Dark Brotherhood Contracts

The sunlight reflects off of the waters as the sky burns a bright red-orange. A beautifully decorated ship sways in the waters as it slowly drifts off north. Ghel stands tall at the top of the dock's stairs, admiring the Imperial Ship.

Motierre said that there should be an entrance on the side and that I might get a little wet. She looks down towards the other boats to see Oculatus soldiers moving into the warehouse, leaving only one behind. And that should be Maro. Which makes this all a little sweeter..

Making her descent to the lower docks she makes out the details of the ship as best she can. Imperial flags and banners blow softly in the wind with a large window sitting on the back, little lights just barely visible inside. That must be the Emperor's cabin. The only question is how to get there.

Reaching the bottom of the stairs she places one foot in front of the other and quietly walks up behind the soldier before placing her hands together and playing with her thumbs.

"Don't be mad.." she whispers. The man's body tenses up as he turns to her, his eyes widening with anger as she shyly fiddles with her hands. "I said don't be mad... I killed your men and ran home, but only because I was sure that you were lying to me.. Turns out you weren't."

"Who in Oblivi-"

"I have one brother and one sister who still live." She looks at him with wide pleading eyes. "I can tell you where they are for a full cleansing of the Brotherhood, I can't take them on by myself."

Maro stares at her before opening his mouth. "You'd sell out your own 'family'?"

She shakes her head. "They sold me first. All of them were in on it too, so I let them believe that I'm on my way to kill the actual emperor, as well as you, while they head to another sanctuary. You send your men there and kill them. It's only two left. Since I'll be the last one alive, but be in the Empire's captivity, there won't be any rebuilding. The Dark Brotherhood will be destroyed completely."

"And if I decide to kill you instead?" he smiles.

"Then you kill me. I need a purpose in life and with the Brotherhood looming on destruction," she sighs. "I won't have anything to strive for."

"You killed my son. I'll have you tortured in the dungeons of the Imperial City. You could have sent a letter with the information I need so why risk your neck just to destroy the remnants of the Brotherhood?" A slow passion grows in his eyes as a subtle smile forms on his lower lip.

"I already told you. I have nothing left after they're gone. You can torture me, put me to work or kill me, it matters little." She stands there quietly. "But, it's also exactly what I needed to happen."

He looks at her confused as she smiles before he feels a blade in his gut, cutting through his leather like butter as she brings it up to his chest. He reaches for her hand only for it to stop short. She looks at him with a sarcastic pity in her eyes.

"Ohh, sweetie.." She reaches up and runs her fingers through his hair and grips the back of it in a fist before speaking again, twisting the dagger into his torso. "I used a paralytic poison.. I know you're stronger than me, I'm not taking any chances. I wanted to watch you grow hopeful and then take it all away. You killed my family, innocents that had nothing to do with Astrid's betrayal. She alone should have paid the price."

"You despicable wretch..!" He coughs, small trails of blood flowing from the corners of his mouth as he struggles to raise his hands around Ghel's neck. "My men will protect the Emperor with their lives, you won't reach him." His hands fail to tighten around her throat and she tilts her head to the side.

"Then they'll lose their lives as well as him. The only ones that knew my face are dead." She reaches her hand into his satchel and pulls out a parcel of paper, opening it to read it. "And here's the only document with my information. Can't risk letting someone fish your body out of the lake and finding this, now can I?"

She folds it into her own satchel while pulling the blade out of Maro's torso before stabbing it into his side and then pulling it out again, pushing him away from her and into the lake behind him. The girl watches him as he slowly sinks, unable to move his arms from the second admission of poison as slaughterfish bite into his skin and drag him further into the depths before turning away and moving towards the part of the docks with the ferryman. To her surprise, they're all gone. She spots a small fishing boat to her left and approaches the man sitting inside with oars and a fishing rod.

"I'm so sorry, but could I trouble you to get me to that ship over there?" she points to the Katariah.

He lifts his hat and peeks in the direction she's pointing in. "That's an Imperial Ship ma'am. What's a Bosmer got to do with their business?"

"I've got a family in Cyrodiil, my mother recently fell ill and we're not sure how much longer she has. That's the last ship booked for passage to the Imperial City for the next three months." The fisherman looks at her sceptically. "I can pay you, how much do you want?" she sighs.

"Eight hundred gold."

"I only have five.. Can I leave something of value and come back with the money I owe you when I get back?"

The man sits quietly in his boat for a moment before nodding his head and picking up the oars as she steps onto the boat, taking a seat as he begins rowing.

Once far enough away from the docks, she pulls out her smaller blade, about the size of a prison shiv, and takes it out of its sheath. The fisherman watches as she holds the blade over the lake and drops it in, both of them watching it fade into the depths.

"Why did you do that?" The man questions her. He continues to row as Ghel answers him.

