Skyrim: The Nightshade Assassin

Interlude

Chapter 32

If you're an old reader of the Nightshade Assassin, this is a change. Dates have been switched, and 1 - 2 chapters will be added.

12th of Second Seed, 4E 202

I woke to the feeling of having to piss again. I should really stop drinking so much water, I'm having the need to pee pretty much every time I'm going to go out for a contract. So relevant, I know. I'm just bored. I haven't really been doing anything the past few weeks. No contracts, even with the Night Mother here. She's really starting to smell. We pretty much play a game of Dragon, Hawk, Fish on who oils the Unholy Matron, but I think everyone just dumps the oil on the corpse.

Speaking of contracts, I wonder how Kaito's doing. I recieved a note from him a while ago, he said that the Emperor wasn't even in Solitude, so he's going back to the sanctuary. Again, like Vittoria's wedding, they're postponing it for some reason. However, it's taking Kaito quite a while to return because of the dragon crisis. Apparently dragons are appearing left and right.

I sigh. I haven't let anyone inside my room the whole morning. I'm curled up on my bed, furs over my head and completely concealing myself in this blanket to wallow away in the darkness and die.

"Sister? You have a contract due. Astrid says just because you're Listener that doesn't mean you stay inside the sanctuary like the traditional Brotherhood. Oh, and breakfast is getting cold," Babette calls out through my locked door. "Scratch that, it already is cold. Cortana, get out of there! We even have a surprise for you!"

"Go away!" I shout from my covers. I don't want to talk to anyone. Not right now.

"Are you mad that Kaito isn't here for your birthday?"

Well, that too...

I feel my cheeks burning up. Sometimes I wish I wasn't so pale. When I'm in the sun, I burn, not tan. Boo.

"I-I don't really care whether Kaito is here or not," I mutter, tightening the blankets around me.

Suddenly, I hear a crash from my door, and instinctively I pull the covers from my head to figure out what the commotion was about. It was almost like an explosion, startling me to the point I almost fell off my bed.

My door is broken down to the stone floor and standing on top of it is Babette, with Veezara behind her. I groan, throwing the furs over me once again. "You're fixing my door."

"Yeah, yeah," Veezara replies, then sits beside me, softly pulling the blankets. "You ought to not keep Nazir waiting. He has a contract for you. He won't have one in another two weeks, and I know how much you dislike waiting."

I shrug.

"Talk, Cortana. Now isn't the time to mess around," Babette asserts, surprising me by her tone despite being ridiculously older than all of us. "Kaito is a busy person other than being Listener, so don't be angry that he isn't here on time. He'll probably arrive in a few weeks."

I shrug. "I'll just take the contract when another is available, then."

"Odd, you aren't feeling up for a contract, even on your birthday," Veezara says, successfully pulling off the furs.

Babette sighs. "Maybe you're just feeling sick. I mean, staying away from a partner for so long can get you a little stressed."

I purse my lips. "It's not that..." Kind of. I spoke to Lucien about this. "It's about his missions. They're so... dangerous, you know? And the fact he sometimes has female parters, and..." I trail off when I think about the dangers of being Dragonborn.