Things moved swiftly after they reached Redcliffe. Or swiftly as they were able given the number of steps they had to complete to make things happen; meet with Arl Eamon, determine a plan, feel out the nobles to see who agreed with them(or could be swayed thus).
The list was daunting even before Queen Anora's handmaiden showed up with the news Arl Howe was holding the queen prisoner on his Denerim estate. Leliana wanted to groan at yet another step on the list, but Marta seemed more than willing to play the hero. Which was to be expected, especially given the fact it increased her odds of facing the man who killed her family. Leliana couldn't fault her for that, and from the sound of things the man needed to die anyway, but she knew how easy a fall vengeance was-or could be.
So she pulled Alistair aside as they made their way to Howe's Denerim estate. "You need to watch out for her."
"You think I don't already? Someone's been distracted by a pair of baby blues," he said jokingly.
Leliana rolled her eyes but ignored the teasing. It wasn't worth giving him the we're just friends speech now. "I'm serious, Alistair. I know how good it can feel to kill the person who betrayed you and ruined your life. It is a slippery slope, no?"
Alistair shrugged. "You seem to have managed alright."
"I had help." She slanted a glance toward the mage. "And I know you care about Marta like he does about me. So just... be there for her. Make sure she doesn't do anything she'll regret."
o.O.o
Nothing went according to plan. The way into the estate was simple enough, but the room where Queen Anora was trapped also had a magical barrier over the door. The mage who cast it was powerful than him, and Jowan couldn't do anything to dispel it. So it was into the dungeons they went, in search of Howe and the mage. Along the way, Marta insisted on freeing everyone they found alive-including, fortuitously enough, a Senior Grey Warden named Riordan, who thanked them and promised to meet them back at Arl Eamon's estate before he left.
By the time they actually found the arl and his mage, they had seen enough depravity to get all four of them furious at the man. He did-or allowed-things that made what Isolde's guards had done to Jowan look like child's play, and for far slighter offenses. Howe was spiteful to the end, spitting curses and taunts at Marta throughout their fight, until she rammed a dagger into his gut with such force she actually lifted him up on his toes before slashing his throat with her other blade. He crumpled to the floor, his weight snapping off the dagger in his gut. Marta didn't seem to notice as she stood over his corpse, breathing hard.
Leliana caught Jowan's eye and motioned to help her search the other bodies for anything valuable. He joined her as Alistair stepped to Marta's side, and they gave the two as much privacy as they could until Marta had regained her composure.
When they headed back up to free the queen, Marta had replaced her broken dagger with Howe's axe, carrying the weapon like a trophy. The magic barrier over Queen Anora's door was gone, and Howe had been carrying the key, but they hit another snag: somehow, Loghain had gotten wind they were here, because his guard captain and several knights were waiting for them.
By now Jowan knew Marta well enough it didn't really surprise him when she didn't argue or fight, but instead surrendered. "Get Anora to Eamon," she hissed under her breath as the guards approached to arrest her and Alistair. He nodded understanding, and even as the Grey Wardens were 'escorted' to prison, he and Leliana practically bolted across the market place with the queen in tow.
o.O.o
Rescuing their leader and Alistair was a challenge in and of itself. Fort Drakon proved hard to infiltrate, harder still to navigate, and damned near impossible to escape. But they succeeded. And they succeeded because Jowan let her do all the talking on the way in. In fact... Leliana frowned as they returned to Eamon's estate, roughed-up but alive Grey Wardens in tow, Jowan hadn't said a word the entire time they were skulking through the prison.
I'll have to talk to him about that, see if something's wrong, she resolved.
But fate must've been against the idea, because no sooner had they returned and gotten Marta and Alistair patched up then they were running off to the elven Alienage, thanks to a vague tip from Anora about 'unrest'. 'Unrest' turned out to equal 'Tevinter slavers kidnapping elves with Loghain's blessing'. After Marta stripped the incriminating documents off the lead slaver's body as proof, she turned to the others and smiled grimly. "I'd say we have enough now, wouldn't you?"
