Her bed was rumbling. It was an odd sensation, and it was only when Rabbit hopped off of her bed that the source of the feeling sunk in to her sleeping mind. Rabbit was growling. She pulled her head off her pillow and watched the mabari blurrily. Had more of those great rats somehow made it into the castle? Nan would be up in arms with a butcher knife if they got into her larder again.
As she watched the mabari tensely stalk towards the door, however, the vague unease that had haunted her last evening as she had said her good-byes to Fergus came back in full force. Stomach suddenly tense, she slid out of bed. The throw rug was coarse and cool under her feet, and she shivered against the cool early morning air as she left her blankets behind. The fire had long ago died to embers, so it must be very early in the morning. She padded across the floor, intent on checking the hall, but Rabbit bristled and moved between her and the door, his low warning growl growing in volume as his lips pulled back from his teeth.
Goosebumps unrelated to the chill morning air prickled down Mariah's body as she turned towards where she had set her armor. Her hands shook from nervous urgency as she pulled on her boots and cuirass, struggling in the dark with the buckles and straps. Rabbit's growls grew louder and louder, and he kept glancing back at her urgently, but she didn't have time enough to finish fumbling with the last of the adjustment before someone screamed and starting pounding on the door, prompting the mabari to begin barking furiously.
She grabbed her sword and shield from the dressing table, and pulled open the door. Eria stood before her, eyes wide with terror, and Mariah's bloody short sword held tightly in her hands.
"There are soldiers!" she gasped, panic choking her voice. "All over the castle! Help me! Help…."
Eria suddenly arched her back and lurched forward, falling heavily into Mariah's arms. Mariah stared with shocked disbelief at the shaft of an arrow that impaled the elf's back, and a growing red stain on her tan shirt. Eria slid limply from Mariah's numb grasp, the short sword clattering loudly against the stone floor as she fell. Mariah was still staring at Eria's sightless eyes , her mind struggling to grasp what had just happened, when Rabbit vaulted over the elf's still body with a snarl. He bounded across the hall, leaping at an armored stranger who stood there. Another soldier emerged into Mariah's vision from the wall to her right, charging her dog with sword raised. Charging her dog. Killing Eria.
She yelled in wordless fury and pain, and ran at the soldier. He turned towards her in surprise, raising his shield to fend off her sword, but she caught his shoulder with a blow from her shield instead. Her armor twisted and shifted, the loose straps giving uncomfortably as she turned with the blow and brought her sword in a back handed arc against the staggered man's chest. He lost his balance, his arms wide as he fell backward against one of the waiting benches in the hall. He had time to give her a terrified look before she brought her sword with all her strength against his exposed throat.
Rabbit yelped, and Mariah turned away from the dead man, her jaw clenched against nausea. The other man had dropped his bow, and now struggled to defend himself against the furious war hound with a short sword, though his left arm already hung limp. Mariah braced herself, then charged with her shield high. The distracted man, completely unprepared for her attack, fell heavily to the floor, and Rabbit followed him down, his massive jaws crunching through armor and muscle and bone until the man stopped struggling.
Mariah looked at the two dead men, gasping for breath. They wore Arl Howe's colors! She tried to wrap her mind around the attack. Why would they attack? Was this some sort of revenge for the confrontation in the hall over poor Eria? But, these were different men, she was sure.
A loud crash from down the hall brought her attention to the end where her parents' door still held closed. Two more soldiers were using a bench to try to ram the door open. Something must have finally caught their attention, for the both had paused in their attempts to destroy the door to look back in their direction. The bench fell heavily to the floor as the two scrambled to pull their weapons. One squared his shoulders and bellowed.
"Where is the teyrn?! Hand over the teyrn!"
They were after her father! Everything came together with horrible clarity. She snarled and growled as loud as Rabbit did, and they both leapt to the attack at the same time.
