Northbound Pilgrimage II

Chapter XVI - Quicksand

Author's Note:

Dear all, thank you for still reading, if you are :D I know that the separation is dragging on and I'm sorry, but healing process is often a slow thing, unfortunately :(

From the name of this chapter, some of you might already guess – it's not gonna be pretty :D But, on the other hand, this chapter is also an important turning point, of sorts. Things often need to get worse before they get better.

A do hope that you're all still enjoying the book :) I'm still working on writing more and more of it, I'm currently at chapter 75 already and I can't wait to share it all with you <3

_________________________________________

Aeyrin gave Bishop a brief nod before she headed straight towards his table.

She looked kind of morose. She didn't even try to smile at him. That wasn't a great start.

"Hey," she slumped down into a chair opposite him and gestured for the innkeeper right away. After ordering a drink and some food, she looked at him expectantly, waiting to hear what prompted their reunion.

"You alright?" he scowled at her. He knew that their last encounter didn't exactly end on a high note, but it seemed to him that he was much more upset with her than the other way around. And it was not like he expected that to last anyway. As painful as it was to have her leave, it would never make him want to actually stay away for long.

She shrugged. "Just... a bad week, I guess. Or two." Scoffing, she shook her head a little, but she didn't elaborate further.

Week? Try months!

Bishop decided not to voice that thought though. He stayed silent for a while, but afterwards, he couldn't help but prod at least a little: "Where'd you go?"

"Whiterun. I wanted to see the Companions," she sighed. The innkeeper brought her drink and food in the meantime, interrupting her. If she even wanted to elaborate, Bishop couldn't tell. She seemed to be much colder towards him than he had expected her to be.

"Why's that bad?" he probed again. He knew why he would dislike that idea. But she always enjoyed their stays at Jorrvaskr. Actually... the Companions hadn't been that bad lately. Aela was pretty fun. And Athis was kind of a dick, but... tolerable. Sometimes Bishop enjoyed listening to him badmouth those two dimwitted brothers incessantly. But that was likely over now. For multiple reasons.

"Well... not 'bad'... I guess. Just... odd. They've been acting strange," a pondering expression spread on her face. "Oh! And you're the talk of the town, by the way," she gave him a disgruntled look.

What was she upset over? It was her fault!

Alright... not entirely. He should definitely not point that out.

"I heard," he scoffed. Lydia had told him all about the bounty and how the news spread through the city like wildfire. Everyone there would recognize his face now. Lydia didn't say much more on that topic, but he suspected that Aeyrin's reception in Whiterun couldn't have been exactly warm either, since everyone knew who she had been travelling with. Maybe that was why she seemed upset.

"So... what do the famed bounty hunters think of it?" Bishop narrowed his eyes. This was one thing that he'd been wondering about. He hated to admit it, but if the Companions put their mind to it, well... even one of them would be a challenge for him in combat. He had no doubt that those two assholes that kept pining after Aeyrin had half a mind to go hunting him all over Skyrim only to drag him across the Hold border and straight to the Jarl. Or to just kill him outright. But it was not like it would be for the first time.