Chapter XXXVIII – Captives
Aeyrin couldn't move the entire time.
She couldn't move as Azshan carried her through the basements into a small and barely visible room. It was locked too – the bardess had to unlock it. The room only had a single bed and several lanterns hung on one of the walls. And another door which she had no idea where it could lead, given the layout of the College.
She couldn't move or speak as they brought in a single chair and tied her to it securely. She couldn't do anything as Azshan brought a piece of cloth and fashioned it into a gag for her. He merely placed it between her lips and tied it behind her head though. He was clueless. He had no idea that with her throat unobstructed, she could still Shout. Well… she would be able to if it wasn't for her lycanthropy. Now she couldn't do anything.
The mage was clearly not going to keep renewing the spells, but that was not anyone's concern anymore. She was held there, tied down and incapacitated. Now she had no idea what was in store for her.
The four conspirators stayed in the room with her. Azshan, Brenging, the bardess and the mage. They all looked worried, though Azshan looked outright scared. She had never seen him look like that. Even when she saw him nervous, never like this. His casual and composed charm was all gone.
"What exactly is your plan here?" The mage scoffed. "And what did she see?"
"Who cares?" The bardess snarled. "She's not ruining this for me. I don't care if we have to keep her tied up here."
"You better come up with something," Briggin snarled at Azshan. "This is your fault. We told you to never do this again and to keep her away from us. You are becoming less and less useful by the day."
"He'll do better," the bardess nodded. "Don't get all feral yet. Azshan still has his uses," she smirked. "He just needs to clean up his mess."
"I'll figure something out," Azshan mumbled. His usual cocky attitude was palpably lacking in his tone. He looked like a beaten up dog that wasn't sure what he could and couldn't dare to do now. He kept glancing at Aeyrin, but when her eyes met his, he quickly averted his gaze. Like he still couldn't face her. Why? He had done worse to her before than tie her up in some basement.
But this was the first time there was no about it – she knew that this was him. He had lived in the reality that still had her oblivious to his schemes, but now that was shattered. He was comfortable lying and tricking people, but he clearly couldn't handle being the target of the blame. Even though it was a very warranted targeting.
"I have to go finish it before the burning starts," the bardess sighed. "Handle it, Azshan." She turned on her heel and marched away from the room, letting her heels click against the stone as she walked towards the staircase once more.
Aeyrin tried to squirm in her binds for the hundredth time, but they were firm. The paralysis spell lost its effect a while ago, but that did her no good. They made the ropes quite tight. There was one around her stomach, one around both her ankles, on the side so that they could be tied to one leg of the chair, and there were two more, one around each wrist and the chair's armrests. All she could do was move the chair a little, but what good would it do with them around? And if they left, they would surely lock her in.
Bishop would go look for her soon, right?
She couldn't make a sound the entire time, even though she was sure she was making them. None could be heard.
But now, suddenly, an uncomfortable muffled grunt passed through her cloth gag. The silence spell was gone too. She couldn't Shout anyway though. And if she made it clear she could make loud noises, no matter how muffled, they might worry that she could Shout too and take more precautionary measures.
"You wanna try to scream, have at it," the mage shrugged with some degree of disinterest. "Nobody else is left in this building. They're all celebrating."
Aeyrin made some questioning sounds. None of this still made sense. Why did the bardess keep claiming there was something special about this night for her? And what piles were they talking about upstairs. What were they doing?
And what were they going to do to her?
"We could do what we originally planned," Breyling shrugged with a pondering expression on her face. "Just keep her somewhere and leverage her abilities when someone needs them."
"Are you crazy?" Azshan hissed. "There will be people looking for her soon. How do you expect to get away with that?"
"Don't talk to me like that," the woman snarled at him. "I'm starting to think you should earn the right to talk to me at all again after everything you screwed up."
"Why is this just on me? Why not lock the building or something?" Azshan growled.
"You know why. We can't be suspicious with it. Gisli is watching Viarmo and you were supposed to keep her away. One damn job! And you bring her right here and then you lose track of her. Can you do anything right?" She continued to chastise him.
"What about you?" Azshan gritted his teeth. "You're the one she followed inside. I saw it."
