Chapter Seven
It was discovered that the darkspawn had entered the keep through the basements, striking among the Wardens there before they could even be sensed. Now Neria, Anders and Nathaniel stood in the basement of one of the smaller buildings on the edge of the keep's grounds, hoping to find some clue as to where the missing Wardens had been taken.
Neria wasn't entirely comfortable having to rely on Nathaniel's guidance in the layout of Vigil's Keep. Even if he had been on his best behavior, she still didn't trust him. Instead of saying anything, she voiced none of her unease, keeping her staff at readiness.
Anders had her back, she knew. She had known him before in the tower, not closely, but enough that she knew his capabilities. He was a couple years older than her, but she had been in the tower longer than he had, as he had only arrived as a teenager. His almost constant chatter reminded her of Alistair's tendency to talk to fill the void.
Ahead they found an injured mabari, covered in blood and dying of the blight sickness. Carefully, Neria touched the beast's head, casting a small spell to remove the animal's pain. Then she pulled out her dagger and cut the dog's throat. The dog expired with a soft sigh and Neria felt wretched, thinking of her own beloved Muffin.
She found a note attached to the dog's collar.
"This is from a woman named Adria," she said. "She's taken refuge deeper inside, she says, and needs help."
"Adria? I know her. She was like a mother to me," said Nathaniel. "Please, we must help her."
Neria feared that what they would find wouldn't be good, but she nodded in agreement. They moved down the stairs to more subterranean rooms. It was eerily quiet in the large storage area below. She could smell grain and alcohol from broken wine bottles. She opened a few sacks in curiosity. There was no taint on the grain and it could be distributed to the people in the arling.
In a chest in the storage room she found a broken bow of beautiful blue-white wood and a quiver full of arrows.
"I know that," said Nathaniel. Neria handed it to him. "This was my grandfather's bow. Well, not just his, it was made for one of our ancestors to use during the Exalted Marches, but he was the last to use it. Father locked it away down here—he wouldn't let me near it. I remember I sneaked down here once and he was furious when he found me down here playing with it."
"Did you break it?" Anders asked.
Nathaniel laughed. "No, see this crest here? Only a Howe can activate the enchantment to restore it to use."
He ran his hands along the smooth wood, speaking the words of power. The wood bent under his touch, reshaping to the curvature of a beautifully made bow.
"It's beautiful," said Nathaniel, smiling pulling back the bowstring to test it. "Simple lines, good tension on the string and still supple after all these years—this is an excellent bow."
"Neat trick," said Anders.
"But where is Adria?" Nathaniel frowned, looking around.
Neria shook her head and then looked past him. Against the far wall was a crack missed from the other side where they had first entered the basement, large enough for a human sized person to enter.
Neria only had to bend a little to pass through, the men had to turn and duck lower. Nate followed her, with Anders bringing up the rear.
"There are advantages to being an elf, I'd imagine," quipped Anders brushing dust off his robes. "I was a little afraid I was going to get stuck in th—"
Neria put a hand on his mouth to silence him. Sounds ahead of them of tools hitting stone, the smell of rot and taint assailing them, the companions moved forward slowly.
"Thank you," whispered Nathaniel. "Maybe we can find a gag for him."
Anders glared at them both, but held his tongue.
Neria nodded and tried to be as quiet as she could, letting Nathaniel scout ahead. The rogue moved along the wall, picking his path carefully, mindful of any traps that may have been set for the unwary or curious. Neria followed him, trying to put her feet where he stepped. Anders followed her closely and for once he also seemed to understand the need for silence.
The high vaulted ceiling over them reminded her more of the Deep Roads than a naturally occurring structure. She wondered how extensive the dwarven roads were.
More than a dozen men were in the shaft ahead of them. Neria thought the material on the walls might be veridium, but she wasn't a miner and would have to take some samples to Herren and Wade for more definitive identification. It looked like veridium though, which would equip the keep with better armor and weapons.
The man closest to them turned a tainted, pockmarked face toward them and opened his mouth, issuing a hissing call that alerted the others in the tunnel, and they turned, running at the three Grey Wardens.
In moments, Nathaniel had dropped two with arrows sent from his bow. A third tackled Anders who went down under it, a lightning spell barely making it out of his fingers in time, charring the ghoul's skin and turning it black. Neria brought her hands together and pulled them back creating a spell of concussive force stunning the others, buying them a few moments of time. She followed that with an ice spell, freezing the one attacking Anders and finishing it off.
Anders pushed the ghoul off him and stood again, flames leaping from his fingertips, burning two of the ghouls near him as Neria's stun spell wore off and they rose to the attack again. Two more arrows from Nathaniel whistled through the air and embedded themselves in one of the ghouls. A blast of cold from Neria froze two of them trying to attack Anders and Nathaniel's arrows finished those off moments later, shattering them, bits of ghoul flying in several directions.
One of the ghouls barreled into Neria, hissing and clawing at her throat, slamming her to the ground. She brought up her hands to keep the creature from ripping out her throat but with her hands engaged she couldn't cast. She felt the creature's hands bearing down on her throat cutting off her air.
Anders was occupied with three of his own, unable to come to her aid, and Nathaniel just stood, staring at the ghoul attacking Neria with a horrified expression.
"Nathaniel! Kill it!" Anders yelled, focusing a lightning bolt at the three on him.
