Chapter Forty-Two

Conspiracy Thaigs

The next morning, we took care of the spectral Dragon – much to Magmas' amusement. I had been rather… petty when we fought her.

You see; I hadn't liked that my wings had changed color – I liked the black fade more than the gold… and now they were gold. So I had taken it out on the already dead dragon.

That put one theory to rest, though – Dead things could feel pain.

We arrived back at the Vigil just in time for the Riot to start.

"Seneschal; I refuse to allow our people to starve; have you not been making sure everyone has enough to feed themselves and their families whilst we've been away?" I asked, and the shouting stopped as everyone turned to me.

Unfortunately, if there was a riot, then Natia hadn't had time to gather up hostages before the 'main event'… we were about to be attacked.

"Well… no, My Lady. I didn't think…" Varel looked chagrined.

"Natia, escort these people to the Grain stores and help them get what they need. And give each of them one gold sovereign for their troubles in having this matter delayed." Natia saluted me before calling out for the people to follow her.

"Forgive me, your Ladyship, Commander… I didn't even think of it." Varel explained when we approached him.

"I understand, Varel. Rendon was a right bastard, but I hope we can care for those under our rule. Alistair would be more than willing to help, too, if you send him a letter with my crest of office."

I felt Justices approval from behind me, as well as the others; even Velanna.

"As you say, my Lady; I'll draft a letter to his Majesty at once to request aide in the form of foods," Varel folded both his arms over his chest and gave me a bow before telling Aedan that there were some Nobles who were waiting…

I sighed, "I take it that the Dark Wolf hasn't come by with the conspirator proof then?"

Varel shook his head, "Not quite yet, no… why?"

I shook my head sadly, "… Because the riot was a diversion while some of the nobles got into place. Let's go take care of the Coup then, Aedan…"

He flinched, "You could wait here…"

"No – I am sentencing these people to death. A Character in a book once said something… his name was Eddard Stark and he was in the book series A Song of Ice and Fire… what was it? He said; 'The man who passes the sentence should swing the sword. If you would take a man's life, you owe it to him to look into his eyes and hear his final words. And if you cannot bear to do that, then perhaps the man does not deserve to die'. I know these people will die – because they are here to kill us – so I should take up the sword and do this. And when it is over, I will bury them – as I would any who die by my hand."

Varel didn't seem to believe that this would be the case but easily followed me to the throne room with Aedan.

Esmerelle was there with a few other nobles. "I am here about the good Arl… the good Arl you killed!" I chuckled. "You're still loyal to Arl Howe?" Varel asked in disbelief.

"Rendon was good to us; good to me… and now his death will finally be avenged!"

As expected, Varel jumped in front of Aedan and took an arrow to the side. I had Esmerelles head off her shoulders in less than a second while the others jumped into the fray. When it was over, I used magic to remove the Arrow from Varel and heal him, much to his shock.

I winked and stood. "Thus ends the conspiracy…" Aedan groaned. Captain Garevel promised to get it cleaned up and kept quiet while Varel told me he'd take the 'secret' of my magic to the grave.

I made quick work of burying the conspirators.

I headed back outside and spoke to Voldrik, giving him the granite filled void-bag. He gave me a look, but I smirked and motioned for him to open it. He did, making the silly mistake of tipping it upside down and winding up with granite covering every inch of the area around him.

"Stone's embrace, Lady Cousland… how?"

I chuckled, "That bag is magic; that's how. The stone work here at the keep was crap and needed something stronger. I found Granite in the Wending Wood and decided to collect all that I could find for you… is it enough?"

"Well, the walls did need help… yeah; I think this will be more than enough." Voldrik was happy as a damn clam as he ordered people around in getting the Granite moved.

I collected the bag from Voldrik and headed over to Wade and Herren. I pulled a second void bag from my belt, placing the first into my magic bag.

I smiled, "Herren! I found Silverite Ore in the Wending Wood, there was Viridium under the keep, and I will be bringing Iron back with me from Kal'Hirol… will that be enough for Arms and Armor for our troops?"

I tipped the bag near Herren and a metric Ton (2000 lbs.) of Ore – both Viridium and Silverite – spilled out around us.

Herren widened his eyes, "More than enough!"

I pulled Wade aside "I also found some Ancient Heartwood and an Eldest Dragon bone… want them?"

Wade reached out and snatched the bag containing not only the two materials, but everything he'd need to work with them.

After he looked inside and saw that, he reached out and grabbed me by the arms before pulling me in to kiss each cheek.

"You, my good woman, are a perfect miracle! Thank you! Oooh what shall I make?"

