"This man is supposedly the best smith outside of Orzammar. Self-proclaimed." Elissa motioned to the building.
Wade's Emporium.
I scrunched my face up in thought, then slowly opened the door and went in.
"Welcome. You looking for fine armor?" The man behind the counter said. A plaque on the surface read Herren.
"Tell me about Wade." I said while glancing around the room.
"You're obviously not from around here. Wade is possibly the most brilliant armor smith in all of Ferelden."
"That's not true, Herren!" an effeminate man near the anvil stood straight and corrected him, "The dwarves of Orzammar make the finest armors around. These piles of rust droppings you force me to make are worthless, compared to their work. You never let me have the time, the materials to make something special."
"Customers expect their armor in a timely fashion. Not years late, like the last time."
"That happened once. Just once. And you never let it drop."
I liked this smith, already. He was just what I was looking for.
"Who's in charge here?" I asked.
"I am." Wade pouted.
"Wade owns the Emporium, but without expert assistance and, well, prodding... Let's just say the Emporium has improved substantially with our partnership."
"But I do miss the good old days. I could really take my time to make quality work."
"By all means, you can return to that... and to the gruel you used to fancy."
"No, no." He gave a long-suffering sigh, "Sorry, Herren."
"I'm here about drake scales." I hefted the bundle up on to the counter.
"Of course."
"I CAN MAKE SUCH FINE ARMOR WITH YOUR SCALES!" the smith was suddenly in my face, quite the feat since I was about three feet shorter than him.
"How much will it cost?" I looked between the men, bemused by the display.
"Cost? I should be paying you, friend! For having the right, no the privilege!"
"PAY her? No, Wade, no!" Herren waved his arms through the air, frustrated with his partner, "We'll charge you."
"I'll here nothing of that, Herren! This is my shop, and working on drake scales won't cost a bloody Orlesian penny!"
I gave Herren a sympathetic look, secretly loving how excitable Wade was, "I'll pay ten sovereigns extra. Take your time. There's no rush on it."
"Excellent!" The man had a mad look in his eye, "You won't regret it! Think of the possibilities, Herren! Think of it!"
"I'm trying to stop..."
Wade went off to the other end of the room with the scales, and I gave the shop keep a few more coins than I'd offered a moment ago.
"So... You're going to hate me, I feel, after-"
"I feel something, alright." he leveled a look at me, and it was far from happy.
"I also have dragon scales." I did everything right. I kept my voice a whisper, and I was pretty sure Herren had a hard time hearing me. So, tell me why Wade was suddenly back next to me, grabbing my arm and begging like a mabari pup at dinner time. "You'll get them, if you're a good smith. If I like what you do with the drake."
He quickly raced to get started.
"I'll just come back in-"
"I will be done before the end of the day tomorrow! I shan't work on anything else!"
Herren's eye had begun twitching, so I took my leave. Leliana met me outside, resolve clear in everything about her.
"I am ready."
I nodded, and Elissa and Zevran fell in to line behind me, along with the bard, "What are we waiting for? Let's go meet the woman."
The house was easy to find, sitting just inside the gates of the city. Right off the bat, though, we were attacking after walking through the door. Qunari mercenaries. Fancy.
"Leliana! It's so lovely to see you again, my dear..." The woman was beautiful, I'll grant her that, but her aura was black. I could almost feel it, snaking out and trying to wrap around something, anything.
"Spare me the pleasantries, I know you're-" Our bard started, but Marjolaine interrupted her.
"Oh, you must excuse the shabby accommodations... I try to be a good host, but you see what I have to work with?" She tsked and made a face like there was something unpleasant in the air, "This country smells like wet dog. Everywhere. I cannot get the smell out. Even now, it is in my hair, my clothes... ugh."
"Why did you send assassins after Leliana?" I cut right to the chase, wanting answers for the ambush we'd almost walked right in to on the way from Redcliffe.
After the assassins had been dispatched, Leliana had finally given in and told us about her past. How she had been trained as a bard and that she'd had to leave because Marjolaine had betrayed her. She'd sought shelter within the chantry in Lothering, where we'd found each other a few years later.
"So business-like, your companion." it came out as an insult.
