We come back to Daren now. Lots of flashbacks and internal monologue-esque parts of this chapter - hopefully it doesn't become too tedious.
"Careful, my lord."
Daren gave his second an unamused glance, but quickly returned his attention to the tunnels around them.
The dwarven prince, his second, and a small group of soldiers – not more than half a dozen – were marching down one of the tunnels in the Deep Roads. The Deep Roads were various tunnels that stretched underneath a large majority of Thedas; perhaps at one point, the full extent of them had been known, but with the dwarven kingdom reduced to merely Orzammar due to darkspawn, only the tunnels near Orzammar were properly mapped out.
Even those tunnels were full of darkspawn, however.
"Incoming!" One of the scouts called out, and within seconds the soldiers had their weapons out and were under attack.
Daren took out three darkspawn with his axe, slamming the blade into skulls and necks. Once his enemies were finished, he ran his gaze over the rest of his group.
None of the troops were injured, it seemed. The small band of darkspawn had been small and relatively weak, which was good for their mission. Daren nodded firmly, and then raised an arm.
"Continue forward!" Weapons were hurriedly cleaned and sheathed, and Daren's troops began marching again.
As they made their way down the tunnels, Daren's mind went back to the events of the previous day, as he had been doing far too often.
"You cannot be serious in your intentions, Warden-Commander."
Duncan simply stared down the dwarven prince. "I assure you, Prince Daren, I am completely serious." Daren sighed and covered his face with a hand.
"If you do this, you will gain the disapproval of many nobles in Orzammar," Daren warned. "The Grey Wardens will lose much respect in the eyes of the dwarves."
But the Warden was unmoved. "I will take that risk, in exchange for an able and skilled recruit."
"Recruit?" Both Daren and Duncan turned towards the voice. It was the casteless woman, staring at them beside her black-haired companion. Daren frowned while Duncan responded.
"Yes. While it might be unusual, I would like to extend an offer of recruitment to you. You exhibited much skill in the Proving," and here Duncan paused when the guards surrounding the two casteless growled at the reminder, "and the Grey Wardens are always in search of talented members."
The woman looked at Duncan, a blank look on her face. "And if I refused?"
"Then I would accept your refusal," the Warden promptly responded. Then he added, "And your fate would be left up to Prince Daren and Orzammar."
She smirked at that. "So be saved or die, huh?" Daren noticed Duncan frown, likely at how crudely the woman had interpreted his offer – a very generous one, in Daren's opinion, given that Duncan was sacrificing much of the goodwill towards the Grey Wardens by even offering the possibility of joining to a casteless.
"Alright." Duncan smiled at the response and turned to Daren.
"Very well then. As such, I invoke the right of conscription in order to recruit this woman as a Grey Warden." The Warden gave Daren a significant look.
Daren reluctantly ordered the guards to stand down. "She is no longer our responsibility."
All of the dwarves turned to acknowledge the order, but then one asked, "What about the second casteless?"
"What second casteless?" The new Warden recruit asked, and everyone present turned to see that she was alone. When she found herself on the receiving end of multiple glares, all she did was stare back, expressionless.
Daren suppressed amusement at the memory. While he would have preferred to have taken the remaining casteless into custody, Daren privately found the way they had used the guards' distraction in order to let the male escape highly entertaining. Not only that, but if the guards were letting themselves be distracted by a conversation between himself and Duncan, then it was their own fault for letting the casteless criminal escape.
He was brought out of his thoughts when Gorim approached him. "My lord, we're approaching the crossroads where our scout will be meeting us."
"Thank you, Gorim." Daren nodded at his second. They reached the tunnels crossroads, various paths branching out from the small cavern. Awaiting them was a leather-armored scout that Daren recognized.
"Frandlin Ivo. I've heard many good things about you." The man looked uncomfortable with the praise.
"I could say the same, my lord," Frandlin responded.
Daren smiled, and then fell into his role as a leader. "Report."
Frandlin saluted. "There are only a few small bands of darkspawn and a small batch of spiders between us and the Aeducan Thaig. Nothing you and your men can't handle with ease."
