"Sweet Mother, sweet Mother, send your child unto me, for the sins of the unworthy must be baptized in blood and fear." The bosmer tilted her head as she heard a young boy recite the chant. This must be Aventus Aretino, the boy that was rumored to be contacting the Dark Brotherhood. Renata, a beautiful bosmer with dark brown hair and golden eyes that had an unnatural glow, was not a member of the Dark Brotherhood. Her nightingale armor allowed her to blend into the shadows of the house. She had heard the rumor from a dunmer woman just outside the home and curiosity had gotten the better of her.
As Renata quietly located the boy, she heard him speak again. Aventus was stabbing an effigy of the poor soul he wanted dead. "Please...How long must I do this? I keep praying, Night Mother. Why won't you answer me?" Renata cleared her throat and the Aretino boy whipped around, dropping the dagger in his surprise. "It worked! I knew you'd come, I just knew it! I did the Black Sacrament, over and over. With the body and the...the things. And then you came! An assassin from the Dark Brotherhood!"
Silently, Renata looked at the boy and wondered what she should say. Lie and take the contract or tell him he was mistaken? As she opened her mouth to speak, he said, "You don't have to say anything. There's no need. You're here, so I know you'll accept my contract."
"Why do you need an assassin, Aventus?"
Aventus looked at the floor for a moment, then looked Renata in the eye and murmured, "My mother, she...she died. I...I'm all alone now. So they sent me to that terrible orphanage in Riften. Honorhall." His voice sharped as he added, "The headmistress is an evil, cruel woman. They call her Grelod the Kind. But she's not kind. She's terrible. To all of us. So I ran away, and came home. And performed the Black Sacrament. Now you're here! And you can kill Grelod the Kind!"
Renata took a deep breath. Despite herself, she felt bad for the boy and had heard of how cruel Grelod was. Perhaps it was time someone taught that old hag a lesson. She needed to return to Riften anyways, so why not? "Very well, Aventus. I'll be back when Grelod the Kind is dead."
"Is the Listener alright?" The words jolted Renata out of her thoughts and she turned away from the Night Mother. Another member of the Dark Brotherhood, a jester named Cicero, was standing nearby. He was nibbling on a sweet roll and watching her with a concerned look on his face.
"I'm fine, Cicero. I was just thinking about my first contract, the one I stole. That Arentino boy promised to join the Dark Brotherhood after I killed that hag in Riften. Last time I was in Riften, I saw him and a couple of orphans playing some game. I wonder if he'll really join us..."
Nodding enthusiastically, Cicero said, "If he joins now, he could be quite the assassin when he's older."
"You could be right, Cicero. Maybe I'll send a couple of the Initiates to bring him here."
His eyes darkened as he asked, "Has Mother spoken today?"
Shaking her head, Renata looked back to the Night Mother. "It's been a long time since we've had so many contracts. Perhaps she'll speak when there aren't so many...I can't help feeling that something's wrong though."