Chapter Eighty-Seven

Aftermath

I woke with a start when I heard Tallis give a drawn-out sigh and say, "That's it; I'm officially tired of waiting to be rescued." She walked over to the Gate of our cell and swiftly picked the lock, raising the metal and I stood, stretching.

I hummed, "How tiresome." Gale popped into sight, startling Tallis. His white hair, red eyes and dark skin working very well with his 5'8 height. Tall for the Fae.

Hawke snorted, "And he didn't appear before?"

"My Queen didn't give any of the stress words – she didn't need me."

"Oh, I still don't – but at this point, it will be suspicious if I don't say that my own people rescued me." I shrugged.

"And… why didn't we pick the lock like this before?" Hawke asked.

"You said your friends were coming."

"They're around the corner by now," I yawned as we left the cell. Low and behold, Aveline, Varric, Isabela and Fenris came rushing around the corner at that very moment; led by Cullen and Sebastian.

"How do you even know the Layout here, Seb?" Cullen was asking.

"It's the same set-up in Starkhaven; same designer," Sebastian replied. That was good information to have.

Fenris, unlike the others, didn't stop; he came right over to me and kissed me. "Are you alright?"

I smiled at him, "Better now that I've had a nap and I get to see you," Varric snorted, "You could have saved us so much trouble by just getting yourself out, Feathers."

"Where is the fun in that?"

Sebastian took my hand, "You had us worried, my love."

At that, I pouted, "I'm sorry, Seb – it's just… if I told you, then you wouldn't want me coming to the dungeons – but Hawke would have stuffed his oversized foot in his mouth and ended up hurt or worse. Tallis is very deadly when she needs to be. She's a Viddithari, after all."

Cullen groaned, "She's one of the Qun? Maker – how did I miss the sign on her armor?"

Everyone glanced and Tallis snorted, "It's faded – and I really wouldn't have worn it if I thought it could give me away. Ara noticed it at once, I think. She didn't seem surprised when she pointed it out after the stuff with the Baron."

I shrugged, "Point is… I needed to be down here and if I told you…"

Cullen said, "We get that – just gave us a fright when Gale appeared and told us you'd been captured before vanishing again. Presumably to follow after you – so we knew you were being watched over."

Gale nodded with a grin, "She was giving me all the signals to stay hidden – and then when she was captured… well, we'd discussed that before. She told me that as soon as she walked into the room with the cage trap, go tell you she was captured. Everyone knows she's a seer by now – it's not our fault if they think they can actually capture her like she doesn't have plans in place."

"Good point," Aveline commented.

I shrugged, "I can still be taken by surprise – but if I don't know what I'm up against, then I can still Ransom of Red-Chief my way out."

"You can what?" Hawke asked.

"Be so annoying that they pay you to take me back after they kidnaped me in the first place."

Tallis giggled as Isabela said, "I can see that."

I shrugged, "Not too hard. Now – are we going to sit her talking or are we going to escape?"

Everyone exchanged looks and we started moving.

"Yo… ho! Hehe," we heard.

Isabela whirled around. "What did you call… who said that?!"

"Captain! Captain Isabela, Ser! Over here!"

I pointed to the statues when her eyes shot to me. "I Believe Paisley Pete, there is attempting to get your attention, sweetie."

"Yes! Paisley Pete from the Crew of the Wicked Dancer! Helped you board that Nevarran brig?"

"Oh, yes… I remember your 'help'. I also remember Captain Maldine tried to claim all the booty."

"Aye, and then Maldine put a curse on us, the Scurvy Bastard. Only another sea Captain can lift it!"

"Just how did a sea captain turn you lot to stone?" Hawke asked, and Fenris circled his arms around me so I whispered, "They… kinda earned their fate… they were warned." Sebastian frowned at that, as did Cullen, but I wouldn't apologize. I truly believed that these three earned a temporary bout as stone. It would teach them to behave… I just hoped Bela did the 'right' thing.

"The Captain is a Maleficar; always said he was calling curses down on those who wronged him, but… we didn't believe him as he never used magic around the crew…"

"What triggered this… curse, and how does a captain fit in?" Hawke asked.

"We… may have broken something that wasn't ours so we could divvy it up… and now it needs to be put right. Only a sea captain can do it however or they'll end up like us."

