Chapter IX – All You Hide

"Bishop!"

A loud rattling of chains and an unexpected movement woke him up violently. He only let out a groan. He still felt kind of tired. He didn't feel like opening his eyes yet.

"Bishop, what in the Void are you doing?! What's wrong with you?!"

A firm punch to his chest followed and then he felt himself shoved down onto a flimsy blanket for some reason. Alright, that was not a nice wake up. He let out another groan and he finally opened his eyes, collecting himself off the ground.

"What?" He managed to sit up, only to see Aeyrin sitting next to him, her arms folded under her chest. She was naked, and in her chains. And looking very pissed off.

Fuck!

He thought he would wake up when she transformed back. But apparently, he was too tired even for that. She woke up before him. Shit.

"Ah, fuck, just, calm down, sweetness. I was just…" he mumbled groggily.

"'Calm down'? I'm not going to calm down! I just woke up with you on top of me! Why would you get anywhere near that monster?!" Aeyrin fumed at him. Why was it so hard for her to get this through her head? She wasn't a monster!

"Stop that!" Bishop growled back at her. "I told you, it's not as bad as you think. It's fine. You're… she's… fine. You wouldn't attack me. And… you just looked all warm and calm and fluffy. I wanted to see if I could get closer."

"Gods, Bishop, why can't you understand that it's a monster? You got lucky. That's it. Maybe I was tired too or… I don't know. But you can't risk that. Ever!" She let her head fall into her hands in exasperation. Why did he do this? Even before, he kept trying to convince her that she was of no danger to him. He didn't understand anything. He didn't understand what he was dealing with. "What if it was a ploy? What if I acted calm and then ripped you to shreds when you fell asleep."

"Well you obviously didn't," Bishop scoffed. "You think you know that werewolf better than me? You don't even remember any of it. I do! I know what you're like when you're in that form. Why don't you trust me when I tell you I know what I'm doing? I'm trying to help you with this! The more calm and in control you are, the better, right?"

"It's a werewolf!" She scoffed. It wasn't a pet! It was a vicious monster. "I get what you're trying to do, but how do you not get that because I don't remember, I can't stand this? I can't control myself. I don't know what I'm capable of when I'm like that."

"But I do," he sighed. Couldn't she just trust him with this?

"I woke up today and I thought you were dead!" She yelled back, unable to stop tears bursting into her eyes. The initial shock was horrifying, even if it only lasted a few seconds before he moved. "What else was I supposed to think when I wake up in chains with you lying limply on top of me?! Do you have any idea how terrifying that was?!"

Well… he didn't think of it that way. Fuck, maybe last night was really not a good idea for this. He was still convinced that he knew what he was doing, that he was helping her with this like that. But… it must have been so fucking scary to wake up like that when she had no idea what he was planning.

"I'm sorry. I didn't think of that, I just… I promise you, you really are not dangerous to me. Even if you don't remember," he sighed.

"Just stop, please. Just… don't do that again. Keep your distance. I can't take this," she lowered her head into her hands in desperation again. That just kind of broke his heart. He didn't mean to hurt her or scare her by this. He just wanted to help.

"Alright," he nodded. Maybe they could talk about this more later, when they were both a little calmer. He didn't want to argue and escalate shit.

Aeyrin didn't say anything else, but she did give him one more questioning look when she presented him with the wolf-head ring on a chain that she had been clutching in her hand the entire time. Right, he usually took it from her after she transformed back to her elven form again. And then he returned it to her. Ridiculous.

"You… get kind of… upset without it," he smirked weakly.

He expected her to get mad again, but her brows creased in more of a contemplation instead.

Maybe he would be able to convince her that he really knew what he was doing.

…

There was no more sleeping that morning. After all, no matter how much Aeyrin hated the fact, they had both slept plenty through the night.

So right after they got dressed, they came back from their 'adventure' to the temple. This time for some breakfast with the others too, not just to hide in the undercroft. They spent some time there before Aeyrin wanted to go back down to see her old mentor again. She did promise that they'll be back soon after all.

Bishop went to take a brief nap in the cot again when they arrived. He was healed by now and mostly recovered, but he still felt like he could use a little more rest before he was finally up to his full strength.

In the meantime, Aeyrin made her way to the side room where Master Therien stayed hidden.

"There you are, dear. Everything alright?" His words echoed through the chamber before she even spotted him. He was looking much more rested now and he was sitting on an empty ledge of an alcove – one of those there were used to house the sarcophagi, but this one was still empty.

He was sitting there with a book open on his lap and a ghost behind his shoulder, reading.

"Yeah. Everything's fine," Aeyrin gave him a weak smile. "Are you doing alright?" She was still concerned for his condition. She knew that he had been recovering here longer than Bishop, but he was significantly older and his body was definitely not used to such abuse.

