Chapter 6: Vampires, Bards, and Assassins, oh my!

After leaving Cicero once you found out you were apparently the Listener of the Dark Brotherhood. You were looking around for Nazir but came across Babette first in the alchemy room. She was sitting there with a mortar and pestle as she was grinding up alchemical ingredients into a fine powder. She looked over at you and flashed you a smile with her fangs shown. "Came out alive from your first real contract have you? Good job, I had a feeling you wouldn't die on your first contract. Is there something you need?" 

"Not necessarily." You said as you walked over before rummaging through your satchel. She eyed you as you did until you pulled out the small potion of lotus extract that Muiri had given you. "I wanted to give you this though. My 'client' had made it herself. I used it and it starts working up to about several minutes before shutting down their systems for good." You said as you tossed over the bottle that she easily caught with her free hand. She examined the tiny brown bottle of poison and then looked back over to you. 

"A gift for me? How kind. Nobody ever thinks of me while they're away. I could fabricate this and you can use whatever extra I make if you're interested."

You waved your hand airily, "I'm not much of a poison person to be honest. I only used it because my client wanted her target poisoned with it. Do with it as you will." 

"Gladly," she replied before pocketing the toxic potion. "So (Y/n)… We should get to know each other better. How about you take a seat. I only have millenniums worth of life to talk about. Vampirism tends to give you a lot of worldly experience." She said while smirking as you go ahead and take a stool next to her and sit down. You supposed you would hang out with Babette before going off and getting your contracts with Nazir. That is if you were planning on following Astrid's orders in the first place.  

You sat there with Babette and both conversed with each other for several hours. She was more than fascinating, especially because of her being vampire. She had so many funny stories and interesting kills that she was able to make while appearing like an innocent child. You even discussed about alchemy which she did end up showing you how to make some simple potions from the alchemy table. You learned how to make a basic healing potion, enhanced magicka, and a simple stamina potion. You would defiantly think these would come useful at some point in time, especially the enhanced magicka when your magic was running low on energy.  

You saw Festus off to the side at the enchanting table working on enchanting some kind of robe he had with him. You wished Festus would ease up a little and maybe teach you too. He seemed really passionate about destruction magic like you were. You even wanted to learn how to heal people, which was ironic to say the least. Restoration magic seemed to have a bad name for itself, but you thought it would come in handy one of these days if something bad happened to you or even a family member. Any form of magic was good magic of course, you were eager to learn it all. After hanging out with Babette for awhile longer, you decided to go finally talk to Nazir. You bid your farewells to the un-child and made your way to the kitchen where you found Nazir standing and reading over a paper he had in his hand. 

You approached him and smiled at him which he didn't return, instead he looked indifferent. "So you're still alive."

"Does it come to that much of a shock?" You ask as you felt annoyed because it seemed like everyone was discrediting you again and treating you like a weak pathetic child. Nazir said nothing as he reached down in his robes to pull out two pieces of paper. 

"I have two contracts for you. Since you were able to complete my first three, these shouldn't come to be too much trouble either." He hands you the target's details that you examine carefully. 

"The one named Hern I'd worry about. He's a vampire and you should know they aren't to be trifled with. Babette would agree." Nazir told you before bringing up the other target, "The other one should be a cakewalk compared to Hern. In Morthal there is a bard that is said to be so terrible that we've have multiple people want him dead. I've never been one for bards, entertainers, singers, and especially jesters." Nazir said while hinting at his disfavor for Cicero. "I trust you'll silence him… permanently." 

"Sounds simple enough. Kill a vampire and a terrible bard. I better not contract vampirism because of this though. I'm not going to be Babette's lesser sister."

"Then I suggest you stay away from the fangs." Nazir replied as he crossed his arms, "After these contracts Astrid might have something for you to do again." 

"Sounds like a plan." You chirped and grinned at him. He seemed unamused by your chirpiness as he continued to look grouchy as he leaned against the wall. You sped away from Nazir and went into the main room. You saw Arnbjorn practice fighting a dummy with a sword, while Veezara was off to the side sitting there and staring off into space. You were about to go out and get started on your contracts when you felt someone jump up and place their hands over your eyes from behind. 

