disclaimer type=standard

Anything you recognise is Bioware's. I dare say anything else belongs to them too.

/disclaimer

o_ooo000ooo_o

The Seeker rubbed at her forehead, pondering what she had been told, and whether she should divulge secrets long kept. The priests of Thedas had knowledge of a great many secrets, thanks to the sacrosanct act of confession. Occasionally, even a priest needed assistance with moral dilemmas. When one took a confession they felt unable to advise upon, it was only natural to take it to their own mentor. Thus, secrets could worm their way across Thedas through the ears and mouths of holy women.

Some priestesses were less than diligent when it came to the security of their journals. The Seekers had access to many secrets without the bothersome restrictions on keeping them, if it suited their purpose to reveal them. "This Warden Fiona, I presume she is the Grand Enchanter Fiona?"

"Naturally," the Warden shrugged. "With her life's work complete and the Taint removed from her body, she returned to the Circle. Only by then she had become accustomed to a certain level of freedom, both of movement and of expression. Her short visit to Kinloch Hold convinced her that the lot of the mages of Thedas could be improved markedly. She set about the reforms that you lot are still pissed about."

"Warden," Cassandra said with a considerable level of resignation in her tone.

Kathryn gave a soft chuckle. "What else can I say about her? You already know it. After Anders' pyrotechnic tantrum in Kirkwall, she pushed several votes to cede oversight of the Circles from the Chantry. She finally got one through and the templars have been bitching about it ever since."

The Seeker almost smiled. There was one thing she knew about the Grand Enchanter that she was sure the Warden did not. Perhaps she could use it as leverage. "Are you aware that the Grand Enchanter has a son?"

The Warden frowned, her catty amusement lost. "No. She never mentioned him. Why? Is it important?"

"You know him, that is all," Cassandra said in an off-hand manner.

Emerald eyes blinked in astonishment. "Wh-" she began, before cutting the word off. Her lips formed an almost perfect 'O'. "Oh," she said, her eyes widening. "Oh that conniving bitch."

Cassandra watched as the Warden animatedly rose and stormed around the small cell, waving her arms around and cursing. Normally, she would have enjoyed such a loss of control in her interrogation subjects, but the mage was not angry.

She was laughing.

"Do you realise that she played me?" Kathryn demanded, gesturing wildly with a grin on her face. "I even gave her an excuse! 'You were comrades with Maric', I said. And she jumped on board and ran with it. Stupid, stupid, stupid!"

"Are you amused or angry?" Cassandra asked, feeling a bit amused but angry herself.

"Ha!" barked the Warden, coming to a halt and grinning at the Seeker. "Impressed, actually. She didn't strike me as the sort who could keep her face straight when telling a lie."

Suddenly the elf looked away with unfocused eyes, clearly recalling a memory. A wide smile flooded her face and she burst into clear, joyous laughter. "Oh, no wonder she was so pissed at me!" She even clapped her hands in delight. "Oh that's priceless."

The Seeker frowned. "For assuming command from her son?"

The grin on Kathryn's face looked as genuine as a child's. "No! For making Alistair distrust her!"

o_ooo000ooo_o

Fiona spent quite a bit of time with Alistair over the next few days. Though not overt about it, I knew Alistair well enough to know that he found the attention unsettling. The Orlesian Warden had known Maric for only one adventure, and even though it was a relatively exciting one, it did not take more than a few hours to relate in its entirety.

The unending questions about him and his life took on a sinister tone when I pointed out that as an Orlesian, she might be fishing for information to use against Ferelden. Though he scoffed at the notion, he was rather more defensive around her after that. He refused point blank to answer some of her questions relating to his childhood, things that could conceivably be used in a campaign against him.

Fiona sought me out to ask what had caused Alistair's sudden withdrawal from her. I answered her question honestly, which caused her to become very, very annoyed at me. The strength of her reaction made me think that there might have been some truth to the accusation.

I had a few more meetings with Eamon as he prepared a charter for the Circle Mages. The document placed a large number of 'duties' on the mages, but also enshrined a formal grievance process. While it meant that collectively, the Circle mages were obliged to assist Ferelden in a manner consistent with their talents, individually they were protected from the abuses of the templars.

However, given the offhand way Tavish had dismissed the previous agreement, I decided to give Connor a little insurance should Bryant be recalled and replaced. The best skill I could bestow upon the lad was the ability to escape the tower at a moment's notice.

So, to that end, I purchased a couple of pet mice and a nice wire cage as a gift for Eamon's son. I wrote an accompanying letter, but I could not explain exactly why I wanted him to study the animals in detail. So I simply told him to learn everything he could about the mice, including dissecting them when they died, and to document the findings as a thesis.

