Title: Vicissitudes

Author: BurningSilence

Rating: T

Disclaimer: Does this really need to be reiterated?

Summary: Just see the first chapter ^_^

Chapter X: Of Musings and Whispers

Felicienne decided; she did not like Bravil. The air was stagnant, the whole city was a dump, and it seemed quite a few of the residents spent some time at the skooma den. Not to mention the mosquitoes. Oh, the many, many mosquitoes. She was surprised she hadn't caught anything yet.

However, this was the closest city that had places to sleep and food to eat. Even though it was only evening, Felicienne was worn out. She supposed going back and forth between dimensions like she was would do that to you. There was something else about Bravil that unsettled her, but she just couldn't put her finger on it.

As she headed towards 'The Lonely Suitor Lodge', she passed by the Lucky Old Lady statue. She noticed a Bosmer standing at the statue and felt a sense of déjà vu come over her…

"I thought I could get here in time...I thought I could stop you!"

She jumped slightly, brining the Wood Elf's attention to her. He simply glared at her before turning back to the statue.

She raised an eyebrow and muttered to herself, sarcastically, "Oh, I'm fine. Thank you for asking." She shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. It was probably nothing, she'd been to Bravil before, and it stood to reason she'd seen this scene before. Nothing out of the ordinary.

At least, that was what she was trying to convince herself of.

She sighed in frustration; she didn't want to dwell on her dream, but it seemed the more she tried to forget it, the more often snippets from the vision would present themselves. As she continued on her path to the inn, she felt a slight sting on her arm and quickly swatted it.

"Damn blood-suckers," she muttered, rubbing the spot on her arm where the mosquito bit. Then she smiled a bit after realizing what she said and added, "Sorry, Vicente."

The last thing she needed was to get sick. With whatever 'door' the Fountainhead opened up in her mind, who know what kind of strange, fever-induced hallucinations her brain would come up with.

She entered 'The Lonely Suitor Lodge' and checked in with the publican before she sat down at the bar and ordered a tankard of mead. She supposed she'd need to head back to Bruma after a little while as well. Martin may have already translated at least a little bit of the Xarxes.

Felicienne slumped on the barstool she was sitting on, resting her head on the counter surface as she listened to the various conversations of other patrons around her. Something about this place made her feel uncomfortable, even though she'd been here before. However, that might have been because the last time she'd been here, some strange man had snuck into her room and offered her entrance to an assassin's guild.

But she supposed stranger things have happened.

Thinking about the Xarxes led Felicienne to thoughts about Oblivion, and what she might have to do after Martin was able to translate it all. She still wasn't entirely over her last trip into Mehrunes Dagon's nightmarish world.

For some reason now, though, the sight of the hanging, flayed corpses stuck out most in her mind. At first, she thought it was just because of the new 'décor' the Sacellum Arden Sul had acquired, but if she closed her eyes, she could see something similar in that little building she'd dreamt about. It was behind that tall woman…

Every time she tried to remember more detail, the dream would slip away from her. She would just need to be patient until she was able to talk to Relmyna again; there wasn't really anything she could do about it until then.

Right now, though, it was time for bed; it'd been a long day. She finished her mead and headed up the stairs, hoping she'd get some sleep tonight.

Unfortunately, Felicienne hadn't counted on the rain that evening. Normally, weather wouldn't be an issue…except for the fact that this inn wasn't exactly the most kept building and the roof leaked…right over her bed. But for ten gold a night, you get what you pay for.

As another raindrop fell onto her forehead, Felicienne let out a growl of frustration. She was never going to get any sleep! She pulled her pillow over her head and sighed. It wasn't the most comfortable position, but it was the driest one. After a few more minutes, Felicienne fell into an uneasy sleep.

She woke up again a few hours later, unsure of the reason. She looked around, but didn't see anything, and even the rain had tapered off to a light drizzle, so it couldn't have been the noise that woke her up. Felicienne sat up, and placed her damp pillow behind her.

"Is someone there?" she tried. Although, if someone was in her room, she didn't think they'd admit to it readily. "If someone's there, I'll let you know I'm very awake now, so you better be good at waiting because it might be a while before I'm ready to go back to sleep so you can sneak out," she huffed, crossing her arms.

