Bard of Orlais

Author's notes: This is the new installment to the story, I am happy so far for the feedback so far that have been positive and the followers too.

Now we have Leliana and Cassandra meet up with Cruz, but the fact of the matter is that Leliana is sharp…she doesn't miss a thing and would be subtle in her actions. Considering the close friendship she develops with Josephine, it is no surprise that all plans can be prematurely ended and a new path emerges from the ashes of a broken plan.

Disclaimer: *ahem* (tune of Game of thrones opening) Bare butt, Dorian's bare butt (x7), Dorian's, bare butt, is owned, by the one they call, Bioware. All tits and butts belong, to Bioware 'cept my char *choke* But seriously though Bioware owns that game not I.

Btw someone should do a game of thrones opening video, with the various cities in Thedas like clockwork just for kicks.

When I came to Orlais, I knew something was wrong. Leliana was closest to Josephine, the one woman who she considered dear to the point of protection if given the chance, though I couldn't pin anything on what she was thinking at the time I suspected something was off about her. Josephine's study was the least touched room I myself personally kept away from, due part to a breach of trust and being implicated, due to Josephine's connections with Leliana, as a person suspect in other things. It made my position and plan to manipulate Josephine by convincing her to let me be involved in her work difficult, though I didn't have to wait long before fingers started pointing.

For a full month I did not expect anything due to the peace at the Antivan manor, but little did I know that my own intelligence would be used against me.

How wrong I was in thinking that Leliana wouldn't notice, or the relationship between the two being so strong…but it was good for me, it was then that my relationships began to spread but not before the cost of keeping my origins a suppressed secret for a month with Josephine making runs behind my back, and I had to admit looking back on it that the words exchanged may have pissed several off.

Note to self: do not just break news so suddenly, causes issues.

-excerpt from the diary of the Bard of Orlais

Divine,

I have warned you time and again that making peace would not solve the war, eliminating the two factions while they fight was a better option to have so we can reform. You have left my advice unheeded for the last time, be warned…I will stop you before this farce of a Conclave can commence, you have my word.

Today we stand at a crossroads, the common people want an answer than peace…too many apostates, too many Templars with abusive pasts and horrendous control by the Chantry have pushed our boundaries, you have taken over a natural order that will soon change. Not for the better, not for the worse either...not with my solution. We must purge the two but you fail to see how much easier the world will be rid of the demon-worshippers and their lyrium addicted men. They are damnable orders that have plagued this world well no more! Today, I openly declare the war of the people against the Chantry itself.

I will end you if I have to.

Signed, Sparrow

(a letter to the Divine, stashed for investigation by Leliana as reference, four months before the Conclave)

Nightingale,

Search for the target ended rather unexpectedly.

My men tried to infiltrate a hideout, turned out to be a trap. You wouldn't believe it, but a Maker damned magister was there...not just any one, she's on the list of the Imperium's Inner courts herself: Magister Khali. To make things worse my men were immediately knocked out by assassins loyal to the House of Repose, though that wasn't all to report. Sparrow was there with Bard Silas the 'missing' (formerly) agent from the Empress himself two months ago presumed dead in a mission to an elven tribe connected to Briala, he sent my unconscious men with a message for the Inquisitor by name specifically.

He asks to meet her in Val Royeaux tonight. I suggest more watches with our performance at this rate, we are heavily outclassed.

Awaiting further orders,

Witty

(a reply is scrawled underneath the correspondence)

Witty,

Pull your men back to the fallback safehouse immediately and send a reply that the Inquisitor will be there. If Bard Silas is there, he would no doubt have Lady Isli at his side with her spy network, and we must assume that the Magister is here to stay. Sparrow has tried to kill the Divine once five months ago and nearly very well succeeded, having the House of Repose and such wide networks mean that he is close to being untouchable. Find a window and inform me as soon as you can.

Nightingale

(Another reply was written underneath the reply, sealed with the insignia of the Imperium)

Leliana,

That is your name is it not? I am Magister Khali of the Imperium, as your scout has no doubt certainly spoken of me during their failed raid on the hideout to find secrets. I assume that all your men were accounted for and made sure that they lived through the ordeal, which leads to the main point of my contacting you.

