CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Zevran had found himself in a familiar place. A brothel. He had stayed there for the night but the women, they intoxicated him and he had to have them. Wasting the money he pocketed from Gaston. A whole twenty-nine sovereigns, and now, looking into the coin purse was one whole silver.

Ugh, oh, oh, what a night.

The elf didn't know what time it was, but, something in the back of his inebriated mind told him he should get going now.

He stood up and stretched, the soft giggling of a girl turned his attention back to the bed. A pretty elven girl smiled at him, covering her breasts with the blanket.

"What is so funny, my sweet?"

She giggled and looked to his lower region, Zevran followed her eyes and realized his was naked. He let out a short laugh before reaching for his breeches. He gave the young elven woman one last kiss and left the room and happy and content elf.

It was some time past noon, as the sun dial indicated. And waiting with two horses was, Kallian, and she was annoyed.

"Take any longer in that inn?" She asked, unaware that the inn was actually a brothel.

Zevran gave her a cheeky smile. "Just… reuniting with a… old acquaintance."

Kallian shook her head in annoyance. Zevran smiled and took one of the horses by the reigns. Kallian hooped up on the other. With a glare from her Zevran quickly followed suite.

The horses were in a mild gallop. Not to slow but not too fast either. The previous night Zevran arrived at Kallian's house wanting to stay the night. Kallian refused and told him to find an inn to stay at. Zevran then left and found his way to an establishment called The Andraste Crown. There he drank, sang and fucked. He then drunkenly returned to Kallian's.

He did not remember what he did but it caused her some embarrassment. She would even look at him right now. Come to think of it, how did he end up in the brothel? Did he go there by chance?

"You took me to that bro- I mean inn." Zevran smiled devilishly. Not that it mattered Kallian could only hear him the smile was for his own enjoyment.

After a minute Kallian replied. "You did come back extremely drunk, as if you snuck into a brewery. So I took you to that inn. The women inside were happy to take you off my hands."

Zevran couldn't believe that Kallian still hadn't realized that she had in fact taken him to a brothel of all places. Not that he was complaining or anything. He didn't think her to be that innocent.

His brain went into over thinking mode. What if this is all a ploy? Luring me into believing her to be all innocent, she is a beautiful rouge. Hmmm, best not think about this too much.

They entered the palace district without incident. Of course they did Zevran was always welcome there. He was part of the group that helped save Ferelden from the Blight. The guards were told to welcome all those who accompanied the Hero of Ferelden as honoured guests. Of course this meant easy access to the palace district. They were of course heading for the Royal Palace, which was far from the battlements that Zevran had grown accustom to seeing in his stay in Ferelden.

The horses stopped. Zevran was jolted back into reality. "Ow. Bloody horse I could have serious neck pains, ah."

"Quiet!" Kallian said jumping off the horse, she crouched behind the large crates next to the portcullis.

Zevran quickly followed suite, he smacked the horses to make them run away as to not draw attention. Kallian picked up on something that Zevran didn't. He wanted to know what it was, so he quickly rolled to Kallian's side. "What is it?"

Kallian did not answer right away she was trying to focus her sight. They were at the entrance to the Royal Palace, behind them was the portcullis they had just entered. Zevran say the problem that made Kallian so jumping. There was no guards there to greet them.

Two guards arrived from the left, the armoury. They seemed to be adjusting their armour as if they had just put the suit on. A company of them marched through the portcullis they themselves had entered and began to break into small groups, some went around towards the back of the palace while two groups went into the entrance. The grille began to shut, trapping the two in the confines of the Royal Palace.

"There is something not right about those guards. They don't look like the usual guards." She swiftly said, ignoring that they were trapped.

"Huh, now that you say that they don't. There is no straitening of the back, and most of them are too short to be humans. And the patrols are all wrong. We should try and sneak by, my friends could be in danger." Zevran referred to Tomas and Alistair, he hadn't know Sidona long enough to call her a friend.

The fake guards gathered and entered the palace district. Zevran ran through a few scenarios in his mind all linked to the Crows. They had to coin and the man power to do such a thing, but he believed they were still camped at Dragon's Peak. It didn't matter now, Zevran prepped his daggers just in case.

"Cover me, I'm going in." He said jumping up. Kallian grabbed his wrist and pulled him back down.

"No. If the king is in danger then we need to get help, rushing in will likely end with us dead. We need to sneak inside the palace and help those inside." Kallian said staring into Zevran's eyes. There was a hint of determination in her eyes, mixed in with a bit of fear.

"All right. We need to stealth this. Follow me my sweet." Zevran softly, seductively said.

