A/N; So this story was originally going to be all angsty and sad but then I was like nah, it would probably do me some good to write something humorous for once (but of course there will be some sad parts, they are unavoidable
Her head was submerged underneath the warm water, eyes closed peacefully as she held her breath. The song played in her head like a broken fiddle, constantly singing and willing for her to succumb to the taint, despite the fact that it was false. A cruel joke that Corypheus had played on her during her escape in the Virgil's Keep. Though she willed herself to focus on something else, namely the water rushing around her. Elarinya could feel months of grime, sweat and blood wash off her, her shoulders feeling a little lighter. Though they still held a certain weight that always seemed to be there these past ten years, constantly weighing her down.
She guessed that being a circle mage then escaping the place, saving Ferelden from the blight whilst deciding every political issue they had, killing an Archdemon, becoming the Warden Commander only to be betrayed by her own brothers and sisters ten years later did that to a person. Her lungs constricted painfully, begging for fresh air so she complied, pushing herself up back to the surface. She exhaled with a gasp, leaning her head back to rest of the edge of the tub.
When Leliana had guided her to her room as discreetly as one could with Ell being a newcomer and an unfamiliar face people stared, bowing their heads to mumble and conspire amongst themselves over seeing a haggard looking elf. No one approached however, and she supposed it was due Leliana being by her side. On their way over to Skyhold from Crestwood, Nazena had give her few details about the people there before she had fallen asleep by accident but she could remember her saying that Leliana was her spymaster.
She was glad that Leliana had done well for herself these past ten years after first appearing as nothing more but a delusional and quirky chantry sister. Ell thought back to first time when she had met Leliana in Lothering and how she had 'been sent a message from the holy Maker himself'. At first, Ell had thought the Orlesian was utterly bonkers and had lost her marbles, yet she didn't mind the extra companion.
Morrigan and Alistair's constant bickering as they were on the road left little room for Ell to talk to either one of them for if she spoke to either one, the other would comment and chaos would ensure. It left speechless over how much the two would argue all the damn time let alone do what they did that... So until Leliana arrived, she didn't really have anyone to talk to, and talking just to a dog was strange.
At the thought of her Wrex, her heart constricted painfully. When she had made her escape at the Keep, they had been separated and she prayed that her boy hadn't been killed by those traitors. Hopefully he had ran off to Redcliffe where she knew her old friend, Kaitlyn still resided. Maybe she could ask the Inquisitor to search for him there, even just spare a scout or two. That dog was very important to her and a veteran to the fifth blight no less.
Ell was pulled from her thoughts was the door swung open that her had flinching, blue electricity bouncing off her fingers in defense with whatever was at the door. Even though she was naked and prune to the bone and she would probably electrocute herself in the water, she'd still give them a run for their money. When she saw a shade of orange, she relaxed instantly but she still frowned at her friend.
"Leli! Could you have knocked? I could have killed you!" She yelled furiously, face a shade pink and her ears lowered to show how she felt.
She sunk into the now lukewarm water that she warmed slightly with her fingers to cover herself, so that only her head and the tops of her knees were showing. Her and Leliana may be close but they weren't close to the point where she wanted Leliana to see her naked.
The bard smirked at her, coming to rest on a chair not far from the bath but positioned where if she were to face forward, Ell would only be seen at the corner of her eye.
"Why would I have knocked when this is my room?" She replied and Ell rolled her eyes, giving a huff that told Leliana she wasn't impressed.
"Because I'm bathing? Or am I lying in this tub, naked, so that you can ogle at me?" She snarked back, moving her eyes away from her friend, turning them to stare at the grey cobbled wall in front of her.
"I thought you would have been out by now, you've been in there for over an hour. People are starting to wonder if the rumours of the fabled Hero of Ferelden are actually true," She groaned over the fact that assumptions had spread already.
Could she not catch a break for once in her life? Was it too much to ask? The Maker was probably getting a kick out of it, damn him.
"Well fuck them, I haven't had a damn proper bath for ten months! My washing regime has consisted of bathing in a lake and let me tell you, nasty things nip in the lake. I have scars to prove it," She smiled when she heard Leliana give a soft giggle, her friend's laughter something that she had sorely missed.
