Author's Note: I actually had fun writing this chapter. I don't know if it's my fascination with the Dark Brotherhood and how I love giving the members a slightly twisted character than original, or something else. Anyways, I hope you enjoy reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it.
(P.S: Biggest apologies if Antoinetta's just too much in this chapter. I've yet to figure her out completely)
(P.S.S: I didn't want to say it but here it is anyway: this story reached a thousand views a few days ago! I'm so happy and scared at the same time)
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Chapter 11: The Dark Brotherhood
-~O~-
Cheydinhal was a relief to see if you've been searching for flowers in the darkening afternoon. Linne thought there would be no end to their gathering of Milk Thistle, but was surprised when Niera had nodded at her direction and lead their way to the horses. It was not a long ride back home; truly, Linne thought it was unnecessary that they went on the horse at all. Niera stepped down her mare, careful not to be seen by the city guards, or the stable boy. Her cloak seemed to make her struggle getting down.
However, when she hit the ground, there was an evident and loud thump where she must have slipped, or did not have the strength to stop herself from falling. Holding her laughter, Linne followed suit, careful not to make the mistake Niera did. When her sister turned to the two horses, she already composed herself and took the small pouch that had the vials and alchemy instruments, "We need to send them going first," she explained, patting the two horses' back. They walked slowly towards the direction of the stable. "I could have sneaked them in, that would be quicker, but trickier."
"Here I thought the famed assassin, Niera, could do everything," Linne sighed, watching the horses as they stopped outside the stable gate, then to Niera, who was holding the round stone that was wrapped inside her cloak. The cloth was not even burnt in the slightest.
Niera did not seem impressed. "I have my own faults, as you have yours. Best not linger on it; we need to get back to Cheydinhal. I need—my friend must be waiting for these herbs." She looked down at the orb and tilted her head, as if thinking where to hide it, lest the guards ask her of its strange appearance.
"It struck me as odd that you put a lot of dedication to find the ingredients. Jumping into an Oblivion gate with no deep knowledge of what lies on the other side?" Linne tried to keep her voice steady, keeping the fear of her sister's anger to herself. Niera decided to put the orb by her side, held with an arm as she walked on.
Suddenly, however, she said, "Let's just keep it at: he is a friend that I am indebted to. A simple and adequate answer, in retrospect."
Feeling that she would never get another answer from her sister, Linne nodded and let the silence drag on as they continued their way to the gates. It was before dawn when they left the city, and it was dark again when they returned.
The guards who were standing before the gates, however, were different. Unlike the previous two, they let them in without question. Not even anything about Niera's possession. I wonder if they know what it was, if the tale about the closed Oblivion gate months ago was true.
She shook her head, breaking herself from her train of thought.
"I'm correct if I say I'll go to the inn?" Linne asked, dreading the answer all the same. Sometimes Niera found places her sister could hide in, but it did not necessarily mean every day Linne had the luxury of actually sleeping. In fact, sleep was welcome now. Spoiled with a proper bed to sleep on would do that to you, even if you were used to days without proper rest. Before she could stop herself, Linne yawned. Niera, though, did not say a single word.
I'm starting to wonder if she's deaf now, she thought. Niera waited a few seconds, and in the torchlight she could still see her in that same thoughtful expression, until she finally moved. She walked the usual way to the inn, Linne trailing just a few steps behind.
"There are some things that are not true, in what I said earlier," Niera said, unexpectedly. They were in front of the inn, but Niera did not stop, which confused Linne even further. She was about to ask where the hell they were going, but decided on the spot that perhaps Niera wouldn't answer. They took a turn left and went through one of the twin bridges that were built over the well-known river in Cheydinhal. When they passed through the chapel's graveyard, Linne's stomach fell. Sleeping in the undercroft again?
Yet Niera continued without stopping. It was only when she was in the housings that she spoke. "Promise me one thing, first, Linne," Niera said, slowing down for the first time. Her tone was quiet, but urgent, "Everything that would happen after this... and perhaps the events before, not even a single soul must know except us."
Linne was taken aback, but otherwise, she nodded slowly, cautiously. "I… promise."
"What do you promise?" Niera demanded, her voice cracking, and Linne knew instantly that her way of speaking was alike to when she usually felt guilt. What did Niera feel guilty for?
Taking a deep breath, Linne said clearer, "I swear that nobody would ever even know anything that happened today."
Niera stopped completely and turned around, her face hidden in the darkness. Not even the nearest torchlight reached her. "By what?"
