BioWare owns all that is not mine, and we all know what that is. LOL!
Well, Greagoir actually was judge, jury, and flight instructor, too bad for Veyryl that his arrogance, cruelty, and the law of gravity made him sink like a lead balloon, no? So we have a noble's brat who has been summarily disposed of, and that may come back and bite Greagoir in the backside, and what of this using of Templars as her own personal army by Anora? When you seek quantity, quality obviously goes way down, if our plummeting pedophile was any indication. So Kai and her group will leave the mage Tower for now, their current project finished. Will they have to return, let's just say the Bronto poo poo hasn't quite hit the proverbial metal spinning thing just yet where the Tower is concerned, so yeah. But we won't see that just yet. Since you all don't want the story to end too soon, I didn't figure you would all mind if we travel elsewhere for bit and return. My thanks to Night Hunter MGS for the ideas being cooked in my brain pan for this. : )
And my special shout outs go to two wonderful writers in their own right. First Night Hunter MGS for "Why." a fanfic that delves into the emotions of a real world shooting on a campus and the death of a special person there. It is not DA:O but it is worth reading, as are his other works for Anime and games, "Why" made me cry. And thanks to Misame and her DA:O fanfic "Confessions." Please go read and review, it is a wonderful story. And the story like mine is 60+ chapters and counting titled "The Night Was Full of Stars," by the talented Alairis. And if you want a really wonderful, chasing down Alistair after he leaves because you make Loghain a Warden fic, check out Shadow of Light's "The Hunt," here and on the forum for DA:O, on the forum Shadow of Light Dragon is the name, same title. We have such wonderful writing on this site. I am enjoying reading what you all write!
Shoutouts to TX Ranger, Skyeseeker, and Bingham Vance for reviewing, it really makes my day to see new people, I appreciate that you took time out of your busy day to do this. I can't thank you enough, and reviews really help the author keep on going. Since I couldn't thank you with a personal email, Bingham, thank you so much, and to all of you who put my story on your favs and alerts, my heartfelt appreciation, I only hope I continue to entertain you. And for all of you, everyone, who continues to review and love the story, I am humbled. And as Night Hunter MGS's story "Why" illustrates, it is how you treat the people you care about that shows your love of them. I know this is all the ether of the 'internet,' but I hold you all in such high regard. I know I can't physically show you how much you all mean to me, but you do. I couldn't make this story what it is without you all, ethereal hugs from me to you. : )
And a shout out for part of this story and a plot device that will appear in this chapter to Night Hunter MGS, I used his personal experience in the military for the scene with Lorcan, thanks Chainsaw, aka Night Hunter MGS, and for you, MouseMage, a bit of Cullen. : )
Again, so sorry this chapter was delayed, I know you all tell me it is worth waiting for, but I feel terrible when I don't have it out as usual, stupid real life. Anyone ever had a chapter to write that was like pulling teeth, ARG! And I hope to play Awakenings today, but still have chores to do, BLEH, but chores can wait chapter first, hehe.
Blessings!
Kai put her hand on Greagoir's shoulder and looked over the edge. From this distance the body looked like a doll for the dollhouse of Highever she had had as a child. It had been given to Father by some noble trying to curry favor. Veyryl's body looked just like one of the little guards that had come with it, his armor shone dimly amongst the black rocks of the island. She felt her belly clench, and her heart tried to make its way into her throat, the wind blew her hair back and pushed at her like an invisible fist, Maker, that was a long way down. Kai turned back to Greagoir, "You do realize that this could come back and bite you in the arse?"
"Let it, there isn't much of an arse to bite anymore, with all that's been going on." Greagoir grinned at her, a great weight seemed to have lifted from the man's shoulders, "He got what was coming to him. It should have been more, but it will do."
Zev's head appeared in the trapdoor before the rest of him followed, climbing nimbly up and out. His easy gait carried him towards them and then to the edge where he too gazed down to the rocks below. He turned toward Greagoir with a wide grin on his face, "I see the errant Templar felt such remorse over his crime that he did the honorable thing and killed himself, how considerate of him." Zev chuckled and clapped a hand on Greagoir's shoulder, the Knight-Commander looked at Zevran and laughed.
"Perhaps we should take ourselves off the roof and find out if anyone else was aware of Veyryl's acts." Greagoir nodded back toward the entrance Zevran had climbed up, and they made their way back down to Irving's office.
Wynne, Argus and Gnat had all opted to stay with Irving, Greagoir explained what happened with Veyryl, and even Wynne didn't give any signs of disapproval nor a lecture of any sort. Gnat just looked at Greagoir with approval and a glint of respect in her eye, Irving said nothing but came from around his desk, shook Greagoir's hand and embraced him, "Thank you, old friend, I know I should be above such things, but I can't help feel some satisfaction. I doubt with his noble status, bastard or no, that there would have been any consequences for him, I wish I had been there to help you."
"No you don't, old friend, as Kai has pointed out, this is going to bite me in the arse. For you it could have meant The Rite of Annulment, Anora and the Grand Cleric are just that petty. I will not see the Tower that this young woman saved be destroyed because of one bastard rapist." Greagoir smiled at Irving, "Better it land on me."
