AN: So to recap for anyone who chose not to read the last chapter, Lauren was subjected to physical and mental torture on Howe's orders for a week. She managed to escape, eventually, though not unscathed. She has some pretty serious injuries. As she was leaving the dungeons, she heard the sound of her friends in battle. They had come to rescue her just when she finally managed to rescue herself. And here's where we join up with them!
I raced through the corridor, towards the sound of battle. The next door I reached was locked, but I could hear them on the other side of it. I fumbled with the ring of keys around my wrist, trying each of them in the lock, almost ready to give up and have at it with the axe again when one of them finally clicked and the door swung open.
The scene before me was one of utter chaos, but my eyes found him first. Through a sea of dull grey mail, he blazed like the sun. His bronze armour shone gloriously as he sliced through a wall of men with a single blow, roaring with pure, unbridled fury. I had never seen anything more beautiful. A fork of lightning alerted me to Morrigan's presence and I caught a flash of red hair as Leliana weaved her way through the men, beautiful and deadly. She linked up with Zevran and together they became a graceful whirlwind of daggers and death. Grayson and Sten stood back to back, fighting fiercely. Despite the immediate danger, my heart roared triumphantly in my chest. My friends had come for me.
Nobody had noticed me yet, not the guards, and not my friends. My stolen armour allowed me to blend into the scene, and I stepped forward slowly, taking my time, gauging my opportunities, before falling into a familiar dance. I took my axe in both hands and swung it hard into the stomach of the nearest guard. It didn't pierce his armour but it winded him and, as he bent double, I struck a killing blow to the back of his head. Though with every swing of my axe I felt the wounds on my back being torn open and bleeding anew, I kept going, swinging and striking, leaving a trail of bodies behind me as I made my way, half-walking half-staggering, to the centre of the room...to the centre of my universe. I reached Alistair just as the last of the guards fell and he turned on me, eyes blazing, sword in mid-swing. He recognised me too late, but I had anticipated as much, catching his blade with the handle of my axe before it even got close.
Our weapons clattered to the floor and I was in his arms before I knew what was happening. He clutched me to him, and the pressure of his strong arms across my back made me gasp with pain, even through the armour, but I endured and said nothing, too happy to be back in his embrace to sully the moment.
"Lauren!" Grayson cried, rushing towards us, and I went from one crushing bearhug to another, gritting my teeth the whole time to keep from crying out in agony. The others approached, calling my name and slapping me on the back, laughing in relief. I was thrilled to see them, but I really wished they wouldn't.
"Guys, guys!" I raised my arms for silence, cutting off their questions and batting Leliana's hand away as she made to move my helmet to the side, frowning at the bruise that was just visible under it. "I'm really glad you're here but...can we stop being here? Can we be somewhere that is else? Before reinforcements come and ruin your brilliant rescue plan?"
"What about Howe?" Grayson asked, his eyes darkening.
"Howe can wait." I insisted, fighting against my own urges. "I need healing magic."
Alistair shot me a look of alarm and I refused to meet his eyes.
"Let's get you out of here." He said, scooping me up in his arms.
"Unhand me, ser." I said, attempting a playful smile, planting a light kiss on the end of his nose. "I can still walk."
"Maybe I don't want to." He said, softly. "Maybe I never want to let you go again." I gestured for him to put me down and he reluctantly complied. It's not that I didn't want to be close to him, it's that the physical pain it caused me to rest my weight in his armoured arms was so overwhelming I feared I might pass out again.
We made our way through the corridor, slipping into a hidden servant's passage just as the sound of approaching boots reached our ears. We hid in the shadows until they passed, and then we kept moving. The passage was dank and cold, and the ceiling was so low that even I had to stoop at one point, and Sten had to bend double just to fit, but it was empty, and the breeze that kissed my face carried the promise of freedom.
"How did you know about this entrance?" I whispered as we crept along.
"A very lovely and accommodating serving girl with a loose tongue and even looser morals." Zevran replied, grinning. I grinned back, so glad to be back with them that even a small dose of Zevran's lechery felt like coming home.
