7. THE IMPERIAL HIGHWAY: CHASING ALISTAIR

Leliana and I hired some horses and rode out the next morning. True to her word, Leliana was wearing sensible leather riding boots, not the fanciful blue velvet shoes with high heels and a curving, pointed toe that she had worn the night before. It was a warm day—warm enough that I decided to take my drakeskin coat off and place it in my pack. I supposed that between my own senses and Leliana's there was little risk of an adversary catching us by surprise. Riding along the highway through rolling hills dotted with vineyards and wheat fields, with wild flowers blooming in every fallow field, it was difficult to believe that I had been trapped in a snowstorm only three weeks before.

"I am surprised that you did not bring Conal with you," she said after a while.

"Sadly, Conal passed on two years ago. I think the battles with that Darkspawn insurrection we had after the Blight—I wrote to you about it—cost him. He was never quite the same after that."

"I am sorry to hear that. I just assumed last night that you had not brought him because it was a dinner invitation…"

"Did you learn so little of Ferelden in the years you lived there? A dinner invitation would always include a mabari; it would be like asking a man to visit you and excluding his wife."

"Well, it is a little different in Orlais, you know."

"Yes, I know. I'm surprised you don't keep a wet dog at the Comtesse's palace just to remind you of Ferelden. Or do you not wish to be reminded?"

She laughed. "It was not I who said Ferelden smelled of wet dog. I loved the people of Ferelden. Though of course, there were many things I missed from Orlais." She moved her horse a little closer to mine, "So you have not gotten another hound?"

"A mabari chooses his master. It is not like hiring a horse." I doubted that I would ever have another.

Two days passed uneventfully as we rode along the Imperial Highway, although we encountered plenty of traffic—mostly merchants peddling various wares, although there were also patrols and other travelers. Because of the number of people using the road, there were many roadside inns and taverns where one could stop for the night or for a meal.

By the middle of the third day on the road, I was beginning to become nervous. We would likely reach Val Foret on the following day and I had expected to run into him by now. We had begun asking people we encountered on the road if they had seen him but no one had. Early in the afternoon, I sensed something in the distance. At first I thought perhaps it was Alistair, but there was more than one…tainted presence. I stiffened and pulled on the reins of my horse to slow down, scanning the horizon. Could there be Darkspawn here? Now?

Leliana pointed to a castle on a rocky hilltop that was just barely visible above the tall cypress trees the Tevinters had planted to shade the road. "That is Coteaux du Roche. I suppose you knew it was here. Do you think Alistair might have stopped there?"

Coteaux du Roche was the main fortress of the Grey Wardens in Orlais, which explained what I was sensing…I did not explain to Leliana that I had only known that the castle was not far from Val Royeaux, not its precise whereabouts. Neither did I add that I had no desire to go there; I had met Yves, the Warden Commander of Orlais shortly after the Blight. It had been very clear then that he was suspicious of my story about how the Archdemon had fallen. "I doubt it. Let's keep moving. Perhaps he did not make as good time as I expected and is still farther ahead."

The fourth day broke and we had still had no sign of Alistair. :Leliana was doing her best to keep my spirits up with her music and reassuring words but she knew that my worry mounted with each passing hour. We stopped for mid-day meal at an inn that was styled after the mansiones the Tevinter Imperium had built to house travelers on offical business. They had once been found at regular intervals along every Imperial Highway. It was clearly a favorite with traveling nobles and our meal was expensive but exquisitely prepared, nearly a match for Sybille's table.

After our meal, although I had little expectation of success, I inquired with the innkeeper as to whether he had seen a big broad-shouldered man from Ferelden with reddish blonde hair.

"Uh…would he have carried a shield with a gryphon on it? That's the Warden symbol, right?"

My throat dry, I nodded quickly.

"Yeah, he stayed here…not last night, but the night before I think it was."

"He did?" I know I must have looked pale for Leliana took my arm.

"Oh, we must have missed him on the road." She said, thanking the innkeeper for his information. "Aedan, relax. He probably just went into the bushes to relieve himself or stopped at a tavern that we missed or something. We'll turn around and try to catch up with him."

I buried my face in my hands, breathing hard, as we left the inn. "Leli…you don't understand. I…if he was anywhere near the road, I would have known. It's…it's a Warden thing. You remember how Alistair always seemed to know when there were Darkspawn nearby? We can sense our fellow Wardens too. We did not pass him on the road. Either he went some distance off the road for some reason or—" I broke off, unwilling to even voice my greatest fear. How could I go on without him?

Leliana replied urgently, "Are you sure? Maybe you just weren't concentrating and missed him…or…" She snapped her fingers. "He probably went to Coteaux du Roche! You would not have been able to sense him with all those other Wardens around…would you?"

I looked up. "I suppose not, but…I don't know why he would have gone there."

"Then let's ride back up there as quickly as possible. Do not worry so much. The Maker will watrch over him."

I climbed back on my horse and followed Leliana back the way we came. I could think of no reason for Alistair to visit the Warden post, but I prayed she was right, even if it did mean dealing with Warden Commander Yves de Chardin again.