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"Stop squirming, that noise is driving me insane!" Alistair hissed at the clanking of my armor.

"I can't help it." I moved my shoulder, the uncomfortable pinch setting in with each movement. "Why the fuck did I agree to this? This damned armor is two sizes too small for me!"

"You stand out wearing that white-mail Heide knight armor." The Warden reminds me, moving to help adjust the tight leather bindings. "We have to look the part as guards- not just act it, mind you."

I ceased my complaints once we entered the castle where Queen Anora was staying in. It has come to Aedan's attention that someone in the Landsmeet wants the Queen dead, most likely to further jeopardize the whole gathering and publicly disgrace Arl Eamon.

It was, without a doubt, a scheme that only Lord Howe can form. It wouldn't have come as a surprise, given his reputation for backstabbing his allies whenever it's profitable.

I hate politics.

The elf handmaiden, a woman under the employ of the Arl, led us through the second-floor corridors and into the Queen's bedchamber. We survived an encounter with the outer patrols, maybe two, and those weren't like our brush with the Antivan Crows.

Ferelden security takes its job very seriously, and without my artifacts to protect me…it has been rather difficult, especially with the guardsman getup I was forced to wear for the occasion.

"The Grey Warden is here, milady." The handmaiden calls softly through the keyhole.

"Thank the Maker!" We hear the Queen exclaim from the other side. Footsteps approach the door, "I would greet you properly, but I'm afraid we've had a…setback."

"Aedan, you may not see it, but I sense a magical barrier over the door." I warned as the Warden got too close. "It may seem that Lord Howe was not content with simply leaving her under guard."

"Quite right." Queen Anora sighed.

"Can we undo the spell?" Aedan asked me.

"By we, you mean me of course." I grunted, "No. I haven't mastered the art of dispelling, you'd have to find another way."

"Find the mage who cast it, he will most likely be at Howe's side." Anora suggested.

"Teryn Howe will probably be in his rooms." The handmaiden informed, "They're at the end of the hall, to the left."

Wasting no time, we follow her directions and sprint down the wide corridor. Since this part of the castle was mostly empty due to the business outside, we didn't have to worry explaining ourselves to the guards should we be spotted. Not that we couldn't handle it, we just prefer avoiding an incident.

"Who goes there?!"

Well, mostly empty. A lone guard, watching a single cell built within the personal cellar of Lord Howe's room, rose from his chair and drew his sword as we entered. Avoiding an incident was impossible, as I now knew.

Suddenly, two hands grab the guard by the neck and drag him back into the bars of the cell. With one strong pull, and a sickening snap, the guard falls limp onto the floor.

Rummaging through the corpse, the man plucks out the keys and unlocks the cell door, changing quickly into the guardsman's gear before speaking to us.

Unkempt hair, faint stubble upon the jaw, the man must've been kept here for some time now. Another one unfortunate enough to cross paths with Lord Howe. "I thank you for creating such distraction, stranger. I have been waiting days for the opportunity. Do you think you could…" He stops for a moment, recognition dawning in his eyes as he spots Alistair among us. "Alistair, is that you?"

Alistair knows him as well, "You were at my joining! Jader, was it? Or Montsimmard?"

"I am Riordan, senior Warden of Jader, but born and bred in Highever and glad to be home." He introduced himself.

"How did Arl Howe capture you?" Aedan inquired.

"With an offer of hospitality and a laced chalice." Came the answer, "I was foolish to think Loghain didn't yet know who I was."

"Where is the Arl?" I asked.

"I saw him go into the dungeons, he may still be there." Riordan answered, suddenly looking a bit weak. "I will seek you out later, after I find a good physician."

With that, he leaves the prison, and we head further down to face the Arl. No doubt Aedan would seek to avenge his family, so I decided to leave the Arl for the Warden to deal with. Either way, I will get my fair share of souls this day.

"Who goes?" Another guardsman stands in our way.

Before Aedan could answer, I had already strode forward and stuck my sword through him. The others were too slow to react to the death of their comrade, and we make short work of them.

"No turning back now, we can't hide this many bodies." Alistair declared.

