Note: Trying to flesh out the characters here, so if there is a lot of talking, I'm sorry! Bear with me, please. Also, I'd like to give a big thanks to everyone who has reviewed. I love you all! It pleases me greatly to see my writing is enjoyable to read. Thank you, again!
Child of Sithis
She was floated through an endless black abyss. There was nothing but darkness in every which direction. Was she floating upright? On her side? Upside down? She knew not. It was oddly peaceful. Her eyes remained closed, yet she could see everything. She seen her own body. Felt her heart thudding in her own chest. She was there, but she was also over here. But where was "here"?
It was maddening, but she did not question it. It felt.. so right.
You sleep rather soundly for a murderer.
And a hand - an invisible hand that reached out to caress her cheek. It was gloved and smelt of old leather with a dull, barely recognizable copper scent - blood. But that hand; oh, that hand. If she could control herself in this state, she would have reached out for that hand to hold it firmly onto her cheek to keep it from floating away from her. To keep that comforting palm on her skin to continue the peaceful caresses.
But, again, she could not control herself, and the hand left soon after and she was without the bliss of what little contentment she had. But just as she thought about how lonely it was without that deep voice, another voice resonated through her body - a voice that was even more comforting than the first one. A voice that belonged to a woman. It was musical, but frightening. It was soothing, but deadly. It was delightful.
"My child."
Annabella woke up to find her sleeping position had changed from snuggled against a fluffy pillow and under the warm blankets to crumpled up in a heap on the hard wood of the floors, her hip bones feeling as though they were being slowly sawed off as the realization of the planks digging into her skin hit her in the face like a rabid wolf.
Maybe she drank too much again and this was a hallucination or something of the sort. Of course. That's what happened.
But those voices. In her head. It seemed so real.
Also very sad now that she thought about it. Voices in her head? Perhaps she really was mad.
Looking around to get a better understanding of her surroundings, she found she was in a small cabin that had obviously been abandoned. That or these people were immense slobs and probably murderers as indicated by the dried blood splatters on the walls and floor. Maybe she was captured by cannibals and they were currently discussing how to prepare their meal. If they succeeded, she prayed that they would choke on her bones.
But her wild imagination was brought to a halt when she seen three beings tied up with bags tossed on their heads on the far side of the cabin. Two men and a woman by the looks of it.
"Sleep well?"
Annabella jumped like she'd been impaled by an arrow and looked towards the location of the mysterious voice. A woman - most obviously a nord by the looks of her height; which was almost always a given, was perched upon a wardrobe in the corner near the door. The breton stood and became more composed after facing her opponent dead-on.
"Who are you? What do you want with me? Is this about what I did yesterday?" Without pausing to catch her breath, she spoke out once more. "Who are those people over there? Answer me!"
"Does it matter? You're still alive and breathing. Isn't that truly all that matters?" The mysterious woman chuckled. "My, you ask a lot of questions."
She paused and looked up at the ceiling. "That's more than can be said of old Grelod, hm?"
"Ah. So you're the one who gave me that note. I knew this had something to do with it. So you're a friend of the old hag tormenting the children, are you?"
She was about to conjure up her bow, but felt it was best for this stranger to think she was unarmed until she began to attack, then she'd take her bow and shoot an arrow right through that smirk she was concealing under that mask.
"Me? Friends with Grelod?" She let out a laugh that sounded too eerie to be human. "Not likely. Have you heard of the Dark Brotherhood, dear?"
"The.. Dark Brotherhood? Of course I've heard of the Dark Brotherhood. Well when they were renowned."
The masked woman's eyes darkened at the statement. "Old hag murdered in her own orphanage? Tends to get around. Especially when that hag was supposed to be a Dark Brotherhood contract."
The Breton scratched her head as she glanced over at the people in the corner; all three struggling to free themselves from their imprisonment. Annabella wasn't liking where this was going.
"A kill that you stole."
"He'd been calling for you for so long. I'm surprised nobody got to him sooner. Doesn't seem like such a good organization after all, now does it?" The blonde crossed her arms and with one look, dared the woman to pick up her blade and try to cut her down.
But it didn't happen quite that way.
The masked assassin laughed - merrily, she might add.
"It's true that our organization has been on it's rough edges lately, but it's still not something I can overlook. Stealing a contract from me and my associates is going to put you in danger. Unless you repay it."
"Repay it how?"
"I see you've already noticed them, but my guests behind you play a significant role in this. I've "collected" them from.. well it doesn't matter."
