Chapter 12

Grass Isn't Always Greener

9:31 Dragon – Denerim Elven Alienage

Aianna held little love for the suspicious elves of Denerim's alienage and the even more suspicious humans that lurked in the shadows from time to time. The attention from Daralis's presence was putting a huge stress on the family with the constant teasing of stalking thug elves. Their mother was unable to leave the house in fear of being mugged.

Daralis had taken up the mantle of being the primary provider for the family to protect Aianna from being discovered. This fact wasn't stopping Aianna from leaving the tiny hovel of an apartment to settle into the back room of a tavern. She spent the evenings cheating unsuspecting men out of their coin in taverns over card games. The coin she was making could never compare to what she was making in Tevinter, but at least Aianna felt like she was contributing a bit even though one silver a night wasn't living up to Daralis's twenty a week.

Annalis stood quietly watching the fireplace while Aianna was pulling herself out of bed to prepare for her evening of pub hopping. The young mage glanced across the small one room apartment at her mother with concern. Annalis's small frame was becoming thinner and it seemed her hair was contracting more grey.

"Mama," Aianna spoke as she rose from her bed in nothing but her small clothes. She walked to stand next to her mother and pulled a hanging robe from the clothes line above the fire. "Have you eaten anything today?" She asked opening the short leather robe and pulling it over her shoulders.

"Yes...I have darling," Annalis smiled weakly to her eldest daughter. Aianna narrowed her eyes suspiciously at her mother as she closed the front of leather robes around her torso. Straightening the feathers on the shoulders of the robes, Aianna cracked her neck sharply before reaching for her leggings and arm warmers from the clothes line.

"There's no use in lying to me Mama," Aianna groaned pulling her right arm warmer over her wrist and up to her shoulder. "When Dara gets home I'll tell her you haven't eaten and we both know she will annoy you all night until you do." Aianna smiled as she stretched out her other arm warmer and slipped her left wrist inside. Before she pulled it up, Annalis stared blankly at Aianna's scarred left arm. The many healed slashes, scratches and cuts made her sick to her stomach, leaving Annalis feeling partially responsible for Aianna taking up being a maleficar.

Aianna knew her mother was staring at the old scars and quickly pulled the arm warmer up to her shoulder. Annalis sighed, turning from her daughter so she could finish getting dressed. Aianna looked out the window of their apartment to see that the sun was still out. She cursed under her breath for waking up early. Annalis handed Aianna a half loaf of bread and a mug of water. The bread was incredibly stiff and Aianna used the water to soften it, dunking the bread into the water for a few moments between bites.

There was a sudden knock at the door and both mother and daughter stood still. Aianna rose to her feet, staff in hand. Annalis gestured for her to relax and walked over to the door.

"Who is it?" She spoke softly against the frame and deftly locked the extra dead bolt on the door. The reply was a harder, more insistent knock, this time betraying the sound of metal against wood. Aianna felt a shiver down her spine, realizing what lay in wait on the opposite side. There was a third knock which cracked the already weak entry point. Aianna gestured for her mother to move to another part of the room to keep her well out of the way of what she was about to do. She manifested lightning in her palms, casting it abruptly at the door, to which she distinctly heard a large set of armor, then another, crash ungracefully to the ground.

Aianna moved closer, staff in hand, between the door and her mother. With the heavy clanking sound of plated gauntlets against the already creaking door, it burst from its hinges and a Templar walked into the tiny apartment. He looked around the room with sword and shield drawn. His gaze met Aianna's. Before he could move towards them, his head was met with a stonefist spell Aianna cast. The Templar fell backwards against the wall, his helmet completely crushed and oozing blood.

"MAGE!" A voice called from the hall. "That's three of my men you've killed. Now you can walk out of this room quietly or we'll burn the whole building down."

"Take your offer and shove it Templar!" Aianna screamed back as she began to cast tempest. Electricity pulsed through her whole body ready to strike the next person to walk through that door. "I'm calling your bluff!"

"If we have to come in there mage, your family dies!" the voice echoed down the hall into the room. Aianna paused for a moment, feeling someone staring into the back of her skull, and turned to meet her mother's gaze. The middle aged elf was engulfed with fear. Hesitantly Aianna stayed her spell turning from her mother.

"Aianna…no…don't…" Annalis begged. "NO! Don't go with them! They will kill you!" She grasped Aianna's arm tightly. "Don't take my baby again!" Annalis fell to her knees at Aianna's feet. Two Templars walked inside the apartment cautiously to see the scene.

"Smart move mage," spoke the voice that had called from the hallway, who she now recognized as the Templar Captain. "It seems that those young elves were right, we have a blood mage in our midst." Aianna stared him down, breathing heavy with frustration.

The Templar Captain abruptly swung a fist at Aianna, striking her in the face. She fell to the ground with a loud groan. His heavy gauntlets had left her face bruised and cut. The other Templars picked her up swiftly, restraining her hands and followed the Captain out the door of the apartment.

Annalis was left alone shaking in disbelief that her daughter had been taken from her once again.

