Another massive thank you to DevilishJune on Instagram/Twitter for beta-reading this chapter for me!
Following the events of the night before, everyone left in the castle had been entirely exhausted. Bann Teagan was now forced to pick up the pieces of what was left of Redcliffe with the Arlessa dead and the Arl still out of commission. He had a lot of work ahead of himself to try and get things in order, starting with sending Connor to the circle.
Though, it would all have to wait till the following day. After everything that had happened, everyone needed rest and the Bann was more than happy to house the wardens and their companions in the castle for the night.
It was early the next morning when Nela had pulled herself out of her temporary room, sneaking herself down into the kitchens. Surprisingly, there had been some staff left in the castle - much to the assassin's surprise. Though the number of staff in question was not high. Opting to not bother any of said staff, the elf helped herself to an apple before beginning to explore the halls of the castle. She didn't have much of a destination, with most of the Wardens group - including Solora - still asleep, so she found herself wondering until she came across the throne room. Nela hadn't intended on even entering the room, but the sounds of muffled voices talking from the other side of the door intrigued her enough to go in.
She wasn't too surprised to see both Kara and Alistair awake and talking to the Bann when she stepped in. If anyone was going to up at the crack of dawn, it was probably going to be the Wardens and the Bann respectively.
Nela had no interest in interrupting the conversation when she entered. She only intended on listening in as she moved herself to the opposite end of the room. Eyes had glanced to the door when it opened, but aside from a swift nod in greeting from Kara and the staredown she was receiving from said mage's mabari, she was given little regard. The Bann didn't even bother to stop talking when she entered.
"-She performed the ritual and did not deceive us. In a way, she saved Connor's life even though she killed Isolde to do it. I am unsure what to make of this." The Bann gave a short sigh, appearing as though this was not a conversation he wanted to be having so early in the morning. Nela could hardly blame him considering the circumstances. "I propose we will hold her for Eamon to decide her fate. If he doesn't recover, Morwen's fate is sealed. What do you think?"
Alistair opened his mouth, appearing as though he had every intention of agreeing with Teagan on the matter, but was quickly cut off by Kara who did not sound too pleased with the fate planned for her old acquaintance. "I would like her released."
"Released?" Teagan parroted back in shock, looking at Kara as if she had grown a second head. "The mage is a maleficar. Even if I ignore her crimes, I cannot simply unleash her on the land."
"But she has proven she can be trusted," Kara pointed out, the mage-warden sounding almost desperate for the man to see reason. "I've known her for years, and I don't believe Morwen would have done this if she were given any other choice."
"Perhaps you are correct," Teagan relented, but only slightly as he continued. "But that is Eamon's decision, not mine. I am sorry; Morwen stays in the dungeon for now."
Kara let out a frustrated huff, seeming to ponder on her choices for a moment before speaking again. Her following words almost caused Nela to choke on her apple from the other end of the room.
"I will conscript her to the Wardens then." The mage-warden spoke with a level of finality the elf had not heard from the woman since she met her.
"You're going to what!?" Alistair snapped at Kara, turning to look at his fellow warden with a conflicted expression. "Are you insane? Did you miss the part about her being a blood mage?"
"She can make up for her crimes by helping us stop the Blight," Kara responded, shooting Alistair a glare that seemed to communicate to watch his next words carefully. "We need the extra hands anyways, she would do more good out with us rather than rotting in the dungeons here."
"But we don't even know..." Alistair started only to falter as he finally caught on to the warning stare being sent his way. "Fine, but I am not happy about this, and we will talk about this later."
"Are you sure about this?" Teagan questioned, staring at the mage-warden with an unimpressed expression. "I am not sure how Eamon will feel about it when… if he wakes up."
"I trust he will understand the urgency of the Blight and the need for more Wardens," Kara spoke with finality, it was clear she had no intentions of backing down, and little could be done if a Warden chose to conscript someone into their order. Nela knew that Teagan couldn't tell her no and she couldn't help but huff at her decision in disapproval.
Typical, you'd think they would think better of doing such a thing after how poorly that ended for them during the sixth blight.
So the Bann let out a heavy sigh in defeat, seeming to realize that he could not fight the Warden on the matter. "Very well, you may take her with you when you leave the castle. She will remain in her cell until then.
"But our task is not done yet-"
Nela didn't manage to hear any more of the conversation between the Wardens and Teagan as somebody else had entered the room, causing the elf's attention to drift to whoever had entered. To her surprise it was Solora, looking entirely out of it as she rubbed her eyes.
