Chapter 90) Fort Drakon
Aiden POV
"They took him to Drakon, poor sod." The whispers made me pause, and I looked up from my work, curious. "He won't be getting out of there. He'll be killed for a quota."
"Maybe it's different," someone else whispered. They didn't sound too hopeful. "Maybe he'll get out."
"Yeah, right. They dragged him in for nothing, and the fool never could shut up. He'll die, and they'll say it's suicide, just like the others."
"It's the home of the guard."
"Since when does the guard protect elves. They protect pretty humans, and that's it."
I shook my head, and went back to work. I supposed we'd be hearing about another 'tragic suicide' from the country's most secure prison again in the morning.
Red. Red, red, red. So much red. Too much red. I couldn't breath. I was going to drown in it, or snap or… or…
With a considerable amount of effort, I dragged myself from the panic spiral of my thoughts, focusing on my breathing just as Sten had suggested. I was shaking, feeling like I needed to throw up. We had just been thrown into cells, but we had a clear view of the bodies of other prisoners, and there was just so much red…
"I am somehow unsurprised the place became a torture chamber under Howe's rule." It took me a significant amount of time to realize Lord Nuada even said something. "I think maybe… half of them are alive," Lord Nuada continued to murmur. I was tempted to glare at him, just for being horribly calm, but I couldn't bring myself to uncurl from my tight ball enough to do so.
I agreed to this because I trust him, but I was starting to regret I trusted him.
"Though, I have to say, I do find it fascinating seeing the cells from this point of view. It's very scenic."
Could I punch him? I wanted to. Very. Very. Badly.
"Join the Grey Wardens! See the sights from the floors of the best prisons in the land! Of course that's not much of a recruitment slogan. Then again, Wardens don't really have a recruitment slogan."
Lord Nuada, I was seriously, seriously going to crack your head against the bars. …Wait, no, I wasn't because there would be more red…!
"Well, I suppose that I'm done gathering information. Let's escape."
…what. WHAT.
"Aiden, that's some glare." Lord Nuada twisted to look at me. I could only continue to glare. I was so pissed off right now. "Why are you mad? This is beyond the normal 'oh, hey, you didn't tell me shit again' mad, which I probably did again." Didn't he…?! …Wait, no, he might not. He actually might not. We had not fought many major battles together, and that was where you saw the most red.
"…Red…" I rasped. His expression blanked, and I knew I was right. If he had known, he had forgotten. "I can't take…" There was too much red. I was going to spiral again.
"…Aiden, I owe you a night of drinking." Ha… "I just thought you were napping." He looked annoyed, and I knew it was at himself. "Hang on just a bit longer. We're escaping now."
I just nodded, curling up again so that I didn't see the red. Too much red. I didn't want to even see if the owners of the red were still alive. I was scared that they were.
"Ser?" I heard Lord Nuada call. He rapped on the door. "Sers, might we talk?"
"No," one refused bluntly. "If you're not bleeding, I don't care."
"Are you sure?" Lord Nuada replied slowly. Actually, it almost sounded like Morrigan when she was being extra flirtatious with Cleon. It was bizarre enough that I rolled over, just to see what was going on. "I was thinking you two could keep me company?" He was wearing a very, very flirtatious smirk. "My friend here is fast asleep and I'm so lonely and bored." Um… um…
"W-well…" The guard glanced at his friend, face slowly turning red. "I… uh… we could?" His friend nodded very eagerly. This was insane. "Yeah! Yeah, we will!" This could not work.
It did. The guards opened the door right up and came inside. I focused on trying to process this bizarre set of events, and not reacting when one eyed me suspiciously.
"What's with this ink on his lower back?"
"That's a tattoo," Lord Nuada replied lightly. "I have one too." Yes, his was on the right side of his back, entirely. Layla's was on her left. Or were they reversed? Regardless, they were mirror images of each other. Mine was two wings on my lower back, wrapping around my hips so that the tips were level with my navel. Cleon's were actually on his shoulder blades, small wings on both sides. "See?"
