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Dark Brotherhood Contracts

章節 1: Grelod the Kind - Innocence Lost

"Those who shirk their duties will get an extra beating. Do I make myself clear?" Grelod's voice came out as feeble and angry. She stares around at the four children before her.

"Yes Grelod." the children answer.

"And one more thing! I will hear no more talk of adoptions! None of you riff-raff is getting adopted. Nobody needs you, nobody wants you. That, my darlings, is why you're here. Why you'll always be here, until you come of age and get thrown into that wide, horrible world." she belts the words out like she had said them a hundred times. "Now what do you all say?" Grelod demands an answer. She looks up to see an elven woman standing in the doorway watching her. Damn Riften riff-raff.

"We love you Grelod. Thank you for your kindness." The children respond, some quicker than others.

Grelod smiles bitterly. "That's better. Now scurry off, my little guttersnipes." She watches as all the children run off to grab brooms and dust the floor. Before she can do anything else the elf approaches her.

"Hello." Her voice is soft and sweet, like the scent of the trees and waters near Ivarstead, and Grelod hates it. Her nose shrivels up and she glares at the elf. "I was wondering if any of the children were up for adoption?"

Once she mentions children, Grelod snaps at her. "The children aren't up for adoption. I'm sure you heard me, they'll leave this place once they come of age." Grelod's voice was nasty and cruel, she didn't hold back from bitterness one bit.

The elf woman stares back at Grelod in shock. She opens her mouth and closes it, then she speaks. "Of course, my apologies." She turns away from Grelod and leaves the orphanage.

"Bitch." Grelod mutters. She turns away from the entrance and faces Constance, the woman that works under her. "Take the children outside, I have a headache." She places a hand on her forehead and exhales slowly.

"Yes, Grelod." Constance was an obedient girl, and that made her easy to boss around. Grelod watches as Constance rounds up the children and ushers them outside. Once everyone is outside, Grelod smiles.

"Now for some peace and quiet." Grelod turns around and faces the two closed doors, entering the one on the right. She sits on her bed, and picks up a book labeled The Pig Children. She opens it and begins to read, slowly falling asleep in the process. Funny, she wasn't even tired.

"...land of their blight eras ago, but their ferocity, animal cunning, and curious tribal loyalty have made them inevitable as leeches in a stagnant pool." a voice reaches Grelod and she slowly opens her eyes. Nothing. There's no light, no color. Her arms feel heavy, and they hurt. The voice continues speaking, and Grelod recognizes the words. They're reading The Pig Children! She tries to stand only to be stopped by something holding her. It's only then that she realizes why her arms hurt.

"Shhh, don't move." A soothing voice enters her ears once more, and she's heard it before. The question is where.

Grelod grows impatient and begins to swear at her captor. "You churl! You think you can come into my own orphanage and chain me up!? Where do you get the autho-"

"Please don't interrupt." The voice whispers, and Grelod falls as silent as snowfall. She opens her mouth but nothing comes out. A spell? ..what spell?

"...wicked Orcs in their foul Orsinium fastness... and burn aught in cleansing flame" in 1E950, she assumed that any reader would be aware of the savagery of the Orcs." They continue reading and Grelod grows cold. She knows the voice from somewhere, but she can't figure out when she heard it. All she knows is she hates the voice, and wants it to stop speaking.

I've heard a voice like that recently. Grelod ponders while it eats at her. Many faces of Riften swirl through her mind as she tries to match the voice to one of them, but none of them are fitting.

"...ancient fell enemy was dispersed into diverse parts." Obviously, the Orcs had been terrorizing the region of the Iliac Bay at least since the early years of the First Era." Grelod can hear a book smack closed and she flinches as she hears it hit the wall behind her. "To keep this book in your room... You must really hate the Orsimer race." There's a smile with those words, Grelod can hear it. "Did they do something to you or is this just baseless hatred?" Floorboards creak and Grelod begins to sweat. Suddenly, the hood is ripped off of Grelod and she sees the Bosmer from earlier. She feels as though a weight has been lifted, but the face of the elf before her leaves her angry.

"YOU! I'll kill you!" Grelod shouts and watches as the elf stands back in shock. She watches as the elf grins and begins to laugh. Confused, she quiets down but continues to glare as nastily as she can.

"You don't realize the predicament you're in, do you?" She chuckles. Grelod watches her face morph into one of seriousness. "This is your resting place, dear Grelod." The elf pauses and watches Grelod's face progress to anger. "You're going to die in here. Nothing you can do will get you out of this."

"Constance! Can you hear me?" Quickly hushed by the elf, she gazes into her eyes. They're green, with tinges of red that swirl around. She can see her reflection in them, and it scares her. A soulless creature stands before her and it doesn't seem to be backing down.

"I've been wondering, Grelod." The girl spoke with a low tone. Grelod stares into the eyes of the creature before her. "Why do you have a room with shackles in them?" There was something in her eyes, but Grelod can't quite place what emotion it is. "What do you do to them while they're locked up in here?"

Grelod begins to cry for help again. "Constance! Get in here and release me from these shackles now!" Her voice continues to waver with fear but she does her best to keep a commanding voice. A finger is placed on her lips.

"Shh. No one can hear you and even if they could, what makes you think they would help you?" The elf's voice was soft, like it was meant only for her to hear. Grelod stares at the Bosmer and becomes angry once more.

"Who set this up? Tell me!" Her voice is angry, it was like she had felt pure hatred for the first time in her life. Grelod watches as the elf smiles.

"Aventus Aretino says hello." The elf's voice was sweet, almost mockingly so and it only filled Grelod with more anger.

"That little bastard!" She screams. "When I get out of these chains and I'm finished with you, I'm going after him! He'll get the beating of his life!" Grelod begins to struggle to break free from the shackles that bind her wrists only to hear the elf laughing. She settled and watched the elf with disdain.

"You really think you could take me on, much less escape?" She cackles. "You seem so sure of yourself, an old woman." She watches the elf continue to laugh.

Grelod's eyes fill with tears and she begins to cry. "I never did anything wrong!" She sobs. "What did I do to ever deserve this, I've never wronged anyone, I've been a good person!" Tears continue to stream down her face and she feels the elf put her hand under Grelod's chin, lifting it up to face her.

"Correct." She speaks blatantly. "You are the most innocent person out here." Their eyes meet and Grelod can see that the elf is lying. "You haven't done a single thing to deserve this, they call you 'Grelod the Kind' after all."

Grelod opens her mouth to speak but nothing comes out. Something warm trickles down her chin and she coughs. Looking down she can see her green dress stained with red and a knife sticking out of her abdomen. She looks back to the elf to find her studying her.

"It's been there for quite some time, I'm surprised you didn't notice it sooner." the elf smiles a bittersweet smile. "Maybe if you had been a better person, I would actually feel a little guilty for doing this. But those children have bruises all over them, they've been starved in this very room just for missing a few specks of dust." she sighs. "You've earned your fate, Grelod." Grelod stares at the elf that stands tall before her. I'm so tired.

Ghel watches as life drains from the old woman's eyes. Each wrinkle gets darker and darker as the color leaves Grelod's face. "You only got what you deserved, 'Grelod the Kind'." She speaks sweetly, then her voice becomes softer. "I really do wonder what the Nords were thinking when they nicknamed you that." The elf studies the face of the old woman as it begins to slump down. She can hear the laughter of children, and she knows she needs to go. She places a nightshade in Grelod's lap and slips out before the children come inside.