I saw the horses come up the road, along with a large black dog. When they made it to where I stood in the middle of the road, she stopped and got off her horse, walking right up to me. She was a small woman, young-looking and beautiful, but I knew she had an old and deadly soul.
"Akemmi? That is your name?"
"Yes Nelthas, it is. This is Signar and Tex" I nodded at the two of them but turned back to her.
"We need to get out of the open and talk. I rented a cabin not far from here, it will be much safer"
"My Lady, how do we know we can trust this man?" He didn't sound angry, just unsure.
"Because my Love, had he wanted us dead, we would be....isn't that right Master Assassin?"
I nodded but didn't say a word, just got on my horse and rode towards the cabin, but not straight to it.
Akemmi
We rode to the cabin, which was a good way off the road, and with the coming of a snowstorm, no one would likely be able to follow us. I asked Tex to check our back trail and then high tail it back, that way his tracks would be covered by the falling snow.
Signar and I bedded the horses down in a lean-to and made sure there was enough fodder for them to eat, the water we would have to bring out, though the trough was against the chimney it still might freeze. Nelthas went inside to start a fire and get the place warm.
Signar moved the hay bales so that they made a wall, on the open sides of the lean-to, they were older bales and not what we really wanted to feed the horses if it could be helped. We could still get the horses out, but the wind wasn't blowing in as hard. I put blankets over each of the horses and checked their hooves for stones.
"My Lady, you do have some explaining to do.", we stood between the horses and he was speaking soft enough not to be heard over the wind.
" I know, once we get inside, I will explain as much as I can, as much as I know. I think Nelthas will have some answers to questions that I need." With that I looked around and then put my fur cloak back on, it wasn't far, but it was bitter cold.
Tex was just coming up to the cabin himself, so our timing was good, we would only have to open the door once. Nelthas had the fire going and was just taking off his cloak and fur gloves. I took off my cloak and hurried over to the fire, my new armor was not really meant for the cold weather. I sat down on the hearth and felt the fire getting warmer.
I looked around the cabin and saw wood stacked along the walls in the kitchen and crafting areas. There were baskets of vegetables and fruits in both area's and I would guess the iron box outside the door with the latch lock probably had meat in it. I changed my position a little bit and leaned back against the side of the hearth, where the stones were warm, but not hot. Tex laid out flat in front of the fire, with his nose only inches from my foot.
Neither man seemed inclined to relax, Signar leaning against the wall between the kitchen and crafting areas, Nelthas pacing the breadth of the cabin. I watched him pace around for a minute or so, his grace and fluidity made Signar look clumsy by comparison. His aura didn't say dangerous, it said lethal, at the same time I could see a quirkiness in his face, the kind that said his sense of humor would love to get the best of him. I knew the feeling, as mine often did me.
When he finally sat down against the far wall, his feet almost touching Tex's tail, I looked at Signar, who was staring at me. I sighed and looked back toward Nelthas.
"So, Nelthas, exactly what do you know of me?"
"I know your family name, those things that any Assassin would have to know to fulfill a contract a couple hundred years on the books. You and all the females of your line are cursed, that, of course, is not generally known, most think that a new daughter has come of age. The lady Azura showed me much in dreams of you, though at first, I did not know who you were. I know in this time, they call you Dragonborn".
I closed my eyes and thought for a moment, then opened them back up and told Signar he might want to pull up a chair, as the telling of my history wouldn't exactly be short and it was easier starting at the beginning than to try and ask what either man didn't know. I started with my ancestor, the one that started this whole curse, then I started my story, at my childhood and gave a sketchy history, hitting the highlights. The day was gone and the night was late when I finally paused.
..... "and so that is where we are now. I am hoping Nelthas that you can answer a few questions also."
"Well, a question to you first," I nodded and he got an odd half-angry look on his face, " Why do you make yourself a target?"
" I'm sorry I don't understand, I really don't go out of the way to put myself in line for assassins."
"Muthsera, that necklace is as good as a target and it does you no good anyway does it?"
I picked up the necklace I had worn since puberty, my blood staining the stone red, though it was blue now, I could still feel the power coming from it.
"It's a focus stone, that also allows me to track others of my family and to store magic. That's all, how can anyone track me with it?"