Once I'd explained to Eamon my reasons, he enthusiastically agreed and promised to send more mice at regular intervals. The idea of his son having the ability to wriggle out of any room appealed to the Chancellor. He even included an admonition to do his very best in the endeavour, as a duty as a Guerrin.

By the end of the week, I was ready to return to Amaranthine. Denerim was nice to visit, and Wonders was a fantastic place to shop, but I found myself missing Nate's exasperated sighs, Oghren's filthy jokes, and especially Sigrun's irrepressible humour.

Pickering was ready to go too. He'd spent some time with the trio of assassins he'd rescued from Victor, and had convinced two of the three to volunteer to travel to Vigil's Keep with us. The third declined; his home cell had been destroyed and he reportedly didn't have any friends among Ignacio's Crows. He wanted nothing more than to get out of this crazy country of dog-lovers, psychotic mages and idiotic Crow Masters. He spent his last copper buying passage back to Antiva, leaving with due haste.

Despite Ignacio's misgivings, one of his men did volunteer to head north with us; a scarred and mildly crippled man in his forties. He had obtained a limp and lost three fingers by staving off the Crow's usual forced, abrupt retirement plan. Ignacio had since used him as an enforcer and instructor. He had a real gift for poisons, apparently.

Someone to watch, obviously.

The trip back was uncomfortable to begin with.

Not physically uncomfortable; the carriage I purchased with some of the money I pinched from Lucius' vault was quite possibly the most comfortable vehicle in the city. But the tension in the air made it difficult to relax or concentrate.

Over the past few months, the warrens under Denerim that had housed Caladrius and his cohorts had been stripped, sterilized and sanctified. The Chantry had seized and destroyed the collected phylacteries, but Anora had point blank refused to allow them to simply confiscate the library. She wanted the illegal lore within to be studied rather than lost, with a view to developing methods of combating the mind control techniques used by the Tevinters.

With the Chantry desperately trying to keep a Revered Mother from being hanged for treason, they gave ground on the destruction of the tomes, but refused point blank to allow even the Senior Enchanters of the Circle access to such knowledge. Eamon suggested, as a true son of the Chantry, that the confiscated library be locked away until the subject of its fate was resolved.

Eager to take whatever victories they could in such difficult times, the Chancellor was given official leave by the Grand Cleric to personally secure the library. To that end, the tomes were 'locked away' in several chests and glyphed shut by an anonymous, trusted mage with an archdemonscale wardrobe.

And so now, Fiona travelled north with me in the carriage with me, as did several wooden chests full of banned books. For the first few days the chests had more personality than my elven travelling companion. With studious intensity, she kept her nose in one of them and barely spoke a word to me. Not that I was bothered by it.

I offered Pickering a seat with us, but he chose to travel in one of the wagons in the baggage train behind; the one with the three Antivan Crows. The assassins were probably more nervous than anyone else in the convoy, which of course made the soldiers escorting us nervous too.

The presence of the three assassins was a bone of contention with Captain Francois, whom Fergus had 'loaned' to me. The dour soldier had been infuriated when given the news of the assassins' contract on me. Not because he believed that I had been in any particular danger, but that there was a person or people who would put their own desires before that of Ferelden.

Despite the fact that two of them had been tortured by the sadistic maniac Victor for daring to suggest that I should be left alone, Francois acted as though they were just waiting for a tiny window of opportunity to slip a knife between my ribs.

He assigned a half dozen of his squad to escort the trio of Crows at all times. The constant armed shadows made them very jumpy indeed.

To my delight, Francois had been assigned an apostate mage who'd taken up Alistair's offer of amnesty. 'Mac' was an emaciated young man who wore a patchy beard in the hopes that it would make him look older. When lined up with the other professional soldiers, he stook out like Thunder's hind leg when he took a piss, even when wearing a Highever tabard. He only knew a single, generic healing spell, but was very proficient with glyphs and hexes. He'd been tutored by another apostate since the age of six, and had little in the way of formal education.

It was a warming sight to see the perpetually astonished expression of someone who'd been looked upon with fear and loathing his entire life accepted by a group of men as one of their own.

I gave the man a standing offer of further magical training, should he even get the opportunity. He seemed quite keen at the prospect, so I left him detailed directions on how to get to Soldier's Peak.

The third night of our trip, Fiona finally broke the ice, offering to teach me a new warding schema for campsites. It had been developed by Grey Warden mages centuries before; for when they were travelling alone. In return, I offered to teach her the basics of the Arcane Warrior magic. She seemed dubious at first that a mage could cast spells while wearing armour, but the idea of reconnecting with her Dalish roots fuelled her curiosity. By the time we reached Wending Wood, she had managed the discipline of channelling her magic into her body, increasing her strength.

