'what Arkay demands'. Fucking bullshit. At least I know what I am," Liesl rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, sure, you're the smart and realistic one, right? Fucking future University student. I bet they zap filthy street rats like you with their spells on sight," Kari scoffed. "You're a fucking delusional cunt. You'll spend the rest of your life on your back, getting fucked by any filthy beggar who can scrounge up five septims. Can't wait to see that."

"You fucking shut your insane mouth or you're not gonna see anything ever again!" Liesl yelled, and she promptly grabbed the dirty knife from her plate. She looked ready to lunge at Kari and possibly gouge her eyes out.

Gods, this escalated quickly.

"Stop!" Aeyrin cried out, trying to get their attention and calm them down. Now she was starting to understand Bishop a little more when he complained about his family being insane. This was… intense.

Surprisingly enough though, Liesl obliged. She put down the knife and she shared another look with Kari. It was a hateful look, but they did nod at each other. Progress.

"Anyway, I was saying," Kari let out an exasperated sigh. "You gotta make sure you don't get pregnant. We use this concoction for it. We brought you some."

Wait, what?

Kari promptly reached into the pocket of her robes and pulled out a small vial with a somewhat swampy-green liquid. What in the Gods' names was that?

"I'm already taking contraceptives," Aeyrin shook her head vehemently. They were effective. If they weren't, with the amount of times Bishop and she had sex, she would surely be pregnant by now.

She was running out of the tincture, which was kind of a pressing problem, since she couldn't get the ingredients for what she knew how to make from Chorrol here in Leyawiin right now. But that was a concern for later. And for her alone. She was definitely uncomfortable with Bishop's sisters 'helping' her with this.

"This is different. Better," Liesl smiled at Aeyrin encouragingly. "It's a sure way. You'll never get pregnant, even if you don't take whatever you take now."

Uuuh… did she mean?

"Wait… n-never?" Aeyrin stammered a bit. Were they serious? Was this something that would make her… unable to have children?

"Yup, no more worrying. And also, that shit can be expensive when you're not around a temple when they give it out for the poor," Liesl nodded. It was true – the temples, at least the one in Chorrol, did this once a month to give freely a dose to the poor women to prevent more poverty and despair with unwanted pregnancies. It was enough to take the concoction Aeyrin was familiar with from the temple once a month, though the canis root tincture she had been actually using needed to be used every week. But that hardly mattered. They were now offering her a one-time contraceptive that would prevent it… forever?

That was insane! How could she make such a decision like this? She was not willing to do that. Not when she had never even really thought about having children. This had 'future regrets' written all over it.

"Uhm… no thanks, I'm fine with what I'm taking now," she shook her head.

"But this makes everything so easy," Liesl gave her a confused look. "We don't even want money for it, promise."

Why was she being so adamant? Was this even what she was saying it was? Maybe they wanted to poison her and rob her. She could be certain of nothing. Well, she was certain of one thing. She was going nowhere near that strange vial.

"No thanks, you keep it. I don't wanna make that decision. I might… change my mind in the future," Aeyrin sighed. Was there even any changing when she had not even spared it a single thought yet? And she was not going to.

"What? Come on, who wants some fucking brats?" Liesl scoffed in indignation. "Come on, take it, it's better that way. You can have all that fucking money you get just for yourself."

Alright, she was getting way too pushy about this. What was going on?

"N-no. I really don't want it," Aeyrin shook her head again. After what she had just witnessed with the knife and all, she was beginning to get worried that Liesl would snap again and… try to make her. Why would she care so much about feeding this to Aeyrin? And if she did, she should have thought of some other hook than sterility juice. That was just terrifying.

Liesl scowled fiercely and she looked like she was about to get up from the bed, but Kari's voice interrupted the action.

"It's fine. You don't want it, don't take it. I'll leave it with you if you change your mind," she shrugged. Now she sounded like the more reasonable one. "You're not pregnant now and you're not planning to be anytime soon, that's good enough, I'd say."

Good enough? What did that mean? Why was this so important to them?

Well… maybe they were just scarred from their childhood, having to constantly take care of their siblings, building rivalries and hatred amongst themselves. Bishop had made it sound like living in Oblivion itself.

