Diamond wakes on a large bed stuffed draped with the layers of silk sheets. Bandages wrap the cuts across her body, every one of them stinging like a freshly open wound. The room is dark and without windows, but light from the hallway creeps in through the crack of the door, allowing her to see.
She wakes to aches and pains. She cringes as she sits up, holding her ribs. Pulling the blanket off, she blinks to steady her vision and tries to stand. Her legs wobble and her head suddenly feels like it's filled with helium. She sits back down and tries to suppress the wave of nausea boiling inside her stomach. When was the last time she ate?
Suddenly the room brightens and Diamond shields her eyes. There's the sound of a match striking then the room slowly grows warm with light. Footsteps enter and Diamond blinks to regain her vision.
"Glad to see you're finally up." a voice speaks. Diamond freezes when she hears that it's a male voice.
Diamond looks up to find a man shirtless with his back facing her. Beside his feet is a sack made out of a pillow case and rope. Instantly Diamond's face reddens and she covers her face with her hands. Still she peeks through her fingers and peers at the simple yet detailed designs of the tattoo. It curves just under his shoulder blades before it turns upwards into spirals. His muscles expand and contract as he reaches into a mahogany dresser drawer and pulls out a simple grey shirt.
Diamond is about to open her mouth to ask who he is, until she remembers there's only one male member of the Faceless. Malick. As he turns, Diamond's mouth drops open and her eyes widen without her consent.
Malick was tall and muscular with blonde hair that overlaps his forehead. Peeking out behind some strands, Diamond can see his ears with a simple black earlobe piercing. The tattoo continues over his shoulders and across his chest. The ink glides under his collarbone and delicately curves just at the top of his ribcage, several swoops coil down his biceps. He stands, shirtless, holding a grey shirt. His brown eyes finally meet hers and he raises an eyebrow.
Diamond clamps her mouth closed and clears her throat. "Malick?"
"You recognized me. Seems like you're finally dusting the cobwebs off your brain." He says.
Diamond instantly floods with anger and pushes to her feet. She's about to say something back when her head pounds harshly and she's forced to sit back down. She holds her head and tries to breathe deeply to relieve the pain.
"Take it easy, hot-shot." Malick continues. "The poison's still working its way out of your system."
"Thanks, I didn't realize that." Diamond sarcastically snaps back.
"Of course you didn't." Malick finishes.
Diamond growls but forces herself to stand as the pain slowly subsides. She lifts her head and realizes she's in a large bedroom. The room resembles the size of the sanctuary except it's square and without walls to divide it.
The walls are a peaceful, calm color with naturist wall ornaments and a huge tiered crystal chandelier dripping from the ceiling. The floors are mainly wood with a thick plush carpet stretching the length of the room. There's a large floor to ceiling window with cross-hatched X's along the glass. The thick gold-and-red velvet draperies spilling from the window, like motionless crimson waterfalls. Enormous tapestries hung over the walls. Marble floor-to-ceiling pillars stand at every corner of the room, while a large fireplace plays as centerpiece of the room; a gold clock the only thing on the mantle. Around the fireplace are couches and armchairs with delicate designs and embroidered pillows.
There's a mahogany hutch, wardrobe and dresser all together on one wall with a vanity across the way. Next to the bed is an end table with a glass of water. The bed itself is a four-post, canopy bed with elegant curtains tied to the posts. When not tied, Diamond assumes that they can be pulled closed for privacy.
Diamond drapes her legs over the edge of the bed and looks down when her toes don't touch the floor. She hops off and stretches her legs.
"So, I'm still in the Faceless Headquarters?" Diamond asks.
"No you're in the bedroom of the Jarl of Whiterun."
"Can't you just answer my questions?" Diamond snarls.
"Can you not ask stupid questions and use your common sense?" Malick retorts.
Diamond clamps her mouth shut to stop from shouting at him. Not only is her voice rough enough as it is, if she yells, she's bound to reactivate the pounding headache. So she merely walks up to the vanity mirror; trying not to stare at Malick as he dumps a pale blue tunic into the pillowcase sack. As expected, there is a dark blur bruise on her cheek; and something else. Diamond freezes and her eyes widen when she finds her hair in a partially messy braid and her Brotherhood uniform dyed. What was red on her uniform is now a dark purple.
She whirls around to Malick. "Who put me in this?!" she demands.
Malick looks to her casually and despite his eyebrows raisin, his eyes stay calm and laidback. "I'm not touching that with a ten foot stick."
