(AN: So, here we go again. No excuses on why this took so long, I had about half this chapter done and sitting in my doc folder, but I've been so busy it's not funny. The other story has stifled my creative juices on this story, but after binge-watching Burn Notice on netflix I've finally got enough to go off and finished this chapter off. I'll probably take a month off from writing the other story and try to ride this high and focus on the finishing the MOTA arc. Speaking of which, I know that in the game even FHawke wears masculine clothes (probably because the developers were lazy sods who didn't want to spend the extra time animating a dress) but in this she is wearing something more appropriate. On with the show!)
Kitty looked over to Michael.
"Well, Michael, ready to enter the wolves' den?"
The burned spy surveyed the area from behind the safe anonymity of his designer sunglasses. The party Duke Prosper had thrown for after the hunt was lavish, to say the least. The entire courtyard of his chateau was teeming with elegantly dressed Orlesian nobles, richly embroidered banners and, as Michael noted, a small army of guards.
"Infiltrating hostile territory is never easy. As a spy, the first moments of an infiltration are crucially important. That's when you're establishing yourself: what you know about the enemy, what they know about you..."
"Ah, Ser Westen, Lady Hawke, welcome!"
Michael turned and saw Duke Prosper approach them. The duke for himself was impressed by the two notorious guests from Kirkwall. The redhead was no longer wearing her leather armor, but was dressed in a flowing elegant gown of dark blue velvet with gold embroidery along the hem. But if Hawke's more feminine garb caught the duke's attention, her companion's clothes were more bizarre. The ex-spy was wearing a two piece suit of khaki-colored cotton poplin. The jacket was plain with lightly padded shoulders, two buttons down the front and notched lapels. Under the jacket Ser Westen wore a light blue shirt, but even the buttons were a plain mother-of-pearl, and there was no pattern or embroidery on the jacket or shirt. Yet, for all of its austere and unassuming looks, the suit looked well on the ex-spy.
The duke processed all these thoughts in an instant, and dispelled them just as quickly.
"Welcome to the Chateau Haine, Lady Hawke, Ser Westen..."
Duke Prosper noticed the Orlesian spy was walking with a bit of a limp.
"Ser Westen! Are you alright?"
Michael looked up at the duke.
"Fine, just rolled my ankle chasing that Wyvern."
The Orlesian noble leaned forward.
"And...you'll pardon me for saying this, messer, but you have something on your neck..."
Michael reached up and felt the still-fresh hickey on the side of his throat, and involuntarily glanced back at Hawke.
"Er, bug bite, Duke Prosper, nothing to worry about."
"...and, most importantly, how the enemy perceives you. In a social setting the best thing to do is to keep your enemy oblivious...For a certain group, whether it's South American narcos or Orlesian nobles, the oldest trick in the book is also the most effective."
The duke noticed the glint in Hawke's eye, and let out a salacious chuckled.
"Aha! Such a wonderful thing to be young, I wish some apostate would be able to conjure up a youth potion, it would be worth risking the wrath of the Templars, wouldn't you say, Ser Westen?"
Kitty and Michael exchanged a look.
(Caption under Duke Prosper reads: 'Oblivious Enemy')
As the ex-spy conversed with Duke Prosper, Hawke made her way over to her three other companions. Her sister Bethany was there along with Sebastian, who seemed to be talking in hushed tones about something intimate. The elf assassin Tallis stood off to the side, fidgeting nervously. She looked up and saw Hawke approaching and smiled.
"Well, you sure do clean up nicely, Hawke."
She looked over to the guards and lowered her tone.
"I managed to smuggle your weapons and armor into the chateau in a couple of crates marked "Ferelden Wine", they will be in the kitchen, all we have to do is gain access to the castle."
Hawke smiled.
"So, you seem to have thought of everything. I assume you also thought of how we're going to get in and get to our weapons?"
Tallis nodded.
"I had a quick look around. There is one door into the castle that isn't under heavy guard."
The redhead raised an eyebrow.
"I hear a 'but' coming."
The elf shifted nervously as she glanced over to where the duke was conversing with Michael.
"I-I can't get the door open."
She saw the look of disbelieve on Kitty's face.
"Believe me, I've tried! Bent a perfectly good set of lockpicks trying to get it open."
She shook her head.
"One of the duke's guardsmen must have the key."
The redheaded rogue let out a theatrical sigh.
"Of course it wouldn't be this bloody simple."
Kitty looked over to where Michael was.
"Fortunately I have just the man for the job. Michael will know of a way, he always does."
Tallis looked uncertain.
"I hope you're right."
The redhead shrugged.
"That will be the easy bit, the hard part will be prying Michael away from his newfound friends."
Then she looked over to her sister.
"Bethany, Sebastian, during this operation I want the both of you to stay out of sight. Once Michael, Tallis and I have infiltrated the castle and have found this Heart of the Many, we'll need you to provide some sort of distraction to cover our escape. Then we meet back at the camp at the outskirts of the forest, take the next ship out of Orlais and back to Kirkwall."
She looked back at the castle longingly.
"I do hope there's plenty of loot to make this worth while."
Tallis spoke up.
"It's a worthy cause, Hawke. Isn't that enough?"
The redheaded rogue shrugged indifferently.
"Hmm, worthy causes are nice for stories, but goodwill doesn't fill up a purse."
She saw Michael approaching them.
"Well Michael, seems like you have a new friend."
