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<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Dardeh shook his head as they stepped through the portal, back into the forest of Falkreath Hold.\u00a0 He stretched his arms out and took a deep breath of the cold, crisp air.<\/p>\n
\u201cAhhh! You know, I almost felt like a Redguard for awhile there, but there\u2019s nothing like Skyrim mountain air.\u00a0 I feel human again.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, and I\u2019m going to freeze for a little while,\u201d Sayma laughed. She looked up and down the road, for what, Dardeh wasn\u2019t sure. \u201cI can\u2019t decide, Dar. I have an idea\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t need to decide anything right this second,\u201d he said, grabbing her arm. \u201cThere\u2019s a nice warm house with a sauna and everything not too far down the road. I\u2019m for a bath and a good night\u2019s sleep before anything else happens.\u00a0 Come with me. I need to talk to you about some stuff, anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sayma nodded.\u00a0 \u201cAlright. We\u2019re going in the right direction, anyway, if we head to your house.\u201d<\/p>\n
They started down the steep slope of the road that would eventually pass the town of Falkreath.\u00a0 Sayma gave Dardeh a sideways glance and sighed.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, what is it that you need to talk about, Dar?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt can wait,\u201d he tried to say. \u201cI want to know what your idea is.\u201d<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
\u201cNope, it can\u2019t wait. May as well get it out now, Dardeh. I think I know what you want to ask. You\u2019re already feeling better, now that we\u2019ve talked to Jine. I can see it on your face. Let\u2019s get the rest of this taken care of so that you can go back to Roggi without worrying you\u2019re going to slip the leash at any moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dardeh snickered. \u201cYou know, I always felt bad as a kid that I didn\u2019t have any siblings to play with or talk to. Just Ma. Now, my Ma is just about the best person you could ever have met. Well, except for the fact that she and Dadarh cheated on your mother, I guess\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
Sayma grinned. \u201cWell, yeah, but I won\u2019t hold that against either of them anymore. Look what resulted.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dardeh chuckled in embarrassment. \u201cThanks, Sayma. Do you know, I told Roggi, before I even knew who you were, that I thought the person I met outside Whiterun would be a good sibling.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI said the same thing to him about you,\u201d she said with a smile.<\/p>\n
\u201cReally?\u201d He smiled. \u201cI guess we recognized each other in spite of everything, huh.\u00a0 Well, anyway, the point I was trying to get to is that now instead of just having my Ma to nag me I have a whole family. Roggi\u2019s just an awful nag.\u00a0 And you, and Brynjolf, and the girls. I miss having Lydia around to nag me, too. She was the worst. All of you nags.\u201d\u00a0 He hazarded a glance at Sayma, snickered at the obvious temper that was rising in her expression, and poked her in the ribs with his elbow. \u201cAnd I wouldn\u2019t have it any other way. I feel cared about. It\u2019s really something.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sayma relaxed.\u00a0 \u201cBut you still want to know about the Emperor, don\u2019t you.\u00a0 I can tell.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dardeh nodded. He\u2019d been utterly shocked when Jine had made his comment about the Emperor, but there had been so much happening at that moment that he had lost track of the issue.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah. You\u2026 are the one?\u201d<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
She nodded. \u201cAnd you can\u2019t tell a soul, because that would put me in the most difficult situation I\u2019d ever be able to imagine. It was the last order I got from the previous head of the old Sanctuary.\u00a0 It didn\u2019t come from the Night Mother, like the things I\u2019ve done since then. I don\u2019t know whether it was pure greed, or whether Astrid just wanted me out of the way and thought I never would be able to pull it off and would get killed, or what.\u00a0 But I did it. Carrying wee Bryn, no less.\u00a0 I swam out to the Emperor\u2019s boat and just \u2026 took care of them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dardeh wasn\u2019t sure which was more disquieting, the words she was saying or the dispassionate way she was saying them. They took the spur of road that bypassed Falkreath, and continued westward while he struggled with his own reactions.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2026 don\u2019t even know what to say.