Author's Note:

Dear all,

welcome to the third and almost final book of this insanely long story :) The third book will tie up any loose ends that we have accumulated up until now and hopefully it will entertain you for a long time yet. The fourth book, which is planned, is then going to be more of an extra story that takes place a few years after the events of this book. But that's a long time away. For now, please enjoy the mess I made of Aeyrin's and Bishop's adventures to the fullest. There's so many loose ends and it's gonna be fun to tie them up.

And of course, let's start it up properly with a unique journey down many memory lanes for our heroes :) Cyrodiil awaits, warm and inviting as opposed to the cold, harsh north. Maybe Bishop and Aeyrin will get their well-deserved vacation. Or maybe things down south will go… south :D Just wait and see. The first thirty chapters are fully dedicated to the journeys across the Imperial Province.

Thank you all so much for sticking around this long. Those of you who didn't read the first two books or forgot the plots, you can always check out the book extras and go through the plotline summaries. They are more geared towards reminders though – if you haven't read the books before, I can't guarantee that you won't get lost or confused sometimes.

And last but not least, a small reminder that this fic is cross-posted to Wattpad, FFnet and AO3, so in case one site misbehaves, you can always find updates elsewhere.

In any case, I hope you'll enjoy :)

I can't wait to share this all with you.

Chapter I – Southbound

Music filled the air in an attempt to drown out the laughter and chatter in the large room.

It was an unfamiliar song. A pleasant change. Though it did vaguely sound like all the old Nordic tunes everyone and their mothers knew back in Skyrim.

Bruma was like that. It clung to the semblances of traditions of the Nords, as if trying to emulate the culture most of its citizens had left behind generations ago. But through all that, it was still instantly apparent to anyone who had spent any time in actual Skyrim, that this was not the same. This was the Imperial Province. Under the wooden buildings accumulating snow on the roofs, behind those carved wall hangings and elk and bear heads hanging all over the place, there was still that striking Imperial lavishness beneath it all.

The Jerall View Inn. A place twice the size of the Winking Skeever. Even the name sounded so much fancier.

Though granted, if they had chosen the other part of Bruma, there would be much less lavishness to admire. But why would they? They could afford this place for a change. Bishop had never been here before, despite his years spent in Cyrodiil. There was a watering hole he couldn't recall the name of just down the road that was much more suitable for shady dealings.

And just the memory of it made him have second thoughts about all of this. Not about visiting Chorrol, for Aeyrin's sake, but definitely about the rest.

How did he get sucked into his family's bullshit again? What the fuck? He was still so angry at Kari. Surprisingly enough, he was even more angry about her reasons than her actual methods. Those fucking bounties suddenly felt like nothing compared to having to deal with all of them again.

But he chose to concentrate on other things right now.

He was here, in this ridiculously fancy inn with actual money on him in Cyrodiil. That was unprecedented. And he was here to enjoy the Province with Aeyrin. He always liked it here, in theory. It was just his life that made it shitty.

But now it would be different. They were both determined to make the most of this trip, even if they had to deal with some unpleasantness.

After all, they had left so much of it behind already. The Brotherhood, the obnoxious notoriety, the dragons. All of it.

Well maybe not all of it. Did dragons cross the mountains? It wasn't as if the passes would stop those. Then again, there weren't too many peaks around that they could enjoy.

And after that horrible ordeal in Falkreath, both of them could use the respite.

They had given up on 'reclaiming the area'. It was lost forever. The only place they could actually ever have fond memories of there was Lake Ilinalta. Past that, it was all just pain and fear.

But right here, it all seemed so far away.

The two of them had spent the better part of the day getting to Bruma and then wandering around, reminiscing about the old place they had both left years ago. It was almost two years for Aeyrin. Eleven for Bishop. Though not much had changed in that time. Not on the surface.

For now that was all they needed to see though. They would be neck deep in some trouble soon enough if their history of misfortune was anything to go by. But that would hopefully wait while they enjoyed their evening. With the great, though expensive, food and a drink that was hard to label.