"And you ended up in a Dukes' estate so far inland because…" Hawke asked amused.

"We… borrowed some treasure from Maldine; thought Prosper would buy it off us, but the Curse hit us before we could do more than start talkin' to him… Duke left us here as a warning to others." Pete wasn't all that bright. He just admitted to the theft.

"Tell us the story, Pete," I grinned as I leaned closer to Fenris. He growled in my ear and I looked at him… he was watching Tallis as she watched me.

"We captured a sloop out of Antiva city, the Majestic… mostly carrying silks to Orlais; but a strongbox hidden in the Silk held the legendary Dagger of the Four Winds." Pete sighed.

Isabela laughed until I whispered to her, "It's true."

"But… it's just a legend!"

"Maldine didn't want no one jumping ship with it so he put a spell on it; said any blighter who takes it from a rightful captain would turn to stone… but who honestly believes in curses?!" the woman shouted.

Pete continued, "We pried the Jewels off to sell to the duke… individually; that's when the curse hit. If you put the Dagger back the way it was, you can set us free."

Isabela frowned, "I'll think about it."

Sebastian asked, "You really believe that they earned this?"

"I believe that they earned the scare of it – and that they will never thieve again after this to my knowledge. That is, if they are released from the curse."

"If – you don't…" Cullen started.

"I can't – it has to Bela and it's… her choice. I won't make that choice for her."

Bela looked interested as we walked away from the statues, "What choice?"

"You'll see when we get that dagger put back together."

We got upstairs and started working through the maze to collect the gems, but before we even made it to the treasury, Sebastian spoke – and I was all ears.

"So, Isabela; it was nice to see you in the Chantry, listening to Sister Etheline's testimony. I was surprised, but very glad." I couldn't help the surprised chuckled that escaped me and drew almost everyone elses' attention.

Bela scoffed, "I was surprised as well, and not quite as glad."

I bit my lip to keep from laughing aloud. This made Hawke and the others look more closely at the two talking.

Sebastian tilted his head in confusion, "Oh? Sister Etheline's words always inspire me. Was it not so for you?"

"You didn't notice I was bound, gagged, and had a contusion on my forehead?" she snarked at him.

He blinked, "What?"

And that's when I lost it – I had to stop because I was leaning against the wall crying as I laughed. Varric coughed, "Don't keep us in suspense, Feathers – what's going on?"

"She must have asked for the 'bad girl special' at the Blooming Rose. Madame Lusine put her where bad girls go to get good. To be specific – she must have asked for 'something special just for girls who have been bad'. If she had asked for something exotic, then she would have woken up in a room full of traps that is nearly impossible to get out of. If she had asked for something that would 'blow her mind' then she would have been regaled with a very fascinating tale by a rather excitable man with no real interest in sex. I helped her come up with the Bad Girl special."

"Andrastes' Granny-Panties – you're the reason I woke up in the chantry?" Isabela tried to look upset – and failed when she laughed.

Sebastian shook his head, "What made you come up with that?"

"It was in the game," I grinned – wiping the tears away as we got back to moving, "This just makes it so worth it. This was my all-time favorite banter from the game; Sebastian and Bela talking about… Goddess, I love it!"

Varric sniggered, "This is going into the book."

We finally made it into the maze and began going through the motions – I laughed each time we found one of the gems.

"One gigantic, flawless ruby. If this isn't the jewel of the West Wind, I'll eat my boots." Bela said as she held up the cursed red stone that was passed to her.

"Well – good thing it is; shoe leather tastes terrible," I quipped.

The next gem was the sapphire, "A sapphire the size of my eye. This has to be the jewel of the South Wind; wonder what it's worth…"

"At least three lives," I shot back – hoping that my hints would reach her.

When we found the next jewel, her comment was, "I've never seen an Emerald this perfect before. It's got to be the jewel of the North Wind."

I was starting to get a very bad feeling that those three people would stay cursed; because Hawke was smiling indulgently at her.

And when she said, "This is the biggest Diamond I've ever seen – including one stripper named diamond. It's got to be the jewel of the East Wind. And that's all of it; those bastards made a mess of the settings, but I can put the gems back in place well enough. How do we break that curse?"

"Er… you're not going to like it." I muttered.

"Just tell me." She insisted.