"Who did this?!" Diamond yells, her eyes water from the pain in her head, but no tears spill over.
"You're one of us now, sister. Be appreciative Zusa let you live." Malick says.
"Why did she?" Diamond hisses. "I hate this place! And I hate her!"
"You think I know? I was the one who voted to have you killed. But Zusa, somehow thinks you have potential to be one of us."
Diamond fists her hands to keep from wrapping them around Malick's throat. She knows she's too weak and in pain to start a fight now, yet she hates how she can't shut him up. She could ask why he doesn't just kill her now. Only to realize he'll answer with something like: 'I don't want to mess with Zusa, or I don't do favors.'
So Diamond sighs in aggravation as she walks back over to the bed. She sits with her elbows to her knees, head braced between her hands. She can feel Malick's gaze on her, and despite the urge of wanting to cry, no tears come. Her aggression and hatred and anger towards the Faceless devours her urge to cry. Diamond looks back to Malick as he shrugs the grey shirt up over his head.
"So, who are the Faceless, Malick?" Diamond asks, her mouth tasting bitter after saying his name.
Malick coldly chuckles as he ruffles his hair. "You really are a blonde aren't you? I swear if you turn your head, I can see clear through your ears."
"Just answer my question!"
Malick takes his sweet time to adjust his shirt and fix his hair before answering. "We, are an elite group of shadowy assassins. And we're very good at what we do. We kill for justice and for the vengeance of women in Skyrim."
"You also seem to be quite the loudmouths as well." Diamond snaps. "So, if they're supposed to be a group of women, what makes you the exception? Are you gay or something?"
Malick secures the rope around the pillowcase and double knots it. He looks Diamond straight in the eye, and she can't help but shiver at how intense they appear. Instead of a simple brown, they appear to be a glimmering copper. Perhaps even a gold topaz.
"I rescued a group of women from a brothel."
Diamond's throat suddenly tightens, and when she tries to swallow, it feels as if there's a wad of cotton stuck. Her hands grow cold and a shiver runs down her spine.
"The man running the brothel was abusive to the girls. However way you picture it, it was like that, and worse." Malick continues. "I was part of a Stormcloak group and we entered the tavern one night after hours. I was against it from the start, but they brought me along for backup. When one girl came up to me, she whispered in my ear to come to her chambers."
Malick shifts so his arms are crossed and he's leaning against the dresser.
"When I got there, she sat me down and told me about the abuse towards the girls in this club. I was so mad she barely finished before I got up and stormed out of the room. I went down and sliced the throats of my own squad members, then I went for the bastard who owns the club, and sliced his head off with his fancy pen." Malick continues.
Diamond feels her shoulders shudder, but instead of feeling fear, she feels a warm bur blooming in her chest. He saved women from an abusive man and lifestyle; even if it meant killing his own men.
"Were you ever charged?" Diamond asks.
"They never found the bodies. The girls took the blame saying it was for self-defense, including for the manager."
Diamond's eyes widen. "They took the blame? For all of it?"
"Yes, pay attention. Anyway, I managed to slip out of the city and I was recruited by the Faceless, maybe, a month later." Malick finishes.
"So, how old are you?" Diamond asks.
"I'm nineteen."
"And how long have you been with the Faceless since the . . . incident." Diamond asks.
"I've been with them about, a year." Malik answers.
Diamond stares at the floor for a second. "You were only seventeen." He nearly whispers.
Malick look to her and blinks. "Yep. And congrats, you managed to complete the math without cracking your skull." He slyly smiles.
Diamond snarls, but she says, "Well now I can't really take that asshole act, despite how great you are at it."
"Who says it's an act?"
"What you did; for those girls. That was, nice of you. Not even nice. Heroic. So are you, a good guy?" Diamond asks.
Malick looks to her, and she managed to get his eyes to widen slightly with surprise. She expects a smart remark, so she can't help but blush when she hears him chuckle. The sound is soft and breathy, but she could still hear it. Malick looks to her with a smile on his lips and Diamond preys her cheeks don't betray her. He chuckles again before leaving the room.
Diamond half expects him to lean into the doorway and give her an answer, but he never returns.
What the hell?! She thinks. He never answered, so what's that supposed to mean?! What the hell?!
Diamond groans and flops her back to the bed and rubs her eyes. She tries to think of the answer herself, with no avail. If he saved the girls, that makes him good. But if he's an assassin, he's bad, but the Faceless kill for the vengeance of women, does that make him good? Diamond yells and chucks a pillow off the bed. Without caring where it lands, she hears a yelp. Diamond sits up to find another young woman, about her age standing at the dresser with an armful of clothes.