In fact any sort of laughter was something she missed. There was a silence after she spoke and Ell frowned, unsure as to why it happened. Normally Leliana would have replied with something a little more amusing rather than the deathly hush that was cast over them both. Moving her head to the side, she cast a concerned glance to her friend who had a deep frown marring her pretty features.
"Leliana? What's the matter?" She wondered, twisting her body so that she could rest her arms on the bath edge, the water sloshing after her. Leliana snapped out of her stupor but retained her glowered, lips pulled down tightly.
"You have been on the run for ten months I thought it was shorter than that. Why didn't you come to me? The Inquisition would have helped," Ell sighed knowing that the topic would come up sooner rather than later knowing how Leliana was.
"It's not that simple. Hawke being involved was purely unintentional. My face was plastered on every face in Thedas, if people knew that the Left hand of the Divine was helping out a wanted felon, could you imagine the fallout? There would be clashes with the Wardens and the Chantry, that would only escalate. I couldn't put you, or anyone, in that position," She explained, passionately, hoping that Leliana had gotten the picture already.
Oriana had already given up so much to help her, keep her hidden from the world. Hawke's name was already tainted enough as it was with the events of what happened at Kirkwall those few months ago, so Ell supposed that helping her wouldn't really do anything to her reputation. Plus, Clarel, that tevinter mage and Corphyeus would stop at anything to find her, after all, she knew their secret. Well some of it anyway, she didn't realise that it would lead to the Divine's death. If she had, she would have obviously done something about it, she wasn't one to allow someone to be murder ruthlessly on her watch. That wasn't who she was nor who she would ever be.
"Well aren't people going to know that the Inquisition are helping the wanted Warden now, no?" Leliana countered snippily that made Ell sigh in exasperation, Leliana's irritated demeanor making her feel weary, having been a while since she argued with anyone.
It was also something that she noticed that represented how Leliana had changed and steeled over the years, no longer a whimsical girl, now a cunning and resourceful woman with a sharp tongue.
"I hope not, aren't you the Spymaster who handles that kind of shit to not word get out?" She pressed, hoping that Leliana would keep her identity here a secret.
"Don't worry, I will handle all of that. All you'll have to do is come up with a new name and act like you are apart of the allied mages, no one will even blink twice," Leliana suggested, rising from her seat, arching her back slightly to stretch it after sitting in the stiff wooden chair that would normally be what holds fresh clothes.
"Just like that? If I had known you could do all that, I would have come sooner," She mumbled, though there was a teasing tone within her voice, trying to bring the sour mood that had fallen over the pair since the silence had fallen between them earlier.
Elarinya didn't want her and Leliana to be moody with each after so long of being apart from each other. They were friends after all. Leliana hummed making her way over to the door but paused halfway
"Oh, only Inquisitor Adaar's inner circle is aware of who you truly are, I'll introduce them to you later or would you rather wait until tomorrow when you have rested?" Leliana wondered as Ell wiggled around in the bubbling bath to place herself in a comfy position, wanting to savour her bath as much as possible before she had to face Thedas and its many issues again. She told herself that she deserved a break, even if it was miniscule but she couldn't ignore the world forever.
"I'd rather just get it over and done with, then we should get to work on stopping the Wardens, I haven't had the time nor the resources to be able to investigate further if that's not too much hassle, Leli?" She questioned, not wanting to cause any more unneeded stress on the Inquisition as they already had.
Hawke had told her how the Chantry, the Mages and the Templars had been hounding them to help or to get out of their way the moment the Temple of Sacred ashes had been destroyed. She knew exactly how Adaar felt when everyone wanted someone else to deal with their problems whilst there was another, larger threat on the horizon, waiting for the perfect moment to strike them down when they were weak.
Despite that, Ell knew that she and Hawke couldn't stop her foolish and blinded brothers and sisters by themselves. They may have been able to sort out situations before built this was bigger than the both of them and certainly couldn't been done by two people. And Ell didn't even know where Clarel was and she hadn't had the time to be searching for her and the other Wardens.
