Thank you all so much for your kind reviews!
And Jen, another great job, I don't know what I'd do without you! Thank you so much xx
o~~~~~~~~~o
Davlamin returned, as promised, to check on Anders and Cullen after their sleep. Anders was stirring as he entered.
"Do you feel any better, Anders?" he asked.
Anders clutched his head and groaned. "A bit heavy-headed, but yes, I think that did the trick," he said as he got to his feet. He walked over to Cullen, who was snoring loudly and murmuring.
Anders stood over him and renewed the sleep spell. "I'll give him another few hours," he said to Dav. "He needs it."
"Do you think Cullen is beyond the 'shouting' stage now, Anders?" asked Dav.
Anders puffed his cheeks out. "I think so," he replied. "I don't think he has the strength to shout any more. Why do you ask?"
"Well," said Dav. "A room has become vacant on the top floor of the Inn. The landlord owes me a favour, and said you can both stay there for a while. I think the two of you need to get out of here," he muttered, looking around the room. "People usually stay in here for maybe one night, two at the most. I don't think it'll do either of you any good to stay in here for much longer, least of all Cullen."
Anders nodded his head. "Yes, that would be great. And we'd have a window, and fresh air. Yes, that would do Cullen a lot of good. When can we move in?"
"Tonight," answered Dav, "just to be on the safe side. Although, you may not have to worry about the Templars for the time being."
"Why's that?" Anders asked.
"Something is going on at the Tower," replied Dav with a grin. "Something serious. You missed all the fun while you were asleep. I could see explosions and fires from this side of the lake…"
"Explosions?" interrupted Anders.
"Yes," Dav replied. "And Kester has been laid off. He's staying at the Inn. He told me that Gregoir is not allowing anyone to enter or leave the Tower, and they've kept the boats over on their side. You'd have to swim to get to the Tower at the moment."
"Does Kester know anything?" asked Anders excitedly.
"Nope," replied Dav. "Gregoir wouldn't tell him anything.
"I wonder if it has anything to do with Jowan?" Anders wondered. "After all, he's only just returned to the Tower. Bit of a coincidence, don't you think?"
Dav laughed. "You think he's taken over the Tower? That worm? Maker help us all if he has!"
Anders shook his head. "No…if the Tower had been taken over, how would Gregoir be able to speak to Kester? And you say the boats have been kept over on the other side? It sounds like the Templars are still in control…my, my. This is interesting!" he grinned, rubbing his hands together.
"Maybe there's been a possession?" asked Dav.
"Yes, that would make more sense," Anders agreed. "A major one. Would Jowan be capable of summoning a Demon? Is he that powerful?" his face dropped. "Unless…"
Sudden realisation and dread flooded into Anders. Uldred. Anders had disassociated himself from the senior mage after Uldred had started talking about seizing control of the Tower. Anders would have welcomed a split from the Chantry, but he wasn't a complete idiot. He didn't want to be run through by a Templar, either. Anders had also suspected Uldred of being a blood mage, after he had offered to make Anders 'more powerful than he could possibly dream of.'
"Unless what?" Dav interrupted.
"Oh, nothing," replied Anders, taking a deep breath.
"Alright," Dav said, giving him a curious look. "Tonight, then, let's say…midnight. Get your things together, and I'll come and give you a hand."
"Thank you so much," said Anders genuinely, shaking Dav's hand and clutching his shoulder. "I'll make this up to you, I promise."
"No payment necessary this time, Anders," grinned Dav. "Just get that Templar friend of yours to fuck the Chantry up. That'll be thanks enough for me."
"I will," Anders said determinedly. "If it's the last thing I do."
o~~~~~~~~~~o
Dav arrived at midnight as promised. Anders had packed his and Cullen's meagre belongings. Cullen, in spite of getting plenty of sleep, was in no condition to help. He was extremely lethargic, and hadn't spoken to Anders at all since waking up; instead he mumbled to himself and occasionally wept.
