Chapter 23: The Castle
Teagan called the townsfolk to the steps of the Chantry and asked the Reverend Mother to help give thanks to the Maker for the victory over the undead as well as to acknowledge the people lost during the nights they had been fighting. After the short ceremony he asked Aeden to bring his party to the hilltop to discuss plans to get to Eamon. Teagan's eyes couldn't help but shift to Delia, who was standing next to Alistair. He noticed how she was beaming up at him, and his heart skipped. Maybe he had lost his chance with her after all, even if she was trying to be kind about it. He couldn't think about it now… he needed to find his brother and learn what was happening.
He walked to the top of the hill and spoke to Eamon's knight commander, Ser Perth. They discussed the best use of the knights, and decided they would remain at the castle gate until it could be opened from the inside. This allowed the knights to be available if there were problems in the village or if more knights returned from their quest for the Urn of the Sacred Ashes of Andraste.
As Teagan spoke to Ser Perth, Aeden was leading his group up the hill. When they reached the top, Aeden, Alistair, Delia and Dusty walked to the Bann while the others stayed back with the Redcliffe knights. Delia noticed that Teagan averted his eyes and looked toward the castle. She was sorry to see the flash of sadness on his face as he did so.
She couldn't hear what Teagan said to Aeden, but Aeden's response was clear. "That's convenient." Teagan said something about how maybe he could have gone to the castle earlier, but the conversation was interrupted by the sound of someone running toward them from the castle path. A noble woman and a guard rounded the bend in the path to the astonishment of the assembled group.
The woman was out of breath as she approached the group. "Teagan! Thank the Maker you yet live! I do not have time to explain! I slipped away from the castle as soon as I saw the battle was over, and I must return quickly. And I… need you to return with me, Teagan. Alone."
"We will need more of an explanation than that," Aeden said with a frown.
"What? I… who is this man, Teagan? "she continued.
Alistair sighed. "You remember me, Lady Isolde, don't you?"
She looked at him and her face flashed angrily. "Alistair? Of all the… what are you doing here?"
"They are Grey Wardens, Isolde. I owe them my life." Teagan put his hand on Aeden's shoulder for greater emphasis.
Delia stepped forward. "You don't seem very concerned about what's happened here."
The anger Isolde seemed to have for Alistair's presence paled at the fury she showed for Delia. "Delia. You have no business being here in Redcliffe. You have been banned from these lands. I cannot believe that you would be this opportunistic and return now at these desperate times. You are most fortunate that my husband is not in a position to throw you in the dungeons. Leave now while you have a chance for escape."
Teagan's face flushed with his own anger. "Leave her alone, Isolde. Delia is a Grey Warden recruit and is only here to assist. She has my permission to remain, and should my brother take issue of it he, and only he, can speak to me about my decision."
If looks could kill, Isolde would have not only killed Delia at that moment, but dismembered and cremated her as well. Delia maintained a neutral expression on her face, refusing to show Isolde any weakness.
Teagan and Aeden then continued the conversation with Isolde, trying to glean any information about Eamon as well as what had happened in the castle itself. It seemed Isolde had hired an apostate, who was referred to her by Logain, to train her son and keep secret that he was a mage. The mage had been sent specifically by Logain to poison Eamon. After the apostate was put in the dungeon, undead creatures started attacking.
Teagan agreed to return to the castle with Isolde, but asked for a moment to speak to the wardens. As she started back to the castle, Teagan led the wardens to the door of the windmill. He turned to the group and began to explain.
"Here's what I propose. I go in with Isolde and you go in using the secret passage. My signet ring unlocks the door. Perhaps I will… distract whatever evil is inside and increase your chances of getting in unnoticed. What do you say?"
Delia was horrified. "I can't let you do this. It's insane."
He spun toward her angrily. "What choice do we have? If your business with Eamon is important, you're going to have to go inside and find him."
Alistair placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, much to Teagan's dismay. "He's right. Without Arl Eamon we'll never get the support we need."
Teagan spoke to Aeden to finalize the attack plan and finished by saying, "Whatever you do, Eamon is the priority here. If you have to, just get him out of there. Isolde, me and anyone else… we're expendable."
Delia couldn't help but cry at his words. "No, Teagan. I don't believe that. We'll rescue you all; I promise."
Teagan's demeanor softened, and he sadly gave her a smile. He stepped in front of her and placed his hands on her shoulders, then kissed her on the cheek. "You are brave as well as beautiful, it seems. The Maker smiled on me indeed when he sent you to Redcliffe. If only this had been…" He sadly shook his head. "But I can delay no longer. Allow me to bid you farewell… and good luck."
He left the group and walked up the path to the castle. The wardens watched him, fearing what he would find once he was inside.
"Alright, we need to get in there quickly. Alistair, I want you, Sten and Morrigan again." Aeden started toward the windmill's door, but Delia stopped him.
"Aeden, I'm coming with you. You need me in there."
"No, Delia, I want you to be safe. I won't let you come."
