Chapter 17: Unfiltered Chaos
Aífe hugged Nelaros close, allowing herself to bury her face in his neck for a small moment. He felt cold in her arms and she bit back a shuddering intake of breath, but the firmness she felt under her fingers and the hesitant strength in his arms as he hugged her back was reassuring.
As she leaned back, hands on his shoulders to study him, she absolutely could not fight the relieved laugh that spilt from her lips.
"Oh, Nel," she murmured and shook her head. "Please do not scare me like this again. I thought my heart might stop."
When she saw him lowering his eyes and press his lips together in obvious guilt, she rapped a knuckle against his brow. Nelaros looked up and blinked in surprise, opening his mouth to say something, but she did not give him the chance to speak.
"What I meant to say, Nel, is that I am grateful and happy to see you awake. I am glad that you are sitting up and that you seem to be without pain. I am a bit miffed that you are in a state that already allows you to try and apologize, but I will take it as a good sign." She squeezed his shoulders tightly, before she moved away from the bed, her eyes still on her friend. "No apologies, Nelaros. You have done nothing wrong, nothing at all. What happened was nobody's fault, you hear me?" Except for hers, because she should have paid more attention. Above all, she should not have just assumed that the ship was gone and with it everybody with a direct interest in the situation. She should have… She did not exactly know what she should have.
"Nobody's fault," Nelaros repeated and ripped her from her thoughts. He was looking at her intently, probably guessing her thoughts, judging by his small frown.
She would have debated that point, but there was little use in it. It was clear to her that she had reacted too late and would have walked straight into them if not for Alistair's warning, but it was also clear that she could not change what had happened. She could, however, make damn sure it never happened again.
"I am actually surprised you are sitting up," she said and put her hands on her hip. Then, turning around on the spot to face Alistair, she raised an eyebrow. "And you, out of bed."
The words had barely left her mouth, when Grimm pushed past her to glower at the men for a moment and then turned to look at her, whining most miserably. He sat down with a deep sigh, leaning heavily against her and she crouched down, hugging him close.
"Did they give you trouble, Grimm?" It was hard to suppress the chuckle, but she managed to – up till he actually pressed his head against her chest and whined. "Awww, my sweet," she cooed and stroked his brow, "All is fine, I am here now."
He peered out from in between her arms and twitched his nose, looking at Alistair with dark eyes. The warrior had trouble ripping his gaze from her shoes, which he had taken in rather intently, and returned the look. "Don't believe a word he says. If anything, he gave me trouble. I just wanted to get out of bed and prevent bedsores, preferably without getting nagged at by anybody."
She considered for the fraction of a second to actually pat him on the cheek and say something such as 'There, there' – but then, she was pretty sure they had not reached that point in their acquaintance yet and making him back into a corner would not help her ulterior motives. In fact, she'd very much prefer him to be at ease for what was to come.
So, instead, she simply chuckled and looked him over. "In his defence, you do look a bit rough around the edges." To put it mildly. As a matter of fact, had she met him outside in the streets she'd have made sure to not get anywhere too close. His hair was tousled, the beginnings of a beard just added to the gruff look and the bandaged shoulder helped little to oppose that assumption. All he needed was an eye patch. Yarrrrr.
He raised his eyebrows at her and she motioned with her thumb and index finger, holding them very close together. "Just a bit." Which was a lie. But he did not need to know that, just like he did not need to know that she had concluded he would make a rather dashing pirate. A far too kind and polite one that would ultimately starve to death because he assisted old grannies passing the ocean instead of robbing them, but still dashing.
"Thanks," he murmured and lowered his eyes to her boots again. She followed his gaze and wiggled her toes in the too-big-shoes. What was up with the fixation? Did he have Orlesian ancestors?
"What is it?" she finally asked when he kept staring.
"You went out like this?" He vaguely motioned towards her and she blinked. When she cast a glance at Nelaros, she saw that he seemed rather amused. Looking down to inspect her clothes did not reveal anything that could have caused said amusement.
"Yes, I considered putting on my armour again, but that would only have attracted attention. I wanted to remain widely unnoticed," she explained after some hesitation.
