Lavellan had thought that convincing Leliana to include Loghain in the group going to Halamshiral would be the hardest thing about this mission…it was until she reached the Winter Palace.
She soon forgot about the nice journey that she spent flirting with Clovis and Loghain as both of them improvised themselves as history teachers to enlighten a foreign girl coming from the Free Marches about the history of the region. The two men surely didn't have the same perspective but they did well trying to remain as impartial as possible and so deliciously courteous…she had even been amazed how the Fereldan former general and the Orlesian young lord were getting along, she assumed that it was due to them being part of the same "cast"…the warrior's cast, but she was to learn sooner or later how mistaken she had been.
Gaspard did his best to ignore Loghain's presence after some heated glares the two men exchanged. But what happened inside was the true challenging events.
The man who was in charge of announcing the guests and their ranks and heroic deeds had 'forgot' to add Hero of River Dane to Loghain's long list of titles but the Orlesian lord's glares and their women's covetous stares said it all about the glorious battle he had won with few peasants against an imperial army.
Clovis, at Lavellan greatest surprise, had been given the cold shoulder too. Maybe it was because his family lived like hardened warriors on the cold mountains situated at a border region and never took part in the political game…but still, it was harsh to treat one of their lords like this.
Harassment…it was the word for what they all were subjected to inside the walls of the fancy palace and they were surely coping with it in different manners. Layel gritting her teeth, trying not to answer the repeated insults, Loghain stoic toward the dirty looks and the curious noble women brave enough to get closer to him, Clovis had more trouble repressing his anger when the most effeminate lords taunted him, mocking his family and finally, Cullen who looked so uncomfortable and desperate when some entitled orlesian men and women surrounded him, touching his body and invading his personal space…It's then when Layel's repressed anger threatened to explode…if she was not allowed to defend herself, she wouldn't sit by and watch them disrespect the commander the Inquisition!
"Where do you think you are going, Inquisitor?" Leliana said grabbing the dalish woman's arm.
"Breaking the hands of the ones that had been touching the Commander!" She answered spontaneously.
"You aren't" Leliana smiled.
"You will let them ridicule the Inquisition by treating the commander this way? And I thought he was your friend!
"This is good for us, they are under his charm and I see no harm in letting them have their fun. Leliana's eyes were cold as her words.
"something is telling me that if it was Josephine standing at the Commander's place now, you wouldn't be fine with them doing this to her" Layel glared to the woman "he is unstable enough without them toying with him like this, so please get out of my way," Layel warned.
"Fine Inquisitor, do as you wish," the spymaster capitulated and watched the short elf heading toward the commander, standing beside him and grabbing the wandering hand of a masked woman before twisting her wrist…soon the scared orlesian nobles fled away from the Commander, leaving the blond man alone with the dalish inquisitor.
"Are you alright?" she said without looking at him.
"…you shouldn't have intervened Lavellan," his tone was angry…Shocked by the unexpected reaction, Layel looked at the man's face and it was frowning, shame, discomfort, and anger were what she could detect…and in a heartbeat she understood how humiliating for a man to have a younger woman flying to his rescue.
"I am sorry," she had the time to blabber before Cullen walked away from her with precipitated steps.
For a young woman like Layel, every new situation was a lesson and today she had learned how difficult it was for men to defend themselves in such situations…a woman pushing a man with wandering hands would be considered heroic but for a man in the same situation he only would be mocked, belittled or reprimanded if ever he made a violent reaction….Layel glimpsed at Loghain on the opposite side of the staircases, he knew how to keep the women surrounding him far enough without saying a word, he was such an imposing man, they wouldn't even try to invade his personal space let alone touch him.
Josephine had done her best to teach the Inquisitor the basics of ballroom dancing but it was a tough job…Layel was glad that she didn't mastered the skill as she stepped repeatedly on the feet of Florianne de Chalon, the woman who literally forced her to dance. Soon enough she realized that the hairstyle was not the only fishy thing about the Duchesse and it was about time for the action to begin.
