Adult-FanFiction.org : Games

In good times and in bad	By : kruemel Category: +A through F > Dragon Age (all) > Dragon Age (all) Views: 14749 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: Dragon Age and the characters of the game do not belong to me. This is a no profit fanfiction

Chapter List
- 45
- 46
- 47
The tower rises from the thick mist that covers Lake Calenhad like a skeleton finger. It looks so awfully creepy, it makes me shudder. Thinking back to the events that happened there not so long ago, I feel utterly sorry for anybody who has to live there inside these thick walls that have absorbed so much despair.
Did I mention how glad I am that I am not a templar?
They are as much locked away as the mages. The atmosphere of the circle effects them as well, and I only can think of these men and women, who have given up their lives willingly to serve the order, with admiration. At the same time I have great sympathy for those who have been forced into that life.
"I take it we are here to see the mages?" Shale comments as soon as we approach the shore of Lake Calenhad. "Lovely."
"I never thought we'd have anything in common, Shale," I laugh as I wrap my cloak tighter around me. The moist cold of this autumn day and the biting of the wind make me feel chilly.
"What would I have in common with it? It is just a whiny, weak and soft creature," the golem grumbles. It of course does not freeze and the attempts of us flesh creatures to keep ourselves warm with more clothing is looked upon by the golem with an air of superiority.
"Mages. They just love me. The sentiment is mutual."
"So it is not fond of mages. It is smarter than I assumed. Or it just has a primal instinct of self preservation like any low life form."
"I am beginning to suspect you have some kind of inferiority complex that you try to hide by constantly pointing out your superiority." There. The walking statue is not the only one to know big words.
"Don't be ridiculous!"
"Yes, I thought so." I grin smugly.
We have by now reached the landing stage. When the ferryman sees us coming, he jumps into his boat and tries to get away as quickly as possible. "This," he calls from a save distance, pointing at Shale, "is not going to get anywhere close to my boat!"
"But you're going to give a ferry ride to Alistair and me, right?" Rori asks sweetly. "It's a bit cold for swimming."
"I could just walk along the lake bottom to reach the tower. It, however, could not." Shale comments, looking pointedly at me. The superciliousness of this creature is incredible! I'd never have thought a golem could be so snobbish.
We leave Shale standing at the shore as we climb into the careening boat. The moment the ferryman pushes the boat off the landing stage, the mist closes around us. It's as thick as a wall and I hardly can make out Rori in the grey vapor. She shivers, pulling her cloak tighter around herself. The fog soaks our clothes and soon I can hear her teeth clattering. I start shifting my cloak off my shoulders to give it to her, but she stops me and instead leans against me so that I can wrap it around both of us. Her hair tickles the side of my neck and makes me smile. I inhale that fresh scent of verbena that is Rori's and once more I am astonished at how lucky a man I am.
Rori has been strangely silent the last few days. Moody, too, easily upset to a point where she started crying without any real reason. Actually ever since we saved the villagers from the darkspawn. I am glad that way we saved Cullen's family. The man deserves some good news for once.
Greagoir greets us when we arrive at the tower. There's no landing stage there but a cave at the bottom of the tower. The ferryman rows the boat into the gaping opening like into a huge monster's mouth. I can't even imagine how terrified young mages have to be when they are brought in here, most of them still children. I do hope that Eamon will accompany Connor here and not let the templars collect him. I feel utterly sorry for the boy. He's the same age I was when I was sent away. It was a different reason but still I had to leave what I called home and had to live in a place I utterly hated. This tower is not a home for a child. At least not for one like Connor who had a home and parents who love him. Now I even feel sorry for Isolde.
"Let's just talk to Cullen. I don't want to stay here any longer than necessary," I whisper to Rori when I help her out of the boat.
"My sentiments exactly," she replies, a fake smile for Greagoir on her face. It's not as if she doesn't like him. Greagoir is a good man. Rori knows that and so do I. We talked a lot about the templars ever since we've last been here and I've tried to explain some things to her, tried to make her see the templars' point of view. Her summary of all that was: "This is all totally fucked up!" Wynne threatened to wash her mouth with a piece of soap if she kept using such offensive language, but I think Rori quite got it to a nutshell.
"Your Highness, Lady Cousland," Greagoir greets us. He doesn't look happy at all to see us again. "I didn't expect you to return so soon. Are you here for Jowan?"
"No, we are here for Cullen," Rori replies.She's still freezing the way she wraps her arms around herself and although she shakes her head no, I give her my cloak in addition to hers. It's far too big for her, making her look even younger than she is. She smiles her thank you at me, that small gesture making me feel fuzzily warm inside.
"Cullen?" Greagoir croaks, pure blank horror on his face.
"Are you okay?" Rori asks rather concerned. "Is something wrong with Cullen?"
"No, he's fine... I think. What do you want of him?" Cold sweat has appeared on Greagoir's brow and the way he glares at us I expect him to shove us both back into the boat and forbid the ferryman to ever give us a ride again.
