Chapter Thirty-Eight: Exodus
The Aeneid is a story written by a man named Virgil, two thousand years ago.
It describes the fall of a great city in the East after a war lasting ten years, in which every king and hero of the age fought. The war began with the elopement of the most beautiful woman in the world with the young prince of the city, divinely initiated when a conflict in heaven set off a chain of events on Earth. Even the gods chose sides, supporting their favourites, meddling and watching the combat. After ten years, and the death of the greatest warrior of the East, the city was finally breached by cunning. The invaders sacked it in a whirlwind of violence, and the woman was reclaimed.
That woman was Helen, the namesake of Tam's first child. Our first.
From the infernos, a man fled with his family and his followers. He was Aeneas, the son of the goddess Venus, deity of love. The story goes that Venus made all the other gods fall in love with mortals, so Jupiter, the king of the gods, made her fall for Aeneas' father. Pretty good explanation for why the gods would stoop to loving mere mortals, I'm sure Andraste would agree.
With the defeat of his people, he was tasked with a divine purpose; to make his way to a land called Italy, to bring his followers to what would become the greatest city in the world; Rome. Tiberius' ancestor was born in the very same city in its golden age. My own country and the civilisation which it led when I was taken owes much of its values to Rome as well.
While it is almost certainly myth, or perhaps the half-remembered story of another set of refugees embellished over thousands of years, it inspired our own great journey.
My new countrymen and countrywomen have been enthralled with all things from Earth, ever since the day I ordered hundreds of mages to kill me and stood against everything they could throw. Above all, the stories of my world have been obsessed over, whether historical or fictional. The Aeneid is one of the few special stories among them, because I didn't have to write it down from memory. A copy was among the books brought from Earth.
The idea that someone on my world had done what we were setting out to do before was a great comfort to many. Not least because the descendants of the refugees began something, something that eventually led to the creation of all the marvels that I had brought to Thedas. The technologies, the political ideals, even the comradeship and discipline of true soldiery. Rome was the beginning of everything.
But not everyone was enthusiastic. The story united much of our people, but was a large reason why a minority felt they could no longer follow us.
The civilians who felt this way had no choice, they were exiled from Orlais regardless, but there was no shortage of soldiers who wished to stay and continue the fight. Not least a significant proportion of our chevaliers and men-at-arms from areas other than Hearth.
To them, a two thousand year old story from another world could not inspire, whereas a war of resistance could and did.
And it seems they found a loophole of their own.
Gaspard had exiled the Free Army, but Gaspard had also failed to define who exactly the Free Army was. The dissidents requested formal discharge, so that they could continue to fight under a banner of their own.
The issue I had with it was... complex, to say the least.
Tiberius, Gaius and the rest of the Tevinter mages prepared to leave the afternoon after we decided on founding a new city.
They set aside the mixed green uniforms of the Free Army, and donned their strange, hooded Vinter battlemage armour once more. They gathered by the entrance with their horses, the dracolisks having been left behind months ago to avoid publicly tipping their hand to the rest of Orlais that they were in fact soldiers of the Imperium. It was an open secret of course, but plausible deniability was the name of the game.
I had spent the whole night organising our army for a long march, eventually falling asleep sitting down at a desk. I awoke late in the morning, and waded back into business at once. I was informed that Tiberius and his retinue were to leave about two minutes after receiving de Villar's report on the wish of many to depart our ranks.
I asked the chevalier to get me a list of everyone who wanted to go, and I made my way down quickly to the gate of the outer ring alone, wondering if Tiberius had intended to leave without so much as a word. Doing so would have been just like him to my mind, and it was more than a little irritating.
I found the magister in great spirits, joking with his subordinates. He looked ten years younger, truth be told. My pace slowed at the sight. The importance of my match to Aurelia dawned on me, and I got a feeling in my gut that maybe it was going to be impossible to wriggle out of. Yet he seemed more a friend at that moment than before, which was a bizarre thing.
Gaius, by contrast, looked like he could put his head through a brick wall and was about to do it. No secret why that was.
"Ah Sam, excellent timing," Tiberius said, arms held out, "I was about to send someone to find you."
I pointed to the pickets on the earthworks above us. "Tiberius... my people were wondering if you were leaving," I said, "I thought that strange. You haven't even told us where in Ferelden your fleet will pick us up from."
"Please, call me Father," Tiberius said, not joking, "We will be family soon, after all."
Gaius let out a groan, which very much tempted me into complying with the magister's request. Almost fell for it. Tiberius was either quite disappointed with his male children and grandchildren or he was attempting to manipulate me.
"Yeah, that's not happening," I said, "Why are you leaving so soon?" Best to keep on point. Tiberius had gotten what he wanted, for the moment, no need to give him reason to doubt by pretending to like him.
"I need to get back to Val Royeaux," Tiberius replied, "Organising transport for the number of people following you will not be difficult, even with the horses and ponies, but I can only do it from the capital. The message crystals to communicate with home are there. I couldn't risk them falling into Orlesian hands. With Gaspard marching on Celene, I need to leave immediately to avoid being delayed." Or being caught by royal soldiers. That would end badly in the atmosphere of a civil war.
I nodded. "Understandable," I said.
"Bring your army to Amaranthine by First Day," Tiberius said, "The transport and an escort of warships should arrive by that time."
That gave us a little more than three months to get there. Given we could take the Imperial Highway, that was more than doable. The problem was that it was the most distant port we could have used, barring Denerim itself. I had been familiarising myself with maps of Ferelden since the formal surrender.
