I'm sorry it was physically painful to get through this chapter…at least my beta, coolgamer likes it...

8/28/18 EDIT: Change dialogue between Alistair and Aria while they talked in the Chantry and added stuff where Isolde was introduced.

Chapter 20: Blood Ties

Sten was standing over Leliana, a stoic statue as always as the bard kneeled before that altar of the Chantry. It was assumed she was praying so the rest seemed keen on giving her the space. Sten being there by her side was little more than a curiosity that was of no interest to Morrigan, and Alistair just didn't want to ask the qunari what he found so interesting in a religion he thought inferior to the word of the Qun.

It was well past mid day, after the morning feast; everyone was stuffed full and the women had finally deemed their leathers and armor clean enough to be fit for public eye. Aria, unlike the two men of the group, who wouldn't have minded the stains or stench of their clothes, was starting to feel a minor appreciation to the little things such as clean clothes and a clean body as their stay in Redcliffe dragged on.

Aria was just wrapping the last of her shoulder up to help subtract the irritation of rubbing it raw on her shoulder guards that she had yet to re-buckle to her vest. She was just adjusting the strings to her tunic to cover her cloth breast wrap when the door to the room she was changing in flew open.

Like the brave soul she is, the mage only shrieked once as she jumped into the air. With heart beating out of her chest and face flushed enough when she realized she was actually completely clothed did she turn to spot Alistair by the door with an apologetic expression, just now realizing what she had been doing. He cleared his throat self consciously and turned around as she finally set to putting on her leather vest and walked out buckling her shoulder guards in place.

"Was there something so urgent you couldn't knock first?" she questioned the warrior as he came after her.

"Uh…oh, right. Teagan wanted to speak with us. After the mostly successful battle last night he wants to make one more push. This time inside the castle."

The elf halted in her tracks and turned, an unsure expression crossed her face. She still recalled the rot and blood that had coated her boot when she kicked in the head of that one monstrosity. The castle could still be teaming with them, no one knew the exact number after all. And she didn't exactly like the idea of sending these people she has surrounded herself with to an untimely death. She told them she would save them, and they now expected that of her.

No matter that the growing pressure she was feeling was getting steadily more intense the more she promised to do or fix. She was learning she didn't like the disappoint people.

A similar unsure looked was mirrored in the warrior's eyes; he rubbed at the back of his neck.

"Are you sure it would be wise after just one good fight where no one was carried off to their doom? I'm no master tactician Alistair, but that sounds really, really, bad. For us, because apparently you and everyone else have decided I'm some important hero with your Maker's 'blessings upon me'. What does that even mean?" she rambled, hands raised to her hair in aggravation.

"And for that matter, why am I making so many decisions with minimal input-you're older than me! Why am I not listening to someone older than me?"

"Something you want to get off your chest?" the blond quirked his brow. The petite woman ran her hands through her short hair, brows furrowed desperately and bit her darkly painted lips. Her pointed ears prominently showed with her hair pulled back and a few of the villagers she surprised with her sudden outburst spared some time to stare at them longer than she would assume was socially acceptable.

"I-I…no…" her voice softened as her eyes widened, shrinking into herself and trying to forget her outburst moments before, to shove the roiling emotions in her gut to the side to forget about until she next feels the urge to scream. Alistair seemed to sense the sudden change in her demeanor and held out a hand to her shoulder. He stopped her and the hard flinch from where he touched her had him freeze in momentary fear.

"Aria?"

She shook her head as she swept her hair back over her ears self consciously. The mage slouched into herself as if to make herself seem even smaller than she already was.

"I'm scared….I'm so terrified and I'm just going with the flow and saying I'll fix things-because people are asking and I don't know whether that's a good thing or not." Aria hissed, her voice near silent the male warden had to strain to hear it. He hadn't heard her speak so quietly since she first introduced herself to him at Ostagar. Since he had left the lead up to her she had spoken clearly and what he assumed was conviction.

But apparently what he assumed was maybe wrong and he was mixing convection with desperation.

He pulled them towards the pews and sat her down in the closest one, within earshot of Sten and Leliana. He sat close enough for her to feel the bite of cold metal from his armor. Not even the almost suffocating heat of the chantry could warm it.

They said nothing for a good minute when she leaned her elbows on her knees and put her head in her hands.

