//------------------------------//
// War: Waiting in the Marsh 
// Story: Skyrim: The Faces of Death 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
//------------------------------//

After showing King Abiru that they we capable of capturing their enemies, instead of killing them, he insisted that they stay in the castle for a day or two, while he and his Council went over what Za'kera had sent him, meaning there was a good chance he might agree to see her or even reject her message. If the former happened Amaryllis had a feeling that he would come with them and bring a squad of his soldiers, plus some of his shadowy forces, to meet with Za'kera and the other rulers that were joining them in their fight to save this world from the Dominion. If the latter happened, however, she suspected that she would be the only one leaving, as there was no telling what Kya's fate might be, even though she had purged herself of the madness that had overtaken her in the past, but it would end with her delivering bad news to her Empress. The only good thing about Abiru declining, as she thought about it, was that he didn't seem interested in invading Cyrodiil, so they didn't have to worry about him stabbing them in the back while they focused on another province, so that was something she guessed.

While she waited to see what sort of answer the King would bring to the table, and what she needed to tell Za'kera, she found that Kya was in the courtyard of the castle, training with some of her father's guards, though instead of using her scythe it looked like she had taken up a trident. It was a reminder that she had been freed from Sheogorath's madness, or at least it sure looked like it since the Hist sap had purged something from within her body earlier, which her father stabbed with his own trident, and while Kya should be resting she apparently didn't want to stay still. From what she could see this was what the Argonian princess, or maybe ex-princess was more accurate since she had been banished by her father, was like before she was cursed with madness and this allowed her to at least reclaim who she once was, which also explained her skill with the scythe. As she thought about that she also wondered where the scythe had been kept before she stole it, as it seemed like something that should have been under lock and key for some time, possibly even forgotten, but figured there was no reason for her to delve into the mystery.

Being freed from the madness meant that Kya was no longer consumed by her desire for battle, rather she fought like a normal person would, study the situation and react accordingly, and her movements were finer than they had been not a few days ago, showing that she had been trained as a warrior princess, or at least it looked like that.

A few moments later they found that Abiru, armed with his trident, emerged and approached the area that Kya was in, to which his daughter and her sparring partner stopped before kneeling towards him, with their heads bowed, showing him and everyone else that she had been cured of her madness and that she was back. Amaryllis, who was watching with her back to one of the walls, found that he came here for a very specific reason, he wanted to spar with Kya and her partner backed off as soon as he informed them of his reason for coming here, to take a break from speaking to the council about the message Za'kera had sent. As soon as they were ready the pair clashed with each other, showing everyone that both Kya and their King were equally skilled in using this type of weapon, like an image fighting itself or something, where both tridents gleamed as they clashed, sparks flying as Abiru tested his daughter, making sure she truly remembered how to fight, to see just how much damage the madness had done to her. As far as both he and Amaryllis could tell she was fine, her movements were perfect, her body and mind appeared to have been fully healed, and there was nothing to suggest that she had been inflicted with madness for a long time, save for the memories of the event that burned in the minds of those who lost their family members that day.

In the end Abiru proved that his experience was far too much for Kya to overcome, not when she had spent years being a beast that craved violence and bloodshed, as he knocked her to the ground and pointed the tip of his weapon at her, to show everything that he was victorious, before pulling it back and offering her a hand, which she took and let herself be pulled onto her feet.

After that she spent some time making sure the now liberated Altmer were truly on their side and not about to turn back to the Dominion, though all she found was that each and every one of them had pulled off their black clothing, replacing it with what all of the other altered Altmer wore, and went about their days as they learned where in Black Marsh the King would be sending them. Even though she had aided Abiru and his men in capturing these people, instead of killing them on their boats, it still surprised her when she witnessed how strong the Hist sap really was, breaking through years upon years of arrogance and dark thoughts like a hot knife through butter. In mere moments, to those observing, a person went from someone who wanted to dominate the world and became someone who was more in tune with the world, including the desire to protect it from harm, and it still freaked her out a little. It really made her wonder if the key to solving most of their problems with the other provinces was the use of Hist sap, as in track down a group of people and give it to them to make them understand that the Dominion was using them for their dark purposes.

In the end she sighed and simply smiled as she watched the city's people for a time, finding that everything in Black Marsh seemed to be moving smoothly, in fact her presence wasn't needed all that much, not after what happened when they hit the ships, to which she looked forward to seeing what Abiru's decision was.





