On the way toward the gates that separated the rest of the city from the Alienage, Zevran made small talk.
"Did you hear? Duran sired a son. Two, actually."
"What?" I stumbled over my feet, "We just got here."
He chuckled, shaking his head, "No, no. Before he was exiled from Orzammar. He and king Bhelen had a talk, after the crowning, and the children, along with their mothers, were raised to royalty."
"Woof." I made a face, "Why would you tell me that?"
Shrugging, he kept laughing, "Just to see your face."
I stuck my tongue out, "That's stupid."
"We're here." Morrigan announced, wrinkling her nose, "Why the elves think they have to subject themselves to human rule is beyond me."
"I agree." I sighed, "The other elves are so much better. Honestly, this is more than a little disappointing."
"'Other elves'?" That peaked everyone's interest.
"From Middle Earth. They're regal and wise and so beautiful. The humans look to them. The dwarves, not so much. Those two races don't get along well, but I think that's more on the dwarves side, really. The elves are gracious in their efforts. And there are two factions of them, too. The light haired live in the forest, while the dark haired live in a large city by waterfalls." I sighed again, dreamily this time.
"Now, look at this. Do you two see something out of place here?" I looked in the direction of the voice, spotting three elven men ganging up on a human man.
"I don't want any trouble. I'm just on my way to the docks." the human held up his hands defensively.
"We told you to stay out of our Alienage, shem. You too good to listen to elves?" Another elf taunted.
"What do you want? Money?"
"Money? You think you can buy us? You think we're so far beneath you, we'll just take whatever you give us?"
"I think we better explain things to him." Someone cracked their knuckles.
I squared my shoulders and walked directly up to the group.
"Someone's coming!" The elven men scattered like mice.
The human turned around and gave me a tired smile, "Thanks for running those thugs off. I thought they were going to kill me."
"What are you doing here?" Leliana asked softly.
"I was on my way home. Look, I'm leaving, and you should do the same. The knife-ears are all riled up." He walked away, leaving us with his words.
"I think it would be better if we split up. What do you think?" She looked to me.
I tilted my head from side to side before agreeing, "Let's go in pockets of three or four. One group finds the Templar that's here. Another searches for a woman who talks like she's gone mad."
"I wish to go back to the main city." Morrigan whined.
"Okay. Go to the chantry and give those scrolls you guys found in the Temple to Sister Justine. No one else. And while the Landsmeet is in effect, no one should go anywhere by themselves. Stick to the buddy system."
They divided up amongst themselves, Zevran sticking by me as I went up to a man that looked down on his luck.
He glanced up as I approached, "Spare a silver for a war veteran?"
"Where'd you get injured, soldier?" I asked gently.
"Ostagar. Darkspawn took off half my foot." My heart ached immediately.
I pulled a gold out of my coin purse, "I hope this helps you."
"Oh, Andraste bless you, sera! I won't forget your face, no I won't!"
I grinned happily as I moved back to the street and paused, realizing something. I raced toward the house we'd passed and opened the door with abandon.
The house was empty.
"Where..." I felt panic start to build up, and I closed my eyes, trying to force myself to see where they all were.
Soris was in those dungeons. Shianni was over by the...
"Son of a bitch!" I yelled, running toward the Alienage center and almost ran in to a wall of people.
Shianni's voice drifted above the crowd, "Didn't the wedding teach you people anything? Nobody is coming here to help us. We have to help ourselves."
"I've got children at home! I can't wait out here for another day!" One woman argued.
"So, go home! The best thing you can do for your children is not trust these charlatans!"
A man walked out of the building they'd gathered around. A human mage. An apostate from Tevinter.
"Everyone remain calm. We will help as many as we can today, so long as we can do this in an orderly fashion."
"Oh, you're 'helping' us, are you, shem? Like Valendrian and my uncle Cyrion, you helped them, didn't you? Helped them never to be seen again!" The spitfire elf shouted at him.
The mage sighed, "We've explained this to you before, girl. More whining will not persuade us to let you in to the quarantine to carry plague back out to the Alienage."
"Quit trying to get us all killed, Shianni! Some of us have still got things to live for."
I would have punched that guy in the face, but Zevran grabbed me as I took a step forward.
"If this spell of theirs works, why are half the people they quarantine perfectly healthy?"
"Shianni!" I called out, frustrated at not being able to defend her physically.
She turned around, ready to yell at whoever had interrupted her, but then her eyes got wide.
"Anastasia?" we ran to each other and hugged, "What are you doing here? Is Kallian with you?"
"She's not, but she should be in Denerim soon. She's with another Warden. But let's backtrack. What's happening here? Why are there Tevinter apostates taking elves for quarantine?"
"They say they're here to help us with our outbreak of plague. Funny thing, though, all the people they 'help' disappear."
"That's not rue, and you know it, Shianni!" a woman interjected, "Both my sisters got the Tevinter spell cast on them, and they're fine."
"Where's your niece, then? And my Uncle Cyrion? And Valendrian?"
