The ruin was quite extensive, for all it was confined to the peak of a round-topped mountain. In the morning, after an unsatisfactory breakfast of leftover cold cuts, they tackled the job of making a detailed sweep of the ruin from top to bottom. On top, very little remained except a few crumbling walls and a partial tower, but beneath, cut into the mountain itself, was a vast network of dungeons. They had their work cut out for them.
"I don't sense anything up here," Githa said, nervously, as they poked their way with great caution through the upper ruin. "Nothing aside from crumbling stonemasonry, that is."
"It's unlikely we'll find anything of note up here anyway," Loghain said. "It's too exposed to the ravages of the elements. If the mirror was here it would have broken long ago. We'll have better luck perhaps in the substructure."
"Now hang on," Maric said. "This place is fascinating. Why don't we look around a bit more?"
"Look, I know you're a king and everything," Githa said, "but this doesn't feel really very safe up here."
"You think it will be better in the dungeons, where the whole tower can come crumbling down on top of us? Come on; how often do you get to explore ancient ruins?"
"We're likely to be doing a lot of it in the coming days, unless we get lucky enough to find the damned thing our first time out - which I doubt," Loghain said.
"Oh, I don't know. I've always been kind of lucky," Maric said. "For example, the time I was lost in the woods, running for my life, and ran into a kind-hearted but surly young outlaw who helped me out at enormous personal expense."
"Yeah? Well, if he'd known the cost at the time he would have left you to rot," Loghain said.
"And I was lucky, then, that he didn't. But admit it, he knew something bad might come of helping me, didn't he?"
"You were the surly young outlaw, then, I take it?" Githa asked Loghain.
"Yes."
"You were an outlaw?"
"I was a Ferelden peasant. At the time, it meant pretty much the same thing."
"So what did it cost you, helping the King?"
"My father's life."
"Oh. I'm…I'm sorry."
"Come on, let's look around a bit more before we take to the deeps," Maric said. "I like this place."
The trio continued poking cautiously through the upper stories. "What do you think this place was used for?" Maric asked. "It certainly looks like it was quite heavily decorated at one time."
"From the unbroken bits of the friezes, I'd guess the place had some sort of significance to the worshippers of the Old God Urthemiel," Githa said. "He was supposed to be the god of beauty, so that explains all the paintings and sculptures."
"In what ways did the Tevinters worship old Urthemiel?" Maric asked. His tone was carefully innocent.
"Festivals, animal sacrifices…orgies."
"Ah, the humble orgy. What better way to celebrate life than with group sex?"
"Sounds revolting to me. Who wants to have sex with a bunch of other pricks waving in the same room?" Loghain said.
"I'm a one-guy-at-a-time woman myself," Githa said, with a wink in his direction.
"How many women will you lay with at a time?" Maric asked.
"Maric," Loghain said.
"What? A man can dream, can't he?"
"No more than three. Any more than that and it gets confusing," Githa said.
"Are you serious?" Maric asked.
"No, I'm not serious. But I had you wondering, didn't I?"
"No, but you've got him salivating. Clean yourself up, Maric," Loghain said. "This is getting us nowhere; I'm going to head down into the dungeons, with or without you."
Loghain turned and headed for the stairs. Githa moved to follow him but Maric held her back. "Hold up just a moment, dear. I'd like to speak to you, privately."
She looked at him with wariness in her eyes. "Yes?"
Maric checked to be certain Loghain was out of earshot. "He has abominably good hearing, and if he knew I'd spoken to you he'd be very angry," he said. "I wanted to ask you, just what are your intentions?"
"I beg your pardon?"
"Your intentions. With regard to Loghain."
She laughed nervously. "Are you his father, now?"
"No, I'm his friend, and I know him well. If you're only teasing, I'll thank you to leave him be. He doesn't need that."
"If I'm only teasing?"
"You know what I mean. Now, personally, I'm all for a little innocent flirtation, but Loghain doesn't function that way. Don't start something you're not prepared to take further. He's very vulnerable. I'm not saying you have to sleep with him, don't think that. Just…don't play with his heart. Don't reach for it if you don't want it."
There was a low wall of stone beside the stairwell. Githa hoisted herself to a seat on top of it. "You're telling me not to break his heart. I get that. I'm not out to. I don't know how long it is until I'm back in lockup; I'm just trying to enjoy my freedom while it lasts. I admit; the idea of sleeping with a man like that has a lot of appeal to me. But I get it. I can't have anything more than a fling, and he's not a 'fling' kind of man. I'll back off."
Maric raised both hands and shook them in front of his face in a negative gesture. "No no no no no. Don't think like that. Don't think 'it's only so long until I'm back at the Circle.' Don't think 'I can only afford a fling.' Would you potentially like more than that, if you could have it?"
"What, you mean, like, a relationship? Why dream beyond my means?"
"Would you or wouldn't you?"
"I don't know. Maybe. Probably. He seems like a good guy, if a little ornery perhaps. I don't mind ornery. But hey, even if I weren't a mage, he's still a Teyrn."
"Yes, a Teyrn who started out as an outlaw, and don't buy anything he tells you about that because I'm pretty sure he broke all kinds of laws, many of which the Orlesians had nothing to do with. You let me worry about his status. If you get to know him better, and still think there's a chance you want to get to know him better still…go for it. He really needs a good woman. He doesn't do well on his own."
"First you tell me not to break his heart, and next you tell me to seek out a relationship with him?" Githa asked. "Do you really not see what's wrong with this concept?"
"You don't want to go back to the Circle. I'm a King, Githa; you don't seem to believe it but it's true. I can make that happen for you. I will make it happen. You're helping me, I'm more than happy to help you in return. But that man you're keen on? He's not a good one, Githa. He's one of the best. And he is very, very unhappy. And more than a little self-destructive. If you have even a slim chance in hell of changing that even the slightest bit, I'm going to do everything I can to help you. I owe him that."
Githa jumped down off the wall. "I'm a little overwhelmed." In truth she looked pale and close to fainting. "This is a lot to take in."
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have piled everything on top of you right at the start," Maric said. "Loghain is the best friend I've ever had, or could ever have, and he's saved my life times beyond counting. I hate to see him the way he is when he thinks he's alone in the world."
"He's got you," Githa pointed out.
Maric smiled. "Loghain would do anything for a friend. But friends are just friends. He needs something more than that, to remind him that he's human."
"What is it he thinks he is?" Githa asked.
Maric's smile faltered, and he sighed. "He thinks…he's a monster. And doubtless he hasn't waited up for us, so we'd better go and find him."