Well, I made the idiotic mistake of calling the Couslands royalty in my summary. Thanks to the reviewer who pointed that out! See? I'm not very observant. =P
Here is the second and final chapter of my first fanfic.
Disclaimer: I still do not own Dragon Age in any way.
Alistair stood behind the door, trying his best not to make a sound. All of her family had been slain? He remembered about all the moping he had done, right after the battle at Ostagar, about Duncan's death. There had been a despair in Cassandra at the camp for weeks, but he'd never thought to ask if there was something wrong or if she wanted to talk about something. All he did was wallow in his own sadness. Some friend he was.
Cassandra stood up, about to leave the room most likely. It quickly registered that she would see him if he didn't move now.
"Wait," Connor said. "I don't understand something. Why was your family killed? There has to be a reason."
Yet Alistair wanted to know that answer also. He didn't budge from his spot.
"Power," she answered simply. "My father was... the teryn of Highever."
Oh Maker.
She was the last of the Couslands? Rumors had been floating around about the massacre at Highever Castle in almost every town they came across on their quest. The only information given as to why this occurred was because the Cousland were proven to be traitors, and that was that. He doubted that the Couslands were traitors, because of all the stories he'd heard about them. He found himself wishing that he had payed attention to the rumors nonetheless. What was the reason they were said to be traitors?
Alistair broke free from his thoughts quickly. Cassandra was heading towards the door! He turned on his heel and darted down the staircase. That was a time he hadn't wished to be so clumsy. He tripped over a corpse of the one of the corpses in the hall. The clang of his heavy armor against their own armor sent a loud clang that the whole castle must have heard. Great. Really.
"Alistair!" Cassandra screamed. "What are you doing here?"
She stood over him, eyes narrowed and filled with rage. Turning around, and still on the ground, he looked up at her nervously. Sometimes this woman scared him, and now was one of these times. Her arms crossed over her chest, waiting for an answer.
"I-I... uh, this isn't what it looks like," he attempted.
"Like I'll believe that," she spat. "I heard your boots hitting the ground from behind the door just moments ago. Explain, now."
He couldn't worm his way out of this one nor lie to her about it. He dared to stand up.
"Look, can we talk about this somewhere else? These... undead things could rise again at any moment, and they're starting to give me the evil eye." He paused and kicked the nearest one in the head in disgust, making it fall apart from the rest of the body. Looking back at her, he hurried on, "I think I can only take one evil eye at a time."
They stopped at the windmill just outside of the castle. He'd been leading her as far as he could, but found that he couldn't delay the conversation for that long. There was only so far he was allowed to walk. The two stood face to face at an arms length apart.
"First off, why were you following me?" Realization dawned on her. "D-did you think I would go back on my word and kill Connor?"
That was only half true. Perhaps he didn't know his fellow warden as well as he thought. The other half was because he knew about how terrible demons could be in battle, and wanted to be there to protect her if it were to take form and attack her.
"That's... not completely true," he replied.
She couldn't look at him right now, turning around to face away from him. "How much did you hear of our conversation?"
"All of it."
An uncomfortable silence lingered in the air. Thoughts thumbed through his head about trying to make a joke to lighten the mood, but something told him not to.
"How could you hide this from us for so long?" Alistair inquired. "It's been months since the battle at Ostagar... don't you trust us enough to tell us about your past?"
"Don't turn this around on me like I'm the bad guy," she hissed, turning around to face him. "I wasn't ready to let anyone know- which I'm sure you heard me tell Connor while you were snooping around- and was planning on telling you all later. Why don't you answer this question... why did you keep your birthright a secret from all of us?"
The corner of his mouth twitched. "You never asked?"
"I'm hurt that you didn't trust me," she spat. The venom never left her voice.
Oh, she was evil, turning this on him. He sighed, and began to explain, "Please don't think that. Of course I trust you. The thing is-"
"Obviously you don't trust me if you thought I would go back on my word and kill a child," she interrupted.
"-It's just that I'm used to not telling people who didn't already know. It was always a secret- even Duncan was the only Gray Warden who knew. And then after the battle, when I should have told you... I don't know. It seemed like it was too late by then. How do you just tell someone that?"
"It's come up Alistair. You've been avoiding it."
