Chapter 51

"Ah, Leliana!" Marjolaine greeted warmly as soon as they crossed the threshold. Her smug demeanour made Leliana's blood boil. "How simply lovely to see you again, my dear!"

"Spare me the pleasantries," she snapped. "I know you're-"

"Ohh, you must excuse the shoddy accommodations," Marjolaine interrupted her. "I try to be a good hostess, but you see what I have to work with?"

What she called 'shoddy accommodations' was an immaculately furnished manor house. The qunari mercenaries guarding it probably hadn't come with the property, but Leliana was sure there was more where they'd come from.

Marjolaine herself hadn't changed very much. A few wrinkles around the corners of her eyes and greying temples were all she had to show the passage of time, but she was unchanged other than that. Her voice was just as disarming as Leliana remembered, as was her smile. Her body language exuded warmth, but the hard glint in her eyes gave away her true intent.

"This country smells of wet dog," the woman went on. "Everywhere. Even now, it is in my hair, my clothes... ugh." Then she smiled brightly. "You killed the qunari, no? This way I won't have to pay them. Better for both of us. But do not think they were my only protection. I am neither unarmed nor unguarded." She paused to let it sink in. "So perhaps we should just talk for now, yes?"

And talk Leliana did.

"You had me framed, caught and tortured," she said bitterly. "In Ferelden, I thought I would be free of you, but no, you sent your goons. What happened to make you hate me so, Marjolaine? Why do you want me dead so badly?"

"Dead?" Marjolaine asked with a coy smirk. "Nonsense. I know you, Leliana. I know what you are capable of. Four, five men you can dispatch easily." There was pride in her voice. "They were sent to give you cause to come to me. And see? Here you are."

Despite herself, Leliana chuckled. "You are so transparent." She shook her head. "What are you really doing in Ferelden, Marjolaine?"

"In truth? You have knowledge you can use against me. For my own safety, I cannot let you be. You understand, surely." She gently combed her fingers through her hair and tossed it. "Did you really think I did not know where you were? Did you think I would not watch my Leliana? 'What is she up to?' I thought. 'The quiet life, the peasant clothes, hair ragged and messy like a boy... ehh, this is not her.'" She sucked in a breath and lowered her voice. "You were planning something, so I watched. But no letters were sent. No messages. You barely spoke to anyone.

"Clever, Leliana, very clever. You almost had me fooled. But then you left the Chantry, so suddenly. What conclusion was I to draw? You tell me."

"You think I left because of you? You think I still have some plan for... revenge? After all this time?" Leliana groaned. "That is why you dogged me? You are insane, Marjolaine."

"She's helping the Grey Wardens with the Blight," Alistair announced. "Not everything revolves around you, you know."

At that, Marjolaine threw her head back and guffawed.

"Oh, is that what you think?" she asked, looking incredibly amused. "Let me guess, you are the one she beds, yes?" Leliana clenched her fists. "If I were you, I would not believe a word she says. Not a one. She will use you. You look at her, you see a simple girl – a lover, warm and trusting, yes?" She snorted and swiped her hand horizontally through the air. "It is all an act."

"I am not you, Marjolaine," Leliana chewed out. "I left because I didn't want to become you."

"Oh, but you are me, silly girl. You cannot escape it. No one will ever understand you the way I do; we are one and the same." The corners of her lips curled upwards in a vicious smirk. "Do you know why you were a master manipulator, Leliana? It is because you enjoyed the game; you revelled in the power it gave you. You cannot change or deny this."

"I trust her," Alistair replied calmly. "And you need to hug a puppy."

Leliana threw a grateful sidelong look at Alistair, and he nodded, smiling slightly. Then she turned on Marjolaine.

"You will not threaten me or my friends again, Marjolaine. I want you out of my life. Forever."

"She means go away," Alistair added helpfully.

"You do realise she will never stop hunting you, yes?" muttered Zevran. "As the Crows would have done me."

"One way or another," Leliana said, dropping her bow. "It ends here. You won't hurt anyone ever again."

"And you think you can kill me? Just like that?" Marjolaine asked, smirking as she cracked her neck. "I made you, Leliana. I can destroy you just as easily."

There were three others. Marjolaine always operated in a crew of four. There was a mage, a man with two shortswords and a woman brandishing an axe. While Leliana could not have foreseen the exact armaments and skill levels of these additional forces, she had told Alistair and Zevran what to expect. They both went to work immediately.

While Zevran engaged the two warriors, Alistair smote the mage and bashed his face in with the pommel of his sword. Leliana made straight for Marjolaine, who was ready and waiting. There was no need to feel things out, no time to waste and no quarters to be given.

She led with a straight right, which Marjolaine smothered with her left palm and retaliated with two quick lefts, which Leliana caught on her forearm. Age had not dulled her speed, and she had only gotten more cunning. Half-measures wouldn't work.

