Amaryllis spent the rest of the day, the 26th of Last Seed according to her Family members, hanging with her brothers and sisters, listening to what they were talking about while Meeko sat next to her and let her pet his head as they heard about the various contracts that the others had tackled over the last week, when she was flying around Skyrim and was chasing down the targets she needed to take out. Babette had the honor of taking care of Deekus, an Argonian that liked to salvage sunken ships with his natural abilities, Ma'randru-jo, a Khajiit wizard that was traveling with one of the few caravans she had seen during her travels, and Anoriath, a Bosmer that lived in Whiterun and hunted in the plains around the city, though she was able to take out Deekus before he escaped into the water, took out Ma'randru-jo while he was sleeping, and stalked Anoriath while he was hunting. Gabriella had the task of killing Agnis, an old Nord maid that cleaned up Fort Greymoor for whoever occupied the fortress, where she had to get around the bandits that called the fort home and took out the old lady, without the bandits even knowing that she had been there, once more proving that she was quite skilled. Veezara took out the Nord that served as the Housecarl for the Jarl of Falkreath, a man called Helvard, and a Dark Elf wizard called Maluril, who happened to call one of the dwarven ruins home, while Arnbjorn had fun causing chaos on a pirate ship, where he hunted down and killed the Redguard captain, Safia, along with the majority of her crew, as one of them just so happened to be in Solitude when he attacked the ship.
She found that all of them had some interesting targets, along with the fact that Astrid's skills had to be rusty since it did look like their leader took none of the contracts and even admitted that it had been some time since she actually bloodied her blade, especially since she had been planning on taking out Grelod, before she shared her stories with her Family, so they had a better understanding of what she had done for each contract, while not saying anything about Cicero and the fact that she spared him.
Eventually the day came to an end and Amaryllis climbed into one of the beds, as she knew that she needed to have all her energy for the next contract, since this was an important event for her Family and she didn't want to ruin all of their hard work, regardless of the fact that she was the one that killed all the targets Amaund wanted them to kill, as they were excited for tomorrow morning and she wouldn't disappoint them. Of course one of the things she overheard, before she drifted off and fell asleep, was her Family talking about the Gourmet and the fact that he was an orc, something that they had considered by never really put any weight behind, but she let them talk about what was going on and what she would be doing for the Sanctuary in the near future. When morning arrived Amaryllis rose with it and joined the others in the eating area, though while they had breakfast she made sure to go over the cookbook that Festus had given her one more time, just to make sure she remembered the recipes when she reached the area that the Emperor would be in, as she was posing as the Gourmet and would need to know all of them for the future. Festus and the others nodded their heads as they saw that, as they agreed with what she was doing and knew they would have done the same thing had they been picked to tackle this contract, and a few of the recipes seemed like something she might consider making at some point in the future, just to see what they tasted like.
Once she was done with her breakfast, and had reread the cookbook, Amaryllis got up from where she was sitting and headed towards the first chamber that contained the table that Astrid was no doubt standing near, because she knew it was time for her to head out and tackle the final contract they had been hired to do, and sure enough she found the leader of her Family exactly where she thought she would be.
"From what I've heard, and what you have shown us, you've killed the Gourmet and acquired both his Writ of Passage and his entire identity." Astrid commented, where Amaryllis found that she was actually standing with her back to the table this time and that she seemed happy about what was going on, especially since this would allow Amaryllis to use her unique powers to the fullest and, at the same time, complete the greatest contract their Family had been hired to do, given that it would grant them fame and a few other things, "And now Emperor Titus Mede II is as good as dead."
"Indeed. I take it that we're ready to assassinate the Emperor?" Amaryllis asked, even though she knew that this was to be her honor and she had prepared for this since she returned from hunting down and killing the Gourmet, and once the Emperor was taken care of she was going to return to her Family and let them celebrate her success, while she turned her focus to the future.
"Oh yes. And, like I told you and the others last night, the honor of ending his life is yours." Astrid said, because she had made it clear the previous night when she joined the others for dinner, when she heard that the Gourmet was dead and that Amaryllis had everything she needed for the last contract, and this was her way of making sure Amaryllis knew that she wasn't changing her mind on the matter.
"Don't worry, I won't disappoint you, Astrid, or our Family for that matter." Amaryllis stated, because while she knew that none of the Family doubted her abilities at this point, especially after what she had done so far, she also understood they had some expectations now and that they were expecting good things from her, hence the reason she stated that she wouldn't disappoint them.
"Oh, after everything you've shown us, I have the utmost faith in your abilities and your desire to succeed. So let us get down to business." Astrid replied, her tone revealing that she was ready to tell Amaryllis the information that she needed to know for this contract, so she could leave the Sanctuary and end the life of the Emperor, to elevate their Family to a level that they hadn't been at for some time, "You need to go to Castle Dour, which is located in Solitude, and present the Gourmet's Writ of Passage to the Penitus Oculatus officer that's in charge, Commander Maro.... I'm sure you remember him. You will gain unrestricted access to the kitchens and all their supplies, and, more importantly the Emperor. You're posing as a chef, so you'll be able to poison his meal rather easily."
