A/N: I may have gotten a little carried away with this chapter. Kind ofXD Either way, it was fun to write. Before I leave you alone to read it, has anyone recently completed the Hail Sithis! quest, or remember the interior of the Katariah clearly? Because I don't recall the trip to the Emperor's chambers being as long and enemy-infested as the UESPWiki suggests it is…. But I did complete it about last year this time, and haven't replayed any of the Dark Brotherhood quests since, so I may remember it incorrectly. Anyways, I shall leave you with this chapter, my beloved dark siblings, in the care of our Dread Father and Unholy Matron. Review, my sisters and brothers – this is one of the last chapters.

Chapter 36: Surviving the Cold of Skyrim's Seas

It was a long journey to Riverwood – all of us, except for Lucien, Shadowmere, and Babette, were exhausted. We stopped at Embershard Mine at daybreak, thankful to find the place free of fellow men and mer. We set up a small camp once we maneuvered the cart and horses into the mine, with our vampire, ghost and daedra horse keeping watch as we slept. Babette woke us up at midday, saying it was important to move through Riverwood and reach Whiterun that evening. I felt like I had barely slept, and a quick glance at the others looking just as worse-for-wear made me sigh. We're probably the largest group still together to survive an attack like that, I thought blearily as we ate some of the bread we took from the agents.

"What is the passcode for the Dawnstar Sanctuary?" Nazir asked, pulling off a chunk of the bread.
"'Innocence, my brother'," I replied. "It's quite far along the northern coast. Lucien will be able to tell you where it is."
"You're not taking him with you?" Aventus asked, his head snapping up to look at me. I shook my head slowly.
"It makes more sense for him to be with us, to guide us to the Sanctuary than to try and search for it," Uvelaes nodded.

"I am present, brothers and sisters," Lucien purred from his spot next to Shadowmere. I just smiled wearily at how dangerous the old Speaker sounded. "If you intend to make Whiterun by nightfall, you should leave now."

We packed up, quickly changing into less conspicuous armor or civilian clothes, and more or less threw things together or shoved them back in bags. "Wait – how will you manage the daylight, Babette? I know you said you had fed, but you've been inside the Sanctuary for so long," I asked, glancing at her from where I rolled up my bedroll.
She grinned, baring her tiny fangs. "I'll be a bit sensitive to the light, yes. But it will be tolerable. Funny, the Dragonborn didn't seem to notice that I was a vampire at all…" she trailed, hopping onto the cart next to Veezara. "While we're in Whiterun, we might as well take him to the Temple of Kynareth. Apparently, there's a highly skilled resident healer called Danica Pure-Springs. It'll be better for him to stay there than travel all the way north with us."

We all agreed, and left the mine, arriving in Riverwood perhaps two hours later. We were easily the most interesting thing to happen to that village since it was built.

Not a single villager spoke as we passed: a Dunmer and an Imperial sitting on the bench of the cart, a little Breton girl sitting beside an unconscious Argonian in the back, with a large crate next to them. Then there was a Redguard on a white horse, me on the palomino, and a ghost smirking darkly at all the wary attention on a less-than-normal-looking black horse. I was close to laughing out of an exhausted hysteria. What a sight we are, looking like we're all about to drop dead, too. I sighed heavily, closing my eyes and lifting my face to the sky. "Let's agree not to go adventuring in old ruins said to contain unique artifacts that are crawling with undead?" I spoke, startling some of the villagers and Aventus. Lucien chuckled darkly, and Babette had the good sense to look wide-eyed and afraid. "Yes, please!" she whispered fearfully, and suddenly the village sprang into action again, and only a few guards stopped to watch us suspiciously.

And then we were through Riverwood, on our way to the hold capital.

"Oh, dear Kynareth! What happened to him?!" Danica Pure-Springs exclaimed when we finally managed to get inside the city gates, convinced a guard to wake the priestess, and bring our Shadowscale up to her. Aventus, Nazir and I exchanged a quick glance – what do we say?
"Well… he said something about bandits and Dwemer ruins and automatons before he passed out," Aventus offered quickly, looking nervous as he ran his fingers through his tangled brown hair. "We did what we could to heal him up, but we're worried about him, and –"
"Leave him here with me and the other priestesses of Kynareth. We will do what we can to ensure he heals and will survive," Danica smiled warmly, motioning for the guard to lead us out of the temple. We walked out, and made our way to the Bannered Mare, where Uvelaes and Babette had bought rooms, food and drink for us.