The laughter that escaped Alistair was obviously involuntary, as he quickly tried to shut himself up, but had a hard time doing so. After a moment Nelaros joined in and Aífe looked between them, wondering if she had missed something vital. Such as late side-effects of the poison.
"To remain unnoticed?" Nelaros chuckled quietly, looking her over again until his eyes landed at her boots and remained there.
Men. No sense of logic whatsoever. "Yes, remain unnoticed. I will have you know that these shoes were a vital part in all this." She gestured towards her get-up. Since there was not even a hint of understanding on their faces, she felt compiled to elaborate. "I bought all of this from a fair-haired refugee of roughly my stature. They are well worn and Fereldan in style, hopefully leading people to think that I am yet another Fereldan refugee. Hence my accent would not be suspicious. Yes?"
Alistair nodded slowly. "Yes," he agreed. "The boots, however…"
"The boots are part of it all. You see, nothing is more suspicious than a completely unsuspicious person nobody knows popping up in your neighbourhood," she explained. They looked rather unconvinced, so she continued. "First of all, these boots have been running around in Lowtown for almost a year by now and are probably well known. Secondly, anybody who looks at me will notice the boots and not my face. They might remember me, but mostly just the boots. So when you are a sneaky assassin and ask people about a blond Fereldan woman that was either wearing armour or tried very hard to remain unseen, then the last person you think to be your target is the one that has been seen around nearly every day, running around in broad daylight in red boots. You see, it is only logical that in this way I was most likely to remain largely unnoticed."
Alistair looked rather doubtful as he cast a side-glance at Nelaros and wordlessly raised an eyebrow. The elf blinked, looked at her and offered a weak smile that should probably be reassuring.
"No sense of stealth," she murmured darkly. They probably thought putting a dark hood over your head and staying in the shadows, pressed against walls, was the best way to remain unseen. Ridiculous.
Deciding to ignore their exchange of looks, she instead picked up her pack and put it on the table, opening it up to reveal the food she had bought – cheese, bacon, a bottle of wine and one of milk. She took out a piece of meat and unpacked it, before she sat it down on the other side of the room. Grimm immediately trailed after her and stood hovering over it, licking his chops. "Eat slowly." Only after she had spoken he bent to tear into it and she returned to the men.
None of them had taken anything and she wondered if they, too, needed a bit encouragement or a command. She motioned towards it and slipped out of her boots as she did so. "Eat, you need the strength. You both have not eaten much the last days."
Alistair pushed himself to his feet instead and took a step towards her. She noticed that he was rubbing his hands against his thighs as if nervous. "I only waited for you to return to let you know that I'll…"
She did not let him finish. Brushing past him, she dug into the pack and pulled clear a tunic that she was pretty sure would fit him. "I found a stand selling clothes on my way, here, take this. I am sorry it took a while, but I think it will fit you. Let me know if I should give you a hand with it, yes?"
He took it from her rather reluctantly, thumb rubbing over the blue cloth. As he looked up from it, he locked eyes with her and took another step towards her. "Thanks, you needn't have bothered. Listen, I wanted to tell you…"
She knew pretty well what he wanted to say, it was evident by the way in which he had been eyeing the door for a moment before and by his whole demeanour now. Thankfully, he was polite. And politeness was not very high on her list of priorities right now. So she cut him off again. "You should eat, it's fresh and the bread is still warm. Could you cut off a piece for Nelaros, too? I will be back in a moment, I just need to get out of these."
The tactic worked – or at least in so far as he did not follow her to keep talking, probably afraid he would walk into her getting out of her clothes, and he would not leave without his weapons and armour. She took that as a success of sorts.
As she exchanged her clothes against breeches and a tunic, she pondered the best way to proceed from here on out. Nelaros would be worried, no doubt, but he would agree with her and offer no argument. He rarely ever did, unless he thought she was taking unnecessary risks – and in most cases she could still convince him of her idea sooner rather than later.
Alistair, however… he was keen on leaving. She was not sure as to why, but the fact that in the few days spent with them he had gotten wounded twice, poisoned once and almost assassinated on top of it could very well be the reason. Still, she had no choice and she did not think he had much of one, either.
