Chapter 89) Unrest

Layla POV


"It was always a poor place," Neria whispered. She carefully brushed my hair as we prepared for bed. "Poor, but safe. Decrepit, but happy. My uncle Cyrion took care of me as if I were his own child. He did the same with Sorris and Shianni." She laughed a little. "Maker, he even brought Shianni to the Alienage at great personal expense when her parents died."

"It sounds like you had a happy family," I murmured. It was nice to hear about it. Anders had a nice one too, until everyone turned on him for his magic. "A very happy one."

"I did." She laughed again. "It wasn't perfect, but it was home. We guarded our own. I miss it."

"Maybe when you pass your Harrowing, you can arrange to go visit?"

"Maybe. We'll see."


The Alienage felt empty. It was one thing to hear about the massacres here, but it was another to step into this place, and realize just how empty it was compared to the Alienage in my memory. I was almost glad Aiden was not here. If my heart was breaking, then his would shatter.

Then again, perhaps it would not. Perhaps he was numb to such things. But, in my eyes, that was even worse.

"Is there anyone we can talk to?" Alistair asked. He had begged to come along, wanting to see what was going on in the Alienage with his own eyes, and I think he was just desperate to do something. He studied often, but right now, Nuada and Aiden were trapped in a prison, one known for torturing its captives. "Someone we can find out more from?" It was just the three of us. I worried for the others, but I think Elspeth had designed tasks to distract them with. I hope.

"There is Aiden's family?" I replied. I remembered them and, perhaps more importantly, I thought they would remember Cleon and me. "His house is… somewhere around here." We went there for first aid. I remembered that.

'Yes, it is,' Cleon confirmed. His eyes were narrowed, and his face was scrunched up. 'It smells. It did not smell last time.' Yes, I could smell it too. There was rot and sickness everywhere, even the air. The scent of blood all but choked me. 'Regardless, that is the house.' There was a black ribbon pinned to the door. Yes, I remembered that. That was how Aiden had told us which one was his. 'Enter slowly.'

"Right…" Taking a deep breath, I walked up to the door, glancing around. Some eyed us suspiciously, but most did not even pay attention. The Alienage was more than empty. It was dying. "Um… hello?" I knocked on the door, and thought I heard sounds from within. "Is… someone in there?" What were the names again? "Shianni? Soris?"

"Who wants to know?" I thought I recognized the voice. I had last heard it as breathless and weak, not waspish and snappish, but I still thought I did.

"It is Layla. I… I am the mage who was here last time, when that horrible noble kidnapped and…" I did not want to say the words. "I healed you afterwards. I was with a Dalish elf named Cleon and-"

The door abruptly opened, and I was staring right at a wide-eyed Shianni. "You…?" She looked like she got punched in the stomach. "You are… and he is…" She glanced around, eyes almost wild. "Aiden. Is he-?"

"He is… in the middle of something…" That was not quite a lie, right? "I am sorry. He was out when we learned there was something going on here, and we just did not want to wait and risk more of you being-"

"Come in. All three of us." She waved us inside, and ushered us to the table. "Soris is out at the moment, trying to buy some food while avoiding all the glares. People blame him for the raid, but we all know it was going to happen anyway." It was still horrific, though. "I don't know your companion, do I? I'm Shianni, Aiden's cousin."

"It is very nice to meet you," Alistair replied. He hesitated a moment before bringing down his hood. Shianni gaped. "Ah, should I have left it up? I apologize for giving you a ghastly thing to see." Alistair! "I am Alistair. For right now, I just really want to help out Aiden's home."

"I… see…" Shianni replied slowly. I could tell she was shocked still. "A-ah, right, drinks…" She headed for the kitchen, hunting through. "We don't really have much. Water, beer, some sour wine…"

"Cleon and I will take the beer. I think Layla will want the water."

"Oh, good." Shianni returned quickly and passed us mugs. "Well, what do you know? About what's going on, I mean."

Alistair and I exchanged a look, and he nodded to me. A quick glance to Cleon confirmed it. I would speak. Alistair would translate for Cleon. "We know about the massacre here already," I answered. I tightened my grip on my cup. "Though, I will admit, I underestimated the extent…"

"We're better off than some," Shianni answered. I could only wince. "In Orlais, chevaliers will gut entire sections just for their initiation, if you believe half of the rumors." That was… "Anything else?"

"Sadly, no, but even if the only help we can give is some healing and some stories, we desperately wanted to."

"Well, there's been a plague. Some think it's the Blight, but these Tevinter mages supposedly cure it."

"That is impossible. There is no cure for Taint."

