Northbound Pilgrimage III

Chapter XVIII - Endless Mirth

Author's Note:

Well... this chapter... is basically just a smutty kink-fest :D Seriously. I may have gone a little beyond the usual, but it's not my fault. I have no more control over the characters :D There are three stages of this and they're all designated by a different number of asterisks in the kink warnings at the bottom of the chapter, so make sure you avoid anything that makes you uncomfortable, or just avoid the chapter as a whole if you prefer – there's really nothing much to the story there except maybe for the setting, which you can get from the first few paragraphs ;) Though if I could recommend one part you should not skip unless you're really put off by the 'kink', it would be the last marked one (***). It was very fun to write ;)

If you're gonna read... enjoy, I guess? :D

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Surprisingly enough, it was hard to keep away from the Thalmor presence in the capital.

Maybe it shouldn't have been surprising. Neither of them remembered it being this bad though. There were Altmer addressing crowds in the streets, explaining to them the dangers of giving into 'barbaric propaganda' and 'brainwashing of good citizens'. It really did seem that the civil war had become the talk of Cyrodiil. Maybe the longer it lasted, the more curious it got people. Or maybe they were all just sick of the Thalmor and wondered about the parts of the world that didn't have to conform to them.

Regardless of the reasons, there was always something to remind them around the City. But eventually, it started to blend into the background after the incident at the jewelry store. Aeyrin was focusing more on her excitement about the present she got there for Bishop and about the things she wanted to do in the Imperial City.

Bishop wanted to see a match in the Arena. He and Jules once snuck in there when they were kids to watch one and he kind of wanted to reminisce about that. And Aeyrin mostly wanted to see the districts she hadn't seen in years, even the Arcane University that she was never allowed inside. It was impressive just to see it from behind the gates – all those magical lights floating about and the mages walking by in their fancy opulent robes.

By the end of their stay, they had enjoyed a lot of what the City had to offer. But there was still one place that Aeyrin was dying to see again now that they had enough money for that.

The Imbel's House of Mirth. The most luxurious brothel in the Empire. Or so they claimed. Maybe there was something more fancy in Hammerfell, but who knew? It wasn't exactly the 'brothel' part that lured her in. They held raunchy performances, bards playing suggestive songs or plays that weren't concerned with propriety. Surprisingly enough, the brothel was the height of culture in the City. She had been there once before to see a bard play. She learned one song from him that Bishop occasionally pestered her to share, but she had never actually sung it before.

Still, she was eager to see what more the brothel had to offer. And she knew that Bishop would be all for that.

They walked across the Tiber Septim Plaza until they reached the large mansion where the brothel was housed. It was decorated by beautifully ornate red lanterns by the entrance and a large sign above the door. And there was a notice board with today's program posted on it. It was just a name that Aeyrin didn't recognize – there wasn't any description of what the artist would do, but she still wanted to see. It was their last night here and it felt fitting to spend it here, away from any Thalmor and the Legion, just enjoying a bit of taboo culture. And besides, Bishop had never been here before.

"Hey, didn't you say that they have some midnight shows or something?" He pondered as he looked at the notice board. "Is that the same guy for that or are there... not any?"