Chapter Three: Orzammar Justice at its Finest
Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Age.
Note: So I just found out that if you do the feast before the Proving you have to go hunt Trian down at the Provings and when he leaves Bhelen tries to convince you to kill Trian…right there in the box with the Proving Master, a lesser noble, and a guard. Time and place, Bhelen, time and place. Or was he bribing them, too?
The next morning Aunn wasn't feeling any better about the whole situation when she showed up at entrance to the Deep Roads shortly before the expedition was scheduled to start. Gorim tried to cheer her up but all she really wanted to do was get this expedition out of the way so she could start focusing more on whatever Bhelen was planning. There was every chance it wouldn't end up hurting her but better safe than sorry and she'd rather be well-informed. And to think that until yesterday she'd been excited about her first commission…
Harrowmont started things off. "Trian and his men will clear the way for the Grey Wardens to descend into the eastern-most caverns. Those caverns are still infested by the worst of the darkspawn. We cannot risk our own troops in there."
Duncan stepped forward, nodding his acceptance. "Understood, Lord Harrowmont. We should be able to sense the darkspawn and avoid them once the way is open." Wait, wait, wait…now Grey Wardens could sense darkspawn? Why wasn't she one again?
Her father stepped forward and bowed. "May the Paragons favor you and the stone catch you if you fall." Oh, right, her father didn't want her running off to the surface. Seriously, what was the worst that could happen?
Trian, who had been unusually quiet and had refused to so much as glance in her direction all morning, rallied suddenly. "Come men, glory awaits!" he shouted as he led his troops out into the darkness of the Deep Roads. As Trian would typically have all sorts of fun things to say to her, his silence was disturbing. Had Bhelen said something to him? Just because she had said that she'd kill him if she had to didn't mean Bhelen hadn't reported something entirely different or maybe even the idea that if she came under attack she would kill him was what bothered him. Who knew? With any luck, she'd be able to try and sort this mess out – without Bhelen's oh-so-helpful mediating – once the expedition was over. She had wanted to confront him the night before but by the time he'd gotten out of his meeting with their father she had fallen asleep and this morning, in addition to his avoiding her, Bhelen never left his side (though he had managed to let her know that he and Trian had witnessed her victory at her Proving yesterday so that might have had something to do with it). Well, the rest of the day was likely to be extremely busy as well but there was always tomorrow.
"Bhelen, you and your men will second the King clearing the main road," Harrowmont instructed, mostly for formality's sake. Bhelen clearly already knew this or he wouldn't have been able to inform her of that the night before.
"Don't you think it looks a little…cowardly to allow these humans to take our place where the fighting is thickest?" Bhelen asked challengingly though still managing to sound vaguely polite. That caught Aunn's attention. Since when did Bhelen draw attention to himself by being argumentative?
Harrowmont was clearly surprised as well. "Are you questioning the battle plan?" he demanded. Honestly, if he were going to do that then after Trian's men and the Grey Wardens had left was really not the best time.
Bhelen shook his head quickly if exaggeratedly. "Of course not! I'm sure your caution is for the glory of us all." Seriously, what was up with Bhelen today? Now sarcasm? Either Trian had been making up for his lack of remarks to her by putting Bhelen through twice as much as usual or something was really off.
"ENOUGH, Bhelen," her father commanded sharply. "Take you men and make ready. Harrowmont and I need to have words with your sister."
As Aunn moved closer to hear what her father and Harrowmont had to say, she caught the baleful glare Bhelen shot Harrowmont as he turned and, by the stone, she almost shuddered. Since when did Bhelen hate Harrowmont? Sure he was perhaps a little overly traditional as opposed to Bhelen's more progressive views, but there were lots of traditional nobles, especially the older ones. Their father, for instance, was quite traditional himself or he wouldn't have elevated Harrowmont to his current position. "Good luck, my sister," Bhelen managed to sound remarkably civil given how angered he looked.
Aunn nodded. "You too," she returned perfunctorily, watching him leave out of the corner of her eye. In a way, it was a relief to see him finally showing his darker side. Bhelen had been a fairly normal – if talented – child but around ten years ago or so he had just suddenly…slowed down. He had gradually gone from promising if often overlooked third child to the helpful if slightly stupid Bhelen everyone knew today. She could see the way he looked at them when he thought no one was watching, though. He looked calculating. That and the fact that the very nature of Orzammar politics demanded that one either be ruthless or one be taken out of the way (voluntarily, though disgrace, or through death). As a prince, Bhelen didn't have the option of gracefully stepping aside and yet he had never had a scandal to his name. The only really notable thing about him seemed to be his skill at staying out of trouble. Maybe no one else thought that was strange but she did. If Bhelen was allowing the mask to slip now then he either really hated Harrowmont or he thought he didn't need it anymore, which was a somewhat chilling thought. What was he planning and when would he act? When this expedition was over, she wasn't turning her back on Bhelen for a second.
Once it was just the four of them – Harrowmont, her father, Gorim, and herself – Harrowmont smiled at her. "Your father has a special mission for you."
