Title: Vicissitudes

Author: BurningSilence

Rating: T

Disclaimer: I think we all know the answer to this by now.

Summary: Just see the first chapter ^_^

…

Chapter VIII: Of Ghosts and Family

Special contract, they'd said. Chance to prove yourself, they'd said. But what was it they didn't tell Felicienne?

That the bloody chapel undercroft was cursed!

Of course, she'd found out eventually; from Motierre, after she'd revived him! He said his ancestors saw his 'resurrection' as a desecration to their sacred resting place. She should've just let the stupid bastard die. But that would've meant she failed.

And she didn't like failure.

Felicienne clenched her fists and gritted her teeth. Oh, how wonderful it had been to be accosted by one's dead family members. She was pretty sure the little dandy's mother had been there as well. Not that she could blame the old bat; her own son did work out a deal with the Dark Brotherhood that involved the exchange of her death for his life.

That must have really chafed at her when she found out.

She flopped down on a bed in her room at The Oak and Crosier. Talasma may be a snob, but at least she had comfortable rooms. For a very reasonable price as well. She was afraid if she'd stayed at The Grey Mare after dropping Motierre off, she'd be tempted to kill him just for putting her in the precarious position she'd been in.

She would need to head back to Cheydinhal in the morning to collect her reward from Vicente…and she'd better be getting that promotion. Not that she could do anything about it if she wasn't advanced. She sighed, brining her arms behind her head. She hoped Lucien would be gone by the time shot got back into Cheydinhal; every time he was around, everyone acted differently. It wasn't as if she didn't like the man, but he confused her a great deal. And with his presence around, life in the Sanctuary always became a bit more difficult for her; Teinaava, Ocheeva, Telaendril, and Antoinetta were much more eager to please; Gogron's attitude quieted down, and M'raaj-dar simply ignored her existence. She supposed that was a nice change from his insults. The only one who seemed unaffected was Vicente, and Felicienne assumed that was because the vampire knew Lucien before he became Speaker.

Even she acted different when the Speaker was around. She was more jumpy, and a bit more paranoid. She felt like someone was watching her whenever he was around. It didn't settle well with her. Felicienne turned over on her side and tried to settle in for the night; it was already quite late and she'd need to be awake early in the morning if she was going to arrive in Cheydinhal at a decent hour. Although it wasn't as if anyone there kept a 'normal' schedule. Typically, anyone could be found awake at anytime during the day.

Maybe she'd let herself sleep in a bit.

…

Sleep in a bit? Right, next time she thought something like that, she'd pay someone to slap some sense back into her. She hadn't realized she'd slept so long until she'd peaked out her window and noticed the sun high in the sky.

'Oh gods,' she thought. 'I need to get back to Cheydinhal. I wish Cyrodiil had public transport like High Rock does. Or maybe that I'd taken Prior Maborel's horse…it isn't like he'll need it anymore.'

She sighed, maybe if she could find a traveling merchant who was heading to Cheydinhal, she could convince them to let her join them. She'd pay them the rest of her gold, if need be. It wasn't like she wouldn't be getting more as soon as she took care of her business in the Sanctuary.

Fortunately for her, she'd been able to find an Imperial man traveling on business named Drusus Augustus. Having blonde hair and blue eyes, and a larger build than most Imperial's she'd come across; he could have easily passed for a Nord. After speaking to him for a brief while, she'd learned he originally hailed from Skingrad, was invested in Tamika's vineyards, and had several smaller business ventures throughout Cyrodiil. But more importantly; he had a carriage and was willing to let her travel with him to Cheydinhal. She offered to pay him gold if he wanted some sort of reimbursement, but he'd told her that he didn't need the money, and it was no inconvenience to him; he welcomed the company, even if it was only for a day.

Felicienne wasn't entirely keen on not paying the man; she couldn't be sure he wasn't expecting some other sort of 'compensation'. So she'd merely told him if he tried any 'funny-business' with her, she'd have to thrash him. He just laughed and held his hands up, replying he was nothing if not a gentleman and that no harm would befall her.

She sniffed and climbed into his carriage, "I don't need you to protect me. I'm just warning you that if you do try anything funny, don't expect to have children in your future. If you'll even have one."

He climbed in after her and started the horse moving before he reassured her. "You have my word," he laughed.

The girl just looked off at the countryside as they drove away.

…

"Hey," someone whispered while they shook her.

Felicienne woke with a start, eyes wide and panicked.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to frighten you, I just wanted to let you know we're in Cheydinhal," Drusus told her.

