Chapter 9: Leaving Lothering
Both Abbadon and Morrigan found themselves wondering briefly why Alistair and Shaylar were so far apart as they entered the Tavern altogether that night. Andrea had suggested going, just to let off some steam. They had all been more or less on edge, staying in Lothering with the threat of Darkspawn threat looming so close. It felt as if at any moment, the whole army would come busting through the gates of Lothering. It wasn't any sort of thing the three Grey Wardens wanted to witness again. They knew they would, eventually, but they had hoped that it would be a while yet. But it didn't really explain the behavior. Shaylar was on the far side of the group, talking to Roland and Andrea, while Alistair was walking on his other side, Neither Morrigan or Abbadon exchanged words, but they did exchange glances very briefly.
Morrigan had been used to hearing them speak to one another most of the way to Lothering. But she decided not to focus on that fact anymore. She wasn't even sure how they had convinced her to come, but here she was. Roland had insisted that they take their weapons with them however, so she shifted the weight on her back, the staff now resting flat. They had all opted to bring their weapons, and it seemed that at least Shaylar was happy within her new armor. It seemed to be simple Grey Iron, but it was better than her prancing around in nothing but dresses. Lest they be stuck with only Abbadon and the dimwit to stop the blight. That would have been most unfortunate.
"Well here it is!" Andrea's voice rang out as they finally reached the tavern. "This is Dane's Refuge. There's been a lot of customers here lately, but it really is one of the best taverns you'll find this far south!" The group stepped inside, greeted by a half-full house. At least they had chosen a time that wasn't as busy, for it had also been one of Morrigan's terms. There was the sound of clinking glasses and hardy, drunken cheers as they found themselves two tables to spread out around.
"I'd really like to thank you all for coming." Andrea mentioned as she asked the waitress for a round of ale. Roland seemed cheerful as he sat there next to her.
"Thanks for inviting us all the same. I know coin isn't exactly the easiest thing to come by these days." Shaylar answered back as she settled in next to Abbadon. Abbadon seemed to be thinking about something.
"So...we're keeping those horses, right?"
"You bet. We can't exactly return them because we don't even know where those Bandits got them from." Shaylar explained as she felt a furry lump she could only assume was Bryn find its way under the table, laying by her feet. She reached down carefully to pat him on the back, comforted by the bristly fur under her palm.
"Were you going to give them names?" He asked suddenly, Shaylar blinking a few times at the question.
"What are you worried about that for?"
"Animals normally respond faster when there is a name to call, don't they?" Roland nodded in agreement.
"You can't exactly expect them to come to you when you're calling them both 'Horse'." Shaylar thought about it, while Morrigan nodded slightly.
"Some say that the Halla are the same. They must be called by a name to come." She could only wonder how Morrigan knew such a thing about the Halla. Aldous had once referred to the creatures when he was speaking of the Dalish Elves, but they were pretty far east. Maybe Flemeth had told her about it? She wasn't sure, but she also wasn't sure she should be questioning it. Because she knew regardless Morrigan probably wasn't going to tell her about something so trivial. Or, what she considered trivial, anyway.
"Well...Alright. In that case we'll need to think of some...but you know, I kind of like the name Hohaku. You know, for the Stallion?" Abbadon and Roland looked solemn for a brief moment, though Andrea looked intrigued.
"Why Hohaku?" She asked, tilting her head slightly. Shaylar looked up thoughtfully.
"Well, it was a story that my nanny used to tell my brothers and I all the time. It was the story of a proud Mabari who let too much of his power and pride go to his head. It was one of my favorite stories as a kid." It was then that Roland started laughing, and Shaylar raised an eyebrow.
"And what's so funny, Rory?"
"I was just remembering how much emphasis that Nan put on the fact that Hohaku was stoned in the end whenever you would bring your Mabari along." Shaylar smiled slightly, Abbadon snickering quietly, looking at Alistair who he noticed seemed to be curious.
"Bryn used to break into the larder a good twice a week, messing up all of nan's stock. Mother would always send us into the larder to get him." The talk became a little easier when the ale came around. Abbadon, Roland, and Shaylar shared stories of Highever Castle, and the others within the group took note of how happy they seemed, allowing them to revel in the good times. Of course minus Morrigan, who hadn't really desired to mingle with the others in the first place.
"Alistair, did they ever teach you anything about myths and legends in the Abbey?" Abbadon questioned as he took another sip of Ale.
