A/N: Hey! Here's the next chapter ~ :) Sorry for the delay, honestly! I'll try to be a lot quicker with updates from now on!
Lina's hiss of pain was heard by the six of them as The Withered's hand struck out to slash across her face. One moment, they were whittling away at his health; the next, after the distraction from Lina's hiss, they were all knocked to the ground by a strong war cry reverberating through the air and making them all lose their footing. The darkspawn had known which one to hit to cause the distraction, and the simple thought worried her.
The Withered swung his sword around, bringing it down towards the fallen body of Tamlen and then stumbling backwards when it clanged with the bricks of the roof at Tamlen's very quick roll out of the way. The rest of them quickly moved, Anders stumbling as Oghren stepped on the hem of his robe. Anders let loose a loud curse, pulling at his robe as Oghren swung his huge battle axe towards the Withered and almost lopped off his arm.
Tamlen looked over to Lina, seeing her stand up slowly with one hand clutched to her face and something that looked like her own skin fall off from her face. He narrowed his eyebrows in alarm, moving closer to her and blocking a hit from a Hurlock as Lina struggled to pick her Dar'Missan from the floor. Tamlen disarmed the Hurlock, running it through with his blade before glancing back at Lina. The hand clutched to her face was moved as he looked at it, Tamlen wincing at the second angry and bleeding gash that crossed over the first scab on her face, creating a curved 'X' shape on her face. The patch on her eye was gone; he realised that that was what had fallen to the floor as she had stood up.
"You okay?" He asked her quickly, handing her his sword and then ducking out the way as the Withered swung his sword around again. He picked up Lina's own blade as he bent down away from the sword and was slightly surprised at the lightness of the weapon before he charged back into the fray, joining Oghren in the weapon swinging towards the Withered. Mhairi was knocked unconscious after the war cry, her head connecting with the floor and leaving her laying there in the rain. Lina gave a shout to Anders once she noticed, the mage picking right up on it and sending healing spells Mhairi's way to prevent the rain from drawing more blood out than necessary.
Tamlen quickly exchanged swords with Lina, thankful to have his own back in his hand again as he and Oghren continued to strike at the Withered. Oghren's axe soon found itself caught up in the side of the armour of the Withered, the blade sunk in too deep to pull out easily, and Oghren was left axe-less. It left only Duster and Tamlen able to fight in close combat, with Lina having switched to a bow to stop herself from cutting up her face any more than necessary. Duster gave a loud bark, going straight for the hackles of the Withered as Tamlen pushed his longsword into the wound just under Oghren's battleaxe, twisting it and then pulling it round to cut through skin and bone. Blood gushed from the wound, black and sticky and tainted and falling over Duster's face and Tamlen's boots.
Duster kept his hold on the Withered's leg, tearing the armoured boot off from the darkspawn creature and then clamping his sharp teeth onto the leg. Skin was torn off, Duster letting go before the blood moved into his mouth and then going for the other leg. Tamlen pulled his sword out, watching as the battleaxe also fell from the Withered with it, before stabbing his face. The Withered let out a moan of pain as Tamlen's sword was cutting his face open, all sound ceasing completely when Tamlen brought his sword into the Withered's stomach and then slit the creature's throat.
Once the Withered hit the floor, dead, not even the sounds of their panting and straggled breaths could be heard over the thunder and pouring rain.
"Stand still!"
"I can't! You tell me to keep walking, and then you tell me to stop. I can't greet those soldiers coming up the road if you keep stopping me!" Lina hissed through her teeth, eyes fixed on Anders as they descended the stairs down to the first floor of Vigil's keep. The mage had been trying to fix both the wounds on her face and her eye. He'd only managed to close up the most recent wound, and was now attempting to pull the stitches out from the gash on Lina's cheek. She kept slapping his hand away every time he stopped casting a healing spell to touch it.
"Well, you need to stand still now. Otherwise you'll be greeting those soldiers and their general with a big long metal string sticking out of your cheek." At his words, Lina automatically flew her hand up to her cheek; giving a groan when she felt the flexible metal stitches that were now no longer keeping the wound closed but was hanging out from the middle of her cheek.
"Fix it… now." Lina warned, eyebrows narrowed as they walked through the door at the bottom of the staircase. Anders gave a little tut.
"Now, now commander, I don't have to be doing this for you, you know." Lina turned to look at him, faintly hearing Tamlen behind her give a small sigh at Anders' words.
"You didn't have to pull the stitches from my face in the first place, either. I've got an animal here who won't hesitate to tear you to shreds and a man who will do so if I ask nicely. Either fix it, or become closer friends with Duster's jowls." Duster looked up at his mistress at the mention of his name, and gave a strange sound from his throat that sounded eerily like a throaty laugh.
