Alright Iron Bull, and hopefully Blackwall too later. I'm leaving some notes on the end on some reviews I received. I'm saying this only once, don't try to read too deep into the first impressions and what notes I leave there. They are hints or teases, they could mean nothing, or they could mean everything you never know. Like Vawyn I don't show my full hand, just enough to keep you interested.
When Krem told me that it was the Hareld that he delivered the message to I thought he was dreaming. I knew the Herald was a rogue and very small but the info I had didn't say she was an elf, Dalish to boot. She didn't just stand by and watch the chargers and myself fight the Vints. I think I owe her because a mage did manage to get on my blindside. The arrow sticking out of his neck didn't belong to my men, it was hers. She knew how to handle herself, maybe a little too well.
I had no information on her other than what her Spymaster had and I have already determined that most of that was horseshit. It was too clean even for a Dalish. I even asked Dalish what she knew of this clan Lavellan.
"Chief I have to be honest," she said to me the night Krem left to reach out to the inquisition. "Clan Lavellan is one of the oldest clans we have. And they have more secrets than the Ben-Hassrath of the Qun and what's worse, they know how to keep the secrets and what to share. If the keeper of that clan had children they need to keep them secret even from their own clan. Lavellan is also known for making the other clans or helping make clans if a child turns out to be a mage but cannot stay with their clan. It's a good practice but not many clans accept that. I wouldn't be surprised if the mages of clan Lavellan practice blood magic."
"Chargers," I called out once the fight was over, ignoring the elf for my men at the moment, maybe showing off a little bit. "Stand down. Krem, how'd we do?"
"Five or six wounded Chief," he called to me. "No dead."
"That's what I like to hear," I said with a deep chuckle. "Let the throatcutters finish up, then break out the casks." Krem nodded to me and looked at the elf as he left. I finally gave her my attention. "So you're with the Inquisition, huh?"
The elf nodded to me her companions staying well behind, it looks like she took the Seeker and two mages with her. One mage I knew from Orlais the other I wasn't familiar with. I really need to get on my contacts about these elves.
"Glad you could make it," I said gesturing her to follow me. "Come one, have a seat. Drinks are coming."
"This is an odd location for drinks," she said looking around her eyes blinking owlishly. "You want to have drinks in the aftermath of a battle?"
"Better than in the middle of a battle," I said trying to ease the tension, I couldn't tell if she was nervous about me or just the situation in general. "This is Golden Scythe 4:90 black. Spill it, you kill all the grass." We sat down her on the ground, why I don't know and me on the nearby boulder, Krem walked over so I reintroduced them. "I assume you remember Cremisius Aclassi, my Lieutenant."
"Good to see you again," he said to the elf before turning back to me. "Throatcutters are done, Chief."
That was fast. "Already," I asked. "Have 'em check again. I don't want any of those Tevinter bastards getting away. No offense Krem."
"None taken," Krem said with a shrug. "At least a bastard knows who his mother was. Puts him one up on you Qunari, right?"
I had to smile, kid's got spunk. I turned back to the elf. "So…" I started off to get her attention as she looked over my men. "You've seen us fight. We're expensive, but we're worth it...and I'm sure the Inquisition can afford us."
"How much is this going to cost me exactly," she said her lips in a slight pout, she didn't mean gold I could tell that much. She meant other things, what bargains she would make and what she would have to give up. I decided to view it as her meaning money.
"Wouldn't cost you anything personally," I said casually. "Unless you wanna buy drinks later. Your Ambassador- what's her name- Josephine? We'd go through her and get payments set up. The gold will take care of itself. Don't worry about that. All that matters is we're worth it."
She tilted her head in thought for a few moments before speaking. "The chargers seem like an excellent company."
"They are," I agreed with her standing up and helping her up as well, her feet did leave the ground for a moment. She didn't get scared like others when I pick them up, I was impressed. "But you're not just getting the boys. You're getting me. You need a frontline bodyguard, I'm your man." I was ordered to get close to her after all. "Whatever it is- demons, dragons? The bigger the better. And there's one other thing. Might be useful, might piss you off. Ever heard of the Ben-Hassrath?"
She did that little head tilt again, is was kind of cute with her size and age, she thought for a moment. "A little," she finally said. "They are a Qunari organization, right? The equivalent of their guard or city watch."
It sounded like a question the way she spoke, like she didn't believe what she knew, she was right not to.
"I'd go closer to "spies," but yeah, that's them," then I looked her in the eye and she met my gaze with no fear or even nerves. "Or, well, us. The Ben-Hassrath are concerned about The Breach. Magic out of control like that could cause trouble everywhere. I've been ordered to join the Inquisition, get close to the people in charge, and send reports on what's happening. But I also get reports from Ben-Hassrath agents from all over Orlais. You sign me on, I'll share them with your people."
"You're a Qunari spy, and you just...told me," she asked incredulously. So she was hiding something from her comrades too, if I find out what it is well it wasn't important to the mission or even to anything else I was assigned with so it didn't matter what her secrets were, but between her and what Dalish said I will admit I was curious.
"Whatever happened at that Conclave thing, it's bad," I told her straight up. "Someone needs to get that Breach closed. So whatever I am, I'm on your side."
