Drowning in Mistakes

They had set up camp in the wilderness a few hours outside Denerim when it got dark. Cobian made sure they didn't go into the Bannorn lands were any nobles would definitely be allied with Loghain, and definitely avoided those who would ally with Howe (not that there were apparently many, according to Cobian). From what he said, many members of the court and nobility had never liked Howe, and that his only friend had been the Couslands.

A bridge the fucker had burned.

"So Brother Genitivi is either in the Village of Haven or possibly murdered by cultists," Alistair groaned.

"Or both," Torph added in cheerfully.

"Can't leave out both options," Zevran chuckled.

Hopefully not, but with the luck they were currently having, Narascha had a feeling it was probably true.

Wynne sighed. "This isn't the time for joking around, you two. We have to find him. The village is in the Frostback Mountains, right, Faren?"

Faren nodded. "That's what the notes said."

"I don't like the idea of splitting up our numbers against a cult," Cobian admitted. "They could have anything prepared to fight off invaders. It could be very dangerous, we might all be needed to break through."

"It is on the other side of Ferelden though," Ciara sighed. "We're losing time fast. If Orzammar takes us long to get to, and to seek out King Endrin, who is, from what Narascha said, on his death bed-" Narascha's fists clenched. "Then getting the dwarves to agree to the treaty might not be as easy as we wished, and with the way our luck has been so far..."

"We're fucked," Torph said.

Narascha felt bile burn up her throat, but forced it back down and sipped at her water. She hated this. Damn it all. Why did Gorim have to give her that stupid letter?

It was sitting at the bottom of her pack, because it was the last thing she had of her father, but... but she should have had more. At least something of her mother's. The one person Narascha couldn't help but love unconditionally.

If only she had gotten her jewellery at least.

It would have been something to remember her by.

Now Narascha only had bitter feelings and a fucking note from her father about his mistakes.

She felt like she was drowning in his mistakes.

Epona groaned. "So either we deal with the cult first, or go to Orzammar. The locations, if we wish to go the fastest route, would be to get to Orzammar first, then circle round and down towards the village through the mountainside, according to the map. From there we could return to Redcliffe immediately, with all the treaties worked out."

"But does Arl Eamon have that time?" Alistair asked, nervously.

"We'll just have to hope he does," Lawrien said, her brow furrowing. "We needed his help to stop Loghain, but our priority is securing our allies to stop the Blight. I am sorry, Alistair, but we both know that stopping the Blight has to come first."

"A reasonable choice." Sten nodded at Lawrien. "The Blight must come first."

That was still weird, seeing Sten respect someone. Narascha almost managed a smile at the thought.

Alistair bit his lip, but nodded. "I know..."

Wynne placed her hand on his shoulder. "It will be alright, Alistair. Arl Eamon is a strong man. He will hold out."

"But my father won't," Narascha said. "We need to get him to agree to the treaty before he's dead, otherwise Bhelen might be on the throne."

Narascha felt her hands shake at her tightly they were clenched. It made her paused when Lawrien took her hands and held them without saying a single word.

"I still cannot believe you are a Princess of Orzammar," Wynne admitted.

"Former," Narascha corrected, through gritted teeth.

Wynne softened. "I am sorry. I... I will admit, I was startled to see how young you truly all were. This must be such a terrible burden for you all."

"We've handled it so far, shemlen." Epona crossed her arms, eyes narrowed.

"I meant no offence, my dear. My apologises."

"It's so far so good," Faren said. "We've helped both the Dalish and the Circle, and gotten those treaties sorted, and we saved Redcliffe from being overrun by undead. I say for a bunch of newbies, we're doing a good job."

Narascha managed a chuckle. "That's optimistic of you."

"I feel like a pinch of optimism has been well earned for us," Faren laughed.

"Duncan would be proud of us," Ciara said, placing her hand on Alistair's arm, who had gone still, eyes wide. "I know we did tend to cause him quite a few headaches, but we've pushed through when it mattered and are doing our best. Ferelden may still fall, but even despite that, we are fighting on when it would have been easier to retreat to the newest Grey Warden base and unite with our brethren."

"In Orlais." Lawrien's nose scrunched.

"What do you all have against Orlais?" Leliana protested. "I understand people of Ferelden having a grudge, considering what happened, but why you?"

"It's Orlais." Lawrien shivered in disgust.

"You're a Free Marcher!"

Ciara chuckled. "You won't win, Leliana."

Leliana sighed. "I suppose not."

