A/N: So I got extra ambitious (and had some free time for once) and you get a new chapter less than a week later! Didn't get quite as far as I hoped in this one, but there's a lot of stuff that happens at Howe's estate, and I didn't want to cut anything out, as so much of it is important to later events. I hope to have the next chapter up within the next couple of weeks, as there are some big things happening in that one :). Anyway, hope you all enjoy!
Thanks to everyone who has read, favorited, and followed the story so far :). Hope to hear from you as well!
Special thanks go to the reviewers of the last chapter: WolFang1011, Candle in the Night, and Akakoken. Always love to hear from you guys!
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Disclaimer: Do not own DA's original events, characters or dialogue. Do own the rest of this story.
Chapter 44: Rescuers
The six of them met Anora's handmaiden, Erlina, at the gates leading into the Arl of Denerim's estate, which now belonged to Howe. She was an anxious-looking elven woman with long black hair tied back, wearing a colourful pink and red dress. Before any of them got a word out, she waved them over, calling in a frantic whisper, "Over here!"
Alistair and the others followed Aedan as he led them over to her, all of them halting a few feet away from her. She stood in the shadow of a wagon parked just inside the gates. A quite large, noisy crowd was clamouring at the front gates on just the other side of the wagon, where the guards refused to let them pass. "The servants' entrance is on the other side of the house," Erlina explained in quiet tones to them, her gaze focused on Aedan. "We must slip past this crowd to reach it. We will have to be very careful: Arl Howe is still inside."
Alistair frowned, exchanging a worried glance with Ayla. "Howe is still here?" He'd been half-hoping that Howe would have left, as he wasn't entirely sure that Aedan would stay focused now. Obviously, that hope had been in vain.
"Yes," Erlina nodded, looking worriedly over her shoulder as though expecting guards to pop up there at any moment. "And wherever he goes, a great many guards go with him."
"Oh, I was hoping I'd get a chance to see him," Aedan drawled, a rather manic joy shining out of his eyes. "That's the best news I've had all day."
Erlina whipped around to look at him, exclaiming, "I beg you, do not put my lady in danger for your revenge! We must get her out first."
"Yes, Aedan," Alistair hissed in his ear. "The plan, remember? We need Anora." Aedan didn't answer him, appearing to be deep in thought, and he sighed, hoping it wasn't thoughts of what sort of torture he would use on Howe.
"What are all these people gathered for?" Leliana asked curiously, gesturing to the crowd.
"The estate is in poor repair," Erlina replied. "The new arl, he has not been very prompt in paying his workmen. Now go, I will be right behind you." She gestured to the left, indicating that they should skirt around the wagon she stood in the shadow of, and go around the building.
Aedan went first, walking quickly but quietly around the wagon, and following a slightly worn dusty trail in the grass that led between the outer wall of the estate and the building itself. Alistair and the others followed him along the trail, through many bushes and trees, and though they did their best to be quiet, it wasn't long before Alistair heard a voice from the wall above calling something out. "What did they say?" he murmured to Ayla.
She was drawing her swords quietly. "It was one guard telling another he heard something down here, and they should go check it out. I expect they'll be down here any minute."
True to her word, four guards appeared on the trail behind them in less than a minute; Aedan had halted them all to wait for the attack, and one guard fell immediately to Leliana's arrow as they rounded the corner. It didn't take long for the six of them to dispatch the remaining three guards, and Aedan waved them on afterwards.
Very soon after that, they made it all the way to the back of the estate, where there was a garden for growing vegetables, as well as a fountain with a statue spraying water into the air. It was getting more difficult to see their way as the sun began to set, everything around them growing darker as they slipped through the garden, just able to make out a servant's entrance up ahead. Two guards were posted there, one just in the process of lighting the torch by the door.
Erlina, who had been following them this whole time, held up her hand indicating they should wait. She slipped behind a shed off to their left, which was still well away from the guards and the entrance, and dragged out two large bags. "These are the guard uniforms," she whispered. "You should change as quickly as possible. You can leave your own things here. When you are done, I will distract the guards, but we must hurry. My lady does not have much time."
Aedan opened up the bags, quickly distributing the six uniforms inside, and they all split up throughout the trees and bushes to the side of the shed to change. Alistair hastily stripped off his own armor and exchanged it for the steel chainmail overlaid with bits of silver plate. He kept his own sword and shield, however. Fortunately, he'd had the presence of mind to cover the emblem of Redcliffe on his shield with cloth before they'd left; it shouldn't attract any attention.
