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*Falkreath, the Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary*

"You're back!" Astrid saw Serana in as the latter seemed to be absent-minded.

"Yep." Serana replied.

"And?"

"What?"

"The Night Mother's contact! Tell me everything first. What did this Motierre want?" Astrid was personally waiting for Serana at the entrance of the sanctuary in order to hear the matter they were given by the matron of the cult. If it wasn't for that, Astrid would have had a relaxing afternoon rather than worrying about every little thing.

"I've met him and…" Serana took a deep breath showing that she was still shocked, "Motierre wants us... to kill the Emperor."

Astrid raised her brows with a neutral face before breaking into a smile and giving out a short laugh.

"You're joking!" She said.

Serana shook her head and handed over the letter she had and the amulet she was handed by Amaund Motierre.

"What is this?" Astrid asked.

"The letter explains things. The Amulet is the expenses." Serana replied.

Astrid took the letter, retreated to a chair behind an old table, and brought closer a candle to read it. Serana joined her and waited a minute, two, and three until Astrid read the paper carefully a few times at that.

"By Sithis! You're not joking!" Astrid exclaimed, "To kill the Emperor of Tamriel... The Dark Brotherhood hasn't done such a thing since the assassination of Pelagius. As a matter of fact, no one has dared assassinate an Emperor of Tamriel since the murder of Uriel Septim, and that was two hundred years ago."

"You're going on this fooly?" Serana asked, "Do you even trust the Night Mother?"

Seeing that the Listener herself is skeptical from the situation with the Night Mother. Astrid was for once baffled but still determined to see this one through.

"The Night Mother wouldn't misguide the Dark Brotherhood on purpose. And... for whatever reason, she chose to relay Motierre's information to you. I don't know exactly what's going on here, if you're the Listener, or this is some fluke, or what. But what we now have before us..." Astrid replied, waving the letter of Amaund Motierre.

"So you're accepting the contract?" Serana asked.

"Damn right I am. If we pull this off, the Dark Brotherhood will know a fear and respect we haven't seen in centuries." Astrid replied as if it is the most obvious thing in the world, "You think I'd abandon an opportunity to lead my Family to glory? But this is all so much to take in. I need time to read the letter again and figure out where we go from here. And this amulet. Hmmm..."

"What are you thinking?" Serana asked.

"I'm thinking we need that amulet appraised. I want to know where it came from, how much it's worth, and if we can actually get away with selling it. And, there's only one man who can give us what we need." Astrid paused a second before uttering the name, "Delvin Mallory."

"Delvin… Mallory?"

"He's a fence, a private operator. Works out of the Ratway, in Riften. I'll keep the letter. Bring Mallory the amulet. Find out everything you can, and sell it if he's willing. He'll offer a letter of credit, that's fine. Delvin Mallory and the Dark Brotherhood have… a long history. He can be trusted."

"Is he like… a dealer of goods?" Serana asked.

"He is… why are you asking?" Astrid asked back.

"Ah! Nothing! I am just thinking about selling something away from the eyes of the public." Serana replied meekly.

"Just tell him it is something that has nothing to do with the Brotherhood. I don't want more favors to be placed on my tab." Astrid gave Serana a cold reply and went off to her quarters.

Serana snorted as she wasn't pleased with the situation as a whole. After all, she was determined to follow her own path from now on.

But some idea came across her mind. Maybe she can stay in the Dark Brotherhood for a few more days or so since she had to travel towards Riften either way.

Riften is where everything starts after all.

Serana walked out from where she had a meeting with Astrid and headed into her quarters in the sanctuary. Usually, she has a small room dug for her and it is where she keeps some of her items.

She headed in and searched her belongings until she found a bottle of a certain brew. From the peculiar shape of the bottle, this is supposed to be a bottle of Skooma.

Serana opened the Skooma bottle and smelled the unique scent of the Moonsugar. Despite the smell being very familiar to her, Serana suddenly realized something was amiss.

"That's not my Skooma." She mumbled.