Doshiel let out a soft growl at Solora, which had been quickly silenced by Kara as she was still mid-conversation with Bann Teagan. Solora looked up at the canine, letting out a short snort of amusement before glancing around the room. When she caught Nela's gaze, Her face lit up at the sight of a familiar face as she walked right over to her less-than-pleased companion.
"Mornin'." Her voice sounded about as tired as she still looked. It was either the Dalish elf wasn't much of a morning person, or she was still exhausted from the day before if her appearance was anything to go off of.
Nela simply let out a short scoff in response, not really too keen on making small talk with the woman in front of her. If anything, she was slightly annoyed by the mage distracting her from listening in on the conversation that had been happening in front of her. But, rather than voice her irritation, She took another bite of the apple in her hand as she shifted her eyes back to the Wardens across the room in an attempt to tune back into the conversation.
"You wanted to talk yesterday before I volunteered myself to go to the fade." Solora tried speaking to her again, effectively managing to pull Nela's attention away from the wardens again and back towards the shapeshifter in front of her.
That was something she still needed to do, sooner rather than later.
"Right," Nela grumbled begrudgingly, pushing her back off of the wall. "Let's go then."
"Go where?" Solora questioned, quickly walking after the elven assassin as she headed back through the door Solora had just entered through.
"My room, I don't think we should be having this conversation out here." Nela clarified, grasping the mage's wrist and pulling her into the hallway. The door to the throne room shut behind them with a not-too-quiet slam.
"I don't see why we have to be so secretive about this, I'm sure the Wardens would help us if we asked," Solora grumbled as Nela shut the door to her room behind them. The shapeshifter walked directly over to the bed that was still unmade from the night before and plopped herself down on the edge.
"I still don't trust them," Nela stated, sounding annoyed at having to specify said information again. She only took a few steps into the room before leaning herself against the wall similarly to how she had in the throne room. Crossing her arms as she fixed her gaze on the mage seated on her bed.
"So…" Solora tried starting, appearing somewhat uncomfortable under Nela's gaze. "What is it that you wanted to speak to me about exactly?"
"Have you already forgotten that we're supposed to be figuring out how we're getting back to Orlais?" Nela questioned, appearing unimpressed at the shapeshifter's question. The assassin appeared as though she was fixing to give Solora an earful about getting distracted playing hero, but Solora was quick to cut her off before she could begin.
"No, I haven't, I just don't know what asking around is going to do for us right now," The dalish elf tried to reason. "And we've gathered that the seventh Blight is upon us, I think we've got more important issues than getting back to Orlais."
"I don't know what we are supposed to do about that Solora, apparently the rest of the Grey Wardens and the king is dead." Nela pointed out, unsure what Solora thought they could do in this situation. "We're better off getting out of Fereldan before things get bad, Maker we wouldn't even be following the Wardens around now if you kept your mouth shut!"
Solara stared at Nela with an unblinking stare. At some point between the assassin's ramblings, she had stopped listening. It took her a moment of silence before she finally spoke, sounding utterly confused. "What do you mean the king is dead?"
"The King is dead, killed in Ostagar according to who I spoke to in the Chantry," Nela repeated herself, raising an eyebrow at Solora. "Why do you care? I doubt the Dalish ever cared too much about who led Fereldan, as long as it didn't affect them anyway." She paused, eyeing Solora suspiciously before she added. "Why do you even care?"
"Nela," The shapeshifter squeaked, staring at the woman in front of her in disbelief. "Ferelden doesn't have a king."
"Well not anymore, he's dead." Nela quipped, shooting Solora with a bit of a deadpan expression. "Can't exactly lead a nation as a corpse."
"No, Nela, I mean Fereldan is led by Queen Gabriella." Solora tried again, looking as though she was attempting to process what she had been told. "And Ostagar hasn't been functional since the Fifth Blight… Where King Cailan died at the beginning of said Blight."
"How do you even know this?" Nela questioned, looking bewildered at the information the dalish elf was spewing at her. "I didn't take you for being invested in the history of human rulers."
Solora didn't even bother responding to her, not seeming to process was what being asked as she appeared deep in thought. It was only a few moments of the mage staring a hole into the door, and Nela watching her with a mix of confusion and annoyance before Solora finally moved. She stood to her feet, only to make a beeline towards the door.
"Where are you going, we're not done here-"
This time, Solora blatantly ignored her, seeming intent on following through with whatever she was doing. Opening the door to Nela's room, Solora poked her head out only to be met with Leliana who was walking past the room.
The redhead had stopped at the sound of the door opening, turning to look at Solora just as the shapeshifter began addressing her. "Hey, uh, Leliana right?" The brunette questioned, appearing almost unsure of how to greet the woman.