Leliana had to agree. Between those documents and the people they'd found in Howe's dungeon, they had plenty to call a Landsmeet and condemn the teyrn's actions. And then, hopefully, Ferelden would unite against the Blight. And after the Blight was stopped, they could take a breath, relax. Have conversations that needed to be had.
o.O.o
Marta must have noticed something was off, because she pulled Leliana aside just prior to leaving for the palace. "Are you alright? It seems like something has been bothering you recently."
"I'm fine," Leliana demurred. "Just... between Branka, and Howe, and the Alienage... That the Maker's creatures are capable of such awful things, it is a bit unsettling, no?"
"Is that all that's bothering you?" the Warden pressed. "It's seemed like things are... out of sync between you and Jowan since the last time we were here."
"Oh, non, everything's fine. We're just worried about stopping the Blight, and it's making us quieter than usual," she fibbed hastily. We really need to talk.
Marta only looked half-convinced, but shrugged and dropped it. She did, after all, have more important things to worry about.
o.O.o
The Landsmeet went about as well as it possibly could. Nobles that they had helped, with rescued sons or brothers, combined with Marta's incredible gift for public speaking, won them the day. And Alistair's skill as a warrior won him the crown.
They were, of course, given little time to celebrate, because Arl Eamon wanted to talk strategy and Riordan wanted to discuss Grey Warden matters, and they were going to need to move out soon. Seeing as the Blight was a Grey Warden issue above all else, it seemed only fitting they spoke to Riordan first. Jowan was more than a little surprised when Marta motioned for him to join them; he'd figured as just a conscript, he wouldn't matter. When he said something to that effect in the Senior Warden's hearing, Riordan's brow furrowed. "Follow me, all of you."
They did, and he led the way to a warehouse off the marketplace, with a secret cache of Grey Warden weapons, armor, and paraphernalia. Riordan obviously knew exactly what he was looking for; crossing immediately to a small cabinet, its insides frosty from an ice rune, and pulled out a large vial. "We need all the Grey Wardens possible, especially now."
Jowan was officially lost. but Marta and Alistair both stiffened. "Riordan..."
"There are compelling reasons to have as many of us as possible, only the least of which is no longer worrying about the Taint," Riordan said calmly.
"It could kill him!" Marta retorted, fingers drumming the hilt of her dagger. "And then I'll be down a mage, and we won't have gained anything!"
"If he is a conscript, friend, it will happen sooner or later," Riordan answered.
"He has a point, Mar," Alistair shrugged. "And a pretty good one at that."
Jowan cleared his throat. "If it has to happen sooner or later, I'd rather just get it over with."
"Good man," Riordan nodded approvingly as he poured the contents of the vial into a chalice.
Far from it, really. The thought was more automatic reaction than something he really believed, which was progress. He took the chalice, the metal cool in his grasp. "If this does happen to kill me, tell Leliana... she can have my sketchbook." Hopefully that would convey what he couldn't put into words yet.
Marta nodded. "Of course."
Her hand sought Alistair's for comfort as they said the words of whatever oath went with this ritual. And Jowan drank.
o.O.o
The pain and the nightmarish visions were both vivid and intense, but mercifully brief. As his eyes flickered open, Marta smiled in relief and Alistair offered him a hand up.
"That tastes terrible," Jowan commented as he accepted the help.
"Yes, well, don't ask what's in it, then," Alistair said wryly, clapping him on the back. "And welcome to the ranks."
"Thank you?" The splitting headache and bad taste in his mouth made him less than sure he meant it, but Alistair being nice was a definite step up from distant, so he'd take it.
"Well, while we're here," Marta began, "what do you say you and I check to see if any of this armor is better than what we already have?"
By the time they left, Marta and Jowan sported the silver and blue of the Wardens, and Alistair had picked out a new shield emblazoned with the crest.
"I may be king, but I'm still a Grey Warden, too," he defended when Marta pointed out maybe he should be showing the people he aligned with Ferelden more. "Besides, this armor looks similar to Cailan's."
