The Crown
Lawrien, Alistair, Narascha, Torph and Oghren reluctantly were the ones who returned to the Assembly two days later. Wynne had recovered enough to treat all their wounds, and now everyone was out and about, enjoying the day or resting back at the estate. Cobian had returned to the Shaperate quite eagerly with the documents he found in Ortan Thaig, while Leliana said she needed to talk to a mother about Ruck and headed that way with Epona. Wynne had received a message from the Circle of Magi, so she and Ciara went to give the good news to Dagna.
Narascha and Oghren had taken a lot of time to explain in great detail about what had happened during the Deep Roads expedition, and the Assembly all listened in awe, even Bhelen had managed to keep his patience, right up until the end when Oghren brought out the crown.
"I would like to believe Oghren's word, but the Grey Wardens are known to be Bhelen's hirelings at the moment," Harrowmont said, eyeing Narascha mournfully.
Narascha offered him a respectful nod.
"Silence!" The Steward took the crown, examining it closely, before carefully handing it back, but Lawrien took it before Oghren could. "The crown is of Paragon make, and bears House Ortan's ancient seal. Tell us, Warden Commander, who did Caridin choose?"
"Yes, tell us." Bhelen looked awfully smug.
It made Narascha scowl. They had no care for Branka or Caridin. Nor Oghren or the rest of his fallen house. It boiled her blood, made the song sing sharply, of battle and war. Lawrien met her gaze and grinned.
Narascha had a terrible feeling when she saw a gleam in Lawrien's eyes.
What was she up to?
Alistair almost looked terrified.
"Unfortunately after hearing about both the candidates, he could not decide," Lawrien lied, and Narascha had to stop her jaw from dropping.
Torph was biting his lip, his eyes gleaming too.
Wait, was Torph in on this?
Oh no.
"So he told us that the Ancestors must decide in a Proving between the two," Lawrien declared.
That ballsy fuck.
"Caridin insisted that neither choose a champion or had their seconds fight. That this fight must be between them and them alone effective immediately," Lawrien said.
"I- what-" Bhelen stammered.
"This is insane-" Harrowmont gasped.
"You heard the Grey Warden Commander!" the Steward yelled. "This is what our Paragon has declared. You two will fight in the Proving now before our ancestors!"
Lawrien remained remarkably calm right up until the crowd of dwarves left the Assembly, the guards herding Bhelen and Harrowmont along under the Steward's command. He didn't even waste a second.
It was the moment the chamber was empty that Narascha finally let herself speak. Not that she even knew what to say.
"You-" Narascha's jaw finally dropped as she turned to Lawrien.
Lawrien cackled.
"And you-" she stared at Torph, who laughed.
Oghren grinned. "You two are insane."
"Ciara is going to kill you both," Alistair groaned.
"Yeah, so we better go watch them kill each other first and see who gets the crown," Lawrien said gleefully. "I mean, Bhelen will win unless Harrowmont gets really lucky, but still, this is going to be hilarious."
Narascha shook her head fondly, and followed after her.
.:.
Ciara narrowed her eyes the moment she stepped into the private booth at the Proving. Lawrien, Alistair, Narascha, Torph and Oghren sat in their chairs, all looking eagerly at the empty field.
"Why?" she sighed.
"C'mon, we know Bhelen will win unless Harrowmont gets a lucky shot in," Lawrien said. "Bhelen is younger and has been going on more expeditions than Harrowmont before he had Trian murdered. He is more of a fighter than Harrowmont."
Ciara groaned. "So you lied and set this up just to mess with Bhelen?"
"Maybe? Besides, this also gives Lord Harrowmont an honourable ending too. We know Bhelen would have him executed if he won, so now at least Harrowmont has a fighting chance," Lawrien explained.
Torph grinned. "You gotta admit, it's a pretty nice view up here."
Narascha was smiling, clearly amused, even if she also looked just about done. "I will be glad when we get out of here," she admitted.
"I will too," Ciara agreed, patting her shoulder.
.:.
"I still can't believe you found all this, we got our seat back-" Orta said gleefully, as she and Cobian walked the streets, but they paused at the sound of a large commotion, then saw the huge crowd of men and women swarming the Proving. "Um, what is going on?" she asked.
"I have no idea, but it looks interesting."
"Well I am going to go share the news with my family, but again, thank you for your help, Cobian. My family will forever remain in your debt."
Cobian smiled. "Anything you can do to help us prepare for the Blight would be amazing. I'll see you around, Orta."
.:.
Faren leaned against the railing of the Proving and grinned. "I can't believe they're in the Proving."
Bhelen and Harrowmont were slow fighters. They both kept testing one another, trying to find weak points, eyes analysing each other.
Honestly, their fight wasn't really exciting to watch, but after everything Bhelen had put them through, Faren was happy to see him have to work for his crown. Narascha looked equally invested in the fight, despite the fact she could easily slaughter the pair in one sweep of her axe.
Bhelen and Harrowmont would never have survived becoming Grey Wardens.
Zevran chuckled. "A much more amusing past time than politics. We should make all politicians fight this way."
"I could have simply just crushed them at the very start of all this," Shale said. "Why didn't you have me do that?"
"Because this is far more amusing," Zevran said.
"Besides, then you wouldn't know about the location of this Thaig you're after," Faren reminded her.
Cadash Thaig, apparently where more of Shale's history lay buried.
They would reach it first before they got to the cult that had kidnapped Genitivi and knew the location of Andraste's ashes.
Faren almost groaned at the thought.
Morrigan also wanted them to kill Flemeth.
How was this year so insane? Darkspawn, werewolves, undead, demons, abominations, chasing Paragons into the Deep Roads, and crowning a king, and they weren't even finished yet.
It was crazy!
.:.
