Chapter 1: An Assassination
It was a dark rainy evening when I headed home from the Silver Blood Inn.
I was slightly drunk, but sober enough to know that Bothela would give me a lecture the moment I stepped into the shop.
As I walked up the path the rain seemed to pelt down even harder, and I hugged my arms around my body in a desperate attempt to keep warm.
A guard passed and tried to convince me to come back to the barracks with him, but I knew that he had other ideas then just keeping me dry.
"When will the men in this city learn to leave me alone?"
I knew they never would, and that made me even angrier. Everyone from the beggar to the Jarl himself had tried to make a pass at me. A year ago I would have felt overjoyed and lucky. Now I just felt bitter.
As I finally walked across the stone bridge someone grabbed me by my arm and dragged me into the shadows. The person moved so fast I had no time to react and before I knew it I was laying in the dirt with a large figure looming over me.
I still couldn't move, whether it was out of fear or something else I didn't know. "Why are you looking at me like that?" I whispered.
There was a slight silence and then I got my response. "The Dark Brotherhood has come, Muiri." "The Dark Brotherhood? Oh I…oh my goodness you're really here. The Black Sacrament…it actually worked?"
While I was mostly speaking to myself to my surprise the figure coughed and replied in a sarcastic voice; "Obviously. Now tell me what you need."
Well someone's snarky.
I rolled my eyes, and stood up trying to get a sense of who I was talking to. The assassin was obviously a man, and he was tall and seemed to be extremely muscular.
Other than that I couldn't make out a thing about it him. He seemed to naturally blend into the rain and the darkness of the night. Which was good, because he had to be sneaky in order to carry out what I needed him to do.
"What I need is for Alain Dufont to die. I want him hunted down and murdered like the dog he is."
The assassin remained silent.
"I didn't know it when we were…with each other but Alain is actually the leader of a band of bandits. They're hold up in some dwarven ruin. It's near Windhelm. They use it as their base, it's where they stage their raids. I want you to go to that ruin, find Alain Dufont and kill him. I don't care about his friends; do whatever you want with them. But Alain has to die." I nearly shouted, before covering my mouth with my hands.
The assassin shook his head slightly, perhaps in amusement or disbelieve. "It will be done."
My heart leaped at his positive response; "Excellent after Alain is dead I'll pay you in gold. I've saved up a bit. I hope that will do."
The assassin nodded and turned to go.
"Wait!" I grabbed his arm before he could disappear into the night. He paused and turned to look at me. The moon hit his face at exactly the right angle, and I caught a glance of his light green right eye under his huge hood.
"There's one more thing. If you're interested." He moved closer, obstructing my view of his face.
He smelled of juniper berries, mead and something more sinister…death. I shuttered slightly.
"I'm listening."
Nervous of our sudden closeness, I felt myself sigh but didn't refused to move. I couldn't show him my fear or sadness. I couldn't back down.
He had to know I was serious.
"I want you to kill someone else as well. You don't have too, not a part of our deal but if you do I'll pay you even more. It's Nilsine Shatter-Shield in Windhelm. If Nilsine dies too-"
The assassin suddenly moved back and cut me off. "It will be done."
As he turned to leave for the second time that night I felt myself move forward. "I…I planned to kill Alain myself you know…Nilsine too…but I lost my nerve." The assassin paused. What was I doing? He didn't need to know all of this.
Yet I couldn't stop myself, he needed to know. I wanted him to know. He couldn't know.
I paused and took a deep breathe to steady myself. "I even brewed a special poison, Lotus Extract. Maybe you could use it?"
I reached into my pouch and placed the two small bottles into his gloved open palm. The leather felt smooth against my skin, and I felt myself slowing my movements.
What am I doing? What was I going to say? Oh right.
"Just dip the edge of your weapon in it then…well you get the idea."
I saw the silhouette of his head nod, and he left without to slightest bit of sound.
I was alone again.