I had hoped during my overnight studies that we could slip through Gherlen's Pass and go straight to the nearest coastal town, West Hill. That would have avoided conflict with the Ferelden Crown, because by the time Alistair and Anora could have reacted effectively, we would be safely away to sea.
"Why Amaranthine?" I asked, "West Hill is a coastal settlement, and it is much closer to Orlais."
"What, aside from Amaranthine being the largest port in Ferelden?" Gaius snarked, throwing a hand, "Do you have any idea how many ships will be needed?"
I wasn't appreciative of his attitude. "I was in the infantry, excuse me if I don't have a fucking clue about primitive sailing ships," I replied, "Keep up with that tone and you'll get my infantry boot up your ass." I was somewhat exaggerating about my ignorance of the subject, but I had just assumed we didn't require an actual port. Or that we could build one, what with the hundreds of mages we had.
Sparks quite literally flew from Gaius' hand, as he struggled to remain calm. Not helped by my contempt for his abilities. That was undoubtedly unfamiliar to him as a mage.
"Gaius is right," Tiberius said, coming to the defence of his grandson, "We need a port city. It will be winter, the weather won't allow us to use West Hill, and it would take too long to load your people on board without a port regardless."
"We stay too long and the Fereldans will mass an army to resist," I said flatly, "Weather is hardly what I'm worried about most."
"You have killed Orlesians in the name of liberty before," Tiberius replied, "You can kill Fereldans just as easily. Besides, Amaranthine is almost neutral ground. There is a chance, a small one, that you could avoid conflict with the King and Queen there."
"Why's that?" I asked.
"It's controlled by the Grey Wardens," Tiberius replied, "They do not formally submit to royal authority. If you are going to found a new realm, they will undoubtedly want you to commit to a treaty of assistance in case of a Blight. Use that as leverage."
"That doesn't sound like it's going to happen," I said, "And we still have to march through the northern Bannorn to get there. Barris' own father is a bann on the shore of Lake Calenhad, and he tells me they will not take kindly to our presence, whether or not the king is with them."
"They will not have the numbers to stop you," Tiberius said, "Amaranthine, First Day. I'll see you then. If I'm not dead at the bottom of the Waking Sea. The fleet will be there regardless."
"Good luck," I said, finding that I meant it.
"Thank you," Tiberius said, before turning to his men, "Centurion, we shall depart."
The nearest battlemage slapped his closed fist against his chest in salute, and began barking orders in Tevene to the others. They complied, moving off at random to find their horses, the magister going with them to get his own. It was a mockery of military organisation to me, but I had seen worse on Earth. My thoughts drifted to what sort of military Tevinter might have, how they fought and how the Qunari fought a nation of mages.
Until I noticed Gaius had not left.
He just stood there, not looking at me or anything else in particular, close enough that I could punch him. I sighed loudly.
"You have something else to say," I asked, with a good deal more hostility than was necessary.
Gaius finally deigned me worthy to look at directly. "You accepted his offer," he said, "I thought you would reject it." There was a certain despair in his eye that jarred me. He loved Aurelia, and he was growing to hate me.
Not wanting to give away my true feelings on the matter, I shrugged that statement off. Truth be told, I still had no wish to marry, but I could hardly let Gaius get even a hint of that. He'd seize on it to sabotage the … alliance I had brokered with his grandfather, and Tevinter itself. He struck me as petty enough to put aside his country's interest for love. Of a cousin no less. Ick, as my own younger sister would say.
"Unless you're lying," Gaius added, "Using us to get what you need." His tone brightened, giving away his poor attempt to get a read on me. I saw right through it.
"I'm not," I said, "The truth is that I can't afford to have the Imperium as an enemy, and thirty five thousand people are counting on me to make sure they don't get trapped in Ferelden."
Gaius' head dropped. He was acknowledging my point, as anyone would in such a situation. He just didn't like the answer. I let a breath out slowly.
"Look, it isn't personal," I added, "I'm not deliberately trying to get in your way. It'll be a political marriage, nothing more. If Aurelia is okay with it, then I won't stop you once my duty is done. Not like I intend to be faithful either, and she'll know that."
"Doesn't matter," Gaius said, "Once you meet her, you'll fall for her and she'll fall for you."
I frowned. "You seem awfully sure of that," I said.
"You have too much in common," Gaius said, "You're both soldiers, she'll like that. She'll like that you're willing to do your duty regardless of your personal obligations. Your personalities are different, but I can see already, you'd trade off each other."
"In case you didn't notice," I said, "I'm not lacking for affections."
"It won't make a difference," Gaius said, glaring, "Aurelia gets what she wants. Always."
"She's never met Tam," I replied.
Gaius smiled. "Aurelia is fighting the Qunari right now, but your one does seem very … formidable," he said wistfully, "I might pay good money to see such a display."
"Hang around and you will," I said, "Although I'll have to stop it before anyone dies."
"That may be difficult," Gaius replied.
"I can walk through magic, remember?" I smirked.
Gaius tilted his head, admitting I had a point, before wandering off to join his grandfather. He had said his piece, and I had little inclination towards stopping him.
As I had to wait for Louise de Villars to tell me who else would be leaving, I began walking back up the hill to the walled section. After what Gaius had just said to me, I felt I needed to be with Julie and Tam very strongly indeed.
I found Julie holding court in the barracks, sitting in the middle of the central table with Leha to one side of her, Velarana whispering in her ear to the other. There was a line of people, civilians, waiting to make some complaint or another, controlled by a half dozen of Soprano's Rangers armed with firelances. Bayonets fixed, no less.
I remember this in particular because it was the first time I think Julie looked like an empress.
