Chapter 13 : Redcliffe Castle
Morrigan and Leliana were standing before the Village Chantry when Lyssa and Alistair arrived. Morrigan turned to look at them and knew instantly the moment had come. She could tell from the way Alistair looked. His confidence had clearly been boosted and every time he looked at Lyssa his eyes glowed with intensity. It was unmistakable. So, thought Morrigan, he has told her, and it seems she returns the feeling. Poor girl. Ah well, this will make my job easier.
"We were worried when we heard the fighting. Morrigan hid us well. We did not attract the attention of the undead. After things had died down I came to the edge of town to see, and it seemed safe to bring the gear here. So we did. Now that the undead are gone, can we see the Arl?" Leliana asked.
"Not exactly," Lyssa said. "The Bann believes the Arl may still be in danger. He knows a back way into the castle. He wanted to wait until morning, I suspect because the undead seem most active at night. We're going to sneak in, and hopefully we'll have a better understanding of what is going on.
"Obviously we don't want too much attention, so I am going to leave Moby with you two, and Alistair and I will go in with the Bann," Lyssa said, "I'm hoping once we know more we'll know what our next step should be."
"Okay, good luck," said Leliana.
Lyssa nodded to Alistair and they went off toward the windmill. When they got there they saw the Bann standing alone outside of it, looking over the town. He turned and smiled when he saw them.
"Ah, there you two are. Looks like you managed to clean yourselves up. I was a little worried, this morning when I woke. No one had seen where you had gone. And when your companions showed up without you, I thought perhaps you'd fallen and drowned in the lake," Bann Teagan said laughing and looking from one to the other.
A thought struck Teagan as he saw Alistair smile a little and saw the way Alistair glanced at Lyssa. Lyssa herself was ever the professional in the Bann's presence and seemed to be ready to follow his orders.
Ah, he thought hastily, I shall have to apologize to Alistair for my presumptuous behavior earlier.
He fumbled a bit with his words and a small amount of disappointment leaked into his voice, "I know of a back way into the castle. It is here in the Windmill, but only the family signet ring will open it. It was made to be a quick escape should the castle be sieged. I think it will be best if we..."
Just then they all turned to the sound of footsteps running up the road. A woman dressed in fine noble attire came jogging up to the small party gasping. She was a lovely thing, and she had aged gracefully. The woman had light hair and dark eyes, and was likely approaching her forties if she had not already passed that landmark. It was difficult to tell since she clearly worked hard at maintaining her youthful look.
"Teagan," she said breathlessly, "You must come back with me to the castle, please!"
Lyssa heard a faint Orlesian accent in the woman's voice. She noticed Alistair's demeanor had changed when he saw the woman. His stance turned defensive and his face hardened. They were all a little shocked to see anyone come from the castle, as Teagan had said they had been unable to raise anyone there.
"Isolde," Teagan said confused.
Lyssa turned to the woman and addressed her directly, "Pardon me, my lady Isolde, but can we not all go with you to the castle?"
Isolde whirled to face Lyssa. Isolde did not recognize the woman and found the strange woman's impudence angered her.
"Who are you?" Isolde asked angrily.
"Isolde, this is Lyssa of the Grey Wardens. She is here to help," Teagan said trying to calm the situation down.
"You remember me as well, Isolde," Alistair said from behind Lyssa.
Isolde turned to the voice and recognized Alistair at once. She wondered why she hadn't seen him there as she had approached.
"Alistair!? Of all the... We do not have time for this. Teagan, you must come with me, and quickly, we've no time to waste. Connor's life depends on it!" Isolde pleaded desperately.
"Connor!? What of the Arl? Isolde, please tell me what's going on," Teagan said.
Isolde broke down, shaking her head. "There is a demon. It has taken control of Connor. It is all the mage's fault. He did it. He tried to kill the Arl and now he is trying to kill Connor as well!"