\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked up at the sky and shrugged.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t either, truthfully.\u00a0 Right then, Dardeh, I was just about in the same state you were when you came to our house a couple of days ago.\u00a0 Angry. Confused. Afraid, even. Father wouldn\u2019t stop telling me to kill. Or at least I think it was him. I don\u2019t know.\u201d She paused a moment, frowning. \u201cI left Brynjolf behind and changed my face because I was afraid I was going to hurt people if I didn\u2019t. It\u2019s funny that Andante and I ended up working together, because he said the same thing to Bryn at the very end. He let himself die because he was afraid he would hurt people he cared about.\u00a0 I wasn\u2019t willing to die. Not me. But I had to get away.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dardeh frowned. \u201cYeah. Strange. I know that feeling. I couldn\u2019t go report in to Ulfric after Fort Greenwall. I was afraid I wouldn\u2019t be able to hold back, between how angry he makes me in the first place and the voice telling me to kill him. And I just couldn\u2019t do that to Roggi.\u201d\u00a0 He chewed on the inside of his mouth for a moment, as a realization struck him. \u201cBut you know what? I feel a lot calmer now. It was good to talk to Jine \u2013 really talk to him and not just get snippets of sentences here and there.\u00a0 There was one time\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
He told Sayma about Skuldafn; about being certain he was going to die but feeling the presence of someone helping him to move forward. \u201cI swear it was him. I wish I\u2019d thought to ask him about it. But I\u2019m sure it was, at least his energy felt the same to me. Very strong, and safe, and calm.\u00a0 And I feel calm now. Like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s really good, Dar,\u201d Sayma said. \u201cI do too. I\u2019ve felt calmer since I had wee Bryn. I don\u2019t know whether it\u2019s related to everything else Jine was talking about or not, but somehow killing and killing again stopped being the thing my mind turned to every second of every day. It\u2019s more just a business, now.\u201d\u00a0 She paused, and looked troubled for a moment. \u201cWhat I don\u2019t know is what\u2019s going to happen with the Empire. I\u2019m afraid Jine was right. I did something that is going to have ripples that we can\u2019t even imagine yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWon\u2019t someone else on the High Council be named Emperor?\u201d<\/p>\n
Sayma nodded. \u201cYou would think so. But, um\u2026 one of the other people I, uh, removed, was one of the people on the High Council. He was the one who paid Astrid for the assassination. So far as I know they haven\u2019t replaced him yet.\u00a0 I can\u2019t imagine they can choose a new Emperor with one province in civil war and an empty seat on the Council.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dardeh wrestled with that in his mind for a bit, but his mind refused to untangle its knots. \u201cNope, I can\u2019t see what will happen. It was hard enough dealing with dragons.\u00a0 Hey! Where are you going?\u201d<\/p>\n
Sayma had dropped off the side of the road onto a path that wound steeply down to a dark pond.\u00a0 At least that\u2019s what he could see. He followed her down the slope, past the pond that looked more like ink than water, and down a short path. There Sayma stood, in front of a door that was the same type he\u2019d first seen in Dawnstar.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is this? Is this the old Sanctuary?\u201d<\/p>\n
Sayma nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes it is. I don\u2019t know how much is left in there.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t see what happened, at the end, because it was all burning. I was in the Night Mother\u2019s coffin with her, and that saved me from the fire.\u00a0 But I have a feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dardeh frowned.\u00a0 A feeling. What sort of feeling, Sayma? There are so many of them flying around right now I can barely keep them straight.\u00a0 Oh, wait. Could it be? <\/em><\/p>\n \u201cI was just about to say something sarcastic. But are you thinking this might be where he is?\u201d<\/p>\n Sayma looked at him and nodded solemnly. \u201cDoes that make sense? There used to be life here. It was life devoted to death, but it was alive and there were people here. And once upon a time, one of those people was Father. It\u2019s where he would have gotten his last contract, the one he failed, to kill Ulfric. I don\u2019t know whether it was Astrid who gave him the assignment, or her predecessor, but this was all that was left of the Brotherhood in Skyrim and he never worked out of Cyrodiil as far as I know. It\u2019s worth checking, don\u2019t you think?