Chapter 38: Wardens United
As Duran finally made his way outside of Tapster's Tavern, his mind was still preoccupied with the countless concerns that were threatening to distract him from the goals that he and his friends were actively pursuing.
"Dammit, get it together!" he muttered to himself angrily. As he began making his way towards the Diamond Quarter, he quickly took notice of something that struck him as quite strange. Frandlin Ivo, one of the bastards that aided Bhelen in framing him for Trian's murder, was heading towards the entrance of Dust Town with a rather substantial entourage. It was no secret that Frandlin was now Bhelen's left hand and it was fairly obvious why. As they entered Dust Town Duran also noticed that his older brother, Wojech and his second Velanz were among his escort.
"This can't be good." Duran said to himself before deciding to follow them.
Meanwhile back at the royal palace Daylen and Morrigan found themselves facing down over a dozen warriors who had stormed the room where they were now being held captive. Their leader appeared to be a berserker by the name of Piotin Aeducan, who Daylen had the pleasure of defeating in a proving not long ago.
"It would seem that he does not handle losing well, does he?" Morrigan mused as she scanned the opposition.
"Why does it seem like everyone in Duran's family is an asshole? Is he literally the only decent one in the bunch? Oh well, time to prune the family tree." Daylen said casually.
"You're awfully cocky for a mage who can't cast any spells. Don't hesitate boys, he and the woman are completely helpless." Piotin announced triumphantly.
"So I'm guessing Natia told you all about the large scale chaos and carnage that we can cause and you've seen firsthand how easily I can bring down one stubborn bastard. But I'm guessing she didn't tell you about our 'other' talents." Daylen replied as a sinister grin graced his face.
"Don't listen to him! He's bluffing, they're powerless!" Piotin shouted as some of his men began to hesitate.
"Are we? The runes in these walls certainly prevent us from casting any external spells, but transforming is still well within our abilities." Morrigan said as a smile began to form on her face.
"What are you-"
But before Piotin could finish his thought, both Daylen and Morrigan began transforming into their most fearsome shapes yet. As Piotin stared at them in wide-eyed shock, several of his men began screaming in terror. Daylen had taken the form of a bear, but it wasn't his usual bear form. This bear was far larger and more intimidating. His body was covered in spikes that were protruding from his fur and several areas of his body appeared to be exposed muscle mass covered in blood. He had become a Blight tainted bear, a bereskarn. Morrigan's transformation was just as frightening. Her usual giant spider form was now that of an enormous red arachnid, a corrupted spider. They wasted no time in slaughtering Piotin and his men who hardly had any time to react. Daylen took the honor of ripping Piotin apart himself before returning to human form as Morrigan did the same. The mess they'd left behind was quite grisly.
"I'll have to work on controlling that one a little better." Daylen remarked as they surveyed the havoc they'd just wrought.
"They did ask for it." Morrigan replied casually as she joined his side.
"True, well let's get to work." Daylen added before leading the way outside the room.
As they made their way through the palace they eventually encountered a young woman with light red hair who appeared to be motioning to them.
"You're Rica I take it?" Daylen asked politely.
"And you're Daylen, Natia told me about you. We don't have much time, Bhelen and Vartag are out at the moment but they'll be returning soon." she replied hastily.
"He couldn't even be bothered to stay behind and observe how his little trap worked out? I'm insulted." Daylen joked.
"What exactly did you expect from a coward?" Morrigan mused.
"Bhelen always has someone else do his dirty work for him, there are still plenty of guards around though. But his room is empty and I'm sure it has what you're looking for." Rica replied as she led them through the palace.
As they approached the door to Bhelen's room, several guards immediately attacked. Daylen quickly killed them with a fireball before making his way to the door.
"Locked, figures." he commented calmly.
"What!? Then what are you-"
Before Rica could finish her sentence, several more guards appeared behind them.
"More company it seems." Morrigan remarked dully.
