Amaryllis found that the rest of her Family was present inside the Sanctuary this time, instead of someone having been sent off to another part of Skyrim, to spy on one of the targets they had been given, meaning that they had either scouted out the other potential targets in the past, in case someone wanted them dead, or had heard some general knowledge on them and weren't bothering themselves with verifying the information. In the end she guessed that it really didn't matter, as she had the feeling that she would be the one stalking the targets with the information she could gleam from her Family and what each of them knew, so it would be up to her to get everything she needed, before putting an end to her next target's life so they could move on to whoever was next between them and the Emperor. Based on her own experience she knew that one of the targets had to be in charge of the security, as taking someone like that out would leave the Emperor vulnerable for some time, but after that she wasn't sure who else needed to be killed so they could get at their true target, and she had the feeling only Astrid and Amaund knew the entire list of targets at the moment, leaving certain members of her Family to focus on whoever they were assigned to watch over. All of these thoughts came to a stop as she walked by where the forge area was located, where she spotted Arnbjorn having fun with Meeko, something that she wasn't expecting to see, but she said nothing as she nodded her head and tracked down Gabriella, as it was nice to see that the rest of the Family had accepted Meeko was one of their own.
In the end she found Gabriella sitting at the table that the Family usually shared their meals in, even though it seemed that everyone else was busy doing other things at the moment, so all Amaryllis did was sit down and focus on her sister, as she was eager to see who her next target was, the reasons behind why they had to die, and what sort of rules she had to follow this time around.
"Dear sister, I've been eagerly awaiting your return." Gabriella said, though Amaryllis knew that, since her sister was a seer and could see the future, or at least her own personal future from what she remembered, she was more referring to her own belief that she was a born assassin and was coming into her own as the days went by, "So, how was the reception in Solitude? The couriers made it sound like the Stormcloaks were behind the murder, to stop all attempts at peace so the war would continue, but I'm more interested in hearing the truth about what happened, even though I'll be asking Veezara the same thing later."
"To be honest Gabriella, there isn't much to tell." Amaryllis replied, as her first contract, the one for Muiri, had been rather interesting in how she approached it and what she had done when she finally killed Alain Dufont not to mention what she had done after the deed had been done, though she did remember to pull out the bow she had been told about, so her sister could see it again, "I did find the bow where you left it, in case you were told to kill someone at their wedding, but I didn't have the time to get into position and use one of my arrows to take out Vittoria while she was giving her speech... rather, I just dropped part of the stone statue on her and crushed her between it and the edge of the balcony."
"It's still a fascinating way to take someone out," Gabriella stated, to which she took the bow for a moment and stared at it, as if she was remembering what she knew about it and why she had crafted it, before she handed it back to Amaryllis, who set it aside for the moment, so they could focus on the next target that needed to be taken out, "That bow is Firiniel's End, named after an elf I was in love with, who was a member of our Family a long time ago, but in the end he betrayed us and I was the one that used this very bow to end his life, hence the reason it has 'End' as part of it's name... I wanted you to have it, regardless if you found it or not, to help you with your future contracts."
"I'll be sure to keep it safe and use it when I'm able," Amaryllis said, though she was surprised that the bow even had a name and that it's history was that Gabriella had used it to kill someone that she loved, even though he betrayed the Family and was likely going to bring them down from the inside, but she carefully put it back inside her pack so they could move onto the real reason why she had come to see her sister.
"Now then, onto the matter at hand." Gabriella said, where both she and Amaryllis turned their attention away from the bow, and the history that it had, and focused on what they were actually going to talk about, especially since they had been busy fulfilling Amaund's contract, in their own ways to be exact, though it wasn't hard for Amaryllis to determine that her sister was interested in the next target, "I'm sure that, upon your return from Solitude, Astrid informed you that I have been working on preparing your next contract?"