He returned to the others, shoving his plate armor inside the bags along with everybody else's armor. They'd all kept their own weapons, but everyone, including Morrigan, was now dressed in the uniforms. Both Morrigan and Ayla looked severely disgruntled. Ayla was rolling her shoulders and trying out a few knee bends, obviously displeased with the lack of movement afforded by the outfit. Leliana and Zevran looked unperturbed; knowing their backgrounds, Alistair couldn't help but wonder if they'd had to don disguises to break in somewhere before.
Erlina poked her head around the corner of the shed. "Are you all prepared?" she demanded in a low voice. When Aedan nodded, she continued, "I will go distract the guards. I will lure them into the courtyard. Wait in the bushes."
They all watched from the ever-deepening shadows behind the shed as the elven woman approached the two guards, crying out hysterically about possibly seeing a darkspawn by the fountain. The two guards appeared to doubt her word, arguing amongst themselves.
"You know," Ayla began quietly, "I can think of a much easier way to distract them. I'd just need a different disguise –"
"No," Alistair interrupted her hastily, guessing where she was going with this. If he got jealous over just seeing Zevran flirt with her, he didn't want to imagine how he'd react to seeing her flirt with someone else, even if it was being used as a distraction. "That's not necessary; I'm sure Erlina has it handled."
"You know, my dear," Zevran began, grinning wickedly, "I do believe I would like to see this distraction –"
"Not necessary," Alistair cut him off, glaring at the elf, ignoring the low chuckles coming from the others.
Ayla cast him an amused glance, but before she could say anything in reply, the two guards went by them towards the fountain, following a running Erlina, both grumbling loudly.
"No time to waste," Aedan hissed. "Let's move."
He hurried towards the now undefended door, Alistair and the others all following him as quickly and quietly as possible in the armor. In moments, they had all slipped through the door, finding themselves in a small, fairly bare stone room.
Aedan peeked around the corner into the next room, and gestured them all to follow him further in. The next room was clearly some sort of storage area, with barrels, bags, and crates stacked around the outer walls. "We'll have to wait for Erlina to come back," Aedan murmured, glancing over his shoulder at the open door behind them. "She's the only one who has any idea where Anora is in here."
They all waited tensely, not daring to talk much for fear of being discovered, for what seemed like forever, though in reality it was probably only a couple of minutes. Just when Alistair thought she must have been caught, she hurried in behind them, exclaiming in a low voice, "Ah! It took me forever to be rid of those two!"
"About time," Aedan muttered, looking at the door quickly again. "Where's Anora?"
"She is in a guest room off the main hall," Erlina replied, heading towards the door, gesturing for them all to follow her as she explained, "You must be careful now. The servants, they will not look closely at anyone in uniform. All guards are alike to a cook, no? But you should not draw attention to yourself. Most of the guards are new. They will not know you for a stranger at a glance. It is best you keep your distance from all of them and try to blend in."
They all nodded in understanding and followed her through the next room, which turned out to be the estate's kitchen. All the cooks and servants were busy as they went through, preparing supper for the night, and barely even glanced their way.
The next area was a little trickier, being the dining room; several soldiers were already seated at the long tables already, and some were moving between the tables. They went around the outer edge of the room and avoided looking at or speaking to any of them, walking as quickly as they dared to without calling attention to themselves, and were able to make it through without incident.
They continued to follow Erlina through the next two areas, the barracks and the main hall, and fortunately, none of the guards moving about seemed to notice them or care that they were there. Once they'd made it through the main hall, carpeted in red and gold, which was almost completely empty save for two guards at the large double doors, Erlina led them into another hallway on the opposite side, over to a small, plain wooden door just off the main hall.
Alistair frowned as she halted in front of the door; he could both sense as well as see the magic radiating off it. A strong shield had been placed over the door, and it was glowing a bright blue. He could hear Aedan groan under his breath as Erlina called through the door, "The Grey Wardens are here, my lady."
"Thank the Maker!" A muffled female voice came from the other side. "I would greet you properly, but I'm afraid we've had a setback."
Aedan leaned close to the door, saying in a low voice just loud enough to carry through, "Anora, it's nice to hear your voice again. What sort of setback?"
