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

Chapter Fifty-Six

Author's Note: Thank you so much for your patience!!

Aruna walked the streets of Windhelm as the city began to stir in the early morning sunlight. Already she could hear the familiar sounds of metal striking metal from the blacksmith and people calling out to each other as they set off to work. Yet, nothing made her feel any more comfortable within those high stone walls. Solitude had been more open, and more inviting, with its wide, cobbled streets, warm little houses, and trees and flowers soaking up the northern sunlight. Here, the sky always seemed to be at least partly shrouded in heavy gray cloud-cover, the streets were narrow and uneven, the buildings imposing, and there wasn't a tree in sight within the walls. Not to mention, in the last hour alone, she'd seen three separate instances where a Dunmer citizen had been threatened or mocked by a Nord. The general malice towards Dunmer seemed to be commonplace in Windhelm. She wondered why they stayed and what kind of man Jarl Ulfric was to allow it in his city.

Bishop had mentioned that, at some point, she might be called to support either the Stormcloaks or the Imperials, but after watching the turmoil Ulfric had caused with his rebellion and after nearly being executed for crimes she didn't commit by the Imperials, Aruna was not feeling especially supportive of either side.

Let the dragons take them all, damn them, she thought bitterly. She'd yet to meet the leaders from either side, and she was beginning to think it was better that way. Neither Ulfric or Elisif or the commander of her army and the one said to be the true leader of the Imperials, General Tullius, had made any effort to contact her so far, and she hoped she'd be able to do what she needed to do and disappear before any of them reached out. Skyrim may have been her birthplace, but this was not her war.

At least, that was what she told herself.

Aruna wandered until she saw the gates leading to the docks outside. She came up short when her eyes fell on Bishop. He was standing near the gates, his back to her. He knelt down on one knee and she saw a little girl standing in front of him, shivering in a threadbare cloak and clutching a basket of wilted flowers and herbs. Bishop's voice was too low to hear, so Aruna crept closer, careful to keep out of sight.

"I'll buy everything you have." Aruna heard him say to the little girl.

The girl's tired face brightened. She was very pretty, with long brown hair and deep brown eyes that seemed almost too big for her delicate features.

"Really?" she asked.

"Really," Bishop said. He gathered the flowers and herbs from her basket and tucked them carefully into his pack. Then he pulled out a coinpurse, heavy with gold. At the sight of it, Aruna felt her stomach sink.

"What's your name, little one?" Bishop asked.

"Sophia."

"My name is Bishop. Where are your parents, Sophia? Do they know you're out here?"

Sophia's face crumpled and her lower lip trembled. For a moment, it looked very much as if she might cry. Then she took a deep breath and lifted her chin. "M-Mama got sick when Papa left to fight in the war and she died. Papa never came home. Some of the other kids said he—he's probably dead, too."

"Don't you have anyone who can look after you?" Bishop asked her gently. There was a note of sorrow in his voice that Aruna could only remember hearing once before, when he spoke of his brother, Julian.

"I look after myself," the little girl said, almost defiantly. Aruna nearly smiled. Sophia was a strong one or, at least, she was trying to be.

"Brave girl," Aruna said softly to herself.