Kallian blushed despite herself. Zevran stood up and offered Kallian his hand, she looked up at him and rejected his gesture. "It's clear for now. Let's get going before it is too late." She said with such zeal.

She quickly sprinted out of the hiding and stopped before she got far and pulled out her daggers.

Four men in armour, they were dressed in steel chainmail and their shield had the crest of Gwaren on them were standing just before the portcullis. How did they get in? Were they already inside before the gate closed?

"Oh, this can't be good." Zevran said, surprised.

Kallian pointed her daggers at the men, Zevran was sure they could take them. But more men emerged from their hiding places. The Gwaren men took out their swords in response to Kallian.

"We're out numbered my dear." Zevran blurted.

"I noticed that." Kallian replied quickly.

A man in heavy plate armour emerge. He was taller than the men he was leading, on his back was a large greatsword. He waved his hand and one by one his men sheathed their swords. Zevran felt nervous, he felt that he was being toyed with, he didn't like being toyed with. Kallian didn't relax, she kept her stance.

"Stay your blades, elves. My mistress means you no harm." The man said, his helm muffling his voice making him sound intimidating.

They both remained silent and did not put their weapons away. Zevran looked around looking for an opening in which to escape. These men covered all visible avenues of escape. This was definitely pre-planned. Since they wore the crest of Gwaren, Zevran assumed that Anora had made her move as part of the Crows plot. The former queen of Ferelden wanted to keep her position of power, despite Alistair taking the throne with the full support of the Bannorn and Arl Eamon she was determined to keep the throne, believing that she was the only person in all of Ferelden that could keep the country safe and secure even after all the terrible, evil, disgusting things that her own father, the Hero of River Dane, had wrought on the country. He even killed her husband to secure the country for himself! And so she was locked away in Fort Drakon she would not relinquish her position, but Tomas eventually convinced her to. But that may have been a mistake. Her men were hear, assisting the assassins in their plot. Tomas was too trusting and his trust in Anora had backfired badly.

The leader took off his helm, revealing himself to be a quite handsome man with shoulder length black hair, a manly amount of stubble that hadn't been touch in days it seemed. A scar stretched across his nose not off putting to say the least it added to his charm. He had bright beautiful blue eyes with a hint of a tortured soul hidden behind them. Zevran found himself quite fond of the man, if they had met under better circumstances, say in a bar talking over a few pints, who knows they might have gotten to know each other better. But Zevran could dream right now the man was an enemy, a handsome, dashing enemy. Kallian snorted at the man and took a step back.

"I am Ser Machaon Doumen. Surrender to us and I shall take you to my mistress. She is eager to talk to you. Both of you." He said in his rough but gentle voice. He smiled after showing his perfect white teeth.

Oh Maker! It's like you created this man out my dreams! Why do you torment me so? Zevran thought to himself. It was a shame but he may end up killing this fine specimen of beauty.

Machaon looked at Kallian and winked at her. Zevran's heart sank a bit at this when he realized the man was into women. Elven women to be exact. With his dreams dashed Zevran found himself having no problems killing this man when push comes to shove. Kallian winched at the wink, clearly disgusted at the thought of a human trying to hit it off with her. She quickly took a smaller knife from her leg strap and threw it towards the man who winked at her. She missed. The men that surrounded them quickly reacted to this and drew there blades with the man held up his hand again and they stopped moving. He wiped the blood that was seeping out from his cut cheek.

"A wasted opportunity my dear. Next time, aim better." He said with a menacing glare.

To be accurate, the knife was a warning. A warning not to come any closer. A warning that fell on deaf ears.

"Zev." Kallian yelled. "NOW!"

Zevran took out a three pouches from his backpack and without hesitating he threw them to the floor, causing a explosion of black smoke. It covered both the elves and the men. The men gasped and coughed as the smoke invaded their lungs and stung their eyes. Kallian and Zevran were able to quickly maneuverer through the smoke easily, they had been trained to. Zevran was careful not to touch any of the men so they could buy time to escape them. But Machaon was not like the average solider. "Quickly! Find the elves! They are escaping!" he yelled, his voice was slightly angry but still commanding.

Zevran emerged from the smoke cloud. Shortly followed by Kallian. They both took deep breaths, drinking in the clean air before the smoke cleared exposing them. They both ran as fast as they could. They needed to get somewhere to hide and observe without getting caught. They were in grave danger now. The Crows had begun their plan.

.:.

