Chapter 4

Surprises

Núria

'It won't get better from staring at this dratted thing,' Leliana said softly.

'It won't get better from anything, Leliana,' Núria replied. She put herself under regular torture by reading Zevran's note of farewell. She had taken off his earring and had seriously wanted to fling it into Lake Calenhad, but Leliana had insisted that she would regret that and persuaded her just to store it somewhere safe, if she was really unwilling to wear it. Núria simply couldn't accept that the bard was so sure he would come back. Zevran had never been a man to commit himself to one woman, had he? She took a deep breath. 'I should get over him,' she said firmly and stuffed the paper into her bag. 'Perhaps there are a few handsome Orlesian wardens in the Keep, what do you think?'

'I think you'd regret that even more than you would have regretted throwing your earring away, Núria,' Leliana said patiently. 'You'll hurt him if you betray him.'

'I cannot betray someone who has abandoned me!' Núria said heatedly, but Leliana merely sighed.

'Núria … you're my friend right?' she asked, and the elf looked up to her, startled by that question. 'I'm asking because I know I'm getting in your hair, but I think I have to make my point clear. You're angry, and you have every right to be. But do not do something harsh. What will you do if he's in the palace when we return?'

'Before or after I run him through?' Núria huffed. 'We both know what I'll do, don't we?'

'Currently, I'm not sure,' Leliana said gently. 'Sometimes you almost scare me.' Núria blinked at her.

'Why on earth?' she asked, startled. Leliana shrugged.

'There's something fierce to you … Some anger that seems to get the better of you at times. Mostly you control it, but then something happens and you're all … I don't know how to describe it, but I think you're not always in control of yourself as much as you'd like.'

'Meaning I am insane?' Núria asked her in a dangerous tone.

'Meaning you're … in that kind of pain that just won't wear off,' Leliana replied calmly. 'You know … I had a crush on you a long time ago. Did you know that?' Núria stared at her.

'I … no, I didn't,' she said, taken aback. 'I'm sorry,' she added then, and Leliana laughed softly.

'No need, I realised very soon that this isn't your thing,' she said. 'I thought for a while you're not interested in any kind of closeness. And then came Zevran, and you … were drawn to him from the word go. It was almost palpable. Although I never thought he'd turn out as he did, I thought he'd do you good, and he did. He didn't always agree with you, but he didn't fight over things like Alistair either. He was exactly what you needed to keep leading us. He might not be there now though, and you have to find the same strength you had before for Vigil's Keep. You'll be Warden Commander, Núria, do you understand how much is resting on your shoulders? You cannot let yourself slip now. You simply cannot.'

'It's like I can do nothing right,' Núria said softly. 'Zevran, Jowan, everything's slipping, only I may not.'

'Neither of this is your fault. Jowan would be dead if it wasn't for you. And who knows what this Aisling will find out? She wouldn't be able to revive a dead man, though.'

'Leliana?' Núria asked almost tentatively.

'Hmm?'

'Write to me when you're in Orzammar,' she said softly. 'Keep me posted on what's going on there, on how you're doing. I'll need that.' Leliana chuckled.

'I will,' she promised. 'I'm sure they have carrier pigeons in Vigil's Keep. I know they do above Orzammar. And if anything happens you'll tell me, too?' Núria nodded.

'Of course I will,' she said sincerely. 'And to answer your other question, of course I'm your friend.' Leliana smiled at that.

They had barely arrived in Denerim when Núria was told by Mhairi that they should depart as soon as possible. Núria agreed on the next morning, seeking out Alistair to say goodbye properly. Alistair didn't mention her absence at all, apparently he had been informed by Wynne what had happened. Sadly, she had left on mage-business, as Alistair had called it, but intended to return to his council when she was done. Núria wondered briefly what the former templar would have to say to her endeavour, and was secretly glad he didn't know of it - although she wondered that perhaps she should give him more credit. She returned to her room to pack, knowing that the journey to Vigil's Keep would not be too long, and that then she could, for once, rest. The Orlesian wardens would certainly know more about recruiting and pretty much anything than she, and she hoped sincerely that she would have at least a few days to herself to mourn her loss.

