The Wreath of Highever.

Chapter Ten: The Bear, the Dragon, and the Crow.

"I would have thought my men would be more than capable of apprehending one girl," Teyrn Loghain snarled at nobody in particular, for he was alone in his chambers, and drew from his cup of wine – far from the first one he had poured today. He kept going over it in his head as he drank. Elissa Cousland may have been a skilled swordswoman, but she was not Andraste come again, for Makers sake! Cousland was no trained soldier, nor was she a knight…she was barely even a woman and yet she has managed to escape the capital – the capital! – and evade not only his men but even those looking to cash in on the bounty he had placed on her head!

And not only was there that, but it had gotten even better. Loghain had received a report from some of his soldiers which obviously a lie to conceal their incompetence. This report had explained that the traitor was defended by Grey Wardens and then saved by a dragon, of all things! Those men had her and they claimed a dragon and swooped down upon them and drove them off? Loghain had them all flogged for lying after he stopped laughing. He was tempted to do more than just flog the fools, he wanted to lock them all up in Fort Drakon. He wanted to hang them for their incompetence. He…wanted to drink his wine.

"Incompetent bastards!" the teyrn downed his drink before pouring another, barely hearing the elf servant announce the arrival of Rendon Howe, the newly named Teyrn of Highever. He glanced at the teyrn, dressed as if he were ready to go to war, clad in a suit of leather armour and carrying a sword – an unwieldy, serrated design, likely Tevinter – upon his back.

Loghain thought he looked ridiculous.

"I bring word, sire," began the snake, not bothering to bow before the regent – per Loghain's command. He never liked people bowing before him; he was no blue-blooded arse who enjoyed those kinds of pleasantries. Howe continued speaking. "There are demands from the Bannorn that you step down from the regency."

"Is there now?" Why wasn't he surprised? Of course they would be opposed to the only one who is willing to defend Ferelden after that child Cailan's unfortunate…fate. Why are they doing this? Ferelden needs a strong king, a strong king who would show their neighbours that their lands were not theirs for the taking, a strong king who would not sell his royal throne for a foreign one, even an imperial one. A strong king who was not Cailan. A strong king whom Cailan was not.

So be it. He shall destroy them all.

"Yes, sire. They are said to be gathering their forces – as are your allies. It appears that there is going to be a civil war, after all. There are even reports of the common folk protesting in the city, as well as in other parts of the kingdom from Alamar to Honnleath, denouncing your rule. Pity."

Indeed it was a pity. Damn it all! This was all for the people of Ferelden! Who was he even doing all of this for, if not for the people of Ferelden?! The people he had fought and bled for during the rebellion against Orlais, alongside his closest friend, Maric. He certainly did not fight for those entitled fops that call themselves 'nobles' in the Bannorn. The teyrn slammed his free fist in anger, hard against his desk and scoffed. Maric must be ashamed. His only son and heir was the biggest fop of them all, concerned more with his own pleasures than actually ruling the country, as if he were an Orlesian – and – Loghain remembered the correspondence between the king and that Orlesian bitch, Empress Celene – and he had even conspired to make Ferelden rejoin the empire!

Not only that, but those that Maric had trusted – Arl Eamon and Teyrn Bryce Cousland – men he had thought were men of honour, true patriots to Ferelden, had all but done their part to undermine the freedom which better men than they had fought to gain for those who would come after them.

And Loghain's staunchest ally was this…serpent…Rendon Howe. The man could kiss arse with the best of them, but he was willing to dirty his hands in order to keep his clean. One time, Howe had informed the regent of his plan to install a spy in Eamon's household. It had been learned that Connor – Eamon's only child – was a mage, and that the Arlessa Isolde was taking great pains to conceal this secret from everyone, even her own husband, who would certainly send her boy to the Circle if he had found out. Howe explained that he could provide the arlessa with an apostate mage who was willing to teach the boy how to conceal his powers. This apostate would be their man on the inside, gathering information, and – if need be – find a way to kill the Arl.

It was a despicable plan, but Howe had justified it as a way to head off Eamon's treachery, and deprive the Bannorn of one of Ferelden's greatest military commanders should they decide to use force. Loghain had to concede the point that said plan did have some merit. "Do it," he had commanded Howe with a bitterness he had not thought to feel.

"I also have an interesting report," continued Howe, concealing the smugness in his voice. "It seems that the Cousland girl was sighted in Lothering by some of your men."

"'Sighted'?" said Loghain, turning to regard Howe with hard eyes. "As in 'seen' and not 'arrested' nor even 'killed'?"

"That is correct, sire," answered Howe, bowing in false apology. "Apparently, she was seen in a tavern, conversing with some associates – one of them was even an Orlesian." Loghain growled low in his throat before drawing heavily from his cup. Though Howe's face was as stone, he smiled inwardly at this fool's reaction at the very mention of Orlesians, as if they were the root of all evil, and must be eradicated with a fury reserved for religious zealots. And surely, that sliver of information would make the fiction that the Cousland family were friendly with the Orlesians just that more true in the regent's mind. It wouldn't be long before the regent starts to see Orlesians in every shadow, ready to plant a poisoned blade in his back.

Of course, the men who had given him the report mentioned that the Orlesian – this Chantry sister, whoever she was – only interfered just before the attempted arrest. Cousland wasn't 'conversing' with her. But it was in Howe's interests to bend that particular truth a little.

"Yes, sire," continued Howe. "It seems that your men tried to arrest the traitor, but she had initiated a tavern brawl and escaped in the chaos." This wasn't true, from the report. In fact, it seems that Loghain's men were driven off by Cousland and her associates, which in Loghain's eyes would have been no truer than the tale about a dragon swooping down in Cousland's defence. Howe had to stifle his laughter when he heard that one. He did not realise that common soldiers had such vivid imaginations. A dragon. Really!

