Chapter Fourteen

Caged

The ale tasted soft and sweet, a hint of honey lingering on her tongue at the first sip. Valina placed the flagon on the bar, the amber liquid glowing under the flickering lights of the lamps. She turned sideways on her seat, looking over the late evening crowd of the inn. Farmers stumbled over clumsy feet, waitresses expertly dodged drunken gropes, and a bard sang quietly from the corner, spinning a tale that Valina had not heard before on her journey.

She observed the patrons quietly as she slowly drank her flagon, reading deeper into the faces and actions of the crowd. Her eyes honed in on three farmers crowded around a small table to the side of the door, their hands filled with cards. One tugged at his beard: he was bluffing. Another shifted his cards anxiously: he was confident in his hand. The third sat unusually still but for the occasional brush of his hand over his out of sight hip, his eyes focused. Not a farmer, she realised, but a conman engaged in his key stream of revenue: taking easy money from the drunk locals.

She turned back to the bar, reaching into her pocket to find a coin for another drink, but a slender hand grasped her wrist.

'Next round is on me.'

Valina glanced up at the whisper. Her eyes caught on a deep onyx gaze, strands of ashen hair caressing fine cheeks. A smile curved on soft lips framed by flawless alabaster.

A coin clinked on the bar and Valina finally blinked as the lithe stranger slid into the seat beside her.

'You've got a keen eye,' the stranger said, glancing casually at the card players.

'I like to watch people,' Valina said with a shrug, 'it passes the time.'

'Indeed it does.' Another soft smile formed a tempting curve. 'Have you been here before?'

'No, I haven't,' Valina said coolly.

The bartender was summoned by the flick of slender fingers. 'You must try their house ale then.'

The bartender scurried to action. The look in his eyes as he glanced fervently at the stranger spoke volumes in fear. Valina suddenly felt bare without her daggers, tucked safely in the chest in her lodgings upstairs, but she was comforted knowing that the knife from her dinner was still close at hand.

Two flagons were placed on the bar. Onyx eyes studied Valina intently until she was sure her skin tingled under the gaze.

'What's your name?' the woman asked as she took the ale in hand, her gaze never easing as she brought the flagon to her lips.

'Valina,' she replied. She knew better than to mention 'Voclain' among such a questionable crowd.

'Just Valina?'

'Just Valina.'

'All right,' the woman said, 'I'm Mireille. Mireille Dubois. You can call me Mira.'

'A pleasure,' Valina said, composing a nervous smile on her lips even though her mind whirred as she read the array of emotions on Mireille's face: mischief, curiosity.

Lust.

'Travelling?'

'Passing through,' Valina replied, taking her own flagon in hand.

Mireille leaned closer. 'Me too,' she said, a sultry smile on her lips, 'where are you heading?'

'Sahrnia.'

'I've just come from there. I'm on my way to Redcliffe.'

Valina felt a spark of curiosity in her gut but she quickly suppressed it. It was mere coincidence that they were crossing paths.

'I just left Redcliffe,' Valina said, 'it is lovely this time of year.'

'It seems that our meeting tonight was ordained by fate,' Mireille said as she placed her flagon absently on the bar, her onyx eyes locked on Valina.

Valina offered a mischievous smile. 'Isn't fate just coincidence wearing a fancy dress?'

Mireille laughed, melodic and sweet. 'I suppose it is. But what's life without a little mystery?' she asked, her lilting Orlesian accent strangely soothing to Valina's ears after months away from her home, 'and you are mysterious, my sweet.'

'I could say the same of you,' Valina replied.

'Oh, I'm not so mysterious,' Mireille said as she placed the empty flagon on the bar. She slid from her seat, moving closer. Valina glanced down as Mireille trailed slender hands past her knees, up her thighs. When Valina raised her eyes, Mireille's onyx gaze was mere inches away, the sparkling stare filled with curiosity and fire.

'In fact,' Mireille said as her hands met Valina's hips, her lips only a breath away, 'you'll find that I'm quite… approachable.'

'Is that so?'

