The weeks that passed were tense. Alistair wasn't speaking to me, which made things harder on everyone. At first. As the days dragged one in to another, I talked to Leliana, Wynne, and Sten. Asked them if they would go with him for a while whenever he had it in his head to do random missions throughout the city. The two women readily agreed, curious but not wanting to pry. Sten, on the other hand, had merely stared at me. He'd ended up going with them anyway, so I'd assumed that had been his way of saying yes.
Zevran and Morrigan accompanied me the majority of the time, Seraphine staying in the Pearl to keep out of trouble and sight.
So far, Alistair and his group had done the "good" jobs, leaving us to work with the more unsavory types. Which was just fine with me, and Zevran agreed that the three of us were better equipped than Alistair and the others were to deal with it.
The warrior took care of the White Falcon mercenaries that were making a scene at the Pearl the other day and the Crimson Oars, who had gotten rowdy at the Gnawed Noble Tavern. Even dealt some old fashioned back alley justice to a few pockets of baddies in the criminal districts.
While they had done that, Zevran had talked to the bartender at the Gnawed Noble Tavern and gotten a hold of sensitive information. With Zevran working on "K's" jobs and Morrigan and I focusing on "D's" (though we refused to do the ones that required us to leave Denerim), we quickly came to the realization that the two factions were rapidly gaining power in Denerim, and we'd gotten caught in the middle.
Letters had arrived for us shortly after completing our respective jobs.
Ours read:
To the Mercenaries, from 'D.'
People who prefer hands-on, not plying with trinkets. We are alike, you and I.
I'm sick of journeymen changing things just to make their name. And I'm tired of trying to make friends. Business is business, not who likes who. It's time to set an example.
Young "K" is becoming too much of a headache. I want him dead. No whispers, no setting plots in motion. Everyone knows he's after my territory. No point in hiding the act now. In fact, I'll spread the word and his lieutenants will find you. You can take it. You've handled far worse, surely.
Zevran's read:
'D' won't make room. He sees everything as an attack. It's kind of sad, but who am I to disappoint? He's making moves against me, and I need to get there first. My way. I've made a lot of friends, something "D" has never found valuable, and they are not your typical suspects. A simple nod from a stranger and they will add their voices to various and sundry accusations. I need someone who can move freely to do this and confirm the action with our Denerim guard contact. I will be most grateful and generous, but you should know that it is certain to make you an enemy of 'D.'
"I think we should do it." I sat on the bench in the city square, swinging my legs like the child I was.
Zevran, leaning against the wall beside me, nodded his head, "I agree."
Morrigan glowered at us, "I do not wish to become any more involved than we already are."
I frowned up at her, "But they've gained so much ground, on both sides. If we don't intervene, there might be a full-on war for territory. A lot of people would get caught in the middle, if that happened."
"That doesn't concern us."
"When does it concern us, then? When there's no one left in the city, except criminals and thugs? When the people of the country's capitol no longer feel safe enough to leave their homes? What good will any of this be, if we don't restore what little order there is?"
She stared at me, her teeth grinding, before throwing up her arms, "Fine! I can see that I won't change your mind. Do what you will."
"Will you still help us?" I mumbled, my legs stilling.
"Of course. That is why I joined you, after all, was it not?"
Zevran stretched, putting his hands behind his head, "Who do you think we should help?"
"'K'." I said without a moment's hesitation.
"I agree. He seems the more amiable of the two."
"It's not just that." I shook my head again, looking up at the sky, "'D' very obviously doesn't care about the people doing his dirty work. He's already alerted "K's" guards to the possibility of us going after him, which I think is just ridiculous. Also, 'K' is in with the city guards. I've talked to a lot of them over these last few weeks, gathering information, and they're all good people." I sighed, "None of them would side with someone bad. So, I say 'K'."
Both of them nodded, and I stood.
"Let's go."
"Right now?" the mage blinked.
"Yes. The sooner, the better. That way, we won't have to watch our backs for if 'K' sends someone to find his would-be assassins."
Another letter had been dropped off with the barkeep. Zevran went in and claimed it; it was a list of names. Gorim, Sister Theohild, and the tranquil proprietor of the Wonders of Thedas. Did the man not have a name…?
We were to nod and wink at each of them, then check in with the Denerim guard contact.
It went as planned, though I was the one to do it. Who would suspect a child to be delivering a signal from the seedy underbelly of the criminal world?
Gorim grinned and nodded back at me. Sister Theohild, who was saying the Chant of Light all wrong and messing up even the simplest of phrases, gave me an exaggerated wink and nod back. She'd winked several times, actually. The tranquil acted as if I hadn't done anything, but I knew he'd understood.