Alistair glanced at him in surprise; he recalled Aedan saying that he'd known both Anora and Cailan, but he hadn't realized how well Aedan knew her. It sounded as though he was greeting an old friend that he was genuinely happy to see again. This was only confirmed as Anora replied, a note of surprise and delight in her voice, "Aedan, is that you? I had heard rumours you were with the Wardens, but I scarcely believed it was true!" Before Aedan could form a reply, she went on, "At any rate, my 'host' was not content with leaving me under heavy guard. He's sealed the door by magic, as you can see."
Aedan glanced back at Morrigan, and before he'd even asked the question, she was shaking her head. "'Tis a powerful magical shield, not one that can be undone except by its creator. Or by the death of its creator."
"That's just perfect," Aedan sighed, looking annoyed as he turned to the elven woman. "Why didn't you mention this before, Erlina?"
"I did not know!" she protested, looking alarmed. "There were only guards here when I left. We must get her out of there!"
"Don't panic, Erlina," Anora said soothingly from the other side of the door. "Find the mage who cast the spell. He'll most likely be at Howe's side."
The look of annoyance vanished abruptly from Aedan's face as he smiled in a way that Alistair did not quite like. This was all they needed, Alistair thought, for Aedan to have a free pass at Howe when they were in a hurry. He cast a worried glance at Ayla, but she merely shrugged as if to say, what can we do?
"Ah, well, in that case, this detour will be more than worth it," Aedan was saying, looking grimly pleased. "I can kill two birds with one stone, quite literally. We'll be back soon," he called to Anora.
"Thank you, Aedan. My prayers go with you," she answered, as Erlina said, "Teyrn Howe will probably be in his rooms. They're at the very end of this hall, on the left. I will wait here."
Alistair noticed Aedan's scowl at the title, but he didn't comment, merely waving them all on as he began to head away from the main hall and down the long stone hallway that had the odd rug placed on the floor at intervals. They again moved as quickly as they dared, doing their best to avoid any guards they came across, though there fortunately did not seem to be as many here as there had been on the other side.
Eventually, they reached the end of the hallway and carefully slipped through the door into the last set of rooms. Inside, they found a large, well-appointed bedroom filled with bookcases, a desk, a fireplace with a fire still sputtering in it, and other bits of furniture scattered around. Aedan's shoulders slumped with disappointment as they all gathered in the room, realizing there was no one in it. "Have a look around," he directed them at last. "Let's see what we can find."
Alistair began to search around the room with the others, not exactly sure what they were looking for. It was Leliana who picked open a chest by the bed that contained papers he almost immediately recognized as being Grey Warden documents. He couldn't understand most of what was in them, as it was written in code, but he could clearly see the Warden symbol on several of the sheets of paper, as well as recognize Duncan's handwriting on some of them. "Why would he have these?" he demanded of Aedan in a low voice.
Aedan shrugged, frowning as he studied the papers himself. "No idea. Maybe he captured another Warden that's still alive? Somebody that escaped the battlefield and had these papers? We'll need to find out."
It was at that moment that Zevran exclaimed, "Ah ,there we are!" and a bookshelf to the side of the bed began to move aside with a loud grating noise, revealing a door behind it. "I would suspect you will find this Howe somewhere past here," the elf finished, a triumphant smirk on his face.
"Good job, Zev," Aedan declared, hurrying over to the door along with the others in the room.
Alistair hastily rolled up all the documents, tucking them into his pouch as he followed the others. He wasn't about to leave Warden papers behind. The door led through a short, dank hallway out into a small room beyond. Just as Aedan passed through the open doorway at the head of the group, Alistair heard a startled voice say, "What? Who goes there?" followed by a gurgling noise and the sound of a struggle.
He made into the room just in time to see the guard that had been there get his neck snapped by a prisoner in a cell behind him. Aedan was watching warily, holding up his hand to the others to indicate that they should wait as the guard fell to the floor, the prisoner deftly removing his keys and unlocking the door. A second later, he dragged the guard's body inside, and they could hear the sounds of rustling and clanking indicating he was stripping the body of the armor.
"Should we do something –" Leliana began in a low voice, but Aedan shook his head, cutting her off. "No, I want to see who it is first and what they're doing here. We have him well outnumbered if he tries to cause any trouble."
A moment later, an older, dark-haired man with a small beard, his face lined and weary, now dressed in the guard's splintmail, emerged. He held his hands up defensively as he declared in an accented voice, "I thank you for creating such a distraction, stranger. I have been waiting weeks for this opportunity. Do you think you could –" He'd been looking at all of their party as he talked, and he suddenly froze when he met Alistair's eyes, exclaiming a short moment later, "Alistair? Is that you?"
