Disclaimer: I don't own Dragon Age or any of its related characters. This is just for my own enjoyment and the potential enjoyment of other fans like me, and no monetary gain was expected or received.

Rating: T+

Spoilers: May contain spoilers for Origins, Awakening, Origins DL content, and Dragon Age II as well as the novels The Stolen Throne and The Calling.

Chapter Eighty-Two: Antiva Bound

Loghain cautioned circumspection but Alistair wanted to move, and move now. It was difficult to restrain the man now that he had the bit in his teeth. It was all Loghain could do to hold him long enough to organize the voyage. Fortunately, he had help.

"You're not going up against the Crows without me," Elilia said, when she heard the rudimentary plan. "No way and no how. Why should you and Alistair have all the fun? Besides, who better to have at your back in a brawl against overwhelming numbers of assassins?"

Who better indeed. Seanna was brought in, and Zevran the former Crow also promised his aid, seeing the adventure as great fun and yet another opportunity to deliver some hurt to his old masters. It was a team that made Loghain feel quite a bit easier in his mind about undertaking this ill-advised mission, although he didn't fully trust Zevran. Elilia did, and he trusted her, but he would be keeping his closest watch on the charming assassin. If he was tired of fighting cells of his prior compatriots then it wasn't out of the realm of possibility that handing over a trio of high-profile targets would be a good political move for him. The Crows had been unsuccessfully attempting to assassinate Loghain for decades, and there had to be someone out there willing to pay for Alistair's death. Orlais, for example. There was probably a contract already. The same went for Elilia: she was a rallying-point for Ferelden morale, and the Empress undoubtedly wanted to be rid of her.

It was fortunate that Fergus so liked spending time with his niece, for even moving as swiftly as possible they could not be back in Ferelden for some months. It hurt, physically, to think of leaving his young daughter for so long, even discounting the idea that they might never come home. But if there was even the slimmest chance that Maric was alive, and in Antiva, he had to be a part of the team that brought him home at last. He did not expect his old friend to forgive him, but there were things he needed to say, and make apologies for.

Captain Isabela and her ship were contracted to take them to and from Antiva, and the Captain volunteered herself to go along for the adventure. It was another person to keep a watch on, for he didn't trust the dark-eyed Rivaini any more than he trusted the Crow, but at least it was another pair of blades provided he could keep them out of their backs. And keeping a watch on the Captain for the duration of the mission meant that the ship would be waiting for them when they needed it. A fast getaway was a sure necessity.

It was Elilia, with Anora's cooperation, who finally got Alistair to wait long enough to bring the expedition together properly. They could not leave, the women said, until Harvest learned to read, so she could read the letters her mother and father would send back to her from the ship on any vessel that could be hailed headed Ferelden's way. They would be traveling as fast as Isabela could make her ship go, which was evidently quite fast, but the trip would still take time. A doting father himself, Alistair could not deny them the outlet of letters home, or a daughter who could read them for herself. With the rapidity with which the child learned every other skill, it would not delay their voyage long. Indeed, Harvest could already recite the whole of the alphabet and recognize her own name in print.

With both parents taking it in turn to coach the little girl it took only a month to bring her to fluency. In that month preparations for the voyage were made, and they were able to get underway before springtime turned to summer. Loghain stood at Elilia's side on the deck of the Siren's Call II and thought of another voyage on another ship years before. He hoped that this journey would come to a happier conclusion than that one. A much happier conclusion. Memories he'd worked hard to put behind him threatened to overwhelm him again. He shoved them away with irritation.

Days spent aboard ship never agreed with him. There was nothing for him to do, for he could not work alongside the sailors. But it was Elilia's first time on an ocean voyage and her interest in the sea and its occasionally visible creatures provided some entertainment. She wanted to see whales. Somewhere off the coast of the Free Marches, she got her wish.

The first warning they got of it was a great foamy spout off the starboard bow, only a few yards away. Next a great, broad back came rolling up right alongside the boat and another great spout sprayed the sailors on that side of the ship.

Elilia ran to the rail. "There they are! Maker's ass, they're huge! Loghain, look!"

