Chapter 51
They were almost at the double doors leading out of the Diamond Quarter when a loud voice called to them. "Grey Warden, stop!" Emma closed her eyes; surely they wouldn't arrest her for a few... okay, a lot of harshly spoken words? She turned to face her fate and instead found the butler, panting from with exertion, his hands on his knees as he pulled in lungfuls of air. Eventually, he straightened up and put on his polite face. "Lord Harrowmont would like to invite you and your companions to dinner."
Aedan looked at the man with a sceptical eye. "Why would he do that? We didn't exactly leave on good terms." The butler allowed a small smile to cross his lips before answering. "My master said that he had never heard anyone speak with such passion, and wished to discuss the matter further."
Morrigan glowered at him. "This could be a trap to stop the Wardens from putting Bhelen on the throne!"
The butler just barely stopped himself from rolling his eyes. "It would be unwise of Lord Harrowmont to attack the group that recently killed Jarvia and cleared out the Carta." His gaze returned to Emma. "I assure you, there are no machinations to entrap you. He only wishes to discuss your views."
If he could change, well, she had to take the chance. "Lead the way," she said.
Four hours later, Emma and Aedan entered their bedroom tired, slightly drunk, and hopeful that they'd changed Harrowmont's views. He'd set aside years of tradition and prejudices to listen to what Emma and a few of her friends had to say. He'd asked thoughtful questions that showed an intelligence she hadn't credited him with. All in all, it had turned out to be a good evening.
"I think..." she hiccuped, "...that went rather well."
Aedan steadied her as she staggered, and took the opportunity to pull her into his arms. "It went very well." He led her over to the bed and she flopped backwards, giggling as she bounced on the mattress. His eyes roved over her slim form. Her short dress had been driving him nuts all night, giving him occasional glimpses of her soft thighs. He grinned. "In fact, it went so well, that you deserve a reward. What would you like?"
Her eyes gleamed with lust as they travelled over his body. "You," she replied huskily.
Aedan smiled as he climbed on the bed. "I was hoping that would be your answer."
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They approached the entrance to the Deep Roads early in the morning. The group had packed plenty of provisions for the perilous journey ahead, and Aedan had the map to Caridin's Cross tucked securely in his armour. Everyone looked tense as they pondered what they would find in the old dwarven tunnels. Emma was trying her best not to think of Ortan Thaig and the many, many huge spiders they would encounter down there. Well, at least they wouldn't find a corrupted red lyrium idol, so not all bad.
Oh, bollocks! It suddenly occurred to her that she had yet to speak to Orta in the Shaperate - which reminded her of a few other side quests she'd forgotten to pick up. There was the stolen tome; Zerlinda in Dust Town, Dagna, and Ruck. Damn it, they'd have to do those once they got back; well, she at least knew where to look for Ruck, and Orta's records.
They were halted by the appearance of a dwarf with flaming red hair and beard. He approached Aedan. "Stranger! Have you seen a Grey Warden hereabouts? I've been privy to the rumour that he... or was that she... you understand this was many mugs ago... was searching for Branka on Lord Harrowmont's own command."
Aedan's eyes glimmered with amusement as he asked, "What does this Grey Warden look like?"
Oghren became almost poetical in his description. "Stout and muscular, fair of face but with a strong jaw and a bold nose, surrounded by a great glowing nimbus. If she's a woman, she might be more slight, but her eyes will shine with the light of purity and her large but chaste bosom will heave magnificently." Emma checked out her bosom; it was certainly large, although she wouldn't consider it chaste, considering that Aedan had explored every inch last night, and there didn't seem to be much heaving going on, magnificent or otherwise.
"I've been looking for hours, but I haven't met anyone like that. Very frustrating," Oghren said in a disgruntled tone.
Aedan grinned. "You might want to look right here."
The dwarf eyed the human over with slightly glazed eyes, no doubt due to the copious amounts of alcohol he'd consumed. "Well, if you're the best they've got, then standards must have fallen way down. But, I suppose that would account for a human being down here. Say, could I ask you a favour?"
Aedan stared at the man in disbelief. "This is how you ask for a favour?" He rubbed a hand over his eyes. "Fine, what is it?"
"Name's Oghren, and if you've ever heard of me before, it's probably all been about how I piss ale and kill little boys who look at me wrong." His rasping laugh shook his solid frame, then he belched before continuing. "And that's mostly true, but the part they never say is how I'm the only one still trying to save our Paragon. If you're looking for Branka, I'm the only one who knows what she was looking for, which might be pretty sodding helpful in finding her."
"Do you know how to fight?" Aedan asked.
Oghren glared, his thick red brows bent in anger. "Sodding right, I do. What kind of a bloody question is that?"
Aedan shrugged. "I see no weapon on your back."
