Chapter 30) Refugees
Aiden POV
"Aiden, let's get this!" Shianni cooed, picking up a necklace with glass gems. "Won't Aunt Adaia love it?"
"We're here for food," I scolded, making her put it back. I took her hand to drag her from the stall, keeping an eye on guards. They had a habit of automatically assuming elves were shoplifting. And very rarely did an elf escape a guard without feelings of humiliation, confusion, and anger. If they were lucky, though, that was all it was. "Mother would prefer eating to something fake."
"Aw… meanie." Still, she giggled and pressed against my side. "Hey, where's Soris?"
"At the food stall where I left him because you disappeared and I had to find you." Her laugh had no signs of guilt. Typical. "Don't let go for the rest of the time we're out."
"Yeah, yeah."
I grimaced as I turned wrong and my healing, scarring, wounds keened bitterly. I subtly checked each one, to make sure I hadn't pulled the stitches out, or that something hadn't given. Luckily, I came across were crusted scabs and stiff thread.
"We can probably take those out soon." I carefully turned to face Cleon, water rippling around me. He was facing away, squeezing the water out of his hair. I winced at the large, red and purple bruise covering his upper back. "The stitches, I mean." Cleon ducked under the water and surfaced easily. I just sighed. While I was grateful to Ser Maron for showing us this small, hidden lake just outside the town borders, it was incredibly peculiar to take a bath outside. "What?"
"It's nothing," I dismissed. This was just something I'd have to get used to. "Just making sure I didn't injure myself."
"You better have not. Had a heart attack at how high your fever spiked." I'd have to take his word for it. I had absolutely no memory of the day after Ostagar fell. Just dreams of blood and screams and vaguely reassuring voices being my only link to sanity. "But I'll remove the stitches in a few days."
"That works." That was going to be painful, wasn't it? Great...
"Are you two still here?" I yelped and immediately ducked down into the water as Lady Elspeth appeared on the edge of the closest shore, pushing aside bits of elfroot and spindleweed that helped hide the lake from curious walkers. "Is everything all right?" she asked, head tilted slightly in what I guessed was confusion.
"I-it's nothing, my lady," I mumbled, sinking so the water could cool my face. The travel to Lothering had taught me that apparently I was the only one of us three with any sense of modesty. "H-how is your leg?" Lady Elspeth's injures had given her a slight limp, one I feared might be permanent.
"I can walk." That didn't exactly answer my question. "Cleon, why is he acting so strangely?"
"I have no idea," Cleon replied with a shrug. He waded over to her and pulled himself out without a care. "Pass me that cloth, will you?" She tossed it over without a word, still studying me. "Maybe he's just weird." Hey!
"Perhaps that is so." HEY!
I sighed, resisting the urge to shake my head as the two continued chatting about my supposed strangeness. I wasn't sure what was worse. Their agreement or their arguing. …Well, maybe the latter because it tended to be the same thing. Cleon refused to believe Loghain had done anything but betray and was a villain and evil, while Elspeth maintained an obsessive need to… well, not quite defend the action, but to paint it more as a shade of grey. Personally, I was tempted to clock them both over the head if it happened agaaaaa WHAT WAS I THINKING?! I couldn't hit either of them!
"Aiden?" I yelped when I saw Lady Elspeth's face close to my own. "I'm sorry," she whispered, leaning back slightly to give me space. I tried to process how she'd gotten so close, and determined fairly quickly that she'd just walked, and I'd just been too far in thought to hear the splashes. You weren't saying anything."
"I beg your pardon, my lady," I mumbled awkwardly, turning away from her to hide. "I was lost in thought."
"I see."
"What were you saying, if I may ask?"
"We need to shop for supplies." We were masquerading as refugees, but even refugees needed to actually move on. Especially in a town obviously at its breaking point. "So… um…" I glanced up in time to see her duck her head and subtly shift her weight. "I will need help?" Right, because as Cleon and I had discovered, Lady Elspeth, for all of her stoneness and temper, was horribly, horribly shy when it came to talking to strangers.
"Here, I'll come with," Cleon offered. He was half-dressed already. "Just be prepared for my questions."
