I'm not a mage but there is something inside me, something magical and unexplainable. I know for certain that if I were to go in the Tower and the Rite was called upon, then I too will disappear."
- Hadrian Cousland
A Secret Told
"So, something is going on here, isn't it?" Alistair remarked in a somewhat cheeky tone. The Knight-Commander Greagoir glared at the senior Warden and Hadrian merely smiled at the scowling Knight Templar, hoping that it would be enough to diffuse the tension between the Templars and his group, which just happened to have an apostate.
"I see that the Chantry hasn't completely made you docile," Greagoir said dryly. The Knight-Commander's comment caused Alistair's back to straighten. Any man would respond aggressively to such an insult and Hadrian was quite pleased to notice how Alistair's eyes lit up in anger. However, while Alistair was quite good at spitting out light-hearted insults, he was unfortunately good at pissing off the wrong people.
Seeing the Tower as it is, Hadrian figured that now was not the time for Alistair to be just Alistair. As soon as Alistair opened his mouth, Hadrian pressed his foot lightly on top of his friend and cleared his throat politely. The tactic worked and Sir Greagoir shifted his gaze from Alistair to finally land on Hadrian's face.
"So, what do you propose, Sir Greagoir?" Hadrian asked in a neutral tone. The Knight-Commander's face immediately softened in worry and deep concern.
"With the presence of Abominations, I cannot risk in opening the doors again. I have lost too many men and many mages are lost already."
"Did you send anyone in the first place?"
Sir Greagoir's initial lack of response answered Hadrian's question and the noble experienced a sense of deep disappointment.
Sir Greagoir was one of the few Templars who treated his charges with respect and did not condone any insult or violence done against mages. His steady temperament helped him go through the ranks of the Templars with ease and his strict neutrality earned the respect of both factions. However, even a man of great power was vulnerable to the fears of his men and this was such a case.
Hadrian, while he understood the dangers of a crazed mage, could never understand how the fears were blown out of proportion sometimes. It often resulted in violent incursion like the one now and most often than not, the mages usually suffered the worst of the injuries and of the punishment.
Before Hadrian could speak against Sir Greagoir's actions, the Knight-Commander took in a deep breath before continuing to say, "I have sent men at the first sign of Uldred's rebellion, but then abominations started to appear more rapidly and my men fell almost as quick. I had no choice but to close the doors and keep them shut."
"Uldred?" Hadrian had heard of that name once and Loren Amell, ever the astute boy he was, told him in a flat tone that it was because of people like Uldred and Sir Greagoir that mages were mistreated thusly. If you have two groups, one inherently powerful while the other is politically powerful, it is inevitable for them to clash, and to clash violently. Hadrian thought Loren was just trying to be smug and all-knowing, but now he should have really paid attention to his friend's musings. Speaking of which, wouldn't Loren be in the tower?
"We'll go in," Hadrian said suddenly and to Morrigan's great disappointment. The topaz-eye witch held an immense contempt for the Mages trapped in the Tower. Her lips pursed into a thin line and she clearly showed her disapproval by saying out loud, "Oh lovely. We get to solve everybody's problems, including our very own."
Leliana scowled back at the witch but Morrigan continued speaking over Hadrian, "if we are to go then, what would happen if we fail? Will you cast the Rite of Annulment so easily then? Would you give the order, knowing that you are sending in the last scion of the Cousland Household?"
The reaction to Hadrian's secret heritage was immediately felt. There was a strange hush followed by expressions of disbelief and then great sorrow, for everyone in the Tower had heard of the Cousland Family. The executioner had no qualms in proclaiming the betrayal of the Cousland Family to the King and the subsequent execution of the entire household. However, the execution was meted out without the King's approval and confusion over the accuracy of Loghain's reports fizzled into false rumors.
"Cousland? Now, I know why you're so familiar," Sir Greagoir replied and his men hastened to his side. The sudden shift in their attitude alarmed Hadrian but a dismissal wave of Sir Gregoir's hand calmed the tension a bit.
"Loghain himself said that he had solid evidence of the Couslands sending correspondence to Orlais, letters of wanting to overtake the throne of Ferelden Herself. However, be that as it may, the last thing we need is a civil war, not with the Darkspawn hanging over our heads. Also, as old and faithful as the Couslands are to the Theirin Line, I honestly do not believe in rumors, especially when birthed by one Arl Howe."
The name of Arl Howe made Hadrian's hands ball into tight fists and Alistair noticed the sudden spike in heartbeat as well as the heavy scent of anger and vengeance. He could literally feel the heat coming from Hadrian and he placed an assuring hand on his friend's shoulder, hoping that it would alleviate whatever he was feeling right now.
