She rode up to the Sanctuary already shooting. Arrow after arrow she volleyed at the three or four Oculatus agents lurking outside, having to dismount only to gut the last one. That's when she saw Festus. Pinned to a nearby tree like a hide to a tanning rack, riddled with so many arrows as to be almost unrecognizable. Panic rose inside her, but she fought it back. There could still be time to save the others. Dropping into a crouch, Tabby slipped through the already-ajar Black Door.

The smoke was so thick that she could barely see or breathe, and she heard the crackling of flames not too far in the distance. Just ahead of her, two agents stood over what she hoped desperately was a third's body. She easily picked off one with a stealth shot, and managed to down the other before he could reach her through the smoke. With dread Tabby drew near the third body, pleading with the Night Mother for it to be another agent.

It was Veezara.

Tabby let out a horrible cry, half a scream and half a sob. There lay her gentle and wise Veezara, who had only yesterday wrapped her in his scaly arms and whispered words of encouragement in her ear. Tabby put away her bow and drew her dagger, for this was not a time to linger in the shadows. She wanted to see the whites of her enemies' eyes as she hacked them to pieces.

But room by blazing room, whatever small heart Tabby had broke into smaller and smaller pieces. She almost tripped over Gabriella's corpse, then crossed into the next chamber just in time to watch Arnbjorn be slaughtered, helpless to do anything but send his murderers to the Void after him. With every new body her despair grew, and Tabby started to wonder if she should just throw herself into the flames. The thought of being the only survivor, with her entire Family gone, was unbearable.

Then she rounded the corner and saw Nazir holding his own against a single agent, and a flame was reignited in her. He wasn't in immediate danger, but he was on the defensive. Tabby raised her bow and hit the Oculatus scum clean in the chest, toppling him to the ground. Nazir hesitated in confusion, looking in Tabby's direction before delivering the fatal blow.

"Tabby?"

She stepped through the smoke and saw Nazir's face clearly now. A face she had never before been so happy to see.

"So you are alive. I was starting to wonder." The Redguard yelled over the roaring flames.

"It was all a trap. Someone's betrayed us."

"You don't say?"

"Nazir…" Now was about the least appropriate time for sarcasm, and he seemed to know it.

"Considering most of us are now dead, I assumed as much. And before you ask - no, I don't think it was , maybe I did, but that arrow erased any doubts. So thanks."

"Thank me later. We haven't gotten out of here yet."

"Right you are. We'll be roasted alive if we don't move. Come on!" In a very un-Nazir maneuver, he took Tabby's hand and led her on a mad dash through the Sanctuary.

Listener. I am your only salvation. Come. Embrace me.

"What are you doing?" Nazir shouted as she approached the coffin room.

"I don't know, but you have to trust me!" She screamed back as she closed the coffin doors.

Sounds of explosions surrounded her in the darkness, and then of glass breaking. She felt herself being pitched through the air before landing - hard - with a splash. Her head cracked sickeningly against the roof of the coffin, and her eyes instantly became heavy. The last thing she heard before fading into the darkness was her Mother's voice once more.

Sleep…

When she regained consciousness, Tabby was certain she was dead. All was dark, and all was silent. This was the end. This was the Void.

But if she was dead, why was her entire body - but especially her head - still screaming in pain? And then…

"Hurry, Nazir! Before she runs out of oxygen!"

"I'm…going…as fast…as I can, you stupid she-Devil…"

You must speak with Astrid. Here, in the Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary.

So she wasn't dead after all. And, against all odds, neither were Babette, Nazir and Astrid.

At last Nazir managed to pry open the coffin, causing Tabby to tumble out and onto the floor. Groaning in pain, she lurched to her feet, but Nazir reached out a hand to stop her.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down. It's alright. You've been through a lot. Maybe you should just sit down for a bit."

Tabby said nothing in reply. Words seemed beyond her at the moment. She was completely stunned by everything she had just seen. And her head was still killing her.

All was quiet in the Sanctuary now. A silence heavy with the deaths of her Brothers. Somehow the flames had been put out, but she didn't have the energy to ask their comrades how they had done it. Instead she staggered down the corridor, ignoring Babette and Nazir's exchange of worried glances.

"She's definitely suffered a head wound. Best not let her out of our sight…" The Redguard and the vampire followed closely behind her, both gasping loudly as the three entered Astrid's room.

It was a horrific sight. There lay Astrid, the once beautiful woman who had dazzled Tabby, now burnt almost beyond recognition. Somehow, she was still alive - they could hear her pained gasps for air as she lay within a circle of candles, a dagger and a sprig of nightshade just out of reach.

"Alive…" Astrid croaked, her voice barely audible after all the smoke damage. "You're alive…Thank Sithis…"

It was too late for her, just as it was for all the others. Tabby could not save her.