Everybody turned to look at Alistair with varying levels of surprise on their faces as he studied the man, frowning. Had he seen him before? "Who . . . ?" he began slowly, before it suddenly hit him; a fuzzy memory from his Joining, which seemed so long ago now he could hardly remember it, nor did he always wish to. "Wait. I do know you. You were at my Joining." He turned to Aedan then, explaining, "He's one of us. A Warden from Orlais. Jader, I think. Or was it Montsimmard? I'm afraid I don't remember your name," he finished apologetically, turning his attention back to the older man.
The older Warden shook his head, as if to say it was of no consequence, before declaring, "I'm Riordan, senior Warden of Jader, but born and bred in Highever and glad to be home."
Alistair saw a bleak look pass over Aedan's face at the mention of Highever, but he shook it off quickly, asking, "Why are you here? How did Arl Howe capture you?"
Riordan frowned, his brow furrowing as he answered, "With an offer of hospitality and a poisoned chalice. I was fool enough to think Loghain didn't yet know who I was." He sighed and went on, "I was sent when we received no word from King Cailan of the outcome at Ostagar. The king had invited all the Wardens of Orlais and their support troops to join him, then . . . nothing."
Alistair remembered Duncan saying that they had contacted the Wardens in Orlais for help; he sighed as he wondered if things might have turned out differently if they'd arrived before the disaster in Ostagar. He felt Ayla squeeze his hand in a silent show of support; he smiled down at her gratefully, getting a sympathetic smile in return.
"How large a force did you bring with you?" Aedan was asking Riordan, clearly hoping that they had discovered some unexpected help. Alistair turned his attention back to his fellow Wardens, praying they'd finally stumbled on a bit of luck.
"We had two hundred Wardens and two dozen divisions of cavalry," Riordan answered. "The first we heard of Loghain's edict was when everyone was turned back at the border. That was when the rumour reached us that Wardens were being blamed for the massacre." He scowled briefly, before shaking his head and resuming, "We finally decided it was safest to send someone alone, to learn how best to fight the Blight and this regime simultaneously. As a native Fereldan, I volunteered to make the crossing."
Alone, of course he was alone, Alistair thought, disappointed. They'd had little luck so far; why should he expect any differently now? It appeared as though he and Aedan would be left bearing the responsibility for the Blight, no matter what. He squeezed Ayla's hand a little tighter, and she leaned against his side as they waited to hear what else Riordan had to say.
"But the archdemon's nearly here!" Aedan snapped, looking as frustrated as Alistair felt. "Will we have no help?"
Riordan shook his head, looking regretful as he explained, "The other Wardens won't risk their strength fighting Ferelden's civil war. If they spend themselves against Loghain, there is truly no hope. They recall accounts of the first Blight, how many cities fell. If Ferelden is too foolish to save itself, at least we'll be ready when the archdemon leads its forces further. Besides," he smiled at them now, clearly trying to boost their spirits, "I hear you haven't been doing too badly at raising an army yourself. But perhaps if the edict can be lifted . . . I will send a message as soon as I am gone from this place."
"Oh," Alistair said, the mention of a message making him recall the Warden documents he'd found as he let go of Ayla to dig them out of his pouch. "We found some papers; are these yours?"
Riordan took them, glancing quickly through them before nodding, a relieved expression crossing his face. "Yes. These are my records. The names of the dead I could recognize at Ostagar. What I could find of Duncan's own recruitment records." Alistair flinched at both of these, wondering if he should ask to see the names from Ostagar. But really, what good would it do? He was quite certain he already knew every name that would be on that list. What use would it be to look at it? He perked up as he Riordan continued, "Copies of the Joining ritual I rescued from our Denerim vault. Those should never be seen by any outside eyes, but I trust in their encryption."
"The Joining ritual?" Aedan asked, looking as eager as Alistair suddenly felt. To know how it worked again, in case anyone got tainted; even that much would be invaluable. Perhaps they had come across a bit of luck, after all. "Can you induct other Grey Wardens?" Aedan demanded.
"Would that I could, for Ferelden sorely needs them. But for the Joining to work, the recruit needs not only fresh darkspawn blood, but a drop of blood preserved from an archdemon," Riordan explained. Alistair frowned; he'd never heard that before, but it explained a lot. The older Warden continued, "Ferelden's supply should have been in the vault, but it was gone. I can only imagine someone took it out and Loghain either confiscated it or destroyed it."