"Alright," Aeyrin mumbled, still eyeing Liesl warily, but the half-Imperial did seem to calm down a bit.

"We're just trying to look out for you," Liesl sighed dejectedly. "After all, we're family. We need to do that."

Funny. From what Aeyrin knew, this particular family wasn't very keen on looking out for one another. Of course, some of them did. Like Bishop, despite this mess.

She couldn't even imagine surviving unpredictable and crazy interactions like this on a daily basis.

…

"So, you have no idea where she is?" Aeyrin questioned the sisters further.

They still didn't look too keen on leaving, but they fortunately stopped questioning Aeyrin about pregnancies and sex. Now she decided to question them instead. About their clan.

She didn't learn much than Bishop hadn't already told her, but she was trying to concentrate on the things that she didn't know yet. Like the lost siblings. The half-Dunmer whose name Aeyrin had already forgotten again, and Bishop's older sister – Aces.

"Duful and Ost say she's doing her part," Liesl nodded. "But nobody heard of her for a long time. She left only a bit after Bishop did and even before, she wasn't really… here all that much. You could always tell when someone wanted out. They kept running around anywhere but here, but it never ended well."

Kari only grumbled under her breath. It was obvious that her own 'escape' backfired on her. She wanted to be with her cult without the chains of the clan holding her, but that was not possible, apparently.

"Maybe she ran away for good and those two just tell you this to make you think it's impossible," Aeyrin mused. It was what controlling tyrants did, right? They just wanted to smother any hope that the siblings had.

"And who in their right fucking mind would risk assuming that?" Kari scoffed. "I tried and it got me shit, except for my friends being threatened or hurt."

"As far as we knew, nobody else escaped. Jack didn't," Liesl sighed. "He paid the price for having a cushy life away from us. Aces is apparently 'accounted for', we know that Kari is, and Morgen probably too. Although they refuse to even talk about Morgen. The only one that ever managed was Bishop."

"It's a fucking prison. You don't just get to escape. They have something on all of us," Kari snarled.

"What about your mother? She's been in this for so long, she never tried to turn things around? Wasn't Ost just a boy when Bishop left?" Aeyrin shook her head incredulously.

"Rina? Seriously? She doesn't give a fuck about our in-fighting. She's fucking useless," Liesl laughed somewhat exasperatedly. "She does nothing, she contributes nothing but new mouths to feed before they can steal for themselves. It's a good thing Dylia took that upon herself to deal with any new siblings."

"I'd just let Arkay take them right away. Better that way," Kari shrugged and Aeyrin had to subdue a gasp at that.

"Nobody even wants Rina around. Nobody's making her stay," Liesl rolled her eyes. "She just does. And then she yells at us and calls us ungrateful if we don't get her some food or clothes or some religious books or whatever the fuck she wants at that moment. She doesn't bug Ost and Duful with this shit, so she's still alive. They would have gotten rid of her right away if she asked for something for free."

"She's a fucking lunatic," Kari growled. "I think they want her around just so we see where we come from. They love telling us that we all inherited her uselessness and insanity."

"That's… awful," Aeyrin said. She wasn't sure how else to react to any of this. She felt like she had been nodding sympathetically or saying that 'it's awful' throughout the whole discussion of their family.

"Yeah, well, whaddya gonna do?" Kari shrugged. "Life's shit. What else is new?"

"It's gonna be better soon, when everything is taken care of," Liesl smiled weakly. She seemed to really put a lot of hope into Bishop's plan.

"I hope you're actually going to leave this time," Aeyrin scowled. Clearly staying together was not good for the clan. At least not all of them together. "Get some real jobs and make lives for yourselves. I know it's hard but…"

"Yeah, me and Galric can make enough money to get out of Leyawiin in about a week," Liesl beamed proudly.

"Good for you, whore," Kari rolled her eyes. "You can fuck your way through life at least. Only thing you're good at anyways."

"At least I can get out on my own, I don't have to call my fucking cultist friends to come get me whenever I need to go somewhere. That's just pathetic. You'll never have anything on your own. You'll just be a fucking lackey to someone else," Liesl growled disdainfully.

