I crumpled the note and quickly stuck it into a fold in my armor. The bartender gave me an inquisitive look, but I dismissed her with a smile.

"A letter from my dear old mother," I lied. "I'm afraid she's rather senile."

I asked the bartender for a room. There was no way I was staying out tonight. I was already exhausted from the long day I had and just wanted to sleep all this away. Afterwards I would return to my life of rigorous training and running errands for Sanguine. For once, being the Dragonborn's apprentice didn't seem so horrid.

I tried to snuggle into the small cot but tossed and turned for hours. The feeling of being watched loomed over me like an incoming storm. Finally, I drifted into a hard, needed sleep with only one thing on my mind.

They know. They know and they're coming for me.

...

I woke up in a bed that I knew I didn't fall asleep in. I bolted upright and looked around, my vision still blurry and my limbs still lead-like. I had been drugged with something, I never slept this heavy.

"Sleep well?" Cooed an oddly familiar female voice. My eyes and body snapped to attention. Someone was here with me. Lounging atop a corner shelf was a figure, clad in red and black. A Dark Brotherhood assassin.

"What? Where am I? Who are you?" I spat, unable to contain my nervous energy.

"Doesn't matter," said the woman. Her words were muffled by the hood that concealed everything but her brooding eyes. I couldn't get over how familiar her voice seemed, "You're still warm, dry, and very much alive. That's more than can be said for old Grelod, hmm?" She laughed a small, satisfactory laugh.

"You know about that?"

"Half of Skyrim knows. Old hag gets butchered in her own orphanage? Things like that tend to get around. Oh, but don't misunderstand. I'm not criticizing. It was a good kill. Old crone had it coming, and you saved a group of urchins, to boot... but there is a slight... problem."

"A problem?" I had already done their dirty work, what could possibly be the problem? If it was money, that's a joke. I only made 100 septims off that heirloom. That I can easily repay.

"You see, that little Aretino boy was looking for the Dark Brotherhood. For me, and my assassins. Grelod the Kind was, by all rights, a Dark Brotherhood contract. A kill that you stole," her shroud crinkled with the insinuation of an oncoming smile. "A kill that you must repay." So, this was it. They were going to kill me after meddling in their business to keep their hands clean on the Grelod case. I was beginning to wish that I had just taken that little joker's money, or turned him into the Whiterun guards...

"Would you like me to murder someone else?" I asked in what was either a sad attempt to intimidate or pursuade her. These were trained assassins. I may have been the Dragonborn's apprentice, but I was no match for someone as skilled as this. Besides the obvious skill difference, I didn't even have my weapon. I was doomed.

"Well now, funny you should ask," she said as if this was her plan all along. "If you'll turn around, you'll notice my guests," I spun on my heel. Three victims, all bound and blindfolded. I had been so preoccupied that I didn't even hear their cries for help. "I've collected them from... well, that's not really important. The here and now, that's what matters. You see, there's a contract out on one of them, and that person can't leave this room alive. But which one? Go on and see if you can figure it out. Make your choice. Make your kill. I just want to observe... and admire."

"Alright, I'll do it," I balled my hands at my sides. I knew it was selfish, but I had to save myself. "I'll kill one of them."

"See, I knew we could resolve this civilly. A debt owed must be repaid. You understand that. Well, get to it then." She tossed a dagger in my direction. I just barely caught it without slicing off a finger. "Pick your guest and send the poor fool to the Void. I'll give you the key to this shack and you'll be on your way."

With dagger in hand, I slowly walked, or should I say wobbled, to the three victims. I wasn't ready to do this, but I had to. I squatted down next to the man furthest to the left.

"Who are you?" I asked shakily.

"My name is Fulthiem. I'm a solider. Well, mercenary really. You know a... a sellsword. I've lived in Skyrim all my life," his words came out quick and flustered. "That's all, I'm a nobody, really! So, can't you just let me go?!"

I moved to the next almost too quickly. I couldn't kill him. Even if he had killed many people in his mercenary years. He seemed too innocent.

"Who are you?" I asked, less quivery than the first time.

"None of your damned business who I am! If you're going to kill me, just do it already! As Mara as my witness, if I didn't have this hood on right now, I'd spit right in your face," her voice was shrill and piercing. Yeah, this one I could stand to kill. But, no, she was annoying, not a convict. I moved onto the next.

"Who are you?" I asked, the shakiness in my voice returning. It had to be him, if not, I'd be the one to be killed...

"Ahh, Vasha, at your service," I could tell by the way he rolled his r's that he was a kajiit. "Obtainer of goods, taker or lives, and defiler of daughters." The last phrase was slow and full of intention. It curdled my blood. "Have you not heard of me? Perhaps I have my people carve my name in your corpse as a reminder."

…

"What? Aren't you happy to be out of that run-down orphanage?" Sanguine asked me as we entered Lakeview manor. I focused on the maple floors, not at the walls covered in mounted weapons that could easily slice me to ribbons. After an entire life as an orphan, I was finally free. It was not as I'd pictured it… for as long as I can remember with a grinning mother and father opening their home to me, so happy to finally have a daughter that they could love unconditionally. Instead, a tall Nordic man, just barely of age to adopt entered the orphanage and immediately requested to take me. He was not grinning or kind, but he offered food, housing, and extensive training with himself, the one and only Dragonborn. For a lonely ten-year-old astounded by dragons, that was the next best thing.

"I would be if I were you. Don't get any ideas, now. I'm not playing your father figure." I had already learned this on the carriage ride here after being scolded for my excitement yet misuse of the word "father." I had very quickly learned that no term of parental endearment or even his name were acceptable. We were not going to have that kind of relationship. With his hand slowly creeping up my thigh as the carriage tottered on, I was unsure of what kind of relationship we would have. It didn't matter if I had a home. I asked him what he wanted to be called. Dragonborn was the only term worthy enough of his attention.

He pulled an axe off the wall and tossed it my way. I dove backwards before it could crush me. I knew nothing of weapons but could deduce that most any weapon thrown by the Dragonborn could crush a child in a heartbeat. He frowned at my reaction.

"We're going to have to work on that aren't we?" Sanguine strode towards me and took my chin roughly in his palm. I tried to suppress a quiver. "What do you say to that?"

"Yes, Dragonborn." He smiled at my response, his blue eyes matching mine exactly in color and intensity.

"Very good, my Innocence."

…

Faster than my body was used to, I plunged the dagger to the hilt into the cat's chest. I stepped away as he screamed, unable to remove my eyes from the wailing, soon-to-be cadaver. The voice of the assassin pulled me from my trance.

"The conniving kajiit. Cat like that was sure to have enemies. It's no wonder you chose him."

"You told me to kill and I killed," I said, mostly to myself. That's two murders in two days. It's like I was killing for sport...

"Indeed," she said, her voice as cool as ever. Almost like she hadn't just witnessed a murder. "You, my friend, seem to understand what's truly important. When I give an order to spill blood, you follow it. No questions. No remorse."

"So, I'm free to go?"

"Of course, and you've repaid your debt in full." She smiled once more. "But why stop here? I say we take our relationship to the next level. I would like to officially extend to you an invitation to join my family, the Dark Brotherhood. In the southwest reaches of Skyrim, in the Pine Forest, you'll find the entrance to our sanctuary. It's just beneath the road, hidden from view. When questioned by the Black Door, answer with the correct pass phrase 'Silence, my brother.' Then you're in and your new life begins. I'll see you at home, Dragonborn's apprentice."