Once again thanks to all those who favourited/followed but biggest thanks to my fabulous reviewers: LadyMimzy, likarian, Musicalrain, YunikuRebekit, Eve Hawke and FenZev!
Easy times are about to end for the group. Now we start their struggles in earnest!
Disclaimer: I do not own DA:O or any of its characters. I do however own all of my own characters and my own little nation of Nileesa.
Chapter 8: The Calm Before
Alistair and Arria had got about five hours sleep when they were shaken aware by Elissa. "There's something you guys need to see," she had said with a happy smile on her face. Her obvious joy had stopped alarm from building up, but had instead piqued their curiosities. As they walked with her to the other side of the camp Arria spotted Roderick talking to two much smaller figures. Figures that she recognised from Lothering.
"Bodahn! What are you and Sandal doing here?" she greeted. When she had spoken to the merchant dwarf after their rescue in Lothering, he had declined her offer to travel with them, unsure of keeping company with Grey Wardens, not that she had blamed him in the slightest. She had been upfront and honest with him, not wanting to conceal the fact both he and Sandal would probably be in a lot of danger should they choose to join them.
"Ah-haha! Lady Arria! I have been looking for you: you are your friends are a tough group to find," answered the elder dwarf in his usual upbeat manner.
"But why…?"
"Bodahn has decided that he wants to travel with us. All he asks is that we protect he, Sandal and his caravan on the road, and he'll provide supplies for us!" chipped in Elissa, clearly excited at the idea.
Arria shared a quick look with Alistair and the surprised smile on his face portrayed his own thoughts. She faced Bodahn with a curious smile of her own. "Why the change of heart?"
"Well, my boy and I ain't the fighting sorts, but you lot are. We can help each other out in these tough times; and not only will I provide supplies for you and your group, I offer you a special discount too! Everything you will ever want or need for rock bottom prices!"
All four of the humans around him chuckled. "A merchant by and trade and at heart," whispered Alistair into Arria's ear. She couldn't help but chuckle.
"We would be delighted to have you join us, Bodahn. You too Sandal. Please, make yourselves comfortable," welcomed Arria as she held out a hand for the dwarf to shake, which he took heartily.
"Well then, let me present a gift of gratitude to all of you: tents and extra gear for sleeping. Take them, I insist!"
The group were shocked, but nevertheless thanked the dwarf for his generosity. He bowed theatrically to Arria who laughed at the display as she and Alistair walked off, distributing tents to the other members of the group. There were enough tents for everyone to have one of their own, and Elissa blushed in embarrassment when Arria handed her one for both herself and Rod with a suggestive wink. Alistair had handed one each to Leliana and Sten at the edge of camp while Arria walked over to give one to Morrigan.
The witch's attention was captivated by a book and took no notice of Arria as she placed the supplies next to her own fire. The Warden wandered behind her and took in what was written on the pages: no doubt Morrigan assumed that she was unable to read the ancient script as she continued to ignore the younger woman. Oh I'm going to enjoy this, thought Arria as she realised just what it was Morrigan was reading about.
"And so it was that Dumat, the ancient Dragon of Silence, became the first Archdemon, corrupted and twisted by the darkspawn to be the herald of a new age, and bring about the first Blight," spoke Arria from the book, almost amused as Morrigan slowly comprehended what she was reading and snapped the book shut. "Well, and here I thought you were simply tagging along, determined to do your own thing." Arria dropped the sarcasm and turned serious. "Are you reading up on how to stop the Blight?"
Morrigan glared at the younger woman. "Where did you learn to read the ancient scripts?"
She shrugged. "Tis common knowledge among my people, Morrigan. As I'm sure you have figured out, I am not of Ferelden descent, thus have different knowledge to them."
"Yes, you are not nearly so narrow-minded, nor are you so oblivious." Her cat-like eyes pierced into Arria's own, as if to decipher the riddle which was the woman before her. "You have been taught to be observant, just as I have, and you are very good at it. It seems you are also an adept actress, for you have all of these fools falling for your act."
"And what act might that be?" asked Arria, her voice suddenly lacking any warmth.
"I can feel the Fade surrounding you, as if it has touched your very soul. You are no mage, yet you have been trained in the arts of magic; if I didn't know better I would say you could cast your very own spells, though you possess no staff."
