It was only a month later when I saved up enough coin to buy a house in Whiterun. Whiterun was most familiar to me over the other holds. And it seemed just about the right time to finally settle down. I don't remember exactly when I had begun saving , or why I decided to buy a home for myself. But I admit I was very pleased with myself for following through with such a big decision - most certainly life changing. I did wait an additional week awaiting for Proventus Avenicci to finish all the house preparations. I hadn't lived by myself before (the past year technically didn't count.) I was delighted at the thought, excited even, for the sudden change in my life. It wasn't the first and it wouldn't be the last. No, constant change -whether good or bad- was the flow of my life it seemed.

I finally left the inn and walked the short path to my new home. I stopped before the door, key in hand, and hesitated. I pushed the key into the door, and let out a satisfied sigh as the lock clicked, with only a turn of my hand.

"Miss! Wait!" I turned to the voice, uncertain if it was directed towards me. Bit it was. "Miss, I've been looking for you." The short man stopped before me, panting. I narrowed my eyebrows. "Got something I'm supposed to deliver. Your hands only." Of course it was a courier. He began to dig into his bag at his side. He let out a happy sound and pulled out a piece of folded parchment.

"Yeah, got this note." He handed me the note and I gave him a questioning expression.

"From you?" I didn't dare look upon the note.

He pursed his lips. "Not sure. Pretty shady fellow. I didn't see his face, wouldn't take off his hood." He shrugged. "Well, got to go." And with that, he jogged away. Couriers sure got their exercise. I looked down at the note, examining it. But I didn't unfold it until I was safe inside my new home. But it was exactly that. My home. Simple but different from any other home you could ever set foot in. And it reminded me of the home I shared with my family until the day it perished with the fire…along with their freshly butchered bodies. Aventus might have taken his proper revenge, but it was only made possible when I foolishly took on the role of a Dark Brotherhood assassin.

I sat down on the second step of the staircase, relaxing for a moment before flipping open the courier's note. I froze, my body tensing as my eyes stared at the parchment. In the center was a black handprint, and below it was inscribed, "We know." What…what is this? And then it hit me. The Dark Brotherhood. It had to be them. But how did they know it was me who killed that old hag, Grelod? Was this some kind of warning? Should I be afraid?

I dropped the note and ascended up the stairs, taking slow, nervous steps. And I felt so stupid that I didn't realize that I wasn't alone in my home until it was too late. I barely passed through the doorway to my bedroom before I hit the wooden floor, feeling the intenseness of unwanted sleep overcome me. And before I could register anything else, my vision turned to black and I was gone.

My vision slowly returned to me, a slight throbbing in my head. The smell of iron filled my nostrils. It became very apparent that I wasn't alone, and that sickly smell was blood.

""Sleep well?" I jerked up in sudden panic, my boots scraping against the wood floor as I scrambled to my feet. The sultry female voice revealed a woman older than I, shrouded in red and black armor, sitting comfortably on top of an empty shelf.

"Where am I? Who are you?" Freaked out, I only stared at the woman.

"Does it matter? You're warm, dry…and still very much alive." she tilted her head. "That's more than can be said about old Grelod."

I froze, my eyes widening. "You know about that?"

She chuckled softly. "Half of Skyrim knows. Old hag gets butchered in her own orphanage? Things like that tend to get around." I opened my mouth to speak, but the woman rose her hand to stop me. "Oh, but don't misunderstand. I'm not criticizing. Old crone had it coming. And you saved a group of urchins, to boot." I was sure she was trying to make me relax, but it wasn't working.

"Ah…But there is a slight problem."

I hesitated before speaking. "A problem?"

She leaned back, letting out a sigh. "You see, the little Aretino boy was looking for the Dark Brotherhood. For me and my associates." Her sapphire eyes flashed and she suddenly leaned forward, staring me down. "Grelod the Kind was, by all rights, a Dark Brotherhood contract. A kill…that you stole." She pointed her finger at me. "A kill you must repay."

"What do you want me to do?" I scoffed. "Kill someone?"

I could hear her smile. "Well now. Funny you should ask." She pointed behind me, and I slowly turned around to see what she was pointing at. There were three people against the farthest wall, kneeling with their hands bound behind their backs and black hoods over their heads. I took a slow step toward them.

