A/N: This is it! The very last chapter. I hope you like it, I've had a lot of fun with this one.

Chapter Summary: In which we see Cicero's unique way with children, Balgruuf is faced with the consequences of his decisions but happily for him, realises there's a way out with no downside, at least not for him. Delphine however is not so lucky as an old enemy of the Brotherhood offers her a way out... but at a staggeringly high price.

Chapter 20: The Whispering Lady

Bored. Bored. Bored. Nelkir was always bored these days. Ever since Uncle Hrongar had found out about the Whispering Lady and never let him near the door again. Then he'd gone off to Solitude to join his future wife Bryling, and never come back. The Dark Brotherhood had got him, and Queen Elisif had killed Bryling to retake her throne, with a bit of help from the Dragonborn.

Stupid Dragonborn with his stupid hat. Stupid Elisif. Stupid everyone. Hrongar was gone and even though Nelkir could go back to the Whispering Lady now whenever he wanted, she was no fun any more. She just ranted and raged about stupid pathetic mortals who couldn't get the simplest of instructions right.

So Nelkir avoided the door and now Nelkir was bored all the time. Bored. Bored. Bored.

He flung himself on to a bench overlooking the Great Hall, kicking his feet against the rug as he began to munch on an apple. Soon he'd finished that and then he was bored again except now he had a core to get rid of. He could leave it under the bench for the servants... or he could try throwing it, see if he could hit the balcony on the other side. Worth a shot.

He got up, reaching back to throw it... until a black-gloved hand caught his wrist and stopped him, expertly spinning him around to look up into two dark eyes in a pale face, mouth curved in a wicked grin, red hair coming out from under a jester's hat.

"Hello," the Dragonborn purred, and while he wasn't much taller than Nelkir, he had Nelkir's wrist in an iron grip. "Nelkir, is it?"

"What do you want?" Nelkir snapped, twisting his arm, trying to get free. "Let me go at once, I'm the Jarl's son!"

"Harrald Law-Giver was a Jarl's son too, it did not stop us killing him," the Dragonborn laughed. Nelkir glared up at him. He wasn't scared of this idiot in the jester's hat, even if he was a mighty hero. Heroes didn't hurt children. Except looking into this man's eyes, he wasn't entirely certain of that any more.

"Dear child. Sweet child," the Dragonborn cooed. "Cicero has heard of you. Cicero had... questions."

"Shut up and leave me alone!" Nelkir snapped. "I'm not a baby, you can't talk to me like that! I'll have you arrested!"

Cicero barely moved but the next thing Nelkir knew, he'd been spun round and was now being held in a headlock.

"Dearest child. Sweetest child," Cicero purred, voice dripping with poison. "Cicero had heard you were a spoilt little brat. It seems the tales told only half the story. Cicero has a fosterling about your age. Cicero loves the boy dearly but had he spoken to Cicero the way you talk to people, Cicero would have thrashed him severely. Do not think your parentage will stop Cicero doing the same to you if you are not a little more... respectful."

"You wouldn't hurt me," Nelkir hissed. "My father would punish you."

"Not here, no," said Cicero calmly. "Too many guards, too many witnesses. But later... when spoilt Nelkir is alone in bed at night... and no one is around except the odd guard or servant who could easily be bribed, maybe someone who petulant Nelkir has been rude to once too often and who would be quite willing to turn a blind eye... then Cicero could easily find you and take you."

"Who are you?" Nelkir whispered, a chill running down his spine as he realised he might just have met his match in this one. "What do you want?"

"Oh, I am just humble Cicero," Cicero giggled. "No one important or special. But we had questions, my sweetling and I. We do, we do! So we're going to ask them and you're going to answer and then we'll take our leave. That's all, sweet Nelkir."

"What do you want to know?" Nelkir gasped. Most of the adults were fools, blind, petty fools who treated him like a baby, kept things from him, thought he was stupid. This one might dress like a jester, but he was not a fool, not even close. This one noticed things. This one wasn't treating him like a child, and it slowly dawned on Nelkir that that wasn't necessarily a good thing.

"Sweetling?" Cicero called. "I think the boy is willing to talk now." He let Nelkir go, turning him round again and guiding him back to the bench, taking a seat alongside him, that smile not fading once.

