Here were two people who were obviously displaced. Wherever they used to call home, it was gone now. However they used to pass the time was no longer an option. They had each other, and from the well-used scimitar hanging from the Redguard's hip and the slight glow in the girl's eyes, a spectator would be smart to believe they'd end up all right. But in the meantime…
The locals kept well clear of the pair. The most dangerous creature was a creature displaced from its home and habits.
The door to the inn opened to admit one more patron. Every pair of eyes looked around. Most were only curious and looked away again quickly. The Redguard frowned. The little girl stood up.
"Hi," Athene said. "We have to talk."
In the corner of Dead Man's Drink she filled them in. Running into Motierre at Whiterun. The murder of the Katariah crew, and the discovery that Titus Mede II knew all about their plan. The payment they'd received, that she handed to Nazir, whose eyes were wide as the moons with the weight of it. And finally, the Emperor's last request.
"Not request," she amended. "His job offer. I went to Riften and had another chat with Mallory. Want to guess how much he was willing to pay for Ulfric's death?"
Babette's eyes flicked around the inn. The only way anyone could hear them was if they were invisible. She sniffed deeply. Nope–No one invisible nearby.
"Another twenty thousand," said Nazir. It was how much they'd been paid for Titus Mede II himself.
"Try again."
"A million," said Babette.
"Now you've just ruined it."
"Tell us," hissed Nazir.
"Fifty grand. Fifty thousand septims, and technically we've already been paid whether we do the job or not."
"Hang on." He leaned back and crossed his arms. "We? I thought we were done. The sanctuary is trashed. The Brotherhood is no more."
"The Brotherhood is the Night Mother, the Listener, one very clever vampire and the most lethal Redguard in Skyrim. That's not nothing."
"So we're doing this?" Babette sounded excited, like a kid who'd been promised ice cream and a pony. "We're still the Brotherhood?"
"It always bothered me that it was a Brotherhood. Maybe we should become the Dark Sisterhood."
"Don't joke," said Nazir.
Athene took a long drink of his mead. Narri hadn't served them since she walked in, and she wasn't surprised. There was some kind of dark energy around the group, and even she could feel it. It was as if the shadows grew deeper around them.
"Yes, the sanctuary is trashed," she said. "But it's not the only one in Skyrim. There's Dawnstar, and we know the password there. The money we've made will be more than enough to get it fixed up and I'm sure Mallory knows someone discrete to get it done."
"A new home," Babette whispered.
"For all of us," Athene agreed. "Including the Night Mother. And we don't have to say yes to this other job, I know that. Like I said, we've effectively already been paid. But do either of you think that's right? Taking the money and not doing the deed? Even if it wasn't presented to us by the usual route…"
"Did it get to you?" Nazir said. "His speech about creating the future, and sparing lives by murdering one man?"
"No," Athene said quickly. Too quickly. "Well, it didn't not get to me. I think he meant it and I think he was right. It doesn't mean I'll do the job for the reasons he gave it to me. I could do it for the money alone."
"Would you?"
Athene shrugged.
"Are you sure you want to do it yourself?" Babette said. "There are three of us."
"I thought of that too. But I think I'm the best choice of the three of us. Others have tried to murder Ulfric and they've never got close. A man who looks like a foreign mercenary is not going to be quickly trusted. Neither is a little girl with no reason to be at the Palace of the Kings, and he may have someone or several someones who can tell what you really are. No, I think I'm right for this. A wood elf has good reason to hate the Thalmor, well-known reasons, and I'll play on that and see where I can get to."
"On the other hand, his treatment of elves is legendary," Nazir said.
"I know." It actually turned her stomach. She was going to make nice with a man who considered her less than the dirt on his shoes. Depending on how things went, she was going to have to play very nice. Not for the first time she considered practicing her 'I don't hate you' face in front of a mirror.
Many things might have gone more smoothly if only she was better at that face.
"So this is the plan." Nazir was grinning. "We haul the Night Mother to Dawnstar and set up shop, and you infiltrate the Stormcloaks. Yadda yadda yadda, profit. That's it?"
"I suppose we could all become do-gooders instead, and wander from town to town looking for ways to help the general population," Athene said.
"I liked your first plan better."
"So did I."