"Guess who~?" 

You faintly smirked to yourself as you knew immediately who it was, "Cicero…" 

"Ooo, Listener is good at this game!" Cicero lets go and you turn around to face the grinning jester. "Where is the Listener running off too, hmm? Cicero saw the Listener talking to Babette for hours but not poor Cicero!" He pouted in a childish way that was adorable to you. 

You chuckled and shrugged your shoulders sheepishly, "Sorry, Cicero. I promise to spend more time with you. Though, I was actually going to just leave to get two of these contracts I have done."

"Oh, oh, do tell, Listener! Who are your 'lucky' targets!?" He asked excitedly to you as he grabbed your arm and pulled you off to the side. You were mildly blushing from the contact but tried to ignore it because it was silly of you to do.

"A vampire named Hern and an Orc bard named Lurbark, that apparently has various people asking the Dark Brotherhood for his death because they want him to finally be silent… for good." You smirked at the thought of killing an Orc. They were always so big and bad looking, but your first Orc assassination was actually going to be an Orc that was a bard and not some kind of tough warrior like they were famous for being. The vampire admittedly made you slightly nervous as you really didn't want to succumb to vampirism. 

Cicero chuckled lowly and smirked in a menacing way, "Cicero would love to watch the Listener at work! Cicero can already picture the mighty Listener slashing, hacking, and chopping away with her blade!" Cicero shocks you when he suddenly without you noticing had your blade in his hand. How'd you not notice him take it!? Cicero smirks with a twinkle in his eyes from the obvious fun he was having now that he had arrested your blade. 

"You took my blade!"

"Tricky Cicero can be, can't he?! Hehe~! This is quite the pointy, very sharp, and gleamy blade you got here!" Cicero says as he admires your blade 'Sithis' Wrath' in his hand. You crossed your arms and arched your hip as you stared at him with a raised brow. 

"Hey, that wasn't fair. I wasn't paying attention."

Cicero giggles and flips the blade so that the handle was sticking out towards you to take. You were about to grab it back but he quickly retracts it away before you lay a hand on it. Obviously, he was toying with you, and having fun while doing so. "Cicero can't let the Listener go out and fight scary bloodthirsty vampires and tune-deaf Orc bards if she can get her weapon so easily taken from her! What shall you do if you run low on that scolding hot magic of yours? And you can only resort to defending oneself with your trusty blade at your hip? Hm?" 

You were left embarrassed and actually unsure of what to say back. You always relied on your magic for everything. Not having it as your disposal seemed unlikely, but running low on magicka could very well happen one of these times. You couldn't believe how easily Cicero had disarmed you without you noticing so sneakily, and he was standing right in front of you the entire time! "So you're not gonna' give it back?" You asked in frustration.

"Listener's foe won't give it back to her! No matter how much she asks! Even if Cicero does, what would you do if you are caught without a weapon? Surely, you could fight back brutishly but then again they have the upper hand. Surely, the Listener would have a backup plan?" 

"Uhh… I don't usually run out of magic-"

"OH! But one of these days you could! Cicero won't dare let the poor defenseless Listener leave until she can prove to Cicero that she can fight back without a weapon and magic!" 

You felt frustrated with Cicero. What was he getting at? Why couldn't he just give you your blade back? "Do you want me to hit you? Come on, Cicero! Give it back!" You whined rather childishly as he laughed at your bellyaching. 

"Go ahead and hit dear poor Cicero! I would love to see the Listener try!" 

You furrow your brows and clench your fist into a ball. You bring up a fist to try and intimidate him to get your blade back. Surely, you wouldn't actually hit the fool, but he was literally asking for it. Cicero remains grinning wide and unfazed by your raised fist scare tactics. "Ooo, scary, Listener! You wouldn't actually hit poor Cicero would you?"

"I'm about too if you don't give me back Sithis' Wrath." 

