Chapter Four
Hello everyone! I hope you are enjoying this fic. I'm having a lot of fun writing it!
Basically, I want to write more original dialogue and less in-game dialogue. I also want to change the things I didn't particularly like that happened in the game, and add to scenes I thought were dull or uninspiring. I apologize if the beginning of this chapter seems a bit lackluster, but I must fill in the gaps to continue the story, as this is part of the main quest.
I want to thank my dear friend, Lady Darksbane, for doing all the editing and her words of encouragement and support! YOU ROCK, darling! :D
Thanks for reading! And please feel free to comment! Feedback is always welcome! :D
…
Val Royeaux was as spectacular as always. Beatrix wished she were somewhere else, truth be told. She had a crick in her neck from sleeping in a bad position the night before and wanted a bath. So when they arrived to speak to the mothers, she held her head up high – because of the pain – and only looked straight ahead.
She looked haughtier than usual.
They were looked upon with disdain or fear from the moment they arrived, and one of Leliana's spies gave them the heads up that the mothers were waiting for them – along with a large group of templars. Beatrix had to turn around completely – carefully avoiding further damage to her neck – to face Cassandra.
"Does this sound like 'amicable' to you?"
Cassandra pursed her lips and shook her head silently. Then she instructed Leliana's scout to leave and inform the others back in Haven what was happening. Just in case they didn't return.
"Full of optimism this morning, aren't we?" Beatrix chuckled. Cassandra did not reply, only led the team straight to a raised wooden dais in the center of the market square.
One of the mothers instantly started speaking, her clear voice easily carrying over to the other end. She accused Beatrix of killing the Divine and Beatrix countered her argument, pleading for them to join in order to help destroy the Breach.
At that moment, the templars showed up, and promptly hit the cleric on the head. She fell to the ground with a scream and Beatrix snarled at the templar who hit her. The Lord Seeker was among the templars and Cassandra called out to him. She tried speaking to him, but he refused to speak to her, and denounced the Inquisition, then led the group of templars away.
Beatrix was angrier than she had been in her entire life. Her family supported the order after all and even her brother was a templar!
"What the fuck was all that about? 'Amicable' my ass!" She practically yelled. Clenching her fists, she turned away from the dais and the mother lying on it.
"Has the Lord Seeker gone mad?" Cassandra wondered out loud.
"How well do you know him?" Beatrix asked curiously.
"He was made Lord Seeker two years ago when the circles rebelled and the previous Lord Seeker was killed. I thought he was a good man!"
"I suppose we'll have to ask the rebel mages for help to close the Breach, then, and not the templars?" Solas asked.
"We'll see," Beatrix said, rubbing her neck. "This whole trip was such a waste of t– "
At that moment, an arrow landed right in front of Beatrix, who stopped in her tracks. There was a piece of parchment with the arrow, and Cassandra took it and read it out loud to Beatrix. It contained badly written instructions – and curious drawings – on how to find someone who meant the Inquisition harm.
At the same time, a mage walked up to Beatrix and handed her an invitation for a soiree from Madame Vivienne, First Enchanter of the Circle.
Beatrix's smile lit up her face.
"About time things got interesting!"
…
By the time they made their way to the gates of Val Royeaux, it was late; the dark night throwing everything into shadow. With them they now had two more who had joined the Inquisition: Sera, a hilarious elf with a potty-mouth, which made everything funnier – according to Beatrix – and Madame Vivienne, also known as Madame De Fer, who had connections with the Orlesian nobles. She also was an incredibly talented mage.
At the gates proper they were stopped by a figure in the shadows, who stepped into the light of a lantern which was shining brightly high above their heads.
"Grand Enchanter Fiona!" Beatrix exclaimed, looking confused. "What are you doing here?"
"You're the leader of the mage rebellion," Solas commented, a puzzled look on his face. "Weren't you offered refuge in Redcliffe?"
"You shouldn't be here," Seeker Cassandra said, her eyes narrowing slightly.
"And my name is Varric! Pleased to meet you!" Varric grinned.
Sera broke into a nervous laugh and Vivienne said nothing, but visibly started, then straightened herself, looking dignified and angry at the same time.
"You are the Herald of Andraste?" Fiona asked Beatrix. "Last time we spoke, we met at the Grand Cathedral, no? Was that three years ago?"
"It was before all the business with the circles at the White Spire, certainly. I was travelling around Orlais at the time," Beatrix nodded with a smile. "What brings you here?"
"I saw what happened with the templars earlier and heard you needed help to close the Breach," Fiona said softly, her green eyes on Beatrix.
"We do," Beatrix replied. "Does this mean the rebel mages would help us?"
"We're willing to speak to the Inquisition, at least," Fiona responded. "Unlike the templars who turned away and left."
Vivienne snorted. Everyone turned to look at her, but she ignored them, fixing her ice-blue eyes on Fiona.
