Though Gianna, Castle Dour's chef, was making it awfully easy to use the poison. Athene probably could have thrown a whole Skeever into the pot and she would have agreed.
"I knew you'd be a wood elf," she gushed. "Only someone with a knowledge of woodland herbs could–"
"Enough!" Athene could hear the Emperor and his guests upstairs. It was no surprise that everything he said was followed with polite laughter. Here was the Empire at its finest: dull, pandering, and totally unaware of the doom that strode toward it.
"Of course, of course." They were making The Gourmet's Potage Le Magnifique, and what luck that Athene had spoken to Balagrog gro-Nolob and knew how to throw it together. Of course no one was going to get to enjoy it, but getting it right anyway seemed like an appropriate homage to the dead Orc.
Another reason that using the Jarrin Root just seemed wrong.
"And finally," Athene said, rummaging through the kitchen drawers. "A Septim!"
Gianna's enthusiasm faded a little. "A… Septim? The coin?"
"Yes. It's all about the seasoning, you see, and you have to give it the right aftertaste."
"Of course! The metallic taste."
Athene nodded. "Yes. And also, you know, the whole Emperor thing."
Gianna chuckled. "Pity the last Septim Emperor was assassinated then, hey?"
"You might not want to mentioned that at the table."
They pulled the pot off the fire and Gianna carried it up the stairs while Athene tried to arrange herself into something calm that approximated a chef. Gianna might have been fooled by even an Orc walking through the door, but in a room full of Penitus Oculatus and royalty the pressure was on.
As they stepped through the doorway the guests fell silent.
"Ahh, The Gourmet!" the Emperor said. "It's a pleasure to meet you. And your food!"
Laughter. Smiles.
He was a small man, shrunk further by his furred robes. Athene looked at him and thought of everything the Empire had done, and not done, for Valenwood. She thought about the soldiers who'd tried to cut off her head at the Skyrim border. She looked in the Emperor's eyes and didn't see any knowledge, any great prescience that would excuse the mess they'd made in Tamriel over the last centuries.
She'd wondered if she'd be overwhelmed by what she was going to do. Turned out, she was barely bothered.
He tasted the stew. "Magnifique!" he said.
Laughter, smiles.
Athene stabbed him in the back. The shock on his face reflected onto his guests, and the assassin was reminded of murdering Vittoria Vici and what a mess that had been. But this time she was prepared. She'd known she wouldn't get out of the room undetected, so when the Emperor's head slammed down into his bowl of Potage she shoved the guard nearest her and went for the door. She heard Gianna's cry as the chef was blamed, and killed, behind her. That was a shame. But there was no time for regret as Athene fell through onto the parapets overlooking Solitude, feet pounding onto stone as she made for the stairs. Astrid had promised the way would be clear.
The way was not clear. She stopped short as Penitus Oculatus guards lined the walkway, surrounding her.
A slow clap began from a window. Commander Maro.
"That man was the most insufferable decoy the Emperor has ever employed," he said.
Athene's body numbed as disappointment and failure washed through her.
She had no idea how much worse it could get.
"Surprised? So was I, when a member of your family came to me with the plan. I get you, and the Dark Brotherhood gets to continue."
Her mind raced. A member of her family? She thought Cicero, and then Babette, their whereabouts unknown. But she couldn't see it.
The Emperor's murder was a boon for the Dark Brotherhood. Why would anyone want to stop it? Who would trade it for a deal with one of the Emperor's own men? How could anyone trust Maro over her own family? Who was that stupid?
"But you know what? I've changed my mind. You lot killed my son. And I'm going to kill you and each and every last one of you."
See?, she thought. Stupid.
"Your sanctuary is being destroyed right now." He barked a laugh. "How does it feel?"
"Come down here and I'll show you," Athene said.