"Lady Maeve!" The girl chained to the wall couldn't have been a day over fifteen, and had tear tracks through the grime on her cheeks. She was still wearing her servant's livery, and after five days in captivity it was just as filthy as her face and hair. Worse, her cheeks were sunken enough to make me think she hadn't been fed much. If it all.
"Shhh!" I got my gloved hand over her lips before she could shout anything else, "Hush. The sewer entrance is still open, your voice will carry. Quietly now."
She nodded frantically, and I eased my fingers back. When she spoke again it was properly quiet, "I-I... h-he killed Aria. Choked her while he... while..."
While he forced himself on her. It had been easy to tell what had happened to the other girl from how we'd found her body.
And apparently the sick bastard had done it right in front of her cousin. God above...
"It's all right. We're here, and we're going to get you home." I waved Zatris forward to get the chains off of her. "It's all right, Lia. You're safe now. We'll make sure he never comes after you again."
"Thank you... thank you..." Tears started flowing again, her voice trailing off to sobs of pure relief.
Zatris quickly got her loose using a stolen key, two other members of the Watch bundling the girl out of the dungeon. We followed them back through the dark basement, though they went right, heading back to the entrance to the sewers while we went left, heading back upstairs.
Elves were everywhere inside the mansion. Nearly all of them had horse-mane haircuts or short mohawks, to my private irritation. On the bright side they all had proper armor now; light plate and brand new leather covering their slim bodies. My quick and dirty way of reminding them all who was paying the Night Watch's bills by way of spending some of the gold we'd taken from the demon's horde.
More immediately, each and every one of them was carrying out food and silverware; that was the extent of the looting I would allow. Anything more would be too likely to give our identities away once the estate was investigated.
I nodded to those that we passed, Zatris right behind me as we walked into the main living and dining space.
We'd left our prisoners there. Four men and one woman, all bound hand and foot, each one of them gagged. The parents, the son, a butler, and the single hired guard who hadn't been able to resist two dozen Elves surging into the home through its basement. He was also the only one wearing proper clothes. Everyone else was in their underwear or sleeping shifts.
More of our own stood guard over them, spears at the ready in case the Humans tried anything. Merrill was among them, her normally cheerful features as hard set as everyone else's.
"All right." I nodded to one of the prisoners. "Ungag that one."
An Elven woman who looked particularly murderous stepped up, yanking the cloth out of the boy's mouth. She wasn't gentle about it either, making him whimper, then choke a little on the saliva that had built up.
"Explain yourself." I said coldly.
The young man, probably an older teen, had a reedy, whiny voice. "I didn't meant to do it!"
I stared him down. "You accidentally abducted two girls, raped one of them, and then killed her?"
"The demons told me that I had to! You elves... you're too beautiful. You have no right to be so beautiful! The demons hate that!"
The vaguest memories of this side-quest came to me, telling me that Lia and her cousin hadn't been the first Elven girls this twisted thing had gone after. "How many."
His father growled through his gag, trying to say something, but he couldn't stop his insane son from replying. "A dozen maybe? Please, you have to help me. Are any of you mages? I need their help to make the demons go away. My father won't take me to them."
Merrill answered him for all of us, "You're not a mage. Just a sick shemlen who will answer for his crimes against the People."
A low growl of approval of her words ran between the guards, two of them actually thumping their spears on the floor in salute.
"A dozen. Maybe." I turned to his father. "And the Magistrate of Kirkwall, Lord of Justice, covered up the fact that his son hunted Elves for sport. That he strangled and raped them in his basement at the behest of demons that existed solely in his own head."
He stared back at me, pure defiance in his gaze. Beside him his wife wasn't as stoic; she kept trying to yell through her gag, a few mumbles about how we couldn't do this getting out around the cloth.
I snorted, looking over the others. "And I doubt the rest of you were unaware either. Hard to cover up screaming girls in your basement, or the fact that a literal dungeon was built down there. Someone had to remove the bodies after as well."
The butler couldn't look at me, telling me his role in this. Next to him the guard just kept his head bowed, eyes closed, as if he was simply waiting for the end.
Well, no point in drawing this out any further. Not when we had more than enough evidence for what was left of my battered conscience. My sword cleared its sheathe, all five prisoners staring at the steel.
"Please." The boy gasped. "Please make the demons go away."
Ignoring him, I turned to the woman who'd ripped his gag off. "You're the girls' Aunt, aren't you?"
"Yes, Lady Maeve. My name is Shina, their fathers are my brothers. I..." her voice trailed off when I held the hilt of my sword out to her, balancing the blade in both hands. "...Lady?"