There was a crowd now gathering in the market, onlookers following them into the marketplace towards the Chantry. Aianna fell in and out of consciousness as the group of Templars dragged her bangle frame ever so closer to the Chantry. Her hand tightly bound behind her by an absurdly massive chain that it took three Templars to simply carry her. Blood covered her face, pouring from her lips and trickling down her neck and chest.

"Magic exists to serve man, and never to rule over him!" The Templar Knight Captain called out as he led the group. "Foul and corrupt are they who have taken his gifts and turned it against his children!" He continued to chant, the other Templars joining in with him as they marched. As they reached the front of the Chantry, the Captain turned around and grasped Aianna's neck. He threw her against the ground and she squinted in pain.

"They shall be named maleficar, accursed ones…"

Aianna struggled to open her bruised eyes with her head firmly planted to the ground. She could faintly make out a smile on the Knight Captain's face. He swiftly kicked her with an armored boot in an attempt to make her scream. Aianna bit down hard on her tongue as she heard the most familiar verse from the Canticle of Transfigurations.

"They shall find no rest in this world or beyond," the Knight Captain finished, drawing his sword from within its sheath on his back. He reached down and pulled Aianna to her knees. "You have any last words, mage?" The Templar scowled down at her. Aianna fought to look at the Templar, to open her eyes, even just enough where she could see his face. She took a deep breath, and spat blood in his face.

"To the Void with all of you!" Aianna managed to force out with a faint smile. Blood stained her teeth and the corners of her mouth.

The Knight Captain solidified his hold around her neck, trying to choke her, wiping the blood from his face with his free ungauntleted hand. As Aianna felt her mind begin to slip into unconsciousness, she saw what she thought were chantry robes bursting out the front doors. Then everything around Aianna became dark and voices began to fade into silence. The last thought that ran through her mind was that she would die, here at the door steps of the Chantry.

"You! You can't do that here! This is the sacred ground of the Denerim Chantry! Take that mage elsewhere and kill her!" The initiate yelled from the top of the steps, throwing her arms up to the sky as if she was talking to the Maker Himself. "Take her to the Tower of Magi to be judged! It is the Tower's right to judge her. She cannot be judged here!"

"My hand will not be stilled for any of your corrupted thoughts! She will be judged by my hand and my hand alone. Begone with you!" The Knight Captain released his hold on Aianna's throat, and rolled her over onto her back. The Templar drew his sword high, blade pointed down, aimed at Aianna's heart. As he was about to bring an Aianna's life, he was tackled by someone in very shiny silverite plate armor.

"And what, by the Black City, do you think you're doing, Templar?" The man wearing the plate had managed to grab the Templar's blade and was now aiming it at its owner. "You will go. You will not take this poor elven mage." He stepped closer to the Templar glancing over to the now unconscious mage. She began to cough slightly and without medical attention she would surely choke on her own blood. "Begone with you, Templar. And Maker help you if I ever see you around again." The man in plate still had the blade aimed at the Knight Captain. His resolve was unquestionable though his identity was a mystery.

"No! She is a blood mage! She is to be sacrificed in order to cleanse this world!" The Knight Captain screamed frantically, though hesitant to step forward. "The mage dies!"

"Have it your way fool," The man turned from the Templar, stabling the loose sword to his feet and turning back to Aianna. "I, Aedan Cousland, Commander of the Grey Wardens in Ferelden, hereby conscript this mage into the ranks of the Grey Wardens." He spoke, kneeling down over her and taking her into his arms. Firmly holding her head up so she could breathe, but blood still flowed from her mouth. He examined her face and realized her jaw was broken on both sides.

"You cannot do this, Warden! You don't have the right!" The Templar stepped forward pulling his sword from the ground and moving towards Aedan. The sound of a bow being drawn stopped the Templar mid swing.

"Your next move will be your last," A deep voice whispered from behind. The Templar turned around slowly to see a dark haired rogue dressed in fine leather armor pointing an arrow straight for the Templar's head. "The Grey Wardens do have the right enforced by the Chantry and the crown! Now off with you!" Slowly the Templar retreated to his small band of not-so-merry men and they fled the market in order to escape the warrior's rage.

"Little late Nathaniel," Aedan sighed as Nathaniel withdrew his bow and returned it to its sheath on his back. The two men watched at the Templars fled and the Chantry priests running off the on looking crowd. "Here," Aedan spoke turning to Nathaniel and gently handing a very wounded Aianna to his arms. "She needs a healer fast or she will not live for long."

"Ugh," Howe groaned, taking her and shaking his head with disgust. "Seriously, Aedan? A mage of all things."

"We need to replace a good mage we already lost to the darkspawn. This elf took a beating from all of those men and still had the nerve to be defiant to them. Did you see her spit blood in that Templar's face? Amazing." Aedan smiled, seeing Howe deepen his frown. "Let's take her to the compound at the palace for aid. Will you see to it while I meet with Alistair?"

"It doesn't sound like I have a choice." Nathaniel sighed, turning from Aedan and walking swiftly towards the palace. Both Grey Wardens knew that if Aianna was to live she would need a healer.