A/N: More out of curiosity than anything else, who of you thought that the character I bring into play in this chapter was the one I had been talking about in the previous chapter? Just curious, really. May the Night Mother wrap you in her cold, loving embrace as you review.

Chapter 11: An Old Acquaintance

The boy with the pretender was young – Imperial, too – but tall, and filling out, Cicero thought. Dark hair, dark eyes – typical Imperial, unlike Cicero with his red hair and gray eyes – with their new brother's open and very innocent-looking face. I decided I don't like this new boy, but he can be changed to follow the Old Ways and obey Listener Alysa.

Oh, sweet Mother, Cicero felt terrible fighting Alysa! Being so close, yes; Cicero liked that. Cicero giggles. A very good excuse to have the Listener close, to touch her… Cicero wondered why she didn't like being touched. It confused humble Cicero to no end, sweet Mother. What had happened that she was like this?

The new boy was wearing Stormcloak armor, Cicero thought he recognized, and seemed very happy to be here. He looked at Cicero, and then at Alysa and he grinned brightly. Too brightly. Cicero narrowed his eyes at this boy. He would carve that grin off he saw it in his Listener's direction again….

"You! I remember you! From when you killed Grelod the Kind," the boy said, looking at Alysa.
She just blinked at him, and maybe looked a little surprised under it all, Cicero thinks. "Hm, yes, you're Aventus Aretino," the Listener replied. So he used to be a client… Cicero thought that interesting - not all that many who were clients became assassins, though Cicero knew of a few targets who later became assassins because they managed to escape and kill the one who wanted them dead. Cicero found that fascinating.
The new boy – Aventus – nodded excitedly. "Yes! I –"
"So, you two are already acquainted," the pretender drawled. "Alysa, you can take over Aretino's training and show him around our Sanctuary."

A little girl's scream filled the common room. The Listener turned, her eyes shining. What was the un-child up to?

Babette came running, tripping over her torn, bloody and dirty-filthy-soiled skirts, crying and panting. Cicero glances at Alysa. She's trying not to smile as she watches the un-child. Cicero grins: he understands! It's a joke! A very funny joke…. He he he he!
"Please!" the un-child screamed, tripping more as she tried to stand up. "Help me please!" She ran to the new blood Aventus, but sweet Alysa grabbed the back of her shirt, grinning. Cicero tried not to laugh too hard. "Please! You have to help me!" the un-child screamed, crying. "They killed my parents and took me! Help me!" she cried and cried and cried and cried. And Cicero giggled.

The new blood looked a little horrified. "Hush, child," the Listener said, rolling her eyes. "You're staying here, with us. Your new Family, brothers and sisters who will love you and care for you…."
"I apologize, Alysa, Astrid; I hadn't expected her to run quite so fast," Gabriella spoke slowly, marching to dear Alysa and taking a sobbing and begging Babette away, into her arms. But the un-child broke free! Cicero watched Gabriella and Alysa look at each other. Babette fell to her knees at Aventus's feet, clutching his armor. "Please, Sir, please help me! Take me away! I want to go home…" she sobbed, pressing her head into his thigh. Cicero wondered if the un-child would bite him. He giggled. Alysa and Gabriella looked at him. "Oh, it's a clever one," Cicero giggles.
"You, I–" Aventus stuttered. He looked concerned about this un-child. He reached down to pick her up up up!

He he he, and then he was flat on his back! Without his weapon! Ah-hahahaha! "Never trust anyone," Babette sneered, turning and striding away as she cackled. Everyone laughed and sniggered. But Cicero loved the way the Listener laughed. Oh, such a sweet sound to humble Cicero. I could spend forever listening to the Listener. Oh, a paradox! The Listener listens, and the Speaker speaks! Not the Listener speaking and the Speaker listening… not that Cicero is either, sweet Mother. I will forever be your humble Keeper, to keep forever! Alysa chuckled still while Aventus stood up, confused. "Alysa, I have a few things I need to do. Show Aretino around the Sanctuary, and introduce him to the Family. Make sure he understands all the rules and gets settled in," the pretender said, sauntering away.