The scout got a smile and a wave of dismissal from Daren, and joined the rest of the troops as they waited for the signal to continue onwards.
"…What do you make of this, Gorim?"
Daren's second looked at him in confusion. "My lord?"
"Have you given no thought to why we are only now undertaking this mission, Gorim?" Daren stroked his beard, running his hand through the long strands. "The Aeducan Thaig has been difficult to get to in the best of times, and yet now, we are sent to retrieve the shield of Paragon Aeducan. Instead of the near army of darkspawn one would expect, instead there are only roving bands. And so the question becomes…"
"…where have the darkspawn gone?" Gorim finished the question, an expression of worry on his face. "My lord, do you think…?"
Daren abruptly turned. "I think that this is a discussion to have later. For now, we have a shield to retrieve." Raising his voice, he barked out orders. "Soldiers, we march!"
"Sir!" The dwarves under his command responded in trained unison, getting into formation. With Daren and Gorim in the center of their formation, they made their way forward.
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Gorim's face was grim as he turned toward Daren. "What now, my lord?"
The journey to Aeducan Thaig had been as uneventful as expected. Outside of the small number of reported darkspawn and spiders, the day of marching had been relatively uninterrupted for Daren's troops.
Upon arriving, their good fortune seemed to vanish.
The door to the Aeducan Thaig was only supposed to open when the signet ring of an Aeducan was used as a key, and yet they found the door wide open when they reached it. They were immediately on guard, but despite being alert, most of Daren's force died when a group of fighters attacked. Their initial assault – a ballista bolt, of all things! – took out two soldiers alone.
All of the ambushers were now dead, but only Daren, Gorim, and two soldiers had survived. Frandlin Ivo was one of the two survivors, the man having proven his skills in battle.
Crouching down, Daren searched the body of the leader. Within moments, he found what he was looking for.
Gorim gasped when he saw what the prince held. "My lord, is that-?"
"Trian's signet ring, yes," Daren confirmed. "It seems Bhelen's suspicions were more accurate than I had hoped."
The day after the debacle with the casteless woman – now the new Grey Warden recruit – Daren was in his rooms, preparing for the excursion the next day.
There was a knock on the door, and an accompanying voice called out, "Brother, it's Bhelen. May I come in?"
"Of course." The blonde-haired prince walked in, closing the door behind him. Daren's gaze focused on his younger brother. Bhelen's brow was furrowed, and he looked far too serious.
"Daren. I… I think Trian means to have you killed tomorrow." Daren frowned.
"That's a bold claim."
The statement earned Daren a glare. "I'm serious, brother! Regardless of his competence, Trian wants the throne, and your popularity is becoming a major threat. Between your major military support and your growing influence with the nobility, anyone with even the slightest skill in politics would have to be blind to miss the possibility that you could become king after our father."
"I have no desire to become king," Daren scoffed, but Bhelen shook his head.
"And you think saying that will make you not be considered? If anything, saying something like that publically would make people think you do want to be king."
With a sigh, Daren covered his face with one hand. "The worst part is that I can understand why they think that, despite how wrong it is."
"If Trian means to kill you, there's only one way to deal with it, brother."
"No!" Daren barked, causing Bhelen to jump. "No matter what Trian plans, I will not stoop to his level. I will deal with his attempts, and then deal with the situation one way or another. But unless it is absolutely necessary, I will not kill my own kin!"
"My lord?"
Daren shook himself out of his darkening thoughts. "Gorim. Let us continue. We still have a shield to retrieve."
His second looked at him warily. "My lord… are you sure-?"
"We continue, Gorim." Leaving no time for a response, Daren raised his voice to order the two remaining men to follow.
Retrieving the shield was a simple matter, and within the hour, the two-day journey back to Orzammar was underway.
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As they marched through one of the tunnels that led back, Daren abruptly held up a hand to halt his companions. They all fell silent, hands going to their weapons in preparation.
In the ensuing silence, voices drifted to where they stood.
"Do we even know that this is where he'll be?"
