A/N Anyone else thought that it was too easy to get into Denerim?
Just before they left Elisa pulled Alice aside and handed her several documents and a bag of blood runes. "These documents contain all the information that I could find on grey warden caches in Denerim. Most of them are tiny and contain only a few pieces of gear but there's a safe house by the Denerim marketplace that could serve as a base of operations while you're in the city. I get the impression that most major cities have a number of these things but the wardens have only been in Ferelden for about two decades so they haven't had the time to make more than one. The thing contains the only supply of Archdemon blood we can get unless we manage to find some in Soldier's Peak so we need it if we're going to make more wardens."
Alice held up the bag of blood runes "And these?"
"Specialty blood runes, very powerful and the only reason they're not illegal is because no one knows they exist. Wade can use them and is absolutely in love with what they can do; If you give them to him he'll be more than happy to outfit you guys with whatever you need, you won't even have to deal with Harren complaining because they're worth a fortune"
"Anything else?"
"Nothing, this is your command now sister"
oOo
They were halfway to Denerim, traveling through a forest path to cut some time off their trip when Alice held up hand, calling the company to stop. She peered into the forest; she'd seen something odd, an aura about an item - a weapon really - that meant it had been enchanted. She couldn't see it now, however which meant someone still had it. This meant one of two things, either someone else was taking this path through the forest or they were about to walk into an ambush. Gesturing to Morrigan, Alice pointed to the sky, without a word the shapeshifter took the form of a crow and flew into the trees. Silently the company readied their weapons, preparing for battle.
Having flown in a full circle Morrigan passed in front of Alice and pecked the warden's sword, they had company.
Still in crow form, Morrigan made a full circle again, this time cawing each time she went by a would be ambusher. When she passed by the apparent leader of the group she cawed twice, marking the man out for the others. Alice signalled the others; kill everyone but the leader, they would need to know who sent them.
They didn't stand a chance.
The speed and skill of wardens combined with their magic foreknowledge of where the attackers were meant that the ambushers were taken out before they even realized that the company were in the area.
The leader had been knocked out but was still alive. Kallian stripped him of his armour and weapons before tying him up, ensuring that he did not have any surprises on him that might allow him to escape. When he came to he groaned "Maker, what happened?"
"You screwed up" Kallian whispered in his ear, running her blade along his chest in a delicate, almost gentle touch. "You thought that you could get the jump on grey wardens and paid the price. The only reason you're still alive is because we want to know who sent you."
"Wardens? That bitch, look I wasn't told that you were grey wardens, only that you were traveling this way. We were supposed to capture the red-haired girl and kill everyone else, we didn't know you were grey wardens, please just let me live."
"Red-haired girl? Me?" Leliana's voice was one of shock and surprise.
"Tell us who hired you, and we'll let you live" Kallian's voice was a deadly, lethal purr, full of violence and anticipation; either she had a very good bluff or she wanted to torture the man.
"L-look, I don't know the name, she didn't tell and I didn't ask but I was given the address for a house in Denerim where we were supposed to deliver the girl, just please let me go" Kallian looked over to Alice who nodded, the man gave them the address and took off into the woods.
oOo
Command is a funny thing. Technically you're in charge and in battle you are, but in the lull, when soldiers have time to think for themselves that's not always true. Every soldier has morals, things they will never agree with. Sometimes they will stand by and allow others to do these things or even do them themselves if they are loyal enough to their commanders. But every time there faced with that choice between morality and discipline something weakens in them, comes closer to breaking and if that something breaks there's no telling what they'll do. So a good commander avoids this by either making choices their men will agree with or by making these choices where their men can't see them.
The running mercenary is a prime example of this. He is after all a threat. He knows that he faced some of that last living wardens in Ferelden and he knows where they were. He knows who's with this group and who's not. And best of all he thinks he has a good idea of where they're going next. All of this is valuable information, information that Loghain's intelligence network would value highly. That this man is terrified of his employer, the one he just sold out, doesn't help the wardens chances of discretion. This man wants to be out of the country at the very least by the time that the wardens reach Denerim, preferably halfway across Thedas. And yet because she knew that some of her group would disagree with his death, Alice let him live.
At least, for a few minutes.
The mercenary has been running hard for five minutes when a mabari flies out of the underbrush, taking out his legs and crushing his left shin with its powerful jaws. Before the man can react in the slightest a wolf grabs his throat in its teeth. And then he feels nothing at all.
A few minutes later George and Morrigan walk out of the forest thicket to rejoin the rest of the group on the path. George trots over to Alice, who scratches his head and plucks a shard of bone from his teeth. Morrigan falls to the back of the group with Theron, but not before meeting Alice's eyes and giving a slight nod. Nothing is said, nothing needs to be.
For all her reclusiveness Morrigan understands the realities of command.
oOo
When Alice professed not to share her sister's incredible skill for command many assumed that meant she was not a leader, that she could not take a group of soldiers through a dangerous situation and get them out alive.
