The addition of Tosh Raka and his fleet, an unexpected arrival and a very welcome addition to their forces, provided Za'kera with the means to protect Cyrodiil from the Dominion's forces, while opening the way for her to send some to investigate the north, where the Adamantine Tower rested. She wanted to know if the Dominion was setting up their forces in the area, as while her current target was the Summerset Isles, as they were going to tear the headquarters of the Dominion down, there was the matter of the Tower that the Numidium was going to be used on. In addition to that Tosh Raka reported that his fleet had burned down all sorts of Dominion ships on their way to Anvil, stopping them from invading the other provinces to the south, earning them some points in her eyes, since they didn't have to worry about their enemies finding out for some time. Many of their allies had to agree that this was a good thing for them, as the more time the Dominion was in the dark about what was going on right now, with the fleet being destroyed and Cyrodiil being retaken, the more time they could spend gathering the forces of Tamriel and preparing for their forces for the final stage of their war, which they were far from setting in motion.
All of his accomplishments earned Tosh Raka a place at the war table, in fact Za'kera insisted because he was so formidable and didn't want to insult him by suggesting he wasn't worthy of a seat with her and her allies, and he showed due respect to the godly children that were in the room as well.
"With Skyrim and Cyrodiil under your control, with Akavir and Pyandonea as allies, it is time that you figure out where the rest of the provinces stand," Tosh Raka commented, as he was staring at the magical version of the map that Ma'jera had made for them to look at while they talked, a good way to visualize the movements of their forces and what had to be done to decrease the Dominion's control over Tamriel, "which means we'll need to send messengers to Morrowind, Black Marsh, Elsweyr, Valenwood, Hammerfell, and High Rock, to see whose on our side and who we'll need to crush with the might of our armies. Based on what you've told us so far we might have some allies in Morrowind, thanks to the Houses you helped back on Solstheim, but the other provinces are still unknown to us."
"That's correct, so I'll send some messengers to deliver the news to the other provinces," Za'kera stated, as she had been talking about this very thing with the Elder Council, because they had known about the political state of the Empire and the rest of the provinces of Tamriel, allowing her to figure out who to send messengers to and who to avoid for the time being, hence why she beckoned to the map, "According to our information, High Rock is still a province of the Empire, as in they haven't been bothered by the Dominion's forces yet... or at least we hope so... while Hammerfell seceded due to the treaty that is no longer in effect, so those two I'll send messengers to. Depending on how their rulers react to this news, whether good or bad, we might either have new allies or we might have additional enemies, seeking to claim the throne of the Empire for themselves, but that leaves the other provinces up for debate. The Great Houses should unite most, if not all of Morrowind, under their banners and ally themselves with us, though I'll send someone to double check anyway, just to be sure, while someone will need to head into Black Marsh to figure out where they stand."
"I'm guessing you don't want to talk with Elsweyr or Valenwood yet, because one's allied with the Dominion and the other is in the air?" Zoravoir asked, as they all knew the tale of how the Dominion 'restored' the moons and earned the favor of the Khajiit in the progress, of which Ma'jera was certain that it was a lie, a trick, while everyone else listened to what they had to say on the matter.
"That's right. From what we know, the people of Elsweyr have been tricked into helping the Dominion, while we have no idea where the people of Valenwood stand on the matter," Za'kera said, where she leaned back in her chair for a moment, as being the Empress of an entire Empire was more exhausting than she originally believed it to be, but at least she would be ready for the final battle, whenever it arrived, before she focused on the meeting once more, "For now, we should send messengers to Hammerfell, High Rock, Morrowind, and Black Marsh... once we know where they stand, we'll have a better idea of what to do next."
"Oh, I can help with that!" a voice stated, where they found Kya, who had been itching for something to do and had gotten into a fight with Tosh Raka's guards once the group returned to the Imperial City, a fight she had won, which caused the war leader to roar with laughter when he witnessed it happen, raising her hand, "I was born in Black Marsh, spent a good deal of time exploring it, before I left to find some fun, so I should be able to find the leader and deliver a message to whoever it might be."
Amaryllis could tell that there was more to the story than what they were hearing, she could feel it with her powers, and Za'kera tilted her head a little, towards her no less, no doubt asking her to make sure Kya stayed focused on the task and not get carried away with her desire for fun. It would be interesting, heading into another province to find someone that was in charge of the people that called Black Marsh home, though the part that worried her was the portion that Kya was keeping a secret from them, hence why Za'kera wanted her to go with the Argonian. Both of them were concerned that there might be a reason behind Kya's appearance in Skyrim, that her Sheogorath induced insanity, the desire to spill blood and bring death to the land, had caused her to be banished from Black Marsh, and if that was the case she was going to be in trouble if she returned to her homeland. If that was the case it meant that whoever captured her would ignore the message and either cage her, try to rehabilitate her, or outright execute her without reading the message, which was part of the reason that Za'kera wanted Amaryllis to go along and make sure the mission was a success.