"That she did." Amaryllis replied, as she wasn't surprised that Gabriella knew the true reason behind why she had come to see her, since the bow was something she had been planning on asking her about later, once she had the details on her next target, before she braced herself for what she was about to say, as she was curious as to what she needed to do this time, "So, what can you tell me about my next contract?"
"With the Emperor's arrival in Skyrim now a certainty, his security service, the Penitus Oculatus, will need to begin its preparations immediately." Gabriella stated, where Amaryllis focused on what she was hearing, as she needed to know everything that her sister knew if she wanted to do this contract correctly, especially since this one was already shaping up to be different from the ones she done so far, "Security is being handled by a man called Commander Maro, a well liked and respected warrior within the group. Astrid and I have devised a plan to break the man, and in doing so, cripple the Emperor's protection. You are to slay the commander's son, Gaius Maro, and, once he is dead, plant false evidence on his body, to implicate him in a plot to kill the Emperor, a plot that is nothing like what we have planned."
"I understand." Amaryllis said, though she was surprised by this sort of tactic, that they were going after the son and not the father, but the part about the false plan made sense, as it would throw off the rest of the Penitus Oculatus from their true plan and might make them lower their guard, or at least that was her thoughts on the matter, and she was a little curious if Gabriella agreed with her.
"From what we know, Gaius Maro is set to leave the Penitus Oculatus outpost at Dragon Bridge by the end of the day, and inspect the security of every major city in Skyrim." Gabriella continued, though she did smile for a moment, as she was happy to see what the newest addition to their Family seemed to have gotten passed whatever was bothering her when she first joined the Family, no doubt her uneasy about killing people had gone away, before she returned to the topic that they were talking about, "You are to head to Dragon Bridge, observe Gaius Maro's departure, and then follow him. Waylay him in one of the cities, and send his soul to Sithis. Once he's dead, plant the incriminating letter on his body, and let fate take care of the rest. Oh, and one final thing..."
"Yes?" Amaryllis inquired, because she had the feeling that this was about the bonus she could earn for this contract and hoped that it was better than more coins, as she honestly didn't care much for the money that she was being given for these jobs, but the only way she would know what the bonus was if someone told her what it was ahead of time, which may or may not happen.
"To earn your bonus, do not kill Gaius Maro in Dragon Bridge, or on the road." Gabriella said, which was when exactly what Amaryllis was waiting for, the restrictions on what she was allowed to do and what she wasn't allowed to do for this specific contract, which was still odd when she thought about it, but she knew that there was more to be said and kept her mouth shut, "Kill him in one of the major cities that he will be visiting. There, the body will be discovered quickly, as will the letter implicating Gaius Maro in the plot to assassinate the Emperor. Do that, and Astrid has authorized me to grant you a rather unique bonus. It is a special token, to be given to Olava the Feeble, in Whiterun. Olava is an old and dear friend, and a powerful seer. The token entitles you to a reading of your future. It's an opportunity one should not pass up."
Amaryllis raised an eyebrow for a moment, as she wasn't expecting that to be the bonus for this contract, though she had to wonder if the seer was even able to see her future, given the simple fact that she wasn't from this world, but, at the same time, she knew that the only way she would be able to figure out if Olava could do such a thing was to get the token, and that meant killed Gaius in Solitude, Markarth, Whiterun, Windhelm, or Riften, as those were the five major cities that were scattered across Skyrim, which lead her to ask an interesting question.
"You wouldn't happen to know Gaius Maro's schedule, would you?" Amaryllis asked, as a schedule would be incredibly helpful in this situation, especially since it would likely detail which city he was supposed to visit on which day, which would allow her to plan out her attack and wait for the perfect opportunity to strike, especially since she could arrive in the next city he was supposed to be heading to and ambush him after he arrived.
"Unfortunately, no one in the Sanctuary knows what his schedule might be, so your best option is to follow him after he leaves Dragon Bridge... however..." Gabriella said, which interested Amaryllis for a moment, as she was all for following her target, if that was her only option, but it seemed like there was something else she could do to boost her chances of tracking down her target once he left the village, "there is one other option. We do know that there is an actual written travel schedule, somewhere in the Penitus Oculatus outpost, so securing that would, obviously, be most beneficial... if you don't mind entering the small outpost and seeing where the piece of paper is being kept."
