A.N. Thanks for the gracious reviews from TanithAeyrs and jackkel dragon, who both, BTW write stories of their own that I would encourage you to read.
~~~V~V~V~~~
"Artalise? Are you OK?"
No response.
"Artalise?" An urgent hand on the shoulder.
The sudden presence of another's hand on her shoulder finally broke Artalise from her pondering of the revelation she had just received. She shook her head and blinked rapidly as she focused on the concerned face of Leorah. In an attempt to alleviate the other woman's worry, she gave her a small smile.
"Pardon?" she asked sweetly.
Leorah's brows furrowed as Terrance and Jerina exchange a glance. The older mage then looked pointedly down at the still open book, "Are you able to read elvish?"
Artalise gulped before shaking her head, "No. I have never learned it."
Leroah nodded her head tentatively, still watching Artalise closely, "So we thought. Will you…be searching out the Dalish soon?"
The young mage shifted uncomfortably in her seat as she tried to think of a way to make it seem like she had a plan, "Our…goal right now is to try to find the Urn of Sacred Ashes."
"The Urn of Sacred Ashes? You chase after a myth?" Terrance broke in with a scoff as he crossed his arms. Judging by the way the other two looked at her, she could see they felt the same way. Perhaps she even would've agreed had she been in their shoes.
She nodded and asked weakly, "I don't suppose you have any information about it that you would like to share?"
The only answer she got was Leorah's gaze intensifying as Terrance voiced the concerns of the other elves in the room, "And why does a Grey Warden search out the Urn of Sacred Ashes? Should not the Blight be your number one priority?"
The question caught Artalise completely off-guard, not only because she had never thought of that before, but because it also had a ring of truth to it. Why was she chasing after an Urn that had been lost for centuries? Men had given up most and in many cases their entire lives in pursuit of finding this Urn. Did she really think that the urgent praying and small sum that the Arlessa was able to pay one Chantry scholar to research this myth was going to actually turn up anything that years of scholarly research could not? Could the Grey Wardens afford to spend years searching for this Urn all for the sake of one man, no matter how dear he was to those around him? Could they afford to lose all that time when there was a Blight to deal with?
For the second time, Artalise had to break out of her reverie of thoughts. She brought a tired hand to her temple and lightly rubbed it, "It…is."
Terrance smirked, and looked like he wanted to continue on, but Jerina placed a hand on his arm, and gave him a look that made him stop his interrogation of the younger elf. For now.
Leorah suddenly clapped her hands together as she remembered something, causing three pairs of eyes to look at her in surprise. Unconcerned, Leorah turned to dig around in a chest at the foot of her bed. Near the bottom of the chest, she apparently found what she was looking for, grabbed it, and brought it out of the chest. Artalise looked at maroon clothing, fur cape, and the gold rings with some interest. Her eyes widened even more when Leorah placed the clothing on the desk in front of her, "What….?"
"Iona came across this clothing from….somewhere." Leorah laughed quietly to herself, "She never told me where she got it from…she was always so secretive! But, she told me, she was going to wear these when, or rather if, she could ever wear down Greagoir enough to allow her to make contact with the Dalish." She shook her head, "She knew it was an impossible quest, but she persisted anyways…"her breath caught in her throat as she thought of her now dead friend. She bit her lip, making her mind focus on the physical pain rather than her grief, "But now her apprentice, her favorite student will get a chance to do so, hmm?"
Artalise ran her hand along the rich feeling cloth, particularly drawn to the golden chains as she felt the power of lyrium that had been folded into the metal, and the faint etchings of runes on the large gold rings, "Is it Dalish?"
Leroah grinned and shook her head, "Alas, no. Iona called them her 'Archon's robes', and what little I know of the Tevinter mages, this definitely follows their style. Iona showed me it once – it is very exotic looking. Much more form flattering than our Circle robes." The woman then arched an impish eyebrow at Artalise, "Your handsome templar-companion will appreciate them, I'm sure."