Alysa pursed her lips at that harlot. Oh, one day Cicero will bury his blade in her so many times they will think she was never whole… but very hole-y. Cicero sniggers. "Cicero is OFF! He shall return soon!" And Cicero skipped away. He must tidy up, and tell Mother about her new son, Aventus Aretino. Though Mother surely knows already. Oh, the Dark Brotherhood will rise again!


Aventus Aretino. The new blood. My new brother.

I suppose I should have seen it coming, considering how excited he had been to see me, even though I hadn't even joined the Brotherhood then. He was about eight years younger than me, I supposed, and he had grown up fairly well. Pity he was still so naïve… he must have been one of the newest recruits to the Stormcloaks. I sniggered again when I thought of Babette's little prank: she had tried it on me as well, but I had been so shocked to see a little girl that I had ended up backing away from her, watching as her tears slowly became red with blood.

I liked to think it was from that moment that she had decided to befriend me, to a certain degree. "Well, I'll also be off, but to my cards. It's a pleasure to meet you, Aventus. I am Gabriella," the Dark Elf said, then turned on heel and floated to where Babette and Festus would surely be busy with some arcane experiment.
"What was that about?" he asked when he picked up his axe. I could swear his pride and ego were far beyond damaged. I smirked at him.
"That little girl was Babette, our resident alchemist. If you plan on becoming a good assassin, you'll need to be able to outsmart her, because you'll never beat her. Follow me, I'll show you where you'll be staying," I turned and walked away, Aventus jogging up next to me. He was loud, even when he walked. Very loud.
"Oh. What do you mean by that?"
"The Dark Brotherhood is an elite group of assassins, a Family, and we accept what most others shun. Werewolves, vampires, psychopaths, murderers… you name it, and there's a chance it's been in our Family –"
"What does this have to do with Babette?" Aventus interjected. I sighed impatiently, coming to a halt in the middle of the training room
"She wasn't finished, Boy," Babette said softly, appearing in front of us. "I am a vampire. So respect your elders."

He stared at her, taking a step back, reaching for his axe. Babette giggled; a surprisingly innocent sound as she grinned at him, her sharp canines glinting in the low firelight. Arnbjorn growled his laugh as he came out from the forge. "Some new meat. Hope you last, Steak," he shouldered past Aventus to find Astrid. I hoped they wouldn't be too noisy…. I raised a brow at Arnbjorn's back. I hated being in the Sanctuary with them if one had been away. Aventus looked confused.

"Werewolf," Babette and I answered at the same time. We grinned at each other. "His name is Arnbjorn, Astrid's husband. This way to the sleeping quarters," I said, waving him along. Babette just stared after us, smiling too sweetly at Aventus. I took him the long way around, to the beds first. He started bugging me with questions about the Family, history, the Night Mother, Sithis…. As soon as we were in the passage I stopped him. "Aventus, I will tell you all I know, and more, but not now. Don't ask why, and don't ask too much of the others. I will tell you later, in private. Things are in motion right now that are causing some… tension. I will explain, I promise you that, but not now." He looked dejected. But he nodded sullenly. I nodded curtly. "Good, come. Now, Sithis is –"
Someone slammed into me. I hated living in a Sanctuary full of sneaky assassins. I struggled briefly, but quickly found myself pinned between a wall, and guess who? My favorite jester. I took a deep breath. "I will kill you if you do that again," I threatened.
"The Listener would break one of the Five Tenants?" Cicero teased. I wasn't entirely sure if I should be grateful I was facing him and not the wall.
"Listener? Five Tenants?" Aventus muttered. I tuned him out.
"The Listener isn't very good at surprise attacks," Cicero chided, his body very close to me, his nose almost touching mine. I had the urge to wrinkle my nose, and struggled to ignore it.
"He," I twitched my head in Aventus's direction, "isn't a very good backup partner," I returned.
Cicero giggled.
"What's going on? Who is he really?" Aventus asked warily.
"Cicero thinks you should send the boy to him afterwards. Cicero wants to teach him something. And Cicero thinks the Listener isn't very well prepared for anything to happen at any time…" Cicero pushed off the wall, backing away. I hadn't realized how warm he had been so close to me – I already missed his warmth.

