Thank you for reading! Special thanks to suilven for the lightning-fast beta!
The Storm Coast was rainy, again. Always, as far as Thule could tell. He didn't mind a little rain, but it seemed nearly constant here. At least, not as bad as Crestwood had been, or the Fallow Mire, he reminded himself. It could always be worse.
"Do you know where your contact is intending to meet us?" he asked the Iron Bull.
"Right here," said a voice, and an armored elf stepped out from the screening of a stand of trees with low-hanging branches. "Good to see you again, Hissrad."
Thule looked around, frowning, but the Iron Bull was grinning. "Gatt! How the Void are you? Last I heard, you were still in Seheron."
"They finally decided I'd calmed down enough to go back out into the world."
To Thule's mind, the elf was plenty calm—he seemed practically icy. Maybe the Qunari had a different standard … not that you could tell it from the Iron Bull.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Inquisitor," Gatt added, looking as though it was anything but. "Hissrad's reports say you're doing good work."
"That's the second time you've used that name." Thule looked up at his Qunari companion. "Is your real name Hissrad?"
"It's complicated."
"Under the Qun, we use titles, not names," Gatt explained impatiently.
"Yeah. Mine was 'Hissrad', because I was assigned to secret work. You can translate it as … 'Keeper of Illusions' or—"
Gatt cut him off. "It means 'liar'," he said flatly.
The Iron Bull didn't like that. He looked hurt, and that wasn't something Thule had ever seen in him before. "Well, you don't have to say it like that."
Gatt shrugged, clearly unconcerned by the Iron Bull's hurt feelings. "You ready to get started?" he asked Thule. "This should help both our people. Tevinter is dangerous enough without the influence of this Venatori cult. If this new form of lyrium helps them seize power, the war with Qunandar could get much worse."
The Iron Bull nodded. "With this stuff, the Vints could make their slaves into an army of magical freaks. Nobody wants that."
"We could lose Seheron," Gatt said.
"And then see a giant Tevinter army come marching back down here," Thule finished.
Gatt nodded. "The Ben-Hassrath agree. It's why we're here." He pointed out over the water. "The dreadnought is safely out of view, and out of range of any Venatori mages on shore. We'll need to eliminate the Venatori, then signal the dreadnought so it can come out of hiding and deal with the smuggler ship. We'll have to be careful to eliminate the Venatori completely before we call the dreadnought—a half-dozen mages attacking from the shore could do some serious damage, especially if they have cover." He looked at Thule. "It's good you came with such a small group, Inquisitor. The Venatori didn't see you coming; they're still in their camps. If they'd disappeared, there's no telling when we would have tracked down their shipping operation again, much less had such a good chance to destroy it."
Thule was glad that the Ben-Hassrath's intelligence didn't seem to extend to the men who had been trickling in to join the Blades of Hessarian, or to the presence of the Blades themselves as the Inquisition's back-up. He had been suspicious of this deal from the start, both because the offer seemed so good and because it made the Iron Bull uncomfortable, and Gatt's thinly veiled hostility wasn't helping him feel at ease about it. He was grateful for Cullen and the men waiting back at the Blades' stockade.
"You could always wait and attack the ship at sea."
Gatt shook his head. The Iron Bull said, "Dreadnoughts are powerful, but slow. Any decent smuggling ship could outrun one easily. We need to catch them close to shore."
Thule nodded. "You're okay with this, Bull?"
The Qunari shrugged. "Dreadnought runs are tricky—lots of ways for crap to go wrong. If enemy numbers have been underestimated, we're dead; if we can't lock down the Vint mages, the ship is dead. It's risky." He looked at Gatt, who bristled visibly.
"Riskier than letting red lyrium into Minrathous?"
"Fine," Thule said. "Let's get this done." He didn't trust that something wasn't going to mysteriously, 'accidentally', go wrong, but he hoped he had covered it if it did.
"There are two Venatori camps, placed to cover the cove." Gatt pointed. "One up this hill, and the other on that knoll over there. We'll need to split up and hit both at once." Something in his eyes as he narrowed them and stared up at the Iron Bull bothered Thule. There was a challenge there, almost as if Gatt was daring the Qunari.
If Bull saw that, too, he wasn't letting it show. With every appearance of ease, he said, "I'll come with you, boss. Krem and the Chargers can take the knoll." He looked over his shoulder. "Krem! Get your ass over here."
Krem joined them, giving a sidelong look at Gatt that told Thule he didn't trust the elf, either. "Yeah, Chief?"
