Three Months Later
Roderick and the Divine's proposition came through and a new official contract was born.
Not exactly the way Bull asked for it though, no. The Divine did one better and after a full month of negotiating and arguing with all the Revered Mothers, Templars and Loyalist Mages, not to mention Seekers and all the nobility of Orlais that felt they had the right to decide these matters as well, the Divine's secretaries hammered out an official, legal document proclaiming it legal and right for any willing and capable mages to find employment or create and own a business and employ themselves.
That was it.
All mages now had the right to work for coin as any other person did, and to be paid for the services they offered without Chantry input, interference, oversight… or fees. That meant mages were actually more accessible to the common man now than ever before. Ordering their services meant ordering only their services and not paying for some priest's new robes or the templar's endless lyrium supplies.
Rush was certain it was a novel concept not only for the common people, but for mages as well. For the first time in known history, non-Tevinter mages could freely admit to being mages… and get paid for it.
Not that this came without its own set of problems. Many people were screaming their heads off about 'abominations stalking the streets in full daylight' and how 'Thedas was about to become the second Tevinter Imperium', all but expecting mages to pull out some long-hidden chains and enslave the good common folk with their dastardly rituals. But many more were simply too curious about the, until now, forbidden arcane luxuries, which were all but impossible to get, unless one was either extremely rich, or had a very good relationship with the Chantry and its Templars.
Ironically, the mages themselves seemed to have the hardest time adjusting to this new world. 'How strange it must feel,' Rush thought with a mental snort, 'to suddenly be responsible for your own needs. To have to earn coin to get food and lodging, like any other person.' For many mages, especially the ones who were taken in very young, this was a completely foreign concept.
But it was a good concept. One that was desperately needed. If the mages wanted to live free, they needed to accept the responsibility that came with freedom. They needed to learn how to take care of their own needs, rather than expect someone else to hand them what they needed, when they needed it simply because that's how it's 'always been'. To always be dependent on someone else and then hate them for your dependency.
Now they finally had a chance to earn their own living through honest - and sometimes not so honest - work.
Not that all mages found jobs among the mercenaries. In fact, only a small number did. The rest became the local village healers, or archivists and scholars in bigger cities. Rush heard from her new friends in the Mage's Collective that the University of Orlais hired more than fifty mages to create and manage their new magical section of the library and offered classes on the arcane and how to protect against its darker sides to anyone willing to attend, mage or not. Many more simply opened their own businesses, selling potions and enchanted items to curious customers. Rush heard that several of the brightest, most talented mages had already had to come to an agreement to slow down with their inventions, lest they overwhelm the 'normal' people with too many new things.
Even most templars, with the exception of a few monsters still stalking the forests and remote villages, seemed to settle down and now only negotiated with the Chantry about reinstating the Circles. The Divine's decision obviously wasn't very popular with them, as they now lacked a purpose. Ironically, to get the coin they needed to feed their lyrium addiction, most found employment in the same mercenary companies that accepted the mages. The various mercenary captains, however, were better at keeping order and infighting down to a minimum; better than the Seekers or Chantry priests ever were. When Rush thought about it, she realized that there were now hundreds of mini-Circles all around Thedas that strangely enough, no one hated.
'And all this happened because one amazing, badass mercenary captain wanted to do something sweet for his girlfriend,' she laughed to herself and shook her head ruefully.
Sometimes, all it took to change the world was a single act of kindness.
Rush stared down at the single sheet of paper in her hands. Her official contract, employing her at the Bull's Chargers mercenary company. She took it everywhere with her, and refused to let it out of her sight. It only named her as 'Rush', and never once mentioned her name, amusingly enough. Yet it was here and it was real and Rush had never felt safer. Mostly.
The Chantry still held the leash, though. Not just hers, but of all the mages.
One part of the deal was the 'test' every mage had to go through. First they had to prove they were actually mages with the simplest of spells to remove any charlatans, and then the Chantry made a copy of the contract to keep in their archives, sealed in such a way that no mage or templar would ever be able to pass through their wards. The contracts were only legal, of course, if the mage still worked at their designed position. It let the Chantry know just how many of them there were… and where they were all located.
Rush was sure it will come back to bite them all in the ass someday… but for now, things were fine.
