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
- 81
- 82
- 83
"Do you believe anything Anora's handsmaiden said?" I ask on leaving Arl Eamon's estate through the service door. There's going to be no parade today. Not when the Sneaky Squad and I are on a secret mission to rescue Queen Anora. Eamon didn't want to let me go because of me being the last of the Theirins, but I insisted - which caused Sten once more to remark on the spine I actually have. Uncle Angus seemed pleased, too. He said something like: "A bastard can be king, a dastard can't."
"Unfortunately we can't sit back and wait to find out," Leliana says far too cheerfully. "Oh, this is a grand move! It's outstanding in its brilliancy. Loghain may despise the Orlesians but in his very own way, he knows how to play the Game. I am impressed."
I am not impressed. Not at all. But I do want to believe what Erlina said is true. That Anora loved Cailan, that she and her father aren't partners in crime but that she is innocent. And that Howe keeps her captive to use her against Eamon - and me - dead or alive. I want her to be the good queen. I need her to be the good queen.
Her claim isn't as strong as mine being a Theirin - at least that's what Eamon keeps telling me - but she has one key advantage: She knows how to do the job and for five years she has been doing it damn well.
And one rather should let someone rule a kingdom who knows what she's doing, than putting a clueless fool in charge just because his father happened to be king, right? Just my humble opinion. Unfortunately nobody ever cares to ask for it.
"I think, it's a trap. And a real nasty one," Rori mutters gloomily. With a yawn she adds: "It doesn't matter if Erlina's story is true, though, either way, we're completely fucked."
"Oh, that you are indeed," Zevran laughs and winks, dodging easily when Rori swats at him. "Ah, my lovely Fereldan rose, I can hardly blame you. Alistair is such a ruggedly handsome specimen..."
"Oh, go on like this and I'm going to be sick here and now," Morrigan snorts, pulling a face.
"I am already sick. Sick and tired of you going on and on about how stupid I am. Even I, dork that I am, have gotten it by now. Just put a sock in it!" I snap back.
"Mentioning socks," Morrigan goes on as if I hadn't said anything at all. "That mangy dog already stinks awfully." Barkley whines and barks. Cocking his head to one side, he stares at Morrigan's calves as if he was trying to make up his mind about snapping at them. "Tis beyond me, though, how you manage to endure the stench that comes from Alistair's feet..."
"Rori with her cute little nose isn't bothered as much by smells as you are with that beak sticking out from the middle of your face..."
Hissing like a venomous viper, Morrigan points her staff at me. I can sense the surge of magic and instinctly channel my templar powers.
"Enough Alistair vs. Morrigan-bashing," Rori interrupts us sharply, sounding almost like Wynne when the mage scolds us like students in her classroom. Both mine and Morrigan's energy dies down immediately. The witch crosses her arms in front of her chest and lifts her chin, looking defiant. I stand there all flustered and grin foolishly. Rori sighs deeply and shakes her head - just like Wynne would do. We all really do spend too much time together. "Am I the only one who thinks this street is strangely empty?" my beloved fellow Warden asks now she has our attention. Barkley next to her is growling lowly.
It's an alley away from the main roads, stores and workshops. Still, usually doors and windows should be open on such a sunny day. There should be children playing in the streets, their mothers sitting on benches in front of the houses where they chat with the neighbours while they mend clothes, feed their babies or peel potatoes for lunch... Maker, there should be refugees! They are practically everywhere, camping in any street. There should be old men sitting together with their cups of tea, complaining that they'd rather have a pint or two, commenting about the weather, the harvest and politics...
There's no bustling city life, however. Instead there's not a single person on the street, the doors are closed, the windows blocked up. The only living thing is a tabby cat that looks down on us from the top of a wall and begins to lick its bottom clean with ostentatious ennui when Barkley barks at it.
"Ahhh, an ambush!" Zevran exults, clapping his hands together giddily. "Quite obvious, don't you think? So the only question is: who is trying to kill us this time? Any bets?"