The room was totally lacking in finery, having nothing more than a stone statue of Andraste for decoration, Julie was dressed in Free Army Green, as were her advisors, there were no banners on the walls or windows, the only food in sight was a bowl of gruel, but all that didn't matter. She was in her element, sitting at ease while making decisions. Julie Marteau looked like a ruler now, not a revolutionary. Her doubts seemed to have disappeared in the wake of Tam's great contribution.
For the record, it was incredibly sexy.
Which of course prompted me to play a little. Now that I wasn't worried sick for the future, my appetites had been restored fully. I approached, the eyes of the civilians following me, and when I stood before Julie, I bowed low from the waist in a mockery of obeisance for a royal. She smiled warmly at me, as amused as I was and happy to see me.
Leha rolled her eyes and shook her head, returning her attention to her notes.
"You look great today," I said. Not exactly very imaginative, I know. Sue me.
Julie's eyebrow cocked upwards. "And you're in a good mood," she said, "Any particular reason?" It wasn't a serious question, we were all in better cheer since the night before, but I had still more reason to be chirpy.
"For the first time in months, I don't feel like I need to look over my shoulder," I said, "Tiberius just left, happy as a dog with a bone."
Julie's smile dampened noticeably. "Of course he is," she said, "He got exactly what he wanted."
"True," I replied, "And we need to discuss that with Tam. Where is she?"
"Right here," called Tam from behind. She approached and gave me a kiss, before leaning over the table to do the same to Julie. Her lips were cold, but she had taken to going about her duties without the furs that everyone else seemed to be wearing when they were outside.
"People are in good spirits since the announcement," Tam said, "The children most of all."
"It was a very good idea," Julie said, her smile restoring to its full warmth, "I think people will remember you for this." Indeed, they would. The smiles followed Tam around the camp, as far as I could tell.
"I hope not," Tam said, rubbing her hands together, "I just want to warm up."
"That can be arranged," Julie said, her tone suggesting everything I wanted of it. I glanced at Tam, and her eyes pretty much promised the same, running up and down both of us for a few seconds each.
Leha groaned. "Business before pleasure," she complained grumpily, "Just in case the rutting begins early, Sam, care to tell us now where Tiberius intends us to take ship from?"
"He did say he would inform us today," Velarana added, maintaining her usual calm demeanour, "Without his ships, our whole purpose is impossible."
"Amaranthine," I said, "I tried to talk him into West Hill, but apparently he needs a real port."
Leha looked at Julie darkly. "That's bad news," she said.
"Why?" I asked.
"We don't have enough food to get that far," Velarana said.
That made no sense to me. We had moved similar numbers of troops and horses around with less supplies before, and over greater distances. The civilians would slow us down, but we had almost every wagon in the eastern Dales to make sure the slowest were kept moving. Evidently, my confusion was visible on my face, because Leha explained.
"The roads northward from here are very bad, we're too used to the Imperial Highway," Leha said, "Not to mention it's hill country, the weather will get worse soon, there will be Avvar tribes to contend with, plus the other problem..."
"What other problem?" I asked.
Leha cleared her throat, seemingly not wanting to speak. "One in six of our soldiers will not be fit for heavy marching by month's end," she said.
I paused, waiting to hear the reason why or for her to explain how we could make them fit again. The answer was not forthcoming.
"Jesus Christ, you're serious," I said, putting my face in my hands, "How the hell did that happen?"
"Unavoidable circumstance," Leha said, "It's your fault, really."
"What the hell does that mean?" I asked.
"A third of our female soldiers are pregnant," Julie stated flatly, "We knew about some of them before, but I had the mages check the health of every soldier yesterday, to distract the army for a day. They got caught out."
If my jaw could have dropped to the floor, it would have.
I was no stranger to soldiers getting pregnant, it was common as hell. The US Army never had a balanced gender ratio like the Free Army had at that time, so one in three meant that we had over three thousand prospective mothers currently bearing arms. It was the scale of the problem that really hit me, plus one other thing.
"How's that my fault!" I asked Leha, my voice raised. She was acting like I had knocked up three thousand women my own damn self.
Leha looked to the Aequitarian mage for the answer. "Given the condition of the women in question," Velarana said, "We can be sure that most became pregnant after Sahrnia."
That didn't fly with me.
"So you're saying I'm responsible because I won a battle," I said flatly, "That's what you call one of those good problems, I guess. Victory babies."
"No, I don't blame you for winning," Leha growled, "I blame you for kissing these two idiots in front of the entire army just before the battle. And after it. And on campaign. You really can't keep it in your pants, let's be honest."
I finally understood what she was getting at. I had been a bad example when it came to abstaining.
"Fraternisation," I nodded, "Okay, you might have a point. What do we do?"
Leha flung her arms in frustration, apparently
"The women should be able to walk for another few months," Tam said, "But I would advise that they are not given heavy loads to carry, and they are given extra food."
Wouldn't be too hard to organise. Like I said, we had a shitload of wagons and horses. I suppose that back in our ancient past, women had to walk long distances in such a condition anyway. Tam was the nearest thing we had to a medical expert we had on this... situation.
"A better route would be good too," Leha said, "Even without this shit, I'm not happy about marching through the mountains in winter. Even with the supplies that we can get from Les Grandes Collines, we'll barely make it out of Orlais before First Day."
"Which gives Lady Seryl and Ferelden plenty of time to prepare," Julie concluded, "Not good."
"We'll call a war council, see if there aren't any other options," I sighed, before turning to Tam, "Can we talk to you after about the whole... thing with Tiberius?" She had seemed far too quiet about it until now.