As we rounded a corner, I saw sunlight up ahead and it took all of my willpower not to bowl Leliana out of the way and sprint towards it. When we reached the door, I took a few shaky steps across the grass and stopped, closing my eyes and breathing in a lungful of fresh air. The wind was cool but the sun was warm on my face. The realisation that my ordeal was truly over was overwhelming and I was balancing on an emotional tightrope, somewhere between laughing and crying, when Alistair tugged gently on my arm.
"We have to go. We have wagons waiting to take us back to The Pearl." He said, circling his arm protectively around my shoulders and guiding me in the direction of the others. "We're almost there." He said, encouragingly, in a voice that was usually reserved for the very young or the very old.
We kept close to the wall, listening for the guards, but apparently the scene we had left inside the castle was keeping them occupied and we made it across the gardens without being spotted. True to Alistair's word, there were two covered wagons waiting for us on the dirt road outside of the tower walls, similar to the one Bodahn used, and we scrambled into the back of them, with Alistair, Grayson, Leliana and I in one and Sten, Zevran and Morrigan in the other. Once inside, shielded from the world by the cloth flaps draped over the back, the wagons immediately jolted and started to rumble along the road. I slumped back in my seat, breathing easily for the first time.
"Where did you get the wagons?" I asked, sensing that now we were alone, the other three were about to start bombarding me with questions of their own and hoping to delay them as long as I could.
"We had some help. Some of the men in The Pearl. They were the ones who told us where you were." Grayson said, dismissively. "Lauren, what happened?"
I sighed, pulling off my helmet and resting it on my knee, running a hand through my dirty hair. Alistair rose to his feet, glaring down at me with shock and outrage, and I winced when I realised that without the helmet, my badly beaten face was on full display. My left eye was still swollen shut, and the right side of my face felt like one big bruise, but it barely even hurt anymore. I had almost forgotten about the evidence of mistreatment on my face because the worst of my wounds weren't visible. The beating I had taken the day I was captured now felt like nothing.
"I'll kill Howe with my bare hands." Alistair growled, his hands balled into trembling fists. I couldn't bring myself to meet his eyes.
"It's okay. It looks worse than it is." I lied, forcing a smile.
"Tell us. From the start. What happened?" Grayson asked, clenching his jaw with the effort it was taking him to keep his voice low and steady. Leliana moved to sit closer to me and brushed a lock of my filthy hair behind my ear, examining my face, as Alistair knelt before me, doing the same. I looked at each of them in turn, shaking my head.
"I was on my way back to The Pearl after leaving Wade's and I was ambushed by some men. They had recognised me from those damn posters. I guess they really do look like me. Sorry, Grayson. I should have taken your warnings more seriously." I grimaced, and he shook his head, dismissively. "I left my daggers in Wade's...he and Herren were bickering and I was in such a rush to get out of there that I just...it was my own fault." I said, trying to sound flippant. "I got myself caught. They took me to Howe to collect the bounty. They didn't get it, but Howe got me. He would have sent me to Loghain but he was hoping I'd tell him where you were."
"What did they do to you?" Grayson asked.
I saw Leliana grimace knowingly at Grayson's question. I met her eyes and she understood that I wasn't going to tell her. Not now, not in front of the boys. They didn't need to know.
"Who did that to your face?" Alistair asked, barely in control of his anger. I almost recoiled at the rage that shone in his hazel eyes, but I knew it wasn't for me.
"Perhaps having Lauren recount what happened right now would not be the best use of her energy, yes?" Leliana said, gently.
"The men who ambushed me." I said, shaking my head dismissively. "Don't worry, Wynne will have me ship-shape and gorgeous again in no time."
It felt bizarre, cracking jokes again. It didn't feel right. It felt forced and fake. I wondered if it would ever really feel natural again. Maybe Soris had been right. Maybe my sense of humour had died down there.
"So, what happened while I was...away?" I asked, as if I was just back from vacation or something. Grayson groaned, running a hand through his hair.
