North Ferelden

"Ow!" Mason could fight through any crowd of monsters, deal with any lacerations and broken bones … but having to watch this dwarf prick him over and over thousands of times with a sharpened reed doused in lyrium was unbearable.

"Don't be a baby! And, sit still or I'll have to do it all over in another location." Dagna giggled at Mason's glare. "I get to pick the alternate site." Her tongue traced over her lips as she worked steadily on the stylized tattoo on the tender underside skin of his left forearm. After studying the lyrium tattoos on Fenris, Dagna and Sandal determined that this one guarded against blood magic. First Enchanter Irving concurred. And, they just received word that Queen Anora confirmed it. When a rebel mage went nuts in the palace and tried blood magic on the Queen, the blood magic failed. Sadly, the tattoo did nothing to protect the Queen from the elemental magic or the abomination the mage became. Good old soldiering and honest Templar … ing did that.

Mason looked up at Fenris, leaning against a table with a smirk on his face. "Don't you find it odd that a blood magic practitioner would tattoo you against blood magic?"

"Not at all. He wanted to make sure that other Magisters couldn't steal me away." Fenris' smirk turned to a frown. "He had other ways to make me do his bidding."

"Sorry. Didn't mean to bring up bad memories." Mason loved Fenris like a brother. "At least, the Ferelden nobility have a small degree of protection now. It's hard to believe that a cabal of blood mages were operating right there in Denerim during the Blight."

Fenris smiled. "And, now, you're one of those nobility. Leandra has been walking on clouds since the official appointment, Bann Mason of Rockesfare."

A quiet knock at the door preceded a matronly woman's face. Kessie Marger was from Highever, someone Mason's wife Kayda knew from before. She was a marvel at taking the mess of a new holding and setting it to rights. "Forgive me, my Lord, but Teryn Fergus and Arl Nathaniel are here to see you."

"Send them … ow!" Another pain shot up Mason's arm. Through gritted teeth, he replied, "Send them in, please. Maybe they can keep my mind off this torture."

They heard Fergus laugh from the other room. Kessie stepped back to allow the two men in. "I'll bring in some refreshments shortly." She winked at Mason. "And, something stronger for my Lord."

"Good woman." Fergus stepped into the room with a big smile on his face. "I see you're about halfway done with the torture."

"Halfway?!" Mason turned a frightened little boy look to Dagna.

"Your Grace! Quit giving my subject hope!" Dagna grinned at Fergus and then got back to work. "You know I'm only a quarter of the way through."

"No. Done soon." Sandal turned an impassive face to Dagna. "Not fair."

"You take all the fun out of things, Sandal," Dagna grumbled.

That only caused the savant dwarf to clap, point at the tattoo and say, "Enchantment!"

Mason gave Dagna a glare. The dwarf only laughed and got back to work. These two dwarves had absolutely no sense of propriety. Mason had to admit it was refreshing … when she wasn't causing him so much physical pain. He turned to Fergus with a grimace as she started poking him again. "What brings you by this fine morning, Your Grace?"

Fergus was still chuckling at the scene. "Nathaniel and I have wrapped up our business in Denerim and thought we'd come by and see how you were doing with Kayda gone. Up to any bachelor mischief?"

"With the Mistress of Pain around and Warden Fenris to hold me down? Not a chance." Just to save his manly pride, Mason stifled another outburst as Dagna started to increase her speed of poking his arm.

Fergus got serious. "The Queen wants us to inspect our lands for these demon rifts and send a report back to Duran via Denerim. I've already gotten word of something that sounds like a rift in Crestwood, as well as undead walking the land."

"The Paragon? What can a dwarf do about them?" Fenris was frowning. Mason knew the elf didn't exactly hate dwarves, but Varric's humor had gone a long way toward making him distrust them. However, Fenris really distrusted almost everyone, so that wasn't a slight toward Varric or dwarfhood.

When Fergus finished telling them about what had happened at the Divine's Conclave, the room got quiet. Dagna must not have been listening. "There! All done, Bann Mason! Boom! You're protected from blood magic!" She looked around the quiet room with somber faces. "What?"

"Nothing, Dagna. Even after all the moments when I wanted nothing more than to toss you out the window, I am appreciative of this." Mason gave her a smile. And, he did mean it … mostly.

Sandal did listen, however. "Bad enchantment." He shook his head slowly. "Need to see to fix."

Mason had gotten accustomed to Sandal over the past few months since Kayda insisted the pair move to Rockesfare with them. Kayda was firm on taking care of the people responsible for getting her brother back to Highever. And, Bodahn took care of the wardens and their companions during the Blight as well.

So, Mason had learned to really listen when Sandal spoke because not to listen was often folly. Unfortunately, Bodahn had taken ill recently. Anders looked in on him occasionally and the elder dwarf was starting to show signs of improvement. "That's a long way from here, Sandal. We have to ask Bodahn what he thinks."

