Northbound Pilgrimage II

Chapter II - A Chance Encounter

Author's Note:

I hope you're all ready for it to get awkward and petty :D

____________________________________________________

Aeyrin entered the Honningbrew Meadery tentatively.

She was there a week ago; only to be told by the proprietor that neither Raven nor Karliah were in. They were likely busy on another mission. Or they were coordinating their efforts from another hideout.

With not much else to do, she wandered around the Whiterun Hold wilderness for the whole week, exploring some caverns around. She avoided the ancient barrows pointedly. She wasn't sure how she could deal with them without someone watching her back. What if she encountered another Wall? She'd be attacked in her helpless state without a doubt.

After the exhausting week, she returned to the meadery, eager to have a place to stay inside. How did the cold not get any better now that summer was steadily approaching? Maybe it was the fact that she had to camp outside alone, but she didn't want to think about that too much.

Hopefully Raven would let her sleep over at the meadery again. He did the last time. Karliah wasn't there and there were two beds available in their attic rooms, but if she was present this time, there might not be any space for her to crash.

She really didn't want to go back outside and it wasn't like she had anywhere to stay in Whiterun. She still avoided both Lydia and the Companions. Which made the Mare unavailable too, since Lydia was so often there to see Saadia.

"Is he here?" she asked Sabjorn, skipping the greeting altogether.

The man only nodded at her before he inclined his head towards the back rooms.

She walked through the large storage room without further prompting, up the stairs into Raven and Karliah's chambers.

Raven was sitting at the large desk, deep in thought. As usual, he was surrounded by notes, parchments and elaborate plans. Nothing had changed – the entire operation was in full swing as usual. She was curious whether they had made any progress. The sooner the threat of that bounty would stop looming over her head, the better. Not to mention, it seemed like the Guild would really be a lot less menacing for everyone with different leadership.

"Raven," Aeyrin called out to him, tearing him away from his ruminations.

Raven jerked his head up from the papers as a smile spread on his face at the sound of her voice. He rose from his chair before he took hold of the one next to it and pulled it away from the table, motioning for her to sit.

He was even more courteous and considerate than before during their meetings, always keeping that smile on his face. At times, she worried that he'd only been like that after what she went through, out of pity. The thought only reminded her of the things that she hoped to keep buried at the back of her mind. The special treatment only made her feel worse.

"Hold on, I'm gonna get rid of the armor first." She smiled weakly while she walked towards the large bed in the room and slumped her pack down on it. She started to undo the buckles of her gold-bronze armor while Raven remained silent, watching her. It was a little awkward, whenever she was too busy to see his little notes, forcing the silence to loom over them.

After a while of what she felt like was a bit of an uncomfortable moment, Raven stepped away from the table and began rummaging around a crate in the corner of the room. He pulled out a bottle of Honningbrew mead and started pouring it into a tankard while she worked herself out of her underchain.

Aeyrin took a seat on the large bed and pulled out her new leather boots to replace her armored ones. The simple clothes she had on fit her badly, unsurprisingly. It wasn't as if she could even get to Windhelm, let alone gain access to Niranye's stock. And the only other place she'd seen clothes her size was Solitude. She wasn't going to go back there either. She suspected that there might be some similar shops in Markarth, or even Riften, but... again... she couldn't go there either. So she had to settle for unpleasantly tight and small clothing made for young Nords that were far from done growing. It was easier to get her armor on those than on some excessively large and baggy ones.