Out of the shadows came a blonde woman in leather armour and Nelkir knew her. She was that one the Reach-King had hired, who everyone said was a mercenary, but Nelkir knew better. Far better. She was Dark Brotherhood, and everyone knew but no one said a word. Too scared to try anything in case she came for them and their families next.

"Hello Nelkir," she said, her voice gentle but Nelkir wasn't fooled. This woman killed people for a living.

"You don't fool me," he snapped. "You're with the Dark- mmph!" She'd placed a finger to his lips.

"Perhaps. Perhaps not," she said calmly, still sounding gentle and kind. "But people don't go around saying things like that, because spilling the Brotherhood's secrets is an excellent way to guarantee a visit from them, a night-time visit involving a one-way trip to a remote location. You get my meaning, don't you, Nelkir? Of course you do, you're a very bright boy. Brighter than most of the adults, very bright indeed for your age and everyone always underestimates you, don't they? They talk down to you, think you've not noticed or wouldn't understand so they don't tell you things. But you notice and you understand, don't you?"

Nelkir nodded, not at all sure where this was going. He didn't think they were going to kill him, the Dark Brotherhood didn't mess around when they wanted someone dead. If they'd really wanted to kill him, they'd have done as Cicero had suggested without bothering to warn him, abduct him from his bed, do the job and leave his body to be found much later.

"What did you want?" he whispered.

"Tell me about her, Nelkir," Delphine said softly, leaning forward. "Tell me about the Whispering Lady."

"He knows about that?" Balgruuf cried. Delphine nodded. They were in his private quarters, just Delphine and Balgruuf, the guards sent away and only Irileth watching from the corner, unwilling to leave her Jarl alone with the one everyone suspected was a high-ranking assassin but that no one could prove anything about. Cicero was as always standing behind Delphine with a fixed grin plastered to his face.

"He does. Don't worry, sir, I won't tell anyone. You're hardly the only Nord worshipping Talos on the quiet, and I've no love for the Thalmor myself. The boy also said he was your illegitimate son."

Balgruuf went paler still at this. "How does he even..." he whispered. "By the Nine, yes it's true, I had an affair while my late wife was pregnant with Dagny, which I broke off after my wife found out about it and threatened to go back to Windhelm with the children. I'm a man of honour though, I made sure Nelkir's real mother was taken care of. When she died, leaving Nelkir alone and barely six months old... of course we took the boy in and raised him. Freydis may have barely forgiven me for betraying her trust, but even she couldn't resist a helpless child. She loved Nelkir like her own. And Nelkir is my son, just as Frothar and Dagny are my children, if anything happens to them, he'll be Jarl and legitimacy be damned." He sank back in his chair, hand over his eyes.

"How is this happening, Delphine?" he asked. "What's done this to my boy? He used to be such a loving, gentle child. Now look at him."

"I don't know, my Jarl," said Delphine. Mind-healing was not something she had any skills in whatsoever, but she could at least halt the source of the poison. "But he did say something about a door. An old one, always kept locked, that you and Farengar are the only ones with keys to. Is it true? Is there such a door in this palace?"

Balgruuf inhaled sharply, eyes glittering. "Delphine, you don't know what you're asking. What's behind that door... best it stays there. It's an evil thing and it's driven good men mad before now."

"Including your youngest child and your brother," said Delphine, leaning closer, determined not to let this go. "Before the Brotherhood took him, Hrongar said under interrogation that a Whispering Lady had given him the whole idea to abduct Elisif and kill Madanach. Apparently the original idea was to marry her off to Harrald Law-Giver and put Laila in charge of the Reach, with Hrongar and Bryling taking over as Elisif's housecarl and steward to ensure the queen did as told, but when Harrald was killed and Elisif rescued, Hrongar changed tactics and persuaded Bryling to take the throne for herself instead. And it was all at the instigation of whatever thing you've got behind that door. So what do you have in this palace, Balgruuf? What's corrupting your family?"

"Balgruuf?" Irileth whispered, worry causing her to forget about formality. "Is this true? All this is because of something in this palace that you knew about?"

Balgruuf nodded, eyes closed. "I'm sorry, Irileth," he said quietly. "It's the Ebony Blade. The Daedric Artefact of..."

"I know what the Ebony Blade is!" Irileth shouted. "Sweet Azura, Balgruuf, you told me Farengar had got rid of it! We lost three good guardsmen to that thing! Now you tell me it's not only still here in Dragonsreach, it's corrupting anyone who goes near it?"

