Another massive thank you to DevilishJune on Instagram/Twitter for beta-reading this chapter for me!
When the fighting had finally stopped for the night, the doors to the chantry had soon been opened.
Nela, who had been both in and out of sleep up until that point, immediately found her attention drawn to the entrance at the sound of the doors squeaking open. The sound in itself seemed to rouse a few of the other people currently hiding out in the chantry, as they began to rise from their unsteady sleep, seeming to realize the fighting was over and they had lived to see another day.
Taking this as her own cue to get up as well, the elf stretched out her arms and then her legs. Having slept leaning against the wall, her entire body felt stiff and sore. With a heavy exhale, Nela, pushed herself back up to her feet. She pulled her hair out of its ponytail as she began making her way out the door. Passing a few people from the Wardens group as she moved outside. She hadn't missed the curious side-eye sent from Kara, who was mid-conversation with the Bann as she passed. Nela, however, gave no note of it as she exited the chantry.
Nela's main focus at that moment was Solora, rather than whatever was piquing the mage-warden's curiosity at that moment. Despite their exchange prior to the fight the day before, Nela found herself more bothered than anticipated at the mage's departure. Not necessarily due to being worried about her, but more so because the dalish mage was one of only two puzzle pieces she had in regard to this mess. Nela had been rendered useless the second the chantry doors had shut.
As much as she hated to admit it, Nela needed Solora. Otherwise, she was left figuring out how to get out of Redcliffe on her own and back to Orlais.
So, Nela would be lying if she claimed that she didn't feel a tiny bit of relief when she had stepped outside the chantry and saw the shapeshifter sitting on the ground. Solora was in her regular form when Nela's eyes fell on her. The dalish-mage was sitting on the ground speaking to someone, another mage from what it looked like. It took only a few moments of staring for her to recognize the raven-haired woman from just the evening before. The human-mage in question was also quickly recognized as being a part of the warden's group, which left two details pretty clear.
One, Solora outed herself as a mage at some point during the night (which had been expected). And two, the wardens had probably put two and two together about the connection between Solora and that cat. Nela was seeing about a fifty-fifty chance of the two of them being absolutely fucked. That would also explain the look Kara gave her when she was leaving the chantry.
So, rather than approach both mages and start asking questions. Nela walked just to the side of the chantry doors, busying herself with tying her hair back up before leaning on the outside of the building to watch the mages talk. She wasn't watching long though, as the exchange between both women didn't last long. The raven-haired mage soon walked away from Solora and towards the chantry.
As the woman was passing Nela, she allowed her gaze to rest on the elf. Though unlike the day before, the mage in question slowed to a stop. The woman appeared to almost size her up for a moment before speaking, though her expression nor tone of voice revealed much. That is, other than the irritation that seemed to follow in regard to being tasked as the messenger at the moment.
"The wardens wish to speak to both you and your dalish friend." And with the simple statement, she did not bother to offer anything more as she continued back into the chantry without waiting for so much as a response.
Nela watched the nameless mage as she disappeared out of her view as she entered the chantry. It was only when she was no longer able to see her that the elf turned her attention back to Solora. The shapeshifter in question had stood up and appeared to have just noticed her, as she was now making her way over to the assassin.
"Wow, you survived the night, Colour me impressed." Nela had spoken up as Solora moved into earshot, a somewhat smug expression on her face as she took on a sarcastic tone of voice. "And managed to blow both our covers in the process, well done."
Solora gave an annoyed huff as she stopped in front of Nela, crossing her arms in front of her chest as she responded, her tone sounding somewhat bitter. "I don't understand how they managed to work out I was the cat from earlier," She mumbled, shifting her eyes away from Nela and onto her feet as she continued. "I figured they would just assume I was some random mage who decided to help or something along those lines…"
Nela shot Solora a deadpan expression, finding herself entirely unimpressed by the lack of thought the shapeshifter had put into her little stunt. Since Solora wasn't making any eye contact with her, the assassin reached over and simply flicked the mage's forehead, earning herself a glare when Solora's vibrant green eyes shot up in annoyance.