"What?" Brenning's face turned from anger to surprise in a moment. "Why?" Her gaze moved over to Aeyrin with palpable confusion on her face. But since Aeyrin couldn't answer, the woman looked back at Azshan promptly. "What did you tell her about me?"
"Nothing. Ever. We have never talked about you in our lives. Why would we?"
"Ugh… whatever you did again…" she growled, but she promptly stopped herself. "Come on, we need to talk. Malaran, keep watch on the room. Just in case."
At that, all three of them walked out of the room without as much as another glance at Aeyrin. The door was closed and locked behind them, leaving her all alone in the small space.
It would have been a good opportunity to get out of here.
Except that she had no way of doing that.
…
"Jordis, what are you doing?" Bishop spoke quietly, even though he wasn't sure why. Nobody could hear them here. Nobody could see them.
She was still pressing her body against him tantalizingly. He tried to move away, but there was only wall behind him. He had nowhere to move. Still, she had to feel him try. She had to feel the reluctance. But she still persevered.
"Come on. You're not really the type to pull off playing coy," Jordis smirked at him. "I'm neither blind nor fucking dumb."
What? What was she talking about?
She ran her hand over her collar bone for a spell, catching his attention with the motion and making him snap his eyes downward once more. Dammit, she kept doing that! Why? Obviously when she was wearing something like this it would look like he was constantly ogling her. But it was really involuntary. Was that what this was about?
"Stop that, come on, Jordis," he let out a sigh and he gently moved his hands to her hips to push her away from himself. He succeeded, but Jordis didn't seem fazed by that. This was just some stupid joke or something, right? Or she misread something. Fuck, he liked her. He didn't want this shit to turn everything sour or awkward. He really hoped that if he just kept this calm, they could just forget this all happened soon. And they could just get away from this alcove and go look for Aeyrin properly this time.
"Oh please," she rolled her eyes. "It's so fucking obvious, it's painful. You clearly want this. I see the way you're looking at me."
"Looking at you? Everyone's looking at you," Bishop shook his head. "Wasn't that the point of this," he gestured to her dress. "Just because someone looks at your barely covered tits, doesn't mean they wanna immediately fuck you. Even Aeyrin looked at you. You think she's 'so fucking obvious' too?"
"She is. Just with something else. You both are," Jordis scoffed. "Come on, every idiot can see you two aren't exactly getting on great. And you and I have fun together. Why not have more fun? If you want, I don't mind being discreet." She looked behind her shoulder almost absentmindedly towards the crowds that had no chance of seeing them in the shadows and through the somewhat small entry crevice into the alcove. "Let's just make it easy. I'm attracted to you and fucking right here sound really damn exciting. Don't you agree? You attracted to me too?"
What. The. Fuck?
Bishop wasn't sure what to concentrate on first. She kept talking and flooding his mind with various things he needed to address. Various infuriating things. The last question currently stayed on his mind a little too much.
Was he attracted to her?
She was attractive, of course. He was kind of attracted to most young girls he came across ever since he remembered and the dress was… eye-catching, no matter how hard he tried to stave off those reactions. But ever since he got together with Aeyrin, attraction didn't mean the same thing as it used to for him. Attraction didn't mean that he instantly wanted to sleep with the girls he found attractive. Actually… did it ever mean that? He always considered sex to be a very fun pastime, but he never actually met a girl he was… pining after. Not until Aeyrin. He wouldn't be all too broken up over being rejected by any of the girls he used to sleep with. The only reason his break up with Ysolda hurt was how long they had known each other and kinda liked each other. And she was a bit of a symbol of a new life for him. The only good thing in his life after a shitstorm of horrible events. Until she became one of them too.
But the attraction was never strong enough for him to jeopardize anything important to him. Not his life, not his freedom. And not Aeyrin.
Wait… what was it that Jordis said before?
"The fuck do you mean we're 'not getting on great'?" He scowled. Where the fuck would she get that idea?
"Oh, come on. You two are so…" Jordis paused, as if she wasn't sure how to put it. "I don't know, a different… breed? That guy, Azshan, you know, a paladin, he seems like someone she'd be more into. Or that other paladin. Whatever. She seems a little… uptight. She keeps nagging you when you make fun of people. Aren't you bothered by that?"