Narascha watched as Harrowmont took a step too slowly, and Bhelen used that chance to cut him down and go in for the killing blow. She murmured a pray for Harrowmont, even as the whole entire crowd cheered loudly in the Proving, drowning the soft murmurs of her prayers.
Torph patted her on the shoulder, as Lawrien pressed the crown into her hands.
"Remember, he could not have this without you," Lawrien said firmly.
Narascha nodded and Lawrien launched her over the railings with a glyph, catching her with another force glyph on the way down. Bhelen stiffened, seeing her with the crown, as everyone began to pound their weapons off the round, creating the beat of drums that echoed across the Proving. Bhelen smirked, then knelt down before her, much to her cold amusement.
But she didn't say anything and placed the crown upon his head.
"I present to you all, King Bhelen Aeducan of Orzammar!" Narascha bellowed, and the crowd erupted into cheers.
Bhelen stood and waved to the crowds, but he did lower his voice into a whisper. "By the way, dear sister of mine, did Caridin actually want us to fight in a Proving?"
"Of course he did." Narascha smiled sharply. "Why would my Commander lie about something like that?"
"Hm, indeed." Bhelen smirked.
"Oh, and just remember, I'm the one who convinced her to side with you," Narascha said. "Without me you'd still be arguing for the throne."
Bhelen almost scowled at that, much to her amusement. Narascha grinned and walked away, back to her family. Torph met her at the doorway with a devilish grin, while Lawrien cheered.
"I shall speak to you all at the palace, Grey Wardens," Bhelen said. "When we are ready. I will gather up my generals and we will prepare for war against the Blight."
The crowd screamed and cheered even more at that.
Narascha nodded. Orzammar was always ready to fight the darkspawn. Preparation shouldn't take too long now.
.:.
"Torph!" Rica rushed to his side, yanking him into a hug, right in the middle of the throne room.
He couldn't help but laugh at that. "Hey, Rica."
"I was so worried about you. We all heard you returned, but immediately went to seek rest in the Grey Warden estate," Rica said, searching over him with frantic eyes. "Are you hurt-"
"I'm fine now, sis." He nodded. "We've got a mage, Wynne, who might be a nag, but she's an awesome healer."
"Thank you for everything you did, Torph," Rica said. "My Bhelen is on the throne, and it's all thanks to you, even if that Caridin did make things a little more difficult."
"Yeah, and while normally I would have just lied and said he had picked Bhelen, my boss is an honest woman," Torph lied.
Lawrien was a filthy liar and a thief.
Just like him.
It was awesome.
"I'll need to get ready for the inauguration, and little Endrin too, you can finally meet him!" Rica said. "You better come too, Torph. We can get you cleaned up-"
Torph softened. "Sorry, Rica."
Rica hesitated, then her shoulders slumped. "You can't stay?"
"We're leaving today," Torph sighed. "We've been away from the surface too long and need to get back to fighting the Blight. We've nearly gathered up enough guys to fight it, but we've got to sort out the humans who are still shitting themselves."
Rica pressed a kiss to his forehead. "Then good luck, and please, come home afterwards. I want you to meet little Endrin so badly."
Torph hesitated. "I... I saw the Archdemon in the Deep Roads, Rica..."
Rica's face fell.
"I'm scared shitless," Torph admitted.
Rica pulled him into a tight hug. "Please be careful."
"I'll do my best."
He squeezed her tight though, and tried to memorise the warmth and love, the smell of her hair, how much happier she was and healthier.
If they bet the Archdemon, Rica would be safe. Torph's nephew would be safe.
But fuck, he really didn't want to die fighting a bloody dragon.
.:.
"We need to speak before we leave Orzammar, privately," Narascha said firmly, earning a frown.
"While I am glad you are back, dear sister, I will not tolerate orders from-" Bhelen began to whisper but he was cut off.
"We need to speak to you about Grey Warden business," Lawrien cut in sharply, her eyes cold as she strode over. "Cobian. Narascha and I must speak to the King alone. I need you to contact Queen Anora and Teyrn Loghain. Warn them about what we witnessed in the Deep Roads."
"Doubt they'll listen to Grey Wardens," Oghren said. "Didn't you say you lot had bounties?"
Bhelen eyed Narascha. "Yes, I am worried about that. If you're captured-"
"I'll be fine."
"Yes, but Cobian is family," Lawrien said. "They will listen to him, or at least hear him out."
"Very well, let's speak." Bhelen nodded, and gestured to a side room off the throne room.
"Do you know what broodmothers are?" Narascha asked once they were inside, the door shut.
Bhelen startled. "Broodmothers?"
"It was... something we left out of the report when we returned from Orzammar," Narascha admitted. "Ciara, our senior Grey Warden, is telling the Steward about it now."
"I see." Bhelen narrowed his eyes. "Alright then, tell me everything."
Narascha rushed through the explanation, considering Bhelen had his inauguration to attend to soon, but he did listen, and his face grew paler and his eyes widened.
"Broodmothers are actually dwarven females who have been..." Bhelen whispered, then shook his head. "This... this is difficult to process, but it makes sense as to why the darkspawn are endless. They must have taken many dwarven women over the years as they claimed the Thaigs..." He eyed Narascha, pained. "You... I am sorry, Narascha, if I had known, I would have made sure you didn't go down there... No female dwarf will be exiled to the Deep Roads ever again, that I swear."
"Thanks, I guess," Narascha said.
"I'll need to have the Legion of the Dead contacted too, and our patrols resorted, but we must also focus on the Blight," Bhelen said. "You said to meet you at Redcliffe, and so my men shall. Good luck, and do try to return home, sister. Orzammar will need your strength."
"Goodbye, Bhelen," Narascha said. "Let's go, Lawrien."
Lawrien nodded. "Alright."