faderift | Not Quite Damsels, Definite Distress

Following the pair is ideal, instead of turning her back to them, but Teren isn't stupid enough to go off alone, outnumbered by two mages. She looks back to the group comprised of Ciri, Jamie, Zevran, and Cyril, and nudges her head in the direction Ashton is leading her. Her expression is subtle but communicates: backup would be nice.

This is a diversion. Nathaniel glances about for any clues, because the direction they are being led in is the one direction he knows they won't find Anders and Alistair.

Fine. He's bringing out the big guns. He squirms, swinging his pack off his back and opening it.

"Go on," he says into the bag, calm as anything.

Out leaps a pent-up miniature mabari, who delivers a couple of happy slurps to his shoe before starting to familiarize herself with her surroundings, sniffing and meeting people. But her sniffing has purpose. She knows Anders' scent as well as Alistair's.

Kian's face lights up at seeing the dog. Ashton's goes very still. There's a few moments of silence before she nods slightly as if she's come to a decision, then she takes a breath.

"You'll want to be careful with that. We have a few mages who work as chandlers; I hear some scents can damage a dog's sense of smell." Her voice is pitched as if to carry past their immediate group, but she doesn't look around. Kian's expression becomes dismayed as he looks at her before he's schooling it to stillness.

"Keep your dog with our group," he suggests. "He, she, nothing will hurt them in the house."

Ashton doesn't comment on that, simply turning her back to them and leading the way.

What a peculiar thing to say. Of course Ashton is trying to keep Lady from doing her job, but of all the excuses to make, it is rather far-fetched.

Nathaniel gives a smile to Kian that crinkles the corners of his eyes. "I've heard that one. It's basically a myth. Anything strong enough to do that she won't get too close to. She'll be fine."

Lady noses on for a bit before starting off at a trot in a new direction. Nathaniel permits it. Clearly the dog makes the mages nervous, and a shake-up of whatever they have prepared would be a good thing.

Velanna doesn't look particularly bothered that the mages have her real name, while others seem to be giving out fake ones or none at all. Some of them might have heard of her, she was in the Hinterlands helping people before she rejoined the Wardens. She also has other reputations. Really anything they'd heard about her might help them be a little more helpful.

"I do wonder what you don't want her sniffing that you'd grasp at such ridiculous lies. You are in Ferelden, you know what mabari can do." And how smart they are. Even if she's not a native, Fereldens love their dogs.

Teren appreciates Velanna. They've never spoken much, but her respect for the woman grows by the second.

For her part, the Senior Warden isn't doing much talking anymore. She's constantly scanning their surroundings with a hawkish intensity, seeking... well, she isn't sure. Anything that belongs to either of the missing Wardens, anything that seems like it shouldn't be where it is, anything that might suggest they're walking into a trap.

She is aware she hasn't told anyone her name, real or fake, and has no problem with it. Ignoring the question can be a useful tactic.

"That's not a mabari," Kian says gently, looking a little nervous as he does. Velanna looks like she could bite him. "Mabari are a lot bigger than that. They can take on all sorts of things, like--"

"They know, I'm certain." Ashton doesn't give the dog another glance. Nor does she turn around to look at the party until she has the door open of the first house - a roughly repaired, one-floor farmhouse, made of wood, still showing some signs of a fire ages ago. There are some gaps in the walls and some singe marks on the ceiling; this place isn't going to hold the cold off very well. But there's a fireplace in the main room that's burning brightly, as well as a stack of blankets, a few rough wooden seats, a slab of wood on legs that serves as a table, and dishes stacked on it. There are three doors going off the main room. Ashton gestures to the middle and right-hand ones.

"Albert had the right-most room, Garrett the middle. Look around as you'd like. And, dear," now she looks at Velanna, "not everyone in Ferelden is Fereldan, or has time and leisure enough to look into myths. I offered a warning that I thought was valid. There's really no need to be so hasty."

If they go into the rooms they'll see a narrow cot in each, with folded blankets and a pillow, as well as a small table with a candle. There's no ornamentation, though these walls are far more sturdy than the front one.

Lady, in the meantime, is trotting around the front before heading to the side, sniffing her way to an open space in the center of a village. She barks as if pleased by herself before scooping something up and heading back toward Nate. Her prize is a hair tie with a cat clasp, one he's definitely seen before.

Any time Nathaniel had been upset growing up, his father told him to be a man and his mother chided him for his lack of self-control and the wickedness it betrayed. He had learned to be quiet in his anger, silent and focused and directed unflinching at the task. He had learned restraint, until such a time when no one could possibly blame him for the lack of it. He had learned to prove his feelings validated before showing them, so no one could scold him for having them.

He holds the hair tie in his hand, looking numbly at it. After a moment, he turns to place it in Teren's hand. Suddenly, a long dagger is drawn. An arm wraps around Kian, trapping him to his chest, the dagger at the boy's throat.

"Where is he?" Nathaniel asks quietly. He is tense, his jaw set, but he is still quiet in his anger, like he always has been.