"Shh," the ghost, the old Master Praxedia who had passed in the catacombs a long time ago, gave the two of them a scowl. She was apparently being disturbed from her reading.

"Apologies," Therien gave her a soft chuckle. "How about you go call M'vari to take the book upstairs and open the pages for you while I talk to Aeyrin." The ghosts usually didn't venture upstairs. They were kind of respectful of the living's space and also they possibly enjoyed their own peace down here. But sometimes they made exceptions.

"Just let me finish, almost done," the ghost hissed a bit, holding her finger up to silence them further. They waited for a few moments before the woman finally moved her eyes from the pages again. "There. The cat-girl always tries to read to me out loud. I don't need eyes, I need hands," she scoffed. "Remember where I ended. I will be back later," she nodded at Therien.

"Of course," he nodded at her kindly as well.

The ghost walked away soon after, leaving Aeyrin and Master Therien alone in the quiet side room.

"Brunwulf was by in the morning," her mentor nodded at her as he bookmarked the page, closed the book, and petted a free space on the ledge next to him.

"Anything new?" Aeyrin asked promptly and sat there next to him.

"Well… I've been feeling better and we can't dawdle too much. He said that we will be leaving on the twentieth. He hasn't specified how we'll go, if he'll be smuggling me across the border or if he has some alternate path, but… I'll be here for only a few more days. I'll come up from my… 'travels' soon and spend a few days with everyone, but then, we'll be off."

"I'm really sorry you have to leave," she sighed. It was still kind of her fault. All of this. She had started all of this with Jora.

"I am too. But it is a good thing now, I think. The people in the mountains need me more. I am excited to go help them," he smiled a bit. "And of course, I will get to see you more, I hope."

"You bet," she chuckled. "You'll be sick of me before you know it."

"I don't think it possible, my dear." He moved his hand towards hers and squeezed it affectionately. "Now, tell me, please, what's going on with you?"

"What do you mean?" She scowled. She told him the 'latest'. The engagement was probably the biggest news. The most exciting news for her, at least.

"You disappearing acts into the night, of course," Master Therien sighed. Crap. "My dear, you know that you can tell me anything. I am here to listen."

"It's… it's really nothing. It's nothing you need to worry about, I promise," she shook her head briskly. She tried to pull her hand away from him, but he squeezed her even tighter in reassurance.

"That's like telling water not to be wet. I will always worry about you, my girl," he stroked over her hand gently. "And now I'm more worried than ever."

"W-why?" Aeyrin scowled at him. She didn't give him any reason to worry, did she? She told him that she would be back. That he didn't need to concern himself with it.

"I… pieced some things together," Therien sighed, lowering his eyes to the ground in regret for a brief moment before he looked at her again. "Please do not blame Bishop. He was quite delirious from the antidotes and healing potions, but he did mumble some things when I told him last night that you left. And… when you said that this would be the last night you would do this…"

Gods. She should have known better than to hide this from someone who knew those monsters all too well. The Masters never taught the clerics anything too much about were-beasts and vampires and Daedra in their initial trainings, just the basics. But they surely knew more. Although Aeyrin had always assumed that this was more of the domain of paladins, it was clearly not. Or maybe it was just Master Therien who knew everything, who knew what signs to look for.

He knew. There was no way around this now. And she saw the sorrow and disappointment on his face. The very thing she had been dreading.

"I… I…" she had no idea what to say. His reaction spoke for it all and she couldn't really disagree with it. She was disappointed and heart-broken about what she had become too. She was only glad that he didn't have to know the gory details that she was forced to recall – like the taste in her mouth when she came to outside of Whiterun, or the bloodbath she had left behind in that horrible vampire fort.

Something in her expression must have broken. Master Therien's concern shifted very quickly into pity and he let go of her hand. Instead, he spread out his arms for her invitingly.

It reminded her of all those times that he had been there for her like this – after all of Ri'zhassa's schemes, after all of her father's outbursts at the temple when he came demanding that they return her to him, after Azshan left for the Imperial City and for his training. This time she could barely even believe that he was willing to be there for her in the same way, despite what he now knew. Despite what she was.

She couldn't do anything else. Tears sprung into her eyes almost on their own and she fell into his arms. She couldn't help the wild sobs escaping her, no matter how much she wanted them to stop. It had been a difficult and very emotional week altogether. And now she felt like a child again – she wanted to feel like her problems were not some eternal questions of damnation and suffering, but just something silly and mundane that her beloved mentor could fix with one hug.

She stayed like that for a while. She just tried to concentrate on his warm embrace, the familiar smell and feel of his temple robes, the way he stroked her hair slowly to comfort her. She never really knew how much time had passed when she was like this.