"Should've been a dog." Well, excuse me for not being a bitch. "Yours is nice though."
"Oh, thank you~" Lord Nuada laughed, eyes dancing wickedly. "But enough of that. There's too much armor. Take it off so we can have a bit of fun."
The two guards could not strip fast enough. "They put too many buckles on these things!"
"They do indeed." Lord Nuada waited for them to take off all the armor before smiling slowly. "Thank you very kindly." He shifted, and all at once, his demeanor went from flirtatious to dangerous. "Sleep well."
Two punches. He threw two punches, and down they went, groaning and unconscious.
"Maker's balls, Lord Nuada," I groaned, sitting up. Lord Nuada ignored me, poking picking up the armor. "What are you doing?"
"Getting us out, as I should have earlier," he answered easily. He tossed me a breastplate. "Get that on." What. "Come on. Quickly." He was not serious. There was no way he could be serious. "Aiden, you do want to leave, right?" He was being serious. There was no way this was going to work. "Aiden, can you move?"
"Reluctantly." Sighing, I put on the armor, grimacing at how awkward it felt. We didn't have clothes to wear underneath, and so the metal felt warm, sticky even. Gross. "Armor on. Now what."
"Follow me." He just… walked out, casually using some keys he must have found with the armor to unlock cells as we passed. Half of the people stumbled out, skittering off. Half stayed in their puddles of red. "Ah, I knew there was one close by."
"You knew one of what was close by?" The only answer I got was Lord Nuada opening a door and walking through. "Lord Nuada." Resisting the urge to growl, I followed himself, before blinking slowly, trying to process everything. Why were we in an armory?
"Here, grab some better fitting armor, and a helmet that hides your ears," Lord Nuada instructed. He snagged a bit of clean cloth to use as an eyepatch, covering his blind, and used another bit of cloth to twist his hair up from… from hip length to a compact bun. "Aiden, seriously, less standing around admiring my handsomeness, more moving."
"…You've done shit like this before." That was the only explanation I had.
"I spent a childhood in Antiva, and my early teen years in Nevarra and Orlais." His tone implied 'yes, I very much have'. "There's not really enough time to explain the plan in detail, but you do realize I wouldn't have decided for us to get here if I didn't have three or four plans to get out, right?"
"I'm just going to smile, nod, and remember you're my strategist for a reason."
"Well, I think this is more of tactics, but yes, I am." He grinned. "Helmet. Now."
"Fine." It took a bit of hunting, but I did eventually find one that covered my ears well enough. These had been made for humans, not elves. "I'm going to pretend to be mute if someone has to talk."
"Providing I'm remembering things correctly, we'll be out soon." I still couldn't believe this was really happening. Was I in the middle of a fever dream? "This way!" Of course, Lord Nuada was having entirely too much fun with all of this. Entirely too much.
"When do I get to be back in control of everything?" I grumbled as we walked down the hall. I waved half-heartedly to the soldiers as we passed. People were less likely to be suspicious of friendly people. "I thought I was the leader."
"To think you used to freak out when in control," Lord Nuada snickered, flashing a smile and a wink to a passing servant. They blushed and scampered off. "You remember?"
"You can laugh later."
"Well, to answer your question, after the Landsmeet, I think. That's when the real battle begins." Right… "Here we are." Now, where were we? Besides a closed door. "Pardon, ser?"
"Come in," an annoyed voice called. Lord Nuada opened the door without a second's pause, and I saw the room was some sort of study-office thing, where a man in armor glared at us from his desk. The glare softened slightly when he saw us, though. "Ah, you must be the new recruits we were expecting." …Oh, I got it now. There were new recruits everyday because of the losses at Ostagar and Loghain's desperate attempts to keep up 'the peace'. So long as we got armor, and hid some recognizable features, it would be child's play to sneak out because there were always new faces. "You're late."
"Terribly sorry, sir!" Lord Nuada replied, snapping into a salute. I mimicked him a split-second later. "We… ah… got lost, and then got yelled at by some corporal for getting some dust on some armor?"