The guard contact returned the nod, warning me, "Be careful traveling around Denerim, okay, child?"
"Yes, sir." I saluted, walking away.
...
As expected, we were indeed ambushed. "D's" men cornered us, two or three of them talking about how I wasn't to be trusted. How I had turned against them. I rolled my eyes. For a criminal organization, they weren't the brightest.
The fight didn't last long, the men dropping like flies within minutes.
"Here." Zevran held out a rolled up paper.
I unfurled it, revealing "D's" whereabouts. Good. They really were idiots.
"Trap." I murmured.
He nodded.
Morrigan sighed and flexed her hands, "Let us be on our way, then. I suppose you don't want to keep them waiting."
I grinned, "You're right. Let's go!" I fist pumped, giggling to myself.
They stared at me, mirrored bemused expressions on their faces.
"What?" I shrugged, "I've always wanted to do that."
...
"D" had been easy to find, as well, and he was also ranting at us. An arrow between the eyes shut him up. Ah, blissful silence.
With that taken care of, we'd returned to the Tavern, Zevran letting the barkeep know the deed had been done.
Zev whistled when he reached us, holding out a coin purse. A huge coin purse.
"Did you count it yet?" Morrigan eyed it suspiciously, almost as if she thought it would get up and walk away.
He shook his head, "No. But we can do that out of the public eye."
We walked back to the Pearl, no one saying anything. I was thinking about what kind of connections 'K' had, if we could call him one of ours.
"Wait. Don't touch anything." My eyes roamed the room. Someone had been here.
An envelope rested on my pillow.
I searched the room, while Zevran left to go ask the proprietress if she had seen anyone. Morrigan stood outside the door, glaring daggers at passersby.
"Her lips loosened after a few sovereigns were on the table." He chuckled, finding it humorous what a bit of coin could do, "A boy, around your age, snuck in right before we got here. She said she hasn't seen him leave yet."
I picked up the envelope, opened it, and pulled the paper out carefully, reading aloud:
"Your name is on everyone's lips. The whole city has been looking for you, and here you are, right under everyone's noses. I like that.
No matter your reason for helping me, you can count me among your friends. I hope to work with you again in the future, little vixen.
'K'
Oh, and I recommend visiting the market around nine tonight, by the Chantry. I know the sky is lovely at that time of night."
"Sounds like a trap." Morrigan sniffed.
"I do not think so. Whoever 'K' is, he is obviously impressed with you. Not the assassin or the apostate working with you. He even knows who you are, and wants to work with you in the future." Zevran had wandered over to the window while I was reading and now stared outside, "I think you should go. Not alone, of course."
I rolled my eyes, "I'm perfectly capable of extricating myself from traps and fighting through ambushes by myself."
"And what if they were to come here and have a go at your companions? Maybe somehow manage to capture one of us alive? Or dead. Would you still fight?"
"Yes. Just not how they would expect." I tapped my chin, deep in thought.
If Seraphine wasn't so noticeably Mabari, I could take her with me, but everyone was on the lookout for a child with a war hound. If only we had another kind of-
"Morri…." I clasped my hands in front of me, "Will you come with me?"
"I will not pretend to be your mother again." she all but growled.
The elf snickered, drawing her ire. He held up his hands, trying to quell his laughter.
"No, no." I shook my head, "Will you come with me as a cat? Or a dog that isn't Mabari? If I have an animal with me…."
"She will be less suspicious and better protected." Zevran continued where I left off, trying to appeal to the mage.
She narrowed her eyes at us, resting them on me for the most part, "I now understand what you meant when you said you did not like us ganging up on you. I will do it, but I will not like it."
I ran over and gave her a hug, "Thank you, Morri. It'll help both of you feel better about the situation, I'm sure of it."
She slowly relaxed, even patting me on the back several times, before gently pushing me away.
"What will you be?" I asked as she went to leave the room.
"I will alter my wolf spell, to accommodate the lesser lapdog breed." She barely got the words out before closing the door behind her.
"You have a few hours yet. What will you do in the meantime?" He inquired, still leaning by the window.
"We should get something to eat. I haven't eaten all day." I sighed as my stomach grumbled.
He tsked, shaking his head, "Isn't there a saying about Grey Wardens and how they eat? You are the exception, it appears. Let us go find something for you."
I crossed my arms, mock glowering, "Yeah, yeah. I'm the rare exception to a lot of things. Yuk it up."
Zevran blinked at me, giving me a blank look, "'Yuk it up?'"
I blew out a gust of air, "It means clowning around. Joking. Stuff like that. Let's just go."
It was going to be a long wait, if he kept it up.