"Commander Maro, I remember him." Amaryllis said, as she definitely recalled the man that had been talking to Gaius back when she was looking for the schedule, and knew the conversation that he had with his son, before she focused on what she would be doing in the near future, especially since she had a good idea where the castle in question had to be resting in the city, "So, which poison I should use? I'm sure Babette can use a few of her ingredients and quickly cook up something deadly before I actually leave for Solitude."
"Here, take this," Astrid stated, where she pulled out a small pouch and handed it over to Amaryllis, who opened it for a moment and found a red colored root that had thorns on it, though she had no idea what the root was and knew that Astrid would tell her more about it as she closed the pouch, "That root is called Jarrin Root... all it takes is one taste, and the effects are quite immediate, so the Emperor will be serving Sithis before he even knows he's dead. Once Mede has been killed, escape through the upper door, and head across the bridge. I've 'arranged' for it to be unguarded once the alarm is sounded. Now go, my friend. Go, and fulfill your destiny as the Listener."
"I see, it's potent and dangerous." Amaryllis commented, where she slipped the pouch into her pack, though she had the feeling that Astrid had used part of the Letter of Credit that Delvin had given her to acquire the root, before something came to mind as she faced the leader of her Family again, as this might be the last chance to ask questions before she headed for Solitude, "What else can you tell me about Jarrin Root?"
"It's a rare plant, one that's only found on the island of Stros M'Kai." Astrid answered, where she knew that Amaryllis had no idea where the island was located and that she would need to look at the map to understand what she was talking about, though she was willing to answer the question before the changeling departed from the Sanctuary to fulfill the last contract they had been hired to do, "It can be served like any vegetable... cut up, put in a salad, perhaps boiled in a stew. One taste will lead to nearly instant death, so don't even think about tasting it."
"I wasn't planning on tasting it." Amaryllis said, though it was nice to know that the root would basically kill whoever tasted it, meaning that she now understood what Astrid had told her not a couple of moments ago, where she turned towards the Sanctuary's entrance and prepared to leave, before something else came to mind and caused her to stop in her tracks, so she could turn to look back at Astrid for a few seconds, "Is there anything else I need to know before I set off?"
"It took all the favors, bribes, and blackmails I could muster, but I've secured your exit out of the keep." Astrid said, her tone revealing that the reason she had been busy lately was because she was making it possible for her to get away from Solitude when the deed was done, meaning Amaund must have known that was where the Emperor would have visited the next time he came to Skyrim, before she focused on her, "Just follow my instructions, and the Dark Brotherhood will be back on top, and its all thanks to you... Listener."
Amaryllis wasn't all that surprised to hear that Astrid was using her title, as she was the Listener and that seemed to be what some of her Family members called her, and the same was true for the previous holders of this position, which she knew from what was written in Cicero's set of journals, but she nodded her head in understanding and headed outside, as she knew that it was time to return to Solitude and take out her final target. The instant she was outside she paused for a few seconds as she pulled out the Jarrin Root pouch, staring at the deadly object, before using her magic to break part of it off, leaving the larger whole for her to use at some point in time, as she figured that a small sample would be enough to administer what Astrid told her about, before she put everything away and focused on her mission. In that moment she took to the air and headed to the northwest, though this time around Shadowmere surprised her, as in it appeared that he was not in his pool this time around, rather he appeared to be somewhere else no doubt minding his own business and doing whatever a demonic horse did when he wasn't being ridden. She was fine with that, as she really didn't need to ride the horse to Solitude and knew that he deserved to do whatever he wanted when he wasn't needed, so she focused on the path she was following right now and made sure she was where no one would notice her, but one thing Amaryllis did notice was that ten minutes later, when she reached the steep hill she had walked up once in the past, she spotted an imperial caravan heading in the direction of Falkreath. Based on what she saw it appeared that the Legion was sending soldiers to reinforce the area, and possibly take control of one of the forts that were scattered throughout this area, in fact they could be heading to retake Helgen and restore it to it's former glory, so she paid no attention to them as she flew in the direction of Solitude.
While she headed towards Solitude, and the final contract that Amaund had hired them to do, Amaryllis discovered that there weren't many people out at the moment, as it was early in the morning and it was around the time that most of the residents of the land ate breakfast in, which meant that it would be a few hours before noon when she finally reached her destination and landed somewhere safe. Based on everything she had seen in Solitude, during the last couple of visits, she decided that she could spend an hour or two making sure the route that Astrid had told her about was free and that there was nothing that would block her from escaping the city once the Emperor was dead, just to be sure she didn't have to chance her escape route at the last minute. It was better to be safe than sorry, especially with how unfamiliar she was about certain areas of the land, something that she needed to do at some point in the future, so she was sure that Astrid and the others would forgive her for taking some time to get herself ready for the actual event, especially since she would have to visit the city in one disguise, explore the place to make sure everything was in order, leave once she completed her own investigations, and then enter the city as Balagog gro-Nolob so she could tackle the contract. She was sure that a few of Solitude's residents were going to be surprised by that when she eventually did it, an Orc that was dressed up in nice clothing and talked well, since everyone seemed to think they were savages or something, but she would deal with that when it was time to actually kill the Emperor.