"Really, my dear?" she said in a sing-song voice, dripping with sarcasm. "If only you had chosen to speak instead of asking everyone to vote for freedom during the last meeting at the Spire, and the previous meeting in Cumberland as well."
"First Enchanter Vivienne," Fiona said, her eyes narrowing. "I won't turn this into a discussion now. It benefits no one."
"Once again, may I point out that these are words you did not use in the past, my dear?"
"Enough!" Beatrix cut in. She was tired, needed a bath and her neck was hurting really badly. "Have any of you ever fought with a crick in your neck? No? Well, I did! And I don't like pain! So this discussion between you two is over!"
Vivienne said nothing to this, but folded her arms and did not take her eyes off Fiona. Fiona, on the other hand, turned back to look at Beatrix.
"Come to Redcliffe, my Lady Herald," she said graciously. "The Breach is the only thing that matters now."
She left them standing there, walking away quietly.
"Let's start the journey back to Haven," Cassandra said. "We need to tell them what happened."
"Oh, joy! A bedroll and a quick, freezing dip in a pond or brook await!" Beatrix exclaimed, earning smiles and chuckles from her companions.
"I can heat the water if you wish," Solas said, a small smile on his face.
"Why didn't you tell me this when we were travelling over here?" Beatrix demanded with a pout.
"Because you didn't mention it?"
"There's a wise answer, Chuckles," Varric commented with a grin.
"Chuckles?" Cassandra asked Varric.
"If you have to ask, Seeker, then you wouldn't get it even if I told you."
…
It was snowing hard in Haven when they arrived. The recruits were not training at their usual place and everyone seemed to be indoors. Cassandra and Beatrix stepped into the Chantry out of the cold. They didn't expect to be met by Leliana and Cullen, but they were there.
"It's a shame about the templars," Cullen said immediately, his eyes on Beatrix.
"Indeed," Leliana replied. "I have reports from my scouts letting me know they were marching to the north of Ferelden."
"There is a Seeker stronghold in that direction," Cassandra said quietly. "Therinfal Redoubt. I'm surprised you both know what happened in Val Royeaux already."
Leliana smiled. "My scouts supplied me with the complete story."
The four of them entered the meeting room, immediately circling around the table with the map. Cullen was the first to speak.
"I'm sure not all the templars agree with the Lord Seeker. We must go to Therinfal and try to reason with them."
"The Lord Seeker made it clear that he did not want to speak to the Inquisition. We are going to need help with this. Perhaps if we contacted some of the nobles in Southern Thedas, and traveled with them to the Fortress? Maybe their presence would convince the Lord Seeker and the templars into helping us with the Breach?" Josephine said hopefully, her quill poised over the clipboard she always carried around to take notes.
"How long would it take to convince these nobles?" Beatrix asked.
"Well, there are missives to send, parties to attend – it won't be very soon, I'm afraid," Josephine replied scribbling something down.
"Then we'll go to Redcliffe in the meantime, to talk to Fiona at least," Beatrix said thoughtfully. "First thing tomorrow morning."
"That's a good idea," Cassandra said. "I'll alert Varric and Solas."
"I'll head over to the bathing room. A nice, hot bath is in order," Beatrix smiled, her eyes meeting Cullen's with no anger for the first time since all the madness started.
Cullen's eyes shone brightly and warmly as he smiled back – a lopsided smile that nearly took her breath away. Beatrix felt something fluttering in her stomach. Turning abruptly, she quickly left the room, certain that everyone could hear her heart pounding – and completely missing Leliana's giggle.
This was not good.
She was falling for him hard and try as she might, she had a sneaking suspicion that it was too late to stop.
…
Before they could even leave for Redcliffe the following morning, Beatrix ran into a soldier that was standing outside the Chantry. He said his name was Cremisius Aclassi, member of a mercenary company called 'The Bull's Chargers'. They wanted to join the Inquisition and he had been sent to speak to anyone who'd care to listen. He also mentioned that they were on the Storm Coast, which came in handy because the Inquisition had dispatched soldiers to the Storm Coast a while back and they had not returned.
"What is your name, soldier and who is your leader or chief? Why didn't he come instead?"
"Cremisius Aclassi," he replied quickly. "Our leader is The Iron Bull. He didn't want to cause a stir. He's a Qunari. You know, one of the horned giants…? You should come to the Storm Coast to speak to him."
"Ah, I see," Beatrix smiled. "I'll be there as soon as I can."
The soldier smiled and bowed, taking his leave and Beatrix headed towards Harritt, the blacksmith, where she knew Cassandra, Solas and Varric would be waiting.
On her way outside, she sneaked a peek at Cullen, who was looking directly at her. Feeling a blush start up her cheeks, she turned her head and focused on reaching her team without falling flat on her face, or slipping on the snow, or any other awkward situation that would make her look bad.