"Of course, they figured it out. Other than the warden's mutt, there were no other live domestic animals still in Redcliffe. I don't think they had much trouble putting two and two together." Nela immediately started pointing out, leaving no room for Solora to respond as she berated the dalish elf's horrible line of thinking. "Maybe it wouldn't have been such an issue if you hadn't felt the need to show yourself beforehand, but oh wait, you did that too!"
Solora seemed to wince slightly as Nela went off, almost like a child being berated by her guardian. Nervously biting her lip, she let Nela finish her ranting before she offered a simple "You're right." as a response.
The response in itself left Nela surprised, her mouth snapping shut for a moment. She hadn't been expecting Solora to agree she had fucked up, especially with how against she seemed to be in regard to Nela's line of thinking just the day before. It took a few moments before she collected her thoughts enough to respond, though it didn't appear to be much as she only offered a simple "What? "
"You're right, you were right." Solora empathized, dropping her arms to her side as she continued. "I should have listened to you yesterday, but I needed to help them. What if my helping actually impacted the fight at all? I couldn't just stand around and do nothing."
Nela simply eyed the elven mage as she spoke, not offering up much as Solora explained herself. At this point, what was done was done. Was Nela annoyed? Yeah. But they couldn't necessarily go back and fix it, right? They also still had to figure out what was going on and Solora being upset for not listening was just going to make things more difficult. So dwelling on this wasn't going to help either of them. Thus, with an exasperated sigh, Nela rubbed her hand over the back of her neck as she decided to stop the mage before she could continue.
"Look, just, don't make a habit of repeating this. At least until we are able to go our separate ways. Then you can do whatever you want," Nela started up again, her tone a lot calmer than it had been before. "We can't change what's been done, so let's go get this conversation with the wardens over with."
Solora, who had been watching Nela nervously as she spoke, simply gave a short nod in response. Offering no words as she simply gestured toward the chantry doors. Both elves walking inside.
Upon entering the chantry, Nela and Solora were met with the two wardens still talking quietly with the Bann near the door to the Revered Mother's office. They surprisingly hadn't stuck around to chat, as the two of them were quickly whisked away with the rest of their group to the entrance of the chantry.
One of the guards who had been present, simply gestured for the two to enter the office. Explaining that they were needed for a few minutes and would be back to speak to them when they were done.
Annoying, considering the wardens were the ones who called them there.
Thus, the elves were left to their own accord in the small office, taking the short time they had to get their story straight in regard to what they intended to tell the wardens. Though if Solora were being honest, she wasn't too pleased with Nela's plan.
Sure Nela had been right the day before about joining the battle, but Solora wasn't entirely sure how far piling on more lies would help them in the long run. It was pretty clear the reason why Nela wanted to keep things so covered up was because of whatever she had been doing in Orlais. A detail that Solora barely understood the full extent of.
But if what really happened got blown out into the open, things would probably be worse off for them, no?
Regardless, Solora wasn't left with much more time to dwell on the thought process as the wardens finally entered the office, followed by the red-headed rogue she had helped earlier that night, and the mage who gave her the lyrium potion only about a half-hour prior.
There wasn't a lot of room in the office itself, but the group made do considering Nela had seated herself in one of the three chairs available in the room. Solora standing next to her, leaning her weight forward on the revered mother's desk. The two wardens, after entering, seated themselves in the two chairs on the other side of the desk. If someone didn't know any better, they would think Nela was the one about to question them and not the other way around.
The mage from earlier moved to the back corner of the room, not looking overly pleased to be there - much like earlier. And just like earlier, she also said nothing. Simply leaning against the wall with her arms crossed, looking quite bored. The redhead, on the other hand, shut the door behind herself as she was the last one to enter. Though rather than follow the group further into the room, she simply leaned against the door. Her expression appeared somewhat curious but expressed nothing else.
"So…" Kara started, being the first to speak up. Her demeanour seemed a lot more nervous than the others present, but despite this - it seemed as though the group was allowing her to take the lead. "Let's just cut to the chase, shall we?"
"Lets." Nela responded, her eyes narrowing on the warden in front of her, looking entirely unimpressed. "Though I don't know what you intend to learn here."