"How can they call this 'mead'?" Bishop scoffed, slamming the carved silver tankard, which was trying too hard to look like some Nordic carving, down onto the table. This was even worse than that watered down Black-Briar shit. Didn't they have bees in Cyrodiil? He was pretty sure that there were bees. What was so hard about making some decent mead?

Aeyrin couldn't help but chuckle at his outrage. It reminded her of her own similar outburst about the quality of wine in Skyrim. What did he expect? He should have gotten the wine like she did. In fact, she was so happy right now. Actual wine. It tasted just like it was supposed to. Clearly Skingrad quality. And Bishop certainly looked like he envied her the choice just then. He had been away for too long to make such a rookie mistake.

"Hey, at least the food is good," she smirked at him. A mutton steak with blackberry sauce. They made sure to order something they could not get in Skyrim and it was definitely the right choice.

"Yeah, sure. I'll just have to remember that everything Nordic here is just for show," Bishop chuckled. Not that he minded much. He was looking forward to seeing some places again, now that he was much older and actually able to enjoy them. It was still a little surprising how different it all felt here though, even if it tried to make people feel like it wasn't. He had been in Skyrim for too long. Even his hunting trip to Morrowind was a while ago. It was almost ridiculous how long he hadn't set foot out of the Province he lost so much in. Or why he never actually stayed in Morrowind. Or traveled somewhere else, less… hot and volcanic.

Then again, he couldn't really complain about how it all turned out in the end. Right now, with Aeyrin by his side, all regrets and 'what ifs' seemed irrelevant.

"So, we're agreed? This is our first destination?" Aeyrin broke the brief silence a little nervously after a spell, tearing Bishop away from his thoughts. Beneath the plates with food, and the small bowl of strawberries that Aeyrin was still so giddy about having for a desert, there was a map splayed out. They bought it earlier – the most detailed one they could find in this city, depicting all the points of interest around the Imperial Province. Even though they both knew this place well, it was still better to have it. And it made their planning easier.

Bishop nodded at the unmarked spot she was pointing at. Far east from Bruma. It was kind of out of the way. But they wanted to get this small task over with.

"Are you sure that's the place? It doesn't say anything here," Aeyrin scowled, peering at the map uncertainly. They were headed towards Chorrol as soon as possible, but there was a place on the way that Bishop had pointed out. The truth was, they had no idea how to actually proceed to deal with his problem waiting here down south.

"I don't know, they could have moved, I guess. But it's the place I remember. It's not marked. It's a fucking cave. I told you, it's not an 'order' – it's a cult." His only lead on the Thrice-Banished was Kari. He knew that she would either be with her cult or that they would know where she is. Bishop had been to that cave many times before – mostly to drag Kari back to the clan, practically kicking and screaming, whenever Torban demanded. Torban let her go to her insane zealots, but the second he had an idea on how to use her, she was always forced to come back. Just like the rest of them.

Aeyrin still had so many questions. And she was still uncertain how much Bishop would be willing to talk about. She was so curious though. About his whole family – it was like this big secret he kept guarding with angry growls at every mention. It wasn't that she didn't understand, but the curiosity still kept nagging at her.

Before she could think of a question, however, Bishop interrupted her with a resolute nod.

"So that's that. We'll go to that stupid cave and find out what the fuck was Kari blabbering about. Then, I will tell her to fuck off again and we're going straight to Chorrol. Alright?"

It wasn't going to be that simple. Aeyrin knew that if Bishop sincerely wanted to stay out of this, he would have. He would have never come here, not for Kari. He might have come here for Aeyrin, but he would never even consider finding his sister. She was just worried about what they had gotten themselves into. The way Bishop spoke about his family, when he ever did, it was a mess.

"What if they're in trouble?" She looked at him intently. He was clearly worried about them, even if he didn't want to admit it to himself. At least some of them, maybe.

