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

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Aruna headed back to the inn, alone. When she reached the Winking Skeever, she found the tavern mostly empty, except for the innkeeper's son, who was cleaning up. She returned his nod of greeting and headed upstairs to her room, passing Bishop's empty room without a second glance. Once inside, she changed into a linen shirt and unbraided her hair. She took off the silver necklace with the stones the same color as Bishop's eyes and tucked it away in her pack, thinking she might sell it if there came a time when she really needed the gold. She sat on the bed and dug through her pack for the book she'd rescued from a bandit camp inside Bleak Falls Barrow some time before.

 It was an old tome, the leather cover smelled musty and was cracked and peeling in several places. Some of the sheaves of paper inside had come loose, and some were even missing. It was a children's book full of tales about Talos, a forbidden thing these days, which made it precious. She smiled as she gingerly turned the yellowed pages. Inside were clever illustrations of dragons, townspeople, Adra, and Tiber Septim himself. From what she gleaned, the stories were embellished retellings of Tiber Septim's life and adventures, and probably mostly untrue. Of course, it was a children's book, and why shouldn't children let their imaginations run wild? Aruna thought that if things had been different, and she'd had children, this was the sort of book she would read to them.

After a while, she carefully stowed the book away in her pack and pulled out a vial of sleeping draught. She'd need her rest for the journey to Riverwood, where Delphine was surely waiting. She set it on the bedside table and turned to the bed. She looked down at Bishop's dark blue doublet and her deep red dress, laid out across the coverlet. She ran a hand over the doublet and sighed. She never liked to dwell on regrets or bemoan the things she couldn't have, but she couldn't help but imagine what her life would be if things had gone differently. As a young girl, she'd imagined falling in love and having a family. So many things had happened since then that made those dreams so distant. That was for someone else, in another life. Not for her. That had been true even before the dragons and the summoning by the Greybeards. Long before she'd ever come to Skyrim.

She smiled wryly. Bishop wasn't exactly the type of man she'd envisioned in those childish fantasies and she had no delusions about what he really wanted from her. Her smile faded as she thought of the golden-haired assassin, whispering in Bishop's ear at the tavern in Dragon Bridge. At the time, the sight had annoyed her but she hadn't had particularly strong feelings either way. She knew Bishop's reputation, and it wasn't unexpected to see him flirting with other women. He wasn't hers, after all. But after all that she and Bishop had endured together in the short time since and knowing who that woman really was now made her feel strange. Jealous. Protective. Angry. A little hurt. He couldn't have known, of course, but just the thought of that woman alone with him, kissing him, touching him...

Aruna gritted her teeth. She wasn't sure who made her angrier; Bishop, for his lack of discrimination, or herself, for caring about it. She pulled her leather pants from her pack and yanked them on, then picked up the doublet from the bed; she'd return it to him and make sure he knew that they were just traveling companions, that it wouldn't ever be more than that. And that if he wanted someone to take care of his "needs", he'd have to look elsewhere. Just because she happened to be a woman and he happened to be a very attractive man who made her smile whenever she thought about him did not mean she was going to bed him. All of those thoughts rushed through her mind in an aggravated torrent as she left her room and headed the short distance down the hall, where Bishop's room was. She raised her fist to knock on the wooden door, then paused when she heard a muffled sound from within. She frowned and leaned closer to the door. A groan, and then Bishop's voice, hoarse and weary.

"No! Let me go!"

Aruna let out a slow breath. "Not again." 

She eased the door open to a dim room, the only source of light a sputtering candle on the table. Bishop was in the bed, the blankets tangled around his legs and one of his arms. Even in the near-dark, Aruna could see his bare chest rising and falling fast, as though he'd been running. She stepped into the room and shut the door behind her, and laid the doublet over a chair. She went silently to his bedside and sat down on the bed beside him. His face was damp with sweat and his brow furrowed as he endured his tortured dreams. She leaned over him, gently stroking a cool hand over his fevered brow. He flinched at her touch, but she continued undaunted, running her hand lightly through his hair and using the corner of a blanket to wipe the sweat from his face.