'For the right kind of person, yes,' Mireille said, Valina's eyes drawn to Mireille's mouth as the tip of her tongue darted over her bottom lip, 'and you, my sweet, are most definitely the right kind of person.'

Valina covered the waver in her voice, barely. 'And what kind of person is that?'

Mireille trailed her lips along Valina's jaw, and Valina barely suppressed a shiver at the soft caress. Mireille's lips brushed Valina's ear as she said, 'a beautiful mercenary.'

In a flash of movement Valina grasped the knife beside her hand. She pressed it hard against Mireille's inner thigh. Mireille glanced down at the blade curiously, though she did heed the threat and kept her leg still.

A wicked smile curled Mireille's lips. 'Right for a vein,' she whispered, gaze shining with mischief, 'my, you are something.'

'What do you want?' Valina's voice was ice and stone, no hint of the nervous charade she had carried before.

'I am not here to threaten you. I simply read people too, my sweet. Is that not the job of mercenary?'

Valina did not ease her grip on the knife. 'You're a mercenary?'

'Yes, and a rogue, though I favour the arrow over the blade.'

'An archer.' Valina had been warned by her client to be wary of a female archer under her estranged lover's employ, though she had never imagined that she would encounter the woman in such an intimate manner. 'Who hired you?'

'I have a feeling you already know,' Mireille said, and by the brightness in her eyes, Valina knew that Mireille had picked up the same strain of thought, 'it appears we've been employed by scorned lovers. That makes this a little awkward, considering I'd much rather bed you than kill you, my sweet. Perhaps though…'

Valina felt a shiver roll down her spine. 'Perhaps what?'

'Perhaps we can both still please our clients,' Mireille said, her gaze growing heated, 'and then each other.'

Valina stared into the onyx depths. She knew that she could not trust Mireille, but with her cover blown she had little choice than to play along in this dangerous game, at least for a time.

'All right, Mira,' Valina said, placing the knife on the table again, 'I'm listening.'

Even lying on the cold cobblestones, the world around Valina seemed to spin as she woke from the memory. Her teeth chattered loudly, shivers racking her. She dragged her eyes open, reaching up to touch the tender lump on the side of her head, cursing as pain speared through her mind.

Valina took a few deep breaths as she blinked hard, forming tears to wash grit from her eyes. A light mist formed for the briefest moment as the heat from her lungs stirred the air. The cool air was heavy in her chest. Her mouth felt dry and a bitter taste laced her tongue.

Drugged.

There were many concoctions that had such a bitter taste. Without seeing the mixture herself, she could not know for sure what Mireille had given her. She had no way to know how many hours the drugs had kept her unconscious beyond the blow to her head.

Valina's eyes focused on the small room. Muted light filtered into the room between the bars of the cell, the flickering flames throwing shadows across the solid stone walls and ceiling. She rolled, the stone coarse against the bare skin of her back. She reached out, her hand scraping against the rough wall. She gripped a jagged stone, using it to draw herself up. The room spun, but not as violently as she had expected. Still, she drew her knees to her chest, propping her forehead on them until the nausea dissipated.

'Fasta vass,' she muttered, lifting her head again. She did not dare stand yet, not when she struggled even to crawl as she moved to the front of the cell. She pressed her cheek against the heavy bars, looking out into the narrow dimly lit corridor, assessing her surroundings.

Small cells with medium gauge bars, maybe four in total, with a narrow corridor. It's cold here, very cold. She glanced behind her. No windows, but probably aboveground. This must be the abandoned estate.

'Cullen?' she called, her stomach churning as she waited for a reply. She leant against the bars, crushing the panic that threatened to rise within her. She shivered, her smallclothes doing nothing to keep her warm. Although she already knew that Cullen's token had been taken from her, she touched her neck instinctively, a spark of anger igniting among her nausea and clearing the remaining fog from her mind.

'Cullen?' she called again, the word scratching her throat. A groan echoed dully nearby in answer. Valina pressed herself into the corner of the cell as she called his name again.

Panicked breaths reached her ears, followed by his stricken voice. 'Valina?'