"This concerns you how…?"
"You are dangerous, not only to us but to Ferelden itself. You are something new, something I have never come across nor read about. I'm beginning to wonder just who and what it is that you are."
Arria snarled and glared back at Morrigan. "What I am is of no concern to you Morrigan. You are not all-knowing, and despite what you may think, I am not some malevolent force. Yes, I have had some training in the ways of Spirit Magic, but cannot wield it. I have been taught to resist Blood Magic, and how best to combat it. My arts may seem alien to you, but they are not, as you seem to hint at, some sign that I am an abomination waiting to happen. I can control myself, and am no danger to anyone here but I do warn you of this: if you should even so much as hint at the conversation which just occurred here, despite what I said to Flemeth about ensuring your safety, I will end you." With no doubt left as to sincerity of her threat, Arria stormed away, unaware of the smile which flitted across Morrigan's face at their encounter, as if the younger woman had just passed some sort of test. Satisfied for now, she resumed her reading.
The young Warden reigned herself in as she approached the main camp again, but was too slow at dispelling her fury from her eyes as Alistair approached. "What happened?" he asked as soon as he was close enough his amber eyes looking deep into her blue ones.
She growled in her throat and shot an icy glare behind her as she answered. "Just Morrigan being her usual charming self, nothing more." His eyes probed hers a little more but when he saw that she was telling the truth he decided to let it go, allowing the smirk which had previously been on his face before he had seen her anger find its way back. Arria was a little unsettled at the look. "What…?"
"Oh, I was just a little curious about the interaction between you and Bodahn earlier. Why was he bowing to you?"
Arria giggled in response. "Ah, Bodahn told me back in Lothering that I reminded him of the daughter of a noble he used to trade with years ago across the Waking Sea, back when he first left Orzammar. As such, I think he feels he should treat me like nobility."
"Not telling me something, are we?"
She elbowed him lightly. "Hardly, I'm just of common birth Alistair, nothing special about me: though I suppose being the daughter of nobility would be pretty nice. I should maybe ask Lissa about it sometime."
"Yeah…"
Arria focused in on the sort of dazed look Alistair had about him, and realised that maybe this conversation had struck a nerve. "Say it."
Alistair's eyes lost their glazed look and he re-focused on her. "Huh?"
"There was something in your eyes there that says maybe there is something you aren't telling me…?"
A momentary panic took over Alistair's eyes. "How do you do that?"
"An older brother who taught me far too well, now spill." He sighed deeply, warring internally over whether to tell her the truth, but a memory stirred within her before he could decide. "Does this have something to do with when you said to Flemeth that Arl Eamon raised you?"
He spluttered a little before answering. "Did I say that? I meant that dogs raised me: giant slobbering dogs from the Anderfels, a whole pack of them in fact."
Arria smiled and played along. "Oh? That must have been difficult for them."
"Well they were flying dogs you see. Surprisingly strict parents, and devout Andrastians to boot."
"Uh-huh…" She smiled gently and took his hand lightly, not missing his internal struggle as he looked away. "Alistair, please…I want to get to know you too. Our past is what shapes us, but it isn't what defines us."
He sighed and gripped back, his sign to her that he was willing to try. "Let's see, where do I start? I'm a bastard, and before you start making any smart comments…" He noticed her bite her lip but she didn't bother hiding the sparkle of mirth in her eyes, "I mean the fatherless kind. My mother was a serving girl at Redcliffe Castle who died giving birth to me, after which the Arl took me in. He didn't need to, but he was good to me: he put a roof over my head and made me feel like I was family." She sensed there was some sort of pain to come yet, the reason for his insecurities. "When the Arl married a young woman from Orlais, she despised the rumours that pegged me as his bastard. So, at the first chance she got, she had me shipped off to the Chantry and out of the picture."
Arria felt immense sadness at how he'd been treated. "What a horrible thing to do to a child."
Alistair shrugged. "Maybe, but I can see now that I was a threat to her, and I'll bet her wondering on whether the rumours were true is what caused it. I remember…I used to have an amulet with Andraste's holy symbol on it, the only thing left of my mother's. When I was sent away, I was so furious that I ripped it off and shattered it as I threw it at the wall." A pained expression came across his face. "Such a stupid thing to do…In that moment I lost all I had of my mother and I had lost what little family I had ever known."