"The blood that is spilled on it," he dug into his pocket and pulled out an identical necklace, " Long, long ago your families enemies found a way to track you, using these and each hired assassin goes out with that knowledge and a description of the woman they are after."
I looked down at the necklace and pulled it from around my neck. " We'll get rid of it then." He shook his head.
"You may if you choose or give it to your man to hold. Many a male in your family has one from a lost wife or daughter, so no none would think twice about it."
"You said it does me no good anyway, what do you mean?"
"Muthsera, you have not noticed your magic is not as strong as it was in past lives? You were born into this time as Dragonborn, thus not of the same blood as your sisters. The necklace is nothing but a power sink for you, one that you can no longer tap, though I think it is still pulling power while you sleep, as the spell means it to do."
I looked down into the stone, it still swirled with the contained power it had been leeching from me for months. Nelthas was wrong, though, I could still use it, once, in desperate need. I handed it to Signar to hold, he hung it around his neck but tucked it under his gambeson.
"You mentioned sisters? I have family yet left alive?" He shook his head in an odd way.
"A few of your sisters figured out something that you now have, I cannot say by accident, by Divine intervention? To change the blood is to make the tracking of you impossible, by blood. A few, have gone vampire, they take their chances with vampire hunters. Though I know of one who has been around for hundreds of years but is very discrete. Quite a few have gone the way of Wer, werewolves, werebears, they live mostly normal lives with normal lengths, so died at their appointed time or perhaps were reborn somewhere else." He stopped for a moment and looked very reluctant to go on, but then squared his shoulders and continued.
"Some gave up Muthsera, they got tired of living. They turned themselves into the Morag Tog or the Dark Brotherhood or another faction and their head was removed from their body, necklace taken as proof of death."
I stood and said thank you and then went over to the beds and picked one, stripped down to my under-cloths, I rolled up in it, and stared at the wall for a while, thinking. I heard the men talking but didn't listen. I soon fell asleep and dreamed not.
Over the next few days, the three of us talked and learned more about each other.
Akemmi....... " I mean seriously, you should have seen its face, the vampire popped out from under the ice, was staring The Commander right in the face, but the two thousand soldiers' behind him, were something of a surprise.... We took the Fort with no problems. Some said by magic, it was nothing of the sort, good planning, and a mad servant, one should not treat servants badly.......
Nelthas......" The contract was very specific and my master would have punished me for not following it to the letter. So the only place I could catch the man without half a dozen armed bodyguards was in the steam house. I hid my knives the day before and then had to figure out how to hide them with only a towel as cover. I almost cut off a very important part of my own anatomy when I slipped on the slick floor"....
"Muthsera, Their is one thing. the Dark Brotherhood knows what you look like, they don't need the necklace to find you, just enough assassins or informants out and about."
I nodded and told him we had already run into an assassin with a letter from someone named Astrid saying that the contract had already been paid. He looked up in surprise, but then over at Signar with new appreciation.
"Well, we will figure something out about the assassin contracts. For now, Signar, Tex, and I need to head for Riverwood and see what Delphine has come up with."
"Muthsera, I will travel with you. I am tired of hiding out at the Inn, I need a purpose in my life, and keeping you in this world seems like a good enough one for now. Lady Azura has sent me enough dreams about you"
"Be thankful you only had dreams of me, mine of you were all nightmares. "
He looked at me and asked what made me think all the dreams he had been given were pleasant? His life was messy, so he just hadn't mentioned all the bad ones Azura had given him.
I shrugged and said I understood.... we set about getting ready to depart on the morrow. Any food that we couldn't take, we placed well away from the cabin where the wild animals could benefit from a mid-winter meal. I took a look around the cabin, it was very homey, I liked it very much and wondered if the Inn Keeper would be willing to sell it. Well, if I had a future, I would look into it, for now, Signar and I might rent it out one day soon, just to get away.
The day was cold and clear when we set out for Riverwood. We found that Nelthas was a master bowman, he often had two arrows in an attacking creature before Signar or I could even draw our bows. All in all, it was a pleasant trip. Nelthas would shoot a couple of Pheasants for our dinners and Tex brought in rabbits, so, we never went hungry for a night. The men were much happier than I was, our supply of pastries, fruit, and cheese was thin, but a couple stop's at Inn's allowed for good hot meals, baths, and pastries for me.
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