Dav and Anders helped Cullen to his feet. They moved him and their belongings to just beneath the trapdoor, and Dav went up above ground to look around. "Shit!" Anders heard him exclaim.
"What's wrong?" Anders asked from below.
"There's a Templar at the jetty, and the boat is back," muttered Dev, crouching down. "Listen, I'll distract him. You and Cullen get to the rear of the Inn. Don't cast any spells, whatever you do!"
"Right!" whispered Anders.
Dav hid his staff and walked over toward the jetty. He rolled his eyes as he realised who the Templar was – Ser Carroll. A rat-faced, smarmy jobsworth, who was often among the groups that came to the Inn searching for Anders or Tannin when they absconded, as well as a few other occasional escapees.
"What's all this then?" asked Dav as he approached Carroll.
"What's all what?" asked Carroll obtusely.
Dav rolled his eyes and pursed his lips. "Why has Kester been laid off? What's going on at the Tower?"
"I'm not at liberty to say," sniffed Carroll.
"Well, can you fetch someone who is at liberty to say, then?" Dav replied with irritation in his voice. "Someone in authority?"
"I have authority!" snapped Carroll indignantly, "I just choose not to tell you, that's all!"
"Must be something big, then, eh?" winked Dav, scratching his head and taking a surreptitious glance behind him. Anders and Cullen were crawling along the ground and had nearly reached the Inn. "If I didn't know better, I'd say someone had become possessed!"
"I don't know where you got that idea from," said Carroll, his voice and eyes betraying him.
"Well, it's happened before, hasn't it?" said Dav. "Looks like the Templars haven't been doing their jobs again."
"I take exception to that remark!" cried Carroll.
Dav glanced behind him and saw that Anders and Cullen were gone. "Well, nice talking to you," he muttered as he walked off.
"Hey…wait a minute!" cried Carroll.
Dav turned around to face him. "Was there something you wanted?" he asked.
"Well," murmured Carroll, "I thought you might stay a bit longer, that's all. I'm bored standing around here on my own."
"Are you going to tell me what's happened at the Tower or not?" Dav asked hopefully.
"No!"
"You can talk to yourself then," laughed Dav, walking away. "Goodnight to you."
o~~~~~~~~~~o
The Wardens and their companions left Lothering after lunch, with fair weather and the wind at their backs. An invisible cloud seemed to hover over the group, however, as an uneasy and almost deafening silence hung between Alistair and Allis. Blythe looked over at them occasionally as Leliana complimented her on her choice of robe.
Even Reaper knew that something was wrong. He had not invited his master to play and walked alongside him, occasionally glancing upwards.
Blythe couldn't bear to see the two of them so unhappy, and sidled up to Allis, who she knew slightly better than she did Alistair.
"Did you and Alistair have a talk?" she asked quietly.
Allis glanced at her quickly, as though snapped out of a dream. "Hmm? Erm…no, not really," he muttered.
"Well, don't you think you should?" she replied. "Look at him, Allis." Alistair walked slightly ahead of them, in much the same way he had when they left Flemeth's hut – like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders.
"I can't," whispered Allis. "I don't know what to say to him."
"Are you afraid he'll leave you if he becomes King?" Blythe asked.
Allis looked at her mournfully, the usual sparkle gone from his dark green eyes. "I…no. Why would I think that? I hardly know him, do I? He and I may not even be together by the time he becomes King, should that even happen," he replied unconvincingly.
"You'd like to be though, wouldn't you?" she stated more than she asked.
Allis looked at her again with wide eyes. Unable to find an answer to that, he remained silent.
"Look," Blythe said gently. "Even if you don't know what to say, just let him know that you don't hate him. Think of how he must have felt having to tell you he's the heir to the throne. Just let him know that your feelings haven't changed. They haven't, have they?"
Allis remained silent for a moment. "No," he whispered.
"Go to him, then," pleaded Blythe softly.