"In the eastern deep roads there is a secret door carved into the stone," her father began. Oh, that sounded promising. She was going to go look for this secret door then?
"The door leads to a Thaig abandoned long ago by your ancestors," Harrowmont elaborated. "The darkspawn have made it impossible to reach." So…it was impossible for a full expedition to reach it but she and Gorim were somehow expected to do it? Granted, she was one of the best fighters in Orzammar and Gorim was the best second imaginable but that plan kind of failed any and all logic tests.
"My father believed that the shield of the Paragon Aeducan remains in that Thaig, under the stones of the central room," her father revealed. "Reclaim the shield and glory will be yours." Well, that didn't make the plan any more practical but at least there was her reason. If more people went she might need to share the glory. Trian's first command had been just a basic expedition and her father intended for her to find the legendary shield of Aeducan on hers? If this theory was his father's then he had to have known about it for years as Trian had barely been born by the time her Grandfather Ansgar had returned to the stone. Her father really made no effort to hide how much better he liked her than her brothers, did he? Yet another reason for Trian to hate her, or at least act like he did.
Aunn really liked the sound of reclaiming the shield of Aeducan but was still a little focused on the part about the darkspawn making it impossible. "I'm supposed to go in there alone?" she asked uncertainly.
Harrowmont shook his head. "As always, Gorim will accompany you and we've sent scouts ahead. One of the scouts will meet you at the first crossroads you come to. The second will be further in. When you get to the door, use your signet ring to open it. Questions?" Of course Gorim would be with her and she apparently had two scouts accompanying her as well? Two wasn't a lot and warriors were usually assigned as scouts for their stealth and speed without much regard to their combat prowess. Still, it was better than going in with just Gorim, she supposed, and it wouldn't do to argue with the battle plan this late in the game. She would have appreciated being briefed beforehand, though. She wondered vaguely if Trian knew what her role in today's expedition was – which he surely would object to out of fear for her glory and not her safety, most likely – and if not what he thought she was doing.
"No, I think I've got it," Aunn said rather than voicing any of her doubt. Bhelen had already gotten yelled at for doing just that although to be fair he was being almost certainly deliberately more confrontational then she would ever dream of being in front of their father.
"Very good," Harrowmont said, sounding pleased. "The crossroads where you'll meet the first scout will be the rendezvous point. There you can present the shield to the lords and demonstrate the strength of Aeducan."
Her father looked like he wanted to say something else but apparently decided against it. Giving her an unreadable look, he said simply, "May the Ancestors watch over you, my child."
For some reason, that felt like a good-bye. As Aunn watched her father and Lord Harrowmont join the rest of the expedition, she wondered if he were feeling the same uneasiness and vague sense of doom that she was. She wasn't quite sure why she was feeling that way as she was always confident in her fighting abilities but then again emotions were never rational.
"Are you ready to go, my Lady?" Gorim asked her respectfully.
Aunn blinked. "What? Oh, yes. Let's go." As they started off into the Deep Roads, she asked, "So what do you think about our secret mission?"
" 'Secret mission'?" Gorim repeated, amused. "You make it sound like we have something to hide."
"Don't we?" Aunn asked rhetorically. "Father and Harrowmont didn't reveal what we were doing until everyone else, even Bhelen, had left. This is kind of a long-shot so if we don't succeed then we can say that at least we did our part fighting darkspawn. If we do…well, it will look a lot more impressive if the find comes out of nowhere, won't it?"
"That is true," Gorim agreed. "The shield of Aeducan would be quite a find, indeed. It's been lost since the Thaig fell and if you found it with so little men...you can certainly understand why Trian's paranoid. It's almost like your father sees the way the stone is rolling and is trying to strengthen your cause. On the other hand, Bhelen might be right and if Trian managed to find the shield first or attack you he could make up a lot of lost ground in the Assembly."
"It's not like I don't think Trian's out to get me," Aunn confessed. "I just don't trust Bhelen's motivations for getting involved when the safe Bhelen-ish thing to do would be to just watch us destroy each other. We should keep an eye out regardless."
"Of course, my Lady," Gorim nodded. "And what about you? Are you excited at the prospect of finding the shield?"
"How could I not be?" Aunn laughed. "The founder of my House has always been my favorite Paragon and not just because of that. Any sufficiently positive contribution to society can lead to becoming a Paragon and while that could be something epic like Caridin's golems, Astyth the Grey's promotion of female warriors – if only her Silent Sisters would stop stabbing themselves in the foot on that front – or Branka's smokeless coal, it could also be something…less epic. The 'especially dedicated' servants and Seuss' rhyming abilities, for instance, just aren't quite in the same league as the golems."
"And the Paragon Aeducan falls in the 'epic' category?" Gorim hazarded a guess.
"He saves us all from the darkspawn during the First Blight," Aunn pointed out. "And he completely ignored the Assembly's bickering over which Thaig to save and appealed directly to the other castes to mount Orzammar's defense. If it weren't for him, we'd all be dead. That is, by my estimation, the most epic thing that any dwarf has ever done."
