Chapter 3
Much to Nemiril's discontent, it took several weeks for Leliana to hear back from the people she wished to go with the Inquisitor. The first letter came from Kirkwall, it was written rather nicely and Leliana thought it odd since the man she contacted did not know how to read or write. But Varric was able to confirm that the handwriting belonged to his friend Aveline Vallen. The second letter came a few days later from Antiva and was quite shocked that her Antivan Crow acquaintance was bringing a certain Grey Warden with him.
Leliana compiled everything that the two contacts had to say in both of the letters, and she was relieved that both of them were willing to travel to Skyrim with Nemiril, especially since none of them have officially met. She gathered up various maps and tomes and headed straight for the main hall where Nemiril normally spent her afternoons with Varric. When Nemiril saw Leliana approaching with numerous items in her arms, she knew that the day had finally come and her waiting was finally over.
"Nemiril, I have heard back fro my contacts and they are willing to go with you to Skyrim to help you with the rebellion," says Leliana with a smile as she places the maps and tomes on the table in front of Nemiril.
"Must you put all that shit this close to my work space?" barks Varric as he pushes away a few of the maps that covered up his writing and gives Leliana a small scowl.
"Sorry that I am intruding in your work space, Varric. I didn't mean it in the slightest," says Leliana sarcastically as she snatches the maps that were over by Varric and holds them in her arms.
"No need for sarcasm, Nightingale, I am only kidding! Besides I am a little curious on where you're sending Tiger Lily since you are sending Fenris with her," says Varric as he places his quill down and goes over to where Nemiril is sitting and picks up one of the tomes Nemiril is not reading.
"You will find most if not all of the answers you're looking for in these tomes, Varric," says Leliana smugly
"Fair enough," states Varric as he pages through the tome in his hand. The three remain silent for a while as the elf and the dwarf read the tomes carefully.
"So… This place is very interesting. They have 9 Divines and they're not human but celestial beings!" exclaims Nemiril, not even looking up from the tome in her hands.
"Indeed. They also have 16 daedric princes, whatever those are," states Leliana as she pulls up a chair and sits down.
Leliana takes the tome out of Nemiri's hands and places it down, moving an overhead map of Tamriel in front of the elf. She puts four paper weights on the four corners of the map so that they do not curl up while looking at it.
"This is what the entirety of Tamriel looks like," starts Leliana as she attempts to flatten the map more. "This is the port where Torygg's guards will be meeting you to escort you to the Blue Palace in Solitude." Leliana points to the middle shore of Hammerfell and then places a tack with small crow perched on top where the port was on the shore.
"Alright, how far away is Skyrim from there then?" asks Nemiril
"Not too far. Hammerfell and Skyrim share a border, so all you have to do is cross the Alik'r Desert, the largest desert in all of Tamriel," says Leliana as she makes a few circle motions around the middle of Hammerfell and then motions to where Skyrim is. "And that's where you will be going. Skyrim is a very dangerous place, even more dangerous than Thedas which is surprising. Skyrim's terrain is mountainous, has one grassy plain, and a tundra region that is very unforgiving."
"Do you really want to do this, Nem? I don't think I could forgive myself if you were to die in a snowy wasteland," says Varric teasingly as he placed an arm around Nemiril's shoulder
"I don't think that'll happen. I might get a little scratched up, but I won't die," chides Nemiril as she tilts her head to the side to rest her head partially on his chest.
"I know, I trust ya. I mean you have looked death in the face so many times that I am actually starting to believe that you are immortal!" he exclaims as he moves away from her and pats the top of her head, earning a
"One can dream. Although I think the snow will definitely will kill me. But we'll see," says Nemiril, lifting her head from his chest to look up at him.
"I hope you don't die, Inquisitor. The Inquisition would fall apart with out you," says Leliana as she places a hand on Nemiril's and gave it a soft squeeze before she takes out a small journal. "Anyway, I have everything planned for you trip. I only have it planned up to when you arrive in Denerim."
"Alright, let's hear it!" says Nemiril as she sits back in her chair.
"To start, Fenris will be meeting you here soon, I would hope. As for the others they will be meeting you at the port in Denerim where you will be taken by ship to Hammerfell. Everything after that you will be on your own," says Leliana.
"Oh, okay. Hawke mentioned Fenris a few times while she was here. Weren't they dating for a while?" asks Nemiril with a hint of worry in her tone.
"For like 3-4 years, they were pretty serious," Varric says. He noticed that Nemiril was now staring intensely at the opposite wall and did not answer him back.
He assumed that Nemiril slightly feared what Fenris would do since he thinks that it is Nemiril's fault that she let Hawke stay in the fade while she made her escape. Varric did his best to explain to Fenris that it was not entirely the Inquisitor's decision for Hawke to stay behind, but apparently that wasn't good enough for him. Fenris had sent letters back to Varric (obviously through someone who could write), stating it was in fact Nemiril's fault and made it known that he hated her. But what confused Varric the most was that Fenris was willing to be in the same area as Nemiril for an extended period of time. Did he finally get over his irrational hatred for Nemiril and decided to move on? Or was it something else?
"Don't dwell on it, everything will be fine," says Leliana softly as she nudged Nemiril out of her trance.
"O-of course, I'm not worried or anything. I know everything will be fine. Until, you know, I'm in a life or death situation and he decides to leave me for dead," says Nemiril harshly as she stands up abruptly. Before she storms off to the battlements, she picks up a tome or two and a map and says under her breath: "It wouldn't be the first time."
And with those words spoken, she exits the main hall and disappears into the late afternoon sun. Leliana gave Varric a confused look and he just shrugged his shoulders. The two of them were close to Nemiril, but they don't know any of the darker parts of her life prior to the Inquisition.