Northbound Pilgrimage II

Chapter XXII - A Loose End

Aeyrin shifted on her feet in front of Breezehome nervously.

She sent a letter to Lydia previously, promising to come and talk to her whenever she made her way back to Whiterun.

Now it suddenly didn't feel like such a great idea.

But she had to push through her anger and trepidations. If she ever wanted things to go back to the way they were, she had to start somewhere. And it was a good incentive to leave the streets of Whiterun already. She could feel people staring at her, whispering about her. It was an incessant uncomfortable feeling. She needed to get away from it quickly.

With a heavy sigh, she reached for the handle and opened the door.

Oh... perhaps she should have knocked. The unannounced visits never went well at Breezehome for some reason, who knew what she could have walked in on? But it was too late for that now.

Much to her surprise, however, she was only faced with one sight when she entered – Saadia sitting by the large table alone with her balled fist supporting her head. She looked bored out of her skull.

"Oh! Aeyrin? You... came." The Redguard perked up instantly with palpable surprise in her eyes.

"Yes... I... I did," Aeyrin nodded. She slumped her pack onto the floor and approached Saadia tentatively before she sat herself down by the table beside her. "I'm sorry I was so... well... I'm sorry for last time. You were right."

"Of course I was," Saadia scoffed, but it was not malicious. Her face bore a gentle and somewhat relieved expression.

"Is Lydia here?" Aeyrin looked up at her. She kind of hoped that Lydia wasn't here, but she knew that it would be better to deal with this now. There was no sense in delaying what needed to be done. She needed to make things right between them again. She needed to have a place here again where she could return and hide away if she needed to. And she wanted her friend back.

"Not right now. She got a word from the barracks that they had some news for her. I... I have no idea what it could be about," Saadia sighed.

That was odd. Aeyrin thought that Lydia had no obligation to the guard ever since she became a full-fledged housecarl. What could they possibly want from her? An unpleasant feeling washed over her as a thought crept into her mind. What if somehow they knew about the murder of that bandit girl? What if they knew that Lydia was involved?

She knew that she shouldn't voice this worry in front of Saadia – there was no need to make her panic too. But she couldn't help herself.

"Do you... do you think it has something to do with... you know?"

"Satakal's word, don't even think that! No. It can't be. Lydia assured me that it all went... smoothly. And if they found something, they would have found it earlier," Saadia shook her head vehemently. She looked like she said that as much to calm down herself as well as to calm Aeyrin down. And she definitely looked like this thought had occurred to her before as well.

Before Aeyrin could respond, the front door swung open and then shut closed again swiftly with force. Lydia leaned on it with a panicked look in her eyes and started talking before she even looked around the room.

"Saadia, we have a problem, the... oh... Aeyrin." Lydia's face turned into shock within a second.

Aeyrin merely waved at her awkwardly in response, but whatever was happening seemed to erase any prior worries about their encounter now. She gave Lydia a pointed questioning look, waiting for her to continue.

"No matter. It's... it's good that you're here. There's a problem," Lydia sighed and approached them to join them at the table with a forlorn expression on her face. "My friend in the guard, a jailor, Delmonley, he called for me. Apparently the Alik'r I questioned is being released."