"They tried not to when they could avoid it, and normally only things they found important, most of them had to do with the maker. Why?"
"I was curious. Aldous liked to teach us a little bit of everything. Shaylar, do you remember when he told us the one about the High Dragon that nearly decimated the Free Marches?" He asked, his sister looking down in an attempt to recall it.
"No...then again Aldous did always tell me that everything he said vanished into the yawning chasm between my ears. Then again, I swear sometimes he was just telling us about the dreams he had during his mid-class nap." Abbadon chuckled, bringing his tankard to his lips once again.
"Abbadon, when I was there, your father mentioned something about the two of you getting locked in the larder?" He asked the question cautiously, to which Abbadon's brow furrowed, while Roland burst out into laughter. Shaylar, a bit more relaxed thanks to the ale, took another sip.
"You want to ask these geniuses about that." She sounded pointedly cold, but the men were amused.
"We had the idea to lock Shaylar in the larder that night. It was back when Roland was still a squire. But when I led Shaylar into the larder, Roland managed to close the door too soon." Abbadon explained, looking to Roland to conclude the tale.
"Nan caught me in the kitchen and chased me out with a frying pan before I could open the door again. When I finally told the Teyrn it must have been about five in the morning. He was not happy." Roland recalled.
"That was because mother woke him and Fergus up screaming about how we had gotten kidnapped." Andrea and Alistair seemed rather amused at the story, and for a moment Shaylar could swear she even saw Morrigan hide a smirk behind her tankard. But she could never really tell much of anything when it came to Morrigan.
"Look here, I think we've just been blessed by the maker." It was about thirty minutes later that an unfamiliar voice disrupted the chatter, and the group fell silent. Andrea, probably the most peaceful of them all, stood up, holding her hands out defensively.
"Good Sir, what are you talking about? Did something happen?" The man seemed to be gathering flem within his mouth to spit, but he never did, instead speaking again.
"We've been looking for some fellows by their-" He pointed to Alistair and Abbadon. "Description all morning, but everyone told us that they haven't seen them." Abbadon narrowed his eyes. If the refugees had been afraid to tell him that they'd seen him, there must have been a reason. Slowly, he and Alistair stood up,
"And what exactly is it you want with us? I'm pretty sure it isn't afternoon tea..." Alistair added to his sentence in a mumble.
"The Regent left us behind to look for any surviving Grey Wardens, we're supposed to take care of em', once and for all." Shaylar stood up at this, joining Abbadon and Alistair in their defensive position.
"So, that throne-grabbing liar left you here? That's unfortunate." She felt a sharp pull on her shoulder and felt herself pressed to Alistair's chest as a Dagger flew past her head and into a adjacent wall. The Tavern had gone silent, eyes on the progressing situation. Alistair let her go but Abbadon was quick to push her behind them, much to her dismay. She noticed Morrigan's eyes shifting around the tavern, and she soon realized that these men weren't alone.
"I will not let you slander the regent that way-" He was paused by a hand to his chest as a red-headed women stood in between the two parties of men. She wore a garment that Abbadon recognized, from the Chantry. Blue eyes focused on shifting between the men.
"Now boys, whatever problems you may have, maybe this isn't the best place to settle them." She insisted, her accent that of thick Orlesian. This only served to make the man speaking angrier.
"Silence, you Orlesian bitch. I served at Ostagar, where he saved us from the Grey Warden's treachery. Shaylar's aggravated voice sounded from behind Alistair and Abbadon.
"If you were there one would think you'd be less blind." The thick voice of the Orlesian woman sounded again.
"He's only blindly following the orders of his master."
"Gladly following, get them boys! Kill the sister and anyone else that gets in your way." The sister clicked her tongue.
"My, my, you'd think the men of a regent would act more composed towards civilians than that." The fray broke out faster than anyone had anticipated. Alistair found his sword clashing with another who had come at him from the side that had been housing Shaylar, and Morrigan was on her feet, freely casting spells despite the witnesses. She must have felt that these people were too cowardly to actually alert the templars of Lothering to an apostate, and she was probably right. Most in fact were currently hiding as the tavern walls were spattered with blood. Abbadon withdrew his sword from one of the men, watching him fall to the floor with a loud bang as his armor hit it. Shaylar did not draw her bow, this time content to sit between himself and Alistair, likely because messing with arrows within the tavern was rather dangerous. But he spotted the sister, who he hadn't expected to jump into the fight. Her robes were spattered in blood, and she held a dagger more skillfully than one would expect a sister too. Finally, all the men but one were dead.