'I'm here,' she said. She heard his breath quicken, heard him stumble towards the bars. 'Cullen?'

'Where the hell are we?'

'The abandoned estate, as far as I can tell.'

He paused a moment. 'You knocked me out.'

Valina closed her eyes. 'I know, I'm sorry. I tried to be gentle.'

'Why did you hit me?'

'It's complicated.'

Cullen was nothing if not practical. 'Short version, then.'

'It's much easier to maintain a lie when only one person has to be deceptive, and I'm sorry Amatus, but you're a terrible liar.'

He sighed. 'Fair point,' he said, his breaths shuddering through him.

'Cullen, what's wrong?'

'I…' his voice was soft, trailing. 'I don't like enclosed spaces.

Valina's mind flashed back to the escape tunnel underneath her family's estate. She had suspected then that Cullen suffered such a fear, but he had masked it well.

'I'll be fine,' he said, 'I just need a moment.'

Valina pressed impossibly closer the bars, reaching through them. Her hand found the edge of the wall that separated them. Relief rocked her when his calloused palm found hers, their fingers weaving together. Slowly he relaxed, his breaths easing as he focused on her touch.

'How did we get here?'

'We stumbled upon the bandits before we reached the scouting location.'

'They didn't kill us?'

'As far as they're concerned, they've scored a new potential ally and a bargaining chip.'

Cullen sighed. 'Maker's balls. How are we going to get out of here?' he asked, his voice steady.

'Quickly,' Valina said, withdrawing her hand from his to dip them into her smallclothes, but she uttered a string of curses as she felt nothing but the soft flesh of her breasts. Her jaw clenched. 'The one day I wear smallclothes to hide a spare set of picks, and she remembered where I hide them.'

She heard Cullen press against the bars. 'You know her?'

Valina grimaced. 'Remember how I said it's complicated?'

'Yes…'

'Mireille is the reason I work alone.'

Cullen doubted that was the only reason, but he wasn't going to argue the point. 'Maker's balls,' he muttered again, leaning his head against the bars, 'that's why you knocked me out.'

'Yes,' she admitted hurriedly, 'I recognised her voice. Word of my alliance with the Inquisition has travelled, and there was no doubt in my mind that she would have heard rumours. Mireille revels in chaos. The best way to deceive her was to make it look like we had been fighting, that I had grown tired of the Inquisition pestering me.'

'Why are you locked up then?'

'We didn't part on good terms. I told her I wasn't interested in her proposition, and when I tried to walk away she sent her whole force against me. She means to recruit me to her cause, whatever that is.'

'If I'd been awake–'

'You'd be dead, Cullen,' Valina said, 'there were more than twenty bandits, a much larger number than Benet calculated, and Mireille is a skilled rogue. Arguably as skilled as I am, though she favours a bow. I knew it was unlikely that she would hurt me, but if you had been awake, if she even suspected that you have feelings for me, she would have–' Valina pursed her lips, her throat clenching at the thought of uttering the words.

'She would have what, Valina?' he asked, but she offered no reply. He reached for her this time, taking her hand in his. 'You can tell me, my love. I trust that you did what you thought you had to.'

She heard sincerity ring in his voice.

'Cullen, she would have killed you.'

It took him a moment to process the words, knowing that she was not exaggerating. 'Why?'

'That's the long version of the story,' she whispered, 'from a long time ago.'

'How long ago?'

Valina sighed. 'Nine years, or close enough to. I met her on one of my jobs. Two ex-lovers hired us; they both wanted the other dead. We never knew their names, or their reasons, but the gold they paid in advance was good. We had a laugh, a few drinks, did a few jobs together, and then it got… complicated.'

'Complicated how?'

The big question. 'She wanted a relationship. I didn't. I was young and restless, and I was good at being a mercenary. She knew from the beginning that I wasn't ready for a long-term commitment, and for a time she was fine with that, but then she found out who my family was, and suddenly she went from being content with being friends with the occasional benefit, to wanting an exclusive relationship. The day after she found out I'm a Voclain she professed her love for me, demanding that we get married.'