The enemy soldiers seemed taken aback for a few seconds, but then charged forward to meet them. Mariah caught the first attack with her shield, wincing as the aching pain in her injured arm finally broke through whatever numbing effect her surprise and anger had supplied. Her armor was still loose, and shifted as she pulled back her sword to attack; a minor but still dangerous distraction as it drained the strength and surety of her blows. Behind the man, Rabbit jumped and snapped, turning first one way to avoid the blows of the other soldier, and then twisting around again to snap at the man Mariah battled. The man was a fool. Though he glanced occasionally behind him to keep an eye on the mabari, he focused on Mariah. Perhaps he didn't know what a mabari's jaws could do? Mariah pulled her shield back, leaving herself briefly exposed, and the man took the bait. He stepped back, raising his sword for a powerful blow, but leaving his leg clear for Rabbit to strike. The hound's jaws clamped around the man's knee. He screamed as his leg collapsed out from under him. Rabbit released his leg and bore down on him, pull him from her sight, but Mariah was already lunging towards the other soldier, taking advantage of the man's surprise and driving the man away Rabbit and his companion with a quick succession of blows. They had little weight behind them, but he still shied away from the blade, his eyes flicking between it and the mabari savaging his partner. His distraction was lethal, as she finally put some weight behind one of her swings, and he was completely unprepared for it.
Rabbit came to her side, licking blood from his jaws. He suffered her to examine him for wounds, but he seemed to have little more than a few scratches. Then she remembered the dead soldiers' words, and knocked on the door with the hilt of her sword in desperation. "Mother?! Father?! Are you there? Are you alright?! Please answer me!"
She nearly sobbed with relief when a loud scraping sound echoed from the other side of the door; some large piece of furniture being moved away. Her mother yanked the door open, her face fierce and then falling to worry.
"Darling! I heard fighting outside and feared the worst! Are you hurt?"
Mariah leaned heavily against the wall, shaking her head. Mother was dressed in her old armor, the one from the war that she had displayed in a place of honor next to her father's in their room. She should have known. "I was about to ask you that!"
"They never got through the door, thanks to you," she said, reaching out and squeezing Mariah's arm affectionately. "A scream woke me up. There were men in the hall, so I barred the door. Did you see their shields? Those are Howe's men! Why would they attack us?!"
Mariah looked down at the dead man grimly, anger returning. "He's betrayed father! He attacks while our troops are gone!"
"You don't think Howe's men were delayed…on purpose?" Mariah looked up and met her mother's confused eyes, nodding fiercely. Her mother's confusion immediately melted into fury. "That bastard! I'll cut his lying throat myself!" She looked around, worried once more. "Have you seen your father? He never came to bed!"
Mariah's heart seized in her chest. "No, I haven't. I was in my room."
"We must find him!"
Mariah motioned down the hall. "We should check on Oriana and Oren, as well." Oriana was not Ferelden nobility, and had always disdained the martial training of both mother and Mariah with delicate politeness. With her brother gone, her sister-in-law and nephew would have no one to defend them once the enemy got this far into the castle.
She could tell her mother's thoughts had run along the same lines. "Andraste's mercy! What if the soldiers went into your brother's room first? Let's check on them! Quickly! Then we'll look for Bryce downstairs!"
She disappeared briefly into her room, and appeared a few moments later with a large, well oiled bow; another relic from her time fighting at father's side in the Rebellion against Orlais, no doubt. The hall was quiet as they dashed back down towards her brother's suite, but this filled Mariah's heart with fear instead of relief. The smell of blood and fear lingered in the room, as she passed through the open door. Oriana lay across the floor, stretching even in death to reach her son. Oren. Poor little Oren barely ten years old, lay curled in a ball just out of her reach. Mariah sheathed her sword as tears filled her eyes. She didn't need to get any closer to know they both were dead.
Her mother followed just a few steps after, and nearly rammed into Mariah's back. She gasped, her fist at her mouth, then took a few steps back and wailed. "No! My little Oren!" She paused, hand over her mouth and eyes closed, before turning to Mariah, her eyes bright with tears and her voice strained with outrage. "What manner of fiend slaughters innocents?!"
Mariah shook her head in dismay and denial. "I don't know. I don't understand. To go after father, and our siliders I understand but…. Why? Why would they do this?!"
Voice cracking, her mother look back at the two forms. "Howe is not even taking hostages! He means to kill all of us!" Gried filled her voice again. "Oh, poor Fergus…let's go. I don't want to see this!"
Mariah hesitated at the doorway as her mother left the room. This couldn't be happening. She had just last night been ruffling Oren's hair and whispering promises to teach him to use a sword while his father was away. With sudden clarity, she remembered the last words she had heard from her brother to his son before she had retired to bed and he had left with the bulk of father's troops.
