"I smashed that years ago, back when the Arl had me shipped off to the Chantry to train as a Templar."
Wait, what? He was a Templar? I froze, probably resembling a deer in headlights, or whatever the Ferelden equivalent was. A halla in lamplight?
"Your mother's amulet? Are you sure?"
"Yeah. You found this in his study?"
"Yes. It was lying on the desk." I paused, "You smashed it?"
"Yeah. To bits."
"Why? If you don't mind my asking."
"He must have…found the amulet after I threw it at the wall, and he repaired it and kept it. I don't understand. Why would he do that?" he was lost in his thoughts.
"Perhaps he wanted to give it back to you." I murmured.
"I guess you could be right. We never really talked that much. And then the way I left…. I'm glad you found it. I thought I'd lost this to my own stupidity. I'll need to talk to him about this, if he recovers from his-When he recovers, that is. I wish I'd had this a long time ago." He touched it, his fingers barely brushing the silver Andraste emblem on the pendent.
I slipped the chain over his hand, giving him ownership of it, "Will you tell me why you…." I trailed off, unsure of how to ask.
"Were so angry?" he finished for me as his fingers curled around it, his eyes suspiciously bright.
I nodded mutely.
"The Arlessa, Isolde, didn't want me at the castle. She made it known to everyone, especially me. She thought I was Eamon's bastard. No amount of reassurance on his part could calm her. She wanted me gone. And the arl caved, eventually. He sent me off to the Chantry, telling me it was for my own good. That I would make an excellent Templar. That he would visit as often as he was able. I spat at his words and ripped off my mother's amulet, throwing it at the wall. It shattered, much like the tenuous relationship we'd had up until that moment. I wanted nothing to do with him. I screamed and yelled. Horrible things. I told him I hated him, that I never wanted to see him again. I was just so…angry…. And I lost the one thing I'd still had from my mother. But you found it." His eyes focused on me once again, "Even if you did steal it," a grin on that sad, sad face, "I'm glad you did."
A giggle escaped me, "You're glad I stole from the Arl of Redcliffe? That's a first. I doubt anyone would ever say that to a child."
Alistair wiped his eyes, "Haha. You're right."
"When you're ready, I'll go with you."
A questioning glance.
"To meet Goldanna." I clarified.
Relief crossed his face, "Right. Thank you. We can go now, if you're up for it?"
"Of course. Let's go."
...
"And who are you? Are you a bastard child of his? Out to claim his inheritance?" the brunette harpy asked shrilly.
"Are you blind? I'm almost ten. He isn't old enough to have a child. You're just a shrew." I tossed back, about to pounce on her. How dare-
"you talk to her that way?! She came with me, because she knew meeting you was important to me. Don't you dare talk to her like that." Alistair raised his voice.
Goldanna was stunned in to silence.
I barely suppressed the urge to stick out my tongue, "Let's go, Ali. There's nothing for you here."
"You're right. I can't believe we came all this way… to be faced with… this." He turned and stormed out of the small house.
"You shrill bitch, are you happy with yourself? It doesn't matter that your life is rough. That's not his fault. You need to grow up, put on your big girl panties, and deal with the hand life gave you. If you had been nice, I just know he would have done something about what you've got here. He would have made sure you were cared for. But, no. You had to be an asshole and crush him before he could even articulate how excited he was and how happy he was that he actually got to meet you. He's dreamed of this day for I don't even know how long. Probably since he first learned he had a sister." My teeth ground together, "I don't even want to know what makes a person as bitter as you are. For his sake, I hope you become a better person in the future."
With that, I spun around and fled the scene.
I ran smack in to Alistair, laughing hysterically.
"Why are you not angry?" I stomped my foot, "I'm angry on your behalf! How could she treat you like that?"
"You…. You…. You called… her… a-a-a," he wheezed the words, still beside himself, "shrill bitch! That was g-gold!"
I giggled, joining him.
"You ARE funny. I told you so earlier, didn't I?" he said once we'd calmed down.
I wiped the tears from my eyes, "You did."
"I'm right. Sometimes." He winked.
Shaking my head, I looked up at the sky, "Are you going to be alright?"
He sighed deeply, "Probably. After I have a while to wallow."
I bumped my shoulder against his arm, "You'll be fine. You've got friends like me."
"Friends like you?" he echoed, glancing up at the sky as well, "Yeah. Yeah, I do. Thanks for being there for me today. And after you just woke up from sleeping for days on end. I hope you're not going to slip and get sicker."
He studied me with concern.
"I'm fine. But we should go, before she calls the guards or something."
The other Warden winced, "Yeah. Let's go. Anywhere in particular you wanna go?"
We started walking aimlessly.
"I'm not sure. I've never been to Denerim. I don't know much about it, other than the royal castle is here." I shrugged.
"I keep forgetting you're so young. It's not surprising, really, that you haven't been here before. We could go see-"
"There you are! Zevran told me the two of you had left, and I felt abandoned." Red hair filled my face as the woman swooped in and hugged me.