"Then it's a good thing you're an Aeducan or you would probably annoy your House with that sentiment," Gorim teased.
"If I weren't an Aeducan…" Aunn trailed off, shaking her head in bemusement. "I can't even imagine."
Gorim opened his mouth to reply when they encountered their first darkspawn of the day. Aunn had fought darkspawn before and so while the sight of them no longer bothered her, she absolutely could not get over the smell. Since the darkspawn regularly roamed the Deep Roads even this close to Orzammar, the foul stench was everywhere but nowhere as pungent as when the darkspawn were directly in front of them.
"Let's hurry and try to find the first scout," Aunn ordered as soon as the last darkspawn had fallen. "They won't be any good to us dead."
One minor skirmish later, they reached the crossroads that would serve as the meeting point if the presence of a vaguely familiar-looking man was any indication.
"You made it, commander," the man said in that slow, suspicious way she realized could only make him Frandlin Ivo, the fighter she'd sent the ceremonial helm to the day before. Yes, now that she thought about it he was her final opponent in the non-lethal Proving she'd fought yesterday. He sounded a little surprised, which was rather insulting since she had beaten him so soundly the day before and, unlike him, wasn't alone. "Did you run afoul of any darkspawn?"
"I ran into two groups of them but, as you can see, it was nothing I couldn't handle," Aunn replied. "You fought well yesterday. I trust you'll prove similarly competent in today's expedition?"
Ivo bowed his head. "Ancestors willing."
With that, they set off again. They met another group of darkspawn which was nearly as easy to dispatch as the first one – nearly because this group contained a darkspawn shooting energy at them which, as dwarves, they were resistant to but those attacks were still more long-ranged than the daggers the other darkspawn used though having Ivo in their group was a big help. The problem with the Deep Roads was the lack of landmarks but Aunn guessed they must be going in the right direction as they soon met another scout. Well, either that or he was just as lost as they were. Surely if she was lost, though, Gorim would have said something? It would have to be subtle so as not to embarrass her in front of her fellow noble but he knew just how navigationally challenged she was.
"You're here. I thought the darkspawn had got you for sure," the scout gasped, not even making a cursory attempt to hide his surprise. If she hadn't needed him so she wouldn't be braving an uncharted section of the Deep Roads with only two other people, she would have had to have killed him for that remark. While Gorim would never think less of her for allowing an insult like that to stand, the fact of the matter was that Ivo – insignificant House or not – was still a noble and she could not afford to set such a precedent. "We want the tunnel ahead but there are darkspawn tracks all over it," he continued, blithely unaware of her inner debate about whether to end his life. For now, it was too risky. Until the expedition was over, or at least until she found the shield and could just retrace her steps and thus be unlikely to encounter many living darkspawn, she would let it go. After that, of course, she made no promises.
The group of four continued in silence for a few minutes. They weren't encountering any new opponents and so Aunn was beginning to get a little bored. She wished she could talk to Gorim but unless she wanted him to just agree to whatever she said, she didn't have that luxury as they were in the presence of witnesses.
Aunn got her confirmation that they were, in fact, not lost when they stumbled upon the stone door her father had mentioned. Not being lost was always a good thing although the fact that the door was just hanging open was a little worrying. This was supposed to be a secret door, after all, and abandoned long ago. Unless the door had been left open when the Thaig was abandoned – and while it was a little strange to think about people in a hurry bothering to shut the doors they'd never see again behind them – which meant that maybe the darkspawn had someone found a way in then something was wrong. If that was the case the shield might not even still be there-no, she had to have faith in her ancestor's security as it would be one thing if her grandfather was simply wrong about the shield's location but quite another if the darkspawn had taken the shield of Aeducan too.
"Looks like someone beat us to the door," Gorim remarked, echoing her fears.
The scout moved forward and crouched down next to what appeared to be the corpse of a darkspawn. "This darkspawn body is still fresh," he announced. As it had yet to begin to decompose and smell even worse, that much was a given but perhaps he meant that there was blood or something to indicate that the battle was even more recent than that. "Whoever opened the door is most likely still in there."
That was troubling, to say the least. Aunn bit her lip. "They had to have had an Aeducan signet ring to get in there…" she announced. This just smacked of a conspiracy. Could Bhelen have been telling the truth about Trian's plot after all? Or perhaps he was the one pulling something and wanted her to think it was Trian? Signet rings, particularly the royal Aeducan signet ring, weren't exactly easy to get a hold of. Not even all of the members of a noble House got their own signet ring, only the most important members. Needless to say, Bhelen and Trian each had their own and if she didn't believe there was some sort of brotherly plotting going on before she most certainly did now.
Still, there was nothing to be gained by just standing there. This was probably a trap but she did still need to get the shield and so she'd just have to spring it and kill whoever was arrogant enough to think they could take on the princess and live.
