Antiva City, Antiva
The air was wet with sound, a dog yelped and a woman screamed a string of curses in the distance. The ground still gave off heat, even though the evening was cooling. The Crow Master sipped a cool drink and silently raised his glass to the beautiful woman who lounged on a divan across from him. She fanned herself indifferently.
She was Veronica, the most famous cortigiana (courtesan) in Antiva. Her wealth had been made from entertaining wealthy nobles and merchant princes. She was the most highly sought after dinner guest in recent Antivan history, other than Zevran Arainai. Zevran's reputation as the lover and companion of Delia Tabris, the so-called Hero of Ferelden, guaranteed he was showered with opportunities. Veronica pushed the thought out of her mind. She was the owner of a Crow cell was she not? That had been an interesting turn in her life. One of her patrons had left it to her when he had died. He had recognized that she was a genius in her own right. Who better to guide the cell than someone who moved easily through the highest social strata of Antiva?
The change of ownership had been fraught with difficulties. The other Crow owners had thought to wrestle control away from her and there had been scheming and plots from the outset. Her deceased patron had been wise with giving her the Crows. She had managed to stay a step ahead of them all. Her intriguing had been ruthless and her Crow Master was accomplished.
The crunch of a boot on the pink paving stones announced a visitor. Veronica looked up. It was one of the Crows.
"What is it?" she said.
"I have a report from Ferelden, my lady," the assassin bowed to her and to his master.
Veronica sat up, finally interested in something. "Oh! This should be interesting. Do tell."
"The contract on the Commander of the Grey Wardens did not succeed. All the Crows were killed and the Bann Esmerelle has been tried and hung."
Veronica's champagne laugh tinkled through the black heat of the evening. "Very well," she waved away the assassin. "Go... kill something. Your master and I must talk."
The Crow bowed again and left them.
"Well, this makes twice now doesn't it?" Veronica snapped her fan shut and stood, pacing the courtyard. Her voluminous skirts swept the pink pavers. "Two failures to kill a mere woman."
The Crow Master laughed. "That woman killed an archdemon," he reminded her. "I told you we'd need to send an army after her."
"Oh no, my pet," she rubbed her hand along the handsome jaw of her Crow Master, "then we might have succeeded. While success would have brought its rewards, failure is ever so much rewarding in this case."
The Master took her hand in his and kissed her fingers. "What do you mean, Veronica?" His dark eyes watched her carefully.
"If you'd succeeded it would have sent a score of angry Grey Wardens seeking vengeance for her death. Satisfying, yes? Effective, yes. But ultimately this brings humiliation. Another failure. A weakening of reputation. Do you not see this, Lorenzo?" she kissed the dark-skinned face of her handsome Crow Master. "Perhaps even the Hero herself will come to Antiva to punish him. There are rumors that she is as skilled as he is, perhaps more so."
He chuckled a low laugh. "She must be, to have defeated Vito. He was the best we had. I am sorry to lose him."
Veronica laughed again. "We had to make it look real, didn't we? Zevran will be mocked all over Antiva. Defeated by a woman twice. I don't know if he'll ever recover from this. His patron may very well get rid of him and then, my Lorenzo, we can take over the Count's cell while his new Crow Master fumbles. Perhaps then the other Crow owners will understand that Veronica and Lorenzo are a force to be reckoned with. You see this, yes?"
Lorenzo smiled. He had been reluctant to accept the contract on the Warden-Commander but Veronica had seen from the beginning how to bend this to their advantage. Forging Zevran's signature was a trivial matter. She was magnificent and he knew that together they would be rid of this upstart Zevran before long.
"Ready yourself, Lorenzo. I find myself excited at our prospects." She reached over and caressed him through his breeches, hoping, and finding, him ready for her. Lorenzo scrambled to release himself from his breeches while Veronica lifted her skirts and straddled him.
The wet sounds in the black heat of the Antivan night carried a victorious coupling forged of intrigue and deceit. It was typical.
...
And so we see, Zevran isn't the cad Delia believes him to be. I remember one of the endings of Awakenings they mentioned that Zevran and the Commander were rumored to have had a huge battle in Antiva. That's what I have had in the back of my mind while writing this. It might make an interesting sequel, someday. However, I'm currently caught up in writing "A Southern Californian in King Cailan's Court". Please give it a look! It's a bit different from anything else I've written. The idea is that someone, me actually, is transplanted into Elissa Cousland's body and has absolutely no idea of what is going on.
My sincere thanks to my lovely reviewers. I write for you guys and I always love hearing from you!