5. Letters in Ink

Dear Fergus,

she wrote in carefully drawn letters and shook her head at how soothing the scratching of the quill over the rough paper sounded. After she dipped the quill into the inkwell again continued writing.

I hope this letter finds you well. Grimm, Nelaros and me have recovered nicely from the skirmish in Orlais and Nelaros has regained full function of his arm. He sends his regards and asks you to forward his letter to his parents and give his greetings to the old smith.

I have heard that your leg still pains you and that not even the Circle mage could help you – and that on some days, you can hardly walk. By now you should know very well that I have my sources and I will know everything eventually. Next time you forget to mention something like this, I will ensure you are properly pummeled. I can do that. Even if I'm in another country. And you know it! Fergus, I have heard of a herb far in the north, that eases pain in the joints. I will keep an eye open for it, it might help you. Please let me know how you truly are when you next write me, you worry me.

I am not even sure whether my last letter reached you, but I finally reached Kirkwall. It is a dreadful city and I understand completely why you did not like it very much when you were here all those years ago. I do believe, however, that things have gotten even worse. I have been here for merely five days and already I was attacked by two bands of thugs at night, by a mob of street dogs that were quickly discouraged by Grimm's anger and even by a mage. I believe he might have been blood mage – his magic was very similar to the magic I saw on the borders of Tevinter and he cut his arm in several places to draw blood. From what I gather, this is no rarity in Kirkwall. It is rather the rule to run into a knife just behind the next corner or into an apostate mage fleeing from the Circle. Or, if fate decides to have a good laugh at your expense, into both at once.

With a curse she realized that she had once again succeeded in smearing the ink all over the right side of the page, quite dramatically reducing the legibility of what she had written. She glared at the smear for a moment and then sighed, putting the quill aside for a moment to dab at it with the sleeve of her tunic. It helped little and only served to illustrate the fact that at the ripe age of 23 she was still incapable of handling a quill and ink with grace or even common skill. Her brother did know her well, however, and it was not the first letter he had to decipher, so she decided that he probably would not mind it so very much and so she continued writing.

This city makes me wary and I cannot wait to leave it again. Yesterday I finally got an important clue and I am now sure that I found another group. I believe they are among those who went to Tevinter directly and were then brought to Orlais – probably they are even the very group I lost track of three months ago. I could not find any sign of where they were supposed to go, but I am sure they are here in Kirkwall. I already have an idea of where they are held, but I cannot be sure – and I do not want to foil my one good chance by being too hasty. There is so much going on in this city that it is hard to follow a trace, I find something under every stone I turn and sometimes I find myself wishing-

She paused here and let the quill rest on the paper for a bit too long. The ink soaked into the paper and fanned out in a big blotch, swallowing the last words rapidly. In all honesty, she was not sure what she wished for. Many things and yet nothing that could be uttered so simply and shortly.

She sighed and put the quill aside to bury her head in her hands. It would probably be best to wait with all of this until she was done, but there would be little time left then and she wanted to let him know that she was doing fine. He worried enough as it was, she did not want to give him further reason.

She put the quill and the inkwell aside and got up, leaving the letter on the small table to dry for now.

As she opened the door and stepped into the other room of the tiny house, her eyes immediately fell on the stranger that was lying in the bed there. He was sleeping like a stone and not even Grimm's rather audible complaint about a visiting rat had caused him to wake, he had only grunted and rolled over to the other side, an arm thrown over his head and a leg hanging over the edge of the far too small bed.
She stepped quietly closer and could not help but look him over closely. He looked relaxed and was breathing evenly, but the shadows under his eyes had only marginally retreated and his stubble was far beyond a three-day-beard. As she systematically let her eyes wander over him, assessing the many scars until she once again spotted the dimple in his lower arm, where a piece of muscle had clearly been bitten out. Close to his hand there was a patch of skin that looked like it had been burned badly, but then healed – white markings on the healed skin still remained and told of pain and a long healing process. He was a warrior alright, she had seen him fight. It had not been very pretty and he had not been steady on his feet, but the movements came without thinking, he had simply moved with the blade and there had been no trace of fear. Even when drunk he had maintained a trained balance, had been swift and sure in his attack. And before he had picked up the sword, he had done something… It had looked like a simple hand gesture, but she had felt a disruption in the air, had seen the enemy falter as if struck by lightning and felt a throbbing pain in her temples for a moment. She could not shake the feeling that he was not a simple soldier. He bore scars that should have meant his death and was for sure not much older than she was – and there was something about his face… maybe his nose, she decided. Which had probably also been broken at some point, if the slight crook it showed was any indication. Perhaps he had been a son of a lower noble man – it would certainly explain how he could have afforded to hire a healer from the Circle. A noble man that had fallen in disgrace due to too loudly voiced opinions or perhaps a touch too much honor.

She could feel her mood darken with the thought and quickly averted her gaze, unwilling to dwell on those thoughts.

"And yet here you are… a stinking drunk in Kirkwall of all cities", she said and shook her head. Just then he began to stir, sighing deeply as he stretched the other arm above his head and immediately flinched when he stretched the freshly stitched wound. His eyes fluttered open and landed on her, his whiskey colored eyes still hazy from sleep.

Within a few moments he was sitting upright, ready to jump out of the bed as his eyes darted across the room to Grimm, who was gnawing on a piece of bone, further to the table with the ripped remains of his shirt and then back to her. "What…?", he question with a hoarse voice and looked so much like a startled fawn that she could not resist the urge to chuckle.

