Erlina, Anora's personal servant, led us off to where her mistress was being kept. In Fort Drakon. It was smart to keep us in his guard's armor so we could sneak in in plain sight, but Wren was clearly unused to the bulk of her armor and would have preferred to wear the drake skin she'd collected from the smith several days prior.
Wren had smiled brightly and immediately changed into it, to later wear it all day like most women would a new dress or a new pair of shoes. There was no doubt in me that the two men were lovers but it was weird to see her hug both of them happily before giving them twenty gold for the commission. The smith cared little for the money as his lover did, but was still glowing from his most recent work. Few got the chance to work with such materials as he had been for just short of a week. During that time, we'd all kept busy cleaning up the streets of Denerim. The lady Warden probably considered it a gift to herself for all of her hard work, as she should have. She definitely deserved it.
Now, we all watched as she clinked around with an awkwardness none of us had ever seen before, but all of us understood. She was a medium armor kind of girl. Somehow, we made it to Anora without being found out.
Then things went to shit.
We ran into Logaine's second in command just yards from our escape. Had they been expecting us? Erlina had seemed shifty but would she have alerted our enemy? Whatever the case, Wren was quiet as she soaked in the atmosphere and stared at Ser Cauthrien, more specifically, her sword.
"This is why I didn't bring Alistair." She hissed under her breath, but steeled her face after glancing at the Queen.
"We surrender. Anora for me." She put her weapon away and turned to us, gesturing we do the same.
"I'll see you guys tonight or in the morning. Do not worry about me." The look she gave all of us was particularly pointed when her eyes landed on me. Her words were just loud enough for only us to hear before Cauthrien made it to this side of the room.
"Why did you surrender like this?" The woman asked, bothered.
"I would have had more of a chance in my armor. This is not my armor." Wren shrugged as she let them lead her away.
"Did you notice how amused Wren looked as she was being led away? You don't think she will do anything rash?" Leliana started as we walked Anora back to the Arl's, her face pensive.
"It would be a terrible idea for her to do anything rash in Fort Drakon. Does your leader really think she can escape their dungeons on her own?"
"The only thing keeping us from killing you, is her, so you should really have more faith in Wren." I stated aloud and was only slightly upset when I couldn't keep the bite out of my words.
We understood her reasoning for diverting Ser Cauthrien and declaring that she had been kidnapped, but it didn't make any of us okay with the situation. I almost didn't follow the others in, but someone would have to tell Alistair that she had been captured. Naturally, I had the most tact to do so.
Oh, was he upset…then the Arl gave him something else to worry about, but it distracted him from Wren. It was known she would be fine. The sureness in her words and walk spoke volumes.
Arl Eamon recovered so quickly, it was hard for those witnessing him to imagine he was ever sick to begin with. The man was nearly glued to Alistair's hip as they spoke, rather detached from the world. For a man so excited to hear that his wife and heir were both alive despite all the hardship that Logaine had plagued most of Ferelden with, he sure wasn't wasting any time with whatever he wanted of the younger man. Alistair himself was clearly bothered by it and I had a nagging suspicion I didn't need to hear what was being suggested, to know what it was.
Anora was here now so there was only so much it could be.
Thankfully, in the midst of my late night pacing, she returned unscathed. Her fatigue was there but made way more sense.
"Zevran, what are you doing up?"
"My Warden…" I almost reached out for her but just dropped into a chair and watched her.
"I told you all I would be back."
"Yes, but it still took every distraction to keep me from going after you. The others too, I'm sure." I waved my hand around lazily.
"You should go to bed, Zevran." She muttered as she searched the room with her eyes.
"First, there is something you must know." I whispered back. Her body language changed almost instantly as she began to fret.
"What is it? Did everyone make it back alright? Were you ambushed? Is anyone injured? Did-" She only stopped when I raised my hands to calm her.
"I assure you, Wren, everyone made it back safely. There was no such ambush. You may still want to sit." Slowly, she did so.
"Arl Eamon is pressuring Alistair to marry Anora. Started almost as soon as he saw us return with her." A sigh ended my report and she blinked before dropping her head.
"Right. Of course, because he is of royal blood and they would prefer to have a King on the throne, next to Anora. Very well, I will meet with them in the morning. Here, you should busy yourself tomorrow. Take a break, maybe explore Denerim." She tossed me a bag of coins with a light smile before standing.
"You don't want me to accompany you during your 'talks'?"
"No, I would rather do it alone. If I can make it through Fort Drakon, I can make it through this. Good night, Zevran."
That sounded bad but I acquiesced once more and resigned to my room.
"Good night, Wren."
Finding out The Wonders of Thedas wasn't a brothel, I sighed, miffed. I required something familiar and the barmaid in Redcliffe was accommodating but, right now, I needed someone with more...prowess.
Luckily, one of the Tranquil gave me directions and I soon found myself at The Pearl. The lovely proprietress, Sanga, greeted me with a smile and a nod. Hopefully, I can be rid of my worries here. Maybe even get that expression on Wren's face out of my head.
Some time later, I was lying naked next to a sleeping woman and staring up at the ceiling. I covered my face with the back of my arm, distinctly remembering that I'd called her Wren when I came.
Thankfully, she didn't ask and I knew it wasn't an uncommon thing for clients to do that. Pushing it from my mind, I got dressed and left. I nodded to Sanga who returned the gesture as I walked through the door. Sure there would be no need for the Wardens there.