Chapter 2
She woke sometime during the night with that same strange feeling of being watched. She sat up and looked around her at the dim campsite. The fire was still smoldering, casting a faint, flickering light. For a moment, she didn't see anything other than shadows. Then one of the shadows moved.
Aria stifled a scream and scrambled to her feet. She had no weapons, so she picked up a nearby tree branch to defend herself. The shadow approached and stopped on the other side of the smoldering campfire.
"You sleep rather soundly for a murderer. That's good. You'll need a clear conscience for what I am about to propose," a man's deep voice said.
Aria clenched her trembling hands around her branch. "Explain yourself. Now."
"In due time, dear child. In due time. First, an introduction. I am Lucien Lachance, Speaker for the Dark Brotherhood. And you, you are a cold-blooded killer, capable of taking life without mercy or remorse. The Night Mother has been watching, and she is most pleased. And so, here I am. I come to you with an offering. An opportunity...to join our rather unique family."
Aria studied him intently. Lachance was tall, with deep brown eyes. She couldn't see his hair beneath his dark hood, but she thought it might be black. She continued studying him, slowly lowering the branch, but keeping a tight grip on it. "I'm listening."
"Then heed my words, for I will not repeat them. On the Green Road, to the north of Bravil, lies the Inn of Ill Omen. There you will find a man named Rufio. Kill him, and your initiation into the Dark Brotherhood will be complete. Do this, and the next time you sleep in a location I deem secure, I will reveal myself to you once more, bearing the love of your new family."
"But I'm no murderer..."
"No? The Night Mother seems to think otherwise." Lachance reached into his black robe, bringing out a dagger. Aria tensed, raising the branch again, but he simply held it out to her. "Allow me to grant you a gift, in case you reconsider. This Blade of Woe is a virgin blade, and thirsts for blood."
Aria hesitated, then dropped her branch and accepted the blade. It was made from ebony and very finely crafted. The gleaming metal reflected the flickering light of the fire. Her name was engraved on the handle in gold, and the filigree twinkled like the hidden stars above. She experimentally waved it around a couple of times and found it light and easy to wield. "Thank you, I guess." She paused. "My name is Aria, by the way."
The man smiled at her. "The pleasure is mine, Aria. Now, I bid you farewell. Your path is clear. Send Rufio to his death, and the Dark Brotherhood will embrace you as family. I do hope we'll meet again soon." Without another word, he vanished into the shadows of the night.
Aria stared at the spot where he'd been standing. Were it not for the blade in her hand, she would have thought she'd dreamed the entire episode. She sat heavily on her bedroll and thought for a very long time.
She was on the run. She had no family she could turn to. Her parents were dead. She had no home. And she needed a place to go. Anvil wouldn't hide her forever, and what if she couldn't beg for enough money to leave Cyrodiil? She was almost out of options, but was she desperate enough to join a guild of assassins?
Lachance had said that the Dark Brotherhood would become her new family. Family was something she hadn't experienced since she was a child. Her parents, jewelry merchants from the Imperial City, had died in a fire that had consumed both their shop and home. She'd been orphaned at the age of eight, left without a relative in the world. Her life as a beggar had left her without friends as well. For the past eleven years, she'd been starved for love, just as she'd been starved for food.
The thought of food brought to mind the rumors she'd heard about the Dark Brotherhood. She couldn't buy food without money. Lachance hadn't said anything about money, but the rumors said they were paid assassins. She needed the money.
That just left the issue of them being assassins.
I must be going crazy, she thought. She was actually considering accepting Lachance's offer! Could she really kill other people for a living? Aria thought long and hard about that. The incident with the shopkeeper had proven that she could kill, but did she want to live by killing others? Was she that desperate?
The answer was simple: yes. Yes, she was that desperate. The other cities of Cyrodiil weren't nearly as big as the Imperial City, so her chances of begging enough to stay alive were considerably less. Her life couldn't get much worse than it already was. And Lachance had promised that she would have a family that would love her. She didn't really want to kill again, but it was either that or slowly starving to death in a miserable hole in the wall in some city. Yes, she was desperate enough.