Ciara stared at the statue of Andraste silently. She heard Alistair walk into the chantry hall, but didn't acknowledge him in favour off putting together her thoughts.
"I didn't know how bad your family were..." Alistair said softly. "Your nightmare... I didn't understand at first..."
"Not all people are good to be a family with," Ciara sighed. "I know you've craved for a family for a long time, people who will love you unconditionally."
She saw the longing on Alistair's face as he sat down on the bench next to her.
"Yeah..." He nodded. "I... It's always been so lonely being by myself... I always imagined having a brother or a sister to keep me company, to play with, or a mother or father to guide and shelter me, especially when I slept out in the barn with the horses when Lady Isolde wanted to be rid of me. I know Arl Eamon did his best, but still..." Alistair's shoulders slumped. "A family is meant to love you unconditionally. They're supposed to keep you safe and care for you... but yours..." His voice broke. "Why didn't yours...?" he asked, his voice wobbling.
"Because they were greedy, cruel people," Ciara said. "Minus Dexter, of course, but I was also rebellious and too smart for my own good. I was proving to be better than their heir, and that just wouldn't do. The heir to House Trevelyan had to be strong, intelligent, perfect in every way, and I wasn't the heir, nor was I the obedient, silent daughter to be decoration to their designs, otherwise they probably would have treated me better."
Alistair shook his head. "I don't know why they'd want to change anything about you. You're an amazing woman, Ciara. You're strong, and so very clever, and kind, and very loyal to people. You always figure out what to do in any situation we're in, and you never give up on a friend in danger."
"One might argue that I gave up on Jowan," Ciara said.
"He became a dangerous blood mage," Alistair reminded her. "He's a blood mage, but you still loved him enough to give him another chance, otherwise you would have hunted him down instead of coming here with all of us."
Ciara chuckled. "Reckless might be another trait to add in there then."
Alistair snorted. "Nowhere near as bad as Lawrien."
"Thank goodness for that."
"But you do enable her a lot," Alistair said, nudging her arm. "You let her be crazy, when you're probably one of the people who could talk sense into her."
"And where is the fun in that?" Ciara chuckled. "Besides, if I stop her too often, she'll listen to me less. I'm saving my chances to stop her for terrifying days."
"I don't want to imagine her terrifying days," Alistair groaned.
"I don't either. Cities will explode."
"So... if you don't mind me asking, how did you become a Templar?" Alistair asked.
"My parents were fed up of me chasing off all of suitors, so they threw me to the Chantry, and I became a Templar Hunter in training," Ciara said. "I ended up in Ferelden to continue my training, and ironically that is where I met Lawrien, Myra, Anders and Jowan."
"Then you got brought into the Grey Wardens a few years later?"
"Yeah, just as I was probably going to become a proper Templar Hunter," Ciara chuckled. "Funny how timing works."
"Well I'm glad it worked out that way," Alistair admitted, his cheeks flushing. "I... I'm glad I met you."
Ciara smiled warmly. "I'm glad I met you too."
.:.
"I guess the Templars will get the fancy funerals then," Zevran said as Cobian joined him by the campfire. "Since we're bringing them to a horse and carriage to ship them off to a Chantry."
Cobian, Morrigan, Torph, Faren and Zevran had all crossed over the lake to help settle the Templar bodies. Two of their men who were living and in somewhat good condition had been placing the bodies in a large wagon, but they were away now, and the rest of them decided to get some rest by the campfire Zevran and Faren had set up a little away from the nearby tavern. Calenhad was still in the Circle, napping with the kids last Cobian saw him, which had been sweet. Epona had still been with the children too, so he had left Calenhad under her care.
"I believe they might be going to Denerim," Cobian mused. "But yes, their funerals will be taken care of by the Chantry personally. The mages funerals will be held in the Circle."
"They don't exactly have the ground to bury them on," Torph grunted.
Zevran shook his head. "They won't get fancy graves, my fine dwarven friend. They'll just be tossed on to a mass pyre to be burned together."
Torph tilted his head. "And that's a bad thing...?"
Cobian frowned thoughtfully. "Less personal than what the Templars who died will receive. Each of them will be individually honoured, although that will more depend on their rankings as to how much by. The mages will all be burned together and that will be it."
Faren grimaced. "I really hate how easily discarded they are."
"T'is their own fault," Morrigan huffed.
She hadn't helped care for the bodies at all, in fact she had remained away from them, staring off into the lake until they had settled for camp. Cobian didn't entirely blame her, she had made it clear her distaste for both Templars and mages, although he was surprised that she didn't have some sympathy for the mages locked up.
Not all of them had a powerful mother to protect them, and many mage's mothers even gave them up over to the Templars.
"Not everyone was as lucky as you to be free from this shitty tower," Torph said. "Sometimes you just get stuck in a crappy hell and can't get out into you do something insane. That's what Lawrien and Ciara did, right? They tried to help their brother escape."