She looked around blearily, she hadn't even been aware she'd fallen asleep. She could see it was dark out, but with the stable hand still tending to the horses at Black Waterside Stables, it couldn't have been very late.

"That didn't take as much time as I'd thought it would," she mumbled, rubbing her eyes.

"Nope," he smiled. "I suppose this is where we take our leave of each other. You do have accommodations, don't you?"

"Hm? Oh, yes, I do. I'll be fine," she replied, absently as she stepped out of the carriage. "Thank you for the ride; it would've taken me an age to travel by foot. I hope I didn't put you out, any."

"Don't worry about it. You didn't put me out at all; I told you I was traveling to Cheydinhal anyway. Goodbye, miss."

"Goodbye, Mr. Augustus."

With a wave, the man climbed out of the coach and greeted the stable hand.

As Felicienne made her way to the Sanctuary, she began to fervently wish that Lucien had taken his leave. She felt terrible for thinking that way; after all, it was Lucien who'd invited her to join the Sanctuary. In a sense, he'd given her a surrogate family, taken her in when she really had no place else to go…unless you counted the realm of the Madgod. But that wasn't exactly the most ideal of places. And being adored all the time was really quite frightening.

It was just…she wished everyone would stop acting so different every time the Speaker came around. Perhaps she was being unfair to lay all the blame on Lachance's shoulders. His visits would be more pleasant if Antoinetta didn't go stupid every time he was around. 'And,' she thought, now feeling a tad guilty. 'He is always so very kind to me…although he teases me more than I like.' She huffed as she walked through the small maze that was the entrance to the Sanctuary.

She pushed the door open and was a little relieved to see the main hall was empty, save for the skeleton guardian, of course. She headed to Vicente's quarters to alert him she'd completed the task (as painful as it was) and hopefully receive her reward. So she was surprised when she couldn't find Vicente or Ocheeva in their quarters. 'I guess I'll try the living quarters,' she mused.

When she arrived, she was a little surprised to see everyone sitting at the dining table; everyone from Lucien Lachance to Telaendril, who also spent quite a bit of time away from the Sanctuary.

"You're just in time for dinner, sweet sister!" Telaendril greeted, sounding a bit forced. Not to mention, looking a bit green around the gills.

"I cooked," Antoinetta stated, dishing out helpings to everyone.

'Ah,' Felicienne thought uselessly. 'That would certainly explain why everyone appears a tad nervous…even Lucien.' As she glanced around the table while settling herself in, she noticed Vicente looking dubious at the sight of his food. Then Felicienne remembered Antoinetta's penchant for cooking with garlic. No wonder he looked paranoid. The girl had a feeling it was something Antoinetta did on purpose; she wondered what the older woman had against Vicente.

When Antoinetta gave Felicienne her dish, the girl looked around for Schemer, hoping to find him nearby. Whatever it was that Antoinetta made, she'd made sure it didn't have any meat in it, so Felicienne couldn't use that as an excuse. It looked like it was a type of rice dish…but with that woman's cooking you could never be too sure. She noted everyone else was picking at their food, and Vicente looked as if he might pass out. Felicienne leaned closer to her dish and sniffed.

'I was right…there's garlic in here,' she noted. 'Where is that rat? He knows I always feed him table scraps when Antoinetta cooks! Now what am I going to do?'

That was when Antoinetta chose to announce she'd had to lock Schemer out; because for some reason, when she began cooking, he became antsy and was trying to hover around the pot she was preparing their meal in.

'Well, I guess I wasn't the only one who fed Schemer,' she thought to herself grumpily.

Telaendril looked over at the younger girl while Antoinetta was chatting away happily, seemingly unknowing of everyone else's inner turmoil. Felicienne was taking more drinks with her dinner than she usually did…she was taking a sip after every bite. The wood elf snorted softly; it was probably to wash out the taste of the food. She wasn't exactly sure what the blonde Breton did to whatever she cooked, but it was always horrid.

It wasn't that she didn't try; she just didn't appear to have a knack for cooking. She was a good assassin; but her doing anything 'domestic' was asking for potential disaster. The only people who were actually eating their food, besides Felicienne, was Gogron, who in all fairness could eat anything, and Lucien.

And didn't that just tickle Antoinetta? The girl was just grinning like an idiot, cheeks flushed with colour, and she giggled every so often as she engaged the Speaker in conversation. Telaendril glanced at Felicienne and saw her rolling her eyes at the blonde.

'Hmm, could she be jealous?' Telaendril thought amusedly. Then as soon as she thought it, she dismissed the notion. She didn't think Felicienne harboured any ill feeling towards Antoinetta what so ever. It was clear she adored the woman.

