Diamond immediately steps into a descending staircase, turning left before entering a foyer-like room where there's another sealed door. A single bookshelf is pushed up against one wall, with human skulls, dried up flowers and rotted books. There are tables on either side of her, one holding rusted old weapons and shields, the other . . . Cicero's jester clothes.
"Oh gods, please . . . please, please, don't let him be naked!" Diamond begs.
"Listener!" Cicero's voice suddenly booms. Diamond jumps back, her hand already going to her warhammer. His voice, it sounded as if it was right in front of her, but yet it echoes throughout the walls like a wraith. Not only that, but it brings with it all of her anger and annoyance of him declaring her as the Night Mother's Listener. Yet his voice tugs slightly at her heart as he grunts in pain and hisses as she can practically picture him holding his wound. "Is that you?! Oh, I knew you'd come. Send the best to defeat the best. Astrid knew her stupid wolf couldn't slay sly Cicero."
Bringing her foot up, Diamond kicks the door in, splintering wood scattered everywhere. It opens up to a main chamber where a staircase that would lead down to the bottom floor, it blocked off by a wall of spikes.
Diamond crouches suddenly when she hears a whisper of a sword. Shockingly, ahead of her is the spectral outline of a former Brotherhood Assassin. A guardian of the Sanctuary. Diamond isn't so much shocked, just surprised.
But despite the ghostly form, it still feels realistic as Diamond takes her dagger and slices at the specter's throat. It moans, but dies in a strange pool of glowing goop. Giving a sound of disgust, Diamond switches out to her bow as it'll be easier and quicker.
She jumps again at Cicero's voice. "Oh, but this isn't at all what Mother would want. You kill the Keeper or I kill the Listener? Now that's . . . madness!"
Diamond turns and comes up to a short hallway leading to a bridge. Carefully tiptoeing her way across, Cicero cries out again. "Ouch! Pointy, pointy!"
Rising to a stance, Diamond looks all around and finds another ghost at the other end of the bridge. She readies her bow.
"My home is well defended. I've always been a stickler for details." Cicero speaks.
A chill crawls up diamond's spine and she turns her head to the right, just as a large retraceable spike comes flying at her head. Diamond gasps and stumbles backwards onto the rope banister, but it easily slips around her bum and she falls over, tumbling to the floor below.
Releasing a quick squeal of surprise, Diamond shoots an arrow with a rope tied to it, at any random spot on the ceiling. It sticks into the stone and pulls taught. She grunts as she tries to hold back the pain in her arm, but the jerk-stop yanks the arrow slightly loose, and Diamond's grip falters.
Thankfully she was only a couple feet above ground, her right shoulder taking most of the impact of the stone floor. Cicero's mocking voice chimes. "Get it? "Stick-ler!"" He insanely laughs. "Oh, I slay me!"
"I will Cicero! You hear me! You're dead!"
Just as the words leave her mouth, Diamond can see out of the corner of her eye movement. A strange scent wafts to her nose.
Two more ghostly specters emerge out of the walls and into the rotunda area, but Diamond is already up a wall and positioned on a outcropping of the rock wall. She sniffs again as the ghosts draw their weapons and ready themselves. Diamond carefully lights a match and drops it tentatively onto the oil slick ground.
The entire floor erupts in flames, the heat tickling Diamond's chest as the flames stretch high for a split second. Once she sees the flames die along with the ghostly apparitions, Diamond drops to the floor, landing on her feet. She readies her bow once more, those lessons with Libby paying off; but of course archery is a staple skill for any assassin.
Stalking further into the chamber, Diamond clings to the shadows, her long black cloak a mere whisper behind her. Though she feels her attempts might be useless as she continually hears Cicero's voice reverberate around her and in the stone.
"You're . . . still alive. Cicero respects the Listener's abilities of course, but could you at least, slow down a bit? I'm not what I used to be."