Herren had come over after seeing the kiss and looked in the bag before groaning. He sighed, "First the Commander and now you?"

I giggled. "Wade works Miracles with Materials… maybe that should be your slogan? Besides, I get complements on anything he makes; I point those people your way, as I have for the past several months."

Herren sighed. "You're right; of course… we have had more buissness since you found us with those Drake Scales than ever! Our prices have gone up because of it…"

"Wade… for the Bone, make a Longsword – whatever you think is best on its attributes but it needs to be suitable for a man standing at 6'3 with broad shoulders… think about a human battering ram. With the wood, I want a bow in a style never seen before. I want people running into walls trying to get a look at it because it's so unique… I will bring you a special golem shell from Kal'Hirol that you can make a breastplate out of too. Oh and I have this Starmetal for you… I want a shield that looks like this. As long as the shield has this look, the rest is all for you to design." I handed him a drawn picture of Cullens Inquisition shield.

Wades eyes lit up at the challenge I had laid before him. I will admit, I was thinking of Sebastian and then – maybe after he gets his family bow – Sera; and for the sword… I had plans. The armor could go to Carver.

Later that night, after her Joining, I handed Velanna an empty journal. I had chosen a thick leather-bound journal with a tree of life symbol on it.

"This book is empty… why have you given me a useless object?" she sounded annoyed.

"Isn't it obvious? You're going to fill it!"

"With what; recipes for roast boar and pudding?" she quipped and I laughed.

"No, sweetie – stories for the Dalish. You could even start with Garahel. He was a city elf, said to be handsome and charismatic, with high cheekbones, curling blond hair and brilliant green eyes… he had a sister named Isseya and he was the ender of the Fourth Blight." I told her almost everything I knew of him, only leaving out the clutch of Griffon Eggs his sister saved.

"You know… that's the silliest idea I've ever heard…. But it's brilliant too. The Dalish will never recover what we've lost. It may be time to start creating tales anew. Perhaps one day it will be what connects my children and their children to their past; to me. Thank you."

"You're quite welcome… also don't worry about running out of space. I have it enchanted to add new pages as needed. It may always look as though it only has like 20 pages, but when you open and flip pages, it will always have more room." She smiled and I shot her a wink before kidnapping Nathaniel for bed.

Nathaniel was a great snuggle buddy – when he slept, he was the kind to just wrap you up and hold tight; as though afraid you'd get away while he slept.

Alistair was the same with one… difference. Alistair was more like the stories I knew of werewolves. He would hold me possessively and if I tried to move away he'd nip a little and give a light growl at whatever perceived threat was attempting to take his treasure away.

I was curious to see how Fenris and Cullen were as snuggle partners too. Fenris… I had him pegged to be similar to Alistair, but Cullen seemed the type to move away when curled in bed with someone; especially after Kinlock Hold.

I was a snuggler – all the way. No – as Celeste once pointed out when she woke us up; I was a full-on barnacle. I cling in my sleep like a dog with a bone.

After a night of rest, we headed back up to Amaranthine so we could turn in some missions.

We turned in all those etchings from the Wending Wood, handed over other Chantry Missions, talked to the Merchants about the path now being safe, and we also replenished our supplies.

After that, we headed down to Kal'Hirol in Knottwood Hills.

After dealing with the Deepstalkers, I heard Sigruns struggles and let my wings shoot out to fly toward her, carrying Aedan with me. Our arrival was just the distraction needed to allow her to gain an upper hand and 'escape'. Sigrun was 4'4, with black hair cropped short and dark green eyes. He skin was rather dark for a Dwarf and her face tattoo was really all over.

"Well… that was close. For a moment there I thought I was really going to join the Legion of the dead."

"You okay, sweetie?" I asked. "Well I might have cracked a rib, but it's hard to be sure since everything hurts."

"Need healing?" Anders asked, his hands already glowing blue. "No, no, I'm fine. I just need to catch my breath… Anyway I can't chat for long. I need to get back, as foolish as that sounds, see if there's anything I can do." She panted.

Magma – the hothead of the group – spoke up, "Oooh – is there a fight that we can join?"

Sigrun gave him a funny look and said, "The old fortress of Kal'Hirol. There's something going on there; I think the darkspawn may be breeding an Army…" she looked like she felt crazy so I nodded. "Fits with what we've been hearing. Let me guess, Legion went to go investigate, but were quickly overrun and now you're the last one?"

"Yeah… well, I hope not, but it's most likely. The darkspawn have… changed; they're smart now. They destroyed my Legion detachment and I saw them take some of the women… I wasn't going to stick around for that."

"Smart since they turn women into Broodmothers… want help clearing the place? Grey Wardens make up all but five in this group. I'm not a Warden – and these specific four are my personal guards… ironically, we're the best fighters in the group."

