I'm really sorry it has taken me so long to get this chapter done, but I'm done now and I guess that's what matters.
Thanks again to my awesome Beta: xseikax
Anyway sorry for the wait but enjoy chapter 3
9:31 Dragon, Drakonis 23rd
"Are you serious?" Darrian raised an eyebrow, a look of surprise on his face.
"Completely."
"You want me, to come with you, an Arl, to Amaranthine to train a bunch of elves to fight?"
Theron sighed. "I'm not an Arl yet, but yes, that is what I am offering. You will be given the title of Knight of Amaranthine, and put in charge of the Alienage guard."
Darrian gave him a quizzical look. "The what?" As far as he knew there was no such thing in any city.
Theron smiled; at least Darrian seemed interested in the position enough to inquire about it. "From my brief stay in the Alienage, I have seen how horrible the conditions are; in an effort to improve things, I am establishing a fully autonomous, all elf guard stationed within the Amaranthine Alienage. They will have full rights to arrest and detain any individual, human or elf, who has committed a crime within the walls of the Alienage or against one of the inhabitants."
Darrian's mouth curled into a wide grin. "Damn Mahariel, that will really piss those human nobles off. Either we are more alike that I thought, or you are batshit crazy. Either way I accept." Darrian held out his hand, which Mahariel just stared at. "Don't tell me you never learned what a handshake was."
"I know what it is, but I have only used it as a greeting." He finally shook Darrian's hand firmly as the other elf just laughed.
"You Dalish really are sheltered, aren't you? Shemlen traditionally use it when agreeing to a business deal."
Theron nodded. "Darrian, I would also like to bring Shianni with us." He knew this would be a touchy subject. Darrian's cousin, Soris, told him about Shianni's attempted rape at the hands of Bann Vaughan and how protective of Shianni he was now.
Darrian's face turned grim. "And what do you want Shianni for; you already have the sorceress bitch don't you?" Darrian's eyes smoldered with accusation.
Theron's right eye twitched slightly in annoyance. He would have socked any other man for referring to Morrigan in such a manner., I still might when this was all over. "Calm down for a minute, Tabris, and let me make one thing clear; I don't, nor will I ever, have any interest in Shianni. She is a beautiful girl, but Morrigan is the only one for me now, understand?"
The fire dimmed in Darrian's eyes, and he noticeably calmed. "Then why do you need her to come with us?"
"Well, I was considering giving her a position in Amaranthine; she seems to have a natural talent for organizing the elves. I was considering making her the first Bann of the Alienage."
Darrian's expression was one of total shock. He never considered even considered the possibility that an elf could be made a noble. Theron might be an Arl, but this was only due to his status as Grey Warden. Any race could have been made the Arl, if they were in Theron's shoes. Elf, human, dwarf, hell even a Qunari could have been allowed if he slayed a bloody Arch Demon. His little cousin Shianni, on the other hand, was an entirely different matter.
Theron continued, as he could see Darrian was too shocked to talk. "Just, go back to the Alienage for now and ask her, see how she feels about it. I'll be in Denerim only a few more days so she will have to make up her mind soon. I'll swing by the Alienage to pick you up and we'll see what she has decided." He turned away from the shocked elf and called over his shoulder. "Now if you excuse me, I have other matters to attend to. Oh wait." He spun around and socked Darrian square in the jaw, knocking the surprised elf onto his ass. "Don't ever refer to my mate as a bitch again." With that Theron continued on his way to the Cousland estate, leaving a rather irate Darrian in the middle of the market, sputtering curses at him.
.III.
"Bethany, get the children and the crates outta' here. Merrill, on your right!" Garrett Hawke ducked low under a wild sword swing, plunging one of his daggers into one of the Coterie thugs. Merrill launched a large stone fist into an archer's chest, sending the man flying into the nearest wall, crushing his ribcage with a satisfying crunch.
This job had gone from bad to worse. It was a simple escort mission. The children would unload the spice and he would pay for the goods. Only problem was that the crooked bastard Maiven had double crossed them, selling out their group to the Coterie, who had not appreciated the new competition Athenril's smugglers had become, as of late. After only about half the spice was unloaded off the ship the Coterie struck, landing Hawke and his companions in their current predicament.
"And now we have to kill all of them or else they will go running to the Templars. Oh how fucking great." Hawke muttered to himself, stabbing another thug in the stomach. He was growing rather tired of having only two mages for backup on jobs. He loved his sister, and defiantly enjoyed Merrill's company, but he grew weary of always having to kill anyone who saw the two fight. After systematically cutting down the Coterie thugs one by one, and chasing a few stragglers down, Hawke approached Maiven.
The small Rivaini man stared in open shock at the scene before him. This little nobody from Athenril's crew just took down a dozen experienced Coterie men; who was this man?
