Mercs Turned
The following day went calmly until they were about to pass a small, rough road that went to that centuries-old Warden Keep or some such, from the time of King Arland — when the Grey Wardens had been kicked out of Ferelden. It was always something Elle wanted to explore, but never had the time. Like now.
Two scouts walked up with a man slung over a shoulder. "My Lady, this man was laying in wait for us." When she narrowed her eyes, he added, "He's not dead, m'lady! Just knocked out. Thought you might want a word with 'im." He handed her a small piece of parchment.
Elle read the slip. "Ah! A receipt with orders for the Captain of the … Flint Company. I daresay that Lord Nathaniel has heard of these Marcher folks since they originate in Ostwick. Upon brief scan, I see the following: 'The Cousland spitfire … '" She paused to calm herself down a bit and take a deep breath. Roddy and the Highever personnel gave each other side glances. She really hated it when Rendon called her that and everyone knew it. And, here, Rendon was saying it to a complete stranger ... almost as if he knew Elle would find the note. She continued, "The Cousland spitfire will be heading along the North Road. Be certain she and her entourage are killed." She arched an eyebrow. "Maker's Breath, it seems that we're only worth twenty gold. It's signed by the Traitor Howe and a Captain Flewell … perhaps this gentleman." Then, she looked around and asked, "Roddy, where might be a good place to stop for a meal and some rest?"
"Just around the next curve is Falaar's Stream. We can stop there to rest and water the horses while we eat … all in rapt enjoyment of your pending conversation with our bound soon-to-be-dead man." Roddy grinned.
Falaar's Stream was special to Elle. She and Nathaniel would always stop there when traveling between Vigil's Keep and Highever. It had the most beautiful pink-flowering water flowers in the crisp and clear pools along the edge of the slow-moving stream. "Let's do that. But, if this man is smart, he may walk off alive and wealthy."
Elle rode ahead and soon the place Roddy mentioned was in sight. In short order, the horses were being tended to and a cold lunch was distributed. Ironically, the odor of Nan's pungent garlic rolls … now as hard as rocks, but no less pungent … roused the mercenary.
Elle walked up to him and asked that he be unbound while covered by several swords. She handed him a bowl of cold grains and dried fruits. "Please eat, good sir. And, then we can have a brief chat."
"Why should I speak with you if you're just going to kill me," he grumbled … but he took the food and started eating anyway.
"A very good question!" Elle took out a pouch with contents that clinked as coins might. "You were paid the paltry sum of twenty gold to kill us. Now, was that only for you or was it for all your men?"
"All of us," he groused and then laughed when he noticed Elle's disgusted look. "Obviously, I should have asked for more."
Several of the men laughed softly. Thomas and Delilah just looked horrified.
"Well … obviously." Elle sat in front of the man and cocked her head. Her mabari, Midnight, strolled over and stood next to the man who shied a bit. "He won't hurt you … unless I ask him to." She gave him an evil smile.
"Yeah, my head archer had one of these brutes once." He grinned. "As good as most of my men and didn't insist on a share."
Elle was beginning to like this man!
Midnight barked. The man tossed him a dried apple slice which Midnight caught mid-air, of course. Midnight preferred his food without dirt.
The man's mannerisms and speech were enough for Elle to ascertain that this man was indeed a leader and more than likely the receipt's Captain Flewell. "So, Captain, what's going on?" She waved the receipt at him.
He jutted his chin at the note. "Just like it says. My squad was to kill you in ambush. My experience tells me that you were alerted somehow and had a greater number of scouts out than normal." He grinned. "Or your man would have never found me out."
"Did Howe retain more than just your squad?" She handed him one of the rock garlic rolls.
"Three more squads. One to coordinate with his untrained pansy boys and attack Highever Castle when ready, one to mop up at the Vigil, and one to infiltrate Highever Castle." He tried to bite into the roll. "Trying to break my teeth, eh?"