As it turned out it took more than a few hours for a decision to be reached, meaning Amaryllis and Kya ended up spending more time in Abiru's castle and in his presence, more than what Amaryllis was expecting when they arrived in this place, giving them a bit of time to relax and wander around as they waited. The first thing she did was change her attire once she realized that she didn't need to be an assassin in Abiru's presence, in fact his people were more than enough to secure the area, and what Amaryllis changed into was a set of native attire made to fit her new true form, a light gray colored chest piece that wrapped around her shoulders and cupped her breasts, with a cloth skirt that was halfway down the upper part of her legs. Of course some of Abiru's men inspected every piece of her Dark Brotherhood armor, which allowed them to find the enchantment that allowed it to match whatever form she was wearing, something she had to demonstrate for all of them since they weren't used to seeing a shapeshifter, though the guards nearly pulled their weapons on her when she took on the King's form, as per his orders to see it himself. After seeing what happened to all of the Altmer, and how Abiru accepted each one after they were freed, she knew that she could roam in her true form, change back to the first form she had been given when she landed in this world, or just hang out in her favorite Khajiit disguise for a time, and none of the people in Black Marsh hated her because of her powers.

Such a thing caused her to chuckle as she laid on a rather thick branch of the tree she had found, in her Khajiit form for the first time in a long time, and realized that living in Black Marsh might not be so bad, as one of Abiru's retainers, and if Za'kera was defeated, and their alliance was destroyed, he seemed like the best person to work with, provided they figure out what to do with the Night Mother and the Brotherhood. Of course she wasn't planning on betraying Za'kera, not after all they had been through, but one needed a contingency in case things went south and living in Black Marsh seemed like a good idea right now, even though she might have to get a new job, given that it looked like the King's shadow squad was totally full. At the same time she found that she enjoyed the couple of days of peace this gave her, without the threat of the Dominion and the war looking over their heads, making her wonder if some Hist sap had been slipped into her food, but dismissed that idea, as Abiru wouldn't do that to a guest, especially since she was connected to the new Empress of Cyrodiil and her vast network of allies. The other thing she thought about was the fact that Kya hadn't been imprisoned in the time they had been here, so while many knew of her deeds, during the time she had been infected with madness, they were now treating her like the person she used to be, even though Kya mourned her fallen siblings, while Shadow simply stayed in the shadows near her father, no doubt keeping her own sadness contained.

On the third day Amaryllis learned that another assault force was coming, this time from Elsweyr, and she joined them in a heartbeat, where she rode out with the subjugation squad, or maybe liberation squad was more accurate, and found that this one was made up of Khajiit and Altmer. Sure enough they deployed similar tactics to what they used against the ships, they carefully sneaked through an area that was between them and their targets, which meant waiting at a tree line that was a fair distance from the border, and then captured each one without them understanding that enemies were even in the area. Once that was done Amaryllis joined the squad in liberating the prisoners of the lies the Dominion had filled their heads with, repeating the strange event on the beach once more, and found that it was slowly growing on her, where she had a feeling that it would become second nature to her if she spent too much time in this province. In addition to all that they had a camp set aside to clothe the newly liberated people, or at least the Altmer since the Khajiit didn't need to alter their clothing, not unless they wanted to, and once everyone was ready Amaryllis and the others returned to Helstrom to report to the King and his council.

Of course the new group didn't know much more than the last couple of groups that had invaded Black Marsh, other than that they needed to bring the Argonians down before crushing the other provinces and destroying the world, though she and the others knew all information was good information to Abiru.

"Most of the Altmer know the same as the groups we encountered in the past, so no new information there, but the Khajiit are a different story," Abiru commented, speaking to Amaryllis and Kya after he listened to everything the new arrivals had shared with him and his guards, while Shadow kept an eye on the surrounding area, where he could see that he held their interest and curiosity, which he shared with them, "According to the pair of Khajiit mages you liberated, there is a group of their race that believes the Dominion lied to their faces sometime ago, about the reappearance of the moons, and after you freed them both mages are sure that they were lied to."