Hawke approached him, bloody daggers drawn and at the ready. "I'm sorry Maiven, Athenril just can't trust you anymore and quite frankly, neither can I. You had your chance and you blew it. Goodbye." In a flash, the duel daggers slashed across the man's throat, a spray of crimson blood coating the deck of the ship. Maiven clutched his throat, stumbling back before inevitably falling off the edge of the ship into the harbor. Hawke gazed over the edge of the deck and watched as the air bubbles ceased to rise to the surface. Maiven was dead.
Hawke sighed deeply as he tried to find some clean cloth to wipe his daggers off on. He never liked this part of the job. Killing a man in cold blood like this was wrong, but he couldn't let the Templars find out about Bethany or Merrill.
He didn't notice Merrill had joined him until she bombarded him with questions. "Are you hurt? I know a few healing spells. Did we have to kill the man? What are we going to do about the spice now? Will Athenril be mad with you?"
A small grin appeared on Hawke's face. "Merrill you're rambling again."
The small elf girl blushed deeply muttering, "Oh..." and wringing her hands. It was rather cute, in his opinion.
A flash of red on the underside of her wrists caught his attention. He quickly grabbed her wrist and turned it over, much to Merrill's protests. Fresh scars ran across her forearm, joining a collection of others. "Merrill, I thought we agreed that you would stop using blood magic."
She looked away nervously "I don't talk with demons to learn anything new; what I know, I learned from the scrolls back with my clan. The elves used to treat this blood magic like any other type of magic, it just required a higher price than just simple mana. It didn't hurt anyone I swear! Well, other than those thugs, but that was different..." She abruptly ended her rambling and hung her head in shame.
"Merrill, you're my friend and I don't want something to go wrong because of this. Templars, demons, there are a lot of people who can hurt you when you use this skill. So at least, when we are in Kirkwall, try to refrain from using blood magic ok?"
Merrill nodded once. Hawke smiled and let go of her wrist. "Now what are we going to do about this disaster?"
.III.
The Cousland estate was larger than any of the estates he had ever seen before; it even rivaled the royal palace. It showed just how powerful the Teyrn really was, with several Banns and Arls sworn to the Cousland family. He supposed they could easily afford a little extravagance every now and then.
As he walked inside the main gate, Theron couldn't help but be impressed by what he saw. The granite walls were massive, standing nearly as tall as the walls protecting Denerim itself. A small detachment of guards nodded to him as he walked in; oddly, he recognized none of the guards from when he discussed the Soldier's Peak warden plan with Aeden. They must be the relief force that watched over the estate when the Cousland's were back in Highever.
He slowed his pace as he continued through the estate, suddenly feeling uneasy. He recognized nobody, none of the guards, servants, or other staff looked even remotely familiar. It was not until he reached the kitchen's did he find a familiar face, the cook, Sylvia. The blond woman's eyes went wide with surprise. "Ser Mahariel? What are you doing here?"
Theron smiled, happy to see a recognizable face "I have business with Aeden, but I seem to have gotten lost on my way to his study."
Sylvia raised an eyebrow quizzically. "Ser, neither Teyrn Cousland nor Master Aeden have been to the estate in about two months."
"Is that so, well then I'm sorry to bother you." Theron smiled and turned to leave. Something definitely wasn't right here. Someone had wanted him to come here, the only question was why. Immediately, he picked up his old habits, taking his time with every step, sticking to the shadows, avoiding patrols. Between his days as a hunter for the clan, and the assassin training Zevran had been teaching him, he was easily avoiding detection by bored guards.
He couldn't see anything out of the ordinary; a lot of card playing, gambling, and general laziness. When the Lord was away, there wasn't much to do in an estate like this. He silently made his way towards the estates study, hoping to find some clue to his summons. As he crept nearer the sounds of voices drifted down the hall.
"The elf should be arriving within the minute, be ready for him, he is the most dangerous contract we have ever worked on." He could detect a faint accent in the man's voice; Zevran pronounced a few words in the same way. Crows. Yet again, the Antivan Crows wished to pit their luck against him. He prayed to the Creators these men fared no better than Zevran did.
"Taking his sweet time, do you think the stupid knife ear is lost?" This was a distinct second voice, the tone was lower, the accent more pronounced. That meant at least two Crows, but how many more laid in wait inside the room, or throughout the rest of the estate for that matter, he didn't know.
"Who cares? He will get here eventually; the guards had orders to lock the gates when he arrived and not to open them until we gave the word. " A third man spoke no doubt, so at least three of them now.
"And when he does get here, the three of us will have a little surprise for him." Good, only three; I should be able to handle three. He cursed himself for not bringing more equipment. He only had Starfang on him, mostly for show, and his drake-skin armor. He had assumed that either his status or his skill would keep common muggers at bay, so he hadn't bothered to bring any of his poisons, bombs, or assorted knives. He would need to think of a plan, and quickly.