We stopped for a while in the Wood. Fiona and I took Pickering and a handful of Francois' men into the Silverite mines. Though my Wardens and I had stripped most of the equipment and resources from the Architect's lair, Fiona still wanted to examine the place.

I left her to it while I went and explored the complex for deeper passages. Pickering's normal conversation level doubled the moment he could no longer see the sky. And it doubled again as we delved deeper into the earth. When we got to the point where he was almost hyperventilating, I decided to call it a day and head back. It wouldn't do to have him panic on me.

Still, I learned that the mines did go much deeper into the earth than I'd initially discovered. In all probability they connected with the Deep Roads. It would be a generational task for my Wardens to map the subterranean highways beneath the surface. It wasn't something I could accomplish by myself.

Still, I was sure the mines themselves were as safe as could be reasonably made. It was probably time for me to reopen them. The silverite ore would be a nice addition to the arling's commodities.

Fiona was silent as we left the mines; lost in her thoughts and memories. Pickering was blessedly silent too. I'd have to remember not to take him below ground in the future.

We trundled away, Fiona deep in thought and me deep in planning.

The courtyard outside the main Keep was busier than it had been when I'd left just a fortnight before. The Qunari merchant's head and shoulders were clearly visible above the throng. He was cataloguing the contents of a trio of wagons, dispassionately ignoring a couple of people trying to get his attention.

Dozens of wagons were controlled by teams of dwarves. Some were unloading ingots and stone, others in the process of being filled with food and other goods. Livestock in cages clucked and bawled as dwarves slotted them into whatever space was available.

Fiona looked around the small courtyard with open curiosity. "I had not expected this level of activity in a Grey Warden fortress," she noted.

"It's not just a fortress for the Wardens," I replied. "It is also the seat of power for the arling."

She frowned. "Not the City of Amaranthine itself?"

I shook my head. "No, that's the seat of the Bann of Amaranthine. The Arl, or Arlessa in my case, resides here." I gestured at the crowd. "The Vigil is also the logical stopping point for overland traffic between Amaranthine and Denerim. Even the wagons coming from Highever stop here before continuing south."

She frowned. "It is not secure enough. Not for Grey Warden business."

The only reason I didn't snap back at her was that she had made the observation in a neutral tone, with no accusatory inflection. "This isn't where we keep the Warden secrets," I said flatly.

That appeared to surprise her. "Oh? Where do you… Ah, it would be this place you call, Soldier's Peak, correct?"

I gave her a tight grin, pleased that she was bright enough to make the connection. "Yes. The Peak is still mostly a wreck; it will take years to get the place fixed up. But it is very secure, and we can safely store things there."

Drake appeared at our carriage, his tattooed face serious. "Commander! Stones it's good to see you. We heard a rumour that you'd been knifed in the palace."

"Wasn't," I said with a grin.

"Can see that," he retorted. "Of course, we also heard that you told your Maker to go and piss in the wind and refused to die. Oghren reckoned that one was more likely." He stopped, as though remembering something. "Oh, sorry, I meant to tell you. Nathaniel wants to see you."

I raised an eyebrow as I stepped out of the carriage. "Problem?"

"News," he grunted. "Good and bad."

"Sodding wonderful," I sighed.

He grinned at me, and his tattooed cheeks looked shiny and lightly sunburned from long hours working outdoors. "You know, the way you swear makes us dwarves feel right at home, Commander."

I grinned back at him. "Just wait til I get a nug farm set up in the tunnels under the Vigil. Maybe even some tame deepstalkers. They'll eat most of the kitchen scraps and keep the vermin population down. How's your sister?"

"She's off with the elfs - Ben and Seranni," he replied.

Fiona stiffened. "Warden Seranni is not here?"

Drake raised an eyebrow at her, but didn't answer. I gestured to both of them. "Drake, this is Senior Warden Fiona of Weisshaupt. Fiona, Warden Drake. He and his sister have been invaluable in mapping the Deep roads in the arling."

Drake actually blushed. His jokes were even filthier than Oghren's, but you could make him embarrassed with a word of praise. I would have found it amusing if not for the reason behind the reaction. Thank the Maker that Bhelen was finally doing something about the plight of the casteless; even if it was only giving them grunt work. "Old Woolsey was getting a bit angsty about the bone left behind at the Wastes," he explained. "I think she's worried that someone's gonna snatch it away from her. Hape, Ben 'n' Seranni set off a few days back to dig up some more."

As I nodded, Fiona sounded curious, "Bone? What bone?"

"Dragonbone," I replied, my tone implying that the answer was obvious. "I told you where we killed the Architect."

