a/n- okay, so I want to clarify something just because I took some of the relationship dialogue from a particular conversation and morphed it to my own devices. I actual used the flirt options throughout DA:I, not to flirt but sometimes because I felt they were more genuine statements my character would make to the other characters. I know that might seem weird, but it's what I did. Just to clarify, what might seem like flirtation or interest is only respect between colleagues. Nothing more. I only say that because if it came off as flirtatious to me, then it probably will to you as well. *sigh* anyway I rewrite it is comes off worse.
A Charge for the Inquisition
Daylight broke quick and clean as the clouds of the snowstorm the last night receded toward the western sky. Enya met with Josephine in the morning to discuss a nobleman who want to help but did not know what would be of best use to the Inquisition. Leliana reminded her that she had yet to respond to the offer of aid from the Bull's Chargers and though she did not directly say it, it was clear that the spymaster found the negligence on the matter more than slightly irritating.
The meetings left her feeling sufficiently chastised but otherwise awake. In an effort to lighten her spirits, Enya made her way out of the castle, descending the steps to the main courtyard. The hum of voices, the bustle of people past, the urgency of the delivery of packages from below imbued her surroundings with the familiarity she often associated with him. Though her position had grown no lighter, she found the business of the Inquisition's volunteers very much like that of the Clan. Here, everyone worked for a common good. There was purpose and not dissent among these men and women that hurried by providing supplies for those of the Inquisition who worked to repair Skyhold's withered walls.
In the midst of these people she spotted Cullen. Enya made for the plank of wood he'd placed on barrels in the entry courtyard. They did not always see eye to eye but when it came to a leader for the Inquisition's forces, she owed him a great deal of respect. And after the battle of Haven, his strategy and solemnity in the face of death had earned him her admiration.
"I need several men to help with repairs to the barracks," Cullen addressed a young soldier who ran off right away, "You, go and see if Leliana's scouts have found out anything more about that shipment of weapons."
The soldier stood before him for a moment perhaps waiting for the commander to address another of the soldiers.
"Now!" Cullen barked.
The soldier jumped, "Yes sir, right away sir."
Cullen returned to the list on the table running his finger down it. Enya caught a few muttered curse words as he shook his head. He glanced up at one of the other soldiers who waited for instruction but dismissed them instead.
"Ah Inquisitor." His smile was half sided.
"After Haven, I hoped my men might jump to it a bit faster. I thought perhaps something good could come out of all of that mess." His shoulders slumped, "We should have been better prepared for an attack. But no one could have expected an Archdemon. Even so… Haven was a mistake, one we can ill afford to repeat."
"There was nothing you or any of us could have done differently, Cullen." Her hands feel to her hips, "The Inquisition was new, we had no support. Even if we had wanted to find a better location, who would have taken us in?"
"And it took a mountain falling on you for us to make you our leader," Cullen chuckled, "Have you gotten used to your new title yet?"
"I don't think I ever got used to the old one." Enya replied, "It's an adjustment, just like coming here." She gestured about at the walls that surrounded them, "But its better. At least I've earned this one."
He nodded, "Skyhold has its advantages. We are much better defended here, should Corypheus choose to attack us again. Archdemon or no, once the castle is repaired it could withstand the beast. Though if he's smart, Corypheus would never attack us here."
Enya nodded, glancing at his list. The commander was meticulously organized, each group of soldiers scheduled down to the minute. She noticed another list beside it. Some of the names further down the list she recognized as those that had died in the weeks after Haven, while only Chancellor Roderick's name was familiar further up the list.
"How many were lost," she gestured. It looked to be a long list.
Cullen's expression grew grim, "More than there should have been. But most made it here to Skyhold. Leliana's people are working on notifying their families."
Silence stretched for a long moment. Enya began to turn away but Cullen's voice caught her before she could.
"I've been meaning to thank you, Inquisitor."
She raised an eyebrow.