"OOOH! Is that the name of this blade!?" He exclaims as he looks back down at your weapon in fascination. 

You had quite enough of Cicero being a well… fool, and were trying to think of a way to get the blade back. So rather childishly you step forward and try recklessly grabbing at your blade to get it back, but Cicero expertly dodged your every movement and kept the blade away from your grasp. "Cicero! What gives?! Just give me my damn blade, already! I can deal with a vampire and bard. My magic depleting won't be a problem, I swear!"

Cicero only giggled like a maniac as you got so close him from trying to grab the blade back. You were face to face with him and rather too close for comfort. Your face was either red from embarrassment or frustration from the sneaky dolt in front of you, literally inches from your face. "Ah, ah, ah, my Listener! That's not working!" You finally had enough and without thinking from getting so flustered you threw a fist at him. Too much of your shock, he catches your fist with his free hand with ease, and smirks down at you with those bright smoldering amber eyes of his. You were literally at his mercy to take your arm and twist it back painfully if he wanted too. However, he didn't as he dropped your fist once you gave up trying to hit him.

"I give up…" You huffed and just crossed your arms in annoyance as you lightly glared Cicero.

"What!? The Listener can't give up!" He said in overdramatic exasperation. "Here! Cicero can give the Listener a few little itty-bitty tips~! hehe! Cicero knows his way around a blade! Sneaky, sneaky~! And oh so deadly!" He snickered as he finally gave you back your obsidian blade that you snatched away the second he offered it to you. 

"Thanks for the blade. Now I'm going to go-" Cicero cut you off as he took out his intricate black ebony blade that shined in the light of the cavern. This caught your attention, mainly because the blade was absolutely beautiful. 

"No, no that's not part of the deal! If I disarm the Listener then the Listener will not leave! Cicero forbids the Listener to go and get disarmed by one of her enemies! If Listener disarms Cicero then I will gladly let you go free~!" Cicero suddenly took you by surprise as he slashed forward towards you. Your eyes widen and you quickly back away from him while putting up your own blade shakily to block. He was insanely fast and had a focused look in his eyes as he slashed again and literally hit your blade right out of your hands. You couldn't believe how terrible you actually were with sword fighting! Either that or Cicero was phenomenally good at it, which shocked you. 

Cicero glances over at your fallen blade and starts 'tsking'. "Listener is disarmed again." 

"I noticed…" You muttered and felt embarrassed that Cicero was completely wiping the floor with you. He smiled and went over to pick up your sword to give it back to you. 

"Don't lose hope, Listener! Here, this is how Cicero is doing it…" Cicero soon starts explaining to you how you keep getting disarmed by him so easily. You were taken back by the vast knowledge he had in fighting that you weren't expecting from the Keeper. Certainly, the Night Mother had a worthy person guarding over her. You couldn't believe the skill Cicero had and was so willing to teach you with. You learned more from him than you learned from any book you ever read in a few hours time. You practiced hard with Cicero and forgot all about your contracts as you were actually starting to have fun once you were getting the hang of it. Cicero was a surprisingly good teacher too. You knew you wouldn't be able to fight like him in a single day, but you were actually able to disarm him once, which was just enough.

You felt so full of unbridled pride from being able to disarm him. Cicero had literally jumped up and down cheering for you that you were capable of doing it successfully. "Ha! I did it!" You exclaimed in triumph. 

"Oh YES, the Listener did! Cicero knew she could do it!" Cicero said as he went to retrieve his ebony blade that you had managed to finally fling across the cavern room. "Now Cicero is fully confident in the Listener that she can go kill with her newfound oh so deadly skills!" 

You grinned as you sheathed your sword back at your hip. "Thanks Cicero, that was actually a lot of fun!" 

Cicero giggles and replies, "Cicero couldn't bare to let the dear Listener to be possibly overtaken by her foes! Now Cicero is more confident that the Listener will be safe on her journeys."