Fergus looked at Mason like he'd grown a second head. "I … uh … I'm not certain that's a good place for a young dwarf."

"Rift, first. Maybe Breach." Sandal was serious. "Important to fix. Yes?"

Nathaniel caught on faster than Fergus. He sat in a chair next to Sandal. "Yes. What do you think happened?"

"Enchantment bad. Went wrong. I can fix enchantment." Sandal smiled at Nathaniel.

"What harm would it be to take him with us at least as far as the first rift. If he can close it, that doubles the number of people who can." Nathaniel smiled at Sandal. "But, it is up to Bodahn, Sandal."

Dagna smiled at Fergus. "I'll take him up to talk to Bodahn. Fergus can come." Mason had to smile. It was apparent that Fergus was Dagna's favorite.

"All right, then. Let's go see Bodahn." Fergus shrugged as Dagna took his hand and pulled him out of the room.

"What Fergus must think of his sister's companions," Fenris mused.

Nathaniel chuckled. "Just when he thinks he's figured Kayda out, she'll hit him with a new conundrum."

"Have you figured her out?" Mason asked. "I certainly cannot claim to understand a lot of what she does."

"Actually, I have … well, mostly." Nathaniel grinned. "Just fly me a message when you need something explained."

Mason had to swallow the spike of jealousy that was rising in his chest. He loved Kayda. He loved her from the moment he first saw her. No one was happier than he was when that Crow jumped ship and broke her heart. However, the loss of his little brother Carver days later crushed him. Carver was a pain in the ass, but Mason daily missed Carver's honesty, spoken a bit too openly, but he missed that, too.

He and Kayda literally fell into each other's arms after that. Two gaping holes in their hearts linked them together. At first, they feared it might be a temporary thing, but, in time, they both knew it was real. Mason knew that some thought he was an opportunist, marrying Kayda Cousland. He didn't care what they thought. Neither did Kayda. He smiled at Nathaniel. "Be prepared for a lot of birds flying your way, then. How is your lady?"

Nathaniel had just announced his marriage to Eileen Bensley. She was the beautiful daughter of one of his landholders and the two were quite the item at the last Landsmeet. "She's doing well. Her mother is keeping her away a lot … says it will make me pine for her more." He laughed. "And, it's working. I can't wait for the wedding once all this mage and Templar mess is over."

"So, we're dropping you off at the Vigil and heading on to Crestwood to check out some rumors of undead and these rifts?" Mason shuddered. "Maker's Breath. Undead."

"Right. I haven't heard of any rifts in Amaranthine, but I'm going to organize the Banns to scout out their lands." Nathaniel yawned and sat in a nearby chair. "I'll be glad when all this chaos is over," he mumbled.

"Mason, if you think I can talk Fergus into stopping by the Peak for a day, I'd like to touch base there and go with you. There have been some reports of darkspawn along the Storm Coast. Not too much of a detour." Fenris stood up. "I'll go ask Fergus."

"Ask me what?" Fergus stepped into the room. After Fenris repeated his idea, Fergus nodded. "Sounds reasonable. There might be rifts along that Maker-forsaken coast, too. I need to touch base with the Blades of Hessarian anyway. They would know of any rifts. They swore allegiance to my father decades ago, but just as easily switched it to some bastard when Father was killed. So, I killed the bastard and now they have sworn fealty to me. Damn good bunch of men and women to have watching the coast, if a bit fickle."

"And, one of them may want to challenge you." Nathaniel snickered.

"Let them try! I'll have Mason and Fenris with me." Fergus grinned.

"And, me and Sandal!" Dagna grinned back. "They wouldn't stand a chance."

Mason grumbled, "Yeah, she'll tattoo them to death with her tiny little needles of pain."

"Enchantment!"

"Well, Bodahn said Sandal could go if he can really close a rift. The Storm Coast has no undead, so if there are rifts there, it might be a better testing ground for Sandal." Fergus leaned down to Sandal's level. "But, he said that if you couldn't, we're to bring you right back here. Fair?"

Sandal's face was blank a moment, but then he said, "Fair."

Fergus glanced out the window. "I'd love to say we can leave in the morning, but if we leave here soon, we can be halfway to the Vigil by sunset."

Mason nodded. "Right. Just take me a few minutes to throw some stuff together."

Kessie was standing in the doorway with a tray of delicious food. The aromas made Mason's stomach rumble. And, his wasn't the only one. "So, I'll just wrap this up for you to take with you." She looked over the tray. "Wrap the meat in some freshly baked bread and it should be edible on horseback."

"Thanks, Kessie … sorry for the trouble." Fergus gave her a disarming grin.