She stroked the back of his hand with her thumb. "How old were you?"
"Only ten at the time."
"So what happened after that?"
"I was raised in the Chantry, during which I was trained as a Templar. I hated living there, but the training at least gave me a way to…cope."
"To cope with being alone." At his slow nod she drew him in for a gentle hug. Alistair was surprised that she had initiated the move, but slowly wrapped his arms around her tiny waist as she whispered into his ear. "You aren't alone anymore, and neither am I. We'll end this thing together, I promise you." It had taken her this long to see just how much reassurance he needed, but now that she knew, she was going to help him heal just as he was helping her. His road would not be nearly so long, but that didn't mean it wasn't just as difficult.
Laughter from nearby caught their attention and the separated to see that Roderick had tangled Elissa up in the canvas of the tent in the midst of putting it up and was now tickling her mercilessly. "No, Rod-Aha-Please stop!" she just managed to squeak out as she was reduced to mass of giggles. The sounds had caught the attention of Leliana, who left Sten to guard on his own as she investigated. When she found the disturbance she began giggling herself.
Roderick smiled over to the two Wardens and nodded his head towards Elissa. "Fancy giving me a hand here Wardens?"
"No!" squealed Elissa at the thought of getting tickled by not only Roderick but the other two as well.
Alistair smiled mischievously at Arria before turning back to the couple. "Sure, why not?"
Elissa shouted out as Alistair joined in with both Arria and Leliana laughing on the side lines. "Arria, help!" called the black-haired woman in a single moment of breath before the two men ganged up on her again.
Arria smirked at Leliana, at which the sister raised an eyebrow before Arria whistled. Carou perked up at the sound and stood ready for a command. "Carou!" she called, drawing the attentions of both men. While as a pair they may not have been afraid of Arria the Mabari was a different story… "Laress."
As soon as the hound broke into a run, so did the two men. "Oh no no no! No fair Arria!" complained Alistair as he took off into the trees with Rod hot on his heels. She nearly doubled over laughing at the sheer panic on their faces.
Leliana struggled to get her giggling under control as Elissa managed to untangle herself and join them. "You didn't tell him to attack them, did you?" asked Elissa breathlessly.
Arria took a few deep breaths and she got her laughter under control. "Of course not, I told him to go play." The other two women giggled a little, then burst into full on laughs as they heard the two men shouting at the dog in the distance.
Elissa's laughter died away slightly and Arria noticed the melancholy look on her face. "What is it Lissa?"
The younger woman wiped away a lone unwanted tear. "I just wonder how Carou would have got on with my own Mabari, Hallai. We lost her in Highever and I wish…I miss her so much…" Elissa received hugs from both Arria and Leliana at the revelation, comforting her as the woman continued to deal with her grief. Arria had almost forgotten that Elissa and Roderick were grieving just as much as she and Alistair were at having lost their home, and it gave her new drive to see Howe ended sooner rather than later: the bastard was going to die for his crimes, that she swore.
When Carou reappeared looking quite smug, the girls were all confused. It was only when the two men reappeared half a minute later covered in slobber did they understand and collapsed back into laughter. It wasn't too long before they joined them and the group's laughter rang out through the night, bringing a small glimmer of joy before the road ahead had the chance to snuff it out.
Once dawn had broken and the group were all awake again did they plan out their next move. It was decided that they should head first to Redcliffe and obtain the support of Arl Eamon before deciding on their next destination, hoping that the Arl himself would have some ideas to that end. Morrigan and Sten had remained silent throughout the discussion apart from one instance where they both expressed their preferred course of action: a head on fight. While many of the group had a great desire for such a thing, logic won out in that they just could not compete with Loghain's sheer mass of soldiers. Everyone there may be skilled fighters, but they still were not enough.
Two more days of travelling had brought them to Redcliffe, with everyone feeling refreshed and happy, save for Alistair. His conscience had been gnawing at him since he had confessed his past to Arria; well, half his past. He had still left out his greatest secret and with Redcliffe, the place where he had spent his early years, looming fast, he knew he was going to have to confess soon, lest Arria find out from another source the truth about his birth. His heart grew heavy as he saw the village come into focus from the cliffs above and knew that the moment for the truth had come. Before they had the chance to descend he grabbed Arria's hand and guided her towards him. She looked at him curiously and grew worried at the turmoil she saw in his amber eyes. "Alistair?" she asked quietly, almost afraid of what could be troubling him so.