Diamond snarls and intentionally quickens her steps up a set of stairs. It brings her to the main floor, where the ground is covered with snow, and a giant circular window has been shattered out. A single but giant iron chandelier hangs overhead and provides the only source of light. A large dining table sits in the middle and a few scattered sets of furniture border the room. She takes notice of how the glass was broken inwards towards an icy carved tunnel. Blood soaks the rhombus shaped glass pieces.
Suddenly something steps in front of her, and Diamond whirls around, readying her hammer as she blocks the translucent blade of another Sanctuary Guardian. He snarls at her, a chill running though Diamond as she sees his pale skin, iridescent in the light of the flames, and his eyes just deep wells of inky blackness. Diamond pushes off and draws her dagger, slashing as his ankles and ramming it into his sternum as he sinks to his knees. Yanking her blade out, it's momentarily covered in ectoplasm before it fades away in seconds.
She hauls her warhammer along as she hurries into the tunnel, more than eager to end Cicero and his stupid riddles, and finally be rid of being called "Listener."
The tunnel sends shiver through her as she jogs her way around, following splatters of Cicero's blood as she carefully steps over the threshold of glass, two wall lamps flank the once was stained glass window.
As she follows, Diamond can't help but feel like she's out hunting with Libby in the woods. Libby had given her many tips and lessons on hunting, and tracking was one of Diamond's favorite subjects as it paralleled so easily with her line of work. She follows the blood and into a chamber, taking a couple lefts and rights; her assumption being it's a tunnel the former assassins used to slip in and out of sight.
"Brrr! Chilly. You'll enjoy this. Not an original part of the Sanctuary, per se. let's call it a "forced addition." Forced by what? Oh, come and see!" Cicero cheers. How can he still be so cheerful when the burden of his death approaches? Every time he speaks, he's only hinting to Diamond that she's getting closer. Perhaps he has accepted his fate? Has he already embraced the Abyss and his Lord Sithis?
Coming to an intersection, Diamond immediately takes the path to her right. With cautious steps she peers into the room and finds . . . a troll.
Her heart jump in her throat. Trolls are her absolute worse and most hated creature. Diamond swears that Trolls are the gods' mistake. Thankfully, Libby had mentioned the two different kinds of trolls Frost and Normal, and it's the Frost Trolls that give many hunters a run for the money. When Libby first took down a Frost Troll with only two arrows, Diamond had begged her to teach her the weaknesses and pressure points of the animal for once shot kills.
Diamond traces over those steps once more as she loads an arrow. One nails it in the throat and then skull before it falls into a bear trap, locking its wrist in place. Diamond can only assume that this creature was responsible for the carving of the tunnels as Cicero mentioned.
Passing by bits and chewed piece of humans and animals, Diamond gags as she tries to navigate her way out of the freezing tunnel. Her nose is already read, and starting to sniffle.
Her foot passes under and archway when she hears him. "Oh, all right! So Cicero attacked that harlot, Astrid! But that's a fool to do, when his mother is slandered and mocked? Surely the Listener understands!"
As much as it pains Diamond to admit it, she does understand. It's no different than the citizens of Skyrim comparing the Faceless to the Brotherhood; vilifying their name in favor of the Faceless and their false cause. Diamond nearly wanted to slice everyone's throat and make them respect the Brotherhood again.
The sunlight shines through the ice, creating stunning shafts of cobalt that sparkles the frost and warm her face. Continuing on, she reaches the wooden floor again and finds a large door. Opening reveals another gate of spikes that cower back into the floor with the tug of a chain.
A few short steps and she's down into the assuming catacombs of the Sanctuary as she can sense the static down her spine as she finds at least three to four spirits roaming around the coffins and cubbyholes of slots lining the walls. Keeping her eyes on the blood, Diamond ends out three daggers that piece a piece of phantasmal skin.
The moment the spirits notice their pain, their throats are slashed and chests are pierced.