"Change of plans!" she called out cheerfully to them as they turned to face her. "We're going to the Storm Coast before we speak to the mages in Redcliffe."
"To find out what became of the missing soldiers?" Cassandra asked curiously.
"That too!" Beatrix grinned. "We have to meet with someone first. Then we find the missing soldiers and rescue them, and after all that, we head to Redcliffe to speak to Fiona."
"It'll be a busy month at the very least, then," Varric added with a sigh.
"Let's saddle up and get on with it," Cassandra commented. "It is fortunate we have good horses to make the journey faster."
…
The Storm Coast was wet, the rain coming down hard at times. Also, there were no villages or houses around; it was all wilderness. Scout Lace Harding, who had already arrived to assess the area, met them on the road and took them to their forward camp. She let Beatrix know that the missing soldiers hadn't been found yet. She also said that there were a group of people who lived here and attacked them on sight. She assumed they could be bandits, plundering the shipwrecks to keep alive.
Beatrix thanked Harding for the information and set off to the sandy coast first of all, stopping from time to time to gather some useful elfroot. As she approached the beach, she heard fighting and noticed Cremisius a short distance away, fighting for his life. She also spotted a very tall and muscled greyish horned figure who was fighting near Cremisius.
Without a prior warning to her companions, she slipped into stealth, appearing only moments after to attack the closest enemy that was fighting Cremisius. Her team then ran up to assist, joining the fray.
They dealt with the archers first, then focused on the two mages. Varric's crossbow outshone itself in this battle. It alone killed seven men, and wounded a few more. The whole fight was very short and both the Qunari – whom Beatrix suspected to be the Iron Bull – and his group, seemed to be mostly unharmed when it was over.
Beatrix walked over to the Iron Bull, noticing a patch covering his left eye. His horns were huge, but that didn't surprise her. What surprised her were his muscles. Then again, she had never seen a Qunari up close before, so she had a good reason to be surprised. He was shouting orders to his company, and smiled at her as she approached.
"Iron Bull, I presume?"
"Did the horns give me away?" he replied with a laugh. "Come on, let's sit on that rock and have a chat."
The rock was wet, and probably very cold. Beatrix decided to stand instead.
Cremisius approached them first to report to the Qunari what the Chargers had looted off their attackers, as well as details on their present condition.
"I suppose you met Krem, my Lieutenant?" the Iron Bull rumbled.
"Nice to see you again," Krem saluted.
Beatrix barely had time to say hello to Krem, who promptly turned and left them alone. She found herself staring into the grey eyes of the Iron Bull. Well, one eye, to be honest.
"So, you're with the Inquisition, huh? We want to join you. You're the one they call the 'Herald of Andraste, right?"
"That's right," Beatrix frowned. "but not because I fucking want them to."
Bull threw back his head and laughed – a throaty laugh that boomed throughout the area. After a few moments he stopped laughing and continued talking. And Beatrix listened.
"Look, you've seen us fight. We're good – and very expensive."
"Oh, really? Just how much will this cost me?" Her frown deepened
"Wouldn't cost you anything, unless you want to buy us drinks," Bull chuckled. "I'll set everything up with your Ambassador – her name is Josephine, right?"
"Why do you want to join us so badly?" Beatrix asked curiously.
"You know it's a mess out there. We just want the world like it was before. People who aren't supposed to be dying are dying. And you wouldn't be getting just my boys. You'll get me. I can be your bodyguard. Demons? Giants? Dragons? I'll fight anything. The bigger the better."
"I think the Inquisition would benefit immensely with a mercenary group like the Chargers in their ranks," Beatrix grinned.
"There's something else. Maybe you'll be pissed off when you hear it, but it's better you hear it from me first. What do you know about the Ben-Hassrath?" Bull had gotten up and was looking down into her eyes, his expression serious.
"They're Qunari spies, right?" she asked.
"I'm one of them. I'm going to write reports and send them off, and in return I'd be getting information for the Inquisition when they write back."
Beatrix's eyes narrowed slightly. "And just what information would you write in your reports, hmm?"
"Everything connected to the Breach and the people who are possibly behind it all: the Vints." He practically spat out the word and his expression darkened for a moment.
"What are Vints?" Beatrix shot back at him.
"Bad people from Tevinter who need to be silenced permanently. The people we were fighting when you arrived? They were Vints," the Bull replied. After a pause he said, "Look, I won't be sending off any information that could compromise the Inquisition. I'll just write them stuff to ease their minds – keep them off your back."
Beatrix fell silent. He had just told her he was a Qunari spy. Did she mind? Nope. He was a killing machine, and they needed all the help they could get. Besides, he'd been honest with her. She could tell when someone was lying, and the Bull most certainly wasn't. Not at the moment anyway.
