We couldn't waste any time rushing to the Thalmor Embassy. The implications were mind-shattering; Someone in there was trying to murder Karal'e. I wouldn't have thought it possible that he would leave himself vulnerable, but as much as I'd like to think the Dark Brotherhood is stupid and incompetent, they managed to get pretty far with their plans. How far, though, were they willing to go to murder the Dragonborn?

Carriages were too slow for us. He bought two horses from the stables. Ri'saad and I led each of them, with Rodryck on Ri'saad's horse and Helen on mine. Needless to say, the Dragonborn's lover was far ahead of me, and speeding up. All four of us were shocked, but Ri'saad was rendered emotionless. He ruthlessly killed the three assassins upon hearing what the worthless crap sack had to say. He wanted each of their deaths on his head. He wouldn't speak a word, even with Rodryck's countless questions.

As we neared the embassy, Ri'saad stopped us, knowing that we needed to sneak inside. Delphine had told us of a little-known cave passage, and he wasted no time scraping the woods for it.

Once we finally found the cave, we rushed inside, speeding through until we saw the ice-blue walls were painted red with fresh blood. In the far corner, Karal'e lay unconscious with a stab wound in his lower torso. I couldn't even bear to look at Ri'saad's face. He rushed Helen, our healer, to Karal'e. Thankfully, she deduced that only a small fraction of the blood was his, but that whoever it was had a sadist mind befitting that of a Dark Brotherhood assassin; Our Dragonborn was both stabbed and poisoned.

Helen quickly used a healing spell while Ri'saad held his precious man close, his face petrified, unable to express anything but fear. I did what I lived to do, defending the three from any attacker. Whoever was responsible for this atrocity had to be nearby. Rodryck pulled out his mace and shield, hearing footsteps approaching from a deeper passageway, which were momentarily accompanied by a voice.

"Well, now, that was surprisingly simple," he said. "That poor Delphine was so ensnared by dragon-hunting that she didn't even look at who she hired to help her. Soon, I'll have a reward from her, and from my Brothers for making history tonight."

"What kind of heartless beast kills innocents for money!?"

"The kind that realizes just how easy it is," he paused to show himself. "To manipulate others to get anything they want." When he left the shadows, I realized who the killer was; It was Malborn.

"Do you have any empathy at all?"

"Why waste time with other people's thoughts and feelings?" he smirked. "After all, the purpose of life is to make the best of your own. You, soldier, you want to die with honor, correct? Then make your superiors proud."

His words enticed every last ounce of rage I held within me. I charged forward, taking a mighty swing at the unarmored prick. Just as I was about to chop his hollow head off, he dodged, and vanished into thin air. At that very moment, the entire cave began to shake, and icicles threatened to nail us to the ground. Helen saw that Malborn had dropped the documents, and quickly retrieved them. We rushed out as soon as we could, and when we reached the forest, we could hear the entire cave implode. Unfortunately, we could not leave the trauma behind.

The noise scared our horses away. We had no means of return to Solitude. Ri'saad carried Karal'e, limp and unconscious, the entire distance back to the city, all the while refusing to make a sound.

The next thing I remember after entering the Embassy quarters was my awakening on a stiff bed. My field of vision was spinning. Soft hands ordered my eyes to close again. With no recollection of what had happened, I had a lot of questions to ask. However, I had no strength left to speak. A smooth, comforting voice called my name.

"Karal'e? Does it hurt?"

Does what hurt?

"Just relax for Ri'saad, please."

A tingling sensation began to form in my arms and legs. I began to move my fingers. Just as I started doing that, I felt someone grasp my right hand tightly. Then my sense of reality began to return to me, and brought with it a sharp and agonizing pain. The soft hands moved to embrace my shoulders, and I could feel a healing spell on my lower torso. I fought through my pain and weakness to speak.

"What's happening to me!?"

"Someone was trying to kill you," I heard Helen say. "He was from the Dark Brotherhood."

"This one was in Solitude," Ri'saad choked. "We were attacked. They almost took us, and they said they wanted to kill you." I opened my eyes to see his sullen face, and he responded with a brush of my head to dull the anger that he could see through my blue eyes.

"Do you know who it was?"

"Malborn, it was. He deceived Delphine to get to you."

"So, she's innocent?"

"We believe so."

My field of vision, as it gradually expanded, revealed that we were in some sort of guard barracks. Helen, who was still administering a spell, interjected. "They said something about the Night Mother, and how she 'spoke', and the Listener heard her call."

"What's that mean?"

"The Night Mother is the spirit of the Dark Brotherhood. I don't think she usually speaks," Helen recalled. "I don't know who the Listener is, though, and I don't like the sound of it."

"Think it's Malborn?"

"It could be him," she said. "Try not to stress about it until later."

I turned my head to my left, leaning my head wearily on Ri'saad's arm. I asked him, "Where are we?"

"We're in Castle Dour. You're a Thane, so the Imperials let us stay here," he said, sounding exhausted. "This one carried you over here."

I felt a smile grow across my face, and Ri'saad returned the warm expression. "Thank you," I whispered.

I slowly realized that Rodryck was with us as well, standing aside with Lydia. I guess they didn't know what to say. Lydia made a feeble attempt at changing the subject. "You knew Ri'saad can ride horses, right? I couldn't keep up with him."

"I almost fell off," Rodryck added.

"Are you sure he cared how you felt?" she quipped.

"Well, when you consider why he was rushing, it's entirely fair," he said.

Ri'saad gave him a sly look before shaking his head. "This one didn't need to help you since Ri'saad was sure you're thick-headed enough to break your own fall."

Strangely, Rodryck seemed relieved to hear Ri'saad insult him. What else happened while I was gone? I didn't have the nerve to ask.

We returned to Dragon-blood Manor, once again by carriage. Delphine had informed me that she would be there during the mission. I found her, and her assistant, in the merchant's building. She was reading some of the books about Dwemer and Falmer behind the desk, and her assistant was cleaning up. When we had returned, it was our turn to inform.

"This is bad," she said, after listening intently. "This is seriously bad. The Dark Brotherhood never allows a contract to fail, unless they find a bigger fish to fry."

"What should we do?", I asked. "We need better protection and preparation. With just the dragons on our tail, we needed a lot of training. Now we have assassins trying to wipe us out."

"I completely agree. That is why I'm leaving the Sleeping Giant Inn to stay here."

That altered Ri'saad's worried expression into annoyance. "As long as you're willing to accept group consensus, this one will live with you, no questions asked."

Rodryck seemed confused by the decision. "Who's left to run the Inn?"

With an expression of thought, Delphine responded, "We're leaving it to a refugee who ran an inn in Helgen. It should be in good hands now."

The Wood Elf assistant, with much deliberation, approached to introduce himself. "Hello, I guess? My name's Meranden."

"He can use enchanting and train archery."

"Also, I use war axes and alteration."

He seems all right.

"I think you'll do well for yourself here," I said, trying to sound as honest as I could. In truth, I dread having to get used to another member, but we needed more people who could fend for themselves. "At the risk of sounding nonchalant, what should our next trip be?"

Delphine shook her head. "Wherever it is, I can't go. I have research to attend to."

"All right. Helen and Meranden can stay back, too. We need more armor with more members, and we do have a shop to run."

Rodryck grabbed his mace and headed towards the back door. "So, that leaves the rest of us to go where?"

"After a good night's rest," I replied, "We need to head north. We have enough skill to spread around with weaponry, but we need to train further in magic. We're going to Winterhold."