While she keeps the Skooma in her quarters, the sanctuary has a golden rule and that is no stealing from other brotherhood members or else there shall be retribution.

Yet someone still dared to steal from her.

But the Skooma of all things? Half the sanctuary already snorts that shit in the open. They wouldn't just go after her bottle… her special bottle of special Skooma.

Serana immediately went and closed her quarters' door before turning around and cursing.

"Astrid! She's suspicious of me being the Listener and now goes through my stuff!"

Serana was angry yet she didn't break her cool one bit. She understood her situation and it is not like she keeps all her belongings in the sanctuary. She has a lot of stashes hidden in places even Jon Dare wouldn't find.

Calmly, she walked towards one of the walls of her quarters and waved her hand at it as she cast some illusion spell on it. The spell caused the illusion that was already here to disappear immediately.

While the wall looked ordinary, it was just a simple cover to hide a small alchemy table and some ingredients behind it. Deathbell, Nightshade, Moonsugar, and more. What's interesting is the product Serana seemed to be brewing is indeed Skooma.

Serana picked another bottle of Skooma from her hidden stash and threw the one that was replaced away. This Skooma she retrieved was the real deal compared to the watered-down crap she just found.

"This will change everything." Serana thought and kept her original Skooma bottle in her bag before carrying it and walking off the Sanctuary of the brotherhood.

She also made it clear to some of the brotherhood members that she is heading to Falkreath to confirm a few things before leaving.

Once she headed off the sanctuary, however, she felt like she was being watched and no matter how she tried to check her surroundings secretly, she failed to pick a trace of whoever is tracing her.

Someone is a very skilled creep.

She needed to immediately get out of the forest and find transportation to the next town.

She was indeed fast on her feet and managed to slip away from her tail.

Watching her disappear with superior speed, the one who was sneaking behind appeared from the shadow of a tree.

"Oh, Listener… dear, Listener! Such a fate! Such a horrible horrible fate!" The stalker whined in agony as he rubbed his face on a bottle of Skooma.

He agonized over something going on in his mind.

"Astrid! Treacherous Astrid! Terrible and treacherous and cowardly Astrid! To think she is controlling the Listener… the poor poor Listener with this tainted Skooma! Argh! Treachery shall be punished! Yes, mother! Cicero shall punish them for you… and for the Listener!"

***

A week later, Serana arrived at Riften and went down the Ratway. The city was chaotic as ever since the emergence of the Dawnguard especially for being the closest city to their stronghold. Moreover, this city became filled with crosses and sticks where captured vampires are publicly executed day in and day out.

In summary, it is the complete opposite of a place like Whiterun and Solitude where the Vampires almost attack daily.

And for any vampire on any day of the week, it is insane to roam around the Rift without some sort of backup or an escape route.

One may think that Serana would be reckless and see herself inside the city without backup, which is no problem for her either way, but she was actually moving in a group with cloaked and hooded figures. During their silent sneak walk through the alleys of Riften, they killed almost 5 Dawnguard operatives all to create a safe passage for Serana.

The Ratway was the safest area in the city for Vampires at the moment and thus she stopped her escort and continued on her own through the sewers all the way to the Ragged Flagon.

As she went in and attracted the attention of the Thieves that were spread around the place, they all seemed to be wary and on their guard and so she made her way in towards the sitting area.

"Hold it right there!" At this moment, a brute approached her, raising his hand towards her shoulders. Instinctively, she held his hand, twisted his arm, kicked his feet off balance, and sent him heads first to the ground to make a Dirge sound.

The thieves seemed displeased with her actions but as soon as they picked their knives, someone whistled.

"Leave that one be. Evacuate the place before she starts serving your blood in goblets." A voice spoke and two women approached with crossbows aimed at her.

Serana felt that these two women are extremely agile and accurate so she didn't want to risk it at the moment for the sake of her goals.

"I came in peace." She said.