"I need to show you its value. Now wait." She turns around and examines the ship in the last bit of daylight that she has. Small grooves in the wood show footholds for her to climb the side, and a small window somewhat close to below the Emperor's quarters. She just needs to be careful of guards being stationed in the room.

Feeling the boat scrape against the side of the ship, she turns to look at the man in the darkness and she watches him shrug. Rolling her eyes, she faces him and holds up the small scabbard.

"Both the blade and sheath are a family heirloom, so to speak." her voice is low, almost a whisper.

"Then why did you drop it in the lake?" The man matches her whisper as she places her right thumb on her right ring finger, snapping them like anyone would snap their fingers. The scabbard begins to vibrate gently as the blade that was dropped into the lake reappears inside.

"This is the only blade in existence with a binding enchantment on it. If you decide to sell this for profit, sell only the blade or I will find you and I will kill you." She looks deeply into his eyes while speaking. "Do you understand?"

The man nods as the blade and scabbard are placed in the palm of his hand and the woman grabs ahold of one of the grooves in the wood, climbing up to a window and peeking inside. Looking back down she sees the man in the boat is still there, watching her.

"Don't wait for me, someone will come by with the rest of the money and collect. You won't be seeing me again." She watches as he nods and begins rowing back to the docks before peeking through the window and seeing what looks to be a servants quarters. Two beds sit against the wall while a dresser sits on the other side of the room. She pries open the window and slides through the opening before closing it behind her.

She strides over to the dresser, finding a servant's garb to help her blend in as she learns the ship and makes her way to her target's quarters Unbuckling her leather, she slips out of her armour and into the off-white dress before putting her hair up into a bun, leaving some wisps down to hide her ears. Tying the strings in the back, she brings it to her fitting as best as she can before stuffing her clothes into a corner along with her satchel.

After making sure it's all well hidden, she turns to the door and opens it to step out into the hallway, almost bumping into someone tall. She looks up and sees a man with piercing blue eyes staring down at her.

"Looks like someone slept in?" it sounds more like a suggestion for an excuse to use but she can do one better.

"No, sir," she laughs nervously. "I slipped in something very nasty and very smelly and needed to change my clothing." Pinching her nose with her fingers, she smiles a nervous smile. "I didn't want to offend anyone's sense of smell."

She watches as he takes a step back.

"I trust the mess was taken care of?"

"As well as I, yes," she bows her head in respect. "If you'll excuse me, I must get back to my duties." Turning left, she walks past him hoping that she's going the right way. He doesn't call after her so she continues down the hallway.

Walking through, it leads to an open pathway alongside rafters where she spots a staircase leading down to what appears to be a dining hall. Taking a breath and walking carefully down the stairs, she looks towards a hallway with another set of stairs leading up. It looks like it leads to the top deck. She puts one foot in front of the other, ready to continue on her way before she's stopped by a small group of men seated at a table, cards in the middle.

"You there, bring us more alcohol!" a gruff voice hollers out. "Yeah! More booze!" another hoots.

She smiles and approaches them, placing her hands on the table and leaning forward. "What's your poison, boys?"

"Whatever you want!" the one dealing cards laughs out. "But make it a good one!"

She smiles and backs away from the table, heading toward the kitchen instead. Walking in she sees an attendant mopping the floors. She looks at him quizzically and he nods to a door in the back. Walking into the room, she finds quite the array of alcohols lining a few racks. Running her hand over the rack she pulls three at random. Colovian Brandy, Stros M'kai Rum and Firebrand Wine. I know the wine will give a killer hangover but I've never had the others.. She looks at the man mopping the floors and he mouths a whistle, letting her know they're all potent. She shrugs her shoulders and carries the bottles out to the dining room, pouring a different one in each tankard and leaving the bottles on the table. The three men cheer and she leaves the table again, heading towards the hallway once more.

A hand touches her shoulder and turning around, she's met with the man from the kitchen.

"I need your help with preparing dinner." His eyes are wide, almost like he's trying to convey a message. "I know you're busy but I'm sure they'll understand." This might be beneficial.. And it's better than trying to change bedsheets.

The two walk back into the kitchen and she watches him gather ingredients.

"We're making rabbit stew tonight." The man speaks quietly and the woman nods.

"I actually know a really good recipe.. It's not too different from the normal one but its flavour is on a different level."

He looks sceptical but then exhales through his nose and shrugs his shoulders.

"What could the harm be?" he smiles.

She inhales. "Alright, go ahead and gather the usual ingredients, I'll gather what else goes in."

The kitchen attendant nods before turning and the girl speaks up.

"Please tell me that we already have the broth for this.."

"Oh! Yes, the broth has already been made, it's in that pot over there." The man points to a large pot and the girl walks over and peeks into it. Just enough room to add the rest of everything. Perfect.