"I'm going to talk to Amaund," I said as soon as we reached the table Babette and Uvelaes were sitting at, and headed for the counter where the innkeep stood, calling out to her waitresses and barmaids. "I'm looking for a man, a Breton. He's wealthy, may have a beard, dark hair, looks and sounds rather sneaky and has an Imperial soldier as a bodyguard with him all the time," I described Amaund quickly, based on what the Night Mother had shown me earlier. I placed a few coins on the table, and the woman pointed out the room at the far end of this floor. I nodded my thanks, and let myself into the room.

Amaund was grumpy and unkempt, compared to when we met the first time. "What is it? I asked not to be disturbed!" he snapped, his oily voice making me want to shudder. His bodyguard stood up, drawing his sword.
"Relax, Amaund. We've met before, in Volunruud, when you commissioned me to take care of a little problem of yours. This concerns that problem." I leaned against the doorframe, folding my arms over my chest as I looked squarely at the Elder Council member, completely unveiled for him to examine. His eyes grew wide as he realized who I was, motioning for his bodyguard to stand down. Amaund looked like he couldn't take in enough of what I looked like without the standard-issue uniform and covered from head-to-toe. I rolled my eyes and looked at the wall on my right, sniffing disdainfully while I waited for the Breton to come to his senses.

"You… you are the assassin I met in the barrow?!" he breathed, incredulous.
"Yes, rather obviously. I wouldn't be here if that wasn't the case," I retorted, grumpy about, well, everything that had happened in the past couple months. I missed my twenty-ninth birthday in all the chaos, I suddenly realized, thinking back to when I had been so concerned about Astrid and Seri's random disappearance before I left to deal with the decoy-Emperor. I snorted softly, coming back to the present when Amaund mentioned hearing my entire Sanctuary had been wiped out.

"-one was left alive, yet here you are! How did you escape that?" he asked, then suddenly went pale when I met his gaze blankly. "Please, you must understand, I had nothing to do with that! I wanted the Emperor dead! The true Emperor! I –"
"One of our own was responsible for the attack; whether or not you had anything to do with the decoy means little to me right now. But that is beside the point. I want to know where the real Titus Mede is."

Amaund gaped at me, his face slowly breaking into a delighted grin. "You mean… after all that has transpired… you, the Dark Brotherhood, will still honor and fulfil the contract?" I nodded, blinking just as the Breton grabbed my shoulders and shook me lightly. I scowled at him, too bewildered to do anything else. "Astounding news, oh, this is wonderful news!" he cackled gleefully as he let me go, turning away from me as he clapped his hands together and ran them over his face.

I was still scowling at him. "Where is he?" I pressed.
Motierre turned back to me. "Still in Skyrim, but not for long. He is aboard his ship, The Katariah, moored just offshore in the Solitude Inlet. If you can get on board, and kill him, I will reveal the location of the dead drop, where your payment is."
I dipped my head. "The Katariah…. Fine. He shall be dealt with," I pushed off from the doorframe, unfolding my arms and reached for the handle when a comment from Amaund stopped me.
"You know, I would never have suspected that the black-and-red clad assassin I met in Volunruud would look even remotely like you."

I turned to squint at him, entirely unsure of what he meant. Did I look too fragile, sickly? Too 'pretty' and 'child-like'? Those were all terms people had used at some stage or another to describe me, and the way his eyes roved over me once more made me suspect the latter. I heaved an exasperated sigh, shaking my head as I walked out and closed the door behind me. Insolent idiot. You might be the client for now, but that doesn't mean I won't kill you for fun later.

I decided to sit at the counter and stay away from my Family in case Amaund decided to come out and deduced our numbers from the companions I was with. I suppose I was being slightly paranoid, but considering that all of us were in the city together, with one seriously wounded brother, it wasn't too unreasonable. I closed my eyes and sighed, sipping my mead slowly. The inn was full, noisy – the bard was competing with a bar brawl, and I could see my siblings placing bets amongst themselves as to who would get knocked out first: one of the fighters, or the bard.

