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<\/p>\nThe Listener was seated in front of her fireplace when he found her.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
He hadn\u2019t spent that much time with her, during his association with the Dark Brotherhood.\u00a0 Usually his assignments came from Nazir, and he had never thought it his place to inquire how exactly Nazir got them. As long as he had work to do, he was happy. Most often, when he visited the Sanctuary, the Listener was away.\u00a0 In fact, helping her move into her home had been one of the longest periods he\u2019d spent with her and that in the presence of others, to boot.<\/p>\n
\u201cListener,\u201d he said, making sure to use her title.<\/p>\n
It was important to him to give the Listener a great deal of respect, and he didn\u2019t exactly understand why. It wasn\u2019t as if he put a great deal of stock in the idea of the Night Mother, or Sithis, or any of it.\u00a0 He just assumed that the corpse in the big metal coffin was used as a prop, in much the same way as the Thieves Guild used the stories of the Nightingales as a prop, a deterrent, a way to keep the lower-ranking people in line and the common people in awe.\u00a0 After all, if you said your assassinations were undertaken at the will of the long-dead spouse of one of the original deities, well, they carried a lot more weight. Her comments about the \u201cwretched corpse\u201d supported that assumption, in his mind. But regardless, the Listener was to be obeyed in all things. That was something he felt at a gut level.\u00a0 It was why, in spite of her being very attractive, he\u2019d never so much as considered approaching her.<\/p>\n
I wonder why I feel this way. It must be something from \u2026 before.\u00a0 I\u2019ll never know. But it\u2019s important somehow.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cHello, Andante,\u201d she said, smiling. She had a husky voice that had never seemed to quite match her looks, in his mind, but it was a compelling voice nonetheless. \u201cListen, I appreciate the title. I\u2019ve had people forget before, and it\u2019s a little insulting. But you never have, there\u2019s only us here now, and my name is Sayma. Please don\u2019t stand on ceremony.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIf you wish.\u00a0 Sayma.\u201d \u00a0It doesn\u2019t feel right. It makes me feel like I\u2019m about to, I don\u2019t know, go whisper in her ear and nuzzle that lovely long neck of hers. <\/em><\/p>\n He wandered farther into the room and leaned against the railing near the stairs down.\u00a0 \u201cNazir said you were looking for me?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes.\u00a0 I have a message for you to deliver.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTo Bryn, right?\u201d<\/p>\n She gave him a startled, sideways glance.\u00a0 \u201cBryn, is it?\u00a0 Yes, I have a message for you to deliver to your Guildmaster. To \u2026 Brynjolf.\u201d\u00a0 There was something odd in the tone of her voice.<\/p>\n Shit. I shouldn\u2019t be quite so familiar about everything, should I. No matter what she said.<\/em><\/p>\n She rose from her chair and paced the length of the room several times, reading over a note in her hand. Several times she moved as if to fold it up, then opened it and scanned it again.\u00a0 Finally she sighed, a heavy sigh, and approached him.<\/p>\n \u201cSorry, Andante. If you\u2019re on that friendly a basis with the Guildmaster, who am I to say anything about it after just telling you not to stand on ceremony.\u00a0 It just surprised me. You haven\u2019t been around that long.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve spent a fair amount of time working together,\u201d Andante said. Not nearly as much as I would like though.\u00a0 I do hope I didn\u2019t upset her.\u00a0 I can\u2019t imagine why it would. <\/em>\u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s been a fairly long time now. Just a little less than you\u2019ve been in your position, as I understand it.\u201d<\/p>\n She folded the letter and handed it to him. She had the most piercing eyes, the palest of greens, nearly yellow. They were cold.<\/p>\n I\u2019m just making it worse, aren\u2019t I?\u00a0 Now what is it?\u00a0 It\u2019s just a letter, isn\u2019t it? What did I say?<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cTake this to Brynjolf. It\u2019s the information he was asking for, or at least as much as I have to share with him at the moment.\u00a0 If I have anything else to share later I will.\u201d\u00a0 She waved toward the table.\u00a0 \u201cHave a seat.\u00a0 Let me get you something.\u00a0 A drink, maybe? A sweet roll?\u201d<\/p>\n Well I don\u2019t know what\u2019s going on but I\u2019ll sit to be on the safe side. She seems really tense. I don\u2019t know what\u2019s got her so upset. Maybe I could help\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n He slid onto the bench and shook his head.\u00a0 \u201cThank you but I\u2019m fine.