"What's wrong?"

A more unexpected voice suddenly echoed through the chamber, though no less concerned. That finally made her break off the embrace and wipe her eyes frantically.

"Bish, you should be resting," she said in a still-trembling voice.

"I think I overdid it," he scoffed. "Couldn't sleep. So I went looking for you. What happened?"

She didn't answer, just wiped her eyes from the tears again. Instead, Master Therien let out a regretful sigh as his gaze moved towards Bishop.

"I know about the lycanthropy."

"Oh," Bishop scowled. He couldn't really gouge the situation properly. Therien looked kind of pissed, since he was scowling, but they had been hugging, so maybe he wasn't? Aeyrin was still silent, still trying to quiet her sobs, so Bishop decided to try and break the ice. "It wasn't her fault, you know?" He had no idea how much she had told Therien, but it would still not hurt to repeat this bit.

"No, I imagine not," Therien nodded. "I know she would never allow that to happen to her, had she a choice. What happened, dear?" He turned towards Aeyrin again.

"It was… the… the Companions. I didn't know what… what joining that Circle of theirs meant and… and the next thing I knew…" she stammered, still sniffling a little. Master Therien promptly reached out to her and enveloped her in another hug. It was so comforting that he was still willing to hug her.

"Some of them want to cure themselves," Bishop interjected. "They're looking for a way. They think it can be done even after a person dies. So… we're waiting for them to give us the news."

"Do you… do you think that's possible?" Aeyrin asked uncertainly. She knew what the Vigilants thought. She knew what the Stendarrites thought. She wasn't sure why she hoped he would think something else. But his opinion was more important than anyone's to her, save for Bishop's.

"I… I don't know, my dear," the old man sighed. "You know what we teach: there's no going back. But… I won't lie, I've often wondered if it's more to deter people from ever taking the step. Truth be told, we don't know. We can't ever say for certain that there is no cure, of course. There's talk of cures, and there's talk of there not being any. We can't know anything. But for your sake, and for the sake of many others, I hope with all my heart that there is one."

Gods, she hoped so too. And it was comforting that he did not discount the possibility outright.

"And I promise you dear, when I go to Stendarr's side, I will pester him each day so that he helps you until I know you are safe from those monsters and their realms."

Aeyrin chuckled a bit. She knew it didn't work like that, at least she was pretty sure, but it was nice to hear. She still couldn't get the somber face of his out of his mind, from when he told her he knew about her secret, but in a way, she was a little relieved that he knew.

"Pfft, we'll find a way to get rid of this shit while you're still skipping around and pissing off Thalmor," Bishop smirked, eliciting a brief laugh from the both of them.

Therien took Aeyrin into his arms again comfortingly. She didn't cry this time, but it was obvious that she needed that embrace. After a while, he covertly moved one of his hands to his neck and fished out a silver chain resting there. He dragged the chain around his neck out of his robes, revealing the silver amulet in the shape of a goblet at the end, and he used Aeyrin's proximity to drape it over her own head and let it nestle around her instead. She opened her eyes in a brief startle, but her face lit up with a grateful smile when she saw what it was. Through her tears, she nuzzled into her old mentor's embrace again.

Therien only slowly stroked her hair once more and his gaze went back to Bishop again. His voice carried softly through the chamber, through the silence.

"I hope so."

…

It's been agreed. Five more days.

They would all stay in the temple, right up until Master Therien and Brunwulf finally left Cyrodiil and Bishop and Aeyrin continued on their way.

Their next destination was clear – Anvil. They were going to see if the clan was in the area, just as Ri'zhassa claimed, and then, they would decide what to do with the Khajiit himself. Their meeting was still set in Kvatch over two weeks away. They were still not sure if they would go and how they would handle the situation, but Aeyrin was starting to concentrate on the eventuality more. She knew that the man needed to pay for everything he had done. She just wasn't sure if this was the safest approach.

But that was all still a while away.

Until then, they could enjoy more of the temple's hospitality and the beauties of Chorrol.

Bishop was particularly glad to be able to move around the temple again without being holed up in the undercroft the entire time, barely able to move. And he was especially glad he could get some food himself up there, instead of relying on the meager servings the others brought down. And the bathing room.

Aeyrin was not really willing to disappear in there with him. She worried that sounds would carry too much. Fine. He would make do for one night, but tomorrow, they were going out and fucking under the Great Oak or something like that. He was finally up to his full strength and energy and that should not be wasted.

But at the very least, he could have a proper bath there at last. The clerics had brought a small basin into Therien's side room before, along with the cots and tables and shit, in preparation for the wounded from the prison to stay there a while. But that was really not sufficient, and really too open.

