Northbound Pilgrimage II

Chapter LXXVI - Alibi

Bishop watched the streets nervously while he hid in a shadowy corner by the Skeever.

It was the day after that annoying fitting and the ball was approaching swiftly. He wasn't sure how long after that they would be staying in Solitude and it was best to finish this while he could.

He had no idea if he was still being watched by that overzealous fucker. He had no idea why that tin-head would even concern himself with what Bishop was doing here in the city. He was so fucking fake all the time. First, he kept threatening to expose Bishop to Aeyrin, but it looked like even now he thought that she didn't know everything, yet he said nothing. And same with his underlings. He kept hounding Bishop, trying to catch him for some crime that he hadn't even committed yet, but he never did anything about that bounty either, not when it was in effect. Or maybe he did, maybe it was him all along and maybe he sent it to Riften secretly after. Bishop wasn't accosted by anyone about the bounty in Falkreath, but... he hadn't been there for a while. Maybe it was waiting for him there too. But even if it was Casavir's doing, Bishop still didn't understand any of his behavior. Why did he save him in the summer during the dragon attack? Why did he heal him after? Why did he try so fucking hard to convince him that he was innocent when it came to both Aeyrin and Elisie? Why didn't he let his men arrest him, when right now, he wanted to do just that in that jewelry store?

He was probably insane. That was the only explanation that Bishop had left. Maybe his rigidity led him to worship Sheogorath and now he was embracing both his lunatic tendencies. That made as much sense as anything.

Well, whatever. Bishop had spent too much time thinking about that dickwad already. He had other things to concern himself with.

But he still needed to be careful. He needed to avoid the same scene as last time.

He just hoped that Casavir never managed to convince that jeweler that Bishop was there to rob him. Because what he was going to do now would make him look really shifty.

Aeyrin was getting a bath again, so he had some time. Not that much though. Well... he could always come up with some excuse, surely, but he wanted to get this done quickly anyway so that he would finally stop overthinking this shit. He wanted to do this. What more was there to think about?

He took another deep breath before he grabbed one of the emergency invisibility potions from his belt and drank it all in one. Nobody could see him in the shadows and there were no guards on the ramparts on vantage points from which they could spot him. Everything was good.

With determined strides, he finally headed towards the jewelry store. This was gonna be weird, but he couldn't think of any other way.

When he reached the door, he looked around once again to check whether someone was watching it, and when he was sure that it was safe, he opened the door and stepped inside.

The store was empty, he had made sure of that before, and the second he closed the door, he noticed the shocked expression of the jeweler. The man was staring at the door slack-jawed. It was understandable. After all, it did look like it just opened and closed on its own.

"H-hello?" the jeweler stammered nervously.

Bishop contemplated whether he should talk. It would become clear in a while what happened. It would probably be creepier if he stayed silent.

"Just... hang on a second, it will pass," Bishop sighed. He realized how suspicious this must have been. He really hoped that the man didn't think that Bishop was a thief already. Well... he was, but this time he had no intention of stealing anything.

"I... uh... what? Who are you?!" the man started to panic. Fuck, he should have kept his mouth shut.

"Sorry, I'm... just... wait a while," Bishop groaned. This was a bad idea. He really shouldn't have talked while he was invisible.