"I've been holding back for the sake of preventing too much damage to Duran's future palace, but these bastards are starting to annoy me." Daylen replied in a mildly annoyed tone.
Suddenly a flurry of arrows tore through the guards from the rear and Daylen instantly recognized the marksmanship. As the last guard fell dead, Theron appeared with his bow drawn.
"Nice of you to join us." Daylen said while smiling.
"I won't bother asking at the moment what this all about, but I expect to be fully briefed later and I'm sure the others will too." Theron replied seriously.
"Deal, now do me a favor and get this door open while the coast is clear." Daylen added as he surveyed the halls to make sure they were alone.
After Theron picked the lock Daylen and the others quickly made their way inside Bhelen's room where he quickly set to work searching the prince's belongings.
"Perfect!" Daylen announced triumphantly as he withdrew several documents from Bhelen's desk and several more from various hidden compartments in the other furnishings.
"Does this mean it is now time for us to leave? I was just starting to enjoy myself." Morrigan remarked in a blasé manner.
"Just one more thing." Daylen said while grinning as he withdrew a small letter from his robes and placed it inside Bhelen's desk. "Alright, we're good to go. Let's grab your kid and get the hell out of here." he added as he faced Rica.
Rica nodded her agreement and began leading them through the palace once more. They eventually reached a room where her infant son was resting in a small crib and his drunken grandmother was snoozing in a nearby chair.
"I'm still debating whether or not we should bother dragging her along." Rica commented with a slight tone of disgust in her voice as she gently lifted the baby into her arms.
They were suddenly alerted to the sounds of more guards approaching and before long the hallway outside of the room was full of them. Daylen quickly hurled a fireball outside, scattering their would be captors as Theron fired several well aimed critical shots that mowed down even more. Unfortunately, a pair of stealthily hidden attackers made their way inside the room. Morrigan quickly killed one with an affliction hex followed by a curse of mortality. The other nuisance had managed to close in on Rica but was quickly stabbed in the back by the now awake Brosca matriarch.
"If you idiots are going to try and pull something like this, then at least do it right!" she yelled angrily as the guard fell dead at her feet. "Your sister's man had better be worth this aggravation!" she added while eying Daylen and Theron before smirking.
"I'm amazed you were even coherent enough to even pay attention when Natia explained things." Rica replied while glaring at her mother.
"It wasn't that hard to follow. You're both screwing royalty and decided to back Natia's man. Now let's get the hell out of here, I'm eager for a drink." the old woman added dully.
"This is our mother, Kalah." Rica said as she noticed the perplexed look on Daylen and Theron's faces.
"Right...well let's get going shall we?" Daylen replied pleasantly before leading the way outside.
As the group made their way to the palace entrance, he could only hope that things were going as well on Zevran's end.
In the center of Dust Town, Elissa and Zevran were embroiled in the fight of their lives. However, Elissa was in full berserker mode and tearing everyone apart who got in her way. Meanwhile, Zevran was slipping into the shadows and launching surprise attacks against the several mages that had joined the fight. After backstabbing the last spell caster on the field, he felt far better about their chances, especially after witnessing Elissa sever the heads of three attackers at once. She had thinned the enemy forces considerably, a very fortunate outcome in Zevran's opinion, but he was also left with the rather complicated task of preventing her from murdering Natia once they caught up with her. For now though, he'd focus on keeping them both alive.
As he continued leaping from the shadows and launching backstabs and ripostes, Elissa unleashed a whirlwind of destruction that eviscerated many of the remaining enemies and scared several more into fleeing. Zevran was quick to take advantage of their cowardice and cut them down as they retreated. There were only a pair of qunari mercenaries remaining now and Elissa showed no hesitation in her attacks against them. She quickly unleashed a dual-weapon sweep that knocked them both off balance before following up with a flurry that killed one and a devastating final blow that utterly destroyed the other. Afterwards, they both surveyed the area which was now littered with dozens of dismembered corpses. As the pair struggled to catch their breaths, Zevran couldn't help but comment on Elissa's performance.