"What you did at Haven. You had no way of knowing you would survive. You would have sacrificed yourself for the Inquisition."
Enya shifted, crossing her arms of her chest, "I did what was right Cullen. You, Cassandra, Leliana, any of you would have done the same."
"Perhaps, but it matters that it was you who did it. It is the reason you were able to speak to my soldiers the other day, the reason that there is still hope in this Inquisition," he paused, "We are all proud to have you as our Inquisitor."
She looked away for a moment and then nodded, "You're welcome, Cullen."
And with that, she left the Inquisition's commander to direct his men uninterrupted.
The storm coast more that lived up to its name. The skies drizzled a steady flow of rain upon their heads as they passed through the mountains down onto it rocky shores. The ride had been long and contentious. Blackwall, a veritable stranger to Enya even after his offer to join the Inquisition, had taken Cassandra's place as their vanguard. Josephine had retained her services, along with Leliana to meet with a Chantry historian who wished to authenticate the late Divine's Writ for the formation of the Inquisition. Cassandra was none too pleased, muttering a myriad of quiet curses all revolving around the word "bureaucracy."
Despite his unfamiliarity with her their other two travelling companions as well as herself, he seemed well equipped to handle their familiarity with each other. Enya did her best to address him and pull him into the conversation in the evenings when they were tired and relaxed about the fire. He played along, though she was sure her efforts were transparent. Varric had no trouble adjusting to the new presence and to her great surprise, neither did Solas.
There was a civility, and understanding in the way that Solas and Blackwall spoke. As they rode along, Solas on his chestnut mare and Blackwall aboard a plucky Ferelden bay, she wondered after this quick unexpected comradery.
When they finally descended through the rain and mist, down from the mountainside, Enya breathed a sigh of relief for the weather had worked its way into her bones. At the end of the road there burned a campfire surrounded by half a dozen tents. The ginger-haired Scout Harding grinned broadly as they rode into the camp.
"Afternoon Inquisitor," she called.
The group dismounted. Enya pulled the saddle from Theneras' back and removed the bridle, laying them together on the hitching fence and threw the saddle blanket over both. It wasn't the best, already wet as it was, but it would do better than no cover at all.
"That Iron Bull is an odd fellow. Very… large," the Scout continued when the party had settled in.
"Large?" Enya wrung out her hair and then ran a cloth over it in the hope it might soak up the extra water, but it too was dampened by the rain.
"He's one of those Qunari," the dwarf shifted, her eyes distant, "I'd heard that were big, but I guess I hadn't thought, well."
She gestured with her hand.
Varric chuckled, "Yeah, they're big. Just be glad you aren't dealing with an army of them, led by and angry Arishok who thinks you're trying to keep him from a sacred part of the Qun. That will ruin your perfect afternoon."
All attention we to him.
The blonde dwarf shook his head, "Have none of you read my book?"
"I have," Solas replied.
"Chuckles, I'm touched. What did you think?"
"The battle with the Arishok was quite possibly one of the least believable elements of the story," he paused, "but overall you've crafted quite a fine tale, Varric."
Varric placed a hand on his chest, "Least believable?! Why it was one of the only things I didn't feel needed embellishment. Every word of it is true."
"I might be on your side Varric, if you'd ever gotten me a copy," Enya teased, "What happened to 'my published will be pleased the Herald of Andraste is reading your book'?"
"I've had other, more important matters to handle. Certain…ah" he paused searching for the right word, "People, I've needed to contact." He turned to Solas, "People, I will be happy to sit you down with, Chuckles, so you may ask about as many details of my book you find unbelievable."
"I may take you up on that, Varric," Solas warned.
"I'd be concerned if you didn't."
The dwarf pulled a chunk of break and cheese from his saddle bag and settled by the fire. Blackwall joined him, offering over a waterskin in which he carried brandy.
"Try this. Cut through this damned damp."