Tonight, he could finally feel clean again.

That is, if the lock bolt would listen to him.

He yanked it several times, but it was making a weird clicking noise and the door was still opening when he pulled on the handle.

With a frustrated sigh, he walked back to the clerics' quarters, postponing his bath reluctantly. He could already hear the excited voices in there as he entered.

"Really, Dwemer ruins?" Vaselis gaped at Aeyrin in astonishment.

"What's a Dwemer ruin look like?" Horencia stared at her in astonishment. She was sitting at M'vari's bed while the Khajiit brushed through her hair with her claws gently.

"Really big. And full of metal," Aeyrin chuckled. Then she noticed Bishop standing by the door and moved her attention to him instead. "That was quick."

"I can't lock the door, I don't know why it won't work," he growled. It worked before. And it surely worked for everyone else.

"Aaw, you broke the latch?" Aeyrin's face twisted into a pout and all the clerics, along with Horencia, in the room let out an annoyed groan.

"The fu-u…" Bishop stopped himself this time when he noticed the young girl. He had heard many much more colorful expressions by her age and used them properly too. But… supposedly they tried not to acquaint her with this in the temple so he could at least try to control himself. "I didn't break anything," he huffed.

"It's alright. Not your fault," Vaselis chuckled. "It's janky. Sooner or later it would break on someone. We just gotta get a locksmith to fix it."

"Just go get a bath, everyone's either here or at the evening mass anyway," Aeyrin nodded at him. "We'll have to make do until tomorrow."

Bishop only turned on his heel and returned to the bathing room. It was annoying, but he didn't mind that much. But that only meant he would never convince Aeyrin to spend some quality time there with him, if the lock could break at any moment even after it was fixed. That just reaffirmed what he already knew – they had to go explore the city some more and find themselves some nice quiet corner. Aeyrin was sure to know some good hiding places, hopefully away from the slums.

He took off his clothes absentmindedly, still thinking about where they could hide out and enjoy their time together. He climbed into the bathtub and sprawled himself into the warm water. Fuck, that felt good. He felt so filthy and clammy all this time. He promptly grabbed his soap which he had prepared there before he noticed the lock issue.

He did get Aeyrin's point about this place though. Something about this temple did make shit uncomfortable, even though he thought he might find some stress relief on his own right now, it just felt weird to be doing that here. It's not like they haven't fucked in a temple before – that was quite memorable – but this was different. Maybe it was that there were so many people here. Maybe it was that this was the place where Aeyrin grew up. And if someone caught them, or him, it would not just be something to laugh off since they would never see these people again.

He let out a sigh of frustration and instead, he leaned back and against the edge of the tub, and just tried to enjoy the peace and quiet.

It didn't last long though. Soon enough, he heard the door click and open behind his back.

For a moment, he hoped that it was Aeyrin – she knew that he was there after all.

But when he turned his head over his shoulder, the first thing that caught his eyes was a head of bright red hair.

"Oh. Uhm… sorry… it was unlocked," Sevyen scowled at him. It was not like she could see anything from where she was, but she still kept staring at him in a weird way. It made him uncomfortable. It wasn't even a look that he could in any way interpret as interest or curiosity. Not even shock. Just a… scowl. Then again, she was always scowling.

"The latch broke," Bishop scowled back at her.

"Right. That… happens. I'll… leave you be." Sevyen turned on her heel promptly and disappeared out of the door again. She kind of looked like she saw a ghost. She was a fucking priestess. She had surely seen countless naked bodies before. And she couldn't even see anything. He was obscured by the tub and his back was to her. Weird.

But what did he care? She was gone, that was important.

He just let out another sigh and submerged himself deeper into the water.

Any weird happenings washed away promptly from his mind like that.

…

"Is it better?" Aeyrin asked with palpable concern as she continued to run her hands over Bishop's back.

They couldn't find much privacy, at least not so much that Aeyrin would be comfortable with it, so Bishop had to at least get something pleasant to happen that evening. So he kind of maybe overstated how sore and achy he still was from his ordeal. Aeyrin probably knew that he was embellishing, but she was all too eager to offer him a massage when the other clerics left the room to get some dinner together.

Maybe the notion of staying here for five more days was just as frustrating for her. They had to take their opportunities wherever they could.

"A little. Still fucking sore though, keep going," Bishop groaned at her. It was annoying that they had to do this with clothes on, even his shirt because of that fucking brand in case anyone walked in, but it still felt so fucking good when she did this. He let out another groan when she dug the balls of her thumbs against his shoulder blades.

"Still with those sounds," she chuckled a little. "I feel like they can probably hear you two chambers over."

"Good… aah… fuck. At least they'll be too scared to come in," Bishop smirked in between his moans and groans.