A couple hours later, Orlais had a new ruler, or two and the festivities continued as if no murders had taken place on the palace.
Layel went to the balcony seeking some fresh air when she heard his particularly exciting voice,
"You did well tonight, Inquisitor."
Layel smiled and turned to face the man standing just behind her,
"You truly think this?"
"I personally would have done the exact same thing," he said with a satisfied look on his face. Layel remembered something Leliana had said about Celene luring the young fereldan king and causing the vengeful spite of Loghain which had almost destroyed the whole country…Yes, she had no doubts that the man standing barely a few inches from her would have done exactly the same thing; letting the sly fox die, and putting a leach named Briala on the spirited new emperor.
"Enough talking about the dead!" he said taking a step back and bowing slightly "can I have this dance, Inquisitor Lavellan?"
Lavellan offered him her hand without thinking…she then had to stutter as he pulled her closer to him "I fear that your feet would suffer…I…I am new to this sort of…activities."
"Fear not, I have strong feet," he affirmed as he started leading the dance.
First, it was slow as they moved carefully. Lavellan's head memorizing the steps and not paying great attention to the sensations or music, but then, it got faster and she was forced to lift her head and look at the man holding her waist and left hand firmly…and the fun part began.
Hiding behind the curtains, someone was observing the scene…throw a hand mirror and they seemed bewitched by what the glass was reflecting.
After the breathtaking waltz, Loghain departed without a word, leaving her breathless and speechless…How can a man so much older than her remain fresh and steady after such exciting effort? …Well, those Grey Warden's special abilities were not a myth after all.
Once her room was checked and secured by Leliana's agents, Lavellan was finally able to rest her aching body for a while, until the next problem showed up, of course…and it didn't take long to appear.
Following the first rays of sunshine, Leliana was in Lavellan's chamber with a serious face and the young elf didn't even get breakfast yet.
"Inquisitor, there is a serious matter I want to inform you of," the redhead said.
"It couldn't wait until I eat something, spymaster?" The Inquisitor rubbed her eyes and sat on the bed.
"You should know this before even leaving your room or meeting anyone of our Orlesian hosts,"
Lavellan sighed and nodded.
"There is a pile of corpses in the Winter Palace."
"You don't say!" Layel giggled.
"They are not Venatory nor soldiers…They are corpses of Orlesian nobles who had nothing to do with what happened here last night,"
"All Orlesian nobles have something to do with what happened last night…it's the game!"Layel yawned, hoping the human woman would soon leave her to oversleep a little.
"I should give more details to paint you the picture. One of the Lords with whom Clovis had an altercation in the evening was found with his ribcage wide open, his heart is missing and his face lacerated by what seems to be animal claws," Leliana observed Lavellan's reaction.
"Fucking venatori are twisted, what can I say? One of them maybe summoned a bear to fight with and…and I don't really give a shit." Layel shrugged.
"Two Ladies where found drained of their blood…"
"Blood mages Venatori, you know? Using people blood and shit," Layel was surprised by her spymaster's lack of logic.
Leliana's cold glare rushed Layel to shut her mouth.
"And last, they also found the four people who were surrounding the Commander last evening and whom you have threatened, eviscerated and dismembered," Leliana informed.
"What? Are you accusing me?" Th dalish frowned.
"No, for the one who did it used their bare hands"
Layel relaxed after hearing this and laid back on her bed.
"You have nothing to say about this, Inquisitor?"
"Like what? Corypheus, Venatori, blood mages using red lyrium…well, nobody can accuse us of anything. Then it's not our problem."
"No, they can't," Lelian said and stepped closer. "But, Layel, you are the leader of the Inquisition and if we have among us people who can do those things, it will sooner or later become our problem." The older woman sat on Layel's bed and added "...for, the ones who did this, are no longer to be considered humans...they are creatures."