//------------------------------//
// Brotherhood: Hunting the Gourmet 
// Story: Skyrim: The Faces of Death 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
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With her task in the Dawnstar Sanctuary completed, in her own way to be exact, and there was nothing else she had to do in the area, Amaryllis took to the air and headed to the south, as it was time for her to return to the Sanctuary she called home and meet back up with her Family, to tell them what she had done and then move on with the rest of the contract that Amaund had hired them to do. She had left Cicero in the capable hands of the ghostly guardians of the Sanctuary, who would make sure the wounds that Arnbjorn dealt to him were healed before he tried to do anything else, as she was sure that he would attempt to do something now that she had spared his life, due to the fact that she couldn't bring herself to kill one of her Family members. Sure, she was a little annoyed by the fact that Astrid had asked her to do such a thing in the first place, even if she didn't know all the details of what set Cicero off, but she could guess and determined that she would ask the man the next time she came to this Sanctuary, though she was going to return to Astrid and tell her the news she wanted to hear, especially since she didn't ask for evidence of the deed. She would have thought that the leader of her Family would have asked for something like that, to be sure she didn't pull a fast one on her, but, since she didn't say that, she was able to use such a thing against Astrid and hide the fact that Cicero was alive, meaning no one would go looking for him until the contract they were on was complete.

Of course, as soon as she thought about that, Amaryllis wondered what sort of target the Family, or more specifically her, would have to take out next, as she got the feeling that Astrid and the others were using this contract to test her and see how skilled she was, in the art of being an assassin, instead of everyone taking turns and taking out one target a piece, but if they wanted her to be the one to kill all the targets she was going to follow their orders and expand her skills, as well as test out her new armor in the process.

As she flew over the land of Skyrim, however, she saw next to nothing that was interesting, as it was the same things she had passed hours ago, when she was first heading to Dawnstar to hand Silus the pieces of the Razor she was now carrying, so that meant she didn't have to focus on the ground as much as she had done in the last couple of days and allowed her to think about the future. She was sure that whatever contracts came after the Emperor weren't going to be anywhere near exciting or challenging, though since it appeared that her Family had survived on those lesser contracts she guessed it was fine, though at least with her being the Listener they could hear about the Black Sacraments the instant they were performed and send someone to set up the contract immediately, instead of having to rely on the ineffective method Astrid was using these days. Of course she was sure that all of this was going to annoy Astrid, since it seemed that she didn't like the Night Mother, the role of the Listener, and everything that was in the past of the Dark Brotherhood, but, at the same time, she was sure that she could abide by what Astrid wanted them to do, even if it seemed to be the wrong thing to do, given what was going on at the moment. The only other person this would annoy would be the Night Mother, since Astrid would be ignoring her and the contracts that she could be offering her and the rest of the Family, but she knew that time would tell what was going to happen next and she knew that the Night Mother was patient and would wait for the right time to speak once more.

It took her an hour to return to the pool of black water that was outside the Sanctuary, where she landed near it and started to approach the black door, so she could enter her new home and speak with Astrid and the others, though she did pause for a moment as she found Shadowmere hanging outside the structure, who simply stared at her for a moment before appearing to nod his head, only for her to sigh as she headed inside and quickly found that Astrid was still standing at the table she liked to stand at, and she turned to look at her the moment she walked down the steps.

"Arnbjorn is safe, and for that you have my thanks." Astrid said, her tone revealing that she was actually happy that her husband had returned from his rampage, due to the fact that Arnbjorn had charged off the moment Cicero fled to the Dawnstar Sanctuary, though the fact that the man was able to outrun a werewolf was actually rather impressive, before she focused on something more important in her eyes, "But what of the fool? Did Cicero meet his end?"

"Yes, Cicero died in the Dawnstar Sanctuary, laying in a pool of his own blood." Amaryllis replied, because while she didn't like to lie to someone like Astrid, purely due to the fact that she had taken her in and gave her a Family to replace what she had lost, there was the fact that she had asked her to kill one of her Family members, something that didn't sit well with her, so she was okay with telling a lie at this point in time, especially since she was a changeling and lying was one of the things they were good at.