Despite his theory though, after a few more minutes of that blissful treatment, the door to the clerics' quarters opened abruptly.

Bishop didn't seem to mind or react one bit, but Aeyrin did promptly stop the massage and shuffled away from straddling his thighs. She almost jumped off the bed in the hurried motion. And before she managed to properly steady herself on her feet, the newcomer came into view.

It was Sevyen, surprisingly enough. What was she doing in the clerics' quarters? And why was she scowling now?

"Aeyrin, a word?" The Dunmer narrowed her eyes at her even more. Ugh, what was going on? Was it because of what she had walked in on? Granted, without seeing what they were doing on the bed over the alcove walls, that might have sounded rather odd.

Sevyen motioned for Aeyrin to follow outside of the quarters, leaving Bishop behind. She did so obligingly, but the second they stopped outside, she got defensive.

"Look, I was just giving him a massage. He was sore after some… adventures. I don't know why he makes those sounds," she huffed. She was sometimes suspicious that he made her massages sound lascivious on purpose, just to rile her up.

"Whatever, that's not what I wanted to talk about," Sevyen rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"What's going on then?" Aeyrin sighed with same amount of exasperation. She wouldn't be like that if Sevyen herself decided for once to be pleasant.

"Your… companion."

"Fiancé," Aeyrin corrected her promptly. They had already told the rest of the temple residents the news during lunch, now that Master Therien knew. Sevyen was there and for some reason, it miffed Aeyrin that she pretended like she wasn't now. Or maybe she was really just generally miffed from Sevyen's own tone of voice.

"Even worse," the Dunmer scoffed. What did that mean? "He got the latch jammed in the bathing room earlier and I walked in on him."

"Oh… uhm… alright," Aeyrin shrugged a little. Why was she telling her? That could have happened with the lock trouble, but Sevyen was a healer. It was definitely not the first naked man she had seen, if she had even seen anything in her intrusion. Why was that worth telling? And in that tone, no less. "I'm sorry, but that happens. You know that latch, it's…"

"It's not about that! You honestly think I'm rattled from seeing a human body? I didn't even see anything, if that's your concern for some daft reason," Sevyen shook her head.

"No. But what's your concern then?" Aeyrin was getting impatient dancing around this topic. There was clearly an issue, she just had no idea what issue that was.

"I did see his back," the Dunmer scowled. "And what's on it."

Oh. Dammit. That wasn't great. Especially if Sevyen saw it. At the very least, she decided to broach the subject privately.

"Ah… that," Aeyrin lowered her head. What was she supposed to say now?

"Yes. That. Care to explain?" Sevyen's eyes narrowed into thin red slits in suspicion.

"I… uh… I don't know…" Aeyrin stammered. Explain how? She had no idea what to say. Bishop had the words 'Bandit scum' branded across his back and there was not really much she could do to argue with that. It's not like she could pretend that Sevyen was hallucinating or something. Could she? Act like she had no idea what this was about? No… it was too late for that. She had already acknowledged that she knew what this was about.

"You don't know? You seriously brought a bandit here? And one so proud of it, apparently," Sevyen scoffed disdainfully.

"He didn't do that to himself!" Aeyrin huffed at her. How could he even? It was on his back! "And he's not a bandit!"

"I doubt he got that for no reason. Or is that what he told you and you naively ate it up?" Sevyen shook her head. "He must have done something to earn that brand. You brought a dangerous person to the temple and hid it from all of us."

"He's not dangerous! I didn't…" Aeyrin tried to defend Bishop and herself again, but she was promptly interrupted again.

"Don't bother. Your judgment was always… poor," the priestess scoffed. "Ugh. Just… forget it. There's no talking to you."

Even if Aeyrin knew what to say in protest, she couldn't. Sevyen was already turning on her heel and marching away angrily.

Was that… it? An outburst and some insults? She wasn't going to tell anyone, was she?

Gods, there was really no worse person who could have walked in on Bishop.

…

Aeyrin had been nervous about what happened with Sevyen all night, but surprisingly enough, no Master came in to lecture her or question Bishop and nobody seemed to be talking or looking at them differently. It was a relief.

She didn't even tell Bishop what happened. She knew that he always felt so bad when his past made trouble for them, but there was no trouble yet. There was no reason to make him feel guilty about this. It wasn't his fault anyway.

The next day came soon enough.

Bishop was still quite preoccupied wondering what they should do through the day. Where they should go, and especially where they could hide out from the public view to have some alone time.

He was getting a bit restless at the temple. Though he had only recently recovered, he was itching for some action already. It was probably all the quiet and the peace around – it was so different from staying at a busy inn.

