It had taken me a week to travel to Bogwater, kill the traitor, then return to Cheydinhall once more. I stopped in only one city along the way, Bravil, to replenish my stores for the road. It was a minor set-back, but a necessary one.
In truth, I had quite enjoyed the time I had spent out in the wilderness alone. In Tamriel, though, you never feel truly alone. Probably because you hardly ever are. I had killed handfuls of wolves, bears, imps, Spriggans, and goblins. All with ease. I sang to keep myself company, and of course my horse was a lovely companion, but it was just a bit lonely. A travel companion, I thought, would have been lovely. But such trivial things as companions were not common in the Dark Brotherhood. There was always work to be done.
Scar-Tail was weak, alone and he was exposed. And he was indeed a traitor. He had tried to convince me to spare him, take the heart of a guard he had killed so he could live. In exchange, he would tell me the location of his treasure. I had no such needs for his gold or trinkets. So I took his heart. And his head.
The look on the faces of my brothers and sisters when I returned not only with his heart was priceless. Not necessary, but priceless. I would rather suffer eternity in the void than allow anyone to hurt my family and get away with it. Ocheeva and Teinaava were grateful to say the least and Scar-Tail's head became a decoration within the sanctuary. Displayed on a spike for anyone to see when they've come through the front door. A reminder of what we do to traitors.
Ocheeva had been awaiting my return and approached me for a contract. I accepted and she want into the details.
"Your target is a High Elf named Faelian. He lives somewhere in the Imperial City, and fancies long walks. Unfortunately, that's all we know. We don't know which district he calls home, which establishments he frequents, or anything about his schedule. This contract will require a bit of detective work. I suggest you to speak to your fellow Brothers and Sisters and see if they can offer any advice. Ah yes, there is one more thing. The Imperial City is also home to an Imperial Legion captain named Adamus Phillida. Do you know who that is?" She looked to me expectantly and laughed at my look of disgust.
"Imperial lap dog, that one." I snarled. I may have been Imperial too, but never would I have been one like Phillida. I had already gotten rid of Heironymous Lex, now Phillida?
"Quite. Then you know he has dedicated his life to eradicating the Dark Brotherhood, and doesn't appreciate when we operate within the Imperial City. When that happens, he tends to make our lives uncomfortable. Let's not give the good captain any reason to go poking around in our affairs, hmm? If possible, do away with Faelian someplace out of the way. Definitely indoors, with no other people around. A secure location, with no witnesses. This will make it look like a simple murder. Phillida will be none the wiser, and you'll receive a nice bonus. Now go, and may Sithis go with you."
I was given rather vague advice. Mostly to just ask around and find out for myself. Talk to Faelian, and a few words of envy for the chance to kill within Imperial City. Nothing that I hadn't yet done before. I was a little disappointed, though, that I was once again given a contract that needed to not say "Dark Brotherhood" the moment and unsuspecting someone happened upon the scene. I wondered how in the hell I was going to make this work.
After I had arrived in Imperial City, I chose to walk around the Talos Plaza district for a bit. I knew I'd find elves there, maybe one would even stop to spread some rumors. They were particularly fond of that. I could have gone to the Elven Gardens District, but I didn't feel I would find much useful there. I figured if he was an Altmer with enough time on his hands to take long walks through the city, he was either a beggar or nobleman. It felt much easier to start with the nobles- people with nothing better to do than gossip all day. For free.
It was by chance that I wandered into the Tiber Septim Hotel, hoping the Publican might have a lead. I saw in the corner a rather beautiful woman talking angrily in a whisper to an Altmer. She had tears in her eyes and got frustrated and left upstairs to go to the rooms.
I approached the man, knowing I'd fit in just fine. I had dressed specifically for the occasion, a noble woman's dress of black velvet with gold and red trimmings. He seemed to be fidgeting with his hands, not all aware of his surroundings. And before I'd gotten too close I got the creeps from him and decided against it. Unbeknownst to me that he was my target. Instead, I followed the lady upstairs and listened intently at the doors for crying.
The door she was behind was unlocked and I acted like I had accidentally walked into the wrong room. She was startled, quickly wiping her tears away.
"I apologize, I must have mistaken your room for another." I lied with a pleasant smile.
"It's quite alright, it... happens." She looked rather embarrassed.
"Are you okay?" I asked kindly, but she broke down into tears once more. I walked over, sitting next to her and putting a hand in her back. I offered words of comfort. "Hey, what's going on? Woman to woman?"