I am writing to state that Sparrow is not willing to risk a fruitless war of secrets with you, however your men were overstaying their welcome the day they decided to infiltrate one of our strongholds and as a fellow spy you know it is rude to trespass my property.

It is for this reason that I extend an invitation from Sparrow personally to meet him in café Montreal down by the Summer Bazaar, if this doesn't spur you to show or send one of your spies in your place, he asks me to tell you this.

Remember the kiss under the promenade tree, in the final month of 9:40.

With respectful regards,

Magister Khali

P.S. your messenger was having a wonderful time with an assassin from the tavern, do go easy on her when she returns with the message…it is rare to see one of the House of Repose drinking a Ferelden under the table.

-series of correspondence from Nightingale to Witty

Guest manor for the Montilyet, months earlier

"Uhhh…" Cruz had to admit on many days that the groggiest feeling one can ever earn in life was through hard drinking, or just being too exhausted beyond repair to physically move or collapsing from a heart attack. But little did he expect his own illness to affect him when he fell unconscious due to the overload of processing that he was doing at the time in the market, so the change in scenery of a sheltered roof over his head did nothing to faze him as he blinked in slow movements quietly gaining a breath as the memory of the market burned into his mind the last image causing a groan from the man as he tightened his eyes.

"…oh man, I won't live this down." Cruz muttered under his breath as he recalled the dumbstruck look on Josephine's face as he collapsed on the ground his mind giving out on understanding what he was seeing and opting for the alternate way out. That look was priceless for him even though he knew he would get yelled at later, the awareness of his condition would be something that trounces the whole 'collapse in the street from starstruck expression' for Josephine and no doubt she would fuss over him while he was out cold.

"You're awake."

The slightly deep voice alerted Cruz to another presence in the room at the bedside, Cruz shifting his head to glance up at the source his eyes meeting another pair momentarily before the young man felt himself tear away from her gaze, clearing his throat as he did so feeling an unknown feeling pressing down on his body. The woman who was sitting beside him stood up to move to the doorway before Cruz decided to ask the common question when someone was lying in bed for an unknown period of time. "How long was it this time? I feel weaker than before."

"…You passed out, then a short fever overtook you shortly after we had to move you quickly to the healers before sending you back here, Josephine was deeply troubled by the events. You have been asleep for three days with no way of getting a response but the healers said you would be fine." The woman recounted as Cruz shifted his head back to where the woman was, his lips quivering into a small smile of gratitude as he replied to her words. "I see, thank you for helping me. I'm sure I won't be let off the hook for being sick after fainting."

"That is true but no one had the foresight to know and we didn't know you had an illness," Cassandra replied as she got up from her chair, heading toward the door as she called over her shoulder. "I will tell the others you are awake as of right now."

"Right, thanks again." Cruz answered gratefully to the Seeker as he heard the door close, the man closing his eyes as he imagined the fretting that Yvette would have seeing him now while Josephine would carry a heavy look at him before launching into a lecture at him for fainting out of the blue like that. Though he may to a certain extent be responsible, it wasn't his fault that his illness took ahold of him and sent him packing to the bed…though he suspected that it wouldn't be the case with Josephine, she was a sensible woman.

"Are you alright?" Speak of the devil.

"Yes, I am. I feel like an ox just rammed me in the stomach head on." Cruz groaned out as Josephine walked in followed by Leliana who was watching the man with a hidden concern behind her neutral look, the Montilyet holding the small vial which held the medicine for him opening the cork for the vial as she helped guide the medicine to Cruz's lips the man swallowing the entire dose as he resisted coughing. "Ugh, that stuff is rather bitter for medicine, never enjoyed the taste of that poison they call a concoction."

"As long as you are breathing you can take a little bit of bitter in your mouth," Josephine muttered as she took some time to check his forehead, Cruz closing his eyes as he felt uncomfortable in the presence of three women in the room two of them being legends while the third was being the fretting older sister, the man trying to focus on other things to pass the time as he felt her hand brush his forehead momentarily as he shifted in the bed. Leliana watched as the young man squirmed under her watchful gaze, the former bard hiding any thoughts on the situation while Cassandra looked as though she wanted some answers about this particular incident, a look that Josephine answered for with her back still turned to them.