Fiona blinked owlishly. "You mean that the name 'Dragonbone Wastes' is a meaningful description? Not poetic licence?"

Drake snorted as I shook my head. I pointed over at Wade, who despite Herron's nagging, was happily working some of the collected bone over an anvil. "Nope. There's a piece we brought back a few weeks ago."

Fiona took a deep breath. "How many more of these surprises are you planning to spring on me, Commander?"

I gave her an arch smile. "I'm not springing surprises on you. You're just underestimating me and my Wardens."

She grumbled a bit as Drake escorted us up the stairs and into the Keep.

"Kathryn!" Nate welcomed me as I stepped into his study. "Welcome home."

"Thanks Nate. It's good to be back, but I won't be stopping for long. This is Senior Warden Fiona. Weisshaupt sent her to advise us on our Architect problem."

He schooled his face into his usual dour expression, and greeted Fiona politely. She returned his greeting in a like manner.

"Do we have an Architect problem?" he asked in a tone of voice that sounded almost pleading.

"Not any more. But her orders were given before our report was sent."

"Ah," he replied as his shoulders dropped with relief. "Good."

I plonked myself down into a chair with little grace. Nate was polite enough to wait until Fiona was seated before he took his own seat. "We stopped at Wending Wood on the way here, but Fiona wants to see the Architect's body for herself. We're off to the Wastes in the morning."

He nodded. "Hape, Ben, Seranni and Falon'fen are there at present. Mistress Woolsey has been approached by the agent of a consortium of dwarves in the Free Marches. He wants to purchase a lot of our dragon bone."

Fiona frowned. "You have a Warden named Wolf-friend in Dalish?"

"No, Falon'fen is Seranni's mabari." I replied, happy with Nathaniel's news that coin was becoming even less scarce. "What else have I missed?"

"We've four more Wardens," he said, sounding pleased. "Benjamin and Seranni brought back two Dalish elves from a local clan a couple of days after you left for Denerim. And after the refugees returned to Amaranthine, a few people found that they'd lost their whole families. We had three orphans want to join and kill darkspawn. Two human women and a surface-born dwarf." He sighed. "All but one of the women survived their Joining."

I sighed. I really needed to visit Avernus. "I know it feels awful, but that's an excellent result, Nate. I'll meet with them tonight."

"Indeed," Fiona added. "A success ratio of that calibre is quite an achievement."

He didn't seem to agree, so I quickly moved on. "Anything else to report?"

He flashed a questioning look at Fiona. At my gesture to continue, he nodded glumly. Well, even more glumly than usual. "Anders has deserted."

My heart thumped. "Oh no."

He reached up to a shelf and pulled down a letter. "Here. His brother wrote us a letter."

I frowned. "His brother? Why would Matthias write to us?"

"Anders went to see him after he gave his lecture at the Circle."

I unfolded the letter after a brief glance at the broken seal. It was certainly from Matthias. I scanned the text and shook my head. "Damn Alistair."

Fiona scowled at me. "What? What did the King have to do with this Anders' desertion?"

I sighed. "He forced me to conscript him. Anders is a multiple escapee of the Circle. I wanted to let Anders decide to join the Wardens himself, but a stupid templar butted in. I could have handled it, but Alistair intruded and forced me to conscript Anders on the spot."

Fiona raised an eyebrow. "So? He is a Grey Warden under your command. You need to find him, and drag him back. In chains if necessary."

I swallowed and shook my head. "No."

Her eyes bulged. "No? It is your duty!"

I snapped my head around to face her. "And what then? I bring him back and what then, Fiona? He will just escape again. And again. And again! It's what he does! It's what he's good at. And we all have far too much to do than to spend all our time and effort keeping a professional escapee against his will."

"Then what are you going to do, Commander?" she said, emphasising my rank.

I took a deep breath. "Anders needs to decide to come back by himself. Or be convinced of that. That is the only way he will stay."

Nathaniel's mouth drew into a thin line. "He swore an oath, Kathyrn. To accept the duty that could not be foresworn."

I nodded. "Yes. He did. And perhaps we will get the chance to remind him of that. But we don't know where he is or what his plans are. Until then, we don't have the resources to chase him down."

He seemed to accept that, but Fiona obviously did not. She did however hold her tongue.

"I've got the first reports from Aiden after the initial restoration of Amaranthine City." Nathaniel pulled out a couple of pages of cheap parchment. "He's not all that proficient at writing reports, but he did include a roll of the dead, and how they died."

I looked at Nathaniel curiously. Why would he bring that up? "Anyone of interest?"

He nodded. "A couple of bodies were recovered from a barrel behind the inn; a man and a woman. They'd been murdered before the darkspawn arrived. The woman was identified as Nida; Warden Keenan's wife."