Slipping into the tunic, she made a face at the unpleasant feeling of the breast-band rubbing over her already sensitive skin. It was itching and felt uncomfortable after days on end of wearing it, she longed to take it off, but would not yet allow herself to do so. She wanted to be prepared in case it came down to a surprising fight.
Aífe took a moment to contemplate the situation. Taking a deep breath, she rolled her shoulders and massaged the left one softly with her right hand. She could no longer delay, the city was getting too dangerous and they had to leave as soon as possible. The last days she had only caught a few hours of sleep here or there, barely relaxed enough to allow herself to even lie down. Even if she was able to keep this up for a bit longer with the help of herbs or pure stubbornness, she would be in no shape to fight if it came down to it. Reaction time lowered, reflexes sluggish, judgement impaired. It was no use, they had to leave, even if Nelaros was still in a poor condition.
However, first… first she would have to talk Alistair into joining them. Letting her arms drop to her sides again, she remained still for one more moment. It would not be easy. He had little reason to welcome the idea and had been eager to leave them. It was the only viable option, though, and she would convince him. One way or another. Steeling herself, she stepped back into the other room.
Nelaros was eating with little gusto and dropped bits and pieces of cheese that Grimm was quick to catch and swallow without a blink. It came as no surprise that the Mabari had finished off his meat already.
"Aren't you eating anything, Lady Aífe?" the elf asked her and she shook her head.
"I ate while walking, this is all for you." She settled down on the edge of the bed, so she had Nelaros at her back and Alistair right in front of her. He was not eating, instead he was leaning against the table with his hips, watching her with slight irritation.
"I don't imagine you just went out to get food," Nelaros ventured when the silence grew too long.
Aífe was keeping her eyes on the warrior. Oh, he would be far more irritated by the end of the day than he probably imagined. Wordlessly she nodded and then busied herself by opening her braid and instead arranging her hair in a bun. Alistair's fingers were rubbing over his breeches, an automatic and absentminded gesture that he was probably not aware of.
"You are correct, I wanted to find answers. Originally I wanted to wait until you are both awake and I am sure that you are fine, but I thought that time was of the essence and if nobody knows yet where we are, they will soon," she explained. "I am sorry I left you alone, I tried to be as fast as I could but it was considerably harder to get information than I had anticipated."
Alistair was getting more impatient if the darkening of his eyes or the way he flexed his jaw were any indication. He was waiting for an opening to speak, she thought, and she was not keen on giving him one before she had dropped the bomb.
"I'd feel better if you hadn't left alone, my lady. People might be looking for you. It's dangerous to go alone, you should have taken Grimm," Nelaros said quietly and she cast him a smile over her shoulder. Grimm was very obviously agreeing with him, judging from the huff she heard as he put his head on her lap.
"It was necessary. I was less likely to be noticed on my own than with any of you. The giant Mabari war hound is not easy to overlook and dragging an unconscious man behind me might also have seemed slightly out of the ordinary." Aífe turned to look at Alistair. He was weary. It was evident in the way he was eying her. She felt almost bad.
There was little use in delaying any further, she figured. He knew something was up.
"I think you should come with us when we leave Kirkwall." There, she had said it. Put the little sentence in the room and let it sit there, demurely, waiting to be judged. She liked her choice of words. It had taken her all the way here to come up with it, as simple as it was.
Alistair almost chocked on his own spit and looked at her like a deer caught unawares by an awfully big and very hungry wolf. He had been expecting something, but apparently not this. Aífe decided to take advantage of the momentary silence and accept her role as wolf of sorts.
"I am aware that you had not planned to join us and I do understand your decision, I really do," she said and flexed her fingers. "You have your reservations, with good cause. However, right here and right now we have to look at the bigger picture, considering everything I have found out. "
The warrior had managed to recover by now, pounding a fist against his chest to keep from coughing. His eyes looked slightly glazed as he stared at her. "Absolutely not!"
"I told you that I left to get some more information. I found out something that changes everything," she said. He did not move an inch, but just shook his head vehemently.