"Save that smile for your next lady, Your Grace." She winked at Fergus and turned to head to the kitchen. "And, it better be soon or your dear mother will leave the Maker's side and start haunting you," she added as she walked away to the suppressed chuckles of the men in the room.

Kayda explained to Mason that finding a wife was pretty far down the list of things to do for Fergus. Oriana was one of those once-in-a-lifetime mates … a soulmate. Mason knew first-hand how special that kind of relationship was. He also knew that people like Kessie meant well, but that mentioning it would only make Fergus want to move it even further down his list. Fergus gave them all a sad smile. "I'll be down in the courtyard getting our departure arranged."

Mason walked up to Fergus and put an hand on his shoulder. "Take your time, Fergus. When it's the right time, you'll know."

Fergus only smiled again and nodded. "I know."

"I'll go with you to get things going for our departure," Nathaniel said as he headed for the door.

Once the two men had left the room, Dagna frowned. "It's sad, isn't it." Then, she shrugged, grabbed up Sandal's arm and rushed from the room. "Come on, Sandal. We gotta get packed!"

Mason heard the dwarves' laughter all the way upstairs and thought, Maybe they have the right of it. Things we have no control over should be discarded for laughter.

The trip to the Storm Coast was uneventful. They dropped Nathaniel off at the Vigil and, after a festive evening with the lovely Lady Eileen and her mother, they headed straight for Soldier's Peak, currently the southern warden fortress. Warden Captain Drais and First Warden Alman let them know that Kayda had made it to Weisshaupt. There were wardens still there, along with the truant Morrigan … and another First Warden. Mason felt a little sorry for the guy at Weisshaupt. In Kayda's brief message, she called him a pompous Orlesian. Fergus said that it was a code. Kayda was calling him a usurper and fool and she didn't trust him as far as she could throw him. She also mentioned that she had a wonderful surprise … that would have to wait until she got back.

Fenris got the okay to go with them to scout out the Storm Coast for darkspawn. Mason's cousin Tosh Amell went with them. Tosh said that Anders had taught him a basic healing spell which should keep us from bleeding to death in a pinch. He wasn't a healer; however, after studying with Morrigan for a time, he could blow away most enemies with a thought. Probably a scary thing to folks who hadn't grown up with two mages in their families like Mason had. Smart folks were grateful to have such power on their side.

Eventually, they made it to the infamous Storm Coast … and it was very aptly named. Fergus stepped to the side of the road they'd been traveling and raised his arm. "Welcome to the Storm Coast!" As if to punctuate the statement, thunder rolled and a streak of lightning hit the ground down the cliff … probably along the rocky beach somewhere.

"How did you do that?!" Dagna laughed.

"Not enchantment!" Sandal remarked with a grin.

The rain had become a steady annoyance by that time. Everyone looked like drowned cats. "Does it ever stop?" Mason looked down at the underside of his forearm. He was afraid the constant rain was going to ruin his new tattoo and he'd have to go through all that again.

Dagna slapped his hand down and giggled. "It doesn't wash off."

"Eh, it seems to never stop, but it does … for brief periods of time." Fergus grinned and looked around. "Let's set our camp up here for tonight and scout to the southwest in the morning."

As if on cue, the rain lessened enough to let them all hear the sounds of fighting down below. Packs were dropped and the reins of the horses were handed to Dagna and Sandal, bidding the dwarves to stay there and watch over the camp.

When the men got to the edge of the cliff, Fergus put up his arm to pause a moment. "I see a Qunari fighting with a bunch of humans … against … other humans." He frowned and then smiled. "The Blades are fighting alongside the Qunari. Let's go help them."

As they scrambled down the cliff, it became clear that the "enemy" had mages on their side. Tosh stopped briefly and put one of the mages in what looked to be a crushing forcefield. The Qunari swung his head around with a glare toward Tosh and then a large grin. "Welcome to the party! Let's get rid of these Vints and then talk!"

"Vints?" Fergus asked.

Fenris growled, "Tevinter," just before sprinting off to decapitate the mage who was being crushed. Mason watched with approval as Tosh and Fenris finished off the second mage the same way. Without their mages, the rest of the "Vints" fell quickly.

One of the Blades ran up to Fergus and bowed. "A timely bit of assistance, Your Grace."

"When did Tevinters start invading Ferelden?!" Everyone could tell that Fergus wasn't happy with this turn of events.

"My guess is they're here to find out about the Herald of Andraste." The towering Qunari strode over to Fergus. He had a smile on his face, so Mason didn't raise his sword … but he didn't put it away, either. "But, my boys and I just like to hunt Vints. My name is The Iron Bull."

"Bull's Chargers?" Surprisingly, that came from Tosh. When everyone turned to look at him, he grinned. "A messenger arrived at the Peak to see if the wardens needed the Chargers' help."