"I may have forgotten to mention this to both of you, but Ser Cruz is afflicted with a sickness."

"That…you did not mention." The spymaster dug her heel into the marble floor, almost missing the tap of stone in the Lothering Chantry which echoed around the quiet environment like a stone dropped into a large pond creating ripples of sound.

"Yes, I was more focused on helping my charge with his…unique circumstances which I am sure you are aware of from the letters. The sickness is eating away at his body, the healers can't determine how it is being caused and how they can prevent it…healing magic is great for closing certain wounds but this particular one has the healers a bit baffled." Josephine explained as she wiped the man's forehead with a small cloth that was dipped in cold water fresh from the well, smearing the wet fabric across his skin prompting a groan from Cruz as he opened one eye.

"It's not simple because I know where it came from, even with the information you wouldn't be able to stop it with simple healing magics," Cruz interrupted the conversation as Leliana raised her brow in question to his words which Cruz caught, his attention turned to the spymaster indirectly as he turned his open eye away.

"Have you ever wondered how you got your mother's hair, your father's eyes or even the cheekbones for it?" Seeing the two aforementioned women related to the examples fidget gave a reply as Cruz continued resisting the urge to cough again, feeling his lungs burn from the pressure which had reduced from swallowing the concoction gripping the sheets of the bed. Josephine could tell even with his body hidden under the blanket of the bed that he was hurting the ambassador immediately resting the towel on his forehead while she worriedly searched his face, Cruz giving her a glance to assure her of his health before he turned to address the three of them.

"Well, that is due to genetics." He waited, it wasn't long before confusion and a look of clarification from Leliana who hid her emotions behind the stone wall that was her stoic expression better than the looks Cassandra and Josephine were giving him told him enough. "Genetics is…let's just say it is one of the keys of inheritance we are given by the people who came before us, the ones who made us. You know, man and woman love each other very much that they strip tease and crawl under the bed."

"Cruz…please, not right now." Josephine groaned as she massaged her head much to the silent amusement of the others save Cassandra who was evidently disgusted with the crude remark, Cruz deciding not to delay as he hurriedly replied to their silent query. "Sorry, got carried away. I suppose I should explain: Genetics according to the scholars in my country, is what features our parents give us to hand it down to the next generation…so your flaming orange hair, the sharp bones that make your face and the glares you have, some of them part of your own parents' physical features."

"Your scholars have intriguing ideas," Leliana spoke after a while her tone even with him as Cruz noticed something off about the way she was voicing her words, the man stiffening as a chill ran down his spine, "You come from the Western lands?"

"The Western lands have never been explored, ain't it? I hear stories of lost expeditions or people simply don't care." Cruz replied carefully though his mind was already starting to figure out her game, if the point wasn't so open and obvious from before as Cruz widened his eyes a little the dark orbs earning a bit of light as though he stumbled onto something big, the young man feeling Leliana tensing which made him feel even more uncomfortable as he realized that he slipped in his words. Cruz fell to an unearthly silence before he glanced at Josephine, his eyes closed as he went into thought for a moment cracking open his eye at the Antivan as if he was considering something. "Josephine, I told you that it would be rather pointless to find the continent of Europe or the land of Britain anywhere in your maps. You still got Leliana to search?" Josephine blinked at his guess, the Nightingale behind her watching him with a hint of renewed interest in his perception but her tense posture still never went away.

"Yes, you know I would have done it anyway…making an effort to find your country was what anyone would have done."

"I…thank you, but I told you it is unnecessary. I did say I wasn't planning on going back anytime soon." Cruz cautiously replied as doubt of their belief in his words was made rather clear, the three remaining silent as they watched Cruz shift in the bed contemplating. The awkward silence was broken by the opening of the door, the four occupants turning to see the face of Yvette popping around the corner of the iron door her face filled with worry as she spied Cruz from a distance. Entering, the young woman noticed Cruz's pale face which had worsened somewhat due to his illness the young man giving her a grave look before Yvette tilted her head, her frown hidden under the high collar.

"Did you cough out blood this time?"

