Okay, so a couple things. First, a tearful apology. My computer decided that it wouldn't let the screen work anymore, so I had to get that fixed. It's back to it's good old self now, thank god. Second, the awesome that was going to be in this chapter was pushed back because of chapters 48 and 49 having to be split up due to their long-ness. My apologies! But I swear, next chapter for sure and we can move on to fun things! Like the aftermath of Kallian's father being stolen and Solona's fragile grip on reality! Sounds like fun, huh? I think it'll be fun. Again, I'm really really sorry guys!
"Solona!"
Her eyes fluttered open, looking to the doorway of her cell to see a familiar figure there. A weak smile graced her face, barely a lift of the corner of her lips. He had come, finally.
Aedan knelt in front of her, his face wracked with such horror at seeing her condition. She wanted to tell him that it was going to be all right, to ease the look on his face, but her throat was terribly dry and she couldn't say anything, just whisper his name in her scratchy voice.
"I'll get you out of here, don't worry. But the chains…" Aedan looked on the very threshold of panic, testing the chains briefly to see if they would budge and was almost comically disappointed when they didn't immediately crumble to dust.
"The magister…has a key." She breathed, having seen it herself.
"There's no time for that." Aedan whispered back, touching the manacles that bound her bloodied wrists again, his expression pained. "Let me help you. You can break these."
Her heart sank, her throat closing off for a second as fear enveloped her for a moment. "She's not dead?" Solona asked, her voice trembling with terror. They would never make it out with the magister still alive. "You have to go! If she catches you-"
"I'm not leaving without you!" Aedan shot back quickly, fierce determination in his gaze. "You can break your way out. Just let me help you."
She furrowed her brow; the fear still beating at her but it was now tinged with wariness. "How did you get back here without the magister noticing?"
"Does it matter?" His tone reflected a certain amount of exasperation. "Just hurry, please! We can get out of here together."
The cracks in the walls tore open then, the illusion of the cell surrounding her coming apart at the seams and Solona struggled against her bindings in vain. They were just as impossible to break out of here in the Fade as they were in reality. "Don't wear his face." She spat, her spirit flagging even though she had managed to breach the Fade. Solona was exhausted mentally and physically and could do very little to the demon to make it go away.
The mask flickered, a tinge of purple showing through the flesh tones of Aedan's skin, and a smile curved the demon's lips. "But it is the face you desire the most, is it not? I didn't lie, love." The Fade beast leaned in close, trailing a hand along the curve of Solona's cheek. "The magister will come back for you. But I can help you escape this prison if you'd simply let me."
"I'd never-" Her refusal was cut off when the demon stole her breath in a kiss and it took her a moment to twist her head away with a frustrated cry. She tried to blast the beast, the shock of her spell doing little more than ruffle its hair and she spat a curse.
From beyond the cell walls a whinny echoed through the Fade. The demon looked up wildly alert and one of the stone walls bust open, pelting the demon with flying chunks of stone, a burly horse with a mane of blue fire and eyes that glowed like lanterns standing in the newly created hole. The demon scrambled to its feet but couldn't avoid the horse as it reared and charged straight into the creature, carrying it through the opposite wall and out into the cracked dry plains of the raw Fade.
Solona could only watch as the demon shed its guise, returning to its demonic form and launching a fireball straight at the charging steed. Before the spell hit the horse broke into shards of light that formed around a ball that glowed as bright as the sun, hovering in mid air before expanding and reforming into a gigantic warrior in spiked plate armor. The demon screamed in fury, launching every spell in its repertoire at the warrior, but ice shards and fire bolts just rolled off of its plated chest like water dripping on a rock. With a broadsword the likes of which could never be made real in the waking realm, the warrior moved like a mountain come to life, the great bulk of it coming down on the demon in slow motion that somehow happened instantaneously. The Fade was filled with the screams of the demon as it was shorn in half by the warrior's blade and then it simply disappeared in a burst of smoke.
Its enemy defeated, the warrior turned toward Solona, its great sword disappearing in a flicker of light as if it had never existed at all. The closer it got, the bigger the warrior seemed until Solona was sure it would simply crush her out of existence until she was no more. Then the warrior glowed from within, disassembling into shards of light and reappeared as the familiar little bird she had come to know as Fortitude. It bobbed over to her hands, tapping the restraints around her wrists with its little beak and they crumbled into nothingness. Once that task was done the spirit floated down and perched on her knee. "It has been a while, mageling. I had begun to think that you would not be returning."