The girl rolled her eyes, "Don't be stupid, there's probably no one there, and you're just being paranoid. How many people do you know can find you and stay unseen for long stretches of time?"

She wrinkled her nose as the dampness from her pillow began to soak through her clothing; it was obvious she wasn't going to be able to find rest so easily tonight. She got out of bed and packed the rest of her things, not that there was much to pack, as she left quite a few of her 'non-essential' items back in New Sheoth.

Still feeling a little suspicious, she grabbed her moist pillow and threw it towards the door. It hit the wall with a dull thud, and no interruption. Felicienne, seeing the results of her little test brought her hand up to her forehead and laughed at herself.

Shaking her head, she left her room with out further preamble, making sure she left a tip for the publican.

As she stepped back outside into the humid city, she noticed a dim red haze glowing over the city walls.

'Oh no…' she thought, at once recognizing the sight and the accompanying smell that wafted through the streets. She dashed over to the city gates and as she looked eastward and saw an Oblivion Gate jutting out into the Niben Bay.

"Great…that's just…great," she muttered. It wasn't exactly as if she could ignore the Gate; not in good conscience, anyway.

Unsheathing Duskfang, she crept towards the Gate, keeping an eye out for any daedra that might be lurking around the portal. She wasn't disappointed; standing near the side facing the city, were two Flame Atronachs.

Felicienne tried to stay out of sight, but her frostbolt missed its target and before she knew it they were raining fireballs at her continuously. The only thing she could do was to keep recasting her shielding spell, which was admittedly fairly weak. When she was close enough to the first Atronach, she swung her heavy sword Duskfang towards the creature's neck, mortally wounding the daedra.

She turned her attention to the second Atronach, who seemed intent on charging at her. However, before the daedra could reach the girl, Felicienne tried her frostbolt again, and this time, managed to hit her target. The Atronach stumbled a bit, giving the Breton time to impale the demon with Duskfang.

Making sure no other daedra were around, Felicienne took some time to catch her breath and to drink a couple weaker health potions. When she felt better, she looked up at the Oblivion Gate, took a deep breath, and stepped in.

Life at the Cheydinhal Sanctuary was, at the moment, rather dull. Things had been rather quiet lately, and both Felicienne and Telaendril were gone. Antoinetta assumed they were away for different reasons. Most people in the Brotherhood didn't associate with each other outside of their respective sanctuaries for obvious reasons.

And honestly, it bothered her that she had no idea where either of her sisters were!

Sure, Felicienne said she was heading to Bravil, but Antoinetta had a feeling she was up to something…more. Whenever she asked the young girl a question about what she got up to when she wasn't around the Sanctuary, the answer was always evasive. And Telaendril seemed to have a schedule; she was always away from the Sanctuary overnight on weekends and on Tirdas. Although, on Tirdas, Antoinetta could always find the Wood Elf somewhere around Cheydinhal.

Felicienne didn't appear to even have a schedule; she just seemed to show up whenever she pleased. But Antoinetta couldn't help but wonder where the younger girl spent the rest of her time. She blamed it on her curious nature; of course, it was the same nature that usually led to her standing outside of Ocheeva's office when ever Lucien dropped by. She still held out hope of one day running the Cheydinhal Sanctuary…or perhaps becoming his Silencer! Wouldn't that be wonderful?

Antoinetta glanced at a calendar they had in the living quarters; Telaendril would probably be back later tonight, since it was Sundas. It'd be nice to have someone to chat with, Ocheeva didn't seem to like what she called 'idle chatter' and none of the men ever had any good gossip to share.

In fact, while she'd been listening in on one of Lucien and Ocheeva's conversations, she caught whispers of treachery. Over the past few years, several members of their family had been murdered, and no one knew who it might be. This news was obviously meant to be kept quiet, so Antoinetta didn't mention anything to anyone else…not even Felicienne, to whom she'd grown rather close.

Antoinetta began leafing through the cupboards for something to cook for tonight's dinner when Ocheeva came up behind her.

"Oh, don't worry about that, dear," the Argonian woman hastily said. "Vicente said he'd cook tonight's meal, he'll get started in about an hour."