I massaged my temples. Every time I thought I had a handle on this arling, another problem jumped up and started taunting me. "Did Aiden identify the man?"

"Yes. But more importantly, he was knows to the locals as Nida's lover."

I winced and sighed deeply. "Bugger. I'm guessing they went missing a day or so after Keenan deserted, didn't they?"

"Most astute," he replied with a grave expression. "Keenan is not just a deserter, but a suspected murderer too. There are posters out on the boards in Amaranthine City calling for information on his whereabouts. Fortunately for us, he's not been identified on the posters as a Grey Warden."

"Thank the Maker for small favours."

"It's not all bad news," he said with a wry expression. "The archery contest is going ahead. A few of the Dalish archers from one clan are keen to show off their skills. As I understand it, there's actually quite some pride at stake. Some of them want to show us shemlen exactly what they can do with a bow."

I smiled weakly. "Well, I'll take that over them being too skittish to turn up. I've got a few enchanted bows I've looted over the last two years. I'll pick one of them as the main prize. I can put up a couple of purses of coin for those who perform well too. That will attract some human archers from around the arling."

Nathaniel nodded. "I have sent a message to Arl Eamon informing him of the competition. Hopefully he can organise some leave for some archers in the army to attend. I placed Briannah in charge of the logistics. She's definitely officer material."

"Good," I said for want of anything else to say. After a second's thought, I said, "Maybe we should include crossbowmen too. The dwarves at Kal'Hirol have a preference for them. It would be nice to see all local races represented."

Fiona nodded approvingly. "What are your intentions for Kal'Hirol?"

"Short term? I want to establish a Warden compound there. I want to have a visible presence and take an active role in patrolling the Deep Roads under the arling. Long term, over the next decade, when other similar trading posts are set up near other Thaigs, I want to duplicate the compounds and have enough Wardens to rotate around the different stations."

She nodded thoughtfully. "Such plans will put the Ferelden Grey Wardens in good stead with the dwarves of Orzammar."

Huh. Perhaps her report to Weisshaupt wouldn't be too bad after all.

Woolsey and Garevel were not at the Vigil, so that was a small mercy. They'd taken a squad of soldiers and gone to Kal'Hirol; Woolsey to negotiate the financial arrangements between the arling and the fortress, and Garevel to liaise with the dwarves over the division of labour with regards to the security of the as-yet-unnamed trading post.

My new Wardens were all still a bit bemused by my attention, but were enthusiastic in their approach to training. The new Dalish archers, Meeran and Fina, claimed to have heard of how the Dalish had been welcomed at the Battle of Denerim. Sigrun had talked them into volunteering to join the Wardens by regaling them with stories of her adventures in just a few short weeks. Racial pride was less important that tales of excitement to young men, it seemed.

Alice and Mendi, the two orphans from Amaranthine, were a lot more dour. Alice's family had all died during the invasion, and she had a burning desire, bordering on fanaticism, to kill all darkspawn. Mendi had been alone for longer, but without a caste or family name, he had no real prospects in the city. Still, he had a big hammer and knew how to use it well.

Duty obliged me to review and confirm many decisions Nate had made in my absence, but I did not feel the need to overturn any of them. Either Nate was learning how my thought processes worked, or he was becoming more like me.

Perish the thought.

I gave some orders for a couple of wagons to be provisioned. A few days later we left for the dwarvern stronghold. The trip was unremarkable. Even bandits learn eventually that some wagons are driven by armed Wardens.

The area on the cliffs above Kal'Hirol was bustling. Dozens and dozens of men were excavating topsoil and laying down stone, creating a durable road capable of handling heavy mercantile traffic. The mass of stone required for the task wasn't hauled in with wagons, it came from below.

The contraption that Oghren had called an elevator was fully operational, transporting wagonloads of stone up from the depths of the chasm. Once unloaded, the contraption was then stuffed with lumber, crates of food and other goods and then sent down. Ser Derren had a pavilion set up near the cliff's edge, and was directing and prioritising the goods coming up and going down. I waved, but didn't bother him. He looked to have enough on his plate.

It wasn't just the teams shifting and laying stone. Animals were roasted over campfires, skins were stretched and tanned over wooden racks. Women bearing bundles of washing moved from tent to tent, collecting and distributing. Armed soldiers patrolled, young children ran errands, older children fixed tents. Some enterprising fellows carried around trays of foaming tankards, selling them to thirsty workers for a copper a mug.

The noise was incredible, and the sense of excitement was palpable. The place looked extremely temporary, like an army camp in a field, but slowly the place was taking shape. There was even a pavilion that had a number of provocatively dressed young ladies lounging outside.