"Pleh. Leliana. Your hair. Please." I choked out, my mouth full of hair.
"Oh! I am sorry!" she pulled back, sheepish, "But I am glad I found you! There is a salon here that I think you would enjoy visiting! Let's go!"
Alistair held out a hand, "I don't think-"
"This is a girl thing." Her eyes were dangerous, "You wouldn't understand. Go play with weapons somewhere else. I am taking her to be pampered, because that's what girls need to feel better."
I groaned inwardly, forcing a smile, "I'll be fine. We can hang out later and visit-"
"Yes, yes. Let us go, now." Her tone persistent, she led me away.
"Leliana, I-"
"Little girls shouldn't be in armor." She murmured quietly.
My eyes widened. Oh. I'd forgotten to change.
"I have that dress, back in my pack."
"And where is your pack, little Warden?" Morrigan's voice suddenly sounded.
"I…. I do not like it when you two gang up on me. Are you behind this, too?"
She ignored me, "I am glad to see you well. Now, we must be off."
"There is a cute shop around the corner where we can buy you a new dress."
My ears perked up at that, "Can we afford it?"
The rogue's eyes widened with a mischievous gleam, "The Arlessa paid handsomely for our involvement in freeing Connor and Redcliffe."
"In that order." The mage rolled her eyes.
"Indeed." A grin, "So are not lacking for money. At all. It is exciting, no?"
Her joy was infectious, my grin mirroring her own, "It is."
...
Several luxurious hours later, found Leliana, Wynne, Morrigan, and I all walking out of a salon. Our hair was fabulous. I had never felt so…girly before.
Wynne had been waiting for us, already talking to the shop owner, arranging for us to be the only customers for the rest of their business hours.
It was always such a surprise, how money managed to open every door.
"Where to next?" Leliana tucked a curl behind my ear.
I blushed, unused to the treatment, "Uh. Wherever is fine with me." I stumbled through the words.
She and Wynne laughed. Morrigan gave me a knowing glance, telling me she understood what I was feeling. I smiled gratefully at them all.
"Today was nice. I've…never done anything so superfluous before."
"Sometimes it is nice, no? To take a break and simply breathe." In demonstration, the red head inhaled deeply, flinging her arms up toward the sky as she released it.
"I really like what they did to your hair, Morri." I mumbled, keeping my eyes from her glossy ponytail full of curls.
"I am partial to it, as well." The apostate replied just as quietly.
"Can someone please tell me why we're staying in a sex house?" I grumbled as it came in to view.
"No one would think to find us there, now would they? The people out to stop injustice, slumming in a whorehouse?" Zevran stepped out of the shadows, eyeing us, "It would work, but for the small fact we have a child with us. Though, in Antiva, it is not such a strange sight to see a child living at the local whorehouse. The women are fertile, no?"
Leliana covered my ears, "Zevran! She is a child! She doesn't need to hear this! Away with you, fiend!"
I rolled my eyes, "You'd think I didn't understand where babies came from or something. It's not as shocking as finding out the Tooth Fairy doesn't exist."
My eyes widened, and I froze. Did Ferelden have an equivalent? Oh, kill me now. I was slipping a lot, lately.
"What's a Tooth Fairy?" Wynne inquired, sounding overly grandmotherly.
I pulled a face, "It's a story I was told when I was growing up." I narrowed my eyes, daring one of them to say I was still "growing up," "When you lose a baby tooth, you put it under your pillow, and a fairy comes to take it away. It leaves money in its place. It came to be known as the Tooth Fairy because it only took teeth. And only baby teeth. If an adult left a tooth…" I shuddered.
"What? What would happen?" Leli was eating it up.
"The Tooth Fairy would extract each and every tooth you had. Forcefully. And mockingly leave quarters, as it would for a child."
"What's a quarter?"
"Oh. Uh." I closed my eyes, "Wait. I have some in my pack."
"Are they coins? With a strange face on them?" the assassin held out his hand, dumping the quarters from the Arl Foreshadow in my hands.
"Yeah." I raised an eyebrow.
"They were on the floor." He shrugged, "Perhaps you had them on you, and they fell when you stood from the bed."
"Maybe." I handed the three women each a coin, letting them inspect at their leisure.
"How are you feeling?" he asked, sidling closer to me, "You look tired. And your cheeks are flushed."
"Thanks, mom." I forced a smile, "I am a bit tired, now that you mention it. I think I should sit down again soon."
"Come. We can tell more children's tales inside just as well as we can out here, no?"
Leliana pouted, but didn't argue, "I suppose we can. Let's go, then."
The five of us quickly became the two of us, as Leliana decided she could really do with some "adult" company. Wynne left us for a couple of young men who were attempting to sweet talk her. Morrigan, with a half-disgusted look on her face, went to her own rooms, though Zevran stopped me from continuing on so he could be right. A man slipped in after her.
I almost gagged.
Just because I understood what this place was, didn't mean I needed to see it in action.
"Gross." I muttered.
The elf laughed heartily.