Ven'irsera: Chapter 2

"Teagan, have you read this permit Dumar wrote for us!?" Lyna fumed at breakfast—her food left nearly untouched as her stomach continued to do summersaults, despite their being back on solid ground. Ethlen, who had randomly appeared at their side as they entered the inn last night much to Teagan's consternation, sat happily on her lap, munching away at Lyna's eggs and bacon. "It's preposterous! How am I supposed to conduct a proper search when, and I quote, 'Conflicts arising between visiting dignitaries and local authorities will be handled by the Captain of the Kirkwall City Guard…' Do you know how frequently 'local authorities' are honest enough to deal fairly with foreign dignitaries? Never mind an elven foreign dignitary."

"I did read it, Lyna, and it's fairly standard," Teagan replied somewhat absently as he sipped on his cup of tea. "What would you do if some foreigner showed up in Ameranthine and started causing problems?"

"I'd put an end to it," she replied.

"Precisely," was all he said in return.

"But my city guard is not corrupt!" She cried. "And there is no reason for foreigners to show up in Ameranthine and roust my subjects. That was all dealt with during my first six months as Arlessa."

"How can you be so sure?" Teagan asked, his attention still not fully on their conversation.

"I…I just can!" She insisted. "My men are loyal and they report anything of concern to me. Had someone like Alistair shown up in Ameranthine, I'd have known his entire personal history and assigned someone to watch him until I was satisfied he was not someone I needed to be concerned about by day's end...as opposed to Viscount Dumar, who is perfectly fine with 'everyone being somewhat unhappy at all times'. All anyone would have to do is ask me where to find their man and it would be done!"

"Well then I am happy for both you and Ameranthine, however that is not necessarily the case here, and we must follow their rules or find ourselves imprisoned or deported," he replied pointedly.

"If I'm to be hauled off to speak with the Captain of the Guard every time I get in to a scuffle with someone wearing a uniform, this will be a very long visit indeed," she huffed.

"On that we can agree," Teagan replied, idly toying with his cutlery while his eyes stared off into the distance.

"Something on your mind?" She asked, her crossness spent…for the moment.

"Why Kirkwall, of all places?" Teagan asked. "It's so stark and uninviting. I can't imagine what drew Alistair to this City…"

A sad little smile formed on Lyna's lips as she twirled a finger in her daughter's hair and thought on Him. "I can…" Teagan shot her a questioning gaze. She shrugged as she stirred the remains of her rapidly disappearing eggs with her fork. "If I were the one who was denied their revenge by the one I loved most and then banished from my home by my dead brother's wife, I would not want to land anywhere that reminded me of the things I had lost. There's no danger of Kirkwall ever being such a reminder."

"I suppose that if someone were to take up a new life against their will, it would be easiest to move on in a place that contrasted so plainly," Teagan nodded, his eyes now cast over her shoulder and out the inn's single window. "Come, let's get a move on," he sighed as he stood. "As you said, this will likely be a long visit and we've only got a week's pardon to beat his location out of the locals."

Lyna smiled almost too much. "I'm more than ready for a spot of violence! Being cooped up on that ship for so long has definitely left me a bit twitchy."

"Yes, Mamae" Ethlen replied around a mouth full of toast, giving her a mildly amused stare. "Everyone on board was aware."

Lyna's jaw dropped in mock indignation. "I was a perfect gem, all things considered," She replied as they stood to leave. "I mean really; between the sea sickness, the cramped quarters and the cabin fever, it's a testament to how dedicated I have been in developing my self-control."

"I doubt Gorim's first mate would see it that way," Teagan smirked.

Lyna simply huffed in frustration as she dropped a few coppers on the table, yanked her hood up over her ears and headed to the door. "It is hardly my fault that the man snuck up on me in the dark while I was wretching over the side of the ship. He's lucky all he got was a scratch on the neck."

Outside, the morning was already beginning to warm and Lyna knew she would be dying of heat by the time the sun reached its highest point. She pouted to herself, but was determined not to complain. She might be free to act less like a commander now that her Wardens were all an ocean away and in no need of being impressed by their leader, but she'd grown accustomed to her reputation invoking a certain amount of respect when she was in the public eye and she knew she did not have that advantage here. She would need to do her best to seem imposing and dangerous to total strangers or deal with being treated like the riff raff again. Not something she'd particularly enjoyed in her first year as Grey Warden, nor something she particularly wanted Ethlen to witness.