I watched the fight with little interest, and chuckled when the bard finally gave up and hit one of the fighters with his lute, which snapped. Both brawlers turned to punch the bard, and I could swear he wouldn't wake up until tomorrow this time. I smirked, amazed at one person's stupidity when a long, fine shape appeared next to me. I looked up to see Uvelaes sitting on the stool next to mine, leaning back against the counter, his elbows propping him up into a more comfortable position, some kind of alcohol in his tankard. As soon as he caught me looking at him, his eyes twinkled and he smiled coyly, leaning in to whisper in my ear. "We appreciate your discretion, Listener. I thought I would keep you company for a while."

He pulled away, that trademark, self-satisfied smirk all over his face that I wanted to carve off as much as I appreciated the fact that he had come to sit with me. I grinned back, shaking my head at him as I raised my tankard. He clinked his to mine, and I could almost hear the toast: To Family, and the Dark Brotherhood. We drank deeply, and Uvelaes openly catcalled the guards who separated and manacled the two brawlers. I laughed, letting the moment carry me.

It was one of the best nights I'd had since my first trip to Dawnstar.

We ended up sharing two rooms between the lot of us, and sometime during the night Aventus had decided he would remain in Whiterun and keep an eye on Veezara. The others were headed north, and argued over which road to take from the previous evening to the entire morning, right up until we reached the city gates. We said our farewells to Aventus, wishing him well and left.

And the argument picked up again with the same fervor: through Labyrinthian, or around it?

Through would be faster, but far more dangerous.
Around would be longer, but safer.

A cart would struggle to maneuver around the ruins.
If one of the horses became lame for some or another reason, it would be hard work to walk up the mountain roads, nevermind pulling a cart with a heavy sarcophagus loaded on it.

There was always the chance that Lucien would be defeated if they passed through Labyrinthian, then there was no guide to the Sanctuary.
He might be defeated on the road, too.

I rolled my eyes as they argued back and forth, their reasons for choosing one way instead of the other becoming more and more ridiculous as they got more and more emotional. "Just go around Labyrinthian. There's no reason to take an unnecessary risk just to arrive at the Sanctuary a little faster," I interrupted, finalizing the route for them.

Babette, Nazir and Uvelaes would take our things up, along with our Unholy Matron. Lucien actually looked completely bored by the proposition of going north with no-one to kill. He had been complaining from the moment we had woken up that he was restless, and his blade as well; that murdering a random stranger was a great idea because 'practice does make perfect' – really, he must have been insufferable in life if he could be so difficult in death. To make it worse, Uvelaes had nearly agreed to those demands. Nearly.

Until he remembered that a cart laden with a sarcophagus didn't move quite as fast as a rider on a horse.

I, on the other hand, would ride hard for the Katariah in Solitude, and complete the contract. "A special brew I ordered from the alchemist yesterday. It was supposed to come with us, but since you'll be swimming in Skyrim's oceans, you'll need it more than us," Uvelaes said, handing me two potion bottles. "They are sixty-percent resist cold potions, and quite difficult to brew. Despite being a Nord, I'm sure this will be useful," he smirked coyly.
"One day, you'll smirk at me like that and I'll make it permanent," I glared at the Dark Elf, taking the bottles. The only reaction I got was a sly wink before he brought the horse and cart around.
"Swim like a Slaughterfish, stab like an assassin," Nazir rumbled, laughing deeply when I rolled my eyes at him.
"Look after yourselves on the way up, and may Sithis guide you," I flashed a smile at my companions.
"And you, Alysa," Babette said, speaking uncharacteristically gently before hugging me briefly. "Let's go!" she called, hoping onto the back of the cart, pretending to ignore Nazir as he tacked up the white horse and teased her, and Uvelaes drove the cart out of the stableyard. Lucien had opted to sitting next to Babette, looking stiff and uncomfortable.

I touched Shadowmere's cheek, and looked at him with a smirk. "Ready?"
Whenever you are, Listener, he said, his voices resounding calmly in my head. I tucked the bottles into a saddlebag, mounted, and we took off for Solitude.

Hopefully for the last time on this contract.

Shadowmere and I were on the eastern side of the Solitude Inlet about two hours before dusk, roughly a week-and-some later, watching the docks and the grandest ship moored just offshore – the Katariah, the stage for my final act. It was a little north of where I sat on Shadowmere, just on the other side of the Blue Palace. We were directly across from the East Empire Company docks.