This proved to be true when Marjolaine lifted her leg for a scything crescent kick aimed at her cheek. Leliana ducked under it, but Marjolaine brought it around, folded her knee, and just as Leliana regained her posture, snapped out her foot, driving the toes of her boot into Leliana's sternum.

Coughing, she took a step back, but Marjolaine was in no mood to be playing games. She stepped into her retreat with a flying right knee, launching herself off her left foot. Leliana knew what was coming next and backed away as Marjolaine used the momentum of her knee to carry herself forward, spun in mid-air and delivered a heel kick. It slashed through the air and no soon had she landed did she drop her hands and feet, stuck out her right foot and spun in a circle in an effort to sweep Leliana's legs.

Leliana simply hopped to avoid getting tripped and Marjolaine jumped off the ground with another knee aimed at her chin. Leliana dropped the point of her elbow into Marjolaine's rising kneecap, eliciting a snarl from the woman. She then drove the same arm up into Marjolaine's abdomen, a quick, short uppercut just as Marjolaine landed a round kick to the inside of her left thigh.

Both combatants separated for a short respite, regaining their breath. Leliana knew she could not draw this out. The faster she dealt with Marjolaine, the faster she could assist the others. But haste would do her no favours.

Marjolaine attacked first this time, coming out swinging. She led with a double spinning heel kick, which Leliana had to back away from to avoid. No sooner had her foot touched the ground after the second kick did Marjolaine raise it again for a round kick. She aimed high, and Leliana held up her forearm to block, but she stopped the kick, drew her leg back, lowered it, and shot out a straight side kick, catching Leliana on the ribs.

Block only what comes close, Marjolaine had taught her long ago. Leliana was reminded of the lesson as she struggled to breathe. The momentary breathlessness allowed Marjolaine to successfully sweep her legs out from under her but Leliana was prepared. She pulled her knees to her stomach as she fell and as soon as her back touched the ground, she kicked her legs out and leapt back to her feet.

She immediately blocked Marjolaine's incoming elbow with her left forearm and tried a hard round punch. Majolaine ducked under it and retreated but Leliana shot out with a straight front kick and caught her former mentor on the chest, sending her tumbling backwards. Pressing the advantage, Leliana stepped forward, lowered herself, placed her right palm on the floor, arched her back and with all the power her legs had, double-kicked Marjolaine in the stomach, using the momentum from the kick to land on her feet in a crouch. Marjolaine went down, but immediately kicked up in a similar fashion to Leliana.

Sitting on her haunches, Marjolaine smirked. In the heat of the moment, that spoke to something deep and animalistic in the back of Leliana's head. How dare she smirk, after all that she'd done? What gave the right to sit pretty while others suffered around her?

Rage. That was all she felt as she and Marjolaine both stood. Fire coursed through her veins. There was nothing else. No other sound, no other feeling. Everything else was of secondary importance. The voice in the back of her head had spoken.

Finish it.

They rushed at each other, and Marjolaine again led with a spinning heel kick, which Leliana avoided, and followed it up with an elbow. Leliana blocked this with her left forearm and landed a straight right on Marjolaine's jaw. This staggered her somewhat, and Leliana followed up with another straight front kick, this time planting the sole of her boot onto Marjolaine's cheek and pushing her back. She bounced against the wall and came back with a front kick of her own.

But Leliana was prepared.

She darted forward, shot right by her lifted knee, her left arm outstretched and, as she passed her by, hooked her arm around her stomach.

Using her body as an anchor, Leliana pivoted around her and wrapped her right arm around her from behind, clasping her hands over Marjolaine's ribs and pressing her chest into her back, tightening the hold. Marjolaine tried to break it but she didn't get enough time as Leliana arched back and lifted the woman off her feet.

This is for Tug and Sketch.

Mid-air, she released the hold and let her fly, falling on her back as she did so. She heard a loud crack and tilted her head back to see Marjolaine drop to the floor after crashing into the wall.

She landed in a heap and didn't move.

Leliana sat up slowly and looked over at Marjolaine. Her limbs were askew, in an unnatural tangle. Her head lolled on her chest.

The fighting had stopped. At least, there were no other sounds. Leliana had to stare at Marjolaine's body for a long moment to realise that the woman had broken her neck against the wall upon being thrown.

Only then did she empty her stomach.

Oh, Maker. What have I done?

She felt a hand on her shoulder. Heard Alistair's uncertain voice.

"Leli? Are you...all right?"

Was she? She didn't know. All she knew was that it was over.

"It's over," she whispered as she cleaned her mouth against the back of her hand. "She's dead. I... I killed her."

She knew she should've been in great physical pain, but she didn't feel a thing. She couldn't look away from Marjolaine's body until Alistair pulled her to her feet and steered her away.

"She's dead... because of me."

"Leliana, don't do this to yourself..."

Zevran was holding out her bow to her, but Leliana hugged herself.

"I... I need some time to myself," she muttered just loud enough so they could hear. "We... will talk later."

Then she walked out into the night, leaving the past behind.