She sees that the man has started gathering vegetables and the rabbit meat, so she turns to the cabinet of alcohol and takes a few bottles of alto wine, bringing them back to the table. Looking to a shelf on the main kitchen wall she sees a pile of white cap mushrooms, grabbing a few and placing them in a bowl next to the cutting board. Looking around a bit more she spots a few piles of salts and grabs small bowls of void salts, fire salts, and regular salts. She splashes some of the wine into the broth and lightly salts the broth before adding a few bay leaves

The man brings bowls of different vegetables and sets them on the table. Ghel grabs a potato and dices it to her standard, then chops up a carrot to her standard as well.

"Cut the potatoes just like that, same with the carrots. Leeks will be the same as carrots and I'll go ahead and take care of the rabbit meat."

She dices the rabbit meat before dredging it with flour and dropping it into a pan of melted butter, letting it brown evenly. She glances over at the freshly cut carrots and potatoes.

"Go ahead and dice those mushrooms, then add all three bowls to the broth." She turns her attention back to the rabbit while listening to the knife hit the cutting board. From the edge of her vision she watches as the cook dumps it all into the pot before Ghel adds the cooked rabbit meat.

She pours herself a glass of alto wine and sips it before looking at the man with her. A smile slowly creeps across her face as she places a finger to her lips and slides the glass to him, watching him gently shake his head as he lifts the glass to his lips, taking a sip of the wine as she grabs a stalk of nirnroot and minces it, adding it to the stew as it simmers.

"This is my secret ingredient. Adds a little spice and helps whoever eats it to sleep better," She eyes him in her peripheral. "Go ahead and thicken the broth, I'm going to sit down."

Striding over to a chair, she takes a seat and pulls a book off of the counter. Uncommon Taste. Ironic.

"My name is Alevo."

She quietly turns the page to her last dish.

"Cylfin." She lies. Glancing up at him she can see he wants to have a conversation with her. Ghel sets the book down and he pulls a chair up next to her.

"Did you grow up in Valenwood?"

"Until I was in my mid-thirties, then I moved to Cyrodiil."

"And how do you like it?"

"It's fine, better than Valenwood in many parts but it'll never be 'home' for me." The Imperial nods while glancing over at the pot, like he understands. "And you? Where did you grow up?"

"Skingrad," he smiles, "then I moved to the Imperial City and joined the Penitus Oculatus."

"So you're part of the guard?" she inquires.

"Well, I wanted to join.. They tried to train me but turns out I'm better equipped with a kitchen knife than I'll ever be with a sword so they set me up here." he laughs.

The elf scratches the back of her head before speaking again.

"If you're such a great cook, then why did you pull me in here to help?"

Alevo looks at her with a mixture of concern and confusion.

"Did you... actually want to change those bedsheets..?"

She smiles, embarrassed. "I'm sorry I doubted you."

The two laugh and glance at the pot again.

"Why'd you leave home?"

"This is going to sound silly to you, but I was..." she pauses, choosing her next words carefully, "searching for something. I wasn't sure if it was my purpose or something else but I know it wasn't in Valenwood."

"And did you find it?"

"Yes." She smiles softly and the man nods before looking back to the pot of stew and standing back up.

"I can handle the rest of setting up, if you want to round up the rest of the guards for dinner?"

She stands, dusting herself off as Alevo opens a cabinet and begins to pull bowls out. Turning towards the doorway she pokes her head out and spots the soldiers that were drinking earlier, all three passed out with tankards fitting loosely in their hands. Ghel turns to the path leading upstairs, presumably to the deck where she would be able to find the Emperor's cabin.

Placing one foot after the other, she heads straight for the stairs. Climbing up to the door, she peeks outside before slipping outside and striding over to the Emperor's Cabin door and knocking quietly before pushing it open.

The door closes quietly behind her and her eyes wander over to the man across the room, staring outside the window.

"I watched you approach the ship in that fisherman's boat." Ghel stops in her tracks and the man turns his head slightly. "You are the assassin that's been sent to kill me, yes?"

He turns to face her completely before pointing to his desk.

"Do you mind if I finish my documents before you finish your business here?"

The assassin leans against the wall and nods, watching him seat himself at his desk.

"I had planned to question you. To figure out why I was being targeted." He dips a quill in ink before placing it against a page in front of him. "But the more I thought about it, the more it made sense that I was a target. After all, it would throw Cyrodiil into chaos if its ruler was killed while on business in her neighboring country."

He blows on the inked page before flipping it over and laying it next to the incomplete stack of paperwork and starting on the next page.

"Why didn't you run, if you knew I was coming..?"

"What good would running have done me?" he dips the quill again. "Would you have run if you knew they would catch you anyway? If you knew they would just send another if the last one failed? I told Maro to let it happen but he confined me to my ship and set up that double to take my place." He stops writing and meets the assassin's eyes. "Is it safe to assume that Maro is no longer of this world?"