After all, she had hopped from Ferelden to Orlais to Nevarra to Antiva and back again within these ten months since the conflict had begun, in vain trying not to be caught and hung like the traitor they claimed her to be. She didn't want to be that close to rope ever again. She swore that she would never let that happen again. Even thinking about it, she could feel the itchy texture of the rope scratching and squeezing her throat tightly until she couldn't breathe.
"Ell, we're going to help you, no matter the cost. Understand?" She felt her heart swell, eyes floating to Leliana, emotional tears pricking in them.
Andraste's holy arse, she nearly cried earlier what had come over her? Ell was never one for crying anymore, that was the silly little eighteen year old who had been thrust with too importance that she didn't know what to do with. That person was long gone, she had changed and grown into a leader. For the Maker's sake she needed to get a hold of herself before she would be full on sobbing.
"Thank you, Leliana, I appreciate this more than you could ever know," She informed her old friend, compassion leaking into her tone, unable to repress the strong emotion that she felt in this moment, everything that had happened breaking through her defences. Leliana gave a caring smile in returning, eyes shining at Ell's words.
"What are friends for?" With that, the bard slinked out of the door, orange light indicating that it was evening peaking through the gap and illuminating the colourless floor.
When the glow faded away as the door softly closed, Ell clambered out of the bath reluctantly, knowing that she needed to get a move on. Time was not a luxury they could afford anymore, it was a blessing from Andraste herself if they were allowed any at all.
One hand gripped the edge of the tub, whilst the other stretched over to the chair Leliana was resting on. Rather clumsily, being that she didn't have her prosthetic on, she slumped into the wooden chair, her behind feeling very uncomfortable on it. Her right foot extended over to where the prosthetic foot, her toes curling around it so that she could push it backwards into her direction.
She rested her left leg on her right thigh, bringing the mechanism to her stump. It really was a odd thing with wyvern leather straps that were secured all around her calf, stopping just below her knee cap. The base that allowed her to walk was actually shaped like a foot, made from paragon's luster. King Harrowmont had it crafted for her after her foot had been chopped off by one of the Qunari's in Kirkwall as they had been passing through to retrace Hawke's steps into the deep roads, hoping to find a cure to the Calling there. Yet, that was a story for another day.
She would never fail to be impressed by Orzammar's crafting. To her the dwarves were far ahead of them technology wise. When she had visited to see one of her Wardens off to the Deep Roads when they had heard the real Calling, she had stayed the night at one of their hotels to find that they had baths with taps that ran either cold or hot water. Ell had ordered one to be made so that she could have one back in Amaranthine. Clarel or that tevinter were probably using it, staining it with their filth. Maybe Corypheus had taken a dip, though the bastard probably wouldn't even have been able to fit in anyway.
Rather than picking up the fresh and folded towel that lay on Leliana's bed, she simply waved her hand, a breeze passing over her bare skin, drying herself instantly. She smirked to herself, being a mage had its advantages sometimes but the disadvantages that followed normally outweighed them. Yet, her hair wasn't dry, instead it hung limply in lumpy strands, her ears now more noticeable like this.
The last time she had attempted to dry her hair with her magic, she had set her hair on fire. It had been singed so badly that she had to cut it up to her chin. Back then, she hated having short hair, being that it meant there wasn't a lot of it to hide her ears back in Redcliffe. Now she revelled in having short hair for it was battle appropriate and it was easier to handle. Her hand rose to brush her golden blonde tips that reached to her ribs and she huffed. When this was all over, she would treat herself to a spa day, maybe even invite Oriana along with her as a thank you for being the best help she could have hoped for.
When she wandered over to Leliana's bed, she found that she had no clean clothes whatsoever, her old clothing a heap on the floor. Ell froze in her spot, realising the predicament she was in. She had nothing to clean to wear apart from the towel. Hastily, she grabbed the towel and scrambled to wrap it around herself as she sprinted to the door. It wasn't exactly like she could wear Leliana's clothes. For one, Leliana was a human, so that meant that she would be practically swimming in her clothes. Second, she wanted to make a good impression to Adaar's inner circle and not seem like a laughing stock. Yes, she tended to be overly sarcastic and tried to put humour in every situation that she could but she had been the Warden Commander of Ferelden for ten years, she wanted to be taken seriously. Especially at times such as these.