You'll get to see a sword up close real soon, I promise.
A choked, manic laughter escaped her, before she could smother it, horrified. She put her hand over her face and staggered out of the room, only stopping once she reached the wall on the other side of the hall. After a moment, a firm weight settled against her side, and she looked down to see a worried Rabbit gazing up at her. She looked up at her mother, who looked back with pained sympathy. There was no accusation there for the laughter that had escaped Mariah's lips, only a horrifying understanding.
What had her parents been through during the war with Orlais? She only now thought she might have some clue.
"We must find your father," she repeated, slowly and clearly.
Mariah nodded weakly. She looked down at Rabbit, and patted his head, pulling herself away from his reassuring pressure to stand on her own feet. She tightened the straps of her armor, settling it into place firmly. Finally, she pulled her sword, and nodded at her mother more fiercely. She was ready.
Together, they entered the main halls of the castle. The sounds of clanging metal and screams now echoed against the stones. Her family guards lay dead in the hall; familiar faces whose names she was ashamed to not recall. Even as they dashed down towards the central hallway, her mother pulled her to a stop.
"Can you hear the fighting? Howe's men must be everywhere."
Mariah shook her head, trying to clear it. All of the defensive drills she had run with the guards had assumed a siege, not warriors already filling the halls through treachery. "What should we do?"
Her mother peered around the corner, and tilted her head in both directions before answering. "The front gates. That's where your father must be."
Mariah shook her head, looking down at the bodies of those who had given their lives to give her time to don her armor. "Is there nothing else we can do?"
Her mother looked back, her eyes unfocused as she bit her lip in thought. "I have my treasury key. We could go there first and take the Cousland sword from the vault." She focused her eyes on Mariah, gaining enthusiasm for the idea as she spoke. "If anything is worth fighting to keep out of Howe's hands, it's that sword, but it may be a dangerous path."
"Then let's go to the treasury. We can claim it, and then find father as soon as we can afterwards."
Her mother looked both ways once more, and walked back towards Mariah with determination in her eyes. "If Howe's men are inside, they must already control the castle. We must use the servants' entry in the larder to escape. Do you hear me?"
"We don't know that's true! He might have depended on a surprise attack from inside to take everyone unawares. Surely his entire army would not be willing to be a part of…" She paused unable to find the words for what was happening. She gestured around her futilely. "A part of all this! If we meet father at the front gates, we might be able to beat back the forces he has dedicated to this, and regain our castle!"
Her mother looked doubtful, a look that made Mariah's heart ache. It must have shown on her face, however, because her mother nodded. "Then let's find out for ourselves." She looked at Mariah firmly, though, as she finished. "If Howe's trap has snapped shut, however, escaping may not be easy."
With that grim pronouncement, she motioned down the hall towards the treasury. Mother was a determined woman, and not one for pessimism in the face of challenges. If she said things were grim, then Mariah best brace herself for a real fight.
They rallied what loyal guardsmen and knights they could find, but for every loyal man they stumbled across, the found five of Howe's men. Their soldiers fought bravely. They died desperately. But Howe's men died as well. This coup attempt would cost that viper dearly. The soldiers weren't the only deaths. Everywhere they looked, they found victims of the assault; many unarmed and helpless. Her tutor Aldous, a kindly, gentle old curmudgeon given much to afternoon naps, was slaughtered among his beloved books. Servants like her poor friend Eria had been cut down where they stood. One or two survived to flee, but Maker only knew if they made it to anywhere safe. It was carnage around every turn and in every room. Men she had chastised only yesterday afternoon for playing cards on duty while guarding the treasure lay dead with those same cards, bloodied, all over the floor. They had died fighting, at least.
"Good. They haven't reached here yet," determination shone in her arms despite her shaking hands. The lock feel free with a solid clanking noise, and the heavy door groaned with disuse as she opened it. "Quickly, fetch the sword. I will keep watch with Rabbit."
Mariah nodded, and dashed into the room, glancing around the accumulated treasures of her house desperately. There were many things she would love to take, but they didn't have time to fill a wagon. She found the trunk with the sword, and knelt before it quickly. The ancient sword lay suspended on a pile of banners, mute testimonies to those vanquished while it had been wielded. She pulled it from its aging sheath. Despite what the years had done to the sheath, the sword itself had been forged with runes that kept it as sharp and strong as the day it had left the smithy. Family legends said it dated back to the days before Ferelden had been united, and all times that a Cousland took the field wielding it, they had been victorious.