I narrowed my eyes slightly at the jester, a smile playing my lips. "This is one of the things you plan on 'teaching' me, isn't it?" I asked. I hadn't really expected an answer, so Cicero's twinkling eyes and grin before he turned and skipped away told me it was. I sighed: I just hoped he would have the sense not to irritate me when I was in my bed – as much as I liked the fool, I might hurt him by accident if he tried to wake me up again. I sniggered at the memory of my first fight with Cicero – I suppose I hadn't really been winning, but I wasn't going to admit that to anyone. Not over my dead body.

"Alysa? Who is that creep? I hadn't even heard him coming…."
I frowned at Aventus. "That 'creep' is the Night Mother's Keeper, Cicero, so you'll treat him with due respect. And that's how an assassin should move – silently. When I'm done with you, you can go find out what he wants." Calling Cicero a 'creep'… I shook my head. Delusional, crazy, sadistic… well, I suppose it all added up to that but I really couldn't say that was how I felt about him.

Aventus sighed, then breathed a 'whoa' when he took in our sleeping quarters. It wasn't much, but I supposed he thought the spot above the dining hall was cozy. "Don't be so thrilled – it's the worst if there's a party in the dining hall and you're trying to sleep. Trust me, I would know," I said, pointing to the stairs. Aventus nodded next to me as he peered over the edge. "There aren't really any rules concerning the beds, but we all have our preferences. Since you're the newest recruit, and the other beds are all taken while the members are at home, you're the lucky sucker who gets to sleep closest to the stairs." I showed him to his bed.

It was probably the lightest spot in this part of the Sanctuary, and by far the noisiest, not counting downstairs at a time like last night… I felt my cheeks color a little at the thought of everything I had done, and couldn't remember. "You have a chest, which you can use freely – no-one will take anything from it, or open it without your permission, or unless need calls for an intervention," I turned to face him. He looked a little put off that he had such an unfortunate place to sleep, but thank the Night Mother and Sithis it was his problem.

"Thanks, Alysa. Uhm, why does Chickpea call you a 'listener'?"
I glared at him. Cicero would have a fit if he heard that. Well, Aventus could learn that the hard way: he barely even noticed my glare. I hoped he wasn't going to have some stupid puppy-love directed at me. "Cicero calls me the Listener because it's my title in the Dark Brotherhood, one of the things I will explain to you later. And probably what he wants to tell you as well…." I motioned him to follow me down the stairs.

"Dining hall," I said, crossing the room and heading up the short flight of stone steps to Babette's lab and hang-out area for all the arcane users. Interestingly, Nazir was sitting at the table across from Gabriella. I wasn't sure about their friendship, because they were rarely together but sometimes seemed as if they had been friends since birth. "Ah, the new blood, I presume. I am Nazir," the Redguard greeted. I always loved the sound of his voice: rich, deep and perfect for telling stories. And tell stories he could. I nodded curtly. "Aventus Aretino," Aventus said, holding out a hand to Nazir.
"Fingers for my blade? You're too kind, boy," Nazir said, shifting in his seat as he stared first at Aventus's fingers then his face. I sniggered at how quickly Aventus had curled his fingers into a fist. Festus and Babette emerged from Liz's hovel. "Listener," Festus greeted when he saw me. Then he glanced over Aventus. "Eh, I don't have time for this 'new blood'," he said, grumbling some more before wandering to another part of the Sanctuary.
"That's Festus Krex. To describe him in his own words, he's the grumpy uncle everyone generally avoids," I said when Aventus looked my way. He frowned in amazement – I had only seen him out of the corner of my eye.
"You have a lot to learn, boy. Between the lot of us here, you'll learn how to stay alive and kill. Or you'll die young, like most of them do," Nazir said, resting his hand on the hilt of his scimitar. He was dangerous with that blade, and it was one I doubted I would ever master. "Has he met the fool yet?" Nazir quizzed.
I half-shook, half-nodded my head. "Sort of, though not officially. We're headed to the Night Mother now," I said. Gabriella hummed something, and Nazir nodded, looking mildly interested in what she was doing. Babette just grinned at us.