"All right," Beatrix extended her hand. "You're in."
Bull shook her hand and grinned, his eye sparkling with delight. Turning to Krem and his team, he told them they were hired and they would be heading to Haven.
"You're not heading to Haven," Beatrix smiled up at him. "I need a bodyguard remember?"
"Sure, Boss," the Bull grinned back at her. "Whatever you need."
…
They soon discovered the soldiers had been killed by a group that called itself the Blades of Hessarian. Cassandra was angry when Beatrix mentioned the name and explained that anything even remotely dedicated to Andraste would not kill a group that came to explore the area.
"Boss," the Iron Bull said. "It seems they have a camp further in. Also, you can face their leader in a duel, but it says you have to make a necklace and wear it to challenge him."
"What kind of necklace exactly?" Beatrix asked, opening a locked chest in the corner of the room.
"Says you have to make it out of serpentstone and deepstalker hide."
"And look what I just found in this chest," Beatrix chuckled. "Deepstalker hide! We'll go back to the forward camp. There's a person there at the requisition table who could make the necklace for us. Let's go find the serpentstone first," Beatrix smiled.
Sure enough they found the serpentstone easily, and had the simple necklace made almost immediately back at the forward camp. After that, it was all a matter of getting to the Hessarian's camp and challenging their leader. Once that was done, there was a battle against the leader and his two mabaris, but Solas and Varric made short work of the dogs, while the Bull, Cassandra and Beatrix downed the leader.
The remaining group was leaderless and immediately bowed to Beatrix fervently. She was the Herald of Andraste, and, according to them, they would honor and serve her. An embarrassed Beatrix left their camp with her team a few hours later, after sharing a meal they prepared in her honor.
"I wish the people didn't think of me as a holy symbol. It's quite embarrassing," Beatrix complained with a scowl.
"Well, lucky for you Redcliffe is next and that's a whole village," Varric chuckled.
"Ugh," was all Beatrix had to say.
"Are you taking lessons from the Seeker? Or just out of words, Buttercup?"
"Shut up, dwarf," Cassandra promptly addressed him, her voice strained.
Varric shut up. He knew the tone she was using and wished to keep all his limbs.
…
They spent a few more weeks at the Storm Coast, due to sudden attacks by darkspawn, of all things. They fought and washed up after every fight, as they knew they were in danger of succumbing to the Blight.
Once everything had been dealt with and a few more camps had been set up around the area, they left for Redcliffe. It took them two more weeks to get to the Hinterlands, and truth be told, the entire team was tired from the journey. They rested at the Crossroads, and set out again the following morning.
Before the team had a chance to even reach the Redcliffe gates, they stumbled across a rift right in front of them. Battling demons popping from the rift was something that normally did not faze them, but in this case they discovered that in certain areas, time would either slow down or speed up – which was downright scary.
Once the rift had been closed, Beatrix turned to her team, her mouth open in surprise as she faced them. Bull, Varric and Cassandra were staring back at her. Bull clearly didn't like demons. He had broken into a sweat, and his eye looked around fearfully, as if he was expecting a demon to pop up at any time. Solas was completely calm, but had a puzzled expression on his face.
"What the fuck was that?" Beatrix asked no one in particular.
"It seems that time was altered in certain places," Solas offered, clearly still puzzled. "I didn't think that could be possible…"
"Now that's useful," Varric muttered under his breath, but still loud enough for everyone else to hear him.
"We'll just have to ask Grand Enchanter Fiona about it," Cassandra said , her voice dripping with sarcasm. "I'm sure she knows, but conveniently forgot to inform us in Val Royeaux."
"Leave the sarcasm to me, Seeker. You're killing it," Varric commented with a grin, taking a step back when she fixed an angry glare at him.
"Great. Just great. Not only do we have to fight demons, but we have to be careful not to walk into places where time is slower," the Bull sighed. Then he brightened. "I did like it when time sped up. Do you guys think that we'll get any more of those?"
Nobody had a reply to this, and at that moment a scout ran up to them from the village.
"Your Worship," the scout called out, bowing his head and falling on one knee in front of Beatrix, who rolled her eyes to the heavens.
"Please, stand," she said quickly through clenched teeth, trying to keep her short temper under control.
The scout promptly stood to speak. "You should know that we passed word around the Inquisition was coming. Nobody was expecting you to arrive."
"What?!" Cassandra interjected, standing right next to Beatrix.
"Not even Grand Enchanter Fiona?" Beatrix asked incredulously.
"No, Your Worship, especially not her," the Scout confirmed as the group stood there quietly, trying to make sense of the whole thing. "She is waiting for you at the tavern though."
"Well," Cassandra said, interrupting the silence. "Only one thing to do then." And the Seeker walked off, past the village gates and towards the tavern, Beatrix and the rest following closely behind.
…