Disclaimer: I only own a copy of Skyrim.


Despite Astrid's comment about dressing nice, Kaida decided to continue wearing her Dark Brotherhood armor. She had once again requested Cicero's company on the journey to Solitude. They both walked, Kaida's horse walking in between them. She felt guilty riding her horse while Cicero walked, but the fool refused to ride with her for reasons unknown.

"Solitude...lonely Cicero could tell you a thing or two about...solitude," he muttered as they walked along the path towards said Hold.

"Go on," she urged. Cicero looked at her questioningly. "Tell me a thing or two about solitude."

Cicero pondered for a moment.

"Before Cicero came to Skyrim," he said quietly, "Cicero was alone with Mother in the Cheydinhal Sanctuary. His brothers and sisters were gone, dead. The old Listener, dead. Cicero left with his three brothers, all dying and leaving poor Cicero alone to care for Mother. Not that Cicero minded, no no no! Cicero loves Keeping Mother. But Cicero tried so very hard to get Mother to make him Listener so that he could keep the Brotherhood alive. Cicero tried to talk to Mother for nearly ten years before he came to Skyrim to find his new home."

"I'm sorry," Kaida murmured.

"Never be! You are the Listener now, the one Cicero's been looking so long for!" he cheerfully told her. She moved so that her horse was no longer in between them, but instead walking next to Cicero.

"Cicero, I swear by Sithis that I will never let you be alone again," she promised. Cicero's cheerful grin fell, and he nodded seriously. He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close. Her heart fluttered in her chest as she leaned her head against him, loosely holding her horse's reins as they continued their journey.


"I don't know how to shoot a bow," she admitted to Cicero when he pointed out the weapon their family had obviously left them for their contract.

"It's not that hard," Cicero insisted, picking it up. He shoved it into her hands before he was behind her, his hands on hers and showing her how to pull back the bow. "See?"

"Yeah," she said quietly. Ever since she promised that she would never let him be alone again, she felt...different around him. More comfortable than ever. More relaxed. Kaida couldn't exactly put a name to the exact way she felt around him, but it seemed to grow stronger every time he made her laugh, each time his hand found hers and when they shares stories and talked. She wondered if he was feeling the same way.

She couldn't ponder on this now though. There was a bride to kill. Kaida looked over the edge at the bride, who was giggling and kissing her new husband happily. Guilt set into her stomach again. She was killing a newlywed. A newlywed. It was almost made killing even worse. She couldn't back out of this like she did with Nisline either. She looked up at Cicero sadly.

"Can you shoot the arrow?" she asked hopefully. Cicero shook his head.

"Listener needs to be able to kill well and often," he insisted. "Listener can do it. Listener can do anything."

Kaida gave a weak smile. Cicero quickly motioned at her bow, and the Listener panicked some when she noticed the bride and husband standing to go up into the tower. It was time to send another soul to the Void.

Shakily bringing her bow up to aim towards the bride, she tried to aim up the shot. Her hands shook too badly though, and after three minutes of frustration, she threw the bow aside. Before Cicero could speak, she quickly pulled out her Skyforge Steel and flung it towards Vittoria. It struck her neck, making the bride immediately fall forward off the tower's edge. Everybody flew into a panic.

"And now, my jester, we make our escape," she whispered to him. He grinned and grabbed her hand before flinging them off their sniping tower, both landing perfectly on their feet. Still hand in hand, they fled the scene as the chaos continued.


They stayed on the outskirts of Solitude for the night before they quickly flew to their home, where Astrid was eagerly waiting for them. Cicero, as normal, excused himself to tend to Mother.

"The news! Everybody is talking about how the bride was butchered at her own wedding!" she cheerfully chuckled. "Very well done! With this kill, you've led the Brotherhood down the path to killing the Emperor!"

"What now?" Kaida wondered.

"A reward," Astrid replied. "This is a unique spell, it summons a legend of the Dark Brotherhood. His soul serves us now in death, as it did in life. Now speak to Gabriella, she's arranged your next contract."

Kaida nodded and wandered further into the Sanctuary. Spying an iron dagger on one of the dressers, she picked it up before tucking it in the old case that held her Skyforge steel. It was still in the bride's neck, and she regretted not quickly getting it before she left. She soon found the Dunmer bent over the Sanctuary's alchemy lab.

"Sister!" Gabriella acknowledged, her tone slightly cheerful.

"Sister," she replied. "Astrid said you had my next contract."

"Indeed," she responded as she finished her potion before turning to her. "The Emperor is now, for certain, arriving to Skyrim. Therefore, his security is already making preparations, which just simply won't do. Astrid and I devised a way to cripple security. It's handed by Commander Maro, and we want you to kill his son, Gaius. Once he's dead, plant this false letter on him. It implies heavily that he is involved in his plot to murder the Emperor."

"It will be done," Kaida promised.

"Oh! One more thing," Gabriella added. "Don't kill him in the woods or something. We want him to be discovered quickly."

Kaida nodded.

"No problem," she replied.

"Good. Kill well and often."

Gabriella then turned to continue her alchemy as Kaida turned on her heel to nearly bump into Cicero.

"Is Cicero and Listener going on the hunt?" he asked hopefully. Kaida looked up at him, smiling before it fell.

"Cicero, I might be away for a long time. I have to find out where Gaius is traveling and then kill him when he's in town and not on the road, it could take a while. You best stay here, Mother needs you," she told him. Cicero looked heartbroken, making her want to tell her that she was just jesting, but she couldn't. She kissed his cheek. "I promise I will return as soon as possible."

Cicero forced a smile as she quickly left the Sanctuary to avoid continuing the almost awkward conversation.


