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Chapter 30 – The twist in our hearts

'Oh fuck!' Makatza gasped as she covered her mouth with her hands watching Tallis throw a blade into the guard's throat. 'Was that really necessary?' She asked through her fingers as she began to feel nauseated, she still wasn't used the casual killing of this world and it turned her stomach every time.

Tallis sighed, 'I gave him a choice, it didn't have to end in violence,' she murmured as she walked towards the door with her head bowed. Garrett took a moment to talk to her while Makatza turned away from the scene.

'Didn't seem like much of a choice,' Makatza whispered under her breath. Fenris nodded and placed a hand on her shoulder in agreement. 'I should probably get changed, we can use my dress to cover him up,' she adds as she pulls her hair over her shoulders. 'Can you get my top button?' She asks not being able to quite bend the right way to undo the fiddly thing. Fenris' face goes blank as he undoes the first, second and third button to make it easier on her. Makatza slid out her dress and wore the same thing she did while Wyvern hunting, minus the boots. She pulled her hair band out it's hiding place and began to plait her hair into a braid. Fenris went over to help Garrett drag the guard into the corner and then placed Makatza's dress over him, hiding the wound and blood. Makatza rolled her shoulders and nodded to Garrett. 'Ready when you are,' she said simply.

They entered into the main part of the mansion and walked quietly, 'I would rather go through without alerting all the guards,' Tallis said simply. '

'Yes, let's sneak as much as we can,' Garrett agrees. 'We'll split up into two teams. I'll go with Tallis and Fenris, I'm trusting you to keep Katza safe,' he says firmly with no hint of teasing in his voice. Tallis begins to walk to the end of the corridor with Makatza tailing behind her. Hawke looks at Fenris, 'please, I need her to be safe. I don't know what Tallis is up to but I think there is more to this than meets the eyes,' he said quietly to Fenris as he pinched the bridge of his nose. 'I this all goes tits up I need someone I can trust to get her home-'

'Hawke,' Fenris interrupts. 'She will be fine, I will protect her. I have no doubt she is more than capable of keeping herself safe,' he assures. Garrett smiles in relief and then nods.

'Come on then, treasure awaits!' He smirks. They both jog until they meet the women who had been waiting for them. 'We'll go left, you go right,' Hawke instructs, Makatza nods and after a peek around the corner she begins to walk down the corridor.

'I suppose if we're caught we can claim to be servants?' She suggests as Fenris catches up. He nods and they continue to walk down the various passageways only occasionally having to hide behind a statue or large vase of flowers. After a little while they got close to what Makatza would describe as an open kitchen with a woman ranting at various servants. There was no other way through they had to somehow get past. 'I have an idea,' Makatza said to Fenris as they hovered around the corner. 'Follow my lead.' Makatza ran out into the kitchen. 'Madame! Madame!' She said in a thick Orlesian accent. Fenris paused not wanting to follow her in case this didn't work out, what was she doing? That wasn't very subtle.

'Hush! I can't speak now, I've much to do, preparing the banquet and Leopold's dinner. You don't want to see a Wyvern go hungry!' The woman dismissed Makatza in a heartbeat. 'If you need something ask one of the other servants!' She said as she paced around the table, 'well? Why are you still bothering me?!' She glares at Makatza annoyed.

'Another servant fell into the fountain with the crudités and there is a comtesse claiming that she has been poisoned!' Makatza said in a panic continuing with her surprisingly convincing accent. 'They're looking for you!'

'Maker's breath!' She snaps angrily. 'What have you useless elves done now? I suppose I'd better deal with this!' She sighs grabbing a bottle before walking past Makatza and completely unaware of Fenris in his hiding place. Makatza waits a few moments before grinning at her partner in crime.

Fenris walks into the light and raises a brow. 'That was shockingly easy,' he says in approval. 'Well done, your Orlesian impression was incredibly convincing,' he adds as she smiles at him. He couldn't help but return her enthusiasm, he thought this part of the mission was going to be the hardest but it turned out Makatza was quite attuned to her surroundings. She seemed to know where people were as well though Fenris was sure that she couldn't hear them like him. Makatza was looking at various books and he couldn't understand why. 'What are you looking for?' He asks.

'The woman said that she was making that Wyvern's dinner no? I have a feeling that if shit hits the fan that damn bloody creature is going to be set on our asses for a late supper,' she sighs. It's just the sort of thing to happen, I mean, it wouldn't ever be easy would it? She thought to herself as she reads. 'I'm seeing if there's something we can do to, I don't know? Upset his stomach? I'd like to avoid killing it though but if we can make it ill enough it can't be fought,' she explained as she searched. 'I used to write notes all the time in my recipe books, little details that I might need to remember but would forget,' she adds as she opens another book. 'Pick a book and start looking,' she says waving at the pile.

