They had been on the road for hours. Lunch had basically been a quick pause to distribute the food, and then return to the driver's seats to eat on the go.
Finally Cicero waved back to her, and pointed to a dirt path that parted from the paved road, and swung in a U shape back the way they had come. There, nestled in a small hollow, recessed in stone, was a Black Door. Only when they were within the small hollow could she hear the familiar and otherworldly humming that Dark Brotherhood Sanctuaries gave off.
Kriivah let out a breath as she pulled her carriage next to his. "Ready to join our Brothers and Sisters?"
"Quite ready." Cicero sprang down and gave a full body stretch, arching backward until his hands touched the wet earth behind him.
"Showoff." Kriivah laughed, and sprang down as well. With her feet properly on the ground, she ran through a few stretches to limber herself up. She didn't even try to match his flexibility; she knew she couldn't match him.
The pair approached the door, and it whispered, "What is the music of life?"
"Silence, my brother," Cicero replied cheerfully, with a flourishing bow.
"Welcome home," there was a creak, and the door opened of its own volition.
Cicero bowed gallantly to Kriivah and gestured for her to enter before him. The pair made their way down the stairs within and came into a small foyer, where a Nord woman in red and black armor was leaning against a door jamb, eyeing them with mild interest.
"Ah, at last! I see you found the place all right. Though we weren't expecting two of you." Her blue eyes were fixed solidly on Kriivah. "I am Astrid, leader of the Falkreath Sanctuary. Who are you?"
The Breton introduced herself and explained why she was in Skyrim. "I met Cicero on the road." She finally explained.
Astrid's cool blue eyes finally flicked away to rest on Cicero for the barest breath of time before settling back on Kriivah. "Very well. Welcome, both of you, to the Falkreath Sanctuary. Your new life begins here. You won't find a safer place in all of Skyrim."
Despite the sweet words, spoken in an almost seductive tone of voice, Kriivah got the distinct impression that Astrid did not like the Breton's arrival. There was a tightness to her mouth, and a challenging stare in her eyes. This was an alpha female; used to getting her way. Kriivah's wolf bristled at the veiled hostility.
"I'm sure you must be anxious to get to work." Astrid continued, "I'm arranging a job, but need a bit more time. For now, unpack your carriage, then go see Nazir. He's got several smaller contracts." The Nord woman's eyes flicked to Cicero, "And now that the Night Mother has arrived, things around here are sure to get more interesting."
As Astrid turned and walked unhurriedly away, Kriivah gave herself a tiny shake. I'm in another predator's territory, and I'm not welcome. I'm tolerated. She sighed softly, Nothing new there.
Astrid smelled of leather, ink, paper, and blood, and a strange combination of dominance, danger and the usual hint of instability than most assassins carried. There was also a faint scent on the woman; the scent of a canine. She wasn't a werewolf, but someone close to her was.
Kriivah bit her lower lip anxiously, then tried to put on a more cheerful expression, "Do you need help getting the Night Mother inside, Cicero?"
"Ahh thank you, kindly Kriivah, but Cicero is quite capable of managing the Matron's sarcophagus by himself. You just explore a bit, find a place, and start bringing in your delightful little collection." He smiled and patted her shoulder lightly before turning to trot back up the stairs.
Once she had explored a little and found a corner with a little space and an unoccupied bed, she set to work, bringing her things into the Sanctuary. Her cooking supplies and foodstuffs soon took over several shelves in the kitchen. Her knives brought a few approving whistles from her Brothers and Sisters, and when they found out she could cook, she found herself rising a little in everyone's eyes, though there were a few good natured jibes about having to compete with someone named Nazir for ownership of the kitchen.
Once the cover layer was in place, Kriivah brought in her vast collection of ingredients and her portable, custom built Alchemy Lab and arranged them near her bed.
Babette, the vampire child, quickly became enamoured of the Breton when she spotted the Lab. The two were soon carrying sacks into the Sanctuary and discussing the pros and cons of using freshly picked Deathbell versus drying it and grinding it up into a fine powder.
"I've never heard two people turn the discussion of poison into a completely nerdy and boring topic before," a dry voice commented behind Kriivah.
A Redguard was watching the pair arrange ingredients with amusement sparkling in his eyes. He was trying to look bored, but the corners of his mouth were twitching upward.
"You're welcome to join us!" Kriivah invited him cheerfully. "We can always move on to whether it's better as the first or second ingredient."
Babette giggled.
The Redguard shuddered comically.
"I take it you're Nazir?" Kriivah clasped the man's hand warmly.
"That I am. And you're the unexpected newbie from Hammerfell."
"New to this Sanctuary, not to the Brotherhood," the Breton chided, then sobered. "I would still be in Hammerfell if we hadn't been betrayed. Only three of us escaped. Then we were hit by an ambush on the way to the border. I'm the only one who made it, and only then because I was more deadly than all five of my foes."
"I am… sorry to hear that." the Redguard bowed his head slightly. "The loss of our Brothers and Sisters is always a catastrophe. More so when it empties the lands entirely of our presence."
"On the plus side, Sithis granted me the honor of sending our betrayer screaming into the Void." The Breton gave a brief, feral smile, then cleared her throat and gave her head a small shake. "Anyway, Astrid said you'd have some work for me."
Nazir accepted the change of topic from the morose to the morbid with a small nod. "I do. There are a few lingering contracts we haven't had the chance to complete just yet. And more, dribbling in from time to time. I'll assign them to you as they become available. To be completed at your leisure."
Kriivah nodded slowly, "It will be good to get back into the rhythm of things."
Nazir locked eyes with her, and she was interested to note that they were so dark a brown as to be almost black. "Let me give you a few pieces of advice," he said, raising his index finger to mark the first point, "These aren't particularly glamorous assassinations. They're considered somewhat lower in priority than most others we've gotten." A second finger joined the first. "They don't pay much, either. But they'll keep you busy."
The Breton's eyebrows rose. It was true that the Dark Brotherhood's power was waning, but even in Hammerfell, petty murders weren't encouraged when contacting the group. The Brotherhood was considered professional, dangerous and expensive. Thus, no contacts were "low priority." It occurred to Kriivah that something was… off in this Sanctuary.
The third finger rose. "Just do them as you're able. There's no real time limit - the targets aren't going anywhere. You can turn each one in as it's completed, or wait and turn in the whole group when all the targets have been eliminated. Whichever works for you."
The Breton nodded, putting her misgivings aside for now. "I'll take the first set, check my poisons, and be on my way tomorrow morning."
"Well then, let's get started. I've got three available right now." He pulled out a sheaf of paper and perused it briefly before handing it over, "Your targets are the beggar Narfi, an ex-miller named Ennodius Papius, and Beitild, a mine boss. When you've completed all those, we'll see if I might have some more."
Kriivah eyed the contacts and the details about them. The reasons for their deaths weren't detailed, but then again, they rarely ever were. They were also scattered.
Narfi was a Nord beggar living in the ruins of his family home on the other side of the river in Ivarstead. Papius lived just outside Anga's Mill, west of Windhelm. And Beitild was a Nord mine boss and the owner of Iron-Breaker Mine in Dawnstar.
If she didn't want to run out, then back, then out again, it was better to do them in one trip, but that meant she would need plan for a week long trip, and if she didn't want to travel using the slow, and conspicuous, carriage, she would need to provision at Windhelm, Dawnstar and Ivarstead. Kriivah frowned thoughtfully and began to pack.