The girl nods and he looks back to his document, blowing on the ink before placing it in the completed pile and grabbing the next page.

"Are any of the men on my ship dead?"

"No, they're sleeping." She speaks quietly. "I'm not as flashy as the others would like me to be."

"Good, I ask that you keep it that way. After you've taken care of me, take one of the boats back to the mainland."

The elf watches him curiously.

"You're making this fairly easy for me, you know.." She pushes herself off of the wall and walks over to his desk before looking out the window and into the sea. "You've been very calm, haven't called for the guards. Didn't even have any stationed in your quarters to protect you. You anticipated my arrival, watched it happen, yet you've done nothing to prolong your life or to make this difficult for me." She turns and places her hands on the desk, leaning toward the Emperor. "Is there a death that you prefer?"

"If possible, I'd like it to be painless." His hands continue to dabble the quill on the document. "But I would also like for it to wait until I am done with this."

She laughs quietly and stands back up before meandering around the room, looking at the trinkets lying about and decorating the walls. A sword decorated with gold and gemstones catches her eye.

"Ceremonial?"

The Emperor glances up. "Ah.. yes, although it's hardly used for what it was made for. More of a decoration now."

The elf nods and continues to walk around the cabin, spotting a small tea cup and alembic.

"I'll be right back."

"Don't take too long." he dries another page, setting it aside as she leaves the cabin.

Heading back down the stairs, she spots a linen closet and grabs a set of sheets before walking down the hall to the room she first entered. She grabs her satchel and clothes, hiding them between the sheets in her arms before leaving the room and heading back up to the cabin. She looks around at all the sleeping soldiers, careful not to make any sounds that would wake them up.

Pushing the door open and closing it behind her, she looks at the Emperor, still writing what she can only assume is his will.

"Your guards will only be asleep for an hour or two longer." She lights the alembic to let it boil the water inside. "I plan to have my business here wrapped up before then."

She carries the sheets and concealed clothing into the Emperor's bedchamber, closing the door behind her and slipping out of the servant's tunic to pull on something more comfortable. She pulls her hood over her head and clips her satchel back to her belt, then re-enters the study.

"There is another matter."

Ghel glances at the Emperor as she strides over to the slow boiling water.

"Oh? Do tell." She pulls jarrin root out of her satchel and sets it into the hot water, letting it soak and flavor the Emperor's final cup of tea.

"The one that hired you. Who was it?"

The Bosmer laughs loudly.

"Does it matter?"

"No," he sighs. "But if it's who I think it is, he has betrayed his countrymen." He dries the last page before turning it over onto the others, flipping them back and aligning them on the desk before setting them down in a neat pile. "And I'd like to make a last request."

"You've already made a last request. You asked me for a painless death." She stares at her tea, watching the root darken the colour of the water.

"Then simply consider what I ask of you." Emperor Titus Mede stands and walks back to the window, staring out at the moonless night sky. "I would like for you to kill him as well, after you return to the mainland. This betrayal of theirs cannot go unpunished.

The colour settles and she pours it into the teacup, keeping the root inside of the flask. Gently picking up the cup, she places it on his desk. "Your tea is ready."

The emperor picks up the cup and brings it to his lips.

"Normally, this root would kill you immediately. But it's a bit.. watered down.. so to speak. You'll have time to fall asleep before it goes into full effect."

He nods and drinks it in two sips. Setting the cup back down on his desk, he chuckles.

"It's bitter, compared to my last cup of tea."

"It's my first day on the job, I don't know where the sugar is yet." she grins.

The old man lets out a sigh with a bitter smile.

"Amaund Motierre was a trusted member of my council, but he has jeopardised his Country and I ask that you put him down for it."

Ghel looks at the man.

"What makes you think it was this Motierre character?" she asks.

"He's the only one that doesn't suffer from this string of assassinations." he stands and steps toward his bedchambers, sitting down on his bed.

"He wasn't very thorough in covering his tracks I see." a smile spreads across her face as she follows the man into his chambers, sitting on a chair as she watches him adjust in the bed. "I will see to it that he is taken care of."

The man nods and closes his eyes, the sound of his breathing slowly softening as he drifts off to sleep. Ghel pulls a book off of the end table next to her and begins reading while waiting for the Emperor to take his final breath.

Only a few pages turn before the room falls completely silent. The assassin stands and pulls out a blade, holding it to his where to confirm he is no longer breathing. Pulling a nightshade out of her satchel, she places it on his nightstand before leaving the cabin. Under the cover of shadows, she finds a rowboat fastened to the ship and lowers it to the waters using its pulley system. She looks around the deck before climbing over the side of the ship and using the rope to climb down to the boat. Grabbing hold of the oars, she begins her journey back to the docks of Solitude.