Northbound Pilgrimage II

Chapter XLI - Gratitude

This time, Aeyrin had to actually wait for Bishop's stealthy entrance in the back room of the meadery.

She could faintly hear some muffled noises coming from upstairs, one was definitely Karliah's and the other one was another woman, but Aeyrin had never heard it before. She could not hear anything that they were saying though.

Sabjorn had been especially grumpy that day too, for some reason, and he had barely spoken to her at all. She was dying to know what was going on.

She opened the downstairs window wide for Bishop and, fortunately, it only took a few more minutes before he deftly jumped inside. This way even Sabjorn couldn't hear him with his muffled steps. He heard the voices instantly too and they both started walking eagerly towards the attic room.

When they entered, they spotted Karliah at her usual spot by the large table and there was someone else sitting there opposite her. An older Nord woman with neatly braided black hair, dressed in a fancy blue dress decorated with pearls. She had a long pearl necklace adorning the entire ensemble and a large signet ring on her right hand.

Aeyrin could have sworn that she had seen her before, but, for the life of her, she could not place her.

Bishop's brows shot up in shock instantly though. He recognized her right away – he had seen her around Riften before. It was Maven Black-Briar. What the fuck was she doing in here?! Was this about Sibbi? Did she figure out that it wasn't Mercer?

Fuck, you need to calm the fuck down!

He couldn't let them know that he was on edge. This could still all be fine. Maybe she was there because of the caravans? Or something else entirely.

"Ah! Good to see you here. I was wondering when you'd be back," Karliah smiled at them warmly. Good. That was a good sign. "Aeyrin, Bishop, meet lady Maven Black-Briar. She is here to discuss some... business."

Maven stood up from the table with a stony expression on her face. She looked at each of them with a measured eye, before she extended her hand to Aeyrin and then to Bishop. Aeyrin had finally realized where she had seen her before. It was at that dragon-slaying party of Mercer's, held at Maven's lodge. And now it was even finally clear why Sabjorn was so morose before. He had his greatest competitor visiting his meadery casually. That must have made him so nervous.

Bishop extended his hand to her as steadily as he could. This all seemed somewhat amicable. Somewhat. Aeyrin was clearly on edge too, but they could still pretend like their nervous behavior was because of their history with Maven and the bounty.

"It's a pleasure to meet you both at last. I have not expected you two to be making an appearance, but I am glad for it. This matter involves you too, after all," Maven nodded before she straightened her dress and sat back down by the table again. Karliah motioned for them to sit down too in the meantime.

This was all so strange. They still had no idea what to expect. They didn't even bother getting rid of their armor and they both sat down by the table with resignation. Whatever was going to happen, they would find out soon enough.

"What's going on?" Bishop scowled. He could not take the uncertainty any longer.

"Something very troubling has happened. While you two were away, there was a..." Karliah started to explain, but Maven interrupted her promptly.

"I will explain, Karliah," she nodded. Her expression could not have been colder. "A couple of days ago my son, Sibbi, went missing. We have been searching for him everywhere and eventually, we were forced to make use of the hounds to track him down. They have found him. Buried in Mercer Frey's garden," she shook her head somberly.