The ex-spy shook his head.
"Duke Prosper's little chat was less about being friends and more about him throwing little verbal traps here and there. He's suspicious."
He saw the look Kitty was giving him.
"I don't think he suspects you-"
He looked over and saw the duke was scrutinizing him.
"But he either suspects me or our elf friend, so we need to be careful."
Kitty took his elbow.
"Well, let's not keep our generous deep-pocketed host waiting, shall we?"
The couple made their way towards the center of the courtyard, where Duke Prosper was speaking with a group of nobles. Tallis followed, but keeping her distance and sticking to the shadows. The duke saw Hawke approach and smiled.
"Ah, Lords and Ladies of the court, it is my pleasure to introduce the Champion of Kirkwall, who has the honor of first kill."
There was a round of applause of cheering from the throng of nobility. As the noise died down, the duke continued.
"To hunt the wyvern on it's own ground is to tempt fate, but the prize..."
He turned and opened a carved casket, and pulled out a jeweled belt. He handed it to Hawke.
"I present you with this belt crafted of fine wyvern skin."
He gave a bow.
"Wear it well, and accept the accolades that you are due."
Kitty gave a beaming smile to the duke.
"Thank you, and if anyone wants to laud my heroic achievements, I'll gladly listen."
She heard Michael clearing his throat disapprovingly, and she continued.
"-Of course, I'd have to share the accolades with my boyfriend Ser Westen, without his brilliant mind we would not have killed the beast."
Duke Prosper let out a hearty laugh.
"Well said, Lady Hawke!"
Their conversation was interrupted by a loud roar, and it was then that Michael noticed a large cage against one of the castle's walls. In it was a large, and very vicious looking wyvern. The duke seemed dismissive of the creature's wrath.
"Do not mind Leopold. My pet is always so tempermental before dinner."
"In the spy business you can learn a lot about a person based on the company he or she keeps, as well as the toys they have. A warlord in Sierra Leone who has as his prized possession a gold-plated AKMS tells you he's a trigger-happy blood knight with a flare for the tacky and gaudy. A nobleman who keeps a poison-spitting dragon as a pet tells you you're dealing with someone who is crazy or insane."
The rogue grinned, and Michael just shook his head.
"Come on, Kitty. Let's go mingle with the snooty nobles..."
Kitty shook her head after disentangling herself from the two feuding Orlesain noblewomen.
"-I don't see how it's so funny Michael. That silly bitch Babette doesn't know how close she came to getting gutted!"
"Easy does it, Kitty. It served as a nice distraction for our ticket in."
He looked and saw Tallis approach.
"Well?"
"The head guard inside has the key, but apparently he's not into knife-ears, so one of you is going to have to close the deal, so to speak."
Kitty hiked up the hem of her dress, revealing a serrated dagger strapped to her thigh.
"I'm game! especially if he has loot on him!"
Michael shook his head.
"Kitty, there's a better way that doesn't involve bloodshed."
He looked over to Tallis.
"I need you to guard this door. No matter what you hear, make sure nobody gets suspicious, got it?"
The assassin nodded, and Michael pulled Kitty aside.
"Alright, here's how we're going to do it, I need you to distract the guard, keep him occupied, I'll sneak up behind him and incapacitate him."
The redhead beamed broadly.
"Excellent! The non-bloody approach, and it still keeps him out long enough for me to go through his pockets!"
Michael checked his watch, Kitty had gone into the guardhouse for almost five minutes, which was exactly the time he was to sneak in. He gave a knowing look to Tallis, who nodded slightly, and he slipped inside. Inside he saw Kitty and a large guard standing in front of the fireplace. The rogue was doing her best impression of a slightly intoxicated ditz, and the head guard was lapping it right up.
Quietly and carefully Michael snuck up behind the guard, then he crouched down and pounced. The man was wearing a heavy breastplate, but his neck was completely exposed, and the ex-spy went to work locking his arm around the man's windpipe.
"It doesn't matter how big a person is, there are certain points on the human body where everyone is vulnerable. Pressure on their carotid artery will knock someone out in 10 seconds..."
The large guard snarled, and shoved Michael against the marble mantle, earning an exasperated huff from the ex-spy.
"...Of course depending on how big the person is it could be a very a unpleasant 10 seconds..."
Finally the man's movements became more sluggish, and slowly the man crumbled to the ground. Michael grabbed a bunch of keys round the man's belt and searched through them.
"Well, some of these are too small to be a door key, but I'm sure we can-"
He looked up and saw the rogue crouched next to the unconscious guard, humming to herself. Then she let out a squeal and held up a purse.
"Ah, jackpot! Must be pay week for these guards."
She saw the disapproving look Michael was giving her.
"What? When he comes do the jig's up, and we might as well make this trip worth while."
She stood up and grabbed the keys from Michael.
"Go fetch our elf assassin and let's get to the kitchen. The sooner we're suited up the sooner we get to the Heart of the Many."
There was a avaricious glint in Kitty's green eyes as she grinned.
"And where there's treasure, there's bound to be more loot!"
(AN: So hopefully I'll have the next chapter up sooner and it won't take six bloody months to get it done. I would say by the weekend after Easter the next chapter (working title 'Turn and Burn') should be up then. Anyone who's play MOTA knows what's coming next, but lest we forget Michael Westen's involved so who knows how it will play out? Stay tuned and find out!)