"Can we talk for a second? There's…something I need to tell you," he replied sullenly. Arria called Elissa and Rod who were currently leading the group and told them to give her five minutes. Once that was taken care of Alistair led her down a small path on the side of the mountain to a small ledge. It had been invisible from above and Arria marvelled at the fabulous view of Redcliffe it gave. "I used to come here when I needed to get away: when I needed to hide. But there's no hiding from this." He faced Arria with a determination in his face, hoping that his courage didn't fail him now. "You know when I told you about my mother? That she was a serving girl in Redcliffe castle and that Eamon took me in when she died? You never asked why Eamon did it."
"I…I assumed it was because he felt it was his duty: a woman in his service died leaving her baby without a mother, and he did all he could in the situation. Alistair you told me that Eamon wasn't your father so why…?"
"Eamon is the brother of former Queen Rowan, so he's the brother in law of King Maric…which I suppose makes him, my uncle, in a manner of speaking."
Arria froze. "Wh-What?"
Alistair sighed, knowing he had to get these words out, if nothing else than to fully accept them himself. "My father…was King Maric." At Arria's hurt expression he hastily added his reasons. "Look, I would have told you before but I just-I wanted you to think of me as just Alistair, not the bastard son of the last King of Ferelden. My parentage doesn't mean anything to me, I've been raised as a commoner and told that is all I should ever expect from it: I have no claim to the throne whatsoever. Arria I-I'm sorry, I should have told you before…"
Arria turned away from him, reeling from the revelation. She felt hurt that he hadn't told her the truth. But when you think of how little you've told him… Alistair knew only a snippet of her past, and had just revealed to her probably the biggest secret he held. A flicker of shame ran through her at the thought, but there were certain things she couldn't tell him, not yet anyway. With how their friendship was developing it was very possible that she might have the confidence to tell him someday, though she didn't want him to look at her differently once he knew the truth.
Alistair had just said it himself, he didn't want Arria to look at him differently knowing the truth, and she was going to damn well make sure she fulfilled that wish. And if she could prove that to him then maybe he could look at her the same way he did now, even knowing what her past held. She kept her back to him as she spoke, hoping that her voice didn't betray her inner conflict. "So…you're not only a bastard, but a royal bastard?" she finished, finally facing him again with a sparkle in her eyes.
He laughed quietly. "Yeah, I am. You…don't think differently of me now, do you?"
She pretended to ponder on it. "Hmmm, still a Grey Warden? Check. Still a lovable dolt? Check. Still the person I depend on more than anything in this world…?" The shock in his eyes at her declaration didn't go amiss and she smiled at him warmly. "Check. Nope, I don't think of you differently, it just adds another layer to what makes you, you." As was customary between them now in serious discussions, Arria took his hand and Alistair gripped back firmly a hopeful smile on his face. "I told you this the other night, Alistair. Your past may shape you, but it doesn't define you. I hold those words close to my heart and I hope you can too. We are shaping our own destinies here. Okay we will have to face that Archdemon at some point, there is no escaping that: but how we get there is our own choice, and the past does not need to impact that. So what you are King Maric's son? Do you think telling that to the Archdemon is going to make it run away in fear?"
He burst out laughing. "Now that would be funny to see."
"Just like you dancing the Remigold in a dress would be."
His smile faltered slightly. "Oh yeah, forgot I said that."
Her eyes twinkled. "I haven't, and I think I might just have to see that happen someday." The return to their usual banter lightened the mood, but thoughts of the King…Arria gasped and brought a hand up to Alistair's face. "I can't believe I didn't see it before."
"See what?"
"The similarities between the two of you: between you and Cailan. I wasn't looking before but now that I knew you were siblings-"
"Half siblings."
"You wouldn't know it just from looking at the two of you. The Theirin bloodline must be pretty potent."
"Yeah, I guess so…"
"There is one thing we haven't thought about in all this." He looked at her, urging her to go on. "With Cailan dead, that makes you next in succession."
Alistair looked away. "Don't remind me, please. It's bad enough that I've known since Ostagar without you having the knowledge too."