"There have got to be better places. If we're here much longer, the rest of the army's gonna catch us on their way back."
The next voice confirmed Daren's fears.
"He'll come I trust my information – Daren will come, and then we stop his plans. Permanently."
Trian's words, faint but clearly audible, struck Daren like a blow. His older brother meant to kill him in order to ensure that he became king, in order to secure the throne that Daren did not even want.
Gorim sent Daren a worried glance. In his second's face, Daren could see apprehension, but also anger – a burning desire to harm those who would threaten his lord.
Daren's own feelings were far more torn. There was anger over Trian's betrayal, without question, but he had no desire to sink to the same depths out of vengeance. But… what choice did he have, if Trian truly meant to go through with this?
After minutes of silence, Daren finally spoke.
"We will be ready," the prince ordered softly. "If he attacks… then we shall fight back with equal force."
Gorim and the other two men nodded, and they followed as Daren walked towards where Trian lay in wait.
As expected, the eldest prince and a small force of soldiers stood in the center of a small cavern. Upon sighting Daren's group, Trian frowned. His gaze wavered slightly, eyes seeming to focus on something past Daren, but with a snarl, Trian quickly refocused on his younger brother.
"To arms!" Trian roared, and his men echoed him as they charged. An arrow flew towards them from behind Daren, piercing through the neck on one soldier and slaying him instantly. Gorim and Frandlin met Trian's men with blades, furiously managing to match them despite being outnumbered.
Daren quickly lost track of his followers' battle, as he fought against Trian. His elder brother wielded his maul with skill, and with a speed that belied the size of the weapon. Taking even a single hit on his shield would likely leave his arm near-useless, and so Daren was forced to constantly dodge and stay on the defensive.
As they fought, Trian growled, "You will not take my life, nor my throne!" Daren had only a moment to wonder at what Trian meant – it was Trian who had attacked him, not the other way around – before he was forced to duck under a blow from his brother's maul.
Despite the power behind Trian's blows, and the skill with which he wielded the weapon, the inherent flaw of the maul was its weight. And as their duel continued, Trian's movement began to slow. It was slight, and against the darkspawn or a less skilled opponent, the change would not have affected anything.
But Daren was a fighter with as much skill as Trian, and taking advantage of his opponent's weakness was all too easy.
Slowly, Daren became the one attacking more often, while Trian was forced to defend more often. The younger prince's axe scored glancing blows across Trian's armor, and before long, the elder prince was too late to block an attack.
The axe fell onto a weak spot in Trian's armor, and the blade buried itself in the man's chest. Out of instinct, Daren immediately pulled his weapon back.
With a gasp, Trian fell to his knees, maul dropping from limp hands. Looking up at Daren, the eldest prince scowled.
"Even… now… you take from me… what is… rightfully mine." His final words said, Trian collapsed to the ground.
The eldest son of King Endrin of Orzammar was dead.
Daren absently acknowledged that behind him, Gorim and the other two men had won their fight. The prince cried out in rage and sorrow, falling to his knees besides Trian's body.
He had no idea how long he knelt, mourning his brother's death. Likely not very long, he would later think, as otherwise Gorim would have said something to rouse him. But however long it was, it was enough time for the worst possible people to find them.
Trian's absence must have worried many, because the group that arrived had King Endrin, Bhelen, and Lord Harrowmont, a close advisor of Endrin, along with a contingent of royal guards.
They all reacted with horror upon seeing what had occurred between Daren and Trian.
"What have you done, Daren?" Endrin gasped out.
Daren only stared at Bhelen, who looked properly shocked and appalled at the scene.
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He knew how things had come to this.
Daren had been brought back to Orzammar under heavy guard, along with Gorim. Frandlin Ivo and the other soldier had sworn by the Stone that Daren had ordered them to ambush Trian, and were so considered innocent.
Now, Daren sat in a jail cell. Gorim had come by earlier, telling Daren that he was exiled to the Deep Roads. Apparently, Harrowmont had argued for only exile to the surface, as Gorim had received, but the Assembly had not been convinced.