"Astrid…"

"Shh…There is much I have to say. And not much time…I'm sorry, Tabby. So very sorry. The Penitus Oculatus…Maro…He said if I gave you to them, he would leave the Brotherhood alone. Forever. By Sithis, I was such a fool."

Her stomach dropped. Her beloved Astrid was the reason for all of this bloodshed."You have innocent blood on your hands," Tabby said in a monotone voice. "The blood of our brothers and sisters. Of your husband."

"I know what I've done. You are the best of us, and I nearly killed you... as I've killed everyone else…"

"I knew you never loved me," Tabby said. "But I thought I meant something to you. I was still your Sister. And you kissed me on the lips and sent me to the slaughter."

"I don't expect your forgiveness," Astrid whispered. "I mistreated you horribly. I deserve whatever judgement awaits for me in the Void. I just wanted things... to stay the way they were. Before Cicero, before the Night Mother. Before... you. I thought I could save us. But now I see. The Brotherhood…doesn't need saving. Because you're alive! With you, there's still a chance. To start over, to rebuild. That's…why I did this. I prayed to the Night Mother. I am the Black Sacrament."

"Astrid…what are you saying?"

"I'm saying you were right all along. I was a fool to doubt the Night Mother, and to be suspicious of you. The old ways... they guided the Dark Brotherhood for centuries. I was wrong to oppose them. And to prove my... sincerity, I have prayed for a contract. I give you the Blade of Woe, so that you can see it through."

"No…you can't mean…"

"It must be, Tabby. You are the future of the Dark Brotherhood. Not me, not Nazir or Babette. You. You lead this Family now. You must finish this. You must kill…me…"

Tabby should have felt uncontrollable rage at her former mistress. She, whom Tabby thought could be trusted above all others, had thrown her away like rubbish. Because of her, almost everyone she loved was dead. Yet Tabby looked at Astrid, and her heart ached. She thought she had done the right thing. She thought she was protecting her Family. And she had repented for her crimes.

There was nothing left to be said. All Tabby could do was bring an end to her lover's suffering, and hope that she found redemption in the Void. With a shaky hand she grasped the Blade of Woe, and, planting one last kiss on Astrid's scorched lips, Tabby plunged the dagger into her heart.

"Thank…you…"

It was over. Even though the Dark Brotherhood itself would live on as long as she did, Tabby knew that the Brotherhood she had known and loved was gone. Almost every member of her Family had been murdered. The warm, mossy cave she called home lay in ruins. And even if they managed to reconstruct it, it wouldn't be the same with its now empty corridors.

Astrid had given her so much joy in the short time they knew each other, but ultimately, Astrid was also the ruin to her happiness. And so Tabby took the Blade of Woe as her sole reminder of her fallen leader, and left the body to rot with the rest of the Sanctuary.

Tabby and Nazir did bury their other brethren, in unmarked graves between two trees. Soon no one would remember that any of them had ever existed, and their bodies would return, forgotten, to the soil. As Nazir and Babette picked through the Sanctuary for what few salvageable items were left, Tabby sat cross-legged by the pond. Babette was concerned about Tabby's head - both the hit she took in the coffin and her mental state - and had insisted that she take a few minutes of rest.

She should have been in agony over what had just transpired, but all she felt was sickening numbness. She could not accept that her Family was gone. And she could not accept that she was to lead the Sanctuary. She was an assassin, and a damned good one, but nothing more. She lacked Astrid's leadership skills, not to mention her experience. Who was to say that she wouldn't immediately run the Brotherhood into the ground?

"Tabby. Help me load the wagon."

Slowly, stiffly, Tabby walked to where Nazir was standing and picked up a nearby crate. Visions of Arnbjorn's and Veezara's lifeless bodies were seared into her mind.

"I can't lead this Sanctuary."

"You must. It will be difficult, and at times thankless. But it is your destiny, and you must do it. Or our Brotherhood is finished."

"Why did it have to be my destiny? It should have been you the Night Mother picked. I'm barely seventeen years old. I haven't even had a year with the Brotherhood. No one in their right mind would take orders from me."

In a rare gesture of affection, Nazir put his hand on her shoulder. "Listener, I'll follow you until I'm dust in the breeze. You do realize that?"

It was the first time he had used her title. Tabby knew that she had earned Nazir's respect long ago. But now, she had his trust. That was enough. If Nazir believed in her, if the Night Mother believed in her, then maybe this wasn't a mistake. Perhaps this really was her destiny.

Soon the wagon was loaded and hitched onto Shadowmere. Babette and Nazir would make their way to Dawnstar and begin the Sanctuary's rehabilitation. But Tabby was headed north. She had two dates, one with Commander Maro and one with Titus Mede II. And she always kept her appointments.