Northbound Pilgrimage III

Chapter LXXXII - Uninvited

More days went by peacefully at the cottage, all filled with strangely unfamiliar but also comfortable domesticity.

It was nice. There was always that little bit of nervousness plaguing both Bishop and Aeyrin about something going wrong, but it was always quickly forgotten too. Nothing was going wrong in their haven.

But eventually, Aeyrin started to feel a familiar itch.

It was hard to deny. It's been an amazing bunch of weeks, but the peace sometimes made her feel restless. And she noticed it on Bishop too. Especially when he was taking a little longer on his hunts each time.

In the evenings, sometimes she would pull out the map and idly muse over some of the emptier locations. There were so many Holds open to them, waiting for them to delve into new mysteries and adventures. As long as Esbern didn't summon them yet. She really hoped it would take a while. Now she was just itching for adventure with only the usual stress accompanying it, not the doom and gloom of the world ending.

She and Bishop haven't talked about leaving yet. She did enjoy the time they had here, but they could surely return soon. But there was also no rush to leave either. They could discuss it at any point. Leave at any point. There was nothing pressing them in one direction or the other.

So for now, Aeyrin kept enjoying the routine of their domestic life, as she was sure Bishop was.

And with Riften so close, it was very convenient. They never had to go far to get some funds to prolong their stay.

And as any other time, every so often, once Bishop came back from a morning hunt with the meat and pelts all ready to be sold, she grabbed them and went to pawn them off at the market while he made lunch.

Bishop was all ready to use part of the day's haul for their meal. They were very well stocked up by now in one of the basement rooms, but food was always best with freshly skinned prey.

But before he could get to it, a knock on the door interrupted him.

Interesting. It was probably the courier. He was going to be glib about their prolonged stay in one place again.

With a growl, Bishop moved to the door and opened. It was definitely not who he expected though.

A cloaked figure stood there in front of him and for a moment he panicked. He did not like people hiding their faces. He always thought of the assassins. But those usually hid their mouths – this woman was clearly only hiding her eyes with her hood. Strands of black hair rested on her shoulders below it and the strange corseted shirt and traveling trousers gave her out. He'd seen that outfit before. As well as that stoic look on the lower half of her face.

"Serana?" Bishop blinked in disbelief. "What the fuck are you doing here? Shit... don't even tell me." If Serana somehow found them here, something bad must have happened. Did she need their help? Didn't she have Isran and the Dawnguard helping with the prophecy? Or was it something she couldn't share with the vampire hunters?

Fuck, stop panicking and wait for her to talk.

"Bishop," Serana nodded. "Hello again. May I come in?" Her face told him nothing. There was no panic, no fear, no anger, no nothing. Dammit, he hated how hard she was to read.

He freed the way for her so that she could enter. It did make him feel a little hesitant though. He knew. He knew she was all about stopping her father and that she had those concerns to deal with, but it was still a little odd to be letting a vampire that could charm him at any second into the house. Where he was alone. He couldn't help himself. But he swallowed the paranoia and let her in.