"How she had evaded capture for this long, I don't know," he continued further, "but there will be no doubt that she will act against you."

No doubt Cousland would ally herself with the Bannorn and fight against them if she was not captured quickly. She is dangerous now, but with an army at her back? The regent may dismiss her as just a girl, but Howe was not as foolish as that. He knows Elissa Cousland. Of course, for some warped reason or other, she enjoys putting on armour and swinging a sword and playing the man – and no doubt, she likes to play the man in other ways, too, he thought with disgust – but she is also her father's daughter, and she has that same damned look in her eye, as did her father and her brother. It was that damned look which marked every Cousland success that held him back over the years. She needs to die.

Speaking of which.

"I have taken the liberty of arranging a…solution. By your leave," he opened the door to Loghain's chambers, and entered an elf. Dark skinned and blonde haired, and sporting a tattoo across his cheek, a design of two curved lines pointing downward. The elf came in clad in dark clothing, some lightly armoured suit which appeared to be some kind of uniform, and judging from the sword and dagger ensemble he wore Loghain suspected just who this man was.

"The Antivan Crows send their regards," said the elf in his rich Antivan accent, grinning and bowing dramatically towards Loghain. "Zevran, at your service."

"An assassin?" Loghain could not hide his contempt for this elf if he tried; instead, he turned so that he would not have to see him and downed his cup in one clean motion. The Antivan Crows. They had a reputation for being the best order of assassins in Thedas. It is due to that deadly reputation, their skill at arms, and their knowledge of poisons, that they practically rule their homeland. It was said, that the kings and queens of Antiva were merely puppets dancing to their tune, and if they didn't…well…there was a reason the Steel Age of three hundred years ago was named such, when the Queen of Antiva at the time was found impaled by four swords, their handiwork, no doubt.

"Mere soldiers appear to be…inadequate against the traitor, sire," Howe began, "we need to try a different approach. We need the best."

"And the most expensive," added the elven assassin, still grinning. Zevran spoke as if he were some kind of showman or circus master, rather than a man who kills for money. "But you can be assured, my lords, that it will be money well spent. This woman Cousland shall trouble you no more."

Loghain growled in anger before turning his head to glare at his ally Howe and this…person…he had brought with him. The regent could not help but feel like a hypocrite. After all, he did order Howe to arrange for an apostate to infiltrate Arl Eamon's household and possibly act as an assassin as well as a spy. It's just…looking at this elf, this man who kills only for pay. Dress them up however one likes, to him, an assassin was no better than any common mercenary. Loghain would rather use men who were interested in more than just their coin purse.

"Just get it done," he commanded the elf.

Both Howe and the Antivan Crow bowed before taking their leave. As soon as they left the regent's chamber the teyrn of Highever turned to his…employee. "Killing Cousland is of the utmost priority, elf," he said, turning his nose upward at the Crow. "Now, I ride for Highever. See to it that her head is on my desk at Castle Cousland and your masters shall be rewarded handsomely," he could barely stomach the name of 'Castle Cousland' when he spoke it. It was as if the name would endure the demise of the family who bore it. The family who held back his ambitions. The family he hated more than anything, and want it eradicated more than anything. The new teyrn of Highever must remind himself to ask the regent that he rename the castle. 'Castle Howe' had a better ring to it. Howe regarded the elf once again. "Do it in a timely fashion and I shall pay double your fee."

Zevran simply smiled. Double his fee, will he? His masters will be pleased at that. And this man must want this Cousland woman dead in a big way. What did she do, precisely? Sleep with his daughter, or something? His mind went somewhere very dirty before coming back to the here and now. Bah. It did not matter to him. The only thing that mattered to him was how good she was. When Howe was procuring Zevran's services, he tried selling him on the falsehood that this Cousland was an easy mark for the Antivan Crows. But Zevran could read in between the lines. Elissa Cousland was a dangerous woman. He only hoped that she was dangerous enough to suit his purposes.

"Ah, do not worry my friend," Zevran bowed dramatically to his employer, chuckling, his rich accent rolling from his tongue. "Elissa Cousland is as good as dead, and in a 'timely fashion' as well. You and I have a deal."

End Chapter Ten.

Author's Note: HE'S BAAAAAAACK! Hello again, my friends! I hope you all had a great new year (he says, two weeks after the fact…)! Sorry that I haven't been active since the last time, real life has been kicking my arse, and it's been pretty brutal about it too. Ah well…such is life. But anyway, chapter ten is here! It's a short one, I know, it's my shortest one so far, but please, bear with me.

Originally, this chapter was going to be longer, and involving more than just one group of characters, Loghain, Howe, and Zevran. Elissa and the gang. You get the picture. But then I felt that this section would do better as its own chapter, and so would the next section, and then the third which technically is still a work in progress, as of now.

And so I renamed the chapter, originally it was called 'The Crow, the Demon, and Sentimental Value' (and even that was a name change from 'Making Deals'), and then I split what I had written. Simple as.

I guess that you could technically call this chapter Part One of 'The Crow, the Demon, and Sentimental Value' instead?

But anyway, enough of that.

ZEVRAN'S FINALLY HERE! Okay, not exactly cause for celebration, but I bet you Zev fans enjoyed his introduction?

I would like to thank Skopje-Tiran, Mitrios, marshalld, Serfius, and Juggalo Prince for following and/or favouriting this story. Thanks a bunch, you guys, I really appreciate your support. ^_^

Qapla!