Marked with Shame
Chapter 10
Bioware owns rights to all characters.
Mirra cleaned her axe blade off. A tricky operation with the lightning runes she had etched into it. She was shocked every time she neared the edge.
Her group of misfits was within sight of Denerim when they were attacked by a group of bandits. They had decent armor and were well trained, so Mirra suspected they weren't simple bandits. Mirra had cut down the last archer moments before.
"Mirra." Zevran called to her. Mirra looked over to see him holding a knife across the throat of a man pinned to a tree with an arrow. She walked over. The arrow pierced his shoulder, but was not life threatening.
"Tell her what you told me." Zevran told the squirming man.
"We were hired to kill everyone in your group." He told Mirra, stretching his neck to get away from the knife.
"By whom?" Mirra asked.
"Arl Howe, the new Arl of Denerim." He told her. New Arl of Denerim? Apparently Mirra took down an Arl with her escape from the estate.
"He's the man who hired me." Zevran added. "He appeared to be Logain's right hand man."
"I see." Mirra said. "How did you know who we were?"
"They told me the Grey Warden group would be headed up by a dark haired female elf and blond male human, but the most obvious clue was the stone giant." He nodded towards Shale.
"Did he tell you why we needed to die?" She asked him.
"He said you were traitors to the crown...that you killed the King!" He declared before a quick intake of breath. Zevran had moved the knife a little closer to his neck. Mirra gave Zev a pat on the shoulder and he pulled back a bit.
"An expected lie. Logain left the King to be killed by the darkspawn." She looked into the man's eyes. "Ask any of his troops if you don't believe me."
He seemed to believe her.
"Are there other groups trying to kill us?" Mirra asked.
"I don't know. There weren't any when we signed up." He told her. Mirra looked towards Denerim.
"We'll assume there are." She turned back to the man. "I assume you would like to live." The man nodded. "Would you like to fight the Blight, rather than your own people?" He didn't think for very long before nodding enthusiastically. Zevran pulled away he knife.
"This Arl Howe sounds like someone who won't live much longer." She snapped off the feathered portion of the arrow. She then pulled him away from the tree and off the arrow, causing him to wince in pain. She handed him a health potion, which he quickly opened and drank. "What's your name?"
"Otto, ma'am." He told her, rotating his shoulder.
"Otto, head to Arl Eamon's estate and ask to join his army. Tell them Mirra sent you." She patted him on the shoulder. He looked at her, not believing she was letting him go. "Go." She leaned her head towards Denerim. He backed away slowly, still not entirely convinced she was letting him go, then turned and sprinted towards town.
"So...Logain is trying to have us killed." Alistair said.
"Again." Mirra said, turning towards the rest of their group. "Keep your weapons on at all times. We need to be on guard while here. And Zev, please be careful at the Pearl."
Zevran gave her a sly smile. "Of course."
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Logain sat on his throne, leaning to one side with his head in his hand. He heard Howe enter the room and groaned inwardly. Bad news again. He would stride in with exuberance if the Grey Wardens were dead.
"Sire...we received word..." Howe started, but stopped as Logain leveled a glare at him.
"Your attempt to kill the Wardens failed again?"
"Yes...Sire. And we're having trouble finding...associates willing to make another attempt." Howe couldn't even look him in the face.
"This elven bitch is the same one the former Arl of Denerim's son dragged into his estate?" Logain said.
"So the reports say, Sire."
"The same one who carved a path of destruction through the estate to rescue several other elves, killing the son in the process?"
"Yes, Sire." Howe said.
"So she never would have joined the Grey Wardens had he fucked the hired help like everyone else." Logain spat at him.
"Sire." Howe didn't bother with an explanation. Logain shook his head forlornly.
"How much money have we poured down this rabbit hole?" Logain asked.
"The Tevinter's are very happy with our arrangement in the Alienage." Logain thought the money they made by turning the Alienage over to the slavers wasn't as much as Howe imagined, but let him continue. "Ummm. I had another idea." Howe changed the subject. "Eamon's estate is not unbreachable, someone could break in and take care of them in the quiet of the night. I have someone I could convince to..." Logain shook his head in his hand and waved him off, granting approval while showing contempt. Howe seemed reluctant to leave. Logain cocked an eyebrow at him.