As she boldly strode forth, she spotted several mercenaries bearing the mark of the casteless. One of them, presumably their leader, stepped forward to greet her. "So glad you could finally join us. We feared you'd gotten eaten by darkspawn." Okay, seriously, what was it with everyone thinking she was that easy to kill? When this was over she was going to kidnap Piotin and drag him to the Proving ground if she had to in order to make it clear just how helpless she wasn't. "Turns out the shield isn't quite as easy to retrieve as I was led to believe. I wager you know where it is, though. So how about you tell me where it is and I don't mutilate your body so bad your father doesn't recognize you?" Oh, he actually thought he had a chance of beating her? Cute. And what did he mean by 'as I was led to believe'? Bhelen or Trian wanted to steal the shield out from right under her? That would probably mean Trian as if Bhelen pulled something like that no one would ever underestimate him again and as long as he had two older siblings standing between him and the throne that would not end well for him. Still, if Trian did hire the mercenaries – which she was still having a hard time believing as that meant he would have had to actually talk to the casteless or at least make his second do it – then at least the default plan wasn't to kill her, even if the mercenary leader wasn't opposed to it.
And did he really think that if she had any idea of how to access the shield, which she obviously didn't or else whoever told the mercenaries about the shield would have known as well, that she would just tell them like that? Please. "The shield is a metaphor," Aunn deadpanned. "It's in all of us." She paused. "Well, maybe not in you because you're casteless, but it's inside of everyone who actually has ancestors."
"You…you expect us to believe that you came all this way to hunt down a metaphor?" the mercenary demanded incredulously.
Aunn shook her head. "No, I came all this way to kill darkspawn and, by doing that, to find my own 'shield of Aeducan'. It's a family tradition, you know. Trian did it two years ago and two years from now Bhelen will."
"I…" the mercenary trailed off, looking confused. "I don't know whether that's true or not but I don't like that answer so I'm going to just going to ignore that possibility for now. Just kill them, boys. We'll find this shield on our own."
With that, the mercenaries attacked. They were a bit more challenging than the darkspawn had been, if only because there were more of them, they were better organized, and they were more intelligent. Well, actually that last part was rather debatable because at least the darkspawn hadn't known who she was when attacking and these common bandits honestly thought they could get away with killing her.
Once they were all good and dead, Aunn went straight for the leader's body. Robbing corpses, while useful if she were ever in dire need of money, was hardly befitting of someone from her station when there were witnesses around. That wasn't what she was after, though (and really, how much money or valuables could a casteless have, anyway?), as she dug through his pockets. Finding what she was looking for, she stood triumphantly.
Gorim peered at the small object in her hand and then drew back in surprise. "Is that an Aeducan signet ring? I guess that's how they got in here."
"It gets better," Aunn said grimly. "This is Trian's ring. It still has that mark on it from that one time Bhelen and I…" she trailed off, remembering, once again, that she and Gorim were hardly alone. Ah, well. She'd tell him that story later. If Trian ever found out what happened…well, there was a good chance he'd kill them both. They'd probably deserve it, too, but it would have been so worth it. "Well, suffice to say this is Trian's ring?"
"Your brother Trian?" the scout asked nosily. "Do you think this means he was behind the mercenary attack?"
"I would thank you not to go flinging about such rash accusations at my brother," Aunn said frostily. Yes, there was a good chance that either he had done it or Bhelen had but that didn't mean that this scout had any business voicing that. How Bhelen had gotten the ring was a bit of a mystery so it was more likely that this was Trian's doing but she wouldn't rule out her younger brother's involvement just yet. She needed more information.
The scout shrugged, unrepentant. "I don't see the point in living in denial. If you need a signet ring to get in there and you found your brother's signet ring in their possession then that means he had to have given it to them. Unless you think he lost it and never mentioned it?"
"I think we should refrain from voicing wild conspiracy theories and focus on the task at hand," Aunn replied, her irritation at the scout only growing. Who did he think he was, anyway? If he realized she had no idea who he was that might make him bolder but it wouldn't save him if she decided to just outright kill him. With that, she continued into the central room.
Gorim looked around. "This is the room. How do we get the shield?"
"My father said that it should be under the stone and I'm guessing that that would put it under the sarcophagus in the middle. As to how we get it…" Aunn moved closer to inspect the stones. "Three of the stones are a different color than the rest of them. I suggest the first thing we try is putting weight on them so you three each go stand on one of them."
Silently, Ivo, Gorim, and the scout obeyed her. Immediately, the stone sarcophagus shifted. The casteless mercenaries couldn't figure this out, huh? That was a little pathetic. Aunn approached it to see a somewhat-worn shield with the clear insignia of House Aeducan right in the middle. Reverently, she lifted it. This…this was history. This was the shield used by the Paragon Aeducan to drive back the darkspawn and save them all. Feeling a little overwhelmed, she returned to the others.
"That's it!" Gorim cheered. "We've got it."
"Doesn't look like much," the scout said bluntly, dismissively. Aunn's eye twitched. It was one thing to be insolent with her, she may be a princess but she was also an untested commander. But to disrespect the shield of the man who had stopped the darkspawn from breaching the very gates of Orzammar itself?