"Okay, that I can do." Amaryllis replied, because with her powers all she had to do was wear the form of a member of the security group, as she was sure they had been at Vittoria's wedding, as the pair of odd soldiers she had seen, and walk into the small building like she belonged there, before another question came to her, "Out of curiosity, why are we going after the son when it would be easier to cut the head off the snake, by killing the Commander?"
"Killing Commander Maro would do no good, as he would just be replaced by someone else." Gabriella said, showing her that this idea had been covered already and that both she and Astrid had determined that keeping the father in power was the right way to do things, meaning that all she could do was accept that fact, before she continued with why they had come to such a decision, "No, we need him to remain in charge, but... distracted, weakened. Implicate and kill his son Gaius, and the Commander will be grief-stricken and humiliated, his family name ruined, which will cause their security plan to fail. The best part is that the Emperor and the other guards will be lulled into a false sense of security, thinking an assassination plot had already been discovered and foiled."
"That makes sense." Amaryllis conceded, though she hadn't considered the fact that framing the son would wreck the father's family name, which could potentially ruin anything the man had planned for the future, if everyone thought that his son was involved in a plot to kill the Emperor, especially from the guard that was sworn to defend him and protect him while he was visiting the other provinces of the land, "So, where can I find Dragon Bridge?"
"It's a small town that's not easy to miss, since it rests near a one of a kind stone bridge," Gabriella replied, though she had the feeling that Amaryllis knew where the town was located, as she could see the look of realization in her sister's eyes as she pieced together the location in her mind, "it also houses Skyrim's only Penitus Oculatus outpost. The outpost was established by Commander Maro when he first arrived in Skyrim, several months ago, when he began preparing for the Emperor's initial visit, but when the Emperor cancelled the visit he remained in Skyrim, to make sure it was kept clean in case someone forced him to make a change to his plans."
Amaryllis knew what Gabriella meant, especially after what she had done in Solitude, but that was all she had in the way of questions, so she figured that she would be on her way soon enough, though that was when the other members of her Family joined them for lunch, informing her of how much time had gone by since she returned from Solitude and the reception she had ruined. She was fine with this, as she wanted to relax a little anyway and talk with her Family before she went charging off to do her next contract, though while Astrid was somewhere else, no doubt preparing for the contract that followed the one she would do soon enough, Arnbjorn did inform her that he felt his wife was making a mistake, that this contract was perfect for him, only for Nazir to tell him that he had to abide by Astrid's wishes like everyone else. Festus was of the opinion that she should scorch Gaius' face off, instead of doing things like an assassin, and Babette informed her that talking to either the son or the father was a bad idea, as they were there to protect the Emperor and talking to either one of them might either spook them or cause them to lash out if they felt threatened. Veezara, on the other hand, had scouted out the Penitus Oculatus a few times in the past, on Astrid's orders, and knew that they were skilled fighters and that a direct confrontation with them was a bad idea, so it was best if she let her target leave the area, which would allow her to kill him someplace else.
In the end she agreed with what Babette had said, that talking to the targets was a bad idea, and from what she had seen in Solitude, even for a few seconds, she also knew that Veezara was right as well, that fighting the Penitus Oculatus was also a bad idea, so her method would be finding the schedule, something that would be easy with her powers, and then set a trap for Gaius when he reached one of the other cities. Once she came to a decision on what she was going to do, and how she was going to complete this contract, she got up from where she was sitting and headed for the entrance of the Sanctuary, where she paused to make sure Meeko was okay before heading outside, where she took to the skies and headed back in the direction of Solitude, as she knew where Dragon Bridge was located. She had to assume that both Gaius Maro and his father had been in Skyrim at the time of Vittoria's wedding, even though the father had been here for a longer period of time, so that meant her target was likely getting the last of the details from his commanding officer before he started to inspect the five major cities, meaning she would have a brief window of opportunity to see what he looked like before he disappeared on her. This would be an interesting challenge for sure, and her Family seemed to agree with that fact, and the only thing she needed to remember was that when she finally killed Gaius inside one of the cities all she had to do was slip the note she was now carrying onto him and escape before she was seen, though that all depended on which city she eventually did the deed in.