Leliana offered a nod in confirmation, eyeing the elfs somewhat tense state curiously."And your Solora, yes?" She questioned. When Solora offered a nod in confirmation, she continued. "I didn't get the chance to thank you for helping me during the battle in Redcliffe-"
"Don't worry about it," Solora was quick to cut her off, shifting nervously from her spot at Nela's door. This only managed to earn herself a surprised look from the human who was standing a few paces away from herself. Though, she didn't dwell on the reaction long. "Sorry, I had a question that can't really wait... But how many Blights has there been?"
"Taking into account Blight we are stepping into now, we would be at five," Leliana answered, watching Solora as though she were attempting to deduct what had brought this question up, or why it had the elf so panicked. "Why?"
Instead of answering Leliana's question, she hissed out a frustrated "Fenedhis lasa!" Before any more obscenities could follow, Solora gave the redhead a quick "Thank you." before shutting the door. Leaving Leliana on the other side with a baffled expression etched onto her face.
Turning around to face Nela, Solora spoke in a rushed tone. Sounding panicked as she forced out a "Promise you won't be mad at me!" Solora spoke up, her eyes nervously staying on Nela as she narrowed her eyes in suspicion.
Nela, who had been moved from her spot on the wall during the exchange, starred at Solora with an air of suspicion that did little to ease the mage's nerves. Rather than offer the response that would leave Solora's mind at ease, she was harsh in her approach instead.
"Why would I be mad at you? Y'know aside from oversharing the Wardens, or sending me to Fereldan." The verbal jabs sent Solora's way, had the intended purpose. The mage leaned back against the door as her eyes shifted away from Nela. "What else did you do that I'm not aware of?"
"I don't think the amulet just sent us to Redcliffe." Solora tried, refusing to make eye contact with Nela as she attempted to approach the subject carefully. She could feel Nela's judging gaze boring into her as she was questioned, and if she were being honest - for once, it scared her.
"What do you mean didn't just send us to Redcliffe?" Nela pressed, taking a calculated step ward the door.
"I think we were sent somewhere around 9:30 Dragon." Solora rushed out, immediately tearing her gaze away from Nela as if to avoid the full force of her inevitable reaction.
"9:30 Dragon? As in the Dragon Age ?" Nela questioned again, seeming as though her brain was slowly putting the pieces of a puzzle.
"Yes," Solora squeaked out. With the admittance, it was almost like the last piece of the puzzle Nela had been attempting to put together finally fell into place. Within seconds Nela reacted. Taking one step forward to close the distance between the two of them. One of her hands grasped the front of Solora's shirt before roughly pulling the mage away from the door, causing Solora to practically yelp in surprise. The force of the action itself had caused the door behind her to shake slightly from the sudden force.
Nela moved her further into the room, taking no caution in dragging Solora along with her. They didn't go far, as the assassin had only aimed to not be right at the door with what she intended to do. With no care for the mage who got her into this situation, she shoved Solora against a wall instead. Solora winced, finally making eye contact with Nela when her blade was out and poised to her neck.
"Y'know, your beginning to get on my last nerve," Nela started, pressing the knife dangerously close to the shorter elf's neck. It was almost as though she was daring Solora to try and move. "I don't know how the fuck you managed to do this, or why you brought us here. But you need to undo it, Quickly if you value your life."
"You know I don't know what I did that triggered the amulet!" Solora squeaked out, she was scared to even swallow with how close the blade sat to her neck. "You won't let me touch it, so how am I supposed to send us back even if I could!"
"You expect me to believe that you accidentally sent us through time of all things!?" Nela questioned, sounding a bit indignant at the claim. "No one just accidentally sends themselves through time! It's awfully fucking convenient that you were even hanging around the Winter Palace, to begin with!" The blade inched slightly closer to the dalish elf's neck, the sharp edge making a very small cut in her skin. "Maybe if you gave me a real explanation rather this these bullshit excuses you keep trying to keep me, I'd consider giving you the amulet so we can go home!"
"I told you the truth already Nela, I don't know what I did!" The shapeshifter tried again, finally attempting to struggle a bit in Nela's grip. This only served to make the forming cut a bit deeper, causing her to hiss in pain. "All I know is that the Amulet caused it, which is about as much as you know. We can figure this out if you don't try to kill me!"
The assassin narrowed her eyes at Solora in disbelief, not appearing as though she believed the dalish mage in the slightest. She opened her mouth, looking as though she intended on driving in her point further. Though, the sound of small fire crackling caught her attention. Glancing down at Solora's left hand, a small fire had begun to grow in her hand. This gave Nela enough of a chance to react, the moment Solora's hand raised, she grabbed her wrist.