"As interesting as this conversation is," Faren began, his voice low, eyes narrowed. "We're being watched."
Cobian frowned at that, but kept his eyes on Faren instead of looking around over his shoulder. There was no need to let their watcher know that they all knew now.
"Where?" Morrigan asked.
Faren grimaced. "Not sure yet."
"There's a few of them," Zevran said, his voice a mere whisper. "You can faintly here them shifting in the shadows. I say we move quickly, before they ambush us-"
Cobian jumped to his feet the moment something landed in the middle of their campsite, exploding in a burst of cloud. He choked and gasped on the sickly sweet taste, and heard a thud beside him as Morrigan went down with a weak curse.
Cobian fell to his knees, hacking and wheezing, tears in his eyes. He felt light headed and dizzy, his vision blurring at the smoke slowly cleared away. Torph was missing. Faren was on his knees, covering his mouth with his scarf, and Zevran was out cold on the grass, just as Morrigan was.
Faren who spun round, plunging his dagger into the first person, or at least tried to, but the large man- a qunari- caught his wrist and squeezed it tight, earning a pained hiss from Faren, who dropped his dagger. The qunari grabbed his other wrist and forced both Faren's arm up above his head. Leaving him dangling. Everything kept spinning, but Cobian forced himself to stay awake. He needed to get up. He needed to move-
A fuzzy figure walked slowly in front of him. He was a tall human, with smooth, wavy blonde hair, and a neatly trimmed beard. Cobian winced when the human grabbed his hair.
"That's Cobian Cousland alright," the man said, looking at a stack of papers he held in his other hand. "This one is a golden ticket. Just like that Grey Warden Alistair."
They were bounty hunters. Right, yes, they all had bounties on their heads, or at least the Grey Wardens did. Hadn't Cobian even been the one to say something about them not all splitting up because of those bounties?
He wasn't sure. His head was swimming, and he felt himself lose the last of his strength to remain up right. He hit the ground hard, grimacing at the grass against his cheek.
"And this elf is Faren Tabris. Keep a good eye on him, he's slippery, aren't you?" the human chuckled, but the amusement fell from his voice. "Wait. Where is the dwarf?"
Did Torph escape? Thank the Maker for that. Maybe he could warn the others.
"Find the dwarf, and load these two up," the human ordered.
"What about the woman and other elf?" a woman's voice asked.
"Ignore them. They aren't on the bounties," the human said. "She's a pretty lady, don't get me wrong, but we're here on business."
That was when everything went dark.
.:.
Faren kicked and squirmed, but the qunari may as well be made of stone.
"I'm not exactly light as a feather, y'know!" Faren complained. "How can you hold me off the ground for so long?"
The human smirked. "He's built like a stone monster, isn't he? And he won't let you go for anything, not with how much you're worth, Dark Wolf."
Faren faked a laugh, even as dread sank in his stomach. "Dark Wolf-"
"Don't bother, Tabris. I knew Adaia, and I know your Uncle too. He's going to love paying me a lot of gold for you to be handed over to him too."
Faren scowled. "Who are you?"
"A simple bounty hunter." The man took out a cloth and bottle and tipped the bottle's contents on to the cloth. "Now breathe in deep."
Faren kicked at him, but the man got in between his legs and drew in close, pressing the cloth over his mouth and nose. It was a sickly sweet smell, and quickly his head spun and sight blurred. He slumped against the qunari and let his eyes flutter shut, but the man didn't remove the cloth nor did the qunari release him.
Shit, they were making sure he was out cold then. They wouldn't fall for him faking unconsciousness. Just great.
.:.
Torph twisted the knife in his thigh when he felt himself about to pass out again. He had stabbed himself with it the moment he had retreated into the shadows and hid in the trees. It was a good thing he could climb. It was easy to copy Epona and hide in the trees. Now the only problem was staying awake after being drugged like that. Those bastards had some pretty strong smoke bombs to knock all of them out so quickly. Damn bounty hunters.
The qunari hoisted Cobian up over his shoulder, while the female elf grabbed his sword and shield and the human grabbed Faren. Torph so far could see four people through the blur in his eyes. The human, a dwarf, a qunari, and an elf. A strange group of people for sure, it was rare to find multiple people of the other races working together.
That at least would make it easier to track them down again. Not that it would be too much of a problem. They were bounty hunters. They took Cobian and Faren alive, and were leaving Morrigan and Zevran behind. They wanted the Grey Warden bounties, and maybe even wanted to sell Faren over to his uncle. The Ghost guy or whatever he was. These bounty hunters were going to Denerim in that case. That was where Loghain and Faren's uncle was.
Torph waited for what felt like hours before he pulled the knife out of his thigh with a pained hiss. That helped startle him out of his drowsiness again, and he treated the wound before climbing back down the tree. He needed to wake those two up then get back to the tower. They needed to get the others.