Tam looked between Julie and I with soft eyes. "Of course," she said, "I insist."
"Claire is coming for dinner with the children," Julie said, "Maybe after that would be best."
I nodded reluctantly. The last time I had spoken to Claire had been the night of the Day of the Long Knives, but I couldn't ignore Julie's sister forever simply to avoid facing my own guilt about the death of her other one. Might as well confront two awkward subjects at the same time.
"Call the war council in an hour," Julie said, "And order the army to be ready to march at a day's notice. Every minute we sit here is another minute closer to the Fereldans knowing we're coming."
"As you wish, my lady," I said, bowing theatrically once more.
All our military bigwigs showed up in the barracks as ordered. The three Generals; Mike, McNulty and Soprano, the latter two having been promoted on the field after Vindargent. Knight-Commander Barris and Knight-Master Markham, of the Templars and Hospitallers respectively. The leaders of the mage factions, Armen, Velarana, Valle and Marable. Isewen came as chief of scouts. Leha, as quartermaster-general, naturally took her place by Julie's side. Briala and her Dalish protector had quietly managed to ingratiate themselves into the meeting too.
Tam and Ciara were absent, both leading hunting parties and trusting us to do the right thing.
I watched these great figures file into the room, when two in particular caught my eye. Louise de Villars was in her usual, chivalric manner, her uncle's silver skull mask enclosing the front of her head while blonde hair fell out its side. She stood out as the most elaborately dressed person in the room with a grey doublet and skirt, but even more so because of the lithe, similarly well-dressed blonde figure standing beside her maskless. I certainly hadn't met this person before, I thought.
As we gathered around the table, I was compelled to comment.
"Colonel de Villars, aren't you going to introduce us?" I asked jokingly, "This isn't a party, and I don't recall saying you could bring a plus one."
Blondie's mask glanced quickly to the woman beside her and back to me in the space of a single second, like she had forgotten that she had brought someone along. Or perhaps it had been entirely unintentional.
"C-certainly, my lord," she said uncertainly, "This is Lady Mariette de Villars, my cousin."
Mariette curtsied, pulling the edges of her grey skirt slightly up.
"I tried to kill you," she said, "Sorry."
It was my would-be assassin, in the flesh. Well, not quite, but I don't think anyone had ever tried to kill me in so... intimate a way as this woman had. The absurdity being too much, I burst into a fit of laughter, helped along by the obvious hand-wringing of Blondie.
"That's okay, you failed," I said, "Just don't try it again. I wouldn't want to shoot one of Louise's cousins."
"I don't have any problem with it," Julie added in good humour, "So don't even dream of trying it again."
Mariette curtsied again, having the dignity of at least seeming embarrassed. Louise reprimanded her cousin under her breath, which didn't seem to phase the woman in the slightest. But then, it wouldn't. She had charged a machinegun with nothing more than a dagger and a ...knife-shoe? I'm not quite sure what to call it.
Louise coughed, bringing attention back to her. "If it pleases the Marquise, may I?"
Julie waved her hand for Louise to continue.
"Four thousand, eight hundred and forty seven," Louise declared, "That is the number requesting discharge from the army."
I blew out a breath, not having expected so many to want to leave. It was about a quarter of our number under arms.
"Why so many?" I asked.
"Most of them want to keep fighting," Louise said, "Almost all of them are from outside the Hearthlands, and almost all of them are former men-at-arms. They think your dreams of founding a new city are fantasy born of desperation."
They weren't wrong, I suspect, but something in particular struck me as odd. "Does that mean most of them are men?" I asked, "I don't recall that many women being formally under arms before we showed up."
"That's correct, my lord," Louise said, "There are a few women who wish to return home so that they can give birth, but that number does not reach more than fifty."
Markham spluttered with what could only be anger. "You mean we have thousands of pregnant women who wish to leave with us," he said, "And thousands of men who can't stomach the thought of leaving?"
"Yes," Louise answered.
The healer's eyes narrowed in anger.
"Perhaps you should consider disciplinary action," Markham said, addressing me, "Allowing them to abandon us with so many in such a state would be undignified at best, downright criminal at worst." The man was protective of his patients, to say the least.
I shook my head. "They fought for us," I said, "We lost. They have a right to go home or to continue the fight in their own way, if they want."
"We cannot hold them by force," Julie added, "Most of the remaining soldiers will not fight their brothers." I wasn't so sure of that. I'm sure the Peacekeepers would have happily cracked skulls for us, but that wasn't really their job.
Markham cursed the deserters, muttering about a lack of responsibility. I had to sympathise with that view to a certain extent, given the scale of the task ahead of us.
"If you're looking for a silver lining..." Louise said, interrupting the Hospitaller, "None of the original ten thousand wish to desert, meaning that none of those with firelance training will depart. Furthermore, the chevaliers wishing to leave have agreed to make their stand from my fief, and will join us if we do succeed in our … destiny. Along with all of my vassals who wish to come."
That was indeed good news. I might not have forced anyone who wanted to stay behind to fight, but I wasn't going to let go the firelancers under any circumstances. They knew too much.
"You'll move the entire population of your barony?" I asked.
"The civil war between Celene and Gaspard will last years," Louise said, "If I can save my vassals from that, I shall."
"Your sense of duty does you merit, Colonel," Julie said, "But this is not the reason why we called this council..."
There was an audible complaint from Soprano which drew my eye. Briala had began shouldering her way forward, and leaned on the table directly opposite Julie beside me. Soprano was displeased, something I could tell by the dagger she produced. I just managed to grab her arm before she threatened to plant it in Briala's back, all of which went relatively unnoticed.