"The skill of our crafters has come far since then," Ivo said diplomatically. That was better – and true – but then he had to ruin it by frowning and continuing dubiously, "But still, the shield of Aeducan…"
"This shield is a symbol," Aunn tried to explain. She doubted she would be able to effectively communicate her awe but she could at least make an effort to explain where she was coming from. "It carries all the strength of the Paragon Aeducan."
"It's just a shield," the scout said derisively, looking at her as if she were crazy. Alright, that was it. She knew she should probably wait until she was out of the Deep Roads but chances were she wouldn't encounter any more darkspawn if she retraced her steps and she just couldn't put up with any more of this. The fact she had tolerated so much was, quite frankly, astounding. She pulled out a dagger and, when the scout wasn't looking, threw it at his head.
Gorim looked over as the scout choked and fell over. "The murder-knife strikes again, it seems," he remarked casually, sounding vaguely approving.
Ivo turned to face her with wide eyes. "This kind of thing happens often?" he asked warily, no doubt wondering if he'd be next.
"It's a menace," Aunn told him regretfully. "Now, shall we get back?"
Without further ado, Aunn stepped over the body and began the long trek back towards the rendezvous point, Gorim and Ivo trailing along behind her.
As expected, they encountered no further resistance and, when they were nearly at their destination, Gorim moved closer to her and whispered, "If Trian were really scheming against us, this would be the perfect place for an ambush. We've got the shield and we're all alone out here."
"I agree," Aunn whispered back. "Anyone could ambush us out here, maybe even other mercenaries. Be on your guard." Well, she could be reasonably sure that Bhelen wouldn't be ambushing her as he needed to stay with their father as his second but that didn't mean he couldn't send men. Trian could send men, as well, or he might even show up personally.
As the three slowly and carefully made their way to the rendezvous point, Aunn spotted several prone figures. "What?" she asked surprised as she continued to make her way towards them. "Those weren't there when we passed by here a little while ago. I suppose it could be casualties of a battle but those don't look – or smell – like darkspawn corpses so it would have to be some of our…" she trailed off as she recognized one of the bodies.
"What is it, my lady?" Gorim asked her, looking concerned.
"Trian," she breathed. "Trian!" She took off running towards it and, once she had reached him and verified that it was indeed her older brother, she knelt down beside him and reached out to feel for a pulse. There was none to be found, however, and the body was rapidly cooling.
"Is that Prince Trian?" Gorim asked uncertainly as he moved to stand behind her.
"Bhelen," Aunn said simply.
"Bhelen? Your other brother?" Ivo asked sharply.
Aunn nodded. "I never dreamed he'd move this fast…I suppose that makes sense, though, why tell me until the last second so there's nothing I can do if I don't like his plan? And now Trian's dead."
Aunn and Trian hadn't really gotten along in years and sometimes it seemed as if they never had. It was easy to forget him introducing her to fighting, easy to forget he had never minded when she tagged along after him as a child, easy to forget how they had bonded over not liking the noisy new baby after Bhelen was born…all of that was so easily cast aside in the wake of the growing pressures of nobility and the question of succession. She had tried to remember it even if Trian no longer seemed to care but she knew she didn't always succeed. She wasn't quite sure how she had expected things to turn out, whether she had naively assumed that their problems would just resolve themselves once their father was dead and one of the three was on the throne but this…she knew in some ways she was safer with Trian dead and in some circumstances she might have been the one to kill him but she had never wanted to see her brother dead. Either of them.
If only Bhelen felt the same.
For of course it was Bhelen. She was having a little bit of difficulty concentrating when faced with the stark reality of Trian's death laid out in front of her, but she would have to be blind not to see what had happened. Bhelen had the perfect alibi: he was seconding the King and surrounded by high-ranking nobles. He had tried to convince her to kill Trian so he wouldn't have to risk framing her when simply tattling would be a much safer course. When she had refused, which he had to have known she might, he had put his back-up plan into motion.
If nothing else, this answered the question of where those mercenaries got Trian's ring from. They had evidently acted on Bhelen's orders to kill their brother and steal his ring. Then she had killed them and taken the ring back so there was no proof that the mercenaries were involved at all. She had witnesses, of course: the scout, Ivo, and Gorim. Everyone knew that Gorim would do anything for her. If she had killed Trian right in front of him, the warrior would deny it to his dying day. If he told them what had happened, it wouldn't matter although if he lied then it would just be another nail in her coffin. She had killed the scout for his continual disrespect but Bhelen couldn't just assume that she would as if he hadn't kept pressing she would have tolerated a great deal of it until they had returned. That would explain why he had felt so free to be insolent, however; he had known that Bhelen was planning something to get her out of the way. Clearly, the scout had been bribed.
