Apostates of Amaranthine: Chapter 88

[amhran_comhrac]

Title: Apostates of Amaranthine: Chapter 88- "This is close to what I had predicted."
Characters: Anders/f!Amell (Maggie)
Rating: M/AO (this chapter somewhere between E and T)
Word Count: around 4500
Summary: Unlikely hero Maggie Amell attempts to rebuild the Grey Wardens and deal with continuing threats from the darkspawn, while trying to fit into a world that's a far cry from the tower. All this while the Chantry seems to wait around every corner, eager to remind her and Anders just what they think of mages who manage to escape Circle control.
In this chapter: In which we finally reach our destination.  Apparently Maggie is as much a creature of "nature" as she is "nurture," and the line between 'property of the Grey Wardens' and 'property of the Warden Commander' is a difficult one for some people to grasp. 

 

We ate breakfast in the common room the next morning, waiting for a brief rainstorm to stop before continuing on. The dogs were on the floor next to our table, enjoying several large beef bones the cook had given them.

"Are they mabari?" Hob asked as we ate.

I nodded. "Once we got funding from Weisshaupt I started a kennel." Well, that wasn't entirely true… "I hired someone to start it, really. I don't know anything about breeding dogs, just fighting with them."

"Never seen one up close," he said. "Heard about them, of course… a few of the nobles had them during the war, too." He looked down at the dogs. "Expensive, aren't they?"

I shrugged. "No idea, really. It was Warden money, not mine. We've got a woman from Weisshaupt who handles all that."

"You have your own accountant?" Hob asked.

Anders gave me a pointed glance and then laughed before I could say anything. "We're poor as chantry mice," he said to Hob. "The Grey Wardens have an accountant. Us, though? If neither of us could handle managing our tiny salaries I'd wonder if we should even be allowed to handle pointy objects."

Hob glanced from Anders to me. "You're poor?" he said after a moment. I shrugged and nodded. "You? The Commander of the Grey Wardens? You're telling me they don't give you a handsome salary?" He looked annoyed by this.

"Why would they?" I asked. "We live for free in Vigil's Keep, and we could do the same in Soldier's Peak if we wanted. Our meals are free and the order provides everyone with equipment and personal necessities. What would we need money for?" He still looked shocked. "Don't be mistaken," I said. "I hold a title, but I'm no noble. I'm just a soldier."

"It won't pass on to your children?"

"We don't have children," Anders said.

"But someday—"

"No," I said quickly.

"You're young," he began. "When you get older your mind will change."

"And I'll be just as unable then as I am now," I snapped. He looked shocked but I didn't elaborate, it wasn't his business. "And even if we had half a dozen it wouldn't matter. The banneron goes to the next commander. Ferelden law."

"As it should be," Anders said. "The order needs that money more than we ever could. Keeping that many people housed and fed isn't cheap."

"Speaking of," I said, glancing around. When I caught the innkeeper's eye he walked over. "I'd like another," I said, gesturing to my plate.

"Oh, me too," Anders said.

"Another of which?" he asked.

"Well, everything," Anders replied. I nodded. He gave us a surprised glance and disappeared with our empty plates. "Famished," Anders said. He looked over at the counter. "You think they have pie?"

"Oooh," I said. "Pie would be fantastic. Apple, especially."

"Cherry," Anders said as the plates were delivered

Hob looked on in shock as we ate our second breakfasts. "If I had any doubts this would end them," he said with a shake of his head. "You eat like your mother."

Anders laughed, almost spraying me with food. "Ha!" he said. "I knew it. Alistair was right: you just use the Grey Warden thing as an excuse!"

"You eat as much as me!" I said.

"Yeah, but I stop to breathe," he replied with a smirk. "Oh, don't make that face at me. You know I'm teasing. Being married to someone that's almost perfect is tiresome, I need to latch onto whatever flaws I can find."

"I'm far from perfect."

