Northbound Pilgrimage III

Chapter CIII - Never Again

Author's Note:

Dear all,

Apologies for the bigger delay in posting. Things are a bit hectic right now and I'm very susceptible to distractions on top of that :D

Hope you'll enjoy the chapter :3

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"There they are," Ambarys smiled warmly as they entered the cornerclub.

It was almost time and everything was set. In the morning, the two of them would pick up Llarni and lead her to the docks where Jack and his crew would set off towards Blacklight. Bishop and Aeyrin would stay at the cornerclub tonight, just so they'd have the shortest way possible to the temple with as few people watching them as possible. They knew they were being watched, at least a little, whenever they were in Windhelm. Ulfric would surely not like them running around scheming and causing problems for him. But that was exactly what they needed to do.

The main problem was that they knew the Dunmer temple was being watched too. That Llarni herself was being watched, in case she came out on the streets. Alec said as much at least and they had no trouble believing him. The patrols in the Grey Quarter were more numerous during their visit this time around, but even if they avoided those, they knew there was at least one watchtower with a view into the quarter.

But they had a plan for that too. They only needed Llarni to trust them and comply, which was hopefully arranged by Idesa. She herself didn't know when they'd be executing the mission. It was safer that way for everyone. But she did inform Llarni of them taking her to her father at some point. It was hopefully going to go smoothly.

Alec had been informed of the timing too. He and Jack and his crew were the only people who knew they'd bring Llarni to the docks at the break of dawn. The Dumner might talk amongst each other after all and they could be overheard. The fewer people knew, the better.

So tonight, they'd pretend like nothing was going on just yet and they'd spend another night at the cornerclub. There was only one problem with that. They could not spend their night there in the usual manner in which they often did. If they got so plastered they'd oversleep or be too hungover to be vigilant, everything would be jeopardized.

"Sujamma?" Ambarys asked promptly. Yeah... this sounded about right for the greeting. And exactly what they needed to avoid. They were ready for that ,of course, but all the excuses they came up with were rather flimsy and prone to peer pressure. But they really had nothing better.

"Not tonight," Bishop sighed, feigning disappointment. Although honestly, it was a little disappointing. He would have much preferred the usual night of revelry to this. "We spent last night drinking with an old friend. I don't think we can handle that today." It wasn't entirely a lie, though they didn't spend their night with Jack last night, but it was an easy cover to hide behind.

"F'lah, everyone knows that the best cure for a hangover is to drink more," Ambarys smirked at him.

"Yeah... wha... wha kind o'an 'scuse is that?" Malthyr, who had been obviously drinking heavily before already and now was barely holding himself up on the barstool, slurred. "Why'd ya come'ere then?"

"We came to spend time with you," Aeyrin smiled at him wryly. "Do we need to get plastered to do that?" She chuckled a little. Yes, it was what they usually did when they were here, but it wasn't a requirement, was it?

"No, but you could draw some business my way. At least you have the money, unlike half the n'wahs here," Ambarys grinned. That... was a good point, but it was still not something they could do.