"I've gotten used to them." Indeed. Cleon seemed to like making Elspeth answer his questions about things, prompting her for observations. I wasn't sure if that was his way of helping her shyness or if he was just messing with her. Or both. "Aiden, will you be fine?"
"Yes, milady," I answered after a moment of thought. "I think I will soak a little longer for my muscles." And have some blissful quiet time.
"Take care to not stay too long, lethalin," Cleon warned. He was grinning as he slipped on his clothes. "I'm sure you don't want us to fish you out."
"Very funny. Get going."
"Yeah, yeah. Off we go."
After finishing my bath, and carefully dressing to not aggravate the healing wounds, I wandered into the Lothering Market, passing by the cage with the strange man within. Everyone gave him a wide berth, and it wasn't hard to see why. Bronze skin, white hair in tight braids, hard purple eyes, and towering over people even as he sat. Part of me wanted to investigate, but I decided finding my companions was far more important. If, of course, I could. The place was packed with other refugees, locals who were preparing to flee, and merchants taking advantage of the chaos to raise prices ridiculously high.
"Oh, my pardon!" someone gasped as they crashed into me. Her basket fell and apples spilled out of it. "Ah…!" We both dropped down to catch the rolling fruit, and ended up clonking our heads together. "Ack!"
"I am so sorry!" I yelped, rubbing at my head as I hastily placed my gathered apples in the basket. "Truly, I…"
"No, I am the one who didn't watch where she was going!" I blinked slowly as I realized the woman had a very distinct Orlesian accent. The second shock was that she was dressed like a Chantry sister. "Oh, you're new around here." She smiled, pushing her short red hair out of her blue eyes. "My name is Leliana. I'm a lay sister here."
"Aiden Tabris, miss." I handed her the last of the apples. "How is your head?"
"Just fine. I might have a knot for a few days, though!" Thankfully, she took it in good humor as she picked up the basket and stood up. She held out a hand to help me. "Are you one of the refugees?"
"Ah, yes." Best way to say that. "I'm traveling with two others."
"Really? That must be exciting." It was exhausting, actually. "Are you okay on money? There are a few people looking for the bounties Teyrn Loghain set up." …What? "Did you not hear about them?"
"I haven't been able to hear much of anything, miss."
"Oh?" Her eyes sparkled as she tugged me a little closer, whispering in my ear. "There have been many rumors about how Teyrn Loghain and his soldiers miraculously survived. He, however, has been blaming the Wardens." You have got to be joking. "There are bounties for them. A human man with templar training, a Dalish elf, a city elf, and a human mage." Okay, that all sounded like… wait, why not one for Nuada? Blatant favoritism there, Loghain. "And it's quite high. Thirty gold sovereigns for the man, twenty for the others." That… made no sense. What was he thinking? "It's quite a bit of money."
"Do people believe him?" I asked casually, rocking back on my heels and glancing around. Hunting for anyone who made the connection between the 'city elf' and me.
"No, not really." She sighed, eyes sad as she clutched her basket a little tighter. "But that much money will buy quite a bit of food during a difficult time." Yeah, no kidding. "Ah! I'm going to be late delivering these!" She smiled, pushing through the crowd and waving goodbye over her shoulder. "It was nice talking to you."
"Pleasant day, miss!" I watched her disappear before sighing, rolling my shoulders absently. This just got bad to worse.
"There you are!" Cleon suddenly appeared at my side, frowning. That's it. I was getting lessons in how to not be snuck up on. I was tired of the heart attacks. "Been looking all over for you, lethalin," he complained. I resisted the urge to… do something in retaliation for startling me. "Elspeth managed to snag some tents at a bargain, so we're going to clear out of the refugee area to make some room." Oh? That would be nice. The place was cramped, and becoming more so by the day. "Two shemlen are going to help us." He casually slung an arm around my shoulder. "This way!"
"Make sure they're actually helping us," I muttered. "There are bounties on us."
"Bounties?" Cleon's face blanked. "What are those?"
"They're… look, this isn't a good place to talk. I'll explain later."
"All right."
"And there we go!" Miss Diana declared as my tent finally decided to cooperate and stay up. "Not too bad." She slowly stretched, tossing her pale blonde braid over her shoulder. "And it didn't take forever!" She flashed a grin, warming her sparkling green eyes. "Bethany? How's it going?"