And Ivo. The scout had only been a warrior so his word would never be enough to even bring the case before the Assembly. Ivo, though…Ivo would be enough. His House was pretty much a nonentity but it was still noble and Frandlin had won some glory in the Proving Arena from what she had been able to tell yesterday. People would believe him. If Bhelen was going to be bribing the scout it would only follow that Ivo would also be corrupted. As to the incentive…if Trian was dead and she were removed from consideration for one reason or another then Bhelen would be King. Her father was the most respected King in four generations so there was no way his heir would not be accepted. As King, Bhelen could raise the Ivos up so that they actually mattered again. Why wouldn't he be willing to destroy a girl he'd only met the day before for the opportunity to serve his House in such a way?
And of course the point was to get her out of the way. She hadn't been sure before but now that she had found Trian's body after Bhelen had promised he wasn't going to act alone just half a day earlier? It couldn't even be that he feared she'd warn Trian of his intentions as if he had been willing to do it himself, he wouldn't have told her unless he had wanted her involved in some way and he hadn't given her any opportunity to speak to Trian all morning.
And now it was too late. Trian was dead and who even knew what Bhelen was planning? Her only chance was to get out of there before the rest of the expedition caught her kneeling over the body but that wouldn't keep Ivo from testifying to that effect and, ancestors help her, she couldn't bring herself to move.
Trian was dead.
She was startled out of her musings but arrival of the rest of the expedition or, more specifically, the sound of Bhelen urging, "Hurry, Father! Before it's too…"
As Aunn looked up, she saw her father push Bhelen nearly off-balance in his haste to reach Trian. Once he had, he fell to his knees, looking shell-shocked.
"It would appear that Prince Bhelen was right," Lord Meino exclaimed, sounding shocked and saddened. "If only we had arrived sooner…"
"Aunn…my daughter…tell me this isn't what it looks like," her father pleaded hollowly.
"This isn't what it looks like," Aunn said obligingly, feeling strangely empty herself. This was bad. She had never been in such a dire situation before but, by the stone, she couldn't manage to stay completely focused. Not with her brother dead on the ground before her and her father trying to keep it together as the world fell apart.
"I would like to believe that, I really would," her father told her sadly. "But as the matter stands we will have to ask an impartial witness."
"Gorim is too loyal to be trusted in this matter," Lord Bemot pointed out.
"I am not certain what happened to the second scout but Frandlin Ivo is a man of good character," Harrowmont spoke up. "Surely he can explain what happened here."
"The scout…fell shortly after we found the shield," Ivo said delicately, nervously. That was more diplomatic than expected as news that she had basically killed him for irritating her, while hardly scandalous, would certainly not help her cause. Ivo licked his lips as his eyes flickered to Bhelen. "When we arrived, Prince Trian and his guards were still alive. Lady Aeducan approached him and they spoke for a bit although I was not close enough to hear their words. I did see them both draw their weapons, however and Lady Aeducan won that fight."
"You treacherous bastard!" Gorim shouted in anger and disbelief. She had known – really, she had – that Gorim would never turn against her so completely. Just the same, when everything was against her and she had no idea what was going to happen but knew that it wouldn't be good…it was nice to have that confirmation just the same. She just hoped he wouldn't have to pay the price for that loyalty.
"Silence, Gorim," her father ordered quietly. "Do you have anything else to say, my daughter?"
"I didn't kill Trian," Aunn insisted, just as softly. "But…I understand that under the circumstances my word won't be enough."
As she was taken into custody – just the thought of being dragged back to Orzammar in chains was enough to make her feel almost physically ill – she turned and met Bhelen's eyes. He might not have said much but by allowing the others to take on the roles of accusers it would just serve to help distance him from this tragedy. He just shrugged at her as if to say 'nothing personal.'
Of course it wasn't.
...........................
It was difficult to tell how long she had been in the jail cell, unarmed and dressed in nothing but rags. It felt like forever although she knew that it couldn't have been very long. She had been brought four meals, thus far, and she hadn't been overly hungry when the food had appeared so she estimated about two days.
It was hard to choke the food down for three reasons. One, this was very, very bad and she honestly didn't know what she was going to do or why the Assembly hadn't called for her yet. Surely they didn't have anything more pressing to deal with than the death of the crown prince and the arrest of the next-in-line for the throne? Of course, Bhelen had to be bribing members of the Assembly or this would all have been cleared up by now but what was taking so long? The longer it took the less likely she felt it was that they'd send for her at all. But that was ridiculous. Law dictated that she be given at least a sham of a trial and tradition demanded it as well. Then there was the matter of her immediate family, already fraught with tension, completely imploding in on itself. Trian was dead, Bhelen had arranged it so that she be blamed for it, and her father was just letting it happen. Then there was the third, shallower reason…the so-called 'food' was absolutely disgusting and she had honestly never attempted to eat anything of that poor quality before.
Well, what could she say? She as spoiled as far as the creature comforts were concerned but she was a princess – for now, at least, although who knew what the Assembly would decide? – so that was to be expected. She had never worn rags before and they were making her skin itch. Not to mention that she couldn't remember the last time she'd been unarmed. If Bhelen wanted to be really thorough he'd have 'disgruntled Trian fanatics' come in to kill her so she would be out of the way one way or another. On the other hand, he might have decided that both of his siblings dying off in less than half a week would be too suspicious. Either way, she didn't like feeling helpless.
