It may not be great but I think its pretty good. Remember I welcome any comments, reviews, advice, suggestions etc etc. so please let me know what you think.
Tonight was the night for the Dark Crusader to make her attempt to steal Queen Anora's ceremonial crown. If she succeeded in this heist she would go down in history as Ferelden's most legendary thief. But, of course the main reason she was doing this was to get improvements made in the Alienage. She wasn't doing it for fame. The events that had occurred earlier today broke the last straw of her patience. She let the people she cared about down and now it was time for her to try to make up for it. The Crusader knew that Nola's death was not her fault, but that didn't help make her feel any less guilty about her death. Hopefully tonight will be the start of many changes for the Alienage.
The Dark Crusader peered into the window to see what kind of surprise the palace guards had in store for her tonight. There were guards everywhere, no surprise there, all on the alert for her. They were guarding the crown that was placed on a pedestal in the center of the chamber.
'Seriously,' she thought, 'this was the best that they could come up with? I mean why not hide the crown in the larder or something.' But, knowing the Queen she probably just thought that her little fortress was impenetrable. Well, there was only one way to find out. It was time to go into stealth mode.
"Seriously, why do we have the Queen's crown lying right out in the open? Aren't we just making this a little bit too easy for the Crusader?" a guard asked.
"Because, Brian, we all have our eye on the crown so it's under constant watch. And besides with all of us in here, the Dark Crusader will think twice before taking us all on by herself."
"You do make a good point there, George."
"Bang! Bang!" explosions went off and the chamber was suddenly filled with smoke. The guards panicked.
"It's the Dark Crusader! She's here!" someone called through the veil.
"Maker! Cough..cough, I can't see a bloody thing!" The smoke slowly began to clear and the guards gasped as the pedestal came into view.
"The crown it's gone!"
"Of course it's bloody gone, you idiot!"
"But, where is she? We are locked in from the outside."
"Well, she's obviously not here! Tell the guards on the outside to let us out. Search the palace - she couldn't have gotten too far!"
Finally, as the guards exited, the room was perfectly silent as their footsteps faded down the hallway. A soft chuckle began to echo in the room.
"They really make it too easy," she said to herself as she slipped from behind the curtain, crown in hand. 'Now that I've got the crown it's time to go pop in for a visit with the good Queen.'
"Your Majesty are you sure that this is the best plan?" Duncan asked.
"I have full confidence in my men Duncan. There is no need to worry, besides just how good can this Dark Crusader be?" the Queen replied she saw no reason to take the situation seriously. Duncan and Alistair along with two palace guards were in the throne room with Queen Anora. Alistair had disliked her from the moment he met her and could not see the reason why King Calien had married her. 'I will never understand politics', he thought to himself.
"Your Majesty!" a guard called as he raced into the room, out of breath. He straightened up, "Your Majesty, the crown's been stolen!" he informed.
"Apparently, she is very good," Alistair commented with a small smile as he took in Anora's shocked look. It was priceless - her mouth hanging open, the raised eyebrows - the whole bit.
"Well, what are you doing here then? Go find her!" oh yes, she was furious indeed.
"Yes, your Majesty. Wardens could you please assist us?" He asked.
"Of course, let's go Alistair." Duncan ordered as the followed the guard out the door. As Alistair took his last step from the room the door shut behind him.
"What?" the guard yelled confused. They all suddenly heard the bolt of the door slide shut. "She's in the throne room!" he continued screaming.
"Maker, could you be any louder?" Alistair said covering his ears. Standing right next to the man.
"Hello, Anora," the Crusader greeted darkly as she closed and bolted the door behind the Wardens.
Anora stood up from her throne, "Guards arrest her!" pointing at her. The guards unsheathed their weapons as they closed in on her. The Dark Crusader brought out her own set of dual-weapons and made quick work of the guards leaving them unconscious on the stone floor. Anora slid back into her seat trying not to look like a coward.
"Now Anora, you and I are going to have a little chat," she said slowly making her way up to the Queen. "I tried to be nice, but no, you chose not to listen. But, you will listen to me now because you see I have had a very bad day and I am not in the mood to tolerate anything right now, so you better listen carefully. Improvements in the Alienage will be made immediately or else." She threatened.
Anora stood up, "How dare you speak to me that..!"
"Sit down!" she commanded immediately silencing the Queen as she took her seat again.
"You see, you and I are going to make a deal. As you are already aware I have your crown," showing it to her, "and the only way that you are going to get it back is when I see the slightest bit of progress. It doesn't have to be big; it can be the smallest act like more food, medical supplies, etc. And when I see this act done I will take it as a sign that such acts will continue to make the Alienage a much better place to live. You do that and you could have your precious crown back as early as tomorrow and I will be out of your life for good. I think I'm being pretty nice here. I'm not asking for anything for myself. I'm merely asking you to do a little bit of community service." The Dark Crusader was now standing right in front of Anora. She swiftly took her blade and pierced it into the wood beside Anora's head, "But, if progress does not continue after that I will be back. That I promise you."
