Chapter 16

The Blood Warden looked on from the shadows. The nobleman he now possessed was easy enough to find within the city. With a swift movement of his sword, he had released the man from his mortal body before taking it for himself. From there, he simply walked into the palace along with every other noble in Ferelden. There were so many that none took notice when he did not approach the king and queen in order to swear fealty. If there was a chance that the two Grey Wardens could sense the taint within him, he did not want to take it.

He had watched the palace since the heralds had proclaimed the queen's recovery. In that time, he was able to determine his best course of action regarding the infant. The Qunari rarely left the side of the babies. He would not let just anyone come close to them. The Blood Warden would have to choose his next host carefully. One of the nursemaids, perhaps, or maybe even the elf he had seen leave before the festivities started. If he could get close enough, even the Qunari would make an excellent host. He was already the protector of the children. No one would question if he were to take one of them. Qunari could be hard to kill, though, and this one looked to be no exception.

The Blood Warden could possess anybody that he wanted whether it was tainted or not. Of course a Grey Warden's body had proven to be the longest lasting. A host had to only be fresh and dead for him to be able to reanimate it. The killing was the only potentially hard part of the process.

For now, he could only see the layout of the palace. There were too many trained swords in attendance for him to make his move tonight. He snuck out of the main hall when the crowd had their attention on the queen. She had gotten up from her throne and entered the crowd which gave him the perfect opportunity to leave unnoticed. He only focused on her for one moment before he crept through a side door and into an adjoining corridor.

He wondered what it would be like to be raised by this woman. Once he had possession of the child, he would be her son for at least a little while. This woman was a queen and a hero. She had thwarted his plans with the Blight by uniting the land and slaying the archdemon. The Old God had promised him a life outside the Grey Wardens in return for his help, but it was slain before coming through on its promise. He had been promised Ferelden to rule over once the Blight had spread across all of Thedas. Now, he would still have what he was promised. He would take the body of the infant prince and one day lead this country against the rest of the world. It would take time, but time was the only thing he had.

The corridor led upstairs and to a group of rooms he could only assume belonged to the royal family. There were no servants or bodyguards in this part of the palace. They were all downstairs in the Main Hall. This gave the Blood Warden all that he needed to form the rest of his plan. He studied the rooms carefully. As he left, he mapped the layout in his head. With the right body, it would be easy enough to find his way back.

Outside the palace, he returned to his room at the Gnawed Noble Tavern. The noble, whose body he had stolen, owned the room for the next two months. It would give him plenty of time to put his plan into action. Now it was just a matter of getting the elf alone. In the morning, he would begin following him. Once he learned his routine, it would be easy enough to strike. Then he could simply walk into the nursery and take the child from its crib.

There was not much that he needed in order to perform the ritual. Once he had the child, its blood would be the key to displacing its soul. Then it would not matter if they were found. He knew that the Warden King and Queen would never abandon their own son. They would take him and raise him even if they were raising the one thing that could destroy them all. He saw the way they acted around their children and he counted on that unconditional love to complete his plan.

Chapter 17

"I only know of two Fade spirits existing in this world. I guess you would consider this blood warden a spirit of the fade, wouldn't you?" Adora said. She stood in the war room of the palace. At the table in front of her sat, King Alistair, Zevran, the head of the castle guard Ser Ivan, the head of the Templars Ser Constantine, and Fergus. Sten stayed outside the nursery, refusing to leave sight of the twins. Adora was grateful for his dedication to their protection, although she feared it would take more than just him to keep them safe.

"I do not know what you would consider him. It remains to be seen if even killing the host will be enough to stop him or will he merely animate the closet corpse and come after us again," Alistair said.

"Lets just assume it is like a fade spirit. Adora you said you have met them outside the fade before. What do you know about them?" Fergus said.

"A spirit of justice followed me out of the fade while I was in Amaranthine. Justice animated the body of a dead Grey Warden while he was with us. When he gave that body back to his wife, Justice did not return to the fade. The last I heard was that he had merged with Anders, the mage I saved from the Templars. You would remember him Alistair. You allowed the conscription before returning to Denerim."

"I remember him. I also took refuge at his clinic in Kirkwall on my return from Weisshaupt, but I did not realize at the time that he was possessed by a spirit."

"From the correspondences I have received from Vigil's Keep, his personality changed after merging with Justice. He became obsessed with the mage's plight and left the Grey Wardens in order to make a difference. I did not know where he went."

"They can always be persuaded by demons. This is why you should have let the Templars have him when they had him in custody," Ser Constantine said.

"This will not become an argument about mages and Templars. Anders proved himself against the darkspawn. That is why I conscripted him. If I hadn't, we might have lost the city of Amaranthine as well as Vigil's Keep when the darkspawn attacked. His magic proved valuable then and perhaps his knowledge of the fade may prove useful now."

"I apologize, my Lady. I did not mean to question your judgement."

"I do not fault you, Ser Constantine. As a Templar, you have seen the worst of what apostates are capable of. It is your duty to feel the way you do. Do not forget, though, I have seen it also and I have also seen what good magic can do when applied the right way. I owe my life and the life of my husband and children to magic. Good or Evil I have to thank it for that."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Ser Constantine fell silent. He was not accustomed to his leaders being so pro magic, but for now he had to trust her judgement. It had proven right in the past, he only hoped it would prove right again now.

"Back to the matter at hand. If we could bring Anders here, perhaps he would be able to tell us a way to return this spirit to the fade. There the other wardens could determine his punishment. Justice at the very least could tell us what we are up against. If there is some way to kill the Blood Warden he should know."

