Rona's Story: An Epic Skyrim Romance

Chapter 80 No Place Like Home

They spent the night together back in the temple and he just held her in his arms and it was wonderful. She had no nightmares. Her sleep was dreamless and peaceful. When she woke in his arms that was just as wonderful because he was already awake, gently stroking her hair and looking on at her lovingly and then she kissed him and that was perfect too.

She initiated all of it, he let her make the first moves and responded according to her reactions. All of it was positive and exactly what she'd needed. But although she was so happy to have human contact again, when she made to speak there was still nothing. He just kissed her and told her it would be okay, that she was on the road to healing. She let herself believe him and allowed him to comfort her aching heart.

They left the Temple of the Ancestor Moths that day. Serlas thanked the monks for their hospitality and gave them the location of their farm, asking that they please write and inform them should they discover anything new. Brother Evicus promised that he would send word the minute he heard anything new about the Elder Scroll in question.

They spent another two days, traveling through those rough mountains and Rona slept beside Bishop every night which he seemed quite happy about because he was smiling every day now, except when he tried to hide the physical pain in his arm from her.

Serlas was keeping track of the Dragon's Frost and did everything in his power to slow it each day. He even gave Bishop a few of Qetesh's best potions, which he'd learned to make himself and that seemed to help him quite a bit, at least with the pain. Still, on the third day, when they'd arrived near the border again, Rona saw it. Bishop stood in a private area, around a ridge, while Serlas tried once again to slow the move of the mark. It had already moved up his shoulder and down towards his hand. The whole thing was threatening to overtake him. Rona panicked inwardly at the sight of it. She had to regain her voice somehow, she just didn't know how.

They stopped in Bruma that evening and spent the night at the Jerall View Inn. Bishop and Rona got a private room together and went to lay down for bed. Bishop had been keeping his cuirass on, initially he said because of the cold. But she knew better, the man could probably strip down naked and take a swim in an icy lake treating it like a hot summer's day. Now he had no excuse and as she stood there in just her own under dress she tugged on his shirt and he smirked at her saying sarcastically, "What? Feeling frisky Ladyship?"

She scowled at him and started to undo the buckles herself and he grasped her hands and shook his head, "I don't want you to stress over it, Sweetness. If you worry about my wound, then your voice might never come back. Just try to relax." She looked into his warm amber eyes tearfully.

He kissed her on the forehead and whispered, "No more tears Ladyship. We've all done enough crying to drain and refill Lake Ilinalta twice over already."

She sighed and just hugged him, pressing her face to his chest and he hugged her back. He pulled her over to the bed and held her, falling asleep fairly quickly beside her, snoring lightly as always. She stared woefully at him and blamed herself.

All of it was her fault. If she hadn't left the farm that day, none of it would have happened. She wouldn't have lost her voice and Bishop wouldn't have been hurt by the dragon's shout because she would've been able to fight back. He told her not to worry but how could she not? He was everything to her and all the pain he'd suffered since the start of their journey was her fault.

When his hand was burned the first time she killed a dragon, her fault. When his arm was snapped in pieces against the dragon outside Whiterun, her fault. When thirty dragons attacked Solitude and burned up his leg, her fault. When Alduin realized he was the most important person to her and trained the others to attack him first... it was her fault. It was all her fault. Every time Bishop got hurt it was because of her.