Northbound Pilgrimage II

Chapter XXXVIII - The Colors

Yesterday had passed in blissful ignorance of their current struggles and they certainly intended to keep their spirits up for at least today as well.

It was the eighth of Hearthfire – Aeyrin's designated birthday. If they had received the letter with no trouble, Saadia and Lydia would be joining them for the celebrations today.

Bishop had made enough breakfast for all four of them, but the two women didn't arrive yet. So, instead, Aeyrin and Bishop gorged themselves on all the food and, after Bishop's insistence, proceeded to work it out by having a bit more fun in private. They had Saadia and Lydia in the letter that Karnwyr would lead them to their camp from Rorikstead since they didn't know where a suitable place could be found beforehand. Therefore they would definitely get some heads up by the wolf's excited approach. They certainly didn't need to introduce Saadia to the usual accidental walk-in on their activities that they had experienced with Lydia twice already. Although she herself, without a doubt, already shared everything with Saadia, at the very least about their initial surprise meeting at Breezehome.

Luckily, they hadn't been interrupted all morning, and only when Bishop started to prepare the food for their lunch, the familiar excited bark echoed across the clearing. The wolf appeared in no time, followed closely by the two women.

"There you are!" Saadia let out a relieved sigh while Lydia waved at them somewhat more enthusiastically than they would have expected from her. "Why are you all the way out here? It took so long to get here," Saadia shook her head in exasperation.

"Camping by the side of the road isn't exactly safe, you know," Bishop smirked. It was obvious that she wasn't used to the wilderness at all. Even during her escape from Hammerfell, she must have mostly taken the roads, maybe taking on a different identity already or hiding inside caravans with imported goods. She was a noblewoman before that after all, even though her personality rarely showed it. Though she may have put in some effort to hide her demeanor to assume her new role convincingly.

"I think it's nice... far from the settlements. I've never been out of a city like this for longer than a brief trek. It looks so peaceful," Lydia said wistfully as she looked around the small clearing and the babbling brook nearby.

"Yeah, this is the life," Bishop's face became decorated with a somewhat fond smile.

Saadia and Lydia placed their small travel pack by Bishop and Aeyrin's bedroll as they situated themselves around the fire. Lydia was wearing her orcish armor and she promptly started to remove it. Saadia wasn't armed or armored at all, but in contrast to her usual dresses and tavern attire, she was wearing some more functional travelling clothes – leather trousers and a warm tunic. Aeyrin couldn't fathom how she could walk around Whiterun in those dresses anyway – she was from Hammerfell, for Gods' sake! Wasn't it mostly unbearably warm there with the desert all around? How was she not freezing to death all the time?

Saadia sat herself down by the fire and watched Bishop prepare their food curiously before Lydia finally disposed of her gear and joined them too.

Soon enough the food was ready to be put on the fire. They were certainly already famished again after the morning activities.

...

"That was actually really good, Bishop," Lydia praised him after they had all finished eating.

"Don't sound so surprised," he snorted with amusement.

"I just meant... with the supplies on the road, it must be a challenge," she gave him a wry smile in return. She didn't try to butt into his cooking even once and she only waited patiently for the result. It was likely that she was very curious whether her training actually did any good.