All Roads Lead To You (A Skyrim Romance Mod fanfic)

Chapter Thirty-Seven

The rest of the night would be one Aruna would recall on long sleepless nights when she needed a pleasant distraction. When she and Bishop weren't dancing, they drank wine and teased each other. Bishop made a game of ridiculing anyone who so much as gave him a disapproving once-over, and Aruna spent a lot of time alternating between struggling not to laugh and trying to shush him. The more they drank, the sillier they became, though Aruna noticed that Bishop restrained himself much more than he had on Captain Jack's ship, likely not keen on repeating that crippling hangover. Finally, Aruna grabbed Bishop's hand and led him outside.

The cold air was bracing and Aruna's dress was not meant to keep her warm. She resisted the urge to shiver.

"Heading to bed now, ladyship?" Bishop asked, slurring his words slightly. "You must be exhausted by now."

"No, not especially," she said, stumbling a little over the cobblestones of the street. "What about you?"

"Not especially." He grinned. He began to unbutton his doublet.

Aruna snorted. "You weren't kidding about getting out of those clothes the first chance you got, were you? At least wait until you have some privacy—"

Bishop laughed as he pulled off the doublet and held it out for her. "If you want me out of my clothes, just say so. Here. You must be cold."

She raised her eyebrows in surprise but slipped into the coat with his help. He settled the doublet on her shoulders and gently pulled a few loose strands of hair from beneath the high collar. He looked her over and gave a low whistle.

"You even look beautiful in men's clothes," he said. Then he belched into his fist.

Aruna snickered.

"What should we do?" he asked, looking around. It was late, and Solitude was relatively quiet; most people were at the tavern, in their homes, or at the ball.

"I have an idea," Aruna said and promptly began hoisting up the skirt of her gown on one side.

"Ladyship, what in Oblivion—" Bishop began.

"I promised you lessons with my blades, remember?" she said as she exposed her leg to retrieve the leather pouch of throwing knives she had strapped to her thigh.

Bishop knew the decent thing to do would be to look away, but he couldn't quite seem to manage it. His eyes seemed to follow the shape of her leg of their own accord.

"Expecting a fight tonight, ladyship?" he murmured.

"I always expect a fight," she said, liberating the pouch and letting the hem of her gown fall back into place.

Bishop snapped out of his trance and smiled at her. "I'll get my bow; I promised you lessons, too."

Several minutes later, Aruna and Bishop were in a more secluded area of the city, where the walls toward over them and there wasn't much but an ancient woodshed and a few trees. Above them, the twin moons, Masser and Secunda, cast their otherworldly glow, illuminating the area just enough for some late-night lessons.

"This would be better done in the woods," Bishop said.

"True," Aruna replied. "But it's better than nothing. Now, how should we start?"

"Show me how you throw those knives," he said, nodding to the pouch in her hand.

Over the next hour, Aruna showed Bishop the basics of knife throwing. He had trouble at first, throwing much too hard, which caused the blades to sometimes bounce off their target, a splintered oak post near the woodshed. But he was a fast learner and was soon hitting his target more than half the time.