"Give the deserters to me," Briala said, "If they wish to fight, I can give them that fight."
"What could you possibly do with only five thousand?" Leha asked.
"Bring down the Empire," Briala replied, without a drop of sarcasm, "I told the Marquis that he was fighting the war the wrong way weeks ago, he didn't listen. You lost because of that."
Half the meeting began shouting insults at her for that, which was touching but unnecessary. Julie stood up from her seat, which quieted everyone again immediately.
"The deserters wish to fight for Lord Clouet, I think," Julie said, "But if you can convince them, you can have them."
Briala nodded. Henri Clouet's determination to punish those responsible for his son's murder would have undoubtedly remained strong regardless of our surrender, and given that he'd now control the Emprise in our stead, he was in a strong position to continue resistance. I didn't think well of Briala's chances, but she'd go on to surprise us all on that note.
"Colonel de Villars, make the arrangements as soon as this council is ended," Julie added, before sitting down again. Louise saluted her compliance. Soprano grabbed Briala from behind, and using her greater mass, moved Celene's former lover to the back again. I worried that it would cause an argument, but apparently, Briala didn't want to screw with the heavily tattooed general. It would give me pause too, in fairness.
"We must talk about the route," Velarana said, "This matter of deserters is a distraction."
"Agreed," Armen said, "Going straight north from here would risk too much."
He seemed to know a great deal more about it than I thought he would.
"Why do you say that?" I asked.
"The Avvars," Armen replied, "I read much about them when I was in the Circle. They would prey on an army strung out on the march, that much is a certainty. Firelances and magic wouldn't save us either. They would strike at night, pick off sentries and descend on our camps while we slept."
"We fight them off every winter," Louise said, "My fief's towns are walled for good reason. If we travel through there, we will be forced to support my vassals or the supplies we need to travel through the hills will not be available."
I recognised that mode of war. "Like the Apache, defending their ancestral lands..." I said, nodding, "Well, shit. Here I thought hunger would be the big problem."
"Hunger is no small problem either," Leha said, "Losing five thousand to do their own thing helps us out, but it doesn't get us all the way to Amaranthine on full rations. Unless you want to slaughter some of the ponies?"
"No, we need every bit of mobility we can get," Julie said, "Can we return to Hearth and go north from there?"
"We'd run into Gaspard's troops eventually," Armen replied, "Not sure I want to see what his reaction to that would be."
"Agreed," I said.
"The only option is to get food as soon as we reach Ferelden," McNulty said, "Once we're across the border, we can forage or even raid to get what we need."
"Which will send the whole country into panic and rage," Julie sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose, "We need to avoid that for as long as possible."
A quiet fell as everyone thought to themselves, no one looking directly at another. It seemed that no one had any ideas. I certainly didn't have any that would not end up pissing the Fereldans off or delaying us. I was willing to bank on Gaspard being a little flexible with his timetable, but I wasn't sure that was a risk everyone else was willing to take.
Out of the blue, old lady Marable goes to Julie.
"Can I speak?" she asked, "I know I was included only as a courtesy. My mages have not participated in your war, but..."
I hadn't really thought of the Isolationists as not contributing, mostly because I valued them taking care of the magically capable children as far away from 'our' war as possible, but I was still pleased that she was taking a deferential tone. Though taking any other tone with Julie wasn't advised.
"Of course," Julie said, taking the woman's hand, "We're all brothers and sisters here."
"I certainly hope not," I quipped, thinking of what I intended to do with her later.
The tone was certainly enough for everyone else to get an idea too. My generals and colonels had a good laugh at that one. Julie sent a pained look at me for the joke. I held my hands up and indicated for Marable to continue, who took it in stride.
"There is another way into Ferelden," the Isolationist leader said, "It is more dangerous, but far less distance to travel."
Julie and I looked at each other, like we both seemed to be missing something obvious.
"What way is that?" Soprano asked.
"The Deep Roads," Marable said, "There is an entrance to them in the mines."
My mind stretched back to the conversation in Julie's family courtyard, about the Fifth Blight. Semi-sentient zombies with armour and swords, dragging women off to do I-don't-want-to-imagine, spreading their filthy disease... A threat great enough that even the bickering, primitive governments of Thedas conceded command to outsiders sharing the tainted blood of the enemy.
"The Deep Roads," I repeated flatly, "Where darkspawn live."
"Dwarva too," Leha said, weakly.
"As if that helps matters!" I snapped, before turning to Marable, "You didn't think an entrance to the Deep Roads was worth mentioning? That's a larger hole in our defences than the one I made the last time I was here!"
The elder mage was not phased, not withering under my stare entirely. There was a twitch of fear in her eyes. One that only an Outlander could provoke, I realised. That a person could wade through their magic unharmed brought fear to any mage. Worse, I had stood up and leaned forwards in a threatening manner, without meaning to. I sat back down quickly.
"My apologies," I said, controlling myself. That didn't have an effect.
"Sam takes the burden of our safety very seriously," Julie said, "Even more now that the children of Hearth now reside here." The hidden rebuke of her own against the omission of the not-so-little detail was far more effective than my loud outrage, yet her tone was calming and her explanation satisfactory to the Isolationist leader. That's why she was the leader, and I merely the general.
Marable seemed to unfreeze. "I did not mean to deceive you," she said, "But we are quite safe. The doors remain intact, including their enchanted seals."
"No better barricade," Armen agreed, "It would take weeks for the darkspawn to batter down enchanted doors, and we would definitely notice them doing it. Assuming they even knew we were here."