\u201d\u00a0 He slipped a hand into his pocket and drew out one of the small bottles.<\/p>\n \u201cListen, Sayma,\u201d he said quietly.\u00a0 \u201cYou seem a little distressed.\u00a0 I carry these with me.\u00a0 It always makes me feel better and if you\u2019re interested\u2026\u201d\u00a0 He set the bottle on the table in front of him.<\/p>\n Sayma glanced at him, and then at the bottle, and then back at him.\u00a0 Her mouth dropped open.\u00a0 Her face flushed.<\/p>\n \u201cHow.. dare<\/em> you.\u201d<\/p>\n Andante stared at her in disbelief.\u00a0 She\u2019s \u2026 livid.\u00a0 She\u2019s practically trembling.\u00a0 What in the world is going on? <\/em><\/p>\n \u201cHow dare you offer me that\u2026 poison?\u201d\u00a0 Sayma\u2019s voice had risen, was bordering on shrill.<\/p>\n Andante got angry.\u00a0 He felt it rise from his gut, run up the back of his neck and wrap around his forehead in a tight band.\u00a0 Easy, fool, remember who you\u2019re talking to. You can snap her like a twig but you do not want to do that. You\u2019d never be able to run far enough away.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cExcuse me, Listener<\/em>.\u00a0 It\u2019s something I happen to enjoy.\u00a0 I thought you might, as well.\u00a0 Many people do.\u00a0 But since I seem to be offending your sensibilities, I\u2019ll simply take my leave. I have an errand<\/em> to run.\u201d<\/p>\n He started to rise from the bench, but a growl just behind him stopped him, a sound that had a great deal of threat wrapped up in it.<\/p>\n \u201cYou.\u00a0 Will sit down.\u00a0 And you will listen. Do I make myself clear?\u201d<\/p>\n He sat, promptly, and looked up at her.\u00a0 Her eyes were no longer cold; in fact they were fiery with anger.\u00a0 She stood there, staring at him, breathing carefully. He could hear her heartbeat, fast at first but gradually slowing as she worked very hard to regain her composure.<\/p>\n All right, I\u2019m not the only one with a temper here, or the ability to get it under control quickly. I need to keep hold of mine, because she\u2019s going to straighten this out for me, I\u2019m sure of it.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cCrystal clear.\u201d<\/p>\n She paced the room again, and then returned to him.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to tell you a story.\u00a0 You may know parts of this, or suspect it, but I want to be certain that you understand because, Andante<\/em>, or whatever your name is, it is clear that you are going to accomplish great things in both of our organizations.\u00a0 You\u2019re very good at what you do.\u201d<\/p>\n She leaned forward and made sure that she had his eye.<\/p>\n \u201cBut so am I.\u201d<\/p>\n Well, well.\u00a0 It\u2019s not as though I ever doubted that, Sayma.\u00a0 But do tell.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cYou know that a while ago the Emperor was murdered.\u201d<\/p>\n Andante nodded.<\/p>\n \u201cHe died by my hand.\u201d<\/p>\n Well.\u00a0 This certainly colors things differently, doesn\u2019t it?<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cI see. Tell me.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cPut away the skooma.\u00a0 As you may have noted, I don\u2019t deal well with it.\u00a0 I have my reasons.\u201d<\/p>\n Andante nodded, and slipped the bottle back into his pocket.\u00a0 There was no need to ruffle her feathers any more than they had been, inadvertent though the ruffling had been.<\/p>\n Sayma began pacing the room again.\u00a0 Finally, she turned to him and said \u201cYes. I will tell you this.\u00a0 Because I think it\u2019s important that you understand who I am.\u201d\u00a0 She returned to her chair by the fire and Andante moved not a bit.<\/p>\n First she described killing the Emperor\u2019s decoy, at a state dinner in Solitude.\u00a0 It had been both exciting and dangerous, as she told the tale, killing the man known throughout Tamriel as \u2018The Gourmet\u2019 and stealing his papers, then impersonating him in order to get into the Emperor\u2019s kitchens.<\/p>\n \u201cNobody even knew that The Gourmet was a man except for the chef in Markarth.\u00a0 That\u2019s how I found out who needed to be\u2026 taken care of, shall we say? I talked him out of the name by threatening to kill him, and then killed him anyway. And then I travelled to where the Gourmet was and took him out while he was sleeping. I suspect you might have done it more elegantly but then I don\u2019t have your ability to ingest the blood; all I can do is spill it.\u00a0 Still. Two perfect assassinations before I even got into the castle, Andante.\u00a0 Not a soul knew about either of them until I was long gone. I would imagine they didn\u2019t find the Gourmet until the room started to smell.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNicely done,\u201d he murmured.\u00a0 I could have done that, as she said, but still.\u00a0 Well done.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cAnd then the fun with the cook.