"Well, you're here now." The man got up from his desk, eyes narrowed as he walked around us, eyeing us like we were pieces of meat he wasn't sure he wanted to buy. I was reminded of the matchmaker I met… long before all of this started. "Yes, good, good… no slouching, no fidgeting… good discipline. You serve somewhere before?"
"Just the town militia, ser, but we took it seriously."
"I can tell." He stepped away from us, smiling slightly. "All right, you'll be heading out on a patrol straight away. The password for the front doors is 'rabbit'."
"Yes, ser!" Lord Nuada saluted again, and I, again, mimicked the action. "Have a blessed day!"
We marched right out of there, and as everyone greeted us kindly, wished us luck, I realized two things. One, I had forgotten there were actually some nice people serving our enemies. Two, we were literally about to just stroll out of the most fortified prison in all of Fereldan. This… this was really happening. This really happened. This actually worked.
You have got to be kidding me.
"Welcome back, you two." The icing on the 'there is no way any of this is real' cake was Lady Elspeth greeting the two of us with a warm, kind, and completely unsurprised smile. "I am pleased to see you have returned unharmed," she continued, walking down the front steps to meet us as we made our way to the estate. Lord Nuada was snickering, while I continued to just… stare blankly at everything. "I do not suppose you have more information for me? Wynne and Leliana told me everything they knew."
"I've a ring you need to get to Alfstanna," Lord Nuada answered, tugging it out of his pocket. I could only wonder how it didn't get confiscated with everything else, and decided that he, as a human, had not been as thoroughly searched. "You know about Oswyn?"
"Yes, I paid him a visit earlier." Her smile faltered. "His legs…"
"I figured." Lord Nuada sighed. "Other than that, Fort Drakon has been turned into a torture prison place. I got more, but that's to me put in as rumors."
"Well, I know some people will be angry about that." She shook her head. "Cleon, Layla, and Alistair are at the Alienage, by the way." Why would they be there? "There was some… unrest."
"…What sort of 'unrest'?" I asked slowly. No small part of me wanted to rush to the Alienage, but I held my ground. I trusted them, and I really was in no condition, mentally or physically, to fight. So, I should leave it to them. "What's going on?"
"That, sadly, we don't know yet, so we limited the group infiltrating to just three," she answered easily, giving me a wan, sad smile. "The quarantine might have lifted, but I imagine few elves would look kindly on humans now, for good reasons." She shook her head. "Regardless, everyone else is inside. Anora is safely in some guest rooms." Oh, how wonderful. "Have you any questions?"
"Why are you out here and not letting us inside?"
"I am buying time for the servants to finish with setting up your hot baths. I thought you would want them." …Well, now I wondered how far ahead all of this was planned. "I saw you two coming up." …DOES SHE READ MINDS?! "Your exhausted enough to let your thoughts show on your face."
"Aiden, just smile and nod," Lord Nuada deadpanned. He, unlike me, just looked completely relaxed and resigned. I think that summed up the entire day actually. "When Elspeth decides to ferret out information, it's hers. She got information out of Uncle Duncan." Oh, yes, that was quite the feat. "You're delightfully sarcastic when you're so done with everything."
"I am so pleased to be entertaining, my lord, my lady," I deadpanned. This went from the best day to the most bizarre I had ever had, and there were a lot of contenders for that title! "Second question." I pointed to Lady Elspeth's clothes. "You're dressed up to greet us?"
"Ah, yes," Lady Elspeth murmured. She looked a little nervous suddenly. "I am going to the Gnawed Noble Tavern to win allies, in theory." She fiddled with her earrings, biting her lip. "So, I must look the part of a noblewoman. In politics, fashion is armor, and words are weapons." Yes, I knew that. "Does it look weird?"
"You look very beautiful, but I think the last time I saw you dressed up, it was at a distance during a Landsmeet one or two years ago, so I also think it's a little strange." That… that came out wrong. "I did mention you look beautiful first, right? That wasn't in my head?"