I suppose having a proper whore-house was a sign of civilisation, even if it really was only a whore-tent.

We descended into the rift on the repaired and strengthened walkway. Thunder was still cautious at the idea of descending on wooden steps. He took some convincing that it was a good idea.

At the base, we discovered that Derren had a counterpart. The ugly dwarf Mischa coordinated the loading and unloading at the base. There was certainly less chaos at this end, though that may have something to do with the fact that anyone who stepped out of line copped a spray of inventive abuse that even Oghren would have found impressive.

Pickering's mouth started wandering again, but the cavernous passages on the way to Kal'Hirol made his anxiety less debilitating.

The guards at the front of Kal'Hirol waved us through without delay. We were escorted to Madison's office, she's set up shop in the old treasury.

The chirpy dwarf greeted us warmly and ordered some refreshment. Woolsey and two other dwarves were seated around a large table, but they all rose to greet us.

Woolsey's eyes widened when I introduced Fiona. It seemed that the elf mage was something of a celebrity among the Grey Wardens of the Anderfels.

I couldn't add much in the way of value to the talks, so I gave my apologies and left them to it. Fiona expressed an interest in the fortress, and so I gave her a brief tour, pointing out the impressive automated smithy.

We met with Madison's other assistants from the Shaperate, pouring over the emerging maps of the local Deep Roads. Darkspawn sightings had been recorded, but I was pleased to note that they were tapering off. Without having to assign a large percentage of the warriors to guarding the supply lines to Kal'Hirol, the place was fast becoming a defensible fortress once again.

We stayed the night, Fiona, Thunder and I sleeping within the fortress itself - in austere yet comfortable rooms. Pickering however looked stricken at the thought of sleeping underground, so I gave him a handful of coins and permission to head topside for the night.

The next morning, we left Kal'Hirol and headed north towards the ruined Drake's Fall, continuing Fiona's tour of the Grey Warden arling.

The path through the Dragonbone Wastes had quite a few more wagon tracks than the last time I'd seen it. The tracks ended at a pair of wagons half loaded with bits of bone. They were not unguarded; there was a mabari sitting proud on one of the driver's seats. Thunder bounded forward, barking a greeting.

Falon'fen whuffed a return greeting, and jumped down from her perch. The two dogs met with an aborted charge and sniffed around each other, presumably doing whatever social things that dogs did when they hadn't seen each other for a while.

Seranni came running at the sound of her mabari's barks. Within seconds, she was atop a rocky outcropping, bow strung and an arrow nocked. Honestly, I have no idea how she managed to do that while sprinting and leaping. "Kathryn?" she exclaimed.

Fiona's mouth set itself into a disapproving line at the informal greeting.

"Seranni," I waved up to her. "How's the bone mining?"

She slid the arrow back into her quiver and began unstringing her bow. "It is coming along well. Hape has uncovered a full skeleton that was preserved under a thick layer of clay." She dropped down to the path and approached us. In a conspiratorial whisper said, "She wants the skull for her room. She's insanely jealous of Sigrun's bed."

Pickering snickered, but Fiona took a deep, long-suffering breath. "Please tell me that Warden Sigrun's bed isn't a dragon's skull," she pleaded.

"Warden Sigrun's bed isn't a dragon's skull," I replied tonelessly. "Why? Is that a problem?"

She narrowed her eyes at me, picking up that I was fibbing. "You… seriously… what? Why does one of your Wardens have a dragon-skull bed?" she demanded after a few seconds of speechlessness.

I shrugged. "Because it was her trophy-kill. She killed it with a strike under the ridge-plate. It was one of the bravest things I've ever seen. That little duster rode the dragon's neck at least thirty feet up before she made the hit. It took Velanna quite some time to get her back on her feet after she hit the ground."

Two other figures appeared along the trail, weapons in hand. Both Benjamin and Hape wielded two weapons. Ben had long-bladed daggers and Hape a pair of axes. They stopped when they saw us; Hape skidding a bit on the gravel.

"Commander," Benjamin greeted me, sliding his blades home. The action was so natural that I could not help but wonder where a kitchen hand learned such weapon grace. It usually took years to achieve such.

Hape slotted her axes home into their holsters over her shoulders. "Commander! I found a whole dragon skeleton! Can I have the skull in my room? Please?"

"Of course," I agreed magnanimously. "But I might get you to take it to Soldier's Peak instead of the Vigil. Our numbers are expanding, so we'll need to move some of us to our other fortress."

She didn't seem to mind. "Thanks! You're the sodding best!"

"Hape!" Seranni scolded her.