"Yes, well, I could say the same for you too. That's all I have to explain, I suppose." He stepped forward and rested both of his hands on her shoulder to keep her from moving. "Look, you know you can talk to me about your past if you want to. You were there for me to get help get through Duncan's death, and listened to my constant babble about my childhood. I want to help you, if I can."
Her eyes avoided his, her anger faded, and a frown etched onto her face. She had to let it all off of her chest. It killed her to not talk about it.
"I thought it was going to be a normal day," she murmured, "and that nothing bad would happen. My father and brother Fergus were suppose to head off to the coming war at Ostagar along with Arl Howe. Howe said his men were delayed because of bad weather, and that they would arrive at Ostagar later than expected. Father told me to pass on the message that Fergus should leave without him with the soldiers of Highever. And then Duncan walked in, as a guest to our castle.
"All he told me was that he was going to test Ser Gilmore, the captain of the guard and my dear friend, out for Grey Warden recruitment. I hurried off soon after to bid my brother farewell and tell him the message, right after retrieving Bear from raiding the larder."
"I knew that dog was no good," Alistair muttered.
"Fergus left an hour later, and I retired to go to bed earlier than usual. In the middle of the night, I heard Bear barking and growling at the door. Something had to be wrong, so I slipped on my armor and hardly grabbed my weapon when the door broke down. 'My lady, the castle is under attack!' I heard, and then one of the Highever civilians fell down onto the floor dead.
"We killed the men outside the door quickly. The crests they wore... they were Howe's soldiers! He attacked us while our castle defenses were gone. Mother ran out from her bedroom then, already dressed in her own armor and her bow. Father wasn't with her, and we thought the worst. We fought our way through to my sister-in-law's room first... and... they were dead."
Tears streamed down her face now, but she kept her voice as steady as she could and went on. "I couldn't believe it. And then I realized that Howe wanted to overtake our castle for power. We fought through only part of the enemies to find Father. He was in the larder near the secret exit... hardly alive in a pool of his own blood. Duncan had saved him and brought him there, but there was almost no use in it.
"When Duncan walked in, Father begged him to take Mother and I to safety. But Duncan had one condition... that he wanted for me to become a Grey Warden. I refused constantly, and he invoked the Right of Conscription on me! Mother then told everyone that she would stay with Father until the end, and kill every soldier who walked through the door to buy us time. Before I knew it, Duncan dragged me out through the tunnel."
Cassandra squirmed out of Alistair grip and clung onto him sobbing madly. Alistair wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer.
"I... wish I had stayed to d-defend them," she cried. "I... should have d-died with t-them..."
In a way, he was relieved that she was here and had survived. He couldn't imagine having to get this far without her.
"You weren't meant to die," he said softly. "What about your brother? He could still be alive for all you know."
"I can't l-look for him n-now. N-not with the blight to d-deal with. I'll... have to w-wait until we finish... if we make it... to look for him."
Alistair rested his cheek on the top of her head. "If we do make it through this... you have my promise that I will do all I can to help you find him."
Thank you, Alistair, she thought. And she continued to sob.
It had been weeks since Cassandra's break down, and within that time she announced to everyone about her past. She thought she owed them that, for she had asked many questions about their own. They hadn't taken it badly, and treated her the same thanks to her request. That night the group was in camp, just a day away from Redcliffe. Their goal to give the sacred ashes to the arl in hopes of healing him.
Alistair and Cassandra were on first watch that night, sitting side by side against the large trunk of a tree. Cassandra was the first one to break the silence.
"Alistair?"
"Yeees?"
"I just wanted to thank you for... well, listening to my past, a few weeks ago. I really needed to tell somebody about it, whether I wanted to or not... and you were there for me. Even after the way I blew up at you. You're a true friend."
He smiled, glad he was the first one to hear it in their group. Glad that he had been there to help her through it, even if all he did was provide a listening ear.
Suddenly she grabbed his hand, and pressed something cool into his palm. He brought it closer to his face to study it in the dark. An amulet. The faded symbol of Andraste was imprinted on it, and many nicks and scratches were on the surface. No, it couldn't be...
"This is my mother's amulet."
I feel as if this one is a little... rushed? I'm not sure if Cassandra explaining what happened was very well written anyway.
Thanks to everyone who read this. =)