"Magic is being used? Does the chantry know?" Zevran asked, watching the crowd.
She gave him a once-over before turning back to me, "Those mages say they're from a Circle, just from another land. I have no idea if they're telling the truth, or if anyone cares! Those foreigners have taken dozens of elves in to that house over the last few weeks, and none of them have been see again. One of them was Valendrian. You remember him. And I don't know what we're going to do if we don't get him back."
"Let me try talking to the healers."
"You can try." She frowned, "Those guards mean business."
We neared the mages, but a voice stopped me.
"Hey."
I slowly turned around, knowing what I would find. They had arrived.
"Hey. You want to join us?" I offered. The assassin raised an eyebrow but stayed silent.
The elves in front of us nodded, grinning.
"To beat the shems here again? I wouldn't pass that up for anything."
"No elf should be treated like this."
Zevran, meet Kallian and Lyna. Kallian is from here, and Lyna is Dalish. Girls, meet the assassin who failed to kill me."
Kallian laughed and Lyna tilted her head slightly, sizing him up.
"All right. Let's go talk to the lead mage."
"There is no need to push! We will work our spell for each person in-" He stopped and blinked at us, eyes on Zevran, "Hessarian's mercy! How long have you been ill, man? You should have come here days ago!"
Zevran gave a convincing cough, "Help me..."
"The rest of you must stay back. Only the sick are permitted inside."
"If they can't go with me, I'm not going in." He gave a weak shake of his head, hamming it up.
"Guards! Help me subdue him!" the apostate shouted, and the elves ran in every direction, trying to get out of the way.
Kallian and Lyna knocked arrows on their bows and killed the guards before they'd fully unsheathed their swords. The two mages went down next, one with his throat slit, courtesy of the assassin. I snapped the other's neck.
"Search their pockets, they might have something useful." I ordered.
"This one has a key." Zevran announced, holding it up.
"See if it works on the door."
He complied, and we followed him in to the building housing the mages. Immediately afterward, we were set upon by men wearing armor. While the three of them dealt with the problem at hand, I went and rifled through the stacks of paper sitting on the lone desk.
"There's a key with a note. 'Bring me eight males and six females for the next shipment.'" I read it off, shaking my head, "Slavers."
"We have to save them before the Tevinters put them on the boat!" Kallian begged.
"I agree." I opened a door and found myself staring at a cage. It was full of people.
"Help us! Please, we're not sick. Let us out of here!"
"Hang on." I tried the key, and it worked. What kind of idiot uses the same lock for two very different things?
"Thank you, friends!"
"Where's Valendrian?" Kallian demanded, searching through the faces.
"They took him away already. Through the back alley. we don't know where, exactly."
"You guys should go..." I trailed off, thinking, "Let's go check out this back alley."
The captive elves all raced to be free, and we started on our way.
There were many rooms in the building at the end of the alley. In one, a woman was crying because she couldn't find her daughter. At the back of one of the hallways, a man was digging through debris.
"Who's there? Stay away!"
"Calm down, we just want to ask some questions." I murmured, holding out my hands.
"Where are all the people who lived in this building?" Kallian was starting to get frustrated, and Lyna placed a hand on her shoulder. The two shared glances.
The man flinched, "I can't say nothing. Please, just go. I don't want trouble."
"Would some coin change your mind?" I jangled my coin purse in front of him.
"All right..." He gave up, defeated, "I saw them take everyone. Took them right out of their beds. Dragged them down the hallways. Maker, the little ones crying..."
"What about Valendrian?" I dropped the coins in his hands.
"I saw him. They marched him through the hall with a bunch of others. All tied together like pack mules."
"Where did they take everyone?" Zevran started asking questions.
"Through the landlord's old office. They go in there, they never come back."
"And what else have you seen?"
"Every few days, they come back. It's like a parade, a silent one. Men and women and children..." He shot a panicked look around the small space, "You have to go. They'll be back soon. They'll find out I talked, and they'll take me, too! Please, just go!" he put his back to us and returned to whatever it was he had been doing.
A locked door, the only one we had between us and the exit just past it. I motioned for them to stand on either side, out of sight. I picked the lock and pushed it open slowly.
Several guards were gathered, sitting at a table.
"A nosy one, aren't you? We'll fix that." one of them said, getting up.
They all fell with arrows in the eye slits of their helmets.
"They never just want to talk." I frowned at the bodies, "Why is that?"
No one had an answer, so we searched the room in silence. We didn't find anything of note.
"What's this? Another shipment already? We weren't-" a man, who sounded bored, waited on the other side of the exit, "Wait, you're not Tevinter. Who are you supposed to be?"
"Who are you supposed to be?"
"Quick, get them! Hurry!" So quickly people turned against us.
"What is the meaning of this?" The elven woman in the next building looked us up and down, "We were told that there would be no interference from the authorities!"
"Do I look like one of the 'authorities'?."