The woman jumped down from the wardrobe and stood near the door. Annabella tensed up and took a step back, trying her best to be on her guard in case she tricked her in some way.
"There is a contract out on one of them and that person can't leave this room alive. I want you to figure out which one. If you succeed." She held up a black, rusted key. "I'll give you this and you can be on your merry way." She placed the key into her palm and crossed her arms, leaning against the bloodied doorway.
"Go on, then."
"Fine. I'll play your little game if it grants me my freedom. But if it's a trick, I swear you won't leave this room alive."
"Coming from someone whose head reaches my chin is a hoot."
"Shut up and let me concentrate, would ya?"
Killing people was easy. Killing the right one would be hard. How would she know? It did make her question if she was truly doing the right thing, but if someone had a contract out on one of them, then that only meant that they did something wrong and needed to be eliminated.. right?
Maybe.
Talking to them would be the best option.
She walked over to the first man - an Argonian wearing wealthier garments. The Breton glanced back at the assassin, who gave her the "mouth zip" motion. Good. She wouldn't interrupt her work.
"Um. Excuse me, sir."
"Oho, sir? I'd be honored if I didn't have a bag thrown onto my head."
"Fine. No pleasantries. Who are you?"
"Vasha, at your service. Obtainer of goods, taker of lives, and defiler of daughters. I take it you have not heard of me. Perhaps I will have my people carve my name into your corpse as a reminder."
And she didn't mean to do it.
Or she did.
But it wasn't something she had planned. It just sort of happened. Her conjured bow was out and all of a sudden he had an arrow sticking out of his face. Or out of the bag, really since his face was still quite hidden under the brown sack.
She wouldn't have worried much, but seeing the sack stain red and the Argonian fall over to the side like a pile of flour.. didn't help anything.
But he insulted her. And she assumed.
"Ah, shit."
She glanced back at the assassin, who appeared pleased by her decision.
"A conjurer, are you? Quite a useful ability, that one."
"So I chose right?"
"No. But I like you, so I'll give you another chance. Choose between the other two. Should be easy enough, right?"
"I'd thank you, but it's bad to be too cheery in a time of death, no?" The Breton huffed and walked over to the tied up woman.
"Who are you?"
"None of your damn business who I am! If you're going to kill me, just do it already. If I didn't have this sack on my head, I'd spit in your face.."
And she didn't mean to do it. But it happened. Again.
Though this time she directed it to her stomach instead of her head. The woman howled out in pain as her arrow pierced her in the gut, the blood pooling around her dingy dress.
"I'm going to ask you this one thing and you're going to answer me. Understood?"
"Excuse me? You just shot an arrow through my stomach and you have the audacity to order me around?" She howled out in pain once more before silencing, Annabella healing her large wound to something a little more bearable. She couldn't afford to have this woman die unless she was the one with the contract held above her head. She thanked the gods as an afterthought that her healing didn't backfire as it had on so many occasions.
"Now. Answer me: Would someone pay to have you killed?"
"What kind of question is that? Perhaps you can come over to my home when we're finished and we'll have some tea and discuss it as you hold a knife up to my throat. I'm not telling you a damn thing and I suggest you deal with it and let me go! That or kill me, instead."
What a fiery temper. She shot her once more in the stomach. She'd deal with the pain while she talked to the next man down the line. Perhaps then she'd speak. The woman howled out once more in pain and she walked over the to the last man. A Nord.
"I-I hear you talking out there. Please, let me go. I've done nothing to you!"
A whiner. Something she hated.
"Who are you?"
"J-just a sell-sword. My name is Fultheim. I've lived in Skyrim my whole life. I'm a nobody, really. Can you let me go?"
"Depends. Would someone pay to have you killed?"
"O-oh gods. I don't want to die."
Annabella bent down and placed a hand on the man's shoulder. He flinched and whimpered slightly before she spoke.
"Shhh. It's alright. Don't be afraid. Tell me and I won't hurt you."
"W-well I guess it's possibly. I've killed a lot of people in the line of work I do. Could be someone wanted revenge. Who knows?"
He relaxed under her touch. The man seemed the most obvious out of the bunch. He was the only one who seemed genuinely frightened - like he knew this was coming. He killed a lot of people, as he said. So chances are good that this man was the one with the contract on his head.
"You're not going to kill me, are you?"
Annabella smiled and her conjured bow turned into her dandy conjured dagger. "No, no. Of course not. In fact - this is all a surprise party for you!"