Anders scoffed. "You are to me," he said, raising my hand to his lips and kissing it. I couldn't stop myself from grinning at him. After a moment Anders broke eye contact and snickered. "You are such a sucker for that romantic stuff. And you tease Elissa? You're just as bad!"\

"You always have to go and ruin it, though," I said. "You never see Alistair teasing her."

"Is it strange?" Hob asked after a moment. "I mean, knowing them. The king and queen, like they were just normal folk?"

"Not really," I said. "Alistair was just a normal person when I met him. He was the junior member of the Wardens when I joined, all I knew about him then was that he had been raised by the Chantry and, not long after Ostagar, that he was a bastard. I didn't even know who his father was for months."

"I wish I was there to see your reaction," Anders mused.

"I could have killed him," I said. "I mean, he's all 'It's not a big deal, I'm the same person I was an hour ago, it doesn't change anything,' while I'm screaming that half the reason we were being hunted like animals was because any heir of Calenhad was a threat to Loghain taking over the throne." I shook my head, thinking back. "It didn't change anything, not really. But I finally had all the information. Being in the dark stinks when you're trying to keep people alive."

We headed out not long after, with me taking the rains so Anders could study the spellbook I'd given him. "What language is that?" Hob asked, peeking over his shoulder.

"Ancient Arcanum," Anders said. "Tevinter. Most books about magic are written in their language."

"I can't read any other languages," he replied, looking slightly impressed.

Anders smiled, as if sensing a chance to show off. "We're both fluent in the Tevinter language, ancient and modern. I'm also pretty good with Orlesian and Antivan. Maggie can't speak either of those, but she's been learning the Dwarva language."

"Why'd you want to learn their language?" he asked, sounding genuinely confused. I guess it made sense that most people wouldn't see the connection between dwarves and darkspawn.

"There are records dating back to the first blight about the darkspawn that have never been translated, and some of the ones that have read like they were composed of words picked from a hat. I'd like to examine them for myself as they were originally written. There could be something in there the Wardens don't know yet, or forgot in the years since. The only people who know as much about darkspawn as us are the dwarves."

"Huh," was all he said.

Right around when I started to think stopping for lunch would be a good idea Hob spoke up again. "Why'd you changed your name?" the man said, looking at me.

"Pardon?"

"Your name," he said. "Well, nickname. We used to call you Peggy."

Anders snickered at that. "Peggy? Oh no. No."

"I don't remember ever being called that," I said. "It's been Maggie for as long as I can remember."

"Oh," he said. "You probably don't remember much."

"Not much," I said, hoping he would drop the subject. I had decided to pretend I didn't know he thought I was a monster, it just made things easier. This line of questioning wasn't making that easy, though.

"You'll be coming on a fork in the road soon," he said. "Take the left branch." I did as he said, and before long we began passing small farmsteads clustered near the lake's edge. "It'll be up on the left soon," he said. "One story, the thatch on the roof is still green."

I could see the green-brown roof not too long after he spoke, Anders gesturing at the same time. I began pulling back on the reigns of the horses as he cut off the haste spell. Slowing down, I could see a few people standing outside. As we drew closer I saw they were both men, probably a few years younger than me. We were just about to stop the wagon when they began trading punches.

"Bloody fools at it again," Hob muttered more to himself than us.

"Oh look, honey," Anders said, barely containing his laughter. "Brawling in the street! You know, this is actually really close to what I had predicted."

"Is this, um, common?" I asked.

"Lately," Hob said. "Fighting over a girl."

Anders did start laughing then. "So violent jealousy is hereditary. Good to know." Hob was jumping from the wagon as soon as it stopped, shouting at them to stop. I winced watching him knock one to the ground, grabbing the other young man by the collar. "Well then," Anders said.

"Anders," I glanced over at him, dropping my voice. "I've got a confession."

"Hm?"

"I don't think I like my father very much."

"I don't either," he said.

"Glad we're on the same page."