Aedan exclaimed, "Hey!"

"No, no – she has a point," Oghren said. Galaxia was laughing and Drake was just nodding sagely.

"Well, in that case, let's not waste time. Kal'Hirol awaits; and Darkspawn – when left to their own devices – get up to all kinds of nonsense." I chuckled as she spoke and led us to the entrance.

She was telling us of how Kal'Hirol used to be a center of Learning for the smith caste; how it was unique in its structures too. "You know Caridin has likely not come through here yet… we should be careful around the Golems in case the Darkspawn have found the control rods."

Sigrun looked at me. "So it's true? Caridin walks among us again?" she sounded adorable when she was excited.

"Yeah; we managed to convince him to gather the remaining Golems and try and return their free will to them. He's pretty cool; made me a crown when he heard I was with Alistair." Sigruns jaw dropped.

Oghren grunted, "It is a nice Crown… I don't know why you don't keep it with you."

"Oghren… I do keep it with me. I just don't wear it much since I'm a princess in hiding. I bet that by the time I actually start wearing it everywhere, I'll be Queen not Princess. But I do have it with me. For sure – I'll take it with me when I kidnap Anders and Justice in a few weeks."

There was a silence before Anders said, "I'm sorry, what?"

"Aedan, do I have permission for that?"

"If I said 'no' would that change your plan?"

"Not really… I might just do something worse and have the Fae officially kidnap them for me…"

Aedan rubbed his temples, "Just take them – it isn't worth trying to hold onto them and I'm sure you need them more anyway. I'll write an official notice that they're to protect you or some shit."

We saw Jukka then, and everything else was put on hold while Sigrun rushed to him.

"It's Jukka! He's hurt; it's bad." She rushed to pull fallen rocks off his back and I used my magic to help. Anders began trying to heal him while everyone else kept guard for enemies.

He groaned in pain, "S-Sigrun?"

We had him uncovered now; his hair was brown and his eyes a soft gold; like hash-browns.

"Yes, it's me; try not to talk!"

"You can… stop; I feel my death upon me. Sweet release; you must… listen… the Broodmothers… breeding… an Army; you must… stop them. Beware… the Children… abominations… even among… the darkspawn. Forgive me." He collapsed, releasing a final breath. Sigrun cried out, "Jukka!"

I pulled her into a hug. She looked fierce as she said, "Ancestors look kindly on you, brother. We have to finish what the Legion started. Those Broodmothers need to be destroyed!"

"And they will be. You know… they are conveniently under an easily dropped stone that will squish them like bugs…"

"That's all the better for us then, huh? However, it is quite late. We need to set camp, and continue in the morning," Aedan responded looking grim.

"It's for the best… I sense no one else alive down here. My tent will repel the Darkspawn." I handed Sigrun off to Aedan who just held her while I set up our magic home.

One thing I never told anyone was that it wasn't necessarily us sleeping here. Obviously my guards knew – and Alistair and Loghain since they read that book from Magma – but Aedan and the others? They didn't know… and I wasn't sure how to tell them that they trusted me enough to sleep in a pocket dimension.

When we entered, Sigrun was staring around in awe. "How is this possible?"

"I'm special; now, get cleaned up – all of you. There are shower rooms in each room so… I'll just use magic to get cleaned up and make dinner – and I think Aedan wants to talk to me?"

They nodded and got to setting up for their showers. Aedan followed me, but I saw Anders and Justice talking in a corner.

"Why do you plan to take two of my Wardens to Kirkwall with you?"

"Well… they won't be your Wardens, Regent Cousland. But they are needed there. If you release them to me, it'll be easier, but they will still go regardless of my interference." As I spoke I moved around the kitchen, preparing chicken and a side of veggie stir-fry and rice. I would be having a bit of baked buffalo chicken and buffalo sausage… red's hot, cheese, chicken and sausage… yum.

Aedan looked curious. "Why are you preparing a separate dish?"

I coughed lightly, "Hmm? Oh I… I like spice, you know. And I really feel like having this particular form of spicy food…"

He looked amused "Spice? What if the others want to try?"

"Well… I could pull out some Vegetarian meats for Celeste and Justice… but Anders is a damn cracker – full white-bread. He'll take two bites – if that – and then give up on the spicy food. I could even bake some spicy veggies… Go see who wants spicy vs regular chicken with their stir fry." He nodded and ran off.

When he got back, I had put the stir-fry together and just needed to cook it. "Sigrun sounded interested, Oghren said spice goes great with his ale, Nathaniel said he'd love to try it, and so would I… Anders said make him one of each to try. He said he doesn't usually like spice but he's loved everything else you've made. Your guards apparently all love spicy food."