Saying goodbye to Leliana she kept for the moment of her departure. It took her a lot of courage not to beg the bard to come with her. Leliana somehow radiated calm and comfort, and she could do with that. But when she was pulled into a tight embrace by the Orlesian, she knew that her duty lay elsewhere. They both had their own paths, and this time, they didn't coincide. 'You'll do fine, Núria, you always do,' Leliana told her firmly. 'This is not the last we speak, I'm sure of it. Fare well, my friend.' And somehow, miraculously, for the first time now, she felt really up to her task. How the other woman did this, she would never know.

Within sight of Vigil's Keep, Núria added to the previously slow travelling pace. Admittedly, she was almost nervous about the welcome the other wardens would give her. She guessed they would ask her just how she had survived slaying the archdemon, and she wasn't sure what to tell them. She didn't know enough about the matter to invent something, to claim she didn't know wouldn't sound credible, and the truth would likely cause them to question her sanity.

When they saw the first genlock near the keep, these thoughts vanished quickly. Núria and Mhairi exchanged a worried glance and proceeded more carefully. The lack of a welcoming party apart from the darkspawn was more than alarming. They seemed to be everywhere, attacking anyone moving in the small village outside the keep, merchants and soldiers alike. Núria and Mhairi did their best to find and slay them all, all the while wondering what on earth was going on here. Núria grabbed one of the survivors by the scruff of the neck as he attempted to run away. 'Where are the other wardens?' she asked harshly.

'There was someone right behind me, a mage,' the scared man said. 'He might have been a warden, I don't know.'

'Right,' Núria said. 'I'll find him. You run for help. Now.' There was no need to tell him twice. She looked at Mhairi. 'Let's keep moving,' she told her, pointing to the entrance ahead.

The huge door crashed open before they got there. The darkspawn had somehow got inside, into Vigil's Keep. No matter how much Núria wanted just to return to Denerim and tell the bad news, she couldn't. A quiet voice in her head said that entering this place with only one person beside her was extremely reckless, but there was something much louder, more angry, overlaying it, urging her on, never allowing her to take a breath. Mhairi didn't seem to have something similar in her mind.

'Unbelievable,' she panted a few rooms into the fortress. The soldier stopped to take a breath. 'The keep has been overwhelmed!'

'The wardens should be mounting a better defence,' Núria replied, wondering how many of them would be left. Mhairi nodded fervently.

'I agree,' she said. 'Where are they all? For the darkspawn to have ambushed the keep so effectively - I didn't know they were capable of such a thing.' She had a point there … Darkspawn didn't ambush … They came running, shouting and baring their teeth, they didn't think first. This was wrong.

'I'm going to need your help here,' Núria said through gritted teeth. The other woman stood attention.

'I hear you Commander,' she said eagerly. 'You can count on me.'

They didn't get very far without meeting with an obstacle. A portcullis blocked the way. A lever was somewhere up to the left, and a flight of stairs seemed to be leading there. The door on the upper landing was locked, however, and even though Núria managed to pick it, it wouldn't budge. There was another door on the right side, and since the only other way was back, this had to do.

They had barely stepped through the door when Núria stopped abruptly. A man - a mage! - was standing there, flames flowing out of his hands at a hurlock. At his feet lay more of these, but he didn't seem to bear as much as a scratch. When the creature fell dead on top of the others, he started shaking the heat out of his hands and turned around. He froze when he saw them. 'Er … I didn't do it.' Núria gaped at him. 'Oh don't get me wrong. I'm not broken up about them dying, to be perfectly honest. Biff there made the funniest gurgle when he went down.' Núria followed where he pointed with her eyes and found a templar half hidden under the dead darkspawn. She blinked.