It took her an hour to reach the area that Dragon Bridge was in, though she landed on the edge of the stone bridge that was opposite of the village she had been told about and shifted her form to look like a common traveler, an Imperial male in the same clothing she had seen the other travelers wear, making her look like someone that the guards and other residents of the village wouldn't bother remembering, before she spotted a pair of soldiers that were standing in a house that was opposite of the inn, dressed in the armor of the Penitus Oculatus.
"Father, you worry too much." the younger looking soldier stated, who Amaryllis assumed had to be Gaius, since she was under the impression that none of the other members of the security group would call the Commander that sort of term, though she walked over to where the inn was located, pretending that she was a poor traveler and not someone that had been sent to study the departure of the one that would be studying the security of the major cities that were scattered all over this province, "I'll be fine."
"I know you will." the other figure, who was older than the first one, replied, though it was easy to determine that he was Commander Maro, the father of Gaius Maro and the head of the Penitus Oculatus, who was going to be wrecked by the death of his son and everything else that Gabriella told her about earlier, "But all the same, remember everything I have told you over the years. Just stay alert while you are walking the roads of this province, and, when you get to each of the major cities, quickly make your observations and move on to the next city."
"I understand the instructions, father, but you're being paranoid." Gaius said, showing that while he had respect for his father, and everything he did for the Empire, there were things that he didn't like and it appeared that there might have been a few conversations that Amaryllis had missed, meaning he might have been in Skyrim for a longer period of time than what her Family members originally thought, "I'm inspecting the security of the cities, as you have told me countless times since our arrival in this province, not charging off to join the Legion to stop the Stormcloaks. There's not a whole lot that can go wrong."
"Son, when the Emperor wants to travel to a province that's in the middle of a civil war, with neither side gaining any sort of ground, anything can go wrong." Commander Maro countered, where part of his tone suggested that he might believe what some of the other residents of Solitude believed, that one of the factions that were fighting each other could be the ones that ordered Vittoria's death, and the other part suggested that he was keeping an open mind as he looked at the shadows, like he was looking for an assassin or something, before focusing on his son again, "But you already knew that, despite the fact that you like to think about things in your own way. Either way, it's time for you to get started on your duties, so all I can do is wish you good luck and pray for safety during your travels."
"Farewell, father. I'll return as soon as I'm able." Gaius replied, his tone revealing that he was happy that his father was letting him go so he could tend to his duties and make sure the major cities were safe for when the Emperor arrived in Skyrim, even if he was likely only going to be visiting Solitude for the entirety of his visit, before he turned to the side and headed up the hill.
Amaryllis turned for a moment and noticed that her target was heading in the direction of Solitude, no doubt to hire the carriage so he could head to which of the five major cities was his first destination, though she remained where she was standing and watched as Commander Maro walked back into the building that was behind him, one that had the flags of the Legion, to show who they were protecting, to which she sat down on the bench and pulled out her map, to give her the appearance of a lost traveler. Interestingly enough she found that the Commander walked out of the building he had walked into a few minutes later and headed to the inn, where he stared at her for a few seconds, seeing the traveler guise that she was wearing, before heading into the building that was behind her, no doubt to get something to eat and drink before heading out to do his own duties. Once that happened she made sure that there wasn't anyone in the immediate area and quickly shifted her form again, this time appearing as a member of the Penitus Oculatus, and she walked over to the building the Commander had walked out of, where she found that there was one other member of the security group that must have been on the night shift, as he was sleeping at the moment. From what she could tell there were four beds, meaning there was a member she hadn't seen yet, who could be a thorn in her side if they arrived before she found what she was looking for, and a table that was near the fireplace, meaning she had to be careful as she looked for the schedule that would tell her which cities Gaius would be visiting on which day.