Rori and I exchange a look of pure puzzlement. She shrugs and so do I. I have no clue why Greagoir is behaving so strangely.
"We have a message for him from his family," Rori explains, slowly inching away from the Knight-Commander.
"A message?" Greagoir gasps, relief making his voice shaky. "I hope it's a good one. I doubt Cullen can cope with any more." Then he glowers at us suspiciously. "And that's all? There's nothing else you want from him?"
"Uhm, yes? What should we want from Cullen?"
"Merciful Andraste," Greagoir sighs, now utterly relieved.
"Are you alright, Knight-Commander?"
"Haha, for a moment I thought you have come to recruit him," Greagoir roars with laughter. It sounds a bit tense and stops dead when Rori sweetly says: "Don't give me any ideas."
I step on her foot. This is neither the right time nor the right place for teasing.
"Don't you dare!" Greagoir growls, crossing his arms in front of his chest. He has given us Jowan but he is ready to butt heads with Rori about Cullen. Of course she has no intentions to recruit the templar from Honnleath. Cullen so wants to be a templar, it would be cruel to force him to live a life he doesn't want to live. "Cullen is a good man. I will not lose him to the Grey Wardens and see him wasted to an order that mostly consists of criminals and hopeless failures."
"Well, thank you very much," I comment icily, straightening myself. I am a Grey Warden and I am proud of what I am. And Duncan was one of the most noble and respectable men I have ever met. He gave his life to defend Ferelden! "The hopeless failures would like to talk to Cullen now, if you don't mind, Knight-Commander."
Greagoir stares at me and winces. "Your Highness... I didn't mean..."
"I think we're 'criminals' considering Loghain has marked us kingslayers and traitors," Rori corrects me by mercilessly interrupting the squirming Knight-Commander. She's not happy about Greagoir's outburst either. Part of me knows it's just stress on the Knight-Commander's side. And he's protective over Cullen as one of his templars. That's just what a good Knight-Commander would do. Still...
Nobody has ever had a single word of thanks or respect for Duncan. Nobody has ever acknowledged his sacrifice.
"Then we indeed not only meet all requirements but excel them by being both criminals and hopeless failures!" Yes, I'm rubbing it in now.
"Your Highness... I am utterly sorry..."
The splashing sound of water crashing at the shore makes us all turn. It's more than just a wave, it's as if something huge just rose from the lake, making the water stir. Greagoir lets out a cry of alarm when the golem scrambles to the shore, shakes itself like a wet dog and then stomps towards us.
"Shale!" Rori cries, her hand coming to a rest on Greagoir's arm to stop him from charging. I begin to feel sorry for the Knight-Commander. . "What are you doing here?"
"That thing belongs to you?" Greagoir growls, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword. His eyes dart towards me, standing there with my arms crossed in front of my chest and head held high.
"It's name is Shale and it belongs to itself," Rori says firmly. If Shale could purr, it would. If it had a tail, it would wag it. Out of all the annoying flesh creatures Rori for sure is its favourite.
"I wanted to go for a walk. But there were gulls everywhere. It was safer to take a walk in the lake," Shale explains, completely unbothered by the suspicious templars.
"You know that all the waste from the tower is dropped into the lake, don't you?" Sometimes revenge is so sweet it's almost sticky. And that look on Shale's face is just priceless.
"I think I am going to be sick...," it mumbles. Oh, golem vomit. Now that should be interesting! "So this is where the mages live. Interesting. They should keep all flesh creatures in confinement, not just the mages."
"Yeah? And who would 'they' be?" I ask pleasantly.
"Don't be a smartass," the golem snorts.
Greagoir sighs, rubbing his temples tiredly. We give him a major headache, that much is sure. I decide it's time for a peace treaty. We cannot stand here and argue forever about some silly remark the Knight-Commander by now regrets. "Listen, I am sorry we're causing any inconveniences," I begin. "We're all stressed in times like this, so how about we forget about our little argument and just return to business?"
"I didn't mean to disrespect the Grey Wardens," Greagoir assures me.
"No offense taken, Knight-Commander. We apologize if we gave the impression of hositlity towards your order."
Greagoir's watery eyes scrutinize me for what seems an eternity. They size me up in a way that makes me sweat. Finally he nods and inclines his head. Why in the name of the Maker people keep inclining their heads is totally beyond me. I'm not king yet. I've done nothing great at all. There's nothing out of the ordinary about me. Well, Morrigan would say I'm an extraordinary moron. And Leliana would add in some places that seems the prior requirement for becoming king. I hope in Ferelden it is not. Otherwise I'd have to be really worried.
We find Cullen in his quarters where he sits in front of a chess board, playing a game with himself. The dead templars have not yet all been replaced, so he has the room he usually has to share with one or two of his comrades for himself. Standing at the door and seeing those empty beds, I feel a pang of sympathy for him. Cullen knew these men. They were his brothers in arms, his friends. I know how he has to feel by my own experience. One moment they are there, laughing, jesting or just working together, fighting together. The next moment they are gone - and you probably didn't even get the chance to say goodbye.