\u201d\u00a0 She turned to look at him and grinned.\u00a0 \u201cOh no, I didn\u2019t kill her. She was rather a lot of fun to work with, actually.\u00a0 Very enthusiastic about her cooking, and more than a little in awe of me because she thought I was the Gourmet. I helped her make the \u2019Potage le Magnifique.\u2019 Complete with a giant\u2019s toe, a septim, and a little bit of jarrin root for flavoring.\u201d<\/p>\n Andante couldn\u2019t help it; he smiled.<\/p>\n \u201cWell I am impressed. Jarrin root?\u201d<\/p>\n She smiled.\u00a0 \u201cI see that you know your poisons.\u00a0 Yes.\u00a0 We simmered it nicely and he dropped like a stone when he ate it.\u00a0 I\u2019m sure the other guests were grateful that the \u2018Emperor\u2019 always samples the dish first.\u00a0 It was a near thing, escaping Solitude after that, as I had been double-crossed; the Sanctuary in Falkreath was burning at the same time we were serving the Potage.\u00a0 But I did escape, and I made it back in time to rescue Nazir, and Babette, and the Night Mother.\u201d<\/p>\n So that\u2019s what happened.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n \u201cI wondered.\u00a0 Neither of them has ever told me.\u00a0 But what about the Listener?\u201d<\/p>\n She frowned at him.\u00a0 \u201cWhat do you mean? I was<\/em> the Listener.\u00a0 That was part of the problem. The previous \u2013 leader \u2013 of the Sanctuary in Falkreath wasn\u2019t the Listener, and she did not believe it when the Night Mother chose to speak to me. Only Cicero believed it, and by the time the Sanctuary was burning he had already come here, to save his scrawny hide. You\u2019ve heard that story. He doesn\u2019t do well with people who fail to give the Night Mother the respect she deserves, and he attempted to take it out on everyone in Falkreath.\u201d<\/p>\n Oh now I see.\u00a0 This is why he\u2019s still alive. That also means that the business with the Night Mother is\u2026 real.<\/em><\/p>\n I shall have to think about that one.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cI know that you\u2019ve heard that I did not kill him when I was asked to do so. He may be perfectly mad, and more than a little obnoxious, but it was because he was faithful to the tenets of the Dark Brotherhood. He gave up his life as a sane man in order to do what he thought was required of him, serving as Keeper for the Night Mother since long before he brought her out of Bravil. I didn\u2019t feel right about ending his life. There are few enough people in the world who have any sort of principles at all and, strange though it may be, he\u2019s one of them.\u201d<\/p>\n Oh. There\u2019s yet more to this than I thought. He\u2019s been the Keeper for a long while. Out of Bravil? \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Something about that tickled the back of his mind, but there was so much going on that he pushed the thought away. Andante leaned forward, truly interested now.\u00a0 There was more to Sayma Sendu than he had already imagined.<\/p>\n \u201cAstrid, the former leader, double-crossed us with the help of the Commander of the Penitus Oculatus, Maro, and a good many truly talented people died in that fire as a result, including her.\u00a0 Well,\u201d she said with a smirk that put a chill up Andante\u2019s spine, \u201cI was the one to put her out of her misery, but the fire took her, truly.\u00a0 Then, I got Maro.\u00a0 We moved here to Dawnstar.\u00a0 And I completed our contract to kill the Emperor.\u201d<\/p>\n She described returning to Solitude, swimming out to the Emperor\u2019s ship, and working her way through all of the Penitus Oculatus guards one by one until, finally, she stood in the stateroom, staring across the space between herself and Titus Meade II, amazed that he seemed both to know that she was there to kill him and to accept it.<\/p>\n \u201cAll he asked was that I kill the man who had set this plan in motion.\u201d<\/p>\n Andante had listened to the whole story thus far, carefully, and as the toll of bodies had risen higher and higher he\u2019d become more and more impressed.\u00a0 He shook his head.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd did you?\u201d<\/p>\n Sayma gave him a grim smile.\u00a0 \u201cI did.\u00a0 I reported to him, got the location of our \u2013 rather substantial \u2013 payment, and then slit his throat, right there in the Bannered Mare.\u00a0 I understand that they had to replace some of the floorboards not long after I left there.\u00a0 He made quite a mess.\u00a0 But I do enjoy the color of blood, Andante, as I know you do.\u201d<\/p>\n She rose and stood beside him.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, I trust that at this point you understand that, as good as you are \u2013 and you are truly one of the best – I am at very least your equal. And by virtue of being the Listener, I am your superior.\u00a0 If I tell you to keep skooma away from me at all times, you will do so. And you will never speak to me in that tone again.