What? 'Nagging'? That was never how he interpreted it.
"Are you kidding? Getting her flustered or embarrassed is the best part of making fun of people around," he smirked and an affectionate smile decorated his face. He was getting kind of angry about all this, but he still couldn't prevent that smile. Aeyrin was so fucking cute whenever she got uncomfortable with his remarks. If it weren't for that, he would likely refrain from half of the stuff, solely out of disinterest.
Jordis clearly got a wrong impression out of the night when the tin-head came to visit. It may have been a fair assumption from anyone looking from the outside. But then again, why the fuck is she making such assumptions in the first place?
And why would a paladin be better for Aeyrin? She had spent her whole life around people like that and she was clearly more eager to meet 'other breeds' as well. This was fucking ridiculous. He wasn't sure if Jordis was insinuating that Aeyrin was too good for Bishop or the other way around, but he didn't care for either of those insinuations.
"Yeah, she sees it the same way, does she?" Jordis scoffed. "She seemed pretty pissed at you when that… 'tin-head', as you call him, came to talk. We were just having fun, right? And tonight it's like she's trying to get away from you."
Aeyrin wasn't angry. She was frustrated. Which was fun to do to her. And it was hardly as if she would refrain from speaking her mind if she really disliked his behavior. She was perfectly capable of chewing him out for actually being a dick. He was now really getting pissed about having the dynamic he enjoyed called into question like this. And Jordis still barely knew them, even though they spent a lot of time in the mansion with her when they were here, she really didn't know much.
But the real question wasn't this. Bishop wondered a bit where all this was coming from. Jordis seemed to like Aeyrin. Aeyrin definitely liked Jordis, and he was pretty fucking peeved that Jordis was making a mess of things now. But aside from all that, why exactly was this her reaction?
"So… you think Aeyrin and I aren't 'getting on well' and your reaction is to try to sleep with me?" He narrowed his eyes at her.
"What?" She shrugged noncommittally. "After tonight, I kinda assumed you're both… straying. Is that so weird? Half the guys I sleep with are married or with someone else. And you seem the type."
Of course half the guys she was with were taken. This was Solitude. Most of the marriages were spiteful and political, right? Or there were soldiers here, away from homes and their lovers.
"You should really stop with those fucking assumptions," Bishop shook his head.
"Maybe you should stop lying to yourself," Jordis retorted promptly. Before Bishop could argue again, she pressed herself against him once more and leaned in much closer than before. She was clearly about to kiss him.
Bishop didn't hesitate this time, nor did he go about it gently. He grabbed her shoulders and shoved her away, almost making her collide with the opposite wall.
"What the fuck, Jordis?" He growled. "What's wrong with you? Why are you trying to ruin… this?"
"'This' what? What's wrong with you?" She looked at him indignantly.
"I don't know. This. I don't get this a lot. People I don't mind being around. Without wanting to fuck. And Aeyrin likes you too. What the fuck am I supposed to do now? Do you really need me to spell it out? I don't want to fuck you. I don't want to cheat on Aeyrin. I love her, no matter what assumptions you convince yourself of."
Jordis just scoffed at him, as if he was the one who was acting like an idiot right now.
"I thought we had a connection. Clearly I was wrong," she grumbled.
"Definitely about what kind of 'connection' it was," Bishop shook his head. Fuck, why did she have to take it this far? To tell him all that shit she concocted in her head and try to kiss him? If she just stopped right after he said 'no' the first time, they could just ignore it. Now he was just pissed every time he looked at her. That was unlikely to just go away. Especially with how she kept reacting, like he was the one who should have acted differently in this mess.
"So what now? You gonna tell on me?" Jordis snorted. Fuck, that attitude of hers he kinda liked before was now pissing him off so much.
"Shit. I don't know," he groaned. He didn't want to. He didn't want to make shit weird for Aeyrin with Jordis too. But he felt weird not telling her either. He needed to think about this. But first, he really wanted to get out of this shadowy corner and actually find Aeyrin at last. He had no idea where she disappeared to and she could still be in trouble.
"Not yet anyway," he sighed. "We'll see. Let's just go. I need to find her."
"Make sure she's not fucking the paladin?" Jordis smirked.