Kai put one hand each on Greagoir's and Irving's shoulders, "You should know I am not about to let either of you become fodder for either of those two petty wenches, three if you count The Revered Mother. Or rather, 'The Silver Griffon' isn't about to, we're all in this together, gentlemen," they both nodded at her. "But we do need to start figuring out who might be sympathetic to Anora and the Grand Bitch, and who will be with the 'Griffon.' If we find anyone who knew about what was going on with Drysi, that might be a good start at weeding out the undesirables."
Greagoir went to the door and spoke to the young Templar outside once again, he closed the door and went to one of Irving's cabinets and turned to Irving with a cocked eyebrow, "May I, my friend?" Irving nodded at him and Greagoir opened it up and came back with a bottle of brown liquid and a short glass. He looked at Kai and the rest, "Irving's secret stash for visitors who might want something stronger than wine, anyone want some whiskey?" They all shook their heads except Gnat, and Greagoir poured himself, and her, a stiff drink and threw his back as a knock came at the door.
"Come in," Irving bid the person. They all looked at the door to find the Templar Cullen slipping into the room, he stopped, looking confused by the people in the room, but he shut the door and nodded to Irving, then Greagoir. "Hello, my boy, we need your help, Greagoir and I."
"We have a special guest, Cullen, one I know you've met already" Greagoir nodded to Kai.
Kai removed her hood and stepped forward, Cullen's eyes got wide, "My lady, I thought you were dead!" Cullen flushed and looked at the floor as if in shame.
"Well, to Anora and any of her followers, I am, and I would like to keep it that way, you understand?" Kai watched as Cullen looked up and nodded.
"I was not as courteous or as grateful as I should have been the last time we met. I..."
Kai cut him off, "You had just been through a terrifying ordeal, I understand." She smiled at him.
"As had you, my lady. Irving and Greagoir told me what had happened to you, and yet you refused to kill any innocents. I would have done so. It shames me, my lady. Irving and I have had long talks about what Uldred did to both of us. I realized I wasn't alone and that mages like him and Niall were all trying, like me, to stop what was happening, I'm sorry I did not handle it better," Cullen looked at his feet.
"Nonsense, my dear boy," Irving gently admonished the Templar as he turned to Kai, "As you can see, Cullen and I are working on not blaming ourselves for what happened and believing that we couldn't stop it from happening."
Kai smiled and gently touched Cullen on the arm, "Well, maybe when you figure out how to do that, you can teach me?" Cullen looked her in the eyes and laughed, nodding, "It was a horrid experience for all involved, I'm glad you are not letting it break you. You are too good a man and too good a Templar to let it, Ser Cullen," Cullen blushed harder, "We need your help. I need your help, you've heard of 'The Silver Griffon?'"
"Yes, my lady, I traveled to Amaranthine some time back, The Grand Cleric summoned me there. I saw the devastation from the Blight and the starving people. I heard the stories of a person called 'The Silver Griffon' working for Ferelden, doing what Anora should have been doing all along. When I got to Amaranthine, the Grand Cleric wanted me to be a part of Anora's private Templar guard, I told the old biddy what I had seen and what I thought of Anora. It did not endear me to the Grand Cleric, The Revered Mother, or Anora. I was subsequently sent back to the Tower along with a group of young men and women who had been neither properly vetted nor trained. I have been helping the Knight-Commander as much as I can to rectify that." With this Cullen drew himself up and squared his shoulders.
"I couldn't do it without him, to tell the truth, it's been a daunting and arduous task as is." Greagoir flashed Cullen a smile, "If he weren't helping me, I would get no sleep at all instead of the four to five hours I do manage to get now. But now I need your help with something else entirely, dear boy." Greagoir went on to explain to Cullen about Veyryl and Drysi and about the culprit's fall from grace and his fall from the tower.
"We need to know, if there are any Templars in particular that were friends with Veyryl who might have known and looked the other way. I, myself, with Wynne's help," Irving looked to the mage who nodded at him, "will try and find out if there are any other victims from Veyryl's unwanted advances."
Cullen's eyebrows came together in concentration, "A few of the younger rowdies liked to keep company with him, as they too are noble's bastard whelps. Others who aren't nobility hung around for the bragging rights of being part of his group of friends, even if he was the misbegotten spawn of a mistress. But only one Templar in particular was his constant companion, a man named Lorcan. He comes from a poor family, I think he thought that hanging around Veyryl would make some of the nobility rub off on him or garner him some favors. I don't know if he knew what was going on or if he was helping, if they were supposed to be on guard duty, then to slip away to...to do what he was doing, he must have had Lorcan covering for him."
"Which means this Templar, even if he didn't participate, aided and abetted your molester." Zevran's voice was the cold voice of the assassin, and as if from nowhere, one of his small poisoned daggers appeared in his hands to be twirled between practiced fingers.