I remained sceptical, but having made an ass of myself, also remained silent. Armen was clearly the expert here, his boyhood interests providing him with all the knowledge we needed. I doubt he ever studied the Deep Roads with the expectation that he would one day be walking them.
"If I might ask..." Mike began, looking to Julie for permission.
"By all means," Julie smiled, giving a wave of the hand.
"There are thousands in our army and thousands from Hearth to follow it," Mike said, "Can we move fast enough through the Deep Roads? Assuming we can fight off the darkspawn."
That was a pretty big assumption in my book, but Mike never was one to shrink from a hard fight, considering she was the only one of my officers that had come from the enlisted ranks.
"They're the Deep Roads," Leha replied, "They're named that for a reason. They're in pretty bad shape and are covered with darkspawn taint, usually, but that's nothing you mages can't handle."
"I'm glad we have your confidence," said Velarana in a monotone, "But if we have to constantly stop to clear rubble or burn taint away, we will die down there."
"If we even know the way," Julie said, before turning to Marable, "I presume you do know the way, or else you would not have brought this to us?"
Marable nodded. "We thought the Templars would eventually find us," she said, "We conducted an expedition to find an escape route, after word of your defeat at Lydes came. It returned a week ago."
"Wise," Julie said, "Can we get to Ferelden?"
"It is perhaps five days travel," Marable said, "From here to an exit near the Fereldan town of Honnleath."
That was southwest Ferelden, I knew. The entire opposite end of the country to Amaranthine, which would have meant it was useless to us. Except that the Imperial Highway ran nearby. I imagined the same huge highway that ran between Halamshiral and Lydes with fondness. We'd have a freeway all the way to our objective, and we would have most of our supplies too.
"That would be perfect" I said, beginning to warm up to the idea at last, "Is that five days of smooth sailing or five days of pure hell?"
Marable's face curled in confusion at my idioms, not having the exposure to me that everyone else did. Probably didn't help that I directly translated my English-Common idioms directly into French-Orlesian, but ironically, many of them caught on regardless.
"The way was remarkably clear of obstacles," she replied, "Almost as if it had been cleared deliberately."
"Of course it was," Leha said, "The Fifth Blight began in southern Ferelden, and the darkspawn army had to get down there somehow. They moved thousands through the Deep Roads just as we'll be trying."
"So the main passages are definitely large enough for wagons?" I asked.
Leha gave the nod, and my enthusiasm built still further.
"What about the darkspawn themselves?" Julie asked.
Marable frowned, pushing a lock of grey hair out of her eyes.
"We encountered them," she said, "Our expedition used their magic to hide themselves. We are not warriors."
"I don't supposed you could do that again," I said, "With, say, thirty thousand people?" To say nothing of the thousands of pack animals.
Marable shook her head.
"How many," Julie said, "Enough to stop us?"
"Dozens," Marable replied.
"But where there are dozens, there are hundreds," Armen added, "Most of the darkspawn crowd about Orzammar, trying to breach its defences, while smaller parties look for exits to the surface to raid from. But if one darkspawn sees you, they all know you exist."
I felt a cold sensation in my gut at hearing that particular bit of information. It was certainly news to me, and it was a huge disadvantage for us if true. Instant communications about the presence of an enemy was a terrifying capability, particularly as Armen seemed to imply it was unaffected by distance.
Of course, it was in fact affected by distance, a darkspawn in Tevinter only feels a twitch in the back of its mind where one in Orlais would practically smell us in Ferelden.
The image of our people getting split up in the tunnels and annihilated came to me.
"Sounds more dangerous," I said, "Going north and then east overland isn't anything we can't handle. The Deep Roads aren't something we're familiar with."
"Yet we would be in Ferelden in a week," Julie mused, pursing her lips in thought.
I recognised her expression. It was one she wore when she was contemplating one of those things everyone else views as impossible.
"Julie..." I said, "It wouldn't be safe."
"We have no safe options any longer," Julie replied softly, "Either we spend months marching through the wilds, fighting Avvar, Lady Seryl's army and starvation, only to run into the Fereldan Royal Army at the border... or we take the route that no one will expect. Not even the darkspawn could see it coming, and we will be gone before they could get enough numbers to kill us."
Julie rose from her seat.
"I've made the decision," she said firmly, "We travel to Ferelden by the Deep Roads."
Our officers lowered their heads, acceding to the command. They knew that tone from Julie. There was no arguing with it. The only two people who could have disagreed were Tam and I. Tam wasn't present. I agreed with the argument for swift action, even if the substance of it was a huge risk.
"By your command, Marquise," Louise said, giving voice to entire war council's thought.
Mariette de Villars, used to seeing her cousin's side of the family command others, was in shock, her eyes going as wide as plates. Not least
"March through the Deep Roads?" she said, incredulous, "It's impossible."
I pat her on the shoulder. "Yeah," I sighed, "But the impossible is sorta our job."
The harlequin groaned. She had heard that line before, I could tell. She was in the Orlesian special forces, after all. The contrast of her cynicism with her cousin's aristocratic idealism was pretty amusing, and her standing rose in my books.
Julie smiled, her metaphorical mask slipping.
"Welcome to the Army of the Free," she said, "You're one of us now, a soldier of liberty."
Mariette groaned again, much more wearily. She was in way over her head.
That was that.
We had determined to enter Ferelden through the Deep Roads, the second invasion of that country using that method of travel in a decade. The Free Army, minus the deserters, plus the children growing in the bellies of our soldiers. The fisherfolk of Jader, made refugees twice now. The people of Hearth, new and old, by now world famous for their dedication to a political ideal.