Swiftly, she swung the door open in hopes that she could catch Leliana before she vanished, only to find her hooded friend gone. Instead, she was met with two Inquisition scouts whom were staring at her mortified at her bareness. One was a pretty little dwarf who had freckles splayed across her face, a scar across her cheek and green eyes similar to Oriana's whilst the other was just a generic, boring white human. Most humans looked the same to her anyway so she gave no mind to him but rather turned her attention to the dwarf, giving what she hoped she be a friendly smile but it came out sheepish instead.
"Hello, uh, I hope it's not too much trouble to ask if I could have some spare clothes? I, uh, don't seem to have any," She finished with the same smile on her face as before, keeping her lips closed knowing that her sharp elven teeth normally frightened people a bit.
The dwarven woman's face grew completely red, her freckles blending in as her eyes scanned the length of Ell's body that the latter noticed, feeling even more uncomfortable as the awkward atmosphere grew.
Ell coughed to draw the woman's attention back to her, well back to her face more than anything. Don't get her wrong, she didn't mind if woman stared at her, in fact she welcomed the appreciative gaze but this was hardly sultry, rather just a humiliating situation that she wanted to get out of instantly. In her mind, she could here a thought wiggling in that Leliana had done this on purpose.
Her cough made the dwarf's gaze snap back up so that she was staring into Ell's eyes before quickly averting them into the green lit sky.
"Y-yes, o-of course my Lady. We'll be-we'll be right back!" She stuttered, her hand latching onto the human man that Ell had completely forgotten all about.
They were gone before Ell could even thank them for their help. Never had seen seen a dwarf move so fast in her life. Not even when Oghren saw a cool and freshly brewed ale at the taverns they would stay in.
Hurriedly, Ell shut the door softly behind her, not wanting to give anyone else a fright more than she already had. The poor dwarf, she had seemed that she would have fainted at any moment from all the blood that travelled to her head, Maker bless her soul.
Ell wandered over to Leliana's bed, hand wandering to her collarbone absentmindedly to fiddle with her necklace only to find that it wasn't there at all. Unexpectedly, her heart began to race as she became panicked rushing over to her pile of shit, her trusted staff leaning on the wall. Her hands shoved her old dirted clothes away in search for her frayed and old bag that had been with her since Redcliffe, a gift from Kaitlyn. She unlatched the bag, praying that she hadn't lost the most precious thing she had been give in her life.
Thankfully, it was sitting on top of all her trinkets and she let out a breath she hadn't realised she had been holding. When had she taken that off? She never took it off, ever. Despite that, she scooped into her hand, ever so gentle like it would break in her small hands. Her thumb brushed over the fractured silver locket that had the Andrastian symbol engraved into it. When her thumb fell away, it knocked into the tiny little clasp that she didn't dare open, knowing that if she did, all the enchanted rose petals that were stored inside would come tumbling out. And she did want that. A dreamy smile had slipped onto her face, her mind falling back to ten years ago though it abruptly stopped when there was a curt knock on the door.
"My Lady! I have your clothes," Came the muffled dwarven accent from the other side, this time sounding more confident.
Delicately, she slipped the chain around her neck, the locket resting comfortably between her breasts, hidden underneath her towel.
More calmly this time, she ambled over to the door, her fingers wrapping around the circular handle. Ell made sure that the door was only opened ajar, only half her face and her arm visible. A few steps away from her was the dwarf, whose facial colour had returned to normal expect for a light rose blush, her freckles once visible again. In her tiny arms were clean clothes, which she moved forward so that Ell could collect them.
"Thank you very much. I'm very grateful," Ell gave a smile, this time more warm than before.
"You're welcome ma'am," The woman bowed her head slightly, beginning to move backwards, an awkward silence from eariler returning. With one more smile in her direction, Ell shut the door. She wanted nothing more but to dress for the towel didn't provide much wamth anymore, she was practically shivering.