Aventus seemed thrilled to get away from the little vampire.


Veezara must have left on some contract or outing because he wasn't anywhere in the Sanctuary that I had passed until now. I took Aventus straight to the Night Mother's chambers, where Cicero was humming and dancing. I stood in the door, leaning against the frame as I watched the Fool of Hearts. Aventus sniffed and shifted behind me, his hand moving to his axe.

By Sithis, was he always this loud?! It was very annoying, and it had Cicero's attention immediately. "Cicero thinks his new brother is too loud to be a very good assassin…" he frowned, facing us as I came in to sit cross-legged on the table. I just smiled. Oh, the fun we would have when we taught Aventus to be quiet…. A recruit came in about three years ago, who would have made Aventus seem silent if he was still alive. He was killed completing a contract because he refused to learn to be quiet. Idiot. Though, it was quite funny to see him shredded to pieces by the Orc beserker.

Aventus looked wary when he saw the Night Mother's coffin. It was closed, so he wouldn't see the mummified corpse inside, but he would. Eventually. "What exactly is that?" he asked, nodding at the coffin.
"Why, Cicero thinks the boy is blind! It's a coffin, silly!" Cicero giggled, prancing a little. I held back my own giggles, but I was still grinning. Aventus wasn't having an especially kind welcome to the Family. His face went a shade of red, and he floundered for a few seconds.
"That's the Night Mother's coffin. She is our Unholy Matron, and she is the one who guides us, and gives us purpose," I said, flicking my loose hair out of my face. "She speaks only to the assassin who holds the title of Listener, and at present I am that assassin."
"And sweet, humble Cicero is the Keeper! I look after our Mother, and keep her safe!" Cicero grinned broadly, his hand hovering over his ebony blade. I got the feeling he didn't like the other Imperial all that much.
Aventus nodded slowly, leaning against a counter at the back of the room. "I heard. But isn't she a corpse? And what about Sithis? Are there other Sanctuaries, other assassins? Why are there so few here?"

Cicero and I exchanged a quick glance. We'd have our hands full with him. I think we both agreed that he would learn from the beginning what it meant to respect and obey the Night Mother, and her closest assassins – the Listener, the Speakers, and the Keeper. Not that we had all of that yet, mind you. But we would, if it was all up to me, and I was sure Cicero agreed to that.

So we spent the rest of the day taking turns to explain the history of the Dark Brotherhood, our connections with Sithis and the Night Mother, and how we were the only Sanctuary left, the only remaining Family of a once-great and feared Brotherhood, as well as the Five Tenants. Though, I left that to Cicero – I didn't know them all that well. I supposed I should, considering my current position within the Sanctuary.

Aventus seemed saddened by the loss of it all, and he was beginning to understand why there would be issues with the other members where the Night Mother, Cicero and I was concerned. Though, he hadn't quite experienced the tension yet. Cicero stared at me for a while. "Honorable Listener, humble Cicero would like to speak with… Aventus, alone. If the great and mighty Listener would allow…?"
Aventus glanced between me and Cicero. "Should I call you 'Listener', too?"
I looked at my new brother. "Technically yes, but for the sake of peace in this Sanctuary, no. Many will see it as an attack on Astrid's position. I'm not interested in a great divide just yet: we're a small Family, and we need to stay unified. And Cicero, of course you can," I smiled, unfolding my legs and slipping off the table. "Just don't slice him to bits and pieces." I winked at Cicero, and smirked at Aventus.

I needed to find Astrid and see if she had made up her mind about Amaund, and later Nazir for my pay. I had forgotten about that in all the excitement.


Cicero sighed happily when he sent his new brother off. He thinks this new one understands to leave sweet Alysa alone when not training with her. He had better, or Cicero would teach him…. About being a good assassin and irritating the Listener. Oh, beloved Mother, the Brotherhood is growing again! I am so pleased… and to think that Cicero will be a part of it, with the mighty Listener to guide us as you direct her…. Cicero giggles, and jumps up and down, down and up! It's such a happy time for the Dark Brotherhood, so much killing and assassinating to do, and gold to be made! All for you, sweet Night Mother, and to bring souls to our Dread Father.