"Sire, we have another problem." Logain thought he looked exactly like a weasel in that brief moment.
"What is it?" He asked.
"Sire, your daughter is starting to ask questions... to the wrong sort of people." Howe was back to looking at the floor. "Until this all blows over we might need to keep her out of the public eye."
Anora, sometimes you are too smart for your own good. "Very well, but if you harm a single hair on her head, so help me, I will skin you." Logain told him.
Howe bowed and backed out of the room in his typical manner. Logain shook his head. All this because the Arl's son couldn't keep it in his pants.
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"Zevran, come join us." Mirra asked him to sit with her and Leliana at their table. The Gnawed Noble wasn't busy at this time of the day, but Mirra still picked a corner booth the furthest from anyone. Zevran sauntered over and took the mug she offered.
"Yes Mirra?" He flashed his super bright smile. "You've finally accepted my threesome offer?"
"No!" Mirra said, her train of thought momentarily derailed. She shook her head to remove unpleasant images from her mind. "Ugg. I have a special job for you."
"In the bedroom?" He asked, always the confident one.
"Not quite. I need you to find a way into the Alienage and see what's going on."
"You want me to head into a plague zone?" Zevran asked. "I apologize if I have offended you in any way."
"Zevran you haven't offended me." Mirra told him with a smile. "I don't think there is a plague in the Alienage. If my hunch is correct it is a ruse to create fear in the populace. Fear of an outside threat keeps people from joining a rebellion. If you see evidence for or against a plague then hurry back and let me know."
"I see. You realize this will cut into my drinking and carousing with prostitutes." He told her, taking a drink of his ale.
"Do it while we're dealing with Morrigan's mother. You should have plenty of time left over for fun. Our trip should take at least a week." Mirra could tell he was salivating at the prospect. "I'll take that as a yes." She gave him a grin. He smiled, downed the rest of his mug, then left the tavern.
With Zevran gone Mirra took Leliana's hand into hers, holding it tightly. "I should let you know that I never told my father my preference for the fairer sex." She leaned her head on Leliana's shoulder.
"I understand. Will he be upset?" Leliana asked.
"I don't know. He might be disappointed. I think he was hoping for grand kids." Mirra left out the arranged marriage ordeal.
"Ok. Will my race cause him distress?" She asked.
"No, he never held those kind of prejudices. It will probably surprise him. In reality I was more prejudiced than him." Mirra squeezed her hand. "It took you to show me the error of my ways."
"Your experience with humans in the Alienage was...not good. Anyone in that situation would find it hard to trust them."
"Maybe, but my father brought me up better than that."
"Sounds like a great guy. I can't wait to meet him." Leliana told her.
Mirra pushed away the thought that she might not see him again. Concentrating instead on Leliana's new armor. "Your new armor looks great, does it fit well?"
"It fits great, I can't believe Wade gave it to us for free." Mirra entered Wade's Emporium in Denerim expecting to shell out a lot of gold for some better armor for Leliana. While perusing his wares she casually mentioned the drake scales they found in the ruins before the Gauntlet. Wade begged her to use the scales for some armor. She handed them over. When the first set of armor hadn't been to his liking, he asked for more scales, again doing the work for nothing. Mirra suited Leliana up with the better set, and gave the second set to Zevran.
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Zevran stuck his knife into a seam above his head, making sure the grip was secure before pulling himself up a few more inches. The gates to the Alienage were well guarded, so climbing the wall was the only way in...other than the sewer, which Zevran did not consider an option. Smelling awful for the next week would make his anticipated activities hard, if not impossible.
He pulled his other knife out of the wall before repeating the process and pulling a few more inches upward. A sound drew his attention downward. He froze. A guard was patrolling the route around the wall. Zevran had to hope he wouldn't look up. It was dusk, and Zevran was in shadow, but there was still a small chance he would glance upward and catch Zevran on the wall a couple meters above him.
Much to Zevran's dismay, the guard was taking his own sweet time along his route. The normal guard pace is slow enough to allow one to walk all night and not get tired, which was great if you were the guard with a whole shift ahead of you, it was not great when you were holding yourself above them with just your arms and two knife blades.