"No, but my illness' description does say it was meant to be a rare occurrence." Cruz replied smoothly, his face masking the pain held in his face as the thought of home invoked conflicting feelings across his expressions subtly projected in his tone, the low tone becoming a bit lighter with the presence of the younger Montilyet to distract him from anything else. "It's common now, the people who treated me just gave me medicine and told me to wait for the inevitable to arrive…I don't think about it too much." Noticing Yvette's hurt expression made Cruz reconsider his words, the man holding up his hand as a sign of comfort to the young woman his face tightened further as he did so, his throat feeling dry and lumpy as he pushed away the feelings which stormed in his mind.

"It's meant to happen, part of the illness and I accepted that. Josephine, I did tell you the first day we met not to go searching for a fairytale continent you'll never find that exists…this concern is personal and I already plan to get it done right," Cruz spoke assertively turning an eye towards Josephine as she returned his gaze with her own assertive one in return to his light reproach.

"It is bad enough to not try as a host who has a troubled guest."

"True, Miss Montilyet but the fact of the matter is that you must take my word when I say that this is not a simple matter of pathfinding or even navigation across the entire region of Thedas, this is a matter that must be consulted with before I can even make a decision." Cruz countered the statement of goodwill with a glance at her, the Antivan already sensing his countenance changing from calm to being a little stormy at the mention of home, and that began to irritate her a little as she clenched her own fists evening her tone with the man in a determined glare that demanded some real answers in regards to her efforts, "If that is the case, then why keep secrets? Tell me about it, your home…what makes it so hard to find? Why would you need counsel for this if navigation is not the solution to finding your home?"

"Because I need the council of a mage to achieve my goal of returning home and knowing the prospects of success, and it is the only gamble that I have left in regards to this issue." That statement alone sent Josephine into a slightly shocked state, Cassandra's slightly raised brow began to narrow as her face grew a little darker at the mention of a mage as her inquisitive mind began to kick into action. Leliana remained calm though if a perceptive person could pierce right through the armored wall of stoic neutrality they would sense a hint of surprise from the spymaster, Cruz already feeling a certain tension coming into the room as his mind balanced what he would say next. To be honest, Cruz had already anticipated such a day after a month of staying that questions would soon abound of his position…he knew Josephine was connected to the Left Hand of the Divine who was a rich source of information due to her career as a bard many years earlier, but he didn't anticipate Josephine actually consulting her friend in the Chantry to help her locate England or Europe in the historical archives. He did expect her to ask navigators and explorers of such a continent but asking Leliana was the wild card he didn't manage to block, and how could he?

Leliana by this time was a woman who held the tightest leash on her spy network in Thedas to Orlais and even the Free Marches within her reach, to avoid her was wishing that the mountain could move the next morning. He knew that, she was too entrenched and the only hope he held was that Josephine did not ask…Cruz was surprised in all honesty, but he knew since the tale of the Warden was being told that he was a Circle mage who managed to save the Circle from falling apart even keeping Irving alive. Leliana was a woman who held some sympathy especially regarding her ideals about being free and second chances like how Dorothea had given to her back then, a bard stripped of her title and abandoned by the one woman she thought she understood.

Which explained why he pulled out the mage consultation card immediately, if she was a bit sympathetic despite the chaos she might be willing to hear his proposal and he could give up on the manipulation. The moment he scanned each face he could tell the idea was going to cause some friction, Cassandra looked as though she was preparing to kill him then and there for saying the one word that caused her misery for her life while Josephine's face was hiding everything she was feeling about the subject. Leliana was the first to speak for the room as she eyed Cruz with a questionable gaze at his declaration, Cruz already beginning to select his words carefully.

"Why would you want a mage to help you with this?"

"Because if I told you where I came from you would doubt me and I rather be called sane, than an utter lunatic and be mocked." Cruz stated plainly for the former bard as he glanced away, his lips growing dry. "I am not judging your beliefs in the impossible or feed your superstitions of me now when I say it, all I can say now is that if I can just reach the ear of the Court mage second to the Empress herself I could find a solution."

"But why are you telling us this, why not hide your secret?"