Teren wordlessly takes the hairtie and begins to step forward toward the far wall, casual as anything and with no indication that anything has upset her.
However, the moment she hears the telltale sound of metal unsheathing, she takes the moment of likely distraction to heel-turn to stand directly behind Ashton, her free hand gripping a knife that will be plunged into her spine at the slightest provocation. It won't kill her, not right away. Teren knows how to miss the organs, to keep a person bleeding and paralyzed long enough to get what she wants from them.
The tip of the knife is no more than a centimeter from the fabric on Ashton's back, and though Teren maintains her silence, her dark eyes lift to meet Nathaniel's from over the mage's shoulder. In the event that the woman doesn't care about the boy's fate, they have a backup plan.

Velanna has enough time to roll her eyes at Ashton's chastising, but anything she might have said in response is cut off by Nathaniel's appearance. She's not entirely certain what just happened, she missed the exchanged between Teren and he, but it doesn't matter. She can surmise that Lady must have found something.

Rather than pointing her staff at anyone she remains standing where she is, almost casually, though Velanna could never be described as someone who is off her guard.

"Maybe you should try the truth, now. The lies are getting boring."

Ashton stays calm. Kian doesn't, and there's fury and fear playing on his face.

"I'd suggest you let Kian go," Ashton says, smile gone. "Do you know what happens when you corner a Circle mage with nothing to lose, boy? He does. He's from Kirkwall. Personally, I'm from Ansburg's Circle, and while we never get quite as worked up, we've still got a few tricks."

A beat, and then the smile returns. "Except I think you do know, because we have an archer worked up about a certain mage, traveling with Velanna and a tiny mabari. Yes, Kian, it's a mabari, don't argue it. It doesn't give me the name of the woman behind me, but I don't need it. Release Kian and we can talk about Anders and Alistair. Or don't, and then what? You kill us and... take on the whole village?"

Kian trembles the whole time she talks, temperature increasing in his immediate vicinity.

Nathaniel watches her closely. It's true he takes no joy in exerting power over those who have been oppressed for so long, but what else is he to do? Trust these people?

Who have...surrendered their advantage in numbers by bringing the group into this house, behind closed doors?

Grey eyes flick to Teren's face, then Ashton's. It isn't only Kian's life on the line here, and that vulnerability can be seen in Nathaniel's eyes now. His options are few, and slaying a young man who suffered greatly...Anders would never forgive him, nor he himself.

The dagger is lowered. Kian is released like a bird permitted flight.

"You brought us here for a reason," he says lowly. "Are they alive?"

In no universe does Teren want to fight a pair of mages, even if they have one on their side as well. That's the thing about magic: friendly fire is all too easily taken. She knows this from experience.

She can't help looking wary when she meets Nate's gaze, but at the same time is frustrated when he lets the boy go. It's a no-win situation, but perhaps he's right. This time.
Teren, however, doesn't move. Her knife remains right where it is.
"You think you're the only ones who can make people disappear?" she asks quietly, under her breath. "We'll find them either way, so you may as well tell us and keep all your appendages." It hasn't escaped her notice that suddenly Ashton knows both the captives' names.

"They wouldn't have put themselves at a disadvantage if they were dead," Velanna surmises, her eyes not leaving Ashton aside from to briefly glance at Nathaniel.

"She knows who we are, which means she likely knows what we're capable of. Even if the boy had gotten upset we could have taken both of them out easily," and would have.

"Sit down." Ahston's primary concern is Kian, and she doesn't look at the others until he's seated, resting his head in his hands, elbows on his knees. Only then does she look at the group.

"Disadvantage. There's a whole village out there. If you killed us you'd have to face off with all of them." She doesn't look shaken, but there's an edge to her voice now. "How is this for an answer? They're alive and they're not in any danger of that changing. You can leave knowing you did your job."

She doesn't expect that to be effective, but she has to know what they're wanting and demanding.

Kian looks up from the floor, expression exhausted. "I thought the plan was to---" He stops as Ashton holds up a hand, looking exasperated.

"The plan adapts, as we've always had to."

Alive. But knowing they are here and alive makes Nathaniel's heart race more urgently, not less. He shakes his head, hand gripping the dagger at his side to suppress trembling.

"They are here against their will. We are not leaving without them. Maker, please--at least tell me he isn't confined, he isn't shut away in some closet or hole, please tell me that."

He will be so frightened, if he is. And with only Alistair, maybe, to calm him, and what does that oaf know about such matters?

A shiver of rage and anguish passes through Teren, but she suppresses it in favor of lurching slightly forward, the tip of her knife now resting on a slightly different spot against Ashton's lower back. "We'd love to hear the plan," she growls into her ear, her intentions plain: if they don't start clarifying, she's going to start puncturing organs.

"They are our friends," Velanna gives Teren a slight look because while she's all for threatening she's not sure that the knife to the back is actually doing anything. These mages aren't afraid to lose their lives.