"My dear, I can only imagine what you're like in bed. Daylen is a VERY fortunate man indeed." he joked.
"Shut..." Elissa didn't have the strength to finish her retort however, and was still catching her breath.
As Zevran smiled several more dwarves entered the scene. But they weren't casteless or carta members and Zevran's first guess was that they were some of Bhelen's underlings. "Daylen is certainly talented at foresight, a shame his woman doesn't share that trait." he commented sardonically.
As the newcomers scanned the area their leader finally spoke after examining the scene. "So they couldn't even kill one of you? Pathetic, but at least they wore you out. That makes things easier for us." the man said as he stared at Elissa and Zevran.
"The same opportunistic bastard you always were, huh Frandlin?" a familiar voice remarked coldly from behind the enemy group.
"Duran! What are you doing here?" Elissa shouted.
"I could ask the same of you two. But you can explain later, right now I've got some unfinished business with my brother's flunkies." Duran replied as he glared at Frandlin and his crew ominously.
"The mighty Prince Duran. You should have had sense enough to die in the Deep Roads, alone and forgotten. You can't stop any of this, Grey Warden or not. Bhelen WILL take the throne and you'll die the same fool you always were." Frandlin said coolly as he faced Duran.
"Talk, talk, talk. Maybe if you fought as well as you bullshit, you wouldn't have lost to me." Duran replied mockingly.
"You-" Wojech began angrily.
"Don't get so worked up brother. Let him enjoy his little moment. I may have lost to you but look what I've gained and look at what's become of you. Thanks to me, my house's reputation will soar while you languish as some pitiful phantom who doesn't even have the decency to join the stone. To top it all off, your casteless whore sold you out and is now working for Bhelen as well." he said while smiling.
"What?!" Duran shouted angrily.
"Duran, it's true! Natia is working for Bhelen, she fled not long ago after we got here." Elissa explained.
Duran simply stood rooted to the spot as he considered what Elissa and Frandlin had just said.
"And there you have it men, the mighty Prince D-" but before Frandlin could finish his insult, Duran had already torn through three of his men and was now bolting towards him. Wojech's second, Velanz, was quick to intercept him and so were several more of Frandlin's men. As they attempted to overwhelm him, Duran suddenly released a war cry that knocked them all off their feet. He quickly took advantage and executed everyone around him, including Velanz before once again making a beeline for Frandlin. Wojech stood in his way this time and raised his shield to counter Duran's attack, Duran raised his own shield and the two collided with enough force to shatter steel. As Wojech struggled to match Duran's strength, his shield was quickly deflected to the side and Duran immediately took advantage of the opening by unleashing an overpower combo that left Wojech floored. Duran quickly buried his war ax into Wojech's throat before turning his attention to a now stunned and quite terrified Frandlin.
"Killed by a pitiful phantom, tell me, what does that make you?" Duran said bitterly before releasing a shield pummel on Frandlin who fell to his knees and was immediately beheaded by Duran.
Duran gave the men one final look of contempt before approaching Natia and Zevran. "Duran, I'm sorry-" Elissa began.
"There's no need for apologies just yet my dear. There is a great deal that you and the others have not been preview to. For now I suggest we follow Natia and quickly. But first..." Zevran said before quickly scanning the area. "Hmm, she should still be close by. Unless of course she fled, given the circumstances I certainly wouldn't blame her." he added before laughing.
Suddenly a casteless woman appeared from a nearby alley and approached the trio. "Sodding hell! Natia wasn't kidding when she said you could handle yourselves if there was trouble!" the woman exclaimed.
"Would you happen to be Nadezda? I believe you have something for us." Zevran said casually.
"Right. I was expecting an elf or two and for you to be more discreet. Well, here. Use it in the house at the center of the block. You shouldn't have any trouble considering how many of the bastards you just killed." the woman explained as she handed Zevran what appeared to be a finger bone.