\u201d\u00a0 Her voice was very calm, had dropped to a low, sultry, and very threatening level.<\/p>\n In spite of himself, in spite of the fact that not much rattled him, in spite of the fact that he could easily drain her blood from her body before she could draw her swords, Andante swallowed hard.<\/p>\n Formidable.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cI understand.\u00a0 It won\u2019t happen again.\u201d\u00a0 He looked at her for a moment. She had long since returned to calmness.\u00a0 She had accomplished the most important assassination of the age, and her heart rate wasn\u2019t the least elevated in telling the tale.<\/p>\n He smiled.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, Listener, I have to tell you that I am very impressed.\u00a0 And I feel quite privileged to be working for you.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd you are full of it, Andante.\u201d\u00a0 She grinned. \u201cI\u2019m used to dealing with people who are, and I recognize it when I see it.\u201d<\/p>\n He laughed.\u00a0 \u201cYes I am, you\u2019re right about that; but it happens that right at this moment I\u2019m being honest.\u00a0 I might have been able to do what you did \u2013 possibly — but, as you say, I have abilities that most people do not. You truly have my respect.\u00a0 And for the record, Listener, if I knew what my real name was I would most assuredly have shared it with you. But I do not know.\u00a0 So I am Andante.\u201d<\/p>\n He rose from the bench and stretched his arms out behind him.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd now I\u2019d better get moving.\u00a0 It\u2019s a long way back to Riften.\u201d<\/p>\n She smiled, just a bit, and a bit sadly to his eye.\u00a0 Interesting. I wonder what it is about Riften that bothers her.\u00a0 I\u2019ll bet it has something to do with the skooma trade, given her reaction.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cYes it is. Take care. And I\u2019m sorry that this is just an errand. I\u2019m sure you know that you are very highly valued.\u00a0 I just don\u2019t have anything else for you right this moment.\u201d<\/p>\n He smiled.\u00a0 \u201cThank you, Listener.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSayma.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSayma.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd Andante?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTwo things.\u00a0 First, I\u2019m sorry I made the comment about your name.\u00a0 It must be very hard, not remembering.\u00a0 Harder than remembering sometimes is, I\u2019d imagine. But second, you do understand that if anything I just told you ever gets shared anywhere, you are a dead man, yes?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOf course, Listener.\u201d\u00a0 He gave his habitual semi-bow and slipped out the door before she could stop him again.<\/p>\n He stepped outside into the frigid evening and blew out a deep breath.<\/p>\n That was all very unexpectedly tense.\u00a0 At least it\u2019s over and I can go finish the job for Brynjolf now, and then home. After all this running, a nice soak will feel good. A disadvantage to having great speed. I make a great messenger boy. At least I have an excuse to spend some more time with him.\u00a0 I hope he\u2019ll be in a good mood. Sayma certainly wasn\u2019t.<\/em><\/p>\n He reached into his pocket, fingering the small bottle he had offered to Sayma, then smiled.\u00a0 He pulled it out, opened it, and downed it before breaking into a run.\u00a0 He would be in Whiterun in no time. And then to Riften. Home. As he ran south, he thought about Honeyside and smiled.<\/p>\n It had been his home for some time now.\u00a0 He\u2019d been gifted it just after completing a luscious theft for the Guild, removing several high-end pieces of jewelry from the possession of an especially unpleasant woman in Solitude.\u00a0 It had taken a great deal of fortitude on his part to sweet talk his way into the bedroom where she kept them; but he\u2019d left her content, as he always did. Once he\u2019d accomplished that feat and knew where the jewels were he\u2019d been able to slip into the room while it wasn\u2019t occupied. He had felt as though he\u2019d earned a bonus for that job, but hadn\u2019t expected anything quite so nice as a home.<\/p>\n Brynjolf had tossed him the key and pointed him in the direction of the house.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ve moved out,\u201d he\u2019d said.\u00a0 \u201cI think it will suit your refined tastes, don\u2019t you?\u201d<\/p>\n Andante had noticed the look on Brynjolf\u2019s face when he handed over the keys, a mixture of sadness, anger, and something else \u2013 possibly regret.\u00a0 He\u2019d spent most of the time between then and now trying to get Brynjolf back into Honeyside. It hadn\u2019t worked.\u00a0 Not yet. It won\u2019t stop me from trying.<\/em><\/p>\n Andante had noticed the ring, too.\u00a0 Brynjolf wore the Bond of Matrimony, and never took it off. It hadn\u2019t really registered to him, what that ring was, until he\u2019d been looking at it idly one evening as they watched the patrons in the Bee and Barb.