Silvenia let out a sigh of relief as the Listener of the Dark Brotherhood, a bosmer named Renata, announced that she was to be treated as one of them. She couldn't just leave this place and return to her home, but at least the immediate danger was gone. She sent a silent thanks to Renata and the Night Mother for sparing her.

"So, what's your name?"

She tried to sound confident as she said, "I'm Silvenia Lex, a freelance thief from Cheydinhal. I'm not entirely sure how I got here or why, but apparently I was somehow teleported from my home by Valotar."

Renata nodded and smiled slightly, revealing oddly sharp teeth. "Welcome to the Dark Brotherhood, Silvenia. If you'd like to wear something a little more suited to the cold, we have some spare clothing you can use."

Though it was warmer inside, it was still quite a bit colder than what she was used to. "That would be great." Renata led her into a different room and found some armor for her to wear, the same kind of armor she had seen some of the others wearing. It was surprisingly comfortable, but she couldn't help noticing how Renata stared at her with interest as she changed clothes. Remembering the oddly sharp teeth she'd seen, she wondered if Renata might be a vampire or something like that. It was tempting to ask, but she kept quiet.

Returning to the previous room, she noticed that most of the others had gone somewhere else. Only a female khajiit with white fur and light green eyes, a male nord with eyes like chips of ice, and Cicero had stayed in the room. Cicero was speaking enthusiastically to them, "-and he says to the man, "That's not a horker! That's my wife!" He and the khajiit laughed as the nord rolled his eyes, then added, " Ah...I love that one..."

Nudging the nord, the khajiit asked, "What's the matter, Koritrom? Does this one hit a little too close to home?" As the nord shot them an icy glare, the khajiit suddenly noticed Silvenia and purred a welcome. "Greetings sister, I am Khiimba and this is Koritrom the Rotten." The nord turned his cold gaze on her, but muttered a quiet greeting as Khiimba asked, "You already know Cicero?"

"A little...He was in Cheydinhal and I guess we met."

Cicero nodded. "Almost certainly! Why else would Silvenia look so familiar? Before Cicero brought our Mother to Skyrim, he spent some time with the Cheydinhal chapter. I'll show you the rest of the Sanctuary, if you'd like." Before Silvenia could answer, he grabbed her wrist and led her away from Khiimba and Koritrom.

Everything seemed to pass by in a blur as Cicero showed her around the Sanctuary, pointing out but not going into the torture chamber, and introducing her to the other members that weren't out working on contracts. There was a redguard named Nazir that seemed to have a dislike of Cicero, a dunmer named Trayth that expressed annoyance with Valotar for his carelessness in magically dragging Silvenia all the way from Cheydinhal, a vampiric child that introduced herself as Babette, and a young boy named Aventus that had just recently joined the Dark Brotherhood. Aventus told her of how Renata had killed an old woman named Grelod the Kind before sending Koritrom and someone named Clera to bring him to the Sanctuary.

Though some of them weren't exactly friendly and seemed a little suspicious or uncomfortable with her being there, most of them were at least a little curious about her. The place wasn't as cozy as her home in Cheydinhal, but it certainly was much more interesting. If nothing else, she mostly felt safe around them because their leader had told them to treat her as one of them. Silently, she also admitted to herself that Cicero was cute. Intimidating and murderous, but she still found him oddly adorable. It was strange how someone in the Dark Brotherhood could be so cheerful. She had always thought of the Dark Brotherhood as a shadowy group that existed only to kill, one that wouldn't really have friendly or funny people in it.

He told her a bit about his role as Keeper of the Night Mother, fleeing to Skyrim, a broken wagon wheel, and how the survivors of the Falkreath chapter had moved to the Dawnstar Sanctuary. "So...Are there any other members, besides Clera?"

Cicero nodded. "We have another chapter in Embershard Mine. Our Listener has been very busy! She has been working toward opening other chapters, maybe even some outside of Skyrim. No more here though! Clera just left yesterday to stay at the Embershard Sanctuary. Even with the new bedrooms here, the other sanctuary is empty by comparison!" Even though they seemed to be alone, he lowered his voice to a whisper, "Cicero overheard her and Nazir arguing before she left. He seemed to think something was going on between her and someone else...It seems Nazir has a soft spot for her."

Silvenia giggled and whispered, "Or maybe a hard spot."

He stared at her for a moment, then grinned and clapped his hands. "Such fun! It seems Cicero has another friend, a funny one at that! Ah, but you're probably tired...So much to learn, right?"

Though she hadn't really thought about it, he was right. With all that had happened that day, especially the whole teleporting into Skyrim and being welcomed into the Dark Brotherhood, it really wasn't surprising. "Yeah, it's definitely been a strange day and I'm a long way from home..."

"Silly, Silvenia, you are at home! It may not be in Cheydinhal, but it is still home!" He pointed out the room where Renata slept, then they entered a room with several beds and he showed her the one she could sleep in. "You can sleep here!"

She sat down on the edge of the bed with a small sigh, hardly noticing as Cicero sat next to her, and reached down to take off her boots. If nothing else, she would stay the night or until she saw an opportunity to escape. Just as she was about to thank Cicero for showing her around and introducing her to everyone, she was startled by a gloved hand playing with her hair. Silvenia quickly sat up, blushing slightly as she realized his face was now less than an inch from her own. He smiled softly at her, but his yellow eyes were intense, as he ran his hand along her cheek and asked, "Cicero will see you later?"

After a few moments of silence, she managed to nod. "Y-yes...Thank you, Cicero."

"You've been most helpful, Cicero, and the Night Mother is pleased." Silvenia flinched and Cicero pulled his hand away, standing up. Renata was in the hallway, probably on the way to her own room. Her eyes glittered with amusement and she had a smirk on her face as she added, "I was going to make sure you had a place to sleep, but I see Cicero has taken care of that. I'll be in my quarters, if anyone needs me." Renata turned away from the door and carried on to her room, leaving them alone. Cicero grinned and skipped out of the room, barely managing to avoid crashing into Valotar and Aventus as they sleepily trudged into the room.