Northbound Pilgrimage II

Chapter CVIII - Vultures and Pariahs

A loud creak behind her back drew Aeyrin's attention from the city ahead.

It wasn't anything new when the Whiterun gates closed again, but she still looked back. Maybe she hadn't been here in a while and the sound caught her off guard. It had been quite a long time. The last time she was in the city, so much was different. There was no Brotherhood, at least not chasing Bishop. Mercer and Karliah were still alive. She wondered how much things had changed in here.

She was actually... excited. She was always anxious about going to Whiterun, ever since Bishop's bounty became a problem. That didn't change. There was the constant fear at the back of her mind. Bishop was out there – in the wilderness, where he shouldn't be. He was being safe, she knew that. He was waiting there until nightfall when it wouldn't be so easy to see him enter the city through the secret smuggling route. But she still worried about him.

Yet more than that, she was excited to be back. She was looking forward to seeing Saadia and Lydia. She was looking forward to the house and she was looking forward to being there with Bishop too. All four of them together again in that place. She couldn't wait. And she was also excited to see the Companions again. Some of them at least.

But as the creak continued to screech behind her, something else drew her attention. A different noise, drowning it out. It was loud enough to hear – the guards behind the gate were talking. She wouldn't have paid it any mind, but their words stuck to her ears and piqued her interest immediately.

"Think we shoulda told her?"

What? Was that guard talking about her? Who else would he be talking about? She just passed them as she went through the gate.

"Nah. She'll find out soon enough," the other guard snorted.

What was that about? 'Tell her' what? 'Find out' what?

They said nothing more and Aeyrin was only left there staring at the closed gate. It wasn't like the gate would keep her from hearing them further. There was a gap on the bottom. And on top of it of course - they were just battlements, they didn't go on forever, they couldn't keep whatever the men were saying from her in any way. That was kind of a shoddy gate, now that she thought about it. Nothing like the one in Solitude or Windhelm. Or Markarth, but then again, nothing could really beat Dwarven architecture.

And why in Oblivion was she thinking about gates?

She shook her head at her own antics and turned on her heel, back towards the city. There were people around. People who just saw her staring at a gate for no reason. She just needed to get to...

Oh.

Gods.

That was what the guards were talking about.

She didn't even have to take a step away from the gates to see it. Breezehome was right there, only a few houses past the city entrance. She could see it from here easily. She could see the large white letters painted on the side of the house, plain for everyone to see.

.

BANDIT WHORE

.

A chill enveloped her instantly. She felt like she stood there, paralyzed in place for a long time. It probably wasn't very long at all, but it felt like an eternity. She felt people stare at her, taking in her shocked reaction. She could hear them giggle in the distance.

She let out a shuddering breath and finally stepped away. She didn't want to keep standing there with them gawking at her. She didn't want to look at anyone either though. She didn't want to give them the satisfaction of knowing that she had noticed their stares. And the only thing she could stare at, without looking all around at the residents littering the streets, were those letters.