It didn't take her long to spot a piece of parchment that was on the table, one that seemed important, which was why she picked it up, stored it inside her pack, and headed outside, where she shifted back into her traveler form once she knew the coast was still clear, where she walked out of the village and didn't stop until she came to the first fork in the road, as that was the moment she hid in the shade and pulled the piece of parchment out to see what sort of information it had for her, so she could form a plan of attack.
"Let's see here, what is Gaius Maro's schedule?" Amaryllis commented, even though she knew that no one was near her, and this would make it seem like she was talking to herself like one of the few crazy people she had seen, to which she opened the piece of parchment and looked at it for a few seconds, as it was definitely a schedule that her target was supposed to follow until he was told otherwise, "On Morndas he's supposed to be in Solitude, Tirdas puts him all the way in Windhelm, Middas has him over in Riften, Turdas places him right in Whiterun, and Fredas is when he goes to Markarth, which leaves both Loredas and Sundas to be spent as he wishes."
Amaryllis considered that information for a moment, because Gaius was heading to Solitude at the moment, where she had originally assumed he was going to get the carriage to head to his next destination, but she wasn't entirely sure what the day was, due to not paying attention much attention to it, meaning she had to find someone that knew what day it was, without looking like she was stupid. Fortunately she spotted a lone traveler walking her way, a Nord wearing a set of clothes that make him look like a traveler and carried an iron sword on his waist, which meant that he must have walked by her target a few moments ago, but this was the perfect time to ask him what day it was and determine which city she had to go to next. With that thought in mind she slipped the schedule back into her pack and resumed walking, making sure to stop when the Nord hailed her and told him that she was having a good day, before inquiring as to what the date was, only to find that it was the 24th of Last Seed, which was on a Sundas this year, where she thanked him and continued walking towards Solitude. There was a problem with the date the Nord bard had told her, because she had just killed Vittotia Vici a few hours ago in the same city that Gaius was heading at the moment, where the security would be heightened thanks to what she did earlier that day, meaning she either had to follow her target, and wait for a chance to strike inside Solitude, or wait for the 26th to arrive so she could attack him in a different city.
In the end she determined that she was going to have to wait to see what the situation was like in Solitude, to see if the guards were much more active thanks to what she had done earlier or not, before she made her move against Gaius, though she knew she was going to have to shift her form again, due to the fact that he had seen her in this guise already and might be worried if he saw her again. As such she shifted her form into a male Bosmer hunter as she walked down the road, which was the perfect chance for her to pull out Firiniel's End and slip it onto her back, to complete the look she was going for at the moment, and made sure to pull out some of the arrows she had in her pack as well, that way her new disguise was much better than it had been earlier. It didn't take her long to reach the area that the carriage and it's driver were in, where it appeared that the man didn't seem to be getting ready to leave, before she spotted Gaius walking up to the main gate of Solitude, meaning he was either getting supplies or he was actually spending the rest of the day making sure the rest of the city's defenses were fine for when the Emperor arrived. She braced herself and followed him into the city, making sure to keep a safe distance from him so her target didn't think he was being followed by someone, but what she discovered, upon entering Solitude, was that none of the city guards seemed even remotely worried about Vittoria's death earlier that day, though thanks to her powers she knew they were waiting to catch the guilty party and make them pay for the crime they had committed.
Interestingly enough the pair of guards that were on the other side of the main gate, and were making sure nothing bad happened to the city, were on opposite sides of what happened earlier, as one of them felt nothing but shame, due to the fact that the Emperor's cousin had died in Solitude, while the other didn't seem bothered by that, stating that Vittoria had guards and it wasn't the city guard's fault that someone ended up killing her at her own reception, but when they started to argue about what they should feel she moved on, deciding not to waste time with them.