Listener, Shadowmere interrupted my thoughts. I believe Commander Maro is on the docks. What would you like to do?

I was tempted to take him out here and now – but if I failed, I stood the chance of losing the Emperor, my true target. "We'll come back for him as soon as we're done with the Emperor," I breathed, pushing my hands up the stallion's neck and letting him carry me a little further north to my ship.

We stopped at the northernmost edge of what could still be called land before the little islands of soil stretched out to the east and north, and the ice floated on the water. I ground my teeth: the only way onto the ship was by rowboat, which screamed 'assassin coming', or swimming, which I wasn't particularly keen on. Just because I'm a Nord doesn't mean I don't get cold, I grumbled to myself, dismounting and making sure my daggers were fitted in their sheathes, and their sheathes securely strapped to my belt, which was securely tied to me. I took out one of the potion bottles, surprised at how light it was. I snarled at the unsealed cork – we had been travelling too quickly to notice the precious liquid was leaking. Shadowmere's ears flicked to me, then he sighed. I rolled my eyes and pulled out the other one, thankfully unscathed. I uncorked it and drank the bitter potion as quickly as I could, sputtering once I finished it.

Shadowmere huffed a couple times, a sound I came to recognize as laughter. I shoved the bottle into the saddlebag. "Here goes nothing," I muttered, running for the water and diving in as soon as it was deep enough to swim in.

It was still freezing.

I swam around to the anchor, and started pulling myself up the rope and into the lower hold of the ship. It looked mostly like storerooms, with crates and barrels and provisions. My feet barely touched the boards when a sailor walked past, oblivious to my presence, and into another room. I crouched down, hiding behind several stacked crates while I scanned the area. Stairs going up. Spectacular, I noted, quickly grabbing a loose piece of cloth and wiping off excess water from my leather. My cowl was soaked through, though. I'd have to deal with the cold. I checked the room for occupants once more, then moved across the shadowy storeroom to the stairs. It was relatively quiet, with the faint sound of a group of sailors or soldiers having dinner, and the sound of someone working a grindstone – possibly behind a closed door, possibly on the floor above. I glanced around the corner and as far up the stairs as I could, straightening to my full height. Seems clear, at least two rooms. I padded up the stairs, sticking to the right side, listening for every noise, looking for every movement. I crouched low once I reached the top. There was another open – but definitely empty – door in front of me, where some beds and dressers stood. Then there was a room on either side of the hallway, both it seemed, with open doors.

Good thing I've been wearing the Nightweaver's Band almost since I got it, I thought absently, marveling at how much easier it was to move silently with such a slight improvement in the skill. Festus had been a gifted enchanter and mage. I shook my head: I needed to focus on the now. The time to mourn would come later. I swept past the open rooms before the occupants – if any – knew I was there, and I pressed my back to the wall at the end, peering around the corner. The corridor was staggered, apparently, and when the grindstone stopped screeching against metal for a few seconds I could clearly hear voices coming from the passage I needed to follow. Dining hall, probably. It was too loud to be anything else. I snuck further down, stopping before the open archway, the fingers of my right hand touching the floor below to steady me. About three sailors and one – that I could see – Oculatus agent was inside.

What to do, what to do… I looked around the wide corridor I was in. There was nowhere to hide, and this was the end of the line. My way further lay on the other side of the dining hall full of enemies. I rolled my eyes. Typical. I threw a glance back into the room. Causing a ruckus and attacking would alert other agents and sailors, staying here would also alert other sailors and soldiers. I pushed back against the wall, sliding up to stand. One of the men decided to call it quits, explaining something over the – surprisingly loud and boisterous – disappointed calls of his fellows. My lips twitched: they were just a little drunk. I waited against the wall for the first one to come by so I could cut his throat.

Now imagine my glee when it was the agent that made the mistake of leaving the room first. I pursed my lips and pulled faces as I tried to keep the heavy-armor-dead-weight from dropping to the floor with a bang. I let out a silent breath when I succeeded, unsheathing his Imperial sword.

Three sailors; two well-aimed daggers and a quick dispatch, then I can move on!

And it really had been that simple. I encountered very little resistance as I kept moving up, closer and closer to the Emperor's chambers.