Chapter Six
"Shut up! I think she's waking!" I heard someone say. I recognized the voice, but my brain throbbed when I tried to identify it, so I didn't. My whole body felt stiff and ached, and stars were dancing across the canvas of black that was my vision. I inhaled, trying to calm myself down, but the air was violently expelled from my throat the minute my lungs began to expand and push against where I assumed my wound was. I had to take quick, shallow breaths to avoid the stabbing pain that struck every time I respirated. I slowly opened my eyes, and let them get used to the light.
"Corella! You're conscious! Thank Sithis- we were starting to get worried!" Antoinetta's face appeared over me, her eyes sunken from lack of sleep.
"Wha… where am I? What happened?" I said, then immediately regretted talking after another wave of pain overwhelmed my head.
"Shh, don't speak. You're very lucky that Telaendril found you outside the sanctuary, otherwise you might not be... here." Antoinetta stroked a piece of my charcoal colored hair from my face, her eyes brimming with tears. "That knife wound severed an artery. Thankfully, we were able to stop the bleeding before you...you..."
She suddenly burst into tears, stood, and ran away. I was confused. Why is she so upset? I made it after all...
Gogron walked in just as he saw her fleeing, and sighed. "Don't mind her. She hasn't slept a wink since Telaendril found you. Her emotional state has been... fragile at best." His rough voice soothed me, and I released the breath I hadn't been aware I was holding. I winced slightly as I exhaled, my side painfully reminding me of my situation.
"Gogron? Is she awake?" I heard another, almost scaly voice, which I recognized as Ocheeva's. As I looked around, I recognized the bed I had slept on the day before in one of the side rooms of the sanctuary.
Gogron turned to greet the Argonian, nodding. "Thankfully, yes. Is there something you need?"
Ocheeva turned to me, her bright green and orange features defined sharply by her black garment. "I have a surprise for you, Corella. I found him in the basement of the house of one of my contracts; a girl named Arvena Thelas. She had a bunch of them in there, so I decided to take one home." She heaved a wiggling burlap sack onto the foot of my bed, and untied the rope closing it. With a squeak, a rat about the size of my entire torso tumbed out of the sack onto my legs.
I gasped (painfully). He was adorable! "I LOVE him!" I exclaimed, and I stroked him with my foot, seeing as I was unable to sit up and pet him properly.
Ocheeva beamed pridefully down on the rat. "I taught him some tricks, too."
She pulled out a slab of meat, and gently set it on the bandages wrapped over my wound. The rat immediately scurried up onto me, gnawing on the bloodied chunk. He didn't weigh as much as I had anticipated, and I scratched behing his ears lovingly. However, as soon as the cheese was devoured, the rat began to scratch and bite at my bandages.
"Wh-what is he doing?" I asked, frightened. Ocheeva just stood and watched, smiling.
"You'll see."
After he had torn the bandages from my torso, the rat began licking my wound. It was a mixture of red and yellow, and looked like it was about to start bleeding again at any moment. The rat's weight caused pus to ooze out of the wound, and it began to burn.
"Ouch!" I exclaimed, as the rat kept licking the blood and pus away. However, as he kept licking, the pain slowly ebbed away. The wound began to visibly shrink and heal, and after a few minutes, all that was left was a faint scar. The rat then looked up at me with his beady red eyes, his muzzle wet with my blood.
I peered nervously down at what used to be my wound, now a scar. "How...?" I asked, speechless.
Ocheeva smiled, obviously pleased with herself while Gogron just stood, his mouth agape.
"I had an old friend enchant him for me. His name is Schemer." She picked him up and set him on the ground, letting him scamper off. "He mostly eats venison, but I'm sure he'd enjoy a treat once in awhile if you care to bring a piece of one of your contracts home." She pulled a severed finger from her pocket and threw it on the ground for him to gnaw on.
I sat up tentatively, expecting the sharp pain from before. However, it seemed that Schemer had not only healed the surface damage, but also any internal bleeding, for I was met with no pain or resistance.
I immediately threw my arms around Ocheeva's neck and buried my face in her shoulder. She tensed up for a moment, but gradually relaxed as I held onto her. I pulled back and looked into her eyes, which conveyed both surprise and affection.
"Thank you. Without you, I may have been bedridden for weeks." I smiled sincerely at her, then let go and sprung out of bed.
"Where do you think you're going? You still have to rest!" Ocheeva exclaimed.
"I have to go get my reward from Vincente." I said. "For my last contract."
Ocheeva sighed and nodded her understanding. I then took a much-needed walk down to Vincente's room. My muscles were sore and needed stretching.
As I started to descend the gentle slope down to Vincente, I again heard a low growl. However, this time I knew exactly who it was.
"Hello M'raaj-Dar." I said in a forced tone. His response was a baritone chuckle.
"I heard about your incident. I knew you couldn't last more than three minutes out in the real world!"
I felt a rage build up inside of me, and tried to push it down. However, before I even knew what was happening, I found my blade pressed to his throat, my eyes even with his because of me being on the higher part of the slope. As he gasped for breath against the cold edge of the Blade of Woe, I pressed it slightly harder. My teeth were bared in a grimace that almost imitated his own, and I felt the bloodlust pump adrenaline through my veins. M'raaj seemed to be in total shock, frozen in place.
But not for long.
Just before I was about to break his skin with my blade, I was thrown to the ground. My cheek stung like fire, and my dagger was flung from my grasp. I clutched my hand to my wound, and gasped when it came away covered in blood. I looked up to see M'raaj-Dar licking his bloody paw, the claws that had caused the wound sheathing back into his paw.