She held it up, wishing the legends would give her more comfort than they did. Belting the sheath to her other side, and she also took a moment to exchange the worn shield she had salvaged from her wall for a sturdy steel shield that proudly displayed her family crest. She looked around once more, but she didn't think there was anything else she could reasonably take with her.
Her mother noted the aged sheath as she emerged, nodded, and closed the treasury door behind her daughter, locking it securely once more. They retraced their steps, moving quickly through the blood filled halls. Mariah wondered, assuming she survived, if she would ever be able to walk them again with memories of this dreadful night in her mind. Would she be able to sleep in her own home without nightmares ever again?
They reached the front hall, only to find a dreadful melee before the front gates. She hesitated in the doorway, scanning the chaotic crowd. Ser Gilmore was there along with what had to be the bulk of her father's remaining knights. She couldn't find her father, however. Where was he?
A burst of wind and ice hissed through the air into the milling combatants, settling on one of her family's knights. He cried out with pain as the ice congealed out of the very air on his exposed skin, drawing the living heat from his body. He staggered back, and two of Howe's soldiers took advantage of his pain to strike him down. Mariah grimaced, and traced the line of frost still shimmering in the air to the stairs at the front entrance. There she was, surrounded by supporting archers. Howe had brought a mage. Had he convinced the Circle to aid him? No, she wore Howe's colors, not those of a Circle mage on the job.
"Rabbit, the archers," she commanded, pointing at the entryway. He snarled and leapt obey her command. "For the Couslands!" she cried, and charged through the hall behind the mabari. Rabbit trampled one man wearing Howe's soliders, leaping up, barreling him over, and then leaping away before the man even knew he was there. Mariah knocked aside the one other soldier who seemed to take notice of their passing, smacking him against the stone walls so hard her new steel shield rang with the impact. She didn't wait to see if he recovered, however, but kept her eyes on the mage as the robed woman raised her staff to cast another spell. The mage saw her coming, fire was building around her hands, but her voice faltered on the words of her spell as she looked at Mariah with ever widening eyes. Mariah jumped the steps and smacked the woman's arms with her shield, and the flames disappeared. She pulled back and followed the attack with her sword. The mage tried to dodge, but the preternaturally sharp blade sliced through her robes as if they weren't there and bit deeply into her side. She staggered back with a cry of anguish.
Mariah raised her sword to give a killing blow, but some sound or instinct caused her to look to her side and raise her shield in time to block the arrow from one of the mage's protectors. To her side, Rabbit was still busy with another two archers, who had abandoned their bows for their short swords. He evaded their blows so far, but they kept his attention fully. He would not be able to help. She glared at the bleeding mage, and turned on archer. His eyes widened, and he backed a few steps, dropping his bow and grasping for his short sword as she dashed the few steps across the entry way to engage him. She blocked his initial blow with her shield, and he dodged away from her counter strike. They traded some blows, but she had been running up and down these steps since she had been old enough to chase the chickens in the courtyard. She knew where to place her feet, and she knew exactly where the loose flagstone on the far edge was hiding. Howe's man, of course, did not. When Mariah had found it, it had given her a twisted ankle. Howe's man lost his life to it.
The cool morning air suddenly turned bitingly cold. Alarmed, Mariah turned. The mage was somehow back on her feet, her bleeding side ignored as she raised her staff, ice swirling about her hands as the spell built up strength. Frost glittered on Mariah's sword and shield already. She wouldn't get to the mage in time to interrupt the spell. Then the mage's words stopped. The staff clattered down the steps as she grasped the arrow at her throat, all the world looking more surprised than in pain as she collapsed.
Mariah looked across the hall in time to meet her mother's steely gaze. She nodded grimly as she nocked another arrow, edging along the wall at the edge of the melee and scanning the room for a new target. A cry from across the stairs let her know that Rabbit had defeated both archers, but her father's knights were scattered across the room, divided in their own desperate one on one struggles for life. With a gesture, she sent Rabbit to her mother's side.