She rubbed her raw wrists, the pain that she felt in reality lingering even in the Fade. "For a while, I thought that too." Solona admitted sadly, her grip on magic fluttering to fullness without the demon there to inhibit her. She was surprised when the soothing blue of healing glowed from her hands, easing the ache of her various wounds. "I have my magic back!"
Fortitude cocked its head at her, blinking its beady little eyes. "So it would seem." The little bird fluttered up to her shoulder and butted its feathered head softly against the underside of Solona's chin, staying like that for a moment before hopping back. "I see. You have been through much while you were gone."
She didn't even question how the spirit would know. After all of the things she'd undergone in the magister's care, nothing surprised her. Solona didn't even know what was reality or Fade or a nightmare cast on her anymore. The blood magic that the Tevinters had at their disposal was not some rudimentary thing, and made her own skills look like a flailing child in comparison. Only her will had kept her from going completely insane, and even then she might not have succeeded in keeping her sanity together. Perhaps talking to Fortitude even now was just an illusion.
"If I have my magic back, then I should probably wake up." She heard herself saying, though didn't particularly want to leave to contend with the reality beyond her dreamscape. "I could break these damnable chains."
Fortitude leveled a long glance at her, his beady black eyes piercing right down to her soul. "Do so with care." The bird mumbled in its deep voice. "If the magister I have seen in your memories still has a hold on you, then it will take all of your fortitude to overcome her. You have it in you, but you cannot despair."
Solona smiled and couldn't help the chuckle that escaped her. The spirit was always so sure. She envied its surety and wish that she could be just as confident that her willpower was enough to turn the tides against the monster that held her. "Thank you, Fortitude." Her finger brushed the delicate tip of the small bird's wing, trails of Fade mist following her motion. "You always say the right thing."
"This sounds like a farewell." Fortitude said suspiciously, puffing its feathers.
"It might very well be." She replied sadly and then mustered her strength to stand, surprised when she wasn't incredibly lethargic. Fortitude took flight, bobbing around her head before settling on her shoulder as she walked out of the prison cell and into the raw Fade, drinking in the sight of the green skies and cracked earth. "I don't know what will await me when I wake. But if this is the last time I can see you, I just want you to know that I am glad that we met." She called to her consciousness and felt herself being sucked out of her dreams and pulled to reality.
•º•.•º•
Keran followed his nose to the hidden door in the wall and after figuring out that all that was needed was an application of force to push the panel into the narrow track to get it moving aside, Aedan found himself standing at the mouth of a dark hole in the wall. Keran stepped in without hesitation, leading the way with Aedan following close behind, the passage opening up once he was farther in and it quickly became apparent that the hidden hall was another holding cell, the cages only big enough for a single body. A single torch burned at the bottom of the stairs, casting weak light into the gloom of the short corridor and he picked up the single source of light, carrying it with him as hound and master walked forward. At the very end Keran stopped, his whining reaching a louder pitch and Aedan hurried forward, shining the weak light of the torch into the cell.
It was bigger than the rest, set deeply back in the wall, but it wasn't deep enough to conceal the solitary figure laying inside, propped up against the wall. Aedan's heart plunged and he almost dropped the torch when he recognized the blonde and brown mop of hair cresting the limp figure's head. Quickly he tried to sort out how to open the door and found that it was locked, but rusted. A swift jab from the hilt of his sword had the lock clattering to the floor, and he quickly put the torch in a small bracket in the wall, hurrying into the small cell. "Solona! By the Maker, what have they done to you?"
She stirred at hearing his voice, lifting her head weakly. "You came." Her voice was a whisper of sound, the smile on her face strained and distant. It took everything Aedan had in him to not break down at the pathetic sight she presented, her clothes ragged and torn, smears of blood on her face, wrists, and legs where her pants had been shredded. She was barefoot as well and sporting a large bruise that covered the majority of her left cheek and a swollen and cut lip.