"You have to give it away and never get it back. Let them what steal from rightful captain suffer for their greed; only by captains' generosity can scabby bastards be freed."

She frowned, "I can be generous without giving up the dagger. There are lots of kinds of generosity, you know."

I sighed, "You would leave them there – stone, forever until someone shatters them and even then, they'd still be aware until the stone crumbled to dust. I'll tell you what – you get rid of that cursed dagger and I'll commission you two better ones; with jewels that carry Fae Enchantments like Varrics' bolts and using Black Salt Metal – like this sword," I pulled out my sword – the one I got in Ostagar.

She looked it over and nodded, "You got yourself a deal. I'll give it away in front of them so they know who to thank for this. You're too good, kitty."

I smiled, "Most of the time, yes; but I'm also very naughty when I want to be – you know that."

My mates all coughed and flushed. Hawke grinned, "For sure."

We started heading back down into the dungeons – when Aveline stopped and knelt to pick something up.

"What the…"

"Find something interesting amidst the Duke's castoffs?" Hawke asked.

"Yes. This record… the sketch is rough but there can be no doubt; it's my families crest! Du Lac, my fathers' house from when he was still a Chevalier, not an Exile. Says it was a 'prisoner tattoo'. He was caught with 'wounds already suffered' trying to stow away on a caravan. Says here, no one recognized the man and he died of Gangrene in his cell. Says he carried a hidden purse but it was empty." She looked at me wide eyed.

We went to the cell for Aveline first. "There, a mark!" she knelt near the corner of the cell.

"Yes… there's a scribble on a stone crusted with old feces… as though intended to ward off any sane person…" Hawke remarked.

"Couple of princesses," Aveline muttered as I smirked handing her a bottle of water to clean it off. She spoke louder, "That's why it's still here; well, that and no one was looking… for it…"

"Don't keep us all in suspense!" Varric cried dramatically.

"A small black vial… there's something inside…"

"Er… careful with that," Hawke cautioned and shot a look at me. I smirked and readied my weapons, causing everyone else to follow suit.

"There's a paper and… a ring, with the Crest!" she smashed the Vial to the ground just as Hawke groaned and shouted, "Don't!"

6 Skeletons and a Revenant… I let loose a wave of cleansing aura and the skeletons just toppled back down; the Revenant grunted and shot toward me with his weapon raised.

I had a shield up, not that it mattered… damn thing took no more than two long purposeful strides before Fenris had it chopped in half length-wise. I giggled at his glowing marks. We had filled everyone in on Tallis, and she'd already known about Fenris from our talks on the way here from Kirkwall.

He'd been delayed helping Cullen and Bela put the dagger back together before we went to go get rid of it.

He looked at me, "I can't leave you alone for five seconds before something happens to you. Captured, surrounded by demonic rocks, and now Revenants… what am I going to do with you?"

Cullen nodded, "I quite agree – at least Sebastian was here, but still."

"Never leave me alone?" I suggested with a grin. "I suppose that is what I will have to do. Too many dangers otherwise."

I pulled him – and then Cullen and Sebastian – into a kiss.

I then looked at Aveline, "Ah, I just love the whole 'evil phylacteries that turn up in oddest places,' thing. Had to take care of 6 of those in Ferelden."

"This is a ring like my father had and this paper… it's a spell or poetry… mostly gibberish, honestly, but on the back… 'Death protects this missive. All marks killed. The Grand Game continues. Beneath Du Lac for She of the Red?"

"Yeah… I get the feeling this Phylactery is the same as the ones I fucked with in Ferelden… Oops…"

We headed over to the pirates and Bela said, "You have no idea just how lucky you are. My friend here is the Fairy Queen and has so generously convinced me to give the dagger away to save your sorry hides; so I'm giving the stupid thing to you, Knife-Ear Jan. return it to Maldine."

The stone began to shudder and break; the three stood. Rawley said, "We're your men for life, captain; even Jan."

"Shut up, Rawley – we'll return to this to Maldine then; thank you, Your Majesty; and Isabela."

"Next time, let Jan do the talking – Pete couldn't talk a priest out of a copper," I quipped.

The three laughed good-naturedly, but had it been left up to them…

Bela grinned at me, "I do like you, kitten."