I nodded and prepped one dish with real meats, one dish with 'fake' meats, and one dish with spicy veggies. I spoke, "I'll make a few regular – so that when Anders takes two bites and gives up, he'll still have something to eat. I can always make more if I need to."

Aedan grinned at that. I was right; Anders took only one bite before I gave him some milk and took the chicken, much to the amusement of everyone else.

"You're really going to eat after him?" Velanna asked.

"Hey, food is food. Besides, I know where he's been; he's clean. I mean, if he'd been giving oral sex before this, maybe not."

"Why milk?" Anders asked as he sucked it down.

"Milk cools the bodies' heat receptors. Spice is made by an oily component of peppers called capsaicin and milk basically turns the heat receptors off so… Milk is the best friend of white boys like you."

He stuck his tongue out, "You're a brat."

"Yes – yes I am; but since you've never lain with me that way, you wouldn't know that."

Aedan choked – his milk coming out his nose as Oghren pounded at his back. Magma was sniggering, "Poor King Alistair."

I scoffed, "Poor him? Maggie – he loves it. It gives him an excuse to 'punish' me."

Drake grinned, "I love when Galaxia acts like a brat too, Mag. You're so dominant that they don't act bratty or prey with you – they're just submissive."

Magma gave a little growl, "You're submissive with me too."

"Oooh – Drake being a switch isn't something I would have guessed," I said. Aedan shook his head, "I don't need to know any of this!"

I shrugged, "Then don't listen. I like talking about sex – it reminds me of Earth where everyone talked about sex… even the people who were Asexual talked about sex. Some didn't understand it, sure – but sex was everywhere on Earth. You couldn't walk outside without seeing a billboard that advertised a gym or lacy undergarments… and both would feature half-naked skinny women on it. That was Earth in a nutshell – Sex as far as the eye can see. People would ask you if you had a dick or not when you were born if you acted remotely like a woman when you look like a man – or the other way around."

"Those surgeries were effective enough that people couldn't tell?" Aedan asked. I nodded, "Yeah – they are. They work best when you take hormonal supplements too though. Those will help a woman grow boobs and help a man grow a beard. Put some hair on your chest; you know? I wasn't the best at it, but I can do the surgeries on my own so long as I have assistants to hand me the things I need."

Velanna looked fascinated; she had talked to me at length about my former life after the whole thing in the Fade in the Blackmarsh. Meaning Justice also heard it. Sigrun was being filled in by Anders at the moment.

"Right – well, I think I'm going to bed… we can talk more tomorrow…" Aedan said – having finished his food. At least he rinsed his plate and put it in the Dishwasher.

The next morning, I woke everyone at dawn after making pancakes and sausages. Sigrun was already awake however, since she was used to the Legion.

I had veggies rather than sausage for our Veggie eaters, of course.

After breakfast and more teasing (Anders had taken to faking being in love with me to piss off Aedan for some reason), we fought our way to the main entrance of Kal'Hirol.

Sigrun sighed. "The Legion got this far without trouble… but we got careless and complacent. We stormed the main entrance; up those stairs… it was a disaster. The Darkspawn were waiting; they turned the old defenses against us."

"Well what do you suggest, Ara?" Aedan asked.

"What… you should really just ask Sigrun. I'm just going to make the same suggestion she would. The secret lever to the side entrance is right… here!" I exclaimed as I pulled on the sturdy chain hidden in the decorative mouth thing off to the left and a section of wall moved to the side.

Sigrun looked startled. "Most of the old Dwarven fortresses had hidden entrances… I'm glad you knew where this one was!" I smiled at her as Justice gave me a calculating look.

"We are avoiding the main fight?"

"Oh, no… we're going to flank them; come from behind. No way am I letting those things live to bite us in the ass later! But Sigrun is right about it being booby-trapped to hell and back; we need to come from a direction they don't expect and take out the mages or we'll have to fight Golems."

Justice nodded, "A sound strategy. Very well; lead on."

Kal'Hirol was more than 100x the size of the game; it was meant to house hundreds of Dwarves after all. 50 Darkspawn had covered the entrance, but my presence had 'blocked' them from sensing the others; thus, we had surprise on hand when we took them out.

That first day, we only managed to clear the Market Center. The second day, we managed the slums and trade district… the third day was the Nobles district, and also the day I got my first ever major injury.

"So you're telling me that the one who started the Blight is also behind this mess?" Sigrun asked as we entered the housing area for nobles.