Diamond slips by in a hush of ruffled fabric. Her feet are now pounding the stone as she hurries in her distinct direction. By now Cicero's voice is nothing more than noise, her ears only tuning in when she believes he might be saying something of use.
"Cicero admits, he thought the Listener would be dead by now. Heh." Cicero grunts in pain. "Maybe we could just forget all this? Let bygones be bygones? What do you say?"
"Not on your psychopathic life you bastard." Diamond snarls.
Three more arrows find their home in the chests of three more specters. Diamond has since declared them as an annoyance, not even bothering with her stealth anymore as she loads and shoots her bow while running. Leaving on her straight path, slightly curving at the right, and bounding up a set of stairs. She doesn't even notice the chain pulley, but her hand reaches for it instantly.
Cicero's voice sounds more panicked as she steps through the wide archway. "If it's any comfort, I do feel slightly bad about Veezara. Stupid lizard got in my way! But please tell me that hulking sheepdog has bled to death!"
Her spine tingles as she carefully steps into a hallway where at the end, it reads the rules of the old ways. On the left it leads out to the first floor chamber, the right is a closed door. And Cicero's voice seems to almost line up perfectly as she approaches.
Heart jumping to jackrabbit speed, Diamond worries about what she might find in there, but her logic reminds her of Arnbjorn how he injured Cicero enough that he can't risk a surprise attack.
Still, Diamond sheathes her warhammer and readies her dagger. The door is already slightly ajar. A smeared trail of blood slipping under the bottom.
"And now, we've come to the end of the play. The grand finale."
She bursts open the door, but doesn't dare take a step inside. She readies her dagger, but finds Cicero huddled in the back of the room, lying on his side next to a toppled over cauldron of embers. The room itself seems like a torturing chamber. Strangely, the choice seems rather fitting for Cicero.
With her dagger in hand, Diamond carefully approaches Cicero like a rabies animal. Helpless at first glance, but just as easily able to swing up and bite as it is to collapse in anticipating defeat. She can't seem to form words as Cicero coughs, small specks of blood scattering across the stone. Bile rises at the back of Diamond's throat.
As she near the two steps of stone stairs that lead to him, Cicero lets out another agonizing cough. "You caught me. I surrender!" he laughs with insanity lacing his words.
The antagonism and exasperation she had felt all the way up here, seems to disturbingly fade away as she stares at the mad jester sprawled before her. Curled on his side in a pool of his own blood, he keeps one hand pressed against his side where Arnbjorn said he had slashed. He coughs repeatedly and shakes, smearing the crimson under his boots and side. Diamond can see the tiny bottle of a healing potion that must've gotten scattered from Cicero's shaking. He now seems like nothing more than a helpless animal, but that can also mean he will do whatever he can since he has nothing more to lose.
Diamond remains silent as she stares at Cicero. To her disturbance, he laughs. "Oh, you prefer to listen. The Listener listens. A joke! A funny joke!" He lets out a laughter that shivers Diamond's spine. Then he abruptly stops and stares at her. "I get it. So listen to this, don't kill me. Let poor Cicero live! Tell Astrid you did the job! Stabbed, strangled, drowned poor Cicero! A tiny white lie for a dark assassin."
Diamond remains silent.
The insane smile that was on his face, fades away into an expression that seems the most human she's seen him.
Cicero sighs and lowers his head to the ground. "Do what you will. Cicero has no fight left. In the end, Sithis will judge us both."
She slowly lowers herself to her knees. "Cicero." Diamond breathes. "You have to die."
Diamond catches a brief glimpse of Cicero's shoulders sagging, as if admitting defeat as her dagger hits home, plunging it down into his heart.
Cicero's arms sag. His body shudders and gives those unsettling wet coughs. Spots of blood land on her gloves.
"Coming . . ." Cicero coughs up blood that dribbles along his lips. His body shudders and he gags; Diamond struggling not to choke herself as she hears the sound of blood in the back of his throat. ". . . M-Mother."