"A-a surprise?"
"Mmhm! This was a set-up. Is your birthday soon?"
"A-actually y-y-yes. It's in four weeks time, but that's too soon, isn't it?"
"Well your friend suggested I scare you like this. In the next room over, there is a party going on - for you! Fun, huh?"
The Nord broke into a nervous sweat and began laughing. "Ol' Barnaby sure does know how to throw a party. How many people are there and what are we having? I'm starved!"
"Over twenty people, I'm sure. Lots of food. Sweetrolls galore. Fun festivities. Stabbings." She rambled on and on, waving her spectral dagger in front of his covered face.
"That sounds great - ahaha. But... wait. Stabbings?"
"Yes!" Then she plunged the dagger straight into his throat, watching him bleed out and fall off to the side, much like their Argonian friend had in the corner.
Pleased with her work, she stood up and looked to the Nord woman in the middle of the two.
"You got lucky, miss. You're free to go."
Silence.
"Miss?"
She nudged her with her foot.
Oh, yeah.
Healing.
She didn't do that this time.
Shit.
Annabella whipped around and faced the assassin with a coy expression.
"That wasn't supposed to happen."
The masked woman burst out laughing, but not in a horribly loud, obnoxious way. More like a composed laugh that fit her serious personality.
"I like your style, girl. We could use people like you in our organization."
"So who was it? Who had the contract? I mean, obviously they're dead now thanks to me, but it would be nice to know who deserved it."
"That's the thing - nobody had a contract on them. I asked you to kill and you obeyed. That's all I wanted." She held out her hand and presented the key to the Breton. "Do you feel remorse?"
"Not really." It was true. She did not know these people. Did not sympathize with them. It was either her skin or theirs and she had fought for the skin she's in today. She didn't run all the way from the Imperial city just to die in an old shack for not obeying orders.
She reached out for the key and went to the door. For reasons unknown, she began to trust the masked woman and didn't put her guard up as strong. She looked back before opening the door.
"Are you looking for a new family?"
The question made the breton stop in her tracks. "A new family?"
"I say we take our relationship to the next level." She bowed her head slightly. "I would like to officially extend an invitation to join my family. The Dark Brotherhood. In the Southwest reaches of Skyrim, in the Pine Forest, you'll find the entrance to our sanctuary. It's just beneath the road - hidden from view."
A new family.
New friends.
People who actually want to hire her.
To treat her the same.
Family.
Would it be like that?
"When questioned by the Black Door, answer with "Silence my brother." And then your new life begins."
"I'll think about it."
She stepped out into the eerie morning light and looked back at the assassin once more.
"See you at home." With that statement she spoke, the Breton nodded her head and began her journey to the sanctuary.
"Silence my brother."
The door speaking to her was in no way creepy.
Not at all.
Nope.
It also wasn't creepy when the door spoke back to her, welcoming her to her new home.
She wasn't sure why she even decided to do this. Was joining the Dark Brotherhood really something that she should do? I mean, sure she had no remorse when she killed people, but did that justify joining a cult of sorts to make a new "family" and get work?
Maybe.
But only time would tell.
The place actually looked quite nice and well furnished. She wasn't expecting it to look quite so.. homey. It suited her taste.
"Ah. I'm glad you found the place alright." That voice - the assassin from the cabin! She appeared to be a Nord; as speculated before. A darker shade of blonde hair tumbled down her neck and rested upon her neck. She was exactly as imagined - too serious for her own good.
"Annabella."
"Pardon?"
"My name. It's Annabella. I never introduced myself ever since you drugged me and stole me from my bed." Well she couldn't be rude to her new family member, now could she?
"Oh. Quaint. I'm Astrid. It's a pleasure to be formally introduced. Now that that is out of the way, how about we get down to more important matters."
"Of course."
"Make yourself at home here - go talk to your new family members. They're just in there." She motioned for the room next to her. "I'm arranging a job for you, now. Go talk to your new brother, Nazir. He should have a small contract for you to do, for now. He's the only Redguard in our family - can't miss him."
"Thank you, Astrid."
"Quite welcome, Anna." She smiled at the Breton as she walked into the next room. If they were all as friendly as Astrid, she was surely in for a treat.
Her new family was gathered in a circle, a small child laughing and talking to the group while smiling merrily.
Wait. A child in the Dark Brotherhood? Hopefully this was a joke.
