Title: Forged In Fire
Rating: M (for violence and language)
Warnings: none
Summary: Elissa Cousland teased Loghain for being ridiculously sentimental when he gave her a diamond ring engraved with the words 'You Brought Me Back to Life'. Now, four months later, he is trying to kill her and she is raising an army against him.
Disclaimer + Notes: Bioware owns everything you recognise. Everything you don't (including the poetry) is mine. Thanks ever so much to my beta-readers lilpumpkingirl and analect for their help with spelling, style, ideas and all manner of things. They have been life savers! As always, any remaining errors are mine. Thoughts, comments and opinions (negative or positive) are always welcome, and I do respond to each of them individually.
Chapter 8 – Salt in the WoundA line of fire
Burning
Deep
∞A poem etched on the walls of the smallest cell at Fort Drakon, surrounded by blood stains
The late afternoon sun shone brightly, its rays warming her skin. Laughing, she jogged down the hallway, past the servants diligently scrubbing at the flagstones. Her green skirts swirled in the soft breeze funnelling through the open-air corridors. Arriving outside the Main Hall, she greeted the two guards with a smile.
"Lovely day, milady." Ser Wyatt grinned at her. Ser Mikael pushed the door open, and Elissa stepped into the darkened hall.
Flames licked at the walls, and the stench of burning wood filled her nostrils. Elissa turned her horrified gaze on the bodies strewn upon the floor. Her father's empty blue eyes stared up at her from less than a foot away, old blood dried on his lips and staining his clothes. A gaping wound in his chest revealed how he'd died. Eleanor Cousland's head lay just beyond her husband, her body slightly further on still. The blood that bubbled from her severed neck was fresh and still wet, the pool spreading to soak into her slashed and hacked armour. The fingers of her outstretched hand touched the bones of a white skeleton sprawled across the floor with one foot and a knee at odd, impossible angles. As she watched, both her parents' bodies shrivelled, the skin clinging to the bones as though all the water was drawn from it. Her mother's luxurious hair fell out of her skull, and her flesh began to rot. Within moments Elissa was staring down at a decapitated skeleton, white save for the stains of dried blood on the bone. Her stomach rebelled, and she turned away abruptly, her hand over her mouth as she tried to contain her disgust.
At first she didn't register what she was seeing, but then her eyes focused and she stumbled back against the door. Orianna's hacked and bleeding body was thrown across Oren's, as though she'd tried to protect her son with her own life. If so, she had failed, because the little body was marked with deep wounds that still bled sluggishly, pouring Oren's lifeblood out upon the stones.
"Why, little sister?" A male voice whispered.
Elissa knew what she'd see before she turned. She looked up into Fergus's face. Anguish was in his eyes as he stared down at the remains of his wife and child. "Why did you leave them to die?"
"I didn't!" she objected.
"You ran away, leaving them and their bodies to Howe." Fergus held her gaze. "You left Mother to him, to be raped and killed. Father to be murdered in his own castle. And you didn't even fight to save them."
"No," she whispered, "I didn't wa-"
"How could you, Ellie? How could you?" Fergus's outline began to ripple as though swept away on a breeze.
"No, Fergus! Wait!" She cried, reaching forward.
But her brother shook his head sadly, and then dissolved into the air, wafting away.
Tears streamed down her cheeks as Elissa clutched at the air futilely. "No. No."
"Ellie," another voice murmured.
She whipped around, and then staggered back against the closed door.
"I died because of him." Bright armour gleamed despite the lack of light as an unharmed Cailan strode forward towards her, a furious expression on his face. "The bastard pulled the army back, leaving me and my army to die useless deaths."
"You're his son-in-law," she said weakly, "he wouldn't…didn't…"
Cailan's lips twisted in an ugly sneer that looked out of place on his normally cheerful face. "And he was your fiancé, but that didn't stop him from leaving you to die in that Tower, did it?"
She shook her head violently. "He wouldn't…something happened… stopped him…"
"Did it?" another voice hissed, hoarse and guttural with the undertone of a serpent's scream.
Elissa's head whipped around, and her stomach lurched. "Murderer!" She fumbled for the sword on her back, drawing it with an awkward scrape of metal on metal. A hurlock stumbled out of the shadows. Its two-handed blade pointed towards the ground as armoured hands gripped the enormous sword, the glint of torchlight lighting the treasonous, pointed face of Rendon Howe. Elissa lunged, striking out with her sword. It skidded off a shield, and a sudden move on his part had her blade spinning across the stone floor, fiery sparks flaring whenever it struck the ground.
"Did something happen to make Loghain quit the field? Or did he plan to abandon His Majesty all along?" The cruel eyes were fastened on her as it spoke the words with relish. "Did they not quarrel for days before the battle? About the Orlesians? The Wardens? And would a father not want revenge for his daughter's humiliation when the whole court knew of Cailan's…indiscretions? The Hero of River Dane's protectiveness of his daughter is legendary, after all."
Elissa's mouth worked soundlessly for a moment before she found her voice. "Anora loves Cailan. Loghain would never do that to her!"
"Does she? She is her father's daughter, a most practical creature." The darkspawn-Howe's voice slid over her like oil. "They know nothing of love. Of the…softer emotions."