The duster suddenly looked so apprehensive I wondered if she was expecting me to strike her. Instead I gave her a wink. Relief rose from her like steam. "This is Senior Warden Fiona from Weisshaupt. The First Warden wants someone to examine the Architect's remains. Have you had any trouble here?"

Seranni decided that as the most senior Warden present, she should answer. "No trouble, Commander. We were attacked by six darkspawn yesterday, but besides that nothing. We haven't been in the ruins though."

I flashed a grin at her. "Good work. Hape, Ben, Pickering, could you give me a hand with this crate?" I asked.

"Of course, Commander," Ben said in his soft whisper.

"Excellent. Seranni, Thunder, Falon'fen, could you please stay here with the wagons. We'll be back in an hour or so."

Fiona frowned. "I have questions for Warden Seranni. She should accompany us. Leave your bodyguard here instead; as he should not overhear our conversation."

I stared at her without expression. "No. She stays here. You can talk with her afterwards." I turned at started untying the ropes holding the crate on our wagon steady.

In the midst of frosty silence and even frostier stares, we had the crate off the wagon and carried down the path towards the ruins. Eventually, Fiona couldn't keep her frustrations to herself.

"Did you have a reason to countermand me?" she hissed.

"Yes." I replied flatly.

Realising that I was not about to elaborate, she spat, "Why?"

I turned to face her. "Because I'm not a heartless bitch, that's why."

Her mouth formed a perfect 'O' of surprise. "W-what?"

I snarled at her. "She was held in blood-thrall by the Architect for weeks. I'm not exposing her to the cursed thing's remains just so you can sate your curiosity. You've waited to interview her for months; you can wait another couple of hours."

Ben and Hape exchanged glances, but Fiona eased their worry by sighing and nodding. "You are of course, correct. My apologies. I did not consider Warden Seranni's position."

With the air cleared, between the four of us, it was a simple matter to carry the crate all the way down the winding path. Fiona called for a halt at one point, having spotted something that intrigued her; a faintly glowing patch of dead earth.

I explained the origin of the phenomenon. She shook her head at my explanation. I suppose I should get used to that reaction from people. Anyone who wasn't there would never believe it was necessary. I'd still do the same though.

The area in front of the ruined castle still bore the scars of that battle with the dragon. The carcass had been harvested well, though there was still some decomposing draconic offal in a pit to one side. The dirt was stained black with blood.

"It is astonishing that we thought dragons were gone," Fiona remarked as she noodled through the pungent pile of rotting organs with a stick. "I can't help but wonder if you and your Wardens are contributing to their actual extinction."

My Wardens and I shared a smile, and I shook my head at them. "Oh, I think we're doing our bit to ensure their continued existence."

"Sorry?" Fiona asked, looking just as confused as Pickering.

"Later," I said with a wave. "It's a surprise."

She gave a grumbling sigh. "More surprises."

"Well," I drawled, "not so much as a surprise as you wouldn't believe me unless you see it for yourself."

"I shudder at the prospect," she said tartly. "At this point, I think I'm prepared to believe just about anything you claim."

I chuckled, but turned to the ruin. "Come on. Your old friend awaits."

It took only an instant for Fiona to recognise the Architect. A sharp drawing of breath preceded a slump of her shoulders. "Oh thank the Maker," she whispered.

Hape grimaced at the half-decomposed body. "Ew! That's the Architect is it?"

I directed Ben and Hape to put the crate down next to the rotting corpse. "Ugly bastard, isn't it?" I said conversationally. "Do you want to preserve the body, Fiona?"

She nodded. "For what good it will do. I appreciate your accomplishments, but it would have been helpful had you performed the spells immediately after killing it." She pulled out a pair of thin leather gloves and began positioning the body. Apparently she was the kind of person that disliked getting her hands covered in gore.

"Yeah, well, we were a bit busy at the time. You know, trying to stop ourselves dying of wounds sustained, that sort of thing."

She sighed, but began casting preservation spells rather than respond to my barb. Benjamin looked surprised. "Um, Commander, you're going to save the body? What's left of it? Why?"

"Not me," I replied. "Weisshaupt sent Fiona here to assess the danger and assemble a team to kill the Architect. Seems they felt that we couldn't handle an ancient, insanely powerful darkspawn Blood Mage. She's of the opinion that they wouldn't believe that we'd killed it without proof. I figure sending the body back to them will satisfy them."

"I dare say so too," he said with a wry grin. He looked around the area, and ran his hand along the charred, shattered and scorched rocks. "I've never seen anything like this. You must have really let loose."

I nodded, wincing at the memory. "Yep. Felt like the battle went for days. I've never fought anything like it. Not even the archdemon. Mind you, at least then we had open sky then and I could use some of my really big spe-" I broke off as my Warden senses began tingling.