"Yeah; most of us have met the bastard… he locked us up and took some blood for his sick rituals. I could have prevented it, but that place needed to be cleared out and Velanna needed to see her sister. I… I am sorry for not at least warning you," I directed that last part to Aedan.

He sighed. "No, you were right. If I had known I would have tried to stop it, and you said…"

We were rushed from the side by one of the withered. I screamed in pain as its sword cut my right arm completely off. Anders was by my side in a moment, trying to stop the blood. I waved him off, "Go… fight. Focus on them… I will be… okay."

I think it helped that my guards didn't look the least bit concerned that I had just lost my arm. Galaxia had just started singing to distract the enemies while I cursed. My blood – as usual – vanished as it dripped away.

The loss of blood was making me a bit light-headed at the moment. I couldn't focus – were they winning?

I closed my eyes as I knelt safely behind the fighting line.

I heard Aedan yelling to Anders to heal me, but Anders shouted back that I had sent him away. I reached into my pack and took out a whisky shooter and downed it.

"Are you alright?" Aedan asked, making me aware that the fighting had ended.

Celeste spoke, "She'll be fine – Fairies can regenerate lost limbs… as you can clearly see. Water Sylphs can too – that is actually why Fairies can do it."

I coughed as the pain slowly abated, "How long?"

"What?"

"How long did I black out? I missed the fight…"

"Oh… uh, no more than half an hour…" Aedan muttered.

I looked around. Where my arm had fallen to the ground after bring sliced off, it had evaporated. Continuing to turn my head, I noticed my arm had grown back. I knew it was a new arm, because there was no blood on it at all.

I blinked, "That will be helpful when I lose my left arm in the future. There's no way around that, so… it's good to know now…"

"How are you so calm about this?" Anders shouted while Nathaniel looked like he would be sick.

"Well freaking out would solve nothing…"

Velanna was writing in her journal. "What are you doing?" I asked with trepidation.

"Regardless of what you really are, you've been adopted into a Dalish Clan, making you one of us. You'll have your own stories in this book."

I groaned. "I suddenly regret giving you that. Oh well, too late now. I know it's early, but can we make camp? I'm drained from regen." Magma nodded and Justice helped me to my feet as Oghren handed me a flask. I smirked as Aedan protested and brought it to my lips.

"What, brother? It numbs the pain…" I was still smirking as I handed the flask back to the Dwarf. Aedan grumbled as I set the tent. I fell asleep in the bath.

When I woke up I was in my bed, next to Nathaniel. For his sake, I was glad someone had dressed me.

I woke him, "It's dawn, hun."

He groaned; his arms around me tightening – really that was adorable…

"Who carried me from the bathroom to bed and got me dressed?" I asked, putting a mischievous note in my voice.

"Not me. Drake carried you to bed while every other male here turned away, then Celeste and Xia helped put you in… that."

Go figure that it was my guards that carried me and dressed me… but I had a feeling they were being mischievous since all I was wearing was one of Nates' shirts… nothing else. I knew I could fit tall mens clothes from earth – my dad was 6'2 and I loved taking his old clothes – but I guess the same applied here. That's also when I realized one of his hands was on my bare skin… at the hip. I smirked.

"I didn't know you liked me like that, hun… I wouldn't have stopped teasing you."

His hand shot away from my hip, "I-I didn't – I mean…"

"Don't worry so much! I know I'm not your type, though I do know who your future woman is. When we meet back up in a few years, I'll try to introduce you…" he looked curious but nodded.

I'd already had a vision of Nathaniel and Bethany Hawke being together – and it was the only reason Alistair didn't mind so much that I snuggled the Archer.

After a breakfast of eggs with potato, onion and egg tacos – bacon strips on the side for those who ate meat – we headed off to clear the Kal'Hirol Smithing and Learning quarter… otherwise known as the heart of Kal'Hirol.

We found armor stands that had amazing armor; even finding some in Sigruns size which she instantly swapped out for since hers was damaged. When we got to the Golem and the 'Lost' withered, I put up heat shields on all of us; making it easier to kill them. And as stated, there was a large Lyrium block located right above the two Broodmothers making it easy to kill them.

After Aedan recruited Sigrun – at my urging – I handed her a spyglass.

"This… this is a spyglass! My friend Varlan told me about them, but I didn't know they were so shiny. He said that on the surface, Spyglasses were used to see things that are leagues away. May I… keep it? I know I shouldn't; we aren't supposed to have belongings in the Legion."

Aedan spoke up. "Wardens are more than welcome to have belongings… encouraged to, even."

"As you say, Commander! Thank you," she directed the last part to me.

My guards had found the whole exchange adorable… and somehow I just knew that Sigrun would get more shiny things…