The reaction had been fast, leaving Solora herself little time to realize exactly what had happened as she misfired a poorly charged flash fire that whizzed right past Nela and hit the bedpost behind them. The wood immediately caught on fire, though the fire itself wasn't large enough to be much of a threat for that moment.
Nela glanced over her shoulder for a moment, deducting exactly what damage had been done before looking back at Solora. The mage in question had shock written all over her face, an expression that quickly turned to fear as she came to terms with exactly what she had just done.
"Are you fucking stupid-"
Nela was abruptly cut off by the sound of a knock on the bedroom door. It was enough to silence the elf immediately as a voice immediately recognizable as Kara's sounded from the other side. "Solora? Nela?"
There was only enough time for Nela to remove the blade away from Solora's neck before the door opened. The shapeshifter still pinned against the wall didn't dare move from her spot, and a swift glare from Nela had Solora lowering her neck to hide the fresh cut on her neck.
"I can hear the two of you yelling from the hallway," The warden began as she made her way into the room. " Leliana also mentioned that Solora was acting a little odd, so I wanted to see if she was okay..." Kara found herself trailing off as she took in the scene in front of her. First to Nela, who still had Solora against the wall, then to the bedpost that seemed to have grown a bit in size over the course of the last minute.
Kara opened and closed her mouth a few times, appearing completely bewildered by exactly what she had just walked in on. It took a few moments before the mage-warden seemed to decide she simply did not care, letting out a tired sigh. "Y'know what, I don't want to know."
She did take a few more steps into the room though, her focus seeming to be on the fire as she reached for it. Her hand steamed in what appeared to be the beginnings of a Winter class spell, though it only remained long enough for her to snuff the growing fire with her hand.
"I want the both of you in the throne room within the next half hour please, We're leaving for the brecilian forest within the hour," Kara added, seeming to remember another reason why she had come to get them. After stating their plans, she turned as though she was about to leave, but hesitated in her steps to add. "Oh and do not set anything else on fire ."
With that final statement, she seemed content with everything she said, turning on her heel and walking straight out of the room.
The few moments following Kara's departure were awkward. Both Nela and Solora made eye contact before the assassin finally took a step back away from Solora, letting the shapeshifter off the wall. She appeared agitated but done with her tirade for now. Not even bothering to cast another look at Solara, she turned to follow after Kara. Leaving a nerve-ridden Solora still standing against the wall as she slammed the door behind her.
Creators she was screwed.
"I don't trust you."
"That's a bit rich coming from you."
Loghain narrowed his eyes on the young woman in front of him, the dark-haired girl was only a few short years younger than his own daughter. Though despite her age, something about the youngest Cousland was off-putting. Something about her actively left the impression that she simply could not be trusted. Thus, Loghain was intent on keeping her on a short leash, though it was clear she intended on making it difficult for him to do so.
"I appreciate your help with dealing with Eamon, but I will not allow you back into Highever with your family having been Orlesian sympathizers." The older man practically spat out his words, staring at the Cousland in front of him in clear distaste. "How do I not know you are on the same path as your traitorous parents?"
"I cannot be blamed for my parent's supposed crimes." The woman began, hands mindlessly scratching the head of her massive mabari, his head resting on her lap. "I also still have not seen any proof of their actions yet, I have half a mind to start telling the nobles of Fereldan how Loghains right-hand man slaughtered my family on false claims."
Loghain let out a tired sigh, rubbing a hand along his face as he mulled over the woman's words. The two of them had been talking circles around each other for about a half-hour now, it was beginning to wear heavily on his patience.
Luckily for him though, it appeared the conversation would have to wait. A knock sounded at the door to Loghain's room, causing him to remove his hand from his face to glance at the door. There was only a moment of silence before he let out a gruff "Come in."
When the door opened, it was Rendon Howe that entered. Behind him, an elven man clad in armour followed as he stepped over to Loghain. He didn't even cast a glance to the woman seated at one of the chairs in the room, though it didn't appear the Cousland herself cared. However, her mabari did. The animal had let out a sharp growl the second his eyes locked on the Howe, making sure he knew his appearance was unwelcomed.
"I bring word, sire." He began, shifting a brief glare toward the mabari in question as he spoke. "There are demands from the Bannorn that you step down from regency. They are gathering their forces, as are your Allies. It appears it will be civil war after all, despite the darkspawn. Pity."
Loghain appeared unimpressed with the news, crossing his arms in front of him as Howe continued. It appeared that it wasn't the end of the bad news.