It took her roughly a hour and ten minutes to reach the city, where she landed near the entrance she had used when she came here to kill Vittoria Vici, made sure no one was watching her, and shifted into the form of a visiting traveler, as one of the things she had gathered in the past was that none of the guards for the various cities seemed to care that much about people who presented themselves as travelers, before heading up the stairs on the other side of the door. Once she was inside Solitude, and took to the streets once more, she looked up above her and spotted the stone bridge that she had used to hide out on when she killed Gaius Maro, to make sure someone found the false evidence she had planted on him, though as she moved from the area she did find that there was no on guarding the bridge, either thanks to what Astrid had done or it was one of those places the guards didn't care about. In the end she decided that it really didn't matter to her, because if it happened to be the bridge that Astird had been referring to, like Amaryllis thought, than there would be no one guarding the area when the Emperor died, so that allowed her to turn her attention to the rest of the city as she made sure there weren't any obstacles that would prevent her from leaving the area once the deed was done. What she quickly discovered, on the other hand, was the fact that there was nothing that looked like it would hinder her escape once she headed inside Castle Dour, meaning that her exit from the city would be quite easy once she slipped the Emperor the poisoned dish that would be looked up inside the castle, but she did found Commander Maro standing near the entrance of the building in question and a pair of Penitus Oculatus guards that happened to be standing near the arch near the structure that served as the Legion's headquarters.
The two guards just so happened to be discussing their unease about the situation, despite the fact that they found out about the 'plot' to kill the Emperor and even talked about Commander Maro, where one seemed unsure if the man was even fit for duty, after what happened to his son, while the other declared that he was going to pretend that he didn't hear that, as the Commander was the best operative that the Penitus Oculatus had ever produced, but other than that it looked like neither of them had anything interesting for her to overhear, causing her to move on.
As such Amaryllis spent a good portion of the time chilling out as she explored the city, making sure to take in all of Solitude before noon arrived, and when it drew closer to the time that the next meal would be served she headed back down to the dock area by the way she entered the city, only to head back around to where the entrance was, though while she did that she assumed the form of Balagog gro-Nolob and readied herself for what she was about to do. The guards did seem surprised when she approached the city and walked through the gates, clearly showing that many of them were caught off guard by an Orc that wasn't armed to the teeth and seemed more like a gentleman than a warrior, but none of them came after her and that was good in her books. Even the residents of Solitude seemed a tad bit surprised as well as they saw her, telling Amaryllis that there had to be a small percentage of Orcs that weren't wild warriors and were sort of like what the Gourmet had been, though she turned her focus away from that as she headed up the ramp that would take her right back to where Commander Maro was waiting for someone to arrive, even if he had no idea who that someone was supposed to be. She still felt that it was rather foolish for the Penitus Oculatus to have only a single person that knew the true identity of the legendary chef, because she would have made sure that all of the highest ranking members of the security force knew that piece of information, that way if one of them died another could take their place and ensure that the Emperor was safe from danger, though now it was going to cost them dearly.
"Stop right there." Commander Maro said, stopping Amaryllis in her tracks, where she knew that he was just doing his job and didn't look annoyed, rather she made it seem like she was obeying his orders and was patiently waiting for him to finish talking before she said anything, though she was ready to pull out the Writ of Passage and get this over with, before someone who knew Balagog interrupted them, "The tower is off limits until further notice."
"Here, I'm sure you'll find that everything is in order." Amaryllis replied, where she pulled out the piece of parchment and handed it over to the Commander, who raised his eyebrow the moment he noticed it, telling her that he had known to expect something like this, while keeping most of his expressions under control, preventing her from knowing if something was wrong or if he knew something that he shouldn't.
"What's this now? ...order of his eminence... possessor of these papers... the 'Gourmet'..." Commander Maro said, as he was reading the lines that Amaryllis had seen when she first opened the piece of parchment earlier, to verify that it was what she was looking for, before he folded the note in half as a look of shock appeared on his face, meaning he now knew who was standing before him, "By Azura! Your the Gourmet! I... I'm sorry! I didn't realize! We... we had no idea who to expect, you understand. You're not dressed as I would have suspected... but please, don't let me keep you. Proceed to the kitchens straight away. Gianna, the castle chef, has been eagerly awaiting your arrival... and a word of warning, she's likely to freak out once you enter the kitchens, as she's a fan of your work and this is the most excited day of her entire life, or that is what she told me earlier."
"Well then, I had better tend to the Emperor and his meal, and one of my fans." Amaryllis stated, where she put a smile on her face, to show that Balagog was happy about the opportunity to cook for the Emperor, though once that was done she headed through the door that Commander Maro was standing in front of and headed into the tower, though she knew that she wouldn't be leaving this building the same way she entered it.
As she walked inside the building she found that there was an odd throne in the middle of the room that was right in front of her, while off to her right sat the stairs that lead to the second floor and to her left rested the passage that took her right to the kitchen, where she found a female Imperial chef cooking something in the iron pot in the middle of the room, but Amaryllis levitated one of the chef hats over to her before the chef even noticed that she was there.