"Knights of Highever! To me! To me!" she bellowed in her best commander's voice.
Ser Gilmore was the first to see her, and his eyes widened when we recognized what he was seeing. He looked from her to the man she was fighting several times before breaking away and running towards her, taking up her call.
"Knights of Highever! Rally here! For your lady!"
He gave her an unreadable look, and turned to re-engage the man who had followed him across the room. Mariah took to the step beside him, protecting his back. The realization that she fought on the steps flowed like a wave across the hall, and enemy and ally alike reacted to it. The scattered flow of battle poured towards the front steps, as her family's knights struggled to form up a line around her even as Howe's troops pushed to get past them. None seem to notice her lady mother, picking off stragglers from afar with Rabbit guarding at her side.
Once they won the stairs, however, the tide of battle changed again. Her men were fighting side by side, covering each other as well as themselves, and moving in well trained unison of purpose now that they had gathered. As one man fell, the circle closed a little more, and Mariah found herself pushed back as the knights forced themselves between her and her enemies. Then the last of Howe's men in the hall was down.
A tense moment of silence was ended when a pounding sound echoed through the halls, and the huge gate in the front of the hall shuddered. Ser Gilmore looked around, and gestured towards the massive doors. "Go! Man the gate!" he said to the few remaining Highever warriors. "Keep those bastards out as long as you can!"
They moved away from her, the injured and the hale alike. The strongest braced themselves against the door, while others looked for furniture to barricade it with. Ser Gilmore beckoned to Mariah, and led her to where her mother and Rabbit waited.
"Your ladyship! My lady! You're both alive!" Despite the situation, Ser Gilmore's voice was bright with relief. "I was certain Howe's men had gotten through!"
"They DID get though," she assured him.
"They killed Oriana, and Oren," her mother added. "I can't believe," she paused as Ser Gilmore's face turned pale. "Are you injured?"
Ser Gilmore shook himself, and winced. "Don't worry about me, your Ladyship." He looked between both of them once more. "Thank the Maker you two are unharmed. When I realized what was happening, it was all I could do to shut the gates." He looked to the front of the hall, were the bangs against the main doors had become more powerful and regular. Those bracing the door shuddered and had to regain their footing with every blow. Gilmore shook his head. "But they won't keep Howe's men out long!"
Mariah grabbed his arm. "We need to find father. Have you seen him? Do you know where he is? We hoped to find him here."
He put his hand over hers. "When I last saw the teyrn, he'd been badly wounded. I urged him not to go, but he was determined to find you. He went towards the kitchen," Gilmore motioned towards the exit on the other side of the hall from where she and her mother had entered. "I believe he thought to find you at the servants' exit in the larder."
Another boom reverberated through the hall, and he looked towards them with worry. "You should go meet him. Quickly."
Mariah saw her mother's lips thin, and she grabbed Ser Gilmore's shoulder and squeezed once, despite the armor. Mariah looked from Gilmore to the men at the front of the hall and back again, realization dawning. "No!"
He smiled briefly, and gently removed her hand from his arm. "You are a good swordsman. It was an honor to train you, and an honor to serve the Couslands, my lady." He stepped back, and bowed briefly to them both. Her mother put her hand on Mariah's chest, pushing her back a step to stop her protests.
"Bless you Ser Gilmore," she said to him. "Maker watch over you!"
He looked behind him, and then turned back bleakly. "Maker watch over us all." Then he turned and trotted away from them, calling encouragement and direction to the men barricading the doors.
"Quickly, darling, we must get to your father." She pulled her arm gently, though Rabbit had positioned himself against the back of her legs and forced her to get moving.
"But, if that is the bulk of Howe's forces, when they break through…" Mariah's voice faded as she looked into her mother's eyes.
"Take another look at them, Mariah darling. If the castle is surrounded, as I fear, then they cannot survive until morning. But now they have hope that they can succeed; that their death will have meaning."
"But…"
"Listen to me," she said, taking a firmer grip of her arm and dragging her away from the hall. "If we stay, we will die with them. If they come with us, then we merely make a stand to the death somewhere else. They give their lives to buy us time to escape. We must make the best of every second of their sacrifice, so we will live to gain justice for this treachery."