He looked. He'd seen whales before, but not from such a near distance. He was struck by the way the beasts were utterly fearless beside the boat, as if they somehow knew it was not a whaler. Perhaps they did know. The unique stench of the ships that hunted whale were a clear mark of intent. It was a large pod of humpbacked monsters, perhaps a dozen animals in all. Another rolled up alongside the boat and Loghain looked directly into one of its calm, clear eyes for a brief moment. It looked mildly curious, as if it considered human beings only moderately interesting and worthy of study. There was intelligence there, he was sure of it. Maybe even nobility. Hell, if nobility was a human concept there was probably something greater than nobility in this supposedly dumb beast.

Then the whale dove back beneath the surface, and the moment was over. Loghain quickly forgot his musings and felt only embarrassment that he had had them at all. He turned away from the rail and scratched Champion's ears. The black mabari, now two years old, had reached her adult size, large even by the standards of the breed. Her head was almost two hand lengths broad. Haakon, too, had grown into his adult size, not so large as Champion but an impressive animal nonetheless. Neither seemed to mind the ocean voyage in the slightest, though keeping things clean behind them posed minor difficulties. Captain Isabela complained of the smell of dog piss on her ship.

Champion watched the whales intently, stumpy tail wagging. She barked, a deep bass sound now that she had her growth. A huge tail fluke waved lazily as if in response, then sank back below the water. The pod stayed with the ship for some miles more, disappearing and reappearing at random, and then their course diverted, perhaps following their food, or perhaps simply tiring of playing with the strange creatures riding the back of the great wooden beast. Elilia watched them until they disappeared.

She turned her back to the rail and took hold of Loghain's arm.

"Isn't the sea beautiful?" she said. "If it weren't for the threat of imminent death, possibly for no good reason whatsoever if Maric isn't there, this would be a nice holiday excursion."

"I wish we could show Harvest the whales," Loghain said.

"Oh, wouldn't she love them? But she'd probably jump in and try to catch one. That wouldn't be good. We will have to describe them very well for her in our next letter."

"We're likely to get home before our letters do."

"So much the better. I'm grateful for the respite, but I want to get back to my baby, preferably alive."

"We'll get back."

Loghain turned back to the rail and leaned against it. He watched the horizon as the waters slipped by beneath their bow.

"So we're off to rescue the man in the leather mask, eh?" Elilia said, and turned back to lean on the rail beside him. "Sounds like the title of an adventure story."

"That's what your friend Zevran said. A prisoner in a leather mask. Could be anybody. They claim it's Maric."

"What do you think the chances are that it is?"

"Low to nonexistent."

"Then why are we going?"

"Because a slim chance is still a chance."

"Hm. I suppose. I guess even a slim chance is enough when you're talking reuniting a father with his estranged son."

"Estrangement is too mild a word to describe Maric and Alistair. I'm surprised the boy cares so much."

"That sounded suspiciously like a criticism of your old friend. I thought you thought he walked on water."

"I loved Maric but he could be intensely stupid, mostly concerning women and his children."

"Do you think they've got a chance at reconciling?"

"Assuming we find him? Maybe so. There are grandchildren to consider now: those two could bring any family back together. They worked for me, and I'm probably a little bit worse than Maric in Alistair's eyes."

"That would be nice to see; Alistair reconciling with his father. Worth the trip, I guess. I wonder what Maric will be like, after so long in prison."

"Again, assuming that it's him, I can guarantee you one thing: he'll want to talk. He'll want to talk and talk and talk and talk and talk."

"I don't know. Seventeen years in prison could have quieted him."

"Not Maric."

"Well, I guess we'll find out soon enough. We'll find out if this has been a wild goose chase or not. It would be not nice to piss off the Antivans for some random guy with a leather and bondage fetish."

"It's not likely to be a sexual fetishist if he's in prison," Loghain pointed out.

"True, but it doesn't mean it's Maric, or even a Fereldan. Could be an Orlesian. That would be a waste of our energies."

"Granted."

"Still think it's worth the try?"

"If there is any chance at all that it is Maric: yes."