"Peace?" The voice spoke again, "For goddamn vampires to sneak down here, it means you'll lead all the Dawnguard after you. So, why don't we kill you and take the price for a vampire's head, lass?"

"Because…" Serana turned her head and looked towards a direction where no one stood, "Astrid said to treat you nicely."

"Let her pass, Brynjolf!" Suddenly, a hoarse voice sounded from inside the place as a man barely spoke before coughing.

Just like that, a man appeared just beside Serana with a blade to her neck. He was totally invisible just a moment ago but when he came out of invisibility, Serana seemed to be making eye contact with him before he even appeared.

It gave Brynjolf some bad vibes as the vampire girl was clearly unfriendly but still calm and collected.

"Delvin Malory?" Serana then looked away and asked in a hoarse voice.

"Come on in." Delvin spoke, "Gonna made those kids uncomfortable just staring at them this way. Astrid didn't teach you any manners?"

"Hmph!" Serana snorted lightly and walked into the tavern area where more people seemed to be aiming down their crossbows.

"The Dark Brotherhood requests your services." Serana spoke to Delvin.

"I see. Well now, how is Astrid doing these days? Tell her to stop by sometime. We can have a drink. Catch up. Ah, but we can discuss that later, yeah? What does the Brotherhood need?" Delvin said as he offered Serana a seat.

Serana sat down and looked around coldly before retrieving the amulet Amaund Motierre gave her and putting it in front of Delvin.

He saw the amulet and in an instant, the man went pale.

"What can you tell me about this?" Serana asked.

"Motherfucker!" He cursed lightly.

"What was that?" Serana asked unamused.

"Nah! Nothing! Ehem!" Delvin cleared his throat and spoke, "Just… where oh where did you get this?"

Serana was about to reply that it is none of his business but he suddenly raised his hands.

"Don't answer, I don't want to know!" He said and continued, "This is an amulet of the Emperor's Elder Council. Specially crafted for each member. Worth a small fortune. Ain't somethin' you'd give up lightly. Look, it ain't my business to tell the Dark Brotherhood its business, but if you killed a member of the Elder Council, you'd better beli…"

"Will you buy it or should I just leave?" Serana impatiently said.

"Buy it? This? An Elder Council amulet? Oh yes. Oh yes, indeed. Wait just one moment... here. It's a letter of credit. Usable, by Astrid only, for any service or item I can provide. As per our standard arrangement. You bring that back to your lovely mistress. With my regards."

Serana looked at the letter and felt heavy in her heart that it wasn't a coin but her business was now done.

"One more thing." Serana said before taking an item from her bag.

It was the Skooma bottle she had on her.

"That is?" Delvin asked.

"It is a personal question but does your people know where I can market that?" She asked.

Delvin looked at the table and smiled.

"Going independent, little vampire?" He asked.

"No! Just experimenting on things. It's a new mix." Serana said.

Delvin hesitated before taking the bottle, opening its cork, and smelling its content.

"Woah!" He suddenly felt a strong kick just from a small sniff, "Cough! Cough! What did you put in that?"

"Secrets!" She replied.

"That's… Cough! It's better than anything in the market. Did you force an alchemist to brew it for you?" He asked as he closed the Skooma bottle.

"Secrets!" She replied again.

"Fine. Keep your secrets." Delvin said and returned the bottle to Serana, "Just a friendly gesture, if you want to sell that stuff. You can find a Dunmer by the name Sarthis Idren. He's in the fishery if you look carefully."

"Much obliged!" Serana took back her bottle and immediately turned around leaving.

"That's amusing!" Delvin watched Serana leave and waited until she walked out from the Ragged Flagon before immediately turning to Brynjolf.

"That sly Jon Dare!" He cursed, "He knew we would come across this and put a price for it in the market just yesterday."

"What do you want to do?" Brynjolf asked.

"Contact the rascal! Tell him to drop by and visit ol' Delvin. His Imperial Council Amulet has arrived." Delvin said and laughed shortly, "Imperial Councilor of Skyrim, Jon fucking Dare."

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