Fenris felt his stomach drop, his illiteracy would show and no doubt Makatza would lose some sort of respect for him. He clears his throat and tries to think of an excuse not to. 'I should keep watch,' he says as the idea hits him.

'Oh good thinking, batman,' Makatza nods. Fenris has no idea what she called him but it seemed positive, they'd come back to that later. Relieved that he had gotten out of attempting to read he moved over to the entrance and peered around the corner to keep an eye out for guards. Makatza made him jump as she made a noise in glee. 'Ahah! Gotcha. Listen here,' she said as she began to read out loud, '-Tried a new seasoning for the crepes this morning. A bunch of lutefisk, a few slices of old cheese, and a lot of navet. Gave the duke the runs all day. Note to self: not so much navet next time- I think if we put this into his dinner it'll turn his stomach, so let's see here,' she says as she wanders around the kitchen looking for ingredients. 'I'm going to assume this is the fish going by the smell,' she winces as she picks some up, 'come hold these,' she says as she holds them out for Fenris.

'I am not a fan of fish,' Fenris comments but does as she asks.

'Me neither,' she agrees. She doesn't hesitate to give him a couple more though. 'Some old cheese,' she mumbles as she reads the quantity. 'A few slices? What's a few slices? Fuck it, just use three,' she sighs as she gives him the cheese.

'Makatza the smell is quite pungent,' Fenris complains a little.

'Navet...navet...' Makatza said thinking as she tactfully ignored his moaning. 'That's french-'

'-Orlesian,' Fenris corrects earning himself a look.

Makatza rolled her eyes. 'Orlesian,' she corrects herself with a slight sarcastic tone, 'Orlesian for... it's a vegetable... I just can't remember which one. Oh! Oh! Turnip! It's turnip!' She says excitedly as she finds what she was looking for. She grabs a load of prepared veg and looks around for what was supposed to be Leopold's dinner. 'I'm going to assume this urn full of meat is his,' she says as she throws the turnip in. Fenris gladly drops in the other ingredients, Makatza grabs a spoon and gives it a stir, wincing at the smell. 'Think we're good.'

'I do not think the smell is going to leave my hands anytime soon,' Fenris says pulling a face. Makatza giggles and puts down the spoon she goes over to a tray of plants and smells each one until she finds some leaves she deems suitable and tears them off. Walking back to him she drops them into his hands.

'Mint, crush them. It'll remove some of the smell,' she instructs. Fenris allowed himself a smile as she walks towards the exit of the alcove. 'I think we're clear,' she says softly. 'We probably shouldn't linger any longer than we already have,' she winces, 'they're probably waiting for us,' she adds biting a thumb nail and regretting it instantly as the taste of old cheese fills her mouth. 'oh dear god,' she blanched, 'no wonder he had the runs,' she mutters as she gags. Fenris comes over smelling fresh and nods finding the hallways clear.

'Stay close,' he says without really needing to. Makatza followed him as they ran down the corridors until they reached what looked like a large cage, she could see Garrett and Tallis in the room. They were kicking over a couple of large statues. With a loud clunk the gates of the room slid upwards and open. Makatza ran inside she didn't want to call for her cousin in case there were guards, she was almost halfway through the room when Fenris grabbed her and pulled her aside into the shadows. She was pressed against his chest and he held a hand against her mouth, his other hand wrapped around her waist keeping her close. She looked up at him in protest and saw a glimmer of fear in his eyes as he shook his head keeping his line of sight on Hawke. It was a moment later that she heard the sound of armour and weapons. 'They're surrounded,' he murmured as he removed his hand from her mouth knowing that she would keep quiet.

Makatza could only hear part of the conversation that was happening but she picked up on a word. 'She's Qunari?' She whispered. 'I thought they had the-' She motioned with her hands to her head in the shape of horns.

Fenris shook his head, 'the Qunari is not a race, it is a religion,' he explained. Makatza was terrified for Garrett but couldn't help but notice that Fenris hadn't taken his hand off her waist and was still keeping her close. 'The Heart? I thought it was a jewel,' Fenris said his eyes narrowing as he looks at Tallis through their hiding place. 'I knew I did not trust her,' he adds. Makatza sighs as Garrett and Tallis are lead away, presumably to the dungeons.

'Great, more complications,' she whispers. Their situation got worse as a guard seemed to do something to a mechanism and the room locked up again. 'Oh shit!' Makatza swore as she rolled her eyes. 'Fucking typical,' she added. She looked around and saw that there was a way out the room but she would need help.

