Old Roads: Pitiless Games update
I'm not dead, I promise. :)
Chapter Twelve renews all sorts of acquaintances, and goes by
The Ragged Wood (and on AO3.) Chapter is SFW; story overall is rated M.
Title: Old Roads: Pitiless Games
Rating: M (for the sexytimez, and for occasional graphic violence)
PC: Amell
Word Count: ~109k, ~9k this chapter
Spoilers: At this point, it's not so much spoilers as it might not make any sense if you haven't played through Origins/Awakening...
Summary: Amaranthine is destroyed, and Warden Amell travels to Vigil’s Keep to take command. But one either must play the game of politics or be used as a pawn, and like it or not, every last one of Kathil’s demons are about to come home to roost... Amell/Zevran/Cullen, post-Awakening, multiple viewpoints, Part 5 of Old Roads.
"Tell me," she said to Murena beside her on their perch on the wall-walk. "What do you see down there?"
The girl cocked her head. "Three women, two men. Good clothes, warm cloaks. Boots are covered with mud, so they've walked a fair distance. The one doing the talking is an elf, the rest human." She squinted. "The woman in the back wears her purse where a pickpocket could get to it. She doesn't want anyone to see her face. The elf is..." She frowned. "She reminds me of someone, massime. Do you know her?"
A complicated question, for all its simplicity. "A bit," she said, and it was not a lie precisely. "Her name is Erlina. She is in our trade. Let us go intercept them, yes?" She hopped down from her perch, and Murena did the same. A rising wind teased tendrils of hair from the girl's tight braids.
There were stairs from the wall walk down to quite near the bailey. They took them by twos, the girl's stride lengthening as she tried to keep up with Leliana. With adequate food and fresh air, the girl had gone from being scrawny to lanky, bidding fair to be as tall as Leliana. It was a good sign; Leliana could teach her how to use height to her best advantage.
They arrived at the gates just as the guards waved through the small group. Erlina had turned to the woman beside her, saying something in a low voice. Leliana stepped into view, keeping her hands well away from her weapons. "Maîtresse Erlina," she said in Orlesian. "So good of you to visit. And Remy-" She bared her teeth at the tall man who she had last seen in Minrathous. "I wish I could say it was a pleasure, but you do have a habit of turning up where you are not wanted."
'"The rebel Keep, standing fast against the slings and arrows of the Chantry's disapproval. It seems the sort of place where all sorts of troublesome folk might find a place."
Chapter Twelve renews all sorts of acquaintances, and goes by
The Ragged Wood (and on AO3.) Chapter is SFW; story overall is rated M.
Title: Old Roads: Pitiless Games
Rating: M (for the sexytimez, and for occasional graphic violence)
PC: Amell
Word Count: ~109k, ~9k this chapter
Spoilers: At this point, it's not so much spoilers as it might not make any sense if you haven't played through Origins/Awakening...
Summary: Amaranthine is destroyed, and Warden Amell travels to Vigil’s Keep to take command. But one either must play the game of politics or be used as a pawn, and like it or not, every last one of Kathil’s demons are about to come home to roost... Amell/Zevran/Cullen, post-Awakening, multiple viewpoints, Part 5 of Old Roads.
"Tell me," she said to Murena beside her on their perch on the wall-walk. "What do you see down there?"
The girl cocked her head. "Three women, two men. Good clothes, warm cloaks. Boots are covered with mud, so they've walked a fair distance. The one doing the talking is an elf, the rest human." She squinted. "The woman in the back wears her purse where a pickpocket could get to it. She doesn't want anyone to see her face. The elf is..." She frowned. "She reminds me of someone, massime. Do you know her?"
A complicated question, for all its simplicity. "A bit," she said, and it was not a lie precisely. "Her name is Erlina. She is in our trade. Let us go intercept them, yes?" She hopped down from her perch, and Murena did the same. A rising wind teased tendrils of hair from the girl's tight braids.
There were stairs from the wall walk down to quite near the bailey. They took them by twos, the girl's stride lengthening as she tried to keep up with Leliana. With adequate food and fresh air, the girl had gone from being scrawny to lanky, bidding fair to be as tall as Leliana. It was a good sign; Leliana could teach her how to use height to her best advantage.
They arrived at the gates just as the guards waved through the small group. Erlina had turned to the woman beside her, saying something in a low voice. Leliana stepped into view, keeping her hands well away from her weapons. "Maîtresse Erlina," she said in Orlesian. "So good of you to visit. And Remy-" She bared her teeth at the tall man who she had last seen in Minrathous. "I wish I could say it was a pleasure, but you do have a habit of turning up where you are not wanted."
'"The rebel Keep, standing fast against the slings and arrows of the Chantry's disapproval. It seems the sort of place where all sorts of troublesome folk might find a place."