"Loghain loves me," she flared, resettled her grip on her blade.
"Are you sure about that?" The darkspawn flashed a smile of sharp, pointed teeth. "He was happy as a widower for seventeen years before you came along. What have you offered him that a thousand other eager women have not? Your looks, your name? You are pretty but hardly the most beautiful woman to have thrown yourself at him. And what would the King's closest advisor and father-in-law need with the Cousland name, great though it was?"
"Companionship, friendship, affection, love," she spat back, silencing the little voice of agreement in her head.
Howe laughed gratingly. "You are thirty-four years younger than him. What in Thedas could you have in common with him? What companionship could you offer beyond your…skills in the bedroom, my dear? And you are neither a talented Antivan whore nor an Orlesian courtesan, or even a priceless noble virgin any longer. That little gift you gave him in Ostagar, didn't you?"
His body rippled and suddenly it was Loghain standing across from her, in the silverite armour he'd worn every day since the Battle of River Dane. "You thought I loved you?" The cold smirk and even icier glare he used to such good effect against those who irritated him was now turned against her. "What are you compared to Rowan? A mere child compared to the Queen of Ferelden? You were simply convenient."
It was like a blow to her chest, as fears she'd never voiced resounded through the hall. The air left her lungs in a rush. "You said you loved me."
His smile was dark. "A man may say many things he doesn't mean, my dear."
"Still so sure that he can love? That it could keep him from killing me?" Cailan demanded, stepping further forward.
Loghain smirked again. Without any further ado, he spun and his sword swung. Cailan's head dropped like a stone, and then rolled till it rested at her feet, blank unseeing eyes staring up at her. His armoured body collapsed with a loud clang.
She stared down at the head, and then screamed.
Elissa jerked upright in her tent, a hand over her mouth to catch the sound before it escaped. It'd been a dream. She was in a tent, on the road to Lothering. Not in the Hall at Castle Cousland. She had not watched her parents' bodies wither away. Howe was not a darkspawn. And Loghain had never said that. There was no reason to think something had not come up that had prevented him from riding into battle, that he had not had a good reason to do what he did. No reason at all.
And Fergus had never said she abandoned her family. Fergus, who could be dead or alive at this moment, she had no way of knowing. Tears trickled down her face for long moments as she cried silently. Duke whuffed silently, and licked her face from where he lay at her feet.
Light had begun to stream through the thin material of the tent, and she shivered in the cool dawn air. Outside, the forest was silent, without even the sound of birds greeting the day. They would need to move soon, to arrive in Lothering early enough that morning to find accommodation for the night and shop for supplies. Silently, Elissa rolled out of the bedroll and stripped out of the fine linen sleep clothes she'd appropriated from her brother's tent in Ostagar. Carefully folding the garments, she put them back into her backpack and changed into a set of tunic and trousers before emerging from the tent.
Two hours later, they were almost at Lothering. Alistair lingered behind the others, still quiet and reserved. Elissa's attention was drawn by group of men sprawled ahead. What on earth were they doing just sitting there? Her gaze swept over the rough armour and weapons, and the overturned carts blocking the road. She felt the blood drain from her face as she spotted the dead body of a knight sprawled beside them.
One of the men jumped to his feet at their approach, a broad smile appearing on his face. "Wake up, gentlemen. More travellers to attend to. I'd guess the pretty one is the leader."
Elissa stared at him as awareness dawned. These were brigands. Robbers. Duke growled at her side, and she clamped a hand on his collar to keep him from charging.
Another one of the robbers glanced at the four of them. "Err…they don't look like them others, you know…" His eyes dropped to a growling Duke. "Uh, maybe we should just let these ones pass…"
"Nonsense," the first man said cheerily, his grey-blue eyes fixed on the approaching party. "Greetings, travellers."
"Highwaymen." Alistair was alert, if sombre, and paying attention for the first time in days. "Preying on those fleeing the darkspawn, I suppose."
Morrigan smiled darkly. "They are fools to get in our way. I say we teach them a lesson."
The slight, dark-haired man laughed. "Is that anyway to greet someone? Tsk Tsk. A simple ten silvers and you're free to move on."
Elissa's eyebrow rose. For a brief moment, she was tempted to take Morrigan's idea and kill the lot of them, simply to prevent these parasites from preying on others who passed by. But it was one thing to kill darkspawn, and quite another to kill another human. She'd killed when escaping Highever, to be sure, but that had been pure self-defence. Perhaps she could…convince…these men to let them pass. She stepped forward, letting her eyes gleam contemptuously as she scanned the poorly armed group. "You really should listen to your friend. We're not refugees."
The heavy-set man who'd spoken second blanched. "What did I tell you? There's no wagons, and this one looks armed."
This one looks armed? Both Wardens clearly bore weapons, and it took a fool not to recognize the mage's staff on Morrigan's back. Elissa revised her opinion of the man's intelligence downwards.
"The toll applies to everyone, Hanric," the bandit leader scolded him, as though speaking to a child. "That's why it's a toll, and not, say, a refugee tax."
Slowly, realisation dawned on his face. "Oh, right. Even if you're no refugee, you still gotta pay."
Elissa held back a sigh. "I don't have that kind of coin," she lied. Quite well if she did say so herself.