Allis approached Alistair from behind and hesitated for a moment, before taking Alistair's hand in his own. Alistair's mouth fell open and they looked at one another for a moment, before he stopped and pulled Allis into a tight embrace. Blythe smiled lopsidedly and caught up to the others, with Reaper close behind, his tail wagging once again.
They had not ventured far from Lothering before they encountered a lone woman, seemingly in distress. She ran up to the group upon spotting them, and stopped, gasping for breath and clutching her knees.
"Oh, thank the Maker someone is on the road! Please, help me! Bandits attacked my caravan! My family is hurt! Oh, please help!"
Blythe's instincts as a healer kicked in and she ran after the woman, only to be called back by Allis. "Let's be cautious," he warned. "A lot of people are after us, remember?"
"Yes, you're right," she replied. She and Allis readied their staves, as did Morrigan, and the rest of the party took out their weapons. Reaper's body was his weapon, and was always ready for battle .
As they rounded a corner, it appeared on first glance that the woman had been telling the truth. A caravan stood overturned and several people lay on the ground. As they drew nearer, however, they got the distinct feeling that they were being watched.
Reaper stopped still with his hackles raised. "Something isn't right here," murmured Blythe.
"An ambush," stated Sten, who had much experience of such situations. "I suggest that you saarebas and the archer look to the hills, while the Templar, the hound and I cover the ground." With that, he walked forward.
"I guess that settles that," said Blythe, smiling. "Are you ready, saarebas?" she asked Morrigan and Allis, who nodded. "You two take that side, then. Come on, Leliana. I want to see you in action again." She and Leliana walked over to the opposite side of the canyon wall, as Alistair and Reaper followed Sten.
From behind the caravan, a blond, tattooed elf appeared and watched the cautious travellers approach. He smiled smugly to himself and raised his hand, signalling his men to break from cover. Half a dozen of them emerged, behind the elf, and the men who had been lying on the ground stood up and readied their weapons. Thanks to Sten's insight, Leliana and the mages were ready for the archers' appearance in the hills above, and let loose with arrows and bolts.
The elf ran forward, unsheathing his daggers, crying "the Grey Wardens die here!" as two men pushed a huge tree trunk over a precipice toward Alistair. Sten, moving more quickly than his appearance denoted, pushed Alistair out of the way in the nick of time, saving his life. In the process, Sten took a blow to the shoulder, knocking him to the ground. Blythe gasped and ran over, immediately healing his shoulder and rejuvenating him. Sten got to his feet, nodded once, and headed back towards Alistair and Reaper.
Leliana, Allis and Morrigan had taken care of most of the archers, so Blythe followed Sten into the thick of the battle to support the warriors. She cast Glyph of Repulsion around Alistair, who was surrounded by five men, and he laughed as they were thrown onto their backs. He and Sten made quick work of them, supported from a distance by Blythe. The elf, cunningly hidden in the shade of a tree, was no match for Reaper's nose. The Mabari launched himself onto the elf, pinning him to the ground, and savagely biting his hands as the attacker tried in vain to use his daggers.
"Don't kill him, Reaper!" cried Allis as he and the others joined the melee. "We need him for questioning!"
Reaper, using his mouth, moved the elf's daggers to a safe distance, and stood menacingly over him, occasionally baring his teeth and snarling. "Get up!" shouted Blythe, who had approached from behind. The elf did as he was commanded, and stood impassively as she tied his hands behind his back, wincing as she touched his mangled skin.
"Ataash qunari!" cried Sten as the last of their foes were slain.
The party approached Blythe's position and looked at the elf. "Is anyone injured?" she asked.
"Yes!" cried the elf indignantly. "Just look at my hands! They are in shreds! I only had them manicured three days ago!"
Ignoring him, Blythe turned back to the group. "Is anyone important injured?" she asked again. Alistair stepped forward, wincing. He had a gash to his neck. "I think you can handle this, Allis," she said, winking at him as he walked over to Alistair. Alistair crouched down, grinning shyly up at Allis as he touched his neck. Blythe noticed with satisfaction that Allis' other hand stroked the back of Alistair's head.