"What do we do then? It's pretty clear to me that you don't want to be King, but we can't let Loghain go on as Regent, we need to do something."
"Eamon has the exact same claim to the throne as Anora does: through marriage, and Eamon is a well-respected and popular man. We need to talk to him about this, trying to puzzle this out ourselves isn't going to get us anywhere."
"Right. So…not hiding anything else are we?"
"Apart from my unholy love of fine cheeses and a minor obsession with my hair, no. Just the prince thing," he replied, drawing a small laugh from Arria. "You aren't upset, are you?"
"No, I understand. I have no right to feel hurt when there is so much I haven't told you, and I hope can gain the same courage you have and reveal it someday."
Alistair pulled her in for a hug and she went willingly. "I hope so too, and thank you. I feel unworthy of such a compliment." As she pulled back he lay a feather light kiss on her forehead, leaving her smiling. Never before had Alistair had a friendship with such physicality, but it left no doubt as to their closeness. He clamped down on the stray thought that it might be due to something deeper: now was not the time to be thinking of such things. "Come on, we need to get to Eamon."
Once they arrived in Redcliffe, the group saw just what horrors had befallen the small village. A young man had taken them to see Murdock, the village mayor, who had filed them in on what had happened in the past few nights. Hordes of undead were attacking the village, and with the numbers of villagers now only in the thirties, it left them with very little hope of surviving the night, not without some expert guidance since there had been no word from the castle for days. Upon hearing what needed to be done, Arria had split her group into several smaller bands to help around the village. Elissa and Roderick were off to see a dwarf called Dwyn and try to convince him to stand with the militia while Leliana and Morrigan were to see the knights led by Ser Perth, hoping to find out key areas of weakness. Arria had spoken with Sten quietly and the qunari had agreed to look for major points of weakness in Redcliffe's defences, as well find potentially advantageous spots for the militia to make their stand. That left Arria, Alistair and Carou to talk with the Revered Mother and see if there was any way to fortify the Chantry to better protect what citizens remained who could not fight. Upon seeing there was no way to strengthen it further, they came to the conclusion it would probably be best for the bulk of the fighters to make their stand in the square outside, and preparations began in earnest.
It was while the two Wardens were helping to repair a barricade across one of the windows that a new figure entered the Chantry, one who would bring grave news to them. "I heard from Murdock that there were two Grey Wardens here, may I have the honour of meeting such prestigious persons?"
"I wouldn't exactly prestigious is the right word, Bann Teagan," replied Alistair as he went to greet the other man who was also his uncle.
"Alistair? By the Maker, it really is you, isn't it!" Teagan embraced Alistair heartily and the younger man reciprocated the gesture. "It's been a long time, my boy. Look at you, a young man and a Grey Warden to boot. You've done well for yourself."
"I've not done it all on my own, Teagan. Arria?" he beckoned as he saw his younger companion jumping down from the scaffold she had stood upon and meet the Bann. "Arria, this is Bann Teagan, Arl Eamon's brother. Teagan, this is Arria Rivell, the only surviving Grey Warden along with myself, and probably the reason I'm still here rather than having died with Cailan at Ostagar."
Arria blushed at the introduction and elbowed Alistair gently. "He exaggerates, my lord. It's an honour to meet you, Bann Teagan."
"Oh please, my lady, the honour is mine. It takes a woman of great strength and patience to keep a reign on Alistair, I am sure."
"Yes, well he certainly has his moments."
"Hey!" cried Alistair indignantly. "That was revenge for before, wasn't it?"
"But of course," she smiled sweetly, biting back a laugh as she saw him fight the urge to stick his tongue out at her.
"I take it back, you're just as bad an influence as he is, and probably the best thing for him," laughed Teagan as he watched the Wardens interact. It was clear to him that they shared a deep bond, and he hoped that level of trust between them would see them through the trials ahead. "You could not have come at a better time: with Eamon incapacitated we will need your leadership to get us through the night."
"Incapacitated?" asked Alistair, a deep worry knowing at his gut. Arria took his hand as she always usually did, but her grip was slightly tighter than normal, giving away her won worry at the announcement. "Teagan what has happened to Eamon?"
