The headache just wouldn't let up. Elissa leaned forward and rubbed her temples, trying to ease the pain between her eyes that was pounding away merrily at her skull. I need a nap. Or a drink. Or a nap and then a drink. She looked at Nathaniel, then at Alistair. Both men were watching her intently, waiting for her to speak.
It had been a busy morning following a sleepless night. Some of Fergus' men had found help in the form of a royal procession, Alistair and Alfstanna at its head. Apparently the pair were on their way to Orzammar as well, having been invited to the same ceremony that the Wardens were planning to attend. Eventually. As soon as they got this mess sorted out.
Alistair's healer was making the rounds, tending the injured, and his men were handling guard duty over both Eleanor and the Crow prisoner. Since they were free, Elissa chose this time to meet with the other Wardens, Zevran, Alistair and his betrothed, and a senior guardsmen of the Highever forces. The templar who had helped Elissa the night before, Ser Bryant, promised to be there shortly so that they could begin. I can't believe Ser Bryant survived Lothering, although I'm glad he did. He's one of the few templars I've met who doesn't have his head stuck up Andraste's ass.
The miniature dwarves inside her head were still mining away, working harder than ever. She thought she could make out a droned chant between the hammer swings, keeping the pulses even. Of course, this made each pulse stronger than ever, which was so helpful. She had trouble thinking about anything, let alone that their king, who just happened to be her ex-lover, was sitting by a fire while his fiancee looked on, totally oblivious to the fact that her current lover was not five feet away and was watching her. Her headache increased in intensity.
Anders' face filled her vision. He put his hands on her face, the fingertips touching her temples, and chanted under his breath. She closed her eyes and waited for the headache to recede, which it did, but only a little. Then, she felt familiar hands on her shoulders, working out some of the knots. She started to sigh with relief as the cacophony in her head eased, then moaned a little (Oops, was that out loud?) as Nathaniel found a particularly nasty knot at the base of her skull and loosened it. She wasn't sure, but when she opened her eyes she thought that Anders looked affronted.
"Sorry, Anders," she said, feeling suddenly giddy with the cessation of pain. "We all know that you can make the earth move, but Nathaniel's got very good hands." Anders blinked and the wonderful sensation at her neck stopped for a moment. Then she heard Nathaniel chuckle quietly behind her and Anders grinned as he got up and bowed.
She heard Alistair's voice from across the campfire, "I did not just hear that. She didn't say that, did she?" Anders moved back to his seat and she risked a peek over at Alistair. He was blushing, of course, and Alfstanna looked like she couldn't decide if she was scandalized or amused. Oghren was laughing and Erlina and Zevran just grinned. The Highever soldier didn't know what to make of all and so shifted uncomfortably, choosing to remain silent.
Ser Bryant joined the group and Elissa made introductions. Alistair waved off the 'Your Majesties' and informed them all to please just call him Alistair, and then turned his attention to Elissa. Nathaniel abandoned the shoulder massage, much to Elissa's dismay, and took a place next to Elissa as she started.
"We have a problem. A political problem. I've already filled you all in on the basics of yesterday's battle, those of you who weren't here for it. Out of our survivors, two in particular are worth special note. One is an apostate mage-turned-mercenary, and the other a Crow." Zevran nodded to enforce her point. "I'll start with the mage.
"She was hired to infiltrate the Wardens, to get close to us. Or at least that's what she says. Her mission was to draw the attention of the templars and have them chase her to us, the assumption being that we would conscript her to save her from Chantry justice." Anders shook his head, but she continued. "She was supposed to follow us around and report back to her contact on our whereabouts and activities after gaining our trust. But," Elissa sighed, "now she's saying that she really does want to join us, because we didn't kill her outright and showed mercy."
Ser Bryant spoke up. "She is an apostate, my lady. We have very specific rules on how to deal with them."
Elissa nodded. "I know, Ser Bryant, but there is something you may not be aware of. I had Anders check her, and she's with child. I presume you normally kill apostates if they're not from the Circle?" Byrant nodded grimly. "Right. I'm not willing to knowingly kill an innocent if I don't have to. Plus, if she dies, we lose this chance to learn who ultimately hired her for this job." She silenced the protests that were starting by raising a hand. "I don't know if we should trust her, but I would like to get to whoever is trying to learn about our movements. I'm sure it will be important for us.
"The other person is the Crow we captured. Zevran interrogated him. Zev, if you will?" Zevran nodded and started to speak.
"The prisoner that our lovely Commander and I captured is, indeed, a Crow. He was selected to … be expendable in the battle." Zevran frowned. "He said that he and the group of Crows camped outside of Denerim to learn of their job from their contact, who came to their camp during the night. The instructions were to fight with Bann Loren's men against Highever forces. They were to wipe out Teyrn Cousland's men and assume their identities long enough to enter the castle in Highever and assassinate the Teyrn."
"What?" Alistair was flabbergasted. "Who would do this? To Fergus, of all people? And why?"
Zevran inclined his head to Alistair. "I was just coming to that part. Our prisoner described the man who came to see them. Apparently, the man who hired them was also their contact. He was medium height, with red hair and a moustache and goatee. He was rather round around his middle and arrogant in behavior. He said," and here Zevran paused, his eyes glancing in Nathaniel's direction, "that his name was Nathaniel Howe."
"WHAT?" Nathaniel leaned forward, a look of total dismay on his face. "I would never -"
"Of course you wouldn't." Elissa put her hand on Nathaniel's arm to calm him. "Besides, the man looked nothing like you."
Nathaniel calmed a bit, then put his head in his hands. "If this plan had succeeded, it would have ended in my hanging."
"But it didn't," Elissa reassured him. "And now we know that someone is out there trying to destroy you. But who?"