"I don't care – I don't care at all. I'm glad I could help and all, but that's that and it's done now. I'll leave and return to my room and you do whatever you do. I'll just leave," he said. He was turning the tunic in his hands, so he could quickly slip into it.
Nelaros had a worried look on his face and his gaze wandered from one to the other. "What have you found out, then?" he asked, the bread he was holding completely forgotten. Grimm was eyeing it and Aífe could feel drool soak through her breeches, since the hound still had his head on her lap. She put her hands over the dog's eyes, but the drooling continued. Glutton.
"I found out who bought the children," Aífe answered slowly, not averting her eyes from Alistair. "Please, listen. This is important for you to know, Alistair."
"I can't come with you," Alistair insisted and moved away from her and the table to slip into the tunic. He winced when he moved his shoulder too quickly and stopped mid-movement, arms only half-way raised. "You said one day and one night and all you wanted is my sword and my silence. I gave you that. It's all done." He sounded as if he was talking to himself as much as he was talking to her. His eyes wandered from her to the tunic.
Worrying her lip, she stood up from the bed and moved a step closer, wondering if he would jump and run if she tried to help him get the tunic down over his shoulder as a sign of good-will. Technically, she was between him and the door. Practically, she could do little to really stop him.
"I know, Alistair, and I am sorry. I could not predict what would happen – had I known it all, I would not have come to you. I am sorry I dragged you into this," she said and meant it. Not wanting to give him more time to think or talk, she decided to simply let it drop. "The Antivan Crows bought the children. As far as they are concerned, we stole from them."
Alistair stopped his struggle to get fully clothed. Letting his arms drop down, he just looked at her. The tunic slipped down over his arms and he barely caught it with one hand. Surprise, shock and then disbelief took over – it was far too easy to read him, he did not try to hide anything. His lips twitched into a poor imitation of a smile.
"What?" he finally asked, although it was not really a question. He had heard her just fine.
Nelaros had set up straight and started to say something, but then a cough racked his body and he had a hard time recovering. Aífe cast him a worried glance, but he managed to grab the mug with water and empty it, wiping an arm over his mouth as he looked at her, eyes wide.
"The Reina del Océano is indeed an Antivan ship, owned by a certain prince of Antiva. His name is Claudio Valisti. I have never heard of him before, but I know now that the ship's home-port is Antiva City," Aífe explained.
"That doesn't prove anything," Alistair interrupted her, stepping closer to her. "It could just as well sail towards a different city and even if it returns to Antiva, that doesn't mean the Crows are involved."
"True," Aífe nodded. Grimm settled down next to her and she put a hand on his head, rubbing his ear between her fingers. "However, I know for sure it is bound to Antiva City, it has cargo loaded destined for that city. Also, I was trying to get in touch with my sources to find out more and it turned out that most of them vanished into thin air. The remaining ones confirmed that somebody was asking after us and that there is a price set out on any information about us. Not just me, Alistair. Us."
He blinked in confusion, turning away from her and taking a deep breath. His fingers were drumming against his thigh and he seemed to be trying to wrap his mind around it all. She watched him closely and saw him swallowing heavily and wetting his lips.
Nelaros had pushed his blanket back and moved towards the edge of the bed. "I don't understand. How could anybody even know about us this quickly?"
Aífe sighed and shifted her weight. "Almost a whole day had gone by before we returned to the city. We did tie the guards up tightly, but I assume somebody went to check up on the situation and found them – and they could have described at least me roughly. I wore no mask when questioning them. It does not take long to return to the city and they could easily have been there long before us, asking around to find out more about me. A thorough search would have led them to know that I was asking about the children and also about you, Alistair. From there on out, it was easy for them to find out where you live. It was probably even easier to just station thugs at every entrance of the city and let them report back once anybody caught sight of me. This way, they could easily direct a group of assassins to intercept us." She had not foretold it would get this messy. Had she left right after the leaving Mikal and not returned to the city, all would probably have gone well. Well, except for the fact that she would have been oblivious to the threat – and Alistair, who might have had to face all those assassins alone.