"Good morning. How is your shoulder?", she asked mildly and decided to keep her distance until he had oriented himself again. His eyes were wide and he gently touched a finger to his bandaged shoulders. It was easy to read him – she was pretty sure he didn't even try to hide his emotions. He had furrowed his brows and kept blinking rapidly as if he tried to dispel the last remnants of sleep, confusion more than evident on his face. It took him a moment, before he seemed to remember what had happened and his gaze landed on her again. "It hurts a bit. But – what…? Why…?", he answered finally and let his hand sink again as he looked at his bandaged shoulder. He looked almost embarrassed.

"I do not know how much you remember from last night, but I stumbled upon you in Lowtown last night", she started and he looked up again, raising one eyebrow at her. Apparently he did remember that she was responsible for the bump at the back of his head. Technically, at least. Practically she was pretty sure he should not have been standing where he was standing. She decided not to go into detail about that part of the night. As she began to recapitulate the events that had led to the current predicament, he waved her off and shook his head. "I remember most of it", he said and again tenderly touched a finger to the bandage.

As she grabbed the bowl of water and a cloth, she cast him a glance. He seemed ready to run, his eyes fixed on her as though he expected her to draw a dagger and try to slit his throat any minute. With a cheery smile on her face. There was no real fear, but he was tense and his eyes never left her.
She gave him some more moments before she walked towards him. "I stitched your wound, I am sorry if it was done clumsily. I am not very good at it, but there were few alternative options", she said and slowly put down the bowl next to him. His eyes did not leave her, as she stepped in close. "I need to clean the wound once more, but I believe it is not as bad as it looks. I can give you a strong healing poultice, it should help."

He seemed to almost jump out of his skin when her fingers touched the hot skin around his wound to remove the bandage, immediately flinching back from her touch. Whatever she had expected, though, was for sure not his complaint as he almost swatted her hand away: "Maker's breath! What do you have for fingers? Icicles?"

Aífe cast a puzzled glance at her hand and brought her fingers up to her cheek. They felt normal, maybe a bit cool. "They are of a perfectly comfortable temperature", she defended herself and he raised an eyebrow at her, one arm protectively wrapped around himself. "I certainly did not go out of my way to put them in ice water just to torment you!", she assured him and he looked at her warily when she tried a second time only to have him lean back just a tiny bit. "Don't behave quite so prissy. I am pretty sure you can suffer the horrible touch of my frosty fingers if you can rip out arrows that are stuck in your flesh. Hold still now!", she commanded and shot him an irritated side glance, taking his arm and pushing it to the side.

He flinched upon her touch, but let her proceed and held still. She clicked her tongue at him when she saw that one of her stitches had loosened and leaned in close to clean the wound again. While she worked in silence, Grimm abandoned his bone in favor of strolling over to them, sitting down right next to his mistress to watch her work with a quiet bark.

"You are Ferelden", he brought up after a while and she nodded without looking away from the wound. "So are you. Highever or perhaps Denerim?", she asked and hoped that maybe this was why he seemed to familiar.

"No", he answered, but did not offer more than that.

She was not perturbed by that and instead kept asking: "You are a warrior?" He almost shrugged, but then thought better of it and simply sighed heavily, before shaking his head in silence. "A mercenary, then?", she prodded him further, masterfully using her ability to ignore the fact that the person she was currently peppering with questions was not quite as willing to talk.

"On some days", he admitted and seemed to become increasingly uncomfortable. He was shifting on the bed and she had to grab his shoulder and steady it so she could tighten the loosened stitches again. It was clear he wanted to escape this conversation. "I should go", he said, eyes fixed on a spot above her head.

"You could, but if you endure my company just a little while longer, you will get a tunic to wear. It would spare you the torment of running through the streets of Kirkwall in nothing but your pants. I would have offered you one of ours, but neither of us is exactly your size", Aífe murmured as she bandaged the wound anew and made sure that she had done it to the best of her abilities. Which was not much, but more then he would have been able to do himself. "You don't need to do this. I'm okay. I'll leave now", he insisted and pushed himself off the bed. He was surprisingly steady on his feet and did not seem to be affected by the wound or the state he was in last night.

She got up as well and moved between him and the door, making him stop immediately. He straightened up, immediately shifting his stance and turning to face her completely. Maker, what made that man so very jumpy? Did she look like she would sink either her teeth or her dagger into him in just a few moments? While she was quite aware that at times she could do with a bit more dignity and a little less insanity, she was pretty sure that she looked comparably sane on this fine day.

"Eat first. We have some bread and cheese and a bit of butter, there is even a bit dried meat. Then drink the poultice. Nelaros will be here in just a bit. Sit and eat", she repeated calmly and pointed towards the chair. He regarded her for a long time and then finally relented, walking towards the small table. "You would not have gotten far anyways", she tried to joke and he stopped in his tracks, the tenseness back in his shoulders, one fist clenched. She immediately regretted that her tongue had been faster than her brain once again.

"Your shoes are still standing next to the fireplace. I put them there to dry", she explained and saw him relax once again. As he sat down quietly and began to eat she looked over at Grimm, who was still sitting beside the bed, cocking his head to one side and then the other as he was studying their guest.

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Author's comment: So, I have eyed this chapter for a very long time and changed perspectives, changed bits and pieces and it is as good as I can get it, I think. =) I apologize for the lack of action, but it will very soon pick up, that much I can promise and the next chapter is almost ready, so I hope you will forgive the long wait and that you are still enjoying my little fanfic. I wanted to thank you for all those lovely reviews and for setting Requiem for the Lost as one of your Favourites and on Story Alert, it really makes my day everytime! I might very soon have a beta-reader, so yay for that. This chapter is still only checked by me, so there are probably some mistakes in here and I apologize.

In any case, let me know what you think and if it was too slow or you liked it, I'm glad for any feedback! And now, since it is 6am over here, I should probably be off to bed, finally! :D