\u201d<\/p>\n Yes it is, but\u2026<\/em>\u00a0 Dardeh felt the anger and resentment he\u2019d always felt whenever his father was mentioned start to rise.\u00a0 But Jine said we must end it. We. I need to help Sayma do this and if he is in there it\u2019ll probably be my last chance to talk to the man. <\/em><\/p>\n \u201cIt is. Lead the way.\u201d<\/p>\n Sayma leaned in to the door and whispered something, and then pushed on it. The door swung open obediently.<\/p>\n \u201cHuh. I\u2019m surprised it still works.\u00a0 Well, let\u2019s go.\u201d<\/p>\n __<\/p>\n Sayma\u2019s heart started pounding as she pushed open the Black Door and the scents hit her full in the face.\u00a0 Burned wood. Moldy<\/em> burned wood, at that, for one of the features of this Sanctuary was the waterfall in the main room.\u00a0 It had supplied the moisture for an abundance of fungi, when she\u2019d first started coming here; those were some of the things Babette had used to make her remarkably virulent poisons.\u00a0 Now all that moisture had nowhere to go but into the remnants of the bookshelves, and tables, and bedding that had once been home to a small but accomplished group of assassins. It was all turning moldy.<\/p>\n The worst, though, was the smell of rotting, burned meat that served as an overtone to everything else, even after all this time. She almost gagged as she tried to make her way down the familiar entry stairwell.\u00a0 Poor babe doesn\u2019t like it either. Otherwise I wouldn\u2019t be quite so ill, I think. <\/em>Her stomach had been especially sensitive when she was pregnant with young Brynjolf; and it was following suit this time.<\/p>\n \u201cNice,\u201d she heard Dardeh say in a sarcastic tone behind her.\u00a0 He coughed a couple of times. \u201cReal nice.\u00a0 You used to work out of this?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell it wasn\u2019t burned, then, Dar, and there was decent air flow all the time. It was actually a pretty nice place. You can thank the Penitus Oculatus for what we see in here right now.\u201d\u00a0 She started to gag, herself, and shook her head to clear it.<\/p>\n \u201cYou ok?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes, I\u2019ll be fine.\u201d\u00a0 She stepped over burned timbers and broken masonry and pushed through the entryway where she\u2019d so often seen Astrid awaiting anyone who\u2019d been sent out on assignment. She stopped, for a moment, when a wave of pure anger washed over her.<\/p>\n Damn you, Astrid, for thinking you were more important than the Tenets of the Brotherhood.<\/em>\u00a0 Then she sighed, and shook her head. I probably wouldn\u2019t have believed in them, either, if not for having the Night Mother speak to me. But why couldn\u2019t you just pay attention to Cicero, and to me?\u00a0 Why would he have brought that enormous coffin here all the way from Cyrodiil if she was not real?\u00a0 Just a tiny bit of humility would have\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n \u2026.wait\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cDar,\u201d she whispered.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI see something.\u00a0 Look down there.\u201d She pointed through the arched doorway, into the room that had once held Astrid\u2019s map table, and a bookcase that had been full of interesting tomes and other bits and bobs related to the Dark Brotherhood\u2019s history.\u00a0 \u201cDo you see it?\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh moved up beside her shoulder and was silent for a moment.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah. It\u2019s him alright. Let\u2019s go.\u201d<\/p>\n Standing beside the map table \u2013 upon which the almost miraculously untouched map of Skyrim still rested \u2013 was something that she realized she\u2019d become accustomed to seeing: a specter.\u00a0 This one had a familiar size, and shape. Suddenly Sayma felt herself five years old again, wanting to run to him and wrap her arms around his knees, to be comforted and made much over as she had been so many times, back on Stros M\u2019Kai.<\/p>\n \u201cPapa?\u201d<\/p>\n Behind her, she heard Dardeh\u2019s sharp inhalation.\u00a0 That\u2019s what his girls call him. This will be hard for him.<\/em><\/p>\n The ghost of Dadarh at-Jine peered at her through narrowed eyes. \u201cYou aren\u2019t my daughter. You don\u2019t look like her and you don\u2019t sound like her.\u201d\u00a0 The voice was so familiar, so much like both Dardeh\u2019s voice and Jine\u2019s, but with its own distinctive sharp edges, that Sayma found her own eyes filling.<\/p>\n \u201cOh, Papa. It is you. I\u2019ve missed you so very much. I know I look different but it\u2019s me. It\u2019s your little Dag.\u00a0 And you\u2019re my Papa.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHow can I trust you? I don\u2019t recognize you,\u201d he replied.<\/p>\n \u201cHow can you not know it\u2019s me? You\u2019ve been in my head for years, telling me to kill Ulfric, Papa. Nobody else would have told me that.