But he never got the chance. One of the Crows opened the door, calling back over his shoulder, "I'll go look for the damned knife-ear..." He stopped mid sentence as he came face to face with the equally surprised Dalish.
Acting fast, Theron swiftly kicked the man in the groin, forcing the man to keel over with a pained gasp. Following up, he grabbed the back of the man's head and whipped his knee strait into the human's face. He could feel the human's nose break from the impact. Confident the man was dazed and couldn't attempt a counter attack, Theron grasped the man's chin with one hand and promptly snapped the shemlan's neck. Seconds later, Starfang was released from its scabbard, ready for action, sparks arcing along the blade, held up to meet any oncoming challengers.
The remaining two Crow's recovered from their shock and drew their own weapons. The lead fought with an axe and dagger, the second carried a pair of small maces. They advanced cautiously on the elf, knowing now what he could do if they let their guard down. The lead Crow swung his axe the second he was in range, hoping to catch the elf with his dagger when he went to parry.
But Theron had other plans; he swung the heavy oak door shut, grateful to hear the dull thud of the axe sinking into the door. Taking a moment to relieve the man he killed of a sword, he waited, hoping the Crow would do as he wanted. Whipping the door open, he found that his plan worked. The axe was firmly lodged into the door, which had ripped the axe from the Crows hands when opened. Deflecting a hasty lunge with a dagger, Theron embedded Starfang into the man's abdomen, the lightning causing the Crow to convulse on the end of his sword.
The final Crow threw caution to the wind and charged at the elf. Theron kicked the body off his blade, towards the feet of the charging Crow, who proceeded to trip over it, falling face first to the floor. Acting fast, Theron smashed his foot into the man's back, forcing him to the ground, kneeling, the elf brought his blade up to the Crow's neck.
"Now, you are going to tell me everything I want to know. Any tricks, and I will drag you to my witch friend, who will turn you into a toad." For some reason, being turned into a toad by a mage seemed to be one of the biggest fears Shemlen had, but he could never understand why. Literally everyone he met who was afraid of magic mentioned being turned into a toad.
"Bullshit!" The Crow spat on the ground, cursing as the action caused his neck to get much too close to the sparking Starfang, sending painful shock through his body.
Well, playing on his fears didn't work; time for a new strategy. "Listen, just tell me what I want to know, and you can leave." The mercy card would usually work for small time thugs, it would be interesting to see how a Crow reacted.
"Fuck you." Not well, apparently.
"Tell me what I want you know and you get to leave alive. You can be the sole survivor of this conflict, or the third casualty. The choice is yours." Theron grew tired of this game, he missed the days were a few silver or a few persuasive words could get him any information he wanted, but this is what happens when you begin dealing with professionals.
Signs of fear began to break through the man's mask of composure, he would crack soon; he just needed another push. "You know that co-operating is the only way you'll make it out of this situation alive, so why don't you just make it easy on yourself, and just tell me what I want to know?"
"Alright, I'll tell you..." He'd finally cracked.
"I just have three questions, who hired you, why, and how many more of you are in this building?"
The assassin paused for a moment, still hesitant about revealing anything, a bead of sweat dripped down his brow. "I don't know who hired us; there is just an open bounty to be collected from Master Ignacio. Even he admits he doesn't know who hired us, the contractor just used couriers to contact us."
"Ignacio, that merchant out in the market square, and sells the exotic animals?" He'd seen the man occasionally in the market.
"Yes, the very same; he works for the Crows as a handler for the Fereldan branch."
"Now, last question, did the client ever say why he wanted me dead?"
"Something about not standing for a knife ear running Amaranthine" The assassin glanced at the blades near his neck and spoke up again quickly. "Their words, not mine."
Racism; He should have known, or at least expected. Some shemlen couldn't stand to see one of the Elvhen actually make something of himself. He knew there would be a lot of opposition to his rule, though he had hoped it wouldn't be a problem until he reached Amaranthine.
"How did you infiltrate the estate like this, and how many more of you are there?"
"We got work as guards at the estate; it was rather simple, with all the guards dead after the Blight. We were hired on without question." The guard paused, obviously trying to withhold something.
"What are you not telling me?" Theron dug his knee into the man's spine, hoping to goad a response.
With a grunt of pain the main continued, through clenched teeth "The guards at the gate are another group of Crows; we agreed to split the profits from the mission. It was also rumored that another group were able to get jobs at the palace."
The horror dawned on Theron in that moment. If Crows had infiltrated the palaceā¦Morrigan!
AN: Ok well I'll start with this, I'm gonna stop saying when I will get to Amaranthine because I'm not sure anymore.
Secondly I would like to mention that I will try not to make this story about Hawke and the rest of the DA2 cast. I mainly add them to try and help the readers get a feel for when the events happen. The cast of DA2 will eventually have a more major roll in the story so I want to at least introduce the relationships and Hawke's personallity before hand.
Anyway please review
Prince of Madness 54
