Amell I - The Red Wedding
If someone had told Elizabeth that she would escape from the tower a week ago, she would have called them crazy. If someone had told her that Jowan, her most loyal, faithful and best friend, who she'd known since she came to the tower, was a blood mage, she would have accused that person of being bloody insane. But now, it was all different.
Elizabeth brushed a bang of her hair from her face. Denerim, the capital of Ferelden. The city was lined with half-timbered and brick houses. There were rows of drying clothing hung out above the streets. The smell of hot broth found itself everywhere. The city was increadibly busy. She'd never seen this many people in one place before. There were wagons, carts pulled by horses, craftsmen working, children playing in the streets. Many a stone bridge went across the river Drakon, a dirty, mucky river, running all the way across the city. She saw washerwomen dump water back into the river, hobbyist fishermen trying their best to catch at least something, tired guards patroling the riverside and streets, beggers praying for even the smallest amount of food or money.
"Where in the city are we headed?" Elizabeth asked her companion and recruiter, Duncan. She didn't really know what to make of the Grey Warden. He was mostly silent during their few days together, speaking only when asked a question, which could either be a lot, due to Elizabeth's curiousity, or very little, due to her thinking. She thought of Jowan and his incompetence at magic, which led him to the blood arts. She helped him, or tried to. 'Jowan, wherever you are, I hope you're safe' She silently prayed. He was her friend, no matter how bad of a friend he was.
"The alienage." He replied simply. She had read of alienages, of how badly elves were treated there, of the crimes commited by humans going unpunished.
It met most of her expectations. The houses were stacked, with no space to expand out, and run down, dirty, some even had holes or were near the state of collapse. The elves looked at her with hatred, some spitting in their way or sending them angry gestures. Elizabeth tried to keep looking at Duncan's back, avoiding looking at the on-lookers. In the centre of the alienage there was a massive tree with a square platform in the corner of the square. Duncan stopped and Elizabeth almost crashed into him.
"Why are we stopping?" Elizabeth asked, letting worry slip into her voice. It was probably not the best idea to stop in the middle of the alienage square, as they were out in the open.
"We are waiting for the elder." Duncan replied, calmly. Elizabeth saw two elves, dressed really well considering their living conditions, one in blue, one in green, approach them and gripped her staff tighter, ready for anything.
"Ser, me must ask you to leave" One of them said, the slightly taller one, just a bit taller than Elizabeth. He had short light brown hair and a rather handsome face, "Humans are not welcome here"
"He keeps his composure, even when facing two armed humans." Duncan said as the elder came up to the group.
"Ah, Duncan" The elder said. The elves bowed their heads in respect.
"You know these two, elder?" The taller elf in blue asked.
"Only one, Duncan" The elder said, a tilt of his head towards Duncan.
"This is Elizabeth, my newest recruit from the circle of magi" Duncan introduced her. Elizabeth politely bowed to the three elves, much to their surprise.
"Duncan, should we discuss business inside?" The elder began, "Rhydian, Soris, why don't you show Elizabeth around." The mage looked to Duncan, who gave a short nod.
Duncan and the elder left, leaving Rhydian, Soris and her.
"We were just preparing for a dual wedding" Rhydian informed her.
"Oh," She said, "I apologize for interupting your celebration" Elizabeth said, again, politely, again surprising the elves.
"How are elves treated in the tower, if you don't mind me asking?" Rhydian asked.
"All mages are treated the same in the tower. As mages." She let her bitterness of her treatment slip into her voice by accident. The conversation ended at that.
"The ceremony will start soon" Rhydian informed Elizabeth, "You should stay and watch"
"I would be honoured" Elizabeth replied easily. She stood over most of the elves in height, so she stood behind the lines of cheerful elves, next to the elder and Duncan. A sister of The Chantry walked up to the stairs to the platform where the two grooms and brides were. Elizabeth hated the bloody Chantry. They were a buch of hypocrite wankers. If a templar could freely use magic, then why couldn't a mage? That was always the attitude that always got Elizabeth in trouble with Gregoir and the templars. As the sister started chanting, she was cut off by a party of men, armed guards, led by three men dressed in fine silks, lined with gold. The one in front had a beard and sleek hair, brushed back.
"What have we got here? A few fine whores ripe for the taking" He laughed with his buddies, "Take them!" He ordered the guards.
"Milord, this is a wedding!" The Chantry sister protested. But that was beyond the point. Elizabeth made to move forward, just as Rhydian was hit in the face and knocked unconcious. She felt someone grab her wrist, holding her back. Duncan.
"Let go!" She hissed. Duncan shook his head, but had not leased his hold on Elizabeth's wrist.
"Grey Wardens cannot interfere in politics." Duncan explained.
"I'm not a bloody Grey Warden and this isn't politics" Elizabeth snapped. Duncan let go, but it was too late. The elven women were taken away and Rhydian lay on the platform. The rest of the city elves crowded around the elder. Elizabeth took the opportunity to get up to the platform. Soris, Rhydian's cousin as it turned out, was at the knocked out elf's side. Rhydian had a bruise on his forehead, blood flowing down his face. Elizabeth got down on her knees and traced her fingers on his bruise, her hands starting to glow green with magic. The bruise sealed up and disappeared, only leaving the blood. Elizabeth ripped off a piece of her robe, from the bottom and placed it on the wooden boards of the platform. She froze it and then applied a bit of fire, melting the ice and soaking the cloth. She used it to wipe the blood off of the elf's head, just as he woke up.