"Not another delivery." Gianna moaned, informing Amaryllis that she must have been bothered by people all day long about supplies for the kitchen, no doubt because they wanted to make sure they had everything they could possibly need for the Emperor's meal, and she did look up for a moment to stare at her, "I told you people, our stocks are fine. Now put whatever you have over there, then get out!"
"You misunderstand, Gianna, for I am not here to deliver ingredients, rather, I am here to deliver the finest meal that the Emperor has ever tasted." Amaryllis replied, where she lifted her hands and slipped the chef hat onto her head, as she knew that most chefs seemed to prefer having onto the hat to let others know what they were, before she focused on the lady once more and braced herself for the next part of the assignment, "For I am... the Gourmet!"
"The... Gourmet?!" Gianna nearly exclaimed, as her grip on her spoon faltered for a moment as she realized who had to be standing in front of her at the moment, even if this was as close as she was ever going to get to the Gourmet, and that even put a smile on her face at the same time, "Oh! Finally! When I heard the Gourmet was being brought in to cook for the Emperor, I could hardly believe it. It's just..."
"Yes? What seems to be the problem?" Amaryllis asked, making it sound like she was concerned about something, but even as she did that she could have sworn that she felt a bit of worry coming from someone in the building, though right now it was small and wasn't worth pausing to investigate, not when she was in the middle of the most important contract of her entire career as an assassin.
"It's just... well, forgive me for laughing... but you're an Orc!" Gianna stated, where she proceeded to laugh for a couple of seconds, informing Amaryllis that the idea of an Orc being the world famous Gourmet would cause anyone that heard it to either laugh at her or laugh at whoever told them that information, before she finally stopped, "If the people of the Empire only knew! I mean, now I understand your need for secrecy. Most would..."
"We can continue this later, once the Emperor has been tended to!" Amaryllis replied, where she made it look like she was ready for whatever the Emperor had asked them to prepare, because while she might not actually have the skills of a master chef she did know the recipes that were in the cookbook, so unless the Emperor arranged for something that only the Gourmet knew about, a secret recipe or something, she and Gianna could prepare any of the dishes and make sure things were as good as they could be, "After all, the Gourmet is here to cook! Let us begin!"
"Yes, but of course. The Emperor has requested your signature dish, the Potage le Magnifique." Gianna replied, something that informed Amaryllis that it was a good thing she had read the cookbook and could tell someone what all of the recipes were, as this was one of the more interesting dishes that had caught her eye, before the chef beckoned to the pot that she had been working on, "I've taken the liberty of getting it started, but the cookbook only says so much, and everyone makes the Potage differently. I would be honored if we could make it... the Gourmet's special way. The base broth is already boiled. We can get started right now... so, um... which ingredient should I add next?"
Amaryllis knew from her reading that the Potage required four cups of chicken broth, four cups of beef broth, two and a half ounces of butter, one wooden flagon filled with flour, one cup of diced carrots, and half a cup of diced onions, as that made the base broth in no time, but from there the rest of the dish was a complete mystery, as the Gourmet never wrote down the rest of the recipe, at least in the book anyway, though a quick scan of the ingredients revealed some interesting choices for her to pick from as she maintained her disguise.
"You must take a sweetroll and dice it." Amaryllis stated, because the pastries were quite tasty and knew that there was a chance that the flavor of the snack would transfer to the rest of the dish, especially since there wouldn't be any trace of it left once the pieces were added to the broth, and there just so happened to be a few of them in the room that she and Gianna were standing in.
"Ooohh.... how decadent. I never would have guessed you'd use them like that." Gianna said, where she quickly stepped away where the iron pot was located and collected one of the sweetrolls that were resting on a nearby shelf, though when she returned to her work place she followed Amaryllis' instructions, as in she used the nearby dagger and diced the snack into smaller chunks, like she would do to some of the other ingredients, before adding them to the Potage's broth as she glanced at Amaryllis once more, "Okay, what next?"
"Next, you need to add an ounce of vampire dust." Amaryllis replied, because while she could have used mead, like some of the other chefs would have suspected, or use something outrageous, like one of those weird eggs that happened to be sitting on the nearby shelf, she felt that the containers of vampire dust were the best bet, especially since the flavor would be covered by everything else.
"Vampire dust? Seriously? Hmm... yes. I guess I can see how that would add a more... earthy texture." Gianna stated, as it was clear that it was an odd decision, like Amaryllis thought it might be, though that was when she walked over to where the containers of the dust were located and stared at them for a second or two, before she measured out the amount that Amaryllis had told her and added it to the Potage, "And, oddly enough, we do have some on hand... All right. What do you add after that?"
"You need to take one nirnroot and dice it." Amaryllis said, though as she said that she felt the wave of worry that she had felt earlier return, but unlike the last time she had noticed that it was coming from the level that was above them and, unless she was misreading things, it seemed to be coming from the area that the Emperor was in, which made her wonder why he would be worried about something, especially if the Penitus Oculatus had told him that the assassination plot had been discovered and that he was safe for the foreseeable future.