"We aren't leaving until we have them back. If that means we have to kill all of you to accomplish that..." she shrugs her free arm. "Wouldn't be the first time."

Nathaniel's apparent fear gets a true crack in Ashton's mask, and she looks a little sad before sighing at the press of something against her back.

"Violence leads to violence, and no matter how skilled you are, you're not going to manage to kill the entire village unless you're willing to risk killing your friends in return." She sounds very confident in that... and not very helpful.

Kian frowns, shaking his head. "The plan was to offer you one of them as a compromise. They're not in holes or closets and we're not doing this out of malice."

"And you can't kill all of us." Ashton sounds quite confident in that. "We can't take on the whole Inquisition, you can't kill all of us, each group gets one."

Teren is bad-tempered and at times brash, but she's not a fool. This woman doesn't care if she dies or not, and that in itself is more infuriating than Ashton's tight-lipped evasions.

"For what," she demands, stepping around to confront Ashton to her face, although she's addressing Kian's reply. "Compromise for what! Are you going to tell us what you're bloody on about, or are we going to stand here fellating one another with vagueries all day?"

Diplomacy at its finest.

"Stand down," Nathaniel growls at Velanna. "Anders...Anders can't be kept, he was in solitary confinement for a year in the Circle. If he is trapped in any way, he is frightened and suffering--Teren, shut up!"

And with that, Nathaniel's temper collapses into fire. He is finished. His dagger is sheathed, his hand comes out to gesture for silence from Teren and Velanna.

"Andraste preserve me, I will plant the both of you so deep in the ground you'll be snacks for the old gods. This isn't the time to be cavalier. These two people have information they are willing to give. There are to be no insults and no threats until they prove unwilling again."

The hand points to Kian and Ashton.

"Who are you, why do you have our people, and what do you want in exchange?"

Edited 2016-12-15 03:44 (UTC)

Velanna knows better than to snap back against Nathaniel in this moment, and she understands well enough his desperation, here. She'd done the same thing with the Architect. Spare him, so her sister may live.

So she glowers, but remains silent, waiting for an answer to his question.

There's a flash of anger in Teren's eyes when Nate shouts, and she has a brief look about her as though she might retaliate or, worse, do something rash. But instead, unexpectedly... she complies. Her expression remains dark and dangerous-- this will not be forgotten-- but she knows all too well that getting lost in a squabble would only hurt their chances of finding the hostages alive.

Her glare burns into the two offending mages, though her mind wanders somewhat. Anders, of course, is worth their concern. But she notices with heightened chagrin that Howe has not mentioned Alistair once, and with a dash of cold panic it occurs to her that there is one fairly obvious choice if they can only get one out.
Inside, she's torn between rage and utter helplessness. What she wants to do is slaughter her way through the stubborn, stupid masses until she can find the boys and extract them. Instead, she's here standing like a fool and taking orders from a whelp several decades her junior.
If looks could kill, Ashton and Kian would be dust.

They watch the exchange quietly, Kian looking more guilty by the time it's done and Ashton looking calmer. Ready to die or not, it's a relief to have Teren in front of her rather than behind.

"We're, some of us were, resolutionists," Ashton replies before watching for a reaction.

"Would that even mean anything to them?" Kian isn't quite looking at anyone. "She's not a Circle mage, they're not even mages."

Ashton exhales, looking like she hadn't thought of that. "Those of us who didn't manage to go apostate before the Circles broke were members of a fraternity that believed in breaking them anyway, by any means possible. We reached out to Anders a few months ago when his location was confirmed. His reply was... disappointing."

"It didn't seem like it was really him," Kian elaborates.

"That's who we are and why we needed to meet him. For an exchange, we want an agreement to no raids or attacks, and we'll give you one of them."

"Preferably Alistair." While his tone is mild, the look he gives Ashton isn't. "If someone cares to stay behind with Anders we won't argue it."

The look she gives Kian in return is unreadable, but a moment later she's looking at Nathaniel again and ignoring Teren as best she can. "Some of us would prefer to release Anders and keep Alistair instead."

A sharp laugh. Nathaniel paces the room.

"You are in no position to bargain," he says frankly. "You have kidnapped one of the leaders of the Grey Wardens, and I do not mean a lieutenant. I mean Ser Alistair is all but First Warden, and we are allied with the Inquisition. Whether you return him or not, this is an act of war. Even if you release only Alistair and demand someone to take his place, I would do so. And I am also Warden leadership. There is no good outcome for you here, only less bad ones."

A sigh. "Anders showed me the letters you wrote him, and those he wrote you. He wanted to make allies of you. He will want me to protect you, and Alistair shares my distaste for more bloodshed. So if you release them both, we will try to arrange a less bad outcome for you."

He looks at Teren. They are both Warden leadership here. He cannot negotiate without her.

Edited 2016-12-15 13:47 (UTC)

Not Quite Damsels, Definite Distress

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

sorry I had the tag half-written and had to leave for work so I posted it early and now it's done

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)