Chapter 20: Redcliffe
The party had spent the evening in near silence; the only conversation taking place was between Aeden and Leliana. It left Aeden feeling very uncomfortable, so he assigned the night watches to everyone except for Alistair and Delia, hoping that getting some extra sleep might help their situation.
He took the third watch for himself, and it didn't seem as though he had been asleep long when Sten woke him. The first thing he did was walk the perimeter of the camp, and then he sat with Dusty on a boulder that was about halfway between the camp fire and Morrigan's tent. Morrigan always placed her tent away from the rest of the group, for whatever reason she had. He had decided that it wasn't worth his time to try understanding the apostate.
Aeden looked up at the stars and thought about the events that brought him to where he now was. Although he still hoped that his brother lived, with every passing day it seemed less likely. He had so much loss and devastation in such a short time, and now his friends were acting strangely. Somehow he needed to find a way to make things right for both Alistair and Delia, but what he needed to do and how he would do it eluded him.
The sun rose, showering the trees with golden rays. The birds started chirping in the treetops, and the land begin to awaken. Before long, Delia exited her tent and started her stance routine at the edge of the camp farthest from Morrigan's tent. Aeden went to the fire and put more logs in to prepare the fire for cooking breakfast. Alistair walked out of his tent, yawned deeply and stretched. He looked as if he had barely slept, and Aeden felt badly for him as he noticed him watching Delia sadly.
"Alistair, why don't you spar with Delia this morning? She needs a real workout, not just her routine."
He frowned. "I don't know, Aeden. I think she might use real daggers on me."
"Maybe that would be good for you – real life experience being better than practice and all," he chuckled at his friend. "Really though, I think it would be good for her." "For both of you," he thought to himself.
"Alright, alright. I'll throw caution to the wind." He walked over to Delia glumly. She watched his approach with a scowl.
"Delia, would you like to spar this morning?" He tried to smile, but even he knew his smile must have looked forced.
She looked at him with something that he couldn't quite place in her eyes. Was it hurt? Anger? It surprised Alistair when she agreed. Slowly they started to circle each other, and it bothered him because her face looked too serious. He decided it was time to lighten the mood, so he started to make silly faces at her. Her eyes opened a bit, so he knew he was having an effect. Then he started to lightly leap toward her and tap her on the shoulder, teasingly. Each time he tapped her, she looked at him as if he had lost his mind. This was nothing like the sparring training she had ever had! Alistair would tap her, his smile getting sillier and goofier with every tap, and then he started to say things like "Gotcha" or "Ha ha!". Before long, Delia decided that he had to have lost his mind! She couldn't help but smile back, and decided that she would get the better of him with this game.
As he reached for another tap, she started to sidestep him, rolling under his practice sword and hitting his ribcage. That earned her a full laugh from Alistair. As they continued their sparring game, Delia decided it was time to truly surprise him. As he lunged to tap her again, she leaped aside and pushed him, making him stumble forward. Before he could regain his footing completely, she jumped on his back, her arms around his neck in a tight grip and her legs around his waist.
The two were laughing heartily, as Alistair tried in vain to shake her off. Morrigan walked to the camp fire, where Aeden and Leliana were watching the two in amusement. She watched as Alistair bent over suddenly, making Delia fall to the ground over his shoulders. Alistair then grabbed Delia's wrists against the ground and, laughing, asked if she yielded. As she agreed, he released her hands, and she grabbed him behind his head and pulled him in for a quick kiss.
"Revolting!" said the mage. "Are they adults or did someone transform them back to children overnight?"
"Oh, relax, Morrigan. I think it's cute." Leliana smiled at the two warmly. "You don't have to watch – why don't you retreat back to your tent where you can be safe from humanity?"
"If this is humanity I will look forward to returning to the Wilds where I can be safe with the animals." Morrigan huffed back to her tent and began to pack for the days travels.
Alistair was surprised by the turn of events, but he was smiling. And what was even better, as far as he was concerned, Delia was smiling too. They walked hand in hand, laughing, back to the fire.