The Antivan elf isn't as giddy anymore when we walk into the trap a minute later. Not that it is much of a trap anymore when you know it is there. We briefly discussed avoiding it, but Rori clearly voted for getting things cleared now, when we already know we're in for trouble.
"And so here is the mighty Grey Warden at long last," the dark haired man at the top of the stairs sneers down at Rori. I have to admit, I feel a little huffed that he only talks about one mighty Grey Warden. The contract was about two recruits after all. It hurts my manly feelings that the assassins don't even believe me that much of a threat to acknowledge I exist.
"Tis most peculiar that one makes the effort of creating an ambush and then giving his advantage away by entering a conversation," Morrigan mutters and rolls her eyes.
"From the stories I've heard, I didn't expect to meet a little girl," the dark stranger goes on, smirking down at Rori.
"Perhaps you shouldn't judge people by their looks," Rori advises politely. "I assume, you haven't come here for some nice conversation. So, who are you and what is it, you want?" Of course she knows where this will lead to. And who that man is. She cannot have missed Zevran's surprised gasp. She's buying time for the Sneaky Squad to locate any hidden opponents, for Morrigan to prepare her spells and for Leliana to pick her first target. With a bit of luck the two of them can bring down four men before they even get close to Rori, Zevran and me in close range combat... If the elf is going to fight with us. I'm not that sure about it and position myself between him and Rori. Of course he notices. I'm just not sneaky enough. But I cannot take his hurt feelings into consideration right now. Sorry pal.
"The Crows send their greetings once again." The dark haired man bows and blows a kiss at Rori. She rolls her eyes and groans in reply.
"I do hope, you don't expect an affectionate reception," Rori retorts, arms crossed in front of her chest.
"Too bad, we didn't bring along Shale. She so loves to smash filthy birds," I sigh.
"Don't tell her we got to kill birds without her, she'll be sulking for two weeks," Rori giggles.
The Crow appears a little huffed about our lack of fear and respect - he looks rather sour for sure. Sorry, dude, you just cannot compete with darkspawn in general, broodmothers in particular, werewolves and abominations, demons and such. Maybe if he had brought a stallion sized pet spider - that would have made Rori's knees wobbly.
"So they sent you, Taliesen, or did you volunteer for the job." Zevran finally steps forward. Rori groans at the mentioning of the Crow's name.
"What?" I mouth at her.
"Best friends," she mouthes back.
"Blast it!" I mutter. Now this is a tough one. I don't want to walk in Zevran's shoes right now.
"I volunteered of course. When I heard that the great Zevran had gone rogue, I simply had to see it for myself," Taliesen smuggly comments. Both he and Zevran are for sure masters of not letting any of their true emotions shine through. If I was forced to fight against... uhm... now, it really sucks when you realize that you don't have any childhood friends... I just never fitted into the Chantry, in no way... there was this elven girl, the daughter of one of the maids at Eamon's Denerim estate... but this was even before I was sent away and I have never seen her again... and I've never felt accepted and at home until I met.... Duncan... yes, what would I do if I had to decide whether to side with Duncan or Rori... Oh merciful Andraste... now I want to give Zevran a hug.
"Is that so? Well, here I am in the flesh." Zevran grants his old buddy a broad smile and pirouettes once, bowing to his audience afterwards.
"You can return with me, Zevran. I know why you did this and I don't blame you. It's not too late," Taliesen beseeches the elf. My hand comes to rest on the hilt of my sword. I doubt, I'd be fast enough to counter an attack coming from the sneaky elf. But I can put myself in the way and buy Rori some time. Barkley joins me, making it look quite casual. The dog may indeed be smarter than I am. "Come back and we'll make up a story. Anyone can make a mistake."
"The mistake is right here. Alive and still kicking. I assume, part of your plan is to finally get your job done, right?" Rori sighs. "This is so tiresome," she adds with a yawn.