"I wouldn't put it past the Dominion to lie about such a thing, as they're well known for their silver tongues." Amaryllis said, as that had been a problem in the past, according to what she knew on the matter, the Dominion taking advantage of the situation and speaking quickly, often leaving treaties that would fracture the Empire and make their first task easier, which was the conquering of Tamriel so they could get to the Towers, "and the 'Dawn Magicks' they claim to have used are likely made up, as we have an ally that is the daughter of Hermaeus Mora and she knows nearly everything about magic and the history of this world... if it exists, she'd know of it."

"That's going to upset the Khajiit, but we might be able to turn it to our advantage," Kya pointed out, because if there was a group of Khajiit that were working under the Dominion's thumb, but believed that they had been lied to about the short disappearance of the moons, she was sure that they might be able to convince them to join the Empire again, especially since it was possible that Ma'jera might have been responsible for the deed, "If we spread the word in some manner, that the Dominion lied and took advantage of the Khajiit, we could cause them to fracture, meaning we really wouldn't have to fight, we'd just have to swoop in and capture everyone... we could liberate a whole province without losing anyone, be it enemy or ally."

That was the other thing Amaryllis was getting used to, Kya's original personality, as she was far less bloodthirsty and was more intelligent than she looked, acting like a warrior princess and maybe a war general at the same time, which told her that Abiru might have been grooming her to join the council, before the madness seized her mind and caused her to be banished from her own home.

"That is a sound strategy, undermine the bonds that exist between our enemies and take their forces without loss of life," Abiru said, though it was basically what he did when the Dominion invaded his territory, his forces captured the invaders and liberated them from their inner darkness, but Amaryllis knew that he didn't force the liberated to stay in Black Marsh, they chose that of their own free will, "Very well, in two days time I, and a group of my guards, will leave this province and meet with Za'kera Saratamil, to meet with her and the other rulers that have decided to respond to her invitation to join her in the Imperial City. I won't commit to joining her war effort, not until I've had a chance to speak with her and see what she wants from the people of Black Marsh... but, if she's anything like you, Amaryllis, I might be willing to join her with the purpose of liberating all of the other races."

As Amaryllis bowed her head she knew what Abiru meant, he was referring to her open-mindedness, as she had taken to his tactics with an open mind and was surprisingly good at simply capturing whoever her targets happened to be, despite the fact that she was a skilled assassin, but she said nothing as the King dismissed his daughters, leaving the two alone in his throne room, showing that he trusted her.

"You are more open-minded than many I have met, Amaryllis, and the people like having you around," Abiru commented, as during the time that Kya had been back in Black Marsh, which he was overjoyed to have since he got his daughter back, he had seen this stranger take to his methods without hesitating, she simply switched from assassinating her foes to just capturing and liberating them, and his people liked hanging out with her, "Tell me, have you considered moving to Black Marsh and starting a new chapter in your life? We could use someone of your skill and ability."

"To be honest, the thought has crossed my mind... and while I am honored that you would say that, right now my loyalty is to Empress Za'kera," Amaryllis replied, because loyalty was important to her and Za'kera had earned it during the time she had spent with her as they faced their enemies, and based on what she was feeling Abiru seemed pleased to hear about her loyalty to her current boss, otherwise it would cause him to question if she was trustworthy or not, "but you never know, when the war is over I might decide to retire from my current station and move elsewhere... and Black Marsh is at the top of that list."

Her reasoning was due to the fact that this province accepted her, no mater which form she was in, unlike most people in Skyrim, because the people from the snowy province didn't like outsiders and it was taking them time to accept that their beloved Empire was going to be run by a Khajiit soon, so it instantly made her like this place far more. At the same time the other half of her reasoning was that if they were able to defeat the Dominion, but Za'kera was killed and her alliance shattered, an event she had to accept might be possible, since they had no idea what was going to happen between now and the end of this war, it was good to have a backup plan. It wasn't that she didn't have faith in their chances, in fact she had a feeling that they would be able to stop the Dominion and safely dismantle the Numidium, to the point where none of it could be used against Nirn, but she wanted to be prepared in the event that things went south. Working with Abiru seemed to be the best case plan in her mind, in case something bad happened to her friends or the Empire, and he was a leader that she could follow with ease, especially after everything she had seen and done so far, especially since he didn't seem disappointed in her answer.

With that done, and it appearing that they were done for now, Amaryllis excused herself and headed out to explore the city some more, figuring that she could get used to things before they returned to Cyrodiil, not to mention interact with some of the people, just in case she returned here to live and work under Abiru's banner, before wondering what the next few days had in store for her and the others.