"So, Aeden, is breakfast ready?" Alistair grinned at his friend.
"I made breakfast today, Alistair. I used some of Delia's herbs to sweeten the porridge a bit." Leliana smiled at Delia and nodded her way.
They all sat amiably and ate their fill, then packed their tents. When they started the walk for the day, Delia took Alistair's hand. He smiled at her and squeezed her hand gently, but didn't pull away. As they made their way to Redcliffe, Alistair's mind was racing. He knew he needed to say something to Delia and Aeden, but he wasn't sure of how to say it.
As they crested the top of the hill right before Redcliffe Village, he knew it was time to speak. Deciding that babbling was better than not saying anything, he nervously cleared his throat.
"Look, can I talk to the two of you for a moment? I need to tell you something I, ah, should probably have told you earlier."
Aeden looked at him quizzically. "What's on your mind, Alistair?"
He ran his fingers through his hair. "I've told you before how Arl Eamon raised me, right? That my mother was a serving girl at the castle and he took me in? The reason he did that was because… well, because my father was King Maric. Which made Cailan my… half-brother I suppose."
Aeden chuckled. "So… you're not just a bastard, but a royal bastard?"
Alistair visibly relaxed. "Ha! Yes, I guess it does at that. I should use that line more often. I would have told you, but… it never really meant anything to me. I was inconvenient, a possible threat to Cailan's rule and so they kept me secret. I've never talked about it to anyone. Everyone who knew either resented me for it or they coddled me… even Duncan kept me out of the fighting because of it. I didn't want you to know, as long as possible. I'm sorry."
He looked sadly at Delia with a look in his eyes that told her that he really longed for everything to be ok. She looked away from his eyes, suddenly realizing the gravity of what he just told them. Cailan had no heir. Since Alistair was the only other son of Maric's, even though he was a bastard son he would be the next in line for the throne. Given her own secrets, she could understand why he would have kept this information from them, so she looked back into his face and tried to hide her own worries.
"I think I understand," she finally said to him softly.
He sighed. "Good. It's not like I got special treatment for it, anyhow. At any rate, that's it, that's what I had to tell you. I thought you both should know about it."
Aeden noticed Delia's change in demeanor and cleared his throat. Looking at Alistair, he questioned, "Are you sure? You aren't hiding anything else?"
"Besides my unholy love of fine cheeses and a minor obsession with my hair, no. That's it. Just the prince thing." He looked at Delia with his lopsided smile and winked at her.
She tried to lighten the mood. "You're a prince. Somehow I find that very… thrilling."
"Oh! Did I just find the one damn decent thing about my birthright? I think I did!" His grin grew larger at the thought, but then his face darkened again. "I have no illusions about my status, however. It's always been made very clear that I am a commoner and now a Grey Warden and in no way in line for the throne. And that's fine by me. No, if there's an heir to be found, it's Arl Eamon himself. He's not of royal blood, but he is Cailan's uncle… and more importantly very popular with the people. Though… if he's really as sick as we've heard… no, I don't want to think about that. I really don't."
His hands started to run through his hair again. "So, there you have it. Now can we move on, and I'll just pretend you still think I'm some… nobody who was too lucky to die with the rest of the Grey Wardens."
Delia looked at him, a tear forming at the corner of her eye. "That's not really what you think, is it?"
His shoulders slumped as he looked at her sadly. "Well… no. What I really think is that I was lucky enough to survive with you." He walked several paces away and looked out over the mountains, not wanting to know what his friends thought of him now that they knew the truth. Of course, they would have learned as soon as they met the Arl, but that would have been so much worse, wouldn't it? It had to be better for them to learn it from him directly rather than be subjected to it in ignorance.
Before he had an opportunity to hear what the other's thoughts were, a man ran across the bridge toward them.
"I… I thought I saw travelers coming down the road, though I scarcely believed it. Have you come to help us?"
"What do you mean? Is there a problem?" Aeden found the villager's demeanor worrisome.