"Ah, and if I don't believe you…how do we solve this predicament?"
Apparently she hadn't lied well enough. Perhaps, intimidation? "Do you really want to fight a Grey Warden?" Somehow she didn't think invoking the Cousland name would work here, at all.
The second man gasped. "Did she say she was a Grey Warden? Them ones that killed the king!"
Elissa's jaw dropped open. Killed the king! What in the Maker's name was going on here? Why were Grey Wardens being blamed for Cailan's death?
"Traitors to Ferelden I hear," the first man's eyes narrowed greedily. "Teyrn Loghain's put quite a bounty on any who are found."
Her stomach roiled. Loghain had a bounty on the heads of the Grey Wardens? And was calling them traitors? Elissa knew as well as the next person what being a 'traitor to Ferelden' meant. The moment she was 'caught', her head would be on a pike outside Denerim. Both hers and Alistair's. Her hopes that this was all a mistake, that maybe she could go to Loghain, talk this out and find out what the hell happened, were ashes in her mouth now. Her fingers tightened on her sword hilt, the knuckles turning white. She had thought he loved her. But Loghain had not just left her to die, now he actively sought her death. Or at least, he didn't care if she died, the victim of this 'bounty'. The ring on her hand suddenly felt icy cold, burning like a brand into her flesh.
"But aren't them Grey Wardens good? I mean, really good? Good enough to kill the king?" the not-very-intelligent one babbled.
The leader glanced back at them fearfully. "You have a point. Well, let's forget about the toll. We'll just leave you to your darkspawn-fighting, king-killing ways." His smile was strained.
Numbness faded, as anger began to burn inside her. Traitors.
"We didn't kill the king!" Alistair burst out.
The bandit brightened. "Ah! See, they weren't the ones who killed him. You weren't good enough to be chosen for that job, I take it." He gave them a look of mock sympathy. "Well in that case, I'm afraid we will need that toll."
"Forget it," Elissa said flatly through gritted teeth. "I'm not paying."
Traitors.
The leader sighed. "Well, I can't say I'm pleased to hear that. We have rules you know."
"Yeah, we get to ransack your corpse, then. Those are the rules, you know."
Elissa restrained the impulse to roll her eyes. Instead, she glared at them, letting her hand shift on her sword hilt. "You can certainly try."
"Well, this is going nowhere. Let's finish this, gents!"
Five men charged.
One failed attempt at intimidation then. Maker damn it. She drew her sword, barely parrying the leader's sword to buy herself time to settle her shield on her arm.
One of the bandits, she couldn't tell which, was suddenly shrieking. "A mage! They've got a mage!"
Traitors. Elissa threw herself into the fight with a scream, her blade flashing like quicksilver as she fought out her fury and pain.
Barely trained as the bandits were, it was only minutes later when she had her sword pressed against the leader's throat. Grey-blue eyes stared up at her, panic clearly visible. All four of the other bandits were dead, red blood spilling onto the grey stones.
"All right," the leader gasped out. "We surrender. W…w…We're just trying to get by, before the darkspawn get us all." He clearly hadn't realised his companions were dead.
Elissa didn't move her blade, only by dint of enormous self-control refraining from slitting his throat where he stood as anger continued to pulse through her. "Get by? You're a criminal!"
"Yes, I'm a criminal," he said quickly. "I admit it. I apologise. Just let me go. I'll do anything!"
Elissa's eyes narrowed. "I want some questions answered," she said, ignoring his insincere apology. "What's this about the Grey Wardens being traitors?" Why had Loghain done this?
"E-Everyone's talking about how the Grey Wardens b-betrayed the king at Ostagar," he babbled, nearly stumbling over his words. "Got him, and themselves, killed. Teyrn Loghain pulled out just in time. First thing he's doing as regent is putting a bounty on Grey Wardens."
Her sword dropped to her side, nerveless fingers barely keeping hold of the blade. Each sentence was like a nail in the coffin of her hopes. So Loghain had deserted. And now he sought the death of every Grey Warden. And that included her. Her stomach felt like lead, and her heart, ice. She swallowed heavily. "Are ther- have you heard about any other survivors from the battle?"
"Couple, maybe." The brigand seemed to relax a bit now that her blade was gone. "A group of wounded ash warriors came through earlier…got right out of their way." He rolled his eyes.
And you couldn't do that for us? Elissa shook her head. "All right, that's enough questions."
"Well then, let me go." He half-turned, as if expecting her to let him walk off.
Slightly calmer now, she knew she couldn't kill him but neither could she leave him to prey on others. She reached out to catch his arm with a gauntleted hand. "No, I'm turning you into the authorities." That would be best.
He gaped at her in horror. "There are none, except the Templars, and they'll execute me!"
Morrigan's voice cut in from the side. "That would be foolish. Did you not hear about the bounty? The Templars would be just as likely to turn you and Alistair in as take these bandits into custody."
"We don't have to tell them who we are," Alistair protested.
The witch snorted. "And you think this idiot will hesitate to spill the facts? No, you must kill them now."
Elissa frowned. "I won't kill in cold blood." She felt sick at the very thought.
"I won't let you kill me!" The man's hand went to the small dagger at his waist.