Once she placed the clothes on Leliana's bed, she discarded the towel onto her pile, reminding herself that she would clean her clothes in the tub later. They would probably be riding out tomorrow if not the day after next so she needed to sort herself out.
Without haste, Ell wiggled into the breast band and her breeches before covering herself with her new outfit. It consisted of a light blue mid arm length tunic, with a brown belt resting around her waist. The trousers were a grey colour, reaching down to her ankles, boots also brown that fit rather snugly. She eyed the clothes warily with narrowed eyes, being that they were the exact same colour scheme to the Grey Warden's armour. So far, she wasn't doing a magnificent job in hiding who she was. The Maker had a wicked sense of humour.
Ell sighed, not wanting to dwell on a little coincidence further, making her way over to her bag, where she collect a small pocket knife just in case and her pouch of gold. The former was hidden in her trousers, the sheathed tip pressing against her thigh (which she hoped wasn't at all noticeable), whilst the latter was laced around her belt just in case there was anything she needed from the stalls.
Finally, she sauntered over to the door, tying her still damp hair into a messy bun, some golden locked spilling out but she hooked them behind her large ears. As she opened the door, she noticed that the dwarven woman was still here. Ell didn't know whether or not she should be suspicious or flattered that the dwarf was still around.
"I must have looked rather appealing in that towel if you decided to stick around. But I have to let you know, you have to buy me a drink before we go anywhere," She started, which caused the dwarf to spin around, her cheeks flaming again, her mouth open and closing as she tried to get a hold of herself.
Ell snickered, realising that she had been rather cruel to this poor woman who had been one the receiving end of her awful wit. If she had known this person ten years ago, she would have never experienced it at all but over the years she had grown more confident and was able to express what was on her mind rather than feeling timid about what came out of her mouth. Though sometimes she wish that she would just keep it shut sometimes.
"N-no! I was just, Lady Nightingale got caught up w-with an-an issue and asked me to show you around! I swear to the Maker!" Ell felt a prick of guilt now, no longer finding what she had done amusing anymore for she could see that she was causing her distress now when all she had done for her was to help her. She closed the door behind her, sticking her hand out in a truce.
"Perhaps we should start over? I'm El-" She paused in her introduction as strangers walked behind the scout and Ell wasn't one hundred percent sure whether or not she knew her true identity, despite the fact that Leliana had trusted her to show Ell around. She could never be too wary, it had been apart of her since as long as she could remember.
"I'm Neria Anderson, an old friend of Leliana's, we knew each other from the Chantry in Lothering," She lied effortlessly, having used the name as her cover back in Redcliffe when she had been hiding from the templars, the rest of her words a story she made up on the spot, she had done a lot of that as she evaded the Wardens the past ten months.
It was funny how she was in the exact same position again, giving it all a sense of deja vu. Unexpectedly, the scout gave a knowing little smile, latching her smaller hand into Ell's own giving it two shakes before the pair parted.
"I'm Harding and I know who you are, my Lady, there's no need to hide, Leliana told me," Her words after her name were hushed for their ears only and Ell appreciated her discretion.
"Ah, that makes this a whole lot easier and a lot less awkward," The pair begin to walk away from Leliana's room, Harding slightly ahead for she obviously knew where she was going. Ell cleared her throat to gain Harding's attention, whom turned her neck around and up to glance at her.
"I apologize for our little incident a minute ago," She expressing, feeling truly sorry that she had to see her in that way.
She was the Hero of Ferelden, she needed to maintain some dignity to the title, she couldn't have the knowledge being spread and never taken seriously for the rest of numbered years. Though she hoped that Harding wouldn't be that, she seemed like a trustworthy and decent 's cheeks tinted again, eyes falling to the ground for a moment before fluttering back up to meet Ell's dark blues.
"It's-it's fine, we'll just forget that ever happened, does that sound good?" She suggested and Ell gave a wide grin as they ambled down the stairs that led to the beautiful garden, a place she knew that she would be spending most of her time here.
"That sounds absolutely wonderful," The colour from Harding's cheeks were gone in an instant, head facing forward again to properly direct Ell around to meet the Inquisitor's inner circle. This would surely be interesting.