A mabari hound suddenly makes a running leap through the air, jaws aimed for my throat, and lands on my back. Weighing like a sack of rocks, my balance was impaired, and I toppled over, vulnerable to the hound's next attack.

Aedan was quick to come to my aid, stabbing through the mabari's side as he moved to tear at my neck.

I give the Warden an appreciative nod then returned to the frey, hacking and slashing my way to the next room. Much to my disgust, as it turns out, I stumbled upon a torture chamber.

Blood still adorned the racks where the Arl's victims were subjected to. One even remained tethered to the painful device when I got there. "Aedan! Help me with this one!" I called for the Warden.

Once finished with the prison guard, together, we release the prisoner and help him to his feet. Aside from some minor scratches and bruises on his wrists and ankles, he seemed to fare better than the ones who previously occupied this room.

"Was this supposed to be a lesson?" He groaned, "Did my father think it funny to leave me here so long before sending you?"

Naturally, the response left us confused, "Who are you?"

"Wait, oh, my father didn't send you?" He asked, "I am Oswyn, son of Bann Sighard, of the Dragon's Peak Bannorn. You have my heartfelt gratitude, serrah, and I assume as well, the gratitude of the entire Dragon's Peak Bannorn. If my father sent no one after me, I can only assume he does not yet know the true colors of the snakes he has allied with."

"Loghain's lapdog seems to know only how to make enemies these days." I commented.

"The way is clear." Aedan informs, "You are free, leave while you can." And the boy takes heed of the warning, promising to speak on our behalf to his father back home. This was good news, concerning the fact that we were also gathering allies to back us against Loghain in the Landsmeet.

"Feels good to accomplish two things at one time." Aedan declared, finding the master keys to free the prisoners unjustly placed within. Once he had done so, we moved on, pressing ever closer to face the Arl.

I go in first, then Aedan. Arl Howe was waiting for us.

"Well well, Bryce Cousland's little boy, all grown up!" He smirked, "And still trying to fit into daddy's armor. I never thought you would be fool enough to turn up here. Well…I never thought you'd live, either." As he spoke, his own entourage of guards gathered about for the confrontation. "I must say I'm surprised Eamon would condone you invading my castle and killing my men. Is he losing faith in the persuasive powers of his Landsmeet?"

"He might." I answered, "But his faith will grow once he hears of your death."

Rendon Howe scowls at my words and signals for his men to engage, "Should've chosen something better for your last words!"

I plant my feet firmly on the ground and met the charge, pummeling the Arl's soldiers backwards with a well-timed dash forward with my shield. Like a battering ram against a warped wooden door, the men fell apart, caught off-guard by the unorthodox manuever.

Zevran takes advantage of the distraction I've caused, doing what he does best and weaves in and out of the battle like a minstrel in a court of dancers, except this dance was with deadly intent.

I was in the thick of it all, but this doesn't seem to bother Alistair when he leaves the rear and joins me in the front. Together, we leave the majority of Lord Howe's entourage staggering, open for Aedan and his elven friend to finish off.

Then, we were left with the Arl himself.

Alistair was busy hacking away at the survivors, as was the Warden and the assassin, so I was left with handling the old man. "Have you said your prayers?"

"Have you?" He growled, showing a bit of defiance I didn't know his ailing body had, and lunged at me with the ferocity of a tiger. Backed into a corner, any man could've done that…yet very few live to tell the tale.

Arl Howe wasn't walking out of here alive. But I am not the one to deliver the killing blow. That was a right reserved for someone else.

Striking a brutal, yet not fatal, blow to the shoulder, I drove the treacherous snake of a man to his knees. He spat a spray of blood through firmly gritted teeth and glared up at me, "Maker piss on you, bastard! I…deserved…more!"

"Perhaps." I said, wiping his blood off my sword. "Warden, this one's all yours…"

Aedan, with grim anticipation written all over his face, took his place before the murderer of his family. "In the name of Alistair, the true king of Ferelden, I sentence you to death for the crimes you have committed against the crown and against the land. Anything to say in your defense, Lord Howe?"

"Fuck you…your mother…and your father!" The Arl cackled. "Fuck House Cousland!"