"I am not having it fall into the hands of our enemies!" Balgruuf shouted back at her, getting to his feet.

"If this is what it does, maybe that's for the best!" Irileth snapped. "How in Oblivion am I meant to do my job as housecarl if you don't tell me these things?"

"And what would you have done with it, hmm?" Balgruuf asked, glaring at her. "We tried destroying it in the Skyforge, the hottest forge in Skyrim. Not only did the fires not touch it, they cooled around it and Eorlund told me to get the cursed thing away from him. We cannot destroy it and we cannot risk letting harm come to innocent people from it!"

"Too late for that, just ask Elisif!" Irileth snapped back. Balgruuf flinched back from the anger in her voice and Irileth belatedly realised she may have crossed the line.

"My Jarl, I'm sorry, of course you may do as you wish in your own palace, but I beg you to consider..."

Balgruuf raised a hand, sighing as he sat down again.

"No, no, you're right. It can't stay here, not if it really was behind my brother's madness. But what to do with it..."

Delphine glanced at Cicero, who had remained quiet throughout, huddling in the shadow. No help there, he was just shrugging, looking a little panicked himself. Delphine turned back to Balgruuf.

"Jarl Balgruuf, may I ask, what is the Ebony Blade?"

"It's an artefact of the Daedric Prince Mephala," said Balgruuf, his voice hollow. "It manifests her power, drives good men and women to treason and murder. The Blade gains power when you use it to murder the ones who trust you. Your friends. Your loved ones. It's an evil thing, Delphine. That's why we locked it away, to stop it corrupting anyone else. Of course, we didn't think Mephala would start reaching out through it and corrupting people anyway."

"Well, who can predict what a Daedra's going to do?" said Delphine, thinking. Balgruuf was right, it couldn't stay where it was. But what else to do with it? Only one real option, and she didn't like it at all.

"Jarl Balgruuf... give it to me. I can take it away from here, dispose of it somewhere safe, somewhere no one will ever find it. It'll never trouble you or anyone else again."

Both Balgruuf and Irileth were looking at her, surprised.

"You would do that... for us?" Balgruuf asked, a little suspicion in his voice. Delphine nodded.

"For all of us. It's not just you and yours who suffered, it caused me no end of trouble too," Delphine said, trying not to think of what would have happened if it had worked, if Madanach had died, Elisif had survived with a Stormcloak husband and believing the Dark Brotherhood had killed her steward, if Ralof had not confessed. If Cicero and Eola had not been where they were when Elisif was taken.

Balgruuf glanced up at Irileth. She didn't look happy about this arrangement at all.

"My Jarl, may we talk? In private?"

"Of course. Delphine, if you can excuse us? Wait outside with the Dragonborn, I'll find you in a few minutes."

Delphine assented and led Cicero out. As soon as the door closed, Irileth slid into Delphine's vacated seat.

"My Jarl, you can't seriously be thinking of handing the Ebony Blade to the leader of the Dark Brotherhood!"

"We don't know that, Irileth. Not for certain," said Balgruuf, not entirely willing to concede a once trusted citizen and friend had joined up with the feared assassins' guild.

"Oh we do," Irileth laughed. "We know the Brotherhood abducted Hrongar and killed him – the guards finding his bloodied remains in Solitude Market with a scroll in his mouth advising the world that so ended all who trifle with the Dark Brotherhood prove that. But what you may not know is that I heard from Rikke this morning apologising that she'd not been able to interrogate Hrongar properly before his abduction – he'd been holding out on her. Delphine says she has access to information obtained from Hrongar under interrogation – how? If Rikke couldn't get anything out of him before the Brotherhood took him, but Delphine managed to – what else explains it but her being involved with the Brotherhood and privy to whatever they extracted during their own questioning?"

It made sense, Balgruuf had to admit, but it wasn't enough to justify arresting her, and it seemed a little ungrateful after all she'd done. Also, if she was offering to get rid of the Ebony Blade... it would be a relief to get it off his hands.

"Maybe that's no bad thing," said Balgruuf thoughtfully. "The Blade's curse is that it gains power from the wielder using it to murder their friends and loved ones. Well, who are the friends and loved ones of a Dark Brotherhood assassin?"

"Other Dark Brotherhood assassins," said Irileth, beginning to see where he was going with this. "So you think we should give it to her, she'll fall under its spell and wipe out the Dark Brotherhood."