"Enough of that shit," he growled. "Shut up and come on."
He stomped away angrily. He wasn't even sure if Jordis followed and he didn't care. The sun was already down and people were gathering at the end of the courtyard now.
Bishop promptly approached the crowd and weaved his way through to get a vantage point. The moons were illuminating the people enough that he would be able to spot Aeyrin based on her hair at least. It was just unfortunate right now that she was so short. He needed to get to the top of the steps around the circular end of the courtyard – the part that acted like a stage.
By now, the music stopped and people were waiting in anticipation for what was to come. As Bishop tore through the crowd, someone shoved a small piece of paper into his hand. He promptly looked at it. He didn't see who gave this to him, but he got hopeful that this was from Aeyrin somehow.
Unfortunately, it just had some fucking poem on it. Ugh. Bards. Bishop didn't bother to read that shit. He soon spotted an Altmer in a colorful outfit handing these to everyone with an excited expression. Whatever. Bishop just needed to find Aeyrin.
He finally made it to the upper step and looked around. He only barely noticed Jordis by his side, holding the same leaflet.
By now, the Altmer was done distributing them and he stood before the crowd with a beaming smile. Elisif soon walked over to him, along with her two guards, and they all waited until the people quieted down a bit.
"Welcome, everyone," the Altmer proclaimed with a booming voice. "We are here to celebrate the Burning of the Old King Olaf. Our beloved festival was perhaps insensitive after certain events, but I strived to bring it back in hopes of showing everyone the true meaning and spirit of this day. Thanks to a brave adventurer hailing from Riften, we were able to recover pieces of the original epic which celebrated this event and I am proud to say that I managed to recreate the beautiful piece of art that carries on its spirit and message."
Bishop was barely listening, although it was hard not to hear the man since he was the only one talking now. He was still scanning the crowd, but he couldn't see Aeyrin anywhere. Fucking Jordis. If anything went wrong with Aeyrin's snooping, he was not gonna forgive her for delaying him with such bullshit.
"Now, our talented students will strike up a tune and I urge you all to sing along," the man continued.
Yeah right, as if I would fucking sing.
He didn't care about any of this shit.
He just couldn't chase the feeling that something bad happened.
…
The door unlocked and swung open in force as Azshan rushed into the small room.
Aeyrin had been sitting there for what felt like ages. She tried to get out of her binds, but it was no use. She moved the chair a bit, but it was exhausting. All she managed to do was to get to the second door, but there was no way to open it without her hands, no matter how hard she tried with various other body parts. Besides, it was likely locked too.
She moved back with the chair and that was the extent of what she had the energy for.
There was no escape.
Nobody came to talk to her, to tell her what they planned.
Until now.
She couldn't help but scowl fiercely when he came. She knew that, by the looks of it, he was the only person here who would still be willing to maybe not kill her or do something bad. But she could never be sure of that anymore. She couldn't trust him. And even though she thought it was the end of her hopes for the two of them the last time he used her, now it hurt even more. She clearly still cared for him. And she kind of hated that. She shouldn't. After everything he'd done, she really shouldn't.
He closed the door behind him again and he approached her. He knelt down to be at face level and she got an uncontrollable urge to hurt him. She thrashed in her chair, mumbling muffled words, trying to kick him or something. But she clearly couldn't.
"I know. I know," he sighed. He still looked kind of scared. And kind of… apologetic. But that was definitely a façade. It always was. He placed his hand on hers and she felt her gut clench in discomfort. She wasn't sure if he did that as a fake expression of affection or whether he just wanted her to stop thrashing. Neither was a good option.
"Please, please, please, don't Shout," he looked at her pleadingly as he moved his hands to the cloth gag around her head. Was he going to remove it? She couldn't Shout anyway, but he didn't know that.
"It will make everything worse for the both of us. And I don't know who else. I don't know what they'd do," he shook his head defeatedly. Oh. Now it was 'they' and not 'we'? "We switched watching this room so that no one comes in. It was my turn now and I… I had to…"
What? See me? Really? You weren't even able to look at me before!
"Please, I know I'm asking the impossible now. I know you're confused and you probably hate me even though you don't know why this happened. But… please trust me. Don't Shout."