"Well, obviously as soon as Alistair and I got back to The Pearl and nobody had seen you, we knew something was amiss, but we didn't know where to start. Of course, I suspected Loghain had found you somehow, so Leliana snuck into the palace disguised as a servant to look for you. When it became clear you weren't there, Leliana had another idea...but I think it's best I let her tell you this part." He said, with a small smile in her direction.
She placed a hand on my arm and looked directly into my eyes, taking a deep breath.
"I haven't been completely honest about my past." She said, looking nervous. I snorted in amusement and her eyebrows knitted together in confusion.
"So...you finally told everyone that you're a bard?"
"How did you…?" She started, in outrage, and I smiled, sympathetically.
"It was sort of obvious. But I figured you would come out with it in your own time." I said, with a half shrug that sent searing pain through my back. I tried to fight off a grimace, but I knew she had clocked me, because her eyes darted surreptitiously to my shoulders, wondering.
"I knew too." Grayson grinned, though the smile didn't quite make it all the way to his eyes. She frowned at him, before sighing.
"Well...yes, I'm a bard...was a bard. When you disappeared I reached out to some old contacts and discovered that the woman who mentored me, Marjolaine, was in the city. We did not part ways on the best of terms. She came here to find me. I wondered if perhaps she had kidnapped you to get to me." She said, miserably. "I felt awful. I told Grayson and Alistair immediately, I was so worried that my deception had caused you to suffer. I'm so sorry I lied, I just…"
"Hey." I took her hand in mine. "It's okay. Everyone has secrets. You don't have to explain yourself to me."
She nodded, gratefully, and I squeezed her hand.
"So then, we went looking for Marjolaine." Alistair said. "We dealt with her and her men, but there was no sign of you. So we were out of ideas when we were attacked by a man named Taliesen, an old associate of our assassin friend."
"The Crows found you?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "Didn't they learn their lesson the first time around?"
"Apparently not. So we dealt with them, again, and Zevran was certain that they didn't have you. He said they would have made sure that we knew, that they would have used you as leverage. So then we really had no idea where to look for you. We hit the streets, asking questions, probably making ourselves a little too visible considering we're all wanted men, but it didn't do any good."
I looked at each of them in turn, waiting for someone to continue.
"And, then…?" I prompted, impatiently. "How did you find me? You said something about men in The Pearl?"
"Yes, well...we all went back to The Pearl to regroup and try to plan our next move. We were starting to lose hope. Alistair was…"
"It doesn't matter." Alistair interrupted, quickly, looking a little embarrassed. "I just...wasn't handling your disappearance as well as I might have. So I may have lost my temper with Grayson...just a little...sorry about that, by the way." He said, sheepishly.
"Don't mention it. I knew it wasn't personal. I get it." Grayson assured him. "And besides, if you hadn't caused such a scene, those men may not have realised who we were."
"I guess. I just wish we'd got to you sooner." Alistair muttered, miserably, reaching a hand up to my face and hovering it gingerly over my bruise. I brushed him off, trying to smile.
"Your timing was impeccable." I assured him. His face remained grim, and I looked around to see Leliana and Grayson wearing similar expressions. "Guys, seriously. I'm okay. It's nothing that a hot bath, a home-cooked meal and a good night's sleep in a warm bed won't fix. Lighten up, already. You're making me feel guilty."
"Sorry. You're right." Grayson said, with a strained smile. "It's good to have you back, kitten."
Alistair's expression flickered curiously at Grayson's use of the pet name, but he forced a smile too.
"It's really good to have you back." He said, squeezing my hand. "I hope you realise this means that I'm never leaving your side again."
"I think I can live with that." I grinned. "For a little while, anyway."
"Howe had you in his dungeons for a week, Did he just leave you there?" Grayson asked, frowning. He knew the man better than anyone. He knew how unlikely my story was. I leaned back in my seat, closing my eyes.