"What? Where?" The brown-haired elf jumped up, chocolate brown eyes wide.
"Vaughan took them, cousin. The women." Soris told Rhydian, who's eyes blazed with rage.
"The bastard" The elf swore, standing up. He rushed over to the elder, quickly saying something Elizabeth had not heard while she was approaching. She saw Duncan hand Rhydian a sword and a knife and Soris a crossbow and a set of bolts. Elizabeth realised what they were about to do.
"Can I come with you?" She asked Rhydian and Soris.
"We'll need all, the help we can get." He replied with a nod and a smile. She looked to Duncan, who looked disapproving, but nodded.
"You're not yet a Grey Warden, as you said earlier, and you'll need all the combat experience you can get before you fight the darkspawn." Elizabeth said a quick "thank you" to the warden and followed the elves, led by an elf servant that volunteered to get them into the estate.
"Okay, we're in. Good luck!" The servant said, before running back out of the grounds.
"Intruders!" A guard shouted, drawing his weapons. Elizabeth heard a bark. Was that what a dog sounded like? Yep, it looked like the one from the books, only bigger. And with more teeth. And it was sprinting towards her. Elizabeth quickly cast an ice spell at the dogs legs, making it fall and roll, whimpering. The next second it had a crossbow bolt through its neck. Elizabeth's eyes widened and she gasped, as she saw blood pour from the animal's neck.
"Elizabeth!" She heard Rhydian's voice and looked to where he was, only to find a guard drop to the ground, throat slashed.
"Thanks" She called out as another guard came up sword raised, at the elf. Elizabeth threw a lighting bolt at him, the metal of his armour heating up and vibrating. He was finished off by Soris, who put a bolt through the guard's eye. Elizabeth looked away and squeezed her eyes shut. She felt a hand on her shoulder. She opened her eyes, only to meet Rhydian's.
"Are you okay?" He asked.
"Yes. Thank you" She said, shrugging his hand off and walking up to one of the bodies and drawing his dagger. She quickly sheathed it into her belt. It would come in handy, eventually.
They burst into the nearest door, Rhydian throwing his dagger into the nearest guard, killing him instantly, and Soris shooting the second one in the room. There was a chest in the corner of the room. Soris opened it, taking out a suit of chainmail and leather boots. He handed them to Rhydian, who tossed them on his celebratory clothes, now stained with blood. He retrieved his dagger from the guardsman's corpse. They broke into the next room, a lone guard standing by the door. He was asleep, so Rhydian dashed through the room. The guard was waking up just as Rhydian cut his throat.
"That was just cold, cousin" Soris said. Elizabeth nodded absentmindedly. What the bloody heck did she get herself into?
The next room appeared to be a dining room. There were three guards there.
"Lookie here boys, we've got us two knife-ears bringing us a little gift. Kill the kinfe-ears, but keep the whore, we'll have us a bit of fun." The three guards attacked at once, each choosing a target. Elizabeth cast an Arcane bolt at her attacker, following up with Winter's grasp. The guard froze and his weight tilted him and he fell, smashing into a multiload of pieces. She looked around: Rhydian was still engaged in a battle with the leader, but Soris was rapidly losing the fight with his attacker, having only a crossbow to block the attacks. Elizabeth threw down her staff and drew the dagger she had picked up. She ran at the man attacking Soris, tackling him and stabbing him in the gut. Repeatedly. When she was done, the corpse of the guard was a mess, as were Elizabeth's robes. She got up and looked at the elves, at the side of a woman's body.
"They killed her. They bloody killed her, Soris" Rhydian said angrily. Why would they do such a thing? To defenseless women?
Rhydian closed the elven woman's eyes and rested her arms on her chest.
"Let's go. I can't wait to kill that bastard Vaughan" Rhydian spat the man's name as if venom on the tongue.
They opened the door to a hallway. They moved down the way until they reached a door to the left. Opening it, Elizabeth was pulled back out by someone. As she was moved, a bolt smashed into the wooden door, splinters flying out. Soris stuck in his head and crossbow, firing. She heard a cry of pain and the rattle of metal against the ground.
"He's down" He said.
The armoury wasn't terribly big, but it had a lot of equipment. Rhydian grabbed a suit of studded leather armour from one of the chests, Soris did too. Elizabeth turned to watch the door for other troops. When the elves were done getting changed they walked out, the mage following them. They looked quite good in their leather armour. The hallway continued on to three doors.
The two doors on the sides burst open so suddenly, Elizabeth jumped a bit in panic. A guard smashed into her with his shield, tackling her to the ground. His shortsword was at her throat. This was it, Elizabeth thought.