\u00a0 Not even the Night Mother has told anyone to kill Ulfric Stormcloak.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat? You\u2019re\u2026\u201d He stepped closer to her and stared at her for several long moments.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re wearing Dark Brotherhood armor. Some of it, anyway. And I haven\u2019t told anyone else about Ulfric except for\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cExcept for me,\u201d Dardeh rumbled, stepping up to stand beside Sayma. \u201cDadarh. It\u2019s \u2026 very strange. \u00a0To see you again.\u00a0 While I\u2019m awake, that is.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou!\u201d Dadarh sputtered. \u201cYou refused me when I asked you to finish it for me.\u201d<\/p>\n Sayma half expected Dardeh to explode, as he had in Jine\u2019s house in Hammerfell.\u00a0 Instead, his voice became very quiet, his tone very clipped.\u00a0 She shuddered. It sounded more dangerous than simple anger.<\/p>\n \u201cYou didn\u2019t ask<\/em> me to do anything, Dadarh. You demanded. And by what right? You never even came to see me when I was a kid. Not once. Not a single time. \u00a0The only decent thing you ever did for me was to tell me my mother had done well raising me. The first time I ever felt like I had a father was running across the desert with the ghost of an ancestor who called me \u2018son of my son.\u2019\u00a0 So don\u2019t give me grief, Dadarh.\u201d<\/p>\n Sayma reached out to Dardeh, put a hand on his arm, and shook her head no. \u201cPlease, let\u2019s not fight. It\u2019s not worth it to fight at this point.\u201d\u00a0 She turned back to Dadarh.<\/p>\n \u201cPapa. \u00a0Your son is the Dragonborn. He\u2019s the reason the world is still here right now. You should be proud of him. We all are.\u00a0 He\u2019s\u2026\u201d She stopped and looked at her odd-eyed, short and short-tempered brother and smiled, realizing how glad she was that he\u2019d persisted in searching for her all that time.\u00a0 \u201cHe\u2019s very special.\u00a0 To me, to his husband, to my<\/em> husband, and to everyone who knows him. Even to Ulfric Stormcloak.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat are you telling me now?\u201d Dadarh growled, his eyes narrowing.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re actually helping that man?\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh growled back at him. \u201cYes. I am. It\u2019s not what I would have chosen to do if things were different but the fact is that the world has changed since you died. All of us have changed.\u00a0 The Thalmor are trying to overrun the whole Empire and in my opinion the only way Skyrim is going to avoid being completely destroyed is if she has a strong High King.\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh looked at Sayma and nodded, and then turned back to his father.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know who told you that Ulfric needed to die but they were wrong. Don\u2019t misunderstand me. I\u2019d take the greatest pleasure in striking that man\u2019s head from his shoulders or Shouting him into a pile of ashes but he is the best hope we have.\u201d<\/p>\n Dadarh had been standing with his arms crossed glaring at Dardeh, but at Dardeh\u2019s admission that he\u2019d be happy to end Ulfric, Dadarh\u2019s eyes sparkled.<\/p>\n \u201cYou hate him, too?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019d better believe I hate him. I also admire him. He\u2019s a strong, smart, capable man and his soldiers \u2013 most of them anyway \u2013 really love him.\u201d<\/p>\n Sayma sighed, sensing what was behind his words. \u201cBut not Roggi, I take it.\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh shook his head. \u201cI hope not, sis.\u00a0 I truly hope not.\u201d\u00a0 He looked back at Dadarh.\u00a0 \u201cListen. You need to stop with the \u2018kill Ulfric\u2019 thing. You need to rest. We\u2019re all adults now. We can handle it.\u201d\u00a0 He took a few paces back and forth and then shrugged.\u00a0 \u201cI never knew you when you were alive but my mother never had anything but the fondest possible words to share about you. And for her sake, I want you to rest. Stop tormenting yourself, and us.\u201d<\/p>\n Dadarh stared at him for a moment, looking almost anxious.<\/p>\n \u201cBut I can\u2019t!\u00a0 Who will look out for the Sanctuary?\u00a0 Someone has to be here for all the other brothers and sisters!\u201d<\/p>\n Sayma stared at him and then swapped a startled glance with Dardeh.<\/p>\n Somehow, \u00a0he\u2019s not aware of what happened. He doesn\u2019t see it.\u00a0 He thinks we\u2019re still all situated here.\u00a0 He\u2019s not \u2026 sane.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cPapa,\u201d she said quietly. \u201cLook around you. The Sanctuary is gone. Burned. The Penitus Oculatus double-crossed Astrid and they double-crossed me, and they came here and burned the place.