When Roderick recognized her, she spent the next week wondering and worrying some Templar will come to drag her… wherever, to face a trial. Yet now, months later with still no stirrings of rumors about her true identity, she felt she could relax. There truly didn't seem to be any danger because of what happened at the Circle. Not from the now deceased Rylan, not from the Chantry, nor from any random templar tracking her by phylactery which was by now destroyed.
She was finally free.
"Admiring your contract, again, Rush?" Dalish's teasing voice interrupted her musings. She sat down next to Rush at the crates near the Charger's sparing ring and pulled out her own contract.
Despite not truly needing it, as no one aside from the Chargers knew Dalish was a mage, she decided to get one for herself. Dalish obviously believed that any 'people in power' would be more lenient of a registered mage than an unregistered apostate. And she was not the only one.
Another strange and amusing quirk that came to light after the contract's creation - turned out there were way more mages than what even the Chantry guessed, living outside its influence as apostates. Apostates who now felt it will be safer to be legally out in the open than wait for some still patrolling templar to accidentally find and execute them as they had the right to do to any apostate.
My, wasn't the Chantry surprised when it counted almost twice as many contracts for employed mages than the number of mages that were kept in Circles before the rebellion? When you took in the fact that many mages died during the rebellion and that not all the Circle mages registered…
Despite the outcry and attempts to take the 'registered apostates' blood to create phylacteries by some templars and chantry officials, the apostates were now safer as well.
How quickly the world changed.
"Just relaxing on our free day, Dalish," she smiled at the girl and folded the contract to place it securely inside her mercenary coat.
Dalish laughed. "Feels strange, right? A completely normal, free day, after all the crazy jobs lately."
"Admit it, friend, you like crazy jobs."
The elf smirked in response, "I do. My coin bag does, too. Even Chief seems to be slowly changing his mind about 'the weird ass crap'," Dalish mimicked Bull's deep, booming voice. "Especially since we seem to find so many… interesting facts about the contractors. Now I only have to worry that our free days will seem boring in comparison."
"Boring, you say?" Rush smirked mischievously. A thought entered her mind, one of the less unpleasant memories of the Circle. "Then why don't we spice things up a little bit?" She stood up and Dalish followed suit, curious about what she had planned.
Rush led them back inside the tavern. She aimed straight for Krem, who sat at the back of his chair, sewing supplies on the chair's seat… and several nug plushies safely tucked away under the chair.
"Hey, Krem," she called out and watched the lieutenant's automatic reaction with a smirk.
Krem jumped down from the chair's back, sat on his sewing materials and crossed his legs so that he effectively hid both the plushies under the chair and the sewing materials under his ass. Then he actually took a moment to look around and see who called out to him. He gave the grinning Rush and Dalish an unimpressed look, but still pretended nothing was going on. "Can I help you, girls?"
Rush leaned closer, "Actually, you can. I hoped we could get a couple of your nugs. They are adorable."
Krem blushed and crossed arms over his chest, both uncomfortable and pleased with the praise. Still, he tried to act manly about it - which meant he denied it all, "I don't know what you're talking about."
Rush rolled her eyes, "Oh, take those needles out of your ass, lieutenant. I can see them peeking out from under the chair, you know."
Krem glared at her through his blush, while Dalish had to stifle giggles behind her hand. When Rush simply lifted one eyebrow and dropped her eyes to look at the closest nug peeking out from behind Krem's legs, Krem rolled his eyes and mock lifted his hands in surrender. "All right, all right. But… what would you need them for, anyway?"
Rush smiled at him, "It's a surprise… Come with us, take a couple of them and I'll show you."
Krem pierced her with a suspicious look, then sighed, but Rush could see the smile he tried to hide. "Sure, I'll go. Now I'm curious what you have planned."
Rush took a couple of the nugs and, after a moment of thought, added a couple cabbages from a nearby cart into her bag on her way out. Now both Krem and Dalish stared at her as if they couldn't decide if she was crazy or trying to pull them into some strange mess on their free day.
"Oh, come on, guys. You'll love it," she grinned at them. Her grin widened when they followed her and after a moment, Rocky and Stitches who watched silently until then lifted themselves up from their game of Wicked Grace to join them.