Whatever it was, he knew it would end up being something that at least took away his position as an heir to the throne.
After all, Daren doubted Bhelen would've have gone through so much trouble only to be stopped here. And he knew it was Bhelen's work.
It was Bhelen who had warned him that Trian wanted him dead. And when Daren was found over Trian's dead body, something he was sure was due to Bhelen suggesting they go search for Trian, the shock on Bhelen's face made no sense given the youngest prince's personal warning to Daren. The two men with them testifying that Daren had purposefully killed Trian were likely convinced one way or another by Bhelen.
Thinking back, Daren remembered Trian looking past him before he ordered an attack. He wouldn't be surprised if Bhelen had ordered one of the two to perform some action and make it seem as if Daren was ready to kill Trian.
Bhelen had played the two princes off each other with ease, and was a good enough actor to get away without suspicion. Soon, Daren suspected, his brother would play up his grief, convincing the Assembly to use the harshest punishment for Daren's crime.
Daren heard footsteps. He knew who it was that approached his cell, even before he looked up.
"Clever, brother, and very much unexpected. But perhaps a bit heavy-handed?"
Bhelen looked at him smugly. "Trian is dead by your hand, and you're off to the Deep Roads. Unless I go in front of those fools in the Assembly and admit to being responsible, any suspicions they might have are pointless. Officially, I am the last living son of the King." With a smirk on his face, Bhelen added, "And no matter how skilled you are, that will likely be true unofficially before long."
"So confident, Bhelen." Daren's face was a mask of stone. "You must have been planning this for some time. Are your allies in the Assembly bought, blackmailed, or tricked?"
As Bhelen responded, Daren realized his younger brother must have dismissed the guards. The man was revealing too much for there to be anyone else present.
"A combination of all three, of course, with some actual alliances scattered among them." With a shrug, the blonde prince admitted, "My views on the usefulness of the casteless won over the few radicals among them, at least."
The two fell silent.
"Why did you come here?" Daren's exhaustion – from Bhelen's betrayal, from Trian's death, from the knowledge of his fate – was audible in his voice.
Bhelen hesitated, but answered. "You… I didn't truly wish you dead, brother. I didn't even really want Trian dead, no matter how much he would have made a terrible ruler
"But both of you were in the way of my path to the throne." Bhelen's voice had gone cold, all emotion gone. "And that, I will not allow."
Daren's anger simmered. "And so manipulating us, manipulating your brothers to their deaths, was your only recourse?"
The answer chilled him.
"Whatever it takes I will not hesitate to do whatever is necessary. I will rule Orzammar, and raise it back to glory. By force, if I must." With that declaration, Bhelen turned and walked away. Before he reached the exit, the man stopped.
"For what it's worth, I hope your death is as painless as possible, Daren."
Daren was left in the darkness of his cell, furious.
There was nothing Daren could do to stop his bro- Bhelen. But he would not, could not, simply let Bhelen get everything he wanted.
And so Daren swore to live. Even if Bhelen now had free reign in Orzammar, even if Daren's continued life would not change what had happened, it was the most the former prince could do to spite Bhelen's plans.
Gorim had mentioned that the Grey Wardens were still in the Deep Roads, still searching for some unknown signs.
If he could not live as a prince of Orzammar, perhaps he could live under another title.
Daren smirked.
And so our time in Orzammar comes to a close... for now.
Mora got recruited (and went off with the Wardens on their venture into the Deep Roads), and now Daren is off to join them as well.
With that, we're ready to move on! ...Sort of.
Obviously we've got more origins, but I'm curious - should I put in a brief interlude before the next chapter, showing Daren and Mora with the Grey Wardens? It would make it clear where the story is off to next, and more importantly, why. I've done my best to come up with legitimate reasons for Duncan to be traveling everywhere he does, but with my current method of writing these chapters... Well, those reasons aren't going to be as easy to put in there.
With interlude chapters of travel in between the origins, however, I could make it really clear why Duncan goes to where he does. Leave a review if you've got an opinion!
And as always, thank you for reading! I appreciate everyone who enjoys my story!