"We're finished here, Sis," Miss Bethany informed us. She had been helping Lady Elspeth with folding the new clothes bought with the tents. "Good timing, too. Mother wanted us to pass out blankets."
"As well as some smoked meat, since I got some excess from those bears."
"I still can't believe you hunted down that bear without help."
"Bethany, you know better than anyone I can take care of myself, and why." There was a hidden meaning there. I just knew it. "Still, enough scolding. You're younger, and we're going to be late."
"Thank you very much," Lady Elspeth murmured to them, bowing to make her point clearer. "Truly, thank you."
"Just doing what we can to help out before everything is destroyed." Miss Diana said the words far too lightly. "You sure you're good to go here?"
"We're sure," Cleon confirmed, already setting up a fire pit to cook food for later. "So, please, help the others who actually need it."
"All right." Miss Diana grinned. "See you all later. Or not. Miss, let me know if someone tries to grab what they shouldn't, though. I know all about how guys think a short leather skirt means they can look and touch." Considering she wore what seemed to be a cheaper version of Lady Elspeth's armor, this was slightly unsurprising. "Anyway, bye!" With the air of someone who did it a lot, Miss Diana deftly took Miss Bethany by the hand and dragged her off back towards town, skirting through the bushes and trees that surrounded our chosen campsite.
As soon as they were out of sight, Cleon announced, "they're mages." Both Lady Elspeth and I stared at him, but he just continued making the fire. "Pretty powerful, actually." He noticed us staring. "What? I have enough of the gift to know some things. Like mages and when something is a really bad idea." Ah. "Anyway, not important. Just warning in case there's a little spell on any of the stuff." Uh… "Aiden, you mentioned something about bounties?"
"Bounties aren't uncommon in Fereldan," Lady Elspeth murmured, packing the new clothes into our fixed packs. She seemed entirely disinterested in the whole thing. "Cleon, tomorrow, we should try and get you replacement weapons."
"Hmm? Yeah, sure. Sounds good."
"My lady, I believe you would find it uncommon to be traveling with two people with bounties on their heads." I couldn't keep the sarcasm out of my voice, and felt horrible about.
"It wouldn't be the first time," she replied instantly. I was stuck wondering what was going on. "Still, I cannot think of why there would be one for Cleon."
"You can for Aiden?" Cleon demanded, instantly coming to my 'defense' as the fire roared to life.
"He did kill Vaughan." Ahaha… Maker, that would haunt me forever. "So, it is possible." She set the packs to the side with a shrug. "But there is no habit of putting bounties on random Dalish. There's no money in trying to out hunt your people, and bounty hunters and mercenaries tend to care more about coin than cause."
"It's because we're Wardens," I finally explained, sighing heavily as I sat by the fire. Nearby were the bedrolls and pillows, so I set about unrolling them. "Loghain is blaming the Wardens for Ostagar." Cleon spat some Dalish curse that I couldn't translate. Lady Elspeth, however, simply sighed. "There are four bounties. An ex-templar, a mage, a Dalish, and a city elf."
"Not one for Nuada?" Cleon asked. I nodded, not surprised he'd jumped on that detail. "Convenient."
"I suppose so." I glanced at Lady Elspeth. "What do you think on it?"
"Honestly, I think it's less because of titles and more because he is personally fond of us, and overlooking how Nuada is a Warden now," Lady Elspeth answered easily, staring at the flames. "That is quite the oversight on his part. It's the people who are closest that can utterly destroy you." That… was strangely… something. I wasn't sure how to react to it.
"Oh, praise the Creators!" Cleon declared, flopping onto his back. Evidently, he didn't have any qualms about what she said. "You're not praising him."
"I have never praised him!" Oh, Maker, really? "I simply am trying to explain why his actions might have made sense other than being 'evil' or whatever childish term you label it!"
"I think it's a healthy response to label things! Maybe you should try it!"
"What good will that do? There's an entire country resting on our shoulders!"
"You keep trying to tell me to not be angry over it! Not everyone can lock up their emotions!"
"There's a time and a place for such things!"