"The plan was indeed for me to handle this alone or with someone more discreet as per our cunning leader's request. Unfortunately, his woman is quite fiery and meddlesome." Zevran joked as he took the cryptic item.
"Well, good luck. For what it's worth, I hope you pull this off. I've always liked Natia a helluva lot more than Jarvia." the woman said before slowly walking off and disappearing into the shadows of another alley.
"Well, let's be on our way." Zevran said cheerfully as he led a confused Duran and Elissa inside an empty house where a locked door awaited them. Zevran quickly inserted the finger bone item and the door unlocked instantly.
Afterwards, Zevran began sprinting into the corridor beyond that clearly led to an underground complex of some sort that was apparently empty. "Good, it appears there won't be any opposition thanks to your little outburst." Zevran chuckled as he glanced back at Elissa while still running.
"What is this all about Zevran?!" Elissa asked angrily.
"And what does Natia have to do with it?" Duran asked in an equally angry tone.
"As I said before, now is not the time. We must hurry if we're to aid our charmingly deceptive redhead." Zevran replied seriously.
Meanwhile, inside Beraht's former inner sanctum Natia was having a face to face meeting with his successor, Jarvia. She was accompanied by several underlings and none other than Leske.
"You've both really come up in the world haven't you?" Natia commented sarcastically. Jarvia's right hand man, that's really impressive." she added while facing Leske.
"You know how it is, you take what you can get and I got pretty far." Leske replied proudly.
"And why exactly has little Natia come back to pay us a visit? Has Bhelen finally realized that it doesn't matter who's king as long as I'm queen?" Jarvia said condescendingly.
"Bhelen wants you all dead and so do I, but for different reasons." Natia responded casually.
"I hate to break this to you, but I don't plan on going out like Beraht." Jarvia responded after laughing. Suddenly, even more of her henchman flooded the room and Natia quickly found herself surrounded.
"So Leske, your job was to lead me here huh? It's a shame it had to go down like this, you were actually a decent partner." Natia replied with a note of remorse in her voice.
"It's only a shame for the one who ends up dead." Leske responded coldly.
Natia quickly hurled a soulrot bomb into the center of the room before slipping into the shadows. She quickly set to work backstabbing the enemy rogues who'd flooded the room. Neither Jarvia nor Leske were eager to let her thin their ranks any further and both began closing in on her as enemy archers hampered her movements.
"Damn!" she muttered after narrowly avoiding an arrow aimed at her head. Afterwards she tossed a firebomb at several of the archers who quickly scattered. As Leske bolted towards her, she met him head-on with a hit below the belt before executing him with a riposte. "Like I said, a shame." she said under her breath as he fell over dead.
Her main focus now was Jarvia who was slipping into the shadows just as easily as she was. As the two women dueled, enemy archers continued harassing Natia which made it impossible for her to exploit any openings. Eventually, she found herself surrounded by Jarvia and several more rogues who were flanking her in all directions. As they prepared to advance on her, a loud and very familiar roar shook the room catching everyone's attention. Duran had suddenly bolted into the center of the room and promptly tore into the shocked enemy archers. Not far behind were Elissa and Zevran who quickly entered the fray instantly taking the pressure off of Natia.
With her backup preoccupied with the new additions to the battle, Jarvia found herself facing Natia alone. As she attempted to once more slip into the shadows, Natia quickly hit her with a cripple attack followed by a punisher combo that instantly put an end to the Carta leader. The others were quick to mop up the remaining scattered resistance in the room until the confrontation was finally over.
"Took you long enough." Natia commented in a cynical tone afterwards.
"I had two unexpected guests my dear. Fortunately the plan was still executed as you and Daylen instructed and I'm more than certain our handsome leader has liberated your sister and the other 'items' from the palace at this point." Zevran replied while grinning.