After an interminable amount of time, Zevran was once again able to work his way up the wall. His arms were burning by the time he reached the top. He pulled himself up and stepped onto a nearby roof, making sure to stay near the spine where the roof had the most strength. He crept along the roof to the edge near the square. In the dying light of the day he could see several elves milling about near the entrance to a building. There were several men there in clothing that appeared Tevinter in origin. As he watched them the men waved away the elves and disappeared into the building. Zevran started working his way around the edge of the Alienage to get a better view of the building.
Initial inspection did not make a plague likely. Elves would not be in crowds during a plague, they would hunker down inside their houses. Also, they would be burning the bodies of the dead to reduce the spread of the disease. None of that was visible. There weren't any coughing homeless around either, an all too common sight in times of rampant infection.
Once dark settled over the city, Zevran found a vantage for the alley behind the building occupied by the Tevinters. An elven guard stood outside the door. He waited for several hours before the back door opened. The guard moved aside to allow several Tevinters to exit. Behind the men were several elves chained together at the neck. A Tevinter behind the elves shoved the last elf, pushing him into the elf ahead.
This was not how you handle plague victims. You wouldn't want to be near a plague victim, much less touch them. The elves did not look sick, there was no coughing, they didn't appear weak. This looked a lot more like slaver activity. As to why Logain would allow this to occur, Zevran didn't venture a guess. Surely mere money would not drive anyone to allow slavers into Ferelden, though Zevran had heard of worse.
After the Tevinter's dragged the elves around a corner Zevran sat on the roof, listening. With the silence of the night, he could hear everything. He heard talking from a house behind him, and not much else. The quiet of a fearful populace was everywhere. It was obvious most of the elves genuinely thought there was a plague. The absence of coughing or sneezing was the most conspicuous evidence to the contrary. Most likely the slavers rounded up anyone who stirred up too much trouble.
Time to head back to the Pearl until Mirra returns.
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Flemeth was upset, and Mirra didn't blame her. She'd saved their lives, after all. On the other hand, Morrigan had saved her life countless times, and she was her friend. Flemeth wanted them to take her book of spells to Morrigan and let her disappear. Though it seemed like the easiest approach, Mirra didn't want to deceive Morrigan in that fashion.
"Do you truly believe Morrigan cares about you?" Flemeth asked.
"Of course." Mirra answered.
Flemeth laughed. "That's rich. I have trained her well." She shook her head at Mirra. "Morrigan is using you. Has she ever done anything for you to the detriment of herself?"
"Other than almost getting killed several times?" Mirra answered reflexively, but she was thinking about it.
Flemeth looked at her closely. "You can't remember anything, can you?"
"She's done plenty for Mirra's benefit that she didn't need to." Leliana said. Of all the people to advocate for Morrigan, Leliana wasn't high on Mirra's list. She wondered if there was anything specific Leliana was remembering.
"But nothing to her detriment..." Flemeth said, but Mirra saw a flicker of surprise cross her face. She pulled her axe off her back. Flemeth saw the move. "Very well, let the dance begin." She walked to an open area and started to transform.
Mirra's eyes focused on her, then went higher, then even higher.
"Oh Maker. Maybe we should have taken her offer." Alistair said.
"You might be right." Mirra said. Bloody hell. Flemeth was now a huge dragon, towering over them. "Attack, but keep moving!" She ran straight at the dragon, ducking at the last instant and rolling under it. She took a swing at a rear leg and was rewarded with a jarring blow as Flemeth hit her with her tail. Mirra flew into a nearby patch of swamp.
"Nasty." She said, picking herself out of the smelly muck. Times like this made her wish for a modicum of skill with a bow. She quickly began the arduous task of walking back to the clearing, each step sinking deep into the mud. She watched her team attack the huge beast. From a distance they looked like a swarm of ants attacking a large lizard. Shale, Oghren, and the others were circling the dragon furiously while it lashed out at them.
She watched helplessly as Alistair was sent flying into a nearby tree. Soon after Flemeth sent a fireball soaring to Leliana and Wynne's location. Mirra took a sharp breath, but Leliana seemed unhurt. Her new armor was doing its job. Mirra continued pulling her feet through the slime as Wynne picked herself back up. She healed herself and returned to firing her staff.