I sighed in exhaustion. "Look...I can't. I know you have questions, but I can't. Not right now. I haven't eaten in days, I've barely slept. I'm…" I winced, gasping as the adrenaline that had carried me this far finally wore off and the open wounds on my back seared in agony. I lurched forward, gritting my teeth, and Alistair took my face in his hands, studying me with renewed concern.
"Tell me where it hurts." He said, soothingly. I took a deep breath and forced myself to focus on his face. I felt tears spring forth as my eyes met his and the tenderness in them broke through my resolve. Overwhelmed by the pain in my body and the love in his eyes, I had a moment of weakness, and I couldn't catch my breath in time to lie to him before the truth was already on my lips.
"Everywhere." I whispered.
"Oh, Lauren…" He pulled my head into his chest. "What did they do to you?"
"You're bleeding!" Grayson cried in alarm, rising out of his seat. I turned my head to the side, following his gaze to see blood pooling on the bench under me, seeping out of the bottom of my hauberk. I fought a wave of dizziness and closed my eyes, tightly. "She's been wounded. Help me get her out of her armour, we have to try to stop the bleeding or we might not get her to Wynne in time."
"No, it's okay…" I protested, weakly, as he and Alistair started to unbuckle my hauberk. "No, don't…"
Leliana acted quickly, taking her dagger and ripping off a length of the cloth that was draped over the wagon.
"You'll never get your deposit back now." I said, woozily, as the mail hauberk was lifted over my head and I was pulled shakily to my feet to allow them to inspect my wounds. I crossed my arms over my breasts to protect my modesty, blushing despite myself. Alistair and Grayson stood in front of me, and Alistair recoiled in shock at the patchwork of bruising and burns covering my arms and stomach.
"Maker…" He breathed, with barely contained fury. I tried to capture his gaze, to tell him silently that it hurt but it was all over now, that I was fine, that I was with him again, but his eyes were fixated on my battered body. I leaned on him for support as my head started to spin and heard Leliana gasp in horror.
"Blessed Andraste...her back…" She choked out, sounding nauseated. Before I could stop them, both men leaned over to see what she was talking about and a long stretch of silence followed.
"No." Alistair said, shaking his head in denial. "No."
Leliana sniffed loudly and I glanced over my shoulder to see that her eyes looked suspiciously wet. I had suspected that Gort had stripped my flesh down to the muscle. It had certainly felt that way. The look on her face only confirmed what I already knew. She met my gaze and her expression hardened. "Let's get you patched up." She said, forcing a teary smile.
She took a few steps towards me, hovering her hand over my wounds, and I turned away, clenching my jaw in preparation for what was coming next.
"Lauren, you're losing too much blood. I'm going to have to apply pressure to...the area." She said, gently. I nodded.
"Do it." I said, quickly.
"Wait!" Alistair commanded, in the authoritative voice that we rarely heard him use. He bent down and snapped a length of wood from the underside of the bench with his bare hands, and held it to my mouth. "Bite down on this." He said, softly. I accepted, and was later grateful that I had. If I hadn't, I may have bitten my own tongue off. As it was, my screams of agony were barely muffled as Leliana wrapped the cloth tightly around my body, whispering tearful apologies in Orlesian as she did, as the two men held me, watching hopelessly.
She worked quickly, but the seconds felt like hours. I knew she was saving me, but it felt like she was killing me. When she was done, I collapsed into Alistair's arms, sobbing and dry-heaving, and he wrapped his arms gently around my shoulders, careful to avoid my injuries, kissing my forehead and whispering sweet nothings into my hair. After a few moments, I forced myself to breathe. The pain was still there, but so was he. Somehow, his arms around me made it bearable. I focused on my breathing, until I was certain I wasn't going to pass out or vomit, and then I slowly raised my head.
"Thank you." I croaked, looking over to Leliana, who was huddled in the corner, hugging her knees to her chest. "I know how hard that must have been for you."