"You and the Chargers will go over there, to that knoll." The Iron Bull pointed. "And deal with the Venatori you find there. Once they're down, send up your signal. That'll let the dreadnought know it's safe to come in."
"Understood, Chief."
"Now, remember, Krem, you're gonna want a volley to start, but don't get suckered into fighting at range. They've got mages."
"It's all right. We've got a mage of our own." Krem glanced over his shoulder with a grin. Thule was glad Dalish, the Chargers' mage, wasn't in earshot. Years of life as an apostate had made her over-hasty with her denial of her magic, even now when it wasn't necessary. The Chargers, and the Inquisition, prized what she could do.
The Iron Bull continued as though Krem hadn't spoken, saying urgently, "Get in close and take their enchanter down before he has a chance to command the battlefield."
"He'll be dead before he knows it. You're a real mother hen, you know that, Chief?"
"Hey, Lieutenant, watch the lip," the Iron Bull snapped, but without anger, since Krem was completely right. "Just … pay attention, all right? The Vints want this red lyrium shipment bad."
"Yes, Mother." Krem grinned.
The Iron Bull gave him a withering look. "Qunari don't have mothers, remember?"
"Couldn't tell it by the way you're acting." The smile faded from Krem's face. "Look, Chief, we'll be fine."
The Iron Bull nodded, although Thule could tell he was still worrying. "All right, Chargers," he called, loud enough to be heard by the little knot of them. "Horns up!"
They echoed him. "Horns up!"
Smiling, the Iron Bull turned to Thule. "Ready whenever you are, boss."
"Good. Krem, Cassandra will go with you, if that's all right."
"All right? From what I've seen, Seeker Cassandra could take down the whole crew single-handedly."
"I have no desire to attempt such a thing," Cassandra said, but there was a hint of a smile at the compliment.
Thule reached for her hand, kissing the back of her glove. "Be safe."
"Always." But she didn't pull her hand away, and her smile widened and deepened, making Thule's heart turn over in his chest. She was so beautiful when she was about to go into a fight. She also knew all of Cullen's plans, and could share those with Krem on the way to the knoll—well out of earshot of Gatt.
The elf rolled his eyes at the display in front of him, clearing his throat loudly.
"Chargers!" the Iron Bull called. "Hit 'em hard and hit 'em fast, and the drinks are on me when it's over!"
They laughed at that, and still laughing, headed down the hill, Cassandra walking with them.
Lilias went up the hill with the Inquisitor's team. Vivienne was walking behind with the Inquisitor, who of necessity was a bit slower than the rest given the length of his legs.
Gatt and the Iron Bull were just ahead of her, and she watched them with interest. She remembered the elven converts to the Qun from Kirkwall, and wondered where Gatt had found the Qun.
The elf looked up at the Iron Bull, grinning a little. "You gave your Chargers the easier target."
"You think?"
"Lower and farther from the ship? Much less likely to be heavily defended."
Lilias had noticed that, too. The Iron Bull's protectiveness of the Chargers was well-known—even Gatt seemed more amused than surprised.
"I guess we'll do the heavy lifting then—just like old times," the Iron Bull responded.
"Yes, just like them." Gatt chuckled in a way that raised the hairs on the back of Lilias's neck. There was something dreadfully wrong here, she thought.
At a trilled query from Vivienne, the Iron Bull dropped back. Like a trained puppy, Lilias thought with a smile. The Qunari's half-respect, half-fear of the Orlesian mage was overdone, but it didn't entirely seem like an act, either, and Vivienne certainly enjoyed the appearance of power over him.
That left Lilias walking with Gatt. He glanced at her. "The Champion of Kirkwall? I've heard of you."
"Nothing good, I imagine, given what happened with the Qunari there."
He raised his eyebrows. "Nothing good? Of the human woman who bested an Arishok in single combat?"
She shrugged uncomfortably, not liking to talk about it.
"You've earned the respect of the Qunari. You fought with honor, and you won. Few could have." The respect was there in his voice, undeniably, but there was skepticism in his eyes as he looked her over, and she only just barely restrained a shudder at the touch of his cold green gaze on her skin.
"So you've known … is it Hissrad? You've known him a long time?" she asked.
"You mean, 'the Iron Bull'?" he put a heavy sarcastic emphasis on the name. When Lilias didn't respond, he went on, "I was a magister's slave, long ago in Tevinter, and when the magister went to Seheron, he brought me along. For company." The full meaning of the last word dripped from his tone.