"Of course I came." Aedan replied in a voice that cracked. Carefully he inspected the shackles that held Solona's wrists above her head and cursed. Her wrists had been rubbed raw, the caked on blood black in the dim light.
Behind him he heard footsteps and a gasp, and Kallian appeared in the cell doorway, her shadow falling against the wall. "Andraste's… damnit, Ammy."
"Can you do anything about the shackles?" Aedan asked quietly, too concerned with Solona's physical state to remark on the elf's lack of colorful profanity. Kallian nodded silently, drawing her lock picking tools and made quick work of the locks on the mage's wrists. When they clicked open her arms dropped to her sides with a grateful sigh. "It's going to be all right." Aedan carefully slid his arms around her, surprised by how light she was and could only wonder what the Magister had done to her in the few days she'd been imprisoned to make her look like she'd been starving for months.
Solona didn't make so much as a sound when Aedan picked her up and cradled her to his chest. She just leaned her head against the hollow of his shoulder and let her eyes drift closed. "Of course it will." She replied in a voice so quiet that only he could hear. "You're here now."
He wanted to murder the magister all over again in penance for bringing Solona to such a low state. In the end all he could do was shift the mage to a more comfortable position in his arms and walk her out of the damnable dungeon. "That's right. We'll get you back home and safe."
"My gallant knight." She smiled absently, too tired to do more than smile faintly. "I hope you're real." Her whisper was only loud enough that Aedan could hear, the words staring a small flare of panic in his gut.
"Then rest." He mumbled back, holding her tighter as if his physical presence would be able to ward off the demons that plagued her dreams. "You're safe now."
Solona smiled at him, and lifted her hand to his face, touching the plane of his jaw. When her fingers contacted his skin it felt like a jolt of electricity shot through him, and in that instant he could feel every bruise and cut throb painfully in sympathetic pain for the mage in his arms. She seemed to blink in surprise, her hand falling back down to lay across her stomach and tears filled her eyes. Her voice was only a whisper of a breath. "Aedan…" Suddenly she threw her arms around his neck and let out one shaking sob.
"It's going to be all right." He whispered against her ear, holding her more gingerly now that he was aware of just the extent of the damage that had been done. "I'll protect you." Solona's small sigh was the only indication that she had slipped away, lulled into a shallow sleep by her own exhaustion and the comforting tone of his voice.
When Aedan emerged back out into the crating room it was to see the elves gone, fled along with the majority of the Knifers. Sticker stayed behind, watching Kallian with a hooded gaze. The Wardens were checking over the room, ransacking it for anything useful and Theron held the envelope from the magister in his hand, smoothing out the wrinkles from when it had been hastily shoved into the protective shell of Alistair's armor and looked it over apprehensively. He glanced up from the paper when the three of them appeared, taking in the mage's state quickly before seeking out Kallian's downturned eyes. "Your companions headed back to the Alienage."
"That's fine." She replied tersely, her shoulders stiff and her face still caught in the peculiar emotionless mask. "Sticker-" He straightened slightly at her address of him. "-get out there and do some crowd control. We don't need a razing. Find anybody you come across an' grab 'em. Make sure the slavers are gone."
"Sure boss. What'll you do?" All his attention was on Kallian, watching the way she moved, quietly assessing what he could from the little she gave away.
"I'm going to go spread the good news." She replied with a forced grin that was very unlike the roguish smirks that she usually dished out whenever the occasion required. "Basher, I'll meet you at the estate. You good with Ammy?"
Aedan nodded, his jaw tightening. Keran barked as way of answering, wagging his stubby little tail. The group split then, Sticker going to the Alienage, the Wardens heading back to Eamon's estate and Kallian ran ahead of Aedan to get Rebecca ready to apply her motherly touch to Solona upon arrival. Aedan ignored the concerned looks he was shot upon entering the estate and staunchly ignored anyone offering to take the mage off his hands.
•º•.•º•
It had been a couple of hours since he'd handed Solona over and now he was taken to pacing outside her door worriedly. Rebecca had succeeded once in diverting him by demanding he go wash up and get on a set of clothes that weren't dripping sweat and blood, but that hadn't served to distract him for very long. He could see clearly the mottled bruise on Solona's cheek every time that he closed his eyes, the image of her looking so small and frail chained to that dungeon wall tugging at his heart and keeping him from being able to settle down for any length of time.