You smiled at the fact that Cicero cared about your safety. Typically, it would bother you that someone was unconfident in your abilities to begin with, but he did prove to you that you were easily disarmed. "I will take care but before I go I want to ask you a serious question." You said which made Cicero stand at complete attention to whatever you had to ask him. 

"Oh, a serious question! Cicero can be very serious! What is the Listener's very 'serious' question to Cicero?" 

You look over your shoulder and around you to make sure Astrid wasn't near as you spoke about this. Seeing as it was basically just you and Cicero you decided to ask him. "The Night Mother told me to go to Volunruud to meet that Amaund Motierre guy, but as you heard, she told me not to go… but I was thinking about going, anyways, even without her permission. Do you think I should listen to Astrid or should I put the Night Mother's word first?" 

Cicero didn't bat an eye when it came to answering your question. It seemed he had his mind set the second you asked. "Cicero thinks you should do what you feel is right. But Cicero believes that you should listen to the Night Mother. Astrid's word will never be above our unholy matron. Humph, she thinks she's better than mother but she never will be! Cicero wonders what (Y/n) thinks is best?" Cicero says in the most serious way that Cicero can be. 

You sighed and knew deep down what your heart was telling you to do, and that was obey the Night Mother. But if you disobeyed Astrid it could really put a wedge in your relationship with her. Pondering for a moment on what you should do. You finally looked up into Cicero's eyes after looking down from thinking. "I want to follow mother's will but a part of me doesn't want to strain my relationship with Astrid. She won't ever trust me if I go to Volunruud without her say so." 

"What comes first? Astrid's word or the Night Mother's?"

"The Night Mother, of course but-"

Cicero cuts in before you should finish, "then you should listen to her. You are the Listener and she has spoken. Surely, if Astrid tells you not to go you wouldn't actually listen to her?"

You thought about that for a moment and knew what your answer was. You would always listen to the Night Mother even if Astrid was against it. Suddenly, you knew what you were going to do. "I'd listen to the Night Mother."

Cicero smiles at your response, "Cicero knew the Listener would pick the better choice. You have a good head on your shoulders! Hehe~ Try not to lose it!" Cicero giggles while obviously going back to his less than serious self. You were glad you asked Cicero even though his answer should have had been expected by him. Of course, it was silly to ask in the first place. The Night Mother's decree came before all else. You decided that you were going to find Volunruud and meet this man even without Astrid's say in the matter. She would defiantly be upset with you but you really didn't care so much. You knew what your heart was telling you was what you should follow. 

"Thanks again, Cicero. I'm going to find Volunruud after I finish up these contracts I have. I'll see you then." You share a smile back to Cicero. He grins and waves to you.

"Safe travels, Listener. Remember what you have been taught!" Cicero exclaims as you begin to turn away from him. You couldn't stop smiling to yourself as you started to walk away.

"I'll keep it in mind. Goodbye Cicero." 

Cicero watched you leave while you were walking past Astrid who was talking to her husband. She merely glanced at you once before you left through the corridor to go kill the vampire and bard you were assigned to kill. 

 Thankfully, the targets were once again quite close to each other. This time it was even close to Falkreath which made the travel take much less time. You were heading to the Half-Moon Mill that the vampire Hern was said to reside first since it was closer. You were riding on your horse and left to your thoughts until you came upon the quiet mill. Quickly scanning the area you could see that the lumber mill was active which meant someone was outside and working. You got off your horse and began walking deeper in the mill to see if you could see who was currently at work. You soon capture view of a Nord woman with shoulder length light brown hair and dressed down in leathers. She was not your target but she could become one of your kills if she got in the way. You determined that Hern must had been inside their cottage that was just at the side of the actual mill. 

The Nord woman noticed you and came over towards you with her axe she had been using in her hand. "Welcome to the Half-Moon Mill, traveler. Is there something you need? I'm selling lumber if you're interested. I also buy if that's your thing." 

"Actually, I was looking for someone. His name is Hern. Do you know where he is?" You ask while making a strange expression at her eyes that you swore were glowing faintly. 

"Oh, my husband. He's inside right now."