"Yeah, that was me." A blood-splattered warrior walked up. "Bull got word that the Herald of Andraste was working with the king of Ferelden. The Boss didn't think the Ferelden military would want to hire us, but the wardens here might. The Inquisition just seems a little too disorganized so far." He shrugged. "The First Warden turned us down."

"This is Crem. He's part of my band of the best mercs you can find anywhere. Just ask around." Bull turned toward Fergus. "Since you were called by a title, am I correct to assume that you're the leader here?"

The Blade who spoke earlier answered. "This is Teryn Fergus, the liege lord for all of north Ferelden, second only to the king himself."

"All right then, Teryn Cousland." Mason didn't miss that the Qunari knew Fergus was a Cousland even if the Blade omitted that piece of information. "If you could spare a few minutes, I'd like to have a little talk." Bull wiped the edge of his large two-handed axe.

Mason wondered what was going through Fergus' mind, but everyone could see him sizing up the Qunari … tall, very muscular, chest and arms painted with that special design of theirs, eye patch covering one of his eyes and two horns that grew straight out from the sides of his head.

"My sister traveled with a Qunari during the Blight. She called him Sten, but from what I've learned, Sten is more of a title or profession than a name." Fergus also wiped his blade and put it back into its scabbard.

"Yes, I know of him." Bull squinted and turned to Crem. "Check on the throat-cutters. I don't want any of these Vints getting back up."

"Got it, Chief." Crem turned and walked over to some of the other men not dressed in Blade livery.

"So, he made it back to Seheron safely?" Fergus asked.

"He did. I'll be happy to tell you more, but it's getting late and I'd like to get our camp up before dark. How about I come over to your camp later and we can talk about the Sten and other things, Your Grace." Bull grinned.

Fergus looked at Mason and raised his eyebrows in question. Mason knew Fergus was asking if he had any problems sharing a camp with the Chargers tonight. Mason nodded and Fergus turned to Bull. "Why don't you pitch your camp on the top of the cliff with us." He smiled. "Safety in numbers and all that." Then, he got serious. "We have some very important dwarves with us. They, uh, don't have much of a …"

"They have no idea what paranoia is … not even a healthy degree of caution." Fenris stepped up. "He's Ben Hassrath. I'd wager coin on it since he already knows so much about Ferelden. Plus, he didn't correct Fergus when he called him a Qunari."

"You're a spy?!" Mason's hand went to the hilt of his blade.

Bull only put up his hands. "Hey, I was going to wait to tell you, but I was going to tell you … even if it pissed you off. The Arishok has a soft spot for Ferelden and he wants to know what's going on here with this Herald of Andraste business." He chuckled. "Yeah, he'd have my head if he knew I said that. And, yeah, he's the one who traveled with your sister. Called her 'Kadan'. There is no higher compliment he could have given."

Tosh whistled. "That's some promotion — Sten of the Beresaad to Arishok of the military arm of the Qun." When Mason turned toward Tosh, he added, "After Crem visited, I did some research." He looked back to Bull. "The wardens don't have many Qunari, or Tal-Vashoth, but there have been a few." He shrugged. "They shared the organization of the culture and someone wrote it down."

"Nice to meet some intelligent people, Boss." Crem walked up. "You won't be able to snow them with your bullshit. The throat-cutters are done … and double-checked. Where do you want to camp?"

"Top of the cliff! We're sharing space with Fergus and his men. Once the tents are up, break out the casks." Bull looked up to the edge of cliff and saw the two dwarves watching with rapt attention. He turned to Fergus. "I don't guess one of those dwarves is the Herald?"

Fergus only shook his head. "Nope. I'll introduce them later, Bull."

"Fair enough." Iron Bull nodded and went to give a few more orders to his men.

"So, these Bull's Chargers are legitimate?" Fergus turned toward Tosh.

"Yeah, Alman almost hired them, said they did some work with the wardens outside Kirkwall for a time. But, with the uncertainty going on up at Weisshaupt, he figured it was best to keep it to just wardens for now." Tosh grinned. "Uncertainty. Not a good state for Qunari."

Fergus frowned. "He certainly doesn't seem like Sten at all. Are you sure he's Qunari, Fenris?" Mason had heard all about Sten from Kayda and he knew that Fergus had met him.

"No doubt about it." Fenris looked pensive. "They could maybe be a good ally for Ferelden if Tevinter is really trying to infiltrate us for some reason. At least on a temporary basis."

"All right then. I'll keep an open mind." Fergus didn't smile. Mason knew Kayda's brother was a pretty good negotiator, but preconceptions often died hard … and most Fereldens believed Qunari were a race to be avoided, mistrusted and feared.

AN: Thanks for all reviews, favorites and follows! Always nice to see those email notices come across! Have a terrific week and see you next Sunday!