"Excellent. Once again, you've proven yourself a born assassin." Astrid stated, where the smirk on her face revealed that she was pleased that the jester got exactly what he deserved, for trying to kill her earlier, before she let out a sigh of satisfaction and faced Amaryllis once more, "Tell you what, why don't you hold onto Shadowmere a while longer? He's a fine steed, and hasn't been ridden nearly as much as he should lately, even if all he'll do is run after you while you fly from Hold to Hold. And now that this Cicero mess has been mopped up, and the jester has paid for his crimes, we can get back to the matter at hand, hmm?"

"Right. So what's my next task?" Amaryllis inquired, though the reason she had asked that was because she knew that the contracts were hers and no one else's, meaning that whoever Amaund Motierre wanted them to kill was someone she was going to hunt down and kill, following the odd restrictions and rules that Astrid and the others told her about, which did make her wonder what sort of rules the next contract would have.

"There's just one more target before we strike out at the Emperor. Have you, by chance, heard of the 'Gourmet', or read his cookbook?" Astrid answered, where Amaryllis thought about the question for a few seconds and then shook her head, because she couldn't recall hearing about the person or seeing a cookbook that the person might have written at one point in time, something that caused Astrid to shrug for a moment, "Well, it's become quite a phenomenon. According to both Motierre and what we have been able to find out on our own, the Gourmet is scheduled to cook for the Emperor at a special dinner in the near future. You'll kill him, steal the Writ of Passage he's carrying, and assume the roll of master chef. Festus has been spearheading this part of the assassination plan. He's close to uncovering the identity of the Gourmet, so you should report to him."

Amaryllis nodded her head, to show that she understood what she was being told, and headed down the stairs that lead her to the main part of the Sanctuary, though as she looked for Festus she found that Arnbjorn was just fine and, what she felt was more important, that his wounds had been healed upon his return to the Sanctuary, and he even seemed happy to see her again, before she headed into the eating area and found that Festus was sitting at the table, alone this time, where she took a seat on the opposite side of the table.

"There you are. Took your sweet time dealing with Cicero, hmph?" Festus stated, because while he and the rest of their Family were interested in her and her powers, which she had seen back when she first joined the Family, it did seem a few of them were still thought they were better suited for the contracts that Astrid was giving her, before he focused on what they needed to talk about, "Now let's get down to business. Astrid told you about the Gourmet, I hope?"

"She told me that I need find him, kill him, and take both his Writ of Passage and his identity." Amaryllis replied, a task that did seem rather well suited for someone like her, since all she had to do was study the Gourmet for a time and get a good understanding of how he acted towards the people around him, meaning that no one would be able to tell the difference between her and whoever happened to be the Gourmet.

"Quite so." Festus said, his tone revealing that he was happy that Amaryllis knew what she was supposed to be doing once she left the Sanctuary and started the hunt, once they were done with their conversation anyway, before he returned his focus to what they were talking about, "But first you'll need to learn who he is... assuming, of course, that the Gourmet actually is a 'he'. For all we know the Gourmet could be a woman."

Amaryllis said nothing for a few moments, choosing to remain silent while Festus was talking, though while she knew that she would have to hunt down the famous chef and kill him, as that was what Astrid had told her, she was surprised by the fact that none of them seemed to know who the Gourmet was, meaning they had no information on the person and that her Family must have wasted a large amount of time looking for the clues that brought them to this point.

"You know, maybe I was wrong about you after all. Anyone who's smart enough to shut up and listen to their elders can't be all bad." Festus continued, showing that Amaryllis' silence had earned her some points, even if she was focusing on the point that none of them knew who the Gourmet was and the effort that had currently gone into figuring out who the chef was, before he pulled out a book and placed it in front of her, "In my, um, investigations, I came upon this. It's a copy of the Gourmet's cookbook, but it's not like all of the other copies that exist throughout the provinces. If you open it up you'll find that it's signed! Seems to be a message from the Gourmet to one Anton Virane, and, while you were busy with all of the other contacts, I've tracked Virane to the keep in Markarth, where it would seem that he's the cook."