"They're yours. One cut or thrust each." I told her. "We can't afford a mess. Only justice."
For a moment she stood still, then her eyes shone with tears, fingers slowly wrapping around the grip. "Justice, lady. I will never forget this."
I nodded to her, stepping back. A wave to Zatris had him close the door, making sure the sounds of what was to come wouldn't leave this room.
She went from right to left, leaving the boy himself for last. The teenager started screaming when she drove the blade into the back of the Guard's neck, cutting down to find his heart.
"No! It wasn't them! It was me, it was my demons! It's not their fault!" He begged, his own tears flowing, "Kill me! Kill me, spare my parents! Please! Don't hurt my mother!"
The butler fell next. The wife thrashed and flailed, rolling onto her belly, trying to crawl away. A booted foot on the small of her back pinned her in place, and then the sword came down once more.
I sighed as the teen's screams turned to blubbering. His head shaking wildly when his father calmly met his end.
Then my sword ended the lunatic's life as well, leaving us with five corpses bleeding out onto the floor.
"Get them all back into their beds." I ordered. "Start setting the fires on the second floor. I want plenty of them going, no chances for anyone to find the corpses before the entire place is engulfed. Make sure that rug they were on goes up too."
Men and women quickly moved forward, carrying the evidence away to be disposed of. Soon enough only Merrill and Shina were left, my Elven-sister patting my shoulder once.
"It had to be done." She said quietly, voice sad but resolute. "I'll meet you downstairs."
I nodded, letting her go, leaving me alone with the woman still staring at the splatters of blood on the floor. My sword was covered in the stuff, her fingers white-knuckled as she held onto it.
Sighing, I walked over and put my own hand on hers. "It won't bring them back, but now they can't hurt anyone else like they hurt your family."
"...I hate them." The older woman whispered. "I hate them all. We're just... things to them. They're all Qunari, and we're just bas."
Petrice would be thrilled her lessons were sinking in. I, on the other hand, just felt tired. Dealing with a hurt, traumatized person was not in my list of skills. "Not all of them. We have allies in the city. Humans and Dwarves that are helping us, and will help make sure the new Magistrate isn't an evil bastard like this one."
"...I know that." Shina's pale throat worked in a swallow before she finally turned to face me, brown eyes meeting my own. "I know that, Lady. But I still hate them in my heart. They took my little niece. I'll never hear her laughing again. Never see her playing with the cats you keep bringing in. She loved those little beasts. Was... she named one Bells. Talked her mother into letting it sleep with her. Now..."
"I know." I said, just as quietly. "And... fuck. I'm sorry we didn't get here in time for Aria. If I was good at this part, I could say something to help you, to ease the pain."
Her laugh was a little unstable, but she smiled all the same. "Lady. You helped us find them, helped us find Lia before it was too late for her. And you let me use your own sword to kill those Shemlen. You've done more than I could have ever asked for. The blame... the blame is with the shems, as it always is."
I let out a tired breath, avoiding saying that I should have known better. Should have remembered more the stupid details of this world. Maybe then we could have ended this before it began.
Instead we'd saved one life, but... a dozen or so had been lost in exchange.
Fuck. I needed a drink.
"Your homeland... will you go back, one day?"
Another invisible dagger cut at my heart. "I dearly hope so."
"...would be there be room there, for the People?" She asked quietly. "For Lia to grow up without fear of... of this?"
"...I'll do all that I can." The words were the only ones I could bring myself to say. "Come on. We need to get back home, and Lia needs you. I'll send Petrice to talk with your family, when she comes by again. As intense as she is, she's actually good at the whole sermon and faith thing. Maybe she'll be able to find the words that I can't."
"I... will try." She started to hand my sword back, and only then seemed to realize it was still covered in blood. "Ah. I'll clean this for you, lady."
I waved her off. "Keep it. Varric should be delivering a freshly forged one today."
"...if you're trying to buy my loyalty, lady Maeve, you have wildly succeeded."
A frustrated sound escaped my throat. "That's not why I'm giving it to you, Shina. You deserve a good blade, and I'm getting a new one anyway."
That got me a small smile. "I will remember your kindness and justice every time I draw it, my lady, and dream of the day when we are truly free. Until then, I am yours."
I fought down the urge to groan again. In guilty pain or simple exhaustion, I couldn't have said. "Just... come on. Let's get this place on fire and get out of here before anyone realizes what happened."
It didn't take our party very long after that. The bodies were posed, fuel for fires was arranged, and every room was set alight. Zatris and a pair of volunteers stayed behind to observe, to make sure it all went up, while I took the rest of the Watch back to the Alienage by way of Darktown.