"People here keep looking at me as if the gods sent me to them, to save them from this plight. You keep turning to me for direction; Morrigan keeps telling me to walk with my back straight. Leliana came to me to ask if she could join us, Sten keeps giving me weird looks that make me squirm. Why is everyone coming to me!" she cried, nails biting into her scalp. The stress rolled off her in waves and the only clue that it was getting to the usually snarky, upbeat man at her side was a shift in his body weight. A guilty shift, Aria knew he couldn't exactly deny he's been relying on her decisions since the Wilds.

"Alistair, I'm an elf, a mage, and my opinion should hardly count as a well thought decision! It was always very clear in the Circle that my opinion did not matter in the scheme of things." she muttered

"And I haven't been outside since I was a child…" She turned to look up at him, her brown eyes shined with heavy emotion and confusion. "I have no idea what is going on, or how things work outside. I need you to read the stupid map because I don't know how."

"And…and now we're here and some noble expects me to lead some kind of assault on a castle. What am I doing, Alistair?"

There was a heavy exhale as the warrior leaned back, making the wooden bench creak. He turned his head towards the roof with a grimace.

In the choas of their situation, it was easy to forget Aria was very young and unfamiliar with things outside of where she came from.

"Did…did the Circle really tell you your thoughts don't matter?" He glanced towards her, the dark look not leaving her. She turned her eyes downward to study her boots. Aria's lack of answer could be used as an answer in and of itself and Maker did his heart ache because she looked even younger. Curled into herself and scare, the elf woman looked no more than sixteen, when legally, she was of age.

"Surrounded by books on philosophy, history, magic-anything under the sun if properly requested, Mage's have nothing better to do than studying, we are educated in whatever we please. But that does not mean we have the ability to wield it. And the Templars did so love to take cracks at the smart ones."

"Didn't much appreciate the Mages that could argue and reason in their favor?" he asked.

"If we became too vocal while the wrong Templar was within earshot, we feared we'd be threatened with tranquility."

There was a bout of silence growing between them. The tension mounting into discomfort as she could feel Alistair shift once more in a jolt as she figured he came to his own conclusion.

"You weren't—"

"Abuse in the Circle of Magi in Fereldan is just one of the dirty secrets you learn while living there the majority of your life." Aria muttered. "It just doesn't happen to many, just ones that are easy and certainly hold no belief in the Chant of Light."

"You know, you hear those kinds of stories from escaped mages. I heard some like this when I was still in training. It doesn't really seem real when hearing it from someone you don't really know or just retold through other recruits or older Templars."

"It isn't as if I have been openly beaten, abuse comes in many forms. I've been pushed down a flight of stairs before, but I've simply been glared at or snubbed more often than that. It's simply...being treated a certain way, after awhile it messes with how you see yourself...I don't think I realized how much so until there was no longer someone there to tell me what to do."

"If it helps," Alistair breathed in, "I don't feel worried at all doing as you do and just going with the flow. It hasn't failed us yet, right?"

Aria craned her neck to see his tense grin and let one of her own slip onto her lips.

"You'll figure your place in all this eventually Aria, you aren't just a mage any more, now you are a warden too. So, let's go see what Teagan has to say."

It took a while to gather the rest of their group, Morrigan was a hard woman to find when she wanted to be, before heading across the bridge leading to the main road. They took a different turn to go up to the town's only windmill. A creaky thing with weathered wood panels under slightly newer ones. The thin cloth or leather stretched over the wings torn or singed from wear and fire.

Teagan stood off to one side in his fine clothes, his vest a pop of dyed silk that looked worn and stained after so many nights away from the castles finery. His fiery hair quickly combed and tied back away from his face. He paced, Alistair mumbled something about him being impatient and when she and her group walked into his line of sight he noticeably relaxed. A sigh of relief leaving the man as he turned his attention to Aria.

The elf pursed her lips as he beckoned them over with a wave of his hand and she opted to join him as he spoke up.

"Ah, there you are. I was beginning to worry. I don't know how much time we would have left if we started any later than high noon." he fisted his hands and Aria heard Alistair's armor shift behind her as the others waited some space behind, not nearly as involved in the discussion. They didn't know him as well as Alistair apparently did.

