Chapter 48

The group gathered at the entrance to Dust Town and looked around in dismay. Stinking piles of filth and rubbish had accumulated on the streets and in dark corners, filling the air with a cloying, rotten stench. But worse than that was the smell of despair and hopelessness that seeped from the dwarves who huddled on the ground with nothing to call their own, desperately trying to think of a reason to get up each day. Emma thought back to her own world, and the homeless men and women, both young and old, who sheltered in alleys and under bridges, their thin bodies wrapped in frayed, dirty blankets.

She'd done a stint with Shelter, one of the main charities that tried to help the homeless and had spent some time talking to the lonely and desperate people who had gathered for warmth and food at Christmas. They each had their own heartbreaking story to tell, their own reasons for being on the streets; and all she could offer them was a bit of her time, and support the charities with monetary contributions. Perhaps here, she might have a chance to change the lives of the casteless hidden away in Dust Town to avoid offending the nobles.

She suddenly remembered why she sometimes put Bhelen on the throne, irrespective of his ruthless and murderous nature, he wanted to move Orzammar forward and help the casteless. Damn it! Why did Bioware have to make the choice so difficult? On one hand, there was Harrowmont – a good and decent man, but perhaps not the strongest leader for Orzammar. Then there was Bhelen - a vicious bastard but one who would make a better King. She decided to have a chat with Aedan; maybe together they could get Harrowmont to change his views on the casteless.

From the shadows, shifty eyes noted the group's arrival, calculating the worth of their armour and weapons. Those same eyes now glittered with avarice, and the dwarves' hearts overflowed with greed at the thought of the hefty sum of money they could get in exchange for the fancy gear. "Ah, a greeting party, how nice of them." Zevran's quick eyes caught the movement first and gave the rest of the party a heads-up in his usual witty manner. Blades were pulled from sheaths and staffs were gripped firmly as they prepared to fight. A thunderous roar from one of the dwarves signalled the attack, and the bandits charged. Emma cast a few hexes before remembering that the dwarves had exceptional resistance to magic and that hexes were doing little to no damage. Thus she turned to primal magic instead and shot a few fireballs and bolts of lightning, stunning some of the dwarves so that the rogues and warriors could move in and finish them off.

Suddenly, the hairs on the back of her neck stood up and her spine tingled with awareness. She spun on her heel just as a rogue materialised in a puff of smoke, his wicked-looking daggers already arcing towards her. She ducked and felt the whisper of a blade as it sliced above her head. A slight tug on her scalp told her he'd caught some of her hair. Damn! That had been close! As her knee touched the dirt, she swung her staff in a smooth motion and clipped the dwarf on the shin. He let out a shout of pain and stepped back, but she grabbed at him, managing to snag the top of his boot. A look of surprise crossed his face and froze in place as she cast Winters Grasp.

She stood up, preparing to take another swing at him with her staff; but before she could do anything, a massive two-handed sword whistled through the air and crashed down on the dwarf's skull. She tilted her head and saw Sten. "Well, shit, even if he hadn't been frozen that blow would have killed him." She grinned at the big Qunari. "Thanks, Sten."
He gave a nod. "You are welcome, kadan."
Her eyes widened at the endearment. "You called me kadan." She groaned at herself for stating the obvious and tried again. "Why did you call me kadan?"
He raised an eyebrow. "Because that is what you are. I have enjoyed our talks and I understand that you were fundamental in the retrieval of my sword." He started to walk away and then stopped and looked back, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips. "Also, you bought me cookies."
She let out a shout of laughter, remembering the first time she'd heard Sten mention his fondness for cookies in the game. She'd scoured every shop, market stall, chest, wooden crate and sack looking for cookies to give him as a gift. It had been a major disappointment to her that she'd never had that opportunity. So, when she'd spotted a box of cookies during their travels, she'd quickly purchased them and had taken immense pleasure in handing them to Sten.

"That was some quick thinking back there with that dwarf, and the way you dodged his attack was impressive."
Emma chuckled at Alistair's compliment. "Aedan has been showing me some moves, in case I ever found myself fighting in close quarters."
"When do you find the time?" Alistair blurted out; then he blushed. "I'm sorry, I just thought that when the two of you were alone you were doing.. er... you know, that." Emma felt her skin heat up at the thought of what she and Aedan had done last night, then she grinned at what had followed and rubbed her thumb along the underside of the engagement ring.
"You're thinking about him right now, aren't you? You always smile like that when you talk to him." Emma chuckled and brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "To answer your original question, we find the time to train, and even talk."
"And get engaged by the looks of things." Zevran came up on the other side of her and caught the hand she'd just used to push the strands of hair in place.

Everyone in the group halted and turned to look at her. Emma grinned and rubbed the back of her neck disliking the attention. "We haven't had the opportunity to tell you about this as it only happened last night." Aedan made his way over to her, stopping only to clout Zevran around the ear for his indiscretion. The assassin let out a yelp and rubbed the spot, before turning to Emma. "I am sorry, my dear. It wasn't my intention to ruin your announcement. I was just a little surprised when I saw the ring glinting on your finger."
She smiled. "No harm done, Zev. However, I don't think this is the best time to continue this conversation."
She caught Sten's nod of approval. "Indeed, we have a mission to complete."
As they moved on, Emma caught Wynne staring at her with disapproval. Surely she wasn't angry about Emma's refusal to learn about healing magic; it wasn't as if she'd given Wynne a resounding no. Then the reason behind the glare became clear. Wynne had yet to have the whole love-is-bad speech, or perhaps she'd had the conversation with Aedan and was annoyed that he'd disregarded her words.

That conversation always got under her skin, it felt so damn condescending. You're a Grey Warden, you can't have a life, you can't fall in love, you have to serve, you have to put others before your own needs... Emma's hands curled into fists just thinking of the annoying dialogue. All right, to be fair she did kind of agree with the last two points, but the first two were just ludicrous. Hell, if anyone needed some love in their lives, it was the Wardens. Even in peace they always had to be vigilant, but their true sacrifice shone through during a blight. The survival of Thedas rested on their actions, and on how quickly they could end the blight. And as there were currently only three of them in the whole of Ferelden their task was that much more difficult, seeing as only a Grey Warden could kill the Archdemon.

Her eyes flickered to Aedan and Alistair, feeling a stab of guilt at keeping that pertinent information from them. Still, there would be time enough to discuss that unpleasant topic, and a Senior Warden like Riordan could explain it better. She pushed the thoughts away, for now, concentrating on the task at hand.