"I like you too, wench; maybe I can convince one of my mates to let you into our bed again. Alistair said no – but Kell might say yes…"

Sebastian groaned, "I need to pray."

Cullen coughed, "Agreed."

Fenris just shrugged, "I am still waiting for you to use your free pass with Hawke."

I blinked, "Oh yeah – I do still have that, don't I?"

"You had to remind her," Cullen sighed.

Gale looked lost but – wisely – chose not to comment.

We shimmied our way through the crack in the wall… and it actually did collapse not a moment after I let go of the shield that I had in place to keep it stable as we all passed.

We fought Ghasts and made our way to the bridge. As we passed it, Tallis spoke, "That's odd… I could have sworn there was…"

The gate came crashing down between her and us, I nodded to her as she shouted "Trust me!" and took off. Hawke, seeing my nod, just pulled his weapons and turned to face Cahir.

"The Circle is not the only ones who know how to break a mage! The Duke is a fool; his enemies are a posturing, guileless lot; but you… you are worth testing." I smirked and used magic to change us all from our Formal clothes to our Armors. For me? Well I was wearing a purple off-shoulder lace frilled top, the Wyvern belt, black jeans, and black thigh high boots.

Come to find out that Fairy Glamour was almost as good as the real thing. So for all intents and purposes, we actually were armored. Cahir looked downright gob-smacked at my style of Magic.

I winked, "Little known fact about the Fae – we're dangerous when we want to be. Gale, now!"

And he materialized behind a guard to kill him.

Tallis threw a dagger from above us mid-fight.

"How did you all change?" everyone pointed at me and I gave a bow.

She shrugged and gave u the option of helping her or going on our way. When I said we'd fight the duke no matter what we chose, everyone followed me as I linked arms with Tallis.

We, of course, ran into Baron Arlange right outside the Cave…

"I knew you were both worthless traitors the moment I laid eyes on you!"

"Baron Arlange; how nice to see you again," Hawke was already pulling out his staff.

"You filthy Dog Lord; and you turnip! You humiliated me!" and then he rushed us, earning no more than a dagger in his throat, curtesy of yours truly…

And we did – of course – bury each person we killed. My own honor would let me do no less, though we had to make it quick if we were going to get to Salit.

Half an hour later, we were at the base of the mountain, at the meeting between Salit and Prosper.

"Let's get this over with, Qunari, before your assassin finds us. Already, I regret agreeing to spare them." Prospers voice rang out among the ruins.

"I have chosen my path; that choice should not…" Salit was cut off. "Pashaara! I am here to facilitate your deal with the Empress, nothing more."

Salit disarmed and took three steps forward, meeting one of the Dukes men at the halfway point. When the Duke received the paper scroll, he was furious. "These are names! What is the meaning of this?" he shouted.

"You asked for a weapon, I am providing it."

"We expected the formula for blackpowder; Dreadnaught plans; a map of Qunandar… this is useless!"

"If you wanted blackpowder, I could have provided that!" I called out, causing every single person to whirl to look at me. "I mean… I won't, but it's something common in my homelands… likely not the same as the Qunari version, but it does go boom well enough…"

"I should have known you would turn up," The Duke sighed.

"I have an excellent sense of dramatic timing… and good hair," Hawke snarked and I nodded. "He really does."

"You… Bas… you know how to make Blackpowder?"

"Excuse you? I am not just Bas; I am Basalit-an and Aribas, Salit. And yes; like I said, it's a common weapon from my homelands. Also the least popular and least effective. Now, if you really wanna fuck shit up, you'd need someone with a higher knowledge than me. I'm not a nuclear physicist, after all."

That's when Tallis made her grand entrance; stealing the scroll, killing a Guard and back flipping onto a pillar.

"Tallis," Salit growled.

"I said I would stop you, Salit."

"And I said I would slay you if you tried."

Duke Prosper shot Salit with the green gooey shit and shouted, "If anyone is going to do any slaying, it will be me!"

Leopold jumped down from above and ate Salit in two chomps before taking off to… digest.

We began fighting the Duke… and he was more of a challenge than I had expected. I was forced to shield my companions and nothing more… I couldn't focus on all of us and fight when the battle was so spread out.