"Really? Oh, I use nirnroot as a special seasoning all the time as well. What a wonderful idea." Gianna commented, as she moved the moment she started speaking, getting the ingredient that Amaryllis had told her about and returned to the pot, where she quickly followed the instructions she had been given and added the diced nirnroot to the Potage, before she looked up from the pot once more, "Okay, the diced nirnroot has been added. What would you add next... Am I doing something wrong?"
"No, you're doing a wonderful job." Amaryllis replied, as she must have been lost in thought about the meaning of the odd wave of worry, which was accompanied by doubt and a sense of despair, all signs that made her wonder if she might be dealing with a decoy or something, which would actually be the smart move when she thought about it, but she had to continue with this and see if she was overthinking what she was feeling, "The next ingredient you need to add is a cup of horker meat, finely diced like everything else."
"Hmmm... horker. So delicious." Gianna said, a smile appearing on her face as she quickly collected the strip of meat that was hanging nearby, where she took out a finer dagger, an elven one, and cut the mean like Amaryllis instructed, and once that motion was done she added all of it to the Potage and stirred it, "I swear, is there a soul alive who doesn't enjoy the taste of... sorry, I didn't mean to get carried away. There we go, one cup of diced horker meat, exactly as you instructed. I have to say, the stew seems done. Add anything else, and we may dilute the distinct flavors. So... is that it?"
"First, we taste it to be sure the flavor is correct." Amaryllis stated, as the chefs in Canterlot, whenever she watched them do their jobs, did take a small taste of what they were making, just to be absolutely sure that the flavors were right and that nothing had gone wrong, and it appeared that Gianna agreed with her, where she handed her a clean spoon and they took a small sample of the Potage, where she smiled, "Behold, the Gourmet's Potage le Magnifique. There is one final ingredient we must add, one that I carry on me in case I need to prepare this. Here, add this to the Potage."
"Oh? What is this, some kind of herb?" Gianna inquired, where she watched as Amaryllis pulled out the small pouch that contained the Jarrin Root and extracted the smaller piece of the root from the container in question, which was when she carefully handed it over to the chef, who looked at it in surprise for a moment, before looking up at her once more, "Are you sure? The Potage tastes perfect as it is, and adding another ingredient might ruin the entire dish."
"Now, now, Gianna. Who's the Gourmet here?" Amaryllis inquired in kind, because while she knew that adding Jarrin Root to the dish would kill anyone that tasted it, like it was supposed to do, she also knew that Gianna revered the person she was pretending to be and that she would probably listen to the majority of what she said, especially since she had likely been ordered to follow the instructions of the Gourmet.
"Heh, I'm sorry. Of course, it's your most famous recipe, so I shouldn't be questioning you." Gianna said, where she cut the fragment of the root up and added the now diced Jarrin Root to the Potage, which was when she continued to stir the pot for a moment or two, even though Amaryllis hated the fact that she actually ruined the dish, as it had been beyond delicious and she made sure to note her modifications in her mind, for the future, "All right then, your secret ingredient's been added. And if I may say so... it has been an honor, getting a chance to prepare a meal with, well... the best chef in the entire Empire. Listen, I'll carry the stew pot when we're ready to serve the Emperor, and I'll lead the way up to the dining room as well. I'm sure the Emperor and his guests are dying to meet you."
Amaryllis nodded her head and watched Gianna make sure the Potage was complete, without tasting it, as that would have ruined the entire operation if the chef killed herself tasting the dish now that the Jarrin Root had been added, but as she did that she kept checking the source of the emotions she was feeling since her arrival, the odd waves of worry and doubt, and knew they had to be coming from the Emperor. She still wasn't sure why she was feeling all of this, from the person who was supposed to know that the plot had been foiled and should be at peace, though she was really hoping that this wasn't a decoy or something, as that would also ruin the entire operation and would pretty much force her and her Family to come up with a new idea to kill their target. When she thought about that, however, Gianna announced that she was ready to move and carefully poured the Potage into a handheld iron pot for a few seconds, a pot that would allow her to use the handle and carry the dish up to the Emperor, and once that was done she started to walk out of the kitchen and headed for the stairs that would take her upstairs. Amaryllis followed after her, keeping silent as the chef repeated herself, about how it was an honor for her to cook alongside the Gourmet and that she was hoping to get her cookbook signed once this was all over, though all she did was nod her head and make it look like she was focused on the Emperor and his meal, even though she was also focused on the emotions she was feeling.
"But aren't you the least bit nervous?" Amaryllis heard someone asked, just as she and Gianna neared the top of the stairs, though from what she could tell the voice belonged to a lady, a noblewoman who must have called to the tower by the Emperor or his guards, no doubt someone who the Emperor wanted to talk to before he left Skyrim, once his visit was complete, "After everything that's happened?"
"You're referring to the wedding, and my cousin's apparent murder?" a second voice said, though this time Amaryllis determined that it had to be the Emperor, based on what had just been said, but even as that happened she could tell that the leader of the Empire, despite sounding confident and didn't seem to be nervous, felt incredibly nervous for some odd reason, which did make Amaryllis a tad bit nervous since she couldn't figure out what was happening, "An unfortunate misunderstanding, nothing more. Cold mead, hot tempers... these things happen all the time."