"I am a Grey Warden recruit, or do I need to keep reminding you? If you never allow me into a battle situation, how am I supposed to learn how to really fight? Besides, you need someone to guide you through the castle, and I know the castle better than anyone here, even Alistair. It was only last summer that I spent a month here, and Teagan took a great deal of pride showing me everything there was to see. I can also unlock doors and chests, thanks to Leliana's patiently teaching me, and there may be places where you need someone who can sneak into tight places where you warriors can't fit."
He sighed, knowing that logically he was bested by her. "Alright, but if I tell you to get back, make sure you follow my command."
"Yes ser, I shall follow your every battle command." She smiled at him teasingly.
Since Morrigan was very tired from the last night's battle, the party took Sten with them. Aeden led the four through the secret doorway and into the castle dungeons. As they opened a door, they were confronted with a group of undead. Although she let the warriors do most of the work, Delia was able to use her blades effectively and provided the killing blow to one of the monsters. As they cleaned their blades, they heard someone calling to them from one of the cells.
They found the mage, Jowan, who Isolde hired to teach Connor. Jowan was honest with the wardens as to why he was in Redcliffe and what had happened at the castle. It seemed that a demon approached Connor in the Fade, the land of dreams, and used the control it had over the young mage to create the army of dead soldiers. Jowan realized that by helping Logain, he inadvertently helped start all the castle's troubles and he wanted to help correct his mistakes.
Aeden was not sure whether the mage could be trusted, so Delia tried to find a way to touch the mage. She noticed that he had been hit on the side of the head and the wound had been left to fester for days.
"You've been injured. Let me at least place a poultice on your head to help you heal." Delia took a poultice from her pack and reached through the cell bars. As she smoothed the herbs onto the wound, she placed her other hand on his shoulder. The images of the mage's past immediately filled her mind. "Taken from his parents as a young child and raised in the Circle of Magi … a woman, an initiate of the Chantry, who he has fallen in love with… trying to escape from the Tower and using blood magic… caught by Templars and Logain talking to him… poisoning the Arl… Connor's desperate attempts to save his father… Jowan's capture and being thrown in the dungeon… the creatures walking everywhere…" The last image was the view of his heart's intent. The only crime he had committed at Redcliffe was the poisoning of the Arl, and he truly wanted to redeem himself.
As Aeden spoke to Alistair about what do to with Jowan, Delia suggested they leave him in the cell and come back for him later. They would need his knowledge and skills to defeat whatever demon had overrun the castle with the undead creatures, but since he was not battle hardened it was best to keep him safe in his cell.
Delia led the men of the party through the dungeon and up through the passages of the castle. As they pressed onward they had to fight more of the undead monsters. They decided to clear all the rooms, whether they were on the path or not. When they reached the end of one hallway and opened the door to a side room, standing before them was a young woman who seemed terrified.
Aeden tried to calm her, and she told him she was the Arlessa's maid, Valena. Delia realized that she must be the smith's daughter, so she told her about the tunnel they had come through to enter the castle. With sincere thanks, Valena decided to find her way out of the castle and home to her father.
They continued through the castle, killing undead and a few minor demons as they made their way through the maze of hallways. Unfortunately, the door to the main hallway was locked with a system too sophisticated for Delia to pick open. It took the group extra time to make their way around the castle to a side door that led to the courtyard. From the courtyard they could open the gates to the castle and enter through the main doors. Looking around, Aeden noticed undead patrols throughout the yard.
Whispering, he leaned close to Delia. "Do you see over there, to the right of the gates? There is a lever to open the gates. I want you to run there as fast as you can and switch the lever so that Ser Perth and his men can help us fight. We'll keep the monsters off of you and you can start fighting with us as soon as the knights join us."
On his mark, the party ran toward the gate. Aeden, Alistair and Sten started fighting the monsters about halfway to the gate and Delia went straight to the lever. Using all her strength, she flipped the lever and the gates opened. Thankfully the knights were waiting right outside, and they joined the battle quickly. The battle was furious, but just as the warriors thought they were winning, a creature showed itself that none of them had ever seen before. The evil of the revenant seemed to enfold the very air surrounding it, and it was the most powerful creature Delia had ever seen.
Having destroyed all the undead in the courtyard, the warriors and the knights put all their strength into defeating the revenant. Delia noticed that there were archers firing at the men, so she took it upon herself to kill them. She ran to the top of the stairs of the castle entrance and used every skill taught to her to defeat the monsters. As she thrust her blade for the final time into the last remaining archer, Alistair and Aeden were finally running toward her. They saw her fighting alone after the group of men had finally defeated the revenant.
The two wardens were grinning at her from ear to ear. Alistair swept her into his arms in a huge hug while Aeden slapped her on the back.
"Well done, sister, well done! I don't think I've ever seen you so… deadly!" Aeden couldn't have been more proud of her than he was at that very moment.
Delia barely heard his words. She was exhausted from the battle, and her focus was taken up by the warden who held her in his arms. It was far more important that they were all safe, as were the knights. The battles they would have when they entered the castle would most likely be even more dangerous than what they had already faced.