"And you're sure that Anton Virane knows the Gourmet's true identity?" Amaryllis inquired, though at the same time she picked up the book in question and opened it for a moment, where she found the message that Festus was talking about, where it appeared that both of the people they were talking about loved Breton cuisine and that Anton had to be from High Rock, based on what the message said.

"I believe he does." Festus answered, revealing that he was very sure of what he had found out in his investigations, even if it had taken him some time to come to this conclusion, but he was keen on sharing what he had found out and did want Amaryllis to be ready for the next stage of their glorious operation, "Therefore, you are to obtain that information from Virane, as in who the Gourmet really is, and where he can be found. Oh, and when you're done with Virane, kill him. Loose ends and all that. Next, you'll have to... Are you still paying attention?"

"Oh course, Festus. Please continue." Amaryllis stated, showing that she was paying attention to what her brother was saying, especially since she closed the cookbook that had been placed in front of her and set it to the side, as she felt like looking for it again in the near future, purely because of the fact that she was going to be impersonating the Gourmet and would need some understanding of his recipes.

"Hmph." Festus stated, almost as if he was annoyed by something she had said, though she was fine with him and his sounds, because some of the changelings acted this way about things and it was easy to get used to what they were doing, before he opened his mouth again, "As I was saying, you'll need to kill the Gourmet, of course. But, as you were told, you'll need to get his Writ of Passage, so you can take his place. Oh, and if you can, hide the body, because the longer it takes for anyone else to determine his real identity, the better. Now off with you!"

Amaryllis did not leave the Sanctuary after talking with Festus, as she had done previously, rather she remained near her brothers and sisters and recovered her energy, as she had spent the better part of the day flying around Skyrim, to get the armor, the Razor, and to deal with Cicero, and she was sure that Anton wasn't going anywhere, so she was fine with taking a short break before continuing with the contract. Her plan at the moment was to leave the Sanctuary just before the sun came up, meaning that she should be able to reach Markarth just before everyone got up and started their daily activities, giving her the perfect chance to find Anton, talk to him for a few moments, and then get out of there before one of the other chefs or a guard caught her in the act of taking care of the loose end this venture would create. From there it would be a simple matter to track down the Gourmet, observe them while they interacted with whoever was around them, and then find the perfect opportunity to end the famous cook's life and dispose of the body, which would then allow her to come back to the Sanctuary for the final stage of their operation, the assassination of the Emperor. Of course that thought bugged her to some degree, though not for the reasons that anyone else could guess, as she had heard that the person that lead the Empire was supposed to be in Cyrodiil, but from what she could tell he was already here, in Skyrim, meaning he must have been close to the province when his cousin was killed, though that still didn't seem right. She thought back to the time when she saw the shimmering boat, one that she could neither confirm or deny the existence of since it was so far away from where she had been standing, meaning it was possible that the Emperor had been coming to see his cousin anyway, to surprise Vittoria, but she still felt there was something to this that didn't make sense.

In the end, however, she stopped worrying about the fact that the Emperor had gotten to Skyrim much faster than what she assumed was possible for this world and focused on what she was doing at the moment, chilling with the rest of her Family, as she knew that when the morning came her focus would be on the contract and nothing else, and eventually went to sleep when it was time for her to get some rest.

When the first rays of morning arrived Amaryllis woke up with them, where she dropped down into the eating area and grabbed herself some meat, cheese, and bread, which she combined into a sandwich and ate as she headed towards the Sanctuary's entrance, though once she was outside she took to the air and headed in the direction of Markarth, while making sure to finish her breakfast before doing so, just so she didn't lose it along the way. Thanks to what Festus was able to find out she knew that her first target was Anton Virane, the only person that knew who the Gourmet was, because last night she had asked her brother about the people who knew the Gourmet's identity, as she was sure there had to be a few people who were keeping it a secret. It was then that she learned there was another reason for killing Gaius Maro, as he would have been the one the Gourmet talked to, when he came to the dinner he was supposed to prepare, and with him there it would have been impossible to fool him with a disguise, but, thanks to her earlier actions, his father was now the one guarding the entrance to the place the Emperor would be in, and he had no idea who the Gourmet was. Not only was the man going to be distracted by the death of his son, and the plot he appeared to be involved in, he would have to accept whoever had the Writ of Passage as the Gourmet, meaning she could pretend to be anyone at that point in time and he'd believe her, something that caused her Family to chuckle, as the Gourmet's insistence of keeping his identity a secret was going to cost the Emperor his life.

