The Brotherhood traitor (I'm sure you all know who that is, but just in case for those of you who remain blissfully unaware) refers to Arquen as a 'High Elf whore'. It could just be a generic insult, but I'm taking it to mean that's what she was before joining the Brotherhood.
Unfortunately Enthralled – chapter fifteen
"So," says Ungolim, half way through a biscuit, "Have you slept with him yet?"
No matter how many times the Listener asks – and he asks at every Black Hand meeting, with a keen interest that never wavers – Uvani always freezes in shock. He's a very conservative man, prudish even. So while he's perfectly aware that sex is just another part of life, he doesn't want to think about it, or hear about it, and he certainly doesn't want to talk about it. But unfortunately, Ungolim is his superior, and that means he can't electrocute him no matter how strong the urge.
"...No, Listener," he answers lowly, staring determinedly at the table, "I haven't."
Ungolim huffs, "By the Night Mother, you're taking your time. The boy must be drowning in untended lust by now."
There's a moment, just a split-second when his blood seems to boil in his veins, and a million grisly scenarios roar like wildfire in his mind. But before he can act on any of them, he feels Arquen's cool hand on his wrist; a reassurance, but the firmness of her grip suggests she is ready to grab him if it comes to that.
However, it is not Arquen who speaks in his defence, but the rough and raspy voice of Ja'Ghasta: "Now Listener, some of us are too busy for that sort of thing. If Uvani is not sleeping around with his Silencer it means he is getting on with his duties, yes?"
"Fine, fine. Now that you mention it, I do remember having next to no free time when I was a Speaker. But still-" the Bosmer turns back to Uvani, "Mind you don't leave him pure as snow for too long. Don't want him wandering into someone else's arms, do you?"
Uvani's forced expression is closer to a grimace than a smile, and his voice is just as strained: "Of course not, Listener."
He irritably shakes off Arquen, who's still holding onto his wrist as though he's inches away from throttling Ungolim. Which he is, but he doesn't need to be restrained like a temperamental child. He holds his murderous thoughts in check – well, most of them, anyway – for the rest of the meeting, then leaves the tiny Bravil shack with a chameleon spell and whatever dignity he has left.
Arquen catches up with his furious strides at the city gates, pulling him out of the guard's line of sight as she shrugs off her invisibility, and he does the same; "Uvani-"
"Don't," he snaps before she can finish, "Don't even say it. I don't need any sympathy, or comforting, or anything like that. I just want to get back to Leyawiin."
"Uvani, he's just trying to wind you up-"
"You think I don't know that? I'm perfectly aware he keeps doing it because I keep reacting to it, but I can't just ignore that sort of talk-"
"You can't take it to heart. He does it to everyone."
"Really now? Because it seems to be just me being singled out."
"He winds up all the new Speakers, until they stop reacting to it," Arquen tells him in low, calm tones that may just have a touch of magic thrown in, because he feels his anger slowly fade away, "He teased Ja'Ghasta for choosing celibacy, me for being a whore. The old Leyawiin Speaker for acting like a fishwife."
"Being accused of gossip and insinuations of impotence are two entirely different worlds, Arquen." He then pauses, backtracks their talk a few sentences, "He teased you for being a what?"
"A whore. Before the Brotherhood, I was a prostitute," her tone is nonchalant, but there's a certain coolness to it that strongly advises against mentioning this around company, "Ungolim knew, and believe me, he got it into every conversation I had with him. I used to despise him for it, but eventually I got so fed up I just...stopped reacting. It wasn't worth the effort anymore."
He'd thought up until now that any sympathy Arquen had offered was just generic pity, just her playing the mixed role of mentor and mother she has become to Uvani. He sees now that she genuinely understands his frustrations, but she still hasn't taken into account his temper. "Arquen, I'm not like you. I've turned the other cheek in the past, but not to comments like that."
"But as soon as you do, he'll leave you alone. That's what happened with me. I didn't respond, and I never got another insult from him," the Altmer urged, "The Listener can be frustrating and unexpected, like bad weather, You should take him about as personally."
Uvani gave a long, slow exhale. "...I'll think about it," he muttered at last.
"That's a start," Arquen nodded. And indeed, getting Uvani to back down from any argument was a small victory in itself. "I've a horse in the stables. I'll drop you off at the Leyawiin-Kvatch crossroads, if you'd like."
The Dunmer grunts in confirmation, and thankfully Arquen has enough experience dealing with antisocial assassins to correctly translate it. She leads the way and Uvani follows, eyeing the other residents of the Bravil stables with distrust. He's not overly fond of horses, hence why he walks everywhere, but he wants to get back to Leyawiin as soon as he can.
"Why do you suppose he does it?" he asks Arquen as she helps him onto the saddle of a mundane horse, "Winds people up, I mean. Is it just for fun?"
"I wouldn't have said so," she replies thoughtfully, "Ungolim likes to give the impression that he's...shallow. Petty. It makes him seem harmless, you see," she hoists herself up in front of Uvani and tugs at the reigns, stirring her sleepy steed into action, "I've known him long enough to realise he doesn't do anything without calculated reasoning behind it."
"Yes, but why?"