Of course, looking at the high stone walls surrounding them and noting the lack of a breeze, her determination might be for naught. Heat already radiated off the stones and even seeped through the base of her shoes to cook her feet. It was hard to look intimidating when one was sweating like some stinking pig. Yes…this would be a very long visit.

They'd barely so much as chose which route they would take to low town when a loud commanding voice called out, "Stop!"

Lyna's shoulders slumped as she turned laboriously to face the voice. "You cannot be serious…" She huffed. "I've not even done anything yet!" Behind her, the Captain of the Guard—Aveline Vallen, Viscount Dumar had called her—approached them. She was the exact opposite of Lyna in every way; tall, copper haired, vaguely masculine. She needed no false bravado to intimidate her enemies, her stature and build did the job just fine. Lyna momentarily wondered what the outcome of a sparring match with this woman would be…best not to find out here and now though.

"I am Guard Captain Aveline Vallen," She introduced herself, not a breath wasted on formalities. "If you'll be so kind as to come with me, Serah?"

Lyna's eyebrows shot into her hairline at the so-called request and nearly laughed at the insolence before crossing her arms and giving the captain a once over, as if to say 'You and what army?'

Captain Vallen smirked almost imperceptibly to herself at the non-verbal challenge. "Messere Mahariel, I realize that was worded as a request…I assure you it was not one, and that instigating a confrontation with me and my guardsmen will not end well for you."

Lyna glanced around and noted the Kirkwall city crest blazoned on numerous breastplates in the immediate vicinity and then again planted her eyes firmly on the guard captain. Ah...that army..."I might be tempted to test that theory; however my companion would never let me hear the end of it, so for now we will play along." She was careful to make it clear she wasn't intimidated. Truthfully, she didn't like the numbers. There were at least five to one in the current scenario, and that wasn't including the five she'd have to fight for her daughter-a talented sneak, but miserable with weapons. She'd faced greater odds, but those days were long since passed and she wasn't certain she could maintain the advantage without additional support. She'd gone a bit soft of recent years…that would need to be worked on when they got back to Vigil's Keep…

The walk to the Viscount's Keep was plenty short; they'd only travelled as far as was strictly necessary for food and lodging. Unfortunately, being escorted to the Keep by the Captain of the Guard was drawing a great deal of attention. So much for laying low…she cast a glance at Bann Teagan communicating these thoughts. His answering look said he was feeling the same way. "I'll need a fresh disguise when this is over," she muttered.

Teagan nodded his agreement. "Perhaps Captain Vallen can lend you something."

"Yes, she seems very inclined to do me favors," Lyna grumbled as she noticed a few of the nobles beginning to whisper to each other. Brilliant.

When they finally arrived in Captain Vallen's offices and the doors were secure, Lyna threw off her hood and the clear ring of metal leaving scabbard heralded the arrival of the point of Lyna's favorite Dar'Misu directly in front of Captain Vallen's face. "What in the VOID was that all about, Guard Captain!?" She spat. "Do you realize that it is VERY likely that our man will hear about you escorting the Hero of Ferelden through Hightown!? He doesn NOT want to be found by me, and it is now very likely that he won't be."

Aveline didn't flinch. The threat from the much smaller woman barely so much as registered. Her expression darkened as her eyes narrowed and she simply pushed the blade aside with one finger. "Viscount Dumar informed me early this morning that the Hero of Ferelden was in our city on a mission. I felt it necessary to introduce myself immediately," she replied as she crossed her arms and bowed slightly towards them in the customary Ferelden manner.

"You know who I am and yet you still greet me so abruptly?" Lyna marveled, her temper sparking a little further at the blatant disrespect.

Teagan only sighed from the rear of the escalating confrontation. "Do try to remember the terms of our agreement with the Viscount, Lyna…"

"I recall them perfectly, and they said nothing about curbing my temper in the face of barefaced insolence," she snapped, her eyes never leaving the Guard Captain.

"You misunderstand me, my lady," Aveline replied in the same cold abrupt manner. "I am not here to ruffle feathers or engage you in a dispute; I simply wished to make my presence known." It was packaged as cordiality, but Lyna recognized the threat lying just beneath the surface; this was her city, she was in charge, and Maker help those who caused her trouble. She was certainly imposing enough to back up the implication, and the calm manner in which she simply brushed Lyna's dagger aside spoke of immense confidence in her ability to do so physically as well. "Kirkwall is already rampant with problems of its own. I am here to ask that you do your utmost not to add to them."