As she thought about that, however, Amaryllis remained silent and waited for the meeting to be over, as there was more for them to discuss before the messengers were sent out with their messages, all while wondering what was going to happen to them when they tried to enter Black Marsh.
In the morning, with the messages readied, Za'kera handed one to Kya, who, in a moment of good decision, handed it over to Amaryllis for safe keeping, before straightening her scythe on her back and bowed her head for a few moments, just like her escort did without delay. As much as Amaryllis wanted to stay beside Za'kera, to keep her safe, she knew that the rest of the city would do anything and everything to keep her safe, so for the time being she stepped away from her role as the Empress' shadowy and silent bodyguard, taking up the role of Kya's keeper. Of course Za'kera repeated what she had said the day before, that this was for the eyes of the one who ruled over Black Marsh, be it a ruler or a new council, as Kya's memory might be false since it had been some time since her last visit, just to make sure the Argonian understood her orders. That was another reason behind why Amaryllis had been chosen for this mission, as she could keep Kya in line and make sure she didn't go crazy, though time would tell if she was capable of that, but she kept her thoughts to herself as she acknowledged the order to deliver the message to Black Marsh's leader.
Once everything was said and done Amaryllis climbed on Shadowmere as Kya climbed onto her own horse, one that had been provided by the stables and bared the marking of the Empire, so those in Black Marsh would know them from afar, before making their way to the border between Cyrodiil and Black Marsh.
It took some time for them to reach their destination, which made sense due to the fact that the province in question was on the eastern side of Cyrodiil, though as they approached the treeline Amaryllis noticed something interesting, Kya got a bit nervous, while maintaining the air of someone who was in control. Such a thing was more than enough for Amaryllis to wonder if her and Za'kera's thoughts on Kya were true, that she was an exile, someone who had been banished in the past for some reason, and that she remembered that day quite well, so this had to be stressful for her. She had to assume that Kya must have slaughtered either innocents or someone important in her madness, given how the Argonian was acting at the moment, due to her emotions, before running from the area to avoid being captured by whoever might have chased after her. In that moment she wondered something new for once, as in where Kya had gotten her scythe, a weapon that was designed to reap through her enemies and send their souls to the afterlife, before thinking that maybe she had been a follower of Molag Bal, stealing it from one of his soldiers, yet the Prince of Domination's daughter hadn't said anything when she laid eyes on the odd weapon.
As they passed through the treeline, however, Kya paused for a few seconds before steeling herself and headed into Black Marsh, causing Amaryllis to keep an eye out for potential enemies, since she had no idea how they would react to Imperial messengers, other than the rumors that they expelled all outsiders, before she sensed something.
"We are being watched." Amaryllis commented, keeping her voice low so only Kya could hear her, who knew of her power to sense emotions and could figure out that she had noticed the arrival of someone else, or a group of someones, if her head was on straight anyway, only to find that the Argonian had nothing to say right now.
Based on her observations there were at least ten to fifteen observers, where she was a little surprised to discover that it took her this long to sense them, meaning they were either faster than she was right now or they were able to suppress their emotions, both options weren't that great in her mind. After a few more moments she held out a hand for a moment and came to a stop, causing Kya to do the same thing, before lowering her hand as she stared at the path in front of them, as someone was moving around with invisibility, trying to study them, and given that they were going to get the drop on her and Kya she silently switched her daggers for her swords. Not a few seconds later she found a figure emerging from the shadows in front of them, an Argonian with black scales, much like Kya, who was wearing black leather armor that was light and reminded her of what she wore when she first joined the Dark Brotherhood, and the figure was female, based on the form of their body. In addition to the one in front of them she discovered that the rest were a mix of Argonians and Lamias, like those found in Zoravoir's new realm, and each one seemed to possess scales that allowed them to blend in with the environment, a useful trait to make sure the enemies of Black Marsh were taken care of without being seen, or at least that was her thoughts on the matter.
Based on the fact that one of them was standing in front of them, and the others were lurking in the shadows, told her all she had to know, this Argonian had to be a commander or leader of some kind, though as she brought Shadowmere to a stop, as to avoid running over the figure, Kya did the same to her left, while her emotions were all over the place, which meant this was an important encounter.