"Thank you!" She threw her hands up in the air. "Everyone knows the only cure is to become a Warden, but nooo, as soon as I point out that these charlatans don't know healing from pissing, everyone goes all whiny!" That was… an interesting mental image. "Supposedly, Valendrien is in 'quarantine' too, but they won't even let me exchange notes." She used her hand to mime someone talking. "Something, something, carry the plague, something, bullshit."

"Truthfully, the theory is sound. There are some illnesses that spread through…" That… was getting too technical. "No, please, forget I said anything. You have other reasons, yes?"

"Feelings, mostly." She sighed. "But Soris and I both agree. There's something wrong."

"I see." I was curious by how strongly she felt, but a quick glance to Cleon gave me a plausible theory. Neria was a powerful magic user. If she, Shianni, and Soris were related, it was entirely possible that Shianni and Soris inherited just enough magic to give them sharper instincts, much like Cleon had. "You said mostly?"

"I swear; half the people they quarantine are perfectly healthy."

"I see." …I had a very bad feeling, and I glanced at Cleon and Alistair to see if they were thinking the same. The dark looks said they were. "Who did you say was curing people?"

"Tevinter mages, given special permission from the Regent." This was… "Why?"

"…Has the possibility of slavers occurred to you?"

"It did to Alarith." She clenched her hands. "He's a former slave from the Imperium. He refused to talk to anyone who said they were saviors or anything." She looked up at us. "You think so too?"

"It is… a possibility." It was also a possibility that they were really helping. But, considering how odd all of this was, and considering our luck, I highly doubted it. "Where do they keep everyone?"

"Supposedly, in an infirmary, but I've kept count. There's not enough room for everyone, and everyone they took has disappeared." She leaned forward. "There is a warehouse that Soris saw them loitering by, though. That could house a lot of elves. Easily."

"Then that is where we shall go." I looked to Alistair and Cleon, and both nodded firmly. "Can you show us the warehouse?"

If you wanted to deal with the snake, you did not mess around with the body. You cut off the head. And heads were going to roll.


The warehouse was decrepit and abandoned-looking on the outside. The inside was another matter. It was clear as soon as we stepped inside that someone had taken great pains to clean the inside. We found the 'someone' fairly quickly as well, once we made it to a 'storage room' filled with cages packed with elves to the point that many were pressed against the bars. I recognized the robes of the person who turned to face us as Tevinter. We were dealing with a magister and, perhaps more importantly, I could think of only one reason for something like this. These were slavers.

"Ah, it seems we have guests," the person murmured. He actually bowed, but it seemed so, so mocking. "I am Caladrius." I honestly could not care any less. "And you must be two of the Wardens I have heard so much about, along with the royal bastard who might end up king." Should I dignify that with a response? Cleon was rolling his eyes. "What? Not even a little curious?"

"I see people in cages," I answered coolly. I could sense him trying to reach into our blood to influence us. "Alistair? Blood magic." Alistair quickly cleansed the area of magic. "That will not work."

"A shame. Might've been funny." Yes, someone was going to die now. "I suppose I can see why you can hardly get two words out of Loghain besides 'wardens' these days. It has surpassed even 'gold' in popularity."

"If that is the case, then you know to be afraid."

"Now, now, is this really how we're going to begin?" He was… patronizing us. He was actually patronizing us. "I was hoping for civility." Cleon quickly signed a reply. "What did he say?"

"He says that he can bash your head in with civility with ease." He actually said a bit more, but I did not feel like describing just how Cleon planned to do that.

"Are you certain you wish to commit such a rash action? Look around you-"

"I see humans and elves, when we have fought and survived darkspawn, demons, and dragons." I called the markings up and punched the ground, fracturing the stone floor. It was worth the wide-eyed shock and fear in his face. "Are you so certain you wish to do anything but do exactly what we say?"

"I'd like to point out that you might be a magister, but a mage is a mage," Alistair added cheerfully. He was even smiling. "All magic can be canceled out by templars, and I highly doubt you have much experience fighting someone who can block your greatest weapon. And I am templar trained." Alistair pointed to Cleon before continuing his signing so Cleon could keep up. "He, by the way, is trained by two or three different types of assassins, and knows how to move like a shadow."

"K-kings…" Caladrius began. I found it far too amusing that we had terrified him. Of course, we… sort of went out of our way for it. "Kings should not threaten potential-"

"Kings never threatened. They inform." Alistair was still smiling. "And I am informing you that if you do not surrender anything and everything that ties you to Loghain, as well as the keys to all the cells here, you will see why we are Wardens."