Sidona looked from the balcony of the twenty odd men and women she would be leading. They all looked like raw recruits, others looked more experienced. She had hoped for more experienced men, but her mind kept reminding her that the most experience soldiers were out in either training recruits or on patrol. The Blight had left Ferelden's military stretched so thin. Then men who gathered here were all that Arl Eamon could muster on such a short notice. Most were Redcliffe soldiers loyal to the arl, they all survived the Battle of Denerim and stayed in the capital to guard the arl. Sidona could tell the Redcliffe soldiers were all devout believers in the Maker. That would be a problem, she was a mage, a Grey Warden mage. She had known many men in Orlais who refused to work with her because of her magic. Now placed in a similar situation she wondered if they would refuse to follow her orders. She had lead men before, though those were Grey Warden recruits and were told to follow her orders.

"Ah, viewing the soldiers Warden?" The stern but soft voice of Eamon echoed.

She turned to him, slightly startled. She was too deep in thought and did not hear the old arl approach. "Y-yes. It's been a long time since I led men into battle." She said, her eyes drifted back to the courtyard below.

"Do not concern yourself about the men's loyalty. They will follow your orders, regardless. They are in awe of the Grey Wardens and they will not judge you for being a mage and an elf." Eamon placed his hands on the balcony. It seemed as if the elderly shemlen read her mind and saw her doubts. She smiled lightly.

The men then began to leave the courtyard. Eamon eyebrows narrowed as he saw the men leave. "That's not right. There not supposed to go yet. Something is not right here."

Sidona did not understand what was going on. She did not know how the military in Ferelden worked. In Orlais she knew the inner workings of the chevaliers and each nobility's private army, their tactics, their structure how the chain of command worked. Here she did not know anything, so men leaving the courtyard was alien to her. Sidona looked behind Eamon and solider marched towards them. He was holding onto the hilt of his blade. She became suspicious of the man and she prepared herself for anything.

"You, soldier. What are-"

Before Eamon could finish his sentence the man pulled his sword out and charged towards Eamon with the intent to kill. Sidona quickly discharged a burst of magical energy at the man, sending him flying backwards. She grabbed for her staff that was standing up on the pillar beside her. The man jumped back up and tossed his sword over the balcony, and then pulled out two daggers from his belt. Sidona had muttered a spell and the tip of her staff began to glow white. Eamon took a step back, reeling from the shock of the attack. By the looks of things, Eamon was not used to being attacked openly. From what she had learnt in the few hours she was here Eamon fought against the Orlesians during the rebellion and Eamon himself fought in the Battle of Denerim.

The man had some strange moves, he darted left then right as he charged towards him. Sidona noticed a similarity between this move and another move she had encountered before. It was a basic movement that some Templar Hunters used to go up against mages. It was made to distract the mages concentration during battle, but the man didn't seem to know how to use the technique properly. One he wasn't in a group, as the more there where the more of a distraction they would be. Two, he was using the bare basic of the movement, not the advanced movements that the Templar Hunters used.

With a simple sweep of her staff, a wall of ice spikes emerged from the tip of her staff stabbing the man multiple times, killing him.

"Maker's Breath!" Eamon gasped. "Did you really need to kill the man?"

The ice quickly receded away and the body of the would-be assassin slumped to the floor making a wet squelching noise. "Yes I really did. Either I killed him or he killed us, and I like being alive." She quickly said. "We need to get you to a safe place. There may be more of them in the palace."

"Preposterous. The palace is well guarded." Eamon looked at the dead body of the man who tried to kill him and shock his head. "I fear you may be right." He admitted. "We need to find Alistair, his life means more than mine I would see him safe."

Sidona nodded in agreement. The Crows were after him and she did not want them having the satisfaction of killing another ruler.

.:.

Kallian was out of breath. She and Zevran had ran from one end of the palace to the other to escape the reach of the Gwaren soldiers. Her legs felt as if they were going to betray her at any moment making her fall at just the wrong moment when she depended on them the most. Her short blonde hair was matted with sweat, she turned her head to look at Zevran. He was out of breath as well, but he was taking it better than she was. He seemed to have more stamina than she did, it was unnatural. Must be spending almost a year with the Warden that made him that way, she thought. He certainly had a charm about him she could not deny that, but the way he acted bothered her. Not the way he was around her, no. But other women and… men, of either race. She hated that. Brought up in the alienage she was taught that elves were a dying race and that should only be concerned with making their race strong again. She had no interest in shemlen men, but Zevran openly flirted with men and women from any race. She told herself it was a cultural difference, Antivan elves had different views on such matters. But it burned within her so much, she wanted to slap the man but now was not the time.

Another patrol of guards emerged from the courtyard, escorting prisoners. Kallian and Zevran ducked quickly behind a stone storehouse. From the looks of it was used to wash the clothing from the castle, judging by the smell of soapy water. Zevran's eyes widened.