"You don't understand what it means to serve some higher power, higher purpose," Kari spat back at her promptly.

"Ugh, I feel like I hear Rina preaching all over again," Liesl smirked with a malicious tone in her voice.

"What the fuck did you just say to me, you used-up cunt?!"

Kari stood up from the chair and her freckled cheeks flushed in anger. Oh-oh. These two really knew how to make the situation uncomfortable. And dangerous. Aeyrin was getting ready to interfere again, hopefully stopping them from doing something stupid or violent, but before she could, the sound of a key opening the room door interrupted the scene.

At that, the sisters went silent again, waiting for the door to open.

"Hey, princess," Bishop's voice rang through the room as he entered. He wasn't looking inside yet while he closed the door behind him, but the moment he turned his gaze into the room to locate Aeyrin, his eyes went wide with shock.

"What. The. Fuck?!"

"Hey, Bishop," Liesl gave him a wry, unapologetic smile.

"What the fuck are you two doing here?!" Bishop fumed. It was staggering how quickly the anger overcame him at the sight of them in the room. His eyes went quickly to Aeyrin, as if to check on her, but when she only gave him an uncertain shrug, he went right back to focusing on the sisters.

"Come on, we just wanted to get to know your girl," Liesl grinned at him. "Kari said you dragged her here from the north. That's gotta be someone important. Practically a part of the family."

"Don't insult her," Bishop snarled. "You two are fucking nuts. Why would you come here? What if those two assholes find out?"

"Oh relax, they don't watch us all the time," Liesl rolled her eyes at him.

"I don't care! You fucking keep making things shittier for me here, I'm leaving you alone to deal with this shit," he growled. "Now get the fuck out and stay away from her!"

"Shh, fine, fucking dramatic," Liesl scoffed while Kari only shrugged in mild disinterest. They both got off their seats and started to walk away from the room. "Bye new sis," Liesl smirked as she passed Aeyrin, but nobody said anything more after.

Not until the door shut behind them at last and Bishop let out a long deep breath, as if he was trying to get the accumulated anger to leave his body.

"Fuck," he grumbled under his breath. "I'm sorry, sweetness. Are you alright?"

"Yeah," Aeyrin nodded quickly as she got up from the floor. "You're outright assuming it was that bad?" She smirked a little bit, but she couldn't exactly blame him.

"Wasn't it?" Bishop scoffed.

"Well… sometimes they freaked me out a little," Aeyrin smiled nervously. "They're… a little more volatile than I expected. I'm sorry I brought them here, but they found me on the streets and kept insisting on talking to me and… well they did insinuate that doing that for all the city to see wasn't that smart. And I think that was true, so… I brought them here."

"Yeah, I get that," Bishop nodded slowly, still exasperated from the situation. Fucking meddlesome bitches. "What did they want?"

"I… don't even know, really," she shrugged. "We just… talked about some stuff. Some of it was… weird, but I didn't really tell them anything about us. I tried to ask about the clan more, but it was nothing you haven't told me before yourself."

Bishop only let out another sigh, this time more of a relieved one. He walked over to the bed and grabbed the plate with the half eaten food on it, before he moved towards the table and spilled the contents onto the plate there, mixing the two half-meals into a bigger one. Then he sat down in one of the armchairs. He was pretty hungry and Aeyrin had clearly already had dinner. At least those nosy bitches left something good behind.

Before he could dig into the food though, he noticed something else on the small table.

What the fuck was that? It was a small vial of some greenish liquid. Kari was sitting there. Did she leave this?

Bishop pushed the plate away and stood up from the armchair once more. He grabbed the small vial and examined it a bit in his hand while Aeyrin was currently cleaning up the dishes she left on the floor. He promptly walked over to her to show her the vial when she straightened up again.

"What's this?" He scowled. Maybe it was something she bought.

"Oh. That," Aeyrin let out a sigh at the sight of that thing. "Kari left it here. It's a… it's… she said it's to prevent… conception."

"What?" Bishop was just getting more confused. Conception as in…?

"Uhm… I don't know. They asked if I'm pregnant when I ate the whole meal," Aeyrin flushed a little. It was not that big of a meal! "I explained that that's just how I eat, but they kept talking about this thing that should prevent any… accidental stuff. Liesl kept trying to get me to take it."