"To test our self-control. It weeds out Speakers who would be likely to attack or usurp him if they didn't agree with his methods. And it works – the Black Hand operates as a unit, not five people trying to kill each other," she pauses in her speech, though the rocking of the horses' movements down the path remains constant; "I know you don't think too highly of him, but he's far cleverer than he'd have you believe. The Brotherhood is more efficient and infamous than it's ever been, even if it's lost some of the splendour to practicality."
"I never said he wasn't clever," Uvani points out, "If anything he's too smart, if he can manipulate people so easily, He knew to use Banus against me before I'd even joined the Black Hand."
"You can blame the previous Speaker for that knowledge. How is Banus, by the way? Have you resolved everything since Ser- since that contract?"
Alval immediately glances about, but there are no guards to overhear the slip. Even the slightest mention of the word 'Sergius' has you dragged off for questioning these days, as Adamus Phillida's hunt for his son's killers grows ever more aggressive. Ungolim is quite amused by the whole thing.
"It's back to what it was before, more or less," he answers, keeping his voice down just in case, "He still flinches every time Phillida is mentioned, but at least he's not angry anymore. It doesn't suit him," a pause, "I made him some soup. You were right, it does work."
"See, I told you it would," the tone is lightly chiding rather than smug. He has to remind himself sometimes that Arquen is every bit the ruthless killer that he is – you don't make it to Speaker without a generous amount of viciousness. And yet there is something decidedly maternal about her; he can't dispute the fact that she's both wiser and more sensible than he is, with the answers to almost all of his problems.
The sad thing about that is, he's certain she's much younger than him too.
Despite Arquen's reassurance, the Listener's words continue to bother him. He spends a day or so in deep thought, his hands automatically performing any monotonous tasks with no input from his brain. It isn't until Banus, having noticed his uncharacteristic behaviour, asks him what's wrong that he finally responds:
"Do you think we should sleep together?"
Banus blinks in a bewildered, owlish way; "Your bed isn't big enough for two people, is it?"
"No, I meant-" an inward anger rises from the fact that he's blushing – he can feel the heat blooming in his cheeks. It's infuriating, because he's brusque and matter-of-fact about numerous taboo subjects, like gore or torture or how Necromancy tends to attract a great deal of necrophiliacs. But when it comes to his own body and what he does with it, he gets as flustered as a chapel priest. "I meant actually – you know – being together. With each other."
"Oh," and he's partially relieved, partially annoyed that Banus doesn't also blush. He instead looks contemplative, as though he's just been asked his favourite colour. "Do you want to?"
"No – I mean, I wouldn't mind – no, wait-" he finally loses his temper, and snaps, "Look, do you think we should sleep together or not?"
Alor frowns, just a small crease in his smooth, dark skin; "You're upset."
"I'm not upset-"
"Agitated, then. You weren't before," he leans forward a little, his voice soft and soothing and impossible to stay angry at, "What happened?"
...As if he could ever deny Banus any answers. He folds his arms and looks away, "The Listener keeps asking why I haven't – you know – yet. Insinuating that I'm...inadequate or impotent, I don't know. I'm not-" he hastens to add, "But he reckons you'll get bored if I don't do anything...you're not bored, are you?"
The younger Dunmer shakes his head, "I don't really think about it all that much. I guess I have a lower, um, drive than most people, but I just...don't see it as particularly important."
"Good," Uvani sighs, more relieved than the sound lets on, because intimacy is decidedly low on his list of priorities as well. "It doesn't bother you, then? Our relationship not having...being just like this?"
"Not at all. Besides," finally the boy looks sheepish, compared to his utter lack of embarrassment earlier, "I haven't...done anything like this before, so I'd rather not rush. I want to wait until the time is right."
A romantic notion, but to be expected of a virgin. When would the time be right? During a full moon? In a field of flowers? With candles and chocolate and violin music inexplicably present? He can list more silly clichés, but the train of thought is interrupted as Banus keeps speaking:
"...And not because you think it'll stop the Listener from making snide remarks."
He realises, the colour draining from his face – though thankfully killing the blush – just how careless that sounds. "I didn't mean-"
"-To cheapen it, I know," Alor gives a gentle smile to show no offence has been taken, "It sounds to me as though he's trying to wind you up. The Listener, that is."
"Hardly appropriate behaviour for the leader of the Dark Brotherhood," Uvani grumbles, mostly to himself.
"We're assassins. Hardly qualified to judge what is and isn't appropriate," he is reminded, "Just don't let it faze you. You've risen above this kind of thing before, remember?"
"The other sanctuary members. But as I recall, the slander only ended when I set one of them on fire."
"You can't set the Listener on fire, Uvani."
"I know, I know. I'll deal with it like an adult," he concedes, "I'll just...think about incinerating him instead."
"So," and as soon as Ungolim says it, Uvani knows exactly what's coming next. Not that the grin doesn't give it away. "Have you slept with him yet?"
He feels both Arquen and Ja'Ghasta tense either side of him, just in case this proves to be the last straw. It doesn't help him feel any calmer, but he remembers Banus' quiet reassurance from the week before. A mental image of Ungolim with his hair on fire soothes his temper considerably, and even brings a slight quirk of a smile to his lips.
"No," he answers with a nonchalance that surprises everyone in the room, even himself, "He asked me to wait."
Just as Arquen said, the Listener never brings up the subject again.