I don't own Dragon Age.
-.-.-
"Damn it!" Brosca muttered, lunging forward to catch Everd as he tumbled to the floor, reeking like a brewery. She missed, and the man hit his head hard on the stone, knocking himself unconscious.
"Shit," Leske swore. "What do we do now? This guy's too drunk to win the Proving like Beraht wants, and his first fight is in just ten minutes. You got a plan?"
Brosca rubbed her head, running her fingers against the brand burnt onto her cheek underneath the eye, marking her as a casteless dwarf. "Shit ... D'you reckon you'll fit in his armour?"
Leske eyed the armour critically, then looked down at the drunken Everd. "No chance. I'm too short to fit, it'd look like a kid was wearing his armour. The deshyrs would notice easily." Leske looked at the fighter again, then at Brosca. "You might fit, though. And you're always going on about how you're better than any in the Warrior Caste. Just keep his helmet on, and don't speak, and it should all be fine."
Brosca sighed. "Fine, but let's make sure this guy can't get up and ruin everything." She bent down, undoing Everd's belt, and using it to tie his hands to the leg of a chiselled stone bench. Once that was done, she tied his legs to another leg of the bench using the cord she used as a belt. "Now that he's secure, I need you to sort a couple of things out for me. Poison the food and drink of all the other fighters, something that'll slow them a bit but not anything fatal. I've never fought in armour with a decent weapon before, andI'll need every advantage I can get."
As Leske turned to leave, and Brosca bent down to pick up a chainmail shirt, she muttered to herself. "Next time, I'll make sure Beraht's backing a female fighter, or someone Leske's size. See how he likes crossdressing."
-.-.-
Brosca ducked the two-handed horizontal swipe of her opponent's hammer, before darting forward and slamming the weighty shield into him. She'd managed to beat the other dwarves she'd gone up against, and it was just this last guy to beat before she won it all. After Leske had put the draining poison in the food of the fighters, he'd slipped through the crowds to find Beraht and inform him of what was going on. Beraht was unmistakably pissed off, but with Everd and not them. He actually praised their initiative, before warning them. If they fucked this up and got caught, he'd gut them himself.
She hacked at the warrior with her axe, managing to hook the blade onto one of the dwarf's pauldrons. Tugging with all her might, she pulled the man to the ground, before smashing the rim of her shield into his face, knocking the man out.
"The winner of this Proving, is the Warrior Everd, of House Bera!" The Proving Master proclaimed, and Brosca raised a fist in celebration as the crowd cheered. Bowing to the audience, but making sure her helmet was still fully on, she couldn't help but smile. A casteless woman had just completely humiliated the best the Warrior Caste had to offer, and the population loved it.
-.-.-
Once in the changing room again with Leske, Brosca quickly stripped off Everd's gear, sprawling it across the room. The two untied the dwarf and positioned him with a bottle in his hand and several more empty ones scattered around him, making it look like he came in from winning, threw his armour off, and got roaringly drunk in celebration.
It was a good plan, and probably would have worked, but for one small flaw. As they were finishing up, the door opened, and in walked a tall, tanned human. All three froze, staring at one another, before the human spoke.
"Which of you fought in the armour?" His voice was surprisingly deep, and his beard was actually fairly respectable, considering that he was a human and not a dwarf.
Brosca raised a hand hesitantly, and the human raised an eyebrow. "As a Grey Warden, I was highly impressed by your skill. Judging from the brand on your face, I assume it was your first time fighting in armour with those weapons. I would like to offer you a place in the Grey Wardens."
-.-.-
AN: There is no way a pair of skilled, experienced criminals like Leske and Brosca would leave Everd untied, so in this they tie him up. The Proving was for the Wardens, and I think the Wardens would have approached whoever won. It was just their luck that they were still there when Duncan showed up. He doesn't seem the type to care that they were impersonating someone else, that would probably impress him even more.