Artalise blanched as Jerina and Leorah tittered, "Oh no, he and I…"
Leorah tsked while grinning, "You've been known to have a partiality for templars…"
"And look how that turned out." Artalise snapped, perhaps a bit more harshly than she intended.
Leorah's face went white as she realized what she had said, "Oh…I am…so sorry Artalise. I didn't mean…It was just by the way he looked at you…"
Artalise waved her off, "It is no matter." She honestly didn't want to think about...him...anymore.
Leorah then cleared her throat and exchanged a glance with the elves behind her. They both nodded their head in answer to her unvoiced question, "To return to the matter at hand, Artalise, we have made you a book that we hope will help you learn our language. It should help you in case you come across anything while with the Dalish."Leorah said, as she stepped over to her bookshelf and took out a nondescript book. She placed it on top of the robes, and Artalise immediately opened it up, her curiosity piqued. The first few pages were an explanation of elvish characters, then there was a part that seemed dedicated to rudimentary grammar, and lastly long lists of words with both King's tongue and elvish written side by side. Artalise looked up at Leorah with furrowed brows, "When did you make this?"
"We finished it just a couple of hours ago. It is not nearly as extensive as we would have wanted, but it should be of some help to you, yes?" Leorah asked, clearly hoping that the hours of work the elves had put into the book would not be wasted.
Artalise nodded her head while she skimmed the long list of words, trying to see if she could remember any of them from the vellum. Not surprisingly, she was not able to, "You have my utmost thanks, " She started, before looking up at Leorah and the other two elves with some curiosity, "But why are you doing all this?"
Leorah smiled a little, "You actually have a chance to make contact with the Dalish! For as long as I can remember, we have longed to make contact with them. And now we finally have a chance…."
Artalise's brows furrowed deeper, "Is there...something you wanted me to ask of them?"
Leorah shook her head, "Of course there is nothing specific we need…but, if you could just…" she shifted her weight as she tried to think of what she wanted to say, "Just let them know that we in the Circle are doing our best to keep the traditions alive. That we…" and then she looked back at the interested faces of Terrance and Jerina, as if to get the strength to say what they all believed, "That we eagerly await the day when we elves can practice the magic our ancestors did."
Artalise smiled, thinking back to all those days she had spent in the Circle, listening to the stories told by the older mages about the days of Arlathan. She nodded her head in assent, "I will do so." She paused a moment, "But if there is nothing else, I do not think I should keep my party waiting…I have dallied here long enough"
~~~V~V~V~~~
Artalise shifted uncomfortably in her rough peasant dress, not for the first time cursing her race's plight.
As soon as Artalise stepped once more into Redcliffe castle, she was accosted by the Arlessa, who pleaded and practically begged her to hurry and go to Denerim in order to see if the Arlessa's scholar, a Brother Gentivi, had found anything on the Urn. Bann Teagan was thankfully close on the Arlessa's heels and was able to calm the crazed woman down, if only slightly. Wynne had been able to prevent the Arl from succumbing further to his illness, but the Arlessa had been most disappointed when the elder mage's magic had not cured the Arl outright.
The woman's shrieking had alerted her other companions to her arrival. The first to greet her, of course, had been Oak, whose happy barking could be heard long before he actually barreled into the hallway, nearly knocking the Arlessa over in his eagerness to be near his Warden again. As more party members filtered into the tiny room, a plan was soon hatched as to how they could travel to Denerim without being found out as Grey Wardens.