"With any luck, yes," said Balgruuf. "Either that or she'll resist and find a means of destroying it. Either way, a great evil is wiped from this world and none of it is my problem."

Irileth could find no fault with this reasoning at all. So it was that Balgruuf went out to where Delphine was waiting, gave her the key, told her where the door was and to get the thing out of his city.

The door was as old and forbidding as promised, and was that blood all over it? Delphine wasn't sure and wasn't going to ask. She took a deep breath and approached, Cicero trailing behind. Time to see what this Whispering Lady was like.

"Ohhh. Oh! Oh, this is too delicious. Hrongar failed me, Nelkir is too young to be of much use, but you... The Night Mother's own Listener, here of her own free will, after my power for herself. Oh yes, I can use you, Listener Delphine. I can indeed."

"I assure you, you will find that a tougher prospect than you might imagine," said Delphine grimly, unlocking the door. Well, that was Fire and Darkness disproved. If this was Mephala, she certainly wasn't the Night Mother. Sounded nothing like her.

Mephala just laughed. "They all say that. They all succumb in the end. Take you. You're the Listener, yes, but you never wanted to be. You were hijacked into it. Betrayed. Given up by Akatosh and Talos as the Night Mother's price for killing Alduin. They lost their first Dragonborn to the executioner's axe just before Alduin returned. The only other suitable candidate in all Skyrim? The son of the last generation's Dragonborn, a highly trained assassin called Cicero, more than capable but wedded to the Night Mother. So Akatosh had to go her and ask, and she accepted the contract but at a price. She wanted the Dark Brotherhood to be great again, she wanted her children to be feared. She wanted a new Listener and she asked for you. So Akatosh and Talos agreed. They gave you up, Listener Delphine. Talos let you go and left you for the Night Mother to claim, Akatosh wakened Cicero's dragon blood and helped ensure the two of you met, and you walked straight into the trap. Akatosh got a protector for his second-choice Dragonborn, and the Night Mother got herself a Listener. A very good bargain. Everyone's happy. Except you. Aren't you tired of dancing to her tune? Don't you want your freedom back? Don't you want to be Talos's again, don't you want to be running the Blades, hunting dragons, not people? I can offer you that, Delphine. Take my Blade, a Blade for a Blade. Take it, and we can begin. Take the lives of ten who trust you, cut your way to freedom, bring my Blade back to its full strength. Starting with the one who trusts you the most."

Delphine had the door open by this point, staring down at the black katana on the table, a two-handed blade but a sharp one nonetheless. Swallowing, she hooked it over her shoulder before turning to look at Cicero, seeing him there, smiling, wide-eyed, gleeful.

"Is that it, sweetling, is it? It looks very sharp. Positively... wicked!" he giggled.

The one who trusted her the most. The one who'd been there from the start, the one who adored her and lived to serve. Her Keeper.

"Yes, him, take him, end him. He only wants you because you're Listener, you know that. Left to himself, he'd have chosen Namira's child, the one who shares his bloodlust. Take him to some remote spot and end his miserable life, and then you are not only rid of him, you can have Eola all to yourself..."

Delphine forced a smile to her face and turned to Cicero. "Right, Balgruuf wanted this thing out of his city so that's what we're going to do. Cicero, that Blackreach place you and Aranea found the Elder Scroll in. Is it far from here?"

Cicero shook his head. "Not far at all, my lovely. Shall Cicero take you there?"

Delphine nodded, letting him lead the way. Remote, deep, dark, known to hardly anyone. Perfect for what she had in mind.

"So this is Blackreach," Delphine said, looking around at the huge cavern. Cicero had brought her down here in an elevator that had brought them out in the huge Dwemer room where the Elder Scroll had been. Cicero had then taken them out of the tower into Blackreach itself, over a bridge and along a road, past all sorts of Dwemer ruins, sleeping Centurions that looked like they might wake any second, away from a central citadel that Cicero said was infested with Falmer. Now they were sitting in a quiet corner, overlooking a waterfall. It was lovely down here. Peaceful. Apart from the Falmer, but one couldn't have everything. Still, there didn't seem to be any around for now.

"It is, it is!" Cicero squealed. "Does my Listener like it? Isn't it pretty? Dark and lovely, and lots of pretty lights and colours, and plenty of Falmer to kill! Cicero would bring Eola but you can't eat Falmer, so he's not sure she'd like it so much. But that's not something that would bother you."