"... Such a lovely smile. Your teeth... your teeth! No! Aggghh!" The little girl made biting motions with her teeth and immediately Annabella realized that she was no child at all, but a vampire. Explains that, but she didn't know how to feel about sharing a home with a blood sucker, despite her being too adorable for words.
But how kind was it to judge someone before she knew them?
"Oh, Babette. You are so wicked!"
Annabella stood on the outside, listening in and occasionally droning out. It was only when they noticed her did she perk up. Or, at least one.
"Ah! So you're the new family member. Let's make this easy - consider me the cranky old uncle named Festus that nobody talks to. You stay out of my way and I'll stay out of yours." The old man started to walk away, but she put out an arm to stop him.
"Wait, wait! It's nice to meet you, Festus. I'm Annabella."
"Hmpf."
"What can you tell me about yourself? I'd like to get to know my new family."
"Well. I like to say I was born with a wand in my hand. I was a prodigy! Casting simple spells by one. Completing complex incantations by three. Resurrecting corpses by seven! Ha!"
"Oh! A magic user? I am, as well, though I admit; destruction spells aren't normally my forte."
"Destruction spells are my specialty, girl!" He smiled and seemed genuinely interested in the breton, now. "Tell you what. If you live past your first real contract, I'll teach you everything I know."
"That would be amazing! I could learn so much.." Visions of being a great spell-caster danced around in her head.
"Though I did have an accident at thirteen."
"An accident?"
"I accidentally burned down the family home. Bit of lightning went awry. But don't worry. Soon after I mastered my gifts." He cleared his throat. "Completely."
The thoughts were shattered. But at least she had something in common with this man. Perhaps they could be friends, after all. So why not share her story with him? What was he gonna do? Turn her in? She could just as easily turn him in with her for being an assassin.
So she told him of how her flame atronach went crazy and burnt down the entire Arch-Mage's room and killed three guards while trying to get the Arch-Mage's staff to pay off a debt. Then she went on to tell him about how she kept setting people on fire back at the Mage's guild back in Cyrodiil and the entire time, he cracked up.
"Girl! I like you. I hope you don't die."
"Haha.. ha.. thanks. I'll see you around."
"Course, course. Don't forget about those lessons I promised you."
Yeah. Like that was gonna happen. Annabella's curiosity sparked when she seen the vampire child again and she couldn't resist. She walked up to the girl, smiled, and introduced herself.
"Hello. I'm your new family member. My name is Annabella."
"There you are! Astrid's told me all about you. Heard she pulled the ole "Choose your victim" gag with you. I love that one.." She seemed to be in some sort of daydream. "I'm Babette."
"It's nice to meet you, Babette."
"You're going to love it here! We're just any other family. We enjoy meals together, we do fun stuff together, and we look out for each other."
She seemed too cheery, but in a good way. And her voice was very proper, despite being stuck in the body of a child. She was a breton, too. Perhaps she had lived in High Rock once. Maybe she could tell her about it some time.
"What can you tell me about yourself?"
"Oh! The Dark Brotherhood killed my mama and papa and then kidnapped me! Please help me." She smirked and chuckled. "Pretty convincing, no?"
"Pulling that again, Babette?" A dunmer lady walked up to the two woman and smiled brightly. "You sure do like to brag at your skills." She turned to the Breton and nodded her head. "My newest sister. May I offer my most sincere welcome to our family."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, too. My name is Annabella." Boy, was that statement getting old, now. Why couldn't they have all stayed in one place so she would only have to introduce herself once?
"Gabriella. You certainly have a strange energy about you. Quite curious."
Babette stood from her seated position, excusing herself. "Do fill her in on the details, Gabriella. I need to finish collecting my alchemy ingredients before the sun comes up."
The vampire left and Gabriella snorted, most unladylike. "She's a vampire, as if you couldn't tell. She may be a good actress, but her bragging is getting to her head. I'm sure you took note of her eyes as soon as you seen her."
"She seems like a sweet kid, though. Or. Er. She looks like a sweet kid. I'm sure she was a sweet kid." The conversation turned a bit awkward, and Annabella fidgeted a bit and cleared her throat. "Anyway, what can you tell me about yourself, newest sister?"
"What a curious question. Well, I enjoy moonlit nights, taking long walks on the beach, knitting, and unicorns." She crossed her arms. "In fact, I once took a seaside stroll, on a moonlit night, and discovered a unicorn.. which I proceeded to stab in the throat with a crochet needle. Any other questions?"
"N-no. I think I got all of that." She couldn't help herself and burst out into uncontrollable laughter. These people were indeed something else and it pleased her to no end to see people just as insane as she was.