She led the group to the outskirts of the city, to the parts where the elves district started. Somewhere between where the merchants and commoners lived and where the poorer elves (but still more fortunate than the poorest of them) made their home. The place where almost no guards patrolled, despite the rising racial tensions, and no templars or priests ever set foot in. The most 'discreet' place in the city, where no one cared, or at least decided for their own continued health to pretend not to care.
Rush paused before the slightly beaten, wooden statue of Andraste holding a bowl of 'holy flame' - which meant an empty bowl in her outstretched hands. Perfect.
She placed the bag on the ground at her feet and pulled out one of the stitched nugs. Looking at her companion's curious looks, she grinned… and threw the nug high into the air.
All their heads automatically lifted to watch it fly. As it descended, Rush turned her face up with a smirk, then brought two fingers to her forehead and, right as it was about to fall on her head, mind-blasted it high into air again.
The nug flew, and flew… and landed right in Andraste's little bowl.
She turned to face her surprised teammates who now started grinning, and waved her hands dramatically at the nug, "Behold the Holy Nug!" she shouted, grinning.
In that moment, wind blew away the small cloud covering the sky. Beautiful rays of sunlight streamed down at them… and at the nug in Andraste's bowl. As if the Maker's fingers caressed the nug Andraste held out to him.
Rush stared at it in surprise, then turned to face the Chargers. "I didn't do that."
The Chargers lost it and started laughing. Bystanders who watched the whole proceedings covertly joined them only seconds later. In no time at all, the entire square laughed and bowed down to the 'holy nug'.
Krem just covered his eyes with a palm, but Rush could see his shaking shoulders and knew he liked it just as much as the rest. When he finally put his hand down, Rush could see his completely red face and snorted. He gave her an unimpressed look and asked, "What was the point of all that? And why would you even do that?"
Rush grinned, "Because it's fun." Then she went on to explain, "We used to do this at the Circle, too. We'd usually take something no one will notice missing, like a cabbage. Then we'd lean out of the tower's windows and shoot it with mind-blast up into the upper templar quarters that were not accessible to mages. The templars always blamed each other for the 'childish pranks' and started fighting among themselves… and left the mages alone for a while. It had two advantages - we got to practice our precision and skill with the mind blast spell… and we got to make fun of the templars without fear of repercussions." She smirked, "Extra points if you blasted it someplace they wouldn't notice until the cabbage started rotting. That was always fun."
Dalish rolled her eyes at Rush. "That's… kind of mean, but alright. How did you even do that? Doesn't mind blast just, well, blast and rip everything apart?"
Rush smiled and picked up a cabbage, "Usually, you'd be right. But if you concentrate the spell's force into a single point, and cast a small barrier around the object, you can use the spell to throw projectiles instead."
The elf's eyes widened, "So that's why you threw it so high!"
"To give myself time to cast a small barrier around it, yes," Rush agreed, glad to see how quickly the girl caught on. "And I'm going to teach you how to do that, too."
Both mages grinned.
-rushing-ahead-rushing-ahead-rushing-ahead-
"I hope it was worth it, girls," Krem smirked at them, while they picked pieces of cabbage out of their hair on the way back to the tavern.
As fun as it was to watch Dalish try and fail to get the spell combination right, the resulting 'green showers' as Rush fondly called them, were less amusing for the bystanders. Rocky and Stitches quickly excused themselves when pieces of cabbage flew in their direction, and in the end, it was only Krem who remained to 'watch over them in case of trouble'. Rush personally thought he just liked to watch them suffer, as it was the two of them who were all but covered in green goo from blasted cabbages.
"Oh, it definitely was, Kremlicious," Rush grinned back at him. "Especially when Dalish managed to mind blast that one cabbage all the way up on the roof of The Dirty Tankard." Her smirk turned vicious, "You know, the tavern that houses the Sharp Mask mercenaries? The assholes that stole our last job with their pandering to the nobles? The ones who called Bull an Oxman and me his bitch? The men who tried to take Cadash and his jobs away from us? Well, good luck to them trying to get the cabbage down from that roof before it starts to rot. If they even notice it's there…"
Krem stared at her with his mouth open for a second, then burst out laughing. "I knew it! I knew that it wasn't an accident that Dalish managed to cast it right that one time just as we were passing the tavern!" He continued laughing, even as Dalish paused with a piece of cabbage in her hand and stared at them in dismay, "You did that on purpose, didn't you?"