Mariah shook her head, but she could find no logic to back the denial her heart raised. So many men dead. So many innocent people dead. For her? For so long, she had focused on the burden of what it meant to be a Cousland, but always it had been her personal requirements to honor and duty. She had known she had responsibilities for the lives of the people she would govern. For the first time, she realized their deaths were hers as well.
She still struggled with this when they finally entered the larder. Her father was there, but he lay on the stone floor, his arms clasped around his side. Her mother recovered before she could.
"Bryce! Maker's blood, what's happening?" She dashed across the room as she called him and knelt at his side. Then she pulled back, her hand covered in red. "You're bleeding!"
Her father nodded weakly. "Howe's men," he gasped, "found me first. Almost…did me in right there."
That finally shocked Mariah into moving, and she hurried over to kneel beside her mother. To her horror, she saw a spreading pool of blood trickling over the stones under her father.
"Why is Howe doing this?!" He had been her father's FRIEND.
Her father shook his head. "He can't get away with this," he panted. "The king will…." He stopped, groaning as he curled over the wound in his side, his head against the flagstones.
Her mother pulled on his arm. "Bryce! We must get you out of here!"
He shook his head, even as he kept his forehead against the stone. "I," he pushed himself up a bit, his arm clutched around his stomach. "I won't survive the standing, I think."
It seemed fleeing was no longer an option. Mariah stood, and took several steps towards the door. Rabbit still stood the doorway, watching the way they had come tensely. How many of Howe's men could possibly be brought to bear here? The walls were sturdy enough. Did they still have time to pull the knights from the front hall to defend them here?"Then we will stay and defend you," she responded, thinking quickly.
"No Mariah, we cannot," her mother responded firmly. She looked back at her father, pulling on him gently once more. "Once Howe's men break through the gate, they will find us! We must go!"
"Someone must reach Fergus," her father continued weakly. "Tell him what has happened."
Mariah looked back at her father in alarm, returning to his side. "You can tell him yourself, father."
Her father looked up at her with a sad smile and shook his head. "I wish I could." He coughed briefly, which seemed to cause him even more pain. His blood now traced its way along the mortar between the flagstones. Mariah shook her head, denying his words. She looked around desperately. They were in the larder. By Andraste's sword, there had to be some herbs she could use, or at least some cloth they could use to staunch the flow of blood!
"Bryce, no!" her mother sobbed, pulling her father from the floor into her arms. "The servants' passage is right here. We can flee together; find you healing magic!"
He rested his head in her against her arm, and closed his eyes. "The castle is surrounded," he said, pained. "I cannot make it."
"I'm afraid the teyrn is correct."
Mariah grabbed for her sword and was half-turned before she recognized the voice. Duncan stepped from the shadows around the servant's passage. "Howe's men have not yet discovered this exit, but they surround the castle. Getting past will be difficult."
Her mother looked up from her father, also alarmed, but must have seen the recognition on Mariah's face. "You are Duncan, then? The Grey Warden?"
Duncan looked at them, his face sad. "Yes, your Ladyship. The teyrn and I tried to reach you earlier." He settled down beside them on one knee.
Her mother nodded at Mariah. "My daughter helped me get here, Maker be praised."
Duncan turned towards her, his expression strangely wry. "I am not surprised."
Mariah furrowed her brows at him in confusion for a moment. Duncan must have still been discussing strategy with her father when Howe's men had attacked, then traveled with him as they tried to fight their way through the main hall to get to the bedrooms. He had to have been scouting ahead while her father rested. Her father was still fair with a blade, but she knew age was beginning to slow him down. He wouldn't have survived this long without Duncan fighting at his side.
"Thank you for saving my father," she told him gravely.
He winced. "I fear your thanks are premature. I doubt I have saved him."
A splintering crash echoed through the castle. If the door hadn't already collapsed, it wouldn't be much longer.
Her mother looked at them all. "Whatever is to be done now, it must be quick! They are coming!"
"Duncan," he father said as he pulled himself out of his wife's arms, "I beg you. Take my wife and daughter to safety!"
Mariah frowned at him, shaking her head, but Duncan replied before she could find words.
"I will, your Lordship. But," he paused, looking at them all briefly before giving her father a meaningful look. "I fear I must ask for something in return."
The light of hope returned to father's eyes at this promise, and that more than anything kept Mariah's protests silent. "Anything!" he replied.