I could tell the Duke was wearing down when he called Leopold, I took advantage of his weakened belly at once, throwing two of my Shurikens into the Wyverns eyes; blinding the beast, not that Prosper noticed. The Duke was trying to figure out the cause of the swaying before Leopold went nuts.

I lured the beast to me when the duke shot at me; I made sure to help the wind currents blast it to the floor in front of me. Since Leopold couldn't see, he rushed right off the cliff when I leapt to the side at the last second… right into Fenris arms. He growled at me, "Why must you take such risks?"

I smirked, "Because you usually hold me and give me kisses after?" since I phrased it as a question. He shook his head.

"If I stopped, would you?"

"No. I'd likely do much worse to try and regain your attentions," I looked him dead in the eye.

He groaned. "What would make you stop?"

"Doubtful. Too much I need to do to keep my impact on the timeline minimal."

He sighed but leaned in and pressed his lips to mine.

Cullen and Seb were not far behind in the 'make sure our mate is alright' department.

The duke began shouting, catching our attention that he hadn't fallen with Leopold; he was hanging from the ledge.

"The Empress will hear of this! Orlais will burn Kirkwall to the ground! All of you will die…" I cut him off.

"Your son won't tell her about us, Prosper. He likes me and… you've pushed him away. He feels you do not care for him. Were I in your position, I would have tried begging for Mercy!"

"You… Filthy… Whore!"

"Thank you for the party… I'll treasure the belt," Hawke said, as Fenris pulled me away from the edge.

That's when he slipped. "Well… I don't think he'll survive that," Aveline looked horrified.

"They never learn," Fenris sighed. "Looks like the Duke has… Fallen from Grace," Varric chuckled at Hawkes words and replied, "And that's why you don't waste your last minute monologing."

I approached Tallis with Hawke.

"If the Duke only knew what he nearly had in his grasp… thank you, all of you… there's no way I could have done this without your help."

"What is that?" Hawke asked.

"A list of agents throughout Thedas; Qunari like me: many of them have families, children, friends… they're people you wouldn't suspect. Some have even left the Qun behind, but if this list fell into human hands, they and everyone they knew would… the Ariqun believes those people knew the risks, but what about the innocents? I… I couldn't let that happen."

"So… you're just going to leave?" Hawke asked.

"What; you think I would fit into your merry entourage?"

"We're hardly 'merry'…" Fenris shot back.

"Well that's just sad, isn't it? Maybe another time, Hawke. I still have things I need to do… but I am grateful; I want you to know that."

"That's what I do… feed the sick, cure the poor, and pat the hungry on the head…" I snorted and Tallis smirked as she added, "Kill nasty Orlesians… Oh; before I forget, this was going to be the Heart of the Many. You'd find a Jewel; I'd go off and find Salit… and be back before anyone was the wiser. I suppose nothing ever goes like we plan, does it?" she tossed him a large ruby on a gold chain.

"Tallis… find the Sten who helped defeat the blight; tell him that his 'Ashkaari Kadan Arvaala' cleared you for report. He will help you get back into the Qun if you… really want it. The Sten should be back in Par Vollen; take him this," I handed her a void bag of cookies that would stay fresh… the bag was enchanted for that. Once the bag was empty, it would vanish… like all Void bags I gave to people.

"What is it?"

"It will guarantee that he knows it's me. The Sten trusts me, Tallis. Asit tal-eb," I smiled. Asit tal-eb meant 'The way things are meant to be' or 'it is to be'.

She smiled. "Thank you. Ataash varin kata; in the end lies glory… I hope I'll see you again one day…"

We headed back to the Chateau after I cleaned and removed the glamour from us all. Gale melded back into the wind.

As far as anyone knew, we were on a walk with Duke Prosper… which we used to our advantage.

Cyril came up to us, "Ara, I thought you were with my father, touring the grounds…"

I embraced him – causing my mates to stiffen as I forced tears from my eyes, "Oh Cyril – I'm so sorry…"

Catching on, Hawke said, "Your father brought Leopold on the walk with us. And apparently, something he ate… didn't agree with him. He attacked your father and they both went over the cliff. Your father managed to hold on for a moment, but he slipped before we could get him."

"I warned my father that keeping a Wyvern… Andraste give me strength; thank you for telling me. I will have someone… can you tell me where?"