He nodded and stepped down from the wagon, I hopped down a moment later, followed by both dogs. Arms folded, we stood to the side watching the growing brawl. "This is just pathetic," Anders muttered after a moment. I was inclined to agree. Raising my hand, I released a brief surge of magic and all three men were frozen in place. "We didn't come here from the other side of Ferelden to watch a fistfight." He looked at the three men who had no choice but to stand still and listen. "And to be completely honest, I could see far better hand to hand combat at home."

As expected, the fight didn't continue once the spell wore off. Hob was speaking to the two young men, gesturing towards us every few moments. "I'm going to go in and talk to her," he said, turning to me. "Let her know you're here. I'll come back for you in a minute."

I nodded. "Nice of him to invite us in," Anders said quietly, rolling his eyes as he leaned back against the wagon.

"Uncle Hob's old fashioned," one of the men spoke up, walking towards us. He had red hair. "Funny about magic."

"You don't say," I replied, trying not to sound too sarcastic. A pale face had pulled back a curtain to stare out at us from the house. I could hear a door slam somewhere around the back of the small building. They stared at me openly, remaining silent. I looked over at Anders, he shrugged. "So…" I said, wanting to fill the silence. "We're related?"

"I guess," the other man said, this one had dark hair and eyes. "We're not rich or fancy like you."\

"I'm not rich," I said. They both snorted at that. "Andraste's sword, why do all of you think I'm rich?"

"You live in a castle," dark-hair countered.

"I don't own it," I said. "I don't really own much of anything, it all belongs to the Grey Wardens."

"But you run the Grey Wardens."

"Doesn't make their property mine." He just shrugged. Did they all think I was rich? Maybe Jowan and Anders were right. Maybe they were hoping I'd give them money. I didn't much like that idea. A girl about ten years younger than me in light armor ran over with another man behind her, he looked somewhere between my age and Anders'. They came to a brief stop and stared at us.

"Oh," was all he said at first. It was followed up by "I figured you'd be, you know, taller."

"Yeah, I've been getting that a lot lately."

She ignored me, walking to stand in front of Anders. "Hello," she said to him, grinning. "I'm not related to you, am I?" When she playfully put a hand on his chest I may have actually growled.

"Actually, you are," I said, grabbing her wrist and removing her hand, "by marriage."

"Oh," was all she said before making a squeaking sound. I dropped my grip on her wrist and she stepped back, rubbing it. "Andraste's tits, your hands are cold," she said, staring at me.

Before I could reply the man she arrived with stepped forward. "You fought the archdemon?"

"Yes," I said, not sure what he was getting at.

"You fought the archdemon? And beat Teyrn Loghain? You?" he looked disdainful.

Ah. "If you're planning to do something as foolish as challenging me to a duel I'd strongly urge you to reconsider," I said, summoning enough flame to engulf my hands. He swallowed and nodded, stepping back.

"I… uh… right," he said, stepping back. "I guess looks can be deceiving." Really, did he expect size to correlate with the power of a mage? Some of the most powerful mages I'd ever known were elves who made even me look like a giant.

"…talk about lucky, the things I could do to him," I heard a feminine voice say as he went silent. "You think mages can—" I turned to stare at her; she flushed, her jaw closing with an audible click. The man she had been speaking to was ignoring her, trading glares with his brother instead. A moment later they began shoving at each other.

"If I had any doubts they were really related to you," Anders whispered in my ear, "well, they'd all be gone now."

"What are you talking about? They're all maniacs," I whispered back.

"Exactly."

"You'll have to excuse my sister," the oldest man, who had apparently been contemplating trying his luck against me in a fight, said. "She's a whore."

"Bastard!" she said. "I am not. And you're no better! What, you can go to bed with all the ladies you want but I smile at one man and I'm a whore? That's hardly fair."

"Oh yeah, definitely your family," Anders said, laughing.