'Not too fond of them, huh?' she asked.

'Oh, I know, I know,' the mage sighed. 'Most people enjoy being kicked in the head to be woken up each morning. Me, I'm just so picky. You may call me Anders, my dear lady. I am a mage, and, sadly, a wanted apostate.'

'You're … oh.' Núria glanced at the templar. 'Well, how very convenient that they're dead … Not by your hand?'

'No, the darkspawn did that,' Anders insisted, and she nodded slowly, thinking of Jowan and deciding that she didn't really care who had killed them. 'Tell you what. I'll help you, and we discuss what comes later … later, once all these bastards are properly put down, yes?' Núria forced a smile onto her face.

'Yes,' she said. 'Do you know how to get past that portcullis?'

'Indeed!' Anders said. 'Just follow me.'

Anders led them around the building on an outside walkway. They entered on the other side and found a barricaded door and the path to the lever clear. They fought their way deeper and deeper into the keep, finding a scared woman hiding in a tiny storage room, and then - a dwarf, fighting five darkspawn all by himself, swinging a huge axe in a full circle and felling two of them at once. 'Oghren!' Núria called out loudly and ran to aid him. Oghren leered at her as he swung his blade around to behead another darkspawn.

'When these showed up,' he began, 'I thought, " just you wait until the new commander gets here and you'll all be spitting teeth out of your arses." Followed the screaming, and sure enough, here you are. Good on ya!'

'What … are you doing here in the first place?' Núria asked in disbelief. Oghren pulled himself up to his full height - not that this was very much.

'Came here thinking I'd try my hand at becoming a bona fide Grey Warden,' he replied proudly.

'He was here when I left,' Mhairi said contemptuously. 'I can't believe the wardens didn't kick him out.' Núria couldn't blame her for thinking so, but she had seen the dwarf in action in the deep roads. Maybe this was an excellent idea.

'Yes … well, let's kick those things out then,' she said firmly, and Oghren clapped her shoulder with almost enough force to knock her off-balance.

Only a short way further along they found a dying man, babbling of talking darkspawn. Oghren dismissed him as delirious, and truly, what else should it be? The archdemon had talked in a way, but not in a language a person could understand - with older Grey Wardens as the only exception. Still, it was with apprehension that they headed to the battlements of Vigil's Keep.

What they saw nearly curdled Núria's blood. The darkspawn was indeed talking, and he had a captive. If it hadn't been so real, she would have dismissed this as a bad dream, born from the shock that Zevran had left her. But this was no dream. 'Be taking this one, gently,' the darkspawn said to one of its companions. 'We are wishing no more death than is necessary.' Even if darkspawn did talk, this didn't sound like one of the most likely things to be said by them.

'Others will come, creature,' the captive man said. 'They will stop you.'

'It is talking,' Anders breathed, sounding quite delighted.

'Well, let's shut it up already,' Oghren growled, drawing his two-hander and running towards the thing with a shout. Mhairi followed close behind. Núria grabbed Anders by his sleeve.

'You and I take the other two to give them some space,' she said, and the mage nodded.

'Great plan,' he said. 'I have a better one. You do that, I keep you all safe. Oh well, don't listen to me then. Why would you.' With a slight sigh he took aim at Oghren and flung a powerful healing spell on him.

Somehow, even the captive survived the battle, although he'd had a blade at his throat. 'Commander,' he said, getting to his feet from the kneeling position he had been held in. 'I owe you my life. 'I am Varel, the seneschal of Vigil's Keep.' He glanced down the battlements. 'Hmm, soldiers on the road. It seems we have more company. Hopefully they're more hospitable than our previous guests.'

'If they're not, I'd rather face them outside than up here,' Núria said firmly. 'Let's hurry.'