"Hah!" Lyna barked in pure ironic amusement. "Well than, Captain Vallen, I will do my best to abide by the rules." Her voice was unashamedly condescending.

Now the Guard Captain watched her carefully for a moment, attempting to discern how much of a threat Lyna actually intended to pose. After a while she seemed to have found her answer and her demeanor softened. "I apologize for the display—escorting you through the city like I did—unfortunately there was no way around it," she sighed deeply as she allowed a little of her exhaustion to peek through her commanding exterior. "Knight-Commander Meredith leads the Templars in this city and is not only power hungry, but seemingly becoming quite unstable as well. She makes daily efforts to chip away at the Viscount's power and the mage's anonymity. Obviously the mages respond poorly to that. As if that were not problem enough, the Qunari and the Elven population become increasingly difficult with each passing week. The slavers and blood mages hiding in the nearby hills are nearly impossible to control, let alone expel, and then there's the nobility…" She sighed loudly. "Viscount Dumar would hardly deny you the right to seek out one of your own people, but he doesn't realize how granting you any form of immunity compromises our already precarious situation. The escort was the only way I could see to express to all parties that the Viscount and I are still the law around here."

"On a more personal note," she continued. "I also wished to express my sympathy at the loss of your Grey Warden brethren at Ostagar. I served in the King's army at that battle and saw the men and women of your order falling all around me as they battled against the hoard." That caught Lyna a little off guard—struck her speechless in fact—but she somehow managed to slowly bow her head in shocked thanks. Perhaps the bracing façade was merely that…it was quite confusing, regardless. "My late husband and I barely escaped the battle itself, and Wesley fell to the darkspawn sickness soon after."

"I'm…sorry to hear that," Lyna replied, her own waning temper now warring uncomfortable with equal parts guilt and empathy. "The darkspawn taint is…unpleasant; I…I hope he did not suffer long."

Aveline nodded her thanks and suddenly she was all business again. "Before I return to my duties, is there any way in which I or my men can assist you?"

Now it was Teagan who spoke. "I'm afraid that our mission actually requires a great deal of stealth. The man we are searching for might be inclined to disappear should he see us coming, and unfortunately having the city guard in tow would likely give us away."

"But-" Lyna interrupted. "You might be able to provide us with some information." Lyna interjected. She found herself hoping that Aveline would have more information on the minutia of the city that the Viscount seemed to have. For as much trouble as Kirkwall gave her, she seemed to want to run it the same way Lyna ran her own arling.

"There are hundreds, if not thousands of Ferelden refugees in this city. I am not sure I can provide information on more than a select few of them considering how thinly stretched my forces and I are," she replied. "But I can always try. What is it, you'd like to know?"

"His given name is Alistair," Lyna supplied. "I cannot supply his family name, as it would likely place him in a great deal of danger, however, I can tell you he is a Grey Warden and a highly skilled Templar warrior recruited from Denerim before the blight. He's about six foot with ruddy blond hair."

Aveline considered the description a moment, but eventually shook her head. "I am sorry, but I'm afraid the man is not anyone I'm familiar with…" Lyna's shoulders sagged a bit in frustration. "But I do know of a Ferelden Grey Warden who may be of more help to you. He's a mage, a spirit healer, and runs a clinic for the refugees in dark town. I wouldn't approach him lightly though, he's harboring a spirit from the fade. He claims it's not a demon and that he is no abomination, but I'm personally very doubtful on that count."

That caught her attention. Her eyes narrowed as she crossed her arms in annoyance. "Anders."

"So you already know him then," She smirked.

"I've gone out of my way to protect him more times than I care to think about given his abandonment of his duties at Vigil's Keep," She replied.

"Yes, that does sound like the Anders I know," Aveline commiserated.

Aveline quickly scrawled out directions from the keep, through Hightown and Lowtown and then the cesspool that was Darktown, an ancient Tevinter mine long since exhausted of its riches and extended to dispose of the city's sewage. According to Vallen, it was the perfect place to be abducted by slavers or murdered by bandits or blood mages—that's where many Ferelden refugees fled to during the Blight, and might even be the place she would find this Alistair. She nearly choked to think of Alistair living in those conditions. From the sound of it, the refugees had it worse than the city elves! She couldn't help recalling images of Dust Town and the Carta in Orzammar and prayed to the Creators that Alistair hadn't ended up there.