"Can't say it does, no," said Delphine, reaching for the Ebony Blade. Now or never.

"So what now, Listener?" Cicero asked, oblivious. "Are we going to hide the Ebony Blade here where no one will ever find it?"

"In a matter of speaking, yes," said Delphine as she unsheathed it. In her head, Mephala's voice was echoing again.

"Yes, yes, now, while he's distracted, before he can strike back. He won't see it coming, it would never occur to him that his beloved Listener might hurt him..."

"Cicero," said Delphine, her voice shaking. "Do you love me? Really and truly? Or is it just the Night Mother in me you want?"

"What sort of question's that?" Cicero laughed, turning to her. "Delphine, sweetling, of course Cicero loves you. Is something wrong, my sweet? Only last time you asked Cicero things like that was just before you cast him out..." He saw the Blade in her hands and his smile died. "Ah. Cicero sees."

"Mephala told me things," said Delphine, feeling lightheaded all of a sudden. "She said... she said I was a sacrifice. A price to be paid, because the original Dragonborn, the one who was meant to kill Alduin, died at Helgen. The only alternative was the son of the previous Dragonborn, a highly-trained assassin quite capable of killing dragons, who'd just come to Skyrim a few months before."

"Me," Cicero whispered, eyes travelling between that blade and her, licking his lips nervously. "So... it was never meant to be me."

"No," Delphine whispered. "Some Nord called Melinda apparently. But the Legion thought she was a Stormcloak and executed her, just before Alduin turned up. So Akatosh turned to you instead. Except you were already the Night Mother's so he couldn't just activate your dragon blood. So he had to go to her and ask, and her asking price was a new Listener, a reborn Brotherhood. Her asking price was me."

"You," Cicero repeated, eyes glistening. "You were a gift from Akatosh. To me and the Night Mother." Despite the seriousness of the situation, he actually smiled. "I already knew that, my love. You were too lovely, too perfect to be anything else."

Delphine fought the urge to laugh. Of course he'd think that. The Divines had sacrificed her to Sithis so the Night Mother's Keeper could save the world. Of course he was honoured by it, it hadn't worked out at all badly for him.

"I didn't know," Delphine whispered. "No one even bothered to ask me if I was all right with it."

"Sweetling," Cicero breathed, stepping forward, gloved hand cupping her cheek. "Please..."

"What did I get out of it?" Delphine gasped, fighting back tears. "A large amount of gold, underlings, a headquarters in the mountains, influence and power, oh, and a husband and girlfriend, let's not forget those. As long as I'm OK with having people killed and never seeing Aetherius. Eternal damnation in the Void as the price for the world. Even you have a shot at Sovngarde and your number one hobby is stabbing people."

"I'm not going to Sovngarde!" Cicero cried. "Not if... not if you're not. And hussy Eola certainly isn't. Cicero loves you, sweetling. Cicero always loved you. Cicero wanted you before you were Listener, and when he didn't even know who he was or who you were, he still wanted you."

"You ran away and said you had someone else," Delphine said, trying not to remember how torn up she'd felt to find him and then have him flee again. Cicero closed his eyes, kissing her once on the lips.

"Didn't mean I didn't want you," he breathed. "If I had known that the big, burly jealous spouse you had was actually me, I... I wouldn't have run. It just never occurred to poor, humble, foolish Cicero that you might ever want to marry someone like me."

"You thought I had some big, burly, jealous spouse who'd come after you with a battle-axe if you did anything with me," Delphine gasped, unable to stop herself laughing at that image. Cicero nodded, giggling despite the tears rolling down his cheeks.

"Yes!" he giggled. "Foolish Cicero thought you'd be married to some big, muscular Nordic type. Not... not a humble idiot like me."

"I am though. And... I still want to be," Delphine whispered, one arm sliding around his waist and pulling him to her. The Ebony Blade fell from her other hand and she raised fingers to stroke his cheekbones, those gorgeous Cyrodiilic cheekbones, and those bow-shaped lips now curving in that evil little smile she loved. Gods forgive her, she couldn't hurt Cicero. Not now, not ever. Not her boy.

"Do you still have the Wabbajack?" she asked, letting him go and stepping away from the Ebony Blade.

