-RECKONING-

Chapter Six

9:30 Dragon

-Fort Drakon-

"I'm getting hungry." Alistair gives me a sheepish smile as he rests his head on his arms. He sits with his back against the cold, hard wall, absently counting its cracks. I was taken off my shackles a few hours after Loghain left and was thrown into Alistair's cell. His cleaner, brighter and fortunately, shackle-free cell. I don't really know why, but I'm grateful.

I sigh, pat my stomach and give him a sheepish smile of my own. "Yeah, me too." Although I doubt I can eat anything substantial after Loghain's visit. I stand up and stretch, taking inventory of my injuries. The pain in my ribs have faded, the wounds on my back have scabbed, but my muscles still feel a little sore and my headache refuses to go away.

"Are you okay?" Alistair scratches the back of his ear.

"I guess so. Why wouldn't I be?" I sit back down and give him what I hope was a confident smile.

"I heard Loghain came to visit you. What did he want?" He clenches his fists and gives me a look of worried concern.

I bite my lip and look outside our cell. After a moment of hesitation, I say, "He wanted me to give up the armies that we've gathered using the Warden treaties." I scoff. "If that was what he wanted, you'd think that he'd spare us some trouble and maybe not send assassins after us."

Alistair raises an eyebrow. "And that's it?"

I shrug, absently observing the few guards standing by the hallway. When will they leave? And just how long would it take for the next shift to replace them? If it all happens at the right moment…

"Aedan?"

"What?" I look back at Alistair, who was giving me a suspicious look. "Oh. Uh… well, he also wanted me to tell him where An- where his daughter was."

I frown as I remember the discussion. "…Or you'll have the blood of everyone in the Redcliffe Estate on your hands." I tell Alistair about Loghain's threat.

"Do you?" Alistair asks with wide eyes, once I had finished. "Do you know where she is?"

I shake my head and close my eyes. "As I said, she could be anywhere. And if she's smart, she'd be on her way out of Ferelden."

"What? But we saved her!" Alistair whispers angrily. "She can't just leave us here!"

I smile inwardly at Alistair's naiveté. Naiveté that I, myself once possessed. "She's a politician, Alistair. The only things that matters to them are themselves."

A moment of defiance passes before he whispers, "You know, she's probably at Arl Eamon's estate."

Probably.

-THIRD PERSON POV-

"This is ridiculous." Morrigan sighs in exasperation and contempt. "How does one move in these things?" She asks, fiddling with the long sleeves of her Chantry sister uniform.

"These clothes are meant for prayer, Morrigan. Not for slaying people and monsters." Leliana laughs, earning her a glare from her companion. "Even you have to admit that this is kind of fun, though."

In exchange for asking the Maker to spare the guards at the gates horrible diseases (which were enumerated in detail for they would not let them pass), the guards let the 'Chantry sisters' pass through. They managed to reach a large square area with, for some unfathomable reason, ballistae raised up in the corners of the room. A few guards are standing about, idly chatting and doing their duties.

"We are not here for fun." Morrigan chastises, ignoring the guards looking at them appreciatively. "We are here to… to take care of a misplaced package."

Leliana fidgets. "Of course." She looks at the female guard standing by the doorway to the next room. "I think that's the captain. Maybe you should let me handle this one."

Morrigan smiles maliciously and puts her hand on Leliana's shoulder. "No. Let me."

-AEDAN COUSLAND-

We need to do this quickly. There's no telling how long the guards change their shifts. We managed to fool a guard stupid or crazy enough to actually go near our cell. He's now lying unconscious in our cell. Let's see how he likes waking up on the other side of the bars.

Alistair and I rapidly sift through the nearby chests, looking for our equipment. "Aedan! Over here!" Alistair says, waving me over. I jog in his direction and help him fix our bags as fast as we can. We haphazardly cram as much of our equipment as we can, save some shirts and breeches.

"Are you sure about this?" Alistair gulps and puts on his clothes.

"It's the best chance we've got, Alistair. We have to break ourselves out." I put on my own clothes. "You know what to do right?"

"We pretend to be guard recruits who've gotten lost inside the Fort." Alistair's eyebrows meet and he presses his lips together to form a line.

"Oh come on. It'll be fun." I tell him before he protests as I wiggle my shoulders a bit to balance the weight of the pack on my shoulders.

His furrowed eyebrows rise. "Fun?" He sighs. "I should've known that this is what you do for fun."

We leave the room and explore as nonchalantly as we can. Everything on this level looks like a standard fort operation. There are a lot more torches here than in the dungeons below and most of the rooms look decent. Guards move quickly from post to post and say little to each other as they travel.

A guard starts eyeing us suspiciously. I turn to Alistair and ask, "What was that supposed to mean?" not minding the guard. Maybe that will ease his suspicions. Usually, acting like you have the right to go around a place can work wonders. Usually.

Alistair blinks at me as if I've finally lost my mind.

"You know, what you said earlier. Why would I find this fun?" I try to elaborate and realize that I've somewhat burned myself. "Uh relatively speaking."

"Oh that," he smirks and starts waving his arms in circles around me. "You know, you have this sort of aura."

"Aura…?" I ask warily. Is he saying I'm good at subterfuge and deception?