Our people, landless and friendless, utterly determined to survive and prosper.
Word was spread through the Wolf's Lair in a regimented fashion. The officers told their lieutenants, who told NCOs, who told the rest. The message was carefully controlled, and the preparations began immediately. No one else joined the deserters. Everyone who had determined to stay before the decision was made had already known they would face dangers.
Besides that, Julie had spoken. That was the bottom line for many, and it bothered me slightly that personal loyalty mattered as much as it did. Bonaparte's ghost would undoubtedly laugh. Julie was now the only government we had. I guess that means Louis XIV would also laugh.
"L'etat, c'est moi" is something Julie could very well have said at that moment, or indeed any moment afterwards.
Ms. Government herself was in good spirits when Tam and Ciara rejoined us to eat, as she always was when Claire showed up with her niece and nephew. The feelings she had on the subject of fostering Élodie's children had not dampened, but neither sister brought it up and all was well.
The meat from Hearth was bound to go off, and Tam's hunting trip had been very successful. Smoked pork and fresh halla is a great combination. Not something you get to eat everyday, even when you're in my position.
Claire and I exchanged very little words at first. Her greeting as she entered our tent sent guilt at me, running me through as deeply as a sword would. I bit it down and returned the greeting, unable to say anything more. Julie had forgiven what she called my false guilt over what had happened, and Claire herself had never indicated that she blamed me, but still.
Tam gave my hand a squeeze, my unease apparent enough to be noticed. It put me back in a good mood.
We sat down on the cushions on the floor and ate until we nearly burst, and lounged about talking about nothing of any importance for a while. Julie and Tam cooed and played with Victoire and Patrice.
The kids had grown in the six months or so since their birth to an astonishing degree. The Rivaini heritage in their soft brown faces was as obvious as Julie and Claire's own, and they even had the beginnings of Julie's soft spray of freckles across their noses. Their hair was coming out thicker too, in a dark brown. Julie's red-brown was from her own elven father.
Ciara kept nudging Armen with her elbow throughout. The mage's customary smirk disappeared, his eyes locked onto the kids.
Leha just sat and drank wine, regarding the whole scene with amusement. I joined her in that for the most part, and two drunken peas in a pod we were.
The evening wrapped up on an unexpected note. The kids had gotten fussy and Claire put them to rest in the basket she had brought with her. Once that was done, she sat down with us once more.
"I shall go, it is getting late... but before I do," Claire said out of the blue, "Sam, is it true that we will go by the Deep Roads?"
She was under the impression that it had been my idea, and that she was worried about it. I knew that would send Julie worrying. 'L'etat, c'est moi' had its downsides when what you did ruled over your own family's future in unexpected ways. I determined to spare Julie the role.
"We will," I said, "It is the fastest way into Ferelden, and from there, we'll go to Amaranthine. The Tevinters will organise a fleet to take us away."
Claire hummed as she thought about it.
"Could we die down there?" she asked.
"We could," I said, "But we could also die on other routes."
"The world is full of dangers," Tam added, "No matter which way we go."
"And if I stayed?" Claire asked, "Didn't go on this journey?"
"Gaspard is marching on Celene as we speak," I said, "He'll reach the walls of Halamshiral tomorrow or the day after. He will attack her forces. All Orlais will be dumped into a civil war. You will be no safer here than with us. And if Gaspard's vassals find out who you are, after he exiled us..."
Claire nodded to herself.
"Samuel Hunt," she said, getting up, "Take us to our new land safely, or I shall never forgive you."
My heart pounded in reply. I felt like she wasn't just speaking for her and her children any more. It was everyone in camp speaking to me. "I promise I will," I said.
With that, Claire came to me and gave me a hug. Relieved, and frankly honoured to have her trust despite all that had happened, I returned it warmly. After that, she went to Julie and gave her a kiss on the cheek, before retrieving the basket with her adoptive children. She left the tent with confidence.
"It is getting late," Julie said, turning to our friends, "I would like to turn in, and we need to speak privately." We meaning Tam and I.
Leha snorted. "Riiight, 'speaking' or 'sleeping' is what you're going to be doing," she said, tottering away towards the tent flaps. I rolled my eyes at her presumption. The Aurelia issue still had to be discussed, and we had been dodging around it, using official business as an excuse. Pretty good excuse if you ask me, not to mention welcome.
Armen offered his arm to Ciara, almost in jest, and she took it.
"Try not to tire yourselves out," our Dalish companion joked, "We'll probably be fighting darkspawn soon." Words she probably shouldn't have uttered, in retrospect, for multiple reasons...
I was a little ticked off as I watched them put their boots back on and exit the tent, whispering to each other and chuckling. Almost certainly at our expense, I thought at the time, but more likely taking example from what they thought we would be getting up to. Hollow complaint on my part, given how badly I did want to do exactly what they expected of us.
"You'd swear the only thing we ever did when we're alone was..." I began, before movement caught my peripheral vision.
Julie was throwing down the furs and blankets from the bedding chest onto the floor. The idle speculation of our friends about what we needed privacy for was not so incorrect after all.
"Ah," I said, "What about..."
"Later," Julie interrupted, "Right now, I need to rip the clothes off of you both."
I crossed the floor of the tent like my life depended on it. She began to do as she planned.
We fell onto the furs and blankets, and Julie knelt between us, her fingers removing our garments as she leaned over to kiss both of us. Once we were entirely naked, she pulled her shirt off in a single motion, grabbed the large blanket, and joined us on the furs, covering us from the approaching winter cold.
We made love for hours.