"Right here," said Cicero, unshouldering it. "What did you want me to do?"

Delphine was vaguely aware of Mephala screaming in her head, but shoved the voice to the back of her mind.

"What are you doing? You could be free again!"

"Sorry," Delphine growled. "Only woman who gets to sit in my head telling me to kill people is the Night Mother. Cicero. Wabbajack that thing."

"Yes, Listener!" Cicero giggled, waving Sheogorath's staff at Mephala's blade. The staff's red light lit the sword up as it promptly turned into a huge black dragon.

Not an improvement in Delphine's mind, but at least she knew how to deal with dragons. Reaching for her bow, she dodged its flames, Cicero taking off in the other direction as he got his bow out too.

"JOOR ZAH FRUL!" he Shouted at it. The dragon wheeled around, shrieking as it crashed to the ground... right into a Falmer camp.

The fight that followed was short but bloody, as six Falmer swarmed out, attacking the dragon with poisoned blades. The dragon hit back, claws and teeth making short work of the Falmer. Cicero and Delphine kept their distance, taking shots with their bows, picking off any Falmer the dragon missed and shooting the dragon itself if no obvious Falmer targets presented themselves. Finally everyone apart from Cicero and Delphine was dead and the dragon was dissolving in fire. As always, the soul swirled up, straight into Cicero, who gasped as it hit him.

"Cicero!" Delphine cried. "Are you alright?" Oh gods, the spirit of the Ebony Blade in Cicero, that couldn't end well, it just couldn't.

Cicero hiccuped, then laughed. "Ooh! That one felt different! Yes, it's in the cage now, hissing at me. Keeps saying I should murder you so I can be Listener. And the Harbinger too, punish him for not approving of me. Tsk tsk. This one is annoying me. Ooh, I still haven't unlocked that Word of Power from Dragontooth Crater yet!"

Before Delphine could stop him, Cicero had blinked then started giggling.

"Oh dear. Listener, what was Mephala in charge of again?"

"Sex, lies and murder," Delphine sighed. "Talos help me, Cicero, what just happened? Did you... did you just eat the soul of the Daedric Prince of murder?"

Cicero had gone bright red, enormous grin on his face. "Cicero liked that one! It was crunchy! Only now Cicero wants to kill something. Or... or have sex. He's not sure which one."

"Well, we just killed all the Falmer and I'm not having sex with you out here," said Delphine sternly. "Come on, let's get out of here. Can you remember which way the Tower of Mzark is?"

"This way!" Cicero trilled, skipping off... before stopping and running back to her, concerned. "Listener? Are you... are you all right? You... you were not yourself... and you were unhappy. Cicero wants you to still be Listener, but if you are unhappy... Cicero doesn't want you to be unhappy!" He looked miserable at the very thought.

Delphine took a deep breath, wondering how all right she really was. She didn't know if Mephala had been telling the truth about how she got picked to be Listener or not, and honestly it didn't make a lot of difference by this point. However, it did lift one burden off her shoulders.

"I'm all right," she said, putting her arms around Cicero, drawing comfort from having him there. "I think. And I'm not going anywhere, love. Maybe I didn't choose to be Listener, maybe it's not what I wanted... but it helps knowing that it had to happen, that Akatosh and Talos had to hand me over. They didn't want to do it so it's not like I got cast out, but if it's what they intended... then I guess it makes it easier to bear, you know? Like it's what I'm meant to be doing, it's OK to run the Dark Brotherhood, be good at it and enjoy it. Might as well make the best of it, eh?" She gave him a cuddle and he giggled again, wriggling up against her, grinning lasciviously. Whether he'd really just eaten Mephala's soul while it was bound up in her artefact or not, it was clear whatever he had just devoured had ramped up his sex drive.

"Oh, you're very good at it," Cicero purred in her ear. "You're very good at a lot of things!" He lowered his voice. "Tower Mzark has bedrolls and privacy. We could... linger there? Please?"

Talos help her, she couldn't resist him when he was all breathless and needy like this. One smack on the backside later and he was actually making little keening noises. Well, not like they were in a great hurry to get back. Not now the danger was over.

"Let's go," she told him, taking him by the hand and leading him away. Maybe she'd been sold for peace, but she'd got an attractive husband out of the deal. Time to make use of him.