It was too late for Hadrian though. His secret was out, thanks to one talkative Witch of the Wilds.
Knight Greagoir ignored his rising temper and the fifty-year old Commander turned to his men, only to demand for their vow of silence of what had just transpired in the room.
"I'm going in," was all Hadrian could say, his teeth gritting together in absolute rage. He was going to have a long talk with Morrigan after all this.
The witch herself knew what she was doing but she was not prepared for the murderous glint in Hadrian's eyes. She had known that Hadrian favoured the mages. It was this oddity that made her remember the stories he would sometimes tell, however vague they were. The stories were just relayed to her quite recently in fact, and for some odd reason, Hadrian opened up some more. Of course, a little bit of strong ale always helped and she was fascinated by how fast and how much her friend could drink and still keep conscious.
"The Rite of Annulment doesn't just affect mages. It affects all who aren't mages but are still linked to the Fade one way or another. I'm not a mage but there is something inside me, something magical and unexplainable. I know for certain that if I were to go in the Tower and the Rite was called upon, then I too will disappear."
Hadrian was speculating on possible scenarios but this hit too close to home and she was very sorry about having done this. However, she knew it had to be done, for her contemptible peers and for Hadrian.
Everyone took a step aside to allow for the last member of the Couslands walk by. Alistair, for once, did not hesitate on his decision and he followed suite, wanting to make sure his friend wasn't suddenly stabbed in the back by a Templar sword.
Leliana also went after them and she pulled Morrigan along, hissing in her ear, "you're coming with us."
Morrigan really didn't need any persuasion for she knew she was an apostate. An apostate surrounded by Templars was bad. An apostate surrounded by Templars who had just witnessed that mages are much more powerful and more dangerous when cornered is just ugly. Morrigan hated ugly situations and she would rather not test Fate with her stubbornness in not going after Hadrian, even if it meant swallowing down her pride.
The doors swung open to permit them entry and it shut ominously after they went through. A novice Templar whispered in another's ear, "shouldn't we go after them? A full load of Templars couldn't defeat Uldred and his rebels."
The Templar he was talking to shook his head mournfully. "It's up to them now. Either way, this is going to end. Let's just hope that they're successful."
The Knight-Commander overheard their brief conversation and he was already concerned about the group that just entered the first floor of the Mage's Tower. While it was true that the Couslands were faithful to the Theirin line, it wasn't exactly the same for the entire dynasties of Ferelden rulings. The betrayal of the Couslands to a despotic King Arland was common knowledge, as was the King's rash decision to execute all but two of the entire clan.
The Couslands weren't the only ones to suffer such an unfortunate punishment at the King's ruthless hand for the Dyrdens accompanied them in their fall from power. Tales of Sophia Dryden still circulated throughout Ferelden, some true and others completely false or embellished. Unlike the Drydens though, the Couslands remained loyal to the interests of Ferelden and their stubborn faithfulness earned them another opportunity to rise to power, especially when one Sarim Cousland saved King Maric's grandfather in one of the notorious battles against the Orlesian might.
Thus, despite the family's history of rebellion, Knight-Commander Greagoir knew that the Couslands were good judges of character. He himself was actually good friends with Bryce and it had utterly angered him that Arl Howe had even suggested of the Cousland's perfidious actions to the King's Advisor, Loghain Mac Tir.
As he saw the doors close shut after the departing party, he fully trusted that Bryce's youngest son would do everything in his power to stop Uldred. The experienced commander, for the first time ever, wished that he would see the First enchanter again, whole and stubborn as always.
-o0o-
The group didn't even raise a hand or step forward when Hadrian just slammed Morrigan into the closest stone wall. The force of it made the Witch gasp out breathlessly and she slightly slumped as a muscled forearm dug itself into her trachea, just barely allowing enough room for her to breath.
To say that Hadrian was angry was a gross understatement. Both Alistair and Leliana were both extremely shocked to see such a change overcome Hadrian, so much so that he was almost a different man and this time, Morrigan wasn't the only one to see the outline of a wolf. Its neck hairs were bristled and Alistair saw that the shadow wolf was snarling, its teeth bared at the prey in front of him.
Morrigan, for her part, did not even flinch, although her face paled considerably. Leliana was about to step forward when an arm flung out in front of her, stopping her progress.
"Alistair! He's going to-"
"No, he's not," Alistair said in a deep voice, unlike the light boyish tone he usually had when talking with others. "This is between him and Morrigan. I quite frankly don't like the woman myself, but this needs to be sorted out now."
While the two looked on the scene cautiously, the Qunari was rather amused to see such a display of power. It was not uncommon to see a strong male assert his dominance over others, although Hadrian's slender form belied such a strength that he would normally see in himself or other warriors.
