Elissa grumbled and rolled over as Kip, her Mabari, growled viciously at the door. "Damn it Kip, I'm trying to sleep!" she barked back at him, covering her head with a pillow. After a few moments, when he didn't let up, the young Cousland crawled out of bed. "I've had just about enough out of you, today!" she hissed. Kip kept on barking, as a servant ran through the door.
"My lady, we're under attack!" he screamed in terror, as an arrow landed in his neck. Elissa tensed, and quickly got into her leather armor while Kip held the attackers at bay. There were four of them, and Elissa roared as she used her longsword to cut them all down.
"Darling! I heard fighting outside and I feared the worst! Are you hurt?" her mother asked, rushing out of her bedchamber and into the small hallway.
"I'm fine. What's going on?!" Elissa all but screamed, barely keeping steady.
"A scream woke me up, and I heard fighting so I barred the doors. Did you see their shields? Those are Howe's men! Why would they attack us?!" Eleanor Cousland asked, her voice eerily calm.
"He's betrayed Father! He attacks while our troops are gone!" Elissa yelled, her voice breaking.
"You don't think Howe's men were delayed… on purpose? Bastard, I will kill the man myself! Have you seen your father? He never came to bed!" Eleanor's voice held, proving her steel resolve. Never let it be said that Eleanor Cousland is soft.
"No, I haven't. I was in my room." Elissa spoke like a young child still believing she was in a nightmare after waking.
"We must find him!" The Teryna demanded, wanting so badly for her daughter to snap out of her shock. It would do nobody any good if all the Cousland's died in Highever Castle.
"We should check on Oriana and Oren, as well." Elissa nodded, still not making sense of any of it.
"Andraste's mercy! What if the soldier's went into Fergus's room first! Check on them, quickly! Then we will search for father downstairs!" Although the Teryna was staying level, her eyes betrayed her fear.
Elissa led the way, small tasks made it easier for her to deal with the bigger situation. She paused in front of Fergus's door, praying to the Maker that everything would be okay.
"No! My little Oren! What manner of fiend slaughters innocents?!" Eleanor screamed as she entered. She knelt down next to her grandson and placed a hand on his forehead, looking down on his innocent face.
"Don't look, Mother." was all Elissa could manage.
"Oh I'll look. I'll remember this when I send Howe squealing like the hog he is! Poor Fergus! Let's go, I don't want to see this." her mother cried, and walked out of the room, closing the door behind them. They rushed downstairs, where the real noise was happening. "Can you hear the fighting? Howe's men must be everywhere!"
"How can we get out of the castle?" Elissa asked, still trying to manage everything into small tasks.
"The servant's passage leads through the larder, but we must find your father first. The front gates. That's where your father must be."
"Is there nothing else we can do?" Smaller steps first, Elissa thought
"I have my treasury key. We can go there and get the Cousland sword first. If anything is worth fighting to keep out of Howe's hands, it's that sword. But it may be a dangerous path." Eleanor spoke slowly and calmly, taking this into consideration.
"Then let's go to the treasury."
"If Howe's men are inside, they must already control the castle. We must use the servants' entry in the larder to escape. Do you hear me?" Eleanor took control, knowing full well that her daughter was in no position to pull off the 'great castle escape' without her.
"I hear you." the younger Cousland sighed
"Then let us be swift." her mother said, leading them down the ramp and into the main hall.
"The castle has fallen! I'm getting out of here!" A servant yelled in hysteria as they came down the ramp
"Run, if you're such a coward!" Elissa hissed at him
"Here they come! They're right behind me!" He screamed at the top of his lungs, and ran around the corner out of sight. There were four in the hall, and six more in the room where the servants eat their food. It didn't require much of a thought process to take them all down, especially with the help of three Cousland guards. Elissa took a sick pleasure in killing these traitors, and felt no remorse. She had never actually killed a person before, being trained in the comfort of her own home. She had always stopped at first blood, but today she relished in her blood stained leather and skin. The mabari hounds she had to slay, however, would have made her feel bad, if she had stopped to care.
