Chapter 10

Dree did not return to sleep when LaChance was gone. Nerves could not keep her awake any more, but the thought of sleeping now held no appeal whatsoever. It was obscurely comforting that she heard the door latch click as he left the living quarters. I wonder how often a Speaker ever kills anyone, she thought. Even so, she listened until she could no longer hear his heartbeat. It was faster than Gogron's. Humans are faster. Argonians are slower. Mer have that little skip in mid-beat that I never noticed until I stopped having one.

Gogron and M'raaj-Dar and Antoinetta still slept. Dree looked around at them, seeking reassurance. M'raaj-Dar looked peevish even in his sleep. The whiskers on his muzzle twitched from time to time. Antoinetta looked like a sleeping princess, which was exactly the opposite of reassuring. I don't even want to know what she's dreaming about. Dree stared down at Gogron gro-Bolmog. He slept in his trousers as usual, lying on his side. The bruises on his powerful upper body looked worse in the dim light. The shadows seemed to magnify them, moving and stretching as he breathed.

Twice as old as I am, and three times as big, Dree thought. And he's a killer. He'd be one even if he wasn't here. But even with that, I'm glad he found me first. I wonder what Valtieri would have done. I'm pretty sure about Marie.

She padded over to the cupboards and opened one. There were a few strawberries inside, and a loaf of bread. Dree selected a few of the berries and sat against the wall on the floor to eat them. There was a wooden table with benches, but she didn't want to sit there. She'd sat up to a table to eat maybe five times in her life. It never felt right.

The strawberries were a little soft. Dree didn't mind. She was licking the last of the juice off her fingers when she heard the door open. She listened to the soft steps of someone walking down the hall. Beating heart. It's not Valtieri. And the heart sounds like...

Like another mer. And it's still Middas, isn't it? I know who that is.

Dree got up as quietly as possible and sat at the table. She didn't want to surprise an assassin. For that matter, she wasn't keen on explaining why she was sitting on the floor, either. Especially not to someone she had learned to dislike without even meeting them.

The Elf trod around the corner. She wore the same dark form-fitting armor as Marie and Ocheeva. The hood was up, but wisps of blond hair escaped at its edges. Dree took note of the silver bow slung over her shoulder. She carried a quiver of arrows in one black-gloved hand.

"Are you Telaendril?" Dree said.

The Elf pushed her hood back smoothly as she turned. "Yes," she said. "I heard we might have a new Sister." Dree blinked. She'd been expecting... Someone beautiful. Someone really evil looking. Telaendril was neither of those things. Her hair was blond and her eyes were green, like many Bosmer, but her face was as plain as Dree's. As mine used to be, Dree corrected herself silently. Before I started looking like a cadaver. Her jaw was oddly square and her forehead was rather low. Her voice when she spoke was soft and gentle, the very picture of what a Bosmer ought to sound like.

"I'm Dree," Dree said.

Telaendril looked at her thoughtfully for a moment. "So you are a vampire," she said. She set the quiver of arrows on the floor, went to the cupboard, and looked inside. "Hm. Vicente and M'raaj-Dar have gotten the apples already. They never seem to last." She broke off a section of the loaf of bread and snagged a bottle of ale from another cupboard. Dree watched as she applied a bottle opener with delicate fingers. There was distinct callus on her right thumb and two fingers.

"You must have been an archer a long time," Dree said.

Telaendril followed Dree's gaze. "Yes, it leaves its mark. The gauntlets are rather too conspicuous to wear in daylight, when I do most of my work." She took another sip of ale. "And what do you do, Sister?"

Dree shrugged. "I don't know yet," she said.

"Really?" Telaendril said. She glanced up from the piece of bread, green eyes innocent. "I heard you were gaining some skill as Gogron's squire."

"Squire?" Dree said.

"Yes. He is such a brute, isn't he?" Telaendril said sweetly. "I'm afraid he does take some watching, especially when he gets excited. But you'll know that by now, of course."

Dree received the impression that excited might mean something different here than she understood it to mean. And if it does, I don't want to know. "He chased me up a tree yesterday," she said.

"You must be a swift runner," Telaendril said. She sipped again.

"Sometimes," Dree said.

"Hm. Well, I'm sure you have plenty of other useful skills," Telaendril said. "Beggars, as they say, can't be choosers. Good night, Sister."

"Good night," Dree said. She watched Telaendril drop the ale bottle into a dustbin and move over to one of the beds. The Elf did not look at Gogron at all.

I thought I'd hate her, Dree thought. She's angry. But she doesn't seem crazy. That has to count for something down here.

"Ha," Dree said to herself, and went to wander through the main Sanctuary. Ocheeva and Valtieri passed her, deep in conversation. She eventually found a book and sat down. The letters were hard to puzzle out, but she was making progress. After a while, M'raaj-Dar shoved open the door to the living quarters and stalked across to the practice room.

"Evening," Dree said.

"Bah," said M'raaj-Dar. Dree shrugged, got up, and went back into quarters.

Everything seemed quiet. Gogron and Marie were still asleep. Telaendril slept also (so said her tranquil pulse). She had chosen the bed that was farthest away from Gogron's. Dree glanced wistfully at the cupboards. Maybe there was a strawberry she'd missed somewhere. It would be worth it to taste something that wasn't bloo – wasn't bl – Oh, Oblivion, Dree thought.

A pair of boots stuck out at an angle beside one of the cupboards. They were soft leather, unscuffed by much outdoor wear. Boots for a man of no unusual size. A pair of dark trousers draped neatly over the tops of them, unstirred by any movement of whomever was inside them.