Once she remembered all of that she focused on her flying and made sure to avoid the Forsworn camps to the best of her abilities, as she didn't want them to see her up in the air and try something funny, but fortunately none of the camps that she flew over seemed to have anyone that was awake, which meant that she had discovered another good reason for leaving the Sanctuary when she did.

An hour later she flew over the entrance of Markarth and landed in front of the guard tower, where she quickly shifted her form into that of a traveling chef, as she had seen one of them a while back and knew that they wore a white apron that seemed to cover their entire body and a white hat on their heads, just like the ones from Equestria, though she made it seem like she had no gloves, since none of Skyrim's chefs had any, and simple shoes. Once that was done she walked down the stairs and followed the path to Understone Keep, the area that Anton Virane was in, and nodded to the guards that she walked by, as half of them seemed to be falling asleep and wouldn't remember her, while the other half didn't seem to care about a simple chef walking towards the keep. Of course they saw her as a young Imperial lady, not her true form since that would be a foolish move to make, so she was able to enter the keep without anyone questioning her and started to make her way towards the throne area, because she was sure that the kitchen was nearby, though when she arrived in the area in question she heard a man order some people around and found two chefs that were heading out of what had to be the kitchen, both looking like there were some items they had to buy before the Jarl got up. To some that would appear as an odd coincidence, that she was looking for the kitchen and that the chefs that worked in it gave her the location of the room she was looking for, to which she walked up the steps and headed towards the kitchen, where she found a Breton chef moaning as he looked at the stock of food that they had.

"Excuse me, are you Anton Virane?" Amaryllis asked, deciding to approach the situation like she was new to the area and that she was looking for someone specific, where one would assume that she was looking for a job and came dressed up for such a thing, though before the Breton even turned around she closed the door behind her, that way no one would see what happened when they started talking.

"Yes, I am. And yes, for the hundredth time, I am a Breton!" the man stated, showing Amaryllis that most people must have asked him what he was when they first met him, which was why he seemed to be a tad bit more upset right now, but she said nothing as he turned around to face her, as she wanted him to finish what was on his mind before she focused on the reason that she was here, "I was born in High Rock. And then I came here. I am not a Reachman!"

"There's no need to get upset, because I know who you are, and where you're from." Amaryllis replied, though at the same time she readied herself, as she had the feeling that what she did to Silus was going to be the key to her getting what she needed to know, even though she was referring to showing the man the mark of the Dark Brotherhood, as that would freeze him for a time.

"Who are you?" Anton asked, this time showing that he might be more cautious than one would originally think, as he did notice that the door was now closed, something he knew hadn't happened when the other chefs went out to get what they needed for the next couple of days, but he didn't reach for a weapon, which meant that he was waiting to hear the response that Amaryllis had to give him, "What do you want from me?"

"What I want, Anton, is information." Amaryllis answered, though as she said that she pulled out the cookbook from her pack and showed it to the man, to indicate that she was looking for the author of the book and the creator of the various recipes that were inside it, before she actually said it out loud, since it seemed that Anton was doing his best to seem like he had no idea what she was referring to, "Who is the Gourmet? Where can I find him?"

"The... the Gourmet?" Anton stated, almost like he was inquiring about what she had just said, showing that he was likely pretending to have no idea what she was talking about earlier, before a fierce look appeared on his face as he drew the iron dagger that seemed to be his weapon, "Never! I don't know you got your hands on that cookbook, or how you figured out where I worked, but nothing will betray my trust. I'll take the secret of the Gourmet's identity to my grave."