'Trust him'. Right. She still couldn't Shout anyway, but that was beside the point. He was clearly wary of being given away by her actions. She could still scream. Maybe. It would depend on what he would do next.
He clearly waited for some signal of agreement from her and she finally nodded. Only then he reached back and untied her gag at last.
She couldn't stop herself right that second.
"'Confused'?" She scoffed. "I'm not confused. I know everything. I've known for a long time. I know who you're working with and why. I know you use me for your pathetic schemes for power and influence and you continuously claim that you don't want to hurt me. You do nothing but! And you dare ask me to trust you after all this?!"
Azshan's eyes went wide and he stared at her for a long time, dumbstruck. He clearly did not expect this.
"'Everything'?" He almost whispered.
"I know you were the one to poison me. I know you goaded Bishop to sneak into the Castle and that it was all just a setup to frame him for everything. I know you framed Casavir instead when that fell through. I know you used me in the Reach to have that woman experiment on those mages. I know it was no Order assignment. I know you didn't care about exposing Erikur one bit unless it meant the thaneship would go to Gisli because she was with that insane little group of yours. And I know you're replacing Elisif's court. You, that wizard after you accused the other one of vampirism, that Benning woman and whoever else."
Maybe she shouldn't spell it out like that. Maybe she shouldn't put her cards on the table. But she couldn't help herself. She wanted him to stop already. Stop pretending, stop treating her like his clueless puppet.
Azshan still stared at her. He seemed to be still processing all this. But after a while, he… smiled. It looked more exasperated than as a genuine smile.
"Yeah. Damn. Why wouldn't you? You're like a dog with a bone. It's… not meant as a bad thing," he chuckled softly. "You got all that. Did you know one of them also sent vital information to the Stormcloaks to expose weak spots of Fort Snowhawk so that it could be taken over and Solitude would be cut off from Morthal. All blamed on the current leadership, of course."
"What?!" Aeyrin gaped at him. They were sacrificing the safety of an entire Hold for their stupid games?! That was insane. And… did Azshan just admit that to her? Why? What was he going to do to her? Was he gonna kill her?
"Yeah. That and more. All the schemes, all the tricks, someone else is always blamed and we rise to the top. Clever, huh? You know what's happening today?" He scoffed at himself, shaking his head. He looked a bit… disillusioned. But that was surely a ruse.
"What's happening today?" She asked carefully. She wasn't sure if she wanted to know.
"I think Elisif is feeling a little isolated. That was the point, of course. She wants to open up a position in court that wasn't active in some time. A loremaster. And she picked Viarmo. It makes sense. He's her trusted friend and he's the headmaster of the College. But… he's not one of them. So the woman that hit you with a shoe, Pantea, she wanted to take the position for herself. She'll humiliate Viarmo tonight, disgrace him in the eyes of the Empire and she'll save the festival herself. Elisif will be grateful and offer her the position. Thane Bryling will advise her to do that, of course."
Right. Bryling. That was the name.
So another public event and public disgrace. Just like at the ball.
"You think you're the captive now," Azshan sighed. "You're not the only one."
What? Was he playing the victim?!
"I know what you must think of me. It wasn't like that. Not in the beginning. In the beginning, there was corruption and inefficiency that we just wanted to… get rid of. Everyone was frustrated with the system that favored the corrupt and the sneaky. So we… played the game. But I guess it's not about the people. It's the game itself that corrupts everyone. We moved up one of our own and others wanted the same. I wanted the same. Casavir was too strict, he didn't treat us like… people. Any misstep was a great transgression to him. I never thought it was that bad. The occasional drink or when someone wanted to be closer to someone else and all that. You… you of all people know how I felt about this," he averted his eyes for a bit. He rarely ever spoke of what happened between the two of them right before he left for his paladin training. And this time was not much of an exception. He continued on without further mention of it promptly. "It was… harmless. I thought Casavir needed to go. Gods. It all felt like… doing something good. I didn't think about the schemes. The end justified the means." He shook his head at himself. He actually sounded… sincere. Regretful.
"That poison, it was harmless. I would have never agreed to it otherwise. I know you probably don't believe me, but… I just need you to hear it anyway. You've been such a good friend my entire life. I would never do anything to actually hurt you. But… I guess I hurt you even without meaning to. Just because I thought it would serve something better."