"Of course he did," Alistair sighed, exchanging a bitter glance with Aedan. How many more ways was Loghain going to manage to interfere with them? "We need to get it back."
"As you know, the Joining's chance of success is slim anyway," Riordan pointed out, glancing significantly at both of them. Alistair nodded, frowning, as he remembered the thrashing, the screaming, and how often he'd witnessed Joinings like Aedan's, where only one recruit survived. "Loghain has done far worse to the Wardens than cut us off from recruiting. And from the rumours flying through Denerim, removing him from the throne is already your plan, no?" Riordan concluded, and they nodded, reluctantly.
"We were down here for a reason, were we not?" Morrigan chose that moment to ask in an impatient tone.
"Oh, yes," Aedan shook his head, as if to say he couldn't believe he forgot, before he asked the older Warden, "Do you know where Howe is?"
"I saw him go into the dungeons," Riordan pointed at another door in the corner across from his cell. "He may still be there."
Aedan was looking grimly determined again, so Alistair turned to Riordan, advising, "You should get out of here while you can." Whatever Aedan had planned for Howe, it was likely to bring a lot of guards down on their heads, and Riordan was looking awfully pale.
Riordan nodded. "Yes, I've a sudden desire to breathe some free air. I will seek you out later - after I find a good physician. And good luck . . . Brothers." They nodded and waved to him as he left out the door they had just come in, Aedan leading them deeper into the dungeon immediately after.
The next area turned out to be a long stone ramp with yet another door at the bottom. Alistair could feel it starting to get colder and damper as they followed the ramp down, passing lighted torches on the way. Aedan opened the door, having reached it first, and Alistair could hear a suspicious voice demanding, "Who goes?" from his position at the back of the line.
"Oh, come now, surely you must know me," Aedan replied smoothly, halting in the doorway, everyone piling up behind him.
"You think you're clever, do you?" the guard sneered back at him. "Anybody tries to come in here without Howe's say-so, we get to do what we like with 'em. I think we finally got a bit of entertainment here, lads!"
Aedan suddenly charged forward, drawing his sword at the same time, and they all raced through the door behind him, confronting the guards in the open room on the other side. There were a half-dozen of them, and they fought decently well, but it was still only a few moments before their party emerged victorious. Alistair looked quickly for Ayla, pleased to see that she looked unharmed, though annoyed. She was tugging at the straps on her guard's uniform, grumbling as she did so, but when Aedan called to them to move on, she went, sighing loudly.
They made their way through the dungeon, checking each room they came across for Howe and any other prisoners he might have detained down here. Around another corner, they ran into several small groups of guards who came spilling out of the rooms around them, including three mabari war hounds.
This was a much more difficult battle; Leliana went down beneath one of the hounds at one point, and everyone rushed to her aid, which in the end, got Ayla brought down by one as well. Alistair ran it through with his sword, using the momentum to shove it off Ayla, his heart pounding with frantic worry as he finished off the hound with another stroke and checked on her. Fortunately, she wasn't seriously injured; the thicker armor had protected her enough from the hound's bite that Morrigan was able to heal her fully once the battle was over.
They ended up with several small injuries for Morrigan to heal from that battle, actually. Once the battle was completed and all the hounds were defeated along with their handlers, they went into a room off to the side while she worked on everyone. When she'd moved on from Ayla, Ayla began to strip off the guard's uniform, declaring, "That is it! I am not wearing this thing anymore!"
"It did actually protect you from that bite being worse," Alistair pointed out, torn between worry and amusement as she flung the uniform across the room, one piece at a time, cursing loudly as she did so.
"No, it's why I got bit in the first place!" Ayla snarled, stalking across the room in her smallclothes to one of the dead guards who'd been wearing leathers, apparently uncaring at this point of whoever saw her half-naked. Alistair did his best to keep his focus on anything but her lovely body; it had been far too long since he'd seen her out of her armor. "I tried to shift at the start, to fight those hounds on more even ground, and it turns out my father was right. You can't shift in armor like that. So I refuse to wear it any longer!"
She proceeded to strip the leathers off the dead guard, wrinkling her nose at the smell of them, as Aedan said, "Well, we don't need to wear it anymore, anyway. Our cover's already been blown. It's a shame we couldn't have brought our own armor down here."