"You're his wife?" You say and look her up and down. She nods her head and seems to also be watching you intently. "I see… Well, I'm going to go talk to him about some… business affairs." 

"We do business together. Certainly, anything you'd need to tell him would be fine to tell me, instead." She said which made you want to roll your eyes. Being a little bit of the blood thirsty type, you were determining that it might be simpler to just kill her and Hern both. You were going to reply back but you were interrupted when a Nordic man walks up from behind the both of you. You instantly turn to look at him and know that he is your target to kill. He gave you the vampire vibe right as you saw him. You were having the feeling that his wife was also a vampire too as they both gave off unnerving auras. 

"I heard you are looking for me, stranger. What is it that you need?" He asked as he eyed you suspiciously. You knew now that killing them both was going to have to be a given. You wondered how vampires faired up against fire. You'd imagine not well. 

You looked over at him and decided to get to the point so you could get going over to Morthal to kill the tone-deaf bard. "Well, I have come on certain business. Did you know today is my first day employed as a vampire slayer?" You smirked as his faintly glowing eyes flashed immediately knowing of your intentions. In seconds, an axe was being swung at you from behind by the woman. You dodged the hit and formed fire in your hands. 

"You're from the Dark Brotherhood aren't you!?" 

"Lucky guess, night spawn." You threw out a blaze of fire that blasted from your hand. Hern hissed and bared his sharp fangs at you as he backed away from the flames. Hern's wife tried to slash at you from the side but you brought out your other hand and also blasted fire from both hands. She screamed as she was not fast enough to escape the fire's blaze. Hern gasped as he saw his wife on fire. Unknowingly to you vampires are very weak against fire, which only worked to your advantage. She screamed and tried swinging her axe at you out of panic. You weren't concerned though since they were predictable and easy to dodge. You sent another blast of fire that was so wicked it threw her backwards to the ground. Hern took out an iron blade and tried slashing at you with a sounding battle cry. Now that the wife was burning to death on the ground, you took your time to deal with your actual target. "I must admit assassin verses vampire is a fight for the ages!" You chuckled as you took out your blade that was imbued with fire the moment you brought it out. 

Hern wasn't as savvy as a fighter as he looked as you took your knowledge that you learned from Cicero and quickly disarmed him. His sword went flying into the air and away from him. He hissed and started to back away. "D-damn you, assassin!" 

"Interesting choice of last words," you said with a mocking smile as you went forwards and pierced your blade right into his chest. The giddiness came back as you saw his eyes widen and the life start to fade away. You were careful not to let him get too close to you and bite you. The fire was burning him from the sword's imbued magic. He fell limp on the blade when you pulled back and let him fall backwards to his death. "Just call me (Y/n) the Listener and mighty vampire slayer!" You exclaimed and laughed in victory as you stuck your hand into your satchel and took out two nightshade flowers. You placed one on Hern and the other one on his wife who basically was ashes from the flames. "Have fun in the void," you smirked and chuckled as you left your kills and went back to your horse to go to Morthal to find the Orc bard. 

 Morthal took a little longer to reach but you managed to get there without any bandit ambushes or feral wolves slowing you down. Morthal was a small town that wasn't very well fortified by anything as it was basically out in the open around swampy terrain. You parked your horse at the stables and got off to start looking around the area. It didn't take you long to find the Moorside Inn where your target should be. You headed on inside and it REALLY didn't take long to figure out why your target was contracted to die. The sound of an out of tune lute was being played and the rough equally out of tune voice of an Orc was singing some strange song about sweet rolls? You wanted to put your hands over your ears to block out the horrid noise. No wonder this guy had multiple contracts on his head. You'd go insane enough to kill him on the spot if you had to listen to him day in and day out. 

You personally didn't have any problems with bards as you actually enjoyed music but this bard was singing like a dying hagraven. You would be doing Morthal a large favor killing this Orc. You sat in front of him at a chair which instantly caught his attention. He probably wasn't used to anyone willingly looking like they were interested in his 'singing'. "Sweet rolls are so sweet… like uh a sweet sunny day…! So warm and sweet… fresh and yummy uh in my tummy! Oh, sweet rolls, oh sweet rolls! Soft by day and flaky by night~! Sweet rolls my one true love and I eat them all day~!"