Fenris slowly released her as the guards disappeared. 'So the fool has gotten himself captured and we are now trapped in this room-'

'Not for long,' Makatza said rolling her shoulders. 'See that window up there? Goes into the other room yes?' She says. 'All I have to do is get through it and then unlock the room and you'll be free. I just need some help getting up to that beam.'

'That beam does not even cover the length of the ceiling, you would have to jump to that one there,' Fenris says pointing out what he saw as a flaw.

'Fenris, I've done gymnastics since I was about four. Trust me when I say that this is the reason that Garrett brought me. I can get into places other's can't,' she said simply as she pinned her plait into a bun. 'I'm just going to need your help getting onto that wall bracket,' Makatza says pointing. 'Do you think that you could support me?'

Fenris looks at her simply, 'yes, I have no doubt that I can support you,' he says a little dryly. She grins and walks over to the wall waiting for him to join her. 'What do you need me to do?' He asks unsure.

'Okay I need you to boost me up, I'll run at you and I need you to throw me up as high as you can,' she says as she backs up. Fenris raises a brow but widens his stance for balance. 'Ready?' She asked feeling her mana throb, she needed to stay calm. Fenris nodded keeping a calculated eye on her. She ran towards him and jumped feeling him grip under her feet tightly with a slight dip and throwing her upwards with a grunt. Makatza grabbed the metal pole as she went past and used her momentum to swing, letting go and reaching the higher bar. She swung soundlessly and when her arc was high enough she propelled herself to the beam, almost knocking the air out herself as she landed across her stomach. 'Ow, fuck,' she winces, it's been too long since I did this kind of shit, she mutters in her mind. Don't look down, don't look down, she said keeping her eyes on the opposite wall. Deathly terrified of heights she forced herself to stop thinking about how high up she was. It's fine. It's okay. Fenris will catch me. He'll catch me. He's fast and strong, he'll catch me, she repeated in her mind as she stood up on the beam. Her training wasn't forgotten and her mind went peacefully blank as she walked along the thin beam balancing easily.

Fenris followed underneath trying to be in the most appropriate place in case something went wrong. Makatza paused a few feet from the end of the beam before running and leaping across to the other. She landed perfectly but there was a snapping noise and the beam shuddered as one of the supports snapped, she was jolted off to the side but managed to grab the wood breaking her fall. 'Makatza!' Fenris said in worry.

'I'm fine!' She assured feeling her heart thunder as the very real fear of falling shot through her. Shaking she pulled herself back up gingerly and keeping low she crept along the rest of the length until she reached the window. It was small but large enough for her to just squeeze through. Once on the other side she looked down and could see a guard at the far end of the corridor thankfully facing the other way. Silently she grabbed hold of a tapestry and slid down the silk until she reached the floor. She snuck over to the mechanism and unlocked it freeing Fenris, unfortunately it made quite a noise. The guard spun around and spotted her.

'Hey!' He shouted. Makatza's mind scrambled for a response, failing to create one the guard began to run over to her drawing his sword. Makatza looked back at the room, the gates were barely up and she could see Fenris shaking his head in concern.

'Shit!' She said to herself. Think, think, okay, fuck it. I'll try that stupid move I've been doing with Garrett, she thought as she picked up speed running at the guard. Fenris watched in panic as she grabbed one hand under his arm and her other hand over his shoulder as she swung her body around his back to his chest and wrapping her legs around his throat in her momentum. She used her weight to drag him to the ground twisting her arm around his neck so that as he fell she was pulled upright. The solid crack of his head against the tiles knocked him clean out. Makatza stood over him panting as she looked down at the guard.

Fenris was finally free from the room and quickly made his way over to her. 'Are you alright?' He asked, his voice heavy with something Makatza couldn't discern, he had grabbed her arms lightly as he spoke. She cleared her throat and nodded.

'Yes, yes, I'm fine,' she smiled as she moved away from the unconcious man.

'Where did you learn that?' He asked curiously as he looked her over, her hair had begun to unwind and he couldn't help the primal fire that was rising inside him, seeing her fight so gracefully and seemingly so flawlessly made his heart stutter.

'Oh it was something that Garrett and I have been practising, I have a couple moves like it, just in case I have to y'know, fight,' she explained. Fenris' grip on her skin was tight but not uncomfortably so, 'I'm okay, really,' she added as she put her hands on his chest. He looked visually frightened which shook her a little bit, 'Fenris?' She asked as he stared at her.

He cleared his throat and nodded, slowly letting her go. 'Yes, yes, we... we should move,' he says as he backs up a set. 'I will remove the body,' he says as he picks up the guard and puts him into the room that was his prison for a short while. 'Let us go rescue Hawke,' he says simply fighting the urge to simply grab and kiss her in his need for physical reassurance. The fact that he felt that way at all was terrifying and he tried not to dwell on the thought.