\u00a0 I was lucky to get out of here with Babette and Nazir and the Night Mother.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat? No, Babette is right over here,\u201d he said, wandering into the Sanctuary\u2019s main room.\u00a0 Once, this had been a vibrant place, with stairs up to Babette\u2019s laboratory, and alive with the sound of Astrid\u2019s husband Arnbjorn working at his forge. Now the stairs to the laboratory were blocked by stone that had been weakened by the flames and had collapsed.\u00a0 Dadarh tried valiantly to walk up the stairs but couldn\u2019t get past the debris; he looked around himself, frantically moving to one side of the rubble and then the other. Finally he stopped and made a distressed sound.<\/p>\n \u201cNo! What happened here?\u201d<\/p>\n Sayma stepped up beside him.\u00a0 She almost laid a hand on his shoulder out of reflex, but stopped when she realized that he was not solid.<\/p>\n \u201cI told you, Papa. There was a fire. Most of the old Brotherhood died in the flames. Only Babette and Nazir and I survived. And Cicero, the Keeper, who used to be in Bruma, and then Cheydinhal.\u00a0 He brought the Night Mother here. We took her to the new Sanctuary in Dawnstar, quite a long time ago.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2026 have the Night Mother? Here? In Skyrim?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes, Papa. It\u2019s been a long time since you and Mama died. I\u2019m taking care of the Brotherhood now. I\u2019m the Listener.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou!\u201d His eyes widened. \u201cYou\u2019re\u2026 the Listener?\u00a0 But it\u2019s been so long since we had a Listener\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n Sayma nodded. \u201cYes, it has. A very long time.\u201d<\/p>\n Dadarh grabbed for Sayma\u2019s arm; but his hand, of course, passed right through her.\u00a0 He stopped, and stared at his hand, and then back at Sayma, and it seemed to her that she could almost see<\/em> his sanity return.\u00a0 It reminded her of the moment Cicero had snapped at her, saying \u201cI\u2019m mad, not stupid!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh,\u201d he said quietly. \u201cI\u2019m\u2026 dead, aren\u2019t I?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes, Papa,\u201d she said, feeling her eyes begin to sting.\u00a0 By all the gods, no matter how many years go by that never stops hurting. <\/em>\u201cI don\u2019t know who sent the bandits after us but you and Mama died many years ago. I hid, and they left me alone.\u201d\u00a0 Everyone left me alone. I was all alone.<\/em><\/p>\n Cut it out, right now.<\/em><\/p>\n Sayma smiled to think that her inner voice, the one that had been so obnoxious for so many years but had been quiet for a long while now, still lurked within her.<\/p>\n Yeah, yeah. I know.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cBut what about my contract?\u201d he said quietly. \u201cI wasn\u2019t able to finish it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cPapa\u2026\u201d she began.<\/p>\n \u201cOh! Oh my!\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh\u2019s voice interrupted them, and both she and Dadarh turned to stare at him.\u00a0 He had moved away from the two of them and was standing in front of the odd, curved wall that Sayma had noticed, back in her early days here, but had never really paid much attention to.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat is it?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s LUN,\u201d he said; and when he pronounced the word the room vibrated, dust falling from unsettled spots in the cavern around them. \u201cOops. Sorry about that. It\u2019s a word wall, Sayma! Here in the old Sanctuary of all places, a dragon word!\u201d<\/p>\n Sayma\u2019s skin tingled. \u201cYes, I guess you\u2019re right,\u201d she said quietly. \u201cIt\u2019s \u2018leech,\u2019 isn\u2019t it?\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh whirled to face her. \u201cYes, it is. That\u2019s what it means.\u00a0 Can you actually read this?\u201d<\/p>\n She moved to stand beside Dardeh, in front of the curved stone panel.\u00a0 She stared at it, looking for anything that looked like a pattern.\u00a0 Finally she sighed and shook her head.<\/p>\n \u201cNo. All I see is a bunch of scratches.\u00a0 But I heard you say \u2018leech.\u2019\u00a0 In the dragon way, that is. Please don\u2019t do it again while we\u2019re standing in here. I don\u2019t want the whole place down on our heads.\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh ran a hand over his head and looked embarrassed. \u201cYeah. Sorry. Neither do I.\u201d<\/p>\n She turned back to their father; but instead of a brightly shining spirit she saw only rock and ashes.\u00a0 She swapped a startled look with Dardeh and then started checking the corners of the room.<\/p>\n \u201cPapa? Are you still here?\u201d<\/p>\n There was a cry \u2013 surprise mixed with grief \u2013 from nearer the main entrance.