The Dunmer also couldn't help herself and burst out into a similar laugh. "Sister, I do believe I'm going to like you. Not everyday someone would laugh at that sort of story."
"I must pick up a contract from Nazir, though. I'm sure we'll talk again later."
"Indeed. Good luck with your contract, sister."
Nazir had a different attitude from the others she had met. He seemed a bit more serious like Astrid. But she liked him nonetheless.
He gave her the contract of killing a beggar which was... so exciting. Her eye rolls were apparently too obvious and he remarked on it right away. When asked about himself, he gave an answer she wasn't expecting.
"Well I'm Redguard, as I'm sure you've taken note of. Not like most of my kind you'll find in Skyrim, that's for damned sure. I'm a child of Hammerfell, born of the sands of the mighty Alik'r. My past is not a proud one, and it's very long. But short story, the Dark Brotherhood saved me from myself, and I'm never looking back."
Instead of the goofy responses she had gotten, this man seemed truly stable and she admired him for it. Sure, he was a little rusty around the edges, but he was someone she could indeed get along with. She smiled and was going to tell him a bit about herself, but was shoved out of the way by an Argonian man and an middle-aged, bearded man with more muscles than manners.
"I told you he was a monk! Trained in the ways of the Whispering Fang." The larger man spoke with an irritated, yet humorous tone. Annabella immediately responded.
"Hello newest brothers." She smiled and held out her hand, to which the Argonian shook happily.
"Newest sister." He bowed. "Veezara. Former Shadowscale, trained by the Dark Brotherhood since the day of my hatching. Lifetime ago, really. Today I serve Astrid. And this sanctuary." He stood up straighter. "I live to protect my family. Welcome home, sister."
Such a nice attitude. She could get used to how the people reacted to her here. So far she had no problems with anyone at all and seemed genuinely liked, despite her appearance.
Oh, yes. Skyrim and what it did to her. Hair full of twigs from traveling through the pine forest looking for the sanctuary. Face smeared with Mara knows what. And she didn't even wanna look at her studded armor. She was pretty sure there was little of it even left after the incident with the thorns and the wolves.
"I'm Arnbjorn. I don't like you and I don't want to be friends. My wife trust you and I trust her judgement, but I can't afford to be friends with someone whose gonna be dead in a week." Oh. Touchy. Apparently the tall, bearded man was that one person in the group.. typical.
"So you don't wanna know me, not even a little bit?" She made a motion with her hands, as if to ask what in the world she did. Was existing enough for this guy to hate her?
"Look. Here's all you need to know. I'm a werewolf. I like killing things. I love Astrid. I hate annoying people. And the color blue gives me a headache."
"Alright, so what-"
"I said that's all you need to know. Get lost."
The look that crossed Annabella's face was a mixture of amusement and disbelief. She thought she had the occasional trust issues. She had now dubbed Arnbjorn the drama mama of the group. Though she wouldn't dare say it aloud. He walked away in a huff towards the Blacksmithing station and the Argonian placed an arm around her neck.
"Don't think anything of it, sister. He's like that with all new recruits."
"A bit dramatic, if I do say so myself. But perhaps I'll warm up to him."
"Perhaps, sister. Perhaps. Anyway, I need to meet up with Gabriella. Things to discuss. I'll talk to you later. Kill well, friend."
Seemed like ages before she finally got away from everyone. Astrid had given her the uniform she had the option of wearing on the job and a room to her own, surprisingly. Said everywhere else in the main bedroom was full and she certainly wasn't going to share a room with Astrid and her grumpy werewolf husband.
The room was small and cramped and she barely had enough room to move around. Apparently this room was for a previous member who had raging incidents and needed to be confined to his own "special" room. That was a lovely thought as she sat on her bed. She started to think they isolated her on purpose.
Trying to get a better understanding of her room, she conjured a small, glowing blue light that stuck onto the wall beside her bed. Who needed candles when you could summon your light?
Nothing was decorated save for two banners on either side of the door. She'd have to do some interior designing, but that was to be for another day. Near the rather uncomfortable bed was a nightstand that held a single, unlit candle and a book titled The Five Tenets. After her journey here, she found herself to be too tired to do much of anything. It would soon be daylight again and she wanted as much sleep as possible.
Stripping herself of her studded armor - or what was left of it, she tossed the offending garments off to the side and donned on her new Dark Brotherhood outfit, admiring the way it fit her curves perfectly. It would do fine and hopefully it would hold up against the disturbing Skyrim weather.