Thinking of Fenris, and the stories he'd told her, Lilias wasn't surprised. "That's awful. I'm sorry."
Gatt ignored her comment, looking straight ahead, seeing it again in his mind's eye. "Hissrad and his men attacked my master's ship, and all his soldiers. Hissrad himself broke my chains and set me free."
"And then you joined the Qun?"
"A giant of a man slaughtered the man who had hurt me and then treated me with the first kindness I had ever encountered—wouldn't you?"
Lilias nodded. She probably would have. "I've never heard that story."
"Really. One of the few things he hasn't shared with the Inquisition. Sure, share the secret Ben-Hassrath reports, but keep that bit where you saved the elf boy to yourself."
There was a sharpness in his tone that had Lilias glancing at him with dismay. "Is he in trouble for passing his reports on to the Inquisition?"
Gatt shrugged. "He's been more forthcoming than we'd hoped, and the Ben-Hassrath aren't pleased about it … but he was one of their best agents. He kept the streets clean in Seheron longer than anyone before him—or after. He fought until it nearly killed him. He's earned some leeway." He gave a small, humorless smile. "Besides, the Qunari hate to discard a tool that might still have some use left in it. That's why I have a job." He glanced over at Lilias. "You must find it strange to see an elf working for the Qun."
"No; I saw many of them convert in Kirkwall, and I understood what they felt the Qun had to offer, even if it wouldn't have been my choice." She frowned. "It probably saved some of their lives, because they were gone when the Chantry exploded."
"That's one way to look at it." She had half-expected Gatt to want to argue the benefits of the Qun, but he was plainly not interested in converts. One point in his favor, she supposed. Gatt lifted his head. "There. I was told to expect opposition ahead of the main camp—you see them?"
She did. Turning, she caught Thule's eye and he nodded, and both of them disappeared into the grass. Thule was better at this than she was because he was shorter, but she was lighter and less substantial, so it evened out in the end.
They fought their way through two small forward camps of Venatori and a third larger one. When all the Venatori were down, and Vivienne was seeing to a burn on Lilias's arm, the Iron Bull approached Gatt. "We're clear. Let's send up the signal."
"Right." Gatt knelt and lit the bonfire.
"The Chargers already sent theirs up," the Iron Bull said. "See them over there?"
Lilias squinted and could make out the figures of the Chargers on the far knoll, their bonfire flaming up brightly. Out on the water she saw the dreadnought approach, a sharp-edged craft that looked deadly … and was. They all saw the ease with which it took out the smuggler ship.
Then Gatt put a hand on the Iron Bull's arm. "Hissrad! Look! Down there!"
They could all see what he was pointing at. A hitherto unmentioned group of Venatori, mostly mages by the look of them, crossing the beach in the direction of the knoll where the Chargers waited. He clearly expected the Iron Bull to be distressed, but the Qunari looked at the Inquisitor, raising an eyebrow, and Thule nodded.
On the knoll, another group of soldiers joined the Chargers, lining up with them, a formidable array. The Venatori, seeing them, turned away from the knoll and hurried on down the beach instead, to a more protected position, from which their mages began attacking the dreadnought.
Gatt was nearly speechless with anger. "You brought men in! I told you not to do that!"
"If we hadn't, my Chargers would be dead," the Iron Bull told him. "Did you really think I was that stupid? You practically dangled that knoll in front of my nose—you knew I would send them there. Of course I would protect them!"
"You've ruined everything! All these years, and you throw away all that you are. For what? For this? For them?"
The Iron Bull looked down at the elf, unmoved by Gatt's rising rage. "The Chargers were my men. My team. Hand-picked, every one of them. If you thought I would let them die just to prove something to the Ben-Hassrath you don't know me at all."
Gatt hastily removed himself from in front of the Iron Bull and approached the dwarf instead. "There won't be any alliance, not after this, Inquisitor," he sneered.
"Would there ever have been?" Thule asked him calmly. "This seems more about reminding the Iron Bull who pulls his chains than about offering anything to the Inquisition. And after you set up one of my people with faulty intelligence, and then didn't even know we had allies here on the Coast … I wouldn't have trusted you anyway."
Down below on the beach, the mages were attacking the dreadnought, which was trying to get away but wasn't fast enough. After a few minutes, it exploded, the pieces of it scattering across the water. The Iron Bull shook his head. "That's on you," he said quietly to Gatt. Then he turned his back on his former companion, looking down at the Inquisitor. "Come on. Let's get back to my boys."