"Noted." Aedan answered, unfazed by the taunt, and lopped off the traitor's head with one swing of his blade.

I nodded my approval at how the Warden carried out both his revenge and duty to Ferelden at the same time. Not many men could've held it together that way, he earned my admiration. "That's one less to worry about."

"Yeah, though I think it's a little early to call me king just yet." Alistair quips.

"Don't spoil the moment, lad." I chided him, "How about it Aedan? We've killed the Arl, his mage pawn and his guards. Is it safe to assume we've lifted the ward off the doors yet?"

"I believe so." Aedan says with a nod, "Come on, we're not done just yet."

He was right to say so. Getting inside the castle and meeting up with the Queen was one thing, getting her out in one piece amongst all the alarmed guards of Howe's castle was entirely another.

She awaited at the open door of her bedroom wearing a guard's armor as a disguise. "My thanks, Warden." And here was the opposite of me. Whereas mine was two sizes too small, the Queen's armor was two size too large for her small frame. It makes one wonder how she managed to slip into it and walk at all.

"Come, your highness." Aedan beckons, "Time's a wasting."

We didn't get far, however. We thought the chaos downstairs would've gotten their attention elsewhere, but as fate would have it, Ser Cauthrien was waiting for us at the foot of the stairs- the only sure way out.

"Warden, in the name of the regent, I am placing you under arrest for the murder of Rendon Howe and his men-at-arms. Surrender, and you may be shown mercy."

"We don't have time for this." I muttered, calling upon a chain of lightning to debilitate the formation of guardsmen in front of the lady knight. My abrupt response was good start, catching them once again off guard.

But unlike Rendon Howe's men, this contingent lashes back quicker, showering our party with a hail of crossbow bolts. We disperse in separate directions, though Alistair chose to see to it personally that Anora got out of that tight spot unscathed. He took her by the arm and raised his shield to block the bolts that came their way, steadily but surely gaining way to the exit.

"Come on! Fight!" I roared at Ser Cauthrien, sheathing my sword and drawing forward the Duskcaller's spear. Seeing her men taking pause to reload their crossbows, I initiated a one-on-one duel with the knight, forcing her out of the safety of the circle of her men and into the thick of the battleground.

She handled herself pretty well, though I would've preferred a show of Fereldan might on the allied side instead of this. Funny how things work sometimes.

Suddenly, Cauthrien sees my spear coming and parries the strike, thrusting her own weapon through me as a result. A victorious smile appears on her face as she moves to retrieve her blade from my chest, but it slowly fades when she realizes that I was still standing upright…

I bash her face in with my shield and knock her back, prying the blade out without so much as a chirp.

With my spear dropped, I was left with a bare hand, so I picked the knight up by the throat and give it a squeeze. Cauthrien makes a violent hacking sound as my grip tightens around her windpipe, the threat of crushing it forcing the defiance out of her eyes and replacing it with a desperation I've seen so commonly amongst the living. "Mercy…please…"

"No." I frowned, tightening my grip even further.

"Langerd! Stop!" Aedan shouted.

There, I noticed for the first time the reason for the sudden quiet that settled in. The battle was already over, and the survivors on Cauthrien's contingent had surrendered…

"Let her go." The Warden puts a hand on my shoulder, "She's a loyal soldier to Ferelden, only following what she thinks is right."

I slowly acknowledge my friend's words, relaxing my grip and letting the dazes woman to drop to the bloodied floor. Pain suddenly erupts from the massive gash in my chest, and I do my best to ignore it, growling quietly instead of howling in agony. If he wants to be merciful, I'll respect his decision. His funeral, if this bites us in the ass.

"T-Thank you…" Ser Cauthrien coughs, remaining on the floor as the party escorts the unharmed Queen out of Rendon Howe's castle and back to the safety of Arl Eamon's castle.

"Want Wynne to have a look at that wound once we get to home?" Aedan inquired.

"No need." I replied, "I've feasted on the souls of the dead, enough to heal me before we even get to the threshold."

Aedan remains silent, obviously disgusted with my eerie needs as an undead, though I appreciated him not saying anything about it.

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