"Redcliffe men. They are capturing men now?" Zevran whispered.

"I wonder why. It would be easier and quicker to kill the men." She whispered back.

Zevran nodded in agreement, but there was something else on the Antivan's mind. The patrol was gone, leaving the door to courtyard wide open. It felt like a trap but there was no other way into the castle. Kallian and Zevran tried to climb the walls but they did not have time to find rope and other essentially equipment to correctly scale the walls. So they abandoned that idea. Zevran took in a deep breath and sprinted to the door. Kallian began a light jog looking to her left and right to make sure there was no one nearby to spot them.

The courtyard was empty. Zevran was at the archway leading to the stairs, he waved her over and made a sign with his hand to tell her to be silent.

She stood opposite Zevran, she could hear it. Slow footsteps, gingerly making their way down to them. There were two sets of footsteps, one was light a woman possibly and elf. And the other set were for that of a shemlen. They were getting closer and closer with each heartbeat. It was simple, grab them when the exited the archway and slit their throats.

They were so close now. Kallian took a slight step forward and… an invisible force hit her sending her flying backwards. Disoriented and shacking Kallian managed to gather enough strength to look up to see who or what attacked her and she was surprised to see Sidona, the Orlesian Grey Warden. Zevran was holding a dagger to Sidona's throat. Sidona in return was holding out her hand, a fire ball floating just above her palm.

"You have good moves, Zevran. I see why Tomas spared you." The Orlesian elf complemented Zevran.

Zevran retracted his dagger and gave her a polite bow. "And you, yourself are a Warden of great skill." Sidona extinguished the flame, behind her Arl Eamon emerged and stood next to her.

Kallian picked herself up, she was furious at being caught off-guard by a mage. She clinched her hand into a fist. Her fist began to tremble. Kallian hated mages so much, ever since Tevinter mages began to capture her friends and family to sell as slaves in the Imperium. Mages held power in the Imperium and though she knew kinder mages the hatred was still there and it had not gone away. Yet. She sighed deeply, letting her anger and frustration leave her body. It was good that she calmed down, she would need her wits about her if she was to survive this. Sidona was talking to Zevran leaving Eamon out of the conversation. The old arl made his way to her side.

"Are you okay?" He inquired. Kallian had heard nothing but good things about Eamon since her return to Denerim.

"Yes, I'm fine. Thanks for asking." She smiled.

"Ah, good. I hope you can forgive Sidona. She was just trying to protect me. We had no idea who you were at the time." Eamon smiled back at her. Kallian came to the conclusion that Sidona might not be as bad as she believed her to be. With the mages help they might survive this.

"We have come up with a plan." Zevran proudly stated, he walked briskly towards Eamon and Kallian.

Kallian smiled lightly. She was amazed at how fast they came up with a plan. If the plan was any good, she would follow it. But if it was not… then… she would see.

Sidona cast a spell with created a shimmering blue light over all the entrances. A barrier spell, a powerful one. Sidona looked pale after the spell was cast it must have taken a large bite out of her mana reserves. Hopefully the mage would be able to cast enough spell in future encounters with the enemy. Kallian hoped that she was also a healer, they would need one if any of them were injured. More so if the king was injured they would need healing magic.

"Okay then. Let us hear the plan then." Eamon said urgently.

.:.

The attack came so quickly Alistair did not have time to pick up his weapons he was forced into his solar after being chased there. Thankfully Cauthrien was in the solar waiting for him luckily with a weapon in hand and she fought back against the attackers, there was so many and they were dressed as regular guards-men! Not knowing who to trust in the guard, Cauthrien and Alistair quickly fled his solar and made a run for the Landsmeet chamber. An open space, and hopefully, defendable. Alistair took an Orlesian sword from the display.

"That weapon won't last your majesty." Cauthrien said through gasps.

"A weapon is a weapon. I will not play the defenceless king." He said sounding as confident as did during the Blight.

"What should we do?" Cauthrien asked.

Before Alistair could reply. The door to the chamber was hit by something. The men outside were trying to breech the chamber door. Hopefully they didn't bring a siege tool with them.

"We…wait for someone to save us." Alistair said weakly.

"Oh Alistair." Cauthrien placed her hand over her face.

"Sorry, I'll try and be more serious." He frowned, this wasn't the first time he had himself look like a fool in front of her, and if their relationship went well it wouldn't be the last.

"Good. We need to be serious if we are to survive this." Cauthrien said gravely, her eyes meeting Alistair's. He could see the worry in them, he didn't want to die not like this, not so soon into his reign. He was going to survive this and be the king Ferelden needed.