I don't know why I felt the urge to reassure her, I honestly don't know why I cared about her opinion other than the fact that I was following orders and I needed her to believe me no matter what.
"You still could have hidden what you are," she said sounding slightly guilty. Was she hiding who or what she truly was. Her eyes were sad, she was too young to have sad eyes but then again the same could be said of any Ben-Hassrath if you were outside of the Qun long enough and looked at the newest members. But she wasn't in the Qun, she wasn't a spy, she was a Dalish elf just barely in adulthood. No Dalish that young should have eyes like a Qunari spy, I don't give a damn what the Qun says.
"From something called the Inquisition," I asked trying not to laugh and maybe to encourage her to give up some information about herself. "I'd have been tipped sooner or later. No, it's best if you hear it right up front from me."
"What's in these Ben-Hassrath reports you're offering to share," she asked ignoring my subtle hint of revealing herself before someone finds out. Either I read her wrong or she was confident no one would find out until she was ready or too late.
"Enemy movements, suspicious activity, intriguing gossip," I said with a shrug both to her question and to our silent conversation. "It's a bit of everything. Alone they're not much. But if your spymaster is worth a damn, she'll put 'em to good use."
"She," the girl looked surprised her eyes wide with shock, either she's a good actress or I broke through her mask. I couldn't help but laugh.
"I did a little research," I admitted. "Plus, I've always had a weakness for redheads."
"What would you send home in these reports of yours," she asked me.
"Enough to keep my superiors happy," I answered still watching her without making it look like I was watching her. Her left hand kept brushing her right wrist as if it bothered her, I thought that her mark was in her right hand but then I saw it flash on her left. Was it a memory or a condition, her movements were too subtle to tell. "Nothing that'll compromise your operations. The Qunari want to know if they need to launch an invasion to stop the whole damn world from falling apart. You let me send word of what you're doing, it'll put some minds at ease. That's good for everyone."
She thought for a moment, and again her head tilted then she turned to me her smile sweet and innocent. Until she opened her mouth.
"You run your reports past Leliana before sending them," she said, her tone not matching her expression. "You send nothing she doesn't approve. If this turns out to be a trick, or if your reports compromise the Inquisition, Cassandra will eat you alive."
"I wouldn't have it any other way," I told her, I needed her to trust me. Her expression led on that she suspected she was being watched and she didn't want anyone to know she didn't trust me. Her body language said she was open but her shoulders were tense and her weight was on the balls of her feet ready to leap away from any attack that could come her way. She was well trained and very disciplined. I was impressed, at her age I honestly didn't care about discipline that much I just wanted to hit everything I could.
"Krem," I called out to him looking away from the girl to give her a chance to relax, at least I hoped. "Tell the men to finish drinking on the road. The Chargers just got hired!"
"What about the casks, Chief," Krem called to me to give me some last minute sass. "We just opened them up. With axes."
That sass was going to get him killed one day and I won't be there to save him, but in the meantime, sass for sass I matched him in this little bonding game we had going on among the inner circle of our crew.
"Find some way to seal them," I walked towards the little camp they had so I could get the directions to Haven. "You're Tevinter, right? Try blood magic." I turned back to the girl and offered my hand to shake. "We'll meet you back at Haven…"
"Vawyn," she said taking my hand. "Vawyn Lavellan."
I smiled at her and walked to her camp as her companions joined her. Cassandra and the elf mage stayed close to her, the Orlesian mage stood a little ways away and eyed me critically, now I remember who she was. Vivienne De Fer or something like that, she was one climbing the political ladder faster than you could say Vashedan, I wouldn't trust her to be anything honest, she'd lie to gain power and it seems she was after Vawyn for her power. I wonder if Vawyn knew this, probably if I observed her well enough. She didn't give much away, and used what she knew she had. This was a rare and great skill, one that would get her far, both in the inquisition and in war. If the Qunari invaded, if she didn't fight them to the death she would thrive and thrive well maybe even be a Ben-Hassrath, but no she would fight, this a girl who valued all forms of freedom, and not just hers either. I could get behind that, maybe.
A/N Okay so a comment that kinda got under my skin because I think you misunderstood the message I was stating about Vivienne. Heavyarms150 I have no intention of changing the character outright, as I said I love to hate her. But I also know someone like her, I'm both related and close friends with this person. Her public image is in fact a power hungry authority flaunting bitch and she admits its. But in private, with close friends and family she's different, it's those rarities I'm talking about, things you never see unless you romance Vivienne and even then it's not as warm. Vivienne when not in the public eye seems like someone who would go to great lengths for a friend or loved one, we see evidence of this when she asks the Inquisitor to help her make a potion, true it doesn't work and she becomes an ice queen again, but still, it's those little moments I want to highlight more. She's still going to be a bitch in public there's no changing that, it's her Mask, she is after all Orlesian there's more than one mask, even people today have different masks, what face you show at work or at school is different than the face you wear at home, which is also different than the one you wear when you are completely alone. So saying I'm changing the character, I'm not, I'm digging deeper that what most people care or want to see. When will it happen? Not during the first installment I can promise that right now, but the sequel maybe, especially when things come to light.