Five months after joining the Dark Brotherhood, I had changed almost entirely. I had learned a great deal more about sword play, and more importantly, about archery. Where I was once so poor a shot that I could not hit a mammoth had it been right in front of me, now I was, at least, a descent marksman. More important than both of those though, was my ability to move like a shadow in a dark room. Astrid, the woman who had first kidnapped me in the night, taught me that skill best of all. She said that being unseen was an assassin's greatest weapon. I became drawn to this woman who once filled me with fear. At first, it felt like a deal between us. She would teach me to be a better killer, and point me in the direction of the guilty, while I, in turn, would kill for her. As time went on, she became my mentor, for better or for worse.
My lethal skills were not all that had changed. Over the course of these five months, I had acquired a heightened lust for blood, but not just any blood. Nearly every moment that I spent in training, was also a moment spent thinking on those, whom I felt, still needed to die. First and foremost, were the Thalmor leaders. Then there were the justicars, followed by Emperor Titus Mede II. The last seemed as far-fetched as the first, but I still thought on it anyways. It was like a little fantasy for whenever training wore on me. The thought of that Imperial fool's head rolling off of his shoulders took away my fatigue.
The Dark Brotherhood had taught me many things, and in time, they came to call me brother and think of me as a part of their family. Secretly, I cared for none of them, except for Astrid; they were not family to me, rather, they were just a means to find contracts and help me to hone my skills as a killer. Surprisingly, there were no contracts that allowed me to go after Imperials. It seemed that the peace still stood, and the war still gave pause, if only for now.
Then, one day, she arrived. The Night Mother's corpse, all wrapped in her iron coffin. I didn't think much of Cicero; he was a mad fool who kept the Night Mother safe, nothing more.
Astrid thought the fool needed to be watched more closely. I was assigned to this task, though I couldn't say why. Perhaps Astrid really did trust me, and thinking it over, why not? I felt that there was a solid relationship between us. I would kill for her, and in return, she would teach me how to fight with greater ferocity and skill. In truth, all she needed to do was ask. So I agreed to hide in the Night Mother's coffin. I did not see what harm an old dead corpse could do.
It turned out that Astrid was right to be worried. Cicero was trying to sway the members of the Dark Brotherhood to him and the Night Mother. He talk to that wretched corpse and I thought he was crazy. Then my blood went cold as I heard a familiar voce coming from that body. Poor Cicero, he is a faithful child. Those words echoed in my head, but they were not my thoughts.
"You never speak sweet mother." Cicero moaned.
Oh but I do speak, I will speak to you. That voice was the same raspy sound that I had heard in my dreams so many times before. I was frightened for a moment, but then I understood perfectly. Somehow, this creature had planned this all along. I had heard Astrid speak of the Listener; supposedly, he would be the only one to hear the Night Mother's voice. Tell Cicero that darkness rises when silence dies. Do this, and then speak with Amaund Motierre in Volunruud.
At that moment. The iron doors to the coffin swung open and Cicero shouted in anger. "Defiler! Explain yourself!"
I met him gaze for gaze and calmly said, "The Night Mother spoke to me."
"You lie!" He screamed frantically, "The Night mother will only speak to the Listener, but there is, no, Listener!"
"She told me that 'darkness rises as silence dies'." I gripped the dagger at my hip, but Cicero no longer seemed hostile.
Cicero's mouth nearly hung open for a moment. "She said that? She said those words, to you?" I nodded.
Astrid came running in. "What happened? I heard Cicero shouting and I feared the worst."
Cicero laughed. "I spoke only to the Night Mother, but she would not speak to me. Oh no! She speaks only to the Listener."
"What is this fool talking about?" Astrid eyed Cicero and tightened her grip on her dagger. Preparing to draw it at any moment.
"It's true, he was only talking to the Night Mother." I withheld the part about his attempts to sway members of this sanctuary to him. I was not so loyal as to choose a side in this.
"What is this about a Listener?" She asked.
"Apparently, I'm the Listener. Oh yes, and the night mother has ordered me to seek out a man in a place called Volunruud."
Astrid thought it over for a moment and then shook her head. "No. I'm the Speaker of this Sanctuary, and for now, you answer to me. Go see Nazir for more contracts; I need to think this over."
I truly can't remember who I had to kill next, only that my thoughts were filled with the sound of that raspy voice. Why was I chosen as Listener? To this day, I still do not know. All that I do know, was that it set me on a path that would lead me to the darkest hour of my life.
When I returned to the sanctuary after completing Nazir's contracts, Astrid was waiting for me. She had decided that we should follow the Night Mother's authority. Even this early on, I could see the unrest that Astrid felt, but I could not possibly have predicted how it would end.
Blind to the consequences of what I was about to do, I went off to Volunruud to meet this Amaund Motierre. The man seemed the typical Breton noble; meeting in such a place as this with an assassin was the type of thing that one could expect out of a crooked half-elf mutt, especially when he told me who he wanted dead.
My eyes opened wide as this man explained to me the many steps that were involved in the killing of, to my joyful surprise, Emperor Titus Mede II. "You want me to kill the Emperor." I nearly laughed. "I should thank you," I said, nearly laughing.
"Such enthusiasm." He smiled and looked like a serpent bearing his fangs. "I just hope that you have the skill to match it." Removing the amulet around his neck, Motierre handed it to me. "This should pay for any and all expenses."
"It will be done," I said. "Gods bless you sir." With that, I ran back to the Sanctuary as fast as my legs would carry me. Soon, very soon, Titus Mede would die, and I would have my revenge.