Perhaps she should even be glad it turned out like this, making it possible to at least try to do something about all this.
"So you didn't kill them," Alistair said quietly and she looked up in surprise, unsure whom he meant. "The guards, I mean." He was looking at her, seeming somewhat satisfied with his observation.
She blinked and furrowed her brows, shrugging. "They were tied up." It would probably have been smarter to kill them nonetheless. It was not even like they had given her any information; they had just pretended to not understand a word she said – not in Fereldan, Orlesian or Antivan. Perhaps she should have killed them. She probably should have.
"Alright, but how does all that point towards the Antivan Crows? I know that I don't know much, but I thought they are a group of assassins in Antiva. How does that link to slavery and Kirkwall?", Nelaros asked and looked between her and Alistair.
The warrior had gotten very still and she was watching him closely, unsure what to expect. The gears in his head were turning and she was not sure she would like the outcome.
"They have agents in every country, probably even in every bigger city. The masters remain in Antiva, but they basically have their eyes everywhere. There is no border to the activities of the Crows," Aífe said, not looking away from Alistair.
Without looking at her, the warrior nodded. "They buy children – especially elven children. The prettier, the better. They are raised to be Crows over the years. It's easier to train them when they are young."
Aífe had a hard time hiding her surprise. Tilting her head to the side, she kept her expression even and looked him over. His shoulders were tense and he was not looking at her. He seemed… defeated, in a way. How he knew this was a mystery to her. This was new to her. It made sense, of course, in a terrible way. Still, it was not a conclusion you could just arrive at. He had said it like he knew it for a fact. Like he had inside information.
She looked him over, closely. She would put her hand in the fire for him in this regard - he was no assassin, most definitely no Antivan Crow. There was no malice in him, nothing cold or heartless. Maker, there were books harder to read than him. She was still not sure who he was, but she was absolutely sure that he was not an assassin and that he meant them no harm.
"That's horrible," Nelaros said quietly. He looked even paler now.
Not looking away from Alistair, who stood unmoving, Aífe gave one sharp nod. In fact, she had not drawn that connection and simply thought the Crows might be only hired to transport the children. Now it made far more sense why they were so on either capturing or killing her – they wanted their lost investment back… This was far worse than her original suspicions. She would have to work a lot harder from here on out.
"There was a woman in particular asking after us and putting out much coin to get information. According to my contact, she is from Antiva and heavily involved with the Crows. Of course, it is not official, but my contact says that she is the go-to-person if you want to negotiate a contract with them." Aífe curled her hand into Grimm's fur, who had perked up when the atmosphere shifted. "Then there was the assassin I brought here and interrogated. She would not tell me definitely that she is a Crow, but she did not deny it when I asked her directly. She was clearly Antivan, as was her equipment. The poison they used was very complex and only somebody very experienced and skilled could have produced it. I do not think you can purchase the like here in Kirkwall. Additionally, she told me that I anybody in my company were their targets – and that they were not the only ones who were sent."
She raised a hand and brushed a few strands of loose hair back, casting Nelaros a quick glance. He seemed even more confused, lacking quite some information, but she had to talk quick and convince Alistair.
"She was barely more than a recruit and she was scared to death. Not being able to bring us down was apparently a death sentence for her. What little she knew she told me – that a contract on us was submitted the very same day we went to the Wounded Coast, that it came from within the organization and that somebody high up is very angry and wanted a quick solution. If possible, I was to be captured alive for questioning. If not possible, I was to be killed like anybody else with me." Fortunately, it was harder to kill her than most people anticipated. Even more fortunate, however, was that Alistair had come to help them.
"All the details led to one conclusion. I had an information leak somewhere, which had already set them on their toes and hence the children were already taken to the ship when we arrived. When a certain signal was not sent, somebody came to investigate and found the bound guards, or perhaps a message was sent from the ship by bird. A bit of asking around led them on my trail and by default also on yours, Alistair."
Alistair finally turned to look at her, exhaling deeply as he shook his head ever so slightly as if he could not believe it all. "The Crows," he just said.