Elle and Roddy shared an alarmed look. She took the roll from the man and tossed it to Midnight, who crunched it easily enough. As Roddy and Matin reached down to the man and drew him up to stand, Elle stood and growled, "Infiltrate the Castle? To do what?!"
"Kill the family, set fires, steal goods … the usual."
She got close to his face. "Can you call them off?" She withdrew another bag of coins.
"I can call off my squad, but the others march with Howe. The ones at the Vigil are probably on their way back home by now." As far as Elle could surmise, the man had been completely truthful. Most mercenaries were, when faced with coin. Most who hired mercenaries forgot to pay for silence. His eyes darted to the bags of coin. "Pay me forty gold and I'll call off my men, head right for Amaranthine and go back to Ostwick."
Elle narrowed her eyes. "Do that." When he glanced at the coin bags, she added, "For the record, this also pays for your silence about our little arrangement. Roddy, have someone write out a receipt for this gentleman. Call off the ambush and have them join you here. I will give you twenty gold then. My men will escort you to Amaranthine and give you the other twenty when you step on your ship home."
She got into his face. "Do not try to double-cross me. Do not try to contact your other squads and do exactly as I say and you may have other work from me at some time in future. One never knows when a good mercenary contact may come in handy." She nodded to Matin. "Give Matin here your contact information." She opened both sacks of coins and counted them out in front of the Captain. She had him put twenty into one of the sacks and put it in his belt pouch. She put the other twenty into another pouch and gave it to Matin who was going to lead the escort.
The captain asked for a bow and lit two arrows, sending them straight up. Soon, eleven other men arrived.
Now that the road should be clear, Elle immediately sent three of her men on their fastest horses to ride for Highever with the news and Howe's now useless receipt. Hopefully, that would be enough to get father to imprison Howe. Delilah and Thomas just looked more wretched every hour.
Once the mercenary captain explained the situation to his men, they all seemed pretty pleased for the extra coin. Roddy assigned some Highever soldiers to go with Matin to escort the men back to Amaranthine … after taking their weapons and throwing the weapons into a wagon bound for Highever. Then, Roddy had the mercenaries tied up and put into the back of an emptied wagon.
Before they left, Elle walked up and put more gold sovereigns in the captain's pocket. "For new weapons. Safe journey."
Flewell looked around his group. "Thank you, Lady Cousland. We will remember that you were a noble who kept her word."
"Simple business, my good man. Simple business." She turned to Matin. "We'll camp here tonight, Matin, and head out slowly in the morning to give you time to catch back up. I fear we'll need all hands when we get home."
It gave the horses a needed respite as well as the people in the caravan. The supper that night was light and they decided to use bedrolls only. It was a lovely evening and the countryside was bright with moonlight. Elle took the last of her Amaranthine cookies and headed toward the stream. She wasn't really too surprised when Thomas came up to sit beside her.
"Nathaniel told me you used to stop here with him," he said quietly as he sat down next to her. Thomas looked the least like Rendon and, therefore, was the more handsome of the siblings with his golden hair and blue eyes. His smile was usually sincere and would always make Elle smile back. She always wondered if he would have bowed to Rendon as much as his older brother did ... if he were the heir.
"We did. Quite frequently." She handed him a cookie. "How are you holding up, Tom?"
He took the cookie and chuckled. "You're the only person in Thedas who calls me that, Elle. Father hated it." The smile vanished. "I think I shall introduce myself as Tom from now on."
"Well, if you recall, you are the one who first gave me the nickname Elle. However, I liked it so I kept it," she said and smiled, "And, I know your father hated to hear you called Tom." She squinted a moment. "I believe he said that it made you sound 'common' ... as if that were an insult."
He sighed and passed the cookie to the ever-present Midnight. "He wasn't always bad, Elle. You know that."