"I'm inclined to agree with her," I said, choosing to ignore the escalating violence only feet away. "So long as the man you're smiling at isn't my husband, of course."

"Sorry about that," she said to me after shooting her brother a triumphant glance. Glancing at Anders once more she added "well done, by the way."

"I think so," I agreed.

"Huh, I guess that book was right about her," the oldest man said, shaking his head.

The woman's eyes widened. "Was it? Did you really get with the king? What was it like?"

"Never slept with the king," I said, shaking my head.

She looked disappointed. "Well it had to be someone, I mean, two bloody years that blight went on. I know I'd be climbing the walls." Anders covered his mouth next to me, muffling a laugh. "Was it the elf? I would have been all over him. His pictures made him look dangerous. Dangerous is sexy." I think my jaw might have dropped open. "Ha! I was right," she sounded thrilled. "Good to see bad taste isn't hereditary." At her words the fighting stopped.

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means you're fighting over a moon-faced imbecile," she said snidely. "The hair I pulled from my brush this morning has a quicker wit."

One raised a hand to strike her. I was about to step between them since really, each man outweighed her by a good fifty pounds at the least, and unlike me she couldn't summon a blizzard from thin air. A moment later he was on the ground, her shoe at his throat. "Too slow, little brother," she laughed. "Maybe someday."

"Maker's breath," Anders said. "It's like looking at a younger version of you without the magic. I don't know if I should be impressed or afraid."

"I feel like I should offer her a job," I agreed. "I didn't see her move. Rose isn't even that fast."

"Already over the whole flirting with me thing?"

I shrugged. "Can't really blame her for that. I'd do the same."

"You make that sound hypothetical. Last I knew you could barely keep your hands off me." He looked over and smirked at me.

"Maybe," I admitted. "Not like you're any better, though."

"Did I deny it?" Anders said, running a fingertip along my jaw.

I leaned back against the wagon with him, wishing I was anywhere but here. They seemed normal enough, but the entire situation was too bizarre for me. I didn't even know any of their names. Introducing myself felt funny since I was pretty sure they all knew who I was.

"Maker, we're a bunch of asses," the woman said suddenly. "Did any of you stop brawling long enough to introduce yourselves?" All right, that was somewhat creepy. "I'm Catherine," she said. "This is Charles," she went on, pointing to the oldest of the group. "Cade and Connall, they're twins, not identical… well, that's obvious enough it probably goes without saying." these were the dark and red haired fighters, respectively.

I nodded politely and introduced Anders and myself. "Is that normal?" he whispered. "The letter thing?"

"No," Catherine said, overhearing him. "Our parents thought they were clever. Maker rest them and all that," she waved a hand indifferently. I tried not to let my surprise show on my face. Sure, she was younger than me, but if Hob was correct in saying they died during the blight she still would have been in the middle of her teenage years then. I would think their death would rate a little more respect. She made a face at me, probably because I was never very good at hiding my emotions. "Our da? He made yours look like he's got the mercy of Hessarian."

The older man, Charles, shrugged. "Hob isn't that bad—" he began.

"She's a mage," Catherine cut him off, casting a pointed glance at the staff on my back.

Charles winced slightly. "You have a point," he conceded. "That was probably… um, pretty ugly."

"Yeah," I said tersely.

"Welcome to the bloody family," Catherine said. "Is it all you've dreamed and more?"

"Your ma isn't bad, though," Connall said. "Deserves better than what she's getting now, that's for sure."

"Never could figure out how she ended up with Hob," his twin added.

"She was up the pole, that's how," Charles said with a snort.

"Really?" Catherine said, shocked.

"Ma said something about it once, years ago. Loghain was born three months after their wedding!" He froze and glanced over at me. "They… they told you about him, right?" I nodded. "Did you know him, in the mage tower?"

I shook my head. "I did," Anders said. "He was a decent guy."

"Was?"

Anders nodded, face grim.