Elizabeth tried to electrocute him, he shook for a bit and when she tried to draw the dagger, he grabbed her wrist and twisted it, making her cry out in pain. Tears appeared in her eyes, blurring her vision. Her staff was on the ground somewhere, so she cast Arcane bolt again, wherever her other hand could hit him. His limp body fell right on Elizabeth, its weight almost crushing her. She couldn't move, therefore help the city elves fight. Her wrist was most likely broken, so she couldn't push the body off. She lay there for a few minutes, eyes closed, listening to the sounds of combat, until they stopped. Her body felt lighter and she could draw in a deep breath.
"Elizabeth" She heard Rhydian say. She opened her eyes to find the elf hovering above her, "Are you okay?" He asked, rhetorically, obviously seeing her wrist. He helped her sit up and Elizabeth relocated her wrist, wincing in pain before using a healing spell to fix any internal bleeding or bone fractures.
Elizabeth stood and grabbed her staff, dusting herself off in the process. The last door remained. 'This better be the bloody one' Elizabeth thought. Sure enough it was.
As they burst in, they saw the nobles, and Vaughan turn around. The elven woman, the ones not dead, were behind them, on the ground. Elizabeth assesed the three wankers: none were wearing any type of armour. They were carrying swords at their sides, no shields.
"Wait!" Vaughan called, obviously seeing the weapons and blood the elves sported, "How about a deal? How about I give you say...40 sovereigns and you just leave us be. We'll return the women tommorow. That's more than fair" It sickened Elizabeth, truly sickened her. She wanted the man to die. Thank the maker that Rhydian didn't even consider the offer. Not that Elizabeth blamed him. And they were plunged into combat. Rhydian went straight for Vaughan. Soris shot at the left man and Elizabeth went for the right. Her man slashed downwards, Elizabeth raising her staff to block, using the metal grip to block the sword. She used it to block right then, left. He tried to stab her so she backed away, her staff head catching fire and leaving, a fireball lighting up the room and setting the lordling on fire. He screamed as he stumbled around, before falling, nothing but a charred corpse. She looked to Rhydian, still fighting Vaughan, and Soris, fighting the other guy. Vaughan was backing up, his back turned to her, getting wailed on by Rhydian's sword and dagger combination. Just as he reched her, Elizabeth stuck out her staff. Vaughan fell right on his bum, eyes wide and mouth dropped. Rhydian drove his sword through Vaughan's heart, his dagger going into the noble's throat. The third noble, the one fighting Soris, panicked and was killed by Soris upon getting distracted by his friend's death.
The group moved to the elven women.
"Did you kill all of them cousin?" A pretty red-haired elf asked.
"Like dogs Shianni" Rhydian replied, satisfied with the chaos they caused.
On the way back, after the armed party looted the bodies, Shianni initiated conversation with Elizabeth,
"It's not common for humans to help us, so thank you." She had said before whispering, "Do you know any spells for contraception?" Those bastards. Elizabeth's eyes widened, but she nodded. She quickly cast it, a blue light leaving her hands and entering Shianni. That was it. All the magic in her body was exhausted and Elizabeth suddenly felt heavier. The elf gasped and crushed Elizabeth in a hug, muttering repeated "thanks you's." As the elven woman went ahead, Elizabeth pulled out a blue lyrium potion, one of the few she took with her when she helped Jowan.
When the group came back to the alienage, they were greeted as heroes of sorts. The women were led off quickly.
"Halt!" An entourage of guards arrived, way too many for them to take at once. A guard with a greying beard stepped forward.
"We are looking for the outlaws responsible for the murder of Nobleman Vaughan Kendells." The head guard called out. Elizabeth went to move forward but Duncan stopped her. Again. Rhydian went forward instead.
"It was me. Only me." The head guard looked disbelieving.
"Seize him!" He ordered. Duncan went ahead.
"Stop!" Duncan ordered. The guards all stopped.
"Warden Commander. Stand aside. This man is a criminal and will face punishment." The guard said.
"I hereby invoke the Right of Conscription" Duncan said. The head guard looked livid.
"Son of a-! Fine. But I want him out of the city by dawn." With that, the guards left.
"I suggest you say your goodbyes" Duncan said. Rhydian looked about as shocked as Elizabeth felt. Duncan had just torn Rhydian from his home for a cause that even Elizabeth had not yet understood. Even if he had just saved the elf's life.
The alienage elder, Valendrian, came up to her, "I wish to thank you on behalf of all of us. It is rare to find someone as good-hearted as you. If there is anything you wish of us, and it is within our power, we will grant it."
"Is there a bath anywhere around here I can use?" She was dirty from the drying blood and mud from the journey.
"Of course, I'll have someone show you the way. Is that all you wish?" He asked, honestly a bit confused. He had expected her to ask for something of value.
He called an elf and asked him to show her to the bath house. The elf led her to a house at the end of arow of houses. It wasn't a bad looking house either. Inside, she was showed to a tub full of water.
"We'll have it heated in a few minutes." The elf said. Elizabeth shook her head.
"There's no need, thank you" She said. The elf left.
Once she was finished, she went to find the others. They were waiting by the gate. Rhydian was now dressed in a clean set of leather armour and had two daggers by his sides.
They left Denerim that day, to The Brecilian Forest.
I do not own DA:O.
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