The main hall of the Sanctuary was filled with the spicy aroma of seasoned meat stew that Initiate Sage had spent all day tending to. He leaned over the pot and poked at some of the large meaty bits with a wooden spoon.
"Shouldn't be too much longer," he wiped his brow with his sleeve and glanced over at Ruby who was standing nearby with her arms behind her back observing attentively. She loved to watch him cook each day and her level of interest was surprising to him. It seemed that she was attached to Cicero at the hip all the time until dinner was being prepared. Sage decided to take that as a sign of affection.
"Would you like to taste it?" he asked grinning at her. Ruby beamed a wide genuine smile in return. Sage knew she was unable to understand him yet he still felt it was important to try. Like a child, she could perhaps learn over time by listening. His hopes of her ever replying were a bit less since she had yet to utter a single noise since her arrival weeks before.
Sage dipped the wooden spoon into the bubbling stew and held it out to her. Oddly, instead of taking it, Ruby leaned forward and popped her tongue out to lick the edge. Sage's expression shifted as he awkwardly held the utensil.
His eyes shot over to the dining table where Jade was sitting and looking through some books that he had left there. Thankfully, she hadn't noticed.
"What's all this nonsense?" Jade called over, flipping some pages, "I can't read any of it."
Sage quickly composed himself and went back to stirring, "It's ancient mer language."
"I never figured you to be interested in that stuff," she replied and shoved the stack of books away.
"Well, if you haven't noticed, I am a Bosmer..."
"Well, I'm a Nord and you don't see me sifting through old books about... Nord stuff."
"It's for Ruby," Sage put the lid back on the pot.
"She can read?"
"Probably not... but I'm trying to learn her language- or the language of her people, to see if I can communicate with her better," he explained.
Jade chuckled, "Why? So you can flirt in and get rejected in another language?"
Sage opened his mouth to reply but paused as he saw Nazir coming down the steps across the room.
"Listener, I've been meaning to speak with you," Nazir said as he approached the table.
"Of course, Speaker. You speak, I listen," Jade smirked, pleased with her joke.
"How clever," he sighed and took a seat across from her, "We need to talk about your Cicero."
"My Cicero?" she cocked her brow, "Yuck, I don't own him. And if I do, I want my money back."
"He's your companion. You let him live. You allowed him back into the Sanctuary-"
"Sparing him was the right thing to do," Jade said under her breath, "He was speaking the truth-"
Nazir shook his head and held his hand up, "That's in the past. I need to talk to you about what he's doing now."
"Good Lord Sithis," she groaned, "I'm not his keeper, either."
"I am aware of this, my Listener, but have you seen him lately?"
Jade squinted one eye trying to think, "Not really. Frankly, I've been enjoying his absence in this downtime..."
"Oh, he's not absent. He's different." Nazir explained, "He's dressing in shrouded armor and speaking in-..."
Jade folded her hands on the table and stared, waiting for him to finish. "Riddles?" she asked, "Limericks? Ancient tongues?" she nodded to the books on the table between them.
"...A normal manner."
"...okay?"
"I mean, he's not acting like a clown anymore. He's speaking in natural sentences and no longer referring to himself in the third person. He's no longer dancing randomly in the halls, which, I honestly have no complaints about. That nonsense was getting on my last nerve," Nazir rubbed his face.
"So, you're saying he's not acting annoying?" Jade chuckled, "and you're upset about this... why?"
"I'm not upset, so much as concerned," he continued, "His sudden shift in personality is perplexing, sure... but I feel that something is wrong and I want you to keep an eye on it."
"Cicero is random. That's just what he does. He's probably messing with us-"
"I think the Night Mother starting to disintegrate has something to do with this."
"Yeah, that actually has me concerned as well," Jade lowered her voice.
"He began acting strange the day it started and it's only escalated. I'd rather his 'random' behavior not have a negative impact on our attempt to rebuild the Brotherhood."
Jade nodded in agreement. She knew that Cicero was going to end up being a problem, but it happened much sooner than she thought.
Sage grabbed some wooden bowls and Ruby knew that was the signal that it was time to eat. She skipped down the hall and into the living quarters to find Cicero. She had a feeling of pride being part of the lovely meals that they'd been having lately. Every night there was something new and unique that her taste buds had never experienced before. She remembered growing up eating a bitter-tasting fungus with her brothers and sisters. It made her mouth tingle and her vision blur. She always felt thirsty right after. There wasn't much variety for the slaves of the Dwemer in the way of culinary selection.
Ruby rounded the corner into the initiate quarters and immediately froze. Cicero was sitting on a bed in his underwear beside the new girl, speaking in a quiet tone. The initiate placed her hand on his chest. Ruby felt the hairs on the back of her neck raise and she quickly dipped back out of the room before they saw her. She pressed her back against the wall beside the door and held her breath as her eyes filled with tears.
What was he doing? Why was he so close to the new girl and looking at her like that? Ruby always slept next to him at night. She always shared his bed and he always held her close as her big brother used to. It made her feel special and protected. So why was he sharing a bed with the initiate!? Why was she touching him like that!?
