Board Thread:Roleplaying/@comment-25828117-20200115032614/@comment-5583506-20200117005828

While the others were too busy sleeping at the inn, Kashya slipped away again during the night. She had other plans. First off, she made sure that none of the others followed her. Not that that would be of any issue, but she had to make sure. If they somehow were made aware of her activities it would jeopardize her assignment, and rightfully so. She was spying on one of their members after all.

While she had never been to Cheydinhal before she had been instructed of the layout of the city, seeing as this was the location of Cyrodiil's Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary; reclaimed and renovated after having been derelict for decades. It took her a while navigating through the streets, but eventually she located the points of interest: adjacent from the Great Chapel of Arkay and with an old stone well present on the backyard.

The area was discreet enough to warrant a meeting, and in the cover of the night it would have been impossible for the City Watch to discern the two highly questionable figures meeting up.

"So ..." the voice of a hooded woman said as Kashya subltly approached, not a sound to her step. "We have been receiving reports that you would eventually pass through here. I trust that you have something worthwhile to report?"

Kashya reached for the rolled-up parchment she had kept hidden within a secret fold inside her armor. It was written in her a very unique yet neutral writing style with little to no personal opinions on the subject matter. It was an observational report, through and through.

"It confirms that the Queen of Taneth has taken on a lover then?" the hooded woman asked curiously as she read the report under the magical light source. "Of common birth?"

"It does", Kashya confirmed, but failed to see why that was such a big deal. She had never really quite understood politics or class struggles, nor did she particularly care much about it.

"Scandalous", the mysterious assassin chuckled. "I bet the client will have a field day when he hears about this."

He?

Kashya knew that she was not supposed to ask questions about the reasoning behind her assignments. To question the motivations or the identity of a contractor was frowned upon. They were merely messengers of Death, and Death did not ask questions. He reaped. She supposed that maybe that was good enough for now, seeing as there had yet to be any reaping.

She didn't want to acknowledge it, but in a sense she liked Nyasia. She liked to watch her and her relationship with Helian bloom. It was like being granted the sight into a life that could have been her own. The sight of a life that would never be hers. She could not tell if it was happiness or jealousy. Not that she would know either, she had never really had any reasons to be happy or jealous about anything.

While she doubted that Nyasia cared much about her, she did not wish the Queen any harm, and thus felt rather uncomfortable as she anticipated what her next orders would be after her report had been delivered. Regardless of whether she cared for the Redguard royalty or not, she owed her loyalty to the Dark Brotherhood. She had to. She knew that only through them would she be granted her just reward. An end to that one life she had not had the courage to claim herself.

"What is to be expected of this one now?" the Khajiit asked. "Should she prepare a poison for the queen?"

"Hm? What? Oh, no!" the assassin exclaimed with a melodious laughter. "No such things yet, but all in due time. For now the client just desires information. Personal, intimate, colorful information."

Kashya blinked. "Intimate?" She sincerely hoped it did not mean what she thought it meant.

"Yeah, you know ... get to know her. Make friends with her! Get under her skin! According to your report she recently lost a protector, right? It should not be too hard to fill in his shoes. Offer yourself to be by her side and see what makes her tick. And whenever you visit one of the larger cities again, keep a watchful eye out for one of our messengers for further debriefing."

Kashya blinked again. "The client does not desire her dead then?"

"Not now at least", the hooded woman shrugged. "It is not our position to ask. Why just deliver according to specified details. All he wants now is information regarding Queen Nyasia al Din's well-being and personal life. And as if by chance or fate, she was delivered right into the hands of you by travelling with this ... this group of yours."

"This one does not particularly care about fate. It usually disappoints."

"By chance then", the woman sighed. "Either way, keep your eyes and ears open, and make some efforts to get close to her. Hell, if you could establish herself as her lover instead of this commoner, you would have this work cut out for you. Just get into bed with her or something. Be creative."

Kashya wrinkled her nose. "Nyasia is not attracted to women."

At least Kashya thinks so.

"And this one will not get naked with her", she added with stern reluctance.

"Fine, whatever suits you", the hooded woman scoffed uncaringly. "Just bring further results. I will be informing the sanctuaries and hideouts along the way. Do you know in which direction you are headed next?"

"Morrowind", Kashya stated neutrally.

"Then you will surely hear or see of us again soon enough", the woman smiled. "Oh, and as a little something for your continued services." The hooded woman extended a pouch of gold to the Khajiit. "That should cover your expenses until your next debriefing. Until then, try not to die."

And with that the mysterious assassin of the Cheydinhal Sanctuary departed and it seemed as if she was absorbed by the shadows, even in clear sight of Kashya's keen vision. She had her assignment set in stone for now. She would somehow need to make an effort to get closer to Nyasia, but it just seemed impossible. She did not know how to approach her in a way that would seem believable. If she walked up to her all of a sudden on a warm day and asked if she wanted to be friends, the Queen would be able to tell that something was off from miles away.

It seemed that she would have to revise her strategy.

Kashya lumbered back to the group at the inn in the cover of darkness. All this thinking had made her quite tired for a change.