Quid Pro Quo
Chapter 1
"Remanso de rio largo,
Viola da Solidão:
Quando vou pr'a dar batalha
Convido meu coração" (Nimue's focusing verse)
The heat was unbearable, even for her. Nimue looked for decent shade nearby where she could catch her breath. Perhaps riding to Qunandar would have been better but depriving her people of the very few horses they had was simply not an option. She made her way to a guava tree nearby, gathered some ripe fruit and sat down to eat. She knew she had been selected for this mission because she looked like the humans she was bound to meet along the way.
She was a half-breed. Her mother was a human mage from the Free Marches who was researching herbs in Par Vollen. She was captured by Tal-Vashoth and rescued by a group of Fex warriors. Her father was one of the aparições do breu, a group of magically talented rogues, highly skilled in stealth, daggers and espionage. He was one of the very few that could communicate with her mother in the beginning, having worked for years in the outside world as an espreitador, a spy.
Being a skilled healer allowed her mother to find a place in their society and eventually be considered one of them. Nimue didn't know much more about her. She died during the birth of her younger brother, Raios, and her father could not speak about her mother without bursting into tears. One thing her father always said was that Nimue had her mother's jet black hair and dark brown eyes; unique among the Fex whose hair varied from platinum blonde to bright red and whose eyes were gem like, with varying shades of light blue to hues of purple. She also thought that she had inherited her mother's figure: her hips were curvier and larger; breasts fuller and waist thinner than the other females. She was shorter than a full-blooded Fex, being only a mere six-foot when the average height for a Fex was eight-foot. She was considered quite unattractive among her people who preferred an androgynous look in their males and females.
She was at least three days journey from the gates of Qunandar. From there she would need to catch a boat to Seheron and then Tevinter in order to reach Ferelden, her final destination. Reaching Qunandar would be easy, for the Qunari tolerated the Fex travelling to their cities to gather supplies and do some trading. That happened after the peace treaty was signed. Before the treaty her people were either slaughtered or forced to convert to the Qun. Her biggest problem would be guaranteeing safe passage on a ship leaving Seheron bound for Minrathous. Her chieftain had managed to negotiate with the Arishok on her behalf, using the excuse that she was to buy some medicine from Tevinter healers; this would get her to Seheron but after that she would be on her own devices to get to Ferelden.
Because she was an aparição do breu she learned early on how to conceal her magical abilities from others. She had to be very careful about revealing what she could do; anyone could be a Ben-Hassarah. Her goal was to reach the conclave that was to take place in the Temple of the Sacred Ashes. It could be the opportunity her people needed to negotiate their relocation to the South of Thedas. It was a long shot but it was worth a try.
Nimue ate the last of the fruit and continued on her way to Qunandar, she wanted to get there as fast as her feet would allow.
"Kost Nehraa Sok," said Nimue.
The ship's captain didn't look very pleased with the fact he was carrying a Fex along with the crew. "Kost Neheraa Sok, Basfaran. We leave for Seheron in the morning. I have been instructed to give you safe passage on one of our ships. You are not to leave your cabin unescorted or talk to anyone unless you are addressed first. When we arrive in Seheron you'll be escorted to the markets by a Sten and expected to follow his directions."
Nimue made her way to her cabin. If she were to disappear right in front of the eyes of a Sten she would need to focus her magic for a long time. Any Fex had to focus before they could use their magic. She normally spent her nights focusing so she could use magic the following day. No focus, no magic. So, the more she focused, the more magic she had. She would need enough to be able to stealth out of the Sten's grasp and keep herself hidden until she could find safe passage to Minrathous.
The ship reached Seheron at night after a five day journey. Nimue kept to her cabin, feigning seasickness and managed to spend most of her time focusing uninterrupted, building her reserve of magic. Once they docked the Captain knocked on her door. "You'll be allowed to go ashore in the morning. Sten will be waiting for you after dawn on the deck. No funny business."
The market was set up in the open space of the town square. The buildings surrounding it were terracotta and the ground was covered in little tiles that formed a multitude of geometrical mosaics. The placements of the merchant stalls followed no organisation or order which made the market appear larger than it was. It was a claustrophobic experience; perfumed smells mingled with sharp spices, the voices of vendors shouting over each other about their goods, and the garish patchwork of colours and patterns covering the stalls. In short, it was the perfect place for someone to disappear in plain sight.
Nimue approached one of the thousand herb merchants and started ordering from a long list of herbs and ingredients; Elfroot, Deep Mushroom, Spindleweed, Arbor Blessing…anything she could come up with. She wanted to make the merchant walk back and forth as much as possible looking for stock at opposite ends of the stall. As planned, she noticed that the Sten was starting to lose focus. Suddenly, as if sent by the Creators, a group of Tevinter children chased by two Elven slaves and a woman sprinted in their direction. The woman stopped between the Qunari and Nimue to catch her breath. Nimue squatted, feigning interest in a bunch of herbs in front of her and vanished.
The rest of the trip to Minrathous was easier than she had expected. Either the Qunari didn't bother looking for her or the Sten had fashioned an exceptionally good excuse as to why he came back without the Fex.
Even better, the Sten could have decided it wasn't worth sweating over an explanation and became Tal-Vashoth.
Now, that would have been a cracker, Nimue thought.
Minrathous was the furthest she'd ever travelled in the world, but then she'd never had cause before. She figured that the best way to proceed was to join a caravan headed for Ferelden. This way would make for a slower trip but it would avoid the risk of getting lost in unknown territory.
It was an uneventful journey, saving for the fact that everybody stared at her like there was something odd about her that they couldn't quite figure out. Some kept commenting on how tall she was. That always made her chuckle.
How can people live in this cold?
How can they survive in this Creators forsaken place? Nimue thought with a shiver.
It took them almost a month to get to Haven and the weather grew colder with each minute. The fact that it was also snowing didn't help. Nimue had seen the snow just once before but right now she decided that she had already seen enough of it to last a lifetime.
When the caravan finally reached Haven, Nimue made her way to the tavern . She could see the Temple high up on the mountain. Tomorrow she needed to make her way there, but right now she was going to have a warm meal and a good night's sleep. The Temple wasn't going anywhere.
As that thought crossed her mind she heard the explosion and saw the tear rip the sky open. Then, all chaos ensued.