The silence, oh how she hated the silence, was blessedly broken by the wooden voice of a guard. "You've got ten minutes, ser. Orders and all, you understand."
Aunn looked up to see, much to her surprise, Gorim walking towards her. The look on his face made it clear that she wouldn't want to hear whatever he had to say. "Of course," he said smoothly. "Leave us alone, would you please?"
"Yes ser," the guard said before retreating back down the hallway.
Aunn looked at him for a moment though, not knowing much of anything at the moment, she said nothing.
"I…I would have come sooner, had they allowed it," Gorim started things off hesitantly. Of course he would have. She really had no doubts about him. There was a pause before he continued. "How are you?"
"My brother is dead," Aunn replied finally. "My father is nowhere to be found and now Bhelen's setting his plans into motion and I know I'm not going to like what you have to say."
"No, you won't," Gorim agreed, sighing heavily and looking pained. "The Assembly isn't going to be calling for you, I'm afraid. Bhelen took Trian's place in the Assembly and introduced a motion to condemn you immediately. He must have been making deals for months if not years as a full half of the Assembly was ready to vote on a matter that goes completely against both tradition and justice. And…we've already been sentenced."
"I'd expected as much," Aunn said, feeling oddly calm now that she was at last finding out what was going on. She would apologize to him for getting him caught up in her little family drama but she knew he would only be insulted if she did. "How bad is it?"
"I am to be stripped of my knighthood and removed from my family's records," Gorim began, seeming not to want to reveal her own fate to her. She'd rather he just got on with it but that wouldn't make this any easier. "But…I am to be allowed to attempt some sort of life on the Surface." Knowing Gorim's distaste for Surfacers he might very well prefer whatever 'punishment' was in store for her.
"And me?" Aunn prompted when it seemed like Gorim couldn't bring himself to go on.
"Lord Harrowmont moved for a similar exile for you," Gorim prefaced his answer. "But Bhelen's supporters overwhelmed him. You are to be sealed into the Deep Roads to fight darkspawn until you die."
You are to be sealed into the Deep Roads to fight darkspawn until you die.
The words echoed in her ears. That was…that was pretty much the worst case scenario. The dwarva did not generally execute prisoners because it would be a waste when they could instead put them to use and give them a chance to earn some form of redemption by protecting Orzammar from the monsters that had plagued her since the fall of the rest of the Empire.
Aunn was so caught up in the sudden fear that overtook her that she almost missed Gorim's next words. "Lord Harrowmont will be here shortly to escort you out. He couldn't say this himself as Bhelen's spies will no doubt be watching to confirm that you really are out of the way but he gave me leave to see you so that I could let you know that Duncan and the rest of the Grey Wardens are still in the Deep Roads."
Aunn's eyes widened and she wondered if she was hearing what she thought she was hearing. "They…what? Are you saying…?"
"Yes," Gorim nodded, looking animated for the first time since he had come in. "If you can stay alive long enough to find them then you can escape with them to the surface."
"The Assembly only decreed that I be sealed into the Deep Roads and that I fight darkspawn until I fall, not that this had to be anytime soon or that I couldn't leave," Aunn reasoned. "And as a Grey Warden, I'm almost guaranteed to get myself killed fighting darkspawn at some point, especially with this new Blight on the surface."
"Exactly!" Gorim cried, relieved that she seemed amenable to the idea. "And it isn't like you were opposed to joining the Grey Wardens in the first place."
"What does my father have to say about this?" Aunn asked, feeling masochistic for even bringing it up. Still, this was her only chance and she would not likely see him again.
"Lord Harrowmont says the king has taken ill. He couldn't bear losing two of his children at once," Gorim replied, glancing over his shoulder. Of course he couldn't. And yet at this point when he was the only one who could stop her from being fed to the darkspawn, what did he do? Retreat to the palace. How could he believe that she would do this? "My time is almost up. I'm going to try to make it to the human capital of Denerim. If you make it out, come find me there."
"I will," Aunn promised. "I'm not sure how long it will take, but I'll be there, if only so we'll know that we both survived."
"I begged to go with you and fight at your side, but Bhelen's pet nobles wouldn't hear of it," Gorim told her earnestly, as if she'd doubt him at this point.
"It's better this way," Aunn told him firmly. "It's bad enough you have to go to the surface without being sealed into the Deep Roads as well. I'll be fine, don't worry. I'll survive, I'll find you in Denerim, and things will be fine. I promise."
"I know that my path is safer," Gorim conceded. "But please do not tell me that it is better. I would gladly give up all the safety in the world for the chance to stay with you."
Aunn's smile was bittersweet. "I know. And that's why I'm glad that you don't have to. I love you, you see, and you deserve better."
"And so do you," Gorim insisted. "You know that you will always have my heart, my Lady Aeducan. May the Paragons guide your sword and the Stone hold you up."