Duncan kept his gaze level on her father as he spoke. "What is happening here pales in comparison to the evil now loose in this world. I came to your castle seeking a recruit. The darkspawn threat demands I leave with one."
Her father tensed, as if to object, "I…" He trailed off, looking at Mariah and her mother. He bowed his head. "I understand."
Mariah didn't. "Ser Gilmore guards the front gate," she said, exasperated. "Are we to go back and fetch him, now?"
Duncan then turned his serious eyes on her. "Truthfully, you were always my first choice."
That stunned Mariah into silence, so he turned back to address her father. "I will take the teyrna and your daughter to Ostagar, to tell Fergus and the king what happened. Then, your daughter joins the Grey Wardens."
Mariah could feel her jaw hanging open as she looked, aghast, from her father to Duncan and back again.
Though he addressed Duncan, her father looked at her. "As long as justice comes to Howe." He closed his eyes. "I agree."
Duncan looked at her again. "I offer you a place within the Grey Wardens. Fight with us."
She shook her head. Leave the Cousland family? Now? "But what if Fergus is dead?"
Duncan's eyes became steely. "We will inform the king, and he will punish Howe. I am sorry, but a Grey Warden's duties take precedence even over vengeance."
How could he ask such a price? How could he ask any price at all? Common decency alone should drive him. Did he propose to leave them to their fates if she said no? She gritted her teeth and was about to respond when she felt a hand on hers. Her father squeezed it gently, and fixed her with a serious gaze.
"Howe thinks he'll use the chaos to," he paused, his eyes pained as he searched for the words, "to advance himself." He held her hand with surprising strength. "Make him wrong, pup. See that justice is done! Our family," he closed his eyes briefly, but when he opened them again, they had the same sort of steel she had just seen in Duncan's eyes. "Our family always does our duty first. The darkspawn must be defeated. You must go. For your own sake, and for Ferelden's."
Her father's face wavered as tears filled her eyes, and her throat closed around the angry words she had been about say. She bowed her head. Many people had died for her this night. More were about to die. Didn't she owe them this? Was it so high a price to pay to ensure justice done? Was it so high a price for the life of her mother as well? This was her father's final request; and the final burden the Cousland name had placed on her shoulders.
The anger and defiance drained out of her at last, and she bowed her shoulders and put her other hand over his. "I will, father. For you."
Duncan stood briskly, "We must leave quickly then."
Mariah held her father's hand for a moment longer, searching for something else to say. Who was she fooling? Her grief had choked all words from her. She stood, and his hand slipped from her grasp. She turned towards the servant's passage.
Her mother rocked cradled his head in her hands, and forced him to look at her. "Bryce, are you sure?"
He nodded between her hands, looking very tired. "Our daughter will not die of Howe's treachery. She will live, and make her mark upon the world."
Her mother stroked his cheek, then laid him carefully back on the floor. She turned to Mariah as she drew her bow. "Darling, go with Duncan. You have a better chance to escape without me."
Mariah stared at her mother, her mind refusing to make sense of the words she had just heard.
Her father groaned again, and tried to sit up. "Eleanor…"
She knelt beside him once more. "Hush, Bryce," she said, running one of her hands through his hair. "I'll kill every bastard that comes through that door to buy them time. But I won't abandon you."
Mariah shook her head, more and more violently as she realized what her mother planned. No! The deal was for her mother's life as well. She could not lose them all. She would NOT!
"I won't let you sacrifice yourself!" She declared, striding towards them once more.
The eyes her mother turned on her were resigned. No, they were determined. There was no despair there; only love. "My place is with your father. At his side, to death and beyond."
Mariah staggered to a stop. In the distance, a great crash signaled the destruction of the front gates. The both looked at her, and in unison said, "Go now." They looked at each other in quiet amusement.
Duncan grabbed her arm, pulling her away, and she found herself unable to resist, staggering after him as he pulled her towards the exit.
"Rabbit," she called. For a heart-stopping moment, Rabbit hesitated at the doorway, looking at her parents. Then he quietly padded across the larder and joined them in the passage. Mariah watched her parents as they hugged once last time, and the heavy tapestry that partially hid the old servant's passage fell into place. Then she turned away from the last light that leaked into the hall, and let her eyes adjust to the darkness ahead.