The man seemed shocked that word of the town's troubles hadn't reached them. He explained how monstrous creatures were overrunning the town at night, killing everyone they could. Although the men of the village had formed a militia, they were desperate for help, and he asked if the group would please follow him and speak to Bann Teagan, the Arl's brother. Aeden immediately agreed, and the group followed the man, Tomas, to the Redcliffe Chantry.
Delia stayed toward the back of the party, but when they reached the Chantry, Aeden wanted her to enter along with himself and Alistair. Taking a deep breath and mustering her courage, she followed the two men into the building. In the front of the room stood Bann Teagan. He looked exactly as she remembered him from the previous summer. "Maker, please don't allow him to notice me. Maybe I'll be able to successfully hide behind Aeden and he won't realize it's me…"
Teagan was distracted by paperwork as the three followed Tomas. The young man announced himself and his guests. Teagan, flustered by the decisions he was trying to make, welcomed them without even looking up. "Greetings, friends. My name is Teagan, Bann of Rainesfere, brother to the arl."
Alistair smiled at him. He remembered Teagan fondly, as they didn't have many years of age between them and they would often play together before he had been sent away. "I remember you, Bann Teagan, though the last time we met I was a lot younger and… covered in mud."
"Covered in mud?" Teagan looked up at the man and then a warm smile crept over his face. "Alistair? It is you, isn't it? You're alive! This is wonderful news!"
"Still alive, yes, though not for long if Teryn Logain has anything to say about it."
"Indeed, Logain would have us believe all Grey Wardens died along with my nephew, amongst other things."
Aeden was surprised. "You don't believe Logain's lies?"
Teagan looked disgusted. "What, that he pulled his men in order to save them? That Cailan risked everything in the name of glory? Hardly. Logain calls the Grey Wardens traitors, murderers of the king. I don't believe it. It is an act of a desperate man." His eyes appraised Aeden. "So… you are a Grey Warden as well. Is it possible we've met? You seem very familiar..."
"You may have known my father, Teryn Cousland."
A grimace of sadness flashed across his face. "Ah, yes, that's it exactly. A pleasure to meet you indeed, though I wish it were under more pleasant circumstances." His eyes passed in back of Aeden, where he saw another, shorter person. "And you, in back. Have we met?"
Delia sighed and stepped from in back of her friend. "Yes, Teagan. It's me, Delia Loren."
He looked baffled. "Lady Delia? What in the Maker's name are you doing here?"
"I am a Grey Warden recruit."
"What? Are you two mad? She is a noble born woman! How can you consider making her a warden?" He was outraged.
Gently Delia placed her hand on his arm. "It was my request of our Warden Commander, Duncan. Neither Aeden nor Alistair had any part of the decision to allow me to join."
"But you are not a warden as of yet? So this isn't something you must do?" His eyes were full of concern as well as something else.
Alistair couldn't believe what he was seeing. Delia knew Teagan? He supposed that they were both nobles… maybe they had met at a dance, or at the Landsmeet… his mind began to babble silently.
"Teagan, I assure you that it is my own choice to be a Grey Warden. I also apologize in advance for any trouble my presence causes you with your brother or his wife. I assure you that I would not be here at all if it weren't for the fact that the wardens need your brother's help to battle the Blight."
"My concern is for your safety, my dear. I never want to see you come to any harm. You know how I feel about you… how I have always felt."
Delia blushed at his words and tried to ignore the confused looks on Alistair and Aeden's faces. "Perhaps you and I can speak later? Right now it is far more important for you three to work out a battle plan against the monsters plaguing the town." Nodding at her friends, she continued. "I will go outside and check with the rest of our group. You three work out the battle plans."
She walked out of the Chantry as quickly as she could, while the men conversed about the best way to fight the undead that were expected to arrive after sundown. As soon as the doors closed behind her, she leaned against the doors and breathed a sigh of relief. She didn't look forward to explaining what just had happened with Teagan, and hoped that her presence wouldn't cause her friends any trouble.