"We were at those old ruins at the base of the mountain when Leopold started to look really sick all of a sudden and… they went over the edge there. It doesn't help that there were Tal-Vashoth attacking; Leopold must have thought he was attacking an enemy when he sent your father over the cliff edge. We were the only ones left alive because the duke…"

"He had us hide – we were his guests, after all," Hawke sighed as he continued my lie.

This whole time, Cyril hadn't released me; he was still processing his fathers' death. His eyes slid closed, "I know the ruin you speak of – there is no way he survived that. I will have my fath… my men go and try to retrieve his body."

"I buried and cremated the remains of the others – the Tal-Vashoth and your fathers men. Your father was the last to die – someone had managed to blind Leopold and with his upset tummy… he didn't know the fighting was… I'm so sorry Cyril." I noticed Leliana hovering near us.

Cyril had misty eyes, "To be honest, we used to be so close. But in the last two years… well. Thank you so much for informing me – and I'm glad you are unharmed. Please, if you would stay just one more night before making your way back home?"

Fenris said, "We can." Before Hawke and anyone else could say otherwise.

I knew why Cyril wanted us to stay – he hadn't had a chance to speak with my mates yet about possibly courting me.

"Thank you – I need to… have people start the search. We cannot see me as Duke until then."

"I have a guard that can help in the search. A Fairy. He can lead people to the right area and possibly even bring the body up…" I soothed.

He nodded, "Any help would be appreciated."

I hummed and Gale appeared with a slight bow, "My Queen."

"Aid in the search efforts please? Make sure the Dukes' body is recovered." My words were two-fold – find the Duke as a sow of good faith, and make sure he was dead. If the Duke had managed to survive his fall, he wouldn't survive being found.

Gale inclined his head in understanding, "As you wish, my Queen. I will await your men here, my lord."

"Thank you. It shouldn't be more than half an hour – every minute counts in a search," Cyril said.

We headed into the estate were he instantly began issuing orders. I felt bad – Cyril did love his father; but I couldn't risk Prosper living to cause trouble later.

By dinner, Cyril had his fathers body recovered and pronounced dead with a suspicious gash to the neck; it was jagged – must have been slit on a rock; how unlucky.

We – my party and Cyril – were dining alone when he asked.

"I have a request to make to the princes of Danu…"

"Oh – hold that thought; this is a choice that should be made by all of my mates," I rushed to set up my ley line and invite Alistair and Kell. Alistair looked confused, "My love – is there something wrong?"

"No – the new Duke De Montfort simply has a request to make of my mates and you are one of my mates." I smiled disarmingly.

Kell groaned, "That smile never means good things."

"Hey!" I protested.

Kell leaned in and kissed me after stepping through the mirror that we left set up after.

Kell made sure to pull me into his lap as Alistair held Duncan, "Alright then – I'm all ears, Duke Cyril."

"Well… would you two like dinner first?" he seemed nervous; poor man.

Kell said, "I could eat." Alistair nodded too. Once they had plates, Cyril seemed to have mustered his courage, "I would… like permission to court Ara."

Full stop, the table seemed to freeze. I was smirking as I continued to eat – causing Alistair to pinch my hip lightly from my left. Duncan giggled at seeing that and I moved to take the baby.

Alistair said, "Maker – last time I had this conversation, we ended up with Sebastian – and that was before Kell."

Sebastian said, "Personally, I feel that this is more Aras' choice; I am a secondary mate, myself so…"

Sebastian was the most understanding man. Cullen frowned, "I've learned to take cues from Sebastian since he's the only mate that hasn't had his head stuffed up his arse at some point or another. Ara, do you want to let Duke Cyril court you?"

I chuckled, "He's cute."

Alistair sighed, "Very well – a courtship. But you must last two years before being allowed to actually marry her."

Kell frowned, "I don't like it – but if she likes him…"

Fenris said, "You did not listen – she said he is cute; not that she likes him. I'm saying no."

"Then no it is; sorry Cyril. It might have been interesting, but if even one mate does not agree…" I gave him an apologetic smile.

Cyril dropped his shoulders but nodded, "I understand – thank you for considering it, at least."

Alistair and Duncan went back to Denerim and Kell to Stone-Bear Hold right after dinner. The next morning, bright and early, we all headed back to Kirkwall.