"Spread out, ladies!" Mirra yelled. She stepped onto dry land as they shifted away from each other. Flemeth glanced in her direction and sent a quick fireball before smacking Shale into Sten. Mirra was glad her armor had some fire resistance as the flames engulfed her. No eyebrows, once again. Mirra ran up to a leg and swung her axe hard against the knee. Flemeth howled. She turned directly to Mirra and breathed a huge plume of flame all over her. Mirra dove to the side and took another shot at the same knee. Again Flemeth issued a huge roar. The kick that followed was unexpected, and Mirra again found herself flying through the air. The squelch when she landed let her know she was again in the muck.
"Maker's breath." Mirra sighed, pulling herself up for the second time. She began the trek to return to the battle, again watching her team fight the dragon. Alistair had gotten up and returned to the battle at some point. Oghren was out cold against Flemeth's hut. Sten and Shale were still running circles around the beast, taking shots at the legs. Rex had his teeth in the dragon's tail, holding on for dear life as he was swung around.
Just as Mirra regained dry ground Flemeth finally got tired of the porcupine of arrows in her hide and ran over to grab Leliana in her jaws.
"No!" Screaming, Mirra leapt up on a knee then on the back of the thing. Flemeth was distracted enough to not notice Mirra until she climbed up her scale covered hide to her neck. Leliana was dropped and Flemeth whipped her head around just in time to see Mirra slamming her axe between two scales on the back of her neck. Spinal column severed, the dragon flopped to the ground. Mirra fell to the side, quickly rising to finish removing the head, only to find Sten slashing his sword through what was left of the neck. Mirra nodded to him before turning away from the bloody mess.
"Leliana!" She ran to her side, not sure whether she was still alive. Arms sneaking around her waist let her know she was.
"I took care of her, Mirra." Wynne said from nearby.
"Wade does good work." Leliana referred to the Denerim armorer who made her drakeskin armor. "And Wynne healed the rest." They both stood up.
"Let's grab the grimiore and be away from this place..." Mirra looked down at herself and sighed. She was covered in swamp slime, mud, and fresh dragon blood. "I need another bath."
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"Logain? It is an...honor. I didn't expect to be greeted by the acting regent." Arl Eamon greeted Logain as he walked into Eamon's estate in Denerim, acting like he owned the place. Mirra, Alistair, and Eamon were discussing strategy when the regent arrived with guards and a couple others in tow. Mirra sized up her opponent. He'd certainly polished his armor since their last meeting.
"How could I not welcome a man so important as to call every lord in Ferelden away from their lands during a Blight." Logain said. Same ego as the last time they met. Mirra looked over Logain's supporters. A thin, grey haired weasel with a pair of axes, and a dark haired woman in green armor wielding a huge sword.
"The Blight is why I'm here. Ferelden must have a king to lead its armies." Eamon said.
"Ferelden already has a queen, and I lead its armies." Logain said with a lofty tone.
"Nice job at Ostagar, regent." Mirra cut in.
Logain looked down at her, making it seem like a long journey down to her face. "What's this, Eamon? Some stray you found by the side of the road? I thought you only kept royal bastards as company these days."
"At least you admit the royal part." Alistair said from behind her.
"Should the queen be worried you'll abandon her to the darkspawn, like the king?" Mirra said, maintaining her glare at Logain.
"Quiet churl, your betters are speaking!" The dark haired lady poked a finger in her direction. Mirra couldn't help but smirk at her.
"My betters? I doubt it. I don't poison my enemies.". She returned her gaze to Logain.
"Enough, Cauthrien, now is not the time.". Logain returned his focus to Eamon. "Eamon, Ferelden is under siege, we must be united now, more than ever."
"You divided Ferelden." Mirra said.
"I was not speaking to you." Logain glared at her.
"Maker forgive you for what you've done, Logain. I cannot." Eamon stated. "We need a king of the Theirin bloodline. Alistair will lead us against the Blight." Logain scoffed.
"The emperor of Orlais also thought he could defeat me. Expect no more mercy than I gave him." With that ultimatum Logain left, his lackeys trailing in his wake.
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Author's note: I apologize for the slowness of the updates. I had some difficulty with this chapter. I hope you like it.