"I see," Charles said. "I'm thinking that tower isn't the castle Hob used to say it was."

I couldn't help but make a nose of derision at that. "Castle? You're kidding me, right?"

"Nope," Charles said. "Castle. Used to complain that you got to go live in some castle and meanwhile the rest of the family was scraping to make it through winter. Said it was the Imperium all over again."

"Let me put it this way," Anders said, clearly restraining himself from showing too much anger. "We survived. Most don't." He grimaced, pushing a few loose strands of hair back. I sighed. Really, this was getting better by the moment.

"You must have been thrilled to get out," Charles said.

"After I finished vomiting from all the light and air I was," I said. "I'd never been outside before."

"They used to let us out to exercise once a week," Ander said. "Once you got older. I think they stopped that when you were still too young to go."

"They did," I agreed.

"Sorry, that was my fault." I raised an eyebrow. "Made a run for it and managed to swim to the other side of the lake. They caught me a week later." I snickered at that. "I was bloody lucky," Anders said. "If it wasn't for Finn talking me up to everyone for being brave enough to try I think I would have been killed the moment they brought me back. He was just happy not to have to go out in the dirt and get sweaty anymore."

"I remember him," I said. "He's still around, isn't he?"

"Yeah," Anders said. "Last time he wrote me he asked if that rumor about you was true."

"Rumor?"

"The one from the men's apprentice bunk wall," Anders said.

"Wait… there was something about me written on the wall? That was true? I thought Uldred was just being an ass when he said that."

"You didn't know?" Anders snickered. "And when would Uldred have told you?"

"Just before I killed him."

"Ah, right. Well, it's all true. And very complimentary."

"What did it say?"

He opened his mouth and then slammed it shut again. "Later," he said after smirking for a moment. "Trust me."

It was just as well, as Hob came out a moment later. "She was asleep," he announced. "I had to get her up." With that being said he stalked off towards the water, barely giving us another glance.

"Ass," Catherine muttered under her breath. "Come on, I'll show you in."

I nodded, mouth suddenly feeling very dry. Anders turned to me, ignoring everyone else. "Are you ready for this?"

"No," I said. "But… I don't see that changing any time soon."

"Do you want me to come with you?"

I was tempted to say yes, but shook my head after a moment. "Not now. I should probably do this alone. But I would like you to take a look after, see if there's anything that can be done the healer they saw missed."

"Already planned on it," Anders assured me.

I let Catherine lead me inside. She opened the door and lit a candle. Once my eyes adjusted to the light I gasped, stepping back. "I take it he didn't warn you about that?"

I shook my head, too surprised to think of a proper response. Above the fireplace was an enormous painting, at least five feet tall. That in itself wasn't as disturbing as the subject matter. It was a painting of me.

"Yeah… he should have said something. Sorry." I nodded mutely. "And, um, sorry for flirting with your husband. No hard feelings?"

"No," I said. "But if you do it again I might kill you."

"Gotya," she said, nodding before going on about how good looking he was. "And, um, I should probably just stop talking now," Catherine said after a moment, glancing down to where I was slowly clenching and unclenching my fists.

"I'd highly recommend it."

She nodded. "Through here. I'm going to get dinner started. Are you staying?" I looked at her blankly. "It's too late to travel tonight, unless you want to spend half the journey fighting bandits. I'll add a couple more plates. Charles can put you up at his place. He's just up the road."

I mumbled a thanks and walked towards the door she indicated. Pushing it open I tried not to jump back as the smell of sickness hit me. No… it wasn't the smell of sickness, it was the smell of death. "Um, hello?" Walking forward into the darker room I glanced around, trying to see. Someone had drawn the curtains closed. I could make out a large shape: that would probably be the bed.

"There's a candle on the shelf to your left," came a weak response. Glancing over I saw the dim outline and grabbed it, lighting the wick with a gesture from my hand. I forced myself to look up. Apparently Hob was right; I did look just like her.