Elissa opened her mouth to respond when a flash of lightning shot past her with a sizzling sound. Slowly, the man toppled over, a large hole burnt through his neck.
In the silence, Elissa stared down at the dead man at her feet. Then she turned slowly towards Morrigan. "What was that about?"
"It was that, or die when the Templars find out who you are." Morrigan seemed surprised at her anger. "And I, for one, don't want to die."
"You killed him in cold blood!" Alistair snapped.
"You will not win this battle against the Blight by being kind and fluffy." Morrigan sneered. "Especially now that it appears this Loghain wants you dead!"
"But, cold blooded murder?" Elissa looked back at the body, aware that her legs were shaking slightly.
"I thought you were a practical creature, Elissa." Morrigan's lips thinned. "You are Grey Wardens. Your duty is to stop the Blight. To do whatever you have to. In order to that, you need to survive. If that means someone has to die for you to do your duty, then they have to die."
Right. The Blight. That was the important thing. Not what Loghain had done to Cailan, nor what he'd done to her. Nor this brigand. She and Alistair were the only Grey Wardens left in Ferelden, and it was up to them to stop the Blight. That meant she had no time for softness, for grief, for anger, for compassion, until she was alone in her tent at night. Then she could cry. She squared her shoulders and tightened her stomach muscles. "All right. Search the bodies."
"La…Elissa?" Alistair turned to look at her in disbelief.
"Morrigan is right. We have to do what we have to do. And we won't get far at all without coin and supplies. So search the bodies. They were highwaymen, they have to have gathered something we can use." Elissa crouched next to the bandit leader's body.
"But…it all belongs to someone else…" he said weakly.
"And there is no way to know who owns what," Morrigan retorted. "Take what we can use and leave the rest for the next person to come along."
His lips thinned, and he obeyed with visible reluctance. Ten minutes later, they were moving again, after looting and shoving the bodies under the nearest cart so that it wasn't the first sight seen by the next traveller.
Elissa paused on the edge of the white stone road, looking out over the small village below them.
"La…Elissa?"
She turned towards him, a little surprised. It was the first time he'd spoken outside of necessity and the bandits in five days. "Yes?"
Morrigan sneered. "Oh, finally decided to start a conversation then? Falling on your blade in grief seemed like too much trouble, I take it?"
Elissa winced.
"Is my being upset so strange to you?" Alistair demanded, his eyes flashing. "Have you never lost someone close to you? What would you do if your mother died?"
"Before or after I stopped laughing?" Morrigan arched an eyebrow.
Alistair shuddered. "Right. Very creepy. Forget I asked."
Elissa glanced at him sidelong. "You have been very quiet, Alistair."
"I know," he looked pensive. "I've been…thinking."
"That's why it took so long then," the witch interjected.
Alistair scowled. "Oh, I get it. This is the part where we're shocked to discover you've never had a friend your entire life after all."
"I can be friendly when I desire to. Alas, desiring to be more intelligent does not make it so," Morrigan snipped.
Elissa counted to ten silently. Was this what it was going to be like for the rest of their 'trip' to Maker-knows-where trying to recruit the armies? Fighting brigands and darkspawn, interspersed with continual fighting between her companions?
Alistair continued, ignoring the witch. "Do you think it's true? That Loghain blames the Wardens for the king's death? And about the bounty?"
Elissa stiffened. I don't know what to believe. "It does not seem like the sort of thing Loghain would do," she said slowly, her throat thick. But, I did not think he would leave the battlefield either.
"That man would have had no reason to lie," Morrigan inserted.
"But we didn't do it!" Alistair protested angrily. "It was him!"
"Who actually did anything has little to do with blame," Elissa rubbed her forehead, feeling a dull ache start in her head.
"Utter bastard," Alistair muttered darkly. He looked up at her with a twisted expression on his face. "So, do you believe us now? That your Loghain betrayed the king and deserted the battle?"
"I have no choice, do I?" Elissa snapped. "What other reason would he have for wanting our deaths!" Pinning the blame on the Grey Wardens tells us he had no excuse for abandoning Cailan to die, for destroying half of Ferelden's army. And, Maker forgive me, I love him anyway.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Right. Is there any way to hide that staff of yours, Morrigan? It's a little obvious." That was somewhat of an understatement, she thought, eyeing the long wooden shaft that peeked over Morrigan's head.
"Tis amazing how much will be ignored when a man has a woman's breasts to focus on," was Morrigan's reply.
Elissa snorted. "Is that why you wear the robes you do? But we don't need the Templars in Lothering chasing us in case one of them decides to think with his brain instead of his…other bits."
"I wear my robes because they are comfortable and practical." Morrigan sighed. "And there are spells on my staff to keep people from noticing it."
"Will they work on Templars?"
Morrigan waved her hand. "Of course. T'would be of little use otherwise, no?"
With Morrigan's most obvious mage adornment hidden, Elissa led the way into the village. They passed refugees camped on open fields, a heavy silence lingering over them broken only by the cry of a hungry child. Gritting her teeth, Elissa ignored the sounds and marched on.
As they entered the gates, a man in the heavy metal armour of a full Templar called out, "You there, if you're looking for safe shelter, I'll warn you there's none to be found. Move on if you can. Lothering's lost."