"Wait, does that mean I didn't manage to cast it right after all?" Dalish asked sadly.
"You just need to strengthen your barrier a bit more, Dalish," Rush tried her best to soothed the girl and placed a comforting hand around her shoulders. "I'm sure you'll get it right next time. I'll help you until you get it right, I promise."
"Yeah, sure," she muttered, staring at the ground. Then she paused, and met Rush's eyes with a smirk, "You know what? For using me like that, you'll have to teach me another, different spell, too. Something I don't know yet."
Rush just laughed, "Sure, Dalish, I'll teach you all you want to know."
Krem just rolled his eyes at them good-naturedly and opened the door to their tavern for them.
"I hope we'll have more free days like this one, Rush. I liked the training." Dalish smiled as she walked in.
Before Rush could reply, though, a young elf at the bar lifted his head in surprise and stood up. "Rinna? Rinna, is that you?" He took a step closer to an equally surprised Dalish.
"Mahanon! What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be with your clan?" She exclaimed and went to hug the boy in greeting.
The boy smiled at her and returned the hug. "My Keeper sent me out to… see the world a little. Look, I even got Vallaslin of my own, and it's just like yours!"
Dalish stared at him in shock. "'See the world'? I… Oh. Oh, dear, if there's anything I can do to help…"
The boy, Mahanon, just looked at her, confused, "I'm to watch and listen, then I'll go back to the Keeper and tell her what's going on in the world. So… if you have anything interesting for us to know… Yeah, sure, you can help, I guess?"
Dalish's shoulders sagged in relief. "So you're not… That's a relief."
"I'm not… what? Rinna, what happened?" Mahanon asked, now looking worried.
Dalish hesitated, then took the boy by the shoulders and led him to the bar, where she ordered them both drinks. Rush wasn't certain if she was welcome, but one look from Dalish and she quietly joined in.
"I'm no longer First to clan Virnehn, Mahanon," Dalish said quietly, but Rush couldn't detect a hint of shame or self-pity in her tone. If nothing else, at least working with the Chargers seemed to have healed whatever pain the separation from her clan caused.
"What?" Mahanon stared at her, aghast. "But… you've always been the First! And you're a talented mage, too! What was Thelhen thinking trying to replace you…"
"He didn't." Dalish interrupted him. "Not at first. He just one day got it into his head to go and summon demons to 'help us take back the Dales'. I… disagreed." Dalish swallowed heavily. "This isn't what the Dalish are about. Not what we're supposed to do. We argued about it and he seemed to listen to what I had to say, but… A week or two later, he brought in another mage, a woman named Mihris, who didn't mind summoning demons. After that, she quickly replaced me as the clan's First while I was… asked to leave."
"But that's…" Mahanon sat there in shock, with no idea how to react.
Dalish only smiled sadly, "They told me I was no longer Dalish since I didn't want to support their 'noble' efforts. I told them they were idiots, that I'm more Dalish then them… and I left."
"That's horrible," Mahanon took one of Dalish, Rinna's, hands into his own and gave her a compassionate look. "If there's anything I can do, just let me know. I'm sure Keeper Istimaethoriel will gladly help you out."
Dalish smiled at him. "Thanks, Mahanon, but I don't really need that. I'm quite happy where I am now. But…" She paused, took a deep breath and stated resolutely, "If Clan Lavellan ever sees Clan Virnehn again, please tell your Keeper to give them a wide berth and don't trade with them. They mess with dangerous magic they can't control. I wouldn't want to see your clan wiped out if Thelhen becomes an abomination."
Mahanon nodded solemnly. Then he asked in a concerned voice, "But what will you do now? If you don't have a clan…"
At that, Dalish simply laughed, "Don't worry about that! I'm fine. More than fine," she smiled, and when she saw Mahanon didn't look persuaded, she explained, "I work as a mercenary now. The Bull's Chargers, that's our company. Our leader is a good man, and I think this job actually suits me better than being a Keeper ever could."