Jowan rolled his eyes but smiled at the playful banter as they made their way back. It was good to know there was levity to balance out the darker side of their calling.
Doubly so when the nightmares woke him screaming.
o.O.o
If she were a betting woman, Leliana would have laid money that Jowan didn't get more than a couple hours' worth of sleep a night the whole way to Redcliffe, where the bulk of the darkspawn horde seemed to be heading.
"I'm just adjusting," he brushed her off when she said something.
"To what?!" she demanded. What happened on that little 'Wardens only' field trip?
"Actually being a Grey Warden," was his cagey reply.
She huffed in annoyance at his stonewalling and didn't speak to him the remaining days to Redcliffe. Petty, yes possibly-probably-she admitted to herself, but she hated feeling like someone she cared about was keeping secrets again.
Jowan must have picked up on that, despite the sleep deprivation, because he did apologize as they approached the outskirts of the village. "I know it's hard, and I wish I could tell you more... everything, really. But there are some things Grey Wardens are sworn to secrecy. Hard as it may be, I just need you trust me, okay?"
She was quiet for a long moment, long enough, she could feel him getting nervous, before she half-smiled and nodded. "That's what friends are for, no?"
He seemed to wilt a little in relief as he replied, "That and watching your back."
o.O.o
It proved to be a very good thing they got over their little spat, as the darkspawn had beaten them to Redcliffe. Fighting both the monsters and their noise in his head was exhausting and Leliana wound up saving his neck multiple times before things were safe enough for them to make their way to the castle. Where they had to fight even more darkspawn and Alistair nearly got crushed by an ogre because Jowan was distracted by a hurlock trying skewer Leliana. At least it can't get any worse, Jowan thought as they mounted the steps.
But he was wrong. The news waiting for them was definitely worse: the main horde was actually heading for Denerim-along with the archdemon. Even with a forced march, it would take a week to reach the capital. And then Riordan asked to speak privately with the other Wardens before they turned in for the night.
"Was it ever explained to any of you why Grey Warden are necessary to end the Blight?" he asked, once they were alone and the door was closed.
"I figured it had something to do with the Taint," Marta replied as Alistair and Jowan shook their heads.
"That is it exactly," Riordan nodded gravely, before explaining what that something was; the archdemon's essence was drawn to the Taint, and if killed by anyone other than a Grey Warden, it would simply move to the nearest darkspawn and begin again. But if a Grey Warden struck the killing blow, the archdemon's soul would instead attempt to move to their body. "However, a Grey Warden is not soulless, like darkspawn. The resulting conflict will destroy both the archdemon and the Grey Warden."
"So... whoever kills it dies?" Alistair asked incredulously.
Riordan nodded again. "As the eldest and longest-serving of us, I will take responsibility for the killing blow, if possible. However, if that is not possible, one of you must be ready."
That would be one way to make up for what I've done... Looking around at the others, Jowan could see it in their eyes; they were all three willing. And with that somber realization they all went their separate ways. Marta went to her room, and Alistair to his.
But Jowan headed straight for Leliana's.
o.O.o
Leliana was in the middle of picking out a tune on her lute, trying to calm her ragged and jangling nerves, when Jowan walked in, not even pausing to knock on the half-open door. He looked like he'd aged several years in the half-hour since she last saw him.
"What's wrong?" she asked, setting aside her lute and standing.
"There's a really good chance we could die when we get to Denerim," he said softly, hands nervously tangling together as he took another step into the room. "But the odds are... are higher for us Grey Wardens, and if I'm going to die..."
She raised an eyebrow when he let the words trail off. "What?"
He crossed the rest of the room in two steps and kissed her. Leliana had just gotten over the surprise and started to enjoy it when he pulled back just far enough to breathe.
"If I'm going to die I wanted to do that at least once," he finished quietly, hand resting tentatively on her shoulder. For a second, he looked like he was going to say more, but then abruptly stepped back and left. Not before Leliana saw how red his face had gone.
Alright, she decided, fingers brushing her lips as she stared at the empty doorway. We definitely need to talk.