Suddenly, there was yelling, and Antoinetta was standing above me with a damp cloth pressed to my face. "You bastard!" She screeched at the khajiit, then turned back to me. "Oh, my poor baby, you'll be okay, I'm here..." I sat up and looked around. The whole sanctary was looking at me and M'raaj with somber expressions. M'raaj was leaning against the stone wall, his cold glare showing no regret as he silently challenged anyone else to speak out against him. Vincente's eyes seemed to pierce my soul, and I stared at the floor, feeling guilty. I knew that it was my fault that this happened. I shouldn't have let him provoke me. A few moments later, I watched as the vampire's shadow slowly disappeared down the steps as he retreated back to his room.
However, I still felt the blind rage coursing through my veins. How dare he insult me in such a way? But, looking up at Antoinetta's concerned face, the feeling slowly faded away.
I got up, to her protests and grabbed my dagger fromits place on the stone floor. I looked M'raaj-Dar right in his slit-pupiled eyes.
"I will no longer respond to your attempts to antagonize me. I would rather die than bring my Brothers and Sisters such dishonor. Perhaps you should do the same."
I then turned and promptly walked down to Vincente's room, leaving everyone behind me as I did so.
I fell so deeply into my thoughts that it took me a moment to realize that I was already standing in front of the heavy wooden and iron door. I took a deep breath, prepared for the reprise I was going to get for my fight with a Brother. I felt something brush against my leg, and as I looked down a pair of fiery red eyes met mine.
"Schemer!" I exclaimed, and reached down to stroke his short fur. He sat up on his hind legs and licked my palm, leaving a streak of blood with his tongue from his last snack. I smiled and patted his head, feeling a wave of gratitude for Ocheeva and her friend. Schemer then scampered off, his bald tail quivering as the quiet pitter-patter of his feet on the stone floor disappeared into the darkness. I felt a new confidence and strength, and pulled the door open by its iron ring handles with surprising ease.
Waiting for me just on the other side was Vincente. He looked down on me, his wrinkled face twisted into a thoughtful look. I became uncomfortable under his gaze.
"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to attack him, it just happened!" I burst out. He paused for a moment, then let out a small chuckle.
"Do not worry dear child. Everyone makes mistakes, especially when first starting out." He smiled.
"Thank you." I said breathlessly.
"So," He said, becoming more serious, "the pirate has been eliminated. Excellent. No one will mourn his passing, and Sithis has been appeased. Nice work."
I nodded, feeling pride swell up into my chest.
"Please accept this black band as your reward. It is a ring whose powers are quite useful to those who value... discretion. And your success will be communicated to Lucien Lachance as well." He handed me a black ring with a diamond on the top. It had a greenish glow to it, and as I slipped it on the ring finger of my left hand, I felt its enchantment surround me. My entire body glowed with a slight bluish hue for a moment before returning back to normal, but my fingers felt slightly more nimble and my armor a little tougher.
"What just happened?" I gasped, gazing at the ring in amazement.
"The ring is working its magic on you. As long as you wear it on your finger, you won't be as affected by magic, and you are better at lockpicking and wearing light armor."
"Wow..." I whispered. I looked up at Vincente. "Thank you!" I then turned and ran up the steps of the hall, slightly embarrassed by my excitement.
"Corella!" I stopped, almost having ran into Antoinetta.
"Sorry!" I panted. "I didn't see you!"
"It's okay." She chuckled. Her eyes were red and puffy, and it was obvious that she had been crying. "What's that you're wearing?"
"Oh, this?" I raised my hand and showed her my pretty new ring. "I got it for completing my first contract! It's supposed to have magic in it that helps me!"
She smiled and took my hand. She pulled me into a big hug, squeezing me tightly.
"I almost lost you today..." She said, quietly weeping. "I don't know if you're ready for this yet..."
I pulled away, slightly offended.
"What do you mean?" I said indignantly. "Do you... do you not think I'm strong enough to handle myself?" I felt frustration rise up in my chest.
"Of course not! It's just... I worry about you! If something ever happened to you, I could never forgive myself! And what would I tell Lucien?"
"Who is this 'Lucien Lachance' anyways? And why does he care so much about me?" I shot back.
"I..." She faltered. "I don't know how to answer that. It's... a long story, to say the least."
"Hmph." I grumbled.
"Plus," She said pleadingly, going back to her previous point, "we could just wait a couple more years, give you more time to train..."
"No!" I shouted. "I'm not a baby anymore! You need to have faith in me!"
There was a deadly silence.
"I'm sorry..." I whispered, watching as tears slowly flowed down her pale cheeks.
"Don't be. You're right. You are old enough to take care of yourself, and I should leave you alone." She smiled through her tears.
I smiled back.
"I love you Annie." I whispered, and felt my own eyes start to sting. That was a nickname I had come up for her when I was only 3 years old.
Antoinetta wiped her eyes. "Well, I guess you should get some rest before you start your next contract."
I nodded sheepishly, regretting lashing out at her.
I walked past her and headed to the door on the left of the room. As I approached my bed, I saw something rustling under the covers .
"Schemer..." I said playfully, and I saw his pink nose stick out and sniff the air.
I picked him up and set him at the foot of my bed so I could slip under the covers. He crawled up on top of me, licking the pain from my cheek before curling up on my chest, fast asleep. He could tell I was upset, and his gentle pressure against my body helped ease up the tension and emotions I had been balling up inside of me. I vowed then and there that I would make Marie and everyone else proud, and prove M'raaj wrong. I was ready for my contracts, I did deserve a place in this family, and I wouldn't mess up again.
I suddenly wasn't tired anymore, and leapt from my bed, earning an upset grunt from Schemer. I needed to prove myself to the Family, and there was no better way to do that than to execute my next contract perfectly.