Diamond holds his head as she watches the blood slide along his jaw line and stain the collar of his clothes. His eyes soon shift into the far seeing gaze of the dead, and his body hits its dead weight. She twists the dagger with her other hand as she pulls it out.
She sets his head down on the stone as tentatively as she can.
Killing someone always made Diamond worry that she's losing a part of who she is; but as years progressed, had grown used to the idea, to the feeling that she was finding more of herself with every slaughter at her blade.
This time, Cicero is different. Skyrim could take their freedom, it could destroy their lives and beat and break and whip them, it could force them into ridiculous factions, but, criminal or not, they are still human.
As his blood pulls underneath his body, Diamond rises to her feet. Diamond says a silent prayer for the dead jester and wishes him well.
Returning to the Sanctuary, Diamond stalks through the door and down the steps. The heavy sack clenched in her hand swings with each step, banging every so often into her knees. She approaches Astrid of who is once against hunched over her table with daggers stabbed into the map, Diamond's cloak sweeping behind her. Her black boots are nearly silent against the stone floor.
Astrid doesn't look to her as she speaks. "Arnbjorn is safe, and for that you have my thanks. But what of the fool? Is Cicero dead?"
Diamond reaches her gloved hand into the sack and tosses the severed head towards Astrid. Festus Krex just mounting the steps as it bounces, a vulgar thudding of stiff and rotting flesh on stone. It rolls to a stop at Astrid's feet, milky eyes turned towards the root protruding circling overhead. Festus goes rigid.
"Yes, Cicero is dead." Diamond says.
Astrid slightly turns to observe the head, examining the mauled face and the jagged cuts into the neck. "Excellent. Once again you've proven yourself a born assassin."
Diamond gives Astrid a crooked smile, though her throat tightens. "I'm afraid severed heads don't travel well."
"That's fine. And now that this Cicero mess has been mopped up, we can get back to the matter at hand, hmm?" Astrid grins.
Diamond simply nods, submissive, yielding, gracious. "Yes, what is my next task?"
"There's just one more target before we strike out at the Emperor. Have you by chance heard of the "Gourmet"? Read his cookbook? It's become quite the phenomenon."
Diamond scoops up the head by its ginger hair and stuffs it into the sack. She doesn't say anything.
"The Gourmet is scheduled to cook for the Emperor at a special dinner. You'll kill him, steal his Writ of Passage, and assume the role of master chef." Astrid explains. "Festus has been spearheading this part of the assassination plan. He's close to uncovering the identity of the Gourmet. You should report to him."
Diamond looks over and stares at Festus. The tug-of-war between her anger and fear of the man has simply vanished. She stares at him unyielding and frankly bored. Festus is still standing there, his eyes flicking back and forth between Diamond and the sack containing the severed head of Cicero. Diamond approaches him with normal steps.
"Well looks like the light is on you, Festus." She says, her voice seemingly distant with a predatory calm he's never seen. Frankly, for someone of her age - of sixteen – it's a little unnerving.
Festus clears his throat. "Um yes. It seems you took your sweet time dealing with Cicero, hm? Now, if you're done playing with severed heads, let's get down to business." He motions his head out of the room and Diamond follows without any remarks back.
She follows him through the Sanctuary until he comes up the steps to the Alchemy lab. Diamond still doesn't say anything even when Festus turns his back to her and starts to grind up some salts in a small wooden bowl. Diamond meanwhile tosses the burlap sack into the spider pit where Gabriella's Frostbite Spider turns and her fangs twitch as she approaches the bag and digs through it. Diamond pulls away when she pulls out Cicero's severed head.
Diamond walks back over to Festus and leans against the table that's set directly behind the Alchemy lab. "So, inquired that I need to kill the Gourmet and take on his identity to get into a royal banquet that'll host the Emperor."