What does she mean, 'by what?' Does she want me to die to be completely sure that today's incident will be a secret for eternity? "By the Night Mother and Sithis. By my life, also, if that's what it takes."
"Should you back away from what will happen, will you still honour this promise?"
"Niera, what—"
"Promise me, Linne," Niera said exasperatedly, with a tinge of anger. She knew that any other answer—or a question—would result in exactly that fury, but yet it was all still confusing. How could she promise something that she had no knowledge of? It made no sense at all to her.
Still... it was not like she had an option served on a silver pedestal, so Linne was forced to nod, "I swear I will honour this promise."
Her sister stared at her for a moment, her blue eyes dark while scrutinizing Linne for any possibility of a lie. When she found none, Niera nodded and turned to walk once more. "I am glad that you are taking this seriously, sister. I hoped that one day you would stop taking everything with a jest."
"Some part of me still does," Linne admitted sheepishly, but drew no real reaction from Niera. Linne felt her sister's irritation cooling down, which she was grateful of. "Now that I've sworn what I had to, will you tell me where we are going?"
"In due time. We're nearly there, actually," Niera answered, stopping in front of a short iron gate belonging to the building it lead to, before walking again until they were on a yard of an abandoned house. House was not quite the right word to describe it, if Linne could say so.
Its windows—or what's left of it, anyways—were boarded up with wooden boards that had moss growing from it. The same material and its condition was applied to the door, but when Niera pulled the door knob it opened without so much as a strain, as if you were supposed to open it like any other door.
Inside was... terrifying. It matched any depiction of a haunted manor that stories her father would tell her took place in. Cobwebs covered a corner of a ceiling, while broken furniture decorated the floors here and there, with a group of barrels standing quite out of place from the rest of the broken wood. There was a stairway that must lead to the upper floor, and there was a door that must lead to the basement just on the side of the stairs.
It was eerily cold; there was no furnace in this house at all, when every other parlor must have at least one. And there was no sound except for her heavy breathing. Yes, she thought, most definitely haunted. For a moment, Linne was completely sure that she would be sleeping here; this will be her home for the time being.
She was still stunned in silence when Niera went towards the door that Linne speculated lead to the basement. "Know that the responsibility given to you by what will happen is no light burden, sister. You should also know by now that there will be no turning back."
Responsibility? No turning back? The pieces were there for Linne to put together, and a giddy feeling took over her first before she even made up what was happening. The only reasonable thought her head formed was that her dream was coming true; finally, she would have a family, or be part of it. She would be in the Dark Brotherhood.
Am I, really? She started to doubt, but the hair on the back of her neck stood up, still. It was indescribable, the feeling of hope that she would be correct. The part of her that had grown serious reminded her that she should not hope too much, lest she get hurt when she fell from her highness. Her childish-abandon-always-taking-everything-with-a-jest part, however, screamed out the obvious. She was correct.
Linne dared not, however, say anything on the subject. She only followed Niera down a step of stairs as they descended into the darkness of the basement. She watched her footing carefully, keeping her happiness bottled up. Linne looked at her sister for a while, only to be reminded of her lifelong wish.
Finally, there was an unnatural red glow from somewhere down the corridor. So deep in her bliss, Linne did not notice that they took a turn where the walls and floors were not manmade. They went through the cavern-like corridor that ended with a single stone door, which was the source of the red light.
Immediately after glancing once at the artwork of the door—a woman thin as bone surrounded by small children; in fact, the woman was holding a child—all doubt that she was going to be initiated to the Dark Brotherhood vanished. Niera touched the smooth surface of the door and a slow hiss sounded from it, "What is the colour of night?"
"Sanguine, my brother," Niera answered. Linne was staring with eyes wide as saucers, her heart beating against her chest. Her sister took a small look at her and showed the smallest of smiles, though was it of amusement at Linne's ridiculousness she would never know.
Slowly, the door opened by itself. Linne took a small gulp and followed her sister into the Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary.
"Welcome home," the door said as it closed behind them.
Her sister's giddiness was too evident, and not in the least subtle. Niera knew Linne for her entire life, and if anything excited her more than joining the Dark Brotherhood... well, nothing did. The best thing to ever happen in Linne's short life was acknowledged by the brotherhood.
Niera did not completely understand Linne's complete fascination with the group of murderers. It was the Dark Brotherhood that killed their father, though Linne would never know that. And it never hurt to mention that if you're a member, you're a member for life. Betrayal is taken seriously, and if there was a crime that goes unpunished, colour Niera surprised.
