Northbound Pilgrimage

Chapter LV - Immortals

Bishop got uncomfortable instantly.

"They... they say momma's dead... But it's not true! I saw her! I saw her from my window at night!"

Shit, this must have been Laelette's boy – the woman whose body they found after the dragon attack.

He saw her?!

It was likely wishful thinking on his part... but... the whole 'mortal' thing and now this. It was all too fishy.

"Why... why are you here then?" Bishop wasn't really sure how to deal with the sobbing boy. In his family, the kids usually didn't express their sorrow so... publically. It wouldn't end well for them if they did. So he just pried further, trying to pull the pieces together.

"She... she's been here a lot before... before they said she died. The lady here... she was a new friend of hers... I thought... maybe she was living with her... maybe she..." the boy started to sob so loudly that he barely got the words out of his mouth, his eyes still downcast pitiably. "May-maybe she doesn't.... she doesn't want to live.... with me anymore...," the boy sniffled pathetically, wiping his tears away in a last hopeless attempt to save face.

Bishop just stared at the boy for a while.

Fuck... how could he make him stop?

After a while of silence, broken only by the boy's uncontrollable sobbing, Bishop decided to clasp him on his shoulder. The boy froze at that, stopping his sobs suddenly. He looked more surprised than fearful though.

"Hey, look at me."

The boy raised his eyes to his uncertainly, but there was no fear in them. He still sniffled, but it was as if with his eyes finally not fastened on the ground, he got more determined to stop crying and look somewhat... tough.

"Let's make a deal. I'll go inside and I'll look if your mother's there. In turn, you won't tell anyone about any of this."

He shouldn't have given him false hope. His mother was likely eaten by a dragon and whoever he saw was just a figment of his grief-stricken mind.

But somewhere in the back of his mind, something told him that... the boy might be right.

The boy stared at him wide eyed for a moment before he nodded his head hurriedly. He was obviously eager to see what Bishop found.

Bishop smiled at him and turned back to the lock, pulling out his picks again.

"Go hide like before. If anyone comes here, don't make a sound," he instructed the boy and he hurried back to the side of the house. After a second only the rustling of bushes echoed through the quiet night.

Bishop just hoped he didn't unwittingly make everything worse for him...

...

Hroggar's snores filled the room as Bishop snuck in.

He took a quick look around – some cupboards and nightstands... it was possible that there were some secrets stashed in them, but not very likely. Those were too accessible.

There could be a hidden chamber or... the basement.

He made his way down slowly while the wooden steps creaked lightly under his feet. If only he could have kept those enchanted muffled boots from Frey...

The basement was locked too, but the continuous snoring assured him that he was in the clear. Jingling with his lockpicks as little as possible, he managed to open the door after only a couple of seconds.

He was going to look into every nook and cranny, find any little thing that suggested that there is something wrong with Alva, that there is something she did, either directly or indirectly, to cause that fire.