"Quite so. But first you'll need to learn who he is. Assuming, of course, that the Gourmet actually is a "he." Could be a woman for all we know." Festus grinds the salt in the bowl and ands a couple drops of honeysuckle flower.
"So you don't even know who the Gourmet is? Great."
"I know who he is you simpleton! What do you think my brain is as rotted as my wrinkles?!"
"Pretty much."
Festus scowls at her, but still continues on, adding a cup of bear claws to his creation. "In my, um, investigations, I came upon this. It's a copy of the Gourmet's cookbook. Ah, but noy just any copy. It's sighed you see!"
Without having to turn around, Festus jerks his chin over to the left, by a bookshelf containing various unusual knickknacks assumingly belonging to Gabriella. A book with a blue cover and indigo lining floats off the shelf and over to Diamond, where she takes it in her hands, flipping open the cover.
Festus then dumps his ashen contents into a beaker with a rounded bottom and thin neck leading through cord swirling down into a potion bottle. "Seems to be a message from the Gourmet to one Anton Virane. I've tracked Virane to the keep in Markarth. It would seem he's the cook."
"And this Anton Virane knows the Gourmet's true identity?"
"I believe so. Therefore, you are to obtain that information from Virane – who the Gourmet really is, and where he can be found."
"Okay." Diamond says through a sigh as she tosses the book onto the table.
"Oh, and when you're done with Virane," Festus adds. "Kill him. Loose ends and all that." Diamond nods and pulls her hood up over her head. "Next, you'll have to . . . Are you still paying attention?"
"Oh, I'm waiting with bated breath . . ." Diamond sarcastically remarks as she adjusts her gloves.
Festus pouts before taking a deep breath .Probably to keep from peeling Diamond inside out. Though he wouldn't stand a chance nor even attempt since it's considered treason against the Brotherhood. "As I was saying . . . You'll need to kill the Gourmet, of course. But what's more, you'll need to get his Writ of Passage, so you can take his place."
"Astrid already explained that."
"And if you can, hide his body. The longer it takes for anyone else to determine his eal identity, the better."
"I would've figured that out on my own, thank you very much."
"Just making sure your blondish brain is functioning properly." Festus grins over his shoulder. Diamond can only snarl at him before he says, "Now off with you!"
She leaves Festus without so much as a goodbye, but she does stick out her tongue while the wizard his back turned, still hunched over the Alchemy lab. As she makes her way towards the door, she can feel the excitement ignite in her chest as she thinks of going back to Markarth, even if for a Brotherhood contract.
Diamond carefully slips out of the Sanctuary, letting the door shut behind her and Shadowmere picking at the ground with his hoof. She only takes three steps when a chill of spear crawls up her spine, tingling behind her neck and causing her hair to stand on end.
Suppressing it as best she can, her mind suddenly clouded with nothing more than a single thought: Get away from the Sanctuary.
Though a part of her wanted to run back inside and call to Astrid, she knew if she did, none of them would ever let her live it down. And now that she's finally earned the respect of Arnbjorn, she's not going to ruin it.
Diamond mounts Shadowmere and snaps the reins, immediately sending the horse into a trot. They make it all the way past the stone wall that surrounds Falkreath and Shadowmere seems to be acting normal enough. Guards give her a nod of awareness as she trots past the village.
Fifteen minutes after they've past the village, Diamond is just about to let her guard down when she feels Shadowmere stiffen.
A millisecond after Diamond is body-slammed from the side, off of Shadowmere and tumbling to the ground. The world is a dark blur as she feels another body rolling with her, and Diamond reaches for her dagger tucked in her belt.
As they're nearing a stop, Diamond reaches up and grabs the person's wrists, declaring it a woman by the circumference, and when she feels her back hit the ground, Diamond brings her legs up. She presses her feet into the woman's abdomen and pushes with all her leg power. She feels the faint tickling of the ends of hair as she hurls the woman.
