The Interrogation Continues
Wisteria delivered the events of Amaranthine with little interruption. The finger tapping mage continued with his annoying habit. She thought she was fairly accurate although there were matters she skipped over, her involvement with Anders and Varel were two. She knew Varel would come up, she never tried to keep it secret. She hoped they wouldn't care so much as they did with Alistair, given his relative unimportance to their own cause. Although the obvious question anyone would ask her was whether she burned Amaranthine because she wanted to return to the Vigil and save her lover. How could she know herself exactly how much that weighed in her decision making? Certainly it was on her mind but so was everyone else at there and the strategic importance of the Keep as well.
When she got to the details of her first meeting with the Architect, the meeting was halted briefly. Half the gathering was dismissed. The only people in the room were Lorenzo and the contingent from Weisshaupt. The tension in the room became palpable.
She relayed how they were easily captured and thrown into a prison cell and how they managed to escape and what she learned of his plans. There were a few questions after this section of her story, probing her sympathies with the Architect. She replied honestly, that she hoped he was telling the truth and that he had found a way to block the call of the Old Gods. Having met an archdemon personally, she hoped no one else would ever have to repeat her experiences.
They recessed until the afternoon, as they had the prior day. She ate lunch with the rest of the Grey Wardens and actually enjoyed the experience. They laughed and joked and had a lot of questions to ask her. This time when they tried to replace her water with spirits she dumped the glass into the lap of the culprit and ordered him to bring her water. The Wardens enjoyed her revenge.
After lunch she went back to her room, hoping to get a nap before the next session started, but Lorenzo knocked at the door before she got settled in.
"Come in, Lorenzo," she invited him. She was worried, she didn't want any repeats of last night. She didn't exactly feel she had made a mistake but... she simply didn't want to bed him again.
He came in and shut her sitting room door.
Uh oh.
He pulled her into a fierce embrace and bent to kiss her. She stepped away.
"Lorenzo, do you remember last night telling me you had no expectations of me?"
He looked floored by her refusal. "Yes, my beauty."
"I need to hold you to that promise. I... can't do this now." She looked at him, apologizing with her eyes.
He sighed. "I am disappointed, I had hoped that part of my speech was just an unnecessary formality." He smiled a little gamely.
"But nonetheless, we should talk. I am concerned, Wisteria. From what I hear the Weisshaupt Wardens are suspicious. I'm afraid things may get unpleasant for you soon."
"Unpleasant? How? Aggressive questioning?"
"Oh definitely that. But the mages aren't here just to listen. They'll be questioning you too. There are blood magic rituals that can tear answers out of you, should they sense you are unwilling to discuss things openly."
Wisteria's brow wrinkled. "But I've been completely honest with them, doesn't that come across at all?"
"They are a suspicious lot. They will want to make sure there is no way you will ally yourself with the Architect. And I suspect they want to make sure you won't divulge any of this information about the Architect."
Wisteria's heart raced. Oh crap.
"I have nothing to hide," she lied. I do have something to hide now.
"I won't lie to you, Wisteria. Your life is at stake, and possibly the lives of your recruits."
Wisteria hoped her insurance plan was going to work, it certainly looked like she would be counting on it.
Lorenzo smiled at her and took her hand, gently kissing it. "But perhaps I might be able to help if things should look grim."
"Help how?" she asked.
"I could get you out of here and find a safe place for you."
"You would do that? That could endanger you!"
"Some things are worth the risk," Lorenzo squeezed her hand. "Let's see how these proceedings go and if it looks like you might be in danger, I will ensure you get away." He kissed her on the temple and left her.
Her head felt like it could explode. He certainly painted a grim picture, and if they were truly going to rip confessions out of her, she was surely going to damn herself. She sighed and threw herself down on her bed, hoping she could sleep for a little while.
*****
She awoke to tapping on her door.
"Commander, they were concerned when you didn't come back." Beriel told her. "I'm to fetch you back."
"I fell asleep again," she replied. "I didn't try to escape," she laughed at his discomfort. "Give me one moment to splash some water on my face."