"I also have an interesting report. There seem to be Grey Wardens who survived Ostagar. How I don't know, but they will act against you." The man cleared his throat, gesturing with his head toward the elf beside him. "I have arranged for a… solution, with your leave."
"The Antivan Crows send their regards." The elf in question introduced himself, a heavy Antivan accent following each world.
"An assassin?" Loghain questioned in disbelief, appearing almost at a loss as he shook his head and turned towards the fire behind him.
"Against Grey Wardens, we will need the very best, sire."
Rendon tried to reason, only to be followed by Zevran, who felt the need to add "And the most expensive." as additional information.
Loghain let out a slow exhale, keeping his eyes trained on the fire for a moment to gather his thoughts. He did eventually turn back around to eye the Assassin standing beside Howe, not entirely sure how seriously the elf was taking the current conversation but Loghain seemed to relent. "Just get it done."
Both men nodded, bowing and turning with the intent to depart the room when the woman who had been silent throughout the entire exchange let out an amused snort. This froze Howe, and in turn, the assassin in their tracks as Rendon seemed finally ready to address her. "Did you have something you needed to add, Rose?"
"No," The woman - Rose - responded, though she seemed intrigued by the plan that had just been formulated in front of her. "I am just… interested in seeing how this plays out."
"Trust the Antivan Crows never fail," The assassin responded in place of Howe, earning him a glare from the older noble as he sent a wink to the woman in front of him. The action in itself only earned the assassin an eye-roll from Rose as Rendon ushered him out of the room with him.
Once they were out, Rose looked up towards Loghain again. Tilting her head slightly as she questioned, "First you let the man responsible for slaughtering my family take over Highever, then you request the Arl of Redcliffe poisoned, and now you're allowing the last of the Grey Wardens in Fereldan be slaughtered? What do you hope to accomplish Loghain?"
"I am doing what's best for Fereldan!" Loghain snapped at the Cousland, not missing the smirk that graced the woman's face following the response. It was clear it was the reaction she wanted, as she stood up soon after.
"Think about what I said, I'm sure you wouldn't want the general public to catch wind of what you're doing here." He did little more than glare at Rose as the woman gave Loghain a short, smug wave before walking out of the room. Her mabari, who had been seated at her feet the entire time, gave a short growl in his direction before padding after his owner.
A/N: Christ, where do I even begin?
This chapter has been done for about 2 years now (no, this fanfiction is NOT abandoned I promise)!
This chapter was posted almost immediately upon being finished as my beta reader was busy and unable to go through the chapter. Originally this chapter was going to get cross-posted after it got beta read, but so much stuff had happened between then and now it hadn't been gone through till about around December of 2022. I was in such a bad place I hadn't done more than update the Ao3 posting since I just didn't have the energy to deal with the cross-posting.
When this chapter was originally written/posted (November 2021) I was in the middle of having just started a second job at the beginning of September. Let's just say working 6-7 days a week doesn't leave much of a want to do anything other than a whole lotta nothing. I did, however, put in my two weeks at one of my jobs at the beginning of the week this chapter was originally posted on Ao3 so I THOUGHT I would have more time to write again... But I did not.
It took a while to regain the motivation to continue writing anything more than roleplay responses for friends and a pretty big rp server I had taken on around the beginning of 2022. But between piss poor mental health and a ton of other things I just never found the motivation or time. So when this chapter got beta read at the end of 2022 I just didn't see the point to throw up an update all of a sudden if I didn't see an update coming even remotely soon...
But as of last month, I've finally begun work on Chapter 7! I missed this story so much and I am genuinely so excited to slip back into the Timeless AU again. I can't promise exactly when the next chapter will be out - but it IS coming! I promise!
If you have bothered to read this story this far and bothered to read the author's note, thank you! If I'm just screaming into the void at myself, well. This is nothing but a self-indulgent story and the only person I'm aiming to impress is myself, haha!
Now to figure out how I'm going to tackle reposting to Wattpad, no HMTL copy and paste coding for me for platform #3 unfortunately!
I should note some small edits have been made to the earlier chapters, mostly grammar fixes but Solora's Mountain Lion form has been changed to a species I've dubbed the "Emerald Graves Tiger" due to my utter inability to settle on a design I liked for a Mountain Lion.
Chapters are always posted on Ao3 first! Though this series can be found here, Archive of Our Own & Wattpad! My username remains the same on all three platforms (Constellasaur)!
Wanna chat or see what I'm up to? Check out my Dragon Age Twitter & Tumblr both under the username; "TimelessDA"