"Those fuckers are always in trouble. Nothing new there," Bishop only scoffed in response, seemingly disinterested.

"Why are we even going to talk to Kari then?" She raised her brow at him. She knew why. She knew he wanted closure and that he wouldn't be able to have it if he ignored this. But she also suspected that he did actually want to help, not just find out what was going on.

"Yeah. Why are we? We can skip that," he nodded resolutely again and she noticed the anger starting to flare up in him. "Not like I ever wanna see her fucking mug again anyway. Especially after what she did. This is the kind of shit my 'family' does, you know? Sending a fucking headsman before sending, I don't know, a fucking letter?"

"You suggested talking to her," she only gave him a wry smile, but she knew he didn't want to 'skip that'. Why did he keep playing this game with himself? "Bishop…" she tried to sound understanding. But this performance was not fooling anyone.

"Fine," he only let out a long resigned sigh. "She got in my head, alright? I don't care that they were all pissed and ungrateful after we killed Torban. I don't care we had to run from them. But I… I don't know. They're all a bunch of fucked up assholes. But… some of them, I guess, may have had some redeeming qualities. Maybe. And… I thought they would be… free. I don't care what they were gonna do, but I got rid of him. There was no reason to live like that anymore, for anyone. And now, those shits are trying to bring him back, in a way."

Aeyrin nodded in understanding. It must have been an unpleasant feeling, knowing that the legacy of the monster he had killed was now carried on so actively.

"So… I guess those two brothers of yours were not the ones with redeeming qualities?" She pried a bit.

"Not by a long shot. They were mini Torbans from the start," he scoffed. "Look, we were all fucked up, each of us in our own way. I was lucky to get out of there when I did. Jules too. I just… thought more of them would have a chance to. And Kari mentioned… some little ones… I don't know. If there are more kids involved… they might have a chance, if they can get away. You know?"

Aeyrin nodded once more. It was definitely worth the risks to save anyone from abuse and forced banditry and whatever else was going on. It still didn't manage to sate her curiosity though.

"Would you… would you tell me more about them?" She asked carefully. Bishop was surprisingly forthcoming with his reasoning, since his denial didn't work on either of them. She couldn't help but get hopeful.

"Ugh. Fine. I guess… you should know what kind of shit we're getting into," he growled under his breath. "But I need a better drink for this. Not this fucking swill." He scoffed at the tankard on the table.

"Deal," Aeyrin giggled. "Brandy?"

"Sounds about right," Bishop smirked.

He did need a strong one.

…

"So, I think you already know all about Torban and Rina," Bishop began to talk, the disdain palpable in his voice when he uttered those names. "And you know we don't all have the exact same parents. Those two only had three kids together until they started to look elsewhere. I don't really know why that happened, but honestly, I couldn't care less," he scoffed. As if he cared where those two decided to wander. "Rina got it into her head that Mara would appreciate her 'spreading the love' to other people. Eventually that turned into a creepy obsession of spawning brats with all the races possible. And Torban seemed to be fine with having a break from her particular brand of insanity to sleep around on his own. That's how I ended up with so many siblings, I guess."

"I was the last one those two had together," he continued to explain with palpable moroseness in his voice. "The first one was Jack, you already know about him. And my older sister was Aces. Acilia. She was always just as sick of all this shit as I was. Torban and Rina never really looked after us at all. They mostly just let the older kids take care of the younger ones, when possible. And Aces always tried to be detached, leaving Jack and eventually me or Kari to take care of the rest. She barely ever talked to anyone in the clan. Not unless she had to."

Aeyrin nodded in understanding. It had to be hard, taking care of the little ones with his own situation being far from ideal. She couldn't even begin to imagine it. When she was a kid, she had a hard time already taking care of herself alone, making sure she wouldn't starve. On top of that, there was her father who, admittedly, despite all the resentment, she didn't want to let starve either. She really couldn't even fathom having that responsibility for so many people. So many children. Bishop told her once he had nine siblings. She couldn't get that out of her head. She would have almost envied him such a big family. She was so lonely as a child. But after she found out more and more snippets of the real situation, she knew that there was nothing to be envious about. Maybe except for his relationship with Jules.

