Northbound Pilgrimage III

Chapter LXIX - Trouble

Their evening was not nearly as relaxing as they had originally imagined.

Once Bishop and Aeyrin retreated into the inn and finally managed to order some food into their room, they ended up discussing the events long into the night. Aeyrin was still conflicted about what she had said to Idesa at the cornerclub. And now they were both a little more concerned about completely disregarding Aeyrin being pregnant when they both eagerly stepped up fully expecting a fight.

They had to start being more careful.

They talked about Alec and Jora and everything that happened that day, but it was not as if they could find any more solutions for anything. And much to Bishop's dismay, Aeyrin had decided.

She would ask Master Lortheim. There was nobody else here now who could tell her what was going on.

At the very least, one good thing came from that day. One of the concoctions that Quintus gave Bishop, hard to tell which one, did actually get rid of the paint completely. Though now Bishop was a little sorry to see it go after he proudly announced to those idiots what it was. What was he even thinking? He was proud to be considered one of the elves. Why was he worried about people's reactions?

Then again, they really did have to start being more careful and getting rid of it was the safest bet.

They had one last thing to do in Windhelm today and then they would decide whether to stay, at least to make sure the elves were alright, or if they should go and leave that job to Brunwulf again. It was what he did well. Better than them. Especially with Aeyrin goading them to be bold.

They still needed to visit the temple. For multiple reasons now.

The place was very quiet. There was almost no one inside. The candles were all illuminating the small temple and the large statue of Talos behind the lectern. The only person there was the old priest. He was sitting in one of the pews and staring at the statue. He didn't even turn around when he heard the door open and some visitors come in.

Aeyrin approached the man tentatively with the delicate silver hairpiece in her hand. He looked quite distracted, but he wasn't doing anything. And the scowl from his face disappeared only when she and Bishop stood before him, finally in his sights.

"Master Lortheim?" She asked carefully. Was he like this because of what happened yesterday?

"Ah. Welcome, children," he tried to give them a kind smile, but he failed miserably. He didn't seem capable of smiling, even though his scowl was gone. "What brings you here? Do you need healing?"

"No, actually," Aeyrin shook her head promptly. "We came to ask you to bless an... item for us." She showed him the hairpiece with a pearl in it. She hoped it would be enough for him to get the hint. He must have seen things like this a thousand times before.

"Oh," he looked at the ornament in surprise before he looked up at them. His expression was... unreadable. Strange. He seemed to be a little concerned, but he didn't say anything hinting at that. "Congratulations on your upcoming union. I... I would be happy to bless this for you."

Well.... He didn't sound that sure of it. But he did say that he would do it.

He took the piece from her delicately and got up from the seat. He seemed a little tired as he walked over to the statue and placed the ornament on the lectern.

"Talos, the Grey Wind, bless this young couple's union, so that they may weather all challenges of life and war together... forevermore."

The way he said the last word was strange again, but it seemed like the blessing was finished. The man's hands lit up in a warm light that looked like a healing spell. Aeyrin wasn't sure if he asked for an actual blessing. She had never seen a blessing cast on an object – it was usually cast on people to give them more vigor or strength or magical aptitude for a short time. It was just a spell, but the temples said they drew strength from faith and the Divines. But items could only hold 'spells' by being enchanted, right? He probably only did that for pretenses – to make people think there was actually something to this blessing.