"Well, you guys are a little… suspicious." The warden-mage started to explain, shifting her eyes towards Alistair, looking almost like she was begging him to explain this instead of her. So, he did.
"Considering the town is getting overrun by the undead and all, only for two random elves to show up the same day we did…" Alistair elaborated, his expression appearing a little confused as he explained himself. If the confusion was coming from how the two even got there or how the two tied into the mess, Solora couldn't really pinpoint it. "With one of you being a mage and supposedly coming from the castle, it brings your motives into question."
"So why are you lot questioning us? Why isn't the Bann? The guards?" Nela questioned, pulling one of her legs up onto the chair as she spoke, wrapping her arms around the limb. Despite the questioning, she seemed incredibly unbothered in regard to these questions. Solora found herself kind of impressed.
"Well…" Kara piped up, though she didn't get very far, as the dark-haired mage standing towards the back of the room cut in for her.
"They don't know how to handle a mage who can take the form of an animal." The woman snorted, for once looking somewhat amused by the situation. "So they sent the wardens to do their dirty work. Pathetic, really."
"They needed help with the situation." Kara empathized, turning her attention to the mage behind her. Her expression pleaded with the mage to not make the situation more difficult. The mage gave no response, however, instead of turning her attention away from the group with a scoff.
"So you guys want to know if we- I did this?" Solora questioned, her expression appearing horrified at the inclination.
"Well. Yes?" Alistair answered though the response came out more like a question. "Did you?"
"No!" The dalish elf practically yelped in surprise, pushing her weight off of the desk so she was sitting up straight. "Why would I do such a thing!?"
"Elves out for revenge on their employers maybe?" Nela drawled out, side-eyeing the woman who had been standing silently at the door for a moment before looking back over at Kara and Alistair.
"That wouldn't entirely be out of the question." Alistair pushed, his attention shifting between Solora and Nela. "You two being from Redcliffe castle would give you both some sort of motivation."
"We weren't even in Ferelden before yesterday!" Solora ended up blurting out, slamming her hands down on the desk in front of her, leaning her weight back into the piece of furniture again.
The outburst caused everyone but Nela to look at her with surprise. Nela however, glared at the mage immediately for letting the details slip. This was not what they had discussed only a few minutes prior.
"Sol-"
"No!" Solora cut Nela off. "I was fine with what you told me to say up until they claimed I was capable of what happened today!" Solora snapped back, though her expression looked more so distressed rather than mad at Nela.
Regardless of how she felt, the sharp rebuttal from the mage caused Nela to shut her mouth, if more so out of shock than anything else. This gave Solora enough time to continue her ramblings.
"We were in Orlais, well the Winter Palace." She began, pushing herself up from leaning on the desk as she began her spiel. "Were we supposed to be there? No. Well, I wasn't and it didn't look like Nela was supposed to be there either." The name drop earned herself yet another glare from Nela. Despite this, Solora left no room for her to cut in as she continued.
"I just wanted to explore! I heard there was an event going on so I snuck in to take a look around. I saw Nela sneaking around so I decided to follow her, I watched her kill a palace mage and a few guards and I was wondering 'Huh? What could she possibly be doing?'. So I followed her into the basement of the castle, and when I realized she was stealing something I turned back into my true form to stop her. But I barely got a few words out with Nela cutting me off. Then a weird red portal opened up and WOOSH we were in Fereldan!"
In between her fast-paced rambling, Solora had managed to start pacing back and forth in the room. Everyone's eyes were on her as she went on her rapid spiel, it wasn't until she was done did Solora actually stop to look at everyone around her. The dalish elf nervously shifted her attention to Nela, who was rubbing a hand across her face in a stressed manner.
"You could have just said we wouldn't have helped in the battle if we caused this and dodge the entire rambling of information they did not need to know," Nela explained, dropping her hand from her face to shoot the shapeshifter a deadpan expression.
"*Fenedhis." Was the only response Solora offered, shifting her expression away from Nela with a bit of a sheepish expression.
"Why were you stealing stuff from the Winter Palace?" The redhead at the door questioned, speaking up for the first time since entering the room. Her eyes narrowed on the elf in front of her with a skeptical look. "You sound Fereldan."