Privately, Alistair agreed. The uniform he was wearing didn't fit quite right over his shoulders and arms, and both pinched and rubbed a little, but it wasn't uncomfortable enough that he was willing to wear a dead man's armor just yet if he didn't have to. So he made no move to change as he watched Ayla put on the leathers, which were a bit big for her, but she pulled the laces as tight as possible to make the fit better and declared it good. When she was done, she found a set of mage robes as well, and tossed them to Morrigan, who had just finished healing everyone.
Morrigan frowned, studying the robes. "Neither prospect is very appealing, but I suppose I would rather have the robes than this armor, even if they are not mine." So saying, she proceeded to strip off her uniform as well, though not before she sent a freezing glare to everyone in the room, particularly Zevran, warning them not to look. Aedan chuckled softly, and moved to stand in front of her while she changed. In the end, Zevran and Leliana found themselves some leather armor as well, though both Aedan and Alistair kept their uniforms for now.
They moved on from that room once everyone was finished, and found a room that turned out to be a torture chamber just down the hall. They defeated another half-dozen guards in there, some of whom were probably in charge of the torturing, before they began to check to see if anyone was alive. There were bodies hanging from the ceiling on chains, and other bodies stacked in a haphazard pile in one corner. Ayla eventually had to go and sit in the opposite corner, having become too nauseous from the smell, and in the end, they only found one person still alive; a young, blonde man strapped to the torture rack.
"Was this supposed to be a lesson?" he demanded imperiously after they'd unstrapped him and helped him up. Though he could hardly keep his feet, and bore several other signs of torture, it didn't seem to have affected his attitude any as he continued, "Did my father think it funny to leave me for so long before sending you?"
Aedan shook his head as he passed him a healing potion. "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid we don't know who you are."
The young man frowned, looking suddenly confused. "Then . . . my father didn't send you?" When they shook their heads no, he went on, "I am Oswyn, son of Bann Sighard, of the Dragon's Peak Bannorn. If you aren't my father's soldiers, pray tell me, who should I be thanking for my rescue?"
"My name is Aedan, and this is Alistair – we are Grey Wardens, and these are our companions." Aedan indicated the others who stood behind himself and Alistair, and Ayla over in the corner.
Oswyn shook his head, looking grieved. "Then I have no question about why you would come, Wardens, for it is your men who have suffered the most here." Alistair exchanged a shocked glance with Aedan, knowing he was wondering the same thing; had there been other Wardens down here besides Riordan? Alistair hadn't recognized anyone amongst the bodies, though it was highly unlikely in any case there had been survivors from Ostagar, but it was possible the Orlesians might have sent a few more men when Riordan didn't return. Yet if they had, it was obvious those men were now dead, judging from the look on Oswyn's face. Howe had much more to answer for, Alistair thought grimly, and he could see the dark anger descending on Aedan's face, as well.
Not noticing their silence, Oswyn continued, "You have my heartfelt gratitude and, I assume, the gratitude of the entire Dragon's Peak Bannorn. If my father sent no one after me, I can only assume that he does not yet know the true colors of the snakes he has allied with. But if you talk to him, I'm certain he would offer you any reward you might ask."
Aedan shook his head, the anger clearing from his face as he did his best to smile courteously at Oswyn. "We need no reward, really, aside from information. May I ask why Howe was torturing you? What had you done?"
Oswyn swallowed down the healing potion they had given him, a little bit of color returning to his face, before he replied, "One soldier returning from Ostagar was my wet nurse's son. We have been friends since birth. He told me his unit was ordered to turn their backs on Cailan at Ostagar . . . before the darkspawn overwhelmed him. The next day, he disappeared. When I went to search for him . . . I accepted a drink from a stranger and ended up here." As he finished reciting his tale, he wordlessly accepted another healing potion handed to him by Leliana; Morrigan was trying to conserve her magic as much as possible, but they'd found quite a few healing potions among the guards they'd defeated so far.
Alistair couldn't say he was surprised that Loghain was covering up the fact that he'd knowingly turned his back on Cailan at Ostagar; neither was Aedan, obviously, as he looked at Alistair grimly. "Loghain grows more ruthless the closer the Landsmeet draws. We cannot let him get away with this."
"Then there is a Landsmeet after all?" Oswyn exclaimed, looking pleased. "Howe said the Arl of Redcliffe was dead, and the Landsmeet called off."