So now, Morrigan was now a merchant, and Artalise acting as her servant. Leliana, Alistair, and Sten would be help she had hired to keep her cargo safe. Besides some salted fresh-water fish that the Arlessa and Bann had been meaning to send to Denerim for a week now, the Bann had suggested that they make the cargo a bit more precious, to warrant Morrigan's ability to hire three mercenaries. So, the Arlessa donated some of her own jewelry and clothing, as well as some exceptionally well-made armor to the "merchant." Thankfully, though Wynne had expressed some interest in going with the Grey Wardens, the Arlessa instantly shot the old woman down, insisting that she stay at Redcliffe to watch over the Arl. For the briefest of moments, Artalise had actually liked the Arlessa. Then the woman had opened her mouth to say something else, and Artalise was back to hating her. Thank the Maker that the years in Ferelden had tempered Leliana's accent. How stubbornly the Arlessa must cling to Orlais to have as thick of an accent as she still did.
Somehow, word had gotten out to the village population that there was going to be a well-defended merchant leaving for Denerim. The assaults of the undead on the village had been brutal, wiping out a good portion of the population and leaving in particular a large amount of widows and orphans who now wished to return to family members in Denerim. Redcliffe could give them nothing except constant reminders of all they had lost. So then the Arlessa and Bann had taken pity on the people and had given them permission to leave with the Grey Wardens. Thankfully, they had piled on more rations and even supplied them with more tents. Initially they had worried about the possibility of someone remembering who they were, but fortunately their time in the village proper had been short enough that no one seemed to remember them. Yet.
Not even two hours out and already the cart is full of children. Artalise said with a sigh as she looked at all the little legs dangling off the end of the wagon. Thankfully the ox moved along just as fast as the beast had before the mothers had started to ask Morrigan if their children could ride in the cart. The first few women who had done so had scampered away in fear as Morrigan had glared at them, seemingly offended that they would even think about approaching her. Eventually they wore her down so all she would do is wave her hand in a manner that the women took as assent.
The worst part for Artalise had been her realization that she was the only elf in this caravan, which she had made during the few seconds she had simply stared at a woman who had told-not asked her to help- her load a small bag into the back of the cart. They were still at Redcliffe at the time and were loading up the wagon. Her party members were busy elsewhere otherwise she was sure they would have intervened before it rose to the level it did. When Artalise didn't respond, the woman took it as a sign of disobedience, and took Artalise's "punishment" into her own hands.
The woman had actually slapped her! It had taken all her willpower to not destroy the woman where she stood. Alistair had apparently been watching what had occurred, as he seemed to appear out of nowhere, grabbing the bag and tossing it into the cart, before gently guiding the woman away as she set loose a berating of pure venom on Artalise.
"Do you still wish to save them?" Morrigan asked from behind Artalise, forcing Artalise to make her first movement since her hand had flown to her cheek after the woman had slapped her;
She turned to look at the human mage, "Hmm?"
Morrigan rolled her eyes as she crossed her arms, "'Twas a plainly stated question, unless the woman slapped you harder than I thought."
Artalise's hand dropped to her side and she sighed, "That is my duty as a Grey Warden." She intoned with very little emotion, as if she was reciting it from memory.
"Does not you duty require you to stop the Blight? It doesn't state anything about saving the poor ignorant fools that make up a large portion of the Ferelden population."
She wished she had been knocked out for a little bit longer, "You wish for them to die, Morrigan?"
"I see no reason to save them."
"Well, I suppose Ferelden should be thankful then that you were not made into a Grey Warden." Artalise stated wryly.
The woman smirked in response. "You see, firsthand, the way they view elves…."
And still she prods! "What do you want me to say Morrigan, that yes I want them all to die? That elves should stop being treated worse than dirt and we should be able to embrace our culture fully again? That humans should be punished for what they have put my people through?" Artalise's voice grew in volume with every passing word, causing some of the refugees to turn and watch. As she had watched the amusement in Morrigan's eyes grow as well, she realized too late- that she had let the woman goad her on and make a fool of herself. She lowered her voice as she glared at the woman, "Are you happy now? Did you get the response you wanted?"
"Indeed. 'Twould be wise for you to learn to act like others of your kind do if our act is to hold. " Morrigan stated simply before she turned and walked over to Leliana to discuss something with her.