The nobleman took a few paces away from them, turning to cast his eyes to the castle in the distance, his shield revealed as he turned his back, the coat of arms of the castle displayed proudly across it.

"I'm sorry if I seem to be in a rush, it's just so unbelievable. The silence that has befallen the castle makes it seem like there's no one inside." Teagan slumped just so before straightening his back to turn to her and Alistair.

"Let's not delay any further. I had a plan…to enter the castle after the village is secure."

"Forgive me for speaking up," Aria held up a hand to get her say in as she fumbled for a way to say it. "But just because the village is safe for the night does not mean it will be the following night. And is it wise to go to the castle right now?" she questioned. Teagan was silent for a moment before he nodded, a grimace shadowing his features.

"Yes…It is a hasty plan, but my family trapped in there, and I wish to see them free and well again."

Their discussion shifted, Aria had to accept the fact Teagan was not going to take any sort of precautious thought as anything other than a waste of time now. They were informed of the secret passage way into the castle through a door in the windmill. In the midst of planning how they would be sneaking in, the red haired man stopped mid sentence at the sound of clanking armor and faint cries. The group turned to look out towards the path that led to the bridge the undead had crossed to leave the castle.

A woman, in the distance wearing pale, fine clothing, behind her a tall man, masked by the helmet of his dinged up armor. Teagan let out a disbelieving sound as he bolted forward.

"Maker's breath!"

"Teagan!" The woman shouted her voice heavy in the same accent Leliana spoke with. Alistair sucked in a breath as he led her and the others in their group to the reuniting nobles. Teagan had stopped directly in front of the woman, hands held out worriedly as she had to catch her heavy breath. The man in the armor a silent guard as the red haired man placed his hands to the woman's face to have her peer up at him.

The woman was stunning in the way sweat glistened off her pale, creamy skin. Her full and pouting lips painted a daring rouge, now smudged and faded due to her excursion and her lashes fluttered out dark and black against her honey brown eyes. Her impeccable bun, decorated with what would have been neatly cared for braids and twists was fizzed and unkempt, the honey blond strands framing her shapely face and narrow jaw. There were slight crow's feet at the corners of her eyes most likely due to stress. She was, by all means, a stunning noblewoman as Teagan thanked the Maker he got to see someone from the castle alive. She seemed to share the same sentiment as she grabbed his hands in tired thanks.

"Oh Teagan, I am so happy you are alive!" she breathed.

"Isolde, how in the—you escaped, how is my brother? Connor? Tell me not everyone is dead! How did this happen?" he pleaded to her.

Isolde shook her head as her answer.

"Oh please Teagan, I haven't the time to tell you so much with so little time! Please, you must return to the castle with me, I only had but little time to leave the castle. I must return shortly." Isolde nervously looked back, as if she expected the corpses that had come from the castle to have followed her.

Aria stayed at a short distance to watch the reunion unfold. Alistair shifted uncomfortably at her side and she turned to catch the warrior's eye as he grimaced with unspoken nerves. Not completely understanding of his reaction to the noblewoman, she turned to see if any of the others have caught onto his behavior.

Sten, of course, looked more annoyed than worried, and Morrigan just looked on with mild interest as she listened to the humans fret to each other. Leliana did turn to her though, worrying her bottom lip as she looked between Alistair and the two humans of note. The woman shrugged silently however, just as unsure as Aria was.

Teagan nodded his head, without argument.

"Of course Isolde, we were just planning our breach of the castle, rest assured you will be—"

"No!" The woman's voice pitched higher as she held her hands out. Her honey brown eyes as wide as saucers as she reaches out to Teagan to halt him when he began to turn towards Aria.

She seemed to get a hold of herself as she caught her breath and let it out slowly before speaking again. Aria, however, was already feeling that creeping sense of in her gut that had her narrow her brown eyes at the woman.

"Isolde…" Teagan murmured.

"No, Teagan….I-I need you to return with me. Alone." She emphasized.

"I'm afraid you're going to have to give us a better explanation than that." Aria cleared her throat, taking the extra step to be in the noblewoman's line of sight.

Straightening up, the honey blond woman stared down at Aria as if personally affronted. Her eyes narrowed as she looked down at Aria's leather clothed form with the dinged looking sword strapped to her belt as if noticing she was there for the first time. There was a sharp glint in her eyes and the elf recognized a look of someone who wanted to demand why she was addressing her.