'Oh by Sithis, shut up,' you thought with a mental eye roll as this bard was trying to think of anything that sounded relatable to a sweet roll. Speaking of which that actually sounded good right now. Too bad you had work that needed finished first. "Quite a song, sir. It's making me hungry already." You spoke up to the bard to shut him up from his atrocious melody. He seemed to grin at that and bow.

"Thank you! Of course, it would make you hungry! Because uh sweet rolls are like honey and uh so sunny and uh… funny! I'm so good at this." He chuckled before saying, "Certainly there must be a song you would like to request from the most amazing bard in all of Skyrim?"

"How about a song of death and fear!? A song to make me quake in fear!" You said dramatically just to humor him.

Lurbark scratched his head dumbly and was obviously not getting the idea that you were here to kill him. You almost couldn't contain your laughter as he actually tried to think of a song of death and fear to sing. 

"Hmm… Well, alright. How about this? Shadows creep, and… and phantoms leap! A man got… he got scared! And the demons dared! To um… visit upon him all which they feared! … Brilliant, I know. It's a gift."

"How about this? A child of darkness appeared, like shadow and death she crept on near. The people around could only look on in fear as she sliced the neck of a bard right here. The bard tried to scream but the blood choked him, he fell to the floor and sung no more." 

"Er, that's good but not as good as mine! How about another one?" He asked while still completely oblivious to your intentions. It seemed he would not get it until you actually acted upon the deed. Standing up from the chair you were on, you stepped near him and took out your blade. While he tried to sing another awful song, you sliced his neck with a swift clean cut. You heard the screams in the inn once Lurbark started choking on his own blood before falling down. You dropped a nightshade flower down on his corpse and gave him an amused look. "I bet even Sithis wouldn't want you around with that musical 'talent' of yours." Chuckling to yourself, you walked out of the inn. You were shocked the guards were not after you. Perhaps, you really had done a favor for Morthal. You couldn't wait to tell Cicero about your contracts. He'd never get over the bard one. 

Now it was just a matter of finding Volunruud. You weren't going to wait for Astrid to get her shit together and tell you to go whenever she felt like it. It was just a matter of finding the location of Volunruud which you'd imagine couldn't be too difficult if you asked around a little bit. So you did just that. Morthal was strangely peaceful, and not at all disturbed at the fact you had just murdered someone. Nazir wasn't kidding when he mentioned Lurbark was wanted dead by many. You had gone into an alchemical shop which is where you got your information to find where Volunruud was. Apparently, the person working there said Volunruud was not that far away but it was actually a little way to the southeast of Morthal. You thanked the woman and made your way back to your horse. 

Astrid was probably going to be really upset at you for doing this, but if it meant following the Night Mother's decree, you didn't care what Astrid wanted. You traveled to the ancient ruins and hoped that you would easily find Amaund Motierre. When you got there, you walk up the entrance and looked around at the old pots and remains of what was left there. You turned your (e/c) eyes to the stone doors and entered on through without any trouble. Upon entering you found yourself in a dimly lit stone room that had an decrepit looking skeleton sitting in a small alcove to your left. You didn't think much of it as you began to walk past it to go deeper into Volunruud's Nordic ruins. That was until you felt something slash you in the back. You let out a scream and stumbled forwards only to quickly turn around when you got the chance. You immediately had fire in your hands and were staring down at whatever had slashed at your back. Your eyes widen in horror as you see the skeleton was standing upright with an ancient Nordic longsword in it's skeletal hands. It's eyes were glowing a faint blue that made a shiver go down your spine. You couldn't believe you were literally staring death in the face. You believed you heard Nordic folklore about these undead creatures being called Draugr from books you had read in the past. You just didn't believe they existed until now…