"Valtieri?" Dree said. If there was an answer, the snoring drowned it out. Dree edged around the table, improving her view without getting any closer. The old vampire sat slumped against the gray stone, his head against the cupboard. His skin was marble-white. A straight line of dark red ran down from one corner of his mouth, so thin that Dree couldn't smell it. Or the blood of an old one has no scent. His eyes were open, but black-red ichor had gathered in the outer corners, as if he were weeping. As Dree watched, he blinked slowly. A drop of burgundy slid down one cheek.

"Gogron," Dree said urgently. The snoring stopped behind her. She crouched in front of Valtieri, afraid to touch him. If he dies, someone will think it was me. They all have to know how much I hate him.

"What happened?" she said. Valtieri's eyes twitched toward the cupboard. Dree looked, and saw the apple lying under it. He'd only taken a single bite. She started to reach for it.

"No." Dree jerked her hand back at the startling hiss. Vicente bared his teeth. There was dark blood on those, too. "Do... not... touch..."

"'S going on?" said Gogron's voice behind her. Dree might have sighed in relief, if breathing had come more naturally.

"I think he's been poisoned," Dree said. "What do we do?"

"I'll take him to his room," Gogron said, entirely calm. "You get M'raaj-Dar. He can heal. Then tell Ocheeva."

"Yes," Dree said, and scrambled up and out of the way. "He said don't touch the apple."

"Okay," Gogron said, but Dree was already gone. Two seconds later she slammed open the door to the practice room.

"M'raaj-Dar," she said. "Valtieri needs you."

"What is it now?" the Khajiit said, shooting a cold glance over his shoulder. He cast another ball of white magicka at the target, which fizzed. "This one tries to practice and there is always someone - "

"He might die," Dree said.

M'raaj-Dar's ears flickered up, then down. "What?"

"Gogron's taking him to his room," Dree said.

"Hmph," the Khajiit said, but he padded swiftly out of the room. Dree went back out into the Sanctuary, looking around for Ocheeva. Don't look. Listen. There's a hearbeat over... Dree scampered past the Dark Guardian and stopped in the shadow of a pillar. Ocheeva was very still, easy to miss in her dark armor. Argonians are cold-blooded. They don't fidget.

"Something happened to Vicente Valtieri," Dree said. "I think someone poisoned him."

Dree heard the startled intake of breath. "What? In my Sanctuary? Who would dare?"

"I don't know," she said. "I found him in the living quarters."

Ocheeva spoke without emotion, but Dree listened to her heart speed up. "You were right to tell me, smallest Sister. Go and find M'raaj-Dar at once."

"I already did," Dree said. "Gogron told me. They're probably in his room already."

"Then you've done well," Ocheeva said, and slid past her as easily as a shadow. Dree, watching her go, realized she'd never seen her run before. I thought she'd be slower. But then, Teinaava did say they grew up together. She followed, now curious to see what would happen. And if he does die, I want to know it.

---

Ocheeva stood beside M'raaj-Dar, watching him try to heal Vicente Valtieri. He had tried a spell for curing poison already without success. Ocheeva knew just enough magic to know how serious that was. It should have worked. The Imperial lay on the marble altar on which he normally slept, startlingly white in the dark room. The walls were close. Even with the spartan furnishings, it seemed crowded with Ocheeva and M'raaj-Dar on either side of the slab. She could feel others watching. She did not turn to look.

Blood ran slowly from the corners of Vicente's eyes. M'raaj-Dar held out his hand palm-downward and whispered something, and blue light spread in a fine net over the vampire's body. He bared his teeth and turned his head away. The bleeding went on. Tiny spots of black-red discolored the marble beside his brown hair.

"Enough," Vicente whispered. "Fool." His voice was ragged. It had been a long time since Ocheeva had heard him sound so old.

"He is right," M'raaj-Dar said. "It does him harm, and no good. In this condition, the light from a more powerful spell will kill him." He did not sound particularly sorry, but then, most of the other Brothers and Sisters were on some level uncomfortable with the vampire. Ocheeva had known him for all of her time at the Sanctuary. Everyone had the reaction. Some people got over it. Some didn't.

Vicente moved his head to one side, a gesture of faint dismissal.

"There is something else we can try," Ocheeva said.

M'raaj-Dar stared at her without comprehension. Valtieri understood it first. He bared his teeth. "Not enough... in your... entire body," he said. He did not breathe between words. He simply stopped talking, as if to gather his strength.

"What about Gogron gro-Bolmog?" Ocheeva said. Behind her, someone made a sound, the sound a person would make hissing with her hand over her mouth. Gogron's voice shushed her.

"No," Valtieri said. "You... and Marie... and Teinaava."

"Everyone out," Ocheeva said, without looking away from him. "Send Antoinetta Marie. Dree, find that apple and keep it."

"Are you certain - " M'raaj-Dar began.

"Go," Ocheeva said. She did not speak loudly, but he flinched as if she had. A moment later, she heard the doors close behind him.

"Wrist," Valtieri said.

"Yes," Ocheeva said. She stripped off her right gauntlet and sat on the edge of the slab, hitching her tail off to one side.

"Alone?" Vicente said. Even as haggard as he currently sounded, the irony in his tone was very familiar. "Rather... foolish..."

Ocheeva moved further over, so that she could cradle his head in her lap. "This one knows you well, old man," she said. "This one has reason to believe in your restraint." She pressed her wrist over his lips, forestalling any reply. "Besides," Ocheeva said, as Vicente sank his teeth in between the small scales. "One does not serve the god without sacrifice."