Salem
I held a calming hand to my lips, stilling what words I felt might come forth. Salem's face went another shade of white, but not from the pain wracking her body. This, we all had witnessed...in the Brecilian Forest when Zathrian's treachery was laid bare. In the Deep Roads, when Paragon Branka had, in her madness, spoken of condemning unwilling souls to Shale's fate. In the Frostback Mountains, when Salem witnessed the horrendous acts done by Kolgrim's dragon cult and Father Eirik.
And in Howe's dungeons, when the arl confessed to the crimes committed against the Couslands. No. They were more than crims. They were atrocities.
"They are only elves?" she asked, her jaw tight, her lips quivering. "They are only elves? You misbegotten bastard sons of dogs!" the crowd drew back, shocked at such ferocity from a woman who, thus far, had been the picture of gentility.
"How dare you!?" she accused, rising to her full height, ignoring her injuries. "How dare any of you! You and your wives, your husbands, your friends, your families, your brothers and sisters, fought to free Ferelden from the iron grip of Orlais! You sermonized about liberty, pontificated about rights that were, under no circumstances, to everbe denied! How can you stand before me and claim that others have no right to those same freedoms!? You think your blood any better than theirs!? You think your lives worth more? Are your damned souls more precious in the Maker's eyes!?"
"Warden Cousland, calm yourself before the Landsmeet." another noble, wearing the silver circlet of a Ferelden teyrn, ordered.
"I will not!" she thundered, her words radiating heat.
Loghain's wrath was bombastic pride, I thought, seeing the pulse point in Salem's throat leap and flutter beneath her skin. This is righteous anger; justice in full fury. It is power, and good, and beauty, and...I. Am. In. Love.
Salem drew a shuddering breath, but not in attempt to calm herself. It was to fuel the flame that had been struck inside her spirit. My warden's heart burned in the face of injustice, like a bright, glimmering beacon of hope and truth. I prayed that Ferelden's nobles were not too immersd in their own self-importance to disregard such passion, such unabashed emotion.
"I will notkeep my peace." she hissed, but it echoed across the room and left a bitter chill in my bones.
Salem took a step forward and stumbled, almost going to her knees. My heart yearned to go to her, to support her faltering steps and wounded body, but I could not. I was helpless. Any whispered words from me to her, should they catch another's ears, would surely damn me. I would be known for what I was, an Orlesian...proof that Salem conspired with Ferelden's oldest enemy...even though such a thing was not the case.
"This is a grievous crime tha thas been committed!" Salem shouted. "By this wreck of a man who would have you believe that he stood for what is right!" she flung an accusatory hand at Loghain. "This man who quite the field and left his daughter's husband, your king, to be slaughtered!And now, he would send others, no less your own people, no less Fereldens,into chains that we have no rightto place them in!"
Salem rested, her shoulders sagging, her breathing ragged. Her hair was drenched with sweat, the same sweat that beaded on her brow and trickled down her face. Blood showed on the palms of her hands from where she had clenched her fists and the nails had bitten deep.
"You have failed." she sighed, looking at the nobles who had entered a war with naught but a vision of a free land, independent rule...a better life. "You have failed this land that you created. You truly are no better than Orlais. If we do not defend the weak...how are we better than those to whom we were the weak?"
"Heresy!" Loghain shrieked.
Salem staggered to her full height. "Truth!" Salem cried, her entire body shuddering with exertion. "This deep, heretical truth!We have failed to be better than those who enslaved us! Maker damn you all, I am done! Done with the mockery, the pretension, the hypocrisy!"
Salem inhaled, preparing to continue, when Loghain backhanded her with a gauntleted fist. The blow threw Salem off balance and she crumpled to the floor, landing on her side. She rolled onto her back and groaned, her hand moving to her ribs. I bit my lip and moved my feet, once more feeling Wynne's restraining arm about my waist.
"It is my turn to speak, little noble, little warden." Loghain taunted as Salem rolled onto her knees, gasping, struggling to stand once more. "She cries in what some would consider justifiable fury." he gestured to Salem's shuddering body. Blood trickled from my warden's lip. Loghain's blow had split it again. "She screams of nobility and sacrifice, sermonizing, as she said. But this woman, this child of House Cousland, broke the noble's code. She who decried me for doing so, has done the same! Stand before me, Salem Cousland, and bear witness that you did not torture and kill Arl Rendon Howe of Amaranthine!"
