Aruna felt relieved when the mountain city that was Markarth came into view as the last of the daylight faded into night. The ancient Dwemer city was beautiful in its own way, but it had never been a place in which she wanted to spend much time. There was a definite undercurrent of corruption to the town that always made her feel tense, as if she needed to constantly watch her back. It wasn't like Riften, which was openly tainted, and Markarth held bad memories for her from the last time she'd been there. Even so, she was tired and was looking forward to visiting the inn and sitting by the fire with a hot meal.
As they approached the giant Dwarven-made gates of the city, Aruna noticed one of the guards at the gates nod in their direction and say something to the other guard. They watched as Aruna and her companions approached, and halted them at the foot of the stone steps leading to the entrance.
"Hey, you," one of the guards said, his attention on Bishop, "you're that ranger who caused all that trouble a few months ago. I think we made it clear you were to stay out of the Reach."
Aruna looked at Bishop, "you got yourself banned from the entire hold?"
Bishop grimaced. To the guard, he said, "look, I don't really remember what happened. I may have had a little too much to drink at the time. I'm sober now; don't plan on bothering anybody."
The second guard scoffed, "try another one. Go on...we have all night."
Aruna sighed, "gentlemen, I understand that you're only doing your jobs, and I respect you for it. However, if you'll allow me and my companions entrance into the city, I will take full responsibility for them," she gave Bishop a meaningful look, "though I expect them to be on their best behavior during our visit."
"That's all well and good," the second guard said, "but what makes you think we'd trust you to look after them?"
The first guard nudged his partner, "idiot," he said in a harsh whisper, "she's the Dragonborn," he looked at Aruna, "forgive my friend, here; he was away on patrol for the last month and a half. He's missed a lot of the excitement around here."
The second guard looked at her again. Aruna couldn't see his face behind his helmet, but she felt his appraising gaze.
"Is that true?" he asked, a touch of awe in his voice, "you're the Dragonborn?"
"That's what they say," she sighed.
"Then," he said, sounding a little flustered, "by all means, you're welcome here."
"And my companions?" she asked.
"I'm afraid the ranger is under arrest for trespassing," he said, sounding apologetic, "he was warned, after all."
"I understand," Aruna said.
"Wait, you what?" Bishop rounded on her, "you're just gonna let them arrest me?"
She shrugged, "well, you did break their laws. You must have done something really terrible to get yourself banned from the entirety of the Reach. Interesting how you didn't mention that part...it seems an important omission."
"That's why you're letting them take me?" he said, aghast, "because I left out a few details? Ladyship, I really am starting to regret ever meeting you."
She pressed her lips together, and he realized with indignation that she was laughing at him. She turned to the guards.
"If there's a bounty on my companion's head, I'll gladly pay it," she said.
"It's not really that, miss," the first guard said, "he was never supposed to show his face here. We've got to arrest him."
"I'm afraid I can't allow that," she said calmly.
Bishop threw his hands in the air, "about damn time!"
The guards shifted uncomfortably and looked at each other.
"Uh," the second guard said, "we don't want any trouble, Dragonborn."
"I don't either," she said, her voice still pleasant and steady, "I suppose I could go to the jarl, but he's a busy man, and may not want to be bothered with this. And, as I recall, you seem to be suffering from a bit of an overcrowding problem in your prison at the moment. What could my friend here have done that really merits all the trouble it would take to arrest him?"
"Well," the first guard said slowly, "first, he got drunk and started a brawl in the inn that spilled out into the streets."
"And once we got that contained," the second guard said, "we couldn't find him. At first, we thought he slipped out of the city, but then we heard some commotion over at the Treasury House and found him being chased down the streets by Thonar Silver-Blood; turns out your companion there had gotten a little too friendly with Betrid, Thonar's wife. With as much influence as the Silver-Bloods have in the city, it was a feat that we managed to arrest your companion without him being executed right there in the street."
"Gods," muttered Aruna, raising an eyebrow at Bishop, who looked impatient.
"But that wasn't all," the first guard went on, "on the way to Cidhna Mine, he somehow managed to escape and disappear into the city again. It took us the rest of the night to find him. Finally, one of the guards caught him in the Keep...turns out he'd passed out in the jarl's personal quarters. Thank the gods the jarl wasn't in the city at the time, or it would have been all our heads."
The second guard nodded, "after that, we figured it would be more trouble to arrest him than to just ban him from the Hold. Our superiors signed it off and we had him escorted to the border of Whiterun Hold, releasing him on the condition that he never come back."