Artalise simply stared after the woman, baffled at the woman's complete lack of caring. She had thought that her relationship with the older mage had grown warmer. Apparently not.
"She has a point, you know."
Artalise had spun around to see Alistair looking at her, concern flickering in his eyes. She heaved a sigh again as she combed a hand through her hair absentmindedly, "I've been told about the…status of my kind in Thedas. How your kind treats mine." She stated pointedly realizing too late that her words were too harsh as Alistair visibly winced at them. As an apology, she gave him a small smile and ensured her voice was clear of malice before continuing, "Knowing about it and experiencing it are two drastically different things, however."
Alistair looked like he was going to say something else, but Artalise waved him off, "Please. Alistair. Not now."
With that she had walked back over to the cart and started loading various crates and bags into it, trying her best to keep busy physically to keep her mind focused off the indignation she had just experienced.
And now, here she was. She swung the ox's lead rope slightly in her hand. The beast stunk to the Black City, and she had nearly gagged when Morrigan indicated to her to take the beast's rope, but over the hours she had gotten use to its smell. The animal's stench had had an upside of keeping the migrants away from her. Not only was she obviously with something, but the animal smelled too strongly for anyone to come close enough to bother her.
She heard a throat be cleared right behind her. Well, no one had bothered her, until now.
"I…I just want to thank you for taking us to Denerim!" a young woman blurted out from behind her.
Artalise nearly stopped in her tracks -not that it would have mattered to the ox- at the woman's words. The human woman from earlier had given her a strong distaste for dealing with anyone besides her companions. Artalise had been ready to write off the whole group as ignorant racists was determined to spend as little time around them as possible. Though this woman actually expressed thanks, Artalise couldn't help but feel her bitterness against the migrants flaring up, "Is there a reason why you tell me this?" Morrigan's advice came back to her as soon as the words had left her mouth. Hmm…That doesn't sound too subservient. I'm going to need to work on that a little bit more.
"I…uh, well…your leader is just so unapproachable! And I just felt the need to thank someone…"
"So you thank an elf? What makes you think I had anything to do with this? I just do what she tells me to do." Still not subservient enough. How do other elves pull it off?
"I…I…" the young woman sounded liked she was actually going toburst into tears.
Artalise rolled her eyes, but decided that while she could not pull of being servile, at least not yet, she could at least be nice to the young woman. She was apparently the sort to cry on her own - and not try to make others do so, "I will relay your thanks to merchant Moreen. It's true…she can be rather cold at times." Artalise said with a forced smile, using the fake names they had come up with for each other.
The woman heaved a sigh of relief, "Oh good! I thought it was just me…."
"No. Definitely not just you." Artalise laughed softly, shaking her head as she once more thought of Morrigan's earlier words .
"I'm Kaitlyn, by the way."
"A pleasure."
A few moments of silence passed before Kaitlyn spoke up nervously, "Well…what's your name?"
Artalise scoffed, "Does my name even matter? You can just call me 'You!' or 'Elf'" Artalise almost regretted the bitterness returning to her voice. Kaitlyn did seem like a genuinely nice person, if perhaps a bit naïve.
"Oh…I-I'm sorry." The young woman stammered.
Artalise actually turned and looked at the now sullen Kaitlyn. The human was pretty enough, though her eyes were incredibly sad. Even more so when they stared dejectedly at the ground.
"Arista"
"P-pardon?"
"My name. It's Arista."
~~~V~V~V~~~
A.N. Gotta love transition chapters! I thought it was somewhat interesting with the interplay between the characters...mostly I just wanted to post this to let you, my loyal fans (wink) know I am still alive! Inshallah, I will be posting a more...interesting chapter sometime over the weekend when I can take some breaks from my mega-loads of homework.
A.N. As always reviews, and especially criticisms, are welcomed. Let me know what you liked or didn't like, as while I am having a blast doing this, I would also love to improve my writing...its for your benefit as well as mine. :)