"Well, looks like you're getting your strength back." She says.
She has different shades of blue in her hair falling past her choppy bangs. She wears the wrappings of the Faceless with a dark purple cloak about her shoulders. Her wrappings were different from the others of the Faceless. They are thin and you can see half of some kind of black bra. Then the wrappings gap a little at her stomach, revealing a belly ring and a tattoo. It is black and tribal looking and surrounds her belly button. And judging from the bulges in her legs, she has powerful legs.
Diamond watches as she sets the pile of clothes into the drawer Malick just emptied. She then closes the drawer, leaving out a simple black shift for Diamond. She walks over and hands it to Diamond. Diamond takes it and sets it aside.
"So, you feeling any better?" the girl asks. "Oh, I'm Veera, by the way."
She extends out a hand, and Diamond debates on whether to shake it. The girl gives a gentle smile and despite accepting her handshake, Diamond gives her a questionable look.
"What are you here for? Killing a puppy?" Diamond slashes.
Veera instantly retracts her hand and her lip contorts into a sneer. "No, I was dragged here after I watched my mother die right in front of me." She snaps back.
Diamond's eyes widen, her mouth slightly open. "Um, I . . . I'm sorry I didn't mean-" she stutters.
"It's fine." Veera interjects. "We all have a story."
"What's yours? If I may ask."
"My great-grandmother and grandmother were members of the Faceless. My mother was the next in line, but she didn't want any part of the life." Veera shifts her gaze down and traces into the carpet with her toes. "One evening, while my father was out hunting, they came."
Diamond feels her throat swell.
"They barged through the door and cut my mother down right in front of me. I was only eight years old. After that, they carried me off and I've been here ever since."
"How old are you now?" Diamond asks.
"Fifteen."
"I'm so sorry, Veera." Diamond mumbles. "And it was just like that? You never tried to escape?"
"I don't have a death wish." Veera says, then shrugs. "I mean, I can never forgive them for what they did, but at the same time this is my family's history. Even if my mother was never a part of it."
"How many members are there?" Diamond asks.
"Right now Zusa is still recruiting. So we only have about, five or six." Veera says wavering a hand.
"So, where is here?" Diamond asks.
Veera answers by pointing to the window. Diamond looks over her shoulder and crawls over to it. She peeks out and finds the land surrounded by trees and grass and mountains and water. She is in the woods.
"Care for a tour?" Veera smiles.
Diamond decides to like Veera for now and nods. She leaves her room and follows Veera out. Diamond wasn't sure what she had expected of The Faceless' safe house, but the elegant mansion surrounded by steel bars was certainly not it.
As she follows down to the entry hall, her footsteps echo against the polished wood floor. Diamond cranes her head, awed at the incredible height of the ceiling. Someone must like old-fashioned boats, she thinks, her eyes finding first the model of what she thought might be a schooner, perched on a long hallway table, and then a large painting depicting an old-time being tossed around on a stormy sea.
Their footsteps go mute as the sink into the runner carpet that stretches down the hallway and up a grand spiral staircase. To her right is an open living room area with tall, sliding wooden doors. Inside, a fireplace plays the role of centerpiece. The walls are lined with shelves decorated with colorful glass knickknacks and more boats. Tall floor lamps with fancy Tiffany-like shades accented the space. The lamps especially, Diamond thinks, gives the room a very "look but don't touch" feel.
"So, how did Zusa get such an . . . impressive building to be her safe house?"
"Some rich merchant fled the city with his family." Veera says. "All his helpers stayed to keep the mansion clean, warm, and safe. Zusa moved in shortly after. I've even heard she keeps a few business contracts with various stewards about the olds while pretending to be a friend of the real owner."
"What happens when the merchant returns to his home?" Diamond asks.
"He won't."
Diamond blinks in shock, but makes sure to follow Veera as they continue on; not comfortable on being lost in the house on her own; but stops when she comes to a second larger room to his right. This one is another no-touchy, done in antique gold and soft pinks with hardwood inlay floor, heavy draperies, and fancy old chairs. In one corner, like a squat gentleman in a tuxedo, stands a polished black piano. As she steps into the room, it feels almost as though she is crossing through a time portal, leaving behind on century behind for another. She strode towards the piano and sidesteps a low coffee table with spindly legs. She moves to stand behind the instrument, where she lets her fingers trail the keys. Picking one somewhere in the middle, she presses it softly.