All three of us were finally spent, tired but buzzing from the pleasures we had just given to each other, laying naked together under the blanket. I felt myself drift off towards sleep, cocooned with the two women I loved. Red-brown and white-gold hair flowed over me, both of them laying their heads on a shoulder each.
There really is no better feeling than finding someone you can share this sort of moment with.
"I love you," Julie said suddenly, as if she could read my mind, "Both of you."
"We know," Tam replied with a grin, "You made that clear." Indeed she did.
I snickered, craning my head to plant a kiss on Tam's forehead for that one. She nuzzled me in response, biting my neck gently as her violet eyes looked across to Julie.
"So proud too," Julie continued softly, "Tam... your idea saved us..."
"Wish I had come up with it," I added cheerfully.
"It was Lana's idea," Tam insisted, half-joking.
"It was not," I said, "You got up and proposed it yourself. They listened to you."
"And they'll remember you for it," Julie said, sighing with satisfaction, "Forever, if we succeed."
"When we succeed," Tam replied, "Besides, I could not have done it without Sam's... answer."
And there it was. We had finally got onto the topic we had done literally everything to avoid. One might have expected it to have killed the post-coital glow we were basking in, but I am pleased to report it did not. We just lay there for a few minutes together, sharing our body heat as the night began to get more chilly. A weight built up in my chest, until I could take it no longer.
"Listen..." I began, "About the marriage..." I stopped, not having thought out the rest.
Julie yawned and adjusted her position against me slightly. "We can avoid it," she proclaimed, "The ships will arrive, we'll take them, and the Tevinters won't be able to stop us."
Tam and I both looked at her.
"Tiberius is not an idiot," I said, "He'll take precautions."
"I know," Julie said sadly, "Just... let me believe my story for a little while..."
"Is there no way to stop it?" Tam asked.
"Not that I can see," I replied, "But we do have time to think of something."
"Three months..." Julie confirmed.
I started at that.
"You really think the ships will show up and I'll have to marry her in Amaranthine?" I asked, "In front of... unnecessary witnesses?" AKA the entire army...
"It's the only way he could be sure of getting what he wants," Tam agreed, "It's going to be … hard for me."
"We know," I said, "I just couldn't see any way. I'm sorry."
Tam ran her hand through my hair, closing her eyes. She forgave me. It was Tiberius who would have the trouble. Tiberius and Aurelia.
"It's hardly going to be easy for me either," Julie complained softly, "They want you to make babies with her... but I can stomach it, if it helps save our people. It won't change the way I feel about you. It's not like you want her."
Tam growled her agreement.
I sighed once more. "What is it lately with children," I mused, "First, half the army gets knocked up, second, Tiberius finally gets his way, and we just got done with Victoire and Patrice... Even the mage children causing trouble with those from Hearth, I can't seem to get away from them lately."
"Maybe the Maker is speaking to us," Julie smiled, "Tonight was... dangerous for me."
"It's … possible for me too," Tam said.
I didn't catch their meaning exactly, my eyes scanning the ceiling for a few moments as I pondered it, but it didn't take long. And somehow, I was perfectly okay with the implication.
"Well, if it happens, it happens," I said finally.
Tam drew closer. It was her wish to be a mother, after all. Just not so soon. Julie didn't move for quite a while either. I can only imagine what her thoughts were. Regardless, we all fell into a deep sleep soon afterwards, cutting off any deeper discussion on the matter, or about the marriage.
Of course, it wouldn't happen so soon. It happened at a far more inconvenient time. For the moment, the task of leading a people to a new land, to form a new nation, lay ahead of us. The personal challenges it would bring, we could handle them. We knew it then as well as we do now.
We were family.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Originally, the decision to go into the Deep Roads was meant to be the first third of the chapter dealing with it, but the whole thing ballooned as I realised more needed to be addressed. So, this.
I'll be adding a few more polling options for Outlanders too, check that out on my profile!
The next chapter will be entitled "Darkspawn" as you could have probably guessed.
Thanks for reading!
Katkiller-V: Yeah, the Blight's pretty much why I assigned the grimdark personality to the Warden. Things needed to be done. Hawke could have gone either way, snarky or noblebright, but given that Hawke in this story will be a she, I decided against some moralistic version of her in favour of someone more fun.
I hope this clarifies Sam's reasoning about why he agreed... And why his companions
Stormtide Leviathan: Yes, sir!
5 Coloured Walker: Cheers once again.
Okiro Benihime: Well, the surrender did throw a lot of people off.
ArytomXIII: I hope your feels are thorough restored.
OBSERVER01: Yeah, Lana hasn't heard the real version of the Aeneid. Tam adapted it for kids' consumption.
The system of government will be more... interesting than the one in my BF2183 story.
Stuilly: Frankly, I can't wait to write the interactions between Sam and other main characters. Ferelden's going to have a bunch of them, and it'll only be more from there.
Hawke's going to be fun.
Charlie019: Smart man.
Every nation in Thedas has indeed heard of what has happened in Orlais.
What the Free Marchers' or Rivaini reaction will be, I shall leave to the chapters covering that, but you're not wrong in your points. The Marchers can challenge Orlesian or Nevarran power when they combine together, though in this stage of the timeline, Starkhaven is the strongest of the Marcher states and is currently embroiled in occupying Kirkwall. Rivain is close to the Qun, though the Antivans likely wouldn't care, it wasn't the Antivans who hired the Crows to interfere in Free Orlais.
As for the Templars, there are many of them and they are professional soldiers, but they do not generally fight as an army. The Free Army is too large for them to take on alone, but it isn't like there's a shortage of faithful people out there to bolster them...