"The Crows," Aífe confirmed.
"And you think leaving the city is the only option?" he asked, one eyebrow raised.
She tentatively shifted her weight again and nodded. "I think so, yes. We are in no position to counter them here for more than a couple of weeks at best. Eventually, it will end badly for us."
"I could simply stay put for a while," he said.
"No you could not. They would find you." She noted the way his gaze darkened.
"I could leave Kirkwall and stay put elsewhere for a while."
"They have agents in every bigger city and perhaps even smaller ones. I expect their information exchange is quick and accurate", she answered calmly. She wasn't imagining things, he was getting angrier. The way he had furrowed his brow and titled his eyebrow was telling. Also, he was glaring now. Well, she had seen worse, he would have to try a lot harder.
"I could go very far away where Crows don't matter and stay put there for a while," he said. Oh, now he was just grasping for straws. Unless he had the ability to develop gills, he would have to travel very far to reach such a place.
"Alistair," she tried to interrupt him, but he rubbed a hand over his forehead and laughed. Not a good sign, if the tilt of his mouth was any indication.
"I could go very, very far away from you and stay put." He was still laughing. She took a step closer, which only made him drop his hand to his side and close the gap between them, so he could properly glare down at her. With more intensity now – so he was actually improving. Yay?
"You are chaos," he accused her.
She blinked and opened her mouth to counter that argument, but he cut her off immediately.
"You are pure and unfiltered chaos," he amended and shook his head again. "My life was delightfully boring until the day I met you. I was fine. I slept and I ate and I drank and then I slept again. I was absolutely fine. Then you come along and suddenly there are slavers and mages and assassins and more mages and people want my head on a platter when I thought I had left that part of my life behind me – and you know what is the worst about it?"
Keeping her expression carefully blank she shook her head tentatively and filed away the information that he was not completely unfamiliar with people wanting him dead.
"You made me like it for a moment or two, as if I had actually done something useful. I actually felt good. I was just about to enjoy that for a bit and get back to my nice and boring life - and then you come and tell me that the Antivan Crows want to kill me because I am somehow associated with you!" He shrugged, uncaring about his wound by now, and barked out a fake laugh.
Alright. He was upset. She had seen this coming and had been prepared for it. For a moment she contemplated whether she should point out to him that good was better than fine, but in the face of the fact that he was not exactly happy with her right now, she decided not to.
"I am sorry," she said instead and hoped to have hit the right nerve. He said nothing, so she figured she could at least venture a bit further. "I will set things right and then you can go wherever you want and do whatever you want. I thought about it and I have a plan."
"A plan," he repeated. Perhaps she should not have used that exact word, it sounded kind of ominous, now that she heard it from his mouth. Maybe it was the way he pronounced it? Or the quirk of his eyebrows? Yes, definitely the angry tilt of his eyebrows.
"Yes, a plan," she confirmed and braced herself. "We will go to Antiva. There I will convince the master of the Crows to cancel all contracts on us. Not only here in Kirkwall, but wherever else their agents were informed to keep an eye out for us. We eliminate the problem at its root."
The room grew very quiet, the only noise being Grimm panting as he shifted his gaze between them and finally cocked his head to the side with a whine. He leaned more weight against Aífe and she readjusted her stance, trying very hard not to make a face.
"What?" Nelaros eventually croaked out.
Alistair was less reserved in his choice of words. "Do you have bats in your brain?"
A fair question. She personally would have voted no, but there were people that would definitely have answered with a heart-felt yes. Alistair was probably among those, because it had sounded like a rather rhetorical question.
"It makes sense," she started to explain.
"Like your red boots," Alistair interrupted her in a deadpan voice.
"Even more so," Aífe answered and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "We could try to solve the problem here in Kirkwall, but I am sure that they have more money, more people and more contacts. However, as soon as we leave the city, we face the same problem yet again. We could also try to just move to another city right now, but I am pretty sure word has gotten out and they are already looking for us." She took a deep breath and gazed quickly at Nelaros, who looked rather miserable. "Eventually, they would get us through sheer advantage in numbers, no matter how good we are. Nobody can be ever-vigilant. It is only a matter of time."