Alistair shook his head. "He lied to you. They tried to kill Arl Eamon, but they failed, and the Landsmeet is still being held, a week from now. We'll make Loghain answer for his crimes there." He was determined to see Loghain pay, now more than ever. He was only compounding the crimes he'd committed at Ostagar and against the Wardens; he needed to be stopped, before he went any further.
"Will your father side against him, do you think?" Aedan asked Oswyn.
The young nobleman nodded firmly. "I swear, if there be any forum to speak out against Loghain, my father will be there. Now, please, I must try to get to him. I . . . I cannot see the last of this place too soon."
Aedan turned to look at Leliana. "Do you think you can see him out?" When she nodded, he instructed her, "Go back to those guard uniforms we left behind, and disguise yourself and him before sneaking him out. And once you've got him safely on his way, can you take the bags with our armor back to Arl Eamon's estate?"
"Of course," Leliana said, moving to support Oswyn, "if you're certain everyone will be all right from here."
Aedan looked over at Alistair, silently asking his opinion; he nodded. He was fairly certain they'd be just fine, and it was important to get Oswyn out of here safely if he could increase their support in the Landsmeet. Aedan turned back to Leliana, saying, "We should be fine; I think we've taken care of most of the guards who are down here, by now. And there are still five of us left."
"Not to worry, my dear," Zevran told her cheerfully as she passed him, helping Oswyn to walk. "I will pick up all the slack while you're gone."
Leliana shook her head at him, looking both exasperated and amused. "I'll hold you to that," she called as she left the room with Oswyn in tow.
The rest of them went to exit the room as well; Alistair helped Ayla to her feet on the way out. "Will you be all right?" he asked her softly. She still looked a little pale, and she had her hand over her nose, obviously trying to block the smell of all the bodies.
She smiled faintly at him. "I'll be fine. I just need to get away from the smell and the nausea should clear up. Let's go find Howe, and make him pay."
"We will," Alistair agreed, steering her out the door with a gentle hand to her back. If anyone deserved what was coming to them, it was definitely Howe, he decided. The more he found out about the man, the more he wished him gone from the face of Thedas, and since that was what Aedan obviously wanted, he no longer had any problem helping him accomplish that.
They found only one more prisoner in the remaining area of the dungeon; a young male elf from the alienage, who had apparently been down here since before the previous Arl had died at Ostagar.
They discovered after releasing the elf, Soris, from his cell that he had been imprisoned for merely trying to rescue his bride, who had been abducted by the previous Arl's son, Vaughan, on their wedding day. Vaughan had knocked Soris out when he'd gone to rescue his bride, and Soris had awoken in the cell, not knowing what became of everyone else, or whether they were even still alive. No one had bothered to release him since then.
Aedan didn't look surprised; though he said he'd never met Vaughan personally, he'd heard many rumours as to what sort of person he was and what "activities" he liked to engage in, and none of the rumours had been pleasant. Alistair and the others were all appalled; Ayla and Zevran looked especially disgusted and furious. Though Alistair had heard that terrible things happened in the alienages, for some reason, he had never imagined that the alienage in Denerim was one of them. He was not happy to find out otherwise, and vowed to find out if there might be anything he could do in the future to make things better, even if he wasn't going to be king.
In the end, they sent Soris on his way, telling him to get out as quickly as he could while he had the chance. Aedan apologized for not being able to send anyone to accompany him, as he wasn't sure he could spare anyone else, but the young elf seemed to think he wouldn't have much trouble, stating that he could merely pose as a servant and no one would look twice. He hurried off, thanking them profusely for their help, and they were left to continue on their way through the dungeon.
Just around the corner from the cells where they had found Soris, they came across what had to be the final door. The only other way to go was a set of stairs leading up that was obviously another exit out of the dungeon; leaving this room as the only possible place Howe could be.
Aedan had been getting increasingly grimmer the further they went down the hall after finding Soris; he froze in front of the final door, his body vibrating with fury as he stared at it.
"This is the last door – he has to be through here," Aedan growled, not even turning to look at Alistair and the others as they halted behind him. "I will finally, finally be able to get justice for my family."
"We're here," Alistair said quietly, thinking that Aedan might need a reminder that they were all there to support him. Morrigan, as if thinking the same thing, came up and laid her hand on Aedan's shoulder; he didn't acknowledge her, but neither did he shrug her hand off. "Whenever you're ready."
Aedan wrenched the door open and marched through with Morrigan just behind him. Alistair followed with the others, wondering as they went just how much blood would end up being spilled on the other side of that door.