"Those are my guests. I've 'collected' them from…well, that's not important. The here and now. That's what matters." I took another step closer, utterly confused. "You see, there's a contract out on one of them, and that person can't leave this room alive. But…which one?" She let out a small giggle. I turned around to look at her.

"Go on." She urged. "See if you can figure it out. Make your choice. Make a kill. I just want to observe…and admire." I could tell she was smiling and I had to turn away to avoid her gaze. I reached to my belt and pulled out my dagger, stepping back towards the three captives.

"Before I do anything," I gripped the handle tightly. "Who are you?"

She let out a small huff, as if she was smirking. "Astrid. I believe you owe me the same formalities."

I couldn't lie. "My name is Ashlynne."

I stopped in front of them. "Alright, I'll do it." My expression was almost blank. "I'll kill one of them." Immediately the three began to plead and protest. I observed them one by one. I had to be sure which one it was.

I stepped towards the captive on the right, a Khajiit named Vasha. He was a real scumbag. A murderer, a thief, and who knows what else. He seemed to be some sort of boss, with lots of contacts and lots of men willing to do anything for him. And even though I didn't want to kill anyone in this room, he gave me good reason to when he called himself a defiler of daughters. He wasn't surprised in the slightest that he was captured. He obviously had a few enemies that would want to kill him if they could. And I wasn't even fazed when he threatened to have his people carve his name into my corpse. As if.

And then there was Alea Quintus. She was a vile old woman, screaming at me, practically asking me to end her life. I was even tempted to remove her hood so I could rip out her tongue after she said she wanted to spit in my face for being such a coward by stealing her from her home. For some reason she created an anger inside me that I hadn't felt before. I wanted to kill her too.

The man on the left was Fultheim. Unlike the others I couldn't be sure if he deserved to be killed. Even though he was a mercenary, it didn't quite seem plausible that the contract was for him. He was full of guilt, jumbling his words and shaking in pure and real fear. He kept rambling about a raid him and his group of bandits had done a week before.

"I told Holdgrim there was no honor in killing sleeping men. It wasn't my fault!" He may be guilty of that, but I didn't believe he was guilty of anything else.

I made my decision. The woman was the first to die. And as I drove my dagger into her jugular, her struggled cries drove Fultheim to hyperventilating as he realized what had been done, only a foot beside him. Vasha was next, and even though I would've loved to cut off his tail and watch him writhe in pain, I couldn't waste time. I had to finish what I'd done and get out of here. I grabbed his shoulder and quickly punctured my weapon into his heart. He died quietly, but Fultheim continued to become increasingly more terrified, even more so as my footsteps neared him.

He began to sob and beg for his life, but I did not hesitate to step behind him, placing my hand on the top of his head. In one quick movement, I drew my dagger across his neck. His body fell forward, blood slowly pooling out from under his body. I stepped away from their bodies, observing what I just did. I had to kill Fultheim too, I couldn't be wrong. I just killed three people. I killed again.

I was snapped out of my thoughts as the woman began to clap. "Well, well. Aren't we the overachiever." My eyes never left hers as I walked over to her. "Three possibilities, three victims. Must have been one of them, right? So why take chances…"

I tried my best to appear calm. "You told me to kill, and I killed."

"Indeed. For you, my friend, seem to understand what's truly important. When I give an order to spill blood, you follow it. No questions. No remorse." No remorse?

"So…I can leave now?" I said in a small voice, afraid to look away from her captivating stare.

She changed her position on the shelf. "Of course. And you've repaid your debt, in full. You can leave, but why stop here? I say we take our relationship to the next level." I raised my brow, giving her a confused look. "I would like to officially extend to you an invitation to join my Family. The Dark Brotherhood. In the south west reaches of Skyrim, in the Pine Forest, you'll find the entrance to our Sanctuary. It's just beneath the road, hidden from view. When questioned by the Black Door, answer with the correct pass phrase. 'Silence, my brother.' Then you're in. And your new life begins."

I slowly nodded and turned my back to her, grabbing my knapsack and slinging it over my shoulder. I made my way to the door, only stopping when she began to speak again. I looked back at her.

"I'll see you at home."

I have no excuse for how long it took me to post this chapter. I apologize, I've just been putting it off :p But I'm already working on the next chapter :D And hopefully I will be able to post it soon!