"You framed me, had me caught and tortured. I thought that in Ferelden, I would be free of you, but it seems I am not. What happened to make you hate me so? Why do you want me dead so badly?"
"Dead? Nonsense. I know you, my Leliana. I know what you are capable of. Four, five men... you can dispatch easily. They were sent to give you cause to come to me. And see? Here you are."
"Yeah, I don't believe you." I challenged.
"You are so transparent." Leliana shook her head, "What are you up to, Marjolaine? Why are you in Ferelden?"
"In truth? You have knowledge that you can use against me. For my own safety, I cannot let you be. Did you think I did not know where you were? Did you think I would not watch my Leliana? 'What is she up to?' I thought. 'The quiet life, the peasant clothes, hair ragged and messy like a boy... this is not her.' You were planning something, I told myself. So I watched... but no letters were sent. No messages. You barely spoke to anyone. Clever Leliana, very clever. You almost have me fooled. But then you left the Chantry, so suddenly. What conclusion should I draw? You tell me."
"You think I left because of you? You think I still have some plan for... for revenge? You are insane. Paranoid!"
"The Blight concerns Leliana, now." Elissa broke in to the conversation.
"Oh, is that what you think? If I were you, I would believe nothing she says. Not a one." Her aura pulsed, and I blinked. Never had I seen one, let alone witness one act in such a way. A new ability? Now?
It brushed against our cheeks, mimicking the maternal action. I shuddered at the strange feeling.
"She will use you. You look at her and you see a simple girl-a friend, trusting and warm. It is an act." she continued.
"I am not you, Marjolaine. I left because I didn't want to become you."
"Oh, but you are me." I noticed Elissa and Leliana's strengths of will had begun breaking down, "You cannot escape it. No one will understand you the way I do, because we are one and the same. Do you know why you were a master manipulator, Leliana? It is because you enjoyed the game; you reveled in the power it gave you. You cannot change or deny this."
"I trust Leliana, no matter what." Reaching out, I held hands with her and Elissa, squeezing hard.
"Thank you." Leliana murmured, shaking herself slightly, "You will not threaten me or my friends again, Marjolaine. I want you out of my life, forever."
Elissa narrowed her eyes, "You can't let her get away with what she did."
"You've caused too much pain for too many, Marjolaine. It ends here."
"And you think you can kill me, like that? I made you, Leliana. I can destroy you just as easily."
Leliana nodded to me, and I let go of their hands, raising mine in front of me. Marjolaine struggled with all her might, but she couldn't move a muscle.
"You will not hurt anyone ever again." I murmured, closing my eyes. I felt the slump of her weight through the magic and knew she was dead.
"Thank you." the bard beside me stared, at a loss, at the corpse of her old mentor.
"Here." Zevran came out of the bedroom carrying a regal-looking bow, "It was in a chest by her bed."
Leliana ran her fingers against the wood, breathing the scent of it in deep, "I always wanted a bow like hers." She looked up and met my eyes, "I will use this against your enemies, Anastasia."
I wrapped my arms around her, whispering, "Why don't you go be by yourself for a little while? It can't be easy, having to go through this. I can't begin to imagine what you must be going through."
"I... Thank you." She dipped her head and gracefully fled the house.
Shortly after, Zevran and I went to meet with Slim Couldry. The rest of that day and almost the whole next, we spent doing jobs for him. Between the two of us, we knocked out every one that was available.
We stole from Howe's warehouse, acquired Ser Nancine's sword, and, while Zevran distracted the man and his guards, I robbed Master Tilver of his keys. Used them to open the chests in the market.
The third burglary, however, did not go smoothly. If it had been Zevran instead of me, I don't think he would have been able to get out without getting severely injured. As it was, I had to turn myself invisible and run like the wind to get far enough from the agitated guards as I could. Even doing everything right, something had gone wrong. So very wrong.
Bann Franderel's men had known I was coming.
Guards, traps, apostates. The whole shebang was waiting for me when I reached the spot where Andraste's Tears were supposed to be held.
"I can't believe Bann Franderel fooled me. His guards almost nabbed you. I feel like a bloody fool, I do. Listen, I have to go. Here's your coin back. I won't take a silver for the way that went down. Give me some time and come back. We'll get our revenge, we will."