"I see," Aruna said, and Bishop thought he saw the corner of her mouth twitch, just slightly, "I would not blame you if you did arrest him right here and now...however, he's aiding me on some business, and it would greatly inconvenience me to be deprived of my companion now," she frowned thoughtfully, "if I were to swear to take complete responsibility for any and all of his actions while we're here, and that he will not be out of my sight for a moment and will leave with me in a day or so, would you temporarily suspend the ban?"
The two guards looked at each other. The second one shrugged. "All right," said the first, "one of us will pass along the word that his ban has been lifted...temporarily. But you'll be held fully accountable should he get out of line again."
Aruna smiled, "understood. You have my gratitude and my oath to keep him out of trouble."
"See that you do," the second guard said, eyeing Bishop as he, Aruna, and Karnwyr passed on their way into Markarth.
Bishop was sullenly quiet as they headed into the city and to the inn. Once inside, he headed for the far wall and slumped into a chair by the fire, across from a sellsword in full armor, who looked at him curiously. Karnwyr lay down on the rug at Bishop's feet, basking in the warmth of the fire. Aruna watched Bishop as she waited to be served at the bar, a small, amused smile playing on her lips. She was going to have fun teasing him about this for a long time to come.
She bought wine for herself and ale for Bishop, as well as a couple of grilled peasant breasts for Karnwyr. Bishop was gazing into the fire when she approached, seemingly far away. She nudged him with the bottle of ale and he took it with a nod of thanks. He raised an eyebrow when she held the peasant out for Karnwyr, who took the food gently from her hand and skulked away to a dark corner to eat alone. Bishop took a swig of ale and watched her as she settled in the chair directly across from the fire, a few feet from him. She crossed her legs and settled back, sipping at her wine.
"So," she said, gazing nonchalantly into the flames, "Betrid Silver-Blood, huh?" She tried to bite back a grin but wasn't very successful.
Bishop snorted, "hey, a woman that frigid is a challenge for me," he smirked, "I had to see if I could thaw her out a little. Turns out, she wasn't quite as frigid as I thought."
Aruna laughed, "you don't say. Well, please, spare me the details. Although, I am curious what in Oblivion you were drinking that night...unless you're the kind of man who can't hold his drink?"
"Oh-ho, ladyship, I can out-drink any man or woman in this city, don't get me wrong," he shrugged a shoulder, "I met a man who offered to buy, so I took him up on it. Then he wagered a drinking contest, so of course, I obliged him. After that...bit of a blur."
"But you remember Betrid," Aruna pointed out.
He grinned, "jealous?"
"Oh, terribly jealous," she smiled back, "I just mean how do you remember some things, but not the rest?"
"I remember, more or less, that I got into a fight with...well, everyone. Then I remember stumbling into the Treasury House. Next thing I know, I've got Betrid in a corner with my tongue down her throat and she's groping me like she thinks I have her purse stuffed down my pants. I might remember that one a little more clearly because it was the only pleasant thing that happened that night. Otherwise, I remember a lot of blows being traded, a lot of screaming, and throwing up on myself."
Aruna laughed, "so what was it you were drinking that night?"
He shook his head, "I have no idea. I should have known better, but he didn't pull out that bottle until I already had quite a few drinks in me. It didn't seem like such a bad idea, suddenly, to drink whatever that was," He looked at her meaningfully, "so you see now why I didn't take kindly to you poisoning me."
"I did not poison you," she said.
"And what was that all about back there, by the way?" he said, gesturing to her with his ale bottle, "considering letting those guards throw me in prison? That's a nice way to thank the guy who had your back with those dragons...and the Forsworn..."
"Don't be ridiculous," she said, "I wasn't actually going to let them arrest you. We'd have just left if it came to that," she smiled, "I just felt like teasing you."
He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, "ladyship, if you really want to tease me, I can think of much more fun ways than threatening me with prison. Just for future reference."
"I'll keep that in mind," she said, focusing on her wine.
"That reminds me," he said, still watching her, "what will our sleeping arrangements be tonight? You did promise those guards that you wouldn't let me out of your sight."
"That I did," she agreed, still not looking at him.
"You know the beds are all made of stone, right?" he said, "so it doesn't sound like we'll be getting much sleep."
She finally turned her gaze on him, a crooked smile on her mouth, "whatever you're thinking, ranger," she said, "you'd best forget it now. You're only going to be disappointed."