"Kari, or Karina, was born only a year after me. Rina found some other Nord before she started with that whole racial check-list bullshit. Though it was not like she was stingy with those she had checked already either," Bishop rolled his eyes. Rina was never really shy about her dalliances, not even in front of her kids. There would be countless strange men wandering around their camps randomly. Usually some wretches, skooma addicts or drunks. Or just other bandits. She wasn't really picky. "Anyway, Kari was fed a lot of Rina's bullshit about religion, but she was never really responsive to any of it. She kept saying that she never wanted to live like Rina – to have a God tell her to bring more kids into this fucked up world. Instead, she got it into her head that the only God worth listening to, was the one that was telling people to take people out of the world."

"But that's not what Arkay's teachings are about," Aeyrin scowled at Bishop. Arkay was a wise guide to those departed. He never advocated ending lives sooner than was their time.

"Yeah. She's insane. I don't know what you're not getting about this," Bishop laughed. "Mara doesn't teach anyone to fuck as many people as humanly possible, but Rina believed that. And when some fucking cultists began preaching about their views on Arkay, Kari was… home. She joined the cultists and Torban let her, provided she would bring back the spoils. You know, the spoils of those that 'Arkay demanded for his realm'. He kind of liked Kari in this cult. Though she was never really free whenever he thought of other uses for her. We were all always dragged back on a whim, whenever he called. And he had a lot of people in that cult keeping an eye on Kari, making sure she was always at hand, always there when he wanted to use her for his schemes."

Aeyrin only shook her head in disbelief. She really couldn't blame Bishop for his attitude towards religion. The examples he saw back then were just horrific. But before she could ask more about this cult, Bishop continued with his recounting.

"Then there was Ost. He's one of the scumbags Kari mentioned. He's Torban's bastard with some girl none of us really knew. Not even Ost. We don't know what happened there, why Torban brought the baby back to the clan one day. Maybe she gave him to Torban to take care of. Maybe she died. Maybe he stole him. I have no idea. But he was his. Torban was proudly declaring that constantly. Finally a proper son that wouldn't be an ungrateful shit, born from Rina's 'insane cunt' as he loved to put it. Well… he kinda got his wish. Ost and Duful were probably the only ones that Torban actually… 'raised'. They were his little slaves from day one."

"Duful was his too?" Aeyrin interrupted him to ask. It definitely sounded like it, the way he put it.

"Yeah. He was younger though. Eight years from Ost. When Ost was shaping up to Torban's image, he apparently decided to make another copy of himself. Came back one day with a Redguard kid. Nobody knew what happened with the mother again. But nobody really cared. He could have had her chained up somewhere until she gave birth for all we knew and then left her to die. It wouldn't be surprising from him," Bishop growled. Torban did a lot of shitty things to a lot of girls. Often Bishop thought how Thorn and him might get along over the shared… interest. Though Thorn always loved tormenting them. Torban… he just didn't care about them. The only people he was interested in tormenting were Rina's spawn.

"Anyway, in between Torban's bastards," Bishop let out a sigh, it was time to concentrate on the less loathsome people of the clan. "Rina had three more kids in those eight years. Jules was the oldest after Kari. He was only three years younger than me. Two years later, there was Liesl. Rina had her with some Imperial guy and when Liesl got older, she became obsessed with her father. She had no idea who it was, Rina didn't even fucking remember. But Liesl started to do actual fucking research. She deduced that her features were most distinctive as Imperial, even though she was a Nord, of course, but you can sometimes tell, you know? Like Jules and that hairy mug of his. He was like a walking fur coat from a disturbingly young age," Bishop chuckled affectionately.