"No. You look like a child with more curiosity than sense. With a trio of elves suffering from the same problem." she shook her head, "You will regret this, you know. Believe it or not, we have been given dispensation to do our business here. The humans talk a great deal about how very wrong slavery is, but isn't it funny how quickly the smell of gold overcomes such ideals?"
I was starting to feel nauseous. I had a bad feeling that I knew who had sold the alienage in to slavery.
"You're slavers?!" I asked innocently.
"Do you have any idea how difficult it is to acquire new blood? These slaves will fetch an excellent price in the Imperium, and we are paying handsomely for this opportunity. But enough. I am here to halt your slaughter, nothing more."
"Not so fast. We don't need to fight." I cautioned.
"Do we not? What could you be here for, then, if not to exact righteous retribution?"
"I'll explain it to whoever's in charge here."
"You wish to parley? You? A child?" she seemed to think it over, "Very well. I will leave it for Caladrius to decide your fate. Come with me... and be respectful, if you know what's good for you."
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Zevran shake his head slightly at the other two Wardens.
The woman led us through the facility, until we reached the heart of it. Where Caladrius awaited us.
"I hope there is a good explanation for this, Devera."
"There is, Enchanter. These intruders fought their way through the courtyard, but they claim they're not here to exact revenge."
The apostate crossed his arms, scoffing, "And thus you thought it best to bring the Grey Wardens directly to me?"
The elven woman paled and turned to us, "Grey Wardens? But... I..."
"Well, what is done is done. Well met, Grey Wardens. I am Caladrius, and I have heard a great deal about you and... your friends."
"Then you should know to be frightened of us." I announced.
"I said respect! This is no minion you speak with!" Devera screeched.
"Now, now, is this how we begin? With bluster? I was hoping for... civility."
"As civilized as slavery?"
"Business is business, my dear Warden." He even knew I was a Warden. He was very well informed. "Even so, your point is made: you do frighten me. But you also intrigue me. I have heard that you are trying to erode Loghain's support. It must be a difficult task, yes? Like washing away a mountain. Perhaps you could use some help."
"Don't you have an agreement with Loghain?" Zevran ask skeptically.
"More of an arrangement, truth be told. One that disappears the moment angry, armed intruders storm my abode. Truth be told, there was always a limit to how long we were going to be able to operate here. We've paid for many of Loghain's troops, but once the Landsmeet is done, we become... inconvenient. So here is my offer: one hundred sovereigns from you for a letter with the seal of the Teryn of Gwaren upon it, implicating him in all of this. Then we leave a leave a few days earlier than planned, with our profits and remaining slaves, unharmed."
I didn't say anything. Kallian began to shift uneasily next to me.
"You're not considering this, are you?" She hissed under her breath.
"So... do we have a deal? Even you must admit it's much better than resorting to barbarism, yes?"
"You have the letter on you?" I raised an eyebrow, leaning on the railing that stood between my level and his.
"Of course."
"Devera, be a dear and give this to Caladrius, would you? In exchange for the letter. After that, my companions leave, to go spread the good word, you understand. I'll stay behind, and we'll talk business." I gave the elven woman a pouch of gold and shooed her away.
Lyna grabbed Kallian's arm to keep her from jumping me, whispering something to her.
Kallian screamed, "How could you?! I trusted you!"
I leveled a calm gaze at her and simply stated, "You're an elf."
It took both Zevran and the dalish elf to drag her out, kicking and screaming.
"Ah, will she be a problem?" The mage asked.
"You don't need to worry about her." I hopped over the railing.
Nobody moved. Several guards shouted, warnings overlapping each other, but I paid them no mind.
"You think it's fun." I murmured, "Enslaving people. Making people do what you want. Well, now it's my turn."
Waving a hand, I commanded the guards to unlock the cages.
"Don't fear me. I am not a blood mage." The lie tasted sour on my tongue, but the would-be slaves were more thankful than anything. "You should leave. I don't want anyone getting hurt, trying to play hero."
Valendrian ushered everyone through the door and outside, where the others were probably waiting.
"So, let's get started, shall we?"
...
"Maker's breath, Ana, what happened in there? We could hear them at the city gates." Alistair stared with wide eyes.
I shook my head, "I... don't want to talk about it. You don't want to know." Glancing around, I realized something, "When did I get outside?"
His jaw dropped, and he grabbed my shoulders, "Are you all right?"
"I'm fine." I said automatically.
Kallian pushed him aside and wrapped her arms around me, sobbing, "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I don't know what you did, I don't care to know, just... thank you."
Shianni walked around the corner looking like a halla in lamplight, "Cousin?"
"Cousin!" They ran to each other and fell to the ground on impact, hugging fiercely.
Zevran put a hand on my back, and I slowly turned my head to look at him. He gave me a sad smile.
"I need to go to the dungeons, now." I received more than a few concerned glances at how dead inside I sounded, "Soris is being held there. In the arl's dungeon. I have to get there before tomorrow night."
"Ana?"
"Not now. We can talk later. I only want Zevran to come with me." With that, I grabbed the elf's wrist and ran toward the city proper.