And with that, he was gone. She wanted to call him back, to beg him to hold her once last time through the bars of the prison cell but…she couldn't. The guards weren't close enough to hear them but they were close enough to see and she'd be damned if she'd give her brother and the Assembly more of a scandal. Oh, but her pride did get in the way at times.
Bhelen's betrayal wasn't personal, he had indicated. Circumstances being what they were, she was inclined to believe him. And oh, didn't that make her feel better? He wanted the throne and was willing to do what it took to get it while, if her reluctance to preemptively commit fratricide was any indication, she wasn't. She wanted to kill him, she was proud of him, she simply didn't care…it was probably for the best she wouldn't see him again as she wasn't quite sure how she would react. Bhelen had screwed her over royally, her father was screwing her over through his inaction, even Trian had screwed her over by allowing himself to be murdered by the mercenaries she had dispatched so easily. And now she was going to get her chance to run off and be a Grey Warden, at last. She had to admit, however, that in all the various scenarios for being allowed to do this, her current one had honestly never occurred to her.
The oppressive silence was broken again by the prison guard. "Here is the prisoner, Lord Harrowmont."
Harrowmont came into view, his face impassive. "Having been found guilty of fratricide by the Assembly of Orzammar, you are hereby sentenced to exile and death. Your name is, from this point forward, stripped from the records. You are no longer a person, nor a memory. You are to be cast into the Deep Roads with only sword and shield, there to redeem your life by fighting the enemies of Orzammar until your death." He paused and then pressed forth with tentative hope in his voice. "Do you have anything to say before the sentence is carried out?"
Oh, she had a whole host of things to say and yet nothing at all. She was being torn from her home and she resented it. Still, this was her last chance and she knew better than to squander it. "You call this justice?" she asked, unable to keep the bitterness completely out of her voice. Under the circumstances, that was hardly something she could be blamed for.
"No, I don't," Harrowmont admitted, sounding sincerely sad. "I call it politics. I would have prevented this if I could. Everyone should have the right to face his accuser and defend himself, if nothing else."
"Why wasn't I given that opportunity?" Aunn wondered aloud. "If the Assembly would support sending me off to die without a trial then why wouldn't they just give me a show trial so it would seem less like a conspiracy? There's a precedent for being allowed to prove your innocence in a case of fratricide in a Proving, like Darvianak Vollney did, for that matter."
"Perhaps he is not as certain of his support as he would have us believe or he feared you would bring up that very precedent. Please, Aunn, look me in the eye and tell me you didn't do this. For your father's sake," Harrowmont entreated her, sounding almost desperate.
For her father's sake? The same father that would send her off to die without so much as apologizing or saying goodbye? She had very little she wanted to say to him at the moment but it wasn't Lord Harrowmont's fault her father wouldn't believe in her and he didn't have the power to stop this. What's more, he had even offered her a way out. She may as well set his mind at ease, although ancestor's knew it wouldn't matter in the end. "I didn't kill Trian," she declared passionately.
Harrowmont looked her straight in the eye and for one long, horrible moment she feared he, like everyone else, would not believe her. "I believe you," he said at last, sounding both relieved and infinitely sadder. "That means Bhelen planned this from the start. Believe me, I will spend the rest of my days making sure Bhelen does not profit by his deeds."
Aunn was touched at the anger he was showing on her behalf. At least someone was showing that they cared more about her than about winning. Gorim didn't count in that regard because she had known that he would so it wasn't an unexpected if pleasant surprise. "Thank you."
Harrowmont nodded his acknowledgement. "Your father asked me to give these to you. This sword and shield are of fine dwarven make. Strike a blow at our enemies."
As Aunn took the sword, she hesitated. "How…how is my father?" She wasn't sure she really wanted to know but she also knew she would regret it if she didn't take the time to ask now. Did he really expect arming her better than the average condemned – not convicted, if she had been convicted she would have had a trial – would make up for this travesty? This betrayal? It almost felt worse than Bhelen's because at least she knew what her brother would be getting out of this. Her father…she didn't understand.
"He is old and this tragedy has hit him hard. He will rest better now, though, knowing the truth," Harrowmont assured her. It was a bit strange hearing Harrowmont call her father old since he was easily ten years older than him but tragedy had a way of aging people, she supposed. She herself felt years older than she had the morning of her commission. Could she have stopped this? Was there anything she could have done differently? She didn't see how, but she refused to believe that this was inevitable.
Harrowmont seemed to be waiting for her to say something else, perhaps a final message to her father? He was letting this happen, he didn't believe her, he couldn't even be bothered to show up as she was thrown out of Orzammar…she had nothing to say to him. "It is time for me to go," she said instead.
Harrowmont bowed his head respectfully. "As you will, Lady of Aeducan."
Aunn's heart clenched as she realized that this could very well be the last time she would ever be addressed as such. By the stone, she didn't want to leave!
Harrowmont turned to the guard, his voice formal once more. "Open the doors and let the condemned walk through."
Aunn closed her eyes and took a deep breath, clenching the sword and shield in her hands tightly.
She stepped through the door and she didn't look back.
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