How was it this easy to talk about all of this now that he started? He expected it to be a struggle, but why did he? It was never a struggle to talk to Aeyrin, surprisingly enough, not even about this. He always liked how attentive she was when he was talking about his past. Nobody ever cared about that. Nobody ever cared about him enough to actually ask. Whenever someone asked, it was always about the crimes of the Thrice-Banished – either to become outraged or inspired, like the bandits at Lost Knife. This was still oddly freeing. To be able to talk about this without worrying that it would all upset someone or make someone see him differently. He always felt like people looked at him differently when they knew what kind of a family he came from. Maybe Aeyrin did too. But in her case, it was never disgust or disdain. It was genuine understanding. After all, she had been through some messed up shit too as a kid.

He still didn't want to expose her to his family too much. For multiple reasons. But telling her about it was a good step towards her understanding that down the line.

"Anyway… I was talking about Liesl," he continued, though the smile from thinking about Jules was still on his face. And it only contributed to that when Aeyrin's face lit up whenever he spoke of him too. "So, Liesl found out she was a half-Imperial and that was her lead. She kept pestering Rina until she finally spilled the beans. Or maybe she made something up. I don't know. She told Liesl that the only Imperial she fucked that would make sense time-wise was some mage from the Arcane University – that she fucked him in that big star dome place. That Orrery. Torban had recently boasted about stealing some shit from there so it was clear where the inspiration came from. Like any one of those fancy pretentious fucks would even lean their staff on someone like Rina," he scoffed dismissively. "But Liesl ate it all up. She got kind of obsessed with that. With magic. Even with stars and shit. She always found something new. Like studying the birth signs and pestering each of us to tell us about what our 'fate' was based on them. She got way too into that at some point. Though her predictions were always fucking depressing," he smirked.

"What did she predict for you?" Aeyrin asked curiously. She was curious to see if any of it panned out.

"Ah, you know, the whole 'most cursed and most blessed shit'," Bishop scoffed. "She told me I would get out. I think she said it just because she knew I wanted it though. Then she said it would be my undoing. I… don't know. Sometimes I thought she was right. Not anymore though," he smiled affectionately at Aeyrin. None of the bad shit that happened after he got out mattered as much when it led him to her. And if he hadn't gotten out, everything would have been much worse.

"You liked her?" Aeyrin asked after a while. She noticed that he was still smiling. Not just now, but all throughout as he talked about Liesl.

"I… guess. She wasn't too bad. She was insane. She kept thinking she could learn magic by wanting it enough without actually trying to study any spells. She was convinced that it was in her blood and she didn't need books," he scoffed, but there was still that smile on his face. "But she wasn't as… violent and aggressive as the others. She was annoying, but… she wasn't too bad. She never really wanted to leave though." He knew she would have been better off, but he never even tried to take her with them. He regretted it now. "She was happy, escaping into her fantasies of her magical heritage that would buy her all the happiness in the world one day."

"Maybe she would want to leave now," Aeyrin smiled at him encouragingly.

"Yeah. Maybe. I thought… I thought she would be fine when Torban was gone. So fucking stupid. As if Rina and the others weren't bad enough," he sighed. "But… that doesn't matter. Kari will probably know more about what happened to her." It still bothered him that Kari singled her out like this. What did it mean that Kari and her had it the worst, exactly?

"At least she's alive. And maybe if we deal with your brothers, she'll be better off," Aeyrin smiled, though she hoped that Bishop wouldn't have to actually kill his brothers. Maybe there would just be a way to disband the clan and give them their freedom they weren't able to achieve on their own. Bishop could be the impulse they needed – to see that he actually made it out and led a good life.

Bishop cringed as she said 'we', but he wasn't going to address that just yet. Instead, he opted to get back to the topic at hand.

