Before Aerelin considered the new contract, she made her way over to the large coffin in the main room and its jester. She wondered if he would be happy to see her; surely, he thought of her as a friend too? Cicero stood with his back to her, looking up at the large coffin and muttering quietly to himself. She cleared her throat, causing him to turn.
"Hello there, stranger. Are you a part of our Family as well?" His gaze moved over her armor quickly, and she couldn't help but smile.
"Yes." A flicker of recognition in his gaze had her pulling her hood and mask off. "Hello again." There was a moment's pause of silence before he began to laugh, pulling her into a hug.
"Kind Aerelin! Oh, how Cicero has missed his friend!" He finally released her, looking her over. "You're looking much more deadly than last we met." She chuckled, nodding a bit.
"I've found myself a member of a few groups. There are certainly perks." He nodded, tucking his hands behind his back.
"You didn't write me about all of that. If I had known you were Brotherhood like myself, I would have invited you to join us."
"I'm still fairly new." Aerelin was cut off by a wave from Astrid and a call for her to get on the contract already. With an apologetic smile, she pulled her hood and mask back on and made her way out the door.
Upon her return, Aerelin was cold, soaked, and in absolutely no mood for anything outside of some dry clothes and a book by the fire. The contact had ended up asking for two deaths near Windhelm, and on Aerelin's way back from Markarth, a storm had appeared. She'd walked in the rain for hours after that just to get back to the Sanctuary. Approaching Astrid, she reported her kill, only to be greeted by the paranoia of her leader. She looked around before dropping her voice low, telling Aerelin all about how Cicero was plotting against her and they were all in danger. Aerelin thought it best to stay quiet; in her current mood, it took everything she had in her not to snap and call the woman an idiot. It was almost her undoing when Astrid asked her to hide in the Night Mother's coffin.
"Are you serious? Surely that's some sort of issue with the Mother herself." Astrid shook her head, crossing her arms across her chest and giving a challenging look. Aerelin sighed and nodded her assent, too tired and sore to fight this woman. It would have to come at another time. Instead, Aerelin sighed and made her way to Cicero's room, slipping in silently. The lock on the coffin was ridiculously easy, and she made a note to help Cicero update it, and climbed in. Instead of the smell of death she'd expected after encountering so many Draugr, she smelled herbs and flowers. It was a cloying scent, and made shutting herself inside a bit less creepy. It wasn't long before she heard Cicero muttering, his voice muffled by the thick metal of the coffin. It soon became obvious he wasn't conspiring with anyone but the Night Mother. When the voice began in her head, Aerelin almost screamed. It claimed to be the Night Mother, and asked her to speak with what sounded like a client for the Brotherhood. She wondered what Cicero would think of all of this.
"Tell Cicero, 'Darkness rises when silence dies.'" With no further instruction, Aerelin found herself tumbling out of the coffin as the door was opened, landing on her hip on the floor.
"What? What treachery! Defiler! Debaser and defiler!" She looked up to see Cicero standing above her, pure rage on his features as he drew his dagger. The pain in her hip was forgotten as her heart began to pound, knowing if he attacked she would need to fight back. "You have violated the sanctity of the Night Mother's tomb! Explain yourself!" She blinked, a bit lost in the whirlwind. "Speak, worm!"
"T-The Night Mother! She spoke to me." There's a glimmer of hope in his eyes before disbelief replaced it.
"She…spoke to you?" The rage was back, but it seemed more intense now, and the grip on his dagger seemed to tighten. "More treachery! More trickery and deceit! You lie!" Aerelin opened her mouth to tell him what she'd said, but nothing came out as he continued to rant. "The Night Mother speaks only to the Listener. And there is…no…LISTENER!" He raised the blade, the black color shining in the candlelight.
"Wait! Darkness rises when silence dies!" As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she had a Thu'um ready, not wanting to use it but knowing she may need to. Cicero seemed to freeze in place, staring down at her with wide eyes. Aerelin took the opportunity, climbing to her feet. "That's what she told me to tell you."
"She…she said that? She said those words…to you? 'Darkness rises when silence dies?'" Aerelin gave a nod, eyes trained on the blade still in his hand. Cicero may be a jester, but every member of the Brotherhood was a deadly killer, and he was no exception. "But those are the words. The Binding Words. Written in the Keeping Tomes." Slowly, the knife was lowered, though the shocked look never left his face. "The signal so I would know. Mother's only way of talking to sweet Cicero…" He jumped, and her hand found her own dagger, but he simply began to dance, a smile sweeping over his face. "Then…it's true! She is back! Our Lady is back! She has chosen a Listener!" He continued to dance, leaving Aerelin confused and tense in front of him. "She has chosen you!" He gave a laugh, taking her hands in his own. There was excitement and hope in his gaze, but nothing to suggest he was going to kill her. "All hail the Listener!"
Astrid burst in then, and as Cicero explained what had happened, Aerelin glanced back at the Night Mother, thinking over what this new title would mean. She'd collected a few books about the Brotherhood and made a mental note to retrieve them from her house in Whiterun. Astrid and Cicero seemed to have a few words before Astrid stepped over to check on the other woman. Her concern didn't last long, before her paranoia came back as she stated that no one's word was above her own, even the Listener. As she left, Cicero gave Aerelin a look; her only response was to shake her head. It wasn't worth fighting Astrid over just yet. Instead, she made her way to her room, changing and settling in with a book as planned.