Sitting back on the side of the bed, she picked up that book and started scanning through the pages of The Five Tenets before tossing it back on the nightstand with very little interest in it.
"You should read that, you know."
Her eyes shot up to meet the gaze of a ghostly figure. A man, donned in black robes with a sinister looking smirk stood before her. Regaining her composure, she looked him straight in the face.
"W-who are you? What are you doing in here?"
The man frowned and crossed his arms, his hood remaining on his head covering up the majority of his face.
"Apparently I'm the Dark Brotherhood's pet. I seem to be stuck in this mortal world, only to be assigned their personal undead helper."
"Sounds like a rough job."
"Mm. Indeed."
"Why are you in here? Surely I'm not someone you want to meet. I don't know you, but you already show a huge dislike towards the rest of the members."
"No, no. Not all of them. There are an exceptional few I don't mind." He paused and looked the Breton up and down. For a moment, she felt uneasy about the way he looked at her. "I'm here for you, my little Breton. Been waiting for you. I'm bound to this sanctuary because of you."
"I'm sorry."
"Why are you apologizing?" He appeared stumped. Almost more so than the woman on the bed.
"Well if I'm the one keeping you here, I am truly sorry. Sorry because that's truly maddening. I don't even know you, yet I'm keeping you here? I'm not the best liar, but you're even worse. Come up with a more believable reason before pointing fingers at me trying to find some way to hate me."
"Hate you? Why would I hate you?" She could sense anger in his voice. It reminded her of low, rolling thunder.
"Look. I've had a long day. Okay? I'm not in the mood to deal with anyone at the moment, so I'd really appreciate it if you could leave me alone for some rest." She leaned forward on the bed to rub her temples.
"You're very defensive. But also fiery. I like that in a woman." He leaned in close to her and she seen his tongue run over his bottom lip. Ugh. Of anyone to hit on her, it would have to be the family ghost.
Without thinking, she swung her hand to smack him right in the maw, but he thought quickly and grabbed her wrist, holding it firmly. She would have fought it - would have begun kicking him and cursing, but something stopped her.
That hand.
It was the one from her dream.
Hands are hands and normally it's not distinguishable. But it had the same feel. The same warmth. And when she breathed in, it smelt of old leather with the barely recognizable scent of blood. Odd for a ghost to have so much.. life to it.
She was in a trance, staring at the man's face. The only part of him she could see was his mouth and chin and at the moment, his previous grimace had turned into a smirk.
"Something wrong, little Breton?"
"Who are you?"
"I already told you."
"You know what I want to know."
"I have no idea. After all, I'm not a mind reader." Was he moving closer to her? Her mind was fuzzy and she couldn't comprehend much of anything at the moment.
"My name is Lucien. That's all you need to know for now, Annabella."
"You were in my dreams."
"Funny. Normally I'd take that as an extreme compliment from women. But I'm sensing you don't mean it in quite that way, dear girl." He grinned at that and she again wanted to smack him - or try again. But she also wanted to reach out and touch his face.
What was wrong with her and who exactly was this man? He turned the other way before she could make a move and she called out to him.
"Wait! I have more questions."
He turned his head to face her, the eerie grin still plastered to his face. "In due time, Anna. In due time. Get some sleep and we'll talk more when you wake."
She huffed and turned her head to the side, disappointed at how the man in her dreams turned out to be a ghost. Most men in her life never paid much attention to her since she rarely kept up with a visually perfect image unless she put effort into it. So it only seemed fitting that the only man who would show any sort of mild attraction to her was a dead man. At least she hoped it was an attraction and not a trick.
Lovely.
"Before I leave, might I suggest you look that book over sometime? It really is a good read. It might bring you more insight into your position.. more than what your new family could give you."
"This one?" She picked up the ratty looking old book from the stand and looked at it once more. "What's so special about it?"
"Let's just say.. that your family members might have different opinions than when I was alive and well. Read it and educate yourself properly before that leader of yours gets into your head."
The ghost vanished and she was left in a darkened room with the book held loosely in her hands. After what seemed like minutes of doing nothing but staring at the title, she finally tossed it back onto the nightstand and rolled over on the bed.
She would read the book.
But she would also listen to Astrid. She felt she could trust her, but it was strange because she also felt that she should trust this ghost, as well.
Stuffing her face into a pillow, she let her thoughts halt so she could get her well-deserved rest. She'd worry about things in the morning.
