Duty's Choice: The Bastards of Ferelden - Chapter 2

A/N: I have not played Awakenings (mumblegrumble$40grumble…) and thus am making most the Amaranthine details up. The Howe children are pretty easy to find, so all of them are mentioned.

I am really excited by the number of alerts and favorites that have happened for this piece in the first 24 hours of it being up. That, and the reviews, keep me writing! Thanks everyone!

Amaranthine Mess

Amaranthine Castle – four days later

As Elinora Cousland gazed up at the ragged stone walls and closed gate of Amaranthine, a deep sense of dread fell over her. Her horse and Finn felt it too, or sensed it coming off of her. She wished, not for the first time, that Alistair had not been so generous, or at least that he was here with her. Unfortunately, he had turned south for Denerim yesterday and she was once again on her own.

She didn't like be on her own.

"Who goes there?" barked a voice from the parapet. She looked up to find a familiar face looking down at her.

"Its your commander, Warden Bittan. Come for inspection at last!" she yelled up.

"El?" He took another look down then turned and ordered the gate open. She rode in amid calls announcing her arrival. Orbert jogged from the guardhouse and took the reins of her horse as she dismounted.

Orbert, always formal, saluted then said, "Warden-Commander El, thank the Maker you're here. This place is a wreck."

As she went up the steps to the Great Hall, she noticed the piles of broken and charred furniture laying about, some hacked up for firewood. There was a lot of it. Once inside, the Hall itself was almost bare. There were only a few benches and one tressle table in the huge space. Some graffiti was scrawled on the walls.

"Die Warden bitch," Elinora read. "Wonderful. Any idea who hates me so?"

"He's in the dungeon," a familiar voice boomed through the empty hall. "One Thomas Howe, who claims rightful possession of Amaranthine and was vandalizing it when we got here."

Elinora turned to see Burion entering from the eastern door. He looked a bit ragged around the edges; his long dark hair was starting to show some grey and his green eyes didn't quite have their usual mischievous sparkle. He embraced his commander with a warm smile on a face that had defiantly gotten thinner. "Thank the Maker you're here."

"You have far too much faith in my housekeeping abilities," she muttered pointedly. "What else?"

Burion sighed and started the list. "The west wing is gutted by fire, as are the stables and gardens. When we got here the furnishings were smashed and any food left behind was… spoiled. So far the only things we've come across that are still whole are items very difficult to break. And there's not a single weapon to be found."

"How long have you been here?"

Burion shrugged. "About three months."

She raised an eyebrow. "And what have you been living off of?"

"We've sent out foraging and trading parties. Tried not make too much of a menace of ourselves, but, um, well…"

Elinora covered her face with a hand. "You've pilfered off the locals, haven't you?"

He shifted uncomfortably. "Only when absolutely necessary and we usually tried to trade first."

"Lovely." She sighed again. "When did you catch Thomas and where is Aldo?"

"About a week ago and Aldo's at the Circle of Magi."

"Why?"

Another shrug. "Mage stuff."

"What about Vallis and the others who were with me in Orzammar?"

"Arrived a week ago, wondering where you were." Burion raised an eyebrow but said no more.

She brushed it off with a wave of her hand. "Family stuff. Speaking of which, take me to see Thomas."

The dungeons were as rank as Rendon Howe's had been in Denerim, though they lacked the corpses of torture victims. The only occupant was Thomas Howe, glaring at her as he sat in the corner of his cell. "So the Warden whore finally shows her face in her stolen Arling."

Elinora took a bracing breath and tried to meet his eyes. "How are you, Thomas?"

"Oh just peachy ever since you murdered my father and had that bastard king hand over our lands to you, my lady." The last part his said with such venom that wanted to recoil, but didn't.

She wanted to scream at him, tell him what a spoiled child he was, but instead calmly explained, "Thomas, do you understand that your father attacked Highever in the middle of the night?" Her voice was even and low, controlled. She didn't think she could manage that for much longer. "Do you understand that he had my father, mother, sister-in-law and four year-old nephew murdered?" Her voice broke on the last word.

"I…"

"Go ahead," she growled. "Try to explain it, make excuses." Two steps brought her to the bars of his cell, her hands gripped them. "His sword may not have slit Oren's throat, but his orders killed that little boy while he slept. Your father was a traitor and the Howe line is finished."

Thomas blanched, but mustered himself as he stood, taking one step closer to the bars. "I cannot get a fair…"

"Fair?" she shrieked. She shook the bars and flung herself away from the cell. Turning away, she pulled herself together, finding an inner calm amidst the storm raging in her heart. "Thomas, if you had any sort of sense you would have exiled yourself in the Free Marches with Nathaniel," she muttered, leaning against the wall across from his cell. "Wait. Where's Deliah?"

"Somewhere you'll never find her." Thomas crossed his arms and matched her posture at the back of his cell.

Elinora narrowed her eyes and considered. "You have no idea where your sister is, do you?"

He looked away, "No."

"If she's smart, she'll stay there." Elinora sighed into her hands. "What am I going to do with you, Thomas?"

"Dunno," he half-smiled ruefully at her. "Should have married me when you had the chance."

"Kid, you were always too young for me. And you didn't have the guts to step out of your father's shadow."

"You took care of that, didn't you? I got the guts now."

With a raise of her eyebrows, she thought a moment. "Do you?" She appraised the angry young man in her holding cell. He'd always been a petulant child, even when he was an adult. Maybe the loss of the father could make something of the son?

Elinora took the key from its niche in the wall and opened Thomas's cell. "Show me you have the guts to start over, the build your own life without your father or his name. Here." She reached into her belt pouch and pulled out a handful of mixed coins. "I release you with the clothes on your back and whatever I just gave you. I never want to see you again, or hear the name Howe. Good luck, kid."

Thomas looked to her, then to the coins in his hand. For a moment it looked like he was going to pelt her with them and some insults. Instead he turned on his heel and ran. Elinora followed at a slower pace, informing the other Wardens to let him go.

Burion watched him run out of the gate. "That could have been the stupidest thing you've ever done, or the wisest."

"Time will tell. Now tell me what kinds of supplies we have."