Diamond whips herself up as she hears the woman crash, readying her dagger. The woman comes tumbling to a stop, and Diamond immediately notices the dark purple cloak about the woman's shoulders that drags in front of her as she slides along the dirt.
What instantly disturbs Diamond is that the woman's head is exposed. No wrappings are around her head and not even her hood is pulled up. Diamond freezes as she watches the woman push to her feet. Though Diamond should've expected it, it still stuns her. The woman is incredibly beautiful.
With her moon-white hair, alabaster skin, and burnt-gold eyes, she could lure any man with a simple twinge of her fingers. But by then it would've been too late for them as her beauty is probably a mere weapon in her natural-born arsenal. And it probably makes things fun too.
The woman pushes to her feet pulling her cloak tightly around herself as she stands. She stares at Diamond with a closed lip smile. Her hair glints in the evening sunlight. Diamond snarls and readies her weapon as she stares.
"Another one, huh? How long did it take for them to find you?" Diamond hisses.
The woman creepily giggles. "Oh, you silly little assassin. It was I who found them. I figured they are the absolute perfect group for me." she purrs. Diamond's eyes flick to her belt that is designed to hold multiple weapons, and it is completely empty. Her stomach sinks, that can mean either she doesn't need it, or Diamond has just become part of her initiation into the Faceless.
"I don't know why Zusa liked you. You're so . . . plain." The woman hisses. "My name is Marionette."
"I don't care."
"Oh, but you will." The woman expands her smile, and a small pinch of fear crawls up her spine. The woman's teeth . . . They're – they're razor sharp, like a fish's, and made of metal. Of – of iron!
Diamond swallows back her fear but remains staring at the woman. A band of iron circles follow along the shape of her eyebrow. She smiles broader, and her row of dagger-sharp iron teeth push from the slits high in her gums, snapping down like armor. Then, as if sensing her fear and intimidation, the woman – Marionette – flicks her wrist in the air between them. Iron claws shoot over her nails in a stinging, gleaming flash. She starts to stalk towards Diamond, still smiling.
"Zusa sent me to you as a part of my incitation."
Of course.
"She doesn't take too lightly to anyone who abandons her or her faction. And you'll be happy to know, that I'm going to enjoy every minute of it. Hopefully Zusa will still recognize your heart when I dump it on her front door." Marionette gleams.
Without another word or a flinch of warning, Marionette charges forward. Faster than she could sense, faster than anything had a right to be, Diamond feels the punch crackle along her jaw. Diamond shifts enough to keep her nose from shattering but takes the blow to the mouth. She hits the ground, whacks her head, and tastes blood.
Diamond manages to bring her arm up to slash Marionette's forearm, but Marionette grabs her by the throat, the tips of her iron nails poking at the tender skin on her neck. Coldness makes Diamond's hands go clammy as Marionette pins her to the ground, the index finger of her freehand tracing along Diamond's jaw line. Blood runs down the side of her cheek.
"Hopefully I'll get a reasonable payment for your slaughter." Marionette purrs.
Diamond snarls and then rams her head forward, jabbing Marionette. She snarls as she hisses, but her grip faltering. In one swift movement, Diamond spins and whirls Marionette off her and into a large natural stone wall. She hisses like a cat.
"Nice try." Diamond snarls back. Without sparring a moment, Diamond goes to ram her dagger into Marionette's stomach and to end this whole thing now.
Marionette somehow manages to slip out of the impending blow and grab Diamond's arm, wrenching it to the side after slamming her foot into Diamond's knee. She screams from the pain, but tries to keep her mind focused and anticipating Marionette's next move. Diamond dodges the first blow, sidestepping Marionette's fist, strands of her hair snapping in the wind. She even manages to twist far enough in the other direction to avoid the second strike. But she is so damn fast Diamond can barely register the movements – so fast that Diamond has no chance of dodging or blocking or anticipating the third blow. Not to her face, but to her legs.