"Quite. Yet there was that recent business with the young officer." a nobleman added, indicating that someone knew about the assassination plot that the rest of Amaryllis' Family had come up with, the false one to lure the Emperor and his guards into a false sense of security, which actually seemed to work better than she originally thought it would, "Maro, was it? How dreadful. The son of your commander, plotting your assassination with one of the Stormcloaks!"
"Yes, that was a rather unfortunate turn of events for Commander Maro, but it was an isolated incident. And I have been assured several times that the fault was with the man's son." the Emperor stated, though Amaryllis determined that her target seemed to be good at making things appear to be smaller or less significant than what they actually were, but she still felt worry coming from him, meaning that something was off, "Truth is, we are in no danger whatsoever. Killing an Emperor can be useful, but befriending one? Now that's beneficial... as I'm sure you'd all agree."
It was in that moment that the Emperor's guests laughed at what he said, appearing to agree with his statement, but, at the same time, Amaryllis almost got the impression that they were putting on an act, as it seemed far too rehearsed for a simple dinner conversation, which really made her worried about what she was about to do, though that was when Gianna opened the door and she found the room had a few members of the Penitus Oculatus present, as well as two noblemen and one noblewoman, complete with an older Imperial gentleman that was at the head of the table... though his attire and headpiece revealed that he was, in fact, the Emperor!
"Aha! Here we are. Honored guests, I present to you, the Gourmet!" the Emperor excitedly said, where he beckoned to Amaryllis for a moment, where his guests turned and looked at her for a few seconds, as they were surprised to find that the Gourmet was an Orc, like everyone else she had encountered so far, before they nodded their heads and focused their attention on the meal that was going to be served, just as Gianna approached the Emperor, "Ah, the Potage le Magnifique. So delicious. My friends, as emperor, I of course reserve the right of first taste."
In that moment Amaryllis watched as Gianna started to serve the Emperor, though at the same time she noticed a few things as the nobles laughed at what the man said, as most of the guards were focused on her, with one of them keeping his attention on the Emperor, and the short bit of laughter from the nobles, once again, seemed like it had been rehearsed before her arrival, but the biggest red flag was the seemingly crippling despair that was coming from the Emperor, almost like he knew what was going to happen and was afraid that he was going to fail, all without revealing any of this to either of the chefs, his guests, or even the guards as he sampled the Potage.
"Oh... Oh how marvelous. Just delicious. It is everything I had hoped it would be." the Emperor exclaimed, almost like he was putting on a show or something, though in that moment, just before the Jarrin Root started to affect him, Amaryllis confirmed that he was acting, indicating that he had known about this entire thing ahead of time and must have known that when the Gourmet showed up his life was over, "It... I... I think something's... wrong... I..."
In that moment the Emperor perished right in front of Amaryllis' eyes, like his heart had given out on him, though while all of the guests seemed to be shocked by this turn of events, like someone would expect if another person happened to die in front of them like this, she had another confirmation that they were acting, as one of the guests appeared to be excited about something, and the guards moved not even a second after the false Emperor expired.
"By the gods! The Gourmet and the chef have poisoned the Emperor! Get them!" one of the guards stated, as it came from one of the Penitus Oculatus that were around them, though his tone was another confirmation that this was something they had been anticipating and that all of them were ready to move the instant the order was given, confirming Amaryllis' suspicions that she had walked into a trap and that she would need to flee immediately, so she could return to the rest of her Family and inform them of the news, as this ruined the entire operation.
"What? No! No, you don't understand! There's been some kind of mistake! I... Aggghhh!" Gianna replied, though while she was frightened over what was happening, and the fact that one of the guards arrested her instantly and caused her to drop the pot she was carrying, Amaryllis used a spell she hadn't tried to use since her arrival, where a light smokescreen erupted in the room, allowing her to revert to her true form as she headed through the door that was on the other side of the room from where she entered, leaving the guards to chase the 'Gourmet' elsewhere.
As she headed outside, and made sure that her assassin attire was out as she discarded the chefs hat, Amaryllis knew that someone must have found out about the plot and shared it with the Penitus Oculatus, where she was sure that it wasn't Cicero since he was too devoted to do something like this, but she didn't have too much time to think about it as she came to a stop, in the middle of the bridge, as she heard some clapping and discovered three members of the Penitus Oculatus emerging from the tower in front of her, blocking the way down to the ground floor, and Commander Maro appeared on the level above them.
"That man was, by far, the most insufferable decoy the Emperor has ever employed." Commander Maro stated, and all three of the guards nodded their heads in agreement, showing Amaryllis that none of the people in front of her liked the person that the Emperor had picked as his decoy, but she remained silent as he talked, as it allowed her to gain some bits of information before she left the city, "Personally, I'm glad that man's dead, but I'm even happier that you killed him. You, an assassin from the Dark Brotherhood, have just made an attempt on the Emperor's life... would have succeeded, had it been the real man."
"So I gathered." Amaryllis replied, though at the same time she made herself seem more menacing to the three men that were in front of her, the ones that would attack her once their Commander was done talking, as she was looking for an opening that she could exploit and use to transform into one of the guards, mostly force them to attack each other and kill their own allies, that way, when she was the last one standing, she could stab Maro in the back and get out of here, or if he fled she could confuse them and depart before his soldiers killed her.