Gatt was nearly jumping up and down with rage. "I'll tell them what you did!" he screamed at the Iron Bull. "You'll be named Tal-Vashoth! Think of that! Mighty Hissrad, Tal-Vashoth. Half the Ben-Hassrath thought you'd turned on us already, and they were right! They were right!"
Lilias shivered. That much concentrated anger was bad for a person's health.
Cullen accepted the cup of ale handed to him by Krem, smiling. It had all gone nicely according to plan … up until the Venatori mages escaped and managed to take down the dreadnought before Cullen and the others could get to them. But his orders had been to cover the Inquisition's people, and that he had done. They had gone after the mages and eliminated them, but only after it was too late for the dreadnought.
The Blades of Hessarian's camp had a jolly atmosphere—the Blades enjoyed their ale, and had tapped a barrel as soon as they'd arrived back in camp. The Chargers knew how to put it away, as well, and by the time the Inquisitor and his team arrived, the two groups were in the middle of a friendly but serious rivalry regarding who could consume the most ale.
Cullen, still nursing his first cup, got up from the barrel he was sitting on and greeted the Inquisitor's party at the gates. Thule's eyes went immediately for Cassandra, visibly relaxing when he saw she was well. She gave him a smile that made Cullen look away, almost embarrassed to have seen it. When was the last time a woman had smiled like that at him?
His first thought the past ten years would have been Leyden, but suddenly now he remembered seeing a similar look on Dagna's face. Warmth filled him, a happiness at being the object of someone's affection, before he firmly squashed it, reminding himself that he was no good for any woman, much less one as innocent and light of heart as Dagna.
"Inquisitor. I take it all did not go well?" He looked from the dwarf to the Qunari. The Iron Bull growled and pushed past him, with Vivienne hurrying after him.
Thule sighed. "As we imagined, it was a setup. And his contact reacted badly to the news that we had anticipated the trap. It was not Qunari of Bull to think for himself, apparently—they wanted him to prove his loyalty, and he did: to us."
"That's good news."
"Yes, for us. But the Iron Bull has apparently been tossed out of the Qun, which he's not taking well."
Cullen nodded. He had felt similarly when he left the Templars—even if it had been his own choice, it was difficult to turn your back on what you were trained to do, and who you had always expected to be.
Several hours later, when few people in camp could still stand, an elf appeared at the gates. Cullen, being one of the few still sober, was on guard. He halted the elf.
"I'm here for Hissrad. The 'Iron Bull'," the elf sneered.
"His contact?"
"I was."
Cullen had the nearest Blade go fetch the Iron Bull from the building he had taken refuge in with Vivienne. The Qunari looked surprisingly refreshed as he came toward the gate, and he greeted the elf calmly. "Gatt. You here to kill me?"
"No. The Ben-Hassrath have already lost one good man. They'd rather not lose two."
Thule approached from the other direction, Cassandra at his side.
Gatt drew himself up, speaking stiffly. "Inquisitor, it is my duty to inform you on behalf of the Qunari that there will be no alliance."
Thule gave him a courtly bow. "I formally acknowledge the communication."
"And you will not be receiving any more Ben-Hassrath reports from your Tal-Vashoth ally."
The Iron Bull's body shuddered at the phrase "Tal-Vashoth" as though it had struck him physically, but he didn't speak.
Gatt looked at him, clearly expecting a response. When he didn't get one, he returned Thule's bow. If it was possible to bow sarcastically, he did it. And then he was gone.
Thule turned to the Iron Bull. "I never meant to turn you against your people, Bull."
"You didn't. They did. They wanted me to make a choice; I made it. Let me have this one, boss."
"Of course."
"Bull," Cullen said. "If—it isn't the same, but turning my back on the Templars … it wasn't easy. If you ever want to talk …" He stopped, not sure if he was insulting the Qunari by offering himself as an available ear.
"Thank you," the Iron Bull said, with every appearance of sincerity. "I may take you up on that. But … later. For now … I need to spend some time not thinking."
Vivienne appeared in the doorway of the building they had taken over, and as if he had heard her call the Iron Bull's head turned in that direction. He nodded, and set off across the compound in her direction.
Thule watched him go. "I wonder ..."
Cullen raised his eyebrows, looking down at the dwarf.
"No, you're right. Best not to think about it. You all right here, Cullen?"
"Fine."
Thule nodded and returned to Cassandra, leaving Cullen to watch the gate, looking out across the darkened forests of the Storm Coast, and trying not to think about it.