"Eamon is deathly ill, and has been since before this whole mess started. That is the reason for the struggles in the village: all of our soldiers are out searching for a way to save Eamon's life, and we have been left defenceless. We still do not know what happened to him, and no-one has answered any of my shouts to the castle; it is entirely possible that all within are already dead." He didn't fail to notice the flicker of pain across Alistair's face or the defeat on Arria's. "But we can worry about all this later, right now we need to see the village through the night. I understand your people are already helping to prepare."
"Yes, we have sent some our group to help as best we can, hopefully they will have had some success. We should go talk to them and see what has happened." It was at that moment that Arria noticed Leliana dashing out of the Chantry doors. "I hadn't even noticed Leliana coming in. I wonder what she needed."
"I shan't keep you any longer. Good luck with the preparations and Maker's blessings upon you. I will see what I can do to get the villagers to safety."
Alistair and Arria left Teagan to it and stepped outside to see the progress on the fortification of the square. Barricades had been set up and a large bonfire prepared for the onslaught. At Arria's suggestion vantage points for archers had been set up on the roofs of some houses and debris piled on the jetties to bottleneck any undead which chose to surface from the lake. Sten then reported to her about a possible point to ambush forces coming from the cliffs next to the windmill which Arria agreed with, then asking the qunari to help with the building of the barricades. Elissa and Roderick soon returned and informed them of their success in convincing Dwyn to join them in battle before asking them to search the village for a young boy named Bevin, who had gone missing from the Chantry earlier that day. His sister Kaitlyn had been frantic when the Wardens were in the Chantry earlier and had promised to look for him. The couple nodded and left as Murdock approached asking for the pair to help convince Owen, the blacksmith, to fix the militias armour. It seemed the mayor had been unable to bring him around and hoped they might have a bit more luck. Arria's eyes drifted to the sun, which was beginning to get very low in the sky. They didn't have a lot of time to convince him before they ran out to make the repairs. With a confirmation to try, Arria and Alistair went to the blacksmith's door. Before there was an answer she turned and smiled to Carou who was watching them closely. He barked happily and then settled again, happy that his mistress was safe for now and didn't need his help.
"Go away…just leave me be. I told you I don't want nothing to do with it!" slurred a voice from inside.
Arria shared a look with Alistair before speaking back. "Owen?"
"Who are you? You some lackey of Murdock's come to convince me into helping 'em? Jus' get lost, you hear me!"
"Please Owen, I just want to talk with you. Can't you let me in? Talking through a door isn't exactly ideal."
There was no answer for several seconds and Arria was about to try a different tactic when the bolts on the door were undone. A gentle push of the door allowed the two Wardens to enter, though what first assaulted their senses was the smell of alcohol: not something you would traditionally associate with a smithy. "Somebody's been drinking," stated Alistair quietly, at which Arria nodded. They would have to be careful here as a drunk man could turn on them at any second.
"All right, so I let you in. What you wanting?" snapped the drunken man.
"Why have you locked yourself in here, Owen? You don't strike me as a cowardly man, so you must have a reason for it," began Arria, hoping she was judging the man before her right.
At the pained expression on his face, it seemed she had. "My girl, Valena, she's trapped up in the castle. I've not heard a thing in days, and Murdock refuses to send men to look for her. Without her, I haven't got anything worth living for…"
"If we find Valena, will you help Murdock's men defend the village?"
"And how are you going to find her?"
"We can't tonight, but if we survive this attack, I swear to you tomorrow that we will set out for the castle with the intention of finding her."
"Not good enough! I want a promise! A promise that you'll bring her back to me."
Arria looked torn for a second, and felt Alistair's hand grip her shoulder in support. "I can't promise you that we will bring her back, but I can promise you that we will try with everything we have."
Owen thought this over for a few seconds before a new light came into his eyes. "You're an honest woman, and if nothing else you've given me hope. Right then, time to get the smithy going! We've got a lot of work to do to be ready for nightfall."
"Thank you, Owen." With that, the pair of them took their leave.
"Arria, do you really think there is any chance that Valena could still be alive?"
"We don't know one way or the other, Alistair, so yes there is a chance. And at least we could give him hope: you know just how potent that can be." Alistair nodded in acceptance as Elissa and Roderick re-joined them. "That was fast."
