Northbound Pilgrimage II

Chapter VIII - The Blind Thief

Bishop headed towards the College gates early in the morning.

Karnwyr disappeared right away when he noticed the direction in which Bishop was going, and he rushed towards some birds gathering around the Jarl's longhouse. It was for the best – Bishop needed to convince whoever was in charge of the gate to let him inside and the wolf might have lessened his chances.

Bishop caught a glimpse of the familiar Altmer's fiery hair quite a distance away from the stone bridge leading to the College. He wasn't sure if the fact that Faralda was guarding the gates would play in his favor – she seemed like the type to throw him off that bridge if she were so inclined.

He approached tentatively and more slowly than he had originally intended, before he caught the Altmer's attention. Faralda looked him over, but surprisingly enough, before he could start to make his case, she waved her hand and the large metal gate opened for him.

Huh... that was easy.

He quickly stepped onto the bridge before the mage changed her mind and he turned to her with a light smirk: "Lost another bet?" What other reason would there be for the self-proclaimed 'Master of destruction magic' to be standing by that gates idly yet again.

Faralda only groaned in frustration and nodded in response. Then she gestured towards the bridge and ushered Bishop further along towards the College.

"You might want to stop betting people. You're obviously shit at it," Bishop chuckled at her briefly. The elf seemed to be none too concerned with his presence there, but he did wonder for a while if he should refrain from teasing her, just in case. It was fun though.

"You're just not here for the times when I do win," Faralda scoffed at him, but there was a little smile tugging at her lips.

They continued silently for a while across the long bridge until Faralda finally asked the anticipated question: "What brings you back here? And where's the Dragonborn?"

Of course she would ask. But he was prepared for this.

"She had to take care of some shit urgently, so I came alone. I need to look into something in your library." It was simple enough. And there was no reason not to keep it vague. Who in their right mind would reveal all the details during small talk anyway?

Again, Faralda seemed satisfied enough with his reasons and she merely led him further across the bridge.

Everything went so smoothly so far.

"So... you still got that giant glowing orb in there?" Bishop asked noncommittally after a while of silence when they were nearing the College grounds.

But, surprisingly enough, Faralda suddenly stopped in her tracks and looked at him sharply. She looked completely caught off guard by the question before she narrowed her eyes in palpable suspicion: "Yes. Why?"

Bishop raised his hands in mock surrender when he saw her expression. He really didn't expect her to take his question this seriously. He was just making idle chatter. And he was still wary of that thing. Was that so weird? "Hey, I was just wondering if it has blown up on you yet. This way I'll have to be thinking about it exploding while I'm in there constantly."

Faralda scoffed at him and, finally, her expression softened and her lips quirked a bit in amusement again. "No changes so far. But... a lot of people seem interested in the Eye, that's all," she shrugged after a while.

"What, are the Thalmor being too nosey for your liking?" Bishop smirked at her again, but that earned him another shocked look followed by her dangerously narrowed eyes.