She slid down the wall and hugged her knees. Did he no longer love her? Did Cicero find a new girl to protect? Ruby's mind was racing. She felt it had to be her fault for spending more time away from him. Maybe she made him feel unwanted. Maybe she was the one who pushed him into the arms of another girl.
"Ruby...?" Jade asked in a concerned tone as she came down the hall, "... are you crying?" She'd never seen the little elf cry before. Ruby never expressed anything less than a kind smile. Even with the injuries she had endured from the collapse of the ruins, she never showed distress. Something was very wrong.
Jade knelt down and brushed Ruby's cheek with her thumb as if she was unconvinced that there were actually tears there. "What happened, kiddo?" she asked knowing that she couldn't reply. Jade leaned to look into the room she was perched outside of to see the offending party.
Cicero quickly noticed Jade and paused. They locked eyes as she slowly rose to her feet. Zukira glanced over her shoulder to see what he was looking at.
"Oh, I see," Jade crossed her arms, "Only here a few days and the initiate is already in bed with the Keeper and trying to climb the social ladder-"
"Listener, we're just talking-" Cicero began to explain but noticed Ruby peek her tear-stained face around the corner.
"Get your ass off of her bed and put some damn clothes on," Jade hissed, "We have to go."
"Go?" Cicero stood and headed over to his side of the room and began putting on the rest of his armor.
"...eh- Riften. I've got some business to tend to with the Thieves' Guild. Brynjolf is waiting."
"Why do you need me?"
"Are you questioning the Listener?" Jade clenched her fists.
"Of course not!" Cicero chuckled lightly, buckling his belt, "It just seems rather sudden."
Jade glared at Zukira who awkwardly stood from the bed, not sure what to do, "As for you, initiate... You need to learn your place if you want to make it far with us."
Cicero sheathed his dagger just as Jade snapped her fingers at him and pointed to the hall to hurry him up. He said nothing and quickly gathered the rest of his gear before exiting the room. He felt like an embarrassed teenager whose mother walked in on him trying to make a move on a girl. Cicero paused and glanced at Ruby who was hiding behind Jade. The tears on her cheeks sparkled in the light from the candles on the wall. He felt a tightness in his chest knowing that it would be impossible to explain anything to her.
"Go eat!" Jade turned and snapped at him, "We're leaving in an hour!"
"Yes, Listener."
Cicero was unsure how to deal with all these females surrounding him. He cringed a little and decided it was best to just remove himself from the situation rather than continue to question it. Perhaps leaving the Sanctuary for a few days would help him get his head together after all the recent changes. Working with so many other people hadn't been something he'd had to deal with in a very long time and it was getting quite overwhelming. He made his way to the main hall leaving Ruby quivering in the corridor.
"Listen," Jade said in a low tone as she turned to Zukira, "I don't know your history with that nutcase, but it's not going to continue. He's an indentured servant of Sithis and is not to be distracted by the likes of-" she paused and gestured broadly toward the initiate, "...whoever you are."
"U-understood, my Listener,"
"You are not to touch him, flirt with him, distract him, talk to him, or even LOOK at him. He has a job to do and so do you. Am I clear, Sister?"
"As the waters of Lake Rumare, my Listener," Zukira spoke softly.
Jade was quite surprised and slightly disappointed by how easy that was. Usually, when she had a beef with another female, there'd be a big standoff; especially if a man was involved. N-not that Jade was remotely interested in Cicero. He was a stupid fool with a stupid fashion sense and made terrible jokes. He reminded her of her father... well, what she could remember of him. Besides, if she wanted the idiot, she'd just have him. Sure, that failed intimate encounter at the river was not what she had intended, but he's a fool, remember? Only a dupe with no brain would turn a woman like Jade down.
Interrupting Cicero and Zukira by ordering a sudden trip to Riften may have been Jade's panicked attempt to separate the two, but it would also be her chance to re-establish control and put Cicero in his place.
"Alright, then..." Jade mumbled as she looked around the room for anything else to be angry about. When nothing stood out, she nodded confidently and turned to leave.
"Oh!" she glanced back, "I'll be sure to have Nazir scrape up some 'special' contracts to test your fortitude. Don't go getting yourself killed right away. I'd really like to get to know you... as I'm sure you'd like to get to know me because who wouldn't?"
Zukira forced a weak smile. Jade sneered back at her.
"Ah, and apologize to Ruby. She's in the hallway crying because you attempted to seduce her best friend. Be gentle. She has the mind of a child and doesn't understand words."
Zukira lowered herself to sit on the bed again as the Listener left the room. Seeing how Cicero practically crumbled when Jade spoke made her feel uneasy. She knew it would be an adjustment, but it still felt like she didn't belong. Zukira felt like an unwanted outsider.
She glanced up to see Ruby standing in the doorway wiping her face. Their eyes met. Zukira said nothing as she also tried to hold her emotions in check. Apologizing to the strange elf girl served no purpose. The damage was done, whatever that was... and she wouldn't understand anyway.
After a few moments, Ruby turned and took off down the hall out of view. Zukira was alone once again.