No one down there tried to stop our passage. Twenty plus armed and armored elves was a veritable army to the homeless rabble that lived in those warrens.
Lia and Aria's parents were waiting for us when we came up out of the sewers. The former broke down sobbing in relief, hugging their daughter when she emerged. The latter broke down sobbing in grief when I could only shake my head to them, when they saw the warriors carrying a still form wrapped in blankets. Murmuring apologies that wouldn't make their little girl wake up again.
The father managed enough control to thank me for trying, holding his wife as she wept. Shina stepped up for me, corralling her extended family. Guiding them all back home to tell them what had happened, my sword on her hip.
The rest of the Night's Watch dispersed at my order, everyone heading back home to get what sleep they could. It was well after midnight, closer to dawn really, though I had no idea what the actual time would be.
Unfortunately for me, as much as I wanted to go find my own bed, I still had more work to do. More people to talk with. Staring with the Templar who was waiting for us under the Vhenadahl.
"Ser Emeric." I greeted him tiredly, Merrill following me over.
"Lady Maeve." The much older man replied, "I see that you found one of them. What of the other girl?"
"We found both. Only one was alive to come home." I told him.
His eyes closed, shoulders slumping. "I feared as much. I am sorry that I did not find their trail sooner."
Merrill shook her head, "You and Ser Hound helped us be sure of where they were, helped us make sure one of them came home. Be proud of that."
"Kind, as always, Lady Merrill." He smiled. "This city does not deserve you."
I smiled when Merrill promptly reddened, stammering a little. "Oh, I... um. I was just being honest."
"You really need to learn to take a compliment." I said, turning back to the Templar. "Anything else going on?"
He shook his head, "Nothing tonight, all quiet. I do not mean to be morbid, but I must ask if you found any evidence of the other missing women tonight. Too many are unaccounted for in these dark days."
"Just other Elves, the Magistrate's son was completely mad. Thought there were demons telling him to kill them for being too beautiful to exist in this sinful world."
"...were there?" He asked.
"No." I said flatly. "Not a drop of magic in him, according to Merrill. Just someone with a broken brain whose noble father enabled and covered up his behavior. I didn't bother asking for his excuses. Just got the son to confess, and confirmed there was no way everyone else in the home didn't know what was going on."
"Unfortunate." He murmured. "I will not ask how the Maker's Justice was dispensed."
"It was clean." I assured him.
Merrill nodded quickly, "Maeve would never let them go too far."
"Good." He gave us a tired smile. "Still, that leaves those Human women who have similarly vanished. I will continue to search for them, when I can. So far all I have heard is that all of them were being courted. Sent white lilies."
White lilies...
I hummed, frowning. That sounded like... fuck. That was that necromancer who killed Leandra in the game. Stitching together parts of women's bodies to try and bring his wife back to life, in the world's must fucked up version of Frankenstein possible. And, if I remembered right, he'd arranged for poor Ser Emeric to be killed as well.
Yeah, no. I was not letting him kill one of the two decent Templars in the world. Or more innocent women for that matter.
And hey, he'd be someone we could package up for Meredith too. We were overdue to remind her why she'd arranged for us to legally carry arms. The sooner we made her happy with us, preferably in a way that left me as far away from her as possible, the better.
"Focus on that, if you can." I told him. "We'll make do without you if we have to. I can get a few extra people to take your night shifts. Talk to Elowen in the morning as well. She can help get you more eyes and ears to help you run him down."
Emeric frowned. "Are you certain, lady? If this is a separate killer, he has only preyed on Human women thus far. It is not a matter I should truthfully be pursuing, given my duties."
"Thus far." I echoed, shaking my head. "People like that always prey on Elves sooner or later. Let's make sure we find him before he gets to sooner."
"A wise point." He replied. "I will speak to the Lady Elowen, and to Ser Thrask once they awaken."
"Thanks. And keep Ser Hound with you, and maybe some extra pairs of eyes."
He chuckled, "Worried for the old man, my lady?"
"You're old as dirt." I grinned, "But you're a good man all the same, Ser Emeric."
"The lady is too kind. I am due back a the gate, Ser Hound is likely bored of standing guard alone." An armored hand came to his chest, a slight bow coloring his words. "Good night, Lady Maeve. Lady Merrill."
We both returned the gesture, watching him go before turning to speak with each other.
"I've got Elders to talk to." I said. "You can go on home."
"Should I have some wine ready for you?"
I let out a quiet grunt. "Yeah. I'll probably need it. Thanks Merrill."