Fergus had visited with him for a while, gently asking questions and distracted Aedan enough that he had at least stopped wearing a hole in the floor with his pacing. When it became clear that there was very little that he could say to calm his brother down though, Fergus had left with a gentle reminder to be patient and left to talk to Eamon about their most recent political development that had unfolded with the capture of the trade manifest.
Finally the door opened and Rebecca slipped out, followed closely by Wynne. The elderly housekeeper gave Aedan a reassuring squeeze on his arm as she passed by. "She's going to be fine, young master." Her smile was warm when she flicked her gaze to Wynne and patted Aedan's forearm before heading off, her various other duties obviously calling her away from the scene.
Wynne lingered, pinning Aedan with a cool assessing look that immediately had him ready for a lecture. Something about the way that she composed herself reminded him painfully of Nan. In some distant recess of his mind he assured himself that there was no way Keran could have possibly gotten into the larder, as he had been out tearing up Tevinters all day.
"I've healed the worst of her wounds." The elderly mage began, but her tone was lined with steel. She obviously had more to say on the subject. "But there are certain scars that can never be erased, nor should they be. Do you know what she is?"
Aedan knew immediately what Wynne was talking about and straightened his shoulders at the quiet accusation. "A good person." He replied without hesitation, matching the steel in her voice with some of his own. "She's saved my life several times. I couldn't ask for a better woman to have my back."
Wynne's eyes narrowed by a fraction. "I don't think you understand the gravity of your situation."
"I think I understand it perfectly well." He replied with some heat. "I know exactly what she faces when she falls asleep, and I know what the bargain was that she struck. She did it to save my life." Aedan paused a beat to let the message sink in. "Not hers. Mine. That's a debt that I can't repay. She risked everything for me, and I could do no less. Whatever comes of this, we're in it together."
"You can't be so foolish as to risk this." Wynne replied in a curiously detached tone as if she were stating mere common fact and rocked back on her heels slightly, clasping her hands behind her. "Maleficar are already demon bound. It is not just your life that you are risking, but everyone here in this manor and in this city. Because of one girl, the horrors the likes of which you could never even begin to imagine could be unleashed on this place, and there would be nothing that you could hope to do about it. Once a mage has given in to temptation, it is a sure sign that it will happen again. It is not a matter of if, but when. You must place your responsibility to those who look to you above your personal feelings, for there will no doubt come a time in which you will be forced to choose."
Aedan regarded the old mage carefully, meeting her eyes and going over what she'd said. It wasn't anything he hadn't heard before. "I have faith in her."
The simple reply had Wynne frowning. "It is dangerous to ignore the threat that she represents."
"I don't ignore it." Aedan replied, completely unfazed. "I trust in her to do the right thing, and she has yet to disappoint me. I've been to the Fade with her, and we've killed the demon that struck the deal with her. I've seen her struggle with the creatures, and yet she never gives in or gives up. Solona has more heart than you can even begin to comprehend. She doesn't shy from the reality of her situation; she deals with it. And so will I." He pinned the old mage with a dangerous glare, letting her know that he was absolutely dead serious. "I may not be able to protect her from the denizens of the Fade, but I can protect her from threats that come from this side of the veil. I have before, and I will again. So I suggest you choose very carefully which side of this fight that you'll be on, because if you're against Solona, then you're against me, and I will face anything- anything- to make sure that she is safe."
Wynne appraised him silently, her quiet contemplating stare doing nothing to mitigate Aedan's returning harsh glare. "I think you're both dangerously misguided." She finally said and held up her hand for silence when Aedan looked on the verge of arguing. "Like it or not, the reality of the situation is that you are allowing not only a mage, but a maleficar unrestricted access to the minds of our country's leaders. I have no doubt that you are full of good intentions, but that will not be enough to stop her." Her eyes suddenly saddened, the steel gone out of her in an unexpected rush. "She has always been a bright girl. This is not where I thought she would end up. She could have had a good life in the Circle, perhaps even become the First Enchanter in time. But this…"
It was Aedan's turn to stop and appraise Wynne, taking in the sudden mood change. "She hasn't changed, Wynne. She didn't suddenly become evil. It was something that I failed to realize at first too, but Solona is the same. You just know her secret now."