'Could… could she have thought that, maybe, you wanted that?'

'I've asked myself that many times, analysed every conversation we had, every moment we spent together… I never led her on, Cullen. We were always very clear about boundaries, and she crossed every single one the moment she tried to put me in a box in which I did not fit.' Valina sighed again. 'I tried to distance myself from her after the third proposal but she kept persisting. She got violent. Even if I had wanted to marry her, she knew that it could never happen. My father would never have approved.'

'Why not?'

Valina scoffed. 'You've seen how traditional some of my father's views are. Nine years ago, some of those views were still deeply engrained in Tevinter tradition. Just as Dorian's father expected him to take a wife, my father expected me to take a husband. He has since moved on from that backward idea, but to complicate the matter further, it would have been too dangerous for us to marry. The Navorr family was still sending assassins and, at that time, it seemed there would be no end to the attempts. Even if I had loved her, I would never have risked her life like that.'

Valina leant against the bars, closing her eyes as memories bombarded her.

…cold nights in small taverns, the fire crackling in the hearth, their bodies entwined beneath the covers, soft kisses, her fingers wrapped in ashen hair…

Even after all these years, she could not bear to recall the final month she knew Mireille.

Valina took a shuddering breath as Cullen squeezed her hand, her voice shaking her from the memories. 'After a few months, I guess she realised that she couldn't change my mind. She tried everything, tried…' Valina shook herself, a shiver racking her body. For a moment she was pleased that a wall separated her from Cullen's gaze. 'After I es– left I took a job in Denerim. I went to sleep above a small tavern near the city and, when I woke, I found a note pinned to the bed post above my head with an arrow. I hoped it was the last I would ever see or hear from her. I have heard things through contacts: that she married a rich old noble in the Free Marches, that she convinced him to leave his fortune to her, that she burned through that substantial inheritance, and that the family attempted to have her killed as a result. Then there was a rich Orlesian widow, and the cycle repeated. But today is the first time I've seen her since I was twenty-one.'

Cullen was silent, but his hand never left hers. She held on tighter, wishing that she could see his face.

'Cullen, I know I should have told you about her, but I promise you, it never even crossed my mind that Mireille could be the bandit that's terrorising Sahrnia. All the rumours I have heard, she's moved around so much, and…' She closed her eyes, hoping he could hear the sincerity in her voice. 'I have spent so long avoiding her, I think I convinced myself I would never have to see her again, and I'm sor–'

'I believe you, Valina,' he said, squeezing her hand back, 'I do. You have nothing to apologise for. As much as the bruise on my head disagrees, I think you did the right thing. If we had approached Mireille outright, as we intended, we may both be dead now. It may not seem like it, but we have an advantage. She thinks that you're working alone.'

'Now we just have to find a way out of here,' Valina said. She squeezed Cullen's hand once more before she withdrew her touch. She used the bars to support herself as she rose to unsteady feet, intent on examining every inch of the cell, starting with the bars.

'How long do you think we've been out?'

'A while. The bitter taste in my mouth tells me we were given something to keep us unconscious. If I knew what it was I could calculate the time, but without knowing the exact concoction the variables range from a few hours to twenty-two,' she said, 'and that's before we account for the potential that we were fed multiple doses.'

'That's quite a variable.'

'I know.' Valina stifled a shiver as she moved around the small cell. 'Kaffas, it's cold. It must be night-time.'

'We're not underground?'

'I don't think so, though I almost wish we were,' she said as she moved her hands over the coarse stone of the wall between them, looking for any damage, 'at least it might have been warmer.'

'That means it's been at least seven hours.'

'We told D'or that it would take no more than a day to deal with the matter, and he expects us to return by midday tomorrow,' Valina said, 'we may have pissed him off but he's not unreasonable. If we don't return for the horses he will send for the Inquisition.'

Cullen groaned. 'Unlikely,' he muttered, barely loud enough for Valina to hear.