"Yeah. So… then there was Morgen. The third of Rina's children before Torban brought Duful. Morgen was half-Dunmer and there was no research involved in that. It was obvious instantly. His skin actually looked a little greyer than the rest of us, if you could believe it. And he had one red eye. It made Rina fucking obsessed with him. She kept claiming that he's a sign that her method was 'working'. Like it was such a miracle that he was an obvious product of Mara's love spread over Tamriel. Fucking ridiculous. She did hover around whenever we took care of Morgen though, making sure nobody would harm him. He fucking hated her attention as soon as he got a conscious thought in his head. He was such a morose little fucker," Bishop smirked. Granted, he never really got along with Morgen. That boy lashed out at everyone. Violently. But Bishop did love the ironic fact that he hated Rina the most.

"The last one was Galric," Bishop continued. "Yes, Galric. Not 'garlic'. But we all called him that. Stupid fucking name, but that was Rina's specialty. You know I'm named after a fucking chess piece because she thought it would make me smart? And Jules was named to sound like 'jewels' so that he would be rich. Joke's on her. I guess…" Bishop scrunched up his face. "I don't know why she named him Galric. He was half-Breton, that much she knew at least. But he was five when I left. We all thought she was too old to have more healthy kids before he was born – whole five years after Morgen. But… I guess not. And I guess she had more after? I don't know. Weird."

"Yeah, it sounded like that," Aeyrin nodded. She had no idea how old Bishop's mother was by now, but it sounded like she had a lot of kids quite quickly. It was very possible she wasn't too old to have more.

"So… that's that. A merry bunch of insane assholes and bandits," Bishop scoffed. "I have no idea why I would ever want to get involved in that again."

"Conscience?" Aeyrin gave him a wry smile. He could disguise it all he wanted, he may have cared about his own safety and survival and hers more than anything else, but she knew he cared about others too. He always had. And she could plainly see that there were some in the family he either actually did care about, at least a little, or didn't know enough to hate.

"Yeah. That's your fault that I even have one," Bishop scowled.

"Oh please," she scoffed at him. A person with no conscience would hardly work so damn hard to leave the life he had left. It wasn't just about freedom. He could have embraced all the atrocities he had done and had his freedom when he wasn't a thorn in Thorn's side. But he couldn't. That had nothing to do with her.

"This is gonna be good, Bish, you'll see," she smiled at him warmly. "We'll see what we can do for those that can be helped. You got your life out of that mess. They deserve the chance too."

"Maybe. We'll see. You're still too fucking optimistic about this," Bishop smirked. She only met Kari for a little while. The longer she would spend time with her, the less sympathetic she would be. And not to mention the others. But hopefully she would not meet those. Especially not Ost and Duful. Bishop didn't even want to think about what they turned into.

"Well, how can I not be?" Aeyrin smiled softly. "I'm… kind of happy to be here, you know? I don't feel like we have to watch our backs all the time, or the skies. It's kind of… nice. Can't help but be optimistic about everything."

"Yeah," Bishop returned her smile. It was nice. The Brotherhood surely wouldn't go through so much trouble to follow them here, to the place of their ultimate defeat. And the dragons would hopefully stay on their mountains. Neither of them had heard any talk about dragons ravaging the south at least. And there were other things to look forward to. "You excited to see Chorrol again?"

"You bet," Aeyrin grinned. She couldn't wait. She was so excited to see the chapel again and everyone in it. But most of all, she was so excited to see one person in particular. "I can't wait to see Master Therien again. And to see the look on his face when we just show up like this," she giggled, and, for the first time, she started to entirely ignore the delicious food and drink on the table when she got filled with all the giddiness. "And I can't wait to tell him everything. Everything I couldn't. Like… about certain plans for the future," she winked at Bishop as she showed off the sparkling engagement ring meaningfully.

Bishop smirked at her excitement, but he still couldn't shake the feeling that things wouldn't go as smoothly as she imagined them to.

"You know he's gonna hate me, right?" He cringed at her. It was inevitable. He was like her father. How could he not hate someone like Bishop? How could he not hate anyone fucking his previously so sheltered daughter, for one, but mostly, someone like him? A former bandit, a criminal wanted all over Skyrim. And with all that shit that happened… he didn't even want to think about that.