"I wish I could believe you." It sounded like she truly meant it. Wynne folded her arms together and turned slightly to look at the door. "I can't help her again. This was the last time."
"I understand." Aedan muttered, glad that Wynne had even contributed as much as she had so far. "Just know that if the Templars come for her, they'll be getting more than what they bargained for." It wasn't a threat. It was a promise.
Wynne looked at him for a long moment before nodding once. "Be careful with her. I have healed all of her physical wounds, but there is simply no telling what has been done to her mind, and that is a wound that no magic can heal."
"Thank you." Wynne took her leave and Aedan quietly opened the door to Solona's room. The covers were pulled up to her chest, her arms were laying at her sides on top of the coverlet and she didn't so much as stir when he walked in. She was deeply asleep and far beyond being able to be disturbed by normal means.
Aedan knelt next to the bed at her side and gently touched the curve of her cheek, tracing the lines of her face and was relieved to see that the bruise was completely gone. Wynne's warning about her mental health echoed in his head though. What if this was one trial where her willpower simply couldn't overcome the obstacle?
He picked up her hand and placed a small kiss on the back of her knuckles. "Be well." He whispered, placing her hand back and finally allowed himself to contemplate trying for sleep.
•º•.•º•
Forcing herself out of a dream was like trying to surface from the bottom of a lake. Solona woke with a little bit of panic to spur her on, expecting at any second for the invading hands of the Magister to clamp down on her consciousness and wrestle her into another nightmare. All the rescues she had seen were an illusion, just the beginning of that woman's torture. When nothing happened to her she cautiously reached for her magic and found it all there, waiting for her to use it and unhindered for the first time in days. Cautiously she reached out, feeling her way through her surroundings in search of thoughts and wayward emotions that would indicate a person nearby. She found a single individual in the nearby vicinity; distinctly male feeling but was so calm that she had trouble picking him out.
Slowly, she opened her eyes and saw light. Soft morning light that filtered through the wooden rafters of the ceiling to illuminate a complicated ballet of dust motes that hung effortlessly in midair, dancing around her head unfettered by such a trivial thing as gravity. Green draperies hung from the corners of the four-poster bed that she lay in, and that's when she realized that it was her room at the Highever estate. Relief washed up to choke her, but she hastily put it down with a force of will. She still couldn't be sure that this was even real, that she had been saved and that one of her dreams among the many had actually come true.
Solona turned her head toward the morning light and saw that her window was occupied with the single entity she had sensed earlier. Aedan had taken up a post in the bay window at her side, lounging with a book in his hands and seemed rather intent on reading it. She must have made a noise when she shifted however because he looked up to meet her eyes.
With a broad smile he dog-eared the page and set the book aside, quickly sliding off the window ceil and came to kneel by her bedside. "Hey, it's good to have you among the living again." He reached out and placed the back of his hand against her forehead, checking for temperature and looked satisfied when there was none. "Your fever's gone. Wynne did what she could after we got you back. She was hopeful you might wake up today."
"Aedan…" Solona closed her eyes again, realizing for the first time that the constant burning in her wrists had gone away, along with any other number of twinges and aches that had been inflicted on her. The stiffness of her face had gone away as well, the painful bruise and cut lip she had gotten from one of the magister's henchmen healed as well. But if Wynne had seen to her, then she had no doubt seen the scars as well. "What does Wynne know?"
Aedan hesitated a moment, sitting back on his heels. "I talked her down. She wanted to turn you in, but I made her agree to keep her silence."
She wondered what exactly had been said in that conversation to make the old mage agree to such a thing. Solona knew that her former teacher was a strongly traditional mage that despised blood magic and believed in the protection of the Templars and the Chantry, much like Solona had before they had become her enemy. She shook her head as if to clear her mind of the thought, trusting Aedan with the issue for now. "The magister?"
"Dead." Aedan replied quietly. "And with her the last slave ring in Denerim."
"I'm sure Kallian was pleased to have an end to it." She sighed, smiling despite herself. It was a huge relief to hear that the magister was dead, and she hoped it had been painful.
Aedan's silence caused her to second-guess her statement, however. "Kallian's father… was one of those taken before we could put a stop to the trades."
