Northbound Pilgrimage II

Chapter CXLII - Allegiance

"Citizens! Halt!"

They barely even left the mountain passes. They barely even stepped on the road cutting through the endless forests. They walked for a while until an old fort came into view, crawling with soldiers in Imperial armors. As if the bright red banners weren't enough to let anyone know who was in control of this place.

This wasn't an unconventional sight at all. People often kept their distance from these forts, but some of them were by the road. The soldiers never really bothered travelers though.

But now, apparently, they chose to ignore that custom.

Just as Bishop and Aeyrin stepped near, three soldiers rushed out onto the road and stopped them, weapons in hand. It was quite unsettling. What would some Imperials want to stop them for?

They stopped, though begrudgingly. It was getting a bit late again and they were eager to get to the city at last. After their stay at Froki's cabin, they didn't waste their time coming back to Ivarstead. They still needed to send the letter to Commander Maro and they were eager for a good meal and a proper rest on a bigger bed. But now there was yet another delay.

"State your business in Falkreath Hold, travelers," one of the soldiers scowled at them menacingly. What was that about?

"The fuck's it to you?" Before Aeyrin could stop him from making this even more unpleasant, Bishop snarled back at the woman.

They had no fucking right to ask that! Not that the two of them were doing anything wrong, but still, it was none of their fucking business. He hated how haughty the Imperials got, swinging their weapons around, thinking they had everyone under their thumbs.

"Excuse me?" the woman barked back at him. What? Was he just supposed to be all pleasant after that 'warm welcome', being stopped on the road for questioning?

Aeyrin quickly stepped in front of Bishop. He wasn't sure whether it was to protect him from any hostilities or to protect the soldiers from his remarks, but she made a soothing gesture with her hands regardless.

"We're... we're just going to Falkreath." She wasn't sure what they wanted to hear. They weren't going there for anything specific, not really. She just didn't want this to escalate.

The woman threw one more hateful look at Bishop before she turned her attention to Aeyrin. "For what purpose?"

"Uhm... we're just... staying in town for a while. For supplies and... adventuring around," Aeyrin stammered uncertainly. She wasn't even sure what to say. The soldiers didn't look very thrilled with her answer. She wasn't even sure why they were being questioned. What was going on in Falkreath?

The soldiers whispered something to each other for a while, throwing wary glances at the two of them. It took a long time before one of them finally spoke out loud once more.

"State your allegiance," an Imperial man gave them a fierce scowl.

"What? What do you mean?" Aeyrin stared at him in surprise. Imperial soldiers had sometimes asked her subtly whether she was 'loyal to the Empire', in a way. She never liked that question. It was a very complicated one, given her opinions on certain Thalmor rules. But that was always during her talks with Tullius about the war and things like that. Never during a random ambush on the road. Were they just sussing out any Stormcloak supporters? It wasn't as if they weren't allowed in the Imperial regions, was it? There were plenty of them there, surely. And there were plenty of citizens in Stormcloak-controlled regions that were more inclined to support Imperial efforts. Like Maven Black-Briar. That was one such person she knew at least.

"Do you stand with the Empire or are you working for the wretched rebels?" The man was still scowling.

"What the f-..." Bishop piped up again, but Aeyrin quickly interrupted him. She really didn't want this to get out of hand.