"Well, let's head back then." Natia said casually.
"Hold on a minute! No one is going anywhere until I get some answers dammit!" Elissa shouted. "Just what the hell was this all about?!"
"The same thing it was always about, putting Duran on the throne. Finding out that my sister was his concubine did almost throw a wrench in things, too bad for Bhelen the Brosca girls stick together no matter what." Natia replied. "As for this little mess, well this was about me taking over the Carta. This way we'll have influence in the dirt above ground and below. If you want more details, Daylen can explain once we get back.
Elissa looked as though she wanted to argue but she decided against it. "He had better have a damn good excuse for leaving us all in the dark." she said angrily.
"Well I can tell you the reason for that right now. It's because you're all terrible at deception. Bhelen had to believe that there was a schism in our group. Aside from Daylen, Leliana, the witch, Zevran, and me none of you are good at lying. And Leliana's too close to Aedan. That's why I tipped Daylen off alone and it was my call." she explained casually.
"So, I didn't get the benefit of the truth either?" Duran asked quietly.
"Don't even go there Duran, I'm still pissed off at you." Natia replied bitterly.
"Then be pissed off at me to my face. No more running away. If I'm going to take the throne and piss off half the assembly and castes of Orzammar, then I want you with me. I intend to scandalize every damn noble in this place by making a casteless my queen if she'll have me."
A stunned silence fell upon the room as Duran's declaration still hung in the air.
"You...sodding...do you know what you're saying? What you're asking?" Natia finally managed, still shocked by Duran's words.
"I know exactly what I'm ASKING and what it means I'll be facing." Duran said as he approached Natia. "And I don't care. This was decided a long time ago in the Deep Roads when I met a woman who would change my life." he added as he placed his hands on her face. "So the question is, will she have me?" he asked as he gazed into her eyes.
"I hate you so much..." she replied as the two of them kissed.
"Perhaps we should go back ahead of them." Zevran said quietly while grinning as Elissa quickly agreed. She took a moment to observe the couple while smiling before following Zevran to the exit.
Sometime later, Daylen found himself explaining their entire duplicitous scheme to their rather irate friends back at Lord Harrowmont's estate.
"Then why bother telling us she was working for Bhelen if you knew she wasn't?" Aedan asked angrily.
"Because I knew you'd have someone follow me and Zevran and I knew we'd both need backup, but Natia was adamant that none of you know everything. She made that pretty clear in her note and seeing as how she was taking all the risks, I had to oblige." Daylen explained calmly.
"And why did you bring Morrigan with you to the palace?" Neria asked.
"Natia had already filled Bhelen in on all of us, everything from our fighting styles to our tactics, but she left out a few key details. For me and Morrigan, it happened to be our shape shifting. They had to believe that they had the upper hand, so bringing Morrigan made the most sense and it added to the element of surprise." Daylen replied.
"This whole thing still pisses me off." Darrian added angrily.
"Well deal with it. From the very beginning Daylen and I planned to put Duran on the throne and take control of the Carta. Once I discovered that my sister was with Bhelen, I saw my way in and after I explained things to Rica it was just a matter of proving myself to Bhelen. After I told him about all of you and did him a few favors, he sent me to deal with Jarvia and the Carta. At that point I made contact with Daylen and filled him in on the situation. I knew he'd get Rica and her kid to safety and it was also the perfect time get to all of Bhelen's incriminating secrets." Natia explained in a matter of fact tone.
"Why were Frandlin and his men following you?" Duran asked as he held her.
"To make sure I got the job done, probably. Maybe even silence me." Natia replied.
"They didn't seem surprised to find us there." Elissa added.
"Probably because they weren't. After I tipped off Daylen I returned to Bhelen and mentioned how my 'former' friends were likely having me followed and how I planned to have them soften up the Carta." Natia said casually.
"You had us do your dirty work!" Elissa said incredulously.