Solona flicked her gaze to Aedan's face, reading the sorrow there easily for their mutual elf friend. "After all of that… Oh Kalli…" The next time she saw her, Solona was going to be sure to give Kallian a dedicated block for shoulder crying in quiet. "Where is she now?"
"In the Alienage." Aedan replied. "With her cousins. Not everything was lost to her, but she took the news hard. The Denerim elves have all returned home and they've been holding funerals and parties in turn for the past couple of days."
She could imagine that the bittersweet homecoming would keep on for days. "What about Alistair? Is he okay?" She didn't remember the would-be prince being taken separately from her, only that he had been in firing range when the magister had downed her.
"He's back to his plucky self." Aedan replied with a smile. "Right now the Wardens are pulling strings and making deals with my brother. You've woken up just in time to get swept up in the Landsmeet madness."
She smiled weakly at that, shifting slightly so that she could sit up. Aedan held her arm and helped stuffing some of the pillows behind her back to make it easier. "Are you ready for it? We never planned on having Howe dead before you petitioned for your title."
"Fergus' title." Aedan corrected gently. "I'm as ready as I think I'll ever be. We have support from all the Banns of Highever and a handful from Amaranthine. It's enough to give the Landsmeet pause to argue about Fergus taking the title of Teyrn. It's in two days. Do you think that you'll be able to come?"
Solona paused, biting her lip and considered. She knew that Aedan was deliberately avoiding the point of him murdering Howe and how that act would be received by any enemies he had in court. After near a year of scheming, she knew enough of politics to deduce that much. She took quick stock of herself, judging how worthy she would be to reentering society. Wynne had done a good job of patching up the damage the magister had done to her body in the quest to break her spirit, and she seemed flushed of the magebane that had crippled her magic. Physically, she was still on the weak side and who knew what all the blood magic performed on her had done to her own connection to the Fade, but she wasn't going to miss the Landsmeet. Not when the Arls and Banns might decide that they wanted Aedan's head. "I think I'll be well enough to attend."
Aedan hesitated, searching Solona's face and found something there that gave him pause. "What happened?"
She hesitated to say. The magister was dead. Or so this Aedan had said. But this could all be an elaborate dream, though by far the least violent. Her mistrust in what was reality and what wasn't was a wound that no version of Wynne would ever be able to heal.
He saw her tense up and picked up her hand. "Do you want to talk to Kallian?"
"No." She surprised herself with the rapid answer, and Aedan too if the taken aback look he was giving her was anything to judge by. Carefully she reached out to touch the plane of his cheek, day-old stubble scratching at the pads of her fingers. "Just tell me if this is real or not."
She saw the look of despair flash over his face before he could cover it up, felt the rapid beat of his heart and the denial that he struggled against in quiet, unaware that she was privy to his every emotion so close like this. Someone had probably warned him that she would be damaged beyond what they could physically see, and he had probably been hoping that it wouldn't be true. Aedan placed his hand over hers gently and brushed a kiss against her palm along one of her more prominent scars. Solona feared where the gesture was going, readying herself for an assault from a desire demon, but nothing else happened.
"This is real." He said in a low voice and held her hand between his own, lightly tracing her knuckles with his calloused thumbs. "And I'll do whatever it takes to make sure you can believe that."
Solona nodded and tried not to cry at the sincerity of his tone, the utter honesty she felt radiating from him. The relief that had been held at bay for so long suddenly came crashing to the fore again, and despite her best efforts she felt herself tear up. With a deep breath to try and lift the weight that had suddenly settled on her chest, she wiped at her eyes with a shaking hand. "Is it lunch yet?"
His answering smile was reassuring and he patted her hand gently. "I'll go get you something to eat. Now that all of Denerim isn't living in my basement, Rebecca hardly knows what to do with herself."
She couldn't help but to smile at that and brushed away another tear that was trying its best to escape. It was easy to imagine that the housekeeper suddenly becoming distraught with a half empty house after being so used to taking care of a small society. "I trust I'll be in good hands between the two of you."
"We'll have you up to shape in no time at all, don't worry." When Aedan opened the door Keran bounded in and took his place, leaping on the bed and settled himself with his broad head under Solona's hand and lay out along her side with a content groan.