This was not true.
Alice professed not to share her sister's incredible skill for command because her sister was possibly the best military expert of their age - the woman could beat Loghain in chess, for Andraste's sake - while she preferred subtly and manipulation, using a mixture of espionage and political pressure to deal with those she went up against. Not to imply that Elisa wasn't subtle - her sister was incredibly intelligent and the two years she had spend in Tevinter, hiding her magic from the Thedas while playing the magistrate had ensured that Elisa was no slouch when it came to politics and espionage, it just wasn't her preferred method to deal with an issue. Just as combat was not Alice's method of choice.
And that, combined with a skill and love for planning her adventures thoroughly whenever possible, made her the best choice for this particular mission.
Getting into Denerim.
Whatever else she may think about Loghain, Alice had to admit that he had a formidable spy network. The wardens had been recognized on three occasions so far, all in very separate locations and already Loghain had a complete list of which wardens had survived Ostagar and who had not. Furthermore he also was fully aware of many of the companions that had joined them. Of all their party members, only Jowan and Zevran had not been identified and only because they had never been associated with the wardens publicly. Theron had decided that they would keep Jowan out of view of the guards and villagers of Redcliff; they lived very close to the tower and many of the guards there knew of Jowan`s status as a maleficar, something that was always best to conceal one`s association with. Zevran, of course was unknown because he had joined the team after they had last been in a major settlement. That would most likely be instrumental in getting them into Ferelden's capital.
Provided, of course, that she could trust him.
oOo
Dusk found Zevran standing lookout on the edge of the camp. They had decided that due to the high bounties on their heads and their close proximity to Denerim, there would be at least one person on lookout whenever they were at camp, two if everyone else was sleeping. Zevran had had the poor luck of getting the dinner shift, or at least it appeared to be random - perhaps Alice had thought to make sure he wasn't too close to their food perhaps? He did not blame her, he would have done the same in their situation.
Zevran sighed, none of them would trust him until he aided them with a clear escape available to him but neither would they give him a clear escape unless they absolutely had to. It was a puzzle to which the only answer would be to wait and watch, hoping that he would get the chance to prove his desire to repay his debts.
All of them.
oOo
"Alice, may I speak with you for a moment?" Kallian hovered hesitatingly beside her, obviously apprehensive about something she had found while looking for news outside the city walls.
Alice flashed an encouraging smile and said "sure, what's up?"
"If it's possible, I'd like to see how my family's doing while were here. I, uh, heard something about a riot, there and wanted to make sure they were ok."
"Of course, Kali, provided it doesn't affect the mission I don't see why not. Do you know what caused your people to riot? Vaughan up to something?"
Kallian shook her head "It can't be Vaughan, he and his father were killed in the riots. Loghain replaced them with a real thug of a lord, Howe, I-"
"Howe?!" Alice snarled "That bastard murdered my family! I'll-" With visible effort Alice cut herself off, closing her eyes and calming down "I'll do nothing for now, we won't be able to reach him right now and we can't kill him until he's been discredited, otherwise we'll be seen as assassins. And speaking of assassins, I have to talk with Zevran, that all?"
Kallian nodded "Anything I can do to help?"
Alice thought about it then smiled.
oOo
"Here, eat"
Zevran looked over to see Alice holding a bowl of stew to him. He took it gratefully, murmuring thanks and began to eat. To his surprise Alice took a seat beside him and waited for him to finish. Once he had finished Alice spoke "I'm going to need you to scout out the city for us."
Zevran raised his eyebrows "So trusting to let me go off on my own? I'm surprised"
Alice's mouth twisted grimly and she held up a vial of pinkish liquid "Not exactly"
Zevran laughed darkly "After advising that we should all keep a close eye on our food, I get poisoned the first time someone tries, amusing no?"
Alice shrugged "The poison is very hard to detect, so don't blame yourself. I won't give you a time frame other than to say that so long as you're back within 24 hours you should be fine, past that things will get uncomfortable for you."
"And what if I decide to simply take the antidote from you?"
"One, Elisa's enchantment will probably stop such a blatant betrayal. Two, probably good enough to beat you and three, look behind you" Zevran turned to see Kallian leaning against a tree with one knife drawn "You attack me and a knife goes in your back."
"Doesn't look like I have a choice"
"No, it doesn't. Here's what I need you to do"
Trusting Zevran had been a gamble, poison or no. But he proved to be useful and not inclined to betray them, at least not while poisoned. 24 hours later they prepared to sleep not in a hidden camp, but the warden's secure safe house. They were in Denerim.
A/N So January was kinda a busy month for me, not only did I have my summatives and exams but I also I had to do all the homework I'd procrastinated on. Add that to a lot of new video games and something of a writer's block and you get a very long time without a chapter, sorry about that.
Anyways my work load has lightened up a lot so I should be able to post new chapters far more often.
Anyways thanks for reading and please review!