"Why are you here, if you're just going to sit in the corner and scowl?"
"I haven't see anything but complaints from you, either."
This hadn't been one of my greatest ideas. Fired up with victory and the prospect of city gold – which turned out to be silver, but what are ya gonna do? – I'd proposed this little outing without thinking too hard about it, which is why we were currently all sitting at our usual table in the Hanged Man while Anders and Fenris sniped at each other.
I figured they wouldn't get along, but they could at least act like their mothers taught them some manners. Although I suppose neither of them remembered their mothers. This might explain a lot, I thought.
Ma didn't really like us going to the Hanged Man, but that didn't stop us. The Hanged Man was a five-story hotel in the middle of Lowtown, long past its glory days. It might even have been built during the days of the Imperium, who knows? Whoever owned the place paid both the mob and the cops to keep their distance, and for the most part only lip service was paid to the law. The place reeked of booze most of the time, and they tossed out the drunks once they started getting rowdy without even trying to hide them. The band was hot and the serving girls were mostly off-limits.
The private rooms were for parties only, not to let, but Varric managed to live there somehow anyway. I asked him how he could stand it once and he said he'd sleep when he was dead. The reality was he slept behind the desk at his bookshop.
Aveline and I were nursing our drinks while Anders was on his second and Merril on her fourth; she could put it away like water. Varric was flirting with one of the serving girls; he knew them all by name.
"So you spend your life treated like a slave, and then you turn right around and would inflict that on innocent people?"
"Innocent people who are capable of terrible things if they let their guard down for a moment. Innocent people who attract demons."
"That's no excuse. So they should just drown us at birth? They should have killed me? And Trip?"
I raised my eyebrows at Fenris, and he gazed at me thoughtfully. I held his gaze, although those eyes tended to make me forget what I was about to say next.
"I didn't say that," Fenris said eventually. "But mages need to be controlled."
"I am controlled," I said mildly.
"Why did you even invite him?" Anders asked. "He's just going to turn us all in to the Templars."
"He gave his word that he wouldn't," I said shortly. "Look, Fenris has every reason to dislike us. I simply refuse to prove him right." Oh, if it were that simple. I was getting tired of this.
"Merrill," I extended my hand, "would you care to dance?" The band had upped the tempo slightly, and I was bound and determined to enjoy at least some of my evening.
"I'd love to," she said gaily. Merrill hadn't a clue how to dance when we'd first started going to the Hanged Man, but she was completely unselfconscious and picked it up fast. I'd refused to be embarrassed by her flailing and now we could turn heads in admiration rather than exasperation once we got out on the dance floor.
Although she did insist on leading exactly half the time, which remained awkward as she was a good six inches shorter than me, but I accepted her quirks with good humour. Aveline wasn't the dancing type, and I really couldn't afford a girlfriend. Recently I wasn't even sure I wanted one any more and that was keeping me up nights.
The singer snapped her fingers and swung her hips and Merrill's eyes sparkled as we elbowed ourselves some room.
All went well for two songs and then I noticed Merrill kept craning her head to look around at the crowd.
"What are you doing?" I asked.
"Come on, Trip, where is she?"
"Where is who?"
"You've been dancing awfully flash all evening." She grinned up at me, "You're showing off for someone."
"How do you know it's not you?"
She laughed. I glanced over my shoulder, but Fenris was talking to Varric.
I was going to suggest returning to our table when the dance was interrupted by shouts of alarm near the front doors and a volley of deep, familiar barking.
"What the-?" The band kept playing but the dancers scattered as Horse, ignoring all shouting and attempts to grab him, bounded through the crowd and pawed the floor at my feet.
"Is this dog yours?" one of the bouncers asked, as my friends wandered over to see what the drama was about.
I folded my arms, "He won't be if he doesn't have a good explanation for all of this." Horse whimpered and hung his head before barking fiercely and growling. "He's trying to tell us something."
"Trip, he's a dog," Anders pointed out.
"He's a mabari," was my response. "I figured he was with Carver today. He took him when they went out this morning."
At the mention of my brother's name, Horse barked urgently.
"I think you're onto something, Trip," Aveline said. "Is Carver in trouble, boy?" Horse barked again, and turned in an excited circle.
"I can't leave him alone for two minutes without something going wrong," I said. "That's good enough for me; I'm gonna go find the sap."
"We're with you," Aveline said. No one disagreed.
We gathered our hats and coats and hurried out of the Hanged Man, Varric muttering soothingly to the staff who were less than impressed by Horse's sudden appearance.
"I dunno what they're so upset about," Varric chuckled. "If Horse is the worst visitor they've had this week I'll eat my boots."
"Most of them buy a drink before getting thrown out though," I pointed out.
With Horse leading us we couldn't take Merrill's fivver even if we would have fitted into it. Horse bounded ahead of us and we gave chase, ignoring the odd looks we received.
"Never a dull moment with you, is it?" Fenris commented calmly as we swung down an alleyway. I grinned, but it was a formality; I was worried about Carver.
"What was he doing, anyway?" Varric asked.
"Missing person," I explained, getting rather breathless. "The Mother wasn't telling us everything, but she was really worried for the boy."
Our client lived in the Alienage, but we were soon taking a turn further down towards Darktown. Carver shouldn't have gone here on an investigation alone, but if I was honest, I'd have done the same – especially with Horse at my side.
Darktown abutted the docks, and if you could stand the smell, there was actually direct access to the water. It had been a favourite route for smugglers of all kinds since Kirkwall was founded. We found ourselves hurrying along rotting piers and avoiding groups of tough looking young men just loitering. I was confident we could have handled almost anything here, but fighting would just slow us down.
