Astrid wakes when the carriage driver shakes her shoulder. "Wake up, miss. We are in Dawnstar."
Astrid pulls her cloak around her body and swings her backpack over her shoulder and pays the driver. The Sanctuary is still half an hour's walk from Dawnstar and she picks up her pace as the first snowflakes swirl around her.
"What is life's greatest illusion?" The voice from the door asks
"Innocence, my brother."
"Welcome home." The door slides open, and Astrid walks down the dimly lit passage.
Ra'Rava, the Khajiit leader of the Dark Brotherhood is waiting for Astrid, his tail slowly moving from side to side. "You did not fulfil the contract and you stayed away for almost a month. What do you have to say for yourself?"
Astrid let her cloak slide from her shoulders and pulls the dress over her head to reveal the scars on her naked body. "You sent me to assassinate a high ranking Thalmor, and this is what he did to me. He tortured and raped me for days on end and you want to know what I have to say for myself!"
Astrid can see the shock on everyone's face. Babette, the Vampire child pulls her cloak over her shoulders and leads Astrid to her room. "I do not know what Ra'Rava was thinking. You have not been with us for even a year. You are too inexperienced to face a job like this."
"The Thalmor needs the name of the person who performed the Sacrament. If I do not give it to him soon, he will kill my family. Will you help me?"
"I will try, but you know that Ra'Rava never reveals the name of the client. Maybe you should move your family from the farm to a safer place."
"They do not have money and I do not have enough to send them out of Skyrim."
Nazir clears his throat, "Apologies for eavesdropping. I have someone that will borrow you some money. He will take payments in jobs you do for him. Go to Riften, you will find Mercer Frey down at the Ragged Flagon. Tell him Nazir send you."
"I have a small home in Windhelm they can use. And I will pay them an amount to keep silent about me being the owner. You can pay me back with jobs I do not want my Guild members to know about. Deal?"
Mercer holds his hand out to the woman in front of him. She is young, maybe twenty-two Name Days, with a haunted look upon her. She shakes his hand, as a relieved sigh escapes her lips.
"Thank you, you will not regret helping me."
Astrid walks through the market of Riften, unaware of the Altmer following her.
With her family safely in Windhelm, Astrid sets out to find who performed the Dark Sacrament on Ondolemar. Her family will always be in danger if she can not find the name.
"Please Ra'Rava, my family will be killed if I do not send him a name. The month he gave me for an answer is almost to an end."
"OK. Only because I like you and because I am sorry about what happened to you."
Astrid hands the letter to the courier. "I will pay double if you go straight to Markarth." As the courier runs towards his horse, Astrid feels relaxed for the first time since Ondolemar caught her.