Much later, when they'd finally made it back to Karthspire and told the story, and Cicero had started murmuring sweet nothings in Eola's ear and persuaded her off to bed with very little effort on his part, Delphine had settled herself in the chapel for a word with the Night Mother.

"So. I was your price for Alduin's head, was I?"

To Delphine's surprise, the response was laughter. Ever so slightly guilty laughter.

"So Mephala told you that, did she? I thought she might. Yes, you were. When the Dragon God turned up along with that other Mortal Turned God Talos, I could barely believe my ears. Didn't they know I'd retired? Been retired, I should say – thanks to that bitch Mephala's machinations, I barely had a Sanctuary to call mine. Just Cicero, thought too mad and foolish to bother with, and Falkreath because they barely believed in me any more."

"Mephala's the reason the Dark Brotherhood fell apart?" Delphine asked, surprised. She'd always wondered why the Night Mother had stopped talking in the first place. The things you found out...

"Yes, child. I was a worshipper of hers once, when I worked for the Morag Tong. Up until the whole of Tamriel save Morrowind banned us, and the Tong withdrew, curtailing its activities out of fear and some misguided principle of justice. Justice? There is no justice out there. None but what we make ourselves. So I left the Tong, stayed in Cyrodiil and researched. I read many old texts until I learned of the darker power behind all the Daedra and all Oblivion – Sithis the Dread Father. I gave him worship and in return, I got his attention. Hardly anyone worshipped him directly, you see. The Forsworn and Hags, yes, but not civilised people in places like Cyrodiil. No one communing with him just to talk to him, not actually wanting anything in return. He was pleased, and he kept coming back. The Dread Father does not love, not exactly... but he could not stay away either. For my sake, the Formless took on form, appeared as a man... lived as a husband, fathered my children. For ten years, he'd come to me each night, reading my children stories, tucking them in bed, and then he'd take me to bed and..." The Night Mother sighed happily. Delphine winced, hoping the Night Mother would spare her any further details. Happily, she moved on.

"Then he came to me one night and told me our time was drawing to an end. Trouble was coming, we weren't going to survive, and being mortal Dunmer, we'd go to the Dunmer afterlife and be parted from Sithis for good. I wept and cried, begged him to take us to the Void instead. He said he would, but there was only one way. If I killed the children in his name and took my own life, a sacrifice to him, dedicating ourselves to the Dread Father. I told him I would. It broke my heart but I did it. I gave them strong poisons in their food and smothered each in their sleep that very night. Then I hung myself. Next thing I knew, I was formless myself, with Sithis in the Void but linked still to my mortal body. When, hours after my body cooled, an amoral young thief crept into our house to see if there was anything worth having, I was able to call to her, get her to take my body and preserve it. She became my first Listener. And so it began, the Dark Brotherhood doing what the Morag Tong never could – a professional guild of assassins and murderers, doing the will of Sithis all over Tamriel and profiting nicely from it. Mephala's hated me ever since, and immediately began plotting our downfall. It took centuries but she managed it in the end. Almost."

"Are you saying the Great War and all the upheaval since was all down to Mephala trying to wipe out the Dark Brotherhood?" Delphine cried, feeling vaguely revolted at the very thought.

"Not all of it. It's impossible to know for sure. But she's been plotting against us for a long time, that I know. I had almost given up hope of ever regaining my former power, until Akatosh and Talos came to me in dire need of my assistance. Needless to say, my price was power again, a Listener again, a Dark Brotherhood capable of sweeping all before them. I saw you, Delphine, former Blade driven bitter and dark by years of loneliness, a proven killer with training and experience in planning covert operations... but still at heart yearning for a purpose. For a Dragonborn to give your life meaning again. I couldn't think of a better candidate, so I asked for you as my Listener. Neither god wanted to give you up, but in the end they saw they had no choice. They weren't going to find a better Dragonborn than Cicero at such short notice, so they agreed to my terms. Talos let you go, lifted the barriers against another claiming you, Akatosh woke Cicero's dragon blood and changed the winds of time so you two would meet earlier than you would have otherwise... and you walked willingly into the trap, taking us in and when Cicero was gone, coming straight into my arms."

"You set me up," Delphine whispered, not sure whether to be angry or impressed. Still, she had to admit – she'd been drawn to Cicero from the start. She'd seen a Dragonborn and thrown caution to the wind, and even working with a Dragonborn, she could have left the Night Mother alone. She'd not done so.