'Cullen, even if he didn't notify Josie, this mission was supposed to take no more than four days. We're halfway through that time already. It won't take long for Josie and Leliana to suspect that we're missing, and Josie will not be able to hide that suspicion from my mother. What do you think my parents will do first when they find out we're missing?'

'They'll go to D'or.'

'Exactly. He's the one who requested Inquisition assistance. Benet is terrified of my father. Since his failed attempts at seeking my hand, he doesn't dare risk even irritating my father, so he certainly won't risk the wrath of such a powerful mage whose daughter may be in danger, not unless he's fallen into madness in the five years since I last saw him.'

Another groan. 'I hate to admit it, but you're right.'

Valina frowned at the sturdy wall. 'I'm not overly pleased by the thought that D'or might be the key to our rescue either, but it's better than nothing. Just.' She returned to the bars. 'I can't see a way to break out.'

'I guess we wait then.'

Valina scoffed. 'We haven't exhausted all avenues yet.' She pressed herself against the bars, staring down the narrow corridor. The heavy door at the end of the corridor was partially open. She watched, waiting until she saw movement in the room before she shouted, 'I'm ready to talk!'

'Valina, what are you doing?' Cullen hissed.

'Getting us out of here,' she said before returning to her shouting, 'your brutish tactics have convinced me! I am ever so curious to learn about the new friends of a madwoman. I'm sure it will be fun!'

A smile lit Valina's lips when the door swung wide. She ducked back from the cell bars. It took all her concentration in her exhausted state, but she managed to summon enough energy to disappear into the darkness. The bandit – a lanky young man with surprisingly neat hair – stopped in front of the cell. He looked deeper into the cell, his eyes scanning the back wall.

Valina appeared before his eyes as she darted forward, her hands flying through the bars. He tried to scramble back but she grasped his shirt, dragging him into the cell bars with all her might. He stumbled in her grasp and she turned him bodily, slamming his back hard against the bars. She released him as he slid down half-conscious, but only long enough to rip her smallclothes from her chest.

The bandit groaned as she wrenched his arms backwards through the bars and tied his wrists so that every time he pulled on the bonds, they would tighten. As he shook off the stupor from the attack Valina reached through the bars, her hand clamping down on his mouth, stifling his shout before it formed fully in his throat.

'Nod for yes. Do you understand?' Valina hissed, and the bandit nodded as vigorously as her vice like grip allowed. 'You know who I am?' Nod. 'Then you know I can kill you before you scream.' Nod. 'I am going to remove my hand. You may speak. Keep your answers short. If you lie, I will know.'

The bandit shivered at the venom in her voice but nodded again. She released her hand and, although he took a panicked breath, he did not scream.

'What's your name?'

'Mathys,' he said, his accent Orlesian, 'Mathys Baudin.'

Recognition sparked in Valina. She raked through the mass of names in her mind. 'Of the Baudin family of Lydes?'

'Yes.'

'The son of Baron Ives and Baroness Shantae Baudin,' Valina said, the information quickly clicking into place, 'how disappointed your parents must be. You sully the reputation your grandparents built. Do they know you're here?'

'How did you–'

Valina grasped his chin, leaning as close as the bars would allow. 'I'm asking the questions,' she said, nails digging sharply into the young man's skin, 'don't make me repeat myself.'

He shook his head. 'They think I'm in Val Royeaux.'

'My my, such a naughty boy. Why did you stray from fur trading? It must be booming at this time of year.'

'I thought I could make more money working for Lady Mireille.'

'So rash,' Valina chided, her hand trailing to his neck, 'your decision might just get you killed.'

'Wait!' he said, trying to move away from her hand.

Valina grasped his throat, holding him in place. 'Why should I?' she asked menacingly, 'you're no use to me now.'

'I've– I've got the keys!'

Valina held her other hand through the bars. 'What, these keys?' she asked, and the air filled with the stench of his fear as his gaze fell upon them, 'you'll have to better than that, Mathys.'

'What do you want?'

'Tell me who Mireille is working for.'

'I don't know.' Valina tightened her grip on Mathys' neck and he sputtered, 'I swear! I only joined her a week ago. She doesn't trust me to do much, it's why I'm down here on the dead shift.'