She smiled, then she was off too. Heading back to our little home while I braced myself for what was coming next. A too-short stroll across the square brought me to the Elder's house, the door swinging open when I knocked on it.
The old man's grandson quickly ushered me over to the bedroom, where I found the him awake despite the hour.
He looked... well, about as good as could be expected under the circumstances. He was upright in bed, stiff legs covered by his blankets, paperwork in his lap, with a set of tall candles on a nightstand.
"Good morning, Lady Maeve." He smiled, setting a bit of parchment aside. His voice was still strong, and his rheumy eyes were as alert as they could be. "Good news from the raid, I hope?"
"Good and bad."
"Ah." Leras sighed, "Then you had best pull that chair over, da'len. Armael? Perhaps a bit of tea for the lady and I. I fear I will not be returning to sleep anytime soon."
The young man, he had to be about my age, nodded at once. "Of course, grandfather. I'll be back soon."
For my part I grabbed the offered chair, dragging it over next to the bed. I dropped onto it with a soft groan... and then gave him a more detailed version of what I'd already told Ser Emeric. The Elder listened to it all in relaxed silence, the only interruption the arrival of our tea. I wasn't usually one for tea, but the hot liquid felt good all the same.
"Poor Aria." He murmured at the end. "Her family will grieve her for some time. I will arrange for a proper funeral for her. How is Lia?"
"Traumatized." I said. "It sounded like it happened right in front of her. She's going to be fragile for quite a while."
Leras bowed his head in agreement. "Yes. I will instruct her grandfather to find a volunteer to take over her job, until she can recover. She will need an escort when that time comes."
I stretched my short legs out, exhaling as I did. "Everyone's demanding escorts. I've barely been home for three days and I've already had twenty families insist that they need members of the Watch to protect them on their way to and from work. If I hadn't been running around looking for Aria and Lia there'd have been five times that many tracking me down to demand protection."
"Ah." He grimaced, making his wrinkles deepen. "I apologize, da'len. I thought such demands were being made to me alone."
My hand waved off the apology. "It's fine. Well, it's not, but I don't think there was anything you can do. They were going to harass me about it one way or another."
His head tilted slightly. "Perhaps. Is such an escort possible?"
"Hell no." I snorted. "There's what? A few thousand Elves living around here? And practically everyone between the ages of six and sixty work outside of the walls. I've got fifty people in the Night's Watch, and another fifty we've illegally armed on the side. Even if we all didn't have our own day jobs, which nearly all of them do, there's no way we could organize any kind of protective service."
I paused, then added more soberly, "And besides. Aria and Lia did have an escort, and that just got Senvel killed along with Aria. Plus we're still not supposed to carry arms outside of the walls. If enough of the nobles realize that we are, Brennan's friendship won't protect us forever."
"You are preaching to the converted, da'len. What is a more realistic option?"
"No idea." I admitted. "Despite what happened to the girls and Senvel, I think the routine we've got in Hightown is about as good as we're going to get. They're being harassed a lot less since they started using Fenris' mansion as a rest stop and moving in groups. Maybe I can station a few volunteers there? It's not ideal, but maybe they'd be able to pick up the trails of anyone who vanishes on their way home before they're missing for too long."
He hummed. "Would your companion agree to that?"
Fenris wasn't my companion anymore. I doubted he'd even speak to me. Still, I couldn't see him turning others away just to spite me. "So long as they didn't stay for too long, or draw too much attention, I think he'd be fine with it."
"Then I believe that shall be our solution." Leras said. "What of Lowtown?"
"You want me to be polite or impolite when I describe how fucked we are?"
A wheezy laugh escaped his lips, "I see that question was rhetorical, da'len. There is nothing you can do?"
I shook my head, "People work all over the city. Encouraging everyone to move in groups is all we've really got. Give me another two or three hundred volunteers with six months to train them, and maybe we could conquer Darktown or something. Use the tunnels as our own roads, but we'd need a lot of people constantly down there to keep everyone else out. And clean it up."
"A fine dream." He murmured, "But a dream all the same. Perhaps the next time the Sister comes to speak you could give your own advice on staying in groups."
"...yeah, all right. Speaking of Petrice, she wants to build a Chantry down here."
His eyes snapped open, then promptly narrowed. "A Chantry. In the Alienage."
"It would be attached to the Night Watch's barracks." I replied, "By combining the two, she's pretty sure she can convince Elthina and Meredith to pay for for the construction."