"Are you sure? It's really no trouble, you know. I don't mind cooking for everyone," the blonde stated, looking perplexed. Everyone always went a bit funny whenever she would cook anything…especially Vicente.

"I know that, but you know how Vicente can be, sometimes. Likes his own way and all that," Ocheeva said dismissively. Although she and Antoinetta had their differences, she didn't have the heart to tell the girl no one liked her cooking. In fact, most of the residents of the Cheydinhal Sanctuary took great pains to make sure Antoinetta was left in the dark about her sub-par culinary skills.

"Well…if you're sure…" the blonde trailed off uncertainly. She bit her lip and spoke again. "Ocheeva, you've been acting a bit…strange lately. Is there something the matter?"

The Argonian looked around, her tail swishing in obvious anxiety before she answered.

"You've heard some of the rumours…correct? About some of our members being killed?" When Antoinetta nodded, Ocheeva continued. "I'm only telling you this because I know I can trust you…don't tell anyone else what I'm about to tell you. Alright?"

Antoinetta nodded, waiting for Ocheeva to continue speaking.

"The Black Hand is beginning to suspect someone from the Cheydinhal Sanctuary, or at least someone who has ties with our Sanctuary of being responsible for the killings," Ocheeva sighed. "Lucien has been coming here to investigate the Sanctuary…he says the Black Hand can't afford any risks right now…I just cannot think that anyone here would do such a thing!"

In a sick way, Antoinetta felt relieved at the reason Ocheeva gave about why Lucien had been visiting more frequently; it meant he wasn't just here for Felicienne. Which, logically, she'd always known that. But she'd always been a bit irrational when it came to their Speaker. However, this news of the Black Hand's suspicion being on the Cheydinhal Sanctuary was very disturbing. If this issue wasn't resolved soon, drastic measures would be taken. The Black Hand wasn't known for their 'adventurous' streak.

Secrecy was everything. They were able to survive for hundreds of years because of it.

"I'm sure our Speaker will sort this mess out. He knows us better than anyone," Antoinetta stated, sounding hopeful. "I mean, he has known all of us ever since we came here…er, except for Vicente," the blonde woman finished with a laugh, scratching the back of her head. Ocheeva just shook her head at the other woman, but appeared to have calmed down a bit.

"Oh, I know. It's just that even imagining that there is suspicion on us is terrible," Ocheeva sighed, rubbing her forehead before looking up and smiling wearily. "Not to mention that, per Lucien's request, I've accumulated a great deal more paperwork."

This peaked Antoinetta's already insatiable curiosity. "Any reason why?"

"Now that, Slayer, is something I'm not at liberty to discuss," the Argonian said as she began to walk away. But before she disappeared into her quarters, she called back behind her shoulder, "And Antoinetta? I know you've been snooping around my office whenever I'm in a conference!"

The Breton blushed furiously at her departing words.

The next day, Antoinetta found herself at 'Newlands Lodge', since she'd been "nominated" to go out into town to buy groceries. Why Telaendril couldn't have done it (since she could have easily have done so before she got back to the Sanctuary) she didn't know. As she perused the grocery list, she stifled a soft laugh at the first item, obviously written by Gogron:

Beer, lots of beer

Antoinetta hummed in contemplation; she should probably pick up some mead for Felicienne, since she always gagged on beer. Mead seemed to be her preference anyway. And maybe she'd get something a little sweeter for M'raaj-dar.

It didn't look like she needed to buy too many things this time. She stepped up to the counter and requested the items on her list. While she was waiting for Dervera to ring her items up, she leant back against the counter and let her thoughts wander to her Speaker, as the often did when she had some time to herself.

A small smile came over her face as she recalled his last visit. Unfortunately she hadn't been able to speak with him as much as she had wanted to; she was almost sure that was Ocheeva's doing. While she got on very well with the other woman, shortly after Antoinetta had first arrived in the Sanctuary, the Mistress had told Antoinetta that her constant mooning over Lucien was not appropriate, and she needed to stop. Antoinetta had been sore about that for awhile, but after time passed she didn't hold it against Ocheeva. It had become apparent that both Teinaava and Ocheeva thought of Lucien as a sort of father-figure, and Antoinetta left it at that.