"Oh Anton, I never said that you had to take the secret to your grave, only that I wanted to meet the Gourmet and talk with him about something." Amaryllis replied, though she turned around when she said that, as she had come up with a new idea on how she was going to get the man to tell her what she needed to know, and it was different than revealing she was a member of the order of assassins that everyone feared, "Of course, the Dark Brotherhood would be able to get that information in no time... you wouldn't want them to come looking for you, do you?"

"The Dark Brotherhood!?" Anton very nearly exclaimed, proving Amaryllis right once more, that the mere mention of her Family's name caused people to freeze when they heard it, before she glanced back a little and found that he seemed to be thinking that she might perform the Black Sacrament on him to get the information, which was when he lowered his dagger and raised his hands, "Now... now wait a minute. Let's not get hasty. I mean, surely my friend wouldn't want me to endanger my own life. Right? Look, his name is Balagog gro-Nolob. He's an Orc! The Gourmet's an Orc! He's staying at the Nightgate Inn. That's all I know! Now... now you won't call upon the Dark Brotherhood to kill me, right?"

"Of course, Anton. Thank you." Amaryllis said, where she put a smile on her face and made it seem like there were no hard feelings between them, as she never said that she was from the Dark Brotherhood and her statement made her appear like she was a fan of the Gourmet that would do anything and everything to meet her idol, even deliver a warning to the Breton in front of her, but even then she was surprised by how easy it was to get Anton to reveal the information she and her Family had been looking for.

"Okay. All right. Wonderful. You're welcome! I'll just be on my way, then..." Anton stated, though that was the moment he made a terrible decision, as he turned his back to her and returned to what he had been doing before she arrived in the kitchen, showing that he actually believed that she wasn't an assassin and that she was just an adoring fan of the Gourmet, and was risking his life for no reason.

Amaryllis took the moment that was presented to her and shifted back into her true form, where she approached her target from behind and discovered something interesting, her new armor didn't even alert Anton to her presence, so she was able to run the edge of the Razor across his neck and killed him within seconds, only for her to revert back to her chef disguise and walked out through the door, making sure to close it so the guards didn't see the mess she left in the kitchen and then headed away from the room itself. As she headed for the entrance of the keep, however, she found that the two chefs she had seen earlier, the ones that ran out of the kitchen when Anton ordered them to get some ingredients and other food stuff, entering the keep with the items that they had purchased, though they were in for quite the surprise when they returned to the kitchen. After passing by the chefs, who didn't even turn to look at her as they headed towards their destination, Amaryllis headed outside and found that the guards hadn't moved yet, meaning she might be able to use the area in front of the tower before the city woke up, which was why she headed for the guard tower and quickly put the keep behind her. It didn't take her long to find that there were no guards around her destination, and none of the people who called the city home seemed to be heading to their stores, so she quickly shifted back to her true form and took off, this time heading in the direction of the Nightgate Inn, as she had the feeling she knew where the inn was located, as she might have passed it at one point before she joined the Dark Brotherhood.

As Amaryllis headed to the east she flew over the hills, streams, caves, ruins, and everything else that she had seen the last time she flew over the Reach, where she continued to make sure to avoid the camps that the Forsworn had set up and even spotted a Stormcloak camp along the way, though they appeared to be in the middle of a fight with a group of Forsworn that wanted them to leave. It was interesting to see the soldiers fight, since this time they were actually fighting to the death and not sparing with the Imperial Legion, something that she was still trying to make sense of, but at the very least it appeared that the soldiers had the skill to keep themselves alive, as they weren't the ones falling at the moment, rather it was the Forsworn that were being cut down. Part of her felt that it was a shame that the soldiers were here to fight the Legion, even if they didn't seem to be killing anyone at the moment, as it seemed the Stormcloaks could do some good if they were redirected towards the enemies in the Reach and not the Imperial Legion, but that was her opinion and it didn't match up with what the commander of the army wanted to do, so she pushed the thought back and resumed her flight, as she knew that staying in one area for too long was asking for someone to spot her, so she focused on what she was supposed to be doing and nothing else. Of course she did turn back for a moment and watched as the leader of the Forsworn forces was cut down by the leader of the Stormcloaks, as in the Captain of this particular squad and not the one they were serving, which prompted them to celebrate what they had done, providing the perfect chance for her to slip out of the area without being spotted.