"Lauren, I…"
"I know." I assured her. I reached out to Alistair for support and he helped me to my feet. I looked down at the cloth wrapped around my body, checking that it was held firmly in place. I let my arms drop to my sides, satisfied that my breasts were covered. I looked around at my friends, who were all staring at me as though I might collapse at any moment. I hated the way they were looking at me. I needed them to stop. "I'm sorry you all had to see that. I had hoped you wouldn't have to. But I'm fine. Really. It hurts. It hurts like Hell. But it's just pain. Wynne will heal me and we can put all of this behind us."
"We should have got there sooner." Alistair croaked, and I looked up into his beautiful, miserable face. "I failed you."
"You failed me? Oh, Alistair." I said, brushing his hair back. "You saved me. Every night, you saved me. If it wasn't for you, I'd have died down there. You are the only thing that kept me going."
"Don't." He said, swallowing hard. "I don't deserve your forgiveness."
"There's nothing to forgive." I said, sternly. "You didn't do this to me. The man who did this is dead. I killed him."
"You killed him?" Grayson asked. He sounded shaky, and I wondered how much self-control it was taking for him to keep his voice level. "You don't kill men. That can't have been easy."
I shook my head.
"I don't kill men. I kill monsters." I said, coldly. "You'd be amazed just how easy it was."
The wagon shuddered to a halt, and I looked around, frowning. We couldn't be at The Pearl already. Grayson rose to his feet, poking his head out of the cloth flaps. He spoke to someone, but I couldn't hear what they were saying. He turned back to us with a tight smile.
"The wagon in front of us has blown a wheel. Apparently these things weren't built to carry armoured Qunari." He said, shaking his head. "We'll have to walk the rest of the way."
I groaned, inwardly, but made a point of not complaining. I didn't want to give anyone any more reason to coddle me. I tried to jump down from the wagon but Alistair stepped down first and reached back for me. I smiled, wryly, thinking to myself that he was never going to treat me normally again after this, but I allowed him to help me down. As Leliana stepped gracefully down behind me, the rest of our companions circled around to meet us, joined by the men who had driven the wagons and my jaw dropped in disbelief when I recognised them.
A million thoughts raced through my head, and I looked around wildly. Leliana's back was turned to me and I reached for her daggers, ignoring my body as it protested and turned around, brandishing them with a threatening flourish as I locked eyes with my enemy, the adrenaline that had left me earlier rushing back through my veins as every instinct in my body screamed for battle.
"Lauren, what…" Alistair started, looking from the murderous expression on my face to the nervous expressions of the men around us, a frown of worry and confusion on his face. I ignored him, stepping slowly and deliberately towards the man whose face I had dreamt of caving in every night for the last week.
"How did you think this was going to go?" I snarled, dangerously. "I told you if I ever got out of there, I would kill you."
The grin of bravado on Daryn's face did little to mask the fear in his eyes at my words and he looked around for support.
"Come on. It wasn't anything personal. Just business!" He said, loudly, apparently for Alistair and Grayson's benefit. "Put those away before you hurt yourself, I know you're not going to kill me. I know you don't kill-"
Out of the corner of my eye I watched as one of his men slowly drew his weapon and I hurled one of the daggers through the air, keeping my eyes fixed on Daryn's face. My expression must have been something to behold, because he staggered backwards slightly, raising his arms defensively. The sound of steel clattering on stone as the man fell to the ground told me that my aim had been true.
"Well, there goes that theory." I growled. "What else have you got?"
"Lauren…" Leliana gasped, but I ignored her. I could feel my friends watching me. I expected everyone to draw their weapons, but nobody did. They were all staring at me, waiting. A wave of exhaustion and nausea passed through me but I fought it, narrowing my eyes at Daryn.
"How did you say you found me? You had help from some men at The Pearl?" I asked, my voice trembling with barely concealed fury as I glanced over at Grayson. "Didn't you wonder how they knew where I was? They were the ones who put me there."
There was a beat of silence as my words sank in, before everyone started drawing weapons and yelling all at once. Alistair and Grayson were by my side in an instant, and Daryn's men huddled together, defensively. Over the commotion, Daryn's voice rang out.