It was true. When the Howe children were younger, Rendon would play with them and shield them from their grandmother's tirades. Once Nathaniel hit twenty and came fully into his heirship, Rendon changed. Different things became important to him, and Thomas and Delilah were only afterthoughts and necessary nuisances.
She had a feeling Rendon was going to be the topic. "He just had a way to irritate me all the time, even when we were younger. While until recently I wouldn't have called him 'bad', I never was very fond of him. And, you didn't answer my question."
"I'm ... sad ... angry ... disappointed ... ashamed ... probably dozens of other emotions will come up over the next few days." He turned toward Elle and took her hand. "I swear to you that I will do everything I can to set this all right, Elle. I hope we can stop Father before he does something terrible." He released her hand. Elle could see the pools of unshed tears in his eyes. "I know it's too late to save him," he whispered.
Elle didn't respond. She didn't need to add any more words to his distress, but she did reach over and squeeze his hand. She just hoped it wasn't too late to save Rendon's children. Often, the offspring would share the punishment of the father. Not so much in recent years in Ferelden, but it was a practice of previous monarchs. After a few more moments, he wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his disheveled shirt and went back to the camp.
Shortly, she went to her bedroll and went to sleep. Midnight curled up closely to let her know he would be there no matter what happened. He always just knew when she needed that. She wanted to tell Thomas that he was right. It was much too late for Rendon to escape execution. The papers in her backpack assured it even if they managed to avert Rendon's treason, but she didn't want to tell Delilah or Thomas about their existence. That would up to her father.
Not long after they started out the next morning, Matin and the Highever guards who went with him caught back up to the caravan. They sold the wagon and rode hard to catch up. Smart men.
It took another two and a half incredibly nerve-wracking days.
There was a hill that Elle always loved because once she crested it, she could see Highever in the distance. She knew she would be home soon. She paused her horse. Everyone knew why. Once at the top of this hill, she'd be able to tell if they made it in time or not. She took a deep breath and cantered up.
After telling the caravan to hold, she spurred Rebel on faster at the sight of smoke from fires burning in the city. It took a while to get close enough to see men sieging the city without them noticing her. Howe's men. She returned and guided the caravan off the road into a copse of trees near an old run-down barn. At least, that's how it looked.
She said a quiet prayer to the Maker that the riders they sent ahead had gotten there in time. Then, she turned to the group with her and counted. In addition to camp staff and drivers, there were fifteen armed soldiers and three scouts with her … along with Roddy and Midnight. There were many more of Howe's men and mercenaries encircling the castle and Maker only knew how many were plaguing the city. No doubt Highever's highly trained city guardsmen were holding as well as they could.
"Is this…?" Roddy got off his horse.
"Yes. We need to find out what's happening inside the castle. Everyone get inside the barn!" She turned to the group with her. "I'm going to go …"
She was interrupted by a crash inside the barn. Everyone drew their swords, but there was no need. One of the kitchen servants opened the door and cried out before Nan clapped her hand over the young elf's mouth. "Maker be praised! I never thought I'd be this glad to see you, young scamp!"
Elle knew it wasn't very leader-like, but she ran over and hugged her old nanny. "What's going on? Why are you leaving?"
"The Teyrn sent us out to get help!" Nan saw Thomas and Delilah. "I see you've already heard about the treachery of these Howe traitors! Lady Landra, Lord Dairren, Lady Iona and your mother, the Teyrna, will be out …"
"Maker's Breath, Elethea Cousland! You must be Maker Blessed!" Eleanor Cousland hugged her daughter for several precious moments. Unlike the typical well-dressed noblewoman, Eleanor was wearing leather armor and was armed with her bow and matching swords, passed down from her family. Then, she drew back. "All right. Enough of that. You need to know what's going on. Everyone inside is all right. Your outriders made it here in time. Fergus and the men pretended to leave and then turned back. They are working to secure the city. Maker protect them. Rendon got tipped to the subterfuge and snuck out of the castle before your father could arrest him. The damned Chantry is giving Rendon … and, no doubt, his gold … sanctuary. Rendon has tried twice to sneak to the docks, but was thwarted. We all know what terrible fighters Highever's Templars are against normal, reasonably-armed men." When she saw the Howe children, she asked calmly, "What are they doing here?"