Maker, no! I screamed inside my thoughts. No no no no no no no! This is all wrong; this is...what Salem did was justified. Surely none could fault her for giving her family rest. Surely none...but it is the same crime of which Loghain stands accused. Old gods and new, Maker above, any who would listen...please, please, please...do not let this become worse.
"Stand, Warden Cousland." the silver-circlet teyrn ordered. "Stand and face the accusations, as is required by the Landsmeet. Did you break the noble's code?"
Salem pushed herself up, falling back to the floor three times before she at last regained her feet. She stood tall, refusing to wipe the blood from her mouth. Her eyes burned, screaming of murder and ruin, of all mankind's eventual fate. I cringed back from the death in her eyes.
"I...told you all..." Salem gasped. "That I harmed...no innocent noble. I killed Rendon Howe." she said, a clear, crisp admission. "I murdered the bastard who slew my family...as Loghain ordered him to do."
"Cousland betrayed Ferelden!" Loghain bellowed. "Your brother's Antivan whore was proof enough of that, but more can be found!"
"Take back your words." Salem threatened, nearly lost to her rage. "Or, by all that is holy, I will sever your tongue. As. I. Did. Howe's."
"Enough!" Arl Eamon broke his silence at last. "This has descended into a sick, mudslinging mockery of a Landsmeet. Nobles, render your judgment. Keep in your minds that there is no proof but Loghain's word of Cousland's supposed treachery. Cast your vote with Loghain and doom this country, or stand with the son of Maric, brother of Cailan, and those who fight with him against the Blight."
Salem, my heart reached out to her as she slumped against a pillar, clinging to it in order to remain on her feet. The evidence you presented was enough to dethrone any king, but you cannot topple racism and nobles ingrained with their ridiculously unchangeable, yet ever un-adhered to morals, in the span of a candlemark. Stand strong, my love. You have done well.
"Have the nobles made their decisions?" Eamon asked.
All assembled nodded.
"And all are aware that neighter Highever or Amaranthine are represented?" he asked once more.
Again, the nods.
"Then choose your side." Eamon ordered. "By order of the Landsmeet, cast your votes. I, for one, and Redcliffe with me, stand with the wardens."
Salem's empty, defeated eyes watched as the rest of the nobles called out their choice. A heartening number stated their support for Alistair and Salem, but I could not keep track. Instead, I alternated my gaze between Salem and the young servant who tallied the votes.
The hall fell silent and the servant handed his parchment to Eamon. The arl cleared his throat and exhaled.
"The Landsmeet has spoken." he announced, calm. "Twelve territories support Alistair and the wardens. Thirteen give their support to Queen Anora and queen's Regent, Loghain Mac Tir."
We...failed. I realized, watching Salem's countenance fall as the last thread of strength she had managed to cling to faded. Alistairs eyes shone with misgivings and...regret? Had he truly wished to become Ferelden's king? Had he embraced it so entirely?
"Ferelden has made her choice, warden." Loghain sneered, black eyes snapping. "Impassioned speeches aside. A shame, in truth. Had this been a tie, had one noble been undecided, law dictates that the tie would be settled through trial by combat. Best that you lose in this manner...there is less chance of your demise. Unless, of course, I proclaim you a traitor to the throne and sentence you to death!"
I felt faint as fear washed over me. I looked to my warden, too weak to defend herself, too weak to fight the death Loghain promised her.
"No!" a new voice rang, and Salem's head snapped towards the door.
I followed her line of sight, staring at the open doors, the man hanging against them. He had russet hair and a close-cropped beard, a kind face and...familiar eyes. He pulled himself from the support of the doors and wlaked, slow, exhausted, to the middle of the room. There was something in his bearing that I recognized, something that I knew in a deep part of my soul...
The man glared at Loghain with absolute hatred. "I am Teyrn Fergus Cousland." he stated, and my eyes widened. "I speak for Highever. We stand...with the wardens."