"We found Bevin in his house, clinging to this sword." Elissa brought forth a beautifully crafted blade from her back. "Once we brought him back to Kaitlyn we bought this off them for three sovereigns. Once this whole mess is over, that should give them a chance to start again."
Arria nodded. "How much of your remaining coins did you give to them?"
"Almost all," admitted Roderick. "We maybe have thirty silver left."
"We have about four sovereigns, but that is to split between all of us," added Alistair.
"Even with Bodahn's discounts that doesn't leave us an awful lot to spare."
The conversation was ended as Leliana and Morrigan joined them. "Leliana, what were you in the Chantry for earlier? I saw you leaving but couldn't catch you to ask what you were doing," inquired Arria.
Leliana grimaced. "The knights wanted the protection of Andraste, but the Revered Mother said she has blessed them as much as she could. All she could think of which might give them a morale boost were some amulets with Andraste's holy symbol on them, but it feels like trickery to me."
"Why not use it if it will succeed?" stated Morrigan. "We are in desperate times, we cannot afford to let morality cloud our path."
Arria could positively feel the anger radiating off Alistair and judging by the faces of everyone around them she guessed that they felt the same way about Morrigan's statement. By now Arria had realised that Morrigan's sense of right and wrong was very different to their own. It was much more…practical. It was going to make for some heated encounters further down the line, of that she was sure. If we make it through tonight, she thought absently. "Right, that's almost everything ready. We need to talk to Murdock and see if anything else needs doing. Head to the Chantry for now and we'll form a battle plan when we return." The rest of them moved over to Carou, who was still in his sentry position outside the structure. She turned to Alistair before walking off. "Come on, let's hope that was the last thing we need."
As it turned out, that was the last, and Murdock thought the militia could now be ready by nightfall. Arria told him to gather them outside of the Chantry to go over a battle plan for an hour's time and he nodded. After asking about Bann Teagan's whereabouts from the mayor, the two Wardens made the climb up to the windmill to join both he and Ser Perth. "Are we prepared?" asked the Bann.
"As we'll ever be," answered Alistair. "Let's just hope it's all enough."
"What do we do now then?" wondered Ser Perth aloud.
"We wait for nightfall," stated Arria. "I will be going over a battle plan shortly outside the Chantry, I would request you to both be there." The pair nodded in affirmation and went to join the rest of the village.
Once they were gone, Arria wandered slowly over to the edge of the decking and surveyed the people below her. Memories of the last day of her people touched on the edge of her mind: of planning for a battle they were almost certain to lose. The difference this time was that they had a realistic hope of victory. Their preparations would hopefully turn the tide to their favour, and maybe they could save what little remained of the village. And once this was over, their next destination was the castle, hoping beyond all hope that those inside were still alive.
Alistair stepped next to her and followed her line of sight out to the horizon. "You're trembling, I can feel it through the wood."
She chuckled. "Of course I'm scared. The lives of all these people are in our hands and I'm petrified we are going to let them down. What if this ends up being too much and we should have evacuated the village?"
"That wasn't an option and you know it: if we had run then whoever is left alive in the castle was doomed."
"Didn't you ask me not that long ago if I truly believed that anyone could be alive in that castle?"
"Well, you managed to give Owen hope, why can't I sponge some of that too?" answered Alistair with a smile. Arria crossed her arms and immersed herself deep in her thoughts as she watched rainclouds forming in the distance. Great, just what we need. She jumped slightly as she felt his arm curl around her waist and pull her into his side. "We can't afford to fall here, Arria. All of Ferelden is counting on us to end this Blight. We will be victorious."
Arria leant into him and tried to believe in that as hard as he did, banishing her memories of her past failures as she focused on the here and now. The people of Redcliffe were the ones that needed her now, not the people of Merlinne, and she had a job to do. This time she wasn't a soldier, she was leading. With her resolve hardening she looked into Alistair's eyes and saw his belief there: belief in her leading them to victory. A silent vow passed between them to ensure they both made it out of this alive, and with that, they turned their eyes to the sinking sun.
The night was nearly upon them: their time of reckoning was fast approaching.
Phew, longest chapter yet! You'll have to wait for next time to see the battle of Redcliffe, and that is going to be a doozy to write, but hopefully I've given you all enough to keep you interested ;) As always, please let me know your thoughts and where I can improve.
Negative Angel