"Da'len, your faith is your own, but those who follow the Maker remain a minority here." He reminded me, voice turning sharp. "A Chantry would cause great discontentment. All the more so as we would assuredly have to tear down many homes to fit such a building."
"Yeah." I agreed, then disagreed. "And they're a majority, Leras. Just because you don't like it doesn't change the fact that more Elves follow Andraste than Mythal."
His expression soured further. "Perhaps, but my point on discontent remains. You intend to insist on this?"
"Yeah."
He let out a frustrated breath. "Why?"
"One," I held up a finger, "We need a barracks and an armory, and I really don't want to have to pay for it when I'm already trying to buy up enough freshly forged weapons for everyone. Two, all of the Chantries in Lowtown are old, small, and worn out. Petrice is going to try and cover up our getting one by proposing all of them be rebuilt, including putting a new one pretty close to our walls."
Leras frowned. "Would that truly dampen the shem's agitation around us?"
"Maybe, maybe not." I shrugged, "But it would cover up all of the extra construction we could do, and give Brennan an excuse to move guards back into the area. Nobles can't complain about her protecting Chantries, not without looking unfaithful. With all of that going on it would be a perfect time to rebuild the shacks at the western wall, get proper sewer access, put together real stalls for our market. All the things we badly need, and the common rabble outside the Alienage will have a hard time complaining if the Chantry says they're finally converting the heathens in their midst."
"They will complain regardless." He countered... then sighed. "But it is likely the best excuse we would ever have to disguise proper work, and if it would bring the Guard back to aid in protecting us... hm. How would such work be payed for, da'len?"
"I'd cover whatever the Chantry doesn't with my share of the treasure from the Thaig." I supplied. "House Tethras owns a Dwarven construction company. They'd be the ones to do most of the work."
There was a small huff, "Keeping such wealth in your circle of friends... and bribing those against a Chantry in our midst with the promise of guards, new homes, and cleaner streets."
"Yup."
"And giving you the barracks you so badly want so that you can control the arms within our walls." He went on. "I can see how it may benefit us, but I also fear it will only lead to deeper divisions at a time when we cannot afford them. When will your Sister propose her plan?"
I shifted uncomfortably, saying nothing.
"...she already has."
"Yeah. The Grand Cleric said she'll make her decision within the next week or two."
A bit of anger entered his voice. "I would have appreciated being consulted earlier. This is a matter that will affect all of the People."
"It is," I agreed, "But we're up to five kids sleeping on Thrask's floor because their parents are trying to make them move to another city, or marry someone they hate. That's not including the fact that I'm bunking with Merrill because Fiolya is sleeping in my room again."
He started to reply, but I interrupted him out of sheer pettiness. "And Fiolya's bitch of a grandmother interrupted Emeric's report on where he thought the girls had been taken. Just so that she could yell at me in front of the entire Watch about how I was corrupting Fiolya and stopping her from doing her duty as an Elven woman."
Leras was a decent enough man to wince at that.
"So yeah." I said, voice now utterly flat. "I'm forcing this through. Those kids need a safe place to sleep without worrying they're going to be shipped off to Starkhaven just to get started on making more Elves."
"It is not quite like that, da'len. As distasteful as you may find it, as many do, our ways are one of the few things keeping the People alive."
I snorted derisively, "You're lucky I'm not throwing a fit about kids getting married at sixteen. For God's sake, I'm not even pushing back against parents setting their kids up with someone, even if I find that fucked up too. All I'm demanding is three months of dating, minimum, before a wedding, and that no one gets shipped off to another city against their will."
"And your restraint was a boon in my defense of your position." He replied. "Just as your heavy handed actions with this will cause even more division."
"It probably will, but I'm not in the mood to play nice anymore. All it took was me being gone for a couple of months, and you being injured, and half of those old bastards stared acting like they were the new Kings and Queens of the Alienage." I countered. "Trying to turn my Night's Watch from something dedicated to protecting us to their own personal thugs."
"...a fairer point than I wish it was."
I grunted at him. "You going to speak against me, or support me?"
A weathered hand rose in an exhausted wave. "You know that I must support you. Your wealth and connections give us a chance to live something more than this slum. If that means bending our traditions, so that our children may grow tall enough to look the shemlen in the eye, than it shall be worth it."
"Practice that speech." I advised, pushing myself to my feet. "You're probably going to have repeat it quite a few times over the next couple of months."
"I shall. And, da'len, you had best learn to control your temper."
I turned, speaking over my shoulder as I headed for the door. "I'll be on my best behavior, so long as the other Elders are on theirs."
From the slump in his shoulders he didn't think they would be.
Which was good.
It meant we were total agreement on something.