Your back was mildly bleeding from the slash of the longsword. It wasn't a critical wound but it was enough to sting like a bitch. The Draugr was about to swing his longsword again but this time you weren't going to let him get another swing on you. You took out your obsidian blade and clashed blades with the two-handed weapon the undead Draugr had. You didn't have much trouble fighting his blade off as it wasn't physically very strong. You cried out as you began slashing fiercely at it while trying to ignore the fact the thing was rather terrifying to fight. The Draugr stumbled backwards as you kept your swings rapid and quick, it couldn't get the chance to swing back at you because of how fast your strikes on it were. You were surprised by how many hits it took to make the thing practically fall into pieces on the ground below. You breathed heavily after it fell and it's eyes began to stop glowing, which meant to you that it was dead for good this time. You stared down at the thing while reaching back and patting at your back, only to feel some fresh blood coat your hand from your wound. 

"Damn it, I wasn't expecting that at all." You said to yourself as you looked down at your blood covered hand. You sighed heavily and looked back in front of you but first noticed aged-worn notes on the side close to where the Draugr had awoken. You tried to ignore your wound as you go over and pick up the notes and begin to read through it. It was about some adventurer looking for some dead guy's tomb named Kvenel, but he didn't have the two keys that were apparently two weapons called Okin and Eduj. If you had to guess he was probably dead by now with the other corpses lying around this damnable place. As much as treasure sounded right up your alley, you didn't have the time to go looking for it. 'Perhaps, I'll come back here another time and find this Kvenel.' You smirked to yourself and placed back down the notes before heading forwards into the ruin's corridor that led to a point where there was three possible way points to pick from. "Oh great, now which one could it be?" Scanning your eyes over the three passage ways, you have the distinct feeling to take the leftmost one. You didn't know what it was but it drew you in more than the other two. 

You eventually saw a door that led into another room. You head up to it and open it up and by some kind of incredible luck, you found two people inside. It was almost as if they were expecting you at that very moment as both were standing there and looking towards you. The first man was a Breton dressed in fine clothing that you guessed was Amaund Motierre since the other guy was an Imperial guard that was probably his personal paid bodyguard. 

"By the Almighty Divines! You've come… You've actually come! This dreadful Black Sacrament thing… it worked." 

You eyed the guard down suspiciously while Amaund was talking. The guard looked shifty to you like he was ready to kill you if you looked at him or Amaund the wrong way. You turned your eyes back to Amaund and placed a hand on your hip as you examined the Breton closely before replying. "The Night Mother has heard your pleas, Motierre. And I am here to conduct her will. What is it you need?" You asked with a voice full of professionalism. This better be good considering you still had a stinging bloody laceration on your back from the loathsome Draugr in this place. 

"Um yes…" Amaund started to say awkwardly, "So it would seem. Well, I won't waste your time. I would like to arrange a contract. Several, actually. I daresay, the work I'm offering has more significance than anything your organization has experienced in, well, centuries."

You highly doubted him in his claim but you were still curious all the same. "That's a weighty thing to say, Mr. Motierre. I'm expecting this will be more than killing someone out of some little revenge plot, won't it?"

"Your organization hasn't seen something like this in a very, very long time. Trust me on this, assassin."

You still felt dubious towards him but decided to let him continue on with this momentous task that the Dark Brotherhood could only dream of carrying out, or so he said. "Alright, I'll bite. What is this portentous task you have in mind?" 

He smirked at you before replying, "You'll find the targets, as well as their manners of elimination, quite varied. I'm sure someone of your disposition will probably even find it enjoyable…" He trailed off for a moment. You smirked at that as he went on speaking, "But you should know that these killings are but a means to an end. For they pave the way to the most important target. The reason I'm speaking with a cutthroat in the bowels of this detestable crypt. For I seek the assassination of someone very significant."

You eye him suspiciously and raise an eyebrow, "And this is?"

A dark aura filled his eyes as he seemed to smirk in a mischievous way. You were never prepared for the two words he was about to utter from his mouth. 

"The emperor."