Disclaimer: Bioware owns all, except what I most humbly imagine. While, at times, I will take verbatim from the game, I attempt to use the events of the Dragon Age games, expansions and universe as a loose structure around which to construct my re-imagined tale. If you are looking for a strict canon piece, I have no desire to offend, and so I warn you upfront that I will divert from the traditional tale.
When reading these stories, I hope you can easily imagine it being told by the very best of storytellers in Varric Tethras (from DA:2). In my version of events, Varric meets "The Hero" (Elissa Cousland) in Kirkwall during the time period of DA:2. I mention this only so that readers can understand his connection along the way, and so I don't have to mention and rehash it again and again as I make my way through the tale.
A/N: The final of the completely new chapters from the "Denerim Series".
Muse Music: Every Step You Take by The Police. I realize that may seem an odd choice, as most people consider it to be a "love song" but if you listen closely it's actually quite a bit more sinister.
Thanks to my readers, followers and reviewers and to my wonderful beta lady artemiskat!
Happy Reading!
-Frayed One
Chapter Nine: Watching
As the years passed, those of us who met The Hero in Kirkwall would come to spend a great deal of our time within the boundaries of Ferelden, the stone walls of both Vigil's Keep and Soldier's Peak eventually becoming a second home. It was not a sanctuary she had to offer, and she often did so with great trepidation, especially in the later years when she became increasingly more withdrawn. Regardless, she opened her home and in turn her life to all of us, many who had no where else to go, and that would impact even the most jaded among us.
Some spent the visits availing themselves to the sparring rings and training yards, some in the kitchens putting away as much food as they could manage before the Wardens made quick work of what was left. I wandered the halls and the grounds chatting, and listening, and reading.
The Hero was well known for her love of books, my contributions to the literary world notwithstanding, and so any place she called home – temporary or long-term – was eventually filled with them.
It was during my perusal of one of the many library rooms within the walls of Vigil's Keep that I stumbled across something no one was ever meant to find.
The thin, wordless spine drew my eye. Crammed in between the elaborate, gold-bordered volumes of several Magister's tomes, most would have simply passed it by without a second glance, but I pulled it loose and flipped it open.
The longer I read, the more disturbing it became. It was the journal of Thomas Howe, begun in his youth and continued until he took his leave of Amaranthine to aid in his father's failed quest for domination.
To this day I have made no mention of it to either The Hero or The Archer, but I will share a few of the less… visceral… passages here simply to prepare you for what is to come. Our greatest enemies are often those we are least likely to suspect.
Being invisible is an art, a gift, a tool.
To see and not be seen, hear and not be heard… many would think it a curse, but I know the truth of it. Being invisible is a gift, and a powerful one.
My brother is a fool. Trailing around after the Cousland brat like a leashed mabari. I see them coming and going from one another's chambers in the shadows of evening and the growing light of dawn. If he were being given a taste of her virtue for his troubles… perhaps I could understand, but he has pledged to my father that she remains untouched – and Nathaniel is nothing if not a man of his word.
Honesty… what a worthless aspect to embody. Even when he tells the truth, Nathaniel is no closer to gaining Father's approval – though I suspect the truths he tells are incomplete.
Friends… he assures Father they are merely friends, but friends do not hide in haylofts trading trinkets and touches. They think no one sees, but I miss nothing.
Father has plans for Elissa Cousland, and they don't include Nathaniel. He would never be able to put her in her place. That requires a strong hand and a spine, neither of which my brother managed to acquire… but Father taught me well.
She will make a fine Arlessa and provide necessary connections to my heirs, and then when I'm done with her… there are rooms she can reside in far beneath these stone walls should she choose to forget to whom she is married.
For now, I am content to be ignored. I sit, and wait, and bide my time, knowing that one day I'll get my turn. They'll be sorry they didn't pay closer attention to the shadows.