"They were left to be slaughtered by mercenaries at the Vigil, Mother. We rescued them. They had no idea. I'm positive." Elle held up her hand to stop any other comments. "Delilah had been locked away for over a year and Rendon had subdued Thomas through drink. He's been as horrified as all of us since sobering up."
Eleanor narrowed her eyes at them. "Bryce will decide what to do with you." Then, she looked around. "We were just going to walk, but thanks to your timely arrival, we may not need to anymore. We need horses and some men to escort us to Caer Oswin to get help and send word to others in the Bannorn. We can hold out inside for months, but the town is paying the price."
Elle looked at Roddy. "Assign a sufficient guard to take Mother and the gentle lord and ladies to Caer Oswin. You can use one of the wagons once we unload them, Mother. I intend to take the battle to them … a few at a time … in the dead of night." When everyone but her mother looked askance, she added, "No less than they were going to do to us." Then, a thought came to Elle, "Where is Duncan?"
"He's fighting in the city with Fergus, last I heard, but he must go to Ostagar soon." Eleanor paused and then took her daughter's shoulders. "I have a better plan for you, my darling daughter. You must find Duncan and go with him to Ostagar. Tell the King what Howe has done."
"Loghain is going to be apoplectic at Howe starting this up now with a potential Blight at our doorstep. It weakens the entire country!" Elle frowned. "I don't want to leave you to all this."
Roddy stepped up. "It's a good plan, Lady Cousland. Remember, they think the ambush succeeded. They think you are dead, which means that Rendon thinks you are dead, and, no doubt, feels the King is none the wiser. You are our most credible witness at this moment. Let me take some of the men into the city. We'll find Duncan." He looked at the Teyrna. "Lady Elethea, Midnight, Duncan and some of the men can go with you to Caer Oswin so you can deliver your request for aid and then Lady Elethea, Midnight and Duncan can go on from there to Ostagar."
"What will happen to us?" Thomas asked, somewhat combatively.
Elle turned her compassion off. She had just been reminded of their greatest negotiation tool. Yes, Rendon had wanted to kill them, but not in front of witnesses. "While Roddy goes to find Duncan, I shall take you inside. You will be safe there because we will not harm you. Your father only wanted you to die alone with no witnesses. He is, no doubt, telling the Revered Mother about how the Couslands killed his precious children."
Thomas' visage twisted. "Imagine his surprise when he finds out our 'murderers' saved us from 'him'."
Elle smiled and held Thomas' shoulders. "It will work out for the best. I always believe that."
He rolled his eyes. "I know. It's one of your least endearing attributes."
"I"ve heard that before," she replied with a wink before turning to the others and continuing, "Then, we have a plan. Come, everyone. We need to get those goods inside the castle. Some of you stay inside this barn with the horses and stay alert for patrols. No one from Howe's forces can see this place and survive to tell its location. No one."
Delilah whispered to the Teyrna. "Her large heart can be quite hardened when necessary."
Eleanor took Delilah's hands. "I wish it weren't true that a hard heart was needed, my dear girl, but this is Ferelden. Take a lesson and learn from it."
Soon, all the goods as well as Elle, Varel, Delilah and Thomas were inside Highever Castle. Elle took the Howe siblings directly to the main room where her father was working with his men on strategies. One of them touched her father's shoulder and pointed.
"Elethea!" He ran to Elle and embraced her as if she might disappear if he let go. "Thank the Maker you're here and all right." Midnight barked his agreement. "You, too, brave boy!"