"I will take care of the elf," Sten said, wielding his huge sword menacingly.
"We need some questions answered first, Sten," replied Blythe.
"Yes." Sten replied flatly. "Then I will slay the elf."
"Erm, excuse me for just one moment!" their captive laughed nervously. "Do I have any say in this? Can we not come to some arrangement whereby I retain my life?"
"We'll see," said Blythe, folding her arms. "Who are you? You obviously know who we are."
The elf grinned and narrowed his eyes. "Hmm…" he purred, eyeing Blythe seductively. "Tough, intelligent and beautiful. You must be the female Warden, no?"
"Answer the question!" Sten yelled, frightening everyone.
The elf laughed. "But of course, my ape-like friend! My name is Zevran, Zev to my friends. I am part of the Antivan Crows…"
"The Antivan Crows?" Leliana interrupted. "They are considered the finest of assassins, and are therefore very expensive."
"The best?" scoffed Allis. "Well, we're all still alive. What went wrong, eh?"
"Ah," laughed Zevran. "So this is how it's going to be? We play good Warden, bad Warden, yes? Well, I'm game. And I am already tied up," he said, winking at Blythe. "So, who will be interrogating me? I hope it shall be you, my dear."
"This is getting us nowhere," sighed Blythe, taking out her staff and pointing it at Zevran. The rest of the party knew she was bluffing, as she hadn't the magic to kill anyone, but Zevran didn't.
"Wait!" he cried. "Wait…let me save you the trouble of torturing me for information. I was hired by a rather taciturn fellow I met in Denerim, by the name of Loghain."
"Loghain?" cried Alistair. "He hired you to kill us?"
"He hired us to kill any Wardens who survived the battle at Ostagar," Zevran replied. "He had heard rumours that some survived."
"So he did plan for us all to be wiped out!" spat Alistair. "Do you have to report back to Loghain?"
"No," replied Zevran. "There was to be no further contact with him. His lackey paid me, and I was to complete the task. End of story."
"And what happens now the task has failed?" asked Allis.
"Well," Zevran sighed. "I have been paid for something I have failed at, therefore my life is forfeit. I cannot return to the Crows. So I would like to make a proposal, if you will listen to it."
"Make it quick," said Allis.
"Well, as I said, I cannot return to the Crows," he shrugged. "They will know of my failure when they hear of the lack of Grey Warden corpses among those of the Crows'. And, as I have failed, and have therefore disgraced the Crows, they will slay me on sight, should I return. So, I propose this: I will pledge my allegiance to you. I think my skills may come in handy for you, no?"
"You want us to take you with us?" Allis asked in disbelief. "So what's to stop you from finishing the job later on?"
Zevran looked confused. "And what reason would I have to do that, my handsome friend? The job has failed. The Crows will discover this soon enough. I would have nothing to gain from killing any of you, especially as travelling with you would also afford me protection. I think this could work both ways, yes?"
"What are your skills?" asked Blythe.
"Well, my dear," he leered, causing Blythe to roll her eyes, "I am deadly with poisons and a master of devising, and disabling, traps. I can blend into the shadows with ease and conceal myself, although," he added, "not from our smart hound here, hm?"
"Hiding in the shadows. A coward's way," commented Sten.
"Well, that is your opinion, and I for one am not stupid enough to argue with one so immense as yourself!" Zevran replied, craning his neck to meet Sten's eyes.
"There is another alternative," suggested Sten. "We slay you where you stand. Then you will no longer have to worry about the Crows slaying you."
"How very considerate of you to consider my feelings in such a way!" Zevran said sarcastically. "Well," he sighed, "it seems that the Grey Wardens have two choices. Take me with you, or slay me. I am at your mercy, it seems."
