Chapter 1
Elves, Rogues, Mages Oh My!
9:34 Dragon – Inner City of Highever
The conversation in the noisy tavern came to an abrupt halt as the front door pushed open and two hooded figures stepped inside from the cold night. The first figure was dressed in leather armor and a short blue cloak, with two finely crafted swords strapped to its back. The second figure was nearly a head shorter than the first, and dressed in short blue robes with white trim, with chainmail fitted around the torso. Both figures had a hand stitched white griffon embroidered on the fabric of their right shoulders.
Drunken patrons eyed the figures as they walked past to the furthest corner of the tavern. The taller figure raised their hand to the bartender before taking a seat against the wall in the far back. The figure pulled the blue cloak off to reveal a young human woman with a striking beauty that a few men in the tavern could not help but gasp at before returning to their drinks. Her hair was dark brown pulled back into a neat ponytail and her eyes were the color of a rare blue gem that changed colors with the light.
The smaller figure took a seat across from the woman, setting a heavy sack on the table and propping a red staff against the seat where the figure sat. As conversation began to establish itself once again around the bar, the barman approached the two. He carried two pints of ale in one hand and a plate of sliced bread in the other. The smaller figure removed their own hood and an elf as beautiful as the human woman smiled at the barman. The left side of her face was tattooed in a tribal design that completed her powerful, yet gracious, magnificence. The human woman rolled her eyes at one of the nearly passed out patrons at the bar when he whistled at her; when she reached for one of the swords on her back, the customer quickly averted his eyes from the stunning woman.
"We don't serve elves here," The barman groaned to the human woman in an irritable tone; shaking his head in annoyance. "Tell your elf to wait outside until you're done." Anger flashed across the elf girl's face, but was quickly replaced with a snide grin as the human girl swiftly grabbed the barman's collar tightly, pulling him down to her level. The strong and surprising grip from her forced a groan from his lips.
"First off she is not my elf…" The woman hissed into his ear. The human woman nodded her head to the elf and she leapt to her feet. The elf took the pints from the man's hand, as the human girl swiftly smashed the man's head against the table. "Second, if you don't serve elves here; put a sign outside." The plate of bread fell to the floor and the tavern fell silent once again.
"Third," the elf girl spoke shoving a few coins into the man's hand. "My coin is as good as anyone else's. Now bring us a clean loaf and if it even smells of anything but yeast I will gut you like the pig you are." The human girl released the barman and he stumbled to the floor. Quickly picking up the fallen bread and plate he scurried off of to the bar and chatter returned to normal.
"Men," the elf girl muttered, taking a pint of ale in her hand. "Why must there always be resistance in every decent tavern we go into? For the love of the Maker, why must it matter if I am an elf or not?" The elf girl sipped her ale slowly, scowling at the wall.
"Now, now, Aianna." The human girl reached into their large sack and pulled out a pink cookie and broke it in half. She reached out one half to the elf, Aianna, offering it to her as an I'm sorry gesture. Aianna shook her head in refusal waiting on the sour bread to go with her ale. "Suit yourself." The woman shrugged as she bit into her half of the cookie.
"Honestly Daralis," Aianna asked, reaching into her robes and pulling out a small wood pipe and a small leather pouch of tobacco. "Do you enjoy being such a prude?" She smiled, stuffing a small pouch of the dried leaves into the pipe and lit it with a match she slid across the stone wall.
"I am not a prude!" Daralis gasped waving away the smoke from Aianna's pipe. She frowned slightly as the barman returned, setting the plate of fresh sour bread between the women. He stared at the griffon emblem on Daralis's right shoulder. Before turning quietly he noticed inside Aianna's right wrist was the same but smaller two headed griffon tattoo.
"Shit…" the barman muttered under his breath. "You's them Grey Wardens supposed to be stayin' here tonight? I am so sorry…" Aianna looked over at the man, her eyes fixed to his. She inhaled from her pipe and blew smoke into the man's face. The barman waved the smoke from his face coughing slightly and Aianna laughed vindictively.
"Amazing what skills of observation can do for a person, right sister?" Aianna smiled, leaning back in her seat and taking another sip of ale. Daralis snickered, nodding in agreement, finally grasping her own pint and taking a small sip. Aianna waved the barman away as she turned to back to Daralis.
"So Sister," Aianna began licking her lips as she applied more tobacco to her pipe. "What's this contact we are supposed to be meeting that your lovely king told us to meet here?" She snickered as she puffed at her pipe.
"His highness didn't give many specifics to me or Master Nathaniel; only that we would be contacted by our guide." Daralis sighed opening the deer hide map of Ferelden the King had given to her. Pretending to glance over the map her mind wandered to the king's smile. His smile suited his kindness and awkward nature that Daralis found sweet; even somewhat endearing to say the least.