"What? He will not! Why would you think that?" Aeyrin's chuckle was more of a dismissive scoff. It was not just that Master Therien was such a kind person he probably didn't have it in him to hate anyone, but why would he hate the man she loved so much?

"You're kidding, right?" Bishop scoffed. "You think he'll like the 'bandit scum' that's sleeping with his daughter... type person?"

"Bishop, he knows who you are. I talk about you. He knows you're not a bandit anymore and that you're a good man." She reached out to take his hand into her comfortingly. There was no way that Master Therien wouldn't see how much Bishop cared about her, how much he meant to her. And he knew that already from the letters. He always encouraged her to cherish the relationship she had built with him.

"Yeah, you talk about me. You… you told him what happened in Falkreath… back then," Bishop scowled, but he tried not to make it sound like an accusation. He wasn't mad that she told Therien. He understood that she needed to talk to someone. But how could anyone forgive him for that? He still couldn't believe that she forgave him for that.

"Bish, that wasn't your fault. I told you, I didn't blame you. And I didn't blame you in my letters either," she shook her head adamantly. Her letters about what happened were definitely not some rants to complain about Bishop. If anything, all she expressed in them was regret over letting the two of them drift apart like that.

"I know, but…" he sighed. "You told him what happened, right? Anyone with half a brain would blame me in that scenario."

"Was that an insult?" Aeyrin chuckled a bit. She knew he didn't mean it that way, but it just came out like that.

"If it was, thank the fucking Gods for small miracles and me finding someone without a half of brain," Bishop laughed. "You know what I mean. I'm not exactly a shining example of someone anyone would want for their daughter."

"Hmm, that's a good point," Aeyrin pondered, suddenly much more serious than before. "Maybe we should find someone to pretend to be you to make you look better. To mollify the damage, you know? Like a paladin or something."

"What?" Bishop gaped at her. Her seriousness caught him off guard instantly and he almost got worried that she really felt like something like this was necessary, but she could never keep up the façade for long. It only took a second before she giggled at him mischievously.

"Bishop, he's gonna like you, I promise," she squeezed his hand encouragingly. "He knows how much you care about me and how much I care about you and that's all that matters to him."

He wasn't so sure about that, but he hoped she was right.

Only time would tell how their southbound adventure would go. There was a lot of potential for trouble already.

But there was also a lot of potential for some closure and peace of mind too, for the both of them.

…

Their room at Jerall View Inn certainly lived up to the name.

The large window showed off the not-so-distant mountains to the North, hiding Skyrim behind them. But right then, it was not something to miss. Not just yet anyway. They were all too absorbed in enjoying the missed pleasures of the Imperial Province. From the lack of enemies, to the luxury they could now actually afford there.

Their room was spacious, even more so than those expensive ones at the Skeever, and the bed was almost as comfortable as the one in their mansion.

And the sheets were so soft. It may have been a little strange for that thought to pop into Aeyrin's head just as she clenched them hard in her hands while a wave of heat enveloped her body, her core pulsing in pleasure as her legs wrapped around Bishop's waist pressed him even closer towards her, inside her. Bishop groaned loudly at the sensation and stopped in his pace for a while.

He kinda wished she would be digging those nails into his back instead of the sheets. He always loved when she did that in the throes of passion, scratching along his skin as she clenched around him. But the moans she let out, the way her back arched, pressing into his hand that was still between their bodies, squeezing her breast, it all made up for it. He himself was barely keeping it together and this was not helping him hold back.

He started moving again only seconds later, sneaking one hand under her back while he continued to play with her breast with the other. He felt like every inch of him needed to touch her – the arm under her back kept pulling her more firmly against his form, though it was hardly possible anymore.

It only took a few more thrusts before he found his own release and slumped against her with a shuddering breath right after, pressing her deep into the soft mattress. Aeyrin let out a muffled grunt, but she didn't show any indication of actually minding him flattening her against the bed like that.