"I am not about to let that happen," Zevran assures her, not sounding as cocksure as he usually does. There's a sadness in his eyes and tone that makes Rori take his hand and squeeze it... and there she is again standing right next to the assassin when I have made such an effort to put myself in between them as a human wall. It certainly looks a bit stupid and is rather obvious... but I still squeeze myself in between them again, grinning foolishly at Zevran. He just shrugs and I feel awful at how sad he looks.
"What? You've gone soft," Taliesen snorts. "The Zevran I know wouldn't have let down such an opportunity."
"I'm sorry, my old friend, but the answer is no." Zevran sadly shakes his head. Did I mention I want to give him a hug? And at the same time shove him to stand ten feet away from Rori.... Perhaps I could disarm him while hugging him... More likely he'd disarm me and shackle me to a lamppost while tap-dancing to himself singing 'Somewhere over the rainbow' and juggling five raw eggs at the same time. "I'm not coming back and you should have stayed in Antiva."
"What? You've gone soft in the head. The Crows will make you pay for this, you fool." Taliesen sounds almost desperate by now.
"Perhaps they will at that, but I take what time I have," Zevran sighs. "You have a choice, Taliesen. All of you do."
"Traitor!" Taliesen hisses.
Okay, that much for choices and making them...
"I won't fight against you, Taliesen. We were friends once - and more..." The elf turns towards Rori and me. "I am... sorry."
"Zev," Rori whispers with tears glittering in her eyes as she hugs the elf. Maker, she's really making it impossible for me to protect her! He's a blasted assassin! What does she think she's doing? Does she think at all? "I cannot ask of you to get involved in this... to fight against your friend... We will manage. I am sorry that this has to happen..."
The assassin lifts her hand to his lips. "My beautiful Fereldan rose, you are certainly more than I ever deserved."
"You've always left too much thinking done to your cock, Zevran," Taliesen sneers. "I've told you more than once it will once be your downfall."
"Oh, here you are mistaken, Taliesen, my old friend. This young lady here warms another man's bed at night. And still..." Zevran shakes his head. He looks quite devastated. Then he turns to leave, calling out to his former friend: "Good luck, Taliesen. You will need it. I do not expect to see you again, not after this fight."
I'm not sure whether I feel betrayed. Somehow I understand Zevran is in a terrible situation - still I wish he would decide. If everything goes wrong, he could lose two friends in this fight. I think, he should decide... Now, isn't it ironic? I want him to make a decision when I hardly feel able to decide for myself. Not in this situation of course, but in general... Guess, I'm not the one to judge the elf... I still feel like punching him in the face...
"How pathetic," Taliesen shouts after the elf. "You once were great, Zevran. Now you're no more than a wretched creature." Then he points his sword at Rori. "When I'm done with you even your mother won't recognize you anymore."
"Don't bother. She's dead." Rori is already halfway up the stairs to meet the leader of the Crows. They have come under fire from Leliana and Morrigan before Taliesen even finished his sentence. "I want Taliesen alive!" Rori orders as she lunges herself at her target.
"Alive? What for?" the Crow sneers. "You have a thing for handsome assassins?"
"I'm more into almost templars and bastard princes," Rori retorts when doing a riposte. "But I have a friend who happens to like you."
My fighting moves aren't as pretty and elegant as hers. I'm not here to entertain anybody anyway. It's the result that counts - and I can count pretty far. Taliesen and Rori dance with each other. It's a quite deadly dance and despite all the tricks she learnt from Zevran, Rori's losing ground.
This fight lasts much longer than I would have expected, though. And either Taliesen is far better than Zevran - or he's trying harder to cut Rori down. Or Rori is not at her best at the moment. Anyway, she soon has difficulties to fend him off and is forced to retreat down the stairs, giving him the advantage to attack her from above.
