But I'm a Black-Briar! (A Skyrim Fan Fiction)

Chapter 29: Mind Games

Deep down, I'd always suspected Jiran wasn't telling me everything about what had happened with Sinmvur. It just hadn't made sense for one argument to split apart two friends who had worked together for four years. Despite that, I hadn't expected something like this.

Far from leaving me speechless, Sinmvur's words raised a myriad of questions. "But... but then, wouldn't you want to help Jiran take down the Dark Brotherhood?"

"Why?" Sinmvur asked. "The Dark Brotherhood is a means to an end, a tool in the hands of those with the money to hire them. Why take on an entire guild of assassins with no personal stake in the job when I could just slit the throat of their employers? I was content to destroy those who had caused my wife's death. I had no intention of taking on the Brotherhood."

"Until Jiran joined them," I finished, not really meaning to say the words out loud.

"The Dark Brotherhood doesn't like competition. When I took contracts by myself, they didn't perceive me as a threat. Then I recruited Jiran." Sinmvur stood suddenly, pacing back and forth on the other side of the table. "Astrid has a rather peculiar way of inviting potential new 'family' members to the Brotherhood. She slips them a poison or knocks them out, carts them off to a nice, abandoned location, lines up three captured targets, and offers them a life as a Brother or Sister in a new family if they'll kill one of them. I expected her to ask us to join, but not in that way."

Remembering the cold steely glint in Astrid's eyes as she had questioned me about Sable, I had no difficulty believing she would do something like that.

"You can imagine my... consternation at waking up to the sight of Jiran standing next to the leader of the Dark Brotherhood like he'd always been a part of her ridiculous little 'family'. I admit, when he started trying to convince me to join with him, I may have snapped a bit."

"If you hate Jiran, why haven't you killed him yet?" I demanded. "It's been two years since then."

Sinmvur ceased his pacing. "Is that what he thinks? That I've been trying to kill him for two years?"

I blinked. Now I was thoroughly confused. "I- he thinks you've been playing games with him."

The assassin laughed. "I was, but I wasn't trying to kill him. If I had, he'd be dead. I actually saved his life once, but I doubt he knows it was me."

"Okay, I'm so confused," I blurted out, completely and utterly lost in Sinmvur's word games. "Do you or do you not want Jiran dead?"

"Contrary to what Jiran thinks, I'm a busy man and my entire life does not revolve around revenge. I've a reputation as an assassin to maintain and I have my own little interests to entertain me." He nodded at the bow still lying on the table. "That took me years to track down. If I'd wasted all my time chasing after Jiran, it would have taken me even longer."

"That's the worst, vaguest answer I've ever heard," I snapped bluntly, losing any last traces of fear. I'd almost rather him kill me now than keep verbally parrying my questions. Why couldn't I just get a straight answer?

A thought struck me like a mage's lightning bolt and I sat up straight, staring across the table. "You... you don't want to, do you?" I didn't let Sinmvur speak. "That's why you and Jiran keep taking shots at each other and missing on purpose. Neither of you actually wants to kill the other!"

"That may have been true once," Sinmvur replied evenly, "but not anymore. I may be a murderer, but I'm a loyal one. Or I was," he added. "Jiran helped me realize loyalty is a fault and a weakness. It just took me a long time to decide he deserved death for it." Sinmvur smiled lopsidedly. "Jiran and I were both playing the game, although from what you say it seems he never realized it. Now the game has ended. Something's changed for him too; he would have killed me at Rorikstead if he could have."