"Then the Arl yet lives?" Lyssa asked in a commanding voice while placing her hand on Isolde's arm. Lyssa found it hard to feel compassion for this woman. The hysterics were real enough, but she sensed the woman was hiding something. It did not help that women who went weak in the face of adversity were not the type of women Lyssa felt compelled to be on friendly terms with.
"Yes," Isolde said brushing Lyssa's hand off her arm, "But he may not live for long, Teagan, we must go now. It can only be you, or the demon will... it will..." Isolde cut off.
Teagan sighed and turned to Lyssa. He pulled her away from Isolde a little and Alistair followed them. Isolde looked coldly at Alastair and Lyssa's back. All she could think of was her son. She did not want to think of what might happen if Alistair and the other Grey Warden fouled her plan.
"Here is my signet ring. Use the passage I told you about. I will go with Isolde," he said, handing his ring to Lyssa.
"I do not think this is wise. It is very likely a trap," Lyssa said.
Teagan sighed, "I realize that, but it seems at the moment we have little choice. We must save the Arl, for the sake of Ferelden. If he should die, than nothing will stand in Loghain's way. He is all that matters. Do not worry about me."
Lyssa placed her hand on the Bann's shoulder, "You are indeed a brave and honorable man, as my father once told me. I should not have mistreated you so when you came to visit Highever. I will do everything in my power to make sure not only the Arl makes it out of this alive, but you and the rest of his family survive as well. You have my word on that."
The Bann smiled softly and looked Lyssa straight in the eyes, "You are as kind as you are beautiful, my lady. Had things been different," he said casting a glance at Alistair, "well, let's just say I would have been deeply honored."
Lyssa pulled back her hand from his shoulder and crossed her arms in front of her chest bowing slightly. The Bann looked at them both, reciting a silent prayer to the Maker before running off to join Isolde.
Lyssa turned to Alistair who smiled down at her.
"When this is all over, remind me that I'm supposed to be a gentleman so I don't do something foolish and end up in a duel with the Bann for no good reason," he said laughing. "I shouldn't be so hard on him though. He only sees what I see."
He touched Lyssa's cheek with his gloved hand and she smiled back at him.
"Shall we go then," he said.
"Let's," she said.
They headed into the windmill, the huge arms creaking as they turned. Inside the huge stone gears moving the mill made a loud, dull sound. It filled the small space completely with a strange kind of white noise that completely shut out the outside world from them.
Lyssa walked around the perimeter to the side of the mill closest to the castle. It made sense to her that the entrance would be there, that way it wouldn't interfere with the structural integrity of the mill itself. She could see nothing obvious, but that would make sense if it was meant be a secret. She moved around some hay scattered about on the ground with her feet while Alistair felt the walls.
Alistair brushed the dust of years of milled wheat off a strange looking spot on the wall and found a small discreet indentation. He turned around and tapped Lyssa's shoulder. She looked up from the ground and looked closely at what Alistair was pointing at. Lyssa carefully placed the signet ring in the indentation. She heard a click as the ring slid into place, and she turned it carefully.
She heard gears shift in the mill and suddenly the huge grindstone stopped turning. She heard the sound of stone gears behind the wall complain as they began to turn after many years of no use. A door at their feet slid open slowly and they stepped back to avoid stumbling into the dark hole. Steps led down into a dark cave.
"What do they do if the wind isn't blowing I wonder," Alistair said bemused.
"I suppose they hope they'll only be sieged on blustery days," Lyssa said with a chuckle. "I bet they didn't want to enchant it for fear someone would sense the magic and investigate it."
She pulled the ring out of the wall and slowly walked down the dark steps, Alistair close behind her. The dark cave led up steeply. It was so black they had to be careful not to stumble on anything. As they reached the end of the tunnel they could see a faint outline of a door. The light was enough they could just see their surroundings.
"How do we get it open, I wonder," Lyssa said pressing her weight against it.
"Here," Alistair said pointing to some ropes. He pulled hard on one and the door slid a little bit. He pulled again, dust falling into his face and the door slid the rest of the way open.