Nela puffed out her cheeks in exasperation, seeming to catch the implication coming from the Orlesian. Dropping her leg back onto the ground, she addressed the question. "I'm not Ferelden, but not the point." The elf began, looking a little annoyed at even having to explain herself. She didn't miss the surprised look from Solora following the statement but continued on anyway. "I don't usually work outside of Fereldan though. A client offered a lot of money to do a job in Orlais so I took it. And before you ask, no, I will not elaborate."
"Okay, we're getting off track." Alistair finally cut in, waving his arms in front of him slightly to get everyone's attention. "So what you're saying is some sort of portal opened up. You don't know why but it took you from Orlais to Fereldan."
Both Solora and Nela nodded in unison, offering nothing in regard to a verbal response.
"Something isn't adding up here, that doesn't make any sense." Alistair huffed in complete disbelief, leaning back in his chair.
There was a moment of silence before the redhead spoke up again, her tone sounding confident as she came to a personal conclusion. "I don't think they're lying."
"Of course you don't, everything's all sunshine and rainbows on your end." Alistair quipped, his tone exasperated. However, he appeared unsurprised by her approach as he didn't bother looking back at the Orlesian. "Okay, so say that we believe them? We can't exactly let them go after they confessed to murder, breaking and entering, and one of them is an apostate."
"Well, we can," Kara spoke up, not missing the look of disbelief sent in her direction as she continued. "We were asked to figure out if they caused the undead horde, and regardless of which way we look at it. They helped last night, I didn't and still don't think they had anything to do with the horde. I also don't want to be responsible for sending anyone to the circle"
"So we just let them leave?" Alistair questioned his companion in disbelief.
"We're wardens. We aren't even supposed to be getting involved in these things, you told me that yourself." Kara pointed out.
"You would also be hypocrites." The dark-haired mage spoke up, not looking up from her nails as she addressed the group. By this point, she sounded quite bored by the debate circling around the room. "As wardens, you're travelling with both an apostate and qunari prisoner already. I say just let them go and be done with this."
Despite not being entirely happy with the point, Alistair rubbed his hand over his face with a defeated sigh. "I don't like it, but you're right."
"I'm always right." The mage simply stated in her bored tone, though she cracked an amused smirk at the annoyed exhale he made in response to the comment.
Kara rolled her eyes at the exchange between her two companions but chose not to comment on it. However, before she could make any attempts to further her point, the redhead who had been standing at the door cut in. Finally walking further into the room and leaning on the back of the mage warden's chair as she spoke. "Why don't we just take them with us?"
"What?" Both Alistair and Kara spoke in unison, finding themselves entirely blindsided by the suggestion.
From the corner of the room, a short huff from the dark-haired mage could be heard. Muttering a quiet "Oh fun, more people." Under her breath.
"Think about it this way." The Orlesian began explaining, gesturing her head towards the two who had gone silent whilst listening to the warden's group talk. "We take them with us, keep an eye on them, and no one has to be turned in. Like Sten, they should be offered the chance to redeem themselves, no? It's not like we can't use the extra help."
There was a silence that felt longer than it actually was. No one dared speak up for a few moments as they dwelled on exactly what was being suggested. When someone finally broke the silence, it was Kara.
"I think you have the right idea Leliana, I like it."
Alistair turned his head to look directly at the other Warden, staring at her in disbelief. "You really want to bring more people with sketchy backgrounds with us? We attract enough attention as it is already."
"I think I'm with blondie over there, don't we get a say in this?" Nela finally cut in, not seeming too keen on the idea. It wasn't like Solora could really blame her, they weren't much closer to figuring out what the hell was going on here. "We still need to get back to Orlais."
"I'm not in a rush to get back." Solora piped up after Nela, not missing the look of disbelief shot straight at her.
Right. Not helping.
"Well-" Kara tried to answer Nela, though found herself abruptly cut off by one of the Redcliffe knights bursting through the door. The sound caused everyone in the room to jump in surprise, adjusting themselves to eye the man who had just entered.
"Oh, sorry Wardens. I don't mean to intrude." The man quickly apologized, a sheepish expression present on his face. "The Bann requests your presence at the Windmill immediately, it's important."