Night then, probably early morning, Valina thought, using the information to estimate that they had been unconscious for between ten and fourteen hours, assuming that a day had not passed. Valina knew that, if her estimate was correct, it would take days for help to arrive.

'When did we get here?'

'Three days ago, as of one this afternoon.'

No wonder I feel so weak.

They were well overdue to return to the D'or estate. There was every chance that the Inquisition had already sent out a search party for them if Benet had been quick to act, but the knowledge that they had been out for days rather than hours only raised more questions.

'Why have we been kept unconscious so long?'

'Lady Mireille is waiting for someone.'

'Who?'

'I already told you, I don't know.'

Valina loosened her grip. 'Very well, I believe you,' she said, 'I'm not going to kill you Mathys, so I need you to listen very closely for a moment. Can you do that?'

'Yes.'

'Good, good,' Valina said, 'now because I'm not going to kill you, I need to know that I can trust you.'

'I'll do anything.'

'Anything?'

He nodded vigorously again. 'Anything.'

'Okay, Mathys. I'm going to untie you. When you wake, you will go straight to the Inquisition fortress, Skyhold, and pledge your services to the Inquisition. If you don't, I will know, and I will be very displeased. I won't just punish you: I will crush your family's trade with a single letter. I'm sure you don't want your family to suffer my displeasure.'

'They have nothing to do with this.'

'No, they don't. But I'll have no cause to write that letter if you do as you're told, will I?' He shook his head, shuddering as her hands cupped his cheeks, the touch almost tender. 'Good boy.'

The cell bars sang as Valina slammed Mathys' head back, the force knocking him out. She untied his hands, letting them fall limply. She rose quickly, unlocking the door to her cell, then darted to Cullen's.

'Valina,' he breathed, gripping the bars, desperate to be free from the small cell. When she unlocked the door he surged forward, enveloping her in his embrace. She held him so tight that his ribs ached, but he did not care. He all but crushed her head to his chest, kissing her hair, relieved to have her in his arms again. When he finally found the strength to pull back, he glanced down at her, wanting to reassure himself that she was uninjured. He cupped her face in his hands, but she winced at his touch.

'You've been bleeding,' he said as he carefully turned her head in his hands.

'I didn't get the gentle treatment,' she said, batting at his arms, 'I'm fine.'

He frowned, his hands trailing down her arms. 'No, you're not. You have a head injury and you're freezing.'

'Cullen...'

His frown deepened as his eyes fell upon her bared breasts. 'And you're missing half your smallclothes.'

She shrugged innocently. 'I had to tie him up with something, didn't I?'

Cullen arched an eyebrow at her but seemed to accept her answer. He glanced down at Mathys limp body. 'Is he…?'

'Just unconscious,' she said, taking his hand, 'he'll be out for a while.'

Cullen glanced back as she dragged him down the narrow corridor. 'Did you mean what you said?'

'Which part?'

'About his family.'

'He only needs to believe it's true.'

'That's not an answer.'

Valina stopped walking, rounding on him. 'Then yes, Cullen. I could crush his family's business with a letter.'

'But would you?'

'In this instance, no,' she said, unable to hide a note of exasperation, 'he's just a kid who stumbled into something way over his head. I'm not going to punish his whole family because he made a few poor decisions. In another set of circumstances, though, I wouldn't hesitate to do so if it achieved a necessary end.'

Cullen was silent for so long that Valina feared she had crossed some sort of moral boundary, but she would not apologise for valuing practicality over morality, no matter how harsh it made her intent seem. Her so-called skewed moral compass had saved her – and others – more than once.

A nervous smile dancing on his lips. 'Have I ever told you that you can be terrifying?'

Valina couldn't help but smile back. 'It got us out of the cell didn't it?'

'It did,' he admitted, glancing away.

'You like it,' she said knowingly, a wicked smirk curling her lips. The colour that lit his cheeks answered her claim before he could utter a word. She took his hand again, marching towards the door. 'Come on, Amatus. We're getting out of here.'