"Ooh, someone's touchy. Are we a little paranoid about this nasty cut?" Anders gave a laugh as Lina kept her glare fixed on him, hand hesitantly resting on the doors as Anders worked his magic. Lina felt the skin on her face burn, flinching when Anders placed his hand on her cheek before turning her head. He looked to Tamlen.
"What do you think?"
"I don't see anything…" Tamlen gave a frown, not knowing what Anders was talking about. Anders rubbed at his temples.
"Exactly. It's her injured cheek. How stupid are you?" Tamlen furrowed his brows, looking at the pale white scar but not realising anything until it finally clicked.
"The wound has closed!"
"Finally!" Anders gave him a mock childish grin, clapping his hands together before rolling his eyes. Tamlen moved closer to Lina, seeing the disbelief in her own eyes as she searched his face for the truth. Tamlen held her head in his hand, finger tracing over her cheek. It was smooth, the only reminder that there was a horrible cut there being the jagged, thin white scar that ran from the corner of her eye to the corner of her cheek in a curve along her cheekbone.
At seeing Tamlen's look of surprise and not feeling pain at the touch on her cheek, Lina's hand flew to her face. Varel turned to look at them in confusion, unsure as to why she wasn't opening the door until he saw her face. Only her eye was still injured, the colour a milky white over the pupil and iris.
"Wow… Thank you!" Lina gave a grin, stopping short at Varel's unimpressed look and pushing the door open with all her strength. They ducked under the ancient portcullis. Slowly, they made their way across the courtyard, Tamlen holding Varel up for support after the man slipped in the wet mud. Reaching the gates, a few gasps of surprise were emitted at seeing the royal colours of the royal flag coming up the road, a man in golden armour at the front and surrounded by dozens of soldiers.
"Couldn't have arrived a little earlier, could they?" Tamlen grumbled under his breath, pulling at Varel's arm to get a better grip on the older human.
"Yes, but if they did, that would have spoiled the fun." Anders retorted, stopping behind Lina and looking quite startled to see her giving a small bow. His eyes widened, however, when his eyes fell on the approaching King. Mhairi fell to her knees next to Lina.
"King Alistair!" At her words, Lina stood up, cringing mentally from having to bow the way she did but smiling up at Alistair. He looked around.
"It seems I've arrived a little bit late. Shame, I rather miss the whole darkspawn killing thing." Alistair looked around at the keep, eyebrows narrowed at the fires still flaring in the background.
"Funny; I don't. We weren't expecting this here. All the Orlesian Warden's are either dead or… missing." Lina grimaced as she spoke, watching Alistair's face for a reaction. He cringed.
"As in, taken by the darkspawn? Do they even do that?" Lina gave a nod at his question, and the disdain at the revelation showed on Alistair's face. He shook his head, looking to Varel. Varel seemed to know it was his cue to talk.
"Your Majesty; we have suffered many losses here today, mainly those of the Orlesian Warden's. I have confidence that with The Commander and our new Arlessa, we can restore Vigil's keep from the fires and keep the darkspawn back rather quickly. I will aid the new Arlessa in the ruling of Amaranthine, if she wishes it." Varel shifted, still leaning on Tamlen for support. Lina looked at Alistair, giving a frown and looking behind him for a sign of a human noblewoman.
"Who's the new Arlessa?" She raised her eyebrow, eyes on Alistair and a pit of dread in her stomach. Alistair gave a sheepish grin.
"Well… you see, when there is a Commander of the Grey, the land they operate in generally tends to become their land. The Arlessa of Amaranthine is you." Alistair took an almost invisible step back at the look on Lina's face. She chewed her lip, eyes latched onto Alistair's as the information sunk in.
"I take it that that didn't go down very well with the nobles?" Lina crossed her arms over her chest, head cocked to the side. Alistair shook his head.
"I… er… No, not at first. When they realised that you were the Hero of Ferelden and not just a common Elven Grey Warden, they warmed up to it." Alistair's Mabari stood up at sensing her master's distress, standing next to him with her gaze on Lina. Tamlen shook his head at Alistair's words.
"Oh, wrong choice of words there, my friend. Bad idea." Tamlen whispered under his breath.
"You are very lucky you're the King, Alistair. Very lucky. Why am I the Arlessa? Can't I refuse?"
"Not whilst you are the Commander, no. You can abdicate either position after the darkspawn threat is gone. Otherwise, it's the High Commander's orders that you stay here until the threat is gone." Alistair put a hand on his Mabari's head, calming her down. The young Mabari then laid down on the floor next to him, head resting against the kneecap of his armour.
