Chapter 76

Emma took a moment to recall the noble origins, the betrayal and slaughter of all in the castle, and the sorrowful scene of leaving a mother and father to die. Anger stirred in her breast and she stepped forward. "Ah, Arl Howe, survivor of the battle of White River, husband, father, betrayer, and murderer of men, women, and children. That's quite a list of achievements, though the latter two are hardly something to be proud of."
"How dare you?!" Howe sputtered as he reached for his weapons.
Loghain's hand shot out and grasped the man's wrist. "Don't be a fool! This isn't the time or place."
Loghain glared at Emma. "You used the wrong title, this man is the Teyrn of Highever."
Emma could feel the rage emanating from Aedan and empathised with him. She wanted to rip off Howe's balls and feed them to a hungry dog. "Oh, so you become teyrn by killing the previous one. I had no idea that's how the system works. Good to know, though I'd think that would make most teryns somewhat nervous." She stared at Howe. "Who's to say when someone might want to reclaim..." She coughed and chuckled. "How silly of me, I mean claim the title of teyrn." She turned her back on him and returned to her previous position, just as Ser Cauthrien spoke up. "You should learn to hold your tongue in the presence of your betters, child."

Emma met the warrior's eyes and came to a decision. She walked over to her, leaned in and spoke into Cauthrien's ear. "Perhaps you should take a closer look at the man you work for. I know he gave you a chance when no one else would, but you know what he did at Ostagar. You're a good person, Ser Cauthrien so take a moment to think about what I've said and see if you can honestly say he did the right thing." She stepped back, gave a small bow to the Knight, then stood by Aedan.
She saw Aedan twitch. Bloody hell. She smiled at Loghain. "Well, we could trade insults all day. I have plenty stored up for you two, however, I have better things to do."
"You have not heard the end of this, Eamon," Loghain snapped. They turned to leave with their heads held high and therefore failed to notice the large patch of grease under their feet. Loghain and Howe went down as one in a clatter of armour and curses. There were a few snorts of laughter from Alistair and Eamon and even Ser Cauthrian's lips twitched as they scrambled around trying to untangle themselves from each other. When they finally regained their footing, Loghain glared at Emma, his eyes taking in the staff on her back. "You'll pay for that, mage."
She lifted an eyebrow, adopting a look of mock surprise. "Me? No, I'm afraid you have it all wrong. One of the mabari has a weak bladder and keeps leaving puddles everywhere."
"What?!" Howe screeched, then tentatively sniffed at his hand. The two men wore expressions of disgust as they cautiously made their way to the front door; there were a few more sniggers as Howe went down again and had to be helped up by Cauthrien.

Once they had left, Eamon chuckled. "I didn't expect that meeting to be so amusing and refreshing."
Alistair glanced over to Aedan. "I have to say, your restraint was impressive."
Emma looked a bit sheepish; she'd heard a bark of laughter from Aedan when Howe went down the second time and knew that the spell had worn off. Aedan huffed. "I didn't have a lot of choice because Emma cast a paralysis spell on me." He turned stern eyes in her direction. "I had a perfect opportunity to kill that bastard, and you stopped me. Why?"
"Because it wasn't a perfect opportunity. What do you think would have happened if you'd killed Arl Howe in front of Loghain?"
His eyes slid to the side, and she knew he'd started thinking clearly now that the rage had lifted. His mouth twisted in a bitter smile. "I'm guessing I'd have been arrested."
She moved closer to him and laid a hand on his chest. "At the very least. Don't worry, you'll get your chance for revenge, love."
He leaned forward and kissed her. "Thanks, Angel."
She chuckled and shrugged her shoulders. "That's what I'm here for."
"Stopping me from doing stupid things?"
"Impulsive things," she corrected him.
"Also, taking the Regent and his cronies down a peg a two," Eamon added with a snigger.