Lyssa peeked out from behind a dusty, threadbare tapestry bearing the Arl's coat of arms. She was looking down a dank hallway lined with small barred rooms.
"This must be the dungeon," Lyssa said quietly.
"Yes, I didn't go down here too much, it was too depressing. All the gray and the dust and the screaming prisoners. Needs more pink." Alistair said.
"Yellow, all the way," Lyssa said smiling as she crept forward. They had both drawn their blades instinctively without even realizing it. There was a strange noise and a shout from around the corner.
"Stay away from me," someone cried desperately.
Lyssa moved quickly while crouched, closing the space between herself and the end of the hall in seconds. Alistair was right behind her as they peered around the corner. Three undead were reaching through the bars of the cell closest to the door out of the dungeon.
"Right then, here we go," Lyssa said launching herself forward.
It did not take long at all to dispatch the undead. After Lyssa plunged her dagger into the face of the last one, she turned to look at the prisoner. He was crouched as far back in the corner of his cell as he could go. He was wearing mage robes and looked frightened, but not terrified.
"Who are you," he asked as he stood up straighter.
"You are a mage. Is this your doing?" Lyssa asked ignoring his question.
The mage looked down and away from her accusatory glare.
"In a roundabout way, yes, but it isn't what you think. I did not think this would happen."
"In a roundabout way?" Alistair asked sarcastically, "How do you raise the dead in a roundabout way? You trip and curse using the raise the dead spell or something?"
The mage ducked his head in shame, "No, I didn't cast the spell, but I enabled the one who did."
"Explain yourself," Lyssa said coldly.
The young mage decided he needed to get everything out on the table, and let the two strangers judge him as they may.
"My name is Jowan. I was a mage of the circle. I was sent here by the Regent on a mission. I was to poison the Arl in secret. The Regent told me the Arl was an enemy of Ferelden, bent on its destruction. I took the mission believing the Regent's claims, but after being here a while I'm not so sure anymore," he said bitterly.
"Loghain sent you here? To poison the Arl?" Lyssa said in shock, "It was Loghain himself?"
"Yes. Why would the Regent lie about such a thing?" Jowan asked.
Alistair slammed his fist into the wall in anger, his teeth gritting as he spit, "Loghain will not be satisfied until he destroys everything in Ferelden that opposes him it seems!"
Lyssa put her hand on Alistair's arm to calm him and turned back to Jowan.
"What does this have to do with the undead?" Lyssa pressed.
"In order to get close to the Arl, I had to sign on as a mage in his service. A short while ago the Arlessa approached me. Her son, Connor, is a mage you see. He has been showing signs for weeks now."
"Connor is a mage?" Alistair asked surprised, "Why was he not sent to the Circle for training?"
"The Arlessa did not want him to go. She hid this information from the Arl himself. As far as I know, I am the only other one who knows. She asked me to train him myself, as a personal favor. But I am no full Circle mage. I...did something and had to leave the Circle. I did not teach him much, but I am afraid he went into the Fade looking for a way to heal his father. He has surely invited a demon into him without really understanding. It is likely that demon who is raising the undead here. Connor is probably not in control of himself. If he isn't already, he soon will be an abomination, unable to maintain his shape or any control over his body."
Lyssa straightened her back and crossed her arms sighing. Alistair looked as pale as a ghost.
"If Connor is an abomination, then we have to..." he began. Lyssa looked down at her feet and pressed her fingertips against her eyes, willing the visions of Oren's tiny cold arms out of her head.
"No," she said firmly, "there must be another way to save the Arl and his son."
"The Arl is still alive!?" Jowan exclaimed, "Bless the Maker! Please, if there is anything I can do to help, anything at all. I want to help. I want to put right what I have done wrong!"
Lyssa looked down at the mage, "How do we know we can trust you?"
