Sacred Witness , Part 2 Content . " I did not come here to hire the Brotherhood , " I said respectfully . " Then why are you here ? " the Night Mother asked , her eyes never leaving mine . I told her I wanted to know about her . I did not expect an answer to that , but she told me . " I do not mind the stories you writers dream up about me , " she chuckled . " Some of them are very amusing , and some of them are good for business . I like the sexy dark woman lounging on the divan in Carlovac Townway ' s fiction particularly . The truth is that my history would not make a very dramatic tale . I was a thief , long , long ago , back when the Thieves Guild was only beginning . It ' s such a bother to sneak around a house when performing a burglary , and many of us found it most efficacious to strangle the occupant of the house . Just for convenience . I suggested to the Guild that a segment of our order be dedicated to the arts and sciences of murder . " It did not seem like such a controversial idea to me , " the Night Mother shrugged . " We had specialists in catburglary , pick - pocketing , lock picking , fencing , all the other essential parts of the job . But the Guild thought that encouraging murder would be bad for business . Too much , too much , they argued . " They might have been right , " the old woman continued . " But I discovered there is a profit to be made , just the same , from sudden death . Not only can one rob the deceased , but , if your victim has enemies , which rich people often do , you can be paid for it even more . I began to murder people differently when I discovered that . After I strangled them , I would put two stones in their eyes , one black and one white . " " Why ? " I asked . " It was a sort of calling card of mine . You ' re a writer - don ' t you want your name on your books ? I couldn ' t use my name , but I wanted potential clients to know me and my work . I don ' t do it anymore , no need to , but at the time , it was my signature . Word spread , and I soon had quite a successful business . " " And that became the Morag Tong ? " I asked . " Oh , dear me , no , " the Night Mother smiled . " The Morag Tong was around long before my time . I know I ' m old , but I ' m not that old . I merely hired on some of their assassins when they began to fall apart after the murder of the last Potentate . They did not want to be members of the Tong anymore , and since I was the only other murder syndicate of any note , they just joined on . " I phrased my next question carefully . " Will you kill me now that you ' ve told me all this ? " She nodded sadly , letting out a little grandmotherly sigh . " You are such a nice , polite young man , I hate to end our acquaintanceship . I don ' t suppose you would agree to a concession or two in exchange for your life , would you ? " To my everlasting shame , I did agree . I said I would say nothing about our meeting , which , as the reader can see , was a promise I eventually , years later , chose not to keep . Why have I endangered my life thus ? Because of the promises I did keep . I helped the Night Mother and the Dark Brotherhood in acts too despicable , too bloody for me to set to paper . My hand quivers as I think about the people I betrayed , beginning with that night . I tried to write my poetry , but ink seemed to turn to blood . Finally , I fled , changing my name , going to a land where no one would know me . And I wrote this . The true history of the Night Mother , from the interview she gave me on the night we met . It will be the last thing I ever write , this I know . And every word is true . Pray for me . — Editor ' s Note : Though originally published anonymously , the identity of the author has never been in serious doubt . Any layman familiar with the work of the poet Enric Milres will recognize Sacred Witness ' s familiar cadence and style in such books of his as " The Alik ' r . " Shortly after publication , Milres was murdered , and his killer was never found . He had been strangled , and two stones , a black one and a white one , crushed into his eyesockets . Very brutally .