However, there were those feelings of jealousy that would surface when she thought of why Lucien had pulled her aside to speak with her privately. He'd asked her to make sure Felicienne was adjusting alright. Apparently it didn't matter that the girl was a rank ahead of Antoinetta; it was obvious she was doing fine.

Although, as Antoinetta thought about it, she did find it odd that despite Lucien's gentility towards Felicienne, she seemed almost frigid towards him. Never to the point of rudeness…in fact, the girl was nearly always unfailingly polite. It was almost scary how polite she could be.

Taking Felicienne's behavior at face value, Antoinetta would have thought that Felicienne didn't like Lucien at all; she oft came across as though she tolerated his company as a necessary evil. And for awhile, Antoinetta had believed that was truly how the girl felt…Until she paid more attention to Felicienne while their Speaker was in their home. She often caught the younger woman surreptitiously glancing at the older man, and for obvious reasons, that raised Antoinetta's hackles like nothing else could have.

And then of course she'd feel badly for being angry!

The blonde let out a huff of frustration; why should she feel guilty? She was entitled to her upset. And what was taking the publican so long?

Just as she was about to question Dervera, the Dark Elf interrupted her musings.

"I'm sorry, but we only have four loaves of bread left…"

"That's fine, I'll just take those," Antoinetta snapped, with out really meaning too. She took the groceries from the woman and walked out, still feeling a bit agitated. Then she sighed; she was being ridiculous. There was no reason for her to be so upset.

She was being silly.

As she made her way back to the abandoned house, she decided to just drop the food off, and spend the rest of the day in town. She didn't have anywhere else to go and it would probably do her some good to have some time alone with her thoughts.

Walking to the living quarters, she began to sort and put away the food she'd purchased. As an afterthought, she remembered she needed to let Ocheeva know that she hadn't been able to buy everything on the list; however, Antoinetta had doubted they really needed eight loaves of bread.

Just as she was about to knock on the Argonian's door, she heard Vicente's and Ocheeva's hushed voices carrying over. Biting her lip, it took Antoinetta only a second to decide whether or not to listen.

She pressed her ear closer to the door.

"Vicente, what are we going to do? They found another family member killed," Ocheeva whispered, worriedly.

"I don't know…do you know who it was?"

"It was Lucien's Silencer! The Black Hand is trying to keep it quiet, though. The 'official' story is she died during a contract."

Antoinetta felt a brief thrill go through her when she realized that meant the position for Silencer was free, before reprimanding herself. This wasn't the time to be thinking of such things. And surely Lucien must be quite upset; after all, she was one of the few people he worked with directly, other than Ocheeva.

At that moment, Antoinetta wanted to be his Silencer if only so she could kill the traitor who would put all of them, but especially her beloved Speaker, through this.

"We can't tell our brothers and sisters about this. If the Black Hand wants this quiet, there's most likely a good reason," Vicente calmly stated.

"Yes, I know…I'm just worried about…well…you know," the woman continued, although, she sounded a bit more worried than she had before.

"We need to stay on our guard, but…if we're ultimately found guilty by the Black Hand, I fear there's little we can do."

The Breton heard a chair scraping the floor and the sound of footsteps coming closer to the door. She felt a shiver of panic before she bolted away, as quietly as possible.

She didn't see Vicente opening the door and shaking his head with an amused expression on his face.

It was nice to know, that despite how precarious their situation may be at the moment, some things never change.

A/N: So…that was quite a bit shorter than my other chapters…and it took longer to get out *cringe*. I feel so bad, I didn't mean to take this long with this one. I'm not happy with this chapter; I feel like it's a stupid filler. Of course, I think I say I hate just about every chapter. I'm so self-loathing. The next chapter is still going to be in mostly Antoinetta's perspective, for the sake of plot development. That, and the fact that Antoinetta is awesomeness. And then we'll move back to the main quest. As always, reviews are welcome, as well as constructive criticism. I'm always open to new ideas as well. Or even if you spot any flaws. I try to go over my work as much as I can, but I can only do so much on my own ^_^0. I'll try to make the next chapter longer. Hell, I'll probably wind up re-writing this chapter _. But later...when the story's finished.