While she flew to Nightgate in she passed by a few familiar places, namely Whiterun and Volunruud, but she did so in a way that would prevent the bandits, travelers, and guards from seeing her, though after an hour and fifteen minutes she finally reached her destination, where she carefully landed on the road that was near the backside of the inn, as no one was on the road at the moment, and shifted into the form of a female Breton that was just traveling to Riften, by using the wrong road on accident. Once that deed was done she walked around to the front of the building and headed inside, as it was time to see if she could find Balagog gro-Nolob and see if she could learn anything about him and his mannerisms, the keys that would allow her to imitate him when it came time to kill the Emperor, but as she entered the building all she found was the innkeeper and a drunken person who carried what appeared to be a katana with him. The innkeeper didn't seem to mind having another customer, since it seemed to be one of the slow times of the year, but when Amaryllis sat in front of him, and ordered one of the pieces of food that looked like a snack, she learned that there was definitely an Orc that happened to be staying at the inn, though he was paying enough rent to where the man could afford to close or sell the inn and retire, something that he was thinking about doing. Since the man was more than willing to talk about her target, and what he liked to do, Amaryllis let him, where she found out that the man either couldn't remember the Orc's name or had been paid to forget it, though Balagog did like to hang around the inn, sometimes went out to stare at the lake that was near them, and sometimes sampled the wine that was in the basement, and she also learned that he was a writer, which explained his cookbook.

Once the innkeeper was done talking about Balagog, and Amaryllis had finished the snack she had ordered, she got up and excused herself, claiming that she wanted to check out the lake for herself, along with making sure she didn't bother the orc if she saw him, before heading outside, where she knew her target wasn't inside the inn, nor was he near the lake, meaning he had to be in the basement. Fortunately, if her memory was correct, there might be a second way to enter the basement, without having the drunk man and the innkeeper see her, and that was a hatch that she had spotted on the ground near the backside of the inn, one that was half covered in snow, almost as if people didn't use it as much as they used to and had forgotten about it. As such she walked over to where it was, made sure there was no one coming towards the inn, and then opened the way to the basement, where she shifted back into her Khajiit assassin form as she reached the final step and closed the hatch behind her, as she was now in the basement and she could tell that whoever was down here hadn't heard her coming down the ladder. She discovered a number of barrels that likely contained wine and ale, the drinks that most people who visited an inn seemed to drink, before she found the door that would take her back up to the part of the inn she had been in a few minutes ago, though that was when she paused in the shadows as a figure emerged from the room that was near the door, where she smiled as a well dressed Orc walked over to one of the wine barrels and poured himself a little sample of the product, something that he seemed to enjoy as he talked to himself about the taste and how it would work well with a new recipe he was thinking about.

She watched Balagog for a time, stalking the shadows as he tasted a few of the other barrels, even went outside to see him stare at the lake, just like the innkeeper said, before he eventually returned to the basement after an hour of just standing out in the cold, spent staring at the lake and talking to himself about his ideas, but as he returned to the solitude of the basement Amaryllis was waiting for him and sliced open his neck before he even knew what happened. With her mission done, and her target was dead on the ground, Amaryllis quickly searched his pockets and found a piece of paper that said that whoever held the piece of parchment was the Gourmet and that they were allowed access to anything they needed to fulfill the duty of the Emperor's personal cook, something that she pocketed immediately. The moment she had the Writ of Passage, as she was sure that was what the piece of parchment had to be, she searched for a good place to hide the body, so that the innkeeper wouldn't come looking for the Orc when the next rent was due, before finding a rather large barrel that didn't have a lid on it, one that contained nothing and was rather had to climb up the side. In that instant Amaryllis lifted Balagog's corpse with her magic and pulled it over to where she was standing, to which she moved it into the barrel and let the Gourmet fall into the base of the barrel, where no one would be able to find him for some time, and, to make sure no one thought to check the barrel, she found the lid behind it and moved it with her magic, that way it would take some time before someone thought to remove it.