"Look, we got you your Warden back. She's killed one of my men, there's no reason for anyone else to get hurt. We'll just take our payment and be on our way."
"What did you just say?" I snapped, seething with murderous rage. Silence descended immediately and I could feel every eye turn to me. My friends were watching me with concern, the men before me, with apprehension. "What the fuck did you just say? Did you say you would take your payment and be on your way?"
He hesitated, before nodding his head. "All I want is what's owed to me." He said, raising his voice indignantly.
"I owe you pain." I snarled.
"Your friends here promised us fifty sovereigns."
I laughed, bitterly.
"Okay, two things. First of all, no. And second of all, here's what's going to happen. I'm going to take this dagger and peel your face off." I said, matter-of-factly, and I started towards him when I felt strong hands grab my arms. I blinked in surprise, looking around at Grayson and Alistair as they held me back.
"We need to get you back to Wynne. We don't have time for this." Grayson said, urgently.
"He has to die." I said, simply.
"Agreed." Alistair growled, darkly. I beamed up at him, and the ghost of a smile flickered across his face. "But you have to live. Grayson's right. We have to get you back to Wynne right now."
"Please don't take this away from me." I whispered, fiercely. "I need him to die, and I need it to be now. Besides," I turned back to Grayson. "If you let him live, he's just going to go back to Howe and turn us all over to him. He needs to die for the good of Ferelden. For the good of the world."
Before Grayson could react, Daryn fell to the ground in a heap, and all three of us whipped our heads around to see a single, red-plumed arrow buried in the man's forehead, his glassy eyes staring at the grey sky, unseeing, his face frozen in a gasp of shock. I slowly turned to see Leliana lower her bow.
"It's done." She said, soberly. "Alistair, take the horse that's hitched to the wagon and get Lauren to Wynne, now. We'll take care of the rest of them."
Daryn's men instantly started to clammer in their efforts to escape, but as Alistair led me away from the scene, my friends descended upon them with steel and fire and fury. I watched until he pulled me out of view, and heard their screams long after, but I felt nothing. I was numb. Leliana had killed Daryn. She had no right. A small, wild voice in my head whispered, darkly. He was yours. She had no right.
I watched, blankly, as Alistair struggled with the buckles holding the horse in place, before giving up and hacking at the leather straps with his sword. The animal reared, wildly, but he wrapped the reins around his fist, leading it towards me. I let him help me into the saddle before climbing on behind me.
"Are you okay?" He murmured into my ear. I nodded, slowly, not trusting my voice. The world around me was blurred as we raced through the streets and I focused on the coarse mane of the grey horse, tangling my fingers in it, urging myself to stay upright and awake.
"We're almost there." He promised. "Almost there."
"I just...have to close my eyes for a minute." I said, groggily, letting my head fall back on his chest. He reached his hand up, turning my head to look at my face as I let my eyes close.
"No, don't fall asleep. Stay with me." He said, urgently. "Stay with me!"
"I'm...trying…" I gasped, fighting with everything that I had to keep my heavy lids from closing. I felt sick from the blood-loss, and the effort it took to hold onto consciousness grew with every passing second, and I knew I was losing the battle. "Alistair…"
"I'm here." He promised. I forced my eyes open one last time, capturing his gaze with all of the determination that I could muster.
"You've got this." I whispered, with the last of my strength. He opened his mouth to protest, but I was gone before the words reached his lips.
AN: Thanks to Kira Tamarion for her notes on this chapter. Honestly, it wouldn't be uploaded without her because I really struggled with this one due to time constraints and a busy, busy brain.
There were no specific questions in the reviews this time but I just want to say a big thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. Your feedback was very much appreciated. You let me know it's okay to get creative and there will be pay off for that sooner rather than later...
That being said, you can never have too much feedback! Please review. The next chapter should be up a little sooner as I have some down time over the next two weeks. It's BADLY needed. I plan to be in pyjamas for at least a week. I can honestly say I've never been more excited for anything.