"Alright, now that the mushy crap is out the way, and we know what we're doing," Torph interrupted them all with a bright grin. "How about a game of cards before bed?"

Faren blanched. "Don't play against Antivans."

Zevran cackled. "Oh, but my dear, that's half the fun."

"Oh! I wanna play!" Lawrien beamed. "Though I've never played any card games."

"I suppose I could teach you my wily ways." Zevran winked, patting the empty spot beside him, which Lawrien instantly claimed. "Now, what are the stakes?"

Torph's lips curled into a wicked smile. "Coin?"

"I would normally suggest clothes, but since Lawrien is here and I prefer not to have someone slit my throat I agree." Zevran chuckled, but Faren groaned.

"Nooo... You made me poor last time..."

Narascha blinked. When had they played cards?

Probably during the boat ride to the Circle of Magi. She didn't remember much from it, except for the painful rolling of her stomach and fighting the urge to vomit constantly.

Narascha hated boats.

Loathed them in fact after that.

Zevran patted his leg and Faren instantly softened. "Don't worry, Faren my dear, I'm always willing to share with you."

"I want to play!" Alistair beamed.

"Me as well." Leliana smiled warmly. "Epona, would you care to join us?"

"I've never played before," Epona admitted. "I'm content to watch."

"I'm happy to teach you," Leliana offered, gesturing to the spot next to her.

Epona nodded and sat down beside her. "Very well then."

"I'm going to make dinner," Morrigan said. "Cobian, are you-"

Morrigan paused when she saw Cobian sitting down beside Lawrien.

"Do you even know how to play?" Morrigan asked.

"Yes, but I'm a terrible player." Cobian grinned. "I shall enjoy the amusement however."

Narascha softened at that and sat down beside Torph. "Okay, deal me in."

Torph grinned. "I can't wait to steal all your coin, Princess."

Narascha smirked. "Exiled Princesses don't tend to have much coin, but if we go after Faren and Lawrien, I'm sure they'll have a good bit of it."

Lawrien gasped. "Zevran, she's coming after us!"

Zevran grinned. "I'll make sure you beat her, my dear leader."

Narascha had to admit, she was worried the instant Zevran began to deal out the cards. Was it really wise to let the Antivan do it?

.:.

Ciara winced when she heard a groan of despair from the card playing group. Morrigan shook her head, clearly unimpressed as Alistair lost more of his money to Zevran. Zevran who had quite the wicked grin on his face now.

"What an idiot," Ciara sighed, but she couldn't help the fond note in her tone.

"Agreed. I do not see what you like about him," Morrigan huffed.

Ciara chuckled. "I think you would give me the same reason if I asked about Cobian. Alistair is an idiot, but he's my idiot."

Morrigan rolled her eyes. "Cobian and I are together out of passion."

"But you also care for him," Ciara pointed out, cutting up the carrot as Morrigan began to work on the potatoes. "Otherwise you wouldn't have given him that ring."

Morrigan raised a brow. "How did you know about that?"

Ciara tilted her head. "I was a former Templar, remember? I can feel the magic in it. It's connected to you."

"You don't take lyrium anymore though."

"Rarely," Ciara corrected. "I still do take enough to be able to retain my abilities. They just aren't as strong as they used to be."

Morrigan frowned, and looked a bit more thoughtful, much to Ciara's curiosity.

"I... I have wanted to bring Cobian to my tent, and have tried to, but he still isn't entirely used to flirting, so I don't think he caught on that I wanted to lay with him," Morrigan admitted, a little reluctantly.

"I think you're the first person he's ever flirted with," Ciara said.

"I know, he's been taking notes for his research," Morrigan sighed. "The ones I react to best are written in my positive section in his notes on me, while the ones I dislike are written in another section."

Ciara laughed. "I do love his journals."

"I cannot believe he was serious about studying all of us," Morrigan said, shaking her head fondly. "But he's doing a good job of it. His journals are full of notes on each of us already."

"As for what you mentioned, I guess all you can do is wait and see if Cobian is interested in going to bed with you," Ciara mused. "I'm content to wait until Alistair is ready to join me. I know he isn't yet, and I think it might be the same with Faren and Zevran. Zevran loves sex, I know that, but I'm not sure Faren is ready yet after Vaughan."

Morrigan sighed. "I'm not used to a man not wanting to have sex immediately."

Ciara smirked. "Yet I doubt any of those men were anything like Cobian."

"You make a fair point."