The Arl asked them to go and check out Denerim and get an impression of how people were feeling about the Landsmeet. Wanting to keep a low profile, Aedan took the rogues and went to the Gnawed Noble tavern to test the people's reaction and pick up any useful information. Emma grabbed everyone else and went for a wander around the marketplace hoping to find a present for Aedan. However, after forty minutes of being harassed by various merchants trying to sell their ridiculous wares - from a moth-eaten rug to a scary golem doll that bore a remarkable resemblance to Chucky, her patience had dried up and she just wanted to go home. Maybe she could draw a nice bath for Aedan and share it with him. That sounded like a lot of fun. She clenched her fists as a seller waved something in her face. "No, I don't need a whetting stone." She looked closely and glared at the man. "Especially not one that's been used."
With a huff, she walked away and was about to suggest that they head back to the estate when she spotted a clothes shop. This hadn't been in the game and therefore merited a closer look. She popped inside and saw that there were some extremely sexy underwear. Blimey, well this could work as a present for Aedan. Glancing over her shoulder she saw everyone else following. "Ah, do you mind if I have a few minutes alone in here?"
Wynne looked doubtful. "I don't know. The last time we were in Denerim, you got kidnapped."
Emma cringed, remembering the incident with an unfortunate amount of clarity. "Look, I'm only going to be in this shop. I won't be long."
There were a few nods and they moved away to explore the rest of the marketplace. Emma closed the door and stared in awe at some of the breathtaking lingerie. Her gaze settled on a corset with silver frills and lacing. "Do you have some stockings to match that?" she asked pointing to the frilly underwear.
"Mais oui, mademoiselle." The tall man with a pencil moustache and perfectly styled brown hair, ducked beneath the counter and returned with a silk bag. From this, he lovingly drew forth black silk stockings and silver garters. "Voila!"
Emma could understand the pride in voice as the items were beautiful. "I'll take them."
"Ah, mademoiselle has superb style." He kissed his fingers and placed everything in a linen bag. Emma smiled, packed everything away and left the store, pondering Aedan's reaction to the outfit.

-x-

A few minutes later, Aedan, Leliana, and Zevran emerged from the tavern to find Emma hanging onto Sten's arm in an attempt to stop him from killing a man being held in place by Shale. "Sten, you can't just go around chopping off someone's head because he tried to pick your pocket," Emma reprimanded.
"How about a hand?" Shale asked.
Emma tilted her head to one side and thought about that; it wasn't uncommon for some countries to remove a thief's hand. The pick-pocket, seeing the only sane person in this crazy bunch of people debating the question, started to panic and plead for his life. Emma fixed him with a grim stare. "How many people have you robbed today?"
The man contemplated the question.
"Oh, for crying out loud. It's way too many if you have to think about it, " she fumed.
"I'm sorry, I'll give it all back," he promised.
"Oh, that's a good idea. How many of the people you've robbed today are still in the market?"
The pick-pocket looked around before answering. "Well, there seems to be quite a few."
"Good, then point them out; you're going to hand their money back to them."
"Do I get to keep whatever I can't hand back?"
Emma clouted him on his ear. "Don't be stupid. Whatever you have left will be given to those in need."
For the next ten minutes, Emma and Shale wandered around the market ensuring everyone got their money and goods back. When they were finished, she took the remaining money, handed the pick-pocket ten silver, and then gave the rest to Wynne. "I know you'll make sure it goes to the right people."

"You look like you've been keeping yourself busy, Angel."
She greeted him with a smile and a hug. "Mostly fighting off dodgy traders. So, how are things in Denerim?"
Aedan gave a rundown of everything the three rogues had learnt as they returned to the Arl's estate. The front door hadn't closed behind them when a servant bowed before Aedan. "Milord, the Arl would like to see you in his study as soon as possible."
Aedan flinched at the use of his old title. "I'll head there straight away," he told the maid. Emma walked next to him as they traversed the long corridor. "Are you okay?" she asked.
He rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, it's just… it's been a while since anyone called me that." She reached for his hand and gave it a comforting squeeze which he gratefully returned, letting go only when Arl Eamon's study came into sight.

Emma eyed the female elf standing beside the Arl and almost groaned aloud. "This is Erlina, she's…"
"I'm the Queen's handmaiden," Erlina interrupted and went off into a panicked explanation of her reason for being there. She finally concluded her tale, and everyone agreed that Aedan and a small team would go in and rescue the Queen.

Oh, joy! The fight with Ser Cauthrien loomed ahead, however, on a positive note, Howe would soon be dead.