\u00a0 Both of them ran for the sound.<\/p>\n Just off Astrid\u2019s map area had been her and Arnbjorn’s private quarters; a bedchamber and a smaller, more private room that Sayma remembered with a great deal of discomfort.\u00a0 Dadarh was in the larger of the two spaces, crouched over a body that had been burned beyond recognition, its tendons contracted into the fetal position.<\/p>\n \u201cWho is it?\u201d he moaned. \u201cIs it Astrid?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know for certain who it is, Papa,\u201d she said gently. \u201cI\u2019m sure it\u2019s not Astrid, though.\u00a0 Astrid died in here.\u201d\u00a0 She walked slowly across the space, into the smaller room where the circle of candles Astrid had used to array herself into an offering, the Black Sacrament, still lay in the same spot she had placed them. Astrid\u2019s body was nowhere to be seen, and Sayma considered the likelihood that Nazir had taken her away, quietly and without speaking to anyone else, and had laid her physical body to rest after she had done Astrid\u2019s bidding and sent her soul to Sithis. Dadarh followed her into the room and stood in the circle of candlesticks, looking around with a grim expression on his face.<\/p>\n \u201cHere?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis looks like the Black Sacrament.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes, Papa.\u00a0 She made herself into the Sacrament.\u201d Sayma shuddered, remembering the almost indescribable form she\u2019d found laying on the floor, surrounded by candles.\u00a0 She\u2019d been burned in the fire, and could barely croak out the words for all the smoke she\u2019d inhaled, but she had begged Sayma to send her to Sithis in atonement for her failure to keep the Brotherhood true to its tenets.\u00a0 Sayma found her jaw clenching as she remembered it.<\/p>\n Damn you, Astrid. You hated me, you hated the fact that the Night Mother chose me, and you made me play the part of your executioner.\u00a0 But I did it, and I got us out of here, and the Night Mother continues to tell me when there is a legitimate contract to be carried out.\u00a0 We don\u2019t kill people just for the fun of it, and we don\u2019t do it for just anyone. We wait, and we watch, and we listen. I\u2026 listen.\u00a0 Only me. You should have paid attention to Cicero when he tried to tell you but you didn\u2019t. I don\u2019t know what happened to your soul after you died and I don\u2019t care.<\/em><\/p>\n She sighed, and looked at the ghost of her father. \u201cShe had violated the Tenets. She tried to get rid of Cicero, the Keeper.\u00a0 When the Penitus Oculatus came here and killed most everyone here she realized how wrong she had been and she asked me \u2013 the Listener \u2013 to sacrifice her.\u00a0 So that\u2019s what I did.\u00a0 I obeyed my orders.\u201d<\/p>\n Dadarh looked around the room, sadly. \u201cIf she was not true, she was not truly the leader,\u201d he said quietly. \u201cAnd that means that her orders \u2013 and mine – were not true, either.\u201d He paced back and forth, wringing his hands. \u201cAnd I\u2019ve spent so long trying to force my own children to kill.\u201d<\/p>\n Sayma swapped an anxious glance with Dardeh, who shrugged, clearly not knowing how to proceed.<\/p>\n \u201cIt wouldn\u2019t have mattered,\u201d Dadarh said, finally. \u201cI would have killed anyway. I wanted to do it. I enjoyed doing it. It\u2019s a hard thing to admit, but it is true.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMa said you were a brutal man,\u201d Dardeh said quietly.<\/p>\n \u201cDid she?\u00a0 Well, she was right, I suppose. Your mother was a beautiful woman. And perceptive. And wise. Even though I had a wife who was also all of those things, I could not keep myself from her.\u201d<\/p>\n Sayma watched Dadarh\u2019s face closely.\u00a0 He was back to himself, now, or at least it seemed to her that he was aware of himself and his situation, and what reality was. He did have a cruel cast to his eyes. She remembered seeing that same sort of cruelty from some of the other old Brotherhood members. Festus Krex, for example, had been an old man, very polite on the surface but fond of carrying out the most horrific experiments on his marks. For that matter, it occurred to her, she\u2019d seen flashes of that same cruelty from Andante when he\u2019d not realized she was looking. And even from Mercer Frey. There was a brutal quality about it, a desire to cause pain, a hunger for suffering.\u00a0 She\u2019d felt it herself, once or twice, when she\u2019d first been approached by the Dark Brotherhood.\u00a0 It made her sad to see that flash of brutality on the face of the man she remembered as being the most loving of fathers.<\/p>\n I was just a baby. I wouldn\u2019t have known any different, not for years and years later.