"A-ah, right…" He grit his teeth, and I felt like we just made a horrible mistake. "Then, I shall inform you that you should not underestimate a magister!" There was a flash of light that made me stumble back. It might have done more, but I drew up a barrier, and Alistair quickly used a templar trick to cleanse the air of magic. But when the light cleared I noticed something that made me see red. Caladrius and his people were running.

"Alistair, help the elves!" I yelled, chasing after Caladrius. Cleon easily fell in step with me, and then overtook me. That was a good thing, as I lost track of Caladrius quickly, but Cleon was much, much easier to spot.

I ran through the streets, shoving people out of my way. They yelped and protested, a few even trying to grab me by the arm, but I gave them a little static shock to keep them from holding me. I had to chase; I had to keep Cleon within sight.

The smell of the sea greeted me before I realized we were at the docks and, perhaps more importantly, Caladrius was on a ship that was starting to sail away…!

Cleon glanced back at me as he headed for the edge of the docks, and I knew what he wanted instantly. As he jumped, I used a bit of magic to propel him forward, allowing him to easily land on the deck of the ship and I saw him easily fighting those on board, even Caladrius. But that did not change one crucial fact: the ship was still sailing away.

"You will not get away!" Snapping the words, I called upon the magic of the air and water and ordered it to freeze. Ice crackled onto the water and spread out, catching some waves mid-break as it ran all the way to the ship and clawed up the sides. "Loghain and his supporters might condone slavery, but we do not!" I jerked my hands up, and used the ice to lift the ship clear out of the water. It unbalanced those on board, but I saw Cleon flit about as easily as a bird, people dropping with every flash of his blades.

When I saw Caladrius's head fly, dropping into the water, I felt like a puppet whose strings had been cut. I almost collapsed, but locked my knees in time. Though, I did have to rest my hands on my knees to keep from falling anyway, and I struggled to breath. That had been… that had been a lot of running and that had been… quite a bit of magical manipulation.

A gentle hand rubbed my back, and when I glanced up, I saw it was Alistair. "The elves that slaver had caged up are freed now," he informed me with a bright smile. "Though, it took a bit? I mean; you left the warrior without any skill with locks in charge." Um… er… y-yes, in retrospect, I suppose that had been a poor decision…

"I am sorry," I finally managed to say. Honestly, that was two really bad decisions. The first had been thinking intimidation would get us submission instead of a flight, and the second had been to chase. It would have been smarter for me to remain behind, to melt the locks. It would have been smarter for Cleon to have blocked the exits, or for me to keep talking as he slipped around to assassinate? Had Cleon been trying to suggest that? Did he also have a little bit of arrogance? I was not sure...

"Ah, well. Looks like you and Cleon got the slavers themselves, so all's well that end's well!" He snickered at my droll look before turning to look at something behind us. "Ah, lovely day today, yes, everyone?" Belatedly, I realized the docks were packed with people, who all just witnessed that, and heard exactly what we had been talking about. "You are wonderfully dramatic today, Layla."

"That was not my intention." My voice was a hiss. That was three mistakes. I think I had gotten a bit of a big head because of the earlier successes… "It really was not."

"Well, I can't say we were any less." He waved to the crowd, smiling warmly. "Sorry about the water! We'll get it cleared up as soon as our friend is done dispensing justice and gets back to shore, okay?" I nearly groaned when I realized there was another mistake. Alistair did not have his hood up. There was no way to hide who he was. "Oh, but is there anything I can do to help while we're waiting?" He laughed awkwardly. "I mean; not sure if Layla can do anything after that, but I've some arms that can carry things?"

There was an awkward silence, but slowly, the people closed in, and took Alistair up on his offer. I sat on one of the boxes on the dock, and watched him chat happily with the dock workers as he helped, accepting scoldings with a laugh, making sure everyone was clear before something moved with a smile.

I could see them smile back, and thought that perhaps this would be the king Alistair could be. He could be a king that everyone knew would listen, and do what he could. I could see them realize that in their eyes.

…We took this up to save Aiden's home, but we found evidence against Loghain and gained Alistair a lot of credibility among the common folk. So, I suppose the mistakes were… not quite that bad…

Now, if Nuada and Aiden could return… everything would be fine…


Author's Note: Unrest in the Alienage marks the first time you can visit the Alienage in the main quest. Which I shortened. A lot. Because while the quest is interesting, it's only really interesting at the beginning and at the end. I… also just found the mental image of Layla and Cleon chasing Caladrius through the streets and onto his ship too good to pass up? Ahaha? It's also a quest that's pretty good at punching holes in a growing arrogance in the chars.

Next chapter – Drakon with Aiden