"Very well… Tamlen has to help me too, yes?" Lina asked, turning to look at Tamlen. The other elf shook his head.
"Oh no, I'm staying out of this. I'm a very racist elf; politics will only make things worse." At his words, Varel gave a cough to get his attention.
"It's not that simple. You're her second-in-command and her husband. By marriage you are the Arl." Tamlen groaned loudly when Varel finished talking.
"What a joy. Beg pardon while I leap for joy." Tamlen gave another groan before moving away slowly towards the keep, and as he did the other followed, leaving only Alistair and Lina to talk with only Anders stood next to her.
"King Alistair! Your Majesty beware, this man is a dangerous criminal!" A templar moved to the front of the keep, hand pointing towards Anders in accusation.
"Criminal? Oh great, here we go again." Anders groaned loudly, stepping backwards.
"I will see you hang-"
"You're an apostate, yes Anders? Alistair, I conscript this mage into the Grey Warden's." Alistair frowned, surprised by Lina's words and then nodding.
"I believe the Grey Warden's retain the right of Conscription, yes? I will allow it. I hope you know what you are doing." Alistair gave a nod, ignoring the Templar's retort to his words and ignoring Anders, looking at an equally unimpressed Lina.
"This is going to be a long dozen of months, isn't it?" She asked with a sigh, watching the Templar walk off.
"Don't you dare complain. I've got the heavily pregnant, smart animal whinging and whining at me all day long." Alistair moaned, hands held to his temples. Lina looked to the Mabari.
"She looks fine to me. I wouldn't have guessed she was heavily pregnant."
"I was referring to Anora, actually. Although come to think of it, don't think I don't know about your damned Mabari reproducing with mine. He just wanders in like a drunkard with a waitress, and then just walks back out again, and I'm the one left with the pregnant animal. Two, if you count the Queen." Alistair shook his head, and for the first time in a while Lina saw the visible signs of stress on his face. The circles and bags under his eyes were shocking and unnatural on his face. Lina gave a sympathetic smile.
"Good luck with parenthood. I'm sure it's a journey you'll both enjoy. When your Mabari gives birth, could you send me a female pup?" At Alistair nod, Lina smiled before bowing again, staying where she was as Alistair and the troops departed. Two or three of them left them and wandered towards the battlements of the keep, and Lina assumed they were staying to protect it whilst they were low on troops.
Once the troops were out of view, Lina moved over to a sergeant stood outside the now-raised portcullis of the keep, Oghren stood next to her and looking to be trying to flirt with her. She looked rather disgusted as Lina moved towards her and Anders went into the keep.
"Commander! Blimey, a while back they caught a thief in the keep. Took five wardens to subdue him and then move him into a cell. Half-joking, they said he'd make a good warden."
"Where is he?"
"In the dungeon. Commander." The woman gave a short nod of her head, going back to rifling papers through her hands. Oghren gave a half-sigh, looking to Lina.
"I'll check out this nug-humper with you."
"Hurry then." Lina gave him a fond smile, leading the way to the dungeons.
"So this is where that Arl Howe used to live. By the stone, they had a pretty grand place, didn't they?" Oghren pushed the door open, giving a grunt. Lina nodded to him.
"Yes, this is where they lived. After Alistair stripped their family of their titles, the remaining Howe fled. She's in Amaranthine, or so I heard on the way here. Not as grand as the Denerim Palace he took over, though, is it? Or even that Cousland Estate; apparently, he murdered all but the two children of that Castle in jealousy. One fled to Bannorn, where she was kept hidden by a noble, and another was involved in the war but survived Ostagar by living with the Chasind until he healed." Her voice was likely carrying all the way down to the dungeon, and Lina knew that the prisoner and Jailor could likely hear her as she spoke. She closed the door behind them, pushing the bar in to keep it locked in case the prisoner tried to escape.
"Bastard. Didn't you cut him up and scatter him around the Royal Palace?" Lina gave a grimace at Oghren's question.
"Yes. He got me riled up, racist bastard. I imagine they're still picking him up from the corners of the dungeon." Lina gave a short laugh, feeling Oghren give her a friendly slap on the thigh before they moved into the central dungeon. The Jailor was sat at a desk, paused at writing and looking like he was trying to ignore their conversation. In the cell, the prisoner was sat against the wall, arms crossed and legs crossed loosely, glaring up at Lina through his messy hair. He looked like he was trying not to throw up, and that particular look sparked recognition in Lina, although she knew she could have never seen the prisoner before. Oghren spoke, however, before she could voice her thoughts.
"What's up with this nug-humper's face then, huh?"