\u00a0 Dardeh is actually lucky that he didn\u2019t have to think his father was wonderful, only to learn that he really wasn\u2019t. <\/em><\/p>\n But I don\u2019t feel that in myself any longer. I don\u2019t. I\u2019ll kill if the Night Mother asks me to, as a transaction; I\u2019ll kill if I have to in order to save myself or those I love.\u00a0 But now I feel more like \u2026 the Grey Fox. Not a killer. A thief.\u00a0 The person I started out to be from the time I was a child. Like Brynjolf. <\/em><\/p>\n She smiled to herself.\u00a0 I\u2019m going to need to talk to the Night Mother soon, to make sure this is clear between us.<\/em><\/p>\n Dardeh\u2019s voice finally broke through her reverie and brought her back to the present.\u00a0 He had moved to face the ghost of his father and was shaking his head.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, Dadarh, it doesn\u2019t matter whether or not she was right. It has to stop. It has to stop. We can\u2019t kill Ulfric. If Ulfric doesn\u2019t win the war everything any of us ever believed in will come to an end, because the Thalmor will take over. Oh, sure, the Empire will claim victory; but sitting right beside General Tulius is Elenwen, the Thalmor Ambassador, and I\u2019ve never seen anyone have a general so firmly by the short hairs before. It\u2019s just a matter of time, if they win, until we are all their slaves.\u201d<\/p>\n Dadarh\u2019s eyebrow rose. \u201cIndeed. And what if Ulfric crosses the line and becomes the bastard everyone thinks he will be?\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh laughed.<\/p>\n \u201cUlfric\u2019s already<\/em> the bastard everyone thinks he is, Father. But he is a capable leader. He\u2019s smart. He knows that he needs all <\/em>of the people to keep Skyrim together. I promise you this, on my name and as the Dragonborn, that if Ulfric crosses the line I will kill him myself.\u201d\u00a0 He turned to Sayma and smiled. \u201cWe will kill him, together, the two parts of the dragon blood that have come down through the years, through you. Believe me. But you, Dadarh at-Jine, must rest. You must let this rest. You must let us<\/em> rest.\u201d<\/p>\n Dadarh studied his son, looked him up and down and nodded.\u00a0 Then he turned to Sayma.<\/p>\n \u201cPerhaps your child will be the one to complete my last contract.\u201d<\/p>\n Sayma sighed, and shook her head.<\/p>\n \u201cNo, Papa. That contract ends here. Young Bryn will be raised as a Nord, the same way my brother was raised. His father is a Nord. We want it to end, the violence and the killing. If there is any dragon blood in him he will be guided by the best men in the world, Papa. He\u2019ll be guided by his father, and by Dardeh, and Dardeh\u2019s husband Roggi. They will teach him when it is right to kill and when it is not. I can\u2019t teach him that. I\u2019m too much like you. But they can. All of them can, for they have made mistakes, and learned how to tell the difference.\u00a0 And if Ulfric crosses the line, or his heir crosses the line, we will make sure that my son will know when and how to strike.\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh took a few steps closer to his father and cleared his throat. He stared at the ash-covered floor, looking to Sayma as though he was having difficulty deciding what to say.<\/p>\n \u201cI want you to know something. I went to Sovngarde, to kill Alduin. One of the things that got me through that was discovering that I had the same kind of strength you have, that same fire. There was nothing that was going to stand in the way of my ending him. That was the day I knew that I was your son, really knew it.\u201d He looked up, then; he and Dadarh stared at each other. \u201cWhen I told you I had seen that part of you that was in me I was angry, and appalled. Now I understand it better. Now I know how to use it. Now I\u2019m ready to say that yes, I am half Redguard; and I am proud of it. Trust me. If the day comes when it is truly necessary to finish Ulfric Stormcloak I\u2019ll see it done.\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh turned and left Astrid\u2019s small chamber.\u00a0 Sayma followed him, for a few steps, and then turned at the opening of the room to look back at Dadarh. He hadn\u2019t moved from his place in Astrid\u2019s circle of candlesticks.<\/p>\n \u201cI suppose it\u2019s time, then,\u201d he said, standing with his arms crossed. \u201cJust as well. I\u2019m tired. This,\u201d and he gestured around him, \u201chas been an unpleasant surprise. It means I\u2019ve been waiting and waiting for something that was never going to happen in the first place. I\u2019m going to leave now. But you two had best keep your promises. If he does not live up to your expectations you\u2019d best rid the world of him or I swear to you I will find some way to return, and I will make your lives miserable.\u201d<\/p>\n Sayma sighed in disappointment. Oh Papa. Dardeh was right about you, wasn\u2019t he, and so was Jine.\u00a0 That\u2019s no way to treat your children.