Well that was brilliant news. She sighed to herself. Not that they hadn't planned to keep moving as soon as they could, but she'd been looking forward to one night in a nice bed, without the constant fear of being attacked. They pressed on into the village. More refugees were everything, cringing in shadows and corners.
"Ah, look how they moan and wail and gnash their teeth." Morrigan sneered. "Tis sad to watch how helplessly they scurry about."
"It's just a guess but I'm thinking everyone in Lothering is aware of the approaching darkspawn horde," Alistair retorted.
"Then they should do something about it rather than cringe and hide," Morrigan snapped back.
Alistair seemed about to respond, and thought the better of it. "The Chantry is still running their board. Now that's dedication."
Morrigan scoffed. "Ah yes, let us run errands for the betterment of mankind as well as a few coppers."
Elissa stopped in her tracks. "Actually, that's not a bad idea." And with the board outside, she wouldn't even have to go inside.
Both her companions turned to stare.
"We're going to need money to buy supplies," she pointed out. "And unless we're going to resort to stealing, we need legitimate ways to make money."
"And so you're going to waste time doing jobs for the Chantry?" Morrigan snorted.
"Do you have any better ideas?" Elissa's eyes narrowed as Morrigan opened her mouth to answer. "Legal ideas."
Morrigan glared, and then shook her head.
"Well, then." Elissa marched towards the board. A quick scan of the board showed only one job that would suit them. She sighed as she made her way back to her companions. More killing. "There are three groups of bandits who've been roaming north of Lothering. They're offering gold. And no doubt we'd get to keep any loot we find to trade with a merchant."
Morrigan nodded shortly.
Alistair shrugged. Then he glanced over his shoulder at the Chantry. "Do we have time for me to go inside?" he asked. "After everything, I think I need…"
Morrigan sneered.
"Go on." She waved him off, and then turned to Morrigan. "I'm going to find some information."
"I will see if I can find a merchant here who sells the herbs I need." The witch sounded dubious.
"Do you not remember from your visits here?" Elissa asked curiously.
Morrigan shrugged. "Much has changed since I came here last. There used to be a market where we stand now."
"Try not to attract too much attention." The men around them were already taking sidelong looks at Morrigan's low cut shirt.
Morrigan rolled her eyes. "These men? They are hardly worth the effort."
"Just don't do anything silly," she warned, before turning and approaching one of the nearby soldiers. Maybe she would be able to find someone who could give her more information over there.
After finding that everyone was too stressed about the oncoming Blight to be willing to talk to her, Elissa returned to the place she'd left her companions. She spotted Morrigan hovering nearby. "You found a merchant?"
Morrigan rolled her eyes. "There are only two merchants in the village, and one of the idiot Chantry sisters ran one of them out of town just before I arrived. The other is in the tavern on the other side of the river."
Alistair emerged from the Chantry and moved towards them, a frown creasing his forehead. "I met someone from Redcliffe. Ser Donall….he says that Arl Eamon is sick. Very sick. All the knights are out searching for Andraste's ashes."
"Well, this Eamon won't be much use then," Morrigan said.
"I think that is even more reason to go and see what is going on." Alistair looked at her, poorly concealed worry in his eyes. "If nothing else, Arlessa Isolde will be able to tell us more, maybe give us some help."
Elissa tilted her head. "Are you…close to the Arl?" There was no other explanation for the concern he was showing.
He shifted uncomfortably. "I grew up in Redcliffe before I went to the Chantry. The Arl raised me."
The queen's brother raised the king's bastard? Well, she hadn't expected that one. A glance at his face told her he was unwilling to say more. "For now, we should head to the tavern and see if," she grimaced, "they might have a room available. I desperately need a bath that is not in a river."
A little boy was curled up in the corner of the bridge leading across the river. Elissa hesitated, and then stopped beside him. "Are you all right?"
The child, probably about six or seven, uncurled slightly. "Have you seen my mother?"
Elissa swallowed hard. Her thoughts flickered involuntarily to her own mother, of the dream she'd had the night before. "That depends. Who is your mother?"
"She's really tall...and she has red hair. We live on a big farmhold, all of us. Some mean men with swords came and mother told me to run to the village as fast as I could, so I did. She said she would be right behind me, but I've been waiting and waiting and I can't see her."
Elissa closed her eyes. "Do you know where your father is?"
The boy shook his head. "He went with William to the neighbour's yesterday, but he didn't come back."
So no parents at all. Just like her. She took a breath. "I don't think she's coming, child." Her heart wrenched inside her chest. If it had lived, would her child one day have looked up at her with wide blue eyes like this little boy?
He scowled and stamped a foot. "Why not? Why would she leave me here?"
"I don't think she meant to leave you, dear one." Elissa fought to keep her voice steady.
"But she must be coming," the child insisted.
"Go to the chantry, child. Someone will look after you there," she told him. And you will not even be recruited into the Wardens for it,she added bitterly.
"I will. But only if I don't find Mother, first." He ran off without a backwards glance.
Shaking her head, Elissa straightened. She found Alistair staring at her. "What?"
Alistair smiled faintly. "It is just odd, I suppose. I've only ever known you as a warrior, and now…"
"And now I'm a woman with maternal instincts?" She pursed her lips. "Do you have a problem with that?"
