"Can you hear me Cousin? Are you alright?"
Angelus slowly started to open his eyes, head screaming at him in pain, as Soris looked at him in concern.
"Just the opposite, actually," Angelus groaned. Then, memories came rushing back to the elf all at once and when he realized what was happening, his eyes went wide and turned to look at Soris. "The women, are they alright?"
"Vaughan took Shianni, Nesiara, Valora, and the rest of the women in the wedding back to the palace." Soris said. "The Elder is talking to Duncan, that Grey Warden. Everyone is getting upset!"
"Of course they're upset, I can't believe this!" Angelus growled, getting up and dusking himself off. As much as he didn't like getting married, the clothes he was wearing were quite...nice, and he would hate for them to be ruined.
"Me either. We should see if we can help. They're back the tree." Soris said. Angelus raised an eyebrow.
"You want to help? That's shocking. I thought you would be glad the wedding's on hold." He said.
"Hey I may not like the idea of getting married forcefully like this, but that doesn't mean I want something bad to happen to Valora. Especially when Lord Vaughan is involved." Soris said, shivering at the thought as a grim look came across Angelus face.
"Agreed. Let's go." With that, the two elves walked off the platform and towards the tree where they witnessed a large number of elves, mostly men, gathering around Duncan and the Elder, complaining.
"Please all of you, listen! I know that you are upset and with good reason, but there's nothing we can do right now." Valendrian said.
"He's right. Running after them will just make matters worse." An elven women said.
"So we do nothing?! They took my sister!" An elven male, couldn't be older than Angelus, shouted in anger.
"Well, he can't possible think he could get away with this." Angelus said, and a women, the same one who hated Angelus - maybe he shouldn't be surprise that they hadn't taken her - laughed in a mocking tone.
"You talk as if he hasn't gotten away with it before." She sneered.
"Normally I'd counsel patience. Unfortunately, the stories about the Arl's son and his appetites are...most disturbing." Valendrian said.
"We should go to the garrison for help, then." Angelus said, but Valendrian shook his head.
"With Arl Urien in the way, his son is in control of the garrison. I'm not certain they will do anything." He muttered. Angelus frowned as the crowd became more unruly by the second.
"The law doesn't exist for us elves." A elven man said, with a bit disappointment in his voice and eyes.
"And even when they return, there is no guarantee. According to the stories, the Arl overlooked his son's behavior before." Valendrian said. Internally, Angelus groaned. How could something like this go overlooked?! Do the Arl not care about what was happening to the Alienage? About the elves? Maybe it was his anger talking, or maybe Angelus was getting sick of not being treated right, but the next words that flew out of his mouth-
"Then we need to do something. Now." He said.
"But what can we do? We're talking about the Arl's palace. Even with the Arl and his knights gone, the place will still be guarded." The same elf complained.
"Elder? May I offer a suggestion?" A new voice asked, soft and kind. The group looked at the elven boy, skin dark with auburn color hair, and chocolate brown eyes who had spoken. Angelus thought he may have seen the kid at least once or twice, but the elf couldn't be too sure. "I work inside palace. I could sneak one, perhaps two others in through the servant's entrance. Nobody will notice an extra pair of elves looking around."
Ah. So that's what is was. The elf rarely comes down in the Alienage, but Angelus knew the boy couldn't be cooped inside the place forever.
"We could be in and out before anyone notice the difference." Angelus spoke, eyes wide as ideas started to flow in his mind. Seeing this, Soris stuttered.
"I'm with you, of course, but if we run into trouble, we won't be able to talk our way out of it." He said.
"For that you'll need weapons," Duncan said, surprising everyone. "Allow me to offer my own: long sword and bow. A man should be able to defend his loved ones properly."
"Surely Duncan can go for help, they'll believe him." Angelus said, looking at the Elder, but Duncan had spoke just before Valendrian could.
"I fear I cannot. Trust me when I say my intervention will cost you more trouble than it would solve." He said. A part of Angelus felt disappointed, but not too surprised by the face that Duncan cannot help.
"Then, your path is set. I pray the Maker looks on it with favor." Valendrian said.
"You're all insane! The guards will burn our homes down around us!" Angelus really didn't like this women.
"Enough, Elva, you had your say. They shall try. For their own honor and the honor of the women, we must trust in the Maker." Valendrian said.
"I'll make sure the way's clear. When you're ready, meet me at the Alienage gate." The servant boy said. With a nod, the boy ran off. Angelus and Soris grabbed the weapons Duncan gave them - Soris the long sword, and Angelus the bow and arrows - before heading towards the gate themselves.
"You made it. I sent the word out to get the servant's entrance unlocked. Are you ready to go?" The servant asked.
"Shouldn't we get a change of clothes? It'll look pretty suspicious going into the palace the way we are." Angelus said.
"He's...got you there." Soris agreed, chuckling. The servant just smiled at them.
"I've got some things. You can change on the way." He said and open the gate to the palace. It was a long and tiring walk up towards the hill, but they've manage to get through the back without being seen.