That adoration did not extend to the woman's cooking, however, if the girl's occasional grimaces were anything to go by.

Telaendril choked down another bite of food, if only to be kind, as everyone announced they were 'full'. Felicienne jumped up and exclaimed she'd do the dishes and everyone else could just 'relax, or do whatever it is they normally did'.

Antoinetta smiled, "You never volunteer for dishes; what's the special occasion?"

The younger girl faltered a bit before she replied, "It's just that you were so nice to prepare us dinner," she was cut off by a comment from Vicente saying something about Antoinetta trying to kill them all, which resulted in a barely concealed snort of laughter from Lucien. Felicienne narrowed her eyes at them before continuing with a smile, "I thought I'd do something nice and clean up for everyone."

Telaendril didn't buy that excuse; it was a well known fact in the Sanctuary that Felicienne hated cleaning the dishes, especially if she wasn't the one to dirty them. Apparently Telaendril wasn't alone in her suspicions, since she saw Ocheeva raise an eyebrow at that as well.

"Why don't I help you?" the wood elf suggested, grinning as she waited to see what Felicienne would do.

Felicienne's smile faltered, but apparently resigned herself to the fact Telaendril would not take no for an answer, she conceded.

Vicente turned to the younger girl and told her, "Come see me after you've finished, then. We still need to talk about your contract and promotion. Don't take too long."

Then he, along with the others, left the living quarters and the two women to clean up after dinner.

Telaendril gave Felicienne a sideways glance and grin, "Now tell me the real reason why you wanted to do dishes."

"Oh, alright," she groused. "Since you're already on to me…I didn't want anyone, especially Antoinetta, finding out that I was spitting my food into my cup! Are you happy now you nosy Elf?" She was blushed and crossed her arms in a huff, sulking.

Telaendril thought back to how much Felicienne had been drinking at dinner, then leaned her head down on the table as her shoulders shook with laughter.

…

As Felicienne stepped out of Vicente's chambers, she was grinning ear to ear. She thought she probably looked moronic, or possibly homicidal, but she couldn't help herself; she was now an Eliminator! She'd now be receiving contracts from Ocheeva. She was surprised by how much she was excited for her new position. She supposed it was, at least in part, a reflection of her skills. And, as most people knew by now, Felicienne liked to be good at anything and everything she did.

The first person Felicienne wanted to seek out was Antoinetta; she always went to her with good news first. However, when she found Antoinetta, she wasn't alone; she and the Speaker were conversing with each other in a corner of the main room. Her face fell; she supposed she'd have to wait to tell Antoinetta.

This was probably the main, unfailing reason why Felicienne didn't like the Speaker visiting so often; she lost her friend whenever he came by.

Seeing Antoinetta was occupied and obviously not planning on going anywhere, Felicienne decided to go to the training room. Maybe she could get some spell practice in…that is, if M'raaj-dar wasn't hogging the target.

On her way, she ran into Telaendril and Gogron talking in hushed tones, with the wood elf laughing softly every so often.

Gogron happened to look up and see Felicienne passing them and called out.

"Oh, sister! I just heard the good news from Vicente! Congratulations on making Eliminator!"

"Thank you," she said, plastering on a happy expression. Her eyes went wide when she felt the Orc pull her into a bone-crushing hug. She tried to cry out but she'd had the wind knocked out of her, instead what came out was a strangled squeak. She would have sworn she felt a couple ribs crack.

"Gogron! You need to let go of her! You'll crush her; remember what Ocheeva told you?" came Telaendril's concerned voice.

Gogron backed away from Felicienne with an apologetic expression. "I'm sorry, kid. I forget my own strength."

Felicienne was doubled over, but managed to rasp a reply as she continued to take deep breaths. "Its fine, Gogron. It wasn't like you meant any harm." She righted herself, rubbing her ribs vaguely. She felt a smaller hand pat her shoulder comfortingly.

"Good work getting that promotion," Telaendril said, smiling widely. "It isn't easy advancing as fast as you have so far."

Felicienne shrugged, feeling a bit uncomfortable with the praise, and then looked up slightly at the Bosmer. She lowered her voice to a whisper and asked, "When do you think Mr. Lachance will be going back to…wherever it is he goes when he's not here?"

Telaendril whispered something to Gogron which resulted in him making some excuse to leave before she continued with Felicienne. She settled her arm around Felicienne's shoulders and stated, "Probably tonight. Why? You should be glad our Speaker was here when you got your promotion…"

"It's not him," the girl interrupted. "It's just that…Antoinetta goes absolutely stupid over his visits! No one else here is nearly as bad! Do…do you think she'll be mad I was promoted before her? She's been here longer than I have…"

"She won't be upset. She'll be happy for you," the older woman reassured her. "I think if anything she's a bit jealous that Lucien's been watching you as closely as he has."