Aianna eyed her sister curiously, puffing her pipe in anticipation of her to continue on with details. "You're blushing, Daralis." She sighed shaking her head in disbelief of her own little sister's childish behavior. "Sometimes men do not know what they want until a woman presents them with options…" Daralis snapped back to the reality of her elf sister's mocking and the shady pub they sat in.
"I-I am not, Aianna!" Daralis panicked and stuffed the map back into their large pack. She frantically grabbed her mug of ale and took a long sip to cover her face. Aianna laughed herself to near tears, before wiping the water from her eyes and sighing deeply to regain her composure. "Why must you tease me, sister?"
"Because teasing you about your lacking of experience makes me laugh, sister." Aianna spoke mockingly tugging at the collar of the Grey Warden robes she wore. The breast plate and high neck made the elf feel as if the garments were choking her. "But back to my original point," she continued, returning to her pipe. "Did your king say nothing of even what he wants us to do but wait on this contact for instructions?"
"Correct," Daralis nodded, ignoring her sister's comment, and regaining her calm demeanor she normally carried herself with. She was accustomed to overcoming Aianna's taunts and teasing quickly. The bar became quiet at the sound of a minstrel playing began and a woman's voice began to sing.
"Wow," Aianna shook her head in annoyance before holding her hand up to a waitress for another mug of ale. "I don't do lack of details Daralis, even if he is your king." A waitress walked by quickly setting a fresh mug of ale in front of Aianna and taking the few small coins that sat next to the old mug. "I just hope that this isn't some kind of trap." Daralis rolled her eyes as she ate another piece of the strawberry cookie.
The two sat in silence as time passed slowly by. Aianna eventually pulled a thick leather-bound tome from their sack. She began to read the tome quietly as she continued to enjoy her smoke and ale through the evening. Daralis watched the pub as the night went on, more patrons leaving than entering. Hours passed and nothing out of the ordinary happened besides Aianna becoming slightly intoxicated. But that was nothing but normal to Daralis.
Morning drew close and eventually the two sisters took a single room upstairs. They slept in shifts throughout the day, and as evening approached Aianna left to walk the streets of Highever while Daralis remained at the pub. The atmosphere of the pub that evening was no different than the night before when they had arrived. Daralis grew exceedingly restless, with no sign of any contact; no sign of much of anything for that matter.
Between Aianna's constant annoyances and patrons of the pub becoming uneasy; Daralis found herself at a standstill. For the last three evenings she and Aianna waited over and over in the same back table in this backend establishment. When the second evening came to an end and day break broke, the little bit of patience that Aianna had was nearly gone. On the third evening the young elf no longer had any desire to read or drink but to find this contact.
"I am going to burn this place down…" Aianna muttered into her hands as she leaned against the table with her face in her palms. "I hate this waiting…I hate Highever, and I hate this pub…."she continued to groan, rocking impatiently in her seat. Daralis took some joy in watching her older sister suffer from boredom though she too was beginning to worry.
"We must wait, Aia." Daralis spoke firmly looking around the pub. Aianna laid her face into the table with a big sigh. "Come on; sit up like a normal person, not a brooding child." Daralis smacked Aianna's head slightly and she unwillingly sat up.
"Why must you be such a stiff sometimes?" Aianna sighed looking around the pub with her sister. Three unfamiliar men walked into the pub dressed in similar finely made armor. The largest of the men walked directly to the barman that Daralis had dealt with their first evening. They spoke a few moments then the barman pointed at Aianna's direction. "Shit…" Aianna muttered lowering her head.
"What?" Daralis asked seeing the men walking towards them. The leader was an older man with dark brown hair with bits of grey around his ears. The older man's expression was neither friendly nor enduring but like a wolf gaining on his kill.
"Well, well, Aianna Dayes my dear sweet elf," he spoke with a grin on his face as he and the other two men approached closer. "Did you forget about your old friend Alfred from Denerim?" Aianna turned to him with eyes narrowed and brows scrunched down.
"Alfred," Aianna cracked a fake smile. "What brings you to the squalor of Highever's underworld?" Daralis raised an eyebrow to her sister as the men surrounded the open end of the table.
"Just your pretty little face, Aianna." Alfred smiled slowly leaning over the table and softly touching Aianna's cheek. She quickly pulled away from his fingers ready to bite them if they ventured too close. "Oh, and also the coin you owe me from that last job we did for you."
"You got your cut Alfred," Aianna rolled her eyes to him and then shot a glance to Daralis. "It's not my fault the profit was higher than I anticipated." Alfred touched a lock of Aianna's long black hair, thumbing the lock for a few seconds until she pulled away.