"Father, it's good to see you, too!" She reciprocated her father's embrace and then turned to the Howes. "Thomas and Delilah were supposed to be killed while left alone at the Vigil. We saw the mercenaries marching up to the Vigil as we left and Seneschal Varel can confirm it. He's getting medical attention at the moment." Elle's look hardened. "He was locked in Howe's prison, for speaking rationally to Rendon. I suspect Howe thinks his men were successful since Mother said he's hiding behind the Revered Mother's skirts."
Bryce shook his head. "Damn Highever Chantry. Mallol tried to go explain things to the Revered Mother, but has never returned. I pray to the Maker that she still lives, but we all know that Rendon's silver poison-coated tongue can be deadly." He looked at Delilah and Thomas. "You will, of course, be treated with every deference we can offer." He turned to Ser Mallory. "Take them to the family quarters, Mallory. They can use the outer two guest rooms. Alert the servants to the presence of two new guests and set constant guard watch on the rooms."
Elle caught a few glances before the two Howes were led away. "Are Oriana and Oren all right?"
"They're fine. We caught the assassins before they could harm them, but it was quite a fright. I fear that Fergus has turned into a fierce, unthinking killing machine because of it." Bryce sat at a chair and waved everyone else away. Once it was only he and Elle in the room, he added, "I had no idea Howe was this far gone, Pup. This hurts more than any Orlesian attack."
Elle noticed Midnight staring at one of the more decorated walls. She put a finger to her lips and snuck over to a tapestry, pulled her rapier and pulled the tapestry back swiftly. A familiar elf stood there. "Zevran! Are you here for business or pleasure?"
"Pleasure always, my dear Elethea." He bowed. He glared at the tapestry that had given him away. After turning his gaze to Midnight, he added. "I must be more careful around you!"
Midnight gave him a cheery, "You're learning!" bark.
Bryce poured three goblets of wine from an already opened and, no doubt tested, bottle. "Oriana sent a bird to … friends of her family." He chuckled. "For some reason, Zevran was already in Highever."
Zev waved away the comment. "Nothing professional, I assure you. I've had a bad experience recently with the Crows and needed some time on my own. Then, in Kirkwall, a little bird told me that some trouble was brewing in the south. I thought I should offer my hardly trivial assistance to the Highever forces!"
Elle decided that she'd let the "bad experience recently with the Crows" thing go for the moment. She had met Zevran a long time ago when he arrived as one of the escorts with Oriana before the wedding with Fergus. No one was really surprised. Antiva was Antiva, after all.
After a sip of the wine, Zev continued, "So far, we have found ten infiltrators and they will infiltrate no longer." Elle caught him still looking around the room. His eyes narrowed as he must have noticed something at one of the doors. He set down the goblet, put his finger to his lips, drew his daggers and quickly opened it to a crouching spy and a dead guard. The spy was dead soon, as well. "Eleven infiltrators."
"There was a captain and eleven men in the 'squad' to ambush us on the North Road … soooo, if none of the eleven you eliminated seemed to have any intelligence, there is probably one more lurking inside. A smart one." Elle took a sip of the wine. "Of course, this squad may not know how to count to twelve … or he or she has already escaped. We can hope." She frowned. "What I would give for a long bath, but, alas, I must get on the road soon and we have some reading to do."
Elle opened her pack and dumped out all the documents she found in Howe's desk. "Rendon should thank me for saving these from the mercenaries. If I could find them, underpaid mercenaries could, too. They would be worth a fortune against Howe."
Bryce and Zev exchanged alarmed looks.
In short order, she organized all the documents she had already read on the road … when she should have been sleeping. "I've read them all." She motioned to the stacks on the table. "These are in order of importance: pertinent to this attack, treasury logs, the real treasury logs … Amaranthine owes the Teyrnir a great deal, various bits of blackmail evidence, pledges of allegiance against the Teyrnir, note of who should be eliminated because they refused to be on the previous list, plans to sell the Alienage elves to slavers." Elle sighed. "Treason upon treason upon fatal capital crimes, I'm afraid. And, no … Thomas and Delilah do not know about these."