\u00a0 The Bond of Matrimony.\u00a0 He\u2019d been shocked. He\u2019d never asked about it, though, because he\u2019d never seen Brynjolf spend any amount of time around a woman \u2013 or a man, for that matter, aside from Delvin. He didn\u2019t think this marriage was an active one. But somewhere there was a person who had gotten to the Guildmaster, caught his heart, and gotten a commitment from him, enough to have him still wearing his ring; and Andante was curious.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t know who it was, and I don\u2019t care. But unless this person is dead, he or she is very stupid to have left Brynjolf alone.\u00a0 Because I want him, and they\u2019ve left him to me.\u00a0 It\u2019s still intriguing, though.\u00a0 I wonder what sort of person this could have been.<\/em><\/p>\n He thought about it, all of it, as he did the small job in Whiterun and headed for Riften, stopping a couple of times to feed on easily-calmed guards along the way.\u00a0 There was much to think about.\u00a0 Sayma.\u00a0 Cicero. The Night Mother. Bravil. And Brynjolf and his ring.<\/p>\n —<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cAbout time you got back.\u00a0 I have more jobs than I know what to do with,\u201d Delvin said in his odd, stuffy accents.<\/p>\n \u201cYes, well, our mutual friend in Dawnstar kept me longer than I had expected.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cReally,\u201d Delvin said in a dry tone. \u00a0\u201cYou truly have no shame.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo, not that<\/em>, Delvin. There are places to which even I will not go and that\u2019s one of them.\u00a0 Besides,\u201d he said, grinning and twirling his brandy, \u201cshe\u2019s not my type.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd neither is Vekel. At least not unless you want Tonilia\u2019s knife in your back.\u201d<\/p>\n Andante laughed.\u00a0 He often wondered what he had done before \u2013 whatever it was that had happened to him — because that act, the slightly foppish face he showed to the world, had come to him as naturally as slipping into his armor. Whatever he had been, what he was now was the only him he knew. And yes, he had flirted with Vekel, unmercifully, while not intending a single thing by it.\u00a0 He had another goal in mind.<\/p>\n \u201cNot to worry.\u201d He took a sip of his brandy and grinned a sly grin. \u201cAnd our Guildmaster? He is\u2026?\u201d<\/p>\n Delvin rolled his eyes. \u201cHe went over to Honeyside last night.\u00a0 He was tired and said you\u2019d offered him the place. I don\u2019t know what\u2019s up but I\u2019m glad he got a chance to rest. There\u2019s a lot riding on his shoulders these days.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSo I\u2019ve gathered,\u201d Andante murmured.\u00a0 \u201cI shall go make sure everything is to his liking.\u00a0 And before you say anything, Delvin, I shall make a point of staying in the spare bedroom tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n Delvin smirked. \u201cI wasn\u2019t going to say a thing. You know better anyway, right?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes, so he\u2019s told me. But a fellow hears things.\u00a0 One never knows.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cGet on with you.\u00a0 Oh and if you want another job come see me. I have plenty.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI will,\u201d Andante said, making a show of a large yawn.\u00a0 \u201cBut not tonight.\u201d\u00a0 I am rather tired, he thought, and that doesn\u2019t happen often.\u00a0 But I suppose that running from here to Dawnstar and back is a bit of a stretch for anyone to make.<\/p>\n He made his way to Honeyside, thinking happily of the warmth of the place.\u00a0 I really could use a soak, he thought, with a nice brandy, who knows what else, and then perhaps a real sleep.<\/p>\n Except that he couldn\u2019t fathom the idea of sleeping.\u00a0 He\u2019d been trying, all this time, to get Brynjolf back into Honeyside, and now it would seem that he\u2019d succeeded. Not that he expected him to stay much more than a few moments after he realized Andante was home.\u00a0 But at least for a moment they would both be there at the same time, and that made Andante very happy indeed.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Listener was seated in front of her fireplace when he found her. He hadn\u2019t spent that much time with her, during his association with the Dark Brotherhood.\u00a0 Usually his assignments came from Nazir, and he had never thought it his place to inquire how exactly Nazir got them. As long as he had work … <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/baakay.com\/FanFic\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/3-1-5-2.png\")
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<\/p>\nPart I: Andante<\/a><\/div>\nPrevious<\/a> \/ Next<\/a><\/p>\n