If one didn't know any better, they would have laughed at the situation and scoffed at it in a nonsensical way, thinking that the Qunari was lying or something.
Hadrian's silver hair was longer than most men, but from his angular face, one could never mistake him for a woman. His eyes were too sharp to be female's and his jaw too square too either. Those manly features did nothing to mar the man's beauty. It rather contrasted nicely with his slender, but toned form and the Qunari, while he never looked upon another male in an abnormal way, appreciated the form standing before him.
"Morrigan," Hadrian snarled at the witch, whose own eyes glared back at him.
"You know full well that this secret, if kept a secret any longer, would be deadly to us!"
"It is still my secret. I don't know how you knew about this and I feel like I can't trust you anymore. What other secrets do you know? Tell me! Let's have it out here and now!"
The forearm pressed even harder and Morrigan started to gasp for air. Now her hands clutched desperately at the offending arm. Her eyes darted nervously to the others, silently begging for help, for any form of interference. She got what she asked for, but not in the way she wanted help.
The bumbling idiot, the stupidest member of the group, grabbed a hold of Hadrian's shoulder and pulled him off the witch. The man, lost in his anger, swung a fist at his assailant only to find himself in Morrigan's position, except there was no arm pressing against his throat. Instead, a pair of strong, but comforting hands pinned his shoulders and Hadrian was about to snarl a warning at Alistair only to find himself staring into another wolf's visage, the intense brown eyes staring back at his own.
Was this what Zarieth meant? That he was special?
Alistair leaned forward and Hadrian shivered at the man's hot breath blew softly in his ear, as he spoke the following words, "calm and desist. Breath me in and let everything fall away. Focus on me and only on me."
Hadrian gasped as the world itself fell away until there was only him and Alistair. Alistair's intense brown eyes and his dominating posture differed so much from the man he knew as a clumsy former Templar.
Then Zarieth appeared at his side and tried to smile, which really turned out to be his teeth baring rather viciously at Hadrian.
It seems that he has started to accept his role, althoug instinctively. Follow your instincts, Hadrian. Let them guide you to your true self, your destiny...
"Hey," that same voice, but lighter in pitch, startled him and those same hands that had pinned him against the stone wall shook him, to bring him back to the present.
His eyes blinked at the odd scene and found that Alistair was still looking at him, but those eyes were back to their soft, chocolate selves. Was that just his imagination then? Had his own fancies taken effect?
"You okay now?" Alistair's soft voice echoed in the empty halls. The others gazed at the pair in concern.
"Yes," Hadrian felt oddly calmer now and was chagrined to see a dark bruise at the base of the witch's throat. "Sorry, it's just..." How can you apologize for choking someone to death?
"'Tis nothing. I can heal myself just the same." The bruise faded then, until there was nothing left that had been evident of her near death experience. The witch barely winced as her hand rubbed over her throat, soothing the assaulted area.
"Come on, Hadrian," Leliana quietly urged her friend, trying her best to diffuse the situation. "We have mages to save, don't we?"
The man nodded in agreement and he made a move to push Alistair away but the other man, as if sensing his very thought, stepped back, although a hand hovered near his shoulder for support.
"Yes. I've a friend to rescue. He owes me something," was Hadrian's reply as the man lead the way into the hearth of chaos, followed by four companions, each now having different opinions of their leader.
-TBC-
Review responses:
DZD3: Thanks sooo much for the review. Like you, I'm a picky reader too. Also, don't worry about sounding like a teacher. We really need teachers nowadays and good ones too! Plz keep reviewing! It makes my day to see people review. :D
gatorsnacks: I do have a couple of mini-stories going on but they will diverge into newer fics later on.
The kid: Arrghh! I severely disliked the developers twisting Anders like that but hopefully in DA 3, everything should turn out ok. I will do my best in keeping Anders in character and it will be kinda difficult since I've yet to complete the Awakenings expansion pack. And yes, there'll be plenty of kisses and cute romantic scenes going on. Don't worry about that! Also, like you, I didn't like leaving Cullen there all by himself in the tower. In DA 2 though, he's much more handsome and stronger in character as well.
David9999: Yes, Flemeth is here! * shudders * Anyhoo, I had no idea about DA 3 coming out next year. I have to check that out! Thanks.
Madness of Angels: Sorry about the absence of Hawke and Anders. They'll be in the next chapter. Can you review anyways? Plz?
YoshisSupport: No tease ending this time! Woo!
Upcoming chapter: Fergus catches up with an old friend while Anders finds something that would change his life forever. Meanwhile, something stirs in the deep caverns underneath Cousland Castle and Arl Howe is one not to stand idle while something mysterious is occuring right underneath his nose.