"I know that, but you are a reasonable woman Aianna." Alfred leaned down to whisper in her ear. "Well, as reasonable as an elf can be. I'd hate to see something happen to that beautiful mother of yours." As the words left Alfred's lips Aianna rose to her feet and held out her right hand quickly. A force pushed Alfred backward, throwing him across the pub. His limp body crashed into the bar and he let out a scream on impact. People in the pub let out shrieks of horror and some scurried for the door while others hid under tables.
"The elf is a mage!" someone cried out over the commotion and Aianna smiled turning to the two henchmen. The energy that pulsed through her body gave her a rush of intoxication that one might call bloodlust. Her lips formed a sinister grin as her hands flickered with small bursts of electricity.
"Once again, people's skills of observation amaze even me, sister." Daralis quietly remarked also rising to her feet and drawing her blades.
One of Alfred's men on the left pulled out a dagger from his belt, but stopped suddenly, looking down to his chest. Daralis had stabbed him clean through with her own dagger. The third man panicked and fell backward, running to the door. A dagger from the opposite side of the bar landed in his back. The man flailed wildly trying to pull the dagger from his back before collapsing lifelessly to the floor. Aianna turned to Daralis in confusion and she shook her head to gesture she did not throw the dagger.
"What in the Maker's name was that?" Daralis screamed toward Aianna sheathing her swords behind her back as the pub began to empty out. "What was it this time Aianna? Smugglers? Lyrium? What?" Daralis frantically scooped up their sack and Aianna's staff. "The city guard will be here any moment!"
"Oh, like they will actually arrest us? The bastard sister to Teryn Fergus Cousland to be thrown into the gallows over a pub brawl? Absolutely not." Aianna sighed, taking her staff from Daralis and securing it to her back. "At least we don't have to wait any longer." The mage snickered to herself as the two made their way to the open door.
"Shut up Aian…" Daralis groaned and Aianna continued to laugh.
"That was an excellent display of skills, yes?" A voice came from behind them and the two women stopped and turned around. The empty pub was now dark and seemed completely empty. Aianna held out her right hand and fire manifested from her fingertips to light the room before them. "I see that the famous sisters of the Grey reputation precedes you both well." The voice continued as an elf emerged from the shadows. He had a strange tattoo on the left side of his face.
"Who in the Black City are you?" Aianna asked closing her hand and the fire went out. She knew an Antivan accent when she heard one, and she did not like Antivans at all. The elf smiled walking up to the corpse of Alfred's henchmen killed by the unknown dagger. He pulled the dagger from his back and tucked into his belt.
"Ah yes, forgive me." The elf cleared his throat and bowed slightly to them. "I am Zevran Arainai at your service my dear lady." He smiled sensually at Aianna. "So according to the mangled dead man at the bar, you are Aianna Dayes of the Grey Wardens, yes?" Zevran slightly looking to Daralis then back to Aianna. The two sisters look to one another raising eyebrows before Aianna nodded. "Ah yes, the king's description did not do you justice. He failed to mention that you were such a sexy seductress."
"I don't do elves." Aianna said firmly which caught Daralis off guard to her sister's usual response was returned flirtation. "Are you the contact we are supposed to be meeting here?" Zevran nodded.
"Well, though you yourself are an elf. This beautiful woman must be Daralis Cousland? The lost child of Highever they talk so much about in the castle? Maybe you mi— "
"My sister is a virgin and saving herself for someone special. Now can we move on to the more important matters like, I don't know? Why in the Void are we here?" Aianna cut him off with frustration in her voice and Daralis buried her face into her hand.
"Oh so touchy you are with all this rejection, makes my heart break." Zevran laughed sarcastically. "Shall we go now? We cannot find the hero of Ferelden by standing here and talking about it." Zevran walked between the two of them to the door.
"Excuse me, what did you just say?" Daralis finally spoke after a few moments of silence. "We are looking for the Hero of Ferelden, Aedan Cousland?" Zevran turned around and nodded as if confused.
"Did you not know this? Ah well, no matter I know where we must start." He continued to walk out of the abandoned pub. Daralis felt her heart skip a few beats, thinking of the missing brother she barely knew.
"Well Andraste's sweaty knickers…" Aianna groaned, "Remind me to tell Stroud when we get back that I didn't sign up to for the Grey Wardens to chase lost legends across the country side…" Daralis, looking pale, stood motionless as Aianna walked ahead, following the elf into the darkness of Highever's redlight district. Daralis shook herself from thought and followed after her sister out of the pub and into the streets though her mind was still wandering back to the missing Warden.