"I swear I wasn't trying to hurt anyone. I thought I was doing the right thing trusting the Regent. I can see that I was wrong now. There is a way to save Connor. Find the Arlessa, and I can help you. Please, if not for me then do it for them.
"We will be back mage, do not do anything rash in the meantime," Lyssa said.
Alistair and Lyssa turned toward the dungeon door and moved through it as the mage slouched against the wall and sunk the floor, his head in his hands.
As they passed through the cellar of the castle, Lyssa and Alistair dispatched of a few more undead. They seemed to be patrolling the hallways aimlessly, and were not much of a challenge.
"The throne room is through there," Alistair said as they approached a large wooden door. There were strange noises coming from the other side.
Lyssa placed her hand on the door, ready to push through, "I will follow through with whatever decision you make, Alistair. This is your family and..." she did not finish the sentence and Alistair placed his hand on her arm.
"Thank you," he said.
Lyssa pushed open the door and they walked into the room. Isolde was standing at the front of the room looking very haggard. There was a young boy laughing and clapping as Bann Teagan cavorted around the room like a court jester. Teagan's face was twisted with a strange smile. Lyssa could see immediately that he was not in control of his actions. Only his eyes seemed to be his own. As his body bounced impossibly around the room, Teagan's eyes caught Lyssa's and she could see a pleading in them.
Lyssa could take it no longer, "Enough!" she shouted as she stepped into the room.
Alistair moved forward into the room, horror on his face as Teagan dropped to the ground like a rag doll at Lyssa's words. The Bann's eyes rolled toward Alistair and Alistair had to look away.
"Return Bann Teagan to his former self, demon," Lyssa said.
The boy looked up at Lyssa and frowned.
"Who is it who comes to ruin my fun," he spoke, but it was not the voice of a little boy that came out. The sound was eerie. It had an otherworldly quality to it.
"I am Lyssa of the Grey Wardens, and I seek audience with the Arl. It is my understanding that it is you, demon, that is barring my way."
The child looked at her, his chin in his hand, and tapped his finger on his jaw.
"You? You seek the Arl? So you are here to help him then, cure him of what ails him? Then why do you seek to anger me? It is I who is keeping the Arl alive. I am the one that stopped the poison's progress, I am the one that saved him," the child spoke.
"I wish to speak to Connor, if he is still there," Lyssa asked steadily, gauging the situation.
"Connor? Yes, he is still here, for now. But he does not wish to speak with you, and he is very angry at mother," the boy said.
"Connor please," Isolde said leaning down and grasping the boy by his shoulders. She sensed a determination was being made about her son by the Grey Warden. She needed to prove there was still something of her son inside the body.
The boy shook violently for a moment and then a small voice spoke out, "Mother? Mother can you hear me?" then he shook again and cried out.
"No, you will not speak to Connor!" and the boy raised his arms, spoke a word in a language none of them recognized and fled the room. As he did so, Bann Teagan stood up and pulled out his sword while all the decorative suits of armor about the room came to life and came at Lyssa and Alistair. Islode ran to the corner of the room and cowered.
Lyssa quickly pulled her blades from her sheaths and dodged the first parry the Bann threw at her. She could see the horror he felt in his eyes as he attacked her uncontrollably. She deftly moved around behind him and placed a well aimed blow with the hilt of her dagger to the back of his head. He crumpled to the ground just in time for her to see one of the suits of armor bearing down on Alistair who was kneeling and seemed to be chanting something. She rushed forward and stabbed the armor knocking it back. It did not fall however. It simply staggered back, then shambled toward her as she backed up to Alistair, her daggers pointed outward. Six suits of armor were closing in on them and she circled Alistair like a lion protecting its cubs. She kicked out against one of the suits of armor as it came within striking range but it only stumbled backward a little. She turned suddenly leaning against Alistair's back as she raised her legs put a foot on the chests of two of the suits, pushing their blades to the sides of her throat just before they reached it. Her arms and legs were quivering as the suits slowly pushed inward and downward.