"No, you said it," Lord Nuada reassured. He was snickering, and I knew it was because Lady Elspeth was visibly confused on how to take my words. "Aiden says you look nice, my dearest twin, so simply leave it at that." He suddenly posed dramatically. For some reason. "Of course, how could you not be, with such a handsome twin? I can't have reaped all the beauty while in the womb!"
"I knew you hit your head," I deadpanned. Lord Nuada comically gasped, stumbling back as if I had punched him, while Lady Elspeth laughed, relaxing. "Please tell me you are not going alone."
"No, Sten will be coming with me to the Tavern," Lady Elspeth replied. I tried to process the mental image of Lady Elspeth appearing with a qunari bodyguard in the middle of a tavern frequented by nobles, but all I got was hilarity. "Oghren was my guard for the ball yesterday." Oghren had been? I must have missed that conversation, and I was sorely curious about rumors now. "Leliana and Zevran will be coming with me tonight, though. It is the biggest yet, and we are getting very close to the Landsmeet proper."
"How long?"
"It's the day after tomorrow," Lord Nuada answered. His dramatics faded for seriousness as he crossed his arms and frowned in thought. "But we will have to stay inside tomorrow, for safety. Today, and tonight, are going to be the last days for preparations." He nodded. "Aiden, I will be heading out later and utilizing my family name to get us some pretty armor and runes, as well as check in with a friend in the market."
"I'm going to take a very long bath, and a longer nap," I sighed. Everything was starting to ache. "Though, if Cleon, Layla, and Alistair arrive while I'm in either place, please wake…" Wait, hold on a moment. "Alistair left the estate?!"
"Oh, I'm sure it's an amazing idea with lots of benefits." I was getting those later, when I wasn't too tired to… wait, no, I figured it out already. Never mind. I wanted to be too tired to think. "Elspeth, we're heading in."
"I shall be leaving shortly, and doubt I will be back prior to you all turning in for the night," Lady Elspeth replied. She was back to the warm smile. "So, have a pleasant afternoon and evening." Oh, Maker, she was right. Even though so much had gone on, we were barely past mid-afternoon.
Sighing, I waved her goodbye and stumbled inside the estate, barely noticing the shocked servants except to move out of their way. And help when they dropped things. Apparently, they'd expected a rescue mission, not 'oh, hey, we escaped on our own'. Not that I blamed them. Everything logical said that shouldn't have worked, and yet it did.
I opened the door to my room, intending on crashing in the bath, and had to pause. There was Zevran. On my bed. Posed rather provocatively. With no shirt and some low-riding pants. And with a rose between his teeth for some reason?
"Very romance novel cover," I noted. With a groan, I shut the door behind me, and started taking off the armor. "Where did the rose even come from?"
"The gardens, of course," Zevran laughed. Instantly, he appeared at my side, handing the armor so that I could just relax. "I noticed the baths being prepared, and I could not think of another reason." He smirked. "I thought you could use something pleasing to look at."
"Yes, yes, very pleasing, almost as much as that tub of warm water."
He gasped dramatically, clutching his chest. "Ah, my poor fragile heart." Ha! "Mmm, it seems some hours in the place didn't mess with you too much."
"My sense of time is so screwed up right now." So, I was just going to focus on the future. Two days until the Landsmeet. Two days until we're done with Loghain forever. "Ugh, I am stiff…"
"How about I give you a lovely massage?" His smile was kind, and I noticed at last how he clung a little. He might be joking, but he had been scared. "I have these lovely oils."
"Sure, sounds good." I smiled back. "I'm sorry."
"Oh, we'll work on suitable ways to apologize after your bath, massage, and nap." He went back to helping me get the armor off. "Especially after your nap."
"I'm going to pass out in the tub, likely."
"I'll drag you out before you prune into an old man." Ha… "Welcome back, Aiden."
"Thanks, Zevran."
Author's Note: I love the 'Captured' Quest because of just how ridiculous it can get. I prefer the 'escape on own', but wow, can some of the stories the companions concoct get hilarious. Yes, the persuasion route is available to both male and female Wardens, and both involve seduction.
Next Chapter – Nuada in Denerim