"We're getting close to the treasury, the Cousland sword lies inside. Use the key I gave you, that sword cannot fall into Howe's hands." Eleanor sighed, as they stood blood splattered in front of the treasury door. Inside she quickly put on the scale armor off a rack, and opened the family chest to hold the family sword. It was the most beautiful piece of work she had ever seen. Quickly she grabbed the shield of Highever and ran to meet her mom back outside. There were more men now, and she had hoped her Cousland pride hadn't doomed them all. Angrily, she ran into the main hall, where there were already soldiers inside, both Howe's and her fathers. Focusing on the mage, she cut her in half with one fell swoop, before bringing her attention to the rogue beside her. Once she had time to look up, she almost laughed at the blood soaking everyone's hair, plastering it to their foreheads and necks. But to laugh would deem her hysterical, and there was simply no time for that.
"Go! Man the gates! Keep those bastards out as long as you can!" Ser Gilmore started delegating. "Your Ladyship! My lady! You're both alive! I was certain Howe's men had gotten through!" he said, quite relieved, turning to look at the Teryna and her daughter.
"Have you seen my father?!" Elissa gasped, still trying to stick to her simple steps.
"He was looking for you two! He told me to man the gates and keep them out as long as we could. If you've another way out, use it quickly!"
"We need to find father!"
"When I last saw the Teryn, he was badly wounded. I asked him not to go but he was determined to find you. I believe he went to the servant's entrance in the larder." The knight told them
"Thank you Ser Gilmore. May the Maker watch over you." Eleanor's eyes softened at the poor knight, who would probably not make it to dawn. None of the valiant knights would.
"May He watch over us all…" Ser Gilmore sighed sadly, turning back toward the gates.
Elissa felt she could breathe easier now that they had a set path. She followed her mother's lead through the opposite exit they came in and back into the hallway.
"We must get out, they're slaughtering everyone!" She heard a few servents cry as they ran around like chickens with their heads cut off. Battling their way through more Howe servants and one Howe knight, they had finally made their way into the kitchen, where Nan and the poor elven servants lie dead. Elissa said a silent prayer for them as she stepped into the larder to Bryce Cousland. "There… you both are. I was… wondering when you'd get here." Bryce Cousland was laying on the lader floor, covered in his own blood
"Maker's breath! What happened!" his wife rushed to his side, kneeling over him
"Howe's men… found me first. Almost… did me in right there." the man was struggling for air
"How did you get here? You can hardly move!" This was not in Elissa's plan
"We must get you out of here!" Eleanor interjected, placing her arm under his shoulder to support him. Elissa crouched down to his other side to help prop him up while Kip growled angrily at the door.
"I… I wont survive the standing, I think." he shook his head, defeated.
"That's not true! You'll be fine!" Elissa shrieked at him
"Ah, my darling girl, if only will could make it so!"
"Any moment now Howe will break through the castle gates! We must go!" Teryna gasped, and grabbed her husband's hand
"Someone… must reach Fergus… tell him what has happened." It was a miracle the man had survived this long, a pool of blood forming around him.
"And take vengeance." Elissa nodded coldly
"Yes, vengeance." he nodded back
"Bryce no! We must use the servant's entrance and find someone to heal you!" Eleanor cried out disdainfully
"No… the castle is surrounded… won't make it…"
"Then I know what needs to be done. Elissa, you leave, go as far as you can and find an ally, try to get word to Fergus of the gross injustice done here tonight! I will stay behind, and take as many of Howe's men down that I can to buy you time!" Eleanor pleaded with her daughter
"No. I can't. I won't. Mother do not ask me to leave you and father here to die! I will do a lot of things for the Cousland name but I won't do that! And where would I go? Who can we trust?" Elissa stood up, shaking her head, and drew her sword, preparing for the swarm of soldiers that would break through the door at any minute.
"Pup… please…" came her father's ragged cry "Go to Redcliffe. Arl Eamon has always been an ally… and is not like… Howe."
"Father…" Elissa whined "It's not fair…"
"Life… never is… Pup…"
"Elissa, go!" Eleanor screamed at the girl, almost pushing her into the tunnel that served as the servant's entrance.
"I… I understand… I love you both so much!" Elissa cried out, as a loud noise was made from the castle entrance. She barely had time to react as she was forced into the tunnel, Kip on her heels. Survival mode kicked in as she raced through the tunnels and out into the open sky. There were no soldiers surrounding the castle anymore, which could only mean that they were all inside the walls. Elissa, I will give you five seconds to let the panic settle in, and then it's over. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Elissa took a deep breath, and then looked to the sky, turning her back from the North Star to head south towards Redcliffe, her faithful hound right beside her.
