"These weeks apart have been difficult, but we'll be seeing Papa again soon, little one."
Leliana spoke softly as young Adrian laid asleep in his mother's arms, making an occasional murmur or shifting his small body around to get a more comfortable rest. She had spent some time in Orlais visiting Dorothea in the Valence cloister—one reason was for catching up after officiating her wedding last year, and the other was for presiding over the Chantry's baptism of her son as a fairly devout Andrastian. With the important tasks and socializing dealt with, the family was now en route to Ferelden to be with Aedan. Young Adrian didn't like the baptism ceremony that was being performed, and he made his discomfort crystal clear to the attendees by crying a perfect storm. A rather loud wail that could prove capable of sending the darkspawn retreating to the Deep Roads.
The Orlesian bard found her son's tantrum amusing, and spent the next several hours calming him down. Now on their way home, through the Frostback Mountains and onto the Imperial Highway, the carriage made a few bumps on the road and had to make a short stop at the nearest village for supplies.
"I apologize for disturbing your rest, milady," said Sharana, one of Leliana's elven handmaidens, "but we've arrived at Crestwood for rations and for our wheelwrights to make some necessary repairs before we continue our journey to Denerim."
Leliana sighed. "It seems fate always has an obstacle to set up, no?"
"It would seem so, milady."
Sharana bowed her head and made her way into the village with the staff, while Leliana stood by the carriage with her son waiting for them to return. Crestwood was a small village on the King's Road north of Lake Calenhad in western Ferelden that was still struggling to rebuild after Old Crestwood was destroyed during the Fifth Blight, a painful and haunting memory for those who survived the onslaught. Many of the refugees who were taken in were later discovered to have been infected by the darkspawn taint, and those who were taken in were suddenly washed away by a strange flooding accident, drowning all who were trapped there—infected refugees, villagers and darkspawn alike. And still to this day, many survivors preferred not to talk about it.
It was quiet, with nothing but the sound of the wind and crashing waves to break the silence. Adrian again murmured in his sleep and Leliana soothingly caressed her son's hair. After fifteen minutes passed, she began tapping her feet. Normally gathering rations would be less than two minutes and repairs on the carriage could begin immediately afterwards. This could normally be seen among the common folk as just mere impatience, but Leliana's years' worth of training as a bard could tell her that something wasn't right, and she began feeling suspicious.
A scream briefly broke her concentration before being silenced. Adrian began crying after being woken up, with Leliana holding him close as her raised her guard as she noticed several unarmed villagers beginning to run past her out of fear. Once the surrounding area was seemingly deserted, Leliana noticed several cloaked individuals cladded with the finest armor. Definitely not the common bandits. No, these men also wore white cloaks bore the heraldry of the ancient Tevinter Imperium including the Old Gods from a time before the Chantry was founded. The tallest one in the middle, a man named Galerius Epidius, seemed to be their leader.
"You were a hard one to track down lass," he grinned. "But fate has surely smiled on us whence you began your move."
Leliana darted her eyes, holding Adrian close as he continued his crying. "What is the meaning of this? Who are you, and why are you doing this? These people have done nothing to you!"
"Not to me personally, no. They just had the misfortune of standing in the way of what we desire," he said as he motioned for one of his men.
Leliana's eyes opened wide in shock as she noticed one of them carrying the now lifeless body of Sharana and her other maidens.
"Sharana! Ashira! Malya!" she shouted. No matter how many times she called out to them, deep down, Leliana knew that her handmaidens were dead.
Galerius stepped forward. "You see?" he said in a cold manner. "This is what happens to those who dare oppose us! These sniveling rattus dared to deny us access to our prize. They threw themselves at us shamelessly, as if they alone could prevent it from happening. Now, if you would…" he bared his teeth as he unsheathed his blade and pointed it in Leliana's direction. "Hand over the boy. Now."
"Vous bâtards sans âme!" Leliana angrily cursed as her maternal instincts immediately shifted into overdrive. Unarmed and outnumbered as she may be, Leliana stood firm. "You will not have my son, and you will pay for what you've done here!"
"Do you not see what you're up against, soporati?" Galerius laughed before returning to his serious demeanor. "You have no weapons at hand and your odds of winning are slim at best! But if that's how you want to play… MEN! KILL HER, AND TAKE THE BRAT!"
The assailants charged at Leliana and she made a move, holding Adrian close as she tried to outmaneuver them. It wasn't easy for her, no doubt, dodging strikes and kicking her adversaries away while trying to protect her son. Leliana was in no doubt at a serious disadvantage, but her primary concern was not for her safety but for Adrian. Leliana held him in one arm as she repeatedly kicked them away as she picked up the nearest weapon within reach: a silverite dagger.
"How long can you keep this up, Orlesian wench? Not long, I suppose," they taunted.
"Try me," Leliana dared.
Once more, they charged from all directions. Using only one hand Leliana slashed and kicked with everything she had. One assailant managed to get in a sneak attack from behind and knocked her to the ground, making her drop Adrian to the muddy ground as the others tried to pin her down.
"NO!" she panicked.
