The force of her slap sent Cicero flying into a small table, knocking over the nightshade and table all together. Hesara didn't care, her ears were still ringing and starting to feel hot from the loud shrill sound of his voice. For a moment, the room spun around her and she squeezed her eyes shut to stop herself from falling. The Keeper shook his head, buzzing taking over the silence and he grinned at the Listener.

She tensed, hearing the soft slice of air as he leapt and swung around to meet his unsheathed knife. Glass met ebony for a split second before Cicero dropped his knife arm to make her stumble, grabbed the Listener's hand and pushed it back to make it pop. She hissed and took a few steps back, but was able to block him as he came at her again with quick, rough swipes of his blade. He twirled around her to take a stab that she again blocked easily before he dived in between her legs and cut her leg before she could. She whirled around to face him, ignoring the twinge and ready to go defense again. Instead, she watched as Cicero sheathed his dagger.

"Humble Cicero lives to serve," he said, arrogantly bowing low to her and grinned crazily. She blinked at him in confusion before turning on her heel and leaving him alone. Cicero grinned after her as she left before turning to the Night Mother's crypt.

"Dear mother," he crooned quietly, setting his head against the coffin,"You're finally going to talk to sweet, sweet Cicero!"

As the door shut behind her, Cicero burst out into loud song that make her clench her teeth tightly, blood rushing to them once more. Her headache worsened as his singing became louder, even as she walked further away. She hurried down the steps to stand before the semi deep pool located in the middle of the Sanctuary. Loosening her belts and setting aside her pouches, she stripped down to the loose clothing she had on underneath and stepped lightly into the pool. The water was nice on her skin, not too cold or hot. She interrupted the silence with a loud splash as she dived in. Veezara paused in his practice to glance over to her last seen place.

Down in the depths, Hesara closed her eyes in bliss as the water surrounded her and plugged her poor ears. They ached for a small while before letting her enjoy the water fully.

The Bosomer loved water. It was truly quiet and peaceful to her, blocking out all noise and shielding her from any real attacks. Here, her tense frame settled and drifted with the current. As her lungs started to cramp, she started to swim up before something grabbed her. Hesara opened her eyes slowly and saw a green scaled face staring back at her. Veezara had come in with her. He flashed her a quick smile that she returned with a tick of her eyebrow (a smile to her) before swimming closer to seal their lips together. Breathable air rushed into her lungs that she took in greedily before he pulled away. He laid back on the floor of the pool and shut his eyes to relax as well.

Soon, her thoughts turned away from the water and to the situation she found herself facing. The Night Mother had given her a task she needed to complete. Astrid, for one reason or another, did not want her fulfilling the command. Hesara had a suspicion that she'd need to be incredibly careful around the higher ranking woman from here on out. She'd read about the old command structure of the Dark Brotherhood and knew what was troubling Astrid. She thought Hesara would get ideas about replacing her as the Leader, ironically the reason she had her first enter the Night Mother's coffin for in the first place. A plan started to form, and Hesara knew it would not be so easy to complete.

Author's Note:

Hey there! Sorry, I've been away for so long! I've been having a major writer's block and it's starting to go away...slowly. As you can see, things are going to get interesting for the Dark Brotherhood. I hope you like this chapter, tell me what needs improving please! Sorry it's so short!

Everyone except Hesara belongs to Bethsada

Hesara is my own character!