Allis gathered the rest of the group to ask their opinions. Sten stayed where he was, watching Zevran closely. "My opinion is known," he muttered, glaring at the assassin.
Opinion was split. Leliana and Blythe felt he deserved a second chance, while Alistair and Allis were not keen on him accompanying them, yet were not in favour of slaying him in cold blood. Morrigan had no opinion either way.
After some discussion, Allis approached Zevran and unbound him. "It seems that taking you with us is slightly more palatable than killing you," he said as Zevran massaged his wrists to get the circulation going again.
"Then I pledge an oath of allegiance to you," Zevran said solemnly, placing his fist over his heart. "I am yours, until such time as you see fit to release me, or death take me. This I swear." He bowed.
"Reaper," called Allis. The Mabari walked up to him and sat down. "Don't take your eyes off him. If he tries anything, kill him." Reaper barked loudly and bared his fangs at Zevran.
Blythe walked up to him and took his hands in her own. "Oh!" cried Zevran. "So is this a traditional Grey Warden greeting? Do you know of any others?" he grinned at her and winked.
"Don't get any ideas," Blythe said firmly as a green glow emanated from Zevran's hands. "I'm healing you. You're no good to us with mangled hands."
Zevran watched with wonder as his skin knitted together, leaving no sign of injury. "You are very good at this, my dear," he purred, looking into her eyes. "It makes me wonder what else you are good at."
Blythe looked at him and pulled a face. Maker's Breath, she thought. He's beautiful. She took a deep breath and rejoined the others quickly, her heart racing and a deep line forming between her eyebrows. She removed her backpack and rummaged through it as she walked, finding Cullen's sash and touching it. I'm sorry, Cullen, she thought. I haven't forgotten you, I promise.
o~~~~~~~~~o
After being safely ensconced in the top room of the Inn, Anders had slept reasonably well, but his concern for Cullen kept waking him during the night. Cullen had slept uninterrupted, however.
Anders woke again to bright light streaming through the window onto his face. He squinted and covered his eyes with his hand. He was startled at the sight of Cullen sitting on the end of his bed in his nightshirt, looking out through the window across the lake.
Anders got out of bed and sat on the edge, opposite Cullen, who didn't seem to know he was there. A lump came to Anders' throat as he looked at his friend in broad daylight. Cullen's skin was deathly pale, with a sallow tone; and dark circles surrounded his eyes, giving him a haunted look. Even his normally bright amber eyes looked pale and dull, as though the light had gone out of them.
"Morning Cullen," Anders ventured, to no response. "Nice to see a bit of daylight, isn't it?"
Silence. Anders sighed heavily and swallowed back tears.
"She's gone, isn't she?" Cullen whispered.
"What?" Anders exclaimed hoarsely, then cleared his throat.
"Blythe. She's dead, isn't she?" he said simply.
"What do you mean?" asked Anders, hoping the panic he felt wasn't evident in his voice.
"I heard you and your friend talking about Ostagar last night when you thought I was still asleep. The Wardens are all dead, aren't they?"
Anders finally broke down, unable to help himself. "I-I…I'm so sorry, Cullen!" he cried. "I never wanted you to find out like that! I was going to tell you when you were stronger…"
Cullen continued to stare out of the window through glazed eyes as Anders sobbed. The mage wiped his eyes, stood up and sat next to Cullen on the bed, putting his arm around the Templar's shoulders.
"I'm so sorry, Cullen…" Anders whispered, before collapsing into sobs on his shoulder. Cullen, snapped out of his stupor, turned to his friend. The sight of his usually happy-go-lucky friend in such a state brought out his protective side. He put his arm around Anders' waist and rested his head atop the mage's.
Cullen thought he couldn't cry any more, but as he pictured Blythe's face, and remembered the perfect, pure love he had experienced, which he would never know again, his face creased and tears streamed down his cheeks. He pulled Anders closer to him, and they embraced, finding comfort in each other, if only for a brief time.