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cWe will, Papa. I promise.\u201d<\/p>\n She dropped her gaze for a moment, once more sadly scanning the scorched and ruined remnants of what had been Astrid\u2019s furniture.\u00a0 She could still hear the screams of Brotherhood members and Penitus Oculatus alike, could hear Arnbjorn’s howls and snarls as he tried and failed to use his werewolf strength to save them. A shudder ran up her back. She was glad they had been able to establish a new base, in Dawnstar. No amount of cleansing would ever have erased the horror from this place.<\/p>\n When she looked up again, the room in front of her was empty.<\/p>\n \u201cPapa?\u201d<\/p>\n She looked in all corners of the room and found nothing.<\/p>\n \u201cDardeh. Is he out there?\u201d\u00a0 She went to Dardeh, who had been standing in Astrid\u2019s main chamber; he shook his head.<\/p>\n \u201cNo. He\u2019s gone. I was watching over your shoulder. One second he was there and then he wasn\u2019t.\u201d\u00a0 He shook his head. \u201cThat wasn\u2019t exactly a fond farewell, but I already feel, uh\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n Sayma took stock of her own sensations at that moment.\u00a0 There was a lightness that hadn\u2019t been there before, an absence of an uncomfortable pressure in her mind that she\u2019d gotten used to over the past few years.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s gone.\u00a0 I feel it.\u00a0 Or, I guess, I don\u2019t <\/em>feel it anymore.\u201d\u00a0 She looked at Dardeh and smiled.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019re free, Dar.\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh nodded.\u00a0 \u201cAt least for the moment. But I don\u2019t doubt him a bit. He\u2019ll find some way to come back and haunt us if we let Ulfric step out of line.\u201d\u00a0 He shook his head; then a slow grin broke over his face. \u201cBy the Nine this feels better. I understand what was going on inside me, now, and that helps.\u00a0 Gods know there will still be more killing than I ever hoped to see but at least now I will know that it\u2019s me<\/em> who is doing it, by my own choice.\u201d<\/p>\n Sayma smiled. \u201cYes. I feel it, too. \u00a0Funny. I would have thought I\u2019d be sad that he was gone but I guess he\u2019s really been gone for a very long time.\u00a0 And he wasn\u2019t really the person my small child memories said he was.\u201d\u00a0 She patted Dardeh on the arm.\u00a0 \u201cYou said something about a bath and a comfortable bed?\u00a0 I could go for that now, Dar.\u201d<\/p>\n He chuckled.\u00a0 \u201cAlright then. Let\u2019s go.\u201d<\/p>\n They left the old Sanctuary; and when Sayma closed the Black Door behind them she felt certain it would be the last time she saw the place.\u00a0 The rest of the walk to Dardeh\u2019s home was uneventful, and quiet; they enjoyed the cool forest air and the sounds of birds and animals in the brush off to either side.<\/p>\n Just as they were turning up the path to Mammoth Manor, a skinny man in lightweight green clothing came running up to them.<\/p>\n \u201cWait,\u201d he called. \u201cI\u2019ve got something for you. Your hands only,\u201d he said, passing a note to Dardeh. \u201cBoy am I glad I found you. He said it was time-sensitive. I was afraid I\u2019d be facing that guy again. I really didn\u2019t like the sound of what he\u2019d do to me.\u00a0 Well that\u2019s it. See ya!\u201d\u00a0 He turned and dashed down the hill.<\/p>\n Sayma grinned at Dardeh. \u201cWho\u2019s it from, do you suppose?\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh flipped open the note and read it. \u201cRoggi. Of course.\u00a0 Leave it to him to be scary if he really wants something done. Apparently the Stormcloaks are gathering in Haafingar and they need me there right away.\u00a0 But I\u2019m not going anywhere until I get a good night\u2019s sleep. If they need me that much they can wait a few hours more. Shall we?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe sure shall.\u00a0 I\u2019m ready.\u201d<\/p>\n The two of them spent the rest of the day bathing, washing their clothing, and relaxing in front of the fireplace.\u00a0 Neither one of them spoke about their father, or his sad, prolonged existence as a specter, or their relief that he was finally gone.<\/p>\n Dardeh shook his head as they stepped through the portal, back into the forest of Falkreath Hold.\u00a0 He stretched his arms out and took a deep breath of the cold, crisp air. \u201cAhhh! You know, I almost felt like a Redguard for awhile there, but there\u2019s nothing like Skyrim mountain air.\u00a0 I feel human again.\u201d … <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/baakay.com\/FanFic\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/4-2-18-4.png\")
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<\/p>\nPart II: The Storm<\/a><\/div>\nPrevious<\/a> \/ Next<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"