One sweep of Marionette's foot and she is falling, twisting to catch herself, but not fast enough to avoid thudding her brow against a weather-smooth rock. Diamond rolls, the grey sky looming, and tries to remember how to breathe as the impact echoes through her skull. Marionette pounces with easy fluid, her powerful thighs digging into Diamond's rib as Marionette straddles her. Breathless, head reeling, and muscles drained, Diamond can't twist and toss her – can't do anything.
Diamond growls and swings her right arm up, but Marionette catches it and twists it, bones cracking. Diamond grunts, loosening her grip. It's not enough to break, just release her grip on the dagger.
Marionette lunges forward, bur Diamond grabs her wrists as she chomps her teeth, the small metallic clang enough to ring in her ears. "Nice try." Diamond snarls. She then brings her feet up and wrap around Marionette's neck and jerking her back to the ground. Diamond then leaps up and sets herself back a few feet.
Shaking out her head, Marionette snarls and cracks her neck. "Not bad. At least it's good to know the Faceless don't just take any pathetic milk-drinker in Skyrim."
"I'm giving you once chance to walk away." Diamond says, even if her nose is bleeding and her lip is torn.
"You're in no position to bargain."
About to charge with her dagger raised, Diamond is momentarily perplexed as she watches marionette lift her nose to the air and sniff, her nostrils flaring. Then she whirls around and leaps out of the way as Arnbjorn comes flying out from a small hill, his battleaxe gleaming. He gives a battle cry as he hurls it down, narrowly missing Marionette's foot.
The Faceless member rolls in the dirt and onto her feet in seconds. She hisses again, baring her iron teeth. Diamond watches as Arnbjorn snarls, his canines longer in length than a humans. Of course, he's part werewolf; and he always claims that the Companions hold a secret ceremony that involves the blood of the wolf. Diamond never believed it, but with the way his nose flares, she couldn't be more grateful for the animal instinct.
"I'll carve you up into bits." Arnbjorn snarls.
Marionette grimaces. "Cat and Dog. Oh, fun." She drones.
"You won't be saying that in a few seconds."
"My business isn't with you, wolf. I'm here for the girl."
"If you want her, you'll have to go through me."
Marionette pouts, her fingers rippling, causing her iron claws to glimmer. "What kind of assassin doesn't know when not too get himself involved?"
"You mess with the Brotherhood, you mess with all of us." Arnbjorn scowls. He immediately springs forward, swinging his axe. Diamond watches as Marionette jumps and sets on the blade of the axe for a second before pushing off and landing behind Arnbjorn. She goes to slash his neck with her claws, but he blocks it easily with the handle of the weapon. He pushes off and Marionette leaps back, rolling on her back onto her feet.
"What a shame. This puts a damper on my plans."
This is all she says before she steps back and wraps her cloak around her body. She disappears into a plume of black smoke, of which breaks away the moment Arnbjorn swings at it.
"Come back and fight!" he shouts. There is no answer.
Diamond sniffs and spits out a wad of blood and saliva as she wipes her forehead with the sleeve of her armor. Arnbkorn sheathes his weapon and approaches her. She gives him a smile despite some of her blood leaking into her mouth. "They sure are persistent."
Diamond merely gather a mouthful of saliva and blood, and spits it into the dirt.
"Do you need help?"
"Since when are you generous? No comebacks or comments on how I should've been better?"
"That would be counterintuitive when I got my side slashed by a jester, with a butter knife." Arnbjorn says.
Diamond smirks and wipes her nose again. "I should get going."
"Well seeing as how you're not going to listen to me like the stubborn teen that you are, take this."
Diamond looks up just in time as a small healing potion comes flying at her face, intended on hitting her nose. Since Diamond only has a few bloodied cuts along with a fair amount of bruising some her way, she simply pops the cork and drinks up.
She chucks the bottle into the bushes before thanking Arnbjorn. He only gives her a smile as she mounts her horse and drives off to Markarth.