Alistair nods, refusing to elaborate any further. "Also, you find the weirdest things fun. Like taking down dragons, High Dragons. Or darkspawn legions, ogres included. Not to mention…"

As he tries to think up of more… odd things that I find fun, my eyebrows rise in horror. An image of the High Dragon we fought at the temple of Sacred Ashes comes into my mind. Its gaping jaw filled with razor sharp teeth, its bloodcurdling roars rending the skies above, searing flames from its mouth heading towards us…

"Are you serious? Those aren't -"

"WHAT ISN'T?" A voice in front of us booms. Instinct takes over and I suddenly do a soldier's salute, with my right fist over my heart. Alistair does the same only a second later. A tall and broad man stands in front of us with his hands on his hips. He has greying hair, a soldier's scars, and a guard captain's pin on his uniform.

"Nothing, sir!" I blurt out without thinking.

"GOOD!" He looks us over. "New recruits? About time you showed up! Where are your regulation swords?"

Alistair looks at me helplessly, unwittingly selling the green recruit act. The guard captain sighs and orders us to go to the armory to get outfitted in regulation swords and armor. He then orders two other guards to go along with us.

Judging from the somewhat nervous antics of the other two, they are also raw recruits. Once we were ready, Alistair and I hung back and let the two take the lead.

"Uncomfortable with the load, buddy?" One of the recruits, the taller one, asks me. He must have noticed me grimacing as the cold steel of the regulation armor touched the scars and recent wounds on my back. I shrug in reply. Let him make of that what he will.

The recruits give up on small talk with me after that and talk to Alistair instead, who does his best to accommodate them. Soon, the adrenaline from our stay in Drakon fades from my body and I get somewhat lethargic. I focus on the pain from my wounds to keep me awake.

Would you rather I order the men who were with me to waste their lives in a futile attempt to win the battle?

Loghain's words from last night come unbidden into my mind. Has he convinced me that his actions were right?

Or am I just agreeing because I would have done the same thing? Has he taught me so well that I still cling to the same ideas as he does even after all this? The thought chills me to the bone.

That I might have it in me to be so ruthless, to take part in the merciless calculus of war. Sacrifice a million here so that a billion can live over there, let an innocent child die so you can save five people, sacrifice a city to have enough time for a country's possible salvation, repudiate a country so an entire continent can prepare against the Blight…

King Cailan and the Grey Wardens… in order to have warriors to defend Ferelden.

I bite my lower lip and clench my fists. Can I really question what he's done when I find myself in grudging acceptance? I bite my lip harder in frustration. Damn it! We are not the same! I am-

A rap on my shoulder snaps me out of my thoughts. I blink at Alistair and he nods towards the Entrance Hall Doors. The doorman pulls a few levers and removes the large wooden block.

The broader recruit smiles at us and says, "Good thing I knew the password, huh?"

Password? What? I sigh and shake my head, clearing it from pointless drivel.

The door opens and reveals two Chantry sisters standing side by side. All of us on the other side of the door look at each other confusedly.

The doorman moves towards the Chantry sisters and says, "What are you sisters-"but he suddenly receives a thwack in the face by a heavy staff. The broader recruit tries to get his sword and receives the same treatment.

I have a hand on the regulation sword at my waist before I recognize the 'sisters'. I am unable to prevent the smile I have on my face... until I get hit on my head. Painfully.

"OW!" I cry out and grab the staff before Morrigan hits me again. I sense five armed guards at my back. "Okay, okay sister." I say before the situation gets any worse. "There's no need for this! We aren't demons!"

Alistair catches on quickly and says, "Templars do that, buddy. I think the sisters got a little excited." He chuckles and sends a glare towards Leliana. A glare only the four of us can see.

"My apologies, brave guardsmen." Leliana gets the hint and slowly walks towards the guards. "My sister is going through a lot of hardship thanks to the Blight. As are we all."

"I… apologize." Morrigan says unconvincingly and I give her an exasperated smile. Even though I can't ask her to take acting lessons, I'm thoroughly happy that they risked so much to help us.

The guards, thoroughly confused, sheathe their swords and lower their shields. One of them even says, "Oh for Andraste's… I thought we were under attack!"

"By chantry sisters?" I laugh and rub my hurting head. "Pray to the Maker that it never happens. Because I don't think we'd survive it."

The rest of the guards shrug, laugh or mutter under their breaths as they return to their posts.

"Well." Alistair huffs. "Shall we take you back to the Chantry, sisters? I think you need an escort."

"What in the Golden City was that?" I sullenly ask Morrigan and Leliana as I remove my regulation helmet and rub my head.

"That was an attempt to rescue you and Alistair from your stupid plans." Morrigan says just as sullenly.

"My stupid plans?" I stop rubbing my head and glare at her. "And what exactly do you call assaulting Fort guardsmen with a staff? With only the two of you?"

Morrigan narrows her eyes at me and I warily glance at the staff on her back, not wishing to feel it upon me again. "We made it far enough did we not?" She says and continues walking. "It was a stupid plan necessary to get your sorry selves out of Fort Drakon. Excuse us for not wasting time and thinking of a better way to rescue the both of you." She exclaims under her breath.

I realize that I am being an ungrateful ass and rub my neck sheepishly. "I-I'm sorry. I didn't-" I sigh. "Thank you. Both of you, for taking the risk."

"You would've done the same for us, Aedan." Leliana smiles at me and I feel a little better.

After a long moment of quiet walking, Morrigan says, "A risk that need not have been necessary if you weren't so…" She shrugs. I smile. I know that she's saying 'You're welcome' and 'I accept your apology' in her own way.

Author's Note: Hi guys! Thanks for reading the chapter! Rest assured that Chapter 7 shall arrive soon (i already have most of it written) and also maybe Chapter 8. Reviews, suggestions and anything else are welcome! (But no trolling please. :P) Please also favourite/follow the story if you haven't yet. Thanks!