Once that was done she headed through the hatch that she had used to get down here and headed outside, where she made sure to close the hatch and then assumed her true form as she took off, though this time around she headed back to the Sanctuary, because with the Gourmet dead, and his Writ of Passage collected, it was finally time for her and her Family to deal with the Emperor and put an end to the contract at long last.

The flight back to the Falkreath Sanctuary was uneventful, as all she did was fly and make sure no one saw her while she did that, all while keeping her eyes on the ground to see if there was anything interesting that was happening, but in the end she reached her destination with ease and found that Shadowmere was waiting for her upon her return, meaning he hadn't left when she did. When she entered the Sanctuary she found that Astrid was still standing at her table, just like all of the other times she had returned from one of her contracts, though as she entered the main chamber she quickly found that Meeko was happy to see her and made sure that she knew it, where she pulled the hood back and smiled as she rubbed his head for a few seconds, showing that she was happy to see him as well and resolved to play with him for a time once the contract was done. A few minutes later Meeko headed off to see what one of the other members of their Family was up to so he could hang out with them, or just enjoy their company, to which she chuckled and started to look for Festus as she returned her hood to it's proper place, restoring the look the armor gave her when someone gazed upon her, if they spotted her anyway. It didn't take her long to locate her brother, as Festus was in the eating area that all of the members of their Family ate in, whether alone or together, and he was even sitting in the same chair that he was in when they talked about the Gourmet yesterday, meaning it was either his favorite chair or it just so happened to be where she saw him whenever she entered this area.

"So, the prodigal murderer returns." Festus commented, where a slight smile appeared on his face, as he was pleased to see that Amaryllis had returned from her contract and he knew that she must have news for him and the others, which was why he was focused on her and nothing else at the moment, even if the rest of their Family were tending to their own interests at the moment, "Did you take care of the Gourmet?"

"Balagog gro-Nolob, or the Gourmet, has been slain as well." Amaryllis replied, though at the same time she let the magic wash over her body for a moment, where Festus raised his eyebrow for a second as she took on the form of the Orc she had just taken out, even though this was one of the weirder forms she had taken on, before she pulled out the piece of parchment she had acquired, "I can assume the identity of the Gourmet without anyone realizing that something is wrong, since I know how he talks and acts."

"I gathered you had completed your task, given what you did for the last couple of contracts, which means you not only killed the Gourmet, but disposed of the body as well." Festus stated, his tone informing Amaryllis that he did believe what she was telling him, as she looked and sounded like someone that she had been stalking for a time, including the fact that none of them knew where the Gourmet had been and no one had reported the disappearance of anyone, "You've also got the Writ of Passage. Splendid... oh, and word has come in from Markarth that the keep's cook has met an untimely demise. You performed your duties to the letter."

"All I've ever wanted to do is help my Family rise to greatness." Amaryllis said, because despite what she had felt when she first joined the Dark Brotherhood, where she felt that she couldn't make the situation she had found herself in work and couldn't learn the skills of an assassin, she had discovered that her skills as an infiltrator allowed her to adapt to this sort of life and she found that she did enjoy part of what she did.

"Hmph. I was wrong about you. I see that now... maybe we all were." Festus commented, showing Amaryllis that he now considered her one of the best assassins that they had in the entire Family, even if she had started as a total novice when she first joined them, before he pulled out a pouch that contained one thousand, two hundred, and fifty septims, likely the reward for this contract, and added a special silver ring that had an amethyst set in it, "Here's your payment. And... a little something else, as well. From me, to be exact, to serve as your bonus for this contract. Consider it my way of apologizing, for being so damned curmudgeonly! It's a special ring called the Nightweaver's Band. I wore this for many years, but I want you to have it now. It'll give your magic and sneakiness some much needed 'oomph'. Now, you had better get some rest before you see Astrid, as it's nearly time for the final stage of this grand and glorious operation!"

Amaryllis wasn't sure that she necessarily agreed with Festus' enthusiasm, since he and the others seemed overly excited by the fact that they were actually going to kill the Emperor, but she was committed to this and knew that she would see this through to the end, where she decided to spend the rest of the day relaxing and readying herself for the final stage of their operation, and then they could focus on the future.