"No, no," he said hurriedly. "It's just a bit startling."
Elissa shook her head, and then turned to cross over the bridge.
"Have you given thought to where we will go after this, Elissa?" Morrigan asked.
Elissa frowned. "Why are you asking me? Alistair is the senior Warden." Wouldn't he be taking charge? He needed the time to get over Duncan, but he'd started talking again.
"Because Alistair isn't leading us." Morrigan looked pointedly at her. Elissa flushed slightly and glanced at Alistair.
He shook his head. "Don't look at me."
"So where will we be going?" Morrigan arched an eyebrow.
She bit her lip, thinking. "From Lothering, it would make sense to go Kinloch Hold first. We're already half way there. "
"The mage prison." Morrigan's lips thinned in disgust.
"It's not a prison," Alistair objected. "They go there to learn to control their powers. Untrained mages are dangerous."
"There are other places in the world where one can get training, places where men don't watch you bathe," Morrigan retorted.
Alistair looked horrified. "They don't!"
"How many mages have you spoken to?" Morrigan gave him a sly smile. "My information comes from those who have escaped the prison."
"Enough." Elissa held up her hand. Both glared at each other, but subsided. Elissa led the way towards the tavern, past the blacksmith bent over his anvil and a group of gossiping refugees who didn't even look up as they passed.
"…heard he saw just in time what those Grey Wardens were doing and saved his men. He's a Hero, that's what he is."
"Too bad he couldn't save King Cailan. Blast those Grey Wardens. They deserved what they got and more." The respondent spat on the ground.
Elissa gritted her teeth. She clamped one hand on Alistair's forearm to hold him back, and the other on Duke's collar. She gave both a warning look. The door was heavy, as she pushed it open, but well-oiled so it didn't squeak. Stepping inside, she took a glance around. The split floor building was crowded, with every table filled. It didn't look like there was going to be a room available for the night.
"Well," a baritone voice said, cutting through the noise and bringing silence to the entire room. "Look what we have here, men. I think we've just been blessed." One of the lutes sang out a note that was cut short as silence fell in the tavern.
Elissa froze, her eyes snapping across the room to fix on five men moving towards them. Each wore the uniform armour of the royal army.
"Uh-oh," Alistair muttered. "Loghain's men. This can't be good."
"Didn't we spend all morning asking about a woman by this very description?" The man to the left looked at his commander. "And everyone said they hadn't seen her."
"It seems we were lied to." The commander looked around at the silent tavern with a threatening look.
Elissa swore silently. Behind her, she felt the tension in her companions as they prepared for battle. She opened her mouth to respond, slowly shifting her own weight to be able to grab for her sword.
"Gentleman," a new, lilting female voice interrupted. A Chantry priestess with red hair cut in a chin-length bob approached from the other side of the tavern, a soft smile on her lips. "Surely there is no need for trouble. These are no doubt simply more poor souls seeking refuge."
The commander didn't bother taking his eyes off them. "They're more than that. Now stay out of our way, Sister. You protect these traitors, you'll get the same as them."
Elissa held up her hand. "I don't need your help, Sister. Please stand back." She was not going to be responsible for the death of a priestess.
The other woman glanced at her. "You don't need my protection. But these men will blindly follow their master's command even unto death."
Elissa raised an eyebrow. This woman they'd never met thought that they could take on five trained soldiers? It was true, but it was an interesting position for her to take.
"I am not the blind one!" the commander snarled. "I served at Ostagar, where the Teyrn saved us from the Grey Wardens treachery. I serve him gladly."
"Treachery?" Alistair demanded. "We ne-".
"Enough talk," the soldier cut him off. "Will you come quietly, Warden?"
Elissa stared at him incredulously. Come quietly? To her death? "I think not."
"Take the Warden into custody. He wants her alive. Kill the sister and anyone else that gets in your way." There was the scrape of metal on metal as they drew weapons.
"Right. Let's make this quick," the soldier on the left agreed.
Elissa jerked her sword free from its sheath and slung her shield onto her left arm. They had instructions to take her alive? A burst of hope sprung within her. Maybe he didn't want her dead then. After all, what point would there be in bringing her in alive if he was just going to kill her? Unless he wanted her to die a traitor's death. She swallowed.
"Morrigan, on the right. Alistair, on the left. Duke, with me." Without waiting for a response Elissa charged, catching the first swing of the commander's two-handed blade on her shield. She staggered, and then slashed forward. Magic flared around them, and Elissa glimpsed a man stumbling back nearby. There was a growing itch at the back of her head, but she didn't dare pay it any attention. Duke lunged forward, timing his attack with Elissa's own shield pummel. Elissa dodged the counter-attack by a hair, and then barely avoided a slash from another soldier who decided to interfere. Reversing her sword in her hand she thrust behind her, skewering the second soldier. Then she ducked another blow from the commander and jerked her blade loose to fight him again.
The Chantry sister was suddenly there, her long dagger slashing through the air to press up against the commander's throat. He froze, the sword tumbling from his hands. "All right you've won. We surrender."
The Sister kicked the heavy blade away, and then stepped back slightly, ignoring the blood splattered on her red and gold Chantry robes. Her eyes were cold as she stared down at the warrior, and Elissa shivered slightly. "Good. They've learned their lesson and we can all stop fighting, now."
