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

Chapter Forty-Five

The walk back to Solitude was long and arduous. Bishop kept insisting that they stop so that Aruna could rest, while Aruna kept insisting that she could push through. All the while, they were very aware that the Thalmor were somewhere behind them. Bishop covered their tracks and led them in a winding path to throw off their pursuers. It seemed to work, and both he and Aruna felt relieved when they finally reached the cliffside upon which Solitude stood, though neither of them breathed easy until they were in the carriage and on their way back to Riverwood.

"If I'd known we'd be taking carriages back and forth between Solitude and Riverwood this much," Bishop said as he scanned the road behind them, "I could have saved myself some coin." He turned to Aruna. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine," she said, though the weariness in her voice was apparent.

He gave her a look.

Aruna sighed. "A little sore, a little tired. But I'll be fine." She leaned back in her seat and gazed down the road that trailed behind them. "Thank you, Bishop. I'm not sure how I would have managed without you."

Bishop scoffed. "You'd still have made it out. You have some mammoth-sized balls, Ladyship."

Aruna started to laugh, then winced and pressed her hand to her stomach.

"Let me see that." Bishop moved from his bench and knelt in front of her, gently tugging her cuirass up so that he could take a look at her wound.

Aruna sat quietly, studying him as he examined her injury. He had a few nicks and cuts of his own, scabbing over already. He gently probed at her sealed wound and she sucked in a sharp breath.

"Sorry," he said. "Still pretty tender. Etienne did a shitty job...we're going to have to find you a real healer soon."

"What happened to Etienne?" she asked. "I thought he would be traveling with us. At least until we got to Solitude."

"Who knows?" Bishop carefully tugged her cuirass back into place and sat back on his bench. "I guess I scared him off—" He bit off the last word as if catching himself and avoided Aruna's eyes.

"Bishop, what did you do?"

"Ah." He waved a hand in the air. "Don't worry, Ladyship. He was fine when he left. I'm sure he—"

"Bishop."

By now, he was familiar with that tone in her voice. He sighed. "I did what I had to do. You were badly injured, and I couldn't exactly carry you through the snow all the way to Solitude, though you can be damn sure I would have tried. He said he knew a little restoration magic, so I...convinced him to help you."

"Convinced him how?" Aruna frowned.

"I..." Bishop made an impatient noise. "It's not important. You're alive and so is he...probably."

"Oh, Bishop." She sighed wearily and closed her eyes. "He was injured and terrified and he'd probably been through so much before we got there. I don't think you had to threaten him to get him to help."

"What was I supposed to do? Sit there with him and list all the pros and cons of saving your life? Meanwhile, you'd have bled out in the snow." He shook his head. "I don't regret anything I did. I'd do it all over again if it meant you'd be sitting here with me like you are now." A muscle in his cheek twitched and he looked away again. "It's a long way yet. Try to get some sleep."

"Bishop," Aruna began.

"Never mind, Ladyship. Just rest."

But she couldn't rest. She sat uncomfortably, the dull throb in her abdomen matching the rhythm of her heartbeat. She distracted herself from the pain and weariness by thinking about how Bishop had come to her rescue...and how he'd called her by her name. He'd never done that before. What did it mean?