The note – out of tune – boomed around him.
Diamond jerks her arm back. Her elbow plows into the shelf behind her, slamming into an oil painting. She swings around, checks the photo – and freezes when she finds herself staring into the intense gaze of a green-eyed, black-haired woman. Zusa; educated guess.
The photo, taken from the shoulders up, shows her dressed in a blue button-down, and a black vest. Her gaze seems to be fixed in an almost-scowl at the painter, like she was indignant at the idea of having her picture painted. Faint half circles underlined the Zusa's eyes, giving her the look of being prematurely world-weary.
Turning, Diamond checks to make sure nothing else on the bookshelf got knocked over. At the sound of feet approaching from the hall, she turns back to the piano quickly, pretending she is distracted by its beauty, allowing her fingers to ghost over the keys again.
Veera peeks his head in. She steps fully into the doorway and folds her hands behind her back.
"Sorry, sorry." Diamond apologizes.
Diamond makes sure to follow Veera as she navigates them through the halls. Left, right, right. Left right left. Right, right. The turns, in order from the point of origin – the living room – to the rest of the kingdom. Diamond is so disoriented he could never find her way back, the fingers of her hand sliding along the mahogany banister. Despite the fact that they mount a few flights of stairs, she still feels like they're descending deeper in the building. They reached a landing, a window stamped into the wall to her left. Rounding on final corner, she comes to a long hallway with an even larger floor to ceiling window with cross-hatched X's along the glass. The natural lighting brightens the entire hall.
As she leads Diamond towards the front door, Veera yanks Diamond aside as another cloaked Faceless enters. With her cloak brushing the floor, she mimics gliding across the floor; her footsteps soundless. She is taller than Diamond by two inches, and is fully clad in her black and purple wrappings, her face a mask of white cloth. Shadows seem to curl off her firm body and fade away like smoke. Her head turns towards Diamond, and despite the cloth, Diamond shifts uncontrollably as she sees dots of blue looking at her. After a moment of awkward silence, the Faceless looks away and continues on.
"Who's the broad?" Diamond asks.
Veera giggles a little. "That's Eloria. She's the third in command. Though I don't think there's an official title for that."
"Who's the second?"
"Malick. Being the only man accepted, and with his 'rescue mission.'" Veera air quotes.
"Why the air quotes? You don't believe him?"
"No I do, in fact, Eloria was one of the woman in the brothel."
"Get out!" Diamond exclaims.
"Yep. She was second in command until Malick showed up, and she actually approached Zusa and said that he deserves it more than her."
"And Zusa was fine with it?"
Veera nods. Veera then leads them outside into the woods and turns Diamond to face the house itself.
The house itself was incredible, practically a castle in its own. It had three levels, the topmost of which might be an attic. The roof met in the peak there, with a little subroof sticking out from underneath the first framing a rectangular, three-paneled window. A small concrete porch led up to a front door, shaded by a simple verandah, which was itself supported by a row of painted white pillars. The front door, done in an opaque gold stained-glass design, shimmered a satiny dim yellow in the late afternoon sunlight.
A heavy wind rushed by, causing the leafy heads of enormous, ancient looking trees to swish back and forth. The sun poked through the clouds, lighting the very center of the court where a huge fountain stood. No water poured from the enormous green basin, and the elevated base was surrounded by graceful swans and solemn-faced shrubs.
At the very top of the fountain, a statue of a voluptuous nude woman looked down on them as they passed. She held a swath of fabric that clung to the lower half of her body and appeared to billow out behind her in a suspended arc. Curly-haired cherubs frolicked beneath the basin in a captured moment of abandon. Though the figures might have seemed playful in the daylight, something about the mix of shadows and stark light cast on their small faces through the trees made them appear more mischievous than free-spirited, more impish than gleeful.
The large swans that reveled with them, rearing back with wings outspread, looked somehow frantic.
Blocked by the wide bowl of the basin, the light could not reach the sultry figure of the nude woman who stood at the very top of the fountain, her veil billowing out behind her. She remained swathed in shadow, a silhouette that belonged to the night.
"So, what do you think?" Veera asks once the tour of the house is complete. Diamond plops down onto the couch. Veera remains at the door, as if embarrassed to come further inside.
"It's not what I expected." Diamond admits.
"Is that good?"
Diamond pauses. "I don't know." Diamond shakes her head, deciding if she was more confused now than before she answered the question.
"Oh, and before I go," Diamond looks up to Veera. "Zusa wants you."