She handed two rather lengthy ones to Zevran. "Are these both forgeries? From the content, I knew the one suggesting that Cailan marrying Celene was, although it was very, very good otherwise. If I didn't know Father as well as I do, I wouldn't have seen it. Is the other one a forgery, too?"
After a few moments, Zevran whistled. "Marjolaine, you are still the best ... except for one thing." He handed her one that spelled out how Bryce Cousland was negotiating with Orlais to have Cailan marry Empress Celene after assassinating Queen Anora. "Let me show you a clue. Marjolaine's vanity always requires her to make her mark with the placement of the words." He ran his finger over a pattern in the spaces in the shape of an elaborate archer's bow. Elle would never have seen it if he hadn't showed her.
"Dear Maker." Bryce looked at the one still in Zevran's hands. "What's the other document?"
After a frown, Zev handed it to Bryce. "This one looks quite real. From Arl Eamon, a plea to set Anora aside because there is no heir, no replacement is specified. Still might be defined as treason. Ferelden is pretty messed up. Yes?"
Elle narrowed her eyes. "Messed up? I'd have to agree with that. Will no one rid us of Eamon Guerrin? First, he spits in the face of Maric by marrying an Orlesian tramp and then denies he has anything to do with Orlais."
Bryce looked pensive. "I've been working on some trade deals with Orlais." He quickly added, "In complete confidence of Anora and Cailan. Nothing has ever come up about Eamon dealing with anyone … but, Isolde's name has been mentioned several times. Mostly about how much her family owes several large merchants." He sighed. "It could be reliable gossip … or it could be The Game protecting Eamon by slandering his wife." He shrugged. "Eamon has the power here, not Isolde."
"Orlais gives me a headache." Elle sat and rubbed her temples. "Shall I keep these things with me? Or leave them here? Or, if I take them … which should I show the King?"
Zevran stepped behind Elle and started to give her a neck rub. After Fergus' wedding, Elle had also gotten one of those very, very much appreciated neck rubs ... as did her mother and many others in the family. "Ah, my dear Elethea, Orlais can be painful … but only because of the masks. No one can lie to me … or to you, bellissima … if we can look them in the face when asking a question. Pieces of paper give us no tells."
"Leave them here, Pup." Bryce paused. "No, wait … give the King these." He handed her several parchments with Rendon's signature spelling out the destruction of Highever. "Duncan will also be there to testify. The King is quite fond of Duncan."
Elle put the parchments into a now much lighter pack. "I'll stop by the kitchens for some more good food on the way out." She turned to Zevran. "Take care of them, Zev! I'm counting on you to be me in my absence."
"Oh my dear Lady Cousland! I could never hope to be as grand at sneakiness and lethal deadliness as you, but I shall promise to keep them safe." He tapped his chest with his fist and then bowed gracefully.
The last thing Elle wanted to do was leave the room, but, after a final round of solid hugs, she did. The kitchens did not disappoint either. She loaded her own pack along with a couple extra sacks of Nan's special travel food. The servants even seemed to be getting used to all the guards in the larder by the hidden entrance to the escape tunnel … just in case.
Elle encouraged Nan and the kitchen servant to go back to Highever Castle. Her cherished Nan agreed, but loaded them up with even more food before they left. The soldiers would remain with Roddy to help Fergus. Elle, Duncan, her mother, Lady Landra and Lady Iona would be well protected. Dairren needed no protection. Elle knew he was quite capable with his silverite longsword and reinforced Oswin shield.
Duncan and Roddy arrived at the run-down barn at the terminus of the escape tunnel in good time and they were soon on their way to Caer Oswin with their precious envoys for aid.
...
AN: So, things are going just a little bit differently … okay, quite a bit differently. ;) Thanks for reading!
fullmetal1985, thanks for the Alert and Favorite!
The Invisible Pretender, good to see you again! Thanks for the story alert. :)
