Helen was only sure of two things; first was that she was not in her home, lying comfortably on the spotted yellow quilt her mother had made her. Second, something yesterday had gone horribly wrong. What it was that had been so disastrous simply eluded her sleep-addled mind.
Heaving herself into a sitting position, the young woman looked around to see the room she was in. It seemed to be large and comfortable, with plush carpeting and abundant stuffed chairs, but the odd thing was there was no windows whatsoever. It was almost like she was underground…
And then it hit her. The darkspawn attack, being dragged into the cave by Hurlocks, the Messenger and Halfsight arguing over her fate, the mysterious elf who commanded them…
She had to leave. That's all there was to it. She must find her way out of this cave and run until she found civilization of some kind where she could report this nest and have it wiped of the face of Fereldan.
Standing up, she marched to the door and opened it as quietly as possible. Taking about two steps down the carpeted hallway, she nearly had a heart attack when the Messenger stepped out of a shadowed doorway. "The Commander was wishing me to tell you that if you are to be escaping, you are to need better clothes than a nightgown." It said, with the oddest look on it's face. Finally she placed it: amusement. It was the first time she had seen anything but rage and hate on the face of a darkspawn (not that she had seen many, mind you, but living through a Blight does give opportunities.)
Storming back inside the room, Helen grabbed a set of robes that were a little more revealing than what she was used to, but still perfectly proper. Stepping out of the doorway, she had the savage urge to punch the first thing she saw. After coming face to face with a passing Hurlock in the hallway, she put that urge off for a while. Messenger was still there and informed her that the Commander would be there soon.
Echoing footsteps heralded the approach of her captor-and-or-host. The little annoyance he had shown last night seemed to be gown as he greeted her with surprisingly healthy teeth. "Ah, wonderful to see you, miss Helen. I see that the robes fit you?"
"Yes they do, although the design seems a bit old fashioned. Not that I'm not grateful." She hastily amended, hoping she hadn't offended the leader of the savage hoard of monsters.
"I imagine it would be. I have very little use for women's robes, you see." The amused tilt to he smile seemed totally out of place on the face of the man standing beside a darkspawn. "Those were picked out several years ago by a friend of mine who insisted I have women's robes in my home incase I ever, er, how did she put it? Oh yes," At this point the cleared his throat and donned a rather poor impression of an Orlesian accent, "entertained a lady-friend at my humble home,"
Several things ran through the mind of the human as she listened to that statement. Before she had realized it, she had blurted out possibly the rudest thing she had ever said "You had friends?" She instantly covered her mouth as the realization of her comment hit her, but Arabus merely laughed.
"Indeed I did, And I still do. Messenger here is a wonderful friend, and even the Architect is considered a friend. Admittedly, I had a larger collection of associates once, but I had to stop staying in touch with them, for my sake as well as theirs." A bittersweet smile came over his face as he remembered. "The dress you now wear comes from an Orlesian bard-turned-chantry lay sister. She made sure I was always in fashion though, despite my vehement protests." He began to laugh at a memory of the fashionably friend he once had. "She once bought me a hat, which I swear had more feathers on it than most birds!"
Helen was a bit uncomfortable. Until now, things were simple. This man was evil, and she was good. But her ideas had hit a snag: evil people don't have friends.
"Leliana always was a bit… promiscuous and thought that if everyone else was, the world would be a much more fun place, ergo, her making sure I'm prepared if I ever had a 'lady friend' over." Arabus glanced at her for a moment, and then chuckled. " I doubt she thought that they would be put to use clothing a guest, instead of a… what did you refer to them as yesterday? Ah yes, 'bed warmers'"
Helen flushed crimson at the reminder of the confrontation they had had last night, with her definitely coming off the worse for it. "You speak as if you were very fond of her." The human pried, attempting to find something she might could use if it came to that.
Gesturing for her to follow, they began off down the hall, with Messenger falling in behind them. "As I said, she was a good friend. And I do know you are wondering, so I will alleviate your suspicions: no we did not share a bed."
Helen once again blushed, but could not deny that she had wondered. "And did you have any other friends?"
"Of course!" He said jovially. "There was Leliana, as I've said, and Sten, and Alistair, and Ogren, and Anders, and Wynne, and Zevran, and Shale, and my dog Chase, and Sigrun, and Nathaniel, and Justice and Velanna, and Mor-" He seemed to get chocked a bit, and coughed to clear his throat. "They were all good friends." He said, a bit strained.
Helen though, was not known for being slow witted. "Who's 'Mor-'" she questioned, picking some imaginary lint off her sleeve.
Arabus suddenly round on her. "I have given you freedom most would not show their captives." He said in a dangerous whisper "I will answer almost any question you can come up with, and do so gladly, but there are a few that are off limits to you, and everyone else. Pry too far into that particular name, you will likely find your lifespan shortened dramatically."
The young woman was shocked at the sudden abruptness with which he spoke. Becoming incredibly quiet, she followed the Commander as he attempted to recompose himself. Walking into the antechamber, she was amazed. Last night she had been too tired to realize anything but now she saw it in all it's glory. All along the wall, paintings hung, each atleast five foot across, and seven tall. All of them depicted a person in the midst of heroics, and each with a name engraved on the frame. She recognized the names from the list she had managed to get out of the elf earlier, but she could not find one that began with 'Mor'
She saw what was undoubtedly a qunarie wielding the single largest sword she had ever seen. He swung the blade, with a look of righteous fury on his face, as the shadowy opponents fled. Sten
Next was a dwarf with a red beard that seemed to go all the way to his waist. Holding his axe in one hand, and what appeared to be a flask in the other, he stood tall (relatively) on a mound of enemy corpses. Oghren
A human was next, wearing gleaming armor he bashed his shield against a charging opponent, driving the blade in his other hand into another. Alistair
A mabari war hound was shown in this picture, leaping off a ledge into a group of cowering soldiers. Chase
A red haired woman seemed to be playing the lute to the soldiers surrounding her, but Helens eyes saw the dagger slipping into her hand. Leliana
A golem stood laughing in this portrait, as arrows and thrown spears broke and bounced off it's skin. Shale
An older woman was the focal point of this one, as her glowing hands hovered above a group of badly wounded people. The faces of the men were painted into expressions of relief and tranquility. Wynne
At first glance this painting seemed to be about one of the blurry-faced soldiers, as he stood at attention in the center of the portrait. On second look though, it was hard to miss the darkened figure behind him, slipping a knife into his ribs. Zevran
As the soldiers surround the blond-haired man in the center, they seemed to fall back as a ring of fire emanated from him Anders
A rather unwell and sick looking man stood side by side what she recognized from books as a good fade spirit, although the artist had painted them to show them in an equally heroic pose. Justice
Waves of soldiers seem to crash against a wall, as one man stood on top, face set, as he rained arrows down upon the attackers. Nathaniel
A dwarven woman stood in a cave, apparently laughing at the darkness and shadows that seemed to pervade everywhere her torch couldn't reach, daring them to fight her. Sigrun
And elven woman stood in the forest, one hand pointed forward as the trees themselves seemed to twist to serve and protect her. Velanna
"So," Arabus asked from his seat, "do you believe that I had friends now?"
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I hope you like the paintings of all of the companions, they were kinda fun to write.