Sometimes even the meals seemed quiet. There were a lot of people there for breakfast in the mess hall, but since it was unbearably early, he kind of felt like half of them were still trying to wake up properly.

At least today the breakfast seemed a bit more varied. There were even some tiny sweet cakes there for the taking. Aeyrin always loved this sort of stuff.

It was almost automatic for him when someone brought the cakes over. He reached out across the table to grab one for Aeyrin – there was one with strawberries that she would love. His hand collided with Sevyen's, who apparently wanted the same one. But there was only one and he knew it would be Aeyrin's favorite. Tough luck. He grabbed it regardless.

"Well, I should have seen that coming," Sevyen scoffed at the stunt. "Old habits die hard, huh, bandit?"

Bishop thought that the room was quiet before, but he had seen nothing yet. Every faint sound of shuffling, chewing, and maybe even breathing, suddenly ceased altogether. Every person in there immediately stopped everything they were doing and instead they all stared at Bishop in palpable shock and alarm.

What the fuck? How did she know? Where did that come from?

"What?" Bishop scowled at her fiercely. It could not be just a shot in the dark. Who the fuck told her? Did Therien?

"Sevyen!" Aeyrin gasped at her in a chastising tone, as if she had just revealed a secret she wasn't supposed to. Which was true, of course.

"You told her?" He growled under his breath so that hopefully only Aeyrin could hear the words properly. Why would she do that? Not just for his sake, but for her own too.

"No," Aeyrin sighed quietly. "She saw the…" her head subtly inclined to indicate his back.

Oh fuck. She saw that in the bathing room, of course. Bishop's back was to her the entire time. That's why she looked so caught back. Shit.

"What?" Sevyen scoffed. "I, for one, think that everyone should know what you're exposing everyone here to, bringing bandits in our midst. This is a temple, unless you forgot."

"He's not a bandit!" Aeyrin barked at her angrily. She should have known Sevyen would start spreading this. Apparently she chose to do this in the worst way possible. Gods, everyone was staring at them in such horror right now.

"Sevyen, what is going on?" Master Samus, who had been observing quietly until now, scowled sternly at the Dunmer.

"He is," Sevyen threw Bishop an accusing look. "He is a bandit. And she brought him among us without a second thought. We welcomed him, gave him food and a roof over his head and…"

"He's not a bandit!" Aeyrin interrupted her promptly again. He was not. That stupid brand. She hated that thing.

"Why would you get that impression, Sevyen?" Master Samus shook his head at the elf incredulously.

"He has it branded on his body like a badge of pride!" Sevyen spat disdainfully.

Bishop's fists clenched in anger at that note. 'Badge of pride'. As fucking if. As if anyone would choose that. But getting angry would not really help the situation. He wouldn't give a fuck what the priestess thought of him, but he did care for Aeyrin's sake. She probably didn't want the people she grew up with to think she was endangering them. Or to think what those assholes in Whiterun thought – that she was some dim love-struck girl falling for a scumbag's lies.

"I was born in a bandit clan," Bishop sighed. "I'm not a bandit. Not for a long time now." They certainly didn't need to know the extent of his 'profession'. This was plenty to know already.

A few of the people around started to murmur amongst each other and Sevyen still looked very disdainful. But soon, Master Samus interrupted the whispers again.

"Sevyen, I think you are forgetting very important lessons. What does Stendarr teach us?" He scowled at the priestess.

"Mercy," Sevyen said begrudgingly through gritted teeth.

"And whom do we offer our hearth and our hand?"

"Whomever we are able to, when they need it," she sighed in palpable bitterness.

"Good. This talk does not befit a priestess of our church, Sevyen," Samus shook his head at her disapprovingly before he moved his gaze to Aeyrin instead. "And I'm sure Aeyrin would not put her home into any danger, would she?"

"Never, Master," she quickly agreed. Though Master's Samus chastisements always sounded a bit like dangerous threats for some reason. She certainly had nothing to fear – she didn't do any such thing. Well… she did expose them to a lot of danger by dragging Master Therien to those dissident endeavors. But she shouldn't really think about that too much right now.

"Good," Master Samus nodded. "Then all is well, as far as I am concerned." He shot another chastising look towards Sevyen again.

The message was clear. Nobody spoke a word of it anymore and they mostly stared into their plates in silence. But still, the atmosphere changed considerably. And from time to time, there were those familiar wary glances and curious whispers.

The room suddenly felt much more stifling.

And there was no going back from this unpleasant shift.

…

Bishop finally entered the blissful quiet of the undercroft.

It was annoying. He knew that things were just bad because it was all new and exciting, but he couldn't stand those looks and rumors anymore. He couldn't stand everyone making suspicious faces at him and he especially couldn't stand what it was all doing to Aeyrin. She didn't want to talk to people anymore, she mostly withdrew into the clerics' chambers and brushed off anyone prying for more information. He fucking hated that his banditry ruined yet another place she loved for her.