"You want to go to Antiva of all places. Antiva is teeming with assassins! They definitely will have the advantage in numbers there!" Alistair breathed a faint laugh and turned away, flexing his hands and moving his lips silently, as if talking to himself.
"I noticed," she agreed and sighed. "However, the way I see it we might end up bleeding to death in some disgusting side street with a knife between our ribs any day now. The only thing that could actually and effectively eliminate this problem throughout all of Thedas is to get the contract on our heads cancelled from the very top of the chain of command."
He came to a sudden halt, making Grimm practically jump up from his sitting position. Looking at her over his shoulder, a sarcastic smile pulled at a corner of his lips.
"So you'll go and have a nice talk with the master of the Crows before or after take the other children from him and make him even angrier?" he wanted to know in an almost casual tone.
She remained quiet for a moment, drawing her lower lip between her teeth, and met his eyes.
"I'm not an idiot, at least not as much of one as everybody thinks," he said and furrowed his brows. "We both know that's part of the reason why you want to go to Antiva."
Crinkling her nose, she regarded him for another moment. "It will work out," she said.
The muscles in his jaw worked as he watched her, one hand on the table as he leaned against it. His thumb was rubbing over the edge over and over again, the sound the friction made loud in the silence.
"You seem awfully sure of that," he said finally.
She smiled then – just a small smile that l up her eyes and lifted the corners of her mouth a bit. "For a year I kept my people alive during the Blight and the civil war. I led my soldiers to the final battle in Denerim and returned home with them. I slew a Darkspawn general, fought a dragon and walked away from a massacre that should have killed me." The memories tugged at her heart and pressed down on her, but she just let the smile grow. It was not a exactly a happy smile, but calm and steady. "I will fix this."
He breathed out shakily, locking eyes with her. They just looked at each other for a moment, then Alistair turned away, grabbing the bottle of wine with a shaky hand. "I need a drink."
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Author's Comment:
First of all, a huuuuuge thanks to alyssacousland for beta-reading and helping me with the expression "bats in your brain"; originally, I had used a very German proverb that literally is translated as "you are insanity's fat prey". Bats in the brain work, though, especially for Aífe. X'D I also want to thank Eynla for discussing the different parts of Aífe's logic to make sure that it is actually logic also for people that are not me or Aífe. Thank you of course also to everybody reading and especially those always reviewing - I'm looking at you, Pollyanna24, EkoCentric, LadyMimzy, Melysande and of course Eynla and alyssacousland. Thank you so much. :)
Then here's my little comments to this chapter, as always:
1) ... I really hope that Aífe's logic is logical also to other people. It is to me, albeit I am not twisted enough to actually call her solution to the Crow problem brilliant. The red boots, though, they make perfect sense to me.
2) The outfit including the red boots is straight from the game. I swear to you, there is this NPC running around with fugly red boots... X'D So yeah, that is where that idea came from.
3) I am sorry for this taking so long x.X Between starting my new job and being sick this last week, I only managed to really put this in a form that I liked now.
3) It took me a long time to actually like the flow of the dialogue; I also tried to characterize them through their actions and how they react, I hope that worked out well. I especially hope that Alistair is still Alistair also for you guys. I know we all have our own image of drunk!bitter!Alistair, but I still want him to stay THE Alistair.
4) Lastly - let me know what you liked or disliked. =) I am happy for feedback so I can improve.
5) ... ehehehe. Imagine me with a REALLY stupid smile. I actually managed to commission a pic of Aífe and Alistair and I just got to see the first sketch and... OMG, I am so happy! :3 I cannot WAIT to show you guys! This is so awesome! \o/
6) Okay. This is lasty for true, I swear X'D We have reached almost 100 reviews =) and as a thank you, I would like to make a little give-away to reviewer #100 - it can be a spoiler for the future of the fic that you'd like to know, it could be a oneshot or scene you would like me to write for you or whatever else that is in my power.
So, I hope you enjoyed the read. :3 The next chapter will be pretty much the last one in Kirkwall, then.. we go out into the wide world!