A/N: Second chapter, this is looking good! Remember, review to make this continue. I don't update if there's no reviews.
ReaperRain: Oh, brilliant! You're here too! Thanks for reviewing. In answer to your comments, I know first person is a bit of a gamble. It's hard to do properly but I'm glad you think that I'm doing good. Fear not, my fellow Alavanus shipper! The pairing will be noticed eventually. Just keep fuelling the fandom and it'll get the fame it deserves! By the way, have you perchance read my other Oblivion fanfic, Broken Daggers. It's not an Alval/Banus one but it does include Banus.
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Burgundy and Black
Chapter 2: Coming Back
You can imagine my shock when I found out that twitchy little boy had actually done as I'd asked. I always thought up to that point that I'd never hear about him again. I'd picked that target especially for new recruits who displeased me (which was all of them, mind). Ten recruits, that woman had killed and now she was actually down. Killed by that scrawny little alley cat? I thought Ungolim was just playing a joke on me at first, I admit, but it turned out he was being serious.
I went along to the ruins, wanting more to see the body to identify what he had done that the others hadn't. Yes, there was a knife wound in the neck, right in the chink between her helmet and her cuirass. Also right in front of her. A very risky thing to do. I remembered thinking what a stupid boy he was at that point. He could have been killed very easily and he still did it. I wondered if he was suicidal or not.
I gave the bedroll a good hard kick to wake him up, "Ow!" He gasped, "What the-?" Then he saw me, "Oh, Speaker Uvani!" He actually smoothed his hair a little when he saw me as though he was being introduced to the Emperor, Idiot, was what crossed my mind, "Glad to see you." He did not just say he was glad to see me was what crossed my mind,
"You'll find very quickly that you won't." I snarled, irritated by this sudden polite cheerfulness. Whatever happened to that jittery Alor I met before, I wondered. I put it to the back of my mind at that point, "So," I went on, "you have showed a spark of efficiency that I did not think possible of you," The boy flinched, finally showing me something that I had expected, "and done the deed."
He said nothing at that point. Maybe it was my stare that kept him from saying anything. I was told that I had a very piercing stare. Either way, I was still annoyed at him for no real reason. Much like I was towards everyone. Nothing really new. So, I rattled off the directions and dismissed him. I was left to pick the armour off the woman who had given me peace from annoying new recruits for so long.
It was some good quality ebony, I have to admit. I didn't touch the sword, I had a bit of a bad feeling about the sword so I left it on the body. It was a heavy pack to carry out of the ruins but I managed. I sold the lot in Skingrad for a good high price. It's fitting, I suppose. Since she unwittingly did so much for me, it seemed only fair to get a good price for her equipment once she was no longer of use to me. It was rather easy to push the price up without using a charm spell. The armour dealer was too drunk to really know what was going on anyway. Nords, need I say more?
Glad for a moment not to have that burden on me, I remembered that I had much more of a burden waiting for me at the Sanctuary. If the idiot remembered the way. Back then, I was fully expecting or perhaps hoping that he'd got lost on the way. One of the two. I was walking along the Green Road when I felt a familiar chill that had nothing to do with the weather. My eyes rolled because I knew who it was,
"Lachance, I prefer it when people don't sneak up on me and perform silly little dramatics. Now, show yourself and speak your piece!"
"Ah, as brusque as ever, dear Brother." Lachance's smooth, deliberately slow voice came from behind me. Now, I think there are two reasons why he talked like that: to give a good act for new recruits and, before he was in the Brotherhood, he was apparently a bit of a womaniser. Or, a bit more, if what I heard was correct. They would apparently go mad over it. Stupid, shallow things. Either way, it wasn't impressing me and I shot a spark spell behind me in irritation.
Lachance moved around me to avoid it and, though he was still smirking, he kept a safe distance from me, As he should, I thought,
"Dear, dear me, Speaker Uvani." Lachance shook his head disapprovingly in a way that tempted me to remind him that I was a Speaker before he was even a Silencer. A reminder very painful and something that would put any women off him for life, "Have you forgotten the fifth tenet?"