"P-Please don't kill me!" He insisted, and the sister stood just between he and Alistair once again.
"Alright, I think they've learned their lesson, and we can all stop fighting now." Abbadon sheathed his sword, crossing his arms.
"Take a message to Loghain."
"C-Certainly! What would you like to say?"
"The Grey Wardens know what really happened." With that, the man scrambled from the tavern, the group watching him leave, mostly with scowls, save for Andrea who slipped out from under the table.
"That was some fuss, are the lot of you alright?" the sister asked as she turned to them. Shaylar was trying to rub the blood from her face to no avail, but she paused to look back at her.
"Hm? Yeah I think we're okay...right?" She turned back, confirming it from a few nods. "Yeah we're fine. But hey...where does a sister learn to fight like that anyway?" She was greeted by her giggling, something she hadn't expected. she seemed so fierce in battle.
"You know, not all sisters led a boring life before the chantry. Some of us had more...colorful lives." She was bewildered by the comment, but smiled all the same.
"Well thanks for helping us..." Her eyes shifted to the angry looking bar tender. "But we should probably leave. Come on you guys." The other began to sheath their weapons, moving from their table, littered when Roland had thrown a dying man across it, and began heading to the door.
"Wait...you lot are Grey Wardens, are you not?" she asked, to which Abbadon nodded hesitantly.
"Starting to wonder if we should be admitting that so freely, but they already said it, so..." The woman smiled at him, placing her dagger away as well.
"I am Leliana. And now I must beg a question...may I join you on your travels? You...you do the Maker's work and...he gave a vision to me you see. I knew you would arrive in Lothering, I must help you! The Maker even sent me a sign...one beautiful rose in the center of a dead bush, you must believe me!" The wardens were giving her bewildered looks, before turning to talk to each other.
"Did she...happen to fall off a wagon when she was small?"
"I don't know, we kind of need the help. And her plea seems genuine. Maybe we do need her."
"We already have a lot of people with us though, since Roland is coming with us as well."
"I still vote that we take her."
"Alistair, she's one Archdemon short of a blight!..."
"Yeah but she seems more "Oh pretty colors!" than "Muahaha I'm princess stabbity, stab, kill kill" crazy." Alistair added.
"..."
"...Alright. Look, she fights well, maybe she'll be useful after all." Abbadon concluded, to which Shaylar had to admit he was right.
"Alright, but if I find her talking to herself in the corner of camp somewhere I can't guarantee we'll be leaving with her the next morning." Abbadon nodded. It was fair enough, he though as he turned back to Leliana.
"Welcome to the...crew? Yeah, I guess you can call it that." He said, holding out a hand which she happily took. Morrigan, watching them from next to Roland, shook her head in disapproval.
"I think they cracked their skulls harder than mother thought."
The next day hadn't really been an enjoyable one. They had been tasked with getting rid of Bandits, Bears, and even a pack of wolves, which had found the body of Devan's mother, which had depressed Shaylar just a bit. The boy had so much hope that his mother was still alive, and they hadn't made her come to the Chantry with them when they went to go give her Necklace to the boy, who they had found out had been there since the night before. Though she had been happy he took her suggestion, she hadn't been prepared to find his mother laying dead out in the wilderness.
It was after they returned from the chantry that Abbadon had went to go do something in the stables, though he hadn't told anyone what. With the forest free from bandits, Andrea had gone to collect more herbs, Morrigan had vanished once again, going to do what Shaylar had dubbed 'Morrigan things', which was now her new term and the only one she would use to explain Morrigan's absence. She knew however, she wouldn't go back to the wilds, since she had been tasked to join them by Flemeth, the witch of the wilds probably wouldn't be too pleased in seeing she had returned so soon.
Since Roland would be leaving with them the next day, he decided to go out on a final patrol, but still upset from the discovery of Devan's mother, Shaylar had refused the offer to go with him when it had come up. It left she and Alistair alone in Andrea's house. She sat comfortably in the corner, reading a scroll while Alistair sat at the table with his back to her. He seemed focused on something, and she had have a mind to look, but it didn't seem that he wanted to be bothered.
"Alistair?" He jumped slightly, seemingly fumbling to hide something. She tilted her head slightly, but when he seemed to have whatever was in front of him under control, he turned.
"Yes?" He questioned. Was he sweating? She wasn't sure, but she shook off the thought.