I nodded tersely, knowing he wasn't to blame, but still annoyed anyway.
"Are you all right?" The elf asked from beside me.
"No." I sighed, "Yes. I'm fine. Just frustrated at what happened."
"Let us go see about the armor. Maybe it will cheer you up."
I gave a small smile, "Okay."
"We're closed. Oh, it's you." The contempt in Herren's voice made Zevran raise his eyebrows.
"The drake scale armor is done! And it's... well, decent. A few things I'm rather proud of. And it didn't take as long as I feared. Odd." Wade muttered that last bit.
"You better be very proud, Wade. We can't afford any more flights of fancy." Herren said firmly.
"I feel good, actually. I wouldn't mind working on lord such-and-such's armor today."
"We'll see how long this lasts. Here's your armor. Now, please leave." he came around the counter and pushed me toward the door after thrusting a wrapped bundle in to my arms.
I pushed the door open, going back inside.
"Welcome... Oh, it's you again." Herren crossed his arms, "Please leave. And if you have any more scales, you can shove them..."
I giggled, bemused by his reaction, "I have those dragon scales still."
"You just don't know when to quit-"
"Ho, ho, ho! Why so glum, Herren? Today is a glorious day. Today, I make dragon scale armor!" Master Wade was practically dancing with delight.
"I feel just giddy." Dry sarcasm.
"What can you make with it?" Zevran asked.
"Patience, patience. Now, I've dreamed of what I would do every night. It's in my head, in perfect clarity. It will be the work of hours."
"Wh-what? You're serious."
"Absolutely. The only question is what type of armor. Dragon scale is marvelous, flexible, and tough. I could make a lighter set of dragonskin armor, heavy dragonscale armor, or dragonbone plate. What interests you?"
The elf and I exchanged glances, and I nodded, "The strongest armor you can make, the dragonbone plate."
"Excellent. Excellent! Now don't move."
He made us wait the time it took to fashion the armor, and I was just about to send Zevran back with the drake scale set to the rooms we'd rented, when he finished.
"There you go. My life's work, that is." He gestured grandly to the new armor.
"You did it so... fast?" Herren asked skeptically.
"Of course, Herren, have some faith. I am a master armorer, you know."
"Miracle's never cease. But you. You're not welcome here any more." the angry man pointed toward the door.
"I need a sabbatical. Maybe someplace warm." Wade walked away from us.
"I hate my life." Herren dropped his head in to his hands.
We took that as our cue to grab the armor and run.
Alistair was walking around with a confused look on his face.
"Are you all right, over there?" I called out, hailing him.
"There you are! I was... What's all that?" he came over and took the dragonbone plate from me.
"I got the drake and dragon scales made in to armors. You guys can fight amongst yourselves over who gets them."
"Oh. Okay."
"Let's get them back to our rooms. That one is heavy."
"Sure thing."
"Did you want something?" I glanced up at him.
"What? Oh. Yeah. Arl Eamon is here, and he's called the Landsmeet. We only have a few days to convince the other arls to stand against Loghain."
"Ah, uh, can you... steer me toward the inn? A vision is coming, and I can't exactly see while I'm viewing the future." I muttered quietly, trying not to be overheard.
I felt a hand between my shoulder blades right as I fell deep in to the trance.
A Templar was wandering the elven alienage, trying to talk to the residents about any demonic activity they might have seen, but the elves were too busy trying to save themselves from a plague that had suddenly started up.
The scene switched, and I was watching a man being tortured.
Another switch, and there was a noble man in a dungeon cell.
Another switch, and I saw the Grey Warden Calilian had told us about. Riordan. I could feel the taint through the vision. He looked up, as if he could see me, and frowned.
There was yet another. This time an old man was muttering to himself, in the corner of his cell, tears streaming down his face.
When I came back to myself, I was sitting on the edge of my bed, Alistair patting a cloth under my nose.
"Wha-"
"There you are." He smiled gently, "You were in it for a while."
"We have to get in to Arl Rendon Howe's dungeons." I shuddered, "But first, we need to go save the elves in the alienage."