Limping slowly, I made my way out of the tunnels, my Jester Assassin beside me as he tried to hide a wince every few steps. Stupid spiders... and don't even get me started on that crazy mage that had been living down in the tunnels! How the heck did someone not notice something like that? I mean, there had to be clues to his presence, right?

"Faith must have interesting things on her mind, what with the faces she has been making for the past several minutes," my Cicero said with a pained chuckle, giving a gentle squeeze with the arm he'd wrapped around me earlier.

Shaking my head, I gave him a quick smile and kept walking beside him, turning my head just enough for him to get a clear view of my lips as they formed the shapes of the words I wanted to speak.

Nothing important, my love. Let's just get back to the guild so we can heal up before we meet with that woman again. We did her deed for her and even slew a bunch of nasty things before poisoning the cask as she asked. I think we deserve a chance to see how our Wolfish Brother is doing.

"Yes, some rest to heal and converse. And perhaps some time for a dance or two?" His lips pressed quickly to my cheek before he pulled away and smiled at me, his free hand lowering to his side as he stepped on some uneven ground and winced with pain.

After we are healed, yes, I believe we can spare some time for at least one dance. After all, we have waited plenty for everyone else around here. I'm sure they won't begrudge us a few minutes to ourselves.

The delighted smile on his face at my answer made me wish I could spend the rest of forever simply indulging my beloved Cicero. However, our Family needed us too much to give in to such desires, no matter how much I wanted to. Family should always come first and Mother needed us all too much. Perhaps someday, though, when we were stronger. Maybe then she would allow...

Shaking the thoughts from my head, I pressed a quick kiss to my Cicero's cheek and tried to move so that he walked on the smoothest parts of the path as we continued making our way out of the tunnel. With a smile, I mouthed the next words to myself as I looked at the path ahead of us.

I love you so much, my Jester Assassin. So very much.

--------

"What took you so long? I received news of the Honningbrew Meadery's change of hands yesterday and yet you would leave me waiting? I had thought you to be better than this," the bossy woman said, her arms crossed as she looked upon my Cicero and I with a scowl.

"Cicero assures the... lady Black-Briar that his Faith is far more capable than anyone else suspects she is, but he also is insistent that wounds be seen to after running across so many nasty creatures in the tunnels to do the requested tasks set," he said with a frown of his own, his hand brushing gently against my side where a particularly nasty bite had left subtle scarring behind after the potion had done its business. "Cicero believed that sweet Faith deserved some rest to heal from her wounds while he kept watch over her. Would the lady really tell Cicero otherwise after getting what she wanted?"

With those words, he pulled the letter we'd found from the pouch at his hip and thrust it toward the female with his eyes watching her movements for any sign of betrayal. Placing my hand on his arm, I slowly grabbed the parchment from his hands and walked toward the woman, holding it out to her with a small nod. After all, we should be polite to her. At least, so long as she still held the knowledge we sought from her.

"Ahh, I see. Unfortunate, but that is why you were hired. To do the dirty work. I would think killing things came naturally to people from... your line of work. Now, let us see what we have here," she said as she slowly opened the letter and began reading the notes, the scowl on her face morphing into a frown before looking back over at me. "You might want to take this to Mercer. I have a feeling he will want to deal with this quickly before things... escalate any further."

"Ahh, but that is Thieve's Guild business and sweet Faith is here on Brotherhood business, yes? You promised us information if we did your errand, and so we did! We wish for what we are owed now and you will be keeping your promise to my sweetness. Won't you?" The Jester Assassin said, his voice moving from a lilting tone to a deep growl by the end of his words, the hand I placed on his shoulder doing little to calm him this time.

"Very well. I had a feeling you would be wanting the information the moment you finished. Honestly, I was more shocked that you waited a day for that reason alone than anything else," the woman said as she pulled a small note from a pocket, reaching out before pulling her hand back for a moment as she met my gaze. "Astrid, she was a useful connection to have. But more than that, she was... don't judge her too harshly for what she did."

With those words, she shoved both the note and letter into my hands and turned away, leaving the room as she threw one last comment over her shoulder.

"Do make sure that letter gets to the right hands, won't you. I'm a busy woman after all and have no time for such errands."

I reached out and grabbed my Cicero's hand as he began to bristle in agitation, my other hand slowly bringing the note up as I used a finger to flip it open. Looking down at the words that barely covered a small section of the torn parchment, I tugged my Cicero close to me before pulling him into a hug.

She's alive, my Cicero! Our Sister is alive! We must get our Wolf Brother and retrieve her! Oh, Arn will be so happy for the news! So happy, indeed! Come, we can drop off the letter when we go fetch our Brother!

With a silent laugh, I turned and began pulling my Jester Assassin behind me, the papers both clenched tightly in my other hand as I gave a small dance before running toward the door leading outside.