Excluding, of course, the case of betrayal that was happening now. Niera took a deep breath to prepare herself for the worst and turned to Linne. "It is not usually my place to welcome you to the sanctuary, but since the housekeeper is not in the hall I suppose the first member you see would. Welcome to the Dark Brotherhood, sister."
If it was possible, Linne was grinning very, very wide. "I... am a part of the... Brotherhood?" she said, unsure, yet her joy was still apparent. She walked deeper into the hall, to where Niera was standing. "I... I truly don't know what to say."
"Thank you, perhaps," Niera said, looking around the hall. It was too quiet, even for an eerie place like the Sanctuary. There should always be Antoinetta's bright—and yet still dark—comments about a fellow assassin's contract. Telaendril and Gogron's banter usually filled the empty corridors, yet their voices were not even there.
A realisation hit her that maybe... no, it can't be. As much as Niera wanted to believe that maybe they were all asleep, or some were on a contract, a dark feeling in her stomach formed that they were all already purified. That Lachance's task for her was just another one of those damned tests of loyalty, and she failed. That she proved too quick to act on the words of a person unworthy to listen to the Night Mother.
She took a heavy swallow to lessen the lump in her throat, but it did nothing to help. Linne seemed to sense Niera's unease and asked, "What's happening? Why's it so quiet?"
"I don't now," confessed she, and it was all she could do to stop the tears forming in the back of her eyes. She could be over exaggerating. "Stay here. Don't go anywhere."
Linne nodded, and it was a good enough answer for Niera as she walked towards the right, to the living quarters, where, if her assumptions were correct, her peers were resting in.
Just before she touched the handle of the door, however, she felt that sense of guilt as she held out her hand. "Linne," she called out, as quiet as possible. Niera did not expect her sister to hear, but when Niera looked back Linne's attention was on her, "Listen, Linne, about what I said earlier..." she took a small breath, "I meant it all, for your safety. You're my sister, and I don't want you hurt, and you're safer here than anywhere else." She turned around to face the door again, touching the doorknob, "I beg of you, don't do anything rash."
Before she could even hear an answer, she opened the door and the main chamber disappeared from her view after she closed it shut. By Sithis, I need to stop those guilty episodes. Taking a deep breath, she turned around, not even daring to believe that her friends were not on the bed.
It was an immense relief, then, after she turned around the corner of the corridor, she found sitting on the table were Ocheeva, her brother, Teinaava, and Antoinetta, having a chat over their breakfast. When they heard Niera's footsteps, the two Argonians turned their heads toward her. The Breton need only look up and smiled at her dark sister.
A heavy burden lifted off Niera's shoulders. So I was overdramatizing.
"So good of you to join us once more, Niera," Antoinetta remarked when Niera sat down on her bed, trying to hide the stone orb from their view. She settled on unclasping her cloak and put them rather hastily on the floor, covering the ball altogether. When she looked at the three of them, they were back on their food.
She sighed. "Well, it feels nice to be welcomed." She stood up and went to the other table, on the other side of the room. She was positively starving, and she truly needed to replenish her energy after running into hell and back again. Just the thought of it made her sick, but still hungry.
"Sure it does," Antoinetta said after spreading her bread with butter, and taking a bite. Niera sat down and looked at the table, only finding a few slices of bread left and three apples sitting neatly on a bowl. It was enough, she supposed, but Niera very much preferred something that would help her gather her energy back. "So, how did the meeting go?"
The question caught her off guard that Niera nearly dropped her piece of bread. "I'm sorry?"
Ocheeva turned around and looked at her apologetically. She told? "Don't pretend you don't know, sister," Antoinetta replied with a giggle. "Why in all of Nirn would you think that you'd sneak away unseen, of all places, in the Sanctuary?"
She huffed. It was perfectly quiet and empty when Niera walked out from the Brotherhood to meet with Lachance just two days ago. It was impossible that anyone saw. It was worse that Antoinetta spread word about it. Just throw Niera off the window and be done with it. "It was a moment of curiosity. Perhaps, of wanting to know just how much you'd be unseen when sneaking out the Sanctuary? Humour me."
The other Breton rolled her eyes. "Very well, if you wouldn't tell me the reason. The meeting, however, we must know."
"There was no meeting."
"Horse shit," Antoinetta swore, looking at Niera with a crooked smile. "There is something you're hiding here, sister. Perhaps something unsatisfactory that happened in that meeting?" her smile turned suggestively and Niera instantly, against her own will, reddened.