"Excuse me?" Isolde hissed, her smudged lips down turned into a slightly unattractive scowl before snapping her head in the direction of her various companions. Her eyes zeroed in on the armored form of Alistair whose eyes widened momentarily before he ducked his head down as if to hide himself. Isolde huffed and brought her attention back to Aria and furrowed her well groomed brow.

"Teagan, who are these…these people? This woman?" she demanded. Alistair sighed, rubbing his gloved hand over his face before catching the woman's attention yet again. His voice was strained and he wore a tight grimace. He sighed heavily.

"You remember me, don't you?" he sounded as if the very admittance that he knew her to be hard on him. Isolde stares at the young man, her eyes nothing but judging slits before they widen considerably, her posture freezes as her voice come out as nothing but a spiteful hiss, as if the warrior's name was a poison on her tongue.

"Alistair? Of all the…What are you doing here?"

Aria's form petrified from the well held back hatred the woman's body gave off. As the rest simply stared in minute surprise at the woman's reaction. Teagan sighed in the thick atmosphere.

"Isolde, please, they are Grey Wardens and I owe them my life." The red haired nobleman tried to ease the tension. His words seemed to appease the woman only slightly as she once again eyed Aria before clearing her throat, giving a forced polite,

"Pardon me." That sounded wearier than anything else.

"Look, I would exchange pleasantries, but…concerning the circumstances…"

The woman was reluctant to continue, so it was Alistair who spoke next. Aria sent him a questioning look, his gaze flickered to her in a moment, the silent exchange clear in his light brown eyes that he would explain everything once this was cleared up. The mage gave a silent nod and let him speak.

"Please, Lady Isolde…we had no idea if anyone was even still alive in the castle. We must have some answers." He spoke softly, unsure and respectful to a fault. It was unlike his usual light hearted tone. He sounded like a small child who had just been scolded by meeting the sharp motion of a disciplining hand...it was...disconcerting to see the cheerful man curl in on himself, looking anywhere but the woman's eyes.

It seemed that was the straw that broke the mules back though and the older woman's stern expression crumbled into one of desperation. She turned away and let out an aggrieved sound. Aria noted that now that she had more time too look at the woman, she noticed Isolde looked sallow and utterly exhausted. There were heavy bags under her eyes and her smeared make up looked old and mostly rubbed off, her hair was only just being held up in a bun by a few remaining hair clips.

"I know you need more of an explanation, but I…" the woman looked about to sob as she took no care as she swiped her silky sleeve against the corner of her eyes and smudged yet more of the makeup that made up her features. The woman was a mess.

"I don't know what is safe to tell…" she confessed in a weak whisper. She shook her head and wiped away the beginnings of tears, sniffling before collecting herself enough to present her face back to Teagan.

"Teagan, there is a terrible evil within the castle. The dead awaken and hunt the living. The mage responsible was caught, but still these horrors continue."

Aria's breath seemed to just about leave her at the mention of a mage, brown eyes looked towards her companions in their own states of interest, but still the woman continued.

"I think Connor is going mad…We have survived, but he won't flee the castle. My precious boy, he has seen so much death! You must help him Teagan! You are his uncle, you could reason with him. I do not know what else to do!"

Behind Aria, a hand rests on her shoulder, the elf turned to find a sharp eyed Leliana glance at her, then to Lady Isolde. The sister's lips pursed conspiratorially.

"If I may be so bold," The sweet lilt of her accent washed over the elf as Leliana took her hand from the mage's shoulder to cross her arms. "But there are things you are not telling us, Lady Isolde."

The woman once more straightened up, scowling in as much offense as she could muster.

"I-I beg your pardon! That's a rather impertinent accusation!"

Aria watched Leliana's lips curl into a sly smile as the kind red haired woman disappeared, leaving nothing but a rogue in her place. It was a side the elf had yet to see in the woman as she watched in silence.

"My, Lady Isolde, you are Orlesian, no? Surely all this time spent in Ferelden has not dulled your participation of The Game?" The archer glanced to Aria and the elf blinked before turning to face the ruffled noble.

"Surely you would not let your subordinate talk to me in such a way!" Isolde huffed to Alistair who held up his arms in defeat.