Then they were spotted by a guard.
Okay, so maybe they did get caught at least once or twice, but still. So far, Angelus and Soris were doing a pretty good job keeping their identities in tact. At least, that was until they got inside the castle.
Chaos erupted, and before either of the elves knew it, Angelus and Soris were fighting their way through the castle, blood splattered on their clothes and skin. Eventually, they came across a room with knights and a dead elven women. Soris could barely hold onto his lunch while Angelus glared at them.
"Well, that's one less elf breeder in the world." One of the knights said, smirking.
"A shame, though. A nice body that one." Another one said.
"Still warm, how picky are ya anyway?" The one that was bending down to check the body said, looking up at his fellow knight.
"Shut it you two. We got company." The two knights stood up, glaring at Angelus and Soris. "You just walked into the wrong room. You know how this works boys, no witnesses."
A fight broke out not a moment soon, and at the end, Angelus and Soris came out victor.
"Cousin, I am worried about Shianni." Soris said, the concern evident in his voice. Angelus merely nodded, his mind plagued with images of what could have possibly happened to Shianni.
"We should hurry and rescue the others." Angelus said.
"Agreed. The seconds moments could make a difference." Soris said and with that, the two walked out of the room.
It didn't take long to find where Vaughan was and saw Shianni with them, beaten and bruised, while the men around her laughed.
"My, my, what have we here?" Vaughan sneered, turning around to face Angelus and Soris. Soris gritted his teeth while Angelus glared at him.
"Don't worry! We'll make quick work of these two." His friend sneered.
"Quiet, you idiot! They're covered with enough blood to fill a tub! What do you think that means?" Vaughan snapped, looking at the two elves mockingly.
"It means your guards dead." Angelus snarled.
"Alright, let's not be too hasty here. Surely, we can talk this over?" Vaughan said. A part of Angelus knew that whatever Vaughan says probably won't mean a thing, as Vaughan has proven to be a disgusting pig of a human, but the elf couldn't help but wonder...
"You really think you can talk your way out of this?" Angelus asked sarcastically, folding his arms. Vaughan was about to speak when sniffles were heard and the group looked down at the women on the ground, holding her stomach.
"Please just, just get me out of here! I want to go home!" Shianni whimpered, tears falling down her face.
"Think for a minute; kill me and you'll ruin more lives than just your own. By dawn, the city will run red with elven blood. Think about it, you know how this will end, or we could talk this through. Now that you have my undivided attention" Vaughan said, a cruel smile appearing on his face.
"How dare you threaten us!" Angelus shouted, to which the smile turned into a frown - just for a moment.
"Last chance. Kill me and destroy everything you care about or hear me out and change your life for the better." Vaughan said.
"But Cousin, what if he's right? Then they'll purge the Alienage again." Soris whispered into Angelus ear. Gritting his teeth, Angelus glared up at the human lord, anger and hate swirling inside his mind.
"Fine. Talk fast Vaughan." Angelus spat out, but despite the hostility, Vaughan smiled.
"Here's our situation - you are skilled, obviously. We fight here, perhaps you will manage to even kill us. My father won't let that go. Your pigsty of an Alienage will be burned to the ground." He said, ignoring the hateful glares he was getting from the elves, including Shianni. "Or, you turn and walk away...with forty sovereigns added to your purses."
Before they could protest, Vaughan continued.
"You take that money, and leave Denerim tonight. No repercussions, and you can go wherever you like."
"And what about the women? Will you let them go?" Angelus asked.
"The women stay. They'll go home tomorrow, slightly worse for wear, and you'll be long gone. That's the deal, take it or leave it." Vaughan said. Obviously, Angelus already knew the answer to that.
"No deal."
"Ta! I always knew I'll regret talking to knife-ears, now I'll just gut your ignorant carcasses instead!" Vaughan spat out, a murderous look coming across his face. Once again, battle broke forth, and while it hadn't been easy, the fact that Vaughan, at the end, had been begging for his life the very moment he'd began losing was all the satisfaction Angelus needed.
"Are you alright?" Soris asked, picking Shianni up gently. She groaned.
"I think so, just get me out of here please." She whimpered, placing her head on Soris's shoulder. Soris nodded, and looked over to Angelus to see him standing over Vaughan's headless corpse.
"He's dead." Soris started. "Tell me we did the right thing, Angelus."
"He forced my hand." Angelus said. Truthfully, Angelus wanted to kill him from the start, but he wasn't going to say that out loud, not with Shianni shaken up as she is.
"Right. Here, Shianni needs you more than she does with me. I'm going to check the back of the room for the rest of the women." Soris said, and after Angelus held her firmly into his hold, Soris ran off to get the other women. Shianni started to sob.
"It's alright, he's dead now." Angelus whispered.
"G-good. That bastard deserves nothing less!" Shianni sniffled, and Angelus gave her a squeeze.
He'll deal with the aftermath later.