He could only hope that it would die down soon. He could only hope that the priests were different from those vultures in Whiterun. The opinion of Master Samus did make him optimistic about that. But it was too soon. Of course everyone would be talking about this today when they had just learned it.

Fuck, he really wanted this to blow over soon.

He himself was pestered with questions. Some, like Vaselis, were more excited than anything to be able to speak to someone who had been through shit none of them had. Though some of them came from less than ideal environments originally, surely none of them did much more than petty crimes. And now they were curious if Bishop had. Vaselis looked at it as an adventure, surprisingly enough. Most of the others though, they looked at him with too much wariness, as if their questions were supposed to gauge whether he was actually a danger to them or not.

He just wanted a break from all that. He decided to go back to the undercroft instead. Therien had no annoying questions about his banditry and the ghosts didn't know or just didn't care.

Though the quiet didn't last as long as he hoped.

He heard quite a violent cough coming from the side room. A somewhat disturbing one. He had heard it already recently, when Therien distracted the Sentinel in the prison, but that was definitely not a distraction right now. He almost sounded like he was choking in there.

Bishop walked inside the side chamber, only to see the old man sitting on his bed with a cloth pressed to his mouth firmly. He noticed a bit of blood on there too. Was Therien still having issues after the torture? One would think that a healer of his caliber would be able to take care of them on his own.

"You alright there?" Bishop scowled when his heaving and coughing finally stopped. The man practically jumped up on the bed from the start.

"Stendarr's mercy, young man. I didn't hear you come in at all," Therien's eyes widened at him.

Oh yeah, Bishop was wearing his muffling ring again. But that wasn't really the point.

"How could you? Over that…" he scoffed. "Something wrong? Should I call that Selvia lady or Gavros or someone?"

"No, no. There's really no need," Therien shook his head. "What are you doing here at this hour? Shouldn't you be upstairs with the others? I'm sure that's more entertaining than these empty halls."

"Right… I'd prefer the empty halls right now," Bishop grumbled in response.

"Is something the matter?" Therien looked at him with palpable concern. Fuck, how did he do that? Bishop actually wanted to confide in him when he was looking so worried and understanding at the same time.

"Ugh… stupid shit like always…" Bishop mumbled, but Therien looked at him again with an encouraging expression on his face. Fuck, he was hard to keep things away from. No wonder he even managed to find out about Aeyrin's lycanthropy.

Bishop let out a defeated sigh before he admitted what was bothering him. "Sevyen saw the brand on my back."

"Ah, and she made her conclusions and judgments and eagerly spread them around?" Therien nodded knowingly. "It's an unfortunate trait of hers."

"I don't give a fuck what they all think of me," Bishop scoffed. "But Aeyrin does. And now she has to deal with this shit here too." It was so fucking annoying. This was the last thing he wanted these people to know about him, for her sake.

"I know," Therien nodded slowly. "But, I assure you, the people who really matter, who do know Aeyrin, they know that she has a good instinct when it comes to others. And if she trusts you, they know that there's nothing to worry about. I think all of them know. Sevyen is just… sometimes she's concerned with making herself feel a bit… superior. That does not diminish her devotion and her good qualities, but… it can come across as unpleasant. And the rest… they just like the excitement. I'm sure you can imagine, they don't get too many intriguing rumors around here. But they know that you are not a bad person, because they know her. It will blow over very soon, I promise."

"I hope so," Bishop growled. But there really was something to how he spoke, how he comforted people. It was kind of disturbing, actually. Bishop was not used to this shit.

There was silence for only a moment, but he felt like it was awkward. He didn't know what to say in these situations. He didn't know how to act when a veritable stranger was this… nice to him. So he opted to change the subject. It reminded him of what he had walked in on before.

"So, now that you've tried to gloss over what happened, let's get back to it," Bishop smirked at the man. "Are you alright? Are you still recovering from the prison?"

"Ah… no. That's not… I am fully healed, I assure you," Therien averted his gaze. "You need not worry about me, really. It's nothing."

"It didn't look like 'nothing'," Bishop scowled. "You did that as a distraction in the prison too. Was that even intentional?"

"It was… at first," Therien sighed.

"You're a healer," Bishop shook his head in disbelief. Whatever was wrong with him, why did he not heal himself? Fuck, he hoped this shit wasn't some ridiculous self-flagellation like the Vigilants did or something like that.

"I am… a very old healer," the man shook his head regretfully. "There are things that magic cannot heal. Things that time claims."

"S-so… is it serious?" Was he dying? He looked quite spritely and capable. He certainly didn't look like someone on his death-bed.