"I'm afraid, Lady Isolde, that they uh, do not answer to me…" he awkwardly pointed to Aria who stood awkwardly in the front of the group, Leliana chuckles at the disbelieving look that flashes across the nobles face. Aria shrugged.

"If it is true, and I trust Leliana's judgment, then I would advise you not to hide as much as you can from us." Aria asserted.

"An evil holds my son and husband hostage! I came for help! What more do you want from me?" she argued.

"And that is a serious matter. I do not wish for any child to be put in danger. But going into this with so little information puts my companions lives in danger, and I do not want them hurt. I am tired of all this death I have been around since becoming a warden, so I would appreciate the truth Lady Isolde! No no more lives are lost pointlessly." Aria snapped as if it were obvious.

"I do not understand," Teagan spoke up with great concern. "What is this 'great evil'? Did it create the corpses? What is it?"

"I don't know!" Isolde hissed. "Something the mage unleashed, so far it allows Eamon, Connor, and myself to live."

Her voice softened again, trying to say as much as she could.

"The others…they were not so fortunate. It's killed so many and turned their bodies into walking nightmares! Once it was done with the castle it attacked the village!"

"It wants us to live, but I do not know why. It allowed me to come to you Teagan, because I begged, because I said Connor needed help."

"Could this be a demon?" Aria asked, she glanced over to Morrigan who was thinking along those same lines.

"It is the most possible assumption." Morrigan agreed.

"A demon! Oh Maker, please no! If that is the case then I must go back, my Connor is in there all by himself, please, Teagan, come with me!" Isolde gasps, latching on to the man, looking for all the world like she would drag him if she must. Teagan faced Aria with a grim look.

"I will return with her." He gave in. The man held out a ring for Aria to take, which she did with a troubled look.

"Go, I will be fine, use the secret path into the castle, do what you can and maybe we will run into each other before things get too serious." Teagan set a heavy hand on her slim shoulders, a significant look flickered past his eyes before he turned away and ran with Isolde at his side and the guard back to the nightmarish castle. Aria watched them round a corner and disappear from sight, her gut heavy and twisting against her will.

"It was foolish, but he had no choice in the end." Leliana murmured, Aria nodded, squeezed the ring and then looked up to see Alistair still looking down the road, biting his lip and looking close to running after the two who had left in a rush.

"Alistair." Aria murmured. The man flinched, turning to the mage and the rest of the party. He sighed heavily, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Ok…Look, I probably should have told you all the truth earlier but…Ok, where to start…" He stumbled through his words.

"So, you kinda have the idea that I'm close with the Arl, well, the truth of the matter is that the Arl…Well, he kind of, sort of raised me? And well, you see, my mom was a serving girl at the castle and he took me in."

Alistair breathed in at once.

"And well, the reason for that was because…My father was King Maric. Which makes Cailin my…half-brother kind of, sort of…" he rushed out in front of the small group, leaving Aria to blink up at him in mild disbelief.

"Uhh…wait-what?" she asks meekly. Her head spinning at her friend's sudden confession. She runs her nails through her hair, messing it.

"We have an heir to the throne amongst us, of course we have an heir to the throne, look at us!" she practically shrieked. Alistair flinched.

"Maker's Breath, I hope not. I don't…you don't really think so, do you? I-I'm a bastard, nobody even knows about me!" he argued weakly.

"Alistair, you're a king's illegitimate child, but you're still his child!" the elf fretted.

"Yeah but, I was never really interested in all that, you know? I didn't want to stir up any trouble during Cailin's rule…Anyone involved just kept it a secret, this is the first time I've ever actually talked about it. And the ones who knew either resented me for it or coddled me…even Duncan left me out of the fighting because of it." He muttered with his head down.

"I just…I didn't want you to know for as long as possible, especially you. I didn't want you to hate me. I'm sorry…" he muttered.

Aria breathed in deeply, behind them Morrigan groaned at the fact there was an 'idiot' in line to the throne. She let out her breath and lowered her arms.

"I don't hate you Alistair, I may be in a position to have a great deal of dislike towards them, but really I've never understood politics so I don't care. This little group of ours is weird enough, why not add a bastard prince, right?"

Alistair let out a stilted laugh.