What she discovered, as she carefully followed Gaius around Solitude, was that he had a number of locations that he wanted to visit on his free day, and the first one was, oddly enough, the Temple of the Divines, the building that she had been outside a few hours ago for her last contract, and it appeared that the benches and the rest of the celebration items had been packed away already, but Vittoria was right where she left her, crushed underneath the part of the statue that she had dropped on her. Of course she couldn't follow her target into the small courtyard, rather she walked up to the area that she had been in earlier that day and stood in the shadows, looking down into the area that Gaius was in, where he seemed to be saying farewell to the Emperor's cousin, which made sense seeing how she was related to the Emperor, who he was sworn to protect, before he headed inside the temple. She knew that he had to be praying to the Eight Divines for protection, since he would be traveling the harsh roads of Skyrim and wanted the gods that the Empire worshiped to watch over him when he started his duties, or at least that was what Amaryllis would do if she were in his shoes, but she remained hidden in the shadows and watched over the temple's entrance, that way she would be ready for whenever her target moved to leave the building. When Gaius finally stopped praying and left the temple an hour had passed, a very boring hour for Amaryllis since she really didn't want to lose sight of her target, but once he was on the move she made sure to follow him from a safe distance, just to be sure he knew no one was following her, though to be absolutely sure she shifted into an Argonian hunter that was wearing leather armor, different from her previous disguise, and it seemed that her target had no idea she was even there.
As it turned out he headed into the building that the Imperial Legion used as it's headquarters and she stayed outside for a few seconds, as that was the one place she didn't want to head into, because if she killed Gaius there it would be next to impossible to leave, especially if everyone was up and moving around the place, so she headed back to a higher point and watched the entrance of the building, waiting to see if he was going to leave at all.
When another hour went by, and it was clear that Gaius wasn't coming back outside, Amaryllis sighed and headed to the inn, as it seemed she was going to have to wait until the morning to do anything, especially since her target was going to stay inside one of the areas of Solitude she didn't want to do the deed in, mostly because of all the guards that would be present and would likely hear the sound of a body dropping. The innkeeper at the Winking Skeever was more than happy to rent her a room and prepare something for her to eat, since it appeared that she would be spending what remained of the day in Solitude, pretending to be a patron of the inn as she waited for morning to hit, which seemed to be the best time to kill Gaius before the guards even knew what was going on. There were a number of customers that seemed to be enjoying themselves, despite the fact that Vittoria Vici had died earlier that day, and that told Amaryllis that only those that were close to Emperor's cousin would have felt anything after her murder, which was rather odd since she knew that if such a thing happened in Equestria there would be many ponies mourning the loss of whoever perished, which was just another way that this world was different from her home world. All she did was take one of the smaller tables and eat her food, making it look like she was a patron that enjoyed coming to the inn while not engaging in drinking until she couldn't see anymore, though while she did that she did notice two people, a Bosmer and an Argonian, both male, focus on her for a few seconds, before deciding it wasn't worth talking to her.
Eventually she decided to turn in for the night, after finishing what she had ordered, and headed upstairs, where she found a nice room that was different from the other inns she had stayed in, giving her the feeling that all of the houses in this city were like this, before she closed the door and fell asleep as soon as she hit the covers, though she intended on waking up before anyone else did so she could get the deed done quickly.