"I take it you're surprised by all of this." Commander Maro said, apparently not even listening to what Amaryllis had just said, in fact his soldiers seemed to be listening to him and were ignoring her, which was why she decided to stop and listen to him, as what he was saying was the key to understanding what was going on right now, "So was I, when a member of your precious 'Family' came to me with the plan. We worked out a deal, you see, an exchange of sorts: I get you, and the Dark Brotherhood gets to continue its existence with it's head held high after killing the Emperor. But you know what? I've changed my mind. How about this? I kill you, and butcher each and every one of your miserable friends? Your Sanctuary's being put to the sword right now. That's what I think of this 'deal'. You killed my son and ruined his name! And now you'll pay the price for your crimes! Kill her, and make sure there's nothing left for you to bury."
With his orders given Commander Maro departed from the area and descended to the base of the tower, though at the same time his soldiers charged at Amaryllis with every intention of killing her to appease their leader, and possibly rise a rank or two in the process, hence the reason two of them were coming with their swords drawn and the other was at the back of the pack with a bow at the ready. As such she pulled out Mehrunes' Razor and parried the incoming attack, before pulling out the other dagger that she had, the weapon she had been using for her assassinations so far, and did the same thing a second time, allowing her to push back the two soldiers that had come at her, before she moved out of the way and avoided the arrow that was coming her way from the archer. When the two soldiers came at her again, however, she loosed a small smokescreen again and shifted her form into that of one of the Penitus Oculatus, and made sure to cover her weapons as well, so that she and the two sword wielding guards looked identical, causing them to pause in shock for a few seconds, because they weren't sure who was who at the moment, and even the archer was confused. Once the three of them stopped being confused they lashed out at each other as Amaryllis joined them, where the archer loosed an arrow into one of the sword wielders, who cut into his friend as he was cut down, leaving Amaryllis to finish off the other guard and then rush the archer, where she sliced open his neck and all three of them fell to the ground.
As soon as she determined that all three of them were dead, and none of them were getting back up, she sheathed her daggers and headed down the steps of the tower, where she noticed that Commander Maro was leaving the city and that none of the guards were even coming to investigate the tower, so she returned to the top and assumed her true form once more, though this time she headed towards the Sanctuary and flew as fast as she could, so she could stop her Family from being hurt by whoever betrayed them. As far as she knew the only one, in the entire Family, that could have made a deal with Commander Maro was Astrid, the one that recruited her into the Dark Brotherhood and gave her a place where she belonged, so while she didn't want to believe that Astrid was the one behind their plan failing her assumptions might be spot on, as much as she hated thinking that way. That was the reason she was racing through the air, where she would get to the Sanctuary in a shorter amount of time than what she would normally reach it in, all while making sure that her weapons were at the ready for when she landed, because if Commander Maro was telling the truth her Family was under attack and they were need her if there were an overwhelming number of soldiers attacking them.
It took her fifteen minutes to get over to where the Sanctuary was located, though as she did so Amaryllis discovered that the wagons she had seen earlier were resting on the area above the black door, with three soldiers lugging barrels of oil into the Sanctuary, to which she growled as she landed behind one of them and lashed out with the Razor, cutting the man down before he even knew what hit him, before jumping over the edge of the walkway and surprised the remaining two soldiers in the process, killing them before they even had a chance to draw their weapons.
"Okay, time to head inside an..." Amaryllis started to say, though as she turned towards the Black Door, so she could head into the Sanctuary and deal with the invaders, she found a body pinned to the tree that was near Shadowmere's pool of water, where she quickly discovered that Festus had been slain by the Penitus Oculatus and had twenty arrows sticking out of his body, only for her to growl as she saw that, "and kill those bastards!"
With that said she headed through the black door and descended down the stairs, where she discovered that there was smoke inside the tunnel, meaning the Penitus Oculatus had set fire to the Sanctuary some time ago, and she found a dead soldier at the end of the stairs, before pausing as she heard two more soldiers discussing who the rat had been and found that neither of them cared, since it meant the end of the Dark Brotherhood. As soon as she heard that she stepped down into the area that the two soldiers were standing in, where they reacted slowly to the fact that she was even there, once more thanks to the enchantments on her armor, and the first soldier fell rather quicker, as he didn't have any time to draw his weapons before she cut him down. The second one was able to guard himself for a moment, thanks to the fact that he was able to draw his sword while she took down his partner, but his parry failed during her next attack, as she was pissed off at what was going on and lashed out accordingly, letting the Razor cut into her foe's chest and kill him, before she noticed that there were a few other dead soldiers around her, both in this room and Astrid's room, but she found that the leader of her Family was missing and it appeared that the red gem she had had been stolen. The Penitus Oculatus was in the middle of torching the room as well, informing Amaryllis that they were destroying everything inside the Sanctuary, and when she emerged from the room once more she found the corpse of Veezara near the stairs that would take her to the main chamber, stripped of all his clothing and weapons, no doubt by one of the soldiers, which caused her to growl as she headed down the stairs as she kept an eye out for any survivors.