Neria's vision began to gray and knew she was going to pass out in another moment from lack of air as the creature's claws tightened on her throat, choking her. Then the pressure eased off, just before she completely lost consciousness. A weight dropped on her chest and she shoved it to one side, coughing and gasping for breath, trying to fill her burning lungs. An arrow had pierced the creature's throat and tainted blood washed over her, but she was free to move and breathe again.
"Don't talk." She heard Anders voice near her ear and felt his hands on her throat.
She heard him whispering, almost singing the words of the healing spell. Soothing healing magic poured into her, easing the pain and allowing her to breathe more easily. She looked at Nathaniel, her eyes begging mutely for an explanation and he turned away with a stricken expression, but not before she saw the gleam of tears in his eyes.
"She could have been killed!" Anders snapped. "Why did you hesitate?"
The single word of explanation was all Nathaniel offered up, but it was all he needed.
"Adria."
When they returned to the surface, Neria met with the banns of Amaranthine. With Amaranthine belonging to the Grey Wardens, as the Commander of the Grey she was an arlessa, essentially taking on Howe's position in the arling, and the ceremony of swearing fealty had to be held. She stood quietly nodding to each as they stepped up speaking the oath. First was Bann Esmerelle, one of the most influential. After her, they all stepped up one by one till the lengthy ceremony was done.
Neria mingled with a few, but found too many of them fit the idea she had of most of the nobility. Spoiled, self centered and grasping for whatever power they could get. A few seemed pretty decent, though, in particular the man who spoke up for the farmers in the region, asking for more troops, Lord Eddelbrek.
Anders was chattering away in a knot of pretty ladies, showing off the kitten he had rescued earlier that day and given the silly moniker of "Ser Pounce-A-Lot" and for which Howe teased him mercilessly. Neria neglected to tell Nathaniel about the name he had given the tower's mouser, "Ser Wiggums," She didn't want to fuel their rivalry any more than she had to. She liked Anders—he was much more social and comfortable around people than the essentially shy Neria was. He filled their time together with a lot more cheer and chat than the normally laconic Nathaniel and quiet Neria did.
Neither did Nathaniel seem to be fond of attention. After the first couple of people tried to talk with him, glad to see one of the Howe children present, he stepped out of the hall. Neria was trying to decide if she should follow him or give him some space. Since earlier that morning when he had been forced to kill the woman he had seen as a mother, she worried about him.
She decided to follow him and was on her way out the door when a young woman stopped her. She pulled her to one side, looking around carefully to ensure they were not overheard. Neria recalled her introducing herself as Ser Tamra.
"Commander, I have to tell you your life is in danger," she said.
"What else is new?" Neria sighed. It seemed everyone was out to end her life lately.
"Is this about Howe or something else?"
"Howe wants to kill you?"
"No, never mind, a poor jest, sorry. What's going on?"
"I've intercepted some missives from several of the banns here in Amaranthine with others outside the arling. Alone, none of them are especially damning, but together they form an alarming pattern. There's a conspiracy to remove the Grey Wardens from Amaranthine, and most specifically to kill you."
"That's a pretty serious charge. Did you bring them with you?"
"I wasn't sure what was safe. I stand to lose much here and gain little, Commander, but I will gather what I have when I get home, and bring it to you."
"Thank you, Ser Tamra. If you'll excuse me?"
She went to Varel and spoke with him about what she had learned. Varel dismissed the nobles and cleared the hall so they could speak privately.
"Some of these banns had no love for Howe, but some found their prospects dried up with his demise," said Varel. "I'm surprised it's taken this long. Ser Tamra is a clever woman and honorable. If she says there's a conspiracy I wouldn't discount it, Commander."
"What would you suggest I do?"
"Well, there is a man I might be able to contact for you who can root out the conspirators. He won't be cheap, but he is effective."
"Then do it. I'll make the funds available to Mistress Woolsey. This business is happening all over Ferelden, but it would seem it is mine to deal with here in Amaranthine."
"I'll see what I can do, Commander."
"Tomorrow, I'm going in search of Kristoff. Maybe he can provide some answers to what's going on here."
"His last confirmed whereabouts was an inn in Amaranthine, where he kept a room. He was a bit more of a loner than the other Wardens. I guess that's a turn of good luck for us that he was."
Neria nodded and left the hall. Leaning against the wall, she touched the little pendant around her throat, praying that Teagan was safer in Denerim than she was here.
She didn't have far to go to find Nathaniel. He was standing alone on a battlement overlooking the green countryside. She climbed the steps and came to stand beside him.
For a long time she just stood there and finally he scowled at her.
"If you want an explanation, I'm not going to offer one," he said.
She shrugged. "I just came for the view and the night air."
Again a few minutes of silence, then he spoke. "I'm sorry. I froze and you got hurt."
She looked at him and saw him staring at the marks on her throat, a pained look in his eyes. Anders spell had healed most of damage, but it was still tender when she spoke and she shook her head.
"It's a normal reaction. I don't blame you. I tend to get a little overconfident in fights and lose track of what's around me," she said.
"I noticed that. You dropped your guard trying to help Anders. One of these days that distraction is going to get you killed."
"Sorry to disappoint you. I know you hate me, Nathaniel, and I don't blame you, but I would like to be your friend. If you ever wanted to talk about something bothering you…."
"Not right now, and I don't hate you, not anymore. I'm just not ready to talk about it."
She nodded and stood quietly beside him, just offering silent companionship.