"I figured you could handle it. I was actually expecting Zevran and maybe Theron to be the ones to show up. That way they could've slipped in quietly and dealt with everyone without a big commotion and we could've handled Frandlin when he showed up to check on me." Natia added.
"Unbelievable. And I thought Daylen's mind was devious." Aedan responded in utter disbelief.
"It was quite the show, I must admit." Zevran laughed.
"Um, there was mention of Bhelen's secrets. Given everything that's happened and how we were all thoroughly manipulated, I hope you at least got something good." Alistair added in mildly sarcastic tone.
"Oh, yes. I discovered quite a bit on good Prince Bhelen. I've already begun blackmailing all of the assembly members who are in his pocket and destroying his power base. It's been quite fun actually." Daylen replied coolly. "I also left a gift for him, a little something to remember me and Natia." he added while grinning.
"Daylen, I want you to know that I don't condone this behavior in the slightest." Wynne said sternly. "Having said that, well done." she added with a smile.
"To be honest, I'm glad I wasn't included in this scheme. It reminds too much of the Grand Game in Orlais." Leliana said in a relieved tone.
"I found it to be a thoroughly enjoyable experience myself." Morrigan added casually.
"You would." Elissa replied derisively as she eyed Morrigan.
"Is your sister really okay with this?" Neria asked with a note of concern in her voice.
"Of course I am." Rica responded as she and her mother entered the room. "I was never blind to Bhelen's 'less than noble' attributes, but he was my ticket out of Dust Town and he was always good to me. If I did have any doubts, they were erased when he sent Ivo after Natia but I had already made up my mind when Natia told me about all of you and Duran." she added as she eyed the dwarven warrior who was currently holding her sister.
"Is that him? Well, he damn sure looks better than the other one. How is he in the sack?" Kalah asked rather brazenly as she took a sip of from her bottle of wine.
After the shock and laughter died down, Daylen was the first to comment on the audacious matriarch of the Brosca family.
"Natia, have I mentioned what a pleasure it's been for me and Theron to look after your charming mother?" he said sarcastically.
It had not been a good day for Bhelen Aeducan. He'd lost a lot of men, including his cousin Piotin and his left hand Ivo. On top of that was the fact that Rica had disappeared with their son and the Grey Warden mage had ransacked his room and gathered some rather important information, information he was now using to unravel everything he'd spent years building. Duran had killed Ivo and Wojech and his woman had played him for a fool. At this rate he could lose everything. As the agitated prince opened the drawer to his desk he noticed a letter that he was certain hadn't been there before. After opening it he was greeted by a crudely drawn caricature of Daylen and Natia making a rather obscene gesture at him. The prince was beyond livid and now determined to take the throne and see Duran and his warden friends suffer.
"You're getting married?!" Aedan exclaimed.
"That's the plan." Duran replied calmly.
"Well that's one way to smooth things over. I hope Natia isn't the jealous type, I mean you'll be taking care of her sister and Mardy. You're well on your way to a harem buddy." Daylen joked as Elissa elbowed him.
"Maybe in appearances, but I'll only have one queen." Duran replied resolutely as Natia grinned.
"I'm happy for you Natia." Rica added happily.
"Hopefully we can end the Blight before your wedding." Neria said brightly.
As they all continued their congratulations, Lord Harromont entered with a serious look on his face.
"Duran, something big is happening." Harrowmont announced.
"What?" Duran asked.
"I'm not sure how you managed it, but Bhelen's support in the assembly has all but collapsed. Unfortunately he's managed to delay the proceedings while he sends expeditions into the Deep Roads." Harrowmont replied seriously.
"He's after Branka." Daylen added wisely.
"I'm afraid so, the likelihood of her still being alive after this long is questionable at best but if she has survived and Bhelen finds her..."
"Everyone pack your bags, we're heading into the Deep Roads." Daylen announced as he rose to his feet. "Sorry Bhelen, but your ambitions end now." he added seriously.