Kaida had decided to take a carriage to Solitude. Unfortunately, she was immediately put in jail for her earlier murder. Apparently she was easy to recognize after that stunt.

She missed Gaius, according to his schedule that she had stolen, but since it was Fridas when they released her, she went ahead and rented a room in the inn. Best to just sit and wait. What was another murder charge in Solitude anyway?

When Gaius was finally in Solitude, she found him hanging out in the Winking Skeever in the early evening of Sundas. He seemed in a relaxed and half intoxicated manner. She guessed that he arrived early to relax before his scheduled duties the next day. And he seemed drunk already. Perfect.

She had made a point to sit with him at his table, giving him a shy smile. Today she wasn't wearing her Dark Brotherhood armor, but a normal dress. It felt wonderful to wear regular clothing after a long time in her assassin's wardrobe.

"An Amulet of Mara," he commented, glancing at the necklace. Kaida had let it stand out on display instead of tucked away. "You looking for marriage?"

"I am," she replied. "But nobody interesting has come along yet." Well aside from Cicero.

"I can assure you that I'm very interesting. Unless you find tales of taking down dragons, destroying bandit camps and fighting alongside honorable men like the Companions dull," Gaius nearly bragged.

"Depends on if it's really your tales you speak of," Kaida told him.

"I assure you, they're all true tales of my bravery and strength," he grinned. "Care for me to tell you a few?"

Kaida smiled, agreeing. She half-listened to his exaggerated tall tales. They were nearly as believable as that one man in the Ragged Flagon who tried to tell her the story of how he bedded four women in one night. She had quickly excused herself from him.

She controlled her mead as Gaius freely drank his way into being completely hammered. Around eleven, he finally excused himself to go to the guard barracks to sleep off the mead before work tomorrow. Kaida quickly slipped her arm into his, offering to walk him there. She disliked the wide grin he got, knowing exactly what he thought this was leading to. Instead of slapping him however, she smiled back and walked out of the Winking Skeever with him.

He rambled more, his drunkenness making his stories even more far-fetched. She simply smiled as she led him to his sleeping quarters. Kaida glanced around them. Seeing no guards, she stopped them.

"Why did we stop?" he asked, speech slurred and slow.

"For this," she whispered and gave him a light kiss on the lips. He seemed pleased with this reason. Kaida felt blood on her lips as Gaius started coughing it up shortly after pulling away from her. He choked before falling over. Leaning, she pulled Gabriella's letter out and tucked it in his pocket. She nudged him with her foot, pushing him onto his stomach so that she could see the iron dagger deep in his back, buried to the handle. By this moment, his breathing had stopped and he laid, blood beginning to pool around him.

Glancing down at her hands, she saw that they were surprisingly free of his blood, as was her dress. Seeing a guard's torch slowly make it way towards her, she let out a scream. The torch paused before it and it's owner ran towards her.

"What happened?" he asked before he saw Gaius's dead body. "By the Gods! What happened?"

"I was walking him home when somebody out of nowhere stabbed him!" she lied, faking distress over the situation. "He was quite drunk, and I wished to make sure he made it home safe. I had paused for a moment to ask him were he lived, and he just started coughing blood and collapsed!"

"Hmm...Iron dagger," the guard observed as two more joined him in investigating.

"Look at this note!" the second guard exclaimed, holding it up. The third guard peered over his shoulder to read it.

"Come on Miss, I'll walk you home," the first guard told Kaida. She faked a sob and nodded. "Where do you live?"

"I'm a traveler, I'm staying at the inn," she told him. She accepted his arm and he escorted her back to the inn. Upon the inn door, she let got of him. Before she could open the door, he nudged her.

"I know who you are," he told her point-blank. Seeing her wide eyed expression, he smirked and continued. "Hail Sithis."

She watched him walk away in surprise before she finally went back inside the inn.


"I know Gaius is dead," Astrid cut her off before she could even begin. "But we have bigger problems now."

"What happened?" she innocently inquired.

"It's Cicero," the woman hissed. Kaida's heart sank. "The fool went bezerk! He injuried Veezara, stabbed me and then fled!"

Kaida took notice of the bandage around the woman's stomach.

"Are you okay? Veezara isn't seriously hurt, is he?" she wondered.

"Thanks to Babette, we'll be fine," she assured her. "But we need to find Cicero. My husband fled after him. I am sorry I did this without asking first, but you understand that I allowed Gabriella to take your horse to search for them. But...you know the fool the best. Do you know where he could have gone?"

"No, I haven't the slightest clue," Kaida admitted. "But...maybe his room will reveal something?"

"Good idea," Astrid sighed slightly. "Go look. I'll check on Veezara."

Kaida slipped past her and into Cicero's room. There were books all over the place. She had no idea Cicero was such an avid reader.
Upon glancing at the titles of some, she realized that he wasn't just an avid reader.

He was also an avid writer. He had five journals. Picking them up, she sat at the table and began to read.


"Did you find anything?" Astrid asked. Kaida looked up. She nodded.

"I think he's at the Dawnstar Sanctuary," she finally said. "I know the passphrase."

"Head there now," Astrid ordered.

"I'll patch Cicero up and bring him back," Kaida promised. Astrid gave her a cold, angry look.

"No. Kill the miserable little fool," she growled. Upon Kaida's wide-eyed look, she scowled. "I want him dead. But first...find my husband and Gabriella."

Kaida nodded slowly.

"And every moment counts. You can take my horse, Shadowmere. He's outside, by the pool."

Kaida nodded again and quickly escaped the Sanctuary. She saw the dark colored horse waiting for her, red eyes staring and ears flicking as he snorted, bobbing his head up and down at her. Smiling softly, she scratched his nose before mounting him and riding off to Dawnstar.