Chapter 86) Captured Queen

Aiden POV


The palace district was especially crowded today. I think Queen Anora was giving a speech or something. I didn't really pay attention, just focused on making my way through the crowd to deliver my messages.

Her voice was crisp and clear even over the crowd, but I ignored it. I was too used to pretty words. Queen Anora had a habit of saying a lot without really saying anything at all. I… didn't want to listen to such things anymore.

Maybe it was being too harsh. But it was hard to hide my feelings.


Erlina actually snagged us some guard armor and servant clothes for us to use as disguises. I don't know how, and I didn't want to know how, especially since Lord Nuada was the only one of us four who wasn't surprised. In fact, he fell into the pretended role easily, though he wore an eyepatch to hide his blind eye. Wynne, Leliana, and I took up servant clothes, and the story was that Lord Nuada was showing the new servants around. I couldn't believe how easily he got us in and around to that servants' entrance.

I wanted to ask about it, but I found it hard. I could remember, easily, what happened last time we were here. As we approached the servants' entrance, I found myself looking around, and I paused a little when I realized exactly were we were. I knew this place. This was where Cleon and Layla waited for us, back then. They had dealt with the guards, given us a place to escape. The vines and metal fencing we used to climb up were still there, and I could see the bits of blood on the wall. No one had thought to look there to clean, and the metal kept the rain off it.

Up there, Layla had healed Shianni, tending to her gently. Cleon had bandaged my arm, not judging despite the fact that I had been absolutely covered in blood. That's where all this started.

Happy chatting caught my ear, and I focused on looking down, curling inward to look meek. It was harder than it used to be, and I grit my teeth more. But, at the same time, I was calmer as we walked inside, Lord Nuada easily getting us passage inside.

As we walked around inside, I subtly glanced around, taking note of everything. They repainted the place, replaced the floor. I guess the blood was too much to clean. Or the corpses. Every time I blinked, I saw red and more red. Every blink brought back memories of corpses. People that I killed in a too cold rage.

Wynne knew something was wrong and subtly caught my eye, smiling softly. I knew my returning smile was strained, but it didn't bother her. She patted me on the shoulder, and it did wonders to soothe me.

At some point, though, my feet took me a different direction than the others. It took me a second to remember why. That different direction was, really, the path I had taken back then. I only realized when I came upon the room where Nola had been killed. Where the guards had killed her for being 'too loud', and had talked about having sex with her still warm corpse.

If I closed my eyes, I could still hear her laughing and gossiping after a day's hard work. I could still remember all the things she had wanted.

I kept on walking, remembering how angry I had been. Remembering how the whole place bled red, and how there had been so much that the color now just made me sick. I saw replaced doors, and remembered how I had burst through and killed anyone and anything in my path.

My feet stopped at the end, as I came upon a door that had not been replaced. I opened it slowly, and stepped inside. The rugs were different. The floorboards were changed. But I knew it was the room. This was the room where Shianni had been raped, repeatedly. This was where I had killed Vaughan.

I stood in the center, and closed my eyes, remembering that day. I remembered that rage. I remembered the sickening glee of killing Vaughan. I remembered it all. It… hurt. It still hurt. Even now, I felt ill. Even now, when I saw all the red, I could only pray I could keep control.

But that was okay. Because I was stronger now than I was then. I am far calmer than I had been back then, regardless of what I had thought. I had not truly been calm then. Now, I knew how to stay calm even while angry. Now, thanks to Oghren, I knew how to use my anger fully as I fought. I was not afraid of losing my temper. I was not afraid.

What happened in this room would not happen again. I was stronger now. The person I am now… yes, the person I am now was more than strong enough. With my friends, I was more than strong enough.

"Aiden?" I heard Lord Nuada call softly. He smiled when I turned to face him. "You okay?" he asked. He didn't even look surprised that I had walked away.

So, I smiled back. "Yes, I'm fine," I reassured. It was the truth. "I just needed to face this bit of my past."

"I understand." I thought he might. I wondered if he felt like this, back at Highever. I wondered if Layla had felt this way at the Tower, or Cleon when we were with the Dalish. "Ready?"

"Always."


We reunited with the others easily, Wynne apparently faking some sort of… something to buy the time Lord Nuada needed to get me. Something about gout and feet? I had no idea. It was convincing enough, and Wynne seemed to have a lot of fun making the guards run this way and that while Leliana fussed over her.

"So, gout is… what exactly?" I asked softly as we continued hunting for the room Erlina told us Anora was here. We… probably should have brought her with us, but nooo, we just had to be extra suspicious. "Some sort of ailment?"

"It's a kind of arthritis, Aiden," Wynne answered with a little laugh. She was pretending to limp, and I was her helpful crutch. "It can cause a sudden burning pain, stiffness, and swelling in joints. Often, it affects the big toe." She laughed again. "Of course, it's more common in men, but I doubt these boys know that." I… see… "It's helpful being old."

"If you say so." We turned a corner, and came on… a door that had magic on it. "Well, it looks like Howe has a mage with him." I wonder how that got justified.

"Of course he does," Lord Nuada sighed, removing the helmet temporarily. He hovered a hand over the glowing barrier. "Wynne?" He glanced back, but Wynne only shook her head. This wasn't something that could be taken down easily, then. "Of course." He sighed again and threw the helmet at the barrier. It flashed and actually bounced the helmet back. Leliana caught it easily. "Well, this sucks." Yes. Yes, it did. "Anora? You in there?"

"Nuada!" Yep, that was the queen. I could recognize her voice, even if it was a little muffled. "Thank the Maker!" she breathed, sounding relieved. "I'd greet you properly, but I'm afraid there's been a little setback."

"Oh, is that so? I thought you planned the giant, glowing barrier that I swear reminds me of something I saw in the Tower." Lord Nuada also signed, 'I knew she was in less control than she claimed' and I had to fight back a snicker at that.

"That is definitely you. I know of no other who can joke so easily." Now she sounded a little irritated. "But yes, it seems my 'host' was not content in leaving me under heavy guard."

"Come now, Anora. You'd cry if I wasn't able to joke, and I dare not gain the ire of the poets for marring your face with tears." There was definitely a small laugh from behind the door. "So, we do have a mage here, but she says that it can't be taken down easily."

"No, I doubt it would. I think it's blood magic." Oh, this just got even better. "But I think because of it, it would be tied to the mage's life." I glanced at Wynne, who nodded. Okay, that checked out. "He's probably near Howe." Oh? "So, you'll probably need to find Howe first." Did... did we just get a good excuse to go hunt down, and kill, Howe? "Please be careful. Things have been… hectic."

"Anora, after everything I've seen, Howe ranks very low of the list of things that scare me."

"I meant your temper."

"Me losing my temper is also very low on the list of things that worry me." There was a very telling silence, and I was reminded of the confrontation with Loghain. He, too, had come into that meeting expecting the people he had met at Ostagar. Anora, clearly, had been expecting someone based on his descriptions, and her own memories of Lord Nuada. But he was different. We were different. And we literally just got the perfect excuse to go after Howe directly.

This was the best day. This was, officially, the best day ever.


Author's notes: And this is why Aiden tags along. Just as Layla, Nuada, and Cleon got to set their pasts to rest, so does Aiden, here in the Estate. Just an acknowledgement of how far Aiden's come since then. Also, officially meeting Anora, and a slight highlight on her similarities to Loghain.

Next Chapter – Dungeons with Nuada