The target came up to her with only the slightest concern on his face, "Something wrong miss?" His eyes were not on her face.
"I lost my crest," Terra struggled to lift her skirt a little while checking under her.
"Where was the last place you had it?" he was eyeing her heavily then noticed an alley. "Maybe, that way?"
Terra turned to look where he had been looking and nodded slowly, "Maybe… I had been…" He was obvious and disgusting. It made Terra sick that these kinds of men were around. The interesting thing was it had taken her a while to find this weakness. He was actually squeaky clean considering he was an official. She had learned of this Achilles' heel by getting one of his soldiers drunk, poor fools will loosen their lips for a pretty face and a set of boobs.
The target slid his arm around her waist and pulled her close. His hand grabbed tight as he went to slither his hand down to the opening on the inner side of her skirt. Suddenly he let out a cry and pulled his hand away, there was now a slice in his skin, and it was bleeding pretty badly. "Oh, you whore!" he went to strike her, but a guard was walking by and the target being famous didn't need that kind of attention. He continued quickly on his way trying to cover the cut and not bleed over his clothing.
Terra made her way down a dark alley way and waited.
The sudden scream in the streets let her know that the poison had worked.
She ran, getting away quickly so that she would not be the one fingered; besides she still had to plant this paperwork.
Upon returning to the Sanctuary, the rather tired Terra was greeted with a blood bath and a wounded member of their group. Gabriella was waiting for her at the doorway.
"It's …Cicero. There's been an incident. You should proceed into the Sanctuary, I'll let Astrid explain," Gabriella seemed to be at wits end.
When Astrid spied Terra, she stormed to her screeching, "The fool went absolutely berserk! He wounded Veezara, tried to kill me, and then he fled. I knew that lunatic couldn't be trusted." She was furious; at that point she stopped making sense. The babbling was just a string of curses and she soon left, slamming her door to make the point of her anger.
Terra just blinked at everyone. She had no words for what was going on especially since she had no real clue.
"It's true, I'm afraid. Cicero was a little whirlwind, slashing this way and that. It would have been funny, if he weren't trying to murder us all," Festus Krex had a slight chuckle in his voice.
Nazir was nodding, "Don't forget the ranting and raving. About the Night Mother, how she was the true leaser of the Dark Brotherhood, and Astrid was just a 'pretender'."
Astrid strode out of her room suddenly and bee lined to Terra, she took her by the collar, and held out orders, "I want you to find that miserable little fool and end his life!"
Terra went through the orders she had been handed and shivered. She was supposed to kill the Keeper?! This would not hold over well in her mind. She needed to investigate what was going on in the little jester's mind.
She entered the room he had been in and found it destroyed. Everything was out of place and strewed about. She read through the rest of his journals and discovered the issue. His anger was placed in the fact that Astrid was a mockery of the Brotherhood. She bent the old ways and this did not sit well with him. This was all kept to himself though what made him attack?
Terra returned to Astrid and let the woman know her findings and Astrid looked at her with anger, "Cicero's problem isn't his madness. It's an adherence to an ancient, outmoded way of life. The Night Mother's way… simply are not our ways. He just couldn't accept that. And now he'll have to pay the price.
"But he wouldn't just attack with that information," Terra said more to herself. If the ways that Astrid wanted to run the Brotherhood was so different then she should break away and make her own guild. To take on the role of the Dark Brotherhood meant to follow the rules that were established.
Astrid shifted uncomfortably under Terra scrutinizing eyes, "Well… if I'm being honest, I haven't exactly been discreet lately in expressing my frustrations with this whole situation. Obeying the Night Mother. You being the Listener. It's ridiculous. No offense. Cicero may have overheard me talking to one of the others about the Night Mother. It's possible I was not… not entirely respectful. But to go this far. To attempt to murder the leader of a Sanctuary. Cicero must pay with his life. There is no other option."
Terra stared at the woman as she turned and left again. This woman had just turned the Keeper into a monster and now she expected Terra to fix this after everything she just said. She should be at least slightly remorseful for what she had done, but that was not evident on the woman's face. Terra shook her head and requested information from the rest of the group who had witnessed the incident.
Terra received nothing, but pity for the jester but everyone in the end said he had to die. She decided to make her way to the Dawnstar Sanctuary.
After a few days of travel and a period to think she reached her destination. There was a body at the front of the entrance.
Arnjorn was there breathing hard and cursing, the gash across his belly looked painful. It wouldn't kill him though as a werewolf and given a little time he would heal up and look good as new. He explained to Terra he had a hold of the little twerp but the place was full of traps. Something went wrong; he managed a deadly blow but couldn't finish Cicero alone so she would need to go in and finish the jester. Arnjorn made it clear that she would be going in alone to finish this mess.
Terra shook her head and took her first steps into Dawnstar.