Everyone fell silent for a moment, then Alistair's eyes widened. "Vaughan," he breathed.
"The Arl of Denerim?" Alfstanna looked at her betrothed, aghast. "Are you sure?"
Elissa sat back, shocked. But then she thought about it. "Of course," she murmured. "It makes perfect sense. Vaughan had good reason to hate Rendon – Rendon had him locked up, and probably tortured, for who knows how long. And Vaughan has reason to hate the Grey Wardens, particularly me." She had to smirk a little as Alistair unexpectedly broke into a laugh. Zevran and Oghren smiled.
The rest of them gaped at Elissa. "This isn't funny," Nathaniel grumbled at Elissa.
"Well, it sort of is. We'd discovered Vaughan trapped in the dungeons of his own estate after …" Elissa hesitated, not wanting to continue the train of thought, "We found out he had kidnapped and raped an elven woman on her wedding day." Alfstanna gasped and covered her mouth. "So when he tried to bribe me with hush money and let him go, I took the money … and left him locked up." Erlina looked at her with respect in her eyes and Anders laughed.
"I wouldn't normally approve of such a thing, but it seemed fitting at the time. What did you do with the money, anyway?" Alistair asked.
"I donated it to the alienage anonymously." Elissa shrugged. "It seemed the right thing to do. Anyway, Vaughan was spitting mad. He called me all sorts of names and threatened me over it. I suppose that he didn't forget about it. My guess is he heard about when Nathaniel rescued Fergus, realized that he was working with me, and is likely trying to get revenge against both the Howes and Couslands."
"Do you think Eleanor is part of that?" Anders asked.
"I don't know. Eleanor claimed she didn't know her contact's name. She was supposed to leave notes at specific locations, detailing our whereabouts. So it could be part of that, or it could be something greater. Until we get some solid proof, there's no way to tell." Elissa looked at Ser Bryant, not looking forward to his reaction to her next statement. "It could be that it wasn't just Rylock who was unhappy that I conscripted Anders. What if the Chantry is also trying to discredit us?"
Bryant looked at Elissa in shock. "You don't think …?"
Elissa sighed. "I have to consider it. I hope it's not true, but there were unpleasant circumstances around Anders' induction into the Grey Wardens." Anders blanched a little at the statement. "If one of the senior templars was to hold a grudge about that, as Ser Rylock did, then they could be trying to catch me doing something the Chantry would not approve of. Planting a spy in the form of an apostate might make perfect sense to them."
"Maker's breath, Elissa." Alistair shook his head. "How do you come up with all these theories?"
Elissa smiled ruefully. "There have been enough plots and attempts on my life now that I have to consider every possibility." She looked into the fire. "But now we have to figure out what to do with the information and prisoners that we have. Unfortunately, we need proof to act, and we don't have it yet, so we have got to be careful. And I worry about where our enemies will try next since this attempt failed." She looked pointedly at Alistair and Alfstanna. Alistair paled, while Alfstanna looked grim. She turned to the Highever soldier, who had been watching all of this in silence. "Ser, if you would, I would like you tell Teyrn Cousland what transpired here. I think you should take the Crow with you, since ultimately the Teyrn should be the one to dispense justice for the failed attempt." The guard nodded. "Also, he might want to question the prisoner himself. Can you do that?"
"Yes, my lady. I believe we can handle that." The guard got up and motioned to his colleagues. "I will take care of it now."
Elissa nodded. "One last thing, please make sure you note that the man the Crow described was not, in fact, Nathaniel? I don't want any misunderstandings."
"I will make sure of it, my lady. We still owe Ser Howe a debt from when he saved the Teyrn's life." The guard turned and left.
One problem solved, for now at least. "Now, about our mage friend. Does anyone have any suggestions?"
Ser Bryant had been thoughtful since Elissa had mentioned the possibility of a Chantry plot. He chose this moment to speak. "I think, my lady, that you should keep the mage with you. However, if you do, I suggest that I accompany you also. I can help manage her should she cause you problems, and I want to know the truth about who is behind this. So if you will have me along, I would like to help."
Well, then. The world is full of surprises. Elissa smiled. "I think that's an excellent idea." Anders looked like he was going to protest, but Elissa shot him a warning glance as she continued. "If the Chantry is unhappy with us, having a templar along would help in the short term, because they would feel they have an influence with the Wardens. They don't, but it would appease them long enough for us to learn the truth. And we have learned that templar talents do come in handy should we encounter darkspawn or mercenary mages." She looked at Alistair, smiling, and he nodded. She turned to Anders.
"Anders, I know your history with templars is … not pleasant. But I wouldn't agree to this if I thought that Ser Bryant was going to cause you trouble. Out of all the templars we've met in our travels, the only two I can think of who you would get along with well would be Ser Bryant and Alistair. Both of them have far more common sense than your average templar. Besides, you're a Grey Warden and the Chantry has no control over you any more." Anders grumbled but nodded reluctantly.
"Is there anything else?"
"Yes, my dear." Zevran looked at her. "I would like to go and investigate to see what information I can find. I will talk to some friends of mine and see if they will help." Ah, yes, the Dark Wolf.
"I will go with him." Erlina spoke up now. "I can help."
Elissa nodded. "All right. Please, be careful. I take it you'll contact me?" Zevran and Erlina nodded. "All right." She went to her pack and pulled out a pouch of money and tossed it to Zevran. "I hope this is enough to get you started, at least."
Zevran tested the weight. "It should be adequate, my friend." He then smiled wickedly. "It might be even enough to pay for entertainment." Erlina huffed and they both went to pack their things and set out.
"Well, unless anyone has anything else," Elissa stated, "We have to get on the road. Would you like an additional escort to Orzammar, Alistair?"