As the Knight left the office, not leaving any room for response or questions. The four companions from the Wardens group exchanged glances before Kara and Alistair finally stood. Despite Alistair's previous complaints, he was the one to address Solora and Nela.
"Until we actually make a decision, come with us."
"Fun," Nela grumbled under her breath as she stood from her chair, following the group as they left the room.
Solora found herself hanging back for a few moments, staring after them for a moment before finally going after them in slight excitement.
This should be fun indeed.
On the way up to the Windmill, the group had reunited with the qunari Nela remembered being referred to as Sten as well as the warden's mabari, Doshiel. The Banns requested location was odd to put it lightly, but no one questioned it as they made their way there.
No one really had any idea as to what to expect as they finally arrived, however, a stressed, rambling Orlesian woman was not what anyone had expected.
"Teagan what is going on-" Alistair started, as the group moved to a stop. Though rather than continue his sentence, he cut himself off as he questioned the woman in front of them. "Lady Isolde?"
The woman - Isolde - narrowed her eyes at the younger man in front of her before a look of recognition across her features. Though soon after, it was replaced by a mix of disbelief and irritation. "Alistair? Of all the… Why are you here?" The accusatory tone the woman had chosen to use when addressing him was not lost on anyone present.
"They are Grey Wardens, Isolde. I owe them my life." At the simple statement, the woman ceased her complaints. Before anyone could cut in, however, The Bann continued, turning his attention back to the group of Wardens. "This was not the reason I called you all up here, but the situation has changed.
Isolde backed up the man's words with a short nod as she turned her attention back to the Wardens group as well to address them. "Pardon me, I… I would exchange pleasantries, but… considering the circumstances…" The woman trailed off, the distress that had been present on her face when they arrived making its return almost as quickly as it had left.
"Please Lady Isolde, we had no idea anyone was even alive in the castle." At the comment, a quick glare was sent Nela and Solora's way. Nela realized quickly that it was probably deserved considering the claim made when they arrived. Nonetheless, his attention remained on them for less than a second. Turning her attention back to the Orlesian in front of him. "We must have some answers!"
Despite Alistair's words, the woman didn't even address him or the rest of the Wardens directly. Instead, she turned her back on them entirely to address Teagan instead. Her voice was frantic. "I know you need more of an explanation, But I… don't know what's safe to tell."
"Teagan, there is a terrible evil within the castle. The dead awaken and hunt the living. The mage responsible was caught, but it still continues." She took in a deep breath, shifting her eyes back towards the group for only a moment before continuing. "And I think… Connor is going mad. We survived but he won't flee the castle. He has seen so much death!" Despite the conviction in her tone, her voice was quiet. Taking a few steps away from the Bann so she could begin pacing.
"You must help him, Teagan! You are his uncle. You could reason with him." She ceased her pacing, turning to look at Teagan again in exasperation, but made no move to get closer to him. "I don't know what else to do!"
It was at this point that Kara finally spoke up. Despite cutting in, her voice was quiet, almost as if she were unsure if she should even speak at that moment. But regardless, she did. "What about Arl Eamon? Is he still alive?"
"He is." Lady Isolde responded, turning to look at the Warden mage. "He is being kept alive so far, thank the Maker."
"Kept alive?" Teagan cut back in, reasonably confused. "Kept alive by what?"
"Something the mage unleashed. So far it allows Eamon, Connor, and myself to live." Isolde answered though she sounded almost just as confused whilst trying to explain. "The others... were not so fortunate. It killed so many, and turned their bodies into walking nightmares! Once it was done with the castle, it struck the village!"
Nela found herself staring at the woman in disbelief almost. Maybe she was being too critical of the trauma-stricken woman, but it felt like there was a gaping hole in this story. Though Nela couldn't exactly pinpoint exactly where it was coming from. She even sneaked a glance at Solora who appeared deep in thought, though she remained silent.
Maybe she wasn't the only one thinking something was off here.
Despite Nela's inner ramblings, Lady Isolde continued on in her explanation.
"It wants us to live, but I do not know why. It allowed me to come for you, Teagan, because I begged. Because I said Connor needed help."