"What the fuck? What's it to them?!" Bishop growled angrily. It wasn't that surprising to hear about his sisters' nosiness, but this still pissed him off. "You're already taking something anyway." He didn't get why they would push some shit on Aeyrin to prevent her from getting pregnant. They were already handling this shit together. But maybe Aeyrin didn't tell them? She was pretty close-mouthed when it came to shit like this.

"Y-yeah, I said," she sighed. "They said this is just… a one-time thing. Like… permanent."

Bishop's eyes went wide at her words and he seemed at a loss for words for a moment. What the fuck was wrong with those meddling harpies?! Did they seriously try to get Aeyrin to take some sort of permanent contraceptive? That was so messed up! Why?

Maybe they didn't think it was weird. Bishop knew that after a lifetime with Rina, pregnancies were basically a nightmare to any of his sisters.

"You didn't take it, right?" Bishop suddenly realized the question that bothered him the most for some reason.

"You're holding it in your hand," Aeyrin scoffed a bit, but she quickly shook her head with a somewhat reassuring tone in her voice. "I'm twenty-two. I'm not making that kind of decision for… forever. That's insane. And… I don't even know if that's what it is."

True. Fuck. True. This shit could be anything. Those two could have wanted to do something. What if it's poison? Or some other shit that would do something to Aeyrin. Maybe they wanted to rob them, maybe they were nervous about Bishop and wanted to drug her to get more information out of her.

Bishop completely forgot about pregnancies and contraceptives as he felt the rage bubbling up inside him again. What the fuck? Why couldn't they leave Aeyrin alone? He should have seen this coming. Fine, he still didn't know what 'this' was, but he really fucking hated them getting her involved and even talking to her. She shouldn't have to deal with their insanity.

His hand clenched around the vial. Even if it was what they claimed, it pissed him off. And it pissed him off if it wasn't. There was no scenario in which they were doing anything harmless.

He let out an angry growl as he turned around, his back to Aeyrin and he tossed the vial with force against a wall. He just needed to break something. Nothing made him as mad as his family. Ever.

"Fucking bitches!" He yelled at the wall angrily as the liquid dripped down from it a bit, leaving a very noticeable trail and splatter behind. "Fuck!"

He was too riled up to realize himself when he felt Aeyrin's hand squeeze his shoulder and he instantly jerked back. A little too energetically. His shoulder collided with Aeyrin's nose in the rough motion and she let out a surprised yelp as she staggered back.

"Shit!" Bishop promptly turned around and grabbed her by the shoulders. She didn't exactly need steadying, but he still did that. Maybe more for himself. "Fuck, I'm so sorry, sweetness." There was a little blood under her nose and she quickly clutched it with both her hands. That must have hurt. Fuck, what was wrong with him?

"It's fine," she shook her head, as she mumbled in a muffled voice. It wasn't a big deal, he didn't mean to and it didn't even hurt that much. "I should have… I'm just not used to you… being like this."

"I know," Bishop let out a resigned sigh. He watched her hands light up a bit and then fall back from her slightly bloodied nose before he pulled her fully against himself into his embrace. "I know I'm acting crazy, they just… fuck, every little thing any of them do pisses me off so much. And it's not like this was a 'little thing'. I don't even know what they were doing and I still know it was fucking shitty."

"Maybe not. It may have been what they said," Aeyrin smiled softly against his shoulder. "Maybe they did just want to help, they did say it was to make things easier and save money. It's probably just how they do things. Don't think about it too much." Though granted, the fact that Kari had the vial with her was… strange. Why would she? If both the sisters took this 'permanent prevention', why would they have another vial at all? But she was not going to talk about these doubts in front of Bishop now. He didn't need to get more angry and suspicious about this thing. It's not like they forced her to drink anything.

"Come on, Bish, get some food and let's just go to bed and forget about your family for a while," she planted a soft kiss at the side of his neck. She wouldn't mind forgetting about them either. The day had been tense and confusing enough already.

She was starting to understand why he was in this mood constantly though.

His siblings were definitely… difficult to be around.