I could hear the dark water lapping somewhere beneath our feet. Horse had his nose to the ground, and I held my breath every time he paused and cast about for the trail. If Carver was here somewhere, there was no way we'd ever find him without Horse's nose.
Horse eventually took us to a warehouse that fronted the water, and growled low in his throat.
"Have we got a plan?" Aveline asked.
"We bust in and ask for Carver. And the kid too, if they've got him. And if they don't hand them over, we beat them up."
"Simple and effective," Varric said. "Bianca approves."
"This place is creepy," Merrill said, "and it smells awful. What do you suppose they put in the water to make it smell like that?"
"Daisy, you don't wanna know."
I put my hand to the door and it swung open. I raised my eyebrows at the lack of security; I couldn't help but think it was deliberate. I couldn't hear anything, and we slipped in at least trying to remain silent. It was almost completely dark inside the warehouse. I closed my eyes and opened them a few times, trying to get some kind of dark vision, and eventually I saw a faint light coming from somewhere inside. The place creaked and groaned under our footsteps like a sailing ship. The timber of the walls and floor smelled of damp and salt; it was a wonder it was still standing.
We hurried through some deserted offices, only a few sticks of furniture remaining. Smelled like piss, too. What was Carver doing here?
The source of the light was the warehouse proper. Electricity wasn't on, but someone had hung some hurricane lanterns from the supporting columns. There wasn't any cargo here so we had a clear view across the room and right down to the steps leading to a pier. There was a rowing boat tied to a post; there was a channel that let the sea right through the building so no wonder the place was damp.
Standing waiting for us was a group of men, most of them dressed like dockworkers. Among them was a tall man with a moustache and a furred cap. As soon as we saw him, Fenris bared his teeth.
"A Magister," he growled. "Your brother has uncovered a Tevinter operation."
In front of the group, on his knees with his hands behind his back was Carver. At least he was alive.
I realised I could see nothing above us. The ceiling was dark, and I could only just barely see a walkway that encircled the room, one floor above us. Perfect for an ambush.
"How long will your shield hold, Anders?" I asked quietly.
He shot me a dubious look. "For all of us? Five seconds at best."
"Better make 'em count."
The Magister had obviously spotted us, and we had nothing to gain by waiting.
"It seems you weren't lying about a rescue effort," the Magister said, obviously addressing Carver. "Let's see if he really is a mage as you say."
"You told him about me?" I glared at Carver.
"I was trying to scare him into letting me go," Carver said, a bit sheepishly.
"Well it obviously didn't work, did it?" I stepped forward, "So, are you going to let my brother go or do I have to make you?"
"Perhaps there is another way," the Magister said, "You see, I will be returning to Tevinter tonight. You have heard of the Imperium, no doubt. Mages are welcome there; you would be too. You would be free."
"I've more than heard of Tevinter and their practices. Tell me, is this 'opportunity' one we will be allowed to refuse?"
"Well, not if you want to live."
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Anders brace himself. And then the warehouse erupted in a hail of gunfire, Bianca chattering on my left, Aveline and Fenris firing their weapons on my right, aiming at the unseen marksmen behind the muzzle flashes on the walkway above us.
Horse bounded forward, teeth bared, and leaped on the Magister, knocking him to the ground as Merrill and I turned our attention on the dockworkers. They didn't have guns. Unlucky for them. One swung a length of chain at Merrill and she ducked out of the way, grabbed the end and electrified it. I waded in, fists swinging; I knocked one of them back and he landed in the water with splash. I heard a clatter and I glanced over my shoulder to see Anders hit the floor, and the shield faded.
The guns fell silent. The dockworkers realised they were outnumbered and outgunned and started beating a retreat. Horse had his jaws around the Magister's neck, and he growled fiercely as the man tried to prise him off. The Magister wasn't game to use magic as all Horse had to do was bite down and he'd lose his neck.
"He knows where the kid is," Carver said as Varric started cutting his bonds. Aveline knelt beside Anders and the mage groaned, cradling his head in his hands. It didn't look like anything a shot of lyrium or a good night's sleep wouldn't cure.
I stood over the Magister and looked down at him "Are you going to talk?" I asked.
"Like hell," he gritted out.
I looked at Fenris. "I think I'll leave him to you."
Fenris spared me a brief smile before kneeling down beside the Magister and punching his fist through his chest, almost casually. I saw absolutely no expression on his face. The others fell silent as Fenris's tattoos flared blue. The Magister convulsed and coughed.
"He's gone. To Tevinter. He's already on the boat," the Magister said, now motivated.
Fenris looked up at me.
"The fact that you're still here makes me think the boat is too. Probably at anchor somewhere in the bay. And you've provided a boat for us, which was very helpful."
Fenris withdrew his hand, "What do we do with him?"
"He comes with us. We're gonna need him to find the boat. And if he doesn't co-operate, you can do that thing again." I really hoped he co-operated.
"I'm coming with you," Carver said, getting to his feet and patting Horse.
"I'm not," Anders said, as Aveline helped him to his feet.
"We can't all fit in the boat anyway," I said. "Carver, you're rowing, since you sat out the last firefight."
"I can't believe you brought everyone along to rescue me," Carver said and for once he had a smile on his face. "Thanks. All of you."
"Oh, it was just a coincidence really," Merrill said unhelpfully. "We were all at the Hanged Man when Horse found us. Oh, can I come too? I've never been in a boat before. It sounds exciting."
"Okay, but that is absolutely the last passenger. It's gonna be a squeeze as it is."
"We'll make sure Anders gets back safely. And Horse too," Aveline said. "Good luck."
