the dark brotherhood. bow in hand falters, and eyes widen. who hadn’t heard of them? tales of their treachery spread far and wide, sparking fear in most…admiration in some. as a child helena could remember telling stories meant to instill fear with children her age about that loathsome family; sometimes even parents used them as a means to keep their brood in line. “if you don’t obey, the dark brotherhood will steal you away.”
“i killed that man on accident.” it is useless to deny her involvement: of course they would know her hands were stained crimson. but surely they could understand that? an accident! accident...of course it was…wasn’t it? “it…wasn’t on purpose...truly.” why is her tone now so unsure? “you’ve made an error. i haven’t been chosen by anyone…nor do i have an interest in your clan.”
“An accident like an arrow loosed in practice, and a man in the wrong place? Or an accident that was deliberate until the conscious mind caught up with the surety of the body’s actions? The Night Mother knows which, as sure as the Divines do.”
Denial; one of the many spokes of the wheel that he had seen time and time again. Some of his best had been those first struck with it. There would be guilt in days to come, and grief, and he prided himself that he had only ever lost one potential to it, once they were in the safe arms of the Brotherhood and its sanctuaries. Their guilt had passed to him, and he wore it still. Only a little life, brushing his, before it left for the peace only the Dread Father’s embrace could provide - but one precious to him nonetheless, as precious to him as to the Night Mother, who knew and loved all her future servants from the cradle.
The next words might harden this girl, free her, or break her, as they had those that had heard them before; he could never predict until he said them, with the air of the absolute surety he felt, through trust in his Mistress, and seeing it proven over and over. “If you did not have it in you, my child,” there was sympathy there too “I would not be here.”
He did not deny that he wished her to join the family because it would bring them profit and gain, and because she would please the Night Mother - but neither of those meant he could not care for her (little as he knew of her, for she was a sister already), and if she felt the guilt, would she have someone to turn to for it, if she did not have the Brotherhood?
yousharknotpass
romaincrisis
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germansingergirl