"Skae... brother..." Kya said, where Amaryllis figured that she was abbreviating the Argonian's name, like how she did with her own name, though it also told her that something had happened in the past, her family member had been changed in some drastic manner since she was last here.
"My name is 'Death-From-Shadows' now, or 'Shadow' if you prefer... and it's 'sister' now, dear sister," the Argonian replied, something that told Amaryllis more than what was being said, as an event must have happened in the past and turned Kya's sibling into her new form, making her remember the tales about the Hist trees and the power of their sap, before she noticed that the figure had a pair of blades at the ready, swords to be exact, "Why have you come back, Kya? You do know the King and his council banished you all those years ago, and stated that you were to be killed if you dared to step foot in Black Marsh... in fact, the only reason your still breathing is because we were told a messenger would be arriving with the 'Black Hand'."
"One would assume that you're referring to Shadowmere, when you're actually talking about me." Amaryllis commented, where she climbed off her steed for a moment and stood in front of her companion, allowing the magic to wash over her body, as most of the time she made it look like she was just an ordinary traveler or assassin, instead of the Listener, and as her true armor returned she could tell that the scouts were taken aback by her true form, "Allow me to introduce myself: I am Amaryllis, Listener of the Dark Brotherhood, and Kya and I are on a mission for Empress Za'kera, as we are to deliver a message to your leader."
Shadow stared at her for a few moments, clearly debating what to do in this situation, before disappearing a second later, where Amaryllis remained still as she focused her mind and drew her blades the moment she was ready, parrying both of her opponent's blows before pushing her back, and as Shadow regained her footing Amaryllis vanished as well, only to reappear with the edge of her blade against the Argonian's throat.
"I have to admit, you're better than I thought you would be." Shadow said, where Amaryllis pulled her blades back as the Argonian beckoned to the others to stand down, though while she showed no reaction to nearly losing her life Amaryllis could tell that her emotions had been kicked up a notch and that they had been hidden from the others, "Very well, we'll take you to Helstrom, where our King and his council rule from, and see how they receive your message... it can't be any worse than what happened when the Dominion showed up."
Amaryllis returned to her steed and wondered what might have happened to the Altmer that tried to attack the province, before finding that the Argonians had their own steeds, dark furred mounts that could be hidden and didn't make a sound while they waited, and all of the Lamia didn't have any. She soon discovered the fate of the invaders as they passed by a place called Stormhold, which appeared to be where the Lamia of Shadow's group had come from, where she found that the members of the Dominion had been captured and put to work, either as slaves, to repay the past that the Argonians had been forced to endure, or as workers. Of course many of them had lost their black clothing, but the Lamia had done something nice and got them form fitting loincloths and cloth chest pieces, it was mostly to strip them of their former lives and former positions, before she noticed something odd, many had scales on their arms and legs, similar to those found on the Argonians and Lamia they were living with. Some even had a tail, an Argonian's tail, and they didn't seem disgusted by that fact, rather all of them seemed happy and in tune with the area that they were now living in, causing her to wonder if it was due to long term exposure to the Hist Trees and the sap that came from them, altering their minds and bodies in some manner, like what happened to Kya's former brother.
Shadow insisted on stopping for a few minutes, as the Lamia of her team had been pulled from Stormhold and she simply wanted to make sure that everything was fine before heading to Helstrom, allowing Amaryllis to glance around and see a few things, like how some of the buildings were made of stone, others were huts, and she was sure there was a cave for some to live in. Based on what she was seeing it looked like the Dominion was sending their agents to try and make some progress into claiming Black Marsh, in fact she was sure it had been happening for quite some time, as some of the Altmer had turned into Naga, their lower halves that of a snake, and one looked like she had a child on the way. The races of this land were integrating all of the invaders into their society, opening their minds to the rest of the world and changing them to fit the land they were now calling home, especially since one was admiring the claws that had replaced her feet, likely due to it happening a short while ago. It was strange seeing such upbeat Altmer, especially from the Dominion's forces, so it worried her a little, before noticing that some of the altered were training to join the guards that protected Black Marsh, to protect a place they originally came to conquer, and it meant that whatever they knew was likely known by the King of this vast province.
The new inhabitants were even friendly to them, even Kya for that matter, though Amaryllis had to smile, as it seemed like allying with Black Marsh would be a good thing for them, especially if the Argonians were able to overturn the invaders, so all she had to do was wait and see what happened when they spoke to the King of this province.