"Alright," Anora breathed out, "improvements will start effective immediately tomorrow morning. You have my word."
"Good," she said lightly as she sheathed her dagger, "I'm glad to see that we understand each other." She turned her back and began making her way towards the window. The door suddenly burst open wood splintering everywhere.
"Well, Anora it was nice chatting with you. We should really do it again sometime," she opened the window, "But oh look it's time for me to go. Cheerio." Waving goodbye with a grin on her face the Dark Crusader dodged out of the way just has the guard made a leap for her. In her hand she held a small sphere that she threw to the floor and she was gone in a puff of smoke. They all rushed to the window.
"She's not there." The guard said then looked back to the entrance seeing her creep for the door. "There she is!" he exclaimed.
"Oh so close," she exasperated with a snap of her fingers before she made a dash for the exit.
"You stay here with the Queen. Alistair and I will go after her." Duncan ordered him.
Making a left through the door the Wardens ran after her until they made their way around the corner where the hall split.
"Alistair you go left and I'll go right."
"Understood." Then they went their separate ways.
She didn't know where they had come from, she didn't even hear them coming in their clunky armor. But, that really didn't matter. At the moment what mattered was getting out of this situation. There were five of them and she could probably take them, but she knew that it was going to quickly drain her.
Working through the guards she began her sword dance. The Crusader had easily taken down the first three; she just needed to knock out these last two and then she could make her escape. She was quick on her feet as twirled and sidestepped a guard's sword thrust, but not quick enough for her to avoid it from grazing her upper arm. 'Damn that's gonna leave a mark' she thought as blood began to seep from the wound. The sword had gone deeper than she thought. She could feel her arm already starting to limp. 'Not good', as she was forced to sheath one sword. She brought up her leg and gave a guard a swift kick in the head knocking him out cold. 'One down one to go,' as she prepared to take on the last guard she didn't notice him come up from behind, shield bashing her. The Crusader was propelled into the hard stonewall feeling herself falling onto the floor. With a groan she rolled onto her back, her arm suffering from even more damage. The guard was advancing towards her getting ready to make the final blow. 'I won't let it end like this' before she could make a move she saw the guard go flying in front of her. His head met the wall with a sickening crack. 'What the..?' now she was confused.
Alistair was suddenly kneeling" in front of her, "You're hurt", he stated.
She gave a soft laugh, "What gave it away?"
"The bleeding arm was kind of a dead give away," he said while searching through his pack.
"What are you doing?"
"Finding some bandages. I'm gonna patch you up before you lose too much blood." He stated like it was obvious.
"You do realize that you are helping the bad guy."
"From the way I see it you're one of the good guys." he started bandaging her wound.
"And how does being a thief make me one of you the good guys?" she asked, wincing as he pulled the bandage a little tight.
"Sorry. Well, you're doing whatever it takes all for the sake of others. That makes you a hero in my book", he said with a small smile.
"I'm honored."
"There - all patched up. It's not the best, but it will do." He said standing up then offered her a hand. With a hesitant look at him she took his hand and he helped her up. They looked at each other silently for a moment.
"So, what are you waiting for?" he asked.
This man was really confusing her, "What?"
"You have to get out of here before more guards come."
"I don't understand. You have the advantage here and you're letting me go?"
"I believe that what you are doing is right and that your actions will help a lot of people in the Alienage. Now, you have to go before they find you." He urged her.
She gave him a bright smile while shaking her head, "You are indeed a strange man Alistair."
"Wait, how do you know..?" he froze as she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.
"Thanks, handsome," and then she jogged to the nearest window and leapt out of it and into the night.
Staring at the window in a daze Alistair didn't notice Duncan come up beside him.
"So, you let her go." It wasn't a question.
"Yes..Duncan I'm sorry. I know you must be disap.."
"No need to apologize Alistair," Duncan cut him off, "I would have done the same thing. Just don't let the Queen know."
"Wait, if you would have done the same thing, why were we chasing her then?"
"To put on a good show of course", he said with a small smile and a bit of a mischievous gleam in his eyes. "Now let us get back to her Majesty and tell her the tragic news."
Ya I realized that Duncan and Alistair never introduced themselves to the Crusader hence the "how do you know" line. So far I've been getting really good reviews from readers and that gives me so much confidence as a first time writer. Good reviews= Happy writer! =D I want to thank you all who have taken the time to comment on my story so far and to also thank you regular readers out there! You know who you are!