Enya grabbed her own food from her pack, various bits of fruit she managed to scavenge from the kitchens and a piece of dried bread. It wasn't much, but it would suffice. She took an apple from her pack and fed it to Theneras. The four settled around the fire, the chill abating from their bones. Harding joined them.
While they filled their stomachs with a long overdue meal, she told them of an organized group of bandits called the Blades of Hessarian, dressed in blue and white, who claimed the Storm Coast as their territory. They'd been a problem, attacking scouting parties and stealing supplies. The Inquisition's presence, however small had angered them. The scout didn't know what they wanted or whether they could be reasoned with, but they were a clear and present issue in the area.
The scout also reported one of her men had seen darkspawn about the shores. Enya felt a chill creep up her spine. The last thing they needed in the middle of a war with an Ancient Tevinter Magister who could rip open the Veil, was a Blight. Blackwall seemed to show no more interest in the presence of darkspawn than he had the Blades of Hessarian, which Enya found strange for a Grey Warden. He did, however, chime in when Harding brought up campsites in which the Inquisition's soldiers had found artifacts left behind by Grey Wardens, expressing concern that such artifacts had been left behind.
The clang of fighting arose over the distant murmur of the sea. Scout Harding stood as one of her men approached, running inland along the base of the ridge. Despite the fighting, his hastened steps carried no sign of a threat. Enya watched them speak from the patch of soggy ground on which she sat.
"Inquisitor," Scout Harding waved her over, "If you wish to see The Iron Bull and his Chargers in action, Scout Morund alerts me they are down on the coast, fighting some Venatori who arrived by sea in the night."
When they rounded the base of the mountain came onto the pebbled beach they were met with an explosion of spells. Enya danced around the edge of a fire glyph, no doubt set as a trap for any unsuspecting warrior, such as herself, to happen upon when too focused on a fight. Solas' ward fell over her before she'd even drawn her sword.
These Venatori were not like those with which she and Dorian had grappled in the nightmarish future. They were not brought low and weak by a madman who'd lead them down a dead-end path with a great bear following them. These men were strong, believed whole-heartedly in their cause. They fought with the strength of a people who hated difference, who wished to make all of Thedas part of the Imperium. Even those that were not mages were fast, stabbing with small, double-bladed knives that cut deep. For a moment, she found herself shoulder to shoulder with the representative of the Chargers she'd met in Haven. Krem was a force unto himself, Enya noted as she watched him halt and throw back the momentum of a particularly heavy sword blow with his shield.
Enya put her sword between the ribs of one, poorly armored Venatori agent, and then drew it clear to slash the throat of a nearby mage. A thunderous roar broke through the fighters and she turned to glimpse an enormous man who could only have been The Iron Bull throw a man into the sea with a swing of his enormous maul. She'd never seen a Qunari this close before, nor had she thought how intimidating they looked in battle. With his grey skin and horns, he looked like a living boulder that had been used to restrain prisoners for the carrion and scavengers to eat them.
Her distraction was costly, for Enya found herself surrounded by ice glyphs and pinned to a boulder much too high for her to scale with any expedience. She ducked under the swing of one man's sword and blocked the other. Her hand pulsed but she ignored it. This was not the time to reveal that particular power to her enemy and she wasn't so sure a group of mercenaries needed to see it either in case their interests did not align with the Inquisition's.
And then the glyphs vanished and she spotted Varric next to a mage whose bloodied body only just fell. He nodded tipping Bianca to her before shooting again. Enya felled four more of the Venatori assailants only to see that more appeared from the boat.
"Dalish! Burn the boat," The Iron Bull bellowed.
A white-haired elf threw a series of fireballs at the Tevinter craft which burned from sparks to inferno in a matter of minutes. On shore, the remainder of the soldiers fell prey to their lack of focus and fell upon the sands.
"Chargers!" The Iron Bull called to his men as a few came at Blackwall and Solas, "Stand down."
Enya bent and dipped her blade into the surf, letting the blood wash away before she returned it to the harness on her back.