The young templar is so absorbed in his game, he does neither react to the knock on the door nor notice our entrance until Rori softly calls his name. "Cullen?"
He's so startled, he jumps off his chair, knocking it and his chess board over. His eyes narrow at Rori when he recognizes her. "What do you want here?" he snaps, his harsh greeting causing Rori to wince.
"I...," she stammers, retreating one step when he glowers at her menacingly.
"Coming here to recruit any more blood mages for your so called order?" he sneers.
"Ouch!" Rori stays close to the door. It's certainly safer there. "Look, I am sorry. I understand you didn't like me recruiting Jowan..."
"You understand? Really? You very much gave the impression you understand nothing at all. You just showed up and asked us to hand over a dangerous murderer. You mulcted those he had slaughtered of justice. You know nothing about what it is like to be a templar, what we do to keep the people save. You're just a stuck-up noble brat who has been fed with a silver spoon all of her life."
With his fists clenched at his sides he takes one step closer with every word pressed through angrily clenched teeth until he's towering over her. He comes upon her like a hurricane of rightful fury. Rori is so taken aback, she retreats until she's cornered with her back against the wall. She's so small compared to the broad shouldered templar. Rori bites her lips to stop them from trembling without much success. Tears well up in her eyes when Cullen mercilessly continues to bash her. "Why are you crying now? Not used to someone giving you their opinion, mylady?" Cullen growls. "You have no idea how it feels like to watch your friends being murdered right in front of your eyes. You have no idea what foul magic can do to your mind. So keep your apologies, lady, they do mean nothing to me."
Thus said he turns on his heels and stiffly marches back to the table, kneeling down to carefully pick up his chess board and chess pieces. His hands are trembling, but I cannot tell if it's his uncontrolled rage or his grief.
His unexpected outburst leaves me as dumbstruck as Rori. Also I just cannot make myself snap at him when I feel he's broken inside. As much as I hated to be a templar, as much as I would have been the worst templar ever, I still feel sympathy for them and respect for their work. I'm not going to say, Cullen's right. But he's not altogether wrong either.
"Kitten..." I reach out for Rori the very moment she steps forward. Cullen shifts his weight as he senses her closing the distance between them, but he stays with his back turned to her, his muscles tense.
"Your sister asked us to tell you she and the rest of your family are save and sound," Rori says in a choked voice. "Honnleath got overrun by darkspawn but they all made it out in time." She pulls the letter from one of the satchels at her belt and carefully puts it onto the table next to the chessboard. Then she flees the room, leaving both me and Cullen standing there.
He stares at the letter for what seems an eternity before he picks it up and breaks the seal of the envelope. He skims over the text and I can watch his composure crumble with every line.
"Feeling like a complete ass now?" I ask with my arms crossed in front of my chest.
Cullen nods slowly, still standing with his back turned to me. "Thank you for saving my family."
"We just did, what Grey Wardens do."
He neatly folds the letter until it's only a tiny rectangle. "Shouldn't you be going after her?" he asks without looking at me.
"Actually I think, you should be going after her, Cullen."
"I'm not very good at saying sorry." He rubs the back of his neck, as he looks over his shoulder and offers an apologetic smile.
"I'd say that line is a rather good start. Keep it in mind. And I'd hurry if I were you before she has time to recover and get angry. I wouldn't advice getting near her then - at least not without a shield. She has the habit to throw things at people she's mad at."
Cullen doesn't move. Instead he unfolds the letter again only to fold it once more. "That still doesn't change anything about what I said about her recruiting that mage." He looks up at me, the anger returning to his voice. Boy, he's such a furious man! "You were trained to become a templar. How could you let her recruit a blood mage?"
"I am a Grey Warden now. We do what we have to do and templars do what they have to do. I don't say I like this - but I do not have to like it as long as it helps the order."
"I doubt we're ever going to agree on that matter," he mumbles. "Alright..." Cullen straightens his shoulders. "Lets get this over with. I am going to thank her but I am not going to apologize. If she can't handle the truth, that's not my fault."
"Do you know what happened to Teyrn Cousland and his wife and the rest of the family?" I ask, following Cullen in search of Rori.
"No, I'm not interested in politics," he tries to shut me up before I can push a conversation on him. Just I have no intention to let him off the hook.
"They got murdered within their own castle by a traitor. Rori is the only one who got away that night."
Cullen winces. "Now," he groans, "I really feel like a complete ass."
We turn around a corner and find Rori sitting on the steps of a small dais that leads to a statue holding a bowl. She's bawling her eyes out while Shale stands next to her, looking rather helpless at such a display of human weakness. "Is that the flesh creature that made the Grey Warden cry?" the golem rumbles at the sight of Cullen. "Shall I crush its head like a grape?"
- 45
- 46
- 47
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

In good times and in bad