It was actually kind of pleasant. Even with the snow outside and the mountains so close, Bruma just felt warmer than Skyrim. But there was no such thing as being 'too warm' for Aeyrin and having his heated body on hers like this could only ever be pleasant. Even if finding her breath again was a bit more difficult like that.

It took a while before Bishop rolled to the side with a brief, still breathless kiss pressed to her lips. They both remained lying there, panting, but it was too long to go without the warmth of him for Aeyrin and she soon nuzzled herself to his side.

Bishop planted another kiss on the top of her head as he wrapped his arm around her lazily. Fuck, he could get used to this. No paranoia, no traps around the room. Nobody even knew who they were around here and nobody could use them for their schemes, wars and politics.

He hadn't felt so peaceful for a long time. And it wasn't just because of the sex.

Aeyrin's eyes were already closed and soon enough, he was pretty sure the steady breathing was no longer because she needed to slow down her breath. She was already asleep, likely in the same state of serenity as he was.

He watched her peaceful expression for a while before he closed his eyes as well. This was probably gonna be the most restful sleep he had in a long time.

He didn't remember the last time his consciousness faded into the confusing, nonsensical thoughts of the barely-awake mind so quickly.

"Look at him."

A voice startled Bishop from the pleasant rest. The voice that had shocked him just as unpleasantly mere two days ago.

His eyes snapped open to see one lone candle lit in their previously dark room. And next to it, the familiar figure with black hair and wine-colored robes sat on a cupboard with a deep scowl on her freckled face.

"In a fancy room, with fancy beds and shit. A willing whore to boot," Kari scoffed disdainfully. "Like he's fucking better than us. Like he's… normal. Like he's not fucked up too."

Bishop had to blink a few times to make sense of the situation. What the fuck was she doing there? And what kind of bullshit was she spewing now?

"Not the first fucker to try that," another voice echoed across the room, this time a palpably younger one. Bishop's eyes roamed around the room before he spotted another person illuminated in the light of another candle he didn't remember. He did remember that fucking brat though.

Ost looked just as Bishop had remembered him. That was – just like Torban. Or at least trying to. His long ginger hair was hanging over his face, his muscles were disturbingly big for his age, and his eyes gleamed with the same color as his father's. And Bishop's. His freckled face bore a few more scars than most fifteen-year-olds would have, but that was not unusual for their situation. He was still that fucked up brat with the familiar sneer who tried way too hard to be just like his equally fucked up father.

"It's not like it ever works. He won't ever be anything but one of us. Look at him, crawling back. He pretends like it's for those little shits, but he just wants to kill us because he thinks it will make him forget. Make him feel like we don't exist," the teenager scoffed disdainfully. Funny. Bishop never heard him be so… articulate.

"Maybe he just wants to go back. Stop with all that fucking pretending," Kari smirked meanly. "It's not like he'll ever be anything else anyway."

"Well, in that case, we better get ready for a family welcome," Ost snickered.

There was something warm on Bishop's hand all of the sudden – spilling and soaking his skin. The dim light of the candle-lit room was all gone, replaced by the brightness of a full day and he jerked his hand back, from below Aeyrin's head that had been resting on him comfortably, oblivious of the visitors.

His entire arm was stained in fresh blood with a slightly orange tinge.

He didn't want to look, but he had to.

Aeyrin was lying motionlessly on the bed, turned a bit from when he had yanked the arm from under her. Like this, she was facing his stare – her eyes were wide open, empty, with the glint in their blackness he loved so much completely extinguished. And her neck was opened by a large gash.

"You're not better than us, you know? She'll see that. Everyone will see that," Kari's voice echoed through the room, but Bishop could no longer see her. He could only stare in horror at Aeyrin's dead body on the bed.

"Nobody gets out. We make sure of that." Now it was the young teenager's voice, but it sounded much more disturbing than before. And when he spoke next, it sounded… older. Different. A little too familiar. It sounded like Torban.

"No matter when."