"Why do you think you are the most dangerous woman in Orlais?" Cruz countered back. "I knew the moment she mentioned it in her letters to you that suspicion would be cast upon me, a nobody from a place you've never even heard of before…London, Britain the Isles and Europe those names would mean two things: either I am a person who managed to tell a tall tale or I am simply a spy for another faction with a bad story woven to fit." Seeing Leliana stiffen slightly, Cruz already hung his head despondent as he rubbed the bridge of his nose as he almost wanted to slap his palm over his face in some form of self-agony.

"But you already knew that, didn't you?"

"I have seen much of the known world we live in, yet I've never heard of this Britain or Europe which tipped many flags. I didn't want to alarm Josie to the prospect that you were a possible assassin sent against me, so I arranged a meeting to ensure Josie entered Orlais prematurely before the 'party'." Seeing Josephine's stare, Leliana quickly apologized to her friend as she shrugged lightly, Cassandra was keeping a sharp eye on the man who lowered his head. "I'm sorry, Josie but I couldn't put you in danger…so I let him come to me so I could straighten everything out and determine it for myself. The party was a ruse so I could lure you here to Orlais and meet your guest."

"You mean you sent someone to spy on me?"

"Not that blatantly, but either way you had suspicions about his origins and why he was at a riverside wearing strange clothes. I simply followed up on it." Cruz resisted the urge to whistle at Leliana's own words, he had always knew that Leliana was cunning and highly informative but to the extent of even expending spies on friendly allies and close ones was somewhat extreme paranoia or borderline protective mother hen. Leliana immediately jumped back to the current situation at hand as she narrowed down on the sick man, Cruz on the other hand was already beginning to feel his head throb with the renewed pressure on his mind as he heard the spymaster address him directly again.

"The point is, Josie contacted me and I immediately sent agents to determine you as a threat. You were watched since the second week of your stay before I made plans to meet you myself, but your own knowledge betrayed you."

"I knew I couldn't outwit the beautiful bard turned Divine's lieutenant." Cruz genuinely replied, the warmth in his tone shaking Leliana a little as she felt a bit guarded by the small information that was leaked out from the man himself. "But yes, I should have suspected the moment your name came up that Josephine would have contacted you for information regarding the names that I spilled, it was a mistake to tell her but I was confused at the time, believing what I saw wasn't real." Turning his head away, Cruz gently brushed his hand across his face sweeping the bangs aside from his eyes while he looked up at the whitewashed ceiling feeling the fever coming back in force.

"So all I can ask in return for this big reveal, what happens to me now?" Before she could respond, Cruz felt his world go black again his conscious dying to the unknown pain the man's vision clouding as he spied at the flash of steel during his last conscious moment.

End

Author's notes: Hello, sorry if the story is moving a bit too fast with the conversation happening. Sera's cameo is an indication of things to come, Leliana is sharp and subtle in playing the game of the mind and Cruz shows how inept he is.

So why the reveal of his origins being secret immediately barely a few days after him knocking out in the previous chapter was that because the person isn't just any spy or someone who is lax to the point they would be careless. This is Leliana, the woman who is Left Hand and a spymaster who has dabbled in the game longer than Cruz has, she is close with Josephine and that is enough evidence for me to know that Leliana with or without permission watches Josephine closely. The origin of a man with no clear home and names she doesn't know of places is subject to scrutiny and in her mind that of a person who had either been mad or is a bad liar.

Cassandra doesn't say much, her expressions tell the story through her eyes that she doesn't understand what this man is but that it has Leliana on some sort of edge and the mention of mages does nothing to clarify what she has lost (Anthony) in her life. She got over the anger but she is still distrustful and magics and the other situations are the foremost things on her mind, she is stressed and we can see it in Inquisition where she shows self-doubt in her actions. She will have an impact later.

As for Cruz, well, I wanted to make him smart but aware to readers that this man isn't a superhero genius like Batman, he is human and he knows when he's cornered and his brains cannot earn him a way out. He doesn't sound desperate but he is, home and even telling the truth to clarify thoughts on certain issues he will do but he won't reveal how he got here due to the fact he knows the Chantry's reaction to it….unbelief, he has a perception about certain human nature. Then again we all do.

In this story, Leliana is nearly a decade older than Cruz while Cassandra would be a bit younger due to her stubborn nature.

I hope you understand my reasons for pushing that issue a bit earlier than most and let me know what you think.

VI