"It's… manageable. Not a curable sickness, it's just… at my age, one can't expect that many years to come. The body withers slowly. Externally and internally. There's nothing that magic can do about it. It feels… sudden when you notice. But then you realize that it was not that sudden at all," Therien sighed once more somberly.

"Does…"

Bishop didn't get to ask the question. Therien instantly pierced him with a surprisingly stern look and interrupted his thought.

"Don't tell her. She has so much to deal with already."

What? Seriously? The man was slowly dying, at least Bishop had gathered as much from his vague answers, and he should keep that from Aeyrin?!

"Fuck, you can't ask me that," Bishop growled. "You know what we've been through. I can't keep stuff like this from her. And… she deserves to know." He was her father. Kind of. She would want to know that something is wrong with him.

"You know how much it would hurt her," Therien looked at him pleadingly. "How much she would obsess over this. I will tell her, but give me time. I do have some time, I assure you. And she's barely seen a moment free of worry here. This was supposed to be a happy reunion for her, not… not what it turned out to be."

He had a point. The last thing Bishop wanted was to make her long-awaited visit here even more unpleasant. And it wasn't his place to tell her this. But he hated knowing it. He hated knowing it when she didn't.

"Shit. Fuck," he muttered under his breath. "I get that. But when we get back to Skyrim, we're heading to that chapel right away. You'll tell her then, alright?" That was the least he could do, not to keep Bishop in this for too long.

"I swear," Therien placed his hand on his chest solemnly.

Good. That was that, at least. Still… fuck.

"Alright. Shit. Just… take care of yourself," Bishop sighed. It would be really shitty if the man died before they got there. "Do you need anything?"

"You are sweet to worry, but I am well, even given my circumstances," Therien chuckled softly in response.

"Good. Because you're not allowed to die before you tell her," Bishop scowled. "And for a few years after, probably."

"Understood," he chuckled again. "Thank you, young man."

Bishop nodded, but the gratitude was hardly of much comfort.

All the secrets spilling out was making shit around here much harder than it needed to be.

…

Therien was right, kind of.

Sevyen was still throwing Bishop and Aeyrin disgruntled looks. But the rest of the gossip kind of died down. The two of them still had to deal with the occasional question, but it was hardly that bad. And whenever they brushed people off, they usually gave up on the questionings.

They've spent the next couple of days not doing much. They spent their time at the temple some more and walked around Chorrol. Aeyrin showed Bishop to some of the places she used to like – such as a more secluded section of the battlements with a view over the outskirts.

It was a pleasant stay, definitely more than it had been until then with all the shit going on.

And a few days later, someone was smuggled out of the temple in the early morning hours. It was only a short while after that when Therien officially returned to the temple.

The residents were surprisingly good actors. They all greeted him as if he had really only been gone on one of his usual trips. Except for Aeyrin. She threw herself at the man as if she hadn't seen him in ages. Though Bishop was pretty sure she would be eager to greet him like that even if they saw each other every day. Which they did now for a while.

Fuck, that only made him feel more guilty about her not knowing about his illness.

But he didn't say anything. He couldn't say anything about it. So instead he was introduced to the man once more.

Once that charade was over with, the more painful part of all that came.

"I'm afraid I have some… news, everyone," Therien sighed when the cheer and chatter from greeting him died down a little. The people gathered around, more than half of the temple's residents, looked at him intently, some with worry, some with curiosity. "In my travels, I have learned of an intriguing place. A newly built chapel in a remote area. They were looking for a priest. Apparently the locals have been plagued by long-term sickness for years now. And I… decided to leave the temple for a while, see what I can do to help."

There were a few gasps of astonishment, a few pouts, mainly from the younger initiates, and a few understanding nods.

"That is very much like you, friend," Master Samus smiled kindly.

"I do not know how long I'll be gone. But I promise you, I will write to you all whenever I can," Master Therien smiled back.

"You're not leaving now, are you, Master?" Horencia scowled at him, looking quite disgruntled about the news.

"No. I am leaving in a few days. A friend of mine promised to provide assistance on the journey. You remember lord Free-Winter?" Therien looked back at Samus. Of course, Brunwulf was well known to those who knew what this was really about, but even those that didn't knew that the man was a friend of Therien's.

"I am glad you did not decide to venture alone," Master Samus smirked at him a bit, though his expression was quite sad. "We will make the best of your time here though. And I hope that you will return to us soon again."

Master Therien's expression turned even more wistful at those words. He wasn't looking at anyone in particular, he was more looking around the halls spreading out behind the crowd, the halls he knew and loved for so long. The halls he had to leave now, possibly for good.

His voice was somber, but he did not let any distress show on him when he answered his old friend.

"So do I."