"Commander?" Ben said, his head bent to one side quizzically.

I sighed. "Incoming darkspawn." I heard Fiona suck in a deep breath. Couldn't she sense them?

Hape snatched her axes and had an excited grin. "Where from?" She was practically bouncing on her feet.

I pointed towards the archway leading down into the earth, towards The Mother's cavern. "Down there. I think there's about twenty or so. No ogres though."

Ben drew his daggers. "Orders, Commander?"

"Hape, you and I are taking point. Ben, pick a side and flank as you can. Fiona, Pickering, can you lay down some covering fire?"

Pickering nodded and pulled his crossbow from his shoulder. Fiona actually gave me a wry smile. "It has been a while, but I believe I remember how."

I nodded and pulled Spellweaver from my shoulder. I'd much prefer to use Spellfury, but Hape didn't have the bulk to keep so many darkspawn from breaking the front line. With sword in hand, I cast a few preparatory spells, coating our weapons with elemental ice, hardening my skin and fading my body. Fiona's expression of shock at my transparency was a warming sight.

I thought back to my recent adventure in the Crow's nest. "Ben, hang to one side until this goes off, all right? I don't want you caught up in it." I dropped a barrier glyph on the wide entryway.

Pickering recognised it. "Whoa boy," he whispered, gripping the stock of his crossbow tightly.

"That won't hold them back for long," Fiona said.

I grinned nastily. "It's not meant to. Just wait til you see this. It's a beauty."

The first darkspawn came into view and rushed us, hitting the barrier glyph hard.

"Observe," I said in my best impersonation of Irving in the classroom. I dropped a paralysation glyph on the front runners.

The magic of the opposing glyphs reacted poorly to each other; both unravelling in a single cascade failure. The explosion shredded half a dozen darkspawn and floored the rest. It was much nicer to watch the effect from a distance, rather than from inside the blast radius.

I turned to Fiona and with a cocky grin said, "Nice, eh?"

"Focus, please!" she snapped, before launching a fireball.

The battle descended into a farce at that point. The darkspawn who survived both the magical explosion and fire tried charging through Pickering's bolts at Hape and me. Hape proved to be quite a vicious little bitch in battle, preferring to cripple her opponents with axe chops to the knees and ankles rather than try for killing strikes at the outset. Of course, her method tended to bring the taller hurlocks down to her eye level where she took great delight in caving heads in. Oghren would no doubt be flirting madly with her.

Ben, for all that a few weeks ago he was a lowly kitchen hand, darted out and buried his daggers into darkspawn backs with impressive precision before spinning away out of range. He seemed to instinctively know where to strike for best effect; kidneys being his target of choice. He weaved like a dancer, and I felt a great worry lift. He could certainly look after himself.

Fiona however appeared to be suffering from long decades of polishing a chair with her backside as a research Warden. Perspiration ran down her face and she drew her breath in gasps, but her magic was steady and proficient. It too barely more than a few minutes for silence to once again descend on the room.

I wiped corrupted blood from my sword's blade. "Well, that was bracing."

We packed the Architect into the crate and sealed it with both nails and magic. It was a bit more difficult to carry out as it had been to carry in, but we managed it with a minimum of fuss.

My Wardens had set up camp inside the ribcage of a large dragon-skeleton, stretching their tents over the ribs and securing them with rope. The effect was a bit creepy, but instead of three small tents, we had a covered area large enough for a fire pit in the centre.

Pickering was kind enough to volunteer for first watch with the dogs, sitting a far enough distance away that he could not hear our conversation. Fiona had many questions for Seranni, and I had to rein her in often as her enthusiasm began to overtake her compassion.

The Architect's ability to modulate and manage the taint was the prime topic of conversation. I explained that when I first encountered Seranni she had been almost completely gone to the darkspawn corruption, yet still retained a semblance of her own personality.

To her credit, Seranni answered every question put to her. She punctured a few of Fiona's theories with pointed observations, and firmed up a few more with eyewitness accounts. Fiona was shocked to her core at the revelation that the silent dwarf woman with the Architect was indeed the same dwarf Grey Warden she knew twenty years before.

The idea that the taint could be held at bay indefinitely intrigued me. I needed to speak to Avernus.

o_ooo000ooo_o

AN: Thanks to my reviewers - Pintsizedpsyhco, Mb18932, Isabeau of Greenlea, MrPowell, anon, Ie-maru, Nate88, timunderwood9, Arsinoe de Blassenville, unanimously anonymous. mostly and shyWriter413.

A shorter chapter, because though I wanted to put the meeting with Avernus in this chapter, it was really fighting me. I figured I'd post what I had now and have a longer chapter next time.