"About yesterday...I'm sorry." He gained a guilty look as he remembered what had gone on yesterday in the stables. "I was upset and I didn't know how to express myself so it just...c-came out that way..." Alistair blinked at her. He sure hoped that wasn't how she expressed herself to everyone. But he somehow doubted it.
"Don't worry about it. I was the one who had probably should have kept my mouth shut in the first place." He said admittedly. "I am glad you decided to talk to me again though, without the help of your friend Ale."
"Yeah, clouds of awkward silence aren't exactly my thing." the sides of his mouth quirked up into a smile as her playful tone with him returned. She tried to look just around him.
"So, what have you got there anyway?" Alistair unconsciously thumbed the petals of a beautiful red rose.
"Nothing, nothing much." She wanted to press the issue, but she didn't. Instead, Alistair quickly changed the subject.
"Abbadon said he wanted to try and find a cart to hitch the horses to. I don't really know where we'd find one, though." It was then, a little too late that he noticed the devious look in her eyes.
"Oh...I think I know where we can get one." He would be lying, Alistair would, if he said the look the youngest Cousland carried currently didn't scare him at all, because Maker knew that it did.
The cart's wheels groaned as it rumbled along the path, towards the hill that would lead them from Lothering. There was a quick whinny from the scar-faced mare that Shaylar had dubbed Dusty, while the rest of the group had agreed the stallion was to be named Hohaku as she had suggested the previous day. Morrigan seemed to dislike the sound of the clattering wheels, but said nothing as she leaned back on her seat. It comfortably fit Leliana, Morrigan, and Shaylar, while Roland walked along at the cart's side, Abbadon and Alistair sat at the reins, in the driver's seat. it was a comfortable arrangement, and of course the girls, capable of fending for themselves had offered to switch positions with the men when they got far enough. Shaylar had arranged their supplies in the middle of the cart this morning, so while there was enough room to sit, there wasn't enough to really stretch out. But that was alright, it was still a comfortable situation. Of course, it didn't really stop the dog from laying atop the supplies.
"Shaylar, please tell me that you're done scaring merchants now." Abbadon called into the back of the cart. Shaylar snickered, figuring Alistair had just gotten done telling him the whole story.
"What? He gave it to me for a sovereign!" she called back, leaning back a bit.
"Yes, after you threatened his goods."
"What? You do what you have to and that's what I did. We have a cart so stop complaining."
"Shaylar."
"Fine, I'll stop scaring merchants." She mumbled as she closed her eyes, Leliana giving a chuckle.
"I can see you're very lively." Shaylar cracked one eye open, giving a shrug.
"Abbadon just doesn't understand the meaning of survival of the fittest." she mumbled before closing her eye again.
Abbadon had repaid his debt to Andrea. When she awoke that morning she'd find a sack of health poultices that Abbadon had spent most of the day before concocting by himself within the stables. He wished he could have stayed to see her face, but they wanted to get an early start. But there was one more thing that he had to do, and he had explained the plan to Alistair and Roland that morning. Alistair leaned over.
"Are you sure this is going to work?"
"Positive, as long as we carry out our roles correctly. I promised I'd get him out, and I will."
"Shouldn't we have just asked the revered mother to let him go?"
"And do you really think she would have given us the key?"
"...No." Shaylar was confused when the cart suddenly stopped.
"Abbadon, Alistair? Did the horses stop listening?" She called, but got no answer. "Are they deaf or something?" Leliana offered a theory.
"Perhaps they're just checking something out on the road ahead?" Morrigan leaned back.
"Or perhaps the horses got tired of being directed by a dimwit."
"...Alistair isn't a bad driver."
"I've felt less bumps on a log." It was then that the cart jerked, Leliana and Shaylar each letting out varying gasps of surprise as the cart was driven full speed down the hill out of lothering. It was only then that the noticed Roland was positioned on the back of the cart. In the driver's seat, Abbadon held his sword out while Alistair directed the horses down the hill. As they came closer to the cage of the Qunari that Andrea had showed them yesterday, Abbadon leaned over, timing it so he could jam his sword within the lock. the flimsy lock broke off at the speeded impact, Roland hitting his sword heavily against the empty cage so it turned the cart evenly as Alistiar brought the cart to a stop. The Qunari looked confused for only a moment as the cage door swung open, and Abbadon popped up from the front of the cart.
"Come with us if you want to live." Abbadon insisted, Alistair joining him.
"That and you don't have much of a choice."