Elissa straightened, breathing heavily. A quick glance around showed them to be the centre of attention in the room, with the other customers huddled against the walls to avoid the fight. Four bodies on the wooden floors indicated that the other soldiers were dead. A pang of regret filled her.
Gritting her teeth, she stepped up close to the commander. "What were your orders? Who gave them to you?"
"Teyrn Loghain gave us a description of you and told us if we found you, to take you and any other Wardens into custody," he babbled. "He said you'd come quietly!"
Loghain thought she'd come quietly? Maybe she would have, even after Cailan's death, if he hadn't put a bounty on her head. But now, they would never know. Even for him, she wasn't going to risk her death without knowing precisely what he wanted her for. She straightened her shoulders. "I will let you go free. But only to take a message to Loghain."
"W-what do you want me to tell him?"
"Tell him…Elissa Cousland does not shirk her duty to the Wardens, and to this kingdom. As long as he seeks the death of the Grey Wardens, I won't come quietly." She paused. "And when I next meet him, he can explain to me why he killed Cailan!"
He swallowed. "I'll tell him." His eyes darted between the members of the group. "Right away. Now. Thank you!" He fled, the door swinging shut heavily behind her. Elissa scanned the room immediately, looking to see if someone was going to get…upset with the apostate mage running around. With a murmur and seeing that the excitement was over, the tavern's customers turned away. Apparently not then. The tavern owner nodded to her, and then began to direct several large burly men to drag the dead bodies away. Elissa sheathed her blade and then rubbed her forehead with a blood splattered, gauntleted hand.
"I have a table." The Sister stepped forward, gesturing towards a wooden table on the left. Her eyes were warm now, with no trace of the earlier iciness that had so startled Elissa.
Elissa eyed her for a moment, before nodding. "Thank you." She followed the woman to the table and sank down onto the wooden bench with a relieved sigh. She tangled her fingers in Duke's fur, taking comfort in the warmth. She raised her other hand, signalling the barmaid.
Alistair slid onto the bench opposite her and gave her a tired smile. "It's not yet mid-day, and I already want to go to sleep," he complained. "I wonder why they were looking for you in particular."
She shrugged. Because I am Loghain's betrothed. "Did you want them to look for you too?"
"No," Alistair said hastily. "I just thought it was curious."
Elissa shrugged again. "My name, perhaps?"
The Sister cleared her throat. "I apologise for interfering but I couldn't just sit by and not help."
Elissa raised her eyebrow. "So I see." She paused. "Where does a Sister learn to fight like that?"
The woman laughed. "I wasn't born in the Chantry you know. Many of us had more colourful lives before we joined the Chantry."
Elissa noticed that she didn't answer the question. "Well, thank you for your help," she said politely.
"It was no problem. Let me introduce myself. I am Leliana, one of the lay sisters of the Chantry here in Lothering. Or I was."
Was? "I am Elissa. A pleasure."
Leliana stepped closer. "You are the leader, yes?"
"I suppose I am," Elissa said warily.
"Those men said you're a Grey Warden. You will be battling the darkspawn, yes? That is what Grey Wardens do?"
Elissa didn't answer.
The redhead was undeterred. "I know after what happened, you'll need all the help you can get. That's why I'm coming along."
Elissa's eyes widened, and it took her a moment to find her tongue. "What?"
"I'm coming along with you," she repeated.
Elissa's tongue stumbled over itself for a moment. "W…Why are you so eager to come with me?" What idiot wanted to join a group where two out of three had a price on their head, and the other was clearly an apostate mage?
"The Maker told me to."
Elissa blinked. "Can you…elaborate?" Was this woman mad? Or insane?
"I-I know that sounds…absolutely insane," she acknowledged. "But it's true I had a dream, a vision."
"More crazy?" Alistair asked. "I thought we were all full up."
Elissa eyed her. "What happened in this…vision of yours? Why do you think the Maker wants you to come with us?" She'd met people who claimed to have visions before, but few would admit it quite like this woman did.
Leliana shifted uncomfortably. "I don't know how to explain, but I had a dream. In it was an impenetrable darkness…it was so dense, so real…and there was a noise, a terrible, ungodly noise…I stood on a peak and watched as the darkness consumed everything…and when the storm swallowed the last of the sun's light, I…I fell, and the darkness drew me in…"
Morrigan snorted.
Elissa ignored the witch. "So it's just a dream. Why say it's a vision?"
"I have had dreams." Leliana shook her head. "This was…different, somehow. When I woke, I went to the Chantry's gardens, as I always do. But that day, the rosebush in the corner had flowered... Everyone knew that rosebush was dead. It was grey and twisted and gnarled – the ugliest thing you ever saw, but there it was – a single beautiful rose. It was as though the Maker had stretched out His hand to say: 'Even in the midst of all this darkness, there is hope and beauty. Have faith.'"
"And this made you want to help me?" Elissa eyed her in disbelief.
"In my dream I fell, or…or maybe I jumped…I'd do anything to end the Blight.I know that we can do it. There are so many beautiful things in the Maker's world. How can I sit by while the Blight devours …everything?"
"The Chantry says the Maker has left us." Alistair leaned forward.