"I think if our sister doesn't wish to tell us, we should leave her be," Teinaava said, although he too was holding back a smile. Or was he thoroughly scolding Antoinetta? It was hard to tell on Argonians. "I'm sure she has her own reasoning."
Antoinetta pouted just a bit, but still smiled. "I suppose you're right, then," she replied, taking the last bite of her bread. "Yet it doesn't sate my curiosity."
"Curiosity killed the cat," Niera chirped, with a smug smile of her own. "Though perhaps you aren't a cat." Antoinetta put on a mock hurt look, which made the party chuckle. When the slice of bread was finally gone from Niera's hands—it was barely a minute ago that she first held it—that she stood up. "I suppose there are more things that I should—"
"Oh, hold on," Ocheeva stopped her, also backing her chair so that she could stand up. She walked over to the Breton and took a small scrap of paper from her pocket. "Speaking of our Speaker only reminded me of another note he left you."
"Maybe he dearly misses you and requires your presence back," Antoinetta said, before Niera threw an apple at her. The Breton caught it with such finesse that Niera grumbled. "Hey, careful. This could be poisoned."
"It should be," Niera said darkly, but Antoinetta only smiled once more and took a bite from the fruit. Ocheeva raised a brow at the two, but shook her head to return her to the matter at hand.
"As I have said," the Argonian said, putting the paper on Niera's hand. "I do not know the meaning of it, though perhaps you would."
Confused, Niera nodded and thanked the female Argonian and went back to her bed, where she sat on as she read the note. It was curiously short, and it made her wonder if it was truly necessary to send her a one-sentence riddle.
Those who walk in the night do not suffer as we do.
It was not even a common saying, nor a well-known riddle; she was sure that Lachance himself created it for this occasion. Yet what was its meaning? Niera sighed and rolled the paper, putting it on her night table since it did not even seem suspicious. She was about to interpret its meaning before she suddenly remembered.
"Ocheeva, wait!" she cried out, the mentioned person already on her way to the room's exit. Ocheeva turned around curiously as Niera approached her. "I've one thing to say. I suppose that it may have something to do with last night's meeting."
"Oh?" she crossed her arms. When Niera glanced at Antoinetta, the woman was also craning her head to listen better. "And what is it?"
Niera took a deep breath. Surely they won't suspect anything if suddenly she said that her sister was a member? It was wiser than them thinking Linne was a trespasser. She thanked the Night Mother that the hall was at least empty. Unsure, she tried her chances. "We have a new member with us."
"I knew it!" Antoinetta exclaimed. "I knew it, and I was correct!"
She was momentarily confused at what Antoinetta could possible mean, before it dawned on her. By all that exists in the world... "She is my sister. A younger sister who is allowed by Lachance to be a member of the Brotherhood," she stated, gritting her teeth when she finished. Antoinetta was still grinning from where she was sitting.
"Your sister? Is she possibly as good as you?" Teinaava asked. Niera almost forgot that he was still in the room, browsing the small book case that settled by the other side of the room.
Well, is she? "She's never killed anyone," Niera admitted, "but only because she is young. Very, very young."
"How so?" This time it was Ocheeva who asked.
Niera turned to sit at the nearest bed. "She is not yet fourteen, though in a few more months she would turn a year," she explained, "While she may not be as experienced as us, it is only natural. Her skills will be refined as she trains and grows."
Ocheeva nodded, though there was still disbelief in her eyes. "She's never truly killed anyone?" Niera shook her head in reply. "Is this the Night Mother's willing?"
Niera chewed her lip before settling with her answer. "I don't think Lachance would allow this if it weren't."
"You bribed him," Antoinetta considered, tapping a finger on her chin. Niera groaned. Will she ever stop this jest? "Or threatened him."
"Trust me, if I tried, I'd be dead by now," Niera said, which silenced Antoinetta completely. That was good. "She is allowed to join us. Allowance by Lachance himself."
Ocheeva was considering the truth of Niera's words, and finally, after a long moment, she sighed. "I don't truly want to doubt your words, since you were summoned by Lucien. And, well," she paused, turning Niera's attention back at her, "You are my trusted friend. You've eliminated Scar-tail for me; that's more than enough to earn my friendship. I believe your word that Lachance recruited your sister."
Niera sighed in relief, though she tried not to show it too much. "Thank you, Ocheeva. She's right outside if you wish to speak with her. I didn't do justice in welcoming her."
-~O~-
So basically nothing much happens.
NicciP1991: Thanks for the kind words; to be honest it quite relieved me. Though there's still a bit of pressure of updating... (if that makes any sense)