She did that and re-braided her hair. She no longer looked like she had just awoken from a deep sleep. But she had that peaceful feeling she often had after a really good nap. She hoped it lasted.
The afternoon session was brutal. This time she was relating the events of the darkspawn attack on the city of Amaranthine and Vigil's Keep. It was everything she had anticipated and dreaded. The personal questions about Varel included. Fortunately it appeared that no one knew of her affair with Anders because no such questions arose.
She also figured out what the finger tapping mage was doing, he was evaluating her answers for honesty and conveying them to a note taker sitting next to him. She decided to test her theory. She answered one question incompletely, not revealing everything. He tapped three times. She answered one question fully and honestly. He tapped once. She answered one innocuous question with a complete lie and he tapped four times. So she had broken his code. What she really wanted was to break his fingers.
There were some surprises too. They actually seemed to agree with her decision to defend the Vigil and burn Amaranthine. That was the one thing she had agonized over the most. They discussed with her the feasibility of making the Vigil be the center of commerce for the Arling. She thought that was a good idea. It would certainly make defending commerce much easier to have it right there, under the watchful eyes of the Grey Wardens.
They broke for the evening before she got to the part of her encounter with the Broodmother and her second meeting with the Architect. This she was truly dreading.
Wishing to avoid Lorenzo, she dined in the mess hall with the Grey Wardens. She was actually enjoying their rambunctiousness and she could easily imagine Alistair fitting in with this bunch. There were a number of Wardens asking to spar with her and wanting to know about the training they had seen her involved with. She thought there was a lot of interest there for unarmed combat training. Fortunately no one tried to spike her water glass again.
After dinner she went straight to bed to try to catch up on sleep. She expected Zevran this time and when he woke her she greeted him with a smile. She skooched over without being asked this time. He lay on top of her blankets and drew her head to his chest, playing with her hair.
"Warden, you're going to need to get up for a bit," he told her. "I have some papers for you to sign and seal. But first, tell me about your day. I saw you get thrown about like a sack of flour in the training yard." He sighed, "You must be covered in bruises."
"Yes, but they are bruises I am proud to wear." She told him about Ustad Salvestro and what she was learning. She also told him that Beriel indeed remembered him. She quickly recapped the meeting events and her disturbing talk with Lorenzo and his offer to help her escape if she needed to get away.
Zevran grunted. "Well, maybe your Lorenzo isn't such a bad sort after all. But still, if you need to get away, I will help you with that. I still don't trust the man."
Wisteria smiled, Zevran never trusted men that seemed to like her.
"Get up Warden, you have a little work to do, then you can go back to your dreams."
She got up, signed and sealed all the copies of her missive he had had scribed during the day.
"Lets talk seriously a moment. If you need to show your hand to your Grey Warden friends here is what you say. Tell them that you have written up copies of your experiences with the Architect and there is enough information to cast a lot of doubt on whether or not the Grey Wardens will be necessary in the future. Let them know that you have a contact that will dispense this information to the heads of state around Thedas."
Wisteria nodded. "But what if they use magic to rip your name out of me? I suspect that's coming up soon."
"That's the beauty of this plan. I'm actually going to distribute these to a few people you don't know but I know I can trust."
Wisteria grimaced. "So more people are going to know? Are you sure they can be trusted?"
"Absolutely. Or at least as absolutely as anyone can be trusted. Oh yes, you need to tell them of this second level of safeguards so they don't come looking for me, just in case they figure out we have been working together. Knowing some of my friends they will employ ways to ensure that if something happens to them, the trap will still spring."
Wisteria looked sick with worry. Zevran ushered her back to bed and held her, comforting her. "Don't worry, my dear, soon this will be behind you. One way or another. You will be back at my estate and I will squire you around Antiva showing you off like the beautiful jewel you are."
Wisteria murmured into Zevran's shoulder. "Have I thanked you? I don't know how I will ever repay you."
"We will discuss that soon, hopefully." Zevran gave her an evil smirk and a low laugh. He left her with a chaste kiss and the Crow flew out her window again.