Without looking if the others were following, she ran back to where they had come from. It didn't take long to figure out the approaching soldiers weren't darkspawn. Much rather it was Alistair with a few men and a templar. Núria knelt when she recognised him, and Varel did the same after a moment. 'It looks like I've arrived a bit late,' Alistair said. 'Too bad. I rather miss the whole darkspawn-killing thing.' Núria felt a lot like rising and hugging him, but she refrained. The only one who wouldn't have asked her if she was insane were Alistair himself and Oghren.

'King Alistair!' Mhairi said in surprise, finally kneeling herself. Núria almost grinned. It wasn't as though Mhairi hadn't seen him in Denerim.

'I wanted to come and give the wardens a formal welcome,' Alistair announced with a frown. 'I certainly wasn't expecting this. What's the situation?' It was Varel who replied.

'What darkspawn remained have fled, your Majesty,' he said. 'The Grey Wardens who had arrived from Orlais appear to be either dead or … missing.'

'Missing?' Alistair echoed, looking at Núria. 'As in taken by the darkspawn? Do they even do that?'

'I do not know, your Majesty,' Varel said. 'I know only that we cannot account for all the wardens.' Alistair nodded.

'I see,' he said. 'At least the Hero of Ferelden is still here, and alive. That's something, right?'

'Looks like you'll need to rejoin the wardens after all,' Núria told him without any hope that he would. Alistair offered a weak grin.

'Toss the throne aside, spend my time adventuring at your side just like old times? Very tempting.' he sighed. 'You have quite the task ahead of you,' he continued, serious again. 'Really, I'd like to help you fight darkspawn, but you're on your own for the moment.'

'Hey!' Oghren shouted. 'What am I? Chopped nug livers?'

'From the smell, that's not a bad guess,' Anders said softly.

'I came here to join the Grey Wardens,' Oghren insisted, 'and from the looks of it you could use the extra hands. Where's the giant cup? I'll gargle and spit.'

'As long as you swallow at least a bit,' Núria said. 'You'll be welcome among us.'

'Ha!' Oghren made with a grin. 'Well smack my ass and call me Sally. I'm in!' Mhairi closed her eyes in a suffering expression.

'I … suppose all are welcome, in this dire time,' she said loftily. Anders clapped the dwarf on the shoulder.

'Joining the wardens, hey?' he said. 'Well, good luck with that.' The templar beside Alistair blinked at Anders for a moment before she took a step forward.

'King Alistair!' she said loudly. 'Your Majesty beware! This man is a dangerous criminal.' Something cold clenched around Núria, something like fear mixed with anger. Alistair hadn't even so much as glanced at Anders.

'Oh, the dwarf is a bit of an arse, but I wouldn't go that -'

'She means me,' Anders replied in a tired tone.

'This is an apostate we were in the process of bringing back to the Circle to face justice!' the templar blustered.

'Oh please,' Anders sighed. 'The things you know about justice would fit into a thimble. I'll just escape again, anyhow.'

'Never!' the templar shouted. 'I'll see you hanged for what you've done here, murderer!'

'No!' Somehow Núria had got to her feet. It was all she could do not to attack the woman. 'Not again!' Alistair blinked at her for a moment.

'Again?' he asked. Núria took a deep breath.

'You will not … I do not allow … I conscript him!' She looked up at Alistair with a challenging glare.

'What?' the templar gasped. 'Never!' Alistair turned slowly on the spot to look at the woman.

'I believe the wardens still retain the Right of Conscription, no? I will allow it.' He smiled at Núria.

'Gonna be a Grey Warden, eh?' Oghren asked softly and with a leer. 'Good luck with that, mage.' Anders shook himself out of a reverie it seemed. A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.

'Me, a Grey Warden?' he muttered. 'I guess that will work.'

'Then if you have everything under control, I will have to take my leave,' Alistair said with a slight wink at Núria. He knew as well as she did that he had no right to stop her conscripting Anders any more than the templar, and they also both knew that there had been a time when he would have asked her if she had gone mad. It was a mark of the trust that had formed between them somewhere between Redcliffe and Denerim that the former templar even smiled at the apostate before he left again.