"How do you propose we bring Anders back to Ferelden? His clinic heals the sick and injured refugees from the Blight. I do not think he will abandon it in order to return to the Grey Wardens that he turned his back on."

"I will not ask him as a Grey Warden. I will ask him as a friend. It is a favor from the woman that once saved his life to save the life of my son. If I know Anders at all, I do not think he will be able to refuse. I will prepare a letter for him immediately. Fergus, I will ask you and Ser Ivan to deliver it personally. Something of this importance cannot be intrusted to just anyone. I want it to be you, my brother, because he will know that I would not send someone so dear to my heart if it were not so urgent. Please wait for him to prepare his things and bring him with you as soon as possible."

"Of course, Adora. You can count on me. I will not leave Kirkwall without him," Fergus said standing from his chair.

"That goes for me, as well, Your Majesty," Ser Ivan said also standing from his seat at the table.

"Good. Now prepare your things. You will leave for Kirkwall at first light. Until then I will also retire to prepare the letter you will take with you." Adora bowed to all in the room.

Alistair stood from his chair at the head of the table in order to take her hand and lead from the room. As King, he was not used to taking such a back seat to his wife. She had always been his faithful advisor on the matters of state, but he was the final authority. This, however, was Grey Warden business and Adora was Commander of the Grey. He trusted that she would make the right decisions where their son and the Blood Warden were concerned. Still, he wished there was something more he could do. He was the most powerful man in Ferelden, but at that moment he was totally helpless. He could only sit back and watch as his wife led and then wait for what would happen next.

Chapter 18

Voices from the adjoining room broke the silence of the night. The Blood Warden listened closely to the late night conspirators. To his luck, he found that they were a troupe of Antivan Crows. They had been sent to take care of the renegade elf once and for all. He could only assume this elf was the same one from the palace. It took no stretch of the imagination to figure out their target. Legends of the Grey Warden Adora and those that accompanied her against the archdemon were abundant in every city in Ferelden. These included the story of the Antivan elf that turned against the Crows in favor of following his intended target. It also included how the warden and the elf killed the elf's former partner. This had deeply offended the Crows, from what the Blood Warden could now gather.

It had been nearly two weeks since the Blood Warden had been in the palace. Since watching the elf leave before the twin's introduction ceremony, nothing else had happened. The elf had stayed safely behind the palace walls. From his vantage point on the roof of the highest building in Denerim, he had caught glimpses of the elf in the courtyard. Zevran was always in the company of the queen, which did not surprise him. Rumors around the city were abundant about the relationship between the queen and her personal bodyguard. It was said that the elf never left her side and from what the Blood Warden saw, it was true.

He had almost given up hope entirely about ever catching the elf alone long enough to kill him and take his body. The body he now resided in wasn't getting any fresher and soon he would need a new one. As he listened to the Crows in the room next to his, he began to see an answer to both his problems. One of the Crows would make an excellent new bodyand if he could not get Zevran out of the castle, then the troupe would give him the numbers he needed to go in after him. At the very least, if he could not get to the elf, the Crows could create enough of a distraction to allow him access to the nursery.

The Blood Warden exited his room and entered the tavern area. He positioned himself so that he could see the door to the room next to his own. Eventually one of the Crows would have to come out. If the Crow happened to be alone then he would have his body before the end of the night. He kept his hood up so not to bring any attention to his sunken features and when the bar wench came to his table he waved her off with his hand.

It did not take long before he saw the door open and one of the Crows step out. In his hand, he carried a bottle of Antivan Brandy. When he walked outside, the Blood Warden followed. He stayed back just enough to not be noticed. Assassins were not the only ones that could use stealth to their advantage. Even though his body was new, he took his knowledge and abilities with him. He also gained the abilities and memories of each host he entered. When he left, he was merely a blood mage. Now he could be considered a thief, a Templar, and a seasoned warrior. By the time he added assassin to his list of abilities, he would be unstoppable.

The Crow continued to drink from his bottle as he walked through the dark market district. There were no merchants at this time of night which made the square uncharacteristically quiet. The brandy was making his head fuzzy. It warmed his cold bones and reminded him of Antiva. There was nothing about Ferelden that appealed to the assassin. He only wanted to be rid of the elf so that they could all return as soon as possible.

The Crow had just reached the gate of the chantry when he heard something behind him. He turned swiftly, drawing his daggers. He looked around, but found only darkness in his wake. In his mind he thought it must have only been a dog or some other harmless creature. As he turned again to enter the chantry courtyard, he felt something pierce his back. All he could see was the stone of the chantry walls in front of him and the dark sky above him . He tried to scream, but only a strained gargle mixed with blood escaped his mouth.

"Do not worry. I will hear your sins before you die," the Blood Warden said as he twisted his dagger deeper into the man's back. The crow collapsed to the ground. Blood poured from his mouth onto the dirt. His eyes were wild as he gasped for air. The Blood Warden watched it all with sadistic pleasure.

As the final traces of light left the man's eyes, the Blood Warden began his ritual. His spirit traveled from its current host and entered to body of the dead Crow. The noble man's body fell to the ground lifelessly as the Blood Warden sat up. He stretched his arms out in front of him as if he were filling up a shirt or any other piece of clothing.

Once he got to his feet, he removed his cloak from the body of his former host. He then proceeded to drag the body to a well within the Chantry courtyard. It took little effort for him to throw it over the side. There was a distant splash behind him as he made his way back to the tavern. He had to clean himself up before the other Crows saw him. He could do this in the noble man's room. He pulled his hood around his head and held it there tightly. The night air was cold. No one would question a man coming in from the cold.