Felicienne just shrugged and moved away from Telaendril. "Well, I don't mean to be rude, but I think I'm going to go for a bit of a walk around town. I think I could use the fresh air." She didn't feel like training anymore, or hanging around the Sanctuary.

Not even thinking, Telaendril called out, "Take a cloak, its cold outside."

The girl rolled her eyes, "Yes, mother."

…

Antoinetta glanced away from Lucien long enough to see Felicienne walking out of the Sanctuary, using the well exit.

Apparently, Lucien had also noticed.

"It looks like Vicente gave her the well key," he said.

Antoinetta nodded, she didn't want to talk about Felicienne right now…she just wanted to enjoy being able to talk with Lucien…alone. She'd admit to feeling a little…bitter, towards the younger girl. It seemed that Lucien had taken quite a liking to her. From what she'd over heard from Vicente and Ocheeva, he'd been inquiring more often about her progress. She knew her feelings stemmed from jealousy; Lucien seemed quite enamoured with the newest member…or at least as enamoured as he would let himself appear.

She knew it wasn't all jealousy, however. There was a part, a much smaller part, which was more concerned for Felicienne. The girl was very young, younger than Antoinetta, and before Felicienne had come to the Sanctuary, she'd been the youngest member. She supposed she worried Felicienne didn't quite understand what was going on; she'd made it very plain she was naïve at best.

But her most dominate feeling was that of envy. It was easier to ignore when Lucien wasn't around; she could just spend time with the girl and really enjoy her company. But when their Speaker arrived, she almost felt forced to compare herself to the girl. After all, she'd seen how Lucien looked at Felicienne. She was older, Felicienne was only nineteen; she had shorter, blonde hair, Felicienne had long, black hair; she had hazel eyes, Felicienne had dark, wide blue eyes. And Felicienne still had that 'glow' of youth; her cheeks and lips were almost permanently infused with colour, a stark contrast to the normal paleness of her skin, whereas Antoinetta, again, was older and needed to rely on cosmetics more than someone younger.

She fought the urge to huff in a self-deprecating manner; after all, it wasn't like she was alone right now. She did feel badly for being so petty with the younger girl; she did truly adore her. But she loved Lucien, and nothing was going to come in between that.

Not even sweet, young girls who had no idea what was going on.

With that thought in mind, Antoinetta turned her attention back to Lucien, placed a beautiful smile on her face, and continued chatting with him.

…

As Felicienne shivered and tried to rush back to the Sanctuary with out drawing to much attention to herself, she realized going for a walk late at night, in Frostfall, was a bad idea.

Especially since in began to rain ten minutes ago…she'd only been able to walk for fifteen before the damn rain set in. Now she just wanted to get back home and change out of her, now, extremely wet clothing, and go to bed.

She climbed down the well into the main living quarters to find most people gone…except for Lachance who was sitting in the darkened corner Teinaava usually sat in, reading a rather lengthy-looking tome.

"I thought you'd be gone," she murmured, only half aware she'd spoken her thoughts out loud. He looked up from his book and raised an eyebrow.

"Eager to have me gone?" he questioned.

"Er, no," she stumbled. "I guess I just assumed you'd have other things to do…you know, more important things…" she let herself trail off.

A ghost of a smile flitted on his face briefly, before he replied. "I will be leaving soon, I just wanted to make sure it was late enough I wouldn't have any difficulties leaving Cheydinhal. It wouldn't do to have any busy bodies snooping around, now would it?"

She flushed and looked down, "No, I suppose it wouldn't."

"You should change your clothes," he added softly.

"Heh, yeah," she laughed. "Rain caught me by surprise. Probably should've been paying more attention earlier when I saw the sky begin to cloud over." She rubbed her hands together in a vain attempt to warm them, "Well, I suppose I'll be getting to bed, then." The smile on her face strained a bit as she added, seemingly as an afterthought, "Good night, Mr. Lachance."

"Sleep well."

…

Felicienne wasn't sure what time it was when she awoke the next day. She felt like it must be later, but she had no way of knowing for certain unless she went outside. As she stretched out, she thought about going to receive a contract from Ocheeva; after all, it wasn't like Martin needed her back at Cloud Ruler anytime soon.

