Josef swam through the waters of the Karth River with hardly as much as a ripple. The Argonian Bloodwater he had drunk, let him stay far under the water, to keep out of sight. He touched his hand to the hilt of the Dagger of Woe and his Ebony Longbow, to make sure he still had them as he swam towards The Katariah, the ship that held the Emperor of Tamriel, and his target.
Josef grimly considered his task as he slipped through the dark water. He had come far and seen much since his near execution at Helgen. He had slain dragons, been given lycanthropy, made leader of many of the guilds in Skyrim and was held in high esteem in all nine holds. He had hailed from Cyrodil and had fought to ensure that Skyrim remained in the Empire, and now he was going to kill it. Fate, it seemed, had a sense of irony. His hand touched the hull of the mighty ship and he slowly made his way to the surface.
Masser and Secunda had the good graces to be new that night, so no one had a chance to see the black clad figure as he slunk around the deck of the Emperor's vessel. There were a number of Penitus Oculatus agents on board, which was to be expected after the Emperor's double had been killed. Josef considered slicing a few throats when one got close to him, but there was no need. Josef was an assassin and one of the best killers in Skyrim, maybe the best in all of Tamriel, but tonight only one man had to die.
It wasn't hard to find the Emperor's quarters, the door clearly marked. The lock was a complex one, but he slid the brass key he had taken from Commander Maro, turned it and entered the Emperor's room.
It took a lot to surprise Josef anymore. Dragons, lost Dwemer cities, vampire lords and a host of other encounters had robbed him of the ability to disbelieve something, but, for the first time in a long while, the Emperor's room surprised him. It wasn't the lavish decoration, that was to be expected of the man who ruled most of the continent. It wasn't the size, the Emperor would need his privacy and quarters large enough that he wouldn't go stir crazy. No, it was the fact, that sitting at his desk was the Emperor, staring at the door, waiting for him. Josef was stuck frozen for a moment, in the crouch he had had all throughout the ship, but seeing this site, he shut the door and stood. The Emperor rose and approached him with purpose and spoke.
"And, once more, I prove Commander Maro the fool. I told him you can't stop the Dark Brotherhood. Never could." He looked at Josef, almost quizzikaly and continued. "Come now, don't be shy. You haven't come this far just to stand there gawking."
"You were… expecting me?" Josef said. Something inside him told him to simply kill the man, but Josef was a professional. And despite his personal feelings, and his true motivation for being here, this was his Emperor. He deserved a few words.
"But if course." The Emperor responded. "You and I have a date with destiny. But so it is with assassins and emperors, hmm? Yes, I must die. And you must deliver the blow. It is simply the way it is. But I wonder... would you suffer an old man a few more words before the deed is done?"
Josef smiled slightly under his cowl. He reached up and pulled the garment back, letting the Emperor see his face. If Titus Mede II recognized him he didn't show it. "Speak." He said nodding his head.
"I thank you for your courtesy." The Emperor said, Josef didn't detect any sarcasm in his voice, and he truly believed there wasn't any. Imperials like him and the man he was to kill possessed silver tongues, but here and now, there was nothing to make Josef suspect he was being anything but genuine. "You will kill me, and I have accepted that fate. But regardless of your path through life, I sense in you a certain... ambition. So I ask of you a favor. An old man's dying wish. While there are many who would see me dead, there is one who set the machine in motion. This person, whomever he or she may be, must be punished for their treachery. Once you have been rewarded for my assassination, I want you to kill the very person who ordered it. Would you do me this kindness?"
Josef bowed his head and recalled everything that had happened since he had woken up in that shack with Astrid. He remembered the small jobs he had performed for Nazir, he remembered the tasks that took him to all across the province, and he remembered the smug look on Amaund Motierre's face when he gave him the job. He also remembered the Night Mother's voice in his head. He wasn't here for her though, not after everything the Dark Brotherhood had done. He was done with them after this and he was going to enjoy killing that man. "It shall be done." Josef said simply, nodding once.
"Thank you. Now, on to the business at hand I suppose, hmm?" The Emperor said, before turning his back on Josef and walking to the window in his cabin, staring out at the sea. Josef positioned himself behind the Emperor, drew his bow and spoke.
"You have one part wrong." He said with a clearer voice than he had spoken with up until now. "I'm not doing this for the Dark Brotherhood."
The Emperor looked back at him. "So why are you?"
"The Great War." Josef said simply. "And the White-Gold Concordant."
The Emperor smiled grimly. "I had no choice." He said. He didn't seem like he was trying to defend himself, Josef found himself musing. And he knew he didn't. He had been born a few years after, but he had seen the repercussions of it, he had listened to his parents, both of whom served in the Legion speak of the battles and the Hell it was. "I had to surrender to the Thalmor. I thought someone from Cyrodiil would know that."
"I'm not going to kill you because you surrendered to the Thalmor. I'm not going to kill you for bowing to their demands." Josef took the Ebony Bow off of his back and nocked a single, black fletched, arrow into the string. "I'm going to kill you, because you don't force your people to live on their knees and get to keep your crown." He pulled the string back, arm kept high as he had done so many times before, at targets and at men. "Don't worry," he said, true remorse in his voice. "I can do this in such a way, you will not feel it at all."
The arrow flew silently in the air and struck the Emperor straight in the heart. He knew where to shoot, it would take him a few moments to die, but it would only feel like falling asleep. Josef walked up to the man, on his knees and spoke softly to him.
"Talos onelka rok ahrk aaz nau rok… sjaadur rok ahrk krosis rok… drun nonvul ok offal… spaan rok nol fin sosaal do fin qoth…ahrk fin folook do fin Yol."
As Josef spoke the last word, the Emperor's eyes went blank. Josef lifted the man body and set him down in his bed, crossing his arms over his chest. "Talos guide you…" he said to the man, before turning around, jumping out the window of the ship, and diving into the water with hardly a ripple. He was back on dry land, when the bells of Solitude began ringing.
(((The prayer spoke to Titus Mede II is taken from the television show Arrow, spoken by Ra's al Ghul to Oliver Queen during their fight in the snow, translated into Dovah. Special thanks to Ronald Pendleton and .org)))