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Fire. Fire and blood and screaming were all around.
She'd damn near sprinted there from Solitude, when Commander Maro gave her the dreadful news, feeling the bile rise up in her throat when she got there and saw poor Festus.
He didn't deserve a death like that.
It was worse inside.
After killing the Pentius Oculatus members in the room before the main chamber, she saw Veezara, stripped and lying in a pool of his own blood, eyes unseeing.
Galandrisa seethed at seeing her brother denied dignity in death like that, and swore vengeance.
Arnbjorn went down as soon as she entered the main chamber, sending her into a fury, chopping at them with her ebony battleaxe. Hearing a struggle, she ran towards the poisoners nook, the heat from the flames making her feel as if she was burning as much as the tears that were beginning to blur her eyesight.
As she ran to the noise, she saw Gabriella, curled in a fetal position, with Lis not too far away. Dead, both of them. Choking down a sob, she pushed on.
Finally making her way into the dining hall, she saw Nazir, through the flames, fighting off the remaining marauders. Shouting a rallying cry, she ran head-first into the fray, hacking manically at them, though taking care not to hit Nazir as she slashed. When the the treat had finally been eliminated, she turned to him.
"So you are alive. I was starting to wonder." He sounded calm, but his breath was ragged and his eyes gave away the true turmoil he was feeling.
"The Emperor... it was all a trap. Someone set us up." The words tumbled out her mouth, as she stopped to wipe her eyes.
"Considering most of us are now dead, I assumed as much. And before you ask, no - I don't think it was you." Nazir snapped at her, before he started to look sheepish. "Well, maybe I did, but you saving my sorry hide just now sort of erased any doubts. So thanks."
Galandrisa threw him a weak smile. "We need to get out of here!" He voice was full of urgency.
"You've got that right. Only a matter of time before we're roasted alive. Come on!"
He grabbed her arm and started dragging her in the direction of the Night Mothers coffin. She felt a brief stab in her heart when she realised she hadn't seen Babette, or Astrid. The sanctuary shook violently as rocks began to fall loose from the ceiling. As they blocked the exit, she could see the despair in Nazir's eyes, as he ran forward, attempting to pull rocks loose.
"Damn, there's got to be a way out." She heard him say, his voiced strained from stress and effort. The tears were back in her eyes now and she let them fall freely. The smoke was making her head swim as she coughed out some soot. It was by this point she heard the Night Mother speak.
"Listener. I am your only salvation. Come. Embrace me. Sleep."
The coffin didn't look big enough for three but she'd be damned if she disobeyed. So she stepped in. And the door immediately shut behind her. Barely managing to twist herself round, she began beating on the doors, crying for Nazir. From within the iron tomb she heard an explosion, one that rocked the coffin, and for a brief moment she felt like she was falling, until she heard a splash. The sounds from outside became muted, and that filled her with an abstract sort of terror. What was happening? Was Nazir okay? Was Babette okay? Was Astrid?
Through the terror, a sense of drowsiness set in. Unable to fight it, she could only listen to the Night Mother's parting words.
"You must speak with Astrid. Here, in the Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary."
When she woke was moving, or at least, the tomb was shaking. And from outside she could, hear talking. The voices were dulled by the iron tomb and the sleep still clouding her mind. One was deep and rumbling, the other soft and lilting. The was a scraping sound and the coffin shook some more. Then suddenly, she lying on her back with a violent jolt. The doors were wrench open, blinding her momentarily.
Two dark shapes stood over her, one grabbing her arm and helping her to her feet. She attempt to strike out at them, but their hand caught her fist.
"Whoa, whoa whoa," the voice called it. Blinking hard, the shape came more into focus, revealing them-self to be Nazir! His head scarf had come unwound slightly, and parts of his armour were still smoking. He looked exhausted, but relieved. "It's alright," He soothed, "You've been through a lot. Maybe you should sit down."
"He's right you know." Came the over voice. Turning to look, she saw it was Babette! Hardly able to contain herself she swept the two of them into a hug and just started sobbing. The cries were of terror, grief and relief. Her knee's gave out, and soon the three of them were huddling on the floor, Galandrisa wailing loudly, Babette barely choking back sobs and Nazir clutching them white-knuckled and shaking as he himself refused to cry.
As the tears subsided, Galandrisa remembered the Night Mother's wish.
"Astrid!" She said suddenly. "She's still alive, here in the Sanctuary."
Nazir's face lit up. "She's here? By Sithis I thought we lost her. Let's go!"
Standing up on numb and shakey legs, the three of them made their way to Astrid's quarters.
The room was as trashed as the rest of the sanctuary, burnt corpses littering the floor.
Bile rose to Galandrisa's mouth when she realised she could no longer tell the difference between the corpses of her friends and foes, but she swallowed it down and pressed on.
There was a gap in the wall, a once hidden cove it seemed. A circle on candles surround the charred body in the centre, a nightshade laying on her chest, clutched in burnt and blistered hands. A dagger lay close by. It had no design she'd ever seen before, nor could she tell it's make.
"Alive..." She croaked through smoke damaged lungs. "You're alive... Thank Sithis."
Galandrisa brought her hands up to her mouth when she realised she was staring at Astrid!
"Oh Astrid..." She began, but a hacking cough from Astrid cut her off.
"Please... There is much to say... And not much... Time."
Galandrisa nodded. Nazir and Babette, who had wormed there way in past her, nodded also.
Tears sprung to the corners of Astrid's eyes as she began. "I'm sorry. So very sorry... The Penitus Oculatus... Maro... He said he'd leave the Dark Brotherhood alone forever if... If I gave them you."
She was looking directly at Galandrisa, her once blue eyes red with blood.
"I was a fool. By Sithis, such a fool... All of this... My fault... You are the best of us... And I almost killed you," Grief and regret was making it's tone known through the cracks in Astrid's voice. "Just like I killed everyone else."
Galandrisa wanted to be mad. She wanted to be angry. She had been betrayed by one of the few people she had considered family which the led to the deaths of the rest of them. But she couldn't. Pity was already consuming the empty spaces of her soul. Wetting her lips, she mustered the decency to say as much,
Astrid looked away in shame.
"I betrayed you... And the Night Mother, and everything I hold dear... Now... Maro has done the same to me..." A bitter tear rolled down her cheek. "I... I thought I could save us... Without you, Cicero or the Night Mother..." She took a sharp intake of breath. "I was wrong."
Babette was clutching her sleeve, much like the little girl she often pretending to be and Galandrisa heard Nazir swear under his breath. Reaching out, she grasped his hand and squeezed it softly, using the other to pet Babette hair, pulling her close.
"There's still a chance... A chance to start over... That's why I did this..." Another wracking cough shook through her, blood dribbling out the side of her mouth as she did. Another wheezing breath as the coughs died down allowed her to finish what she started. "Don't you see?.. I prayed to the Night Mother...
I am the Black Sacrament..."
She glared down at Astrid. Astrid stared pitifully back.
"You lead this family now... and to prove my sincerity... I give you the Blade of Woe... so you may finish my contract..."
Bending down, Galandrisa picked up the dagger, awaiting her orders, like the good little soldier she'd always been.
"You must kill..." Astrid began, her agony, pain and remorse fuelling her final word. "Me."
Galandrisa didn't hesitate in plunging the dagger into heart.
Sweet Mother
Sweet Mother
Send your child unto me
For the sins of the unworthy must be baptized in blood and fear.