Chapter 38: The Fragility of Peace
The Undercity
The last of the anti-qunari fanatics fell to ground, despite their numbers they were not a match for the gang or the city guards. Varnell, the Templar bodyguard of Petrice, was dead on the ground from a cut throat from Ericks' daggers. The Revered Mother had played the gang like a fiddle, Petrice wanted Varnell dead as he was a link to her and she was no doubt going to use the death of her bodyguard and the fanatics to whip the anti-qunari sentiments into a worse frenzy. The qunari delegates were dead on the ground, killed from being in the crossfire…the Arishok was not going to be happy.
Ericks sighed as he rubbed his head. "What a mess…" he said. "Thanks for the assist, Avi"
"It was no problem, Ericks I should be thanking about that tip on Orwald" Aveline shook her head in disgust. "To think one of my men would do this under my nose, I'll be keeping a closer watch on my men to ensure this does not happen again"
"So what happened to our dear friend Orwald, should I be so bold to ask?"
"I gave him ten days on the wall as well as latrine and equipment duties" she said. "He's very lucky I don't throw him out on his ass for this"
"All right. Time to bring this mess to the viscount's attention" Aveline sent her guards to fetch the Viscount while her other guards looked over the body for any clues. Hours later, the viscount arrived and was none too happy.
"Madness, madness!"
Ericks crossed his arms. "That's a word for it"
"Chantry involvement…even if they are fringe element. It could not be worse"
"Her Grace had no knowledge of this affair. I trust she will deal with it swiftly" Sebastian said.
"I don't think he's listening, Shiny…" Dumar had a long look at the carnage that had taken place and could only sigh as he shook his head. It was such a waste of human life, these people some of which were his son's age could have done so much with their lives but instead they died in the dark and dirty depths of the Undercity for forces that only saw them as pawns. As for the qunari, the Arishok was not going to ignore this; the viscount feared the days to come.
"You killed them. All of them?"
"Not all of them, one of them escaped" Ericks said. "A mother serving the grand cleric, she allowed this to happen"
"Are you quite sure? She held a blade with them? Told them to fight you?"
"No, the bitch is too much of coward for that"
Dumar rubbed his eyes tiredly. "A blasted mother…you have no idea the storm these allegations would cause. It would destroy what support I do have"
"It won't go away; I've dealt with her before…she's a slippery one"
"I…understand" the viscount said. "I will make my inquiries…gently. And you should be careful in your associations. For now, we have other problems." He motioned towards the dead qunari. "We have the delegate but…I can't return the bodies to the Qunari in this state"
"Serah Hawke, you know the Arishok. What should I do?" Ericks sighed; once again he was doing the job that the viscount was supposed to be doing. They could always burn the bodies to hide the torture that went on but the Arishok was smarter than what everyone including the fanatics thought. He would know one way or the other.
"Hiding this would make things worse"
Dumar sighed. "It would, wouldn't it? I am losing my sense of how to balance this nightmare" he said. "I appreciate your help in this matter. As bad as this is, it could have been much worse without you"
"Kirkwall owes you, I owe you"
Docks- The Qunari Compound
The gang headed for the compound to break the news to the Arishok, the gates opened…the qunari was expecting them. "So, you could not rescue my delegate, but you killed those responsible" It was as Ericks thought, the Arishok knew….one way or another, he always knew such was the way of the Qun. "How do you explain the condition of their bodies?"
"The abuse of fanatics, someone out there really wants a war between your people and the Chantry"
"I accept that"
Ericks raised a brow, four of his people were dead and there were forces at work trying to provoke the Qunari into conflict and yet the Arishok took the news a lot better than he thought. "I expected worse"
"I have seen every vice and weakness of your kind and how few of you take responsibility" The Arishok said. "Your viscount remains a fool but you are not"
"Panahedan, Hawke. I will keep one good thought about your kind" The gang walked out of the compound.
"Well…that was easy enough" Varric said.
"Yes, but will the grand cleric be as easy to convince?" Fenris asked.
"One way to find out…"
Hightown-The Kirkwall Chantry
The gang went inside the Chantry where they spotted Petrice speaking to one of the other mothers. Ericks frowned, something was up. "Serah Hawke, it is good to see you. The shame that Varnell brought his order is most unfortunate"
"The shame he brought?" Sebastian asked.
"Praise the Maker that you were His champion in that dark place"
"Look, we're both adults here. Can we drop the pretense?" Ericks asked.
"I think you'll find that I have said nothing threatening or untruthful"
"Quite careful with your language aren't you?"
"I gave you what you wanted at considerable cost. Varnell is more manageable as a martyr, but his loss will be felt" Petrice said. "You have avenged heretical Qunari with human blood. Surely that is good enough for you?"
