Nobody Important
In which a one-sided conversation is held.
By: N3k0
Tug, yank, snip.
There a pulling, dragging sensation slowly piecing her back together. Her chest was already a line of fine stitches that made her itch. That was what drug her back to consciousness when she was actually enjoying a dreamless sleep.
She still couldn't breathe.
Tug, yank, snip.
"You're lucky, you know that, right? Incredibly lucky." It was the woman's voice, the one who wanted her dead. Ariel.
Tug, yank, snip.
She didn't seem to want a response, which was good, since Lyssi couldn't exactly form one. "That boy says that your ribs are mending. He put a slow healing on you, he says, one that should fix the broken bones in time. Your heart is whole. He doesn't have a spell to fill your lungs with air, but he seems to be planning something."
Tug, yank, snip.
"He thinks you're some kind of research project. He doesn't see what I see."
Tug, yank, snip.
The line of stitches seemed near the top of the injury. Maybe the woman would leave her alone then. She had to try to get up today. She'd wasted enough time in this town.
Tug, yank, snip.
The woman fell silent for a long minute. Lyssi thought maybe she'd run out of things to say. She hadn't. "You're a monster. For all we know, you were working with the Daedra. It isn't like we can ask you, now is it? How convenient. I could kill you, you know."
Tug, yank, snip.
"It's not like anyone really expects you to survive this, after all." If she was going to do it, she should just do it already. Her right hand flexed, clenching and unclenching. The woman noticed it. "Awake, are you? Good. Can you speak?"
Tug. Yank. Snip. The woman took her silence as a no. "What a pity. Well, I'm done here. Can you sit up on your own?"
She tried. Her left arm still wasn't quite responding, but she pushed up with her right arm. She found herself back on the ground before she managed to get properly off of it. The woman helped her to sit upright. She felt all of her skin tugging at the stitches, but the thread - and her skin - held. "Good enough. Now, I need to ask you some questions." The woman began wrapping a thin roll of soft cloth around her chest. "Just nod or shake your head."
She was dizzy, and she didn't really want to answer the woman's questions. But she didn't think she really had a choice, so she bobbed her head once, dully.
"Were you working with the Daedra?" Lyssi scowled. Oh yes, because any answer she gave to that question could be believed. Still, she shook her head. "I see. You are aware we've gone through your things?" She nodded, dully. Mraaj'Dar's ghost was probably laughing at her. "I need to know that you will not harm Martin." She turned her head enough that she could try and glance back at the woman. "You understand. If we are to believe the contents of those notes, you are a rather accomplished murderer. Some kind of assurance ... are you able to write?"
Another sullen bob of her head.
"Then we will need to set you up with the tools to do so. I cannot allow a potential threat to go unaddressed." Ariel tied off the bandage expertly. "You understand, I'm sure." Her voice had iron in it.
Lyssi nodded.
Of course she understood.
"I don't like this, Ariel." Martin's voice sounded from outside the tent. Someone had changed Lyssi's bedroll out for one that wasn't covered entirely in blood. She supposed she probably should care about people getting infected, but it wasn't her job to worry about that, was it?
Not really. Martin would take care of that. If he didn't, Ariel would. Right? She was laying in the comfortable blankets, drifting. She hadn't managed to fall asleep again, but she'd had time to think. She hadn't really used that time, but that was mostly because she couldn't force herself to focus on anything. It was peaceful. If she tried to think, she'd think about how she was letting Lucien down. How she'd failed the ghosts of her Family. No, it was much better to let her mind drift. Some of the red had started to clear out of her vision.
She heard the woman - Ariel - heave a rather annoyed sigh. "We need to know the girl won't be a threat."
"You know as well as anyone that she can't be disturbed like this if we want her to recover." There was the rustle of the tent flap.
She noticed that the woman's voice seemed to go a bit shrill whens he was angry. That was funny. She'd laugh, if she could. But she couldn't. "Do we want it to recover?"
The tent rustled and closed itself again. A man's strong hands gently brought her to sitting. She let her eyes open, and she saw the Nord's face. The arguing pair were still outside. She sat like a marionette with its strings cut, slumped half-over. It tugged and pulled at the stitches in her back, but she couldn't afford any strength. "Here, drink." The man placed something warm in front of her mouth, and she bit before she knew what she was doing. His hand. He made a quiet noise of pain, but otherwise didn't comment. She suckled on his skin, feeling a bit confused.
"You'll need your strength. Easy now." He pulled on his hand, and she let go after a moment. "Good girl."
The tent flap opened again, and her eyes fixed on the man and the woman entering. The woman placed a small board across her lap, and she shifted slightly. Ariel placed some paper, an inkwell, and a quill on the board. Lyssi looked down at it.
The woman offered a thin smile. But it was a smile, wasn't that a good thing?
No, not this smile.
"I need your name." Lyssi glanced over at Martin, who stood by the tent flap, arms folded.
She scratched it in, using lettering as precise as she could make it, given her shaking hands.
Alyssia.
The woman made a noise. "No last name, then?"
She shook her head. She didn't really need one, did she?
"All right. The letters that you carry, those belong to you?" She nodded. "And you understand the implications?"
Why not just ask.
The woman glanced down at the paper, when Lyssi turned it for her to read it easier. "Ask ... ah. Well then. Are you an assassin?"
She nodded once. There wasn't really any point in lying. The woman took a sharp inhale.
"You understand that involvement in such matters is a crime, of course." Another nod. "How many ... no."
Lyssi took a mental tally, then wrote the number on the paper. 64. The woman looked queasy. It had increased some from her last count. She frowned slightly, tracing a nonsensical design on the side of the board with a fingertip.
"... thanks, I think. Do you ... I ... do you have any plans to harm Martin Septim?" Ariel glanced back at the heir. Lyssi's eyes followed. She locked her gaze on the man, rather than the woman, shaking her head slowly. The man seemed relieved. The woman didn't catch the movement.
Lyssi sighed inwardly - of course she couldn't form the sound - and scratched down her reply on the paper. I have no orders to.
The woman read it, a small frown on her lips. "What are your orders, then? Your current orders, mind." She gnawed her lip, debating on how much to tell. "Don't lie to me. I can see you thinking about it, you know." Lyssi scowled again.
Go to Anvil. Investigate. Not kill anyone.
She didn't add the 'yet' on the end. That much was already obvious, she figured.
"... Ah, I see. And retrieve the ..." She fished out one of the letters. "Reward, and next contract, there?"
Lyssi considered slightly. Something like that.
The woman raised an eyebrow. "But not exactly like that, then?"
A slight smile crossed her lips. No, it isn't.
"... I see."
The woman fell silent for a moment, seeming to understand that was all the more Lyssi was going to tell her about it. It wasn't a comfortable silence. They were both waiting for something, that was what it felt like. Lyssi shifted a bit in place, dipping her quill into the inkwell. There was too much ink, so she tried scraping the tip off on the edge. She was fidgeting, wasting time. I have to go.
"We're supposed to allow you to just leave, then? So you can kill again? It's illegal, what you do." The woman acted like she didn't know that, wasn't aware of it.
I'm not really giving you a choice.
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