After exchanging goodbyes, Lyna turned to Teagan. "I should go alone to find Anders," she said, calculating not only her ability to move around unseen, but also her companion's monetary worth to Ferelden's nobility. She had faced the Carta before and could more than handle bandits and the occasional blood mage. Teagan was noble born and had never really face a true battle until the Battle of Denerim. He was capable of handling a few bandits now and again, but sneaking past the Carta was something else entirely, and he would make for a very valuable hostage if she was neutralized.

"But mamae, I want to go with you to see Anders!" Ethlen hissed at her side. Ethlen had enjoyed his company more than most of the rest of the wardens when he had been at Vigil's keep, likely because he had been the first to try to engage her and also because he could be quite the child himself.

"Absolutely not!" Teagan nearly cried. "You really think I'm about to let you wander in to that place alone? With a child? You must be out of your mind."

"No, NOT with a child," She declared, her eyes boing disapproving holes in to her daughters eyes. Ethlen pouted...it was never a good sign when she didn't argue back. It usually meant she intended to do as she wanted anyway. "But it's sensible for me to go alone, Teagan," She insisted. "You're much too valuable a hostage—"

"So are you!" He interrupted.

"Yes, but I'm more trouble than I'm worth," she explained. "If they're stupid enough to attack, they'll die. If they do manage to take me hostage, they'll have an extremely difficult time keeping me. I've faced the Carta before, and bandits are a dime a dozen. It's nothing I can't handle."

"You faced the Carta in Orzammar with three other people at your back, and had plenty of trouble with it then," he pointed out. "You can't possibly assume to be a match for them all by yourself!"

"Which is why I will be sticking to the shadows," she emphasized, giving him that look that meant there would be no more discussion. "I can't stay hidden and move quickly and worry about Ethlen's and your safety all at the same time. You need to trust me that this is best."

Teagan sighed with both worry and irritation. "Fine," he finally bit out. "But for the record, I am against this…just…please go back to the inn and change in to something you weren't just displayed in front of the whole city wearing?" She nodded and smiled her agreement. "What will you do if you come across Alistair?" He asked.

That brought her up short. Her stomach flip-flopped as butterflies erupted in her gut and then out through her limbs. "I…I don't know," she replied, nerves making her voice quaver a little. "I suppose we'll know where he is then…" The look from Teagan said he expected more than just that'll-be-that. "Well, I mean…he won't be happy to see me. I can't be the one to announce our presence, he might take off."

"No, I agree," Teagan replied.

"I suppose I could try to convince Anders to draw him out…to take him someplace where you could talk to him, convince him to come home," she reasoned.

"That seems reasonable," Teagan agreed, smiling sympathetically towards her. He knew this wasn't easy for her; remaining quietly in the background and not charging in half-cocked. She hoped she was right about being able to handle this bit of reconnaissance alone…she hadn't had to be stealthy enough to evade actual living beings for a long time. She hadn't even had to hunt! She sighed, more worried for her own safety than she cared to let on. This could get interesting.

A/N: Big thanks to those who followed, faved and reviewed the previous two chapters! I'm having a lot of fun with this, since I'm getting to skip to the part of Lyna and Ali's relationship that I have wanted to explore since starting Vhenan'ara. While I adore Origins Lyna, she is 100% an incarnation of a younger me—hotheaded and ready to take on the world, but also hanging on by a thread while she figures out how to navigate through a world that is rapidly changing around her—much like life does for people in their early twenties. It's easy to write about that first big love because we've all been there, falling for that impossibly cute guy or girl whose mutual attraction we can't even begin to understand…problem is, that's never where the story ends and people seem to forget that. Looking back on my first love, I'm glad that's not where the story ended because, as new and exciting as it was, I was always going to be too much woman for him to handle. Similarly, Origins Lyna was too much for poor Ali and so they went their separate ways (of course the actual breakdown of their relationship is much more multifaceted than that,) but time changes us all. Over the intervening years Lyna's edges have softened thanks to having to be a true leader, not just a de facto one, and needing to be more diplomatic in her dealings. Where Origins Lyna would have buried those anxieties and confronted her problems, grown up Lyna knows that a confrontation will get her nowhere and that she is more or less powerless to affect the outcome of this journey despite having incredibly deep seeded hopes for how it works out. What I really wanted to touch on in this chapter though was that despite the calm, cool and collected exterior (ignoring for a second her ever present hotheadedness) she's very anxious about facing Ali for the first time since she betrayed him. Hopefully I've accomplished that.

On to chapter 3!