"Well, how'd we do Krem?"
Krem sauntered past toward a wounded soldier, "Three or four wounded, Chief, but no dead."
The Qunari gave a satisfied grunt, "Good. Anyone of these Vints still alive, slit their throats."
He turned to her, swinging the maul he carried over his shoulder to his back, "You must be the, Inquisitor."
Up close, her towered over her by at least half her height again. She could see how a Qunari, any Qunari, could be intimidating, but despite his size, there was something about The Iron Bull that commanded confidence, rather than caution.
"And you must be The Iron Bull," Enya replied drawing to a stop before him, "You have made an impression on my scouts."
He chuckled, "That's the intention. Come, let's find a seat. Krem ought to be breaking out the casks soon."
The Qunari, led the way to some rocks. Rain-soaked, moss covered and painted in blood, Enya chose to remain standing when he took his seat. She was damp and bloody enough as it was. No sooner had the Chargers' commander sat than his lieutenant, Krem as he was called, arrived with a drinking horn of something that looked like used shoe polished and smelled like druffalo for each of them. She nodded her thanks. In an effort to be polite, Enya had every intention of trying this delightful mixture, but in the end, she simply raised the horn to her lips and pretended to take a sip.
"You remember Cremisius Aclassi, my right-hand man,"
"And you wouldn't make it very far without me would you?" Krem poked as he walked past, "Throat cutters have finished."
"Yeah well, just incase, have them check again. Can't have anyone surviving and attack from the Chargers," The Iron Bull downed the rest of his horn, "Don't want any of these Tevinter bastards getting away. No offense Krem."
Good naturedly, Krem turned to find the other Chargers and called, "None taken. At least a bastard knows who his mother is."
Bull dug the tip of his drinking horn into the pebbly sand of the beach and addressed her again, "You've seen us fight. We're a strong lot of fighters, and I pick only the best. You have men like Krem who are here because everywhere else rejected them, and men like Grim," he gestured toward a blonde man sitting near a Dalish elf, "who are here because fighting is what they're best at. We're strong and tough and we're well worth the money." He chuckled, "And you have the coin. Especially now you've sealed that Breach and they made you Inquisitor. The whole world has heard how you faced an Archdemon," and appreciative growl left Bull's throat, "Would have like to have seen that one."
Enya raised an eyebrow, "Even if we do have coin, it isn't as though we can just use it for any odd purpose. The Inquisition has its own army. What do you provide that I can't acquire elsewhere and for less?"
"You get me. You're out there fighting an army of corrupted Templars, demons from the Fade, an archdemon, and an ancient magister who may have been responsible for the Blights. You need someone out there as a frontline bodyguard. Someone to take the blows you can't. I am that person."
"The way I see it, what the Inquisition lacks in experience it makes up for in numbers and faith. Both are necessary for an army, but you need skill too, and dedication. You'll find no better fighters than my men and no one who will work harder to earn their coin," he paused, "And there is no real cost to you, Inquisitor. Your ambassador, what's her name, Josephine? I'm sure she'll be happy to handle the price herself."
Enya straightened, her suspicion piqued. Knowing about Josephine was enough, but knowing about Corypheus… Josephine had not been that forthcoming about their adversary in the letters she sent to Val Royeux and Ferelden.
"You're very well informed for the leader of a mercenary band."
The Qunari was silent for several moments and then he drew a breath, "There is something else that I offer. You might like it, or it might piss you off. Have you ever heard of the Ben-Hassrath?"
Enya gazed down into her drink for a moment trying to recall the lessons Josephine had given her on Thedosian cultures but she couldn't recall more than a few simple facts about the Qunari. They had no names other than the descriptions of their jobs. They had no mothers or fathers but were raised together, taught their purpose in life from a very young age. They fought with Tevinter for control of Seheron, but she could remember no mention of an organization called the Ben-Hassrath, if indeed it was even and organization at all.
"I'm afraid I haven't."