"Like framing Bishop for it?" She snarled at him. She was still so furious about that.
"I actually thought it would help you. I heard awful things about him from Cas. Even without specific context, I was really worried about you. I shouldn't have listened to that… it was just gossip, right? But that's what I follow. Most of it is true. Maybe this was too, but he's a different person now. We all change."
"That's true," she scowled. He certainly did.
"I thought you would just be a little sick for a while and I could protect you from him too. Two birds, one stone."
"Sure. And tying me up here is helping me too, right?" She gritted her teeth, but she felt the anger wane a little bit in a disturbing way when his expression changed. Damn, he almost looked like he would cry. Was that… really a ploy?
"Aeyrin, I… I think I'm in way over my head. Everything's gotten so… big. So out of hand. I don't know what to do."
"How… how am I supposed to know if you aren't just playing me?" She felt her own voice quiver and she hated that it did. She wanted to stay angry, but the hurt was too much. She couldn't tell if he was manipulating her and that hurt the most.
"That's fair. I deserve that," he lowered his head. "I didn't treat you right, not like a friend should. I told myself I was helping you or at least not harming you. Not harming anyone. But seeing all this, and Casavir, and Sybille and… even that bastard Erikur. He was executed, you know? Everyone has different ideas about what should be done and they're all so drastic. I didn't mean for it to go this far. And now… I don't know how to get out. They… they have everything on everyone. They can ruin my life just as easily as they ruined theirs. And they can do it to so many people."
Gods, he was so believable.
Should she actually believe him? She was so confused.
"What's gonna happen to me?" She asked carefully. She wasn't sure she wanted to know.
"I don't know. We talked about it, but… they don't know either. After you messed with so many of the plans, they ordered me to have the gates watched for when you come back. And of course you came back now. So I was supposed to keep you away from here. But I guess that only made you more suspicious. You knowing what was going on makes so much sense now," he chuckled weakly. "They didn't plan for this. Nobody knows how to prevent you from saying anything. Melaran even suggested killing you. Bryling suggested finding some evidence on Bishop's crimes to threaten you with it, but I already tried the first time. I know there's nothing." If he had searched more, he would have learned about the bounty. Surprisingly enough, Kari did them a favor by exposing it just at the right time to Elisif's hands. But now there really was nothing after Elisif pardoned Bishop.
"I… I can't do this anymore," he shook his head. "I don't know what will happen to me. It's… it's not gonna be pretty. But I can't."
"What are you saying?" What was he gonna do?
"We're getting out of here. I don't know what will happen, but we need to get out of here. While we still can."
That was it? No plan to prevent them knowing his involvement in this? No way to cover his own tracks? Was he serious? Was he really… done? Was he really risking Gods-knew-what to save her from this?
It was still painful to think that she had a hard time trusting him.
But now she didn't hate herself for the tinges of old affection and trust she felt. Now she welcomed them. She wanted to believe him. More than anything. She wanted her friend back. The one that always looked out for not just himself, but her too.
Azshan reached out for the ropes on her hands and he began to frantically untangle them.
"We'll have to try and be quiet. They're upstairs on the second floor. We could sneak past and get outside. They couldn't do anything to us there. Not immediately at least. I don't know what they'll do after, but we'll deal with it then. I don't know what else to do," he mumbled as he continued to untie her. Finally her hands were free and she immediately started to untangle the knots on her stomach while he continued with her legs.
She was free in a moment and she promptly stood up and stretched her sore limbs.
"Are you ready?" Azshan nodded at her, fear palpable in his voice as he straightened up as well.
"Y-yeah. I'm ready." They needed to figure out what to do. They should finally tell Elisif. She needed to know all this. And they needed to talk to Casavir. Both of them. Gods, she hoped this was all true. That Azshan was really turning sides.
She missed always being on the same team as him.
Azshan squeezed her hand with a soft smile before he walked towards the door and opened it with determination.
It was somewhat invigorating. They would both have their freedom and deal with the consequences after.
But unfortunately, freedom was never so easily gained.
Bryling stood in front of the door with a fierce expression on her face and a sword brandished in her hand, pointing right at them.
They were far from being out of the woods.