Greagoir looked at Zev with a grimace, "I appreciate your wanting to help with our other Templar, but I would ask that you let me handle it my way. He may not have been aware with whom Veyryl was spending his time, he may have thought that it was with someone older and willing." He raised a hand before anyone could protest, "It does not excuse his lack of discipline nor the fact that he went against the code of conduct we Templars are supposed to adhere to, but we have a way of dealing with it. It will be an opportunity for one of those 'learning moments' for the other new recruits and a stark reminder for the older ones. Cullen would you gather all the Templars in the Tower at the training area, it's large enough to hold us all." Cullen nodded and left the room. "My lady, I know you will want to see and hear this, but I implore you to keep your hood up and stay in the little first-aid atrium off the training area." Kai nodded, and they all made their way down the Tower's levels to file out to the training yard behind the Tower. The yard adjoined the Templars' barracks, and Kai and her group quickly found the atrium and settled themselves into positions where they could see the proceedings.
Kai watched as the Templars from the Tower and the barracks all filed out and stood in rows, Greagoir and Cullen stood near in the front of the gathering soldiers. Greagoir waited until all of the Templars were there, then he called Lorcan to come forward, he spoke briefly to the young man with a round face and mousy brown hair. From her position, she could not hear what was being said, but she could see the young Templar shake his head as his eyes got wide and his face went pale. Greagoir shook his head, and Kai heard the young man yell, "NO!" Cullen signaled two other Templars forward to grab the young man by the arms. Greagoir turned back to the gathered Templars, pitching his voice so it carried. Kai suspected that was partially for her benefit.
"Templar Veyryl was found guilty of raping one of the mages in the tower, not only did he force himself on one of them, but she was no more than a child. He has paid the ultimate price for this crime. Lorcan here helped him by covering for him. Lorcan says he did not know it was not a willing tryst nor whom it was with, but that is irrelevant, it is conduct unbecoming in a Templar. We are not only here to protect citizens from the possible abuses of magic, we are also here to protect the mages as well. Veyryl took advantage of being a Templar and abused his power. Lorcan broke a sacred trust by turning a blind eye to what he was doing. He is now stripped of his rank and cast out of the Templars, he is no longer your brother, and there is no such person as Lorcan. No one is to look at him. No one is to speak his name ever, he does not exist." Kai watched Lorcan shaking his head and muttering while all of the other Templars immediately stopped looking at him, they all looked through him.
Greagoir went to him and removed the sash from around the young man's waist. He took a bottle sitting next to him and doused the sash with the liquid in it. Cullen handed him a torch, and Greagoir dropped the sash on the ground and touched the flame to it. As it burned, he took his own sash and dropped it on the flaming pile adding a little more of the contents of the bottle. One by one, the other Templars filed past Lorcan, ignoring him as if he didn't exist, to take their own sashes and add them to the burning pile. Greagoir occasionally added more liquid to keep the flames going. Two who had dropped their sashes went to hold Lorcan so those keeping him still could add theirs, when they were finished, they released him to stand in formation. Kai watched as Lorcan went from Greagoir to Cullen to running amongst the others, begging and pleading, they all kept their faces expressionless. Finally, he started to try and grab them, to make them look at him. They kept their arms locked behind their backs, or shoved him away with their shoulders, all the while looking through him or past him.
"Look at me, damn you," Lorcan was yelling now.
Greagoir dismissed them, and the assembled Templars all dispersed to go back to what they had been doing. One Templar had apparently been assigned to get all of Lorcan's belongings together. She dropped a bag on the ground outside the door of the barracks before going back inside and shutting the door, locking it with an audible click. Kai watched as Lorcan pounded on the door, screaming, it was then that Kai and her group quietly went back into the tower and up Irving's office.
Kai found Irving sitting behind his desk with a sad expression while holding a glass of wine. Greagoir sat down while knocking back another glass of whiskey. She addressed them both, "Well, gentleman, I think we had best get back to the inn, I don't want the man I left back in town getting jumpy and riding back to Highever to gather a Scath army, thinking I have been locked in the Tower. It wouldn't go well for you all." Kai smiled, "Irving, Greagoir, it was good to see you again," Kai handed Greagoir and Irving each one of the Scath disks. "Use this if you need me, or the 'Griffon', send it to the barkeep at The Spoiled Princess, he'll know how to find me."
"Thank you, dear lady, and we will, and I will tell you to do the same, should you need us. The rest of the Templars may be Anora's lackeys, but I give you my word, any sent here will be at your disposal. I have a feeling that before all is said and done, you may need us all." Greagoir gave her a small smile.
Kai grinned at him, clasping his forearm as he clasped hers, she gave Irving a quick hug. "It was a pleasure spending time with you gentlemen."
Gnat gave them both a small salute, and Argus barked as if in agreement, Zev laughed and nodded at them.
"I will come back tomorrow, Irving, Greagoir, so I can help talk to the other young mages who knew Drysi and see if any others have been victims, until then, my old friends, keep well." Wynne smiled warmly at the Head Enchanter and Greagoir before they all made their way back to the ferry landing.