Just then Alistair finished his chant pushing his hands outward. With the push of his hands Lyssa felt a strange thing, as if the pressure around her suddenly dropped, and then came back in a whoosh outward. The armor lost its power as the force hit them. Lyssa's legs and arms suddenly shot out since nothing was resisting them anymore, and she felt her body start to fall to the floor just as Alistair reached around to catch her, his back still against hers. He grabbed her armor and held until she regained her balance breathing heavily.
"You couldn't have done that faster then?" she asked out of breath.
"Sorry, I'm a bit rusty. Haven't had to use my templar skills in some time and there was a part in the middle there that is shockingly similar to a bawdy tune about an ample woman who enjoyed a good bit of sword play, so I got it a little mixed up," Alistair said smiling and turning to help Lyssa up.
They heard a groan and turned to see Teagan stumbling to his feet. Isolde turned to see him as well and ran to him.
"Ow," he said as he rubbed his head tenderly.
"Yes, sorry, but it was either that or the pointy end. Would you have liked the pointy end better? If so, I'll remember for next time," Lyssa said walking over to Teagan.
Teagan laughed and shook his head.
"Where did Connor run off too?" Alistair asked Isolde.
"He probably went to his room, he goes there when he is scared. When he does we usually have a couple hours before the demon comes back," Isolde said sadly.
"Then I suggest you send someone down to the village to retrieve some templars from the Chantry. They should be able to neutralize the demon until we know what to do," Lyssa said sternly as Isolde opened her mouth to protest and then turned away, "It is not something you can hide any longer, Lady Isolde."
"Of course," Teagan said, "but... is there anything we can do?"
"There is a mage in the dungeon that seems to think there is, perhaps we should ask him," Lyssa said.
Teagan nodded and set out to gather up everyone they needed while Isolde walked over to one of the thrones and slumped down into it.
"There are still a few undead on this floor, in the rooms just to the west of here. I have heard them wandering about all morning," Isolde said wearily, "Perhaps it would be good to dispatch of them before the templars get here."
Lyssa turned to the west door and Alistair followed. They opened the door and walked into the hallway, closing the door to the throne room behind them. There were two doors on the left and two doors on the right, and a large door at the end of the hallway.
"Bedrooms, and the Arl's study at the end," Alistair said as he looked down the hallway.
"I'll take the right if you take the left," Lyssa said cheerily.
Alistair pulled his sword out and saluted her, "Bet I finish mine first," he said teasing. Lyssa laughed and turned to run to the first door.
There were indeed undead in the rooms, a couple in each. Lyssa dispatched of them easily enough and noticed Alistair was still in the second room. It didn't sound like he was having any trouble so Lyssa moved on to the study. She opened the door and didn't see any undead, but walked around to the back of the large desk to be sure. She was just turning to leave when she noticed an amulet sitting on the desk. Normally she wouldn't have bothered anything of the Arl's but the amulet had the holy symbol of Andraste on it and looked as if it had once been badly broken. A thought occurred to her. She picked it up and walked into the hallway.
Alistair was coming out of the second room with a summer dress pressed to his chest.
"Since you expressed an interest," He said displaying the dress to her, holding the sleeves in his arms as he twirled the skirt, "So what do you think? Does it suit me?"
Lyssa laughed and said, "I don't know, I think something in blue would look better on you."
Alistair laughed and pulled the dress away and tossed it back into the room, "One blue dress coming right up," he said as he made to go back into the room.
"Alistair, is this...perhaps your mother's amulet?" Lyssa asked holding out the necklace.
Alistair became serious and carefully took the necklace that Lyssa was holding.
"Huh," he said in disbelief, his fingers touching the surface of the amulet, "Yes," he said recognition entering his face.
"Where did you find this?" he asked holding it carefully.
"It was in the Arl's study, on his desk. I swear I wasn't digging around for loot or anything! It was just sitting there, and I thought, well it looked like an older amulet and with the symbol of Andraste on it and all. I probably shouldn't have... but I remembered what you said and I just thought," Lyssa trailed off.