"Do you think this 'evil' could be some kind of demon?" Kara finally spoke again, looking as though she was trying incredibly hard to put the pieces together in this story. The question was a good one, it seemed like the only viable option if the mage responsible had been captured already. Right?
"I… I do not know. Oh, Maker's mercy! Could it truly be a demon?" Any bit of calm that had been present within Isolde was gone almost immediately, her entire body turning towards Teagan again. "I can't let it hurt my Connor! You must come back with me, Teagan! Please!
"Can you tell me about this mage you mentioned?" Kara cut in before the ramblings continued, it became clear very quickly that she was trying to extract as much information as she could from the petrified woman before she tried to leave.
"She is an… infiltrator, I think-" She cut herself off for a moment, almost like she was trying to replay the events of what happened in her head before she continued the explanation. "One of the castle staff. We discovered she was poisoning my husband. That is why Eamon fell ill."
"Eamon was poisoned!?" Teagan spoke up in shock, his eyes widening at the revelation,
"She claims she was sent by Teyrn Loghain, sent to do his dirty work." The arlessa explained though she did not look like she believed the mage in question at all. "She said she had no choice, though she could be lying. I cannot say, however."
Taking in the information quite quickly, Kara did not calm down with her questioning. "So why must Teagan go alone? That can't be too safe if the castle is where the hordes are coming from."
"For Connor's sake," Isolde responded to Kara like it explained everything (It didn't). Instead, she only left more confusion. "I promised I would return quickly, and only with Teagan."
Seeming to realize what Kara's question was hinting at, the arlessa turned her attention right back to Teagan again. "Teagan, I know you could order your men to follow me when I return to the castle. I beg you not to, for Connor's sake!"
The more the woman pleaded, the more Nela was left convinced that the woman had gone mad being locked in the castle with a possible demon. She kept claiming everything was for Connor's sake but fucking why would a little boy matter so much with a demon loose. Just pick the kid up and run at this point. It seemed way too convoluted to make sense.
"The king is dead, and we need my brother now more than ever." The Bann stated following the woman's pleas. "I will return to the castle with you, Isolde."
"Oh, thank the maker!" The arlessa exclaimed with a short exhale, almost like she let out a breath she was holding. "Bless you, Teagan! Bless you!"
"What good would that do?" It was Alistair who spoke up this time, ignoring the glare that was sent in his direction by the upset woman. "One person can only do so much if even the guards weren't able to do anything-"
"I'm not certain, to be honest." The Bann cut Alistair off, though his tone was soft as he turned his attention to the younger man. "But I cannot let Isolde return alone. Perhaps I can help Connor or Eamon. Perhaps this is really a trap, but this is my family. I must try."
Alistair had shut his mouth after being cut off and made no move to continue speaking. Despite this, the look of disbelief on the warden's face wasn't lost on Teagan, or anyone else for that matter. Nela could agree, this man was a fool if he believed he could do this himself.
But it appeared, the Bann didn't actually believe that.
"I have no illusions of dealing with this evil alone." Teagan specified when he caught onto Alistair's train of thought. "You and your companions, on the other hand, have proven quite formidable."
Finally turning his attention back to Isolde, Teagan addressed the woman directly. "Isolde, can you excuse us for a moment? We must confer in private before I return to the castle with you."
He appeared to realize he shouldn't be discussing his plan with the arlessa standing there, considering she didn't seem to want anyone following after them.
Isolde narrowed her eyes at Teagan for a moment before letting out a short sigh in defeat. Seeming to realize there was no use arguing against whatever plan he was formulating. "Please do not take too long, I will be by the bridge."
As the arlessa walked back towards the bridge, Teagan moved so he was standing directly in front of the entire group, his voice becoming quick, but quiet. "Here is what I propose: I go in with Isolde and your group enters the castle using the secret passage." The Bann gestured his head towards the windmill as he took a step forward. Slipping a ring off of his finger and handing it to Kara. "My signet ring unlocks the door. Hopefully, I can distract whatever evil is inside and increase your chances of getting in unnoticed. What do you say?"
"We can, but are you sure this is wise?" Kara questioned, carefully taking the ring from Teagan and looking down at it curiously for a moment before turning her attention back up to the Bann. "I'd prefer to keep everyone alive, including you."