Diamond lets out a sigh, then stands.
"Do you remember where to go?" Veera smiles slyly.
"I do, I just need someone to clarify for me." Diamond exaggerates.
Veera giggle and proceeds to lead Diamond. As she walks through the estate, marveling at various paintings of the faraway lands of Morrowind, Hammerfell and Cyrodill, Diamond lets her mind wander to her own situation. She has been told that the Faceless are her enemies. Now she is in the lair of the enemy, possibly trusting a member who could only be putting on an act to earn her trust, and all for what? A vague promise of wealth?
No, it wasn't the wealth. It's the power, she realizes. Zusa had offered Diamond a role at her side, the highest reward she could bestow. If all of Skyrim quakes in fear at the name of the Faceless, might not the same one day happen for Diamond? A foolish fantasy, perhaps, but she could not shake it away. It sucks wisdom from her heart like a leech.
The hall of paintings ends at Zusa's room. Veera knocks twice, then waits patiently. A moment alter the door creeps open, and she waves Diamond in. Diamond looks to her and Veera gives her a soft smile and leaves her. Diamond enters, passing between two torches bracketed to the wall. Inside is a plush room of velvet reds and silky yellows. An enormous bed, its wooden painted silver and its knobs carved into pairs of wings, is in the far corner. In the center of the room is a rectangular table with six chairs, seeming like a strange joke with its dull finish and undecorated nature amid a sea of decadence.
Zusa sits in the middle seat facing the door. She waves Diamond to her. With her features exposed, Diamond can't help but feel a twinge of pain in her chest at her beauty.
"Thank you for meeting with me, sweet Diamond." Without time to react, Zusa takes Diamond's hand and bitterly accepts the kiss on her wrist. "Frankly I haven't seen such beauty since . . . well, that's not important."
Diamond shifts her weight from one foot to the other, trying to hide any discomfort.
"I looked into you, Diamond. You're skilled. I've gone over the events several times in my head, heard of everything you have done. You've not just survived, but thrived. You refuse to join my faction, when clearly we are thriving ourselves. Why?"
Diamond wishes she had a bitchier answer, but she gives the honest one. "Because I know where my loyalties lie."
She expects Zusa to be angry, but instead she laughs. It is light and airy, like that belonging to a princess.
"As I hoped," she says. "You do not lie, do not hide, do not waste my time. Your skill is undeniable, my dearest Diamond, and your motives are as pure as I might hope for. If it is money you want, I can give it to you. If it is power, I have that as well. And if you are willing, I will give you a chance others could only dream of."
"What is it?" Diamond asks, wishing she could sit down. Her legs are sore and feel like they're quaking, but they hold like steel.
"Join me as part of my council." Zusa says. "You've got potential, and given how your own Brotherhood is fading, I'm not much for wasting time. You're good. Are you good enough?"
"Too many quiver at the notion of the word no when in Zusa's presence. Be careful on your answer. Bravery can also be stupidity." A voice says.
Diamond looks around and finds Malick leaning against the wall with his arms folded.
"So wait, what's -"
"I'm willing to offer you a deal, my dearest Diamond." Zusa leans forward, folding her hands in front of her. "I want you to stay with us for three days. That's all. Within that time, you will be training and living as if you are a member. And if within that time you still wish to stay with your, depleting Brotherhood, so be it."
"Why do this?" Diamond asks.
"Because I want you to see, feel and have a sense of what I'm offering you, Diamond. The luxury and the much more appropriate setting for someone of your skill." Zusa explains. "I want to show you, that you belong here."
Diamond's eyes flick to Malick.
"Malick has agreed to be your supervisor for this."
Diamond instantly springs up from her seat, her face contorting into a vicious snarl. "Bullshit! I'm not working with him!"
"You think I volunteered to do this?" Malick responds. "I'd soon face a dragon."
"He will be training you and escorting you around the mansion so that you familiarize yourself enough." Zusa continues.
"And what if after all this I still don't want to join?" Diamond challenges.
"If it were to come to that, then you will be dismissed." Zusa answers.
"Meaning?"
"You will never have contact with the Faceless again."
Diamond feels her heart flutter at the mention of never having to meet the Faceless again. Never have to worry about getting attacked or kidnapped. Most importantly, she can return to her life at the Brotherhood in peace.
"So, Diamond. Do we have a deal?" Zusa stretches out her hand.
Diamond looks to it, then to Malick. He only rolls his eyes.
Diamond cracks a smile, and takes Zusa's hand.
"Deal."