'Some vacation,' she thought wryly. Most people use their vacation time to relax; Felicienne used hers to only live one life at a time. As she let her mind wander, she began to worry about how things might have been going in New Sheoth. It'd been nearly a month since she was last there, and she should probably visit soon. After all, it was her Realm now; what kind of Madgod would she be if she didn't maintain her rule there every once in a while. Besides, those Heretics had been getting a little too confident in themselves the last time she'd been there.

She'd need to send in some Aureals to deal with some of their camps when she got back.

The last thing she needed was for either Hale or Highcross to be attacked by those raving lunatics, (and wasn't it ironic that it was the 'Madgod' herself calling anyone a raving lunatic?)

She sighed, "So much for living one life at a time…"

"Did you say something?"

Felicienne started a bit, "Damn it, Antoinetta! I didn't know you were there, you surprised me!"

The older woman let out a laugh as she walked over to Felicienne's bed and looked down at the girl. "What are you mumbling about to yourself over here?"

"I'm just thinking, I guess I was thinking out loud, though. I'm sorry if I bothered you," she pouted.

Antoinetta shook her head and pulled Felicienne out of bed, ignoring the girl's protests of not being ready to get up yet. "So, what are your plans for today?" the woman asked, feeling badly for blowing off Felicienne for the past few days.

The girl popped her neck as she answered, "I was thinking of head down to Bravil or Leyawin, and maybe staying there a few nights, before heading back up here for another contract."

"You're leaving again? You just got back yesterday," the blonde said. Was that disappointment? "You travel an awful lot," she noted.

Felicienne shrugged her shoulders. "Wanderlust," she stated. "I like being able to travel. I wasn't really able to do much of it back home. Mother and Father wanted me home. They wanted me to join the Mages' Guild like my brother had, and eventually settle down with a nice man I met there and have a litter of children," she said lightly. "That didn't really work out, I guess." She smiled as she thought of how her mother would react if she knew what her daughter was doing now. Then she looked up, a thoughtful expression on her face, "Antoinetta? How did you come to be here? You don't have to answer if you don't want to."

"No, it's fine," Antoinetta assured her young friend. "I ran away from home when I was much younger. A bit younger than you, actually. I used to live in the city of Wayrest, but I was dissatisfied at home; my family wasn't nearly as wonderful as yours seem to have been. I lived in Hammerfell for a time, where I then stowed away on a slave ship. That's how I got into Cyrodiil, but as I had no money or food, I was bound to get into trouble just trying to survive. Suffice it to say, I wound up in the Imperial City Prison…it was horrible there. The guards are so cruel…" she trailed off, looking away. Felicienne wanted to hug her, but before she could, Antoinetta seemed to turn back into her old self. She looked back at the girl and smiled, "After I was released, that's when Lucien found me; I had gone to prison for murder, but since it was just another beggar, the sentence wasn't as harsh as it could have been."

Felicienne found she couldn't say much, so she just nodded. She knew Antoinetta was leaving out quite a bit to her story, but she didn't feel she should press for more details. If Antoinetta felt like telling her more, she would. But she wouldn't pry. Felicienne let out a soft sigh, she supposed she shouldn't take it so badly that Antoinetta was so preoccupied with Lachance, especially hearing this, albeit abridged, story of her life. It made it easier to understand Antoinetta's feelings towards that man.

"Well," the girl began. "I'm glad he found you. If he hadn't, I never would have known you." She smiled at the woman and hugged her. "Now, if I'm to head to Bravil, I need to leave soon, I'm sure."

"You're probably right, it's about noon," the blonde informed Felicienne. She smiled when she saw the girl's eyes widen in shock.

"Noon? I slept too much; I should have woken up earlier. Why didn't you wake me up earlier?" Felicienne accused, even as she said the words she understood how ridiculous she sounded.

"I wasn't aware you wanted me too," Antoinetta grinned. "I'll tell you what, since it was so insensitive of me to not wake you up, I'll help you get your things together."

Felicienne rolled her eyes, "Well, I suppose that'll have to do. Just don't let it happen again." Right after she said that, both women collapsed into giggles.

'Maybe everything will be alright,' Felicienne thought as she started changing clothes, getting ready to head back to her Realm for the time being.

…

A/N: There it is, chapter eight…I'll be honest; I don't love it. That might just be me being insecure; I can't help but feel like it's a filler chapter. Which I guess they're necessary, but still…it's nearly 11 pages…of filling. I hope you all enjoy this chapter, the next one will be better, I swear! It takes place in the Shivering Isles! How can in not be better? And yeah, there's another OC…I needed a traveling person! I'm sorry! I hope he's not irritating…if Oblivion had had public transport, it wouldn't have been an issue. Don't worry, he's not going to dominate the story ^_^. I would never do that to you readers.