"It might be, if you were going to give this up. But you're not"
"Varnell was a fool, but the facts remain: an offense to the Maker goes unchallenged" she said as she walked away. "I will give you no further cause to shame the Chantry today, but we will have this argument again" She turned her head and gave a small smirk. "The viscount's incompetence all but guarantees it"
Varric sighs. "Sometimes, you know trouble is coming"
"Surely the Grand Cleric will do something about this…anything" Sebastian said. There were forces in Kirkwall that wanted all-out war with the qunari, seeing it as a way to prove the strength of the Maker or a way to make themselves richer and more powerful. However there were people that conflict with the qunari would lead to ruin for the city, though their voices get drowned out the more this tension goes on. Grand Cleric Elthina was one of those voices, as the most beloved priest the city has ever known her voice tempered the Chantry brothers and sisters that take the Qunari threat too personally. So far it has worked but some claim her to be ineffective and are quietly calling on the Divine to appoint a replacement. The Grand Cleric was in front of the main altar upstairs.
"You are from over the sea, are you not?" She asked turning. "Have you come to pray for those you left behind?" She then saw Sebastian with Ericks. "You are…Serah Hawke, are you not?" she asked. "Sebastian talks about you a lot"
"Saying good things, I hope?"
"Many people in Kirkwall have good things to say about you" The grand cleric said. "Is something troubling you?" Ericks gave her the seal that came off the fallen Templar Varnell. Elthina gasped as she took it and gave Ericks a look demanding he explain himself.
"Got this off a dead Templar" Ericks said. "Did you know someone used the authority of your name to instigate a crime against the Qunari?"
The grand cleric sighed. "The path to righteousness is never as straight and narrow as we wish" she said. "I truly hoped this would not go so far…but do not trouble yourself. I will step in when it's time"
"Not to sound disrespectful, Your Grace but are you intending to say neutral about the Qunari and mages forever?"
"The Maker's time is not men's time. We do not need to rush" Elthina said. "The Chantry is not a domineering father with the whip always in hand"
"She is a gentle mother, who knows her children learn best when allowed to learn themselves" Ericks sighed, it was obvious he wasn't getting anywhere with the grand cleric.
"Thank you for your time, Your Grace" The gang walked away.
"The Grand Cleric knows what she is doing, Hawke" Sebastian said. "You must believe that"
"I should hope so preferably before the city starts to burn all around us"
Dear Ericks,
I hope this letter finds you well. My time in the Circle has been bearable, even after the Templars tried to put me through the Harrowing as soon as I arrived. They thought I was at risk of possession or running away like Father. Glad it's over with.
The enchanters have been very impressed with my skill in magic, so much so that they have me mentoring apprentices despite not going through my Harrowing yet. Though I feel that may be changing soon. I enjoy my time with the children, teaching them basic spells. Their enthusiasm reminds me so much of my younger years when Father was teaching me. One of them, Ella, has taken a shine to me. Adorable!
Sadly life is not perfect here. While the Templars have been mostly polite, and they're just doing their jobs, but some of them hold extreme views. There's one creep named Ser Alrik who likes harassing mages, especially the female mages but I'll steer clear of him!
I'm doing fine! Please don't worry about me.
With love,
Bethany
The Hanged Man
After a busy day of protecting a fragile peace, Varric invited Ericks for a drink at the Hanged Man. When he got to the tavern, Ericks spotted the dwarf in front of the fireplace looking rather stoic. "Hawke, I've got some news" he said. "You might not want to be near anything breakable when I tell you, though"
"Sound's serious, why don't I buy you a pint and we'll talk?"
"You just keep making this harder! Although I won't say no to a pint, if you're buying" Varric said. "I've been keeping an ear out for Bartrand. After the Deep Roads, the bastard ran to Rivain probably because he knew I couldn't track him"
"But I heard he might be back in Kirkwall. He called in loans from a few of his contacts in Hightown"
"Was he staying or just passing through?" Ericks asked.
"If I know my information and it's always good, he has a house in Hightown" he said. "Which means we can have a word with my dear, sweet brother"
"You sound almost giddy about that talk…kinda creepy"
"Me? My no-account, backstabbing brother is practically in arm's reach! I couldn't be better"
"Would Bartrand really risk coming back here?"
"I think we both know by now that Bartrand would risk anything for money" Varric said. "That trinket he stole? There's a much better market to sell here and all his contacts are in Kirkwall"
"Well then, we've have a lot of catching up to do"
"I agree! Bianca's been missing him something awful" the dwarf said. "Let's stop by his new house. Welcome him back to the neighborhood, and all that"
"Now that I got that out of my system, how you been doing?" Varric asked. "Can't be easy with the viscount putting the fate of Kirkwall on your shoulders"
"Nothing I can't handle, at least I'm getting some coin out of this mess" Ericks said. "Oh yeah, I got letter from Betty today"
"Sunshine? How is she doing?"
"She says she's doing fine, but you can never be so sure with the Gallows" he said. "Heard she's taking her Harrowing soon"
'The Harrowing? Isn't that the test that sends the mages through what you people call the Fade?"
"Yep…"
"But Sunshine's never been through the Fade before hasn't she?"
"Why do you think I'm so worried?"
A peace upheld…but for how long? Next Time! As always Review and Comment!