In the end she slept for seven hours, going from ten at night to five in the morning, which was when she climbed out of the bed, made sure everything was in order, and headed down the stairs, where she found that not even the innkeeper was awake, which made sense due to the fact that everyone had to sleep at some point, though she pushed that thought aside as she headed outside and returned to the streets of Solitude. There she found that several of the guards were up and about, but it seemed more like the night shift was heading back to the building they were supposed to sleep in so they could change with the guards that held the day shift, meaning there would be a slight opening for her to kill Gaius without anyone noticing what she was doing. None of the residents of the city, not even the beggar, were out, confirming the fact that she had a slight opening, hence the reason she started to walk around Solitude and kept her eyes open for her target, as she was positive he would be using this opportunity to start his observations of the city, without anyone spying on what he was doing, and all she had to do was find him. Interestingly enough she found that her thoughts were correct when she spotted Gaius walking down the street that she was on, heading towards the Blue Palace, where the Jarl resided, either to see what was going on in that building or to look at the defenses that were nearby, but that would put a hole in her plan if he went into the Jarl's palace. As such she waited for the perfect opportunity, where Gaius stopped for a moment to stare at a building that seemed to be very important to the city, and, once she was sure no one was around, she switched back to her true form and her true armor, before sneaking up on Gaius and used her dagger to cut his life short.
With the deed done, and Gaius' body was laying in the middle of the street, Amaryllis quickly pulled out the letter she had been given earlier and slipped it into the pack that her target happened to be wearing, where she removed a second piece of parchment that happened to be a letter from his father, something she discovered by opening it, which caused her to come to a decision as she took it, to make sure everyone felt he was plotting against the Emperor, before she took off and headed for the highest point of the city. The reason she was sticking around was to make sure the city guards noticed the body and the letter, that way the news of the false plot could spread like wildfire and would, somehow, reach Falkreath before she even got there, but she knew she could be patient and waited for a time, making sure her eyes were on Gaius' body and that no one could see her from where she was standing. It took the guards that were the day shift about thirty minutes to leave the building they all slept in, though once they started making their rounds one of them found the body within a couple of seconds and called to the others, where Amaryllis watched as one of them pulled out the incriminating letter, opened it, and started showing his fellow guards the information he had received, all of them sounding shocked by the news. In that moment, with all of the guards distracted by the false piece of information that she had planted, as per her orders from Gabriella and Astria, Amaryllis took off and headed back to the Sanctuary, as it was time to tell the others the news and see what the next target Amaund wanted them to take out was, as she had the feeling that they were close to striking out at the Emperor in the near future.
It took her an hour to get back to where the Sanctuary was located, especially with the speed she used to fly through the air to get back here so quickly, to which she landed near the black pool and headed through the black door, where she found Gabriella waiting in the area that Astrid was usually standing in, either meaning their leader was still asleep or she was off doing something else.
"Ah, Amaryllis, it's good to see that you made it back so quickly." Gabriella said, though the smile on her face indicated that the news of Gaius' death had already reached Falkreath and the rest of Skyrim, or, to be more exact, the fact that he had been planning on betraying his oath by helping kill the Emperor that he swore to protect, even if that was entirely false and was simply a way to make the guards feel that there was nothing for them to worry about, "I have been anxiously awaiting your return."
"As you no doubt know, Gaius Maro has been killed and the letter has been placed." Amaryllis replied, as she was sure that the magical couriers had already delivered the news about what she had done an hour ago, despite the fact that she could fly from one spot to another rather quickly, even though Skyrim was a large place and it should have taken them longer to do such a thing.
"Yes, we all know you have completed your contract. You have done well, and have earned both your reward, as well as the bonus that I told you about earlier." Gabriella stated, her tone revealing that she was happy with what Amaryllis had been able to do since her arrival in the Sanctuary, as it appeared that she was a natural assassin, just like Astrid believed her to be, before she handed over a large pouch that had one thousand and five hundred septims and, more importantly, a small gem that looked like a sapphire, but made of glass, "But you should know that we have a more pressing matter that we need to deal with. It's... Cicero. There was an incident earlier, while you were dealing with your target. You should proceed into the Sanctuary and speak to Astrid, she'll explain what happened."
Amaryllis sighed as she accepted the items, as she was hoping that the rest of her new Family would have accepted Cicero, without something like this happening, to which she turned towards the stairs and started moving towards the main area of the Sanctuary, the area that the pool of water was in, because she was seriously hoping that nothing bad had happened while she was following Gaius Maro through the streets of Solitude.