"Thank you," Alistair said touching her arm with his hand, "I really mean it."
He pulled her to him and kissed her lightly on the lips. Smiling he looked back down at the amulet.
"I wonder why he kept it," Alistair mused.
"Perhaps," Lyssa said softly, "he cares for you more than you thought."
Alistair looked down at the amulet smiling at the thought. Then he lifted the amulet up and clasped the necklace around Lyssa, letting the fine gold chain drape her elegant neck. The amulet looked perfect there, he thought.
"Alistair, no," Lyssa protested.
"Please keep it, it would mean so much to me," Alistair said quietly as he touched the amulet on her neck.
Lyssa, touched by the gesture, leaned forward and returned Alistair's soft kiss.
"As you wish," she said.
"Come," he said holding her hand, "Let's see how we can help my aunt out of the pickle she seems to have gotten herself into."
Lyssa and Alistair moved back into the throne room. Bann Teagan had returned. He had Jowan by the arm and Isolde was shouting at the mage.
"You, you must undo what you have done to my son!" she raged.
"But I've done nothing to him, he's done it to himself!" Jowan protested.
"Lady Isolde, you are as much to blame for Connor's situation as this mage," Lyssa said stepping up the mage's defense, "If you had not hidden the fact that Connor was a mage, this would not have happened."
"How dare you... you..,"
"She is right, Isolde. There is a reason we send mages to the circle. It is to prevent just such occurrences," Bann Teagan said angrily.
Isolde crumpled then, falling back into her throne, "What will I do? Must I lose both Eamon and Connor?"
Lyssa turned to the mage and spoke, "Jowan, is it? What can we do to save Connor's life? You mentioned something could be done."
"Yes, there is a way. We need to send a mage into the fade, to defeat the demon that is controlling Connor. That should return him to normal," Jowan said twisting his hands.
"Right then, we should do that," Lyssa began.
"There is a catch," Jowan said slowly.
"Isn't there always," Alistair said crossing his arms.
"It would require a human sacrifice, to get into the fade," Jowan said hesitantly.
"Blood magic," Lyssa said darkly, "is forbidden for a reason."
Alistair glared down at the mage, "That's why you left the circle is it? No wonder you didn't want to mention it."
"I do not practice blood magic. I only did it a little. I have not done it since. But if you want to save Connor's life, I would have to do it one more time," Jowan said.
"I'll do it, I give my life...for Connor's," Isolde said.
"No," Alistair said more to Lyssa than Isolde, "I cannot allow this."
"Alistair please, I'm begging you. Let me do this thing for my son!" Isolde said crying.
Bann Teagan remained silent. Lyssa looked from Isolde's pleading eyes to Alistair's. She lowered her head.
"There must be some other way," she said angrily to herself.
"Not without a lot of other mages, and a whole bunch of Lyrium. If we could travel to the Circle, they could do it without blood magic, but I doubt we could get Connor there in his current state," Jowan said defeated.
Lyssa looked up, a light shined in her eyes. She grabbed Alistair's arm, "Then we shall bring the Circle to Connor!"
Alistair looked confused for a second and then understood, "Of course, that is an excellent idea!"
Isolde looked from one to the other not sure she understood.
"Bann Teagan, do you think the templars can keep Connor neutralized until tomorrow?" Lyssa asked.
"Yes, I think they probably can. But you should leave now and make haste. I wouldn't want to risk it any longer than that," he said.
"Then we shall take our leave. Look for us to arrive tomorrow eve," Lyssa said and she bowed and turned to leave.
"The circle is about a half day's ride from here, correct?" Lyssa asked Alistair as they jogged down the path from the castle.
"Yes, we can make better time as well if we leave our camping gear here. We can stay at the tower if need be. That way we won't waste time with the wagon." Alistair said.
"Right then, let's get moving."