The Plot Thickens
Alistair was on his way back to Leliana, Oghren and Shale. He was lost in his thoughts, paying attention to his surroundings. His attacker therefore ambushed him with ease, first with a shield bash to the knee and then a sharp smack on the leg with a wooden sword.
"Hey! Steady on!" Alistair exclaimed, backing away from the tot. "What have I ever done to you?"
"Stranger! Bad man!" the little boy shouted, aiming another sword blow.
Alistair dodged the blow, then disarmed the child with one sharp yank. The child began to cry.
"Maker! Will this day never end?" Alistair knelt and presented the boy with his little sword. "Here you are. I'm a Grey Warden, you just haven't met me before."
The child grabbed his weapon and stopped crying immediately. He narrowed brown eyes suspiciously.
"New warden?" he asked.
"New to you," Alistair replied.
The boy stuck the toy sword through his belt and tried to tidy his hair. There was a tuft at the front which remained boy then stuck his hand out in greeting. For the umpteenth time that day Alistair's stomach lurched. There was something familiar about the boy, something weirdly familiar. He took the proffered hand, shook it, then turned it over to get a better look. It was a miniature version of his own. This was something he hadn't anticipated, couldn't have expected. The boy was so like him, it was heartrending. How had Cailan's bastard ended up with the Grey Wardens? Alistair didn't even try to resist, he had to hug his nephew.
"I'm pleased to meet you," he said.
There were running footsteps and a woman dashed round the corner.
"Where are you, naughty boy?" she called. She stopped dead when she saw Alistair with his arms around the child.
Alistair straightened up. "Hello. Have you come to arrest this bandit? He's been lying in wait for unwary travellers."
The blonde managed a half smile. Alistair put her sickly expression down to shock at seeing a stranger with an uneven beard hugging her child.
"I'm Alistair, new in town," he said with a smile, trying to reassure her.
"I'm Lydia Dryden. I think you know my Uncle Levi?" she replied.
He nodded. That explained their presence here, he decided.
"I'm Duncan," the boy piped up.
"That's a good name," Alistair remarked. "I had a friend called Duncan."
"My ma and da did too."
Lydia reached out to take Duncan's hand. "We have to go, Duncan. Uncle Renny is waiting for us."
"Good to meet you," Alistair said. "Take care."
He watched as Lydia dragged a reluctant Duncan back the way she'd come. His own bastard birth hung on him like a heavy weight. Alistair knew exactly what it was like to be the secret son of a king. Poor Duncan. At least he still has his mother, he thought. Hopefully that will give him a better childhood than I had. He wondered if Lydia had met Cailan because of Duncan, or if Duncan had met the Drydens through Cailan. Alistair was terrible at judging children's ages. He reckoned Duncan was about four years old, maybe a bit less. Not old enough to remember his da, if he'd even been born in time to meet Cailan. It added an extra layer of sadness to Alistair and he decided he'd be a friend to Lydia and her son.
When he reached the sitting room, Shale and Oghren were gone, replaced by Deren.
"Sorted things out with Morrigan?" the Warden Commander asked.
"I think so. Well, she refused to turn me into a frog on the grounds it was unfair to frogs. I took that as a good sign."
Deren grinned. "Don't rely on it, lad. Women are fickle beasts." A cushion thudded into his chest.
"Don't listen to him, Alistair," Leliana instructed. "Deren is a bitter man. Women hate him."
"Ha! They hate me because they know they won't be able to keep me. I'm too sexy to be limited to just one woman."
"No. Women run away from you after they realise your bark is more impressive than your, er, bite." Leliana smirked in a way that clashed awfully with her Chantry outfit.
"Stop!" Alistair cried. "I'm too young and impressionable to hear a Chantry sister say disgusting things like that. I'll be warped for life."
Leliana flung a cushion at his head. Alistair caught it and returned it, with interest.
"Settle down, children. We've got business," Deren said.
Alistair sat on the sofa next to Leliana and waited for Deren to explain. The broken tea things were gone. There was still cake though, and he took another slice.
"My scouts have quartered Denerim and they can't get a sense of Amelie," the other warden said.
"She's not in Fort Drakon?" Alistair asked.
"We knew she wouldn't be there," Leliana answered. "Anora has a secret prison, we think. She has arrested many people who aren't in Fort Drakon or the palace dungeon. They have simply disappeared."
"Which is why we let Amelie get arrested," Deren cut in. "I was sure we'd be able to track her down anywhere in Denerim and find out what Anora's been up to."
"I'm certain Amelie isn't in Denerim," Alistair told them. He closed his eyes and concentrated. It was years since he had tried to use his connection with Amelie rather than block it. "But she isn't far."
"How do you know?" Deren demanded.
Alistair puffed out a long breath. "I'm not sure, to be honest. There's a link between us. It started during the Blight. It got stronger after we'd, um..."
"Become lovers?" Leliana finished.
"Something like that. Anyway, we can get a sense of where the other is, how far and what direction. It's similar to sensing darkspawn, but over much greater distances."
Deren nodded slowly. "That explains a few things I'd wondered about. Could you point my men in the right direction? Give them an idea of distance? Once they're close enough, they'll be able to track Amelie through her taint."
"No, I couldn't," Alistair replied in a firm voice. "I'll go with them, take them straight to Amelie."
"That's not happening."
"Fine. I'll go by myself."
The two wardens glared at each across the room.
"We told you, Deren," Leliana said. "But would you listen to Zev and me? No. You won't be able to bend Alistair to your will, not where Amelie's concerned."
"In the situation as I knew it then, Leliana, it seemed unlikely that Alistair gave a rat's arse about Amelie. Now, I see your point."
"Which is?" Alistair enquired in a nearly polite voice.
"That you're a headstrong idiot. That you won't rest until you're assured of her safety."
Alistair laughed sourly. "Ironic, considering I've spent three years running away from her. I only managed it by staying drunk for long periods, you know. Sobriety always pushed me back in her direction." He sounded jovial. His expression was anything but.
Deren leaned back in his chair, put his feet up on the table.
"I'd assumed that it was the intensity of the situation which led you and Amelie to fall for each other. I've seen it happen before and fizzle out soon enough. The danger and the excitement, the nearly dying repeatedly, it creates a bond that turns into love and sex easily enough." He stared appraisingly at Alistair. "Now I think you two would have ended up together whatever the circumstances of your meeting. You're too bloody alike, peas in a sodding pod, stubborn to the end."
Alistair grinned. "I couldn't possibly comment. Point me in the direction of my kit and we'll get going."
"I'm coming too!" Leliana declared.
"No!" the wardens said together.
"It's Chantry business, I'm coming along."
"It's Chantry business that was handed to the Grey Wardens to sort out," Deren replied. "You're staying."
Leliana pouted. Deren was unmoved. Alistair approved.