"It is for the best," Teagan responded, seeming to have accepted his role in the plan already. Regardless of if the Wardens agreed to do this or not, he was going to go with Isolde. "I would prefer to go inside with you, but I have no choice in the matter. If you choose not to go, it's up to me to do what I can."
Kara eyed the man carefully, the warden-mage looking less than pleased with the plan. Regardless, she gave a short nod in agreement.
A bit of relief seemed to follow Teagan at Kara's agreement. The man offered a short smile in thanks before continuing. "Whatever you do, Eamon is the priority here. If you have to, just get him out of there. The rest of us are expendable."
"That isn't true. We will get you all out of there." Alistair finally spoke up again for the first time since Teagan cut him off beforehand. Despite the Arlessa's obvious distrust in him, the man seemed oddly determined to make sure everyone remained safe. Nela found it odd, she couldn't relate to the sentiment.
"You two are good people. The maker smiled on me indeed, when he sent you all to Redcliffe." With a short nod that seemed more so directed at himself rather than the group before him, he continued. "But I can delay no longer. Allow me to bid you farewell… and good luck." And with those parting words, the Bann didn't wait for a response as he walked away to go leave with Isolde.
The man had just barely made it to the bridge when someone finally spoke up, and it was Leliana who did. "So we are just going to send him with that woman? It seems so dangerous!" It was clear the archer was not any more pleased with the plan laid down before them than the wardens were. Her eyes followed after the Bann for a few moments before they finally rested on Kara and Alistair.
"I'm not happy about it either, but I don't think there was any talking him out of it." Kara pointed out, crossing her arms in front of her with a frustrated exhale. "The most we can do for him now is do what he said and hope it works."
"Or we just leave them to deal with their own issues, if there is a demon amok someone summoned it. Let them clean up their own mess." The dark-haired mage Nela still didn't know the name of spoke up. It became very clear in her short time around the mage in question that she was not too keen on helping the people in Redcliffe. Nela could hardly blame her considering how messy the situation had become.
What the elven assassin hadn't been expecting, however, was for the Qunari to speak up. The man seemed to remain silent for the most part, as she hadn't heard him speak once prior to this point. So when the deep voice of the taller man spoke, she found herself jumping slightly in surprise.
"I do not see how this helps us fight the darkspawn, our focus should be on the blight."
Hold on, a Blight?
Nela's attention immediately turned to Solora to see if the other elf was as surprised as she was by the offhand comment, and she was. The other elf's eyes seemed to have widened significantly, having turned her attention straight to Nela in complete confusion.
The sixth Blight was just 15 years ago, was the final Blight already upon them?
Nela opened her mouth, the elf was already fixing to immediately start asking questions about this supposed Blight the Qunari mentioned but found herself immediately cut off by Kara who wasn't having any of the mage or Sten's complaints.
"We need the Arl for the political side of this entire mess Loghain has thrown us into. If we don't have the arl on our side, it'll just make our jobs so much more difficult!" Kara exclaimed, looking entirely exasperated at the complaining. "And even if, for whatever reason, we didn't need Eamon. We can't just leave these people to die!"
Right, ask about the Blight after this mess is over with.
"The people here created their own fate, we should leave them to it." Sten simply responded in a blunt tone, looking entirely unbothered by Kara's argument towards helping these people.
The warden mage in question let out a frustrated sigh at the statement. The Qunari seemed uninterested in budging on his view, and they really didn't have the time for this. Alistair seemed to agree as he cut in, sounding no more pleased to even be having this discussion than Kara did.
"Regardless of how anyone feels about this, we already agreed to help. So we're helping. That's the end of it."
The answering bark from Kara's mabari Doshiel was all that was needed to set things into motion.
A/N: Thank you so much for reading!
This chapter came out a LOT sooner than chapter 3, it is also the longest chapter in the story so far! Chapter 5 is also currently about 1600 words in at the moment. Hopefully, it should be done sometime soon!
How Solora and Nela may be taking this mess, may seem a bit odd. But a lot still needs to be addressed. So just hang tight with me, we're on our way there. Now is just... not quite the time.
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"