In the main chamber she found three more soldiers chasing after Arnbjorn, who was in his werewolf form and was racking his claws on his foes, but the arrows that were sticking out of his chest informed her of the fact that they had hurt him and that he might collapse soon, which was why she rushed forward, moving through the flames, and cut down the soldier that decided to attack her brother from his backside. She wasn't sure if, in his beast-like state, if Arnbjorn even realized she was there and that she was helping him, though that didn't stop him from slashing one of the soldiers across his chest and then knocked him into the wall, killing him either way, allowing Amaryllis to focus on the other foe that was trying to rush her brother. As soon as the third soldier was dead, however, Arnbjorn seemed to calm down and huffed for a moment or two, in the sense that he was more wounded than what she thought, before he faced her and rested a clawed hand on her shoulder, with what she had to assume was a smile on his face, only for him to beckon to the rest of the chambers that were in their Sanctuary. She had to assume that he was telling her where the rest of the Family was located, defending themselves against the enemies that were trying to kill them, before he fell to the side and collapsed on the ground, where she found that he must have been using the last bits of his energy to kill the invaders and had taken too much damage in the process, leading to his death. From there she headed up to the area that Babette and Gabriella worked in, to make their poisons and enchant their weapons, and found that the stone slab that served as the table was cracked in half, where she discovered that Gabriella was laying on the fragments with a content smile on her face, meaning this might have been the death she saw for herself, and that Liz, the frostbite spider, had been killed as well, while Babette was no where to be seen as she headed into the eating area.
It was then that she found Nazir fighting one of the soldiers, maybe one of the commanding officers of this branch of the Penitus Oculatus, and it seemed that they were in a stalemate with each other, but that didn't stop Amaryllis from heading up there and plunging her daggers into his back, allowing Nazir to behead the soldier with ease, so they could pause for a moment as Nazir realized that she was there.
"So you are alive!" Nazir stated, his tone revealing that he had been worried about her since this attack started, even if he and the others had a good idea of the sort of skills she had access to, though at the same time he coughed for a few seconds, which was understandable thanks to the flames and the smoke that was currently filling the Sanctuary, "To be honest, with what we have been dealing with for the last hour or so, I was starting to wonder if something had happened to you as well."
"I'm sure that you know this by now, but the trip to Solitude was a trap." Amaryllis replied, though this was a bad turn of events, because right now it seemed like it was her and Nazir that were the only survivors of this attack, as it was hard to tell if Babette had been here during the attack or if she had been somewhere else when this happened, but she was sure that the ancient vampire wouldn't have been taken out that quickly, especially given her young appearance and how all of her clients acted when she tracked them down.
"Considering that most of us are now dead, I figured that was the case." Nazir remarked, where Amaryllis discovered that, despite the situation that they were in and the flames that were dancing around them, that he still had the same attitude before she became the Listener, before he raised his spare hand for a moment, "And before you ask, no, I never even considered you as a suspect, not with how determined you were to help the Family grow and expand... but still, thanks for coming back and saving my sorry hide."
"No problem, though we can talk about this later." Amaryllis said, where she pulled her daggers out of the soldier they were embedded in and turned towards the open door that was near them, as it seemed to be the only way forward at the moment, due to the fact that the way she came from had collapsed thanks to the fire and the fact that the Sanctuary was shaking every now and then.
"You've got that right, since it's only a matter of time before we're either roasted alive or crushed by rocks." Nazir said, his tone revealing that he agreed with what she was saying, as he moved his arm and got the blood off his weapon, before he turned towards the door that she happened to be staring at, because he knew that they were running out of ways to leave the Sanctuary at this point in time, "Come on, let's get out of here!"
Listener. I am your only salvation. Amaryllis heard the Night Mother say, showing that she could hear the Unholy Matron's voice if she was in a specific range of the coffin, though at the same time it appeared that the way forward would take them right to the room that the coffin was in, where she knew at least one soldier was hanging out, who would have to die before they did anything else, Come. Embrace me.
Amaryllis lead the way to the Night Mother's coffin, where she and Nazir found the last soldier of the Penitus Oculatus standing in the middle of the chamber that she was heading towards, which was where they cut down the soldier before he even had a chance to lash out at them, but with the chamber's second entrance blocked, and the other tunnels were sealed by pieces of the ceiling, she knew she only had one option... she sheathed her weapons and charged into the coffin that the Night Mother was inside, using her momentum to tip it forward and break the glass behind it, even though the metal door closed behind her and she heard the sound of the coffin hitting the water.
Sleep. the Night Mother commanded, no doubt intending for this to be a way to Amaryllis to wait out the flames that were currently eating away at the Sanctuary, while at the same time she heard the sound of Nazir jumping into the water, meaning that he would be safe for the foreseeable future, which was a good thing to hear, especially since most of their Family had been killed.
In the end Amaryllis felt herself drift off, even though she wasn't tired at all, before she fell asleep and left everything in Nazir's hands, as she had the feeling that he would be able to get things back in order by the time she woke up, and then they would see if there was the possibility of them taking another stab at the contract, before the Emperor departed from Skyrim and slipped beyond their grasp.