Hi, everyone! Sorry for the radio silence. I promise, this hasn't been abandoned, just life, NaNoWriMo, work ... life. Trying to get back into a more regular writing regime, so more updates soon! Hope you had a lovely New Years! Enjoy.
They headed down the steps from the side of the bridge and into the collection of ramshackle huts and tents that made up the outskirts of the village of Lothering. A few of the people milling about looked up at them, some with distrust others with not even a hint of interest, overall though most seemed not to pay them any mind. They were either too focused on their own tasks or situation, or too despondent to care.
One particularly surly-looking man watched them carefully as they walked past, his arms folded and his eyes narrowed. Not wanting to cause any trouble with him, Elissa hurried the group on.
Just as they were reaching the edge of the gathering of tents and into more of the huts she heard a small voice off to the side.
"I'm scared," the little voice said. "When are we going home?"
Something tugged inside her chest and Elissa froze in her tracks. She looked around for the source of the voice and saw, off to the side near the small stream that seemed to run between the outer area and the main center of the village, a small girl being comforted by her parents. Unlike most of the others, they weren't standing outside a tent and they didn't look to have any belongings with them.
She quickly changed course and walked towards the family. She heard her companions voice their confusion behind her, but she ignored them.
As she approached, the man looked up at her. She took in his shortened stature and elongated ears. They were elves.
Fear flickered across his face, but when he saw she didn't seem to be angry at them or about to attack them he seemed to settle on uncertainty. Elissa knew her armour alone probably cost more that this family would see in a year, if not more, and the poor man would have no idea why she would be approaching them. She saw the way the man subtly put himself between her and his family, and she realised that whatever his confusion he clearly automatically thought the worst.
She immediately held up her hands and slowed her approached. "My apologies. I didn't mean to startle you," she said. The man suddenly looked like he was about to faint and the woman beside him gasped. Elissa continued forward until she was only a couple of paces away from them. She gestured towards girl. "I couldn't help but hear what the little girl said. Are you alright?"
"G - greetings to you, my lady," the man said and both he and the woman gave her a very deep bow. "If it … isn't too much to ask, might you be able to spare some bread?"
Now that she was closer, Elissa could see rips in their clothing that looked to be recent and both the adults had newly starting bruises. She frowned. "What happened to you?"
The man shifted on the spot and glanced over at the woman, who shrugged but then nodded vehemently in Elissa's direction clearly not wanting him to keep this noblewoman waiting. "We - we thought it'd be safer in Lothering, that the teyrn would bring his soldiers here." He paused, wringing his fingers. He glanced up at the bridge near the entrance to the village, then back at Elisa. "Bandits attacked us and took everything! Our food … our clothes … my daughter's pet lamb."
"Please, my lady," the woman said cutting in. She gave another deep bow. "Nobody cares about a few elves. If you could only please see yourself to providing us with a loaf of bread, then we would be forever in your debt."
Elissa frowned again. "Were those the bandits up on the bridge as you come into the village?" she asked, gesturing the way they'd come.
"Yes, m'lady," the man replied.
Elissa thought about tit for a moment. Iona's face flashed across her eyes and she felt her stomach drop. "I - I'm sorry," she said and immediately saw the family deflate. She hurried to continue. "I don't have any bread on me, we were just looking for somewhere to get some ourselves. But, the bandits are gone now, so you might be able to find some of your belongings up where they were set up."
"Oh, thank you my lady," the man said, bowing his head.
Elissa reached into her coin pouch and pulled out about fifty silvers. "Please, take this as well," she said, handing the coins over to the man. "I hope it helps."
The small family seemed to freeze for a moment, all staring at the pile of coins now in the man's hands. Elissa began to panic that she'd somehow offended them, but then the man looked up and she could see tears in his eyes. "Thank you," he said, his voice a little rough with emotion. "That's very kind of you."
"Bless you!" the woman added. She gave yet another deep bow. "This will help us a great deal. Maker watch over you."
"Take care," Elissa said, gave them a thin forced smile and turned to walk off. Behind her, Alistair looked pleased while Morrigan just looked confused. She ignored both of them and returned to their path towards the more built-up area of the village.
Along the way, they came across a merchant and managed to sell off some of their unwanted items. After sorting out a disagreement he was having with a chantry sister about his prices first, of course. Alistair made some sarcastic comment about how nice it was that everyone was working together in this time of crisis, Morrigan said it was survival of the fittest and called them all cretins, and Loki just whined at all the arguing. In the end though, Elissa managed to calm everyone down. The merchant was able to continue trading, but agreed grudgingly to do so at lower prices, and the chantry sister seemed pleased, gave them a blessing, and walked off. Elissa heard Morrigan mutter how impressed the darkspawn will be that they were solving every squabble in the village, but managed to ignore her.
Trading complete, they continued on into the village. They paused a couple more times to subtly listen to some of the town gossip and once to talk to a little boy who'd lost his mother, but eventually they made it to the local tavern. If they wanted to find any information on, well, anything, they figured that the tavern would be the best place to go.
As they approached, a man near the door to the building called out to them. "You might not want to go in," he said. "Tavern's full, and those soldiers are being a nuisance."
"It's full?" Elissa asked, frowning.
"Yep, same as the chantry," he replied. "Packed with people who fled their homes. The tavern keeper's letting folks sleep on the floors, but he can only fit so many. And those soldiers are getting restless."
"Isn't more soldiers in the village a good thing?"
The man gave a scoff. "They're certainly not here to defend us. They were looking for someone … before they started drinking. I hear they almost killed a man because they didn't like his face. I wonder if they're deserters from the king's army?"
"Is something wrong?" Elissa asked.
"Is something right?" the man countered, before letting out a heavy sigh. "With the king dead, them darkspawn will overrun Lothering before anyone can organise. You'd think those soldiers could at least run off the bandits. I hear 'someone' gave them what they deserved. Wasn't you, was it?"
"'Twas indeed," Morrigan cut in, answering the man.
"It was!" for the first time in their interaction, the man smiled. In fact, he all-out grinned. He turned and called out to his peers around him. "Hey … everyone! These are the ones who drove out those thieving bastards!"
A few of the men around him nodded in their direction and others waved, a few clapped each other around the shoulders in subdued celebration.
The man turned back towards them, still smiling. "More will probably come, but it's good to know some justice is left here. Thank you."
Elissa gave him a gentle smile and a nod of her head.
A crash and the sound of shattering glass came from inside the tavern behind him and he sighed again. "We can't really afford much more trouble, but if you feel like dealing with that lot as well, I certainly wouldn't say no."
Elissa wasn't sure whether he was joking or not, but gave him a thin smile anyway and headed past him, into the tavern.