"Talk properly to me, Lachance. I'm not a recruit." I snapped. I hated those pauses between every phrase he used and he knew it. I didn't want this conversation to last any longer than it had to,
"Ah, it's recruits that I've been meaning to talk to you about. Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe you have taken on a new recruit for the first time in years."
You mean, you've seen him. He couldn't scare me with that all-knowing act of his. He just had a habit of stalking people for no apparent reason. That reminded me to have a word with Ungolim about his workload. He can't have been getting enough if he had the time to follow people,
"I have to admit, I was quite surprised when I found out about your initiation of the boy. There was me, thinking that no one was good enough for you."
My face flushed. I knew what he was hinting at and anger rose in me straight away. Just like the fire in my raised palms. No one had dared hint at that for years, letting just enough anger brew up to turn that wretched Imperial into ash where he stood. Not surprisingly, he said his farewells and left under a chameleon spell very quickly.
All the way back, I threw fireballs at everything moving in my blind fury, hoping that the bushes contained that stupid man. Most of my fury was directed at myself for not knowing a good detect life spell. I could hunt him down, stick him through and roast him slowly over a large fire. Or, better yet, hang him naked from the ceiling, carve out bits of his flesh, roast them as steaks, cook his guts seperately, pull out that hair he loves showing off at parties...I could go on for ages.
I was back in Bravil before I had properly vented my anger. Still, I said to myself, there was that new boy. I could always take out on him and make it look like a training session gone wrong or an accident. Or, Blanchard if he dared showed his face there. In fact, whoever was in my way would have done. That was the way I was.
When I reached Ungolim's house, I stopped and took a few deep breaths to calm myself down. Lashing out at the Listener would hardly be appropriate after all. Why on earth did I get so angry just because of that, I wondered. Just a few words and I was a hungry beast in a milisecond. This was not the behaviour of a Speaker, I told myself. Assassins are meant to be in control of their emotions, after all. We had personalities but we were calm and controlled.
I turned the handle and marched through the door. What I saw was enough to make me stop dead. Ungolim and Alor sitting at the table drinking together. I was about to blurt out 'what in Oblivion are you doing' before Ungolim looked up, "Ah, Alval!" He gave me one of his biggest and more insincere smiles. It was common unspoken knowledge in the Black Hand that the Bosmer-what was the word?- 'sucked up' to everyone. Probably because he knew we were all stronger than him and wanted us all in good moods around him.
It goes without saying that it didn't work with me. I inclined my head to him, murmuring, "Listener." before striding down to the basement, feeling the momentarily-surpressed anger rise up again. All attempts at control failed when I overheard that idiot Bosmer say,
"Never mind Alval. He's a powerful Dunmer but not the friendliest. I'm sure you realised that already. Don't you fret, though. I'm sure you two will be very close once he's got used to you."
I could have exploded at that point. It was a perfectly innocent comment, Ungolim had probably forgotten about my secret being the forgetful person he was and didn't know I could hear him. I might have forgiven him had Lachance not caught me and put me in a worse mood than usual. Now, every bit of me was throbbing with hatred and fury and just about everything I clapped my eyes on. I almost kicked the door open when I reached the Sanctuary. I blew the Dark Guardian to pieces as it passed, sending the two rats we had scurrying for their lives into the sleeping quarters.
I did kick my door off its hinges this time, making it fly into the room in two pieces. I reached my private training room, a pokey thing with a few targets and proceeded to destroy them with the loudest and most powerful of the spells I knew. All the while, the same mantra echoed in my head, How dare they? How DARE they mention it now? That bloody Lachance! That idiotic Ungolim! And, most of all, that hell-sent fool of a recruit!
By the time I was finished, I was left panting with singed hands and clothes in front of a pile of ashes.
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"Alright then, young Banus. I'll let the Mistress of the Sanctuary show you round. Let me know if there's anything I can do for you."