"What's wrong with now?"
"Everything!"
"Oh, enough!" I finally yelled, annoyed. Both of them shut up instantly. "Now's not the time for arguing either!" They had the grace to look sheepish. "I'm putting a ban on talking on this subject. Neither of you can bring it up without prompting. Got it?" They both nodded vigorously. "Good." Maybe I could get some peace and quite for three-
"I just don't get it," Cleon growled. I groaned and found a pillow to bury my face in and keep from screaming. "Your home fell. Your family is scattered or dead. Yet you won't be angry."
"Why is that surprising?" Lady Elspeth demanded. I peeked out and saw her head tilt to the side in confusion. "I've a duty."
"Duty above all else?"
"I'm a Cousland." And? "Of course that's how it is."
"That's not healthy for you."
"Why does that matter?"
"Intervening again," I grumbled, this time to avoid awkward conversations. "So, what's the plan?" The two looked at me, both mildly confused. "Do we stay or go?"
"Why would we stay?" Cleon asked, pushing himself up in a sitting position. "We have the treaties, and we've tents. The two of us can hunt. You keep us from killing each other. It all works out." Except for my sanity.
"I suppose he's asking because of how many bounties there are," Elspeth whispered. She carefully shifted to sit a little closer to me. "There are two for you, and two others. One for someone who resembles Alistair and one who resembles Layla."
"Meaning they could be alive." Cleon smiled broadly, relief evident in his face. "I get it now."
"I would also like more information on those bounties," I added hesitantly, glancing at Lady Elspeth. She simply stared back at me, as if expecting something. "For instance, why the one that could fit Alistair is so high? I mean… it's higher than the rest of ours!"
"That's because Alistair is a political threat to Uncle Loghain," Lady Elspeth answered easily. My jaw dropped at that, and I glanced at Cleon to see if he knew what she was talking about. The wide eyes and open mouth said 'no'. "The whole thing is truly Orlesian. It's almost laughable in its irony." Explanation, please. "So, we are staying for a bit."
"Yes, milady." I answered automatically, back straight and head low. Who was I to ask for an explanation? After all, I was…
"You mind telling?" Cleon asked dryly. I wasn't sure if I was pleased or not Cleon could say the words so easily. "I'm a little tired of not knowing stuff, and you're horrible at explaining things when you aren't prompted."
"Well…" Lady Elspeth began. She immediately tensed and stood, groping for her bow. I almost asked what was going on, but Cleon leapt to his feet, dagger in hand.
"Who's there?" I asked warily, pushing myself up slowly, feeling my spine snap and pop. There was no answer. "You have three seconds." Still no answer. "Two seconds." Nothing. "One sec-"
"C-cold…" A small boy finally stepped out of the foliage. He was grimy and shivering, clothes threadbare. Cleon immediately dropped his weapon and snatched the boy up in a blanket, dragging him by the fire. Lady Elspeth passed him some food and he tore into it. "Th-thank you," he mumbled. He looked between the three of us, face shining in innocent curiosity. "Um… is the Chantry near? Mama told me to run to it when the yelling men with axes came." Men…? Bandits?
"It is a short distance away." I glanced at the other two and we all exchanged small wry smiles. "Here. The nice lady and I will walk you there. Cleon, guard the camp, will you?" Cleon nodded and I held out my hand to the little boy. He took it instantly. "Let's go." And we'd have to report what happened to someone as well…
It would only be much later, long after we tended to things and gone to sleep, that I realized we never did get that explanation about Alistair. Ah well. It's probably something minor anyway.
Author's Note – Little filler chapter, with cameos here and there. Nothing too grand in the scheme of things, but hopefully getting in some needed character insight, now that we're reaching the end of the 'prologue' section of the game (…thirty chapters for the freaking prologue. Maker, this is going to be LONG). Meet the rest of the Hawkes! Diana is the other 'Main Character' for the future Saga of the Hawkes, splitting it with her elder sister, Minerva, who cameoed previously.
This will, likely, be the last chapter I get out before visiting family for the holidays (if it's not, it'll be only because the next one is so short). So, just in case, happy whatever you celebrate during December!
Next Chapter – Interlude, Teagan and Anora