Rori does need help, but I'm stuck myself, trying to get rid of three attackers at once. Barkley tries to get to his mistress but is stopped by a kick in his side that sends the huge war hound flying. Morrigan's spell goes amiss when Taliesen lunges forward. His sudden charge catches Rori off guard and she stumbles over her own feet. Landing on her bottom, she drops her swords and only can roll aside with some luck when Taliesen comes after her. He laughs out loud in triumph when she scrambles to reach her dagger... I scream, Leliana fires a badly aimed arrow, Morrigan charges forward with her staff raised... too late...
Metal crunches against metal when Taliesen's blade comes down on Rori. Blocked inches away from her face, the dark haired Crow finds himself thrown backwards by the fierce counterattack of his former fellow assassin.
Zevran whirls his swords around as he comes to stand between Rori and Taliesen protectively.
"Didn't you say, you won't fight me?" the dark haired man growls, surprised by the elf's return.
"Alas, I changed my mind," Zevran says cheerfully. "I found, there's something... someone worth fighting for... so here I am. Prepare to die!"
"You've always been a loudmouth, Zevran. Too bad, you will fall silent forever today."
It's a fight like I have never seen one before. The opponents know each other well... too well. They know the others strengths and weaknesses and they mercilessly aim for the later. They move so fast, it's hard to follow and impossible to tell who gains the upper hand. Zevran has never been the best fighter I have ever seen, neither is Taliesen. They both fight unfair... Zevran throws sand into his opponents eyes when he finds himself kicked to the ground, Taliesen grabs the elf's pretty hair - that's what he gets for wearing it ridiculously long -, but with a quick move, Zevran frees himself and breaks the other man's wrist in doing so... In the end it's a matter of fitness. Taliesen grows tired faster than the elf and begins to make mistakes. Zevran lands a few well aimed blows... Taliesen stumbles forward and the elf runs him through without hesitation.
"Zev-zevran..." Taliesen stammers, then the light in is eyes expires and his dead body slides off the blade...
Zevran drops to his knees beside his dead friend. He reaches out to him and for a moment his hand hovers midair, then he straightens himself and gently closes Taliesen's dead eyes.
Blast it! This is bad. Real bad.
"One fool less," Morrigan remarks next to me. "So many left."
She is such a heartless bitch!
I glower at her but she chooses to ignore me and starts to examine her fingernails instead.
She's such a terrible, terrible... uhm... witch!
"Adios, mi amigo," the elf mutters as he gracefully raises to his feet. The moment he turns to us, Rori is there to hug him tight and Zevran hugs her back. Then it's Leliana's turn, then mine. I feel like a complete jerk. All the time I somehow expected Zevran to backstab us. I blamed him for turning his back on Rori... and now here he is, having killed his old friend from back in Antiva. I remember, he mentioned to Rori that he and Taliesen grew up together, were trained together. They were a team, almost like brothers...
"Zevran, I... I'm sorry. I shouldn't have doubted you... I behaved like... like an idiot..." I stammer.
"Alistair, my dear friend, you sought to protect the woman you love. You are a good man." The elf smiles sadly at me. "I... once loved a woman. I made the wrong decision then and have ever since regretted it. I should have listened to my heart then, but I thought it to be a weakness... I know better now."
Oh. Wow. That was... serious? And no lewd remarks, no sneering and smirking, no smugness... And there I thought I couldn't feel any more awkward and awful and mean... Boy, was I wrong!
"Zevran, I am so sorry. If there's anything I can do for you," I begin.
The elf suddenly beams at me. It's one of these typically Zevran-ish smirks and it's accompanied by him wiggling his eyebrows. "Oh, I wouldn't mind a quick pity bang."
"A what?" I squeak and blush a deeper shade of crimson when Leliana almost chokes on her laughter. Rori looks as confused as I do and shrugs. Morrigan just rolls her eyes and snorts.
"Ahh, Alistair, my clueless friend," Zevran chuckles and pats my back. "Ignorance is bliss, isn't it?"
"Err... I don't know? At least that's what they said at the Chantry," I mutter.
"Nevermind," Zevran slurs. "Isn't there a beautiful queen that awaits our help? Alas, the heroes rush to aid the damsel in distress."
- 81
- 82
- 83
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