When Mordelia asked Nazir for more contracts he said she still had one to finish. Who have I missed? Mordelia racked her mind, trying to remember. There was Narfi. And then the Papius guy... Oh yeah! The name came to her. Beitild in Dawnstar.
"Great. I get to go to Dawnstar, where there seems to always be snow." Mordelia despised the cold. She would much rather brave the fires of Oblivion than traipse through a blizzard. "Might as well get it over with." Mordelia sighed.
The trip from Falkreath to Dawnstar would not be a fun one. Mordelia decided she'd give up the coin and take a wagon instead of going by foot. It would save her days of sore feet.
The task of assassinating Beitild turned out to be harder than Mordelia had thought; Beitild always seemed to be near a guard or with other miners. In the end, Mordelia ended up conjuring a bow, taking out Beitild from the relative safety of the surrounding hilltop.
Almost immediately after Beitild fell to the ground, guards noticed and began running around trying to find the killer.
"Time for me to leave." Mordelia dispelled the bow and made a hasty retreat. She knew she would be spotted quickly if she stayed, her black armour stuck out like a sore thumb on the white snow. Unfortunately, because of her suspicious looking armour, she wasn't able to take a wagon back to Falkreath for fear of being found out as the assassin. I really should start wearing less conspicuous clothing on daylight jobs, but this armour is so practical.
Mordelia made it back to the Sanctuary, tired and crabby. She just wanted to collect her pay and take a nice long nap. However, this was not an option; Astrid was waiting for Mordelia at the door.
"I need to speak with you, Sister." She said quietly.
"What is it?" Mordelia asked shortly. Did something happen with Cicero? She had found herself thinking of him often on the long walk back to the Sanctuary.
Astrid took a deep breath before replying. "I've been thinking. I'm not exactly sure what's happening around here with you and the Night Mother. But, if you really were spoken to by the Night Mother, it would be mad not to seek out the contact; and we all know there is enough madness around here." Astrid paused for a moment before continuing. "I have decided you should follow up on the contact mentioned by the Night Mother. Seek out this Amaund Motierre in Volunruud."
I wasn't expecting this. "Alright. I'll do that. But first, where is Volunruud? I've never heard of it before, and you said you knew where it was."
"Of course." Astrid seemed relieved to have told Mordelia her decision. "Volunruud is a crypt northeast of here, past Whiterun. You should hurry there as soon as possible and find out if Amaund Motierre even exists, and if so, what he wants." Astrid left it at that, heading off to do her own thing.
"Looks like I'm not getting a break anytime soon." Mordelia grumbled to herself. She went to go find Nazir.
As she was walking down the corridor to the dining hall after not finding Nazir in the Grotto, Mordelia came upon Cicero strolling aimlessly down the corridor, mumbling something to himself.
"Greetings, Cicero." Mordelia said, before he could run into her.
Cicero looked up quickly and stopped. His face broke into a smile when he saw who had greeted him. "Hello, Listener! Back from a kill?"
"Yes." Mordelia replied, managing to give him a smile in return. She yawned. "I'm awful tired though. It was a long walk."
"Poor, Listener. You should eat some carrots." Cicero's faced looked genuinely concerned.
Mordelia laughed. "I think I'll settle for some hot soup instead."
Cicero seemed satisfied with that. "Oh, Listener! Aren't you excited?" He said. "You should be! Things are finally looking up!" With that, he skipped away, humming 'Ragnar the Red'.
Mordelia shook her head in amusement. "I swear, even if I spent a thousand years with that man, I still wouldn't understand him."