In a frenzied haste, Leliana tried to force her attackers off of her to get to her son. She managed to get in a headbutt against one of them and kicked another below the belt, even biting and clawing at them. One had enough and punched her in the gut and forced her to her knees as the others worked to physically restrain her as Galerius approached.
"You see? We, the Venatori, always get what we want," he smirked as he walked towards Leliana's son, now covered in mud and wailing even louder. "And today… marks the beginning of a new age for Tevinter."
"Stop it!" Leliana shouted. "Leave him alone! He's just a baby, an innocent!"
"'Innocent'? Ha! In this world, wench, there is no such thing as 'innocence.' In this world, our rightful world, only two things are absolute: power and influence. Tevinter once covered all of Thedas; our rule stretched from the Boeric Ocean in the north to the Frozen Seas here in the south, before all of it was taken from us unjustly! To make that happen—to restore order to this world—sacrifices must be made necessary."
Leliana went silent, riddled with horror. "Don't hurt him! Take me if you want, but don't take my son from me!"
Galerius remained unmoved. Despite Leliana's pleas for mercy, he continued onwards towards the screaming child. As he stretched his hand forward to grab Adrian, Galerius was suddenly hit from the left flank that sent him stumbling backwards.
"Gragh!" he shouted. "Who did that?!"
Another fireball forced Galerius to move back, startling his men and unknowingly caused them to lose their grip on Leliana as the drew their blades once more before the intruder revealed themselves to be of elven origin, a feminine figure consisting of dirty blonde hair, green eyes and Dalish tattoos. What Leliana noticed about this woman was her attire: a blue cloak with silver armor plates embedded in them. A Grey Warden mage!
"Ma tel'din ema garas'min amahn, shemlen," she said with spite and venom.
"Fasta vass!" Galerius angrily cursed at her. "Kill her!"
In an instant, the Venatori cults drew their swords and tried to attack the mage—only to be met with fierce resistance as they were easily repelled or stopped in their tracks. Elemental blasts sending them flying or roots growing up from the ground to ensnare them.
"People like you are the reason why I detest humans so much," she said as she neared the wounded Galerius. "Your kind took much from us, enslaved us and more! But this… attacking a woman and a child? How you must really have fallen off the deep end."
"Do your worst, woman," Galerius stood defiant. "Strike me down if you must. Glory awaits us in the next world!"
"No need to ask," she said as one snap of her fingers ended Galerius' life and forced whatever Venatori agents remaining to retreat. With the threat momentarily dealt with, she turned her sights towards young Adrian who was still crying.
Leliana, moved back onto her feet, clutching her sides as she wondered who this woman is.
"Thank the Maker for your intervention, friend," she sighed in relief and exhaustion.
The elven Grey Warden scoffed as she cleaned Adrian of mud and grime before handing the child back to Leliana. "I can't go a day's moment of peace without another shemlen causing trouble. But you…" she said as she examined Leliana. "You are the woman Aedan mentioned several months ago, are you not?"
Leliana blinked in surprise. How did she know her husband's name?
"Where did you—?"
"My name is Velanna," she interrupted her. "Once First to Keeper Ilshae, now in service to the Grey Wardens in Amaranthine. And to make a long story short, I insisted that Aedan recruit me to help find my sister."
"I… see," Leliana said wearily as she took Adrian from her. After a few minutes, Adrian ceased his crying as Crestwood villagers began their return. "Thank you for saving my son."
"I don't need recognition, but well-being of you and the child is of great importance to Aedan. Why were those men after you?"
"I don't know, but whatever it is… it's something that I must tell my husband. But with the carriage destroyed and with… so much death, it'll take some time before the shock wears off."
"The flat-ears who were with you?" Velanna asked as she noticed their corpses lying in the center of the village. "If they mean something to you… then I suppose we'll offer them a proper burial."
Leliana frowned sadly. "Thank you. Sharana, Ashira, and Malya… they did not deserve this fate."
Velanna shook her head. "No one does. Their killers will get what's coming to them."
As the sun began setting in the distance, villagers piled the dead onto a funeral pyre as the sounds of songs of departure and quiet sniffling filled the air. Crestwood had suffered a great deal and this was only a reminder of what the future had in store for them. First the Orlesian occupation, then the rebellion, the Blight and now the emergence of the Venatori. Leliana stood by holding Adrian as Velanna remained hidden behind the scenes watching them all. Velanna had no interest in human customs, but as a favor to her commander, she would watch over them until they were well enough to travel. The journey to Denerim would have to be put on hold and Leliana insisted to Velanna that she take her and Adrian to the arling of Amaranthine upon the Dalish Grey Warden's confirmation that Aedan will be heading there soon.
"Aedan…" Leliana said aloud. "We need to talk."
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Translation(s):
—"Rattus" was a slur against elves during ancient Tevinter Imperium.
—"Soporati" in Tevene means "sleeper" is used to describe non-mage citizens. "Fasta vass" also in Tevene is a swear word.
—"Ma tel'din ema garas'min amahn, shemlen" is "You should not have come here, shemlen."
—"Shemlen" is the original elven word for "quick children" used to describe humans, now used as a slang term.