"You're a mercenary, Rinna? But you were always so nice. Are you sure this is what you want to do?"
Here Rush couldn't stand it any longer and chuckled, "You can be a mercenary and still be nice, friend. We simply kick the asses of bad guys who deserve whatever we dish out." When he turned to her in surprise, she smiled at him, "I'm Rush, by the way."
Mahanon stared at her for a second, then he blushed and stuttered out an introduction as well.
Rush couldn't help but think that the boy was very cute, in that puppyish sort of way children were. It made her want to mother him… and also made her wonder why he was out alone, and at such a young age too. He couldn't have been older than eighteen. If his clan truly sent him out to spy, as she surmised from the chat Dalish had with him before, he didn't seem ready for the job.
Bull chose that moment to walk down the stairs from his room. He raised an eyebrow at their small party, no doubt noticing the bits of cabbage Rush and Dalish still didn't manage to pull out of their hair and clothes, and the young unknown elf in the middle of their group.
"Who is this kid? Don't tell me we have another lost mage duckling that wants to join the Chargers," Bull grinned at the elven boy.
"Err, no, Mister Qunari. I'm no… duckling," the kid stuttered defiantly and Rush had to bite her lip to stop a smile. So cute. "I just wanted to talk to my cousin," he turned to look at Dalish.
"Cousin?" Bull lifted an eyebrow at Dalish.
Dalish gave him a small smile, "Not literally. Our clans met often, and 'cousin' is the word we use for people we are close to in clans not our own, who are our brothers and sisters."
"Nice," Bull commented, still looking at the boy. "Welcome, then. I hope you'll have a drink with us before you leave."
Lavellan fidgeted, then turned back to Dalish. "Actually, there is something…"
She looked at the boy with a raised eyebrow, "What is it?"
"There's this group of people, following me. I think. They appear whenever I'm at a place for longer than a day and… they keep… staring at me. I thought that, since you're a mercenary… You could help me, maybe?"
Dalish bit her lip, then turned to Bull with a pleading look.
He smiled gently at her, "If that's what you want. What you do in your free time is your own business, Dalish." Before she could become too jubilant, he added, "Just remember to take someone with you when you go. And to have a backup plan, if anything goes wrong."
Dalish just rolled her eyes, "Yes, Chief."
She turned to Rush, but Rush decided to answer before she could ask. "I don't think that's a good idea."
Dalish raised an eyebrow, "Why not?"
"The stalkers might be mage hunters," she threw a quick glance at Mahanon, dressed as he was in mage robes with his staff proudly on display, "in which case they will expect to fight a mage. Or several mages. You and Mahanon already fill the quota for mages in any fighting party. Take the warriors, or rogues for backup. I'm sure Skinner would love the chance to 'skin' some shems that threaten elves."
Dalish and the elf boy smiled, then Dalish grabbed him by the elbow, "True. I'm going to ask them right away. Thanks!" and led him in the direction of Krem and the rest of the Chargers, where they sat around the table, playing Wicked Grace.
Bull looked at her out of the corner of his eye. "What's the matter, Rush? It's not like you, to waste the chance to rush into trouble head first."
She chuckled. No matter how many times she heard that joke, it never got old. But she had different plans for now. "I thought that, since the Chargers are out and about, we might do something interesting."
Bull grinned and leaned closer, "What did you have in mind?"
"I thought we might go and train, actually," she deadpanned, completely serious.
"Train?" He looked at her in surprise. After a moment of pause, he continued, "Just what are you planning now, Rush?"
She smiled secretively. 'Just like Bull to figure out that I'm plotting something,' she thought. "Nothing bad, I promise."
He chuckled and stood up. "All right! Let's see what you've got."
His grin was a bit unsettling, but Rush didn't let it deter her. She was certain he will like her plan.
She turned to go upstairs and prepare, but paused when she heard Bull call after her. She turned to look at him.
He grinned, "By the way, what's with all the cabbage?"
A/N: The cabbage scene - shamelessly stolen from all those glorious Skyrim vids. The only proper use for the Telekinesis spell, imo. Come on, people! All this magic and I can't play around with it? Not fair… Eh, mindblast ain't no catapult, but it works just fine ;)