Disclaimer: Dragon Age belongs to Bioware
Chapter 10
A knock woke Zevran from the reverie of sleep, but before he went to answer it, he glanced at the young woman in his arms. She slept peacefully, undisturbed by the rapping upon the door, which rang out a second time. With a sigh, he pushed himself off the bed and walked over to open it.
Waiting at the door was Saura, and upon seeing him her eyes widened in curiosity. Despite this, she informed, "King Alistair departs today; breakfast is ready."
"We'll be down in a moment," Zevran told her with a knowing smirk and wink before closing the door and returning to the bedside.
He sat beside Niandra and placed a hand upon her arm, caressing it with his thumb.
"Wake up, little mage," he cooed into her ear. "It's time to eat."
With an incoherent mumble, she stretched and opened her eyes, looking over at him. She was so defenseless and beautiful lying there he couldn't help but lean down and place a kiss on her lips.
"Come," he pulled her to her feet, "your warrior friend has many questions."
She smiled with a slight chuckle before pushing herself to meet his lips, "I'm sure she does."
Once ready, they walked down into the dining room with fingers intertwined, Niandra leaning as much as she could against his arm while wearing what could have been her biggest grin.
It faltered a little as they entered the dining room. All eyes at the table were turned on them with the same curiosity Saura had, though Alistair's was filled with iciness directed at Zevran.
"Good morning," he greeted.
"Good morning," they returned and took seats at opposite sides of the table.
Saura didn't take her eyes off her friend and Fenris appeared interested. Alistair's icy glance never left Zevran.
"Don't let him corrupt you, Niandra," he said in a fatherly tone, still glaring at the wandering assassin.
"Oh Maker, do we really have to talk about this now?" she hid her face in a hand, feeling a flush rise.
"I did nothing she didn't ask for," Zevran responded.
Niandra groaned at this, putting down her fork to join other hand in the hiding of her face.
The two men argued back and forth about the issue, Alistair playing displeased father scolding Zevran the bad boy boyfriend.
Saura took the opportunity to lean over and whisper, "I want all the details!" into her friend's ear.
"Well, let me give you one right now," she couldn't help the knowing little smirk from crossing her face. "Over there," she jerked her head toward the end of the table."
Saura's eyes widened as her fork clattered to her plate. "You mean…?"
"Yeah."
"On the table?" she whispered urgently as the men's conversation began to dissipate.
Niandra nodded and finally returned to her food, amused at the wide-eyed look that remained rooted to her friend's face.
Breakfast ended in much the same manner, then the quartet escorted the king and his guard to the docks. The ship was alive with men preparing for departure.
"It's been fun, but I'm sure Fereldon misses me and there's much to be done before my next visit," Alistair addressed the group. "Of course, you'll stay with me then as well."
"Of course," Saura answered with a bow.
"Have a safe trip, your highness," Niandra added.
"You four as well, and don't let that one walk all over you," Alistair jerked his head at Zevran. "Until next we meet."
The four watched him board the ship, then waited until they could no longer see the sails on the horizon before turning. Saura led the group through the docks and into Lowtown.
"Okay, so what's our plan?" she asked.
"I have to head to the Imperium to meet with First Enchanter Orsino," Niandra informed. "I'll get the details and meet you at the Hanged Man."
She turned to Zevran. "Come with me?" she pleaded.
"How can I say no when you give me that wide-eyed look?" he chuckled.
"Have fun," Saura waved them off.
"And what will we do?" Fenris asked as the group split.
"We meet with Varric to see what he has for us."
Niandra took a deep breath before heading up the stairs to the grand entrance of the Imperium. The Templars on guard allowed her and Zevran through and she led the way into the grand foyer and up the stairs on the left. Templars bowed their heads to her as she passed through the doorway leading to the corridor containing the First Enchanter's office.
"I don't care what you have to do, I want her shipped back where she belongs!" an angry female voice stopped Niandra.
"There is nothing I could do about it, even if I wished to," First Enchanter Orsino's voice remained strong and calm. "She has King Alistair's approval and she's proven no threat."
"I refuse to take that chance!" the female voice shot back.
"We're done here, Meridith," Orsino told her. "You have no case."
With a snarl, Niandra heard Meridith make her way out and kept her head held high. When in passing, Niandra was sure to meet her gaze until the Knight Commander slammed her office door shut.
"You weren't wrong," Zevran put his hand on her back for support. "That is one frightening woman."
"I feel like puking…" she mumbled before entering Orsino's office. "I'm here, First Enchanter."
"Niandra, thank you for coming," he turned from the window with an exasperated smile. "I was hoping she wouldn't hear about me inviting you for a meeting."
"You and I both," Niandra agreed. "What did you need?"
Orsino walked around his desk to close the door before explaining, "A group of young mages have escaped the Circle. I was hoping you and your group could track them down and persuade them to return before Meridith catches word. Last I heard, they were sighted in Darktown."
"Understood," Niandra responded. "I'll see what we can do."
"That's all I ask," Orsino bowed his head in response. "Thank you."
"Anytime," Niandra returned the head bob before turning to leave. "See you soon."
Zevran followed her out of the building and waited until they were a safe distance from templar ears before remarking, "We have an interesting predicament on our hands."
"A dangerous one, more like," Niandra grimaced with a sigh. "I don't like this at all. We could be heading straight into a nest of maleficarum, or have Meridith's men burst in at just the right moment. If it's the first, then we have no choice but to kill them all, Orsino knows that, but if it's the second, there will be merciless killing of everyone there, even if they present no harm."
"Or we could find them, they agree to return and everything will be alright," he put an arm around her.
Niandra sighed but forced a smile. "Thanks."
"Try not to think about the worst outcomes, it'll only keep that sad frown on your face," he planted a kiss on her forehead. "We'll figure this out."
"I hope you're right."