"Oh! Please, I... I don't mean to get emotional but... I feel I can trust you. I just don't know what to do about Faelian!" Bingo. "All he thinks about, all he cares about, is skooma! He was a fine young man once. But he's lost everything. His looks, his money... his self-respect. I followed him a few times, to see where he goes. He walks around the city looking for skooma, and then goes to Lorkmir's house for several hours. It's in the Elven Gardens District. I think the house is deserted. That's why he goes there. So he can escape from life and do his skooma! Thank you for listening. You're a good friend. I just hope my sweet Faelian can clean himself up, or that awful skooma will be the death of him! I'm Atraena, by the way."
"Belladonna," I said. She looked like she was starting to feel better and I talked to her a few more minutes before Faelian had returned to the room. I said it was time for me to leave, wishing her well, and giving him the nastiest of looks as I exited.
Skooma, I thought as I walked through the Elven Gardens District. Skooma was going to be the literal death of him.
Having found Lorkmir's house, the lock was picked easily using my skeleton key and I searched quickly for something that could be useful. On a table I found three full bottles of Skooma. Tiny, pink, unassuming bottles that I knew immediately what to do with.
I always carried some types of extra things with me on missions, no matter the occasion. Poison was one of them. A drop of poison of paralysis was my only addition to the Skooma itself. I simply disposed of the other two bottles and left the poisoned Skooma on the table to wait. If I couldn't send a message to the world, I could send one to Faelian to take with him to the void.
I waited until around noon the next day. When he finally showed, I was hidden in the shadows. I waited until I heard his body thud to show myself. He was on the ground, paralyzed, and I stood over him, smiling. The bottle of Skooma was helplessly clutched in his hand and the only thing he could move were his eyes. They followed me with terror. Absolute terror.
"Poor Atraena." I said, walking circles around his body. "I bet if anyone was to put the hit out on you, it was her. You had a noble life, good looks, a beautiful maiden to call your own. And you gave it all up for this." I kicked the bottle from his hand and it skidded to the other wall, smashing to pieces. "You see, I could do anything to you right now. Not that you have anything to offer me, really. You're not handsome, I wouldn't want to turn you into my slave. You have no money, so why bother demanding it? But you do have your life." I knelt next to him, reaching into my bag for another bottle. A small one identical to Skooma bottle with a potent poison called essence of nightshade. "You see, you're marked for death so I have no qualms in telling you a couple of things first. One, you are a piece of shit that does not deserve the air he breathes. Two, my name is Belladonna Dumont. You're aware of another name for Nightshade, correct? As beautiful as it is deadly. And that's what I have here." I watched his eyes as I pulled a medical syringe from my bag. "And I found this in the basement, next to Lorkmir's body. I bet you killed him. And liked it, didn't you. I'll tell you a secret, Faelian. I also like killing. But there's one thing I enjoy even more on a job than just mindless killing. Suffering. Not mine, of course." I laughed wickedly. There were tears streaming from his eyes.
"You could have never been like me, though. No. It takes killers of a certain caliber to join me and my associates. We display certain skills that you heavily lack. We are capable of showing remorse to those we care about. It doesn't mean we won't do what needs to be done, but we don't play with the idea that we're inhuman. Incapable of feeling. It's the feeling that makes our work so enjoyable. And your death so awful. For you. Because you're going to feel this." I had filled the syringe with enough essence of nightshade to kill ten imperial soldiers. I took his wrist and slid the needle in as he watched helplessly, unable to do anything else, then injected it into his bloodstream.
"I've heard essence of nightshade burns like the fires of Oblivion inside the body. Soon, your body will start to tingle. Your stomach might feel queasy. If you're lucky, you'll asphyxiate on your own vomit. But I doubt it. Luck is not on your side today, is it, Faelian?" His pupils started to dilate and I could tell the poison was working. "You're finding it hard to breathe, aren't you?" His face was pale and dripping beads of sweat, palms clammy, and his skin began to turn purple. I simply sat beside him and smiled as the foam formed at his colorless lips and his eyes finally glazed over with death after ten minutes of suffering. Maybe not long enough for a man like him. But either way, the deed had been done.
And when I had returned to Cheydinhall, I stopped at my house to rest. An empty bookshelf had sat in my room for the longest time and I, with a new idea blooming, set my first trinket of many on the top shelf to mark this new chapter in my life. An empty bottle of essence of nightshade.