Oghren looked away, but not quick enough to hide the regretful expression. "I was once a warrior of House Kondrat, so I know how to swing a sodding axe."
"And your lack of weapons?" Aedan persisted.
The dwarf shot him a furious look. "I got into a bit of a scuffle and they banned me from carrying weapons in Orzammar. Let's just leave it at that. Now... can we go?"
"I hate to be repetitive, but you are still minus a weapon. Perhaps we should rectify that before we go into the Deep Roads?"
The group made their way back to the stalls and waited for Oghren to choose his weapon. He tested the weight, checked the grip and ran a thumb along the blade before hefting it up and swinging it around in a skilful display. Emma thought he might be putting on a show to prove he knew how to fight. Finally, he picked a massive two-handed, double-bladed axe, and, after paying for it, cheerfully swung it over his shoulder, looking every inch the proud warrior.
Emma had always found Oghren rather amusing and somewhat disgusting, with his constant burping and other unpleasant noises. However, while scouring the Dragon Age Wiki pages one day, she'd read his background and had been shocked to discover he'd been a warrior of some note in his younger days. She'd also found that Felsi had been the woman he'd originally loved until his house had received a proposal from Branka's parents. It seemed as though he'd grown to have genuine feelings for Branka and their first year of marriage had gone fairly smoothly, but then she'd become a Paragon and things had gone downhill from that moment. For all his joking around, Oghren had a rather sad history.
"So, you said you knew what Branka was looking for?" Aedan questioned, while they walked back to the Deep Roads entrance.
"Yeah, she went to find the Anvil of the Void. Orzammar's greatest invention."
Emma bit back a curse, suddenly remembering Shale. She wondered if they could make time to go and get the golem, then realised they didn't even have the control rod yet, and she didn't know where to meet the merchant. The in-game map marked it in the Frostback Mountains somewhere, but hell, they could travel for days before meeting him. Perhaps she could take a couple of people with her and go and search for him?
"Oh, golems are a fascinating subject. A merchant passed through Orzammar while we waited for you to return from Redcliffe. I went over to view his wares and we struck up a conversation. He told me about a control rod he'd picked up on his travels," Wynne said. Emma's head snapped up at the mention of the control rod. Please tell me you bought it. "Anyway, when I showed an interest in golems, he told me to take it as a keepsake, or even go and activate it," Wynne finished.
Alistair joined the conversation, his face eager and excited. "We can get our own golem? That would be brilliant."
Wynne chuckled. "I'm sure he was just joking. I can't even remember the location."
"Honnleath," Emma reminded the mage.
Wynne smiled. "Ah, of course, that was it." She looked at Emma with a quizzical expression. "Did you have one of your visions?"
Emma flushed, hating the necessity of lying to her friends. "I just got a flash of the name, and the golem sitting in the centre of the village." She consoled herself with the thought that it was more of a half-truth than an outright lie, as she'd only just remembered Shale.
Oghren leaned forward and stared at Emma. "You're an odd one."
She rolled her eyes as a few of her companions chuckled, Wynne replying, "She gets that a lot."
"All right, we'll go and get this golem after we're done in the Deep Roads."
The group continued towards the entrance and Emma quickly caught up to Aedan. "Could we go and get the golem before we search for Branka?"
Aedan turned to face her. "Emma, we need to get this done. Bhelen is already pushing to get another Assembly called."
"I know, but the golem has to come with us for this mission," she pleaded, putting on her best puppy eyes.
Aedan groaned. "Damn it, Angel, that's cheating."
Sten growled. "Is this delay really necessary? We have darkspawn to kill."
Emma smiled as she looked at the Qunari. "Well, there will be darkspawn to kill, and I think you're going to enjoy having this golem around." She loved the dialogue and strong friendship that blossomed between Sten and Shale, and often dreamed of a romantic reunion between the two companions if the golem ever returned to her dwarven body. It was a shame that Shale's story had never really been given an official ending; the last appearance of the golem, at least that Emma knew of, was in Asunder, one of the Dragon Age books.
Sten grunted but gave an accepting nod. "Very well, kadan. I will trust your word."
She flushed at the use of the endearment, her mind automatically jumping to Iron Bull and his use of the word. She had to keep reminding herself that the word also meant friendship. She looked back to Aedan. "So, are we going to Honnleath?"
He looked troubled and Emma felt terrible for putting more pressure on him when he already had so much to cope with. "I'm worried what Bhelen will do if he knows we've left Orzammar. I don't trust that snake not to try something underhanded while we're gone," he said, giving voice to the thoughts that assailed him.
Emma felt fairly certain that they'd still have the chance to put Harrowmont on the throne, but if she was wrong, then they would have lost their opportunity to gain support from the dwarves. Which wasn't an option as they would need all the races united to defeat the Blight.