"They work for the Qunari priests to ensure order within the Qun, but outside of Par Vollen, they, we, are the Qun's eyes and ears. Spies, if you want. We see what happens and we report it back to home. The Breach has the Ben-Hassrath worried. Magic out of control like this could cause trouble everywhere." He paused and caught her gaze, holding it sternly he added, "I've been ordered to join the Inquisition, to learn what you're doing to stop the Breach, how you stop it. It won't affect my fighting or help, I'll just send reports back to Par Vollen so the priests can learn."
Enya's mouth opened and closed for a moment before she finally found her words, "And you just told me that. You don't even know who I am and you outright reveal you're a spy."
"You'd find out sooner or later. Better you know all of the facts up front than have it look like I hid something from you in the future."
She stared at him a couple more seconds and, closing her mouth clasped her forehead with her hands. On one hand, he was a spy and she knew little to nothing about the Qun and their intentions on the world. On the other, he was forthright about the issue. He was sharp as an assassin's blade, that much she could tell from the way he carried himself and the way he spoke to her. He commanded the respect and admiration of his men easily but they did not have all of Thedas to consider when they went into battle. Enya shook her head and then looked up at him.
"What will you report to your people?"
"Nothing specific. Just keep them appraised of the general goings on of the Inquisition and what they learn about this Corypheus fellow. Maybe a bit of how the Inquisition plans to restore order. Nothing that will compromise your Inquisition," He paused, "I receive reports from the Ben-Hassrath. I can make the information I receive available to the Inquisition. You would know what I know."
Enya considered him. He seemed the honorable sort, but most spies were trained to gain trust. All the same, as he stood before her, she rather doubted he was feigning concern about the Breach.
"I'll let you join the Inquisition, Iron Bull, but everything you send, these reports? They go through Leliana first."
"I wouldn't expect it any other way."
Enya watched the Qunari as he walked away. He called to his men, none of whom were excited to pack up the alcohol they'd just opened and travel into the Frostbacks. Was this the wrong decision? She had always been a good judge of character but never in her life had her choices been more crucial, more scrutinized by the masses and by her advisors. Cassandra would certainly have a comment to make on the matter. She rolled her shoulders and turned, only to stop at Solas' guarded gaze.
"You don't think I should have accepted his offer?" she asked quietly as she drew close to her friend.
"On the contrary, Lethallan, he was right in a few respects. The Inquisition needs experience more than it needs numbers. And it could use his information," he glanced past her to their new Qunari ally, "I only question his participation in the Qun. Everything that I have learned of their culture in my travels rails against individuality, singularity. Yet, The Iron Bull seems a singular man. He has a name, and he has his own men, for whom he appears to care deeply. I would be remiss to not comment it is contradictory."
"If his loyalty is more to his men than it is the Qun, is that not better for us?" Enya queried, "It isn't as though we would care less for his Chargers than the Qun. If we keep his faith through loyalty to his company, then we will have no problem."
After a moment of silence, Solas replied, "Shrewd, Inquisitor. Perhaps you have taken Josephine's lessons to heart more than you thought."
Enya lowered her eyes at the warmth in his low, steady voice. They began to walk back to Scout Harding's forward camp, yet their silence was companionable. She walked close to him, hoping perhaps, as he often did, he would extend some magic to warm her as well. She was not disappointed. Varric and Blackwall continued on ahead. Vaguely, Enya thought she might have heard Varric telling the story of the Arishok fight to the Warden. Solas slowed before just before they drew within earshot of the camp and they watched the Chargers, twenty strong, filed into the Inquisition's camp. The Iron Bull seated himself at the fire laughing loudly at something Scout Harding had said. Even at this distance, she appeared pleased with herself.
"But let us not forget that loyalty to one's origins is hard lost."
a/n- Is there a standard for whether or not Qunari is capitalized. I feel strange because it is both a faith and a race. It's not as though we capitalize black or white when we write about them but I just get confused with the Qun.