Leliana shook her head again. "He is still here. I hear Him in the wind and the waves, I feel Him in the sunlight that warms my skin. I know what the Chantry says about the Maker, and what should I believe? What is in my heart or what others tell me?"
Elissa glanced hurriedly at the other priestesses she'd seen earlier, but none of them seemed to be close enough to overhear.
Leliana gestured around. "Look at the people here. They are lost in their despair, and this darkness, this chaos…will spread. The Maker doesn't want this. What you do, what you are meant to do, is the Maker's work. Let me help!"
She seemed earnest enough, Elissa allowed. But... "I need more than prayers, I'm afraid." Prayers wouldn't get her very far against darkspawn and bandits, and now apparently they'd have to dodge Loghain's people as well.
"I can fight," Leliana protested. "I can do more than fight. As I said, I was not always a lay sister. I put aside that life when I came here, but now…if it is the Maker's will, I will take it up again. Gladly. Please let me help you."
"What were you before?" Elissa's eyes narrowed. A warrior of some kind, to judge by her confidence with a blade.
Leliana shrugged casually. "Nothing of particular note. I travelled a lot though, and that was how I learned to fight."
A secret she didn't want to talk about then. But she supposed that they all had secrets, and Leliana's was hardly likely to be something as massive as the secret Elissa herself was hiding. Maker damn it, Loghain. She glanced at her companions.
Alistair added, "Her plea seems wholehearted. And even though she seems a little…strange, she does have some skill." Elissa glanced at the blood stained floor currently being scrubbed by an elven servant.
Morrigan looked unimpressed. "You will do as you like, I imagine, regardless of what I say."
Elissa turned back to Leliana. They could always use another fighter. And Leliana moved with the same sort of feline grace that Eleanor Cousland had, suggesting that she was built for stealth and speed rather than the heavy hitting that both Alistair and Elissa were. With a sigh, she conceded. They already had a Witch of the Wilds, the bastard heir to the throne, and the last scion of the Couslands in this motley group, why not add a madwoman? "Very well. I will not turn away help when it is offered."
Morrigan snorted. "Perhaps your skull was cracked worse than Mother thought."
Leliana smiled brightly. "Thank you! I appreciate being given this chance. I will not let you down."
Elissa sighed. "Right. Morrigan, let's find that merchant of yours. Leliana, if you're travelling with us, do you need anything?"
"No. I have some things at the Chantry from my old life," Leliana answered. She hesitated. "Actually, if I am to be fighting darkspawn, a sword would be useful if one could be found. I have daggers and a bow, but no sword."
Elissa nodded briskly. "If you could fetch your belongings back here? When you return we'll see if we can find you a sword." They had picked up quite a few of decent quality in Ostagar and in the skirmishes since then. If not, perhaps she could trade one from the blacksmith they'd seen outside. "Oh, is there somewhere we can buy horses here? It would be faster than travelling on foot." They might be able to afford a couple, and Morrigan could…travel in another form if necessary.
Leliana shook her head. "The only horses are at the Bann's keep, and he's taken his men north."
"We could steal them?" Morrigan suggested.
"No." Elissa shot that idea down quickly. "No stealing. We'll just have to go on foot."
Morrigan harrumphed, her disapproval plain.
"I'll just go and get my things." As Leliana disappeared out the door, Elissa got up. She approached the tavern keeper behind the bar.
He eyed her suspiciously. "You're going to make more trouble? We've about all we can stand in Lothering now."
"I'm sorry about the mess…"
He waved it off. "They had it coming and they were trouble enough themselves. As long as you don't start more, I won't get excited. Right then. Name's Danal. Is there something I can get you?"
"I need some information, if you have time."
He inclined his head. "If you make it worth my while."
She sighed inwardly, but laid a silver on the bar bench. "Who were those men I fought exactly?
The coin disappeared. "When Teyrn Loghain marched by, he left those fellows behind to look for Grey Wardens. I suppose that's true?"
She pinned him with her gaze. "You'll keep that to yourself."
He raised his hands. "I have no quarrel with you, whatever the Teyrn says. My grandfather served with the Wardens. Your secret is safe with me."
"Have you heard any recent news?"
"Other than the darkspawn horde bearing down on us? Teyrn Loghain has been declared the new Regent, what with his daughter being the Queen. There are even rumours he'll be King." He sounded pleased.
Her blood thundered in her ears. Loghain was declaring himself king? Then this was a power grab. He had killed Cailan to gain access to the throne. Loghain, what have you done? She swallowed. "I-Is there anything else?"
"Some folks aren't happy with the Teyrn being appointed Regent. There are rumours he had something to do with the king's death." He laughed. "Isn't that the most ridiculous thing you ever heard? The darkspawn killed him, sure enough. If the Hero of River Dane couldn't save the king from that end, nobody could. Thank the Maker we didn't lose Teyrn Loghain at Ostagar. He pulled his men out just in time, so it's said. Without him, we'd be lost."
That was it then. Loghain had definitely withdrawn. It hadn't been someone else who gave that order. It had been Loghain. She couldn't afford to fall apart though, not here and not now. "Thank you."
He grinned at her. "No problem."
She returned to the table, her thoughts troubled, to wait for Leliana's return. Loghain, why?