"Regretting it?" the Night Mother asked, amused. Delphine shook her head.

"No, no really. If it had to happen, it had to happen. If Alduin had won, we'd all have died. If I'd really wanted out, I'd have used the Ebony Blade and gone over to Mephala."

"A good thing you did not. I would have hated to have to start all over again. Not to mention Sanguine and Sheogorath already paid me for the contract against her."

Delphine scratched her head, sure she was hearing things. "I'm sorry, did you say... Sanguine and Sheogorath had a contract against Mephala?"

"Oh yes," the Night Mother cackled. "It turned out Sanguine and Mephala had had an arrangement for eons. Well, the Daedric Princes of sex and debauchery, it was only natural. Right up until Sheogorath renewed himself after the Oblivion Crisis and the new Sheogorath took a liking to Sanguine. Seduced him out of Mephala's arms then promptly forgot he'd done it and took a long holiday. Leaving poor Sanguine desperately hunting him. Of course, Mephala's not one to take that lying down and started making Sanguine's existence a misery. What's a Daedra to do but seek out a higher authority to do something about it? And only one thing's more powerful than the Daedra."

"Sithis the Dread Father," said Delphine, the pieces finally clicking into place as she realised just why Cicero had been taken by the Daedra in the first place. They'd known the conspiracy was in Jorrvaskr and wanted an agent there, and what better agent than someone who didn't even know he was an agent? And no wonder the Night Mother had been so furious with her for letting it go and moping after Cicero. If she'd sent someone to infiltrate Jorrvaskr, they'd have found Cicero, reassured her and she could have started planning around it, made contact sooner. Dammit. Still, it had all worked out in the end, just about.

"Of course. Do you honestly think I would have let my Keeper get abducted by Sanguine and Sheogorath of all people if there hadn't been a contract at stake? Those two don't have much in the way of limits but even they know not to get on my bad side. So we worked together, and they mostly did as they were told, and it's all worked out quite well. Congratulations, Delphine, you just helped assassinate a Daedric Prince."

"We did what? Seriously?" Delphine was very glad she was already sitting down, because she wasn't sure she'd have stayed upright otherwise.

"Well, I'm not entirely sure she's gone for good. But she'd bound herself too heavily to the Ebony Blade, and when you destroyed it, you took a good deal of her power with it. She's in the Void with Sithis now, and he's making sure she's learning the consequences of messing with his children. Don't bother praying at a shrine to Mephala for some considerable time, Delphine. They're not going to do an awful lot for you."

"I imagine not," Delphine whispered. That was going to have some interesting consequences in Morrowind, that was for sure.

"And speaking of shrines... I'm thinking it's about time I had some built. One here, one in the other two Sanctuaries, one in the Temple. Now there's a vacancy among the Daedra, well, it's time I took advantage. I'll be wanting a human skull, ebony ingot, filled black soul gem, daedra heart, nightshade and two flawless rubies for each shrine. Get all that together and bring it all here. We have work to do, my child."

Didn't they just. This was going to be expensive but if the Night Mother wanted it, she'd have to do it. She was sure they could get ebony ingots off Ghorza in Markarth or Beirand in Solitude, Babette would know how to source daedra hearts, nightshade wasn't hard to get and Eola and Cicero would be only too happy to have an excuse to go murdering people for the skulls and souls. The rubies were going to be trickier, but she still had credit with the Thieves Guild. They'd be able to sort something out, she was sure.

World-Eaters and Daedric Princes. Could things get any stranger? Delphine had heard it said of Clan Grey-Mane that they had the ability to forge anything as a gift from the gods, but in return were obliged to forge literally anything requested of them. Maybe the same was true of the Dark Brotherhood – Sithis would grant them the ability to kill anyone or anything, but in return they had to kill anyone whose death was prayed and paid for, from beggars to merchants to priests to Jarls to Emperors to gods.

She didn't know who'd be the next big contract for her little band of murderers. It would have to go some to top this one though. But when it came through... she'd be ready. If this life was what the gods wanted for her then so be it. Tamriel wouldn't know what had hit it.

A/N: And that's it! Thank you to those who've left comments, more are always appreciated!

The next in the series is going to be set around the Dragonborn DLC now that it's available on all platforms, principally the main quest and Raven Rock quests, so if you have yet to play it and care about spoilers, now is the time to start investigating.