The Listener waved me off with his cheerful farewell as I descended down to the basement. At first glance, he seemed like a nice man but, when I looked and listened, it all seemed rather forced. I fully expected some cynical comments about how the Bosmer had buttered people up to get him into high status. No wonder Uvani didn't seem to like it much. He must hate it, even more considering that Ungolim was above him.
I gave the password to the door; I tried not to be chilled by the grating voice and the eerie design but failed miserably. I supposed that the pictures were the Night Mother, her five children sired by Sithis and the skull represented Sithis himself. All this information had been supplied by Ungolim. Even if the enthusiasm was fake, I wanted to get all the prior knowledge in me as quick as possible. I didn't want to play the idiotic new guy forever. So, as I went into the Sanctuary, I went over them again and again in my head, giving only the slightest of jumps when the voice said, "Welcome home."
A female Khajiit with extraordinarily long whiskers and ears greeted me, "Greetings, Brother-" Was the furthest she got before a loud crash interrupted her. I whipped round, naturally startled by the noise. It sounded like some enormous firespell was being launched and I was proved right when I saw a small flash from a doorway to my left,
"Ah." The Khajiit gulped, "That's Speaker Uvani. He's in a bit of a...bad mood, I'm afraid."
"Oh." I swallowed, "If this is a bit of a bad mood, I'd hate to see him when he's really angry."
"Well, quite. Best
to keep...out of his way, if you can. Anyway, where was I? Ah, yes. I
am Ri'sasha, the Santuary's mistress. I maintain the day to day lives
of our brothers and sisters here at the Bravil Sanctuary. Come. Let
me show you around."
On the other hand, this woman seemed
genuinely friendly. I felt I could trust her almost instantly. She
showed me around the main hall, where we discovered the path Uvani
had trod before he went into his quarters. Ri'sasha huffed loudly
when she saw the remains of what looked like an animated skeleton.
She called it a 'Dark Guardian', "Third time this month!"
She grumbled, "I'll have to get Hanaril to reanimate him. Why
does the Speaker always take it out on him?"
Needless to say, we didn't dare try to go into Uvani's quarters. It was out of bounds to most people anyway, "The Speaker doesn't like to be disturbed. Ericka's still bedridden from when she did."
I gulped and, feeling brave enough, I voiced what I was thinking, "Isn't there a Tenet against hurting family members?"
"Against killing family members, yes. Not necessarily hurting them. A rather brutal loophole, if you ask me."
"What do you think
Speaker Uvani is so upset about?"
"Oh, I don't know.
Maybe somebody looked at him the wrong way. He's the sort that gets
all heated up over a little thing."
"Yeah, I noticed."
I didn't like gossip but it was hard to stop once I was involved. He
hoped that Uvani would never find out that they were talking about
him. So, very quickly, I changed the subject, "By the way, do
you know a Speaker called Lucien Lachance?"
"Well, yes, I do. He comes round here sometimes to talk to the Listener. Why? Have you met him?"
"Yes, on the way here. He's a very strange person."
"Tell me about it." The Khajiit nodded, her ears flapping a little as she did so, "He does this little show that he thinks scares new recruits. All the rumours that the Dark Brotherhood comes to you in your sleep come from him. I don't think anyone else does that. It's just not practical. Anyway, what did he say to you?"
"Oh, he just sneaked up behind me, said hello and marveled at how I'm the first new recruit in years." I shrugged, in a non-committal way. In truth, the Speaker I encountered in the woods had come through a bush and I had heard the man coming. It wasn't really sneaking up on me, more walking behind me. A rather foolish mistake but then, in my opinion, everyone was allowed at least one. I supposed at the time that wouldn't be what Uvani would think,
"Speaker Uvani doesn't like him." Her whiskers became tense as she told me and she dropped her voice. Worried about Uvani overhearing us, I suppose. Though, how anyone could be heard over that was anyone's guess, "Thinks he's a showoff."
"Maybe Speaker Uvani ran into him, too?" I suggested,
"You may be right."
As I was showed the way around the rest of the Sanctuary, the constant banging and crashing of Uvani gradually died down and silence fell.
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A/N: I am a Lucien fan before you ask!
